#a collection of good bye notes and love letters

[wordsonmars]

California sunshine

I spent my nights at the hospital falling asleep to the playlists you had made me, over and over again, hoping that maybe you’d think of me too.

A childish infatuation, a teenage crush, maybe you’ll be the last one of its kind, I’m slowly growing too old for them.

I think if we had been cities, not countries apart, nothing could’ve stopped my head first dive for destructive dependency on you. Do you like me because I’m a girl? Is it exciting to break your own ruleset? Or do you like me because there’s a silent promise that I’m not actually a sin, that maybe I can push the binary far enough so your mother wouldn’t have a heart attack if she ever were to meet me. She never will, anyway.

You fill my head with caterpillars, slowly eating away at my thoughts to maybe some day turn into butterflies. You write things better than I could ever feel them, I need your words just to get by.

I know I’m making this so much worse than it has to be for either of us, but I’m scared to let go of you.

A year from now, maybe two, will you remember my name? Will you smile when your feed spits out one of my nonsensical thoughts every once in a while? Will we stay in touch long enough for me to watch you marry the blond guy of the week from behind my screen?

You’re a beautiful dream, but I know those always have to come to an end. I’m just waiting for the alarm to wake me up. Until then, just five more minutes. Just five more.

[burningvelvet]

The Byron-Shelley circle reports from Lake Geneva, 1816…

Mary Shelley’s journal entry for July 28th, 1816:

“Sunday, July 28 (Montalègre). — I read Voltaire’s Romans. Shelley reads Lucretius, and talks with Clare. After dinner he goes out in the boat with Lord Byron, and we all go up to Diodati in the evening. This is the second anniversary since Shelley’s and my union.”

Excerpt of a letter from Percy Shelley to his friend Thomas Love Peacock, July 28th, 1816 — he is still recounting the short trip he, Mary, and Claire took to Mont Blanc:

“We have bought some specimens of minerals and plants, and two or three crystal seals, at Mont Blanc, to preserve the remembrance of having approached it. There is a cabinet of histoire naturelle at Chamouni, just as at Keswick, Matlock, and Clifton; the proprietor of which is the very vilest specimen of that vile species of quack, that, together with the whole army of aubergistes and guides, and indeed the entire mass of the population, subsist on the weakness and credulity of travellers as leeches subsist on the sick.

The most interesting of my purchases is a large collection of all the seeds of rare alpine plants, with their names written upon the outside of the papers that contain them.

These I mean to colonise in my garden in England, and to permit you to make what choice you please from them. They are companions which the Celandine — the classic Celandine — need not despise; they are as wild and more daring than he, and will tell him tales of things even as touching and sublime as the gaze of a vernal poet.

Did I tell you that there are troops of wolves among these mountains? In the winter they descend into the valleys, which the snow occupies six months of the year, and devour everything that they can find out of doors.

A wolf is more powerful than the fiercest and strongest dog. There are no bears in these regions. We heard, when we were in Lucerne, that they were occasionally found in the forests which surround that lake.

Adieu. S.”

Undated letter sent from Claire Clairmont to Lord Byron next door, July 1816:

“Pray if you can send M. Polidori either to write another dictionary or to the lady he loves. I hope this last may be his pillow. & then he will go to sleep; for I cannot come at this hour of the night & be seen by him; it is so extremely suspicious. I have not seen you all day. I know you must be home by ten because Geneva shuts at that hour & I will be with you at a ¼ past ten, so remember.”

Another undated letter sent from Claire Clairmont to Lord Byron next door, July 1816:

“I would have come to you to night if I thought I could be of any use to you. If you want me or any thing of or belonging to me I am sure Shelley would come and fetch me if you ask him. I am afraid to come dearest for fear of meeting any one. Can you pretext the copying. Tell me any time I shall come & I will because you will have then made your arrangements. Every thing is so aukward. We go so soon. Dearest pray come and see us pray do. Good bye. I cannot find a wafer S — says he won't look at my note so don't be offended. Good bye dearest. Pray come & see us.”

In the summer of 1816 on Lake Geneva Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin (later that year, Shelley), their nanny Elise, their infant son William, and Mary’s step-sister Claire Clairmont, all lived at Maison Chapuis, less than a ten-minute walk from Byron’s much larger Villa Diodati next door. Claire and Byron had met in the past and began an affair in England that Spring. She fell in love with him and introduced him to Mary privately on April 21st. Earlier that day, Byron had signed the deed of separation from his wife, and on the 23rd he would sail away from England forever. Byron decided to vacation in Geneva while he planned his relocation to Italy that Fall. He took John Polidori with him as his traveling doctor while he recovered from a binge-drinking episode; Polidori was a recent medical school graduate who also aspired to be a writer. Claire urgently followed Byron and convinced Mary and Percy to join her, reliving the trio’s continental tour of 1814. After Byron and Shelley initially met at Geneva’s Hotel d'Angleterre, they decided to rent a boat together and managed to rent neighboring residences. The households would spend most of the summer together. Claire would give birth to her and Byron’s daughter that winter, and in subsequent years the Shelley and Byron households would follow each other around Italy.

[sleepy-achilles]

Hbtaker- Stalkers

Obviously read with cation as you know its my take on Takers and Sara's stalker storyline

Note- I'm drunk and tired and just have not proof read this, but please enjoy. Because..I enjoyed writing it. Thank you. Bye.

-----

Shawn was rich, famous and pretty. Of course he wasn't shocked when crew members would dump love letters at his feet. He wasn't even surprised when he gained a few stalkers. They were always harmless and the ones who got too close, well he always had Kevin or hunter there to protect him.

But things are different now. Shawns happily married and hasn't had a stalker since the 90s. But shawns never been one to have good luck.

-

Shawn hums to himself as he collects the mail. Poor postman nearly had a heart attack when Charlie went nuts at the door. Shawn swears the dog does it on purpose, it's almost like the dog laughs afterwards. "You would think the man who owns this town wouldn't pay bills" Shawn speaks up. No one's home but him, but he knows the house and Charlie are listening. He pauses at a envelope with his name on. No one knows he lives here...he gets his mail sent to goldusts or kevins house to avoid suspicion. There's no address which means they never sent this. Someone hand delivered it.

Maybe that wasn't the post man. Shawn looks at Charlie who's still growling and snarling at the door despite the postman being long gone. He throws the other mail onto the table and opens it quick. He tips it out onto the table. A photo and a letter. He picks the letter up.

Dear Shawn,

I've finally found you my love.

And that creep thinks he can keep you from me?

From us?

I don't think so.

I'll see you soon.

Much love.

Xx

Shawns heart jumps into his throat. Its not the creepiest or most disgusting letter he's received. But, there's something different about this. Maybe it's the fact their first interaction is in shawns secret home. Or the fact they know shawns taken. Shawns hand shakes as he grabs the photo. "Oh god" he whispers. Its a close up of Shawn and takers bedroom window. A close up of Shawn and taker in bed together, doing something Shawn would prefer the world didn't see.

He quickly shoves the items back in the envelope at the sound of takers truck. He cannot find out about this. He has enough going on. Shawns eyes scan the area before landing on his old motocross boots he used to wear in the ring. He's quick to shove the envelope in the right boot before moving back to the table. Charlie just stares at him stupidly. Shawn lowers his head and mutters a small pray to himself as the door swings open.

"You cheated and you damn well know it" Taker grunts. "He got you fair and square." Goldust laughs. Kane makes a grunting noise that is either a laugh or a curse word. Shawn never knows these days. "Hey baby, you alright?" Taker asks walking closer. 'Ask me anything else. I beg you.' Shawn thinks to himself. He turns in takers hold and sends him the biggest smile. "Yes, just wish that Charlie would quit harassing the post man" Shawn tells him. Well it isn't a lie. Taker chuckles and leans down, kissing Shawn softly. "Well, it's because he knows all that man brings is bills" Taker chuckles as Charlie trots over. "Isn't that right boy?" Taker asks. Charlie barks and accepts head pats.

"You shoulda come with us today Shawn. Everyone was there, and everyone saw Taker get his ass beat" goldust smirks. "Dont listen to him baby, he was dropped to hard" Taker tells Shawn quietly. Kane and goldust just disagree and a argument begins. Shawn just smiles which quickly drops when he notices Charlie nudging at his boots. "Charlie no" Shawn hisses moving over and grabbing the boots. Charlie barks at him, well more the boots. Shawn just stares at the barking shepherd. "What the hell has gotten into you?" Taker asks as he grabs Charlie's collar and leads him to the back door. "You can come back in when you calm down" Taker orders as he closes the door. Of course the dog would try and snitch on him. "You alright?" Taker asks. "Yeah" Shawn shrugs. "Just gonna put these upstairs out of the way" Shawn tells him as he begins walking.

The moment Shawn walks next to the pantry, the door opens and knocks the boots from his hands. And now the house is trying to snitch on him? Shawn glares at the door. "What the hell is getting into everyone?" Taker demands as shawn picks the boots up. "Maybe I do need to get out more." Shawn mutters as he purposely slams the pantry door shut and storms upstairs.

Taker looks at kane and goldust. "He seems off.." Taker states. "Yeah..maybe it's nothing though, maybe he just is being cooped up for too long. I mean no one knows where he is, it'd drive me insane." Goldust admits. Taker sighs and rubs his jaw. "Ill take him out for dinner tonight. As long as we stick to the village who cares?" Taker states. "Good. My boy toy deserves to be wined and dined. Not locked up in a tower" goldust huffs getting a chuckle off kane. Taker rolls his eyes and moves to get them drinks.

Shawn just sits on their bed, shoes discarded on the floor, letter and photo clenched in his hand as he stares out the window. He examines everything outside, trying to figure out how this photo was taken.

--A few weeks later--

Shawn had received a letter and photo everyday. He had no more inappropriate photos, just ones of him shopping or on his sofa. Shawn quickly started shutting the curtain during the day and night. And for once, luck was on his side, taker hadn't found out.

Yet.

-

Taker lounges back in his chair, ignoring the cameras pointed at him. He can't even care to remember who he's supposed to be beating on now. Rock? Austin? Hunter? The mcmahons? Taker just wanted to get home. He had something nice and beautiful waiting for him at home. Kanes elbow brings him out of his mind. He looks at the screen to see the valley on it. "The hell" he mutters sitting up and leaning closer. The camera shifts to the community pools. Something Shawn talked Taker into fixing up. Shawn actually did most of the work when getting sober. The kids love it. Taker watches as the camera zooms in to show Shawn knelt helping put some floats on one of the kids whilst the mother did the other. Shawn shares some words with the kids before standing up and stretching.

Showing the world that beautiful skin and smile as the kids thank him before climbing into the pool. The mother kisses his cheek before walking away. Taker watches as shawn holds his arm, he's nervous. Does he know he's being watched? Shawn looks around before his eyes set dead on the camera. The camera drops and the footage goes back to commentary. "Was that Shawn michaels?" Jr asks. "Jesus, we ain't seen him in ages" King chuckles. "Holy shit" Taker gasps. He's quick to stand. "Ill be back." Taker tells the crew before makes his way to the hallway. He checks the areas empty before pulling out his phone and calling Shawn.

"Mm, hey, I thought you were on tonight?" Shawn yawns as he answers. "I am. Where are you right now?" Taker asks. "At home, why?" Shawn asks. "Wh-what are you doing?" Taker questions. "Just finished some pottery. Why? Have I missed your match? You said you were on last-" taker cuts shawn off. "No no, you haven't missed it. So you haven't seen the show yet?" He asks. "No taker. What's going on baby? Are you alright?" Shawn asks. "Im fine. I'm sorry. I just miss you..." Taker sighs. "I miss you too baby. I'll be watching your match tonight. I promise." Shawn tells him. Taker looks up as some boys walk down the hall. "I've gotta go. But I'll see you tonight. I promise" Taker promises. "You sure you're alright?" Shawn asks. Taker pauses. I should ask you that. Is all taker can think as the response leaves his mouth. "Im fine. Promise." "Good luck tonight. Love you." "Love you." Taker mutters as the phone goes.

Taker pockets his phone before walking back into the lockeroom. "Can you give us a few?" Taker asks the crew. They nod and walk out. "Shawn doesn't know. He was in the garage when it happened." Taker states. 'So, what do you want to do?' Kane signs. "We don't let him find out. He doesn't need that pressure. Me and you will find out who this scumbag is and deal with it ourselves." Taker tells him. 'What if someone tells him?' Kane signs. "Him and hunter ain't on talking terms. I'll talk to Kevin, and reassure him I have it handled and that he needs to make sure no one talks to shawn about it. Kevin will listen." Taker tells him. 'And goldust?' Kane asks. "Oh please, he's the easiest one to handle. He won't tell a soul" Taker huffs.

---

"So you knew you had a stalker this entire, and haven't told anyone?" Goldust asks. "Taker told you not to tell me and you did? Traitor" Shawn chuckles. "Oh please, you and I both know I'd be more of a traitor if I didn't tell you. You, you knew and never told me?" He asks. Shawn sighs and stands up. "It isn't my first stalker goldie." Shawn states as he moves to the shoe cupboard that taker never looks in. Goldust watches as shawn pulls out a box. "Yes but never this serious shawn.." goldust sighs as the box is dropped onto the table. "Just...just read them." Shawn sighs sitting back down. Goldust raises an eyebrow before reading all the different letters. Examining all the different photos. "How long has this been going on, shawn?" Goldust asks. "A letter a day." Shawn states holding up a closed envelope. "They are definitely my most dedicated stalker." Shawn admits. "Open it. I'll turn the show on" goldust mutters.

Shawn opens it, no photo, just a letter. "He needs to keep his disgusting hands off what's mine." Shawn reads. He squints. "There's no photo. Why is there no photo?" Shawn asks. "Uh..Shawn.. " goldust calls. Shawn moves to join the man at the tv. And well his heart breaks.

Shawn watches in horror as the camera zooms in on him and taker. Their walking towards takers truck holding hands. "Mm I told you a nice walk is all we needed" Taker states. Shawn chuckles. "Sure. It was your idea" Shawn teases. Taker smiles and stops them. "You know, I was thinking we do something nice for our anniversary" Taker states. "Yeah? Whatcha have in mind? Dinner and a movie and then some us time?" Shawn smirks. Taker chuckles and pulls Shawn in close by the hips. "Well, I was thinking me and my beautiful husband take a vacation to a nice sunny island. Where we can be all alone and not have to care if anyone sees us" Taker tells him. Shawns eyes widen before he smiles. "You'd take time off work?" Shawn asks. "You know I'd do anything for you baby" Taker smiles. "I'd love that" Shawn whispers leaning up to kiss Taker. Taker gladly accepts the kiss before pulling back. "Ill see what lie I can come up with to get me a week or more off. See if kane can help. Maybe goldie or kev." Taker admits. "Goldust would 100% be down for getting us off on a vacation and you already know kane and kev love the idea of lying to vince." Shawn chuckles. "Good. Because I mean it Shawn. I'll do anything for you, and if you want that vacation, I'll get you it" Taker states. Shawn looks at him and smiles. "I love you." "I love you more"

The camera cuts and shows takers horrified face. Shawn sits on the sofa, covering his mouth. "Well..now this is a big problem" goldust sighs. Shawn just stares at his husband. Kane tries to get taker to move or even talk but he can't. He just stares at the tron. Some sick freak has just outted them both to the entire world.

"We need to get down to the arena. Now. Grab the box" Shawn orders. Goldust nods and moves quickly. Shawn keeps his eyes on taker before turning the tv off.

-

Taker climbs out of the ring. He doesn't give a damn if he's supposed to be beating the fuck out of Austin. He needs to speak to vince, now.

-

Shawn walks into the arena, goldust hot on his tail. He ignores the looks he gets as he makes his way to the lockerooms. "He ain't in there chico" a very familiar voice calls. Shawn pauses and looks at Scott. Scott smirks at him. "Hes in vinces office, ripping him a new one. Been there for nearly an hour. Walked out on his match and all. Austins also in there" Scott tells him. Shawn nods and begins to walk away. "Its nice to have you back chico" Scott calls. Shawn can't help but smile. He doesn't even knock before pushing the door open. Takers head snaps towards him. "The hell are you doing here?" Taker demands. "Nice to see you too darling. We need to talk. Now." Shawn states. Taker looks at goldust and frowns. "He already knew!" Goldust protests. Taker snatches the box from goldust. "Whats this?" Taker asks. "Your truck. Now. Cmon." Shawn tells him.

Goldust is left with a confused Steve and tired vince as the couple storms off. "You reckon shawns in danger?" Goldust asks. "I think takers in the most danger. They seem to be obsessed with shawn, not him" Steve states. Goldust pauses. At first he thinks takers wrong, but then it hits him. The creep would get rid of taker, to get shawn. "Oh god" he whispers.

-

Taker leans back in his drivers seat. "So, this has been going on for weeks now, and you didn't think to tell me?" Taker asks quietly, keeping his eyes forward. Shawn lowers his gaze. "I didnt know what to say...its not my first stalker, they tend to be harmless...but, clearly I'm wrong this time." Shawn whispers. Taker finally looks at shawn, hand clenched around a threatening letter about him. "Shawn, were married. You don't need to hide this from me, I'm here for you, I care and love you. I would do anything to protect you." Taker tells him. Shawn finally looks at him. "Anything?" Shawn asks quietly. Takers eyes darken. "Anything baby."

-

Hunter watches from the ring. His foot rested against the rocks chest. He watches as his old friend rests his forehead against the one of his enemy. He feels anger run through his veins. How could Shawn date the enemy and yet have ago at him about Stephanie? He pulls his boot away and growls to himself. He will deal with this.

-A month later-

The videos didn't stop. Nor did the photos or letters. Takers anger grew whilst shawns fear kept him up at night. Shawn also couldn't escape the wwe. Not anymore. They've planned his return. Which, is something he's excited about, but not when his life is in danger.

Kevin and goldust are home with shawn. He hasn't been home alone since they discovered the stalker was outside the stadium, showing their truck discussion live. It was too close for Taker and shawns comfort.

"Where is taker?" Kevin suddenly asks. "Yeah, it's his night off, ain't it?" Goldust asks. "He said Kane had something to show him. He's been so stressed lately that I didn't try and stop him" shawn admits. "Did you get a letter today?" Kevin questions as Charlie comes to sit in his lap. A German shepherd who thinks he's a lap dog. "....no actually..." Shawn answers. Kev and goldie look at him. Shawns eyes widen. "Shawn? What's wrong?" Goldust questions. "Nothing. Nothings wrong. I guess, maybe it's over" Shawn shrugs. He stands. "Drinks?" He asks. "Beer" "wine" Shawn nods and walks into the kitchen. He pulls his phone out and sends a quick text to taker.

-

Taker looks at his phone. 'Thank you for dealing with it. I'll have your favourites waiting for you at home. I love you.' Taker smiles at the text. 'I'll be home soon. Love you.' He texts back. Kane grunts getting taker to pocket his phone. Taker lifts his gaze to the coffin. The man in it continues to try scream from behind the tape. "Shame you picked the wrong man to be obsessed with." Taker states. The guy wiggles more. "But, oh well. It was nice meeting you. And atleast I now know my baby is safe" Taker smirks before kane shuts the lid and begins nailing it closed. "We Bury him and never talk about this. If he's lucky he will pass out and never wake up. If he's not...oh well, what could I care? Perverted fucker." Taker hisses.

"Ain't nobody going to mess with my baby. Not anymore." Taker promises.

[fruit-of-infidelity]

Having knocked twice on his door, the only evidence of a visitor was a note left on the ground near the entrance.

‘ Long time no see Princess~ I do hope you’ve been well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, I’ve come to miss annoying and bullying you. :( But don’t worry~ I’ll be back eventually.

What I /wanted/ to tell you, was Happy Holidays. Your year better have been as good as the last. And also:

Please watch your old man. I’ve been notified that /someone/ may be coming for him. Bye~

~ G ♡ ‘

—————

[ PSPSP HELLO AVAAAA SKSKSK. HAVE THIS SILLY LITTLE THING T_T. i thought it’s be nice for gwen to pop up for christmas <3 and also had the silly idea of having richter dress up for the holidays (and with scarlett prowling around 😰) SKSK. FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS!! ]

// WHIN OMG- this is super sweettttt ♥️ Ryuuto definitely wants to sob rn, sneaking off with this lil message from Gwen so Richter doesn't catch him SKSKS I love them sm 😩

[ Having collected the suspicious note, one of the manor servants delivered it to the first Sakamaki he could find; Luckily, it was the very same Sakamaki the note was addressed to. ]

[ Having opened and read only the first line, the note was folded lightly and safely tucked away into his pocket for but a moment. With a dismissive hand waved, and a mumble about personal business, Ryuuto saw off the servant, so that he might peacefully dissect the letter, from the only person who called him such. ]

...Fufu.

[ Ryuuto allowed a soft chuckle to escape him at the ominous line regarding Richter; Just what were they up to, he wondered. ]

Happy Holidays to you too, Gwen.

[strawberryclumsy]

Care (Hunter x Reader)

(Y/N) is a 15 year old who comes from a troubled family. When their family cannot provide for them anymore, the Emperor as a family friend opens his arms for a new child into his Care…

-TRIGGER WARNING-

Mentions/Descriptions of abuse (Physical, Emotional, and Mental)

Gore

Depictions of neglect

Suicide/Self harm mentions/Thoughts

Note: Characters of the owl house are not mine nor are any of the photos, only the story is mine.

———��————————————————————

Chapter 3: What is This?

Word count: 1183

A/N: Hello! Updating this book makes me happy :)) I saw the season 2b leaks and let me tell you, I am so excited. The only thing would be that this book might become entirely off track from canon. But that is fine! I hope you guys like this chapter, adding more character to the reader is fun to do! Have a good day/night!

————————————————————————

"How lovely, the bard track is a good track to study." Rowan says, I smile brighter before realizing the time of day. The forest that was lit by the bright sun was now dark except for the few balls of light that were created by Rowan and I. "Do you know the time by chance?" I ask as Rowan picks the book off the ground, closing it softly. "It's about 9:03" Rowan replies, I nod, "I should probably get going, when do you want to meet me next?" I ask as I sit up from the grass, "Depends on when Emperor Belos wants me to meet you, I'll send him a letter now asking, he will get the details to you eventually" Rowan explains, I nod and start to walk away, "Alright thank you! I'll see you whenever the next session is!" I wave and run out, "Bye!" Rowan says as she waves her hand. I walk out of the forest being cautious not knowing what could be in the shadows. Arriving back at the big door that I originally exited today. I walk back inside as I look around, guards tensing as I walk inside. Turning back the way I came this morning, I try to retrace my footsteps.

Showing up at the door with 'Golden Guard' plastered on it, I open the door where I find the room as empty as it was when I left earlier. Slipping my shoes off, I walk back over to the pallet on the ground. Picking the book off the ground, I close it and place it on the bed. Not knowing what to do, I look around the room until I spot more books on the bottom shelf. These books were bigger and were separated from the others by the shelf above it holding other knick knacks and random collectables. Crawling over to the shelf, I grab a book off the bottom shelf. I read the cover 'The Study of Wild Magic Volume 3', 'I wonder what wild magic is?' Opening the book, many notes fall out, 'maybe I should put this back, I don't think Hunter would want me to see this, ...... but, I'm curious' I set the notes aside being careful not to read them. The diagrams and words are interesting as I scan the pages, this'll be a good thing to use to pass the time.

—————————————————————————

As I flip the page, I hear turning of a knob. Quickly I grab the notes in which I set in the book, shutting the book, I gently set it on the shelf. I quickly crawl to the pallet on the ground and see Hunter with armor and a gold mask in his hands. His face is bruised and cut, I want to ask but I don't want to pry. Against my better judgement I ask, "Are you alright?", he flips his head to me, his face softens before, like the first time I met him, it tenses back up. Tears are obviously welled up in his eyes yet I just stare.

"I'm fine." Stern and strong is what he tried to project, although I just projected the need for help and aid as his voice, dry sounding, cracks. A single tear falls as he sets his mask on a hook while he walks to his dresser. Worry sets in my eyes as I think about what could've happened, 'he probably goes through this all the time' I think, but the more I think, I notice that the pain that he shows was no type of pain just caused by physical trauma, but emotional too. But as he walks to the bathroom, clothes in his hand, I decide to drop it. I am only just a temporary roommate, he doesn't think anything more of me. Making it harder to get him to open up. My back falls onto the pallet. As I close my eyes, I never noticed how tired I was, but as my tensed muscles soften, I am slowly knocked out.

—————————————

Waking up I look around. Seeing Hunter back at his desk, I think about what happened yesterday. Hunter was hurt, I learned magic, I learned about what wild magic was. Wait, Hunter was hurt! I sit up as I see Hunter scribbling on a random piece of paper, "Good morning" Hunter says in a still hoarse voice although it was definitely better than what he sounded like before. "Good morning" I reply back as I rub my eyes, looking at the window, I notice it's sunrise. "No new notes from Emperor Belos today. You're probably gonna be stuck with me" Hunter explains, "Stuck with you?" I ask as my head tilts gently to the side, Hunter still looking at his desk, says "I don't have anything to do today, I noticed you read one of the books?" He lifts his head and gestures toward the book on the bed that I had left earlier, "Oh, sorry I left that there." I say as I grab the book and bring it down to me, setting it next to my bag. "It's alright, I'd prefer you'd only have one book on my bed than 10 on my floor." Hunter says, I nod and sit on my knees.

"Sorry for last night." Hunter suddenly says as I lift my head, directly making eye contact with Hunter. "It's fine, I was just a little concerned. What happened if you don't mind me asking?" Hunter stands up as he walks over to his bed, my head and eye slowly following. "Just a run in with a few monsters, nothing other than that." I nod not wanting to pry anymore. He lays on his bed as he looks over to me, "Are you interested in joining the Emperors coven?", I shrug, "never even knew this whole coven thing existed before yesterday." His eyes widen as he sits up slowly, "your parents never even told you about covens?!" Hunter exclaims, I shake my head no as sit up more. "That's very interesting, do you have any idea why?" Hunter excitedly scoots closer to me, basically hanging off the edge. "Not really, I'm assuming it's because my Dad got into some 'bad magic' and went missing after he went somewhere."

He leaned back as he thought, "do you know what your dads name is?" He asked, "(Your dads name)" "oh.." "What, is that bad?" I ask, Hunters face dropped as I started to panic, "what? Did he do something?" Hunter just shook his head, "Not much, He was a wild witch." "Wild Witch?" "You don't even know what a wild witch is?!" Hunter asks, I shake my head no as he blinks. "A wild witch is a witch that refuses to join a coven, most of the time due to the opposition of the coven system." "Why would they oppose the coven system?" I ask, "Some say they are too restrictive, some just don't like the covens" He explains, "So you're saying my father went missing cause he was a wild witch?" I ask, "something like that."

"Interesting."

[tarosin]

did i do that p2

paring implied past platonic tommy/tubbo/ranboo x reader

tw: cursing, de realisation, mentions of suicide/death/paranoia

TW: de realisation, mentions of suicide/death/paranoia

Dear quackity,

if you’re reading this, it’s too late. you’ve probably noticed me and dream are nowhere to be found, you may ask yourself why did sam let the pair out well the answer to that is simple. he didn’t i’m sure you can find what remains of him somewhere around the prison. you really have yourself to blame, now before you start to get defensive and say ‘i didn’t do anything this is bullshit everyone’s trying to attack me’ let me tell you why. before you decided to give us weekly visits just to abuse us mentally and physically, we couldn’t stand each other. I’d go as far as to say I despised dream, but you helped unite us against a common enemy..you. now we’re unstoppable. I'll spare you the details of what happened to your precious warden. see you soon - Y/n + dream :)

“do you think he’ll be convinced we killed sam?”

“dream i’m in here for the murder of a child, of course he’s going to believe it.”

of course the pair of you didn’t actually kill sam, dream simply manipulated ranboo whilst he was enderwalking into bringing supplies you’d need. you have no idea how he managed, but at this point you didn’t care. you know damn well you shouldn’t be in this prison as you didn’t kill michael. you knew this because the ghost, at least you hope it’s his ghost and that your mind wasn’t messing with you, would stand in the corner of the cell telling you that it wasn’t you who murdered him that night. It was a range of factors: the skeletons, fear, pure exhaustion of trying to run from the mobs after him. you often found yourself ranting to dream about what you had been seeing every night for the past god knows how many months at this point, but alas it was no use. he swore he hadn’t seen anyone but you, occasionally sam, and quackity, definitely not the ghost of michael. It was now midnight according to the clock hanging on the wall. the plan was pretty simple, you would scream that dream had disappeared, causing sam to run into the cell, from then you’d use the rope ranboo gave dream to make temporary handcuffs, and whilst you all make your way to the locker room, where you’d temporarily keep sam assuming quackity would find him sooner or later, then that was it you’d finally be free.

“ready?” you nodded and dream hid in the corner, you couldn’t shake the feeling that you were being watched, but nevertheless you began screaming that dream disappeared, laughing to yourself as you heard the platform moving towards the cell.

“y/n calm down what do you mean- dream get off of me i don’t want to have to kill you but i will!”

dream rolled his eyes as you tied sams hands together.

“shut the fuck up sam, do you understand how pathetic you sound? you’re outnumbered you’re not going to do anything. if you know what’s good for you and your beloved quackity, you’ll tell us which pocket has your key cards in, okay?” this seemed to trigger something in sam as within 10 minutes you and dream had him in the locker room.

“bye sam, i’m sure your boyfriend will come and collect you soon enough, we left him a letter in the cell and a note from you where you always sit saying to just go on through, don’t miss us too much!”

there you both stood, in-front of the now locked locker room, no home, no friends, no plan, but you were free, that's all that matters to you.

“dream, i have something to ask, okay? promise no matter whatever happens, whether you don’t see me for weeks or you over hear something, you won’t come looking for me.“

“stay safe y/n, a lot of people aren’t going to be happy you’re out. whatever you do, avoid quackity.”

and just like that you went your separate ways, where dream went, you have no idea, you’ll probably hear something soon enough. as for you, well you didn’t really have a plan, you weren't really sure you wanted to be alive at this point. there was a little voice that sounded a lot like tommys ringing in your head, telling you to go to the old base you and tommy made years ago, so that’s where you went. you were clinging onto the hope tommy would be there and let you explain what happened that night, you’d make up then just like old times you’d plait his hair, as the pair of you sat under moonlight listening to whichever disk tommy felt like playing that night. this of course wasn’t the case, instead you were met with previous memories of your friendship. a photo book lay in the middle of the floor as if someone knew you escaped and would go to this base, you shut the door locking it behind you for your own safety, remembering what ranboo said to you the day you were thrown in the prison. picking up the photo book you noticed something odd, the words ‘i know what you did’ and ‘i know where you are’ were scratched into the leather cover. you threw the book onto the floor scared as hell. after you calmed down, you picked the book up from the floor, which was now open on the page of a group photo of you tommy and michael, which ranboo had taken the day you both agreed to babysit him for a while. as you flicked through the book, the images got dark. It went from photos of you tubbo ranboo and tommy laughing at the beach to the night michael was killed. the last page made your blood run cold, there was two photos, one was of michaels funeral, and the second was a picture of you sat in the middle of the base holding the photo book. this was the final straw. You were no longer in control of your breathing, you began feeling like you were being preyed on by something who really wasn’t happy with you and wanted you gone, you picked up the book one last time and everything was gone. the book was back to normal no threatening messages no pictures of michaels death or of you looking through the book, the cover was back to its original state full of happy memories of when you were friends with everyone, back when you were happy.

“hello y/n.”the rooms temperature dropped suddenly you began feeling like you were being watched, you turned around to see michael sat on the floor holding a photo book a lot like the one that caused you to panic.

“hey y/n why are my parents acting like they can’t see me anymore? this isn’t funny anymore, i miss them. can you talk to them?”

“michael... this isn’t real. you’re not real. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

everything went silent as if the world stopped turning for a few seconds, that’s when you heard the child laughing.

“what do you mean i’m not real? of course i am!”

“michael darling, you're dead remember, we spoke about this in prison. the skeletons shot you in the nether”

you continued talking to michael, not even realising ranboo had followed you to the base and was watching you talk to the wall.

“who are you talking to?”

you honestly didn’t know whether you felt relieved he was there with you or if you were pissed he found you, either way you ran to him pulling him into a hug despite him constantly telling you to let go of him.

“michael, he’s over there.”

“Is this some sick joke? There's no one there. he’s dead. you killed him!”

“ranboo please.. you, you don’t understand i didn’t kill him. please just let me explain what happened. he was surrounded by skeletons. they shot him please, you have to understand I loved that boy, I still do, I would never do something like that!”

“save it y/n, i don’t want to hear it now if you don’t mind i’m going to go tell sam that you have somehow escaped.”

you fell to your knees as ranboo walked away, you sat alone with the quiet comprehension of the ending of it all before realising if someone comes back you would be in big trouble, just before you was about to begin the long walk back to dream he showed up to the base you were currently crying in, not knowing tubbo and ranboo were not far behind him listening in to your conversation with dream.

“dream please i’m begging at this point. Please end my suffering. I can't do this anymore, no one’s listening to me. I CAN'T KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS! there’s a bow and arrow in that chest over there.”

“y/n, this isn’t a funny joke.”

“dream, do i look like i’m joking?”

“y/n..”

“hey, what can you say? we were overdue.”

tubbo and ranboo couldn’t believe what they were hearing right now, their best friend was about to die and there was nothing they could do about it. as soon as they heard dream open the chest, they ran as fast as they could to go and get tommy.

dream left straight away, it was hard to feel regret when you’re used to bloodshed. tommy couldn’t believe what tubbo and ranboo said and was convinced they were messing with him.

“Oh, I'm sure they did. how’d they get out the prison? did they fly out?”

he stood laughing, tubbo stood staring in disbelief, ranboo stood wiping his eyes trying not to cry knowing it would scar if he did. tubbo shook his head and grabbed his husbands hand for comfort.

“you’re really joking at a time like this?”

“we should tell phil.”

the three of them made their way to phil, guilt following them as they went they couldn’t believe what just happened. after they told phil, they all made their way to the base. as soon as the three teenagers saw the trail of blood dream left behind, they completely broke down and began walking, holding onto each other in an attempt to convince themselves this didn’t happen, and that you would be there. phil went in and saw your lifeless body laying there, knowing the others wouldn’t be able to handle seeing you like this, he sent them away to go and get technoblade. A few days later they found themselves sitting with puffy explaining what happened and what you had told them. realisation slowly hit them that you did in fact not kill michael, they felt awful the three of them couldn’t sleep since the day you passed. after the funeral, they often found themselves at your house as it was the only place that they could sleep and feel as though you were still with them. everyday they would visit your grave, placing anything they found that reminds them of you, and would apologise for not believing you sooner. now you were gone and there was nothing they could do about it.

tags:

@bozowrites

[ynscrazylife]

I was thinking maybe a oneshot where B!D gets poisoned by Cadmus?

Sisterly Instincts 

Summary: Y/N is Kryptonian who landed on Earth a few years after Kara. When CADMUS kidnaps her, they inject her with a poison made out of their version of Kryptonite, which is very harmful to her.

Authors Note: Thank you for requesting!

Request to be on a Taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

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PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

header c @/mundodeseriess

Image ID: Alex and Kara sitting together. Alex has her eyes closed, head on Kara’s shoulder, arm wrapped around her, and is looking upset. Kara is wearing her glasses and is looking down, crying. End ID. 

“Alex, have you heard from Y/N yet today?” Kara asked as she entered the DEO, a slight frown on her face still evident from the morning. 

Alex shook her head no. “Not since last night, why?” She asked, coming down the stairs and joining her sister in her walk. 

Kara shrugged it off. “She just didn’t send me her usual good morning text . . . She’s probably fine, right?” The blonde answered, now feeling silly as she voiced the worry that had been slowly eating at her. 

Alex’s warm chuckle calmed her almost instantly. “Yeah, it’s nothing. We’ll see her soon as she’s coming into the DEO anyway,” she reasoned, assuming their younger sister had just overslept. 

They reached the main room where J’onn and the other DEO agents sat at their desks and immediately the Danvers’ sisters got to work. 

However, when it was ten minutes past the time Y/N was supposed to arrive, Alex decided to give her a call, biting her lip. She discreetly pressed her phone to her ear, turning away so she wouldn’t cause her sister unnecessary worry. 

It ringed. 

And ringed. 

And ringed. 

“Hey! You’ve reached Y/N Danvers. Sorry I couldn’t answer! Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.” Alex cursed quietly when it rang so long it went to voicemail and huffed to clear her mind and steady herself.

“Hey, Y/N. It’s Alex. I’m sure you just overslept or are rushing to work,” she said, pausing to chuckle when the image of her younger sister running around the city popped into her mind, “Just give me a call when you get this. Love you, bye!” 

Despite the small worry entering the pit of her stomach, Alex reminded herself that Y/N being late and missing a phone wasn’t too uncommon, and she resumed her work. 

"Alex?” Kara said, and Alex looked up from her computer to see her sister gesturing at the clock with a nod. The brunette looked over, and felt that pit sink lower when she saw that 20 minutes had passed. Getting no message from Y/N, Alex and Kara shared a look, coming to a silent decision. 

“We're gonna go by Y/N’s apartment and check on her,” Alex informed J’onn as she stood up from her chair and grabbed her coat. She couldn't keep herself from remembering that Y/N should be here right now, she didn't live far away. 

Kara nodded, following her older sister, and the two women left the DEO, neither of them discussing their worries in fear of distressing the other one. Great minds do think alike, though, and that’s why they both internally came to the conclusion that if nothing was wrong and they found Y/N sleeping late, they were gonna be pissed (however they hoped that was what they found instead of the scary alternatives brewing and stirring in their minds). 

When they reached Y/N’s apartment, Kara knocked on the door. They waited almost a minute and when the door didn't open and they didn’t hear anything, Alex fished the key Y/N had given to her out of her pocket and unlocked the door. 

Stepping inside, the women were prepared to search the house like they were on a mission, when a paper on the floor, having been slipped under the door, caught their attention. Sharing a look, Kara grabbed the paper and unfolded it. It read: 

“Hello, Supergirl, 

I won’t lie. I don’t know your ‘secret identity’. However, I was able to find out Y/S/N’s, so it’s only a matter of time before I find yours, too. Come to these coordinates: [pretend there’s random coordinates] by 12:00 alone and allow us to experiment and test on you. If you fail to do that, I won’t give Y/N the cure to the Kryptonite poison that’s in her system and I’ll reveal her identity to the world. 

-- CADMUS.” 

For a couple moments, Kara and Alex stood, glued to the spot. Thoughts and emotions washed over their bodies: concern for their sister, anger at CADMUS, and an utter helplessness since they didn’t know what to do. 

It was a little past 10:00 now and when the two got back to the DEO, they made a plan with J’onn. He’d disguise himself as Kara and would do as the letter said and they’d have DEO agents - including Alex and Kara - stationed around the building with cloaking devices, which would make them invisible to CADMUS and their tech. Winn would hack into CADMUS’ tech and after Y/N was given the cure, the DEO agents would act.

At 10:30, the DEO agents were stationed around the base, invisible, and J’onn had walked into the base itself, disguised as Kara. He noticed the Kryptonite around the room, there to weaken Kara, so he put on an act: pretending that it was hurting him. He barley refrained from rushing over to Y/N when he saw the woman who was like a daughter to him siting on a chair, weak and only half-conscious, sweat shining on her face with Lillian Luthor standing beside her. 

“Good, you came,” Lillian said with a sadistic smile. 

“Yes. Now give Y/S/N the cure,” J’onn said, putting on his best Supergirl face. 

The corners of Lillian’s mouth turned into a smirk and she walked over to another chair a few feet away, which had Kryptonite restraints. “Sit,” she said calmly, although the way she stood, her hands delicately placed on the chair, brought power to the lonely word. 

J’onn complied, frowning as he walked over to the chair and sat down, letting Lillian put the restraints on his wrists and ankles that she thought would weaken him. For extra effect, J’onn sucked in a breath and faked pain. 

Lillian smugly turned around and walked back to Y/N, who didn’t seem to realize what was going on. The older woman gestured to one of her minions and they promptly injected a serum into Y/N’s neck, making the youngest Danvers’ gasp just the slightest before her eyes fluttered close. 

“The antidote is taking its affect in her system,” Lillian informed J’onn before turning back to her minion. “Take the girl outside. She can find her way back.” 

The man nodded and picked Y/N up, slinging her over his shoulder and walked out. The second J’onn heard a smash and knew that his team had acted, he gave Lillian no time to be on alert before he ripped off the restraints and knocked all of the CADMUS agents out. 

. . .  . . .  . . . 

Alex and Kara had been standing outside, listening to Lillian and J’onn’s interaction through their earpieces. The women were both racked with worry over their little sister and when they saw the man carrying her, it took everything in them both to wait until he carelessly dropped her on the floor. When he did, Kara revealed herself and knocking him unconscious into a wall. Alex then revealed herself as well, hearing J’onn fighting, and ran to Y/N while the rest of the DEO agents went inside to erase CADMUS’ memory of Y/N’s identity and to make arrests.

“Y/N, Y/N! Come on, wake up,” Alex said, slightly panicked as she gently rolled Y/N from where she was laying on her side to be on her back. Kara, after making sure the guy was unconscious, sped over. 

Kara knitted her brown together and drew her lips into a line, silently gathering her sister into her arms. Alex glanced up at her, tears in her eyes, for she knew Kara was only silent when she was very worried. 

“I’ll meet you back at the DEO,” Kara said quietly, her tone almost emotionless, before lifting off and flying into the air. Alex swallowed and took a breath, getting to her feet.

. . .  . . .  . . .

As she flew through the air, Kara battled to keep distracting thoughts about the clouds and the breeze away, as she knew she had to focus on her unconscious sister. Y/N was the priority. Once she landed at the DEO, she immediately headed to the med bay, where doctors took over and Kara informed him that Y/N had supposedly been given the antidote. 

After almost ten minutes of Kara pacing just outside the door and Winn doing his best to comfort her, the doctors informed them that the antidote was indeed in Y/N’s system and it was fighting off the poison. They didn’t know when she would wake up but when she did, she would need to rest a lot as she’d be weak. They were also unsure if CADMUS had done anything else to her, so she’d need to stay at the DEO overnight if she didn’t wake up soon. 

The doctors allowed Kara to see her so the blonde sat by her sister’s side, holding her hand until Alex burst in, looking out-of-breath. 

“How is she?” Alex asked, sitting on Y/N’s other side and taking her free hand. 

Kara told her what the doctors said and they collectively let out a breath, relieved that she was going to be alright. They stayed with Y/N for another hour, silent except for the occasional comment, when Y/N started blinking her eyes open. 

The agent and the superhero both sat up, patiently waiting for Y/N to wake up and adjust herself.

“Alex? Kara?” Y/N croaked out, looking at her sisters in a haze of confusion. 

Both women smiled and let out happy tears, helping her to sit up before wrapping their arms around her. Y/N smiled, leaning her head against Kara’s neck. 

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Alex whispered. 

“It’ll never happen again,” Kara promised. 

Y/N nodded. She didn’t say anything in response, finding herself too tired after the day’s events. Kara and Alex stayed until she fell asleep and then they reluctantly left her under the watchful eye of Winn, since they needed to debrief with J’onn and prepare for when Y/N would come home. 

Permanent Taglist: @natasharomanoffismywife @hehehehannahthings @paulawand @blackbat2020 @sybil-moon-is-a-mess @cerberus-spectre @marrymemcgrath @celestialbarnes

DCEU Taglist: @stephanieromanoff @basiclesbianbitch @extraordinary-fangrl @hi-i-1 @mmmmokdok @harrypottercumslut

[seka1-k0k0ro]

night of fun

y e s

i had way too much fun with this thank you anon for feeding my mind u-u

see part one here!

summary: a week has passed since the ‘incident’ and megumi’s thoughts have gone haywire and are utterly filled with you.

cw: smut with a semi plot (shes long cuz i got carried away), fem! reader

[lower case intended + not proofread]

—————————

the air was thick and it was hot. megumi was training with the third years while you sat on the sidelines with yuuji and nobara. his focus was all on you. how your skin has a slight glow from the heat; how the sun rays caused your skin to heat; how the heat caused you to hike your skirt up though it was against school rules. you were infecting his mind—his body.

panda landed a ruthless blow into megumi’s stomach, launching him a couple meters across the field. coughing, megumi sat up, and the third years walked over.

“what’s up with you megumi? you’ve been so distracted lately,” maki began.

“tuna,” inumaki agreed from behind her with one hand on his hip. with a final throat-clearing cough megumi began,

“i’m fine. just have a lot on my mind. nothing serious.”

“is it y/n?” megumi’s head jerked in shock, and he could feel his cheeks slightly heat. he only hoped he could mask it and blame it on the hot day. “it is so y/n,” maki smirked, “did y’all fight or something?” megumi deadpanned.

“no, we didn’t.”

“she blue-ball you?” she asked again. megumi scowled and stood, his cheeks now flaming.

“it’s not like that. stay out of it. it’s my business.” he stomped away like a child. the third years huddled together and unanimously agreed that it indeed was like that.

megumi approached the group of three sitting on the sidelines. he saw you sat in between yuuji and nobara showing them something on your phone. he looks at your thighs which were missing their stockings from you possibly running late. your uniform jacket was missing--replaced by the tight, white button-up shirt you wear in case it gets hot. he’s always loved that shirt.

then he noticed how seemly close yuuji was sitting to you. he knows neither of you would ever do anything but he’s always felt slightly self-conscious of yuuji. yuuji was physically stronger; yuuji had pure power and he didn’t. he saw yuuji place his chin on your shoulder and snuggle into your neck.  

you noticed megumi’s presence and gasped. your eyes sparkled and you had the biggest smile. you dropped everything you were holding and ran over to him, holding megumi in a hug. though megumi knew he shouldn’t feel the way he did, he felt smug and looked at yuuji in the eyes with a glare and a smile as he hugged you. yuuji looked back confused.

“we were just watching part of a movie that yuuji watched while he was training with gojo.” his smile returned to a frown. for the past couple of days, yuuji has all you’ve been talking about. it’s been yuuji this and yuuji that. “speaking of yuuji, i’m gonna be in his dorm after school helping him study.”

“oh? until when?” you shrugged.

“i don’t know. whenever we finish.” megumi sighed and pulled away. 

“alright. well, let me go back to--” yuuji interrupted him.

“y/n come back so we can play the movie.”

“gimme a second, yuu,” you said back. megumi turned to you confused.

“yuu?” you cocked your head to the side and giggled.

“what? it’s just a nickname, megumi. anyways get back to training before they yell at you.” you turned around and went back to the duo waiting for you. megumi stood there shocked for a second then turned and walked back towards centerfield. all he could think about was the stupid nickname and how you didn’t kiss him goodbye. 

—————————

the sun was now setting. megumi was gathering his things and inumaki came up to megumi. he handed him a note.

just talk to her, don’t let things get between you two because you didn’t voice what was bothering you. you know what’s wrong, but she doesn’t. instead of staying quiet, use your words and open up. that is the only solution.

inumaki left megumi to think on his own with a final shoulder pat. megumi looked back at the note and read it over again. he sighed and rubbed at his eye in exhaustion. he folded the letter back neatly and slipped it in his pocket.

—————————

“nothing is working!” yuuji laughed as you continued to complain. “i mean, think about it. we came with this plan to make megumi jealous and nothing has worked. i didn’t even give him his good-bye kiss today!”

“well, there’s still one last thing we could do.” you rolled your eyes.

“and what might that be oh wise one?”

“megumi always gets to the dorms at 8:30, right?”

“yeah, and?” 

“we’re supposed to be studying, right?” your shoulders slumped, and you groaned.

“where are you going with this?”

“if megumi hears some...uhh...well- how should I put this?...questionable noises as he passes by the room--that’ll be his last straw.” you nodded understandingly. you agreed to the plan with one final worry,

“i just hope he doesn't break up with me.”

—————————

the corridor was dark as usual on his training days. never missing a beat, megumi walks down the hallway expecting to only hear his footsteps, though we don't all get what we expect.

“yuu! fuck-- please!” megumi’s footsteps stop right before he can fully pass itadori’s dorm. 

“come on, y/n. try a little harder and maybe i’ll give you what you want.”

“yuuji, please, I need it. please!” the little show was accompanied by grunts and groans from you. 

megumi felt something inside of him snap. he tore the door open almost breaking the doorknob in the process. he saw both you and yuuji standing while yuuji held something--he assumes its school supplies--over your head while you’re trying to grab it. both of you are in casual clothing and out of your daily school uniforms. you both stare at megumi in the door entrance.

megumi fumes and grabs you by your wrist. he dragged you into his room, locking the door behind him. megumi turned on a couple of the lamps in his room. he drops all of his stuff and turns jaggedly to face you.

“what has been going on?” he asks surprisingly calmer than he looks.

“what do you--”

“you know what i’m talking about. what between you and yuuji, huh?” you crossed your arms and frowned.

“first of all,” you stepped closer and turned your nose up to him, “do not interrupt me. second,” you turned around sheepishly, “itadori wanted to see what you would seem like jealous, and” you slumped, regretful, “i agreed.”

megumi sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. he walked up and hugged you from behind. “so you still love me?” you scoffed.

“what? of course I do.” megumi nodded. you two stood in silence, until he spoke up with an idea.

“will you make it up to me?” 

“i will...but how?” his hands slowly lift your shirt, letting just his hands under. he moves his head from your neck to rest against your ear.

“i have something in mind,” he said. his left hand reached towards your right tit while the other hand played with the waistband of your athletic shorts. you leaned back into him feeling him harden. you turn in his embrace and kiss him. the kiss was passionate but soft.

megumi led you towards the bed, laying you down. he caged you in, pinning you to the bed. he sat on his heels to see you. your face was flushed, and you were slightly trembling.

“don’t just stare.” he laughed breathlessly.

“i’m sorry, y/n. you’re just so pretty,” his voice trailed to low whisper as he leaned into your neck, “it makes me wanna go all the way.” he peppered feathery kisses onto your jaw—so intoxicating it made your mind spin in circles and your body squirm.

“wait,” you said. “are you sure?”

“what?” he asked lazily, still suckling on your skin.

“what if gojo comes in and—“ he kissed you, then rested his forehead against yours.

“forget gojo. i want you,” he went back down to your collarbone, “i want to make you feel good.”

“megumi,” you managed to say.

“hmm?”

“take me.” he stilled, but the words shot straight to his dick. the way you would say his name in the breathless, pitched voice made his cock twitch. he stuffed his face in the dip of your neck and groaned. he collected himself and crashed his lips into yours. it was messy. teeth would clash and spit covered each other’s mouths. though the love each had for one another never diminished. you could feel him pouring his love, heart, and soul—telling you, through the kiss, to take him as well.

his thumbs hooked the waistband of your shorts and pulled them down along with your panties. you sat up and took your shirt off and your bra. he pushed you back down and kissed you. he kissed you and kissed you, and you felt your lips bruising from his force. your hands reached to his shirt, and you signal for him to take it off. swiftly, he took his sweats and shirt off, leaving him in his boxers.

he went back to kissing you. he couldn’t get enough. megumi wanted to kiss every angle, crevice, inch—he wanted to kiss all over—he wanted to make sure not piece of you was left untouched. if you’d let him, he’d ravage you in one blow.

his hands began to tease your inner thighs, but always too high or too low. his kisses began to follow the path down you jaw to your collar bone. his fingers finally touched you where you wanted—needed him most; his middle finger spreading your wetness between your folds. his kisses turned impatient. he marked you with his teeth, leaving love bites behind as he moved farther down.

your gasps, breaths, and soft moans were music to his ears. they made his mind go fuzzy and his eye sight waver. he was drunk on you; he was drunk on the sounds, the smell, the taste of you.

megumi’s lips attached to you left breast which made you yelp. at the same time, a finger slipped into your cunt, followed by a second, then a third. one by one, each stretching you out, and preparing you for him. the sensation made you wriggle around. your knee dug into his cock, making him moan out. you continued to pleasure him, the vibrations from his sounds heightening your own pleasure.

“megumi—“ you whined, “please. i need more.” he chuckled and detached from your breast with a slight pop. his lips hovered against yours, not entirely kissing you.

“patience, princess.” his fingers sped up and his thumb grazed against your clit, making you arch your back.

“please,” you whimpered back. “fuck me, megumi. please?” you bucked your hips into his hands, in attempt to convince him more. with a final cry, megumi cursed at himself and removed himself from you, leaving you on the bed catching your breath and your thighs twitching. megumi got rid of his boxers—throwing them on floor with the rest of the scattered clothes.

his rummaged his drawers for the condoms maki got him as a gag gift for his birthday. megumi tore the packet open with his teeth and slipped it on. you look over to see him walking back. the bed creaked with his added weight, and a smile of anticipation graced your face. megumi gave some final kisses to your inner thighs while he got comfortable. he held the back of your thighs up, using his shoulder as leverage.

you helped line up his cock, and he pushed in. finally in, megumi moaned while you let out soft puffs, trying to adjust. he moved slowly, not wanting to hurt you as the way felt against him made it awfully hard to.

“so good—ahh!” you couldn’t help but get louder. “megumi,” you moaned, “you feel so good—fuck!” your hips moved along with his, and megumi felt something in him snap. he groaned and apologized,

“i’m sorry, baby. i can’t help it.”

“s’ okay,” you managed out before your head finally turned to mush. megumi’s thrust sped, and his hands moved to your hips pulling them into him harder and harder. megumi’s eyes crossed, getting lost in the pleasure. he felt your walls flutter against him, signaling you’re close. his right thumb found your clit again. he felt you tighten against him. “oh! megumi, i’m gonna cum!”

“cum for me, baby.” you tensed, and your voice cracked at your final wail. he rode out your orgasm and into his. he came into the condom, and he dropped next to you. you took the condom off and tossed it in the bin.

megumi welcomed you back into bed with kisses and cuddles under the covers. “that was amazing,” you whispered.

“it was,” he whispered back with a smile. he dug his nose into your hair with his arms around you and dozed off to sleep.

—————————

the door being opened harshly startled megumi awake.

“rise and shine-“

“gojo-sensei!” megumi yelled, stirring you awake. gojo saw the bedsheets fall from your bare shoulders and understood what had happened. gojo bursted out laughing and closed the door, still laughing after it was fully shut. “shit!”

“what’s wrong, baby? who was that?” you asked still groggy.

“gojo.” the sleepiness was replaced with adrenaline quickly, and you bursted from the bed naked.

“gojo?!” megumi smiled seeing you flail around for your clothes.

after both of you were decent, you walked out of megumi’s dorm, and gojo was still laughing. yuuji was also laughing. megumi rolled his eyes.

“hey megumi, did you at least wrap it before you tapped it?” gojo’s laughing increased.

“yeah, you two were quite loud. please remember the thin walls next time,” yuuji snickered.

“sorry, yuuji. his dick was just too big.” you shrugged and dragged megumi away past the bathroom area. both of you were laughing after seeing yuuji’s disgusted face and gojo’s eyes popping out of sockets from laughing too hard.

[bokubonk]

it can’t just be love

content: so much fluff, just fluff, soft Ushijima, carnival date

characters: Ushijima x gn!reader

date: 2/17/21

word count: 1.2k+

notes: Ushijima is so cute my heart is melting!!! I adore him in this which reminds me of how I need to start writing more fluff but my drafts are literally all angst fics and hurt/comfort fics. Anyway please enjoy my offering :))) thank you once again for 100 followers! I love you all

Ushijima was confused.

He didn't quite understand what he was feeling. He didn't understand the warmth in his chest or the sudden urge he got to smile every time he looked at you.

But what he did know was that he didn't really want it to stop.

He was always one for patterns, not wanting to mess up his schedule but you stumbled into his life and he found he discovered colors he never even knew about. You were a variable he never expected but instead of feeling regret for meeting you, he now felt something he couldn't quite name.

He was sure it couldn't just be the four-letter word all his teammates threw at him, teasing him for his new-found emotions. It couldn't just be love because it was more.

He knew it was more. He knew it in the way his heart would stop every time you looked his way. He knew it in the anger and desperation that would overcome him whenever you cried, not sure of how to comfort you and make it better. He just wanted you to be okay and look at him with that smile he adored so much.

Which brought you to your current situation, you were on your first date with Ushijima and you had decided on a carnival. You were looking forward to this for weeks after spotting an advertisement and when you brought it up to him, you expected him to shoot you down. But to your surprise, he only gave you a soft smile and a kiss to your forehead, promising to pick you up.

Ushijima ended up being an hour late after helping one of your elderly neighbors bring her groceries home. You only laughed when he told you about it with an apologetic look on his face and flowers in his hand. After all, Ushijima was one of the most caring people you ever met and you couldn't blame him for being late because you would've done the same thing in his position.

You grabbed the flowers and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you. You placed them in a vase and bid your parents good-bye before leaving the house, walking with your hands intertwined.

The carnival was as busy as you expected and you were unsure how your boyfriend felt about the crowd but when you looked up at him he was glancing around indifferently but you did feel his grip on your hand tighten and you bit back your smile.

Ushijima wasn't bothered by the large amount of people surrounding the two of you, he was more worried that you would somehow be separated from him and the thought didn't sit well in his mind. He towered over everyone else and his eyes easily found a less crowded area.

He gently tugged you along, aware of your height difference and the fact that you would have a hard time keeping up with his fast pace. You glanced up at him to try and figure out where he was taking the two of you, “Where are we going, Wakatoshi?”

“Do not worry,” he gave you a pat on the head and continued tugging you along, “Just stay close to me.”

When you finally arrived you found yourself staring at a cotton candy stall and your eyes immediately brightened. He softened, watching you get excited over what he knew was one of your favorite desserts.

Before you could even get the words out to ask him if he wanted any, he had already taken out his wallet and ordered some for you. 

“Wakatoshi,” you pouted, “I feel bad.”

He glanced at you and handed you the cotton candy and some napkins. 

“Why?”

“I don’t want to spend your money. You should spend it on yourself,” you replied, plucking some cotton candy from the stick and shoving it into your mouth, letting it melt on your tongue. “I promise I’ll pay you back later so just let me know if there’s anything you want.”

He only nodded in response, fully aware that you wouldn’t be spending anything in your wallet. He knew he wasn’t really one to show his emotions all that much and he wanted to use today to show you how much he cared. After all, you were his for the day and he wanted to treat you well.

You glanced up at him and saw him staring at you as you ate. Flushing sightly from his intense gaze, you offered him a piece of cotton candy and he bent down to take it from your hand with his mouth. He lightly nipped at your fingertips and hummed in approval.

Your breath caught in your throat and your eyes widened. You turned your gaze away from his, embarrassed at how flustered you got from his actions.

In the midst of the busy carnival, your eyes caught on to a large stuffed bear and you immediately pulled Ushijima over to the stall. It was a basketball game but you were already preoccupied with the cotton candy in your hands so you looked up at your boyfriend with desperation shining clear in your eyes.

“You want the bear?” he asked, noticing the adorable way you were staring at the stuffed animal. He felt twinge of jealousy because he wanted your attention to be on him but he shoved the feeling away, knowing it was irrational to get jealous over something so idiotic.

He reminded himself that he was the one you loved and he would do anything to keep the smile on your face. You watched in anticipation as he made shot after shot with accuracy, his brows furrowed in concentration. Ushijima knew how badly you wanted that bear and he didn’t want to disappoint you. He also put in more effort because he wanted to show you how cool he was but that wasn’t the main point.

By the end of the game he had an almost perfect score and you were delighted once you received the bear. So much so that you stood on the tips of your toes and pressed your lips to your boyfriend’s.

His stoic expression changed slightly, his eyes widening in surprise but you were too engrossed in your new-found friend to add to your stuffed animal collection that you didn’t notice how much your actions affected him. 

Ushijima listened to you squeal about the bear, unable to grasp why you were so excited by such a silly object but he found that as long as you continued smiling, it didn’t matter what he would have to do to keep you happy. 

You could feel his stare on you and you glanced up at him. You felt a little guilty for hogging the bear all to yourself when your boyfriend was the one who won him. 

“Do you want to hold him?” you asked, extending the bear in his direction.

He shook his head, nudging the bear back so he was in your arms once again. “He’s yours. I won him for you.”

You smiled, shifting your grip on the bear so you were holding him under one arm and intertwining your free hand with your boyfriend’s. 

Ushijima felt a smile tug on his lips as well. He never imagined he could love anything more than volleyball but the thought of spending the rest of his life with you was more than enough to make him smile for the rest of the date.

[seodami]

Gym surprises | KTH

Genre: Fluff, simping, (((suggestive???no?)))

Warning: thirsting over muscles, being awkward, mentioning of sweat

Word count: 1376

Pairing: Kang Taehyun x reader (gn)

Note: so so I just imagined going to the same gym as Taehyun after watching talk x today and he would honestly be a great gym buddy fr love his determination! Go go Taehyun!✨ anyways please don’t sexualise him I just think he has been working great on himself and has great physics! He is really working hard!

Main Masterlist

Sweat was dripping down your forehead, over the bridge of your nose onto your fitted red sport shirt. You quickly let go of the handles, belonging to the hanging leg raise workout equipment of your local gym. You tried standing.

Your feet were still wobbly from the previous exercise, now having to mainly focus on the intense pain in your abdominal muscles. With a quick movement you grabbed your small towel and dabbed away the fresh sweat on your face. A long sip of water closely followed.

Still with heavy breathing, trying to calm yourself down, you took a glance around the almost vacant gym. There were not many people around at this hour. Most people decided to come near the afternoon.

There was an older woman running on the track mill, humming softly to the tunes played from her headphones you believed. She obviously tried to block out the fast energizing sounds from the gyms speakers. You never minded them, being too occupied with your own thoughts anyway.

Further on the side, there was a very muscular man, working further on his biceps and triceps, even though they probably already had the size of your head. There were some actual gym monsters here. You and your noodle arms couldn’t even dare to compare. But you still wanted to keep fit and sporty, not being the next bodybuilder.

Your eyes moved towards the fully mirrored wall. Your eyes froze upon a head full of reddish hair. And an extremely attractive backside of a young man, probably around your age. Instead of being the decent human being, you should probably be, your eyes watched attentively how his muscles tensed at the impact of the weightlifting. His arms were smaller than the guy before but they looked just right on him. You already admired his hard working spirit.

To put it into words: this guy was absolutely goddamn attractive in your eyes. He had a determined look on his face, his dyed sweaty hair was sticking to his forehead. Besides that, his facial features were just heavenly. Eyes as big as coins and a defined jawline, sharp nose.

When your eyes met his suddenly in the mirror, it struck to you how long you must’ve stared at the stranger. You immediately averted your gaze, anywhere else. Oh look, what a nice water dispenser and wow, nice sweat stain on your shirt. The incoming blush on your face didn’t make it any easier.

Suddenly remembering you still haven’t finished your set, you moved up your recently used machine, propping your back up against the backside and started moving your legs upwards. You just prayed that he didn’t just catch you staring at him so obviously and that wasn’t looking at you now. Why was your life so humiliating sometimes?

When you finished your set, you quickly moved machines, just thinking about moving out of his eye sight radius. To your disadvantage, you didn’t think clearly about where to go next, resulting in you awkwardly trying to find out how to work this machine in particular, you never happened to use before. Really humiliating Y/N, actually!

No matter how hard you tried to move it, it didn’t budge by the impact. Not even an inch. This was just your lucky day. You were on the verge of quitting this unexplainable weird machine and moving on, when you suddenly heard a voice next to you.

“Do you maybe need help with this?” Your head whipped in lightning speed towards the source of the soft voice, to your shock swing the blond haired attractive guy in front of you. He now had a grey towel hanging from his shoulder and a water bottle in his hand. The strands of his hair were still sticking on his damp forehead. You nearly choked from pure air, being in such close proximity to him. From up close, he looked even more handsome.

Your eyes went wide, struggling to say anything. Your head was like cotton candy, nothing wise seemed to come out. You remembered faintly croaking out a strained and way too high ‘yes please’, when he started to explain you what you did wrong. You subconsciously held your breath, having him bend over to the front of the machine to adjust the settings more fitting to you.

“It’s a tricky machine, honestly. I wouldn’t have understood it either without a coaches help.” He explained, his hand now resting on his hip bone. You noticed the thick veins along his strong muscular arm, making you literally wanna hold onto them.

You looked up to him again. He had a gentle smile on his face. “Is it now better? You need to move this up in order to begin- yes just like that - perfect” he watched you finally being able to move on your own. You sighted in relieve, giggling slightly in embarrassment.

“Thank you, oh god I must’ve looked so embarrassing.” He looked down swiftly on the ground before shaking his head laughing lightly. “No it’s all good. Not many people use this machine in the first place. I’m glad to help.”

“You didn’t say it wasn’t embarrassing.” You chuckled, nervously trying to avert your gaze onto his shoes. He giggled childlike, not fitting to his first impression exactly, but still making you feel giddy. “Well, it looked a bit funny but it was cute.” He grinned cheekily. You flushed even harder, trying to persuade yourself that it was only looking like you just had finished a heavy workout.

“Hey, if you have any more questions about equipment or else wise, I’m right over there. Don’t feel shy to ask.” He pointed pack to the place in front of the mirror, he was standing before. His other hand reached for his neck as he send you a last smile, seeing as you nod and thank him again.

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself, feeling the typical symptoms of an incoming crush. In the corner of your eye you saw him get into position again. Your eyes met again for a swift moment before you both looked away. Were you really that easy to be swooned? Yes you were.

Half an hour and three more exercises machines later, you finally figured out a plan inside your tiny head. You couldn’t just let this chance slip away like the other ones. You were a goddamn strong woman who can pursue her own desires. And you were feeling surprisingly bold after this small encounter, so why not giving it a shot? The worst thing could happen was that you need to change gyms. You could live with that.

So after finally collecting all your courage you possibly could have, you went to the counter, asking for a piece of paper and a pen, quickly writing your phone number and name in large letters.

With a last deep breath, your feet carried you over to the other end of the gym, where the attractive boy was now working hard on the lat pulldown machine. Standing in front of him, you suddenly felt shy again, twiddling with your fingers.

He stopped to greet you again with a bright smile. Without much overthinking, you pressed the small piece of paper in his sweaty hand. He looked up to you with big sparkling eyes as if you should elaborate.

“Just...just you know, if I need anymore advices.” You managed to say, feeling your cheeks warm up once again. Before he could reply anything, you already muttered out a high pitched ‘bye’ and turned around to head towards the changing cabins. You gathered your belongings and left without making a scene or embarrassing you even further. Your whole car ride home was filled with doubtful discussions with yourself.

What you didn’t saw, was his relieved gentle smile after he opened the folded piece of paper, finding your phone number and name on it. Y/N...

So instead of having a shower on top of his priority to do list after going to the gym today, it changed to texting your number with the best feeling of confidence in his system.

[wordsonmars]

Orange popsicles The worst thing about depression, to me, was always how it could make the most beautiful things seem so dull.

Weeks come and go without leaving a trace. Months would flow together into one big blur of nothingness. Some days of my teenage years I can remember more clearly, others are lost to me forever.

What I do remember and always will is you.

Being fifteen, first tastes of freedom, taking you out for lunch. The waiter brings me the bill as we eat our dessert. Everyone around us knows what we are, we just haven’t caught up quite yet.

Being sixteen, holding hands when my parents aren’t looking. The city is brutal for people like us, but we walk through the bustling mall anyway, close but at a distance.

Being seventeen, gentle orange popsicle kisses making up for our first. You were the first girl I had ever kissed that way, back when we both were still girls.

Being eighteen, cold in the middle of August, wondering how you’re holding up. The pandemic hadn’t been what made us drift apart, but it didn’t help either.

Being nineteen, still starving, angry at you. I guess a part of me had still felt entitled to you in some way. There were other men now, boys I would secretly curse for having everything I couldn’t have; a body that fit them, you.

Being twenty, we’ve finally made it to the concert we’ve been talking about since Highschool. You remember the words and I remember teaching you. The music is loud, but the memories are louder. Kisses on the cheek and “I love you”s escaping our mouths. You’re happy now, with him, and that’s all that matters to me.

We started out as the only two queers at a small town public school, always judged, but never harmed. We grew up to be so much more than that and it cost its price. If I could go back, knowing what I know, I would always do it again.

We were just two girls trying to figure out where to go and while we’re not there yet, I think we finally found our ways.

[redhairedfeistynerd]

Slush and a Side of Toys

Part 1

A/N: I'm months behind on everything but here is my piece for @sweater-daddiesdumbdork  and @sagechanoafterdark  Winter/Holiday Festival Challenge. I chose #38 donating toys to children.

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Warnings: 18+, SMUT, angst, frustrated reader, swearing, alcohol

Words: 5800+

Part 2 will be up soon!!

Please like, comment and reblog. I appreciate it and thanks for reading.

All mistakes are my own

A reminder - my work is not to be reposted anywhere.

There’s a muffled humming coming from somewhere under a pile of paperwork and takeout containers on your floor. The sound is constant, piercing, and irritating. Eyes still closed, head pounding from an evening of too much wine and schmoozing, you reached down towards the sounds and ran your hands over the stack, following the vibrations of your phone. Once found, you yanked it away from it charging cord and used every ounce of energy you had, pulling the phone close to your face. Opening one eye a sliver to hide from the light, you read from the bright screen.

Hey, listen, I know we've had our differences the last few years but I think it's time we put all of it behind us. I saw Rosie the other day and asked her how you were doing but she kept it pretty vague. I hope to hear from you soon, even if it's only a text to say you’re doing okay.

Reading over the message a second time, in utter shock that he had the audacity to message you and pissed that he even dare ask your friend about how you were; you decided to turn off your phone and toss it into a pile of clothing on the floor.  

What. A. Dick.

Rolling back over into your cozy blanket cocoon, falling back asleep, temporarily pushing away any thoughts of the man from your past.

The message was all but forgotten until later that day when a familiar song came on the radio and you couldn’t help but think about how you had both downed several beers at a pub and sang it at the top of your lungs. Maybe it had been a dream earlier and the text never happened. Pulling your phone from your back pocket, hoping it was all your imagination, you indeed saw that there was a text.

The ever-so-hard to escape blue eyed man, was trying to weasel his way back into your life and you weren't having any of it. Dropping the phone into the bag sitting at your feet, getting up from the desk, shaking out a bit to ease the tension that one tiny text had accumulated.  

"Don't think about him. Don't think about him. Don't think about him," you repeated the words over and over, hoping to push all thoughts aside. In stocking feet, walking around the small hole you called your office and continued to shake it out. The calm didn’t last as long as you hoped, anger slowly creeping up and out.  

"Stupid frikkin guy!! UGH!" The sound of your disgruntled cry, shook you a bit, the frustration clearly coming out louder than expected. "All right, settle yourself down, you can't let him have this sort of pull over you," hoping the self-talk would work, you ran your hand through your hair and walked back to the desk. "Delete it, pretend that you never looked at it and it will go away."  

There was no way the struggle going on inside your head would even fathom deleting the text. Truth be told, as much as you cursed and hated the thought of him trying to slide back into your life, there wasn’t a month that went by without a thought of him crossing your mind. A song playing, a Romcom from the 90s, the pizza you both loved so much. Why couldn’t you escape him?

You shot off a quick text to Rosie, curiosity was killing you now, itching inside you, desperate to find out how the hell you had come up in conversation.

Y/N -Word on the street is that you ran into a clown I once knew; I’m curious what was said.”

Rosie: Oh no, he didn’t.

Y/N: He did and it was pathetic

Rosie: It was a super quick interaction. Both of us waiting for a coffee and being friendly. He asked about you almost right off the bat though. It almost rendered me speechless after what happened.  

Y/N - So, that’s it? What did you say? Did you tell him how fantastic my life is going and that I probably wouldn’t even remember him?

Rosie: you and I both know, that that’s a load of shit. I’ve had wine nights with you, that man-child has never left that brain of yours.  

Y/N Shut up.

Rosie: Really though, it was super quick. I said you were doing charity work and were still in the city, happy and healthy.  

Y/N- good to know. I’ll just sit here and pretend his message never happened then. Carry on as usual.  

Rosie: see you later this week?

Y/N Definitely, bye babe.

Placing your phone down on your desk, you continued opening your mail: thank you cards for volunteering, appreciation notes from parents and kids, and requests for you to help out at other groups around town. The next month would be hectic, with collecting the many donations from around the city. You had to finish training several new volunteers that would assist with wrapping, delivering, and presenting gifts to the charities and individual families that you helped support during the Winter months.  

It became a mechanical process, opening envelope after envelope, that you weren’t paying attention to the return addresses. It wasn’t until you read the first few lines that the letterhead caught your eye and did it burn.  

Blue-eyed monster strikes again via his mother.

You knew it wasn’t the case though, his mom, was offering a bursary to some of the kids you helped out and she was reaching out to you and other groups in the city to help.  

It didn’t take much to pull your mind from work once you had read the Evans name on the letter. Bits and pieces shifted in your mind; you couldn’t fight it any more today. The letter slipped to the floor and you sat back against your desk, the memories that you had been pushing away, were flooding back.

It all started innocently about three years ago, bumping into one another around town, having several acquaintances that knew each other, and a tendency to make the other smile when the lamest dad jokes were thrown around. His face was incredibly animated and you loved the way his eyebrows would jump up while he spoke, there was mischief behind them that you wanted to discover. Even a quick peek, would ease the curiosity.

You recognized that laugh from across the room of the gallery – full of heart and genuine. Turning around, you spotted Chris mingling with other attendees of the charity event. You were here to help raise money for low-income families in the community that could not afford music lessons or music therapy for their children. The profits from the art sold this evening, would help buy instruments for the school that was set to open the following month. You knew Chris had donated and you had volunteered to help teach the parents with baby's groups every second weekend. It was the least you could do, you had a bit of extra time and needed to give back to the community that helped you and your family out during your childhood.

“How did I know you would be here?”  

You must have zoned out thinking about that boisterous laugh that you didn’t see Chris walking over to you. You smiled as he leaned in wrapping one arm around you, a beer being held in his other hand. His smell was intoxicating – a mixture of orange and the woodiness of sandalwood. Would it be wrong if you pulled him closer to take a quick whiff before he pulled away?  

He took his time moving back from you, winking as his arm shifted back to his side and lifting the beer to his mouth with the other, take a long sip.

“So, you out here to buy some art?” he asked, taking another drink.

“No, not buying tonight. One of the pieces is mine, I donated it to help out.”

“You have something up for sale here?” He questioned, taking a quick spin around to quickly look at all the art hanging around the gallery. “Which one is yours?”

“Oh, I am NOT telling you that. I think I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which one is mine. You can play the role of Sherlock Holmes.”

“Now, that’s just cruel.”

“Cruel? Nah. Mysterious? Yes. Are you up for a little game of 5 questions to help you out? If you can guess which one is mine, then I guess you have bragging rights because I haven’t discussed my art with anyone here. If you don’t figure it out, then I suppose it will be a mystery forever.”

“Oh, I KNOW I’ll be able to figure this out!” Chris says loudly, clapping his hands together and popping each shoulder up and down. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

“Here’s the deal, you ask me whatever you need to to figure out which one is mine. Obviously, you can’t ask which one is mine as one of your questions. Ready?”

“Ready!” Chris said enthusiastically. He took your hand and brought you to the front of the room to observe the first of the paintings. “Let’s take a quick gander and then I’ll start. How does that sound to you?”

“Whatever you need to do, Evans.”

Chris pulled you from canvas to canvas, still holding your hand as he inspected each piece. “First question. “Did you only use paint for the one you donated?”

“NOPE, next question, Evans!”

“Okay, okay, I got this,” he bounced around on the spot and turned his head to quickly glance over the works close to him. “Shit, I guess I should have asked if what you donated was a painting, right?”

You walk a circle around Chris “Is that your question?” you ask, eyebrow raised.

His blue eyes flick quickly to yours before he says, “Ya, actually...ya. That’s what I want to know. Did you submit a painting?”

“Yes, one of my paintings is hanging somewhere in one of these giant rooms.”  

“You really don’t think that I’m capable of figuring this out, do you? Ye of little Faith,” he smirked and pulled you to the back of the dark room. “Any reason why it’s so dark back here?”

“Maybe that’s what the artist wanted?”

“Here’s question three then,” he said as he pulled you closer to him, your eyes looking into his as he asked. “Is you painting in the dark room?”

“Is that really what you want to ask me?”

Chuckling, you take hold of his hand and lead him to another section of the gallery. “I don’t want you to miss any pieces, so take a look around here before you ask number three.” He squeezed your hand and looked up, the ceiling adorned with a beautiful piece; birds in flight but as they reached the furthest wall, the began to decay, until only single feathers remained.    

“Here’s number three, ready?” He looked to his left where you were nodding your head back. “Did you mainly use your hands for this piece? I mean, instead of brushes or other tools.”  

You were silent for a moment before answering, did you want to tell him how much of yourself you had put into this piece? That what the brushes couldn’t do, you did with your hands and arms? “I did. This one needed more than brushes.”

Chris smiled at you, “feel like telling me what else you used?”

“Not a chance,” you said, grabbing a glass of white wine from the tray passing by. “You want a glass?”  

Chris held up his bottle, its content revealing that it was still half full. “I think I have a pretty good idea which one is yours, so these last two questions are going to be good.” With two large gulps, he finished up the rest of his beer. “So, what happens when I guess, do I get some sort of prize? Maybe you could paint me or something?”

“If you mean, could I dump a bucket of paint over your cocky head, then, sure!”

Chris burst out laughing, pulling you into him for a squeeze.  “I love how you make me laugh and I bet you would actually do that to me. But really, if I do guess, what happens?”

You kept your body close to his, his arm still holding you close as you responded, “what do you think would be suitable prize, Chris? Do you want me to paint something, make you a prince? Maybe something of you and Dodger? Or maybe I could paint your like one of my French girls.”

“I would love one of your pieces, but if I win this, I’d like to take you out. Is that okay with you?”

Your grip tightened around the wine glass, trying not to let it slip to the floor. It was a shock, to hear that this man, one that you had flirted with for months, was asking if you wanted to go out with him.  

“Y/N?”

“Sorry, I... I didn’t expect you to ask me that,” you answered, fidgeting with your hands out of awkwardness.

“It’s ok, you can say no! It’s all right to tell me no.”

“No. No. I’d love that. If you can guess which one is mine, I will gladly go out with you. Dinner, drinks, walk – whatever you like.”

Chris placed his empty beer on the table closest to you. “Ready for my last two questions?”

“As ready as one can be.”

“Is your piece hung on the wall as a landscape?”

“Look at you Evans, you got another one.”

Chris rubbed his hands together, his smile wide and full, clearly showing that he was on a winning streak. “Here’s number four and then I’ll go right to the painting I think, the painting I know it is. Chris walked back and forth in front of you before turning to face you with his last question. You had grabbed another glass of wine and took a sip, waiting for his winning question. “Does your piece use more than black and white? – so many of these photos, sculptures, paintings are very monotone.”

“You’re good Evans and yes, I filled my picture with the rainbow. So, take my hand and show me what the answer to this mystery is.”

His warm hand took your free one and he walked you to one of the side rooms – this room was full of colourful pieces. You could feel the heat flushing across your cheeks and a thin layer of sweat formed at your hairline. Chris stopped and turned towards the back wall and pointed to one of the paintings. “I’m pretty sure this one is yours,” he said with a half-smile. “Am I right?”

You had wished, during those few minutes he had suggested that he take you out, that he would guess which one is yours. But what were the chances with over 40 pieces around you? You tried to keep your body from slouching before you softly answered “No. That’s not mine.”

The happiness in his eyes left quickly once you responded.

“Are you going to tell me which one is yours though?” He asked you eagerly.

“No, I think I’m going to keep that secret to myself. Thanks for the fun, Evans, I should get home. Another day of charity work for me tomorrow.”

“Wait, Y/N, I’d still like to take you out though, will you let me do that, please?”

“I guess we’ll have to see what the future brings,” you replied, giving him a little wink and a squeeze to his hand, you took one last sip of your wine before heading to the coat check.

Chris watched you as you wrapped a scarf around your neck and slipped your arms into the long, wool coat.  Walking back over to him and wrapping your arms around him, it was a quick hug and he barely had an arm around you before you were stepping back. With a smile on your face, you turned and stepped out into the night. Chris watched as you turned right and glanced his way, your hand lifting up and into a quick wave. He couldn’t stop smiling and knew he had to see you again.

It didn’t take long for that to happen. You couldn’t get him out of your thoughts and dreams after the encounter at the gallery. He really was something; funny, compassionate, a hard worker, and you couldn’t deny that he was incredibly good looking.

After an event in town and a few drinks later, it was easy as pie, asking him over for dinner. He had initially thought you were pulling his leg.  

Chris couldn’t stop laughing. "Oh ya, sure you want me to come over for dinner," laughing at your request and taking a sip of his IPA.

The pink that had flushed across your cheeks when you had shyly asked him was disappearing like an ice cube in hot soup. He picked up on the change immediately and apologized profusely. "I didn't think you were serious! You are serious, right?”

"Why wouldn't I be? It's just dinner," you shrugged. “I don’t see why you would have such a dramatic response to a simple question.” There was an awkwardness now and maybe you shouldn’t have asked him to come over. “Sorry, I thought since we kind of hand a friendship blooming and I tend to invite friends over...”

He took hold of your arm and pulled you into his chest, a big smile across his face. “I'll come by; don’t you worry. Which day this week works for you? I'll be out of state after this week for a bit, so hopefully something the next few days will work for you,” he said, squeezing you a bit before he released his hold on you.  

Trying not to be awkward, you responded "This week will definitely work, tomorrow or the next day are open for me."

"Let’s go for tomorrow, okay?  Would you like me to bring anything?” Chris smiled  

“Be sure to bring the dog, he's the one I'm really inviting.”

"Well, fat chance of me coming by now, I see where your allegiances lie, " he said half closing his eyes and glaring at you in a teasing manner.

"Ok then, just drop the dog off, I'm sure he'll enjoy the feast."

Chris couldn't help laugh at the way you were carrying on with this charade. The half-smile that was currently on your face was one full of mischief and it was something that he had come to enjoy the last few times he had run into you around town. He could see a sparkle in your eyes, something that he didn’t notice before today and it was something, that he could get used to.  

“A thought crossed my mind... what exactly would have happened if I had guessed right?”

“Since that didn’t happen, I guess you’ll never know,” you said with a shrug and nudged him with your shoulder.

“You sure like to tease me.”

“What exactly am I teasing you over?”

“The opportunity to be in your presence again,” he replied, a slight blush crossing his cheeks.

Finishing up your drink, you placed the glass back on the cardboard coaster and turned to face him.  

**

“What the hell is THIS?” he asked grabbing at the green monster type thing that was hanging from a lamp in your living room

"That, is a flying frog - one of those weird ass dad gifts - he's always finding these peculiar creatures for me and I can't seem to part with them.

"It's sure ugly"

"You're ugly!” You shouted back at him and burst into the most beautiful smile he had seen cross your face.

"What are you, 12?

"Sometimes,” you replied.

Chris couldn’t help but laugh at you and pull you into a quick side hug. "You're a funny one" he feels you squeeze him back softly, a smile crossing his face at the quick interaction.

"I better go take a peek in the oven and make sure everything is baking the way it should. Make yourself cozy, I'll be right back."  You looked back to him, pointing at the couches before turning and walking down the hallway to the kitchen. Turning you head back, forgetting to offer him a drink but his long strides had brought him right behind you quickly, almost colliding with your body. He tripped up a bit and moved his hand to your hip to catch himself.

"I want to see what you're up to in here, see what the chef is cooking up.” Chris resting his chin on your shoulder to peek at what you were stirring on the stove.

“You couldn’t sit still and wait for me to come back, did you miss me that much,” you teased.

“I couldn’t stand to be apart from you for a second longer.”

“That is the cheesiest lines, Evans. Does shit like that work for you?”

“What matters is, if it’s working on you. So, is it?”

You hummed, refusing to answer the question and carried on taking care of the food in the oven. Satisfied with how everything looked, you turned the timer back on and offered Chris a drink. Agreeing on wine, you pulled a bottle from the rack, passed the stemless glasses to Chris, grabbed his hand, and lead him back into the other room. Sitting on the larger of your two couches, Chris took a place beside you, taking the bottle from your hand, opening the bottle, and pouring you a generous glass before pouring his own.  

“To friendship,” he said raising his glass

“To friendship, good food, and drinks,” you added and brought your glass to his, a quick clink, and sips were taken.  

Dinner was ready within the hour and you both continued to chat while enjoying your meal.  

“That was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, thank you”, complimented Chris as he wiped his mouth with the napkin when he had finished his last bite.  

The compliment brought the feeling of heat to your face and out of awkwardness you almost knocked your glass over as you reached for the wine.

“Want a refill?” You asked, holding up the second bottle of red that night. “You have good taste in wine, Mr. Evans, this wine is top notch,” you said, looking over the label of the wine he had brought with him.

Chris smirked and slid the glass to his left “I’m glad you think so, I’ll definitely have another. This should probably be the last one though, I feel like I’m overstaying my welcome.” He watched as you poured, your hair falling forward as the wine glass filled. “Cheers, thank you for the invite and many thanks for a delicious meal. You are constantly surprising me with your talents.”

“You aren’t overstaying. I’m enjoying your company and don’t want you to leave yet. Here, let me show you what I’m working on for this year’s event,” you said and pulled your phone out of your dress pocket and slid your finger across the screen. Shifting your body across the cushions toward Chris, you held the phone out towards him.  

“What is it you are putting on this year?”

“Another charity event, it’s to help out the single parents that live in the community. I try to donate as much time to charities as possible.”

“You have a heart of gold.”

“I want everyone to have a special holiday season, you do it. I see that you donate time and money to charities.”

“I have the means to help and giving back is extremely important to me.” Chris looked through a few more of the photos before placing the phone down next to him on the couch.  

Reaching over to take her phone, Chris put his hand over yours and slid closer. “I know you always think I’m joking around with you when I say how much I love seeing you smile but I’m being 100% honest. Your smile is contagious and I feel like it lights up anywhere we are. It’s a beautiful smile and its part of why I’m so attracted to you.”  

You couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Oh shush, you!”  you said pushing your hand into his chest, your smile wider than he had seen before.  Again, he put his hand over yours and pulled you to him gently with his other hand.  He brought you close, enough to hold you against him for a hug. He watched as your eyes tried to find a joke hidden in his face but you quickly realized that there was something else there. You weren’t sure who moved first as your lips met quickly enough that your teeth clacked together and you swore in pain.  

“Oh fuck, only I would ruin an almost perfect moment. I’m such an-

He pulled you to his lips again, kissing you softly and trying not to laugh at the look on your face.

“Am I a joke to you, Evans?” you asked, kissing him back on the lips.

“Oh, not at all, I didn’t want to have to explain to people we know how I broke your teeth though. I mean, I could make up some ridiculous story about it, could be fun,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t help but throw your head back and laugh, bringing yourself back up to face Chris and pull him by his shirt towards you and kissing him without any stupid errors. You could taste the wine on him, the sweetness adding to the softness of your kiss. He took the lead, pulling you closer and slipping his tongue delicately across your bottom lip before deepening the kiss.  

Your eyes opened when you hear Chris let out a soft moan, not expecting to hear such a sound from him before you could emit one. He did it again and you felt it all the way down your spine and into your soul. Your hands, still in idiot mode, found their way to his hair, and were quickly taking apart his well-coiffed hair by running your hands through it.

“How does your hair smell so damn incredible?

“How do you taste so fucking delicious?

You pulled back, staring him in the eyes “Hmm, maybe you need to taste a bit more, clean that palate of yours,” you teased.

“Are you implying...”

“Not implying, the buffet is open, sir. Dig in.”

Chris’s face went a light shade of red.

“Oh, did I catch you off guard, Casanova?”

“I mean, no... no...’ he stumbled, “OK, fine yes, yes you did.”

“Well, now that you know, let’s get back to business. All right?”

You took control, standing up, taking his hand roughly and leading him to your bedroom.  

“I want you to take off my clothing, piece by piece. I want to see it on the floor and,” you said placing her finger on his lips, “no more talking,” you ordered.

“Anything you want,” he whispered into your ear and he ran his tongue down your neck so softly, that goosebumps raised over yours arms. His hands wandered from your shoulders and down your arms, taking hold of your hands and moving them to his belt buckle.  

Looking up to him, he nodded, silently urging you. Undoing the belt and still staring into his eyes. Moving to unzip his jeans and push the button away, Chris was unzipping the back of your dress, the cool line of metal touching your back as he drew the zipper down the length of your back.  

“You have goosebumps, do I need to warm you up?

“I’m hoping you get to that. Now, what did I say about talking?”

He smirked, pushing the dress down each shoulder until it dropped to the floor. Stepping out of it, you kicked it off with one foot, tossing it towards the wall. Chris’s hands were already roaming, his hands on your hips, fingers sliding into the thin elastic of your panties. His hands slipped across your warm flesh and directly to your cheeks, grabbing each one and squeezing, and pulling you closer to him. His lips were pressed into yours, his tongue back to searching for yours as he wrapped his arms around you and brought you to your bed. Gently, he sat you on the edge and leaned into you bringing you down to the mattress.  

His kisses ran down your sternum and across the soft skin of your breasts while his hands ran across the tops, gently running his fingers over your nipples.  

“Keep doing that, keep... keep touching my breasts, Chris.”

You could feel him pressing into you, his erection, warm and pushing against your core.

His hands squeezed your left breast while he brought his mouth down to your right, taking the nipple into his mouth, gently sucking it. Running his tongue around the bud, a chill running across your arms and a moan escaping your lips.

“I need to be in you now, please, y/n,” he said, kissing up your chest.

“In the drawer, condoms are there and hurry the hell up, Evans, I’ve waited forever for it to rain and fill up the well.”

He chuckled as he crawled over you, limbs knocking yours, a soft hand slapped across his ass, as you watched him open the nightstand drawer, which got stuck in his effort to hurry. “Come on Evans, you got this,”

“A little self-talk over there to get you motivated?”  

Chris smiled as he held up the package and smiled at you before sitting on the edge of the bed to roll the condom down his hard length. He was on you again, returning quickly, his lips pressing against yours. His lips, wet and warm, pushed harder against your mouth as he pushed your legs further apart, taking himself in his hand, rubbing across your wetness and pushing halfway. The groan that escaped his mouth while his tongue continued to touch yours, sent a tingling sensation down your body.  

“Chris, please...” you started to plead and before you could continue, he finished pressing himself into you with a grunt.

“Come on baby, show me how well you can move,” he said as he licked a strip across your neck.  

Wrapping your arms around his neck and shifting your body against his, you let out a wail. Your bodies moved together, the pace quick, the sounds of your wetness echoing throughout your room.  

“Listen to the sounds we’re making, baby,” Chris panted and drove deeper into you. His body was incredibly warm against yours, the sweat making his chest glisten in what light crept in from the hallway.  

Chris slipped his hand down and his fingers met your warmth, crawling in to press against your clit. You clenched around him; a low moan escaped his mouth as he continued his movements.

“A bit more, a bit more,” you groaned, your back arching as Chris sped up. You looked up at him and reached your hand up to his face, holding on and staring into his blue eyes as you felt the tingling ball up within.  

Faster than expected and with one last swipe of his fingers, your orgasm spread out from within. Your shoulders tingled, spreading down to your fingers as you yelped out, the warmth of pleasure flowing down and across your body. Chris had shifted to move into you, helping your orgasm along as his own shuddering began. His lips were pressed into your neck, your name crossing his lips as he slowed his pace, and leaned onto one of his arms. He continued kissing up your neck and met your lips, heavy breaths escaping from both of your mouths.

“You’re incredible Y/N. Incredible.” One more kiss was pressed to your lips before Chris sat up, heading to the bathroom. You watched the light turn on and the door close behind him. You rolled to your side; a smile of satisfaction crossed your face as you closed your eyes.

Your heart jumped when you were woken by blankets being pulled half off of your naked body. It took you a few seconds to realize that a man, a very handsome man, was sleepy peacefully beside you. Turning to face his back and shimmying closer, you pulled the blanket to cover your shoulders and back. His muscular back stared at you and you couldn’t help but raise your hand to the pale skin, bringing your fingertip to his warm skin and drawing lines to connect each freckle.  

“You, know, that feels incredible, please don’t stop,” Chris asked, his words muffled into the pillows.

You continued using his back as your canvas; swans, sunrises, all the beautiful pieces of the world this man helped you see.  

Pushing back into you Chris spoke, “I’m going to be away next week, so I’m hoping I can see you again before I head out of town?”  

Your fingers drew the word yes on his shoulder in response. Chris turned over to face you, pulling you closer to him for a soft kiss. When he pulled back you couldn’t help but smile and pulled him in for something a bit more passionate.

*

Bags packed and his dog set to stay with his family, he walked by the room Scott was in. “Hey, I’m heading out, the car is almost here. Give me a hug for the road.” His younger brother stood up and embraced him, giving him a few pats on the back and wishing him well for his short trip. “Will I see you when I get back or you heading back home?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be around still. Mom wants me to stay in town a bit longer. You okay if I’m still free loading off of you a bit longer than planned?”

“You know you’re more than welcome to stay,” he said as his phone chimed from his pocket. “Cars here. Take care of the fam and Dodger for me.” His brother gave him a smile and Chris grabbed his coat and carry-on from the table before heading to the front of the house. Dammit, he had forgotten to remind Scott again about what they had discussed earlier that day. “Scott, make sure you get that message to Y/N, okay? This schedule change was pretty last minute.” He shut the door before he heard a response from his brother. The driver held the door open for him and collected his bags to place in the trunk. He couldn’t get you out of his mind on the way to the airport; your smile, the scent of your hair, the warmth of your naked skin pressed against his. He couldn’t wait to be next to you again.

[binniebutter]

how ateez would react to finding out their crush is their secret admirer

Hongjoong

surprised as hell

when Yunho told him that he saw you slip a letter into his locker he literally fell over from shock

he didn’t ever think that you, his crush of 6 months, would be that same person sending him love notes every day

stayed on the florr of the music room for a solid minute

just proccessing the information that Yunho had given him

“Y/n? As in Y/l/n Y/n? My crush???”

as soon as he recovered from his shock he’d go up to you and demand a date

and who were you to say no

Seonghwa

literally doesn’t believe it

he had woken up late the day that his secret admirer had told him to meet before school

he felt terrible knowing that he probably hurt someone’s feelings by not showing up, though he was sure to hurt their feelings when he rejected them

he was too enamored by you to be with anyone else

so when he saw the text from Hongjoong stating that he saw you walking away from the designated meeting place with a letter in your hand, he literally couldn’t believe it

thinks that Hongjoong is pranking him and when Hongjoong swears he’s not he rushes to get dressed and talk to you

Yunho

baby boy is so confident that you’re his secret admirer and he gets cocy as fuck

so when it is confirmed that you’re the one sending him love notes

he gets even more confident

when he sees you standing in the spot that he’s supposed to meet his secret admirer he immediately smirks

he strides up to you with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, tapping your shoulder multiple times

he smiles a dazzling smile that makes most girls go weak and it has the same effect on you as it does them

“Hi Y/n. You’re my secret admirer? I would’ve never guessed.”

bye this sucks ass

Yeosang

Yeosang had caught you in the act

you usually slip the letters into his locker during lunchtime while he’s too busy eating to notice

except this time, he had forgotten something in his locker and left lunch early to collect it

so imagine his surprise when he turns the corner and see’s you putting a note through the holes of his locker

he yells out your name to grab your attention

“Y/n! You’re my secret admirer?”

you freeze up like a deer in headlights, scared of the rejection that was sure to come

“Of course, no one can resist the charm of Kang Yeosang,” he’d say while putting on his sunglasses. “Lucky me that it’s my crush, huh.”

San

shy baby number one

literally gets so blushy when you reveal yourself as his secret admirer

he’s liked you for awhile but has always been to shy to go up to you and talk to you

he smiles a big shy smile, flashing his dimples and it immediately makes you want to squeeze them

stutters over his words when you properly confess

“San, it’s me. I’m the one sending you those letters. I really like you.”

“Y-you’re serious? I-It’s you,Y/n? I really like you too!”

overall he’s such a cutie pie

Mingi

baby’s so happy!

he’d immediately jump for joy when Seonghwa told him that he saw you writing a love letter with Mingi’s name on it

literally smiles so bright

resembles a puppy who just got a treat

i feel like he’d cry a little from happiness uwu

has literal sparkles in his eyes which proves how much he likes you

maybe even loves you

would want to confront you about it but would be a little shy

it’s only when Woosan hypes him up doees he finally go and talk to you 

“Y/n, I know it’s you. My secret admirer. And to be honest, I’m really happy.”

I miss you Mingi!

Wooyoung

when Wooyoung had first gotten a letter in his locker he immediately sought to find the person behind it

it was proving to be harder than he thought

it had been a few weeks and he still had no lead

until

Yeosang came up with this brilliant idea

all the notes that he recieved so far were signed off with the same thing

-sincerely Your Star

and a little star right beside it

Yeosang’s idea was to go around to everyone in his classroom and call them “My Star” and see their reactions

so he did

and it wasn’t going well

he had only gotten weird looks from his fellow classmates

when he got to you though, you blushed

a lot

your whole face was red from the nickname so he said it again

when he got the same result he immediately got up and did a little victory dance

“I found youuu,” he’d said while shaking his body

Jongho

shy baby number two

not as shy as San would be but still pretty shy

he’d been getting these little notes on his desk for weeks now, each one of them having an encouraging sentence on them

“fighting!” “you look so handsome today.” “good luck on your test!”

the notes were different every day

but the one thing that wasn’t different was the post-it note that the sentences were written on

a bright pink, with a cute little elephant on the bottom right corner

he found out that it was you sending him these notes when he asked to borrow a sticky note from you

when he noticed that it was the same sticky note as the notes he’d been getting from his secret admirer he immediately flushed

he’d start giggling in a high pitched voice as his shoulders contracted into his body, gaining looks from his classmates but he couldn’t care less

a/n: soooo, this is inaccurate isn’t it...but I tried my best so yeeyee

Ateez Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[omniscientwreck]

With Every Single Thing I Have

Beginning note: ***MAJOR SPOILERS FOR C2 E141***

CW: Character Death, Talk of Death

This is my interpretation of the canon description of Essek and Caleb’s days with some good angst thrown right in there. I have no knowledge of what is or isn’t cannon about the afterlife in Critical Role so this may be canon divergent but I needed it to cope. I hope you enjoy! Title Is Taken From The Song Two by Sleeping At Last

Caleb Widogast is dying.

He’s old, nearly 90 years of age. His body aches with every rain, stairs become more difficult, but his casting never fades. His mind is sharp and he reads, learns, and teaches until the end comes for him. Up in his tower, exhausted and bed-ridden he hears shuffling outside the door before it opens without so much as a touch and a tray of food is brought in. Essek Thelyss glides gently into the room, “Oh good, you’re awake. I prepared a light lunch for you, would you eat?”

Nodding back at the drow, the bittersweet smile that’s become a companion to him in Essek’s presence settling again into his wrinkled features. Essek sits on the bed beside him, book in hand as he often does and the memories written all over Caleb’s face come flooding back.

They had gone back to Aeor after the business in Rexxentrum concluded. Jester had helped Caleb locate Essek and when he found out he wasn’t too late, he was still at the outpost, he’d gone almost immediately. The winter clothes they’d bought all those months ago to chase their lost friend still fit and they carried many memories in them with the promise of more to come.

Their time together in Aeor was long. They took many months scouring the ruins for every book they could find. Between his Vault of Amber and Essek’s Wristpocket as well as a borrowed bag of holding they were able to collect the knowledge of Aeor. They found every device, every tiny dunamantic stone. They went back to the machine, the one that promised Caleb his dreams, closure, a chance to atone. The one that could change Essek’s past, that would give him his freedom.

Essek gazed upon the machine and he decided to remain in hiding. He looked directly at Caleb, made the decision to live forever with the consequences of his actions, because without them they wouldn’t have this. This moment, this trip, these memories.

It is Caleb’s turn now to gaze upon his destiny. He looks into the lavender eyes boring into him with the question Will you do it? His plan is perfect, the only thing that changes is that his parents are not dead and one day maybe he can reunite with them. He can see them grown old, he can tell them everything he’s done. They can be proud of him.

His mind shifts to the Nein, to Veth, Jester. To Astrid and Eodwulf. Back to Essek. It’s impossible to know what would happen if he did this. If he’d be able to come back. Is it really worth giving up everything he knows? Potentially giving up the Mighty Nein not only for himself but for them too?

He reaches into his components bag, smears dust across his forearm and with a green ray he carves away the experiment. He destroys, permanently, any hope of ever going back, in favour of hope for the future. Essek helps him burn everything and when they’re done he can only stare at the drow. The man who’s come so far, allowed himself to be so changed by the love of friends (Caleb’s love) that he went from enemy to beloved companion. He stares and divergent futures flash before his eyes as if he’s staring deep into the Luxon. They all end the same, he dies and Essek lives on without him for many years. The change is in the times in between now and then.

He knows which one he want and if the last two months were any indication Essek had his own hopes.

A week or so later, they ate in the tower. When the Nein first separated the tower had felt empty, he usually elected to sleep in a hotel room or in the dome under the stars. With Essek it’s easier to be there. They’ve fallen into a comfortable routine while researching that involves them spending the day immersed in ancient secrets forgotten to time. They would spend hours in complete silence, reading in tandem or copying runes and arcane patterns and then one of them would find something truly tantalizing and the silence would be broken as they began theorizing. When Essek gets excited his lavender eyes brighten and his whole face lifts and it’s no secret to Caleb that his heart races and his face melts into a soft, tender expression that Essek catches and matches.

After, they’ll go into the tower and eat, served warm soups and breads by little fey cats and then they read in the study in companionable silence until they retire to separate rooms. This night, a week before their time was up, Caleb’s keen mind caught up with him. Suddenly he became very aware of the passage of time, the potential futures slipping away and he rests his spoon on the table, overwhelmed by the shrinking timeline ahead.

They talk that night, instead of reading. They sit in two armchairs in a quiet carpeted room lit by purple globules of light, gently bobbing around their heads and they talk. They talk for hours. Essek tells Caleb his sins and Caleb elaborates on his own. They talk plainly and it’s hard to do, but at some point the chairs moved closer, and then their hands touched, eventually Essek’s hands were folded into Caleb’s.

He felt closer to Essek after that. For the rest of the week it was easier to reach out and grasp his hand, to pull him into a hug. Two weeks later, they talked again and after that they kissed. Their kisses weren’t frequent but they were familiar, a warm comfort over those last weeks in Aeor.

Theirs was not a whirlwind romance. It was something more precious and much more difficult to describe. It burned slow and and steadily rose until something had to be done. They kept in close contact after Aeor, it is those letters that begin the new collection that fills Caleb’s left holster.

They visit occasionally until the burn of the eyes of the Dynasty on Essek’s back became too hot. Caleb has taken to staying in Nicodranas when he and Beauregard are taking a break from dismantling centuries old systems to weed out the rot so he asks Essek to come stay with him. Quietly, out of the eyes of the empire and most of their friends, they begin to build a life. They construct with care, laying a sturdy foundation because though they both know this arrangement is temporary they promise to always be together in one way or another; because though gravity can be altered, it always rights itself and the pull Caleb feels towards Essek, has felt for some time, is a law of his nature.

They allow themselves as long as the other will have them and they spend years together. The kisses become more frequent as they gradually abandon inhibitions. Caleb’s life is a blink compared to Essek and he becomes more aware each year of the limited time he has. He and Essek stay together in varying locations for as long as he can bear it, he realizes now that they have earned this happiness, however fleeting. It will always be a larger portion of his life than it will be of Essek’s so he holds out as long as he can. He begins to teach in this time and though Essek cannot really be free he still has his work studying their findings and occasionally he travels.

Caleb watches him advance so much in their decade together and he gets bleary eyed imagining all Essek will do when he’s gone. They learn together, share every meal, he learns Undercommon and teaches Zemnian, and they spend every possible night together in every possible way. They share a sweet and intense passion and Caleb’s love sinks deeper and deeper into his heart.

When his forehead wrinkles and his hair is greying he realizes his time is up. He has goals, he needs to teach, he needs to fully commit to being in the Empire and his short life must be spent doing as he promised all those years ago, making each place better than he found it. That is the hardest conversation he’s ever had. “I wish it were not this way. That it didn’t have to be, but I do not have as much time as you so I must burn brightly to make my impact. I will always love you Essek Thelyss.”

“And I you Caleb Widogast. When you stumbled into my life all those years ago, Empire infiltrator holding my greatest crime in your hand I had no idea what would happen. You were a variable I did not account for, could never have foreseen. Of all the possible futures in store for me this one, where I am here with you, where I have been here with you for ten years and where I will continue to be by your side thought it is not the same is the best one I could have never predicted.”

They give themselves one last year. They don’t travel, Caleb takes the year off and they spend 328 days exactly together, in bliss. They do their best not to allow the apprehension of good-bye to creep in. Caleb knows it’s not good-bye, not truly and not forever. But when the day comes though he tries to hold it back he cries bitter tears and holds Essek tight and the smaller man shakes with his own sobs. But they loved each other for eleven years, and they manage to continue loving each other for another fourty or so.

Essek leaves and travels for a while to do his own work. This is frequent in the latter half of Caleb’s life but every time he comes back and his friend brings him stories and listens to all of his own. They help each other research, Caleb still tells him everything and relishes every moment they spend together. They no longer kiss but they are still partners.

Caleb’s life has been better, more fulfilling than he could ever have hoped stumbling out of that wretched prison at the beginning of his second life. He learned peace through the Nein and later through Essek and now that he’s at the end of his time he knows he could not have lived a better life.

Caleb Widogast is old, older than he ever thought he’d be and while his bones and muscles give out and he goes to the Blooming Grove where Caduceus has always said he will end up, to spend his final months, Essek follows.

He cooks the soups the cats used to, they remember everything together, Caleb’s mind keen but Essek has kept up well. At just the right time, Caleb knows. Essek is sat beside him in the bed, the wizards reading in tandem as they’ve done before and fallen into again in this late stage. They have been kissing again, Caleb allowing this last indulgence, one last selfish act. Essek needs it too.

“Essek Thelyss, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. My constant companion, the center of my gravity. You who bent time and space for me and taught me so many things from magic to forgiveness. I have loved you all my life from the moment I could and I would never dream to change a single thing.”

“Caleb Widogast. I have treasured every moment we have spent together, you changed my life, saved a man who knew not that he was dying. I have been happy because I know you and I will continue to be happy because you will never be far from my heart.”

“Please promise to me that you will take care of the others. Allow them to care for you. Find new people and care for them and allow yourself to be cared for in return, live your life as fully as you are able, and when you are done I will see you again just as I am about to see my family.”

“I will. You have loved me all of your life and I will love you for all of mine. I will never know someone like you again. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of your companionship. It is an honor to love you and it always will be.”

The quiet conversation fades and they share one final kiss and Essek sits as Caleb drifts to sleep, gently running his fingers through his hair. Then he goes to get Caduceus. Caleb Widogast is dead.

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

Essek Thelyss is dying.

He is nearly 740 years old and he is in decline. He, like his friends before him, retires to the Blooming Grove to live out his remaining days, however many they might be. Caduceus’ kin are caring and when he shows up on their doorstep they expect him. “He told us you would arrive one day. Welcome home and thank you for being here.”

Essek’s life has been a thing of remarkable chance, nearly improbable. He has learned to manipulate as much as he can but even he could not have foreseen the path he ended up taking. He has lived so long, and his life has been full but he is tired.

Fjord had been the first of the Nein to pass. After him Caleb. After Caleb the group coalesced around him. They had never shared many details, but they seemed to know. Keeping his promise to Caleb he allowed them to care for him. To bring him food, to message him to make sure he was okay. They invited him on adventures when they needed and he never turned them down.

They continued asking him to teleport them and every single time he did. Kingsley goes next and then Beauregard. Those years are full of so much loss condensed into such a tiny portion of his existence. He isn’t used to things happening so quickly and he begins to reach out. New connections. He finds people to care for, to mentor and to bolster. He dedicates his life to using aliases to research and study and publish materials to help the mages after him and Caleb. He finds himself beseeched by parties of assholes for assistance and while he never fights alongside another group he makes himself useful in any other way in his ability.

He always imparts the lesson to leave the world better than they found it, and if they listen, if they are the same as his friends, the best people he’s ever known, the world will survive yet. There is a pause between good-byes for a number of years. Then he loses Yasha and Jester. Jester is one of the hardest, the friendly little blue tiefling with a heart for adventure who hugged him when touch had still burned. After her goes Veth and after Veth, finally Caduceus goes back to the earth.

He promised Caleb to live a full life, but every year, the anniversary of the day they met several lifetimes ago, he visits the Blooming Grove. He walks the grounds, he sits with Caleb and he tells him of his research, he reminisces and he whispers love to the flowers that grow. They are fiery orange and yellow with some deep purple and blue spattered among them. Caduceus says on his first visit that the blue ones are called forget-me-nots. Essek picks one every year and presses it into a book, like Yasha showed him once upon a time.

Caduceus and Essek drink the tea from the flowers Caleb gave them. For centuries they sat together, telling stories, having extended conversation year after year. Some years Caduceus travelled so Essek made his vigil alone, but he never forgot Caleb and he never forgot the Mighty Nein. They lived as long as he did for they were in his heart always.

The last time he visits Caleb they talk for hours. “Every good thing I have done, every positive emotion and happiness I have known in these centuries has been because of you. You allowed me to feel again and the best decision I could have ever made was letting my plan go to allow myself to grow close to you.”

He is lying beside the grave twirling a delicate blue flower between wrinkled, aching fingers. “Caleb Widowgast you have lived with me for a long while and I thank you again for the gifts you gave me while you were here. I hope you are proud of me. I love you to the end of my days my friend.”

He falls asleep then, in the night of the Blooming Grove, fireflies and an infinite expanse of stars casting gentle light across his stilling form.

As Essek Thelyss fades he finds himself again in a garden. It is brightly coloured and lush, well cared for. There is a small cottage there and as he glides to the door, drawn to it as if by gravity, it opens and he sees copper hair, vibrant blue eyes, and the widest smile he’s missed the most, “I told you my friend, we would meet again.”

“I never doubted you Caleb Widogast.”

[milkbread420]

Yooo that hc/drabble you just did for kuroo and Suna was sooooo good!! Do ya think you could maybe do that again but for iwa and kenma?? if it’s not a bother 😂

Pairings: Iwaizumi x f!reader, Kenma x f!reader

Prompt: The boys have a girl best friend who has feelings for them, but the boys like y/n ( “heather”)

Warnings: Swearing, angst??

a.n:  I made the girls nice bc I can’t imagine Iwa or Kenma putting up with a b word (I feel like they would just be like ‘k bye lmao’) & sorry this took so long I had a hard time w Kenma ;-; Next on the list are Oikawa and Sugawara !

I’m so glad you thought so!! I hope this is what you’re lookin for !

Iwaizumi

Iwa talks about you and doesn’t even realize he’s talking about you most of the time

But she doesn’t really say anything because he never looks as at peace as when he’s talking about you

His insecurities & self doubt go poof when you’re with him

You laugh along when he ‘bullies’ Oikawa, so it must be love

She knows she should hate you, but she can’t because you just make him so happy

Oikawa definitely knows about her crush and teases her relentlessly.

Sometimes he goes too far and she gets really pissed

Because it should be her, not you

Hanging out used to be just her, Oikawa, and Iwa

Now Iwa’s always asking “Can y/n come too?”

“She just can’t get enough of me,” -Oikawa 

He got beat up for that

Iwa leaves little notes in your locker, telling you how pretty you are or writes you little poems.

Mans is too scared to deliver them himself though, so he makes her do it.

He would make Oikawa do it, but the one time he did, the man memorized the entire poem Iwa wrote to you and would not stop reciting it for a week. 

So she’s stuck with the job

Unfortunately

She tries not to peek, but sometimes her curiosity gets the better of her.

Then she wishes she’d never looked.

If she were being honest though, if it couldn’t be her, she was glad it was you, though she’d never really admit it.

You actually get along really well with her.

She hates how easy you are to talk to.

Girl talk definitely happens when the boys aren’t around.

Oikawa knows this, and lets Iwa in on it too

Iwa asks her to see if you’re interested in anyone

That’s how they find out about your crush on Iwa

She had secretly hoped you liked Oikawa 

You like Iwa though (of course)

She calls him like right away to tell him because, as much as she wishes it were her, she’s really happy for you both. 

Iwa is so happy aww

Like happier than he is after scoring the last point in a game

The next day he tells you to meet him behind the gym before practice.

He confesses and both her and Oikawa catch you sucking faces 

She looks like she could scream and cry and smile all at once.

“You know, we could always go on double dates,”

“No, Oikawa”

“She wanted to know how to spike, so I had Oikawa set some balls to her, and she picked up on it pretty well,” Iwa said, leaning back into the office chair in his room with his hands resting on the back of his head, “Especially since she’s never done it before, she’s something else, I’ll tell you that,” he sighed. The girl sitting on the edge of his bed nodded, resting her chin in her palm as she listened to him talk about you, “Oikawa tried to buy her lunch today, just to tick me off,” he frowned, “That bastard,”

“Sounds about right,” she giggled, trying not to show just how bothered she was by the subject.

“I beat him to it though,” he said proudly, “She thanked me,” a blush spread across his cheeks as he recalled the memory of you.

“You sure talk a lot about her,” the girl teased, pretending the ache in her heart just wasn’t there. It was hard to listen to him talk about you. He looked so happy and content when he was rambling on about how pretty you were, or how nice you were. 

Iwa jumped out of his chair, “No I don’t!” he said loudly, “Do I?” she nodded, “Man, I just can’t get her off my mind,” he huffed in frustration, and she realized just what that meant, “Everything reminds me of her,” he was in love, “This is stupid,” he frowned. She chuckled, and he sunk back into the chair, “You don’t think she’s using me to get close to Oikawa do you?”

“I don’t think so,” she wanted to say yes, just so he’d get over you and she’d have him to herself, but seeing how happy you made him, she just couldn’t lie. She was willing to bet you liked him too.

A small sigh of relief escaped him, “Good,” he said, “I didn’t think so either, but I wanted a girl’s opinion, honestly,” 

“Well there you have it,” she smiled. 

He smiled too, but somehow she knew it wasn’t for her.

-

“So,” Oikawa grinned at the girl, “Just how obvious were you trying to make your crush on Iwa-chan?” she sighed and tried to ignore him, walking briskly through the school corridor in an attempt to get him to stop following her, “Hey now, don’t ignore me!” he whined. 

“I don’t want to talk about that, Oikawa,” she said, “It’s none of your business,” 

“Oh but it is!” the brunette persisted, “Iwa-chan’s business is my business,” he said with a signature fake smile, “Plus, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, you get what I’m saying?” She stopped in the middle of the rather empty hall, “Ooh, too far?” 

“Asshole,” she said, continuing towards her next class.

“Look, my point was that he’s got the hots for y/n, I’m sure you’ve noticed,” The brunette said, “So don’t get in the way and make things all weird,” 

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she said cooly.

“Oikawa? Are you ditching?” Iwaiziumi’s irritated voice made them both snap their heads towards him.

“Iwa-chan! No, we just needed to have a talk is all,” he said, waving his hand dismissively, “I’ll be going now! See you guys after school right?” the girl nodded, still looking like she could punch the snarky brunette in the throat any second.

“Oh yeah,” Iwa said, “Since you’re both here, would it be fine if I asked y/n to come with us? She had plans with some friends, but they all crapped out on her last minute,” his fist balled at his side at the thought of you being ditched, “I thought we could cheer her up,” he finished. His friends looked at each other. Oikawa nodded first, then looked at the girl expectantly; she nodded too, “Cool,” he said, “Thanks,” and he walked into his classroom, not looking back at either of them.  “That’s gonna leave a mark,” Oikawa noted as he watched the girl collect the pieces of her heart, her eyes reflecting the hurt she felt somewhere deep down.

“Fuck off,” 

Her day passed especially slow knowing that as soon as the last bell rang, she’d have to face you. She hadn’t really met you yet, but it sure felt like she had by the way Iwa talked about you. She wondered if you would live up to his hype, then found herself thinking, of course you would. Hajime Iwaizumi was never one to exaggerate, so you must have truly been amazing.

She hoped to god she was wrong, she hoped to find a reason to hate your guts.

The usual trio, plus one, met in front of the gym after school. You were almost hiding behind Iwa, and the tall brunette chuckled, “She’s even shyer than I remembered!”

“Sorry,” you mumbled, bowing your head a bit, “It’s just, you’re all so cool, and it’s really nice that you let me join you today,”  Oh god, you were as amazing as he’d said. Not only were you kind, but you were every bit prettier than she’d even imagined. Iwaizumi looked over at you and grinned and it made her so jealous that you could completely steal his attention with the tiniest gesture if you so desired, because everything about you was so mesmerizing, she caught herself staring. 

“No need to thank us,” Iwaizumi smiled, pushing your shoulder playfully; you blushed and she looked at you as you looked up at her. 

“Hello y/n,” she said with a smile that she wished she was forcing, “It’s nice to meet you!” 

“It’s nice to meet you too!” you smiled back. She swore she could’ve been blinded by the radiance you emitted, it was truly no wonder he had feelings for you, in all honesty she thought it might be crazier if he didn’t. 

“Shall we be on our way ladies and Iwa-chan?” Oikawa grinned, wiggling his brows at you and Iwa, who gave him a well-deserved smack on the back of the head. You giggled, “Hey!” Oikawa complained, “Don’t laugh!”

“Don’t get smacked,” You teased with a sly shrug. 

Dear god you were perfect for him.

-

“Watcha’ got there, Hajime?” the girl asked as the boy pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper from his locker. His cheeks turned pink for just a second, covered quickly by a click of his tongue.

“It’s a letter for his girlfriend!” Oikawa teased, coming up behind them, “Right, Iwa-chan?” she grimaced at the word, her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach as she looked down at her feet.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Crappykawa!” he shouted, folding his arms over his chest in momentary annoyance. 

“Not yet,” the brunette teased, and if she were to be completely honest, she wasn’t sure which one of them he was trying to provoke, “That’s a love letter right?” Oikawa leaned in to look at the folded paper; Iwaizumi shoved him away, “Or is it another poem?” 

Iwaizumi’s head snapped up, “Shut up!” he grumbled, then turned to the girl, “Do you think you could drop it off in her locker later?” he asked her hesitantly. Oikawa chuckled to himeself, wondering how his best friend could be so casually cruel to the girl. 

“Sure!” she replied, her heart breaking to the gentle smile that spread across his lips.

“Thanks,” he muttered, handing her the paper; it was just a piece of paper wasn’t it? Then why did it feel like a weapon that could tear her apart on the inside with just a single curious glance? That lone piece of paper held the power to leave her heart in shambles. 

She nodded, “No problem!” 

How could she be so cruel to herself?

-

“So,” she started hesitantly, tilting her head towards you. In the past weeks, you’d actually grown rather close, and as much as it pained her to admit, she’d grown quite fond of you, “I’m glad you came over tonight, I know you’ve been busy with school work and your club stuff,” she said.

You smiled at her, “I know you’ve been pretty busty too, so thank you for having me!”  giving her a small wave, you opened her front door 

She nodded with a clenched her jaw, bracing herself for the words that were about to come out of her mouth, “Hey,” Iwaizumi had asked her to find out who you liked, he even made a stupid bet with Oikawa about it. He was so sure that you liked him, he swore that there was no way all those stolen glances didn’t mean anything. When he talked about it, it made her wonder why he was so blind to her feelings. 

“Yeah?” you asked, unaware of the flashing bitterness in her eyes.

She swallowed hard, “You have feelings for Hajime, right?”

You blushed and looked down, “Wow, is it that obvious?” she nodded, “Yeah,” you said, “I guess it is,” a soft smile played at your lips, “You think he likes me too?” She froze. Even though she should have seen it coming, she couldn’t help but feel unprepared to answer that question.

For more reasons than one. 

She didn’t want to steal her best friend’s big moment, he really should be the one to tell you, but it would crush you if she told you he didn’t or that she didn’t know; and that was her problem. She wanted to want to crush you, to completely leave you devastated and heartbroken so that you’d break his heart too and he’d go to her and realize that it had always been her, but she couldn’t find it in herself. Even if she could, it would never be her, always you.

You were good for him. He was more confident when you were around. When you showed up to his games, he always played better. He was happier too, smiling a lot more, especially when you laughed at his jokes and antics. 

She settled on, “Well he talks about you a lot,” with a small smile that she almost couldn’t force onto her face. 

You smiled and blushed, trying to hide your obvious excitement as you left her house without another word. 

She called Iwaizumi right away to tell him the good news.

Good news for him, at least. 

-

The next day at school, Iwaizumi was sweating buckets. Finally, the last bell had rung and he was on his way to meet you behind the gym like he’d asked, the girl following him for moral support.

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he said, “I’m not even this nervous before a game,” she knew why. It was because he was head over heels for you, and even though he knew you had feelings for him, he couldn’t shake the fear of confronting you about it. Your pretty eyes looking into his would certainly be enough to make him weak in the knees, and he imagined himself a stuttering mess the second he opened his mouth in front of you; he groaned in frustration and stopped in his tracks, “I can’t do it,” 

“What?” she asked, silently hoping that maybe he’d realized you weren’t the one, “Why not?” somehow she already knew she was wrong.

Then he sighed, “She’s just so perfect, I want this to go just as perfect, but I don’t think I can do that,”

She felt a pain in her chest, “You have do do it,” she spat her words out like they were poison in her mouth, it felt wrong betraying her heart. 

Iwa nodded firmly, “You’re right,” he took a deep breath and started walking again towards the place he’d told you to meet him. He knew you’d be there, but when he saw you, Iwaizumi stopped and felt like he could drop dead any second. 

“You wanted to talk?” you asked, a glimmer of confidence in your eyes.

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “So, listen-”

Before he could get even a word in edgewise, you grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss. He tensed at first, but only for a brief moment before he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him. 

The girl watched with a heavy heart from behind the wall, her head just peeking around the corner, “Finally,” she jumped at the sudden voice, “I was scared he’d chicken out.”

“He was going to,” she grumbled as she turned to the tall brunette.

“Oh?”

“He was really nervous, but I told him he had to do it,” she explained, wondering to herself why she’d encouraged the breaking of her own heart. 

“If you love something, let it go, right?” Oikawa sighed and she realized that he’d put it better than she could have thought to at the moment.

She watched as Iwaizumi smiled and held your face in his hands, gently stroking your cheeks with his thumbs; you blushed and wrapped your hands around his wrist, smiling back at him. 

“Right.” 

___

Kenma

Kenma really likes you, but I’m sorry, he never talks about you

The only reason she knows he likes you is because one day she’s like, “don’t you have a crush on anyone?”

and he’s just like, “y/n is really cool,” 

She knows that means he really likes you 

She’s crushed but doesn’t show it because she’s scared of him finding out she likes him

She starts talking to you a lot more after she finds out about his feelings for you

Asks you to help her study hoping Kenma will join

Kenma didn’t ask her to, she just does because she knows he’s way too shy aww

She doesn’t even try to hate you to be honest, she’s actually almost excited, because Kenma actually smiles when you’re around. 

She wished he were smiling at her though

She’s really good at hiding her feelings for him

He’s lowkey jealous of how much time you spend with her bc of your study sessions 

so he confronts her about it one day

She’s like ??? You know you could just come study out with us ??? 

He says he’s not up for it but Kuroo has his ways 

Y’all have a group study session and you guys are really tense like, it’s hella awkward.

Things get a little better by the end though 

You start hanging out with their group more often after that

One day she invites you both to this arcade but then at the last minute she dips and makes up an excuse for why she couldn’t go

That was Kuroo’s idea

After hanging out one on one Kenma is like in love aww

He gets home that night to her and Kuroo waiting for him BECAUSE THEYVE BEEN FOLLOWING YOU GUYS THE WHOLE NIGHT

He’s like ¿? But tells them about how it was a great time and he REALLY likes you

“we been knew”

I think she knows he’ll never like her, so I don’t think she really gets her hopes up and she doesn’t try to sabotage you or anything

It still hurt like a buttcheek on a stick when she saw you kissing him

“That should be me holding your hand that should be me making you laugh that should be me this is so sad”

“Kenma,” she asked quietly as her and the boy tapped away at a game, both pairs of eyes fixed on the screen. 

“Yeah?” Kenma replied after a couple of seconds, trying not to lose his focus on the game. 

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend yet?” she was trying to maybe drop a couple of hints, and nudge him towards the idea of him having a girlfriend and it being her. She hadn’t expected him to pause the game and look at her though. 

“You sound like Kuroo,” he said flatly, “Why do I need a girlfriend? It’s not like I could get one anyway,” the boy shrugged and fiddled with the controller in his hands.

She frowned, “Don’t say that,” He shrugged again, and she took the chance to dip her toes in the water, “is there anyone catching your eye though?”

“What do you mean?” He asked blankly.

“Like, a crush!” She rolled her eyes and set down the controller, “is there anyone you like?” the girl felt her heart beathing out of her chest when he smiled softly and only for a brief second.

“I think y/n is really nice, you know, the girl in out Japanese Lit class?” He mumbled, a blush spreading across his cheeks, almost covered by his hair.

“Oh!” She pulled her toes out of the metaphorical water as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, “right, y/n,” she said, “she’s really nice!” Kenma nodded and turned his attention back to the game, clicking the play button.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she continued, spamming the different buttons mindlessly, too heartbroken to care about the game anymore.

“You suck,” Kenma noted.

For the rest of the time they sat and played in silence.

-

“y/n, do you think you could help me out with this question?” The girl leaned in towards your desk and pointed to one of the many questions on the assignment. Kenma watched silently from a couple desks behind both of you.

“Sure!” You said leaning closer to her; you smelled nice and that was the first thing she noticed. It was like she short circuited the moment she drew in a breath, she wondered if you were some magic creature like one she’d seen while playing video games with Kenma,“Wait, which one was it?” You asked sheepishly, snapping her out of her daze.

“Oh,” she shook herself lightly, “number nineteen,” she said, pointing to the question on the paper.

“Ah! This ones not too bad,” you smiled and went on to explain, which she only half picked up on because she was too busy staring at you, “You got it?”

She nodded absentmindedly, “Yeah, thanks!”

“Anytime,” you smiled and shifted your focus back onto your work.

“See you after school, right?” she asked with a smile.

You nodded, “Of course!” For a couple weeks, you had been helping her study for the Japanese Lit midterm in the library after school. After she found out Kenma liked you, she thought it might be a good way for him to get to know you better. 

Her plan hadn’t gone exactly according to plan though, Kenma never actually stayed for the study sessions which left her alone with you. At first, she’d tried to find it in herself to be disgruntled, but you were just so kind to her, and so helpful, she couldn’t resent you, and you’d actually gotten rather acquainted with each other. 

After class, she was still packing up a few moments after the bell, and Kenma stood by her desk, an irritated expression on his face. She looked at him, confused, “Are you okay?” 

“Fine,” he shrugged as she stood up and they walked out of the classroom together in silence.

“y/n’s really sweet,” she said, trying to get him talking. He only hummed and nodded in agreement. The girl knew something was wrong, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure it out, and he surely wasn’t telling her, so she persisted, “you know, if you wanna get to know her you could join our study session after school today,” it felt like the millionth time she’d suggested that.

“No thanks,” he shrugged.

The girl frowned, “Well fine,” she grumbled, “Why are you so cranky?” 

“It’s nothing,” he said.

She shot him a glare, “It’s obviously not nothing,”

“Let’s drop it okay?” 

The girl looked down, “Kenma, just tell me,” he eyes were sad and she felt like nothing at all, nothing if her best friend didn’t trust her with his feelings, “I’m your friend aren’t I?”

The boy sighed in defeat, “You’ve been talking to y/n a lot, and I guess I’m just a little jealous,” he admitted, “of how easy it is for you, I want to talk to her like that too,” 

Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. He was jealous of her? To be frank, it made her a little irritated that she was putting in so much effort to get to know you just so he could too, and he had the nerve to say he was jealous. She’d invited him countless times to your mini study sessions at the library after school, and he’d declined all of them; you probably thought he hated you by the way he seemed to avoid you like the plague. And as much as it pained her to know that he was pining for a girl that wasn’t her, she wanted him to be happy, she loved when he smiled, even if the smile wasn’t for her. 

“Well, if you don’t hang out with her, you’re never gonna get to know her,” she huffed, “and if you never get to know her, how do you expect her to like you back?” 

“I don’t really,” he shrugged, “I’m okay admiring from a distance,” 

She rolled her eyes, “You always settle for less than you could have,” he looked at her, “Whatever, Kenma,” annoyed, she sped away to her next class, leaving him alone and a bit confused. 

The girl was angry, and as she did her assignment during the last class of the day, she found it hard to focus. She was bothered by the fact that she’d gone so far for her friend, disregarding her own feelings, just so he had a chance at happiness, and he was completely rejecting her efforts. 

“Uh, you good?” a voice came from behind her, shaking her from her thoughts. She frowned as she turned around, “Jeez, what’d I do?” 

A sigh left her lips, “Sorry, Kuroo,” she said, “I’m just in a bad mood,” 

He hummed, “Did Kenma tick you off?” She nodded, “What is it this time, he doesn’t see your obvious feelings for him?” the boy smirked and the girl blushed, getting even more annoyed by the third year’s teasing. 

“Shut up,” the girl said, “At least I can talk to him without mentioning the periodic table,” she sneered.

 He looked at her with raised brows, “Tough talk for someone who can’t even name the first fifteen elements.”

She frowned, “Says the third year who’s taking a second year English class,”

“Touche,” he nodded slowly, leaning forward, “Look, if you want, I can talk to him,” 

Her expression shifted, “Wait, really?” 

“Yeah, maybe I can talk him into going to the study thing after school,” he shrugged. The girl smiled. Though she wanted to be the one to convince him, she figured this would have to be what she settled for. 

After the last bell rang, the girl dashed to the library, waiting for you at the entrance. You smiled and waved, offering her a greeting as you both walked in and unpacked at a table. 

“Hey ladies, have room for two more?” the girl lifted her head and frowned, looking at the pair. That certainly was not the plan she’d had in mind, playing third wheel was bad enough, but fourth wheel, really?

“Kuroo, don’t bother them, see, they’re busy,” Kenma said quietly, averting his gaze from you. 

“I don’t mind!” you cheered, looking over at the girl, “As long as you don’t mind,”

“Nope,” she glared at Kuroo, and he grinned, “I don’t mind.”

“See! They don’t mind Kenma,” the black-haired boy said, taking a seat next to the girl across from you, which forced Kenma to take the seat next to you. 

“Okay,” he said dully, carefully sitting down beside you, not daring to so much as steal a glance at you. 

Your brows furrowed in confusion and hurt for a moment. You wondered why he was so cold towards you, it wasn’t like you’d been mean to him, in fact, you’d tried especially hard to be nice to him during the few interactions you’d had, so it didn’t make sense. 

“y/n, can you help me with the second one?” the girl asked immediately, pulling you from your thoughts. You looked over at the quiet boy for just a moment before diverting your attention to her.

“Yeah,” you went on to explain the question and it’s answer while Kenma folded his arms and glared at Kuroo. 

“Hey, y/n,” Kuroo said. You looked up, “Kenma needs help on the fifth one,” Kenma’s glare became more intense and he kicked his friend from under the table. 

Your eyes fell on the boy and he just looked down at his paper, “Oh the analogies can be tough,” you said. 

He nodded simply, “Yeah,” 

You internally screamed at his lack of response, feeling a bit embarrassed, “So were you able to rule any out?” you asked, tapping your fingers on the table anxiously. 

“Well, I know it’s not ‘A’,” he said, still refusing to look at you.

“Okay! That’s good, so then take another look at the question, and figure out the context,” you explained, “these types of questions are all about context,”

He nodded and gave the question another look as you waited anxiously for his response, “Is it ‘D’?” he asked.

You nodded fervently, “Yeah! Nice!” A soft smile spread across his lips, and the girl across from you felt like her heart was being ripped out and dissected right in front of her. Though you probably hadn’t even realized it, you were making his day, he would be thinking about that moment for the rest of the night and she knew it; she wished it were her he thought about like that, though.

Noticing the expression on the girl’s face, Kuroo spoke up, “Hey, we’re gonna go get some drinks from the vending machine, you guys want anything?” 

“Oh sure,” you said, rummaging through your bag for some spare change. 

Kenma nodded and handed Kuroo enough for two drinks; his and yours. 

Kuroo raised a brow and smirked, “y/n, that’s alright, Kenma’s gotcha covered,”

“Oh!” you were beyond ecstatic, but you repressed the gigantic smile that wanted to force its way onto your face so you wouldn’t freak him out, “Thank you so much, Kozume!” you offered him a polite smile instead. 

Kenma nodded, “It’s no problem,” he said flatly, “you can call me Kenma, by the way,” 

You blushed lightly, but he didn’t really notice. The girl did though, and it made her lose all hope; he liked you and she was almost certain now that you liked him. 

“Well, we’ll leave you two to make out or whatever,” Kuroo teased and you blushed harder. 

“Kuroo, don’t say things like that,” Kenma said as his friends turned around. 

Kuroo laughed, but the girl could only think about one thing. 

In the six years they’d known each other, Kenma had never once paid for anything for her. 

-

It had been a few weeks since the group study session, and you’d gotten a lot closer to Kenma, Kuroo and the girl. Although the other two were nice, you had a special fondness for Kenma. Your heart raced whenever he talked to you, and when he said your name you swore you’d die of a heatstroke. You knew before that you found him attractive, but now, you had realized you were completely crushing on the boy and you thought it was obvious, but he hand’t seemed to pick up on it; if he had, he certainly hadn’t made any attempt to acknowledge it. 

A sigh escaped your lips at the thought that maybe he was just ignoring your feelings because he didn’t like you in that way. 

“y/n?” the boy mumbled. You were visibly startled by his voice, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” 

You shook your head and smiled, “It’s fine, just caught me off guard,” you had been waiting for him and the other two to show up and you had simply gotten lost in thought. 

“Uh, the others said they couldn’t make it today,” Kenma said sheepishly, “So if you don’t wanna go anymore, that’s okay,”

There was no way you were about to pass up a chance at alone time with Kenma, “No! I’d like to go still, if you’re okay with it,” it would be nice to spend time with him without Kuroo’s relentless teasing. 

“Oh,” he said, sounding a little surprised, “Yeah, it’s alright with me,”

“Cool!” You grinned, and started walking alongside Kenma. 

You were really nervous, and unbeknownst to you, so was he. Every time your hand would get too close to his, you’d both jerk away and look anywhere but each other and mumbling quiet apologies. 

“So,” you started, dreading the awkward silence that fell over you and him, “I’ve never been to this place, what’s it like?”

Kenma looked up at you, “It’s an old fashioned arcade,” he told you, a bit of excitement laced in his tone, “They have a lot of old games, I think you’ll like it,”

“I think I will too!” you said with a smile. He blushed and looked down, trying to quickly compose himself.

“Oh,” he pointed, “We’re almost there,” you could see the big sign and flashing lights and you grinned. 

As you walked in, Kenma held the door for you and you thanked him; it was a simple enough gesture, but it made your heart flutter. 

You spent hours and hours at the arcade, playing every game you saw, and competing at each one for the highest score; you lost almost all of them, but you managed to win a couple by pure luck, but with him, even losing made you happy. He also really enjoyed your time together, and you realized it was the first time you’d seen him laughing so much. 

After a long day at school, and a great night at the arcade, Kenma walked you home, and your heart felt warm when he said, “You know, I’m kinda glad it was just us tonight, I had a really great time with you,”

A huge smile spread across your lips, “I had a great time with you too,” your arms flew around him in a hug and as soon as you realized what you were doing, you pulled away and coughed, “Sorry,”

He smiled softly, “It’s okay, I didn’t mind,” your mouth hung open a bit as he took a shaky step towards you, his eyes meeting yours for the first time ever. You exhaled sharply, taken aback by how pretty and expressive his eyes were, “I uh...” he trailed off, breaking eye contact for just a moment, “I really like you, y/n,” he said.

You blinked a couple times and pinched yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming, “Kenma,” he felt like dying when you said his name, he thought you about to reject him, so he braced himself but it never came, “I really like you too!” He smiled softly and you grabbed one of his hands, then got on your toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. His eyes shot open and fluttered shut all in the same second, “Wow,” you mumbled. He stared at you with wide eyes and an open mouth, “Oh no was that too soon?” You panicked. He just shook his head and you breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, good,”

He stood there for a moment, collecting his thoughts before he was able to speak, “Goodnight y/n,” Kenma said, “I hope we can do that again,” a blush spread across his face and you nodded, a little giggle escaping your lips as he turned and walked away.

As soon as got home, Kuroo and the girl were waiting at his porch, “Well I think the jury’s reached their verdict, all in favor of Kenma being in love say ‘I’,” The boy furrowed his brows, “I can’t believe you didn’t notice us following you the whole night,”

“It was Kuroo’s idea,” the girl added quietly, and kenma could tell she was upset, but he couldn’t figure out what she was upset about. He chose to brush it off for the time being, too excited about what had just happened to let anyone get him down.

“Guilty as charged,” Kuroo said, putting his hands up on defeat, “So, are you guys dating now or what?” The girl nervously awaited the answer, though no matter the outcome, she knew she would be disappointed.

“Not yet, I don’t think,” Kenma said, “But I really like her a lot.”

Kuroo knew that.

She knew that.

But watching you kiss him from a distance, and hearing him say those words was a new realm of heartbreak.

“I’m really happy for you two, Kenma!”

She was happy for you both.

But she pitied herself too.

[fandom-imagines-stories]

The Beauty Underneath

Phillip Carlyle x Reader

Words: 2980

Summary: A new and mysterious performer joins Barnum’s crew. Phillip falls for her, but she keeps herself distant, afraid to open herself up after a life of cruelty and rejection. As protesters become more violent and the bond between them grows, the reader must learn to accept herself, mask and all.  

Notes: Bad summary, but oh well. This definitely is a reference to Love Never Dies, with the title and the mask and I had a blast writing it. Be on the lookout for more Zac Efron and more Phillip. (And as always, reviews mean the world!)

-

The sparks circled you as the batons spun through the air above you. You cartwheeled across the ground and caught the flaming batons with flare, one in each hand. It was a simple performance, but the crowd was getting smaller every week and people hardly gave you a cent.  You bowed and a few passer byes dropped coins into your jar. As you went to collect your earnings, one man lingered. 

Barnum had watched the performer with absolute awe. The dance was mesmerizing, but it was the crude fabric mask that truly peaked his interest. It completely covered the left side of her face. The mystery alone would be enough to draw crowds. 

A paper fell in front of your face. Barnum’s Circus. You looked up at the man who placed it there. Of course you recognized him. Every street performer was dying to be part of his show. P.T. Barnum. 

“You’re pretty good at that.” He nodded towards your batons as you extinguished the flames in a bucket of water. “Really good.”

“You’re too kind.” You replied, trying not to sound so nervous. 

“What is the mask for, may I ask?”

“If I told you, my act would be ruined.” You shrugged. “My secret helps me tame the flames.” It also kept you safe. Safe from the cruelty of your present as well as the haunted memory of your past. Barnum just chuckled. 

“Right you are.” He flashed you a smile. “How would you feel about performing in my show? I’d need to introduce you to everyone of course, but I think you’d make a spectacular edition.”

“Mr. Barnum, I-” You were at a complete loss for words. “I’d be honored.” P.T. looked down at your jar and meek earnings. 

“You’ll have to discuss pay with Carlyle. He takes care of all that.” 

“When would you like me to start?” You couldn’t remember the last time you had a steady income. You could afford a real mask. P.T. laughed. 

“I was hoping you’d accompany me now.” He held out his arm and you took it, feeling dazed. That little voice in your head spoke, telling you to keep your guard up. Circus or not, you had to prepare yourself for the stares and the jeers. It was an instinct you were forced to develop after years of persecution. You had to expect the worst out of people. It was how you survived. 

-

Phillip had spent most of the afternoon looking over finances until he decided he needed a drink. Ticket sales were steady enough, but it was difficult to keep up with P.T.’s ambition. He had just poured himself a glass when Barnum burst into the room and snatched the drink up for himself. Phillip just gave him a perturbed glare. 

“You seem suspiciously excited about something.”

“I need new posters made.” Barnum beamed. “Masked Mistress of Fire.” He held up his hands, envisioning the red lettering engulfed in drawn flames. Phillip paused. 

“You hired another performer?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you ever going to consult me before you do these things?”

“Will you just meet her before you start lecturing me?” He ushered Phillip downstairs to the backstage area where the woman was waiting. She was fixing her skirts so they would only see the masked side of her face. “Miss Y/L/N, allow me to introduce Phillip Carlyle, my apprentice.” 

“Junior Partner.” Phillip corrected. His look of irritation quickly faded into one of awe. Your eyes met and it felt like something inside both of you ignited. Barnum’s eyes darted between the two of you and he said something about checking on the elephants before vanishing. 

“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Carlyle.” Your voice sounded much more frightened than you had intended. He bowed to kiss your hand.

“Please, call me Phillip.” He smiled and you could feel yourself melt into his blue eyes. Until he sees what you really look like. And just like that; guard up, spark stomped out. 

“I should find out where he wants my things.” You concluded bluntly, hurrying away before you could change your mind. 

Phillip’s gaze lingered after you and he was only able to conjure one clear thought. He wanted to know the woman behind the mask. 

“What do you think?” Barnum’s voice interrupted his trance and Phillip scowled at P.T.’s suggestive smirk. Philip just shook his head with annoyance and walked away, hearing P.T. laugh behind him. “Once again, Carlyle, I was right!”

-

You performed your usual routine for Barnum so he could give you notes and so they could design your costume. Luckily, another performer named Anne would be in charge of that. You also noticed that Mr. Carlyle was there- but of course he would be. He was Barnum’s right hand man. Still, you could feel his eyes on you as you worked with the fire. Those eyes. You didn’t know anything could be so blue. The distraction was enough to make you falter and you had to quickly catch one of the batons before the flames hit the dirt. 

“Brava!” Barnum exclaimed, everyone giving you a round of applause. P.T. pat Phillip on the back. “What did I tell you? Magnificent.”

“It was spectacular.” Phillip agreed, his smile making your heart flutter. You were sure he wouldn’t smile like that if he could really see you. Somehow, the thought pained you more than you cared to admit. The feeling increased as he approached you. 

“I’m pleased you enjoyed my act, Mr. Carlyle.” You said, cold and professional. His smile never faltered. 

“I realized that you know my name, but I do not know yours.” His voice was kinder than any man had ever been towards you. His curiosity was genuine, not based on lust or mockery. 

“Y/N.” You squeaked. “My name is Y/N.” there you go again, melting into those eyes. 

“I wanted to ask,” Phillip gulped. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman made him this nervous. “I was hoping you’d join me for dinner? To welcome you to the circus, of course.”

“I’m sure Mr. Barnum will want me to settle in.” You both looked over at him and he shrugged. 

“Not really. Go enjoy yourself.” He said with a wink. Without an excuse, you had to accept the invitation.

“If you’ll excuse me to change into something more suitable.” You curtsied, trying to hide your nerves. No one had ever asked you to dinner before. 

You cleaned off your nicer dress and borrowed a shawl from Anne. You looked somewhat presentable. Looking in the mirror, your face reflected back at you with an expression of disdain. 

“Here.” Anne handed you a thin paper mache mask. “P.T. will get one for your act, but this will work better than your fabric.” Her smile was so sincere and encouraging, you felt tears welling in your eyes. 

“Thank you.” 

Phillip was waiting patiently outside having put on his evening jacket. He didn’t appreciate the smirk P.T. was giving him so he distracted himself with his scarf. He just wanted to make sure you felt welcome. He knew how intimidating and hectic it all was at first. He just also happened to be quite taken with you. 

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything finer.’ You sighed as you walked down the steps. Phillip offered you his arm. 

“You look lovely.” 

“I, um-” You paused. You convinced yourself he was just being polite. “Thank you.” He opened the door of the carriage for you and helped you up before climbing in himself. The restaurant was nice, but Phillip wasn’t one for highbrow establishments anymore. It was comfortable, yet respectable. It felt like somewhere you would have gone as a child. 

After a glass of wine, you felt yourself loosen up a bit. And considering it was the first good meal you had had in several years, it was difficult to maintain your usually hard exterior. Phillip noticed that you seemed more relaxed and couldn’t help but fall in love with the sound of your laugh. 

“So how does a wealthy playwright come to leave his inheritance and join the circus?” You inquired. Phillip chuckled and took another sip of wine. 

“P.T. approached me about a year ago with the off of a new, exciting life. I, of course, thought he was crazy.” there was that incredible laugh again. “But the more he convinced me, the more I realized that I wasn’t happy where I was. I was trapped. Now I’ve lived more in the past year than I would have in a hundred.”

“How inspiring.” You mused.

“What about you? What brings you to us?” Phillip watched your smile fall. Your gaze clouded, like you were remembering a bad dream. “I’m so sorry, I’ve overstepped.”

“No, it’s fair of you to be curious.” You took a particularly large gulp of wine for courage. “My parents died when I was young. It’s just that-”

“Mr. Carlyle, running around with the riff-raff again, are we?” A man approached the table with a mocking smile. He took a closer look at you and his smile changed to one you were quite familiar with. “My apologies, miss. I mistook you for another circus freak.”

“Miss Y/L/N, this is Stefan Carter.” Phillip smiled with gritted teeth. “We knew each other as children.”

“Come now, Phillip we were as thick as thieves until you joined the freak show.” Stefan’s laugh wasn’t anything like Phillip’s. It was cruel and held little real humor. He turned back to you. “I’m dying to know what you’ve got underneath…” Phillip’s fist clenched around his napkin. “I mean your mask, of course.” 

You stood, looking him in the eye with all of the venom you could muster. 

“One of the freaks.” You couldn’t bear to look at Phillip’s reaction so you kept your eyes fixed on Mr. Carter. “Thank you for dinner, Mr Carlyle. Please excuse me.” You brushed passed a smirking Mr. Carter and didn’t stop until you vanished into the night, Phillip unable to catch you in time.

-

Your first performance was hit. The Masked Mistress of Fire. A routine that might have caught the attention of a person passing in the street earned you a standing ovation. The applause thundered in your ears and P.T. beamed at you from the side. Beside him, Philip clapped, but his smile was a sad one, longing to undue that terrible end to a wonderful night. You had fiercely put your guard back up. Still, you wished that you could run to him, to kiss him, and for once in your life feel loved. But you knew better. Phillip could never love you. 

Show after show passed and you were sure to keep your distance. Every time he seemed to approach you, you’d scurry away to talk to Anne or Lettie. 

“Why do you always hide from him?” Anne asked once. 

“I’m not what he thinks he wants.” You kept your eyes anywhere but Phillip’s defeated face. 

“And how could you know that if you won’t even let him try?” She was whisked away into the air before you could respond. 

“Y/N,” P.T. bounded towards you with an enthusiastic grin. Phillip trailed beside him. “How’s the new mask fitting?” 

“It’s beautiful, Mr. Barnum.” It was the nicest thing you owned. The ceramic mold fit your face perfectly and the red and yellow flames framed the left side, hiding the skin underneath. 

“Your act is marvelous!” P.T. beamed. “The protestors have even added your masked face to their list of things to complain about, which makes you a real Barnum performer in my book.”

It was true. The awful group of ruffians and drunkards that hung around had screamed at you to show your face on many occasions, but they didn’t frighten you. You had dealt with their kind before. It was the hurt look in Phillip’s eye whenever he looked at you that you couldn’t handle. 

“I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here, Mr. Barnum.”

“The pleasure has been all ours, isn’t the right Phillip?” He roughly pat his partner on the back. 

“Your addition to the circus has been wonderful.” Phillip mimicked your professional stance. His indifferent tone hurt more than it should have. Perhaps he had finally given up. It was for the best. 

You usually went for the late night stroll after a performance, even with the protesters lingering outside. They seemed particularly unpleasant tonight. As you moved towards the exit, a hand gently grabbed yours. 

“I think you should stay in for the night.” Phillip’s previous coolness had gone, replaced by worry. 

“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Carlyle, but I assure you I have learned to handle myself.”

“Y/N please.” He pleaded. “Stay here with me tonight.” The way he looked at you- those kind eyes filled with a kind of caring you haven’t felt in years- made you want to stay. But behind him, you could see your reflection. The mirror may show that beautiful mask, but you knew what was underneath. 

“I’m afraid that we fair better when we are apart, Mr. Carlyle.” You couldn’t hide the sadness in your voice, turning your head when it cracked. “Goodnight.”

“Y/N, wait!” His voice was drowned out by the roaring shouts outside the door. The light of the torches blinded you at first as your eyes tried to adjust. 

“Show your face you freak!” One man shouted. 

“I wouldn’t mind if she showed more than that.” Another sneered. A sweaty hand ran down your arms and you jerked away. You looked for a break in the crowd. 

“Where are you going? The freak show’s right here.” This time, the hand roughly grabbed your shoulder. 

“Leave her alone!” Phillip boomed, making the crowd step back slightly. 

“What’s your problem, boy?” The man who grabbed you stepped forward. 

“Let the lady pass.” He commanded. His arms tensed under his shirt and for the first time, he looked frightening. Another man stepped out from the crowd, this one far more drunk than the others. 

“Mr. Carter?” You gasped. He stalked towards you, nearly tripping over his own feet. He was hardly recognizable, but you’d know that smirk anywhere. 

“Hello again, mystery woman.” He slurred. “Why must you insist on keeping the company of such rabble? Why not spend a night with a real gentleman?” His breath reeked of whiskey and his hair was a mess. You leaned towards him. 

“Sir, if you are what they call a gentleman, I will gladly take my chances with the rabble.” You spat. 

“How dare you-” He lifted his hand, but a fist collided with his jaw before he could strike you. 

“Phillip, don't!” You cried. You reached for him, but somebody shoved you backwards. You were pushed and pulled through the crowd further and further away from Phillip. One person pushed you hard enough that you fell. The hard cobblestone sent pain shooting up your arm when you tried to catch your fall. The sound of the mask shattering was the last thing you remembered. 

You were awakened by a gentle hand on your cheek. Your left cheek. You scrambled backwards, nearly falling out of your bed. You desperately tried to cover your face with your hand, your injured wrist screaming in protest. It was no use. He had already seen you. 

“It’s alright.” Phillip hushed, his hand still holding the bloody piece of cloth. “When you fell, you seemed to have sprained your wrist. The mask broke and a few of the shards cut your cheek and jaw. Luckily, the pieces missed your eye.” The way he looked at you now was the same way he had looked when you first met. He wasn’t repulsed or frightened. His eyes held only… was it love?

“How can you look at me?” You sobbed, your hand pressing against your wounds. Phillip took your hand in his and slowly lowered it, bringing it to his lips. 

A large burn-scar stretched up from your jaw and covered almost the entire left half of your face. While the skin was now jagged and discolored, to him, it didn’t obscure your beauty. Seeing you, the real you, was the most stunning thing he’d ever laid eyes upon. Phillip placed a light kiss on your palm. 

“This face,” He dabbed the cloth to one of the cuts and this time, you didn’t feel any pain, “is the same face that possesses a smile that has rendered me speechless for weeks. It is the same face that holds the eyes that I have lost myself in more often than I care to admit. And it is the face of the woman that I have fallen irrevocably in love with.”

You weren’t quite sure what made you cry- having pushed him away all this time or knowing that he meant his words more than anything he’d ever said before. But sure enough, tears began to fall before you could stop them. In all your years of solitude and living as an outcast, hearing his love out poured to you cracked the mask around your heart wide open. 

Your bodies drew closer and closer until the soft touch of his lips grazed yours. The spark you had been trying to ignore ignited a fire. You loved him. More than anything you ever had before. You loved him. 

You spent the rest of the night in his embrace. You told him the story of the fire that killed your family and gave you your scars. He held you tighter when you cried and kissed your lips to remind you that you were safe and loved. It was more than you could have ever hoped for. And for the first time, you felt beautiful.

-

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination;  @mylovegoesto;