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#the music is nice my cat is asleep next to me and it fits the vibe perfectly
shadowonwater · 1 year
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Pokemon Scarlet playthrough part the 9th: I avoid getting crushed by giant boulders, fighting a make-up artist, doing some cave exploring, and then fighting a really sweet wrestler.
Masterlist of my playthrough
Okay so I got a bit mixed up when I said "flying gym leader" next. It was actually flying titan next and then a gym leader whoops.
Gotta say the mountain area where you fight the giant bird? Beautiful. I love climbing up the windmills and gliding from place to place. A very good area for gliding.
I clearly saw the giant Bombirdier in the distance and I was like, yup, that's the titan. So I had to dodge some giant boulders on my way up, not the easiest thing. Gotta say, hiding behind big rocks like that reminded me of this one bit from PR: Shadows of Almia. Similar situation and all, but this time much shorter.
The bird... was very easy. I am overleved and am using an electric type against it. One hit KO.
Happy as always to help Arven's sick dog, I hope the last herb makes it all better. And now... I CAN FINALLY SWIM! Now I can get to the last titan out in the water, first I'm going to fight the Psychic Gym Leader, tho.
Arven thinks that there some sort of mental block stopping Kori from going to battle mode. Something traumatizing. Considering Kori's body language, I'd say he's correct. I'm very suspicious of his mom right now....
I haven't explored the area as thoroughly as I'd like but it's easy to get lost on where you've been and where you haven't when you include all the jumping onto high areas.
So I headed towards the city where the Psychic gym is and went into the cool cave, it seems like a really big cavernous cave. Climbed to the top and into the town. I'm happy to say I'm on level again, considering the wild Pokemon.
I caught a phony Sinistea, might try to get the real deal some other time, but this is fine for now. Also caught a Klefkey and a Banette. The Banette battle was kinda funny because it pretty much sabotaged itself.
See I was using my Clodsire, who has Yawn. I use Yawn to help me catch Pokemon by making them fall asleep. Turns out the Banette had the Insomnia ability which would have stopped this from working if it hadn't used a move that made it copy my ability. So then I had Poison Point instead, which is useless against my Clodsire because it's poison and also because he only has special attacking moves.
So the town itself is real pretty looking what with all the tiles and water fixtures. But the way it looks and the music gives real Orientalism vibes. And I'm just a little uncomfy with that considering the history of Orientalism. idk, maybe I'm overthinking it.
When I talked to an NPC and they mentioned Pokemon artwork on the observatory that looks like old video game sprite art, I got really excited. I was like "is it old Pokemon sprite work?!" and it was! It was sprites from gen 1! I really adore this reference to the older games, it's a really nice addition. Anyway I'll be visiting the gym and seeing what my test is right after this, toot-a-loo.
Uhh... I didn't really like the gym test I think it was kind of tedious, the music was nice though. Also one of my teacher's was there. Y'know something I always find myself wondering is why the other challenges are using the same typing as the gym. I get game mechanics wise, they are suppose to act as the gym trainers you fight in other gyms but in this case they are supposed to be challengers. Wouldn't they have more variety of Pokemon? Or they could have Pokemon that are strong against that gym's type.
Anyway the gym test was pretty much a quick time event, altho I had much more time than I needed, and I just like it went on for too long.
The gym leader herself, meh. I don't really care about make-up. I liked how she had those flapping wings on her outfit tho, they were cool. And I feel like her team fit her theme well with all of them being very pretty Pokemon.
It was nice to battle a gym where I was on level again. She even took out 2 of my Pokemon. I mostly used my grass cat against her, because dark type. I didn't get a single one hit KO, so good on her. I switched to my Rock Salt golem because it has a Steel move to try try to use against Gardavor. But it had Energy Ball and I only got one hit in.
At the end her flower lady became Psychic but it still has its Fairy moves of course and took out grass cat with a Moon Blast. Finished it off with my Giraffe.
Afterwards I decided to do a bunch more exploring. I checked out the detour to that Psychic Town, and it was super cool, very scenic. I explored some other caves around the area. And climbed around the waterfall.
I ended up finding two more stakes. But I've realized something. Up until now I haven't given much though about why the stakes are different colors, yellow and purple. But I think I figured it out. The creepy gate was purple, so I bet only the purple stakes were tied to it. So I bet there's a different Yellow Gate, and the yellow stakes affect that one. So yeah I'm going to keep exploring for a while longer.
Nothing much to report about my exploring. I used Kori's newfound swimming ability to visit some random islands. I was surprised when I found people on a couple of there. I was like "What the hell are you doing way out here?"
So what I decided was Fighting Star Raid first, then going after the Dragon titan after that. Trying to figure out how to get to the next Star Raid was a bit tricky because the area was kinda hard to get to and out of the way. I wonder what made her choose a place so secluded.
Anyway this bamboo forest looking area is really pretty though. Nice music too. I had a hard time getting through because I'm back on level and the many Fighting Types around here keep trying to pick fights with me.
I was surprised to find the boss of this group, Eri, trying to guard the gate herself. Mad respect. Doing the raid itself was interesting because I pretty much just had to go in a straight line, a much less open area this is.
I will say I might have actually been slightly underleveled but I did fine. I had a Normal/Psychic, a Fighting/Flying, and an Electric/Flying with me. So I had a lot of type advantage with me. The fight with Eri herself gave me some trouble.
First I used Kilowattrel against her Toxicroak. Air Slash brought it into red and it's Poison Jab brought me into then low orange (also poisoned). So I used a Full Restrore. It used Poison Jab again but didn't poison me that time so I used Air Slash again and took it out.
I won't do a whole play-by-play but her Annilape gave me some trouble. The car was hard to fight too. In the end I was victorious but half of my team was fainted.
So anyway Eri is really sweet, I like her a lot. It's glaringly clear indeed that Penny/Cass/Big Boss are all the same person. When I ask Cass about her "Gang" she never directly answers me but talks about the motivation's of Team Star, thus, implying that that is the gang.
Penny clearly seems to look down at her past actions as the Big Boss. I'm very interested in hearing more. I want to hear her motives behind everything.
After all that I explored the area a bit. When I saw that huge wall of stone I was like "what the fuck is that" but now I've realized that that is the boundary between this region and another. After all Spain/Portugal isn't an island. I'm just more used to that sort of thing being blocked by a forest. But I guess a forest isn't going stop Koraidon, now is it?
I also found another stake but this was a new color, blue! Are there three doors then? I've never found Blue stakes before.
Another weird thing, I think, are these... crystals? idk what rock they are but there are these big black rocks around and I'm like, "What's the deal with these?"
Anyway I'll leave this post off here, I'll be going after the dragon titan next and then I'll start heading off into the mountains. to face the last stuff that's left. Unless I decide partway through to take some more school classes. Been meaning to take some more.
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04: The learning
| Versión en español |
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Jr. was in his room adjusting his bed a bit to make room. At that moment he feels the door knock and goes to open it.
Jr: oh! Mykey! Come in. Welcome
Mykey: excuse me...
Upon entering, the older Koopa sees the room, noticing Jr.'s toys, as well as the drawings of him on the wall, causing him tenderness to see all that.
Mykey: are they yours? (pointing to the pictures)
Jr.: y-yes…
Bowsy said that sadly, thinking that his friend would find it childish and silly.
Mykey: they are cute, I like them a lot
The little boy gives a small smile and looks at him tenderly
Jr.: Thanks...
Saying that, Jr. walks over to his bed, which is medium-sized with pictures of flames in bright green sheets, sorting out some sheets he had there.
Jr.: My brothers don't seem to like my drawings, neither does Dad.
As Bowsy said that, Mykey sat on the bed and paid attention to the little boy's words, looking at him intently.
Jr.: Once I showed him a little drawing of me and dad, but he didn't seem to pay much attention to it (putting the sheets aside and sits next to Mykey) and my brothers just laughed at my drawing
Mykey: well… I do think they're great.
Jr.: Really?
Mykey: yes. I wish I knew something about drawing, but it's not that I'm particularly good. I'll give you an example; do you have a paper and a pencil?
Jr.: sure (he gives him what he asks for) here you have
In that, Mykey starts to draw something and then show Jr.
Mykey: tell me, what do you see here?
Jr.: (squinting and tilting his head) uh…is it…a mosquito?
Mykey: It's a cat, or so it's supposed to be.
Jr.: oh… s-sorry… (looks down)
Mykey: (laughs) don't apologize. What I am trying to say is that we all have something that we are good at and something that we struggle with. Your drawings are better than mine because your energy and affection are reflected in them, and that is very good, Jr.
With those words, Jr. looks up again at the purple-haired Koopa
Mykey: When we take a break from studying, we can have a little drawing workshop once in a while to relax, don't you think?
Jr., with that said, becomes more motivated, which brings a smile to his face and a sparkle to his eyes.
Jr.: I would love to! (smiling more)
At that smile, Mykey smiles at him tenderly.
Mykey: Well, it's time to sleep. Tomorrow we will start and we’ll want to be with all the energy.
After putting the sheets on a nearby table, they both go to the bed, which is big enough for both of them to fit. Jr. gives Mykey space to settle down, then moves to his side, settling next to him, but not before turning off the lights and being in the moonlight. Bowsy closed his eyes slowly while he was hugged and wrapped in the sheets, in turn, Mykey looked at him and caressed his face slowly as he whispered affectionately.
Mykey: (soft voice) don’t worry, little one. Everything will be alright
With those words, Mykey gradually falls asleep while still hugging Bowsy, who seemed to be smiling as he slept.
On the other hand, in Ludwig's room, he was also preparing to go to sleep. As he does so he keeps thinking out loud and talking to himself.
Ludwig: well, well, well... so another day ends
The young Koopa snuggles into his bed, which is dark blue, large and circular, with two large pillows, with silver-colored sheets with music notes on them. Placing her head on his pillow, he continues to think out loud as he gazes at the ceiling of his room, which is adorned with light blue stars that light up in the dark.
Ludwig: (sighs) well, I hope tomorrow is a more normal day and that Larry doesn't behave like a child, although I feel bad for the other little one… I don't remember his name; he had to do with our fight…
The Koopa settles from one side to the other while he continues thinking and falling asleep little by little.
- And the oldest… I'm sure I've seen him somewhere… whatever… he looks… nice… but I still don't trust him… I hope he doesn't lose patience with Bowsy… although that's not my problem anymore… -
He settles down one last time by lying on his right side, closing his eyes.
-although… (remembering the small smile he gave her before going to sleep) I can't stop thinking about how cute he looks… smiling…-
Thinking of that, he cracks a small smile. After a moment of silence, Ludwig's eyes widen as he realizes his thoughts.
Ludwig: no, no! What am I thinking?
In that he sits down and puts his hands to his head, making a denial gesture
Ludwig: Wow, I'm definitely so tired my thoughts won't leave me alone.
Without realizing it, Ludwig touches a certain part of his head to calm himself down, and feels a sharp pang there, making him groan a little in pain. The young Koopa doesn't understand why he felt that, and he tries to touch that part very carefully, being the left side above his ear.
- What is this? Why does it hurt? him -he thinks while breathing something agitated-
Ludwig tries to calm down and after a while lay down carefully and slowly, leaning to the right to support his head and trying to sleep. He struggles, but eventually falls asleep after a while.
The next day, Mykey, in Jr.'s room, slowly woke up as he watched the younger boy sleep soundly. After that he gets up and lets Bowsy sleep, to instantly go outside and breathe fresh air and finishing waking up. In it, he is found by King Bowser.
Bowser: good morning, son (strokes the young man's hair)
Mykey: oh, good morning Mr. Bowser
Bowser: what are you doing here so early?
Mykey: nothing, just starting the day
Bowser: great! We go to breakfast. Go wake up the others, okay?
Mykey: sure, now I'm going
Heading towards the rooms, he meets Ludwig, who seems to be a bit distracted and almost asleep.
Mykey: Good morning, Ludwig.
The young blue-haired man barely listens to what the purple-haired man tells him, so he looks up at him with a sleepy face, to which Mykey looks at him somewhat worried
Mykey: are you alright? Looks like you didn't have a good night.
Ludwig: (rubbing his eyes) I'm fine, you don't have to worry.
Mykey: are you sure? You seem...
At that, Ludwig interrupts with a slightly irritated tone.
Ludwig: Look, look, I appreciate your attention, but it's too early to start arguing. You'll see what it will stop, okay?
Mykey notices that Ludwig's gaze is a bit lost, almost closing his eyes from sleep.
Mykey: sure… (moving his eyes slowly to another side) anyway, Mr. Bowser says that we all go to breakfast.
Ludwig says nothing and gives a thumb up as a sign of understanding and walks towards the dining room, bumping into a wall in the process. Mykey can't help but give him a weird look, but then he walks into the nearest room, Larry's.
In it he knocks on the door but no one answers, to which he knocks again and the second refusal by Larry and Bobby, Mykey decides to go in to wake them up. Being a little dark, the older Koopa opens the curtains a little, letting in the sunlight. Going to wake the boys up, he notices that Larry is on the floor sleeping with his feet up on the bed and his head on the rug, while Bobby is lying on the bed.
Mykey watches Larry for a few moments and then picks him up and puts him on the bed so he can wake him up, as well as his little brother. Larry wakes up and slowly straightens up, somewhat confused.
Larry: huh? (tilting her head from side to side)
Mykey: I see you woke up, sleepyhead
Bobby wakes up too, but less sleepy
Bobby: good morning
Mykey: Good morning guys. Can you tell me why Larry was on the ground?
Bobby: I don't know, we went to sleep at the same time and he was fine in bed
Larry: was I on the ground? I didn't even realize it, so how did I get up here?
Mykey: I put you up there; I'm surprised your neck doesn't hurt, does it?
Larry: nope
Bobby: Now that I think about it, in the middle of the night I heard a loud bang, but I thought it was my imagination.
Mykey: At least we now know what happened. Come on, let's have breakfast
Bobby: let's go soon
After everyone had breakfast, Mykey and Jr. met up to study, going to the same Kamek office where Ludwig had taken Jr.'s exam.
Mykey: ok, let's see...
While Mykey read the notes, Jr. took the materials from him. The purple-haired Koopa was noticing that the notes were somewhat advanced, even for Mykey himself.
Mykey: well, it doesn't seem easy, but we'll try
Jr.: I'm ready (putting on an expression of enthusiasm)
Mykey picks up the whiteboard marker and starts explaining the basics while Jr. tries to pay attention, but he gets distracted easily, which he tries not to do, however it's hard for him, so he tries to bite his lower lip a little to react. While that was happening, Mykey finished explaining some things and asked Jr. something, who accidentally bit down a little harder, which makes him moan.
Mykey: are you okay?
Jr.: y-yes, I just bit myself, but I'll be fine
Mykey: Why?
The little boy sighed and supported his face with his hands on the desk
Jr.: I get distracted, I can't concentrate very well; maybe that's why Ludwig gets mad at me and loses patience
Mykey: That's because you're not like him, but don't worry, that will get better with time. Tell me, did you manage to understand something I told you?
Jr. looked somewhat nervously to the sides of him while he hesitated a bit, to which Mykey puts his hand on the little boy's shoulder, who looks at him and notices his warm smile and his gray eyes.
Mykey: don't worry, if you didn't understand I don't blame you. After all it's easy to get lost with this. Wait a minute, I'll be right back.
At that, Mykey retreats to the next room in search of something. A few minutes later he returns with some plastic containers, sand and some blank sheets of paper.
Mykey: Ok, we will apply this graphically (leaving the materials on the main desktop) we will see it from another point of view.
Jr.: What is that for?
Mykey: You see, mathematics is one thing, but it can be applied in different ways, it can also be understood in different ways (hands the blank sheets to Jr.) here you will be drawing the same thing that I will be giving you as an example, understood?
Jr.: I think so
Mykey half fills a container with sand while he repeats the process with another container, explaining the concept of half and whole to Jr., while the little one draws and colors what he sees. Later Mykey proceeds to fill the containers in thirds and fourths, explaining and Jr. drawing, as well as several examples, mixing both halves, thirds and fourths.
Mykey: …and that's how you get the result, do you understand that?
Jr.: Y-Yes! Now it's clearer to me
Mykey: Remember to look at the board to learn how these quantities are expressed in numbers. He sees drawing them, coloring them and writing their numerical value.
Before the examples, Jr. is putting into practice what he has understood. At first he still had a hard time, but little by little he becomes aware of certain numerical patterns, although he still continued to make small mistakes
When he finishes he tells Mykey to see if he is okay, to which he corrects those details but notes that he is on the right track, always relying on his drawing sheets. They go on like this throughout the class, which moved fast, according to the perception of Jr., who seemed to enjoy all of it.
Jr: Wow! He didn't know it could be so much fun
Mykey: I'm glad you're getting into the groove of this. That would be all for today, it's time to rest a bit from so many numbers.
Jr.: (nodding) I want to go get an ice cream. Last time I couldn't because I had this stupid test and...
At that moment, he covers his mouth with both hands, putting on an expression of surprise at what he said, looking askance at Mykey, who was approaching Jr. and he, with an expression of fear and closing his eyes, expects a scolding, but instead he gets a pat on the head, which makes him surprised. Mykey stops petting little Koopa and eventually extends his hand in invitation.
Mikey: let's go?
Jr., still stunned by his teacher's action, nods softly and his eyes light up and he smiles again. After that, Bowsy takes his hand and together they leave the classroom, but not before the redhead young takes his backpack. As they walk towards the exit of the castle, Jr was almost running with joy. It was a very beautiful sunny day, without any clouds and with a gentle breeze. Arriving at an ice cream stand, they both buy one. Bowsy chooses a chocolate one and Mykey chooses a raspberry one.
Mykey: are you enjoying it?
Jr.: (smiling) yes! And a lot!
Mykey: You deserve it.
He pats Bowsy's head again, who is really enjoying his time with Mykey and inadvertently wags his little tail a little.
Both boys were walking for an hour or so before returning to the castle
Mykey: remember to practice what we're doing today so you don't forget. I gave you a small task
Jr.: aww… do I have to do it? D-Don't answer! I won't make that mistake again
Mykey: Don't worry. You will have time to enjoy, let's go little by little, yes?
Bowsy nods and then Mykey gives him a hug and a small kiss on the forehead, making him blush a lot, covering his eyes.
Jr.: And why was that?
Mykey: I'm sorry (laughs) it's that you're so adorable that it's irresistible not to pamper yourself. Take it as brotherly affection. I do the same to Bobby, I hope you don't mind
Jr.: (nervous laugh) w-well... it doesn't bother me... I'm just not used to much... affection
Mykey: I imagine. Anyway, I'll go prepare some things, what will you do?
Jr.: I don't know, but I guess I'll do my homework first and then I'll see
Mykey: Well said, sweetie. We will see each other tomorrow at the same time to continue studying
Jr: yes! I will wait for you there
Mykey walks out of there, leaving Jr. alone, who goes to his room and leaves his backpack on the bed and takes out his notebook. He settles into his desk and thinks for a moment, remembering how well he spent his time with Mykey.
- So this is enjoying someone's company... I think everything would have been better if I had paid attention to what Ludwig told me, maybe I would have gotten along better with him and maybe we would have been more united...-sighs as he continues- how I wish my brothers spent more time with me… it felt good that someone trusted me and gave me support… definitely Mykey is very different from Ludwig… he is quite the big brother… I really envy Bobby… they get along so well I wish... Mykey was my older brother and not Ludwig... -
At that thought, Bowsy is surprised and interrupts what was going through his mind and after being silent he realizes what he was thinking.
- n-no! What things am I thinking? -he thought as he shook his head- I-I'd better start doing my homework, I don't want to disappoint others -he said that while he opened his notebook and began to solve the exercises while he had his drawing sheet-
The next day, Jr. and Mykey meet again in the room to continue practicing fractions.
Jr.: good morning, teacher
Mykey: good morning dear student
After saying that, they both laugh at each other.
Mykey: ready to start?
Jr. nods and immediately takes out his notebook. Both continue with their routine. This is how they spend several days a week, dedicating an hour and a half per day. Little by little, Jr. improves his numerical skills. So much so that he is gradually not relying on his drawing sheets but on his mind. He imagines elements around him and writes the result in the most optimal way. This is how the days go by. Mykey continues to back him up on the details and inadvertently they are into more advanced fractions.
One day, after a day of study, they decide to take a short break.
Mykey: ok that would be all for today
Jr.: Yeah, that was kind of tiring, but I like it
Mykey: that's great.
At that moment, Ludwig, accompanied by Roy, goes to look for something in the classroom, but before entering and about to grab the doorknob, he listens to the small conversation that both Koopas have inside.
Mykey: how are you feeling for the exam on Monday?
Jr.: eh… I don't know…
Mykey: What's up?
Jr.: (poking his claws) is that... I feel a little nervous... what if I fail again? I will be everyone's disappointment and mockery... again...
Ludwig puts on an annoyed expression and rolls his eyes. Mykey walks over and looks closely at Jr.
Mykey: listen to me, Bowsy: you have nothing to feel bad about. You do not prepare just to pass an exam, but to learn and apply that in your life. Maybe not in a literal way, but in a practical way, and that's all that should matter.
Ludwig listens carefully to every word
Ludwig: (thinking) Wow! I didn't expect that, he really seems to take this seriously...
Jr.: It's true, but... it still worries me
Mykey: (smiles) Whatever the outcome, you'll have my support. Remember when you started and how you're doing now
Jr. shyly looks at Mykey and then looks at his notes, then back at Mykey
Jr.: It's true. I'll give my best. Thank you very much, Mykey, for everything
Mykey: whenever you like (winks at him)
The little boy puts away his things and heads for the exit. Opening the door, he notices that Ludwig is there, which shocks Jr., who in turn freaks out a bit.
Ludwig: Hi, Bowsy.
Jr.: h-hi… (looking away from him a little)
Roy: Hi Mykey!
Mykey: how are you Roy? What are you doing?
Roy: nothing, I just accompany Ludwig to carry some things
Ludwig: And… how are the studies going? Have you lost patience with this boy, Mykey?
Mykey: (smiling) nope. Everything is fine, he is learning
Jr.: That's right, with him I learn better and faster. I'm putting all my effort into it.
After what Jr. said, Ludwig frowns a bit, but tries to divert attention
Ludwig: It is seen that now you do have confidence. I guess you don't mind to bet, do you?
Mykey: (with a doubtful expression) what do you have in mind?
Ludwig: If Bowsy says he's going to put all his effort into it, then it won't be a problem if we make this more interesting, right?
Roy: Just spit it out now, gnocchi head.
Ludwig: If you fail the next test, Bowsy, you'll have to eat it.
Jr. is surprised by what his brother said but remains attentive
Jr.: What if I pass?
Ludwig: If you get an 80 or more, I'll admit you're not a fool.
Mykey: And what if he rolls a 100?
Ludwig raises an eyebrow and laughs a little, causing Mykey and Jr. to look at each other strangely.
Ludwig: If the extreme and unlikely event occurs, which I don't think so, then I will eat the previous exam you failed.
Roy: This is getting interesting (smiling mischievously)
Mykey: (sighs) It doesn't have to come to that.
Ludwig: What's up? Aren't you supposed to be teaching him well? It's time to try it
Mykey: It's not about that.
Ludwig: Yeah, I already said that Jr. is a fool who doesn't even know where he is standing.
With those words, Bowsy reacts and puts on a serious and determined expression.
Jr.: I accept the bet!
That surprises Mykey and Roy
Ludwig: Well, it's a gentleman's agreement.
Jr. and Ludwig shake hands in agreement
Ludwig: Then on Monday we will know the result. Good luck Bowsy
After saying that, Ludwig and Roy take some boxes and take them to another room. Mykey tells Jr. his concern
Mykey: Jr., you didn't have to do that.
Jr.: It's just that I was getting tired of him making fun of me, but this time I'll show him that he's wrong. For once I want he shut his mouth
Mykey: (sighs) Okay, but remember to be careful and don't mess up your strategy.
Jr.: Mykey… I thank you for the support. I promise you, I will not fail
Mykey notices Jr.'s look of hope and that comforts him a bit, to which he smiles at him and strokes his hair again and kisses his forehead, to which Jr. blushes.
Jr.: I'm starting to like that... (laughs)
- END OF CHAPTER -
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snlhostharry · 3 years
Text
try try again
harry x reader
2.2k words 
summary: harry wants to propose, but life keeps getting in the way 
a/n: first off... I suck at titles... why am I like this.... second off this is my secret santa gift for @jambrosemc ! happy holidays em! hope you like this, you are a super talented writer I just binged all your pieces and I am obsessed. and thank you to @peeterparkr for hosting 
The first time he tries is after the first concert he does for Fine Line. 
Fine Line at the Forum is a success in all the ways that matter, and Harry is so happy coming off the stage that he almost forgets about his plan to propose all together. When you barge into his dressing room after the show is over, smiling and ecstatic for him he suddenly sees the ring box on the counter and rushes to shove it in his pocket before you can see it. 
“That was insane, love,” You say wrapping him into a hug. “I think they really liked it.” 
He gives you a cheeky smile, “You think?” You roll your eyes in response, “What gave it away?” He asks, “The frantic screaming or the bra’s that were thrown onto the stage?” 
“You should’ve kept a couple,” You tease, “They could’ve been my size.” 
He laughs, “If you want one that bad I will buy it for you.” 
“I’m holding you to that,” You say, taking a seat on top of the counter. He runs a hand through his hair, knowing that this would be the perfect moment to just get down on one knee. He can see himself doing it, simply bending down and saying the words he’s wanted to say for what feels like forever. “You okay?” You ask him, seeing the look on his face and supposing that he’s thinking about something that happened during the concert. “You did a great job out there, seriously. Everyone really loved it H, the album is spectacular.” 
He shakes himself back into the moment, “I know, I know.” He says, and it comes off a little sharper than he means it too, he’s just very much in his own head about this whole thing now. What felt like it would be the perfect moment now feels wrong, like doing it now would cheapen the entire thing. He sighs, “Sorry,” He says, planting himself down on the floor dramatically, “Thank you.” 
“We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to,” You tell him, guessing that he’s just tired from a long night. “Let’s get takeout and go home, or go home and get takeout whichever order.” 
He smiles, “You ate before the show.” 
“That was like three hours ago, and it was a snack, I always planned on eating again, and you were too nervous to eat before the show.” 
He hugs his knees to his chest, “Watching you eat an entire kids meal in under five minutes actually helped with the nerves.” 
You shrug, “What can I say? I have my moments.” 
He stands and presses a kiss to your forehead as you swing your legs over the side of the counter. “You have a lot of moments, I love you.” 
“Love you too,” You wait a second before asking, “So home then?” 
He thinks about it for a minute, “Yeah.” 
“When you call in the food order make sure you put it under my name,” You tell him and he collects his things from the room, “People are beginning to get suspicious when I go into the restaurant to pick up an order for Harry.” 
He nods, and gently grabs your hand as the two of you leave. Maybe he’s not going to do it tonight, but he’s more resolved to actually pop the question than ever. He’s just so in love with you that he wants the whole thing to be perfect, and for some reason he has it all in his head that it needs to be a story that the two of you can tell in the future, something meaningful, he just has absolutely no idea what that is. 
The second planned attempt is a lot more off the cuff. 
You insist on throwing him a birthday party at the house, saying something about wanting to one up your sister who threw a very tasteful christmas party that the two of you went to. Not that your sister was invited seeing as the party was in London, but you knew that there would be enough pictures that she would see that you’re just as good as she is. Harry doesn’t understand it at all, but he decides that he doesn't even want to know how a rivalry like that can develop and leaves it alone. 
Objectively, you throw a very nice party. Of course Harry makes it a point to tell you this as often as possible without seeming overly invested in it, because he loves you and he wants you to be proud of your own work just like you want him to be proud of his. It’s hard for him to leave your side at all because he loves to see you talk to his friends and family and seem so happy to do it. You fit right in with everyone and he’s so grateful for that, and it’s as he’s standing there watching you talk to people that it hits him that this could be his moment. 
Not in front of everyone because that would be so much more pressure than he needs, but he thinks that after when everyone has finally left the house that he could catch you in the middle of cleaning or something and gently ask you to marry him. He decides that tonight, that’s the plan and he spends the rest of the night just thinking about that. It really is a great party, full of all his favorite things and people, it’s one of those nights where he feels like he loves you so much that his heart might just burst out of his chest. 
When finally every last guest has left the house, and things are a bit messy, he can’t seem to find you anywhere. He locks the door behind him, and starts walking through the house calling your name. He checks upstairs, in the kitchen, in all the bathrooms, and nothing. Until finally he walks into the living room and finds you sound asleep on the couch, snoring loudly enough that he’s surprised he didn’t hear it while he was looking. He looks at you and just smiles, suddenly completely fine with the fact that another plan has been ruined. He simply picks you up and takes you to bed, well aware he’s going to have to move onto plan C if he ever wants to get this done. 
The next time he tries, you end up surprising him. 
Plan C is a nice candlelight dinner at the house, which Harry tried to cook but ended up burning so eventually he relented and ordered food before putting it all together. Of all the plans he had come up with thus far, this one seemed the most foolproof. Everything was already planned: he knew you were going to come home from work at a certain time, he knew that there wouldn't be any distractions, and he had psyched himself up enough that he wasn’t just going to forget about the whole thing like he did the first time.
When the entire table is set up and the ring is in his pocket, he sits waiting for you to come home. He thinks about getting up to change some of the place settings just a little, but when he does he hears the clicking sound of your key in the door and sits back in his seat. After you walk into the house and set your stuff down in the entryway, Harry hears the sound of your shoes on the floor as you excitedly run into the kitchen. When you make it to where he can see you, he sees that you have a megawatt smile on your face and a large box in your hands. 
“I have a surprise,” You say, keeping a firm hold of the box. 
“I suppose it’s in that box,” He says, leaning over the chair so that he can see. 
You roll your eyes but keep smiling, “Yeah, obviously.” 
“Do you want me to guess?”
“God no,” You say, “That would take way too long. Basically I was at work today, and Mark has been producing this piece about a no kill animal shelter for a new segment about everyday heroes or whatever which is gross because puff pieces but when the woman came in to do the interview she brought in all these cats, no dogs for some reason, but anyway so we were all playing with the cats because our job is stressful and cats, and then she was like ‘you guys seem so good with these cats, they are looking for homes and-” 
He looks at you with a wide eyed expression, “You didn’t.” 
You ceremoniously walk over to the table, open the box and pull a small orange cat into your arms, “You bet your ass I did.” You gently pet the cat, which mews quietly from your arms, “She does not have a name mostly because I couldn’t think of any.” 
“We talked about pets like a week ago, briefly.” 
You give a guilty smile, “Yeah but I felt like I really needed this cat. I live here now, we live here, and I finally feel like I’m settled-” You sit down at the table and sigh, “I think I might be nesting, which is kind of gross but I don't know. I love you, and I love being here and I finally feel stable enough to get a freaking cat so that’s the explanation I have.” 
He can’t stop himself from breaking into a smile, even though he knows his plans have been thwarted again. (He thinks later, after the moment has already passed that he very well could’ve done it right then and there after you’d given a whole speech about the two of you being stable). He shakes his head after looking at you making funny faces at the cat like it’s a child, “Okay hand her over.” 
You hand her over and say, “I will not accept any names that have to go with the fact that she’s a ginger, because that’s just lame.” 
“Well seeing as those were my only ideas-”
You sigh, “We will think of something, just not now because you got dinner and I’m starving.” 
“What’s she going to eat?”
“I got food and a bowl, and a bunch more things being delivered within the next week or two.” 
“Did you go out and buy a box just for the dramatic reveal?”
“Yes, I did and it was totally worth it.” 
The cat’s name ends up being Hillary, after you discover an affinity for pet names that are usually person names. Something about the way you’ll end up talking about Hillary in polite conversation and someone will have to ask you who that is makes you want to choose it overall. Even though Harry is not sure about the sudden change at first, he soon becomes best friends with Hillary, and you often find the two of them cuddled up together on the couch. She likes to listen to him play music just as much as you do as it turns out. 
Harry is still trying to think of a way to propose. So much time has passed since he bought the ring, and the first time that he planned to pop the question that he wonders if he’ll ever find the right time to do it or if you’ll just end up asking him one day because it’s all gone too far. One afternoon when the two of you are relishing a rare shared day off, he watches you cook lunch in the kitchen and decides that now is the time to do it. No more excuses, no more surprises, just him and you and the question on the tip of his tongue for too long. 
When you put all of the food on plates, and set them out on the counter he walks over and just looks at you. It weirds you out at first so you ask, “What? Is there something on my face?” 
He gets down on one knee and you still are very confused about what he’s doing. You open your mouth to ask him, but the realization suddenly hits you and you cover your mouth with your hands. 
“y/n,” He says, “I have been waiting to ask you this for what feels like forever. And everytime that the plan fell through you somehow managed to make me want to marry you even more. I love you so much, I love everything about you, how excited you get about your work, how much you love Hillary and how supportive you are whenever I do anything. I love our life here, and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?” 
You don’t say anything for a second, still shocked, “Yes of course.” He stands and kisses you, slipping the ring onto your finger. “I was wondering when you would ask me.” 
“You knew?”
“I saw it that night after the forum,” You say, “I figured you got nervous.” 
“And you just let me flounder here for almost six months?” 
“Yes,” You smile, “I figured you wanted to do it on your own terms.” 
“Next time just call me out love, because I sat on this for too long.” 
603 notes · View notes
helloalycia · 3 years
Text
my happy ending [one] // kara danvers
summary: your crush from work decides to make a move, but she keeps putting off telling you something that you don't realise is actually really important
warning/s: none
author's note: i'm still working on a bunch of stuff but here's some old stuff to tide you over as i do. this is part one to a two-parter! enjoy :)
part two | masterlist
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I sketched out some designs at my desk, ideas for some new Instagram and Twitter marketing CatCo we were planning to do. I was in charge of social media marketing at CatCo Worldwide, so things like this were routine at work. What wasn't routine was the cute blonde, Kara, AKA Cat Grant's assistant, approaching my desk with a chirpy smile on her lips.
"Hey, Y/N," she greeted, before setting down a coffee cup in front of me.
I smiled automatically, Kara's presence instantly affecting my mood in a positive way. I glanced at the cup and quirked an eyebrow.
"Hey, Kara. Is this for me?"
She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose adorably. "I was picking up Miss Grant's order and I remembered you said you loved the chocolate orange hot chocolates Noonan's do. So, I got you one."
I felt my cheeks heat up. "Oh, wow, er, thank you. You didn't have to do that."
She shrugged, and I was sure she looked as flustered as I felt. "No biggie."
I took a sip of the hot chocolate and smiled at how good it was, but mostly because of who got it me.
"So, what are you doing?" she asked, walking around my desk and sitting at the edge. She glanced at my sketches and added, "Is that the new fashion post for our social media accounts? They look amazing!"
"Just some sketches, but eventually they will be," I said, before nodding. "And thanks. I just need the photos so I know what I'm working with. Gotta ask the new guy, James... you met him yet?"
Kara nodded. "Yeah, I just bumped into him earlier."
"Can you believe he knows Superman?" I asked with disbelief. "How awesome is that?"
She smiled with amusement. "Extremely awesome."
"Keira!"
Kara lost her smile when Miss Grant called for her, before looking to me apologetically. "I should–"
"It's cool," I said, nodding for her to leave before Miss Grant tracked her down. "Thanks again for the drink."
Kara flashed me a smile. "Anytime. See you later."
I watched her walk away, waving as she glanced over her shoulder. I found myself biting my lip to contain my own smile, feeling butterflies in my stomach.
Kara Danvers, assistant to Cat Grant.
Ever since she began working here, I found myself crushing on the blonde and her cute mannerisms. We were friends, occasionally hanging out outside of work and doing things together. But that's all it was, sadly. I knew she was friends with Winn – best friends, I think – and I also knew that the tech guy was practically in love with her. I didn't know him as well as I knew her, but I knew enough to not want to get in between the two of them. So, Kara Danvers remained a silly little crush.
I got back to my sketches, managing to draft up some mock-ups on Photoshop before my day ended. I was more tired than I thought that evening, ending up falling asleep earlier than usual. Which meant that I missed the biggest news in National City yet – a mystery woman saving a plane from crashing, possibly a new superhero.
I woke up the next morning to a million and one calls and texts from colleagues at CatCo, all expecting me to get on social media to post about this mystery woman. By the time I got to work that morning, I was caught up with everything and in awe at this new superhero we had. It was pretty darn awesome!
The amazement I felt however was short lived, as Cat was all over me when I got to the office, claiming I should have been on top of our social media coverage as soon as it happened. Apparently me falling asleep wasn't a valid enough point to miss it, so I was put to work instantly, working with the photography and marketing department to find some sort of coverage on this mystery hero.
As I was lining up some posts with the limited images available of this hero, I felt a presence stop by my desk and saw it was Kara.
"Morning," she greeted, before glancing at my computer. "Oh, so you heard?"
I chuckled. "Kind of hard not to. It's everywhere." I nodded to the many TVs around the office that were playing reruns of the news coverage from last night.
"Pretty cool, right?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Very, but it also means I now have a lot of work to do, especially because I fell asleep when all of this went down," I said, jokingly. "Cat has been all over me about this all morning."
Kara laughed and it was literally the best thing I'd heard all day.
"So, I was actually hoping I could tell you something," she said, an excited smile on her face as she met my eyes.
I felt a little flustered under her gaze and found myself distracting myself with my computer screen momentarily.
"I actually have a lot of things to do right now,” I said regretfully. “Maybe later?”
Her smile faded as she nodded. "Right, no, yeah, that's totally fine. Sorry."
"No, no, don't apologise," I said instantly, feeling a little bad. "I just– if I don't get this done, Cat will kill me."
"I got it, you do this, it's cool," she said reassuringly, offering me a small smile.
"Sorry," I tried, a little sad that there was nothing I could do. I really needed to get this done, despite wanting to spend some more time with Kara.
"It's fine, good luck," she said, giving me a grin and thumbs up before leaving.
I sighed, before getting back to work. Unfortunately, it was a few hours before I could get away from my desk, and I managed to track down Kara at her own desk, remembering she wanted to tell me something.
"Hey," I said, earning her attention.
She looked up from her notebook, smiling when she saw me. "Hey, you manage to get that content done?"
"Just about," I said, before offering a small smile. "Sorry again for blowing you off."
She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, honestly."
"I'm free now though," I said optimistically. "Maybe we could grab an early lunch? You can talk to me then?"
Kara pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she nodded slowly. "That sounds nice actually, yeah."
I felt a little relieved when she agreed. "Great. Well, I'll let you get your things and meet you by the elevator?"
She pursed her lips, suppressing a smile. "You got it."
We ended up getting lunch, as agreed, and it was nice to make it up to her. Though, I never really noticed that she never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so distracted by how smoothly our lunch was going that I forgot to ask her about it. Maybe if I'd asked, she might have told me the truth. Or she might have made something up and lied. I guess I would never know.
Did somebody say tiny umbrella drinks? #gottalovethetinyumbrellas #CatCoFoundation [image here]
I sent yet another tweet and picture out from CatCo's Twitter account, watching as it instantly got responses from everyone. I was at an event that Cat was throwing for all CatCo employees plus special guests. It was an event to raise money for Cat's foundation – a charity for children's hospitals in National City. My job was to live-tweet the heck out of the event, hoping to boost donations online.
It was a formal event, so I was comfortably dressed in some high-waisted pants and a silk blouse, it being my best attempt at 'formal' clothes.
The event wasn't too bad. There was free food and drinks, plus I got to hang out with some of my friends from work whilst doing the bare minimum. I just wasn't an evening person, I guess.
"Hey, stranger," a voice startled me, and I turned around, surprised to see Kara Danvers stood there.
I hadn't seen much of Kara in the past few months, despite working with her. She always seemed to be caught up with Winn, and she'd gotten quite close with the not-so-new guy, James Olsen. I wasn't stalking her or anything, but I began to notice when I would try to make plans with her like we used to – little things like grabbing coffee or going to watch a film after work – and she would decline or have plans already. Then I'd see her constantly being surrounded by Winn and James, so I figured she'd just made new friends.
"Kara," I breathed out, smiling as I took in her appearance. "Hey."
I hadn't seen her at all this evening and I was sure she just showed up because I definitely would have noticed how good she looked in that fitted red dress of hers.
"You look really nice," she said, looking me up and down before meeting my eyes.
"Thanks," I said, hoping my cheeks didn't look as warm as they felt. "So do you. You liking the event?"
Kara looked around, nodding. "It's beautiful."
"You did a good job," I said, giving her a knowing smile. "I know you planned it."
"This was all Cat, I just–"
"Kara, everybody knows you plan the events around here," I told her with a chuckle. "It's okay."
She smiled to herself, looking down. "Right." It went quiet for a moment before she looked up and said, "Do you want to dance?"
I was a little taken aback by her confidence, but nonetheless, I found myself nodding. She smiled as she held out her hand. I took it, feeling goosebumps from how soft her hands were.
She led me to the dance-floor, stopping and resting a hand on my waist, the other holding my hand. I nervously rested an arm on her shoulder as I focused on swaying to the music playing rather than stepping on her toes.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in a while," she said after a moment. I looked up and saw her blue eyes staring right through me.
"Well, we've both been busy," I attempted to give a reason.
She shook her head, smiling apologetically. "No, it's not that... it's my fault. I've been hanging out with James and Winn so much lately that I've been neglecting you."
I laughed a little awkwardly. "Kara, it's okay. You don't need to feel bad for having other friends. I mean, you don't have any obligations to me. They're your best friends. Of course you're gonna hang out with them."
She pursed her lips and I admittedly felt nervous as she stared at me, her expression unreadable. She was a little taller than me which didn't help with me trying to keep my emotions in check. She was extremely close to me as we swayed to the music and I could just about focus on it as she continued to stare at me.
"What if I want to have obligations to you?" she asked, and I almost thought she was joking until I realised that she wasn't.
I wanted to understand what she meant, but I didn't get to ask because she leaned forward and closed the gap between us with her lips. I was surprised at her boldness, pinning Kara for the shy type. Nonetheless, I returned the kiss, melting into her embrace and warmth.
We pulled apart soon enough, myself a little flustered from the kiss. My lips were still tingling as she met my eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"I hope that was okay," she muttered.
I nodded slowly, still surprised. "Yeah, it was."
My stomach was doing somersaults as I mirrored her smile; the gala was merely a blur in the background as I realised Kara Danvers had just kissed me. I definitely wouldn't have thought she felt something for me other than friendship.
"I'm assuming you want this to go somewhere," I said, a little stupidly.
She laughed melodiously as she nodded, intertwining her fingers in mine. "That's the plan, yes. But actually, er..."
"Second thoughts already?" I joked, though inside I was genuinely believing she might be second-guessing her decision, judging from her sudden change of facial expression.
"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "It's just, I feel like we should talk first. I have to tell you something. Before this goes any further."
She sounded quite affected by whatever it was, so I nodded, losing my smile for a moment.
"Of course, you can tell me whatever you need to," I reassured her, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Do you want to talk now or after?"
She opened her mouth to reply, but tilted her head to the side as she grew distracted. I waited patiently, expecting her to snap back into reality, but she seemed caught up with something else.
"Kara? You okay?" I asked, growing a little concerned.
"What? Yeah, sorry," she said, shaking her head before meeting my eyes with apologetic ones. "I'm sorry, I have to go for a minute. I just realised I have to check on the desserts for the party."
"Oh, okay." I nodded, giving her a small smile. "You can tell me whatever it is afterwards then?"
She smiled, nodding. "Yeah. I'll be back after, I swear."
I believed her and watched as she let go of my hand, already in a rush to leave. I wondered what was so time-sensitive about desserts, but decided not to question it as I realised the very obvious and surprising fact that Kara liked me.
As she turned to leave, she quickly turned back to me and moved forward, pressing a haste kiss to my cheek. My face heated up as she flashed me a beautiful smile, before moving to leave.
Just danced with the most beautiful girl in the room #CatCoFoundation
I looked up and saw Kara by the door, about to leave, but she stopped when her phone vibrated. After glancing at the screen, she paused and a wide smile graced her lips. Her eyes lifted and she gave me a knowing look before disappearing. I found myself smiling like an idiot the rest of the night.
I guess I should have realised, once again, that Kara never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so caught up in the fact that she returned my feelings that I never remembered to ask her what it was that she wanted to say. Maybe if I'd remembered, things would have ended up a little differently.
Kara and I went on some dates, our relationship blossoming naturally. It was the best thing to happen to me at the time – finding someone who I thought truly understood me, and vice versa. We had inside jokes, an 'our song', a favourite restaurant we frequented; we were happy and it was amazing. I was really falling for her. I thought she was perfect. Nothing could change that, I thought. She was everything I wanted.
"What are you thinking about in that pretty little head of yours?" Kara asked, tilting her head to look at me.
It was moments like this when I was in awe of her beauty, inside and out. She was comfortable, with her hair tied in a loose ponytail and her face makeup-free. Her glasses were balanced on her nose as she stared at me with an easygoing smile and sparkling eyes. I felt a sudden overwhelming flood of love for her as she waited for me to reply.
"I'm in love with you," I blurted out uncontrollably.
She raised her eyebrows slightly, mouth agape as she realised what I said.
"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "That was random. And weird. Too soon, right? I freaked you out. I'm sorry."
Kara blinked several times, straightening up as she shook her head. "No, it's not, it's..." I watched her with anticipation, as she found her words. "It's fine. It's... I feel the same way."
It was my turn to be surprised now. I raised my eyebrows, a smile forming on my lips. "You do?"
Kara pursed her lips, eyes flickering up to meet mine. "Yeah."
I breathed out. "I'm really happy to hear that, especially because I thought I freaked you out, but like, I feel like something is bothering you, Kara."
Resting a hand on hers, I squeezed it gently. She offered me a small, troubled smile and I wondered what was occupying her thoughts.
"I trust you," she said gently. "I do. I love you. And I... I want you to know that I think what we have is amazing. I've never been happier."
"This sounds like a breakup," I joked, chuckling nervously. She wouldn't break up with me right after saying 'I love you', right?
"No, no, it's not!" she reassured immediately, taking any doubt from my mind. She leaned forward and cupped my cheek gently. "I'm not breaking up with you, silly."
"Good to know," I said playfully, resting my hand on hers and moving it to my lips, kissing it softly. "What is it though? What's on your mind? You can tell me anything you know."
She nodded. "I know... I can. I will. Now."
I stayed quiet, watching as she had some inner conflict going on. What was bothering her so much?
"I want to say that I–"
But she was cut off by her phone ringing. She rolled her eyes and I offered her an approving smile as she reached to answer it.
"Alex, hey, what's up?"
I sat back, keeping ahold of Kara's hand as she listened to Alex on the phone.
"Are you sure?" Kara said, concern in her voice.
I wondered what was going on, as the blonde was scrunching her brows together with worry. Her hand slipped from mine as she stood up, pacing.
"Okay, I'll be there now," she finished, before hanging up.
"Hey, that sounded serious, is everything okay?" I asked, standing up, too.
Kara nodded, already in the process of grabbing her things. "Yeah, sorry, it's just some family stuff with Alex. I should get going and help her out." She stopped moving and turned to face me, a distracted frown on her face. "I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to spend the evening together and I wanted to tell you something, but–"
"It's fine, Kara, you can just tell me another time," I cut her off, moving forward and rubbing her arm gently. "I hope everything is okay with Alex. I'll just see you at work tomorrow, yeah?"
Kara smiled tightly, nodding. "You're too understanding. It's annoyingly admirable."
I chuckled, stepping forward and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. She had a few inches on me, so I had to step on my tip toes to reach, but seeing the little smile appear on her lips when I did made it worth it.
"Don't get stressed about whatever it is you wanna tell me," I added, meeting her eyes. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I love you and I'm really lucky to have you in my life. I don't think anything will ruin that. Just... remember that, okay?"
Kara nodded, her eyes flickering to the floor. "Thank you, Y/N."
"I'll leave you to it," I said, moving away to grab my coat and put on my shoes. "Good luck with whatever is up, and see you tomorrow."
As I was about to leave, her voice called out, "I love you, too."
I smiled widely at her before leaving, feeling lightweight because of all the love that was bubbling around inside of me. Once again, Kara managed to distract me from the fact that she had something big to tell me, as when I followed up the next day, she assured me that she just wanted me to know that she sometimes moved too fast in relationships and she didn't want me to feel like I was being rushed.
I believed her, blinded by what I thought was my happy ending, and that was that.
172 notes · View notes
clumsy-hood · 3 years
Text
obey me! demon brothers + love languages (giving vs receiving)
prompt: how the demon brothers like to show and receive love
word count: 2,633
a/n: another late night attempt i wrote the night before and found in my notes. i really do appreciate feedback if anyone wants to shoot me a message. obey me, the ikemen otome games, and playchoices have really kept me nice and distracted during the pandemic so if anyone even wants to chat about any of those topics, i have thoughts and would like to hear yours. do this for a broke, bored bitch.
Lucifer
giving: quality time
There is no denying that the Avatar of Pride has a fairly hectic daily schedule—excluding his brothers’ shenanigans, that is still putting it mildly—so it seems best fit he best shows his love for you by simply spending time alone together. No matter if it’s a dinner date at Ristorante Six or spending the night together in his room listening to music, that time is strictly dedicated to you and no one else. You have Lucifer’s undivided attention—unless his brothers nearly destroy the house, then that is an entirely different story. One-on-one time with him may not always be as common as you’d like, but he sure as hell will put in the effort—so much so that if you’ve had scheduled plans for quite some time (ones he can’t afford to miss), he will rush every meeting, speed through paperwork, and all-in-all practically sprint to make it to you on time. 
receiving: acts of service
As much as he’ll go the extra mile to spend so much as a brief moment with you, the way to his heart is doing the little things to make life just a little more bearable for him. Mammon’s plotting to cheat some local low-tier demons? You’re there to redirect his plans to something less potentially chaotic. Lucifer forgot he had to make dinner for the house that night? You’re already on it so long as he helps with cleanup later. Beel ate someone’s food? You’ve already diffused the situation and now the brothers are heading on a snack run. At first, Lucifer was somewhat convinced you were trying to win his brothers’ favors until he realized every little deed or chore completed was to benefit him. Absolutely no ulterior motives planned! It wasn’t until you’d caught him half-asleep and hunched over the desk in his study and offered him a mug of hot tea did he realize how warm and cared for you truly made him feel. The poor guy just isn’t used to be loved and doted on. 
Mammon
giving: giving gifts
As greedy as he is to spend time with you, Mammon is convinced the best way to show you how much he truly cares for you is to give you anything and everything he can. You are the only person he can never bring himself to steal from—that’s just how special you are to him. In fact, you’re so important to him that every gift—no matter how big or small—given from him was purchased, won, or even made in the most honest ways possible. He sees you eyeballing a toy at a carnival? He’ll spend whatever money his broke ass has left just to win it for you. If you so much as mention in passing that you like a certain jacket, that boy will wait tables at Hell’s Kitchen for however long it takes to buy you what he thinks you deserve. You mean so much to him—a price that can never be paid, it doesn’t even exist—and even though you’re not nearly as materialistic as he tends to be, if he can’t afford to give you the world to see you smile, then he’ll damn well try to earn it some way or another. 
receiving: words of affirmation
Let’s face it, poor Mammon is often the brunt of jokes and insults from his brothers and the occasional low-tier demons, and your small words of kindness leave him a blushing, bumbling mess as he’d be quick to agree and accept your praise. Even if you complimented his hair or told him he had a cute smile in passing, it was as though someone lit sparklers in his chest and he couldn’t help how damn giddy he was. If the Avatar of Greed had a good idea, you were quick to agree and praise him—even defending his choices to his brothers whenever they dismissed or outright ignored him. The sound of your voice had become his favorite thing as though it could be the soundtrack of his day. Though, as much as he enjoyed your compliments and affirmations, you just listening to him vent or complain or even telling you about his day made him feel more heard than he had been for the longest time. And something about that was exciting and confusing all at once, but he knew he never wanted it to end. 
Levi
giving: quality time
The Avatar of Envy himself has mentioned that his type is someone he can spend time with—even if that means you both are doing completely different things. So long as you’re in the room with him, he feels completely at ease. It’s honestly one of the best ways he knows how to show how much he trusts you, simply by inviting you into his room and having you make yourself at home there. If you’re trying to read a book, he’ll offer a seat in his room to keep you nearby while he plays his newest game. And Levi loves inviting you to his room for movie nights or binge-watch whatever anime he’s sure you’re going to absolutely love and will keep peeking over at you to gauge your reaction or will occasionally pause it to explain certain plot points. The ultimate show of his affection? The second he invites you to play a video game together—no matter if it’s an RPG, story-driven, or an all-out battle raid—you know you’ve unlocked some type of high-tier level of trust with him and he never wants you to leave. 
receiving: receiving gifts
No matter how often you’d try to reassure Levi you cared for him and didn’t consider him a yucky otaku, your words never seemed to suffice. After plenty of trial and error to show you care, it was after you unknowingly purchased rare Ruri-Chan memorabilia as a gift for him did you realize how he best accepts love. Of course, everything you’d get him anything—even the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing—he’d become a beet-red, stuttering mess spitting nothing but praise and adoration towards you. Because it means you listened to all the things he loves and went out of your way to show it. No matter if it was preordering a game he had mentioned wanting to play or even picking up a spare treat for him while you were out shopping, he always appreciated knowing you could be out there alone and still thinking of him. 
Satan
giving: words of affirmation
Everything the Avatar of Wrath says and does seem to be polished and refined, almost as though he has rehearsed several interactions that may happen to keep his rage at bay. Though, he is quick to realize it is slightly different to do around you. It isn’t that words are difficult for him but expressing them isn’t so much in average verbal praise as it is in written form. Out of all the brothers, he is the most likely to offer books with little notes of paper written inside for you to read, often comparing your relationship to those of fictional characters he has found. I mean, he’s even made you an entire picture book with his own created story starring the two of you just to show how much you truly mean to him. There would never be any doubt how much you truly mean to him, but when speaking those words aloud may come across as more aggressive than intended, it’s the written word where he truly shines in sharing his feeling towards you.
receiving: quality time
As much as he enjoys telling you—or rather, writing to you—how much you mean to him, he has a harder time simply accepting your words for what they are and claims he is not easily swayed with words as his brothers are. Instead, the best way Satan responded to your love and affection was simply from your mere presence. Whether your head rested in his lap while he read his book in his room or the two of you tested different Devildom and human recipes in the kitchen, your general being in the vicinity of him was enough to leave him feeling warm inside. After a suggestion from you, you both would even schedule time aside to take a stroll around RAD and Devildom, just a little adventure here and there where you’d try new restaurants or even pet the random cats you’d find. The demon had a way of coming and going as he’d please—often making acquaintances with those he’d meet—but you were always the one he looked forward to spending time with the most. He could hardly wait for whatever little adventure you’d experience together next.
Asmo
giving: physical touches
Given that he is the Avatar of Lust, it wouldn’t come across as too much of a surprise that Asmo shows his love and affection through physical touch quite often—so long as you’re comfortable with it, that is. Even though he’d regularly praise you with words, he’d much rather feel your hand pressed to his own or nonchalantly toy with your fingers while you relaxed with one another. If he thought your skin could use a little help, he’d offer hands-on assistance applying his regular regimen to your skin. He has such a gentle touch, if he saw you struggling with your hair in any way—tangles or just struggling to style it?—he’d be quick to offer help and would miraculously make it as painless as possible. And of course, he’d practically shower you in kisses—on your wrist, your lips, your cheeks, your forehead, your tummy, your fingertips, your ear, your neck, your nose, etc. If he could every inch of you with his love—in a less lewd way—he would in a heartbeat.
receiving: words of affirmation
While he’d love you reciprocating his physical love with touches of your own, there is nothing Asmo seems to truly desire from you more than the validation of him, his beauty, and your love for him. You knew the demon was well familiar with past lovers singing praises of his beauty and sexuality, but you had no idea just how much he sought your validation until he’d confessed how much your thoughts of him mattered. It would become a habit to wake up to him tangled beside you, whispering an ‘I love you’, and to be greeted with a gentle kiss. If he was ever overwhelmed or concerned with his overall image, you were quick to cease those worries with reminders about how beautiful he was and what a lovely heart he had as well. The moments you had admitted you loved his soft nature and gentle touch and warm embrace left an odd fluttering feeling in his chest. He knew he loved you, but it seemed he had no idea how much until you’d tell him those three words and gave him your undivided attention.
Beel
giving: acts of service
Honestly, Beel was never sure the best way of showing his love for you—he was always worried he’d say the wrong thing or that his hunger would get the best of him. He knew he cared for you and never wanted to cross any boundaries so he figured he’d do little things here and there just to see you smile. If he was excited to try new foods, he’d always get extra just for you. He wasn’t always the best with cooking, but if you mentioned you were homesick for the human world, then he’d ask Barbatos or Luke to help him make human food for you—and some for him to sample. If the Devildom weather left you feeling chillier than usual, he’d offer his jacket—although it was so massive on you, it practically pooled at your feet once he draped it over your shoulders. If you had passed out in the library, Beel wouldn’t hesitate to offer carrying you back to your dorm—or his, per your request. And if he found out you skipped a meal, I swear to Diavolo you are the only one he would ever share snacks with without a second thought. He just wanted you happy, healthy, and in Devildom with him and his brothers. 
receiving: quality time
For all the little things he enjoys doing for you, spending quality time with the Avatar of Gluttony is the best way to his heart—aside from food, that is. Offering to go out with him to Hell’s Kitchen for lunch or inviting him in the kitchen while you make cheeseburgers are the simplest ways to see him grinning wide. Even movie marathons in your room were a treat for him—and not just because he’d have brought a tub of popcorn—but it was an excuse to have you pressed against him and he loved that a little more than the bucket of buttery goodness in his lap. It could be a challenge at times with how packed both your schedules could be—especially if he had several back-to-back Fangol games—but you did your best to make it work. In between classes, you’d meet up and make time for little conversation, offering him a snack if you had anything on you, before going on with your day. If he needed a spotter or someone to record him working out? You were there in a heartbeat. It seemed like a lot of work sometimes to find moments alone together with everyone else around, but he was worth it. Beel would always be worth it. 
Belphie
giving: quality time
Belphie was never sure the best way to show you how much you meant to him; after all, he was the Avatar of Sloth so he wasn’t as accustomed to offering gifts or doing your chores around the house. But he found the most successful way was to simply spend time with you whenever he could. His brothers often vied for your attention, so if it meant carrying you on his shoulder to take you to the attic room for some one-on-one time then so be it. He did everything he could to stay awake so he could listen to you talk about your day, often nuzzling into your neck and pressing lazy kisses with a sleepy grin. He even tried to make it to more council meetings and RAD classes just so he had an excuse to spend time with you immediately afterward. His absolutely favorite moments would be any time he’d wake up before you or the ones where you’d like curled up against him because he knew he trusted you well enough to sleep on you, but a warm, fuzzy feeling enveloped him wholly, realizing you trusted him enough to do the same.
receiving: physical touches
Similar to his brothers, Belphie could be more than a little greedy for your time and attention—especially any sign of affection—but the best way to show any love was best translated through gentle touches. If you played with his hair and caressed his cheek during a cuddle session, that boy would let out the softest sigh and doze off quickly to sleep. He wouldn’t ever openly admit it out loud but loved the feel of your hand wrapped in his or the way your legs would get all tangled together whenever you were sleeping at night. And your hugs would honestly make his day. If Lucifer was starting to get to him, you’d swoop in with a comforting hug while his heart was practically pounding right out of his chest. Maybe Beel ate the food he was saving? You were quick to salvage his mood with a kiss to the cheek and a squeeze to his arm. He never understood how you could be such a lifeline for him, but somehow a simple touch from you kept him tethered to the rest of the world and left him enjoying being awake. 
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fanfictionatic · 2 years
Text
The Dreamer
Pairing: ???!Jonathan x gender neutral!reader
Description: Reader meets someone interesting in a dream
Warnings: Lovecraftian themes and some angst. Dio appears in this briefly and does Dio things. Sort of some mind break stuff in here. This was honestly bordering on ending up on my darker blog, but I think I’ll keep it here for now because it doesn’t get like, graphic or gory or anything.
This is sort of a followup to my other fic. I might turn this into a series since I have a LOT of ideas for this AU? Also this is my first time writing Jonathan so I hope its ok.
You were aware that you were asleep. It had been like this for a while. You had been a lucid dreamer for years and it gave you immense comfort to know that you had some level of control. You could let your mind take you on whatever little adventure that it wanted to and you wouldn’t feel any kind of fear.
Sometimes you would wander familiar cities in your dreams. They were happy places filled with kind people and the occasional talking cat. Today though, it seemed to just be a bunch of colors swirling in some sort of void like a kind of living rainbow, but they were bright and emanated warmth. You swore you could hear the sound of some kind of indescribable instruments playing music in the distance that you had never heard before, but it was almost more of a faint echo.
You sat down in a random place to watch the show. There weren’t really any benches or anything and there wasn’t what you would call solid ground, but this was your dream and you had the ability to sit wherever you wanted to in this place.
“Hello, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve had company.”
You turned to the source of the voice next to you. It was a tall man with a kind looking face. His hair was a similar unnatural blue color to some of the ones that were swirling around in front of you, but it wasn’t any less calming to see it on a person here. His eyes held a friendly similarly blue light as he smiled at you. You return it and pat the empty void next to you.
“Sure, of course you can. What’s your name? I’m y/n.”
He seems to light up even more as he takes a seat next to you.
“You may call me Jonathan. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He held out his hand to you. It was large and your own seemed to fit in it almost perfectly as you took and and shook it. There was something else about it that was strange. It felt more....real. More solid. Like you were touching some kind of flesh. This was supposed to be a dream and usually you couldn’t feel it like this when you had physical contact with anyone.
But you shrugged it off. He still seemed friendly and there was nothing to really worry about. You were still aware of where you were after all.
“Do you live here Jonathan? This place is really nice. I like watching all the colors moving around.”
He nodded, staring out in front of him at the display.
“I do. I’ve seen it many times, but it’s always more pleasant when I have someone else to watch it with. It doesn’t excite me as much as it used to many years ago when I watched it by myself.”
“Yeah, I can understand that. It would be lonely sitting here for years even with all of this going on. I really like the music though. I’ve never heard any of these songs before!”
He laughs at that, the noise seeming to almost linger in the air for a moment like the music itself was. It was also just as pleasant to listen to.
“No, I suppose not. They do try to come up with new ones every day. It is kind of them to do so. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about being here when I do not have any visitors.”
You nod at that. New music was something you always looked forward to after all.
“So are you part of my dream then? I’ve never dreamed anything up like this before. Usually there are more things here than just lights, music, and a single person.”
“Well, that would be because this isn’t your dream at all. It’s actually one of mine. The music you are hearing is being played all around me as we speak. The colors are something made by rummaging through my subconscious.”
“So you’re asleep too? Wow, this is the first time I’ve had the same dream as someone else! I didn’t think that was even possible!”
Before your excitement can get the better of you, a blaring noise cuts through everything and your eyes slowly blink open to unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings. Sunlight shines in through a window, blinding you almost as you sit up in your bed. You sigh and slowly force yourself to get up, not very happy that your sleep was cut so short.
The dream that you had the previous night seems to follow you into the day. You can’t remember all of it, but you can remember the man you met. You think his name started with a J? Was it John...? Jojo? Either way he was interesting. You had never seen someone with eyes that shade of blue before.
After everything is finally over, you climb back into bed again, pulling the blankets over yourself and shutting your eyes. It takes you a few moments before sleep finally weighs on you and overtakes you again without you even being aware of it until suddenly you are back where you were the night before and the memories all come back to you as the music starts up a new and more upbeat tune. You quickly look around and spot him again.
“Jonathan?”
He turns around to face you and smiles, his eyes almost seeming to light up when they meet your own as he runs over to you.
“y/a! It’s splendid to see you again! I’ve never had anyone come to visit me more than once aside from well.....I best not speak of him. You didn’t have any trouble making your way back here did you?”
You shake your head. “No. I just thought about you before I went to sleep and that was enough? I remembered a little bit after I woke up last time and I guess it was just still on my mind.”
“Well, since you’re here again could you tell me a bit about your day? I do grow curious about the world outside of where I live every now and then.”
“Not very much happened today. I just went to work and then went home to watch some TV before I went to bed.” You shrug. You wish you had more exciting things to tell Johnathan. You didn’t want your new potential dream friend to get bored with you. But there just wasn’t much you could say. When you were awake there was never anything interesting that went on. That was part of why you loved being asleep.
He tilts his head in a slight confusion though at your statement and says something that catches you off guard. “A TV?”
“You don’t know what a TV is...?”
“I do not. And I doubt that they have them where I live now.”
“Well, it’s like a tiny box that plays a story on it. Sometimes it’s a bunch of drawings put together into animation and sometimes it’s people acting the story out, kind of like a play. You know what a play is don’t you?”
“I do! I saw a lovely one before I went to sleep!”
You tried to comb through your brain to try to figure out where he might be from. It was weird for him to not know what a TV was but to know what a play was. Nowhere you knew of was like that.
You had a good time chatting with Jonathan for a little while longer before you woke up again. He kept asking you various questions about things around you and the culture you lived in, which you kept answering since it seemed to make him happy the more he learned about things in your life. He was interesting and pleasant to talk to and you really appreciated the company.
Things continued on like this for a while and you started to have better days. While there still wasn’t anything exciting going on while you were awake, it didn’t matter as much anymore. Your co workers had told you that you seemed happier than usual. That you had more energy. At one point, one of them had even asked you if you were seeing someone. Your cheeks had heated up at that and you had quickly denied it. You didn’t even know where Jonathan was when he was awake or what kind of life he had aside from the fact that he seemed to not know a lot of things. You definitely weren’t seeing him like that....right?
As you fall into the dream again at night, you approach Jonathan and offer him your hand. “I want to try something. Do you know how to dance?”
He steps over to you and takes your hand, giving you the soft smile he so often has that makes you have to smile back. “I do. And they’ve picked especially lovely music tonight haven’t they y/n?”
“They did! Can you show me how you usually do it? I’m usually the one telling you about things and I want to know more about you.”
“Of course I can. Just follow my lead and copy my movements. I might be well....a little out of practice in my dreams since I’m not used to being seen like this but I’ll give it my best.”
You start to follow along with his movements. They seem slow, but graceful. Almost as if they were built for someone with an even larger body than the one that he already has. But you manage to keep up well enough so that you aren’t stumbling over your feet or anything.
You can feel your heartbeat pick up as you are pressed up against his chest however. This is one of the best things you have ever experienced and part of you wants to just keep dancing and let it last forever. You close your eyes and lean your head against him gently.
“Jonathan.....can you come and visit me when we wake up? I want to meet you in person. I want to actually do this in the real world.”
Just like that, his movements suddenly come to a full halt and he catches you before you can fall over. There’s a new look on his face. One that you’ve never seen before. He look panicked and sad, the light in his eyes seeming to go dull for a moment.
“y/a.....I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
You feel yourself tense up at his answer.
“Why can’t you? I can pay for your plane ticket and everything. It’s the distance...right?”
He shakes his head as he looks at you, keeping his hold on you.
“It’s very hard for me to explain but well...to put it simply I cannot wake up. If I do, horrible things will happen to everyone. It’s far more important to keep those around me safe while I stay where I am.”
You can feel yourself shaking. This couldn’t be happening. You weren’t supposed to have nightmares anymore. You try to think of a way he can take back what he said. You try to make it happen, just like all of the times you’ve run into something bad, hurt yourself, or done anything else unpleasant in a dream. Usually you have the power to make it all just go away like it never happened. But when a moment passes and it doesn’t, it forces you to remember that this was never really your dream. It was his.
“You...you didn’t tell me you were in a coma! How long have you been in one? How long have you been sleeping like this?!”
You feel him set you down before he pulls you into a hug. It feels warm and comfortable. You’ve never gotten a hug like this from anyone. But the fact that you will never know what it would actually feel like makes it hurt more than it would if he was crushing you.
His voice is soft as he tries to comfort you, running his large fingers through your hair.
“It’s alright....the important thing is that I have your company. I’ve felt so alone over the years. This place tries it’s best to be comfortable for me to rest in but it’s always been empty. And you really do have a kind soul to keep seeing me here. I enjoy every moment I spend with you and I would never trade that for anything regardless of the fact that I met you in a dream.”
“Jonathan I just....want to see you. I want to hold the real you. Be with the real you. Come visit you! I...I’ll stay by your side for as long as it takes for you to wake up!”
Your eyes snap open before you can hear any kind of response and you realize that you’re still shaking by the time you get out of your bed to start getting ready for work. But you force yourself to go anyway.
Today doesn’t have the same bright energy that your days have usually had since you met Jonathan. Instead, you feel like there is a heavy weight on you that you can’t put down. You don’t know enough to follow through on your promise. You don’t know where he lives. You don’t know his last name. You don’t even know what country he’s from.
You have no way to see him. You have no way to help him.
By the time you get done with work and start the walk home, you aren’t even sure if you want to sleep again tonight. Not when you would have to face him like this. But you also didn’t want to avoid him. Part of you just craved being with him like a man in the desert needs water.
You were so lost in your thoughts that you barely noticed when you bumped into the tall man in front of you. For a split second you find the form familiar and almost stumble backwards. But when you look at his face, it becomes clear that the blond man is definitely not Jonathan. His face is beautiful, but you can detect something else behind it that you can’t fully place. Not only that, but he is covered head to toe in flashy expensive but tacky looking gold jewelry that you are pretty sure Johnathan would never be caught dead wearing.
“Are you alright? You really should watch where you’re going. Anyway, I happen to be Johnathan’s brother. And I’ve come to offer you my assistance.”
So many things hit you when he spoke. You had no idea Jonathan had a brother. He had never said anything about his family though, so it wasn’t out of the question. How did he know who you were though? There was no way Jonathan could have told him if he wasn’t even awake.
He chuckles at your confusion and you swear you can catch a glint of amusement in his eyes, almost as if he’s aware of what you’re thinking. “You are not the only one who has dreams. Now come along. I can take you to him right this moment.”
Something in you seems to reignite and you smile at the man. “Thank you! It means a lot to me! You must be a really good brother to Jonathan!”
He offers his hand to you and you quickly take it. “Of course. What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t bring the person he cares for right to him?”
There is something off about the tone in his voice with the last thing he said, making it almost seem sarcastic. But you don’t really get much time to think about it before suddenly the world around you is spinning. It’s almost as if all of the light and scenery is draining around you like paint spilling down a canvas in the rain that was caught on camera and sped up.
Eventually though, you find yourself somewhere else. You feel dizzy, almost like throwing up. Whatever process had been used to bring you here was something that felt like it was wrong to do to your body. Like it wasn’t meant to twist at so many angles all at once or something.
You weakly let go of the man’s hand and look around. This place is like nothing you have ever seen before. There is music being played, but the things playing them are far from human. In fact, they are far from anything you can put into words. They have body parts that don’t look real and that seem to just change into new shapes in dimensions you weren’t aware existed until now. The instruments vaguely resemble ones you know, but they are alien and pulsing, almost as alive as the musicians themselves.
And around them is darkness, but instead of the kind you find in your room at night it feels more like a picture you saw once where someone tried to artificially create the deepest shade of black. And again, you can feel it pulsing. Twisting into different places in space. As you try to stand on shaky legs, there is only one thing you can say.
“Jonathan...? Where are you?” You feel his brother’s hand on your shoulder, guiding you to finally turn around.
And then you see it. You aren���t sure what it is. The moment your eyes take it in, you stop being able to process anything anymore and you only vaguely feel your body hitting the ground.
When you wake up, there is something warm holding you and you can feel some kind of liquid dripping unto you. Your eyes flutter open and the first thing you see is Jonathan’s face, looking down at you. His eyes are watery and he’s shaking like a leaf. You realize he must have been crying and without thinking, you pull him into a comforting hug where you are both sitting.
“It’s fine Jonathan. I’m alright. I’m just sleeping right now.”
He shakes his head slowly and pulls you closer. “No y/n.....I’m afraid you aren’t just asleep. You weren’t supposed to be there. You were never supposed to visit me. My court is a lovely place for me to rest, but it just wasn’t built for humans. And I suppose....neither was I. At least not in my truest form. What this means y/n is that you’ll have no way to regain consciousness ever again. The musicians are kind and would never harm you, but you’ll be trapped there until the end of everything. And there is nothing I can do to rescue you from this fate.”
Everything finally comes back to you. Or at least, what you can manage to piece together. Parts of it are still fuzzy in your brain. Did his brother really bring you there? Was that person even his brother?
You turn your attention back to Jonathan and notice that he’s trying to stop himself from crying a second time. Instead, you just run your hand over his back.
“It’s ok Jonathan. I only went with him because I was trying to find you. And I think I finally did. I’ll make sure you’re never alone in here again.”
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angelisverba · 4 years
Text
come out, come out wherever you are
in which y/n agrees to do something really stupid, and harry is a bit of a shit
word count: 5k
pairing: vampire!h and y/n (different au from my other vamp!h fics, though)
warnings: drug use, mentions of drinking and alcohol, mentions of blood (duh, he’s a vampire). 
author’s note: okay so i know that i put vampire!h in the pairing, but this h is a wierd succubus x demon x vampire mix where he can feed off the emotions he wants to?? i’ll explain it in the story. enjoy your reading :)
She shouldn’t have agreed to play hide and seek in a cornfield.
At night.
During a full moon. 
On Halloween.
Y/n’s logic always disappeared when she was… under the influence. Whether that be with alcohol or other sorts of… fun substances. That was not to say that she was an alcoholic, or a drug addict, she just… hated to be a party popper. When her roommate invited her to college parties, she didn’t say no to the red solo cup because she knew that some way or another, she would end up giving in by the end of the night. Or when it was just her and her closest friends passing around  a freshly rolled joint, she didn’t say no because she didn’t want to be the odd one out.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that she enjoyed it… most of the time. 
This? This was not one of those times.
*    *    *    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Josephine, her roommate, had barged into her room with a smile over her lips as the brightness of her phone lit up her face from the bottom up, casting spooky shadows since y/n’s room was dark and she was falling asleep. 
“Y/n, look!” She said, turning the phone so beams that felt like they came from hell illuminated y/n’s pinched face, marks from her pillow decorating the place above her lip. She mumbled something, and Josephine kept speaking, “Travis just sent me an invitation to one of the frat’s Halloween parties! Come with me, it’s gonna be so much fun!”
And to get her to leave her room, she agreed. She must have, because the next morning as she was getting ready for her 10 a.m. literature class, she was bombarded with a series of costume ideas and questions about what was considered cheesy or overdone. Josephine had made it clear that it was okay that they didn’t match, especially because of their differences in clothing choices. Jo was more risqué, and y/n liked to dress in what she felt comfortable in. 
It didn’t take her a long time to figure out what she was going to go as for Halloween. That same morning, just before she walked into class, y/n stopped to stare at a framed art print in the hallway. 
La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats was a poem that she knew by heart, and the painting was one that she could get lost in for hours. Stopping to stare at it before walking into class was not an unusual occurrence for her, but that time an idea came to her, almost like it was written in the long locks of her red hair. 
Y/n would go as a Victorian princess. The dresses had always fascinated her, with the intricate lace details and elegant rippled of muslin fabric that flounced in a puff around the hips of Countess, or trailed behind the average cottage girl as she frolicked in fields full of daisies. She could picture it in her mind, and it made her giddy to know that there was a possibility she could look as pretty as one of the poet’s muses. She spent the entirety of the class switching from writing notes to browsing the five pages worth of gowns on Amazon, looking for something pretty yet within her price range. 
By the end of the period she’d had what she wanted in her cart. A baby-blue wisp of a dress with intricate lace detailing at the neckline that curved like the top-hald of a heart to cup her breasts. The sleeves bunched around her arms mid-bicep, and scrunched again around her wrists, the transparent fabric looking as if her arms were wrapped in the sky. Built in ribbing created a corset that added an extra curve to her waist to make way for the heaps of fabric that exploded from her hips and cascaded down to the floor like the foaming spray of a waterfall. 
It fit like a dream. When it arrived a few days before the party she dropped everything she was doing to try it on. The moment Josephine patted her shoulder to tell her that she was finished zipping up the back, y/n twirled around in the limited space of their dorm room to see herself in the narrow mirror at the end of her bed. 
Every penny she had spent on it was worth it. Sure, it was snug around the bust and refrained her lungs from expanding the extra millimeter they needed, but it made her feel… nice. Pretty. She liked the way it cinched her waist, how her wrists looked dainty covered in the lacy ends of the sleeves, and the way her breasts looked… accentuated by the frilly detail. 
Jo had squealed once she had a full look at her friend, and wouldn’t stop talking about how good they were going to look walking in together. She was going as Cat-Woman, complete with the latex suit, boots, mask, and all. She looked every bit as fantastic as y/n, only on opposite ends of the Halloween costume spectrum. 
Building up to the day of the party, the pair talked make-up and hair details, both of which Josephine would be taking care of because she was better at them. At one point, y/n thinks she even dreamt about making a grand-entrance, boys and girls gawking at how amazing she looked, and the most handsome guy stepping forth to profess his undying love for her. 
Which wasn't really how it went the night of, but she attained the same satisfaction. 
The party was located a little ways away from the city, at a plantation-style frat house in-front of a huge cornfield. Carved pumpkins with candles illuminating them from the inside out lined the pathway up to the front-doors, the trees nearby created crunchy pathways of orange and yellow leaves, and the moon was out; yawning tiredly, but glowing an eerie yellow color over the scene. 
It looked like the opening scene of a horror film. 
Y/n did receive a lot of stares, though. Most of them were from guys whose beady little eyes pointed straight to her chest, and the ones she got from girls were on the nastier side of envy. She could tell. But, oddly enough, she liked the attention. 
Josephine y/n’s hand and led her through the mass of costumed-bodies. There was a variety of ‘sexy’ professions (the usual: nurses, cops, cowgirls, and school girls) and those that come from fandoms (Hogwarts’s students, Eleven from Stranger Things, Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction, multiple heroes from the Avengers) or those that came for shits and giggles (T-rex blow-up costumes with tiny hands, Joe Exotic, sumo-wrestlers, those things that sway outside car-dealerships, and even a Trojan condom packet). There was a lot to see, and honestly, it was beginning to overwhelm y/n.
Not only was it slightly disorienting to see everyone disguised, the interior itself was something to look at. Chandeliers and velvet sofas, gold lamps and fancy carpets and curtains. The epitome of privilege. She felt trampled, every once a while there was a tug on the ends of her dress. 
“How about a shot to start off the night, y/n?” Josephine asked her, hooking a latex coated arm around hers. The music was a rumble on the backs of their heads, shaking them through and through as some nameless rapper sang of drugs, sex, and money. What it always came down to. 
She agreed, and took the plastic shot cup. On normal nights, she would’ve usually required some type of coaxing, but not then. Y/n was almost looking for the hangover the next morning. She wanted fun. 
Three shots later and her fingers were dragging in front of her face. Her knees were wobbly and cheeks tinged with spirits. Everything was funny and if you asked her what two plus two was she’d tell you five. There was a new swagger in her step, and some might say that was the influenced hand-eye coordination, but to her it was newfound confidence. She felt good, she looked good, and she was having a damn good time. Laughing, making the best conversation she’d ever made, and when Jo suggested they go dance, she danced the best she’d ever had.
And sure, she was drunk out of her mind. A light weight. Everything was under a glamourized rose filter. It only made sense that the crowd parted like the Red Sea at God’s feet. 
Y/n’s lungs stopped working the moment her eyes locked with his. 
He was her counterpart. Literally. 
Dressed in a navy blue Victorian prince’s suit decked in gold trim and gold medals pinned to the breast. The tan pants that hugged his muscular thighs like they were made just for him, and his hair was slicked back. Jaw a sharp, smug line that worked as he popped a piece of pink bubblegum between his molars. A gleam of appreciation sparking in the forest of his eyes as they raked a path on her figure.  
It was like the work around them stopped, put on pause by some higher power so they could relish the moment of their discovery. What was that shit called? Divine Intervention? The millisecond before and after and between the time Eve’s teeth sunk into the taught skin of that forbidden red apple, and the snake’s tongue slithered out to see her. He was a stranger to y/n, but it seemed as if the feeling he stirred deep in the core of her being was one she’d always known, one from a past life. Besides her, Jo stopped doing whatever lucrative dance she was doing to see what had caught her friend’s attention. Y/n stood, tongue dry, feet glued to the ground as the handsome stranger approached her, a clear path in front of him. 
Then, he takes one step  forward and whatever conversation he had been involved with before was no longer of importance. Besides her, Jo stopped doing whatever lucrative dance she was doing to see what had caught her friend’s attention. Y/n stood, tongue dry, feet glued to the ground as the handsome stranger approached her, a clear path in front of him. 
“Oh,” Jo huffed in her ear, “he’s hot.”
“I-Is he?...” Y/n’s question died on her tongue.
“Coming right for you, girl. Good luck,” Jo pressed a kiss to her cheek and disappeared in the crowd. 
The stranger stops closer than she would have thought him to; a finger away from her nose, and when he spoke, she could feel the vibrations of his speech through her breasts where they nearly grazed his chest. 
“I don’t believe we’ve ever met before... princess?” His voice is deep, raspy and filled with grooves like the bark on a tree. He mocks a bow (given their costumes) and their nose touch before he straightens again. Up close, y/n can see the flecks of gold in his eyes, and she hopes her mouth doesn’t stink (it probably does, given the alcohol she’d had). A chilled palm grips her bicep, and the fabric of her sleeve sinks under his touch, “Would you like to get off this shitty dance floor and speak somewhere else?” He asks her. 
Her heart is pounding and she wonders if he can hear it because she certainly can, rushing in a taunting, roaring stream past her eardrums. Y/n nodded her agreement; yes, she did want to speak with him. A thrum of warmth comes from where he holds her, and he tugs her so that she’s standing in front of him, her back touching his chest as he pushes her through the crowd. 
Her fingers shake as she lifts the fabric of her dress to avoid tripping, and her saliva goes thick. Not because of what might happen, but because the man who ripped her bicep tenderly, like she was made of the most fragile china, was the most good-looking man she had ever seen. Her mind ran images of things to compare him to, and almost all of them were of the Greek statues put up in museums for all to admire. 
He leads her past the crowd and the kitchen where everyone was making drinks, past the wrap around stairs on the inside of the house, and even past the calmer sitting areas where couples were making out or groups of friends passed a smoking joint. He leads her right through the open back doors of the house so they faced the seemingly endless cornfield and the barn that was a speck behind it. The deck was less populated than the couches where kids smoked weed, but y/n guessed that it wasn’t to his liking because instead of turning off to the side so they could have a much less strained… conversation, he continued to walk- this time standing beside her instead of behind her. 
Grass crunched under their feet as they got closer to the stalks of corn. Confused, y/n spared a glance to what she was leaving, and then to him. He stared straight ahead, but she caught his eyes flickering in her direction, and a smirk quirking cockily on his lips before they returned to the yawning face of the moon. 
There was a short wooden fence separating the house from the cornfield that reached her hip, and he stopped there. 
“Finally,” he sighed, “Some peace and quiet.” He makes a gesture to the fence, and pops his gum. 
Dizzied, the tequila still in her head, she watches his tongue gather the gum back into his mouth, his lips shining with his own spit. Y/n doesn’t register that the movement towards the fence was his way of telling her to take a seat on the wooden bars. 
“C’mere,” he murmured. Placing his hands on her waist, he lifted her up so she could sit on the wooden fence, and her hands went to his wrists instinctively, trying to keep herself steady. 
Suddenly out of breath, her eyes shot straight up to his. There’s no way he can’t hear my heart right now, she thinks. He’s so close to her, his breath on her face. He smelled like pink bubblegum, cologne, and a liquor much more sophisticated than what she had to drink. His eyes held the same spell that she felt she was under. 
“What’s your name?” He asked, his hands still on her waist. He didn’t look like he was in a rush to step away from her, and that was okay because she didn’t want him to. 
“Y/n,” she whispered. It was physically impossible to raise her voice any louder. The stupid corset was making it harder for her to breathe, along with the added pressure of being in his presence. “You?”
“Prince Harry, at your service,” he smiled then, and y/n got a glimpse of shockingly sharp canines. They had to be fake. Longer than most in length, and she swore she saw one of those cartoonish-diamond glitter at the knife-like tips of his teeth. 
She pointed to his mouth and said, “Are you a vampire prince?”
He looked at her strangely, his brows furrowing and his tongue running along the inside of his cheeks. Then, he laughed. “Something like that.” 
“I-” She was gonna say something along the lines of ‘I think you’re a very good looking vampire prince’ until he cut her off.
“How about we play a game?” One of his hands lifted from her waist, and she let go to steady herself by grabbing onto the plant. Y/n hoped that her dress wasn’t getting dirty, but the moment that Harry brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear it flew out the window. 
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into his touch like a purring kitten. She blamed her blatant carelessness on the alcohol. “A game?”
“Yes, y/n. A game,” he muttered, watching the way her eyes twitched under her eyelids. 
“Which game?” Her eyes fluttered open again, and her breasts pushed against the corset as she took a deep breath, “I thought you wanted to talk?”
“Oh,”he glanced down, to her lips and for half a second, to the repressed mounds of her tits,  “I promise the conversation is going to be much more interesting after a game of hide and seek.” 
“Where would we even play t-that?”
“Right,” he pinched her chin with two fingers so that her lips smushed together, and gently tilted her head towards the field of corn. “There.” 
That’s how she found herself, running for her life in the middle of a corn maze, at night, on Halloween. 
What had started off as her giggling and running had soon into a panting, scared-shit-less run for no reason. Maybe it was because she just couldn’t get Harry off of her tail, or maybe it was that she was running with no direction into a cornfield she was sure was lost in. Maybe it was a combination of all those things. 
Harry yelled, “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” and it only made her want to cry. 
It was strange, really. Y/n didn’t know where this fear was coming from, it started out with them actually having fun, the tips of his fingers tugging at the fabric of the skirt before he let her run a bit, calling out how he was going to get her, how he was gonna catch the princess and she was giggling, turning to see him disappear when she turned. 
Then he went quiet. The footsteps stopped. And his tone of voice dropped to something much more… sinister. 
“Come out, little one,” he said, a clear whisper poured directly into her ear. 
Y/n turned, and she felt him getting closer so she tried to run faster. But she was getting so, so tired, and it felt like she couldn’t get any air into her lungs. All she knew then was the moon, with her tired face, and the intimidating, tall stalks of corn. 
Harry supposes that he’s doing her a favor. A lot of people wish they could run through a field wearing a dress like the one y/n has on. He was a bit of a shit, sure, setting her up for failure given he had abilities that she did not possess, but, he knew just as he knew the sky is blue- that she liked and wanted to walk into the corn field. Now, it wasn’t because Harry happens to be really good at reading people, no.
As an empath- one of the terms in the fine print of the being he was- he was able to connect into the funnel between her veins, the curved out thrum of what she was feeling. The witches he knew compared it to reading an aura, but it was much more than that. There was no need for interpretation of colors because it was like he was her, feeling what she was feeling. And she liked it.
Up until, of course, he switched up his game. 
After a few minutes of running around and playing with her like she was a mouse, Harry decided that he wanted to scare her. He wanted to give her a taste of himself. He wanted her to be scared- to not like him. Because he was something that shouldn’t be liked. It was a sick thing, really, that he happened to be so good looking when he was a literal monster. Harry fucking drank human blood. He wasn’t something that should be thought of as Greek statues. 
The part of him that remained human throughout the years felt bad for doing this to her. But, he had to. It made him feel better when he sunk his teeth into a victim’s skin. Almost like… he’d warned them, and it was their fault that they hadn’t taken the signal.
A scarecrow loomed overhead, and her lungs were running out of air, so he decided to go ahead and make his final jump on her. 
When y/n broke through the final turn to reach the very small clearing in the center of the field where a scarecrow stood in between a few bales of hay, she felt his breath at the back of her throat, and her knees buckled. 
She’d never really been much a screamer during a jump scare. Instead, she sucked her breath in, really loud and sudden, and because she was having such a hard time breathing, that instinctually breath caused black dots to litter her vision and suddenly those weak knees contributed to a faint. 
Harry caught her, and picked her up, huffing a small laugh to himself as he laid her across the piles of hay. 
She really was a sight to see. Flushed, hair a mess from all her running. Her lips were dewy and her waterline was agitated, he could see the moisture in the place where her eyelashes sprouted. 
With a few pats to the cheek, her eyes fluttered open, he was still hovering over her. Harry did not make a move to scoot back. 
“You’re awake, princess,” he said, smirking.
Y/n blinked, her eyes wide, and… gasped when Harry pressed a kiss to her cheek. His lips were cool against her heated cheek, and the curved ends of his slicked back hair tickled her chin. 
“You chased me,” she gulped, “for a long time.”
“Yes, I did. And you liked it. Didn’t you, little one?” He allowed the tip of his nose to follow the line of her jaw, testing the waters. She liked it, he could feel the shudders it sent to her heart in his bones. 
“I did.” Her eyes furrowed at her own admission. Why was she being so carefree? Why was she allowing herself to continue to stay in this cornfield? What was stopping her from questioning further what the fuck was going on? Her attraction, and his implied interest, that’s what.
Harry’s tongue slipped out of his mouth, and licked at her jaw before he placed another kiss to it, “Good. What do you say we have some more fun?” “What kind of fun?” Her head titled, and he was given direct access to what he wanted. Her neck. The column of her throat was pulsing with the beat of her heart, and the veins he could almost taste criss-crossed beneath her skin. 
“Fun is fun, pet. But if you must know, the kind of fun I’m talking about involves a lot of mouth to mouth,” He moved so his face was directly in front of hers again, and his palm gripped her waist beneath him. Unconscioslu, her legs parted and Harry had more space to slide both of his thighs between hers, one of his knees resting on the bales of hay she rested on. 
Y/n was no longer worried about the state of her dress, but rather, where his mouth would land, and where she would put her hands. Her eyes bounced between his, but they struggled to remain still under his intense hold. “O-okay. I’d like that.” 
“The prettiest princess I’ve ever seen,” he mumbled into the hollow underneath her jaw. And it was true. He’d seen a lot of royalty all throughout his wretched life, and none of them had been as pretty as she was. He felt a shiver of arousal go through her at the same time the air came fresh into his lungs, and it felt like he was going to explode from the inside out. 
“I think you’re the most handsome prince I’ve ever seen.” 
Y/n wanted to slap a hand over her mouth the moment those words left her lips, but Harry only chuckled and the vibrations felt heavenly against her skin. 
“You've been seeing other princes’, little one?” Harry teased, his mouth tracing their words against her lips. He pressed forward and kissed her; just a peck, testing. Again, she liked it. 
“No, just you,” she shivered. Her words were coming out in pants now. The fabri of her dress was too thick and too abundant to allow for any frisky actions, but his mouth was enough. One of his fingers was running over the tops of her breasts. Her mouth opened, she wanted more. Harry tasted of pink bubble gum. She wondered where it went. 
He chuckled and kissed her once more. “Then how do you know you know I’m the most handsome?” 
“I just do,” she said, arching into his touch. His finger was hooking into her sleeve, and he let it snap into her skin. 
“You do?” He licked her bottom hip, and she whined. This game, whatever it was, she wanted it to be over. It was too much for her to handle. 
“Yeah,” y/n said in a dreamy, far-off voice. “I mean, yes. Yes.”
Harry relished in what she felt, and soon enough, his cock twitched in his trousers. He never let himself become… involved in his meals emotions, but it was different with her. She was tender, and sweet. Willing and not a nuisance that he drowned out before biting. 
“Am I handsome enough... for you to let me bite you?” And that was another thing. 
Harry never asked for permission. Y/n was drunk enough that she’d wake up the next morning and think that he was just some kinky dude who’d left a sick hickey on her throat, as all of his ���victims’ were, but still. Harry had asked for permission. 
“Bite me?” She was confused, head fuzzy with the same feeling that was heating in her groin. The lacy knickers she wore were probably soaked through. The bale on her bum was beginning to hurt. 
“Yes, princess. Bite, right,” he licked a stripe right where her pulse was the strongest to accentuate his intentions. “Here.”
“Okay, Harry.” 
He was handsome. And she was horny (with a mix of other things), she didn’t see a reason to say no. 
“Thank you, pet.” 
It was the same as it always was. Harry nuzzled into the spot, sniffing like a dog meeting a new friend, and with no preamble, he bit into her. The tips of his teeth pierced her flesh, and he allowed them to retract once the blood started to flow. When the first drop touched his tongue, he groaned. She was good, one of the best he’d ever had, and the heady flavor was just as sweet as she was. He was so caught up in his own satisfaction that he didn’t notice the moment her hands bunched the fabric of his suit from the late 1700s into fists, or her body going tense before he slowly relaxed, her heartbeat an irregular mix as she decided whether or not she should be panicking. 
But, he knew that she continued to enjoy what she was doing. 
“H-harry, I-”  She went limp in his arms, and the small squeak that left her mouth was the mermaid’s song that enchanted Harry. 
He knew this wouldn’t be the last time he’d see her again. 
*     *      *    *    *   *   *   *    *   *   *    *   *    *   *
hi! happy halloween babies! or better yet, happy harryween! i hope you enjoyed this peice, it was for sure out of my comfort zone and something new for me. if you haven’t yet, please check out my fanfic on wattpad in which harry owns a more aesthetic version of playboy mag. you can read it here.
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uglypastels · 4 years
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To the Beat // drummer!Tom 2/2
(a/n) and, as promised, here’s part 2! again big thanks to @duskholland and @captainpeggy40 <333 but a quick reminder, that i don’t often write smut, i don’t really know shit about writing smut so i actually had no business doing it... but i did it. so enjoy :) just, if its bad, don’t come for me
word count: 9117 words of filth tbh
warning: SMUT, i don’t even know what to specify. just.. 18+ okay but also, some fluff and humor cause i live by that
Please reblog if you liked it so more people can see it <3 and if you want to see more of this au, send an ask or dm <3
Read part 1 here <---> extra headcanons here
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“It looks good on you,” he commented when you met at the door. 
“Thanks,” there was the heat up your cheeks again. “And thank you for everything else, I had a really great night.” you were about to take the hat off to give it back, but he stopped you.
“It doesn’t have to end here, darling.” He said softly. For a second, it felt like your heart had stopped altogether. How you hoped he would say that, and then he did. 
“What do you want to do?” 
“I live a block away. We can- I don’t really know what we can do, to be honest.” He admitted, making both of you laugh. 
“Your place sounds good,” and you stepped aside for him to lead the way. Tom opened the door but almost stopped when he saw it was raining. And it was raining hard. It had escalated from the moment you had looked out the window. Then you realised he didn’t have a jacket and was only wearing that tank top. 
“I would offer you my jacket,” you said, “but I don’t think you would fit it… and I don’t have one.” You came to realise like the genius you were.
“I guess we’ll have to run for it, then.” He held out his hand. You didn’t even hesitate and grabbed it. Clutching on to the shirt and CD, you ran alongside Tom, across the street and then following it to the next right. It wasn’t really a run, but definitely a trot. The rain poured down on you, quickly soaking through all your clothes. By the time you had reached the door of his apartment building, your hair was sticking to your face, and you both looked like drenched cats. Tom grabbed his keys and unlocked the door as quickly as possible, letting you go first. 
You leaned against the wall and let your breathing calm down. He did the same against the door. There was a second of silence before you started laughing. What was so funny? Neither of you knew. It just felt nice and like the right thing to do after running through the rain like idiots. Oh, so that’s what was so funny.
“Right, this way,” he pointed up the stairs. “I would suggest the elevator, but it hasn’t worked in like five years, I think.” 
“Stairs are fine,” you said, already walking up. 
“Wait until the fourth floor. Cause I’m not carrying you.” He joked, and you giggled, putting away the thought of him holding you in his arms and carrying you up the stairs into his home… and kissing you… throwing you onto the bed… FOCUS! 
“Woah!” you almost missed a step, but luckily Tom caught you just in time. 
“You okay there?” 
“Yeah, just a bit slippery,” you tried to excuse your clumsiness, hoping that the fact that you were soaked from top to bottom would help. It did. Still laughing at you though, Tom helped you up and from then on you walked side by side. All the way up to the sixth floor. As exhausted as you were, you tried to play it off cool. 
“Here we are.” He tapped on the door with his whole palm, and for a second you thought someone would open, but then he pulled out his keys again. A moment later you were walking into the flat. You couldn’t see much in the dark, but Tom quickly turned on the lights. It was a nice looking place—big living room with an attached kitchen. On one side there were two doors, which you assumed were his bedroom and bathroom. It was clean, but here and there some items were misplaced or left behind, making known that there was indeed a person living here. 
On the wall closest to the entrance, you noticed pictures hanging. Most were of Tom and his friends and family. One stood out to you. It was an adorable little dog, smiling at the camera. When you looked over to the living room again, you noticed a red dog bed next to the couch with a bunch of squeaky toys. 
“You have a dog?” you asked, already excited to see a puppy. 
“Yeah, she’s called Tessa, but she’s staying with my parents and other brothers for the weekend since I would be out of the house for most of the time.” 
“Ah yeah, that makes sense-” you had been looking around, not paying too much attention to Tom himself in all honesty. But then you had turned around and froze. There was Tom. Shirtless. He looked at you, slightly concerned and confused as to why you looked like that. You just had no idea what to respond with. There he was… six-pack and- and everything, in all its glory. His arms were still shining from the rain. Was this actually real? 
You hadn’t noticed it before, but without the shirt, you saw how he had been wearing a necklace. A thin silver chain with some sort of charm on it that from a distance looked like a coin. He had been in the middle of fixing it when you turned around. So, there was that flexed arm to add to the things that broke your mind momentarily. 
Tom stared at you, looked down at himself, then back at you. He was about to look behind himself, probably to check if there was something wrong, but then realised. 
“Oh..OH. Shit.”
You were still speechless. 
“See, I did not think this through. I was just gonna change my shirt.” He showed you the wet piece of cloth that was once his loose tank top. “Do you want something to wear? I don’t want you to catch a cold.” Now that you mentioned it, you were starting to shiver. 
Your throat dry, you tried to mutter out, “uhh, yes. Thank you.” He nodded, walked past you and disappeared into the room you suspected to be the bedroom. He was gone for a bit, but when he came back, he was already changed. You had to hide your disappointment that he had put on a shirt, but the grey sweatpants made up for it in a way. Fuck. 
“Here,” he handed you some clothes. “It’s probably not the best outfit, but it should keep you warm.” 
“Thank you.” you grabbed the clothes from him. “Can I change in there?” 
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” He got out of the way, but you only took a step before he repeated something. “Do you want anything to drink?” 
“Uhm, sure. Tea?” 
“Coming right up.” and he went off to the kitchen to set the kettle. You walked, uninterrupted, to the other room. It was, like assumed, the bedroom with not much there except for a closet and a large bed. It did look really comfortable though. And made up. You wished your bedroom looked this clean. 
You took off your wet clothes, which was quite the challenge since it all stuck to your skin and your jeans wouldn’t budge from their place. The clothes Tom had provided were some shorts that seemed like he used for training or whatever exercise he did and a sweater. You had wanted to wear your new Winter Solstice t-shirt but, of course, that had soaked through as well. So, you put on the sweater and knew immediately that that was the better choice. It was soft and warm. Plus, the idea of wearing his clothes was also touching to the heart. 
You walked out of the room as Tom was pouring the boiling water into two mugs. He looked over at you with a smile.
“How do you take it?” He was opening the fridge, ready to take out the milk. 
“Honey and lemon, but it’s fine if you don’t have that.” you quickly added. 
“Please, you’re talking to the tea expert here.” He took out a bottle of lemon juice, the same out you always buy you noticed, and a jar of honey from the cupboard. As he did that, you looked around some more in the room. The large leather couch was definitely the centre point of the room, with the large tv in front of it, accompanied by a PlayStation. There was a bookcase filled with… well, books, but also CD’s, records and different little things between them. You looked around, hoping to find a drum set somewhere, but there was none. Which made sense. You didn’t expect the neighbours to be too fond of drumming as a pastime hobby. 
“We practice at Harrison’s place. He soundproofed his place.” Tom explained, seeing how you were looking around cluelessly. He handed you your cup as you both sat down on the couch. Fearing for your tongue, you carefully took the first sip, but it was surprisingly pleasant. He must have poured in some cold water to cool it down, just the right amount too. As soon as the tea got into your system, you felt the warmth go through your entire body. It was absolutely fantastic.
Still, you had to admit, it was a strange situation. Never would you have imagined to go to a concert and then, later on, go out for a late-night meal with the drummer, and now to be drinking tea on his couch. 
“You don’t do this often, do you?” You quizzed. Tom looked up from his mug. 
“Do what?” 
“This. Take a girl out to eat, bring her home, undress in front of her… make her tea.” you elaborated on your question. 
“The tea making, yeah, that’s new.” He sipped his tea with a slurp. 
“Well, I’m glad to be the first then.” You knew he had meant it jokingly, so why not just go along with it? 
You drank your tea together in silence. It all had this strange domestic feeling that was very nice, but by far not what you thought would be doing with Tom that night. But eventually, the tea had been drunk. You were sitting on opposite ends of the sofa. At one point you had put your legs on top of his. You could see that he was thinking about something. 
“Penny for your thoughts?” you asked. He had been staring at the coffee table, mumbling the Flintstones theme song to himself and tapping his fingers along to the melody on your leg. You had clearly pulled him out of a trance. 
“Do you wanna dance?” 
“What?” 
“Sorry, I was just thinking, we can sit here the whole night until we fall asleep, or we can put on some music and dance. Just a suggestion.” He was full of surprises, this guy. 
“Yeah, sure.” You got up and pulled him by the hands to follow you. “Sounds fun. Pick a song” You thought he would just get out his phone and get a Bluetooth speaker, but boy were you wrong. He moved over to the bookcase with his music collection. You tried to look over his shoulder at what record he had picked, but he pulled it out of the sleeve quickly and put it under the needle of the record player. 
As the needle scratched between songs, he walked back to you. The music that he picked was slow, and it felt perfect for the moment as he took your hand in his and let the other softly touch your side. You weren’t the most excellent dancer but knew enough that you had to put your free arm on his shoulder. 
The two of you moved around the room slowly, to the beat of the song. You put your head on his chest and could hear his heart beating along, well a bit faster. You could see his necklace poking out from underneath his shirt, so you let go of his shoulder to pull it out. 
“It’s nice,” you smiled, a bit dazed, playing with the charm between your fingers. You could hear him chuckle a thank you. 
The song was new to you. It was a simple melody, the singing was soft and intimate. As you spun around in Tom’s arms, it felt like the words were speaking to you directly. What was it again? You couldn’t remember exactly. Feeling him so close next to you, everything else was just a blur. Just like when he sang- 
“Wait, is this you?” you looked up at him. He just smiled. 
“Oh my god, it is!” Way to ruin the moment, but the song had already ended, and it was the only one on that side of the small record. “You guys have records?”
“We got ourselves an EP copy each,” he explained, scratching the back of his head. “I hoped you would like it.” 
“I- I do.” 
You looked into his eyes, trying- hoping- to see what he was thinking. They were flickering golden brown in the soft and warm light of the room. Then you saw it. That one sign you were looking for. It was just a fracture of a second. If you had blinked, you were sure you would have missed it. But you did see it. You saw how his eyes quivered down to your lips and back up to meet your eyes again. 
He held your hand in his, the other was on your waist. He pulled you in closer—your chest against his. You could feel how shaky his breath was against your cheek. You lost your battle with self-control as you dared to glance down at his lips. They looked so soft. So inviting. 
And you took that invitation gladly. Pressing your lips against his. He stumbled back a step, not expecting the push. He let go of your hand so he could hold you firmly against his chest. In the meantime, your hands wandered off to his hair. It was still wet from the rain, making it easier for you to comb through it. The kiss itself intensified with each lasting second. 
A sound escaped you as he grabbed onto your leg, just to drag you off to the couch. He sat, giving you easy access to sit on his lap. You sat down with great pleasure. 
If the air wasn’t such a necessity in life, it would have been likely you would have never pulled away, but alas. You parted your lips just enough to stop your lungs from burning. Tom took that moment to brush off a strand of hair behind your ear. A classic little move but you fell for it immediately. The feeling of his fingers against your skin. It felt sinful. It was only your cheek. Just thinking about his touch all over your body gave you that rush to kiss him again. 
As he kept on holding your waist with one hand, the other made its way to your thigh, squeezing it gently. That little gesture made you jump up. Unplanned, was the friction between your and his hips. You couldn’t hear it, but you felt him hold back the moan. 
“Fuck, don’t hold it in,” as frustrating it was to pull away, it had to be said. “Please,” you panted. 
“Whatever you want, baby.” He leaned in to kiss you again, but this time he went lower down to your jawline. You held on to the back of his head and shoulder for support as he kissed and nipped at your skin, moving down to your neck. 
Your body was starting to feel hotter and hotter. The once so comfortable sweater was just an inconvenient restriction at this point. And Tom felt that too. To your disappointment, his hands left your body to tug at the hem of the sweater. Before taking it off, however, he looked you in the eyes. 
“You sure about this?” 
“Yes,” you breathed out. 
“But, if you ever wanna stop, just tell me, okay?” 
“Yes.” How he managed to form full sentences, that was a mystery. You put your arms up, letting Tom take off the sweater. He threw it over the edge of the couch. Not a second later, your lips were together once again. Even though it only had been a minute, two max, it felt like an eternity that you had to get through to touch him again. 
His fingers moved slowly over your body. Every inch he moved, followed with a burning sensation as if he was on fire. Burning you gradually, in the best way possible. One thing just felt off. So, you tugged at his shirt. 
“I’m not doing all the work, babe,” he said with a grin. You rolled your eyes at his comment, but it wasn’t as if you really minded undressing him. You grabbed the shirt and slowly pulled it up to his chest. One by one, his muscles showed themselves, and you had to control the urges that started building up in the pit of your stomach. You pulled the shirt. Tom already had his arms up, ready to get the fabric off. If only he knew about your plan that started forming in your head.
The hem of the shirt just touched his lip when you put it in his mouth. He was about to spit it out, but you stopped him. 
“Just wait, okay.” He kissed his cheek sweetly, making him roll his eyes at you. As slowly as possible, you slid off his lap. He wanted to make a grab at your hips, but you pushed his hands off… with difficulty, cause fuck, if it didn’t feel right to have him touch you. 
The only way to let him leave you alone was intertwining your fingers, and letting your hands fall to his sides. He saw how you planted your feet on the ground so to make it easier for the both of you he spread his legs. It was a golden sight. With a big smile on your face, you leaned in, kissing his chest. It immediately received the reaction you hoped for. With the fabric in his mouth, Tom groaned softly, but still very audibly in the quiet room. When you looked up, you saw him tugging at the shirt as he tried to pull his head up, tensing his jaw. He could have just spit it out if he really wanted it gone… but he didn’t. 
Thought it safe, you let go of his hands. They stayed in place next to his thighs. You moved closer to him to continue the feather-light kisses along his smooth skin. With each touch, his chest heaved in deep and heavy inhaled. You kept going. Kiss after kiss, moving lower and lower. You couldn’t help it but lick down that line of his abs, across that gorgeous tummy of his. And it was good too, rewarded with a beautiful growl from Tom. You could have said it was the best thing you had heard that night, but you had listened to a lot of good things that night… and who knew what was still to come. 
You left one last kiss below his belly button, exactly to meet the elastic band of his underwear. A part of you wanted to snap it, but that felt a bit too cruel considering you almost made him swallow his shirt. You looked up again. It was a magnificent sight, Tom holding that hemline in his mouth, gritting his teeth as his chest moved up and down, needing and hoping for a release. He looked down at you too, and his eyes were black with lust. You could see him clenching his fists. 
That was a sign of continuing. Unlike before, you quickly started to unbutton his trousers. You were too focused on your little task to look at Tom, but you saw him roll his head on the backrest of the couch. You unzipped the pants and pulled them down with a few tugs. 
You almost felt bad seeing how hard he got in those few moments. Almost. Just a little bit more teasing wouldn’t hurt, right? Tom had other ideas. He pulled out the shirt from his mouth, tugged it off in one swift move, and threw it behind him. He glared down at you. “I swear if you don’t suck me off right now-”
“Or what?” you challenged him. This clearly took him aback, but only for a second. Then, this twinkle in his eye appeared, telling you that there was not a saint thought in his mind at that moment. He leaned over, only an inch away from your face. His words were like a high, each one giving you precisely the right rush of adrenaline you needed. 
“Suck my cock, Princess, or I’ll just have to fuck that pretty mouth myself.” 
And you were gonna let him, but a more significant part of you didn’t want to give up that easily. So, for now, you let out a soft whimper and nodded. Tom kissed you softly on the lips before sitting back up straight. He looked like a king on a fucking throne, with that proud and smug grin. It was giving you the greatest pleasure to ruin that little moment of his. 
You palmed him through his boxers, moving your hand up and down, then leaned in yourself to kiss it, still through the fabric. Tom hissed out a moan, and right then, you knew you were golden. One more little kiss and you reached out for the border of his underwear. You were about to pull it down- 
And then you got up. 
“What the fuck-”
“I’m gonna get some water, I think.” And just like that you hopped over to the little kitchen and grabbed yourself a glass. As you were pouring yourself the water, you could hear him shuffling his feet out of his trousers. You could hear him walk up behind you. As you were about to touch the brim of the glass against your lips, you felt him push against your back. His hard-on was more than evident. He moved his fingers into your hips as he whispered into your ear, making your body shake from anticipation. 
“So, you wanna play games, huh?” His tone was nothing but filthy. “You could have just said so, I mean I got Monopoly somewhere in the closet.” His left hand drifted off, moving up your side. You were still holding that damn glass of water, body frozen. 
“Or I could turn on the PlayStation, whatever you want darling.” He kissed you just below the ear. His hand was sliding across the valley between your breast, tracing up to your neck. 
“Hmm, tell me, what do you want?” 
“I- I-” you couldn’t think straight. With him talking like that and his soft touch, it was too much. 
“Speak up, baby.” 
“I want...Aah!! What the fuck!” Suddenly his touch was gone, and you felt something ice-cold cover your torso. You had still been holding up that glass of water, and when Tom got close enough, he tipped it over with his finger, letting all the cold content spill out on you. Goosebumps formed all over your body, and you shrieked out in pure shock. 
“Oops,” he giggled and pecked you on the cheek. Before you could say another word, he was walking away, in the direction of his bedroom. Not looking around, he held up his hand. 
“Counting to four and then you better be here, without those ugly shorts.” 
“They’re yours,” you said as he opened the door, still shivering from the cold water. He opened the door and was gonna close it but then quickly said-
“So? I have horrible taste. Take ‘em off, darling,” and he closed it. You could hear him count from the other side. 
ONE
You quickly pushed off the, indeed, not great looking shorts. 
TWO
You started walking up to the bedroom. The butterflies in your stomach had left the cage and were going crazy. 
THREE
Almost at the door. 
FOUR
You opened it. There stood Tom. He didn’t even hide the way he was checking you out. In only a bra and panties, there was little you could hide behind, but you tried to fight the insecurities. 
“Fuck, you’re perfect.” He said before striding your way. Grabbing on to you, he kissed you passionately. You felt his hand in your hair, so you mimicked it. For the rest, you had no idea what was going on since you had closed your eyes. You let all the other senses speak for themself—his soft but harsh touch; the way you could still smell the rain on him—the sweet taste of honey and tea on his lips. You could hear the little grunts and whimpers escape the both of you as he slammed you against the door with a thud. 
Then he grabbed your leg, signally for you to jump. You did without hesitation. Arms around his neck, fingers tangled into the hair at the nape of his neck. You kissed him feverishly. The fact that he was holding you up with only one hand hadn’t even caught up to you. The hand that was leaning against the door next to your face was not even registered by your addled brain yet. 
Feeling the need for air again, you pulled away. Your foreheads were leaning against each other as you both inhaled deeply. 
“What happened to fucking my mouth, Tommy?” You quipped. Tom was staring down, looking at how your chest heaved deeply with every breath. 
“Would take too long,” he said, now looking up into your eyes. “I thought it would be better to just straight up start with your sweet little cunt.” He growled into your ear. Before you could say anything in response, he kissed you again. 
His words were still spinning around in your head as he pushed the two of you away from the wall and carried you across the room to the bed. You could feel his erection against you, hard as a fucking rock. Why did you pull away from him on the couch? 
He put his knee on the mattress before letting you drop. It made you think back to just a few hours ago, how you had fallen down on to your own bed, contemplating whether or not to go to some dumb concert… now look at you. 
Your head touched the soft bedding, but your legs were still around Tom’s middle. He grabbed your legs and spread them just the right way so he could lean closer to you. 
“You look so fucking hot, right now.” He groaned as his teeth grazed your neck, making you arch your back. He pinned you back down on the bed. 
“Seeing you in that crowd, you know how hard it was for me to concentrate?” At this point, he had your arms above your head, holding them tightly. He kissed your jawline and moved up to your ear, tugging at your earlobe just that little bit, enough to make you quiver. You didn’t realise he actually wanted an answer until you felt the harsh sting of him slapping your thigh. Just enough to send that spark up to where you needed him the most. 
“Fuck,” you moaned, “No, Tommy, I didn’t.” 
“Hmm, thought so. But I saw you staring at me. Checking me out, huh? I had to really control myself to not just grab you and fuck you out there, right on my drumset.” His free hand, the one that wasn’t holding back your arms, was getting closer to your pussy. Your entire body was pulsing and shaking, needing for him to do something. Anything. 
“Just imagine that, Princess,” he was whispering into your ear again, “you bouncing on my dick, in front of all of those people.” 
“Fuuck,” you had never been much into exhibitionism, but hearing him speak like that, everything sounded good. 
Suddenly you felt his fingers move over your underwear. It was just for a moment, him passing through from one thigh to the other, but it was enough to have you moan out his name in need. 
“Tsk, behave, darling,” he kissed your forehead. So sweetly, it almost seemed as if he wasn’t about to fuck the complete hell out of you. “You’re gonna behave for me, right?” 
“Yes. Just please- please do something.” You pleaded, which gave great pleasure to Tom. 
“Good to know we got that little attitude from earlier sorted out, huh? I really didn’t want to punish you.” He didn’t? So what the hell was this torture? Of course, it all felt amazing, but if he would cross his fingers one more time next to your clit, you might actually explode. 
“Now, I think I’m going to finger your little pussy, okay Princess,” He asked with that sweet tone. You could feel his fingertips move across the fabric of your panties. “Yeah, I think you’d like that huh, look how fucking soaked you are.” With his thumb he pressed over your clit, moving down through the slit. You moaned out, finally feeling some kind of relief from him. 
He kissed your neck as he finally moved your underwear to the side. 
“You’re so pretty and needy, you know that?” he said, smiling. You nodded your head, biting your lip in anticipation of what he was gonna do next. You had your eyes closed and opened them for a moment. Tom was right above you. He sent you an air kiss for extra measure. You tried to focus on his eyes instead of the sensation you felt every time one of his fingers was getting closer to push into you. Still, whimpers escaped you. Which he enjoyed immensely. 
Then he finally did it. Two fingers, deep inside, stretching your walls. You moaned out in pure relief, ecstatic to finally feel something inside you. Tom let you adjust for a second until he started to move slowly in and out, making momentum. Not that he forgot about your clit. Oh no, he rubbed it until you were seeing stars in front of you, 
“I’m going to let go of you, alright?” You were ready to nod at his question, but he added more on to it. “But since you do like playing games so much-” here it comes, you knew it, “let’s make it a bit of a game. I’ll let go of you, and then you got, let’s say, three seconds to pick a new place for them. And then you better stick with it too, cause I don’t want to see you move until you come, understood?” 
“Yes, Tommy.” you gasped more so than said. 
“Good.” He kissed you but quickly started to move down. You knew what was going to happen, you had been waiting for it. But he was still holding on to you. Right as his mouth had passed your stomach, he let go of your wrists. Without thinking about it, you planted your fingers in his hair. 
“Hmm, good choice, darling.” He mumbled against the skin of your hip. You brushed your fingers through his hair, not sure what else to do while waiting for him to- 
Then, he pushed your panties aside completely. You felt his tongue, and it made you roll your eyes to the back of your head. He held on to your leg with one arm, the fingers of the other were still moving in and out of you. You held on to his hair, holding on for dear life. For a second that thought of possibly hurting him flashed through your mind, but then that melodic groan went through him, and the vibrations of his voice passed through your body like an electric shock. 
He kept moving his tongue in a way that made you sure he was trying to spell something out, possibly his own name, but you simply couldn’t make anything of it. You could barely concentrate on your own breathing, let alone words. 
Tom pulled you closer to him, deeper, making you moan like you never had before. Now, you had your fair share of experience, but he was… extraordinary. He took his time, made sure to give every minuscule part of you the attention it needed. Almost as if he wanted to hit every single nerve and cell individually. You weren’t even sure if he did it for your pleasure or because of his own. 
Did it matter? 
From the way how you could feel the knot in your stomach tighten, clearly not. 
“To-tom.” you gasped out. You were close. So close. But he didn’t need your words to know that. But it wasn’t enough for him. So, instead of going deeper, harder, faster, he sucked at your clit one last time before licking his way over to your thigh. You could have screamed in agony. 
“Tom!” you did. 
You wanted to let go of him and get up. Pull him up to you, maybe get on top even. But you remembered his words. I don’t want to see you move until you come. As much as you wanted to know what would happen if you broke that little rule, you also wanted to listen.
And so, you let out your frustration through digging your nails into his hair, but it had the exact opposite effect on Tom that you hoped for. Any time you would pull, even the tiniest bit, he would grab your thigh even harder, pulling himself to you. And he just kept on toying with you. Playing with your clit until that familiar knot was tying itself up in you, only to pull away and suck another perfect little hickey on your thighs. You had lost count how many times he had already marked you. On top of that, every time his lips would pull away, so would his fingers. Pull out just enough, only leaving his fingertips in you, to get you on that next edge of frustration, to make you beg for more.
“Tom, pleeease,” you begged. Tears were already forming in your eyes. It didn’t help that he would take that stupid necklace of his and put it against your burning skin. The cold metal of the charm always managed to come up against a new mark that Tom had left behind. 
“Tell me what you want, darling,” he said, kissing your sensitive skin between the words. You had to take all the power left in you to form the semi-coherent sentence. 
“I want- want to come. Please, Tom.” Your head was spinning, body flushed and hot, sweat and tears mixing at your temples. 
“You only had to say so.” His voice was the opposite of yours, composed and relaxed. You felt his smirk against you as he left one last kiss on you. The finally- 
The easiest way to describe it was that he had gone wild. Animalistic. He devoured you as if he was a starving man, and you the last meal on earth. Then there were his fingers, moving at a rapid pace, but still so steady. You could feel it nearing. So fucking close. You couldn’t hold it in any longer. Your legs were shaking, and all your other muscles were practically rigid from how tense you were. You needed to let go now. Feel that release at last. 
At last, yes. With a scream, you felt it all relax. Your body came undone in a wave of pleasure. You were melting into the bed, Tom being the only thing keeping you somewhat conscious of your surroundings. 
You tried to concentrate on the feeling of his lips, licking one final line over your clit. It shook you to your core. You whimpered, not being able to take much more. Your body went limp, you let go of his hair. 
“Shhh,” he was moving up. Kissing your body, snaking his way back up to look into your eyes. The cold touch of the necklace followed behind. You opened your eyes, but everything was blurry. After blinking a few times, you could finally see him, drenched in your juices, with the biggest grin on his face. 
He parted his lips just the tiniest bit, and you followed him blindly. You felt his fingers on your lips and without thinking, put them in your mouth. The taste of yourself, together with the feeling of his fingers tasted like the best damn thing ever. 
“That’s right,” he kissed your tear-stained cheek, “you’re my good girl, aren’t you?”
You nodded, closing your eyes. It was all too much, you had to cut off one of your senses before it was too late.
“I wish you could see how beautiful you looked right now. So fucked out- and I haven’t even had my good fun with you yet.” 
You wanted to protest, but it was too difficult to speak. Besides, your fingers felt too good in your mouth to let them go for some pathetic little words. It wasn’t worth it. 
But like all good things in life, it had to end. He pulled his fingers out of your mouth. Having no control left over your body, you let a whine escape you at the loss of touch. 
“Christ, you’re needy,” he said before kissing you deeply, but shortly before he finished his statement. “I love it.” His hands were roaming your body. He held up your leg just so he could get in the position to squeeze your ass. 
“Hold on to me, baby,” he murmured between another kiss. You did your best, still feeling no energy in your limbs. You crossed your arms behind his neck, feeding on the kiss for the strength to move. He held you as he pulled the both of you up to sit on the bed. And he kept holding on to you when he thrust his right hand to your back, to the strap of your bra. He moved his fingers around, looking for the clasp. Even in your dazed state, it made you laugh a little. 
“It’s upfront,” you mumbled, kissing the corner of his mouth. He moved away to look at you, confused. You pointed down at the front of your bra. 
“So you’re telling me,” he flicked it open, letting your breast basically spill out in front of him, “I could have had this view this whole time? Fuck!” He pulled the straps down your shoulders to take it off.
“Sorry?” you said, not sure if you really needed to apologise. 
“No, don’t be.” He threw the bra to the floor. Almost on the spot where you had changed. It really wasn’t that long ago, but it felt like it. Had you thought of this happening when you put on his sweater? Maybe? In a sense. It was an option. But nothing would have prepared you for this. 
How could you have even thought about sitting on his lap, your legs around his waist, your arms on his shoulders, as he held you? Because of this, this wasn’t just some simple fuck. You hoped it wasn’t, at least. The way you held each other and how there was nothing but the passion between you- or was it possible that it didn’t mean that much to him? 
Still, that orgasm he gave you was the best you have had in a long time. So if it was only for the night, then let it be. You could still get a good time out of it, and you would not let your mind ruin this. 
Luckily for you too, Tom’s kisses made you shut off your thoughts reasonably quickly. It wouldn’t even matter if the world had been ending. 
But kissing could only get you so far. And he clearly had the same thought. Panting, his hot breath hitting your neck, he asked you. 
“Are you ready for this, babe?” You nodded. “I need to hear it, please.”
“Yes. Just fuck me already.” 
“Perfect.” with a peck on the cheek, he let go of you and let you slip off his lap. He got off the bed. You sat on your knees, hands next to your legs, looking at him in anticipation. It was insane how he had managed to eat you out while his cock was rock hard. You could see the outline of it through his underwear, leaving nothing, but really nothing, to the imagination. 
You watched him do a little jiggle, making you laugh, before taking the band off his boxer shorts and pulling it down. To say your mouth started to water, would sound ridiculous, but you weren’t so far from that state. He wasn’t too long, or too thick, you didn’t expect it to be anyway, but it looked just right to send you over into another dimension. There was that one vein going along his shaft that you couldn’t get enough of. Unconsciously, you were moving over to the edge of the bed. Just seeing him completely naked in front of you, send your mind into a frenzy. It was a magnificent view. 
What couldn’t go unnoticed was how red the tip had gone, from pure arousal and frustration that he needed to relieve. How badly you wanted to help him. You moved closer to the bed end, he took a step closer to you. He had his hand on his cock but didn’t move a muscle. If he did, you thought, he might have exploded right there in the spot. And what would be the fun in that? 
“Fuck,” he groaned, standing in front of you. “You look so fucking perfect on your knees.” 
You didn’t say anything, just smiled. The energy was coming back into your body, slowly, and you could feel getting that independence back that Tom had so rudely taken away from you. So, without saying anything, you took him in your hand and started to move up and down, not breaking eye contact, well, until Tom’s head rolled back. You couldn’t blame him. 
You kept on stroking him, steadily, leaving kisses every few seconds on his tip. The pre-cum started leaking almost instantaneously, which you gladly used to spread all over his tip, making it much easier to move your hand around. Your kisses in the meantime got sloppier each time, longer. Until you were basically just kitten licking that vein that was taunting you before. 
The sounds that were coming from Tom were adding to the whole experience in the best way. His moans and grunts were sending you to the edge, so far that you couldn’t help but let your free hand wander down and rub your clit. And it didn’t go unnoticed by Tom. 
“Even when sucking my dick, you need more, huh?” He asked as he looked down, right when you had finally put the tip in your mouth, twirling your tongue around it. The fact that you tried to look up into his eyes all innocent like should have sent him flying from laughter, but instead, he put his hand on your head and softly started to stroke your hair. 
“Thought so,” he grunted. His hand stayed in your hair as you let your jaw slack and you made your way down his shaft, all the way till you could feel him touch the back of your throat. His grip got tighter, he didn’t move anything, but you just felt him grab your hair in his fist. Just enough to tell you to move without hurting you. He would have probably said it in words, but when you looked up, you saw how twisted his face was in pure delight. 
You started to move in a paced way, but eventually, it felt too slow for Tom. That hand in your hair came to final use as he began to guide your movement. Letting you practically choke on him every time he moved up with the tempo. You felt the tears coming again as the drool fell from your mouth. You were an absolute mess, but it didn’t bother you one bit. 
He kept going, fucking your mouth just like he had promised on the couch earlier. 
“You know,” he said between pants, “As much as I’d love to cum in your mouth-” he hissed in pleasure when he hit the back of your throat again. “I swear the things you do to me, darling.” 
He let go of you and pulled out. You gasped for air, finally having a free passage of air to come through to your lungs. Tom wiped some of the drool from your mouth before leaning in to kiss you. He closed you in by placing his arm next to you and slowly let you fall on your back again. 
“Jesus,” he panted after the kiss. He looked at your mouth before gazing into your eyes again. You couldn’t imagine that it looked great, with your makeup completely smudged, but he smiled. “Would it be crazy to say that I love you right now?” 
“I’ve heard crazier,” you said back, also out of breath. 
“Oh yeah?” 
You just shrugged. He let out an airy laugh that you could feel against your face. You closed your eyes, just for a second, to enjoy the moment. This small speck of time in the universe, where it was only you and him, where nothing else mattered. Just two strangers having a great time. Would there be more after this? Who was to say? It didn’t matter. Not to you, at least. 
The little moment was ruined when you heard him curse. Suddenly the weight of the bed shifted, as he moved from hovering on top of you. You opened your eyes. 
“What’s wrong?” 
He was already on the side of the bed, leaning out to reach the drawer of the bedside table. 
“Condom,” he muttered out, still trying to reach it. Not that he could just move up a bit and slide the thing open with ease. He liked feeling you underneath him. And you did too. 
Finally, he managed to open the drawer and had to move up a bit to reach into it. You could hear his patting on the wood, but there was no sound of packaging. 
“Fuck, wait a second.” He got up with a small jump and ran off, leaving you basically naked and alone on the bed. You sat and finally took off your panties. It was no surprise that they were completely soaked. You threw them on the ground next to your bra. 
The drawer was still open, and you bit your lip at the thought of looking inside it. You could tell a lot by a person’s bedside table. And it was already open… just a peek wouldn’t hurt? Right? 
You moved closer to the table and leaned in to look. There was not much inside-just a charger, a book (but it was too dark in the room to read the small print of the title), a glasses case and a small notebook and pen. On the notebook, you saw scratched “WS”. Winter Solstice? Was it possibly lyrics? You didn’t go as far as going into that. 
As you had been looking, you could hear him rummaging through stuff in the room next door, the bathroom. 
Having seen everything there was to see in the drawer, you decided to just lie down on the bed, looking for a comfortable position, but also something that Tom would enjoy seeing when he walked into the room. Right then, the door opened, and Tom walked in. His one hand over his crotch and the other holding a box of condoms. 
“Sorry, I couldn’t find them at first, turned out they were- fuck.” He was looking at the box and hadn’t seen you lying there immediately. When he finally did, he almost dropped the condoms, only catching them with his other hand at the last second.
“You think you can get on your knees for me, darling?”
“I can try,” you shrugged, already turning around. You could hear him curse to himself as he saw you sit there. Then the ripping off the wrapper. He was taking his time for sure, which you didn’t really mind. You just weren’t really sure if your arms would be able to hold yourself up. You could already feel them shaking. 
“I really fucked you up, didn’t I, love?” You felt his cold hand on your ass, squeezing and kneading gently. 
“Yeah, I guess so-Ah,” you moaned as he slapped the spot he had been so gentle with just a second before. At that touch, your left arm gave in, and you lost balance, falling with your face into the blanket. The nicely made up bed now only smelled of sweat and sex and you really weren’t mad at it. 
“Fuck, c’mere,” he groaned, pulling you in by your waist, so your back was against his chest. You yelped out at the sudden movement and looked over your shoulder to look at his face. He was looking down at your chest. Hard nipples begging for attention from his hands and then they finally got it. As he kissed your shoulder, he started to play carefully pull at them, making sure your reaction was nothing but good. He got what he looked for when your hand reached out for his while you moaned. 
Then there was that cock of his, between your legs at this point, teasing you. Tom let go of your chest, allowing you to replace it with your own hand. You tried to ignore the tickling sensation as his fingers danced over your naked body, moving down to your legs. He grabbed his shaft and, for worst or best, slapped your pussy with it. 
“Tommm,” you whined, just needing to feel him inside you. 
“Alright, sorry. I just couldn’t help myself.” He kissed your neck as he finally slid into you. Those two feelings together made you roll your eyes so far back you thought you had gone blind for a moment. He spread your walls and filled you up perfectly, like the strangest fucking puzzle. You reached up to grab his hair again. There was just something about it, how it was so messy and you were the cause of it, that turned you on. And by the way, he smiled as you tugged at it, you could tell he loved it as well.
Tom kept on pounding into you at this perfect rhythm, to no surprise. You wouldn’t have expected anything less from a drummer. He was rough, deep, hitting every spot he needed to at just the right time.  And with every thrust, you felt yourself getting closer. Already so sensitive from the previous orgasm and the way he had utterly destroyed your mouth, there was really not much you needed to get there again. 
But it didn’t mean that he put in any less effort. Tom took each and every thrust with the precision you deserved. He kissed every inch of your skin available to his lips. 
It didn’t take long for you to come undone again. The moans coming from your mouth were all he needed to get there too. The way he groaned into your ear as he came could have sent you going for another round, but your legs were shaking like crazy. If it wasn’t for the way he held you, you would have most definitely fallen. 
His hand fell to your stomach, holding you tightly. Out of reflex, you reached out for it, intertwining your fingers. He pulled out of you. The sudden emptiness in you was the final straw for your legs to give up, your knees spread, making you slide down past Tom’s body a little. Heavy breathing from both of you filled the room—his chest against your back. Your heart beats mixing together into one. 
He held you close to him until you could somewhat control your breathing. He sat down and carefully put you down so you could lay down on the bed. You watched as he took off the condom and threw it into the small bin in the corner of the room. He grabbed his underwear and put it on quickly. 
“Let’s get you something to wear, shall we,” he smiled at the sight of you lying in his bed, exhausted, naked, with the most sheepish smile on your face. You nodded, expecting him to grab the sweater from the living room, but instead, he opened the closet and took a shirt that was folded on the top shelf. He sat down on the bed and helped you sit up as you got the shirt over your head. 
You noticed it was another Winter Solstice shirt, but it had a different design on it. It didn’t have that scratchy writing on it. Instead, the letters flowed smoothly into each other in an intricate cursive pattern. Underneath it, there was a sketch of a crescent moon. 
“It’s a design we think about using if we do any other shows,” he explained before you could ask. “The other one was cheaper so we could get more.” 
“I do hope you’ll play more shows,” you admitted as you lay down on the pillow. You thought he would join you, but instead, he got up. Clearly, he saw the panic in your face because he quickly explained: “I’m just gonna get you some water.” 
“No, stay,” it came out a bit more whiny than you intended it to, “I’m fine.” 
“You sure?” He raised an eyebrow but still sat down next to you. You patted the other pillow motioning for him to join you in the horizontal position, which he eventually did with pleasure. You scooted over to be closer. By doing so, though, the shirt moved up, only just covering your breast. 
Tom put his hand on your side, tapping mindlessly, you focused on it, trying to figure out a pattern, but nothing came to mind. You put your arm under your head for some more support, and you looked at him while his eyes were on your body. He seemed to be deep in thought again, just like back on the couch before you started dancing. His tapping transformed into his fingers moving around over your skin in small shapes. 
“You know,” he said, still drawing little pictures on your side, “I’d really hate for this to just be a one-night thing.” He looked up into your eyes. 
“As long as you make me some more tea again, we’re good.” you leaned in to kiss him through each other's soft laughs. Of course, it wouldn’t be a one-time thing. You didn’t want it to be. You were completely hooked on him. Ever since you had seen him sitting at that bar. To think it was only a few hours ago.
The END
> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed > please reblog and leave a comment or ask with your thoughts. i love reading them >masterlist and link to taglist in bio
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needtherapy · 3 years
Text
The Necromancer’s Apprentice
Xue Yang has seen The Dark House and he’s heard the rumors that a zombie, a witch, and a necromancer live there. It’s stupid, obviously, but...well...maybe he’ll just sneak in one night and find out.
It’s better than doing nothing. It’s better than going back to the group home. It’s better than sleeping on the street.
Aka, three mildly feral twentysomethings are forcibly adopted by one (1) very feral thirteen-year-old Xue Yang.
Read on AO3
Many thanks to @coslyons for co-writing this with me (all the funniest parts belong to them) and @kevinkevinson for beta.
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There is a Dark House in Ballard, and people say to avoid it.
It is probably not called the Dark House because evil lurks inside, although there is some debate about that. It is called the Dark House because it is black from threshold to cupola, from shutters to frames, and it looms on a block where whimsical shops of brick and steel are far more common. Unlike the thrift store and the record shop, the hiking outfitter and the vegan patissiere, no ivy reaches toward the roof of the Dark House. Unlike the local yarn store, no dogs sniff the Dark House’s gate, although at least two cats—also black, naturally—are always sitting on the porch.
It may not be fair to judge a house by its color, but the local legends are clear. If you step on the cracks in the sidewalk, the Dark House will steal your soul. The wrought iron gate of twining snakes comes alive under the light of the full moon to snap at unwary joggers. Children who walk alone after dark get eaten, and the yard is full of bones that wail songs of their murders.
Xue Yang sits on a bench, across the street, eating ice cream and admiring the house. He wonders about the sanity of people who mow the lawn and trim the roses, yet painted their pretty little house black, until it occurs to him that he could just go inside and find out.
He waits until dark, not to stay hidden, but because it’s a more terrible idea, and Xue Yang always gives himself permission to do more terrible things whenever he gets the chance. The high iron fence buzzes with a strange kind of energy that crackles in his palms, so Xue Yang wraps his hands tightly in his flannel shirt as he climbs over. His mother always said he was a practical boy, back when she was still around to say things.
Xue Yang lands in the backyard with a quiet thump onto thin and scraggly grass. The center of the yard is dark under the watery moonlight, with the dirt churned up and loose, and for the first time, a tiny twinge of warning pings in the back of his mind.
He ignores it.
With a flick of his wrist, he summons his knife, a long black switchblade that is seven kinds of illegal and which he loves more than anything else he has ever had, not that there is much competition. With nimble and practiced hands, he slides the knife between the door and the frame, twisting just right when he reaches the lock. With a grin of triumph, he turns the handle, shaped like a gaping mouth, and opens the door.
In the center of the room, there is a long sort of table that seems somehow to pull all the darkness of the room toward it. The shadows gather most thickly around a large, human-shaped lump laid out stiffly on top of it. Xue Yang reaches out to poke it and feels something unexpectedly warm give slightly under his finger.
The shadowy lump on the table sits upright with a sudden jerk.
The shadowy lump on the table sits upright with a sudden jerk.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Xue Yang shrieks.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the shadowy lump shrieks back.
“Why the fuck is everyone yelling?” a voice says, and the room is suddenly filled with light.
The shadowy lump rips off the sheet and turns into a guy in his early twenties with a scraggly little beard and wicked bedhead. The voice belongs to a grumpy-looking woman wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe. She squints at him in the oppressive brightness, glaring for a long moment before apparently deciding to deal with the man on the table first.  
“Wei Wuxian, I’ve told you a thousand times that the workshop is not a place for sleeping.”
“Technically—” the man begins, before being abruptly cut off by the woman.
“If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘yes, Wen Qing,’ then I don’t care. Go to bed.” She rounds on Xue Yang and he takes a tiny, involuntary step back. “You. What are you doing here?”
Before Xue Yang can answer, another guy—this one with long hair, killer tats, and a dedication to the goth look Xue Yang has to admire—runs in with a baseball bat held in his hands like a club.
“Jiejie! Is there something wrong?”
The woman—Wen Qing, she’d said—pinches the bridge of her nose and says, “It’s fine, A-Ning. I’m just trying to figure out what this little hooliganthinks he’s doing breaking into my house and tripping all of my wards while I’m trying to fucking sleep .”
Xue Yang is now convinced that what he’s broken into is some kind of madhouse, and he pastes a charming smile on his face, the one he uses when fists are clenched and the smell of alcohol burns in his nose. The smile whispers words like “anger issues” and “prone to destruction,” and it’s usually weapon enough, but he holds his knife a little tighter too, just in case.
The woman snaps around like she’s felt his fingers grip the handle of the blade and holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”
No. He will not. His chin tips dangerously, his smile grows icy spikes.
Her eyes narrow. “I could just take it.”
They face off for a minute, the tension almost palpable. Actually, Xue Yang thinks, it’s not tension after all. There’s something else in the air. It reminds him of the buzzing fence, and he doesn’t like the way it confuses him.
“Ah, Wen-jie, let him keep her. Can’t you tell? The kid is scared, they’re both scared, and it’s not like he can hurt us.”
Xue Yang is offended. He is not scared, but he’s relieved that Wei Wuxian spoke up all the same, because even though Wen Qing purses her lips and looks annoyed, she drops her hand.
“Fine.” She crosses her arms again. “Wei Wuxian, make sure our little guest leaves. I’m resetting the wards in five minutes and going back to sleep.”
“Yeah, sure.” Wei Wuxian grins and shoots finger guns at Wen Qing. “Sleep well and dream of me.”
Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “Yes, because I love having nightmares.”
“Oh shoo.” Wei Wuxian flicks his hand at the goth man and Wen Qing. “To bed with you both. I can handle it.”
Their footsteps creak on the wooden floors as they walk further into the house. Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian wait in silence until the footsteps quiet, and then Wei Wuxian turns to Xue Yang. The grin he’d been wearing drops off his face and he looks serious, his eyes shaded and dark.
“Look kid, you should know better than to piss off powerful witches. It tends to be bad for the health.” The side of his mouth just barely tilts upwards, more wry than mirthful, and he looks old now. Old and grey and tired. “So, we’ll just call this a learning experience, and you’ll never come here again, right?”
Xue Yang snorts. “Are you kidding? If you’ve got real magic why the fuck would I leave now?”
“Toddlers shouldn’t swear.”
“I’m almost fourteen, fuck you very much.”
“Ah yes, I am now so convinced you are an adult.” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “It’s two in the morning. You want to go home and go to bed. There’s nothing here for you to be curious about at all.”
Something sibilant and musical weaves its way through the words, and Xue Yang has his hand on the door knob before he fights off the slithering compulsion.
Holy fuck that was cool.
“Nah, I think I’ll stay,” he says, sauntering back casually, pausing to look at a weird painting of a monster facing off with an axe-wielding guy in front of a lighthouse. He feels a very strong sense of camaraderie with it right now.
Wei Wuxian sighs. “Sure, maybe you’ve got a little gift. But you’re a kid. Don’t you have parents who are going to, you know, notice you’re missing?”
Xue Yang stares him in the eyes, willing himself not to flinch. Something tells him this is a chance he’s never going to have again, a chance that requires honesty.
“No.” Xue Yang lifts his chin stubbornly. “I don’t.”
Wei Wuxian stares back, and Xue Yang gets the feeling that he sees all the years and all the disappointments that fit into that no. He doesn’t care. No one gives you what you want unless you take it.
This standoff lasts forever, or maybe it’s only a few seconds.
“She’s going to kill me,” Wei Wuxian mutters, and a little louder, “You can sleep on the couch tonight, but I’m locking you in the room and if you touch anything, I will turn you into a mannequin.”
He turns to leave, but looks back with a frown. “Wen Qing builds beautiful, elegant wards that you’ll never feel, never even notice if she doesn’t want you to. Mine will hurt. Don’t. Touch. Anything.”
Xue Yang decides, in the principle of magnanimity, to agree. “Whatever.”
Wei Wuxian shakes his head and points a finger at Xue Yang. “Go to sleep, kiddo.”
The words hold Xue Yang’s hand and lead him to the couch, make him lay down, and within minutes, he is asleep.
He opens his eyes to piercing sunlight and a pale face inches from his.
“What the fuck!” he yelps, instinctively grabbing for his knife and snapping it open.
“Mr. Wei, he’s awake and noisy,” the face says, and Xue Yang focuses on its features.
It’s the goth guy. His arms have full-sleeve tattoos, matching patterns of stark black geometric lines and circles, but his neck has weird black veins tattooed on it. His eyes, which are still way too close to Xue Yang’s, are so dark they’re practically black.
“Where’s the witch?” Xue Yang asks, sufficiently recovered to be an asshole.
“Boiling children,” Wei Wuxian retorts. He’s leaning over the table and taking notes in a tattered book, poking something with a tiny screwdriver. “It’s the only reason we let you stay.”
“Really?” Xue Yang can’t decide if that’s cool or terrifying.
“He’s always like that in the morning,” Goth Guy says conspiratorially. “By ten, he’s pretty nice again.”
“I’m never nice,” Wei Wuxian grumbles. “A-Ning, can you take our miscreant home, please? The last thing I need is cops knocking on The House door asking if we’re kidnapping children. Again.” “Okay, Mr. Wei.”
Xue Yang panics. He can’t go back there. Not since they found him alone with the fire. He knows what they’ll do, and he can’t go back. He won’t . He ducks under Goth Guy’s arm and has his knife angled under Wei Wuxian’s chin before he’s even processed the motor function commands “get up” and “don’t let him send you away.”
“No! You have to…” He scrambles though thoughts, desperate ideas, each one crazier than the last before he hits on words that work themselves loose from his mouth. “You said I had a gift, you have to teach me to use it.”
Wei Wuxian frowns, but instead of being afraid or angry, he tips his head and whistles, two notes that almost sound like a name. To his great shock and horror, Xue Yang’s knife vibrates in his hand, and his fingers snap open like a broken trap, dropping the knife onto Wei Wuxian’s waiting palm. He carefully folds the blade back into the handle.
“Jiangzai,” he says, almost affectionately.
It doesn’t mean anything, but then it does , and it hits Xue Yang so hard he collapses to the ground. The knife has a name, and he knows it’s right as soon as Wei Wuxian says it. Xue Yang’s heart pounds, and he hates it. He hates this motherfucker who just took his knife away and he hates the Goth Guy who is helping him back to his feet. He doesn’t want to stay anymore, and he shakes off Goth Guy, wishing he could throw his kindness on the floor and stomp on it.
Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “Okay, maybe you have a little bit more than a little bit of a gift. But you still can’t stay, and I’m not teaching you anything.”
Xue Yang snatches his knife— his Jiangzai—out of Wei Wuxian’s hand and stomps to the door. “Fine. Fuck you.”
He gets as far as yanking the door open and slamming it against the wall before he realizes that there is a person in the way, and she doesn’t look inclined to move.
“Here you go, kiddo,” she says, handing him a bag. “I bought you some clean clothes and a toothbrush. A-Ning will show you where the bathroom is. Come back down for breakfast when you’ve changed.”
This is somehow more terrifying than when she was yelling at him. Yelling he understands. Now she’s just being...creepy. He stares at her belligerently, and she sighs.
“Listen, you little shit,” she says, bending over to look him dead in the eye. She doesn’t have to bend very far, he realizes. She’s actually tiny, even though she seems as big as the Fremont troll. “You will either go willingly with A-Ning, who is very nice, or you can test my patience and get buried in the yard with all the rest of the naughty children who break into my house. Your choice.”
Yeah, that’s more solid ground.
“Fine.” He grabs the bag from her and waves at the Goth Guy. “Lead the way, A-Ning .” He means it to be an insult, but Goth Guy just grins.
Xue Yang hears Wei Wuxian ask, “Wen Qing, what the fuck,” before Goth Guy herds him up the wide staircase, and he doesn’t hear any more of her answer than, “A-Xian, I can’t let him leave. You don’t understand, I did a location…”
This close to the Goth Guy, Xue Yang decides to acknowledge that the pale translucence of his skin is probably not makeup.
“I’m Wen Ning, by the way. I doubt Mr. Wei or jiejie introduced me,” Goth Guy—Wen Ning—says in a casual tone.
“So are you actually dead or what?” he asks Wen Ning, and Wen Ning grins.
“Or what,” he answers enigmatically, and gently shoves Xue Yang in a bathroom with pink tiles and a claw-foot tub.
Once he’s bathed and changed, Xue Yang heads back downstairs. Breakfast is bacon, eggs, and toast, and he doesn’t even pretend it isn’t the best food he’s eaten in a week. It is, in fact, the first food he hasn’t stolen in a week, and that alone is a novelty.
He’s halfway done with his food when Wei Wuxian, who hasn’t touched a bit of his and looks as sullen as an orange, says, “I have been informed that there is some arcane rule about teaching a gift you discover, and my...how did you put it, dear Wen Qing? My immortal soul and earthly being will be in danger if I don’t capitulate to the inevitable?”
He glares at Wen Qing, and she smiles sweetly at him.
“Whatever,” Xue Yang says around a mouthful of eggs. “Are you going to eat that?”
Wei Wuxian passes him the plate of food, and Xue Yang closes his eyes in bliss. Food is amazing.
“There are conditions—don’t look at me like that, Wen-jie. I agreed, okay? I get to set conditions. First of all, you do whatever I tell you. If I tell you to sell turnips on the street corner, you better sell some goddamn turnips. Second, you don’t touch anything unless I say it’s okay. A lot of this stuff,” he waves his hand around the white and yellow room, which looks surprisingly cheerful for a kitchen in a black house, “is priceless and dangerous, so…”
Wen Qing clears her throat and glares at Wei Wuxian.
“Uh...don’t touch anything.” Wei Wuxian finishes, snaking a piece of bacon from Xue Yang’s plate and shoving it into his mouth before disappearing back into his workroom.
Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “I promise he’ll actually teach you stuff once he pulls his head—” She visibly checks herself. “Once he stops being an idiot. More bacon?”
The rest is on AO3
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clouditae · 3 years
Text
First Love | 06
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Yoongi x reader | 18+ | college au | tattoo artist au | angst | fluff | swearing 
Word: 1.9k
You first saw him in the multi-purpose room. Later learn his name, and on your third year, as he becomes your neighbor, you discover his lifestyle. Knowing your crush on him was nothing but that, you wanted to find the courage to look for love. Asking your friend for help, you’re pointed in the direction of the expert. Your neighbor, Min Yoongi
Chapter Index
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You stand up from your seat, packing your notebooks and textbooks into your backpack. You decided to study outside on campus, wanting to feel the slight cool breeze. Zipping your backpack close, a cup of iced coffee is placed at your table. You look up at the person who placed the coffee on the table and you realize it’s Ari. 
You sigh, “I thought I said you don’t have to get me anything.”
She gives you a small frown. “I know,” she begins, picking the cup up again and holding it out towards you, “but I feel bad that I let this happen to you. You’re my best friend, Y/N, and I’m so mad that he came to our dorm.”
“Nothing happened,” you tell her, grabbing the iced coffee from her. 
“You have a bruise,” she counters. 
“I just bruise easily,” you mumble, taking a sip of coffee. You have no idea what it is, but Ari always knows how to pick the types of foods and drinks that fit your taste buds.
“Still, he caused that bruise and it’s my fault,” she argues, following you as you make your way towards the escalator that leads down to the second bus stop heading towards your dorm. 
You ride down the escalator, Ari behind you, shaking your head. “Well thank you. I need something to wake me up.”
“Where are you headed?” Ari asks you as the two of you get off and walk past the outdoor seating area where a few students sit at the tables eating their lunch. 
“I’m going to the shelter. I have to start my project so I can still be on track with my schedule,” you answer, walking up to the huge bus stop where a bus just took off. Thankfully it isn’t your bus. 
"Do you need a ride?"
"It's a twenty minute walk. I'll be fine."
"It's already late in the day. By the time you get out, the sun will be gone and you'll be walking back at night and that's dangerous," Ari comments, following you as the bus pulls forward and opens the doors. The two of you enter the bus, pressing your passes against the scanner before taking a seat closer to the middle of the bus. “At least let me pick you up from the shelter so you don’t have to walk. We can grab dinner and see a movie,” she bribes, clutching your arm as if you’re her boyfriend. 
“Fine,” you groan as the doors close and the bus takes its leave from the stop. And so for the rest of the ride to your dorms, you listen to Ari talk about her three day vacation with Hoseok. She’ll explain specific parts in more detail when the two of you are alone, and you’re not looking forward to it. 
After reaching your dorm and replacing your backpack with a bag holding a camera, pens and notebook, you grab your keys and earphones before heading out. “Call me when you’re ready!” Ari calls before the door closes behind you. 
Putting your earphones in, you walk past a group of friends as they walk up the stairs, forming a line so you can walk down. You can hear their laughs even over your music. Out the front doors, past the large group of people leaving the shuttle, you reach the sidewalk and make you way up towards the shelter. 
Five minutes into your walk, a figure appears next to you, walking beside you. You jump, one hand clutching your bag and the other over your chest. Yoongi doesn’t glance at you as he keeps up with your pace. 
“What are you doing here?” you ask him, rubbing your chest as if it will calm your racing heart. 
“Where are you going?” he counters, ignoring you completely. 
“I’m going to the animal shelter. Are you heading in this direction too?” you question, removing your earphones and placing them in your pocket.
“Did you forget?” He shoves his hands in his pockets, glancing at you briefly. 
“Forget what?” You think back to all your previous conversations, but nothing comes to mind that would relate to today. 
He sighs, “In order for me to help you find someone, I need to know what you’re like. Which means I have to actually see what you’re like. Which means you’re supposed to tell me when you’re going to do something.” 
You’re taken aback. “It’s just for a project,” you mumble. 
“A project shows how dedicated you are to school.” 
You look away, voice barely a whisper. “That’s a dumb reason.”
“What’d you say?” Yoongi questions.
“I-I said we’re here,” you stutter, pointing ahead to the shelter that is coming into view. You glance at Yoongi to see if he believes you, but with such a straight face, you can’t tell whether he believes you or not, or what he’s even thinking. 
The two of you walk up to the doors of the shelter, pictures of cats and dogs plastered on the windows as you get closer. When you enter the building, you’re met with the sounds of barking as someone enters the back room where all the dogs would be. The lobby is rather small, chairs to the right along the window, and tables full of blankets, pet toys and food to the left. Ahead of you is a long desk where three women sit; one on the phone, and two talking to one another. 
One of the women talking turns to look at you, a smile on her face as she asks, “Can I help you?”
You walk up to the desk. “I called about a week ago. I’m doing a project on sheltered animals.”
Her eyes light up in realization. “Oh, you must be Y/N.” You nod in relief, glad that they remembered your call. “You came just in time. Rory just finished his shift, so he’ll be able to tell you about some of the animals.”
“Perfect. Thank you,” you say, watching her as she picks up the phone to most likely call this Rory person. You take a seat at one of the chairs, forgetting Yoongi came with you until he takes a seat next to you. You try your best not to jump in surprise. So, as the two of you wait, you open your bag and do a double check to make sure you have everything you need. As you pull out your recorder, you hand it to Yoongi. He takes it in confusion. “Since you’re here, you can record the conversation while I take pictures.” 
“Y/N?” a voice calls out. You look towards the desk where a man stands. He’s an older gentleman, brown hair slowly turning gray, a blue shirt with the shelter's name on it, and black jeans. He smiles at you as you get to your feet. “Welcome. I’m Rory. We spoke on the phone last week?”
You shake his hand. “Yeah. Nice to meet you.” You gesture to Yoongi when Rory looks to him. “This is my partner. He’ll be recording the conversation if that’s all right.”
“Of course!” Rory chuckles, shaking Yoongi’s hand as well. “So I have a few pets all ready for us. If you’ll just follow me.” You follow Rory as the three of you walk back outside and around the building. “We will first go to the play area for the dogs and after that, we head towards the cats,” he informs as he opens the gate to an open area. 
You place your bag down and grab your camera, making sure everything is perfect just as a door opens and a puppy comes running out. You can’t help but gasp at the small golden colored pup. You’re so lost in how cute the puppy is, you forget the whole point in coming. It isn’t until you feel Yoongi nudge you, that you set your mind back to the main task. “Can you begin recording please?”
You take all sorts of pictures. Pictures of Charlie jumping, running around, licking Rory’s hand. You want to get every picture possible, and this continues with Rosie, the adult dog that comes next. She’s a happy dog—probably happy to see people and to socialize, but a very happy dog nonetheless. She follows commands and loves to play fetch. Then comes Jasper, the elder dog. He’s calm and not as energetic. Your heart sinks at the fact that he is still here. 
“Jasper was given to us when his owners moved countries. They couldn’t bring him with them. He’s trained and deaf, so using sign language is how you get him to sit and lay down,” Rory informs as Jasper walks over to Yoongi, who was sitting on the floor with the rest of you. You watch as Jasper lays down, resting his head on Yoongi’s lap. You pretend not to notice as you listen to Rory explain Jaspers situation. 
Eventually, you can’t help but turn your camera towards Yoongi. His attention is focused on Jasper fast asleep. He’s petting Jasper’s head, every now and then rubbing his ear. You take one picture and Yoongi’s attention is now on you. “I’ll crop you out,” you quickly explain, taking more pictures. 
You’ve never seen Yoongi act so… soft around anyone before. The way he looks at Jasper makes your heart race. He doesn’t have this straight face he always carries. He looks at Jasper like he loves him as his own pet. 
As the interview continues on, you move inside to where the cats are. You take many pictures of the cats walking around, playing with toys and sleeping. You can’t help but compare cats to Yoongi. They do what they want, and don't care what you say about it. You almost giggle at the thought of Yoongi being a cat asking for attention. 
By the time you’re done with the interviews, it’s already past seven. You pack up your stuff, thank Rory and everyone else, and head outside. The cool breeze hits you lightly as you step out with Yoongi. It seems it got colder since the last time you were outside.
“Thank you,” you begin, adjusting the strap to your bag, “for recording the conversation, and even asking more questions.” You feel embarrassed when you blank out on what questions to ask during the interview. Turns out you forgot your list of questions you had prepared for the interview. 
“Well what a coincidence,” a familiar voice booms. Turning your head, you see Hoseok and Ari standing by Hoseok’s car. “What are you two doing here?” he asks, clearly knowing what you’re doing here. Ari’s giving you a mischievous look. You look away, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks. 
“Work,” Yoongi replies bluntly. 
“Well since we’re all here, I’m getting hungry. How about we go out and eat? The four best friends,” Hoseok beams, getting straight to the point. 
“I’m good,” Yoongi says, but Hoseok doesn’t seem to hear him as he grabs Yoongi by the arm and practically drags him towards his car all while Yoongi lets out quiet complaints.
“Y/N, front and center!” Ari commands, causing you to jump and quickly walk up to her. She points to the back seat. “In.” 
You get in without uttering a complaint or questioning her. Yoongi is pushed into the seat next to you, not even complaining anymore. 
What just happened?
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agere-fandom-time · 3 years
Note
Hello! Could you please make a fanfic about regressor!eraser head and caregiver!Present mic?
Yes I can! If you haven’t already read Mod Kat’s fic with these two, you’re missing out: it’s on AO3 right here! 
Here’s your new story, written by me! It’s below the ‘keep reading’ or you can check it out on AO3 if you prefer. 
Content Warnings: Shouta and Hizashi are married in this fic, and at the end they share some affection as a couple when Shouta isn’t regressed (cheek kisses). Aizawa is a non-verbal regressor. Sensory issues are mentioned but don’t flare up, as is Hizashi’s loss of hearing. Vague mentions of villains (and villain-related trauma). Shouta experiences memory loss as part of his regression and finds this distressing. 
-Mod Stella
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“Hey Shouta, I’m home!”
Hizashi closed the door behind him and tossed his keys onto the table beside the door, bending over to begin the long process of unlacing his boots. Silence greeted him in the house, which wasn’t unusual. Shouta could be asleep, or just focused on his work. It was hard to guess what Hizashi would come home to, on the days that he patrolled alone. Shouta’s sleep schedule was erratic by nature, and had been since they were teens. The chaotic hours of hero work and heavy workload as a teacher had only added to the uncertainty, and Hizashi was lucky to get one night a week where Shouta slept next to him in their bed.
Kicking off his boots, Hizashi turned his attention to the speaker around his neck. It was held on by a series of metal buckles, only unlocked by his own fingerprints so that it couldn’t be torn off by villains that got close enough for hand-to-hand combat. It was second-nature to reach behind himself and fit his fingertips into the divots that would unlock the device and let it drop into his other hand.
Breathing deeply, Hizashi stretched his neck from side to side and dropped the speaker on the table beside his keys. Shouta’s capture weapon was hanging on the set of hooks, and Hizashi threw his jacket beside it on his way into the apartment.
Shouta wasn’t at the coffee table, although there were some papers spread out across it, many of them already bearing Shouta’s scratchy comments, his pen strokes as sharp as his criticism. The kitchen was empty, no sign of how recently he’d eaten. Finally, Hizashi pushed the door to their room open.
Sure enough, Shouta was in the bed, but he wasn’t asleep. He was sitting against the headboard, his knees drawn up to his chest and his gaze fixed on the opposite wall. As the door opened, Shouta’s eyes moved towards the hallway.
“You okay, babe?” Hizashi asked, staying in the doorway. Sometimes Shouta needed space and quiet, and Hizashi didn’t want to intrude if this was one of those times.
Shouta blinked at him, a slow and deliberate motion, and didn’t reply. His hair was pulled up behind him in a messy ponytail, and he was wearing one of Hizashi’s pyjama shirts with an American band logo on the front.
Hizashi recognized that expression. “Are you feeling little, baby?”
Shouta blinked again.  
“Do you want company?” Hizashi stepped inside the room, but didn’t approach until Shouta gave another languid blink as confirmation. “Okay, gimme space there.”
Shouta obediently pushed the covers back, and Hizashi wiggled his way underneath. The bed was pure heaven after a shift on patrol, and he sighed happily as he took his feet off the floor and shoved them under the nice warm blankets. One of them brushed against Shouta’s leg, who made a small noise of complaint.
“Sorry, baby. Cold feet, I know.” Hizashi made more of an effort to keep his toes on his side of the bed, stretching out an arm to invite Shouta to cuddle. He really needed a shower after the work shift, but as heroes, the two of them never minded cuddling while one or both of them was sweaty.
Sure enough, Shouta shifted over and tucked himself under Hizashi’s arm, pressing into his side.
“There we go.” Hizashi curled his arm around Shouta’s back, getting him settled. “Long day, huh? It’s good to see you.”
Shouta stayed quiet. Hizashi didn’t mind that. When Shouta felt little, he was usually quiet. Hizashi could talk enough for them both, easily. And Shouta didn’t mind listening to him babble.
“I was thinking of this bed the entire way home,” Hizashi confessed. “And a little bit of patrol before that. Just daydreaming about how soft the sheets are. It’s the good stuff. Thank god we dished out for them.” Hizashi wiggled his butt on the mattress to make his point. He could feel Shouta smiling against his chest. “I was thinking about you too,” Hizashi said. “Hoping you were in the mood for some cuddles.”
Hizashi kissed the top of Shouta’s head, where he’d curled up under Hizashi’s arm. Shouta grumbled and burrowed deeper, almost disappearing into Hizashi’s armpit.
“Oh, come out of there,” Hizashi laughed. “I’m a stinky man, you don’t want to hide under there.” He tugged the shoulder of Shouta’s shirt, who emerged to frown up at Hizashi.
“Yeah, I know, I’m the meanest for not letting you nap in my armpit,” Hizashi said. “Come on, baby, let’s get you a smoothie. I’m guessing from the lack of dishes that you haven’t had dinner, and you’re gonna be cranky in the morning if you don’t eat anything tonight.”
Shouta visibly considered this, twisting his mouth slightly as he thought. Finally, he sighed and nodded, sitting up and away from Hizashi’s embrace.
“Here, you can have my soundblockers for the blender.” Hizashi took them off his head and hooked them around Shouta’s neck for when he would need them. They protected what little hearing Hizashi had left when he was using his quirk on patrol, but when they were at home they were more often in use by Shouta. They helped with his migraines and generally bad sensory days. Hizashi knew from experience that little Shouta usually had problems with big noises, so he was always careful to suppress his quirk and keep the volume on electronics low while Shouta was regressing.
Shouta raised a hand and touched the soundblockers around his neck, looking down at them for a moment. Then he raised his eyes to meet Hizashi’s and offered a big toothy smile.
“There’s my precious Shouta,” Hizashi grinned back. “Hi, baby.”
Shouta reached out and took hold of Hizashi’s face, one hand on each cheek. He kept Hizashi turned towards him, their gazes locked. Still smiling, Shouta’s eyes narrowed as if he were trying to use his quirk. To anyone else, the expression would have looked entirely terrifying, but luckily Hizashi had almost two decades of experience with reading Shouta when he didn’t feel like verbally communicating.
“Uh-huh, I love you too,” Hizashi said, bopping Shouta on the nose.
Shouta withdrew, wrinkling his nose and brushing his fingers against it like he was trying to rub off the remains of Hizashi’s affection.
“You wound me,” Hizashi told him, pressing a hand to his chest. “Come on, kiddo, time for dinner.”
Hizashi popped out of the bed, trying to hide his wince as his work-weary feet hit the floor again. Shouta was slower to untangle himself from the blankets, but eventually got to standing. Hizashi hid a smile as he realized that Shouta had discarded his pants somewhere along the way and was wearing some cat-patterned boxers with the stolen shirt.
“Is light bad? Do you want some sunglasses?” Hizashi asked before he opened the door. The light in the bedroom had been off, the glow of the city outside the open curtains leaving the room dim.
Shouta hesitated, glancing towards the city lights behind them, and then shook his head once.
“Let me know if that changes,” Hizashi said, and led the way out into the hallway, Shouta following close behind. Their apartment was familiar, the bathroom to the right and the open living area where their belongings mixed on the shelves. Mostly Hizashi and the various things he’d bought for Shouta over the years, honestly. The other man would live like some kind of monastic hermit if left to his own devices. Thank goodness he had Hizashi here to spoil him. Speaking of which…
“Where did you leave Hana?” Hizashi wondered out loud, glancing around the apartment. Shouta’s stuffie usually lived on their dresser in the bedroom, but Hizashi hadn’t seen her while he was in there.
“Mmm.” Shouta wandered into the living room and retrieved the stuffie from under the table, careful not to disturb the papers spread across the top.
“Oh, was she keeping you company while you were working? What a good kitty!”
Shouta came back to Hizashi’s side, Hana in his arms. She was a big stuffed cat, soft as anything and patterned with a tortoiseshell coat. Satisfying to hug and perfect to use as a pillow when Shouta fell asleep on the floor. One of Hizashi’s best purchases, if he did say so himself.
Shouta pressed his cheek against Hana’s head, rubbing it back and forth with his eyes closed.
“Okay, kiddo, here’s your chair.” Hizashi pulled out Shouta’s chair at the kitchen counter and watched him take his place, Hana held in his lap. “Do you want music or quiet while I make your smoothie?”
Music, Shouta answered in sign language, then wrapped his arms around Hana again. A little smile was curling his lips, and Hizashi found it impossible to resist smiling back.
Hizashi shot back the sign for awesome!! and made sure the volume was pretty low before he switched on the radio on top of the fridge. It rarely left the frequency of Hizashi’s station: Shouta liked to listen to Hizashi’s shows when he was away, and Hizashi liked to check in on the interns and other hosts when they were running things. Made it easier to solve problems on the fly when people started blowing up his phone if he already knew what was going on.
Music flowed into the kitchen, and Hizashi hummed along as he assembled the various pieces of the smoothie, frozen fruit from the freezer and fresh bananas sliced into the blender with practised ease. Whenever Hizashi checked on Shouta, he saw him rocking slightly to the music, hands busy with Hana’s fur, eyes following Hizashi’s movements around the kitchen.
“Time for soundblockers, baby!” Hizashi warned, and made sure that Shouta had the headphones over his ears before he screwed the lid onto the blender and smoothied it up.
Retrieving a swirly straw from the drawer, Hizashi added it to the smoothie and put it in front of Shouta.
All done! Hizashi signed, and Shouta pulled the soundblockers off, pushing them across the counter towards Hizashi. “Thank you!” Hizashi said, and went to hang them by the door with the rest of their hero gear. There were doubles of most of it inside their bedroom for emergencies, but their work costumes remained in the main space.
By the time Hizashi got back, Shouta was working on the smoothie. If their lives were different, Hizashi would love to snap a photo of his adorable husband with his hair up, dressed in his shirt, and drinking a bright pink smoothie with a straw shaped like a heart. But with the constant threat of hackers, and public appearances to keep up, that wasn’t the sort of thing that Hizashi could take a photo of. Instead, he just smiled and tucked the memory into his mind where he wouldn’t forget it.
Hizashi sat next to Shouta and let the radio fill the silence, bobbing along to the music and keeping his humming low as Shouta worked away at his late dinner.
“Mm- Hizashi?” Shouta asked, and Hizashi immediately turned his attention to him.
Shouta was blinking down at Hana and the smoothie in front of him, clearly a bit lost.
“Hey, babe. Welcome back.”
“How long was I- gone?”
“I dunno, you were little when I got home. You had Hana with you while you were marking, so you must’ve been fighting it at some point.”
“I remember that.” Shouta rubbed his eyes, and Hizashi quelled the urge to tug his hands away and remind him to use his eyedrops. Adult Shouta got to make decisions like whether he rubbed his eyes when they were itchy. “I wanted something to do with my hands, so I got Hana. Marked some more, and then- I think I was going to take a nap?”
“Makes sense with the outfit,” Hizashi teased lightly.
Shouta looked down at himself and shrugged. “It’s cozy.”
“Uh-huh. Softie.” Shouta frowned at Hizashi and took another slurp of the smoothie through his swirly heart straw. “You were in the bedroom when I came home, spaced out. You didn’t seem upset, though, just out of it.”
“I might have fallen asleep.” Shouta dug his knuckles into his temples. “I don’t remember.”
“It’s okay, I don’t think you were there for long. I only got home a couple hours after you, and you did a lot of marking.”
“Yeah.” Shouta was trying to sound like he wasn’t bothered, but Hizashi knew he didn’t enjoy when his regression ended up giving him gaps in his memory. It was too much like villain quirks that got in your head and messed things around. Every hero had a horror story about lost time, missing memories.
“You were really cuddly when I got home, but I knew you hadn’t eaten yet, so I dragged you out here, found you Hana, and made you a smoothie. I’ve only been home for about half an hour.” Hizashi glanced at the numbers on the microwave to make sure he was telling the truth, and nodded. “Yeah, thirty-five minutes.”
“Thanks.” Shouta discarded the straw, throwing it perfectly into the sink, and drank the rest of the smoothie straight from the cup.
“Any time, babe, you know that. But I do really need to take a shower.” Hizashi had been putting it off until Shouta was ready to take care of himself, but he was desperate to get out of his work clothes.
“Go ahead,” Shouta said. “All yours.”
“I love you, babe. And seriously, it was no trouble.” Hizashi slid off his chair and pressed a kiss to Shouta’s cheek, resting his forehead against his husband’s temple. “I don’t mind taking care of you when you’re tired.”
“I know.” Shouta’s little smile was back, pulling at the corners of his mouth. He turned his head and kissed the tip of Hizashi’s nose. “I love you too, now go take a shower. You reek.”
“So mean!” Hizashi pouted. “So mean to your loving husband!”
“My loving husband is a stinky man.” Shouta poked Hizashi in the side, making him yelp and back away. “Go shower. I want cuddles in bed, so dry your hair before you join me.”
“Yes sir!” Hizashi grinned, and stole one more kiss before he headed for the bathroom. Life was busy, but life was good. And that was all Hizashi needed.  
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~ Douxie is a lowly street urchin. He's the lowest class you can get and he's barely considered a person none the less a commoner. He has no place being near the castle or being offered by the Merlin to learn magic at the side of Morgana. He doesn't fit into the world of Nobility surrounding Camelot or the Royal Court. And yet as Merlin puts his hand on the young boys shoulder leading him to the castle as he holds a sleeping Archie close, Douxies never felt more at home.
~ When Douxie meets you it's love at first sight. You just looked so healthy and clean and kind. Almost angelic. With rosy cheeks and a bright smile he couldn't help but stare at you as your mom talked to Merlin about something. You were in the most beautiful clothes he'd ever seen and your hair was recently brushed and done. He swallows trying to find his words but you don't seem to mind as you fill the silence with your sweet voice. Archie stirs in his arms and as you leave with your mom waving a goodbye Archie gives him a knowing look as Merlin smacks his head.
~ "Absolutely not Hisirdoux." Merlin is firm on that point. Douxie is allowed many freedoms now that he lives in the castle but there are also many new rules. One of them is that he apprentally is not to talk with the Nobel he met his first day as Merlins apprentice. Or any Nobles he meets unless he is with Merlin and they address him first. His rank may be higher now that he is Merlins apprentice but it will never be high enough to truly intrest someone of your stature or decorum. At least that's what Merlin tells him.
~ So of course he may not be able to "talk" to you but Archie can. So the ten year old Douxie comes up with a plan! While he's working besides Merlin he sends Archie off too learn more about you. The familiar seeing Douxies interest in you is quit keen on gaining knowledge for his young master. So the cat sneaks off to ask you some questions.
~ Your alone in your room studying when he finds you. You're reading and when he appears your eager to pet him. I mean he is a small fluffy cat. However when he speaks you seem hesitant to talk back at first, afraid that a fae is tricking you or you might get cursed. But a talking cat is so exciting and he seems very well mannered so you end up answering all his questions in exhange for some of your own. When Archie comes back that night Douxie learns everything about you Archie had learned. Apprentally you're the child of a Dutchess or perhaps a distant cousin of King Arthur but whoever you are Archie confirms you're way out of Douxies league. That in no way stops them however.
~ Merlin said Douxie is not to court you. But he isn't intrested in marriage (yet) he only wants your hand in friendship. After all your his age and you live in the castle and you seem super nice. He may be a middle class mage but he does live in the castle which means little Douxie often has free riegn of it. He's worried about guards spotting him near your room so he sends Archie too you with questions he has. Sometimes he's brave and he'll catch glimpses of you throughout the castle. He always gets a dopey smile on his face after he's seen you.
~ One day as he sits at his desk looking at the window waiting for Archie to come and tell him more about you he gets a surprise. His face lights up seeing his familiar and he notices something in the cats mouth. Archie smiles as he hands over a letter.
'Hisirdoux I've heard a lot about you from your familiar. Archie says you should give him more treats for his troubles and I agree he's a good cat who often visits me when I am lonely.
My name is (Y/N) and although we haven't formally met and talked alone I remember you. Merlins apprentice learning magic! That must be so exciting! Much better than my dull tasks in the court! I am always with escort or guard or parent otherwise I assure you we would've met and talked again. I often catch you in the corner of my eye and it always bring a smile to my face. You seem very kind and many of my friends sadly are not. So I have come up with a plan. For now I can not meet you in person but someday soon I will find a way.
Until then lets write letters. It'll be an adventure.
- Love (Y/N)
~ Archie doesn't mind being a messanger. He finds your friendship with Doxuie endearing and soon comes to care for you as much as the boy. Douxie immediately gets excited at the idea of writing you a letter and responds as soon as he finsihes reading yours.
~ Dear (Y/N),
Merlin said I'm not supposed to talk to you but he never said I couldn't write too you! You're brilliant for thinking of this and I don't listen to everything he says anyways. Merlin is a great teacher and I am grateful to him but he is also a hard enforcer. Learning magic under him is difficult and I do a lot more cleaning than actual magic.
But that's okay! I enjoy working under him. What must your life be like I wonder? A Royal in the Court? What do you do? What are you Royal duties? I mostly mop, sweep, and write endless hours of boring homework nothing exciting like this!
P.S I gave Archie lots of pets and treats just like you asked!
- Your friend Hisirdoux Casperan
~ Soon starts a game of back and forth. Every night or every other night you write letters to him and he writes back. You exchange smiles in the hall and nod at each other in passing. It's the biggest secret either of you have ever had and sometimes it takes everything not to giggle at the sight of each other. You may not be able to hang out properly but as you begin to get to know each other more intimately Hisirdoux takes more risks too see you and you in turn do the same.
~ A year goes by and Douxie starts adding in small things to your letters. He loves giving you little gifts and trying to catch a reaction in the hallway, as dangerous as it might be, he loves seeing your smile whenever you receive something. Pressed flowers, poetry he read in old books, and knick nacks he found in town being some of his favorites to give you. In turn you give him sweets, books you like to read, small sketches, interesting facts from your studies, pretty crystals, and anything else you think he'll enjoy.
~ As teenager's Archie had been your letterman for years. Acting as a middle ground since it was almost impossible to meet alone. You and Hisirdoux had become closer despite not being able to meet in person much and as you both were given more freedom as you got older you found ways to meet and talk, Archie acting as a look out as you snuck moments alone.
~ You both find out the castle has secret passages throughout the walls when your about 13. Douxie and you are now able to meet in secret and have free reign of the castle at night when everyone is asleep. Some nights you both sneak into the kitchens stealing tarts and other sweets, other nights you spend in the library reading together into the early hours of the morning, and other nights are spent wandering the castle learning all it's secrets. Sometimes you even sneak to the roof or observatory and stare out at the stars talking about your dreams and what you wish to be and do.
~ As he becomes better at music he finds himself sitting beneath your rooms balcony or practicing outside your room so you can hear his music. You only encourage his craft and your encouragement makes his heart soar. He loves singing silly ballads to you and has even snuck in some romantic lyrics.
~ He loves showing off his magic. He's so proud of his craft and he's proud of how your eyes light up when you watch him do a spell. He enjoys watching your reactions as he casts his latest mark and often does spells he probably shouldn't to try and impress you. His favorite trick is summoning a flower and tucking it behind your ear. Your blush is always so pretty as he places it for you.
~ He sneaks into your library or places you go throughout the day to leave you things to find. Pressed flowers became a common occurrence in your books, or bits of a song he'd wrote slip into your school notes. Sometimes drawings and other small assorted things will appear through out the day as you do your duties as well. Unknown to Casperan you keep everything he gives you in a box under your bed in your room. All the letters he's written to you are safely tucked away in a large hollow book you made.
~ It becomes easier for him to sneak into your room or you to sneak into his as you get older. There are secret tunnels in the castle walls you use to meet up.
~ As you grow older you know your hand will soon be given to some other Nobel family but you dream of a life with Douxie. One where you could be yourself and you could live a life of love, magic, and adventure. He made you happy and although it wasn't practical you often daydreamed of running away together or becoming a mage yourself just so you could marry him.
~ One night when Archie goes to check up on you and say goodnight he runs back to Hisirdoux worried. Apprentally the ball of furr had heard you crying and ran back to tell young Casperan. He of course ran to your room doing his best not to be seen. You were waiting for Archie to come say goodnight but you'd fallen asleep and then woken from a terrible nightmare. Your door opens and looking up you sniffle and stare at Casperan with scared eyes. He lays next to you and you lean against him closing your eyes and taking in his comfort. Holding you close he uses his magic to play you a song staying with you until you drift asleep.
~ You're both more than friends. You both know it but neither of you have admitted it. The Royal Court would never allow you to love each other. You could never be married officially and eventually you'd be forced into a loveless life with someone else. However tension is rising in Camelot and things are changing. Magic may soon be banned and with it Douxies passion. You're idea to run away becomes more and more appealing as the world around you slowly dissolves into choas.
~ One night while everyone was asleep you sneak into his room. Shaking him awake you put a finger to your mouth and drag the sleepy boy to the stables. Under the moonlight you both ride out of Camelot to spend one night together. One night where you can just be who you both are. You explain your plan. What you should do and although Douxie does not want to leave he agrees it's unsafe.
~ You pack. You know you can't take much but you've arranged for a carriage with two horses so you and Douxie can at least start with something. All your jewellery and valuables along with pouches full of gold, silver, and copper from the Royal Treasury are put into a large satchel you hide under your bed. You pack a few of your least fancy dresses and steal pants from the stable boy. All of your favorite books, drawing supplies, and poems are shoved into a different satchel. You hide the hollow book of letters and all the gifts Hisirdoux wrote you in the stable and you prepare to leave.
~ Packing the carriage late at night under the stars Douxie and Archie meet you. Douxie has a satchel full of potions, a purse full of magic scrolls and books no one will miss, the letters you wrote him, and his lute. He also grabbed dried meat from the kitchen, biscuits, and canteens of water.
"Love are you sure?" He's so tender so soft and so full of love. You know this is meant to be.
"Without you Douxie life is not worth living. You love me not for my riches. Not for looks. Not for my status but for me. No matter what happens I love you."
~ That's all Douxie needs to hear before he takes the reigns and you both leave. Fleeing your life from Camelot and going on a new adventure. One of adventure, magic, and love. You know things will never be the same but that's alright. You have him, he has you, and you both had Archie. As you flee under the stars avoiding trolls and traveling several towns over you know this is meant to be.
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(Comments and feedback appreciated :D)
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tuanyiems · 3 years
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The Spirit of Christmas
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Jaebum x Reader holiday!au, roommate!au words: 2.8k
Plot: You are sugar and spice and everything nice and your roommate, Jaebum is coal—at least, that’s how it seems at first glance. With the pandemic and Christmas Eve coming to an end, maybe it’s not just Jaebum that needs a little Christmas spirit. 
a/n – guess whose household got covid in time for Christmas? 2020 hates me lol anyways, I said I was going to post a Jackson holiday au but that was taking too long, I’ll post it next Christmas lmao here is jb and his kitties in the meantime <3 happy holidays folks, stay safe and merry and I’ll meet you in the new year
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“What is that?” Jaebum looks at you incredulously as you carry an armful of green into his living room. You let it fall onto the floor, much to his annoyance and his cats’ pleasure. Nora flops onto her belly, rubbing against the green sticks.
“It’s our Christmas tree!” you grin, running your fingers through the fur of her belly and earning a nip to your fingers. You giggle at the tickle of her teeth on your thumb. Despite her feisty disposition, Nora very rarely ever bites for real.
“That’s a pile of plastic,” your roommate plops himself on the couch, feet thrown over the coffee table.
Your mouth twists as you push the ottoman closer to him with a gentle push of your fuzzy sock-clad feet. Jaebum glances at the bright yellow ottoman you brought into the apartment when he told you about a million times that the thing was a waste of money (and a neon eyesore). He then looks over at your feet looking awfully like a red stocking, and he truly does mean the awful part. He keeps his feet on the coffee table and leans back into the couch, arms behind his head.
“It’s a Christmas tree,” you emphasize, lifting his legs with a huff onto the ottoman. You dust your hands before placing them onto your hips. “And you’re going to help me put it up!”
He frowns, looking into your eager eyes. “Remind me why I moved in with you again?”
“Because I had a spare room and you needed someone willing to live with five cats,” you answer easily like you always do. You throw one of the plastic limbs at him. “Now come on, let’s get festive!”
“Your festive and my festive are very different,” Jaebum sighs, but he gets up anyways.
“Noted,” you chuckle, clearing a space on the floor for him to sit beside you.
You grab your phone to turn on your playlist, lovingly titled “HO! HO! HO!iday Cheer” and immediately you can see Jaebum’s face sour at the familiar jingle as Mariah Carey’s voice echoes through the room. 
“Oh, we’re going with my festive, just so you know,” you warn him belatedly. He blows at his bangs, shoulders slumping in surrender.
“Let’s just get this over with before my ears start bleeding,” he grumbles, grabbing hold of a couple plastic limbs.
“That’s the spirit!” you cheer, slapping him on the back. You don’t miss the small twitch of his lips.
You had a lot of hopes for this year, all of which pretty much went down the drain. That was life though, you rolled with the punches. But you certainly did not expect that when you opened your home to Jaebum and his five cats, that just two weeks after, he would be your only social life for the next nine months (if you didn’t count your biweekly grocery outings). 
And while you have nothing against Jaebum—in fact, you absolutely love his five cats—it doesn’t take a genius to tell that the two of you are very different. Jaebum’s black on black fashion, motorcycle riding, sterling silver face piercing-self, next to your pastel, soft knit cardigan-wearing, always smelling like bread and daisies…the two of you are a walking metaphorical neon sign flashing “opposites!”
“Why does that matter? He’s going to be my roommate, not my husband!” you had shrugged Jinyoung’s warning without a second thought. 
That memory would come back to bite you during the first three months of shared living, for every time he woke you up from his random 3am showers or played horror movies in the living room right before your bedtime, and especially whenever he responded to your silly jokes with a deadpan face or worse, his unrelenting despondency. 
Over time though, you learned how to read him—like how he was nicer after a cup of coffee or how he has trouble sleeping but always manages to fall asleep on the living room couch when you’re baking bread in the open kitchen. You’ve learned that when Jaebum scowls, it’s mostly just a reflex and actually, if you can catch a reflection whenever he’s looking away, usually he’s smiling. And although he will grumble about it the entire way through, if you ask for help, he will always be there (even when he tells you he won’t). 
Maybe you both express yourselves differently. You say “I love you” and he will ask “Did you eat yet?” You bake cupcakes and have teatime on the porch with the older neighbors, Jaebum installs cameras and buys extra essentials whenever you go grocery shopping together. You fill the windowsills with abandoned plants and bring them back to life, Jaebum leaves cat food and old blankets in your backyard for the strays. 
No one else understands when you tell them you think you and Jaebum might be the same person, but they haven’t seen him the way you have over the last nine months. Beneath his hardboiled exterior is a sensitive soul who loves quietly and cares a lot.
“There’s no point in putting this up,” Jaebum grumbles as he fits another limb into the trunk of the tree. “No one’s even gonna see it, it’s already Christmas Eve. Anyways, the Christmas party is canceled.”
“You will see it. I will see it,” you hand him another part. “Isn’t that reason enough?”
“It’s a waste of electricity,” he adds, not even glancing at you.
“The lights I bought have a timer!”
“And then it’ll be more work taking it down again.”
With a pout, you stand up and Jaebum turns his head in surprise.
“Where are you going, it almost done?”
Your frown easily twists back into a smile, seeing the way he hurries to put the last limb into the tree. “Time for the decorations!”
Jaebum rolls his eyes and looks down again and you can just tell he’s hiding another smile. You hurry off into your bedroom to grab the supplies.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” you sing as you reenter the living room and Michael Bublé’s voice rings from your phone. Twirling in an oversized pajama pullover (which might be Jaebum’s that got lost in your laundry three months back), you settle the box of ornaments on the floor. “I’m so excited to show you!”
He looks at you blankly, waiting for you to continue.
You squeeze your shoulders together, excitement barely contained as you reach into the box and pull out an emerald velvet pouch.
“It came in the mail just in time!” you grin, clutching the bag to your chest. 
He lifts his brow at you, but the rise of his cheekbones gives him away.
“Ta da!” you squeal, pulling round orbs out of the bag. “One of my co-workers has a side business making custom ornaments and I got one for each of the cats!”
“Woah,” Jaebum takes one of the ornaments into his palms, eyeing it closely.
You bite your lip, holding in a satisfied giggle lest you ruin the moment. He sits quietly, admiring each ornament of the cats. When he gets to the last one, you pull out one more orb from the bag, holding it up by its gold, glittering string.
“And I got one of us too,” you say quietly, showing it off to him. 
He slides closer, nose practically touching the ornament. It’s a simple, clear bulb and inside are your figurine versions, dusted with glittering snow around a Christmas tree.
Finally, Jaebum breaks into a smile, eyes disappearing into crescents. You find yourself letting out a breath you had been holding.
“They even got my cheek piercings,” he chuckles, pointing to the tiny orb. “And your derpy smile too!”
“Hey, my smile isn’t derpy!” you whine, smiling.
“It’s cute,” he adds and you falter, wondering if he means the ornament or your smile. But in true Jaebum fashion, he doesn’t explain himself and turns back to the cat ornaments. “This is really well made.”
You ignore the pulsing in your chest, nodding your head. “Yeah, I told her she should raise her prices.”
He gets up from the floor and offers you his hand. “Let’s put them up.”
Cheeks flushing, you let him help you up. 
“Do you think it’s okay though? The cats might knock them down,” his brows furrow with worry.
You chuckle, grabbing the ornament from his hand and hang it off the tree. “Pretty things are meant to be shown and if it breaks…then we’ll get new ones!”
Jaebum rolls his eyes at your optimism but a small smile stretches across his face. “I think your co-worker would be offended to hear how you treat her work.”
You shrug, crouching down to Nora and Odd as both cats swat at the ornament hanging precariously off your finger. “Art should not belong behind glass walls. They’re meant to be seen and enjoyed, like your music!”
You giggle as Odd jumps into your lap, pawing at the shiny orb as you lift it out of reach each time. You miss the way Jaebum looks at you.
“Okay, less playing and more decorating,” he replies, throwing a string of gold tinsel at your head, much to the cats’ delight. You laugh at their excitement, glancing at Jaebum’s reddened ears.
Humming to the Christmas jingles, you stand alongside Jaebum, dressing the plastic tree in glittering ornaments and lights. Once in a while, you even catch Jaebum swaying to the music when he thinks you aren’t paying attention.
“Aaand,” Jaebum lifts the shining star from the box to you and you rise onto your tiptoes.
“Done!” You cheer, placing the star on the top of the tree. You clap gleefully, elbowing Jaebum to follow. He gives you three limp claps before you give up and crouch down to Odd instead, forcing the kitty to clap paws.
“Okay, can I go to my room now?”
“Not yet!”
He groans, plopping onto the couch. “What else is there left to put up?”
You pout, hands on your hip. “We can’t have a Christmas tree without the Christmas tree lighting ceremony!”
He sighs, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “There’s a ceremony?”
“Of course there is!” you laugh, rushing towards the light switch. You flick the switch without warning, covering the living room in darkness.
With only the light from the streetlamp peeking through the windows, the falling snow is even more visible. The sight fills you with childlike excitement.
“Are you ready?” you whisper, walking over to the switch for the Christmas lights.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“We need to count down,” Your lips jut out at his indifference as you eye his dark figure. In the darkness, you can just barely see his features, but you imagine he is rolling his eyes at you.
Just as you are about to give in, you hear him sigh loudly, “Five,”
You break into a smile, “Four, three, two,”
“One…”
“Merry Christmas!” you sing, twisting the knob and flooding the room with small twinkling lights. 
But you don’t look at the tree. Instead, your gaze remains in Jaebum’s direction and you watch as the lights illuminate his face. And you are pleased to see he is smiling. You know it’s just the reflection of the lights, but he looks like he has stars in his eyes.
Sensing your gaze, Jaebum looks at you and frowns, embarrassed. “What?”
You smile, cheeks warming. “Your cheek piercing looks like it’s twinkling from here.”
“Don’t be weird,” he scowls. “Are we done now?”
“Do you want hot chocolate?” you offer, moving over to sit next to him on the couch. 
He shakes his head, getting up. “I’m going to bed.”
Chuckling, you let him leave, watching as the cats follow behind him. “Merry Christmas, Jaebum!”
“It’s not Christmas yet!” he yells back before you hear the sound of his bedroom door closing shut.
With a quiet sigh, you grab your phone from the coffee table and turn off the music. The silence feels even quieter with only the lights from the Christmas tree flickering around the room. Without anyone else in the room, your energy quickly depletes.
Outside, the snow whips by in flurries.
This is not how you imagined you’d be spending your favorite holiday, although the festive lights do make you feel a little bit better.
You wanted the Christmas gatherings though.
You were a family person through and through.
You missed it all—the packed house, cooking dinner with the aunties, playing board games with the little cousins, throwing said boardgame across the room when you rage quit, making up for it with freshly baked cookies that you’d nibble on at midnight while opening gifts by the Christmas tree. You even missed the nagging from your parents, asking when you’ll get a boyfriend and settle down.
Snuggling closer into the arm of the couch, you hug yourself. 
It’s colder this year. 
Emptier. 
“So, you turn off the Christmas music after I leave?” You jump in surprise at Jaebum’s voice entering the room again. He takes a seat next to you on the couch. “You listen to it just to annoy me, don’t you?”
You blink back, wondering why he returned. “Did you forget something?”
He shrugs, leaning back into the couch and gazes at the Christmas tree. “It’s my first Christmas tree, I thought I should look at it a little longer.”
“This is your first Christmas tree?” you look at him in surprise.
He nods nonchalantly. “Never really celebrated Christmas.”
You sink into your seat, thigh touching his. “What a year to start celebrating.”
“Only because you have me hostage.”
You chuckle softly. “Well, I’m glad you had no choice but to be stuck with me. Would’ve been a lonely year without you here.”
“Hmm,” he looks at you thoughtfully. “Never pegged you as the lonely type.”
“The holidays can do that.”
“Then just think like me, pretend it’s any other day.”
You sigh, leaning into Jaebum. He doesn’t scoot away like he normally does. Instead, you find his arm resting around your shoulder.
“I don’t want this to be any other day though. This whole year has been a blur of any other days.” Your lips jut out in a pout as you look up at your roommate. “I know I must sound like a child, but I want Christmas.”
Jaebum laughs softly. You can feel the rumble of his chest.
“Cute,” he mutters, and you flush. His arm around you pulls you tighter. “Then, do you want to open your present at midnight or in the morning?”
Your eyes widen and he laughs at your expression once more. “You got me a present?”
“Well, yeah,”
“But…you said you don’t celebrate Christmas.”
“But you do,” he answers easily, looking at the tree again. “And anyways, if you’re gonna make me do all the work, I might as well celebrate the whole thing, right?”
You grin, poking his chest. “Admit you had fun tonight, Jaebum.”
He shrugs, smiling. “The ornaments were cool. I’ll be the DJ next time though.”
“Deal,” you beam, holding out your pinky. You giggle when he looks at your outstretched pinky with an arched brow. You keep your hand raised though. “Come on!”
He lets out a loud breath but eventually curls his pinky around yours.
Your heart warms, seeing how big his pinky measures around yours. It’s why when he moves to let go, you keep your pinky curled.
Laughing at his confused frown, you show him your thumb. “You have to seal the promise, Jaebum!”
“You’re an actual five-year-old,” he groans.
“Yes, I am,” you grin, eyes curling into crescents. His tone doesn’t faze you. From up close, you can confirm that there are indeed, stars in his eyes. They twinkle in amusement at your gesture and his lips lift once more when his thumb presses against yours.
And this time, he doesn’t pull away.
Pursing your lips shyly, you let your hand fall to his lap.
Looking back up at him, his gaze is soft on you. You pretend not to notice the way his fingers thread around yours.
“To answer your question, I’d like my present at midnight.”
“As you wish. Then shall we make hot chocolate and watch a movie until then?”
“Sounds like the perfect Christmas,” you tell him softly.
“Okay, Joker or The Dark Knight? You can pick.”
You grin, squeezing his hand. “We’re gonna watch Home Alone, Jaebum.”
“You’re terrible,” he feigns.
Chuckling, you let go of his hand and rise from the couch. “I’ll go make the hot chocolate.”
Jaebum grabs your hand again and you turn back curiously.
“Hm?” 
His thumb brushes the back of your hand gently.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Jaebum.”
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Text
First Kiss, But Not On The Lips
Pair: Tony/ace!Loki (platonic)
Warnings: mentions of insomnia, nightmares, panic attack, isolation and alcohol.
Notes: Basically, the idiots in love trope is my favourite. Tony is a bi mess, Loki doesn't care about a thing (or cares about too many things), Thor is a himbo and Steve is trying. Also, yes, Loki has the ace ring (and a pride flag in his room) and he legally cannot sit like a normal person. And Steve lost the bet because he didn't expect Tony to find out about his crush on Loki within a month.
Read on AO3
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"You know what, I get it. We all deserve second chances and blah blah blah, but can't Loki redeem his name on another solar system? What about Jötunnheim? He did a genocide there too!" Tony argues. At least he moves past the redeem part.
"I told you they would not accept me," Loki sighs at Thor, trying to appear stoic. But Tony sees the disappointment in him. Because he knows how to spot it in the mirror.
"Fine, he can stay for a month as a testing period. But if he causes trouble, he's gone," Steve decides. He loves speaking out the decisions even though no one will disagree.
And Thor smiles widely and hugs his brother. But Tony can still see the disappointment in Loki.
~~~
Sleeping is hard while knowing he's in the same building. Tony expected it, but it's still annoying.
"You know he was a victim too, why are you so afraid?" He asks himself but no answer is given.
He knows he won't be able to sleep, and there is a broken suit waiting for him in the lab.
Well, if he's about to pull an all nighter, he better be productive.
~~~
Tony had gotten his all nighter on a schedule. He would wait until Steve is asleep, go to the lab, and return to his bed only one hour before Steve wakes up. Of course and they all noticed his dark circles and moodiness, but he would blame nightmares and get away with it. Not that he was lying.
And, apparently, Tony is not the only one with sleeping issues.
Thor was claiming that Gods don't need sleep or nutrition. But Thor is also a sleeper and eats every time like it's his last time. But Loki doesn't. He barely touches whatever food is placed in front of him or drinks a little water and he looks more sleep deprived than Tony. But no one has the guts to say to a thousand years old powerful cranky god to go sleep or to eat, not even Thor.
And he doesn't talk. It's been days since his voice was heard. Thor doesn't like it, but the few times he mentioned it or tried to get Loki to speak or take part in a talk, he only got a glare. And Tony still doesn't know how Thor still makes Loki even get out of his room.
~~~
Once again, Tony is working on a new suit, during his favourite inhuman hours. Because two things come out at 3am, the devil and Tony Stark.
But the first dude is not helping Tony with the non functioning leg that's driving him insane.
"It's not going to work," Someone comments from the lab's door. Who the hell is up that late?
"Excuse me?" Tony turns around, only to face Loki leaning against the door frame.
"Remaking the joint to resemble a human's is not going to work. You need less strength and more flexibility, probably even another material," Loki explains, staring at Tony. He makes a small nod. Loki then straightens himself and walks closer.
"You know about mechanical engineering?" Tony asks.
"Science, magic, it's all the same on Asgard… and I happen to be the Master of Magic, and therefore…" He trails off, something sad blooming in his eyes. Homesickness, Tony recognises with ease.
"Alright, so, how do you think we'll make it work?" Tony asks, a grin on his face. But instead of answering, Loki just lifts his sleeves and grabs a wrench.
Tony watches as Loki plays with the machine—he looks more like he plays than like he's repairing something—and uses his magic to change the elements on the materials, green glows appearing and disappearing. And, after the five minutes it took him, the leg is perfect.
"Wow…" Tony whistles. Loki grins and sits on the working table, spinning the wrench on his fingers.
"It will probably last for a millennium or two," He shrugs, like it's something easy. And Tony is more impressed.
And they go on with the suit, finishing it before it's time for Tony to go and pretend he's sleeping. And Tony would use this time.
"Well, I didn't know you're good at engineering," Tony trails off. Loki shrugs in response, again sitting on the table with his legs in lotus position.
"You never asked,"
"Yeah, sorry about that. You are just too…" He suddenly can't find the word.
"Cold?" Loki asks, raising his eyebrows at Tony.
"Reserved is how I would phrase it, actually," Tony responds, making Loki hum.
"You know what, nevermind. I'm asking now. What do you like? What don't you like? Just rumble about things," He decides, big brown eyes staring at Loki. And he responds with another shrug.
"I don't know… it is quite late, so I'll probably head to my bed. Good morning, Stark," He jumps up and leaves, before Tony can even think of stopping him.
Right, he's just waiting for people to ask…
"So… Do you remember the rumble offer? Cause it still stands," Tony eyes Loki. And Loki responds with a smile.
~~~
The next morning, Loki didn't appear. Thor explained that he crashed on the bed. And it must be the hell of a sleep because he got out of his room three days after. Again, while Tony was working on a suit.
"Hey, wanna help?" Tony yells at Loki as he walks outside of the lab. And Loki nods a yes and gets to work.
"Still not sleeping, Stark?" He asks, his smart eyes pinned on the helmet of the suit.
"No rest for the wicked," Tony smiles. Looks like he's more talkative now that he's fresh.
"Tell me about it…" He sighs. Then, he grunts a bit, probably gotten hit by some remaining electricity.
Tony hadn't noticed before how pretty Loki's smile is.
And Loki takes the opportunity and starts to talk. Tony learns a lot about Loki during the Great Rumble. Dandelions are his favourite flowers, thanks to the Æsir library he became an encyclopaedia of random fun facts (even took it far enough to share some), he's a cat person, he loves classical music or music without lyrics, and then he starts sharing some stories of him and Thor as kids.
But Tony notices other things too. He noticed that Loki's eyes seem to glow when he talks about things that make him happy, he moves his hands around, he has this cute little smile that makes his face shine. And when he talks fast, his Nordic accent slips out—just some trilled 'r's or some harder sounds—and he also has a stutter that slips out. And Tony finds all of those so beautiful, but he can't say it.
"Your turn," Loki says. And Tony freezes.
Because his mind is nothing but simping for Loki, right now.
"I… em… Ya know, I…" He mutters, trying to think of something. But, Goddamnit, those shining green eyes pinning on him and waiting are so distracting.
"I'm actually bisexual, but more attracted to women than men," He snaps, finally finding something. But what if Asgard is not so accepting? Earth is having issues with those things and those guys live in the middle ages.
"Oh, nice," Loki shrugs after noticing Tony's brief pause. And it's enough to relax Tony.
"And… Dammit, this is so hard… I like cheeseburgers?" He squirts. "I don't know, can't think of something right now… when something pops up, I'll let you know," He gives up and rubs his nose bridge.
"No worries, you're hot anyways,"
Loki grins after seeing how red Tony's face became. And Tony clears his throat in hope of containing himself somehow.
"Alrighty… How's the helmet going? Tony moves the subject away. He sees Loki short-circuiting for a long moment, before remembering what they are doing here and grabbing back the helmet.
"It won't let me fix it… whenever I try to do something to the source of the issue, I get striked," He answers.
"Have you tried plastic gloves?" Tony asks, not even looking up from the hand he's oiling.
"For the helmet?" Loki asks, his eyebrows furrowed at Tony.
"For your hands, you idiot!" Tony screams, his head snapping heavenwards. Why did he agree on this?
"Fine, fine… Norns, dauðlegir eru svo stuttir í skapi... —Norns, Mortals are so short tempered…" Loki mutters under his breath.
"You know JARVIS can translate from Old Norse to English, right?" Tony snaps.
Loki shrugs and leaps into the working table and walks across it with three big steps, jumping back down with grace and opening shelves to find the gloves.
"They won't fit," He yells at Tony.
"Whatcha mean they won't fit?" Tony yells back.
Loki jumps on the table again and ends right behind Tony.
"I mean, they won't fit. They're too small," He answers to Tony's ear. Tony has learned how much Loki loved climbing on furniture, so he just turns around instead of jumping around and cussing at the God.
"Come on… how big are your hands?" He asks. Loki grabs Tony's hand and places his palm against his own. Tony's fingers were beginning on Loki's second joints, his fingers long and thin. And Tony licks his lips, because he knows what big hands mean…
Stop being horny over deities, you idiot! It didn't end well with Jesus and it won't end well with this one too! The, usually silent, voice of reason reminds him.
"Maybe you can magic them into fitting…" He suggests. Loki nods and stretches the left glove with his right hand, a green light making it bigger as he slides his hand inside.
"Thank you, Stark…" He smiles and climbs back on the table, eyes pinned on the helmet as he's playing with the screwdriver. It's been two weeks since he came here, and he still uses only last names. But when Clint called him Odinson, Thor, Steve and the Hulk had to physically hold Loki from snapping the archer's neck. And no one dares to call him Laufeyson or even think about it.
"Hey," Tony snaps. Loki flinches at the sudden noise but composes himself right after. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya," Tony apologizes.
"It's fine… What do you want to ask?" Loki shrugs one shoulder, placing the helmet on his right and the screwdriver on his left.
"Why do you call everyone by their last name but don't want to be addressed as so?" He asks.
"I'm not anyone's friend, and first names feel too familiar for such a situation. And, I won't stay for a long time…" He answers, the livid glow in his eyes fading just so.
"And, your last name?"
"I don't have one…" He whispers, with what Tony recognises as shame in his voice. Tony frowns and walks closer, staying outside of Loki's personal space.
"But you're Thor's brother and he's an Odinson," He studied his words before speaking. The last thing he wants is to trigger Loki, even as an accident.
"On Asgard and Jötenheim, last names work differently. You choose the name of the parent who you are closest to and then add the -son, -dottir or -barn. But Odin and Laufey were not close at all, and Frigga could help but she chose to keep me at arm's reach. So, no last name…" Tony can see how Loki was trying hard not to show emotions, but he is so close to breaking.
"You know, with this logic, only Thor has a last name. Don't tell Steve, but Howard was a first class terrible father. Steve's dad abandoned him and his mother, after beating the poor woman. Clint's parents made him run away and go to the circus. Natasha was given her name in the Red Room, she doesn't know who her parents are. And Bruce's was violent too. The only people with decent parents are Thor and JARVIS." Tony should move the topic away, but he didn't. At least he tries to patch it up on the last bit.
"And Dum-E," Loki adds, with a barely visible smile. A fake one. Tony hears the robot's joints moving as he lifts his upper part.
"And Dum-E," Tony agrees with a smile, and the robot makes a few happy noises. Loki laughs.
"You know, he says he loves you," He turns to Tony.
"If that's so, he earned some nice oil," Tony grabs the oil and applies some to Dum-E's joint. It doesn't stop making those mechanic noises and when Tony is over, Loki's smiling at him from the table.
"He still says he loves me, right?" Tony asks. Loki makes a slight nod, not abandoning his small smile.
"And that you are the best dad," He adds. Tony laughs and pets Dum-E before heading back to the table. But he still won't get too close to Loki, he is very strict with his personal space.
Loki grabs back the helmet and starts poking it around with the tool, now ignoring Tony.
"So, you don't feel like talking, huh?" Tony asks.
"If you mean the topic you want to talk about, then no," Loki snaps, not raising his eyes. Tony nods, he knows better than invading Loki's personal space.
And Loki didn't open his mouth for the rest of the night. The next morning, he would pretend nothing happened, but Tony would see how something changed in him. How his eyes darkened and his face became colder.
~~~
The next night, Loki is even more grumpy. So, Tony avoids speaking, or making anything that has even the slightest chance to irritate him.
"You're scared of me…" Loki finally speaks, his voice soft like a whisper and his fingers playing with the black ring on his ring finger. Tony looks up from the metal glove he's making to stare at Loki.
"Should I be scared?" Tony asks, careful not to say the wrong words.
"You are too picky about what you do around me. Why not do that if not because you are scared?" He answers. And this is where Tony lets himself frown and talks without thinking.
"Maybe because I don't want to make you feel bad?" He lets his words come out without filters. And Loki raises his eyebrow at it.
"Well, you don't lie about it. But why are you so dedicated to this?" He narrows his eyes and crosses his hands, body leaning towards Tony.
And now, he can't answer. Why does he care so much? It's not that they're old friends like with Rhodey or ex-s but still friends like with Pepper. They're not even teammates. Loki said it himself, he will leave after the one month Steve gave him.
So, why does Tony care so much?
"Hmm, nice answer…" Loki snarls and looks away, playing again with the other hand of the suit.
"You're a cold son of a whore, you know that?" Tony spits, his eyes stabbing Loki. He now raises his glare again, but he looks more confused than before.
"I beg your pardon?" He blinks.
"I try to be decent towards you, okay? The reasons behind it don't matter. Could be fear, guilt, interest, it means jack. And you question me on how I dare be decent towards you and why and what I want from you! You know what, I have a question for you. Why can't you accept being treated as a normal person? Are you that messed up in the brain or you just love so much being alone and miserable?" Tony lets his thoughts come out as they are, not giving a care how much they will hurt Loki. But the moment he sees Loki's reaction, he regrets it.
The room gets cold enough for Tony to see his breathing. Loki leaves the tools and the metal hand beside him and locks his feet on a tight fatal position, his hands on his face and pulling some hair with enough strength to pull them out and his shoulders rising and falling too fast.
And Tony knows what this means… It means he messed up badly.
"Crap! Hey, buddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean those things…" He sprints closer. Loki raises his hand towards him, a green glow erupting from it and sending Tony flying to the other side of the lab.
Loki mutters something to this in Old Norse, before jumping up and leaving, his feet shaking as he was trying to walk towards the exit. But he manages to vanish in the dark corridor anyways.
And this time, Tony definitely messed up the worst way possible.
~~~
For the next two weeks, Loki doesn't get out of his room. And it only makes the knot in Tony's stomach grow tighter. He asks Thor all the time how Loki is, if he eats, if he sleeps, if he needs something. It's a wonder Thor hasn't grown tired of the constant questioning. And the answer is always the same, "I don't know, he won't let me in,".
And if everyone on the tower has learned something about Loki, is that things are bad when he keeps Thor at arm's length.
Tony wants to go and check on Loki himself, but he bets his right hand that Loki will spit curses at him, and he has every right to do so. So, he has to settle down on annoying Thor and worrying with him.
"You know what? It's my fault," Tony admits to Thor the night before Loki leaves. And Thor furrowed his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
Tony explains everything that happened that night, and Thor smiles with sympathy and touches Tony's neck.
"You were right on your words, that's why Loki reacted like this. He doesn't want people to know too much about him… But he won't be mad at you." He answers.
"But, why do I care so much? We barely know each other…" Tony asks.
"Have you thought of love?" Thor suggest. Tony is about to smack Thor for saying something like this, but it makes sense.
"Do… you don't happen to know if he's queer, right?" Tony makes the big question.
"I know very few Æsir who are not your definition of queer, but Loki was never open about those things. You better ask him…" He shrugs.
Well, Thor has a point. But Tony can't exactly ask Loki what his sexuality is while he's like this. So, he better wait till it's time.
"Thank you, Point Break…" Tony pats Thor's back. And then, JARVIS yells at them that Steve wants everyone in the central room.
And there is everyone here, even Loki. Well, an emotionally drained and mentally exhausted Loki, but he's there.
"As you know, your month has passed…" Steve begins talking, his Captain Voice on. Loki nods and lowers his shoulders to appear smaller.
"I'll be on my way, then…" He mutters, voice low and breaking. Steve wants to smile, but Loki's reaction stops him.
"So, you don't want to be an Avenger?" He lets his Captain mask fall, eyeing Loki with worry. And every single one of the Avengers is now doing the same. Tony hadn't realised that this antisocial emo little God had become so popular.
Loki lets his lips make a smile so big Tony bets it hurts like hell.
"You mean I can stay?" He asks, his voice now louder and livid.
"Can't see a reason to kick you out," Steve smiles too.
And Loki drags him to a hug tight enough to break the poor soldier in half, smiling like a sunbeam and rumbling thank you again and again.
"Alright, can you let me breathe?" Steve wheezes. Loki makes a small oh sound and lets go of the hug.
"Sorry, Steve," He hums, not breaking eye contact.
"Steve? Where's the "Rogers"?" Clint asks, his eyebrows raised and his hands signing along even though he wears his hearing aids.
"Well, since I'm about to stay, there's no point in calling you with your last names, is there?" Loki shrugs.
"Alright, you know what we need? A party. Who's with me?" Tony claps his hands and yells, glad to see everyone agreeing.
~~~
Apparently, being an alien God makes you hold your liquor a lot. Tony knew about Steve, but he didn't expect those two to have this stamina as well.
But Thor has started losing his balance and yelling at everyone how much he loves them in Old Norse and Loki's accent and stutter are showing, but he is just sitting on the bar and watching over the chaos.
This is your chance. He's happy and drunk enough, what could possibly go wrong? Tony thinks and stumbles towards Loki before he sits on a tall stool.
"So, are you having fun?" He asks, smiling at Loki and sipping on his scotch. It's fine, he's done this countless times before and he can do it now.
"It's quite nice, yes…" Loki hums, now turning to face Tony.
"And, em… Sorry about the other night… It was too much, should have been midler on ya," Tony mumbles, trying not to lower his eyes and break eye contact. Loki makes a soft nod.
"It's fine, you don't have to apologize… And you were quite right about some things…" He gives Tony a small smile as he talks, making him relax his shoulders a bit a mouth a thank you.
"And I wanna tell you something… I also talked to Thor about it… And I think… No, I'm pretty sure I have a crush on you. And, that's why the care and stuff…" Tony rumbles, his eyes big as he searches for reaction. But Loki stays untouched.
"I am… flattered… But I'm also asexual," He breathes out, staring back at Tony for a reaction.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to make it uncomfortable…" Tony rushes to apologize. Couldn't he see the black wedding ring? It's a symbol of asexuality!
"You know, things can work out platonically. I mean, you do start to grow on me…" Loki responds, smiling just a bit.
"Really? I mean, you don't mind?" Tony grins at the response, his eyes big at the God. Loki shrugs.
"Yeah, If you are okay with not getting laid with me…"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Tony gives Loki an ear to ear smile and grabs his right hand, kissing gently the black ring.
Loki's cheeks and ears get bright red and he bites his lower lip. Tony is quick to let go of his hand.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable…" He chunters, now lowering his glare and playing with his glass.
"It was… nice…" Loki whispers, most likely to himself. But Tony still snaps his head up.
"Seriously?"
"Yes… And…" The red blush appears back in his cheeks as he fidgets with his sleeves. "It was the first time someone kissed me…"
"No way!" Tony exhales.
"I know, embarrassing…" Loki bites his lip again, breaking eye contact.
"I'm actually honoured. Not a lot of humans had the chance to steal the first kiss of a God, you know," Tony grins, hoping the joke is not that bad.
Loki reacts with a snorting sound and a light punch on the ribs, that sends Tony straight to the floor and makes the glass scatter in pieces.
"Oh, dear, are you alright?!" Loki squirts at Tony.
"I think I need a safeword…" Tony grunts.
He is sure that Loki will grimace on the joke, but instead, he giggles like a highschool girl.
"Most definitely yeah," He sighs, handing over an identical glass with the one they broke.
From the back of the room, no one sees Thor laughing as Steve sighs at the view of Loki and Tony and handing over the twenty dollars of the bet.
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cheekysos · 4 years
Text
Road to Nowhere
Best Friend! Luke Hemmings x Reader
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Summary: Luke asks his best friend Y/N on a road trip. 
Warnings: Unrequited love, angst, minor swears
Author’s Note: Thank you for being patient with me the past couple of weeks. I’m still unsure about this piece honestly but I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is always very much appreciated, whether it be positive or constructive. Thank you for reading.
   You and Luke have been best friends ever since he moved to LA. When you first met him you were in a somewhat serious relationship and by the time you admitted to yourself your feelings for Luke he just met someone. You wallowed in self pity for quite some time before you forced yourself to move on, Luke seemed happy and you wanted to be happy too. When Luke was single again, you were a few months into a new relationship. This cycle has continued for the entirety of your guys’ friendship, the timing just never worked out. Not that it would have mattered, you knew your chances with Luke were slim to none. You two joked, laughed, cried, and confided in one another but there was something missing on his part. You could tell by the way he looked at you that he didn’t love you the way you loved him. He doesn’t look at your smile and instantly get butterflies, your laugh doesn’t send a shiver down his spine, and your touch doesn’t make it hard for him to breathe. Now here you are, single for almost a year and Luke is in what seems to be a very serious relationship and it’s eating you up inside. You wasted so much time ignoring and hiding from your feelings because you were too scared to lose your best friend. Now your feelings are so strong it’s difficult to ignore. 
  His current relationship was definitely putting a strain on your friendship. She wasn’t comfortable with it, you knew the second he introduced you to her. The way she scanned you up and down, like she was assessing your level of threat. She occupied most of his time and didn’t want you around much, she never came right out and said it but you could tell - basically everyone could except for Luke. It was little things like the way she touched him in front of you, like she was claiming him or how it took her months to “learn” your name. But you put up with it because you loved him, granted you were also in love with him as well but you respected their relationship and would never act on your feelings. Between touring and her Luke hasn’t had much time for you so when he called you and asked if you wanted to go on an impromptu road trip with no certain destination you didn’t hesitate. 
You packed enough clothes and toiletries for three days, that’s all the time off you could manage from work.  Luke arrived that morning with your favorite coffee in hand and looking as adorable as ever. He was dressed casually in blue jeans, T-shirt, and boots. 
  “You’re really going to wear jeans while we drive across the country?” You teased snagging the large cup of coffee out of his hand. 
  “Hey what’s wrong with my jeans?!” He asked defensively. 
  “Nothings wrong with them. I just meant they aren’t very comfortable.” 
   “Well thanks mom but I think I can dress myself.” He quipped.
   He stood in front of you with that stupid look on his stupid perfect face you loved so much. “So did you decide where you exactly were going?” You asked, spontaneity was not your strong suit. 
  “You pick, anywhere you want,” answered Luke.
You hesitated for a second, racking your brain for ideas. “Grand Canyon?”
“Whatever you want to see,” he flashed a sympathetic smile. What was going on?
“Seriously?” You asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?” 
“What a guy can’t spoil his best girl?” Luke had a tendency of saying things like this. Things that were obviously meant to be harmless but hurt you more than you’d like to admit because you knew he didn’t meant them, not how you wanted him to.  Luke helped you with your suitcase to his car and typed the coordinates into his GPS. While he did that you connected your phone to his car. Right after Luke asked you on this trip you started making a playlist for the occasion, of course a majority of the playlist was already assembled in a secret Luke playlist you already had. 
  “I hope you’re ready for this playlist, it’s going to blow your little rockstar brain.” Music is what immediately connected you to Luke. You guys didn’t have exactly the same taste and there were definitely songs and artists you disagreed on but his passion for it was contagious. He changed the way you consumed music, pushed you to listen to more than just lyrics and the beat. 
   “Excuse you I have a big rockstar brain thank you very much.” His hand rested on the back of your headrest as he backed out of the parking spot. It’s strange how Luke made everyday normal activities just effortlessly sexy. The way his seat had to be all the way back for his massive limbs to fit, how he gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other rested on the gear shift, or the way the sun landed on his face and illuminated his sharp features. 
  Before you officially got on the road Luke stopped to fill up his car. “Here pay for the gas and grab some snacks,” he handed you his card. 
  You went inside and gathered an array of different snacks, candies and drinks. When you came out you saw Luke on the phone, at first you thought he was talking to her but he looked anxious and stressed while speaking. Maybe they were fighting, maybe that’s why he wanted to get away for a bit.  When you got closer to him he hung up the phone and returned the pump to it’s holster. 
“Let’s get the show on the road darlin’.” He faked a smile.
You were on route soon enough, Luke quietly snacking on the bag of chips you bought for him as he drove. You really didn’t want to pry and you hated asking him about her but it was obvious something was bothering him. 
   “You alright?” You questioned turning down the music. 
  He forced a smile, “All good. Just quietly regretting my decision to wear jeans. I wish someone would’ve told me not to.” 
  You playfully tossed a sour patch kid at his head. You knew that’s not what was bothering him but you didn’t pry.  After many hours of stupid car games, spontaneous singalong dance parties and a small cat nap on your part you couldn’t ignore the rumbling in your stomach any longer. 
   “Luke I need food and I’m tired.” You whined “I think we should call it a day, get some food and find a hotel.” 
  Luke rubbed at his 5 o’clock shadow. “Ya ok find a place nearby will ya?” 
  It took a little time but eventually you found a small bed and breakfast. “Take the next exit.” You instructed. 
  As Luke drove to the bed and breakfast you passed an In n Out. “Take a right!” you yelled. 
  Luke jerked the car into the turning lane, “the fuck Y/N! Scared the shit outta me.” 
   “In n Out! Need fries and a milkshake.” You exaggerate and pout your lip. 
  “You know I can’t say no to that pout.” Again, how could he not realize what he was saying to you? Could he be that oblivious?
  You went through the drive-thru and ordered way too much food for only two people and continued driving to the B&B. The Bed and Breakfast was a decent sized Victorian styled home, they probably couldn’t have more than five rooms. You stayed by the car, taking in the fresh air of a new state while Luke went inside to check for a room. 
  “Good news and bad news,” Luke said walking back to the car. “Got a room but it’s only got one bed, she’s got a cot though so she’s going to have it brought up to the room. I’ll take the cot.” Luke grabbed the luggage and you followed him with food and milkshakes in hand. The room was cozy, the main focus of the room was clearly the bed. This bed and breakfast most likely catered to couples looking for a quiet getaway and in any other situation it probably would have been romantic but not when you were with Luke and he was with her. 
  The two of you sat on the floor eating and catching up. Against your better judgement you asked about her, you were surprised to see his expression fall. 
   “I don’t want to talk about her, this trip is about us.” he said quietly. “Remember when we took that road trip to visit your parents?” he laughed. 
  “You mean the trip you agreed to take after being on tour for months leaving me to drive for HOURS while you slept the entire time?” you teased. 
  “Hey, It’s the thought that counts!” he defends. Things with Luke were great, back to how things were before.
  After spending a considerable amount of time reminiscing, the two of you got ready to go to bed. When Luke walked out of the bathroom he was dressed in only athletic shorts. You’ve seen Luke half naked plenty of time but it seemed like every time you saw him his shoulders were broader, his chest hair more dense, and his skin softer.
  “I-I’ll sleep on the cot Luke. There’s no way your lanky ass is going to fit. I don’t mind.” You tried deflecting with jokes.
“Ugh! How rude!” Luke played. “I am not lanky! And it doesn’t matter - that thing’s for children, neither of us are gonna fit on it. We’ll  just share” He tossed aside the extra throw pillows and pulled back the duvet. 
“Are you sure this is okay?” you hesitated. 
“It’s fine, just get in.” He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and tucked his extremities into bed, his back facing you. You followed his lead and got yourself situated on your side. You knew you should have turned around so your back was towards him but you just couldn’t bring yourself to look away. 
“Night Y/N.” he yawned. 
“Goodnight Lu.” As creepy as it sounded you spent some time watching his back, counting the times it rose and fell with each breath before he succumbed to sleep.  
  You woke up the next morning before Luke, he wasn’t a morning person in the slightest. After you finished getting ready and found Luke still in a deep slumber you figured the best way to wake him was a pillow to the face. After lots of whining and arguing the two of you were ready to get back on the road. Since Luke was still half asleep you offered to drive the rest of the way, which meant you spent most of the time in silence again, but you didn’t mind, you needed the time to think.   
  When you finally arrived at the Grand Canyon you and Luke stood there awhile speechless, taking in the beautiful scenery around you.  His arm suddenly snaked around your shoulders and pulled you into his side. You followed his suit and wrapped your arm around his waist. You felt completely content in this moment, for a second you could forget about everything and just relish in this the now. When you looked up at Luke tears were brimming in his eyes. You stood in front of him with both hands held onto his waist. 
“Hey...what’s the matter?” you pleaded.
“It's...I just. I’m just really happy to be here. To be with you, my best girl.” He pulled you in for a hug, his arms wrapped around you tightly and he placed soft kisses on the top of your head. Your heart soared in this moment. Everything felt so perfect, it felt like there was an inkling of a possibility that Luke loved you back. As you pulled away from the hug, Luke tucked the stray hairs behind your ear. Your faces were closer than they’ve ever been, your foreheads pressed together, noses just barely touching. 
“I need to tell you something Lu..” There was no more denying your feelings. You couldn’t go on like this anymore you needed him to know, even if that meant that he didn’t feel the same about you. 
“Lemme go first.” he cut you off. “She gave me an ultimatum, you or her…” Your heart was in the back of your throat and your entire body was on fire. This was it, he was about to kiss you.
His calloused thumb brushed along your cheekbone, “I..I chose her.”
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wherevermyway · 4 years
Text
step out! do what you want (chapter two)
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pairing: reader/bang chan
 side pairings: established changbin/minho, past jisung/reader, a moment of changbin/chan flirting but it’s brief and not serious rating: explicit | 18+ warnings: alcohol, party drug use, violence (fist fights), a little angst because everyone loves drama, lots of profanity, smut, unprotected sex, a bit of exhibitionism, minho is definitely a bit of a hoe and a bad influence word count: about 11,100! also on my AO3 here! chapter/series navigation
chapter two: hello stranger, who the hell are you?
recommended tracks: just disappear by takayan, the last by agust d, phobia by stray kids, fairy of shampoo by tomorrow x together, dynamite by bts, dumb litty by kard. playlist can be found here!
note: this chapter is much longer than chapter one and it’s a wild ride. I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it!
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disclaimer: any reference to persons in this work of fiction are purely coincidental. the characters referenced from Stray Kids are interpretations loosely based on their personalities in the group and do not represent the real people behind the personas. if this, or any of the content included in the warnings above make you uncomfortable, please stop reading now.
side note: for the love of minho’s cats, don’t mix party drugs or drugs with alcohol.
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The soft light of dawn comes through the window behind you, gently causing you to wake up. For a brief moment, you forgot where you were, but last night comes crashing down on you like the slight headache you have from your body being mad at you for having a bit too much fun with drugs last night.
The bed shifts next to you as Christopher starts to wake up. He reaches his hand over your abdomen and pulls you back into his chest. “Morning,” he sleepily grumbles, half-awake, “how’d you sleep?” You smile, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.
“This bed is really nice.” You run your hand across the sheets, then slowly turn to face Christopher. “I think our escapade last night helped me sleep pretty well. What about you?”
He grumbles and ducks his head under your chin. “You absolutely wore me out last night. I feel like I slept like the dead. What time is it, anyway?”
“I’m not really sure, let me check.” You say, starting to roll over when Christopher stops you, his grip tightening on your waist.
“I thought we agreed to have a repeat of last night this morning?”
“Yeah, yeah, but maybe we should eat something first,” you manage to squeeze out of Christopher’s grip as he groans dramatically with feigned despair, pulling yourself to the side of the bed and reaching down to your jeans. It takes some skilled fumbling to get your phone out of your back pocket with only one hand, but you manage to get it. Miraculously, when you press the side button, your phone comes to life - there’s still some semblance of battery left.
‘Holy shit,’ you think to yourself as you see your screen. Eight missed text messages from Minji and three missed calls. You expected the mass of texts, but she must have had a really good time last night if she called you.
As you open your texts, you briefly scan through them and your stomach falls to the floor.
What?! No way!
Eonni, you seriously can NOT be hanging with THE Bang Chan?
Babe, he is dangerous, you need to get out of there.
Oh my god. Why aren’t you answering my texts?
Chan’s a kkangpae, like, he sells a lot of drugs and shit. Why do you think I broke up with Hyunjin last year? He got involved in that and I wasn’t gonna deal with it anymore.
Oh, I never told you I dated Hyunjin, did I? Oops.
Eonniiiiiiiii I swear you better not be dead. I’m going to bring you back and kill you if you’re dead.
Seriously, I thought after you were done with Jisung you swore off music producers?? Girl, you have bad taste lol.
“Well?” Christopher’s voice scares you and you involuntarily drop your phone to the floor in surprise. “What time is it? Hey, are you okay?”
You shake your head in disbelief, but somehow compose yourself enough to nervously laugh it off. “It’s, uh, like 10:30.”
Your answer doesn’t really convince Christopher that you’re actually fine. He places a hand on your shoulder, gently giving you a squeeze, and you flinch in response. “Are you sure you’re okay? You dropped your phone and you look like you’re gonna be sick.”
Chan’s a kkangpae. It feels like Minji’s text is burned in your head; it’s all you can think about. A bout of nausea washes over you - the red flags you had pop up last night were right. The nice apartment, the drugs, the cool demeanour, hell, even the way he looked - everything clicked into place. This man wasn’t just a music producer, he was something way more serious.
Christopher gets up out of bed and walks to the kitchen. He shuffles around for a minute before he comes back with a bottled beverage in his hand, kneeling down in front of you. “Babe, you look terrible. Drink this, it’ll help you feel better.” He takes his other hand and gently rubs his thumb over your knee. The look on his face is deceptively calm and inviting. How was he so dangerous?
You shake your head and grab the drink, briefly glancing over the label. Some cold ginger tea blend that you’ve had a thousand times before. The thought of drinking something right now was really off-putting, not due to nausea, but this crippling, suffocating feeling in your stomach.
“The washroom’s through that door back there,” Christopher says as he points behind his shoulder. “I’ve gotta check on something, but I’ll be back in a minute. If you need anything, just yell for me, okay?”
You still can’t manage to look him in the eyes, but you will yourself to nod your head weakly. He pushes himself up onto his toes, kissing your forehead softly before he walks over to his closet, ruffling through the clothes hanging up. It’s a good moment to take off to the washroom, if anything just to wash your face and get your bearings straight.
Time seems to stand still. You’re not sure how long you stand with your head hanging over the sink, water starting to dry on your face. The fact that Christopher was a kkangpae seemed foreign and odd, like the word didn’t actually exist anymore, the more you mulled over it in your head. You came to the conclusion that he himself couldn’t have been that dangerous, but that the people he involved himself with were probably really dangerous. Right?
Knowing that you had slept with someone with dangerous connections didn’t bother you as much as the fact that you liked sleeping with him, that he was arguably one of the best guys you’d fucked. If the circumstances were different, you would probably try and keep whatever you had going. The thought of dating someone like him didn’t seem so terrible, except for the fact that he was a goddamn drug dealer.
“Fuck,” you groan as you look at yourself in the mirror. You decided you had to get dressed, come up with some excuse and get out of there. “Right.” Instilling a fake air of confidence, you straightened up and opened the door back to the bedroom. As you walked through the doorway, you could see Christopher in the kitchen through the corner of your eye. In the time it took you to get your head on straight, he had dressed himself back up in a nice button up shirt and some dark blue jeans.
“Oh!” He calls after you from the doorway, “I grabbed a shirt of mine and a pair of pants that I think will fit you? They’re on the bed.”
‘Great,’ you sarcastically thought to yourself, ‘I’ve always wanted to wear a drug dealer’s clothes. Very cool.’
You grab your underwear and bra from last night and slip them on, feeling gross and like you needed to get back home now, if anything, so you could shower and wear fresh clothes. Since you were already pretty deep in, you decide to just wear Christopher’s clothing and hope that he didn’t want it back. It was kind of cute, an obviously worn band t-shirt, and comfortable, yet somehow flattering black joggers. If this were another lifetime, you could see yourself stealing Christopher’s clothes more often.
Alright, you were nearly ready to go. However, when you went to grab your phone to respond to Minji and let her know you were okay, you were foiled by fate and it was dead. “Motherfucker,” you grumble as you grind the heel of your foot into the ground in frustration. Life was not on your side today.
You decide to suck up your pride for a bit, after all, shit was already bad enough, how could it get worse? With a bit of a lazy shuffle in your step, you make your way out to the kitchen, weakly shaking your phone. “Hey,” you squeak out, “I don’t suppose you have a charger, do you?”
“Wow!” Christopher’s eyes light up at seeing you in his old clothes, “You look really cute in that. Yeah, I’ve got a charger in there, come here,” he walks over towards you, grabbing your hand and guiding you towards the far side of the bed in the bedroom. “Here,” he says as he bends down and hands you the end of the cord. “I think this will work? Looks like you’ve got an iPhone too.”
“Thanks,” you say, plugging your phone in. The way that he looks at you so softly warms your heart a bit - it’s been a long time since you felt so cared for, and you felt guilty that you were going to try to dash out of here as soon as possible and leave all this behind. “Of course,” Christopher smiles and kisses your forehead again. “I’m gonna make something for breakfast real quick. It’ll be ready in a bit, so try not to fall asleep again, alright?”
The pit of regret in your stomach grows a bit. “Yeah, sure thing,” you say with fake enthusiasm.
Christopher’s footsteps fade from your ears and you have a moment’s reprieve before you hear a ringtone that isn’t yours. “Oh shit,” you hear him exclaim from the kitchen, “What happened now?”
“Changbin,” his voice turns dark as you hear him answer his phone. “Shit, yeah, no, I got your text messages. Wait,” he sounds slightly panicked, “you’re here? Goddammit, this is that bad, isn’t it?” There’s a lengthy pause. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Whatever. You know where I am.” You hear his phone hit the countertop as Christopher sighs heavily and shouts, “Fuck!”
‘This is bad,’ you think, unconsciously gripping the sheets beneath you. The silence in the apartment is deafening; you swear you could hear your heartbeat beating out of your chest. Then, suddenly, footsteps come back into the bedroom as Christopher says your name, firmly and seriously, before sitting down next to you on the bed.
“I’m so sorry for this, but,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “someone I work with is coming over and it’s serious. Can you stay in here for a bit? After he’s gone, I’ll order us something for breakfast, something nice. Okay?” As you space off, lazily gazing towards Chris, you notice that he’s staring down at your right hand, gently placing his atop yours and softly wrapping his fingers around your hand. You noncommittally nod your head yes in reassurance, too distracted to really answer.
He’s a kkangpae, the reminder pops up in your head again. You swear that you can hear it in Minji’s voice. You know should get out of here, just bolt up and leave, but you can’t bring yourself to leave quite yet.
A pounding on the front door rips you from your thoughts. As Christopher bolts up to his feet, a chime comes from his phone. He pulls it from his back pocket, glancing at it briefly before relaxing the tense look from his face for a second. “Don’t worry, he’s friendly,” he says, getting up and walking out of the bedroom. “Well, friendly enough, at least. Stay here, I’ll deal with him.”
A moment passes, and you hear some light shuffling.
“You dense motherfucker,” an unfamiliar voice comes from the entryway, immediately followed by the door slamming. “The Chan I remember was never this stupid.”
“Changbin,” Christopher’s interjects, his voice terse.
“You went out after I explicitly told you not to and you brought a complete stranger back to your apartment? You absolute moron.” The voice, you assume belongs to Changbin, sounds more irritated than angry. “Hyunjin was spotted at that party last night. I don’t know who took it, but that photo of you and that woman is making the rounds in the group. Who only knows who all saw that? I thought I told you both to stay away from all of Itaewon-dong this week?”
The name Hyunjin causes your breath to hitch in your throat, piquing your interest. You pull yourself up to your feet, quietly walking towards the bedroom door. Cautiously, you poke your head over the doorframe, glancing into the kitchen. Christopher is standing behind a barstool, his hands ruffling through his hair before he casually tucks them in his pockets. A shorter, lean man with dark brown hair walks on the opposite side of the countertop, nervously pacing back and forth.
“Changbin, look, it was a mistake,” Christopher tiredly pleads, “I admit that I fucked up, yeah, but-”
“You fucked up?” Changbin cuts him off, punctuating his sentence a sarcastic laugh. He turns back to face the fridge and you hear the door opening, the sound of items shuffling echoing through the quiet apartment. “Yeah, you definitely fucked up. I’m drinking some of your beer. Gonna fucking need it. You know,”  he slams the door shut, “you’d better hope you weren’t tailed. If they find out where you live, well, I can’t protect you from that.”
A soft tss comes from what you assume is Changbin opening a can of beer. Christopher catches your eye as he reaches down to the can that Changbin placed in front of him. He looks down, then looks back up, his eyes meeting yours for a brief second, lips parting and his eyes widening in surprise. You quickly hide behind the wall, knowing you shouldn’t have spied on their conversation.
“What?” Changbin’s voice perks up for a second. “Oh my god. She’s still here?” He somehow sounds more annoyed at this and lets out an exasperated groan. “Goddammit, Chan, what happened to you? Oi,” he stresses, footsteps coming closer to the bedroom, “Get out here, this involves you too.”
“What, you thought the high heels were mine?” Chris sarcastically scoffs as you walk out of the bedroom. “Changbin, this is-“
“Yeah, I know.” Changbin cuts Christopher off, throwing his free hand up in frustration, as if he was dismissing Christopher, “trust me, I fucking know.” He grumbles out your full name and adds, “Some model from northern Japan, Korean mom, Japanese dad, right? Graduated from Todai a couple years ago; bachelor’s in economics.” He glares at you as he takes a swig of beer from his can, clicking his tongue in disapproval and muttering something under his breath. “Typical, just your fuckin’ type.”
“W-what?” You stutter out, completely floored that he knows so much about you. “Chris, how does he know all of that?” Panic starts to overtake you and your hands start to tremble.
“Babe,” he whispers, a look of pity painted on his face. Christopher stands up and walks over toward you, but you step back into the wall, waving your hands in a frenzy.
“No, no, no, don’t do that. You don’t get to do that until I know what’s happening.”
Changbin sarcastically chuckles and crushes his can. “Here we go,” he says, digging in the fridge once again. He pulls out two cans of beer and puts one of them on the corner of the counter closest to you. “You’re gonna need one of these, too.”
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Your head is spinning, from the window, the skyline of Seoul seems to blur together as you try to make sense of everything that’s happening. If you understood it correctly, Christopher was indeed a drug dealer, just under Changbin in their group’s hierarchy. Hyunjin was also involved, but sold trafficked guns and other weapons in and out of the group.
Christopher went out to that house party in Itaewon last night when Changbin ordered him not to (he stressed that point several times), someone from a rival drug dealing gang saw both him and Hyunjin, snapping photos of them both, as well as a photo of you sitting next to Christopher, his arm around your shoulders, clearly enjoying yourselves.
What made it worse was that someone mistakenly spread a rumour that you and Christopher were an item, that you were a close girlfriend of his, and it put a target on your head so that they could specifically shake up Christopher. Changbin had said that he was unsure exactly how much danger you were in, but it would be best if no one knew where you were. Neither of you were to leave this apartment without someone escorting you.
A nervous laugh came bubbling up from your stomach, erupting into a full-blown, wild cackling fit. There was no way that any of this was real - you were just out with a friend last night, you left with someone else to have a one night stand, and now you were having some sort of crazy fever dream thanks to the drugs you took last night.
“This is crazy,” you say in between laughs, “Christopher, you can’t be serious. This is a joke, right?” You calm yourself, no longer laughing as you look at both Changbin and Christopher, their faces stone cold and free from expression. “Oh my god,” the realization hits you and you sink further into the couch, hoping that it will eat you alive so you don’t have to deal with this mess. “What about Minji? She ran off with Hyunjin last night. Is she okay?”
The men looked at each other with confusion. “I only heard about one woman, and that was you,” Changbin says, leaning back in his chair, throwing his arm over the back of it. “If there was someone with Hyunjin, this is the first time I’m hearing of it. What’s her family name? I’ll have one of my guys keep an eye on her.”
“Moon. Moon Minji. She models with me. Lives in the apartment across from me.” You were somewhat relieved, shaking your head in disbelief. Naturally, you were happy that Minji was safe - for now - but you couldn’t believe this was happening to you.
Changbin stands up, pulling his phone from his back pocket, “Alright. I’m gonna make a call. Don’t go anywhere, either of you.” He starts tapping on his phone and ducks off into a room on the opposite side of the kitchen.
Christopher gets up and sits next to you on the couch. He cautiously reaches his hand out to your thigh. You want to swat his hand away, but you don’t have the energy to do it. “I am so sorry,” he says in a soft tone, his voice sounding like it’ll break at any second, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have brought you here, wouldn’t have risked this.” He sounds genuinely apologetic, but you don’t really register it. He takes his free hand to brush your hair back behind your ear, rubbing his thumb soothingly on your cheek.
Honestly, this conversation had exhausted you. Your life was turned upside down because of this man, this dangerous, but wonderful man. Part of you resented him, but the way he tried to calm you by stroking your face made you less angry at him. For all the shit he put you through, his genuineness did make you forgive him - at least somewhat.
“Chris,” you start to say, looking up at him, before Changbin opens the door and loudly walks back into the room.
“Your friend’s going to be fine. I’ve got one of my best guys following her,” he interjects, walking to the fridge, grabbing another can of beer, “she’s gonna be tracked until we get this shit sorted out. Hyunjin texted me and apologized, for whatever the hell that’s worth. You two are idiots.”
Christopher sighs heavily, furrowing his brows in frustration as he looks up at Changbin. “Oh, yeah? That time we were in Shanghai? Want me to bring that up?” He drops his hand from your face and stands up.
Changbin closes the fridge door and loudly slams his unopened can of beer on the counter. “You bastard, that was entirely-” Christopher cuts him off, advancing towards him.
“Entirely what, different? You easily lost us, what, a hundred million won? Or was it three hundred?” You swivel your head around to see the two of them get in each other’s faces. “And for what, Minho?”
Whatever that meant, it snapped something inside Changbin. “You motherfucker,” he gritted, taking fistfuls of Christopher’s shirt into his hands before shoving him backwards. “I’m gonna fucking kill you. Don’t you dare bring him up like that again.”
A growl came from Christopher as he rolled up his sleeves, “It’s your fault that he got shot and you know it. You’re lucky he didn’t die.”
Changbin managed to take his elbow and ram it into the side of Christopher’s face, causing him to collide with the kitchen cabinet. He wound his arm back and threw a fist towards Christopher’s face, trying to get him one more time. He ducked, running his shoulder into the shorter man’s chest, pushing him back a few steps before he fell to the floor with an audible thud. Christopher towered over Changbin, fists tightly clenched. He knelt down and drew his right arm back, ready to deck the smaller man.
“Fuck you!” Changbin shouted as he flailed underneath Christopher, grabbing a fistful of his shirt with one of his hands, pulling his right arm to the side, winding up another punch.
You started to panic, yelling at them to stop. You did not need this happening on top of everything else. However, your words fell on deaf ears as the guys kept yelling at each other, thrashing around on the floor.
Suddenly, the movement stops, and you hear Changbin pound on Christopher’s chest. “I’m never going to forgive myself,” he chokes out, his voice laden with regret, and it almost sounds like he’s holding back tears. “I can’t even look at him without seeing him lying there, dying. And I know it’s my fault. You don’t have to fucking remind me. Knowing I almost got  Minho killed haunts me. I’d give anything to trade places with him so he didn’t have to experience that pain.”
Christopher sits back on his heels, offering Changbin a hand to sit up. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. That was a low blow, I’m just fucking panicking.” The brunette accepts his hand and sits up, his face red and slightly puffy. His eyes were red and glossy as he rolls them in your general direction.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of you. I know you barely know her, but if she got hurt or killed, I know you’d never forgive yourself either.”
“Thanks,” Christopher says, pulling Changbin to his chest. “I’ll make it up to you somehow. Not by blood, by the code, yeah?” Changbin grunts in agreement, slapping his hand against Christopher’s back.
“Not by blood, by the code.” Changbin repeats back to Christopher, who is offering his hand to help Changbin stand. You could tell there was an exhaustive history between them and you were only scratching the surface of it.
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“Alright,” Changbin says, setting a couple of bags down on the coffee table. “I grabbed some jjajangmyeon from that place you like and some more alcohol since I’ve been drinking all of your beer.”
“You didn’t need to do that, we have plenty in fridge in the studio,” Christopher sighs and rolls his eyes.
“Whatever, I didn’t say it was for you anyways,” Changbin continues, looking at you, “Minho’s gonna swing by in a bit. I asked him to go out and get you some clothes since you’re gonna be here for a while. I’d have done it myself, but I don’t know shit about clothes. He always goes shopping for the two of us.”
You’ve been sitting on the couch for a few hours now, barely moving. The sun was behind the building now, so you assumed it was probably some time in the early evening. Christopher was nice enough to bring you your phone so you could tell Minji that you were fine, but you were sick so you wouldn’t be around for a while. Thankfully, you didn’t have any gigs planned for about a month and a half, but you knew you’d have to get a hold of your boss eventually.
Christopher was on the couch next to you, an awkward gap apparent between the two of you. Neither of you had spoken much to each other today, conversations mostly happening between Christopher and Changbin. He has, however, kept his hand on top of yours the entire time. Before Changbin returned from his errand run, Christopher apologized to you several times, genuinely upset that he brought an innocent person into this. You were thankful that Changbin returned when he did, because if you had to listen to Christopher apologize one more time, you were ready to lose it.
“Here you go,” Changbin says as he starts emptying a paper bag, placing a couple takeout boxes of jjajangmyeon and side dishes in front of you. “I grabbed some soju and beer for us, think we could use it.”
“Haven’t you had enough beer today?” Christopher sarcastically says, reaching over to grab a pair of chopsticks and a box of food, putting both in your lap before he reaches for his own food.
“Look, man,” Changbin started, bringing a few bottles to the table, “after the day we’ve had, there ain’t enough beer in the world to deal with what’s happened. Might as well have fun for now, yeah?”
You don’t say anything and just reach for the closest bottle of soju, tilting it back and forth a couple times before opening it, lifting the bottle to your lips and taking a hearty chug. The aroma of strawberry perfumes your mouth as the alcohol burns all the way down. You didn’t really like strawberry soju, but tonight was gonna be different. You slam the bottle down on the table and smile widely. “Let’s do it.”
Christopher and Changbin are staring at you with their mouths hanging open. This is the most active you’ve been in over an hour, and it had taken them by surprise. “Alright, that’s my gal,” Changbin says with a smirk, grabbing his own bottle of soju and downing an equally long swig. He shakes his head, scrunching up his nose in disgust, and coughs, “Oh shit, that’s a terrible idea. Why the hell did I get flavoured shit?”
You grab a bottle and put it in Christopher’s hands. “Your turn,” you say before turning to open the takeout box in front of you. The warming smell of the black bean sauce brightens your mood a bit, excited to eat one of your favourite meals.  
Christopher’s pensive, although he decides to suck it up as he reaches down to a fresh bottle of soju, shaking it, “Yeah, fine, whatever,” he says, cracking open the bottle and sucking down a couple of hearty gulps. “Fuck, Changbin, blueberry?” He coughs before reorienting himself, “Really? The fuck is wrong with you?”
You stifle back a laugh, taking a bite of your jjajangmyeon. “You’ll be fine, you can do it,” you say, reaching back down to the bottle of strawberry soju in front of you. “This will help make things a bit more bearable, yeah?” You look at Christopher with a toothy smile, hoping he’ll lighten up at least a bit.
There’s a soft knock at the door, and Changbin perks up. “That’s probably Minho.” He stifles a smirk, looking down at his phone as it chirps. He gets up, walking to the door with purpose. It takes a minute, but he eventually opens the door. You casually look over your shoulder, trying not to obviously stare, noticing the small man embrace the dark-haired man that walks in. The man isn’t much taller than Changbin, maybe only a couple of inches taller. Their embrace is soft, warming, like you can tell that they care about each other.
“Hey there,” he says softly, and you catch him plant a soft kiss on Changbin’s cheek. His voice is low and calm, “I grabbed the things you asked me to grab, but are you sure you’re alright?”
“Aish,” you hear Changbin shush him, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, baby. Come in and hang with us. I got some soju for you.”
The shorter, black-haired man comes up in front of you, “Hi, I’m Lee Minho. Changbin’s probably talked about me by now.” He bows slightly before dropping the bags he has behind the table, taking a seat across from you, opposite from the chair Changbin’s was occupying. The man grabs a bottle of soju off the table, shaking it up and down twice before cracking it open and drinking a quick swig from the bottle.
“Oh, ew,” he groans, a clear wince on his face, “Peach? Binnie, what the hell’s wrong with you?” He whines, looking at Changbin as he grimaces.
“Yeah, yeah,” Changbin waves a hand in the air dismissively as he sits back down, “I know, I wasn’t looking when I grabbed the alcohol, okay? I was a bit distracted. Fuck you guys,” he grumbles, reaching down to his soju bottle. “If you don’t like it, go to CU and get your…. oh.” He stops in his tracks, bottle halfway to his mouth. “Shit, my bad. Want me to go get something different?”
You’re about to dismiss it, but Christopher looks at Changbin, “Yeah, go get something better, especially if Minho’s gonna be here for a while. We’re gonna need it.” He sounds cold, taking a quick drink from his bottle. “We’re gonna need to stay entertained tonight somehow, yeah?” He turns to look at you, reaching out to grab your thigh again, a sly smirk on his face.
You can’t help but blush. You turn down towards your lap, grabbing a large amount of food with your chopsticks and shove it in your mouth. “Mmmpfh,” you manage to grumble out, in a seeming sense of agreement.
All of the guys share a soft chuckle, then Changbin excuses himself with a grumble before walking up to the front door. “I’ll be back in a bit, alright? Don’t go anywhere.” The door closes with a soft thud, and a few moments pass as the three of you sit there quietly.
“So,” Minho smiles, looking at both you and Christopher with purpose, “Changbin told me that you two seem to have taken a liking to each other already.”
You swear you hear Christopher choke on a mouthful of food before looking at you through the corner of his eyes. “Um,” he manages to squeak out, swallowing the food in his mouth, “I suppose you could say that? It’s only been a day, though.”
“Well, I guess you’re going to get to know each other really well here soon.” Minho shrugs his shoulders, grabbing the peach soju he was drinking earlier. “Oh,” he exclaims, beaming with a smile, “when Binnie gets back, we should play a drinking game. That’s a good way to get to know someone, isn’t it?” Admittedly, it did sound fun at the beginning. However, when you were on your third bottle of soju and Changbin and Minho were getting flirty and handsy with each other, you were a bit jealous. You and Christopher were starting to get closer and you were really feeling good, but it would be weird to be that playfully touchy-feely with someone you’ve known for less than 24 hours.
“I have an idea,” Minho turns to look at both of you, “you know what’ll help you even get closer?” He gets up, walks towards the kitchen counter and starts rifling through Changbin’s bag.
“Oi! That’s my stuff!” Changbin proclaims from his seat.
“Relax, babe, not like you don’t go through my stuff,” Minho quips, waving his hand dismissively in the air. “Ah,” he exclaims, “found ‘em.” He comes back to the coffee table and puts a film canister on the table, the container rattling the entire time. Changbin sighs and rolls his eyes, realizing what’s in it.
“Aish,” he groans, “what is with you and this stuff when you drink?”
“Oh, shut up. You still love me, especially after one of these.” Minho says, with a laugh, suggestively looking at Changbin for a moment. He pops the lid of the canister and pours out the contents on to the table. Out comes a few baby blue tablets, similar to the ones you took last night.
A memory of you sitting on Christopher’s face, struggling to stay upright, shouting his name, flashes through your head. Your face gets hot and you look down, visibly flustered. He must have noticed, because Christopher squeezes your thigh, then moves his hand up to your shoulder. “What’s up?” He asks.
“Oh,” you look up at him, then back down to your lap. “The pills just reminded me of something.”
Christopher looks at the table, letting his thoughts register for a moment. It must have hit him, because he sucks in a breath through his teeth and giggles a bit. “Ah, yeah, last night, right?”
“Oh my god,” you groan with frustration and put your head into your hands.
“Hold up,” Minho perks up, a giddy smile on his face, “What happened last night?”
“That’s a bit rude, Min.” Changbin says in a disappointed tone, playfully shoving Minho’s shoulder.
“You both know that I’m nosy. So, what happened last night?”
Christopher rolls his eyes, then sits back on his hands. “We took some ecstasy and had a couple lines last night, so we were rolling pretty hard. We felt pretty good, one thing led to another, you know.” You feel eyes bore into the back of your head, and turn to look at Christopher. He’s got a big grin on his face, clearly happy with himself. “Any time I can make someone shout my name at the top of their lungs is a good time.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you groan and drop your forehead to the top of the coffee table, sighing in embarrassment. You sit back up and glare at Christopher, ready to be mad at him, but the way he smiles melts any anger you had towards him.
“Nice,” Minho hums as Changbin nods his head in approval. He grabs the pills on the table, and gives one to everyone. The guys immediately pop theirs into their mouths, and you sit there, pill in hand, just staring at it.
“You alright?” Christopher asks, rubbing a hand on your back. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, baby.” The word ‘baby’ slipped from his lips naturally; he clearly didn’t mean to say it, it just happened. “Uh, um, sorry.”
The next thing you know, the pill is halfway down your throat and you’re finishing up your third bottle of soju. “It’s all good, baby,” you say, jokingly mocking Christopher. You turn to look at him, and give him a wink. He smiles back to you, scooting himself up next to you and wrapping his arm around your shoulder.
“Ugh,” Changbin grumbles, rolling his head back, “you’re already insufferable.”
Christopher picks up a lid from an empty soju bottle and tosses it at the brunette. “Oh, shut up. You and Minho were all over each other just a few minutes ago. Not to mention, you’re going to be even worse once the E kicks in. The last time we were down in Busan and we all were tripping and you started fucking each other in front of me, remember that?”
“You enjoyed watching it, though, quite a bit from what I recall, “Changbin quips, “I very clearly remember you whipping out your dick and taking things into your own hands while we were putting on a show.” Hearing this makes your eyes widen in surprise, spinning your head to the side to look at Christopher, who’s blushing and covering his face with his hand.
Minho starts laughing really hard, and it causes the frown on Changbin’s face to crack into a smile. “Aish, you’re so cute when you laugh.” He leans over and gives the dark-haired man a peck on the cheek. “And I don’t care who knows how I feel about it,” he smirks as he turns to look at Christopher, raising his eyebrow in jest.
“Yeah?” Christopher taunts, slipping his hand down your shoulder to your waist and pulling you closer. “You should hear her when I -“ Before he can finish his sentence, you take your elbow and dig it into his ribs.
“They don’t need to know everything,” you whine.
“Yeah,” Christopher smirks, “They’ll probably get an earful of it tonight, anyways.”
Both of the men across the table groan in feigned disgust. “Anyway,” Minho stresses, trying to change the subject, “Why don’t we bust out a couple beers and play some truth or dare?” Changbin stands up, walking to the fridge. “Sounds like we’ve already opened up quite a bit, yeah?”
“I’m on it, I’ll grab a couple for everyone. Don’t say I don’t do anything nice for you,” he scoffs as he enters the kitchen. Minho starts putting all of the emptied soju bottles, except for one, in a bag. The last bottle, he takes and lays it on its side, putting it in the middle of the table. You look at the bottle, then turn to look up at Christopher.
“Hey,” you whisper in his ear, “was that story actually true?”
Christopher blushes again and stifles a laugh, “Yeah, yeah it was true. Not my proudest moment, but have you looked at them? Anyone would’ve done it, too.”
His honesty makes you laugh a bit, and you lean up next to him, nuzzling your head up against his shoulder. He’s warm, and comfortable, and he rests his head on top of yours, reaching down to grab your hand.  Even if you were stuck here in this near-stranger’s house for longer than you’d like to be stuck, the little moments of comfort like this were helpful.
“Alright,” Changbin chirps up, setting down a couple cans of beer in front of you and Christopher. “Perk up, lovebirds, let’s party.”
“Okay!” Minho excitedly claps his hands together before cracking open his beer. “We’ll spin the bottle, and whomever it lands on gets to choose between telling the truth about something or a dare. If you back out, you’ve gotta take a drink of your beer. Got it?”
The game started off innocent enough, all of you were sticking to truths, and the questions were relatively mild. However, things started to take a turn when the drugs started to kick in. Minho wouldn’t stop touching Changbin, his fingers constantly trailing over the brunette’s chest. When it’s his turn, he spins the bottle, landing on Changbin.
“Dare,” Changbin says, confidently looking directly into Minho’s eyes.
“You’re gonna regret that,” Minho says, smirking as he turns to Christopher. “I dare you to make out with Christopher, if he’s okay with it, of course.”
“What?” Christopher spits out in shock.
“Aish, baby,” Changbin groans, “Why do you get like this every time we roll? You just want to watch me make out with other men and make them miserable.”
Minho grins, leaning over to Changbin to kiss his cheek. “It’s because you’re hot and you know it.”
You can feel a look of complete bewilderment being plastered on your face. Your mind couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Was this seriously about to happen? Have they done this before?’ Almost as if it was on cue, Christopher turns to look at you.
“Are you okay with it? I know we’re not, like, dating or anything, but,” his voice trails off and he bites his bottom lip in, darting his eyes down to the floor.
“Yeah,” the word slips from your mouth before you have a chance to actually think about it. You were admittedly curious, thinking it would be kind of interesting to watch Christopher be a bit physical with someone else.
Christopher gives you a quick peck on your cheek before he turns to Changbin, “Do your worst.”
Without saying a word, Changbin crawls over towards Christopher, straddling his lap and taking his hands to Christopher’s face. The smaller man presses his lips to the blond’s lips, almost timidly at first, until Christopher takes his hands and grabs Changbin’s hips, pulling him in. “You can do better than that,” he whispers.
“Oh shit,” Minho says, leaning onto the table with a grin. “Binnie hates being teased, Channie.”
Changbin grumbles under his breath, reaching his hands up to Christopher’s hair, pulling his head back as he grinds down into his lap. Christopher lets out a small whimper from the pain and looks up at Changbin with half-lidded eyes. “Don’t talk back to me, hyung,” the brunette warns with a serious tone.
Changbin licks Christopher’s bottom lip before taking it in between his teeth. He bites it somewhat firmly, eliciting a gasp out of the man beneath him, then goes to let his tongue explore his mouth. The men let their hands travel on each other while kissing with a burning passion.
Admittedly, this was one of the hottest things you’d ever seen, all of this was causing you to feel warm and tingly as you watched it. This is what Christopher looked like when the two of you were rolling around in bed last night, and it was hot. You made a mental note to take control of your makeout session and to pull his hair the next time you were able to.
“Oh my god,” Minho groans, “Okay, that’s enough, I can’t watch anymore, it’s too good.” He sits back and takes a drink of beer from his can, dramatically fanning himself with his free hand. Changbin pulls away from Christopher and smirks, and Christopher has a blissed out smile on his face.
“You’re not my type, but I’ll admit you’re good,” Christopher says, wiping his lips with the back side of his hand.
“Yeah, I know,” Changbin says with a laugh as he gets up and walks back to his spot. He sits down, a wide grin on his face, before he takes a hearty drink from his beer. “Minho tells me all the time.”
Christopher turns to you, gets a bit closer, and pulls your face to his, kissing you passionately for a good few seconds. He breaks away from the kiss and moves to your ear. “I want you,” he whispers quietly, so Minho and Changbin can’t hear, “I’m going to make you mine again tonight.”
His words make you blush and smile. He pulls away from you and takes a drink from his beer. “That was something else,” you say, looking at Changbin, then Minho, then Christopher. “You’re all… close?”
Minho laughs, “Nah, we’re not normally like this. When we’ve been partying a little hard, though, things get interesting between us. Nothing more than this, though. I don’t wanna share my Binnie that much, just enough to make him squirm and come crawling back to me.”
Changbin rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Yeah, you’re insufferable when we party hard like this. It’s always, ‘Binnie, make out with me, Binnie, make out with that hot guy over there, Binnie, Binnie, Binnie’ with you.” Minho playfully shoves Changbin’s shoulder and laughs.
“I wouldn’t do it if you didn’t like it, or me, so much,” he says, taking another drink of his beer. “Alright, Channie, it’s your turn.”
“Okay,” Christopher says, reaching out to spin the bottle. It takes a couple rotations, then it slows, and stops, pointing at you.
“Oh,” you say, looking at the bottle, then looking at Christopher. You weren’t feeling brave enough to do a dare, so you say “truth” with an upward inflection, almost like you were asking a question.
“You’re no fun,” Minho pouts. “Make it a good question, Channie.”
“Hmm,” Christopher brings his index finger to his chin, thinking for a moment. “I’ve got it, what’s the most embarrassing sex story you’ve got?”
Your face flushes and you look down to the floor in embarrassment. You begrudgingly admit there was the time a couple years ago with your last boyfriend, Jisung, that you had gotten a bit too eager and a bit too drunk, sneaking off to the nightclub’s washroom. Your boyfriend had propped you up on the sink, one of your legs was up in the air and over his shoulder. Right when you two were in the middle of having the fuck of your lives, some guy had walked in and immediately walked back out, since neither of you had remembered to lock the door. There was a definite walk of shame as both of you immediately got dressed and left as soon as possible.
Christopher busts up laughing, because apparently he’s walked in on something similar to that before. “I mean, it’s kinda hot to see something like that in public, but if it happened to me, I’d be mortified. I’d never show my face in public again.”
Changbin looks at Minho and grins, “Yeah, sounds like that one time I came back from Taiwan and you were too excited to see me that you couldn’t wait until we got home and demanded that I take you in the airport parking lot.”
Minho laughs in response, playfully slapping Changbin’s shoulder, then moving to spin the soju bottle. “You had a good time, so you don’t get to complain.” The bottle spins, eventually landing on Christopher. “What’s it gonna be, Mr. Voyeur?”
“Get bent,” Christopher scoffs, “let’s do a dare this time.”
“Ooh, fun,” Minho says. He opens his mouth to speak, but Changbin leans over to whisper something in his ear, slyly looking at you as he whispers. “Oh, good idea,” Minho chirps, grinning deviously at the both of you. “Go into the studio and record the vocals of you both having sex, then play it back for us when you’re done.”
“What?” You yell out in surprise, your face turning beet red.
“Challenge accepted,” Christopher says cooly, grabbing your hand and pulling you up before you can wrap your head around it.
“Wait, I don’t get to say anything about this?” You shriek out, slightly panicked, as you stand up and follow Christopher.
“C’mon, baby,” he says soothingly, “I’ve got you.” He stops in front of the door that Changbin was in earlier, opening it and turning the lights on. He guides you through the door, closing the door behind you. “Just sit in that chair right there,” he points to the chair in front of the control panel. “I’m gonna get some stuff set up behind the mic and then we can get started, okay?”
If you hadn’t taken the ecstasy tablet earlier and had a few drinks, you definitely would’ve said no to being recorded, but you figured it would be funny to see the reaction on Minho and Changbin’s faces when they heard both of you. Something about it really got you excited. Christopher adjusted some things in the recording booth, then came back out to the control panel, opening his laptop and flipping some switches on.
“Okay,” he says as he turns back to you, reaching his hands out to yours. “Let’s go.”
You let Christopher pull you up and lead you into the recording booth. Your stomach was doing backflips as you entered the room, taking in the atmosphere. It was calm and relaxing; the spotlights were dim and it made everything seem comforting. The foam padded on the walls absorbed most of the ambient noise, making everything seem abnormally quiet.
Christopher sat down on the padded chair and pulled you into his lap. You crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. The positioning was probably going to be uncomfortable, but you didn’t mind. He takes his hands and slides them up your shirt, pulling you closer to him. “Let’s give them a show, baby,” he says in a low whisper before he brings his lips to yours, kissing you with an intense need.
You decided to not waste any time, reaching down to pull the shirt you were wearing off, tossing it behind Christopher. Your bra follows in succession, and the man beneath you sighs as he stares at you, slowly looking you up from your torso to your eyes, “Fuck, you’re beautiful.” He kisses you again, this time in short pecks, before he moves his fingers to grab the waistband of your pants. You get up on to your feet, helping him pull your joggers and panties off, then go to undo his jeans, slipping them along with his boxers down to his ankles.
Christopher sucks in a breath as his cock springs up, free from his clothing. “I’ve been sitting out there so hard since Changbin wrecked me. I can’t wait to have you ride me, baby.” He looks down at you, his eyes completely glazed over as he bites his lip.
“I’m gonna make you feel amazing,” you say in a breathy voice, kneeling down in front of Christopher, your face right up next to his cock. He looks at you, eyes widening, about to say something, but you take him into your mouth before he can say anything. You slowly work him completely into your mouth, and he lets out a primal groan as he throws his head back, gripping the sides of his chair with a vise grip.
“Fucking hell,” he moans out, “that’s incredible, baby, don’t stop.”
You come back up, sucking your cheeks in and letting his cock leave your mouth with an audible pop. “I want to feel you, too. I’m just getting you prepped.” you whisper in a sultry voice as you crawl back over him. Christopher looks up at you with a pleading face, upset that you stopped giving him head. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll give you all the attention you need later. I want you right now.” As you say that, you reach down and guide him inside of you.
Christopher grabs your hips, helping get himself into you. As you slide down onto him, there’s a warmth that spreads throughout you, making you feel like your nerves are on overdrive. A breathy, shaky moan unintentionally escapes your lips. You open your eyes and look down at Christopher; the blissed out look on his face is something you could drink in for days. He looked like only wanted you, that you two were meant to be together, at least for now.
He breathes out your name as you slowly grind your hips down into his, then take them up, almost removing yourself from him completely. You bite your lip, smiling at Christopher, before you thrust yourself right back down on him.
“Fuck,” he groans, digging his fingernails into your hips as his chin falls to his chest. “Baby, you’re gonna be the death of me,” he says as he looks back up at you, taking one of his hands to the back of your head, pulling you in for a sloppy kiss. It’s passionate and messy and you can’t get enough of it; the way his tongue rolls around in your mouth as you ride him up and down causes your nerves to tingle from head to toe.
Just when you think you have enough stimulation to start building you up to your orgasm, Christopher removes his hand from your head, interrupts your kiss to lick his thumb, and he starts rubbing it up against your clit. Your eyes snap open and roll backwards as you groan into his mouth, your entire body starting to feel like a supernova with all of the stimulation.
“I’m gonna make sure you come with me,” he breathes out, continuing to roll his thumb in circles against you. “You’re mine and only mine. Fuck,” he moans as you grind up on him, “Tell me who you belong to.”
Your mind is reeling from all of the stimulation, the ecstasy and the alcohol causing everything to feel magnified, like you would never feel something so good in your entire life again. “You, Christopher, you,” you breathe out, panting heavily, “I belong to you.”
“Yeah,” he groans, taking control and thrusting in and out of you faster, “You’re mine. Now come for me, baby.”
Something about the way he demanded you to come made all the tension inside of you release, caused all of your nerves to sing in harmony for a moment. Christopher did one more rotation of his thumb against your clit, and that was it, it was enough. Your orgasm completely took control of your body, making you arch your back and writhe against him. You shouted his name so loud, you were sure that Changbin and Minho could hear it through all of the soundproofing in the studio.
“Good girl,” Christopher praises, breathing heavily, “I’m gonna come inside you, baby, I want you to take it all for me.” His voice seems like it’s across the room, like you’re so far away from him that it’s difficult to hear. Everything, even the air, feels soft against you. You manage to mumble out something, although you’re not quite sure what it was, as you collapse into Christopher. His breathing speeds up as he digs his fingernails into your back as he grinds up into you one last time, and you feel his cum fill you up.
It takes a few minutes for both of you to come back to reality. When you do, you notice how sore and sticky you both are, like you could use a shower right now. You nuzzle up to Christopher’s neck, giving it a few light kisses before you sit up and look at him. “Wow,” you say, “that was mind-blowing.”
“Yeah,” he sighs, looking at you with a silly grin on his face, “that was somehow better than last night. But I definitely need a shower. Who would’ve thought that this studio got so hot?” Both of you laugh in agreement, and peel yourselves off of each other. You both get dressed and walk out into the control room; Christopher fumbles with his laptop and turns off some of the switches on the panelling.
“Shall we?” He says, walking up to the door. “We can make them listen to it in here.” He opens the door for you, and you both see Minho kneeling on the floor in front of Changbin, his head bobbing up and down in a familiar motion.
“Shit! Minho, stop!” Changbin exclaims with a whine, trying to get Minho off of him. They fumble around a bit as you turn around in secondhand embarrassment.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Christopher groans, “Really? You couldn’t wait until we went to bed?”
“You two are loud,” Minho whines in protest, “And with you and Binnie earlier I couldn’t help it!”
“Oh my god,” you groan, bringing your hands to rub your temples.
“Well, the recording’s saved to my laptop, so we fulfilled the dare,” Christopher says before grabbing your hand and walking you both towards his room, “We’re gonna shower and go to bed. Have fun, lovebirds.”
“Fuck off,” you hear Changbin groan as you both walk into Christopher’s bedroom.
“Well, that was,” your voice trails off, still in disbelief from what you had seen, “unexpected?”
Christopher groans again, removing his clothes, “Nah, they do this all the time. If it’s just the three of us and we’ve been drinking or taking drugs, Minho can’t control himself around Changbin. It doesn’t bother me, but I’m sorry you had to witness it firsthand. C’mon, let’s go shower.” He wiggles his fingers in a come-hither motion before he slips off into the washroom.
“It’s fine,” you say, disrobing as you make your way to the washroom. Christopher is already in the walk-in shower, setting the temperature to something tolerable. “It was unexpected, but it didn’t bother me. They obviously care about each other and I respect that.”
Christopher laughs, motioning for you to get in. “Yeah, they’re really good for each other.” You step in the shower behind him, enjoying the warm water as it splashes on your skin. “Changbin was an absolute asshole before he met Minho, though. You might think he’s abrasive now, but he was completely cold and closed off back then.”
You stick your head under the shower head, wetting your hair down, then turn to look up at Christopher. “I’ve known Changbin since we were in middle school. He was always quiet and nobody really wanted to be friends with him because he was so standoffish. Always rubbed people the wrong way.
“We didn’t mean to become kkangpae, it was just a matter of survival. Producing music got us nowhere financially, but one of the connections we had said we could make enough money to live if we just sold some stuff now and then. Turns out, we were really good at it. But the bigger you grow, the harder you fall.” Christopher sighs, sticking his head under the water for a minute before he leans up against the wall.
“A couple years ago, we were in Shanghai. Changbin and I were ordered to secure this big deal with the Triad, worth a couple hundred million won. It was a big fucking deal, and incredibly dangerous. Shit went south really fast. One of the new guys, Minho, was ordered to come with us to learn the ropes. He wasn’t supposed to come with us when we met with the Triad’s higher ups, but Changbin was angry that shit wasn’t going right and he ordered Minho to come with as a ‘learning experience’.”
You listened attentively with bated breath, watching the water bounce off of Christopher’s skin as you focused on his story. Based on what you heard earlier between the argument between Christopher and Changbin, you knew this wasn’t going to go well.
“It was horrible,” Christopher sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “The Triads were pulling out of the deal and Changbin got pissed. I’d never seen him so angry in my life. We were working on leaving, trying to get away before things got violent, but one of the guys on their side was trigger happy - must’ve been new too. He pulled out a pistol and aimed it directly at Changbin. Fucking Minho…”
Christopher sucked in some air through his gritted teeth, and you could tell that reliving this experience was painful for him. He was biting back tears and his eyes were turning red. “Minho pushed him out of the way, which is what you’re supposed to be willing to do for your superior, but he got shot in the lung and in the leg because of it. Changbin was furious, he wasn’t gonna let them kill one of his men. He had his gun in his hand, ready to shoot at them, before I intervened, somehow getting us out of there. Honestly, I don’t know how we made it out of there alive. Minho was in the hospital in Shanghai for a couple of months, then was sent to a rehabilitation facility here in Seoul when he was stable enough to travel.”
Christopher looks over at you, seeing the look of concern on your face. “He’s fine now, but he doesn’t work in the field anymore. Changbin helped nurse him back to health once he was back home in Seoul, visiting him at the rehabilitation centre every day for three months straight. I think there was something going on between them before Shanghai, but after they spent all of that time with each other, they really fell hard. They’ve been living together ever since. Changbin doesn’t want Minho out of his sight, understandably.”
“Holy shit,” you say, shaking your head, “that’s horrible. I never would have guessed.”
“Yeah,” Christopher says, standing back upright and wiping under his eyes, “this life isn’t for the weak-willed. A couple of brothers have died just in the past two years. Most of us have gotten shot or stabbed or had the shit beaten out of us. We’ve got enough money to bribe the cops to stay off our backs, but it’s exhausting to never have the comfort of security. I’m so sorry to have brought you into this. I never wanted to drag another civilian into this.”
You reach up to his face, stroking his cheek with your thumbs. “It’s alright, Christopher. We couldn’t have predicted this. Now, we just need to get through it one day at a time.”
He looks up to you and smiles weakly. “Well, in that case, I hope I can make you happy during the time we’re stuck here. I’m here for you.”
“I’m here for you, too. How about we finish up showering and go to bed? It’s gotta be late.”
“That sounds like a plan,” he says, leaning down to give you a short, soft kiss.
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You wake up in Christopher’s bed, wearing an oversized, well worn t-shirt of his. The voices of Changbin and Christopher float in from under the closed door, but you can’t really make out exactly what they’re saying. After a minute of slowly waking up, you slip on the pair of joggers Christopher loaned to you yesterday and head out to the kitchen.
“Morning,” you groggily say as you make your way to the countertop.
“Oh, morning. Did we wake you?” Christopher says in a hushed voice, standing between the island counter and the refrigerator. Changbin is sitting on a barstool on the opposite side for Christopher. You look around for Minho and see that he’s still passed out on the couch, softly snoring away.
“No, no, I needed to get up.”
“Ah, alright. I’ve got some stuff in the fridge. Changbin was nice enough to grab some groceries and prepped food for us, so I’ll make something nice for lunch in a bit. There’s some mugs up here and I have coffee pods for the maker right here,” he pulls open a drawer and there’s an array of various different types of coffee, which is just what you needed.
The idea of a home-cooked meal sounded really nice. You wondered if Christopher was a good cook or not; judging by the fact that his fridge was pretty empty yesterday, you assume that he’s probably too busy to cook, and likely eats a lot of takeout, you weren’t confident that he was good at cooking.
You fumble a coffee pod into the maker and grab a mug from one of the cupboards. Christopher gives you a soft peck on the top of your head and turns back to Changbin.
“Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal,” Changbin continues their conversation, taking a swig of coffee from his cup. “After your call with Xiaojian the night before last, Han reached out to me and said he’d come here later today to take care of the deal you’d been working on. He just got back from Beijing last night.”
Han. Hearing that family name made you do a quick double take. It had been a year since you and Han Jisung had split, coming to a mutual agreement that your relationship wasn’t going anywhere. You were busy travelling thanks to your career, and he had just taken up a big job that he didn’t like to talk about. The way he acted over it, you assumed he was probably having an affair and just used his new job as a cover.
The coffee maker made a gentle ting noise as it finished brewing your cup. You take the mug and immediately bring it up to your lips, grateful for the warm beverage to help wake you up.
“Han?” Christopher questions, shifting his weight on to one foot. “You really trusted Han Jisung with that?”
Holy shit. You spit out your coffee as soon as it touches your lips and haphazardly slam the mug on to the counter. “I’m sorry,” you exclaim, “Did you say Han Jisung?” There was absolutely no way that they were talking about your ex-boyfriend. No way. He had a relatively common name, but hearing it still shocked you.
Changbin and Christopher turn to look at you, surprised by your question. “Yeah, Christopher says, an alarmed tone to his voice, “You probably don’t know him, though. He’s quiet, introverted, and doesn’t get attached to people.”
Oh shit.
“The Jisung I knew was introverted but he would bleach his hair every month or so; he likes to stick out a bit from everyone else. Looks cute when he eats because his cheeks puff up like a squirrel. He also produces music and he’s about your height.” You ramble off random facts you remembered about him, but the more you divulged, the wider Changbin’s eyes got.
“Fucking squirrel,” Changbin sighs. “How do you know him?”
Your heart sinks into your stomach as you look at Changbin, the look on his face making you uneasy. “We dated for a few years before he left me for a new job. I thought he was just saying that because he was having an affair and felt guilty, though.”
“Shit,” Changbin sighs, and lets his head fall into his hands. “He said he had broken up with his girlfriend when he joined up with us. She was a model, too.”
Christopher looks mortified. “What?” He shakes his head and looks at you, wide-eyed and taken aback. “You dated Han?”
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse this week, it seems like your expectations had been lowered yet again.
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