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dothwrites · 4 years

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worried Dean @ Cas: “I’m not bothering you, am I?”

---

It’s a widely accepted tenet in the art department that Castiel Novak is a genius.

Dean first hears rumors of Novak’s skills when he’s a freshman. He doesn’t believe them at first. He suspects they’re overblown by groupies who are too interested in trying to get into Novak’s pants (not that Dean can blame them: with his shock of dark hair, ice-blue eyes, and delicate scrollwork of tattoos spiraling up his arms to disappear under the sleeves of his very tight t-shirts, Novak is a walking wet dream). Then, at the end of his freshman year, he’s busy setting up the annual art show when a piece catches his attention.

At first glance, the painting is deceptively simple. A shadowed figure stands in the center of the canvas, his arms raised up to the sky. Around him are swirls of red, black, and gold, somehow blending into one color in the background. The more Dean looks, the more ambiguity he finds in the painting. Are the swirls of gold lifting the figure up or restraining him? Is the figure fading into the black or breaking free? Is the red coming from him or is he drawing it in? Are his hands raised in supplication or defiance?

Dean loses track of how many minutes he spends staring at the painting, admiring the shading, the color, the symbolism. Transfixed, he reaches out to touch at the rough surface of the painting before he recalls himself and snaps his hand back to his side.

“You can touch it if you want.”

Dean whirls around at the deep voice, his eyes widening when he sees Castiel Novak standing behind him, hands tucked deep into his pockets. Castiel raises a pierced eyebrow at him.

“Seriously. Go ahead.”

Dean shakes his head, aware of Castiel’s reputation. “I can’t...we’re not allowed to disturb the artwork--”

Castiel’s mouth twists and Dean doesn’t know whether he’s angry or deprecatory. “Well, I’m the artist, and I say you can.”

Castiel’s eyes rest heavily on him. Dean swallows, his heart picking up a rhythm that seems attached to the flick of Castiel’s tongue over his lower lip. Hand shaking, he reaches out to brush his fingers over the textured canvas.

“It’s rough,” Castiel says from right behind him (when the hell did he get that close?), “because becoming is always rough.”

And that’s how Dean Winchester decided Castiel Novak was a genius.

---

As school and life continues, Dean admires Castiel Novak from afar.

From what he can tell, Castiel doesn’t have many friends. He has admirers, which he ignores, and he has a few people who hang onto his fame, which he disdains, but actual friends? The only thing keeping Dean from volunteering is the thought that Castiel will turn the same withering look on him.

Castiel haunts the art building and, as Dean continues delving into the Art program at Carver Edlund University, he does the same. Sometimes he’ll pass Castiel on his way to his studio. Castiel always nods at him, but it’s a companionable gesture, the same that you might give to someone at the grocery store. He never stops to chat, doesn’t even remove his earbuds.

And that’s fine. So Dean’s harboring a crush that’s as much intellectual as it is physical. Plenty of people have crushes. It’s fine. It’s not like he’s obsessed. Not like he lurks around just so he can leave at the same time Castiel does. Not like he skulks through the dark halls so he can get a look at Castiel’s new project. That would make him creepy and pathetic, and those are two adjectives which certainly don’t describe Dean Winchester.

After a while, denial doesn’t even taste bad, just a little bitter.

By the end of his sophomore year, Dean’s accustomed to the status quo. He notices the light in the private studio allotted to Castiel (all senior Art majors get their own studios, but Castiel got the nicest of them), but he doesn’t stop on his way to his own (shared) studio. When he arrives, however, he screeches to a halt.

His studio is filled to the brim with snotty freshmen. His personal workplace has been completely commandeered by a freshman with a (barf) man bun. “What the hell?” Dean sputters. He can feel his face turning red with rage. “This is my time.”

Man-Bun pops his gum as he looks at Dean. His eyes are so hazy Dean’s surprised that he’s not deep-throating a bong at that very moment. “Um, guess again? We totally booked the studio for tonight?”

Seething, Dean storms to the schedule and checks. Sure enough, there’s a long list of names on the door for the studio space. “I always have Thursday,” he protests, but it’s an empty sort of rage. “I’m always here for Thursdays.”

Man-Bun shrugs, turning back to his psychedelic smattering of colors. “Not this Thursday, dude.”

Dismissed, Dean gathers his remaining dignity, and leaves. Standing out in the hallway, he reviews his options. He’s kicked out of his regular studio, and he needs to work tonight, otherwise he’ll never get his final project for figure drawing done. Every studio he passes is booked to capacity; clearly the art program is full of procrastinators. In fact, the only studio that has any sort of room...

“No. No. Shit.” Dean weighs the consequences of failing his class versus metaphorically throwing himself into a volcano. Finally, his fear of failure takes over, and he knocks on the door of his last remaining option.

The door swings open, revealing a Castiel who looks significantly more disheveled than normal (though normal Castiel usually looks like he was rode hard and put away wet). A smear of blue paint decorates one cheek while his earbuds dangle from his neck. Dean tries to ignore the spirals of Castiel’s tattoos, especially where they disappear under his shirt (he especially tries to ignore the thoughts of what those tattoos look like underneath Castiel’s shirt). Castiel blinks in surprise.

“Dean. What are you doing here?”

(The fact that Castiel knows Dean’s name comes as a shock. Dean assumed that he was one of the thousands of nameless faces Castiel passes every day.)

“Um, first let me say, it’s totally awesome if you say no, I don’t expect you to say yes, it’s a huge imposition--”

“Dean, you’re rambling.”

“Can i use your studio? Or share it? I wouldn’t ask, but a bunch of douchebags took mine and there are no other spaces open, and I really need to finish this project--”

“Sure. Come on.”

And with that, Castiel steps back and beckons Dean into his studio.

Dean crosses the threshold with something resembling awe. He never imagined, in his wildest dreams, that he would be allowed into Castiel’s inner sanctum. He tries not to gape too obviously as his eyes dart from corner to corner of the room. It looks...like a studio for the most part. Several canvases are hung around the room; if they’re discarded attempts or inspiration, Dean doesn’t know. They could easily function as either. Castiel finally steps in front of him, directing Dean’s attention to one corner of the room.

“Would there be good?”

Dean nods. “Yeah, that’s good.” He pauses, eyes darting nervously around the studio. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”

Castiel frowns, like the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “No, of course not. If you were, I wouldn’t have opened up the door.” With that, he seems to consider the topic of conversation closed, and retreats back a few steps.

He sets up his work and tries to ignore the fact that Castiel Novak is watching him. It’s almost impossible not to feel his eyes; the skin on the back of Dean’s neck prickles in awareness, but he perseveres.

He sets his sketch on the easel before casting a critical eye upon it. He frowns as he notices every imperfection. it’s based off a series of sketches he jotted down in class earlier that day. Dean remembers the careless grace of the model, the way that the fabric had draped artlessly over his waist and shoulders, but he can’t recapture the specific atmosphere of the room, which was what made that particular model striking. Every time he tries to put onto the paper how the room felt, his figures end up wooden and two-dimensional.

“You’re paying too much attention to the form.”

Dean jumps, his charcoal pencil scrawling an ungainly line across the page. Not a huge loss, he was already going to toss this one anyway. He turns around to find Castiel standing directly behind him.

Castiel nods towards his sketchpad. “In your drawings. You’re paying too much attention to the form. That’s why it’s coming out wrong.”

“The form is all there is,” Dean replies, a little peevishly. He knows the sketch sucks, but that doesn’t mean he wants Castiel freaking Novak pointing it out to him.

“The form is one part. But you have the lighting and shading and you have the intention. The intention is...the feel of the room. It’s what remains unsaid and unseen to those who weren’t there. It’s what you’re trying to capture by paying so much attention to the form. Of course, by concentrating too much on the technical, you lose the abstract.”

Castiel flicks over to a new page with a deft flick of his wrist. He plucks the pencil from Dean’s grasp with one hand. With the other, he poses Dean’s hand close to his face. Castiel stares at Dean for a few excruciating seconds before he turns his attention to the empty page.

Dean hardly dares to breathe as Castiel sketches. He’s not sure how he’s going to return to real life, knowing now the tiny crease that knits between Castiel’s brows or how the tip of Castiel’s tongue pokes out of the corner of his mouth. How is he supposed to live, knowing Castiel hums tunelessly as his hand works?

“There.” Castiel flips the sketch to face Dean. In it, Dean finds his own face, rendered in a few lines. It’s rough, certainly, but it’s a close enough likeness. More than that, Castiel’s managed to capture...

“Do I look that scared?” Dean blurts out, before he can stop himself.

Castiel actually laughs, deep and rumbling, from the diaphragm. It’s a lovely sound, one that fills the studio, and one Dean would gladly hear again and again. “You don’t look scared.” He sets the pencil down on the easel and turns fully to face Dean. “Anxious maybe. Hovering on the edge of anticipation.” He steps closer. His chest almost brushes Dean’s, which could be misinterpreted as Castiel not understanding the concept of personal space.

What can’t be misinterpreted is the unsubtle drop of Castiel’s eyes to Dean’s lips.

“I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I’ve really wanted to kiss you for almost a year,” Castiel says, his voice scraped rough around the edges. His eyes drag up to Dean’s, and Dean’s taken aback at the wild glint in them. Castiel steps closer and his clever fingers slip into the spaces between Dean’s fingers. “Please Dean,” Castiel breathes, raw and needy, “please, can I kiss you?”

“Fuck yes,” Dean murmurs, which is all he gets to say before Castiel’s hand cups the back of his head and his lips descend upon Dean’s.

Not that Dean’s bragging, but he’s had quite a few good kisses in his life (and been told that he gives quite a few good kisses). Castiel blows them all out of the water. Dean’s never been kissed so thoroughly before, like Castiel wants to own him, like Castiel’s interested in finding exactly what makes Dean tick. His teeth nip at the swell of Dean’s lower lip while his tongue delicately traces the seam of Dean’s lips. Dean eagerly opens his mouth, moaning into Castiel’s mouth as Castiel’s tongue slips in along his.

Hours or days later, when they part, Dean realizes that while one of his hands is cupping the spur of Castiel’s hip (holy fuck, those hips feel like handles for his hands), his other hand is still holding Castiel’s. It’s certainly the sweetest kiss that’s ever given him a boner.

Castiel laughs, a little breathless. It’s only then Dean realizes he’s a little taller than Castiel. “You do live up to expectations,” he murmurs, and Dean’s not sure whether Castiel’s talking to himself or not.

The words spark a recent memory in Dean, and suddenly nothing is more important than finding out the truth. “You said you wanted to do that for a year?” Castiel nods, his eyes suddenly shifting to the side. “Why?”

“Everyone always goes on about my art. How groundbreaking it is, how I’m a ‘once in a generation talent’.” Castiel uses finger-quotes, which should not be as endearing as Dean finds it. “And it’s nice, but none of them even bother to see my art for what it is. They just see my name attached to it and they lose their shit. But last year...You saw that painting. It didn’t matter to you who made it. You saw it and appreciated it for what it was. And I...I saw you.”

Castiel swallows. For all his suave confidence earlier, he looks oddly vulnerable now. “So, anyway. Yeah. For a year now. Um...” He glances at Dean’s easel. “I guess I’ll leave you alone now. Or if you want privacy, I can go.”

“Or,” Dean says, the pink flush on Castiel’s cheeks giving him all the bravery he’ll ever need. “You could stay.” Castiel’s eyes slice to him, their blue intense and jaw-dropping. Dean grins, a little predatory, like they’re on even ground.

“After all, I’m going to need a model for this sketch.”

#destiel #destiel fanfic #destiel fic #dean winchester #castiel #college au #art school au #artist!cas #artist!dean #nervous!dean #meet cute #dothwrites

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collecting-stories · 4 years

Text

A Year Later - ep. 07 - JJ Maybank

A/N: I wanted to do an epilogue of sorts for The S’week and @d-reamingoutloud suggested looking into their lives a year after the story so that’s what I decided to do. Basically this is kind of where the reader’s relationship with them all is at.

The S’week Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

John B. Routledge - 

John B’s Hand slipped out of yours, both of you forming a fist to side bump in a variation of the secret pogue handshake that you’d somehow come to adopt as your own in the last year. You were standing on the edge of the jetty, cooler in your other hand. 

“You ready to go?” John B asked, taking the cooler from you and setting it down below the seat before he held his hand out for you to climb aboard. It was early enough in the morning that it was still dark outside but the light on the boat cast a glow across the marsh, a rather calming effect on you as you prepared to spend the morning fishing with John B. An odd sort of tradition that had come about last year and had just stuck. A time and place that neither of you had to worry about other obligations or other people’s opinions of your friendship.

“Yeah. New boat?” You asked, taking a look at the boat as you stepped on. John B stepped back to give you some room, nodding his head. 

“Got it last month, finally saved enough between rent and bills.” He replied, “being an adult sucks.”

“I hardly think 19 qualifies as being an adult.” You laughed, taking a seat as he pulled away from the jetty. It was still cold out for now, one of JJ’s hoodies keeping you warm as the light rush of air chilled your bare legs.

“It does when I’ve got bills to fucking pay.” John B replied.

“Touché.” You glanced back at him, “I thought you were doing the Winnebago thing with Kie? Surfing all the coasts or something?” 

Kiara was leaving at the end of the week to spend the summer in a Winnebago with a few friends from college. The last you had heard about the trip John B was tagging along too, eager, apparently, to get out of the obx. But here he was, spending his money on a new boat and seemingly unprepared to leave the island.

“Nah, I thought about it but...I don’t know. She’s talking about it being a fresh start and how I’m in a slump but I know if I go with her-”

You nodded, “not exactly a fresh start if you’re just tagging along with Kie wherever she goes.”

You loved Kiara but you knew that she had a constant want to fix her friends problems, always the mom of the group in a way it killed her that things had never gone back to normal after the s’week debacle. The Week that Must Not Be Named, according to JJ.

“Yeah, and listening to her try and fix things between everyone. I love her to death but the ‘we should put aside our differences’ spiel has yet to work on any of us.” John B replied, “except maybe you and Sarah.” 

“Me and Sarah are in it for life, she’s my like platonic soulmate best friend. I’d have to cut a part of myself out to not be friends with her anymore.” You admitted. Sarah could stab you in the back, and figuratively she had, and you would still be rooting for her in the end. You loved JJ and you cared about John B but Sarah was your ride or die.

“That’s really touching.”

“Oh shut up,” You laughed, tossing a flip-flop at him. “I love you too John B.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I was gonna say, I’ll take you up on your offer...if it still stands?” 

You’d came home almost every weekend because of your schedule but it was during spring break, on a day when JJ had work and you had gone over to the Chateau to hang out with John B, that you had mentioned your family’s vacation home in Hawaii. You usually went around Christmas and had that year, taking JJ with you for his first plane ride ever (which had been hilarious in itself). John B had mentioned wanting to get away from the obx and you suggested your family’s vacation home, free to him if he wanted to move out there for a little while.

“Yeah of course, whatever you need.” 

“A serious change of scenery.” John B replied. The Outer Banks had always been his home but it was feeling more and more like a prison the longer he stayed there. Especially when he felt like he was running into JJ everywhere he went.

“I’m guessing, if you’re aversion to Kie is that strong, you and JJ still aren’t talking?” You asked. It was an unspoken agreement between you and JJ that you never talked about his former best friend.

“I got nothing to say to him.” He shrugged, “I’ve tried, I swear...it’s just, every time I see him I think about it and I feel like I wanna drown him in the ocean.” 

“I guess you won’t be coming to the boneyard on Friday then?” 

“Nah. I’ve got you and Kie and I don’t really wanna see anyone else. I’ve tried hanging out with other people we just don’t vibe ya know? I miss feeling like I had that group...I’m not gonna have that feeling here anymore.”

“Hey I get that. When Rafe and I broke up I lost a lot of friends I thought I had.” You replied, “people can’t help feeling loyal to certain people.” 

“Maybe.” John B shrugged; it didn’t matter. Or he was trying to accept that he couldn’t change it. “But you’re here on the boat with me and we get along fine. You don’t try and bullshit me about JJ or tell me we should all be best friends again.” 

“It’s not my place. Besides, JJ and I have come to the agreement that we don’t talk about it.” You replied. It kept you both happy.

“Well it’s shit when you and Kie are in school cause then it’s just me and JJ on the cut.” John B admitted. He hadn’t complained too much about it during the school year but you knew that was just for your benefit. “What about you? I know you guys are cool but how is rooming with Sarah?”

“It’s good, feels like old times again ya know...JJ doesn’t come around, but...it what it is.” You shrugged.

✰ ✰

Sarah Cameron -

“I’m going to fail all my classes.” Sarah groaned, resting her chin on her forearms. She’d pushed her books away from her, forcing you to pick up your coffee when her textbooks threatened to knock it over.

Finals were in a week and both of you had been studying like crazy, meeting up in the dorm or in the library for cram sessions between classes. Sarah was already planning on going to Nassau the first week of summer vacation with Topper and some college friends. Even if nobody actually knew what happened last summer it still felt different being in the Outer Banks now.

“You are not, you’re literally one of the smartest people I know.” You replied, attempting to be encouraging as you texted Kiara about Pope’s birthday party coming up. Your books mirrored Sarah’s but you were taking a supposed break from studying for the five minutes your timer allotted.

“But not the smartest?” She asked, lifting her head and narrowing her eyes at you. She grabbed her own cup of coffee off the table and took a sip as she looked over the books again. Nothing had changed.

“I mean, I know Topper so...”

“Oh my god, shut up, I just fucking spit out my coffee.” Sarah laughed, covering her mouth with her hand and reached for a napkin. “For real though, why couldn’t my dad have pulled a Lori Laughlin and like, paid off my college?”

You slipped your phone back on the table face down, clicking the side when it rang and pulling one of your books closer to distract you from it. “Because then he would’ve gotten caught and you would’ve been kicked out and probably blacklisted and everyone would be like ‘that girl is so dumb her dad paid off the college to pass her.’ And you’d have to move in with me and work retail.” 

“Stop it. What a fucking nightmare.” 

“The living with me or the working retail?” You asked, laughing at the annoyed face she made.

“I’m gonna hire a new best friend who’s just like ‘yeah Sarah you’re so smart’, ‘your dad should pay for you to ace tests, you don’t need college’ and whatever other shit I pay them for.” She replied.

“You could pay me, I’ll be your yes man.” You offered, silencing your phone when it rang again.

“Who’s calling you?” Sarah asked, her attention drawn away from studying and Lori Laughlin to the phone that rang for a third time.

“What?” You looked up, “no one.” You’d told JJ that you would call him when you were finished studying and that you were busy but that didn’t stop the incessant calling once he decided he felt like talking to you. Normally you wouldn’t care but you did your best to separate JJ from your life at school because Sarah was here and you didn’t feel like it was fair to flaunt that in front of her, even if it was accidental.

“Seriously, I can see you clicking off your phone every couple minutes.” She replied, “Is it JJ?”

“Uh-” You bit your lip as you looked over at the offending electronic. It was no use pretending like he wasn’t the person on the other end of the call. You’d gone two semesters and a spring break without incident, surely, she wouldn’t care if you took one phone call. But you still felt guilty, you weren’t sure if that would ever go away. “It’s no big deal, I can talk to him later.”

“I’m fine!” Sarah insisted, “seriously I’ve got like a real date on Friday.” 

“I just wanna call him back real quick.” You replied, “I think it’s about going home for the weekend.”

“For Pope’s birthday?”

“Yeah.” You’d been staying on campus with finals so close but it you knew Pope was going to be home for the weekend for his birthday and Kiara would be there and you didn’t want to miss spending time with them. Especially since you wouldn’t see them again until hell week was over and you were moving out of your dorm.

“Kie mentioned it to me last week.” Sarah explained, “Are you guys doing anything special?”

“As far as I know it’s just the four of us.” You replied. John B hadn’t been hanging around either of his former friends. He still saw Kiara when she was home and you whenever you came home for the weekend, but that was sans JJ or Pope. If either of them was around than John B kept his distance.

“Go, go. Seriously, I’m fine.” 

You pushed your chair back as your phone rang one more time, finally answering it. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

✰ ✰

JJ Maybank -

“I’ve been thinking,” JJ started to say, sitting on a chair in The Wreck with you on his lap. Before he could continue you raised an eyebrow at him, running your fingers through his hair to get him to look up at you.

“That’s never good.”

JJ stuck his tongue out but kept talking, undeterred by your comment, “...you should drop out.” He announced.

You laughed, knowing that JJ wasn’t serious at all. He’d been making the same suggestion to you since September. “No way in hell! Why would I do that?”

“So I don’t have to go weeks without seeing you.” He shrugged, fingers slipping beneath your shirt as he laid a kiss against your neck.

“A more tempting offer than I expected...what’ll we do on all these weeks spent actually seeing each other?” You asked, smiling. You couldn’t help but play along whenever he asked you to leave school. It was all just for fun, if anything JJ had the most supportive person you had in your life during school.

“I can think of a few things.” JJ replied, squeezing your side and brushing his nose against your collar and neck.

“Oh god.” You laughed, “stop we’re in public. There are families with children here.”

“How do you think they got the kids?” He shrugged.

“You’re a terrible person.” You replied, “come on, Kie and Pope will be here soon.” 

“You’ve been home for like an hour and you’re already dying to see our friends instead of me.” JJ whined.

“An hour? Babe, I got in this morning...we spent the whole morning ‘unpacking’ in my room.” You pointed out. You’d taken the earliest ferry over that you could and met JJ on the docks. It didn’t matter that you’d just seen him two weeks ago or that you facetimed him every night, seeing him in person gave you the best feeling in the world. It was undeniable.

“Okay, I know I did not come all the way here just to watch you guys mack on each other.” Kiara announced as she came over to the table.

“Came all the way over? You fucking work here Kie.” JJ replied, rolling his eyes as you got up to give her a hug. He frowned at the loss of attention, even if he did know that going out with everyone meant not getting you all to himself.

“I had to go pick up Pope and then drive back.” Kiara said, as if that was a viable excuse.

“I’m like five minutes away...walking.” Pope pointed out, giving you a hug before grabbing a seat next to JJ.

“No, move.”

“I’m not moving!” Pope exclaimed, “dude, don’t push my chair.”

“He’s being a brat cause I’m apparently more excited to see you guys than I was to see him.” You replied, laughing as Pope smacked JJ’s hands away from his chair. You sat across from your boyfriend, sticking your tongue out at him.

“You are.”

“I am not!”

“She is.” Kiara said, grinning at you, “it’s okay I know you only date JJ so you can hang out with us.”

“Hey!”

“I know, what am I gonna do while you’re away?”

“It’s okay,” Pope said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over yours, “I’ll still be here.”

“Thank god.”

“Okay, seriously, the three of you are the worst.” Despite his words when you looked over at JJ he was smiling, eyes brighter than they’d been when you met him almost a year ago. Things weren’t perfect but they were good.

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choco-glow · 3 years

Text

Fall Like Rain On Sunday, Pt. 11

The route to Steph’s apartment was a little bit difficult in a truck, but with the little bit of time he had to spare, he found a decent place to park in one of the quiet parking lots provided by the city, surprised to find a spot under an awning for a change. Jason loaded up his reuseable bags; it was a bit of a walk to Steph’s place from here, but with his jacket over the bags and his hood up, he was mostly protected, and this rain was a gentle one, not one of the hurricane-force bastards from the South. Boots splashing through puddles as he walked, Jason made his way through the Narrows, checking on everyone he passed with careful glances.

Everyone’s looking good…that’s a relief. Then again, Steph and I have been working hard to get people the help they need…and having Pops foot the bill goes a long way. It was the agreement that Bruce had eagerly signed with Jason; Red Hood would stop most of his killing, and Batman would fund the repair work needed to get the Narrows and Gotham back up to where they needed to be. Not that Bruce wasn’t already doing that, but having his and Steph’s eyes and ears in the thick of things made the job easier, and he’d already admitted that even his “Lefty” persona wasn’t half as good at sussing out what needed done as Jason’s quiet questioning or Steph’s cheerful chatter.

He did try his best, but throwing money at things down here ain’t the way to fix things…he knows that now, thankfully, and hey, he is listening. And on top of that, I think he enjoys the challenge of fixing things without making it feel gentrified. That had been Jason’s worry; that commercial investors would flood the area and ruin things for the people just trying to survive…but Bruce had had other plans for them. I think his lawyers were gnawing on their desks in boredom; siccing them on the scummy landlords and assholes trying to take over was exactly what they needed. Jason grinned to himself as he waved to the local bakery shop owner, taking a break from her work and sipping a cup of coffee, flour dusting her dark hair and apron.

Instead, Bruce had quietly bought out all the landlords in the area, installed a set of vetted managers to act as landlords with a dedicated maintenance staff…and made the entirety of the Narrows rent-controlled for the next fifty years. Jason had been awestruck when Bruce had revealed his plan, and he still remembered how worried the old man looked, hands clenched together, lips pursed thin.

‘“Jason…do you think it’s a good idea? I plan on leveling out the rents so that they’re reasonable, and every place will get a renovation, with free stays at hotels while the work is done…and if there’s a dedicated staff, I figure that way we can tackle problems before they become disasters. And no one person controls the rent…it all goes into the maintenance budget and to pay the managers, and the managers work as a team.”’

‘“…if you weren’t my dad, I’d kiss you right now.”’ Jason grinned to himself at Bruce’s blush of pleasure and happiness, and hummed a little as he gently kicked a soccer ball back into a yard. I’m sure it’d grate on people’s nerves to still have someone running it all, but…well, Pops does know how to pick his managers, and so far, there’s been nothing but good reviews. Nearly every tenant he’d talked to had been ecstatic. Between rent control, utilities dropping because things were getting fixed, and quality of life improving, the Narrows had become a place of hope, rather than despair…and he chuckled as he almost walked right past Steph’s building, long legs already warmed up for a jaunt around the neighborhood.

Later, Red; your girl’s gonna be wanting those waffles. He walked up the stoop and keyed in her visitor code; usually, he went in through the roof, but well, that was…kind of a dick move during the daylight, and this kept him from being caught. With care, he shook himself free of water before stepping inside, wiped his boots on the mat, and started up the stairs, wondering if he should call in a favor to get the elevator fixed. It wasn’t like stairs were hard, but he knew this building had a lot of elders…I’ll ask around, see if anyone’s got a job for it yet. Probably, it’s one of Bruce’s buildings now, and it can be hard to find a qualified tech with the time to spare.

As he crested the third floor, he mused a little more. Though, given the enrollment numbers at GothTech, I have a feeling that we’ll have plenty of engineers and handyfolks within the next year. Giving kids and adults a free certification in whatever they want through vocational school has been a godsend for the whole city; we need qualified people doing the work, and with Wayne Industries paying them the right amounts, we’re getting the kind of numbers that Gotham U wishes they had. Sure, there’s grants and stuff, but…well, GothTech doesn’t have complicated history with the Maroni and Falcone clans.

Hell, even Steph had transferred into the nursing program at GT, and Jason was seriously considering the automotive mechanics classes, if for nothing else to fix the goddamn sputter in his motorcycle. Only so many Youtube videos I can watch…He grumbled to himself as he made it up to the eight floor, hardly even panting despite his legs burning a little, and he knocked on Steph’s door with a sigh of relief, shelving his thoughts for a later day. Digging into his bag as he heard her approach, he held up the Eevee plate with a winsome grin on his face, and when Steph opened the door, her squeal of delight was the best sound he’d heard all day.

“Eevee!”

“Saw it and thought of you, baby. Shall we waffle?” Her laughter was all Jason needed, and he scooped her up into a kiss as she pulled him inside…but the smirk on her face as she pulled away just made him grin even bigger.

“Better get to work, Hood, I’m expecting only the best golden waffles.”

“And only the best golden waffles for my lady. With sprinkles.”

“…I love you.”

“Love you too, Stephie.” She dragged him to the tiny kitchen, where apparently some cleaning had gone on this morning; dishes were freshly washed in the drainer and the counter had been cleared off of all of Steph’s normal debris, which made Jason smile fondly as he set down his finds on her tiny table. Together, they unboxed the waffle maker and wiped down the plates, and Steph pulled out a mixing bowl and spatula while Jason laid out the ingredients and got the maker warming, spraying it lightly with a bit of oil. With her direction, he started mixing up the batter while Steph surveyed the haul in front of her.

“Hmmm…”

“What sounds good first, sweetheart?”

“Well, I had berries last night…I think chocolate chips this morning!” He chuckled and set the bowl down for her to dump two heaping cupfuls of chips into the batter, stirring it expertly before stealing the half-cup to start ladling in batter, remembering what he’d looked up last night before he’d crashed. “Ohhhh those look so good.”

“Hell yeah they do, and I’m not normally a chocolate fan to that extent.” She kissed him and he melted into her kisses, the last vestiges of his nightmare from this morning finally breaking away. Something must’ve shown on his face, because she cupped his cheek, eyes worried, and he just pressed a kiss to her palm, nuzzling in close.

“You okay, Jay?”

“Mmn…just a really bad nightmare this morning.” Jason didn’t have to say what from; she knew. She knew better than anyone…it was what had made them really bond when they’d first met, when he was so angry still from…well, everything, and hadn’t been inclined to care about anyone in the Batfamily. Steph, however, had dug in under his skin, demanded that he at least talk things out…and he pulled her into a hug, rocking her close. “Thought of you, though, and that helped.” Her smile was brilliant against his skin, and he pulled back just enough to kiss her…when the stink of burned batter filled the kitchen and they both sprang apart with a yelp, flipping over the waffle maker and digging out the now charred waffle.

“Oh shit, shit shit…”

“It’s okay, babe, I shoulda paid more attention…” Steph cracked open her window, and Jason was glad for the cleansing scent of the rain outside while he tossed the lost waffle into the trash, fanning the smell out with a towel. They surveyed the wafflemaker, making sure it wasn’t toast, and with a sigh of relief, he cleaned off the crusted bits and laughed a little. “…Well, that was exciting.” Steph gave a chuckle, and they kissed again, this time with all the time in the world.

“Shall we try again?”

“Fuck yeah, we’re not quitters.”

#JaySteph #Stephanie Brown #Jason Todd #solarpunkgotham #gothambysunlight #waffles in progress #falling in love #sorry this took so long #new job #no time #no energy

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allandoflimbo · 4 years

Text

Take It Back (Chapter 34)

Finally. ‘Last’ chapter. Also up on my AO3.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary: About five years ago, a one night stand with Y/N tore Bucky’s life apart. It was also the night before his wedding. Now he’s married to her sister and she needs a place to stay.

Take It Back Full Masterpage |

Five years ago

“Yeah, no problem, I missed this little boy.” Bucky says in an adorable baby voice as he squeezes the little baby’s nose, “Oh my god, you are so cute.”

The baby grabs Bucky’s pointer finger with his tiny hand and your heart melts instantly.

Your heart flutters and you recognize the emotion that follows that flutter - fear.

That’s what you feel because once it hits you what it was that was happening, you realized you were eternally and completely fucked.

Bucky’s eyes flicker up to meet yours and they burn in ablaze. Neither of you are smiling as you look at each other, the little baby still holding onto his finger like he didn’t want to let go.

You quickly look away, doubting every emotion coursing through you.

It couldn’t be.

Your head is a swirl and you’re seeing tunnel vision as you feel yourself slowly start to step back from the scene in front of you.

But it was too late.

Your eyes flickered up the second you felt the heat of his presence right in front of you.

Suddenly, something seemed to have shifted into something even deeper, the second your eyes met.

Bucky was holding the baby tenderly in his arms, but his eyes seemed to have been calling out for you.

A weird feeling of came over you.

Presque vu.

Bucky seemed to have been feeling the same because he probably looked just as intense as you felt.

“Do you want to hold him?” He whispered, looking down at the little boy.

Your chest felt tight and you should have said no.

Instead, you nodded slowly.

Bucky maneuvered his arms into an embrace where he could pass the baby safely into your own arms.

Your eyes caught during the slow exchange and you diverted your gaze back to the boy, not being able to bear that heat in your face and your fucking heart.

“Just like that,” Bucky said softly.

The baby cooed.

You couldn’t help it, you giggled.

Bucky smiled a little at both sounds, and he softly touched the top of the baby’s head.

He looked up at you and your eyes met…

again.

4 months later (from present time)

The setting sun shined down on the west village.

The sky was turning from an intense pink and purple hue to dark blue.

You looked up towards the clouds and sighed.

You had just enough time to take the last few things inside before it was too dark.

You grunted, lifting a brown box that read ‘Books’ in black sloppy writing on the side out of the truck.

You took it with you up the steps of the beautiful brownstone.

The trees, that lined the quiet street, had an amber glow from the almost-gone sun as it peeked in through their changing leaves.

Reds, oranges, browns, and yellows.

You let the soft breeze flow against your face and you smiled.

The last four months had been the best you had experienced in a very long time.

For the first time in what felt like forever, everything seemed to finally be right in the world again.

You were able to keep your job at the bakery, even though you hardly kept touch with your sister - mutual respect still present - you had heard through Steve that she was doing fine.

She had picked up an office job for an online newsletter at the trade center and went back to school to study editing.

Something low profile.

Bucky’s company donated a quarter of a million dollars to a charity for National Alliance on Mental Illness and also to Wounded Warriors.

Wanda and Nat were occasionally still around, sometimes meeting you and Bucky for lunch at your little hangout spots on the east side.

Everyone who had been involved in the fiasco had built a sense of trust around each other, and it was all any of you needed, regardless of what any bullshit tabloid said.

No. This was real life.

And then, there was you and Bucky and your private love life…

You backed into the ajar doorway with your butt, spinning around quickly back towards it to hold the door with your foot so it didn’t hit the wall behind it.

Shutting your eyes briefly, you let out a long deep breath at the close call.

You haven’t even lived there a day yet and you didn’t want to start by leaving a dent in your brand new wall.

With a soft smile, you turned and continued your way down the gorgeous foyer, past the wooden stairs, and into the living room through the archway.

All the walls were white and the wooden floor was a golden brown.

New. Fresh.

From the large window looking out into the street, the dim light from the setting sun created a peaceful halo that gleamed off the floor and directly into your eyes.

You placed the box next to the ones you had already brought in before and then looked around.

It was still pretty much empty without any of the furniture in place.

The couch hadn’t come in yet.

All that was available was the floor, the walls, and the tv on top of the remodeled very-white working chimney.

You walked up to it, letting your fingers trail slightly over the white detailing of the crown molding that surrounded it.

You didn’t want anything too fancy, and neither did Bucky. This chimney was probably the grandest thing in the home.

You took a deep breath as a car drove down the street and as your sneakers squeaked against the floor.

After Bucky had asked you to move in with him, it wasn’t surprising. Nobody expected any less.

Even Steve helped pack your things out of his place and into yours and Bucky’s’.

It was all so strange and surreal.

Bucky had wanted to stay on the island, not Brooklyn or upstate, but he insisted he would keep the house out in Montauk for your summer activities.

You had argued with him to find something at least affordable because you wanted to be paying half the rent.

He had just looked at you like you had two heads and continued skimming through apartments, price filters untouched.

It took a bit of time, but the second both of your eyes landed on it, you just knew it was the home for you.

It was a brownstone; two bathrooms (one master), three bedrooms, all in the heart of west village.

It was newly remodeled and on a quiet street, perfect for riding your bike or walking a dog if you ever wanted one.

You wonder how Pebbles would feel about another companion, not Brodi.

Around the corner, there were great restaurants, something you couldn’t pass up.

You took in a deep breath and closed your eyes tightly together as you thought of what else the future possibly had in store for you.

You had barely taken in the feel of your new home in serenity when you felt a chin on the back of your shoulder, followed by a groan.

You smiled.

Shit. How couldn’t you?

Next, you felt strong hands on your upper waist and a chuckle against your shoulder.

It rumbled up his chest and you felt it against your back.

You stretched your hands out on either side of you to bring his arms from your sides to across your front. You leaned back against him, letting the back of your head lay on his hard chest.

Your eyes looked over at the window. It was getting even darker.

It was so peaceful. Deserving.

“This is amazing. Just you, me, here like this.” You said softly.

He sighed and made a sound in agreement.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered, “maybe we can just stay like this forever?”

You giggled.

“Well, we would have to go to the bathroom, sometime.”

He scoffed.

“Bathrooms are for pansies.” Bucky retaliated.

“Also, an essential to life.”

“You’re essential to life,” Bucky tilted his head down and kissed your shoulder. He tightened his arms around you, “mylife.”

You took in a deep breath and closed your eyes.

Was this even real?

“We’re so cheesy sometimes, don’t you think?” You ask.

He doesn’t take longer than a blink to answer.

“No. We’re in love.”

You sighed contently, holding him tighter against you.

Eventually, you both began to just sway, holding each other, looking out into the street.

You were caught off guard when he unraveled his arms from around you, grabbed you by the hip and turned you around to face him.

You were suddenly so cold, his embrace having been so cozy and tight.

Your face fell at the look he had.

He was staring down at you, face hard and unreadable.

“What is it?” You asked, slightly afraid.

“Nothing, I just can’t get over how pretty you are.” He said seriously.

You chuckled, your chest feeling light again.

How did he always do that?

Your eyes darted to the still-open doorway and then to the light fixture above the both of you.

A chandelier, but beautiful and delicate.

“We should close the door, it’s getting late.”

“No,” he says, “I like it like this.”

“Bucky,” you moaned as he leaned into you and peppered kisses from your jawline to the crook of your neck, “Bucky...”

He didn’t say anything as he continued down your body.

Your hands gripped his hair as you guided his body down yours. He continued kissing you down until he eventually stopped and was on the floor in front of you.

You gulped as you watched him lean forward, leaving a kiss on your inner thigh.

You’re remembered of that day in Montauk and you wonder in the back of your mind if he was really going to do this with the entire house open.

You felt his lips on your hot skin and you moaned at the feeling.

But that was short-lived as he pulled away leaned his forehead there.

You tilted your head and ran your hands up his hair.

“Bucky?”

He shushed you.

“I don’t think you realize what you do to me, what you do to my heart,” his blue eyes looked up at you, almost pained. There was so much emotion in them that your heart skipped a beat. You wanted to comfort him, “from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I just couldn’t shake your presence. I could never shake you. And you drove me insane,” you smiled at the distant memories, “you hated me and I wanted to change that so bad—“

You sighed.

“I didn’t hate you, I just had doubts.”

He shook his head.

“Whatever it was, I’m just glad that was short-lived. Because then you became my friend, then my best friend,” he kissed your thigh again, but still looked up at you, “my best girl. I fell in love with you and I wanted you to be more than my best friend.”

Your heart was in your throat as you continued to touch his hair, “What did you want?” You whispered.

“For you to be my girlfriend, my lover.”

You broke out in another soft smile.

“I’m all those things now. We made it.”

Bucky’s gaze dropped as he kissed your skin more time.

“I still want more,” your brows came together in confusion. You couldn’t tell if what he was saying was good anymore. His voice was distant as he continued to talk, “I want to do so much more with you. I want to build memories in our home. I want you in my arms every morning and every night. I want to make love to you on every surface of this house. I want to make sure you know how much I love you. I want to have a family with you in this home, where we can have all our little tiny babies. I want you to be the mother of my babies,” you felt your throat tighten as his words, your tears begging to spill. Bucky continued to lean his forehead on your thigh.

“But I still want so much more.”

You watched stunned as he leaned back on his toes until his one knee was on the ground.

You watched as he dug around in his back pocket.

You were certain now that your heart was in your ears as you watched him pull out the little black velvet box in front of you.

You met his eyes.

He looked so raw and sincere that you wanted to cry out for him, but you were shaken.

You couldn’t move.

“You’re my best friend, my sweetheart, my absolute sweetheart,” his voice trembled.

You felt your eyes swell up with hot tears at the sound of the little box clicking open.

You get the image of little eight years old you, imagining this moment to happen one day.

And here it was, and you felt like crying.

“Will you be my wife?” He asks you, not missing one beat.

Your hands shook as they sneaked around to hold his hand.

He was shaking just as much as you.

“Bucky—“ you cried.

He cut you off, quickly.

“Y/N, will you marry me?”

Your tummy exploded into a pool of butterflies as you gripped his hand.

You couldn’t see anymore as hot tears clouded your vision.

You quickly nodded your head, gripping his hand tighter.

“Yes, yes.” You answered through tears and a big smile.

Bucky’s face broke out into a gorgeous and bright grin as he slid the diamond ring onto your finger.

When he was up on his two feet, you quickly wrapped your arms around his neck and continued to chant yes as he spun you around, chuckling into the crook of your neck.

When he pulled away, he stared down at you with a smile that you would never forget.

He grabbed the sides of your face.

“We’re really doing this.”

You chuckled, a few tears running down your cheeks as you do so.

“We’re getting married.”

Bucky answered your question with a soft kiss.

And then another.

You had everything you needed, right there in your arms.

@wxntersoldxer16 @void-imaginations @heykarsyn@avashroom@sarcastic-and-cool @lunaticbarnes @benhardygalileo@wildmavs@runaway-escape @stevieboyharrington@kimvmarvel@chipilerendi @hardygal69

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes #mcu fanfic #marvel fanfiction

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catfe-overlord · 4 years

Text

“Feral”

Part 4

Read part 1 here

Read part 2 here

Read part 3 here

::in which Bakugou makes a mistake, Kirishima pays the price, but it all works out and the quirk is gone for good... right?::

+++++++++++++

Kirishima couldn’t help staring at the empty desk across the room. It was Monday, and Bakugou still hadn’t returned.

Over the weekend, Kirishima had periodically visited his best friend after meal times. That was when he seemed to be on his best behavior, but the quirk still sent him into frenzies at pretty random times. He’d been able to feel most of them coming. Most.

It appeared he was making some real progress. The claws, fangs and cat-like eyes hadn’t gone away yet, but he was acting more like himself each day, and the fits of rage grew less and less frequent. Until this morning, when Kirishima had decided to bring him breakfast.

Kirishima was already in his school uniform, having woken up a half hour early to go see the blond before class. He’d grabbed a protein bar on his way through the kitchen for himself, but for Bakugou he’d prepared a quick meal of home cooked eggs and vegetables. He was no chef like Bakugou, but after all the meals the blond had prepared for him, he figured he’d try to return the favor. He made sure to grab some of the spiciest seasonings and a bottle of sriracha sauce before heading out though.

Cementoss was the one stationed outside of Bakugou’s room today. He let Kirishima in without hassle, and Bakugou was simply lying on his bed, staring up at the white ceiling.

“Hey, hey, Katsuki!” he greeted him cheerily. Bakugou gave no response, no acknowledgement. “I’ve got breakfast, dude.”

It wasn’t until Kirishima was standing beside the cot and set the tray down on the bedside table with a small clink! that Bakugou stirred.

Before Kirishima could even register what was happening, Bakugou was on him, pinning him to the ground, claws at his throat. Kirishima hadn’t hardened fast enough, and he could feel the hot, sticky blood on the back of his head where it'd collided with the ground. The claws were already dug into the flesh of his neck. He struggled to get out a choked yelp in an attempt to alert Cementoss.

It must have worked, because the Pro Hero came bursting into the room. He surged forward and lifted Bakugou off of Kirishima like he was nothing more than a rabid puppy. Bakugou struggled against the hero’s grip, but he would’ve had better luck fighting a brick wall. Cementoss was sturdy and unyielding.

“Get out of here, Kirishima!” his teacher demanded of him.

Kirishima managed to climb to his feet and stumble out. He put pressure on his neck where it hurt worst, but blood almost immediately seeped through his fingers. He was horrified at how much poured down his arms after hardly a few moments. He could only stare at all the red that stained his shirt and sleeves.

“Kirishima?” asked Cementoss as he emerged from Bakugou’s room. “What are you still doing here? You need to get to Recovery Girl.”

Kirishima couldn’t seem to move. His feet were glued in place, his eyes trained through the window to stare at Bakugou as he curled in on himself. His entire frame was shaking, and he buried his face into his pillow to hide it.

“Kirishima, can you hear me?” Cementoss was asking, but the teenager wasn’t listening. His brain was too busy screaming at him to get back to Bakugou, to tell him it’s okay, to beg him not to cry.

He stepped up to the door, trying to pry it open but unable to without the keycard to grant him access inside. Cementoss put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the door as gently as he could, but he had to use more force when Kirishima fought against his hold.

“Please! Please, I—fuck! Katsuki!”

Everything became a blur after that. He remembered Cementoss delivering him to Recovery Girl, who looked panicked at the sight of all the blood. She was quick to heal him and wrap up his wounds. She’d wrapped bandaging all around his neck and some around his head. She decided he had a mild concussion and needed four staples where he’d bashed his head open. Bakugou’s claws had gone deep enough into his throat to have cut his larynx, so she said to avoid speaking as much as possible at least for the rest of the day. After all said and done, she told him he wasn’t allowed to leave until he’d gotten some rest.

But he couldn’t sleep. He had so much going on in his mind, his brain wouldn’t allow such a foreign concept as sleep. After a couple hours she let him go, but she made it known she preferred he didn’t go back to school until tomorrow due to the concussion.

But he couldn’t just sit in his room and dwell on his thoughts. He knew the teachers wouldn’t let him back in to see Bakugou so soon, and he needed something to distract him. So he went back to the dorms and showered, changed into a fresh uniform, and headed to class.

Everyone was obviously surprised to see him, Aizawa included. Kirishima took notice of the way their eyes caught on the bandaging around his neck that peeked out of the collar of his uniform, but no one said anything as he made his way to his seat.

And he spent the whole hour staring at Bakugou’s empty seat, not a word of Aizawa’s lecture reaching his ears.

Once the bell eventually rang, signaling lunch, the Bakusquad was surrounding him faster than he could even close his textbook.

“Kiri, babe, I don’t want to sound like that person, but you look like shit,” Ashido offered. “What happened?”

“We heard you went to visit Bakugou this morning and he attacked you again,” Kaminari explained.

Sero’s expression was full of pity. “Yeah, man, are you seriously okay?”

Kirishima gave them an O-K, then signaled to his throat with a shake of his head. He grabbed his notebook and wrote out Can’t talk yet. Nicked my vocal chords.

Ashido looked horrified. “He tried to rip your throat out? Seriously?!”

“Dude, that’s so messed up.” Sero shook his head and folded his arms. “Even under a quirk, you’d think he’d have enough self control not to nearly slit his best friend’s throat.”

Kirishima choked. It hurt, but he couldn’t help it. Hot tears leaked down his cheeks, and he could only bury his face in his sleeve to keep his friends from seeing him crying. He felt so unmanly.

“K-Kirishima?” Kaminari gasped. “Whoa! Are you alright?”

“Shit, Kirishima, I’m sorry!” Sero apologized. “That was really insensitive of me to say. I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s okay,” he tried to say, but his voice was horrifically gravelly and much too quiet for anyone else to understand. On top of the pain his throat was in, he could feel a marble forming in it, threatening to choke him. He had to get himself under control.

Ashido pulled him into a hug then. The effect was almost immediate. He relaxed in her grip, leaning into her and turning his head into her shoulder.

“Kirishima,” came Aizawa’s voice then. The redhead turned to see his teacher standing a few rows of desks ahead of the group, hands in his pockets and face expressionless. “A word in private, please.”

Kirishima slumped. He was about to get chewed out. Ashido tightened her embrace reassuringly before slipping away. “We’ll wait for you in the hallway so we can head to lunch together.”

He nodded his thanks, and the group retreated. Aizawa sighed once the door was closed behind them. “I just spoke to Recovery Girl. You shouldn’t be here.”

Kirishima looked down at the floor. He wasn’t sure how to reply, considering he couldn’t verbally answer anyway.

“Listen,” Aizawa continued, lowering himself onto his haunches to be level with Kirishima, “I can’t say I know what you’re feeling right now. But I can tell you I know what Bakugou is feeling. I spoke with him this morning after the incident. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he was taking it really hard. He was pretty devastated, actually. I’m sure he’d like to see you and know that you’re okay. Would you like to see him?”

Kirishima stared up at Aizawa with big eyes. He nodded vigorously, and Aizawa chuckled softly at that.

“Alright, kid. Not until after you’re fully healed though. Seeing you like this would only make him feel worse.”

He stood again, stretching his back and Kirishima heard a few quiet pops of his joints. He pointed to the door with his thumb as he folded his arms. “Get out. You’re excused from classes for the day. If you’d like, I can give you your homework now, but I want you resting. Don’t come to classes until tomorrow.”

Kirishima nodded. He’d take the leave of absence if it meant he could visit Bakugou again. He stuffed his books in his bag and headed for the door, giving Aizawa a nod of thanks before dipping out.

Ashido, Sero, and Kaminari were waiting for him like they’d promised, but they looked caught off guard by his sudden change in attitude.

“Whoa, uh, you okay, man?” Sero asked.

He gave a thumbs up and flashed one of his toothy smiles.

“What did Aizawa do to you?” Ashido questioned, a lop-sided smile growing on her lips.

Kaminari cocked his head. “Yeah, Aizawa isn’t the type of guy to strike me as ‘uplifting’. Usually people leave his presence feeling worse.”

Kirishima shook his head with a smile meant to put them at ease. He tried his best to signal he was heading back to the dorms, but he was sure he just looked like an idiot waving his arms around. When the others only scrunched their eyebrows, he just pointed in the direction of the dorms.

Ashido’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and she nodded her approval. “Get some rest, Kiri. We’ll stop by and visit later! ‘Kay?”

He gave another thumbs up, then waved goodbye as he sauntered off.

Once in his dorm and changed into jogging pants and a tee shirt, he truly did try to fall asleep, thinking maybe it would help time go by faster. He ended up just staring at the ceiling for two hours. He attempted to get some of the homework done, but without Bakugou’s usual help, he was hopeless.

Finally, he decided to head into the common area and crash on one of the sofas, playing some cheesy American action film on the TV. He snuggled up under a layer of blankets with a bowl of ice cream and watched as two burley men duked it out on the small screen.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew he was blinking awake at the sight of a few of his classmates above him.

“Hello, Kirishima,” said Yaoyorozu, a sheepish smile on her soft face. “Sorry to wake you. We wanted to make sure you were alright. We let you sleep for a while, but it’s dinner time.”

He wiped some drool off his chin. Ugh, how embarrassing. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, then noticed Iida standing beside her with a tray in his hands.

“We thought you might be hungry,” Iida said with a kind smile. “Aizawa informed us you weren’t quite eating solid foods just yet, so we have some miso soup, and chocolate pudding for dessert.”

Yaoyorozu produced a small table from beneath her shirt and helped him prop it up over his lap. Iida set the tray down, and Kirishima felt his mouth water at the smell of the soup. His stomach growled almost comically loud. He winced, but the two only laughed.

“Glad to help, Kirishima,” Yaoyorozu smiled pleasantly. “Also, I made you some chamomile tea with honey. That’s always best for a sore throat.”

He grabbed the tea cup off his tray and took a small sip. It was delicious! It tasted just like his moms always made it whenever he was sick.

He cleared his throat and voiced a hoarse reply. “Thank you, guys.”

“No need to thank us,” said Iida. “Aspiring heroes should always be there for one another when they’re in need of a little help. Please, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. Yaoyorozu and I would be pleased to help.”

He nodded his gratitude, and they left him to eat his meal in peace. The quiet didn’t last once his band of juveniles were passing through and saw him up and awake. Ashido squealed, and Sero and Kaminari were hot on her heels.

“Kiri, you’re up!” she squeaked, plopping down on the couch beside him. “Feeling better?”

“Much,” he answered. His voice was rough, like he’d just finished a long night of screaming at a heavy metal concert. He was just thankful to be able to speak at all and with almost no pain. At this rate, Aizawa might let him in to see Bakugou tonight!

“So, are you mad at Bakugou about what happened?” Sero asked then.

Kirishima shook his head. He didn’t want to strain his voice more than he had to.

“Good. I’d hate to see you guys stop being best friends over an accident that happened because of a quirk. And I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. It wasn’t true, and I know Bakugou would never hurt you on purpose.”

“It’s okay, Sero,” Kirishima said through a mouthful of pudding. “You were mad. I say things I don’t mean when I’m mad too.”

“How much longer do you think this quirk will last?” Kaminari asked. “I’m actually starting to miss all of Bakubro’s yelling and screaming. Especially his cooking.”

“What I wouldn’t give for a bowl of his curry right now,” Ashido said dreamily.

“I’m going to see if I can visit him again after dinner,” Kirishima explained, “but I need to see Recovery Girl first to get the OK.”

“Ooh! Please tell Baku we miss him.”

He laughed at her pouty lips and puppy dog eyes. “I’ll make sure he knows.”

The three chattered for a while about school and quirk training and all kinds of gossip as Kirishima finished his soup and listened in. He wished Bakugou was there more than ever. Sometimes when they hung out in the common room, he’d let Kirishima lean on him, and once even allowed the redhead to use his lap as a pillow. Kirishima was always a very touchy kind of guy—it was a part of his love language and how he showed affection. Bakugou would never admit he appreciated it too, but Kirishima could read him like an open book. Underneath his hard exterior, Bakugou was human like everyone else.

A little later into the evening, Recover Girl was happy to see his wounds had nearly healed over the course of the day, just little pink scars left that should disappear by morning and a scratchy throat that wasn’t giving him enough pain to bother him. She removed the staples in his head, checked his pupillary responses again, then planted another kiss on his forehead for good measure, but she said with Aizawa’s supervision she’d allow Kirishima to go see Bakugou tonight.

He just about ran all the way to the holding cells. Aizawa looked him over and must have deemed the teenager worthy, because with a sigh he swiped his keycard without saying a word.

Kirishima stepped into the room with a smile plastered to his face. After this morning and spending his whole day worrying about how Bakugou must be feeling, it was a massive weight off his chest to finally be here.

Bakugou was lying on his side in his bed overtop of the sheets. He had his back to Kirishima and didn’t make any efforts to look and see who it was entering his room. For a second, Kirishima wondered if he was sleeping.

“Katsuki,” he said, taking a couple steps forward.

That got him moving. He shot up and spun on Kirishima, shock clear across his face. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Kirishima shrugged. “I’m here to see my best bud. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Me? You wanted to make sure I’m okay? Are you a fucking moron?”

The redhead only took another step forward. “That had to be scary for you this morning.”

“Tch. Kirishima, I almost fucking killed you.”

“Eijirou.”

Bakugou glared at him. “What?”

“Call me Eijirou. This morning hasn’t changed anything.”

Bakugou clenched his fists tight enough that his knuckles were white. He bared his teeth, and it was in that moment Kirishima noticed two things.

“Your fangs are gone! And your claws!”

All the tension in his body seemed to drain at once. Bakugou blinked a few times, then held his open palms in front of him. He looked up at Kirishima, his eyes no longer slit like that of a cat’s.

“Your eyes too! Katsuki, I think the quirk has worn off!”

Bakugou stood, his expression sinking. His head drooped and he held his face in his hands. Kirishima surged forward when he noticed his shoulders begin to tremble.

He wrapped his arms around Bakugou, holding him close as he cried. Bakugou burrowed his face into the crook of Kirishima’s neck and returned the hug.

“What’s wrong, Katsuki?” Kirishima asked in a gentle voice. “I thought you would’ve been happy?”

“I am,” Bakugou answered with a choked sob. “I’m just—relieved.”

Kirishima traced soothing circles into his back. “It’s okay, man. Let it out.”

He took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry I’m so fucking weak.”

“What? You’re not weak. You’re the manliest guy I know, Katsuki. The bravest, strongest, most heroic man I’ve ever known.”

“I-I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

Kirishima shushed him. “It’s alright. You don’t have to be embarrassed. This is what friends are for.”

“Friends,” Bakugou echoed. There was a strange undertone in his voice that Kirishima couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“Best friends.”

Kirishima tightened his embrace, wishing Bakugou saw him as something a little bit more.

<><><><><><><><><>

Soooo hope y’all liked part 4 (and a big fat sorry for how long it took me to get the damn thing posted). I’ve started part 5 and should have it up ASAP bc I’m HELLA excited to get my one-shots posted.

Anywho, thanks for the read!! You guys are the best, and I really appreciate all the love you’ve given me and my writing💕

Read part 5 here

Read part 6 here

8/24/2020

#bakugou is hit by a quirk #katsuki bakugou #bakugou whump #bakugou angst #kirishima angst #kirishima eijirou #kirishima whump #bakugou x kirishima #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bakusquad #whump #angst #fluff #kiribaku fluff #bakushima

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alpaca-writes · 3 years

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Mystics, Chapter 14

When Arch becomes hired on at Mystics by the strange shopkeeper Lyrem Nomadus, everything seems to be going well- in fact, their life nearly becomes perfection. Soon enough, however, Arch realizes that perhaps not everything is as perfect as it seems….

Read Chapters 1-13 and more HERE

Taglist: @myst-in-the-mirror, @livingforthewhump

CW: swearing, drinking, drug use, smoking, noncon touching (nonsexual)

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE

The “In Memoriam” portion of the ceremony was a bit much. Not that Arch could say anything about why they thought that way without being called callous. They heard some sniffling from the upper balconies; Parents of three students who had gone missing or were found with parts of their bodies severed and strewn across the side of the highway. Two, so far, had been gruesomely identified without their heads, and neither of them had their hearts either.

Marcus was still missing.

But no one would find him until he too, had his heart and head removed. Arch would likely be recruited to help with that one as well. When they asked Lyrem what to do with him, he simply smiled and told them to be patient.

They were already quite upset with Lyrem for not allowing them the opportunity to take Kyle’s life. They had tortured and flayed the young man for weeks, sure, but Arch was under the impression that his life was reserved for them. Lyrem had shown up at the house afterwards with a raspberry scone and a fresh coffee in his hand after the deed had been done. He blamed Arch for it too.

“If you hadn’t forced my hand after disposing of the shape-shifter,” he said- not angrily, just in his usually condescending tone. “Then I wouldn’t have had to use my remaining strength to keep you in line.”

By in line, Lyrem meant the sudden and unexpected visit he had paid to Charlotte, Arch’s mother. But Arch couldn’t remember her now. Her face, her voice, anything she had ever said or done or created… well, all Arch sensed in their memory now was a deep and everlasting shadow where their mother should have been.

As far as Arch could recall, they had been living with Lyrem since the beginning of time- even though, logically, they knew it couldn’t be true. There were no photos of them together- and for the first few days that Lyrem had taken over that little house, he had thrown out bags of clothing that didn’t belong to him. He burned anything that left the mere scent of Charlotte behind. And he scoured the place to be certain that she hadn’t left as much as a footprint in her wake.

Arch’s bedroom was moved upstairs, into the light. That was where it once was. Why they had moved to the basement where the wolf spiders snuck between the old shag carpeting and the cat made regular use of one of the corners as a bathroom, they couldn’t recall. They had felt safe there, though.

But, Lyrem was right. They deserved to live above ground, they deserved a window and they deserved protection from annoying spider bites.

The walk across the stage commenced, and Arch was thankful for the use of their real name. It was nice that people finally respected them. They shook the hand, posed for a photographer and exited on the staircase, wondering how much longer before it was finally over.

Lyrem had mentioned he wanted photos, so they would take a friend up to meet with him to make him happy. It seemed that many of the things Arch found themselves doing, was to make him happy. This romper for instance…

He couldn’t have picked out something even just a little more neutral?

Benjamin to the rescue, as always, he pulled Arch and Shazia down the stairs to enter a limo, but at the bottom, he turned a quick corner and pulled out some tiny liqueur bottles from his pockets. He handed one to each of them. Arch drank it down without a problem; they had barely tasted it and allowed it to burn the back of their throat. The other two pinched their noses.

Abandoning their bottles to the trash bin by the stairs, they stood near the back of the line to enter the last limo on the street. Before pulling off, Arch spied through the window, seeing Lyrem on his way down the stairs with a stranger- a very pretty stranger.

“So, was that your grandpa?”

Arch turned back and nodded. They might as well go along with it. The neon lights inside bathed the graduates in multiple colours that caused the sequins on the dresses to sparkle with fervour.

“Doesn’t like…” Benji started, then reconsidered his words. “Doesn’t your dad or someone chaperone these things a lot?”

Arch looked at him funny and scowled. “You know I don’t have a dad.”

“I could’ve sworn… nah, nevermind. I don’t even remember the dude’s name.”

“My dad’s chaperoned once,” Shazia added, “but it’s really no fun when he does because”-

“Your dad threatened me last time!” Benji said emphatically. “I won’t forget that shit. He’s got scary eyes. Watched me all night ‘cause he thought I wanted to get into your pants.”

Arch laughed at him as he enthusiastically recalled everything to a T.

The limo emptied outside the school gymnasium. Walking in, there was yet another “In Memoriam” display set up by the door with photos of Jess and Kyle. Marcus’s parents refused to have their son added to the table. That was too hopeful of them, Arch thought

“Rest in pieces, guys,” Benji kissed two fingers and pressed them onto the photos.

Shazia punched him in the arm, and then stood beside Arch to pay her respects. She muttered a few words of respectful prayer and stared at Arch with care in her deep brown eyes.

“I’m glad you’re not on this table too,” Shazia mentioned. “I don’t think I would have been able to do anything after… you know… what you went through.”

An instant pang of guilt dropped into Arch’s stomach. They pulled themselves from the table.

“Whatever,” they said. “I’m alive.”

The intro of “Dancing Queen” blared through the gymnasium along with the chorus of voices that would sing along and jump around to it. Girls pointed to each other. Boys stood around looking out of place, unless they had a drink in their hands- for whatever reason, they preferred an excuse to stay in place instead of also succumbing to ABBA’s inviting rhythm.

The DJ mixed a series of beats slower and faster, older songs and younger songs, and after a couple hours, the gym was swelteringly hot. Arch and Benji had decided to abandon Shazia to the dance circle as they recouped outside in the field by a short tree grove.

Chaperones hardly watched the students coming and going. They were stuck on their screens, scrolling through treasured apps and keeping up their texting quotas.

Benji pulled out a joint from his pocket.

“Wow, you really came prepared,” Arch commented dryly.

“Have to be! I was a boy scout,” Benji stated. Searching for his box of matches through his baggy suit, he grimaced. “What are the odds that one of them’s got a light?”

He pointed to a chaperone near the door. Arch shook their head.

“Here,” they took the joint into the hand. “Don’t tell anybody that I did this for you.”

Benji looked on confused, then furrowed his brows as a small orange glow emitted from Arch’s palm as they held their hand around it. The joint lit itself up with so much as a whisper from his friend. Arch took a puff, coughed and then handed it over with a nod.

“What the fuck, Arch?” Benji took it back. Studying it bewildered. He puffed too as he watched them struggle to keep from coughing again.

“Grandpa taught me a magic trick,” they managed.

“Yeah?” Benji nodded, “Sure, yeah, great… is he fucking Dumbledore?”

Arch laughed.

“Well, he’s not fucking Dumbled”-

“Arch?’

They turned towards the walking path where the forest line started- where they had just heard their name. Through the darkness of the trees, it was difficult to see who was there at first.

“Hey, this is the guy I remember,” Benji said. “Sorry, man, I forgot your name.”

The silhouette and shaggy hair were all Arch could see before they backed away on instinct.

The man had a slight limp as he approached; in the same clothing he was wearing the night he had first attacked them.

“Benji… Benji, run!” Arch cried out. They pushed Benji away. He halfway fell into a towering spruce as he was not expecting the shove; he heard the faint killer beats of “Rasputin” pounding out from the gymnasium.

“What the hell, Arch?” Benji brushed himself off, then started searching the ground for his joint that became lost in the needles.

The man shook his head, and reached out, grasping Arch’s wrist tightly with his other hand.

“Arch, please”-

Shouting the flame incantation this time, Arch pressed their hand into the back of theirs, forcing him to release them. He shouted.

“For fuck sakes’ Arch! Seriously?!”

The man stepped backward again, to check their new burn. He became distracted enough that he failed to notice the black cloak appearing to his left.

Emerging beside him, was none other than Paimon. He had arrived with his cane. With a breath of relief and a quick nod from Arch, Paimon raised his cane in a wide swiping motion to the man. Startle by the sudden movement, he held up a hand, and caught the cane mid swing. Growling, he pushed Paimon back a step.

“I’m not here for you,” the man said, daring to push past the demon.

“How grand. I am not here for you either,” Paimon smiled. His eyes glowed orange, then he raised a hand. “Not quite yet, Arty. Bye, bye.”

“Wh-”-

Immersed in darkness, the man was gone.

Paimon turned to Arch, with a grin.

“What did you call him?” Arch asked the demon urgently.

Paimon waved off their question and stole a glance at the boy who witnessed the strange and frightful encounter.

“A-Arch?” Benji stuttered, unsure of how strong his pot was and if it ever induced such vivid trips of the imagine such as this. Perhaps his brother laced it with something as a prank again. “What just happened? Where’d he go?”

Paimon raised his hand.

“No!” Arch lunged, but before they could catch Benji, he disappeared into the darkness as well. They were met with the side of a bushy, pokey pine and pulled themselves back. They turned around to face Paimon who seemed unperturbed by his own flippant action.

Paimon retrieved some necessary documents from a satchel on his side, paying little attention to Arch, as they cussed him out for removing their friend from this plane of existence.

“Bring them back!”

“I will, I will. I just wanted to bring you these papers to sign,” Paimon presented them with several papers of legal length stapled together. “It’s the deed to Mystics, as well as the many responsibilities of Lyrem Nomadus that he wished for you to… inherit. He has been breathing down my neck about these things for nearly three weeks now. I thought I would get you to sign them as soon as I was able.

It was a good thing I found you when I did too… That man really has some nerve returning, doesn’t he?”

Arch grabbed the papers and flipped through them quickly. Out of recall, there were quite a few things that were discussed one night in the presence of one of Paimon’s personal, infernal lawyers. She had the fancy black car parked outside of Mystics… It was the same night that Arch had left home in a huff. It was the same night that they had met Paimon and his greasy smile for the first time. It was the same night that they had missed an entire hour before they were…

Attacked?

By a man… named- if they had heard Paimon correctly- Arty?

Paimon clicked and handed them a little pen with a pink fuzzy end. Arch accepted it without much thought.

“This is going to take me days to read…” they mumbled. The document was fine print the whole way through and impossible to see in the lighting of a faraway streetlamp.

“Mm, well, you don’t have days, I’m afraid.” Paimon noted. “Lyrem was quite insistent that it be signed over now.”

Arch looked over at him.

“Now?”

“You want him to be safe, don’t you?” Paimon asked.

“Of course,” Arch answered.

“And you want to take over his businesses? His empire?”

“Well, eventually, ye”-

“And you wanted to be powerful. And strong.”

“I am powerful. I am strong.”

“For now,” Paimon finished for them. “You are only being given what you are allowed. Those little tricks with fire were taught to you only because Lyrem was having fun. But you won’t need him any longer if you sign on the dotted line. It will all come naturally to you. His power- it will belong- all of it, to you.”

“… But his debts”- Arch didn’t know much about them, but Lyrem went oddly quiet each time they were mentioned.

“His debts are quite the price, yes. But signing this is how you ensure his safety. No one will be in a rush to kill a man like him if his debts are passed on to you- they’ll want to milk him for everything they can. And when he does die, you will be more than capable of handling the rest of it, of that, I am certain.” Paimon checked them over with a hungry grin. Arch stepped back, exhaling heavily, they were stuck.

“Bring Benji back?”

Paimon leaned forward, supporting himself by his cane. Arch didn’t know why they had bothered to ask that question. They already knew what the answer would be.

“When. You. Sign.”

Arch gulped. The chaperones and other kids were none the wiser about what had been occurring in the dark. They might as well have been completely alone with the demon. They didn’t know where Benji was, if he was safe. They couldn’t let him become another missing kid.

Arch examined Paimon- even with the time crunch, they tried to be thorough.

“Lyrem needs to sign too, doesn’t he?”

“He was the one to request it. He doesn’t need to sign.”

“Fuck,” exhausting themselves, Arch exclaimed. “Fine! I’ll sign. But you promise to bring Benji back? Alive?”

“Of course.”

Arch flipped to the last page, scrawled their signature at the end and handed it back.

Paimon presented Benji back to where he had been before- only this time, he was covered in a dark slime, and reeked of sulfur. He flipped his head around, and soon realized he was back among the trees, smelling the fresh nighttime air and hearing the beginning of “Firework” he whimpered to himself in relief and sat himself down on the mulchy ground.

“There, all back.” Paimon inclined his head, and tipped their hat. “Just as I promised.”

Arch abandoned him for their friend to stand beside him as he processed the unwanted journey.

“And what about the man?” They inquired.

“Into the Labyrinth, of course.”

Arch huffed. “If he’s in the Labyrinth, then why do I still remember him?”

Paimon shook his head with a menacing smile plastered over his lips where it had no right to belong. They draped an arm around Arch’s shoulder and squeezed them tight. Arch attempted to pull themselves away, but it only caused Paimon to pull them in closer, pulling them away from poor Benji.

“Oh… Sweet thing,” he spoke quietly, into their ear. “That man is the least of your worries now.”

“What do you mean?” A sinking feeling grew in the pit of their stomach. They were either starting their period early, or Arch’s fears were right, and they had signed away something more than they should have. “What are you talking about?”

Nails dug into Arch’s flesh. Their shoulder bled nearly instantly as Paimon gripped them tightly and Arch gasped and seethed and failed to pull away. It only forced his nails deeper, and his grin to grow wider. The magic that Arch currently contained was minimal, wasted on the man who was just there- and so they could do nothing but endure the disturbing revelation.

“I may have bribed our lawyer to amend certain statements in the documents in my favour. You remember her, don’t you Arch? Ms. Bornath?”

Arch angled their head to stare at Paimon more easily. Yes, they remembered Ms. Bornath. She didn’t seem like much of a threat, but obviously she could be bought.

“You really ought to have read it first. You signed everything over to me. Not Lyrem’s debts, obviously,” Paimon said. “Those still belong to him until he eventually dies- something I will not allow to happen… You- your essence, your power, your soul. It’s all mine now. You may as well quit your day job, in my opinion. You won’t be needing it. From now on, you work for me.”

Paimon switched his stance to be in front of Arch, finally allowing them to breathe a little easier and to monitor their mess of a shoulder. They should have insisted on a romper with a capped sleeve.

“Now, Lyrem has asked me to give you one last night of freedom before I take you with me, and I will grant his request only because I respect him quite highly”-

“Does Lyrem know?” Arch blurted out, unexpectedly.

Paimon grinned, hearing the notes of betrayal in their voice- a melody to their ears. He would happily crush Arch’s reliance on the old man with a smirk and a few choice words-

“Hey, y-you asshole!”

Arch turned, as did Paimon, to the voice emitted from the trees- It was Benji, who seemed to be unsure of what he was doing entirely. He stole a shaken glance to Arch who stared back in concern and obliviousness. The last thing they wanted was to lose anyone else to the Labyrinth. Benji seemed pretty confident that he would be alright and soon enough, Arch would know it too.

Paimon shouted in a fury as he felt the unexpected intrusion of a Bowie knife through his back. Arch saw the tip of the blade glinting in the low light, thoroughly stabbed through Paimon’s chest. The blade retreated quickly and Arch saw a glow- a blue glow, coming from the head of the man. Before Paimon had any time to react, the man’s hand also glowed with the same blue flame. With little more than a touch to his forehead, Paimon was lit up in blue.

Scrambling to save his beard from the fire, and then the rest of him, Paimon screamed in frustration. As the man turned to face him, Paimon snarled. A moment later, he retreated, dispersing into the darkness. The blue fireball was gone.

Huffing in relief, the man turned- not to Arch, but towards Benji. His crown of blue flame shrank to nothing, and his head resumed its plain greasy charm.

“Thanks for the distraction, kiddo,” he said. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

“I’ve… had worse trips,” Benji began to smile, then leaned over the pine bush. He wretched and puked up into the dried leaves and needles.

Arch debated leaving Benji behind. It wouldn’t have been the worst thing they’d done, after all. But they sensed that they had a lot to make up for in order to be considered a good person again. They stood between their friend, and the man called Arty, who didn’t seem to be comfortable looking back at them.

“So…” Arty began. “You work for demons now, too?”

Arch refused to entertain him.

“Get away”-

“Arch”-

“I said get the hell away!” Arch didn’t have much for weapons, but they knew how to wield a stick at the very least. They were surrounded with plenty of those.

“I know you’re confused,” he said, maintaining his stance. “But I am not here to hurt you.”

Arch glanced toward the knife that was still covered in Paimon’s blood, or whatever it was that demon’s bled- it was difficult to tell in the darkness. Arty looked down at it too, then wiped it down on his own clothes before sheathing it on his belt. He held both hands up-

“See? Mostly unarmed.”

Benji stood, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He walked around Arch, towards Arty. If Arch was quicker, they would have pulled him back.

“Hey, uh, dude?” he started, noticing Arch’s confusion and look of betrayal. “Is it cool if I just walk home on my own? I don’t really feel like sticking around here to party anymore.”

Arty looked him up and down, incredulously.

“Uh, yeah? Yeah! Go home, kid… Good- good work tonight.”

“Cool.” Benji nodded tiredly, and then waved to Arch. “See you around, Arch. I promise I’ll bring better dope for next time.”

Arch watched him leave down the path.

“Okay… Yeah… See ya.”

Furrowing their brows, Arch was left standing alone in the field with… Arty… Not the man. And he was the next to speak.

“Can we talk?”

#mystics by alpaca #tw swearing #tw assault #whump #whumpblr #horror #urban fantasy #writing #writing blog #writeblr #tw drugs #whump blog #thriller #writers of tumblr #creative writing #mystics chapter 14 #original writing #Alpaca Ocs

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nelllraiser · 4 years

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best served cold | group chatzy

LOCATION: pat’s place. SUMMARY: revenge is a dish, and pat’s is serving it up. PARTIES: @nelllraiser, @beatrice-blaze, @divineluce, @whatsin-yourhead, @humanmoodring, @themidnightfarmer, @seizethecarpe, @faecurious, @detective-keen, @sgtrolandhills, @normallee, @detectivedreameater, @chasseurdeloup, @theskyeandsea, @mor-beck-more-problems, @theshadowandvalleyaremine CONTENTS: mass poisoning, food poisoning vomit (brief description)

Nell wasn't entirely sure why she'd been chosen to receive a VIP invite to the grand re-opening of Pat's Place, but she certainly wasn't complaining. After all, it meant she got an entirely free meal instead of only getting 20 percent off like the flyers around town were advertising, and she'd never say no to free food. Perhaps she should have been a little more suspicious about the invitation, but only hindsight is 20/20. And she was hungry. With Bea by her side, she presented her special invitation to the host at the door, who promptly showed Nell and her sister to the long row of food laid out on a table. But not before being presented with two free drink tickets. "Oh, hell ya." As others filtered in with the regular flyers, they were also shown to the large spread of Americana style food, tall tables meant for standing and eating scattered around the dining area after paying at the door with their discounted price. "Where should we even start?” Maybe she should have waited a bit with the truth serum still working its way through her system, but it would be fine...right?

Remmy was excited to be going out tonight. It'd been a while since they'd done something just for fun, and even better, they were there with someone who they'd recently made friends with. Nadia was nice, and fun to talk to. And she made Remmy stutter and ramble, like some other people could make them-- and though they felt a little guilty, still, Luce had made her position clear. They stepped up and pulled the door open for Nadia. "Ladies first," they said with a big grin, trying to push away the nerves and anxiety that trembled their fingers each time they left the house. But this would be fine, right? They were out with someone they trusted, and it was a big public place. Nothing bad would happen here. "Thanks again for inviting me," they said as they headed inside with her. "You'll have to introduce me to your friend so I can thank them sometime."

When she first got the invitation, Bea had assumed she had been given a VIP ticket because she was also a business owner. Turned out that she wasn't quite so special and her sister got one too. "Well, I want a free drink to start the night," The eldest Vural answered, finding herself moving to the bar without seeing if her sister was following. She placed her free drink ticket down and the bartender smirked at her before making her drink and sliding it to her. She turned to her sister, "That guy was weird."

Dave wandered in curiously. Hell, he was always down for a cheap meal. Circumstances of their reopening sounded fishy (seriously, a whale shark had crushed the place?) But with two free drink tickets he wasn't about to complain. Food smelled good too, although he was only hankering for the meat section. Not knowing anyone yet, he went right for the table, picking up a plate and starting to serve himself with the tongs by each option.

Skylar blinked at the flyer she'd found around town-- it seemed a little too good to be true, but a part of her was curious about Pat's Place. She'd heard about it, but never got a chance to go before the fish rain incident had taken out the roofing. She wondered if Shiloh had helped fix the restaurant and idly wondered what the other woman was doing. Maybe she'd bring her back something? As she entered, she saw the long buffet set up and shrugged. Ah. Maybe not. Oh well. As she took a plate from one end of the line, she glanced at the drink tickets that had been handed to her. "Oh-- I don't..." But she was left with the drink tickets all the same. Looking to the person next to her, she offered a slight smile. "Um... I'm not really a drinker. Do you want these?"

Jared was already inside. He wasn't adverse to cheap food and definitely wasn't deterred by the thought of eating alone. He was too busy loading up a plate with as much as he could get his hands on from the table to notice others filing in behind him. He only had eyes for the food. Jared only glanced over when someone else came close. "Great spread huh?" He commented to the bloke with a grin.

Morgan couldn't believe she'd let Remmy talk her into visiting a restaurant of all places. They were zombies. They didn't need to eat, there was nothing here for either of them but--oh. Morgan arched a brow as she saw her friend playing chivalrous with a pretty girl. Well, maybe there was something here for one of them, and she supposed she could play wingwoman if Remmy felt a little awkward. And maybe give them a tinsy bit of a hard time if they weren't. "Wow, and here I thought I was your date," she teased. "You guys really know how to pick a place. It's so packed, I think half the town is here." She scanned the room, looking for someone familiar, or at least unaccompanied in case the maybe lovebirds needed some privacy later.

Dave nodded at the guy talking to him. "Better taste as good as it looks. Did you go to this place before it had shut down?" He carefully balanced his plate on one hand to offer Jared his to shake. "I'm Dave."

With an easy grin on her face, Nadia let Remmy hold the door open for her as she walked into Pat's Place. "Why, thank you," she said with a wink. The place was pretty nice in kind of an old school kind of way. Nadia could definitely see a crime boss of some sort owning a joint like this. Definitely the kind of person that Tommy would work for. Speaking of... "I'd love to introduce you to him, some time. Don't see him around at the mo, though." Truthfully, she didn't expect to. Probably for the best. She didn't want him to get distracted. She looked over at the other woman that came up to her and Remmy, giving her a smile. "I wasn't expecting it to be this packed. Really hoping it lives up to the hype."

Nell followed her sister over to the bar, all too ready to get that started. After getting her own drink and taking the first sips, she made a mocking face at her sister before saying, "You think tons of people are weird. But now it's time for food, come on! I wanna be rolled out of here." Somehow...the truth serum had allowed her to say such a thing which meant it was, in fact...true?

Norma saw the flyers for a gathering. It was not taking place at the best restaurant in town, the Bottomless Booty, but she would hardly hold that against this Pat's Place place. And if she was lucky, perhaps a fight would break out and she would get some delicious chaos energy to feed on. For now she hopped inside and saw a bar and many tables full of food. None of it was necessary for her but where there was lots of human food, there was usually lots of humans to feed from. She took a plate and picked up many of the green leafy things on the platters to put on her plate on the way down. "Oh, you don't need water to survive?" she asked the woman in front of her who was brandishing her drink tickets. "That's rather unusual. I'm perfectly fine with my two tickets, however. Thank you! I'm Norma! Norma Lee," she said holding out her hand.

Luce had found a flyer hanging outside of Ink Inc after a particularly long shift and you know what? Fuck it. Why not. Pat's Place had been decent enough before it had been taken out by that fucked up fish rain bullshit. And if they were trying to get more people in the door, she couldn't blame them too much. Pushing open the door, she raised an eyebrow as she noticed that her sisters were already here, with Nell eyeing the buffet spread and Bea leaning against the bar. "Bitches." She muttered under her breath before freezing when she saw who else was inside. Remmy. They were here too? Why the fuck-- they didn't even need to eat. Catching sight of the woman next to them, Luce felt the color drain from her face. Fuck. Shit, fuck, fuck. Taking her drink tickets, Luce made a bee-line to the bar and glared at her sisters. "Whiskey. What are you guys doing here?"

Jared grinned and nodded. "Yeah, lived in town all my life. It's real tragic about Pat, but I'm glad the place could re-open." Shuffling his two plates into one hand he offered the other a free one to shake. "I'm Jared."

"Luce!" Nell exclaimed at the sight of her sister, before brandishing her VIP invitation by waving it in the elder girl's face. "I was invited. You weren't?" she teased the fire caster. "So was Bea."

Agatha was a big fan of the place before it shut down, but after having heard that the staff had died crushed under a whale (which sounded like bullshit, by the way), she was no longer sure that the restaurant would ever be worth it ever again. But none of this mattered anymore, Agatha had spotted the buffet spread, and all she could think about right now was food. Some people were more interested in the bar? Their loss. Her plate full, she made her way to an empty table. She did not come with company, but it was fine. Nothing unusual for her.

"Tons of people are weird. Do I have to remind you of the man at the Stacked Deck or that lady in the grocery store? They were all weird." Bea frowned at her sister before taking a drink. She raised an eyebrow at the middle Vural. "We're VIPs." She said with a little smirk. "Did your VIP ticket get lost in the mail?"

Q was a bit over his head here, but he had promised his dad that he'd try to get out more and not lock himself away in the laboratory until he had a white beard. Everyone seemed friendly enough, even if that familiar feeling crawled under his skin. He moved with a small plate towards the woman sitting alone. "Hey, I didn't realize this would be so busy. Can I sit with you?"

Luce raised an eyebrow at her sisters, waving at them with the drink that was slid her way. "Bitches. Both of you. And yeah, I guess it did. Worked out for me, though, I found a flier next to work so I decided to pop by cuz it's apparently pretty popular." She said, bending her head to hide behind Bea's taller form. "Knowing Nell, she probably tossed my invite in the trash." She replied.

"Jared, nice to meet ya," Dave said with a grin, taking the kid's hand. Working hands, at that - this wasn't a guy with some office job. Then again, considering the long narrow scars that stretched along Dave's face and hands, nor did he. "Yeah, I heard. Sounds real shitty, what happened here. Did you know the staff at all?"

Skylar was a little confused by the woman's response and her head cocked slightly. Had she misheard her? There was a lot of noise happening around her, but... "Um, I mean, I do need water. But these are for beer or alcohol or other things?" She said, looking at the little tickets closer. Mhm, yeah, that's what they were for. At the woman's introduction, Skylar awkwardly shifted her empty plate from one hand to the other and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Norma. I'm Skylar. McKay." She said and nodded. "Did you find a flyer too?"

Tilting her head at her sister, Bea looked over to Nell, "Nellie, does it seem like Lulu is hiding from something or is it just me?" Over the last few weeks, it had gotten easier to be outside and in crowds. She was growing more confident every day, finally feeling like maybe her paranoia could ease up a bit.

Morgan snorted. "Aww, you're Nadia? That's so amazing, we talked so much when we first moved here! I didn't realize you knew Remmy. They are, I gotta say, one of the best people in town I've ever met. I'm sure they've got an amazing night planned out for you." She side-eyed Remmy and lowered her voice. "Does she know you don't need to...you know?" This might be more awkward than she wanted in her night. The loner tables in the back were starting to look a lot more cozy.

Agatha, her cheeks filled with food, raised her eyebrows as a young man approached her to get a seat. She glanced around her. Yeah, he was talking to her. "Mmmh," she nodded, wiping her mouth clean. "You know, you could have gotten more food?"

"I probably will, I was feeling indecisive at all the choices and didn't want to seem greedy," Q shrugged, but he did notice her plate. "Not saying that you were greedy-- maybe you have the appropriate amount. I’ll know for next time." He grinned and sat down. "I was at this place before, why is it so popular?"

"Oh definitely, Bibi. Poor Lulu, looks too upset to not be hiding anything." Nell knew it was only a matter of time now until Luce decided to take a swipe at either one of her sisters, so Nell took another gulp of her drink while she still could. "Sure you found a flyer, but did you get in free?"

Jared began to say, "Likewise bud." Taking both his plates back in a more steady grip the nymph shrugged one shoulder. "Knew of them, Pat was the knowable one if you get me? Always happy to chat to the customers. Wasn't here for the funeral or I woulda gone, he was a cool guy."

Norma's brow furrowed. Had she said something incorrect once more? "Oh, why would they call them drink tickets if they were meant for alcohol? That's odd," she said as she tossed one of the garnishes back over her shoulder. She had seen that's how children ""ate"" their broccoli, she assumed it would work here, too. "Nice to meet you too, Skylar! And yes, I did find the flyer. I work at Bottomless Booty, you know. I needed to check out the competition." Her eyes scanned the food table. 'Tell me, is any of this worth consuming?"

"That's me!" Nadia said, though mentally she was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Fuck Nadia for talking to people. "Yeah, Remmy and I are new friends. I took a bit of a fall, and they were there to help me out. Totally agree with you, though. They're the fucking best." She gave them a smirk. It was strange, that both of the people around her were complete emotional and literal dead zones. She looked over to the bar, watching as people took their drinks. Huh. Well, there was one familiar face, and she didn't look too happy.

Bea took another long sip of her drink before half choking as her sister called her Bibi. God, she hadn't been called that in a long time. "Do you think you got in for free because they know you're broke, Nellie?"

Remmy couldn't help but blush. "Morgan," they muttered, "shut up." But then Nadia was agreeing and they sort of wished they could sink into the floor. Clearing their throat, they pointed towards the bar, not even noticing the familiar faces by it yet. "Anyone want a drink? I'm gonna go get us drinks," they said with a squeak, getting ready to head off.

Dave walked them over to a standing table, mouthing back Jared's words to make sure internally he'd gotten them all right. "Right, that sorta guy. I hear it was some sorta freak weather event. Anyhow, you probably don't want to dredge all this back up." Dave picked a chicken drumstick, and took a big bite. He hated eating with his teeth caps on, but needs must and all. "So, Jared, what do you do? You a student, working?"

Luce clenched her hand around the whiskey, the glass heating slightly in her fingers. "Yarrağımı ye, both of you." She gestured to the two of them. "You can both fuck off. I'm not hiding from anyone. You're hiding from someone." She growled. Leave it to Nell and Bea to make shit even worse. Christ. As she glanced around the restaurant, Luce froze as she caught sight of Nadia staring at her. And fuck. Remmy was coming up to the bar. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me." She mumbled, leaning against the bar, head ducked low.

Nell's shit-eating grin she'd been wearing for the roasting of Luce quickly disappeared at Bea's words. Hold on. That wasn't fair. They were supposed to be going after Luce right now. "If I'm broke, so are you!" Apparently hospital bills did that to a person when they didn’t have insurance. So caught up was she with Bea's betrayal, that she didn't realize Luce slipping even further down. "Your’s is probably just a pity invite, anyway."

"I was invited because business owners support business owners," Bea sniffed. "I am not broke. I just have less money than I did before." She patted Luce's back. "Do you need me to distract someone if they notice you?"

Morgan pulled Remmy back. "No, I'm good. I don't really drink much these days, you know? I'm on this great all protein diet and don't really wanna mess up my insides. I'm gonna check out who else is here but--" she kissed her fingers and reached to smush them into Remmy's cheek. "You two kids have fun. I'm sure we'll circle back after the line gets less long. I definitely want to spend more time with you, Nadia, when I get back." Pleased to have thoroughly embarrassed her friend, she slid away from the entrance and sidled up to the back by the more empty tables. There was a woman and what looked to be a college kid sitting together, plates piled high. "I gotta respect people who have their priorities in line. Does it taste any good?"

Jared nodded. He'd heard the same, despite not being in town. Fish rain had been a particularly interesting story to hear. Stuffing a whole wing in his mouth Jared nodded. "Farmer. Own a farm just in town. So not devoted enough to be a student or anything like that. Sounds like too much school to me." he laughed. "What do you do, bud?"

Skylar shook her head apologetically. "It's a little weird, right? I've never really worked in food service, but I think it's because of the cost of alcohol?" She offered helpfully. But, she was only more confused when Norma tossed one of the lettuce garnishes onto the ground. "Um, I don't think--" She said, but was too caught off guard by the woman's words to do anything other than flounder. "Ah-- I mean, I think the ribs look nice? And the fried chicken smells nice too." Skylar said as she put a few pieces of each on her plate. "Bottomless Booty? I've heard of them, that's the pirate restaurant, right?" She asked, a little confused how Pat's would have any kind of competition from the kitschy themed restaurant.

"...Dude, people are going to get food, and you'll be left with the stuff no one likes," she eyed at the vegetables, then back at Quintin. "I'm Agatha by the way," she didn't take notice of his comments. She did not mind being called greedy if it was about food. Being greedy about good things was not a sin. Or maybe the exact definition of a sin. Sin sucked. "I don't know, maybe because for one, there's no mimes here?"

"Oh I'm with ya. Just about scraped my GED, and that was enough for me," Dave replied with a rough laugh. "You got animals or crops on your farm? Oh, I'm a fisher, deep sea angling. Keeps me busy and fed, and the van working."

Norma nodded and then grabbed some of everything Skylar pointed out. That was perfectly normal, she was sure of it, asking for recommendations and then taking them with no questions asked. "Oh yes, it is perfectly pirate themed. I wear a hat when working there. Where do you work?"

Skylar nodded at Norma's words. She didn't really understand what she meant about the hat thing-- did she mean a pirate hat? She couldn't really imagine that Norma meant she showed up wearing a ball cap or something. Wandering down the line, Skylar picked out a few more meat based items before adding a couple vegetables just for appearances sake. She didn't really want anyone to ask any questions about what she was eating. "I work for the school district. I'm not a teacher," She added quickly, trying to avoid that particular rabbit hole. "I do interpretation."

Jared "Got one up on me there, I didn't manage to graduate." He laughed heartily. Looking up at the other man and spotting a congregation of people at the bar he knew. He smiled and then refocused. "Animals. A small greenhouse for flowers though. Oh a sea dog huh? Sounds pretty rad. Got a boat and everything of your own?"

Norma could not imagine working with children. Normal mortals were far too young to have anything in common with as it was. "You do interpretation? Of what? Ancient languages?" She didn't quite understand why small children would need to know demonic languages but that did make some sort of sense given their nature as tiny agents of chaos. "I'm going to go get an alcoholic beverage with my drink ticket, would you like some water of which you need to survive?"

"Q, or Quintin--" Q responded, happily munching on his plate as he never enjoyed enough good food. "So you are on team 'no mimes'." He air quoted, glancing up towards a few other people. All, he didn't know. "Do you know anyone else here?"

Luce rolled her eyes at Nell and Bea. "Broke. Both of you. At least I own my cabin outright." She muttered, head still bent low. For the first time in her life, she wished that her tattoos didn't make her stand out so much. She'd probably be able to blend into the background and just slip out the door if it wasn't for them. But, Nadia had already seen her. "I really don't think that will work. But thanks for everything, Bibi." She shook her head.

Jared took a water from a passing waiter.

It was kind of amusing to watch Luce sink away from the way Nadia watched, but she wasn't super focused on the witch. When Morgan left, Nadia gave a slight wave. "Looking forward to it." She watched Remmy walk away as well, enjoying the blush on their cheeks while she could. Then, she opened her phone and checked the time. She made eye contact with one of the bartenders.

"Cool, what sorta animals? Not at the moment," Dave replied, polishing off the last of the meat on his plate. He eyed the buffet table, that was beginning to look somewhat crowded. Eh, he was a grown man, he could wait for a bit. "Used to have a pretty little ship, but I had to move inland for a while, so now I'm boatless. If I end up staying here long enough I'll get a new one, but for now I'm renting."

The thing Bea had started to notice about herself was sometimes she didn't need anything to make her feel unsafe for her body to begin to react. Tonight, apparently, was one of those nights. Her heart had begun to pound. She put her drink down, the sharp click of it against the bar ringing in her ears. She took a deep breath, far too aware of how fast she was breathing now. "I'm... I'm just going to go to the bathroom for a second okay?" She slipped away from her sisters then and only made it so far before bumping into someone as she tried to walk fast to the bathroom. She wasn't going to freak out in front of all these people. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to hit you." She swallowed hard, trying to control her breathing, but couldn't seem to make it regulate. "I'm just- I have to... I'm just running to the bathroom."

Nell wasn't entirely sure what to make of Bea's quick departure, but she knew that her sister didn't seem quite as social as she'd once been in situations like these ever since she’d been resurrected. Maybe she just needed some air? Still, she wanted to make sure that the eldest Vural was doing alright, and took a quick step after her. One step in, and her head was spinning. What the hell? She'd barely had half her drink at this point. Dizziness wasn't something she should be feeling this early on in the night. Another step forwards, and she had to clutch the end of the bar to steady herself.

For what felt like the third time in as many minutes, Skylar blinked in confusion. "Ancient languages? Like... Latin?" She guessed, not sure what the other woman was talking about. She didn't think that ancient languages were part of the White Crest curriculum. "I-- No, I'm a sign language interpreter." She said before shaking her head. "Oh, no, I'm good. Thank you for the offer, really. I'm okay." She said before wandering away from the buffet. As she wandered through the crowd, her face went slightly pale as she saw Jared and Dave talking to one another. Two people who knew what she was? Mmmmmm, nope, nope nope. Hurrying away, she settled into a booth at the back, sighing as she relaxed into the seat.

"Q? That's funny, my other name is 007," Agatha deadpanned, although a smile soon followed. As much as she liked chit-chat, she was no longer eating. When he asked about mimes, her mouth was, thank God, full again. The food was alright, but there were really too many people in here. Another person had approached the table, and Agatha glanced at her with her eyebrows raised. Nice. "I really think you should hurry to get a plate if you ever want to find that out by yourself," she replied with a smile. "But to answer your question, it's pretty good, yeah."

Remmy swatted at Morgan. "I hate you," they mumbled at her before she left and they headed to the bar to get a drink for Nadia. On their way over, they felt a slight pang in their stomach. That was weird, they shouldn't be hungry? They'd eaten before Nadia came over. "Two whiskeys," they said to the bartender when they arrive, ignoring the feeling. They glanced idly around, noticing just down the bar were two familiar faces. "Luce?" they said. Two drinks were set down in front of them and it echoed loudly in their ears, glass clinking. Remmy shook their head, went to grab a glass. "Nell, are yo--" they started, but the glass suddenly fell from their grip and shattered on the floor. Remmy blinked, looking down. The world swayed under their feet. "S-sorry..." they mumbled as someone came around to clean up the mess. They looked at Luce again, went to say words, and found their throat too dry.

Jared blinked rapidly. His heart sped up and his head started to spin a little. It was faint at first but was building rapidly. He leaned his elbows on the table, taking a larger drink of the water he'd gotten, finishing the glass in the hopes it'd help. "Some cattle mostly." He lied in answer to Dave. He thought he spotted Skylar whiz past behind Dave but couldn't be sure as he got more dizzy. "Renting hah right..."

Norma thought that Skylar girl was rather odd, but nice. Once she got her drink, a tea from a long island, though she was unaware of which one, and took a sip. As she did, she felt a familiar sensation. It was like a pit dropped into her stomach and churned and turned it. The room started spinning and she gripped to the edge of the bar to try and hold herself up. "Fucking bounty hunters, not again!" she growled as she felt herself falling and tumbled to the floor, her heart pounding in her chest and the world starting to go black around the edges of her vision. Why these idiot hunters thought this could take down a fury, she'd never understand.

Quintin laughed. "That's awesome, do you have the scars to prove it?" The question didn't need an answer, clearly he was also playing along. "Hello," he said to the person who plopped at their table. "You alright?"

Jared's face grew a little slack, his eyes unfocusing as he leant heavily against the table. Dave's brow creased, leaning in concern. "You alright, kid?"

Morgan was bumped not once but twice on her way to the booths. One couple rose, spilling their drinks, and as she sidled down the aisle, one more person ran into her so hard she slipped and had to brace herself on the nearest table. There was something...off about all this. "Uh, I am, but I'm not sure if everyone else here is," she said to the young man. "Are you?"

Jared shook his head before realizing that made everything worse. His legs grew wobbly and he closed his eyes firmly hoping the feeling would pass. That was until his attention caught someone to his left falling to the floor. "Something is wrong."

The second Remmy dropped the glasses, Nadia moved over to where they were at the bar. Some poor fuck dropped their glass and stumbled in front of her, but she side stepped them, eyes on her target and concern in her eyes. "Remmy?" she asked as soon as she approached. "Hey, are you alright?" She completely ignored Luce, not seeing any sort of reason to pay attention to her. She wasn't getting paid to watch over Luce.

There was a tightness in her chest that seemed like it was set to stay, and no amount of air that Nell drew seemed to be enough. He hand slipped off the end of the bar as weakness gripped her, and she didn't even notice the floor coming up to meet her as her knees gave way. One second she was standing, and the next she was simply...not standing, trying to scramble to all fours on the ground. "Remmy? Luce? Bea?" Where did her sister go? Was she still here? Her brain was trying to connect dots, but the fuzziness around its edges was making it hard to understand.

Luce stared in confusion as Bea wandered away from the bar, her face pale. And then Nell-- she seemed to be holding tightly onto the bar. "Are you--" Before she could finish her words, Remmy was next to her, equally startled and just as out of sorts as Nell. Looking from her sister to Remmy, Luce slid her untouched whiskey away from her, glaring at the bartender for a moment before reaching out to steady Nell. "Nellie, are you okay?" She asked. In a moment, Nadia was there. Glancing over to the other woman, her eyes narrowed for a moment at the way she seemed to ignore her. "Are they okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, no shit," Dave replied, putting his hand on Jared's back. He looked around, eyes narrowing, as people staggered, looking green in the gills and falling over. Food poisoning usually took a whole lot longer, but... this was a lotta sick people. Could be a spell, could be, well, real poison. Shit. He smacked Jared's drink away. "Don't drink anymore of that. Don't eat. Hold tight kid. Think there's something in the food."

Bea pushed her way through the crowd, trying to get out of the thick of it. She found herself leaning close to the entrance, head beginning to pound as she slid down to the ground. This wasn't just a panic attack. No something was really wrong. "My sisters," She called out. "I need help finding my sisters."

Skylar quietly ate at her table, idly looking around as she ate. The dining room was quite crowded and, now that she was out of the fray, she could see that there were quite a few people that she recognized. Besides Jared and Dave, she could see that Nadia was there-- she hadn't seen her in ages, Skylar idly wondered if the woman had been keeping up on her ASL-- and then, Morgan. That was a little surprising, given.... Morgan's new situation. She didn't think that zombies could eat normal foods. But, the more she looked, the more she realized that things weren't quite right. People seemed to be stumbling around, people were rushing away from the bar? Glancing down at her plate of food, Skylar pushed it away before wandering towards where Morgan was standing, "I, um, hi Morgan." She said before dropping her voice slightly, "I-- Are things off to you too?"

The world was getting sluggish, fuzzy. So were Remmy's arms. And legs. And mouth and tongue. They blinked, heavy lead eyelids, and looked over at Nadia. Nell had collapsed, Luce was on the floor with her, asking if she was okay. If they were okay. Remmy stumbled backwards a little. A jarring pain ripped through their stomach and they jerked, keeling over a little. Wide eyes looked up at Nadia. "S-somethings wrong," they muttered, barely able to get the words out. "I'm not-- supposed to feel--" but another jolt of pain made them jerk wildly again, this time lower down in their stomach. They collapsed to the ground, hands digging so hard into the counter the wood gave way under their fingers.

Morgan tried to wave the woman’s attention away. “No, I’m good. I’m good, really.” But then she was off, darting into an increasingly unstable crowd. Then she saw another familiar face. “Skylar! No, I’m okay, just knocked around. Are you—?” She looked between her and the other kid at the table. “Are either of you okay? Are y’all seeing this?”

Jared was shaking, his knees knocking together like he was some sort of scared cartoon character, but there was nothing he could do. But he could hear voices he knew and he forced himself to move. "In the food? Pats would never." he whisper yelled stumbling towards a nearby table and almost toppling over someone on the floor, crashing to his knees next to the woman. "Fu-dge."

"Hey, I've got you," Nadia told Remmy soothingly. She slipped herself under their arm and wrapped her own arm around their waist, supporting their weight against her. "I've got you." She looked at Luce long enough to shoot her a look that said Not now. Then she pulled Remmy away from the bar. "Gotta be a fuckin' bathroom around here somewhere."

Things had gone to shit real fucking quick. Luce gently patted Nell's face, resting her hand on her sister's head for a moment before glancing over at Remmy, who seemed to be in an equally bad state. What the fuck? How could something be affecting them? They were a zombie this-- Watching as Nadia held onto Remmy, Luce felt a wave of emotion-- jealousy? Relief? Confusion? She couldn't fucking tell-- wash over her. Whatever was going on... it didn't matter. She needed to make sure Nell was okay. "Nellie? Nell, hey, what's going on. Talk to me."

"What the fuck is happening," Q frowned, standing up to catch a guy falling down to their knees. Was someone killing these people? Could he really not have a normal time anywhere? "I'm okay," he said to the woman asking. He didn't know how to help them.

"Pats ain't here kid, and new management don't seem too friendly," Dave said, and tried to catch Jared as he stumbled to the ground, the kid just slipping out his grip. "Shit!" He yelled, pulling out his phone to dial emergency service. "Got a whole lot of people suddenly sick at Pat's Place. Haven't been going long enough for it to be alcohol." He frowned as the call operator said there were already people on route, but was grateful someone had made the call before him. Putting his phone away, he knelt beside Jared. "Keep talking to me, kid."

Skylar's eyes darted around the room as she tried to make sense of what was going on. All around her, people were doubling over, some of them stumbling into tables, others of them just dropping where they stood. What was going on? She swallowed and nodded. "I-- I'm okay. This, there's--" She struggled with words as she caught sight of a familiar form falling to the ground. Remmy. And Nadia, she was carrying them away. "Remmy-- they're here too? They don't, I don't think they're doing alright." She said, her fingers instinctively signing the words as she spoke.

“Good! Okay is good!” Morgan said. “Maybe don’t touch anything on your plate to make sure it stays that way huh? I mean it’s gotta be the food, right?”

Roland rushed out of the station as quickly as the police had received the tip. On the way over to Pat's Place, he radioed paramedics and a good deal of the officers who worked under him to make sure they could get to the bottom of this. His team was still tracing the tip, but they'd been told a special strain of cyanide was planned to be used at this event. Worry was evident in his features as he rushed over. He didn't bother with parking in an actual space and sirens were still blaring when he arrived with a slew of cop caps and ambulances behind him. He ran into the restaurant and it seemed people were already starting to feel the effects of the poison. "Everyone, remain calm and don't eat or drink anything else." Medics were already rushing over to those obviously affected.

Norma tried to talk but her words were slurred. "H-hey, wa-watch it!" she said as someone tumbled over her. The world went black. She fucking hated poison. Why poison? It was so slow. A stab to the heart was so much easier. She could simply pull out the knife and walk away then, but poison. What a trip. Ugh she would have to wait a bit until she could wake up again.

Back with a glass of water, Agatha felt like this was not going to be much of a help. What a mess. The sound of sirens stopped her in her tracks and she put the glass of water down on the table, heading toward the Sergeant hurriedly. "Hey, do you have any idea of what is going on?"

Jared mumbled an apology to the woman he'd fallen over, looking back at Dave as he reminded Jared that Pat was gone and something was definitely in the food. He squinted up at the new face as well. "Who're you, soft landing." he mumbled incoherently before looking back to Dave. "What if I stop? Will I die? This is far too early for that right?"

Roland looked to Agatha with a worried look on her face and immediately asked, "Do you feel okay?" He examined her for any sign of illness before he finally explained, "We received an anonymous tip that a special strain of cyanide was supplied for the reopening. Paramedics are on the scene and ready to treat anyone affected. Police are looking for whoever is in charge of this shindig."

Morgan barely heard Skylar over the noise of panic and sickness. But she caught her signing out of the corner of her eye and followed her gaze. “That...shouldn’t be happening,” she said. “C’mon. We gotta go.” She took the girl by the hand so they wouldn’t get separated but turned quickly back to the boy. “Hey, I mean it about not eating anything else weird. I’ll check on you later if I can.”

Kaden had planned to stay at home until the stripes were gone completely, he would use up all his sick days at work and then some if he had to. But when he got the call, the tip of a mass poisoning, all hands on deck, he couldn't let his vanity outweigh the risk of human lives lost. Putain. He grabbed gloves and made sure to wear long sleeves. His face and neck were harder to cover, but Regan could be mad about his attempts at using her makeup later. It wasn't great, but a least it hid most of the fucking face paint as he ran out the door and sped directly to Pat's Place, bursting in right behind Sarge and the rest of the crew from the station. The place was pure chaos. Fuck, he didn't even know where to start. Then his eyes landed on a familiar face by the door. "Bea!" No, no, no, she looked bad. But she couldn't die again. She couldn't. No. He ripped an antidote kit out of someone's hand, he didn't see whose. "Bea, talk to me!"

Nell was only slightly aware of Luce, only able to focus on her breathing and the fact that she felt like the world was quickly fading. Was there someone yelling about poison? Who the fuck would poison an entire restaurant? Whoever the hell thought they could get away with poisoning was in for a rude awakening when she was done with them. Luce was hard to make out, the edge of everything blurring. But wait. What about Bea? Was Bea poisoned? she wanted to ask. But instead when she parted her lips, there was nothing. Only the sound of her gasping for air and coughing.

Marley had gotten the call while she was out on patrol. It was an emergency broadcast, which meant Jane had gotten the call, too. By the time Marley arrived, the place was in disarray. She had her kit in hand and rushed in, ignoring the swells of fear she felt as she waded through the crowd to the closest person passed out on the ground. Sarge was talking to Agatha, Kaden was with Bea-- Kaden knew Bea? Ugh, small towns-- and other officers were filling in behind her. She came to a man, collapsed on a table, an older gentleman helping him. "Is he sick?" she asked the man who didn't look like he was about to collapse.

Q's skin crawled in that familiar, warning way from the weight of the other. "Just listen to him," Q said to the one in his arms, talking wasn't the worst thing to keep doing when the threat of closing your eyes forever was the other option. "The cops are here, it will be fine." Though the words were stale on his tongue if this was supernatural related and not human.

"Medical's here," Dave replied, ignoring Jared's question about death entirely as he looked up as police and paramedics came up. A woman approached her, holding a kit, and Dave couldn't help breathe a sigh of relief. "Yeah, he is. Started about five minutes ago. What is this, you know?"

Remmy watched the floor slide by them as Nadia carried them off somewhere. Where were they going? Why couldn't they move? At some point, they'd stopped moving. Remmy slid to the floor, barely able to keep themself upright. "Nadia...what's..." they muttered, looking around for her, reaching out to try and grasp her as the world went fuzzy, dark, then sprung back to life again. They gripped their stomach in agony, trembling. "What's happening?"

Norma couldn't tell how long she had been asleep, or dead, it was hard to say, she never really knew, but her eyes flew open and she sat up and then turned to her side, the contents of her stomach spilling out on the floor beside her. Disgusting. She looked around and saw there was a man halfway fallen on top of her and another man helping him. And what she presumed was a medic. Oh no. Should she have played dead? "Wow, I must have eaten something horrible. Oh no, so tragic. How is it going here?"

Skylar let Morgan slip her hand into hers before offering an apologetic grimace to the two people the other woman had been talking to. "I'm sorry-- I--" She managed before hurrying away with Morgan towards where she'd last seen Remmy. They'd been by the bar, she'd seen them with Nadia. Where had they gone? And then, she saw that the two of them, Remmy's arm flung over Nadia's shoulder. "Morgan, over there." She said, tilting her head towards where she'd seen the two hurry off.

Bea looked up at Kaden's face, dizziness making it hard to focus on him. "Why do you look like that?" She asked, voice a bit choked. She coughed and the reality of what was happening began to hit her. She couldn't control the tears that started to leak from her. "I don't want to die again, Kaden, I can't die again," She told him, not even able to attempt to control how panicked she sounded. She grabbed his arm suddenly, looking back into the crowd. "My sisters are here," She wheezed out to him. She didn't want to die again, the thought terrified her in ways she couldn't even begin to understand, but her sisters couldn't experience what she had. She had told the truth when she said that she was willing to die for them again. She tried to push him toward the crowd. "Please."

Luce glanced around her as police began to flood the room, paramedics following close behind them. As Nell began to gasp and cough, Luce scooped her younger sister up in her arms. No. Not today. She'd resurrected Bea, summoned lightning for Nell, blown up a building and murdered countless people for her sisters. She wasn't going to let fucking Pat's Place hurt her family. Not today. Hurrying towards the entrance, she noticed Kaden kneeling over Bea, her sister saying words she couldn't quite hear, "Grab her and get her out of here." She growled at the man before pushing past him out of the building. She needed to get Nell to the ambulances outside, needed to make sure she was safe.

Jared's vision swam as yet another person arrived. He tried to raise his hand to show a peace sign but all he managed was a weird sort of wave at the newcomer, his arm falling heavily back into the guy holding him up. "Dave the fisherperson is a hero, I'm naming my next kid after you Dave." he decided his mind full of cotton.

There weren't supposed to be cops here. That was all Nadia could think about as she dragged Remmy away from the chaos. She flinched as they reached out to her, though she tried not to let it show. "It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine," she kept muttering over and over, though it was more for her benefit than Remmy's. When she got somewhere less crowded, she set them against the wall and leaned down in front of them. "I don't know what's going on," she said, glancing worriedly back as the cops all filed in, "but it's going to be okay, alright? I'm gonna get you some help."

Agatha 's eyes grew wide. She knew that her belly was more than full and her nervous smile, that probably looked like a freaky grimace told exactly that. "Never better, Sarge, never better," either way, she would have to do her job, anyway. "I'll go gather the staff in the kitchen." And with those words, she turned her back on the sergeant and crossed the restaurant countless times, each and every time with the same strict directions.

Marley took the dizzy man by the arm and shuffled around him. "I need you to open your mouth for me," she said, that firmness to her voice. When he obliged, she popped in the breathalyzer antidote before motioning over to a paramedic to administer the IV. "He'll be okay," she said to the older man, "we've been told it was cyanide. The EMTs will know more. Are you okay, sir? Not feeling any symptoms?"

Nell's heartbeat was growing weaker by the second, her head lolling uselessly as Luce carried her to...to...where were they going? Was she floating? Something felt wrong. Where were they going? There were so many people yelling. There were people in danger. She wanted to stay and help, but the thought was faint as her body continued to shut down, and finally the world faded away as a whole.

Morgan followed Skylar’s lead, all the way up to Remmy, not fleeing the place so much as being dragged away by Nadia. "This is not supposed to be happening, this is definitely not supposed to be happening, flipping universe, this just not..." Chaos was erupting around her. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw the Vural sisters in similar distress, but she couldn't split her attention right now. She grimaced, pulled Skylar along until they were outside with Nadia and Remmy. "What happened?" She asked Nadia, voice shrill. "How long have they been like this?" She dropped to her knees to examine Remmy, though for what, she wasn't sure. "What happened to Remmy?"

Roland was relieved to hear Agatha hadn't been poisoned though he did notice Luce rushing outside with someone in her arms. He'd have to check in on her later. Right now, it was imperative to find whoever was behind this before they got away. Agatha made her way toward the kitchen and he decided to check out the bar first. Not everyone was sick and this was a buffet. There was a chance the beverages were behind this. He walked up to the bar and demanded, "I need to see whoever is in charge of your bar immediately."

Kaden scrambled to get the antidote kit open. This wasn't going to happen, she wasn't going to fucking die again. Once was more than enough. "Open your mouth, you're not fucking dying, Bea, you're--" Her sisters? And then she was up and trying to move. Fuck, he grabbed her and pulled her back, maybe harder than he had to. Just then Luce brushed past cradling Nell. "They're okay, they're fine." He pushed the breathalyzer antidote towards her and called for a medic. "You're not dying. Nell's not dying. Neither is Luce. Now sit still and where the fuck is a medic?" One finally ran over to administer an IV at his second shout.

Dave shifted backward on his knees as Marley leant over Jared, giving him the antidote. "I feel right as rain. Guessing whatever it was wasn't in the meat, that's all I'd eaten so far, and hadn't got to drinking yet." He eyed Jared in concern, rubbing his jaw in concern. "Don't name no one after me, kid. Just keep talking. You already got kids?"

Remmy wanted to cry out, it hurt so bad. Pain torn through the stomach, like swallowed lava. A burning so deep inside they wanted to tear their chest open and rip it out. "Get it out," they muttered, clawing at their chest, "g-get it out. Morgan, get..." they could barely see now, the world spinning around them so fast it made them fall over, even as they were sitting up. Someone's hands caught them. They couldn't see who it was, only hear familiar voices. "Make it stop," they gurgled, feeling something rising in their stomach, their chest, their throat, "make it stop."

Luce made her way out of the building and blocked the path of a passing paramedic, her eyes burning with enough anger and fear to stop them in their tracks. "You're going to save my sister, right fucking now." She snarled as she lay Nell down on the ground. Without a word, the paramedic bent over her sister and opened up the antidote kit. She gripped her sister's hand, holding it tightly as she looked around. So many people were in the same state as her sister, so many people were hurting. "You better fucking save her." She said. "You better fucking save her."

Q let the medic help the person near him, and after setting them down, stood up to aid anyone else to get over towards the medics so there wasn't delay in their care.

Marley patted the younger man on the shoulder. "You're gonna be okay," she said, as the EMT arrived to take over her spot. She gave a glance to the older man, nodding. "We're not sure yet. Count yourself lucky, though," she said, turning to head off to the next person, but-- finding that she was already up and alright. Marley eyed her warily, and the pool of wet next to her. "Everything okay, ma'am?"

Bea fall against Kaden, looking at him with wide, panicked eyes. She finally opened her mouth at Kaden's instruction. He said that her sisters will be okay. She had to believe him. He'd take care of them or make sure they were being taken care of. She knew he would. Her friends took care of her family, she had to trust that. As the medic administered her IV, she realized how hard she was shaking. Through gasping breaths, she asked Kaden and the medic, "What's happening?"

"Get what? Get what out, Remmy! I don't know what you mean!" Morgan shrieked, hands fluttering everywhere and nowhere at once. "Did you actually eat something, Remmy?" She looked helplessly over at Nadia. "I don't understand! Did you see anything?”

Agatha stood in the kitchen with the restaurant's staff. "Everyone here?" She watched them look at each other else before nodding. "Alright. I'm going to need whoever was in charge of food to go over here, and whoever works at the bar to go over here." She had not had anything to drink, so clearly, there was something in the water.

Jared "Got tons of kids. Farm full of 'em." he told Dave. "Don't have a Dave yet so it's perfect." He winced at the IV going into his arm and make a face at Dave. "Feels like a movie, no one gets poisoned in real life do they?"

"I don't know," Nadia said, her tone matching Morgan's. She began to back away, her hands shaking as she watched the two undead. "I--" she needed to get out of there and fast. But there were too many fucking people around. She couldn't be suspicious. Inwardly, she willed herself to calm down, while outwardly she put all of her effort into looking concerned and panicked and horribly inept at handling this situation. "I'm going to get help," she said, backing into the main room. On the way, she saw a discarded drink tray. Fuck, she didn't sign up for this. As slyly as she could, she downed the drink and headed back into the main room, hoping the effects hit quickly. In the mean time, she pretended to look for someone to help Remmy. Not that they could. Zombie poison really was a real bitch.

Skylar followed behind Morgan, doing her best to dodge the people who were between them and Remmy. Before she knew it, Skylar was staring at Remmy, their hands pulling at their chest, their body wracked with pain. Her eyes widened, memories of the last time she'd seen them in pain coming rushing back to her. The way they'd been ripped in half, the way their insides-- "No, no, no, no, no." She mumbled, frozen in fear. She shook her head, trying to force away the memories. She didn't-- they didn't-- she couldn't handle seeing them like this. "Help! Someone, someone help!" Skylar yelled, not knowing what else she could do. She just knew she needed to get Remmy help, and fast. They were in so much pain.

Dave nodded as the officer walked away, turning back to Jared with a bemused smile that didn't quite mask his worry. "Right, your cows're your kids," he agreed, looking around. "Pretty shitty movie, if you ask me. Whoever made that first call saved a fuckload of lives."

Roland gave the timid looking assistant bar manager a harsh look. "Are you the one in charge here?" His words had a bite to them and he was frustrated. A mass poisoning was horrific and he couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around it. The younger man stuttered, "Oh, I-I- I don't know what happened. I was walking a-around seeing if everyone enjoyed their meals. I'm nn-not sure where the bartenders ran off too or what's making everyone sick." Roland narrowed his eyes. It was hard to tell if the nerves were because he was lying or because of the utter chaos ensuring around them. "I'm going to need you to come back to the station with me and answer some questions."

Kaden could feel Bea shaking, closer to death than she had any right to be right after just coming back to life. "Got a call about a poisoning. Breathe, I need you to breathe." Because if she stopped fucking breathing, it would all be for nothing. He couldn't handle that, not again. And he knew Luce and Nell couldn't even begin to handle that. "Luce looked okay. She had Nell. There are medics everywhere, I'm sure she's okay." God fucking help him if he was lying to her right now. He'd never live it down. But he couldn't leave her to go check. He had to trust that Luce would kill someone to keep Nell safe. Had to admit, that wasn't a stretch to believe.

"Get it out, it burns!" Remmy nearly screamed, tearing at their clothes. Sweat was beading on their head, pooling under their shirt. Their arms felt stiff, slow. Their entire body heavy. They sank to the floor, curling up. Exhaustion rushing into them. "It burns, everything burns, it--" they choked on their words, shaking. Wished that the darkness would just take them over, wish they could slip into that release, too. "Please, please," they begged.

"Ma'am-- I need you to--- Ma'am! Get out of here!" The medic yelled and Luce found herself being pulled away from her sister. "Alright! Alright! But, you better fucking, you better save her!" She swore as she stumbled down the pavement. Breathing hard, Luce stared up at the restaurant again, saw Kaden next to Bea, watching over her while the medic administered the treatment. Hurrying back towards them, she glanced around and stopped dead in her tracks. Through the doorway, she caught sight of Nadia... Saw the glass in her hand. What the fuck? What the fuck? Her eyes widened in horror as she watched Nadia drain the glass dry.

Morgan tried to reach out for Nadia before she backed away. "NO, no, you have to tell me what they did! Fucking--Nadia!" But the girl was gone. Yeah, she definitely didn't know that much about her date if she thought the paramedics were going to have anything to help a zombie in distress. Skylar, nearby, was feeling some distress too. "Hey," she said, her voice firm with determination. "We're gonna figure this out, okay? Just not here, and not with the help of human cops. I'm going to take Remmy back to my place. Can you cover for us, Skylar?" She heaved her arms under Remmy's body and picked them up. It was awkward with their difference in size, but she was going to make it work. "If Nadia comes back, tell her we're okay, make sure she doesn't ask any questions?" She tried to lock eyes with the young selkie. Tried to sound as confident as she wished she was. "We're gonna handle this, and we're gonna be fine."

"That's right." Jared’s head still felt wrong, but the cotton was clearing a little as the medic monitoring the IV in his arm gave a nod to someone to help Jared to his feet. "The worst movie I've ever seen bud." he agreed, being hauled into a chair to be moved. "Coming for the ride in the ambulance? A cyanide come down is a great way to meet new friends."

Norma tried to stand up, but still felt weak. The poison was no longer killing her, but the effects always lasted far longer than she would like. It was unfortunate that someone had noticed her fall. She glanced around her, every other mortal who had fallen was being given intense medical care. Gods, how could she explain this one? Hopefully this human approaching her was very stupid. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. I think the poison just didn't stick. It's a miracle! Praise your deity of choice!"

Instead of looking for someone to help Remmy, Nadia immediately went over to the EMTs, stumbling by the time she got to one of them. "I think-- Fuck." Fucking cyanide. Fucking cops. She wasn't getting paid enough to poison herself. She groaned and allowed the EMT to help her out. Tommy was going to be getting some choice words after all of this.

Poison. Some fucking bastard poisoned her and her sisters. Bea was going to fucking kill them. She was going to burn... No, not burn anymore, but she was going destroy whoever fucking did this. Her tears started to clear as she was worked on and she looked up at Kaden, face set in rage, "I'm going to kill them." She looked to the side, trying to find her sisters and saw Luce. Reaching out to her, she called to Luce, voice rough. "Luce!"

Skylar focused on Morgan's words, doing her best to hold herself together, though her shoulders were shaking violently. "Mhm, mhm,. I can-- I can do that. Just, make sure they're okay. Please, please make sure they're safe." Skylar glanced down at Remmy, watched as they screamed and cried, and curled on the ground. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes as she nodded. "It's all going to be okay, it's gonna be okay." She said, more to herself than to Morgan. It had to be okay.

With the sergeant handling this, Agatha left the kitchen, passing a woman who was thanking God instead of medicine with a judgemental look on her face. Yeah, no, no time to argue. Besides it looked like someone was taking care of her. It seemed things were getting slowly under control. But time would tell how bad this truly was.

Marley eyed the woman carefully. "Didn't stick, huh?" she said with a low voice, glancing around them before leaning in, "sounds pretty...supernatural to me." Before leaning away. She didn't exactly have time for this, there were more people who needed poison kits. She backed away from the strange woman, smiling, gave a wave, before heading off to another sick person. This town sure was strange sometimes.

Roy Chambers couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face if he tried. What was there to be upset about? The day had been good to him. Another day with the sun warming his skin was a good one, in his book. Coupled with the sound of ambulance sirens cutting through the air? Oh, that tickled him in more ways than most people could properly understand. What did it mean? What was going on? That was probably what most people were thinking. Roy, however, knew exactly what it meant. It meant success. It meant his plan had gone off without a hitch. As he neared the restaurant—Pat’s Place—he watched the chaos from the sidewalk. No way this place was going to pick back up after a catastrophe like this. Shame. They had the best cheesesteaks in the area. With the mess unfolding, everyone was far too consumed with the sick and dying to notice him. He halted at the sight of a familiar face. Remmington McAllister. 30. One of the parties to blame for the Ring explosion. He was sure Penelope Vural was around here somewhere. Preferably dead. Remmington didn’t look too far from it themself. He caught their gaze, lowering his sunglasses to fully take in the picture. Phew, boy. Looked like that hurt. He winked, his grin spreading wider across his features. Tucked his hands into his pockets and carried on down the road, a melodic whistle on his lips and a pep in his step. The day had been very good to him indeed.

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probably-writing-x · 4 years

Text

Provoked.

Guzmán x Reader

Request by @parkerschurros : Hi! I love your writing sm. If you are still taking requests could you do a guzman and female reader sort of enemies to lovers kinda thing where they’re sort of sassy to each other but it’s just jealousy/sexual tension and one of them catches the other flirting with someone else as a party and everything just comes out. Thank you so much!

- - - - - -

“You’re never going to win, Guzmán,” You roll your eyes, throwing another ball and sinking it into one of the half filled cups of beer.

“Don’t you remember what happened last time?” He cocks a brow, gulping the drink in one.

You let out a laugh, “You cheated, that’s enough to make you think you’ll win?”

“Enough for me to know I distract you,” He shoots a wink in your direction before throwing another of the balls and landing it on your side.

You and Guzmán had known each other for all of a few years and the entirety of that time had been filled with irritation, anger and arguing. He annoyed you more than anyone you’d ever met. From arguing in class, yelling at parties, prancing each other - you’d never ceased to stop that continuous battle that had never really had an obvious cause.

“Okay honey, I have places to be,” You smirk, landing the ball in the last cup on his side and finally ending this far too competitive game of beer pong.

“Cheers, love,” He grins, raising the cup in your direction before downing the drink.

You roll your eyes and head back away from him and into the crowd of people that had built around the party. Samuel was hosting and the cramped flat made it near impossible to stay away from Guzmán for too long.

“Hey (Y/n),” Omar smiles when he sees you, he was leaning against one of the kitchen counters with Ander beside him, “You look great by the way.”

“Thanks,” You grin, “As long as Guzmán doesn’t spill any drinks on me tonight, I should stay that way.”

Ander lets out laugh, “You guys are seriously impossible at this point, why do you hate him so much?”

You glance over to where his attention was focused on a girl you hadn’t met before. She was petite with bold features, slim and a fair bit smaller than him. Her brunette hair fell in formed curls around her shoulders and she shot him a smirk that told you she probably had intentions tonight.

“I don’t know,” You mumble in response to Ander’s question, thinking way back to the first time you’d ever met Guzmán.

- - - - - -

“With her times Guzman, she’s fast enough to beat you. If you seriously want to take on swimming competitively, you need someone to fight against. (Y/n)’s good enough for that and I won’t listen to you complain about it anymore,” His swim coach explains, grabbing his things from the side and walking out of poolside.

Guzmán grabs his towel from the bench and drags it over his face, “So what are you? Just here to prove to me that I’m a shit swimmer?”

“I’m just here to keep my scholarship,” You shrug, “I don’t particularly care if you’re a good swimmer or not.”

“Scholarship?” He scoffs, “So you’re just trying to keep up your image of being a Las Encinas kid? You’re like the rest of them?”

“I’m not like anyone. You trust fund babies wouldn’t know how to distinguish a poor kid from another one though, would you?”

“Watch yourself, (Y/n), okay?” He shakes the towel through his hair, “This place will eat you alive with an attitude like that.”

“I didn’t need your advice, Guzmán.”

“We’ll see about that, love.”

- - - - - -

“Maybe she doesn’t really hate him,” Omar nudges Ander and they both raise their brows at you knowingly.

“Oh relax,” You roll your eyes, “We’re not going through this again, we all know what happened with Lu.”

“Ahh you mean when she realised her boyfriend cared more about annoying you instead of being with her? When she started picking up on how he watched everything you did instead of focusing on a word that she said?” Omar laughs, “You’re telling me that’s equivalent to hating someone?”

- - - - - -

“Guzmán you’re late,” The professor points out the obvious as Guzmán strolls into the classroom, his hair still damp from the pool.

He takes the seat in front of you and you can’t help yourself when the opportunity is there.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure if you keep practising you’ll be matching my times soon.”

“You think I can’t beat you?” He turns around and focuses on you, yet to even pay attention to his so-called girlfriend sat beside him.

“You think you can?”

“Don’t pay attention to her, darling,” Lu brushes the lapels of his jacket and tries to turn him towards her, “She’s just trying to keep hold of that scholarship for all it’s worth.”

“If I beat you by the end of this year, you finally let me take you to the club with me. If not, and you somehow win, it’s your call, love.”

“Why are you so obsessed with getting me to the club?”

“There’s something so tragic about watching the princess lose her crown when the opportunity presents itself.”

- - - - - -

Your eyes fall back to Guzmán who’s still chatting away to the girl who’d taken his fancy. You’d spent years with a seething annoyance towards everything that boy did. From everything he said to everything he did - it’s like the two of you met each other for the sole purpose of finding someone who you despised.

Maybe it’s the alcohol in your veins but you find yourself thinking back to some different times with Guzmán. The boy had always encouraged you to be your best - never letting you get away with less. And, when it wasn’t him you were competing against, that boy was damn supportive.

- - - - - -

“Aiming for a personal best today, (Y/n)?” Guzmán calls as he walks along poolside.

It was a termly swim gala today and you were competing in the majority of races. You hated how it was split into females and males. Lord knows if you got the chance to swim against Guzmán at a time like this, you two would both put in excess effort to make sure you didn’t lose the crown.

“Aiming to beat your time,” You shrug, shaking out your limbs as you walk towards the podiums to start.

“Good luck, Princess. Don’t let that crown slip too far.”

Lu glared at you from her position on the podium only directly next to you, “Guzmán, aren’t you going to wish me luck?”

He tears his eyes away from his opponent to look at her for a split second, “Good luck, Lu.”

“I don’t know what he sees in you,” She mutters under her breath, evidently recognising the demise in her supposedly perfect relationship.

“He doesn’t see anything. I’m just competition.”

Maybe you don’t even believe it. Why did you two put so much emphasis onto each other instead of anyone else? Especially when he was in a relationship. When was the last time he focused that much attention onto Lu?

When the gun sounds, you dive in and it instantly feels like an instinct. You become completely unaware of everyone and everything around you. Though, when you breach the water, you find yourself focusing in on a specific voice above the rest.

“Go on (Y/n)!”

And that tone, normally so cocky and irritating, gives you that push to go just a little bit faster, push a little bit harder. Right until you touch the wall on your last length.

As you pop up out of the water and tread on the surface, Guzmán is instantly crouching on the side in front of you, grinning with some level of pride.

“Personal best!” He beams, “You’re really set on beating me, huh?”

“I’m set on staying well away from your so-called fun at the club.”

He laughs and shakes his head at you, clasping your hand like he would do to one of the boys, “Good job, (Y/n).”

- - - - - -

“Fuck,” You weren’t really sure at what point you’d decided to start walking towards Guzmán with evident intent.

You weren’t even sure when you’d left Ander and Omar. But here you were. Making a direct like towards Guzmán across the length of Samuel’s flat.

“Guzmán, can I speak to you?” You say, not caring about any of the words this other girl was saying to him.

He looks at you with a look between a frown and a smirk, “Is there a problem?”

“Guzmán.”

He glances toward the girl and doesn’t care to say anything more as he follows after you to wherever you were leading him.

And somehow, you find yourself in the only empty room here. The bathroom.

“Is this where you try to kill me o-“

“I fucking hate you Guzmán.”

His face falls slightly, “Is that what you brought me in here for? Because I was having a nice conversation with... well I can’t remember her name but she seemed nice.”

“You’re infuriating!” You exclaim, “You literally make my blood boil, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so irritating!”

“You’re hardly easy to deal with either, love,” He was getting defensive.

Sure, the two of you hated each other. But you’d never explicitly said it like this.

“And yet somehow, you’re the only reason I’m where I am. You force me to get up out of bed in the morning and train so I’m not falling behind. You make me keep my wits about myself and not let people take advantage of me. You make me say what I think and you provoke me beyond belief so I have to force myself to keep composure.”

He swallows the lump in his throat. This could go one of two ways and he was sure of the outcome that he wanted.

“You make me feel...something. Beyond high school drama and Las Encinas, you make me want to do better. And I hate you for it.”

“It’s your fault, you know?” He scoffs, “You’re the reason for all of that. I was cruising along just fine at school until you came along, I was the best swimmer on the team, I had Lu, I had everything. And then this scholarship kid shows up who’s faster than me, smarter than me, funnier than me, wittier than me. And all of a sudden, it felt like everything crashed and I just had to focus on her.”

It’s you that’s stumped now.

“Yeah, I might piss you off and wind you up and make jokes and shit,” He continues, “But it’s only because I fucking hate that you made everything in my life turn on its head. And, somehow, beyond all of that, you’re still this genuinely good, caring, conscious person. And it infuriates me because I don’t understand how someone can have all of... that.”

“Looks like we’re both to blame for each other’s demise then.”

“Something like that,” He scoffs, glancing down at his feet.

“I fucking hate you, Guzmán,” You let out those final words before you grab at his shirt and push him against the wall, uncertain as to what any sort of reaction from here would be.

He stumbles at first, mentally too, as he tries to muster any composure he had left in him.

“Always so competitive,” He mumbles, flipping you around so you’re now pressed against the hard brick and he looms over you.

“You told me if I beat your time, it was my call.”

“Then, what is your call, love?”

With that, your lips crash against his in a twisted battle for dominance, both of you not wanting to give in so quickly. It’s messy and your hands aren’t really sure where to go or where to be. But it works. It’s like every single neurone in your body fires at once and you’re electrified by a madness that lasts longer than any argument between you two.

His hands are all over your back as yours move into his hair until you’re both losing any power in your lungs. He pulls away, chest rising and falling in time with your own.

“That was your fault, love.”

You hum in response, “I didn’t hear any complaints.”

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13-reasons-ideas · 4 years

Text

Finding Peace In Another Part 25

A/N: This chapter contains some smut. Additionally, Jake’s death is heavily referenced in this chapter so please be respectful of the discussion and how it plays out. posting this one early. I couldn’t wait anymore. This chapter is heavy on the angst. It is also pretty long, so sit back and enjoy. I’m sorry if the spacing is weird. Much love. Word count: 6655

That Thursday night, Monty stayed the night at my house again. I had begun to find it harder and harder to sleep without him with me. We slept curled up in my bed together under the blankets. He woke me up the next morning with soft kisses from my shoulder all the way to the top of my head. “Good morning.” I smiled, groggily.

“Good morning cutie.” He smiled back. I rolled over and rested my head on his chest.

“It’s not usual for you to be up before me.”

“I know.” He replied, carding his fingers through my long hair. I’m a little overdue for a haircut.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just couldn’t sleep anymore.”

“Mmkay. How about we just stay here today? I’m too comfy to get up.”

I felt his chest rise and fall as he chuckled. “I would love to Becks, but there’s a game tonight. I have to go to school. And don’t you have plans with Justin at lunch?”

I groaned in response. “Tell Coach you have to stay here and cuddle me. I shall keep you here where it’s warm. Justin will understand.” “Becca, I really would if we could. Come on, time to get up sleepy head.” He began sitting up, moving me to the side some. My head hit the pillow again and I snuggled back into the comfort of my bed. “I will pick you up and carry you if I have to.”

“Mhmm, yes dear. That’s nice.” I muttered back, half asleep.

“Rebecca, you need to get up now.” He laughed. Wonder how he likes a taste of his own medicine. I groaned in protest as I rolled over and sat up, running a hand through my hair.

“Fine. I’ll get up. No after game cuddles for you though.”

“You say that now. When we win, your tune will change.” He smirked, confidently.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll be explaining more about our private life than I would like to Coach.”

Monty smirked at me again before he put his arm around my waist and under my knees, picking me up before setting me down again. He then proceeded to go about going through my closet for some clothes for me. I cleared my throat. “I can dress myself you know.” I told him, a little grumpy from being physically removed from my bed.

“I know.” He said. He gave up on trying to find me actual clothes, so he turned his attention to my underwear drawer. When I realized what he was doing, my eyes widened.

“Montgomery.” I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air.

“Hmmm?” he hummed, as he began digging through my undergarments.

“That is my underwear drawer.”

“Very astute of you Becks. You know where your laundry goes.”

I sighed and walked towards him, before I began pushing him from my room. “Out.”

“But-.”

“Go make a bowl of cereal or something.” I pointed to the stairs and shut the door. Going through my underwear. Seriously. I can’t believe him sometimes.

Downstairs, I found him standing by the coffee pot, on his phone. He looked up when he heard me. “Yeah, you did much better than I would have.”

I looked down at my outfit. I didn’t think it was anything that special. I had simply grabbed a black and white tank top to go with the black maxi skirt and blue overshirt to wear. Since my hair was slightly too long to manage, I had thrown it into a messy bun and did some quick makeup. “It’s not that special, but okay.”

“Becks. If you hadn’t kicked me out, you would be better off wearing your bunny pjs to school.” I thought for a moment and decided he was probably right. He passed me a cup of coffee and I took a long sip.

“Yum. Thank you, babe.” I went around the house and gathered the last-minute things I needed for the day. As I looked around the main floor, I couldn’t help but feel like something was off in the house. It’s probably nothing.

Monty had been right when we told people. By the time we got to school today, people mostly ignored us, instead interested in something someone else did that was shocking. He met me at my car and walked me to my locker, before kissing me and heading off to find his friends. Bryce wasn’t at his locker thankfully. Classes were busy, as we were getting close to the end of the year. This is so not how I expected this year to go.

Lunch with Justin was nice. We avoided the cafeteria and ate outside in the sun, something I couldn’t really do at home in April because of rain or snow. Some things about California are nice. Still could use universal healthcare though. “How have you been?” I asked, watching him separate his lunch.

“Good.”

“That’s good. You and Jess are good?”

“Yeah. How’re you and Monty?”

“We are good. He made me get up this morning though.”

“Made you?” He asked, leaning back as he ate his sandwich.

“Yeah. Picked me up and put me down.”

“Oh wow. Didn’t want to get up today, I take it?”

“Nope. I was very cozy in my bed.”

“Hey guys.” Zach waved to us, walking over.

“Hey Zachy. How was bio?” I asked.

“Better than history. Are you coming to the game tonight Becca?”

“I can’t tonight. I have some stuff to take care of though.”

“Bryce’s after?” Justin asked me.

I tried to keep a straight face when I responded, “I’ll try to make it out. You guys planning on winning tonight or will there be a need for more consolation cookies?”

“The goal is to win. Would you make us congratulations cookies?” Zach asked.

“I can see. It depends how much time I have this weekend.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Do you want chocolate chip cookies, Zach?”

“Maybe?” He grinned.

“I think I can make that happen.” The bell rang before we could really talk more. I really need to find some time to talk to Justin about how he’s doing.

I got home from school a few minutes after four and I knew something was different when I pulled into the driveway. I had a feeling. When I walked in the door and saw my dad’s travel briefcase by the door, I sighed. Wonder how long he will be in town this time. I shook my head and decided to get a head start on my homework for the weekend and worked on it for a few hours before I got hungry. Monty texted me before the game started and I hadn’t responded yet, so even though I knew he was on the field I shot him a quick text. I hope you’re having fun babe. Wish I could have been there tonight, but I’m swamped with school stuff. See you in a while. I didn’t mention that my dad was home as it didn’t seem pertinent. It was around seven thirty by that point and I knew the game would likely be ending soon, so I went to the kitchen to make myself a snack.

I almost dropped the knife I was using to cut myself some cheese slices when my dad cleared his throat behind me.

“Fuck.” I gasped.

“Do you have anything you want to explain to me Rebecca?” He asked, accusatorially.

I made a confused face before turning around to face him, “no? And hello to you too.”

“Really? No? That’s your answer?”

“Yes?” What the fuck is his problem?

“Nothing at all you want to explain? Not a single thing?”

“No Dad. Do you think I need to explain something?”

“I do actually.”

“What?” I asked, completely lost as to what he was on about.

“Maybe we can start with why when I got home last night and went to your room to check on you, there was a boy in bed with you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very serious. Start explaining young lady.”

“I don’t have to explain shit to you Dad.” I shook my head, trying to walk around him with my snack.

“You live in my house. You damn well better explain yourself.”

“You wouldn’t know it’s your house by looking at it.” I muttered.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. We can discuss that next. Now explain.”

“He’s my friend. Figured you would be happy I’m not just in the house alone.”

“Why would you sleeping with some random guy make me happy?”

“He’s not some random guy. He is my friend. Not that you would know anything about that.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means Dad, that you’re never here.”

“I am so.”

“One or two weeks a month doesn’t count.”

“Bull.”

“It’s not. Look at your fucking calendar for once and take note.” Before I could continue, there was a knock at the door. I stopped arguing with my dad for a moment to look. He had walked out of view of the door and I went to answer it. Standing on the other side of the door, were Monty and Scott. It’s like he knows when I’m busy. “Hey guys, it’s not really a good time.”

“What’s up?” Scott asked.

“Who’s at the door Rebecca?” my dad called from behind me.

“Just a friend from school.” I called back to him. “I have to go but I’ll see you in a bit okay?” I said quietly.

“Is everything okay Rebecca?” Monty asked, very concerned.

“Yeah, its okay. I’ll explain later. Bye guys.” I shut the door before they could answer me. The fight with my dad picked up right where it left off.

“I work for a living Rebecca. I have to go to work in order to pay the bills so you can live here.”

“Trust me. I know.”

“Do you have any idea how ungrateful you sound right now?”

“Do you have any idea how much of an asshole you are?”

“Watch it. You’re on thin ice as it is.”

“Oh, whatever Dad.” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Your brother never would have acted like that.” He said, venomously. I felt the wind get knocked out of me.

“Don’t fucking talk about Jake. Especially not like that. Not with me.” I was fuming now.

“Why not? He wouldn’t have. He was my son. I think I know how he would act.”

“How? How would you have any idea how he would act right now? You were hardly home when we were kids.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“It is so true Dad. Mom stayed home when we were little so you could go on your business trips. When we got older, she got a job where she would be home right after school, so we weren’t alone when you were out of town. And then….” I had to stop, to keep the tears from spilling.

“And then I was home.” “Yeah. You were home because your wife was dying so she couldn’t take care of the two of us on her own anymore. You came home because you had no choice. Don’t act like you did it for us.”

“Well who else was going to watch you?”

“That’s not the point Dad. As soon as her funeral was over, you were scheduling your next business trip. You left your kids alone at home two weeks after our mother had died. And you had no issue with doing it.”

“You were old enough to take care of yourselves.”

“I was sixteen Dad! Jake was eighteen. We weren’t fucking old enough to take care of ourselves. Not after that.”

“Well you seemed to do just fine on your own together.”

“Just… just fine? I’m not sure you remember but your son fucking killed himself while you were on one of your stupid trips.”

“You think I could forget something like that? That I could forget having to get on a plane because my son was missing?”

“Well you could have fooled me.” My dad rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything else. “You never even asked me how I was or if I needed anything. You just told me that we were moving to California and started making plans.”

“Don’t act like the idea of moving wasn’t nice to you.”

“It wasn’t! I never wanted to move. I never wanted to move here. I wanted to stay at home. I have people at home. You took me away from everyone and everything I had ever known, right after I lost the most important person in my life. And since you seem to think I was so okay with moving and you’re so convinced you are parent of the goddamn year, why don’t we talk about the fact that you literally fucking stayed in town long enough to hook up the utilities before you were gone on another business trip? I’ve been raising myself since Mom died. More so now, since it’s just me in the house.”

“I can’t do anything about where work wants to send me and when Rebecca.”

“That’s crap and you know it. You didn’t have to leave less than two weeks after we moved.” Again, my dad had no response. I’m not stupid. I know you think I am, but I’m not.

“We aren’t talking about me. We are talking about you.”

“Actually, we are talking about how you think you’re an amazing parent or something equally untrue.”

“No, we aren’t.”

“Dad. You left me home alone in a foreign country. A country with the right to keep and bear arms. You thought that was a safe idea? If it was my kid, I would be overjoyed that she isn’t home alone every night.”

“Jake would never have had a random girl in the house without consulting me first.” I saw red now.

“I told you to stop talking about him. You had no idea what he was like or who he was as a person.” I turned on my heel and grabbed Jake’s jacket from the banister, making for the door.

“Rebecca Catherine Samuels. We are not done this conversation. Get back here.” I ignored him. “Don’t you dare open that door.” I ignored him again and yanked out the door. I was about to step out when he spoke again. “Fine. Go. Have fun living it up in your dead brother’s jacket. Bet the boys find it so attractive that you wear your brother’s jacket around.”

I stopped briefly. “Go fuck yourself.” I growled, slamming the door shut behind me.

I stomped my way over to Bryce’s house. I was too angry to even consider the fact that I was going to be in his space once again. Party goers noticed my expression and the way I was walking, quickly making a clear path for me. Upon entering, I spotted my boyfriend, our friends, and Bryce gathered down the front hall. Marching up to them, I took Monty’s cup right from his hand and slammed the rest of his drink back. He and the small group stared at me, wide eyed. They seemed shocked at my actions. I turned my attention to Bryce. “Do your parents try to parent you when they get home from their trips?” I asked, still angry.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“Is it as infuriating as what I just experienced?”

“Sometimes.” He answered, sharing a look with Monty and Zach.

“What happened Becca?” Justin asked.

“Are you okay?” Monty asked, reaching for his cup to take it away from me.

“Fucking peachy. And what happened Justin, is my dad got home last night. And today he decided to go off on me for no fucking reason. By the way, he knows you spend the night now.” I directed my last sentence to Monty. His eyes widened in fear. “I told him to deal with it. He’s the one who made me move here and decided to leave me home alone all the time.”

“You got into that bad of a fight because Monty spends the night at your place?” Scott asked, scratching his chin.

“No. We got into that bad of a fight because he proceeded to try and play father of the decade and ‘talked’ about Jake. He was hardly around when we were kids. He didn’t know shit about him. That’s why I’m infuriated with him.”

“Holy… I’m sorry Becca.” Zach said, pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back.

“Do you need a place to crash tonight? I’m sure Mom and Dad would have no problem with you sleeping in Clay’s old room for the night.” Justin offered.

“I don’t know Justin. I don’t want to impose.”

“It wouldn’t be an imposition. I’ll call mom and we can stop to grab your bag on the way to my place.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I felt familiar arms going around my waist and leaned back against my boyfriend. He kissed the top of my head gently. I began calming down some, being in his arms. “This is nice and all, but that beer was terrible. I need a real drink.” I told him, sighing.

“Okay, let’s get you a drink then.”

He took my hand and we walked to the kitchen. He poured me a bourbon and Coke and I paced myself a little bit drinking it. When it was empty a while later, I went and got a vodka Diet Coke. That one didn’t last as long as the bourbon, mostly because I could hardly taste the alcohol in it. Deciding that would be my drink of choice for the evening, I went in search of my third and a half drink of the night. When I had a thought of Jake or the fight I had with my dad or Bryce, I drank some more, and it went away. I wasn’t so drunk that I couldn’t stand, but I was pretty confident I wouldn’t remember much of anything in the morning.

Monty or one of my friends must have been watching me and told him to cut me off, because before I could have number five or was it six, my cup was removed from my hand. “I think that’s enough for now Becks.”

“But-.”

“No buts. Come with me.” I thought for a moment, but the look on his face said there would be no use in arguing. He took me by the hand, giving my drink to Zach as we passed him, and led me to an empty, secluded area. I trust Montgomery completely but the thought of being alone with a boy in this house made me queasy. I tried my best to chock it up to the alcohol I had consumed.

He sat on the floor in the hall near what I assume is the master bedroom, given its lack of people, and patted the spot next to him. Reluctantly, I sat down cross legged and he rested his elbows on his knees. “What’s going on Rebecca?”

“Nothing. I’m fine Montgomery.” I told him. Sure, my vision is blurry, and my head feels all cotton-y, but I’m fine.

“No, you’re not. I’ve never seen you drink like this before. Zach called Bailey. He told him he’s never seen you drunk before. He has known you for years. And don’t try to say you weren’t allowed to drink at home until you were fifteen, because my point stands.”

“He called Bailey? Why?”

“Because he’s worried about you Becks. I’m worried about you.” I looked down at my feet. I thought about telling him what was going on, but Bryce’s words replayed themselves in my head. You may be Monty’s flavour of the week, but he is my brother. So, if you do decide to talk, he will take my side. Instead of responding, I leaned my head on his shoulder. He placed one of his hands on my knee and we sat in silence for a while.

I watched him draw patterns on my knee absently and smiled softly to myself. I heard the words coming out of my mouth quietly, rather than just thought in my head, “I love you.” His hand stopped drawing for a few seconds while he thought about what I had just told him. He seemed to be trying to tell if he had heard right. He was quiet for a while. “You don’t have to say it back though. No pressure or anything.”

“I love you too.” He said, equally as quietly. I lifted my head from his shoulder, and he moved to cup my face with one hand. I leaned in and kissed him. I had to pull away to adjust slightly but after I had, I kissed him again. I could taste the alcohol in his kiss, and he pulled me closer to him by my waist. We pulled away and leaned our foreheads against each other. I giggled, giddily. I didn’t expect the first time I told him I love him to be when I am heavily intoxicated but hey. It seems to have worked out.

“Becca? Monty?” We heard Justin’s voice from around the corner.

“I guess that’s our cue that it’s time to get up and get you to bed.”

I nodded, beginning to feel sleepy. He stood first and offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

“There you are. Do you want to head out now? Mom said it is no problem for you to spend the night tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll just write dad a note saying I’m staying with a friend tonight.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let you know when we get to my place Monty.”

“Thanks Justin. Have a good night beautiful. Take some Advil before bed.”

“I will.” I agreed. The three of us walked to the door and I turned to give Monty a bear hug. Or at least, what could pass for a bear hug in my current state. “I love you.” I said into his chest.

“I love you too.” He spoke into my hair.

Justin took me home to get my things and I woke up the next morning in the Jensen’s guest bedroom. I didn’t remember everything about the night before, but I did remember talking to Monty and what feelings were confessed. I sighed as I got up and got changed out of pyjamas and made my way downstairs. His family was very kind, as usual, and soon it was time for me to head home and face the music. I walked into the house quietly and tiptoed past my dad’s office. The door was mostly shut, and I could hear him typing away. The remainder of the week at home was very quiet between the two of us. I was a lot more cautious about closing my door if Monty came over for the night.

School was still busy, and I was finding it harder and harder to focus. Monty and I spent almost every lunch hour together, trying to make up for all those lost hours while we were seeing each other in secret. Friday was one of the few nights our team had a bye week, so they didn’t play. That meant that Monty could come over after school. We confirmed our plans over our morning coffee from Monet’s before class. In history, I gave Zach his congratulations cookies. He beamed all class. The rest of school passed mostly uneventfully. There was a fire drill, but that was the only real exciting thing.

We got home from school and studied for a bit in my room, sneaking glances at each other the whole time not really focusing on our work. My dad was out of town for the weekend again, so we weren’t in a rush tonight. I managed to somehow finish my paper before he crawled over to me and whispered, “anything else you need to do?”

Whispering back as I nodded “there is this one thing. Though I’ll enjoy it much more than a stupid History paper.” I pulled him close and kissed him deeply, feeling his arm come up to hold the back of my head. He pushed our books out of the way, being careful of my laptop, before moving me up the bed. I made quick work of removing his flannel and T-shirt as he worked on unbuttoning my top. He kissed my neck as I ran my fingers through his hair. Once he had my shirt unbuttoned and slipped off, he moved to the button of my jeans, waiting for permission as he rubbed that sweet spot near my hips. “Yes.” I breathed and the word was barely out of my mouth before he was undoing my jeans and pulling them off. I felt his hand play with the waistband of my underwear before he pulled at the sides, taking them off. He teased me for a bit, never really touching where I wanted him to and never staying in one place for very long. My moans got louder, and I bucked my hips trying to get him to touch me where I wanted it most. I felt him smirk and finally touch me. I gasped in ecstasy, pulling on his hair harder than I meant to. He chuckled against my neck and nipped at it drawing more sounds from me. As he kissed my neck and rubbed me, I felt his finger enter me. I froze. In one second, I saw it all in my head again his hands holding my hips, the feel of his hands on my body, him entering me over and over. “S-stop.” I choked out. I felt Montgomery freeze for a split second before quickly yet gently removing his finger from my body. I struggled to catch my breath as he looked at me very concerned. He let go of my side and looked into my eyes.

“Are you okay Rebecca?” He asked, trying to mask his arousal from our previous fooling around.

Breathing heavily, I nodded, not trusting my voice. He looked at me until I had calmed down, afraid to touch me again in any way. “Just have cramps. They’re pretty bad this month.” I replied shakily.

“Do you want some Advil or anything? I can grab it for you. Just lay there.”

“Uh... yeah. There should be a bottle in the medicine cabinet with a prescription label and blue pills. Can I get one of those please?” I asked, not really needing it for cramps, but rather to try and get my muscles to relax. He nodded, getting up and heading to my bathroom. He grabbed the bottle and headed downstairs for some water. While he got my medicine, I got up and put on a pair of underwear and shorts before sitting on the bed waiting for him.

“It said to take it with food, so I brought you a little snack.” He said, carrying a piece of cheese, a glass of milk, and the pill over to me. I took them gratefully and after finishing the milk and the cheese snack, he pulled me up and embraced me tightly.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized into his chest. I felt him kiss the top of my head and then step back so I could look at his face. He tilted my head up and looked at me seriously.

“Rebecca. Never feel like you need to apologize for telling me to stop. I don’t care if we are on round six and I’m just about to finish, if you want me to stop, I will. It’s only fun when we both enjoy it.” I looked up at him and nodded. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, before asking me “now for the most important question of the night…” oh no. Please don’t ask why. “Big spoon or little spoon?” He grinned as I let out a breath and giggled.

“Little spoon please.”

“Alright then, come here baby girl.” He grinned again as he climbed back into bed and pulled me with him. He held me close and played with my hair. It wasn’t until I heard his breathing even out and his grip loosen around me, signalling he was asleep, that I finally let the tears fall.

A few days passed uneventfully and then Wednesday rolled around. The day was going well. Possibly even too well. There was no traffic on the way to school, my friends were all in good moods, the sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot outside, no homework had been assigned. It was a good day. I guess one could say that was the calm before the storm. While Tony and I walked to lunch as we usually do, I noticed Justin talking to Bryce. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but I saw Monty put his hand on Justin’s shoulder, as if he was telling him to back off. Scott moved to the side as Justin pushed Montgomery’s hand away. In one quick motion, so quick you would have missed it if you blinked, Justin pushed Bryce back into a locker. There was a second of still before all hell broke loose. Montgomery grabbed Justin as Bryce kneed him in the groin and suddenly the hallway was full of action. Students everywhere throwing punches left and right. Before I could stop him, Tony went in to help. He went straight for Monty, pulling him off of Justin holding his hands up he said “I don’t want to fight you. Just breathe.” Montgomery advanced on Tony and called him a coward faggot. Tony lost it and punched him in the face. Given his short stature it would have been funny if it was a movie scene or something. But it wasn’t. This was real life. I blinked and Tony was on Montgomery, punching him in the face repeatedly. I heard Cyrus yelling to get his friends involved and watched in shock as the fighting grew more intense. Scott was pulling Clay back to my left and Zach ran into the fighting to my right. He jumped on Bryce and Montgomery jumped on him. I watched in horror as my boyfriend punched my best friend here repeatedly after throwing him into a locker. As the fighting continued, I saw Alex hobble into the fight. He seemed to be going straight for my boyfriend. He lifted his cane and whacked Montgomery across the back with it before losing his balance and falling over. Again, had it been a movie I would have laughed. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the scene before me. Montgomery grabbed Alex and shoved him against a locker. They stood there for a moment, as though reliving something they had done before, when Montgomery pushed him back to the ground. Mr. Porter and Coach Rick came upon the scene to try and break up the fight before they both seemed to get bitten by the fighting bug as it were. Now they were fighting each other amongst the group of teenagers. Finally, I heard someone pull the fire alarm and the fight broke up. Montgomery looked up and saw me standing there, watching him. His face immediately went from angry to shocked. I stayed long enough to watched everyone get detention before shaking my head at him and walking away, vibrating in anger.

I decided to be a good friend and wait for Tony, Clay, Justin, Zach, Alex, and Cyrus to get out of detention. It gave me an excuse to catch up on some reading that I had slacked off on since the move. As the foolish teens were released from detention, I caught Montgomery’s eye. He started towards me, but I pointedly ignored him, hoping I conveyed my displeasure and disappointment with him as well as I intended. I saw Alex and Zach leaving the room and waved them over. “Guys! Come here, I’ll take you back to my place and fix you up.” I said loud enough for Montgomery to hear. He can stitch his dumb aggressive ass up himself this time. As they walked over to me, I caught sight of my other friends and had them come over too. When they were all gathered around me, we started towards the door to go back to my place. I turned to take one last look at Monty before leaving. He looked sad and a little bit offended. Serves him right. Arriving at my place, I got everyone inside and set to work patching them up. Some took longer than others, but I didn’t mind. It gave me time to stew in my anger at my idiot boyfriend. “Stupid people punching each other in the damn hallways. Stupid stupid.” I muttered not realizing I was speaking out loud. The boys all cleared their throats. “What? Oh... not. Not you guys. Sorry.” I mumbled looking down.

“It’s okay. You’re pissed off we get it.” Justin said, understandingly.

“What were you fighting about anyway? I mean I know Bryce is a shitty person but still. I don’t know what you were all fighting about.” I asked, though I had a bit of an inkling. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who he... hurt. I thought to myself, still unable to even think the word. My question was met with awkward silence until Justin cleared his throat.

“Bryce did something to a couple of people who mean a lot to me. A couple of girls.” He said, the disgust clear in his voice.

“You mean he assaulted them.” I said, suddenly finding the hem of my shirt very interesting. Justin just nodded. “And my idiot temperamental boyfriend didn’t believe it.” Great... wonder if he will believe me. Bryce was probably right. He will believe him over me any day. I’m just the girl he’s seeing for now. Bryce is his best friend. More than that, he is his brother. Again, I was met with silence. The silence was punctuated by a heavy, impatient knock on my front door. I had a feeling that it was Montgomery coming to grovel for forgiveness. I shook my head and motioned for one of the boys to answer it. I wasn’t really expecting Alex to go though. Zach stood up with him, to block me from Montgomery’s view.

“What do you want de la Cruz?” Alex spat after he opened the door.

“I want to talk to her Standall.” I heard Montgomery say.

“Well she doesn’t want to talk to you. Go home Montgomery.” Alex said and I flinched at how angry he sounded. I assume he must have stood his ground given I couldn’t actually see him.

“I just want to make sure she’s okay Alex.”

“Well she’s fine. Now you know. So, leave.”

“Monty. Go home. Give her some time. She has every right to be upset with you right now. You told her you were done with the fights and stuff. When she’s ready to talk she will.” I heard Zach speak up.

I heard Montgomery sigh and turn to leave, probably realizing he wasn’t going to get his way this time. Alex shut the door and turned back to me. “Do you have any junk food? My mom is still on her health food kick. And maybe a drink?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

I laughed as I started going through the cupboards looking for some junk for Alex. “Beer in the fridge if you want. Or wine if you’re into that. Or juice and stuff if you’re not drinking. You are all welcome to stay over if you’re going to drink. Anything stronger and I’m not fighting anyone to get up for school in the morning. So only take it if you can handle it. How do Doritos sound Alex?”

“Good. I’ll just text my mom and tell her I’m staying over. Don’t need her seeing the bruising and freaking out even more. Might take away my recently earned video game privileges again.” Alex said before taking the chips and grabbing a beer. Justin was the only one who refused a drink, trying to stay sober and all. The boys texted their parents while I went upstairs to change and get some blankets and stuff for the night.

“You’re welcome to the guest room if anyone wants, or you can sleep on my bedroom floor, or we can crash in the living room. Couch isn’t great for a full night sleep but if you want a shitty back in the morning, more power to you. Doesn’t really matter to me where you want to sleep.” I told them when I came back down and started on dinner. Cyrus walked over to help me while the rest of the boys argued about a movie to watch. No one agreed to watch The Notebook with me. The evening passed fairly quickly after we all got to be a few drinks in, and we crashed in the living room.

The next morning, I knew I was going to have to face Montgomery. Although I figured I could put it off a little longer than first thing in the morning. Scott had other plans though. He cornered me when I got to school. “You have to talk to Monty.”

“And say what exactly? You beat up my friends but it’s cool. Let’s fuck? Yeah that’s not happening.”

“No, you don’t have to say that. But you need to talk to him. He’s been in a mood all night.”

“Scott, I have nothing to say to him. He needs to learn that he can’t just hit people when he has a fucking emotional response to something.” I told him plainly before turning and walking away. I avoided everyone for the rest of the day. Didn’t talk to any of my friends in class, ate lunch in the library, and made sure to be the first one in and out of class after the bells rang.You’re doing it again. Pushing everyone away. I heard Jake’s voice in my head. Yeah well you don’t get to be my moral compass anymore. Maybe if you had talked to me instead, none of this would have fucking happened. I thought bitterly. Get out of my head.

I managed to avoid Monty for the day until final bell. He was waiting for me outside Peer Communication.

“Becks can we please talk?”

“About what? The fact that you’re friends with a rapist? Or the fact that you beat up my friends?”

“Don’t call him that Rebecca. That’s not fair.” He told me, grabbing my arm as I tried to get past him. I pulled my arm away from his grasp roughly.

“I have to go to my locker. I got a ride with Tony this morning so I’ll need you to take me to my place so we can talk about this privately.”

“Okay.” He said as he fell into step beside me. We went to my locker and got my things before going out to his Jeep in silence. I once again, ignored Bryce, pretending he didn’t exist and being near him didn’t make me want to scrub myself down again. When we were almost at my place he finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. “Bryce isn’t as bad as they make him out to be you know Becca.”

“By they do you mean my friends, who you beat the shit out of by the way?” I asked him shortly.

“I mean yeah. You can’t believe Hannah or Jessica. They probably just regret having sex with him. And Justin shouldn’t have stuck his nose in someone else’s business.” I turned to look at him not believing what he just said, shaking my head incredulously unable to form the words to respond to him, before jumping out of the Jeep and stomping harshly towards my house.

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artificialqueens · 3 years

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Tree House Kisses, Chapter 36 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Brand new content! Thank you so much to anyone following this reposting. We’re now caught up, and the idea is to post about a chapter a month until we’re done with the story. (Fingers crossed.) Please let us know if you have any requests!

Click here for previous chapters, or here to read on AO3. XOXO!

Chapter Summary: After the Spring musical forces Courtney and Adore back into each other's lives, Adore gets advice from a very unlikely source.

Chapter 36: Something Good

It was about 2 weeks into play practice for The Sound of Music when Courtney discovered her favorite place in school to make out with Roy: the backstage dressing rooms. She was sitting perched on the counter, Roy’s mouth trailing down her neck. Her hands moved to his waist, tugging on his fly.

Roy groaned slightly, then glanced around the dressing room, asking, “Aren’t you worried that someone might walk in?”

“Isn’t that part of the fun?” she replied with a wicked smile.

He grinned back, dimples deep in his cheeks, shaking his head. Now that the musical had begun, he was relieved, in a way, that there was finally an after-school activity that they could do together. Ever since she’d quit cheer in the Fall, it seemed to Roy that Courtney had been floundering. She wasn’t involved with any sports or clubs. He knew that a big part of it had to do with Adore. She was obviously still feeling depressed about their fractured friendship, which was understandable.

And Roy was happy to fill in the gaps, in theory. But as much as he loved Courtney, he worried that maybe she was putting too much pressure on their relationship. After all, he was just one person. One busy person. So the play gave them a chance to spend time together with more of a purpose. And even better, forced her to socialize with people besides him.

“It’s also slightly terrifying…” he said, gesturing to the door.

Courtney giggled, popping open the button and unzipping him slowly, lips brushing against his, tongue teasing. Roy knew that he shouldn’t let things go this far in public, at school. That this was just part of their game--the one where she was always pushing the envelope and he was responsible for setting the boundaries. But he was only human. Sometimes he didn’t want to be the one to stop things. Sometimes, he just wanted to enjoy himself.

“Fuck…” Roy’s fingers dug into her waist as her hands reached into his pants, heart pounding in his throat.

“Hey-oh dear god!” Jinkx stood in the doorway, a hand covering her eyes. “Uh, Leisl...we need you onstage…we’re about to work on Our Favorite Things.”

“Okay!” Courtney chirped, sliding off the counter, buttoning her top and giving Roy a chaste peck on the cheek.

“And uh…please take care of that...gross situation...” Jinkx made a vague gesture towards Roy’s crotch. “...before you come onstage?”

“Shit, sorry.”

“Good luck, Daddy,” Courtney sang, tossing Roy a kiss as she sailed out the door, leaving him reeling and dizzy.

The worst part about having to see Courtney all the time, for Adore, was how visibly okay she was.

Adore knew she shouldn’t be watching them. But somehow, she couldn’t help her eyes from drifting in their direction at lunch. Watching Courtney lean back, her fingers pressing into the grass. Her head fell backwards, elongating her neck and catching Roy’s attention.

Roy stared at her for a few moments, probably as transfixed as Adore as the sun highlighted Courtney’s angelic features. Adore watched as Roy reached over, slipping his finger under the chain of her necklace before leaning over, placing a soft kiss on Courtney's shoulder. Her glossy pink lips stretched into a wide smile, basking in his attention.

Wishing that she hadn’t seen such a small act of affection, something similar to sadness washed over Adore. Adore knew that Courtney missed her, in theory. She knew that cutting her off had upset her. But she also knew that, ultimately, she was fine. And that was the really gut-wrenching part.

Because Adore was not fine. As much as she tried to pretend sometimes, the loss of her best friend was like an open, gaping wound. She never forgot. She never moved on. She just went through her days feeling numb at best, and miserable at worst, and usually somewhere in the middle.

She had other friends. And she loved them. But Courtney had always brought a special kind of light into her life that no one else could. And the really sad thing was that for a long time, Adore genuinely believed that she’d done the same thing for Courtney.

But it was clear whenever she glimpsed her giggling at play practice, or fooling around with Roy on the grass at lunch, or even just walking through the halls—her light was still there. Adore’s absence hadn’t dimmed it at all.

Adore hated to even admit to herself how much it hurt, but there it was. The raw truth.

“Willam, stop!” Courtney tried to hold back her laughter and get him to focus on their choreography.

Willam was a clear example of how boys could get lead roles with two left feet, whereas she got scolded if she missed one step. They were trying to rehearse their dance during “16 Going On 17” and he was just not taking anything seriously. Partly because he’d been empowered by Mrs. Maguire to be a bit of a ham, when she told him, “I’m not saying you have to camp it up like Dan is doing, but don’t feel like you have to play him perfectly straight.”

Of course, Willam had taken that direction and ran with it, mincing about the stage and tossing imaginary hair. Still obviously a little bitter about getting passed over for the ‘Baroness in Drag’ role she’d given to Dan. In spite of everything though, Courtney was happy that they had so many scenes together. Yes, he could be a pain in the ass, but screwing around with him like two naughty children was just the perfect distraction for her.

Sometimes, as much as she loved Roy, the sympathy in his eyes when she got down was too much to bear. With Willam, there was none of that. They could laugh and have fun and be crazy and she never had to worry about him making her think about something deep. She never had to worry about him being tender or careful the way Roy was sometimes - the way even her mother had been since she’d confessed about her fight with Adore all those months ago. If she spaced out or got wistful, all Willam would do was punch her on the shoulder and tell her to stop being a moody cunt. It was refreshing and necessary.

“Okay, let’s try that again,” said Mrs. Maguire, gesturing for Thorgy to reset the music.

“Hey, Mrs. Maguire. I thought this scene would be kinkier. Weren’t Nazis really into like, BDSM and shit?”

Courtney let out a shrieking giggle, clapping her hand over her mouth.

“Willam, please try to focus on-”

“You’re thinking of Cabaret,” Jinkx answered from the front row, not even looking up from her script.

“Ohhh, bummer.”

“How about a spanking?” Courtney asked gleefully, bouncing around the stage on the balls of her feet. “I mean, he fully deserves it. Both Willam and Rolf.” She gave him a good smack on the ass to emphasize her point, spirits high, an almost manic gleam in her eye.

“Guys-” Mrs. Maguire was starting to look a bit irritated.

“Oh no, I’ve been a bad little Nazi,” Willam said, bending over, putting a finger in his mouth. Courtney giggled harder and slapped his ass again, harder this time.

“What in the actual FUCK?” Bob said, darting out from behind the wings.

Courtney and Willam both whirled around to face him.

“Guys. Please pay attention-” Mrs. Maguire began, but Bob cut her off.

“No, I’m sorry, are these two blonde, blue-eyed, devil fuckheads trivializing white supremacy right now?” he yelled. “Actually, no, worse, they are fucking fetishizing white supremacy. What the fuck?!”

Courtney’s eyes went wide in alarm.

“I’m sorry, Bob,” she said immediately, hitting Willam in the shoulder. This was all his fault, after all.

“Yeah, sorry,” he echoed, “But my character just really likes a spanking-”

“Bill!” Courtney exclaimed, hitting him again. “Bob, I really am sorry. That was dumb.”

“You’re damn right it was!” Bob said. “Now, I want you to apologize to everyone here! Including your Mexican boyfriend!” He pointed at Roy.

“I’m sor-”

“I’m not Mexican, Bob,” Roy called up from the audience.

“Stepping on my motherfucking point, Del Rio!” Bob yelled back.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it that way,” Courtney said, heart pounding with embarrassment and fear. Bob hardly ever got angry like that. What if he stayed mad? What if she lost him? What if she lost April, too? Tears pricked at her eyes. Why was she so stupid? “That was insensitive; we won’t do it again, I-”

“Good!”

Bob began to march offstage, and Courtney swallowed, regret swirling in her chest, cheeks still hot with shame. What the fuck was wrong with her? Why did she let Willam rope her into that whole thing?

“Leisl! Rolf! Can we get back to your number?!” Mrs. Maguire asked.

“Yes, sorry!"

Courtney rang Bob’s doorbell and bit her lip, clutching the pink bakery box in her hands.

“Hey…” Bob opened the door, looking her up and down with a slightly confused expression. “What’s up?”

“Um...April said that the apple fritters from Hal’s Donuts are your favorite.” She held out the box, which he took from her skeptically.

“They are…but why?”

“I just felt bad. About the thing with Willam earlier.” Courtney shifted uncomfortably.

“Oh.” Bob sighed. “Well, you should. I mean...I think it’s okay that you feel bad.”

Courtney nodded, swallowing down a lump in her throat.

“I wanted to tell you that I really care about you, and I’m sorry, and if I can make it better-”

“Court, this isn’t about me and you. You know? It’s just like...sometimes it’s really exhausting how much racism and bigotry is just everywhere, all the time, even in a stupid school musical,” Bob said.

“Yeah. I get it. I mean...I think I get it.”

Bob smiled ruefully, holding up the box. “But I do appreciate the reparations.”

“Anytime,” Courtney said, grinning back at him.

“Just want to make sure...you’re not hitting on me right now, are you?”

“No!” Courtney glared at him. “Come on!”

“Okay, okay, just checking,” he laughed.

Adore sat in the back of the theatre, trying to get some of her most annoying homework done while the Von Trapp children rehearsed “So Long, Farewell” onstage.

“I’d like to stay, and taste my first champagne-”

“Courtney!” Mrs. Maguire cut in. “Can you please do the champagne line in a less sexual way? Remember that he’s your dad in this show, not your boyfriend.”

“But I love my Daddy,” Courtney simpered, fluttering her lashes and making the other Von Trapp children titter with laughter.

“Stop it,” Roy said, trying to suppress his grin.

“Courtney, look at it this way. It would be a real problem if Captain Von Trapp got a boner on stage. Especially while his kids are singing,” explained Mrs. Maguire, increasing the giggling from the peanut gallery.

“Yeah, a real problem!” Roy echoed.

“Sorry Daddy!” Courtney sang, skipping back to her place in line.

“Dude…” Bob’s voice carried further than he intended through the theatre, catching Adore’s attention as he thumped Jamin on the shoulder. “Did you see that?”

Adore tilted her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as if she actually needed any help hearing Bob. He was only a few rows away, and even though he seemed to think he was being quiet, his big mouth was 100% audible to anyone in the vicinity.

“Courtney? Is a total fucking nympho,” Bob continued.

“A nympho?!” Jamin repeated, tossing his head back to let out a loud cackle, earning a few looks, but ultimately ignored.

“No, really?” Thorgy gasped at the idea, blinking at Bob in disbelief through thick glasses.

“Yeah, I’m telling you!” Bob insisted, snickering. “Roy says that she used to be kind of a prude, but now she cannot get enough. She just wants his dick like, all the time. Everywhere. I think he used the word ‘insatiable.’”

“Attagirl!” Willam said.

Anger started to find its way into Adore’s veins; the natural instinct to defend and protect Courtney regardless of them not being on good terms poked at Adore like a hot spike.

“Poor guy, he’s exhausted,” Bob said, laughing some more, and Adore slammed her binder shut, immediately grabbing her stuff and racing outside.

Something about that conversation made her feel embarrassed and angry, almost vengefully so. How dare they talk about Courtney that way? Sure, she had her faults, but hearing them laugh about her was so vile, so utterly boy. So wrong. And Adore knew exactly who to blame.

The sound was a cross between a thump and a click, and it caused Roy to look up from his desk, confused. It was after the second one when he realized that something was hitting his window. He crossed the bedroom and lifted it, surprised to see Adore standing there, several pinecones in her hands, about to hurl another one.

“Uh...hi?”

“Come outside!” she demanded.

“Why didn’t you just use the doorbell like a normal person?” Roy asked.

“Why don’t you stop asking pussy-ass questions and get out here?”

Roy rolled his eyes. Obviously, she was in some kind of mood. (What else was new?) He decided to follow the path of least resistance and just do what she wanted.

“I’ll be right down.”

She was pacing around the driveway when he stepped outside, practically wearing a hole in the pavement.

“Hey. Are you alright? What’s-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Adore exploded. “Why are you such an asshole?”

“Uh…” Roy wasn’t sure what this tantrum was about, so he decided to diffuse the situation with some humor. “Well...my parents are both assholes...and then they fucked, and…” He held up his hands as if to say ‘Ta da!’

“That is so not funny,” she said, turning on her heel and sitting down on the curb.

“Listen. I’m sure I deserve all this wrath, but I don’t actually know where it’s coming from. Care to enlighten me?” He walked over and sat down beside her. Just far enough that he’d have time to run away if she took a swing at him. Which wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Adore groaned before speaking.

“Bob is going around talking about how...how you told him that Courtney used to be a prude but now she’s a nymphowho can’t get enough of your stupid dick. It’s gross.”

Roy began to laugh, and only stopped when he saw the expression on Adore’s face grow even angrier, cheeks darkening.

“I...Adore, come on. I never said that.”

“Well, Bob says you did!”

“Well, Bob makes up a lot of shit! Who believes Bob?! And who knows why he said it?” Roy said, suppressing another laugh. He knew why, if he was honest. He’d been telling his friend about how extra needy Courtney had been lately, and he may have left out the part about how sad she was and exaggerated the sex part...just a little bit. That was harmless, right?

“People believed him!” Adore insisted, tears pricking her eyes. “And you need to put an end to it, or you’re just as guilty as him! If you really cared about her, you wouldn’t want people saying that shit.”

“I don’t really think Courtney would be-” Roy paused mid-sentence, remembering who he was talking to. Who the hell was Adore Delano to lecture him about this? If he really cared? He had given her the benefit of the doubt, seeing how upset she was, but now he was pissed. “Why do you care, anyway?” he asked. “You’re not even friends with her anymore.”

Adore’s face crumbled, tears filling her eyes, a hand covering her mouth. Roy suddenly felt overwhelmingly, unjustifiably guilty.

“Hey...come on…” he began, and then reached out to give her an awkward hug. “It’s...it’s all gonna be okay.”

“It won’t,” Adore sobbed.

“Sure it will,” he insisted.

“I didn't mean-“ Adore hiccupped, “-for it to go on...so long.”

“Okay so...end it. You’re the only one who can.”

“But what am I supposed to say? How will I explain?” Adore buried her face in her hands, Roy’s own hands hesitantly patting her back.

“It doesn’t matter what you say, Dory. She won’t give a shit,” Roy sighed. Was he really going to be the one to fix this friendship, after everything that happened? Apparently, yes. What a chump. “She really misses you, you know. She still wears that stupid bracelet every day.”

“I know,” Adore said, voice breaking.

“And she still...you know, she thinks that any day, you’re just gonna magically be friends again. You know how many times she’s said like…‘Roy, she’s not gonna possibly be mad at me on Halloween...She can’t hate me on Christmas...Roy, it’s my birthday, she’s gonna call me.’”

Adore closed her eyes, gulping for breath, too upset even to make fun of Roy’s terrible impression--he sounded more like a low-rent Marilyn Monroe impersonator than Courtney.

“Are you trying to make me feel worse?”

“No, I’m trying to say...whenever you decide that enough is enough...she’ll be ready. She won’t care. She won’t need an explanation. She’ll just be...so happy.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Roy looked at her curiously, wondering if she knew how much he knew.

“Why wouldn’t I tell you? It’s the truth.”

“Yeah but…” Adore sniffled, wiping her face on her flannel shirt. “I know you hate me. I figured you’d be happy to be rid of me.”

“I don’t hate you. You hate me,” Roy explained slowly.

“I do not. I just...you know, you’re like that one obnoxious, know-it-all cousin that we all have.”

Roy frowned, brows furrowed.

“I don’t have a cousin like that.”

“Right, because you are that cousin, dork,” Adore laughed through her tears, shaking her head.

“Oh.” Roy paused, tilting his head. “Why do you think I hate you?”

Adore shrugged.

“I’ve never hated you. And...even if I did, I’d still want you to make up with Courtney, because I love her, and she loves you. And I want her to be happy.”

“What a hero,” Adore said, rolling her eyes.

“Look...I’ll tell Bob to knock it off with the nympho comments, okay?”

“Okay.” Adore sighed, wiping her eyes again. “Thanks.”

“Sure. You gonna be alright?”

“Yeah…” She swallowed, looking away, suddenly a little embarrassed about losing it and crying all over Roy, of all people. “Why do you have a basketball hoop, anyway? You're three feet tall and you suck at sports.”

“First of all. I'm 5’9” - a totally reasonable height. And second...it's Vanessa’s.”

Adore chuckled, looking back down at the ground. She knew what she had to do now, but she wasn’t sure how.

Pearl’s pencil moved in quick light strokes across the page, filling in the lines on a weed bouquet, with rolling paper for stems and nugs as petals. The cold frame of Violet’s bed continuously pressing into her back from Violet’s constant shifting above made it a less than comfortable position for her, but Pearl was content. Because honestly, no matter how sarcastic, bitchy or self-centered Violet could be, Pearl always jumped at the chance to hang with her; especially when it was just the two of them.

“Ugh, can you believe this. ‘Who Wore it Best?’” Pearl was suddenly engulfed in the aroma of lemon and berries as her sketchbook was replaced with a magazine and Violet’s long dark hair brushed against her face, tickling her nose.

“I mean obviously, none of them. That dress is sooo, fucking ugly.” Violet scoffed. “I mean, nothing. Nothing. Can save that dress. Those pumps on Jessica are really cute though.” Violet’s red fingernail dragged across the page.

She then snorted before the magazine disappeared and she shuffled back to her position on the bed, tucking a pillow under her chest to get comfortable again.

When it was just the two of them, things were different. Violet would never admit it but she was much different outside of school, outside of being surrounded by tons of people she didn't like. She was softer, sillier and more enjoyable. Pearl suspected it was because Violet felt like she had to keep her guard up at school. Like she had to keep everyone at a fair distance so that no one would ever have the upper hand on her--or maybe it was because she was a Gemini and just a crazy bitch. But either way, Pearl liked it.

The blonde smiled to herself before setting her sketchbook aside and climbing onto the bed beside Violet. “Let me see.”

“I know!” Courtney exclaimed, as Jinkx laughed beside her, “That’s why I always ask him to-”

She stopped speaking suddenly, pulse racing. Adore was standing behind Jinkx, waiting for her cue, and around her neck was something Courtney hadn’t seen since wrapping it in September--the choker that she’d given Adore for her birthday. She’d long ago accepted that Adore might have just tossed it in the trash, or donated it to Goodwill. But she’d kept it.

For the first time in so long, Courtney felt a surge of hope, overcome with so much joy that tears stung her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Jinkx asked, placing a hand on her arm.

“Yeah…” Courtney watched Adore carefully as she turned to answer a question from Willam. Had she noticed Courtney? Had she noticed that Courtney noticed her? Courtney turned back to Jinkx. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Courtney stood in the wings, watching the little exchange between Willam and Roy in the “graveyard,” laughing to herself. If Mrs. Maguire thought that her flirting was bad, she should take a second look at Willam. Courtney glanced around to see if anyone else was enjoying their scene as much as her, when she spotted Adore. She waited for Adore to look up and catch her eye.

Adore gave her the slightest little nod, her first sign of civility since the Fall. Courtney’s heart soared. What should she do? Somehow, as much as she wanted to fling herself into Adore’s arms and sob her eyes out, she knew that it would be the wrong move.

So she bit her lip, making a slight motion towards the stage to beckon Adore over.

“Willam’s fucking with Roy. It’s totally making him squirm,” she explained in a soft whisper.

Adore chuckled a bit, standing closer to get a look at them.

On stage, Roy grasped Willam by the shoulders and hissed his line in a stage whisper.

“Come away with us!”

Willam waited a beat. But instead of reaching for his whistle like he was supposed to, he collapsed in Roy’s arms, crooning, “Yaaas, Daddy!”

“You ass,” Roy pushed him off.

Courtney turned to Adore, giggling, glad to see her laughing too, searching awkwardly for something to say. She reached out and touched the veil of her habit.

“I can’t believe you’re playing a nun.”

“Apparently, a lot of nuns were gay. No men to answer to, just women, don’t have to marry some douchey old asshole. Lesbian havens.”

“Wow. Cool.” Courtney nodded. “Sounds like cheer camp.”

Adore stared at her, blinking.

“Huh...I never realized how gay cheerleading was…”

“Oh yeah. Super gay. You should have joined in with me. You’d have cleaned up,” Courtney finished with a sly smile.

“Yeah,” Adore snickered. “Too bad I can’t dance.”

“That doesn’t matter. I can’t dance.”

“Shut up, yes you can.”

“No, I can learn choreography. But according to Alyssa, I had no rhythm,” Courtney explained.

“Yeah, well...Alyssa is a twat.”

“True,” Courtney laughed. She caught Adore’s eye again, grinning at her. And when Adore smiled back, she really did feel like she might break down in tears.

So she looked away, swallowing hard, dared to reach out her hand towards Adore. When Adore allowed her to link their pinkies together, her breath hitched in relief. Even better, Adore took a small step closer to her, allowing Courtney to rest a head on her shoulder.

They probably had a lot to talk about. And it was possible that things wouldn’t ever truly be the same as they were before. But for now, in this moment, Courtney felt like everything was exactly perfect.

Spring had brought more than blossoming flowers—and “pollen,” as Violet constantly whined about—for Adore. That dark cloud that had been hovering over Adore for so many months had finally vanished. The light in her eyes and the genuine laughter that fell from her lips was a breath of fresh air for everyone, but mostly herself.

She had been in such a good mood, she even volunteered to join Violet and Fame for a sleepover.

And now, Violet, Fame and Adore found themselves in the battle of the bored-est; Fame was stuck in a cycle of indecisiveness as she changed around her MySpace theme for the fourth time that evening; Violet was surrounded with a mess of old clothes from her closet on the floor; and Adore, well she was stuffing her face with pizza as waited for Courtney to text her back.

It felt as if things had never changed as Courtney was complaining about her grandmother, who Adore wasn’t too happy to hear had moved in. It had actually come as a shock to Adore. Yes, she noticed Muriel around more often in the neighborhood, but Adore never would have thought that she’d move in.

If only Adore could have been there for that conversation between Courtney and Karen.

Adore knew that it would be the thing she would always regret the most about pushing Courtney away--all the time and moments she should have been there and she wasn’t. The stories she could have been a part of, but now would only hear secondhand, through Courtney’s animated storytelling.

Adore willed away regretful tears before they came. There was no reason to shed sad tears now. She and Courtney were in a better place now.

Maybe, with time, they could even be better than before.

“Ugh, no. I can’t do this!” Violet suddenly announced, crumpling up a blouse and tossing it across the room in frustration.

Adore arched an eyebrow, waiting for Violet to elaborate.

“What’s wrong?” Fame asked, only glancing over at Violet, who was now sitting with her arms crossed, a pout forming on her lips.

“Wassup, Vi? Can’t find your favorite skirt?” Adore joked.

“Shut up!” Violet snapped, “No, I-I’m just… I need a break. I’ve been conceptualizing this dress for nearly two weeks now. And I don’t even like the fabrics together. I mean they’re sooo, fu-cking tacky.” Violet emphasized her point by tossing clothes in the air around her.

“Yeah, and I can not with this theme. I really wanted a theme that would incorporate everything that I am.” Fame pushed her desk chair away from Violet’s computer.

“I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. You had one of the cutest themes in school,” Adore tried to reassure Fame.

“Yeah, but it didn't say ‘FAME!’' she threw her hands up giving her best spirit fingers. “When someone clicks on my page they should instantly know ‘this girl is not like the rest.’”

“Why don't you just, put some pictures of a chicken as your background, and I’m sure we can find an audio of chickens clucking on the internet and call it a day. I mean everyone will definitely know ‘this girl is not like the rest,’” Violet suggested, causing Adore to choke out a laugh.

“I’m not sure whether to be insulted or… because that was actually a pretty good idea-”

Fame’s answer was followed by Violet’s famous screech of, “Hell no!.

“What?” Fame questioned.

“You’re an idiot,” Violet shook her head, climbing on her bed and settling beside Adore. “Do not put chickens as your background and please do not even think about an audio of chickens clucking, because I will never visit your page ever again.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Fame rolled her eyes, before focusing on Adore. “What do you think?”

“I wanna dye my hair,” Adore responded, gladly leaving the chicken conversation behind.

“Wait, huh?”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Adore sat up, tucking her feet under herself. “I think it's time for a change.” She gestured to the two-toned black to a faded blue greyish hair upon her head, the turquoise dye from the summer almost completely gone.

“Wh-” but before Fame could even finish her sentence, Violet let out something between a squeal and a roar of excitement, shocking the other two girls, as she bounded off the bed and started digging through her closet.

“Fame, come on, put on your shoes. We have to do this before she changes her mind. I mean, I had planned to just cut all her hair off tonight in her sleep, but this is so much better!”

“Wait, what?! OUCH!” Adore tumbled off the bed, trying to untangle her legs from beneath her.

By the time she was right side up, Violet and Fame already had their jackets and shoes on their feet.

“You wanted to cut my hair?”

“Adore, only in theory,” Fame tried to reassure her, “now put on your shoes and let's go.”

Adore swatted her hand away, “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“No, but neither did you. You were the one walking around here like some kind of dehydrated smurf, these last few months, so let's go.”

Violet began to pull Adore out of the room before she could even get her shoes on.

“Ugh, I don’t even know why you let it get this far.” Violet shook her head, whipping the dye together in the bowl.

“Tell me about it...” Fame’s disappointed tone made Adore smile. “The blue was fading three months ago. Violet, I told her to let me handle it back then.”

“She doesn’t listen.” Violet rolled her eyes as Fame draped an old towel around Adore’s shoulders.

But in spite of being the object of their derision, Adore felt amazing. In the drug store earlier, she’d chosen a bright, fiery, cherry-red. It would be glorious, a real statement--and it wouldn’t interfere with the play, since she’d be wearing a nun habit the whole time anyway. She was practically bouncing as she sat on the toilet seat in Violet’s small bathroom.

“You both just need to focus on not fucking my hair up. Because if I end up bald because of you two, I’m ready to fight,” Adore joked.

“We know what we’re doing,” Violet reassured her.

“Honestly, all this kinda makes me want to dye my hair,” Fame shrugged, looking thoughtfully at her reflection.

“Omigod! Please go red with me,” Adore begged excitedly. She loved the idea of more people joining in on the fun.

“Hmm, maybe. Not that bright though, maybe a bit more auburn-ish.”

“That… would look so good on you.” Violet’s eyes lit up at the idea of Fame’s famously blonde hair a darker red.

“You think?” Fame tossed her hair, fluttering her lashes at both of them.

“Yes, let’s do it!” Adore cried, gung-ho and excited, bouncing up out of the chair.

“Calm down, bitch,” Violet said, shoving her back into the chair. “One victim at a time here at Chez Violette.”

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sodalitefully · 4 years

Text

Rose Petals & Petty Rivalries [GNR AU, Slaxl] 🌹🌹

The Hollywood Rose is a florist, run by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin (in lieu of the actual owner, who never seems to make an appearance), with Duff McKagan behind the wheel of the delivery truck. Axl likes working there; he likes the flowers, he likes the quiet, and he likes how things don’t ever change: business is slow but steady, customers are as predictable as ever… and the tattoo parlor next door is still a pain in his fucking ass. Don’t even get him fucking started about how it scares off the Rose’s customers by attracting seedy thugs, or how the owner is a fucking creep that Axl may or may not have history with.

Seriously, don’t: Izzy might actually gouge his eyes out with plant clippers if he has to hear Axl’s rant one more goddamn time.

Tracii Guns opened up the L.A. Guns tattoo parlor a few years ago, and he doesn’t plan on moving anytime soon, no matter how much animosity he gets from the flowerboy next door. Business is going well for once; so well, in fact, that Tracii has decided it’s time to hire a second artist.

There’s just one problem with that: There’s only one tattoo artist in LA who is both up to Tracii’s standards and looking for a place to set up shop, and that person is Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, a talented, hotshot artist who also happens to have a rivalry with Tracii dating all the way back to their school days when they first upgraded from stick-and-pokes to cheap tattoo kits.

Tracii left his mark on more of LA’s reckless youth than Slash did in their teen years, but just barely and only because Slash was often distracted by anything from BMX to zookeeping. He may have gotten a slower start to his career, but Slash’s talent as an artist is now making him a hot commodity in the tattooing community – If Tracii doesn’t grab him now, someone else will hire him soon enough, and Tracii can’t risk that kind of competition.

So Tracii reaches out and Slash accepts the job offer, but that doesn’t mean their little rivalry has been resolved. Tracii tells Slash that there’s not enough space in the tiny shop for both of their work stations on street level, so he assigns Slash the basement. Slash actually really likes the space, once he gets it all cleared out and set up the way he likes (he calls it “the snakepit” in his head), but he’s not about to let Tracii get first pick of every customer who walks in the door. Whenever he’s not with a client, Slash is hovering around upstairs, putting his art up on the walls, greeting potential customers from behind the counter, and generally doing everything he can to poach Tracii’s clients. Tracii does not appreciate his efforts, but when he’s in the middle of an appointment there’s nothing he can do to stop him.

So now Tracii has to deal with competition from his own employee (though by no means is their feud one-sided…) on top of his pissy neighbor who somehow manages to give Tracii an impressive amount of attitude while also blatantly ignoring him. Of-fucking-couse things only get worse when the two meet.

Duff is new in town, fresh from Seattle, Washington, and working two jobs to pay for his shitty bug-infested studio apartment: by day, he drives the Hollywood Rose delivery van, and by night he waits tables at a steakhouse across town. So he’s not entirely caught up on the details of Axl and Tracii’s bad blood, and comes into work one morning eager to show off his brand new tattoo.

He got it from an artist that his buddy Steven recommended. “It’s just the place next door, Axl, have you gotten any of your tattoos done there?” An innocent question, perfectly reasonable, and yet –

“…Oh. You went there?” Poor Duff did nothing to deserve the look of sour disdain that Axl is serving.

"Uh. Yeah, I got it done in the basement, seemed like a pretty neat place. Why, what’s up?"

“Wait – in the basement?"

"Yeah, Ax, Tracii’s got a new hire,” Izzy threw in, still admiring Duff’s new ink – it was well done, he had to admit. "I’m surprised you have’t seen him around, he’s pretty, uh, distinctive. Big fluffy hair, likes jewelry and leather?"

“Izzy, that describes about half of Guns’ clientele."

“Nah, you’ll know him when you see him, trust me.” Duff bobbed his head in agreement.

“Hm. What’s his name?”

“Slash. He’s a nice guy, really talented –” Duff adds, but Axl has stopped listening, and started formulating a plan.

For the past two years, give or take, since L.A. Guns opened its doors, Axl has been making a point of going to any and all of Tracii’s competitors to get his ink done, without so mach as sparing a glance at the parlor next door (not counting the occasional glowering from behind slanted blinds, or fantasizing about ramming his car into Tracii’s trash bins in the shared parking lot). But that day, Axl marches right into L.A. Guns, meets Tracii dead in the eye and demands an appointment as soon as possible – with Slash.

Tracii gapes at him for a second. The shock of seeing Axl in his shop fades quickly, replaced by an expression that broadcasts Are You Fucking Kidding Me loudly enough to be picked up by any radio antenna in a 30-mile range.

“You can’t be serious Axl. Why don’t you go back to your fucking daffodils and leave me the fuck alone, hm?"

Axl arches a brow and opens his mouth to retort, but he’s cut off by a tangle of curly hair and bare limbs that swoops in, shoves Tracii back, and tips forward over the countertop until his frizzy bangs are inches from Axl’s face, all in one fluid rush that Axl can barely follow.

“He doesn’t want to talk to you, Guns, so why don’t you scurry off and give us a minute to take care of business?” He doesn’t say it like a question, and he smirks when Tracii throws up his hands with a huff and stalks off to his station at the back of the room. Once he and Axl are granted the illusion of privacy, the smirk transforms into a dazzling grin, propped up on his fist as he – Slash, obviously (Axl realizes what Izzy meant when he described the man as “distinctive”) – leans forward on the tall counter, offering Axl his best “sorry about my crazy boss now how can I help you?” look.

“So, you’re interested in a consultation appointment?"

Axl belatedly realizes that he’s blushing. “Fluffy hair, likes jewelry and leather” was obviously an inadequate description; Izzy had failed to prepare Axl for Slash’s warm brown eyes, for the way the hoops in his ears peek out from his mass of soft-looking curls or the way his sleeveless shirt shows off the ink on his tanned arms... And that’s not to mention his beautifully infectious smile.

“Yeah,” Axl responds, his voice pitching up a bit against his will. “Maybe around this time tomorrow, if you’re available?"

Slash flips open a day planner and hovers his pen over tomorrow’s date. “How does tomorrow evening at 5:15 sound?"

“That would be great."

“And your name?"

“Axl Rose."

Slash pauses and glances down at Axl’s work clothes, lingering on the pin over his pocket with his first name and the shop logo. He looks back up at Axl with a bemused expression. “Axl Rose? Who are you, the mascot?"

“Hey!"

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Slash giggles then manages to compose himself. “Axl Rose at 5:15,” he pens the appointment in slanted script. “I didn’t mean to make fun… Did you do the arrangements in the front windows? They’re really beautiful."

“…Thank you.” As a tattooed florist with anger issues, Axl is in no position to stereotype, but he still wasn’t expecting to hear that from Slash. If he wasn’t blushing before, he certainly is now.

Tracii scoffs loudly behind Slash, and Axl’s pink flush is abruptly replaced by an angry, embarrassed red. He hunches his shoulders and mutters a thank you when Slash slides him business card with the appointment time scribbled on the back, then heads for the door as confidently as he can manage. This whole plan to piss Tracii off is going to backfire if he keeps getting flustered by the cute, overly-friendly new artist.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Slash calls after him cheerfully.

Slash watches him walk out the door and back towards the Rose, then finally turns around to meet Tracii’s incredulous scowl.

"You’re not really going to do a piece for him, are you?"

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn’t I?"

"’Cause he’s a Grade-A fucking asshole who’s had it out for me and my shop ever since I moved in."

Slash laughs dismissively. "You’re full of shit, Tracii, he seems like a real sweetheart to me."

Tracii snorts. "Axl Rose, a fucking sweetheart?”

“You jealous, Guns?”

“Hardly,” Tracii says with a scowl. “He’s going to hate the tattoo and then use it as an excuse to give me even more shit than he already does. It’ll be unbearable around here with him bitching all the time.”

“You mean like how you’re bitching right now? You don’t know shit,” Slash declares, “because Axl is going to love his new ink and you’re not going to hear a thing from him except when he’s beating down our door to beg me for more.”

I’m afraid my ideas are getting predictable, but I couldn’t fucking resist. Tagging @fan-with-issues for chatting w me about this au, and @insipidrhyme just because.

Shoutout to Tracii Guns for once again stepping in when I want to give a side character a hard time. You’re a good sport, Trace.

#yikes it's been a month since i last posted #sodafics #slaxl #slash #saul hudson #axl rose #gnr #guns n roses #hollywood rose #tracii guns #la guns #l.a. guns #florist x tattoo artist au #and you thought I couldn't get more cliche #i've been staring at this for too long so i guess it's time to post

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ladyscribbles · 3 years

Text

Crow: Chapter One

I was just walking down the street when I saw some kid my age thrust a knife into her forehead.

Now, isn’t that a hook? Really cuts through your short attention span and gets to the point. Alright, alright, I’ll stop with all these totally cleaver puns (but considering my ultra-writer-nerd-ness, can you really blame me for making them?).

Alright, so back to the crazy girl.

She was pretty lanky and had wild, unruly auburn hair. She also had a crooked nose that looked like it’d been broken several times. She was wearing a black cloak over a black dress with fishnet sleeves. Connecting the cloak was a bright red brooch, a stark contrast to the rest of her clothing. There were also weird, wire-thin horizontal stripes on her skin that I’d originally mistaken as part of her outfit.

Other than the knife sticking out of her head, the whole image made her look hot, not gonna lie.

“Oh, hello there,” she greeted nonchalantly as she thrust the blade out, black blood gushing out. Yeah, black blood.

“And I thought my middle school fanfiction was weird.”

“Yeah. You weren’t supposed to see that.”

I walked up and stopped a foot away. “So you gonna say I’m special or something and take me to some magical world to defeat some tyrant ruler?”

“That’s awfully optimistic.” She then placed her hand onto my forehead. “Especially when it comes from a corpse.”

“Wait, what-”

Then there was a flash of white, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, throwing up my lunch. Aw man, the old man’s gonna be worried, I thought dazedly. Then I noticed the black combat boots in front of me. I had the irrational thought that they were mine for a second before I realized they were too big. Plus, they were a hell of a lot more worn out than mine.

“Get up.”

I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and slowly rose to my feet. The girl was staring at me with narrowed eyes, her arms crossed. Well, actually, only one black eye was narrowed. The other was hidden under messy bangs swept over the left side of her face.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded, and she sounded angry.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

The girl let out an aggravated sigh and placed her hand on a nearby bush. I watched in horror as each individual leaf shriveled up and died, leaving nothing but a wooden skeleton. “I kill with just one touch,” she growled, sounding much more intimidating than me (and I was the one with the deadpan, gravelly voice).

I then widened my eyes as the color drained from my face. “You...you were going to kill me.”

Holy shit.

“So why didn’t you die?”

I shook my head to snap myself out of my stunned daze. “You were going to kill me! What the hell?!” I yelled, my voice shaking. “Just who the hell are you?!”

“Crow,” she said after a few moments.

“No last name?”

“No.”

“Alright, then I’m Red. Now just what in the hell is going on here?”

Crow rolled her eyes and cracked her neck. “I’m dealing with another freak, it seems.”

“Don’t call me a freak when you freakin’ stabbed yourself in the head and tried to kill me!”

“Well, I’m not going to kill you now.”

“That’s reassuring,” I muttered. I then looked around. We were standing in the middle of a desert with black sand. As if that wasn’t strange enough, there wasn’t anything around for miles. “What the actual fuck.”

And to top it all off, I probably just made this beyond PG-13. Unless I’m allowed to have one more f-word up my sleeve.

I then took a deep breath and pulled out the tiny pad of paper I always kept in my sweater pocket. I checked my right ear for a pen and found one. I began to scribble furiously, letting my frustration pour out onto the white canvas in harsh, impulsive strokes.

“What the hell are you doing?” Crow questioned as I felt her gaze over my shoulder.

“Managing my emotions in a god-damn healthy manner.” I then closed the notebook and put it away, having released my feelings. “There. Now I’m better equipped to face shit.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“I was hoping that was only a fluke. But no. I still can’t kill you.”

I backed away from her, uneasy. I seriously didn’t like how she talked about death with such ease. In fact, it unnerved me to my very core. It was like being in the same room with a serial killer. You know what? She probably is. I shivered.

“Uh, so where are we?”

“The desert.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“If you must know, this lies just beyond the outskirts of Jakraut. Now come.” Crow walked several steps right, but I didn’t move. Why the hell would I? She turned around. “What are you waiting for?”

“Why would I go somewhere with someone who tried to kill me?”

“Suit yourself. I figured you wouldn’t want to deal with the sand lards on your own, but I don’t care either way.”

“Sand lards?”

“Farewell. Perhaps they won’t be able to kill you either.”

I bit my lip and ran to catch up with her. “Alright, fine! You win!”

She raised her brow. “I wasn’t aware I was in a competition.”

“So, um, how long will it take to get to this Jakraut place?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t pay attention to the time. It hardly matters. Minutes and hours are all the same to me.”

“Uh, okay. What is it like? Jakraut, I mean.”

“It’s a small village. The only thing of worth there is the poison shop.”

“Poison? Are you an assassin or something?”

“No. It’s for me.”

“You...you poison yourself?”

“Enough with the questions. They’re annoying and serve no purpose.”

“Sorry if I was curious about why someone would voluntarily poison herself.”

Crow ignored me and continued onward at her brisk pace. Her long legs covered much more ground than mine, making it nearly impossible to keep up with her. Plus, I wasn’t exactly in peak condition. Several minutes later, she stopped without warning, and I bumped into her.

A few seconds passed, and then she quickly jerked me out of the way right as a giant cloud of dust and sand rose up from the ground. When both cleared, I gaped at what had been hidden.

It was a giant - and I mean giant - blob of what looked like fat. Sand lard. Definitely a sand lard.

“Make sure not to touch it,” Crow warned.

Why the hell would I voluntarily touch a thing like that?

As if she thought I was dumb enough to do such a thing, she set out to prove her point. She reached her hand into the sand lard’s side and swiftly pulled it out. Her hand had been reduced to its skeleton, dripping with acid, and I had to bite back the bile that rose in my throat.

“I think I got the point,” I replied, unnerved by both the lard’s acidic effects and Crow’s complete lack of concern.

The lard then melted before my very eyes until it had been reduced to a mere puddle. Oh, yeah, death touch.

“I believe we’re close now,” Crow announced as she began walking again.

“Now hold on!” I cried as I grabbed her arm. “Are you just going to ignore-” I then stared at her hand. It had completely healed itself. “Oh, you have healing powers?” I think I wrote a story about a girl with healing powers once.

“Obviously,” she replied before wrenching her arm free from my grip. “Otherwise the stab wound from before would still be there.” Stab wound…? Oh, yeah, the knife in the forehead.

“Are you immortal?”

“Yes.”

“So nothing can kill you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Uh, okay.”

“I’m tired of the delays. Let’s get going already,” Crow growled impatiently.

I nodded in agreement. After all, I figured it wouldn’t be wise to stick around and wait for more of those creatures to show up.

Maybe five minutes of awkward silence passed before I simply couldn’t bear it anymore. “So...where’d you get your powers?”

“I was born with them.”

“You were?”

“Yes,” she growled impatiently after cracking her neck.

“So you’re immortal. Do you feel pain?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

So that explained why she reacted so calmly when she stabbed herself and plunged her hand into an acidic substance. “Why is that?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“Before, you said I was a freak like you. Does that mean people don’t usually have powers here?”

“As far as I know.”

“Could you maybe answer with more than just five words?”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass.”

“Well, that’s six, so I guess that’s an improvement.”

“I wasn’t aware my behavior was being critiqued by an annoying-ass earthling.” She then heaved a sigh and gestured in front of us. “Look, town. Get distracted.”

I turned away from her to gaze at Jakraut. Like she’d said, it was pretty small. There were only maybe ten houses in sight. Plus there was a store with a large sign that read in big, block letters: POISON! GET YOUR POISON HERE AT KILL-ONE, KILL-ALL! Then in smaller print underneath it, there was a little caption: Cyanide and belladonna half-off this week only. Get it while supplies last.

“You’re right. The only interesting thing here is the shop.” Though I’m sure as hell not interested in buying anything. Hell freakin’ no.

Crow slammed the door open, a little bell chiming at her entrance, and she hurried in. I followed her inside and stared at the shelves upon shelves of bottles that surrounded me. Whoa. That was a lot of poison.

I watched uneasily as Crow picked up a large bottle covered with danger labels all over. She peered at it closely before grabbing another one and placing both into a basket. I followed her around the store as she snatched several more poisons of different shapes and sizes. Crow didn’t stop until the basket was nearly full. I followed her to the counter and watched her plop the basket down, and several loud clinks sounded from the countless bottles.

“How much do I owe you?” Crow asked the man there.

He stared at her for a few moments before looking over each and every item. A few seconds passed as he ran the math through. “Th-that comes up to about twelve hundred.”

Crow dumped a large sack down. From the sound of it, that thing was filled to the brim with coins or some shit. “This should cover it.”

He nodded vigorously and snatched the bag away. “H-have a nice day!”

Crow rolled her eyes before taking off a backpack I hadn’t noticed until now and dumping the bottles into one of its compartments. All but one, anyway. As we walked out, I watched with dismay as she opened it and started chugging it.

“That really won’t affect you, will it?”

“Only if I’m optimistic,” she replied before returning to guzzling the liquid.

“Where are we heading now?”

“Away from Jakraut,” she replied between drinks.

“Where, exactly?”

“Does it really matter to you?”

“Well, I do appreciate knowing where I’m going whenever I travel with immortals who guzzle poison for fun.”

Crow rolled her eyes as she downed the last few drops of the bottle and reached inside her bag for another. “I am not forcing you to accompany me. You’re making the decision to follow me.”

“Because I don’t want to be left out in the middle of nowhere alone with no idea where I am or what’s going on!” I snapped. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took several deep breaths. “Look, if you were in my shoes-”

“Then I would have a higher chance of dying and this conversation would be over in an instant,” she replied before taking a shot. She then sighed. “If you must know, we’re heading to the station.”

“As in a train station?” Crow nodded in response. “Where is it going?”

“A town down south. I have a contract there.”

“Contract? It’s not a killing one, is it?” I asked worriedly, hoping that I wasn’t stuck with an assassin or something horrible like that.

“No.”

I waited, but she never added anything. “Are you going to clarify or what?”

“Why would I feel the need to clarify myself to a stranger I couldn’t give two shits about?”

I let out a groan. The one time I was sucked into a different world, and I got stuck with an apathetic asshole with no clear goal in mind. Where was the whimsical feeling of experiencing a whole new place full of fantasy and wonder? Where were the heroes that fought for truth and justice and defended the weak with their awesome power? Where were the vibrant, fantastical creatures that either helped or hindered the heroes on their quest? Speaking of which, where was the god-damn quest?!

“Damn it! If I was going to get dragged to a different world, it could’ve at least been better than this!” I took a deep breath. “Well, maybe I just need to experience it more,” I muttered to myself. “Surely, this isn’t all there is to it.”

And it could be worse. I could be alone. And though she’s a total asshole, Crow seems willing enough to protect me from stuff like those sand lards. Hmm, maybe she’s only an asshole because she has a dark past and/or hasn’t had anyone show her compassion or love. Considering her awful power, it fits. If I was gonna write a character with her kind of personality and abilities, I’d probably go either route or even both.

“Do you have a dark and tragic backstory?” I queried. Crow ignored me, instead taking several drinks. “Would you share it if we became closer?”

“I’ve heard drinking together is an activity that can bring people closer,” Crow commented drily as she held out the bottle.

I grinned nervously. “Uh...I think I’ll pass.”

“Then shut the hell up,” she replied before taking yet another swig.

I sighed. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I’d be better off alone after all.

My stomach then grumbled. “Can we stop somewhere to eat?” I asked, ignoring the learned instinct to just not ask at all.

Crow heaved an exasperated sigh. “Right. I forgot you have mortal needs. Luckily for you, my train isn’t scheduled to leave for a few days, so I can afford the delay to the nearest town.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered. I then stumbled and fell. A brief feeling of fatigue washed over me before I shoved it away and got back up again. I’m alright, I’m alright. “So how far away is the nearest town?” I asked after a few minutes of walking.

“A few miles.”

“Okay.”

Since Crow wasn’t exactly a conversationalist, I was left with my thoughts. I decided to think about the story I was working on - well, one of them, anyway.

So far, it was about this elven girl who leaves her village to explore the world, as well as learn more about the human race, which kind of dominated most places. The only reason she’d never come across them before was the fact that her village was in a very secluded, hidden area. Maybe some enchantment is involved too. She also has sacred tattoos that’d been passed down from generation to generation, but what she doesn’t know is that they also contain some hidden power. And that was all I had at the moment.

Maybe elves are on the brink of extinction, and part of her quest is to discover them. Maybe humans don’t know about the elves’ existence since there’s so few of them left. Maybe...

After becoming lost in my thoughts for maybe a good half hour, I collapsed. Just like before, fatigue washed over me, except much stronger. I shook my head and shakily rose to my feet. I can handle this. Surely, it isn’t too much farther. Once again, my weakened legs collapsed from underneath me. I tried to get up but couldn’t find the strength to do it.

Aw, shit, I’m going to pass out, aren’t….I…?

END OF CHAPTER ONE

#short story #dark fantasy #opposites attract #new world

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mickmarstookmyheart · 4 years

Text

Life is a Sick Joke pt 13

Pairing: Mick Mars x Reader

Would like to start from the beginning? Here you go Part 1!

13. “He is Such a Good Boy.”

It was great to have Isabelle with you. You did together pretty much everything and it was like back in the old days, just with the difference that you went to concerts every other day and got backstage as well. The boys treated her quite well, well when not? Tommy's attitude towards her was a bit odd. He became nervous whenever she was around and he hardly said a word.

Currently, you were at a studio where you were helping to set the background up for the new clip 'Too Young to Fall in Love'. You quite loved this song and you were present when they discussed what would be in the video and you must say that it will be pretty badass.

"You can still be in the video if you want." Vince offered and winked.

"I've told you many times that no thanks. I will be okay here." You rejected the offer for the 100th time now, while eating your food.

"If you say so. But you will regret it." He added walking backward, a devilish smile on his face.

"What do you mean? Vince!" You put down your bowl and tried to shout through the now-going music.

"We made a few changes in the intro...girls and all." He turned his back to you and went over to the others. Goddamn it. And if there will be girls? They are constantly around them. These few minutes won't bother you Anyway, trust, as you discussed many times with Mick. You just need to put a believable smile on your face and everything is gonna be alright.

"What is on your mind?" Isabelle asked as she took a seat beside you on one of the tables. "Vinnie told you something?"

"No...well yes. But it's nothing." You didn't know why it bothered you this much. Mick hasn't given you any reason to act like this. You felt dumb and ridiculous.

"Okaaay." She said while scanning your face. "Look, they start now." You fixed your eyes on the boys, especially on Mick and then you saw what Vince was talking about. You immediately relieved since they all wore clothes and did pretty much nothing. At first, you didn't understand these Asian culture things, though Doc made an excellent concept of it.

"Yeah, kick some fucking ass boys!" You shouted while Isabelle whistled. They filmed the scenes three or four times, but there was one particular which was a tough one. In one of the last scenes, when Tommy had to beat down a man when they leave the building. After failing it over and over again, Doc declared a break. You went over to the boys while crossing your path with Tommy who was approaching Isabelle.

"Yo, (Y/N), how did you like it?" Vinnie was grinning like a mad man. You stood in front of him, he in his chair. You stepped closer and smacked his head in the back. You were smiling at him when Nikki burst into laughing and also Mick snickered.

"Hey! Why did you do that?" Vince asked rubbing his head.

"You got it for your little teasing. Anyway, does it matter?" You laughed but stopped when he jumped up from the chair and started to chase you.

"Ahhh! Vinnie, leave me alone!" Mick was just eyeing the both of you when you ran behind him to hide from Vince. You looked over Mick's shoulder to see him.

"Okay, kids, I'm not a playground. Go annoy Nikki!" He muttered trying to relax a bit.

"Mick noo. Please don't be like this. Be happy and enjoy life." You placed a soft kiss on his shoulder.

"Firstly I need to find the will to live then I will enjoy it, too." He stated.

"Ohh, I love you, my grumpy man." You hugged him from the back and managed to earn a chuckle from him. Vince already sat back and was watching you. Mick turned around to face you.

"I thought you would be upset about the video." He said after a few minutes.

"Why would I?" You asked but then realized, still let him finish what he started.

"About the beginning, you know what I am talking about. The girls and all..." He ran his thumb on your cheeks.

"Well, I won't lie...Vince already told me before filming so I was prepared but they didn't do anything that bothered me so I'm not upset. I know that you weren't the one whose idea it was." You glared at his bandmates.

"I'm happy you think that." He leaned closer and kissed your forehead. You almost melted right there when Doc appeared and announced the end of the break. You walked back to Isabelle and were about to finish your food when you saw that it was missing.

"Umm, Isabelle. Did you eat my rice?" You asked looking under the table and everywhere nearby.

"What?"

"That's not a kind of question you should answer with another question. Damn, I'm hungry." You pouted.

"More like hangry as I see." She said with a smirk before handing you her food.

"Woah. Can I get it? You are the best sis ever!! Love you." You placed a kiss on her cheek. She knew you too well how you behaved when you were hungry.

"Umm, (Y/N)." She patted your shoulder.

"Yeah?" You mumbled with a full mouth.

"Just look." You put down the bowl and glared on the table Tommy stood beside. That was your fucking food. Your poor rice landed in the dust. When they finished the scene and the whole video you waited until Tommy came back to Isabelle.

"Dude we are finally free!" Tommy yelled as he and her high-fived. You just crossed your arms and were sending him death glares. "Why is she staring at me like that?" He asked from Iz.

"You eat her food, man. I would run if I were you." She mumbled. He looked at you with a scare in his eyes.

"(Y/N), I'm so sorry. Please don't kill me." He apologized but was backing off.

"Hey, T-Bone, what is wrong with you?" Nikki asked from his terror twin.

"I'm a dead man, Nikki! She will totally kill me." Tommy pointed at you and ran away screaming.

"What did he do this time?" Nikki inquired still following Tommy with his eyes.

"Ohh he just ruined my food and he thinks I'm going to end him which is...

"Speaking of food, I could eat a horse."

∆

"You two have a really weird taste." Mick stated while watching Isabelle and you eating the Nutella bacon combo.

"Yeah, man. Also, that rice tasted like shit." Tommy said and sat closer to your sister thinking it wasn't noticeable. But it was and you couldn't decide how to feel about it. You loved both of them and Tommy was the only person you would've allowed to be with your sister.

"You still owe me for that." You barked.

"I will pay for your food this time if this pleases you, (Y/N). Anyway, since it's almost Christmas and all, how are you going to spend it?" Tommy asked rather from Isabelle.

"Well, I'm spending at the college, I guess. There will be parties and concerts." She cajoled with a bright smile. Your eyes googled and were staring at her hoping she didn't think that seriously. You could see the same reaction in Tommy's eyes who immediately sat a bit farther from her. You felt Mick's eyes on you waiting for your verbal reaction. You quickly reset your face back to normal and tried not to show any emotion but you couldn't help it.

"Be right back." You stood up and left the table. You walked as fast as you could to the restroom. You looked in the mirror which was a pretty bad idea since you were almost scared of yourself. You sprinkled some cold water to calm down. You thought, at least she would stay with you for the holidays since it was supposed to be about family. And since Dylan is in jail it would only be the both of you.

When you thought you were calm enough you left the restroom and headed back to your table. You closed the door behind yourself before you bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry." You apologized just when you saw who it was. Mick looked down at you and put his finger under your chin since you weren't willing to look in his eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked trying to look into your eyes.

"Nothing. Why would be?" You sniffed, tears waiting at bay.

"Cause you were quite upset when you left the table and you spent pretty much time in here." He gestured towards the restroom. "Is it your sister?"

"I hate that you can read my face like this. Of course, it is her. I just don't know why she is doing this. Christmas supposed to be about family, no?"

"Listen here. I totally understand what you are talking about, but she is now a grown-up and she has every right to do whatever she wants to. You need to let her go soon, you know that." You exhaled still not prepared enough to let her go. She was your little sister, you raised her and it was too hard.

"Yeah, I know. And I feel like a monster not letting her go." You muttered into Mick's chest while he was rubbing your back.

"You are not a monster. You took care of her since she birth, it's quite understandable." He said while hugging you tightly. "But can we talk about it later? They are all looking at us." You nodded and glanced at your table. They immediately turned their attention back to their food and continued eating it.

"What did you do there for this long?" Vince asked.

"None of your business." You answered with a lack of any emotion.

"You are on your period or what? I just asked an innocent question."

"Shut it, blondie." Mick snapped. You glanced over to Isabelle who was just casually consuming her french fries. "So Isabelle what kind of concerts?" Mick asked trying to draw their attention from you.

"Mostly bands from the school. Tribute and cover bands, etc. I will also perform with my band." She added while smiling from ear-to-ear proudly.

"What band?" Nikki showed some interest to her immediately.

"Well, we are a cover band, we play the latest if not the best songs of the last decade so ACDC, Queen, Black Sabbath, and your music, guys." She said shyly, running her fingers through her hair. Vince was smirking at her, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I guess you are the lead singer." He said while touching her hand on the table. She quickly drew it back and was glaring at him. Everybody burst into laughter but Vince crossed his arms and pouted.

"See, Vinnie? This family isn't very fond of you." Nikki stated still laughing.

"Yeah, I can see it." He was drumming on the table with his fingers.

"Then what are you doing in the band?" Nikki asked.

"I play bass." Nikki's eyes grew and turned to you.

"Well, (Y/N) if you are not willing to accept my offer about the position of Mrs. Sixx then I will have to offer for someone else." He declared. You sighed and pretended to be sad about it.

"Oh dear Satan, what will I do after this?" You played drama queen again. It was your specialty.

"Anyway, this young lady beside me can..." Luckily you managed to cover her mouth with your hand just in time. You were fuming. You shook your head and drew your hand back.

"She can what?" Tommy asked drawing his brows together.

"She can piss people off really easily." Vince answered instead of you and Isabelle.

"Sure." Izzy muttered.

∆

"I will miss you so much." She said giving you the biggest hug ever. You hardly spoke to her since the restaurant. The taxi honked again which was about to drive her to the university. "Shut up, man. I will pay for it, don't worry!" She yelled at him.

"I will miss you, too. Take care and keep harassing your roommate." You chuckled.

"I promise." She snickered but then sighed. "I wish Dylan was here. I miss him, too."

You just hummed as an answer. You visited him several times in the hospital. He was in good hands so you didn't worry that much; Sharon spoke to him a lot and Dr. Prince Charming took good care of him physically.

"Call me as soon as you arrive, okay?" You hugged her one last time before she did the same to Mick who gave him some money for the taxi, Nikki who span her around in the air and messed with her hair, and Tommy who wasn't really happy. He adored her but she didn't feel the same. You felt sorry for him, he was such a hopeless romantic. Mick walked over to you and placed her hands on your hips from behind and pulled closer to him, resting his chin on the top of your head. When the taxi left your sight, you sighed and glanced at Tommy. He was desperate and looked miserable, you guessed you looked pretty much the same.

∆

"Hey, Mrs. Lee I'm here!" You waved to Tommy's parents as they arrived at your invitation in the stadium. He was so sad after Isabelle left, you thought it would do good for him to see his family. He always talked about them so much. "Good morning and thanks for coming. Anyway, I'm (Y/N). Nice to meet you." You shook hands with his parents as you showed them the way backstage where Tommy was.

"Thank you for inviting us here. So he doesn't know about this, right?" Her mother asked while following you.

"No, Mrs. Lee, it's a surprise. I hope he will happy and not murder me." You snickered nervously.

"I'm sure he won't, he is such a good boy." If she was aware of what his good boy was doing, she wouldn't be so happy about it. But it wasn't your business.

"Hey, Tommy!" You yelled when you saw him behind his drumset. He looked up and turned to you. His lips immediately curved into the biggest smile which you haven't seen in a long time. He quickly stood up and approached you, hugging his parents tightly. He started to talk and talk, not letting his parents spoke a word. He showed them all the sets and everything in the whole stadium. After seeing he was in good hands you went to the gates to see how many fans have arrived so far. When the guards opened the doors and saw the crowd your mouth dropped. You quickly went back.

"Please, be careful." You informed the guards who just nodded silently. After that shooting, Doc hired much more guards for everyone's safety but you still felt a bit tensed after seeing big crowds. When you got back, Tommy and his parents were on the stage with a groupie who was wearing a red leather dress. Nikki also showed up and when you stepped closer you saw red marks on his neck. You leaned closer to him. "I would hide my neck if I want to live." You advised to Nikki who quickly did as told.

"This my fiancé, Roxxy." Tommy introduced her to his family. She held her hand up to shake hands. Her mother hesitated first thinking about something when Roxxy left them upset. Tommy scolded his mom and went after her.

"What the hell?" You raised a brow and glanced at Nikki to see his reaction. "Are you high?!" You inquired wiping his hair away from his face.

"Who are you to tell me what to do, huh?!" He snapped and left you there speechless. What is wrong with these guys?

∆

"He is so talented." Tommy's mother admired his son, watching the concert from the back.

"Indeed he is. By the way, how is Tommy? Did he behaved well?" You asked worryingly.

"Of course. He was so happy to see us." You smiled just from the thought he is being happy.

"Glad to hear that." You added.

After the concert, Tommy was jumping like a mad man again and was goofy. Well, for a moment.

You were on the road again, finally leaving that hotel with that weird guy Thomas. You were sleeping in the back, more precisely you tried to sleep because you could only hear this groupie's screaming. You got out of bed angrily and were about to beat the shit out of her.

"What is not clear about 'I'm going to sleep'?" You inquired with closed eyes leaning on the wall when the shouting stopped. You opened one of your eyes so you could see the quickly approaching Tommy who almost made you fell off. Vince's and Mick's eyes were attached to the girl. She was leaning on a seat, her hand wiping her bleeding lips. "What the fuck? Tommy did that to her?" You asked into nowhere cause no one answered. Mick cleared his throat and went to search for the first-aid bag which he gave to you after he found it.

"Please stop at the next gas station if it is possible." You asked the driver who nodded as a response. You made her sit down on the couch opening a water bottle from the fridge.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked while you started to wipe the blood with a piece of cloth.

"Cause I don't want to let you home with a face like that. It will still leave a mark but at least it won't be as visible." You answered dealing with the wound.

"What? I'm not going home. I'm gonna marry him and..." She started.

"You think that he will marry you after he hit you?" You asked curiously looking into her eyes. The boys were staring at you.

"Nikki, go talk with him." He did as told and went in the back to support his terror twin. After stopping at the station, you called a taxi for the girl and gave the taxi driver all the money you had with yourself.

"Please don't call the police if that's possible." You told to her. She was still in shock so she gave you a slight nod, before closing the door.

"Will she be okay?" Tommy asked desperately, biting his lip down after you were back on the road.

"Of course, Lee. Don't worry about her." You saw the relief in his eyes, though he was still worried and was angry at himself. You stood on your tip-toe and hugged him tightly.

"Don't blame yourself, please." You said, running your hand in his hair trying to calm him down.

On that day, something happened to Mötley Crüe.

∆

Tag: @cmft-jr-winchester ❤️

#motley crue #nikki sixx #vince neil #80s music #80srock #rocknroll #tommy lee #glam rock #mickmars #mick mars #motley crue x reader #motley crue imagine #mick mars x reader #mick mars imagine #life's a sick joke #life is a sick joke

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eyebrowluv · 4 years

Text

Tall Blonde with One Sugar

It was absolutely pouring down the rain as Erwin left the library. Nile, his friend and roommate offered to give him a ride back to their apartment if Erwin didn’t mind waiting for Nile to get out of class. Erwin, of course didn’t mind waiting. He was able to work on his paper after his shift at the library, and he didn’t relish the idea of making the 30 minute walk in the rain. So, he waited.

And waited…

Finally, an hour past their scheduled meeting time, Erwin decided to walk out to the parking lot to see if Nile was still there, but his spot was disappointingly vacant. It would be hours before the bus ran again, so Erwin just took a deep breath and sucked it up before jogging home. He would make sure to yell at Nile when he got there.

Not surprisingly, he was completely soaked by the time he made back to the apartment complex. He was cold, uncomfortable, and hungry. He wanted a hot shower, dry clothes and some generic ramen before he finished his paper. However, what he got instead was a sock hanging from the knob of his apartment door.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Erwin muttered to himself. He knocked on the door, in the name of self-preservation, and called out, “Nile, please tell me this is a joke. It’s bad enough you ditched me on campus.”

All he received in response was: “Marie, fuck baby, you’re such a bad girl.”

“Not happening.” Erwin pulled out his phone to call his friend Hange, but the ancient flip phone was dead. He checked his watch. Yup, still two more hours for the bus to arrive to go back toward campus. He didn’t want to have to sit in the library soaking wet, so walking back was out of the question as the rain continued. He pulled out his laptop and checked the wi-fi signal. If he stayed against the wall, he would be able to work on his paper until the bus came back around. He would consider that a win. He dropped his ratty, old backpack to the floor and plopped down beside it. He only hoped he had enough battery on his laptop to either wait out the bus or his roommate.

——

Levi held back a string of curses and he fought with the apartment complex’s front door and his umbrella. It was a miserable day, to say the least, and he looked forward to seeing his bed.

“Oi, heads up,” Levi heard a voice call as he raced up the stairs, reaching his floor’s landing. He almost tripped over the young man in the hallway floor. The tall blond was pressed up against the wall beside his apartment door, wearing a rain-drenched Trost University hoodie, a pair of ragged jeans, and ratty sneakers (the left one was untied). There was a tired-looking, beat-up laptop resting on his thigh.

“Why are you in the hallway?” Levi asked him as he stepped around, afraid of dislodging the ancient laptop, and sending it crashing to certain death.

“I’ve been sexiled,” the blond answered, pointing to the sock on the door handle. Levi sighed.

That was the bad part of living this particular apartment complex. It was walking distance to Trost University’s campus, and, therefore, filled with college kids. However, he also needed to live close to campus because he was the top trauma surgeon at the University hospital, and had to be able to get to work quickly in case of an emergency. So, here he was, tripping over a student after a grueling 18 hour shift.

“That would make sense if you lived in a dorm, not a two bedroom apartment.” Levi rubbed his temples, exhaustion making his head hurt.

“I think they might be in the living room?” By the sounds of it, the blond was right.

“So, why the hallway?”

“I am working on a paper, so I need wi-fi for research. I would just go back to campus, but it’s pouring rain. I don’t have a car, and the bus doesn’t run for another two hours. Hopefully my laptop battery holds out that long, or they finish…”

“I’m so going to regret this,” Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Come on. You can work on your paper at my place.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ackerman!” The blond hurried and gathered his things and stood, rising up to tower almost a foot above Levi.

“Just don’t make a mess and don’t rob me or some shit.” Levi unlocked his door and entered. “And take off your shoes, Edward.”

“Erwin, my name is Erwin. Where can I set up?” The blond toed off his shoes and Levi noted that his right sock had a hole in it.

“The bar in the kitchen has better light than the dining room. I’m afraid my office is full of patient files right now or I would let use it.”

“No, no, the kitchen is great! Better than the hallway and it definitely beats going back to campus in the rain. Thank you very much, Mr. Ackerman.”

“Yeah. Just stop calling me Mr. Ackerman. Levi is fine. I’ll write down the wi-fi password for you, and then, I’m going to bed. Lock the door on your way out, and tell Nigel that he has a bedroom with a door for a reason.”

“Nile.”

“What?”

“My roommate. His name is Nile.”

“I really don’t care. Goodnight, Edward.” With that, Levi scrawled down just wi-fi password and went to bed. The clacking of a keyboard lulled him to sleep.

When he woke a few hours later, all traces of his young neighbor were gone except for a lone sheet of notebook paper with ‘Thank You, Levi’ scrawled messily across the front. Levi just yawned and tossed the note in the trash.

——

“Did you get your paper done last night? I tried texting you but you never responded.” Erwin looked over at his best friend, Hange as they sat down beside him.

“Yeah, no thanks to Nile. First, he ditched me on campus after offering me a ride. I had to jog home in the pouring rain. If that wasn’t bad enough, I came home to a sock on the door. He and Marie were going at it in the living room for the better part of the evening. I may never sit on my couch again.”

“Nile is such a bastard. I don’t know why you’re still friends with him. I mean he is dating your ex...the ex that was cheating on you...with him. I just don’t know about you.” Hange leaned against him.

“It’s really okay. I mean, Marie and I really didn’t have that much chemistry anyway. Nile has been a friend since kindergarten. I can’t throw that away over some girl that I only felt luke-warm about.” Erwin shrugged.

“You kill me,” Hange groaned into his shoulder. “So, did you come back to campus, or what? If you would have answered your texts, you could have come over to my place.”

“Sorry about that, but my phone died, and I didn’t have my charger in my bag. My neighbor actually felt enough pity for me that he let me come over and bum off his wi-fi.”

“Wait, what? Your neighbor? The doctor?” Hange perked up, mischievous grin on their face.

“Yeah, but I still think he hates me. He calls me Edward all the time.”

“I doubt he hates you. He did let you come over to finish your paper after all.”

“I guess there is a bright side.”

——

“Were we obnoxious, inconsiderate assholes in college?” Levi asked as he paid for his lackluster cafeteria lunch.

“Levi, you have been an obnoxious, inconsiderate asshole as long as I’ve known you. That didn’t change after Med School,” his best friend, Mike, answered.

“Zacharias, the only obnoxious, inconsiderate asshole I see here is you.”

“Seriously though, why do you ask?”

“My neighbors. I came home yesterday to find one of them kicked out by his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend. The sorry bastard was camped out in the hallway floor trying to write a paper. Even at the height of your lust-filled rutting with Nanaba, I don’t remember you kicking me out of the apartment.”

“Why would I? I had a separate bedroom.”

“They were apparently in the living room.”

“Poor guy. You didn’t yell at him for being in the hallway, did you?” Mike took a bite of his salad.

“I had no idea you thought so little of me,” Levi sniffed. “Actually, I hate to disappoint you, but I let him come over to my place to finish his paper, thank you very much.”

“He must be hot. Shame on you, Levi. Praying on a younger man like that.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Mike noticed that Levi never did deny that he thought his neighbor was hot, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

——

“Nile, you bastard, come on! I can’t believe you right now!” Erwin pounded on the bathroom door.

“Go away, Erwin. Nile is busy,” answered a soft, feminine voice.

“I need the shower. I have to get ready for work. Can’t you guys do this after I leave?”

“Sorry buddy, but you should have showered at the gym,” answered before moaning lewdly.

“Really? I’m pretty sure you know my schedule by now, and I shouldn’t reasonably expect to not have access to a shower in an apartment that I pay rent for. Rent I can’t pay if I don’t go to work. Dawk open the fucking door!”

“Go away, Erwin.”

“You are an asshole!” Erwin banged on the door one last time. He grabbed his phone and dialed Hange. “Come on, pick up.”

“This is Hange leave a message...”

“I hate my life,” Erwin muttered to himself. He gathered his clothes and toiletries, swallowed his pride, and left the apartment.

——

Levi was listening to the television drone in the background while he cleaned his kitchen. He was in such a state of mind numbing scrubbing that the knock on his front door startled him. He looked at it for a moment as if it were something foreign. He hardly ever received visitors, and never unexpectedly. Another knock had him walking to the door. He flung it open to see a sweaty, desperate-looking Erwin.

“You’re home,” Erwin sputtered as if he expected otherwise.

“You’re observant,” Levi grumbled.

“I really hate to bother you, but can I bum a shower? Nile and Marie are, well, I’m sure you can figure it out. But I have to be at work soon, and I would go back to campus and shower at the gym, but I would miss my bus. I really can’t afford to miss work.”

“I’m really starting to hate your roommate,” Levi sighed. Erwin’s face crumbled.

“Yeah, he’s an ass, and so am I. I’m sorry, Levi, I shouldn’t bother you with my problems. I’ll just try Hange again. Thanks for the other day, though.” Erwin turned to leave.

“I never said you couldn’t use my shower. Get your ass in here. I’ll go get you a towel.” Levi opened the door to allow Erwin to enter.

“Thank you, Levi. I’ll just start showering on campus...daily.” Erwin followed Levi to the bathroom.

“I’ll be right back with a towel. I’m sure you know how to work it.”

“Yep, same as mine,” Erwin said, pulling his shirt over his head. Levi was treated to the sight of a half naked Erwin. And Levi just knew that the guys he went to college with were never looked like this, with smooth skin and hard muscles. (It was damn good thing, too, or he would have flunked out miserably and never made into med school.) He clenched his jaw, and reminded himself that Erwin was probably at least ten years younger than him. It was probably illegal just to look.

He turned away with a blush and a scowl in order to retrieve the towel. When he returned, Erwin was down to his faded boxer briefs, and obviously lacked any sort of body consciousness. And really, with a body like that, who could blame him? Levi mentally shook his head and grunted when Erwin let out a soft, sheepish ‘thank you.’

Erwin emerged twenty minutes later, hair neatly parted, shrugging on a navy blue suit jacket that was well worn, but obviously well taken care of. His red tie was just draped around his neck and Levi noted that his white dress shirt, while neatly pressed and cleaned, was missing the top button as it was safety pinned together. His belt was cheap and starting to fray and crack around the buckle. The slacks were slightly too tight around the thighs and the hem was a little threadbare in the back. Even in light of all this, Erwin wore a suit well...very well.

“Thank you again, Levi. I’m so sorry I had to bother you.” Erwin’s voice broke Levi from his daze, and he blinked a few times before meeting Erwin’s gaze. The boy had the bluest eyes…

“It’s fine,” Levi dismissed. “Just where do you work if you have to dress like that?”

“I’m working for Shadis’ senate campaign. I get civics credits toward my Master’s as well as a paycheck. It pays better than a TA position and the hours are more flexible.” Erwin’s long fingers tied with silk of the tie with relative ease.

“I see. His headquarters is downtown, right?”

“Yeah, that’s why I have to take the bus. It’s too far to walk.”

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride.” Levi stood and grabbed his keys.

“Levi, really, it’s too much. I wouldn’t want to bother you anymore than I already have,” Erwin protested with sincerity.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind and you didn’t expect or ask me to give you a ride. Come on. I have some errands to run anyway.” Levi opened the door and held it for Erwin, posture not allowing for any argument.

“Okay, thank you, Levi.”

If asked, Levi wouldn’t be able to answer as to why he wanted to help this kid so badly. But something told Levi that he maybe all that Erwin had, and it was just sad that the most dependable person in Erwin’s life was practically a complete stranger.

——

It had been almost two weeks before Levi noticed that Erwin’s presence was missing. He hadn’t realized that the younger man was such a part of his daily routine. They greeted each other in the mornings as they started their day, they brushed past each other on the stairwell on Saturday afternoons, and they nodded in acknowledgment when collecting their mail. But Erwin has been strangely absent lately. Levi frowned.

Maybe the roommate broke up with his girlfriend?

No, the thump a giggle out in the hallway that morning before Levi left for work let him know that the flame was still burning fiercely. Erwin was around before the girlfriend situation, even if Levi only subconsciously acknowledged that the blond was part of his routine. Levi hated to deviate from his routine. He sighed as he put his work shoes in his locker and slammed it shut. It really shouldn’t bother him.

And if he drove by campus on his way home from work, it was because he wanted a change of scenery. And definitely not because it was raining again and Erwin might need a ride.

At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he pulled up beside a sodden, tired-looking Erwin, walking down the sidewalk, clutching his backpack to his chest. He pulled up to the curve and rolled down his window.

“Get in, you idiot.” Levi watched as Erwin’s head perked up and looked around for a moment.

“Levi? You scared me.”

“Get in the car, Erwin,” he growled again.

“I couldn’t. I’m soaked,” Erwin protested as he looked at the sleek black Mercedes, no doubt taking in consideration the soft leather of the interior. Levi pulled a towel from his work bag and spread it over the passenger seat.

“Get your ass in the car.”

“Yes, sir.” Erwin hurried and got in at, trying not to drip everywhere.

“Roommate ditch you again?” Levi asked as Erwin settled in.

“No. I was going to take the bus, but my pass has expired. I won’t have enough money to get another one until I get paid next week. Hange doesn’t have class today, so I didn’t want to inconvenience them. So, I walked.” Levi noticed him absently playing with the strap of his backpack. It was completely torn from its moorings and there was a large hole where the stitching came loose and the bag ripped from the weight.

“Did you drop it?” Erwin looked at Levi for a moment, confused.

“Oh, my bag? Uh, yeah, yeah I did.” Erwin shrugged it off. “I’m hoping Hange or Nile may have something I can borrow until I can find something. It will probably be a couple of paychecks before I can save up enough to buy something decent.”

“Did your laptop survive?”

“I’m...I’m not sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t. Luckily I have backups for everything because I’ve been anticipating it to die any day now. I’ll just have to spend more time at the library.” Erwin’s smile was as bright as the sun, but his blue eyes held a little bit of tension.

“Is that why you’ve been scarce lately? You’re preparing for the eminent death of your laptop?”

“That’s part of it. I’ve been working more hours at the library when I can to try to get some extra money, just in case. Plus, it’s midterms. It’s easier to study, and shower, on campus, since I never know when Nile is going to have Marie over.”

“It’s your apartment, too. You should remind him of that,” Levi scolded as he parked.

“Yeah, it doesn’t do much good. I think it’s more Marie than Nile. She’s just trying to make me jealous.”

“Why? What would it matter to her?”

“Oh, Marie used to be my girlfriend. We broke up because she said I didn’t pay enough attention to her. That, and she was sleeping with my roommate.”

“Excuse me. Did you just say she was sleeping with Nile while you were dating her? And you are okay with this?” Levi pauses for a second. “I mean, unless that’s something you’re into…”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t like that.” Erwin blushed. “It really didn’t bother me because I think she was a lot more into the relationship than I was. I’m okay with them being together, but I think she wants to show me what I’m missing.”

“is it working? ,” Levi asked, curious.

“Not even a little bit,” Erwin laughed. “Quite the opposite, really.”

“Joke’s on her, then.” Silence descended between them as Levi cut the engine.

“Well, thanks for the ride, Levi.” Erwin awkwardly gathered the torn, sodden excuse for a back pack and reached for the door.

“I don’t understand. Why don’t you set your foot down when it comes to your roommate?” Levi’s words made him pause.

“Well, Nile has always been my friend-“

“Bullshit. That doesn’t matter. Do you think I don’t call out my friends on their shit?”

“Truth is: I can’t afford to be the nagging roommate. Because I’m in the Master’s program, I can’t stay in campus housing. I can’t afford rent on my own for a place this close to campus. I don't have a car and bus schedules don’t give me the flexibility to move further away from campus. I can barely make ends meet now. If I was to nag Nile too much, he would just move out, or expect me to. I can’t afford the penalty for breaking the lease, but he can. Either way, I’m stuck just sucking it up. The inconvenience is worth not being homeless.”

“Your family won’t help?”

“Well, um, well, my mom, I haven’t heard from her since she married husband number three when I was 12. My dad…” Erwin’s eyes took on a glassy sheen. “I haven’t...we don’t...it’s been about a year since we spoke.”

“Why’s That?” Levi flinched. “Sorry, it’s none of my business-“

1/?

#eruri #erwin smith #levi ackerman #eruri fanfic

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