#also just saw a weird piece on my dash so to drive it home. this is familial.

[corruwuption]

i was in a funk for valentine’s day, so instead of getting cute Frances and Mona content, you get familial content: Namely, the Original Piotrowskis (TM TM TM).

Marina never really got why Kato liked video games, but boy howdy she sure tried! He and Junebug played a lot together, but Marina always tried to lend an ear if Kato seemed to be fully into a game.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Day 7: Free Day / AUs - Lies

To her left was Jade, and to her right was Crowley. Something was definitely wrong with this picture.

Awkward “family” dinner time~

jnjadaafiabasd I was not built to do timed prompts... Everything felt rushed or not fully proofread, but I tried my best with what little time I had! 🎉 This last week was a bit of a struggle, but I’m proud of myself for pulling through in the end!

A flurry of footsteps reverberated through the Crowley household. Raven hurtled down a stairwell and practically threw herself at the front door, flinging it open. Beyond the door, a masked man and his suitcases awaited.

“Uncle!! You’re back!!” she cried breathily—tired from the dash from the attic to the front porch.

“Hohoh.” Crowley lowered the golden key in his hand. “You’ve beaten me to the punch, it seems.”

“It helps when I’ve got a big window to spy from.” Raven grimaced as talons wove themselves into her hair and raked along her scalp. Her head was left a mess, hair sticking up at odd angles. “How was your trip?”

“There will be plenty of time for stories—you do so love those, don’t you? Just give me a moment to get settled back and have a bite first, little black bird.”

“Okay!” Raven chirped. She eagerly reached for a suitcase. “Here, I’ll he—”

“Please, allow me.”

Her fingers met only air, for the suitcase was snatched up before she could make contact. The other was claimed just as quickly, ending up in the hands of a slimy, smiling eel.

“... Jade Leech-kun.”

“Headmaster.” Jade lowered his head in mock deference. “It is a pleasure to have you back with us. I do hope your conference fared well.”

Crowley’s mouth tightened into a straight line. “You’ll not hear a single peep from me!”

“My, my. You’ve entrusted me with handling your home and your niece in your absence, but not with casual conversation? Truly, I am hurt.”

(Raven shot Jade a warning look, but it went ignored.)

“Leave my bags, and leave us be. Your services are no longer required,” the headmaster crowed. He dug into his pockets and produced a (wrinkled) checkbook and gold-plated fountain pen. “Name your price.”

“I believe that is a value that would be best negotiated with Azul—but worry not, I am not personally interested in your madol.”

... That’s obviously a sketchy thing to say, especially for Octavinelle. They always collect what they’re owed, Raven noted. What does he have up his sleeve now?

Jade’s shoulders suddenly sagged, and a sad smile made its way onto his face. “It is a shame, though... to be chased out before I was able to share my cooking with our esteemed headmaster. It brings a tear to my eye.”

Crowley’s ears perked up—while Raven’s stomach sank.

“Cooking, you say?”

“U-Uncle, don’t fall for it...! He’s baiting you!!” Raven hissed, tugging harshly on his cape.

“I had plans to prepare an extravagant feast, too,” Jade continued, “to welcome you home. A hearty wild game stew, garnished with garden herbs. Fresh baked bread, with a thick crust, perfect for mopping up excess stew. Braised duck in a bright citrus sauce, so succulent and tender that the meat falls off at the bone. Mint gelée on the side—”

“I’m listening...” Crowley’s beady eyes narrowed with vague suspicion. “And just how much would this hypothetical feast cost me?”

“Don’t listen to him, Uncle!!”

“Fufu. There is no need to concern yourself with such trivial matters. Consider it a gift from myself to you.”

“UNCLE!!” Raven screeched—but her frantic calls no longer reached him.

The headmaster was far gone, lured to the water’s edge by a siren’s song. Plastering a wide grin on his face, Crowley spread his arms.

“Jade Leech-kun, why don’t you join us for dinner?”

Raven slowly lowered her face into her hands.

To her left was Jade, and to her right was Crowley. Something was definitely wrong with this picture.

Raven glared into her platter of food, refusing to look at either of them. She poked at a slab of meat with her fork, watching the shine of fat dance. Did that glisten belong to a tasteless poison, or to a savory glaze?

Well, the other meals he prepared were safe. This should be fine too... right? Raven carefully inserted a corner into her mouth and tore off a chunk.

Crowley let out a delighted laugh from his seat. “Delicious! Simply delicious!! You’ve outdone yourself with this meal.”

“I am glad to hear that you enjoy it, headmaster.” Jade was handling his silverware a little too deftly for Raven’s liking, driving a knife into his steak with the skill and precision of a predator digging its teeth into vital arteries. And still, that polite smile remained.

She stared—and it did not go unnoticed.

While the headmaster continued to gush, Jade lifted his eyes to meet Raven’s. His smile turned decidedly less kind for a few moments, taunting her. How easily he had infiltrated the home and gotten her guardian wrapped around his finger. It was maddening.

“Miss Raven, you haven’t touched your food,” Jade pointed out.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“I am merely advising that you look after your own health and wellbeing,” Jade insisted. “And to think you were so eager to consume my cooking when it was just the two of us...”

“Sh-Shut up...!! I... I can’t help that I’m not used to unwanted guests at the table!”

“Now, now, Raven-kun!” Crowley waved his fork at his niece. “Jade Leech-kun has provided a number of useful services during my absence. We should be more grateful to to have such a helpful young man with us!”

“Do I need to remind you that this same ‘helpful’ young man also ‘helped’ Azul enslave over 200 students?”

“That was then, this is now!”

... You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Yes, I do believe the headmaster is correct. Let us leave the past in the past.”

“As soon as you leave, I’ll gladly purge the events of last week from my mind.” Raven turned to Crowley. “Uncle! I’m no longer a child. The next time you need to leave, you needn’t call for a babysitter—I can take care of myself!”

“Hmm...” The headmaster glanced helplessly between his half-eaten dinner and his niece’s pleasing eyes. “We shall see what comes, given the circumstances.”

Raven sighed—still not fully satisfied with the answer, but unable to wean anything better out of him.

She jabbed her fork into a cherry tomato and chomped down hard on it. Her fangs pierced the red skin, sending some juice squirting onto her cheek. Raven wiped at it with a napkin, then continued to angrily munch on the tomato to vent her frustration.

The clinking of silverware filled the dining room. The air, stiff as stale bread. Crowley coughed—attempting to alleviate the tense atmosphere, but to little success.

“So,” the headmaster began, “did anything interesting happen while I was at the conference?”

“... We argued a lot,” Raven replied flatly. She tactfully left out several details, knowing that she would turn as red as the cherry tomato if she elaborated.

“I did learn quite a few interesting facts during my stay.”

Crowley glanced up from his plate, arching an eyebrow at the eel. “Such as...?”

“Oh, a great many things. For example, how a glittering object catches Miss Raven’s eye, the messiness of her quarters, her midnight musings, the odd manner in which she sleeps...”

Crowley (who had been peacefully inhaling his dinner up until that point) almost choked on a piece of bread. “E-EXCUSE ME?! I don’t recall granting you permission to enter the attic—”

“Wait, you didn’t?” Raven’s brows furrowed. “Then why...”

... Oh.

Another lie.

All along, it had been a lie.

Crowley’s panic, Raven’s confusion—neither seemed to faze Jade. He simply smiled, as collected as ever. Like he had planned this all along, she realized.

“I’m afraid that Miss Raven allowed me in of her own accord. Fufu. I am pleased that she has grown to trust my presence within her private quarters.”

“Is this true, Raven-kun?!”

“Er...” She shrunk back into her seat, wishing she could vanish into her feathered shawl. “I-It was an honest mistake... I didn’t mean to...”

“You know better than that, young lady!!” Crowley chided. “How many times must I warn you to keep shady characters out of your room?!”

“But Jade said--”

“Headmaster, you cannot blame her entirely,” the eel cut in smoothly. “Part of the fault lies with me, as well.”

He’s... confessing? That’s weird.

“I had to deliver her meal, since she refused to eat at the dining room table. Once I saw the state that the attic was in, I sought to return in the subsequent days to assist with cleaning it up. There were also times when I came to check in on Miss Raven, as she has a habit of staying up late into the night. They were all measures I took to ensure her health and comfort, at the cost of breaking a rule--and for that, I must apologize.”

“Oh?” Crowley rested his chin in a taloned hand. “Rule breaking aside, I must commend you for taking action. Putting others’ wellbeing above your own... Perhaps I initially misjudged your character, Jade Leech-kun!”

“I live to serve.”

“How very admirable of you! Yes, yes,” Crowley nodded enthusiastically, “I can rely on such a responsible youth to look after you in the future, Raven-kun!”

“H-Huh? No, no!! He’s definitely still every bit as shady as you thought he was!!” she protested, leaping to her feet and thrusting an accusing finger at Jade. “He’s just lying again...!! He always lies!!”

“Oya, Miss Raven... It’s not healthy for you to become so worked up.” Jade hid his mouth behind his hand--no doubt that his teeth would otherwise be on full display in a cruel grin. “Here, have some more mashed potatoes--I’ve infused them with garlic. This should help temper your blood pressure.”

“I don’t want your stupid mashed potatoes...!!”

Oblivious to the tension in the room, Crowley lifted his glass up and laughed. “Hohoh! It’s nice to see Raven-kun socializing with her peers.”

[maybedefinitely404]

Day 29: Prinxiety/Loceit (pt 4)

Aaaand, part 4, the finale! 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

@tsshipmonth2020

Day 29:  You have a telepathic link with your soulmate until the two of you meet.

Content warnings: discussion of conversion therapy/after effects, PTSD, food mentions, anxiety/panic attacks, internalized homophobia, mentions of the foster system/abuse (mental, emotional, neglect, past eating disorder), minor self harm/blood, mentions of dissociating.

Word count: 5.1k

Despite Roman’s claims that being around other people would only distract him, and he didn’t want to have to walk to the library every time he had homework, Patton’s constant pleading eventually broke him down. Now, much to his roommate’s delight, they spent every night in the middle of the study floor in the library, and Roman found that he actually looked forward to it. Sometimes someone he knew would walk by, and give him a valid reason to take a short break, and having other people around somehow motivated him to work harder. He was starting to understand the appeal of the place. 

Now, Patton and him were spending their afternoon there between classes, both working on their own projects and sharing a bag of popcorn twists. It was the only oil soaked snack that didn’t leave much residue on their fingers. Roman was deep in thought, struggling to remember an especially flowery Shakespeare monologue for a mock audition next week, when Patton kicked his leg under the table.

“What, Pat?” He took another moment to finish the sentence before he tore his eyes away from the book, surprised at his roommate’s barely contained excitement. 

“You’ve been humming for half an hour!” 

He hadn’t even noticed. He tended to do it a lot without realizing; humming along to his soulmate’s music. Ever since he’d come back almost a year ago, an occurrence he’d never had explained but held onto with fondness, Roman’s heart jumped every time his music played. It was just like old times, their old system immediately reinstated, and more than once he’d found himself singing along to the melodies in his head. Patton knew this, and could probably tell by the genre whether Roman was listening to his soulmate’s songs, or just had his own earworm.

“No, no, no, I like your humming! That’s not the point!”

“Then what’s the-”

“The guy behind you has his earbuds loud enough to hear!”

Roman strained his ears, and yes, he could barely hear the music coming from behind him. He definitely hadn’t noticed before, too deep in thought to notice something so trivial. But Patton was always on high alert, never able to keep his mind on one thing at a time. 

“Okay, but what does that ha-”

“You’ve been humming the same songs as he’s been listening to for half an hour, Ro! I think he’s your soulmate!”

Roman’s eyes widened and he spun around, effectively dropping his book onto the ground. Yeah, if he concentrated, he could tell that the song in his head was the same as the one just audible through the other’s earbuds.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive!” 

That’s all the convincing Roman needed. He jumped to his feet and rounded the other table so he was face to face with the stranger and knocked on the table a couple times. When he made eye contact, he thought he saw fear in the other’s face, but that couldn’t be right. Roman was not intimidating. The man at the table reached up to pop out one of his earbuds. 

“Hello lovely, I have a question for you,” Roman purred, dropping onto his elbows on the table. 

“I- I don’t-”

Apparently that counted as a meeting, because in that moment, the music in Roman’s head faded into nothingness. And he could tell it wasn’t just the music being paused. He was left with a neutral emptiness he hadn’t felt in a long time, a silence that was rare, and an innate knowledge that it had happened: their link was no longer necessary and had dissipated. Roman grinned wide, barely concealing a squeal. 

“You’re my soulmate!”

He didn’t know what reaction he was expecting, but he sure as hell hadn’t expected the man at the table to get up and sprint out of the building at full speed. 

“Stay here, Ro,” Patton was suddenly at his side, laying a hand on his bicep, “I’ll go after him. I don’t know what just happened but I don’t want it to happen again.”

Patton scooped up the other man’s things from the table and jogged out the library door.

-----

Virgil didn’t know where he was going; he hadn’t planned on running out of the library. Dammit, he hadn’t planned to run into his soulmate. And he knew that was his soulmate, and not just some weird coincidence. Because the moment they’d locked eyes, it was as if something in his mind had snapped, like a rubber band that had always been there but the pressure was so constant he didn’t notice it there until it was gone. Their bond had snapped; it was no longer necessary, because he’d met his soulmate. 

He recognized the guy, just barely. They were in the same first year math class, a course often taken by upperclassmen (probably like his soulmate) because they’d put off getting a math credit until their final years. Logan had warned Virgil of that when he was choosing his first year courses, and so he was safely getting it out of the way so he could focus on his major in the coming years. 

His breathing was choppy and strained as he tried to calm down his panic attack, dropping onto the ground under a large tree. He couldn’t keep running lest he collapse and draw more attention to himself, and that was far worse than anything he could imagine. Fighting the urge to scratch at his skin, he buried his head in his hoodie clad arms, fumbling with one hand to free his phone from his pocket. 

It’s actually a guy, it’s a guy, he’s gay, wrong wrong wrong-

No, not wrong. It’s not wrong.   

Yes it is, it’s going to hurt, you’re going to hurt, wrong wrONG WRONG!

His hands were shaking far too hard to text but he tried anyways, begging Janus to come pick him up early. Logan wouldn’t be done work for another couple hours, and usually Virgil would be fine just doing homework until his dad was ready to drive them home, but he didn’t think he’d be able to handle being on campus much longer. 

“Hey, kiddo?”

Virgil’s head jerked up just as he clicked send, fighting every urge in his body to bolt again. It wasn’t the guy… his soulmate… but someone else he hadn’t met before, panting. 

“Heya, my name’s Patton! You ran out without your stuff, so I brought it!”

Oh, he was holding his backpack, and his folder under one arm. Virgil was just trying to encourage his legs to move, to stand so he could take his things, when the stranger dropped into the grass in front of him. He flinched. 

“Here ya go,” He pushed it towards him like a child trying to coax out a scared cat, “I’m so sorry me and Ro scared you. He just gets over excited sometimes. I promise he’s actually very gentle.”

Virgil stared, pulling in a halting breath. 

“The guy who ran up to you, that’s Roman. I’m his roommate, by the way. I’m Patton. Did I introduce myself? Doesn’t matter. I’m a third year psychology major. Roman’s in third year too, music and theatre major.”

He should probably introduce himself too, but his hands were frozen, clamped around his phone, and he found his voice wasn’t cooperating. That didn’t deter the other dude, though.

“Here, I wrote out both of our numbers. Roman feels super bad for scaring you, so you can take your time, if you want.” He delicately placed a ripped piece of notebook paper on the backpack between them, “His is the first one. But I put mine in there too, so you can text me if you want to talk. The more friends, the better.”

Virgil’s phone buzzed, alerting him of Janus’ response.

“I’ll let you be, okay? Remember to text!” With an exuberant wave, he dashed back to the library. Virgil read Janus’ panicked message, asking what had happened, in a bit of a daze. His dad agreed to come get him, so he stuffed the paper into his pocket and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

-----

Janus had asked him not to go into his room when he was so worked up, instead giving him free reign of the living room while the older restarted the dinner he’d abandoned in favor of picking his son up. He’d turned on the TV for Virgil, changing the channel to a nature documentary, given Virgil his favorite weighted blanket, and left him with strict orders to call him if he started spiraling or needed a hug. 

The distraction had worked for a while, the soothing voice of the narrator almost lulling him to sleep, until his racing brain had come to the conclusion that this was the worst thing to ever happen in the history of ever and that he was going to die alone. He’d been a little hopeful that his soulmate would be a girl, to somewhat appease his trauma, but life was never that easy. A part of him had also been a little miffed about that hope, because as much as he liked to pretend, he had a preference for boys. A big preference. And his soulmate was cute. 

“Everything okay, Virgil?” Janus called through the pass through window into the kitchen, taking his eyes off his food preparation to watch his son’s pacing. 

“Yup!” He lied, picking and scratching at the skin of his hands out of his dad’s view. The pain settled him a little, giving him something he could control, but he knew he’d get a figurative slap on the wrist for it later. A concerned slap, not an angry one. Maybe more of ‘a cuddle on the couch and wrap the little patches of broken skin and an update with his counsellor’. So not really a slap. At all. As it usually went. 

Everything was wrong. What kind of shit first impression had he given his soulmate? Getting up and running away like an actual child? And that was only part of it. He was damaged goods, a broken person, who needed more help and reassurance than any other person. How could he explain to his soulmate that he was the cause of his problems without making him feel guilty? That wasn’t the life the man had signed up for, wasn’t the soulmate burden he’d wanted. He would want someone easy, someone who wouldn’t have panic attacks when they got shocked by a door knob, who didn’t stop eating when they were scared, who pressed pause on life when he woke up in a dissociating headspace. He couldn’t say that to him. He’d lost everything, that vague musical connection to an invisible soulmate, that had given him a subtle hope. It had been a quiet illusion, a promise that he’d be fine if it were never fulfilled. Knowing there was someone out there, providing him music, had been enough. But now…

“Virgil, hold these for me.”

When had Logan gotten home? He put his hands out obediently, clenching the fingers over the ice cubes placed in each palm. The sensation startled him and sent a shiver up his spine.

“Four, seven, eight. Ready?”

He followed the breathing pattern eagerly, feeling the curls of anxiety in his stomach slowly settle into butterflies. When he was breathing normally, an overwhelming sense of dizziness almost knocked him over. Logan took his arm and led him to the couch.

The next moment, Janus was kneeling in front of him, rubbing disinfectant into his few bloody scratches, the melting water dripping through his fingers and onto the carpet. 

“I should have noticed,” he murmured as he stuck a couple bandaids onto each hand, refusing to meet Virgil’s eyes.

“Don’t blame yourself, Janus. I don’t think it was happening for too long,” Logan assured, running a hand down Virgil’s spine. “Did this have to do with the reason you left school early today?”

Virgil nodded.

“Are you nonverbal?”

“No,” he choked, clearing his throat, “Just dry throat.”

“I got it,” Janus leapt to his feet and hurried to the kitchen.

With a heavy sigh, Virgil leaned into Logan’s side, the hand on his back traveling to wrap around his shoulder comfortingly. The last drops of the ice cube hit the carpet, and he dried his hands off on his jeans. “I met my soulmate today.”

“I see,” Logan said. For the umpteenth time, Virgil was beyond grateful that Logan was an expert at masking reactions. It made difficult conversations easier.

“It’s a guy.”

“How did that go?”

“I ran out of the library and had a panic attack. His roommate brought me my stuff and gave me their numbers. I made an idiot out of myself.”

Logan was quiet, giving Virgil a little squeeze. A water glass was pressed into his hands and Virgil downed the whole thing, passing it back to Janus, who placed it on the coffee table. 

“I think… I think I’m magnifying. Maybe.” He described his thoughts that led to his spiral as quickly as possible, feeling slightly pleased when Logan agreed with his hypothesis. 

“You are definitely magnifying. Good job for recognizing that, Virgil. You don’t even know him, much less what he thought of your interaction.”

“What’s our next step?” Janus spoke up, resting a hand on Virgil’s knee and rubbing it with his thumb.

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Can you sleep on it, and message him tomorrow?”

Virgil thought about for a second before shaking his head even harder, “No. I have class with him tomorrow, and we’re getting a study guide for a test. I can not miss it. But what if he comes up to me, or wants to talk, and I embarrass myself again, and-”

His dads both hushed him at the same time and he took a deep breath, closing his eyes against Logan’s side. “What do I do?”

“You could message him tonight,” Janus drawled.

“Are you crazy?” He shrieked, “No! What would I even say? ‘Hey, you freaked me out today, sorry for running like a lunatic’?!”

“Why not explain the cause for your hasty escape?” Logan piped in.

“That’s way too much to load onto him as a first conversation.”

“Not all the gory details, just a vague explanation. That’s how I started talking to Logan,” Janus stated, adjusting his position on the floor. “If he’s your soulmate, Virge, he’ll be okay to deal with this. It’ll come out eventually, and if something else happens, it will be nice for him to have some context.”

Virgil groaned. “I hate when you make sense.”

“We can help you construct an adequate message.” Logan squeezed him again, meeting Janus’ eyes with a small smile.

“Fine.” Virgil snarled, pulling out his phone and the two numbers, typing the first one into his ‘new contact’ list. “Okay, what do I say?”

-----

V: Hey, I’m Virgil. We met earlier today. In a manner of speaking.

R: OMG, hi! I’m Roman. I am SO sorry for startling you!

V: It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. 

R: I still feel bad DX

“He feels bad, what do I do?!”

“I would suggest explaining the reason you ran off to ease his concerns.”

“Me too. But ask first, and don’t give more details than you’re comfortable with.”

V: Can I be brutally honest for just a second?

R: Should I be nervous? Haha go ahead!

V: I was forced into conversion therapy about a year back, and I still carry a lot of the trauma with me. That’s why I ran. It was just gut instinct.

“He’s not responding, oh god, he’s going to block me, why isn’t he responding?!”

“I assume this news would take a moment to process. Focus on your breathing, Virgil. Don’t magnify.”

“You also sent it, like, ten seconds ago.”

R: Holy shit, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry. 

“...That’s not what I expected.”

“This is a regular reaction from a human being with even a lick of common sense, Virgil.”

“Seconded.”

V: It’s okay, I have a really great support system now. 

R: That’s good. I’ve never experienced anything like that, so I can only imagine how hard that was. 

R: I don’t expect you to answer if you don’t want to or don’t know, so please don’t feel pressured, but do you know what kind of soulbond we have? Is it platonic?

“Shit, fuck, who do I answer that?”

“With the truth, I’d imagine. Do you have an answer to his question?”

“Remember what I told you, kid. Your own pace.”

“Logan, if I explain it, can you put it into words? Please?”

V: I’m not averse to a possible romantic relationship in the future, but at the moment I am still learning to become comfortable with myself, as I have negative connections to that part of my identity that can become problematic if not properly worked through at my own pace.

R: Give me a couple seconds to decode that

V: My dad wrote it, he’s a prof. I have both of them helping me not freak out right now. 

R: You might want to date one day, but you need to take it slow because of your trauma. 

V: Uhm… yeah. I could have said it like that. 

R: Is talking to me upsetting you? We can always talk another time.

V: No, I’m okay. 

R: Okay, then as far as I’m concerned, we move at your pace. That’s not an issue for me at all. 

“I… oh. He’s… wow.”

“I agree with your sentiment.”

“I like this boy already.”

“DAD!”

R: Your dad’s a prof? 

V: One of them is. He teaches at our school, Prof Sanders. 4th year chemistry?

R: Oh shit. I’m in his class.

V: Lol he thinks he knows you

R: You have two dads?

V: Yep

R: That’s so cool. I’d really love to meet them.

V: Wow, we met today and you’re already wanting to meet my parents?

R: Heeey, I want to meet them as a FRIEND. 

V: My dad says after the semester’s over, you’re free to come by

One at a time, Virgil’s dads left him on the couch with an ear to ear grin, Janus to reheat dinner and Logan following him just so he could cling to his husband's waist as he moved around the kitchen. Neither of them wanted to disturb the little bubble their son was in. 

-----

In the weeks following, they’d started to sit together in the one class they shared. Virgil had begun to join him and Patton on their nightly library study sessions, and after some more gentle convincing, had given in to sitting with their whole friend group during meals at the cafeteria. He was growing more comfortable with Roman, no doubt about that.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t fighting off an anxiety attack as he waited by the door to get picked up for their first outing alone.

He kept checking his phone and glancing out the peephole as Janus ran calming fingers through his hair. Virgil leaned into the touch instinctively, consciously slowing his breathing as Janus hummed. Logan was watching him from the entrance to the hall, leaning on the kitchen door frame. There wasn’t much he could do, but dammit if he wasn’t going to watch his son go off on the most anxiety inducing situation of all of their lives.

“You’ll be okay, kid,” Janus muttered, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. “You’ve been friends with him for a while now, and he said there were no expectations. You’re in total control here.”

“What if I have a flashback, or a panic attack, or go nonverbal or something? He’s going to freak the fuck out and then all the work will be for noth-”

Logan spoke up. “You’re worried about things that may not even happen. And besides, haven’t you spoken to Roman about these things already?”

“A bit. Not in detail,” he whispered.

“I would suggest you do so, today if possible. It will make any possible situations that arise easier and less jarring to deal with.”

Virgil looked up at Janus, a pleading look in his eyes.

“He’s right, kid. The sooner you get it out of the way, the better.”

There was a knock at the door and Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin. To his disdain, Janus backed away until he was next to Logan, gesturing at the door with a small smile. Virgil growled out a curse and opened the door, the scowl on his face melting into a sickeningly authentic smile.

“How’s my favorite emo? Hi Mr. Sanders, hey Prof.”

“Hello.”

“Salutations.”

“Your favorite emo?” Virgil snarked, pulling on his jacket. It wasn’t cold, not in the slightest, but he’d rather have the extra layer.

“You’re the only emo I know, so the choice is easy.”

“By process of elimination, doesn’t that also imply I’m your least favorite emo too?”

“Don’t start this again, Mr. Son-of-a-professor.”

“I’ll start it if I want to!”

The door closed behind them with one final wave to his parents, and the house was quiet. Janus leaned into Logan’s waiting arms, resting his head on the other’s collar bone. 

“He’s all grown up.”

“That he is, my love.”

-----

Virgil smirked as Roman set out a large cliche picnic blanket, gesturing for him to sit. He did, crossing his legs and leaning on his knees as the other began to unload the basket. 

“Okay, so for sandwiches, I have turkey, peanut butter and jelly, and ham. Patton made me bring apple slices because he’s a dad, but I’m sure we can convince the ducks to eat them.”

To prove his point, a group of ducks paddled out from under a weeping willow half submerged in the creek.

“I like apples,” Virgil defended, grabbing a slice from the open container and shoving the whole thing in his mouth. “How many people were you intending to feed with that much food?”

Roman pouted from behind a container of potato salad. “I had to show off my food skills, duh.”

“You made that?” Virgil asked with raised eyebrows as Roman set out a tin of mini quiches and a smaller one stacked with brownies and cookies. 

“The cookies were Patton’s, but he insisted I take some. And I would have bought more, but…” He tipped the basket towards Virgil, revealing the bottom absolutely filled with different canned drinks and water bottles. “I didn’t know what you wanted to drink.”

Virgil actually did laugh as he stretched forward to snag a Doctor Pepper, taking another apple slice as he sat back. 

“Do you have a sandwich preference?” Roman asked, choosing a Sprite for himself. 

“Turkey looks good.” Virgil said before his choice paralysis could come into play, breathing a sigh of relief as Roman handed one of the sandwiches to him. The less stress he added to his own life, the better. 

Roman had been right to bring an assortment of food, because dammit, he was a really good chef. Virgil was nervous to try a quiche, since he’d never had them before and the texture was odd to him, but Roman assured that if he didn’t like it, he’d eat it instead. Apparently he wasn’t eeked out by germs. After a nibble though, Virgil ate almost half the tin. Who knew cold eggs could be good? Roman took the ham sandwich, and they split the PB&J. The ducks were more than pleased to be given Roman’s half of the apple slices but Virgil refused to share, since fresh fruits were still a treat after a life of preserves. The younger wasn’t a huge fan of the potato salad, so Roman eagerly finished it, seemingly more excited to move onto the desserts but not wanting to leave any leftovers. 

They were just finishing up the frankly absurd amount of cookies and brownies when Roman broke their casual bickering, chasing a chocolate chip bite with a long swig of Sprite and tossing another apple to their swarm of awaiting ducks.

“So, tell me a bit about yourself, Virge.”

“What do you want to know?” Virgil replied, leaning back on his hands. 

“Anything, really. Childhood, siblings, favorite color, darkest fear.”

“Quite a spectrum, there.” There was a lot he could talk about, but he felt it might be better to get the bigger things out of the way. Janus was sort of the leading expert on this kind of thing, so his advice had probably been sound. He brushed his hands together to get the crumbs off them as he spoke, “Okay, so I grew up in the foster system.”

Roman tried to hide his wince. “Ouch. I’ve heard a lot of bad things.”

“It’s fucked,” Virgil drawled, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn, “I spent most of my time in a group home, though, because I was called ‘difficult’. No one wanted to deal with my ass.”

“Why?”

“Mmm, ran away, didn’t listen, talked back, antagonized any biological kids.”

“So like, a normal teenager?” The last apple slice was sacrificed to the feathered hoard. 

Virgil snorted, “Yeah, but I came with a receipt. And I kind of liked the group home more.”

“How many kids were in the home?”

“Never more than fifteen. It was a big home. But they circulated, and I was like a housecat. Never gone for more than a month.”

“Jeez,” Roman sighed, taking a sip of his soda. 

“My foster homes weren’t better.”

“Oh?” It was a subtle encouragement to keep talking, but now it was getting into territory that Virgil liked to avoid. 

“One of my foster houses was really neglectful, forgot to give us food, didn’t let us do laundry, that kind of stuff. Gave me a wicked ED. I was twelve.”

Roman grimaced.

“My next one was more emotionally and mentally manipulative. I was kind of made into a babysitter for their younger bio kids. I had to get them ready for school, make them dinner, just basically be a parent. After I ran away from them, they started having trouble placing me. I was older, had a shitty record, kind of a left over. I mean, I deserved it. I was a dick.”

“You were a kid, Virgil.”

“A kid who chose to make his own life harder.” He shrugged, “That’s why I was placed into… that home. They were a last resort place for other ‘trouble kids’.”

Virgil took a deep breath and, with Janus’ words in his mind, began to explain his attempted conversion; the slip of tongue that led to the placement, the verbal abuse, food deprivation, electroshock therapy, the snuck antipsychotics, forced isolation, ending with the day the wife had called the police behind her husband’s back out of guilt and he was rescued. 

Roman was quiet for a long minute after he finished talking, staring entranced at the can in his hands. The ducks had dispersed during Virgil’s story, upset at the lack of food. 

“I…”

Virgil waited for him to get up and leave, to say with false apologies that he didn’t think they would work out, that the connection was wrong. Because who would want to deal with him, his stupid trauma? But the man next to him didn’t move except to breathe, and Virgil took that as an invitation to continue, his tone quieter.

“I was super out of it for a while. Honestly, I don’t remember the rescue, or like a solid month after that, except for snippets here and there. The drugs were fucky. And then my social worker, god bless her heart, found Janus and Logan. Janus was in CT too for a while when he was younger, so they took me in. Took a long time, but I opened up to them, but by then I was eighteen. They still insisted on adopting me, though, and there’s absolutely no convincing Logan once he’s made his mind up, so… they did.” He waved his hands around a little. 

“Three months,” Roman blurted out of nowhere, making Virgil flinch.

“What?”

“Were you in ther-... CT for three months?”

“Two and a bit, why?” The moment it was out of his mouth, he realized the implications, and his heart froze.

“You were gone for three months. I thought you died, or… I don’t even know.” Roman looked like he was about to cry, watching Virgil imploringly. Him going MIA must have affected his soulmate more than he’d thought. 

“Two months of CT, and then another one before I got a new phone. I’m…” All the guilt he’d felt at the time came rushing back, the reminder of his soulmate’s music dwindling to almost nothing and him being helpless, “I’m sorry. Shit, I’m so sorry. That must have been…” 

“No, Virgil, you don’t get to apologize. That was not your fault.” He reached out a hand as if to grab Virgil’s and immediately pulled back, wringing his fingers instead. “Sorry, my choice of comforting is physical. But I won’t.”

“Thank you,” Virgil choked out, running his hands through his hair.

“Can you look at me?”

He did, taking a shuddering breath. He was moments away from a panic attack and he was not looking forward to that disaster. 

“You were being- quite literally- tortured for months. You were abused in ways that shouldn’t be legal, and you came out the other side stronger. Frankly, I’m amazed at your perseverance. You’re amazing.”

Simultaneously, Virgil felt a hot blush rise to his ears, and a sharp jolt run through his arms into his chest. He jerked violently, tipping over his own soda onto the grass. 

“Shit, did I say something wrong?” Roman gasped, reaching over to pluck up the can before it could spill more. It was already half empty, thank goodness. 

“No, I just… do that. Sometimes. From… CT. Kind of like ghost shocks, I guess.” Why couldn’t the ground just open up and swallow him whole, he wondered. He hadn’t done that jerk thing in front of anyone in so long. The last time had been in front of his now-parents, and they’d quickly grown used to it. He’d grown used to their own contact very soon and his twitches had stopped after he was accustomed to it, but it had never been directed towards him, and he had a feeling he’d need time to stop his impulse reactions. 

“And me calling you amazing…”

“Triggered them. It’s an exposure thing though, so I’ll just need to get used to it. Don’t blame yourself.” He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes until bright white flashes of light burst into his vision. Suddenly, he was exhausted. 

“Do you want me to drive you home?” Roman asked, already packing up their picnic basket. Virgil nodded, his social meter drained, and all ability to be a civil person was quickly deteriorating. His therapist said that would also begin to heal after a while. 

Roman was an absolute angel though, letting the silence linger so Virgil could cradle his slowly growing headache, even opening the door of his car like a perfect gentleman. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Virgil rested his head against the seat and let a tiny smile tug at his lips. It would be a long process to retrain his brain (in theory, he was okay with being in a relationship with a man, but actually doing it? Infinitely harder), but for once, he was actually looking forward to the process. 

Would you guys like a collection of one shots surrounding Virgil’s gradual warming up to his new family, a decent mix of angst and fluff? I have some ideas. 

Thanks for reading! Now, a taglist. 

@sapphic-satan

@anxious-logic

@wigsnatchedhoteltrivago

@extraintrovertedalien

@punk-academian-witch

@ray-does-stuff

@chimneychimney

@i-cant-find-a-good-username

@falsemood

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@green-call

[krappykawa]

ಌ i mildly like you more than like (p.2)

— in which an incessant fan girl, a kiss, and a little bit of denial makes oikawa tooru realize he might mildly like you more than like

description. you’ve been in love with oikawa tooru for longer than you can remember. having known him for the better part of nearly 11 years, you’ve come to accept that you’ll never be more than a best friend to him. but with the help of a few irritatingly persistent fangirls and a kiss that was only meant to drive them away, a tale of unrequited love might just prove to be something more. 

warnings. language

word count. 3.6k

oikawa x f!reader, childhood best friends to lovers, fluff, some angst

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

It’s just really bad timing for Oikawa that the day after is the day in which the Aoba Johsai third-years planned their monthly hangout. 

He’s rocking back and forth in front of your house, trying not to let the weird feeling in his stomach eat at him. He hasn’t seen you since you both walked home the day before when he was secretly cursing the sun because “did you always look like you were heaven-sent or was it just the lighting?”

In his head, he’s trying to convince himself that he didn’t avoid you this morning - that the reason he didn’t spend the day over at your house before your hangout like he’d always done was because he would see you later anyways. He tries to say that it's because he just needed some time to recharge, which isn’t necessarily false, but it’s a half-truth all the same. 

“Hey.” His head turns to where you’re standing in your doorway, already smiling up at him. “Where’s that outfit from? Iwaizumi’s closet?”

Oikawa looks down at himself. He’s wearing one of the hoodies he did indeed steal from Iwaizumi a few months ago, and he had also opted for a pair of grey sweats that he haphazardly picked out without notice. He did have to admit that it was a very Iwaizumi-style outfit.  “Only the sweatshirt, Y/N-chan. Don’t tease,” he says with his usual chipper voice. 

You shake your head at him, and the small movement draws his gaze to the small alien earrings that dangle from your ears. He wants to ask if you could help him find a plush-sized version of that alien to add to his own plushie collection (that only you and Iwaizumi know about), but by the time he’s opened his mouth, you’re already turning to lock your door. 

You hand him a piece of candy that you had in your pocket and you both begin to walk in a slightly off silence to Iwaizumi’s house. There isn’t necessarily anything uncomfortable about it, but Oikawa’s blinking to himself because you don’t seem to be fazed in the slightest about the happenings of yesterday. Best friends must kiss their best friends all the time don’t they? That’s why you don’t seem to care. He doesn’t care. No, he doesn’t. 

Oikawa practically breathes a sigh of relief when Iwaizumi joins you two. He knows that if you were alone for even a moment longer, you would’ve picked up on his odd mood and asked him what was wrong. He wouldn’t have an answer to that. Not that there was anything wrong. There wasn’t.

Once Iwaizumi joins you two, Oikawa doesn’t have much time to be within his own thoughts because he and Iwaizumi quickly engage in a friendly teasing argument about the day before. You simply walk between them, piping up at times to tease Oikawa for some reason or another. It feels entirely too normal, and Oikawa isn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“My legs are killing me,” you say after walking for about two miles, mostly due to the fact that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were having another back-and-forth that was slowly getting out of hand. “Did Matsukawa and Hanamaki really have to choose a place so far away? Actually, scratch that. Did you two really have to make us walk?”

“Suck it up, my darling Y/N-chan, we’ve only got a few more blocks to go,” Oikawa says. He notices a soft redness on your cheeks. 

“You’re one to talk,” you mumble. “You were complaining just ten minutes ago,” 

“I’m allowed to be whiny.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“But Y/N-channn.” He makes sure to really draw out the latter half chan, his grin widening when he sees a slight pout form at your lips. 

“Don’t Y/N-chan me when you’re being a baby.”

“You can’t call me a baby! I’m practically a tree next to you!”

You cross your arms, and look defiantly up at him. “I’ll call you a baby if I want to.”

“I’m gonna throw you over my shoulder if you don’t take that back.”

“God you two are insufferable,” Iwaizumi mumbles from besides you two, but the small smile on his face betrays his attempt at strictness. You playfully roll your eyes at him and Oikawa is unfazed, much too used to Iwaizumi’s gruff exterior by now. “I’ll just carry her if it makes you two shut the hell up.”

At the same time that you shout “Really?”, Oikawa shouts “No!”

Both you and Iwaizumi turn to stare at Oikawa, who seems to lose his composure just ever so slightly. 

“Shittykawa, for the last time. I’m not going to carry you.”

“That’s not what I meant, Iwa-chan.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’ll carry Y/N-chan.”

Iwaizumi’s gaze focuses just a beat too long on Oikawa, and it’s all Oikawa needs to see to know that Iwaizumi will probably be watching him a little extra tonight. He always does that when he feels like there’s something off. 

Whatever he must’ve seen on Oikawa’s face was either satisfactory or something that puzzled him because he repents instead of interrogating him. “Fine. Carry her if it’ll heal your ego or whatever. Just don’t do shit to your knee or I’ll actually murder you.”

“Guys, it’s fine. I was only joking.” You pipe up, clearly confused at the interaction between Oikawa and Iwaizumi just now. Oikawa can feel something else in your gaze too, but he’s afraid he won’t be able to look away if he attempts to analyze what it means. 

Something in Oikawa deflates a little at your words though. You seemed all but ready to let yourself be carried by Iwaizumi, but the moment he suggested doing the exact same thing, you shied away. “Well the offer still stands,” he says, despite the minor sting of rejection. “Besides it’ll make up for the practice I was forced to miss yesterday.” 

“Really, it’s fine. I don’t want you to hurt your knee,” you reply. This time, he can practically hear the odd something in your voice. The fact that he can’t pinpoint what it is irritates him to no end. 

The rest of the walk to the karaoke place goes relatively quiet. Quiet in the sense that Iwaizumi and Oikawa don’t squabble, but rather all three of you have small minor conversations about anything and everything. 

Oikawa’s mood turns mildly sour when you tell him and Iwaizumi that by some unfortunate luck, you’d crossed paths with your ex-boyfriend while on a walk that morning. He wishes that he would’ve just sucked up his thoughts and just spent the day at your house so that maybe by some weird string of fate, you wouldn’t have seen the tall, brown-haired baseball captain while on a walk. Oikawa didn’t realize he was scowling until you poked a finger at his cheek and told him that he “had to stop thinking about Kageyama and Ushijima because they would only cause premature wrinkles and ruin his pretty face.” He doesn’t tell you that his two most bitter rivals were far, far away from the forefront of his mind at the moment. 

“Took you three long enough,” Hanamaki practically yells when he spots you three from across the street. 

You beam and yell, “Don’t yell, Maki. It’s unbecoming!”

“And you call me a hypocrite, Y/N-chan?” Oikawa nudges your side, smiling down at you. 

The feeling he gets when you stick your tongue out at him and dash across the street is familiar, which he’s thankful for. It’s the sort of feeling that makes him smile softly at your retreating figure, a feeling that he’s felt toward you for as long as he can remember. He’s happy for the familiarity of it because it gives him a sense of normalcy that perhaps the thoughts he’s been feeling are familiar thoughts that were probably just jumbled up because of his fatigue. 

That’s what he keeps telling himself anyway. 

Oikawa’s about to run after you when Iwaizumi asks a question from beside him. “Did something happen between you two?”

Oikawa turns to look at his best friend then back to where you’re standing with Hanamaki and Matsukawa. We kissed, he thinks. But Oikawa knows that telling Iwaizumi that might be more trouble than he’s looking for right now because he’ll surely start asking questions that Oikawa can’t even begin to find an answer for. 

“No,” he tries to say in his most convincing voice. “Why?”

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “Y/N just seems sadder today.” His words almost make Oikawa stop midway on the street. He knows that Iwaizumi notices, but instead of calling him out on it, Iwaizumi says, “Probably just because she saw Kaoru-san this morning.”

That’s when Oikawa realizes that the odd tone he heard in your voice earlier was sadness. He isn’t sure why exactly that was and why it was directed towards him. He can’t remember you saying anything out of the ordinary. All your texts to him that morning were of nothing new, and nothing seemed wrong the day before (except for the way that you were equally as quiet as he was during the walk home after your kiss). Surely, it wasn’t because of the stupid baseball player that barely lit a flame next to you.

He doesn’t know what he hates more - the possibility that it was him himself that was the cause of your sadness, or the possibility that you were sad after seeing your ex-boyfriend, which could possibly mean that you might still harbor feelings for him (which, Oikawa decides is something he never wants to think about again because he’s always disliked Kaoru, so he really can’t see why you’d still have feelings for him). Surely, you weren’t still hung up on a boy that you had broken up with? 

That’s what break-ups are for. They’re for when you no longer have love for the other person, or with Oikawa’s history of dating, when you find that the other person’s demanding schedule is something that becomes a wedge. 

It’s odd, but for the first time in their long friendship, Oikawa wants to punch Iwaizumi for making him think so indepthly about it. Instead, he walks quicker. He makes sure that his signature chipper smile is on his lips when he greets Hanamaki and Matsukawa. 

“What do you two have lined up for us today then?”

“We’re hoping that you’ll embarrass yourself with some karaoke, and then we figured we’d look through some of the shops around here. That may or not be because my mother’s birthday is in two days and I have yet to get a present.”

You shake your head at the taller male. “Makki!”

“Don’t Makki me! It’s Mattsun’s fault anyway. Don’t ask me why. It’s just always Mattsun’s fault.”

Matsukawa looks anything but pleased. “One more word out of you and I’m leaving your ass here and you’ll have to ride home by yourself.”

The only response Hanamaki has is a scowl in Matsukawa’s direction. 

By the time you five are seated in a booth, Oikawa feels the most normal he’s felt all day. Hanamaki managed to offend an older lady walking down the street by saying something loudly obnoxious, Iwaizumi yelled at Hanamaki for being so stupid, Matsukawa almost choked on a mint he had taken fron the front desk, and you had accidentally almost broken a vase because you pushed Oikawa a little too roughly. Oikawa would say that all that was pretty normal. 

It’s also normal for Hanamaki to suggest that you and Oikawa sing a duet because despite it all, you two have incredible voices. He used to try and convince Iwaizumi too, but when almost all his pleas were met with rejections, he’d eventually stopped asking. 

But Oikawa doesn’t feel any sort of normalcy when he smiles to himself as you shake your head and begrudgingly accept. He doesn’t feel any sense of normalcy as you take his hand and tug him upwards to the karaoke machine. Instead of the normal carefree environment he usually feels, he’s feeling something brew inside of him because everything he’d just described as feeling abnormal, used to be perfectly normal. 

It irritates him to no end because his feelings don’t feel any different, but at the same time his feelings feel so incredibly foreign that he wishes he could just pause time and just sit down to figure out whatever the hell is going on. 

But he doesn’t have the ability to pause time, and he doesn’t have any time to figure out anything before you start to sing and he feels his breath catch the way it always does. 

He’s always told you that your voice was angelic. He’s been saying it ever since he came over to play at your house when he was 10 years old and he overheard you singing as you doodled on a piece of paper. He’s told you all of this before - how beautiful your voice is, how you’re wasting your talent by not letting others see it. He even remembers begging you to sing him to sleep when he would sleep over at your house after particularly crushing losses. 

What he doesn’t understand is why he’s so very aware of the fact that your voice sounds like it descends from above. Before, the feeling was there like a natural instinct to hearing your singing voice. But now, he’s so very aware. 

It’s because of this thought process that he almost misses his cue to enter. Luckily, he feels a foot kick at his ankle just before he embarasses himself. Oikawa has a gut feeling that it was Iwaizumi who did so. 

Once he starts singing the lyrics, Oikawa has the thought to just murder Hanamaki on the spot because of all the duets he could’ve chosen, he had to choose a love song. 

He keeps his eyes glued to the words flashing on the screen despite having memorized every lyric of this song after singing it multiple times while taking a shower. He tries to ignore your voice and instead focus on the teasing remarks slipping from his teammates’ lips. For a second, he’s successful in doing so. 

But luck doesn’t seem to be on his side tonight. Eventually, you hit a very impressive high note and Oikawa thinks he might just lose his mind because he hears you laugh afterwards and say a breathy “sorry,” that’s so mesmerizing that he turns his head. You’re already smiling up at him in that way that you always smile at him and he can’t help but feel his own lips tug widely upwards. He thinks he imagines how your own smile widens after that. 

After you two finish your duet and Hanamaki is up and belting out all the wrong notes, you nudge Oikawa. “A little off considering how good I can hear you singing it in the shower.”

“Keep your voice down, Y/N-chan. One word out of you and I won’t speak to you for a week,” Oikawa says with the familiar grin on his face. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” you dramatically gasp, which momentarily catches Iwaizumi’s attention. He turns away once he realizes that you were looking at Oikawa and nothing of importance. 

“Oh, but I would.”

“You wouldn’t last a day.”

“Yes I would.”

“You used to cry whenever Iwaizumi or I went on vacation. You’d come whining to me before the day is even over.”

He’s about to retort a reply, but Hanamaki’s return to the table catches both of your attention. “Man, my voice sounds like sandpaper.”

“More like a dying baby bird but I’ll let you think what you want,” Matsukawa snorts from his seat. 

“Mattsun, what did the baby bird ever do to you?”

After a few more rounds of karaoke (in which Matsukawa and Hanamaki serenaded the other and Iwaizumi agreed to sing for the first time in months) you all find yourself at the head of a row of shops that go down a few miles. 

“Do you think my mom would like a necklace? Maybe I’ll buy her a book.”

“Hanamaki, you are aware that we aren’t acquainted with your mother right?”

“Matsukawa is! Mattsun, help me out here.”

“Makki, she’s your mom man.”

After a few more rounds of bickering, Hanamaki and Matsukawa finally decide to just head into the bookstore. You, Iwaizumi, and Oikawa decide to visit the small trinkets store with the twinkling light up sign. 

Oikawa gets the urge to rip his hair out once he sees who the person behind the cashier is. 

“Kaoru! I didn’t know you worked here,” you say entirely too nicely. Oikawa hates how perfect you look at the moment because he’s almost certain that your ex-boyfriend notices it too.

“Ease up, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi says from beside him. 

“I am at ease,” he says, but he can’t even convince himself. 

Iwaizumi snorts and shakes his head. “Sure you are. Unclench your jaw and stop looking at him like you want to stuff him in a bag first, then I’ll believe you.”

Oikawa turns his head to look back to where you’re leaning against the counter. He doesn't miss the way that Kaoru purposefully left his hand idly on the counter so that his fingers come just short of touching your arm. Oikawa feels his annoyance spike when he hears the man in question laugh at something you say. 

After glaring what felt like forever, Oikawa turns back to Iwaizumi, letting out an annoyed huff. “I just don’t understand why he of all people had to be the one working here.”

“The world doesn’t cater to whether or not the person working at a store is going to make you jealous,” Iwaizumi says as he shuffles through a rack of plain-looking hoodies. 

“I’m not jealous!”

Iwaizumi turns to Oikawa and deadpans at him, raising a brow as a challenge. 

Oikawa looks away from his gaze and crosses his arms. “I’m not,” he grumbles. “I just don’t particularly like his face or his voice or his stupid personality or really anything about him because really what’s there to like? It’s nothing new.”

Oikawa expects a retort or an insult, but to his surprise, Iwaizumi lets out a laugh. 

“What’s so funny?”

Iwaizumi continues to shake his head as he moves to walk down another aisle. Oikawa follows aimlessly behind him. “You’re so, so stupid. I cannot believe you’re one of the best volleyball players I know. There’s no way you’re the same person I play with on the court.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.”

Before Oikawa can question him any further, he hears your voice from somewhere across the shop. You pop your head out from behind a shelf and say, “Hey ‘Kawa! Come here for a second.”

Oikawa looks to Iwaizumi. 

“Go ahead. I’m gonna look through their collection of posters and see if I can find one for the monster movie I watched yesterday.”

When Oikawa gets to the shelf that you’re staring intently at, he’s mildly surprised. You’re crouched down and scrutinizing a row of alien plushies. More specifically, they’re the very same alien plushies that he had hoped to ask you about when he first picked you up from your house.

You grin up at him excitedly and Oikawa wishes he could take a picture. “Look what I found!” Oikawa walks closer and crouches down besides you. You turn to look at him again. “I noticed that you were staring at my earrings a lot tonight, and I know that you absolutely cherish your little alien collection, so I asked Kaoru if they had them as plushies and they did!”

Oikawa feels a warmness bloom in his chest at your excitement. He doesn’t tell you that he wasn’t staring at your earrings. He doesn’t tell you that he was always staring at you.

“You did that for me?”

“Of course I did. We always do things like this, don’t get all sappy now.”

He has the sudden thought to just pull you upwards and crash his lips into yours. He knows that he can’t necessarily do so, so he just stares at you instead and contemplates to himself if it really would be so bad if he just kissed you again right then and there. 

“Is everything okay? Do you not like it? We don’t have to get it if you don’t like it.” The smile falls off your lips, and he can hear that familiar sadness in your voice once again. It sends a spark of pain through him. 

“No!” He yells a little too loudly. “No, of course I love it. Thank you.” He reaches out and clasps his hand over your smaller one. 

You roll your eyes at him, but don’t make any move to push his hand away. “You’re blushing! Don’t blush! You might make me think that you’re in love with me, and we can’t have that can we?”

Oikawa tries to shake his head. He doesn’t point out that there’s a little dusting of red on your own cheeks. 

He only speaks again after you pick an alien off of the shelf and stand up. He stands with you. “I only very mildly like you more than like. None of that in love stuff, don’t worry.”

You elbow him and shoot him a glance. “Don’t steal my lines, Oikawa.” 

You smile as you say it. A simple smile. A smile that has practically been ingrained into his head after so many years of seeing that same smile thrown in his direction. But what scares him is the way that it sends a pleasant feeling to his stomach. 

It’s then that Oikawa realizes that there is indeed something that’s wrong - that there’s something very, very wrong. Something is very wrong because everything he’s feeling at the moment makes him think that maybe, just maybe, he’s the biggest liar in the world for claiming that he wasn’t in love with you.

i know that some people won’t be able to relate to the “angelic singing” part (i most definitely don’t have an angelic singing voice either lol don’t worry) but lets all just pretend that we can all sing ok thanku

[sheerfreesia007]

Finding Love In Legacy OaIs pt. 12

Title: Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 12

Fandom: Kingsman

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x Reader

Author: @sheerfreesia007​

Words: 8,768

Warnings: Fluff, mention of injury, mention of cheating, mention of mental & physical abuse

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

Author Notes: I’ve used the Old Farmer’s Almanac for the flower meanings since there are so many different cultures that have different meanings for the flowers. (I used a different meaning for Daisies though because I needed a get well soon flower) And I love Es calling Jack out on upping his flower game. “Tough nuggets” came from teaching myself and my husband not to curse in front of our son when he was younger, we came up with tough nuggets and the kid even started to say it which is super cute! We learn about the ex-husband, dun dun duuunnnn. He’s another piece of work just like Cynthia.

Gif Credit: Google

Stepping on the brake slowly Jack came to a stop at the guard shack as Jeremy stepped out of it early on Saturday morning with a slightly confused smile on his face. Jack lowered the volume on his radio and rolled down the driver’s side window so he would be able to talk to Jeremy as the man leaned against the doorframe of the shack.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow afternoon?” Jeremy asked curiously about the obvious change of plans. Jack nodded his head before looking over at him.

“Work wrapped up earlier and I wanted to surprise the girls. How’re they doing?” Jack replied with a question of his own. Jeremy smiled softly at Jack’s question before sighing softly, he crossed his arms over his chest and settled against the doorframe more securely.

“Well Es is still upset about Bunny breaking her ankle. Still feeling guilty that it’s her fault even though Bunny and I have told her that it’s not. Bunny’s been trying to keep her occupied and busy to keep her mind off of it. But Bunny’s drained, between the pain of her ankle and having to do things while on crutches it’s hard for her. Much harder than she was expecting I think. But you know Bunny she’s gonna put a brave face on and not show you how she’s really feeling.” Jeremy explained conversationally and Jack nodded along to his words.

“But Bunny’s big on checking in on everyone else and making sure that they’re all okay, who checks in on her?” Jack asked knowingly and Jeremy nodded his head in agreement.

“Well Penny Rogers checks in on her every once in a while and then I’ll call her at least once a week to catch up. But I don’t think Bunny has anyone who checks on her every day.” Jeremy said truthfully and Jack sat back in his seat for a moment silently contemplating that info.

“Her siblings don’t reach out to her? Or her parents?” he asked concerned and Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.

“Every once in a while but not all the time. Sometimes it’ll be months between her siblings calling her. And I think her parents call her about once a week. Her sister keeps up with her more because of her nephew but again I think it’s once a week. So she’s got people who check in but not every day.” Jeremy advised. Jack nodded his head at his words and sat there wondering if Bunny would think it weird if he began to check on her every morning or afternoon.

“Okay, well I know she’s probably gonna give me shit for it but I’ll help her out with anything that she needs done.” Jack said with a soft smirk and Jeremy scoffed before laughing knowingly.

“Oh yeah she’ll give you shit for it but I’m pretty sure you’re the right guy to put her in her place and let her know what’s what.” Jeremy said with an ecstatic glint in his eyes. Jack laughed loudly at Jeremy’s words and shook his head at the thought that he’d have to put Bunny in her place.

“Hey anyway, here I got this for you on the way here. In thanks for helping Bunny and Es out when that all went down.” Jack said as he turned to his passenger side seat and pulled out a plain bagel, some butter and cream cheese packets, as well as a large coffee and the sugar and milk containers. Handing it over to Jeremy through the window Jack smiled softly at the pleasantly shocked face of Jeremy.

“Oh wow! Thanks man, this is great.” Jeremy said in thanks as he took the food and drink from Jack.

“Yeah figured I’d pick ya up somethin’ since I stopped there for breakfast and just to say thanks and I appreciate you helping Es and Bunny.” Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders when Jeremy came back to lean against the doorframe with a soft smirk on his face.

“You care a lot about Bunny don’t you?” Jeremy asked knowingly and Jack instantly felt as if Jeremy was interrogating him. Jack looked over at Jeremy quickly who was still smirking at him. Feeling his anxiety rise slightly Jack tried to find a way to not divulge to Jeremy just how much he liked Bunny.

“Well yeah, I mean she’s been a huge help to me with Esme ever since we moved here. And she’s always so nice to everyone around here. How can I not like her?” Jack reasoned unassured as he watched Jeremy’s smirk widen on his face.

“Uh-huh, but that’s not what I’m talking about. And I think you know that.” Jeremy said cryptically and Jack knew that he had been caught out by the man standing before him. “You don’t have to on guard with me man. I’m loving that you two are feeling something out together. I think it’d be good for the two of you. I mean I don’t know your story but if you two wind up together it’d probably be great for Bunny.” Jeremy told Jack still sounding cryptic and Jack sat there wondering what he meant about it being good for Bunny to be with him. Jack also felt a seed of hope settle in his chest and he took in a deep breath feeling it start to pulse.

“I’m still trying to figure it out what’s going on between us.” Jack blurted out truthfully and looked over at Jeremy shocked. The man was nodding his head knowingly before he smiled softly down at the ground.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” He admitted. “Plus I don’t think Bunny’s there quite yet either. You gotta give her a little bit of time to warm up to a romantic relationship. She’s been hurt really bad by her ex-husband, so she’s cautious and doesn’t trust easily when it comes to that type of relationship. So if you’re still figuring it out just know that so is she.” Jeremy advised softly and Jack got the feeling that Jeremy knew everything about Bunny’s past with her ex. He wondered silently why Jeremy knew everything and how the two had bonded over something like that to become such close friends.

“Thanks.” Jack said nodding his head as Jeremy cleared his throat softly and shuffled his feet underneath him.

“Just know that if you hurt her I’m coming after you and then I’d let Bunny adopt Esme once you’re taken care of.” Jeremy said nonchalantly as he shrugged his shoulders and stood to his full height. Jack burst out laughing at that and slid his car into drive.

“Well at least Esme would be well cared for that’s all I’d want.” Jack said jovially and Jeremy shook his head laughing at Jack. Jeremy then waved at him as he pressed the button to raise the gate at the entrance.

“Alright I’ll see you later. Tell Bunny I’ll call her before I leave work.” Jeremy said in farewell and Jack nodded as he slowly eased his car through the gate after waving at Jeremy.

*-*-*-*

Parking his car in the driveway to his house Jack stepped out of the car and stood next to it for a moment gazing around the quiet morning in the neighborhood. It was still too early for anyone to be up and about as the sun was just rising from the horizon. He smiled softly as he heard birds chirping before he saw they darting and dashing through the air. He relished in these quiet moments where he was able to reflect and just take in his surroundings as time slowly creeped by.

Shaking his head softly still smiling he moved to the passenger side of the car and opened the door so he could lean inside and pull out the bag of bagels and condiments, as well as the large bouquet of flowers he had ordered. Standing tall once more he nudged the car door shut with his hip before turning and walking across the street to Bunny’s house. Jack was reminded once again of the quiet morning as the only sound was the heel of his cowboy boots landing on the pavement of the street. It almost made him feel lonely as he listened to his footsteps, but then he heard the soft music playing as he neared Bunny’s house and he smiled as he saw the front windows were opened and he could hear Esme calling out to Bunny from somewhere inside the house.

Grinning widely he knocked on the front door as he came to stand before it. There was a loud call from inside and Jack heard running footsteps from the other side of the door. He chuckled softly when he saw the curtain on the side window shift and fall back across the window as a loud squeal was heard.

“Daddy!” Esme shouted loudly as she grinned up at him happily. Jack set the bag of bagels and the bouquet on the ground before kneeling down and opening his arms up to her. She quickly dashed forward and wrapped her small arms around his neck tightly as her small body collided with his. Jack wrapped his arms around her quickly and held her to him tightly.

“I missed you peanut.” He said fondly into her wild hair and she giggled softly.

“I missed you too. Love you lots like jelly tots.” She said softly and Jack felt his heart melt instantaneously as his arms tightened around her slightly more.

“Love you lots like jelly tots.” He whispered back to her before pressing a soft kiss to her temple. Esme took a step back and looked down at the flowers and bag of bagels before grinning up at him.

“Good thing you bought breakfast.” Esme said knowingly and Jack tilted his head to the side confused.

“Why?” he asked curiously and Esme hooked her thumb over her shoulder to the inside of the house.

“Bunny didn’t get a lot of sleep and she’s not used to her crutches yet.” Esme explained softly and Jack nodded his head in understanding. Just then there was the loud sound of crutches hitting the floor and a loud hiss of words that couldn’t be made out. Jack quickly grabbed the bagels and flowers before ushering Esme inside so he could see if Bunny was alright.

“Es, who was at the door?” came the called out question and Jack turned the corner to see Bunny leaning back against the kitchen island grimacing as she rested one of her crutches against the front of her body. Jack stood there in awe as he stared at an adorably bedraggled Bunny. She was dressed in an oversized long black sleep shirt that had the words ‘Amazing in bed, I could sleep for days’ on the front in white lettering. Her hair was piled up high on her head in a messy bun and she had a bunch of hair falling out of it around her face. Her right foot was in a large clunky white cast and the other was barefoot. Her left wrist was wrapped tightly in a bandage as she clenched and unclenched her fist. Jack’s eyes danced down her body and felt a warmth settle in his stomach as he imagined waking up to her like this every day. His eyes lingered on the lettering on her shirt as she finally looked up at him and he felt desire start to bloom inside him as he saw her eyes widen at seeing him standing in her kitchen doorway. “Jack!” she said shocked before he watched her cheeks flush with a pretty pink color as she tried to hurriedly move from her position over to him. Once more he dropped everything he was holding as he saw her try to twist and began to fall forward when her crutches escaped her hold.

Easily catching her around the waist Jack held her close to his body and gazed down at her trying to see if she had hurt herself with her movement. She grimaced softly with her eyes closed before opening them and looking up at him. He smiled softly at her and her cheeks seemed to flush once again.

“Second time you’d had to the catch me.” She said with embarrassment tinging her tone of voice as she grimaced softly up at him.

“I’ll always be here to catch you.” He promised softly and watched as her eyes sparkled with appreciation of his words. “Are you okay?” he asked as he began to straighten her posture against him. He bit his tongue harshly when he felt her soft body lean into him and he felt that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her shirt. Arousal spiked inside him and he felt the warmth from earlier begin to boil under his skin. His hands came to rest at the base of her lower back on her hip bones and the urge to drag her body into his was almost too great for his will power. But he managed to hold back on his desires as he watched her nod her head at his question.

“Yeah just a little clumsy with the crutches still.” She said a little dismissively.

“Well you did only get them yesterday Bunny.” Esme said self-assuredly and Jack was instantly reminded that it wasn’t just him and Bunny in the house. He turned his head to watch Esme set the bag of bagels and flowers on the kitchen island as she hopped up onto the stool at the island. Jack felt Bunny begin to pull away and he regretfully let her go as she took a step towards the kitchen island and grabbed her crutches again. “You still have to get used to them.” Esme said before she began pulling out bagels and the different cream cheese that Jack picked up.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just feeling sorry for myself.” Bunny said a little dejectedly and Esme looked at her with a sure confident look making Jack bite his tongue once more waiting for the gem that was going to pop out of his little girl’s mouth.

“Tough nuggets.” Esme scoffed and Bunny’s head whipped to her as she burst out with shocked laughter.

“Excuse me?” Bunny asked amused and Jack grinned as Esme squared her shoulders.

“Tough nuggets. You shouldn’t feel sorry for yourself.” Esme said assuredly and Bunny laughed happily at Esme’s words.

“Alright, alright.” Bunny said shaking her head as she held her hands up in faux surrender to Esme. “Jack these are beautiful.” Bunny said as she took hold of the bouquet and lifted it to her face to take a whiff of the pretty flowers.

“Yeah Daddy! They’re really big!” Esme said eyeing the flowers. “Bigger than the last ones.” Esme said as her eyes darted over to Jack who instantly felt like an ass for only buying grocery flowers the last time for Bunny.

Jack stood there silently watching as Bunny laughed amused as Esme called him out on his flower buying skills before she moved to the sink and awkwardly began to try and bend over to get a vase from under the sink. Jack quickly moved to grab one of the larger vases to hold the flowers. Bunny grimaced slightly and Jack knew she was feeling frustrated with needing his help so quickly. He nudged her hip with his and she looked up at him and he smirked down at her before speaking.

“Tough nuggets.” He said and her eyes widened slightly before she burst out into laughter.

“I’m gonna be hearing that an awful lot from you two aren’t I?” she asked amused and Jack grinned before nodding.

“Yep.” Esme said from behind them making Jack and Bunny burst out into laughter at her quick wit.

“Alright let me get the flowers and I’ll cut them.” Bunny said as she hobbled over to the island before leaning the crutches on the counter before moving back to the sink with the flowers in her hands. “They’re beautiful by the way. Thank you so much.” Bunny said as she set the bouquet on the counter and pulled out a pair of scissors from the drawer.

“I figured they’d brighten up your mood after breaking your ankle.” Jack said smiling at Bunny who nodded her head. “How are you holding up by the way?” he asked watching as she cut open the brown paper package and string tied around the flowers.

“Last night was rough. In a lot of pain. Had to sleep down here in the second guest bedroom last night. Wasn’t able to get up the stairs to the bedroom.” Bunny relayed to him and Jack nodded along to her explanation.

“Do you need me to move anything from upstairs down here for you? It’d probably be easier for you if you stayed down here until you got used to the cast more. Don’t want you to take a tumble down them stairs.” He said contemplatively as he looked over his shoulder at the stairs that were just outside the kitchen doorway.

“I’d have to check the bedroom to know what I’d need. I do have to go out shopping though. Get some baggy pants or shorts to be able to get them over my cast.” Bunny said as she pulled out two purple hydrangeas from the bouquet. Jack watched silently with baited breath as Bunny peered at the flowers in thought before snipping the end of it and handed it to him to place in the vase.

This past mission with Tequila had been an interesting one. They had an intel agent on the inside of a religious cult who was deep undercover and hadn’t been able to communicate with them in the traditional ways so they had to get creative. When Jack and Tequila had first visited the religious cult Jack had noticed all the large flower arrangements that filled the main building on the compound where the agent lived. He and Tequila had then put together a plan to communicate with the agent through flowers by slipping a flower of significance to reflect if it was safe to meet with them or not to relay the information they needed. Jack had done a lot of research on the language of flowers and their meanings. Which was why he had decided to order a special bouquet for Bunny.

As Jack placed the hydrangea in the vase he silently thought of what the flower meant, gratitude. He waited patiently as Bunny handed him the next bunch of flowers he had chosen. When she handed him a bunch of sunflowers he smiled down at the large flowers, adoration. Jack wondered silently if Bunny knew what each flower meant or if she just took the flowers at face value. The next bunch she passed over to him were some fern and basil leaves that he had asked the flower store clerk for specifically, fascination and good wishes were the respectful meanings of those two. Jack had to admit he had a lot of fun creating Bunny’s bouquet and felt like a secret that he had specifically created this bouquet for her, he was a little giddy that she might not know what he was saying with the flowers.

White daisies were the next flowers that she handed to him and he smiled down at the delicate looking flowers in his hand, get well soon. Jack looked over and saw that Bunny was looking down at the next bunch of flowers which were coral peonies. Jack sucked in a breath because this flower had numerous meanings to it but he was going for good fortune and compassion when he had chosen it. Bunny looked up at him with lightly pink dusted cheeks as she handed him the flowers, her reaction to the flowers making Jack wonder if she did know what the flowers symbolized. Jack’s eyes landed on the next two flowers and he felt his body tense with anticipation of Bunny noticing them. Two white gardenia flowers sat on the brown paper and as Bunny picked them up in her hands Jack avidly watched her reaction. She stood there staring down at the flowers as her cheeks heated up to a deep red color and her mouth parted softly. Her head snapped up to look at him and Jack felt like he had just been gut punched as her eyes were dilated and her breaths were coming out in soft pants. Secret love or you’re lovely was the symbolism for these flowers and while Jack was still figuring out how deep his feelings were for Bunny he had a feeling that it might easily morph into the first meaning.

“Jack.” She said softly and he smiled fondly at her waiting for her to say what she was thinking. “Do you know the language of flower?” she asked with her eyebrows slightly furrowed and he nodded his head grinning softly as her cheeks heated even more. “Oh.” She said in a soft shell shocked voice. Her eyes darted down to the flowers in her hands before looking up at him. “I-“ she began to say something and Jack rested his hands on top of hers.

“Right now I’m saying I think you’re absolutely lovely. And something is developing between us, but I’d like to take it slow if that’s alright with you. I’m still not sure what exactly I’m feeling and it’s been two years since Maria. I’d like to be close friends first before we explore this other side that I think is forming between us.” He said softly so that Esme didn’t overhear him. Bunny looked up at him with soft tender eyes and he could see the uncertainty swirling in her orbs but there was also longing at the edges of her eyes. Jack took in a relieved breath when he watched Bunny nod her head at his words.

“I’d love that.” She said softly and Jack felt like his heart just exploded in his chest with happiness. He nodded his head as he took the flowers from her hands and placed them in the middle of the bouquet. Bunny’s bright smile spread across her face and Jack watched as her eyes looked happily on the flower arrangement that he had created just for her.

*-*-*-*

“Alright so let’s talk about how we’re going to help you out with things you need done.” Jack said as he stood from the kitchen table and picked up the plates that they had used for breakfast.

“Jack you don’t have to do that.” Bunny protested as she began to ease herself out of her chair. Jack whirled around on his feet and pointed his finger at her.

“Sit. Down.” He commanded suddenly and Bunny stopped short in her ascent from her chair to stare at him with wide shocked eyes. She slowly lowered herself back into her seat and watched him silently in shock. “I got this. I think I can handle a few dishes.” He promised her.

“But Jack I’m not helpless.” Bunny protested as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“No you’re not but you’re injured and need to rest and heal.” Jack said firmly as he stared at her.

“But Jack, I can do that myself.” Bunny tried again to protest and Jack shook his head.

“Nope.” He responded. Bunny opened her mouth to retort once more and Jack shook his head quickly. “Tough nuggets.” He said before whirling on his heel and walking over to the sink. Esme’s happy giggles burst into the air and Bunny’s soft grumbling could be heard making Jack grin softly at the antics of them.

“So you’re not going to let me do much are you?” Bunny asked in a sour tone. Jack shook his head and chuckled lightly.

“Bunny, you need to heal and if you’re constantly on your feet aggravating the break it’s not going to heal quickly or effectively. You gotta let us help you as much as we can. Keep your ankle elevated and stay off your feet as much as possible.” Jack said adamantly. “I’ve broken bones before, recovery sucks but I’m gonna do my damndest to make sure that you heal as quickly as possible.” He leaned back against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest. Bunny was looking at him with soft eyes and Jack felt himself being pulled into her gaze from across the kitchen. “Besides, now Es and I can spoil you a little bit.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. Bunny ducked her head quickly as Esme squealed in her chair with happiness. Jack smirked as he saw the soft blush on her cheeks at his words and Jack knew he won her over.

“Alright fine.” Bunny conceded and Jack beamed over at her as Esme clapped her hands happily.

“How often does Butter have to go out?” Jack asked kindly before turning back to the sink to wash the dishes quickly.

“Oh well, I normally take him around the block twice a day once in the morning and then once in the afternoon or evening. But he can go out in the backyard for now until I get into a boot.” Bunny said and Jack shook his head as he finished drying the dishes and stored them away in the cabinets. He turned and leaned back against the sink and sighed softly as he shook his head at Bunny.

“Will you let us help you? Please?” he asked softly as he looked up and over to her. “You’ve done so much for me and Es, it’s our turn to help you when you’re in need. Let us.” He implored her and she looked at him surprised. She sat there in her chair her eyes darting from him to an eager looking Esme for a few moments before nodding her head in compromise. “Thank you.” Jack said softly and Bunny pouted her lips slightly but nodded her head. Jack knew that she didn’t want to burden them and she was being stubborn but Jack was adamant about helping her and making sure that she was well taken care of. But while he was ready to fight her and glad that she was allowing them to help her, when she pouted her lips like that overtly all Jack wanted to do was walk over and kiss the pout off her mouth. Blinking his eyes rapidly he tried to erase the image from his mind of them kissing before he spoke again. “So Es and I will come over before we walk to the bus stop and we’ll take Butter with us. Same for in the afternoon.” Jack informed her and Bunny reluctantly nodded her head. Jack grinned and winked at her watching as she blushed and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Oh yes! I can totally walk Butter.” Esme said happily and Bunny chuckled softly.

“You’ll have to show your dad the doggie bags and everything.” Bunny said as she looked over to Esme who nodded eagerly. “Thanks Es.” She said softly before looking over at Jack who nodded his head. “Alright so that’s taken care of do you guys want to hang out? Or do you have things you have to get done?” she asks making Jack look at her with a disappointed look. “What?” she asks exasperatedly as she raises her hands in the air.

“We’re not done. But we do need to go food shopping. Are you up for a trip to the store or do you want to stay home?” Jack asked as he looked over at her. “Oh and we have to figure out what you need from your room upstairs moved down.” Jack suddenly clapped his hands together and rubbed them together eagerly. Bunny shook her head and Jack began to nod his head at her. “C’mon Es, head upstairs and get dressed while I help Bunny up the stairs. Pack up your stuff so that we can bring it back to the house before going out.” Jack instructed easily and Bunny looked at him offended as Esme quickly hopped off the kitchen chair and raced upstairs to her room.

Jack walked over to Bunny and set one his hands on the back of her chair, the other sat steadily on the kitchen table in front of her effectively caging her in her seat. He leaned forward and watched as Bunny took in a sharp breath as her eyes widened at his closeness.

“Look, I’m not trying to make you feel like you’re an invalid. But I don’t want you hurting yourself again because of your pride. You broke your ankle Bunny. That’s no joke and I really want you to heal. I want you in no pain. So please don’t think I’m just trying to take over here. I’m just trying to help you. I promise.” He said softly as he stared deeply into her eyes. He smiled softly as she silently nodded her head at him. He then stood to his full height and took a step back to grab her crutches for her. He stood a step away from her chair holding the crutches out for her as she stood from her chair. She took a hold of the crutches and began moving towards the stairs. When they had both reached the bottom of the stairs Bunny turned and looked up at him as she was hunched over her crutches.

“Let me try to do this. Just stay behind me in case I fall.” She said determinedly and Jack nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ll always be here to catch you.” He promised her and allowed her to do it her way.

*-*-*-*

Jack smiled as Esme chatted easily with Bunny as the two of them walked ahead down the aisle. He was stuck pushing the cart but he couldn’t complain as he was able to surreptitiously observe Esme and Bunny’s relationship right before his eyes.

Jack could feel his heart swelling in his chest as Bunny talked with Esme about everything the little girl brought up. And while Bunny was knowledgeable in a lot of things there were some topics that puzzled her. Like right now Esme was going off on a tangent about one of the shows that she watched and Jack had to bite his tongue as Bunny looked down at his little girl with a lost look on her face. He was shocked when he noticed that Bunny wouldn’t interrupt Esme in her ranting about the show and let her get it all out first. He chuckled softly when he heard Bunny begin to question Es on the show once she was done.

“So you mean her parents don’t even know that she’s a witch?” Bunny asked confused and Jack bit his bottom lip as he watched her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and disbelief.

“Yeah she’s been able to keep it a secret from them.” Esme explained, nodding her head. “She’s had some close calls where they’ve almost figured it out but not yet.”

“Oh okay, but her grandma knows?” Bunny asked, still perplexed and Jack was absolutely charmed as this woman before him took time out to understand more about his daughter’s favorite show. “Oh hold up, hey can you grab that box of crackers for me please?” She asked stopping next to the crackers and pointing them out to Esme, who eagerly grabbed the box and placed it in the shopping cart. “So how come the grandma never told the parents? Wouldn’t that be something she should tell the parents?” Bunny asked and Jack shook his head silently at the scene before him. He was relieved that he and Bunny were now on the same page for their relationship because now he was gifted with watching his two favorite girls discuss a tv show while the three of them shopped for groceries.

*-*-*-*

Jack finished putting the last box of pasta in the pantry and turned with a grin to Bunny who was leaning against the kitchen island with her crutches leant next to her hip on the island. She smiled softly at him as she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. He walked over to her and let his eyes dart over her face to look for any discomfort. Standing in front of her he watched as her eyes darted up to his quickly.

“Are you in any pain?” He asked softly and she grimaced slightly at the question.

“A little, I was thinking of taking one of the pain meds and then sitting out in the backyard with my ankle up.” She answered him truthfully. Jack nodded his head at her response as he heard Esme coming back into the house from the backyard.

“Do you want us to head home? Or are you up for some company for a little longer?” Jack asked as Bunny hooked her crutches under her armpits and moved to the sink and leaned up to grab her medicine and a glass.

“Oh I’d love your company for however long.” Bunny said easily and Jack nodded his head as he opened her fridge and pulled out the iced tea that they had bought at the store earlier.

“Okay we’ll stay for a little bit longer. Wanna order dinner and have it delivered?” He asked as Esme walked into the kitchen and hopped up onto the stool at the island.

“Ooooohhh! Can we order pizza?” Esme cheered and Jack laughed happily as he set the iced tea on the island before turning to Bunny who moved to the island and set the glass down on it.

“Good choice!” Bunny said happily as she opened a drawer and pulled out a local pizzeria menu. “Here, pick a pizza and I’ll call them.” Jack watched as Esme peered over the menu while he poured Bunny a glass of iced tea that she thanked him for. Jack watched as she popped her medicine into her mouth and took a swig of her drink swallowing down the pills. With a grimace she blew out a breath after swallowing the pills and Jack chuckled softly.

“Don’t like pills?” He asked understandingly and Bunny shook her head.

“I don’t like the aftertaste they leave.” She explains as she takes another sip of her drink. Jack nods his head and looks over to Esme who’s still pouring over the menu.

“So what are we gonna eat tonight peanut?” He asked fondly as she looked up at him with his question.

“I wanna get a taco pizza.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders. “It sounds cool.”

“Oh, that’s a good one. They also have a good margherita pizza. And their garlic knots and mozzarella sticks are really good.” Bunny said as she pulled her cellphone out of her back pocket and began dialing the pizzeria number.

“Hey Es, c’mon. Let’s go walk Butter while Bunny orders and then we’ll come hang out once we’re done.” Jack said as he ushered Esme to the front door.

“C’mon Butter! Let’s go for a walk!” Esme called happily as she quickly made her way off the stool and towards the front door. Jack laughed as he watched Butter leap out of his dog bed in the kitchen and ran as quickly as he could to the front door where Esme stood holding the leash. Jack looked back at Bunny and she smiled and waved at him before focusing back on the phone call.

When Jack reached the door he saw Esme with her jacket on and Butter with his leash on. Esme handed Jack the doggy bag holder that was in the shape of a red fire hydrant, Jack laughed amused as he looked down at it in his hand. Esme smiled and turned to open the front door.

“So do you know Butter’s normal night time walk routine?” Jack asked as he began walking down the steps with Esme.

“Yeah, they normally walk to the bus stop before mine and then back taking the long way around the block.” Esme instructed and Jack nodded his head as he fell into step with Esme.

“Sorry that we’ve been with Bunny all day and haven’t had much quiet time together. Bunny just needs a little bit of our help since she broke her ankle. So we might be spending a bit of time with her.” Jack said softly as he looked over at Esme. He watched proudly as his little girl looked up at him with a furrowed eyebrow.

“Daddy, I like Bunny. I like being with her. I’m not mad that we’re spending time with her. Besides, she gives us time to be together even when we’re with her.” Esme explained reminding Jack of when Bunny wandered off in the grocery store leaving Esme and Jack to themselves to talk and check in with each other.

“I know, I just don’t want you to think that I’m ignoring you or paying more attention to Bunny.” Jack said insistently and Esme shook her head.

“Daddy, I-“ Esme began to say and then shook her head silently before looking up at him with a smile on her face. “I don’t think that. I know you’re not ignoring me. And Bunny needs our help, she's hurt.” Esme reassured him softly with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Ok, as long as you know that peanut. So how was school while I was gone?” He asked softly as they continued to walk towards her bus stop.

“It’s okay. We’re starting to do some projects in Science and I’m gonna need some help with that soon.” She said and Jack nodded his head along with her words.

“Ok, that’s no problem. You let me know what you need and we’ll go pick it up. And I’ll help as much as I can.” Jack said easily. “Anything else happen while I was gone?” He asked softly trying to see if she wanted to talk about what had happened at the sleepover.

“Are you asking about the sleepover?” Esme asked suddenly after being quiet for a moment. Jack turned his head to look down at her shocked, he was surprised that she had picked up on his leading questions, but he shouldn't have been as surprised since she was his little girl.

“Only if you wanna talk about it.” Jack offered easily. He watched Esme shrug her shoulders before letting them slump forward.

“I called Bunny Mom.” Esme said softly. “I didn’t mean to and Bunny said she wasn’t mad about it at all. But Cynthia wasn’t very nice to me about it. Said that I shouldn’t be spending so much time with Bunny because then I’ll get confused.”

Jack felt his heart clench in his chest at how lost Esme sounded. He stopped walking as they came to the bus stop before Esme’s and he kneeled down to be at her eye level. He placed his hands on her shoulders gently and turned her to face him.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with calling Bunny Mom. I mean she’s been taking care of you while I’m away so I’m not surprised you did call her Mom. And I think that’s great that you’re getting so close to Bunny that you might see her that way. Don’t listen to Cynthia, I’ll talk to her and tell her to mind her own business. She has no right to say anything to you about that, okay?” Jack reassured Esme as he stared into her eyes softly. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay. I know we don’t talk about your Mom that much and we probably should talk about her more.” Jack said softly and Esme tapped his nose gently making him look up at her after his eyes had fallen to the ground.

“I miss Mommy. Every day I miss her and wish she was still here. But I have you Daddy and Bunny may not be Mommy but she’s a really cool babysitter and I like her being my babysitter.” Esme said softly as she smiled at him. Jack felt tears well in his eyes as Esme’s words and he nodded his head.

He knew that they should probably talk more about Esme calling Bunny Mom but he wasn’t sure of his own emotions and feelings in regards to that. On one hand it had only been two years ago that Maria was taken away from them and he wasn’t sure if he was truly ready to have another “mom” in his life yet. He was comfortable with flirting and figuring things out with Bunny right now but he wasn’t looking too far in the future just yet. But on the other hand, Esme was forming a bond with Bunny that seemed to be very deep, strong and meaningful. It was the first time since Maria’s funeral that Esme had become close to another woman that she hadn’t known before Maria’s passing.

It was a convoluted situation and Jack knew he was going to have to address it but wasn’t sure if he was ready to do that just yet. So while he was relieved that Esme was okay with her slip of tongue he would hold off on the more in depth conversation for another time when he knew for sure what he wanted with Bunny.

“She is a cool babysitter huh?” Jack asked softly and Esme grinned at him as she nodded her head eagerly.

*-*-*-*

The sun was slowly setting as Jack stepped out of the back door and moved down the back steps of the house to where Bunny was sitting in one of her outdoor chairs with her right ankle propped up on the ottoman. On the small table next to her chair sat a tray of three glasses and a pitcher of peach flavored iced tea. Esme was standing not far on the brick patio in front of her easel and paints while Butter lazed about in the grass in front of Esme.

“You gonna paint Butter for me?” Bunny asked Esme as she nestled back in her chair. Esme turned to Bunny grinning as she nodded her head. Bunny grinned as she nodded her head at Esme and rested her head back on the chair, closing her eyes slowly.

Jack felt the urge to sneak up on Bunny and press a soft kiss to her lips to surprise her, but then he suddenly felt insecure of his intentions. So he walked up behind Bunny letting his fingers trail along her right shoulder before moving to the chair on her left. He saw her warm smile as she turned her head to watch him take a seat next to her.

“This is nice.” Jack said softly as he sat back in the chair and settled himself. Bunny nodded her head as she grinned over at him. “So we talked about the whole sleepover incident.” Jack said softly as his eyes watched Esme begin painting Butter, she was far enough away that Jack felt comfortable bringing this up with Bunny.

“Does she still feel badly about it?” Bunny asked softly as her eyes landed on him and stayed there steadfastly.

“She doesn’t feel bad about calling you Mom. She feels bad about what Cynthia said to her.” Jack said with a hard edge to his voice at the end of his sentence. Bunny nodded her head in thought and Jack saw her left fist clenching tightly. Leaning over he placed a hand on Bunny’s fist and she slowly released it.

“Sorry, I just get so mad about what she had the nerve to say to Es. She had no right to make a comment and it had to be an ugly one at that!” Bunny ranted heatedly and Jack felt his heart swell once more as he saw how angry Bunny became on the behalf of his daughter. “I mean she’s already a mean spirited woman when she doesn’t get her way but to say something cruel to a child? That’s unnecessary and uncalled for.”

“I agree. I don’t like that she said something mean to Esme. Especially if it was a slip of the tongue.” Jack said as he nodded his head and watched as Bunny grew quiet and almost turned in on herself. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked concerned and Bunny shook her head at his question.

“It’s nothing.” She deflected and Jack grew curious of what was running through her mind but ultimately chose to table the questions for the time being.

“Say, you’re awfully good with kids. How come you don’t have any?” Jack asked curiously as he turned to see Esme giggling at Butter who began to wiggle in the grass on his back with his feet up in the air. He got lost in just watching his little girl that when he realized that he had asked a question he turned back to Bunny, surprised she hadn’t interrupted him. He saw her smiling sadly at Esme and Butter, her eyes somber as she gazed at the two of them acting silly. “Bunny?”

“Oh, uh, well, you see my ex-husband wasn’t the greatest guy to have kids with. For the six years that we were married he cheated for four of them.” Bunny said bitterly and Jack looked over at her surprised. He couldn’t believe someone would look at anyone else when they had Bunny right in front of them. “Yeah, we got married right out of college after being together for two years. We were young and dumb, thought we were in love. I mean I was, but for him it was more of a power trip. He liked that I didn’t ask questions when he said to do certain things, even though I knew that I didn’t want to do them. I always thought, I trusted and loved him why would he hurt me?” Bunny explained softly. “I slowly started coming out of the fog around the fourth year of marriage, but by then he had the manipulation so ingrained in me that I couldn’t quickly break free from it. It was a whole process of getting away from him, took two whole years to finally pull the trigger and send the divorce papers.”

Jack sat there in shock as he listened to Bunny’s retelling of her past. He sat there shocked to his core that this wonderful, confident woman next to him had been manipulated and abused by her ex-husband, someone who should have protected her from all others. But then as he thought further of Bunny’s mannerisms and character he understood the burst of confidence he would see from her when interacting with him. She was still so unsure of herself when it came to men, and he was instantly glad that he had asked her to go slow with him as they explored their relationship.

“It got really ugly towards the end.” Bunny said solemnly and Jack whipped his head to look at her. “He tired to convince me that it was all my friend’s Mercy’s fault for putting it in my head to get divorced. He lied about the numerous affairs he had and was still having. He kept telling me that I wouldn’t leave him, that I couldn’t leave him. I developed some serious panic attacks and anxiety attacks because of him, but thankfully they pretty much disappeared once I was away from him. But the worst was the night he was served the divorce papers, I had moved out that day while he was at work and the courier delivered the papers once he got home from work. He was livid, to the point that he found out where I was living and shoved himself into my apartment when I answered the door. Came in screaming and yelling about the papers, shoved me down onto the floor and the way I landed on my right wrist broke it in a few spots.” Bunny explained as she slowly and calmly took in a few deep breaths. Jack tapped his fingers along the back of her left hand that he was still holding in his hand from before, letting her know that she was alright and he was here for her.

Taking a deep breath in and slowly blowing it out she turned and looked over at him, nodding her head gratefully at him. Jack smiled softly and nodded his head at her as well. He didn’t know firsthand what she gone through but after all the missions that he had been on he had seen quite a few men and women who fell prey to their loved ones abusing them.

“Had to go through the whole divorce with a cast on my arm that he kept saying was for show. I managed to get a restraining order on him and still have it to this day because he’s tried to pop up a few times in my life since the divorce.” Bunny said solemnly and somber. Her head suddenly perked up when Esme giggled loudly as Butter began suddenly running around the backyard chasing the lightning bugs that had started appearing and lighting up. “I probably should have told you that before babysitting Es, but he hasn’t bothered me in almost a full year now.” Bunny said suddenly and quickly as she looked over at Jack worriedly.

Jack shook his head slowly as he gently cupped her hand in his, trying to reassure her. He gazed at her for a moment before clearing his voice.

“Bunny, relax. Your past is yours to divulge however you see fit. I know for a fact that you wouldn’t let anything happen to Esme if it was in your power to prevent it. I know you’re careful with her and hold her well being over your own. And I know you would tell me if something was happening that you couldn’t stop or protect Esme against.” Jack said confidently as Bunny nodded her head. “It’s alright Bunny. I’m just sad to hear that someone treated you that horribly. You shouldn’t have had to go through that. And I’m so sorry that you did go through that.” Jack said softly.

“It sucks that it happened, and I understand that it didn’t have anything to do with me that it was all him and his choices. But you gotta get through it and let me tell you therapy works wonders.” Bunny said before chuckling softly and Jack nodded his head at her words.

“Yeah, we’ve done some therapy after Maria passed to help Esme and I express ourselves properly to each other.” Jack said softly. “He really cheated on you?” He asked suddenly and Bunny chuckled softly as she nodded her head. Jack just shook his head in silence and Bunny chuckled again.

“Yeah, I know. I never understood the whole cheating thing, if you’re unhappy in a relationship just leave it.” Bunny said softly. “That’s why I don’t get along with Cynthia, she isn’t faithful to her husband and I don’t know if she ever has been. At least since I’ve known her she never has been.” Bunny said bewildered as she shook her head slightly.

“Don’t get me started on her. She’s already on my shit list for that and now for being mean to Es.” Jack said darkly and Bunny nodded her head. Jack tapped his fingers against the back of Bunny’s hand once more to gather her attention. When she looked over at him he smiled softly at her. “Thanks for sharing.” He said softly and watched delightedly as Bunny’s cheeks flushed deeply.

“Just answering the question.” She said softly and shrugged her shoulders at him. Jack shook his head at her deflection and gazed at her fully as he shifted in his seat.

“Not many people want to share that type of information about themselves.” Jack said knowingly and Bunny shrugged her shoulders again.

“Figured it’d be something to help get to know each other.” Bunny said as she turned and watched Esme dancing around the backyard catching lightning bugs. Jack watched Bunny a little longer in silence as Esme giggled while Butter barked happily in the early evening, he was surprised by her candor but he surmised that he shouldn’t be. There was still so much that he needed to learn about Bunny and so much he had to share with her. Settling back in his chair he began to look forward to learning more about her.

[sammystep]

No One Lives Forever- CH7

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

<Previous Chapter   Next Chapter>

It took Polnareff some time to cool off from the implications that the mysterious and frankly frightening man he met all those years ago was now behind some other shady business involving wolves, but by the time he reached the vehicles abandoned on the side of the road he was able to focus on the task at hand. Both were unlocked so it was easy to take a look inside the white van first. Opening the back door revealed the cargo area had been partitioned with metal cage sections like those in the backs of police cruisers.

Other gear was scattered around the back near the rear doors for easy access. Some more guns and ammo boxes and an overturned bin of the collar devices that they found on the bodies. Nothing really caught his eye but he took pictures on his phone for future reference. The keys were still in the ignition so he started up the vehicle and moved it off the main road to not draw unwanted attention.

It felt rude to go sniffing through your car, so after a brief look through the windows to confirm the hunters left no surprises, he opened the door and put it in neutral. With a few strong shoves he was able to rescue it from the shallow ditch it had been driven into. Your keys were also still in the ignition and luckily it started, but a few lights on the dash lit up- probably more internal damage than he first assumed from the crash. Driving slow and steady he was able to get it back to the cabin.

The slamming of the car door must have alerted the rest of the pack to his return, he saw Avdol peek through the window as he made his way to the door. Inside he was glad to see you moving about mostly unaided on your own, your wounds must be healing well thanks to Avdol’s expert care. Producing your car keys, he hands them over, “I was able to drive it back, but I don’t think it’s up for any longer distances without repairs. I thought you would want your things back though.”

You sigh as you realize you really are stuck with this pack, not that you mind them but the sudden loss of freedom is disheartening. You thank him as you take back your keys.

“Pol, did you find anything else? Any link to who sent them?” Jotaro asks as everyone stares intently at him, the rest of the pack must have already been brought up to speed on the situation.

“Just more of the same gear. I moved their van off the road so no nosey troopers get involved, at least not right now. Took some pictures of the inside in case you guys see anything I missed.” Polnareff hands over his phone to Jotaro who scrolls through the images before handing it to Avdol. Walking over to the table where the hunters’ things are still laid out Polnareff absently fiddles with the extra ammo before picking one up to examine more closely. “Hmm, that’s odd. There are no makers marks on this?”

“What do you mean?” Joseph scratches his beard as he holds one up as well.

“It’s weird that there’s no markings whatsoever. Silver bullets are always homemade but the quality of these, they look mass produced but have no manufacture marks.” Polnareff’s face is grim as he makes the connection.

“What does that mean? Is that unusual?” You ask as you try to understand the significance.

Jotaro sighs as Polnareff hands him the piece he was holding. “It means this group of hunters is experienced enough not to leave evidence linking to them. And their operation is probably much more complex and much bigger than the group we encountered here. The tech, the mass manufacture of silver ammo…”

“And the van was modified for prisoners.” Polnareff shakes his head and sighs.

“Polnareff, you said before you recognized the smell of one of the hunters.” Jotaro rolls his eyes as Joseph lets out a fake cough that sounds a lot like ‘DIO’. “Ignoring who it may or may not be for now, how do you know that scent?”

“I don’t know how else to describe it other than it smells like magic. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever smelled. There was only one person I’ve ever encountered that smelled like that.” Polnareff sits heavily in the nearest chair as the pack reconvenes at the table. “It was about five years ago now, before I met you Mr. Joestar. I was in New York City for the first time, trying to follow a lead on a case but having no luck. I heard rumors of a man who knew what had really happened to… in the case.” Polnareff gets a little choked up but controls himself and continues. “I was able to set up a meeting, but when I went to the spot, everything kind of… shifted? It felt like I was in a dream: it was hard to move, like weights on my feet. Everything looked just slightly wrong too, hazy like in a fog. I remember there was some sort of party going on, a lot of people everywhere like a medieval banquet or something. That’s where I met him. He introduced himself as Dio and I could tell he wasn’t human but couldn’t place what he actually was. He claimed he had the information I needed, but it would come at a price.”

“What do you mean by ‘investigation?” you tilt your head in confusion as you try to analyze his story so far.

“Ah, you wouldn’t know yet chérie but I’m one of the best private investigators in New York, probably the whole east coast!” Polnareff brags, jabbing his chest with his thumb.

“Focus Pol! What was his ‘price’?” Joseph groans out, exasperated with the younger man’s need to show off. “And why did you even need supernatural help? Not to inflate your ego any more than it is, but you are a good investigator.”

Polnareff looks down to the table, all sense of cheerfulness gone from his face. “The case had gone cold. It’s actually the reason I became a PI in the first place. My family, the whole town… they were murdered!” He slams his fists on the table as he shouts. “And not by just some maniac in the night! It was something inhuman! That’s the reason why I needed his help or whatever info he had on who did such a terrible act.”

You are frozen to your chair in shock with this new information. It seems to have taken the younger members of the pack by surprise too, Joseph and Avdol only nodding along in understanding. “The whole town murdered? You don’t mean…The one north of Quebec City, that was your home?” you say quietly.

Polnareff’s eyes shoot to yours, “Oui! Do you know of it?”

You swallow nervously as all the attention turns on you, “I heard of it, that was about seven or eight years ago right?” Polnareff nods and you continue, “That was about time I left my parent’s territory to try and find or start my own pack. They made me promise to not go that far north to Quebec, they were afraid whatever did that would get me too. They say the whole town was… torn apart.”

Polnareff hangs his head and you can see tears gather in his blue eyes. “Yes. It’s been years now but the pain… I wasn’t there when it happened, I was off in Quebec City partying while my family… When I got back, I was the one who found them. It wasn’t just a burglary gone bad or even ‘normal’ murder. Whatever killed them had used silver to do it. All of them, the whole town,” he chokes on his words trying to get the next ones out, “some of the bodies were eaten. Not by animals, by something almost human. I didn’t rest for days afterward. I swore I would hunt down the thing, the demon that did this to them. Unfortunately, I was not as good a tracker then as I am now, and the trail grew cold fast. So, I became a PI to try and keep looking and hone my skills.”

“That Dio guy, did he help at all? You said his help came at a price.” Jotaro directs the conversation back to the mysterious encounter.

“His price was too steep. He wanted information about other supernatural beings, to keep tabs and report to him directly.”

“Do you think he really did have the information though?” Kakyoin questions as he steeples his fingers together in front of him while he considers the information of Polnareff’s story.

Polnareff shakes his head, “It’s impossible to know now. He was so confident, about everything. I think I surprised him when I refused though. For a moment, it was like I saw his true face through the fog, he was suddenly terrifying and not at all charming. But I figured if he knew something, with all the people he had surrounded himself with someone else was bound to know as well. Whatever secret knowledge he had, it wouldn’t be secret for long. And why pay such a price for something that I could get for free later?”

“Did you ever find out his secret?” Avdol leans in as he asks, enraptured by Polnareff’s tale.

“Non, I don’t even remember leaving the place he brought me to. The next thing I remember after turning down his offer is, I suddenly found myself sitting in my car ready to head back to my motel.” He clasps his hands together and you can see his knuckles turn white from the tension. “I tried to find him again to, I don’t know… stop him? His intentions for the info on other creatures… It couldn’t have been good. And the slip of his façade I saw. The man, that creature is bad news. But he might have well been a ghost. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since.”

Polnareff turns to you, “A few years later I got hired by Mr. Joestar to keep an eye on a shady landlord working for him, and I guess the rest is history.” He shakes his head, “Who would have thought joining your pack would lead back to Dio again. Non- this is fate.”

Avdol gives Polnareff a pat on the shoulder before turning to Joseph. “Mr. Joestar, I think you should tell us what you know about Dio, or at least the person you know as Dio. I think it’s time the younger ones hear this.” Avdol says as he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.

Joseph nods and runs his hand through his hair before he begins, “Right. Ahh, well,” he pauses to gather his thoughts for a second, “I know this is going to sound crazy but I guess there is no way around it. When I was young, I lived with my granny Erina, my parents were either dead or missing and her husband Jonathan had been dead since before my father was even born. Now’s not the time to get into the details of that but Granny used to tell me all kinds of stories from when Jonathan was alive. And most importantly- the majority of them involved an evil man named DIO! My grandfather’s adopted brother!” Joseph doesn’t control his volume in his excitement and ends up shouting his last sentence.

“Being an adopted son in a werewolf pack was strange enough, but Granny could tell there was something ‘other’ about Dio as well. Then one night, his schemes and plans finally came to fruition! There was a massive fight at the house, Granny said Jonathan would not speak of it except that his father George had died saving him from Dio’s magic and in the fight the manor was set on fire and burned down. Jonathan made it his life’s mission to find and destroy Dio, not for revenge but for the safety of England and the world!” Joseph turns his attention to look directly at Jotaro, “Dio was a changeling child. His actions confirmed it that night. He was one of the last remaining Fae on earth. And apparently not of the good and benevolent kind. So, you see why it could be possible that this man may be the same one my grandpa tried to destroy more than a hundred years ago.”

“That… that’s impossible! The Fae, they all disappeared long before that to Avalon.” Kakyoin is wide eyed as he tries to process the information. “I know some humans still believe in them, but…”

“I know! I know! I thought they were just stories from my granny too!” Joseph exclaims and puts his hand to his eyes, “But one time… I don’t think I was supposed to see it, but I found an old photo album. There was a family photo of my grandfather, his father, and Dio.” He turns to Polnareff, “Pol, the man you met. Did he have blond hair, angry eyes and three moles on his left ear?”

It’s Polnareff’s turn to go pale as he slowly nods.

Jotaro growls as he tilts his hat to hide his eyes before snapping his head up to face the pack. “As impossible as this all sounds, it doesn’t change the fact that someone is hunting down wolves. I don’t give a shit if it is Dio or not, or an extinct Fae or not. We are going to put an end to this.” He looks around the table for a second and you can tell his eyes linger on yours longer than the others. “If anyone has an objection to this say it now. There will be no opportunity later.”

Joseph slams his hand to the table palm down, “I’m in! lets show this bastard who he’s messing with!”

Joseph’s enthusiasm is contagious and you and Polnareff slam your hands to the table as well, surprising the group with the fire they can see burning in your eyes. “Hell yeah! They think they can just take me? No way! I’m going to help tear this guy to pieces! I’m with you all the way!” You say as you look directly at Jotaro. You’re not sure but you think that’s a look of pride on his face as you make your declaration.

Avdol and Kakyoin keep their cool but you can see the determination in their eyes as they nod and place their hands on the table as well. Joseph is grinning like a feral maniac and you suddenly believe his stories about saving the world with how excited he looks to do it all over again. “Then it’s settled! I’ll call Caesar and let him know to gather the Zeppeli pack too.” Joseph pauses as he stands and looks at you, “Oh, and (Y/N)?” you tilt your head at him to continue. “Welcome to the Joestar pack.”

 <Previous Chapter  Next Chapter>

Author’s Note:

Sorry for the slow update! Guess who’s not good at regulating her personal time? This gal! I had to change up the process of how I’m writing this cause just trying to type on my computer had too many distractions and next thing I know I’ve been playing Stardew Valley for  3 hours.

Anyway, I have a favor to ask- I need a name for one of the dead bad guys. So leave a comment with a first name for the guy from Jersey, can be a bad ex, terrible boss, friend you want to embarrass by getting their name in a fanfic (first names only please- no doxing!)

[elsanna-shenanigans]

June Contest Submission #12: Boom Boom Pow

Words: ca. 3,300 Setting: mAU Lemon: lime CW: sand, alcohol, beanbags, dash of lime, language

“Do you like the stars?”

“Anna it’s fucking noon, the sun is up, it’s bright as shit. Why are you asking about stars?”

“Yo, my dude, chill. The sun is a star… right?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and turned up the radio, blasting 80’s music, but only the good songs. “I don’t know why I agree to come with you on these things.”

At this Anna laughed and danced a bit offbeat to the song that was playing. She didn’t know the lyrics, but the bass line was nice and she could vibe with that. She let the whole song play out before answering.

“Because you loooove me” She sing-songed, earning another eye roll from the driver. “You love me and we’re going to the beach and it’s going to be a good time.”

“If I didn’t love you, would it still be a good time?” Elsa asked, smirking.

As a response, Anna reached over and changed the radio. A loud, bass-heavy rap song overtook the speakers. The signer immediately spitting out questionably appropriate lyrics for the radio. Elsa’s face reddened under her large glasses and she reached to change channels so quickly that she turned it off. Enveloping the small sedan in a brief silence till Anna’s laughter filled the space.

And it went on like this the entire car ride, bits and pieces of random songs rapidly changing. Anna would allow something Elsa liked to play out entirely but when it was her turn she either skipped around or Elsa changed the station for her. The older woman apparently hated both rap and country music. The first part Anna didn’t understand and the latter, she agreed with. She was desperately trying to find a gospel station, just to see her sister’s reaction, but she found nothing but commercials.

Finally, she heard what she was looking for and turned to see Elsa’s reaction just as the other girl reached over and turned the radio off again. Anna was going to protest when she realized they were in a drive-thru.

“What can I get started for you today?” a tired-sounding voice asked over the intercom.

Anna leaned over Elsa to get closer to the open window and thus the speaker box. Making sure to be just close enough to be annoying.

“We would like to get married please, with Elvis if you have him, if not we’ll take what you have.”

“Anna!” Elsa exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder.

There was an audible sigh come over the loudspeaker, “Ma’am this is a Wendy’s.”

“Oh right, then I’ll take a cheeseburger and a medium Coke, no ice. Thank you!”

“Anything else?” the tired voice asked. “I’ll have the same thing.”

They continued driving towards the beach after the drive-thru. Cupholders full of sodas in flimsy paper cups, and Anna’s lap full of white paper bags of greasy food. She kept sneaking a fry when she thought Elsa wasn’t looking. But it was a small car and Elsa could see every bit of fried potato Anna took.

The closer they got to the beach, the darker the sky became. Tall looming clouds crept over the horizon. They couldn’t see the beach yet as it was the east coast, and most roads took you to the beach straight on instead of winding down cliff faces like the Pacific was famous for. But still, the clouds loomed. Elsa knew there was a storm somewhere off the coast, but it seemed far away last she checked, which wasn’t today. She refused to check the weather today for fear of bad news.

On the main highway, traffic was starting to get heavy, more tourists were headed for their long-awaited vacations and the road ahead was either congested to the point of slowing down. Or there was an accident and everyone had to slow to a crawl to creep a glance at the carnage.

Thankfully the girls weren’t tourists, unthankfully they lived close to this tiny town that became a major city in the summer months. Having to deal with millions of tourists every year meant that locals had a series of short-cuts. So when traffic started building, Elsa took the next exit rather suddenly, cutting across the solid white lines and nearly missing the crash barrier.

“Elsa! Shit! What the fuck!” Anna yelled and shot out her hands with nearly inhuman speed to catch the drinks before they spilled out of their too-small cupholders. “There’s a backup, I’m not sitting in that,” Elsa replied, taking the next turn so hard that the car nearly tilted on two wheels.

“But I saw flashing lights, it could have been a firetruck!”

“It could have been a police car…”

“But Elsa you don’t understand, the hot firemen! …and women.”

“Anna I’m not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or even longer, just for you to ogle at people in uniform.”

Anna took another fry, “Not people in uniform, F-I-R-E-M-E-N and women. It is very different.”

Elsa let out a heavy sigh as they came to a stop at a red light. “If I buy you that stupid Australian calendar will you shut up?”

“Wow, harsh.” Anna dramatically threw one braid over her shoulder. “But, yes.”

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes and continued forward when the light changed. It was only a short while later that they left the main road and turned into a small, older housing development. The narrow street lead them all the way to the ocean, coming out on the far end of the main strip. Highrise condos and hotels dotted the skyline to their left, but right in front of them was the beach, concealed behind a short sand dune. Because life is a bitch like that sometimes.

Luckily for them, there was also free parking at this end if you didn’t mind a bit of a walk. Which, for the price of 17 bucks to park next to the beach, who wouldn’t mind the walk. 17 dollars could buy many cheeseburgers, Anna pointed out.

The beach wasn’t nearly as crowded down where they were, away from the boardwalk and the hotels. The sand also happened to be rockier, rough and pitted with long-forgotten footprints and broken shells. The beach groomers didn’t come this far. Which was fine by them, they would take a rough sandy beach with fewer people over a crowded hellscape any day.

There’s nothing more relaxing than simultaneously listening to eight different speakers all playing different music. While children screamed for no reason and the air was filled with a mix of sunscreen and cigarette smoke.

So yes they will miss out on the hot lifeguards and yes there will be fewer people to watch. But you can’t put a price on the quiet and the fresh air that this section of the beach had to offer.

After crossing the highway on foot, climbing the dune, and laying out their towels, only then did they pause to look out on the water. The ocean was angry, white caps dotted the surface as far as they could see. The horizon line was blurred with fog or rain and the dark clouds from before were more ominous than ever. Why the two women didn’t notice all these signs until now was some kind of act of God. Or stupidly. Probably the latter.

The beach itself was even more sparsely populated than normal. A smart person would have gone home after seeing all the warning signs. But this was Anna’s only day off for the next few weeks. And Elsa, well Elsa was too stubborn to admit her beach idea was a bad one.

They both laid down, on separate towels, choosing to ignore the warning signs and attempting to soak up as much sun as possible before it was swallowed by the coming storm. Elsa tried not to think about it too much. Neither was sure how long it had been before they were interpreted.

“What are you two gay ass losers doing?” Came a female voice.

“Ch’yeah it’s like gonna rain bruh.” Said a male’s.

Elsa opened one eye to see her cousin and her boyfriend, or so it fiancé now? Standing over them. The sky beyond them somehow looked even darker than before, which was very rude.

“Trying to enjoy the sunshine, obviously.” She mumbled in response.

“What sun?” their cousin asked, in a weird out of place, and badly performed accent.

“Wait but what is that voice?” Anna asked, sitting up and brushing the sand off her arms. How that girl could get sand everywhere, Elsa would never know.

“It’s like our new characters,” Eugene answered, earning not an eye roll from Rapunzel but a nod of approval.

“I’m New York and he’s Los Angeles. Both strong and independent cities that you could almost say are their own character. And those characters are us.” She added

“Why though?” Elsa was also now sitting up and confused, though nowhere near as sandy because she wasn’t a dirt gremlin-like her sister.

“Because we wanted to be unique characters, otherwise we’re just boring white people and where’s the fun in that?” Eugene or rather Los Angeles answered.

“Oh boring, like you watch Star Trek and try to fit it into everything even though it has no business being there?”

Eugene shot Anna finger guns, “exactly, this one gets it… bruh.”

A boom was heard in the distance and it sent a few people running towards their cars, towels billowing behind them. A long-distance away, over the water, there was a flash and with it, the wind picked up.

“Looks like our beach day is ruined, I’m sorry Anna.” Elsa stood and began to roll up her towel. Even with the limited sun, she was already red on her front, making a stark difference to the pale skin of her back.

“Nah we just getting started, come back to our place and play some ping pong. We just pulled the table out of storage.” Rapunzel aka New York offered. The two of them didn’t live far from the beach, having taken over Rapunzel’s parent’s beach house. It was very old and run down, but the pair was fixing it up in exchange for free rent.

‘Aye New York is right, and we can take my new whip… bruh.” Los Angeles gestured over his shoulder towards the dunes. They couldn’t see it yet because that dang dune was blocking things again. But everyone knew he was referring to his new golf cart.

Reluctantly the girls agreed and a few long minutes later they were rushing inside an old house to avoid the rain that had just started to fall. Their car was left abandoned in the free parking lot.

Inside was an odd mix of old and new. Brand new stainless steel appliances dotted a kitchen with dark wood cabinets and a yellow linoleum floor. A half-torn-down wall gave way to the living room with floor-to-ceiling wood paneling and floral print furniture.

“It ain’t much but it’s home.” Los Angeles said once everyone was inside. He walked beyond the torn-down wall and slapped his hand on the wood paneling. “New York over there hates this stuff, but it’s hella soundproof if you know what I mean.” With this, he wiggled his eyebrows and finally, earned an eye roll from New York.

“How did you know we were on the beach by the way?” Elsa asked as she took a step further into the kitchen to look at the collection of magnets on the fridge.

“Your sister posted about it on her tumblr of all places. Honestly, get an Instagram like the rest of us already.” New York said throwing her hands up dramatically. The drama ran in the family apparently.

The ping pong table was in the basement, a dimly light space with concrete walls and a tiled floor. Mix-matched chairs lined the walls and a mini-fridge sat in the corner next to a shelf full of liquor bottles.

The ping pong game quickly descended into beer pong with a twist. No one had to drink from the cups the ball landed in. Because that’s gross, don’t do that. Inside if someone managed to land the ball in a cup the other team had to take half a shot of vodka. Los Angeles had wanted to do full shots but Elsa and New York talked him out of it, if only for not dying reasons.

Even so after a few games with no true stand-out winner, just a bunch of dumb luck, they were all fairly buzzed. Flushed creeks and slurred speech. Outside the storm finally hit. Rain battered the small basement windows and thunder boomed overhead.

With each thunderclap, Elsa reached for Anna’s hand and wouldn’t let go till the other girl gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally, everyone seemed to have enough of the game and collapsed into bean bag bars that Anna and Elsa had both not noticed before. Elsa scooted her bean bag closer to Anna’s, the other two people didn’t seem to notice. New York was hanging all over Los Angeles. Her fingers tracing the curve of his jawline down, her eyes practically boring holes into his face. He acted like he didn’t see, but it was obvious he knew.

“You guys can stay here for the night if you want since the storm sounds so bad,” Eugene said, dropping his horrible accent.

“That’s very kind, but it’s just a little rain, we’ll be alright,” Anna replied, completely forgetting their car was many blocks away.

New York stopped messing with her man and turned to them. “Anna, it’s more than a little rain. It’s a hurricane, I mean it was a tropical storm and it was supposed to miss us. But you know how it be sometimes.” She said with amazing clarity for a drunkard.

Elsa’s hand shot to Anna’s and she let out an audible gasp. She had refused to check the weather before heading out the door today, figuring what she didn’t know, can’t hurt her. Which was stupid and out of character for someone who claims to be responsible.

Another boom followed by a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second. Elsa looked terrified so Anna took it upon herself to change the subject.

“So we will be seeing you in two weeks right?”

Rapunzel playing New York smiled and clapped her hands together, “Yes! At the church!”

“For things better left unspoken,” Eugene playing Los Angeles groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Another boom and the room was suddenly cast in darkness and accompanied by an eerie quiet. You never notice how much sound your electronics make till everything is off. Elsa grabbed Anna’s entire arm, holding it so tightly Anna was worried she would lose it.

“Ah fuck the power is out. We have some candles upstairs, I’ll be right back, Rapunzel can you see if the camping lantern is over on the shelf?”

“Um excuse me, it’s New York, but yes I will look.”

Two bodies moved away in the darkness, their paths illuminated by the small light on their phones. Next to Anna, Elsa’s breathing became rapid and she clung to Anna as if she was in danger of being blown away.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Anna whispered, using her free hand to pet the top of Elsa’s head. The older girl shifted so in one fluid motion she was off her beanbag and on Anna’s before curling into the young girl’s side.

“I found it!” Rapunzel slash New York exclaimed. She turned it on and the room was partly lit up. She walked back to where the other two women were cuddled together and sat back down in her own beanbag.

“Wow, that’s like hella gay.” She said, pointing to the pair.

“Oh shut up, she just doesn’t like storms, you know that.” Anna quipped

Elsa let go of Anna’s arm long enough to extend a hand and flip off her cousin, earning her a laugh in response.

Eugene returned shortly after with the candles, a tray of food, and some cards. “Anyone up for a game of hurricane poker? It’s like regular poker only there’s a hurricane.”

He rejoined the group, placing the tray in the middle of everyone and paying no mind to the two women who now shared a beanbag.

Elsa lifted her head to look, the tray was adorned with a random assortment of food. Celery sticks, M&M’s, KitKat bars, Cheetos, Grapes, and some animal crackers. She made a face.

“What’s wrong uh bruh?” Eugene asked in a bad attempt to get back in character. Los Angeles would never quite be the character that New York was.

“I’ll only eat celery sticks if you pay me,” Elsa responded.

The next few hours consisted of Eugene completely wiping the floor with everyone. They played for the M&M’s, of which he now owned all of. With the power still out and the storm still raging on the decision was made for the sisters to spend the night over.

Their room was completely unrenovated, the same wood paneling from the living room made up the walls and the carpet was a thick green shag rug. Eugene was right about one thing though, the paneling sure did dampen the sound. Once the door was shut the two women could hardly hear anything, which was good because Rapunzel had started blasting Mandy Moore music for some reason.

There was only one bed, pushed into the corner, but it didn’t matter anyway. There could have been 80 beds and they still would have shared just one.

Anna laid down on her back and traced the grains in the wooden wall. “Really makes you want to carve something in this stuff you know? Something that would be around for hundreds of years.”

“Please don’t vandalize our cousin’s house,” Elsa said before sitting on the edge of the bed. She turned the lantern off so the only source of the light in the room was the candle on the nightstand.

“You alright?” Anna asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

“Yeah, I’m just worried about the storm, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Anna reached out and gently grabbed Elsa’s arm, guiding her back to lay in the bed next to her. “Do you want to sleep or keep your mind off things?”

Elsa paused for a brief moment before removing her arm from Anna’s grip. “I don’t know…”

“It’s your choice, either way, I’m here for you.” Anna smiled at her, a flash of lightning lit up the room but no thunder.

It startled Elsa but she remained where she was, staring at Anna. Thinking, always thinking.

“It’s just a storm and this old house seems to be built like a tank anyway.” She made a fist and pounded the wall to prove her point.

Elsa started twirling the end of one of Anna’s braids but her eyes remained locked on Anna’s. The delayed thunderclap came and Elsa inhaled sharply. Anna leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead.

“You sure this is okay?” Elsa asked and Anna nodded, running the back of her hand down the other girl’s cheek. “Let’s get our mind off of things then.”

Elsa crawled till she was straddling Anna who gazed up at her with eyes that shown like stars in the candlelight.

“What’s your favorite constellation?”

“Hmm, probably Orion, because you can find his belt so easy,” Anna answered, “Yours?” “Your eyes”

“Ew, that’s so fucking cheesy.”

Elsa leaned down, her mouth slightly agape. Anna’s eyes fluttered shut as her hands found their way to the other woman’s shoulders.

The storm, the damage, their car, all these things could wait until tomorrow. Tonight they were out of their control so for tonight they didn’t matter.

Elsa blew out the candle, and they both plunged into the sinful escape of the darkness.

[gothamcityneedsme]

I saw this bouncing around my dash and decided to fill it out myself for fun :)  I decided to not double-list any games, and I tried to mix up the companies I used too so that the list would be more unique.

Long post, so I’m doing a readmore for my longwinded part lol.

(read more)

Favorite Game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords - I could talk about this game forever.  How it tears apart the Star Wars universe from within, how it creates a compelling story while challenging the usual themes, etc.  I could talk for ages about the characters and how their motivations slot in place, and how this game lends itself to interpretation and analysis alongside roleplay.  It’s just a wonderful game, one I deeply love and will always love.  It’s a game that isn’t afraid to have you talk to other characters for twenty or thirty minutes at a time and honestly I’m always riveted at every line.  This game deserves the cult fanbase it has, but I think there’s a lot the fanbase misses in appreciating this game.  (Note...gameplay is a little janky and a community made mod restores a lot content that was cut before shipping-the game wasn’t properly finished).

Best Story:  Fallout New Vegas - It’s the setting that makes the story here, and all the moving pieces and factions alongside the main conflict really make this game stand out.  There’s so many little pieces to find along the way in the world and the way the main quest splits based on who you want in power feels important--and you are choosing a future for this whole region.

Favorite Art Style: The Witness - This game is peacefully wonderful with its visuals.  There are wonderful nature scenes and nests of wires and panels spreading in various parts of the island that are fascinating to look at.  The environment is half of the gameplay in most areas, so it’s important to look around even though exploration is not really the gameplay.  You find puzzles in the world, even in nature, and it’s fascinating.  The colors are bright and beautiful.  There is even a map in the middle of the island inside of a lake that helps you track your progress if you notice it (it isn’t like a normal ‘map’).

Favorite Soundtrack: Shin Megami Tensei IV - I love video game soundtracks, but SMTIV is something special.  The music booms in ways that make you really understand the atmosphere of the world, and there’s a great mix of different kinds of tracks for different places.  I love the tracks for the other worlds you enter, and the themes of the different routes are done so well.  Some of the music draws from past SMT games, but the remixes done for this game really are stunning to me, and there’s so many fantastic original tracks.

Hardest Game: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - I love this game but I literally never touch it without a walkthrough, which is why it gets to be the hardest game on the list, despite being a point and click adventure game lol.  Also just emotionally this game is challenging too, but I definitely mean this more in terms of getting a ‘perfect run’.

Funniest Game: The Stanley Parable - Trying to make this list has taught me that I don’t really play many ‘funny games’.  I don’t know if a game where multiple endings demand that you kill yourself should count as a ‘funniest game’, but it is also a game where the narrator tells you to stare at a fern and memorize its features, so....it counts.

Game I Like that is Hated: RWBY Grimm Eclipse - I’ve been playing this game since it was in early access and have loved it the whole time.  I find the gameplay soothing and fun, and I like playing the different characters.  It’s a game I play to chill out and just enjoy some fun battle mechanics.  It’s a fun game and I’ve spent over 100 hours in it, so I hope I like it, lol.

Game I Hate that is Liked:  Nier Automata - Neither this game’s gameplay or story impress me, and the fact that you have to replay basically the same stuff from a more boring-to-play-character’s pov in order to SEE all of the plot is a huge damper on the experience.  The story, to me, someone who engages with a lot of robot-focused fiction, is far from impressive or new, and it hardly engages with genre specifics at all, let alone in a new or interesting way.  I view this game as ‘a story with robots in it’ rather than ‘a story about robots’, which, to me, is a detriment.

Underrated: Nevermind - This game is amazing and very unheard of--and when it is heard of, it has been marketed incorrectly.  Nevermind seems like a horror game, and does market itself as one a bit, but it’s much more than that.  It’s more about trauma, recovery, therapy, etc.  This is a game that is so mindful about the topics it engages in that I am impressed by it every time.  It’s heavy with symbolism and character, despite lacking conversations or other similar game mechanics.  This is a lovely game that I really wish more people knew about-`p5-all of the patients are so interesting, and the focus on recovery and mental health is impressive.

Overrated:  Fire Emblem - I sort of mean this as the series as a whole really.  I have enjoyed the entries I have played somewhat, but I overall consider the series much less impressive than I was led to believe by others.  The gameplay especially is not impressive to me in any regard, even though I sometimes do find myself enjoying it.  The stories are alright, but many of them are weighed down by the gameplay and as a writer and person who likes to analyze writing, it’s very hard to do so when it isn’t able to fully exist under the chains the gameplay forces on it.  There are ways to mix gameplay and story well, Fire Emblem has not really done that in any of the entries I’ve played.  That being said, I don’t regret playing them, and I will occasionally replay, but I consider them mediocre games at best.

Best Voice Acting: Devil Survivor 2 - I love the voice acting in this game.  I feel like all the characters are really suited to their voices, and it’s really easy for me to visualize their voices.  They really bring the game to life and make both the dramatic and the funny scenes more enjoyable.

Worst Voice Acting: Jedi Knight Jedi Academy - I love this game, I really do, but some of the voice acting is janky.  Some of it is okay too--I think Kyle Katarn’s voice actor does fine, and some of the others I like NOW but hated when I was a kid, but the male protagonist voice in this game is just awful.  Which is bad when Jennifer Hale is the female voice actress lol.  His performance is passable though unless you’re playing darksided--the darksided ending to the game lacks all punch when you’re playing the male protagonist.

Favorite Male:  Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni - He’s the protagonist for most of the visual novels and I adore him utterly, especially once you move past episode 2.  He’s a wonderful character who I care about deeply.  I love his drive and how he fights--he’s someone who is easy to cheer for.  He matures well throughout the series and his character development is just wonderful.

Favorite Female:  Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 - I really like how Naoto fits so well in the game, especially for being a final recruit--oftentimes the final recruit of Persona games (post 3) have a bit of a more difficult time feeling right with the group.  Naoto works really well though, and I love her struggles and story as well.  I think the difficulties she has concerning living as a woman in her field hit very deep to a problem that has existed for a very long time.

Favorite Protagonist: Connor of Daventry from King’s Quest 8 Mask of Eternity - I’m like, one of four fans of this character in the world, lol.  KQ8 is not a very well liked game and it does have a lot of issues, both with age and with how much of a departure it is from the series prior to it.  It’s strange to take a puzzle adventure game and make it a hybrid with what basically is a shooter, and it doesn’t really work.  Add to that the fact that you spend most of your time in the game without anyone around to talk to and it leads to this really polarizing and weird experience.  For me, Conner goes through what I would consider to be the ‘Ultimate Nightmare Scenario”.  Everyone in the world is turned to stone except him (and he survived out of mere chance) and so now it’s up to him, practically alone, to save the entire world.  There is no game lonelier than this.  I adore him for his bravery in the face of it, and how he just picks up to do what must be done because someone should do it, and if no one else can, then he will.  I also really love how he apologizes to people who are encased in stone while he takes money from their houses to help him on his journey.  I really do think he went back after the game was over and gave everyone heaps of gold to pay them back with interest lol.

Favorite Village:  Oakvale from Fable - The first Fable is the only one I really like, and it was one of the games I played when I was little, so the hometown in the game always meant a lot to me.  I like how you grow up there and how your tragic backstory is there--and then how you get to return to the town years later after you’ve come into your own, and you can see it completely rebuilt.  I like to spend a lot of my time in this town, just wandering around it and playing the minigames.  Even though I have a house in every town, Oakvale is where my hero calls home.

Most Hated Character:  Merril from Dragon Age 2 - I don’t really want to lay into how I feel about Merril, but what I will say is that it was suggested to me that I totally ignore her when playing, and I did so.  I only met her for her quest, dropped her off in town, and literally never spoke to her or interacted for the rest of the game.  I had a much better experience for it, honestly.  She appeared after I made my choice in the end of the game, which felt weird since I hadn’t spoken to her in several ingame years, but other than that, the game was totally fine without her.  I sort of just wish you could kill characters in DA2 the way you can in DAO, then I’d just do that, tbh.  It doesn’t suit very many (or any) of the characters I rp in DA2 to keep her around or support her in any way.

First Game I Played: Mixed up Mother Goose Deluxe - I’m not actually sure if this is the FIRST game I’ve ever played or not, but it’s one of the first I played alone as a kid.  I really loved it--this is probably what created my love for point and click adventures, and the game was very silly and fun.

Favorite Company: Bioware - I’ve always been a sucker for Bioware games, ever since Knights of the Old Republic 1 was my favorite childhood game.  I love how they do stories and party members, and while I’m not a fan of all of their games, I really love what they’ve made and their style of storytelling and character driven plot.  Even though sometimes their stories get cliche, I think the suit video games well and most of my early gaming was within their games.

Hated Company: EA - Bioware truly only started to go to shit after the EA acquisition, so I fucking hate EA.   I know Bioware had issues before EA too, but I definitely don’t think EA has helped the situation whatsoever.

Depressing Game: The Beginner’s Guide - I relate to this game as a creator and a writer, and it affects me deeply because of the story it tells and the questions it raises.  It makes me reflect on how I think of myself as a creator, and it reminds me of friendships I used to have.

Creepy Game:  The Path - God, I love this game.  It’s just aimlessly wandering around and finding symbolic scenery and watching your current character comment on it.  Then, you go off to find your girl’s wolf, and each one is different and unique to her, and you watch it ‘kill’ her--and facing her wolf is the only way each girl can truly mature.  Whenever you get to grandmother’s house, the camera switches to first person, and your eyes keep closing, so you can only see while clicking to move.  It forces you to keep moving so that you can see, but since you are moving, you only get to see things somewhat vaguely.  It’s got a great atmosphere, and I love the symbolic storytelling.

Happy Game: Eastshade - This game is so sweet.  There’s some drama around to with many of the quests, but I like this as an rpg without combat, and I think this would be a really good kids game.  There’s a lot to see and explore, and the game was made to be really pretty so that you want to paint several aspects of it.  It’s really lovely to just wander around in this game and bike around the area, painting anything that suits your fancy.  As long as you don’t finish the main quest, you’re free to wander, and materials do respawn, so you essentially can infinitely paint once you get far enough.

Favorite Ending: Virtue’s Last Reward - I love the questions this game asks and where the ending goes.  It thematically ties together--the whole reason the game itself exists is to get the attention of a ‘higher being’--the player, essentially.  I love how it plays with that concept, and even though the final game in the series doesn’t entirely pick this idea up where this game left it, standalone this game is stunning in how it comes together.

[kunderdogs]

Take A Chance IV

Simon Dominic (AOMG) x Y/N (Reader) Genre: Romance / Angst Count: 2.4k+ Warnings: None Rating: Mature (suggestive, swearing) Summary: Who would’ve thought a one night stand with Simon D would turn into FWB? It only gets more complicated when you developed feelings, against your better judgement.

Chapter One. | Chapter Two. | Chapter Three. | Chapter Four. | Chapter Five. | Chapter Six. | Chapter Seven. |

Over the course of two weeks, you and Kiseok had a pretty good routine going on. He didn't come over every night, more like every other but he called and texted you nearly every chance he got.

At first you didn't think anything of it. He would ask you how your day was, if you ate and how you were feeling. Nothing crazy or out of pocket. It was innocent most of the time, and usually followed up by making plans to see you later on.

There was nothing you could do to stop your heart from bursting out of your chest each time you heard a small chime. Nicole had glared at you once when you two were on lunch and you scrambled over the table to reach your phone.

"Is that Lover Boy?" She teased. You were thankful that, out of all the nicknames she could've used - and she had a lot of them -, lover boy was the one she had stuck with. For now.

"What?" You feigned ignorance, "I have no idea what you're talking about. That's...Amazon. My package was delivered."

She smirked, sipping her iced tea, "I'm sure it was."

After a few days, Kiseok's texts became a little more...risky. You had no problem with sexting. When in the right setting, it was hot but he would send you wild shit while you're in the middle of a meeting, or when you're trying to finish up the last of your work before heading to see him. Usually you could play it off then retreat to the bathroom to respond but when he sent a voice recording of that damned deep voice of his, you stood from your desk and went to the stairs corridor to call and cuss him out for getting you bothered at eleven in the morning. You promised punishment as soon as you were off and Kiseok was, to say the least, intrigued. That night he was stunned at how different you could be if he gave you the reigns. Days after that, he still catches himself staring after you with amazement.

From that point on, he pretty much figured out that he could make you do nearly anything with a certain voice. It was a dangerous game that you two played. It only escalated when he coaxed you to touch yourself in the private bathroom at your company with him on FaceTime. You were lucky that you had finished in record-breaking time, before any of your coworkers (or God forbid, your boss) found out what exactly you were doing.

By the time the third week rolled around, Nicole had stopped hounding you for details of your hookups. Instead, she cautioned every now again. Typically, it was the same thing.

"Don't get too attached."

"He's a celebrity. You know how society is to foreigners dating celebs."

"What if he's a player? I just don't want you to get hurt."

While you appreciated her concern, you knew it was already too late not to get attached to him. Other than text you constantly, Kiseok did little things that had your head and heart confused.

On his bad days, he would complain to you about what happened and asked for your advice, if you had any to give, on the topic. He joked and teased you just like a friend would and willingly showed you pieces of his personal and work life as well. It was subtle at first - videos of him in the studio and then pictures of his friends when he was telling you a story about them. Each time, he would bring you food or have something delivered so you both got to learn each other's eating and drinking habits. You had seen him tipsy but he made it a point not to over do it in front of you.

Kiseok was also very considerate of you and your time, which you appreciated more than anything else. He didn't hound you if you didn't text back immediately and understood if you were swamped at the office or had to cancel that one time because the work would not be done until late in the night. He just told you to take care of yourself and later, had a pizza ordered to your job. It was around that time that you noticed you were falling a little too fast. You hadn’t admitted it out-loud, instead you chose to ignore those feelings completely. Hopefully, they would magically disappear into thin air.

You both didn't get into intimate details of your life. It was only by a weird stroke of luck that he hadn't found out about Cookie. She usually called right after you got off work anyway. Kiseok was busy during the day so when you went out to meet with your daughter and her father on your off days, he was in the middle of his own jam-packed schedule. Really, he was only available during the night time so you were more of a booty call than a FWB at this point. Neither of you had defined the "relationship" so far though, so it was hard to put a name to it right now.

It was Saturday when you woke up early and got dressed in casual clothes to go with Cookie to the zoo. Her, her father and his girlfriend were flying back to the US tonight so they wanted to do one last thing to fill the hours before the boring plane ride. You had cried last night as you thought of being without your mini-me for two whole months but his family hadn't seen her since she was much younger. You knew she would have fun, especially since his parents were dying to take her to Disneyland. You wished you could take an extended vacation and go with them but you had used most of your vacation days to take Cookie to Disney World for her birthday and that was only a couple of months ago.

Either way, you were sadder these past two days and thankfully Kiseok was swamped with an upcoming project so he hadn't been over in about four days. You didn't have to explain your blood-shot eyes.

You had so much fun at the zoo with your daughter that you didn't bother touching your phone. Your ex had taken most of the pictures for you all with promises to send them to you. It was around two in the afternoon when you four decided to go to a nearby burger joint and get some lunch. Cookie was shoving her face with chicken tenders so you decided to check your phone to pass the time. There were a few new gray message bubbles.

'Hey sexy thang ;)' 10:09AM

'This song better go double platinum with all the work I'm puttin in this bitch' 11:32AM

'Don't tell me you're asleep still?' 11:38AM

'I'm going to find a way to get your sexy ass as a video vixen one of these days' 11:47AM

'Argggh PD is calling me back. Text me when you wake up' 11:51AM

'We should be done by 2. Loco is taking me to some new place for food then I'm free. Can I swing by your place?' 11:52AM

Of course they were all from Kiseok. Not even your mother texted you as much as he did and although you liked the attention, right now you wanted to focus on Cookie since you won't physically see her for weeks after this. You frowned to yourself, feeling tears well up in your eyes for the millionth time today. You were going to miss her so much.

Composing yourself, you quickly typed a reply back. 'Hey. I'm up, just a little busy today. I won't be able to see you tonight. Maybe tomorrow if you're free?' 2:16PM

With that, you locked your phone and slid it in your pocket, once again forgetting about it soon after.

Your ex's girlfriend, Mia, nudged you slightly when she saw how pensive you were. "Hey, you okay? Was that work?"

Shaking your head, you took a breath, "No, I'm just gonna miss having my best friend around."

Cookie popped up, french fries sticking out of her mouth, "I'm gonna miss you too, mommy!" Her curly hair was pulled into two pony-tails, coils springing happily as she devoured the food in record-breaking time. "Don't cry! I'll make daddy buy you a Tiana dress so we can match!"

You laughed at the sight, tears pooling in your eyes again as her father pouted. "Ok, sweetie, I'd love to match with you."

About thirty minutes later, you all were getting ready to leave when Mia said she'd swing by and grab the rental car from the parking lot. They had to go to back to their hotel to pack. You all said your goodbyes, tears flowing freely between you and Mia. Cookie looked concerned for you as she wiped your tears, kissing your cheeks to reassure you.

Your ex hugged you and thanked you again, his eyes sparkling with happiness to have his precious daughter with him. You wished you could go with them once again as you watched their car drive off.

Back at home, you were greeted with a depressingly quiet apartment. It was cold and dark, something that was going to be a common occurrence for the coming weeks. Sniffling, you made your way to Cookie’s room, scanning her pink room with a blurring gaze. You were slowly walking around the room when you felt your phone ring.

It was Mia.

"Hello?" You called, wondering what could've happened in the last hour since you parted ways.

"Hey, Y/N, Cookie is freaking out because her father forgot to ask you to bring her Peach doll," Mia nearly shouted over the distraught crying in the background. You could hear your ex trying to console Cookie, to no avail. "Can you meet us at the airport with it?"

Searching the room, you spotted the Princess Peach doll on her bed and nearly sprinted out of the door. "I got it. When is your flight again?"

"Boarding is in another hour and a half."

Shit. You scrambled to snatch your keys and shoved the doll in your purse. "Okay, I'll leave now and meet you at departures, okay? Tell Cookie mommy's on the way."

You hung up and made a mad dash down to the parking garage. The airport was about a forty-five minute drive from your place, not including traffic or any other delays like the predictable Seoul rush hour.

At his own apartment, Simon was lounging on his couch, laptop on his chest as he worked. Loco was right next to him, on Face Time with the one and only Jay Park as he was at the airport.

"Have a safe flight," Loco was saying before Kiseok slid shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

"Get there and back in once piece, boss," the oldest one teased and Jay laughed. Unfortunately, he was distracted a little too long because he suddenly collided into a woman. The phone fell, face up and there were suddenly two faces on the screen.

His body guards reacted immediately and made sure the two were alright. Mildly interested, the two on the other side of the line watched on.

"I-I'm so sorry, oh God, I'm just in a rush." The woman's voice was so eerily familiar to Kiseok that he took a second to strain to hear it over the airport commotion.

Jay was off to the side, picking up his passport and other belongings that fell. "Nah, it's alright. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Again, I'm so sorry I wasn’t- Is this your phone?"

Without further ado, the woman picked up Jay's phone, and Kiseok felt his eyes bulge out of his skull when her face came into view.

What was Y/N doing in the airport? Loco didn't notice the other's tense reaction and simply waved at the stranger. You didn't seem to glance at the screen, yet they could easily notice your tear-stained cheeks, and just passed it back to the owner.

Over Jay reassuring her that it was fine for the third time, a loud and very male voice yelled. "Y/N! There you are!"

With another apology, you left the frame and turned towards the male voice. Jay watched the interaction for a second before continuing on his way, which was conveniently right past you. Loco was talking to the CEO like that didn't just happen when Kiseok saw you in the frame again. He was positive it was you this time around.

You wore that over-sized gray sweater that he thought was so cute on you, hair tied messily and hugging a handsome foreigner tightly. He pulled back from the hug and pushed back some pieces of your hair from your face before smiling, his lips moving. Staring up to him, you nodded, wiping your face with your sleeves. He brought you back to his chest, arms around your shoulders.

Involuntarily, Kiseok felt his jaw clench at the display of affection. His eyes tore from the phone quicker than he meant to, causing his junior to stare at him in confusion.

For the rest of the night, Loco was warily watching as the older man was fuming next to him. There was hardly any movement from his part and he was sure he was in a coma until Simon wiped out his phone, tapping it a few times before pressing it to his ear.

“Nayoung? It’s been a while. Are you free right now?”

Almost choking on his coke, Hyukwoo coughed. Why was Kiseok calling her, of all people? Once the call wrapped up, he nervously voiced his concern, “Hyung...Why are you calling her at this hour..?”

He didn’t get an immediate response, instead, Kiseok stood and glared with the power of a thousand suns at the TV in front of them.

“Am I not single? Can I not do what I want, with whoever I want, too?”

Without any further explanation, he stormed out of the apartment all together.

Hyukwoo stared after the front door in confusion. “Too?”

[vampiricfairy]

I Never Told You What I Do For A Living

Chapter 5

Word Count: 1486

Pairing: Jonathan Harker x Reader

Warnings: TW ED.

A/N: I feel like I haven't uploaded for this fic in AGES, although it hasn't been that long, oops. Also remember that you're beautiful just the way you are, calories are dumb and I love you, ok. I love everyone 😌 take care!!

__

“Shhh, ” Dracula cooed.

You spit into his eye and he stumbled backwards as you jumped out of bed and dashed out of the room. You saw Jonathan, he looked angry as he walked over to Dracula.

You could swear you watched Jonathan throw the Count off of the balcony because he was so.. Furious?

“Are you alright, darling?” Jonathan asked, worried and rather calm now.

You hugged him, shaking slightly from shock. “I-I.. I’m okay” You whispered and buried your face in his chest.

“It’s alright, you’re safe, dear.” Jonathan held you close. “I’ll bring you to my apartment, if you want me to.” He said and you nodded.

You put on some clothes and also packed some of your stuff.

__

The next morning you woke up in the bed in Jonathan’s apartment and made yourself look a bit presentable before walking into the kitchen where you noticed both Jonathan and Zoe conversing.

“Good morning..” You said as you sat down next to Jonathan.

“Happy birthday Y/N!” Jonathan said, smiling gently at you and wrapping his arm around you.

“Good morning and happy birthday Y/N.. Now tell me. What exactly happened last night? How was Dracula even able to enter the apartment?”

You explained what had happened and both of them looked at you. You yourself didn’t understand how Dracula entered the apartment.

“Besides, what is going on between you two?” Asked Zoe, eyeing the way Jonathan had his arm around you.

You blushed and Jonathan looked quite caught off guard, “nothing!” You both said in unison.

“No, I can see the chemistry!” Zoe said.

“I don’t know what you’re seeing but maybe get glasses so you can see clearer!” You said.

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows, “I’m trying to protect her, that’s all.”

That did hurt. Yep, it definitely did hurt you.

“Understandable under these circumstances and I’m glad you’re trying to protect her.. But Y/N didn’t you want to do something with your friends?”

You shook your head, “nope. But I’ll see you later?”

Zoe sighed as she got up, “be home around 5 pm!” She said.

“Alright!”

After Zoe left, Jonathan got up and you pouted playfully.

“Come backk!! You’re so comfortable!” You said.

“Actually, I got something for you.” He said as he opened the fridge and put some cake onto the table.

Your expression fell for a second and you felt a little panicked.

“Are you alright? Don’t you like it? I got something else for you too but I thought you’d like cake. Heh.”

You felt your heart basically shatter, here you were. You felt insecure and guilty now, you looked at Jonathan and played with your fingers feeling the nervousness increase.

“I- I really appreciate it, Jonathan- it’s just.. I can’t eat that-“ You tried to explain, a little awkwardly.

“Why? Are you allergic?” He asked you, looking sorry.

“No.. I just- I’m trying to lose weight.” You replied, feeling as awkward as ever.

Jonathan frowned slightly, “but why? I mean, ever since we met you have lost a quite large amount of weight. Of course you look beautiful, but darling I’m worried about you.” He said and cupped your face.

“Y-you think I’m beautiful?” You asked and his cold hands sent a shiver down your spine but at this point you were used to it.

“Yes, I do. But I think you should have something to eat so you don’t faint, or worse-“ he said with a slightly worried expression.

“But.. I don’t want to!” You retorted and looked down.

“Come on, darling. For me, alright?” He smiled.

“Well.. Alright, a small slice though.” You said, looking a bit panicked.

Jonathan nodded as he cut you an average sized piece and you pouted, “you don’t have to eat all of it! I just want to make sure that you have eaten something, dear.” He said as he gave you a plate with the cake and a small fork.

“Thank you-“ you said as you took the plate and dug into the cake, taking the fork and placing the bit of cake on your tongue. You looked fairly surprised, “chocolate cake and cranberry filling? I love it! How do you know that I like chocolate and cranberries are my favorite snacks?” You asked.

“Oh well.. I have my secrets.” He said and laughed.

“That’s fair..” You said and finished your piece of cake.

“You want a second one?” Jonathan asked.

You shook your head.

“Alright, at least you ate something. Now close your eyes.” He said and walked into the living room.

You closed your eyes and waited for him to come back, you felt him put something quite heavy but soft in your hands.

“You can open them again!” He said.

You opened your eyes and saw a HUGE teddy bear, you laughed and looked at him. “It’s such a cute idea! Thank you!!” You smiled slightly and got up to hug him.

He hugged you back, “no problem, dear.” He said and you smiled happily.

You smiled sheepishly and looked up at his beautiful eyes, before wrapping your arms around his cold neck. “I have to go meet Zoe soon- but I’ll be back.” You said.

He nodded, then slowly moved his cold hands to your cheeks and cupped them, then closed the space between your mouths.

Both of you closed your eyes and you melted into the cold but nice kiss, figuring that Jonathan kissed you better than anyone else ever had.

Your heart was beating insanely fast.

“Stay safe- I don’t want you to be hurt.” He said and you nodded.

“I will- see you later, Jonathan!” You said as you left the apartment and happily walked to your apartment complex.

You opened the apartment door and walked in, carefully taking your shoes off, you walked to Zoe with a big smile on your face still.

“Did anything happen? Why are you so happy?” Zoe asked.

“Nope, just happy because it’s my birthday. What are we doing today?” You asked, smiling.

“I thought we could maybe go out for dinner?” Zoe suggested.

“I’m not hungry, I already ate.” You said.

“Oh, well. What did you eat?”

“I had some cake for breakfast and then I got myself a sandwich on the way here,” it was a half-lie but you assumed that it was okay.

“Alright, do you want to do anything?” She asked.

You felt a bit guilty because if you were honest you wanted to spend time with Jonathan, maybe tell him about your feelings now that you two kissed.

“I’m not so sure.. Um- well.. Maybe we could go shopping as long as the sun is still up? I mean we wouldn’t shop for longer than 4 hours now. Right?”

“Whatever you want, Y/N.”

__

Zoe and you went shopping and it was fun but you found her acting weird, she probably thought the same about you but well.. What were you supposed to do? If you told her about Jonathan she would kill you.

“Could you maybe drive me to Jonathan’s apartment? I don’t feel safe at home and.. He’s been very good at protecting me.”

“Sure, but tell me, what is between you and Jonathan?”

“Nothing, he’s just nice.” You would’ve successfully lied to her, if you hadn’t started blushing.

“You don’t have feelings for him, do you? Remember that he’s actually a thread, you don’t know his true intentions.” She said.

“I don’t have feelings for him but I doubt he would hurt me in any way..”

You reached the apartment complex where Jonathan lived and you got out of the car, “thanks though.. Zoe. Night!”

“Good night, Y/N. Be careful!” She said and you walked to his apartment door ad rang the doorbell.

Jonathan opened it and smiled fondly. “Come in.” He said.

“Good eveninggg!” You chuckled and smiled softly before setting your bags down and walking to the couch, sitting down on it.

He sat down next to you and you sighed.

“I think I like you!” You said, smiling sheepishly at him.

“The feelings mutual, however I’m worried that Zoe may not approve or that Dracula could ruin this.” Jonathan said, gently taking your hand and the cold touch made you shiver slightly.

“We’ll figure something out.. I mean- Zoe doesn’t really have an influence on me anymore now that I’m an adult…” You said.

“Alright, I want you to be safe though and I hope you understand that.” Jonathan said and cupped your face.

“I get that! It’s just I know you wouldn’t hurt me.. Can we maybe do something else?” You smiled.

“Like what?” He asked.

“Cuddle?” You blushed a little.

“Of course!” He pulled you close to him and you wrapped your arms around him, leaning your head onto his chest, feeling comfortable and safe. However something told you that the feeling wouldn’t last.

[daughterofthehighlands]

This is my first time writing in the PD world, but this story came out of nowhere and demanded to be written (it happens when you fall asleep reading fanfiction guess). It is also un-betaed. This story is also outside of what I normally write, and is a difficult subject.

Trigger warning child trafficking, nothing graphic.

I own nothing.

JHJH

Kim Burgess climbed into the passenger seat of Detective Jay Halstead's truck, as Hailey Upton started the vehicle.

Looking over at the blond, Kim noticed the bloodshot, rimmed eyed and sighed, knowing that this was going to be harder than it already was.

The team had been called in to investigate possible child abuse at a local school.

It turned out that the abuse was actually trafficking of kids in foster care.

They would be assigned to certain families, stay for a few weeks, then disappear from the distict, school officials being told the children were found permanent homes or were placed with family.

They sent Jay in, undercover, as a gym teacher for the 3rd graders, and where there were 6 kids who were in four different homes.

Jay had become a trusted figure to the children when one girl came to him with a story of a 'brother' that had been taken by a stranger at night and not seen again. The little girl then went missing from school, and her foster sister said that that same stranger had taken her.

Adam Ruzek finally found the missing piece; a Jennifer Winslow worked for the adoption services and had links to black market trading of children. She found families that would take the children and then sent one of the thugs to pick up the child. The parents none the wiser of what was going on, since they were sent by Ms. Winslow and had the badge of the adoption agency.

Jay had called Voight, and had told him his suspicions, adding that he was at the home where 9 kids had gone missing from.

When they had arrived, they found Jay's car door open and blood on the seat.

Now, they were in the process of locating the missing children and hoping that Halstead would be found with them.

Fifteen hours had passed, when they finally got a viable lead, and now they were bringing the children home.

JHJH

Jay woke up to a splitting headache, his shoulder killing him and his hands tied behind his back. He heard the sobs of children and slowly took in his surroundings.

They were in a large horse trailer, if the hay and smell was anything to go by, and they were moving.

JHJH

Hailey was so focused on trying to reach her partner, she was barely paying attention to the tractor in front of them.

"Hailey! Look out!" Kim yelled, reaching for the handle above the door and bracing herself against the dash.

Hailey slammed on the breaks, the bumper of Jay's truck millimeters from the back tire of the truck in front of them. Traffic at a standstill, due to the roadblock that had been set up to check all tractor/ trailers, RVs and other vehicles that could be transporting the children.

Kim looked over at the blond, "That was close. Do you want me to drive?"

Wordlessly, Hailey nodded, both getting out, and switching spaces.

JHJH

Detective Hank Voight looked at the map in front of him that set on the hood of a patrol car and studied it. He looked up as Al stepped next to him, "You got anything?"

Al nodded, "Winslow said that she uses her brother's ranch as a way to smuggle the kids out. She said that they borrow a truck and horse trailer to move them to another location." He pointed at the map, "She also said that they are using this road today and that her brother is innocent."

"Get people over to the ranch, see what truck is missing and if they have the tag number. Same for the trailer. We bring those kids home. TODAY!"

Al nodded once and disappeared into the crowd of officers.

So, I'm not very good at knowing the inside of horse trailers, but this is kind of what I envisioned for it to look like, especially for what I needed to take place.

Fanfiction at it's (not so) finest

And Part 2

Jay fought to stay awake, but it was hard. His shoulder hadn't quit bleeding and his head was pounding. But he had to get these kids somewhere safe, he just didnt know how. Then he saw Kelsey Jennings and hoped she could help.

"Kelsey? Can you help me out? You k ow how you untied those knots at school for that project?"

The eight year old nodded, "Do you think you can untie my hands?"

Again, the little redhead nodded and went to work.

JHJH

Voight sighed as he looked at the passing signs. If there was one thing he knew, it was that they had to stop the truck before it reached the interstate, or those children would be lost, possibly forever.

And they were running out of time. Hailey and Kim were stuck in a road block, unable to move.

Atwater and Ruzek were coming from the opposite direction.

And he and Al were speeding down a back road towards the turn off they were informed would be used.

JHJH

Jay sighed when he hands were freed, and nodded to Kelsey, "Thank you, Kelsey. Steven, come here, please."

Steven was the oldest boy and Kelsy the oldest girl. He was going to need them both, if his plan was to work. Luckily, there was no loose equipment in the trailer, and the windows were cracked to allow them fresh air.

The children were soon all tied as safely to the walls as they could be. If the trailer tipped, they would not be thrown all over the trailer, but would be bounced around in place. Sore and bruised, but hopefully no broken bones, and not possibly thrown out of a window if one busted.

With one more look back at the children, and a smile that showed more confidence than he felt, Detective Jay Halstead went to work on freeing the children.

JHJH

Kim and Hailey finally made their way around the block and started down the side road they were told about. They had been driving for a while when they came upon a horse trailer parked across the road at an angle.

Throwing the truck in park, the jumped out and pulled their side arms.

Hoping that the children were okay and Jay was taking care of them.

That all went out the window when they opened the doors and the children were the only ones available.

Quickly untying them and ushering them outside, Steven and Kelsey told the two women what had happened.

JHJH

"Voight," the sergeant said, answering his phone, "Thanks, Haliey."

Without being told, Al stepped on the gas, neatly passing another vehicle.

"Jay got the children out, but isn't with them. One of the kids said he climbed out the emergency hatch on top and found a way to release the trailer from the truck. Other than some bruising, the kids are all fine."

Al nodded. Their boy was in trouble and he was going to make sure they were there to help him. And as they came around, yet another curve, they saw a truck turned over and no movement.

JHJH

Jay watched at the trailer disconnected and swerved before coming to a complete stop at an angle. He sighed in relief, knowing that the kids were fine, since it didnt tip.

The truck sped faster after the trailer was removed, and that was when he could just barely pick up the sounds of a police scanner.

His team had been made and these guys were going to try and escape the consequences of kidnapping.

He wasn't going to allow it.

And, apparently, the kidnappers weren't going to go down easy. The driver started to swerve and the old road, being uneven, cause them to over correct and the truck to flip.

Jay jumped and rolled as he hit the ground, when he realized what was happening, but still felt the discomfort of drawing in breath, and the cracked ribs that caused it.

Seeing the two men get out of the truck, Jay started towards them. One fell to the ground, halfway out of the vehicle, and didn't move again.

The other saw the detective and attacked.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes, both me on the ground, one with his neck broke, the other with multiple stab wounds and a knife in their chest.

JHJH

Al and Voight ran to the scene and briefly paused.

A man lay halfway out of the over turned truck, clearly dead, unseeing eyes looking up at the cold December sky.

A second perp was laying on the ground, neck at a weird angle, staring at Jay Halstead, who was clearly trying to stay awake.

Voight knelt by Jay and turned his face to look at him, "Hey, kid. You with me?"

Jay tried to focus on the hands that touched him, at first trying to fight them, until his wrists were caught in warm, calloused hands. Hands that were comforting, and the voice was familiar, safe.

Al held Jay's wrists, gently, but firmly, seeing the abrasions on them, but trying to keep him from giving Voight another black eye.

Hank still spoke calmly to the kid, never moving his hand from Jay's face, while Al tried to access the injuries that covered the detective. Both feeling the heat rolling off of Halstead, and worried about what injuries were hidden by the jacket he wore.

"Hank," Olinsky spoke quietly, "he's been shot in the shoulder, has a knife wound in the side, wrists are a mess and then the knife in his chest."

Jay finally got a clear look of the person over him, "Voight, don... wanna die ...lone," it was whispered, paper thin and barely eligible, but the best thing either officer had heard.

Until the younger man started to pass out, "Jay? Halstead! Stay with me, kid! That's an order! Jay!"

JHJH

Dr. Will Halstead stood in the breakroom of Chicago Med and scrubbed his hand down his face, clearing the tears.

Sgt. Hank Voight walked in as Will's fist went through the wall, "I don't think Ms. Goodwin is going to be happy about that."

Will huffed out a laugh, "Probably not. They lost him twice, Hank."

The cop sighed, hands going into his pockets, "I know, kid, I know."

"Connor is doing everything he can. Said it'll take hours to fix the artery the knife was in."

The doctor sat on the couch, leaning forward, head between his hands, "I was worried when he went overseas. Afraid he wouldn't come home. Then he became a cop. And a good one. He's all I have left, and I don't know,-"

Voight sat by him and put his hand on his shoulder, "And you won't ever have to find out, Will. He's the strongest person I know, and we are going to be there for him."

After a moment's thought, he continued, "Plus, he has to take my place as lead over Intelligence, when that time comes. I think I he will take it far beyond what I could ever could. And he will do well. But don't you tell him I said that. I'll deny it."

Will choked out a laugh, and looked at the hole he had put in the wall, "You think she'll notice?"

Sharon Goodwin walked in, "Will, Jay is out of surgery. They'll be moving him to SICU once he is out of recovery. I thought you might want to go up to the waiting room so you'll be there when he gets moved."

Will stood, as did Voight, "Thank you. We'll go there now."

As she went to leave, she spoke again, not bothering to turn, "And Will? Make sure you patch that wall. And don't put a picture in front of it, either. Egg shell paint is what we used in here."

Voight slightly smiled, "Yep. She'll notice."

JHJH

The return to consciousness isn't what isn't seems like in the movies. You don't wake up immediately and go on about your daily life. You don't hold conversations for several minutes either.

No, it's so much slower.

You hear things around you, but it doesn't automatically click what it is. You may try to wake up, but you pretty much are out of it for quite a while.

The same went for Jay, the first several times he tried to wake up. But one thing that he could count on, was knowing his big brother was there. He could feel him, may not physically, but he knew.

And when he finally did wake up, several hours later, it was dark outside, and snow was falling, the lights outside making it glitter and shine.

Will was beside him, asleep, his hand on Jay's arm, comforting and familiar.

He must have made a sound of some sort, because the next thing his groggy mind knew, a hand was on his face and his name was being called.

His eyes rolled about, trying to focus, and finally finding his boss at his side.

"You're going to be okay, kid. We're here for you."

And with that, Detective Jay Halstead of Chicago PD's Intelligence Unit fell into a deep, peaceful and healing sleep, knowing that he was safe and he wasn't alone.

JHJH

I figured this was the best place to end it. After having a brief dream of him being in a horse trailer with young kids, (kids not much younger than my oldest) this story was born.

There are some very nice horse trailers out there, some with an air conditioned kitchenette and/ or sleeping area.

Yes, I had to come up with a way for the kids to be rescued, and I know it probably isn't possible to release such a heavy trailer while it is moving, but hey, fanfiction right?

And thank you to everyone who has written their favorite comfort bits and pieces on Tumblr. That helped me so much when I was trying to end this story, but wanting to show the comfort as well.

This story has been posted on fanfiction. net and Tumblr. Tha k you to everyone who has commented and followed. It means so much to me.

I own nothing

[truth-and-lies-drv3-imagines]

- A Royal Reunion

⤷How about Ouma, Kirumi, Miu, Angie and Shuichi with a s/o who's secretly a royalty, but ran away to escape their asshole fiance and parents, and one day they just show up at the s/o's door demanding they return?

⤷Contents: A narcissistic  fiancé, royalty, mentions of running away, a good bit of cursing/swearing, degrading names, fluff and angst if you squint I think?

⤷Summary: S/O runs away from royalty after her narcissistic fiancé makes her life a complete and utter hell, they settle down with their current significant other but when the doorbell rings one day, the person behind the door wasn’t who S/O wanted to see.

⤷Word Count: 3.9K words.

⤷a/n: Hey! It’s been a long time since the blog’s been active and I’ve seen this request half-finished in the drafts and decided to get it finished! I enjoyed this request so much and is definitely one of my favorites.

Blog Masterlist (It’s NOT completely finished yet, but will be soon!)

Kokichi Ouma

-Kokichi was downstairs playing video games while also screaming at the top of his lungs at the other players, he was playing online, while you were upstairs in your room just looking outside with your earplugs plugged in to protect your dear eardrums from the extreme and bothersome screams.

-While you were looking outside of your window, you saw a very familiar vehicle driving by the street the two of you lived in, nothing came to mind immediately when you saw it until it parked right outside of your home.

-You were utterly confused, so you raised an eyebrow you show your uncertainty, you keenly watched until someone came out of the car, they looked extremely familiar but at the same time, you couldn’t exactly wrap your head around on who it was.

-That was until the driver opened the back door of the car and someone who you were certain you didn’t want to see ever again, gracefully stepped out of the car. You almost felt as if your heart skipped a beat, your window was closed so you could only make out a bit of what they were saying.

-”Why would Y/N live in such a pig-stack? Honestly, their standards are so low.” All of a sudden you got up from your casual sitting position and started putting both of your hands on the window and your ear to the window. The glass felt cold, so were you–getting up all of a sudden like that in the speed of light when you were sitting in the same position for what felt like hours, so it felt a little shivery.

-That figure had the same aura around them, the same narcissistic vibes around them, it wasn’t a pleasant one either. You swore that you really didn’t want to be in his presence at all after you left, you found someone much better.

-The young price rung the doorbell, you felt completely mortified and you knew that this wouldn’t end well if your current significant other, Kokichi, answered the door, so you got up and dashed downstairs, having a small glimpse of hope that Kokichi wasn’t at the door.

-It was far too late though, once you finally finished running down the stairs you already heard two voices speaking to each other.

-“So? Who are you? Please don’t tell me you are y/n’s current partner, if you are, what on earth happened to their standards?” Their voice was the same as ever, it sounded posh, sassy and bothersome, every time they opened their mouth you just didn’t want to imagine the words that’d come out of their mouth.

-”Well, if they left you for that reason I guess you are the definition of someone with low standards, besides if they went for someone like me then they have some damn high standards!” Judging by the sentence Kokichi spoke, you’re ex-fiance must’ve already dropped some information of your escape.

-You chuckled a bit at Kokichi’s statement, mostly it’s because it’s something that you’ve always desired to tell your ex-fiance but never got the chance to, or the courage as you’d definitely have a screaming match with your parents even if that was considered as a type of behavior that’s not welcomed by royalty.

- After some time of witnessing this interesting conversation with your current significant other and your ex, Kokichi formed a smirk across his face, feeling accomplished yet relieved he was finally gone, he was happy that you decided to take action to give him a piece of your mind.

- The man left, the area felt much more peaceful, more lively, the cold and narcissistic vibes were gone, that guy seriously have you a difficult time for years.

- “Well, now I think I need to take a shower because his weird germs must’ve flown from his disgusting mouth when he was saying dumb shit and you know that I must be clean because as the Supreme Leader, I must show a good example to my gang.”

- You simply nodded to his words, you gave a small warm smile to also indicate that you were listening to what he was saying. You were just happy that you were living a free, happy and enjoyable life with a person who you truly care about.

Kirumi Tojo

- It was a rainy afternoon, Kirumi offered to do some extra cleaning and promised that she’d spend more time with you after she finished. You had to admit, there was so much guilt sinking into you whenever she did some work, and no matter how many times you offered a hand she always turned it down.

-“This is my job s/o, as a maid I must fulfill my duties” was something she’d always reply with, which meant that you were forced do other things instead as no matter how many times you offered help, she’d always deny it as she wouldn’t want you to sacrifice your precious time into helping her. So you ended up sitting on the living room couch and waited.

-While Kirumi did say that it wouldn’t take long it felt like it, you heard the clock ticking and ticking for what felt like ages, something broke the silence, the ticking wasn’t the only thing that you heard anymore. You checked the peephole to see who it was, the person behind the door was the last thing you’d expect.

- “Seriously?” You thought, it really couldn’t be right? How did they find out where you were living? You decided to slowly and quietly tiptoe upstairs, hoping that he wouldn’t hear your attempts to escape. While you were creeping up Kirumi didn’t hesitate to go answer the door. “Ah, Kirumi you really don’t have to open the-”

- She didn’t pay attention to the words flying out of your mouth and opened the door, she was confused and dumbfounded when he started to speak. “ May I ask if young Y/F/N S/N is here?”

- She was baffled, she never remembered you telling her about this person, ever, actually, this was the last thing she expected. “I will call them here for you” Kirumi turned her head to look back, straightened her hands and called for you. “S/O! Someone is here for you!”

- You just wanted to bash your head into a couple of bricks, not because Kirumi answered, it was because the person who you didn’t want to see ever again was here, outside of your home looking for you.

- “Coming, in a minute!” You slowly went downstairs, trying to calm yourself and trying to find the words to say to them, honest? Confused? Forgetful? Oblivious? Pretend that they got the wrong home? You didn’t know and you found yourself in front of them.

- “ What are you doing here? There is an entire kingdom waiting for you and you just leave? I am an incredible person so why did you?” Their words left you disgusted and you just wished that a lying detector was under their hands so you could show Kirumi how much of a manipulative narcissist they were.

- You opened your mouth, ready to give them a huge rant on why you did but Kirumi stopped you before you did. “Well, Madam/Sir, it seems that s/o seems a bit startled you see here, for the sake of our comfort, I will politely ask you to leave.

- “Me? Leave? Do you have any idea who you’re talking to? I am the future king/queen of the kingdom that y/n and I were supposed to rule, I will not leave until y/n returns with me!”

- Same person, same looks, same personality, same attitude, same beliefs, literally everything about them was the exact same. You weren’t too surprised by their answer though, somehow, you saw this coming.

- “Please do or else I’ll have to call proper authorities for this,” Kirumi coldly stated, they obviously looked disgusted with her answer, feeling defeated and controlled already, even if it wasn’t much.

- “Well fine, just saying, y/n is missing out on someone amazing, are you their slave or significant other?” They smirked a bit, eagerly waiting for her response, Kirumi closed her eyes and took a long deep breath. You decided to get involved with the speaking, you were absolutely dying to ever since they started to open their mouths to create a hectic and chaotic mess.

- “She is both, she works as a maid is my significant other, if you have a problem with that then just leave, I love and appreciate her and that’s all there is to it in a relationship. Relationships end when one is giving too much love and the other doesn’t. Appreciating each other and being loyal to one other are two key points to a relationship and you shouldn’t judge their work ethic.”

- Kirumi was stunned, your ex was disgusted but really, is that even surprising at this point? “Fine then, I’ll leave, mostly because I don’t wanna be around you pig-stacks, I’ll probably find someone much, much better anyways.”

-There they went, their maids put umbrellas above them to provide safety and security for their dear future leader. Kirumi was baffled and relieved that it was all over, “ I guess you have a big story to tell me, s/o” she the laughed and looked back at you, “what a day, let's just sit down and have a conversation, do you want anything?”

Miu Iruma

- You and Miu were just sitting down on the couch, cuddled up together watching a film, it was an animated one and Miu was literally dying for you two to watch it for some time now and you couldn’t just coldly say no, so you agreed and here you are now.

- After some time, the voices from the film and the sound of the doorbell joined together, you pulled the remote and paused the film, “Hey, can’t we just leave them? The movie is gettin’ real good”

- “Come on Miu, we can’t just leave them hanging like that, it might be important. Why don’t you get it and I’ll go fill up the popcorn” Miu hesitantly agreed and the two of you got up to do your assigned tasks. You filled up the popcorn rather quickly but you didn’t hear Miu closing the door, so you thought it might’ve just been a friend. The kitchen was a little far from the main door, so you only heard muffled sounds, with a mixture of loud cursing so you assumed it was a friend as you wouldn’t just casually say such words in front of someone you weren’t close to.

-You came back holding the popcorn filled up in a container while also walking over to your partner talking, “hey! Miu! I finished filling up the popcorn, you said the movie’s getting goo-” you cut off your own sentence when you saw who was behind the door.

-”Hey, s/o do you know who the f*ck this person is?” You gulped, unable to say a single thing as Miu’s confusion only grew, you were just stunned and shocked, you stood right on the spot and couldn’t find the words to speak, it’s like you were completely glued to the floor, and to add to that, you had no words.

-” They’re saying some weird bullsh*t saying that they were your fiance or some sh*t and honestly it feels like they’ve been reading too many fairytales and watched way too many movies are they on something?”

- You took a deep breath and walked over to the door, you were now facing someone you swore you didn’t want to see again. “What’s the story with this y/n? What on earth are you wearing? Where on earth are you living? Who the hell is this whore?”

- Miu froze at the insult, even if she seems to be the type to throw insults at anyone she gets a chance to, she can’t take any herself which baffled you at times and you tried to be understanding about that fact.

- “Well, I’m living in a home where I’m enjoying myself, I don’t want to wear a fancy thing all the time when I’m just watching a movie, and I’m with someone I care about too.”

-You could clearly see that your s/o was a little surprised at your words, “exactly! Now, please leave before I’m kicking your fat ass outta here.”

- They were completely and utterly bewildered, Miu’s words were vulgar and yours were just brutally honest, at this point you were pretty sure that they were definitely offended and both statements, you expected some sort of huge eruption right after the statements, but surprisingly they just let out a rough sigh.

- “You most definitely don’t know what you’re missing out on, I’m pretty sure that another person would die to marry me.” Which was obviously not true, nobody would love someone who never cared about the fact that there was more than one person in the marriage, if there was someone in the world who was able to deal with such a bothersome and toxic personality you’d definitely give them a recommendation.

-Miu slammed the door and folded her arms, “I have a much more entertaining thing to do instead of sitting through that person’s fairytale bullsh*t, let's just continue watching the movie, s/o.”

Angie Yonaga

- It was late into the night, there were almost no cars on the streets, almost nobody was outside. The only sounds that made up the bedroom that you and Angie shared, were the birds quietly chirping and dogs vociferously barking, but those noises slowly faded away. It was another night where the bed felt cold and empty, Angie insisted to finish off a piece she had been working on. But at this hour? You tried your best to convince her to sleep, but her obstinacy got in the way of your reasoning, so you just left it as it was.

- You lay back on the bed, unable to fall asleep, you tossed and turned for what felt like ages, you just weren’t in the right mind to fall asleep just yet. Dreamland was waiting for you but you just couldn’t find yourself in a state where you could fall asleep.

- So you did what many others would do in a similar situation. Engulf yourself in the world of digital media and blue lights. This definitely isn’t a healthy way to bring yourself to fall asleep, but temptation is an unbearable feeling to deal with, 5 minutes became 10 minutes, 1 more minute, you told yourself, just one more, but you kept feeding yourself these lies and you ended up spending much more than just 5 minutes on your phone.

- The whole room was completely silent, not a sound came from anything, you didn’t hear any paint-brushes brush against the white canvas, you didn’t hear her speak, the only sounds that you could hear were the light and soundless taps you created when using your phone. But your taps were now not the only thing that you could hear. It was the doorbell. Who on earth would be ringing the doorbell at this ungodly hour?  You assumed that it was just a group of teenage knick-knackers who had nothing else to do and just ring people’s doors without any announcement. It was quite bothersome but to them, it was a source of entertainment.

- You quickly heard footsteps that followed the ring from the doorbell, it was definitely Angie rushing off to open the door, you would’ve told her to not bother with it and just leave it. But you were far too lazy to get up so you just let her do her own thing. Surprisingly, she didn’t close the door immediately, which was something you’d do if a knick-knacker rolled around. You could’ve sworn you heard a conversation, even if the voices were muffled you could hear another voice that sounded so incredibly recognizable but you just couldn’t decipher whatever it was.

- Curiosity is an interesting emotion, so it forced you to go join Angie by the door, you lazily got up and started going downstairs. You were near enough for Angie to hear you. “Ahh! S/O, this person is looking for you, I don’t know who they are though.”

- That was strange. That wasn’t something you were expecting to hear. It was 3AM, an hour stereotyped by the rest of the world to be scary and eery, and when you saw who was at the door you could see why everybody said that and why this hour was heavily stereotyped.

- “Y/N, are you insane? You just ran off without a trace and it took us so long to actually find you, do you not realize that our people are waiting back at our kingdom? Are you out of your mind?! There are thousands of men/women head over heels in love with me, I could’ve chosen any one of them but I was forced to marry you, I honestly can’t believe you. You’re so ungrateful!”

- You just gave a ‘really?’ face while you witnessed poor Angie being so bewildered by this person’s nonsense. Honestly, if it weren’t for their charismatic personality who severely abused their charms to get your parents to agree to an arranged marriage, you would probably be back at your birthplace living the luxurious life and enjoying royalty, without having to deal with a narcissistic royal figure.

- “Oh come on, don’t make-up stories, S/O isn’t ungrateful! They must’ve seriously hated living with you, God gave me S/O, I’m so thankful for what he has given me and how they were able to run away from your evil clutches. Please leave or else a curse will be put upon you.”

- Your ex seemed to have been taken aback by Angie’s words, curses seemed to have overwhelmed them so they took a step back to process everything that was just said. “Ugh, I’m done! I’m done! I’m sure my parents have somebody else in store for me, someone who can appreciate everything I do for them, they are going to be so incredibly lucky to be with me.”

-They turned their back, their luxurious car was just a few meters away from you, once they had finally gone into their car there was a sense of peace in the area, everything that just happened felt like something that came out of a cliche soap-opera.

- “ I guess you have a ton to think about, don’t you S/O?” 

She definitely wasn’t wrong on that.

Shuichi Saihara

- It was a peaceful and quiet evening, it has been quite some time since you and Shuichi got to just sit down and have meaningful conversations and a harmonious moment where it was just the two of you.

- The two of you sat on an extravagant looking couch, it was black-ish and in front of you was a glass table which looked satisfactory to both of you. There were mugs filled with warm coffee, which gave off a warm feeling to the room as well as tranquility.

- In the middle of one of your long conversations, a knock on the door interrupted the detective’s sentence,  you were a little disappointed as you were completely attentive to what he was saying and you had an interest in what he was saying. 

- “ Ahh, I should go check who it is, you just sit here for now, alright? I’m sure it won’t take long.” You nodded as a response and he then got up to answer whoever was behind the door. He checked through a peep-hole and was unconditionally filled with confusion, your significant other shakingly placed his hand on the doorknob. It was quite obvious that he was hesitant, whoever was behind the door didn’t please him.

- As soon as the door flung open, you heard a voice that made you freeze right on the spot, you practically looked like a statue because of your still figure. You barely paid attention to what they were saying, you just heard it but never actually eavesdropped. His loud, booming voice echoed throughout the main room, which demolished the once amicable setting.

- “Umm, S/O? Could you come over here for a minute? This person is claiming to know you.” The last thing that you wanted was to be facing someone that made your life completely miserable. It took you a couple seconds for you to make up your mind to get up from your comfortable and warm seating. You groggily got up and had a shivering sensation that traveled to your spine.

- Now, Shuichi had another person beside him to listen to this person’s  absurdity. Your poor lover just stood there and looked completely perplexed and was clearly uncomfortable by their words.

- “Are you actually kidding me here Y/N? You just left all of the sudden and we had to search for you for absolute ages! Do you not know how many people are waiting for you? Not only did you run away, but you also ran away from me. The future king/queen of a whole kingdom, a respectable and provocative individual like me should be respected, you are lucky to even be speaking to me!”

- Everything sounded so odd to you, this kind of behavior was the exact reason why you ran off, you may have stayed if your parents were more supportive about your decision to contradict the marriage agreement. But no, they were just as egotistical and self-centered as your ex.

- “Um, I’m not too exactly sure if you’re telling the truth at all, but the both of us are clearly confused about what you’re saying, so for the sake of our comfort please-” you cut off Shuichi’s sentence and wanted to give a bit of your own mind.

- “ The only reason I left was because of how you were so incredibly egocentric and bothersome, I have had thoughts about how you’re doing now and if you’ve changed at all. But seeing how you’re acting now, you didn’t change and it’s quite disappointing. Please leave or else I will just call proper authorities to handle this instead because I don’t see you leaving. Besides, I’m happy enough with my current partner”

- Shuichi looked back at you, a little astonished by your response as he assumed that your ex was just some sort of trickster who wanted to waste your time. But, judging by your response, it seemed like everything was true.

- “Even getting a chance to marry me is a great gift, and you chose this fragile-looking man? You’re a joke, y/n. I’m leaving, someone else there is worthy of my time and attention.”

- There, they were finally gone, the fancy-looking car that they had driven off, hopefully, to never be seen again. There was some sort of confusion that still lingered in your mind, were they that desperate to come over to your home and try to convince you to come back? 

- “Damn, S/O, I’m really interested to know what happened, you have a lot to tell me because I’m curious.”

- You looked back at him and smiled, “let’s go back inside, I have a lot to tell you.”

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[elonscult]

The Awakening - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sabrina managed to put herself together before coming out of the bathroom, she and Elon were supposed to be leaving soon. He had left to say goodbye to some people and they were going to meet at the door in approximately 10 minutes.

She walked out towards the entrance of the house, catching a glimpse of Alec before opening the door. The tall blonde blue-eyed man approached her.

“You’re leaving?” he asked “I thought we were leaving together later”

“Yeah, I.. uhm, Elon’s taking me home” Sabrina said.

Alec’s eyes widened and a smirked formed on his face.

“I see” he said.

“Shut up” Sabrina said rolling her eyes and smiling at her old friend. “I’ll call you tomorrow”.

Outside, Elon was waiting patiently in his car, anxious to see her again. When Sabrina walked through the door he was already in front of it.

“Hey” she said getting in the car.

Elon smiled at her and then they looked at each other as if they had the world’s oldest most precious secret.

The ride to Sabrina’s place was silent. He could feel her breathing, feel the racing of her heart.

As they got out of his car, he walked ahead of her and took her hand. He drew back for a moment and stared down at her. Sabrina met his gaze steadily, In the moonlight her hazel eyes could have been black.

“Do you mind if we catch up tomorrow?” Sabrina asked before they could get inside.

Elon stopped and reached for her hand. He felt confused, wondering if she was doubting the feelings she had confessed earlier at the party, worried that Sabrina was regretting what happened.

She squeezed his hand lovingly reassuring him, almost like if she could read his mind.

Elon leaned in and kissed her forehead, then he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

“I’ll come by tomorrow” he said.

Sabrina smiled and nodded. She knew she needed time to process what happened today. Chemistry was never their problem  but she knew there were other factors to the relationship, other people to consider, uncomfortable conversations they needed to have. But they were together now, and that gave her the comfort she needed to sleep peacefully through the night, knowing they could face any obstacle if they had each other.

Elon arrived early the next day, wearing his usual all black outfit and bringing some breakfast along, when he walked into Sabrina’s house, she was already awake and taking a shower.

Elon wandered through her house, a big Bel air Spanish house that she was very proud of buying on her own. He stopped to look at one of the pictures in the wall, it was an 8 year old Sabrina riding a bike, he smiled, imagining a child of the two of them together.

“Sorry I took so long” she said smiling, almost running down the stairs to finally throw herself into his arms. She gave him a kiss. “Missed you”

“Missed you too” he answered.

Sabrina was wearing jeans with a black tube top and some long gold earrings that Elon followed with his eyes as they moved, unconsciously leading his gaze to her neck. His thoughts were all over the place.

Sabrina smiled. They were now sitting at the table eating breakfast.

“Here” Elon said, offering her a piece of pancake with his fork.

Sabrina opened her mouth but instead of giving her food he took advantage of the circumstances and pulled her in for a kiss.

Dear god! A tongue like that should be immortalized with a monument or someone should find a way to preserve it for posterity. And those lips.. Sabrina didn’t want to stop and think about those lips and what they were capable of doing.

Elon placed his hand on her waist bringing her closer to his hips, in the exact spot where his jeans were feeling tight.

Sabrina felt how Elon was getting tense and his breathing was starting to get fast. They were getting carried away, and she feared that if they didn’t stop in that moment none of them was going to be able to stop later.

Even if she wasn’t happy about distancing herself from him, she softly pushed him away, freeing herself from his hands.

“Get it together” Sabrina said, teasing him and going back to her seat.

“It would be easier to behave if you weren’t so damn desirable” Elon said.

“Shut up” she said.

Fascinated by the harmony in his movements, Sabrina stared at Elon as he took a bite of some fruit.  The idea of locking him in her bedroom for a whole month was starting to feel tempting.

Elon’s phone ringing took her out of her thoughts. He looked irritated as he looked at the caller ID.

“I have to take this” Elon said standing up and walking into the other room.

Sabrina also stood up and cleaned up the empty plates while she waited for him to come back.

“You’re ready to go?” he finally said.

“Sure”

Something was wrong. Sabrina could tell just by looking at him. He was driving but his mind seemed to be somewhere else away from his body.

She had tried several times to make him talk but he was just quiet. Sabrina thought about the call he received earlier, maybe it was that.

He parked in a public parking lot near the beach. Sabrina was unsure of where she was but she didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Wow, it’s really hot out here” she said as she got out of the car, feeling the dense hot air in her face.

She looked at Elon who looked really dashing with his black aviator shades on, a thin layer of sweat covered his skin.

“Is it too hot for you?” Sabrina asked him.

“I’m not gonna die if that’s what you’re asking” he answered almost like if he was too tired to speak.

“A little irritated, aren’t we?

“Sorry” Elon apologized grabbing her hand and then walking towards the exit of the parking lot. “I’m taking it out on you, it’s just work stuff”

“It’s okay” Sabrina said, her big eyes trying to find some kind of expression on Elon’s face. “If you have to go I understand”

“Don’t worry” he kissed her hand and continued walking. “So, we’re going to the aquarium, thought you might enjoy that”

Elon remained in silence as they bought the tickets and got into the building, he didn’t say a word until they were standing below the subaquatic tunnels that allowed them to see the different species in their natural habitat.

“Amazing” he babbled when a huge shark swam just over their heads. He had a childish expression and the light that shined in his eyes warmed Sabrina’s heart.

Suddenly, Sabrina’s phone started ringing. She took it out to see it was a call from her office.

“Hey, Ms. Vanderbilt” It was Mary, her assistant “I’m here at the office and someone broke in last night” she said.

“What?Why? Who would do that”

Sabrina caught Elon’s curious gaze. She offered him a smile and kept listening to Mary.

“No idea, the police is already here looking for clues and fingerprints. For what I’ve seen they didn’t take anything important, did you have anything valuable here?” Mary said.

“Just my computer” said Sabrina.

“Its still here, anything else?”

“No, I never leave anything important” Sabrina answered.

“Wait, the police officer wants to talk to you”

Sabrina waited until she heard the masculine voice.

“Ms. Vanderbilt?”

“That’s me”

“I’m officer Jones. It looks like they took your agenda and some files. Do you have any idea of who would be interested in that?” he said.

“Not really, do you need me to go over there?” Sabrina asked.

“No, no. We’re looking for prints but if you think of someone please let us know” Then, he gave the phone back to Mary.

“Do you want me to go?”Sabrina asked again.

“No, there’s nothing you can do. Really, it’s kind of boring” she said.

“Right, call me if anything happens”

Sabrina placed her phone in her back pocket again.

“Everything okay?” Elon asked.

“Someone broke into my office last night”

He frowned.

“What for?”

“No idea” Sabrina paused for a moment making Elon’s frown intensify while she thought about the possible cause. “I can’t imagine why someone would want my agenda or any of the files I have there. It’s really weird”

“Do we have to leave?”

She shook her head.

“It’s not needed”

Sabrina let Elon guide her through the different aquariums while he read to her the descriptions that explained details about the different animals.

God! How much she liked to hear the sound of his voice while he read. There was something so relaxing in Elon’s voice. He took one of his arms around her shoulder while they walked and she rested her head on him for a moment.

The sweet gesture caught him off guard and managed to debilitate him. Elon realized he spent hours wanting to feel the sweet touch of her body, he thought about how much better it would feel if they were naked right now.

When Sabrina smiled at him his heart began to race uncontrollably. She had something that made him feel things he never felt before. But deep inside he knew what it was, she saw the real him, beyond his appearance or wealth. She saw his soul. Could a woman so wonderful and compassionate like her care about some guy like him?

Sabrina stopped to read another inscription. Elon hugged her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, observing the animals swimming. The smell of his skin invaded Sabrina’s senses and she wished they were back at her place, where she could take his clothes off.

She wasn’t able to remember when was the last time that she desired someone as much as she desired Elon. In fact, she didn’t think it was possible that it had occurred before. She wished to feel him on top of her again, filling her completely.

Sabrina was terrified, he had a place in her heart that would destroy her if he ever left again.

Back at Elon’s place they spent the day in peaceful solitude and when the night came they sat in front of the couch over some pillows. Sabrina rested her head in Elon’s shoulder as he talked to her about some project he was working on. She was doing everything she could to hold herself and not turn around and explore every inch of his body with her mouth.

But Elon was still in a dark mood, ever since that call he received earlier.

“Tell me what’s bothering you” Sabrina said, sitting down correctly on the couch.

He looked away for a moment, contemplating if he really should tell her.

“It was Camille on the phone earlier” he sighed.

“Okay” Sabrina said urging him to continue.

“Nothing relevant, something about a signature for the divorce” He said.

“Is this about money? How much is she getting this time”

“No, she’s not getting anything. She cheated on me” Elon said darkly.

Elon’s answer took Sabrina by surprise, suddenly making her feel sad.

“I’m sorry” she finally said. “You didn’t deserve that”

Elon’s gaze finally met hers.

“Don’t worry, babe. It’s in the past now”

But she knew better, he was hurt. And as much as she would’ve liked to pretend that his whole relationship with his ex wife didn’t happen she knew he loved her at some point in time.

Sabrina carefully sat on his lap facing him, with her legs on each side of him. For once, he kept his hands still on her waist and only touched her with his lips, placing them on her own. It didn’t matter, Sabrina’s head began to spin anyway.

How could his ex wife had chosen another man? How could anyone reject him? He was heaven on earth.

Elon deepened the kiss, exploring Sabrina’s mouth with his tongue. Sabrina felt the beating of his heart while he got closer and closer and his muscles surrounded her.

She had never been so conscious about the presence of other human being. He took her to the limit, made her feel sensations that didn’t know existed.

Elon pulled away to look at Sabrina, making her skin crawl.

“I have urging desires to be inside of you, Sabrina” he mumbled “I want to feel your legs around me, your body beneath me, hear you moan while I make love to you slowly. I want your scent to be forever impregnated in my body.”

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

Sorry for taking so long to post this! And for ending it like that hahah I promise next chapter will be more interesting,  will try to upload on thursday:) Thanks for reading!

[admin-in-residence]

The Arcade Queen Pt. 2 (Billy Hargrove X Reader)

It didn't take me too long to think of a whole bunch of ideas for this series, and this was the one I thought was fitting for the 2nd part! I promise as this continues there is going to be more involvement with Billy!

Also a note; If you didn’t already guess, this is set a little ways into Season 2. 

Summary: A few days after your first encounter with Billy Hargrove, Max asks you to help him out, together the two of you successfully break your car, nearly wake the neighbors and you manage to break down a couple of Billy’s emotional walls.

Part 1

The next couple of nights you had off from the Arcade. It gave you a chance to catch up on homework, spend some time with your family, and dream about a certain Camaro driving boy.

But time flies especially when your busy daydreaming, and soon enough it was time for your next shift at The Palace. Unfortunately, it was another late closing shift. Packing your bag once more with perfume in case of emergencies, you grabbed a jacket and drove off to work.

The night had gone by quick, with you spending most of the time in the back taking inventory and unpacking new prizes, leaving Keith to work the front of the arcade. Roughly half an hour to the end of your shift, Keith popped his head into the back asking you to come out to the front.

You finished putting the empty boxes by the recycling bins and stepped out into the front.

“What do you need?” You asked walking over to your co-worker standing behind the counter.

“Little Red is out on the bench looking for you,” Keith replied.

Out into the chill of the Hawkins air, you felt a sense of déjà vu, you walked around the corner of The Palace, finding a certain red-haired girl sitting on the bench.

“Max? What are you doing here?” You called out to her, moving to sit beside the younger girl. You noticed the small shakes of her shoulders, and how her hair was currently hiding her face away from your view, but you knew none-the-less the girl was clearly upset.

“Hey, it’s okay...” You said softly, wrapping an arm around her. Max gave a soft hiccup before her shoulders began to shake harder. “You can talk to me, you know that right?”

You saw her head give a small nod, but you didn’t press further, waiting for her to open up to you, not wanting to push her away more.

“I got Billy in trouble.” She finally spoke, her voice wavering as she sucked some air in between silent sobs.

“Big trouble,” She quickly added, “I’ve never seen his dad so mad at him...ever!”

“Okay, alright...and then what?” You asked, urging her to keep going.

“His Dad and him got in a fight...a big fight, he hurt Billy and then he left, dad did, And Billy was really upset, and he left and drove off, and I panicked...” Max looked at you finally, her eyes leaking tears, red and puffy. “He shouldn’t be driving, I mean he’s really upset...so I ran off and I didn’t know where to go or who to go to and I figured that you would be here, so I came here.”

It was a lot to process at once, let alone for Max to experience it, but you sat quietly piecing her story together slowly in your mind once more.

“Okay, it’s alright.” You said, rubbing her back, “No more tears.”

“So, your dad hurt Billy,” You started, seeing her nod quickly, “Okay and then they both left, and now Billy’s out driving around Hawkins?”

“Yes!” Max said.

“Okay, what about your mom Max? Where’s she?” You asked.

“Out of town, she went to visit a friend for the week, I thought that his dad wouldn’t get mad if he had to watch out for me, but it’s never been this bad! I’m worried about him!” Max said, fresh tears beginning to well in her eyes.

You took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as you thought about the next steps in your head, you would have to take care of Max until you found Billy, and even then, you were positively sure you weren’t going to let either of them go back home tonight, not after what Max had shared with you...so the only thing to do next...

“Alright Max, we’ll go look for Billy, together...that sound good?” You gave the girl a reassuring smile, watching her expression change to relief.

You grabbed your bag and keys from The Palace, and after bargaining that you would clean the arcade for your next week’s worth of shifts, you left work early, entrusting Keith to lock up for the night.

And here you were, about an hour later driving around Hawkins, looking for any sign of Billy Hargrove or his Camaro. You had already driven by their house twice, in case he had returned, along with some frequent party locations, now you were just skimming some of the lesser roads of Hawkins.

Max had stopped crying but had been silent since the two of you had begun your search for her step-brother.

“So...this happens often?” You asked, breaking the silence, “With your dad and Billy?”

The girl in the passenger seat gave a small nod.

“And, does he always...hurt Billy?” You questioned.

Another nod.

You made a left turn, turning down a road lined with houses lined up on either side.

“Hey, he doesn’t...” You trailed off, not wanting to even ask this question.

“No. He’s never hurt me.” She answered, clearly understanding the nature of your question.

You both lapsed into another period of silence, checking out the driveways and anybody walking on the sidewalks as you made another turn, right this time.

However, shortly after your turn, your car gave a weird little sputter, a sharp little cough, and a horrible shake before ultimately shutting itself off leaving you to ease it over to the side of the road before it stopped entirely.

“That’s not supposed to happen.” Max chimed in from the passenger seat. You, on the other hand, let out a long groan at the timing of the entire situation.

You attempted to turn the key once more, hearing it turn over a few times before giving another sputter, this time a little steam rising up from under the hood.

You and Max got out together, her standing back a couple feet away from you as you lifted the hood up, waving your hand through the white steam flowing up from your engine.

“Yup. It’s dead.” You surmised. Max moved up next to you.

“What’s wrong with it?” She asked. You gave a sarcastic shrug of your shoulders.

“Your guess is good as mine kiddo. I’m not a mechanic. I use the equipment, I don’t fix the equipment.” You replied, shutting the hood down and leaning your back against it.

“So now what?” Max asked, moving once more to lean against the hood with you.

“No clue.” You said, raising your wrist to look at your watch. “It’s a little past midnight, and I don’t think that anybody around is going to be very cooperative helping out two kids in the middle of the night. How far away is your house.” 

It took Max a minute to retrace the last route you had taken from her house.

“Probably 20 minutes driving. We’re practically on the other side of town from my house” She replied. “What about you?”

“Couple of blocks from the last corner we took” You replied. “Guess you're staying over at my place tonight.”

Thus, the two of you began your walk of shame, you giving your jacket to Max who once again had left her’s behind.

“I hope Billy’s okay.” Max said, “He’s so...mean but he said something the other day and it just kind of stuck. We might not like it, but we’re family...I don’t want to see him hurt.”

“I know Kiddo.” You said, not finding the right words to admit your own guilt in not being able to help him.

It felt like an hour had past when you finally made it to your house and had shoved your key into the door when the two of you heard the familiar purr of a certain Camaro coming up the road.

Max and you looked to each other, and then to the road before you both made a mad dash to the sidewalk for Max, and you not even thinking twice into the road.

Headlight’s danced in your eyes, as you heard Billy’s brakes squeal into the night, the two of you screaming for him to stop, not caring about the late hour or your neighbor’s sleeping.

Your hand touched the hood of his Camero as you and Max made your way to the driver's side.

“Billy thank god!” You cried out, “We’ve been looking for you all night.”

Billy, on the other hand, had a mixed look of confusion, anger, and fear as he looked between you and Max, his cheek had a hint of discoloring on it in the dark, and you knew in the light it would be quite a shiner. His lip was also split, dried blood caked to it and trail of blood that had flowed down his chin.

                                                       ***

It took some convincing, but you had managed to get Billy to pull into your driveway, and you and Max had told him everything that had happened, from Max running to finding you, your car breaking down.

You set Max up in your guest bedroom finding some of your old pajama’s and closing the door behind you as you said goodnight to her, before you returned to Billy, grabbing a clean towel and some ice.

Now the two of you sat in silence upon your sofa, him staring anywheres except you, while you gently wiped down the blood and patched him up, holding an icepack to his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered, Billy, wincing as you wiped away more dried blood.

He stayed silent.

“You know if you ever need to talk-”

“Talk!?” He suddenly exclaimed, making you jump at the loud tone. “You want me to talk to you about my daddy issues?”

“Billy, that’s not what I meant-” You tried to cut in, but your words had already ignited the fire within.

“You want me to tell you about everything...about how much I hate this stupid town, and how much I hate my old man for having me be the personal babysitter for a 13-year-old, who should be able to go out and do what she wants instead of being stuck with a piece of shit like me? How about the fact, that I’ve tried to hide for so long so that no one would ever see or know what happened with me and my father!” Billy slammed a hand down upon the coffee table in front of you as he stood, making you jump again.

“Billy-” You started, but he cut you off once more. His mouth opened once, before it shut itself, wordless as you saw a tear slip out from his eye as he turned away.

You had no words to say, so you stood up and lightly slipped your arms around his waist, hugging him softly from behind. One of his hands rose up to lay over yours, and you could feel him shaking.

“Billy. I don’t know what any of that is like, to have your father roughing you up all the time...but you can’t say that about yourself, your probably the only thing standing in between your father and Max, your protecting her...and it’s not fair that your getting hurt, but your doing it for her...” You laid your cheek upon his back, as you felt him take in shuddering breaths.

“I just want her safe. And I’ve spent all this time pushing her away because I’m afraid that I’ll act just like my dad, but the entire time the only person I have acted like is my dad. I can’t fix this, Y/N.” Billy spoke, his voice laced with honesty.

“It’s never too late to fix your relationship with your sister Billy. She was so worried about you tonight, she was a wreck, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, what matters now is what you can do to be better.” You said.

“And if you ever need a place to stay, my door will always be open for you. Both of you, I can help you, but you have to let me help.” You said as Billy turned around looking down at you.

He gave a small nod, and you gave him a warm smile.

“Good, now help me with the pull-out, Max gets the bed tonight for you worrying her all night.” You teased.

Together, the two of you set up the pull out bed on the couch and you brought down some pillows and blankets.

“Thanks, Y/N.” Billy said, taking a seat on the edge of the makeshift bed, you taking a place next to him

“Anytime. Seriously Hargrove, now get some rest, your driving us to school in the morning since my car died looking for you.” You teased, bumping his shoulder playfully. He gave you a cheesy smile in return, and you couldn’t help but thank that it was the most beautiful thing you’d ever see in your life.

The two of you stared into each other's eyes, and you could feel your cheeks flush under his gaze.

Feeling your heart pound just like the moment you shoved your phone number into his pocket, you leaned in close and pressed a feather-light kiss to his bruised cheek. As you pulled away, Billy brought a hand up to cup your cheek, with the softest touch, he guided you back, your lips meeting his, before letting you slip away.

If your cheeks were red before, your face was probably a tomato now, and you quickly stood, bouncing a couple of steps away from him before giving him a shy smile.

“Goodnight Billy,” You whispered.

“Goodnight, Y/N” He replied, his eyes following you as you practically skipped in joy to your room, shutting the door behind you. You raised your fingers to your lips and realized that you were, utterly and undeniably in love with Billy Hargrove.

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Tag list: @acidrain707 @golddustwitches @imsupposedtobedoingcollege

[siempre-pedro]

How Ben Proposes

Ben Hardy x Reader 

Summary: While Ben’s on the press tour for Bohemian Rhapsody, an interviewer asks Ben about he proposes to the reader. This is what happened.

Word Count:  2.1k

The press tour was in full swing for the Borhap cast, Ben had lost count of which one they were on “Ben, Ben Ben,” Joe gasps holding up a ballpoint pen to Ben mouth as they sat backstage.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ben questions as he looks at the pen.

“Which scene was your favorite?” Joe snickers. The blonde rolls his eyes and pushes his friend away. He’d also lost count at the repetitive questions, he and Gwil even formed a betting pool amongst the cast. When one of the production crew came to get Ben and Joe they both smiled but shared a look that read they weren’t ready for another one.

“Ben Joe, thank you for sitting down with me,” the older woman with wavy blonde hair greeted as they all took their seats. The men smiled and gave the typical intro before they paused to show a trailer clip of the movie. Ben internally sighs as the woman directs her attention to him “Before we get started on this fantastic movie. Ben, congratulations on your engagement,” she beams. Ben’s head perks up and puts on the biggest smile as Joe laughs at him.

“T-thank you so much,” he says.

“I know we’re here to talk about the movie but I think everyone would like to know how it happened,” she leans forward and places her hands over her clipboard. Ben turns to Joe who gives him a quick nod to go on, it was his favorite story.

“It’s a funny story actually,” he starts, leaning back in his seat. The smile never left his face as he told the story.

“Ben watch out!” Y/N gasps. Ben grips the steering wheel a little bit tighter and furrows his eyebrows together. They were on holiday in Wales, driving through the narrow road up to the private cottage, much to Y/N displeasure. She sat in her seat, one hand on the ‘oh shit bar’ and the other pressed against the cloth ceiling, one of her feet was on the dash to brace herself just in case. She was terrified to say the least. “What if another car comes? Oh my God, we’re going to die!” She cries dramatically. Driving in the UK made her nervous but when the bushes get higher and the roads become more narrow she was ready to jump out of the small car to safety.

Ben turns his head and holds back a laugh at her distraught face, she was precious, even if she was yelling at him to focus on the road “Baby relax,” he sighs, resting a hand on her elevated knee. “I know what I’m doing.”

“I know! I trust you, I don’t trust them,” it came out more like a scream when she saw the hood of another car come into her field of sight. The dark car pulled off to the side, politely waving at the couple as they drove past. Ben smiled and waved before turning to his girlfriend, giving her a knowing look “See?”

“Whatever,” she sighs in relief and puts her leg down but tightens her grip on the handle. Ben stole glances at her as he drove, he watched her face journies as she tried to peer into the thick bushes as he head rested on the cold window. He was in love, deeply, madly in love with the woman in the passenger seat.

Terrifying moments felt like hours until they arrived at the small cottage. Y/N quickly got out of the car and marveled at the fact that she survived the devil’s road. She caught her breath that she held for most of the journey and finally took in the sight of the home. It was white with a dark brown roof and was covered in green leaves that had beautiful colorful flowers growing at the side. She grinned and walked up the stone walk away “Ben how did you find this place?” you ask, walking through the old front gate “I’ve never seen so much green!”

“Gwil recommended it to me,” Ben grunts as he takes out the heavy luggage out of the trunk. The Y/H/C girl folds her grey sweater-clad arms and smiles back at him. He walks up to her and kisses her cheek “I’m glad you like it, Darling. Let’s go see it.”

The inside was as beautiful as the outside, it was modern with plumbing, no faulty wiring, and a flat screen tv but it kept the charm of the Welsh countryside. She happily stared out the window at a heard of sheep that were roaming a few houses down, the man silently walks up behind her and wraps his strong arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder “I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you more,” he whispers back, looking at her near transparent reflection in the window. As he watches her, he’s hit with a realization. His green eyes open wide, taking a step back away from her which makes her turn to face him.

“Is everything ok?” she questions.

His sudden nerves begin to show “Y-yeah, of course, Darling, why wouldn’t I be?” he stammers, trying to dig out his cell phone from his back pocket.

“Ben?”

“I need to take care of some business stuff. Post production and all,” he laughs nervously before nearly running upstairs. Y/N shakes her head in confusion and cocks her head, what the hell just happened. She shook it off and walked into the kitchen, finding a take out menu on the fridge, praying the driver would make it through the bushes while he dialed the number.

Ben slammed the door o the bedroom and pushed back the locks of hair that fell when he was going up the stairs. He quickly took off his jacket and dialed a familiar number as he fixed the blue t-shirt he was wearing. He paced back and forth tapping anxiously on his hip.

“How’s the holiday?” the voice on the other end asks when he picks up the phone.

“Gwil you know Wales the best…I need your help,” he nearly whispers, just in case Y/N was coming to check up on him.

“Are you alright Mate?”

“I’m going to propose,” he whispers lowly.

“What the hell? That’s fantastic, you’re a lucky man,” he cheered.

The excitement and joy were short-lived when Ben told him the hitch “I don’t have a ring.”

“You don’t have a ring?”

“I only decided I was going to do this 2 minutes ago,” the blonde defended.

“How fast can you meet me in town? I need help.”

There’s a brief pause on the other line “Alright, can you get out of the house? I can be there in 30.”

“I’ll try. I owe you one.” Ben hangs up the phone and regains his composure before heading back downstairs, thinking about what to tell her.

“Ben is everything ok?” She asks worriedly from the couch.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry for worrying you but I have to leave for a while, I promise I’ll be back for dinner,” he explains as he walks behind the couch and kisses her lovingly on the forehead.

“Borhap stuff?” she guesses.

Damn, she was smarter than he was, he didn’t even think of that excuse “Borhap! Exactly. Gwilym and I have to sign some papers in town.”

Her worried expression softens “Tell him I said hello, be safe. I’ll save some take out for you.”

With that he ran off, muttering that he’d be safe. Slamming the door behind him she chuckles to herself and turns on the tv, immersing herself in a baking show “She forgot sugar,” she gasps in shock. She glances over at the kitchen and shrugs, this vacation was important for Ben since he finally finished wrapping the biggest movie of his career so far. An idea popped into her head, she hops up the couch and grabs the decorative basket off the table.

Later that night, Ben walks into the cottage with his hand protectively in his pocket, checking if the coast was clear. He smirks as he sees the living room that was now decorated with flowers from outside, she spent her time well he thought “Y/N!” he calls. She hurries down the stairs in a short white dress decorated with colorful butterflies.

“How was the signing?”

“Signing?” he questions, wrapping her in his arms.

“With Gwil?”

“Oh! Right, it was good, got it done,” he laughs, tucking a lock of curly Y/H/C behind her ear that fell from her messy top knot. She lowers her eyebrows in confusion, staring up into his eyes, she could tell he was nervous.

“Ben, what's wrong?”

“Nothing, Y/N I promise. I’m just hungry,” he covers, walking away from her.

“T-There’s take out on the table,” she informs him sadly, picking at her nail polish.

“I don’t deserve you,” he smiles “I’m going to change, start without me.”

She sat at the table, pushing back and forth a piece of broccoli on the plate while she waited for her boyfriend. What was his problem? Was he cheating? She gasps to herself but quickly composes herself, he wouldn’t do that. Probably just pressure of the job.

Ben finally came down the stairs in a dark yellow sweater and black jeans, smiling to himself “How’s dinner?”

“Cold,” she retorts.

“What's wrong?” he sits across from her and grabs one of the cartons.

“You’ve been acting weird all day,” she stabs at her meal roughly with her fork “Did I do something?”

Ben looks up in surprise “Of course not,” he reassures, “it’s not you I promise.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m just hungry,” he answers, taking a bite.

“Fine,” she exhales and leans back in her seat, looking at him with doubtful eyes. She lays down her fork and stands up “I’m going to go look at the stars,” she tells him while she walks to the couch to grab the grey blanket that was laying on the back of it.

Y/N murmurs to herself as she walks outback, her bare feet squishing against the green grass below her. She steps out further taking int the cool early fall air, moaning in delight while she pulls the blanket around her shoulders tighter. When she looked up her breath was taken away, the millions of stars shown brightly, twinkling amongst themselves. She grins and looks around dreamily, picking out the familiar constellations.

She realizes why Ben took her here, you can’t see this many stars in the city, this was the perfect place. She wanted to share this with him, maybe it would calm him down. She turns around and sees him standing at the back door, a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets “It’s beautiful!” Y/N calls to him.

“You’re beautiful!” he responds before coming closer.

“Thank you for this, it’s remarkable.” She wraps her arms around the actor's neck and admires the way his skin glows underneath the moonlight.

“I knew you’d like it,” he kisses her forehead before joining her gaze up at the dazzling night sky. He brings her in closer, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume and kissing her covered shoulder. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he starts. This was the moment he’d been waiting and preparing for. He steps back and puts his hand in his pocket.

“I love you more than anything in this life Y/N.”

“I love you too Ben,” her response comes out more like a question as she watches him.

“Today something happened and I have never been more sure of anything,” he pulls the black velvet box out of his pocket and gets down on one knee, half regretting it due to his clothed knee now damp and covered in dirt. Tears start to for min both of their eyes, Y/N lets the blanket fall off her shoulders and her hands come up to cover her heart.  “Y/N Y/L/N, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” he asks.

“Ben Hardy, of course I’ll marry you,” she answers as the tears fall from her eyes. Ben stands up and shakily puts the diamond ring on her finger, she looks down at her hands “Is this what you were doing all day?”

“Gwil helped,” he noted.

“It’s beautiful, I love you so much,” she says before kissing him.

Ben got lost in the story, a goofy smile plastered on his face. Joe finally nudged him before his friend spilled all the details.

“That is a beautiful story, again congratulations,” the woman tells him. Ben smiles graciously and gets comfortable in the couch. The interview was at least now a little more bearable with his fiancée on his mind, he’d let the other guys answer all the questions for the day.

[phonaesthemes]

a list of asks

@padawanyugi tagged me in this, but Tumblr decided to eat any notification that I got tagged, so I’m glad I saw it on my dash because I like filling these things out. Thanks for tagging me! I may have typed A Lot.

Favorites: What types of books do you enjoy? Tell about what you’ve read recently (Or maybe about a book you hated recently!)I like spec-fic and sci-fi, although less “hard” science fiction, and I also enjoy fantasy. I read a lot of YA even though I’m in my 30s just because it seems easy to find a story I want to read and I’m not usually in the mood for dense prose.

I’ve been rereading the Wheel of Time series since it’s getting an Amazon TV show; it was my first non-LOTR fantasy series and I love it to death, warts and all, although I love joking about the weak points with other people who’ve read it. I think the last other thing I read was A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was a queer YA historical fiction, and it was a lot of fun. I wish I’d had access to all these queer stories when I was an actual teenager, but better late than never.

What types of music do you like to listen to? Share five songs from your music library. I really do like a bit of everything, although I gravitate towards certain genres more often depending on the season or time of day, so I’m going to cheat and pick 5 per season. Summer for me is lots of peppy pop (pride playlists!), punk and rock and punk-adjacent stuff, just upbeat stuff in general. -Weekender, by The Royal They -Break My Heart, by Dua Lipa -Toutes les femmes savent danser, by Loud -Ruby Soho, by Rancid -Womanarchist, by Bad Cop, Bad Cop

In the fall, my inner goth kid craves darkwave, goth rock, dramatic folk, roots rock, and also anything that reminds me of Halloween. -Iuka, by the Secret Sisters -Bela Lugosi’s Dead, by Bauhaus -How’s It Gonna End, by Tom Waits -Under the Milky Way, by The Church -I Put a Spell on You, by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins I could go on about the Christmas music I like at length (Boney M’s Christmas album slaps, ngl) but I’ll just skip that and say that I listen to more classical and piano pieces in the winter. I’m terrible at remembering names, so artists only: -Ludovico Einaudi -Chopin -Debussy -Saint-Saëns -Dvořák And in spring I’m usually just depressed af and listen to whatever. -FML, by K.Flay -Weird Part of the Night, by Louis Cole -Juodaan Viinaa, by Korpiklaani -P.O.H.U.I., by Carla’s Dreams -Marryuna, by Baker Boy

Do you have a show or movie that you can just put on anytime and it’s your comfort? Definitely Star Trek. I’ve rewatched the various iterations (except TOS) so many times. Also Mean Girls and Bring It On, idk why.

Do you have a favorite dessert? Tiramisu or creme brulée! Or macarons. I don’t eat dessert really unless I’m at a restaurant.

Do you have a favorite cold drink? Sparkling water, hands down.

Do you have a favorite game? The hours I have put into the SIms in my lifetime is probably shameful, although I haven’t played in a while. Don’t Starve is another contender for hours played, but I am also really fond everything by Amanita Design

Do you have a favorite part of your self care/beauty/health routine? I haven’t been doing it much lately since I’ve been dealing with some uncertain health issues with my joints (actually have a rheumatologist appointment later today), but savasana after a long yoga workout is borderline ecstasy.

Do you have a favorite type of take-out food? Indian for sure.

What’s your favorite type of exercise/physical activity? I have a love-hate relationship with running. I don’t actually love it but I love how I feel after. I really enjoy yoga. I love playing in the water at the beach, bodyboarding and swimming.

Pick between: (you choose the context)

Cook or bake? (I love cooking A Lot)

Space or ocean? (Hard to pick, but I grew up by the ocean and it’s 100% my happy place)

Chocolate or vanilla?

City or suburb or rural? (I grew up in an isolated rural village and I miss the quiet and the slower pace of life, but I do not miss the lack of amenities and opportunities, or the smalltown gossip. I also don’t drive bc of epilepsy, so I’m fucked as far as transport in rural settings.)

Past or future?

Shower in the morning or evening?

Mac/Apple or PC/Android? (Linux in general!)

Sing or dance?  (I don’t have an amazing voice but I can carry a tune without it being painful, and I love singing along with songs.)

Get up early or sleep in? (I actually love sleeping in but with two kids, early morning is my only time to myself, so I wake up before 6 most days AGGH.)

Shoes, socks, or bare feet? (Hate socks. I’m barefoot at home all year round.)

Marker, crayon, or pencil? Pen!

Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate? (Coffee in the morning, tea later on.)

Random questions:

Have you ever had any pets? (Had dogs and a cat as a kid, and as an adult I’ve had betta fish and cats, and I have a cat currently.)

What is your academic background/job field? I did my undergrad in linguistics, and I am currently a stay-at-home dad lol. I do freelance editing and transcription on the side. I don’t think I’ll ever work in my field bc I really don’t have the energy to go to grad school.

What’s something random that you’re into (even if you aren’t good at it)? I signed up for a Cape Breton step dancing class in university and I loved it.

Are you good at putting away your clean laundry right away? It depends on the day, but generally yes. Mine and everyone else’s. When I lived alone? Absolutely not.

What’s one of your pet peeves? Someone trying to have a conversation with me when they have the radio or TV on. I can’t follow what you’re saying if someone else is speaking! I hate having that stuff on as background noise in general.

What’s something you’re pretty good at? I’m a great cook.

What’s the most recent nice thing you bought for yourself? A new conditioner ig? lol

Can you sew? I can mend a small tear or sew on a button, but it’s been years since I did more than that.

What’s a chore you hate (or a chore you enjoy)? I hate vacuuming so much. So much. Maybe if I had a better vaccuum cleaner I wouldn’t mind it, but I just feel like I’m fighting with the stupid thing, getting caught up on its own cords, caught on furniture, can’t quiiiite reach a spot... HATE IT. I like shoveling snow sometimes, though.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself. I am 20 years older than my youngest sibling, and five minutes younger than my “oldest” sibling.

Never have I ever... Gone fishing, even though I’m from a fishing community.

What extracurriculars did/do you do in school? In high school, I played trumpet in band until the band got dissolved from lack of funding. I played soccer one year, was in a play another year. We had an art club for like a semester that I was in. In university the first time round, I did step dancing and intramural hide and seek  Second time around, I was in the linguistics club to help with assignments. (We were very much encouraged to work in pairs or groups for a lot of different classes. The only thing was that you did need to list your group members on the assignment so the prof knew who you worked with. My first morphology class in particular, we had a whole homework club where a huge portion of the class got together to work through assignments and help each other understand, and the prof would quite often show up. </tangent>

Deeper questions:

How’s your quarantine/last few months been? The cabin fever was really bad before the weather warmed up. I struggle with seasonal depression every spring, and it’s gotten much worse since we moved to Edmonton because of how long the winters are. (Snow from September to May/June? Fucccck.) It’s frankly horrifying to look at what’s going on in the US, but even though we have far fewer cases here, I’m really anxious that we’ll see another wave soon. Otherwise, I think I’ve adjusted. Home-schooling, hand-sanitizing, social distancing, masks...All feels kind of normal now, which should maybe concern me.

What do you think of human nature/society/etc.? I am like the least philosophical person you will meet so I don’t think I really have many thoughts.

What’s something you are insecure about? Writing my L2 if a native speaker is gonna read it.

What do you think is the meaning of life/reason that humans exist in the universe? I don’t think there is one, and that doesn’t bother me.

Do you think you’re better (whatever that means to you) than you used to be? Definitely. My adolescence and early adulthood was rough. I was dealing with a lot of trauma, untreated bipolar disorder, and I self-harmed for a very long time. I could not imagine making it to 30, let alone being stable and happy. I actively avoided thinking about the future because it made me spiral. But I was lucky enough to get help, consistent help from a doctor I clicked with, and it made a world of difference. I think younger me would be disappointed at how mundane my life is, but I’m thrilled to be boring because boring means no life-upending mood episodes. I have a happy partnership and two delightful kids and I couldn’t ask for more.

What are your thoughts on religion? I’m not religious and my own experience being raised in the Catholic church was frankly traumatic, but I know that it’s a source of comfort and community for many others and I think that’s awesome for them.

Do you think that there are aliens out there? I think so, although I think that we may not even know what other kinds of life to look for and may not recognize it even if we find it.

What’s something that’s been on your mind recently? We’re moving cross-country in less than a month (driving, no less, nearly 5000 km) and I still have so much to do to get ready aosjdoajdoasijdoaijsd