#also the way wille's face lights up at the mention of his crush ugh

[leojfitz]

young royals rewatch: season 1, episode 3

-Do you thint that maybe I could come to Bjärstad instead? .To my house? -I just want to hang out with you. -With me and Mom? Or what? -Exactly. She was awesome.

[xiaojusaur]

7 Minutes in Heaven

Pairing: Friends to Lovers! Hendery x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut, Comedy

Warnings: car sex, fingering, squirting, dirty talking, multiple orgasms, mentions of masturbation, mentions of alcohol consumption.

Word Count: 6K

Description: Hendery was the new guy in class who didn’t know how to talk English well, that’s how you first start talking and then became good friends. You had a crush on him, but he didn’t know. Everything changed at a frat party; you shouldn’t have played 7 minutes in heaven with your friend.

You were accustomed to arrive early to the classroom because there was a certain desk you liked, plus you didn’t like being either too close or too far to the professor. Sometimes you really didn’t feel like paying attention, and today was one of those days.

On the way, you met with your best friend, but you couldn’t enroll in the same classes this semester, so she had to leave quickly.

When you got to the classroom, there was a new face and he was sitting on your favorite place. The shock froze you in place, he hadn’t noticed you were there as he was writing something down on his notebook and his dark mane was covering his face.

You decided to be nice and just sit on the desk on his left. When he was aware of your presence, he turned his head to you, your eyes meeting when you raised your glance. You smiled and he smiled back. He was cute. You both kept quiet until the rest of the classmates and the professor arrived.

“Class! We have a new student with us! Hendery, please say hello!” Your professor introduced the new guy to your right. He waved shyly. “Please be patient with him, he doesn’t know much English. He came all the way from Macau. If you guys see him struggling, please give him a hand,” your professor continued.

So that’s why he was so silent! He seemed so nice and you having a lot of empathy, could feel he was feeling anxious. It must’ve been hard not being able to communicate well.

The class continued and you were distracted with the fact that maybe Hendery couldn’t understand well what was being discussed. He looked so focused, you didn’t dare to interrupt him because maybe he was trying to do his best. So you waited for the class to be over and when he was about to leave, you stopped him.

“Hey, wait a minute!” You whisper-shouted.

He turned around and his face seemed to light up.

“Are you okay? Did you understand the class?” You asked him.

“Yeah, I tried my best,” he shrugged and then giggled.

You giggled with him and then said, “If you ever need help to understand something, just ask me, okay?”

“Alright! Thank you!” He seemed genuinely happy that you were willing to help him.

“Do you know anyone around?” you didn’t want him to be alone.

“Yeah, I have a friend. I will meet him now to get lunch,” he explained.

“That’s good!” You nodded.

“Do you want to join us?” He asked you.

“That’s alright! I’ll meet with my best friend too,” you answered.

“Oh okay, see you later then,” he was about to leave when he remembered he didn’t know your name. “Oh! Wait! What’s your name?”

“Y/N,” you smiled to him one last time before he nodded and left.

The months went on like that. Hendery occasionally came for help, he liked teaming up with your for group projects, and he even invited you to lunch a few times. You liked spending time together and slowly, he merged into your group of friends, bringing his group of friends also.

His English got better and better, he was almost and expert, even though he had a cute accent.

You found yourself having a huge crush on him, but you swore you would never tell him. For you, he was way out of your league, you weren’t his type, and you didn’t even know about his language, though he had tried several times to teach you some words and expressions.

“Hey!” He arrived to your apartment without notice to find you curled up in your sofa watching a movie.

“Hi! What’s up?” You said while checking your phone to see if he had texted you, finding an empty screen.

“So, tonight’s there’s this frat party from the frat house Yangyang is in, do you maybe wanna go?” He then smiled widely, trying to convince you.

“I don’t know... I’m not in the mood for partying today,” you replied while cuddling the cushion.

“Come onnn!” He flopped by your side on the couch, “Lyndsey is gonna be there! She’s gonna stalk me the whole night!” He groaned.

“Well, that’s your own fault! You dicked her down and she got addicted,” you shrugged, laughing at him later.

“Hey! I was in need!” He explained unnecessarily.

“You guys can’t last a week without pussy, that’s sad, you know,” you were mocking him.

“It’s in our nature, what can we do? Plus, how long has it been since you got laid?” He was smirking, trying to make fun of you.

“Shut up,” you pushed him playfully.

“So come on!!!! Let’s go to the frat party!” He started shaking you by the arm.

“Alright! Alright! Ugh! You’re so annoying!” You jumped to your feet and went to your room to change, your quick choice being a pair of jeans, a turtleneck shirt, a bomber college jacket, and some sneakers. You texted your best friend.

Hey! Are you going to that frat party?

Idk... are you?

Dery is making me go. Something about Lyndsey and stuff

Sucks. I can accompany you

Please! It’s possible he finds someone else and leaves me alone there surrounded by strangers

Fine, I’ll throw something on and see you there.

You got out of your room and Hendery was there, laying back on the couch while watching the TV. He looked so cute. You couldn’t believe you had a crush on him and he hadn’t noticed.

“We’re ready to go,” you announced and he looked at you from head to toe and back up. He catcalled you as a joke, “Look at my bestie gooo! She’s gonna seduce some men!”

You rolled your eyes and said, “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

“Fine, let’s go!”

At the party, you met with your best friend while Hendery went with his friends. Everyone was wilding, playing beer pong, dancing, drinking, making out on the corners.

You stayed by your friend’s side, dancing and drinking. Hendery found you in the crowd and started dancing with you too, after all, you were that comfortable with each other. He grabbed your hips and was grinding on you while you followed his hips. When the song finished he said he was gonna get more alcohol while you ran to your best friend again.

“Are you not gonna tell him ever?” She asked you, talking about your huge crush in Hendery.

“I don’t think I will. I mean, we’re okay as we are,” you shrugged. You didn’t want to lose his friendship and you thought that if you told him, everything would turn awkward, so you just decided to keep it to yourself.

As the night went by, people started to get sleepy, some passing out on the couches, others disappeared who knows where. Only a few were still alive and among them were Hendery, your friend, the infamous Lyndsey, and you. Someone had the bright idea of playing 7 minutes in heaven just for the sake of relieving high school memories, so you all sat on the floor in circle. Some random guy looked for an empty bottle that would choose the lucky couples. You were sitting across Hendery, who looked spaced out, probably drunk already and being stalked by Lyndsey. The poor girl’s eyes were shining with high hopes of getting a chance to be alone with Dery again. You were mocking him and he was acting annoyed.

As the game progressed, many random couples got to be locked in the darkness of the closet. Your friend matched with the very hot Jaehyun guy from English class but she didn’t spill anything. While you were teasing her, you heard Hendery’s name along with some noise by his friends. You were about to start mocking him too when you noticed the bottle was pointing at you.

You swear your surroundings froze in time. Your friend’s eyes widened because she knew how you felt. Hendery tho, was excited because after all, it was you and he wouldn’t feel so awkward.

“Aren’t you going?” Said the guy who had the control of spinning the bottle, Lyndsey looked at you and then to Hendery, expecting you to not go. Hendery actually helped you to stand up and basically dragged you into the closet with him. Before locking the door, the guy with the timer said, “Whatever you do, you have 7 minutes. Nothing more,” and with that, he left you two alone in the darkness of the closet.

You were holding into Hendery’s arms, maybe to know he was there, maybe as a support, or perhaps because you wanted to feel him close.

“Well, at least I’m saved from Lyndsey,” he laughed nervously.

“Yup, once again, I am your savior,” you remarked.

Being alone with Hendery wasn’t awkward usually, but there was some weird tension going on in the tiny space of the closet.

“What should we do?” He asked in a whisper, the air emitting from his lips blowing you right on the face because he was too close.

“I don’t know... talk? We’re friends, this isn’t weird,” you tried to convince yourself.

“I mean... yeah...”

“These had been the longest seven minutes of my life,” you stated.

“Let’s kiss, maybe that would make it less awkward and the time will go faster,” Hendery suggested and you swear the butterflies in your stomach made a tornado.

“You think kissing between friends is less awkward?” You asked confused.

“Well yeah, I mean, we’re friends. It shouldn’t be weird, it’s only a kiss,” he said, ignorant of your feelings for him.

“Okay then,” you agreed, “but let’s not allow this to make us awkward after, alright?”

“Promise,” he gave you his pinky to hook with yours.

In less than a second, his lips crashed on yours. You thought it was just gonna be a peck, but then he started moving his lips, and automatically, yours responded. His tongue darted between your lips, looking for yours to tangle with. Your arms snaked around his neck, while his wrapped around your waist, bringing you even more closer. Having him like this sparked the feeling inside you more: you were in love with this guy without remedy.

When you two were getting comfortable with it, you heard the alarm outside, indicating time was up. You detangled from each other, fixing your hair and your clothes to make it seem that nothing had happened. Everyone knew you two were best friends and to give the tiniest hint that you had done anything in there would be enough for your group of friends to start teasing you. When the door opened, you went on with your normal friendship and acted as if you haven’t kissed passionately a few minutes ago.

You were too overwhelmed, so you decided to leave with your friend. Hendery stayed. He was probably gonna crash in with the boys.

On the way back, your friend was telling you about her experience with Jaehyun, and then she remembered your time with Hendery.

“Did anything happen in there? You two looked pretty normal to me,” she inquired.

“Well... we kissed,” you shrugged.

“I knew it -wait what?!” She was shocked! “You kissed? As in a peck or-?”

“As in full tongue,” you nodded.

“Oh my God...... how do you feel?” She was concerned now.

“Like I’m in love... I feel like as soon as his lips touched mine, I was done, I completely fell in love with him,” you confessed.

“Oh no.... what you gonna do now?” She asked.

“Try to not be awkward and act as if it was nothing. Friends can kiss right?” You fake-smiled.

“No they cannot! Friends with benefits do... but I don’t think you’re there yet,” she scratched her neck.

“I’m fucked aren’t I?”

“Very...”

You tried avoiding Hendery until you felt better and collected your thoughts, but that was kinda impossible since he was everywhere and he looked for you everyday. So you did your best to not looked like you were having a turmoil of feelings every time you saw his stupid, beautiful face.

There you were, having lunch all together. He was talking about how he wanted to talk to a cute girl who was a few tables away. Your friend placed her hand on top of yours in silent support.

Honestly, you didn’t know what was up with you. He usually talked to you about his affairs with other females and you weren’t this affected, but today you were bothered by it. While his friends celebrated that he was going to get her number, you stood up and left with the excuse of having to study because of a test. Your friend followed you.

“I think you need to talk to him,” she suggested.

“I don’t know. I feel is going to be useless,” you grunted.

“Y/N, it has gotten to a point where you’re always fuming. He will start noticing your behavior soon if you keep this up, so my advice is that you two sit down and talk this out,” she stepped in front of you.

“There’s nothing to talk about! He doesn’t feel the same way I do. I’m the one trying to ruin our friendship,” you said as you threw your hands in the air in frustration.

“First of all, you don’t know that. Second of all, if you keep bottling it, you’re gonna explode and it’s going to be worse. And that’s not ruining a friendship, it’s only natural you like him. You spend time together, he knows you well, he brings you snacks...” Your friend was trying to talk reason back to you.

You whined, “But how am I supposed to tell him? I can’t just sit him down and tell him, ‘Listen, I have this huge crush on you, please love me back’, he’s a guy, he won’t understand.”

“Well, if he feels the same way he WILL understand,” she said matter-of-factly.

“That isn’t helping! Ughhh! I need to plan something... something that looks casual but it’s the right moment, you know what I mean?”

“How about... how about you invite him to watch a movie? That’s something you guys do often, right?” She suggested and you nodded. “You watch a movie, you have your snacks, you cuddle as you always do, and then you tell him. What do you think?” She wiggled her eyebrows and you laughed.

You gasped, “How do you know we cuddle? Are you spying on me?!”

“Come on, let’s be realistic. You two look like cuddly people,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah true... your plan sounds good. Imma try it. You’re the best! I don’t know how my life would be without you,” you embraced your friend in gratitude.

At night, you texted Hendery to start with your plan:

Hey, dumbhead

Sup, headache

Do you have plans on Friday night?

Not yet, 为什么？(weishenme - Why)

Why are you texting me in Chinese?! You know I don’t understand! I mean, I’m deducing that means why.

🤪🤪🤪

Anyways! What do you think if we watch that new movie on Netflix?

Sure, I’ll bring snacks

Kay

好！

Now that you had everything planned, you started thinking about what to say and how to say it. You couldn’t just shoot it.

A few hours later, when you were about to go to sleep, you received another text from Hendery. It said it had an image attached. It was strange but you decided to open it. And then regretted it.

Hendery had sent you a spicy picture. It wasn’t a nude but it was pretty suggestive. He was holding his member over his pants, as if to show how big he is without actually showing. Almost a dick pic.

You panicked, you were sure that wasn’t for you. A sudden jealousy took over you because, why was he sending these pics to someone else? But also, your friend-self told you to keep calm and let him know.

Wrong number! Dumbass! Look at the number before sending these kind of things!

He didn’t answer for a while, but then he appeared

I’m sorry!!! Oh God! I’m so embarrassed!

It’s all good. At least you’re not showing anything. My eyes aren’t bleeding yet!

I’m really sorry!

It’s okay! We’re friends...

And you left him with that.

Friday arrived and you were nervous already, waiting for Hendery in your apartment. Around 8PM he knocked on your door and you yelled “Come in!” Too lazy to get up from the couch. He looked comfy but so sexy at the same time.

Hendery brought a lot of snacks and placed them on the low table.

“I brought your favorites and mines, to fix your day!” He said excitedly.

You smiled and replied, “Thanks! I really appreciate it.”

“Let’s get to it!” He yelled and you shushed him laughing, he was so noisy and your neighbors would complain.

You were cuddled up with each other while watching the movie. You were leaning on his chest while he played with your hair with one hand and ate popcorn with the other. You felt his eyes on you, so you looked up and your eyes met. He smiled to you and you smiled back. You didn’t know if it was your imagination but you felt he was getting closer to your mouth. In your panic you didn’t move and opted to let it happen, maybe this was a sign that he liked you back. But then, his lips never touched yours and only centimeters away he said, “Haha, gotcha,” with a groggy voice.

You got angry and couldn’t conceal it anymore. So you got off the couch as quickly as possible.

“What’s wrong?” He asked confused.

The ticking bomb inside you snapped.

“What’s wrong?! You dare to ask me what’s wrong?! Hendery! You just pretended you were going to kiss me and then told me it was a joke!”

“Hey! Calm down! I thought it would be funny! Since you know, we kissed in the game as a joke” His eyes widening in concern.

“So the kiss was a joke to you?” You said crossing your arms tightly.

“I thought it was just a game, it didn’t mean anything,” he explained.

“It did to me!” You blurted, your mouth talking before you could think straight.

He froze and gulped, “What?”

“Nothing,” you turned around and walked to the kitchen.

“Y/N!” He walked behind you, “talk to me! You’re acting really strange lately. You’ve been avoiding me, you get angry about everything... what is wrong? What changed?”

You leaned on the counter, trying to find the correct words. “What changed is...” you gulped and then continued, “My feelings for you, Hendery. That changed.”

He was so puzzled. “I don’t understand...”

“Hendery, I’m in love with you,” you confessed, feeling a relief within you.

You looked at him, his eyes were alarmed, not quite the reaction you were expecting. “I- I- I don’t know what to say...” he stuttered.

“You don’t have to say anything, Hendery...” you muttered.

“I- I’ll be right back...” he walked slowly to the door and left without his things. He didn’t come back.

“Great Y/N, great! You just ruined your friendship,” you said to yourself, running your hands through your hair.

You cleaned your apartment and curled up in your bed, regretting everything you just did.

You two didn’t talk for a week straight, not daring to approach each other. Hendery went to Xiaojun for help because he felt he was losing you and he didn’t want that, but he felt bad for leaving you hanging that night. You were expecting an answer from him, but at that time, he didn’t think you were going to say what you said.

“This is simple, Hendery,” said Xiaojun while cooking something. “How do you feel about her?”

“I don’t know!!!” He whined, pulling his long strands of hair.

“I think you do know, you just don’t want to accept it,” Xiaojun chuckled. “You can be honest with me, you know.”

“Ughhh! Okay,” Hendery groaned. “I think I’m pretty accustomed to her as my best friend that I didn’t think I could actually like her. But now thinking about it well, I feel like my best self when I’m around her. I can be myself and she won’t judge me, she follows my weird behavior, she shares snacks with me...”

“Let me change the question a little bit,” Xiaojun interrupted, “the day of the party, how did you feel when you kissed?”

After thinking about it a little, Hendery answered, “I wanted to keep kissing her. I felt so comfortable in her arms. She’s a great kisser btw,” he drifted away.

“Focus!” Xiaojun yelled.

“Okay, okay! I don’t know, I feel like I would be able to tell if I see her again... but I don’t know how to go back to her,” he sighed.

“How about you do a non-date date, something simple like going for a late night drive,” Xiaojun suggested.

“You’re a genius!” Hendery exclaimed.

“I’m a romantic, which is different,” he pointed out.

It was 12AM on a Friday and you we’re already cuddled in your bed when there was a knock on your door. You threw a hoodie on, to not wear a bra just in case, and went to see who was it.

You felt like the air was punched out of you when you opened the door and saw Hendery’s figure. His hair was disheveled and he was wearing a cream-colored shirt, black joggers, and his glasses: the best look on him. “Hendery...” you said softly.

“Um... hi!” He smiled awkwardly, making him look so cute to you. “Listen, I know we haven’t talked this whole week and I didn’t have the best response to what you said and I’m sorry about that,” he was talking too fast.

“Hey... it’s okay,” you patted him on the arm. “You want to come in?”

“Actually, I came here for you. Do you want to go for a late night drive?” He was swinging, looking pretty nervous.

You sighed, “Do I have to change?”

“Not really, I mean, look at me,” he extended his arms and turned around. You giggled.

“Fine, let me get my shoes,” you ran to your room and put on the first sneakers you found and you both got in his car.

He was just driving around town, both of you being the old friends you were, singing loudly to the songs on the radio, laughing out loud, and watching the neon lights of the places that were open. He got down on a station to buy snacks for both and then kept going.

You ended up on a lonely hill with a view to the city lights. Sitting on the front of his car, you listened to Hendery talked about his life in Macau and what he missed. Then you were playing, trying to guess where were the places among the tiny lights at sight. Like magnets, you cuddled against each other without noticing; the night was getting cold after all. In the chit-chat, the clock marked 3AM. You got in the car again but Hendery didn’t started the car, instead he talked.

“Y/N... I’ve been thinking about what you told me.” There was a long silence between you two, so he continued, “I like the version of me when I’m with you. It’s so easy to not think about what to do or what to say, I can just speak my mind. I really appreciate you.”

“Same here, Dery,” you placed your hand on top of his, which was on his thigh.

“Im sorry for making you feel bad. I really didn’t think straight, I was in utter shock,” he apologized.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have said that the way I did,” you accepted.

“So no hard feelings?” He asked, looking at you now.

“No hard feelings,” you smiled.

But then the air changed between you two. A force was drawing you together and neither of you stopped it. Your lips touched, sparking the flame inside you again. And like that, Hendery knew he loved you too, because the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t stop dancing. His hand traveled to the back of your head, holding you softly. He pulled back first, mumbling, “I’m sorry, is this okay?”

“Only if it’s okay with you,” you whispered.

“I love you,” he muttered before kissing you again, this time deepening the kiss. Your arms quickly wrapped around his neck, bringing him closer. It turned to a passionate make out session and you were gasping for air. You smiled because you were kissing your best friend and Hendery smiled because you looked so cute.

“Should we take this to the backseat?” He suggested with a groggy voice.

“Here? Right now? Really?” You joked.

“I’m sorry! I’m desperate for you,” he shrugged. He jumped first, to lean the seat back for more space. Conveniently he had some sheets there. Then he beckoned you with his hands, inviting you to jump with him. You did as told but your foot got stuck on the front seat so you landed flat over him. You both started laughing at your disgrace but then started kissing wildly again.

He rolled over so you were under him. He fitted perfectly between your legs, as if you were made for him. Quickly, clothes started to be bothersome and he took off your hoodie. Then, Hendery’s hands ran underneath your shirt, reaching your breasts. He squeezed them and then started playing with your hardened nipples, rolling them between his fingers. Soon enough, he asked you, “Can I take this off?” Pulling your shirt. You simply responded, “Please.” He also took off his, revealing his beautiful body and threw both of your shirts to the front seat. One of his hands ran down your body, feeling all of you while he enjoyed your lips. You sighed in satisfaction, feeling yourself getting wetter with every touch and each kiss.

Hendery knew when to start touching you and he asked for your consent, “Can I touch you?”

“Please Dery, I’m so wet already,” you said in a needy whisper.

He groaned in response, his fingers not loosing time in snaking inside your shorts. First he touched you over your underwear and then he slipped inside your panties, finding your clit easily. “Oh my god,” you said in a breathy murmur.

“Fuck... you’re so wet,” he hissed. He took out his hand to pull down your pants and underwear, all in one go, helping you shimmy out of them. After all, none of this was being awkward between you, you felt comfortable with each other. Once he had you all at his mercy, he kissed your neck, his mouth going down and down while his hand went to your south. His lips enclosed your nipple at the same time his fingers got between your folds. God! He was so skilled! Your hand played with his hair while his did unholy thing to you.

He sticked his middle finger in you, going in and out, then he added his ring finger and started moving them fast and deep inside, making you whine. “Fuuuuck! Dery! Feels so good!”

He let go of your nipple with a pop, “You like my fingers, baby? Yeah?” His voice was lower than usual and breathier, it had your head spinning.

“Ooh! Yeah, I love them,” you cried and kissed him. You could hear the squelching sound coming from between your legs. You couldn’t believe Hendery was the one making a mess of you.

You felt your orgasm bubbling inside you, “Hendery I’m gonna cum,” you said in a high-pitched whimper.

“You wanna cum on my fingers? Do you like them that much?” He panted.

“Mmmm! Yes!” You moaned.

“Come on, baby, let go,” he commanded you and started thrusting his fingers faster.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” you said in a shattered chant and then you felt the delicious tingles all over your body, your eyes rolled back, and your back arched. Something unusual happened this time: strands of water gushed out of you and your legs started to shake. You cried loudly loosing all control of your body. Hendery was amazed of what he just did, “Shit! So hot!”

You, on the other hand, were embarrassed. “Oh god... I’m so sorry...” you hid on the crook of his neck.

“It’s okay, that was so hot! I’ve never achieved that. Did you know you could do that?” He caressed your hair in assurance.

“No... it’s the first time that happens...” you whined in embarrassment.

“Baby, it’s okay,” he chuckled, “wanna know something? I’m harder now.”

“Deryyy!” You gasped.

“Can you take it?” He hummed.

“I can take all of you,” you smirked.

“So naughty, I like it,” he pecked your lips and proceeded to kneel in front of you, all bended to avoid smashing his head with the hood. He slipped his pants off easily, along with his briefs, his hardened cock springing free. Your mouth watered at the sight, the tip so pink, shinning with wetness, all ready to take you.

You opened your legs, inviting him, you couldn’t wait for him to be inside you.

He hissed when seeing your still wet core, “Fuck, I could’ve beat that long time ago,” to which you laughed. “Well, you decided to keep boundaries.”

“You’re my best friend, wasn’t it going to be weird?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe?” You shrugged.

“I’m a man, you know. I’m weak. Do you think I didn’t wish to rearrange your insides some of those nights where we cuddled in your couch? It took the best of me to calm this little guy,” he grabbed his length. You burst out laughing.

“Are we really having this conversation when you’re about to wreck me?” You rolled your eyes.

“You started it!” He complaint.

“Oh, shut up and fuck me,” you taunted.

“Condom or no condom?” He asked.

“Wrap your weiner, I don’t know where you have sticked that thing in,” you commanded him.

“I’m clean! I always protect myself, who do you take me for?! I offered myself since I trust you as my best friend, but okay. And don’t call him a thing! He has a name!” he sounded so offended.

“Oh my god! Don’t take it personal! Maybe in the future I’ll let you fuck me raw,” you winked, “but for now, let’s do it this way.”

“Alright,” he said as he looked for his wallet in the pocket of the pants he just discarded. Finding the tiny foil square was fast and he was even faster rolling it down his shaft.

“Come here,” he pulled you closer by your legs, making you laugh. This whole adventure had been a fun ride for both of you.

He kissed you passionately again, one of his hands ran to your leg, bending it a little to have better access to your entrance. He then hold his length, rubbing the tip up and down your pussy, teasing you, making you bite your lip. You were shaking in anticipation.

He pushed himself in slowly, both of you moaning. “Mmm, 操! (cào - Fuck), you’re so tight for me, baby,” his said in a shaky whisper.

He went as deep as he could, making you feel so full. “Hendery,” you breathed, “I feel so full.”

“Yes baby, I’m gonna make you feel so good,” he assured you in hoarse groan.

He kept thrusting you slowly, passionately, enjoying every inch of you. The car was full of shaky breaths, low moans, occasional grunts, and the sound of kisses. Never in your life you thought you would share such an intimate moment with Hendery, but you were loving every second of it.

“Can I go faster?” He asked softly.

“Yes please,” you pleaded.

Hendery caged you in his arms and started snapping his hips faster. His lips whispered filthy praises in your ear, adding up to your want for him, “So good, your cunt feels so warm baby, wanna fill you up with my cum. Do you want that? Yeah? Mmmm... Making love to you feels so nice. I love you, I love you, I love you. This is the only pussy I wanna fuck for the rest of my life.”

Your hands hugged him back, running all his back, tangling in his hair, he had you crazy for him with every word. If you weren’t out of breath, you replied to his words with moans and mewls. “Mmmf! Hendery! Fuck! I love you so fucking much! Please keep fucking me, it feels so good!”

A few minutes later he panted, “I’m gonna cum.” He tried to go faster and he drove his hand south, finding your bundle of nerves skillfully. He was drawing circles while pummeling into you fast, making your second orgasm arrive with force, tightening around him. A sharp scream left your throat and you hugged him tightly. Hendery came with a guttural growl, “Ughhh! So good!” You could feel him pumping in you while he filled the condom.

When you both could breathe again, he embraced you and peppered you with kisses, making you giggle. “How are you feeling, my love?” He smiled.

“I like the sound of that coming from your lips,” you cuddled with him. He sighed, satisfied with the thought that you were his and he was yours.

“Then I will call you that all day just to see you happy,” he kissed you on the forehead.

“You’re my happiness,” you purred.

“I love you, I really do,” he confessed.

“I love you too, Dery,” you raised your head to kiss his lips.

“Do I need to pop the question or are we clear?” He joked.

“Imma torture you and make it pop it,” you chuckled beaten.

“Would you be my girlfriend?” He asked confidently.

“I’d love to,” you replied.

After a moment of silence, Hendery suggested, “Up for round two?”

“Oh my god, you’ll be the death of me if your sex drive is this high,” you sighed.

“My sex drive with you will always be high. Imagine having to hide your boner for so many years and then finally getting the pussy of your dreams?” He was such a character.

“Stop!! That is not true” you shoved him with your elbow.

“Not true?! Do you wanna know how many times I masturbated after arriving home from our movie nights?!” He could be brutally honest sometimes.

“You masturbate?” You wanted to see him snap.

“Listen, Y/N, if I didn’t, my dick would’ve fallen off by now because holy fuck! I wanted to rail you so bad!”

You just exploded in laughs. He really was the man you loved.

“How many rounds can you make?” You asked him.

“I have a whole box of condoms to use with you. You decide,” he shrugged.

“So that’s 3?” You jeered.

“Very funny,” he said sarcastically.

The car kept rocking, the windows were fogged and Hendery almost could last till dawn making love to you. The rest of the night became an orgasm feast for you two.

You fell asleep, beaten thanks to the activities. When you woke up, the sky was painted in pastel colors, announcing dawn. You were wrapped under the sheets, naked with Hendery, on the back of his car.

You looked at him, he looked so cute sleeping soundlessly, you didn’t want to wake him up, but the sun was about to rise and you were away from the city.

“Baby,” you whispered softly.

“Hmm?” He hummed, as if asking what was wrong.

“Baby, I’m cold and the sun is rising,” you explained.

“Mmm... really?” His sleepy voice was making your head spin.

“Yes my love, we should go home. We can continue sleeping at my apartment if you want,” you suggested.

He yawned, “but then I’ll have to make love to you again because I want to be like this with you.”

You giggled, he was so cute talking while sleepy. You kissed his cheek. “We can just get naked and sleep.”

“It’s not the same,” he groaned. Hendery sat and stretched, then, he passed you your clothes.

You guys bought breakfast on the way home, you ate it and then went back to sleep. You spent the majority of the day in bed watching series, glad that you belonged to each other now.

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here!

A/N: I think The next post will be the last one for this series!

“Did you...have fun tonight?” The way Dick haltingly asks causes laughter to bubble out of your mouth

“I can say that was nothing like any family dinner I’ve ever seen-“

And if that isn’t the truth, for one - even though you’ve heard of all of Bruce Wayne’s adopted children, you didn’t think there would be so many.

Dick’s the oldest, well officially anyway. Barbara Gordon, as in Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, was at dinner too. Apparently she and Dick had a brief stint where they dated. You’re guessing it was before Dick realized he likes boys - or maybe he likes both? You’ve never expressly asked him about using sexuality.

He’s got three little brothers, the youngest and the second oldest seem to have the highest predisposition towards violence, mostly to each other. And then the second youngest, Tim, he seems to be barely held together, mostly through caffeine and anxiety.

Cassandra from class was there too, as well as Stephanie, which was nice to see. They ducked out halfway through, which should have been your queue to duck out too.

Unfortunately you didn’t, which resulted in a rather poorly placed tomato soup stain at the edge of your dress’s hem.

“I like your brothers though” you say with a smile. You did like his brothers. The youngest, Damian, stared at you for seven very long minutes, before saying-

“How do you feel about animals?” When you told him you loved them he seemed pleased. Also, as a college student, you vibe with Tim. Though you do think someone should cut him off and have him switch to herbal tea. Jason seems cool enough, he just looked at you for a second before giving Dick a wolffish grin.

“Alfred was nice too, and it was fun seeing your- uh...Bruce again” You almost called Bruce his Dad. Bruce is nice, but he’s still a bigot. It was nice meeting Alfred, who showed you many pictures of a nine year old Dick Grayson, most of which were him doing acrobatics around the house. Honestly you thought it was adorable, but you put an end to it since Dick was blushing so fiercely that you thought he might combust.

It really was a lot of fun.

You shiver, the cold night air brushing against your bare arms. You’re standing in front of your building, saying your final goodbyes until you scamper off to your apartment, getting ready for another week of classes.

“Here, take my jacket-“ He’s already tugging it off. Before you can protest, it’s settled over your shoulders. The effect is almost instant, tendrils of warmth seeping into your shoulders and upper body.

It smells like him, you think.

Like- like his expensive cologne, with notes of amber and moss- but also like soap, like clean laundry, and something else, something sweet.

“Cotton Candy” You murmur to yourself. He probably eats it by the gallon sized bag , you think with a giggle.

“T-thank you-“ your eyes trail from the sleeve of his suit jacket to Dick, who’s got a pink tint fanning across his face, blue eyes flicking from the ground to your eyes.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight, and being so kind and considerate and lovely” and then Dick does something completely unexpected, he leans in closer and presses a kiss to your forehead. Your heart leaps in your chest, his sickly sweet Cotten candy scent floods your senses.

You would just have to tilt you head up slightly to catch his lips in yours. He smells so sweet, it almost makes you dizzy. It’s like being drunk, you think.

You want to smell him more.

“Thank you for being so accepting.” His words are like a bucket of cold water being dumped over your head. You feel like you’ve sobered right up.

“Of course, we’re friends aren’t we?” You offer Dick a smile, but you know it’s probably strained. You were so caught up in the moment, you forget he’s already in love with someone.

All of his feelings, all of his kisses, they’re reserved for Nightwing.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow” You call out, before walking into your building, feeling Dick’s lingering

So you like Dick.

F*ck.

You’re on the balcony of your apartment, nursing a glass of hot tea in the late night- or would it be early hours of the morning? You can make out the sky beginning to lighten into a lighter blue. Great so you stayed up all night thinking about your feelings.

Your body is going to love you for this.

How did this even happen? Were you just so focused on not getting a crush on either of his sisters that you didn’t see this coming. Ugh why dick of all people? Yeah, sure he’s got those sparkly eyes, and that permanent rosy blush, not to mention that lopsided grin-

Okay so you know why you’re falling in love with him. But there’s no point in nursing these blooming feelings not when-

“Hey do you have any sugar?” The masked crusader asks from beside you. That dazzling smile that makes people everywhere swoon aimed at you.

No point in nursing feelings for Dick, when the object of his affections is standing next to you, drinking earl grey out of your pink “Namaste in bed” mug.

“Or not- no big deal, I love my hot leaf juice with or without sugar.” He adds hastily, taking a loud sip as if to show you how much he’s enjoying your hospitality. You must have let your annoyance get to your face. You sigh, it’s not his fault that Dick loves him.

You’re the outsider here.

“So what are you doing out so late?” You ask, just wanting to make some small talk. But Nightwing lights up like you just offered him a million dollars. He’s so friendly it’s almost annoying, not unlike another certain dark haired golden boy you know.

“I’m always up, fighting crime, patrolling the streets-“ you never realized but being a vigilante is kind of a lot of work huh? You wonder if Nightwing has a day job, he looks so young though- maybe he’s still in school.

“The real questions is why are you still up?” His question is punctuated with a slurp of his tea.

“Just thinking I guess” you shrug, taking a sip of your own tea. You’re not about to tell Nightwing you realized you have feelings for his boyfriend.

“Thinking about the person you love?” It feels like you were just struck by an arrow. Nightwing’s mouth stretches. “No way, I was right?” You can almost picture the sparkle in his eyes behind his domino mask. You wonder what color eyes Nightwing has.

Probably a boring brown.

“Well who’s the lucky individual?” Noting your hesitance, Dick starts to get a little nervous. It hurts a little to think you don’t return his feelings. But there’s something about the shy look on your face, the way your eyes avert to your cup of tea, that’s just hopelessly adorable. What he wouldn’t give to have you look at him that way.

And then, a terrifying thought occurs to Dick.

“Don’t tell me you’re in love with Bruce Wayne?” He’s got absolutely no chance if you’re into older men. No unless you’re willing to wait ten years or so.

Then the most amazing thing happens- your mouth opens and laughter spills out. He’s heard you laugh, but never like this. So loud, and almost desperate.

And then, you do something else he’s never seen before. Somewhere along the way those loud laughs transformed into equally loud sobs. Your mouth pinched tight as tears spill from the corners of your eyes.

A hand curls over your eyes in an attempt to cover your face. This is mortifying, you’re basically crying in front of your romantic rival, completely vulnerable.

You’re about to mutter out an excuse, how you’re not usually like this, that you must be close to your period or something. When you feel a pair of arms wrap around your shoulder, your face pressed against Nightwing’s chest.

“It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay” he murmurs reassuringly, his glove covered hand rubbing soothing circles into your back. And even though you were on the edge of recompsure, you’re thrust back into despair. Your sobs leaving you almost breathless as Nightwing continues to hold you.

“Tell me what’s wrong, so I can help” Dick whispers. Whatever it is, it must be serious. He’s never seen you cry, not when you were a hostage in that bank robbery, or held at gun point at that restaurant, not even when Damian was basically integrating you all night.

“I love someone, who’s never going to love me back” you manage between sobs, and Nightwing only shushes you. His hand traveling to your hair. Cradling your head against his chest.

He smells so good, like amber and moss, and something sickeningly sweet- like cotton candy.

He smells like Dick.

And that seems to soothe you a bit, along with Nightwing’s gentle warmth.

“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine, I promise”

“Man, and I thought things were going really well between you guys” Stephanie says, her hand threading through her golden curls, head tilting back so it rests against the back of his couch.

“Yeah, me too” Dick admits with a sigh, he’s sitting with his knees propped up on the floor, his back against the wall.

Cassandra doesn’t say anything, her eyes are trained on the coffee table, their masks collectively strewn across it.

“So what are you going to do?” Stephanie asks, and Dick sighs again.

“What can I do honestly, they love someone else” he shrugs, he plays it off like it’s not a big deal. But the thought of your with someone else... it makes his stomach hurt.

“Just because she loves someone else right now...doesn’t mean she will forever” Those are the first words Cass has uttered all night, and Dick and Stephanie are both looking at her with wide eyes.

Stephanie’s already hyping him up, saying there’s no way their Dick’s going to lose to some no-face-extra, like your love is some sort of competition to be won.

And Cassandra’s only encouraging her, with energetic nods and the occasional ‘exactly’

But all Dick can think about is the way you felt in his arms, and how small you seemed as sobs wracked through your entire body. How deep your sadness felt, like he might be sucked in any moment too, tears falling from beneath his domino mask.

He hates whoever it is that made you feel that way. If it was him- if you loved him instead, he’d make sure you were never sad, he’d give you everything he was and everything he had if it meant you might smile for him.

He doesn’t want to change your mind, your feelings don’t work like that. All he knows is that he loves you- and what you need right now, is a friend. Someone who-

“Just wants to see them happy” Dick mumbles.

Taglist: @adenspolaroids @libraryoffandomsuniverse @jeneeangella @chyume @masked-mushroom

[v-hope]

Coffee shop, 5:29PM — Tiger Flower

Thanking the waitress after she had placed your order on the table, you focused your attention on Jeongguk, watching him take a sip of his usual order of hot chocolate whenever the two of you went out together, before your eyes unconsciously travelled —for what could easily have been the hundredth time — back to the bouquet of flowers he had gotten you not even thirty minutes ago.

After almost crying and having thanked him over and over, the two of you had decided to take a little detour from your way back home to go get some coffee together instead —or well, one coffee, one hot chocolate, and one piece of cake to share, to be more precise— and, whatnot, spend some more quality time just the two of you for a little longer.

And as Jeongguk put his cup back down on the table, he couldn’t help but smile adoringly at the way you were ever so dreamily staring at the flowers.

“Have you always loved flowers this much?” he couldn’t help but wonder, drawing your attention to him.

“Liked them, always” you smiled softly. “Loved them, since high school”.

“High school?” his heart skipped a beat.

“Mhm…” you nodded, taking a small sip of your coffee. “I don’t know if you knew, but I used to have a secret admirer back then,” the heat reached your face at the mention of that, missing the way it had also reached Jeongguk’s on the other hand. “He would leave flowers on my seat every week… There was a point everyone in the classroom was talking about it though, so you might have heard”.

Jeongguk cleared his throat, nervously grabbing his fork and taking a bit of cake with it. “I did,” he rushed to swallow. “Everyone was really into trying to find out who it was”.

You laughed at said memory, taking a small bite of cake as well. “Yeah… I remember that”.

“So you love flowers because of that then?”

You nodded. “It’s more than that though, I…” a sigh escaped your lips, receiving a small nod from Guk for you to go on. “This is gonna be really emo and sappy,” you warned him, only to receive another nod for an answer. “But after Junseo cheated on me for the second time I was really miserable,” the sound of said name, along with hearing the way he had made you feel back then, made his blood boil. “And I became really toxic towards myself, like… I don’t know, I just kept bringing myself down and hating myself, because for some reason I thought it was my fault—”

“The only one at fault was that worthless asshole” Jeongguk spat, earning a cackle from you; both because of said insult and the bliss you felt at the fact that he was always so eager to defend you.

“I know that now,” you smiled sincerely. “But back then I didn’t, and for a good while I thought I was not good enough and no one would ever really love me, because honestly everyone always chose Sooyeon… or someone else over me…” your previous smile turned melancholic, and it took everything in Jeongguk not to reach for your hand right then. “And then when I was doing a little better I remembered the flowers and my secret admirer,” you lightened up, becoming visibly shy. “And I don’t know… I just thought, that maybe there is someone out there for me, who would choose me, and... ugh, this is turning so sappy”.

“It’s okay,” he was fast to reassure you when you covered your face with your hands, gently grabbing your wrists for you to let him see your face once again. “You can tell me”.

At his reassuring words and the way his soft eyes remained on you, you smiled, placing your hands back on the table, as he let go of them, and taking a deep breath before you went on.

“I mean, I’m not saying that my secret admirer particularly is the one for me, it’s been years after all,” you shook your head as a light laugh escaped your mouth. “But the fact that there was one person who felt that way about me, who for an entire year took some of his time to make me feel special, gives me hope that maybe there is someone else out there who will see me that way, too”.

“I’m sure there’s more than one person…” he mumbled, bringing his cup up to his mouth so he could take a sip of his hot chocolate.

And although his voice had been barely audible, you managed to hear his words nevertheless — a shy smile curving up your lips at the sound of that.

“So uh… yeah, that’s why I get so happy whenever I see flowers. They’re like a nice little reminder of that new mindset of mine” your eyes fixed once again on the bouquet, causing Jeongguk to smile wholeheartedly.

“Yeah… the look on your face whenever you see them says it all”.

“I guess I can’t really control it at this point” you chuckled, leaning back on your chair. “Although it was mostly one particular kind of flower, which I don’t really see much around… You know, like this orange lily with a few dots on it—”

“A tiger lily” he informed before he could stop himself.

“Yeah!” you agreed cheerfully. “You know them?”

“Uh, yeah…” he shifted on his seat, clearing his throat once again. “I saw you with them a few times and got curious, so…”

“I had to google the way they looked like to find their name as well,” you obliviously laughed. “I had never seen them until then”.

“Me neither” he lied, like it was so normal by now regarding this topic.

“But yeah, in the end I just ended up loving all kinds of them” you admitted, bringing your coffee up to your lips. “It would’ve been nice to know who it was though…”

“You never knew?” he went on, acting as oblivious as you.

You shook your head no. “I was really sad when no one confessed to me at our graduation…” you recalled. “I mean, it was a whole year, I really thought the flowers would be followed by a love confession or something, and everyday I waited for it... but then the year went on and no one did… and I was like ‘okay, maybe they plan on doing it at the graduation’, but nothing happened again and I…” you sighed. “I was really hoping for someone to come up to me and be like ‘hey there, I’m your flower boy, let’s date!’ but oh well”.

Jeongguk couldn’t help but laugh at that particular confession, shaking his head in amusement as you stared at him quite puzzled.

You were really something else.

“Hey there, I’m your flower boy?” he repeated in disbelief, laughing harder when you nodded ever so determinedly.

He had came up with and practiced so many lines during that year for the moment he confessed, and not once had he thought of such words. Then again, it was you the one he was confessing to; he should’ve guessed a simple, upfront and quite amusing confession would be what you would be content with.

“Yah! What’s so funny about it?” you crossed your arms over your chest when he chuckled once again.

“I don’t think anyone would confess that way, petal” he broke it to you.

You rolled your eyes, trying to hide your amusement. “Why not? Gets the point across”.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right”.

“I wonder why they never did…” you puckered your lips as you were deep in thought, finally locking your eyes with his. “You would’ve confessed, right?”

That question alone was enough for him to almost choke on the hot beverage he had just sipped on. “W-What?”

“If you did that for the person you liked, I mean,” you elaborated, managing to calm him down at the realisation of you not assuming it had been him all along. “You would’ve confessed, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah…” he answered quietly, recalling that being his plan for a good while. “But, you know… maybe he thought you’d reject him if he ever did…”

“I would have never”.

“You’re just saying…”

“No, honestly. I’m being dead serious” you stated, causing his heart to jump at your determined semblance. “I was truly willing to give anyone a chance. Someone who makes such effort for me deserves at least that”.

“Maybe they were the exception…” Jeongguk shrugged. “Maybe they knew you wouldn’t feel that way about them no matter what”.

“No, I mean it” you stood your ground. “I… fuck, Guk, I wouldn’t have cared if it was one of my closest friends or someone I barely ever talked to, or even if it was a girl for that matter, I’m really not closed to the idea of love at all. Although I ended up narrowing it down to two guys, according to my own analysis” you laughed breathily, proudly nodding at your conclusion. “But yeah… I get that a relationship is more than just giving someone flowers, and maybe we wouldn’t have worked out in the end, but they would’ve had a chance with me for sure”.

And right then, for the first time, Jeongguk had to bite his tongue not to speak. Because having the person you currently have feelings for, who also happens to be your high school crush whose secret admirer you used to be, right in front, implicitly telling you she would have given you a chance if you had confessed back then, was enough to want to confess all over again.

But he was three years too late.

And he was your friend now.

And you had feelings for his best friend.

And, last but not least, the 18 year old Jeongguk who had been told you would never feel anything for him, no matter how hard he tried or how many flowers he got you, was still too insecure to ever let you know he had been your secret admirer all along; because, although you had just told him otherwise, he could not help but believe you truly wouldn’t have wanted him in particular to be it.

So, he said nothing.

“So you narrowed it down to two guys, you say?” he asked instead, having another bite of cake.

“Mhm…” you nodded quite eagerly. “Dohyun and Jinwoo”.

Jeongguk took another sip of his drink.

Pft.

Dohyun, one of your friends back then who wouldn’t even try to hide his crush on you.

Jinwoo, the guy who would always get your attention by annoying the hell out of you.

He wondered why them. Why them and not him. What did they have and he didn’t, what made them eligible as your possible suitors and not him.

But he wouldn’t get there, he had already asked enough. And you not suspecting of him was actually good, right? Your friendship wouldn’t become awkward because of something he did as a teenager.

And yet, a part of him really wanted you to notice it was him. Because he had came up with the idea of anonymously giving you flowers with the whole point of confessing to begin with, and having two other guys —who had never done shit to win you over— unintentionally taking the credit for it, did make every single effort to win you over he had ever made seem worthless than ever.

Fuck, he wished he could just stop giving a damn and tell you the truth for once and for all.

a/n: i know there might be a few things you guys won’t get (if you do tho you’re awesome), but everything will make sense (hopefully) the next part 👀

[emeralddaydream]

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚎𝚊?

(i'm sorry, this title is really freaking dumb, but i dunno what to call it lmaooo ANYWAY)

Colin x GN!Reader (ik you asked for fem!reader, i hope this is okay!!)

Rating: Teen

Warnings: mentions of death/murder, cops

Word Count: 800

A/N: Also, I apparently wasn't thinking and somehow deleted th ur for this request?? I'm so sorry! I hope you find and like it, though🥺

request: Hey you! I wonder if you could please write a fluffy Colin Zabel x femReader where the reader doesn't drink coffee, she prefers tea, but everyone else always forgets about that, but Colin notices and starts bringing her tea just how she likes it? Please and thank you! 💙

Not even 9:00am, and it’s already one of those mornings.

Ever since the Katie Bailey case began a year ago, there are days you have to remind yourself to breathe. And since the death of Erin McMenamin a few weeks ago, that feeling seems to have increased tenfold. You’d been assigned to take over for Mare for the duration of her leave, and while you’re honored to have the opportunity to help, it’d be a lie to say you aren’t feeling the stress and exhaustion.

You’re so exhausted, in fact, that this morning, you’d left your usual mug of tea, sitting to cool on the kitchen counter.

“Fuck,” you groan quietly, feeling headache coming on as you pull your car into its usual spot at the station. Shutting the engine off, you bring a hand to your temple, running your thumb across it in small circles, hoping the pressure will help alleviate some of the pain. No help. With a sigh, you grab your things, trudging out of the car and into the misty morning air. You know you’ve got a bottle of ibuprofen tucked away in your desk, though it looks like you’ll, unfortunately, have to make do with coffee this morning. Ugh. Certainly not your first choice, but at this point, you’re willing to do what you must in ORDR to dull the throbbing in your head.

You’re busy shaking some rain from your jacket as you make your way toward your office when someone calls your name from behind. Your stomach flip-flops at the sound of the familiar voice.

“Oh. Hey, Zabel,” you GRT, offering a small smile. “Mornin’.”

“Good, morning,” The smile on his own face has your heart rate increasing slightly. Since he’d arrived, but especially since you’ve been brought onto the case, you’ve found yourself growing a little crush on your fellow detective. Honestly, how could you not? Pair his kindness and enthusiasm with that beautiful, shy smile; you never stood a chance. “How’re you?” You almost don’t hear his question; the throbbing in your head has suddenly become a little preoccupying.

“Oh, uh, I’m fine.” You move closer to the wall as two other officers brush past you. “How’re you?”

“That’s good. And I'm good” He nods, following you into your office; as you sit down, he gestures to one of two cardboard cups he’s got balanced in an arm before setting his briefcase down and carefully placing the drink on your desk.

“I brought you something.” A smile spreads across your face as you glance up at him in surprise.

“Oh, wow, thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“But I did.” You notice a light blush beginning to grow on his cheeks and feel heat rising in your own. He quickly pulls something from the front pocket of his case. “One sugar?”

“Um, yeah. Thank you.” You take the pink packet from him gratefully “This is actually really nice. I completely forgot mine at home.” You roll your eyes, lifting the lid on your drink, and when you do, you’re taken aback. “This… this is tea.”

“Earl Grey, right?” His smile slips slightly when you don’t answer right away. “Did I get it wrong?”

“No, no, this is right,” you reassure, tearing the packet open and meeting his eyes again. “I guess I just didn’t realize you knew that.”

“Being observant’s in the job description” he jokes.

“Yeah, I guess so" You laugh, tipping the sugar into the steaming cup. “Nobody’s ever paid that much attention, I guess, y’know?

“Well, they should.” You’re unsure you hear his reply, but the nervous lip bite sent your way tells you that you aren’t just hearing things. “Hey, so, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Yeah? What’s up?” You take a sip from your cup, hoping to mask any nervousness that might appear on your face, and let out a small breath of relief when the hot liquid helps calm you almost immediately. Colin smiles down at you, letting out a quiet chuckle before continuing.

“I was just wondering if maybe you’d wanna go with me to-“

“Zabel, Y/N! Get in here, we might have something!” The voice of the chief booms through the small building, and suddenly you and Colin are both on high alert.

“Shit.” You grab the tea from your desk as you head for the door, Colin not far behind.

“Hey,” he mutters in your ear as the two of you make your way swiftly down the hall. “Later?” The mix of nerves and hope in his tone has butterflies erupting in your stomach; could he possibly have asking what you think he was asking?

“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Later.” Your stomach twists in nervous anticipation, and you let out a deep, calming breath before entering the chief’s office.

taglist: @kitwalker02, @ladyfogg, @therenlover, @liandav, @kitwalkerangel, @elaineygrace, @milly-louise, @americxn, @tatestripedsweater, @silver-hawk, @undeadcortez, @xmaximoffic, @samsassinparvismagna (please feel free to fill this out to be added/removed here!!)

[harmoni-me]

a poly komahinanami + reader request comin' through!: teaching crush reader emotions and how they work, how to interact with people, also stuff like romance, friendships, and having a real family.

thank you! don’t forget to stay hydrated!💙

My oh my, guess who’s back!? And with the longest story I’ve ever written just for you at that! This totaled up to be 17 pages on a Google Docs document, which is absolutely crazy by the way, but I just couldn’t stop writing this! But it’s now done, so I hope you enjoy!

Nagito Komaeda x Hajime Hinata x Chiaki Nanami x Reader Who Wants to Rediscover Emotions!

“Ugh...so not even that, huh…” Chiaki crashed onto a nearby sofa, slamming her face into a plush pillow, catching herself with a comfortable squish. You had just been shown one of those guilt-trip puppy adoption videos to try and kick-start your tear ducts, but it just honestly didn’t work. Though you desperately wanted the tears to flow, or at least have your eyes a little misty, nothing ever came. You couldn’t help it, but you were willing to do anything in order to feel, and know about everything that has to do with fruitful human emotion.

Just a mere few weeks before this moment, you were left with no one, going to a school for the talented and the elite. You did some research about social gestures, wanting to know what to do if someone wanted to talk to you. 

Well, apparently you did something okay, because now you were sitting here with three people who are bumbling around, trying to figure out your emotional and social problems. It was most likely luck that you met these three that wanted to help you out of your own ditch, but you definitely weren't complaining. Not one bit.

You had people by your side, and you felt something warm bloom in your stomach when you realized as such. It was nice, like when you let the sun soak up into the pores of your skin on some sandy shores.    

“Well, It’s not really their fault, you know? They were raised to be the Ultimate Perfectionist, their family must have done some terrible things in order for them to get this way...those bastards…” Hajime sat up against a wall, weaving his fingers into his hazelnut hair.

“Even though you’re simply reserve-course leftovers...you’re not wrong, Hajime. (Y/n) is in quite a predicament, wouldn’t you say?” Nagito laid cross-legged next to Hajime. Hajime just simply rolled his eyes at the white-haired boy's remark about his useless school status.

“Just a theory, but does talent honestly determine status? Wouldn’t it be like comparing someone’s grade’s to their natural IQ? Someone could simply just work harder, Nagito, and it’s that simple, most likely, to get on an Ultimate’s level.” You looked at Nagito, causing him to stiffen just a bit. 

…uh

Was it something you said? 

“Ah, (Y/n), your glaring. Practice softening your eyes a little bit. Giving off a serious look can make people uncomfortable sometimes.” Chiaki pointed out, gesturing to her own eyes, switching between a glare, and back to normal again, as if giving you a quick tutorial.

“Ah, um, sorry about that. I had no such intentions, so please forgive me, Nagito.” You bowed your head in forgiveness, already knowing what that gesture ment from social experience. Nagito just shook his head, causing his hair to sway along rhythmically, chuckling a little while doing so.

“No worries, please scold me whenever you please. I enjoy it.” Nagito let out a beaming laugh, shoulders bouncing at his own comment.

Hajime just clipped his thumb and index finger onto the upper-bridge of his nose, shaking his head to Nagito’s comment. Though, he could never stay mad at him for long… even with all of the degradation talk.

“Ok then, we need to get back to the situation at hand, because I have an idea!” Chiaki spoke out, making everyone in the room turn their head, ready to hear her out. The girl then picked herself up from the couch to stand tall among all of the sitting frames in the room.

“This situation is exactly like finally getting that shiny Pokemon you’ve always wanted, but it’s only level one. So you’ve got to go back and make it fight the smaller guys in order for it to start beating up the bosses.” Chiaki explained. Hajime nodded, apparently understanding exactly what she was talking about. Nagito was just sitting there, a clueless smile painted onto his face, listening with full intention of agreeing anyway.

You...you think you got the gist...but what the hell is a Pokemon?

“(Y/n) is our precious shiny Pokemon, and we need to take them out to experience all of the experiences, in order to gain all of the experience!” Chiaki finally proclaimed, confidently puffing out her chest in pride. Nagito just chuckled, while clapping at Chiaki’s idea, praising her. Hajime tilted his head a bit, seeming to want to know the stickler details.

“So, what’s the best way to go about this?” Hajime stood up from his seated position on the floor, stretching out his arms, sounding out a couple of pops from his tense muscles. Chiaki went silent for a moment, but then quickly jumped up with an idea.

“We divide it into levels, and create our own scenarios to fit within what we want to focus on in each level. For example, level one can be about trying to trigger certain emotions, like happiness. (Y/n) will pass the level when she completes the task provided. This will keep her motivated, and we’ll all have fun! I think.” Chiaki proposed, walking over to your listening form. You were confused, but you were also willing to try anything for you to feel like everyone else.

“So, (Y/n), are you ok with this?” The pale pink haired girl crouched down to your level, head turning, waiting for your approval.

“I’ll do anything to feel again. Of course I’ll do it.” You blatantly said, raising your tone to puppet a sort of happy emotion, though this time, it didn’t really feel as forced as it usually was, which made your heart jump in surprise. Your heart hopping domino-affected to your eyes widening in shock, as well as a jerk of fear in your body. You didn’t really know what you felt, but you wanted to figure it out more than anything in the world at the moment.

“Perfect! So, ah, what do the arcade machines say again...oh! Level 1, Start! Or maybe I’m wrong…” Nagito, stood, looking in your direction, as if signaling to you that everything was going to go great.

LEVEL 1: EMOTION TRIGGERS

You were sitting in a chair, while being surrounded by the three friends of yours. It was kind of how it went just a few minutes ago, with each person trying to show you something that might trigger something in you, but this seemed like it was going to be just a bit more...difficult.

“Well, what we’ve got planned is in order for you to go onto the next level, you need to achieve the following three emotional responses: Happiness, Repugnance, and Sadness. We’ll help you out on trying to trigger them, so don’t worry about it too much, alright?” Chiaki lightly said. You always enjoyed her voice, as well as her understanding personality. It was probably those character traits of hers that caused her to be your friend, most likely.

“Ah, well repugnance should be easy since I’m here, after all! Poor (Y/n) here would probably hurl after staring at scum like me for too long!” Nagito said with a smile dancing on his face, stepping into your vision, standing there for you to scan your eyes upon him. Hajime and Chiaki didn’t really object, but just wanted to see what would happen out of their own curiosity.

You observed him from your seat, as he said to do. The longer you looked at him, the more he just looked even more pretty than you thought he looked in the first place. His body was abnormally slim, making you wonder if he gets a proper amount of nutrition. You also noticed upon observing his features that his face fits perfectly within the four-division rule, which basically proves his face to be perfectly symmetrical. You also got a warm, sort of bubbly feeling when you looked into his eyes. It almost seemed as if they glowed a light, neon green. It was so enchanting...so-

“Pretty.” You said deadenly aloud, making everyone in the room so completely wide-eyed at your words, er, word. It was a surprise to them, to say the least.

“Uh...huh?” Nagito sounded, the tips of his ears darkening in a slight blush, not really knowing what to say.

“Oh, apologies. I was just thinking about your pretty eyes. Oh, yes, sorry. I think your eyes are very nice. Also, did you know that your face fits perfectly into the four-division rule, which is very hard to find naturally. I think modeling agencies would really like your face, though you look underweight...do you eat on a regular basis? If not, I can recommend some meals that are high in protein and low in fat in order for you to gain a healthy amount of weight and-” You rambled about your findings about the man in front of you, causing the darkening hue to spread from Nagito’s ears to his cheeks. A snort of laughter could be heard from Hajime, while Chiaki snickered into her arm, trying to conceal the noise.

“Ah...ahahah..uh, HAJIME, YOU MENTIONED AN IDEA JUST A BIT AGO! WOULD YOU MIND PUTTING IT INTO ACTION FOR US PLEASE!?” Nagito blurted out unexpectedly, making his way over to the “sideline” where the two others resided.

“I don’t remember making any idea, Nag-” Hajime said, just wanting to tease the lucky boy around some more.

“SH-SHUT UP! JUST DO SOMETHING!” Nagito slapped Hajime’s shoulder in embarrassment, causing Hajime to laugh at his successful teasing attempt.

“Okay, okay, I did have one idea I wanted to try. Though, I might need (Y/n) to take off their school sweater. Just for a moment. You can put it back on if you’re uncomfortable without it.” Hajime walked over to your seat, and steadily waited for the removal of your sweater vest.

“Oh, I honestly don’t mind. I trust you, Hajime.” You simply stated, carefully slipping the school sweater vest off of your form, and lazily plopping it down on the ground adjacent to you. Hajime then stepped a bit closer, fiddling with the ends of his shirt a little, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Sorry, but...d-do you mind closing your eyes?” Hajime quickly stuttered out. You nodded, fluttering your eyes shut in obedience.

You felt Hajime’s presence close in on you. Closer and closer his presence got, making you go just a tad ridged, until you felt something.

It was as if feathers started to dance on the dips of your hips, causing you to squirm from the feeling. You weren't sure what was happening at first, but the more the feeling continued, the more you felt as if a gigglish sound was about to burst from your lips.

“Uh, I’m close, but I need more hands. Can someone- Ah, thanks Chiaki…”

It was when the other pair of hands started to skip across your skin that your lungs exploded. A loud, joyous laughter rang through the room, raspy and unused. The hands just kept on going, making your laughing increase even more, to the point where tears pricked at the edges of your eyes, making you open them out of pure instinct.

It was a weird sight, but you weren't surprised; it was what made you laugh out in delight. Hajime and Chiaki were tickling your sides, making your laughter return to your emotional memory. You haven’t heard the sound of your own cries of happiness in such an incredibly long time, that you knew you didn’t recognize it from the decade or so that it had been buried and locked away deep inside you. 

But here you were, laughing with the people you charised the most in that moment.

….

The room was at a standstill. Everyone was extremely overjoyed at your new emotional upbringing of happiness. It was amazing, and almost a miracle on how much you laughed and smiled, making you seem like a totally different person. It was to be celebrated about later, but things weren't nearly finished yet. Two more emotions still needed to be freed from within you, and finding the key to giving your feelings wings was difficult at that.

“I know exactly what will make her cringe!” Chiaki shot up from her thinking position, running to her console that was stuffed into her school bag. She pulled out the glossy pink electronic, powering it on, while simultaneously walking towards you.

“I will force you to watch a sim of Teruteru take a shower and make him woohoo with a ghost, making him have a ghost baby.” Chiaki stuck the screen up to your staring eyes. It was on what seemed like a digital Teruteru in a house, who was walking into the restroom of his abode. Once you saw that the character took off his clothes to bathe, you knew the threat wasn’t a farce like you thought it would be.

You honestly didn’t feel like witnessing something so...unnecessarily eerie and gross at the same time.

“Ew...”

That was all you said, scrunching your nose, and turning your head away from the screen as fast as possible to avoid from seeing such a monstrosity take place.

“Wow, that was...surprisingly simple! Such talent from an ultimate such as yourself, Chiaki!” Nagito praised the girl who willingly soaked it up like a proud child after getting a lollipop of accomplishment from the doctors office. You giggled unconsciously, astonishing yourself from the gesture, but you smiled, knowing that things might just return to how they once were in the past sooner rather than later.

“But, uh, can you actually have a ghost baby in that game?” Nagito questioned, and rightfully so, because you were coincidentally wondering the same exact thing. Chiaki darefuly glared into Nagito’s pale irises, signaling that she was dead serious, honest to God. Wow...must be quite the odd game she must be playing…

….    

“Can’t we just...skip the sad one? We already got the other two down.” Hajime asked, not wanting to see you in a gloomy state, especially since the sight of seeing you so vulnerable might break his heart into two.

“No way, Hajime! Everyone needs to bawl their eyes out at least one time in their life, right? Despair’s tears are needed in order to live a balanced emotional life!” Nagito exclaimed, a slightly crazed look twirling within his eyes, reflecting his love for the subject at hand.

Nagito skipped over to your form, leaning close to your stature. An innocent smile was stitched onto his face, though it was quite obvious that he had completely ulterior motives. He was going to make you complete this level, no matter what he had to do.  

“Just imagine, dear (Y/n), that you were blackmailed into killing me. What would you do?” His voice vibrated deep within your consciousness. It was a strange question, but it didn’t fail to make you feel incredibly uneasy. You looked down into your lap, thinking about your answer, for your response could affect the possible outcome.

“Report the threat to the police.” You simply said, because it was the truth. Putting a situation into more capable hands was the most logical thing to do. Wasn’t it?

“Oh, but it’s blackmail, is it not? You might get killed if you do such a naive thing...let me change the question for you, just to make things easier…” Nagito’s hand drifted to lightly grasp your chin, raising it up to make stern eye contact. His nimble fingers held onto the bottom of your chin, gently squeezing your cheeks inward, puckering your lips.

“How would you kill me?” The darkness in his voice didn’t even try to be hidden, for it scared your heart into beating out of it’s chest even faster than it was before. What kind of question is that? Why would he ask something like this, and to you, especially?

“I don’t want to answer.” was the only thing you could push past your lips, which has started twitching at the thought of the question given. Nagito’s smile downcasted, the disappointment evident on his face. His grip on your face grew tighter, tighter as his nails dug a little into your delicate skin. His hold on your cheeks was like his way of wanting you to spit out every single detail of your answer, wanting to know so desperately how you would murder him. 

You never wanted to answer that question, for you would never think about it in the first place. Nagito was someone you treasured, along with Hajime and Chiaki. The thought of seeing their own blood spill made you want to hurl everything on the floor, with the burning residue of stomach acid sizzling away at your throat.

“Tell me.” Was all he said, with shivering silence following straight after.

“No.” Your voice cracked. This was viewed as a terrible situation to be in. Never in such a long time have you felt this emotionally trapped. You were clueless on what you were feeling, but you knew that you never wanted to feel it again. You wanted to drown it, hoping it dies beneath much better emotions that you’ve resurfaced. But it never went away, only increasing, taking over all of your senses.

“Nagito, I think that’s enou-”

“Shut it.” Nagito sharply turned his head to face Chiaki, who had objectified.

Who was this? Was this the Nagito you’ve always gotten to know?

“You look like the poisoning type, in all honesty. Maybe you would slip it into my drink, or maybe just force it down my throat, none of which are bad choices. Maybe you would stay to watch scum like me convulsing on the floor, vomiting blood and mucus. What a pathetic way to go, wouldn’t it? You would have to live with the burden of my soul hovering over you for the rest of your life, wishing for yourself to be dead as well...What do you think? I bet you can do better than tha-”

“N-NO! P-please stop!” You screamed out, wanting the vivid picture in your mind to burn within a hellscape, never to be seen again. Your form was hiccuping and shrugging in sobs, wanting the images to go away. Nagito was your friend, and the vision of him laying in his own liquids and-

WHAM

“What the hell are you doing, Nagito?” Hajime fist has made contact with Nagito’s face, causing the boy to stumble back from the impact, his hand detaching from your face, leaving little red marks from the indentation of Nagito’s nails grounding themselves into your cheeks.

You started to shiver and shake, your heart so full of disturbance and sadness that you honestly just felt like dying. You wanted to go back to anything, anything that could be better than this feeling, but no matter how hard you tried, everything just kept on elevating. It was like a never ending hustle of feelings reaching over the brim, spilling over while also breaking the vessel.

Chiaki rushed over to your side, hugging you with all of her gentleness and consideration, patting down your hair in the most comforting way she could. Hajime went over and did a similar gesture, holding your hand, while bringing it into himself to embrace it. You don’t really know why he did, but Hajime lightly kissed the knuckles on the top of your hand, then once again bringing it into himself. 

Nagito just stood there, dazed at the sight he was beholding. He really wasn’t sure what he did wrong, because he did what he was supposed to do, right? Yet, the heavy guilt building up within his stomach begged to differ.

He shuffled up lightly to your slightly shaking frame. He then dropped to his knees, a thump sounding from the action. Carefully, he laid his head in your lap, while tenderly placing his arms around your lower body. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry you had to see that…” Nagito pleaded, his mumbling apologies verberated lightly from his mouth. You didn’t know what came over you, but you unsteadily placed your hands in his hair, patting it like you would with a delicate puppy. After a few seconds, you could feel a sudden dampness on your legs, and you could only guess it was Nagito’s down regretful tears. 

“It’s...okay...you were trying to help. I understand, so everything is okay.” Was all you said.

The four of you all gathered in that position for a while, with some people switching around to give you the ultimate care and affection. The rest of the time together was used as a break from your emotional journey, with all of you guys gathering up on the couch to watch as many Star Wars movies you could possibly watch within a certain time frame.

….

LEVEL 2: HUMAN INTERACTION

The four of you were in a restaurant that was one of the most popular places in town. The menu was expansive and expensive, and the desserts were rumored to be on par with one of the best confectionery institutes in the country.

Chiaki had helped you to get dressed for the occasion beforehand, wanting you to learn the basics of dress code and why it’s placed into different areas. You learned that in places that excel in wealth, status, as well as being full of influential people, were usually required of a dress code. Fancy, one could call it, was usually the status quote. Though, if it wasn’t those things, then you could basically wear whatever you wanted to unless stated otherwise. Interesting….

“I’ll be paying the bill today, in case anyone is wondering.” Nagito said, shifting his suit a bit to fix the minor details. His hair was up in what seemed to be a half ponytail, with the rest of his wild hair flowing downwards as per usual.

“Well, yeah, you kinda are the only one that can pay for this kinda thing…” Hajime rang out, checking his watch from underneath his white dress shirt sleeves. You really liked how the shirt fit Hajime, for it accentuated his slightly muscular chest a little more, as well as his smaller waist being hugged by his black dress pants and belt.

Chiaki sat next to you, a pink dress hugging her curves perfectly. Not too tight to a point where it made her uncomfortable, but it still made her figure known, which was a cute, hourglass figure. It was too bad that she hid herself underneath her hoodie most of the time, she honestly deserves to flaunt it more often from your perspective, but you still respected her personal conservatism when it came to her own body.

“So...what do I do now? I know this has to do with my social development. I think. Right?” You questioned, wanting to know what you needed to do in order to improve, and hopefully lead you to be more bearable during social activities.

“We were thinking just simple things for now, like ordering for us, calling over for the check, asking for refills, and that stuff. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so, and we’ll correct you on anything when needed.” Chiaki quickly explained, with you nodding along, signaling that you were indeed listening to her. 

“If (Y/n) is going to take our orders and give them to the waiter...then I guess i’ll have to tell you what I would like. A six ounce filet mignon with a caesar salad, please and thank you, dearest.” Nagito carefully listed off his order. You didn't really expect him to be a fan of steak, but you record the information with ease.

“Lobster and a side of soup for me.” Hajime smiled.

“I’ll have the french onion soup then. No side, I’m saving room for dessert!” Chiaki eagerly bounced in her seat, seeming to be quite excited for the treats this establishment would offer.

“Got it, then I’ll order just that, along with my food as well.” You confirmed the list in your head, just to double check, and once the waiter came around for the order, you did what you needed to do with ease. You were getting better, and that made everyone at the table extremely proud of your progression into becoming a better you.

“I want (Y/n) to practice in drama talk, I think that would be funny.” Chiaki commented, giggling at the suggestion. You figured “Drama talk” was just the spreading or finding of interesting rumors. You didn’t know that Chiaki was into that kind of thing, but it was quite humorous all in the same. 

“Hm, interesting. Well, what kind of things have you seen around the school that could fuel into this conversation, (Y/n)?” Hajime asked, resting his head on his propped-up hands.

Interesting….you couldn’t really think of anything right off the bat. You looked back into your memories to see if there was anything that could be of interest...until you found it.

 “I think I saw Kazuichi and Sonia walk into a cafe two days ago.” You attempted to spark something interesting, and apparently it worked, because Chiaki went absolutely feral at your comment.

“No. Way. I don’t believe it, are you sure it was actually them!?” Chiaki hollered, eyes sparkling out of a childlike curiosity. 

“I’m almost positive, there’s only a few people I know that have pink hair, and another with blonde locks that reach to their ankles.” You confirmed, making even Hajime and Nagito’s attention draw into the topic. It seems as if they weren’t really expecting it either. It was funny how both of their eyes blew up all of a sudden, as if you said something completely ridiculous.

“Is it...really that unbelievable?” you asked, genuinely wanting an answer. You kind of were seeing it all along, though it was merely one sided at first, like, really one sided. Eventually you expected them to hook up somewhere in between.

“I don’t really know him very well since we don’t really share the same class but I’ve heard from Chiaki that he can be a bit…” Hajime tried to search for the words, as if he wanted to pick something out of the dictionary that is not as offensive as he wanted it to be.

“Hyperactive with a dash of a perverted young teen.” Nagito finished bluntly. He wasn’t wrong, but you believe that he could be a grown man...sometimes. 

Alright, maybe not as much as what was ideal, but still.

“Oh my god I still can’t believe this is happening…” Chiaki was sitting there, looking like she was a woman in her thirties experiencing her first midlife crisis. You figured you succeeded in the drama department...or maybe you had said too much.

….

The night ended off extremely profitable to your social skills, and to your stomach. You learned correct table mannerisms, as well as waiter manners and gestures from the three of your friends. Not to mention that you have never tasted anything more delightful than the multitude of desserts that Nagito had ordered for the table. Although he wanted to get the whole dessert menu, he knew that the proportions could probably not fit all on the table, so he just got what he believed to be the best five deserts. And let’s just say that you and Chiaki were having a ball with all of them, while Hajime and Nagito were sharing a lava cake with vanilla ice cream, in their own little conversation. 

You and Chiaki felt like you couldn’t walk, and truth be told, you two actually couldn’t. It was so funny that Nagito probably busted a lung, and Hajime chuckled profusely while helping the two of you hobble out of the restaurant with your full bellies.

All of you had an eventful sleepover after that, with all of you falling asleep on each other while watching the Home Alone series. All of you passed out after the first movie, because it was boring compared to the first one. Nothing could ever beat the first one.

Once everyone woke up the next morning, apparently Nagito had prepared another lesson for you, wanted everyone to join and participate, for this one was “Special” compared to the other ones.

You don’t really know how it happened, but now you were stuck on the couch of Nagito’s house, being lectured about a topic you honestly didn’t know that much. Well, other than the movie’s that you’ve watched about it.

LEVEL 3: ROMANCE

“I think we can all agree that (Y/n) here will definitely get asked out dozens of times throughout their lives, wouldn’t you say?” Nagito stated, as if it was an obvious fact that everyone in the world should know.

“I mean, yeah. I really wouldn’t be surprised if she got asked out a few times.” Hajime replied, trying his best to be as nonchalant as possible, though the light blush on his face was quite evident in that moment alone. You never got to see his face as flushed as it was very often. And it was amazingly amusing.

“Therefore, I propose we teach her the swooning basics! Romantic gestures, if you were to frame it that way.” Nagito spread his arms out, as  if he were a ruling king among a giant kingdom. 

You were a bit dumbfounded by the idea, purely because of the fact that Nagito, of all people, came up with this idea. You will admit that you were completely inept when it came to anything close to romance or love, but that doesn’t really mean that you weren’t open to trying to be in a relationship. Though, you don’t really know what to do if that circumstance ever were to pass.

“Wait, are you sure that they’ll even be comfortable with this? This is some intimate stuff we’re talking about.” Chiaki chimed in, proving a point. You have heard about some actions that only lovers do, and you honestly didn’t really want to practice them, based on the descriptions that those actions beheld.

“As long as it’s nothing overboard, I don’t see the harm.” You confirmed, wanting to let everyone know that you’re ready for probably one of your toughest challenges yet. Or not. Who knows?

“Wonderful! Now, where to start...suggestions, anyone?” Nagito looked into the mere three person crowd he had going on, pointing at a Hajime who had raised his hand. When did this suddenly become a classroom scenario?

“Well, we should probably think about what couples do, right? Like, I dunno, holding hands and hugging. Things like that, right?” Hajime indicated, listing off the activities with his fingers.

“Perfect! Well, you know what to do then…” Nagito went over to Hajime, nudging him a little bit towards you. He rolled his eyes in response, seeming to be tired of Nagito’s antics of teasing and prodding.

“I...guess I’ll try…” Hajime murmured, picking himself up from the couch, then plopping himself closer to you. You turned to look into his eyes, which had quickly darted away from your own, a spreading red blooming onto his cheeks.

“Well, I guess I’ll teach you how to, uh, hold hands first.” Hajime stated, nervousness evident in his voice. You could hear Chiaki giggle in amusement from her spot on the couch, along with a chortling Nagito, who was snickering through his toothy smile.

“Usually,” Hajime began, “Couples hold each other's hands like this.” He softly took your hand into his own, intertwining his fingers to fit the spaces inbetween yours like a perfect fit to a puzzle piece. It was cheesy to just think about it, but it honestly felt like it belonged there, and it made your chest begin to feel warm, resembling hot coals within a fireplace.

“People can do this basically whenever, like when they're walking together, laying down with each other, and some people even do it when they, uh, sleep with one another. But either way, it feels nice, doesn’t it?” Hajime inquired, lifting up your tangled-up fingers, smiling kindly. The whole thing was so incredibly comforting and sweet, making you face unconsciously heat up. You’ve only blushed a few times in your life, and half of those times you had no clue you were even blushing, but now, you were pretty damn sure your face was as red as a freshly picked strawberry. 

“‘Oh, yeah. You can also do this, I think this is kinda a common thing too.” Hajime then undid the bond of the two hands, gently putting his own hand underneath yours. With his thumb, he dragged it back and forth across the top of your hand, making your heart leap from the gesture.

“Woah, Hajime, you really know your stuff, don’t you?” Chiaki pestered, giggling herself into even higher spirits. Hajime huffed out in an embarrassed annoyance. Can he just...have this moment for a god forsaken minute?

“Can...can I try?” You suddenly spoke, causing Hajime the look up in attentive stature. He let go of your hand, but still left it pretty close to your dominant one.

“Of course, you’re the student here, after all. So, go ahead.” Hajime then offered his hand, leaving it suspended in the air, waiting for you to reciprocate.

You nervously approved his hand with yours, your heart beating so hard up against the inside of your chest, that you were partially convinced that it was begging for an escape. You then shakily intertwined your fingers, causing Hajime to reciprocate your hold. Your hand was probably clammy from all of your apprehension, but Hajime looked pleased with what you had achieved.

“Look at that, all by yourself, huh? Look at you go.” Hajime chuckled, playfully gripping tighter onto your hand, then started to shake it around lightly, making you laugh a little from the gesture.

It was strange, but you really wanted to know what it was like to hold Nagito and Chiaki’s hands as well...maybe it was just your brain’s curiosity kicking in, or maybe it was the yearning that your heart was reaching out for. You didn’t know, so you let the feeling flourish, letting it be.

….

“And how in the world is Nagito good at anything romantic again?” Hajime exclaimed, making Nagito mock offence from the comment, then wickedly laughed it off. Chiaki shrugged her shoulders, rolling her eyes a bit, wanting her point to be shown through.

“You can’t deny that he’s pretty creative when it comes to names.” Chiaki explained, “He’s probably the most qualified person here if we’re going to teach them about pet names.” She turned her head to the lucky boy in question, who was playing with one of his bottom curls with his index finger, twirling it around, then releasing it in a transfixing way.

“Hm? Oh, well if I could be of some use...then of course I’ll do it for our little sunflower!” Nagito seemed to brighten the room a few levels of hues with merely his speech alone.

“Ok, well I see what you mean now…” Hajime mumbled into Chiaki’s ear, causing her to puff up in pride.

Nagito seated himself next to you, making himself comfortable. He gestured for you to do the same, wanting for you to be relaxed while he did his wordy magic.

“I’m honestly not the best for something like this, with me being a piece of lonely trash and all, but I’ll try to introduce you to some ‘Pet Names’ your future lover might bestow upon you. Better yet, you could use these to give to your lover yourself, which is also a fine option.” Nagito seemed to fully lean his weight onto the couch, closing his eyelids, and sighing out in a relaxed bliss.

“Hmmm...a common one is baby, babydoll, or even the bland bae are all some simple ones. They’re calling you cute, like a giddy child, but personally those are quite the lazy names, in my opinion…” Nagito chuckled.

 So...getting basically called a kid by your lover means that they think you're cute? That confused you...because you didn’t really like the idea of you being compared to a child on the cuteness spectrum. It seemed wrong...but you got why others would enjoy it.

“These one’s I enjoy more, they’re all based on sweet foods, indicating you’re, well, sweet. Or maybe just scrumptious in your own way...Anyway, people can say honey, cupcake, buttercup, and probably a lot more.” His hands started to sway around him, aiding him in his explanation.

You could call someone a sweet-tasting food and they’ll be flustered from the complement? That sounds simple enough.

“Ah, we still have so much more, I could go on forever…” Nagito exhaled, smiling, seeming to be experiencing a lot of inner peace in that moment.

“No, please continue. This is interesting to me, and I’m also learning a lot!” You proclaimed, curious for more. Nagito just snickered, moving on with his long list of names.

“People sometimes like to nickname after animals. The ones that are known to be small or cute, like bunny, bambi, kitten, and my personal favorite, dove. So pretty, is it not? Naming your lover after the bird that represents inner peace, and the bringer of love…”

You nodded and hummed in agreement, even though he couldn’t see you with his eyes closed. The fact that humans named other humans based off of animals for the sake of endearment made sense, but you hoped it didn’t get too extreme, or was used in offensive language... 

“What one’s do you like the most?” You asked, to Nagito’s surprise. He had to stop and think for a moment, as if he was about to prepare himself what he was about to say.

“I’m...picky. I like names that are meaningful, yet roll off the tongue just right. Though, I also want my partner to be comfortable with the name as well. It’s hard to pinpoint a single one but...maybe it would have to be between love, or precious. They’re simple...but for some reason it makes my heart feel warm.” Nagito put his hand to his chest, humming in satisfaction from his own touch.

“Hmmm….I think if I wanted to give you a pet name Nagito, I think it would be…” You sat in thought, furrowing your brows to think of something endearing your can say to the hopeless romantic.

“Ah, now there’s no need for tha-”

“Flower.”

“Huh?” Nagito opened his eyes to look at you, staring into your thoughtful orbs.

“Like a dandelion, because when you blow on it to make a wish, then it comes true. So I think it matches well.” You tried to break down your reasoning, but it just left Nagito more confused, and not to mention more flustered.

“I...don’t really seem to understand really.” Nagito shifted around on the couch as a sort of a nervous tick. It was obvious to even you that the way his eyes flickered around like someone in a frantic state indicated much apprehension.

“It’s because you're the flower that made my wishes come true.” You stated, smiling at the boy who started to radiate steam from his ears, seemingly not able to take anymore of the emotional turmoil.

In the end, Hinata had to lay him down on the couch for a while, while Chiaki pulled out a bag of frozen peas to place on Nagito’s burning cheeks, who was mumbling something along the lines of “I’m so lucky…” like a crazy mantra.

You just watched it all go down, while also using the term “Flower” in sentences out loud, honestly not helping with Nagito’s heart, which was out of control.  

….

“So...I have to teach you how to cuddle, right? Well that’s easy. Boys, get off this couch. It’s cuddle time. ” Chiaki blatantly said, though she did keep that pretty smile on her face at all times. Your knowledge on cuddling was limited, but you did it a couple times as a whole group, so that counts...probably.

“Lay down so we can get started, okay?” Chiaki gently said, laying herself down on the couch, opening her arms to you, inviting you into her seemingly warm embrace. You eminently fell into her arms, your head nuzzling unintentionally into her chest. She giggled at your actions, obviously enjoying herself. 

Hajime and Nagito, not really knowing what to do, just sat down together in a large cushioned recliner, the both of them leaning back into the chair, bodies pressed up against each other. Nagito had grabbed a book beforehand, so he took this time to simply enjoy his novel. Hajime, being curious and bored, kept on bugging Nagito with questions about the book, which Nagito honestly didn’t mind him doing.

“Ok, let’s start with the common stuff, little spoon or big spoon?” Chiaki said, holding up the number two on her fingers to indicate the options that she had just listed. You had no idea what she had just ment. Spoons? Like, soup spoons? Or ice cream spoons? Your mind was rushing with questions, and Chiaki snickered lightly from your inquisitive irises, knowing how perplexed she had made you.

“Sorry, you’re probably confused, so I’ll just show you.” She shifted herself so that she was facing away from you, so that all you could see was her back. She then wiggled closer to you from that angle, so that her spine was pushed up lightly against your chest. You just laid there, rigid in not knowing what to do with your arms, which were tense from Chiaki’s actions. 

“Wrap your arms around me. Don’t be shy, I’ll tell you if you’re doing something wrong.” She said, waiting for your embrace to bestow itself around her.

Humming in agreement, you used your arms to comfortably wrap itself around Chiaki’s dipped waist, instinctively pulling her closer to you. The pink-haired girl had mumbled from the movement, but then stuck up a little thumbs up to you, indicating that you did everything perfectly.

The two of you stayed in that position for a while, getting comfy from each other's radiating warmth. It was something so peaceful, that it filled your heart with an unknown bliss. You wanted to stay like this forever, but you knowing that it had to end eventually made you feel just a bit of disappointment.

“M’kay..les’ do another one.” She finally spoke, sleepiness obvious within her voice, making you smile a bit. She turned over to you, then started to shove your shoulder lightly with her palm.

“Go on your back…I’m gonna lay on you.” She murmured, pushing you down on your back, and shifting her form onto your chest. Her head was snuggled into your neck, while her arm lazily laid on your abdomen. What surprised you about the position is the fact that Chiaki’s leg had tossed itself over to drape over your lower body. It was as if she was just a baby, clingy koala who wanted their nap time to begin already...actually, this was exactly that, Chiaki was definitely a cute, sleepy koala who just wanted to snooze.

“This is the sweetheart’s cradle...you make a good pillow…” Chiaki mumbled into your neck, making the area feel hot from how flustered you were. Yet, it was so incredibly soothing, that you just wanted to just...rest here until the day you died. You weren't even exaggerating either, because if you were to die like this, you definitely would be the happiest person on earth, and definitely the most snug corpse out there by a longshot.

“Can...can the other’s join too?” You managed to mutter, causing Chiaki to slightly stick her head up.

“Mhm...you’re lucky this couch is big…” she answered, then turned her head to the two boys, who were bickering about the protagonist from Nagito’s book.

“(Y/n) wants you guys to join, come on...don’t keep me and them cold and waiting.”

From that point forward, nothing could compare from the warmth of all three of the people that meant the most to you. The warmth of family...the warmth of true friends...and the warmth of love, all sang such a bright song in your heart, helping you to finally find yourself again. The hardened plaster covering your emotional bank had cracked, leaving the feelings to leak free for the first time in a decade.

And with that layer of facade broken by the people you grew to love the most, you couldn't have wanted it any other way. It would always be them to break down your walls. It would always be them that lead you down the path to find the you you’ve always been searching for. And it would always be them that provided you with the love that you’ve missed out on in life. 

[sweetness47]

Almost Too Late

This is for @idreamofplaid and @girl-next-door-writes for their ‘They Belong to Us Now’ Challenge. Hope you guys like it! Congrats on your milestones btw.

Warnings: Swearing, death mentioned, dark spirits, kissing at the end, pining I’m going to say PG-14

Prompt #16: If You die, I’m going to kill you.

Theme: AU Castle

Pairing: Sam x reader

Life was good, or mostly. My friends and I hunt monsters, save people from the things that go bump in the night. This isn’t what your thinking though. We don’t drive places. Most of our travel is done by horseback or hiking. The industrial revolution came, left, and is in the process of being reborn, but it’s very slow going.

Every day is a new adventure. It’s just four of us: me, Dean, Sam, and my friend Charlie. Oh, and spoiler alert…I’ve had a major crush on Sam forever! Like seriously. I mentally drool when he talks to me, stands close to me, and my underwear is a sopping mess by the time the day ends. It’s super hard being so attracted to him, especially since he has no clue. I hesitate to bring it up, my worst fear is that confessing my feelings would ruin what we have.

That would kill me.

So I suffer silently. Charlie has noticed my pining, and has tried to get me to admit my feelings to him. But I’m terrified. If I lost him because I chose to share my attraction, I’d never be able to live with myself. I would lose the one thing in my life worth living for, besides friends, and that would kill me, literally.

I’ve pictured all the different ways I could approach the subject. I could casually just walk beside him and slide into my feelings. I could just jump him while everyone’s sleeping (my personal favorite…for obvious reasons) but what if he rejects my advances? I just can’t find an outcome where I’m not overthinking, where I don’t see chances of disaster, of rejection, of heartbreak.

Ugh. FML. Seriously.

**

Our travels bring us to a long abandoned castle. It’s creepy as fuck, but if properly fixed and cleaned up, it could actually be a really good home for us to work out of, a place where we can just hold up and crash, seek safety, keep our belongings we don’t usually need on hunts.

It’s really big, in an intimidating sort of way. I shiver as I walk closer and touch the stone walls. There’s a presence or two here, things that are tethered to this ancient land, to this castle. It’s dark, and dangerous.

And it knows we’re here.

“Guys? We’re not alone here.”

Sam, Dean and Charlie all turn towards me, and wait. They know I’m able to feel things, so if I say to be careful, they listen.

I continue. “I don’t know if there’s more than one, but whatever is in here is dangerous, like deadly. And it already knows we’re here. The good news? It hates light. Bad news though…the sun will be setting in a couple of hours. We won’t stand a chance if we don’t make a plan.”

“Is it worth us even staying? I mean, we could always find another place to shack up.” Dean’s voice tells me he’s going against his heart. He really likes this place as much as the rest of us, but he also knows not to take my feelings lightly.

“Maybe, but how often do we come across such a magnificent place? A lot of castles have long since been destroyed by one disaster or another. With some work, and luck, we could make this our home. I love the idea of having a solid place to rest once in a while.”

I love Charlie. She’s never one to beat around the bush. Straight forward and honest. I nod in agreement, but as I stare at the dark looming windows and the ancient structure of the castle, I can’t help but wonder if Dean might have a point. I personally have never felt something this dangerous before and frankly, I honestly don’t know how to deal with whatever dwells inside.

**

The human called YN is correct, something dark and dangerous does occupy this castle. Me. I am the biggest threat here, the banshee that recently sought refuge here is nothing compared to my dark power.

I am a void, a darkness, sentient and silent. I feed off fear and humans, the ones that are foolish enough to try and remove me from my home. Many have tried. None have succeeded.

I am near indestructible. I revel in the power I possess. I will never let anyone take it from me.

I used to be malicious, hell bent on finding the next willing victim to feed my hungry darkness. Then my brother entity, the one hunters dubbed “the Empty” made a deal with an angel, where the angel would help save what was left of this world and then go willingly into that void.

The anguish I felt from those the angel considered family was horrific. They mourned. I hated the idea that the one like me could be so cruel. We were made for harbouring souls, ones that had no other place to go. We were made to feed on those dead and lost, to grow and suck the life from them. But we were never to make deals to take a willing live being, no matter the end game.

That was what our creator told us. My brother didn’t listen.

I did.

I left because of that. And was punished for it.

Now I am tethered to this stone building. I’ve been here for a long time, and have grown quite fond of the peace and quiet. Most of my energy is gotten from stray animals, or the occasional human. But I absolutely refuse to leave.

So I prepare to fight. I won’t lose this home.

**

Sam peeks through the door and down the dark hall. “Sounds like fun. Shall we?” He grabs a flashlight and steps over the threshold. The moment he does, I feel the change in whatever has possessed this place.

I grab his arm. “Sam, be careful.”

He nods. “Always.”

I snort at that response, because for as much as I love the brothers, they have had a tendency to get into some stupid situations.

Dean follows Sam, then Charlie and I step inside. I’m blown away from what greets us. The first archway we encounter opens to a massive foyer, large enough to rival a grand ballroom, with corridors leading off in all directions, as well as a grand wide staircase, gleaming with gold accents and dark cherry wood railings. All I was missing was the fancy ball gown and a crowd of ballroom dancers to complete the picture.

Honestly it felt like we’d stepped into a fairy tale, but the danger looming in the background dispelled that notion pretty quick. And now that we were inside, I could definitely sense more than one. The first one, the dark presence that resided in the walls, it was intelligent, and it didn’t feel as threatening as the other. Spirit number two was restless, malevolent, and downright deadly.

“Guys, just a heads up. There’s two different entities here, both are dangerous, but one of them is more so than the other. Be careful. We go in pairs. Watch each other’s backs.”

Everyone nods, and Dean whisks me down one hall while Sam and Charlie explore the other. The moment we’re alone, Dean calls me out on what I didn’t say.

“Ok hotshot, spill. What aren’t you telling us?”

I sigh. Dean knows I have a thing for his brother, and has encouraged me numerous times to tell Sam how I feel. He also knows I have a habit of keeping important information from the others when I feel like it could jeopardise an outcome.

I stop and face my friend. “It’s just a feeling Dean. Honest.”

Dean purses his lips as if trying to figure out if my words are the truth. “Ok. But the moment that changes, you tell us. None of this hero bullshit you usually pull. I saw the look in your eyes. Your spooked. And you never get spooked like this.”

He’s right. It’s one of the reasons I’m good at hunting the things that go bump in the night. I don’t scare easily.

I nod. “I know. I promise to tell you if the feeling becomes more. Ok? Can we drop it now?”

He does, but only because I have a tendency to blow a fuse if I’m pushed too far. And I need to be on top of my game if I want to stay ahead of the dark.

An ear-splitting, high pitched scream echoes through the entire castle, the walls vibrating as it bounces off everything it touches.

Dean and I look at each other and say at the same time. “Banshee!!”

We radio Charlie and Sam. They confirm they heard the creature as well, and promise to keep a close eye on their surroundings. I can’t shake the heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach though. It’s almost like someone’s going to die…

FUCK!

“Dean! We have to find Sam and Charlie now!”

He takes one look at my facial expression, and whatever he finds there is enough to convince him not to argue. Another banshee scream fills the halls, and we take off back to the main foyer as we try to radio Charlie and Sam. They don’t answer, so we head in the direction they took when we split off.

The horrible feeling grows with each step, and when we stumble upon a broken two-way radio, I swallow hard. Dean calls out, but neither answer. I look at the elder Winchester, who’s grim looks mirror my own.

Suddenly, we’re thrown across the room by the high pitched wail, having been too distracted to notice her presence. I recover quickly, my need to contain her is great, she is a road block in my quest to find my friends and make sure they are all right. I summon my will, and I throw everything I have, everything I am feeling, at my nemesis. Her screams fade as she disintegrates before our eyes.

It’s then we see Charlie and Sam, both of whom are lying on the ground, motionless. Charlie is moaning and attempting to open her eyes and sit up, but my focus is on Sam, or rather his lack of movement. I’m paralyzed by fear when I notice his shallow breathing, the struggles he has just trying to breathe.

I fall to my knees beside him. “Sam? Baby, talk to me.”

He coughs and smiles weakly, blood trickles out of his mouth with each wheeze. “You called me a pet name. I knew you liked me.”

Tears fell as I smiled at his attempt at humor. “Asshole! Don’t you dare try and distract me. I swear Sam, if you die, I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will fucking hunt your ass down and kill you!”

His answer is to chuckle, but it quickly turns to another bout of coughing, and more blood oozing from his perfect lips. He never gets to say what he’s thinking as his lungs give out, and he stops breathing.

My worlds stops. I can’t breathe.

A gasp leaves my lips, and quickly turns into a strangled cry. I fall over him, hugging his still form, begging him to wake up, to come back to me. I can’t live without him.

Why the hell did I pair with Dean? Why? I could have protected him! I’m such an idiot! And now I’ll never be able to tell him I love him, I’ll never hold him again, or kiss him the way I’ve always imagined.

Because he’s gone.

That’s when I feel the other presence, the heartache that mirrors my own. The entity within the walls is feeling my pain, which is weird in itself, like it’s mourning my loss.

So I engage it in conversation.

You…why do you mourn my loss? I ask it in my head.

There’s no delay in the answer I receive. I have felt human loss before, it saddens me. What makes this human special?

I love him. He is everything to me…the air I breathe, the life in my body. He’s my reason for living. Is my answer.

This time there is considerable pause before it talks to me. I can bring him back for you. All I ask in return is to be allowed to stay in these walls. I have grown to like it here.

Deal. If you can save him, I will not harm you. But you can never harm me or my friends for as long as we live in this place.

The entity agrees, and I feel it join with my mind, it’s darkness seeping into my body, taking my power and my connection to Sam. I involuntarily move my hands to hover over his chest, and close my eyes as power is released from me into him.

Sam’s body shudders and suddenly he gasps, sitting upright, his lungs taking in gulps of fresh air. He coughs then looks at me, eyes wide.

And I fold my arms around his neck and kiss him.

It takes about two seconds for him to kiss me back, parting my lips with his tongue. Kissing Sam is everything I imagined and more, he tastes sweet, like cotton candy. I’m crying again, but it’s tears of joy. I eventually tear my mouth from his, needing to say three words.

“I love you.”

His response comes immediately. “I love you too YN. Always have.”

He kisses me again, leaving Dean and Charlie cheering and teasing us to get a room. I look up, and a shadowy figure smiles in my direction. The entity.

Thank you. I manage.

It nods, then fades into the walls.

@idreamofplaid @girl-next-door-writes @drkcnry67 @lyarr24

[rohad93]

Werewolf in the hospital

As far as Halloween’s go, this one could have been better for her. It wasn’t often she ended an evening sitting in the ER, dressed as a werewolf, with a broken nose, but she couldn’t say now that it didn’t ever not happen!

The night had started fun enough. She’d been out with Gus and Willow at a party being thrown at one of their college’s many fraternity houses. One that was affectionately referred to as the ‘Illusion coven’ around campus because of its many resident students that were known for their penchant for pranks and being able to disappear without a trace when the heat was turned up in response, as well as a large handful of their students that were also members of the school’s ‘magic appreciation club’.

They of course, always threw the best parties, especially at Halloween.

This one had been no different. The music and lights could be seen from about two blocks away. There was a long line of students waiting to get in the front door, but luckily for her and Willow, Gus was a member, which got them through the door instantly.

The place was jammed packed when they finally arrived and Luz could barely hear herself think over the music that was trying to vibrate her teeth right out of her skull, but that didn’t stop her from making a beeline straight for the dancefloor with her friends in tow for the first hour. Excessive amounts of energy made dancing the perfect activity for her, even if she generally lacked any grace or coordination.

It was weird to finally be at one of these raging school parties after all the ones she had been purposely excluded from in high school.

After four years of being an outcast in high school and spending most Saturday night’s alone, watching anime or writing fanfiction to fill her spare time, she hadn’t expected her social life to really take off in college, though ‘take-off’ might have been a strong word for it. She still only had a handful of friends, but it was still a far cry from how she’d been a loner in high school.

Leaving to go to college out of state had given her an opportunity to start new, though she was still the same old Luz she had been her senior year, there were so many more people at her college with varying interests and backgrounds than her small-town high school where everyone had known each other since grade school and pretty much stuck together from the first grade on.

You release one nest of spiders at nap time and suddenly you’re branded for life as ‘that weird kid’. She didn’t like to admit how much that had really bothered her when she was a kid, but it just became the norm as she got older. It didn’t stop her enjoying life as much as she could, even if she had gotten thrown out of prom her senior year for wearing an otter onesie.

It was still nice to actually have friends now, one’s she could study with in the library or just have lunch with and not blink an eye when she said something totally bizarre, or at least bizarre by most people’s standards.

Meeting Willow, her dorm mate, and then Gus through her, had been a lifesaver and through them, she had met other student’s, some of which she shared classes with, like Viney, who despite being an upperclassman was only now taking her English comp basics so they worked together on group assignments, she was funny and easy to get along with. It didn’t take long for Luz to count her, along with Gus and Willow as her closest friends.

Viney was also dating Emira Blight, one of the infamous Blight twins, who were also members of the ‘Illusion Coven’, so she knew Viney was probably somewhere here among the many bodies packed into the large house, though the chances of running into her were slim.

She wasn’t at all surprised to see the copious amounts of alcohol that was everywhere either, that was one thing about college that TV had gotten right. College students drank; a lot.”

She watched three students doing a keg stand till beer squirted out of the guy on the kegs’ nose.

She snorted, grinning to herself and showing off the mouthful of sharp canines she had spent a good hour in the bathroom getting molded to fit too her teeth. She was, of course, the definition of a broke college student, attending entirely on a full scholarship, cause when you don’t have anyone to hang out with, you might as well study, and it was finally paying off, but she still had little in the way of personal spending money given her measly paycheck from working part-time at ‘The Owl House’ An owl themed diner just off campus owned by the most eccentric woman Luz had ever met, did not make for the most extravagant costume. But she made do with an old red flannel, ripped jeans, and some dollar store pointed ears and face paint. She had splurged a little on the fake teeth, she’d reuse them next year, werewolf was a classic after all.

Despite her less than ideal paycheck, Edalyn Clawthorne, or Eda ‘The Owl Lady’ as she was known around town, was good to her, letting her eat and drink for free or study there when she wasn’t working, and honestly, Luz kind of wanted to be Eda when she grew up. She was self-assured and didn’t care what anyone thought about her, not to mention surprisingly foxy for her age.

“You guys want something to drink?” Gus yelled at her and Willow to be heard over the pounding music and voices.

“Is there anything without an octane rating?” Willow questioned, as she watched an upperclassman drinking something straight out of the bottle at maximum speed.

After all, she and Willow were only nineteen, and Gus seventeen, he was crazy smart and had skipped a couple of grades. Luz had never had much interest in drinking, despite Eda sometimes offering her a drink from her flask with the Owl etched into the side.

She didn’t even know what was in it, only that Eda referred to it as “Mama’s magic Elixir’. She always said no and Eda would shrug and tip it back till it was empty.

“There’s punch, but I’d still be careful. Chances are good it’s already been spiked.” He shrugged.

“No thanks,” Willow shook her head and turned to look at something, the glitter on the wings of her fairy costume catching the bright colored lights overhead. She still hadn’t figured out what Gus was supposed to be. He was wearing a long red tube with a smiley face on it and long sleeves that went down to the ground that he flung about in excitement.  

“I might take my chances on those snacks!” Luz shouted, eyeing the array of treats laid out on the table for the taking. She was willing to bet no one had spiked the cake and it looked really good from here. Gus grinned and Willow rolled her eyes, smiling. Anyone who knew Luz for any amount of time knew she had a voracious appetite and an even bigger sweet tooth.

“Yeah, okay, just don’t eat everything.” Gus laughed at her.

“No promises!” She grinned back before moving across the room, trying to slide between the bodies that packed every square inch of the place and get to the refreshment table. People were moving in every direction around her as the music blared and the lights flashed, it was a little disorienting actually, but she had her eyes on the prize.

She had just made it to the table when the crowd surged and sent her careening into someone else standing there, slamming into their back and making them spill their drink.

“Watch it, nitwit! A voice growled at her before stopping. “Oh, hi, Luz.”

Luz blinked, realizing who exactly she had just slammed into, and swallowed thickly.

Amity Blight, who she did not exactly start off on the best foot with when classes had started a few months ago but now had a much more friendly relationship with.

Amity Blight, the smart and talented girl she shared creative writing and literature appreciation with. Amity Blight, who Luz had a teeny, tiny, minuscule... huge, crush on.

Amity Blight, who was dressed prettily as a witch, complete with black and green striped leggings and a pointed black hat and, who she had just slammed into and spilled her drink on.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Amity!” Luz grimaced at the wet spot now in the middle of Amity’s black blouse.

“Oh, it’s okay, really, no big deal!” Amity waved a hand, snatching a napkin off the table and dabbing at the spot.

“You sure? I could go...get you something or…,” she started, unsure.

“NO, no it’s fine, really…,” she insisted and Luz frowned. She must have embarrassed the other girl, her face was tinged red as she wiped at the spot, and was trying not to look Luz in the eyes.

‘Mierda’ Luz cursed under her breath.

Clearly, Amity did not want to talk about the spill anymore, so Luz cleared her throat, drawing the young woman’s gaze.

“What are you doing here? You don’t strike me as the… party type,” she asked and Amity rolled her eyes and Luz’s chest seized up, wondering if she’d insulted her until Amity spoke again.

“I’m not, but my brother and sister are members here and all but forced me to come tonight,” she huffed. “I’d much rather be back in my dorm, studying for our quiz in lit appreciation Monday and not getting a headache from this music.” she frowned and Luz blinked.

“Oh, Mierda! I forgot about the quiz!” Luz slapped her hands to her cheeks and Amity blinked at her before laughing.

“It was written on the board yesterday and the professor sent out an email reminder this morning.”

“Ugh, I didn’t check my email today,” she groaned, squishing her cheeks.

“Well, you still have tomorrow to study,” Amity offered.

“There was so much material to cover though…” Luz groaned. “I’m not gonna sleep all weekend, I’m going to have to cram till I push out every memory of the third grade just to make room for it all.” She frowned, already thinking about all the coffee she was going to have to drink before Monday morning, and on Monday morning.

Amity was biting her lip, thinking, but decided to take the chance.

“You can come study with me. Only if you want that is!” she quickly finished, pushing a stray strand of dyed, half mint, green, half auburn hair behind one of her ears.

“Really?” Luz asked.

“Yeah, I was just about to get out of here anyway, I’ve had enough of the party…” she said, looking around at all the people crowded into the room.

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Luz jumps on the opportunity, cause why wouldn’t she. “Oh, I came with Gus and Willow…” she remembers her friends somewhere in the house.

“Oh…” Amity seems to deflate a little at that. “Maybe another time?”

“No, it’s all good! I’m just gonna go tell them I’m headed out. You, uh, wanna meet outside?” she asks and Amity is smiling at her again and Luz just wants to melt into a puddle on the floor as those amber eyes stare back at her

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you.”    

“Great! I’ll be quick,” she promises as she runs back out into the crowd, looking for her friends. It takes her about ten minutes to find them in the living room.

“Hye guys, is it cool with you if I head out?”

“Where are you going?” Willow questions her.

“I ran into Amity, who reminded me we have a quiz in lit appreciation Monday and I really need to study and she offered to study with me, so…” she trails off, seeing the look Willow is giving her. The horticulture student is very aware of Luz’s crush, despite her never really saying anything about it. She does not count gushing to the shorter girl about how smart and pretty Amity is as ‘saying anything about it’.

“Why would you wanna leave a party to study?” Gus makes a face and Willow smirks.

“I think it’s more about who she’s studying with…” she says knowingly and Luz blushes as Gus blinks at her, confused.

“It’s cool, Luz. Go study with Amity.”

Luz does not care for the knowing way Willow says the other woman’s names, with a teasing lilt, but she’s not concerning herself with that for now.

“Thanks, guys, I’ll see you later,” She calls, already running toward the front door.  

She doesn’t immediately see Amity, in fact, the yard in front of the house is empty, everyone inside.

Luz frowns, looking around. Did she get tired of waiting?

Her chest aches a little at the thought, shoulders slumping, and is just about to turn around and go back in the house when she hears something that does not match the thumping bass of the music inside, voices. She walks quietly around to the side of the house and peeks around the wall curiously, if college has taught her anything it’s that there are students making out anywhere at any given time and not to look too closely into dark corners where sounds are coming from.  

Her eyes widen as she spots Amity right away, her back is pressed against the wall and a guy dressed in a toga is standing in front of her, leaning down over her. He’s not particularly big, but he’s standing uncomfortably close with his hands wrapped around both of her wrists, hands fisted, Amity is scowling angrily up at him. Luz’s brows furrow between her eyes and she frowns, walking over quickly.

“I said let go!” Amity snaps, trying to rip her hands free from his grip and he’s so close she can smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Come on, just a little kiss, it’s Halloween…” He leans forward and Amity turns her head away,  sneering.

“I don’t care if it’s fucking Christmas!” she snarled. “I said no!”

“Hey!” Luz shouts standing just a few feet away now. “She said no!” she growled, lips pulled back over her fangs.

“Luz!” Amity stares at her wide-eyed.

“This is none of your business bitch, go howl at the moon,” he slurred before turning back to Amity and yanking on one of her hands. She yelps in pain as he jerks her and Luz is moving forward before she even knows it and her fist is connecting with the side of his face.

He goes fumbling backward, releasing Amity as he stumbles to his butt in the grass.

“Santa mierda, eso duele!” she hissed, shaking out her screaming hand.

“Come on!” Amity grabs her other hand and starts to pull her away but then the guy is scrambling to his feet and coming at her with a strangled yell and Luz does the first thing she can think of, she uses their joined hands to yank Amity behind her and then the guy’s fist connects with her face and her world an explosion of pain and crunching noises.

She’s only vaguely aware of Amity screaming her name as her back hits the grass and everything goes black for a second but then she’s quickly pulled back to consciousness by his hand fisted into the front of her shirt and her fight or flight instincts kick in and she’s swinging wildly at his ugly mug as quickly as she can.

Her hands protest every hit that connects with his stone-hard face but she doesn’t stop and he’s swinging back, but she can hardly feel it over the constant pain radiating from her nose through her whole body.

She just clenches her eyes shut and keeps swinging, punching him as hard as she can, but then there are more voices and two large burly guys have him in a stranglehold, pulling him off her.

Amity had dashed back inside to grab the houses ‘bouncers’ standing just inside the door.

“Oh my god, Luz!” Amity holds her hands over her mouth as she kneels onto the ground next to her, looking over her face in horror.

“Ugh…” is all she can manage and then Amity is grabbing her hand and helping to her feet and dragging her across the yard, fumbling, panicked through her purse before finally pulling out her keys. She unlocks the passenger side door of a small black sedan and carefully pushes Luz into the passenger seat.

“Keep your head tilted back,” she says before closing the door and hurrying around to the other side, and jumping in the driver’s seat.

It’s only now that Luz realizes she can taste blood and reaches up to touch her top lip and pulls her hand back to see her fingers covered in the crimson liquid.

‘Well, that’s not good,’ she thinks, but it definitely explains why her face hurts so bad.

She tilts her head back but can feel it dribbling down her chin and neck as Amity pulls away from the curb, much faster than the speed limit, Luz is sure as the tires squeal.

She runs her tongue across her teeth and feels a distinct lack of a point and groans, making Amity glance at her.

“I think I swallowed one of my teeth…,” she mumbles more to herself but Amity’s pained expression turns into a grimace as they speed down the road.

Which was how she found herself sitting next to her crush in the ER with her head tilted back and the front of her once white shirt stained crimson as her nose continues to bleed.

Halloween is apparently a very popular time for injury because it’s crowded and takes two hours for someone to see her, while they wait Amity fills out her paperwork for her.

“Birthday?” she asks glumly, and Luz tells her. She hasn’t said much since they left the party, she looks miserable, and that’s coming from someone who is doing their best impression of a fountain with her nose. She can’t stand that face Amity is making. “Allergies?”

“Lactose intolerant, so no milk IV’s,” she jokes, despite the incredible pain in her face. Amity starts to write but then stops, blinking, before turning to look at her grin.

“How can you joke? You just got beat up… because of me.” she frowns.

“No, I got my block busted because some guy was being a pendejo.” Luz frowns. “It wasn’t your fault, and I wasn’t just going to stand there and let him….do whatever he wanted!” she scowled, throwing up a hand.

Amity is looking at her with an unreadable expression, but before she can say anything they are calling her back.

“Oh goody, my turn.”

It takes forty-five minutes for them to tell her that her nose is broken, which she could have told them when she caught sight of herself in a mirror, a bloody mess and her nose pushed to the side at an odd angle. No wonder Amity had been so panicked and run all those red lights.

Putting it back in place is… not fun, and then the doctor stuffs gauze in her nose and splints the outside, telling her she needs to keep the gauze in for a week and then sends her on her way with a prescription for antibiotics and some mild painkillers.

Amity is waiting for her when she comes out.

“What did he say?” she stands as Luz walks back out into the waiting room and frowns at the splint on her face.

“It’s broke.” she shrugs and Amity grimaces as they walk out back to the parking lot.

“I am so sorry, Luz.” Amity frowned. “If I’d just…”

“Hey,” Luz cut her off, she wasn’t having any of that. “I told you, it’s not your fault, technically, I started that fight… didn’t win it, but I started it,” she laughed to herself.

“You are surprisingly chipper for someone who just got their nose broken…” Amity can’t help but smile a little at the other woman’s cheery disposition.

“It’s not the first time I’ve broken something you know. The first time someone helped me along, but hey! Besides, I helped you, and that’s good enough for me.” She smiled as they stopped next to Amity’s car. Amity has a small smile on her face as she unlocks the car. “I hope this is healed up by thanksgiving or my mom is going to have a cow…,” she mumbled as an afterthought. Amity giggled to herself.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

The drive is mostly quiet until they pull up into the parking lot in front of Luz’s dorm building. Willow is probably already back in their room.

“Do you think this will get me out of the quiz Monday?” Luz wonders aloud as she unbuckles and Amity laughs.

“Doubtful... but…, if you’re up for it, I feel like I should at least treat you to breakfast or something for what you did… we could study after?” she offers.

Luz blinks at her, finally realizing what exactly is going on. She was certain before when Amity had asked her to study that she was just being nice, but the way she looks now, fingers tapping anxiously on the steering wheel and glancing at Luz out of the corner of her eye, she finally catches on and curses how oblivious she is at times.

“Like… a date?” she asks uncertainly and Amity flinches.

‘Y-Yeah.” she jerks her head in a nod and Luz is silent for a few seconds too long it seems. “If you don’t want to…!”

“No! No I do, want to go on a date with you, yes!” Luz nods, too fast, it makes her nose throb.  

“Really?” now Amity is turned to look at her, eyes wide, with a hopeful glint.

“Yes, absolutely.” Does she sound too eager? Probably, but she does not care, especially when Amity’s face lights up with that adorable little smile she’s seen on her face once or twice before in class when they talked and now she feels even dumber for not catching on quicker.

They plan for Amity to pick her up here at nine tomorrow morning and then Luz opens the door, but Amity stops her.

“Thank you, Luz… I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t shown up...” Amity says finally.

“Amity Blight, I will be your fearless champion anytime you need me too!” she declares, a fist on her chest. The bandages and bloodstains, as well as her nasally stuffed up voice, diminishes the gesture some, but Amity smiles adoringly at her none the less.

She hesitates a second before reaching across the console to lay a hand gently on Luz’s cheek before leaning forward to quickly kiss the other. Luz’s face erupts in red as her heart hammers in her chest.

“My fearless champion,” she agrees, cheeks a bright pink.

Luz’s face erupts in a grin.

Maybe the evening started poorly, but she can’t find it in herself to mind one bit.

[pikapeppa]

Professor Solas/Lavellan: First Impressions

Chap 1 of Inadvisable (professor Solas AU) is posted! In which Nare Lavellan has a chance run-in, literally. 

Beautiful art by Nare’s creator, @elbenherzart​!

~2400 words; read on AO3 instead.

- NARE -

Nare swept her hair into a tidy ponytail, then gave her face one last critical look before stepping out of her bedroom. She tapped lightly on the closed bedroom door across from her own. “Tamaris?” she called. “Are you–”

“I’m coming,” Tamaris grunted. “Give me two fucking minutes.”

Nare smirked at Tamaris’s customary early-morning surliness, then padded quietly down the hall to the living room. Athera was waiting pertly on the couch with a half-finished cup of tea in her hands, and she grinned at Nare as she approached. 

“She’s awake, at least?” Athera asked.

“Awake enough,” Nare said drolly. She sat next to Athera and tucked her legs up on the couch. “Are you nervous about your first day?”

Athera laughed. “Me? Nervous? Of course not! Just a normal first day doing this job for the first time in the only Ancient Elvhen Studies program in the entire country. What’s to be nervous about?”

Nare sympathetically eyed her friend’s bright smile. She didn’t blame Athera for being nervous. Athera had been looking for a research coordinator position for years. Her new job at the University of Orlais was well-earned, in Nare’s opinion, and it was just a stroke of happy fortune that Athera was starting her job at the same time that Nare was starting her Master’s of fine arts with U of O’s prestigious — and infamous — Ancient Elvhen Studies program. 

It was also serendipitous that Tamaris had decided she wanted a change of pace and place, resulting in the three girls splitting the rent on a cozy three-bedroom-plus-studio apartment close to the university.

“Don’t be nervous,” Nare said warmly. “It’s going to be great! By the end of the week, the director will be wondering how they lived without you making the whole lab twice as efficient.”

Athera grimaced and ran a hand through her hair long chestnut hair. “I don’t know. Professor Abelas did not sound that impressed with my lack of experience during the phone interview. I’m still surprised I got the job.”

“He probably thinks he can train you up fresh since you’re so-called ‘inexperienced’,” Nare said knowingly. “He’ll see how good you are in two seconds. I’m sure of it.”

Athera smiled at her. “Aw, you’re sweet. I bet you’re going to impress your new supervisor just as much when you meet with him tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” Nare said. But her belly jolted at the mention of Solas. 

Professor Solas, she reminded herself. Just because she had a crush on her new supervisor’s voice didn’t mean she could start thinking of him in an informal way before they’d even met. 

Oh, but he had such a gorgeous voice. The majority of her communication with Professor Solas had been via email, but the one time they’d spoken on the phone… Fenedhis, Nare couldn’t get it out of her mind. His voice was smooth and mild like a hot vanilla latte, with a curl of an Elvhen accent that made something shiver in her belly in a very visceral way. She was still surprised that she’d managed to keep her calm and sound like a reasonable and intelligent person after hearing Professor Solas’s first few words floating into her ear through the phone. 

And that was just from hearing him talk about the Elvhen art stream of the program and the opportunities for exhibiting her work in the galleries in Val Royeaux. Imagine if he ever spoke to her in that beautiful smooth voice about other, less professional things… 

Stop it, she scolded herself silently. She was being so stupid and horny, developing a crush on a man purely for his voice. Well, not just his voice: he was incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable, and strong-willed to the point of stubborn as well, if his academic position papers were anything to go by. But if Nare was being honest, his intelligence wasn’t the main thing that had been keeping her up at night for the past couple of months since she and Solas had last spoken on the phone. 

It was stupid to be thinking such carnal things about his voice, though. She didn’t even know what he looked like — not for a lack of trying to find out, if she was perfectly honest. She’d searched online for a photo of her soon-to-be supervisor, but he didn’t have a faculty photo anywhere on the U of O website, and a Google search had been shockingly unhelpful, leaving Nare with only a blank slate to imagine along with that knicker-melting voice. 

“Nare, you okay?” Athera said.

Nare jolted slightly, then smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Just thinking.”

Athera gave her a shrewd look. “Something tells me I’m not the only one who’s nervous.”

“I thought you weren’t nervous,” Nare teased.

Athera grinned, but Tamaris’s grumpy voice interrupted before Athera could reply. “You guys have nothing to be nervous about. You’re going to impress the shit out of everyone. Now let’s go get some coffee already.” She wandered over to the door and started jamming her feet into her scuffed black motorcycle boots. 

Nare exchanged a smirk with Athera, then popped up from the couch. “Good morning, lethallan,” she crooned. 

Athera giggled and hugged Tamaris’s arm. “Good morning,” she sing-songed.

Tamaris groaned. “Fuck off, both of you. I’m only awake this early because I have a client in an hour.” 

“Wait, is it already nine?” Athera said in alarm. She checked her watch, then squeaked. “Oh shoot! Oh shoot, I’m supposed to meet Abelas at the office in fifteen minutes!” She shoved her feet onto a pair of flats and grabbed her bag, then flung open the door. “Bye! Have a good one!” she yelled, and she bolted down the stairs. 

Nare smiled at Tamaris. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

“Lucky you,” Tamaris drawled. “You get to suffer my morning-gremlin attitude all alone.”

Nare chuckled, and they made their way down the stairs at a more measured pace and wandered toward their favourite café at the end of the block. 

It was a perfect crisp early-September day. The sun was a lovely warm wash of light, and the air was fresh and cool without being cold. The leaves hadn’t started changing colours yet, but the quality of their verdancy was starting to shift from the lush springlike undertones of blue to the more autumn-like undertones of yellow. When Nare pointed this out to Tamaris, Tamaris huffed in amusement.

“That’s such an artist-y thing to say,” she said. 

Nare gave her a chiding look. “You say that like you aren’t an artist yourself.” She pointedly eyed the delicate vallaslin that curled around Tamaris’s left eye — vallaslin that Tamaris had carefully tapped into her own skin, and the same skills which had imbued Nare and Athera with their vallaslin as well.

“I don’t often work with colour, though,” Tamaris said. 

“Isn’t your client this morning for a coloured tattoo?”

“Yeah, but that’s different than painting,” Tamaris pointed out. 

“Your tattoo work is amazing, though,” Nare said.

Tamaris smirked. “Fine. We’re both amazing artists with mind-blowing skills. Are you going to buy my coffee for me because I’m so awesome?”

“I’m the student here,” Nare said with a grin. “You should be buying me coffee.”

Tamaris tsked. “Fine. Just this once though, you leech.” She pulled open the café door and gestured sarcastically for Nare to enter before her.

Nare chuckled and slid into the café. They placed their orders together, then sat at a sunny table to enjoy their coffee and fresh scones — vegan blueberry for Nare, and lemon-glazed for Tamaris. 

Nare took the lid off of her cup and blew on her coffee. “So you’re coming to the start-of-year mixer tonight, right?”

Tamaris slumped in her seat and shoved a hand through her lush midnight curls. “Explain again why you want me to come to this mixer thing. I’m not a student.”

“It doesn’t matter that you’re not a student,” Nare said. In truth, she just wanted to get Tamaris out of the apartment before she started forming roots.

“It kind of does,” Tamaris said flatly. “It’s happening at the campus bar.”

“Lots of non-students go to the campus bar,” Nare pointed out. “It’s a nice bar.”

Tamaris grunted. Nare leaned toward her slightly. “Come on, Tam,” she wheedled. “Come to the mixer. Athera’s coming.”

“She works at the university now,” Tamaris pointed out. “It makes sense for her to go.”

Nare wilted. “What else are you going to do if you stay home?”

Tamaris’s reply was prompt. “I’ll rewatch The Archdemon Rises 3 for the fifth time and paint my nails.”

Nare declined to mention that Tamaris’s eggplant-purple manicure was still intact since she’d last done her nails two days ago. Instead, she widened her eyes pleadingly. “Please come? We’ll make a girls’ night of it. It’ll be fun, I promise.” 

Tamaris eyed her stonily for a moment, then sighed. “Ugh, you and your baby blues. Fine, I’ll come.” 

Nare beamed at her and took a bite of her scone. A leisurely half-hour later, they stepped out of the café.

Tamaris stretched her arms over her head. “All right, I’m headed home,” she said with a yawn. “You sure you don’t want to wait until tomorrow so we can go to that museum exhibit together?”

Nare shook her head. “I want to see it before my meeting with my supervisor tomorrow.”

Tamaris smirked. “Hoping to impress him with your up-to-date knowledge of the local art scene, huh?”

Nare poked her playfully. “Yes, okay? I want to make a good first impression.”

“You’ll be fine,” Tamaris said. “You always make a good first impression.”

Tamaris’s tone was dry, and Nare gazed fondly at her seemingly standoffish friend. “Thanks,” she said sincerely. “I’ll see you later.” 

Tamaris nodded and headed back to the apartment, and Nare turned in the opposite direction toward the modern art museum. She pulled her phone out of her purse and tapped open her browser to check the price of tickets for the special neo-Avvar exhibit; she was fairly sure she’d get a discounted admission with her student ID, but some of the museum’s special exhibits were even free for students, and Nare couldn’t remember if— 

She suddenly slammed right into someone. 

She stumbled back, then squeaked in alarm as she tripped over an uneven crack in the sidewalk. Her phone dropped from her fingers, and she grabbed for it even as she tried to find her footing, oh no oh shit she was going to fall down–

A strong pair of hands grabbed her arms, and Nare gasped as she regained her balance. “Shit,” she blurted. “I’m so sorry, I – my phone, I was distracted…”

“The fault is mine. I apologize.” 

A heated ripple of recognition spilled down her spine. That voice. She knew that voice. She’d been replaying that voice in her head for months and wondering what the person who owned that voice looked like: how tall he was, how big his hands were, what his lips looked like shaped around the liquids vowels of that divine Arlathani accent… 

Lightheaded with disbelief, her heart in her throat, Nare lifted her eyes to his face.

Her breath left her in a punch of shock. Gorgeous. He was gorgeous. An impeccably shaven head, a mere hint of crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes which put him somewhere in his late 30s or early 40s, lush lips with a perfect cupid’s bow, a delicate divot in his chin and a jawline sharp enough to cut, and his eyes… 

His eyes were perfectly lucid, a perfect quixotic blend of light grey and pale blue that Nare couldn’t quite name, and they were so warm. His eyebrows were creased with a hint of concern, and when the crease in his brow deepened, she realized that she was staring.

“Are you all right?” Professor Solas said. 

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Which was a good thing, because the only words Nare could think were you are fucking hot.

She nodded dumbly. A tiny hint of a smile curled the left corner of his lips, and he released her arms. “I apologize for the collision,” he said, and he crouched down to pick up his book and her phone. “I should know better than to read and walk at the same time.” 

Nare watched stupidly as he rose to his full height. Fenedhis, he was tall.

He held out her phone, and Nare carefully studied his face. There was no recognition there. There was warmth in his handsome face, but no recognition. He didn’t know who she was. 

Not that she would necessarily expect him to, since he was a professional and an intellectual, and professional intellectuals probably didn’t online-stalk their new grad students to find out what they looked like. 

She took her phone with trembling fingers and swallowed hard. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

“You’re welcome,” he said. “You are not hurt, I hope?” 

Ugh, he was so good-looking. Why did her supervisor have to be her exact ideal physical type?

She dropped his gaze and tucked a stray strand of hair over her ear. “I — no. I’m fine,” she said in a tiny voice. 

“Good,” he said. “And again, I apologize for the collision.” 

She shrugged and tried to nod at the same time, then wanted to smack herself for being so fucking awkward.

“Take care,” he said. A moment later, he was walking away from her. 

She finally dragged in a breath and watched greedily as Professor Solas walked away. For someone who had such a mild voice and such kind eyes, his gait was certainly confident. 

Confident and sexy. 

Nare blew out a breath and forced herself to turn away. She was shaking. Why was she shaking? Why was her heart beating so hard, not just in her chest but in her entire body? 

Why was her mind completely taken over by the thought of Professor Solas stretching her naked body out on a desk, those warm grey-blue eyes scanning her from head to toe before he taught her all kinds of torrid lessons that she would never forget? 

Fuck, she thought desperately. I am in so much trouble.

[jeonjeonggukenergy]

Anti-Hero

summary ~ in search of wine at a party that’s so not your scene, you run into jungkook, the weeb from your film class, and become determined to learn just how much he lives up to his big reputation.

pairing ~ jungkook x reader

genre ~ fluff, smut (coming in ch3!) - college!au

wordcount ~ 2.3k

warnings ~ pretty much n/a, mentions of drinking and light smut

a/n ~ v excited for these lil dorks! i thought about combining this with the upcoming chapter but it felt right on its own and i wanted to go ahead and post an update for yall haha. ch 3 will most definitely have some serious smut to look forward to 👀 thank yall for reading, i love and appreciate any form of support or feedback so so much, so feel free to msg me or send me an ask abt whatever you want! 🥰 hope u enjoy this chapter!!!

previous: chapter 1 ~ next: chapter 3 | chapter 4 (coming soon!)

~ read on ao3 ~

CHAPTER 2 ~ cowboy bebop & chill

You couldn't stop thinking about Jungkook. Every time you brought the enamel of your favorite mug to your lips, teeth knocking the rim as you exhaled to cool off your tea, it called back the click of his earrings in your mouth. Whenever you reached behind your ear to tuck away the hair you'd impulsively cropped to your chin this year, it hit the same spot you'd sucked into a bruise on his neck and you shivered. Even your slight headache thanks to the shitty vodka from the pregame reminded you of the wine you'd sought out from him in the first place and never fucking got to drink. 

You found yourself reading over your responses to each other's discussion posts from your film class, trying to find any more justification for this sudden crush than the drunken flirtation that mortified you as soon as you remembered it sober. He did seem to like your directness...but you could easily ascribe that to his similarly loosened-up state. Scanning through your reflections on The Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca, you painstakingly overanalyzed every smiley face and "I loved that part too!" Could he have been into you at all before this? Or had he just eyed you for another quick fuck at a party? Shit, what if he hated you for working him up and then leaving? If he wanted to, you knew he would have easily found someone else to finish the night with. But what if he still held it against you? The image of him bitterly turning aside to find another girl in the crowd, with your hickey still fresh on his jaw, turned your stomach more than you wanted to admit.

Shaking your head with a grounding exhale, you reminded yourself that whoever else he did or didn't hook up with was none of your business. Plus, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and probably didn't hate you in the first place. Wow, the bar really was so fucking low. Maybe that was part of the reason you were never that bold with boys. Every classmate you'd fallen for so far at college had remained innocently unaware of your feelings, likely because you never worked up the courage to clearly express them. You hadn't even been trying this time, though—this semester had been so busy you'd barely had time for your friends, much less crushes. And now your one blowoff class had become your biggest distraction.

Jungkook, a communications & media major, couldn't afford to lose as much focus in this class as you. Normally near front-and-center, he sat all the way in the corner of the last row, wary of imaginary stares burning through the hopefully-opaque-enough curtain of his hair. Even the risk of zoning out staring at the back of your head stressed him out less than the thought of you doing the same to him.

You walked into class through the back right entrance today so you'd pass Jungkook in the front row, though you could have gone straight to your usual left-side seat from the main door. Knowing you'd never summon the courage to talk to him, you still couldn't help wanting to see his face. You didn't know just what you were looking for—some kind of confirmation or dismissal that would let you just move on with your dry-ass life—but any reason to catch a glimpse of Jungkook was a good one. Today, though, he sat far closer to the entrance than you'd expected, and his proximity stopped you in your tracks a few feet behind him. Eyes dragging down the sculpted form under his soft black sweatsuit, your stare traced the veins in his forearms to reach the hands in his lap. Catching a half-page cartoon ass in your view of the manga he gazed at intently, a snort-laugh escaped you, the sound setting him on high alert. He snapped the book shut, spinning around with eyes wide and still-long hair an understandable mess for a Monday.

"I'm so—"

"I'm so sorry!"

You both shoved out the words at the same time.

A pause swelled between you, eye contact maintained as your mouths fluttered open and shut like fish. Even awkward and off-guard like this, he was just so damn pretty. It felt unreasonable for him to seem as flustered around you as you were around him. Finally, you spoke again, solely to force the conversation forward and put you both out of your misery.

"W-what do you have to be sorry for? I'm the one who, like—ugh, I was drunk, I'm so sorry, I never would have been so, yknow, if I was sober, like that's not me I promise, I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or—"

"No-no-no-no-no!" Jungkook cut you off, dismissing your barely intelligible apology. Before you could cut him off in return and continue, he held up both hands between you, his eyebrows knit together in a pleading expression. "Are you kidding me? Seriously, I feel so bad, I was kind of drunk too, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable! Please, you have nothing to worry about, it was, uh...I was...good...if...you were." He grew shyer as he continued, drifting off as a hand reached back to rub his neck. A light laugh. "You did make me have to keep my hair long for another few days, though. It's gotten so annoying to take care of, I was planning on cutting it right after the costume."

This admission perked up all your earlier curiosities about him, and a cautious smile spread over your face as Jungkook unconsciously reminded you that he was, in fact, a total dork, rather than the fuckboy you'd irrationally feared him to be.

"Wait, hold up," you snorted again. Gently. "You're telling me you grew out your hair for three, maybe four, months...for a Cowboy Bebop costume?"

"Hey, it was free and way less lame than a wig," he defended himself. Crossing his arms over his chest, he fidgeted uncomfortably, face blushing into a grin as you continued to giggle at him.

"You are such a fucking weeb," you accused lightheartedly.

Jungkook furrowed his brows back together, an anxious hand grazing the spot where you'd marked him again. "Well, you recognized my Spike costume, at least," he pouted. "You're not all innocent."

"I watched one episode with my friend, and it was dubbed," you downplayed. "Isn't watching dubs instead of subs a crime for real anime fans?"

"Actually," his eyes lit up at your rhetorical question. "The dub of Cowboy Bebop is excellent. It's pretty universally considered better than watching the OG with subs. You're right though, that is the general rule."

"Oh man, who knew." Looking down, grinning, you tried to hide how endeared you were by his earnestness. "Well, it was pretty cool, not gonna lie. I guess I kind of get the appeal."

"Would you want to start watching the rest sometime? That's one I just never get tired of," he blurted, then blushed, closing his mouth and working his lips between his teeth as his eyes stayed wide and on you. Jungkook's heart accelerated in his chest, a fist opening and closing at his hip as he tried to decide whether he regretted taking a chance on the question.

You instantly diverted all your mental energy from hoping he couldn't sense your attraction to massively overthinking your response. This was a "Netflix and chill" kind of invite, right? If he wanted you, of course you wanted him, but you had to be sure before you did something else stupid and risked having to find another discussion board buddy.

"Um...yeah, sure," you accepted. "I have to ask, though, do you mean, like...Cowboy Bebop and chill?" You raised an eyebrow, trying to look bolder than you felt. "Or...Cowboy Bebop and just...Cowboy Bebop?"

"I..." Mirroring your playful grin, Jungkook shrugged, not wanting to look like a fuckboy if he answered with the first option but also wondering—were you actually interested in watching this anime with him? The possibility puzzled him, the same way it confused you how he could go bold and then back to his shy weeb-ass self within seconds. You shrugged too, with an anxious exhale of a laugh.

"That was...weird to just say like that, sorry. We can just see where it goes, whatever you want," you backtracked, full of faux-nonchalance. The Google Calendar schedule on your phone suddenly became very interesting. "We could do another day if that works for you, but I'm free after this class once I write my discussion post—I don't have any other homework or meetings today for once."

He nodded quickly, eyebrows up. Swallowing, Jungkook saw the opportunity to show a little more initiative and seized it. "We could do that together even, 'cause we usually jump off each other anyway. So you can come over right after class if you want." He glanced up and to the left for a quick mental inventory. "Oh shit, wait, but I seriously need to clean my apartment first, can we do more like dinner time tonight? You can just come over for ramen or takeout if you want, or eat first or whatever."

"Yeah, that's fine!" you agreed warmly. "Ramen and homework, two birds with one scone. I should probably, like...get your number? So you can send me your address when you're ready or something?" You didn't want to sound too desperate, especially since you knew he was used to it, but you found yourself weirdly excited to experience something he so obviously loved. If you got dicked down too, even better, but you were definitely willing to wait on that part, especially now that this first sober conversation had restored your inhibitions. He had this slightly shy sweetness about him that just made you want to make him happy somehow. You wanted to see more of his cheesy little smile. You wanted to hear the bright laugh that occasionally rang out at the most inappropriate times, during Citizen Kane or attendance. You wanted to watch his light pink lips fall open in bliss as you kissed down his sensitive neck to the trim of his worn-in hoodie...

"Yeah sure, here." The quick touch of his hand over yours snapped you out of your thoughts as he took your phone, ready to type in his number, and—

"Wait, did you say 'two birds with one scone'? Not 'one stone'?"

You blushed furiously. Somehow him calling you out on your quirks embarrassed you more than the indecent daydream he'd interrupted. "Okay, so I saw this tweet a while back where they said 'feed two birds with one scone' to replace 'kill two birds with one stone,' I think it was just some vegan troll being all like 'don't talk about killing birds!' but it stuck with me because I just really fucking love scones."

"You...really fucking love scones?" he repeated in slight sarcasm, eyes down on your phone. You grew even shyer, but continued.

"Yeah, I bake a lot and they're my favorite thing to make. The flavor possibilities are endless and they last for days so I just keep them on hand for breakfast and snacks and to give out to friends. And they go with tea, which is my other favorite thing." Ooh, was he a tea person? Should you bring some tonight? Something earthy, to go with your ramen. Your go-to green sencha, or maybe chrysanthemum? Chamomile?

Jungkook held your phone back out in front of you, but waited silently for you to notice, enjoying the view of wheels turning in your head as you pondered tea pairings. This was the you he was used to, daydreaming in class and going on tangents as dorky as his in discussions. Even from a distance, he'd noticed you consistently gave off a vibe somewhere between absentminded professor and grandma, and this confirmation made you even cuter to him. But the hair still falling over his ears wouldn't let him forget his new physical proof of another side to you.

You finally collected your phone with a mumbly "Oh right, yeah, cool, thanks," that you prayed sounded more chill to him than it did to you.

"I just texted myself, so I have your number too now, and I'll just send you my address when I'm ready, and, uh...yeah!" he rambled a bit in response.

You nodded, confirming. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Yeah, see you tonight."

Jungkook watched you walk to your desk, silently admiring your ass and allowing himself only a moment to savor the memory of half of it filling his hand. A strange nervousness tingled through him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about you all weekend either, and now he had a chance to get closer to you than ever before. He hoped, more than he could remember hoping for anything else, that this would go well, one way or another. He had no idea what you wanted with him, but you had him questioning everything he'd thought he wanted. Easing open his laptop, he pulled up your last discussion board response to him, signed off with a smiley face but backwards.

I like the way you think. (:

He turned his head to read it right-side-up, letting his face scrunch into a smile you wouldn't see.

Meanwhile, though the film thrilled you, you struggled to stay facing forward for the duration of class. You suspected the plot of Rear Window was simply unsettling you, but you swore you could feel Jungkook's eyes on your back. No, he was probably actually watching the movie as usual, or reading his manga if not. You were definitely just being paranoid. Definitely. Probably. Right?

next chapter 

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 56: Return to the Cave of Doom - Part 4: Facing the Paladin

At long last, this is the conclusion of the finale of this season of the main storyline in this blog. With this one, it's been 56 episodes between both seasons and I want to thank everyone who took a moment to read any of the episodes.

I'm making it sound like this is a definite ending to the story. It is not, although I'm gonna take a break from it, because in the past few episodes, I felt a little loss of motivation, and like I was running out of ideas for the story. It's better to stop and think about what I want to do with the story rather than continuing without a clear perspective of where I want to go with it.

This doesn't mean I'm leaving this account. Not at all, I'll still be posting stuff like short stories, my usual musical tales, the newfound photo-comics which have been very liked by so many people... So, I'll still be here for a long time. And enough talking. It's time to leave you with the ending of the season, and I hope it fits your expectations. Until next time.

SYNOPSIS: The gang have finally arrived to the castle. There, they'll have to face the Paladin before his possession of Dillon becomes irreversible. Will the attack they learned in the Core be enough to defeat him? And will Patton resist the devastating secondary effects of such strong attack?

WARNINGS: Romantic prinxiety, logicality, dukeceit and karrot kings. Mentions to stabbing.

EPISODE INDEX

[the gang stare at the castle from a distance]

PATTON: Do you really think that it works for anything staying here watching from afar, kiddo? They probably know that we’re here already.

THOMAS: Most probably, but still we need to examine the situation, at least in the outside of the castle. There doesn’t seem to be a high number of ghouls guarding the doors. Could it be that we’ve set free most of them already?

HEIGHT: No, Thomas. We’ve set many free, but there are still hundreds of ghouls under Paranoia’s spell.

ROMAN: We truly could use the help of those we set free. If we’re gonna have to face an army, we’re gonna need reinforcements.

VERTIGO: I’m sure they’ll be ready when the battle starts. You don’t know the power of recovery of ghouls. And besides, apart from the one who attacked me, most of them really were unharmed. I’m sure they’re already on their way here.

JANUS: In the meantime, we’ll have to play the sneaky card and try to slip into the castle unnoticed, if possible.

LOGAN: If only we knew the castle’s configuration… There has to be a backdoor somewhere, even if only to secure the Paladin an easy retreat if things turn out against him.

HEIGHT: We’d wish to help you, but we have no idea. This building was made by Paranoia, it is a foreign construction for us.

REMUS: If they already know we’re here, I say we should attack upfront with everything we’ve got. Let’s surprise them in their own league.

THOMAS: The point is that at least some of us make it into the castle alive, Remus.

LOGAN: No, wait… Remus may be up to something…

THOMAS: He is?

REMUS: I am? I am!

LOGAN: I don’t mean a suicidal attack like the one you proposed, Remus, but perhaps, some of us could serve as a decoys and lure some of the guards away from their posts, and in the meantime the rest of us could sneak into the castle.

VIRGIL: But what about the decoys? Are they going to sacrifice themselves just like that?

REMUS: I offer myself as tribute.

JANUS: What? Remus! That’s suicidal!

REMUS: We have no choice, Janus. Someone has to do it, and the one who can make such an idiotic attack believable is the only one idiotic enough to try it, me. You know that I’m right.

HEIGHT: I’m going with you.

REMUS: What?

HEIGHT: Someone among the ghouls has to do it, and I’m not having Vertigo risking his life again. It’s my turn now.

VERTIGO: But Height…

HEIGHT: Don’t worry, I won’t let them get me, and if we have the chance, I’ll rejoin you later.

VERTIGO: You better will.

[Vertigo kisses Height]

REMUS: What about me, Jan? Don’t I get a kiss too?

JANUS: No, you don’t, I’m mad at you.

REMUS: [wiggling his eyebrows] You mean mad for me, right?

JANUS: No, I don’t! You’re always putting yourself in stupid dangers like this and I can’t stand it! Don’t you see that I worry about you and that, even if you don’t have common sense, I do for both of us and I don’t want anything bad happening to you?

REMUS: So… you are mad for me, admit it.

JANUS: [exasperated] Ugh… You’re such an idiot… Why did I have to fall for an idiot like you, I’ll never understand.

[Janus kisses Remus]

JANUS: You’ll better come back in one piece.

REMUS: I will. I promise. Okay, let’s go, ghoul.

HEIGHT: I’ve got a name, Dark Side.

REMUS: I know, ghoul.

HEIGHT: Urgh…

[Height and Remus start advancing to the castle]

ROMAN: [sighs] If the guards don’t kill them, they’re gonna kill each other before the end of the day… I don’t know if it’s a good idea to send the two of them together for this.

THOMAS: Well, good or bad idea, there’s no turning back. The guards have already seen them. Oh, wow, Remus almost crushed that guard’s head with his Morningstar. His head is gonna be in pain for more than a week.

ROMAN: Look, more guards are getting out of the castle. And they’ve started running through that path…

VIRGIL: …but that path leads to the rock-slide. They’re gonna get trapped if they go that way!

VERTIGO: They still have a long way before they reach the rock slide, so we’d better move to free the ghouls before they reach that dead end.

ROMAN: Yes, and also, Dillon’s time won’t last much longer either. Follow me, guys.

[the gang walks as sneakily as they can, but they find no obstacles and reach the front door with no one greeting them]

JANUS: Wait a minute…

ROMAN: What? We can’t stop in the middle of the doorway, Janus, we’re an easy prey here.

JANUS: This is just too easy. I think this is a trap.

THOMAS: Do you think so?

JANUS: The Paladin controls all the ghouls. He probably knows everything that has happened in the defile and is playing cat-and-mouse with us. And I’m afraid we’re the mice.

THOMAS: Well, mice or not, we need to get into the castle. The Paladin thinks he’s got us, but we’ve got some hidden aces, as you know. Besides, we have to get into the castle anyway, with or without trap, Dillon’s life depends on it.

JANUS: [sighs] You’re right. But we must stay alert.

THOMAS: As usual, then.

[the gang enters the castle. They find no one inside and the throne room door is open]

PALADIN: [voice from the throne room, yelling] Come in, already, we don’t have all day! I know you’re there and you know that I know you’re there, so why prolonging the inevitable? Come here and face your destiny.

[the gang enters the throne room. The Paladin is there, inside Dillon’s body. He’s now wearing a dark royal outfit with a black crown. His eyes are two crimson flames and he shows an unsettling grin. Around him, there are dozens of ghouls ready to attack. Paranoia is sitting on a throne next to him. He shows the same evil grin]

VIRGIL: My God, look at his eyes… What have you down to my son, you bastard!?

PALADIN: Is that the way of greeting your son after so many weeks, dad?

VIRGIL: I’m not your dad and you’re not my son. But you’re usurping his body. Leave my child alone!

PALADIN: Blah, blah, blah… this is getting monotonous, isn’t it? You are outnumbered. You know you can’t do anything against me, and… [the door behind them slams as it closes] … you can’t escape from this room and no one can get in. You just walked into the lion’s dent, and the funniest thing is you already knew. You’re in my hands now.

THOMAS: Think twice, Paladin. You’re gonna regret letting us into this room so easily. We’re coming for you, in case you didn’t notice, and we’re gonna put an end to your reign of terror in this cave once and for all.

PALADIN: Ooh, I’m shaking… You and what army?

ROMAN: This army!

[Roman points at the closed door. Nothing happens. Crickets are heard in the silence]

VIRGIL: [whispering, anxiously] What are you doing, Roman?

ROMAN: Dang it, it always works on the movies. And I hoped our friends would be here by this time…

PALADIN: [beat, then clears his throat] Well… this is fun… but, like I said, it’s time for you to face destiny. [to the ghouls] Capture Thomas and Patton alive and unharmed, we don’t want cataclysms in my domains, do we? As about the others… kill them.

THOMAS: Not so fast. Nico, are you ready?

NICO: Ready if you are.

[Thomas and Nico hold hands and a bright aura surrounds them]

PALADIN: [smirks] Are you sure you guys want to do that? One more blow like the one in the defile could be Patton’s last, and if he dies, as Patton is a former Master, without him all of the Mind Palace would collapse and Thomas would die. Are you willing to take that risk?

[Thomas doubts and the aura disappears]

PALADIN: Didn’t think so… Get them, my pets.

PATTON: Kiddos, don’t worry about me! Do whatever you must!

THOMAS: But the Paladin, even if a son of a b… is right. We can’t take the risk. If we destroy you, we would all die.

NICO: Dios, no…

PATTON: Gosh… I’m so sorry I’m so weak and useless, kiddos. But still, you must try. I don’t think I would die, I feel strong enough to cope at least with one more attack.

THOMAS: Still, it scares me that…

PATTON: [determined] Please, kiddos, trust me. I can cope. For all of you, I will cope!

THOMAS: Okay… As you wish, Patton, I’ll trust you. Let’s do it, Nico.

NICO: Okay… Like I said, I’ll go to the end of the world with you. Let’s hope it’s not the end of this world…

[Thomas and Nico hold hands again and the aura reappears]

PALADIN: No! Have you lost your common sense!? If you destroy Patton, you’ll destroy all of us! Stop it!

PARANOIA: [running towards the Paladin] My lord, be careful!

[the aura gets brighter and brighter, until it explodes in a wave at light speed. All the ghouls surrounding the gang groan and fall down unconscious. Paranoia puts himself in front of the Paladin, acting as a shield and gets all the strength of the attack]

PARANOIA: For my lord and owner, always! Gaaaah!!!

[Paranoia explodes in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke disperses, there’s no sign of him. There’s a few seconds of silence. The ghouls in the castle start waking up]

GHOUL #1: What’s happened…

GHOUL #2: I remember everything… but it’s the first time I can move my arms on my own free will in months…

GHOUL #3: I’m free…

VIRGIL: Your reign of terror is over, Paladin. You have lost your army and the control of this Cave.

[the front doors open. The ghouls from the defile come in]

VIRGIL: All the Ghouls from this Cave are out of your control now, and they’re demanding justice. If you don’t surrender now and free my son, you’ll only be making things worse for you.

PALADIN: Do you really think this is all over? Look at Patton.

[everyone looks at Patton. His body is shaking and he’s showing signs of being under indescribable pain]

VIRGIL: [scared] Dad? Are you okay!?

[Patton doesn’t say a word. Suddenly his face relaxes and he collapses on the floor]

VIRGIL: [running towards Patton] Dad!

LOGAN: [also running to him] Patton!

[the Paladin tries to walk to the back door, but he’s quickly surrounded by ghouls. Virgil kneels down and puts Patton’s head on his legs. Logan puts his hand on Patton’s chest. An indigo aura surrounds both Patton and Logan]

VIRGIL: How is Patton, Logan?

[the indigo aura disappears]

LOGAN: He’s just passed out. He honored his promise of coping with Thomas’ attack and not dying… but he just couldn’t resist the pain. It made him faint. In a few minutes, he’ll wake up.

VIRGIL: Thank goodness…

LOGAN: But in the meantime…

THOMAS: [his voice sounds like an automaton] What? Why are you all so concerned? He’ll wake up when he has to. Now we gotta kill that Paladin.

NICO: Thomas?

THOMAS: Would you mind letting go of my hand? It’s sweaty and it’s disgusting.

NICO: What…?

LOGAN: Just as I feared. Patton is Thomas’ feelings and morality. With him out, Thomas simply lacks the capacity to feel love and compassion, not to mention to distinguish between right and wrong.

NICO: That means…?

LOGAN: That means that, in this state, Thomas has stopped loving you, Nico. I’m sorry. That also means that your attack against the Paladin is disabled for the time being. But don’t worry, as soon as Patton wakes up…

PALADIN: I won’t give you the time! Everyone freeze! If anyone moves, I’ll kill this son of a b…!

[the Paladin has grabbed one of the ghouls and is threatening him with a dagger]

VIRGIL: Don’t make things worse for you, Paladin! Leave that ghoul alone!

PALADIN: Do you think I’m stupid? I know how your plan goes next and what awaits me if I let you get me. And I swear I’ll kill him and anyone that threatens me. And remember I’m still inside Dillon’s body. If you hurt me, it’s him you’re hurting! Who knows? Maybe if you force me, I’ll stab myself just to see you in despair over losing your precious son!

ROMAN: You bastard! You f***ng, f****ng bastard!

PALADIN: Thank you, Roman, your compliments flatter me. Now let me go, or first the ghoul and then your son will perish!

NICO: Thomas, you gotta do something!

THOMAS: Let them kill each other, for all I care…

NICO: Thomas, I know this is not you. This is just that your love engine has stalled, that’s all. But I know, inside yourself, you still love us. You still love me. Please, remember your love for us, Thomas. Please!

[Thomas looks at Nico with disdain. Nico, not knowing what do to, hugs Thomas and then kisses him. At first, Thomas timidly tries to push Nico back, but Nico has Thomas well hugged and doesn’t move an inch. After a couple of seconds, he stops struggling. And a couple more seconds later, Thomashugs Nico and kisses him back, passionately. There’s a flash around him, a flash that also happens around Patton, who wakes up]

PATTON: Ooof… What happened?

VIRGIL: Dad, are you okay?

PATTON: I think so…

[Thomas and Nico stop kissing. Thomas smiles at Nico]

THOMAS: Thank you for helping me start my love engine again, Nico. I’m sorry for what I said.

NICO: [smiling happy] It’s okay, Thomas. I’m so happy to see you back.

THOMAS: Patton, are you okay?

PATTON: Yes, kiddo. Everything hurts, though, but I think I can stand up. But I don’t think I could stand one more blow, guys, I’m very sorry.

THOMAS: Don’t worry, I don’t think it will be necessary to use that attack again.

PATTON: What? And why is that?

THOMAS: You see, when Nico kissed me and ignited my feelings back, when I felt that flash… for a moment it was like I was one with you, Patton. In that state, suddenly I heard two voices in my head.

NICO: Two voices?

THOMAS: It was the Light Master… and the Dark Master, loud and clear as we heard them in the Core. They told me that, for the sake of not losing the Mind Palace to the Paladin, they had agreed to a temporal truce. They’re both gonna work as a team to help me defeat the Paladin, although I’m gonna need your help Patton.

PATTON: My help?

THOMAS: Stand behind me and put your hand on my back, and lend me any strength you have left.

PATTON: Like when we did the rainbow attack?

THOMAS: Sort of, but I just need you to balance and manifest the Light and Dark energies in me. Like when you touched me and made the Light Master speak through me, remember?

PATTON: Yes. Okay, kiddo, I’ll do my best.

[Patton, with the help of Logan, gets in place and puts his hand on Thomas’ shoulder]

PALADIN: Hey, I told you not to move! Do you really think I’m gonna let you…

THOMAS: [demonic voice, his eyes spark in green] Shut up!

[suddenly it’s as if an invisible fist punches the Paladin right on the face]

PALADIN: Aw! What the… Ow!

[the invisible fist punches the Paladin again, stunning him. He drops the dagger and the ghoul frees himself]

THOMAS: [now with a warm voice, his eyes spark in blue]Everyone make way. This won’t hurt any ghouls, but just in case.

[the ghouls open a free way between Thomas and the Paladin. The Paladin is still stunned. He shakes his head, regaining full consciousness and realizes what is going on]

PALADIN: Thomas! Don’t! You will regret it if you do this! You can’t get rid of me and you know it!

[Thomas points at the Paladin with his finger, like the Dark Master used to do, but this time his finger shines in gray instead of black]

THOMAS: Maybe you’ll always be a part of me until I die, Paladin. But at least you’ll never be a problem for my fam while the Core remains standing. Goodbye, Paladin.

PALADIN: [horrified] The Core? No! NO!

[Thomas shoots a gray beam through his finger. It hits the Paladin in the chest]

PALADIN: AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

[The Paladin opens his mouth wide. A crimson smoke starts coming out of it. As more smoke comes out, forming a cloud, the eyes in the body he was possessing, previously in bright flames, slowly fade away, until they’re normal brown. At that moment, the smoke stops surging and Dillon collapses on the ground. The crimson cloud turns then into a whirlwind, moving in all directions, knocking down any ghouls it bumps into. It starts moving in Roman’s direction]

VIRGIL: Watch out, Roman! I think that now that he’s lost his host, the Paladin wants to return into your body!

THOMAS: [with blue eyes and a warm but concerned voice]The first attack took a lot of energy from us, we need to recharge before attacking again!

ROMAN: [scared] Oh, no! Guys, don’t let him take me!

VIRGIL: Don’t you dare touch my husband, you b*tch!

[the whirlwind knocks Virgil down. Roman, scared, walks backwards until he bumps on the back wall]

ROMAN: [scared, on the verge of crying] I don’t want to feel that sickness again…

VIRGIL: [on the floor, scared] Roman!

[Suddenly, a red whip hits the whirlwind. A high pitch sound that looks like wind whistling through a window, and at the same time as a high pitch scream of pain, comes from the whirlwind, which turns back into a cloud. Everyone looks in the direction where the whip came from. Dillon has stood up and his looking at the cloud with a face of anger]

DILLON: You didn’t even let me say hello to my parents before you took control of me, you b*st*rd! Stay away from my father, you son of a b*tch!

THOMAS: Thank you, Dillon. Now we’re ready.

[Thomas points with his finger at the ground under the cloud. A new beam surges from his finger, but this time it hits the ground. When it’s gone, there’s what looks like a round crystal ball with a little hole on top]

THOMAS: As you yourself said, Paladin, it’s time for you to face your destiny!

[A gray light comes out of the crystal ball, touching the crimson cloud. The same high pitch whistling sound is heard while the cloud is absorbed into the crystal ball, which turns all crimson. When the light disappears, the hole disappears with it, making a solid, hermetically closed crystal ball, and all the sounds get silent]

THOMAS: Done… the crystal ball will hold him long enough to send him to the Core forever. He was right, though. Sending him into the Core will mean that my disorder will always be a part of me, but that was a given anyway, and as long as I keep my treatment, I’ll be fine.

ROMAN: Dillon? You… rescued me. [emotional] I came here to rescue you and in the end it was you who rescued me…

DILLON: It’s nice to meet you at last… father. And dad, are you okay?

[Virgil stands up, then looks at Dillon and his eyes fill with black tears]

VIRGIL: For the first time in months… I’m better than ever, and happier than I’ll ever be…

DILLON: [also emotional] Dad, father! I longed for this moment for so long!

[Dillon runs to them both, and the three join in a hug. As they do, Dillon’s body shines in brown. After a spark, his whole outfit has changed. He’s now wearing a brown tunic, resembling a monk, and there’s a wooden staff on the floor next to him. The whip he used as a weapon is tied to his waist as a belt. It is colored in red. He’s also wearing a purple medallion]

JANUS: What happened?

LOGAN: It seems that now that the Paladin is no longer inside him, Dillon is showing his true colors… literally. He’s the brown Side.

JANUS: But brown is not a color derivative from red and purple.

LOGAN: And he sports the red and purple in the whip and the medallion.

DILLON: Don’t overthink it, guys, it’s just that I dig the brown, and I don’t wanna have anything to do with crimson color ever again.

LOGAN: Oh, okay…

ROMAN: Tell me one thing, Dillon. Those nights when I would go to the door of the Cave until I fell asleep… I had memories of a very sweet lullaby coming from the other side of the door… Even though I always had the suspicion it was you, I thought I was dreaming until the Core told us. It was really you, right?

DILLON: When Thomas fell asleep at night… it was the only moments I was free from his influence, because the Paladin fell asleep too. I, like dad, can stay awake if I want to. The first night, I left the castle and went to the door. It was locked, of course, so I couldn’t get to the Mind Palace. And besides, everyone would be sleeping so it was useless and dangerous to try and unlock it, if it was possible. But I peeped through the hole, looking at the room at the other side. That was my distraction many nights, until one night I saw you there, next to the door, desperately fighting slumber. How I longed to make my presence known, but before I could say anything, you fell asleep completely. So, I decided to sing you lullabies every night. It was the only way I thought I could communicate to you that I was there, that I was still fighting, and that I loved you. I’m happy to know that you heard me, even if you thought it was a dream.

[Roman, all emotional, hugs Dillon and kisses him on the forehead]

ROMAN: I love you too, my son… and I swear that nothing will get between us ever again.

[Remus and Height enter the room, followed by the ghouls that had chased them]

REMUS: I’m back, did you miss me?

JANUS: It is you who’s missed all the fun here, look.

REMUS: Oh, dang-it… Is that… my nephew?

DILLON: It is, uncle. Nice to meet you too, and all of you too, fam.

REMUS: [emotional] Well…

HEIGHT: Aren’t you forgetting something, Dark Side?

REMUS: Oh, oh, yes, I did. You see, guys, we were running up the path… until we got lost in the caves.

VIRGIL: Oh, dang, I forgot, the illusions. You risked your lives going there on your own.

REMUS: The ghouls kept chasing us, while we kept running. When we realized we were lost, I said that we should face them upfront.

HEIGHT: As usual in him. Is he always that reckless in battle?

JANUS: Of course he isn’t.

HEIGHT: You’re lying, right?

JANUS: No, I’m saying the truth: Usually he’s even worse.

HEIGHT: Oh…

REMUS: As I was saying, we kept running, until… who do you think we bumped into in the middle of the caves? Ta-dah!

[some ghouls spread out and reveal Chris behind them]

VIRGIL: Chris! What are you doing here?

CHRIS: How could you, guys? How could you leave to face the Paladin without me? I wanted to participate in Dillon’s rescue as much as anyone!

VIRGIL: You were in Sandersia. How did you find out?

CHRIS: We still have the crystal ball that Roman gave to Roland to check where he was. I wanted to see how you guys were doing, and I saw all of you in the cave, right in the defile. Even though Roland tried to stop me, I got to the carriage and headed to the Cave as fast as my legs would let me. Then I got lost in the caves…

VIRGIL: Wait, wait, how did you open the door? I got the key chain.

CHRIS: I got the backup key chain. The copy that the Paladin made was still in your room. Knowing you, I knew I would find it under your pillow in your bed, and bingo, there it was.

VIRGIL: My gosh, it was such an act of recklessness, Chris, you knew there were illusions in the cave and you shouldn’t have…

CHRIS: And you shouldn’t have gone to the Cave without me! I could have been of help when everyone was shooting at you in the defile! You know I’m the best archer in the team!

ROMAN: We couldn’t wait anymore, Chris. Dillon’s time was almost over, and you were too far away in Sandersia. I hope you understand.

CHRIS: Okay, what’s done, is done, and I understand. Just warn a dude next time, okay?

DILLON: I appreciate the sentiment anyway, brother.

CHRIS: Dillon… You look… different. Brown really suits you, although you look just like you’ve escaped from the abbey in The Name of the Rose.

DILLON: I dunno, I like it. And I promise I won’t make you read a poisoned book or anything…

CHRIS: [chuckles] Oh, just shut up and hug me, brother!

[the two brothers hug tightly]

ROMAN: You left your story unfinished, Remus. What happened after you bumped into Chris?

REMUS: Bah, the rest is kinda boring. Suddenly the ghouls chasing us stopped and went back to their senses, and they helped us walk through the cave and back to the castle.

ROMAN: I see. That was probably when Paranoia blew away. What I don’t understand is why he was the only ghoul destroyed by the light wave, while all other ghouls just came back to their senses.

VIRGIL: Well, he wasn’t an ordinary ghoul. He was created by the Paladin, so he was pure evil. There was nothing to be saved from him, that’s why he hit the dust.

ROMAN: Ah, gotcha.

REMUS: Jeez, I missed all the fun. I wish I could have seen that son of a b… blow away.

JANUS: You’ll never change, Remus…

HEIGHT: I cannot thank you guys enough for what you’ve done for us. You’ve freed my people.

THOMAS: Glad that we could help.

VIRGIL: I’m sorry I let this place go to waste. As your king, I had a responsibility with you and I didn’t deliver, so I apologize.

HEIGHT: It’s forgotten, your majesty.

VIRGIL: I have to return now to the Mind Palace. I’m still a Side, and Thomas and the others need me. However, I won’t leave you all alone, not completely.

HEIGHT: Then how…?

VIRGIL: I’m leaving here a couple of regent governors who will be my eyes and ears about everything happening here. I’m gonna trust them with the administration of the Cave and I’m sure they’ll do everything in their hand so that something like this never happens again.

[Virgil invokes a couple of purple crystal balls]

VIRGIL: Height, Vertigo, are you willing to take this task in your hands? I couldn’t think of anyone better than you for it and I trust you with all my heart. What do you say?

HEIGHT: Oh, wow… this was unexpected, your majesty. What do you think, Vertigo?

VERTIGO: If it’s your desire, your majesty, I accept.

VIRGIL: Not because it’s my desire, I want you to make the choice on your own free will. Forget that I’m a king or anything and think of me as an emo friend. What do you say?

VERTIGO: I’m in.

HEIGHT: Me too. Thank you, your majesty, for the trust you put in us.

VIRGIL: Please, don’t call me your majesty. It’s much too formal and we’re friends. Just call me Virgil, or even better, just call me Virge.

HEIGHT: Okay… Virge.

THOMAS: Well, I think we should be going now. It’s gonna be a long way to return to Virgil’s room. Then we’ll go to the Mind Palace Center and throw this ball of sss… smoke where it belongs.

VIRGIL: You can use the crystal balls to contact me, should some emergency happen.

HEIGHT: Got it. I’d wish Rejection was here to see this moment of joy… I’ll miss him so much.

REMUS: Speaking about Rejection… I wanted to apologize over how I treated you earlier. I had no right to be so threatening when you were just moaning over your loss.

HEIGHT: It’s okay. We were all nervous and distressed over what had just happened. I apologize too, I was too harsh over you when in reality what happened would have happened anyway as it was luck what decided our destinies.

REMUS: I’m glad we could talk this out, even briefly, before we left. I would have hated to leave on bad terms with you, ghoul.

HEIGHT: [chortles] Yes, but all’s well that ends well, Dark Side.

CHRIS: What are they talking about?

ROMAN: We’ll tell you on the way. Okay, goodbye everyone. I wish you many years of peace in this cave.

VIRGIL: Until we meet again, everyone. Goodbye!

[The gang heads towards the galleries. They keep talking about all kinds of things while they take the way back to the Mind Palace]

[end card]

[days have passed. Nico is having lunch with Thomas in the living room]

NICO: Why do you keep saying you can’t cook, Thomas? I think you’re an excellent chef, if you ask for my opinion.

THOMAS: Thanks, Nico, it’s just that when I know you're coming over for lunch, I take the effort to do it the best that I can.

NICO: Well, it shows, certainly.

THOMAS: You flatter me.

NICO: Thomas…

THOMAS: Yes?

NICO: I’ve been thinking of something lately. An idea that hasn’t left my mind in the last few days.

THOMAS: What is it?

NICO: Remember what I told you when we got out of the Core? That since we got out, I felt like I was a part of you and you were a part of me too, and we were like one, destined to be together for all of our lives?

THOMAS: Yes, I do.

NICO: I still feel like that. To the point that every moment I spend away from you… it’s like a part of me is missing, you know? Wow, that sounds really clingy, I’m sorry…

THOMAS: Don’t apologize, I feel the same too. And it’s weird, because you’re not my first boyfriend. Like I told you, I had a very bad breakup a couple years ago with someone I really felt close to… but even so, that story pales in comparison with ours. I never ever felt this way for anyone. I never felt what I feel for you before in my life. It’s like I never really loved until I started loving you back at the mall.

NICO: Which leads to my question.

[Nico approaches Thomas and holds both of his hands]

NICO: I understand that this is sudden and I’ll understand if you don’t feel ready… But I think… that we are ready to live together in the same house, as an official couple.

THOMAS: You make it sound like a marriage proposal, Nico.

NICO: It’s too soon for that, but if it wasn’t that soon, it is exactly what it would be… Look, I even got the ring and everything.

[Nico pulls out a box from a pocket, opens it and shows a shining diamond ring]

THOMAS: Oh… my goodness…

NICO: So, what do you say? Do you accept me as your partner in life?

THOMAS: Only if you accept me too… Because, you see… [Thomas picks up another box from his pocket and opens it, with another diamond ring inside] You’re not the only one who was planning on proposing today, you know?

[Nico looks at Thomas with a face of surprise. Then they both start laughing lively and put each ring on each other’s finger]

NICO: We’re truly one mind split into two bodies, aren’t we?

THOMAS: Yep, we’re meant for each other and I can’t wait to start our life together.

[Nico and Thomas kiss. In Roman’s corner, Roman and Virgil watch the scene, Roman is crying like a baby and Virgil’s eyeshadow shines in glittery purple]

ROMAN: Aren’t they cute, Virge?

VIRGIL: Yes they are. And I have no doubt they’ll live happily ever after. And I’ll deny having said that sappy phrase, okay?

ROMAN: Okay, my love. Let’s go back home, okay?

VIRGIL: Yes…

[Roman and Virgil look at the camera]

ROMAN: Until next time, take it easy, guys, gals and non binary pals.

VIRGIL: Peace out!

[twilighteve-writes]

Where the Sky Meets the Sea

Summary: The first dream they shared was of isolation and loneliness, of empty black sky and too-bright ground, of rustling wind and the desperate whirr of machines, of bitter, silent sea that refused to hear their plight.

Donald and Della, and how their magic meets and mixes.

(Also available in AO3)

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The first dream they shared was of isolation and loneliness, of empty black sky and too-bright ground, of rustling wind and the desperate whirr of machines, of bitter, silent sea that refused to hear their plight. Of flying so high and still not high enough, of being surrounded by power that refused to heed. Of screaming in frustration and despair, of pleading uselessly to the power that be and not having their wishes fulfilled, even though they were ready to pay the price.

They woke up in their old room in the manor with a start. The moon loomed in the distance, its silver light illuminating them through the window. They fell back asleep, the events of the day too tiring for them to stay awake – the invasion of the Moonlanders, reuniting at long last, finding out about their magic… They both bore scars from their separation and all the events that led to their reunion. Perhaps it was a fluke, something odd that would never happen again that they laughed at in years to come.

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They fell asleep side by side, the excitement of the newest adventure draining them, after tucking the boys in. The sofa was never the most comfortable sleeping place, but they had each other’s shoulders and the warmth of their backs pressing against the cushion.

They dreamed of planes crashing, of the deafening roar of metal screeching against rock. They dreamed of a weight cutting off her leg and gold band muzzling his beak and cuffing his wrists. They dreamed of the crushing weight of gravity as they fell back into Earth’s orbit.

Again, they woke with a start. They blinked the sleep out of their eyes, studying each other’s irises.

“Is this going to be a thing?” Donald asked.

“God, I hope not,” Della groaned.

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If there was an omniscient deity out there they did not grant the twins’ prayers.

It was a thing.

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The dreams were expected at this point. They kept getting shared dreams whenever they slept near each other, so they made sure to put a distance between them whenever night fell. There were still some shared dreams, but at least it wasn’t every day.

The feelings, though. That was unexpected.

He got it first, during a quiet breakfast with their family in an otherwise quiet morning. Dewey demanded pancake, a request that was soon echoed by his brothers, and then Webby agreed and stared at him with those wide, hopeful eyes, and Donald knew the battle was lost. He sighed and took the necessary ingredients to make the batter, directing Huey to handle the bacons and battling Della for command over the stove.

“No, go make a pot of coffee instead!” he yelled.

“What, I can totally fry some eggs,” Della protested.

“You haven’t actually touched a stove since you got back from the Moon and I have heard of the cake incident. You burned the stove; that doesn’t count. Sit down!”

Della blew raspberries. “Spoilsport,” she grumbled as she passed him, poking him in the rib. Their magic mingled, intertwining as they passed, and Donald felt fondness that wasn’t his; it felt foreign and reminded him of light feathers falling from the sky, breeze brushing his face, clouds drifting lazily as the afternoon went by. He froze in surprise, pulling his magic back in reflex.

Della met his eyes, and he knew she felt that.

“Mom, Uncle Donald?” Huey called, shaking them off the reverie. “Do you want the bacon crispy or not?”

“Uh, either way is fine, honey,” Della answered, and Donald nodded mutely as he resumed his motions to mix the pancake batter. They both knew this was only the first in what would be millions to come.

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They went back from a strangely eventful trip to the grocery store – of course this family could make a trip to a grocery store eventful; who else would be able to find the egg of an apparently extinct bird species in a grocery store of all places if not Huey – and they put their groceries to the kitchen, heaving a sigh that told everyone of how tired they were.

“Can we just have one day where we don’t have to deal with this?” Donald complained.

“I hear you, but let’s be real here. Do you honestly believe we can catch a break? I mean, this is the family where one member got stuck in the moon. We all have magic and the Greek gods are basically our friends at this point.” Della stared at him in challenge, lifting a brow.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I just want things to be normal for once.”

“This is our normal, what can you do.”

Donald sighed, “Yeah,” and bumped his shoulder to hers, and their magic mixed together like pigments in oil. Something distinctly Donald snaked its way to her head, a resignation mixed with some possessive grip, a sense of it’s not perfect but I would never trade this for anything in this world, something that was undeniably salty and wet and rushing that screamed seawater and the deep.

Again, they froze, but this time they remained touching. The magic mixed further, and Della caught more things; confusion, surprise, disbelief, a question of some sort that she couldn’t understand.

Donald broke the contact first, though the magic touched still. “Oh,” was all he managed to say.

Della nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Oh.”

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It felt like intruding on something private, when they received glimpses of what the other was feeling. It felt like violation, when they felt joy that wasn’t theirs brush against their cheek, lighting up the room in a way only the other could. It didn’t matter that they’d grown together, spending so much time memorizing each dip and line of the other’s face and learning what they meant. It didn’t matter that a split second of a glance could tell them what the other was feeling. Feeling what they felt was different from knowing, and it was crossing such a bold line it felt like jumping into a chasm.

They kept wincing and dancing around each other that the kids started getting anxious, so Donald sat next to her on her bed and sighed. “We can’t keep going like this.”

“Nope. We can’t,” Della agreed. She turned to face him. “So, what are we gonna do about it?”

Donald inhaled. “We build a wall to keep each other out,” he said.

“I don’t know, I do like that we were able to communicate like this,” Della said with a frown. “Like earlier, when you practically rolled your eyes at me when Uncle Scrooge started monologuing? I like that.”

“So, not a wall?”

“No, maybe a wall. But with a window.” Della smiled, eyes shining.

“Or a door,” Donald added. “Anything to let us in when we’re knocking.”

“Wall with a door,” Della repeated. “That sounds good to me.”

“Question is, how do you build the wall?” Donald leaned to Della, a glint in his eyes. Della leaned in in response. Their magic brushed and mingled and they shared an old memory, of leaning in to each other, stifling giggles as they set a whoopie cushion on Uncle Scrooge’s seat in his study. They both froze at the memory, and their gaze hardened. They needed that wall, and they needed it fast.

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They built it brick by the proverbial brick, shaping the wall with their magic and willing each strand not to mingle together. They built a wall, somewhere they could access each other and whisper secrets with their magic, just beyond the others’ hearing. They learned to send feelings, impressions, washed out memories to form messages only they could decipher, and rejoiced when they realized, once they put their mind to it, they could send visuals to each other.

Not words. Never words, no matter how much they tried.

Donald noticed Louie glancing at them whenever they allowed their magic to connect, and he had to take a step back. When he was finally alone with Della, he asked, “Can the others read what we send each other?”

Della blinked. “I… don’t know? Why?”

“Louie kept glancing at us,” he answered. “I don’t think he understood what we were sending each other. I mean, we’re still figuring out what we’re telling each other too, but…”

“Yeah, I don’t want him to know how we managed to get Uncle Scrooge run around in the manor naked, either. Uncle Scrooge would skin us alive,” Della grimaced. “Not to mention it’s inappropriate…”

“Let’s keep things PG-13?”

“And let’s keep things like childhood pranks out. I don’t want to give them ideas.”

Donald hissed. “Ugh, yeah.” He shook his head. “The things they get into… was this how Uncle Scrooge feel like raising us? We were both little shits.”

“Must be,” Della sighed, but fondness swirled through her magic and nudged Donald’s anyway, prompting a similar reaction from his magic. “But, come on. They can’t be that bad, can they?”

“Dewey hotwired my boat and all three of them planned to go to Cape Suzette on their own, Della. They specifically waited until I needed to go for a job interview.”

Della gave a low whistle. “Oh, man. Yeah, that is a headache.”

Donald moved around her to get back to his houseboat. “They got that from you, you know.”

“Excuse you, sir, you were as much of a little shit as I was,” Della said, smiling.

“Well you gave birth to them, clearly they got it from you.”

“Well you raised them and they’re all little shits, just like you were. So who did they got it from, hm? Check and mate.”

Donald sent her a flare of annoyance and amusement mixed into one. “Look, buddy, you had your fill for the few weeks I was gone and they’re worse than ever. You’re a bad influence.”

“Whaaat? I’m just continuing the path you chose!” Della sent him the emotional equivalent of sticking her tongue out at him, and he couldn’t help – he laughed.

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The dreams continued, despite the dams they built, the distance they put, the magic they used to speak to one another, as much as feelings and impressions could speak. They kept coming, smaller in number but stronger in intensity.

The first few weeks, they laughed at it. Those dreams, disturbing as they were sometimes, were so… small compared to what they faced on the daily basis. Being late to class and forgetting your pants, wearing silly clothes and dancing in the town square… what were they, compared to fighting aliens? What were they compared to surviving on the Moon by yourself, raising three babies and holding so many – too many – jobs to keep yourself afloat? What were they compared to being a member of the Duck family?

And then, as they got better at sending feelings and impression through their link – but not at blocking, their walls still too weak, too easily broken through, the torrent of what they didn’t want to share too strong to keep in – the underlying fears leeched in. Dreams of Uncle Scrooge, buried in rubble, the triplets with red marring their feathers, too still to be asleep, of Webby screaming her throat hoarse as the world around her fell to pieces, tears spilling and running down her cheeks like rivers.

The desperation to keep the nightmare under control rose until it couldn’t be contained anymore.

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It was odd, what you learn about others from their dreams. What they fear, what they love, what they desire, all laid bare as their consciousness seeped into yours.

It was unsettling, what you learn about others as they woke from their nightmares.

Della woke up with a choked scream. It was rarely a full scream, usually stifled before it could reach any occupant of the room save for Donald. It made his breath catch as her panic seeped into his mind, their addled brains that already had fear steeping in with the nightmare jolted by the confusion thrown into the mix.

Donald woke with barely a sound. Simply eyes opening in a sudden motion, a quiet gasp in the otherwise silent night, drowned in Della’s muffled sobs. It disturbed Della, how quiet he was in sleep and in the in-between, when he had no qualms about being loud and demanding and angry when he was wide awake.

They talked about it, hovering above mugs and pots of long-cold coffee and freshly baked brownies they made from cheap brownie mixes Uncle Scrooge always scoffed at – from-scratch stuff were always better, but mixes saved time, and they didn’t want to take too much time making a ruckus in the kitchen when they only wanted something sweet.

“How come you’re so quiet when you wake up?” Della asked, spooning brownies into her mouth and glaring when her poor coordination led to the brownie falling to the kitchen counter.

“I raised three kids and I don’t want to wake them up,” Donald explained. “After the first few times, you learn how to be quiet.”

“They’re heavy sleepers though,” Della protested.

“Not really. It’s like they take turns being the light sleeper for each night,” Donald said, bringing his mug to his beak. “Huey’s usually the one that sleeps the lightest, but sometimes it’s Dewey instead. Louie usually sleeps well unless he’s got something in his mind. But once one of them wakes up, they all wake up, and they won’t sleep again until morning.” He sipped loudly and put the mug down. “So, yeah. You learn to be quiet.”

Della looked away. “Sure was tough, huh?”

“I guess.”

“I’m sorry it fell to you,” she said, staring blankly at her cold coffee. “I should have been there, and instead I was just… stuck in the Moon.” She frowned. “And now I’m playing catch up but I’ve lost ten years and I’m not going to get it back and – “ she took a deep breath and shoveled brownies into her mouth until it was impossible to speak.

“You tried to get back,” Donald noted, thinking back of their shared dreams, of Della digging through the rubble to get materials so she could rebuild the Spear, screaming in frustration when all she found was pieces and scraps. “It won’t bring back time, but… it’s something.”

“It’s something,” Della echoed. “Doesn’t feel like it, but sure, I guess.”

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The dreams started to decrease as they found a way to handle the way their magic pulled at each other as if desperate to dig into the other’s head. The wall stood tall and strong, the door opened only with a knock, and physical distance strengthened the wall that grew weaker in their sleep. It was a balance. Not ideal, sure, but a balance nonetheless, and a balance that kept getting better. If they followed the tracks they knew the nightmares would eventually stop.

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Uncle Scrooge knew about their late night coffee-and-brownies party, because of course he did. And their magic got all sorts of screwed through magical shenanigans, because of course it was. It was all par for the course of being a Duck.

They never thought magic could bear scars, but theirs did. The Void Ring left its marks on their magic, unseen by all but undeniably there. Della’s magic hung heavier on her shoulders, like a cape instead of a cloud. It grew lighter with each passing day, but it would never be the same. Donald’s magic used to envelope him in a light, encasing him from head to toe, but now it pooled under his feet if left to glow for too long, dripping, though the time it took to drip and pool grew longer every day. They both knew it was a small price to pay for survival.

And then the slew of memories came in, in the form of dreams they once had managed to keep at bay and flashes when they reached for teacups and sudden bangs when they least expect. Small things at first; changing the boys’ diapers, paragliding and skydiving, changing perspectives in shared moments that had them gripping each other dizzily.

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Della came to the houseboat in the middle of the night after a shared dream, tumbling in like a hurricane and staring at him, agape, disbelief in her eyes. She made a beeline to his closet and started rummaging through it, and took a few steps back when she found what she was looking for.

Donald reached out to her tentatively, both physically and magically. “Dell?”

Della whipped around to face him. “You’re Paperinik?!”

“Aw, phooey.”

“You didn’t think you should tell me this?”

“Dell, keep it down!”

Della’s voice dropped to a hiss. “You didn’t tell anyone about it?!”

“Well, I mean, I started going out as Paperinik because I was a little shit who did things for shits and giggles and Uncle Scrooge would blow up at the things I did, so…” Donald inhaled. “Yep. Nope. It’s a closed chapter in my life now.”

“What in the world. What even, Don.”

“…coffee and brownies?”

“Oh, definitely. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

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More memories came in, gripping them in the shoulders and screaming to their faces without showing signs of letting go.

They walled them up as well as they could, repairing the dam though it kept cracking and breaking, and talked well into the night with mugs of coffee and tins of brownies.

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The next time, it was Donald’s turn to come into Della’s room, struggling to keep silent so as to not wake the kids. He barged in without bothering to knock, knowing Della was awake and waiting for him.

He sat on her bed, refusing to look at her. “You didn’t tell me your husband was a giant ass,” he said at last, when he was sure he wouldn’t scream his words.

“Well I don’t want my brother to be committing murder in the streets,” Della said with a shrug. “I handled it. Besides, it’s… what did you say it was? A closed chapter in my life, I think?”

Donald huffed. “I still don’t like it.”

Della shifted and put her hand on his arm, flaring her magic in invitation, sending the cooling warmth of a mug of coffee and the sweetness of chocolate through their magic, ending it with a question.

Donald sighed and nodded. “Coffee and brownies. Yeah.”

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Uncle Scrooge found them blearily waking up in the kitchen the next morning, just as the sun started to peek out of its hiding place.

“There are better places to sleep than in the kitchen,” he said as the twins blinked at him. He glanced at the mugs of coffee and the empty tins that once held brownies. “Why do you drink coffee at night? This is what happens if you drink it at night instead of in the morning.”

“It’s not like we were going to sleep again after getting a shared dream,” Della said, rubbing her eyes. “Might as well drink coffee.”

Uncle Scrooge sighed, long and hard. “I told you to come to me if this persists,” he said.

“We’re handling it,” Donald said as he massaged the crick in his neck.

“This isn’t handling it,” Uncle Scrooge said, gripping his cane so hard it seemed the wood would creak. “Drinking coffee at 2 A.M and eating tins of brownies, however small the tins… that’s not handling it.” He sat on the table, by Della’s side. “You could have tried something. We have valerian tea to help you sleep. Warm milk and honey. Hot chocolate!”

“We were handling it,” Donald insisted. “Things were on a good track until that ring.”

“The ring?”

“It… disturbed the balance.” Della sipped her coffee, made a face, and spat it back out into the mug. Donald sent her a wave of disgust and she glared at him as she poured the mug’s content into the sink. “We started sharing memories when we sleep and it’s kind of annoying. But it’s similar to when we started sharing dreams, I think we can handle this.”

“Should I get you the Orb of Remedies, then?”

Della sent Donald a look, poking him with a question that he mirrored. They both shrugged. “It’s okay, we’re handling it,” Donald assured.

“Just… talk to me. If it gets worse, talk to me. I want to help,” Uncle Scrooge said, and the twins felt a clench of guilt in their guts. They weren’t sure who it was from.

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It got worse before it got better.

Donald ran to the docks at night in Paperinik’s suit, weaving through the alleys and punching creeps in the face in hope that the fatigue would keep him asleep and keep the nightmares and memories back.

His fatigue leeched through the bond and seeped into Della instead, and she received every single detail of the fight in their dream that night.

He didn’t stop going out as Paperinik, but he stopped going until he felt he couldn’t stand.

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They went on another adventure with Uncle Scrooge and the kids, and they knew they were barely keeping it together when their gazes flickered and they switched places. They barely kept their screams in, surprised at the sudden change to a body that wasn’t theirs but they knew all too well. They flickered back immediately to their own place, feeling their own magic churning with something odd and unfamiliar.

The ring left its mark on them. They just didn’t know how bad until they were yanked out of their bodies and shoved back in unceremoniously.

Later, Donald sent Della impressions and feelings, after this is done.

Della’s rebuttal was quick. Disagreement and pressing urgency; No, better be as quick as possible.

Donald repeated what he sent Della, and Della finally sighed, conceding. There wasn’t much they could do, with them being on a plane going to the ruins Scrooge had located the next treasure he wanted to nab.

Uncle Scrooge had shown more and more interest in magical treasures lately. Before, he went out just for the fun of it, for bragging rights, for the adrenaline. Ever since the kids’ magic became apparent and the twins’ intermingled more, he began actively searching for magical artifacts. He brought the Orb of Remedies basically everywhere, and the twins were grateful for it. it had proven useful in their many misadventures. It did have the unfortunate downside of making Dewey even more reckless than usual, but Donald was more than capable of curbing that.

This particular object, the Mirror of Breaking, apparently had the power to break curses on anything that was reflected on its glass-covered bronze face, framed by circular bronze that was decorated with golden leaves. The frame was tarnished, but it could be cleaned easily enough. Neither of the twins knew why Uncle Scrooge was so interested in it and why he was so adamant about getting it; most of the things he accumulated in the years of adventuring were cursed and his idea of dealing with the curses was to stick them into his garage and forget about them.

They didn’t participate much in the conversations. They hadn’t in a while, too wrapped up in their messed up magic and the taint the ring had left in them. The sky and the sea met halfway in the horizon and worked to slough off the corruption, but it was a slow process, and they weren’t sure if they had enough time to work on it. They’d gotten good with reading the impressions and feelings, and sending visuals was as easy as snapping fingers at this point, and that mastery over their bond helped with keeping the corruption at bay, but not by much.

Donald sent a flurry of visuals and impressions, framing the question, Do you think the memory sharing and the switching is because of the corrosion?

Della answered immediately, I hope so, because that means once the corrosion is gone we’ll be good as new.

Donald sighed. Hopefully.

Apparently, the mirror sat prettily in a ruins of a castle, where the only way to reach it would be through a tiny sliver of road in between cliffs, with gaping maw of rocks below. They managed to get to the castle without any incident, miraculously enough, and stepped foot in the safer grounds where rose bushes had overgrown so much the door to the castle was blocked by thorns.

“The wall over there is all crumbled,” Louie pointed out to the side. “Maybe we can go through there instead.”

“Oh, good eye!” Uncle Scrooge praised, and they went through the crumbled walls.

The castle was no more than partial walls overgrown by vines and bushes by this point, with moss covering the stones and roots peeking from the floors. Uncle Scrooge led them through the now-open corridors into what would have been the main hall of the castle, where a single podium stood in the middle of the room with the blue sky towering over it. The mirror at atop the podium, silent and waiting, and Dewey ran ahead to take it.

“Wait, hold on – “ Donald called out, but Dewey had already reached the podium and held up the mirror. Nothing happened.

Dewey looked around. “Well, that’s… anticlimactic,” he settled at last.

“Yeah, this isn’t following the usual pattern and I don’t like it,” Louie said, looking around warily.

“Adventuring isn’t about patterns, Louie. Not everything follows a pattern,” Uncle Scrooge said, walking over to study the mirror, still in Dewey’s hands. “Besides, there were texts that consider the mirror useless. Something about the magic not activating properly or needing blood sacrifice.”

“Excuse me but did you say blood sacrifice? Whose blood are we talking about here?” Huey piped up.

“The mirror’s holder, naturally,” Uncle Scrooge answered all too nonchalantly, turning to Dewey when he squawked in surprise. “Don’t worry, the texts says you should drip your blood to its back. We can see some dark stains there but it’s not like you’re bleeding.”

“I guess it’s fine, then?” Huey muttered uncertainly, taking the mirror from Dewey’s hold and turning it around in his hands. “Is this real gold?” he asked, brushing his fingers against the golden leaves, careful to avoid the dark stains at the mirror’s back.

Louie hummed, hovering near and holding his hand out over the mirror. “I think it is,” he said, tilting his head and reaching out to touch it. “It’s tarnished and it feels like it’s not… pure? But I think it’s real – ow!” he jumped back, hand trembling, as Huey yelped in surprise when the mirror slipped from his hold. He tried to catch it again, but it escaped his hold anyway, rushing to the ground.

Webby managed to catch it before it hit the mossy stone floor. She stared at Louie. “What? What’s wrong?”

Louie grunted, holding his trembling hand in his free one, and reached to the khopesh he strapped to his back. Della drew a sharp breath, suddenly alarmed at how Louie’s shaking had the khopesh rattling, worried that he was seized by some sort of leftover curse on the mirror, but instead the contact to the weapon seemed to calm Louie and still his hand. He breathed and looked at the mirror. “You don’t feel that? It was like I got zapped by Dewey’s magic, but worse.”

“No? I don’t feel anything,” Webby said, pulling herself to her feet. She turned to Huey and Dewey. “Guys?”

“No,” Dewey answered, while Huey shook his head.

Uncle Scrooge hummed in thought as Della and Donald made their way to Louie, Donald strapping the khopesh back to Louie’s back as Della studied his still-trembling fingers. “Maybe it’s related to the mirror’s lore. The blood sacrifice. Louie, do you have a cut on your hand anywhere?”

“Not that I know of,” Louie answered, the same time as Della gave a decisive no.

“Okay, so not blood,” Uncle Scrooge mused. “Magic?”

“We didn’t get that sort of reaction,” Huey pointed out. “So it can’t be magic.”

“Louie? Are you okay?” Della asked, gently folding Louie’s fingers into hers. Her magic, mingled as it was with Donald’s, pressed into his and sent phantom chill of Louie’s hands into his, and he frowned in worry.

“My hand fell asleep and I can’t really feel anything there,” Louie admitted. “I think it’s the mirror, I felt something spike when I touch it.”

“Magically?” Donald pressed. Louie looked at him and nodded.

Their concern simmered together and intensified. Della whipped back to Uncle Scrooge. “Let’s go back, Uncle Scrooge,” she requested. “We’ve got the mirror.”

“We still have a whole castle to explore – “

“Uncle Scrooge, Louie touched that mirror for maybe a millisecond and his hand fell asleep. The mirror obviously affected him,” Della said, chasing Uncle Scrooge’s gaze with her own. “You already know magic damage can be fatal. Let’s get back to the plane and have him hold the orb. I know you have it with you.”

There were times when all those frankly astonishing number of years Uncle Scrooge had walked the earth turned into mere five when he was excited about adventure, and this was clearly one of them. He had been focused on getting the mirror before, but once they got it, he looked like a child ready to explore the unknown, and both Della and Donald stared at him in their shared, simmering alarm wanting him to agree to get back immediately.

He seemed to understand their concern, though, as he agreed. They made their way back to the plane, where Launchpad was waiting, once again making their way through the tiny road and trying to ignore the rocks below. Uncle Scrooge handed the orb to Louie, apparently having it in his pocket, telling him to be careful not to drop it.

They miraculously managed to get through the trip unscathed when they headed into the castle. Not so with the trip back.

Maybe it was the fatigue after going for so long, or maybe he stepped on a rock, or maybe it was just plain bad luck, but Huey slipped and careened to the side dangerously. Just as the others stretched out their hands to catch him, his feet left the ground and he plummeted down.

Instincts and reflexes alone drove Donald to jump after him, mind blank but for the pleads to keep him safe and the ring of his scream. He had half the mind to send Della an impression of jumping, help me that he haphazardly threw together just before he jumped, chased by the kids’ surprised and panicked yells and Della’s high pitched screech. He managed to grab Huey in midair and folded his small body into his, hugging him into his chest as he positioned himself underneath Huey to absorb the impact of the fall if he ended up crashing.

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

They say that moments before you die your whole life flashes in your mind, and time stretched just so you could see all that flash of memory.

Donald didn’t see that. Not a flash of his whole life rehashed in its sick reminder of what he had and hadn’t done, but he could feel Della’s feelings, anger at his recklessness and concern and desperate to grab them both.

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

Donald sent her a visual of him jumping, into a gaping black maw underneath him. It was accompanied by urgency and a soft plea. She had barely any time to process what he meant, and when she understood it was all she could do not to cuss him out then and there, because he was already jumping off and she could barely catch his tail feathers from the air. Instead she screamed, disbelieving and angry and so terribly afraid.

Della managed to grab Donald and Huey just moments before they crashed to the unforgiving rocks and landed them harmlessly on the bottom of the cliff.

And then the force of her anger and the sheer bludgeoning power of her relief slammed into their bond, and they reeled, gaze flickering and switching, switching, switching.

Della didn’t care. Through the switch-switch-switch, she glared at her twin – his face, her face, his face again, back at hers – and yelled, “Are you out of your mind?!”

Her voice mixed with Donald’s as they kept switching, from her high pitched scream to his scratchy screech and back again. Huey stared with wide uncomprehending eyes, leaning back as he held his arms up as if trying to shield himself. If she saw, it didn’t register.

“What were you – what were you thinking?!” she continued the tirade, still switching, and there was a wave of nausea underneath all the anger and the rotten magic. “Just jumping like that, without even telling me? I can fly! I can do the jumping!”

“I told you I was jumping!”

“You barely gave me time to even process – what the duck, Donald!”

“Oh, like you barely gave us time to process the fact that you went to space in an untested space ship?” Donald threw back, and it was so jarring, to hear those biting words in his and her voices at once, to be pinned by that poisonous gaze worn by a face she knew best and a face she saw in the mirrors.

She reeled, but she threw back anyway, “Going in a space ship isn’t the same as jumping off a cliff without any gear!”

“I don’t care if I died as long as my family is safe.”

“Oh, shut up! You don’t care if you died?! What about the others, do you think the kids wouldn’t care if you died?!”

“Better me than them – “

“Stop!” Huey’s voice rang out loudly, and they shut up, looking at him and his tumultuous magic. “What’s going on? Why do you keep… switching?”

The question stopped the wave of anger and replaced it with still dread, then they exchanged a quick glance as their magic flared and mixed, switch-switch-switch still, throwing questions back and forth and probing and feeling and realizing.

“It’s gotten worse,” he whispered.

“You think?” she bit back, but there was no heat behind it. She reached to his hand and he reached back, clasping, and letting their magic mingle some more until it settled and they stopped flickering back and forth.

“How long has this been going on?” Huey asked.

“A while,” Della admitted. “We thought we had it handled, but it’s worse than we thought.”

Donald swallowed bile in his throat, holding his beak shut in one hand to keep it from coming up. When it settled, he sighed. “Let’s get back up. We need to use that orb. The corrosion is worse than I thought.”

“Wait a minute – a while? How long is a while? How come we don’t know about this?” Huey demanded.

“Uncle Scrooge knows,” Della said, standing up. “We convinced him we had it handled. Come on, I can carry you both.”

With Donald on his back and Huey at her chest, she called to her magic and buried her ire at how it felt brittle and heavy. She managed to fly them back to safety all the same, the trail of while behind them looking like heavy rain cloud instead of a sliver of white mist that bloomed into plumes.

They landed just by the plane, and not too long after Uncle Scrooge arrived with the rest of the kids. Launchpad hovered around them, seemingly able to sense they weren’t in the mood to chat.

As soon as Uncle Scrooge was in sight, Huey perked up, yelling, “Uncle Scrooge! Come quick, Mom and Uncle Donald aren’t in good shape!”

“Oh, phooey. He’s gonna be mad,” Della groaned. Donald’s agreement wafted in through their mingled magic.

“Their magic is weird and they kept switching places earlier!” Huey babbled as soon as Uncle Scrooge was close enough. “Their magic kind of mixes and it’s just – weird, like it’s much heavier than it’s supposed to be, and – “

“Huey, it’s fine,” Donald assured. He met Uncle Scrooge’s gaze for a split second and looked away. “It’s just… the aftermath of the ring.”

“But you keep switching, and – “

Della looked up just in time to see Uncle Scrooge’s expression shuttered close, like it always did when he went livid. She gulped as he asked, low and slow, “I thought I told you to tell me if things gets worse.”

“We didn’t think it would be this bad,” Della muttered.

Somehow, the long exhale Uncle Scrooge let out was so much more devastating than if he had screamed at them. He turned at Louie and said, “Louie, is your hand okay?”

Louie blinked at him. “Uh, um… it’s okay now, I can feel things and it’s not trembling anymore.”

“That’s good. Give the orb to Della and Donald, okay? We’ll go soon.”

Louie obeyed instantly, purposefully making a wide berth from Webby, who held the mirror in her hands. He handed the orb to Donald, wincing when their magic brushed, and stepped back with an uneasy look in his face.

“Louie?” Donald called uncertainly.

“Please fix your magic. It’s… not good,” the youngest whispered.

“How does it feel like?”

Louie shook his head, frowning. “Like… like rot.”

Donald inhaled and nodded, waving Louie to go into the plane. The orb sat on his palm, and he offered it to Della with a single glance. Della clasped her hand over it, and they held hands with the orb right between them as they walked up the ramp into the plane, following the rest of their family.

It was funny, how neither of them realized how nauseous their own magic had been making them until the mending properties of the orb took that away.

Apparently, it showed in their outward appearance, too, because Uncle Scrooge took one look at them, snorted, and gestured as he turned to the kids, saying, “And this, children, is why you communicate and ask for help when you have a problem you can’t resolve by yourself.”

Della gasped dramatically. “Uncle Scrooge! How could you, in front of my kids?”

“It’s a good life lesson for them, Della.”

“I mean, yeah, but you didn’t have to say it that way.”

Louie peered over. “Wait, where’s the orb?”

“In here,” Donald answered, holding up his and Della’s clasped hand. A memory resurfaced in his mind, and he smiled, sending the feelings and impressions to Della through their bond. The corrosion had knocked their walls down that the communication was almost too easy, and now that the orb was mending their magic they knew building a new boundary would be much easier and stronger without needing a harsher separation.

Della received his message and laughed. At the kids’ questioning look, she explained, “We used to do this all the time when we were kids. Taking things and hiding it in our hands like this, I mean. And we used to hold hands a lot, so people don’t think much on it.”

Uncle Scrooge sighed in exasperation. “They’re half the reason I’m very protective of my dime.”

Webby gasped. “You stole the dime?!”

“And many others!” Della bragged. “And we got the dime multiple times.”

“We were troublemakers when we were kids,” Donald said with a smirk, then he directed his gaze to the triplets. “Which is why I know to stop you before you do anything. I can tell.”

“Wait, give me a list on what pranks you pulled and tell me in detail how you got to do what you did,” Dewey asked immediately. Huey pulled out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and clicked a pen open next to him.

Uncle Scrooge, likely foreseeing a disaster in the future if the twins’ successful heists were to be revealed to the triplets, shut that down immediately. “Alright now, you can discuss that later. Let’s get back to Duckburg now.”

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

They realized, as the orb kept mending and restoring and purifying their tainted magic, that the first time they did it the process was cut short when they let go of the orb in favor of turning to the sky and the sea to replenish their magic. The sky and the sea did indeed replenish their magic, but they were not capable of purification the way the orb was capable of.

This time, they made sure to keep the orb on their person until the last hint of corrosion was purged out of their system.

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

That night, for the first time in a while, they burst with so much energy and excitement that Della went for a midnight flight, dancing with the clouds, while Donald donned his suit once more to go toe to toe with the new onslaught of villains that started to sprout in Duckburg’s streets.

For the first time, their shared dreams was filled with laughter and warmth instead of screeching metal and fear.

[stxn-the-mxn]

Runaway || Platonic!Billy Batson X Reader X Platonic!Freddy Freeman

Request: Could you please write a Shazam imagine where the reader is also an adoptive kid and she's just like Billy in the beginning, like she doesn't want to be in the family home, and she tries to run away, but Billy and Freddy find her. And they like have a conversation about stuff and she realizes that she's home. Sorry it's so long lol -Anon

***

“Y/N, you’ve run from five different homes in the past two months. Running from families who want to love and take care of you. What will it take for you to stay?” 

All the smiley faces on this lady’s desk was weird. No one needed that many faces staring at them. And they’re all identical. Did they have to be the brightest shade of yellow imaginable? It’s painful to look at. God, I feel like my eyes are burni-

“Ms L/N?”

Your head snapped up, meeting the eyes of the childcare worker. You gave her an apologetic look, which was clearly fake, but she paid it no mind.

“As I was saying, there’s a couple outside willing to take you into their group home.”

You looked out the window, seeing a man and a woman sitting on the waiting room couch. They didn’t seem horrible, but looks can be deceiving. Maybe they’d be pushovers, and you’d be able to get out easily.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go. See you in a week, probably.” You smirked, and she sighed, expecting about the same.

You pushed open the door, and two heads snapped towards you. They had warm, welcoming expressions, and you thought that maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. No, who were you kidding, you’d be back on the streets by Monday.

You got in the back of their car, already wanting to jump out. They were talking to you, but your mind was elsewhere. Specifically, back with your dad. Where you belonged. Home. Not with some random people, in a house full of random kids.

“So, Y/N, we know you have a habit of running from homes, but we really do hope you’ll consider staying with us.” The woman, Rosa, said as the car pulled into a driveway. You stared out the window at the house. It was quite a large house, which you expected for a group home.

The man, Victor, opened the door for you, and you ignored his hand he held out to help you out of the car. He didn’t seem offended at all, so you figured he was used to it. You stormed up to the front door, trying not to seem too angry.

The door opened, and you were greeted by the sound of people yelling, laughing and just being loud. It was overwhelming, to put it simply. Once again, it was exactly what you expected for a group home.

“Kids!”

The kids continued making a ruckus, no sounds being actually discernable.

“Kids!” Four heads turned towards the doorway, and you averted your eyes. 

“This is Y/N, please be welcoming to her.”

You raised your eyebrows, faking a smile. A young girl ran over, hugging you.

“I’m Darla! Just so you know, silence makes me uncomfortable.” She nodded as if agreeing with her own statement. You had to admit she was adorable. 

A boy, around Darla’s age, walked over, tapping away at some handheld device.

“That’s Eugene. He likes video games, like, a lot.” Darla said, and Eugene offered you a small wave.

An older girl walked over, with a sweet smile on her face. She seemed the oldest of the kids.

“Hi, I’m Mary.” Even her voice was sweet. Maybe too sweet. She pointed to a boy behind her, in a green striped shirt. “That’s Pedro. He’s always that quiet, so don’t take it personally.”

You hadn’t taken it personally, actually quite happy that someone was minding his own business.

“Billy and Freddy must be upstairs.”

You were lead upstairs by Darla, who also mentioned there was one step she should be careful of. She brought you to an open door, where two boys, about your age, were sitting in a chair and on the bunk bed.

“Billy! Freddy! Meet Y/N!” Darla shoved you into the room, running back down the stairs afterwards. 

The two boys stared you up and down, sharing a look before the one in the chair spoke up.

“Y/N, right? I’m Freddy and he’s Billy.”

You gave a fake polite smile, turning to leave the room. Noticing an open window, you glanced down. The boys shared a knowing look, and Freddy smirked.

“It’s a long way down. Trust me. I know from experience.”

You looked over at Freddy, watching as he stood from the chair. He grabbed a crutch that you hadn’t noticed earlier and your eyes widened. Billy stifled a laugh from behind you.

“Yeah, Victor pushed me.” 

Your jaw dropped in shock, suddenly thinking that maybe running away was not just out of spite now.

“I’m kidding! It’s, uh, terminal cancer. I only have about three months.” 

“Oh, shit, uh I’m sor-”

“Kidding! Again. It’s just a disability.”

This kid was a little shit. The other kid, Billy, was doubled over laughing. You fought back the urge to punch him straight in the nose. You stormed out of the room, hearing the boys’ laughter slow to a stop.

You found the bathroom, locking yourself inside. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, you found tears dripping down your face. Digging in your jean pocket, you pulled out an old photo. It had distinct creases from where you folded it and the edges were yellowing.

It was a Christmas photo, taken only days before the accident. It felt cliche calling it that, but that’s what all the adults called it. You were only two when it happened. When your parents got crushed by a fucking building that those so-called “heroes” broke in a fight.

***

It was late, probably around 2 am when you made your escape. Creeping out the front door without anyone noticing was easy. The only issue was that you didn’t know where to go from here.

So, for the next few hours, you wandered Pittsburg aimlessly, hoping to find anything to do or anywhere to go. Eventually, you came across a small park, that was seemingly empty.

You found a bench that faced into the city, all the lights sparkling like stars. God, being out here was so much better than being in a home. It was pathetic, having to live in a group home. 

You started to fall asleep, listening to the rumble of the city, finding it surprisingly soothing. 

You were rudely woken up by the sound of people talking right beside you.

“Oh, she’s awake!” 

You blinked a few times, waiting for your eyes to focus. Two men in similar outfits stood above you, though one was hovering above the ground.

“Ugh, superheroes.” You groaned, getting up from the bench.

The blue on stuck out an arm, stopping you from moving.

“Why did you try to run away?”

You looked up, confusion and maybe a tiny bit of fear on your face. How did they know that? 

“Y/N, I tried to run away too, but it was stupid of me to even try.”

How did they know your name? Who the fuck were these people? They picked up on your expression, which now mainly held fear.

“Oh, uh, give us a sec.” The red one said.

“Shazam!” They both yelled, and you screamed at the two strikes of lightning that hit the men.

In their place stood Billy and Freddy.

“God, why am I not surprised it’s you two?”

Freddy couldn’t stop you from getting away this time, so you speed-walked off in a different direction.

“You’re not weak for relying on other people, Y/N.”

Billy’s voice made you freeze.

“Being in a group home doesn’t make you pathetic, or useless or anything.”

You shut your eyes tightly, before continuing on your way. The tears burned your eyes as you forced them into place. You were not crying, not today, not in front of them.

“You don’t have to act tough and independent all the time. Not that you’re not allowed to be independent, that's good, actually, but I’m just saying that you don’t have to do this all alone. I thought exactly what you’re thinking for so long. I tried so hard to do everything by myself, and it got me nowhere. I needed a home, and a family and you need one too.”

Your knees buckled, eventually giving way. Billy’s little speech dug its way into your heart. He knew what you were going through. He had been you at one point. Billy rushed to your side, Freddy making his way over at his own pace. 

“Y/N?”

You couldn’t speak, your throat blocked by sobs. The boys didn’t know what to do. They helped you to your feet, letting you lean against Billy for support.

“Guys?” They hummed in response. 

“I wanna go home.”

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

Jungkook Scenario| You are a cover artist and get invited to Seoul to collab with him

“Ah hyung y/n is releasing another song! She just announced it on her twitter its coming out later today. I wonder what it will be this time!” Jungkook was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement, much to the displeasure of his makeup artist who keeps having to redo his eyeshadow every time he moves. 

“Ah your girlfriend posted a new song? Is it a cover or a song of her own?”

“It looks like a cov- HEY! She’s not my girlfriend Tae what are you talking about?”

“Jungkook you have such heart eyes for that girl it’s not even funny.”  Jimin chimes in.

“Yeah Jungkookie it’s pretty obvious you have the biggest crush on her. Why haven’t you talked to her yet?”

“What am I supposed to say Tae? ‘Oh hey I’ve been listening to your music for a year now and I have the biggest crush on you date me?’” 

“I mean you don’t have to be so forward but..”

“Shush! Let me just have my crush in peace okay?” He sighs heavily while looking at your post again. He doesn’t know why he suddenly decides to leave a comment underneath your tweet. 

Can’t wait! Is it a cover or an original song? -JK

He’s not expecting an answer back, you get tons of replies on your tweets everyday. So imagine his shock when a notification dings on his phone and he sees that you actually replied back to him. He jumps in the chair again and is scolded by the makeup artist for the 10th time. He blushes in embarrassment.

“Sorry noona.” He offers. He quickly opens up his phone and reads the reply from you.

It’s a cover. A song you should know well :) 

“Jimin?”

“Yeah Jungkook?”

“Am I dreaming right now?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Y/n actually replied to me. Oh my gosh I am fanboying so hard right now.” Jimin gets up from the couch and peers over his shoulder, reading the reply back from you.

“Ah no you aren’t dreaming. I wonder what she meant by a song you should know well..”

“Maybe it’s one of our songs!” 

“Ah you’re probably right. You won’t know until after our concert tonight though.”Jungkook visibly deflates as he sinks down in his chair.

“You’re right. Ugh this sucks.”

“Patience Jungkook. As soon as the show is over you can listen in the car on the way back.”

*****************************

The concert is over and Jungkook quickly runs over to his phone and sees that you posted a link to your cover with a message with it.

Hey everyone! Here is a new cover for you. I hope I did the song justice. I feel kind of intimidated covering Euphoria when Jungkook literally sounds like an angel ;~; but I hope you enjoy it! 

Jungkook nearly drops his phone again when he sees that you did a cover of his song. He immediately clicks on the link and he hears an acoustic guitar starting off playing the melody, the second he hears those opening lines his heart is absolutely melting. He thinks you sound absolutely beautiful and your voice makes him wonder if angels walk among the earth. He replays it at least 5x on the way back to their dorms.

“Jungkook you should invite her to come to to Seoul and do a song with you.”

“I’m sorry what? Are you crazy? Why would I do that?”

“Because clearly she is a fan of you too, and your voices would sound really good together. Look at all the comments on her new song a lot of our fans and her own are wanting a collab between the two of you.” He scrolls through the comments and realizes that Hoseok is right. 

“Should I just DM her or something? How does this work.. I don’t even know what I am doing oh god. Hyung help.” Hoseok laughs before he takes out his phone and messages you from their official account.

Hey, y/n! Your cover of Euphoria was really beautiful. I am pretty sure I have heard it at least 7x now because Jungkook has it on repeat. Anyway he’s way too shy to ask you so I am taking the initiative here to formally ask you to come to Seoul to make a song with him. He’s been a fan of yours for a really long time and he would love the opportunity to sing with you. -Hobi

Hoseok smiles to himself as he sets his phone down,

“Hobi what did you do?” Hoseok says nothing in return, just smirks at the younger. Jungkook opens up their twitter messages and sees what he wrote to you.

“Did you have to expose me like that?!”

****************************

The last thing you were expecting after posting that cover was to be invited to Seoul to collaborate with the man you had idolized since the start of his career. Jungkook was everything you wanted to be and more. He was such a talented vocalist, he could dance, and he had so much love in his heart. Not to mention you had a massive crush on him. You couldn’t help but find his smile endearing, his sense of humor was exactly like yours as well. You screamed into your pillow when you saw the message from Hoseok on your phone. After you allowed yourself some brief moments of fangirling you messaged them back.

I would be honored! I have been a huge fan of you guys for the longest time now. Wow this feels like a dream come true really. When would you want me there?

You wait patiently for a reply, not taking your eyes off your phone until it lights up with a new message.

Hey! It’s Jungkook now. Um honestly if it isn’t too soon we have a break in our schedule in a few days. 

Sounds good to me. I’ll see you soon Jungkook! Can’t wait! 

****************************

You step off the plane a few days later and spot someone holding a sign with your name on it. You walk over to the person who gestures for you to get into the backseat of a rather expensive car. You aren’t expecting to be met with eye crinkles and a bunny smile when you open the door and it catches you off guard.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you. I just wanted to get started as soon as possible. I was too anxious to wait.” You can’t help but find him endearing, knowing that he was just as excited to get started as you were made your heart flutter. You told yourself to calm down, that it’s just strictly professional and you needed to get your little crush under control. You sit next to him and offer your hand out and he takes it gladly. 

“I guess we should introduce ourselves first though? I’m y/n as you already know. It’s nice to meet you Jungkook. I would love to get started on our song right away.” He’s still holding onto your hand and when you glance at your hands he quickly pulls away, a blush forming on his cheeks.

“It’s nice to meet you too y/n. We can drop you off at your hotel so you can unpack and then start working on some lyrics?”

“Sounds good to me.” You two spend the rest of the day, sheets of paper and your guitar sat out on the bed as you both come up with ideas for a melody and lyrics to the song. You glance up at the clock and notice that it’s getting quite late. You stretch and it doesn’t slip past Jungkook’s notice when your shirt rides up slightly exposing your stomach. He quickly looks away, willing his heart to calm down. Meeting you has done nothing but strengthen his crush on you and now he was starting to develop real feelings. You were so kind and nice to him, you made him laugh quite a few times as he did for you. He instantly fell in love with the sound of your laughter and realized he would do anything to keep that smile on your face and that scared him. You probably were seeing this as just a friendly collaboration between artists and nothing more. He doesn’t realize he’s zoned out lost in his thoughts until you are waving your hand in front of his face.

“Jungkook? It’s getting late you should probably head back now.” He glances at the clock and realizes it’s 10 at night.”

“Oh.. shoot you’re right I should get going. Umm.. what time did you want to meet up tomorrow?”

“How about you take me out for breakfast?” He stutters at your words unsure how to take them.

“Y-you want to go out with me tomorrow morning?”

“I mean I’ve never been to Seoul before. I want to explore the city but I have no idea where anything is or where all the cool places are. I would love it if you were my tour guide? We worked for hours today it wouldn’t hurt to take some time off and just have fun now would it?” He stares at you blinking rapidly.

“Unless you don’t want to..” 

“No! I mean, I want to. I’d love to take you out.” You smile at that and you both work out the details before he leaves. He rushes home and throws the door open, to find all of the members sitting in the living room waiting for him.

“Ah Jungkook! How did it go?” Jimin jumps off the couch and is immediately walking towards him, eager to hear the details.

“She’s.. amazing. God I think I actually have feelings for her what am I supposed to do. She’s so sweet and funny. And she wants me to take her out tomorrow.” 

“Aww Jungkook looks like a love struck teenager look at the blush on his cheeks!” Taehyung teases him and he can’t even be bothered to feel irritated because he’s just so happy that he’s going out with you tomorrow. 

“I mean you never know what will happen unless you try right? If things go well tomorrow just be honest and tell her how you feel. She’d be an idiot not to like you too.” Namjoon offers. Jungkook thanks him for the advice and then lays down, he tosses and turns for a while, feeling nervous about tomorrow but also excited. It isn’t until he turns on your cover of Euphoria that he instantly drifts off to sleep. 

****************************

The next morning you spend way too long fussing over how you look. You want to make a good impression on Jungkook. You quickly found after spending so much time with him yesterday that your little celebrity crush was developing into something more. He was way cuter in person and his smile sent your heart dropping into your stomach and butterflies fluttering against your rib cage. It worried you. You were uncertain how he felt about you and were afraid if you confessed to him he would just laugh at you. You were mentally scolding yourself for suggesting you two go out this morning, thinking that he probably just saw this as a professional relationship only. You were still scolding yourself when you heard knocking on your hotel room door. You open the door and the sight of him nearly takes your breath away. Even when he’s dressed so casually and has a mask covering half his face he still is breath taking. 

“Um.. y/n you.. you look really pretty.” You blush and smile at him.

“Thanks Jungkook. You look pretty handsome yourself you know?” You can see the tips of his ears turning red as you close the door behind you and you both head out into downtown. You eat breakfast together, chatting happily and getting to know each other better. He takes you out sight seeing, and although he would never admit it out loud he spent more time looking at you and your reactions than the sights he was taking you to see. It’s the end of the night and he’s standing outside your hotel room, neither of you wanting to say goodbye yet. 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, we can keep working on our song tomorrow. It’s coming along really nicely and I think after today I have some new inspiration for lyrics and a melody. I had a really great time Jungkook. Thank you.” You reach out and squeeze his hand before opening your door.

“Goodnight.” The second the door shuts he is snapped out of his daze. Before he can stop himself he knocks on you door. You open it and look at him, confusion on your face.

“Is everything okay Jungkook?”

“I just wanted to ask you something. Just so we’re both on the same page. Was today a date, or just me being a good host and showing you around Seoul? ” You furrow your brows as you think how to answer him, not wanting to give away your feelings.

“Did you want it to be a date?” He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, unable to meet your eyes. 

“I mean.. Um.. Gosh this is going to make things so awkward if you don’t feel the same way.” He’s mumbling and you are barely able to make out what he says. You can tell he’s nervous so you decide to swallow your fears and just be honest with him.

“I mean I was kind of hoping you saw it that way.” His eyes snap up and his gaze meet your own. “I kind of have had a crush on you for a while.. but after meeting you I think it’s developed into something more.” He doesn’t say anything, he’s too shocked to. He never would have expected you felt the same way that he did. 

“Can you say something please? I’m worried that this was just one sided and I just made an idiot of myself.” He doesn’t know where this sudden burst of confidence comes from. But he reaches out and places his finger underneath your chin to turn your gaze up to look at him. He doesn’t hesitate before he leans in and presses a chaste kiss to your lips.

“I like you too. I have for a while now too. I thought it was just some innocent celebrity crush, but after getting to know you I would really be an idiot for letting a chance with you go.” You smile as your mind is finally set at ease.

“Well I guess we better make the most of my time here in Seoul while we can then huh?”

“Let’s finish the song tomorrow, then we can just spend the rest of the time going out together.” You nod and kiss him again, this time letting your lips linger for a little bit longer.

“That sounds perfect.”

[wri0thesley]

Special lewd post for the bday hubban please

Hey Nat! Hope your doing well! Can I get HCs or a Scenario of Speed with a super subby fem s/o giving and receiving oral for the first time. Ugh I love how rugged and dangerous but also loveable and kind Speedwagon is 😍

well, anon! this might not be super subby but it worked too well for his birthday so Here We Go! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR SPEEDWAGON WE WUB YOU

Teaching A Lesson - Speedwagon/Fem Reader

NSFW, AFAB reader, fem pronouns, 2.5k.

You don’t know when your thoughts about Robert E. O. Speedwagon had turned from fear into desire; somewhere, perhaps, when you started smiling and blushing when he looked at you. When you’d realised that - though dangerous in his own right - he was only a danger to those who he thought deserved it. When his hand has brushed yours - even though your dainty gloves - and you’d caught his eye and he’d grinned at you, sending an unfamiliar shock through you that you’d realised when you’d gotten home and had stripped out of corsets and stockings was very much want. 

You had ended up, eventually, crushed against Robert’s bulk in an alley on the wrong side of London, his mouth on yours and his hands pulling your petticoats and skirts up around your hips. You had never imagined losing your virtue to a street rat in the public filth of a Whitechapel alleyway - but that was how it had happened, and when Robert had pulled out of you and kissed you on the mouth you had looked at him and thought; I am glad this is how it has happened. 

It’s hurried trysts, at first. Robert is not a man of fixed address, and there is only so long you can be away before the others you share your home with grow suspicious. Although you are far from a lady, you are at least respectable in the shared apartments above the dressmaker’s shop that you share with two of the other seamstresses. They have beaus - one of them is betrothed - but to be out at night alone with the object of your affection is unthinkable, lest your virtue be shattered before you can be shackled by wedding rings. 

That does not mean you do not want to spend a night together. And when Robert promises you a night in a real bed in a little room above a tavern that he’s staying in for a few weeks, you’re giddy. You tell the other girls that you’re staying with your sister whilst she’s visiting London, and though you see a brief flash of question in your eyes - you have never mentioned a sister - they accept your excuse, and you leave that evening with a neatly packed valise, you can barely stand how excited you are. 

The valise is not unpacked that first night, because Robert is on you in moments, seizing you about the waist and grinning at you, his handsome scarred face lit with adoration, murmuring your name as you’re tossed gently onto the bed and your body and his become one, over and over. You fall asleep with bare bodies tangled together, and you wake up in much the same way. 

You have all day to do whatever you and Robert wish - but as soon as his fingers trail whisper-soft across your bare hip and he leans in to ghost his lips over yours, his eyes glittering with something dangerous, you know exactly what you are wishing for for the rest of your sojourn. 

“How about,” you murmur, your own fingers running over his arms, stroking the ropes of scar tissue scattering his muscles, “we spend the entire day in luxury?” 

He grins. 

“I’m not one for luxury, love,” he says, his voice a purr - his accent would make the women who come into your shop turn tail and flee. For you, that grit just sets a fire low between your thighs. “I’m a man of simple tastes. Pretty bird, bit o’ cash--” He smirks. “And I’ve got both of those right now, in abundance.”

You smile back at him. 

“The luxury I’m talking about,” you whisper, leaning in, kissing a scar just above his heart he told you he earned in a knife fight. “Is the luxury of having time to learn one another’s bodies--”

Your words awaken something in Robert. There’s a flash of dark hunger in his eyes, and his tongue wets his lips and he looks at you. You feel flushed and warm beneath the gaze. 

“Well,” he says, his voice breathy. “There’s been something I’ve been thinking of teaching you about.” 

You keep eye contact, biting your lip. 

“I’m more than willing to learn.” 

“I’m very happy to hear that.”

And he’s on you with his mouth, kissing your neck, suckling blue-purple bruises into your throat, his fingers stroking over your bare skin. Even without going anywhere near the ache between your thighs, you feel heat and slick gather there - although you and he haven’t explored much further than quick and desperate tumbles, he knows where you’re sensitive. He knows which parts of your body make you light on fire when he brushes with his fingertips, and which places make you moan weakly - and by the time he’s spreading your legs, settling further down on the uncomfortable bed so that he’s positioned firmly between them, you’re putty in his hands. 

You’re always willing to follow his orders, of course. Something about submitting to him - a man who ought to be below you and yet commands so much power and presence, who is equal parts carnality and danger - always has your knees trembling. 

“Look at how gorgeous you are,” Robert growls, his eyes studying that place where your legs are parted with hunger, like you’re a meal he’s excited to devour. “Oh, you’re going to be a treat to taste, love.”

Your face flushes warmer. You-- you couldn’t have heard that right, could you?

“T-taste?” You stammer, and Robert lifts his head lazily to look at your embarrassed face. He chuckles - a low sound that makes you want to squirm - as one of his hands lands heavy and comforting on your bare thigh. 

“Aww, love. You ain’t never had anybody use their mouth on you before?” His smile is wicked, and then he suddenly widens his eyes comically, feigning surprise. “Oh, of course! You ain’t ever had anybody but me, have you? Don’t you worry, love. I’ll enjoy teaching you this one.”

Before you can respond to that, he’s dove between your thighs, tongue and mouth hungrily lapping at your slick like he’s been deprived to not be allowed to do this to you yet. You know that this is one of those things that’s supposed to be sinful and wrong - but with the wet heat of his tongue toying with your clit and circling your entrance and drinking you in, you can’t imagine why unless it’s because of how sinfully good it feels--

One of your hands tangles in his riot of wild golden curls, your face - still pink with a mixture of embarrassment and desire - peeking up to look at him. And oh, that sight of him with his head bent and his tongue working, scarred face gorgeous in how hard he’s concentrating on you and eyes blown with desire at the same time . . . a moan tears from your throat and a shock of pleasure goes through you as you’re forced to rest your head back and concentrate on nothing more than Robert’s well-practised tongue as it lavishes attention upon every inch of your sex. 

The hand still on your thigh creeps down, and you whimper and shift, gladly spreading your legs further apart as you feel his thumb nudge at the entrance to your sex. As he slides slowly in, his tongue moves attention higher, to the pink nub of your clit where it is swollen to attention - and as he suckles on that, your hips twitch helplessly towards the warmth. 

Every nerve in your body feels as though it has been lit aflame; it always feels like this when Robert and you make love, but at the same time it never truly feels like this. There’s something far more intimate about his mouth on you, a shock of knowledge that what he is doing would be shunned in other circles - and it’s partly that creeping feeling of shame that makes the way he plays your body with his mouth feel so delicious. 

One, two, three strokes of his thumb combined with rhythmic sucking on your clit pushes you over the edge, and you do not bother to hide the wail of pleasure that issues forth from your mouth as your peak washes over you in waves. Robert’s tongue slows, guiding you through the final aftershocks of your pleasure, but pulling away before it can be too much for you. You blink up at him, dazed, as your lover wipes his mouth with his hand. The entire lower half of his face is wet with your slick, and that sight . . . oh, that sight sends a fresh pulse of desire over you, though your own aftershocks have barely receded. 

“You were noisy, love,” Robert says, grinning. “Have I got t’find something to keep that mouth of yours out of trouble?”

He gathers himself onto his knees, and you’re made very aware that he’s enjoyed having his mouth on you just as much as you’ve enjoyed it by the state of his cock, flushed and standing proud. You bite your lip, avoiding his gaze. 

“M-maybe,” you breathe, with a good idea of how exactly he plans on making sure you’re quiet. 

“C’mere, love,” Robert says, crooking a finger, settling himself on the edge of the bed. You crawl over to him and he chuckles. “No, not here. On the floor on your knees, sweetheart.”

The pet names are soft, but there’s still a steel behind everything Robert says that has you glad to be on your knees instead of standing before him with them trembling in anticipation. When you’re settled in place before him, he smiles and runs a hand over your own face, your eyes locked with his. 

“What do you think I’m going to ask you to do?” He asks, his smile suddenly looking far more wicked than before. “My lady! Who’s never ‘ad the pleasure of being fucked with a man’s tongue. What d’you think I’m gonna ask you to do with your pretty mouth?”

Your face feels pink with embarrassment, your eyes level with the hard length of his cock. He cocks one eyebrow at you, waiting for your answer - and though it’s an effort to force the words past your lips, you whisper:

“I--I’m going to use them on y-your-- c-cock--”

Speedwagon laughs heartily. 

“Then do it, love,” he says, his voice husky, as you lean forward. “I’m not going t’hurt you. I wouldn’t go through all that trouble just to off you now! Just take it in your hand and suck it--”

You’re not embarrassed to be naked in front of him. You’re not embarrassed that he made you come, that he’s been inside you, that you see him and can barely wait to drop your petticoats - you are embarrassed that you’ve never done this before, and you have no idea how good you might be at it. You don’t want to disappoint Robert!

“Don’t worry,” he says, as if he senses your fear spiking in the air. The hand on your face cups your chin, pulling you close, and you hesitantly raise a hand to wrap around the shaft of his cock. At the feel of your fingers on him, he breathes out low and slow. “You won’t break me. I’ve had worse.”

You press a kiss to the tip of his cockhead, pink and ruddy, beading with precome even now. Hesitantly, you give a kitten lick to that bubble of his arousal, and his breath hisses out through his teeth. Fascinated by the sound, you lick again, and as you see muscles in his thighs jump, you decide to take the bull by the horns and let your entire mouth open, working his length in slowly so as not to overwhelm yourself. 

Robert groans out your name, thighs trembling - one of his hands comes to rest very lightly on your head, and though you can tell that he clearly wants to fuck your mouth with abandon, he holds himself back whilst you explore the feeling of having a man in your mouth for the very first time. The taste of him is musky and salty - unusual, but not unpleasant - and you envelope more of his cock into your mouth, taking him as far as you can comfortably go. It’s still only about halfway, but as you hollow your cheeks and lick at the shaft you do have in your mouth, you develop a kind of rhythm with where your hand is gripping his cock to ensure none of him feels left out. 

Robert’s breathing is heavy and erratic as you fall into a rhythm - as you bob your head and suck and lick, your cheeks hollowed. Your eyes do not leave Robert’s own face - he’s flushed with pleasure and his eyes are dark and big as they drink in the sight of his pretty prim lover on her knees on the floor, his cock in her mouth. 

Much like when his mouth was buried in that most private part of you, something about the taboo of what you’re doing sends thrills through your spine. Robert groans, his hips rocking into your mouth - and though you know this is probably far from the first time he’s had someone on their knees for him, you can’t help but feel that the lure of despoiling someone so otherwise pure is an aphrodisiac to him just the same. 

“Faster,” he manages, and his voice has a crack in it that you know means he’s not far off his own peak. You redouble your efforts - your tongue covering more ground, your hand faster, your head bobbing on his shaft with a renewed purpose. You find that you want him, desperately, to tell you that you’ve done well--

His eyes squeeze shut, his hips thrusting erratically, all of his control slipping as he chases his release and fucks into your mouth - and when he does come, the twitch of his cock alerts you to make sure you’re ready for the salty rush of his seed as it fills your mouth. Your eyes widen but you take it, letting the ropes of his release paint your mouth. 

Breathing heavily, he slides his cock out of your mouth, looking down at you with warmth suffusing his gaze. You swallow the milky mess he filled your mouth with, and he lets out a shuddering breath that you know is both admiration and desire. 

“You’re perfect, love.” He says, sounding dazed - and you get the impression that, if nothing else, you succeeded in one place. You certainly didn’t embarrass yourself by not being good at that, did you?

You imagine, from the way that your body is already throbbing with want, that it won’t be the last time you use your mouth on Robert. In fact, as he beckons you up and pulls you into a kiss, perching you on his knee, you can already feel his cock stirring - and you’re certainly ready for a round two. 

You have the full day ahead of you, after all - and a whole night.

[spring-emerald]

this thing called love

“You know, it’s really unfair that Stingyshima is popular,” Hinata says with a huff, lips pouted in disgruntlement.

Kageyama pauses writing, dragging his eyes from Yachi’s neat notes he’s copying from to Hinata. “What?”

Hinata shrugs, mechanical pencil balanced between his nose and upper lip, sliding even further in his seat as he insolently spreads his legs apart under the desk, looking like a real picture of laziness and an absolute dumbass who don’t have time to act carefree at the moment. Kageyama frowns and kicks him on the shin, startling him and causing the pencil to lose its balance, earning him a glare from the shorter teen.

“I’m just saying,” Hinata bends to rub his abused leg, “his personality’s awful and yet so many girls have a crush on him. I don’t get it,” he says as he finally sits properly before throwing his hands in the air.

Kageyama just rolls his eyes at Hinata’s antics and reaches over to thump him on the side of his head. “You really don’t have time worrying about things like that,” he says, nodding down at the notes with emphasis.

They’re on the cusp of failing a class again and he really, really doesn’t need that to happen and he really, really don’t want to take supplementary lessons for it and miss any training camps that might be scheduled during that.

“I know. But I get a little jealous! Just because he’s tall and-”

Kageyama zones out after that, pointedly ignores Hinata’s tirade about Tsukishima’s supposed popularity in favor of looking back down at the notes and try to find where he left off.

“-Don’t you get jealous, Kageyama?”

Kageyama knits his eyebrows together as he looks up at Hinata again, who now has his chin resting on his hand, head tilted curiously to the side. “No,” He says with a shake of his head then promptly returns to his task.

The thing is, after that particular conversation, Kageyama started to notice things about their schoolmates’ interaction with Tsukishima.

Like how the students part and give way and girls watch Tsukishima walk along the grounds with admiring gazes, very reminiscent of the way they sometimes do in shoujo mangas when a prince-like character is introduced. Or the way underclassmen, especially girls, would huddle together and giggle amongst themselves when they catch sight of him during lunch time rush in the cafeteria. Or how Tsukishima would be at the receiving end of assorted pastries like a small packet of freshly baked cookies, or a cup of pudding. Or that in some instances, Yamaguchi would arrive at their lunch spot without Tsukishima because he’s been held back by an underclassman, and arriving a few minutes later from the direction of the courtyard, looking a little annoyed and weary.

Kageyama never gets the chance to ask him about it, figures Tsukishima would talk about it if it’s really bothering him, but he does give him a questioning look, one that Tsukishima returns with one that Kageyama translates as ‘nothing, don’t mind it’ along with a light shrug of his shoulder.

-----

It boggles Kageyama, to say the least. Why people would suddenly react that way around Tsukishima. Not that he didn’t think that Tsukishima can’t be popular or that he doesn’t have the right to, but…it’s just Tsukishima.

Cool, aloof, unbothered Tsukishima, who walks around with his large headphones and chin held high as he casually pass by other people without a care for the world.

Tsukishima who prods and tease and sometimes annoys the hell out of people just for the heck of it.

Tsukishima who sometimes give solid and sensible advice, if approached seriously about matters that bother you.

He’s a skilled middle blocker and a national level player one at that, so he’s been shown in television and is probably well-known especially among volleyball fans. But Hinata’s gotten a little famous too, especially to those who see him as inspiration or those he’d ‘blown the minds of’ (Hinata’s words, not his).

He’s smart and belongs to the honors section, and had gotten academic awards despite his active participation in club activities. But so is Yachi and Yamaguchi. Kageyama’s relieved that he knows smart people because they’d been really helpful in keeping his grades afloat enough to participate in club activities.

He’s got other talents as well. Kageyama knows that he plays guitar and bass and can sing well. He’s got a channel where he covers songs, though they’re the only ones who knew that it’s actually him since he’s never really showed his face in any of his videos. So he’s kind of popular in a way, Kageyama guesses.

Ultimately though, it’s just Tsukishima doing what he usually does. So there’s no reason to act like that around him.

-----

Apparently, Kageyama underestimated how popular Tsukishima actually is.

Because, as it turns out, he’s really popular. If the screams and swoons of his names of most of the girls in the auditorium are to go by.

The music is already loud as it is but they decided to add more to the noise contained in the domed room.

Kageyama’s head and ears ached, and he even fills a little dizzy because of the shrill yell-singing happening around him and he’s somehow relieved to be pushed back by the throng of girls that went closer to the stage to get to where Tsukishima is currently performing with other third years students-an impromptu band formed for tonight’s concert to culminate the festivities of the school festival.

He’s playing guitar and singing an old but catchy English song that Kageyama doesn’t completely understand, but one that he’s heard and knows that is included in the playlist Tsukishima’s recently made for him.

Kageyama doesn’t know where the other three are, supposed they also got swept away by the crowd, but he won’t risk going back in there, and decided to just stand against the wall at the far end of the room. Not only was the volume more tolerable, it’s not cramped and hot, and has a good vantage point, a full view of the stage where Tsukishima seems to be having fun performing, especially for someone who claims to have been forced and blackmailed to do so. He must be feeding off the excitement of the audience, though Kageyama wished that they were less rowdy in showing their appreciation.

It’s kind of nice. Seeing Tsukishima like this that is. Kageyama’s only ever seen him be occasionally passionate about volleyball, and when he’s commenting and teasing them and their juniors about their idiocy. Watching him having fun while doing something else is a welcomed change.

The song eventually comes to an end, and the auditorium gets filled with even louder screams which Kageyama decidedly escapes from in favor of catching some fresh spring air.

-----

“So this is where you’ve been hiding, King.”

Kageyama stops humming and breaks out of his reverie upon hearing the familiar voice, noting the hint of relief and exasperation on the tone. He scoots to the side, giving Tsukishima space.

“I wasn’t hiding.”

Tsukishima plops down beside him. “The three didn’t know where you’d gone. They were worried when they couldn’t find you inside.”

Kageyama winces in guilt and sends a short mental apology to their friends. “I got pushed out by the crowd. And it was getting quite loud in there. But I only stepped out after you’ve finished. You were really good,” he says with a small, soft smile.

Tsukishima searches his face. “You didn’t leave because of anything else?”

Hinata had mentioned something about why Kageyama probably left when he came looking for him, though he’d taken it with a grain of salt. Hinata likes to assume things and make a big deal out of nothing most of the time after all.

Kageyama’s frown and unsure “No?” confirms this.

“So you didn’t leave because you were jealous?”

“Jealous? Of what? Why would I be jealous?”

Right. What did Tsukishima even expect? Kageyama’s obliviousness to things not related to volleyball is an impenetrable wall- hard to scale and harder to breach, unless one uses a direct method.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Tsukishima shrugs rather dramatically. “Maybe because girls were going crazy for me?”

Goodness, Tsukishima was already pointedly ignoring that, had been for the past couple of years now, but of course Hinata and even Yamaguchi dare to rub it in his face from time to time. He’d hoped his nonchalance and disinterest, which isn’t even a façade would turn them away, but as the years go by, it only seemed to have the opposite effect. Yachi anxiously remarks that after tonight though, they’ll be sure to be more obvious and aggressive and that Tsukishima needs to be careful about accepting gifts from them after Home Econ class because they might have slipped in some love potion or something.

Kageyama makes a face upon remembering how the female student population seemed to have collectively lost their minds over the band. “Ugh, no. I definitely don’t like that kind of attention.”

Tsukishima gives him a hopeless look, then softly snorts and eventually laughs. Kageyama startles and stiffens at his reaction and frowns deeper. “What? Why are you laughing?”

When Tsukishima stops laughing, Kageyama immediately catches on the teasing smile and glint on his eyes and tried to back away. But Tsukishima’s faster and he soon finds his face squished in between large hands, making his lips pout before it meets Tsukishima’s own in a quick, chaste peck.

“That’s not what I even meant, King,” Tsukishima says, shaking his head a little while squeezing Kageyama’s face harder before letting it go.

Kageyama rubs his cheeks and wills away the warmth that crept up his face at the sudden affectionate gesture. “Then what did you mean?”

Tsukishima just laughs again before pulling him into a hug, forcing his head and face to rest against Tsukishima’s shoulder and chest. “What I meant is that you’re jealous that girls are crushing on me, who is, you know, your boyfriend?”

Kageyama blinks. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. But I get it. Your Majesty can’t be bothered to be jealous over such trivial things, since he’s above all the lowly common girls.”

“Well, I don’t get why they’re suddenly paying attention to you. It’s not like you’re doing anything special.”

Oh wow. Tsukishima feels his something inside his chest squeeze. “Ouch, my King. That actually hurts.”

Kageyama lifts his head and looks up at Tsukishima. “No, but Kei…” Tsukishima looks down at him, surprised at the use of his given name moreover the softness of it, though a little wary about what Kageyama’s going to say next. “You’ve always been doing great. You’ve always been admirable. So I don’t understand why they’re only seeing it now.”

Kageyama says it so matter-of-factly, like it’s that simple, a universal truth and oh wow, Tsukishima’s chest is squeezing for an entirely different reason. He will never get over how Kageyama can say these kinds of things easily, will never get over the way he naturally but unconventionally affirms his feelings for him. Until now, even almost a year of dating, Tsukishima still gets unbalanced, still gets flustered, by the King, of all people.

Tsukishima doesn’t bother hiding his wide, giddy smile from Kageyama before gently smooshing him against himself.

-----------

Tsukishima performing ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ won’t leave me alone.