#and I've only met a handful of people who can pull anything half decent out of generative ai

[aterabyte]

It's really interesting seeing people argue (including in the notes of this post) that an artist should have the right to say that no one else can make anything based off their work or reuse elements of their work in any capacity—when we're on an intensely pro-Ao3 website.

Like, I distinctly remember it being a very commonly held position when I joined Tumblr that Anne Rice was an asshole for trying to ban people from writing fanfiction of her work—and even if you think that fanfic and generative AI are fundamentally different, the argument that some people are explicitly making genuinely is that an artist should have complete control and veto power over anything that is done with their art once they release it publicly.

Not everyone who says AI art is theft is saying that, but the ones who are doing so are making an argument that I've never seen be so popular in leftist spaces before. It's very frustrating.

the framing of generative ai as "theft" in popular discourse has really set us back so far like not only should we not consider copyright infringement theft we shouldn't even consider generative ai copyright infringement

[wimble-warcrime]

been watching wayy too many bushcraft stuff and wilderness survival competition tv shows, so im inspired first COD fic, but i've read too many not to contribute at this point

-bushcrafter!simon riley who is not normal about anything, lets be real here. he spends 6 months deployed in bumfuck-nowhere roughing it with the boys, only to return his own little piece of land in the middle of civilized bumfuck-nowhere. he bought the property after a night of too many drinks and decided in his drunken stupor that he had no need for people or pagentry. and he was right

-he sells most of his earthly possesions, putting whatever he can't (or won't) sell into a storage container he hauls up to the property. at first, with his military training and field experience, he gets by on the bare bones while he figures his shit out. this isn't some survival expedition with a clear goal--he's going full wildman, living in the woods like this. the only address he has is a p.o. box at the closest town's post office. it's a bit of a pain getting down there, so he goes only when he's visiting the local hardware stores--he becomes a familiar (albeit masked) face with the locals

-his set up is pretty swanky after a good few months in the wilds on leave. he may or may not have (but he'll never admit to it) scrolled on pinterest for a wee while looking at what the bushcraft and survivalist lads were building for some inspiration, but at the ends, he's mighty proud of his little cabin in the woods. each time he comes back from deployment, he adds more to it, eventually expanding it to have a sort of functioning toilet and shower, a little woodstove and a relatively comfortable bed.

-one day after a particularly grueling mission, he decides to see just how far he can take it. he's been hunting for his game and gets a box of the community garden vegetables delivered to his driveway every week, but he wants more of a challenge. so he starts gardening. ever one for a flare of drama, simon starts using the bones of his kills to turn into some half-decent knives and other tools. and as much fun as it is, doing his dooms-day prepping shit (as price has lovingly called it) he won't admit he's lonely

-gets a rescue dog called lucky--lucky only has three legs and one working ear, but the mutt is so darn cute he has to bring the poor beastie home.

-the pretty bird who volunteers at the animal shelter is also cute, and lucky has grown on you. you're weary to part ways with the dog, but the masked man and his terrible flirting are endearing enough to smooth over the comfort. after he leaves, you're naturally curious about just who that man was. you hear around the town that he's a recluse who lives in the mountains like a caveman (he for sure could pull off a loin cloth with those hips of his) and that he gets the local garden delivery box every week

-so you do as any rational human would with that information and sign up to volunteer with the garden center. they let you deliver boxes after a few weeks of consistent effort, and when you're manager hands you the list of addresses, she makes it very clear that on box in particular is to be left at the drive way and that's it. he doesn't like people nosing around

-you save his delivery for last, driving up the 'drive way' to the edge of the woods and no further. like the foolish girl you are, you get out of the car and start hiking into the woods to deliver this man his vegetables. halfway, you find lucky running about, the mutt so excited to see his favourite human he almost vibrates right out of his skin he happily leads you to his new home, where the man you hoped to find is chopping wood out front. shirtless.

-you're content to salivate over this mans physique but lucky is determined to share his excitement with his second favourite human and announces your presence by barking.

-simon is silently thrilled you're here. ever since he met you when he adopted lucky all those weeks ago, he's been working up the courage to go back and befriend you. only problem is, simon is not normal about anything, so he instead starts fancying up his house in the hopes that you might see it one day. he told himself it was a delusion to think you'd just appear without any effort on his part. but luckily for him, you're not normal about anything either.

-you get the grand tour of the place, making a few remarks on the garden out front and the adorable little wood stove in his house ("My grandma had one of these in her house, she used to cook with me on it all the time. my apartment isn't exactly equipped for one, but i've always wanted one anyways"). when you see his bed, you can't help but sit down on it, needing to know if it's a comfy and sturdy as it looks (def not imaging why it would need to be sturdy--you're a big girly, furniture needs to handle all that extra fluff if you're using it) it is exactly as comfy as you thought it would be, lying back against the hand-me-down quilt and closing your eyes

-you make a comment about how many animal pelt are in the bed, praising simon's expert preservation of the furs and off-handedly remarking how you always wanted to learn how to hunt. when you look up at him from his bed, raking your eyes over his giant frame standing there with barely contained lust? well, let's just say he's ruminating on how big the newest addition has to be for a nursery

----

this is just a drabble, but my panties get wet at the idea of a wild, forest-dwelling man sweeping me off my feet and away from civilization to go live with him in his little hut in the woods. im the type of delulu that would HAPPILY be a bare foot and pregnant wifey living with my half feral man who worships me daily and lives to please me

did i maybe ready waayyy too man werewolf romance stories as a tween? why yes, yes i did. it altered my brain chemistry in a way you guys just wouldn't understand, but i cannot be normal about relationships anymore and it's a problem

ANYWAYZZZ hope you enjoyed, cause i know i did ;)

[mirkosintern]

Crawlin’ back to you

pairing: dabi x fem!reader

genre: smut with a lil angst and fluff if you squint

notes: reader is a member of the lov, set in the meta liberation army arc (before the war!), possessive dabi, wowee this is my first work!! I never expected myself to be able to write a piece but here we are ehehe this was inspired by a certain tiktok actually. U may have already noticed but the title is from the song do I wanna know? by the arctic monkeys<3

warnings: 18+, unprotected sex, breeding, cum play, dubcon-ish?, toxic relationship, degradation, vulgar language, alcohol

word count: 3k

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That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day Crawlin’ back to you Ever thought of callin’ when you've had a few? 'Cause I always do Maybe I'm too busy bein’ yours to fall for somebody new Now I've thought it through

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Dabi wasn’t one to do feelings. He’s screwed numerous women, but they were nothing more than some toys to fulfill his sexual needs. Neither did he want to have feelings, nor did he need to. Afterall, his side hoes who begged to stay with him even after all the degradation he’s given them disgusted him the most. He would snicker at their pathetic attempts and cut them off ruthlessly.

However, you were an only exception.

No, he did not have feelings for you, he swears he never did and never will. But you were different from his other disposable sluts--he kept you around. He didn’t ghost you, instead, he kept coming back. It is only because you’re a member of the lov as well, he thinks. You are easy to access since you’re always around the lov base, and he doesn’t even have to worry about getting caught by civilians or stupid bitches who suddenly decide to turn him into the police. You guys were practically co-workers with benefits, fuck buddies where the “buddies” part is questionable.

Dabi didn’t mind that he made an exception for you until that night. That very night where you sleepily decided to crawl into his arms after a rough round and whispered him how you loved the rough texture of his skin against yours. That very night where you pressed delicate kisses beneath his jaw. The moment of intimacy—making his heart pound and warmth spread beneath his cold skin—was threatening. You were threatening.

That’s where he cut you off completely. He did not knock on your bedroom door located in the lov base anymore. He stopped sending those “you up?” texts at 3am. He didn’t even lock eyes with you or talk to you anymore.

It feels as if something heavy dropped inside you, squashing your heart to the point where it’s painful. You try your best to ignore the pang in your chest and remind yourself that you guys were nothing more than co-workers with benefits. However, the enduring heartburn only functions to make you realize how attached you were to him. He’s Dabi, the biggest scumbag you will ever meet, what did you expect? What were you thinking? It should be no surprise this happened, right? But having to encounter his stupidly handsome face every day was not doing any help. You are a girl with dignity, you tell yourself, trying your best to ignore his strong scent of campfire and cologne drowning you every time you guys are in the same room.

The pain is suffocating you for weeks, and you finally decide to completely get over him. The night Dabi brings a bimbo to his room and fucks her loud enough for everyone in the lov to hear—for you to hear—you’re done with everything. You step outside, get drunk, do anything to numbify the pain the raven-haired guy has caused you, and even meet a nice-looking guy who seems to be interested in you.

You are doing good without Dabi.

You don’t need Dabi anymore.

You are not letting him get to your head.

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A party.

League of villains is all about privacy, but they also started having some fun after uniting with the meta liberation army. Now they had sufficient money, people and place to throw parties every now and then without the danger of getting caught by civilians. Afterall, a number of heroes were in their side as well.

“Not gonna lie, you guys do know how to host parties.” Keigo smirks, picking up a glass of bourbon whiskey. “It’s fuckin’ lame,” Dabi answers as he downs a glass of liquor.

“So, what happened with y/n?” Keigo throws a suggestive smile.

“The hell you mean what happened with her?” Dabi frowns.

“Y’know, didn’t you guys used to be a thing or something?”

“Nah, she was an occasional fuck and that’s it.”

“Oh really? The Dabi I know never fucks a same bitch twice though. I thought she was something special.”

“Special?”

“Yeah, thought maybe you actually wanted her.”

A smug grin appears on Dabi’s face. “Never even liked her.”

“Have you seen her and her new boyfriend?”

The smile is quick to vanish from his face after hearing the word boyfriend. Dabi’s eyes widen, immediately glaring at Keigo. Before he could say anything, Keigo tilts his chin to point something.

“There they are.”

Dabi turns his head only to find you clinging onto some guy’s arm. Your cheeks are flushed –a pretty, pink glow on your face—as you bat your eyelashes at the guy. Bubbly giggles escape from your lips while you stare at him through half-lidded eyes. The guy’s arm is secured around your waists, pulling you closer to him.

Dabi sees red.

His entire body freezes as his grip around the liquor glass tighten. Dabi doesn’t say anything for a moment, but there is no way Keigo wouldn’t pick up how his cerulean eyes are flaming at the sight. “Well, I thought you knew.” Keigo pats Dabi’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t matter anyways right? You never liked her.”

“…Right.” Dabi takes another sip from the liquor, his eyes still fixed to you.

Keigo’s words are true; at least they are supposed to be true. Dabi didn’t have feelings for you. He doesn’t do romance. No feelings were ever involved with any of the women he’s slept with, and he made sure of it. It was so clear for Dabi without a question.

But why is it unable for him to erase the sight of you with some guy as he forces himself to sleep that night? Why are your sweet giggles echoing his head? Why can’t he get rid of the thought of you in that tight, black dress that perfectly complements the curves of your body? Why is the moment where the guy places his hand on your inner thigh replaying in his head? Why are thoughts of you messing with his mind?

“Fucking hell.”

Dabi gets up. This was fucking annoying. You were truly fucking annoying.

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You tilt your head to check the glowing digits of your digital clock on the nightstand. 2:15am. It’s late, and you haven’t even taken off the dress you wore to the party. You are too tired both physically and emotionally. You’ve done quite a decent job in entertaining the man who’s accompanied you through the whole party, but it was truly an energy-consuming task. You and him walked around as if you guys were the happiest couple in the party; but the truth is that you guys aren’t even properly dating yet. Solely because you have constantly been refusing to properly answer him asking you to be his girlfriend. It’s not that he’s bad looking or anything, but the idea of being with him just doesn’t sit right with you. Ever since you’ve met him, he couldn’t keep his hands off you without asking you anything about consent. You always had to pull his hand away with an uncomfortable smile, yet he never took a hint. However, when a dating rumor about you and him started and spread quickly, you didn’t try to correct anything. Maybe it was because you wanted to pull out a reaction from a certain villain. Maybe your unusual actions at today’s party; clinging onto the guy and laughing at every single word he spoke; was to make Dabi witness how happy you were.

 Truthfully, you were dying inside.

 What was even worse was that none of your attempts seemed to bring an ounce of reaction from Dabi. When have you become so pathetic and desperate? You feel tears welling up in your eyes, hot and burning, but you don’t want to cry. Not for an asshole like him. You take out your phone, find the guy’s name, and text him that you don’t want to see him anymore. You feel a little guilty, thinking that you may have used him to provoke something from Dabi, but your thoughts are too worn out for you to comprehend anything. You flop onto your bed and bury your face in your pillow. You huff out a deep sigh, and the soft texture of your cotton pillow feels warm on your cheeks. In all honesty, you were thinking about Dabi the whole time you were at the party. Whenever the guy’s hand creeped up your thighs or gripped on your ass, you imagined it was Dabi’s, trying your hardest to feel something from the contact.

 You weren’t over Dabi. You never were. Realization hurts, leaving a sour feeling in your mouth.

 Your body shoots up at the sudden, loud slamming sound emerged from your door. Your teary eyes widen at the lean man slamming the door shut. “Dabi?” You ask, not believing your eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?” Without an answer, Dabi’s one hand reaches for your throat as his other hand grips your wrist. His large body is towering over you, and you feel your bed shift as he dips one knee in the mattress. His sapphire eyes pierce through your soul, and you can feel his raging anger just from looking at him.

“You’re such a pain in the ass, y’know that?”

“Dabi, what are you-“

He doesn’t let you finish the sentence, pulling you in for a heated kiss. Your lips open reflexively, enabling him to deepen the kiss. The kiss is aggressive, and he doesn’t know whether it is because of his anger or his pent-up desires towards you that he has been suppressing. The kiss gets sloppier over time, hot and wet with saliva and tongue. He lets go of the grip on your wrist and starts tracing your inner thigh with his thumb, and you let out a soft moan. You finally pull away from the kiss to catch your breath, but he doesn’t cease to caress your thigh. Instead, he lowers himself to your ear. “You seem to really love thigh touches, don’t you?” His low voice and hot breath brushing the shell of your ear sends chills down your spine.

“Huh?”

“I always knew you were a slut, but never knew you were this much of a whore. You would bend over any guy who offers you some touches, right?”

Tears swell in your eyes again at his vile words, but it’s hard to talk when his knuckles are repeatedly brushing your clit.

“I’m… not a slut…nngh.” Suppressed moans escape your lips.

“Yeah? Why are you making those sounds then?”

“Dabi…”

He yanks your dress up and dips two fingers inside your lace panties, making you let out a weak yelp. Dabi raises his brows with a smug grin on his face.

“Oh, so she indeed is a slut huh? You get this fucking wet from a kiss?”

His two digits start pumping inside you, and you grip on his white shirt at the sudden sensation. Your gasps and moans get louder, and you suddenly feel his wet lips against your neck. Dabi sucks hard, making sure to leave dark purple marks from your jaw to your neck and shoulder, as he repeats the step of curling his fingers and pulling them inside and out your hole. “Dabi…too fast.” You whine out. “Yeah?” A sadistic grin appears on Dabi’s face. “Be a good slut and take what I give you.” His thumb reaches for your clit, making your legs shiver.

“Nngh…stop, I’m gonna… Dabi I’m gonna cum.”

“Stop? You want me to stop?”

“No!”

“Do you deserve it though?” he slows his pace while teasing your clit. “Beg.”

It’s humiliating, really—but do you have any other choice when you are this close?

“Please, Dabi… I’ll be your good slut. Please let me cum!” Your desperate cries have him pumping his fingers fast again, and soon you’re seeing white. Hot drops of release coat Dabi’s fingers as he pulls out.

“Say ah.”

“A-ah.”

You obey, and Dabi sticks his digits inside your mouth. Your mouth wraps around them immediately, sucking as if it’s a pacifier. “Good girl,” Dabi says as he pats your head, and it makes your stomach swoop with sick pride.

The bulge in his pants is becoming painful, and he contemplates on fucking your mouth. But he’s too impatient; He feels the need to abuse your cunt right now. He wants to hear your screams and cries as he proves who you belong to.

“Take that off.” Dabi gestures at your dress, and you start undressing as he demands. Dabi pulls down his sweatpants and boxers, causing his cock to spring out. It’s so pretty, you think, and you can’t help but admire his red tip, glistening with precum. He pumps his length a few times and lines it up with your entrance. You inhale a sharp gasp as you feel his whole length inside you. It feels so full; it feels as if he’s gonna split you in half if he starts moving.

“Ah, too big.”

“I know.” Dabi looks down on you. “Take it like a little slut you are.”

Before you could even talk back, he is moving inside you. Your moans blend with the noise of the bed creaking; a perfectly harmonized orchestra to Dabi’s ears.

You knew Dabi wasn’t one to prep you or go slow, but you feel like he’s going way rougher than usual. His wild thrusts have your head lolling backwards, and Dabi does not miss the chance to take a hard bite on your neck. You scream out of both pain and pleasure, and you feel two hot streams of tears on your flushed cheeks.

“Aww, she’s crying.” Dabi says in a mocking tone. “Bet you love the pain.”

Humiliation fills your chest and you turn your head away, but Dabi quickly grabs your chin with one hand, forcing you to directly face him.

“Who’s the one making you feel this full?” he asks.

“Y-you.”

“Did he ever make you feel this way?”

Wait, he? Who does he mean by he? Your alleged boyfriend? Could it be possible that Dabi was doing this out of jealousy? You try to comprehend, but it’s impossible for you to think clearly, not when Dabi is fucking you stupid. “No!” You shout.

Dabi’s free hand reaches for your clit and starts rubbing circles. “Tell me, who does this pussy belong to?”

“You…” You try to answer, but he suddenly lifts up your lower body and slams into your cervix in the right angle. It has you moaning even louder, your insides spasming around his cock.

“I can’t hear you.” He smirks sadistically.

“You, Dabi, it belongs to you! I belong to you!” You’re screaming his name like it’s the only word you know, making his cock twitch. “That’s right. You are all for me, all for me to use. Just a pathetic little slut for my cock.” A satisfactory grin appears on Dabi’s face.

Dabi lowers his body down and grunts directly into your ear as he thrusts even faster. The sound of his skin slamming into yours is so erotic, and you can feel how close you are.

“You wanna cum huh?” His words have you nodding frantically, babbling incoherent words. Yes Dabi—wanna cum so bad—wanna be yours—wanna be your good girl—please, dabi.

“Then do it. Make a mess on my cock.”

“Nngh, Dabi!” You scream out his name as euphoria washes down your body. His release follows you soon enough, painting your walls white. You feel warmth filling your belly while his groans echo in your ear. You’re still sobbing and panting after he pulls out, without any energy left to move. As your blurry vision starts getting clearer, you feel his warm skin and the sting of his cold staples against your back. His long arms wrap around your oversensitive body, pulling you closer to him.

“You’re messing with my head.” Dabi rests his forehead on the back of your shoulder.

“Huh?”

You’re confused, but Dabi doesn’t elaborate. His ego doesn’t let him do such thing.

“When you said you belonged to me, did you mean it?”

You bite your lower lip, not knowing how to respond to his sudden question. Millions of unspoken words and feelings are hanging in the back of your throat, creating a huge lump. You swallow them all and spit out a question instead. “Do you want me to belong to you?”

“Yeah.” Your eyes widen at his unexpected response, butterflies fluttering inside your chest. “Be mine.” His low voice vibrates against your soft skin. Your heart melts at his words, and you cannot stop your feelings from overspilling anymore. At that moment you both realize; you and Dabi were meant to crawl back to each other, no matter how hard you both try and struggle.

“I’m yours.” You smile, “I’m all yours.”

[wonhaebunny]

📂 I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU WRITE TODOBAKU BEFORE i think so tdbk please:( i wanna see your take on it

OKAY SO DURING MY EXAMS I STARTED THINKING ABOUT THIS HC BUT I NEVER GOT TO WRITE IT AND THEN I REMEMBERED THIS ASK SO HERE IT IS NOW!!!!

i think the main reason katsuki and shouto get along (?? questionable phrasing but i’ll run with it) so well is because they are both completely socially inept; katsuki deliberately so, while shouto just doesn’t know any better. they get close very very quickly because katsuki has absolutely no patience for small talk and niceties, and shouto isn’t socially aware enough to care for such things. in this way, the two of them understand each other on a fundamental level. 

so the two of them kind of... skip over a lot of things that normal friends would do. shouto is stupidly stubborn and intrusive in a way that would be considered rude for most people, and katsuki doesn’t mention it because he secretly prefers it this way.

the class is completely unaware of how close they are, as they’re both pretty private by principle. so the first time shouto off-handedly mentions katsuki’s house while sitting with the dekusquad in class, their jaws all drop simultaneously.

“it’s a little silly,” shouto is saying obliviously, “but somehow all his walls are pristine despite his quirk.”

“wait.” ochako cuts in. “you’ve been to bakugou’s house?”

she doesn’t, thankfully, mention the fact that shouto seems to be on first name basis with katsuki. she’s not sure whether her heart could handle an answer to that.

her words draw the attention of denki and hanta, who are sitting on a nearby cluster of tables. the two tune in almost instantly, with an urgency that only makes itself present whenever there’s potential blackmail material on katsuki available.

“yes?” shouto replies, a tad bemused. “that’s what i was just saying.”

“dude,” denki breathes, leaning over. “no way! he let you come over? the guy doesn’t even let us look at his dorm room!”

shouto blinks.

“i go there quite often. it’s not like he could stop me.” he says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

“c-can’t stop you?” ochako echoes. “todoroki, he would murder you.”

to his credit, shouto just blinks again. “well,” he says simply. “he hasn’t. he lets me pet his cat, and he feeds me whenever i come over, so i don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

his words are met with utter silence.

“his cat?” hanta repeats slowly.

“feeds you?” tenya adds on, incredulous.

“yes,” shouto says, to both.

“are you playing a prank on us?” izuku asks, looking a little terrified. “it’s not that i doubt your word, todoroki-kun, but kacchan would literally rather die than let anyone come to his house. i’ve only ever been there because his parents invited me.”

shouto gives him a somewhat impatient look. 

“he doesn’t let me.” he says, wearily. “but he’s not going to turn me away if i turn up. the reason you all haven’t been is because you make a big deal of it.”

it makes sense, when he says it like that, like it’s easy.

“you’re telling us he feeds you?” hanta presses on, more than a little skeptical.

at this, a fond, almost soft look comes over shouto’s face.

“yes, he’s oddly courteous like that.” he says, lips curling upward ever-so-slightly in a rare smile. “he’ll curse and bluster but once i’m there he’ll still serve me tea and food no matter what. his discipline trumps his pride, it seems.”

he says the words with an air of familiarity, and the others are left wondering when exactly shouto and katsuki grew so close.

“wait,” denki says, looking extremely frazzled. “not that this isn’t scintillating and all, but can we go back to bakugou having a cat?”

“yes. her name is hime.” shouto says happily.

there’s an almost audible record scratch.

the students all pause, making eye contact with each other over shouto’s head for a long moment.

“and katsuki let his family name her that?” hanta says weakly.

“oh, no,” shouto responds, eyes bright seemingly with the opportunity to talk about the elusive cat. “katsuki is the one that named her.”

hanta and denki look like christmas has come early. ochako and tenya look vaguely disturbed. izuku, on the other hand, looks downright terrified.

“wait,” denki says, suddenly very invested. “tell me more about his cat. no, tell me about his bedroom. is there anything embarrassing? have you found his por-”

he’s cut off by the slamming of the classroom door. in the doorway stands katsuki, as if he’s somehow sensed that he is the subject of conversation. but to their relief, he simply frowns and stalks to his desk, pulling out a folder and rifling through it.

“hime is a rescue kitten,” shouto says, completely unbothered by katsuki’s entrance. the others are gesturing to him frantically, signalling to cut off the conversation lest katsuki blow up at them, but he ignores them blissfully. “she’s lovely. i’m trying to get her to like me more than she likes katsuki but it’s proving very difficult.”

“that’s because she has fucking standards, dipshit!” katsuki barks over his shoulder, not looking up from his folder.

shouto pouts.

“she’s illusioned,” he sniffs. “i’ll bring her to my side soon enough.”

katsuki’s eyes narrow, and he fixes shouto with a severe glare over the tops of the group’s heads, like they’re not even there.

“you keep your filthy hands off my child.” he says venomously.

hanta falls off his seat, and denki chokes on his own spit.

“she’s basically ours at this point,” shouto says conversationally, absolutely fearless in the face of katsuki’s ire.

to everyone’s utter shock, katsuki doesn’t erupt at the declaration.

“as if,” he simply huffs. “you haven’t even seen her in a week and you think you can call yourself a decent parent.”

then, under his breath, “fuckin’ half-assed trash.”

shouto puffs his cheeks out, looking a tad guilty.

“tell her i’m sorry, i’ll come over tonight,” he says imploringly. katsuki simply harrumphs, finally pulling a paper from the file and shoving the rest back under his desk, turning to stomp out of the classroom.

“will you make yakisoba today?” shouto calls at his retreating back.

“go fuck yourself!” katsuki spits, not turning back to spare him a glance.

“that’s a yes,” shouto informs the rest of them matter-of-factly, looking very pleased with himself.

the others stare at him, wide-eyed and completely speechless.

“you-” ochako begins, a little faintly. after a moment’s deliberation, she shuts her mouth again. 

she doesn’t want to know.

[randomshyperson]

Wanda Maximoff/Reader - Land of Thieves - #ChapterSeven

Summary: When you were a child, you swore that no matter how high the reward in your head, she could always count on you. Life as an outlaw in the west is not easy, but you believe that train robberies are still easier than asking a pretty girl to dance. Land of Thieves, also know as your love story with Wanda Maximoff in the Wild West.

AO3> Land of Thieves 

Warnings:  18+, explicit language, explicit violence, slow burn, childhood friends to lovers, cursing, blood.

tags: @mionemymind

It doesn't take long before you reach the town, trotting lightly on the road while keeping your hat concealing your face. You have been to Rhodes a few times before, mostly to play Black Jack at the hotel in town. 

You know it's not the best place to find money-making opportunities, but you lead your horse toward the hotel, where the only decent bar in town is located, to try to find something. Saloons and hotels are always good places where you can hear about business opportunities.

You are relatively surprised to find Carol's sorrel, tied up in the driveway with other horses. You smile, and pet the animal as you dismount from your own horse. And then you walk toward the entrance, ignoring the curious glances that the civilians cast at you, most of them curious to see an outsider woman wearing pants.

Not finding Carol on the fist floor, you immediately assume that she is playing on the second floor, and go up the stairs. You wave your hat at two ladies who look at you in surprise as you reach the second floor.

Looking around as you walk towards the card table, you smile as you notice Carol letting out a laugh as she wins a round. You cross your arms and stop behind the table, watching the game.

- I was told that you were looking for a job in Rhodes. - You mock loudly, attracting the attention of everyone at the table. Seeing that Carol is quick to let out an exclamation sound, suggesting that she knows you, the other players just turn their attention back to the game. 

- Why don't you play with us for a while? - She suggests as the dealer begins to deal the cards again.

- I have work to do. - You say and Carol smiles wryly.

- We always have work to do. - She replies, and you laugh lightly. You watch her win another round, and then she signals that she is done playing. The table lets out an exclamation of disappointment, but Carol just shrugs her shoulders, walking toward you.

- Your friends are upset. - You sneer as she catches up with you and you walk toward the stairs.

- They will survive. - She replies with amusement. You reach the lower level, and walk to the bar. Carol buys herself a drink while you lean on the counter.

- Have you found anything interesting here? - you ask.

- That depends. - She speaks with amusement, and takes a sip of her beer before continuing. - I've encountered rednecks and ranchers with their boots buried in shit who think they are living in the best place in the country. - She sneers, and you laugh lightly. - But I also met the sheriff. They have some kind of feud between two families in this place.

- Really? - You ask and Carol nods.

- They look like those families from that story you liked as a child. - She says, gesturing as if she is trying to remember. - The one with the couple that dies.

- Romeo and Juliet. - You reply in an amused tone, finding the book's description funny.

- Yes, yes, that cheesy thing. - She says. - All I know is that they are filthy rich and they are trying to kill each other.

- Wow, that sounds promising. - You say as you think of the opportunities that might arise with these families of yours.

- I'll check out the families' properties later. - Carol says - I'll ask if they need more guards, or drivers. You know how rich people love to have several employees.

You laugh, agreeing. You are thoughtful for a moment, and Carol frowns.

- What is it with you anyway? - she asks and you shrug.

- I don't know, I'm a bit upset. - You say, turning to lean completely on the counter. - Potts just told me about Knight.

Carol put her hand on your shoulder, as she put the beer on the counter. 

- You know, you could use a drink. - She said as she asked the bartender to pour you both a whiskey. With the drinks in front of her, she raised her glass to make a toast. - To Knight.

You both turned the glass over afterwards, the drink burning in your throat. Carol shook her head and laughed lightly at the strong taste, and you laughed at her frown. 

- Keep it coming, honey. - She told the barman, who served you again. - I remember when I lost my first horse. - she said thoughtfully, before flipping another glass of whiskey. - Talos, he was the fastest Appaloosa I ever rode. Strong and stubborn. Wouldn't let anyone ride him but me, and then he was shot during a robbery.

- That's too bad. - You comment, drinking again. 

- Don't worry, kid. We'll find you another horse. - Carol says, and she gets annoyed at the bartender's delay in serving her and asks him to leave the bottle. After that, your glasses no longer remain empty.

It doesn't take long for the ground at your feet to start spinning along with your head. You are laughing at something, but not sure what. The musician in the bar is playing something very lively on the piano, and you join the people dancing, with Carol leaning an arm on your shoulders. You dance and dance until you stumble out of the bar, looking for a place to relieve yourself.

You stumble between giggles around the outside of the hotel, and Carol leans on you to avoid falling to the ground. You realize that it is already night, and tell the blonde next to you this in a false tone of fear.

- Our wives are going to be so angry. - She comments in a whisper, before laughing again. You follow her.

- Hold on. - You say, as you try to balance yourself. - I think we came from that side.

Carol nods, escorting you back to the hotel. 

You laugh all the way down the hall, and then you feel someone caress your face and your waist making you look up.

A harlot smiles at you, looking at you maliciously. You are too drunk to process exactly what is going on, but you let out a disgruntled grumble.

- Hey sweetie, do you want to come up to my room? - She asks as she presses your bodies together.

- No. - You say, feeling your head spinning. The other woman's perfume was confusing you. You're trying to remember exactly why you weren't enjoying being touched like that, but the alcohol wouldn't let you think straight. You thought it had to do with a redheaded woman. The harlot giggled, realizing your state. You tried to look for Carol, but you didn't see her anywhere.

- Come on, sweetheart. Let's have some fun. - The woman spoke again. You tried to lift her arms off her shoulders, but your muscles didn't seem to respond.

- Sorry, ma'am. - You say half breathlessly. - I think I'm married. - You almost beg, remembering Carol's line. - She'll be angry.

The woman laughs lightly.

- I don't see a ring. - She says holding up your hand. You blink, feeling your eyes tear up.

- Oh my god, have I lost my ring? - You whimper, your stomach starts to turn. 

- Come, I'll make you feel better. - She says, pulling you by the hand. You nod without really understanding what she is saying. She drags you around the room, and you finally see Carol, passed out on the drink counter. You call out to her, but your voice fails you.

And then you are no longer being pulled, and you look forward to see a woman you don't recognize, looking at you with a mixture of anger and concern. She pushes the harlot away, saying words that your drunken brain doesn't understand. And then she turns to you, her lips moving as she places her hands on your cheek, and the warm touch makes your body throb. You think someone is calling you, and you blink in confusion, trying to clear your thoughts. 

- Are you even listening to me? - says the woman, and lets out a grumble. - God, you're completely drunk. - She looks over the back of your shoulder, and you let your eyes wander to her neck, it looks so attractive. You blink in confusion as you are pulled around the hotel, your feet dragging.

- No, ma'am. I'm married, my wife will be upset. - You grumble, feeling your head spinning. 

The woman laughs.

- Oh yes, and who are you married to? - she asks jokingly. Before you know it, you've reached one of the bedrooms.

- I don't remember. - You whine. - My friend told me that my wife would be angry.

The woman doesn't answer, mumbling in response. She sits you down on the bed in the bedroom, taking off your boots. You start humming a song that you think you like.

- Getting wasted in an unknown city, you are so irresponsible. - You listen to the woman grumble, you don't understand why she sounds angry, but you hope she won't be angry with you too.

- Madam, I think I lost my ring. - You mumble, looking down at your hands. The woman helps you onto the bed, and you feel the soft pillows against your head. - Will you help me look for it?

- Yes. Get some sleep and I'll help you when you wake up. - she whispered tenderly. You smile, staring at the green orbs staring back at you with a slight frown.

- I wish you were my wife. - You murmur with a smile before closing your eyes. 

Your head hurts. A lot. You realize it as soon as you try to open your eyes. You grunt in pain, trying to get out of bed. You don't even remember how you got into a bed. And then you look around, realizing that it is a hotel room. Sitting up straight in bed, you run your hand over your face, trying to wake yourself up. 

You are very thirsty and you frown to find a glass of water already waiting for you at the head of the bed. Without thinking much about it, you grab the object and quickly pour the liquid down your throat.

The door opens next, and you let out a surprised exclamation when you see Wanda entering the room.

- Good, you're awake. - She says, but she seems annoyed. And then she lays a set of clothes on the bed. - Put these on.

And then you realize that you're only wearing a nightgown. You frown in confusion, trying to remember anything about last night.

- What happened? - Your voice comes out a little hoarse and you leave the now empty glass on the table. Wanda closes the door and crosses her arms, leaning against the wall.

- You and Carol got completely blasted last night. - She says, a serious expression on her face.

- Where is Carol?

- With Maria, in the next room. - She replies. You nod, stretching your body.

- How did you find me? - you ask, ignoring the latent headache.

- Well, Potts told me you had work to do. And Carol hadn't come back yet, so Maria came to look for her. We found Carol passed out drunk on the bar counter, and you were being dragged by a whore into one of the rooms.

- Oh, God. - You mumbled in shame, covering your face with your hands. 

- No, it's okay. - Wanda retorted, her voice slightly high-pitched with anger. - The woman was clearly trying to take advantage of you, and I told her to go fuck herself. Then she left you alone.

You let out a short laugh, finding Wanda's aggressiveness amusing. But the redhead looked angry, you frowned as you stood up, looking at the clothes she brought you.

- Why are you angry? - you asked, unfolding the shirt. Wanda snorted incredulously.

- You are supposed to be working and I find you completely drunk, almost having sex with a stranger! - Wanda exclaims angrily. You raise your eyebrows in surprise.

- What is it now, Wanda? It's not like I never drink. - You grumble, loosening the threads of your sweater. You pull it off over your head, leaving only your underwear on to put on the clean garments Wanda brought you. Since you are both pissed off now, neither of you really registers this. - Besides, I was upset. With Knight's death and all. Carol just wanted to cheer me up a bit.

- Oh, of course. - Wanda said with a tone of debauchery as you put on your blouse. - You clearly tried to cheer yourself up in the first bed that came along!

You laughed wryly. Where were those accusations coming from, anyway? You didn't even remember anything.

- You just said nothing happened. 

- Because I came on time! - Wanda countered. - If I had stayed at the camp, you would be waking up in her bed right now!

- This is ridiculous. - You grumble, sitting up in bed to put on your boots after your pants. 

- But you know what, I don't even know why I'm saying this to you! - She exclaims flatly, and you don't look at her, just wishing this stupid fight would be over with. - You don't owe me any explanations about who you' re going to bed with.

- What?" - you murmur, but then Wanda comes out of the room, slamming the door. You sit there for a good few minutes, trying to understand exactly what has happened.

You hear a knock on the door, and then Maria pokes her head into the room, smiling at you.

- Hi Maria. - You greet her, getting up.

- Hi Y/N. We're going back to the camp, are you coming? - She asks, and you just nod, a sad smile on your lips.

- I still have work to do, and I don't think Wanda wants to talk to me right now.

Maria waves sadly to you, and leaves the room, closing the door. You let out an annoyed sigh, grabbing your hat from the headboard before leaving the room.

Carol waits for you at the bar, and she is drinking water. She doesn't seem upset.

- Hey, good morning. - She says hello and you accept when she pours you some water.

- Not so good. - You mutter as you sit down. Carol giggles.

- I'm sorry about your fight. - She says, and you frown with confusion. She shrugs. - You both talk loud.

You nod in agreement, leaning your face against your hands. 

- Is everything okay with Maria? - you ask, and Carol nods.

- She was worried, but not really angry. - She says, and grabs her own hat, which she had left resting on the counter, and puts it on her head. - Let's focus on work for a few hours, shall we?

- Okay. - You murmur, getting up to follow Carol out of the hotel.

Carol rides beside you as far as the city limits, humming softly. You are lost in your own thoughts, reviewing the argument with Wanda, when you hear her calling you.

- You need money, right? - she asks.

- Yes. - You simply reply.

- I have a hint. - She says. - I helped a fellow at the station. He told me about a carriage. 

You laugh.

- What fella, Danvers? - You ask, and Carol rolls her eyes, laughing lightly.

- It doesn't matter. - she says humorously. You continue riding in silence for a few minutes, then Carol checks her watch. - Well, tell me if you are going to participate or not. I have to be at the meeting point.

Blinking in surprise, you straighten your posture.

- Damn, I didn't know it was this time already. - You comment. - I'm in, of course.

Carol smiles, and leads the way. You slightly speed up the gallop of the horses.

- This is it. - Carol says when you stop in a rather isolated area of the countryside. You thought you were near Saint Denis. - They will come from that direction. Let's wait behind those trees.

Stealing carriages was not a difficult job in general. One just had to be careful that things didn't get out of hand. Fortunately, Carol's contact was precise enough with the number of guards. You fired quickly, giving them no chance to react. And then you noticed the army crest on the carriage and frowned.

- Damn, they were feds? - You exclaimed as you dismounted from your horse, Carol looked as surprised as you were.

- Shit, Alden. - she grumbled. You figured Alden was the name of her contact. - Let's just steal the locker soon, and get out of here.

You nodded, crouching down to feel the carriage vault at the bottom. It didn't take long to find it, and you pulled it to the floor. Using your revolver to break the handle, you let out a hiss as you saw the amount of bills.

- Good job, Miss Danvers. - You joked, counting the money. You divided it into three parts: yours, Carol's, and the Camp's. 

Carol smiled and thanked you, but she continued with that worried look on her face as you mounted again, and rode away.

You were silent for another moment, Carol was strangely thoughtful, so you decided to ask.

- I'm trying to find out if Alden would set me up. - she said, without taking her eyes off the road. - He's not exactly someone who makes enemies. He gives tips for carriage robberies in exchange for a share of the profit.

- Maybe he didn't know. - You comment.

- Yes, I don't think he knew. - She says. - But this is still suspicious. The information he had was that a landowner's carriage was going to pass by. Easy money, few guards. 

- So someone lied about the registration of the trip. - You say, without really caring about it. - Rich people lie all the time. Maybe it is an illegal service. 

- I hope so, kid. - Carol says. - I wouldn't want it to bring trouble.

You nod, and you ride off again in silence. 

It took a while for you to get all the items on Potts' list, but when you finally finished, you stowed the items in the load on your horse, and rode back to camp. Carol was no longer with you, she said she needed to investigate the two families in town, and you waved goodbye.

The camp was quiet, most members were going about their daily chores. You watched Thor demonstrate to Monica how to skin properly, as you passed the hunting wagon, carrying the wrapped items that Potts asked you to buy.

You smiled at Pepper as you handed her the items, and she thanked you by ruffling your hair lightly. 

Looking around the camp, you let out a low grumble, remembering that you had to talk to Wanda. You decided to take a shower first, because even in clean clothes, you still smelled like booze.

- Trouble in paradise? - You tripped in shock while bathing, suddenly hearing a male voice. It was Pietro, who sat on the edge of the lake where you were standing. You had chosen a far corner of the camp to bathe in.

- Hi, Pietro. - You greeted, lathering your own hair again.

- Wanda is pissed off. What happened? - he asks after a moment. You feel your body tense at the mention, but do your best to cover it up.

- We had a disagreement. - You tell. - Actually, I don't really understand what happened.

- Tell me what happened so I know what to say. - He asks with slight amusement in his voice. You roll your eyes.

- Carol and I have had a few more whiskeys than we should have. - You start, and Pietro raises his eyebrows in irony, but you just ignore him. - And then Wanda and Maria came to pick us up in Rhodes.

- Okay, this doesn't seem like a big deal. We already drank more than we should together several times and it never bothered Wanda.  - he comments. And he assumes a thoughtful expression for a moment. - Nothing else has happened?

- I am not sure. She told me that Carol was passed out when they arrived, and that I was being dragged away by a harlot. - You say.

- Sorry, repeat that last part for me, please. - He asked with a mixture of seriousness and humor in his voice.

You frowned, as you repeated the words. It took a minute, and Pietro burst out laughing. You splashed water on him, and he stood up quickly, stepping away.

- She almost punched me when I asked her to switch our chores. - Pietro began, still laughing. - All this because she is jealous.

- What? - You asked in surprise, feeling your heart racing.

- You two are a disaster, I swear. - He commented, as he turned and walked back to the camp.

You spent several minutes trying to understand what happened at the hotel, replaying the interaction you had with Wanda. And then you let out a laugh, feeling your cheeks flush a little. It was funny to think that Wanda was jealous of you, if only she knew how completely in love you were with her, and no one would ever take her place.

Finishing your shower, you put on your clothes and walked towards the campsite, hoping that your girlfriend would be willing to talk to you about it.

Your eyes search for Wanda the very second you enter the tented camp area. You find her at the edge of the lake, away from the rest of the camp, and standing in front of one of the long trees, fishing. You bite your lip to keep from smiling, thinking that she looks absolutely adorable.

You walk beside her, making a noise with your feet so as not to scare her. Wanda turns her head to look at you for a moment, but doesn't smile, turning her attention back to the water.

- Can we talk? - you ask as you stop beside her.

- We are talking. - She replies, still not looking at you. You smile, turning your head to face the water.

- Your brother has an interesting theory. - You begin. - He believes that you are jealous.

Wanda lets out an incredulous laugh, looking at you with irritation. You think she looks pretty.

- Are you trying to irritate me even more? - Wanda says, and you turn to her. 

- Let me show you something. - You ask, offering your hand to Wanda. She rolls her eyes impatiently, throws the fishing rod on the ground, and takes your hand. You smile, but don't take her very far. You pull her gently behind the tree, hiding you from the rest of the camp. You lean your back against the wood as you pull Wanda by the hand to yourself. 

Wanda holds her breath at the proximity, and you smile as you stare at her lips.

- You know, Wanda, you don't have to be jealous. - You whisper, and she blinks in confusion and irritation.

- I’m n...

- Let me finish. - You interrupt with amusement. Wanda shifts her weight from her feet and rolls her eyes, but she doesn't refuse when you place one of her hands on your waist.

- I wanted to show you... - You begin, and use your hands together to guide Wanda's hand down to the level of the buttons on your pants. You feel your heart race, but guide her hand down to your belly, slowly making its way through the fabric of your pants along with the cotton of your panties, until it superficially touches your wet pussy. You both gasp at the contact. - How much I want you. - You close your eyes, bringing your foreheads together. - Nobody makes me feel this way, Wands.

Wanda says nothing for a moment, you feel the tightness in your waist increase. You try not to shiver against her fingers, biting your lips to keep from moaning at feeling her so deeply.

- You'd better not forget that. - Wanda whispers with a mixture of aggressiveness and teasing that makes the spot below your stomach clench. She removes her hand from your pants, and gives you a kiss on the cheek before walking away, leaving you alone, hot and horny against the tree.

[sunmoonandsandsoundtracks]

sleigh ride

...i was so proud. i thought i was going to have two days of being under 1k. even for a character i've never had any particular love for (okay, so that applies to obito too, and he was also a 1k+ story), i can't limit my word count.

*sigh* what can ya do?

anyway, here's another spur of the moment idea i had (which is all but the one on the fifth, since i'd been toying with that one for a month before i wrote it), and it got away from me. it's still cute, even if it's not that well written.

disclaimer: the plot and unnamed character only are mine to own, so if you feel inclined to sue, fuck off and leave me alone.

song- this is the one that has the vibe i liked best for this fic, but don't sleep on the ella fitzgerald one.

word count: 1189

enjoy!

If anyone told you your boyfriend would hitch the dogs that worked alongside him, his mother, and his sister to a sleigh to take you on a ride around the village, you’d have laughed yourself into a coma until next winter.

Yet that’s exactly what you found when you answered the door.

“Kiba Inuzuka, what in the name of the six hokage are you doing?” You questioned in awe. “Where did you get a sleigh?”

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ve got connections!” He proudly declared with a huge grin.

“Apparently. I never knew you were this well connected.” You walked over to pet the dogs, starting with Akamaru. “Hi, boy. Are you making sure he’s being good?”

You got an excited yip and a lick to your cheek in response, making you laugh. “That’s a good boy! I’ll have a treat ready next time I know I’ll see you.”

Then you moved on to the others, amazed. “Kuromaru, what did he do to bribe you into this? Whatever it was, I’m sure it wasn’t worth it.”

“He’s just lucky we all like you,” the giant wolf-like dog replied, “or nothing would be enough.”

“Aw, well, thank you. I like you all too. More than I like him half the time. Was Tsume-san okay with it?”

“She just told him not to screw this up.”

You laughed and scratched behind his ear. “Well, I greatly appreciate it. This is wonderful. Give her my thanks.”

Then you moved on to the Haimaru brothers, who were calmer than Akamaru, but just as happy to see you. “And you three can give my thanks to Hana-san. You all are amazing.”

“Hey, we’ve got to get going,” Kiba interrupted, gently coaxing you into the sleigh. “We don’t want to keep these guys out when it’s this cold.”

“Of course not,” you agreed.

When the two of you sat down and he had wrapped a heavy blanket around the two of you, the team of five took off, running just fast enough to keep the sleigh moving at a decent speed while giving you a chance to look around. They obviously knew right where they were going, skirting around the village enough for you to see the decorations and lights, but avoiding anywhere that had people. You marvelled at everything as it glittered. It was very different from anything you’d ever done before. After just over half an hour, you came to a stop at a familiar spot. It was just a little clearing, not too far from his home.

“Kiba, is this-”

“Where we first met as kids? Yeah,” he explained as he pulled out a thermos of hot chocolate and two small cups. “Akamaru has loved you ever since, I hope you know.”

“Good,” you smiled and eagerly accepted yours when he handed it to you, letting it warm your hands. “I’ve loved him since then too. You took a fair bit longer to get in my good graces.”

“You weren’t my favorite person either.”

You shared a laugh at the memory.

“We were both such brats,” you admitted. “You thought you owned this area because you and Akamaru trained together everyday, and I refused to leave just to prove you wrong, even though I could have gone anywhere else.”

“True. I still thought you were cute.”

Your smile softened into something sweeter. “I might have thought the same thing about you, but I was still too distracted by the puppy.”

“Everyone was, and still is, even though he’s not a puppy anymore.”

The canine in question barked.

“Yes, Akamaru, you’re still just as adorable!” You called, earning a proud sounding huff.

“You’re the reason he cares at all,” Kiba said. “He just likes you too much.”

“What can I say? I’m not his partner, but some people and animals just click.” You cautiously sipped at the drink, trying to warm up further.

“That’s true. You know, I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me if we break up.”

You eyed him, a little concerned. “Yeah? I’d still give him treats, if that’s what he’s worried about.”

“No, but he does love those. He’d miss seeing you all the time.”

“It’s not like we see each other all the time now. It wasn’t that long ago that we went almost two months without getting to spend any time together. Missions are always going to pull us away.”

“I know, and that sucked. I have an idea that might make it easier, though.”

Your confusion was clear. “What are you thinking?”

He sighed. It was shaky, and so were his hands. “Do you remember what today is?”

“Um,” you mumbled as you thought on it, trying to come up with something. When you remembered the date, it hit you, and you felt horrible. “It’s our first anniversary.”

You’d known it was coming. You’d thought about what you’d do, but with the busy season, it all went right out of your mind.

“Yeah. We made it official one year ago, but it doesn’t feel any different than what we were like since way before then, so it really doesn’t feel like we need to wait any longer, but we can if you want. I still just want to ask…”

You watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. “We can wait as long as you want, but I don’t want to be in the exact same place we are right now on our second anniversary. Will you marry me?”

He opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond on a band of gold.

You weren’t the kind to get super emotional- which was one thing he appreciated about you- so you didn’t get choked up. Still, you were stunned. You never would have expected it to happen that day.

“Yes,” you found yourself speaking before you felt fully ready, but it was still the right answer.

Kiba had done his best to be patient, but he was still fidgety, knowing he was going out on a very high and tenuous limb. When you spoke, he felt safe again.

“Yes?” He questioned.

“Yes, you dork!”

He threw his arms up in victory, nearly throwing your ring as well, making you crack up. A celebratory howl followed when it was on your finger, which Akamaru and the triplets joined in on. Kuromaru just rolled his eyes.

“Well, they won’t have to ask him when we get back. They definitely heard that,” the black and white dog said.

You couldn’t stop laughing, until your fiance made you, taking you in a kiss that the dogs all pointedly avoided looking at.

“Okay, let’s get home!” He said when he released you. “We’ve still got to tell Ma and Hana. They’ve been telling me to man up and do this.”

“I’m sure they have!”

The timing for snow to start falling couldn’t have been better as you headed back. Nothing from before he picked you up, and even if it had gone terribly, nothing after you left the clearing would have mattered either.

It would always be remembered as the perfect ending to a perfect day.

[egcdeath]

golden girl

summary: if only paradise could last forever. (read here on ao3!)

word count: 1.3k

pairing: steve rogers x reader

warnings: fluff, angst, sad ending

author’s note: this is my first fic ever, and it’s based off the song “golden girl” by frank ocean. just a heads up, this isn’t really in chronological order, so sorry if it’s hard to follow at times! enjoy :-)

She peels an orange

For us in the morning

She woke me up to give me half

You stood in the kitchen with a sharp paring knife in hand, delicately pulling back the skin of a fragrant orange as you prepared the last of a small breakfast. You set the skinned citrus on a platter next to a bagel, and a few lost pieces of bacon among eggs. You hoisted up the platter then shuffled into the room that you’d shared the night prior. Settling down next to him on the bed, you used your thumb to brush a stray hair of his tired face, and admired his worn, yet peaceful resting appearance. Drawing your thumb down to his lip, then to his chin, she rubbed his stubble. Sensing that he was beginning to wake, you pulled her hand away.

“Hey sleepyhead,” you playfully chided.

“Good morning to you too,” Steve chimed back, “this for me?” He asked, slurring together a few of the syllables. You responded contently with a nod, and he reached out to grab a slice of orange. “You’re too good to me.”

I can hear the children soccer ballin'

Like wildcats running on the grass, hey

You're a girl on this island

I'm a boy from America

The pair trudged through the busy street, hands brushing against each other every so often. Just a few hours prior, you’d picked him up from the local airport to be his guide while he stayed during his vacation. Now, she pointed out a few of her favorite sights on their way to the AirBNB he would be staying at. As they approached the rental, they passed some children prancing on a soccer field as they played.

“An island favorite,” she informed him. “You play any?”

“I mean… Not particularly.” Steve chuckled uncomfortably, trying to become a bit more aquatinted with someone he was going to be spending a decent amount of time with during his trip.

“I’ll show you!” You responded before outright grabbing his hand, and dragging him onto a patch of empty grass, picking up a makeshift ball on your way. Steve wondered to himself what he’d gotten into, while you simply hoped that you were making a good impression on someone who had saved the world countless times.

Making your way onto the grass, the two of you passed the ball back and forth, and surprisingly, he lost by a landslide. But it felt good. Natural. Steve was unwinding already, and that was exactly what he needed on this vacation. A good escape from such a fast-paced and stressful life.

My flight leaves tonight, but I don't think I'm going backwards

I won't be going backwards

Steve looked deep into your eyes, seemingly searching for something, anything. An answer to the inevitable dilemma he was facing. He needed to be back home. Work as an Avenger called him. He had missions and people who wanted to see him back in the tower. His flight was in 8 hours, but who was counting? He reached out a calloused hand to grip onto her soft arm.

“I’m changing my flight,” He said hesitantly, more of a question than statement.

“Really?” You responded quietly, receiving a nod in return. You pulled herself closer to him, and peppered his face in a shower of kisses. “Good. I don’t know what I would do without you.” You whispered before burying your face in his chest and breathing in the musky scent of your lover, and basking in the sense of relief, knowing that you would have at least a bit more time with the man you'd quickly fallen for.

You're my golden girl

You're the one I've chosen, girl

You're 24k

You make it bright when it's grey

You two were hiking through dense, misty forest in the early morning when something finally occurred to Steve. You were rambling on about some band you thought he might like, passion latching onto every word you uttered, and a twinkle in your eye. His first thought was fleeting. She was the one. What? He then thought to himself. You’d only spent a few days together, but there was undeniably something there. There was tension in the way you looked at each other, domesticity in the empty time you spent together, and comfort in the way they confided in each other. Every minute he spent with you just felt so good. It all seemed so… right.

Silent moments, meditative poses

You break my focus, you make me laugh

You met Steve at his rented home at the crack of dawn on the third day of his trip to do some yoga- he’d insisted after he found out that you occasionally taught a yoga class or two to groups of tourists. Walking out to his temporary backyard, you two set out on your stretchy adventure.

You'd both anticipated a more relaxing morning, but found yourselves giggling between crow and camel poses, and ultimately extended you morning routine to a time much later than necessary. You couldn’t believe just how much of an impact he’d had on her life already. At first, you'd expected Steve to be another boring, uptight, and plain (yet attractive) tourist, but you quickly realized that he was different. Steve's comforting presence, his sweet words, and the way he always seemed to know what you were thinking. But the thought of being together was crazy and farfetched, he lived in New York. He was an Avenger, for God's sake! How could you ever end up with that? If you weren’t careful, you might just end up falling for someone who you had no chance of ever being with.

I'm my best on this island

I'm a mess in America

The first official date you two went on began on the patio of a local restaurant on the beach, and ended up in the bed of the slightly lived-in bedroom of Steve. You weren't sure how things escalated so fast. One moment, you two were eating appetizers, and looking deep into each others eyes, and the next you were being frantically kissed against the wall of the rental home, both of your brains clouded with a haze of passion and lust.

As you laid in bed together, breathing in each others’ scent, you began to think of what the next week ensued for you, and specifically, how things would change once Steve had to leave once again, and protect a hurting world.

“You know, I’m at my best here,” he told you genuinely. You smiled wordlessly back at him, and gave him a soft kiss in return, now attempting to abandon those thoughts.

I'mma stay right here, with you

Til the hurricane comes, 'til the tsunami comes, I've found my gold

Steve's rescheduled flight was taking off in 16 hours, 43 minutes and 27 seconds. Yet every millisecond felt like a lifetime. Steve swore he couldn’t leave without you. You’d become his world in just two weeks. The two of you laid together in his soft bed nude, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room with thick tension. Neither of you wanted this, or even knew how to face the inevitable. Steve couldn’t avoid his life back home forever. There seemed to be one simple answer that seemed quite obvious to him.

“Come with me.” Steve whispered, breaking the silence, yet making the returning silence that you returned even more painful. Even in the dark, he swore he could see your doe eyes well up, then release a single tear.

As he stared out the airplane window, he slowly brought himself back to reality. Back to the soft hum of the plane, the twinkling sound of the machine reminding folks to put back on their seatbelt, the faint noise of a child crying and the forgotten audio of a movie playing quietly in his headphones. Soon he would have to face the bustling life of the city again. The stress of work was calling him back once more. He attempted to blink a way a hot tear as he allowed himself one final thought,

Nothing good lasts forever.

[codevassie]

i've got a request! prinxiety fantasy au. roman became a prince after making a deal with a magical creature (that can be a side but also can remain unnamed, whatever works for you). the deal was: roman would become prince but in exchange, the creature would take his true love when roman would meet them. so roman was always careful not to fall in love with anyone. that worked until he met virgil. aaand i leave the rest up to you! i hope this makes sense lol

CV: Sorry it’s so long and also not long enough and also really late. Thank you so much for your patience! My mind would not stop coming up with ideas for this fic but I wrangled it in enough to get this out. Hope you like it, An!

CW: Weapons, Trauma, Injury [Edit: Angst, Unhappy Ending]

On Ao3 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Prince Roman was kind and fair to all who knew him. It was uncanny to his citizens how Disney their prince was. He glowed in all ways–always smiling, exceedingly handsome, eyes gleaming with pride. 

He was also a bachelor, sworn to it almost like a monk. He loved to flirt and would dance with many a handsome man; Roman was no stranger to romance and collected kisses like precious stones. He was not one for staying with one person, sweetly turning down those who came back, wanted more. There was guilt in his eyes, but the prince never wavered.

He was determined to rule on his own, with only advisors to lean on and citizens to give his love. This was something that had never happened before, but their kingdom had also never had a prince like Roman before.

Since the day their prince had been crowned heir to the throne by the childless king and queen, things had been very different in their kingdom. Royalty did not have to be blood, and a king did not need a queen, or any spouse at all. 

Roman did not want to marry. And no one would have batted an eye at this–but the prince did not seem to want anything at all. Full of love, he had no one to give it. Friendly, but lacked friends. It was a constant source of gossip around the castle–why their beloved prince insisted on being alone.

But the prince knew what he was doing. Roman knew well the dangers of growing close to others.

He didn’t regret the decision he made. As prince, he could make a difference; he had somewhere he belonged. A mother and father who cared. Citizens he adored, and adored him in turn. People to care for, to fight for. Roman now had more than he ever hoped in his once hopeless life.

Most importantly, Roman had his brother back. That was worth more than anything Roman could have gained or given. Worth more than his very life.

So, no. He didn’t regret it. If he had the choice, he’d always go back and face those wild eyes, those scales and wicked lies for the chance to have this.

Whoever he’d meant to love one day would have to find someone else.

-/-

“How are you today, Remus?“ 

Remus hummed. Roman knew that translated to ‘not very well.’

“Okay,” he said calmly. He moved over into the brightly lit room to where his brother sat at the window. Roman sat across from Remus and said nothing else. Today wasn’t a talking day.

So Roman sat and let his nerves calm, his mind wander like his brother’s must have been. He couldn’t imagine what sort of things Remus saw–flashbacks from the hills and the caves and the fear. Roman grew restless, and he couldn’t imagine how Remus did it for days on end, jolted into another reality that existed in his head, in the past.

He passed a lot of his days like this, sitting quietly by his brother’s side. Probably not enough though. Never enough to help. But it was hard to balance his time now that he was prince, always something more to do, something he could do to help, to plan, to sign, to consider. It was a lot.

But at least they weren’t terrified every day would be their last.

At least Remus was with him again, safe. 

“I miss Dee,” Remus surprised Roman by speaking up. Roman looked over, but his brother hadn’t moved. His gaze was towards the hills.

There was nothing Roman could say to that. He stood reluctantly, taking a glance towards the horizon himself, before stepping back. “Sorry I can’t stay very long today.” It had only been twenty minutes Roman noted by the clock on the mantle, but Remus didn’t seem phased. “I’ll come eat dinner with you tonight, though,” Roman offered. Still, nothing. “Alright. Bye, Remus.”

Roman stepped out, careful to not make any loud noises as he shut the door. Days like this were the reason Remus’ room was far away from the hustle and bustle of the castle. The noise was too much for him. There were still plenty of people around to attend to him though, to make sure he didn’t get up to too much trouble during the times he was lucid.

That didn’t stop Roman from stepping away and quietly knocking his head on the opposite wall. Forehead supporting him, Roman sighed, trying to piece himself back together. Once he had built himself up, able to give a winning smile and a confident gait, Roman picked himself up and squared his shoulders.

A prince had very little time to spare already, and he had used what he had to visit with his brother.

Winding through the halls, Roman made his way back to the front study, where his advisor and a handful of guards waited. When he opened the doors, he shot them all his winning smile. “Are we all ready?”

It took them no time at all to get to town, then just a little further to the square, which was under construction. It was a smaller project, but one that Roman loved: a park, with room for community gardening, a playground with outdoor instruments, a couple pieces of exercise equipment, and a small stage for community theater. 

It was important to him, but it was something he rarely had the time to see into fruition. There was more pressing matters in the kingdom that Roman had to oversee.: discussions to meditate, economic policies to study, corruption to dig into. When Roman became a prince, he’d known it would be a tough job, but he had never expected what seemed like such a nice kingdom on the outside to have so much else on the inside.

It was exhausting, but this park was where Roman hoped to make a positive influence. He barely had the time for it, but he made the time for it. It was usually what kept him awake at night in his office, going over budgets and blueprints.

He hadn’t been to the site for a month.

When the carriage pulled up, Roman jumped out, guards already on his tail. He didn’t wait for them, though, striding straight towards the ring of architects and construction crew at one side. A quick glance around told Roman they were making decent headway on the tiny amphitheater. 

Looking back, he took stock in what he would be dealing with. The kind architect was there, so he’d have to do his best to steer clear. Roman was a sucker for nice guys. The smart one was there too. Damn it; double the threat. 

“Hello, Shelby, Logan, David, Patton, Christie,” he greeted the ones he knew by name. “How is everything going?”

Shelby, the team leader, stepped forward, giving a kind smile. “Moving forward at a considerable pace, my prince,” she said, and, from there, they dived in. The architects pointed to blueprints and talked about estimated times for finishing different aspects, as well as possible obstacles and needed materials. They talked for half an hour before they were talking in circles again, and Roman knew he needed to draw a line and make a retreat.

“It sounds like you all are doing splendidly and have things well under control. I would say continue forward with how you’re doing. I trust you to make the right calls.” His smile was wide, and he was beginning to feel the line of business and friendly failing. 

All Roman wanted to do was share jokes with Patton. Listen to Logan tell him about the book he was reading. Even hear about Shelby’s family–though she was hardly a threat to the curse inside Roman. Still, Roman felt wrong for staying around, for getting near anyone with the danger he posed.

Roman needed to get somewhere safe. He needed just a breath of fresh air–somewhere without pretense, where he wasn’t constantly tottling between unnecessary rudeness and letting his traitorous heart do what it does and fall far too quickly.

He had always fallen fast and hard, always one for all or nothing. Never at a mere glance, no. He may be a romantic, but love at first sight simply wasn’t real. Deep longing at first sight was something Roman was prone to, though.

But Roman was careful. Never would he let an innocent soul pay for his deeds. If the price he had to pay was his love, then he would simply never fall in love. 

And, since love at first sight wasn’t a thing, Roman could simply stay away from anyone he might have liked. If Logan’s smart words made him blush, if Patton’s puns made him giggle-

Off Roman went. If he didn’t stay around them, he couldn’t fall in love with them. Easy enough.

That may have been a reason Roman rarely made his way to the park construction or spent too much time at any of his projects. He cycled through advisors. He exchanged polite greetings with guards and nothing else. He was an amiable prince, who reached out to his citizens, but he couldn’t afford to be too friendly, to get attached.

He knew he could be better. Without this fear, he could be so much better. He’d be friends with everyone he knew, not acquaintances. He’d be a personal ruler, not a distant one. 

He couldn’t risk the lives of his citizens though.

So, at the nearest chance, Roman ducked away. The others invited him to coffee, but he declined. 

Instead, he went somewhere he’d normally never go. He marched into the library, waltzed straight up to the most infuriating person he knew.

Not even Roman was hopeless enough to fall for Virgil.

“My prince,” the librarian greeted lazily, not even standing from his slumped position across the desk. “What can I do for you today?“ 

He picked up a pen and scrawled across a paper, deigning to not even look Roman in the eye. Whatever pleasantness Roman had felt upon seeing a familiar, unexpectant face, soured at the blatant rudeness.

This callousness was what had sealed the deal for Roman in the first place though. The absolute zero percent chance that Roman could like, much less love, this man. Roman never thought he could hate one of his own citizens, but this guy… He was the worst. 

Roman could have never fallen in love with someone so… Virgil. So condescending and sarcastic and pessimistic. Virgil brought with him a stormy cloud of hatred everywhere he went. The mere thought of being around him was deplorable.

Which made him perfect.

“I just came to see your lovely face, my chemical woe-mance,” Roman said breezily. He had taken to maliciously flirting with the library assistant. It satisfied both his need to flirt with someone and his abhorrence of the man’s face.

And tone.

And personality.

And the way he pointed out every security detail his guards had missed by walking in there. 

And how he always pointed out the measures Roman was slow to take with his policies, and ones that he missed, redirecting Roman’s attention to needed areas. 

And when his hair fell in his eyes because, damn it, Roman wasn’t blind.

And when he laughed at something because he wasn’t horrible all the time and those were the times Roman panicked the most because shit did he mess up by letting himself talk to Virgil so much-

And his fashion sense was also horrible, so there.

But, of course, Roman was above such things. If the gloomy broody wanted to stoop, Roman would not-

“Forget how to say your own name again?” Virgil asked, and Roman stopped in his tracks, shooting him a confused look. “Hate to break it to you, but Roman doesn’t have a W.”

Roman’s face lit up red and he straightened faster than a cat struck by lightning. 

“I am your prince,” Roman said, hands curling into fists. The guards behind him didn’t react, however. By this point, they were all used to Roman and Virgil’s arguing. 

They thought it was ‘banter.’ Roman often reminded them it was a verbal battle of wits. They asked why he kept coming back.

He never answered that.

“I don’t need reminding every time you’re here, my prince,” Virgil rolled his eyes. It was ironic how the honorific fit in his mouth, like a bad taste. 

“Don’t call me that,” Roman snapped. Virgil raised a brow.

“What do you expect me to call you then?” he asked. “Your excellency? Your highness? General pain in my ass?”

“You make all of those sound like ‘general pain in my ass.’” Roman shot back with fire. 

“Then what?” Virgil crossed his arms.

Roman spoke without thinking. “My name.”

One of the guards coughed behind him. Virgil looked stunned.

“You want me to call you…” he said, and all anger had dissipated. If Roman had known this was all it would take to knock Virgil off his high horse, he would have done it so much sooner.

“Yes,” Roman said, feeling awfully proud of himself. “Call me Roman.”

Another cough behind him. What was it with the guards today? He hoped no one was coming down with anything.

“Roman?” Virgil asked, and it was said quickly, like he was still shocked at everything going on. This, however, is where Roman realized his mistake.

His name on Virgil’s tongue did not, in fact, sound like ‘general pain in my ass.‘ 

His name sounded….

Softer.

Sweeter.

Like a melody he’d never heard,

And one he’d kill to hear again.

Roman was suddenly hit with a sadness so unmistakable it was as if it had always lived in him. Something that felt lonely, something that felt like… goodbye.

Goodbye to this. Goodbye to the only person he had left that saw him as something that wasn’t a prince, or a stranger.

Oh gods, not Virgil too.

Roman straightened up, clearing his throat suddenly. “Um, yes?” he said, voice coming out squeaky. He cleared it again. “I mean, yes. Yes. Of course. If you’re going to insist on butchering everything else…”

“Might as well butcher the real thing?” Virgil asked, and he finally broke out of his shock to snicker. Roman’s heart thumped.

Fuck.

“Yeah, well. I actually have to go now, but it was nice seeing you and-”

“Nice seeing me?” Virgil asked, thrown off guard by Roman’s sudden departure. Roman hadn’t been there five minutes, but he had to get out of there.

“As ever. Terrible to see you as always, hot topic, and, if you’d just excuse me-” Roman was backing away, making his way to the door. He assumed the guards would follow.

“Hot topic…” Virgil seemed to be asking, but Roman didn’t give an answer.

“See ya!” were his final words before he ducked out.

Roman paid no mind to the knowing glances his guards shared behind him as he rushed off to the carriage.

He could only think of the heart in his chest.

And the noose it could lasso around Virgil.

-/-

“It’s not Virgil, right?” Roman asked pacing around his brother’s room. “Anyone but Virgil, surely.”

Remus continued to look out the window, mind probably elsewhere.

“It wouldn’t be. Virgil is… Virgil.” Roman shook his head. “He’s Virgil.”

“Virgil?” Remus spoke up, but he didn’t look at Roman. Maybe he was present, just a bit.

Roman nodded, pacing again to the other side of the room. “I can’t see him again. That’s it. It’s too dangerous. Even if there’s absolutely no way I’d fall for that guy, I can’t risk it.”

Remus turned Roman’s way, eyes looking troubled. Roman’s mind was spinning out of control.

“But it couldn’t be Virgil. I wouldn’t fall for him. I can still talk to him. It’ll be fine, right?”

Roman paused, thinking through his words before groaning.

“Oh my gods, I want to talk to him!” he lamented, then sat down heavily on his brother’s bed. Remus continued to watch him, looking for all the world like there was a puzzle in front of him, very close to being solved. 

“Remus, what am I going to do?” Roman asked, covering his face. “I like Virgil.”

“Virgil,” Remus mumbled.

“I can’t ever see him again. This is the end. We were never even friends! He was the asshole in the library. That’s it. That’s all he’ll ever be. And, somehow, I like him. What the fuck, heart? What the actual fuck?”

“Virgil,” Remus repeated, brows furrowing. Something was there, but Roman was too distracted to consider it.

“Gosh, but I can see it now. He’s got the warmest brown eyes to go with his shit personality. He’s so sarcastic. He actually makes me laugh. How dare he?! How dare he make me like him and all his assholeness?”

Roman stood from the bed. One look Remus’ way and he immediately regretted everything. 

“Rem? What’s wrong?” he rushed to his brother, who had the most distressed look on his face, fingers sparking green. Roman folded his hands over them, not minding the slight sting. It was better than someone walking in and seeing the magic. “Remus?” Roman asked again, kneeling before his brother. 

Remus blinked. Looked down at his hands and frowned. “Sorry, Ro,” he said, then looked back at the window. Whatever he’d been thinking, it was gone. Roman couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him.

One second of lucidity and Roman was glad it was gone. What kind of brother was he? Watching Remus look out the window again, lost to everything but the hills past the kingdom, Roman felt a deep sinking loss in his chest.

But, with that look that’d been on Remus’ face… how could he not be relieved? 

He sighed again. Roman did that a lot in this room. He wished he could help it, for Remus’ sake.

But Remus probably didn’t hear it anyway.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he breathed, words lost to his brother. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Roman retracted his hands, absently noting the singe marks across his palms. He’d wear some gloves to cover them.

“Sorry,” he repeated. The word rang in his head, begging to be said again and again, until his sins were carried off with them, somewhere far away in the wind of those words. “Sorry.”

-/-

The next time Roman visited the park, he didn’t go to the library. However, it seemed he didn’t have to.

“Thank you so much, kiddo!” Roman absently heard from Patton as he scanned over some of the construction plans. “I can’t believe I forgot this.”

Roman heard one of his guards cough, stifling what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Funny, they usually only did that when-

“No problem, Pat,” a deep, vaguely uncomfortable sounding voice replied, and Roman shot straight up. There was another noise that was definitely a laugh this time, but he didn’t pay mind to it. His eyes shot to the interaction happening not five feet from him.

Virgil.

He was standing a bit slouched, hands stuffed into his pockets and nodding along to Patton’s excited gibbering. It was sort of adorable, how patient Virgil was, the way he hid his smile when Patton punned, how out of place he seemed to feel, but comfortable around his friend.

Roman hadn’t known Virgil and Patton were friends. That was adorable.

Okay, Roman should really stop thinking of Virgil as adorable. Soon. Now.

But his eyeshadow was slightly smudged–probably from wiping it on accident–and that was adorable too.

No. Stopping now.

Roman dipped his head back down, boring his eyes into the blueprints. He absorbed none of it, but he acted the part like a champ. Looking busy sure came handy when a prince wanted to avoid people. You couldn’t argue that a prince wasn’t doing important work.

Well, perhaps a lesser prince. But everyone knew how seriously Roman took his job (whether he lived up to expectation or not. Virgil saw past that. Virgil pointed out exactly where Roman lacked…. but he also commented on the good things too. He’d said how much safer it was to walk home lately–how the children were excited about the park–how some patrons of the library complained about the tax increases, but Virgil argued with them about the necessities of the kingdom; all the community works, roads paved, safety measures).

“Ro?” Patton asked, and, even if it weren’t for his voice and bubbly nature, Roman would have known it was him. Patton was the only one on the construction crew that had taken him up on his offer to not use ‘my prince’ every time they referred to him.

“Hm?” Roman asked, pretending to be busy. He saw Patton from the corner of his eye, dragging another person by his side–no doubt Virgil. Roman swallowed harshly.

“This is my friend Virgil. Sorry to interrupt work and all, but I try to introduce him to everyone around here. He doesn’t get around too often and-”

“Pat!” Virgil hissed beside him, and Roman couldn’t help it. He looked up.

And they locked eyes.

Virgil’s cheeks were a dull pink, furiously trying to escape the bounds of the pale foundation he’d applied. For a moment, they were suspended there, Virgil and Roman just looking at each other.

Then, Virgil looked away. “Patton, you can’t just drag me around everywhere.”

Patton, the dear, had the good grace to look sheepish. “I just thought you’d want to meet the prince is all.”

“We’ve already met,” Roman said, against the wishes of his panicked nerves. It felt like something he wanted to keep for himself, something he could hold secret and close to his chest. He forced the words out though. Surely there was no valid reason to keep it secret.

Virgil flinched as Patton whipped around to face him. “Really?!”

He shifted a bit on his feet, and Roman noticed how considerably less confident he was outside the library. Maybe it was the new space, or the unknown gazes, but it worried Roman how much smaller Virgil appeared outside his familiar walls.

While Patton excitedly talked to Virgil about this new development, Roman was able to take a second to himself. It was Roman’s first time around him knowing how he felt about Virgil–without the panic of last time, mind spinning with Do I like him? Do I like him? Do I like him? Roman could examine those feelings up close here, scrutinizing them for what they were. He definitely liked Virgil, that much was definite by then, but how much? Roman fell quickly, but, as long as he was even still a bit afloat, it was fine. Virgil was safe.

And Roman understood with relief that this was indeed the case. He wasn’t in love with Virgil. It was still frightening how easily he’d fallen in deep like with the man, but Roman could remedy the situation. It just… took a bit of… severing of their relationship. Just a dash of distancing, a pinch of avoidance and rigid politeness. 

It was less than a minute that Roman had to think on this, Patton and Virgil’s conversation ending abruptly when Virgil started to get visibly overwhelmed. That worried Roman too, but it only seemed to embarrass Virgil.

“Virge? Buddy?” Patton asked, but Virgil’s red face shook back and forth.

“It’s fine, Pat. Let’s just moveonrightnow,” Virgil spoke without a lot of breath, words coming out quick. He was different outside the library, like he was constantly afraid of… something. He was jumpy, and Roman was sure that if someone were to sneak up on him right now, purposefully or not, they would be socked in the jaw.

“Yes,” Roman spoke up, seeing his opportunity. “I’m afraid I’ve actually ran out of time here, but we got a lot done here today. Great job, all of you.”

“You’re leaving?” Patton asked, looking disappointed. 

And Roman realized what he’d tried to avoid for so long. Patton was cute. He was funny and kind and made Roman feel like the world had light. But Roman really had nothing to be scared of. He looked at Logan too, clever and full of passion for his work and interests, and thought the same. He’d been avoiding all the wrong people–people who could’ve been his friends.

So to Patton Roman gave a sad smile of his own. He gave his excuses–the many duties of a prince, how busy things have been lately, that he really should let them get back to work instead of hovering over their shoulders so often–he was just a prince, after all.

It all paled to the real reason, nestled deep in his chest where he hoped no one would look, see his obvious lie.

Roman couldn’t be near Virgil.

Too risky.

-/-

The thing with falling for someone–it doesn’t stop when you don’t see them.

What was the saying? Distance makes the heart grow fonder?

That saying existed because days without those you’re infatuated with just make you think about them more. And Roman, the chronic dreamer he was, could not stop thinking about Virgil. He dreamed in his sleep about pushing the hair from Virgil’s face, curling it around his ears and leaning down for a gentle kiss. He day-dreamed about Virgil in his library, slouched over his desk, waiting for patrons and passing the day in boredom.

Roman thought of his snarky quips, eyerolls, insistent gestures when he was trying to tell Roman something. Those milliseconds of a softer look that Roman would ignore, trying to convince himself he loathed Virgil, so he wouldn’t have to go away.

He realized now how too late it was.

Virgil’s laugh was stuck in his ears–Virgil’s nervous voice outside the library–Virgil’s stories of friends he’d never see again, growing up in a distant place. 

And Roman hadn’t realized how much of himself he’d given as well. Virgil had been an ear to Roman’s rants, a backboard to spring off horrible ideas. Virgil could be ruthless, and Roman could be idyllic, but, somewhere in there, it actually worked. He’d told Virgil about spreading himself thin, about the demands of a prince he hadn’t expected when the king and queen had adopted him. He told him about how much he cared, cared so much, about the people of this kingdom, even while he’d only been there for three years himself. 

There was so much, now that Roman considered it. And still so much he wanted to share. He’d never told Virgil about his brother–no one knew about Remus. He wasn’t fit to be in the public eye. That much scrutiny and pressure, after everything he’d been through, would destroy him.

But he found himself wanting to tell Virgil. Found that he trusted him with the information.

And he wanted to tell Virgil about where he and his brother grew up, about the night he woke up and Remus wasn’t by his side, and it took two years of searching and loneliness to find him and save him. Roman wanted to tell Virgil his favorite color was red, that his favorite stories as a kid were about knights, not princes, that he spent his free time–or what freetime he used to have–writing poetry, and he had a secret love for theater that he’d never had the opportunity to explore. 

Roman felt his heart pulling pulling pulling. It wouldn’t rest, wouldn’t relinquish the hold it had over him, would not forget him- him- 

Virgil. 

His heart was a selfish thing. It stuck like glue to those who didn’t want it. It kept its love in a cage, never to let go.

But Roman had to stop thinking of him. It would only lead to heartbreak. It would only lead to Virgil’s doom.

That should make it easier on his heart–knowing the person it longed for was at risk for its choice–but nothing did sway it. It was up to Roman to wrangle it in, suppress, push it down down down.

A sound at the door of his office snapped Roman out of his thoughts–spiralling, an hourly occurrence at this rate, sending him straight to a world far away, spinning in purple irises. The door creaked open, and there stood an odd sight.

“Remus?” Roman asked, concerned. He was already standing, walking around the desk and across the room. “Is everything alright? Why are you on this side of the castle?”

Remus was very far from his room, and the castle was pretty confusing. It was a surprise his brother had found him at all.

“Virgil,” was all Remus said, like it held all the answers he’d ever been looking for. Roman paused, eyebrows furrowing.

“What about him?”

“It’s him.”

“What?” Roman asked, and Remus reached out, grabbed his hand. Before he knew it, Roman was being pulled along. Remus was leading them down the corridor, looking more sure of himself than Roman had seen since they were kids. “Remus, what are you doing? Where are we going?”

Remus didn’t answer him. In fact, Roman was thrown into even more confusion when he was steered into a random room at the end of the corridor, his brother huffing as he shut the door behind them. “Walking takes too long,” he seemed to be realizing. His hand was glowing and, when he reached out for Roman again, it was a blink of an eye before they were standing somewhere completely new.

“Remus, what the hell?” Roman asked, retracting his hand. “You shouldn’t use your magic like that! Anyone could see you.”

But Remus wasn’t listening. Was he ever? Instead, he was looking around. “Not where I would have picked.” He was sounding… like himself. Roman stared, wide-eyed. If he wasn’t so confused, he’d be elated. He’d long since thought getting his brother back to any normalcy–or whatever was normalcy for Remus–was impossible. 

“Who’s there?” a voice interrupted his thoughts, carrying across the library stacks. Roman recognized it and cursed internally. Why had Remus taken them there?

Slowly, Roman put up his hands and crept out of the small alcove Remus had taken them to, ready to come up with an explanation for their sudden appearance on the fly. “Do not be afraid,” Roman said, as any prince would. He stood in the open and found Virgil’s gaze. All Virgil had to protect him were his own fists–not the best tactic, Roman thought. Then again, it was only the other day that Roman had been afraid Virgil would sock the nearest person.

Still, just his fists didn’t seem like a great defense against swords or knives or any number of weapons a burglar could have. There was a pang in Roman’s heart as he thought of what might have happened if it wasn’t just him and Remus in there. Virgil would have been defenseless.

As realization dawned on Virgil’s face, they stood at a stand still, both almost afraid to move. When Virgil’s eyes drifted to his raised fists–loose, not really fists at all, who had taught Virgil to fight?–he dropped them like hot coals, stuffing them in his pockets. 

“Fuck, Roman, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Virgil said, and Roman knew he shouldn’t be focusing on this–but Virgil had said his name again, and his heart was singing.

“My dearest apologies,” Roman bowed, and, going by the weirded out look on Virgil’s face, that was not of norm between them. He supposed they had never been quite civil with each other–even at the beginning. “I wanted to show my brother the library and you weren’t at the front desk, so we just came in.”

“I’ve been at the front desk this whole time,” Virgil said, not defensive, but confused. Well, at least Virgil wasn’t in a bad mood.

“Funny. We didn’t see you.”

“Wait wait wait,” Virgil said, backing up a second. “You said brother?”

Shit.

Looked like Roman would have to explain that sooner than he’d thought. Or, really, at all. Wanting to tell Virgil and telling him had been on two separate lists entirely. Roman wasn’t actually supposed to be talking to Virgil at all. 

“Okay, so-” Roman went to start, but he was caught off by a twin set of gasps, one shortly after the other. The first had come from behind him, so that’s where he looked.

“It is you,” Remus said. Roman’s eyes widened, finally catching on to what his brother had been trying to tell him.

“Wait, do you know each other?”

“Remus?” Virgil’s reply answered that question well enough. Roman turned back to him, eyes darting between the two. Virgil sputtered, “What- How-”

“It’s too late,” Remus mumbled. It sounded a bit more like he had over the past year–less like himself, but his eyes were present; he looked to be considering something–something he didn’t seem to favor. “It was a trap.”

“A trap?” Roman asked. “What do you mean? A trap for who? Who’s trapping?”

“Remus, what the fuck? How are you here? How did you get away?” Virgil asked, walking closer, but not too close, like there was still a part of him that couldn’t believe what was in front of him. 

“Get away?” Roman said, pieces further slipping into place. He didn’t like where this was going.

“What about Dee?”

“Dee…” Roman mumbled, the name familiar in his ears. I miss Dee, Remus had said. I miss Dee I miss Dee I miss Dee…

“It’s too late,” Remus repeated. “Of course it was you.”

Then, the room erupted into chaos.

-/-

Books flew, shelves rocked, windows clattered. From the corners of his eyes, Roman could see flashes of purple and green. Past the wind in his ears, he heard vague shouts from Virgil and a round of fuckfuckfuckfuckfucks from Remus. He couldn’t recall if he was saying anything himself, but he knew what he was feeling. Scared.

Roman had no idea what was happening, but, from the flashes of light, he deduced it must have been magic. This made him turn toward his brother, suddenly scared that all of this had gotten to him. Being outside the castle, some place unfamiliar, not to mention Remus had always been kind of a loose cannon with his magic–it could have caused Remus to panic.

But one look at him and Roman knew his brother wasn’t the one doing it. He turned to Virgil, remembering what he’d been saying, how he’d known Remus, how he’d raised his hands in a stance that made no sense in traditional fighting–but, with magic?

Purple sparks flew across Virgil’s skin, like they were doing on Remus too, but his eyes weren’t aglow. He wasn’t doing it either.

What was happening?

Then, abruptly, it stopped.

Shelves balanced back to their places and books dropped to the floor, lifeless. It was all they could do to just stand there before movement caught Roman’s eye at the top of one of the shelves.

Someone sat there, legs folded elegantly over one another where they balanced precariously. Roman recognized the one glowing eye peering down at them, the scaly hands, the knowing smirk.

“What a lovely reunion,” she purred. Roman was stricken, fear clenching his gut. Instinctively, however, he stepped forward in front of Remus and Virgil. He watched as her eyes traveled over each of them, finally landing behind Roman’s left shoulder, lips curling further into her face. “I was hoping it would be you.”

“How- How did you-” Virgil stuttered, but his voice died out. Roman narrowed his eyes, something protective overpowering his fear.

“You should not be here,” Roman stated. 

“But, my prince,” she said, “We made a deal.”

“A deal that hasn’t come to fruition,” he said. 

“I see someone’s still in denial,” the woman leered. “A witch’s curse knows all, though. You can’t scam the Dragon Witch of her hoard, my prince.” The way she said ‘my prince’ infuriated him, but nothing like Virgil’s had. The Dragon Witch said it like it was nothing, like it was delectable and sweet and hers to keep. 

“What is she talking about?” Virgil asked, and Roman turned. Instead of scared, he now looked confused. He was watching the two of them, apprehensive, but ready to fight. His hands were up again in those loose fists, purple sparking off of them. Magic. Virgil had magic. “You made a deal with the witch?”

“Not that he had much choice.” The witch shrugged. It seemed casual, despite the manic glee in her eyes. “I was going to kill him and keep Remus. But he wanted his brother, and he got to be prince of a kingdom! Fair trade, if you ask me.”

“It’s not fair,” Remus said, and the witch seemed to remember he was there. “You can’t take him-”

“Shut up, Remus,” she said offhandedly and Remus flinched. Rage filled Roman, and he stomped further toward the witch.

“Don’t you dare-”

“Don’t I dare what, sweetie?” she asked, folding her legs up onto the bookshelf with her, where Roman couldn’t reach. He was ready to topple the whole shelf when her words caught him. “I’m only here for what I’m due. I was hoping you’d choose Virgil.”

“What?” he asked, and his voice echoed. He turned around and saw Virgil’s ghostly face, mouth open, having spoken at the same time.

“There’s so many possibilities, you know,” she said and sighed like she was bored. “There’s some realities where you fall for the architects, but there were quite a few where we’d end up here and that was certainly a risk I was willing to take. So glad it paid off.”

“But I’m not-” Roman protested, and when he was cut off again he felt ready to pull his sword. It would do nothing against her magic–something he knew well–but she was really getting to him.

“Not in love? Please,” the Dragon Witch scoffed. “It’s not my problem you haven’t realized it yet.”

“Wait!” a voice suddenly tore through their conversation, and Roman looked back at Virgil, something tightening his gut. Virgil looked simultaneously angry and afraid and lost. “Hold on for a second. What the fuck is going on?”

With a grace that shouldn’t have belonged to someone so wicked, the witch floated down from the bookshelf, jumping right over Roman and landing in front of Virgil. Virgil seemed to have masked everything in those few seconds, standing defiant and tall before the woman. It mystified Roman. It was nothing he had ever seen before–nothing like Virgil’s comfortable confidence in the library. Virgil lowered his hands, appearing defenseless and unafraid under her manic gaze. 

“Long story,” she said, tossing her head side to side. “But I’ll tell you the ending if you want. My little happily ever after… minus dear Remus over there. I’d rather have all three of you but Remus turned weak. This. This was the outcome I was betting on.”

She leaned in, centimeters from Virgil’s face and anyone else might have missed the minute flinch in the man’s body, but Roman saw–tuned into it. Virgil’s eyes were hard. He said nothing.

Even as he was sentenced to his doom–to a doom brought to him because of Roman–because of a heart he couldn’t control–because Roman had signed away another’s life–a life that wasn’t Roman’s to give–a life Roman hadn’t yet met–that he was destined to love and hate and damn forever.

And it’d been a trap.

“Virgil, my long lost terror, you belong to me again. The End.”

[laprincesaelena]

EOA Discord Server Ship Appreciation Week Day 2: Cooling Off

a/n: hi everyone! to all that left some feedback on day 1’s fic, thank you so much!! i’m so happy to know that people are enjoying my fics, i’m really excited to finally be sharing some with you guys! sorry today’s fic is a bit late, i of course put it off lol, and i intended to have a lot more time to write today, but i ended up having a lot less than i thought. but, regardless, i spent the rest of my night writing this so i could post this as close to on time as possible!

this fic is basically the beach day the four amigos deserved to have in the show, but of course, with some cute gabelena moments scattered in there :) fun fact, the beach they visit is inspired by my local beach, one that i also have many childhood memories of, and still visit every summer! not me projecting my childhood onto elena, what no 😗✌🏻

anyways, a couple quick notes! i chose the name moteada for the horse elena rides, since it was the closest spanish translation i could find to “spotted” (or spotty, as little me would say). if any spanish speakers know of a word that is closer to that (as in spotted in appearance), please let me know! also this could technically be a modern au?? not sure how much of what’s featured in this would exist in avalor, so interpret it as you’d like.

once again, another thank you to @procrastinateland for the absolutely adorable art to go along with the fic!! elena’s smile is just so cute, isn’t it? 🥺

okay, enough of my notes lol, on with the fic! hope you all enjoy! :)

After quite a few of their planned beach days had gotten rained out, Elena, Gabe, Mateo, and Naomi felt like they'd never get a fun and relaxing day together. But, one warm summer day, the sun would be bright and shining all day long, and the four amigos knew they had to take advantage of it.

The four of them met up at the palace that morning, and made sure they were all ready to go. After packing the carriage with all the necessities, they headed off to Avalor City's most popular beach, Playa de la Marea.

Elena smiled as they approached the beach, and took a deep breath, taking in the salty sea air. Playa de la Marea was a nostalgic location for her, as her and her family visited the beach each summer when she was a kid. Some of her happiest memories took place here, and she couldn't wait to create new memories here with her friends.

As the carriage drove them down the avenue, the four of them took in the sights. To their right, was the beautiful Playa de la Marea, which stretched down the coast for about five miles. A concrete wall lifted the road slightly above sea level, but beside it was plenty of space for walking along the ocean, as well as a couple of places to eat. To their left was a boardwalk of sorts, which included plenty of fun things to do. Restaurants, shops, an arcade, mini golf, carousel, ice cream shop, anything to add a bit more fun to a summer day.

The carriage pulled over for the four of them to step out and finally begin their day at the beach. Elena stepped out first, and took a look around. Things had certainly changed around here in the past four decades.

"Where's the amusement park?" Elena asked, as if it had somehow suddenly disappeared. "It used to be right behind those buildings!" she added, pointing over across the street.

"Amusement park?" Gabe asked as he began to unpack the back of the carriage. "What are you talking about?"

"Gabe, she missed out on like, half a century. Who knows what this place looked like when she was a kid?" Naomi said, leaning over the back of the carriage.

"She's right, there was one here. Parque de la Perfección was right where this boardwalk is today." Mateo explained. "My mamá used to visit as a child all the time, it closed about thirty years ago, so I'm sure Elena remembers it just as well. There's only one attraction from it left, maybe we could ride that today."

Elena's eyes lit up as she turned to the group. "Can we?" she asked.

"Uh, can we at least go to the beach first?" Naomi replied with a soft laugh. "We've only been waiting forever for a perfect day like this, let's go!"

With that, Naomi hopped out of the carriage, and each of the amigos grabbed a bag or two to carry down to the beach. After a few minutes of searching for the perfect spot, each of them laid down a blanket, as well as setting up a couple of chairs and an umbrella. Naomi stepped back for a moment, and made a frame with her fingers, before giving the group a thumbs up.

"Looks great, guys!" she said. "Now c'mon! The sea's a'waitin!" She was just about to run off towards the ocean, before a voice stopped her.

"Hang on!" Mateo said, and grabbed a bag from beside him. He emptied the contents of it onto one of their towels, and about all there was to see was every type of sunscreen imaginable.

“Looks like somebody came prepared!" Elena joked with a small laugh.

"My mother came prepared." Mateo responded. "She couldn't have her 'precious baby boy' come home with a sunburn, or any sort of tan, apparently.." he said, before placing the bag aside, having completely emptied it. "So, I've got lotion, spray, a stick, whatever you prefer!"

"I'll take the spray, thanks." Elena answered, and Mateo threw a can over to her.

"I should probably cover myself in this.." Mateo said, taking a bottle of the lotion equivalent. "I'd be afraid to see my mother's reaction if I came home with even the slightest bit of redness." he added with a slight laugh.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading into the water, I'll be fine." Naomi commented.

"But Naomi, you're the palest of all of us!" Mateo replied. "You'll be bright red!"

Naomi rolled her eyes, but smiled, knowing her friend was just looking out for her. "Alright, fine." she said. "Elena, hit me up with some of the spray."

Elena managed to spray on just enough to cover Naomi's body, before she was headed off to the water. She smiled and laughed a bit, before taking off her beach cover-up, and spraying some onto herself as well.

A moment later, the rest of the friends were ready to join Naomi in the water. The waves were just right that day, rough enough to play around in, but calm enough to simply enjoy the shallower end. The water was on the chillier side, but on a hot summer day like this one, it felt quite refreshing.

Elena took Gabe's hand in hers as they reached the water, he could barely keep up with her in that moment! Once the water came to about her waist, she dived right into a wave. A second later, her head popped up from under the water with a big smile, and Gabe couldn't help but smile as well. He loved seeing Elena in rare moments like this one, where she could truly sit back, relax, and let loose. After all she had been through and all she'd done for the kingdom so far, she very much deserved it.

Naomi was still multiple feet out from them, the water had to be much over her head. But being practically raised on a ship, the water was certainly her element. Once she noticed her friends, she waved to them, and began to swim a bit closer to the group.

"Water's perfect today, isn't it?" she asked them. "Got some decent sized waves to jump into as well! I'm not the only one who's always liked to do that, right?"

"Uh, absolutely not!" Elena replied. "I'm in!"

Gabe looked out onto the horizon, and noted the size of some of the waves. A few of them were a bit too rough for his liking, especially for someone like Elena, who was much shorter than he was. What if she got knocked under and never came back up? What if she lost her footing and got sucked into a current? There were too many possibilities of what could go wrong, and even though this was technically an off day for him, his protective royal guard side couldn't help but come out.

"Elena, I don't know.." he said, protectively wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What if one of them knocks you under and you don't come up? I can't let anything happen to you."

Elena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Oh, come on Gabe, loosen up a little! I'll be fine, I can swim. Besides, it's an off day for us all, let's just have some fun! You can join us, if you'd like." she offered.

Gabe sighed, he knew that he did have to learn to trust Elena on her own more often, she didn't need to be protected. "Alright, fine, I'll come too." he said. "How about you just don't go any further than you can reach, okay?"

Elena nodded, that was reasonable enough. "Will do!" she said, and took his hand in hers once more. "Now let's go!"

The next few minutes were spent jumping over the waves, diving into them, or even getting knocked down a few times! Elena just couldn't help but smile and laugh each time this happened, especially with Gabe rushing to fix his hair before the next wave came along to mess it up again.

When a break between waves came along, Elena wrapped her arms around Gabe's neck with a smile, and leaned up to kiss him. Gabe wrapped his arms around Elena's waist and pulled her in closer, kissing her right back. Elena couldn't picture a more perfect day, she just wanted this sweet little moment to last forever.

Naomi turned to say something to her best friend, only to see the couple wrapped up in this embrace. She rolled her eyes but laughed to herself, and jokingly called, "Get a room!"

When Naomi turned back towards the sea, she was faced with one of the biggest waves she had seen that day. She dived right into it, and found herself about six feet under the water. Once she reached the surface, the wave hadn't reached her friends yet, but it was pretty close to them. Of course, Gabe and Elena were oblivious to what was heading their way, so Naomi called out to warn them. When not even that broke the couple apart, Naomi knew they'd be finding out on their own soon enough.

Elena could've sworn she had heard a voice a moment earlier, but she didn't think it was directed towards her or Gabe. But, when she heard the roaring of a wave, she opened her eyes for a moment, and pulled away. When he felt Elena shift, Gabe pulled back and looked down at her, concerned. When he turned his head in the same direction as she did, the pair gasped. Before they could do much else, the two found themselves knocked under the water. For a few seconds, they were completely submerged, before they managed to find their footing and push back up to the surface.

Gabe just so happened to reach the surface first, so when Elena was no where to be found, he instinctively feared the worst. Just as he was about to dive back into the water, Elena reached the surface to catch her breath. Before Gabe could quickly wrap his arms around her to make sure she was okay, she started to laugh. Gabe couldn’t believe her, she had practically just drowned, how could she be laughing at a time like this? Unfortunately for Gabe, though, Elena's laugh was quite infectious. If she was laughing, she had to be okay. So, Gabe started to laugh a bit himself.

"I think that's enough ocean for us today." he said through his laughs.

"Maybe so!" Elena agreed with a laugh as well. "How about we head a bit closer to shore?"

"Now that sounds a bit safer, I'm not almost losing you to a wave again!" Gabe joked.

For the next couple of hours, the four amigos had a wonderful time at the beach. They spent plenty of time on the water, had a quick lunch on the shore, bathed in the sun (or under the umbrella, in Mateo's case), and just spent a bit of time talking to one another, about things that didn't have to do with their usual tasks. They were able to spend the day as just a regular group of friends, not a crown princess, royal wizard or guard, and grand councilwoman. The group began to pack up as it began to reach high tide, but their day wasn't over just yet.

The amigos left most of their things back in the carriage before heading across the street to the boardwalk. There was certainly plenty to do, it'd be practically impossible to do it all in one day! But, they decided on the arcade for their first stop, and something immediately caught Elena's eye as they walked in.

"Awww, how cute is this?" she asked the group, pointing up to a yellow and pink jaquin plush hanging on the wall, amongst other prizes to win. "It's just so soft and cuddly..I've got to take that thing home!"

Gabe was not going to let his girlfriend go home without this jaquin, he was determined that he was going to win it for her. It cost a decent amount of tickets, but if he timed it right, it was achievable.

Naomi had already headed over to an air hockey table, and was standing at the ready. "Alright, who wants to try and best me?" she asked. "You know, when I was eight, I beat my whole crew at an arcade in Corinthia."

Gabe raised an eyebrow at her, a spark of determination in his eye. "You're on, Miss Turner." he said.

Determined to bring Elena home a little jaquin, when Naomi won the first match 7-5, Gabe wasn't giving up that easily. Best two out of three soon turned into three out of five, and while Gabe did manage to win a game or two, Naomi came out as the victor, and with a good sum of tickets to show for it. Knowing he probably didn't stand a chance against her, he moved onto another game.

Meanwhile, Elena had been trying out a variety of different games, some she was pretty good at, others she could barely get through a round without getting frustrated at. As much as she really wanted the adorable jaquin plush, all she really wanted was to have fun with her friends. If she left the arcade with a tiny little prize, so be it. She then got herself dragged into a game of air hockey with Naomi, which grew just as competitive as her previous matches with Gabe.

After spending a good hour or two at the arcade, the amigos were in need of a change of scenery. Competition certainly got tiring after a while! But, before they moved on, they had to pick out their prizes! Gabe sighed as he received his final number of tickets, he was only twenty short of Elena's beloved jaquin. He didn't even want to think of her disappointed face when she learned of this. He looked around, was there anything else she might love just as much? But, before he could make a decision, he noticed Elena approaching him.

"Elena, I-" he began to say, ready to apologize for not being able to win her the jaquin. But before he could, Elena pulled something out from behind her back. It was a small plastic sword, similar to one a royal guard might carry, only on a smaller scale.

"This is for you!" she said, holding it out to him with a smile. "Now you can protect me for the rest of the day with this!" she joked.

Gabe couldn't help but smile and laugh, he certainly appreciated the thought. He looked over the sword as she passed it over to him, and then began to try out a couple of moves with it.

"Wow, I've got to say, this is better than my captain's sword back at the palace!" he joked. "I think we should replace our standard issue swords with these ones!"

Elena smiled and laughed as well as Gabe 'tried out' his new sword. "I agree, the ones we have now are just too big and bulky, don't you think?" she joked.

"Oh, absolutely." Gabe agreed with a laugh. "Or maybe, I'll pull this out at our next fencing practice, you won't be able to beat me then!"

"Unfortunately, these swords here are quite pricey, I only had enough tickets for one!" Elena replied. "Well, enough for one and a handful of candy." she added, showing him a couple of pieces of candy she had received as well.

The thought of tickets reminded Gabe of what Elena truly wanted, the jaquin plush. He knew that even though she was excited with her purchase for him, she'd definitely notice the jaquin on their way out, and she'd be so disappointed to be leaving without it. So, he knew he just had to be honest with her.

"Speaking of that, I tried to win you that jaquin, since I knew you really wanted it.." he explained. "But unfortunately, I came a few tickets short of being able to win it for you, I'm sorry."

Before Elena could tell Gabe that it was alright, she was cut off by a female voice.

"One adorable jaquin plush for my beloved princess!" Naomi said, jokingly bowing to Elena, with the prized pink and yellow jaquin in her arms.

Elena gasped with delight, and held the plushie tight once Naomi handed it over to her. It was even softer, and cuddlier, and more adorable in person! Her day was already great as it was, but this just made it that much better! She wrapped Naomi in a hug and thanked her, she was just so excited to have it.

Gabe couldn't help but sigh when he realized that he wasn't the one to win Elena the jaquin, but those feelings quickly faded when he saw how Elena's face just lit up at the sight of it. He tried his best to make this day great for her, but hey, she still got that jaquin! Besides, he knew how she smiled as she took in the sights of the beach, how she laughed as they were both knocked down by a wave, Elena was having a great day for herself no matter what, jaquin or not. And that's what mattered most.

Their next stop was the carousel, the final remaining attraction of Parque de la Perfección. Elena was also looking forward to this, since she had so many memories of riding this very carousel as a child. She remembered her parents mentioning how once they got her on, it was hard to get her off! She especially used to love when Isabel would ride on the horse beside her, and her father would stand between the two, closely watching to see which one of his daughters would ‘win the race’. Elena smiled remembering her parents, she did miss them very much. Though she missed those days, now she was here to make new memories with her best friends, and she couldn’t wait.

As the four of them stepped onto the ride, Elena immediately went searching for a very specific horse. She quickly walked through the rows and rows of them, until finally, she came across the one she was looking for.

“Moteada!” she exclaimed, and hopped onto a small black and white spotted horse.

“Mote-huh?” Naomi asked.

“Moteada!” Elena repeated. “This was the horse I rode on almost every single time I visited as a kid, she was my favorite for some reason! I called her Moteada due to her spots.” she explained.

“That’s cute, I’m glad you could ride her again today!” Naomi replied with a smile, before setting her sights on a large, chestnut brown horse in the same row. “I call the big one!” she called, hopping aboard it.

Elena laughed softly as Naomi grabbed onto the leather ‘reins’ on the horse, sitting up straight and tall. She jokingly waved around, as if she were the most important being on the biggest horse. Mateo was seated atop a grey horse beside Naomi, all four amigos seated right in the same row.

Of course, Gabe was going to be right next to his Elena, so he hopped onto a beige horse beside her. He smiled as Elena took her new jaquin friend and placed it right in front of her, as if they were going for a ride too.

When a bell sounded to signal that their ride was about to begin, Elena felt like she was a child again. It were almost as if she was back here for a beach day with her family, racing to sit atop Moteada before anyone else reached her, giggling with her sister as they each neared ‘the finish line’, and waving to her mother, it felt like nothing had changed.

Gabe knew they’d have to plan beach days like this more often, since this was the happiest he’d seen Elena in a while. Not that Elena wasn’t an overall happy person, you’d always come across her walking down the hall with a smile. But something about today was different, maybe due to the nostalgia this day brought her. Regardless, Gabe couldn’t get enough of seeing Elena’s beautiful face light up with a smile, he couldn’t help but smile as well glancing over at her.

When Elena turned her head to the side for a moment, she noticed Gabe smiling over at her. So, she reached over towards him and pulled him in for a kiss. She pulled back a moment later with a soft laugh, giving him a look of so much love. There wasn’t anyone else she’d rather be sharing these moments with, and she couldn’t wait to create many more memories just like this with him in the future.

A couple of minutes later, their ride was gradually slowing down. Once it had come to a complete stop, Elena’s horse just so happened to have stopped at the highest height possible. She looked down and laughed to herself, even though she was that many years older and that much taller than she was on her last ride, it was still quite a ways down for her!

“Well, this’ll be quite the fall!” she joked to herself, as she began to swing one leg over to hop down.

But, before she could let go of the pole, she felt a pair of hands around her waist, which lifted her up, and placed her softly onto the ground. Elena turned around to see that it was none other than Gabe who softened her landing. She smiled and pulled him in for a quick thank you kiss, before following Naomi and Mateo off of the ride.

To end their day, the four amigos sat along the sea wall with an ice cream, admiring the view as they enjoyed a refreshing treat. Gabe wrapped his arm around Elena and held her close, as she rested her head on his shoulder. Their conversation was filled with their favorite parts of the day, which would continue on as they walked back towards the carriage. Elena loved each aspect of their day, but she had to admit, what she loved the most was her adorable new jaquin plushie. Oh, and being able to spend a fun and relaxing day with her closest friends, and of course, her Gabe, was pretty nice too.

[queenxxxsupreme]

Solace-Jim Mason series

Chapter 6

A/N: I miss Jim Mason:( 

Warnings: mentions of sexual assault, brief mentions of drug use, mentions of overdose

Word Count: 4.1k

Summary: Sonny is a rebellious teen. Her dad is a major dick

The next day was Friday, meaning while Jim got to go surfing with my brothers, I got to go dress shopping with Lindsay and Steph. Luckily it didn't take too long and I found a dress I liked st the first shop we went too.

"Do you girls want anything to drink?" Steph asked as she stood up. We were currently laying around the pool in our backyard.

"No thank you, Steph." I shook my head. Lindsay watched her go into the house. The second the sliding glass door was closed, she propped herself up on one elbow and looked at me.

"So how does he kiss?"

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows together at her.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"Jim? I-I haven't kissed him yet." I sat up, pulling the strap to my black bikini into place.

"What? He was at your house last night until three in the morning, Sonny, and you didn't kiss him?"

"We just talked, Linds." I stood up and moved to check my phone on the table. The boys were just over the hill at the beach but I didn't want to go check on them and look like a stalker.

"So are you dating?" She laid back on the lounge chair.

"No. He hasn't asked me." I frowned a little.

("I really like him, Sonny." Steph smiled at me. I couldn't help the pink that rose to my cheeks as I tried to hide behind the clothing rack separating us. "He's a sweet boy."

"How did Greg do?" Lindsay looked over to Steph for an answer. I locked my jaw, shuffling through a few of the dresses. I was determined to find an expensive dress, knowing dad would be the one to pay for it.

"Worse than I expected him to. But he won't act like that again, Sonny. I promise."

"I won't let him treat Jim like that, Steph." I brought my eyes up to meet hers. "No one deserves to be treated like that. Dad isn't any better than him.")

"You know, Reese never really asked me." Lindsay pointed out.

"Well, he's a dick. I honestly can't stand him."

"Whoa, Sonny." Reese exclaimed as he, Asher, and Jackson made their way up the path. Following behind them was Miles and Jim. "Careful what you say. Jim can hear you."

"I wasn't talk about Jim. I was talking about you."

"I'm a joy to be around." Reese rolled his eyes. I held my middle finger up to him.

The boys settled around the pool, putting their boards up on the privacy fence around the deck. Jim's eyes met mine and he gave me one of his signature little smiles.

"Hi, Sonny." His chestnut hair fell in messy waves across his forehead.

"Hi, Jim."

"Sonny?" Steph called from the door to the house. "There's someone at the front door. He says he's a friend of yours."

"Must have the wrong Sonny. This one doesn't have friends." Jackson said, making Reese snicker. As I passed Jackson to go into the house, I pushed him into the pool. 

"Come inside with me, Jim." I called over my shoulder.

"Hey, Jim!" Steph greeted Jim as she stepped out of the house.

"Hi, Ms. Carlisle."

"Steph is just fine, sweetheart." She put her hand on his shoulder.

I pushed the sliding glass door shut behind Jim.

"Were the boys decent?"

"Yeah, they were a blast." He nodded his head, raking his fingers through his hair. "I can't remember the last time I hung out with people I actually liked."

"That's good to hear." I picked up a shirt that was on the back of the couch and tugged it on. Upon doing so, I realized it was one of Reese's college shirts with a fraternity logo on it. Jim leaned against the island in the kitchen while I went to answer the front door. As I opened the door open, I pulled my red hair out of the collar of the shirt.

My stomach immediately dropped at the sight of Will standing on the front step. A big, disgusting grin was plastered across his lips as he looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my legs. Reese's shirt only fell down about mid-thigh, leaving my legs visible to his prying eyes.

"Hey, Sonny. I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to know if you'd be up to come with me to a party tonight over at Tucker Landon's house."

My lips parted but I couldn't find my voice. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. My fingers were trembling by my sides. How did he know where I lived? Why was he here? Why did he think he had the right to ask me to a party?

"Sonny? You okay?" He furrowed his brows together, stepping towards me. This brought me out of my frozen state. I half-turned to the kitchen, knowing Jim was in there, and tried to close the door, but Will put his hand on the door to stop me. "Hey, I just want to talk-,"

"Is everything okay, Sonny?" Jim moved towards me. My eyes found his and I'm positive he saw the look of absolute panic on my face. His hand reached out for my arm but I let him take my hand instead. "Who is this?" Jim moved me so that I stood halfway behind him. He now served as a barrier between me and the monster that terrorized my dreams.

Will was a half a foot taller than him and easily outweighed him. Will was a jock, a douche-bag in every sense of the word. Jim was slimly built. His muscles were there but they weren't as sharply defined as Will's.

"Who the hell are you?" Will visibly puffed up, clearly not liking the idea of Jim putting himself between me and him.

"Jim." He answered firmly. One of his hands remained by his side, his fingers moving nervously as he watched the larger man. His other hand remained latched to mine. "Who are you?"

"Will Talbot." He held his hand out for Jim. I squeezed Jim's hand, silently begging him not to shake Will's disgusting hand.

"Jim." I rasped. He looked over his shoulder to me. I tugged his hand like a child, urging him to leave.

"I'm sorry, man. Sonny's not feeling up to hanging out right now." Jim shrugged his shoulders before closing the door. Once the door was closed, I was able to lock the deadbolt.

My feet began to take me up the stairs, my heart racing furiously as I shook my head. He knew where I lived.

"Sonny!" Jim called for me.

I only stopped once I was in the center of my room. My head fell back, my eyes slipping shut as a breath escaped my lips. My knees buckled and I would've collapsed to the floor had Jim not been there to catch me. His long arms wrapped around me, catching me just as I was about to hit the floor.

"Shit, Sonny." He cursed, carefully lowering us both to the floor. He rested on his knees and I rested on his lap. I curled my knees to my chin, resting cheek against his bare chest.

"He knows where-He knows where I live." I whispered. I didn't even realize hot tears were trailing down my cheeks until I felt them drip down on to my chest.

"You aren't breathing, angel." Jim murmured gently as he began to rock us both back and forth ever so slightly. "You gotta breathe."

I couldn't find the ability to catch my breath. I was suffocating, choking on an unseen force. Jim took my hand and placed it on his chest so I could feel his heart beating steadily below my palm.

"I'm right here, angel." He whispered into my ear, placing a kiss against my red hair. "I need you to breathe for me, okay?"

I nodded my head and shakily took a small breath. That was the first step. After that, I could begin to catch my breath.

I wasn't sure how long we sat like that but once I managed to breathe the right way, Jim moved to lean against the side of my bed. He still held me in his lap, his arms holding me against his chest. My head was tucked under his chin and my eyes were closed.

"That's him." I whispered, my voice hoarse. "The one I told you about two nights ago."

Jim stiffened up.

"The one who touched you?"

I grimaced at his words.

"Are you going to go to the police?"

"I was high as a freaking kite." I shook my head. "It was weeks ago. It wouldn't do me any good now. Besides, he didn't rape me. He just felt me up. Put his hand down my pants. That's it."

"He doesn't have the right to do that, Sonny. If you don't want him to do that, then he can't."

"He did." I pulled away from Jim and stood to my feet. I raked my fingers through my hair then shook my hands out. "He-He did. And there's nothing anyone can do to change it."

His eyes fell to his hands as I pulled my shirt up to wipe my face. I went over to my closet, feeling the need for a smoke, but at the last minute I decided against it. It was a nasty habit, one I picked up shortly after my sister passed away. I turned and put my back to the door, then slowly sunk down against it. My eyes found Jim, who was watching me with a tender gaze.

"You probably think I'm insane." I whispered softly. "I've got more problems than a crossword puzzle."

He chuckled a little. The smile that cracked across his lips warmed my insides.

"I guess that's what draws me to you." He admitted with a little shrug of his shoulders, raking his fingers through his hair. "You're kinda like me."

I nodded my head softly, looking down at my hands. I never thought of it that way.

A knock on the already opened door to my room caught my attention. It was Reese.

"You two good?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah." I answered him quietly. He nodded and looked to Jim.

"Hey, I don't know if Sonny's mentioned it to you, Jim, but tonight we're all going out to dinner for our parents' anniversary. You should tag along."

"I appreciate, Reese, but I'm gonna have to pass." Jim shook his head. "I've got something already."

"Alrighty. No big deal." Reese looked back to me and flashed me a little smile. "I like him, you know." He pointed to Jim.

"Me too." I bit my bottom lip.

"Good. Come on back downstairs when you're ready." He knew something had happened. I don't think he knew what but he knew something was up.

I watched him disappear from the doorway. Jim stood to his feet and crossed my bedroom, then held his hand out for me. I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He embraced me in a hug, his arms wrapping around me in a protective barrier. 

"Are you ready to go back down there?"

"Yeah." I squeezed him tight before letting him go.

***

"You're not funny, Jackson." I pulled myself out of the pool, glaring at my brother through my now drenched red locks that fell into my face.

Just after Jim and I joined everyone out at the pool, Jackson picked me up over his shoulder and jumped into the pool.

"I fucking hate you."

"Language, Sonny." Steph chided from her lounge chair, turning the page in the designer magazine she was reading.

"I freaking hate you."

"Much better."

"Hey, mom?" Reese looked up from his phone. "Can I have some friends over later?"

Asher and Jackson both started to laugh at him.

"Wow, Reese. How old are you?" I pulled the now soaking wet t-shirt off of me and threw it at Reese. He easily dodged the shirt and it landed on the concrete next to him. I gathered my hair over one shoulder and moved to sit on the lounge chair beside Jim.

"You gonna ask mom if she can tuck you in later on too–Hey!" A high-pitched yelp escaped Jackson's lips as he ducked a swing from Reese.

"Of course you can, Reese." Steph answered him. "Are they joining us for dinner?"

"No, no." Reese shook his head. "They're gonna come over afterwards. I was thinking we could have a fire or something out back."

"What about you, Jim?" Steph turned her attention to him. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

"No, ma'am, Mrs. Carlisle." Jim shook his head, brushing down his brunet locks. "Me and my sister have this thing."

"Maybe next time."

***

"How was dinner?"

"About as good as it could've gone." I sighed gently as I walked into my room. I left the door open with plans of leaving shortly. "Dad didn't talk to me the whole night, but I'm not complaining."

"I'm sorry, Sonny."

"Don't apologize, Jim." I shook my head. "You did nothing wrong."

I shrugged out of my cardigan, leaving me in just a thin strapped silk black tank top and a pair of faded skinny jeans.

"Did you have fun with Medina?"

"Yeah. I think it did us good to hang out."

"That's good, Jim."

"Yeah. She said something funny that kinda got me thinking."

The sound of someone shouting from outside caught my attention. I went over to the balcony doors and pushed them open. Reese and a half dozen of his friends were gathered around a fire, laughing at something.

"What did she say?"

"She said that there's a light in my eyes that she hasn't seen in a long time. She said she thinks it's because of you."

I paused for a moment, my fingers slowly brushing through my hair.

"Aw, she said that?"

"Yeah." I could hear the smile on his voice.

"She's so sweet." I messed with the necklace that dangled between my breasts. My eyes flickered back down to Reese and his friends. The back porch light was on and this gave me the ability to see some of the guys. I only recognized Lindsay, Reese, and Will. "Will?”

"What?"

"Will." I whispered, quickly taking steps back into my room. I almost tripped over my sketch book in the floor. The balcony doors were slammed shut and I locked them. "He-He's here, Jim. Why the hell is he here?"

"Shit, Sonny. I'm on my way over."

"No. No. I-I'm-I'm not staying here. I'm not. I can't." I shook my head.

"I'll come get you."

"Please hurry." I rushed to pack a bag, stuffing different articles of clothing into my backpack. "Just please don’t-don't hang up, Jim."

"I'm not going anywhere, angel."

The new nickname he'd given me just earlier that day made my heart soar. I gripped my phone tighter as I threw my backpack over my shoulder and slammed the to my room door shut.

"Where is he?"

"Outside."

I made my way down the stairs. I wasn't going to stay in the house. I'd wait outside for Jim. I thought I was going to make it too. I could see the front door. It was right there. But a hand clasped around my arm and stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dad asked me.

"To-To a friend's house, dad." I looked over his shoulder to see Reese and Will coming in through the back door. "Please." I looked back to dad.

"Lindsay's here. She's the only friend you go to."

"Dad, let me-just let me go!" I tried to yell but it came out as a broken whisper. I tugged my arm until he released me. "Let me go, dad." I blinked the tears away, allowing them to trail down my cheeks as I shook my head. His hand released me, a look of pain crossing his face. 

I couldn't look at him as I opened the front door and darted out into the night. I knew he was hurting right now, I know he missed who I used to be. But she was gone. She died four months ago with Summer.

“Sonny? Are you still there?” Jim’s voice in my ear pulled me back to reality.

“Yeah, Jim.”  I murmured quietly, sniffling as I wiped my cheeks. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

“Less than ten minutes.”

***

Due to Mrs. Mason’s.... nature, Jim had to sneak me into his house.

He closed the door to his room and played music. It sounded like a mix of 80s and 90s rock hits. I smiled a little. He had good taste.

I put my backpack down by his closet and kicked my shoes off. I threw myself down on to Jim's bed, bringing my knees to my chest.

"I can't believe I told him that, Jim." I cried quietly. Jim climbed into the bed next to me and laid on his side facing me. He brushed my red hair back out of my eyes. His hand came to rest on my cheek.

"What are you talking about, Sonny?" He quietly asked.

"Dad." I put my hand on his hand that was on my cheek. There were no tears in my eyes because they were trailing down my face. "I told him.... Jim, I told him to let me go. That's the last thing my mother ever told him. I-I can still hear their argument."

I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as possible, their harsh words echoing in my head. 

("You can't leave, Nicki! What the hell am I suppose to do without you?"

"I'm not leaving forever, Greg. I just-I need to get away. I want to be here for you and for Jackson and Emerson and Miles but I-I-I need a break, okay?"

"A break?" Dad couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Just let me go, Greg, damn it!" Mom was exasperated, exhausted, and out of breath from fighting dad. "Just let. Me. Go.")

"I didn't mean to say it, Jim." I shook my head, pushing myself into a sitting position. He sat up too and pulled me into his arms.

"It's okay, Sonny." He tucked my head underneath his chin.

"He's going to hate me."

"No, no, he won't, angel." He assured me, his hand rubbing my arm.

***

I stayed in his arms for what felt like hours, and he was okay with that. He held me, occasionally kissing the top of my head and brushing circles into my arm with his thumb.

I couldn't believe I'd only known this guy only four days. Four days and I felt like I'd known him my entire life. I was comfortable with him in a way that I never felt comfortable with anyone else before. Four days, and we'd almost kissed once. I had kissed his cheek a handful of times and he had kissed my cheek or my hand more than I could count. He knew automatically how to calm me down earlier today. He stopped my panic attack before it got too bad, before I could make myself pass out.

Jim lifted his head from where he rested upon mine and sat up a little straighter. I noticed this and pulled my head away from him.

"What?" I asked him. He looked down at me with a little smile on his lips.

"This was the song you were singing when I woke up."

I looked over to the stand his phone was on. Sweet Child O' Mine was playing. I didn't remember that I had been singing the song out loud or even that that was what I was listening to.

"You sounded beautiful." He leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. His chestnut curls tickled my forehead. I giggled softly, reaching up to swipe them away.

"I was singing it?" I crinkled my eyebrows together, wincing internally. He nodded his head. "I'm sure that was a great sound to wake up to."

"You sounded great."

"You're just saying that."

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." He nodded his head, a grin cracking across his lips. He was teasing me.

His fingers began to tickle my sides. I fought to get away, climbing out of his lap and across the bed but he was quick. His hands grabbed my hips and pulled me back to him. Somehow, he managed to get me pinned beneath him. The hand that wasn't holding him up tickled my side. A loud laugh escaped my lips. His hand covered my mouth, his eyes darting over to the door. We both froze for a second, waiting for his mother to come barging in. When she didn't, he looked back to me.

"You have to be quiet, Sonny." He hushed me with a little laugh. I rolled my eyes at him and tugged his hand away from my mouth. 

“Maybe if you weren’t trying to tickle me, we wouldn’t have to worry.” I gazed up at him, searching his blue eyes as I spoke. His smile somehow made all the problems I had disappear. It made me forget. I thought that that was just something they said in rom-coms. 

I reached up to brush his brown hair back, but my efforts were useless. With how he was laying over top of me, his hair had no choice but to fall down. His beautiful blue eyes flickered down to my lips as he slowly lowered himself down to me. My heart began to race. His hand came up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing my skin as his lips finally met mine. 

His lips were soft and gentle, and he tasted like peppermint. My hand slipped around his waist and across his back. From there, I could pull him down on to me. I didn’t want to feel anything but him. One of his knees rested between my thighs and his hands held most of his upper body weight off of me but I didn’t mind the pressure. I didn’t mind him. I actually sort of liked it. I was engulfed in him, his scent, his taste, his touch. 

My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. He must’ve felt it too because he pulled away, breaking our kiss. 

“I’m not answering it.” I shook my head, resting my head back against the mattress as I looked up to him. He moved to lay alongside me. I took his hand and laced our fingers together. “It’s just my dad.”

He nodded his head a little. He kept his eyes on me as I brushed my thumb over his knuckles. 

“You said earlier that what Medina said got you thinking.” I turned to face him, tucking one arm underneath my head. “Thinking about what?”

Jim was silent for a few moments. He rolled over on to his back to look at the ceiling. 

“I.... I overdosed before.” He explained quietly. He brought his hand up to rub his face. “I went straight back to using the second I got out of the hospital. I used whatever I could get my hands on. This time was different though. I... I didn’t use right away. It wasn’t until the other day when we were suppose to go surfing that I took anything. Medina thinks it’s because of you.”

“Do you think it’s because of me?” I sat up, brushing my hair over one shoulder, and turned to face him with my legs criss-crossed. He propped himself up on one elbow and half-ass shrugged his shoulders. 

“I mean.... I don’t know. I think you’re cute.”

My cheeks flushed. I looked down as I shyly smiled. 

“That’s not what I asked.” I shook my head a little, looking up at him through my lashes. “Jim, I-I’m glad I can do that for you, that I can help you stop taking whatever shit you were taking before. But I’m not enough. Medina said you need professional help.”

“Therapist.” He muttered, sitting up and moving to lean against the wall. This put space between us. 

“There’s nothing wrong with needing therapy, Jim.” I shook my head. “I had to go to therapy after my sister died.” Without even thinking, I rubbed the scar under my right collarbone. 

“What happened to her?” He asked softly. I looked down, blinking a few times as I tried to think of the best way to describe that night.

“We-We were out at a party. She had just turned twenty. It was.... It was three in the morning. I don’t know what happened.” I shook my head. I had never read the police reports or asked dad about what he learned. “I was on my phone in the passenger seat. Summer.... Summer was driving. When I looked up, there was someone in the road. She swerved to miss them and tipped the car over.” My voice cracked like I was going to cry but there were no tears in my eyes. I rubbed my thigh, remembering where I had seen the metal rod sticking through her leg. “She bled out before anyone could save her.” My fingers trembled as I reached up to brush my hair back. 

“That’s awful, Sonny. I’m so sorry.”

I gave him a forced smile and nodded my head.

“You’d think that after all I’ve been through, dad would take it easy on me. But he still gives me shit about every little thing I do.”

“At least your dad talks to you.” Jim muttered. “Mine won’t even answer the phone.”

I looked down at my hands. The ugly scar across my knuckles made my stomach churn.

“I know I’m not your dad and you’ve.... you’ve only known me a few days, but I’ll answer the phone when you call.” I met his gaze. The smile that crossed his lips made my heart race. 

“You mean it?”

“Of course I do.” I nodded. “You’re cute too, by the way.”

His cheeks flushed and he rolled his eyes at me. 

[survivor-halsingland]

Ep. 1: "There's 100% going to be a Canada alliance." - Amy

Amy

Initial reaction of cast reveal: I’m toast But for real this can go a couple of ways for me, none of which have me seeing myself make merge lol. I’m either going to be a very early boot here or be nice and active enough to solidify a place for a while. Lots of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Hopefully the people familiar with me won’t want to immediately vote me out. I have already mentioned to Derrick that I played with DeNara before, so hopefully we can bond over that and it not be used against me. I have explicitly asked Jared to not exclusively lie to me this go haha but we both said we were more playing for the other half of our duos and just agreed to do it. I was excited to see Blue on my tribe and I also know Leanne, and have already had a good chat with Klied - but his name does have “lie” in it 👀. Honestly I want to do a quick portion of divide and conquer, I planned on chilling in a pool tomorrow and going to drag bingo with Ava. But no one has solidly chosen anything so they are really about to force me to be tribe leader and sort this out. Things I look forward to: vibes, chatting with cool people, meeting people, twists, and drama Things I will not be doing: sitting on hours and hours of video calls. Not my style. But I know several people in this game love it. Let the good times roll y’all

Kenneth

HERE WE GO AGAIN! i'm fresh off of ingary, but jay has magic powers and pulled me in to another season of a potential clown fiesta <3 but seriously, this already seems a lot more enticing and spicy because of the theme in itself and how the challenges and idol hunt are structured so i am very excited to play :) i learned a lot about my last game and i will improve on it (hopefully) by taking more risks and plays that WILL be appreciated by the jury, and not be overly attached to people, which would result to tunnel vision. the first challenges are already pretty great, and i cannot wait to play this game. TO WIN! hehe >:)destiny i’m super confused about a lot of stuff tbh but everyone on my tribe is so nice and welcoming and i’m sure i’ll get the hang of it all soon :) i’m excited to be playing and just hoping i don’t screw things up for my tribe :/

AmyThis tribe is exhausting. Challenges where I need to send a photo back quickly really hate me. My phone took like a minute to actually send the photo, but Waldo went well. Except I started in the bottom right looking with vertical transects and Waldo was hiding in the bottom left 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Woulda been 30 seconds had I started over there. But I’m already expecting tribal so I’m just hoping I wasn’t the worst portion of our challenges haha!

Leanne

Not very much to share so far. Some people on this tribe are much bigger talkers than others, Jared, Derrick, Klied, and Amy. It’s been harder to get Convo from Jesse and Blue, and I’ve barely heard from Josh or Aubree. I wonder if other people have had the same experience. Haven’t dared try game talk with anyone yet. Hoping I’m not behind, but it’s only day 2 right? Maybe I’ll try to put some feelers out with Amy. Maybe I’ll tell her about some things in the idol hunt and see if she’ll give me anything in return, maybe try to get a partnership going. I’m glad she’s on my tribe, but also a little bit scared because I’ve seen exactly how good she is. Aside from that, the person I feel best about right now is Derrick. We’ve had some good chats and seem to connect well. Hope he feels the same way. And Moth. I’m especially nervous about them. When we played before we didn’t exactly hit it off, but I think we’re both… trying. I hope we can have a new start this time, a new story. And from what I know of them they are a very loyal allies so, here’s hoping. Also happy to see Sarah here, and my yinzer JG. Maybe he and my dad can bond over that? And that’s all I’ve got so far. God I hope I did enough in the challenge today. *whines* I don’t wanna go to tribal first!

Jared

Don't mind me making a confessional before the game even starts, call me a game changer. https://youtu.be/JFOxzamkcH8

Jared

Not one, but two, confessionals before the game even begins. Sorry not sorry! https://youtu.be/SETx-0LoI9E

Shawn

Well, things are going good so far! I think anyway. Although I like everyone on my team, I do have to say it's odd playing with someone whose older than my father is, Frank. Usually I like to take charge in games like this, I like to be the leader. Yet, with Frank, it's difficult because he's so much older, I feel like I'm a little kid around him. I don't wanna tell him what to do, because I don't wanna be disrespectful? I'm so excited so far though, absolutely loving the challenge and how we get to pick! Im not that bright so I'm happy I can do creative stuff.

Aubree

This is my first BvW confession! Idk about the other tribe, but the Mysa Tribe is super chill. Most of the conversations yesterday consisted of everyone saying hi and that they were busy and would be active later. Day 2 and the activity level is still the same, which is kind of a relief since I am much more of an introvert. I have been trying to be the first to reach out to people since I feel that is something I have struggled with in past ORGs I’ve played in. I’m usually the reserved/silently-strategic player, but I’m going to try and be more proactive for this game. Ive talked to Klied, Jared, Amy and Leanne a decent amount and have enjoyed our conversations. I know of Amy due to the games she has played with Sarah, so I am hoping that works in my favor. Amy did say that Sarah voted her out in the first game they played in, so that could work one of two ways for my game… like if it came down to a vote between me or Sarah later on?? but maybe it is too soon to think that far ahead? Lol Even though I’m an Art Teacher I chose to steer away from the Creative part to our first challenge. Tbh I’m so burnt out irl when it comes to being creative due to my job, so I’m okay with taking a step back from the creative challenges for now. I’ve enjoyed being a part of the Scavenger Hunt, even though it was a bit harder than expected. I was so stoked to have a Starry Night print, but since it wasn’t real it didn’t count… Like who the heck has a REAL VAN GOGH?? (Or quick access to one) LOL As much as I would LOVEEE to have an original painting, that teacher salary-bracket doesn’t allow for that!! Lol I haven’t had anyone directly ask to me to be in an alliance with them… so that is - interesting? I’m used to the last two games I played where it felt like everything was very paced. Now, It’s either A) everyone is just chillin’ and not wanting to rush things or B) bonds HAVE already started to form but I’m not a part of them? I guess things will spend up more after the first challenge is over and we see where our strengths and weaknesses are in the tribe. Until then! - Aubree

Moth

Hi!! I’m back again and playing with someone I know. I actually happen to be on call with Destiny as I type this but like- were vibing And also once again I’m starting off on the wrong foot, not at home when the game starts.

Moth

I don’t trust Jared Straight up And I feel like that’s fair- Twice I’ve been voted out for my connections to Kyoshi island and it’s really fucking frustrating- Jared apologized and sounded sincere but idk I trust people too easily.. Brayden, Denara, and Leanne are also all in this game All people I’ve played with Leanne I don’t trust right off the bat. I tried that before but like- that didn’t work for me. I just want to at least make it to the merge

Frank

Having fun, learning as I get going. Truly impressed by the comraderi among people whom I've never met. Old dogs, new tricks, this is cool.

Klied

The game is going pretty well so far! Everyone has been really nice and supportive of one another. I hope this tribe dynamic continues for the next rounds of the game! :>

Moth

I fucked it up I genuinely feel really bad because everyone’s so confident in me- And I’m totally going to be a target now

Moth

Ohhhhh thank god Thank god because I was absolutely going to be on the chopping block if we lost I don’t want to be first out That being said

I don’t want Destiny to be first out either

Shawn

I'm not very happy tonight with how things went. I truly believe the other team deserved the win, the video was creative and a lot of effort was put into it! I think it was a great thing. But I disappointed that we lost so many of the challenges. I'm also getting annoyed that people are being present on the chat. I feel like it's me and another tribe member that is putting in all the work. Not impressed, but whatever. I just really hope I don't get voted off tomorrow.

Kenneth

welp i bombed the where's waldo challenge and my team lost by a hair in the riddles challenge because of an advantage so rip. i really hope i don't get voted off first because i severely underperformed in the challenge akjdnsajkndkjsnd i'd be really disappointed in myself :/

Amy

Shocked. Absolutely shocked we aren't headed to tribal lol. And here I thought my 4 minutes on Waldo was too slow but it was enough. Honestly we are lucky Blue's quit disadvantage was only what it was bc they quit after 30 minutes apparently. All these advantages at play! And I'm sitting here with a disadvantage. I think I'm clearly doing the idol hunt wrong 😆 all I have is a disadvantage from poison feast food and a chipmunk named Wadsworth in my pocket. Based on how little anyone is speaking I was certain we'd be going to tribal hands down no question. So I am very, very happy we avoided it in the end. I think it would have been between Jessie and Josh though bc they aren't active. I would have voted Jessie bc Josh did the video even after saying he didn't actually want to do the creative part so that's major props to him in my book! I am very curious as to who the other tribe is going to vote off in the end. I hope it's no one I want to make it far. Oh basically I know I'm probably not making merge so I'm trying to align things to get certain people farther and get other people out. I'm rooting for a newbie to take it. Anyway woo day off and I won't be first boot. Fingers crossed it's not Ava. I wouldn't be surprised if she was targeted for her association with me. Love this game! Love this cast! Love the idol hunt! The reward challenge was the most fun bc Ava and I were incredibly intoxicated after Drag Bingo and we did better each time! The last one we went "office" and "turnip" and literally bust out laughing and both said "Nate". I would like to personally apologize to Ellie for having to witness that nonsense. Thank you to everyone! Oh one last thing. I did not want to work with jared at all but it looks like I am going to be forced to do so. I think I have to put trust in Jared and in Leanne who has voted me out of two games prior 😆 but that's me always just bonding most with the people who are active and want to talk to me.

Amy

There's 100% going to be a Canada alliance.

Aubree

Who won the first challenge?? MYSA DID! Woot woot! Even though Jared, Jessie and I didn’t win the Scavenger Hunt portion after the advantages were added in - we did win as far as how many total objects were found, so I’m pretty proud about that! To top it off Sarah and I won the Reward Challenge!!!! We both get 3 stat points to add to our Idol Hunt… which I have yet to do… I should probably do that tomorrow O_o

Avat

hings are going well i think!!! i've had a lot of fun and i sorta vibe with everyone so far on the tribe. i'm really hyped and fingers crossed we do well. i've been sorta inactive with my challenge bc of work but i'm doing what i can for now. more to come soon

DeNara

Well this is my first confessional of the game and oh my is this going to be an interesting game. Initial impressions of my tribe...... Sarah +Jodi- frenemies because they are so good at survivor Frank- I really like him. He seems like a cool dude Kenneth- Seems cool, I may want to work with him, but he seems to be playing harder than he should so early Brayden- Didn't get the best first impression, but that could change Shawn- Super quiet, then they started chatting so that helped Ava, J.G., Destiny- Really inactive so I don't really know- potential first vote I want to work with Sarah, Frank and maybe Kenneth. Jodi would be good to work with although who knows what she is thinking. Everyone else I will stay open to working with, but really don't care too much as of yet.

DeNara

The first challenge was weird because everyone just took their roles and stopped talking. I HATE QUIET. Period. The creative challenge on my tribe wasn't super creative imo, but they tried. I didn't help in the scavenger hunt as much as I wanted too so that sucks, but at least we won that part so that looks good. I am so excited for this idol hunt! It is amazing! Props to the hosts! WE LOST, DAMMIT. At least Derrick won't be the first boot. I hope I am not either or HE WILL NOT STOP BUGGING ME ABOUT IT AND I WILL DIE.

DeNara

Well it is chaos now. Shawn has made an alliance with Sarah, Kenneth, and myself. I like the safety of that. Jodi, Sarah and myself also made a Subrosa alliance (we all knew that would happen) and I feel like this will keep me safe for a while at least. Both Sarah and Jodi want to work with Brayden and potentially Kenneth so we may make an alliance of 5 with them- but that also means Sarah and I would have to talk to Kenneth about not telling Jodi about the other alliance and that could be very risky early on.... hmmm idk about that. Also, Frank is my dude. I hope he stays. I think I am going to lean towards J.G. or Destiny.

Sarah

https://youtu.be/RzlLHyHZguQ

Kenneth

I am now in 2 alliances: one with denara, sarah, and shawn, and another one with ava and brayden! i feel good about both alliances, with the first one feeling solid and loyal (for now), and the second one for the long term! i feel very solid about sarah and denara, i feel like i can last long with them as my good allies. jodi's a tricky one, because i know she's a damn good player, but it's better to keep her on my side for now until an opportune time to make a move (and i actually really like talking to her!).

Jared

me: i'm gonna try to make this concise also me: 8 minutes on the very first episode where i'm not even going to tribal oh boy

Brayden

https://youtu.be/reALs2hizjk hey everyone I'm here

DeNara

So now I am in a bunch of alliances. I guided Kenneth to make an alliance chat with Sarah and me to tell us to keep our alliances with 1. Shawn and 2. Brayden and Jodi a secret. Insert evil laugh here lol. So all together right now I should have Sarah, Jodi, Kenneth, Brayden, Shawn and Frank backing me, so I shouldn't be first boot. It sounds like we are going for Destiny because they aren't very active, which was the name Kenneth threw out first so he is getting what he wants without upsetting me.

Ava

so so so bummed about going to tribal i thought we had it in the bag especially with our advantages but alas... i formed an alliance with brayden and kenneth which i'm super obsessed with i really like both of them - hopefully this means safety for tomorrow. i hate working two jobs and the week after next ill be working just one which is just so fucking sweet fingers crossed i can make it that long in this game. anyway that's all for now

Jodi

I'm so happy to be back. This time, I promise to play a chill Jodi game as I said in my intro, and I want to relax and enjoy this twist of a season. Jared and I are thrilled to play our second season together in the actual format of BvW, and we will be playing our own games. So far, I'm glad to have Denara, Sarah, Brayden on my tribe, as we all know each other but never played before (except Brayden). I want to keep an open mind and play fluidly. Kenneth told Brayden within 10 mins of the game starting that he was scared of me, but I hope I can gain the trust of people and not play as flashy as people remember me for. Looking forward to the connections I make!

Jodi

I promised y'all a chill Jodi game and here i am, delivering it. I think. DeNara and Sarah immediately made the "The Best of SubRosa" chat because obviously that was bound to happen, but additionally, the 3 of us are in an alliance with Brayden and Kenneth called "the clock" (because of our time zones ahahahaha). This game's dynamic is so different because even though we hate going to tribal, it also means that our loved ones are safe from tribal, which sometimes, could be better. I hope Jared is doing good on the other side. Obviously I trust Sarah and DeNara but I also know Sarah will cut my throat when it needs to happen, even if she gonna be crying while doing it, so I'll just...not be blinded by that. I trust Brayden 100%, Kenneth calling me scary is not great but I guess he rather be with me than against me, for now. Y'all Ingary kids what did you say about me??? LMAOO ♥️ I did ask him why he didn't cause ruckus at 5 and whip out the superidol and he said "tunnel vision". Hey that's two of us I guess!

Sarah

https://youtu.be/RzlLHyHZguQJessie So I’m still working on making like connections and stuff but we won the first challenge so no tribal which is a very good thing . ❤️ I’m enjoying this interactive scavenger hunt and I’m totally not trying to pull a Danni from Midsommar lol.

Brayden

hey guys im in a 5 person alliance rn with jodi sarah denara and kenneth and i feel pretty good and excited bc i think ill win this whole game but sadly destiny is prob leaving tonight <\3

Derrick

First challenge done. We rocked it! I don't really have any sort of alliance at this point but I seem to be getting along with everyone. Josh didn't seem to put too much effort into our creative set up but it still worked out OK. It was unfortunate I was on my trip at the time as I could have done so much more with. I think as long as we support eachother we can rock every challenge that comes our way!joshIM SOO HAPPY WE WON! our tribe seems to be like friendly but i havent made any alliances i think so idk if im in a good spot if we lose a challenge but we didnt this time so🙃ShawnEveryone in the tribe is messaging about Destiny, and that is who everyone is thinking of voting off. I'm still thinking of voting Frank off, and I think that's who I'm going for. He's not good at technology, and this whole game is about technology! We lost the creative challenge because all we could do with him was write! Still, everyone thinks because Destiny isn't very active she should be the one to go. I'm not sure what I want to do. JGOh hey! Here we are round one. I feel so out of it playing this game. For the first time in a while, I barely know any of the other players. Which is refreshing and tough. I also feel like my social game is kind of lacking but that is kind of my brand for round 1. I have had some great one on one conversations with DeNara, Jodi, and Sarah. I've talked to Brayden and Kenneth as well a little bit less than the first three. Shawn and Ava, barely. Frank and Destiny not at all. The vote should be Destiny since we sadly lost. Which works for me. I feel the closest with DeNara and Sarah. Really hoping I can start to get my footing. If we were to lose again, Frank would probably go but I don't wanna put myself in the line of fire again. Well here's hoping things improve. Hopefully, I'm not blindsided. Here we go.blueMy tribe seems pretty cool so far, everyone is nice and seems pretty active so thats nice. Shawns going to tribal so I hope theyre gonna be safe :(((DeNara As far as I know, the vote is going to be Destiny. I feel bad for them for not getting the chance to play, and I feel really bad for Moth, they always have the worst luck in ORGs. That being said I sure hope nothing crazy happens tonight or I will cry 100% Tribal, here I come...AubreeThere is hardly any game talk (at least from where I’m standing), so I may start trying to get a feel of where people are at by asking some game-related questions in the tribe chat. Don’t get me wrong, I love the personal chit-chats… BUT I’m also feeling a bit empty-handed as far as knowing everyone’s game motives. Maybe I’m being too bold… idk. I’m not normally the one to standout in ORGs, so hopefully my tribe doesn’t take this as me prying… even though I guess I kinda am?? 😬 “Oof look at me being all dangerous and shit!” 😤🤘🏼😂blueSO here are more detailed thoughts on my tribe. Amy of course is a queen and a legend and we've played together before and have a good rapport. Leanne is so kind and so funny, and I would be super down for working with her. Jared is SO nice I get really good vibes and really enjoy talking to him. Aubree is also very nice and seems genuinely interested in my irrelevant stories 10/10 good vibes. Moth is dope as expected and turns out we have a lot of the same interests ie. witcher and the mcelroys very fun. The rest are yet to be determined.AmyI would like to start out by saying that Brayden's video during their tribal almost made me seasick thanks buddy. So today was a DAY. It was a day off and like I had a weird day at work lol 😆 and then I remembered there was the task of talking to people who h i slacked on today whoops sorry. But for half these people idk if they even noticed bc my tribe is so quiet. Did I already say I tried asking Jessie what their favorite berry was? Like that's how exhausting conversation has been most all around. I think I'm talking to Leanne, Derrick, and Jared the most. I am begging for bygones to be bygones. But anyway I was trying to do a little of the hunt throughout the day bc after seeing

all those advantages last go I was SHOCKED. Then at the end of work I made it to thevpart where I was talking to the grumpy sad flower crown man and after falling on my weak ass on a ladder I picked the lock with a bobbypin and charisma's him to make me a flower crown which got me to the maypole which had me do a scavenger hunt and I got an idol. Writing this all out is absolutely hilarious. But yeah I have an idolllllllllllllllllllll which I don't want to use anytime soon. But I have a feeling I'm going to struggle to make merge. Anyway I got this idol like directly after the other tribe finishing tribal and I love a funny timing like that. I'm glad Ava survived weee! And wow they have some very vocal tribe members haha I'm sure Denara and Jodi are working together which tracks bc I've been closest to both of them individually in prior games early on. Curious if it will stick. So next was rock paper scissors for which I have a 10% disadvantage which apparently applies to the overall tribe score ☠️ . I won my game against Brayden who was at seemingly a raging Big Brother watch party. Sorry buddy. But we've been chatting like he asked how josh was and I said Josh is great and really stepped up to the plate for the creative challenge even though it wasn't what he wanted and also he loves tom holland so I instantly trust him. Then he said everyone likes ava bc she's just so cool and yes I get it I am personally intimidated by how cool Ava is and I have to be around that cool level every day honestly I don't know why she talks to me but she's a badass. Anyyywayyyy he doesn't seem keen on actually talking game and I need to figure out if I need to just tell my tribe I have a disadvantage rn or be like what the fuck the other tribe is so mean to give me a disadvantage 😭 Anyway excited to explore the hunt some more and this game is so fun. If we go to tribal I think Jessie is most at risk tbh. Okay that's all bye ❤️