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storiesbybea · 3 years

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Toil and Trouble (wlw Wandavision smut)

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Agatha Harkness

Words: 2.4k

Warnings: Smut (oral sex, fingering, kissing) & possible Wandavision spoilers (if you haven’t gotten past s1 ep6)

Summary: After Agatha’s secret witch lair collapses on them, Wanda tries to use mind control to convince her they are friends who need to work together to escape. But when Wanda accidentally triggers the wrong hormone in her brain, Agatha thinks they are a little more than friends.

A/N: I know it sounds sketchy with mind control elements, but everything in this is completely consensual! This is my first fanfiction - but not my first erotica ;)

Agatha finally had Wanda Maximoff exactly where she wanted her - tied up in her secret witch’s lair. She had been preparing for this moment for weeks: collecting the fake screams of Wanda’s children to lure her down here, casting the sound-proofing spell Wanda had activated by crossing the threshold, and preparing the runes that prevented Wanda from accessing her magic. All meticulously planned with no way of going wrong.

“Just admit it, Wanda. I got you this time.”

Wanda spit a stray piece of hair out of her mouth and stared daggers into Agatha.

“Never.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” Agatha cackled as dark magic collected around her hands. She waved her hands, pulled Wanda’s hands behind her back and magically restrained her. Wanda let out a cry. “Scream as much as you want,” Agatha said, “no one is going to hear you.”

“Just give me back my children,” Wanda said through gritted teeth. Agatha cackled again, louder this time.

“Your kids aren’t here, Wanda. I collected those screams a week ago.”

“Then where are they?”

“How should I know? I thought mothers were supposed to keep track of their children. You’re not a very good mom, are you?”

Wanda thrashed against her restraints and shouted obscenities at Agatha, who merely smiled.

“Someone’s a little sensitive towards other people’s perceptions of their parenting style,” Agatha quipped, “Let me help with that.” She flicked her wrist and threw Wanda against the wall. Wanda cried out in pain, then was violently dropped to the ground.

“Bet you regret mind-controlling a town with a witch like me in it, don’t you?”

Wanda regained her composure and looked directly at her captor. “My only regret is not changing your hair while you were under my control. Those highlights are atrocious.”

Agatha narrowed her eyes and levitated Wanda off the ground.

“You’re about to have one more regret,” she said. Then, she pulled Wanda toward her so forcefully that she crashed through a load-bearing pillar. In an instant, the entire cave collapsed around them.

Wanda coughed and rubbed the dirt from her eyes. Her magical restraints were gone. Perhaps the runes had been damaged by the falling rubble as well? She decided to give it a test, focusing her energy on her right hand. A tiny circle of magic emitted from her palm. She smiled, but this was still a mere fraction of what she was normally capable of. Then, she noticed Agatha lying next to her, unconscious. There was no way out of the wreckage alone, not with her magic still mostly suppressed. But if Agatha woke up, she would undoubtedly try to destroy her again. If only Agatha didn’t know they were enemies...

Suddenly, Wanda got an idea. She gently laid her hands on Agatha’s head and focused as hard as she could. Though the connection was weak, she could feel Agatha’s brain waves shifting. Wanda found all of Agatha’s memories and went to work erasing the ones indicating they were anything less than chums. She also decided to give her an extra shot of dopamine, for good measure. Then, she gently shook Agatha’s shoulders and whispered for her to wake up.

Agatha opened her foggy eyes and turned to Wanda.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Your lair collapsed on us.”

“What? How?” Agatha asked. Wanda bit her lip.

“Uh, there was a big earthquake.”

Agatha scoffed and put her hand on Wanda’s forearm. “This is New Jersey, dummy. There are no huge earthquakes here!”

“That’s what I thought, too. But then one happened and now we’re stuck here.”

Agatha sat up and looked deeply into Wanda’s eyes. “Well, there’s no one I’d rather be stuck here with,” she said tenderly. Then, she leaned in and kissed Wanda on the lips. Wanda froze, but accepted the kiss. She had stimulated her dopamine receptor, right? Agatha pulled back and smiled. “I’ll never get over how good your lips taste.”

Wanda had to consciously keep her jaw from dropping to the floor. That definitely was not her dopamine receptor. Agatha traced her fingers down Wanda’s arm and she shivered from the contact. She had to tell Agatha what happened.

But Wanda stopped herself. There was no way Agatha would react kindly to a botched mind control attempt from her nemesis. And right now, Agatha was the only one with enough power to get them out of here.

Wanda took Agatha’s hand and kissed it. “I feel exactly the same,” she said, “But we should probably try to get out of here.”

“In case there’s an aftershock!”

“Exactly, in case there’s an aftershock. Why don’t you try using your magic to move the rubble?”

Agatha booped Wanda on the nose, “You are definitely the smart one in this relationship.” Wanda had to restrain herself from laughing.

Agatha took a moment to focus herself, then threw her arms out dramatically. Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing still. One more attempt, even more forceful than the others. Nothing. Agatha frowned.

“I guess my magic doesn;t work anymore.”

Wanda nervously laughed and shook Agatha by the shoulders.

“No, they have to work. Because otherwise we’ll never get out of here!”

“Can’t we just scream and wait for the first responders to dig us out?” Agatha said.

“That’s a great idea. Unfortunately, you hexed your lair and now it’s sound-proof.” Wanda slid her face into her hands.

“Why did I sound-proof the lair?” Agatha asked. Wanda popped her head up.

“Uh, you mean you don’t remember?” Wanda asked. Agatha shook her head. “We were, uh, going to celebrate our anniversary? So you, uh, sound-proofed the lair because we were gonna, uh...”

“Oh! We were gonna--” Agatha rubbed her hands together suggestively and winked. Wanda nodded her head.

“Exactly, we were gonna do that and you were worried about the neighbors.”

“You are quite a screamer,” Agatha said as she patted Wanda’s thigh.

“Uh, yeah.”

It was at this moment that Wanda realized Agatha was shivering.

“Are you ok?”

“It’s so cold,” Agatha replied through chattering teeth. Wanda realized she was shivering as well.

“How is it so cold? It’s July.”

Agatha gasped. “The collapse must have triggered the frost hex.”

“F-Frost hex?” Wanda shouted.

“Yeah, I put it in after some of the neighborhood kids tried to break in here. If only my magic was functional, I could reverse it.” Agatha looked to her expectantly, but Wanda didn’t notice. The cold was getting to her. She could feel it in her bones; her teeth were chattering so loud that it made her head pound. She had experienced some brutal winters in Sokovia, but nothing like this.

“We should hold each other,” said Agatha, “For warmth.”

Wanda put her arms around Agatha and held her close. She smelled like witch hazel, which Wanda found funny and a bit on-the-nose. But it smelled really good. Agatha’s hair was long and warm. Wanda buried her face in it. The immediate warmth felt incredible on her shaking lips.

Despite the frigid cold, both Wanda and Agatha felt a considerable amount of heat between their bodies. They pulled each other as close as they could, each desiring to consume the other’s warmth. Wanda nuzzled further into Agatha’s soft hair, and Agatha took her freezing hands and slid them down the back of Wanda’s shirt. Her back was burning hot, and Agatha dug her fingers into Wanda’s warm skin. Somehow they both managed to fall asleep, huddled together through the frosty night.

Agatha was the first to wake. Wanda was nuzzled against her neck. She was still shivering. Agatha slowly removed her hand from Wanda’s shirt and flicked her wrist to remove the frost hex. The room got warmer immediately. Agatha looked down at Wanda, whose head had shifted and fallen to Agatha’s chest. A small ray of light was shining through the rubble, and it spread across Wanda’s face. She had to admit that Wanda looked angelic, even though she was her nemesis and had tried to mind control her into some disturbing romance. Agatha took her free hand and gently stroked Wanda’s head. There just was something fantastical about Wanda Maximoff. If anyone else had tried to mind control her into romance, she would have annihilated them on the spot. But when Wanda did it, there was something endearing about it all. She really thought she could best her? It was adorable. Wanda was adorable.

While Agatha was looking at her, Wanda woke up. Still a little groggy, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Why were you staring at me?” she asked.

“You had a bug on you and I thought it was funny,” Agatha lied. Wanda chuckled.

“And you just let it stay on my face? What if it was poisonous?”

“The only thing poisonous here is your failed attempts at mind control.”

Wanda perked up. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t lie,” Agatha said, rolling her eyes, “I know you tried to take advantage of me with some weird love hex, but my runes limited your magic too much for you to be successful.”

“How did you know?” Wanda asked.

“You really think I can’t feel intrusions into my own mind?”

“But you were passed out!”

“Yeah, so I was literally trapped in my own mind. That’s like the worst time to try and mind-control someone. Anyone with a basic knowledge of magical theory should know that.”

Wanda gulped. “So what are you gonna do to me?”

Agatha cackled. “Do to you? What do you think this is, a prison?”

“Uh, this all started when you lured me down here and magically restrained me against my will. That’s the definition of a prison.”

“So you think you deserve some kind of punishment?” Agatha asked. Wanda nodded. Agatha sighed and conjured her magical glowing hands. She whipped out her hands and the rocks around her began to shake. Then, with another wave of her wrist, the room was restored to its original formation.

“Why did you do that?” Wanda asked.

“Well, I was planning on betraying you and locking you in here for all eternity, but I decided against that. You’re free to go.”

“Why are you letting me go?” Wanda asked, even more surprised.

“Why did you try to put a romance hex on me?”

“I didn’t do that! I was trying to make you think we were friends, not lovers!”

Agatha blushed furiously and Wanda almost wished she hadn’t said anything. She grabbed Agatha’s hand.

“Why did you kiss me yesterday?” Wanda asked. Agatha blushed even more.

“I was playing the part.”

“Yeah, well you could have played the part without kissing me,” Wanda said shyly. Agatha looked intently at the ground.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you,” she admitted. Wanda tilted her chin towards her.

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“What?”

“What are you waiting for? Do it again.”

Agatha wasted no time in pressing her lips to Wanda’s. They were soft and full; it was like kissing her rabbit’s fluff. She pulled Wanda close to her and felt her breasts press against her chest. Wanda took her tongue into Agatha’s mouth and they wrestled each other for control of the kiss. After a few minutes of passionate tongue fighting, Agatha finally won, just barely.

“I want to taste you,” she whispered into Wanda’s mouth. Slowly, she pushed Wanda backwards and leaned her against her large cauldron. Agatha began tenderly kissing and sucking along Wanda’s neck, then down her chest, in between her breasts, and down the center of her stomach. Wanda eagerly unbuttoned her pants and Agatha slid them to the ground.

Agatha placed her palm on Wanda’s mound and moved it up and down. Wanda leaned her head back in pleasure and spread her legs further apart, begging Agatha to go further. Agatha separated Wanda’s lips with her fingers. She had the tiniest clit she had ever seen. Then, she took two fingers and tried to slide them into Wanda, but she wasn’t wet enough yet.

“I have just the thing,” Agatha said as she popped up and ran to her potions table. She threw some ingredients into a small wooden bowl; there was a loud pop and a cloud of purple smoke. She rushed back to Wanda and dipped her fingers in the potion.

“What is that?” Wanda asked.

“It’s a lubrication spell. I’ve never had to use it before. But there’s a first time for everything,” she said with a wink. Then, she spread Wanda’s legs and entered her with her slippery fingers. Wanda immediately threw her head back.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed. Agatha smirked and slowly slid her fingers in and out of her while Wanda squirmed and squealed. As Agatha picked up the tempo, she brought her mouth to Wanda’s clit and engulfed it with her tongue. Wanda nearly screamed.

“You’re really good at this,” Wanda said between gasps. Agatha looked up at her.

“Well, when you’ve been alive for over 300 years, you learn a thing or two,” Agatha said before she forcefully flicked Wanda’s clit with her tongue.

Wanda felt the pleasure building up inside of her. She tried to hold it back, but it was too powerful. She was helpless against the force of her own climax. When it finally overcame her, she exploded. As the waves of ecstasy passed over her, she felt restored.

When she had regained herself, Wanda picked her pants up from the floor and slid them back on. She looked down at Agatha, who was still on her knees.

“Your turn.”

Then, she pulled Agatha up, kissed her passionately, grabbed her hands, and held them behind her back. Agatha pulled away from their kiss.

“What are you doing?” she asked, suspicion and intrigue coating her voice. Wanda gave her a devilish grin and tried casting a restraint spell. To her surprise, it actually worked.

“I see you’ve cancelled the runes. That was a mistake,” Wanda said. She used her magic to pull Agatha up into the air. “Oh, and I hope you like the cold,” she said before she reactivated the frost hex.

“I thought we were ok now!” shouted Agatha. Wanda cackled.

“I will never be ok with someone who collected my childrens’ screams.”

And with that, Wanda turned to the exit and left Agatha to her fate.

#wanda maximoff #marvel smut #agatha harkness #wandavision fanfic #wlw fanfic #wanda maximoff x agatha harkness #wlw smut #original

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fanfictionfansmiction · 3 years

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Interruptions

George reader insert modern au. Basically George has been your barista for months and you bump into him at the club but something gets in the way. Word count: 2533

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“Admit it! You’re in love,” Lavender extended the vowels like chewing gum, “don’t look at me like that! You haven’t stopped talking about him all week!” She buzzed with excitement, that finally her loveless roommate had a crush. She could barely contain the gasp that too anyone else would seem completely over dramatic but for Lavender this was tame. She eyed me knowingly as she reapplied her burgundy lipstick. Just as I was about to break and admit my crush Luna floated in draping her paper white arms delicately over Lavenders deep brown exposed shoulders. Luna planted a kiss on her cheek leaving a shiny residue of her sparkling lip gloss and then she gave me one to. In her hand she had a large glass of shimmering champagne that she somehow managed not to spill a drop of.

“What’s the crack girls?” She asked looking at Lavender. All Lavender gave her was a look. Unsurprisingly that was all it took. A wild grin grew on her face. The excitement of love! They would say and start giggling. I loved all of it really, but I had to keep my cool.

“I have absolutely no idea what she’s told you Luna but it’s not true! You know what she’s like,” I side eye Lavender who had resumed her knowing look, “I don’t even know the guys name! Yes, he gave me a free coffee one time but that was it! A gesture of goodwill, please can we drop it.” I plead dramatically.

“A free coffee! When’s the wedding?” Luna started.

“I was thinking a winter wedding.” Lavender finished.

My cheeks were burning, and I couldn’t stop myself from throwing my head into my hands. Shaking my head. God why are feelings so embarrassing.

“Right young lady,” Lavender said sternly, “I can’t have you feeling sorry for yourself. We are going out and we are going to have fun. So, for the moment you’re just going to have to get over the mortifying ordeal of feeling fuzzy feelings for someone you barely know! Here take this.” Lavender hands me a plastic shot glass of a green liquid that smelt like apple. I peered up and looked at my friends. A smile gave me away and then we drank.

We had made it from the flat, to the pub and now we were in line for the club. All of us dressed up and feeling very much like the most beautiful, funny, intelligent and wonderful people to ever grace the earth. Luna brought along some old school friends who had names I probably had been told but I was shooting blanks. She had her arm slung around the waist of a strong looking girl, face splattered with freckles and fiery ginger hair. Nattering with Lavender a girl with wild curly hair and hands somehow still covered in ink. We weren’t too far from being let in, each of us clinging to our ID’s and laughing about something stupid that happened earlier in the night. I kept fidgeting. Looking around and chewing on my fingernail.

“What’s up your arse?” The ginger girl asked me.

“Oh, she’s just in love.” Lavender said stretching the vowels a little further this time.

I slapped her bare arm, shooting her a look that I hoped would put this conversation to bed. She was about to open her mouth again.

“If you drop this conversation right now and for the rest of the night, I will buy everyone a shot.” They considered it and then all of them nodded and quickly changed the subject.

“Ginny why are you complaining?” I heard Luna whine.

“Because my brothers are out tonight and I’m pretty sure they’re already in the club.” She stamped her foot like a younger sibling does. I had to stifle my laugh because I could see my younger sister doing the same thing.

When we got inside, we weren’t cold and shivering anymore. The air was thick and the wooden floor disgustingly sticking. The girl with the large hair whose name I learned (Hermione) checks in her wool coat and Ginny’s denim jacket.

I make a bee line to the long bar that stands away from the crowded dance floor. The line was almost too long for me to care but I did promise shots and I am a girl of my word. I was quickly wishing I were more covered up. All the crowds pushing and shoving me. Being jabbed by sequins and zips. Not incredibly fun.

I found myself pushed up against someone much taller than me. Wearing faded jeans and a strange graphic t shirt. That’s all I could see from my restricted viewpoint. But then he looks down at me. A face full of freckles and orange hair illuminated by the changing lights. My barista. His brown eyes look down at me and I almost expect him to recognise me, but he doesn’t. His smile is wrong, not enough teeth and he’s missing a dimple. Not my barista. My face must show my disappointment because he starts to stay something. Which I can’t hear so he leans down. Hot breathe on my already sweaty neck.

“Don’t look so disappointed love, you aren’t my type either.” He chuckles. Then I look at him and feel the urge to explain. So, I plant a hand on his neck that must still be cold because he shivers and I talk in his ear.

“Sorry, you look like someone I know. But you aren’t the right one.” I say shrugging. Before he can respond I’m called forward to the front of the line. I’ve upped my order to two shots a person. They give me a silly circular tray that I am determined to defend. When I reach my friends, I have successfully kept everything together.

A chorus of yay and yeahs squeal over the thudding music. The shots are gone before I know it and Hermione only took one, so I have her other one and I’m ready to dance. That’s when I see the guy who’s not my barista again, it seems like he’s about to approach me until he looks beyond me and I can’t help but turn to see at who he’s poking his tongue out. He must be Ginny’s brother. He decides that whatever he was going say is worth it because he saunters over. Definitely not my barista. A wild look in his eyes and a wide grin.

“Hello again love.” He mouths. “I think you might know my brother.” He says. “Do you go to his coffee shop?” He asks. I nod. Then somehow his grin grows wider. Before I could ask if his brother is here, he disappears into the crowd dancing. I shake it off because I’m here to dance. I take Lavender by the hand and spin her around. We dance like an old married couple in a kitchen singing songs to each other. I’m having fun and I feel light. Someone catches Lavenders eye, and she sways over to them. She is going to have a fun night.

So, I go to dance with Luna, but I see that her and Ginny are closer than I knew so I decide to let them have their fun. I notice Hermione having fun and I decide to join her. We jump around in a circle and laugh together. She says she’s spotted her boyfriend and they need to have a conversation. I follow her eyeline to see someone who looks like Ginny and my barista. How many of them are there? I shrug again. Must be time for another drink. This time at the bar I see my barista. Black jeans instead of blue and a mustard colour crew neck. I look up at him to see if he sees me too. He’s not but his face is flushed pink and he’s chewing on his lip like his life depends on it. Why didn’t I read his name tag? I’m in that coffee shop every morning and evening why haven’t I learned his name? He quickly looks down at me like he’s checking I’m looking at him. Now the pink is a little darker. He looks down at me now smiling. That’s my barista. All teeth and a single dimple that casts a little shadow on his face. Now my cheeks are burning red. It’s my turn to look away. He bumps into me purposely and I look up at him. He bends down slightly to talk into my ear. The hair stands up on the back of my neck.

“Caramel latte with almond milk, right?” He asks, he voice deep and struggling to be heard over the music. It’s my turn to talk in her ear. I place my hand on his neck to steady myself.

“And you’re my barista.” I say.

He pulls away to look at me but keeps my hand there. He asks, “Your barista?”

I take a shaky breath in deciding how to play this. I’ll be someone I never am, someone who says what she means.

I tilt my head, “Yes. My barista.” He chokes on something and coughs a little.

“Can I buy you a drink?” He asks but he doesn’t wait for me to answer. He orders me a drink and leads me to smoking area where we share one chair. It’s still cold outside and my body heat seems to be running out of me. He drapes his arm around my shoulder rubbing his red hands up and down my arm. I turn to look at him and I realise I’m basically sat in his lap. I look up and we’re basically nose to nose. Looking away I down my drink which makes him laugh. A low rumble that I can feel in his chest.

“So do I get to know you name?” I ask.

“George.” He smiles at me, the light from the club dancing over his face. I go to ask if he needs mine but then he says it. As though he’s been waiting to say for months. It makes me blush like he said something inappropriate. It sounded like he did. So, I begin to question if it was my name he said.

“You know my name?” I ask a little breathless and beginning to feel the heat re-enter my body.

“Of course,” he brushes a strand of hair out of my eyes, “prettiest girl to come into the shop and the best tipper I’ve noticed. My brother said he ran into you at the bar. He sent me there to wait for you. I was beginning to feel a little ridiculous. Until I saw you staring at me.” He laughs quietly like we’re alone.

“I was making sure it was you.” I say in a hushed tone reserved for museums.

“How’d you know?” He asks edging closer so our noses bump.

“Well you’re the prettiest barista in town. Your brother doesn’t compare.” I say. Just as I feel us edging closer and his lips brushing mine someone clears their throat in front of us. I slump my head onto his shoulder and George looks at the person.

“What Gin?” He asks in a huff.

“There’s a girl emergency and she is needed.” Ginny says strongly like she’s asking for her toys back. George groans like he’s not done with me. I sigh because I know I’m needed but I’m also not finished with him.

“I have to go. If I don’t see you tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I say kissing his cheek and push his hair out of his eyes.

“I hope you know you don’t have to pay for coffee anymore.” He shouts after me.

After finding Lavender weeping in the toilets I do my best to carry her back to our flat. Where I take her makeup off, brush her teeth and carry her to bed.

“Night Lav.” She whines in response. I switch off her light and close the door.

I wake up before Lavender and as I wander out the door in clothes, I’ve thrown on I see the rest of the girls laying across the sofa and the floor. The plan is to get everyone coffee. I don’t expect to see George in the shop but he’s not working. He’s in the queue looking as bad as I feel. When he sees me, he flushes red and doesn’t know where to look. Suddenly I feel just as shy, but I go next to him anyway. He looks down at me and then wraps an arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

“What are we getting?” He asks.

He pays for the drinks and brings them back to the flat me, not letting go of my hand as we walk. Ginny groans when she sees her brother causing Lavender to peak out of her door wrapped up in her duvet.

I give everyone their orders and make toast for them all. George and I laugh when Luna makes a quick exit to the bathroom. I cover his ears and he cover’s mine. So we don’t hear her bring up last night in the toilet. Slowly all the girls shower and collect their stuff to begin the walk home. Lavender manages to cry through the full story of what happened last night, blowing her nose dramatically as she does. I rub her leg and tell her men are stupid. George agrees making us another hot drink.

Lavender’s phone rings and she scurries back to her room. For the second time in twenty-four hours me and George and alone together again. Standing in the kitchen. Closer than you would stand to a friend. I don’t know what to say. So, I just look at him. He looks at me. I hug him, holding him close. Close enough to smell the coffee beans and to feel his heart racing. The TV still on the music channel begins to play a mushy love song I never learned. I move my arm to rest on his lower back and take his hand with the other. We sway in the small poorly lit kitchen. Laughing as we stand on each other’s feet. Still we dance together in the kitchen like an old married couple. Until the song changes to something I didn’t know you could slow dance to.

The TV goes on standby and now we’re just holding each other in the kitchen. His hand brushes through my knotted hair which makes us laugh. I rest my hand on his neck which makes his face soften. He says my name again like a wish I know will come true. I wait for him to kiss me or to say something to acknowledge how strangely familiar this all feels. Then his phone dings. He groans again. Cursing under his breath.

“It’s Fred, Mum’s expecting me for dinner.” He looks at me with pained eyes, “I have to go.” I whine. This time Fred kisses me delicately like he knows if he kissed me harder, he wouldn’t be able to leave. I give him my number before he leaves, promising that next time we won’t get interrupted.

#george imagine #george weasley x reader #george x reader #george weasley reader insert #harry potter imagine #george wealsey imagine #george reader insert #reader insert #george x y/n #george wealsey x you #george weasley x y/n #harry potter reader insert

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hrina · 5 years

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Dopamine (A Serotonin Extra)

PAIRING: Harry x Reader RATING: M WORD COUNT: 5.7k REQUESTED: um sorta? everyone wanted more TArry so here it is!

hey guys!!! i couldn’t get enough of my serotonin babies (and apparently, neither could you), so i couldn’t resist churning this out. i really hope you guys enjoy it! if you do, please don’t hesitate to send in feedback to my askbox because i love hearing your thoughts! also, here’s my masterlist if you’re interested in checking out some of my other pieces :-)

read Serotonin HERE

~*~

November 29th, 2019

“What are you smiling about?” Margaret grumbles, drumming her fingers on the countertop.

You’re smirking down at your phone, watching three little bubbles wiggle above the keyboard. The line at Grounded is long today, and Margaret isn’t in the best mood. She’s been venting all morning, but you’re sure that once she has some caffeine in her system, she’ll calm down.

“Hm?” you ask, peering up with raised brows and innocent eyes. When she gazes at you questioningly, you shrug. “Oh. Um—just Harry.”

“I knew it.” Her lips twist up wryly. “You’ve got that look on your face.”

You scoff, shutting your phone and tucking it back into your pocket. “What look?”

“The ‘Harry’ look,” she explains, snickering softly. The barista bustles over and hands you your drinks; he shoots Margaret a wink, and her face flushes crimson. You giggle as you step back and begin to make your way down the hall.

“I think someone’s into you,” you murmur, grinning widely.

“Shut up,” she scoffs, placing the back of her hand against her hot cheek.

“He was cute!” you say, nudging her gently with your elbow. She bats your arm away and lifts her latte to her mouth, taking a tentative sip. You give up on provoking her, for now. The subject of the cute, flirty barista will no doubt surface again in the future, and when it does, you’re sure that it’ll be because you brought it up.

“So,” Margaret starts, smacking her lips and humming appreciatively, “You and Harry. Have you guys fucked again, or…?”

You sputter, nearly choking on your coffee. “What?” you spit out, shaking your head vehemently. “No!”

“I’m just asking!” she protests, smiling deviously. You cough and glare daggers at her; it seems as though her mood is already improving.

The two of you pass by Harry’s office. The door is closed, much to your dismay. Instinctively, your gaze falls to the silver plaque standing out against the wood, and you feel an urge to run your fingers over the inscription. Harry E. Styles.

“Are we going to be doing a review for the final in class today?” Margaret asks you, snapping you out of your trance. You focus your attention back on her, your brows knitting together in thought.

“I would hope so,” you say. “The exam’s next week, and I haven’t even started studying.”

“Neither have I.” Your friend sighs, playing with her hair anxiously. You purse your lips; your shoes squeak against the floor.

“Well,” Margaret starts, tracing her index finger along the bottom of her coffee cup. She bumps your arm gently and shoots you a small, pained smile. “At least we’ll fail together.”

You snort and nod in agreement. Your phone buzzes in your pocket, and you fish it out quickly. Immediately, a smile breaks out across your lips; your eyes eagerly scan over Harry’s message, drinking in each letter as though it’s the last thing you’ll ever read.

Wednesday night is perfect. See you then. H. x

December 4th, 2019

You want to bash your head against the wall. The information just won’t stick.

You know that you’re in dire need of taking a break. But the final is the day after tomorrow, and it’s worth thirty-five percent of your grade, and you’re stressed beyond belief. Your grey sweatpants have been rolled up to the knee, and your red crewneck is wrinkled from where you’ve been pulling nervously on the hem. You need to wash your hair—you’ve been putting it off for two days now. The mere sensation of it sitting atop your head makes you feel greasy and gross.

But you don’t have the time.

“Content validity, face validity…,” you mumble to yourself. You’re fairly certain that there’s a hollow on your mattress in the shape of your body (particularly your bum), but you haven’t moved enough to properly gauge the severity.

“Construct validity…,” you mutter, shaking your head. “What the fuck is construct validity?”

The pages of your textbook flap loudly as you search for the definition in the glossary. Your eyes are tearing through each word when suddenly, a loud knock echoes down the hall of your apartment. You freeze for only a moment before bouncing to your feet.

You make your way out of your bedroom and toward the front door, your mouth watering at the promise of the Chinese takeout that’s waiting out in the corridor. When you twist the knob and pull the door open, however, you come face-to-face with Harry instead of your usual delivery man.

“You’re not Chen,” you say blankly.

“No,” Harry replies. “I’m not.”

The first thing you notice is the casual brown suit jacket draped over his torso. His trousers match. There’s a khaki button-up beneath his coat; the first few clasps are undone. His hair is parted down the middle, framing the sides of his face. He looks like he’s just stepped straight out of the nineties, boyish and rugged and incredibly handsome.

“Oh fuck,” you say, your eyes widening as the realisation dawns on you. “I’m an idiot.”

Harry rakes his fingers through his hair, humming as his gaze skirts down your body. “You forgot.”

It isn’t a question.

“I forgot,” you admit, covering your face with your hands. You groan loudly, shaking your head. “I’m so sorry. My exam is on Friday and I’ve been studying all day—I literally haven’t left my room. It completely slipped my mind.”

“It’s alright,” Harry tells you, brushing your apology aside. “I get it. Do you want to just reschedule?”

“Of course.” You nod, digging your fingers into the pockets of your sweatpants. Harry nods, and you hesitate. “But, um—,” you start, peering up at him hopefully, “I actually ordered some food. It should be here soon, if—if you wanna stick around?”

Harry’s lips twitch. “Sure.”

“Cool,” you say dumbly, stepping back and motioning for him to enter. “Come on in.”

Harry carefully toes off his shoes as you close the door. You watch as he arranges them meticulously against the wall, a small smile curling along your mouth. He looks at you when he stands back up, smirking slightly. “What?”

“Nothing,” you say, shaking your head. He chuckles quietly as you lead him down the hall. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“I’m alright,” he responds. You concede with a meek shrug of your shoulders. You guide him into your bedroom, cringing immediately at the untidiness of the space.

“Sorry it’s so messy,” you ramble, picking up a dirty sweater from the floor and tossing it into the hamper standing a few feet away. “Like I said—I’ve been holed up in here all day. All week, actually.”

“It’s alright,” Harry says. “Like I said—I get it.”

“I look gross, too,” you continue, though you’re speaking mostly to yourself. “My hair’s all greasy, and I feel disgusting—”

“I think you look wonderful,” he cuts you off.

His palm lands on the small of your back; you stiffen, your head snapping to the side to look up at him. You’re suddenly painfully aware of the proximity between your bodies. Harry steps closer to you, and your heartbeat picks up beneath your ribs. Part of you wants to veer backward, but your feet stay rooted to the ground.

“Can I have a kiss?” he murmurs. He slips his fingers beneath the material of your sweater and draws gentle circles against your skin. You feel like your knees are about to give out.

“No,” you say quickly. His brows knit together, and you hasten to make amends. “I mean—I need to shower, still, and brush my teeth. Give me, like, twenty minutes, okay?”

His features soften, lips curling upward into a soft smirk. “Okay.”

~*~

When you step out of the shower, the smell of noodles and grilled vegetables is unmistakable. You quickly change into an old sports bra, a baggy grey t-shirt, and a pair of bright green shorts. Your hair squelches as you wring any excess water from the sopping strands. You brush your teeth, smacking your lips together and savouring the minty taste of toothpaste on your tongue.

Upon re-entering your bedroom, you find Harry sitting on your mattress amidst the mess of sheets, flash cards, and books. He’s removed his jacket and undone another button on his shirt. There’s a plastic bag on his lap; the smell wafting from the food inside lures you closer, like a moth to a flame.

“Takeout came,” Harry says. “I got it.”

“How much was it?” you ask, tucking a strand of wet hair behind your ear. “I’ll pay you back.”

“No need,” he tells you.

“Harry—”

“No need,” he repeats sternly, but the look in his eyes is lighthearted. “It’s my treat.”

“I’m sorry,” you say, approaching him and blowing out a sad sigh. “I fucking ruined our first date.”

“You didn’t,” he assures you.

You chew anxiously on your bottom lip as he removes the takeout from his lap, setting it on your bed and spreading his legs. He reaches out for you, grasping your fingers with his and tugging you forward. You shuffle closer, absentmindedly placing one hand on his shoulder to steady yourself. He splays his other palm out onto the back of your left thigh, giving a light squeeze.

“Can I have that kiss now?” he asks softly. His gaze is sincere.

Despite the regret flowing through your veins, you smile and nod, untangling your fingers and cupping his jaw delicately. Harry hums as you plant a chaste peck onto his lips. He’s smirking when you pull back.

“We can eat in here, if you want,” you inform him.

You make room on your mattress, gathering up your textbooks and papers and setting them aside. Harry turns to face you as you collapse onto your bed. You groan dramatically into the duvet before scrambling into a sitting position. The takeout doesn’t stand a chance—you snatch it up with greedy hands, rifling through the bag and producing twin sets of plastic cutlery.

“I may have ordered enough for two,” you say sheepishly, your cheeks heating up. “I was hungry.”

“I can leave you to it,” Harry replies, his words laced with subtle mockery. You scoff, reaching out and swatting his shoulder weakly.

“Shut it.”

“Don’t be rude,” he warns. “Or I won’t help you study once we’re done.”

“I don’t recall asking you for your help,” you say, tapping your chin with your index finger.

Harry grins, his expression saturated with salacious mischief. “I’m a generous man. Have you forgotten?”

The memory of his head buried between your thighs pops into your brain, flashing like a neon sign and wailing as loud as a hundred sirens. You gulp violently, shaking your head and busying your hands with pulling a container of noodles out of the plastic bag. You keep yourself occupied longer than necessary, not wanting him to see the embarrassment warping your features.

“You’re gross,” you tell him plainly, though you can’t ignore the flash of heat that streaks through your stomach at his words.

“Hey, now,” Harry starts, snickering. “What did I just say about being rude?”

~*~

“Can you explain to me the basic concept of reliability?”

“The act of yielding consistent results.”

“Exactly.” Harry grins, tossing the flash card down onto your mattress. Your back rests against the headboard, hands convoluted in your lap.

There’s a handful of cards already lying in a messy pile on your bed, but neither of you pay the clutter any attention. Harry’s too busy studying the definitions that you’d written up earlier this week, and you’re too busy studying him.

His large hands practically dwarf the stack of papers clutched between his fingers, and his big, gaudy rings glimmer in the warm light of your room. His gangly legs are crossed as he sits in front of you. With each question that you answer correctly, he nods in approval.

His eyes have gotten brighter, you think, because whenever he looks up at you, the grassy green of his irises is all that you can see.

The air still smells faintly of the food you’d scarfed down. You’re surprised at how easily the two of you had fallen into conversation. Harry’s actually really funny—his humour is underrated (and definitely one of your favourite things about him, now). You’d always found him to be intimidating, but it’s refreshing to know that under that stoic exterior, he’s just as quirky as anyone else.

“Next one,” Harry murmurs, his eyes skimming over the cursive definition on the subsequent card. “What is a longitudinal study?”

You bite your lip. “It’s when…researchers follow the same participants over a longer period of time, right? Like, they retest them throughout the years.”

“Brilliant,” he says, nodding proudly. Your cheeks heat up at his praise.

Harry covers his mouth as he yawns quietly.

“Am I boring you?” you ask, your lips kinking up into a wry smile.

He shakes his head. “No, not at all. This is absolutely riveting.”

You snort; he smiles. He stretches out his arms, his mouth curling around a quiet grunt and his forehead creasing with a rough wince. “Fuck. My back’s killing me.”

“Should we switch positions?” you offer, sitting up straight. “You can come over here and lean against the headboard, if you want.”

“I love switching positions,” Harry hums; that adorable dimple carves into his cheek as the innuendo slips from his mouth. You swallow heavily and shake your head, rolling your eyes. You hope that it’s enough to hide the way your spine has stiffened at his words.

“Okay, let me just…,” you begin, shifting quietly.

“Actually,” he says, placing a hand on your knee. “What if I…?”

His exhale is guttural as he uncrosses his legs and turns himself around. You laugh incredulously when he flops backward, his head now snuggled securely in your lap. Your hands reflexively curl into his hair, and you run your fingers across his scalp, falling into a soothing rhythm. He sighs, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as a pleased grin spreads across his lips.

“There we go,” he says, nodding once. “Much better, I’d say.”

“You’re so dumb.” You chuckle and flick his nose gently. His eyes snap open and he releases a short, petulant whine. The sound is extremely adorable, but of course, you’re not going to tell him that.

“Can I have another kiss?” Harry asks.

Your gaze falls to his face—even though his features are upside down, he’s still ridiculously handsome. This time, there’s nothing teasing about his question—the inquiry is completely sincere. You chew on the inside of your cheek and try to ignore the butterflies flapping around in your stomach.

With a short nod, you lean down and seal your lips to his, your nose brushing against his chin. This kiss is longer than the one you’d shared earlier, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s only when Harry parts his lips that you finally pull back, skirting your thumb over his Cupid’s bow and propping yourself up against the headboard. A strangled puff of air gets caught in your chest.

“What’s the next definition?” you prod, breathless.

Harry clears his throat, tapping the stack of flash cards against his chest once to organize them properly.

“No peeking,” he tells you, aware that if you tried, you’d be able to read each definition once he flipped them around to the other side.

“Cross my heart.”

“What’s an observational study?”

You know this one. “It’s when researchers don’t manipulate any variables—they just observe what’s going on and try to draw conclusions based on natural behaviours.”

Harry peers up at you. His eyes are shining. “You’re a clever one, y’know that?”

The compliment catches you off-guard. You avoid his gaze, shrinking into yourself. “Oh. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replies. He angles his head to the side and presses a smacking kiss to the crook of your knee. Your fingers falter in his hair for only a moment—you hope that he doesn’t notice.

“What’s a theory?” Harry asks.

You hesitate. “A set of statements that describe how variables relate to each other…right?”

“Close,” he says. “You left out the part about ‘general principles’.”

“Shit, yeah.” You sigh. “That one’s always tricky for me. I don’t know why.”

“You’re fine,” Harry assures you, reaching up blindly and giving your thigh a gentle squeeze. “Next one…what is a control group?”

“It’s the group that doesn’t receive the treatment,” you say. “It just kind of serves as the standard.”

“Perfect.” He nods and turns his face to the side again. You’re expecting another chaste kiss against your leg, but instead, you gasp when you feel his teeth sink gently into your skin.

“Ouch!” you exclaim, laughter trickling into your voice. Harry smiles, dragging his tongue over the shallow dents decorating the inside of your thigh. He soothes the brief sting with a series of quick pecks, and you nearly melt into your mattress.

You expect it to end. You’re waiting for him to pull away and fix his attention onto the next term needing to be defined. But—to your eager surprise—he seems completely happy with just lying here and making love to the sensitive skin on the inside of your leg. Your flash cards end up abandoned on the bed, still tucked into a neat little square. One of Harry’s hands reaches up to cup your knee, while the other splays out flat against the bed so that he can roll himself over with a soft grunt.

“What—what’re you doing?” you breathe, your eyes glued to his face. There’s a smug smile tugging at his lips, but overall, he does a good job of masking his glee.

“Nothing,” he muses, shaking his head. He’s on his stomach now, his chest flat against the duvet. You swallow down the hard lump in your throat when he snakes his arms beneath your legs and tugs you closer to him. He continues to pepper kisses over your knee, slowly making his way toward the hem of your shorts.

“Just…lovin’ on you,” he murmurs, inching the fabric further up your thigh.

His words are warm and sticky against your skin, though they’re quickly cooled by his saliva as he chases them with open-mouthed imprints of his lips. You exhale heavily through your nose; the noise is high-pitched, loud enough to be a sigh. There’s something hot brewing in the pit of your stomach, and you can feel yourself growing wetter with each passing moment.

Can he smell you? Like how he had the last time?

“Harry,” you stammer when he kisses a spot right at the crease of your upper thigh. “I need to study.”

Despite your reproach, though, your fingers once again find a home in his hair. He chuckles darkly.

“And you will,” he says. “But first, tell me—,” he inhales deeply, a low growl resonating in the back of his throat, “—have you got any knickers on?”

You squeak when he brings one long, sure finger up to the apex of your legs and runs the digit down the middle seam of your shorts. He’s got his answer, now, because you’re positive that he can feel the protrusion of your lower lips and the budding of your clit. Harry pinches the nub through the material of your bottoms, and you moan quietly.

“Guess not,” he mutters, answering his own question with a snicker. Your abdomen tenses when his finger slips lower; he looks up at you with wide eyes when he feels just how wet you’ve become. Your cheeks heat up with embarrassment, but you hold his gaze.

“I’m…,” you trail off, not sure of what to say.

“Soaked,” Harry murmurs in supplication, rubbing his fingertip delicately over where your opening lies beneath your shorts. He coaxes your legs into a bent position so that your knees point upward at the ceiling, and your toes subconsciously curl into the duvet.

“I need to study,” you repeat stupidly, your voice quivering.

“Fine.”

Harry sighs, shooting you a small smile as he reaches over retrieve the stack of forgotten flash cards. You wait for him to pull away, now, but you’re sorely mistaken. Instead, he sets the pile down next to your hip, plucking a definition from the top and scanning over the words.

“What’s a cross-sectional study?” he asks, his index finger skating back up your center. You bite your tongue when he begins to rub slow, languid circles into your clit through your shorts.

“A—a design where researchers test different people of different ages. It’s like…the opposite of a longitudinal study.”

“Well done.” Harry nods, tossing the card away and reaching for another. “Want your reward?”

You gasp when he applies a bit more pressure to your clit. The change only lasts for a few seconds before he slows and reverts back to his previous pace. You swallow heavily.

“This one’s easy.” Harry smirks up at you after reading the next term. “What’s an independent variable?”

“The variable being manipulated,” you answer immediately. He’s right—it is a simple question. The definition has been hammered into your brain since your first year of university; you can recall it just as effortlessly as you can remember your own name.

Despite that, though, Harry still says, “Good girl,” and leans down, swiping his tongue over the full length of your clothed cunt. You moan in surprise, the sound tearing itself from your chest. He pulls away an instant later, an evil grin tugging at the corners of his lips. You peer down at him with dilated pupils and flaring nostrils, your mind going blank.

“Please.” The request falls from your lips before you have the chance to register what you’re saying.

“Thought you needed to study?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow. You frown.

“Harry—,” you start, but he cuts you off.

“A few more,” he bargains, picking another flash card from the pile. “Define empiricism for me.”

“Er…fuck.” You close your eyes, inhaling deeply and taking a moment to collect yourself. Harry switches his fingers—the pad of his thumb takes up the task of rubbing you through your bottoms. Your exhale is shaky and forced; you wrack your brain for the right words.

“It’s the theory that—that all knowledge can only be derived from sensory experience. It’s what all branches of science are based on. I think.”

“Correct,” Harry replies, littering kisses along your inner thigh. You mewl when he hooks his middle finger into the left leg of your shorts, entering from the side and coming into direct contact with your folds. The digit glides down until it reaches your entrance. A faint curse falls from Harry’s mouth.

“Fuckin’ drenched,” he whispers. His features contort in what can only be described as pained desire.

Your walls bear down, clenching around nothing. Harry withdraws his finger, studying the way it gleams in the light of your room. You open your mouth to speak, but before you can, he envelopes his lips around your juices, sinking down to the knuckle. You suddenly find yourself struggling to breathe.

“Another,” he states, producing what feels like the millionth flash card from the pile. “What’s a—?”

“No,” you whimper, shaking your head and snapping your thighs shut.

As you anticipated, the action catches Harry by surprise. A small wrinkle forms between his brows, and he quickly pushes himself up onto his knees, fiddling nervously with the corner of the card. You sit up straight against the headboard, your hands flat on the mattress next to your bum.

“You alright?” Harry asks, no longer teasing. “Did I do something—?”

You launch yourself at him.

He grunts when your chest collides with his. The force of your attack is enough to push him backward, and his shoulders hit the mattress with a hard thump. You quickly scramble up his body, knees boxing him in as you straddle his hips. His hands reflexively land on your waist to steady you, and a loud laugh falls from his mouth.

“You’re mad,” he tells you, trapped in a fit of giggles. “Absolutely mad.”

“I don’t care,” you whine, flopping down and burying your face into the crook of his neck. “You’re such a dick.”

“That’s not nice,” Harry says, though he’s anything but upset. You pepper hot, frantic kisses along the column of his throat, circling your hips and applying the slightest bit of pressure to his groin. A low grunt reaches your ears, and you smile to yourself. Your fingers slip down his torso, hurriedly unclasping the remaining buttons on his shirt.

“Fuck me,” you murmur, nibbling softly on Harry’s earlobe. “Please?”

“Shit,” he wheezes. His fingertips dig into your sides; little pricks of anticipation whizz through your veins.

It’s all over, after that. In a matter of seconds, your baggy t-shirt has been discarded. Harry yanks down the material of your sports bra, catching one of your nipples between his teeth and biting down gently. You moan; the pain feels good, and it only spurs you on.

Harry’s button-up is next. You undo the last clasp before ripping the shirt from his body and yanking it down his arms. He chuckles at your eagerness, but the sound quickly melts into a soft sigh when you lightly scrape your nails down his toned stomach. You take a minute to trace the ferns inked into his hips before diving lower. The metal on his belt clanks loudly as you pull it from the loops on his brown trousers. The sound of his zipper being tugged down by your clumsy fingers is just as noisy, if not more.

“Help,” you beg, shimmying down Harry’s body so that you can properly grab onto the fabric of his pants.

His hands shoot down, swiftly pushing the material from his hips. You tug the trousers off the rest of the way, your damp hair falling into your face as you climb back into his lap. Now, the only things standing in your way are your shorts and his boxers.

“Glad to see you wore underwear, this time,” you say, the faintest hint of mockery snaking into your words.

Harry grins. “You didn’t.”

“We’ll take turns.” You shrug, concealing a smile. Harry chuckles, hooking his fingers into the waistband of your shorts and wrestling them down. You sit up on your knees, strategically lifting one leg at a time to slide the material down your thighs.

“Smooth, right?” you ask, lips quirking up when you position yourself back over his crotch. You can feel his cock beneath his boxers, hard and heavy. Reflexively, you roll your hips, and the two of you moan in unison at the sensation.

“Very smooth,” Harry chokes out, his large palms splaying against your ass. “Pull me out, love.”

You oblige, your fingers dipping past the elastic of his underwear. They wrap around his cock, and you gently tug him from the confines of his briefs. He hisses when you swipe your thumb over the leaking tip and give him a firm, steady pump.

“’Ve got…,” Harry swallows heavily. “There’s a condom in my trousers. Back pocket.”

“That’s a bit presumptuous of you, don’t you think?” you tease. A weak laugh tumbles from his lips.

“Not presumptuous,” he corrects. “Just…hopeful, maybe.”

“I guess I’ll believe you.” You smile, reaching behind your body and blindly patting around for his pants. When you find them, you quickly fish through both back pockets, producing a gold foil square and holding it up between your fingers.

“Magnum,” you state. You think you see Harry’s cheeks tint with the lightest shade of pink.

“I used it last time, too,” he says.

You hum. “Guess I just wasn’t paying attention.”

“How rude.”

You giggle at his words, ripping the packet open and pulling the condom out. Harry groans softly when you roll the latex down the shaft of his cock, your fingers careful and delicate. Instinctively, his hips buck up; you place one hand over the butterfly on his abdomen to tame him.

“Gonna put me in?” he asks breathlessly, his fingertips pressing against the small of your back as you lift yourself up. “Gonna ride me?”

“Mm-hm,” you reply, positioning him at your entrance. You force your muscles to relax when you feel his tip prodding at your hole, and slowly, you sink down his cock, enveloping each inch as though you’ve done it a hundred times before.

“Fuck!” Harry hisses, throwing his head back into the duvet. Your walls flutter around his length, stretching to accommodate his girth. He looks up at you with glazed eyes, his lips pulled back over his teeth.

“Gimme a kiss, love,” he pleads, his hands stroking over your spine. “I’ve not kissed you once.”

“How rude,” you echo his previous words back to him, and he laughs. You fulfill his request, though, leaning down and smearing your lips against his. He sighs appreciatively against your mouth, and you slowly raise your hips, moaning when they drop back against his thighs. Harry swallows the sound, licking into you and cupping your face with one of his hands.

“Good,” he murmurs brokenly, squeezing your waist. “Y’feel so good.”

“So do you,” you breathe, your foreheads pressed together. “I feel…full.”

“Shit,” he says, and then he’s pawing at your chest, which is still partially covered by your sports bra. “Take this off, yeah?”

“Okay,” you whisper. You sit up straight, your fingers spread out just over his collarbones to keep yourself steady. Harry’s palms sweep up and down your sides as you rid yourself of the garment, tossing it away unceremoniously. Immediately, his gaze falls to your breasts. He wastes no time, cupping them and rubbing his thumbs over your nipples.

“’M not gonna last,” he confesses, his cheeks growing a darker shade of pink. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise,” you tell him, bouncing up and down quickly on his cock. “I won’t either. You—oh, right there—you’ve got me all worked up from before.”

“Was just trying to help you study.” His grin is forced, but it’s blinding.

You intentionally clench around him. Harry releases a loud swear, your walls nearly suffocating his dick. He reaches up, using his index finger to gently flick your chin in admonishment. You giggle, but the sound is short-lived, interrupted by the gasp that bubbles up in your chest when his hand fits around the curve of your throat. Your eyes go wide, and you peer down at him, stilling abruptly.

“This okay?” he asks gruffly. He makes no move to tighten his grip.

“Yeah,” you breathe, nodding vehemently and subconsciously arching your chest forward. You place your fingers over his and squeeze, encouraging him. “Do it harder.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” he mutters. His hips snap up into yours as he begins to apply more pressure against your neck. “You’re so—fuck.”

You smile dreamily, eyelids fluttering shut. Your hands find their way to Harry’s abdomen, using his body as leverage so that you can hasten your pace and ride him properly once more. He meets you halfway, bucking and slamming in profoundly every time. The room devolves into heat, pathetic little whimpers, and the telltale smell of sex and sweat. Harry’s now choking you just enough for you to feel a bit light-headed. It’s like you’re floating.

And it’s fucking wonderful.

“Har—oh my God, Harry, I’m gonna cum,” you moan.

The movement of your hips slows as you begin gyrating against him, aiming for something deeper, now.

Harry grunts in response. The hand that’s not wrapped around your throat snakes down to the apex of your thighs; he begins plucking messily at your clit with two fingers.

“Cum,” he says, breathless. “Lemme see it—cum for me.”

Your orgasm triggers his own. The fingers pressed against your neck twitch as he shoots into the condom. The two of you ride out your highs together, panting and groaning and trying to control the little spasms that rocket through your limbs. You fall forward, your chest smearing against Harry’s when you seek out his lips. It’s not even a proper kiss, permeated too heavily with gasps and sighs, but it’s enough. You don’t speak, sucking in deep gulps of air and trying to regulate your breathing.

Shoulders heave. Toes curl.

You squish your mouth to Harry’s temple. He sinks deeper into the duvet.

After a few long moments of silence, you feel a pair of hands cup the sides of your face, tucking your hair behind your ears and stroking the apples of your cheeks.

“Hi,” you whisper.

“Hi,” Harry murmurs, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Glad we got to do that again.”

You snort softly, your heart hammering beneath your ribs. Harry wraps his arms around you as you bury your face into his neck, pressing haphazard kisses along the underside of his jaw. You shift your hips, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he’s still inside of you.

He’s still inside of you, and he’s…

“Are—are you still hard?” you ask, the words laced with disbelief.

His body rumbles as he chuckles. “It would appear so.”

You laugh quietly, your breath fanning out over the sticky skin of his throat. “We’ll go again,” you promise him, giving his shoulder a weak squeeze. “Have you got another condom?”

“No,” he says mournfully, stroking his fingertips up and down your spine. You sigh, nuzzling your nose against his cheek.

“It’s okay,” you say airily. “Maybe I’ll just blow you, instead.”

Harry groans at your offer, twirling a damp tendril of your hair around his pinky and tugging lightly. You hum appreciatively at the pulling sensation. He fixes you with an incredulous look—you just giggle in response.

“I’ll only give you head if you actually help me study afterwards, though,” you tell him, a teasing smirk spreading across your face.

“Deal,” he says. He pauses for a moment, but it’s clear that there’s something else on the tip of his tongue.

“What is it?” you press softly, drumming your fingertips over his chest.

Harry shrugs, shooting you a small smile. His next words fill you with giddy pride.

“Dunno why you thought you’d ruined our night,” he says. His eyes are brimming with sincerity. “This is probably the best date I’ve ever had.”

~*~

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#harry styles smut #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles blurb #harry styles fanfiction #harry writing #TArry #here she is!!!!! i really hope you guys love her #((also any feedback is v v v appreciated and there's a high chance that i'll love you for the rest of my life))

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quicksiilver · 3 years

Text

Black T-Shirt

Inspired by THIS gif-set I came across today.

Pairing: Carol Danvers/Female Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: Coming home after a mission with Carol, a memory makes you finally get the guts to do something that should’ve been done a long time ago.

Warning: Nothing. Just... nothing but my dreams. TBH I don’t even know where this came from.

GIF Credit to linked poster at beginning of this post.

Stumbling out of the ship laughing with Carols arm slung around your shoulder, you were greeted by Maria who was strolling slowly across her green grass with Monica hurrying from the house behind her. You and Carol were returning from a mission Nick Fury sent you on a month ago. The two of you were in that ship traveling planet to planet for nearly four weeks keeping the universe in check. After Fury’s first encounter with a species other than his own he’d been on edge. He’d send you and Carol up in the ship every couple of months sometimes just for his peace of mind. Fury was a badass to everyone but you and Carol. He found you both in a Blockbuster parking lot looking like two women from a Sci-Fi film that he didn’t know was coming to life.

“Well, welcome back!” Maria beamed holding her arms open for you and Carol to fall into. She wrapped one around each of your backs and squeezed you tight.

“Space needs to stop keeping you both away for so long,” She sighed. Peering over her shoulder you spotted Monica who was finally catching up to her mother.

“You’re here! You’re here!” She cheered as you pulled yourself out of Maria’s arms. Falling to your knees you caught Monica as she leapt onto you, happily throwing her arms around your neck.

“I told you I’d be back,” You grin, closing your eyes. Monica buried her face into your hair, snuggling against you. While Carol was here first before the Kree kept her on your planet, Monica took a liking to you when you arrived with Carol her first day back to Maria’s home. It was a hard conversation explaining to Monica that you weren’t from Earth like she and her mother were, but you made a promise that you’d stick by her Aunt Carol’s side and not go back to the Kree.

“I missed you so much,” Monica said, “I’ve been watching Fresh Prince with my mom, and its boring because she already knows it all. I don’t even have to explain it to her like I do for you!” You laugh, rubbing a hand around her back.

“I can’t wait until you’re teaching me about your television again,” You say, “Wait. Aren’t you sleepy? Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Your voice turned silly, gasping at the end of your words pulling Monica back making her giggle.

Behind your back Carol and Maria were watching the two of you, Carol waiting patiently to hug her niece. She smiled watching you hold onto Monica carefully, always ready to protect her just like she would. It made her happy to see you be so comfortable around Maria and Monica. When her memory really came back to her, and she realized what a mess the Kree were, she was afraid you’d leave her. She was nervous you’d hate it here, and that you’d stick with the Kree fighting a war that didn’t even need to fought. Backing up a team that believed they were the only superiors in this world, but you stayed. Carol was surprised, but she kept that to herself. Her heart was thankful that the girl she met on Hala, the woman who trained with her and grew with her as a warrior was going to stay.

“Did you say anything to her yet?” Maria whispered to Carol as you and Monica discussed TV. Carol shook her head, eyes still on you.

“I can’t,” She whispered back.

“Yes, you can,” Maria was still whispering, but her tone was harsh. She couldn’t believe her best friend hasn’t told the girl she’s been traveling with for forever now how she feels about her.

“I don’t want to give her a reason to go back,” Carol looked at Maria who relaxed, understanding her reasoning.

“Auntie Carol!” Monica shouted, the little girl taking her bouncy curls over to her. She jumped onto Carol who caught her quick, and pulled her into a hug.

You stood up brushing your hair out of your face giving Maria a smile.

“It’s good to see you,” Maria said.

“It’s good to be back,” You say, shaking your shoulders a bit.

“Are you gonna leave again?” Monica asked turning to you while in Carols arms. You and Carol share a moment of uncertain eye contact before you smile at Monica and pout a lip.

“We don’t know yet,” You say knowing damn well Nick Fury would be getting in touch with the two of you at some point. Monica yawned and started to ask you both to stay forever, but Maria pulled her out of Carols arms and held onto her. She let out a fake groan of discomfort.

“My lord!” She said dramatically, “You’re getting too old for this.” Monica rubbed one of her eyes and laughed.

“But they can carry me,” She said pointed to you and Carol. Maria nodded and rolled her eyes.

“I’m not a super person, Mon,” She laughed under breath, as did you. You glanced to Carol who was looking at you with a small smile.

“Lets go. Time for bed and time to get our guests comfy,” Maria started for the house. Carol put her arm around you again and you followed the mother into her house.

Standing in the bathroom of the spare bedroom you stare at yourself in the mirror and sigh. Bringing your hands up to your face you rub your eyes and groan at how heavy they’d become. Missions were always fun, something exciting coming from each one of them, but they were incredibly exhausting. This was the side of superheroes the public will never see. You have bruises, you have some scars, and you’ve even sprained an elbow before. This particular mission there weren’t too many marks on the outside, but there was definitely something on the inside.

The feeling started before you left. You could pinpoint exactly when you noticed it. It was a Friday night dinner here at Maria’s. The three of you, and Monica, were sitting around the dining table with two open empty pizza boxes on it. Monica was cracking jokes she’d learned from her friends, some that deemed too inappropriate for Maria’s taste, and some that needed to be explained to you. Pop culture references from this planet wasn’t exactly your forte.

Carol sat across from you in a black t-shirt with her hair falling to her shoulders in loose curls which was typical for the end of the day. She was getting a kick out of her niece slightly disappointing her mother, while enjoying teaching you small things about the world here. There was something in everyday that you didn’t understand, and Carol was always quick to jump in to help you.

She kept shooting you looks, sleep in her eyes, that were a little different than before. You blamed it on the silliness that being tired brings. The way her eyes narrowed with her smirk, the way they’d watch you intently as you laughed at Monica’s jokes. When she’d explain things to you, she wasn’t watering it down as she usually would so you’d understand. She was almost teasing you with her voice in a tone that could make you blush, and not in an embarrassed state. Between her t-shirt, and her beguiling manner, something was sparked to life inside of you.

Maria left the table after Monica had finished her stand-up act to make sure she was really going to bed, and not sneaking around the corner to listen in on your conversations. Carol asked Maria to give her kisses goodnight from the two of you.

“You ready to take this one on?” Carol asked you once Maria was out of the room. Watching her, you messed with your fingers and nodded slowly.

“I’m always ready,” You smirked. She returned it, then quickly looked away.

“You okay?” You asked. Carol looked up to you with a changed expression. Her cocky facade turned into what seemed to you as sadness. A nervousness lulled around her as her soft eyes took you in. You suddenly felt overwhelmed, almost embarrassed at how you two were obviously flirting over empty pizza boxes at her best friends dinner table. You were afraid she’d tell you it’d been inappropriate, or that it would affect the mission in some way.

The two of you spent a lot of time alone, and you’ve gotten to know each other like best friends, you didn’t want this one silly moment to ruin the years of your relationship with her.

“Carol?” You questioned her again. She glanced away for a moment before turning her eyes back to yours.

“We have to tell Monica,” She said at the same time she let out a sigh, “We haven’t done that yet.” Taking a deep breath out of relief you pouted your lips.

“I hate doing that,” You say, and she agreed with you.

Maria came back in the room letting you know that Monica sends kisses back out for you two. Carol smirks at you again, a hint of her salty self making an appearance once more. The three of you talked for a little while longer about when you’d be taking off, and then you cleaned up the kitchen before heading off to bed.

You and Carol shared the spare room when you were here at Maria’s, and it was never an issue. On Hala you spent many nights with each other, sleepover’s in each others rooms and getting comfy on a spaceship when there wasn’t enough places for everyone to sleep. Once you were in the room with her you felt that nervousness come back. You both changed your clothes while talking about Monica’s jokes, and got into the king bed after turning off the light. You’d usually talk for longer, not going to sleep until the early hours of dawn, but this night was different. Both of you were quiet, unsure of what to say, but by morning everything seemed to turn back to normal.

Looking in the mirror now you couldn’t help but feel lost. A certain sadness that couldn’t be cured until you had her. A longing to hold her as more than her friend, regretting not reaching out a hand to grab hers that Friday night in that quiet bedroom.

This feeling was swallowing you, and it had been since you’d gotten on the ship after it’d been ignited. You figured that mission would be the one to break that wall between you, but it hadn’t.

Clearing your throat you rubbed your eyes for the last time and took a long deep breath. You stood up straight, mustered up some confidence and opened the bathroom door to find Carol walking into the bedroom. Her blonde hair was pulled into a low messy bun and she wore a white t-shirt she’d changed into after she showered. Noticing you, she shut the door and smiled.

“Carol?” You spoke fast before she had the chance to take the floor from you.

“Yeah?” She asked, her face worried as she watched you hurry over to her.

You didn’t even answer her. Instead you gently placed your hands on either side of her face, rubbing a thumb against her cheek. Your eyes looked just like hers, wide and full of doubt. Her lips were parted as she waited for you to say something, the two of you frozen in this moment together. She lifted a single hand to place to your cheek and took in a shaky breath before leaning toward you, placing her lips on yours. Letting your hands fall, you slipped your arms around her shoulders to pull her in closer. Her hands held you carefully, and she smiled between shared air as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.

You paused together, but she kissed your lips one more time before you looked at one another. You placed a hand over hers to hold it, and you smiled.

“How long?” She whispered. Your rested your forehead on hers, your noses brushing against each other.

“Since you wore that black t-shirt,” You admitted, “But thinking about it now I’d say there’s always been something here.” Carol smirked, the same look she wore that night at the dinner table.

“I was going to say something then,” She said, “I didn’t want to scare you.” Furrowing your brows you squeezed her hand.

“Nothing you do could scare me,” You whispered. Carol smiled a real smile this time and took her thumb to your lips, drawing it back forth before she kissed you slowly.

“You like that shirt, huh?” She teased.

“I really do,” You said, not even trying to be modest. Carol laughed and fell back onto the bed pulling you with her. Reaching over to the lamp on the nightstand beside you. You switched it off as Carol tugged the covers over you, both of you laying close together as you fell into a much needed after mission nights sleep.

#barely edited #I don't know how this came into my brain #carol danvers #carol danvers fanfic #carol danvers fanfiction #captain marvel #captain marvel fanfic #captain marvel fanfiction #the avengers fanfic #the avengers fanfiction #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #ENOUGH TAGS #DAIS STOP #avengers

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angryboywonder · 5 years

Text

serendipity

( Commission for @fantasticalmemories !!! Prompt is jaycentric jaydick with Jason sick and Dick taking good care of him with a lot of love and affection! This was so fun to write and my heart is incredibly warm. (: )

Jason has never felt this type of way before. This is the worst he’s ever felt being sick and he doesn’t know how much longer he can endure it. His chest is tight, his stomach hurts, and his head is feeling cloudy. His eyes are feeling incredibly swollen and he’s sure it’s from the amount of times he’s sneezed and blown his nose. There’s a mountain of tissues displayed on his bed that he’s yet to transfer over to the trashcan on the other side of his room but he sees no point in doing so if more tissues are just going to accumulate.

He hasn’t actually taken anything to cure his sickness, as he sees no point in medication as he believes it only offers a “placebo effect” and no actual long term fixes.

As dramatic as it may be, Jason cannot remember what it was like before he was sick. What it was like being healthy and not miserable, even if it was only about a day ago.

At some point, he thinks he can hear the front door of his apartment being opened but he also feels so stuffy to the point where he’s positive it’s just his imagination. Once he’s elevated enough on his bed, he allows himself to drift into sleep. He’s so exhausted, he doesn’t actually process his dream or understand what is happening. There’s colors, stiff movement to the point of no control and he can’t make out the faces on any of the figures. By the time he wakes up, he can’t scrape up any idea of what he dreamt about. But he forgets about that as soon as he sees his friend enter the room.

“What are you doing in my apartment?” Jason croaks, weakly slamming his fists down on his lap.

Dick approaches him as if it’s no big deal, shrugging as he takes a seat on the edge of the bed with a tray in his hands. “I knew you were sick and took it upon myself to use the spare key under the doormat to get in.”

“How’d you know where my spare key is?”

“I think we all know that you keep a spare key outside just in case you get too drunk and lose your main key.” Jason huffs to himself and allows the tray with his soup to be placed on his lap. “I’ll go grab the medicine I bought for you and bring it in here.” Dick smiles, heading out of the room.

Jason can’t help but make a face of distaste before he turns his attention to the food in front of him. He’s surprised the older man didn’t make a comment on the mountain of used tissues the first time he came in, but when he comes in with the bottle of medicine, he has a large trash bag that he scoops the tissues into. “I could’ve done that myself…” Jason mutters, the edge of the bowl against his lips and he slurps the hot liquid.

“I’ve been here for about eight hours now and I haven’t seen you come out of the room once. Just let me help you, please?”

Jason knows that he actually has no right to complain at this point, but he wouldn’t really admit that he’s low key enjoying the treatment he’s getting, as he realizes that this soup is really good and quite soothing on his throat. The steam coming from it is clearing his sinuses in the best way possible. But when Dick comes at him once again with the medicine, he has to groan exaggeratedly.

“Can I eat first?”

“I’ll go back to the living room after I see you’ve had your medicine.”

Jason huffs, setting the bowl back on the tray and he pops open the bottle of liquid. He’s about to swing it back, unmeasured and everything, before Dick grabs his wrist. “Can you at least take the right dosage?”

“What, afraid I’ll overdose? It’s not even possible, this stuff is fake and just a scheme to make medical professionals gain more money from us.”

Dick makes an exaggerated sound and rolls his eyes. He measures the exact amount that’s stated on the information label and hands Jason the cup, which Jason takes like its a shot of alcohol.

“Happy?”

“Yes, you may continue with your soup.” Dick grins, heading out of the room with all the trash that was accumulated.

The rest of the day Dick is up Jason’s butt, and not even in the pleasant way. Because Jason is awake, Dick feels the need to monitor him. He’s already went through multiple hot rags on his face, his temperature has been checked twice, and the older man actually made him get out of bed to shower. However, after his steamy shower, he steps out to find a fresh change of pajamas, and a towel waiting for him. When he gets back to his room, his bed even has a clean set of sheets, and they’re warm.

“What’s your angle?” Jason asks, slowly sliding back in bed.

“Stop asking me that. The sooner you’re better, the sooner the world can properly be aligned.” Dick spreads his arms as if to represent something like a rainbow, adding some dramatic flair to his purpose.

It’s when Jason is over his sickness that he realizes he misses Dick, because it was nice having someone take care of him and shower him with affection. There was some point of his illness where the older man would sit at the edge of his bed, fingers gently combing through his hair, casually keeping track of the warmth on his forehead. Jason thinks he can actually still feel Dick’s touch but he still wants it there.

He knows that Dick is only a phone call away and he would gladly come back, even if Jason isn’t sick. But would Jason actually call him? He’s not one to intentionally appear needy, and that may be a sign of weakness that he doesn’t wish to display. He flips through the apps on his phone, occasionally pulling up Dick’s contact but quickly leaving it. He squeezes his phone in his hand, huffing a sigh before he chucks it on his bed and leaves his room.

It’s a day later that he gets the “how are you feeling?” text with the endless amounts of smiley faces. Jason takes his time to reply, to not make it seem as if he was waiting by his phone.

Jason makes a sandwich and fifteen minutes later he’s replying to the text. He sends a simple “alright” and contemplates actually thanking Dick, but something about that is holding him back. Probably the fact that he’s still shocked that someone took their whole day to tend to his needs and nurse him back to help. There’s still soup in the fridge and medicine on the counter, just in case he needs it. Jason doesn’t want that, though. He wants his friend.

It’s not even a minute after that text is sent that Jason’s phone is vibrating profusely in his hand and out of some odd natural instinct, he’s answering the call before his brain can process what is really happening. “Uh, hello?”

“Jay!”

“What is it, Dick?” Jason clears his throat, throwing his feet up on the coffee table as he crosses his arms over his chest, propping the phone up between his ear and shoulder with his head tilted. Cool status.

“I was just checking in and… wanting to know if you were free today?”

“I didn’t somehow manage to get you sick?”

“Manage…? What, were you plotting to get me sick? Yes, Jason, I’m sick. Sick in love with you.”

Jason’s stomach flip flops at the small comment. However, this is normal for Dick, with his naturally flirty personality. He’s probably this way with his friend Wally.

“Yeah, whatever. So you want to hang out or something?” But, please say yes.

“Yes!”

“Let me look at my schedule.” Jason pauses. Dick thinks he’s legitimately looking at his schedule. His nonexistent schedule. “Yeah, I’m free.”

“Hell yeah!”

“When can I be expecting you?”

“I was actually already walking toward your apartment hoping you’d be free.”

What the actual fuck?

Jason scrambles to his feet, maintaining his casual tone, “oh? Just let me know when you’re close.” They end the call and although Jason doesn’t have time for a full shower, he sprays some cologne and brushes his teeth, tossing his dark hair to the side. It’s still messy, and his wavy hair still falls over his forehead but he heads back into his room to look over his outfit. He has on a t-shirt and some sweats, which he decides to keep, though he changes into some fresh socks to at least feel the effort.

Dick doesn’t really let Jason know when he’s close, and Jason knows that because there’s some enthusiastic knocking on his door. He opens it to find that bright, award winning smile. “Hey!”

“Hey, there.” Jason grins, stepping aside to allow Dick to come in and kick his shoes off. The apartment managed to maintain its cleanliness since Dick was last over. Jason was able to take the trash out and not leave tissues all over the place, and there weren’t a large amount of dishes piling up so that’s already a step.

The older man stays in the living room while Jason heads to the kitchen and gets a bowl of popcorn going. He lets him decide on a movie, and Jason is sure Dick is conflicted between if they should watch horror or comedy. He’s sure by the time he comes back there’ll be a comedy movie on.

As he walks out, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth, he’s able to confirm that Dick indeed picked comedy.

It’s a less than impressive Seth Rogan movie. Jason isn’t going to make a comment though, because having Dick back in his apartment is all that he could ask for, and he doesn’t mind pretending to be enthused by the choice of entertainment. He puts the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, takes his seat, and they’re watching the movie.

Dick slides up to Jason on the couch casually throughout the movie, which Jason chooses to not acknowledge much although he definitely can notice it, as the cushions on the couch sink occasionally, and now their thighs are touching. An arm is sliding around his shoulders and he grins.

“Are we in high school again?”

Dick pouts, “no! Can I not get close to you?”

“Should’ve yawned while you were at it. You know? Yawn, stretch your arms, slyly throw one around me.”

“Whatever…”

Dick starts to retreat but Jason quickly stops him, grabbing onto his wrist. He pulls the arm back around his own shoulders and even laces their fingers together as they hold hands. “You’re fine.”

His friend looks like he’s about to lean in and close the gap between them but he makes quite a snapping motion as he looks away to sneeze, loud and his whole body jumps with it. “I think I’m getting sick.” He mutters, sinking back into the couch.

“And I’ll take care of you this time.” Jason chuckles, wrapping an arm around Dick’s waist.

#commissions #writing commissions #fanfiction #my fanfics #dc #jason todd #dick grayson #jaydick #dickjay #yaoi #fantasticalmemories

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scarletroseofrwby · 5 years

Text

TCSE AU Chapter 16:

Rays of light had shown through the small gap between the curtains on the window. Ruby slowly opened her eyes, quietly groaning in pain as all the minor injuries she had obtained yesterday started to take effect.

Looking down, she found her lips far too close to Weiss’s forehead, one arm wrapped around her partner’s head, the other wrapped around the waist. Their bodies were touching, only their clothing in the way of bare intimacy.

“Holy smokes, Yang would never believe this,” Ruby murmured, quiet enough so that Weiss doesn’t wake up.

She turned her head to the bedside table to check the clock. Bright green numbers displayed 7:12 am. It was already 12 minutes past there usual wake-up schedule. But it was a Saturday, and with the awful night they had, she could let it pass today.

Beside her, she heard soft moaning sounds and a quiet yawn. Weiss was awakening, and Ruby’s heartbeat immediately accelerated. She tried to remain calm as Weiss’s eyes fluttered open.

With one more yawn, Weiss looked up at Ruby. “Good morning, Ruby. Why do you look at me like that?”

“Like what?” Ruby’s nervous smile gave it away.

Weiss had to admit to herself that she was feeling nervous about the situation at hand, having never slept with another girl in the same bed. She hadn’t even done so with Winter, this was incredibly new to her. How did she even manage to ask Ruby to sleep with her last night?

“You dolt,” the silverette sighed. “I’m really sorry for how I treated you before. We are best friends after all, and I feel obligated to make it up to you. Allow me to spoil you. Please.”

“Weiss, you don’t have to, really. I just wanted you back. And now you are, and I am content.”

The heiress felt a warm, fuzzy sensation in her heart, not sure what it was. But hearing Ruby say that definitely triggered it.

Suddenly, a loud growl was heard, emanating from Ruby’s stomach region. The young huntress smiled sheepishly. “Maybe we should get some breakfast now.”

“And we can’t go outside yet, can we? Because Neptune?”

Her partner nodded somewhat sullenly. “Yeah. If only I had knocked him out or something, we wouldn’t have to take refuge here.”

Weiss shook her head. “You did your best, and I really don’t mind staying here. I’ve been in need of a little vacation lately with everything going on at school.”

“And it’s not often we can get off campus for a few days,” Ruby said with a smile. “Might as well savor this while it lasts, right?”

Both girls sat up, leaving the bed at the same time. Ruby allowed Weiss to wash up first, but Weiss insisted Ruby went before her. They briefly debated on who should go first, Weiss quickly losing the argument when Ruby gave her her supposed ‘secret weapon’--the puppy eyes.

The young leader only giggled when Weiss had given up, proceeding to change in front of her. “By the way, Weiss, did the bras fit you? I’m sorry I couldn’t find your size--no offense.” Ruby was now only covered by a towel, ready to take a shower after Weiss.

Seeing Ruby with only a towel to cover her private parts made her face redden, the embarrassing bra question only making it worse. “No--” her voice cracked horribly--“I’m afraid they didn’t quite fit. But it’s not your fault, and I take no offense in your statement. My family is known for being tall and...busty, as Yang would put it, but I got the short end of the stick--pun unintended.”

“Oh my goodness, Weiss,” Ruby giggled even more. “I’m making you super embarrassed, aren’t I? Your face is so red! Is it me?” She struck an incredibly seductive pose. “Like what you see?”

“You dolt!” Weiss covered her face and proceeded to the bathroom. She felt incredibly hot and embarrassed beyond measure, her heart beating way too quickly for her liking.

She could hear Ruby’s cackles outside the door. She felt so embarrassed, but found herself laughing too. Not loud enough for Ruby to hear, but she was definitely laughing heartily. Sighing after that wonderful moment, she removed the rest of her clothes and stepped into the shower.

The warm water bounced clung to her skin, beads and droplets falling down her chin and breasts. Her hair quickly became drenched, and she let out a relaxed sigh.

While Weiss was taking her shower, Ruby heard her scroll vibrating on the bedside table. Her sister was calling. She picked up immediately, and Yang hollered a ‘hallelujah’.

“The Great One speaks, Blake! What? No, I’m not going to speak to the Great One for you! A simple ‘hello’ is not enough!”

Ruby’s eyebrows dropped and furrowed as her sister’s rambling went on. “Yang, stop calling me the Great One. What’re you calling for?”

Yang gasped dramatically. “I have a simple question for the Great One! I pray she answers with her utmost desire!”

The younger girl groaned, this was clearly going nowhere. “Okay, first of all, I need you to stop that. Please. Second--”

“Hey, it’s only fair! I’m paying for your little honeymoon, so you have to let me speak to you like this! Now, do you have food and outdoor clothing, O Great One?”

“We actually don’t. The hotel we’re at offers breakfast, but that’s it. We can’t bring food back to our room, and room service is really expensive.”

“Then fear not, O Great One! My romantic partner and I--Blake, let me do this!” Yang cleared her throat and continued. “Allow my romantic partner and I to provide for you and your lover, O Great One! Prey tell, from which lodge do you seek shelter currently?”

“We’re staying at Valian Suites.”

“Oh, what a fine choice you have made, O Great One. I can recall the many occasions we have visited from our childhood years. They have the wonderful pool, do they not? Would you like me to bring your swimwear as well? Perhaps your mistress will enjoy the hot tub.”

It was impossible to imagine Weiss in a swimsuit, even if it was a one-piece. Just the thought of her made her blush, but in a swimsuit? This was new territory. Weiss was beautiful already, but with something as bare as a swimsuit...she tried to imagine it. Her beautiful, slender figure, her snow-white skin, and her petite br--

Ruby’s brain was now fried.

“Rubes? Blake, I think I broke her. I’ll bring them anyway.” Yang cleared her throat once again before proceeding. “Have you partaken your morning meal yet,O Great One?”

She wasn’t quite fully restored, but part of her brain had returned to it’s normal state. “N-no...”

“Then I suggest you do that. I’ll bring everything by around 9:30-ish to 10.”

“A-and please be discreet. Watch your back, Neptune’s still out there.”

“Gotcha, Sis! See you later!”

The call ended, and Ruby was still processing...everything. She stood there like a deer in headlights, solid as a statue. Suddenly, she heard the running water stop.

Pull yourself together! Just get your feelings in check and be the Ruby Rose she can rely on!

Ruby set her scroll down on the bedside table, prepared her clothes, and waited for Weiss to finish up. It shouldn’t be too long of a wait, but she had to distract herself. Grabbing the TV remote from the coffee table, she turned on the TV and browsed through the channels. Eventually, she stopped on the Vytal Festival replays. She enjoyed watching the different teams of the past fight against each other. There was true heart and passion in each student that competed, each technique and strategy unique.

A team from Beacon was faced against a team from Atlas. Their fighting styles all varied, the weapons corresponding with how they fought. There was one weapon in particular that caught Ruby’s attention. It was a scythe--actually, it was two scythes--of some sort that would transform into double-barreled shotguns. They were pretty cool, but Ruby continued to tell herself that none could compare to Crescent Rose. As Ruby continued to watch, she found herself repeatedly thinking about being in these battles.

To think that one day she’d be in these replays with her team and make history.

Suddenly, she heard the bathroom door open, Weiss coming out with her pajamas in hand. She wore a red t-shirt that Ruby had purchased and black leggings that fit her legs nicely.

“You know my main color is white, Ruby,” Weiss said as set her pajamas down on the bed after folding them neatly.

“Technically, white isn’t a color. It is devoid of color, and I’m trying to give you some.” Ruby grinned at her own reply. “Besides, I think red suits you.”

“Then I appreciate your intentions, Ruby. Thank you.” Weiss replied with a small, dorky smile. The two stared at each other for a few more moments with their dorky smiles. The heiress cleared her throat, starting to feel a little silly for staring longer with her partner than necessary. “I believe it is your turn for the shower, Ruby.”

The young girl did a double take before her conscience was restored. She moved her head so suddenly that she nearly fell backwards. This earned a quiet giggle from Weiss. “Woah, you didn’t see nothing.”

“That’s a double negative, Ruby.”

“Sure. I’m gonna take my shower now.” Ruby proceeded on her path to the bathroom until her eyes flashed briefly, a sharp pain welling up on her left big toe. “Frick...Yang, stop stubbing your toe!”

Weiss wondered what exactly had just happened. “Ruby, how do you know Yang stubbed her toe?”

Ruby immediately sprung up from holding her foot to a proper standing position. “What do you mean Yang? Clearly I said I stubbed my toe.”

“You were nowhere near the wall or any corner, and your gait was too normal for you to have stubbed your toe on the floor.”

Shoot. I can’t tell her about the curse. I haven’t even told Yang about it! She’d freak and most likely tell Yang, and if I told her about the bonds, she’d think staying away from me is the best option. I can’t lose her!

It was then that she wondered what would happen to the red string if Weiss and her were to cut ties completely. Would the string just break?

“Ruby?”

No, she knew better than that. When you lose someone, the string stays and hurts you. Just like her mother’s string. It’d be worse than heartbreak, much, much, much more worse.

“Ruby!” Weiss’s firm voice took Ruby out of her thoughts. “What happened?”

WhadoIdowhadoIdowhadoIdo?!?!?!?!?!? Uhhhhhh....Uhhhhhhh? UHHghGHh?!

“S-Silver eyes!” The words slipped from her mouth before she had a chance to catch them. There was no going back now.

“What?” Before Weiss could question any further, Ruby had already disappeared into the bathroom, rose petals falling to the ground gracefully.

Silver eyes? What about her eyes?

Looking around for access to the internet, Weiss found Ruby’s scroll on the bedside table. She picked it up and tapped on the search bar, typing in ‘silver eyes’ immediately. Many results came up, and after skimming through a few articles, they were more or less the same. Attempts at scientific recreation of the silver DNA, each and every one of them a failed attempt.

“So what does that have to do with her?” Weiss asked herself as she continued to search for answers. Refining her search was difficult, every source about the attempts popping up. Nothing useful to Weiss in relation to Ruby.

Within the next few minutes, the results she had were very few. Silver eyes were very rare. Rarer than the rarest dust, ethereal dust. The SDC had such a small supply of it because of its rarity and how difficult and strenuous it was to achieve it. Next, silver eyes are impossible to recreate, and no contact lens could compare. Silver eyes were voted the most beautiful eye color in Remnant. And finally, natural silver eyes were a one in a two million chance.

“So what’s so bad about them? She should consider herself lucky with such a trait.”

Weiss paced around the room, wondering how she could find more information. It was clear Ruby did not want to press any further, and Weiss respected that. But that didn’t stop her from wanting answers. Would Yang know?

Then she remembered--she had Ruby’s scroll.

Forgive me, Ruby.

Tapping on the message app, Weiss saw the list of conversations and scrolled down. She found Yang’s right above hers, which was oddly named. Three heart emojis, Weiss’s name, three more heart emojis. The rest of the names were normal, almost bland-looking when compared to her own.

Thinking nothing of it for now, Weiss tapped on the younger girl’s conversation with her sister. As she read through them, the majority of the messages contained teasing, discussions on Friday night plans, and concern over Neptune. None of which contained any context or clues of silver eyes in any way.

The running water had stopped, and the silverette rushed to close the scroll and set it where it was previously. Unsure of what to do on the matter, Weiss flopped back rather ungracefully onto the bed with a groan. She jumped when the door opened faster than she expected. Ruby ran out with a wide smile on her face, her hair dripping water onto the carpet.

“Ready for breakfast?” That’s what Ruby was smiling about.

Weiss couldn’t help but smile back and nod. “I’m quite famished, I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon.”

The younger huntress took her hand, pulling her off of the bed. “Let’s go then! I’m starving!”

“Your hair isn’t dry yet, dolt! We can’t go with you like that!” Weiss protested, crossing her arms somewhat impatiently.

Ruby shook her head quickly like a dog, the water flying everywhere. Weiss quickly raised her arms in defense, not willing to get wet again. “Gah--Ruby! Warn me next time!”

“All dry! Can we go now?” The younger girl made the eyes that nobody could say no to.

With a huff, Weiss shook her head and curled her lips in a smile. “Fine. But you’d better brush your hair when we get back.”

As they vacated the room, Weiss could only stare at her hand being grasped by Ruby’s as she led them both to the elevator excitedly. The warmth she could feel, the kindness and compassion Ruby had, she could feel all of that in just her hand. And the way she was held last night...

Why did it feel as if nothing bad had happened last night? She felt no guilt, no shame, no...anything for what happened. She still felt unsure about going back to Beacon, but she still had a few days to recover. She wasn’t alone either.

Ruby had been with her the whole night. Ruby had held her the whole time. Ruby had made her smile when she didn’t want to. Ruby had done so many things for her, and even with all the riches in the world, she could never pay off her debt. Had Ruby not been the kind and caring person she is, Weiss wouldn’t know what to do.

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open, Ruby continuing to drag Weiss out of the small room and to the dining area behind the fireplace she was sat at last night. They found a table close to the fireplace, Ruby pulling out Weiss’s chair for her to sit.

“I can get the food. If they don’t have what you normally eat, what do you want as backup?” Ruby asked.

The younger girl was even thoughtful enough to ask for a backup suggestion. Why was Weiss noticing these things now? “Umm, I suppose scrambled eggs and hash browns will do, thank you.”

“Black coffee?”

Weiss nodded. She watched as Ruby walked off to the buffet, looking on as the brunette picked up plates and shoveled food onto them. Her semblance allowed her to get the job done much faster, but she had to be careful with the coffee. Weiss quietly chuckled as she recalled the memory of Ruby spilling her coffee because she thought a spider was a rat.

“IT WAS HUGE, YOU’D BE SCARED IF YOU SAW IT TOO!! STOP LAUGHING, YANG!!”

When Ruby came back, she noticed Weiss’s smile. “What’re you thinking about, Princess?”

“Princess?” Weiss repeated, an amused grin morphing from an innocent smile.

“Of course! I’m your huntress! At your service, Madam.” Ruby bowed in respect, though jokingly, Weiss knew.

“You’re just a dolt, dolt.”

“Can I be your dolt?”

Her jaw was starting to hurt. Weiss had never smiled for this long. What are you doing to me, Ruby?

She sighed and rested her cheek on her palm that was propped up on the table. “I suppose, dolt.”

“Anyway, here’s your food and your coffee,” Ruby set down in front of her the plate of toast and bagels, a small portion of eggs and potatoes on the side. “Yang’s gonna come by later, she’s bringing us some meals and some clothes since we can’t go out.”

“That’s nice of her.” Weiss took a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah, Yang’f thuh beff thither,” Ruby said, her mouth full of food.

“What have I told you about speaking with your mouth full?”

The brunette giggled at Weiss’s annoyance. “Thorry.”

“Ugh. You really are a dolt.”

Swallowing the huge mass of food, Ruby stuck her tongue out playfully and winked. “Your dolt!”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Keep eating.”

--------

It had been a little over 45 minutes since they ate breakfast, both of them now chilling out in their room. Ruby was lazily plopped onto the couch while Weiss sat properly beside her, both of them watching some sort of cliche romance movie.

“Soooooo...why are we watching this, Weiss?” Ruby queried. “Aren’t all these movies pretty much the same?”

“I happen to like these movies. And no, they’re not all the same as you say they are. Most of these are actually well-written. Maybe it would help if you actually paid attention to the plot.”

“Meh, they’re not really my thing. I like Red Vs Blue better. Oh, have you heard of Camp Camp?”

Weiss scoffed. “That childish cartoon? Your sister would not shut up about it and forced me to watch against my own will.”

Ruby tittered and flashed a smile at her partner. “Yep, that’s exactly what Yang did to me. It’s really not that bad though.”

Three knocks on the door were suddenly heard, and Ruby stood from her spot to open the door. Yang and Blake were standing with a few reusable bags. “Here we are, O Great One! My lover and I bestow the most delectable and most divine meals for you and your partner! And the finest garments for thou, we pray you wear them with pride and honor.”

Ruby looked past Yang’s shoulder and saw Blake staring back with a smile and a shrug. “I--uh--y-you have done well, my noble...sister--knight...or something.”

The black and yellow duo handed their young leader the goods they have brought over, Ruby taking them gratefully. They exchanged their goodbyes and little teases before the older couple left.

Bringing the few bags to the counter, she started separating meals and clothes, finding two swimsuits within the stacks of folded garments. Both were bikinis. Because of course they were. Ruby needed to get back at Yang somehow, but that time would come later.

There were enough meals for the both of them to last the whole stay, she set all of them in the mini fridge under the counter. She set down Weiss’s clothes on the bed, her own beside the prior stack.

“Do you wanna do something today, Weiss?”

The sudden question drew Weiss’s attention away from the TV. She turned her head and asked, “But I thought you said we couldn’t go out.”

“And we can’t,” Ruby confirmed. “But this hotel has a pool, so I thought you’d maybe like to go for a swim.”

“Swimwear?”

“Yang brought our swimsuits. I didn’t know you owned a bikini, Weiss.”

Weiss arched her eyebrow in confusion, rising from her seat and walking over to her stack of clothes, the white bikini sitting on top. “I’ve never owned a bikini once. My father thought they were too immodest and always provided me with one-piece swimsuits. Though he never took me swimming, my sister and my butler did.”

Her partner picked up the white swimsuit, and sure enough, there was a tag hanging from it. Weiss’s face flushed from embarrassment. She had to wear that.

“Yang got you a cheap one too,” Ruby pointed out, looking at the price. Only 6 lien. Usual swimsuits were around 12-20 lien, and if you were Weiss, you couldn’t think about affording it. It was just that pricey.

“Cheap? Six lien is practically nothing.”

Ruby giggled. “C’mon Weiss, you know that not everybody can be as rich as you.”

“I suppose, but that doesn’t excuse her lack of taste.This is simply too bland,” Weiss said as she picked up the swimsuit, going straight to the bathroom.

Once she locked the door, she took a quick moment to think about what she was doing and what was about to happen. She and Ruby would be going to the pool in bikinis. Ruby was going to her marks, all the scars that marred her entire body.

But she toughened up anyway. Ruby deserved this, and perhaps she did too.

The white swimsuit was more revealing than she had anticipated. The entirety of her midriff and stomach were exposed, the bottom piece failing to cover the whole area of her rear. It was far too skimpy and somewhat kinky. Her face reddened as she stared at herself in the mirror.

What the hell am I doing?

Opening up the bathroom door, she saw Ruby sitting on the couch with her scroll in hand, already dressed for the water. The swimsuit Ruby wore was just as revealing as her own, but in a dark shade of crimson. Her logo was printed on he left breast in black.

Weiss could feel her heart racing, her heartbeats pounding loudly in her chest. She could’ve sworn it would jump out of her body if possible.

To make her temperature rise even more, Ruby actually looked...attractive. It was rather unsettling, how beautiful Ruby’s body actually was. Perfectly curved hips, small waist, not too busty, defined abdomen muscles...the list goes on.

“Wow, Weiss,” Ruby’s words evidently caught in her throat from nervousness. “You look really good. Like, really, really good.”

“Really? I-I mean...thank you,” her voice cracked as she responded. “You look good yourself.”

“Shall we go?”

The heiress nodded, following Ruby out of the room. The two walked down the halls in a comfortable silence, waiting patiently for the elevator to open up. They proceeded once on the bottom floor, Ruby leading them both to the indoor pool, which was surprisingly empty of people right now.

Ruby jumped right in while Weiss grabbed a couple of towels and set them down on one of the seats.

“You comin’, Weiss?” Ruby called out, her hair already soaked from submerging. “The water’s not too cold!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Weiss replied, making her way over to the stairwell.

“Why don’t you jump in?”

“I prefer to take my time.”

“But that’s no fun.” Ruby splashed water at Weiss. “Just jump! Or I’ll pull you in!”

Both options were terrible ones. She could go in by will, or go in by Ruby. Usually, she’d go in by will. She was dragged by Ruby before, it was not a pleasant experience. Then again, she isn’t running for her life from Grimm right now...

“...three...”

She hadn’t had a lovely childhood like in the books she’d read in her library. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad?

“...two...”

One second left, she might as well let Ruby have her way.

“One!!”

She felt a pair of hands grab her waist firmly and pull her quickly into the lukewarm water. Her heart fluttered while her lungs gasped for air, the sudden movement widening her eyes. Though the water that surrounded her blurred her vision, she could see Ruby’s smile underwater. Both of them came up, laughing and giggling.

And Weiss suddenly paused, her hand over her mouth. Did that just happen? Did she just...

She laughed genuinely. For the first time in front of anyone. And she loved it. She didn’t feel confined, she didn’t feel alone, she felt free.

Realizing Ruby was watching, she simmered down, her face feeling warm.

“You laughed, Weiss,” Ruby stated, seemingly shocked. “I’ve never heard you laugh like that.”

Weiss didn’t know what to say. She suddenly started to feel anxious, not wanting to be ridiculed or degraded for doing such a thing. Her father had always--

“Wait, Weiss, don’t freak out! I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” the younger girl waver her arms around and shook her head frantically. “It was just super cute, and you’re really pretty, and--jeez, what am I even saying?”

The brunette hid her face in her palms and submerged herself, bubbles rising to the surface and popping within a split second. Weiss had wondered if Ruby meant what she said. Reaching below her, she grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her out from below.

“Did you mean what you said?” Weiss asked, her face stern and serious.

Ruby lowered her hands slightly, not letting them fall completely. “Y-Yes? How could I not though?”

“Because I was awful.”

“Weiss--”

“Because I don’t deserve any of this.”

“Weiss, I--”

“Because I was such a bi--”

“Weiss, you aren’t at all!” Ruby swallowed her partner up in a bone-crushing hug. Not nearly as hard as Yang’s embraces, but enough to prove a point.

“Stop thinking about yourself like that. It hurts me to see you hurt, it pains me to know that you are in pain.” Ruby hugged even tighter, resting her head on Weiss’s shoulder. “Please don’t beat yourself up. Nobody is perfect. Not you, not me. Not Yang, not Blake. Not even Professor Ozpin.”

“But I can’t make up for how I behaved recently, I can’t make up for the many times I’ve insulted and degraded you and the team and everyone else.”

“Oh Weiss,” Ruby murmured, “you don’t need to. We’ve forgiven you and love you for who you are.”

“Who am I?” Weiss knew it was a stupid question, but she honestly didn’t know.

“You’re incredible. You’re strong. You’re super duper smart. You’re an amazing partner and teammate. You’re my favorite and only study buddy. You’re Weiss Schnee, the amazing young woman we all love! The list goes on and on about the many things you are.”

“But there are bad qualities to me as well--”

“All of which we’ve accepted and love. You can let go of all those negative thoughts about yourself. And you need to stop thinking about the downside to everything. I’m gonna get that thinking out of your head! Be optimistic, hold you chin high! And most importantly: don’t forget to smile!”

You can let go of all those negative emotions. Just let go, Weiss.

“I’m with you, Weiss. All the way. You’ll always have me.”

Ruby splashed water towards Weiss, the mood lightening as the silverette squealed playfully. She splashed back, and thus the pool war began. Weiss knew Ruby’s immediate action was to retaliate with more power.

“You know you ruined the mood, Ruby. I was actually enjoying the serenity.”

“When I see an opportunity for a pool war, I don’t hesitate!” Ruby stuck her tongue out. “I declare war, Weiss Schnee!”

Weiss smirked, glyphs appearing beside her. “I gladly accept you challenge, Ruby Rose.”

“Hey, no semblance!”

“Is it now?” Weiss stood there, her arms crossed as she maintained her proud grin. Ruby had fallen right into her trap.

“What’re you doing?” Ruby stared back in confusion. “Do you surrend--hey, why’s it so cold?!”

“When given the opportunity for a proper pool war, I don’t hesitate!” Weiss mimicked, even sticking her tongue out at Ruby. “Now surrender!”

“Cheater! Holy shizz, it’s getting colder! I surrender! I surrender!”

The older girl laughed maniacally. “Taste my sweet revenge for our match before.”

“Hey Weiss? You’re not holding a grudge against me for that one, are you?” Ruby’s attitude had completely changed.

The water quickly reverted to its original temperature. Weiss rushed through the water to grab Ruby’s shoulders for reassurance. “Ruby, of course not. It’s not at all like that. I wasn’t mad at you that day either, I just have trouble with my past.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ruby got out of the pool by the edge, taking Weiss’s hand to pull her out.

Weiss hadn’t taken her hand yet, still hesitating in the water. “I don’t know, you probably wouldn’t understand half the things I would say.”

“Hey, Weiss,” the girl’s silver eyes glimmered, “if it’s for you, I’d do whatever I could to help you. Please, just let me try.”

Pulling her out of the water, Ruby led them both to the hot tub that sat a few yards away from the pool. Weiss went in after Ruby, the hot water and bubbles putting the heiress at ease.

“What’s been bugging ya, Weiss?”

“Too vague. Try again.”

“Umm, do you want to tell me about last night?”

“What’s there to tell? You were there.”

Ruby whined like a child. “I’m trying to help you!” She took a deep breath.

I can see why Yang likes teasing her. It’s somewhat addicting and fun.

“Weiss, just be honest. What’s going on in your head? What are you thinking about mostly right now?”

Slightly disappointed that the fun moment had ended, she knew Ruby wanted this, and perhaps she needed this.

“I just can’t stop thinking about last night. I really thought I could trust him.” Weiss groaned in frustration. “I trusted him! I feel so stupid and just--ugh. I’m so stupid.”

“Weiss, you’re not stupid.”

“Then how could I have not seen it? You’ve warned me so many times, you’ve stepped in between us both, and yet I didn’t notice why! I just--I just don’t want to talk about him right now. I don’t want to think about him right now.”

She was now frustrated, and Ruby knew she was starting to stray into dangerous territory. She had to keep Weiss calm and be sure she doesn’t have a breakdown.

“Ruby, I really can’t. I just can’t.”

“A-And that’s okay! Don’t feel pressured to talk about it all at once. I’ll always be willing to listen whenever you’re ready.”

“Ruby, you have said before that you and the team love me for my mistakes and flaws. Please tell me: by what definition is your love?”

“That’s kinda hard to explain. For me, I guess I love you because we’re best friends? I just love you, Weiss. You’re a really great gal, and I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

The heiress felt her cheeks get hot, a chill running down her spine--despite being in a hot tub--when she heard those words.

“B-But don’t take it the wrong way!” Ruby waved her hands around frantically. “It’s not wrong for best friends to say we love each other, right?”

“I wouldn’t know. You’re the only one I’ve ever had.”

“Oh.”

A moment of silence followed before Ruby spoke again. “Does it still hurt?”

Weiss hesitated to answer. It was still a very touchy subject to her, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk about it again.

“Oh shoot, I’m sorry, Weiss,” Ruby face palmed herself. “I should’ve been more sensible, I’m really sorry.”

“N-No, it’s not that. I’m fine, I suppose.” Weiss’s tone sounded heavy and exhausted. “Physically, it only hurts slightly, but I just--”

“It’s different when it’s been taken away from you,” the younger girl finished.

“Yes. I don’t feel the same. I feel as though I’ve been robbed.”

“I know that feeling. I know all of it. Are you doing okay though? About the whole thing?” Ruby scooted closer to Weiss.

“That’s difficult to answer right now. I just don’t understand anything. And I hate that I don’t understand.”

“Do you want to talk some more about it?”

“I-I don’t know. I’d like a little more time, Ruby. But...I promise I’ll come to you before anyone else when I’m ready.”

“I’ll be all ears.”

Ruby smiled her signature, quirky smile. Weiss felt her heart flutter in her chest briefly at the sight. The heat from the water managed to cover up her blush pretty well. Her hands started fidgeting in the water, her legs crossing as she shifted positions every few minutes. Her heart would only beat faster when Ruby smiled back at her, and whenever those silver eyes shimmered--

What the hell is happening to me? What is she doing to me? Everything about her is enticing and beautiful and--why am I noticing every little thing about her? Am I actually..? Oh god...

She’d probably have to ask Blake to confirm her suspicions. But she was pretty sure...

No, it can’t be. I can’t that’s impossible.

She could feel it. Her body was sinking, she felt odd. Her lungs suddenly felt empty, her heart jumping out of her chest. Everything around her was warm. Too warm.

Weiss was falling.

I’m falling...

Falling hard...

Falling for what?

~~~~~~

I hope you all enjoyed another chapter of TCSE AU! My friend told me that there should be a fanservice chapter, and so I have attempted to deliver. Was this really a fanservice chapter tho?

Meh, idk.

Did I have fun writing this?

Heckin yeah.

Until next chapter!

-Scarlet

#tcse au chapter 16 #tcse au #rwby #rwby au #my fanfics

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wistfulcynic · 5 years

Text

Another Brick In The Wall, Chapter 10

a/n: Angst! Angst and pining and indecision. Teenagers are so dramatic.

Summary: Emma Swan, sheriff’s daughter, mayor’s niece, quarterback’s girlfriend, is the undisputed princess of Storybrooke High. She is smart and confident and used to getting what she wants. What she wants is Killian Jones, the new boy in school. But Killian is not easily manipulated, and reluctant to allow the dark secrets in his past to touch the girl he is rapidly falling in love with.

Rating: T

Tags for: @darkcolinodonorgasm @jennjenn615 @hollyethecurious and @resident-of-storybrooke @kmomof4

Chapter 10:

When they returned to school for the spring semester Killian found that his relationship with Emma had undergone a subtle change. The tension that he had carried within him since they’d met, born of his fear of discovery and his sense of having failed at life coupled with his reluctance to taint the bright, shining star that was Emma Swan by association with him had finally been released. He had nothing more to fear, nothing to weigh him down. His secret was out, he’d survived the fallout at school, and he wasn’t going to be a father. Milah was gone from his life, off to Japan. And most importantly, Emma didn’t hate him. His past didn’t disgust her. She was his friend. His friend with the potential for more.

Their interlude in the garden had reassured him that she did still want to be more but that she wouldn’t push him, would wait until he had worked through his feelings enough to take that next step. Nothing had ever meant more to him than her acceptance of him and everything that he was, her patience, and her willingness to let him set the pace. After Milah he desperately needed to feel like he had some agency in his life and relationships. That Emma understood this and wasn’t giving up on him was a treasure more precious than gold.

As the weeks passed and he became more and more comfortable in his own skin, he realised that without really thinking about it he had stopped trying to hold himself apart from his classmates or resist Emma’s naturally affectionate nature. In class he laughed and joked and teased the girls, no longer uncomfortable with the attention his innate charisma attracted. Outside of class he was nearly always with Emma, finally able to relax and enjoy how happy he felt in her company. All the little touches that she gave without thinking no longer made him anxious or upset, though they never failed to increase his heart rate or send electricity skittering across his skin. Gradually, cautiously, he began to reciprocate them, and by the time the snow had melted and spring was beginning to break over Storybrooke, his days regularly included Emma’s head on his shoulder, his fingers tangled in the ends of her hair, her nose pressed into the curve of his neck as she hugged him goodbye. She made him feel things he had never felt before, very different from what he’d felt for Milah. Noticeably different. Different enough to make him wonder if this was actually what love felt like. He thought it was, he wanted it to be, but after the disaster of Milah how could he be certain? How the devil was he supposed to know?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One afternoon in early March Killian was nearly at the door of Dr Hopper’s office, lost in contemplation, when Neal Cassidy appeared suddenly in his path.

“I see you’ve returned to the scene of your crime,” sneered Killian, though his heart really wasn’t in the taunt. He had no interest in engaging with Neal; more than anything he just wanted the bastard out of his life and of Emma’s, would be happy never to think of him again. “I guess it’s true what they say about that.”

Neal scowled, but he didn’t attempt to retaliate. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet, looking angry but also faintly nervous.

“So, uh, can I talk to you?”

“You already are.”

“Right. Um, well I— I have to— um…”

“Look, spit it out, mate. I’m going to be late, and I’d far rather converse with Dr Hopper. At least he can form complete sentences.”

Neal’s expression darkened and clenched his fists in his pockets.

“I have a plea deal!” he burst out suddenly. “For— for stealing your records.”

“So I heard.”

Neal’s lawyer had managed to plead down to nine months in jail plus three years’ probation and a two thousand dollar fine. He’d tried for no jail time, citing Neal’s age and lack of prior offenses, but the judge had insisted on treating him as an adult due to the very specific malice of the crime. The end result was not as bad as it could have been but worse than his parents had been hoping. If he kept his nose clean Neal would probably be all right in the long run, but the whole thing was still quite a blow to his future. Killian had little sympathy.

“As part of the deal I have to apologise to you,” said Neal, glaring at his feet.

Killian snorted. “Don’t bother.”

“I have to! Fucking judge is making me. If you don’t accept it I get another two months.” He made this admission grudgingly, not wanting to acknowledge the power it gave Killian over him.

With effort, Killian held back a grin. He’d spoken to Judge Merlin before Neal’s sentencing and so knew to expect something like this, but putting that particular condition on Neal’s grovelling was pretty diabolical. “Unless it’s a genuine apology, I’m not interested,” he said, twisting the knife.

Neal shuffled his feet again, looking shifty. “It’s genuine.”

“You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” Killian almost laughed at the insulted look that crossed Neal’s face, but he wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight, and really just wanted to be done with this conversation. He opened his mouth to accept the “apology,” when Neal spoke again.

“Look, why are you being such an asshole?” he burst out. “You won. You’ve got Emma—”

Killian’s eyebrows snapped together. “‘Got’ Emma?!” he growled.

“—and you’re all popular now.” Neal scowled, seeming more put out by the second thing than the first.

Killian however was still caught up on the first. “I haven’t ‘got’ Emma,” he said indignantly.

“Come on, man, I saw you two at Granny’s last week looking pretty cosy,” sneered Neal. “I’d say the best man won, but, well…” he smirked snidely.

Killian shook his head, too appalled to respond to the taunt. “Is that really how you see this?” he asked. “Emma’s just a prize to be won?”

“You’re the one who called her the princess of Storybrooke. Of course she’s a prize. Look what she did for you. Do you really think you’d be anything without her?”

“This is one hell of an apology you’re making,” said Killian drily. “The sincerity is just shining through.”

Neal rolled his eyes and sighed. “What do you want from me, man?”

“Not a thing,” replied Killian decisively. “I never did. If you had just left me alone none of this would have happened. Emma and I have never been anything but friends. But all you could see was someone ‘stealing’ your girlfriend. You only ever saw her as your possession, the prettiest cheerleader, the girl everyone wants. The one who would make people envy you, because she was ‘yours’. Only Emma is not yours, and she never was. She’s her own person, a brilliant, strong, incredible person. And she’ll never belong to anyone but herself.”

Neal was staring at him, mouth agape. “You in love with her or something?” he taunted, the corner of his lips curling into a sneer.

Killian squared his shoulders and raised himself to his full height.“What if I am?” he asked, meeting Neal’s gaze, challenge glinting in his eyes, daring the other boy to make something of it.

Neal dropped his eyes and shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. It’s nothing to me.”

“Good. You can tell the judge that I accept your spurious apology, and now kindly fuck off.” Killian smirked at Neal’s confused expression. He clearly didn’t know what “spurious” meant but Judge Merlin would, and Killian suspected he’d get a kick out of it. Holding the smirk on his face he started walking again, straight towards Neal, forcing the other boy to step aside so he could pass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Sunday Killian hung back after fencing club, waiting until all the others had left and David had gathered all the equipment. Emma was away, having a spa weekend with her mother to celebrate Snow’s 45th birthday, and for once he was glad she wasn’t around. He needed a private word with David.

“Can I talk to you about something, Sheriff Swan?” he asked tentatively, desperate for David’s advice but fearful of overstepping with Emma’s father.

“Sure, Killian, what’s on your mind?” David smiled warmly and Killian relaxed.

“Would you mind if I walked out with you? It’s kind of a long question.”

David gave him a probing look, then nodded. It was clear to him that Killian was struggling with something. “Why don’t I give you a lift home?” he offered. “I know Emma usually does, so it’ll save you the walk since she’s not here.”

Killian smiled. “Thanks.”

They walked in silence to David’s truck, Killian clearly thinking hard about what he wanted to say, and it wasn’t until they had pulled out of the school parking lot and onto the main street that he finally spoke.

“How do you know when you’re in love?”

David nearly swallowed his tongue. “Um,” he said. “That’s— uh, that’s a big question. Are you sure you want to be talking with me about this? What about your brother, or Dr Hopper?”

“Dr Hopper’s always been single, and Liam’s only recently removed his head from his ars— er, asked Miss French out. But Emma told me you and Mrs Swan have been together since you were sixteen. That’s nearly thirty years” —David winced— “so I think if anyone in Storybrooke can speak on this subject it’s you.” He looked imploringly at David. “So how do you know?”

David sighed. “Well, I won’t pretend it’s not a bit awkward to be discussing my daughter this way—“ he paused as a wild thought hit him. “We are talking about Emma, aren’t we?”

“We are definitely talking about Emma,” Killian replied, and David’s lips twitched at the certainty in his voice. He suspected Killian already knew the answer to his question, he just needed some reassurance.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to know the details about that, but I can tell you how I knew I was in love with Snow.”

“If you don’t mind, that’s what I’d really like to hear.”

“It was our last year of high school,” said David, smiling at the memory. “We’d been dating for two years at that point, and I was pretty sure I loved her but I was worried because we were planning to go to different colleges and I wasn’t sure we’d make it long distance. Snow was— well, she was stunning. Bold and bright and beautiful.”

Killian nodded in understanding. “Like her daughter,” he said softly.

“Like her daughter,” David agreed. “Snow was going to Columbia, and I was sure she’d be swept off her feet there by some rich New York City asshole.” Killian’s eyes widened slightly at his language and David chuckled. “Then one day I came home from baseball practice and discovered that my house had been broken into,” he continued. “They took our TV and our stereo, all of that, but more importantly they took my mother’s jewelry bag, which contained her wedding ring. The ring she’d always told me would be mine one day, to give to my bride. Well you can imagine how upset I was. I went to call the police but just as I was picking up the phone it started ringing. It was Snow. She said she’d seen the burglars leaving my house —she lived just across the street— and she’d followed them. She told me where they’d taken our things, and—” he paused, grinning to himself, “—well, let’s just say we managed to get in and get my mom’s ring back. We called the police for all the other stuff, but the ring was what was important. When we got back to my house Snow asked to see the ring, and jokingly put it on. As soon as I saw it on her finger, I just knew. I knew that any girl whose first instinct on seeing a burglary wasn’t to call the cops but to follow the burglars, anyone who could lead me on an adventure to rescue my ring, that was a girl I wanted to spend my life with. And I knew that she’d always have my back, no matter how many rich assholes she met in New York.”

“So to answer your question, Killian,” he said, suddenly serious and conscious of the vital import of the advice he was giving, “I think there are many different kinds of love. I think it’s possible for people to love many times in their lives and to fall out of it just as they fall in, and I believe it’s possible to find the love of your life when you’re sixteen. But if you’re asking me how to know when love will last, and I do think that is what you’re asking, I don’t believe that there’s a— a rubric for that. I think you just know. When you can’t imagine your future without that person; when you know that you’ll be able to survive being separated from them by school or work or life because your bond is strong enough to hold even over long distances but when being with them is what makes you feel strong and whole, and happy even when you’re sad; when they’re the first person you turn to for support but you’re still prepared to put their needs before your own and sacrifice whatever is necessary for them, that’s love that will last. That’s love that can survive anything.”

David glanced over at Killian, who was staring out the window with a thoughtful expression on his face. He didn’t want to push or overly influence the boy, knowing that any decisions about his future had to be his alone, yet David couldn’t suppress the feeling that he was looking at his future son-in-law. Because Killian was right: David did know what true love looked like, even in its infancy, and it looked like Emma and Killian. It looked like his confident, self-assured, (and yes, he’d admit it) slightly spoiled daughter learning to put another person’s needs and wishes before her own, and doing it gladly because she wanted what was best for him more than her own happiness. It looked like this defensive, traumatised boy facing down his demons and learning to open up again for her sake, so that he could be capable of offering the love he felt she deserved. It looked like him taking the risk of speaking to her father, to be sure that what he felt was real.

David hadn’t missed the sadness that had lain beneath Emma’s habitual bright demeanor ever since the Christmas party, the fear that Killian would never return her love. But although his heart hurt for his baby girl, David wasn’t worried. He believed that true loves always found each other, no matter what obstacles lay between them. These two would work things out.

He pulled up in front of the Jones house and put the truck into park before turning to face Killian, who was still sitting unmoving in the passenger seat. “I hope I was able to help,” he said, “At least a little bit.”

“You did,” replied Killian, picking up his bag and opening the door. “Thank you for telling me that story, I know it’s really none of my business.”

It’s our family lore, David wanted to tell him, and you’re family. Maybe not yet, but you will be.

Instead he simply said, “You’re welcome,” biting back the “son,” before it could slip past his guard. Killian smiled and nodded, then turned and shut the door behind him. David waited until he had entered the house before starting the truck up again and driving off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of March their AP US History teacher announced that over the next two months they would spend two days a week working on a major research project that would constitute 50% of their final grade. And it would be a pair project. That they would be expected to work on outside of class as well. Amid the groans and whines of their classmates, Emma and Killian locked eyes across the classroom, silently agreeing to be partners. This hellish sounding project might become something actually enjoyable if they worked together, they thought.

Their plans were dashed a moment later by the teacher, who counted off the rows of desks 1-2, 1-2, then informed everyone in row 1 to look to their left and everyone in row 2 to look to their right. “The person you’re looking at is your partner,” the teacher declared. “I don’t want any squabbling or bickering about choosing partners, so I’m choosing them for you. No arguments.”

Emma was barely even dismayed to learn that she would be working with Walsh, a skinny junior she knew for a fact had a massive crush on her —he spent quite a lot of class time drawing creepy pictures of her in his notebook— and who was looking like all his Christmases had come at once. She was far too busy being devastated to observe that Killian’s partner was Aurora. Aurora who clearly didn’t share her dismay, but was smiling brilliantly at Killian and already taking out her phone to exchange contact details with him. Killian, she noted, didn’t look particularly upset either, smiling as he gave Aurora his phone number. Absently, she took Walsh’s number and told him not to call her, she’d call him. She spent the rest of the period poring over the assignment instructions and figuring out how to divide the work so she’d have to spend as little time with him as possible, while determinedly not looking at Killian and Aurora.

She was more successful with the first task than the second.

They looked to be having a great time together.

Her next class was in the opposite direction to Killian’s, so they normally only exchanged a word or two before heading on their respective ways. Today Aurora followed at Killian’s elbow as he left the classroom, chatting brightly about ideas for their project and what times they could get together to work on it.

Killian waved to Emma as they passed, rolling his eyes over Aurora’s head and making a “blah blah” gesture with his hand. “She won’t shut up,” he mouthed, and Emma nodded in agreement, her earlier jealousy appeased somewhat.

“Text me later,” she mouthed back, and he nodded, winking at her in that way that always set her butterflies to waltzing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks later, weeks during which Emma’s library lunchtimes with Killian had been routinely invaded by an Aurora who was suddenly more interested in doing homework than she had ever been before in her life, Emma was rounding the corner of the school building heading for the parking lot when she spotted Aurora and Killian a few feet away, deep in conversation. She stopped abruptly, wondering if she should interrupt. She had to go spend an hour with Walsh at Granny’s to work on their project, but she’d arranged for Killian to meet her there exactly when the hour was up, to make sure that Walsh didn’t try to extend the agreed upon time as he’d done at every other project meeting they’d had. It made sense that Killian would spend the hour before meeting her working with Aurora, yet somehow this discussion they were having seemed… different. Not school related.

Emma was torn. She trusted Killian, completely, and with her head she had no reason to believe that he had any interest in Aurora. He treated her exactly the same way he treated every other girl, warm and teasing, making them laugh, but Emma knew him well enough to see the way he used his charm to keep them at a safe distance away. When Killian was being completely himself he was intense and earnest, revealing the full depth of his brilliant mind and sensitive emotions. Emma was certain he could never open himself up that much to Aurora, about whom he made frequent and pointed remarks regarding her minimal intelligence and tendency to chatter inanely and ceaselessly. “She makes my head hurt,” he’d said just the day before, collapsing next to Emma in their booth at Granny’s and dropping the head in question into his hands, allowing her to rub the tension from his neck and shoulders.

And yet there was something about Aurora’s manner, about the way she always seemed to be alluding to things she and Killian had talked about or done outside of school —how much time were they spending on this project, Emma wondered— and the way she never missed an opportunity to touch him, the way he never objected or seemed upset by her hand on his arm or shoulder, the way he leaned his head close to hers when they worked, that planted a tiny, niggling seed of doubt in Emma’s heart that she could not stamp out or uproot, no matter how much logic she applied.

After all, Killian still didn’t seem to want to take things any further with her. Maybe he really did just see her as a friend. An intimate friend, his best friend, surely, but still just a friend. Maybe Aurora, even with all her chatter, was simply more his type. Maybe he found ways to shut her up. Emma’s whole body cringed at that thought. She didn’t believe it, knew it couldn’t be true, but the tiny pinprick of doubt still persisted.

It pricked her sharply now as she stood watching them, wondering what to do, then turned abruptly into a sword and slashed her chest open when Aurora threw her arms around Killian’s neck and kissed him.

Emma stood for a moment, frozen in shock, then forced herself back around the corner on legs that were barely functional, stumbling as they buckled under her and landing hard against the wall, scraping her hand and arm in the process. She pressed her cheek into the abrasive cold of the brick, gasping for the air that had been sucked from her lungs, blinded by tears and immobilised by agony. Desperately she tried to catch her breath, to hold in her sobs, not wanting anyone to hear her cry, wanting only to get away, to find someplace private where she could pull herself together and lick her wounds alone. The idea of anyone seeing her, wanting to know what was wrong, made her chest tighten in panic. She knew she wouldn’t be able to bear any sympathy or concern, wouldn’t even be able to tell anyone why she was so upset. Not even her father, who’d always been her closest confidant. This hurt went too deep to talk about.

She began to run in the opposite direction, back into the school building, heading for the cafeteria and its side door, praying it would still be unlocked. She raced through the halls, ignoring the curious looks from the few students who still remained, ignoring the shouts from her psychology teacher not to run in the halls. Arriving at the cafeteria door she wrenched it open and raced across the small outdoor lunch area, through the gap in the chain link fence separating it from the parking lot and towards her car. She didn’t look over to where Killian and Aurora might still be standing, just visible from where her car was parked, instead pulling open the door and throwing herself onto the back seat. She slammed the door behind her and locked it then curled herself into a tight ball and wept, sobbing out her unrequited love, her dashed hopes, her broken heart.

Twenty minutes later she was limp and exhausted, her eyes swollen and her throat raw, with no more tears left to cry. Dimly she registered that her phone was buzzing and had been for a solid five minutes. Mustering her strength, she glanced at the screen and would have rolled her eyes if they hadn’t ached so badly. Fifteen messages from Walsh, asking where she was. Practically one per minute. Not feeling well, she texted him. Sorry.

Killian would be expecting her at Granny’s as well, she remembered. Part of her wanted badly to see him, a small part that was still hoping that she’d misunderstood, despite the image burned into the back of her eyelids of Aurora in Killian’s arms, her lips on his, but she knew that she couldn’t. She was too delicate, too raw. She needed time to process, to adjust, to figure out how the hell she was going to survive seeing them together, the girl she despised and the boy she loved. Her fingers trembled as she opened her WhatsApp chat with Killian and tapped on the picture he’d sent her just last night. A selfie he’d taken of the two of them at the docks preparing for the sailing trip they’d taken last Saturday. His chin was resting on her head, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, her hands curved around his wrist and forearm. They were both grinning like fools.

They looked so happy.

This was a test of her resolve, Emma realised. She’d promised herself that she would be Killian’s friend no matter what, even if their relationship could never be more than that, and she knew that if she truly loved him she had to keep that promise. Even though she wanted nothing more than to run, to protect herself from the pain of seeing him with Aurora, of knowing that her love was not returned. At least not in the way she wanted.

She couldn’t handle seeing him, not today. Maybe not for a while. Forcing her fingers to cooperate, she typed out a message.

Hey, I’m not feeling well, can we do Granny’s another time?

His reply came almost instantly. Sure, love. Are you okay?

Moisture welled behind her eyes and she almost laughed. Apparently she did still have more tears to cry. Fine, just a headache, she texted back. I’ll see you tomorrow.

It was the first lie she’d ever told him.

#cs ff au #teenage captain swan #high school au #angst #angsty angst #another brick in the wall #profdanglaisstuff #captain charming #David is much better when he actually gets to be the wise father figure he always thought he was

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malepresentingleg · 5 years

Text

Who Will You Tell If Not Me?

the second part of this tyrus fic so make sure to read the first part if you haven’t!

you can read it on ao3

Summary: What can be better than Cyrus's two best friends getting together? Nothing. So Cyrus better start working on that, all while avoiding being distracted by his own crush. tyrus and bandi

Notes: It's mostly some missing scenes from the other story with some inner monologue (this time Cyrus's POV! yay)

there's very little dialogue both parts share, but it's still a different POV so you might get new information. hope you have fun!

Cyrus had the most mind-blowing day.

It started with him dragging Buffy to the gym so she can have a one on one with TJ in order to prove to her the two could play together. The mind blowing part started when Buffy revealed she was starting her own girls' basketball team! How amazing was that? Cyrus could not be more proud of his friend, she was the most incredible, ambitious, young lady he's ever met.

Then, as the three teens exited the gym together, TJ gave Buffy the best rapology to ever exist! True, he wasn't sure any other rapolgies existed, but this one definitely took the cake. This time it was TJ Cyrus was seriously proud of. He came such a long way from the scary-basketball-guy he used to be when Cyrus first met him. Cyrus already got to see this better side of the athlete in the past; swinging together, TJ helping him in his Bar Mitzva, when he opened up to him about his learning disabilities and of course when he helped Cyrus learn how to do a somersault.

All this time Cyrus felt like the two were in a bubble and he was having so much fun with the taller boy. But now, seeing him go out of his way to be nice to his best friend, Cyrus felt he was seeing him in a new light.

Before he knew it, his heart was going ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom.

"So... You two certainly looked chummy with each other back there," Buffy said as the two friends watched the defeated basketball player walk away.

"Uhm."

And if you think all this was mind-blowing, wait until you hear what Cyrus discovered that night.

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o

"No way!" That was all Cyrus could respond with to what Andi just told him.

It was late but Andi sounded like she really needed to share and Buffy was still busy with her family night. That's how Cyrus found himself, sitting at his desk at 9 PM facetime-ing his friend in his pajamas.

"Yes way! And we had the whole thing planned, you know? We got the ring and made dinner and the cake! It could have been perfect." Andi sighed.

"That's so crazy. I can't believe you were going to propose. And that your dad is going on tour." He put both hands on the side of his face to emphasize his shock.

Cyrus saw Andi leaning back on her chair through his phone's screen. "I know. With all said and done, I'm actually really happy for him. I'm disappointed we won't get a fall wedding but playing on tour is his dream." She leaned forward again and put her chin or her hand, her elbow resting on the desk. "Plus, how cool will it be to have a rock-star dad?"

The two friends smiled together at the thought and then started chatting about different matters. Cyrus told Andi the 'TJ is like a puppy' story, and to his dismay she only rolled her eyes at him in response. Andi told him about how she hasn't talked to Jonah since he left for camp and how she really didn't miss him at all.

"Really?" asked Cyrus. "You sounded pretty devastated when he first left." He tried to get a good look at her despite the dark room she was sitting in.

"I know, but it feels like ages ago. I feel like I'm finally 100% over Jonah Beck. To be honest I think I was for a while but I was too hung up on the past to see it."

Cyrus was really glad his friend finally put this whole mess behind her. Sure it was hard for him to witness while he himself had a crush on Jonah, but even without it, seeing the train wreck that was Andi's relationship with him was pretty painful. He decided it was also a good time to let Andi in on the new development of his feelings. At least the ones related to Jonah.

"Uh. Same."

This time it was Andi's turn to squint her eyes at the screen. "What do you mean 'same', Cyrus?!"

"It means-" he smiled- "that I'm 100% over Jonah Beck as well."

"How did you not tell me?" Andi laughed.

"I'm telling you now!" He put his hands up in defense and cracked a smile.

Cyrus knew he was usually more share-y with Buffy when it came to his love, or well, crush life, because so far Andi's involvement with his previous crush made it too painful to talk to her about it. He wasn't ready to admit his new crush to her yet (he barely could admit it to himself), but he was hoping that could change soon. After all, Andi was one of his two best friends in the whole world.

After they talked a little about Jonah, they went back to the first topic of their conversation.

"I still can't believe Bowie will be gone for so long." Said Andi. By now, both teens found their way to their beds, each lying on the pillow with their phone propped up against a book or a stuffed animal in Cyrus's case. "I hope mom will be okay."

Cyrus looked at her sadly. He was sure she was going to miss her dad as well. "Remember how awful it was when Buffy went away? We missed her so bad! But at least we had each other. And now you and Bex have each other, and you got both me and Buffy. You will be okay," He really wished he could hug his friend right then.

"Yeah.." Andi looked very pensive at what he said, making Cyrus wonder what she was thinking about.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Just the time Buffy went away. I really did miss her. I thought I would go crazy!"

"I know. She's such a great friend." He smiled. To his surprise, Andi only swallowed and turned her head towards the ceiling, so he could only see the shadows on the side of her face and not her eyes. "What is it?

"I-" He could barely see that she was biting her lips. "I'm not so sure I like her as a friend anymore."

"WHAT?! But you are best friends! We are the Good Hair Crew! What do you mean you don-"

"I mean-" she took a big breath- "that when Buffy moved it made me realize what she really meant for me. How important she is to me."

"But…" Finally, Andi turned back to look at the camera and let Cyrus see her face. "Oh," he said, "oh!"

Andi covered her face with her hands, embarrassed. "Please stop making that face." She said to her palms.

"What face?" Cyrus asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"That face!" she peeked between her fingers only to see Cyrus practically bouncing on his bed with excitement.

"I can't help it! My two best friends are going to be girlfriends! This is the best thing that ever happened to me!" And the craziest thing he discovered today by far.

"Oh my god Cyrus, don't say that." She finally revealed her face again. "It's not like she even likes me back, It's just a small crush."

"Hey, don't go and destroy a guy's dream." He pouted which made Andi laugh.

"Cyrus, you're ridiculous."

"And you are in love with your best friend." He sighed dramatically, clasping his hands together.

"Aahah!" Andi buried her face in her pillow this time, knocking the phone face down on the bed so all Cyrus could see now was black.

"Hey, who turned off the lights?" He joked, but only received another muffled scream in return. "Don't worry, Andi. It will be okay," he tried to reassure her. At last, the picture on his screen moved again and he saw Andi's flustered cheeks.

"Yeah." She sighed again. Cyrus let out a soft chuckle, and bit his lips to hold it back. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, "It's just that there's a saying that the gays group together."

At last, Andi laughed too. "This is ridiculous! Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'm pan."

"You're a pan?" Cyrus asked in confusion, "I thought you were human."

Andi almost choked on her spit with laughter after that comment. It took her a moment to calm down enough to start breathing again and explain what she meant. "Pansexual means I'm attracted to the person regardless of gender."

"Oh. That makes sense! Hm.." He put a finger on his chin as if pondering.

"Are you trying to think if you're pan?" Andi let out another small laugh.

"I was." He gave a crooked smile. "And I'm not. 100% gay." Right after the words left his mouth he eyed his bedroom door suspiciously. It was quiet. "Where did you learn that fancy word, anyways?"

"Actually, I didn't think about it until-" she stopped herself, thinking of what to say next- "uhm, a friend told me about it, and it just fit me so perfectly."

"A friend? Who? Do I know them?"

"Cyrus…" She gave him a look.

"Right." She can't out them. He was the first to know that. "I'm glad you told me, Andi."

"Me, too."

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o

Cyrus was so freaking excited. He had the best day yesterday and he absolutely couldn't wait to tell his friends. "You are never going to believe what I did yesterday!" he exclaimed the second he spotted Buffy and Andi at their lockers before class.

"What did you do, Cyrus?" Andi asked.

"I," Cyrus began, proudly pointing at himself, "shot a basket!"

"You what?" Cyrus wasn't sure if he should have been offended by the shock in Buffy's voice, but then again, it was fairly justified.

"I shot a basket!" Cyrus was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. "TJ asked me to hang out at the park and he brought a basketball and he said we should play and I said 'oh no, no way, I can't even shoot one basket' and then TJ was all like 'no problem, Underdog, I will teach you' and then I tried to throw the ball and it didn't go in the hoop but TJ showed me what to do and I tried to throw the ball a bunch of times and I HIT HIM IN THE FACE with the ball once and his nose started to bleed and I felt so bad but he said it was okay and then he helped me with my stance and the position of my arms and then I DID IT!" Finally, he stopped for air before adding, "it only took me 34 tries!"

Both Andi and Buffy looked at him in shock, trying to process his long rant.

"TJ taught you how to shoot a basket?" Buffy asked and received vicious nodding from Cyrus, the biggest smile on his lips.

"And you threw the ball at his face?" Andi made sure, wincing while imagining what that felt like for TJ.

"Yeah." Cyrus laughed nervously. "I wanted to run away because it was so embarrassing, and at the same time I wanted to make sure he was okay. But he was so sweet about it, he just held his nose in his fingers and smiled at me and –he was just so sweet." Just remembering the day's events again made his heart swell with happiness. TJ was so clearly in pain but he acted all tough like it was no big deal. Cyrus wasn't sure if it was because TJ was trying to protect is "macho" image or if he was just trying to make Cyrus feel better. In his heart, Cyrus secretly hoped for the second option.

When he snapped out of his musing he saw Andi and Buffy staring at each other. Now that he knew Andi liked her, he couldn't stop seeing it. And with that on his mind, he also couldn't help but wonder if the feelings weren't mutual. Like right now, the smile they gave each other- it had to be more than platonic, right?

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," said Buffy, "with your sweet friend."

This comment painted Cyrus's cheeks pink and he looked at Buffy with scared wide eyes. After the conversation he had with Andi the other day, he knew he would tell her about his TJ crush sooner or later, but he didn't think Buffy would tell her.

"Cyrus, it's okay." Andi reassured him. The boy looked between his two friends, his eyes narrowed this time.

"You told her?" he asked Buffy.

"She didn't need to tell me anything. You were pretty obvious." Especially after he told her he was over Jonah, he imagined. "TJ is too if you ask me."

"Am not! And he definitely isn't." She was talking nonsense. "He's like the straightest guy in the book." He played basketball and was very handsome and, just, very much hetrosexual.

Andi sighed. "For a gay guy, your gaydar is kind of bad."

His mind immediately went to his discovery of Andi's sexuality a few days earlier and he had to agree. Didn't mean he wasn't offended when his two best friends burst out laughing on his account. "You guy are the worst friends," he said, making sure to smile to let them know he didn't really mean it.

"Come here, group hug." Buffy extended her arms and the three hugged right there in the hall. After they parted, Buffy started again, "so…"

"Can we please stop talking about my love life? Or lack of thereof." Seeing Buffy was about to say something else Cyrus added, "please."

"Fine," Buffy grumbled, "you're no fun."

"Anyways," Andi started, "watch this." She pulled out her phone and moved it around with her hand, the case changing colors with her movement.

"That's so cool!" Cyrus called and leaned in to looked closer. He had no idea how Andi was coming up with those crazy craft projects, but they were always amazing. "How did you make it?"

"Well, there's this special tape that changes colors in the light, Bowie actually got it for me while he was on tour." She explained.

Cyrus asked her if she could make him a cool phone-case as well when he noticed Buffy wasn't really paying attention to what he said. Her eyes were glued to Andi, never leaving her face as the girl happily agreed to make Cyrus his request and listed the others things she could make with the tape.

Buffy shook out of her soft expression when the bell rang not a minute later, and she finally looked at his direction. Cyrus gave her a look. Oh, they were definitely having a chat later.

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o

Later turned out to be the next day. Cyrus texted Buffy to ask if he could come over, and since it was Saturday morning it was a no-brainer she'd agree.

"So," Buffy began once they were both settled on her bed, sitting cross-legged face to face, "was there another interesting thing that happened with TJ at the park that you wanted to share?" She smirked.

"What? No!" He denied, feeling his face heat up. "I told you and Andi everything yesterday."

"Oh." She looked almost disappointed. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well…" Cyrus wasn't sure what was the best way to approach this but decided to just go for it. "Remember when we said we were crush buddies? And I told you about both my Jonah and my-" he was sure his cheeks were pink again-" TJ crush?"

"Yes…" She said slowly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"So, what about you?" He watched as her mouth opened slightly in surprise.

"Me?" she said after she recovered, "What are you talking about?" She laughed nervously. "I don't like any boy." She continued to laugh and avoided his gaze.

"Okay… What about girls?" He questioned carefully. Buffy's eyes immediately found his again as she stared at him in shock. "Oh my god!" He took it from her response he was right.

Buffy bit her lips and looked down again. "Cyrus…"

"Yes?" He asked excitedly. He felt like all his dreams were coming true. Or out.

"I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" He prompted again, his voice filled with anticipation.

"So, you see…" She still wouldn’t look at him so Cyrus took her hand in his and squeezed, like she did with him so many times before.

"It's okay," he promised.

At last, Buffy took a big breath and said: "I'm asexual and homoromantic." Cyrus wasn't sure completely what it meant, but he squeezed her hand reassuringly again to let her know he was there. "So basically," she added at last, "after you told me about you it got me thinking too. I tried really hard to be attracted to boys- I'm sure there are at least two in my class that think I'm crazy from how much staring I did-" she let out a small giggle, "but it didn't work. So I tried the same with girls and it didn't really work either, but I did realize the feelings I had about Gina in 5th grade were something like a crush. So I did some research online and found out what fitted best. It might change in the future but for now this is the label I see myself as." She finally finished and Cyrus gave her the biggest smile.

"Buffy, I'm so glad you told me!" He may have, and may have not had tears in his eyes by now. He pulled his friend into a hug and they stayed like that for a long moment. If Cyrus didn't know any better he would have thought that maybe he heard a sniff next to his ear, but when they pulled apart Buffy had nothing but a big smile on her face.

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Cyrus."

"Are you kidding?" He said. "After everything you did for me?" They shared another short hug and Cyrus mumbled to himself: "the gays really do group together, huh?"

"What?" Buffy looked at him funny.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, "anyways, I think you should really tell Andi how you feel."

"Wh-what?" Buffy went back to being extremely flustered, "I never told you my crush was on her."

All Cyrus did was raise an eyebrow at her as if saying 'girl. Please'. Buffy responded by lifting her hands up and rubbing her eyes and cheeks.

"Do you really think I should tell her?" She asked eventually with a small voice.

"Buffy. Andi is like your best friend for life- except me, of course. She loves you no matter what, don't worry! You'll be fine."

"You know, maybe I'll do it."

This was going to be great! Cyrus couldn't imagine something better than his two best friends becoming girlfriends. Well, maybe he could but he would not go into that right now. Now it was time to focus on his friends, and he was very happy for them.

o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o

It was a little over two weeks after Cyrus talked with Buffy at her house. In that time the girl confessed her feeling to Andi and the two got together. Other than being incredibly awesome, it was also such a relief for Cyrus, who could barely keep the secret of his friends' feelings to himself.

Though the first week of their relationship was pure 'honeymoon phase', Cyrus was happy for his friends and they made sure to still include him in group activities. Sure he was a little jealous of what Buffy and Andi had, but that feeling didn't last for long.

Only a few days after the two got together, he himself got a text message from TJ only saying "can you meet me at the swings?"

Cyrus was extremely worried and nervous when he went to the park that day, but he was a 100 times lighter when he left it a couple of hours later.

Because TJ liked him! Liked him liked him. And this time it was officially the best day ever and Cyrus couldn't stop grinning the whole walk home with TJ, with his hand in his.

So can anyone really blame him for wanting to share his perfect relationship with his friends and their own perfect relationship?

Hence how the double date nobody could ever see coming was taking place right there at the Spoon.

This was perfect. He had his two best friends in the entire world in front of him and his new boyfriend by his side (currently stealing baby taters from Andi's plate to give to Cyrus). It was a wild ride, and definitely the craziest one.

Or so he thought.

Just when he thought life made sense again, two more people entered the diner, capturing his attention. It was easy to identify the first one, but when the other turned around it was revealed that standing there and holding Walker's hand was no other than- Jonah Freaking Beck.

"Oh. My. God."

~fin~

did i mention everyone is gay? I mean technically cyrus and tj are gay, andi and walker are pan (that's who she learned that from if you were wondering), jonah is bi and buffy is homoromantic asexual, but yeah you get it hope you liked it! this completes this very short series, but i might do other works in the fandom if ppl like it and inspiration strikes :) thanks for reading and please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

#my fic #friends really know better #who will you tell if not me #tyrus fic #bandi fic #andi mack fic #andi mack #tyrus #bandi #tyrus fanfic #bandi fanfic #mi #everyone is gone #coming out

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enixamyram · 5 years

Text

Curious Archer Christmas Chapter 4

So I apologise. Saying I'd post one chapter a day was probably not the smartest thing I've said since I have to deal with work and my own Christmas preparations. In fact I almost separated this chapter into several to make up for it but I have all the other chapters all planned out already and don't want to give any of them up. So I'm just gonna post when I can - some might be posted a couple in one day and it'll definitely go over the 25th but hey, it just means I'm making Christmas last longer!

If things really get messed up, I will finish it over New Years but it will be in between my other stories which I will be started up again as promised. So Thanks to everyone for clinging on and I apologise for the false hope XD

“So what kind of presents do you normally get your parents?” Alice asked suddenly, scrunching her napkin into a ball and dropping it onto her plate.

The question seemed to have come out of nowhere and the pair sitting opposite her looked up. They were momentarily confused as to why she was asking them of all people before remembering that Alice hardly had the most normal of upbringings, nor that many people she was comfortable talking to with. And on top of that, she didn't exactly have a normal parent in all the realms either… But then, thinking about it, neither did any of them. Maybe that was why she was asking them the question.

“You don't mind me asking, do you?” Alice asked, very conscious of the hesitation.

“Of course not.” Ella said quickly. “I mean, I don't really know what I would have gotten my parents, but Lucy got me a few things over the years. Though I doubt that's what you're looking for.” She smiled knowingly. “Thinking of a gift for your father?”

“Yeah,” Alice admitted.

Ella glanced at Henry who frowned as he thought it over. “Well, it's Rogers so... Well, there's a whole load of stuff you could get him, to be honest.”

“Yeah but... Nothing I’ve seen seems right.” Alice mumbled, looking down at her plate. Robin and her mother had already listed an endless number of things she knew her papa would like well enough, but despite that, Alice still knew none of it was good enough. It was their first Christmas, ever! She wanted to make sure she did it right for both of them.

“Lucy once told me she always knew the perfect gift for everyone, but only when she saw it.” Ella offered. “So maybe you just haven't seen the right thing yet?”

“But what if I don't see it in time?” Alice asked.

“I'm sure you will.” Ella said softly.

Henry suddenly clicked his fingers, grinning at the two of them. “Here's an idea. Why don't you and the other girls have a big shopping day out of town together? You can all help each other with buying gifts and you might have better luck if you go somewhere outside your comfort zone.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Ella gasped excitedly. “I don’t think many of us have had a chance to leave since the Realms were united. What do you say, Alice?”

“Yeah, that’d be good.” Alice nodded, feeling incredibly relieved to be offered any kind of help. She’d been thinking about presents for her papa and Robin ever since she Robin mentioned her aunt asking about what she wanted a couple days ago. While there were a number of things she would have loved to get them both, she was limited by both money and what was actually available to her. Storybrooke and the United Realms were all lovely, but even they were limited, especially as they didn’t have any proper shopping centers like Alice remembered from back in Hyperion Heights during the curse.

“It's settled! I'll call Tiana and Regina.” Ella said, already reaching into her purse for her phone.

“Hey, maybe Snow and Emma would like to join too?” Henry offered.

“Perfect! It'll be a full day with everyone together!”

C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

“How... The hell… Did we lose... Everyone?!” Robin shouted, looking around the crowded mall where there were no familiar faces with her, apart from that of Alice standing by her side.

C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

Earlier, With Lucy and Ella:

“It’s a shame Tiana couldn’t come.” Lucy noted sadly.

“Yeah, but being a Co-Queen of the realms as well as running a food truck can keep you pretty busy.” Ella nodded, only half joking.

The two of them were trailing behind the rest of the small group, with only a few small select bags between them. Unlike Emma and Hope, who were both weighed down with a ridiculous amount of shopping on either arm, neither Ella, nor Lucy were very big on spending money, even as gifts for their loved ones. Much like back in the Enchanted Forest, they had gotten one thing for each person they shopped for, and none of it was too expensive because there didn’t seem much point in throwing money away needlessly.

So far it had been a good day for everyone. They had all managed at least a bit of shopping done and in between that, they had spared time for a fast food meal with good laughs all around, even after Zelena nearly got into a fist brawl with a stubborn woman who had tried to take her chair while she was momentarily in the bathroom. Regina attempted to play peacemaker along with Emma to defuse the situation, but after the woman physically spat on Regina’s silk blouse, Emma surprised everyone by cutting things short with a fist to the woman’s face. It had been a good blow – Ella was particularly impressed by her mother in law – but good blow or not, it didn’t stop them from being asked to leave the restaurant.

“Still… I miss spending time with her.” Lucy said sadly, sighing and looking down at her feet. “We used to see so much of her back in the Enchanted Forest, and she was the only Queen back then. Now we’re lucky to catch up once every couple of weeks.”

“I know, sweetie,” Ella said, reaching around to rest an arm on her shoulders.

Lucy slouched slightly, leaning against her mother for support. She didn’t want to let anything ruin their good day, and tried to force a smile back on her face but it looked as fake as it felt and she knew her mother could see right through her. Lucy had long since accepted that changes were a part of life, but she still hated people drifting apart. Especially when they were her friends she was drifting apart from.

For her part, Ella knew what Lucy was feeling. She sometimes missed having Sabine as a roommate and she even more missed every day meet ups with the Queen, inviting her round to their home or spending a night or two at her castle for celebrations like Lucy’s birthday. But things had changed. Not only was she Queen of an unstable new Realm, but she was also struggling to keep The Rollin Bayou going as well – especially with places like Granny’s now her biggest competition. Sometimes Ella regretted leaving her work there, especially since she had been the co-founded it. But after reuniting with Henry and Lucy, Ella had decided it was time to follow her own dreams for a change and working in a food van just wasn’t one of them.

But more than her own sadness over losing the closeness she used to have with her old friend, Ella was worried about Lucy’s disappointment over it. Her poor baby no doubt missed her godmother greatly. And while Ella was already planning to invite Tiana round to their home for New Year’s, she knew that would do little to cheer Lucy up right now. And Ella didn’t want her daughter to spend the long ride home in misery.

They passed a nearby store and the sight of it gave Ella a sudden idea. It was probably dumb, but hey, being silly was always the best kind of fun and she was sure it would cheer Lucy up.

“Hey! Guys! We’ll be right back!” Ella called, not pausing to see if they heard her – which they did not – before grabbing Lucy’s arm and dragging her towards the same store.

“Where are we going?” Lucy blinked, letting herself be pulled along.

“In here.” Ella said, pulling Lucy through the entrance.

It turned out to be a shoe store. One that was practically deserted, except for a single young woman being assisted by one of two employees while the other stood by the counter, looking incredibly bored. The same employee seemed to grow bored of hanging around and moved to begin sorting through the men’s shelf just as they entered the store. When she caught sight of them from the corner of her eye, she quickly replaced her bored expression with a friendly smile instead, though it was one that still looked more sleepy than anything else. Ella gave an acknowledging half hearted wave before steering away from her and taking Lucy towards the women’s section in the far corner.

“Why here?” Lucy asked, following her mother to a stop, far away from the other people in the room.

“Because, we need to see if it fits!” Ella said dramatically, dropping her bags to the floor and picking up a white sandal with a short heel in Lucy’s size.

Lucy blinked before realizing where her mother was going with it. She burst out laughing at the sheer idea, drawing attention from the employee and customer across the room, but ignored them both as she quickly dropped onto a nearby stool. Kicking off her trainer, she let her mother dramatically try and squeeze the shoe on, purposely twisting it left and right so it appeared to be a struggle.

“Hmm,” Ella mused. “Guess this means you’re not Cinderella then.”

“Well what about you?” Lucy jumped forward, taking the shoe and swapping places so she was kneeling in front of her mother. Naturally the shoe was far too small for her mother’s feet, but Lucy made a big play of pretending to try and put it on, then stood back and sighed dramatically. “Guess that means you’re not Cinderella either. You must be a step sister.”

“I don’t think so!” Ella laughed. “You must have the wrong slipper.”

“How many glass slippers are lying around?” Lucy challenged, all thoughts of Tiana wiped from her mind as she and her mother tried on several different shoes, pretending each was the glass slipper and purposely making sure none of them would fit.

“Um…” Came a voice. “Can I help you ladies find a pair in your size?”

Ella and Lucy, who were laughing too hard to notice her approach, looked up to find an employee standing over them. She eyed the mess of shoes the two of them had made and there was a definite distain in the way she was glancing back at them.

“Uh…” Ella said, fighting her giggles. “Yeah, sorry. We’ve changed our minds.” Lucy quickly gathered the shoes, putting them back on the racks and shelves, albeit in a slight mess and out of order, some a few spaces apart from their pairs.

Once everything was at least off of the floor, they hurried from the store before they could be scolded any further, still giggling about it as they did. And with both their moods back up, they happily moved to rejoin their friends…

Only to find they were nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d they all go?” Lucy blinked, looking around. “I thought they were going to wait for us.”

“Oh great.” Ella mumbled.

“What happened?” Lucy asked, still looking at the crowds buzzing past.

“They must have wandered off without us. I thought they heard me…” Ella said, biting the inside corner of her mouth.

“So what do we do?” Lucy asked. “We can’t get home without them!”

Ella paused to think it over, glancing down towards her purse before shrugging. “Not much else to it about it. We’ll wander round and try and find them but if not then we’ll just call a taxi for a ride home. It can drop us off just a little away from the border and we can walk the rest of the way.”

“What if the driver asks why we want to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere?” Lucy asked.

Ella shrugged. “I’m sure we can act a convincing lie. So what do you think; camping close by or cabin home in the middle of nowhere?”

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

At The Same Time With Emma and Hope…

Leading the group across the crowded floor, Hope and Emma were showing just the slightest struggle at holding onto all the bags in their arms. They were both pressed down on with the multi coloured plastic bags that were beginning to leave red marks along their skin where the weight of it all was close to bruising. But despite the heaviness of it all and the weariness that kept trying to get to them, neither woman let that slow them down. The shops in Storybrooke only had so much for them, so when Henry had suggested they rent the mini bus and drive to the next town over to do their shopping in a proper full out centre, the two of them jumped at the chance.

“How much time do we have left?” Hope asked, while still craning her neck in order to look at the stores lining up along their sides, watching out for anything they may have missed during their original walk through.

“Well we should probably think about heading back soon, so think of any places you want to go and we’ll head there quick while we have the chance.” Emma explained, walking a little faster to keep up with Hope’s enthusiastic pace.

“Well, let’s go to the second floor then!” Hope said, breaking into a fast walk that was a small step away from being a light jog. “I think I remember a cute little beauty parlor we never went in close by.”

“A beauty parlor, huh?” Emma teased, still moving to keep up. “Since when have you been so conscious about that kind of stuff?”

Hope blushed slightly and shrugged, stepping onto the escalator before finally coming to a short pause. “I dunno. Just felt like a change.”

“Oh sure,” Emma grinned, standing a step behind her. “Nothing to do with a cute boy coming through town sometime this month?”

“Mum!” Hope complained, blushing even harder and hurrying off the escalator and onto the second floor.

Emma laughed as she followed her, knowing very well what boy Hope had in mind. She’d been crushing on him ever since they had met at the beginning of last year and while he didn’t officially live in the United Realms, he had family there which meant he visited often enough. Killian didn’t know about Hope’s crush yet, and neither were very eager to tell him. Emma was pretty sure he’d try a ‘papa bear’ act and had already planned out the ways she would shut him down before he got started.

Inside the store, Hope buzzed up and down the walls, glancing in at all the items on sale. She’d never been overly into these kinds of things, even while all her friends started to midway through school. Hope was much more interested in perfecting her swords skills. The closest she ever came to caring about her looks was her hair. Out of everything, Hope’s long dark blonde/light brown hair was her proudest feature and she took care of it better than anything else she knew. A couple kids had tried teasing her about it, but her short temper mixed with her swordsmanship abilities meant the teasing didn’t last for very long.

But as Emma had already guessed, that was something that had changed drastically after Hope met with a certain young man. She didn’t think she’d ever find someone she’d like after her nasty break up with Melody a while back, but that had most definitely changed. Now Hope wondered why she was ever even thinking of the possibility of never moving on… Not that she’d managed to have a proper conversation with him yet. Each time he visited, half the town surrounded him and Hope wasn’t about to make a fool of herself with an audience watching.

“Find anything you like?” Emma asked, tucking her phone back into her bag. She’d texted Killian to see how his ‘guys evening’ was going with Henry, Rogers and David and was amused to hear that Snow and Red had accidentally crashed the party.

“This!” Hope said excitedly, pointing towards a whole make up kit. It was a head sized box, black with purple lining, and the picture posted above showed it held everything one woman might need. And maybe a little extra… Or rather, a lot extra… And at a steep price too…

Emma pressed her lips together and watched Hope’s eager, wide eyed expression as she looked back at her. She was so excited, normally something she only got whenever she learned a new technique from one of her many teachers back in Storybrooke. And like all other times, Emma found it near impossible to actually say no to her. From the moment she had been born, everyone – including Emma herself – knew that she would always be wrapped around her baby girl’s little finger. Not that Killian was any better, at least.

“Sure. Go for it. Think of it as an early Christmas present!” Emma said, adding the last part to make herself feel better more than anything.

“Thanks, mum! You’re the best!” Hope beamed, rushing to grab a box from beside the display and taking it straight to the cashier.

The makeup box used the last of Emma’s money. She double checked but there was nothing but a couple pennies left. Guess that really was the sign that it was time to end the day then. At least they’d managed to get most of their present shopping done with, and the rest could easily be done back in Storybrooke.

“Okay, come on, time to call it a day.” Emma said, leading Hope back outside, their bags rustling and bouncing as they walked.

“Can we grab something to eat before we go?” Hope asked. “Like Chinese takeout or something?”

“We just had lunch.” Emma snorted, walking without pause or thought.

“But I’m still hungry.” Hope moaned, stomping her feet slightly in the start of a tantrum.

“Come on, Hope. I don’t have any money left for food.” Emma sighed. “What if I text your dad so he has something ready as soon as we walk through the door?”

“Yeah, I guess that’d be okay.” Hope sighed, the paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Uh… Mum… Where are the others?”

Emma looked around and froze. “Oh shiiii-uger.”

“Shit.” Hope said for her.

“Language.” Emma scolded, but didn’t sound angry as she pulled out her phone and tried calling Regina. She held the phone to her ear and waited only for the ringing to cut short. She must have her phone off… Emma tried calling Ella and Alice, but neither answered their phones either. She tried twice more when suddenly her phone began to flash red in the corner, warning her about the low battery. Emma bit back a curse. Maybe she shouldn’t have texted Killian so much throughout the day.

“Anything?” Hope pressed, putting her bags down at her feet when they grew too heavy to hold.

“No…” Emma mumbled, sighing and glancing around at the crowds. “My phones gonna die soon.”

“So what do we do? My feet hurt. I don’t want to have wander around anymore, mum.” Hope complained, wincing and rubbing at the aching along her arms.

Emma hummed before sending one last text to Regina, Ella and Alice. “I’ll tell the others we headed home ahead of them.” She stopped short of hitting send. “Oh… We can’t. We don’t have a ride. Robin’s got the keys to the mini bus.”

“Can’t you break into it?” Hope asked, thinking back to the stories she’d always been told of her mother’s life before Storybrooke.

“Well yeah but then everyone else would be stuck.” Emma groaned, putting her own bags down. They really were getting too heavy to hold.

And now Hope was getting too tired to keep standing around and began moaning loudly. “Then call a taxi.”

“Hope, we don’t have any money. And even if we did, we can’t get a normal taxi to drop us off all the way back home.” Emma groaned. “Maybe I can call- Shit!” She said, forgetting about her language rule and swearing aloud as her phone officially died. “And now we can’t even call your dad for a ride.”

“So what are we going to do?” Hope asked, feeling a rise of panic.

Emma breathed deeply and reached down, picking her bags back up. “Guess we walk it.”

“Walk?! The whole way?! It’ll take ages to get back home!” Hope shouted, drawing nearby attention.

A quick glare from Emma sent them back walking before she turned back to her daughter, trying to keep the frustration from her tone. “Hope. It won’t be that long. And we don’t have any other choice. We don’t have a phone or money, so unless you want to hang around here until closing or walk around in circles looking for the others, we’re just going to have to suck it up and head back on foot.”

Hope looked appalled at the idea, but when Emma started walking around her and down towards the closest lift, she had no choice but to gather her own bags and rush after her or otherwise be left behind. She was not looking forward to the long walk home, especially with so many bags weighing them down the whole time and while wearing a pair of shoes that looked lovely, but were new and therefore starting to pinch at her heels. But in the end it was as her mother said; they had little choice in the matter.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

Meanwhile with Regina and Zelena…

What had started out as such a good day was quickly becoming a disaster.

After Ella and Lucy had disappeared on them, Emma and Hope had run off somewhere right after and hadn’t even bothered attempting to come back for whatever reason. When Regina checked her phone to see if either pair had called her, she found she had forgotten to switch it back on after switching it off to stop the constant buzz from Snow with pictures of the ‘boy’s day’ she had accidentally crashed.

And now Zelena had gone and disappeared on them as well!

What happened to simple communication?! A quick, ‘I’ll be right back,’ wouldn’t kill anyone!

Regina paused, trying to take a moment to spot where Zelena had gone off. She had only just disappeared so she had to be close by somewhere, right? Regina had just spoken to her a second ago and without magic she couldn’t get away that fast, right? Neither Robin, nor Alice seemed to have noticed and just as Regina was about to grab their attention to keep from losing the as well, she caught sight of a fluff of red hair off to the side.

“Zelena!” Regina called, rushing over and grabbing her arm before she could disappear again. “Where the hell did you go?!”

“I was trying to find Ella and Lucy,” Zelena said, shrugging her off. “But I swear, the place is even more crowded than when we arrived!”

“Well come on. We need to catch up with Robin and Alice before we lose-” She trailed off when she turned to find the younger girls had already vanished into the rest of the crowds. “-Them…” She finished weakly.

“Where’d they go?” Zelena asked.

“I don’t know!” Regina snapped. “I was too busy looking for you!”

“Hey, don’t blame me. I was trying to help find the others.” Zelena scowled.

“Well why couldn’t you have told us you were before running off like that?!” Regina demanded.

“Oh well I’m so sorry for trying!” Zelena snapped.

“Alright, enough!” Regina waved her hands between them, stopping the argument. “We don’t have time for this. We have to find everyone. Now come on.”

Letting her sister take the lead, Zelena followed Regina down back into the crowd and along the first floor of the shopping centre. They rushed as best as they could, nudging past the people who got in their way but making sure not to get separated from one another again. It wouldn’t do to find the others if they still lost one another in the process and had to start their searches all over again.

But despite their best efforts, the two of them were unable to find anyone else and after a couple hours of endless searching, they were finally running out of options and places to check. They tried finding someone to make an announcement over the loud speakers like they saw in movies, but the only woman who had the slightest bit of control of that sort of thing didn’t appear to want to be of any help, claiming that unless a child was involved then there was nothing to be done about it, otherwise everyone would use them as a phone service for lost friends. And she didn’t seem any more inclined to help then after Zelena began throwing insults at her – several involving a number of choice swear words – finally having to be dragged away by Regina, still kicking and screaming like a child.

“Okay, well now what do we do?!” Zelena snapped, sulking over the way Regina kept her from telling that ugly cow what she really thought of her stupid rules. She wished Emma was still around. She’d like to see another display of her earlier aggression back when they were having lunch. “We could wander around this place all day and not find them in this crowd! For all we know, they could have all gone home already and left us here.”

“Zelena, you are not helping!” Regina snapped back, stalking slightly ahead in her frustration.

“Well neither are you! You’re just running around like a headless chicken!”

Regina came to a sharp stop and started to retort, only to stop herself short, forcing herself to breathe deeply and calm herself down instead. Zelena was right about that much, as much as it pained Regina to admit. She couldn’t help anyone by running around in a huff, or getting more annoyed with the situation, especially as there really was nothing to do about it. They should have planned for this better, but since it was their first real time leaving the United Realms in such a big group for a day trip, none of them had even though twice about the possibilities of getting lost and separated.

When Regina continued to hover silently for a moment, Zelena stepped up beside her and shrugged. “So what do we do now? Keep looking for them or head home?”

“I don’t want to just leave them here.” Regina said instantly.

“Well we can’t help them by staying.” Zelena said. “If we go home, we can give them a call or use a spell to find out where they are.”

“True…” Regina mumbled, chewing her lip before sighing and nodding. “Okay. Let’s head home. We’ll have to call a ride since Robin has the keys. We can get them to drop off at the gas station closest to the town line then walk the rest of the way.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Zelena nodded, eagerly to be back in her comfort zone. The paused; “How are we going to call for a ride exactly?”

Regina rolled her eyes. “We have phones, don’t we?”

Zelena snorted. “I meant, who do we call? I don’t know any cab numbers off by heart and I’m pretty sure it’s been a while since you had to call for one either.”

“Well then we’ll ask someone.” Regina said, not in the mood for Zelena’s negativity. “I’m sure there will be something in a place like this.”

“Whatever. Let’s just find out whoever we need to call and head to the closest gas station. It’s the on down Bradfield, so it shouldn’t take too long to get to by car.” Zelena said, following Regina back towards the crowd, searching the people for a friendly face – and secretly hoping they’d accidentally discover the others at the same time.

“No,” Regina said suddenly. “We head towards Preston Way, down passed the crossroads and to that gas station.”

“Crossroad? We never passed any crossroad. We went over the bridge and-”

“What car did you ride in?! There were no bridges on the way here.”

The two had come to another stop and were glaring at each other. People passed by and shot them curious looks but no one paused to see what happened next and after a moment people stopped staring and began avoiding looking at them altogether, like they were afraid of being caught in the tension that was rapidly building between the two young women.

“This is going to be a long trip home.” Regina grumbled after a long silence.

“If we even get home.” Zelena retorted irritably.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

Finally, Back With Alice and Robin…

Robin sighed, sitting back on the bench and glaring at her phone like it was the small silver devices fault that she couldn’t get through to everyone. Shortly after they had begun looking for the others, she had received a text from Ella, checking that she and Alice were okay and letting them know she and Lucy had made it home safe. Ella was trying to contact everyone else as well, but had so far only been able to get through to the two of them. She promised they would keep trying, but they had already sent Henry and Chad out to find Regina and Zelena, so hopefully they'd be able to track them two down before something happened to the now magic-less witches.

“You okay?” Alice asked, moving to sit beside her, placing their shopping bags at their feet.

“Yes,” Robin sighed, reaching up and rubbing her head. “Ella and Lucy are home safe, and I trust Emma can take care of herself and Hope just fine. But where the hell did mum and aunt Regina get to? They were right behind us when we were passing the sports shop and then just disappeared! You’d think they would have paid better attention to where they were going of all people.”

“Maybe they went to look for Emma and Ella? Or got pushed away by the crowds?” Alice suggested.

“There’s not that big a crowd,” Robin insisted bitterly. She knew the people from Storybrooke weren’t as used to the hustle and bustle that Margot had experienced in her travels, but come on! This was a light gathering at most, yet they all acted so stunned when they walked through the doors that morning. Sighing again, Robin rubbed the last of the headache from her temples and slouched down slightly. “So what do we do? Hang around waiting for them all day?” Robin groaned, finally pocketing her phone.

Alice glanced around at the crowd still fussing past them in a rush to finish off their own shopping. When they had first gotten here, Alice had been a little nervous at just how intense it was as much as everyone else, and had clung onto Robin’s hand for the first few stops. But gradually she began to relax, finding more courage and browsing the shops without hesitating until she felt just like everyone else. But sitting down, looking up at them all, knowing some of the friends were lost in amongst the crowd, it was suddenly intimidating all over again.

“Maybe we should head home.” Alice suggested finally.

“Now?” Robin blinked.

“Yeah,” Alice said. “I mean I know you’re worried, but we both know everyone can handle themselves and it’s getting late. Plus, we have a better chance figuring out what to do when we’re back home.” She glanced around helplessly. “I’m feeling pretty useless just sitting here waiting for them.”

Robin thought it over for a moment before nodding. She stood up and clapped her hands together. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m not sitting here all day when they’re all probably back home anyway.”

Alice smiled and stood, grabbing the bags she had dropped. “It was fun until everyone started disappearing.” She noted as they began walking for the car park.

“Yeah, did you get everything you wanted?” Robin asked.

“Pretty much,” Alice said, then cringed. “But I still don’t think the present for papa is right. What I got him is nice enough,” She said, referring to the wallet she had gotten with a pirate anchor on the front cover. “But it isn’t the perfect gift I was hoping for.”

“Well there’s still time to do some more shopping before Christmas day.” Robin noted.

“I guess…”

Robin could tell Alice wasn’t convinced. She was putting far too much pressure on herself to get the most perfect present for her dad. And if she kept it up, she was just going to end up so disappointed.

“Come on.” Robin said, nudging Alice gently, trying to cheer her up. “I’ll make up some hot chocolate when we get back.”

“Yeah, sure.” Alice said, forcing a smile and trying to appear like she was more cheerful than she really was.

It seemed there was nothing else Robin could do for her. At least not while they were out and about like this. Once they got back home, it would be easier to make her forget about her problems but until then, they still had to put up with a long drive, and it was hard enough getting here, what with Alice’s travel sickness.

They had discovered, while driving to Storybrooke back when they were looking or help against WishRumple, that Alice was very weak to motion sickness. She could last for short journeys, but the longer it took, the more uncomfortable and unhappy she became and if the trip was a really long one then she would be physically sick. And it was made even worse by the fact that Robin had been driving on the way to the centre and therefore unable to comfort her, instead having to leave that to Emma and Ella. And to make matters even worse, now they would be going home with just the two of them so there was no one else to comfort her at all.

As they approached the mini bus they had rented to get their group here – now no longer really needed since losing half said group – Robin glanced nervously back at Alice, seeing her face paling at just the sight of the vehicle. If nothing else, then at least they knew Robin could take all the back way roads in order to get home. It would take twice as long, but they would avoid all other traffic and they could make as many stops as needed this time round. And even just a brief five minute stop seemed to help Alice’s stomach settle somewhat.

“You ready?” Robin asked, climbing inside and dumping their bags on all the empty seats available to them.

“Yeah,” Alice nodded, slouching in her seat beside Robin. She really was ready to just be home.

“We’ll make it nice as easy as I can.” Robin promised, starting the vehicle and pulling out of the parking space.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

“I’m really sorry.” Alice breathed, leaning heavily against Robin as they wandered through a wooded area into a small cottage like town; searching for a place they could get a drink of water.

“Stop apologizing.” Robin insisted, giving her a one arm hug. “It’s fine. I like it. We’re making a good day last longer!”

Alice smiled sadly at her and took a deep breath through her nose, already feeling a little more at ease. She suffered the sickness badly, but it didn’t take very long of being out on her own two feet for the feeling to start passing.

The town they had wandering into was on one of the most deserted roads home. It was something close to run down, like the kind of place that didn’t appear to get very many visitors passing through it. Robin could tell, not only because it had a lingering old feel to it – what with all the buildings faded colours of grey and brown and a series of crocked fences and overgrown weeded gardens, like they didn’t care to keep up appearances any more – but she and Alice couldn’t help but notice that almost everyone they passed glanced their way. When they all looked up at them, they watched the pair wander by for just enough time to almost be awkward. Only when they were all but on top of them did each person finally give them a slightly suspicious – yet still friendly – smile before turning back to their daily tasks and leaving the girls be.

It was not the brightest of places but Alice saw it as being very quaint and simple. She almost found the little houses and cobbled stone roads cute, and liked how everything matched so perfectly, even with the smoky smell drifting from the chimneys. The only problem was that everything was so neat and tidy and similar, that it took Alice and Robin a moment before they found somewhere to rest.

They nearly walked right past the only place in town before realizing that while it looked like someone’s home, it had actually been remodeled so that the first floor was a cozy little café. There was a tied off area to the stairs where the owners no doubt lived, but their living room and dining room had been combined into one with a series of tables chairs and even a sofa by the window, and a counter had been set up in front of the door that led into the kitchen. There were also a series of trinkets spread out across the side for sale, mostly things with the town’s name on and nothing of interest but Alice was oddly fascinated, wandering over and looking at everything while they waited to be served.

Just as Alice began to finger a square gold and silver keychain, the kitchen door swung open and an older woman appeared holding a bottle of polish in one hand and a yellow rag in the other. She jumped at the sight of them but quickly put on her best smile and rushed to the counter.

“Oh, hello, ladies!” The woman said immediately, standing straight and beaming at them as she dropped her cleaning rag onto the bench behind her. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we get some water?” Robin asked politely.

“Of course!” The woman turned and ducked under the counter, opening a mini fridge and pulling out a plastic bottle.

“Anything else?” The woman asked brightly.

Alice accepted the bottle while Robin debated whether or not she should pick up a coke for herself while they were here. But before Alice could take her first sip, she paused as something caught her eyes. It was sitting on a hanger in front of her on the edge of the counter top. She reached out and picked up the object, holding it carefully between her fingers. Most of the counter items were just a series of ugly looking pens, pads, key rings and an endless line of sweets and chocolates that Robin would have happily gorged on if not for the fact that she did a quick double take on the outrageous prices for them.

But in amongst the rest of the tacky items, there was something that stood out as actually quite nice and unique. It was that, that Alice picked up and she found herself staring down at it in awe.

“You like that?” Robin asked.

“It’s perfect.” Alice breathed, looking up at Robin. “This is it. Papa will love it!”

“That too, please.” Robin nodded.

“Of course!” The woman smiled, ringing it all up.

Alice pressed her lips together and looked at Robin, smiling softly. “You ever think some things happen for a reason?”

Robin was about to snort at the idea, rolling her eyes for emphasis but stopped herself short. She glanced from the item in her hand back up to Alice’s wide eyed expression. And she found herself thinking back to all the events that led to their first meeting, and then all the meetings they had after that – including the one they had when they were cursed.

Yeah. Maybe Robin did believe all things happened for a reason.

Later, she just wished she could figure out what the reason was for Zelena and Regina getting lost and drifting five hours further away from home than when they started.

Fun fact, this little "cottage run down town" and the cafe inside someone's home was inspired by somewhere I went on my last holiday. It was cute but it clearly didn't get many visitors and the stuff the cafe was selling was pretty naff but I like the idea of Alice finding her perfect gift there. The gift will be revealed later btw ;)

#Once Upon A Time #Curious Archer #Alice Jones #Robin Mills #Ella Mills #Lucy Mills #Emma Swan #Hope Swan Jones #Regina Mills #Zelena #Mad Archer #Curious Archer Christmas #OUAT Fanfiction

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thorinkingoferebor · 5 years

Text

Some thoughts on the horse accident simulator and sad outlaws :(

okay, so this is the big old game impressions post I promised. don’t know how organized it’ll be since I’m still in a state of grief but here we go. First part is spoiler free, whenever there’s a number after a comment you can scroll down to the end to find a more in-depth comment containing spoilers. There’s a clear separation between the spoiler-free part and the rest with a lot of empty lines so you can stop ready before it gets dangerous^^

General comments:

in case you somehow managed to miss this despite me screaming about this game for 3+ weeks: I loved it. So freaking much! I don’t want to rank it cause it’s all still fresh and it wouldn’t be a fair competition atm but it’s definitely in my top 3. there are so many things this games just gets right. Granted, others might disagree but to me, it was the perfect mix of main missions, side missions, RPG elements, perfect map size, dramatic dialogue without overdoing it, etc.

I actually wasn’t planning on buying this game, I was saving money for the new Fallout game (that was before that whole mess) and then more or less bought it on a whim because a) it looked amazing, b) I’d had a rough week and I wanted to shoot virtual things and c) my favourite online news website trashed it and whenever they trash an open world RPG I just know I’m gonna love it cause they have the absolute worst taste in games^^

I bought rdr1 a couple of years ago but never got around to actually playing it. I still know almost nothing about it apart from who the main character is and where it’s set. I’d like to keep it that way so I can enjoy that at some point as well :)

If you haven’t finished yet, I really recommend getting a good horse early on and sticking with it. The final scene with your horse will be even more emotional if you’ve had it for most of the game :))))))))))))))))))))

I suspected this game would wreck me and it did :)))))))) I think the only game that affected me more was ME3. But yeah, I cry easily when I watch stuff and I was gone from the moment Arthur put on his head in Chapter six to the end (which is quite a while and it involves fight scenes and everything! Try shooting people when you’re busy crying!) and then again through the credits after the epilogues.

This game is HUGE! Not because the map is big or because the plot takes so long, it’s just so full and alive. Very hard to describe but it’s just so big!

Stuff I liked:

THE HORSES! Absolutely amazing! That (and landscapes) are probably what people talked the most about when it was released and it’s understandable. The animations and the handling is just unbelievable. I can’t even imagine how much work went into this and that’s probably not even the most impressive thing about the game!

The landscape is stunning but honestly, HZD was just as stunning, had the same kind of diversity regarding climate zones and yet RDR2 does something I haven’t seen to that extent in any other game so far: It makes the land around you feel alive! That’s down to tiny things like being able to see the individual rain droplets in the fog when you hold up a lantern, the way a bush moves around you when you walk through it (the first time I saw that I literally gasped!), rockslides and avalanches, wheel tracks in the mud, localised dirt on Arthur or the horse when you fall down. And then, of course, there are the bigger, scripted additions like railroads being built, houses burning down or being erected as the game progresses, trees being taken down or burning after a thunderstorm, animals around you interacting with other animals, animal carcasses decaying if you leave them, predators hunting prey (like have you seen this stuff? It’s insane!). Then you have NPCs that remember you and make references to your last meeting, NPCs are repulsed when you still have some blood on you, people you beat up sporting a bandage the next time you see them, having to remember to cut your hair and beard and take a bath, someone you captures freaking out when you place them too close to water because they might drown, a farmer fixing their fence after you accidentally rode through it a couple of days ago, Arthur quietly singing when you ride for too long without doing anything, your fellow outlaws having interactions that don’t involve you at all! There is so much detail in this game and it’s not like other games haven’t done a similar thing but not to this extent. It generates an immersion that I think is currently unparalleled. Absolutely incredible and you can tell that (despite the frankly unacceptable working conditions that were reported) people put their heart and soul into it.

I loved the fact that there weren’t too many side quests as there often are in RPGs (and most of the times they are somewhat repetitive). I felt there were just the right amount of additional quest markers on my map at any given time and apart from like “Hey mister race me!” quests every single one of them was unique! And most of the time you met well-developed NPCs you could later meet again! (Mickey and Hamish and the widow whose name I can’t remember right now stand out here <3)

The lighting in this game is out of this world! I think there was only one scene in which it didn’t quite work but apart from that every in-game scene might as well have been a cutscene for its beauty

It’s utterly heartbreaking and since I apparently love being sad this is perfect for me ;)

I loved the fact that they took accidental dialogue interruptions into account with the whole “right, where were we” thing

The motion capture and voice acting is brilliant! And as far as I can tell many of the actors haven’t even really done anything big but everyone was so stellar and Arthur’s actor really delivered!

Love my outlaw gang so much :’) especially the relationships between Arthur and John, Dutch, Sadie, Hosea, and Charles

and I LOVE Arthur! What an incredible main character and what a fantastic character journey! [1]

(connected to the point above) probably my absolute favourite thing about the entire game: The game objective changes drastically 3/4 of the way through and suddenly things that used to be a disadvantage are the opposite and the other way around. It’s brilliant! [2]

The music is so stunning! Both the background ambient music during free play but most importantly the songs they recorded and worked in so seamlessly. I still get goosebumps thinking about “Might I (Stand unbroken)”

Stuff I didn’t like:

I don’t think I’ve had any bugs (which is really surprising for a game of this size) except two instances of the dialogue disappearing for like a minute or so. It didn’t bother me that much, just turned on the subtitles for a bit and it was fine but yep, I did find some bugs

I feel like a horse that is able to bolt if it sees a snake or a predator should be able to not hit a solitary tree that I obviously did not want to ride into ;) like I get the collisions in dense forest areas but in open planes I feel like the horse should be smart enough to take a step to the side without me prompting it ;)

it’s really easy to accidentally murder someone :( and I feel like the bounty system needs an update. If I accidentally walk into someone who gets offended and then starts shooting at me even though I’m apologizing then I shouldn’t get a bounty for knocking him out so he won’t kill me :/

I really did not like the “supernatural” stuff... I know they were just easter eggs and not relevant in any way but they just threw me off completely

There was one character I think I was supposed to connect to and I just didn’t which was a bit of a shame [3]

I wish there was a mission to the west (think Arizona, Utah landscape) I would have loved to ride through there with Arthur

I’m sure I missed quite a bit and I haven’t done everything in the game by far (only like 80% completion). I didn’t hunt much apart from the first two chapters, I didn’t craft much, I didn’t explore as much as I wanted to and I waited until like Chapter five before spending money. So there’s lots of stuff I still want to do and even more, I want to do again and really take my time now that I don’t have to be worried about accidentally reading a spoiler^^

So yep, second playthrough (albeit a much slower one) is about to start :)

SPOILERS WILL START BELOW! STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED!

SPOILERS APPROACHING!

THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW!

[1] Arthur’s Character:

Arthur Morgan is definitely one of my all-time fictional characters now. It was an amazing journey from someone who clearly has a moral code but doesn’t (want to) use it for various reasons to someone who (probably for the first time in his life) takes charge of it and stands up to the people who want to make into something he’s just not. I’m an absolute sucker for character growth and rough characters becoming protective and selfless and trying to make the world a better place before they go. For me, that’s what separates a good movie/tv show/game from an excellent one and RDR2 delivered!

And then there’s the’s the huge TB bombshell in chapter 5 which changes everything and accelerates what’s been coming for a while. I’m such a big fan of this, honestly. Normally you get that kind of stuff at the beginning (e.g. Breaking Bad, Deadpool, etc.) to motivate some kind of change but in RDR2 you get all this time see Arthur not be who he clearly should be but getting closer and closer and then the dam just breaks. I mean I hate it with all my heart because up until then I thought he might get out alive but damn what a wonderful character arc!

[2] Game Objective:

So this is the big one, very subtle I think but again something I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video game do and I’m just stunned!

I started writing a list for this post when I was in Chapter 2 and I had “Honour system” on my “stuff I don’t like list”. The reason for that was, I thought it was pointless and not well thought through. Sure it’s a nice idea (and not a new one) to give the player the option of being a very nice or a very bad guy and then depending on that some interactions might change. That’s the whole nature of RPGs. But the thing is, it should be equally easy to play as totally good or totally bad. And it wasn’t! For most of the game, you were at a severe disadvantage if you were trying to get high honour. You can’t rob people to get some money, you can’t rob carriages or trains to train for the larger missions and gain experience, you can’t refuse to collect a debt instead you have to beat people! Sure, now and then you can help someone and they give you some money or some supplies but that doesn't compare to what you’d get by looting corpses. And even if you somehow do something really good and your honour improves, you will still have to take part in Dutch’s raid so you fall back down to some area in the middle. I thought that was frustrating and I thought I was missing out on a big part of the game experience because my objective to be nice got in the way.

But then Arthur got sick and from that moment the rewards for being nice were insane! And I realized that the game objective was directly tied to Arthur’s internal struggle. He wanted to be a good man but life made it seemingly impossible so he kept stealing, he kept killing, he kept turning back to bad habits. But once he broke free of that, once he started to see the good in the world it was suddenly so easy to get high honour because for once the game (aka Dutch’s influence on Arthur) didn’t force you into dishonourable situations anymore. It’s so neat! Turning something that used to be a disadvantage (wanting to be good) into an advantage more than halfway through the game. I’m honestly so impressed by the total gear change that achieved!

[3] Mary:

Here’s the thing: I really want to like her and it’s not even that I dislike her, I’m just really indifferent. It’s obvious Arthur loves her a lot and it’s obvious she loves Arthur quite a bit as well but all I saw in the game are two people who might like each other but who are clearly not compatible. And I was wondering if the game wants me to root for them, to hope that they’ll make it and basically have the life John and Abigail have at the end of the epilogue but I kept thinking: “That will never work”. I think it’s mainly because we see so little of her and like 40% of what she says is “Oh, Arthur” (which gets old real quick the same way “I have a plan, Arthur!” gets old after 20 times). I feel like if she’d been around for more missions I might feel very differently. Or some flashbacks might have been nice. But with about 60+ hours of gameplay and about 30 minutes of Mary I just couldn’t connect. It seemed like a relationship that was way past it’s prime just like their outlaw lifestyle and just like the outlaw lifestyle Arthur just didn’t want to believe it.

That being said, I don’t think Mary shouldn’t be in the game! I think she has a purpose and I did her first mission very early one, so that was the first time that I saw Arthur display complex emotions which was great! But as the story went on I just cared so much more about the other outlaws and I honestly think Arthur would have been happier being Jack’s weird uncle who drops in from time to time than Mary’s proper, upstanding husband. So in the end, some outlaws standing next to Arthur’s grave would have made more sense to me than Mary :/

#text posts by thea #thea plays rdr2 #ok here it is #it's a long one ;)#i have many emotional opinions ;)

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fandom-imagines · 6 years

Text

Runaway ➳ Min Yoongi X Reader

Chapter Fifteen:

Runaway Masterlist

Pairing: Min Yoongi (Suga) X Reader

Change ➳ Make or become different

“Like I said before. The only mistake I made, was dating you.” I stated plainly, surprising myself at how my whole attitude towards him had changed.

Had this been a few months ago, I would have been a shaking, sobbing mess on the counter I was currently leaning against, with him laughing down the phone instead of being silenced by me.

“Keep being a bitch and I’ll fly over to Korea myself.” He threatened, at which I chuckled.

“You can’t get on a plane drunk. Besides, last, I checked you didn’t have any money. You don’t have much left when you spend it all on drugs.” I said, making him growl in both anger and frustration.

“You’ve gone from being a pussy who flinches at the slightest thing and the only thing you can say are apologies to some strong independent woman who will backchat the man who has the most power over her in such a short period of time, what’s that about?” He asked, the teasing tone of his voice giving me the impression he was smirking to himself.

“Maybe I had a realisation that you don’t control me, and that I don’t need to do everything to please the people around me.” I spat, all my pent-up anger slowly, but surely, coming out.

“Oh, so now you’re sleeping with all those boys?”

“Totally, I fuck them all the time, you got me man.” I replied, sarcasm oozing out of my mouth.

“Wouldn’t surprise me, a whore like you. Desperate gold digger. Nobody would employ your ass, so you have to sleep with people for money.” He chuckled, causing me to cringe.

“Besides, I wouldn’t be sure they like you. You’d be surprised how many Korean people I know; how easy they are to manipulate into doing things for me. So, if I were you, I’d watch my back. Goodnight, Y/N.” He said, before hanging up the phone.

Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t a mess after this call. Instead, I turned towards my cupboard, grabbed a glass to get a drink, and headed to bed.

This was incredibly weird, especially for me.

A good type of weird.

I smiled to myself, placing the glass on the table beside my bed, stripping myself of my clothes to get ready to sleep.

I woke up the following day to the sound of my alarm, alerting me I had two hours until work.

I let out a small sigh, slowly sitting up in my bed and grabbing my phone.

TaeTae: Y/F/N Y/S/N!

TaeTae: Tell your boyfriend to stop punching Jungkook

TaeTae: Oh it’s 2am, makes sense why you’re not replying T~T

TaeTae: Hyung’s coming to kill me now for possibly waking you, if I don’t message you again I’m dead.

TaeTae: Update, I’m alive

Laughing to myself, I place my phone back in its usual spot, before heading to the shower.

“Morning everyone!” The cafes manager smiled, walking into the staffroom, paperwork in hand.

“Morning.” Everyone echoed, returning his smile.

“So, you may or may not know that the café is going to be undergoing some changes real soon, meaning it will be closed for a short period of time. Don’t worry though, you will all still be paid, it will be two weeks at a stretch. Today will be your last full day, so make the most of it!” He grinned, bidding us goodbye as we all headed to begin working for the day.

“Morning, Y/N” My co-worker, Ye-Eun greeted as we passed each other.

“Good morning.” I said, returning her smile as I headed towards the first table of the day.

The day went buy as quick as usual, each customer being sweet and polite.

As I turned around, I spotted someone I had never seen here before behind the counter, leaving me confused.

Was he new?

“Hey!” He waved, noticing me staring, making me blush in embarrassment.

“Hi, sorry do I know you?” I asked, walking towards him with a smile on my face.

“Ah, no I just started. I’m Seojun” He introduce, holding out his hand for me to shake.

“I’m Y/N” I smiled, taking his hand in my own and giving it a small shake.

The bright light of the café reflected from his brown hair, his brown eyes slightly covered by his fringe, but still visible.

His face held a permanent smile from what I had seen, and his dimples could make any girls knees weak, reminding me of Namjoon.

His frame was small, besides his shoulders which were broader than the rest of his body.

“I know, I saw you this morning.” He chuckled, earning a small laugh from me.

A customer nearby caught Seojuns attention, at which he smiled a nodded at the elder.

“That’s my cue, I’ll see you later, Y/N” He grinned, messing up his hair.

“See you.”

“For the last time, no you can’t cook!” was the first thing I heard as I walked into the boys’ dorms, causing me to chuckle.

Typical Jin.

“Hi, Y/N.” I heard Jimin say from the end of the hallway, giving me a small wave which I gladly returned.

“Hey, Jimin” I grinned, taking off my shoes.

“You’ll burn it all again, Namjoon! Or break something!” Jin yelled as Namjoon groaned.

As I walked into the kitchen, the first thing that caught my attention was Jin hitting Namjoon repeatedly with a spatula.

Jungkook was grabbing a packet of crisps from the cupboard as fast as he could, while Hobi watched out for him, making sure Jin was distracted to avoid a lecture, Taehyung was also in on the mission, prepared to distract anyone whenever necessary.

I laughed at the sight, catching the attention of Jin who turned to face Jungkook who now had the packet of crisps in hand, which led to Taehyung leaping forward and wrapping Jin into a tight hug, his hands covering his eyes as Jungkook grabbed the crisps as fast as he could and darted down the hallway, back to his room.

As soon as Jungkook was out of sight, Taehyung pulled away, a bright smile on his lips leaving Jin confused.

“Thanks for cooking, Jin!” He thanked, earning a confused nod from Jin, making Hoseok and I laugh, knowing what just happened.

“Why did Jungkook just run down into his room with a bag of crisps?” Yoongi questioned from the doorway, causing Taehyung and Hobi to groan.

“Hyung!” Tae gasped, pouting as he caught Jins gaze, immediately running off from the kitchen to avoid the lecture from Jin about eating before dinner, leaving Hobi alone to take the lecture himself.

“I don’t understand, did I do something” Yoongi asked, walking towards me and leaning on the counter besides me.

“Jungkook, Hobi and Taehyung were trying to steal a bag of crisps.” I explained nodding towards Hobi who was currently being scolded by Jin, as Namjoon sneakily took the spatula from the counter, walking towards the pan and poking the food inside of it, earning a loud hiss capturing Jins attention as he let out a shriek.

“I was trying to work on some music, but then I heard all this noise and couldn’t concentrate.” Yoongi sighed, thinking for a moment.

“I’m gonna go to the studio, you coming?” He asked, heading towards the door and grabbing his shoes.

“Sure” I shrugged, following him and grabbing my own shoes.

“You have a big studio.” Was the first thing to leave my mouth as we entered.

“All the studios I’ve worked in have been really small.” I said, watching as Yoongi immediately sat down in the chair, grabbing my elbows and pulling me to sit between his legs.

“You’ve worked in studios?” He asked, turning to the computer in front of him.

“Yeah, like I said, I used to write music before I had to give it up.” I shrugged, recalling the last conversation I had about music back at home.

“You either stop or your sister gets it. You’re not good enough to write music, so why bother?”

“Why’d you stop?”

“I was forced, some people didn’t agree with it, said I wasn’t good enough” I said surprisingly casually, leaving him confused.

“Forced?”

“Threatened, I guess. It’s a long story and you’re working” I smiled, nodding towards the computer that had a professional program open.

“Do you have any of your lyrics on your phone? Or a website? We could work on something, because my brain is completely fried” He sighed, as I nodded.

“Uh, yeah. The song lost I told you about is drafted on my drive.” I nodded, at which he smiled and leant over me, his hands either side of me and typed in the site for me to log on and get the lyrics for him to read over.

“You said you finished this the other day, right?” He asked after reading over it a few times.

“Yeah, a few weeks ago.” I blushed, wondering if he had figured out ‘found my way’ was about meeting him and the rest of Bangtan.

He definitely did, the smirk on his face proved it.

“Have you got a melody, tune yet?” He asked, at which I shook my head.

“Not yet, I haven’t had much time since I finished it.” I shrugged, making him nod and pat my thigh signalling me to jump up.

“Let’s go.” He said, nodding towards the keyboard at the other side of the room.

A few hours later Yoongi and I had finished the entire song, which seemed like something Bangtan would sing.

Well, it would make since considering one of the members helped make it.

“We make a good team.” Yoongi complimented, listening to the melody we had composed in such a brief period of time.

“See, impressive.” He said, causing me to blush.

I had never worked so well with someone before.

Even though I had worked with nearly 100 composers, I had never experienced something like this.

“You’re really good, whoever says otherwise is really fucking wrong.” He continued, making the blush on my cheeks darken even more.

“I know right” I joked, dramatically swinging my hair over my shoulder, at which he smiled.

“You’re such a meme, no wonder you and Jungkook get along” He smiled, walking towards me confusing me.

We stood in silence for a moment, before Yoongi’s lips pressed against my own, hands placed on my waist as my own made their way around his neck.

Suddenly, a loud noise of disgust came from the studio door, making us pull away.

Stood in the doorway was, surprise, Taehyung and Jungkook.

“Why does this always happen?” Taehyung complained, walking into the studio.

“Honestly hyung, if you’re going to do the dirty with her in your studio, at least take her out to dinner first. Jeez.” Jungkook joked, smirking until Yoongi hit him over the head.

“Shut up” Yoongi said, as Jungkook gently rubbed where he had been hit.

“What are you even doing here?” Yoongi asked, looking towards Taehyung, who was now sat on Yoongi’s chair.

“Jin-hyung told us to bring you food, because you usually stay here for hours without eating.” Taehyung explained, holding up the bag he had, had in his hands since he arrived.

“We got lamb skewers, we got some for us too. Basically, we’re crashing your studio” Jungkook said, giving us, an innocent smile and he sat down, taking some food from Taehyung.

“So, did you start a new song, hyung?” Jungkook asked, finishing off his lamb skewer.

“Well, we started and finished one, it turned out great.” Yoongi nodded, looking towards me, a small smile on his lips.

Taehyung and Jungkook shared a look for a moment, before looking between Yoongi and I leaving us confused.

“Hyung, you rarely let anyone in your studio.” Jungkook smirked, proud of himself for some unknown reason.

“So, when are you getting married?” Taehyung laughed, earning a glare from Yoongi as he threw a piece of meat at him, hitting him in the forehead, as we all chuckled.

“Hyung’s blushing!” Jungkook laughed, pointing at Yoongi’s cheeks that were tinted a light red, almost unnoticeable.

“Are you guys coming back to the dorm now? It’s getting late.” Taehyung asked, yawning as he looked at the time.

“I should be getting home, I have things to do.” I shrugged, stretching as I stood up.

“I’ll walk you, it’s dark.” Yoongi said, grabbing a mask from his desk before walking towards the three of us as Taehyung and Jungkook snickered, whispering to each other about Yoongi turning soft.

The four of us left the studio and out into the streets, as the cars flew down the road, obviously way over the speed limit, something that isn’t uncommon in Seoul. We walked in a comfortable silence for a while, until we reached the dorms.

“We’ll see you later” The youngers said, smiling as they walked back towards the dorm.

Once they were inside, Yoongi and I set off back towards my apartment, side by side.

“You don’t have to walk me, you know? I’m a big girl” I laughed, as he shook his head.

“Don’t want you getting kidnapped now, do I?” He smiled, his hand gently brushing mine.

Hesitantly, he looked around for a moment, before taking my hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze, standing closer to me making my cheeks light up a bright red. We remained in a comforting silence for most of the walk, the only noise coming from cars passing by, as we walked hand in hand down the street.

“I’ll see you later, right?” Yoongi asked, as we stood outside of my apartment.

“Of course, where else would I go?” I smiled, looking down at the ground for a second, still not used to being treated so sweetly.

Yoongi gave me a small smile, his mask now pulled down, hanging down his neck.

His lips pressed against mine, our hands still intertwined while his spare hand was pressed against my blushing cheeks.

“Goodnight, I’ll see you later.” He smiled, pulling his mask back up his face, watching me walk into the building before walking away.

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theofficialcunt · 7 years

Note

Prompt: rewind a bit to before Negative Nancy came out and have Adore be nervous about whether or not the fans would like it and Bianca comes over at like 1AM to comfort her cause Adore is freaking out

I know this is super long for a prompt but I just couldn’t help myself! I go a little off track but I hope that it’s still what you were looking for anon. Enjoy! 💕

Adore had just wrapped up the last song on her album today, which ironically would be the first song she would be releasing as a single to the public.

The album had a very different sound for 2017, sounding more like the early 2000’s punk rock bands she had grown up with, with influences from the 90’s peppered into some of the tracks here and there. She had been inspired by the grunge movement in Seattle, and took comfort in the rock and roll city after her dramatic departure from All Stars 2.

“We’re confident that your album will make history Miss Delano.” The platinum blonde receptionist smiled, but Adore sensed a hidden undertone in her voice.

Was it doubt?

Adore smiled back faintly nodding in agreement, and walked towards the elevator to exit the record producers building.

She couldn’t doubt herself now. Everything was set in stone now, and it would be incredibly unprofessional to break the contract. Maybe punk rock wasn’t the receptionists style. She thought back idly to the young woman with over bleached white hair was pulled tightly into two dutch braids. She was wearing all black which could indicate punk or some sort of hidden angst, but that was most likely the company’s dress code.

Shrugging off the comment, she decided to leak the first single to her top 4 group chat to see what they thought.

Adore: Just wrapped my album up! Listen to the first single and tell me what you think ❤️

She finished typing and slid the phone back into her jeans. Just then, the elevator bell dinged indicating she had reached her floor. She stepped out, sighing as she began to walk to her car out in the parking garage.

“Hey!”

Adore spun around and saw none other than Roy. He was by himself, and had just gotten out of his car. He looked amazing - of course - with windswept hair and his black blazer.

“Oh my god! What are you doing here?” Adore asked confused as she hugged him. It had been awhile since she saw Roy, these days they were often scheduled on opposite sides of the globe. They talked so little they were practically strangers at this point.

“My management company is in this building. We’re about to go over plans for a new tour.” Roy explained. “I thought you knew that?”

Maybe at one time Adore knew that, but it had clearly slipped her mind. Roy had been really distant with Adore lately. They used to text every single day- outside of the group chat- but they hadn’t had a real conversation in months. Maybe even close to a year.

“Guess not.” Adore shrugged. She paced uncomfortably towards her car. “Well, I’ll let you get to your meeting then. I don’t wanna keep you.”

“Yeah, I should get going.” Roy cleared his throat awkwardly, his voice failing to hide a tone of disappointment. “How long are you in town?”

“I’ll be here until Wednesday.” Adore said.

“Well if you aren’t busy, we should get together before you go back to Seattle.” Roy suggested.

“Sure man!” Adore said excitedly, smiling toothily. She missed Roy, but she didn’t want to seem desperate and clingy like she was always made out to be.

“Party. I’ll see you later then.” Roy grinned and gave Adore a hug goodbye, lingering a little longer before he pulled away.

Adore pulled away, walking to her car and sitting down before she allowed herself to really think about what just happened.

That was awkward, no doubt about it and she wondered if Roy even really wanted to see her.

She started her car, realizing that Roy didn’t even see the text about her song that she sent in the group chat. Well, either he didn’t see it, or didn’t care enough about her anymore to give it a listen.

She decided to forget about their encounter, and as she headed back to her hotel; she focused on blasting her new album instead of waiting for her friends response.

——————

1:00 AM

Bzz, bzz.

Danny swatted his phone away from him as it continued to vibrate. It was most likely just notifications for his social media. He was confused, and he was about 15 beers deep as he listened to his album on repeat over and over again.

He caved and grabbed his phone, seeing that the vibrating was just fans tweeting him to release Dye and Rosie. He rolled his eyes, still irritated at the person who hacked his phone months ago. He closed twitter and scrolled through his messages again, re-reading what Courtney in particular had said.

Courtney: Wow, that’s quite a different sound for you. You’re definitely taking a risk Adorm.

He knew the Aussie meant well, but the words still hurt. He had been doubting himself since the afternoon, wondering if he had made a mistake recording an alternative album. It had unintentionally put him over the edge.

The fact that Roy hadn’t even commented on the song pissed him off even more. He clearly didn’t care about having any sort of friendship with Danny, let alone a professional relationship. Everytime Bianca had a new tour announcement, Adore would tweet her support for B to her followers to help boost sales. Not like she needed it, but she felt it was the right thing to do. She used to do that for Adore back in the day too, but now apparently that’s out the window. Adore can’t even get a text back, let alone any support on social media.

She decided enough was enough. She slammed her fingers firmly into glass iphone screen, entering the phone number that she knew by heart.

“Hello?”

“Listen, I don’t know what your fucking problem is man. But you need to actually talk to me like a fucking adult, and tell me what the fuck is wrong.” Danny spat.

Roy, clearly taken off guard, paused as he was for the first time in history rendered speechless by Danny.

“Well hello to you too.” Roy snapped. “Do you realize that it’s the middle of the night?”

“I know how to read a clock. And don’t fucking act like you haven’t been out all night drinking. We’re in West Hollywood. I highly doubt you were sleeping in bed like a responsible old man.”

Danny was on a roll, he didn’t know if it was the built up frustration, the beer, or the self doubt he was having for his new album - but he was making his feelings clear.

“I’m sorry, give me a second.” Roy said amused, his voice cracking with laughter. He cackled loudly into the receiver, enraging Danny even more.

“What’s so funny?” Danny asked annoyed. He was irritated that Roy was finding his feelings amusing, especially since he was trying to be serious.

“You’re on one of your famous drunk tirades again, and for once I’m the victim.” Roy laughed.

Danny softened as he remembered all of the times they would go out on tour together. Usually, the night would end up in a heated debate - Danny on one end arguing passionately about politics or music with anyone who would argue back. Roy would be on the other end, usually dragging Danny out of the club to avoid an inevitable bar fight.

“I’m surprised you even remember.” Danny murmured.

There was a pause, filled with sadness on Danny’s end as he remembered all of their times on tour. Danny had grown fond of Roy near the end of it, and then their schedules became crazy. It wasn’t until after he filmed All Stars where things got weird between them. That’s when they really began to grow apart, maybe because Roy didn’t agree with his decision - or maybe because Danny was going through a really emotional time and was lashing out.

“How could I forget?” Roy asked softly. “Danny, what’s wrong?”

Danny gulped, picking at his nails as he held his phone on his shoulder.

“Can you come over?”

——–

About 20 minutes later, Danny heard a faint knock at the door. After he rushed to clean up the apartment, there were only traces of the mess he had made earlier. He had stacked the empty cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the corner nearby, and an ashtray was laid out lazily in the middle of the small hotel coffee table. Which was a vast improvement from earlier.

He opened the door meekly, letting a casually dressed Roy saunter into the small room. He had traded in his signature black blazer for a graphic t shirt with the letter ‘B’ on it, and some ripped black skinny jeans. Danny felt himself fangirling over the infamous Roy Haylock who usually didn’t step out of the house in anything less than slacks, wearing a pair of goddamn ripped jeans.

And he looked damn fine in them.

“One of the most successful drag queens in the world, and yet you still drink the cheapest beer. Some things never change.” Roy gestured disgusted to the tower of Pabst. “Thank god, I brought you some rich woman wine to remind you of who you are”

“Aw, you remembered my favorite brand!” Danny exclaimed as he examined the label. It was the wine they used to drink together all the time on Delta. He smiled at the memories as he grabbed two dixie cups from the bathroom. He poured until the cups were full, and handed Roy his before they sat down.

“Sorry, this room doesn’t have wine glasses in it so you’ll have to drink like a poor person with me.” Danny apologized as they sat down on the small couch together.

Roy sipped his wine, trying to hide the disgust from his face as he examined the tiny hotel room. He could tell Danny had rushed to clean it, noticing all of the remnants of fast food and weed shoved in the small garbage nearby. The faint smell of cigarettes lingered in the room, as well as the fragrance of stale beer that was sitting on the table.

“So I listened to your song.”

“You did?” Danny asked incredulously. “What did you think?”

“I liked it. It’s different but it shows who you are, and not what you think your fans want to hear.” Roy said, sipping his wine.

Danny felt relief wash over him. He was really glad Roy approved of the song, but he still had his doubts.

“But something tells me my approval isn’t what you’re looking for, so what’s the real problem here?” Roy asked bluntly.

“I-” Danny stammered. “I feel like this album isn’t going to be good enough. Courtney didn’t understand-”

“Courtney is a pop princess that barely knows the difference between The Spice Girls and Fifth Harmony. I wouldn’t take her opinion about a rock album too seriously.” Roy quipped, grabbing Danny’s hand softly before he continued. “You’re taking a risk, but that doesn’t mean that what you’re doing is wrong.”

Danny felt himself relax, as he played with Roy’s hand absentmindedly. He was right, it was a risk - but it would most likely pay off in the long run. Opinions didn’t mean anything at the end of the day, it was all about the record sales.

“I missed you Roy. I’ve missed you so much.” Danny confessed as he leaned his head on Roy’s shoulder. They were still holding hands, Roy squeezed it in response as they sat together on the couch.

“I missed you too Danny.” Roy admitted.

“Why did you push me away?” Danny asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Roy’s shoulder stiffened as he thought about the answer.

“I can’t talk about it.” Roy finally said, so softly that Danny had hardly heard him.

“Why not?” Danny asked gently, squeezing Roy’s hand lightly. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“Not this.” Roy said, as he looked away from Danny. He almost had a guilty look on his face, as if he was hiding something awful from Danny.

“It can’t be that bad.” Danny encouraged. “Please Roy. I won’t tell anyone, and besides I’m pretty wasted so chances are I probably won’t remember it anyway.”

That was a pretty tempting statement, Roy thought. But there was always the slim possibility that Danny would remember in the morning - and he didn’t know if he wanted to take that chance.

“You can tell me anything.” Danny said, interrupting his thoughts. He really wanted to know what was up with Roy, and for some reason he felt that whatever this issue is, is what has been keeping them apart the last few months.

“Fine,” Roy started, thinking bitterly about the universe being against him at this point. “I pushed you away because I started-” Roy paused, sighing heavily as if he had just come up for air. He pulled his hand away as he continued to compose himself.

“Because?” Danny asked confused. Why was he breathing so heavily? Was he passing a kidney stone or something?

“Because I started to develop feelings for you.” Roy rushed the words out, taking a long gulp of his cup of wine before finishing it off completely. He avoided his eyes, staring down at the coffee table as he clasped his hands together.

Danny felt his heart spring to life as he processed what Roy had said. It was like someone had brought him back to life, electrifying him. He felt like he was on fire. Roy liked him? No way.

“Don’t fuck with me man.” Danny said, pleading in his voice.

“I wouldn’t fuck with you about something like this.” Roy murmured, avoiding eye contact.

Roy really had feelings for him? Him? Out of all of the attractive men, drag queens, producers, Roy’s heart had chosen him?

Well, had.

“So you don’t feel that way anymore then.” Danny said bitterly. He realized anger was starting to bubble up inside of him. “Why couldn’t you tell me back then? You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“A chance? Danny, I knew you didn’t like me. I wasn’t about to have my heart broken and lose my best friend all in one shot.” Roy argued.

“But I did like you Roy!” Danny exploded, stunning Roy into silence.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Roy finally decided, standing up. “You’re drunk.”

“You idiot, a drunk mind speaks a sober heart.” Danny muttered, grabbing Roy’s hand. “I know what I felt for you. So did all of the queens on tour.”

They stood there, holding each other’s hand as time seemed to stop. Danny felt like he was on fire, still feeling electrified by Roy’s confession - locked in by his burning brown eyes that were fixed on his face. Roy was ice, he was frozen in time not sure what he was supposed to do now. He stared at Danny, a mature 27 now. Long hair, about to be a drag queen rockstar - one of the first of his kind. But he was just as attracted to him as he was on the bots tour. He always thought the universe was against him when it came to love, but this one time he had been wrong to go against his gut. He should have just told Danny a long time ago.

“I still have feelings for you.” Danny admitted, breaking the silence.

“So do I.” Roy murmured, looking up slightly at Danny. He hated their height difference, but for him he would make an exception.

Roy moved his hand up to Danny’s cheek, caressing it softly as he stared into his eyes. Closing the distance between them, he gently pressed his lips against the younger mans. Danny moaned in delight and pulled Roy gently on top of him as he laid down on the couch, Roy softly rested his body on his as the kiss became more and more passionate.

“And you say I’m dumb.” Danny murmured in between kisses.

“You could have told me earlier that you had feelings too.” Roy argued lightheartedly, tugging on Danny’s hair.

Danny let out a soft moan as Roy moved his lips from his cheek down to his neck. He bit and sucked softly, leaving his mark on Danny as he tilted his head back in pure bliss.

Eventually the kissing died down, and Roy and Danny ended up moving to the queen sized bed instead.

“So,” Roy smiled, drawing circles on Danny’s back. “What do you want to do?”

“What do you mean?” Danny hummed sleepily.

“Do you uh, want a relationship?” Roy asked awkwardly.

Danny raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Of course I want a relationship with you. You’re out of my league, and when my money runs out you can be my sugar mama.” Danny joked.

Roy let out a soft chuckle and pulled Danny closer to him.

“Okay, just making sure.”

“Roy?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sure I’ll remember this in the morning.” Danny hummed, before they both drifted off to sleep.

#prompts #prompt #biadore

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