#also if you are reading this far I shall serenade you with some history about this piece

[louwhose]

Happy Pi Day! Or... is it pie day? White day?

Whatever, today is something and I'm celebrating whatever it is with this ship I'm far too obsessed with for how little screentime they have.

[prfctethereal]

just another horror movie. | james potter

pairing: james potter x reader

chapter: one 

warnings: NSFW, smut, oral (male receiving), exhibitionism, talk of dead bodies, actual dead body, blood, vomiting

word count: 3.7k

read the prologue here or on ao3 here

summary: you and james take a quick detour through the woods, to have a bit of morning fun, but find something gruesome.

Three weeks earlier…

The quiet town of Hogwarts had never been quieter. It was typical though; towns that resided in the countryside of Scotland were often described as “quiet”, unbeknownst to most that it was anything but. Except, Hogwarts lived up to the stereotype. Peaceful, tame, quiet.

Quiet.

God, you needed some quiet.

Exam season was narrowing in, which meant endless nights of caffeine and random studying music that you found on spotify, its main purpose to help you concentrate. It was unfortunate, with the school year coming to a close, but you were determined to leave the year proud and satisfied with your work. Everything was going perfectly so far. Nothing could screw it up.

This is what you told yourself as you began your walk to school this morning. Leaving your house at seven in the morning on the dot had become the regular for you. Now that Summer was finally coming in, the walks were warm, without chilling breezes. You could feel comfortable with the wind in your hair and a light shirt on your back.

Something felt tranquil about this morning in particular. You didn’t feel held up or anxious. You didn’t even feel stressed as you busily organised your school bag this morning. You didn’t even blink an eye when you dropped your chemistry textbook on your foot. You were in a good mood. You were glowing.

Maybe it was because you had been getting some amazing sex from your amazing boyfriend lately.

Maybe.

But today wasn’t for what ifs. Today, you had one thing on your mind. A conversation needed to be had between you and your guidance counsellor, as the prospects of colleges were starting to roll around. Applications were beginning to close and your aspirations for life after high school were beginning to get clearer and clearer. You no longer wanted to be tied down in a small town, where the most important job you could get was at the Mayor’s office, sitting at a desk, listening to the complaints of highly egotistical citizens.

Wasn’t for you.

Your mind drifted off to your could-be life, and before you knew it, your legs had walked to your boyfriend’s house without you even realising. It was something unconscious and natural, something you were completely used to. The sight of the grand, three-story mansion that your lover lived in brought unprecedented comfort.

The spiralling pillars covered in the greenest of vines was something from a fairytale. A pale cerulean was painted across the panelling, giving a dream-like feel. Right above the front door housed a giant window, one that opened up into James’ bedroom.

Right. James.

Walking up the path, you felt comforted by the familiar sound of gravel beneath your feet. It reminded you of all the nights you had snuck up this very path to climb into James’ bedroom via the window. Nostalgic really.

Now you were here in broad daylight, ready to walk hand in hand with your boyfriend to school. Knocking on the front door, you were excited to see a nearly immediate opening of the door, with a very joyous boy standing there. His signature dopey smile glistened even brighter, as his eyes lingered over your clothed body a little longer than expected. His tongue shot out very quickly over the pink cushions of his lips, something you could’ve missed in a blink of an eye, but you didn’t. Laughing, he pushed his glasses up the nose of his bridge, before running his fingers through his unruly hair.

“Should we go then?” It sounded as though it was the first time James had spoken this morning, a fact that you didn’t mind, as your brain thought unholy things when listening to his gravely morning voice.

“Soon.” You mumbled, your voice trailing off slightly, as you stepped towards James, swinging your arms around the back of his neck. Taking a breath of his scent, you leaned forward, placing a delicate kiss upon his lips. They were slightly chapped, but you didn’t care.

It may have been a Summer day, but that wasn’t the only reason you were feeling hot.

Stopping yourself before you went too far, you pulled backwards, not before suggestively running your hands down James’ chest, smirking against his lips. “Come on, let's go.” You remarked playfully, smacking your hand lightly against James’ firm butt, which elicited a short laugh from the bubbly man.

So, hand in hand, you and James darted down his footpath, back into the street. Even more birds had woken up by now, with a choir of chirping serenading your descent into the bustling streets of Hogwarts.

Everything now seemed a little more public than you initially thought. Neighbours were waking up and going to work now too, giving no shorter than five second glances at you and James’ hand intertwined. You know what they would say; old people gossiped too much for your liking. It made you especially nervous, knowing that your parents didn’t know about your illicit relationship. Maybe it should stay that way. Well, before any neighbours get a little too gossipy in the weekly book club meetings.

“Are you listening to me?” James asked, snapping you out of your thoughtful haze. Blinking twice, you returned your attention to James, who’s eyes were laced with concern as he looked you over once again, eyebrows furrowed. “You seem out of it.”

“Oh, sorry.” Your voice came out almost silently as you looked away, flushed and embarrassed. “What were you talking about?”

“How I was going to fuck you so hard later today that you are going to struggle to walk.” James followed his statement with a dash of laughter, something that you mimicked like a pirate’s parrot.

“Well, I hope that’s not a joke, my dear.” You flashed a sly smile, looking James up and down. You both stopped walking, with James now admiring the way you were biting your lip, as if you were a siren trying to entrap him. Surely, you guys wouldn’t quickly dash away into the bush and go for a quickie right now, right?

James thought about it too, eyeing up someone’s poor hydrangea bush. Unfortunately, there would be too many witnesses, and exhibitionism wasn’t something you had both openly discussed before, although it wasn’t completely off the table.

“Lunch period.” James finally said, stopping his momentary halt, and marching forward.

“Lunch period?”

James leaned over, pressing his lips so close to your ear. His hot breath sent shivers down your spine, ones that ended in your core. “Meet me in the hallway between the chemistry and physics lab. I think there’s a new cupboard we could Christen.”

Giggling in excitement, you rubbed your fingers up the length of James’ arm, tugging him down the footpath, continuing your conversation about whatever. You learnt that he had a History test today, all about women earning the right to vote. You sighed as you listened to him talk about what he was passionate about, his stressed vowel sounds turning you on more than you would’ve thought.

Then came a predicament. An actual, real life crossroad. Right in front of you was where the footpath curved to the left, following along the road onto the main road through town. It was the way you went every day, with the road taking you directly to school when you walked along it, arriving perfectly at seven twenty-five every day. It was ideal.

This morning, though, you were feeling cheeky. From this footpath curve was another opportunity. The footpath also opened into a dirt path, something that twisted into the woods, or, as the conspiracy theorists of the town called it, the Forbidden Forest. It was hardly forbidden though; they literally took Scouts classes there, and those have kids as young as seven in them.

Feeling devilish, you paused James for a moment, the cogs turning over in your brain. You might arrive at school a little later than you first thought, but at least you would have some distance between the prying eyes of the Hogwarts neighbourhood. And maybe, you could have a little bit of fun too.

“James,” you smirked, tugging at the edge of his shirt, capturing his attention, something that wasn’t actually that hard to do, “shall we go for a detour this morning?”

Your eyes flashed over the forest and onto the quiet stillness of it. You could feel James’ heart rate speed up, but it wasn’t because he was scared. He was just as excited as you. It was like a switch had flicked on in his brain, although he was still hesitant, his feet still planted firmly on the ground.

“Are you sure?” James questioned. “How late is this going to make us?”

“Not that late at all.” You justified, mocking offence. “Oh, we should get there at maybe, quarter to eight? And besides, it’s fresh air, it’ll be good for us, and our lungs. Think of it as reversing the side effects of being around Sirius and Remus when they smoke all the time. Your lungs will thank us.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.” James laughed.

“How would you be so sure?”

“I’m the one that takes biology out of the two of us.”

You had to try another tactic, so, you jutted your bottom lip out of your mouth, putting on your best doe eyes, hoping you could flutter your eyelashes enough for him to give into temptation. “Please?”

A sigh escaped James lips as he seemed to give in. His reluctant look of worry was quickly replaced by an eager spark. Knitting his fingers in with yours, you two walked hand and hand together down the dirt path. The change of feeling beneath your feet was almost instantly recognisable, the normal, smooth, concrete path replaced by the rough dirt, and slight mud, even though it hadn't rained in days.

As you continued to wander down the path, you were suddenly covered in a canopy of shade, as the trees of the forest soon covered your heads. The route got a tad darker, the path no longer illuminated with the light of the sun, not that you minded though. You could still easily see where you were going.

You felt a little colder without the extra heat from the sun. You didn’t like the way goosebumps rose on your skin or the way you had to rub your hands along your arm to keep yourself warm. You felt out of control, a feeling of which you loathed. You didn’t want your perfect morning to be ruined by a little chill.

When you reached a tall, winding tree, you stopped James from his walk, pulling him off the path. Luckily, you had spotted a small dip in the earth, perfect to stay in, somewhere where regular bystanders wouldn’t find you. Happy with your discovery, you looked back at James, who had a puzzled look across his face.

“What’s going on?”

“Can I kiss you?” You asked breathlessly, your hands already getting fidgety. You wanted to be connected with James again, intertwined if you will. You needed to feel his skin, even if it was barely quarter past seven in the morning.

“Yes, love.” James breathed out, his voice quiet and shallow. WIth the consent, you leaned upwards, connecting your lips at last. It felt right to be pressed up against each other once again, even if it had been only yesterday when you had last felt such passion.

You deepened the kiss, feeling urgent to make the most of the short time you had together. Your mouths melded together almost perfectly, your lips pushing against each other like a playful pillow fight, one which you were determined to win.

Feeling mischievous, you reached to James’ hair, tugging lightly on his roots, an action you knew he liked. This action got the response you wanted from him, a needy moan, in which you took the opportunity to slip your tongue into his mouth, battling it out with his own, regaining confidence and dominance.

You pulled away, your cheeks flushed from the lack of oxygen. James looked disheveled but pleased, wanting to continue your little make out session, but unfortunately, you had limited time.

“Can I suck you off?” You whispered against his mouth innocently, looking up at his hazel eyes, brushing his hair off of his forehead. You could hear him gulp with nervousness, before nodding quickly, his hands making their way to his slacks.

You knew James was slipping into a mindset clouded by arousal, so you sank to your knees slowly in front of him, still looking up at him through your long lashes. On your journey downwards, you carefully unzipped the zipper on his pants, pulling them down to ankles, until he was clad in only his boxers.

Lifting yourself up slightly onto the balls of your feet, you kissed him lightly on the outside of his boxers, feathering gentle kisses. You knew you were being a tease, but you needed him nice and hard. As you felt his bulge setting like cement under your lips, you lifted your hands up, joining your lips so you could palm him, stroking the material.

When James started moaning, - “oh please, stop teasing, I beg you,” - you released him from the cage of his underwear, dragging the clothing down the apex of his things, watching the muscles twitch in excitement. There, James’ half hard cock laid against his thighs, the tip a gentle rouge colour.

Your fingers grazed over his prick, lightly tracing a prominent vein of the underside of the sex muscle. James groaned in pleasure, the teasing getting too much for him to handle. Feeling benevolent, you dribbled saliva over the tip of the cock, before wrapping your entire hand around it. You started stroking harder and faster, making sure James could feel all of you in a way you hand. He was starting to fall apart above you, but it wasn;t enough.

“So- so good.” James murmured, his eyes gently shutting as he became lost in the feeling. “Don’t stop, please don’t stop. I love your hands, so perfect, so precise. Perfect for me, precise for me.”

“It was like you were made for me.” You agreed with the raven haired boy, before bringing your lips down to the tip of his penis. This action shocked James, but the whimper out of his mouth made you know he was enjoying it. Living from the excitement of the exhibisionist route, you swiveled your tongue across the tip, reaching down the length of the cock, savouring his taste.

“Right there.” James moane, as you brung the rest of your mouth down over his now fully hard cock, reveling in the flavour of the salty precum that was leaking from his angry tip. With a smooth rhythm, you bobbed your head up and down on James’ cock, the sound of his moans itching you on.

You knew you were running out of time, and you still wanted him to cum, so you sped up your movements on James’ cock, stroking the base of his cock, which could not fit in your mouth. Adding to the pleasure, you let your hands move downwards a bit more, so they played gently with James’ hanging balls.

This applied pressure was becoming too much for James, as his breath became laboured and a tingling feeling was nearly bursting at his cock. “I’m gonna cum, please, I’m going to do it.”

You lifted your mouth off of James’ cock, just to murmur, “let go.” James, with your permission, spurted his cum across your hands. Eager to savour him, you opened your mouth, catching as much of the milking substance as possible, not wanting to waste any of it. Jacking James off through the entire thing, you watched as his orgasm crashed over him entirely, the way his face contorted in pleasure almost being the most beautiful portrait to you.

Licking the rest of his cum off of your fingers, you stood up, wiping your knees off, as the dirt sticking to you was becoming slightly uncomfortable. While you stood up, you reached from the top of James’ pants, pulling them upwards as you went.

“Thanks.” James almost laughed, except he still sounded out of breath, which was very reasonable though. You did just suck the life out of him. His fingers worked quickly, rearranging his pants, and cock, so that you both could continue on your way to school.

As you waited for James to finish cleaning himself up, your nose turned upwards. There was a strange smell coming from the area, one you didn’t notice before when you were on your knees in front of James. It was a smell that you were relatively unfamiliar with, but all you knew was that it stank like rotten meat.

“Can you smell that?” You asked James, looking off into the little ditch you were beside. Wherever you were, it seemed that it had been recently disturbed. Broken twigs snapped into pieces laid amongst crunched up leaves. If you squinted, you were sure you could even make out that faintest of footprints on the ground. It was odd, but nothing you haven't seen before in the woods. The smell on the other hand…

“Smells like thrown out vegetables.” James readjusted his glasses before holding out his hand, inviting you to close your fingers in with his. “I bet some old granny thought it would be a good idea to throw out their compost in the woods. If the council found out, they would have a fit. You know all about their weirdly tight rules on littering? It’s not even bad for the environment.”

You had stopped listening a while ago. Something didn’t feel right, but it was nothing you could sort out now. You weren’t satisfied but you turned back towards James anyway, knowing that you needed to head off to school or you would be running a little bit behind schedule. As you turned around, you noticed James’ face morph from a cheeky grin to a concerned frown.

“What is it?” You pondered, stepping towards James, matching his pear-shaped frown with one of your own.

“Did you cut yourself when you were on your knees?”

“Huh?”

“Look.” James bent down to look at your knees and you turned your head down too. What you thought had just been a bit of dirt must’ve been something else. Your knees were covered in a browny-red, maybe a maroon colour. It looked as though your entire knee had been cut open, as blood was still dripping from your skin, but that couldn’t be right. You felt no pain on your knee. You hadn’t cut yourself.

Swiping your fingers across your knee, you gathered some of the drying blood on your fingers. This was the first time you had looked at your hands since you wiped off your knees before and you saw that you had smudged blood stains all across your palm. You nearly barfed on the spot. You felt incredibly uneasy, like a stormy ocean filled your stomach.

You lifted your fingers up to your nose, a theory hypothesising into your head, and you were right. The smell of the blood matched the rotten meat smell you could smell before. As if you were a dog, the odor latched onto your nose and expanded, its putrid smell being the only thing in your senses.

“I'm going to be sick.” You doubled over a rock. Resting your hand against a boulder, you hovered downwards over a patch of leaves, letting your breakfast out. Your head was reeling as you could still smell the retching odor of the old blood. You couldn’t get it out of your mind, so you leaned over again, round two of the hurling intervention.

James rushed over to you, placing his warm hands on your back, rubbing soothing circles. He wished he could say that his main focus was to make you feel better, but it wasn’t. Over in the deepest part of the dish, he noticed something strange. It was almost like a small lump in the ground, something unnatural. It seemed to be covered very messily by old leaves and sticks, and an entire tree branch, as if it would make it any less inconspicuous. It even had that opposite of the desired effect, seemingly sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Darling,” James waited until you lifted your head back up, regaining your breath once again, “what do you think that is?”

James’ hand pointed into the direction of the ditch, in which you followed his eyesight and body movements. You could see it too; just a lump in the ground. Your mind was racing of what it could be. A dead animal? A pile of rotten food? Maybe a…

“Holy shit!” You had only just realised that James had already walked over there, except his body was covering your eye line, and you couldn’t actually see what James had found. Although, he told you immediately. “Quick, call the police. It’s a body.”

A dead body in Hogwarts? Making sure you didn’t lose any more of your stomach through puking, you rushed onto the path in the woods, grabbing your phone out of your pocket, hoping you could get service all the way out here in the woods. Fumbling to turn your phone on, you nearly groaned out in annoyance when you saw that you were getting no bars of service.

Running back to James, you couldn’t stop at the moment. You called out to him, your words a blurred mess, trying to convey to him that you were going to find someone to help. Unsure if he had even heard you, you ran back down the path, your feet carrying you to where you needed to go, unable to bring yourself to a cohesive thought.

When you exited the forest, you flicked your head around, trying to find someone, anyone, that could help in the moment. The first person you saw was your calculus teacher, Mr Slughorn, to which you promptly called out to.

“Mr Slughorn!” You cupped your hands around your mouth to project your words across louder. Mr Slughorn snapped his head around and gave a friendly wave. Annoyed, you shook your head. “Call the police!”

“What?” He called back, walking towards you now. You groaned, trying again.

“There's a dead body in the forest. Call the police!”

***

lmao. anyway this has become a series whoops.

[thana-topsy]

Day Two of OC Romance Week! The prompt was “Fake Relationship”, so I borrowed sweet little Casien Yedlin from @curiousartemis and I think Aerik is absolutely in love with the wee lad. You can read it below, but can also pop over to AO3 and gimme a kudo if you’d like! 

Word Count: 1775 Chapter Rating: G (for ‘gasp, I can’t believe there’s no sex’)

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

“We don’t server Dunmer.”

Aerik’s ears perked up as he made his way down the stairs from the upper level of Candlehearth Hall. Elda had her arms crossed defensively from behind the bar, scowling at a small dark elf with a ratty satchel on his back.

“Please, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need a place to stay for the night,” the young mer reasoned.

“Go try the Gray Quarters where your kind belongs,” Elda insisted, and Aerik felt his blood begin to boil.

“Please,” he tried again, voice cracking slightly. Aerik cleared his throat loudly, putting on his best smile.

“There you are my darling!” he called out, waving. “I thought you might have gotten lost.”

The Dunmer whirled around, eyes wide, and oh, what a precious thing he was — a curly mess of black hair, clever, dark eyes, and once Aerik drew closer he noticed a smattering of soft freckles across the boy’s cheeks, which had suddenly flushed a lovely shade of purple.

“I’m… sorry?” he stuttered, eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Don’t be sorry!” Aerik responded slightly too loud, wrapping and arm around the mer’s thin shoulders. “Windhelm can be confusing! Elda, love, this is a simple misunderstanding. This here is my fiance. Be a dear and put him up for the night?”

Elda laughed, a raspy, barking sound. “Your fiance, huh? Why can’t he just stay in your room then, Aerik?”

Aerik gasped in exaggerated shock, placing a hand across his chest. “Elda! I wouldn’t dare share a bed with my husband-to-be before we’re married! Think of the scandal that would cause! The gossip would absolutely ruin my good reputation.” Elda raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Aerik’s expression dropped into annoyance, his arm going slack across the mer’s shoulders. “Listen, I’ll give you twenty septims to put the kid up for the night.”

“You should have just started with that,” she grumbled, holding a hand out expectantly. Aerik sighed, reached into his coin purse, and tossed the gold onto the counter. Elda threw the key in his direction with the same amount of courtesy.

“You’re an absolute saint.” Aerik’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he steered the small Dunmer away from the counter and down the hall towards the rooms.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, I know…” Aerik released the boy’s shoulders and waved the comment away. “I just can’t stand how they treat Dunmer in this city.” They stopped outside the mer’s room. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Casien. Casien Yedlin.” The boy tucked a wild curl of hair behind his ear which immediately sprung free again.

Aerik chuckled. “Well my name’s Aerik. Aerik Havardr,” he offered, extending his hand in greeting. Casien took it tentatively, his fingers soft against Aerik’s palm.

“Can I buy you some dinner? A drink? You… are old enough to drink, aren’t you?”

Casien seemed to ruffle at that. “I’m twenty!”

“Ah, lovely. I was worried you were my child bride there for a bit. So, dinner and a drink then?”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Casien asked suspiciously.

Aerik shrugged. “You looked like you needed a friend. And you look hungry.” Casien’s stomach took that moment to growl loudly and Aerik couldn’t help the knowing grin that spread across his face.

“How about you freshen up and you can meet me upstairs, hmm?”      

—

Casien looked uncomfortable, eyes darting nervously between the various Nord patrons that milled around in the upstairs. Once his food arrived, however, he seemed to lose all interest in his surroundings and scarfed it down greedily.

“Take a breath, love, nobody’s going to take it from you,” Aerik suggested, taking a measured sip of his mead. Casien looked up at him with wide eyes, cheeked puffed out with food.

He swallowed with a loud gulp and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just been a couple of days since I’ve eaten.”

Aerik leaned forward, brow creasing. “What in the name of Azura is a sweet thing like you doing in a city like this?” His lip twitched at the flush that crept up Casien’s neck and across his cheeks.

“I…” He coughed, averting his eyes. “It’s a long story. I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s alright?” Picking up his fork again, he seemed to make a concerted effort to eat slower. Aerik could understand not wanting to talk about the past. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, bringing his mead to his lips once again.

The sound of Luaffyn’s playing filtered over from across the room and Aerik grinned. “I’ll be right back,” he said, before swiftly rising to his feet and leaving Casien to look after him in confusion.

“Luaffyn, my dearest, your lute playing is spectacular this evening,” Aerik beamed, waltzing over. The Dunmer woman blushed with a curtsy.

“You’re flattery is terrible, Aerik,” she giggled. “What is it that you want?”

“Can I borrow that for a minute?” He pointed at her lute, flashing his most charming smile. She rolled her eyes, but handed it over with a smile.

“Try not to outshine me.” Aerik just winked, making his way back over to where Casien still sat, eyeing the lute curiously.

“You play the lute?” he asked, suddenly a bit more interested. His plate was practically licked clean and pushed to the side of the table.He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands, watching Aerik check the instrument's tuning.

“That I do,” Aerik nodded with a grin. “Figured I’d serenade you — cheer you up a bit more.”

Casien flushed, sitting back abruptly. “Oh, no, that’s not… you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t!” It was becoming a predictable exchange. “I rarely do things because I have to.” Aerik strummed the lute once, moving through several different chords before playing one of the jauntier tunes he knew. Casien had leaned forward again, tapping his toe beneath the table and swaying his head. He closed his eyes and smiled the smallest little smile, and Aerik was pretty confident that the young mer might be the cutest thing he’d ever seen. It was inspiring.    

“Child of fire, it’s you I desire,

In a city so far from home.

Your presence divine, oh won’t you be mine?

For you, I have written this poem!”

Casien was snapped from his brief reverie and he blushed furiously. “You did not just write a song about me!” He laughed, covering his eyes.

“I’m afraid I did,” Aerik said as he continued to play. “Would you like me to write more? I’m fairly good at improvising.”

“This is too much...” Casien laughed again, shaking his head, his soft curls swaying from side to side. “So you’re a bard?” “What gave it away?” Aerik grinned cheekily, setting the lute down.

“You like history then?” Casien’s eyes were bright and curious as he leaned across the table. And just like that, they were off. Casien, it seemed, could talk endlessly about history and poetry and literature and had Aerik scrambling to recall the things he’d learned at the College just to keep up. The precious thing was also starting to sip a little more on his meade, which made him even chattier. At one point, Aerik simply sat back in his seat and just listened, content to let the kid ramble for as long as he wanted.

“Aerik,” Luaffyn called as she walked primly over. “May I have my lute back?” Aerik tore his eyes away from Casien to smile at her.

“Of course! Sorry about that, I got quite distracted.” He picked the lute up from where it leaned against his chair and handed it to her.

She brushed her fingers over his as she took it and smiled coyly at him. “It sounded lovely.”

“Thank you! That means a lot coming from a performer such as yourself.” He grinned. She seemed to oscillate for a moment and Aerik’s grin faltered.

“Will you be in town long this time?” she asked finally.

“Ah,” Aerik scratched the back of his neck, tossing his long braid over his shoulder. “Afraid not. I set out for Solstheim tomorrow... not sure when I’ll be back.” Luaffyn seemed to deflate, smiling sadly.

“Well, you shall be missed,” she said with a bow, moving away from the table. Casien was looking at Aerik with a smug, knowing little expression.

“What is it?”

“She likes you.”

Aerik let out a bit of a sputter, laughing tightly. “We’re just friends. Besides, she’s not my type.”

Casien’s expression dropped and he averted his eyes, beginning to pick at a small splinter on the table. “Oh.” He shrugged. “Dunmer aren’t quite as beautiful as Nords, I suppose.”

Aerik sighed, smirking. “Women aren’t my type,” he clarified, adding, “Dunmer most certainly are,” with a wink. The tips of Casien’s ears turned purple almost immediately and he took a hasty swig of his mead. Well, that answered that.

They finished up their drinks and Aerik left a little extra coin for Suzanna on the table before walking Casien to his room.

“Thank you, again, for everything. I’m sorry I don’t have any money to pay you back.”

“Your company alone was worth every septim.” Aerik smiled. “Besides,” he tapped his cheek. “You could always just give me a kiss and we’ll call it even.”

Casien flushed again, and Aerik was starting to get a little addicted to that lovely bloom of fuschia across the boy’s cheeks. He looked taken aback for only a moment before his brows creased in determination and he stepped forward. Aerik bent down slightly and turned his head, presenting his cheek as Casien raised himself up onto his tiptoes.

With some force, the young mer placed his hands on either side of Aerik’s face, turned him forward, and planted the kiss firmly on his lips instead. Aerik hummed in approval, smiling against Casien’s mouth briefly before they pulled apart. The little Dunmer was wearing that same smug expression that he’d seen earlier, as if he’d really pulled one over on Aerik. And wasn’t that adorable?

“That all you got, Cassie?” Aerik challenged, huffing in amusement. Casien seemed to bristled, grabbing Aerik by the collar of his shirt and pulling him back down, mashing their mouths together even more forcefully than before. Aerik laughed into the kiss, bending forward and scooping Casien up into his arms. The mer wrapped his legs around his waist almost instinctively, and Aerik shifted his weight and pressed into room behind them, and bumped the door shut with his hips.

Perhaps they could have just shared a room after all.