#God he looks so devastatingly cute when he's sad

[zhansww]

[vaniliens]

what do you like most about Juvia? and what's your favorite ship of Juvia (with someone?)

OHHH JUVIA... JUVIA.... I complain a lot about her, especially the way she's written post series 1 😭 I'm not a big fan of her obsession with Gray (& how that's her entire personality now 😨) BUT YEAH shes still one of my favorites;;;;;

It's mainly her idea / concept / potential that i fell in love with, which sadly never got explored much in the series, BUT here's a list of stuff I loved about her canonically in no particular order (+ the ships);

Her backstory and her arc during Phantom Lord. I lovee how her and Gray's fight was resolved, I'm so happy she finally got to see a clear and bright sky after YEARS of thinking she'll never see it because of how awfully she's been treated by people around her for something she couldn't control, I think it was beautiful!!! And she definitely deserved it!!!! I could relate to it a lot too 😭

She LOVES her friends as much as everyone else in FT does, it just doesn't seem like it because of her. Thing. With calling people her "love rival," at least before series 2. ->

The series' first ever unison raid being hers and Lucys??? ICONIC. I'M GOING TO BITE A TABLE. Her self sacrifice to get Cana out of Freed's jutsu shiki??? DEVASTATINGLY SWEET. Getting Gajeel to join her in Fairy Tail because she was worried he wouldn't find / be accepted in any other guild??? ALSO REALLY SWEET, GOD. Her team ups with Lisanna during Tenrou and Alvarez??? VERY CUTE 10/10 WE NEED MORE.

If it isn't obvious enough, she actually does have a really cute and funny character (As long as shes not doing anything relating to Gray for once)!!!! And I love that contrast between her new brighter and more cheery personality and her older, quiter and depressed one. Its really sweet. I love her character arc a lot ok. I love how she actually doesnt like swimming despite her element being water and how shes awful at baking!!!! Go girl!!! Give us nothing!!! I lovee how shes not above doing anything dumb with her friends (Like with Gajeel, especially) shes fun I miss her ☝️

Her design(s) ??? Have you seen her??? She's serving 24/7. A unique silhouette every time too. Phantom Lord fit? A slay, a definitive classic, love the europe-ness of it, really fits her constant rain thing she had going on. The teru teru bozu on her was adorable and sad at the same time. So good she came back to wearing it after Edolas Arc (this was apparently a warning). Her outfit once she joins Fairy Tail??? ADORABLE! THE DRESS WAS UNIQUE!! THE SHORT HAIR WAS A SLAY. I'd say it counts as a 'meaningful hair cut' even when we never got to see her cut it or why she did but narratively it did show that she was starting a new life 🫶 I dont think i need to say much about her fits after Tenrou, they look really good and comfy 😌 And I love her long hair too, not as much as her short hair but its cute how it kinda looks like water, intentional or not. Shes one of the few women in FT who hasn't come down with a nasty case of 'Mashima's Same Face Syndrome Post GMG' but she was still affected by it. Also i love her long boots and furs..

Phantom Lord Juvia was reallyy cool too, before she got a redemption and all. Look at her!!! How powerful and mysterious she seemed!!!! The dark blues / black outfit... the rain following her wherever she goes, how she was one of the strongest people in Phantom, again, the teru teru bozu, her constantly stone cold face, dark eyes, how ominous she was- she was Leaking 'Power' at that point and I kinda miss her intimidating presence :( I love how scary she was and could be sometimes

Her arc with Meredy,,, I dont know how to articulate my thoughts on their fight nor am i confident enough that the stuff im thinking of actually happened / was there (Like her recognizing that Meredys situation was awful, did Juvia even ever learned about her past??) (Been a while since I rewatched/read it, my bad) but the hug did stood out to me. Usually the fights would end with someone or both or more on the floor / ground, regardless of the characters, but this time Juvia just hugs her, and Meredy cries and its just ??? 🥹🥹🥹 AND THEY HUG EVERYTIME THEY SEE EACHOTHER AFTER A LONG TIME TOO AFTER THAT,,, ITS REALLY CUTE... also i think its cool that Mashima changed it so it ended like that because of a flood that happened.

Her magic seems really flexible and awesome, no wonder she was part of the elemental four and an S-class candidate- Girl!! She's weaponizing pressurized water!!! You can't just get hit by them and expect yourself to be okay just because its water!!! She could just drown people soo easily using waterlock or send them back MILES using. That attack I forgot the name of. She could just "disappear" by turning into puddle and reappear and surprise people the same way!!!! You cant attack her using physical objects, it would just phase through her!!!! She can flood entire arenas!!!!! The fact that should apparently control the temperature / heat of the water too!?? Girl!!! Use it more!!!! Hate how it was shown once during phantom but never mentioned again, that would've been so useful. Mashima knew she would've been unstoppable if she was used to her fullest potential so she was nerfed like every other characters whos ever gotten a redemption.

Okay apparently i like her more than I thought. Let's not mention the stalking bit. I think its creepy. But yeah!!! Love her character!!

As for ships, I'm not that picky with ships involving her (Reason being im never sure if i ship them for romantic reasons or if its because i think they wouldve been funny), just make sure it isn't Gray, also I tend to ship her with women more & headcanon that shes a lesbian!

My favorites are obviously luvia (Lucy) and lisvia (Lisanna) or lulivia (POLYCULE‼️‼️) I just think they're neat and like really sweet aauagh. Something about these two girls accepting her almost immediately, how they like talking about love a lot, Lucy & Lisanna teaching her how to bake, the beach trips, the sleepovers would've been legendary..... so would the dates.......... think about it,,, The iconic-ness of the first ever unison raid from luvia.... the Juvia/Lisanna team up during tenrou.... the spite from shipping something against the majority of the fandom,,,,, Come down here into this cellar with me...

I also like ervia a lot, they have a lot of potential!! I wish we got to see them spar 1 on 1, like before tenrou? Also the scene where Erza conforts her after she failed to give the scarf to Gray 🥹🥹??? Cana and Juvia are also funny and they have GREAT chemistry in canon, most tensioned filled Juvia ship ever & im surprised its not right behind Gruvia as the fandoms favorite Juvia ship.

Lyvia also wouldve been cool!!! I love whenever 2 characters are unhealthy and obsessed with one another, and lyvia could've been that had Juvia reciprocated his feelings. Also seems better than gruvia. Lyon doesn't actually stalk her hes just a simp whenever he spots her.

Meredy/Juvia is cute too (AFTER the timeskip) idk they're adorable. I think the FTGKMR card of Meredy wearing Juvia's clothes sold me on this, because lets be honest if she was wearing Lyon's outfit, the whole fandom would've screeched as well 🙄 you've seen their reaction towards Lucy wearing Natsus vest thing, let me have this. But yeah i see it Less as romantic and more just best friends. Not quite mother/daughter or siblings because i never got the chance to think of it that way too much while watching (Thanks to the timeskip immediately after tenrou too)

Aquarius and Juvia would've been neat to see more of, especially when they got along SO WELL during the short amount of time they talked in the celestial spirit realm 😭 This is kinda a joke ship but yeah i do like it :)

Navia and gajuvia are cool too 👍 They're are getting up to no good!!! Again, i see them more as friends than lovers but I see the appeal.

Also heres the meredy card im talking about in case you want to see:

[bradshawsbaby]

Hello Lovely ☺️💗

No rush or pressure whatsoever to this but I’d be so wholly delighted to read the products of your wordsmithery with prompts 2 and 15 (separately is what I was thinking 😆 but if you wanna put them together more power to you👍🏻💗) for The Bradshaws. From that November prompts list. Only if you’re still wanting to write drabbles. 🫣💗 Okay thank youuuu 😘

💗💗💗

Anything for you, darling! You are literally too cute! ☺️ I have another request for Prompt #2 in my ask box, so I focused on Prompt #15 (Looking through an old photo album) for this one!

“Oh, honey!” you gasped softly, blowing away the light layer of dust that was clinging to the cover of the large photo album you’d just pulled from one of the many boxes strewn across your living room. “Come here!”

Your fiancé’s head popped up from across the room, where he had been engrossed in rummaging through a box of his own. With his backwards baseball cap and old college hoodie, he somehow managed to look both extremely casual and devastatingly handsome at the same time.

“What’s up, baby?” Bradley asked, wiping some dust from his hands onto the front of his sweatpants as he rose from his spot on the floor and moved towards you.

“I found an old photo album in this box,” you told him, smiling up at him from where you were sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the couch. “It looks pretty full,” you added, eyeing the width of the rather hefty album.

With just a few months to go before your wedding, and before you and Bradley moved into the new apartment you’d just signed for, there was still so much to do. But tonight had nothing to do with wedding planning. Instead, you had encouraged Bradley to bring boxes of his parents’ things over to your apartment so that you could go through them together. They’d been sitting in storage for a long time because they’d been too painful for Bradley to go through on his own.

“But if I have you with me, I think I can do it,” he’d told you when he agreed to bring them over.

Now he was sitting down beside you, one strong arm wrapping around your waist as he gazed at the large photo album resting on your lap.

“Oh my God, I haven’t seen this thing in years. My mom kept so many pictures in it,” he breathed out, almost reverently, as he reached out to brush his fingers across the cover.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his throat constricting tightly. “Do you want to look through it or would you prefer I put it away?” you asked him gently.

Bradley glanced up and caught your eye, offering you a tender smile. “No, it’s okay. Let’s look through it,” he said, slowly flipping it open. He stopped immediately when he saw the words Bradshaw Family Memories written in a clear, bold hand across the first page. Running his fingers over the dried ink, his lips curved up into a nostalgic smile, tinged with only the tiniest hint of sadness. “That’s my mom’s handwriting. She wrote everything down in this thing,” he explained.

You smiled warmly, rubbing his back lovingly and letting him take the lead with flipping through the album.

Carole really had kept so many pictures in this thing. There were pictures of her and Goose when they were dating, pictures from their engagement party, and pictures from their wedding, all carefully documented with names, dates, and places, just like Bradley had said. There were pictures of Carole during her pregnancy, including a few old ultrasound photos.

“My baby when he was a baby,” you laughed softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek, which made Bradley smile. “Oh, and look at this!” you exclaimed excitedly, pointing to another photo when he turned the page. “‘Bringing Bradley home from the hospital!’ So sweet! Your parents look so happy,” you murmured, noting the expressions of joy on Goose’s and Carole’s faces as they gazed down at their precious son.

“They were,” Bradley said quietly, his eyes shining. “God, look how young they were.”

Younger than the both of you were now. It was crazy to think about.

Resting a comforting hand on Bradley’s upper arm, you leaned over and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I know they’d be so proud of you, honey.”

Swallowing slowly, Bradley nodded and dropped a kiss on the top of your head. “And I know they’d have loved you. They’d be so excited about the wedding.”

You nodded, laying your head on his shoulder and curling up against his side as he pulled you closer to him.

“I can’t wait to marry you, baby. To start our life together,” Bradley murmured, turning his head to look down and meet your gaze. “We’re gonna fill so many photo albums just like this one, so that one day our kids and our grandkids and our great-grandkids can look back and know how much we loved each other.”

“That sounds perfect, honey,” you whispered, managing to get the words out past the lump of emotion in your throat.

Sitting side by side, you and Bradley continued to flip through the album together, each page offering a new reminder of the ways Goose and Carole had loved each other, and their sweet boy.

Their love would live on forever, just like yours and Bradley’s.

November OTP Writing Prompts

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine - Propaganda Post

S-Class Heroine is my all-time favourite Otome Isekai for sure. I've reread the available webtoon chapters a stupid number of times, then read the webnovel and became even more insane about the story. Here's why you should read it too!

---

The premise of the story is pretty standard. Lady in her 20s gets hit by a truck and is reincarnated as a mob character who's destined to die early. Her new world is full of danger because dungeons filled with demons can spring up whenever, but she has the help of a game system and its benevolent moderators (the gods that transmigrated her there) cheering her on.

Top 3 things that make the story stand out from other OIs:

No romance while they're children

It's a low bar but one that lots of OIs fail anyway, so it's worth mentioning.

Excellent Pacing

Speaking of childhood arcs, the author has the good sense to skip all the unnecessary skill grinding. We're only with the MC in the important parts where (1) worldbuilding mechanics are introduced (2) she makes important friends, or (3) she acquires fundamental skills that she's going to use for the rest of the story. You never lose track of the stakes involved because the story isn't dragged out. But it also isn't rushed; the story takes the time to pause for jokes and small moments too.

The in-universe the tutorial/childhood period is 10 years long, but we're only with the MC for like a couple of months in total. Can't imagine being in the childhood arc for 100+ chapters. (sorry Matriarch. I did love you but I simply cannot see why the last 3 arcs I read needed to exist at all)

ML doesn't fall into any of the typical archetypes.

I dunno how to describe Tesilid. He's a hero, he's a damsel in distress. He behaves saint-like but he doesn't even really want to be that way.

His character revolves around some magic restrictions on his behaviour. He has to adhere to the 7 heavenly virtues and abstain from the 7 deadly sins, which basically means that he's always very kind and gentlemanly. He's also a doormat who's constantly betrayed and taken advantage of because he's essentially not allowed to stand up for himself.

He's such a funny guy ever because when he's like 10 and still not very great at handling himself, he petulantly mutters and complains under his breath about why he's the only one who has to live so rigidly. You can definitely tell that if he were given the choice, he definitely wouldn't be doing so many saintly things, but here he is anyway and looking like an angel while at it. But he's also not a selfish prick. He's the guy who in the original novel died 80+ times trying to save the world. He consistently wishes for others to avoid living the same restrictive life as he does in the in-universe church, even though this incurs penalties from committing the sin of envy.

imo Tesilid doesn't feel like a typical bland ML, maybe because he's quite literally an action fantasy MC who's now in a rofan lol. By the grace of the transmigration gods he now has a transmigrator who wants, above all, for him to have a freer and happier life.

His interactions with FL are both very cute and somehow devastatingly sad and hopeful at the same time. She's the only one with whom he is exempt from the penalties of committing the seven deadly sins, which means he can actually be himself around her. If she's the one giving him food, he can eat it without it counting as the sin of gluttony. So after the childhood arc they have this wordless agreement where she piles food on his plate without being asked and he cleans the plate. They look like a married couple to everyone else, but they're probably rationalising it on the inside. It makes me want to combust.

FL also became strong in order to defend him. I love how narratively speaking, lots of times Tesilid is the damsel in distress. There's no ML coming in to solve all the FL's problems, because he's constantly weaker than her. But it's not demeaning, because it means that for the first time ever, someone is there to catch him when he falls. And despite being weaker and being rescued by the FL lots of times, he's also never stripped of agency. He's always thinking and acting to protect her in turn. And as he gets stronger, she sometimes ends up having to keep up with his plans and antics instead.

TLDR; romance aside, Tesilid is a really interesting main character because his entire thing is about resisting the Saint-like character and destiny imposed onto him. I know OIs are about romance, and this one does have (slow-burn) romance, but I love it when stories transcend that and make their characters more than just their relationship with their love interests. Also it's very nice how he and FL flipped the damsel in distress dynamic and without making it emasculating or demeaning for either party.

—

Anyway there's more good things about the story, like it being really funny and having excellent art. I would explain and also talk about the MC who's also so funny and so driven, but unfortunately Tesilid has my entire brain in his grip. I could talk about him forever but he has already made this post long enough.

Please read S-Class Heroine ❤️ The pacing is so good and also Tesilid exists. Thank you for listening to my TedTalk.

[katnisscarter]

I finally cleaned out some of the stuff from the apartment you had given back, there were a lot of photos of us in there… it’s weird to look at them. Like, we look so happy and I mean we were, we were so in love. But there’s a disconnect for me like I know that’s me but it feels like a different person. I mean, I guess it was. I’ve changed so much after what happened to me in 2021. The absolute trauma of my own brain betraying me, I mean the whole fabric of reality changing and not knowing what to trust? The only thing I trusted in during all of it was you. I didn’t even trust my parents. But… You leaving changed alot of me. A lot of good changes. You leaving me and no longer loving me made me love myself. It’s kind of fucked up. It was weird to throw those photo strips away though. But I just… the disconnect was too much. In going through all of those things I found my ring too and honestly like I figured it was still on the floor in the corner of the apartment stairs just rotting after I threw it at you that night. It was weird to look at it again. Forever and always seems so silly now. I mean I meant it at least. I don’t know it’s just all so weird. & I don’t understand so many things that happened. And like I really fucking don’t understand why your new girlfriend felt the need to insert herself into my life again like I haven’t even talked to you in months ?? And god the message was so mean like that whole thing I REALLY don’t understand. To tell me to go rot?? I would never say that to you or her for that matter. I mean I want you to be happy, I really fucking do like bottom of my heart I want that for you. I’m so devastatingly sad that you’re not here for my happiness, my life has gotten so much better. I’ve gotten so much better. And it breaks my heart that you aren’t able to see it and be here for it because you were there for me in the worst times of my life. I remember you would talk to me about how great life would be where I’m at now and I won’t lie, it’s hard to be here without you. But… I mean I guess I don’t know you anymore so it isn’t hard at the same time. Like it’s all so weird. So complicated. But I just don’t understand the animosity. Like even after you lied to me, literally cheated on me for months while I was in the hospital, and broke up with me I don’t think badly of you. Like I don’t shit talk you? I don’t spend nights just talking about how awful you are to my boyfriend or anyone for that matter. Like I tell the truth of what happened and honestly? I fucking still defend you most of the time when people do say mean things about what happened. But like, to let her seek me out on PINTEREST of all things to just call me all this shit and be so mean like… idk. I wouldn’t think you’d ever like someone like that. Like I know I fucked up a lot of things in our relationship but like…. Idk I would be so mad at John if he did that to you. Also to talk about your sex life like maybe it’s the nurse in me but that’s a HIPPA violation at the least. It’s just weird. Plus to poke fun at me venting on this absolute trash site is just like ?? lol. I coped how I had to at the time to get to where I needed and through all the major changes that happened in my life overnight. Idk why poking fun at my mental health is cute. Much less the most awful traumatic thing that happened to me that two years later I’m still working through every day. Like?? Idk. It’s all just so weird. But I guess you’re different now. I’m different too. We grew apart. It happens. Life happens. Shit happens I mean I truly did not want any of that shit to go down but like, I’m better for it yknow. And I’m better for knowing you, for being loved by you. I’m very thankful for the time we spent together. I’m very thankful for the love we shared and the experiences we had together. When I think back on the five years before shit went down like it makes me happy. Like they were fun memories. Just because you’re my ex doesn’t mean I have to erase everything and hate you with a vengeance. But I guess that’s just me.

[leossmoonn]

Belle of The Ball [Kol Mikaelson]

masterlist 

pairing - kol mikaelson x fem,gilbert!reader

type - fluff

note / request - “since your TO requests are open can i request a kol fic where the reader is a gilbert and is kinda shy and kol invites her to the mikaelson ball” enjoy!

summary -  the middle child of the mikaelson family takes interest in you and invites you to the mikaelson ball

warnings / includes - your jeremy’s twin, mild language, kissing, suggestive flirting, underage drinking (drink safely), mention of sex

————

*gif isn’t mine*

“I think Connor likes you,” your friend, Karina, nudged you. 

You looked over to the cute, brunette boy that was staring at you from across the hallway. “Yeah, right,” you muttered.

“I’m serious! Oh, look! He’s coming to ask you out!” Karina squealed. 

You looked away from your locker, straightening up as Connor was approaching you. He flashed you a charming smile. 

“I’m gonna go. Meet me by your car!” Karina smiled. 

“No! Rina!” You whisper-shouted. 

Your attention was turned to Connor as he stood in front of you. 

“Hey, Y/n,” he greeted. “Hey… Connor,” you smiled shyly. 

“I wanted to ask you a question,” he said, leaning against the lockers. 

“Y-Yeah, go ahead,” you nodded. He smiled at your nervousness, moving closer to you.

His scent filled your nostrils and you felt yourself going dizzy. You leaned against the lockers, hoping it would help you not trip and fall. 

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me at Mystic Grill. We can get dinner then go back to my place and watch a movie,” Connor suggested. 

Your eyes widened. You were pleasantly surprised. You had liked Connor since school had started, which was a few months ago. You had been trying to get him to notice you, which was going horribly until now. You were way too shy to go up to say anything to him. You guessed that Karina had something to do with him asking you out. 

“Um, Earth to Y/n?” Connor asked, waving his hand in front of your face.

“Huh?” You blinked rapidly. You looked at him, getting even more embraced and shy when you realise you got lost in your own thoughts. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m just um… not really used to people asking me out, you know? I’ve never really been on a date before. My Aunt Jenna used to say that was okay since I’m only in junior year and stuff, but my brother has already had sex with Vicki Donovan and my sister is already on her second boyfriend. It’s kinda sad how un-loveable I am and-” 

You were cut off by Connor chuckling. You cussed yourself out in your head for being so awkward.

“I’m sorry, again. I ramble a lot, too,” you apologised. 

“It’s not worries. It’s really cute. You’re really cute. Anyways, what do you say? Come with me to Netflix and chill?” Connor asked. 

You smiled, opening your mouth to respond, but you were rudely interrupted. 

“She has plans Friday. Sorry, mate,” an all-too familiar Australian accent sounded behind you. 

You clenched your jaw and balled your fists. You turned your head, glaring. 

“Kol, go away,” you said through gritted teeth. 

“No can do, darling. Jeremy asked me to watch over you,” Kol smiled. 

“Uh, who’s this guy?” Connor asked. You turned back to him. “Oh, just a uh… family friend. Don’t mind him, he’s super annoying.”

“Actually, do mind me. I’m here to pick Y/n up. Elena wants you home, now,” Kol said. 

“Oh. Well, if you need to be home, go ahead,” Connor said. 

You sighed, “Yeah, um, I do. But it’s a yes to the date.”

Connor smiled widely. “Awesome! I’ll pick you up at 8.”

“Great! Can’t wait,” you smiled sweetly. 

Connor walked away, leaving you grinning from ear-to-ear. 

“You can do so much better, Y/n,” Kol said. 

You rolled your eyes, turning 180 to him. “Go away, Kol. I know for a fact that Jeremy and Elena didn’t tell you to watch over me.”

“Hm, true. That was just an excuse,” Kol smiled. 

“An excuse for what?” You asked. “Well, I needed and excuse to talk to you,” Kol shrugged. 

You sighed, going back to your locker and grabbing your textbooks. “About what?” You asked. 

“Well, I know my family hasn’t made it easy for any of you, so we are throwing a ball! My mother’s idea, really. We are allowed to bring dates and I’d like to bring you,” Kol explained. 

You started to feel all flustered. “Uh… Wh-Why?”

“Because I like you, Y/n. I think you’re cute, funny, and all the good parts of a woman. I’d like you to ditch that Connor-nobody and be my plus one!”

You slammed your locker shut, walking away from Kol. 

“Y/n, darling! You never answered me!” Kol exclaimed, trying to catch up with you. 

“Yeah, I did that on purpose,” you muttered, knowing he could hear you because of his vamp hearing. 

“You are so rude. I take it your parents didn’t teach you any manners? Not like they can teach you them now,” Kol joked. 

You scoffed, not believing what you were hearing. “Like you can talk. And plus, why would I want to go to the ball with a jerk like you?”

You waked out of the school, spotting Karina over at your car. 

“Y/n, wait!” Kol called out, reaching out to grab your wrist.

“What!” You exclaimed, turning to him. 

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean that, but I really do want you to accompany me to the ball,” Kol said, staring you right in the eyes. 

You stared at him for a few moments, your eyes flickering down to his lips. Once you noticed him smirk, you looked away, pulling your wrist away from his grip. 

“I appreciate the invitation, but I’m going out with Connor,” you mumbled. 

Kol sighed, “Fine. But if you reconsider, it’ll be at our house.”

“Thanks,” you said, looking up at him through your lashes. “I need to go, okay? My friend is waiting for me.”

“Alright. I hope you reconsider, Y/n. I’d be a shame if I didn’t have a date,” Kol said. 

“As if you can’t get anyone you want,” you rolled your eyes. 

“But I only want you,” Kol admitted. 

Butterflies fluttered in your stomach. As much as you wanted to stay and ask him if he really did want you, you knew you’d end up a blubbering mess. And you definitely didn’t want to be like that in front of a devastatingly handsome Original vampire. 

“I gotta go,” you murmured, turning away and stomping off to Karina. 

“Hey, who’s that?” Karina asked once you approached. 

“Oh um… An annoying friend of Jeremy,’s” you lied, running your fingers through your hair. 

“Hm, well he’s hot,” Karina bit her lip, looking at Kol who was still where you left him. 

You rolled your eyes and started to twiddle with your fingers. “No, he’s not.”

Karina narrowed her eyes at you, gasping in realisation. 

“What?” You asked, full of confusion. “You like him!” Karina grinned. 

You scoffed, “Hell no.” 

“Hell, yes! You’re doing that thing you do when you talk about a guy you like,” Karina giggled, pointing to your hands. 

You looked down and sighed, putting your arms to your sides. “I do that when I’m nervous.”

“Oh, yeah? Are you nervous about Mr. Hottie?” Karina wiggled her eyebrows.

“No. I’m nervous because Connor asked me out this Friday,” you explained. 

“Oh, my God! Babe, that’s awesome!” Karina squealed, jumping up and down, clapping while doing so.  

“Thanks, I know,” you smiled sheepishly. “Well, what day is it? Wednesday, right? We need to shop!” Karina exclaimed. 

“No, no! I'll just wear jeans and a cute top. There’s no need to shop,” you said. 

“Have you seen your closet? You only have one cute flora top and a pair of black baggy jeans. The rest of your closet are sweats and sweatshirts. You don’t even have any date-appropriate dresses!” Karina said. 

“Not true!” You protested weakly. 

“Mhm,” Karina said, pursing her lips. You rolled your eyes, knowing she was right. 

“Fine, but we are only going to buy one outfit. ONE,” you said, holding up your first finger. 

“I’ll take it! Wanna go now?” Karina asked. 

“Sure,” you nodded. “Yay! We can get lunch at the Grill, too,” Karina suggested, opening the passenger door of your car. 

“Alright,” you nodded, going over to the driver’s seat. 

You drove to the outlet mall, parking in front of the shop. Karina and you walked inside, Karina immediately pulling you to the jeans section. 

“God, I hate jeans,” you muttered. “Why?” Karina asked. 

“Because they’re tight and I have to jump to get them on,” you explained. 

“Well, that’s just because you have a nice ass,” Karina smiled.

You smiled, “Yeah, right.” “I’m serious! Your figure is to die for! I’m jealous, honestly,” Karina said in a sincere tone.

You chuckled, “Thanks, Rina.”

“Of course. Now, let’s see what jeans they have. Do you want black, dark wash, or light wash?” Karina asked. 

“Dark wash,” you answered. “High-waisted or low-waisted?” Karina asked. 

“(Your choice),” you said. 

Karina pulled out two pairs of jeans, handing them to you. “Now, for the shirts! Do you want a ruffled top, knot front, or button-up?” 

“Um, ruffled, I guess,” you said. “Alright… Well, I know you like plaid… So, what about this one?” Karina pulled out a black and white top that was cropped. It was long sleeved, the sleeves ruffled slightly. The bottom of the shirt was stretchy and the top had buttons. 

“Wow, this is really cute. Simple, too. I like it,” you smiled. 

“I knew you would! Now, go try it on,” Karina said, going over to the changing rooms.

You put on your cloths, buttoning up the top and turning around to the mirror. You raised your brows, surprised by how good you looked. 

“You done?” Karina called out from outside. 

“Yeah,” you said, going out of the dressing room.

“You look so pretty. Y/n. The jeans highlight your figure perfectly!” Karina exclaimed. 

“Yeah,” you smiled, “And the top isn’t as cropped as I thought it would be.”

“I am amazing at dressing you! Maybe I should become a professional dresser?” Karina said.

You chuckled, “You should. Well, I think I’ll get this. I’m not interested in shopping anymore and I’m hungry.”

“Alright, well, I have some things I want to try on. So, give me 15 minutes tops and get us a table at the Grill,” Karina said, holding up the clothes she found. 

“Sounds good,” you said. You went back behind the door and changed out of your clothes. You paid for your outfit, walking out and going to the Grill. 

You got yourself seated quickly. 

“Y/n, hey!” Matt exclaimed. “Oh, hey, blue eyes,” you grinned. 

“How have you been?” Matt asked. “Good! How about you?” You asked. 

“I’ve been good, thanks. How is Elena?” Matt asked.

You chuckled, “Elena is good. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”

“Alright, sounds good. So, I heard Connor Askren asked you out,” Matt said. 

“Oh, yeah,” you smiled happily. “Good for you. I have to warn you, though, be careful,” Matt said. 

“Be careful about what?” You asked. “Well, Connor has a reputation of asking girls out then bailing on them,” he explained. 

“Oh,” you frowned. “Well, he seemed really excited to ask me out.”

“I'm sure he was. I’m just saying. You’re like a little sister to me. I don’t want you getting hurt,” Matt explained. 

You smiled gratefully. “Thanks, big bro.”

“No problem. Anyways, are you here alone or is Karina with you?” He asked. 

“She’s with me. She’s at the clothing store. I just came from there, hence the bag,” you said, holding up your shopping bag. 

“Ah right. Let me guess, she wanted to try some stuff on and she let you go?” Matt asked. 

“Yep,” you laughed. “That’s what Caroline does. So, do you want to get started with a drink or anything?” Matt asked. 

“Yeah, sure. Can I get a Diet Coke, chicken tenders, and cheese fries?” You asked. 

“Coming right up. Do you know what Karina would want?” Matt asked. 

“She’ll probably want lemonade, a chicken wrap, and onion rings,” you said. 

“Alright. Be right back,” Matt smiled. 

You gave him a goodbye wave. You sighed once he left, looking at your shopping bag. You would be lying if you said you were’t worried about Connor. You hoped that he was different than what Matt told you. 

————

Friday came sooner than expected. You were currently at home and getting ready for your date. Karina had helped you with your makeup, putting eyeliner on you and letting you borrow her lipstick. You were strapping on your heels when Karina told you she was leaving. 

“Text me if you two kiss,” Karina winked. 

“Highly doubt we will, but noted,” you smiled. 

“Alright, I’m gonna go. You look amazing, Y/n. Have fun!” Karina hugged you before leaving.  “Thanks,” you giggled as you shut the door. 

You looked at your phone, seeing it was 7:57. You smiled nervously, grabbing your purse and waiting at the door. The 3 minutes passed by slowly. It was soon 8 and he wasn’t there yet. You shrugged it off, knowing that he would probably be there in a minute or two. But as you waited, 2 minutes passed, 5, 10, and 20. Each time you checked your phone, your hope in Connor disappeared and your fear of what Matt said becoming true increased. Once it reached 8:30, you realised that Connor wasn’t coming and he had in fact stood you up. 

You stomped off to your room, tears falling down your cheeks. 

“God! How stupid are you, Y/n? Thinking a guy like Connor would want to go out with you? A football player? A guy with one of the highest GPA’s? Fat chance,” you sobbed to yourself. 

You took off your heels and wiped your eyes with the back of your hand, smudging all the makeup that Karina had done. You took off your clothes, slipping into sweats and a tank top. You washed your face of all the makeup, going into your kitchen. You went to go and get some chocolate, but someone interrupted you.

“Don’t look so glum, Y/n. Connor is an ass.” You turned around sharply, surprised to see Rebekah there. 

“I… Rebekah, what are you doing here?” You asked rudely. 

“I’m here to give you your dress and get you ready for the ball!” Rebekah smiled. 

“I’m not going,” you mumbled, going back to getting your food. 

Rebekah sped to you, grabbing your wrist. “Yes, you are. I don’t like you very much. I don’t like any of your family, but Kol seems to have taken an interest in you. I have no idea why, but I just got my family back and want to make everyone happy.”

“Well, I don’t like Kol. So you can tell him to shove off,” you said. 

“Hm… No,” Rebekah grinned. “C’mon, you’re going to the ball whether you like it or not. Your sister and brother will also be there.”

“Another reason not to go,” you stated. 

“Oh, please! If you don’t go I am sure Kol will kill Elena and Jeremy,” Rebekah said. 

“No! I… I don’t want to. Kol doesn’t even like me. He just likes to piss off all my friends,” you said.

“Y/n, look at me,” Rebekah said. You looked at her dully.

“Kol likes you. Hell, I think he’s in love with you. All he talks about it you and quite frankly, it’s sickening, but a little heartwarming to see him care so much for someone. So, please, come to the ball. If you want to leave after a little bit, I’ll make sure you go without any issue. But just try it out,” Rebekah begged. 

Your heart fluttered once you heard Kol might be in love with you. If you were completely honest, you had a little crush on Kol. How couldn’t you? He was charming, handsome, and even nice to you. You never pursued the crush because one, you were too shy for that. And two, you knew your family would kill you. But you knew Rebekah would just kidnap you and take you there, even if you said no again, so you deciding to say yes. 

“Fine, I’ll go. But don’t expect me to have fun,” you mumbled. 

Rebekah took her hand off your wrist, smiling widely. “Great! Let’s go and get you ready, we’re late.”

You nodded and went back to your room. Rebekah sat you down and did your makeup. Giving you a fox eye look with a red lip. She then got out your dress, to which you gasped at.  Your dress was a long red ballgown. The top of the dress had jewels all over, the skirt then puffing out like Cinderella’s. The sleeves of the dress were made to go across your shoulders, letting the top of your breasts and your collar bone show. 

“Wow I… Wow,” you gasped. 

“Amazing, right? You’ll be the belle of the ball! You’ll even outshine Elena, who’s dress is disappointingly gorgeous,” Rebekah smiled. 

“Thank you,” you smiled. 

“Of course! Now go put it on, I’ll help you with the back,” Rebekah said handing it to you. 

You took it gently, going to your bathroom to get changed. You came out, letting Rebekah tighten the dress for you. You then slipped on your black heels that you were wearing earlier, and took a look at you reflection. 

“Wow, I actually look like a princess,” you smiled.

“That you do,” Rebekah smiled. “Now let’s go. Our ride is waiting.”

You nodded, lifting up the bottom of your dress so you could walk. You and Rebekah walked out to the limo, going over to the Mikaelson house. 

“Hey, Rebekah?” You asked. “Yes?” She answered. 

“Why are you being so nice to me? Besides making Kol happy,” you asked. 

Rebekah sighed. “Well, I think you’re good for my brother. You make him more bearable to be around. Kinder, warmer. A lot less murderous. I know you like him, too. I can see the way you look at him when you think no one is paying attention. He’s head over heels for you and I think you could be the same for him after tonight.”

“Good to know,” you smiled. 

“Mhm. But don’t tell anyone I ever complimented you or helped you out tonight. I don’t need your friends thinking I have a good side,” Rebekah said. 

You chuckled. “Alright, deal.”

You two arrived at Rebekah’s house, stepping out of the limo. Rebekah and you waked to the doors, opening them. As you stepped into the ballroom, all eyes went on you. Your entrance elicited gasps from everyone. You smiled shyly, your smile faltering once Elena, Damon, and Jeremy approached you. Rebekah left you to deal with your family.

“What the hell are you doing here!” Elena exclaimed. 

“Having fun, El,” you answered. 

“No, you need to go home now,” Damon said. 

You shook your head. “No. Connor stood me up and Kol invited me to this thing, so I decided to take the opportunity.”

Elena’s angry face fell as she heard what Connor did. “Connor stood you up? That jerk!”

“It's okay. I’d rather be here and in this dress than with him and drunk,” you admitted. 

“Need me to beat him up for you?” Jeremy asked. “I’m good baby bro, but thanks. Uh…. have you guys seen Kol?” You asked. 

“Nope,” Elena said. “And I wouldn’t advise looking for him. He might kill you,” Damon frowned. 

“No, I won’t! Like she said, I invited her here,” Kol said from behind them. 

Damon turned, a grimace on his face. “Why?”

“Because I am in love with her,” Kol smiled, his eyes meeting you’s.

Your blood ran cold and you looked down, holding the skirt of your dress tightly. 

“I’d like to dance with her, if that’s alright,” Kol said.

“No way,” Jeremy said. “You put a hand on her-”

“Jer, it’s okay,” you said. “I’ll shout if I’m in trouble. Please, just go.”

Elena sighed, “Fine. I have to go and see Esther anyways. Do not hurt her.” Elena warned Kol. 

“I never would dream of it,” Kol smiled. 

The three left, leaving you and Kol at the entrance. Kol approached you, you putting your head down again. 

“You look ravishing, Y/n. If we were alone, I’d rip that dress off of you,” Kol said, looking over your figure. 

“Thanks,” you chuckled shyly. 

Kol put his hand on your chin gently, lifting your face up to meet his. “Don’t be so shy, Y/n. And don’t self-doubt yourself, either. I know that asshole Connor stood you up, but you are still the most beautiful, kind girl ever. He doesn’t deserve you anyways.”

“And you do?” You challenged. 

Kol chuckled. “No, but I’m hoping you think differently.” He then offered you his hand. “Dance with me?”

“Sure,” you nodded, taking his hand hesitantly. 

Butterflies threatened to rip out of you as you touched his hand. Goosebumps rushed up your arm as you grasped his hand. Kol walked you two to the ballroom floor. You put your free hand on his shoulder, him putting his free hand on your waist. You two swayed for a few moments until you broke the silence. 

“So, um… How did you know Connor stood me up?” You asked. 

“I had Rebekah spying on you,” Kol admitted. 

“Wow, not creepy at all,” you muttered. “I wanted to be ready for if he stood you up, so Rebekah could then go and get you ready,” Kol explained. 

“Makes sense,” you said. 

Kol smiled at you, not being able to keep his eyes off of you. You kept adverting your gaze. Too nervous to actually look at him or more than 5 seconds. 

“You’re very cute when you’re tense,” Kol complimented.  “Thanks. Not a lot of people think that,” you chuckled. “Well, those people are out of their minds then,” Kol said.

“Why do you like me?” You asked suddenly, looking at him. You had been wandering this all night, waiting until you were here with him to ask. 

Kol smiled. “Well, you’re different. You’re not aggressive like your brother, or so moral like Elena. You’re quiet and calm. You think through things rather than be impulsive, which seems to be how everyone is around here. Your eyes are so beautiful, I get lost in them. When I see you smile, it makes my dead heart come alive. And when you do that hair-twirl thing, it’s so adorable. You’re also extraordinarily stunning, which is a big plus.”

Your heart skipped beats as he told you his reasons for liking you. As you looked at him and watched him pour his heart out, your liking for him grew. You subconsciously moved closer to him, too. Your body doing its own thing. 

“Wow,” you breathed out. “You really um… Thought about this.”

“Well, you are all I think about. Besides who’s head I want to rip off,” Kol smirked. 

“Gross,” you grimaced. “I’m kidding! But I’m serious about you. I’ve never liked someone as much as you, Y/n. I hope that I can prove that I’m a good choice for you,” Kol said. 

“Well, you’re proving it now,” you admitted. 

Kol grinned, “Fantastic.”

You two swayed in silence again. As the music got slower and slower, and the lights got lower and lower, you two moved dancing positions naturally. You were quite scared to move closer to him. You were already so close, practically hugging. But your bodies were like magnets, pulling each other close. So tried to go with everything and relax. 

Both of your arms went around his neck and both of his hands wrapped around your waist and went to the small of your back. You two scooted in until your head was on his shoulder. You closed your eyes and breathed in his scent nonchalantly, enjoying his cologne. Kol nuzzled his cheek onto the side of your head, him also breathing in the scent of your shampoo. 

You two danced for a while before Kol got an idea.

“Do you want to get out of here and go to the balcony?” Kol asked. 

“You’re not gonna kill me, are you?” You joked. 

“No promise,” Kol winked cheekily. You giggled, “Alright. Let’s go.” Kol nodded and kept his grip on your hand, walking you to the balcony. On the way, you took two glasses of champagne. You handed him one as you stepped out on the terrace. You put your elbows on the railing, sipping the champagne. 

“So, why’d you bring me out here?” You asked. 

“To gaze at the stars,” Kol answered simply, walking next to you. 

“Hm,” you hummed, looking up at the night sky. “Did you ever stargaze back before you all were vampires?”

“Yes, all the time. It was one of my favourite things to do,” Kol said. 

“That sounds nice,” you said. “It was,” Kol said. 

“Do you ever miss being a witch?” You asked. Kol sighed, taking a sip of champagne. “Sometimes. But I love being immortal.” You smiled, “Makes sense. If I were a vampire, I’d be the same.”

Kol turned to you, “I can turn you.”

You shook your head, “No. I like being human. Being a vampire seems to complicated. Plus, I want kids.”

“Hm. Sounds nice having your little perfect, human life. I miss that,” Kol said. 

“You were never human, though,” you smiled, turning to him. “Yes, but I was once mortal,” Kol said. 

“True,” you nodded, taking a sip of your champagne. “Hey, um… I want to thank you for inviting me. I know I said I didn’t want to go, but I’m really glad I did. I’m having a really good time.”

“Of course. I knew you would. I know you’re not the girly-girl type, but every girl deserves to experience to dress up for a ball,” Kol said. 

“I agree,” you nodded. “And I’m also glad that you are warming up to me a little bit. You’re not so much of a blubbering mess anymore,” Kol smirked. 

You chuckled, “Yeah, I take a little to warm up to new people.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m that person you’ve warmed up to,” Kol said, stepping closer to you. He put his hand on your’s, looking at you flirtatiously.

You grinned at the moves he was making, deciding to make a move of your own. 

You leaned into him, your eyes boring into his the whole time. You were standing toe-to-toe to him, your mouth parted as his eyes glowed dark brown. He smirked at you, his hand leaving your’s and settling on your waist. You wanted to move closer, but your skirt was so puffed out it restricted you from doing so. Kol noticed your slight frustration with your dress, setting his glass down, and putting his other hand on your waist, pulling you impossibly closer.

“Kol, my dress is too big,” you chuckled. 

“Not too big for me to do this,” Kol grinned, leaning his head down. 

Before you knew it, he was kissing you. Your eyes widened as his lips met your’s. A few moments passed before he pulled away, confused and scared. 

“I’m sorry, I must have read the room wrong. I-” Kol started to apologise, but you put your hand on the back of his head and pulled him in again. 

This time Kol was surprised. He didn’t waste any time in kissing you back, though. Your lips moved together in perfect synchronisation. It was like his lips were made for your’s as they fit in-between your’s like puzzle pieces. Both your fingers entangled themselves in his hair, pulling slightly as he pulled you impossibly closer. Your stomach did a million of flips as his tongue swiped your bottom lip. You opened your mouth slowly, Kol’s tongue slipping in gently. As your tongue’s fought, Kol’s hands went to your skirt, finding your legs under them. He put his hands under your thighs, lifting you up with ease. 

You pulled away, breathing heavily. Kol’s eyes opened, going down to your lips and smiling as your lipstick was smudged. Your chest heaved up and down as you stared into his eyes. 

“I just wanted to um… To tell you that i-if you were planning on having um, sex. I’m not ready. This um… This was my first kiss, too. Sorry if you were expecting to get lucky tonight,” you confessed, blushing profusely. 

Kol smiled at you, setting you down. “It’s alright, love. I wasn’t expecting anything from you tonight. I hope your first kiss was good.”

“It was really good,” you giggled. 

“Good. Now, do you want to continue to make out? Or we could go back out and dance,” Kol suggested. 

“Um… can we dance again?” You asked, going back to your shy nature. 

“Of course we can, darling,” Kol smiled, holding his hand out for you to take. 

He led you to the ballroom. You two danced for a couple hours until you started to get tired. Kol drove you back home and you went into your house, Kol kissing you goodbye. You closed the door, smiling widely and squealing to yourself. 

Your phone rang and you answered it immediately, seeing it was Karina. 

“Hey! How did your date go?” She asked. 

“Um…” you sighed, the feeling of Kol’s lips on your’s still there. You smiled again, fidgeting with your fingers.

“It was good. Really, really good.”

————

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[deathbidean]

my destiel fic recs pt.3

no one asked for this but I am determined to force my favourite fics on y’all

And This, Your Living Kiss - opal_bullets : Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen. holy shit. this. THIS. it’s amazing. it’s so beautiful. your heart will break for poor Dean. this is definetly a favourite of mine!!

Andrew Lloyd Webber Gets a Pass - delicious-irony, opal_bullets : In which Castiel's manner is vague and aloof, Dean Winchester doesn't care for a cuddle, and there's no doing anything about it.Or, Dean and Castiel attempt to survive rehearsals for a new production of Cats, and each other. I’M TELLING YOU NOW. IF YOU FAINT FOR ENEMIES TO LOVERS,,, THIS WILL KILL YOU. y’all,, honestly this fic ended me it’s so goddamn good

15x14 coda : it’s a date - contemplativepancakes : “So… How was your date?” “Really, Dean? That’s what you're concerned about? After we all almost died?” Dean waggles his eyebrows. “Well, yeah. Just looking out for my little brother.” The bunker door clangs open, and Sam shoves Dean towards it. “Maybe worry about yourself.”Sam and Eileen had a date, so it's only fair that Dean and Cas do, too, right? so so sweet. just pure tooth-rotting fluff that will make your heart ache

Starstruck - peanutbutterjelly-pie (Aleakim) : From the outside Castiel Novak looks like a regular guy: a good job, two teenage kids, a nice house and a crappy car he’s way too attached to.But there’s one thing no one knows about him: that, over twenty years ago, he used to live next to none other than Dean Winchester – back then a brash and loud-mouthed boy and nowadays a huge movie star and Hollywood’s sweetheart.Castiel never bothered to tell anyone about his childhood friend because frankly, who would believe him? Probably even Dean himself already forgot about his former awkward and weird neighbor, so Castiel seriously doesn’t see any point in mentioning the whole thing ever.But then an interview on national TV happens where Dean reveals way more about his past than ever before … and Castiel - as well as the rest of the world - suddenly realizes that he left a much bigger impact on Dean’s life than he originally thought. y’all,,,,, this is still being updated and when I tell you i’m living for each one,,,,,,,, it’s so goddamn good!!! and sweet!!! and just ughhhhh!!! highly recommend!!

Shot Through The Heart - peanutbutterjelly-pie (Aleakim) : Dean is a hunter. Castiel is a Man of Letters. And even though they have to work together on a regular basis, there is not much sympathy between them. Castiel thinks Dean too brash and reckless while Dean in return sees nothing more in the other man than a rude asshole with an obsessive love for books and a truly terrible fashion sense. But fate clearly has a funny way of throwing those two together over and over again. And somewhere along the way feelings change into something neither of them would have expected.  nah nah, y’all don’t understand,,, this fic is amazing!! again; ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!!! it doesn’t get better than that, am i right?

ours is the fire, all the warmth we can find - xylodemon : Sam brings it up as they're driving back from the steakhouse in Mankato.Dean cuts him a sharp, sideways glance. "You think I should what?""I think you should try journaling.""Why the hell would I wanna do that?" very sad and very beautifully written grieving Dean. just exactly what i needed after the finale and very much patched up the hole in my heart

Be My Boyfriend : Dean and Cas keep having to pretend to be dating to discourage other potential suitors. Things get a little out of hand. i actually read this first on tumblr and loved it so much i had to find it on ao3!! it’s such sweet and silly fluff!!!!

Holiday Homies - tricia_16 : Best friends Dean and Cas are sick and tired of the stress the holidays put on anybody not already in a relationship. The endless plus one invitations to fill for New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day (and this year, Sam and Jess's wedding on top of everything else) never freaking stop. So on Halloween night, Dean and Cas come up with a plan to be each other's plus ones from Thanksgiving to the 4th Of July. They'll fake a relationship, get their parents off of their backs, actually enjoy the holidays for once... and maybe wring a few orgasms out of each other while they’re at it.What could go wrong? you want two dumbasses in love?? you want friends with benefits who are very much in love with each other?? you want to cry in frustration over their idiocy?? this is the fic for you

fifteen flares - microcomets : When Dean finally comes home, the knots in his shoulders aching and his skin still layered in dust, he finds Cas waiting up for him at the kitchen table. Without a word, Cas nudges the vacant chair out with his foot, sliding an unopened beer across the counter in a silent invitation. (post-13.06 coda.) y’all this is so sweet and cute and just wholesome. i absolutely adore confession pre-canon and this is no exceptiion

Wanna Bet? - bendingsignpost : “I bet you... that I can get laid tonight before you can get a single kiss. We pick each other’s targets.”Dean bites his lip in the vain attempt to not burst out laughing. “Uh-huh,” he says. “Sure, Sammy. Someone single and actually attractive, sure.”“Deal?” Sam says. “A kiss on the mouth, no cheating.”Still pushing down a laugh, Dean offers his hand across the table. They shake. “Deal. Okay, who am I going for?”Sam smiles wider than the devil that once possessed him, and answers: “Cas.”  pure Dean dumbassery and intervening Sam AND IT’S SO SO GOOD!! my heart aches

Four Letter Word for Intercourse - bendingsignpost : As a grease monkey turned college freshman, Dean's constantly three seconds away from being stressed out of his mind. It hardly helps that he's finally figuring out his sexuality in his thirties. What might help with that stress is a little phone number (and a big credit card bill). If he can't figure out how to be bisexual in person, he can at least give it a go over the phone, right? (It's probably a bad idea, but he really can't help himself.) okay,,, so,,, this fic may have awakened certain things in me,,,,,,, but GOD DAMN!!!! genuinely,,,, one of the best fics i’ve read; it’s just so goddamn good! i don’t think i can adequately express how much i love this fic!!

and on that note, i shall end your suffering for the time being. but seriously, these fics are genuinely well written, well thought out and executed!! they deserve to be read by everyone who will enjoy them!!

pt.1 , pt.2

[merivrse]

LOU WITH SKZ

☰ a very brief overview of lou’s relationship with each member of stray kids!

BANG CHAN louchan

her safe haven?

when things get too much for her she finds comfort in his hugs and the fact that he just listens first and then gives advice he really thought about

she also cares so much for him that she would do anything to see him smile

literally 1/2 of the reason she’s still alive minho’s the other half

LEE KNOW leelou/lilu

omg THEY’RE WHIPPED i’m telling you.

minho is just always there for lou and god save everyone who dares to do anything to her, he will not hesitate to throw hands

but also, if she needs a shoulder to cry on he’ll be there in an instant to comfort her

CHANGBIN loubin

in an episode of two kids’ room, lou said that they used to be like business partners, only talking when they’d really have to.

she then proceeded to say that they’ve already evolved to become “friends from work” and that she will work hard to become even closer.

the more time they got to spend as team members, the closer they got.

HYUNJIN loujin

she swears she would be lost without him when it comes to the choreo.

they’ve spent countless of sleepless nights in the practice room before comebacks so that lou would get the choreo right and she’s extremely grateful for that.

she often apologises for not being as good as the others when it comes to dancing but he’s always quick to shut her up and say that she’s amazing nonetheless.

HAN lousung

her ride or die buddy in all honesty.

his positive way of just being always brightens her days and she gains a lot of energy from him.

like a sixth sense, she somehow immediately knows when he’s not feeling well and he knows when she is sad.

FELIX felou

chaotic energy at its finest

but they’re also cuddle buddies and are basically clinging onto each other 24/7

lou has such a soft spot for him, stays love to tease her for it but she doesn’t even care

SEUNGMIN loumin

her sON. if you even dare to hurt her baby you better prepare to run

even though he looks like he hates it when she babies him, he secretly loves it. especially when she hugs him or brushes through his hair

also when he calls her noona? she may or may not get all soft

I.N loujeong

for some reason, lou doesn’t baby him as much as she babies seungmin but he’s still her son so don’t you dare mess with him

the most she does is give him the proudest mum look you’ll ever see. it’s devastatingly cute and there are so many fansite photos of it, fans are thriving!!

[pomegranates-and-blood]

Maybe We Meet Again

My Masterlist

In Another Life (prequel to this)

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Summary: The first part (of two) of the sequel of In Another Life, set in a Modern!AU.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: Mentions of death, descriptions of violence and death, major character death (past), nothing else I can think of.

A/N: Hi, idk what you guys were expecting when it came to the follow up for In Another Life, but I hope you like this. Thank you so much for your support in that work and all the others, none of this would be possible without you guys keeping me sane motivated. Love ya.

Taglist: @1950schick @youbloodymadgenius​ @heavenly1927​

Ivar’s gaze is focused on his phone, awaiting his brother’s answer to finally know how much longer will it be before he gets to the café, but something makes him lift his gaze, looking out the window.

He sees you looking positively overwhelmed on a street corner, eyes squinting at a sign, trying to read the name of the street.

Ivar doesn’t know what it is that makes him adjust the crutch in his left arm and stand up to approach you. He doesn’t know, but he doesn’t deny the pull, the whisper that if he doesn’t at least learn your name he will regret it.

“Do you need help?” He asks as pleasantly as he is able to, and based by the grateful smile you offer, even if twinged with embarrassment, he isn’t quite the mannerless grump his brothers make him out to be.

“Is it that obvious?” You huff a laugh at yourself, and continue, “I’m trying to find…”

Your eyes lower to your phone, and with an adorable frown in your nose, you give up on whatever it is you must say, and just show him the screen. The name of the university is familiar, but you are very much lost, it seems, for it is almost on the other side of town.

He tells you that, and tries not smiling at the expression on your face. Gods, you are cute.

“You are not from here.” He states, and you shake your head.

“Here on a scholarship, I’m going to be an assistant investigator in…” Your words die again, as you seemingly try to remember the name of the place you are supposed to be at. But you shake yourself out of that soon enough, and offer a smile, “I’m Y/N.”

The name makes something in him react, awaken. For a moment he tries to remember why, to understand, but it feels like trying to run in a dream, in feels strange and hopeless and out of his reach.

Before you can think him too strange, he tells you his name, and desperately tries thinking of something to say in the awkward silence that follows.

He finds himself asking if you have time for a coffee, motioning absently to the shop behind him, and by some turn of his luck, you say yes.

Ivar finds out soon enough that it is incredibly easy to get you to talk. It works for him, he doesn’t always know what to say, and he knows to most people he seems cold.

But you, you are warm and alive and expressive, and soon enough you are moving your hands excitedly, speaking of finally being granted the opportunity to assist in a dig on a ship burial site. Ivar frowns, and interrupts you with a mumble of your name, still not over the strange thrill that goes over him when sounds out the syllables.

“There’s no sea nearby, how w-…”

“A ship burial doesn’t mean one at sea,” You interrupt softly, eyes shining. After a breath, where it seems your smile trembles on your lips, you add, “Things are not as literal as you think they are, Ivar.”

He tries returning the smile, but his lips part and his breath stutters out.

Why does it feel like he’s forgetting something?

He shakes himself out of it, and leans forward on the table, resting his elbows on it and looking into your eyes.

“So, why all this? Why chase a love story all the way to Bække?”

You shrug your shoulders, a smile that Ivar tries not finding devastatingly adorable playing on your lips, “I don’t like secrets.”

“I don’t think they are keeping it particularly from you.”

“Still. I…it’s a story no one else knows, something that can change how we see the world.” Your eyes are shining in a sort of wonder, of excitement, he has never seen before.

Still, because he cannot help it, he reminds you, “How we see one man.”

“A man that changed the world,” You argue without hesitation, gesturing with your hands as you continue, “Strip away the atrocity, the cruelty, the…otherworldliness of those who are remembered as monsters, and the tale we tell changes, the world changes.

You place your hand over the worn book he saw you carrying, that when he asked you told it was your favorite copy of historical and archaeological records detailing the last years of the Golden Age for Vikings, your eyes fiery as they meet his,

“All we have to remember him by is the legend, the war stories, the chaos he sowed and the death that followed. Even his grave is one of magic, of superstition.”

“But not this one you are working on.”

“Not this one. If I can prove that she was his wife…” A breathed laugh leaves your lips, and Ivar clings to the sound. You bite your lip before insisting, “I just need her name to be the right one.”

“The right one?”

You shrug your shoulders, moving both hands so they are wrapped around your cup of coffee, though your fingers are anxiously tapping at the plastic covering. “His last breath was a whisper of a name. It may not mean anything, but it’s the one lead I have. He may have been a monster, but…he died with a name on his lips.”

“The name of his wife.”

You correct with a shake of your head, “Presumed wife, Rus records only speak of a shieldmaiden that was found dead in his room, before he tore the Rus apart from the inside. Sentimentality makes you think he was avenging her. Logic, on the other hand…”

When your words die with a gesture of your hand, Ivar finishes for you,

“Makes you realize he killed her.”

You nod, a twitch of sadness, a shine of grief in your eyes, before you shake your head at yourself with a sigh.

“The night the world ended.” You quote with a smile that trembles on your lips.

____

If someone were to ask him how life turned out this way, how he got to be here with you and have you love him and let him love you back, Ivar wouldn’t know how to answer.

He’s told you before that maybe it is Fate, that maybe, just maybe, you two were meant to be. Each time he speaks of it, you smile softly, usually shaking your head or kissing him to shut him up, but he sees the tremble in your smile, the curiosity in your gaze, the wondering.

Regardless of how he got here, he for once refuses to overthink this, refuses to let himself be twisted into knots by his own thoughts.

So, because he finds himself missing you -because he wants to, because he can, because he asked you to move in and you said yes- Ivar goes in search of you.

He finds you on the couch, your eyes closed and breathing deep even if your laptop is still open on the coffee table, expecting you to continue work you probably fell asleep doing.

More than a year you’ve dedicated to this dig of yours, this investigation. More than a year, you’ve A part of him torments him with thoughts that you may look elsewhere -both when it comes to a home and when it comes to him- when it is done, but he tries not dwelling much on it.

He whispers an endearment as he presses a kiss right under your ear, a gesture and softness a year ago he never would have believed himself capable of.

“C’mon, wake up, Princess. I can’t exactly carry you to bed.”

“There’s a…bed right here,” You make a vague gesture to the tiny space you leave for him to apparently sleep in, “And there’s a me, and a you.”

Ivar tries replying with a whisper of your name, but Gods, you have him wrapped around your pinky, and your smile stops whatever he was going to insist with.

With a sigh, he sits on the small space you leave, and discards the crutch on the floor at his side. Trying to move you so he can lay down and have you rest on his chest, he once again meets resistance.

“No, no, no,” You mutter sleepily, and stiffen so he can’t maneuver you. “I’m comfy. You leave me be, Lothbrok.”

Our arms lift weakly, inviting him to lay partially over you with his head on your chest. It is inviting, especially with the promise of your fingers running through his hair.

So, he desists and settles in place, pressing a kiss to the center over your heart and laying his head on your chest, his arms going underneath you and wrapped tightly around you.

Ivar closes his eyes, and he can hear it beating under his ear, can hear its rhythm as if he could know it by memory.

He turns his head, and presses another kiss to the skin over your heart.

What he wouldn’t do for that heartbeat.

____

You wake him in the early morning whispering excitedly about the chance to finally go to the site, and insisting that he has to come with you.

“It’s her.” You whisper, and your smile is fucking blinding. When he apparently dwells too long on the warmth of that smile, you insist with an excited pitter-patter of your feet that he gets up.

He does, and gets in the car with you, around curses about the cold that you giggle at, an annoyed furrow in his brow you kiss away, and grumbles about how far away it is that you soothe away with soft kisses.

You get ahead of him when you walk towards the stones embedded on the ground you said are in the shape of a ship, and Ivar limps behind you as you approach the biggest of the stones.

Your hair flows everywhere in the wind, and your arms are wrapped tightly around yourself to ward off the cold.

“The one thing that made him human is here,” You say, and he watches as your left hand raises as if to press your palm against the old stone, before you stop yourself. “The one proof that he wasn’t a…a monster. Just a man.

You chuckle, but it is bitter, sorrowful, pained; and your gaze lowers to the ground.

“Or…he was, until he killed her.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that, to that look in your eyes, to that pressure he feels deep in his chest. So, Ivar grabs on tighter to his crutch and moves closer to the pillar.

“‘She will return victorious’.” Ivar reads slowly, feeling a pit of dread at the base of his stomach, like he’s at the edge of a cliff and about to fall, like he knows what it feels to have the world end, like…like he-…

Those that followed him, those that chose their Viking roots over Oleg’s Christian ways, stay quite a distance away, they know better than to approach.

Ivar doesn’t know how much time he has spent sitting on this cold grass engraving with shaking hands the words he tries remembering how to spell.

He knows he’s lost a lot of blood, can feel it, sticky and colder by the minute, pooling underneath him. The one blow that managed to land on him, he wishes he could remember who it was, how it happened.

He doesn’t remember much of what happened between your lips breathing a last kiss over his and the light dying in Oleg’s eyes as his body surrendered to the torture.

Even his hand is bleeding, Ivar notices. He remembers faintly of holding on to a small statue when he was told his father died, he remembers the feel of it breaking the skin.

He could die here, he knows.

If he doesn’t let them approach him, if he doesn’t let them stop the bleeding, he will die here, tired and worn and alone, under a pool of his own blood before a monument of his worst mistakes.

He can close his eyes and he can still feel the fathom touch of your hand on his cheek, can still taste the warmth of your smile pressed against his own lips, can still see your gaze filled with love and the promise of forever.

He can still hear your voice, soft and gentle, the whispered hope that maybe Valhalla is another chance to meet again, that maybe in another life there’s hope for…hope.

He finishes the last of the letters, and he sways forward, brow resting against cold stone.

It would be easy, he gathers, to close his eyes and give in to the lull of the memory of your voice, your touch.

But he refuses to.

Because he can also feel your hand giving one last caress before you sentence you both to die, can still taste the tears in your lips as you promise only death will stop you against his own, can still see your dead eyes staring back up at him, his knife deep in your heart.

And so Ivar drops the blooded iron tool before the words he will pray to his very last breath are true: She will return victorious.

He vowed once he would make the world remember him, but the world ended the night he put a knife through your heart. The world -his world- ended, and he finds with cruel clarity that he wants them all to know what it feels.

He will still be the most famous Viking who has ever lived. He will make them all suffer and pay and die. And they will remember the pain and death and chaos. And he will be a legend, if only one they will whisper in fear for the rest of time, if only the legend of a monster in a man’s skin.

Ivar crawls away from the boat made of stone, certain many will try to stop him, even more will try to kill him. Certain they will fail.

They can’t kill him, don’t they know who he is?

“Are you okay?” Your hand on his back, touch making him realize how quickly his breaths are coming out of him. Bu the can’t-…he can’t get his breathing back under control, he can’t…

He moves back, away from the stone -the monument, the grave- and his hand doesn’t grip correctly at the crutch on his side. Almost all his life with these things, he’s never failed to use them, they work as an extension of him by now.

And he realizes with dawning horror he wasn’t reaching for the forearm crutch he’s used to, he was expecting to find a rougher one, wooden and metal and…Gods, he can feel the pain of those iron braces, he can feel the pressure of the bones that try to break under unfitting contraptions.

He cannot keep the scream from leaving his lips when they set the bone back into place, the pressure building from the inside of his leg and the pain threatening to pull him under.

He feels faintly of your hand on his face, trying to help him feel anything other than pain; hears choppily of your voice by his ear, trying to drown out the beat of his own heart.

He can’t tell how much time passes, all he knows is that your touch and your voice prove to be the only thing keeping him conscious.

“I hate those things.” You mutter sometime in the night, and he opens bleary eyes to watch you gritting your teeth at the iron braces that lie somewhere on his left.

“Necessary.” The word leaves him in a gasp, and is all he can say. Still, the Gods would sooner sew his mouth shut for him to refuse arguing.

You have the look of wanting to argue, he knows it, he knows that fire like he knows himself; but you say nothing.

The fire is a different one, but still scalds, when you press your hand over his chest.

He hears you say his name, or…or he thinks he does, and when he looks at you, your eyes are the same. And…how didn’t he know?

His lips form the shape of your name, but he only rasps out grief, horror, regret, his regret.

Your expression falls, your eyes fill with tears. He knows that look, that shine of devastation in your eyes.

You look at him and he sees it written in your eyes, the plea that he doesn’t ask you to make this choice.

But he cannot go on while the threat of them taking you away from him looms over him. Either he loses you for good now, or they do.

A part of him dreads your answer, and another is already certain what your choice will be.

“I’ll stay,” You sentence, and it feels like breathing for the first time in a century, when he fills grateful lungs with air. “Out of love for you, not for the world you want to build.”

But he cannot keep the coldness of his voice, he cannot keep the venom from his lips. Because even if your choice was to stay, he wants to punish you for even thinking about leaving him behind.

“A world where you happen to be one of the most powerful women. Convenient, isn’t it?”

But even as ice cuts and bruises and breaks the skin, your smile is warm.

“I choose this world not for power, but because I cannot fathom a world without you in it.”

“You remember.” Is all you whisper. And he recognizes that expression in your face too, all he knew was the feeling behind it once. You have the look of someone whose world just ended.

____

Sooooo, what do you think? I’m sorry there isn’t much fluff, I’m not good at it. And I’m sorry it ends in a cliffhanger, that isn’t nice, but the last part (which takes place from the Reader’s perspective) will hopefully come soon.

Thank you so much for reading, I would love to know your thoughts on this one!! Love you!!

Maybe Death Gives Up On Us (sequel to this)

[cockasinthebird]

Laced up and ready to get dirty

Fingers tighten around the leather of the steering wheel, tensing till his knuckles go white then relaxing again. Deep breath in, then a long exhale. In… and out...

Steve is excited and thrilled and eager but also completely, devastatingly… nervous.

He angles the rearview mirror to look at himself and fidgets with his hair- not that it needs to be retouched for the fifteenth time today already, but it buys him time. Precious time to waste away on hesitation, and the longer he gets to hesitate, the less likely he is to actually.... He glances down the tan, buttoned up trench coat and triple checks that it’s closed all the way up and pulls on the belt to tighten it around his waist till he loses breath, JUST to be safe and secure.

It was a stupid spur-of-the-moment idea he got last week when he was visiting Hawkins to clear out whatever was left of his childhood home; his parents selling it now that Steve doesn’t live there anymore, all with such a lack of grace that shows they never really cared for that house, as if it was nothing more than a lavish cage for their only child. In a bag of clothes marked for donation - his father’s idea of philanthropy - Steve found an old Burberry trench coat, truly as fashionable and fitting now as it was back then, only difference being that as an adult who pays for everything himself, this coat would now be the most expensive thing in his and Billy’s entire apartment. Maybe he should have been more grateful for all that he had back then, or so his father would say whenever he found time to reprimand his son, but that wasn’t what he needed.

“Arrh, fuck!” Steve groans and rubs his face in hopes of recentering himself on the task at hand. He could mope around and be sad about his terrible father later, right now there’s more important things to do.

Such as opening the door to the same old BMW, the car soon on its last legs, having only survived this many years thanks for Billy’s expertise truly. It’s a bit colder out on the street than Steve expected, or maybe just a bit too windy, but he isn’t exactly wearing it to stay warm as much as he is to stay covered.

The hem of it grazes against the top of his suede boots as he takes decisive but careful steps around his car, now facing the open carport that exposes the inner works of the small service shop. It’s been almost a year since Billy got hired here as a mechanic, and it is possibly the happiest Steve’s ever seen him. Neither of them ever dreamed of big and important lives, no wanting to be a doctor or president or astronaut. All they wanted to be was happy, and they’ve found it in the simplest way possible.

He spots Billy immediately, past all the sweaty men, scattered car parts, and open hoods, he sees his boyfriend rise up from having just been shoulders deep in the guts of a shiny pontiac, coveralls tied around his waist, his white tank soaked with sweat, arms stained black with oil and grease.

The sight of it all sends delightful shivers down Steve’s entire body, ears to toes, and as he watches Billy wipe away sweat from his brow, well suddenly Steve’s far more confident in what he came here to do.

It shows in the way he marches towards Billy, who turns with a cocked brow at the assertive footsteps approaching him, where once he sees that it’s Steve demanding his attention, the most effortlessly smooth and charming smile spreads across his face, lids heavy to match the way Steve stares - something so salacious in the way his eyes glide up and down Billy’s dirty body, shiny with sweat.

“What are you doing here, princess?” Billy asks in a low and gravelly tone, quickly glancing around to see if anyone heard.

“Hmmm well…” Steve coos and plays lightly with the belt of his coat, the way his fingers flirt with the fabric hopefully clear with his intent, then speaks bluntly, “I woke up kinda horny today, y’know? Thought I’d save it for later- for when you come home, and tried distracting myself with doing the dishes or vacuum or anything really, but my hand just kept going down to jerk myself off-”

“Jesus Christ Stevie,” Billy breathes harshly.

“-and so eventually I wound up back in bed, on my knees, three fingers deep in me-” Steve wiggles said fingers for certain emphasis. “-but it just wasn’t enough. I need something thicker and veinier.”

With every word his stomach ties knots around itself, yet his dick is filled with life at how risky this is, with how much he needs to feel Billy pounding him sore and weak.

“And what do you want me to do about that?” Billy licks his lips, a hand reaching down to inconspicuously cup at his growing erection.

“I was hoping you could help me with my little problem? Ensuring that my engine is properly lubricated,” Steve’s naughty little smile fails at his own words, growing wider and betraying the sexy facade.

But it doesn’t seem that Billy minds as he laughs a bit too loud, biting his lower lip as if that would help keep his own smile more casual than one filled with exuberant joy. “You’re a menace- that was absolutely horrible,” he chuckles and brings both hands to his hips.

“Don’t be mean, I worked on it all the way here!” Steve’s own amusement bubbling over and into his voice.

Billy dares take a step closer, eyes slipping from Steve’s lips down his neck, pausing where he should be able to see the collar of a shirt. “You don’t have to try so hard for me, baby. Just tell me what you need, and maybe I can be of assistance.”

Steve’s expression dips back into something most indecent, his gaze burning with desire, pink lips parted as he slowly enunciates, “I need you to fuck me, hard and rough. I want your hands all over me, want your cock in me so fucking bad I think I might go insane without it. Please Billy, I-I can’t wait till you get home,” desperation seeps in as his tone goes almost whiny.

And Billy gapes like a fish, lips hesitating around emptiness as he tries to formulate thoughts. He glances around the shop, up at a clock hanging above the “Employees Only” sign, brow furrowed as he contemplates his options, all the while Steve waits as patiently as he can, pulling the belt tighter around his waist as if it would magically open up if he didn’t.

“Why don’t we… step into my office, and I’ll see what I can do?”

 Unfortunately by “office” Billy meant the blindingly bright, claustrophobically small employee bathroom. It’s maybe 6 by 6 feet large and not at all what Steve had in mind, but he’s not going to complain about the abnormally large mirror above the sink. And at least it looks clean… enough.

Steve’s quick to turn to Billy as soon as the lock clicks, grabbing on to the white tank and using it to guide him to sit down on the toilet.

Billy, however, disagrees with that immediately and moves to touch Steve, who just as swiftly grabs his wrist, restricting his reach. 

"Billy-" he starts off a bit agitated, but smoothes into something more agreeable, "Baby, if you get my coat dirty, you'll be eating cornflakes till you can afford to send it to the dry cleaner." 

The way Billy laughs at that is mocking in a sense, but his shitty grin simply reminds Steve of the thrill he felt back in high school, after they started fucking around but before they became serious about one another. 

"Forgot what a priss you can be sometimes, princess," he drawls and leans back, licking his lips as he settles with something vaguely familiar to patience.

“Hmmm…” Steve hums, slowly untying the belt of his coat. “You like that I’m high maintenance sometimes.”

He smoothly slips out of the heavy boots.

“Makes you feel real good about yourself though, getting to fuck someone with above average standards.”

In a show of how agile and limber he is, Steve stretches out his leg where the coat parts in front, and hooks his heel over Billy’s shoulder. Who in turn stares with a bit wider eyes at the silky soft, pastel pink nylon stockings clinging to Steve’s shin. Billy’s grip on his own thighs tighten with self restraint, the urge to touch the smoothness of Steve nearly unbearable.

“Did you shave your legs?”

“I did, for you.” Steve generally doesn’t care about leg hair, but found it a bit awkward looking when his thick, dark hairs stuck out of the bright nylon. “Wanna see what else I’ve shaved?”

Leisurely but with gentle pressure, Steve lets his foot glide down Billy’s chest, over his abs and all the sweat stains of his tank, past where the sleeves of his coveralls have been tied together, till he finds Billy’s hard cock tenting already, eliciting a lurid little hiss as he rubs it with the sole of his foot.

“God, you’re so easy, baby,” Steve speaks low with intent, drawing circles, revelling in the choked groans. “Getting you hard like this is effortless.”

At an all too agonizing pace, deliberate and mean, Steve unbuttons his coat from the bottom and up, exposing more and more of his thighs, the build up thrilling him as he watches how Billy sweats and struggles to remain dormant. Oh how he cannot wait to get the coat off and let his boyfriend ravage him completely, even the mere thought of it makes his own prick throb and beg for attention.

Billy stares with the most attention he’s probably ever shown any one person, eyes following the movement of Steve’s fingers, up and up and up, until a hint of lace gets revealed at the end of the stocking, cute and floral and feminine, a dozen small roses hugging the pale flesh, shiny straps leading further up to hide beneath the tan of the trench coat.

Steve caresses his thigh, hooking a finger beneath the strap and pulls it up only to let it snap back against his skin loudly, the sound reverberating, all the while never looking away from how Billy watches with intense hunger.

The burning gaze affixed to fingers follow right along, as Steve makes a bit of a jump and starts unbuttoning from the top now. One by one, till he runs his index along the hem, up to where it grazes against his neck, to pull slowly so that one shoulder can slip out, uncovering the strap of what can only be a bra, reaching down to hold on to delicate lace.

Harsh sighs escapes Billy as he attempts to control his breathing and himself, tongue darting out to wet his lips - Steve can feel the way Billy’s fat cock pumps full of blood beneath his foot.

There’s only two buttons left, and as one of them falls free, the coat drops down to bunch around Steve’s waist and the sink he’s leaning against, putting the pink, lacy bralette on full display; roses and leafs arranged into small triangles that sits tight against Steve’s pecks, his nipples just barely visible beneath the gorgeous and elegant fabric.

“Stevie, babe, please, I’m going to explode here,” Billy complains in an almost hilariously irritated manner, raising his hand up towards Steve’s thigh-

“No touching yet, I’m not done.” Steve swiftly kicks away that dirty hand.

“Thought you needed me to fuck you so bad,” the mocking response comes as Billy’s hand retreats to dig into his pocket.

And Steve pauses with his fingers around the final button that will unravel everything. “Well yes, but the thrill of anticipation gets me so hard.”

He pushes it out, wraps his hands around the coat and slowly pulls it apart, like a curtain revealing a true masterpiece of craftsmanship. And if Billy’s eyes were wide before, they’re now threatening to pop out at the sight of the garter belt attached to the stockings hugging Steve’s waist perfectly, and a thong matching the bralette in shape and lace, that might once have had a chance of containing all that Steve is, but now his long, full dick reaches up towards the belt with hard pride.

“Holy fucking shit,” Billy gapes, “I didn’t forget our anniversary or something, did I?”

Steve chuckles and blushes slightly at the attention and knowledge of just how stunning he looks. “Can’t I just surprise my boyfriend for no reason other than fun?”

“I’m sure you can, but I’m also sure you have some ulterior motive… not that I’m complaining.”

The sly smirk across Steve’s face suits him well as he slips out of the coat entirely, and reaches out to hang it on the hook attached to the bathroom door. Now fully exposed before Billy, Steve spreads his legs a bit further, runs his fingers lightly over the lace of his bra, and bats his eyes slowly.

Who stands up just as slowly, hesitantly, as if he’s still awaiting orders, as if Steve will tell him to stop and sit down any second now. When he reaches out Steve grabs his wrist, firm and assertive, but doesn’t linger in that moment; brings Billy’s hand up and up to touch his cheek, brushing fingers against pale skin and defiling it with dark smudges of oil. Still Steve doesn’t relent as he guides the hand down again till the rough palm presses against his throat, and Billy takes the opportunity immediately to squeeze.

A gasp hurries out at the sudden tightness around his airway and Steve’s eyes rolls back with the pleasure that jolts through his system, making his already painfully hard prick pulsate worse.

“Fuck, Billy…”

The other hand lands on his thigh, besmirching the pretty pink there, pushing into the soft flesh. As Steve closes his eyes to enjoy the euphoric, brutish hold he’s under, Billy dives in all tongue and teeth, biting at his lower lip and licking in to taste how sweet his spit is. Steve lifts up his free leg to hook it around Billy’s hips, drawing him in, finally allowing them both some heady friction, encouraged by strangled moans.

“Mmh- arrh, shit, pretty boy, this really couldn’t wait till I got home?” Billy growls against Steve’s lips, tickling as they brush together.

“I- mmh-ah, I wanted you dirty and risky like this,” Steve coos as low as he can and chases a kiss, but Billy leans away with such a shit eating grin. “Billy-” Another chase. “-Billy, please.”

“Don’t gotta beg, princess,” Billy’s laugh rumbles like thunder on a summer night; warm and deep and comforting

He takes a step back, Steve’s body instinctively trying to follow at the abrupt lack of touch, and with quick hands Billy undoes the way the sleeves are tied around his waist, unzips the rest of his coveralls that fall without effort to the floor, and pulls down his dark trunks enough for his steely cock to practically spring free.

The way Steve audibly inhales at the sight of it is almost humoristic, his body now acutely aware of everything that’s about to happen.

“How do you want it?” Billy drawls.

And it brings Steve back from the more indecent places his mind went at the sight of what he’s been hungering for all day. Half of him wants to drop to his knees and suck Billy dry till he’s delirious, the winning half however… He looks away for only as long as it takes him to retrieve the small and discreet bottle of lube from his coat pocket and pops it open before Billy can even speak again. He pours it into his own palm and closes his hand around Billy’s thick dick, stroking him quickly with impatience, slicking up every inch of hard flesh.

“I want you to fuck me from behind, bend me over the sink and pound my hole till I’m on the verge of tears,” Steve’s voice a lewd little thing, a salacious whisper only Billy would ever be found worthy of hearing, ghosting across his lips.

To which the only appropriate response Billy deem fit is to grab on to his boyfriend’s naked hips and spin him around, leaving clear, gross handprints that get smudged when those same hands smooth their way down to fill out with Steve’s ass.

Steve’s all too eager to bend down over the short sink, bracing himself on the porcelain edges as he watches how Billy admires the view through the mirror. The way those clear blue eyes stare down at his exposed self, tongue out to lick his lips like a wolf would before pouncing on an innocent lamb; it makes his heart beat faster, drowning his senses in quick waves of heavy lust.

“So pretty for me, baby, all laced up and fingered, wish you could see this.”

Billy gazes up through his lashes to meet Steve in their reflection. He grins with his tongue caught between teeth as he raises his hand just enough for Steve to have a moment of realisation before there’s a loud smack and stinging sensation.

“Mmh- ah! Fuck…” Steve barely manages to catch the moan with a bite of lips, his cock dripping with pre cum into the sink, whining with elation as the firm palm on his ass massages the red print.

A finger hooks itself on the slight string of the thong that runs between spread cheeks, pulls it aside, allowing Billy a good eyeful of Steve’s rim still wet with lube.

“You really just stood out in the shop in nothing but this, all slippery and ready for me to fuck your tight little hole with my fat cock?” He pulls on the fabric till it can’t stretch any further, wrapping it around a finger to allow himself freedom to grab on to Steve’s ass again. “Came all this way because you needed me to fill you up with my cum so bad.”

The blunt head of his cock lines up perfectly with Steve’s greedy entrance, and the poor, needy brunette can’t help but push against it, eyes fluttering closed as he slowly slides further and further along Billy’s dick, who hums with appreciation at the way the other is so willing to do all the work, velvety muscles clenching around him when he bottoms out.

“That good for you?” he asks kindly and squeezes Steve’s fleshy, pale cheeks.

Steve draws shallow circles with his ass pressed firmly against Billy’s hips, breathing in a manner that would be moans at home in bed, panting and sighing now; low drawn out hums. He sounds relieved, like Billy’s girthy cock was exactly what he needed, swallowing thickly as he nods, incapable of words lest they come out too loud.

Billy leans in to kiss up Steve’s shoulder, giving every mole on his way the attention they deserve, moves up his neck to the shell of his ear, snaking an arm around to hold Steve by the throat softly and tenderly.

“You’re so fucking tight, princess,” he purrs and nibbles at Steve’s ear as he leisurely starts moving his hips back and forth, adoring how breathless Steve looks in their reflection, mouth hanging open.

With his other hand he leaves a trail of oil stains up Steve’s stomach, leading to where Billy smoothes his fingers across shaved pecs, caressing the skin as he teases the frilly edges of the pink bralette, his every touch like fire igniting inside of Steve, his body tensing delightfully.

Billy squeezes tighter around Steve’s throat, a gesture that can be felt vividly in the way his wet dick pulsates and drips - pre cum running down his aching flesh to wet the thong even worse. The thrusts grow longer and deeper, Billy pulling out till just the head is inside, then tentatively pushes back in till he’s balls deep, and every time he runs over that certain spot inside of Steve a sensuous little gasp escapes those perfect lips.

“Look at what a mess you are, baby.” He brings them as close as possible - Steve’s back against his chest, rim choking around the base of his cock.

And Steve opens his eyes just enough to get a good view of how oil and grease has stained his pale skin and somewhat expensive lingerie, pastel roses and delicate embroidery defiled and tarnished beyond repair no doubt. His painfully hard dick that with a stroke or two would have him come undone. Billy’s crystal clear eyes that stare back intently; hungry- no, starved for this.

“A beautiful…” Billy kisses Steve’s neck with undeniable love and infatuation. “Needy…” Lips at the crook of his neck. “Desperate…” His shoulder. “Mess.”

Billy pulls out and slams back in so suddenly it barely leaves Steve time to catch his lucid gasp before it would have been heard from outside the door. Billy’s hips snap against Steve’s ass again and again at an indelicate pace, his teeth sunk into a shoulder as he bites back his moans, eyes trained on the way Steve’s brows knit together, eyes squeezed shut tight as he struggles with his own wanting to give sound to the burning desire lighting him up.

Skin slapping together, the obscenely wet sounds of Billy pounding Steve’s hole, ramming against that glorious sweet spot over and over, it’s intoxicating, fueling the white hot fire that coils at the bottom of Steve’s gut. Both of Billy’s hardened hands grab at Steve’s pecs, the skin of his fingers toughened up from fiddling with engines all day, rough against Steve’s sensitive nipples as Billy pulls down the bra to pinch and squeeze.

“Mmh ah- fuck-” Steve’s eyes roll back at the flourishing bliss that forms in his chest. “Billy…”

“Yeah, you like that?” A rhetorical question that barely receives an answer before Billy presses his dirty thumbs harder against the strutting buds.

Steve’s thighs tremble from it all, teeth biting at his lower lip as he fights every instinct to let it all out. And from the way Billy leers and grins mischievously at the sight in the mirror, there can be no doubt he knows.

Moves his hands to grab Steve’s hips with near bruising tension as he starts slamming into him, thrusting with intense fervor; the pace punishing and the sounds of how their bodies collide worse. Billy’s eyes are pinned to the spread of cheeks where his steely cock pounds into his boyfriend’s tight, slippery hole, his breathing ragged and tongue out wagging enthusiastically.

And Steve’s helplessly lost in his own euphoria of the moment; a hand flies up to clasp at his mouth, the other pressing against the mirror for the sake of balance so as to not get shoved against it whenever Billy rams inside, helping Steve inch closer and closer to climax, with breathless groans and grunts, sighs and whines, all too loud for such a public setting, yet not loud enough for such an intimate act.

Billy bends over to press his sweaty forehead against Steve’s shoulder, gaze still locked to where heat flares up at every plunge, at the way Steve’s body clings to his veiny dick.

“You’re so perfect like this, baby,” his voice rough like wet gravel, “So eager and greedy. Gonna cum in you, Stevie boy, fill you up till you’re ready to burst.”

“Please,” the self-restraint apparent in his tone. “I-I’m so close.”

Then there’s a hand in his hair, yanking and pulling his flushed face off of the mirror and back, his intense breathing fogging up the mirror as he struggles to keep hushed through his sudden orgasm that washes through him, the intensity blinding, his every nerve buzzing vividly at the unexpected release till there’s nothing left in him, but the sensation of Billy vigorously driving his girthy cock in and out, sending forth slight waves of static heat.

Till it comes to a stop with one forceful shove, the hand in his hair tightening, the fingers by his hip digging in, as Billy buries himself completely, pressing Steve against the sink till his thighs hurt from the porcelain edge jabbing him.

But it’s worth it to feel how every muscle flexes, Billy’s teeth closing around Steve’s shoulder to muffle his deep rooted moan that almost escapes in its entirety. Worth it when Billy comes down from his high and relaxes again, yet stays here like this, softening inside of Steve’s well used hole, arms wrapping around his chest to hold him close whilst they both catch their breaths.

Billy kisses gentle apologies across the imprints his teeth made on Steve’s skin, up his neck and as far across his cheek and jaw as he can reach from behind.

And Steve simply stands still, caught between his boyfriend’s broad figure and the white sink, convinced he would fall if Billy stepped back. He leans into the loving attention he’s receiving, every press of lips to his sweaty skin a blissful little source of tender satisfaction. When he finally opens his eyes again after having mindlessly drifted away in the afterglow, he just barely catches the way Billy glances down and grins in a rather humoured way.

“At least you got most of it in the sink,” he rumbles against Steve’s shoulder.

Looking down Steve sees his cum splattered into the sink, yet a few good drops made it up around the faucet and almost even to the wall. Yet his first thought is that he could have made it onto the mirror if he had jerked himself off to completion.

“Who’s going to clean it up?” Steve huffs a little laugh and meets Billy’s gaze in their reflection.

Who tries to hide his smile with kisses. “Hmmm I dunno, kinda wanna see what happens if we just leave it like this; who my boss is gonna blame for cumming in the employee’s bathroom.”

“Gross.”

“It’s yours, princess,” Billy chuckles out and rests his chin on Steve’s shoulder.

“So you’re saying I should clean up after myself?”

“Mhm, yup,” the p pops.

When something changes in Steve’s expression, a clear difference from one second to another, lids heavy as he turns his head to look at Billy with lips inches apart.

“Then it’s only fair that you clean up after yourself, too, don’t you think?”

[thisstableground]

1 and 4 for that ask post thing!

1.   Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

oh god i have so many projects at all times. the current ones im actively working on are:

-  a silly fun UVR one where usnavi (gasp) has to temporarily give up coffee and takes it exactly as well as youd expect him to. im pretty close to finishing this one and i’m excited – it feels like a long time since ive posted any UVR, and especially anything lighthearted, and i also get to talk a lil bit about how usnavi has a new job since selling the bodega which i havent got round to even mentioning in fic yet so thats fun

-   a UVR one for christmas that’s partly usnavi dealing with his seasonal affective depression around the anniversary of losing his parents, partly showing how things are a little easier for him now that he doesn’t live by himself, and partly a fun surprise that i’m very excited about

-  UVR one where vanessa gets appendicitis bc i spun the wheel and its her turn to have a hurt/comfort, congrats vanessa??? and sorry? she’d be mad at me but i just want her to get hugs and get looked after and taken care of for a while, she deserves it, and she also deserves the scene where she’s still tripping from the anaesthesia and being a cute mess because i enjoy when vanessa cant even pretend to be cool

-   watch with serenity only has a couple chapters left and while that’s one of my favourite fics i’ve ever written, i’m gonna feel good about wrapping it up too – usnavi’s started making some positive progress in his grieving and it’ll be nice to see that take shape more and for us to be able to leave him at a point where he isn’t exactly 100% better, but he;s doing alright and he resembles the usnavi we know and love a lot more and isn’t struggling so much. i like my angst but only with the optimistic end note and its about time he got there.

- on the other hand, also writing a devastatingly sad DNH fic that’s from the perspective of ruben’s youngest sister immediately after he’s brought home from jamaica. it does end on a hopeful note too, but i have already made myself cry writing it twice so that should tell you something about how it goes

and thats to say nothing of the ideas i havent started yet or the ones that aren’t quite full enough ideas to work on, but at some point i will finish at least one of these enough to actually post something!

 4.Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

here’s some ruben pov on vanessa from a scientist is always fine, which tbh i think was an absolute banger and i kinda wish more people had read it

“He thinks about writing that he wishes he could sink into her sinews and reverse time so that he could feel what it was like to be in her body and her mind through the whole messy process of becoming Vanessa. That she is perfectly ordinary and it makes him crazy to think about the fact that, like everyone, at one point she wasn’t anything at all and and now she is so many, many things, and he wishes she had taken more detailed notes on the process it took to get there because now he has no way to truly understand her, but he tries anyway.

He doesn’t really want to make notes but he tries anyway. Gets as far as writing the subject, which he crosses it out immediately because he can use that word for himself but never for her. He writes, Vanessa, and then closes his notebook because that seems like the only important thing to say.”

ok that was technically 2 paragraphs but i just like this idea ofruben’s love of science being the framework through which he processes his love of usnavi and vanessa without being something that defines his understanding of what it means to love and be loved as narrowly or unhealthily as it used to. he knows how complex a thing it is to be a human, all the things that had to align for us to exist as a species and for them to meet and the chemical and hormonal reactions that had to synchronise for them to all be in this place living together and in love, and the paradox of both wanting to study and understand her through that perspective because that’s what ruben does, but also being satisfied that she just is there with him and she is who she is, and will be whether he understands why or not. i think that being able to accept these strange contradictions and being content within them is the highest form of love, especially from someone to whom getting all the answers is usually so integral.

[jensensitive]

submitted by Dylan: I couldn't stop thinking about cockles being quarantined so I wrote a thing

Jensen steps out onto his hotel balcony once he’s settled in (what’s more unnerving: the routine of disinfecting everything or that he’s almost used to it?) and sits on the provided chair (always an amenity or for the quarantined?) to contemplate how to get through the next two weeks without going insane.

Instead of being allowed to quarantine in their respective apartments, he and Jared had been taken here. They’re not allowed to leave their rooms until the fourteen days are up and their test results come back negative. It’s a public safety thing. Easier to keep track of them like this.

The only saving grace is their rooms (including Misha’s once he arrives) are all right next to each other and each room has a balcony spaced far enough apart that they can talk without masks.

He’s flipping through the paperback he’d bought at the airport when the neighboring room’s door slides open and Misha appears. Judging by the slightly haunted look on his face, he’s finished his own disinfecting regimen.

“Hey, neighbor,” Jensen says. “You just get in?”

Misha jumps at the sound of his voice, surprised he’s not alone. “Few minutes ago, yeah.”

“What’d they do with your car? Impound it?”

Misha snorts. “Practically.” He sits and takes in their view – a thrilling landscape of office buildings, a bank, and a parking lot. “So,” he says, voice strained in his attempt to keep everything light. Trying to turn this into a game or a joke instead of the devastatingly reality it is. “We’re trapped in a hotel for fourteen days.”

“Yeah.”

“This sucks.”

“Yeah.”

Silence falls between them. Even the city seems to go quiet for their sake.

“I wish I could hug you,” Misha says. His voice is thick. The muscle twitching in his jaw says he’s grinding his teeth. The intensity with which he stares at their shitty view says he’s fighting back tears.

“Hey, look at me.”

He doesn’t.

“Mish, c’mon, look at me.”

He does. Reluctantly. The look on his face makes Jensen’s heart break a little.

“I love you.”

Misha makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Fuck you, man,” he says, swiping at his eyes and sniffing. “You can’t say shit like that when I can’t touch you.”

“I’ve said it plenty of times over the phone and FaceTime.”

“You know what I mean, Jensen. You’re right there. You’re right there I still can’t get to you.”

“I know. I wish I could hug you too. I’ve really missed you.” Realization dawns on him. “Y’know,” he says, “we’ll be getting out of this right around your birthday.”

Misha laughs. It’s almost lost that undercurrent of sadness. “That what your present’s gonna be? A hug?”

“Are my hugs not good enough?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just hoping you got me something more than a hug.”

He doesn’t mean to make it dirty, but he can’t help winking as he says, “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

----

Stopppppp 😭😭😭 This is so cute. I don’t know if I would love if they were quarantined like this or hate them being tortured like this, but like, let them put their masks on and hold hands omg please I’m suffering. They’re suffering!! 😭 Please @god let cockles kiss in less than two weeks please thanks!!

[otterdoeswhatever]

A God, A Goddess, and a Nymph Walk into a Party

Lore Olympus: Poly!Hades + Bi!Poly!Persephone x Bi!Poly!Reader

More Persephone x Reader for this one tbh

(There will be future ones (If people like this one, there may be a smut part two))

Reader is a Nymph who works at Underworld Corp and befriends Persephone. Persephone takes a liking to her and has her meet Hades to see if he likes her too. Reader has doubts they actually like her because they're gods and she's just a nymph. But they reassure her and end up asking her out.

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You swiped your employee ID as you headed to your department at Underworld Corporation. You started working there a few months ago and by now you had settled into a routine of familiar tasks and familiar faces. However, on this particular day, you noticed a face across the entrance lobby that you didn’t recognize. 

She was not a Nymph like you or many of the others working there. 

She was pink from her pixie cut to her toes, had absolutely perfect curves and was clothed in a white dress. Overall you found her rather cute. Especially with her big sparkly eyes that were looking right at you ...Wait. What!? 

You did a double-take and realized you were correct, she was staring directly at you, and… were her pupils shaped like hearts!? Your face heated up as you blushed a darker shade of your (fave colour) skin, before quickly turning away and retreating to your desk.

Later that day, you were occupying yourself with your work when a head peeked over the wall of your cubicle. It was the pink mystery girl! You looked up at her incredulously, unsure of how to react.

“Derek is going for a coffee run, and was wondering if you wanted anything?” She asked, eyes sparkling, and grinning giddily down at you.

You uttered your order and before you could say anything else she had scampered away.

A bit later the girl returned and knocked on the wall of your cubicle to rouse your attention. She held your drink order and a small paper bag with the cafe’s logo on it. She handed you your drink as you thanked her.

“My name’s Persephone by the way, and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to have your drink in the employees' lounge with me? I also got some extra sweets if you want some!" She offered. 

She was so bubbly, adorable, and had the cutest smile that how could you say no?

And so you ventured with her to the lounge, the both of you sat down at a folding table one you got there. She then pulled out all the options of sweets and made sure to keep them on the paper bag so that they wouldn’t touch the tabletop.

With a variety of doughnuts and other pastries laid out before you, Persephone spoke, “You can choose first!”

You took a moment to look over your options before you choose your favourite out of the selection. Afterward, Persephone picks up a cinnamon roll and took a big bite. Her face lit up with a stuffed-cheeks chipmunk smile in delight of the sugary taste.

You giggled a little. "So you like sweets, huh, Persephone?"

She swallowed and reddened a little bit "Yeah, I've got a pretty major sweet tooth." She mussed with her hair a little " What about you-?" She froze suddenly and looked at you in sudden realization. "Oh my gods, you must think I'm so terrible! I never asked for your name! I'm so sorry!" She leaned across the table and grabbed both your hands.

You flushed at the sudden contact, the closeness of her face and the sight of her cleavage you could see down her shirt, but you snapped your gaze back up as quickly as possible to try to stay respectful.

"Oh, um, it's totally fine. My name's (Y/N)" You reassured her.

Her sad pouty face relaxed as she sank back into her chair. However, she had not yet let go of your hands.

You smile at her nervously "Um Persephone? I can't exactly eat or have my drink if you're holding my hands." You stated with a bit of an awkward chuckle.

Persephone quickly pulled her hands away and blushed heavily, "Oh! Sorry again!"

You continuously reassured her until her apologizing ceased. The rest of your lunch break with Persephone went very well. Before you knew it, it was over - much sooner than you would have liked it to be.  

Persephone was just so easy to talk to! Other than, you know, her being so damn pretty -  like goddess levels pretty -  and making you nervous. Over the next two weeks, the two of you developed a routine of meeting for lunch and became good friends. She eventually asked if you would like to hang out after work sometime, to go to a party with her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hades had taken notice of whenever Persephone would twiddle her fingers, play with her hair, or fiddle with the hems of her clothing. He could tell she was nervous about something.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She squeaked in surprise and looked over her shoulder at him with a pout. 

He chuckled, “What’s wrong, Sweetness?”

”What do you think!? You gave me a heart attack!” She said in a tone of exasperation, in all of her adorableness.

Hades snickered once again. “Yes, I could see that. Let me rephrase that, dear. What’s been on your mind? You’ve seemed anxious lately.” He explained, nuzzling into her neck and breathing in her scent.

Her pouty expression changed to a shocked one, with a flush spreading across her face before she hastily turned her head to try and hide it. However, Hades had already noticed. He loosed his grip only to turn her around, attempting to get her to face him. However, she still avoided his gaze, looking away.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she mumbled, unconvincingly.

He gently took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted her head towards him. Resting them on her face as he reassured her with a kiss. After they had separated he spoke again. “You trust me, don’t you?” 

She nodded.

”Then please tell me.” He begged.

She gave out a small sigh of defeat. “There's this girl at work…”

Hades instantly went into protective mode, “Is she harassing you? Just tell me and she will be dealt with-”

”No, no, no, no…” Persephone interrupted. “It’s not like that at all! It’s like the complete opposite! We’re really good friends!”

He looked confused, “Then…. What’s the problem?”

Persephone avoided his gaze once again. “Well, um, it's just….. She’s like SO pretty, and funny, and amazing to talk to, and likes a bunch of the same stuff we like, and it's amazing hanging out with her and-”

Sniggering, Hades pressed a finger to her lips and shushed her. “Ah, I see. You LIKE her.” He said in a mocking purr.

Persephone's blush deepened immensely and she pounded a fist harmlessly on Hade's chest. “SHUT UP!!” She exclaimed, embarrassed, before burying her face against him.

Chuckling, he kissed the top of her head, “It’s quite alright dear, there's no need to be embarrassed. It’s not like we haven’t talked about doing this  before.”

 “I know, I guess I'm just nervous you won't like her as much as I do…”

Hades pondered for a moment. “Well, the only way to find out is for me to meet her, right? How about inviting her to Zeus’ party next weekend? That way I could meet her and if you’d like you could introduce her to your friends too.”

Persephone's face lit up at the suggestion. “Yea! That would be fun!”

Hades smiled softly down at her. “Alright, then it’s a date.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You felt a mix of emotions when Persephone had invited you to this party: Excitement, nervousness, and confusion.

Persephone attempted to reassure you, “Don’t worry (Y/N)! Everyone there will love you! You’ll get to meet Artemis, and Hermes, and-”

You zoned out as she excitedly rattled on, getting into your own head and worries. This party was being thrown by ZEUS. THE ZEUS. And almost everyone there was supposedly going to be a god or goddess, or at least demi-god. You were just a Nymph. A lower-class citizen. You didn’t belong there. As you delved deeper into your self-doubt a question suddenly came to mind.

“Persephone, why were you invited?” You blurted out without thinking. Then suddenly realizing how rude that sounded you stammered to explain yourself. “I MEAN, JUST YOU SAID ABOUT HOW EVERYONE THERE IS AT GOD LEVEL, I KNOW YOU LIVE IN OLYMPUS, BUT I GUESS I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW A NORMAL UNDERWORLD CORP EMPLOYEE GOT INVITED???”

Persephone looked at you slightly shocked for a second before giggling, though you couldn’t tell if it was genuine or awkward. “Well, I guess I can’t really blame you for not knowing. I am pretty new, and I guess a lot of people don’t really know… But, I am actually a goddess, the Goddess of Spring.”

You looked at her in astonishment, jaw agape. You felt like the BIGGEST idiot in the WORLD. How could you not know that!? You were so embarrassed that you buried your face in your hands as a blush consumed your visage. “I’m so dumb…” You muttered.

Persephone was quick to reassure you while she rubbed a soothing hand over your back. “Hey! Don’t say that! Like I said, a lot of people don’t know!”

You peaked through your fingers at her. Well, you guessed that explained why she was so gorgeous. And well, since a literal goddess had invited you to this party with her, you felt that you had no choice but to go. It couldn’t be that terrible if you were there with her, right?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was terrible.

You stood at the front entrance of the devastatingly beautiful mansion and began to doubt all the things you had said to yourself earlier to encourage yourself to go. You didn’t belong here!

Gods and goddesses entered the mansion wearing the most amazing outfits you had ever seen. You self-consciously fiddled with the edge of your favourite dress (Or fave fancy clothes, if you wanna rock a pantsuit, you do you bb), as you watched them, still not moving from your spot.

 “(Y/N)!!” Persephone called your name. As soon as you turned you were taken off guard as she suddenly hugged you. After collecting yourself you hugged her back. Pulling away, Persephone's eyes lit up as she examined your outfit. “Woah! You look amazing (Y/N)!!”

You flushed softly. “Thanks.” You looked down to her outfit and your blush erupted on your face, 10 shades darker.

She was wearing a dress that would very much break the workplace dress code. It was incredibly revealing, short, and low cut. It put her cleavage on display and hugged the curves of her body perfectly.

“YOU LOOK GREAT TOO!!” You said louder than expected out of panic.

“Aw, thanks!” She said in appreciation. She leaned in and gave you a kiss on the cheek and you absolutely froze. The only thing that broke your spell was seeing Hades. He was tall and had a nice physique, he also had a strong jawline and Roman nose. His red eyes that were both alarming and alluring stood out against his blue skin and white hair. He was breathtaking. In a different way than Persephone was.

Hades was technically your boss but you had never seen him before. Well, there was one time you saw him down the hall, and your eyes met. It was the single most terrifying experience in your life and-.OH, GODS, WHY WAS HE WALKING TOWARDS YOU!?

While your panic increased, Persephone waved at him. “Hi Honey!” She said, cheerily as ever.

You turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Was ... was Persephone with Hades???

“Hello dear.” He swooped down and gave her a peck on the lips and your heart was crushed.

You realized that you read the situation all wrong - Persephone and you were just friends. She was just an affectionate person and there was nothing more. You kept your disappointment internal as you greeted the God of the Dead.

“Um, hello Mr.Hades,” You say with a mix of awkward and nervousness.

Hades chuckled “Oh, there's no need for that, ‘Hades’ is just fine. And you, Love?” He asked, making eye contact with you 

“Oh, uh, (Y/N).” You stammered, feeling dumb compared to how eloquent he just was.

“She's my friend from work I was telling you about!” Persephone added with her normal happy disposition.

You saw Hades give her a knowing smile. What was that about?

“Okay, well we should get into that party (Y/N). We’ll catch up with you later Hades!” She called the last part as she started to drag you inside.

You heard Hades calling back, “I’ll see you two later!” Then your ears were filled with the almost overwhelming sound of music.

Persephone dragged you all over the party, introducing you to her friends. Some, like Artemis and Hermes, were nice and pretty fun to talk to. You even had some pleasant conversations with Hades. But you still felt the disappointment of your recent discovery of Persephone and Hades being together weighing down on you.

And it didn’t help that you could hear people talking behind your back about you being Nymph trash, or how they were trying to get into your pants. Even Zeus seemed a little too interested in you. You were trying to ignore it but it was slowly starting to get to you.

Eventually, it was time for the dinner portion of the party and Persephone brought you to sit at a smaller round table with her and Hades.

….It was pretty awkward…..

The awkwardness level increased when suddenly, while Persephone was flirting with Hades, you felt her hand on your upper thigh! Looking at your with the same flirty look she was giving Hades, she bit her lower lip.

You shot out of your seat and exclaimed, “I, uh, gotta go to the bathroom.” And without waiting for a response you scampered off.

You became lost and ended up on a balcony out-back that viewed over the magnificent garden. You sighed and ran a hand through your hair and you leaned against the balcony.

This was all just so much. You were so confused by all the emotions coursing through you. Persephone was with Hades. Your boss. King of the Underworld. God of the Dead. But she seemed to want you too.

There were quite a few times you had to question whether Persephone was flirting with you or just being friendly. But this time you were 100% sure of her intentions.

A chill breeze went by and you shivered. Suddenly a jacket was placed around your shoulders. You practically jumped out of your skin and whipped around to see Hades standing there.

He raised his hands in peace. “ Sorry to scare you, It’s just me.”

Usually, it would scare you still just being around him. But for some reason, the sight of him calmed you down.

You gripped the suit jacket he had given you and pulled it tighter around your shoulders. “Sorry, you just surprised me, and, uh, thanks for the jacket.” You said, going back to lean on the railing and look out over the garden.

He matched your position beside you. “So… You left dinner in a hurry. I’m sorry If she surprised you or made you uncomfortable.”

You quickly started to defend yourself, trying not to lose your job. “I’M SO SORRY SIR!! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE WITH PERSEPHONE, AND I HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO HER AND SHE HADN’T DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO ME BEFORE EITHER AND I-!!” Suddenly something he had said clicked in your head. “Wait… what do you mean, you’re sorry about what she did??” You asked in confusion, tilting your head slightly.

 “There you are!!” You heard Persephone called, turning your head you saw her running over to you and Hades. “(Y/N), I’m so sorry! I should have just said something instead of doing that to you!” She apologized profusely, gasping and panting all the while.

“Okay, slow down! I’m really confused. Can you guys just explain to me what's happening??” You questioned desperately.

They looked at each other, then looked back at you. 

Hades was the one to start. “Well, I suppose to start I should tell you that when we started dating,  Persephone and I had a conversation about boundaries and things we were interested in. One of those things  was bringing another person into this relationship.” He explained, actually looking quite bashful.

“And then one day while I was at the office I saw you! And well… I just thought you were so beautiful…” Persephone explained, both of you blushed at her statement.

“Wait, really?” You said, feeling dumbfounded.

“Of course!” She responded.

Hades continued the explanation. “One day Persephone and I had a talk, and she told me she was interested in someone. That person being you…”

“So we decided to set  something up so you and Hades could meet, to see if you got along.” Persephone cut in.

“Persephone and I talked after you and I had some conversations, and we agreed that we both liked you..” Hades said, a darker blue dusting his cheeks.

Persephone sheepishly spoke up.“But I guess we should have been honest, you really seemed shocked when I made a move.” She chuckled nervously. “So, uh, yea! Now you know!”

“And you don’t have to answer now! You can definitely take time to think about it. Also, you don’t have to worry about me firing you or anything if you say no.” Hades chimed in.

It took you a moment to process everything they just told you. You looked at them in disbelief as they watched you nervously, Hades's arm wrapped around Persephone's waist, both with blushes on their faces, eagerly awaiting your response.

“You...like me??” You asked, not convinced.

“Yes?” Hades responded, confused by your disbelieving tone.

“But…. why???” You said.

They both looked genuinely shocked at what you had just said.

“What do you mean?” Persephone questioned.

You went on the explain yourself. “I mean, you guys are gods. I’m just a nymph. I don’t belong here, and I don’t belong with you guys… Wouldn’t you guys prefer to date another god or goddess?” You crossed your arms and looked away.

“Well other than Persephone, no other god or goddess wants to be associated with me like that,” Hades responded woefully, on how others viewed him. 

“And, well, honestly, there’s too much drama. Most of the people here are either too stuck up or would try to use it as blackmail later.” Persephone added. Persephone walked over to you and took your face in both of her hands, tilting it to look at her. “But don’t worry, you decide if you want to do this we’ll play by your terms. If you want to be a secret, you’ll be a secret. If you want people to know, then they can know.” She smiled that adorably sweet smile at you.

A small smile graced your face. You saw Hades smiling too over Persephone’s shoulder.

“Okay, well…” You wrapped your arms around the pink goddess’ waist, pulling her in a little. “I think I’d like to try.”

She grinned brightly and pulled your face in for a kiss, though she quickly pulled away. “Sorry! I got excited! I should have asked first-” You cut her off by kissing her. Making sure the kiss lasted longer this time.

You pulled back and saw Persephone's big eyes filled with sparkles and her pupils in the shape of hearts, just like the first time you saw her. She grinned and looked to Hades who came over and being more reserved than Persephone opted to give the both of you soft and sweet forehead kisses.

“Well then, should we head back to the party? There's a lot of good food in there that we shouldn’t let go to waste.” He asked both of you, a smile still on his face.

Persephone looked at you. “ You ready to go back in?”

You gave her a smile and nodded in response.

“Alright then, let’s go!” She took both your hands and pulled you back into the mansion, skipping her way back to the party while both you and Hades chuckled and made an effort to keep up.

This certainly wasn’t how you thought the evening would go, but you believed this could turn out well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[trensu]

Episode 31: The One where Jin Zixun Dies but God at What Cost

So get ready to have your heart ripped out of your chest, guys!!

And we don’t even get Quality wangxiantics to make us feel better HAHAHAHA we get like, 3 breadcrumbs of wangxiantics, GREAT, HAHA.

I’M FINE

TOTALLY FINE

We open the episode with a deceptively tranquil scene of our precious sunshine boy picking lotus seeds

We get some a-yuan time here too!

A-yuan chips a tooth on a not-good seed or smth and wwx takes the opportunity to impart valuable lotus knowledge on his son

Idk what it was

I was too busy awwww-ing at the cute scene to pay attention to the details

Wen ning shows up and chats with his sister!

He’s all, some rando gave me this letter to bring up here!

Wen qing opens up the letter and SURPRISE it’s an invitation for wwx to go to his nephew’s one-month celebration!!!

Wen qing is reading this and is all okay okay good fine but THEN HER EYES GO ALL WIDE

Because the letter is signed by none other than LAN WANGJI

THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS

LWJ PERSONALLY WROTE THE INVITATION FOR WWX

And wq knows that lwj is a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON TO WWX

She gives wwx the letter and wwx is OVERJOYED.

So that was breadcrumb 1. 

Yeah.

And that one was the more substantial breadcrumb.

I’m so sorry

Now we’re in a tassel shop and there are gossipy cultivators

I wouldn’t bring this up but i need to express how UTTERLY OFFENDED I AM

Everyones talking about the jin clan and this celebration right?

And how fortunate the jin family is or whatever

And theN SOME BASIC BITCH GOES AND SAYS JYL IS NOT ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE?

COME HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE, I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES WITH MY BARE HANDS, HOW DARE YOU.

You know, i make a lot of threats for someone who has the strength of, like, an earthworm. I should probably stop...

Wwx buys a tassel to go with the actual gift he made for his nephew with his own two hands!!

It’s a set of anti-evil beads!

So he can protect his little nephew even if he can’t be there with him physically!

Wwx is basically perfect in every way and i fall in love with him more every time i see him

Now he and wen ning are chitchatting about the upcoming party and whatever and we get breadcrumb 2.

Wn: when i first saw the jin clan’s invitation, i thought they were up to no good but i guess that jzx is a pretty decent guy! Also, lwj will be there too!!

Wen ning is such a supportive bro. 

HE DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY THAT LAST PART

BUT HE DID

BC EVEN THE UNDEAD CAN SEE HOW MUCH WWX LOVES LWJ

And now we get to see our beloved sunshine boy and his right hand ghost general get ambushed on the way to the party!!

How fun!!

I LIED IT’S NOT FUN AT ALL

THE WHOLE SITUATION IS AWFUL AND I HATE IT

There was a cool bit where wen ning snatches an arrow right out of the air that was just about to hit wwx head on

Bc wen ning is a Soft Boy but soft boys can also be BADASS

I’M GONNA GLOSS OVER MOST OF THIS SCENE

BLAH BLAH JZ IS AN ASSHOLE BLAH BLAH TRIES TO KILL WWX AND FAILS BLAH BLAH

JZX TRIES TO MEDIATE BLAH BLAH FAILS SPECTACULARLY BLAH BLAH WEN NING KILLS HIM BC HE’S OUTTA HIS MIND RN BLAH BLAH

On a happier note, wen ning also kills jz!! YAY, we don't’ gotta deal with that guy anymore

WWX GOES INTO SHOCK FROM THE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA BLAH BLAH

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET, GUYS??

oh god, i might be willing to take back jz if it means jzx doesn’t die this is all so awful why can’t we have nice things

Now we cut to carp tower where jc and jyl are playing with little jin ling in a state of blissful ignorance

So that’s happening and then we see lwj power-walk (aka the lan clan version of running) into the room

Lwj: where is jgy?

Jc: how the hell should i know. Why are you looking for him?

Lwj: has wei ying arrived yet?

Jgy joins the party and lwj starts interrogating him

Lwj: why did the disciples my brother and I bring leave carp tower with jz? Where did they go?

Jgy: hanguang-jun calm down

Okay, firstly he didn’t even raise his voice or speak sharply. Abruptly, maybe, but that’s how he always talks to not-wwx people.

And secondly, DON’T TELL HIM TO CALM DOWN YOU EVIL SMARMY LITTLE GREMLIN, I WILL CUT YOU.

Jgy: they just went to qiongqi way, jzx followed them too…

And then some rando jin cultivator runs in screaming about how the ghost general killed jzx

AND WE SEE JYL’S WORLD FALL APART, OH GOD, OH GOD WHY

We also get reaction shot from lwj

He looks completely stunned. He looks like the sinking “oh no” feeling you get in your stomach when you know something’s gone terribly horribly wrong and there’s nothing you can do to prevent or fix it

AND THAT WAS BREADCRUMB 3!

That’s right folks, that is the entirety of the wangxian time we get in this whole episode

And like, that’s nowhere near the end of the episode

Everything was death and emotional trauma!! And overall Devastatingly Sad Plot times.

Wen sibs and wwx have an emotional confrontation

We get horrifically painful lines like wwx saying that wn is a knife and the knife shouldn’t get punished for the murderer’s actions; and he’s cast himself in the role of murderer

And wq saying basically how the truth doesn’t matter in this situation, what matters is the wn killed jzx and the jins want the wen sibs dead

Wq: i’m sorry. And thank you

JUST KILL ME

And then the wen sibs turn themselves over to carp tower after immobilizing and knocking wwx out

LET ME DIE

EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE MY HEART IS BREAKING

The episode ends with wwx finally breaking through the immobilization and stumbles through the burial mounds

HAHAHAHA I’M FINE, I’M FINE, TOTALLY FINE

Return to Masterpost

[otonymous]

Served (MLQC Victor) - Chapter 1: Hit and Miss

Description: Go ahead and give Victor a piece of your mind. Warnings: NSFW/18+:  Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised.  Nb) This chapter is not smutty, but you best believe we’re gonna get there 😂   Word Count: 1424 words (~7 mins of…Victor being Victor) AO3: read here Author’s Notes:  Hey everyone!  This story is a BIG first for me, as I’m finally trying my hand at a something longer than a one-shot!  At the risk of sounding vague, I thought it would be fun to toy around with Victor for a bit, so let’s see how this works out LOL!  Hope you all enjoy it, and as always, happy reading!

Jump to other chapters: Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5

All characters & Mr Love: Queen’s Choice owned by Elex

“Fuck you, Victor.”

One blink, then another.  A slackening of the jaw as his mouth hangs open in surprise, practically imperceptible if you weren’t already staring intently at his face.  You find the sight strangely satisfying and it goads you onwards.

“I’ve fucking had it with you and your demands.  Our relationship is purely professional; why do I have to get your goddamn lunch?  Go get it yourself!”

Victor had been picking apart every second line in your proposal, and you just about had enough of his attitude after the word “idiot” had been tossed around for the tenth time.

Yes, you had been counting.

And when he ordered you in that tone of voice to get his lunch from the LFG office kitchen, that was the final straw that broke the back of an extremely tired, hungry and irritated camel.

At the back of your mind, you’re vaguely aware that you’ve scrunched up the proposal you spent all week preparing in your hand.  Victor’s copy lay on the imposing avant-garde desk in the middle of his office, pinned under the critical tip of his golden pen.

The ensuing silence, uncomfortably loud, stretches on for much longer than necessary for you to have made your point.  So you decide to speak.  

“Listen-“

“I’m sor-“

Except that Victor opens his mouth at the exact same time, and you question whether your ears were working properly.  Was Victor Li actually apologizing?

“Sorry, you go first.”  Suddenly feeling sheepish about your outburst, you gesticulate towards Victor, gaze flitting over his face en route to the buckles that decorated your taupe flats.  But what you saw in that split second scared you.

Were the features of Victor’s face even capable of drawing into such an expression?  Always self-possessed and brimming with a commanding confidence, the uncertainty in the violet-indigo of his eyes didn’t suit him.  The discomfort stirring in the pit of your stomach made you shift from foot to foot like a child awaiting impending punishment.

“Ahem.  You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

You never thought you’d hear the deep bass of his voice even so much as express remorse, let alone apologize.

“That’s okay.  I mean...I shouldn’t have swore at you.  My outburst was out of line.  Forgive me.”

“That’s fine,” his reply is clipped as he reaches for the intercom button on the phone on his desk.  “Jane, bring me the package in the kitchen.  The one in the fridge.  Thank you.”

Why’d you bother asking me to get your lunch if your secretary could’ve done it?!  The exchange you just witnessed had you thoroughly annoyed all over again, silently fuming until his secretary entered after two sharp raps on the heavy wooden door.  

“Here you are, Mr. Li.  Will you be requiring anything else?”  Jane was sharply dressed and spoke confidently as she placed a brown paper bag on Victor’s desk.  She was also devastatingly beautiful, a fact that annoyed you a lot more than it should have.  You relaxed your grip around the document in your hand as you stood a bit taller, wishing you wore heels instead of flats today.

“That’ll be all, Jane, thank you.”

Jane.  The way he said her name made you wonder how yours would sound rolling off the tip of his tongue.  Would it be equally pleasant?  But then again, anything sounded better than “idiot.”

Drawing himself up from his seat, Victor towers over you, imposing in the crisp perfection of his dark suit.  He holds out the paper bag and his next words effectively signal the end of your meeting:

“I’ll email you the rest of my thoughts on your proposal.  Have it amended for Friday.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four of the most juvenile looking bowls, each hand painted with the face of a dog bearing the most ridiculously cute expression.  Each containing the most ridiculously delicious pudding you had ever tasted in your life, the stuff of dulce de leche fantasies spun from the kitchen of Souvenir.  And an accompanying note, filled with the same handwritten scrawl that had dissected your proposal with brutal precision earlier that day, reading:

“As incapable of self-control as you are, try not to finish it all in one sitting unless you’re deliberately courting a stomachache like an idiot.”

And on the paper bag that had waited for you in the fridge of the LFG office kitchen, your name printed in the same hand.

Your heart ran the gamut of emotions: surprise, happiness, but above all, a deep remorse so unsettling you immediately tapped on Victor’s contact on your phone without thinking.

When he finally picked up after the fourth ring, uncharacteristic for Victor, the first thing you heard was the enticing laughter of a sultry soprano in the background.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”  

His voice is raspy, prompting you to glance at the time on your open laptop at the foot of your bed.

1:45 am.  Shit.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t realize-“

“What do you need?”

Deep breaths.

“I...I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier today.  Well, I guess technically, for what happened yesterday.”

“You already did.  Put it from your mind, I’ve already forgotten about it.”

Laughter again, this time, fainter in volume.  Subconsciously, you found yourself comparing the voice to Jane’s.  Or did it have the lilting quality of Loveland City’s latest cinematic sweetheart, Chik?  The head-to-toe in haute couture phenomenon who seemed hell bent on sweeping Victor off his feet as she did with the rest of the city’s fawning population. At least, that’s what the tabloids would have everyone believe.

Shaking your head free of useless thoughts, you refocused on the conversation at hand, hoping to catch Victor before he got impatient and hung up.

“No, Victor.  I meant to apologize for misinterpreting your intentions this afternoon.  I had no idea you asked me to get your lunch because...because you actually had a surprise gift planned for me.”

“...”

You were used to Victor’s awkward silences by now, on the phone and by text, waiting forever for the wave of ellipses to materialize into words that seemed far too simplistic to require that much forethought.

“If it’s any consolation, the pudding was delicious.”

“Did you already eat it all?”

“No, I only had one!  What do you take me for?  Wait, don’t answer that, I already know what you’re going to say.”

“Hm.  Seems like there is something you do know after all.”

“Is this a retaliatory dig for that time I laughed at you for asking whether it was possible to delete a sent text?  You know Mr Li, next time, don’t broadcast your sad lack of technological prowess on the internet if you don’t want to be made fun of.”

“Is this the real reason why you called me so early in the morning?  To pick a fight?”

“What?  No.  I told you, I...I misunderstood your intentions and I’m sorry for reacting the way I did.  I also wanted to thank you.  I can’t believe you remembered me complimenting your pudding!  That was months ago!”

“Well, you wouldn’t shut up about it.  Instead of letting one’s heart rule their head, I guess it’s your stomach that reigns supreme.  But you’re welcome.  Is there anything else?”

Normally, you couldn’t wait to be free of Victor, whether it was from the intensity of his gaze as you pitched ideas his way, or the scrutiny he subjected you to over the phone, asking twenty-one questions to which you only knew the answers to two.

So why did his asking “is there anything else” rankle you now?

“Um, just one more thing.  The bowls — they’re so interesting.  You wouldn’t happened to know the artist who painted them, would you?”

Silence again.  You strained to make out that twinkling laughter you heard earlier in the background as you waited for the LFG CEO to speak.  But the airwaves were silent save for the rise and fall of Victor’s breath telling you he hadn’t hung up yet.

“I painted the bowls.  If you don’t like them, feel free to throw them out.  And next time, don’t call me Mr Li.  Victor is fine.”

Click.  Beep, beep, beep.

It took a moment in your flabbergasted state to realize you still held the phone to your ear, the screen having gone dark long ago.

Victor just never struck you as the arts and crafts type.  The dogs with the lopsided faces told you the same.

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Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!  Check out the rest of my work here! 📚

[phdmama]

Heartbreak at the Coffee Shop

This is for Kim @crinkle-eyed-boo because she told me to write it AND it feels like a breakthrough on my horrible writer’s block!!!

This is Larry, about 1100 words, rated Gish, meet-cute. That’s all it is. Based on my real-life experience at Dunkin Donuts yesterday. 

Harry frowns, arching his back to stretch out the kink between his shoulder blades and takes a sip of his now luke-warm coffee. He looks around the small cafe. At 10:00 on Tuesday morning, it’s fairly empty, mostly populated with other student-y looking folks. He’s here tearing his hair out over probability; there’s a woman in the corner who has four empty cappuccino mugs in front of her and is typing frantically, a stack of printed-out articles next to her. There’s another woman two tables away who keeps alternating between frowning at her study notes and staring into space, muttering quietly. She’s got a smudge of ink on her cheek and has gathered her curly red hair up into a ponytail that jets out of the top her head like a fountain. And, directly across the room for Harry is The Guy.

Harry’s seen him here before. They seem to have a similar class schedule, and at least twice a week, they’re both here studying. The Guy drinks mug after mug of black coffee and once when he was in the bathroom, Harry happened to wander over to look at the bulletin board and noticed that he was studying biology. The Guy is, well, quite attractive, and has a nice voice. Not that Harry’s listened in or anything when he’s on the phone or whatever. Occasionally The Guy studies with another man, who is also devastatingly handsome. It’s a little much to cope with, when you’re just trying to pass Math 4860, is all. 

They’ve seen each other on campus as well, nodding in passing, and Harry’s been working up to offer a casual Hi, but he’s not made it there yet. 

Today though, The Guy is alone, frowning at his textbook as he reads, highlights, and jots down notes. They’re a week away from midterms and tensions are beginning to rise. 

Harry hears a bit of a bustle behind the counter as the early morning shift heads out, and the daytime servers clock in. He looks down at his notes and mutters to himself, “The probability of A given B equals the probability of A intersect B divided by…” 

He’s distracted as the music gets louder. The sounds of acoustic guitar fill the cafe, and he nods a bit as Happier comes on. Bit melancholy, he thinks, and gets back to his conditional probability formula. 

The music is distracting, and after several songs, he’s starting to notice a theme. 5SOS’s Amnesia followed by Kelly Clarkson’s Already Gone. Harry frowns at his homework and then looks up and catches The Guy’s eyes as Adele starts to sing. The guy grins and rolls his eyes a bit.

It continues. It continues and it gets worse. They move from Adele to Joy Division, and Harry can’t help humming along about how love will tear them apart. This is awful. He can’t even think about the work he’s supposed to be doing. He’s feeling a deep sense of loss and despair consuming him, and he’s been heart-whole (not to mention single) for ages. 

The playlist sprinkles a bit of empowerment in here and there, but mostly it’s sad (or angry, Harry can’t help mouthing the words to You Oughta Know). He hears the woman with the smudged face and the water fountain hair singing softly in a clear and lovely voice. 

When Kesha comes on, Harry gives up. Clearly he’s not meant to be focusing on math at this cafe in the middle of whatever this barista is processing right now. Harry heads to the bathroom, and then back to his table to pack up his things. He can’t help but notice out of the corner of his eye that he and The Guy are the only customers left and that The Guy also seems to be packing up.

And then it happens. Soft piano fills the room and then a woman’s voice begins.

I'm so tired of being here Suppressed by all my childish fears And if you have to leave I wish that you would just leave

“Oh god,” Harry moans, shuffling his piles of papers even faster. 

Granted, he’d been a toddler when this had come out, but he’d gone through a fairly intense emo phase in middle school, and this song is seared in his brain.

He finally says fuck it, and just stuffs everything haphazardly into his backpack, doing his best not to wail along. Suddenly, a voice rings out behind him.

“THESE WOUNDS WON’T SEEM TO HEAL, THIS PAIN IS JUST TOO REAL...”

Harry turns around in astonishment to see The Guy standing, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, singing at the top of his lungs. He’s got a lovely singing voice, raspy and as full of feeling as Amy Lee’s as he wails along. 

“I’VE TRIED SO HARD TO TELL MYSELF THAT YOU’RE GONE.”

He catches Harry staring and tosses him a wink and quick grin, and then dramatically thumps his chest and points at Harry.

“BUT THOUGH YOU’RE STILL WITH ME, I’VE BEEN ALONE ALL ALONG.”

Harry bursts out laughing as The Guy grins at him and steps ahead, waiting to hold the door out to the street for him.

“Someone sure was going through it in there,” The Guy says, and Harry feels a little breathless because The Guy is talking to him.

“I know,” he agrees. “I feel like I need to engage level five break-up protocols and I’ve been single for months.”

“Same,” The Guy says with a laugh. 

“You’ve got a lovely voice,” Harry says, feeling a bit shy and The Guy flushes a bit.

“I had a bit of an emo phase back in the day. That song is ridiculously but sometimes you just have to, you know?”

Harry snorts. “Oh, believe me, I do know.”

There’s a brief pause and Harry feels a small sense of panic. This feels like a tipping point, like it could go either way, and without thinking, he blurts out, “I’m Harry,” and sticks his hand out, immediately feeling like an idiot.

The Guy looks startled for a moment and then grins, shaking Harry’s hand. He’s got a great handshake, firm and emphatic without squishing too tight, like he’s not got anything to prove. 

“I’m Louis, it’s nice to meet you.”

Harry takes a deep breath and then decides, what the hell. He recalls the words of the illustrious Ms. Clarkson and thinks, time to break away, and as he and Louis start to wander down the sidewalk together, walking side by side in the same direction, he glances over to meet Louis’ smile and says,

“Any chance you’d like to get some lunch? I don’t think either of us should be alone right now, after that experience.”

Louis’ smile deepens and his eyes are so blue that Harry can’t look away, and then he nods and says, “I know a place.”

Thank you for reading!! (And if you enjoyed, feel free to reblog!)