#and at any point in the day afterwards regardless of the time if we knock

[flockofdoves]

i hate my roommate so fucking much oh my god.

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Proxies relax day? What do they do together? Like fishing or camping?

(Scenario also Hi! I'm new!)

Hello! Welcome to the blog :) I know you specified scenario but I just haven't been in a scenario headspace, although I tried to spice this up for you. I hope you enjoy it regardless :)

Fishing, of course! Fishing is Tim's favorite pastime, and it's something he does on a weekly basis. He goes out on his boat, floats into the water, and fishes the day away. It's a way to destress for him, and it just calms him and makes him relaxed after a very long week. It's an honor, quite honestly, for Tim to invite someone to go fishing with him. Everyone knows not to mess with him, as he takes fishing very seriously, and it'll make him very upset and down if you get too rowdy and scare all the fish away, so when it became a tradition every few weeks for him to invite Brian and Toby, the two of them felt quite special.

Brian is the most easygoing with the whole thing. He sits there quietly and patiently, although he doesn't fish all that much as he just doesn't have the talent for it, he always brings them plenty of snacks and drinks, and he's very encouraging with them. He also takes a bunch of pictures of them while they're out there, whether it be group photos, or candid shots of the other two while they're fishing, he likes to have a bunch of photos to remember these times together. Toby on the other hand originally struggled quite a bit with the fishing trips. He gets antsy when he's in the same place for too long, so there would be lots of "Let's move the boat over there!", "Let's go swimmin' Tim!", "Can't we just go for a little walk?", "Is there anything else to do?" And all of them would be shut down by Tim pretty fast. Did it agitate the shit out of Tim? Yes. But he loves Toby and is understanding of him, so he would let it go. It wasn't until Toby had a bad episode out on the water, and he started rocking the boat and almost fell in that things came to a head, with Tim yelling at him in fear and concern to knock it the fuck off. Was that the best way to handle it? No. Were there lots of hugs and tears and apologies afterward? Yes. 

After that point, something sort of clicked in Toby, and he became much more relaxed on the fishing trips. It was the fear in Tim's voice and in his eyes as he almost fell into the deep water that chilled him out a lot on the water, and things became easier after that. Tim started paying him a lot more attention too, to make him feel more occupied. He got him a new fishing rod and a bunch of equipment, and it became a bonding thing for them. Giving him tips and advice, to cast your line over there, to reel it in like this, to use these sorts of baits, and these kinds of lures, and Toby paid attention to every single piece of advice Tim gave him, even bringing a little notebook and writing it all down. Toby started to enjoy fishing a lot more after that, and thus, the tradition was born. Every other Sunday, the three of them go out on the water and fish for most of the day, starting early around the time the sun rises. If they catch anything good, Tim will grill it up when they get home, but if not, at least they still got to spend a day out in the water. Brian's lock screen for the last few months has been his favorite picture of the two, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the sunrise in front of them, with Toby's head sleepily resting on Tim as they fish. Toby might not always be the best in situations like these, but he tries for Tim, and Tim tries for him too. At the end of the day though, they also always have Mama Brian there to smooth over any rough bumps between the two.

[dragons-clause]

The Dragon's Clause

Sabo x Fem Reader CW: Forced marriage, intrigue, character death, fantasy violence, blood, magic, language, smut, 18+ mdni

Tag List: @mfreedomstuff @manachiichan

Chapter 13: Bet

The next four weeks passed with far more speed than you had expected, but you and Sabo both were very busy. You’d moved from checking his work to assisting him with it, but that work had near to doubled with preparations for the engagement party, and subsequent wedding afterward. Added to that you had bridal lessons, dancing lessons, dress fittings, and all while honing your magic and swordplay skills.

There was hardly time to eat or address one another outside of time spent working together.

As far as working together, that was going well for both of you. At least as far as you could tell. Since you weren’t just checking Sabo’s work anymore, you had a few things that were entirely your responsibility. Koala would review things for both of you when she could, but the express time line had everyone busy.

“In a couple weeks we’ll start to receive guests.” Sabo says, after finishing up the last of his paperwork for the day. You nod, not looking away from what you’re focused on.

“Isn’t that a little early?”

“Decidedly.” He agrees, the smile in his voice floats into your ears and warms you. The mischievousness was a welcome emotion, and a good sign. “But it’ll avoid any interference from my parents. Especially for Ace and Luffy. The others will likely wait another week before arriving.”

“That explains why Koala and Hack have been so busy lately.”

“And you?” He questions, coming over and sitting down on the couch across from the desk you were working at. You look up and meet his gaze as he settles in, grateful for the smile that had been more and more relaxed over the last month. “You’ve been working more than all of us.”

“It’s hardly work.” You insist, looking back down to your paperwork before deciding you could safely be done with it for the day. “I enjoy… most of it.” You admit, coming around and sitting across from him, nothing more than the small tea table between you.

“The bridal lessons?” He prompts and you laugh.

“I said most of it.” You reiterate. “But no, it’s not that bad. It’s… I mean.” Clearing your throat lightly you look away from him. “It’s comfortable here. I find I rather like it.”

“Good.” He muses, leaning back and letting his neck and back crack against the sofa. Slowly but surely the etiquette between you both was easing up. The marks of ‘Lady’ and ‘Duke’ in his speech and yours had ebbed as your words had become more familiar.

The change had been noticed by both of you, you were certain. The Duke was entirely too observant to be unaware, and even if he was by some miracle, you had little doubt that Koala would be sure to point things out to him. She likely was doing so regardless.

“Despite the series of events that brought you here, I’m relieved that you’re finding it to be a good home.” He adds. You start to say something but a knock at the door interrupts your train of thought as Hack announces himself.

“Ah, you’re both done for the evening I see.” He muses, bringing in a tray of hot tea and light snacks. “I was worried I was going to need to pry you both from your desks again.”

“There’s a lot to be done,” Sabo insists as Hack sets out cups and pours you both something to drink. “Though, I daresay we seem to be making good progress.”

“Indeed, we should have sufficient man power to guide Prince Luffy with care while he’s here.” Hack agrees and you tilt your head at the statement.

“Guide?”

“Luffy is… unique.” Sabo says, the smile on his face belying his word choice. “Ace will be here to keep him in line, so it won’t be as bad as it could be, but it is best to keep an eye on him.”

“Perhaps he will be interested in making a new friend.” Hack offers as he and Sabo look toward you.

“This feels like a test of some kind.” You shift your focus between the two. “If the good Lady of Lulusia befriends the unique prince of a nation she has had no direct interaction with, perhaps she will earn a reward.” You smile as you speak, and make a show of slightly exaggerated etiquette as you lift your tea cup, so they know there’s no hostility in your words.

Hack keeps a straight face, and Sabo smiles. “… Perhaps. Is there a reward the Good Lady of Lulusia would like?”

Your facade breaks and you consider things for a moment. “A favor, I think.” You answer honestly, setting your cup down. “The degree of the favor can be left to match the degree of success.”

“Very prudent, my lady.” He muses. “Barring an utter failure, you will win yourself a favor regardless.”

“And sometimes what seems a disaster can be made into an opportunity.” You add. “I feel like I am being asked to guide a storm. If he levels the city that would be a loss, but if he levels some trees and the amount of farmland expands as needed, then what an opportunity that would be.”

Sabo and Hack exchange glances. “Are you certain you haven’t met the young prince already?” Hack questions and you nearly choke.

“No I was… I was exaggerating.” You stammer, concern settling into your muscles as neither one of them is reassuring you the young prince is not actually that destructive. “Oh.”

“If you would like to back out now…” Sabo prompts and you chuckle nervously.

“Ah, I should, but I won’t. I have to admit I’m more curious to meet him now.” You glance at Sabo and give him a bright smile once you catch his gaze. “Plus I’m already thinking what kind of favor I could ask of the kind Grand Duke if I manage any manner of success.”

You see him flinch before he lets out his own nervous chuckle. “I see.”

“Perhaps you could,” you pause a moment, considering your word choice. “Regale me with stories about the young prince? And the crown prince as well, I would prefer to avoid insulting either one while they’re here. Given they’re important guests.”

“In the face of a wager that’s already stacked against me, I don’t see why I should assist you further.” Sabo replies with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Well, you can tell me what you like, your grace, or I can tell Koala about our wager and I’m certain-.”

“Alright!” Sabo interrupts, concern far more blatant on his face than you imagine he wanted. Lowering his head he sighs and clutches his hand into a fist. “I surrender, Lady Lulusia. I’ll tell you about Ace and Luffy.”

Sabo began to speak of his time with Luffy and Ace. He spoke of a chance meeting during their childhood, and how he and Ace had hit it off but it had taken a moment for them to really accept Luffy. Not that Luffy gave them much choice in the matter.

He spoke of how Luffy seemed to make friends with everyone he met, and perhaps even more than that, friend was a title that fell a bit short of what bond was truly forged. Sabo admitted that there were treaties and inter-kingdom-deals that had lived or died based on Luffy, and he had no idea how far the depths of his declarations had gone.

But such was his manner, and so trustworthy were his decisions, that it was hard to ignore them.

Sabo had barely cleared their time at the academy when he was escorting you to your room, the evening having gotten too late for his stories to continue. You weren’t sure if knowing all of this was going to actually help you, but the expressions on the Duke’s face, and the tone in his voice, were such that you wished he could continue talking straight into the dawn.

“Ah, my apologies.” Sabo says, as you both reach the doors to your room. “That was, perhaps, a bit much to take in, in one go.” He admits, clearing his throat.

“Not at all,” you assure him. “It was a delight to hear you speak of your, er, brothers. Is it alright to call them that? I assume only when there aren’t others around.”

“They certainly won’t mind. Luffy doesn’t tend to mind regardless of who is or isn’t around, but Ace and I try to keep the other nobles from gossiping too much.” He clarifies.

“Noted.” You smile as Sabo opens the door to your room, and you hesitate for a second.

 You don’t want the evening to end, and not for the first time, you find yourself reluctant to retire. Working all the long hours lately was easy because you weren’t alone. But there was nothing you could say or do to prolong things at this point.

Rest was every bit as important as work, and he probably needed it even more than you.

“Thank you.” You say as you step into your room, giving him a brief glance and a smile. “I look forward to hearing even more tomorrow, your grace.”

“More?” His tone and brows raise in mock surprise. “I would have imagined the Good Lady Lulusia was tired of my voice by this point.” He teases.

As you begin to close the turn, you look up at him, smiling shyly as your gaze holds his for a little longer than before. “I cannot imagine tiring of hearing you speak.” You admit, watching pink dust his cheeks, and genuine surprise stutter his thoughts, before you have mercy on the both of you and close the door.

Leaning against the door, you stay still for several minutes until you finally hear the soft click of boots step away from your room. It feels safe to breathe, but you’re barely doing that, for fear of simply screaming due to the rush of oddly conflicting emotions roiling within you.

You flirted with the duke.

Putting your hands over your mouth you step away from the door. Eyes wide, your mind spinning far too quickly for you to keep up, you do your best to get ready for bed. It takes far longer than usual because your own mind keeps distracting you.

You flirted with the duke. You - just like that - you just went and complimented his voice. Beyond a simple compliment you basically implied you could listen to him talk for hours. That you would enjoy his words and time and attention and-.

You put both of your hands over your mouth again and dampen the embarrassed sound you couldn’t fully suppress. It was impossible for it to have been heard outside your room, but you had no idea how you were going to face him at breakfast.

Taking a deep breath you try for a third time to undo the bodice of your house dress, forcing yourself to focus on the simple laces. You didn’t need assistance getting dressed in the general daily wear of the estate, and so Koala wasn’t going to arrive to help.

Such was a small blessing at this point.

You absolutely did not want assistance from Koala right now. She would know. She would know the second she got a good look at your face and you’d never hear the end of it.

Even after you managed to get undressed and into your night clothes you paced in your room for nearly thirty more minutes. You’d been up all day. Sword practice, bridal lessons, and work in the evening. Despite all that you were wound entirely too tight to sleep. Pacing helped, however, and eventually even your legs began to ache from the hurried circles you were walking in your room.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, you lay back, staring up at the canopy and at all of the beautiful and intricate details of the art work etched into the wood. Hack had explained them to you, the point of symbols and pictures, the history behind it, it was as rich as the work itself, but none of that was connecting with your brain right now.

You could barely even see any of it. Just him. His eyes. The shock on his face. The pink on his cheeks. The momentary pause between you both. If only you had said something more.

Done something more.

Letting your fingers slip across your lips, the ticklish shiver that dances against your skin makes you realize what you’d really wanted.

“I wanted to kiss him.” You murmur into the air.

Gods save you, you’re falling in love.

[meesherbeans]

Baxter MC Week: Day 2 (Date Night)

Yukino watched Baxter as he quietly stared out of the doorway, his face masked in a neutral expression. She could tell he was trying to berate himself in his head again; it was the same look he wore at the end of their early morning coffee date where he slept in, forgot his wallet, and then had a small meltdown because his plans completely crashed and burned. That was the first time she’d really gotten a glimpse of the young man behind the smirk.

He was far more insecure than he tried to let on, and it hurt her heart to think about it. There was nothing wrong with plans falling through! Heck, it can open up new opportunities to hang out. That date afterward to the bar was fantastic fun, but she mostly cared about getting to spend time with him, not the fancy drinks or performances.

She reached to hug his arm and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry that we can’t go to that amusement park, but it’s okay!”

“Well, I am at a loss as to what else I could offer you in place of it, especially with no warning. So, unfortunately, I don’t know if I agree with you on that.” Baxter sighed and ran his other hand through his hair, staring out at the absolute downpour.

Yukino pursed her lips and tried to think of a way to get him out of this funk. They could still spend the day together, even if they weren’t able to do what he had originally planned. Her eyes slowly drifted from Baxter’s face, ultimately focusing on the offending rain that had canceled their date. Inspiration hit immediately, and she brightened, a grin popping back onto her face.

Perfect!!

“Okay, I’m taking over today.” She nudged him with her shoulder and giggled quietly, reveling in her new plan of attack. He was going to have the best day, whether he knew it or not!

Brown eyes blinked and stared at her with curiosity. “You’re… ‘taking over’ today? Could you please clarify for me?” Despite his wary words, the frown on his face was slowly turning into a smile as her mood began to rub off on him.

She nodded and took a step back, deciding that putting him on the back foot once in a while was the best way to get his cooperation. “You’re gonna have to trust me. Give me… thirty minutes, then meet me here in a pair of clothes you don’t mind getting wet!”

Before he could respond, she leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the nose and ran out into the rain, making a beeline for her house. That was not a lot of time, and she had a fair bit to prepare!

Baxter blinked and watched her zip away with purpose, lifting a hand to touch his nose as he felt his cheeks begin to warm with a blush.

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

A half-hour later, on the dot, Yukino carefully knocked on Baxter’s front door… using her foot. She was too busy balancing an umbrella, two eco-bags, and her usual beach bag, unable to spare a hand.

When Baxter opened the door, he twitched with surprise and quickly moved to usher her inside. “What the… what is all of this, darling?” he asked, curiosity radiating off of him at this point.

She grinned and carefully set the three bags on the ground, then shook off and closed the umbrella. “Supplies! I’ll bring one other thing over after, but that one’s the real surprise. Oh! Don’t look in them. Ah, we won’t be here anyway, but it’s fine. I’ll set them in the living room; hold on!”

He blinked and failed to fight back an amused grin. It was obvious that he had no idea what she was up to. “Do you… require any assistance?”

“Nope! All good. Are you sure that’s the right outfit? I said to change into something you didn’t mind getting wet!” she called as she dragged the bags to set them on the couch.

Baxter shrugged and pinched the shoulder of his usual favorite black-and-white shirt with the eye pattern on it. “I have several of these, and I know a fantastic cleaner, so it’ll be all right regardless,” he assured her in a confident voice.

Well, it was his clothing at the end of the day. Yukino walked back over to him and shrugged. “Okay, if you say so!” She smiled and slid her arms over his shoulders, pulling their faces close. “You ready?”

“That entirely depends on what it is you’re trying so very hard to insist I do,” he murmured. A smirk was on his lips again, and he set his arms around her waist, most pleased with their embrace. “May I finally know what that is?”

Yukino slowly nodded. “Yeah! You’re going to have the best rainy day date of your life,” she insisted. “First, we’re going to go dance in the rain. Then we’ll each get dried off and meet back here again in pajamas for dinner and a movie night. I packed a bunch of snacks and a blanket, so we’re gonna have a picnic on the floor.”

It was clear to her that Baxter had absolutely no idea what to think of her proposed date plan. His brown eyes widened with surprise, and his lips parted as his jaw dropped a little bit. Just a little, though. He looked absolutely flabbergasted.

She giggled and scrunched her nose, taking a mental picture of his expression. A tiny part of her really hoped this was the first time someone had managed to get him to make that face! It was as adorable as it was hilarious, and she selfishly wanted to be the only one to see it.

“You… actually want to dance… in the rain,” he murmured, the light in his eyes evolving from astonishment to wonder. “You’re serious?”

Her hand slid over to gently cup his cheek, and she nodded. “Of course I am! Doesn’t that sound like fun? I’ve danced alongside my friends in the rain and stuff before, but never a real dance. It’ll be like a cheesy romantic comedy,” she whispered, feeling the excitement tingle along her spine.

Baxter smiled sweetly and hesitated for a moment… but only a moment. He tilted his cheek into her hand and enjoyed her touch as he closed his eyes. “You are incredible. I would like nothing more than to do something foolish with you.”

It was so hard for Yukino to keep herself from leaning forward and pressing her lips against that genuine and happy smile. But she managed! Barely! “Not foolish, fun.” She allowed herself to brush her thumb along his cheek while he was there. This was already turning out to be an amazing idea.

“My apologies; something fun.” His eyes slowly slid open, and he gave her a sly look. “Lead the way, my lady of the rains. My evening and night are yours, as always.”

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach again at his floridly formal flirtations, and she could feel her cheeks warm up. Instead of responding, she stepped back to take his hand with one of hers and started to lead him toward the front door.

Thankfully, the sound of steady rain continued to beat on the condo’s walls and roof. They hadn’t missed their chance!

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

The pair had made it across the street and over to Poppy Hill, completely drenched by the time they arrived. Yukino was laughing the whole way, gently pulling on his hand, reveling in the refreshing combination of cool raindrops and warm Southern California summer air. They finally stopped, and she glanced over at him with a grin.

Baxter returned her gaze, amused and clearly out of his depth. He gave her a smirk and reached to peel a lock of hair away from her eyes, lightly raising his voice to be heard over the rain. “Fancy meeting you here, Yukino. What brings you out on this most saturated of afternoons?”

She did not expect him to be so silly about it, and she giggled happily. “I was drawn here by some inexplicable force! But now I see it was just you all along. Since we’re here, do you want to spend some time together?”

“It’s a lovely day.” He paused to turn his head to the side and shook it after a large drop managed to catch him in the eye. His recovery was almost immediate, and he played it up for a laugh as he faced her again with a suave smile. “Truly the kind of weather one hopes to encounter. May I have this dance?”

Yukino nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, clearly not interested in a waltz at the moment. “You know I’ll always dance with you,” she answered with a grin. Her gaze wandered over his face, and she admired how different he looked when his hair was completely soaked.

When they had run through the sprinklers earlier this summer, his hair got a little wet, but now… it was plastered to the sides of his head and cheeks, his two-toned bangs slicked away from his face so that he could see. It was such a different side of him, and she found that charming.

His hands slid around her waist again, and he gently pulled her close before slowly leading her in a simple box step. It wouldn’t be particularly wise to try anything more complicated, considering it was pouring rain and they were on a grassy hill. Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, Baxter quickly began to smile instead of smirking as they became engrossed in the dance.

They continued to slowly spin around, Yukino gazing at Baxter for most of it. Ever since she brought him up here to show him fireflies and he asked her to dance, the two had found almost any excuse to break into a waltz or foxtrot. While it was sometimes for show, like when they tried to impress everyone on the boat, it seemed like practically every night, they ended up gliding around an empty living room or parking lot.

Dancing together was uniquely special. She knew he could sense it, too; rarely did he actually let his guard down, but she was utterly certain that the Baxter gazing back at her during a dance was the real guy – the wide-eyed, impossibly sweet one that kept popping up during random moments.

After a time, the cool rain began to feel unpleasant rather than refreshing, and Yukino pulled Baxter closer. He was a lot warmer than her, after all. He smiled and took that as an invitation to lean forward and press his lips against hers.

The combination of being so wrapped up together, the increasingly chilly rain, their warm bodies, and the feeling of their already wet lips finding each other’s was intoxicating. She sank into his embrace and returned his kiss slowly, wanting to savor every second of it. Movie kisses in the rain always looked dramatic, but this one instead felt softer and… intimate. Perhaps it was because it seemed like they were in their own little pocket of time, caught up in a swirling water world, but Yukino finally admitted to herself that Baxter was more than just a summer fling. This was special.

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

“You’re going to catch a cold, sweetie.”

Yukino looked at Ma and sighed again, quickly rubbing her hair with a towel one more time. “I’m gonna be okay, Ma, promise. We both went home to get dried off, and we’re not going back out into the rain again. Nice and dry and warm for the rest of the night!”

Her mothers gave each other a look and then shrugged. “So, you took him dancing in the rain. What’s next?” Mom asked, curious and direct as ever.

“Well, I already packed a bunch of snacks and brought them over with a big blanket. I just need to grab my favorite movie and hop on over!” She grinned at her moms, so very pleased with herself.

Ma thoughtfully mused aloud, smiling softly. “A movie night? That’s lovely.”

Yukino shook her head and then began to carefully brush her thick locks out. “Not just a movie night! A movie night picnic,” she boasted. This really was the best casual date ever.

Mom laughed at that. “Well, that’s just adorable. I hope you two have fun… but not too much fun, if you know what I mean!”

“Mom.”

“Pam.”

Mom laughed even harder when both Yukino and Noelani scolded her.

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

When Yukino stepped through the door to Baxter’s condo again, she blinked and sniffed curiously. It smelled like there was freshly cooked food or something. She shrugged off her soaked rain jacket and gently tossed it on the nearby coat rack before looking at Baxter with an inquisitive look on her face.

He chuckled and gave her a smug grin, the one he usually wore when he was particularly proud of himself. She had to stifle a snicker at the sight.

“What did you do, Baxter?”

Feigning offense, he scoffed and rested a hand on his sternum, gesturing to the silken black nightclothes with white trim from before. “Whatever do you mean? I dried myself and got into a pair of pajamas, just as you ordered. Your accusations are completely unwarranted!”

She giggled and skipped into the living room, taking a look around. “I’m not accusing you of anything! But I also know you cannot cook, so where’s that smell coming from?”

“Is it not possible that I secretly took a cooking class in order to impress and woo you with a delicious homemade dinner?” he asked, immediately following to wrap his arms around her waist from behind and hug her close.

While it was obvious that he was teasing her, Yukino had to pause for a moment to consider the possibility. That did sound irrationally over-the-top and very Baxter-like. “…Nnnnno?” she murmured.

His face dipped to brush a few teasing kisses along her neck, and his whisper floated over the sensitive skin in a warm puff. “You see through me yet again.”

Yukino twitched and started to laugh softly. She pushed away from him playfully, then gave him a false glare. “I always do! But seriously… what is that smell?”

“In truth, I had some leftover takeout in the refrigerator, and I decided to reheat it. Since you have declared a night of sharing interests, I wanted to offer this.” The explanation wasn’t up to his standards, apparently, and he coughed, glancing to the side with a faint, embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

The only thing that could make a movie night better than a bunch of snacks, candy, and movies was the addition of old takeout. Yukino’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help the overjoyed smile that came to her lips. “Wait, really? That’s perfect!”

Baxter did not expect her to react so favorably. The moment that exclamation left her lips, he twitched and turned to stare at her with innocent surprise, jaw slightly dropped and brown eyes like saucers.

“…What?” She was used to Baxter being taken aback by some of her ideas, but he seemed particularly startled after this one. Her hand lifted, and she used her index finger to gently coax his mouth closed. “It is perfect,” she reiterated more quietly.

Never breaking eye contact, he slowly clasped a hand around hers and nudged it up to press her hand against his cheek. His question was simple and hesitant. Unsure. “Why?”

Her fingers unconsciously trailed along his smooth skin, tips tracing the bottom of his lower lip. “Aren’t you the one who told me that the most important part of any event is the attendees? Now we don’t have to talk to anyone else all night.” Feeling a warm glow in her chest, Yukino smiled softly at him. She hoped he understood why the idea of just the two of them being shut-ins was so appealing.

For a moment, long enough to notice but short enough to miss immediately, she got lost in Baxter’s gaze; there was something soft and vulnerable about the way he looked at her. That warm glow in her chest twisted into a knot, and it was like she couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. It was… the best and worst feeling, like she was going to float away or fall to the ground at any second.

He slowly blinked, regaining his composure. Baxter cleared his throat. “It will be a pleasure to share tonight with you,” he said in a gentle voice. “Shall we begin?”

“…Uh, yeah. Of course.” Yukino took his proffered hand and let him lead her into the kitchen, recovering from the electrifying and emotional connection that had just been made. Hopefully, he didn’t notice the goosebumps on her arms.

It was going to be a night to remember.

[qazastra]

possible timeline for be mine/because, onlyoneof

so at this point we’ve all noticed that the because mv is not in chronological order! and so i have taken it upon myself to try and make sense of the timeline!

someone probably did this before me and we will def get more clarification in the bts video when that comes out, but in the meantime this is me asking for peer review (feedback from lyonblr). since the characters aren’t named i’m just gonna use stage names.

[reasoning, screenshots, alternative theories, and caveats under the readmore!]

my general hypothesis:

junji is hanging out at a cafe and rie walks in. they start hanging out a lot after junji asks rie out. one day they make paper cranes how cute and symbolic, they hang out at the pool, it’s a whole thing! very fun and exciting 4 them i love that

junji comes to rie’s place to hang out and they run around in the backyard with a garden hose to cool off, then make food. they go take a nap afterwards, rie plays photographer, and then there may be a vague fade-to-black.

the next time we see them they’re on the couch again having a conversation and rie says something that unexpectedly upsets junji, who spills the box of cranes. he doesn’t look so much angry as hurt and rushes out immediately after rie tries to comfort him.

one evening, junji runs into rie at the phone booth and interrupts his call with a knock on the glass. rie looks surprised at first, bashful next, but they are both glad to see each other.

another night, rie meets junji at the same pool where they previously shared that underwater kiss. this time rie doesn’t join junji in the pool. they go together to the cafe, junji holds rie’s hands and kisses him there instead, the end! 

ALTERNATIVELY TO ALL OF THAT. perhaps junji’s solo simply progresses forward in time and rie’s moves backwards, ruminating on what led them to the breakup. but i don’t want love to lose this time!!! so, let’s start at the start. or is it?

junji and rie notice each other at the cafe. 

junji sees rie walking away after ordering coffee and runs after him to ask him out, rie says yeah, and junji is very excited about it! (side note i do NOT know korean so it is impossible for me to lip read what it actually is that they say to each other... we might find out in the bts video but if anyone knows now pls lmk! i think i saw someone suggest that junji asked ‘can i see you again’ but idr where)

ANOTHER THEORY! **if that’s true, if he says ‘will i see you again,’ then it’s possible the pool kiss when rie was wearing (and took off lol) that green patterned shirt was their first meeting! no real evidence for this, and not a whisper of it in the be mine mv, so for my hypothesis i’m deferring to the lowest common denominator, but i think it’s veeeeery possible. could explain that ‘again’ and why rie was at the cafe in the first place when he clearly does laundry at home haha, maybe junji mentioned it and he wanted to see him again too who knows. changes the first sentence of my hypothesis to “junji spots a cutie alone at the pool and introduces himself. they hit it off very well, well enough to kiss underwater.”**

ok now the complicated part that ive hinged my theories on. i counted seven different outfits for each of them across the two music videos; that’s how i organized the scenes to start puzzling out the timeline in the 1st place. so there’s a shot that shows up in both vids, them eating ramen on the balcony with a clothesline above. i was able to identify where 2 out of the 4 shirts were worn in the music videos. the white shirts im unsure of. both characters wear white tees at some point but the print doesn’t match either as far as i can tell and i didnt see the striped white button-down either (it isn’t the one that junji wore during the argument, the stripes are too wide)... hjaelp

i think maybe its just more of rie’s laundry and there’s no use thinking any harder.

regardless. while they are in the tank top outfits with their hair still damp from the backyard date, we can see these on the clothesline:

a) rie’s green button-down from the pool scene that ends in a kiss

b) rie’s yellow button-down from them hanging out on the couch doing origami,  listening to music, n dancing on the balcony

IF we take this to mean that these things have already happened (big if. maybe it’s just random set dressing there is no way to be sure), THEN (**let’s note that i think it’s possible the pool kiss was their first meeting, as i said above!**) before their backyard date/mini photoshoot, they have:

- met at the cafe when junji ran after rie (because it is necessary for them to start actually dating),

- kissed in the pool (shirt is on clothesline), and

- made the paper cranes (shirt also on clothesline).

unsure of what order those things happened in except i think the paper cranes must have come last because of their sheer numbers. there’s so many of them they must have been hanging out for a while to make all those lil guys.

that leaves three more outfits/scenes to be slotted in somewhere, and those are:

- rie’s fuzzy shirt that he wears during the argument and after junji leaves

- junji’s red button-down that he wears when he interrupts rie’s phone call in the booth at sundown, and

- rie’s checked blue sweater that he wears when he meets junji at the pool (separate time from the underwater kiss) and during the cafe kiss. this one’s important because it tells me that these two things happened on the same day, and i’ve thus inferred that the pool could be a special place precisely because it was where they first kissed/first met.

as i see it, junji happened to run into rie (or maybe he was looking for him there) at the phone booth, maybe as he was leaving a message for junji, trying to explain and apologize, and took the opportunity to reconnect. they agreed to meet later and properly sort things out.

rie meets junji at the pool (where they maybe first met), but this time, they don’t kiss underwater in an empty pool where nobody can see them. they go together to the cafe, both a little nervous, and junji kisses rie. 

if, as i’ve seen people speculate (and as i think makes perfect sense! see etienne’s musings here and here, evidence here, and another similar interpretation here), the cafe kiss is a sort of make-up kiss where they re-commit to their relationship, it would make sense for it to be after the fight and the last chronological scene of their story, slightly wary but hopeful and very in love as their relationship evolves!

all that is to say that none of this could be correct in terms of ‘canon’ but it’s what i came up with from what they gave us! thanks for reading :-) what are your thoughts??

[twilightknight17]

Today on P5T, I was right, Jade was right, the boss continues to be absolutely the worst, and we’ve learned some new stuff!

All the freed citizens refer to her as “Lady Yuki”, so Ann questions whether or not she’s married. This offends the hats. XD

But yes! She used to be married to Yoshiki! So that means she is, in fact, Toshiro’s mother! I was correct. And once Yuki takes the captives to safety, Toshiro explains what happened to his mother. He had a rough childhood.

But he came up with a plan to spend some more time with her! He would sneak her out of the hospital, and they would go to the amusement park together. His mother went along with this plan, and they had a great day. At least until they left.

His mother passed away soon after, and his father put the blame for his mother’s death on him. To the point of trying to poison his memories of his mother. Like an absolute fucker.

But… there are so many Thieves who don’t have moms. Futaba, Haru, Makoto, Yusuke… So Futaba and Yusuke are able to talk him down and reassure him that they’re sure his mother didn’t hate him.

With that settled, they charge onwards through the castle to confront Yoshiki himself. He’s horrible, he sets up a whole thing where you have to keep fighting your way across the room towards him to deal more damage, and most of his attacks can knock you back. Which is great when you have to be crossing raised platforms.

The TVs are cool. Very nice P4 vibes.

After we get down to the last hit, the game does that thing where it’s like “oh noooo, we’re going to be overrun if we don’t do somethingggg” while I’m just over here like, “No? I’m fine? I just need to do one more fight?” But it paves the way for a dramatic moment where Yuki and all the citizens return to bust in and overwhelm Yoshiki so we can get the last hit in.

He doesn’t go down, though. He stays up and keeps talking. All the TVs are showing the revolution happening outside, where the city is burning and the citizens are fighting to the last. The Thieves are finally hit with the realization that when they do things, there can be negative consequences regardless of their good intentions. We’re not going to go into this too much because this is P5 and we do not dig into the grey morality of the Phantom Thieves, but in this specific instance, I’m going to say it’s fine to not dig, because instead we get Yoshiki taking the opposite extreme.

Says the man working his citizens to death running the power grid so he can keep his fucking surveillance cameras running. Like, fucking hell. Dude. At least this carnage is because of the citizens fighting for their future, and not because you’re torturing them.

Then he starts laying into Toshiro like an absolute monster. I wonder how much older Toshiro is than Akira Konoe. They could have been ‘murdering our abusive fathers’ buddies as children.

And as one last parting shot, he barfs up a massive laser and tries to blast Toshiro. But Yuki shoves Toshiro out of the way and takes the hit, and once again, there is blood pooling on the floor. Yoshiki is a dick about it, of course.

Immediately afterwards, he dissolves. So like, were you hanging on through sheer force of will just to blast him? But before she dies, Yuki assures him that she has never resented him. She was glad she got to spend that time with him, because she loved him. It was really, really cute, actually.

...Knight, huh? Damn it Atlus. XDDDDD

The country is now free, the hatpeople are happy, the Thieves are mobbed with thanks again, and Erina is still having a mild existential crisis. Because if that was Toshiro’s mom, what is she?

But we’re heading for the next door, and crossing our fingers that it either takes us back to Erina’s world, or home.

…………..oh god. It’s a school.

Erina feels like the atmosphere is suffocating, but many of the Thieves don’t notice any difference. Toshiro doesn’t recognize the place, but they’re used to that, so they decide to go inside and see what’s going on. Inside the school, they return to their street clothes, and the halls are deserted, but they find a weird door.

Obviously we gotta go through the weird door, and on the other side, we find Hell! Hell is made of lava and speakers.

So the gimmick for this place is that there are speaker enemies on the battlefield, and they announce “rules” that you can’t break while you’re in their range, otherwise you’ll incur a penalty (which is being knocked out of cover so the other enemies can wallop you). After we manage to get out of the hellpocket, we meet this Kingdom’s hatpeople, who are all in school uniforms. They’ve formed the Rebel Club to fight the tyrant who has taken over the school, which is some kind of… fire-themed guy.

I’ve got a couple theories here. The tyrant might be a delinquent, a bully, that sort of thing. Might be some uncaring school administrator. Might be Toshiro himself, off the rails because of his father’s expectations. He was probably student council president. You know he was.

So we’ve gotta go get four keys to unlock the door to the final boss, where the exit to the school probably is. Because all the hatstudents are trapped here too. Each of the keys is in one of those hellpockets, so it’s off to the courtyard to get the first one. After a tough battle, we find…

...oh. So it’s like a Jail core. Not an actual key, but a significant object to the person. Time for a flashback! And wow, I was right, he was student council president! He got beaten up trying to protect another kid! And he… uh… oh…

I’m not gonna lie, this feels very ‘unrealized childhood crush’ to me. Erina realizes that this is probably why she’s been feeling so weird in the school. And everyone realizes that they really need more info, and getting the keys will probably clear up more of Toshiro’s memories.

Apparently Eri is just like Erina, though. Strong sense of justice, strong urge to jump in and help regardless of danger, all that good stuff. I was going to say that there’s nothing in canon that says we can’t take Erina back to our world at the end of this, but apparently there is a real equivalent to Erina out there. And she’d probably be a better fiancee than Marie by leaps and bounds.

So that’s the third Kingdom! We will see who the boss ends up being.

Other notes:

There doesn't seem to be a human person here so far.

I love Ann’s surprised sprite.

I love that Toshiro has just reached the point of rolling with all this.

We MIGHT have gotten a vague Maruki allusion.

I got my Danger Noodle! I love Yurlunger. XD

[yuujilogy]

trouble (gojo satoru x reader)

REQUEST:  what do you think about fem reader and gojou sensei having a secret relationship like they’d be sneaking late at night to fuck or smth but they have to keep quiet or else the other students will hear esp with them thin ass walls

| PAIRINGS:  satoru gojo x fem!reader

| WARNINGS: smut, explicit, little bit of degradation, little bit of cum play, breeding kink if you squint, exhibitionism, rough, unportected (be safe), grammar errors

| WORD COUNT: 2,745

A/N: OH FAWWK YEA  some gojo spice to make things more interesting!! kinda went off with this one bc c’mon, we all know gojo is freaky and sexy in bed 😳 anyway i hope this is what you expected !! enjoy !!  ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

Satoru pulled you inside of his room as soon as he opened the door after knocking just once. It was almost as if he couldn’t wait anymore, capturing your lips in a feral kiss as he pushed your back against the door to close it, you both moaning into each other’s mouth as his hand groped your ass to press you against him.

It’s not like you minded these kinds of escapades with rough sessions, where Satoru just threw you over the edge over and over again, showing his stamina off and fucking you stupid.

But right now, you were at the dorms of the Tokyo facility at midnight, where the other students and teacher were probably already sleeping soundly not that far from here. When he called you to this room, you thought he wouldn’t actually take the risk of taking you to bed, considering your relationship was still being kept a secret from your professional lives for two reasons: you were both teachers, and the heads above were just assholes who wouldn’t let Satoru−or you−hear the end of this.

Well, turns out this man is still full of surprises even after two years of dating, revealing at least one to you almost every day.

“S-Satoru…” you said between kisses, your hands flying to his hair that was already styled down due to the absence of his blindfold. He pulled away and looked down at you, smirking. Oh, he knew what was coming. “W-We are at the school right now, Gojo. What if they hear?” Your cheeks were already heating up, flustered by the surprising, wet kiss.

Satoru limited himself to let out a low laugh, his free hand caressing your cheek with slender cold fingers before travelling to the side of your neck. You could barely see the brightness of his blue eyes thanks to the moonlight coming through the windows.

“And what about it?” Satoru said indifferently, the hand previously on your ass making its way to your hip, too slowly it was sending chills down your spine. “You scared everyone will hear how I make this pussy mine the whole night?” his hand cupped your centre, making you jump and gasp. “I can already feel how wet you are just from some sloppy kissing, baby. I wonder if I could just slip my cock inside.”

God, you hated to admit it but he was so right. Satoru was always right and knew the right buttons to push at the right moment. You couldn’t help the grinding of your hips against his hand, already throbbing and clenching around nothing, in need of relief. Your hands grabbed the frame of his shoulders, moaning softly as you tried reaching for his lips once again. Yet he didn’t give you the chance to get what you wanted, pulling farther apart from your face. You complained with a huff, frowning, and he kissed your forehead.

“You’re so whiny tonight, baby. Better keep quiet.” He started making his way towards the bed with you, making you fall over your back, positioning himself on top of you. “Because I sure won’t hold back with you this time.”

With ease, he unbuttoned your jeans with one hand before pulling them down along with your panties. Both of his hands gripped your thighs, opening your legs to feel the chill weather hit your centre, feeling way too exposed. You were so sensitive already for some reason, you had to cover your mouth with your own hand when his fingers started rubbing your clit softly, your hips starting to move involuntarily trying to meet his movements.

You don’t know if it’s the fact you must stay quiet regardless of his sweet torture, or if it was the way he overpowered you so easily, but you were so turned on right now.

“So fucking wet already” Satoru groaned under his breath, more to himself than to you, the friction coming to a stop. Uncovering your hand to complain, you couldn’t help but let out a loud moan when two of his fingers entered your warm core. Talk about timing. The sting of being stretched open feeling so good, arching your back as you bit your lip harshly. He knew your body so well and the fact you liked a little bit of pain from time to time. He chuckled. “You’re such a wet mess, Y/N. This dirty pussy is swallowing my fingers so easily.” Satoru brought his face to the exposed skin in your neck to start sucking softly at your sweet spot behind your ear.

It was too much. The risk, Satoru’s fingers and demeanour, and just overall the situation. All of that was making you feel so aware and sensitive, making it harder to control your whimpers.

“F-Fuck, ‘toru. I need-“ your words were interrupted by his fingers increasing their pace and going deeper, hitting the perfect spot inside of you, and, before you could make another sound, Satoru kissed you roughly, swallowing every single noise. He could feel the way you were tightening around his fingers, letting out small cries, and smiled against your lips before pulling away with a string of saliva between you.

“You naughty slut,” his fingers left your insides, looking at his fingers covered with your slick and then back at you. “You thought you were going to cum with only two fingers, didn’t you?” he guided them towards your mouth, which you gladly accepted by sucking them, tasting yourself, without breaking eye contact with him. “Are you that desperate of letting everyone know who makes you feel this good?”

You could only nod, humming around his fingers with pleasure before releasing them with a pop, your lips coated with a mix of your juices and saliva. Gojo pulled away from your body to get rid of his shirt, unbuttoning his pants afterwards and pulling them down, his throbbing hard cock springing free. Your mouth salivated at the sight of him wrapping a hand around his shaft, pumping it a few times while staring at you.

Satoru totally loved this sight: you spread open for him, your tortured wet cunt in display waiting to be ravaged by him. Only him. Just the thought of it made him eager to finally be inside you, his thumb smearing the pre-cum over the tip of his cock as he bit his lip. God, he wanted to ruin you so badly.

“You’re so lucky I can’t wait to fuck you either” Satoru almost growled as he positioned himself again between your legs, his nails digging in the flesh of your legs to spread them further apart, the head of his cock pressing against your entrance. You held back a whimper as your small hands rested against his stomach as he was entering you. “Let’s see how quiet you can be.”

And almost too easily, he slides inside of you with a steady pace, his long hand covering your mouth as he bottoms out with just one thrust. You instinctively want to put your legs together, but Satoru’s hands didn’t let you, his nails digging into your flesh. His long cock was rubbing exactly where it had to, your insides pulsating and clenching around him. The feeling of his hips connecting with yours in such rough manner was too much you couldn’t help the heat in the pit of your stomach from appearing, throwing your head back with a muffled sob before you could even stop it.

Fuck. Satoru could cum from this sight alone, watching you tremble around him as his free hand lifted your shirt to reveal your breasts, squeezing them as you tried your best to stop the moans from coming out. You were sinful. Fuck. Fuck.

“Look at you” He started circling his hips still inside you, rubbing your inside walls deliciously. “Fucking losin’ it over some cock” the way he was degrading you this night, in this exact place where anyone could hear was way more pleasurable than you would like to admit.

Satoru didn’t want to hold back anymore, pulling almost completely out before slamming back roughly, even pushing your body back due to the force of his next thrusts, quick and deep. If it wasn’t for his hand still covering your mouth, you were sure your loud moans would be joining the wet, slapping sounds filling the room. Satoru was actually being nice here, helping you stay quiet as he kept hitting your g-spot repeatedly as he growled lowly at the feeling of your walls clenching around him, knowing he went crazy whenever you did that.

Oh, but he wasn’t going to be nice anymore. His hands grabbed your waist tightly, leaving your mouth suddenly uncovered as you looked up to him through hooded eyes, mouth hanging open, drool starting to run down your chin as you gasped for air instead of making any sounds because, god, you were about to break at any point now. Satoru started controlling your movements, impaling you with his cock however he pleased with his own force, as if you were his fuck toy. You threw your head back, grabbing a pillow and biting it harshly because, lord, have mercy, you were about to scream if he kept fuck you so good.

“Yeah, just like that, baby” He was basically using your body as a toy to pleasure himself, looking down at the part you were connected to each other, biting his lip and letting out a sigh of pleasure as he continued his rough thrusts. The sight of his cock disappearing inside of you was so perfect, your juices coating every inch of himself; you were born to take his cock, nobody but him could pleasure you. “Mm, fuck, I’m making such a mess out of this sloppy cunt. You hearing that? So wet it’s almost pathetic.” Your mind was going blank at this point, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as your legs started shaking around him as the pillow muffled all your cries of pleasure, feeling that familiar heat in your core.

You were close and Satoru knew it. He was fucking you stupid this early into the night and he could go for hours now that he was actually fired up. He wanted to make you struggle a little more, so he decided that throwing away the pillow you were holding onto with dear life was a good idea. Your eyes opened in surprise, no longer being able to hold your moans at the lowest volume, raising higher in tone as his thrusts went by. He wanted to hear you come apart, secretly wanting the rest of his colleagues to hear how you were falling apart in pleasure because of his ministrations to your pussy. One of Satoru’s hands flew to your cheeks, squeezing them roughly to make you look at him, his thrusts slowing down a notch, but still going deep.

“You wanna cum around my cock, baby?” He asked through heavy pants, a smirk never leaving his face as he watched you struggle to form even a word. You whimpered a little louder this time. “C’mon, say it. You can do it. Tell me how much you want me to fill you up.”

“P-Pleawse.. Nghh… Satoru m- Ahh!” You babbled non-sense through your moans, and you knew it, the pleasure being too much for you to handle right now, the grip in your face making it even harder to speak. God, you were actually pathetic, huh? All you needed to do was answer one single question and you would be seeing stars. But Gojo thought that was enough for this one time. Only this one time.

“Please, Satoru” He mocked, ridiculing you and releasing your face to grab your legs once again, spreading them open as you shook uncontrollably and continued with his fast pace. Tears started forming around the corners of your eyes due to the stimulation and how close you were to bursting, your walls pulsating around his cock so badly as he hit your cervix with every thrust. “You’re allowed to cum, baby, don’t hold back.”

And that was all you needed to throw you over the edge, head falling back with a silent sob once again as you squeezed the sheets into your fists. Satoru chuckled lowly, placing a finger over your mouth to remind you to stay quiet but you were far gone, still shaking for the still ongoing orgasm you were having. You bit Satoru’s finger subconsciously to avoid your whining getting louder. It seems he was also a sucker for pain as he was the one to let out a louder than before moan, bending over to get closer to your body, his face mere inches away from yours.

“F-Fuck, baby, I’m gonna fill you up so good.” The way you were squeezing around him was suffocating and the pain he was feeling from your biting was also bringing him closer to his release, his thrusts becoming sloppier and erratic as his free arm helped him for support when he grabbed your face again as you looked at each other. Everything else was a blur except for his cloudy eyes, foreheads pressing together as he kept groaning all the way through his release. You squeezed with the little force left in you, expecting to push him over already. “Ugh, yeah, just like that. Fuck, yes… Fuck, Y/N!”

He captured your lips into a sloppy kiss, muffling his own groans of pleasure as he stilled inside you, painting your walls white with every spurt as you felt him throb inside you, moaning against his mouth as he grinded against you. Satoru was cumming too much you started feeling it dripping out of you with the small movements of his hips. He pulled away from the kiss, panting heavily as you both were coming down from your highs, and smirked, caressing your cheek and pressing another kiss to your lips, softer this time.

“God, baby…” a low chuckle escaped him as he pulled away, pulling out from you as he saw his seed coming out of you. He felt himself throb again at the sight. “We made such a mess.” Satoru gathered some of his cum in his fingers and smearing it in the outside of your walls. You whined hoarsely as you watched him play with his own release with his fingers, his cock still hard for another round.

After all, he was a big fan of sloppy seconds.

“Well, whose fault is that?” You kicked him weakly with your feet, rolling your eyes in annoyance, even if your body was feeling numb. You enjoyed it, of course, but reality was hitting you like a truck right now. It almost seemed as if Satoru made it his goal to actually get you both caught. Oh, girl, if you knew. “You sure are dumb.”

“Oh, c’mon baby, don’t be so mean. There’s no way we were heard.” Satoru pouted, his whole demeanour changing quickly as if he didn’t just fuck you into oblivion a few seconds ago. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of his phone inside of his forgotten jeans interrupted him. “Wait, someone is calling me.” He pressed a kiss in your forehead and stood up quickly, roaming through the room to find his phone to answer it. The light of the screen lighted up his features before bringing it to his ear. “Yeah, my dear director~?”

Oh, no.

“I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about, hehe~” Satoru laughed sweetly, scratching the back of his head and sparing you a quick glance before a blush creeped up his face. You frowned. You knew the director Yaga wasn’t just calling to talk with your boyfriend at 1am on a Friday. Hell, he wouldn’t call Satoru at all if he could. “Haha! That’s funny because− What? Y/N?”

Oh, no, no. Please, no.

“I mean, yeah but− Yeah. Yeah, I understand” He let out a loud sigh, closing his eyes in frustration. You swore you could hear Yaga’s loud, angry voice all the way to where you were. “Right. Yeah. Goodbye.” Satoru hung up and gulped harshly when he felt your glare piercing through his thick head. He turned to look at you with a sweet but nervous smile, forgetting the fact he was still fully naked. You could almost see the cold sweat running down his face. “Teehee~, we are in trouble.”

You were actually going to kill him.

[oro-e-diamanti]

Quiet Music: Barcarolle (Chapter Twelve)

In collaboration with @bethanysnow

Was the effort worth it? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Words and apologizes and promises mean nothing without action behind it. Will he have exactly what it takes?

Content | Fluff, smut if you squint

Pairing | fem!Reader x Damiano

Word count | 7300

***

Damiano was convinced he’d rarely been this stressed in his whole life. Not in this kind of way, anyway. Competitions, playing live, recording new songs and putting them out, arguing with the band, family stress, none of it came close. His nerves were on high alert and had been since the night before. The gig in Birmingham had worked out just fine, just some minor hitches that no one but themselves would have noticed, but Y/n hadn’t sat in her usual spot next to the stage and it had put a damper on his mood. He hadn’t caught up with her afterward either, electing to give her some space after her breakdown in the bathroom earlier. But that didn’t mean his brain had managed to shut off at any point. Now they were on their way to Paris and Damiano had all but shoved Thomas out of the way to make sure he would be sitting next to Victoria on the flight.

“I need your help and I need it now,” he announced as soon as he had plopped down on the seat next to her.

“Really? Now? The one chance I’ll probably get to relax and nap today?”

“Yes, because we won’t have time otherwise with press and the gig tonight,” Damiano answered defiantly. Victoria only answered with a low groan, and when he looked back over at her, he could see her head slowly dropping, sleep trying to take a hold of her. He didn’t hesitate in roughly shaking her awake again, only to be greeted with a venomous stare. “Please Vic, we need to do this, otherwise I might lose her forever.”

With a sigh that seemed to rattle her whole body, Vic grabbed her phone, checking for in-flight wifi before turning back to him.

“Fine. Operation Get-Y/n-back-so-Damiano-stops-moping starts now.”

***

The day had passed in a whirlwind. Plane - taxis - hotel - radio station - radio station - radio station - soundcheck - interview - photoshoot - gig. Something like that, although Damiano wouldn’t bet on getting the order quite right. Every single free minute in between had been spent googling Paris, calling around, making reservations. It had been a bit of a hassle, and some people hadn’t been too impressed with him calling at such last minute, but none of that mattered. In the end, he had gathered everything he needed, getting together an itinerary with Ethan, and when he woke up the next morning (ready to make this the best day of Y/n’s life), he found he was jittery with nerves in a way he hadn’t been in years.

A steaming hot coffee and a bag of croissants in his hands, he suddenly stood frozen in front of her hotel room door. Was this the right thing to do? Would this help him prove that he wanted her, regardless of everything? Or would he possibly ruin things further by jumping the gun and expecting too much of her? He wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

Damiano was halfway to aborting the mission, taking the goodies and walking back to his room, when a hand appeared, knocking on Y/n’s door. A quick look to the side revealed a smirking Thomas, who left him with a “thought I’d speed up the process” before vanishing down the hallway. It was now or never.

The door opened slowly, bit by bit revealing a very sleepy-looking Y/n and Damiano felt his heart soar at the sight. He just wanted to sweep her up, take her back to bed, and hold her while both of them got some more rest, but now wasn’t the time. There was still a good chance she’d refuse him, so his best bet was to go through with his plan.

“Damiano?” It almost pained him that she used his full name. “It’s our day off, why are you awake?”

“I got you breakfast,” he smiled, awkwardly holding the items up as if they were hard to spot otherwise. “And, well, I know you told Vic earlier you needed a proper haircut, so Ethan offered to take you in an hour if that’s okay with you?”

The tension was tangible, but he felt like he was doing his best to ignore it. Be nice, give her room, but make sure she knows you want to take care of her. He couldn’t tell if it was working or not, her eyes downcast, flickering between a multitude of points. She hadn’t seemed this shy and awkward since they had first met. Fuck, he just wanted them to go back to the way they were before he had been the world’s biggest idiot. Now all he could do was try to win her trust back, and he was going to do it in every single way he could think of.

“Why aren’t you taking me?”

The questions caught him by surprise. She was finally looking at him now, but he couldn’t quite read the expression in her eyes.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to. And I… I have some other things to take care of first.”

“Other things?”

The doubt in her voice was impossible to ignore. He could only imagine what she was thinking, the whirlwind of ideas that might be clouding her mind. He sent her a smile he could only hope to be reassuring.

“You’ll find out about them later. All good, I promise.”

The small smile on her face was all he needed to get his heart pounding again. He knew he’d do whatever it took to get her to trust him again. In a momentary lapse of judgement, ignoring all intentions of giving her space, he instinctively leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her hair. He was relieved when she let him.

“Enjoy your breakfast, amore. I’ll see you later.”

The spring in his step was starting to come back by the time he was walking back down the corridor to his own room.

***

“So, did you get babysitting duty, or what is this?”

Y/n knew she had no reason to be mad at Ethan, who was currently walking her to wherever his hairdresser of choice was, but she was confused and overly emotional and he was the only one around to take the brunt of it.

“No,” Ethan answered softly, and she was relieved to hear in his voice that he had not taken offence. “I need to get my ends trimmed and Damiano suggested I take you with me.”

Her gaze lowered to the ground. Only when Ethan motioned for her to follow him into a salon, opening the door for her, did she look up. Quickly realising her companion would have to revert to broken English - always a fun thing to do in France -, she took over, explaining their preferred treatments in French. When they were ushered over to two seats side-by-side, a glass of champagne quickly followed. She hesitated for a second, acutely aware of the early time of day, but then decided she deserved letting loose. It was their day off after all.

“I am not here to make apologies for Damiano,” Ethan suddenly spoke up as the hairdressers began their work on both of them. “He is a grown man, he can make those himself. But I hope you know that he has been suffering as well. Due to his own stupidity and stubbornness, yes, but he is.”

“He seemed perfectly fine on stage last night, if you ask me,” Y/n replied, trying to hold back on the anger threatening to spill from her lips. “Didn’t see him suffer all that much.”

“And there’s two reasons for that. One, he doesn’t let it show in front of you, but believe me when I say he kept the rest of the band awake most of the night because he was beating himself up. Two, he was probably a little busy planning today, but… I’m not going to say much about that for now.”

The smile he sent her was filled with nothing but kindness and even in her current state of mind, she couldn’t stop herself from returning it. It wasn’t his fault, or Vic’s, or Thomas’, or anyone but Damiano’s after all.

“You really mean a lot to him, you know.”

Y/n was wondering if she had ever heard him talk so much at once, unprompted, but she found she would be happy to listen to him forever. Not only was his voice incredibly soothing, but the care with which he seemed to pick his words translated into well-thought-through ideas. None of what he said seemed to come out carelessly.

“I’ve known him for many years, but this one seems different. More serious, if you like, and not only because he’s older. You make him a better man. And I know that’s not your responsibility, but I can see he wants to be better because of you and for you. It’s a rare thing to find.”

The words were weighing heavy on her mind, and when the hairdresser instructed her to tip her head back to get it washed, she decided it would be a good idea to ponder things over. Nothing better than contemplating your future sitting in a fancy hair salon in Paris getting pampered… or something like that.

***

Damiano was busy pacing the room - much to Victoria’s annoyance -, when his phone loudly indicated a new message. The bassist looked up from where she was curled up on the couch, eyebrows raised in question, waiting to see if this was finally the notification they were waiting for or just another random one. They’d both jumped about ten times within the past thirty minutes, but it had always been useless direct messages on twitter or new e-mail alerts. Damiano was well aware of why he usually kept his phone on silent.

“Thomas says they’re on their way back now, ten minutes!”

“Fucking finally,” Vic sighed without moving from her space, while Damiano’s pacing only seemed to increase in intensity.

Ceasing his pacing, he decided to position himself at the door, intermittently looking through the peephole and rubbing his hands in anticipation and nerves. When he spied Y/n walking down the corridor towards the door, flanked by Thomas and Ethan, he almost had to stop himself from throwing the door open too soon. Yet, when he finally did, all of them only mere steps away, Y/n jumped in surprise all the same.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The hairdresser had taken the mangled bob and made it look intentional and stylish in a way that worked perfectly with her curls. In contrast, he was sure he was looking slightly deranged; his face tinted pink from excitement and hair a mess from playing with it impatiently. Y/n stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the room, obviously slightly taken aback and surprised at seeing him there, but easily composed herself.

“Uh, come in,” Damiano blurted awkwardly, instantly cringing internally when he realised that she was, in fact, already in the room. In the background, Ethan and Thomas gave him a wave goodbye while trying to hide their grins, before leaving to go back to their own rooms, presumably. Damiano briefly looked back at Victoria, who was pretending to be busy fiddling with makeup but gave him a quick nod before turning her back on them.

“Y/n, I… I am sorry. I will say that for the rest of my life if you need me to. If you want me to. But I can only say these things so many times before they lose all their meaning and you get sick of my voice, so today I am going to show you instead. Today is all about you. You are an amazing woman, and you deserve everything and more, and hopefully, I can prove to you that I still deserve a spot in your life. Vic will help you with your makeup and hair, and there’s a dress for you to wear in the closet - if you like it, that is. I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby once you’re done, okay?”

Damiano didn’t wait for an answer. Now that he had managed to say everything he had wanted to, he felt overwhelmed and slightly panicked, so with a fleeting kiss to her forehead while barely managing to look into her eyes, he abruptly left the room. All he could do now was hope for the best.

***

“Seems like everyone has made it their personal mission to get me to take Damiano back today,” Y/n chuckled lowly as Victoria instructed her to close her eyes to get working on her eyeshadow. “First Ethan at the hairdresser, then Thomas on the way here when he picked us up. I’m assuming I’m getting your talk next?”

“Nope, you’re not.” Vic simply replied and Y/n almost opened her eyes again in surprise. “I can give you my opinion if you want, but I’m not here to sway you in any way.”

“Well, if you say it like that… Now I want to hear what you have to say, actually.”

She could hear Vic laugh as brushes kept swiping along her skin.

“I’m not telling you to get back with him, but I’m not telling you not to either. He was a dick and he definitely made some very dumb decisions when faced with those photos - I mean, he generally likes to make dumb decisions but they’re not usually that dumb. Anyway, if you don’t want him back, I totally get that and I’ll happily kick his ass for you. Not that I need a reason. But have a look at what he’s planned for today first, would be a shame for it to go to waste.”

“You’re a very cynical person, aren’t you?” Y/n replied, laughing, as she opened her eyes again after getting Vic’s permission. The bassist simply smirked, grabbing some blush and motioning for Y/n to turn her head in the required direction.

“Only when I feel like it,” she said, finishing up with some fixing powder before moving away slightly. ��Well, looks like you’re done! I’d definitely fight for your heart if I saw you arriving downstairs like this. Hope he makes it worth it.”

Y/n sighed, shooting a small smile at Victoria. “I hope so, too.”

***

Y/n was a vision. Damiano had always found her attractive - whether she was dressed up to go out, in a professional outfit, or just straight out of bed and still in her pyjamas. When she emerged from the lift, he felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment. It wasn’t just in the way her make-up underlined all her gorgeous features, or how the gold dress softly flowed over her curves, or the way her hair so perfectly framed her face, even in its shorter cut now. It was something about her. About the way she carried herself and the aura that was all around her, filling up the room, and enveloping him. It felt like the very first time he’d seen her.

Damiano barely noticed he was frozen in time, simply staring at her, until she was right in front of him, a smile on her face that rekindled his hope.

“You good, Dami?” She chuckled.

For a moment, all he could focus on was the nickname falling from her mouth. She had called him Dami. Quickly composing himself, he brought his hand up between the two of them, a small bouquet of flowers coming into view. Beige paper wrapped around pink and red roses, white baby’s breath softening its appearance.

“I thought you’d like these. They’re gorgeous and,well, you’re gorgeous so… That made more sense in my head,” he chuckled nervously as he handed her the flowers.

“They are very pretty, so I’ll take the compliment. Thank you.”

The shy smile gracing her face made him giddy, nervous, had him feeling like a little boy with his first crush again. He motioned for her to walk ahead of him, softly touching the small of her back to lead her outside.

“You want to tell me what's going on, then? Let me in on your great master plan?”

Damiano was quick to open the door for her, before escorting her to the car that was waiting for them.

“Nope, you’ll see what we’re doing when you get there. How about we start by going on a ride?” He asked with a raised brow as he opened the car door for her to get in.

This was it. The plan was set, Y/n was there, he had organised it all. Now the only thing left to do was see if it would be enough to get her back.

***

Y/n wasn’t sure what she had expected. The whole day had taken her by surprise and every step she took seemed to have something new in store. The Seine was glimmering around her, as the boat they were on kept parting the water, sight and sounds emerging and disappearing with every second passing and she felt like she couldn’t get enough of anything. She had always adored Paris, from its breathtaking architecture to the dirty and filthy corners alike, but this was the first time exploring it with someone by her side.

With Damiano by her side.

Without taking her eyes off her surroundings, she let her hand fall from her lap, blindly feeling the space next to her, reaching for his. He almost seemed to flinch in surprise when her skin found his, only for a moment, before she grabbed onto it, carefully intertwining their fingers as a soft smile appeared on her face. A silent thank you, a little maybe, a hint of I could forgive you.

***

Damiano wasn’t sure when Y/n had lost the little bouquet of flowers he had given her, but by the time he was leading her down Champs-Élysée, one of her hands was stuffed in the pocket of her jacket, and the other was intertwined with his. He was in awe of her every step of the way. There was something about her that day, something that felt like the very first day he saw her, unsure about her, her intentions, her character, yet completely fascinated and unable to keep his eyes off her. Only now he felt like he knew her, kept getting to know her better every day. He’d be happy to keep getting to know her better for years to come.

“Where to first, ma’am? Gucci, Swarovski, Dior… what do you fancy?”

“You think I’m going to let you buy me something? The flowers were enough, Damiano, the fact that you’re taking me out is enough.”

Yet, as she finished her sentence, a store window caught her eye, drawing her in with impossible need. It was a Cartier boutique. Diamonds and jewelry had been laid out on red velvet stands, showcasing their brilliance and their beauty. Damiano knew she didn’t want to stop and stare, but a particular set, consisting of a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a bracelet, would not let her pull away. A big smile on his face, grateful that the perfect gift had presented itself so effortlessly, he took her hand and dragged her into the store behind him. He hadn’t checked the price tag, but it didn’t matter. Not today. He’d spoil her with everything she could possibly want and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Bonjour,” Damiano greeted as he entered. He didn’t miss the way Y/n slightly chuckled at what he could only assume was his terrible accent. “May we please look at the set in the front window?”

Damiano asked as politely as he could, following the clerk to the display to point out the one Y/n hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off.

“Damiano, no!” She hissed next to him, careful not to let the clerk hear. “We’re not going to buy that, it’s way too expensive and I have nowhere to wear it to, I am more than happy to just look at everything, say thank you, and leave the store again.”

“Amore mio, I know you don’t need expensive jewellery, I know you don’t expect to get spoiled, but just for once, let me do it for you. I know you don’t need gifts to be happy, and I know they won’t convince you to take me back, but if they make your eyes sparkle even for a second, it’s worth it, yeah? And I’ll make sure you’ll have ample opportunity to wear it, I promise you, starting tonight.”

For a moment, they simply stared at each other, Damiano with what he hoped would be all the love he felt, her with a frown creasing her forehead and an idea of conflict in her eyes. He watched as she shook her head with something akin to amusement, apparently resigning herself to humouring him for the day. She sat down with the clerk without any more protest, as he started going over the pieces of the set she had eyed up.

Damiano barely knew what the man was talking about, if he was being honest. He kept explaining French names that didn’t make any sense to him, shapes he’d never connected to jewellery, pointing out numbers of carats he could only assume would make the pieces expensive. He didn’t quite understand most of it, and he didn’t care either. When it came to his personal collection or pieces the band were given for shootings or appearances, he was quick to judge by their beauty alone, not bothering to learn about their individual properties and details. And right now, all he cared about was the way Y/n was handling the delicate silver chain of the necklace, how her eyes seemed to sparkle even more than the diamonds on it did.

Carefully handling the piece back to the clerk, he briefly caught her glance. There was a sort of wonder in her eyes, mixed with an awe that let him know she wasn’t used to any of this. Her face broke into a little giggle, unnoticed by anyone but the two of them. She had no idea what she was doing, nodding along to every word the clerk explained to her. He could only imagine how lost she felt, wondering what on earth she was doing in this store, but he would amuse her and leave her be for a while longer.

She was handed the earrings now, touching them with the utmost care. The man was rambling about why white gold would be such a good match for her particular skin tone, and when he explained that some of the diamonds were “baguette-shaped”, Damiano barely managed to contain a giggle. But Y/n was fascinated, and he wasn’t going to be the one to pull her out of what looked to be a hidden fantasy finally coming true. He wondered if she had ever dreamed of this, just stepping into a store and buying whatever her heart desired without caring about the price tag. He knew he had done so often enough when he was younger, and now having the ability to do so if he wanted it still blew his mind. He couldn’t help but want to fulfil this wish, at least this once.

“We will take the set, thank you very much.”

“What?!” Y/n’s eyes widened as she looked up at him in disbelief. “Like hell we are!”

“Nope, you don’t get to decide! Today there are no rules and you’re not my assistant and I’ve decided I’m buying this, deal with it.”

Nodding to the clerk, he walked over to the counter with him, providing him with a credit card, while looking down at Y/n.

“Come on, let me do this for you, no more complaining allowed today. For once, you’ll just look at what you like and we’ll splurge a little, consequences be damned. I just want to do something special for you.”

A sigh rattled Y/n’s chest, but she couldn’t seem to bite back a smile as his arms softly wrapped around her.

“You don’t need to do anything special for me, spending the day with you is already proving to be special enough.”

“Well, I want to, and you have no choice anyway!”

He meant it. By the time afternoon had rolled around the two of them had picked a number of things from a number of locations. As much as Damiano enjoyed introducing her to the world of luxury fashion that he had almost gotten a little too used to already, nothing beat the fact that it meant he was spending time with her. Gucci bags, Valentino heels, Hermes scarves, nothing came close to being by her side, seeing her slowly allowing him back in, slowly forgiving him, hopefully.

***

Y/n had seen the Louvre plenty of times during her travels, despite never actually having taken the time to actually visit it. But when she exited the car and stared at it in all its glory in the low afternoon sun with Damiano by her side, it felt like the very first time again. She was so caught up in admiring the building and the atmosphere that so effortlessly surrounded it that she barely noticed Damiano checking his phone and waving to someone. When he took her hand, she didn’t protest, letting him drag her over to what turned out to be a private tour guide, who greeted them with warm smiles and a wonderful French accent.

Their hands intertwined as if on their own accord, as they followed the guide into the museum bypassing lines and crowds to lead them straight into impressive halls full of art.

Y/n took in every word, desperate to commit everything to memory forever. All of it simply enthralled her and pulled her in. Paintings, drawings, statues, never mind the amount of people around them speaking in a variety of languages, all of them just as enamoured as her.

Stopping at a particular painting that the guide had pointed out, Y/n couldn’t help but briefly turn towards Damiano, only to find him staring at her already. Almost feeling a sense of shyness creeping in, she averted her gaze with a blush warming her cheeks, before looking back at him. She barely had a choice, he drew her in so much more than any painting ever could. And when she stared into his eyes, there was nothing there but love and honesty. She knew how hard he was trying to do right by her, plan the perfect day, bend to her every wish just to prove he was worth it. What he didn’t know was that he was enough for her. It wasn’t about grand gestures or expensive gifts or private museum visits. It was about the time spent, the rekindling of a connection, the way warmth bloomed in her chest every time he touched her.

Only when the tour guide performatively cleared his throat to get their attention back did they manage to draw apart. She sent him a smile bordering on embarrassment at being caught like that, before following him into the next room, Damiano’s hand still firmly in hers.

“What are you staring at?” She chuckled as they proceeded onto the next few paintings.

“You, obviously.”

She raised a brow at his smirk, although she was sure her face was telling him all he needed to know anyway. “And why, may I ask?”

“Because you’re prettier than all of the art in here.”

“Now that’s just terribly cheesy, Mr. David.”

He kept the facade up for another moment, but then their eyes met once again and both of them broke out into laughter as if on cue. It felt good, so much better than good. Being able to joke around, flirt, and laugh with him again felt like letting go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Deep down, she knew she was halfway to forgiving him already. He didn’t need to know just yet though, not with the way he had been taking care of her all day. Y/n knew it wouldn’t take much more either, with his promise to continue to take care of everything. There was still a necessary discussion on the horizon for them, regarding the future and the way he had acted, but for now, she was content to simply be there with him.

She felt teleported back to Amsterdam for just a moment. That day all of them had gathered in her hotel room desperate to get her to join them on whatever adventure they had been planning. Her uncertainty, an almost unwillingness to go, until Damiano appeared by her side. She remembered the way he had slung his arm around her shoulders so clearly, she could almost feel the goosebumps again now. The words he had said struck her.

Come on, darling. I promise I’ll take care of you.

He had been doing it all along. Back then it might have been a means of persuasion, but deep down she was sure he had always meant it. Taking care of her seemed to be second nature to him. It looked to be so clear to her now, it almost seemed laughable how she hadn’t realised before. She only needed that little bit more. Just one more promise, one more acknowledgement of her feelings, one more reassurance. She hoped she would get it that night.

***

A slight tiredness and exhaustion was beginning to grace Y/n’s face when they finally left the museum, thanking the tour guide profusely, but Damiano had one more stop planned for them. A romantic day in Paris without a fancy dinner? Not on his watch. The car ride was quick and smooth, leaving little room for conversation. When they stopped in front of the Tour d’Argent, all speech failed them. A waiter quickly showed them to their table, the best in the house, overlooking the Seine and Notre-Dame in the background. Both of them took a moment to take in the scenery before even thinking about studying the menu.

“This… this is gorgeous, Dami. All of it. Thank you.”

He let his hand wander over the table, feeling the innate need to hold hers again, to feel her skin against his, to be connected at all times. His smile mirrored hers as she finally turned away from the view and back to him.

“Anything for you, amore. Everything you want and more.”

For once it felt like he was doing it right, like she was understanding him and his intentions in a way she hadn’t before, but he knew there was one more topic hanging over them. Quickly telling the approaching waiter their orders, they settled into what might have seemed like a comfortable silence to innocent bystanders, but Damiano’s heart was pounding out of his chest with panic. He needed to get this over with. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to swallow a single bite until he had told her of his idea.

“Phone at the dinner table? Where are your manners, Damiano!” Y/n joked as he pulled out his mobile, but he only smiled back at her.

“I promise, I’m not checking Twitter,” he chuckled, trying to hide his nerves as he opened Instagram, pulling up the draft he had prepared earlier. Once more, his eyes scanned over the screen, taking in the photo, double-checking whether the text was still the same, before turning the phone around and pushing it towards Y/n. She was reading it quietly, but he had committed the whole thing to heart.

The picture showed them in a tight embrace, him holding onto her after a show, not caring about how sweaty he was or how much she was protesting against it. Their faces weren't visible, but he remembered the look on hers all the same. Victoria had snapped it without him noticing, and as soon as he told her about his plan to put a post on Instagram to once and for all shut everyone up, she forwarded it to him. It was perfect. No more infringing on her privacy than necessary, but body language telling the viewers of the photo everything they needed to know.

He had laboured over the text to put underneath for a while, torn between wanting to make a grand statement and keeping on brand with his humour. He didn’t want, or need, for that matter, to prove his love for her with big words and declarations for the world to see, it wasn’t their right to know about the details of his feelings. In the end, he had settled for a few simple sentences.

Yes, this is my girlfriend, yes I’m in love with her, now stop freaking out everybody

He had added a few nonsensical emojis to the end, just to keep it lighthearted, even if there was no need for it. The caption didn’t even encompass half of what he felt for her, but that was between the two of them and no one else. For now, he just wanted to prove that he was by her side, let everyone know, without making a massive deal about it. He had gotten to know her well enough to gather it was in her interest as well.

She stared at the screen for much longer than she would have needed to read the caption and look at the picture, and with every passing second, his heartbeat seemed to increase uncomfortably. He was about to ask her if she was alright, what she thought of it, tell her it was just a draft and he could delete it or do better if she asked him to. But then she lifted her head, a daring glimmer in her eyes and a smirk adorning her mouth, and in one decided motion, she pressed on the screen.

“Did you just-”

“Post the draft? Guess I did,” she grinned, pushing the phone back to him. He couldn’t contain the smile on his face growing bigger by the second.

Damiano didn’t care if it was weird, standing up to rush over to her side of the table, kneeling next to her chair, and taking her hand. He didn’t care whether people were looking or contemplating whether this was going to be a proposal. All he cared about was the look in her eyes as she beamed down at him.

“So, this feels like the wrong way round, but… Does that mean you want to be my girlfriend?”

“I already am, dummy,” she laughed, before leaning down to plant a soft kiss on his lips. “And before you ask, yes, I’m forgiving you. You’ve made this day so special, you’ve proven how much I mean to you, and, well, I guess we just let the world know about it, too. There’s nothing more I could possibly ask for, Damiano.”

It was all he needed to hear. Softly grabbing her face, he pulled her in for another kiss, a real kiss, one that let her be a part of everything he was feeling. This was where he belonged. This was home. She was home.

***

“Damiano, where are we going, that’s nowhere near our hotel!”

She only managed to pretend to be mad for a second, before erupting into giggles again, letting him drag her through the streets of Paris. The sun had started to set as they were in the middle of dinner, and while the city now was only illuminated by streetlights and buildings, it seemed to hold endless possibilities. Both of them were in high spirits, once they had gotten their little talk over with, phone pushed away to ignore any and all notifications, it felt like a burden had been lifted. Neither of them had stopped smiling at the other, making tiny remarks, feeling all over positively ecstatic during dinner.

“Oh yes, it is,” he simply replied and before she knew it, he was pulling her into a rather fancy lobby, the doorman happily opening the door for them.

“Don’t tell me you want to get a room here- wait, what are you doing?”

She had half expected him to head to the reception, spontaneously ask for a room for the night, but instead he led her straight to the lifts. She didn’t have to ask. With a smug grin on his face, he pulled out a key card, waving it in her face and pressing the button.

“No, you didn’t!” She exclaimed in shock, once again looking around the lobby that was laid out in marble around them.

“Yes, I did, and you’ll see it in about two minutes.”

Even the lift seemed to look expensive, she thought, never mind the luxurious hallway, filled with blue and gold colours and tiny chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, as it led them to their room. To their suite more like, she realised, as Damiano pushed open the door. The space was vast, a couch and armchairs straight ahead, massive windows overlooking the city, then, to the right, an arched doorway leading to the bedroom. Y/n was sure it was bigger than her own apartment back home. Yet, it wasn’t the room itself that struck her - it was the way it was filled with flowers, little gift boxes, chocolate and avangarde fruit platter on the coffee table in the middle.

“I wasn’t sure which flowers you’d like so I bought all of them,” Damiano sheepishly laughed behind her, but alIl she could do was walk further into the room, stunned by it all.

“When did you do all this?”

“I’ve been renting it since yesterday and… well, I’ve had some help while I was taking you out today.”

“You mean, the rest of the band was in on this? And they’ve been doing all this when they could have had the day off?”

Damiano laughed as he walked up to her. “Let’s just say I’m very persuasive. And I guess they love you too. Just not quite the way I do.”

Slinging her arms around him, she hugged him tightly, fighting against the tears threatening to spill. She was emotional, yes, but the last thing she wanted to do was cry. Instead, she let go of him only enough to grasp onto his face and pull it down towards her, kissing him deeply, praying it would say all she couldn’t put into words. His tongue immediately traced over her lips, leaving her breathless enough to open her mouth and allow him entrance.

When they pulled apart, she couldn’t help smirk at him.

“Well, why don’t I show you exactly how thankful I am for this wonderful day then, Mr. David?”

She hooked her fingers into the loops of his trousers, dragging him into the bedroom with her until her legs hit the bed and she let herself fall onto it.

“You know, you don’t have to, right? I didn’t do this to get laid.”

For a moment, her heart was filled with nothing but love and admiration for the man in front of her. He was so obviously affected by her actions and words, yet it wasn’t even a question of whether he should get her full consent or not. Giving him an earnest smile, her fingers easily moving to the buckle of his belt and undoing it.

“I know, Dami, I do. But I think I’m going to lose my fucking mind if you don’t lose your clothes soon, and I mean that.”

It seemed to be all he needed to hear, as he aided her fingers in unbuttoning his trousers, unzipping, until the fabric was loose enough to fall and pool around his ankles. He lost the garment as quickly as he did his shirt. Kneeling down, he started slowly pushing up the fabric of her dress, kissing every inch of her skin as it appeared in front of him, from the curve of her calves, over her knees, finally reaching her thighs. She had stared at him time and time again over the course of the time spent together, but him now, on his knees, nothing but underwear left on his body, made him look sinful in a way she never could have imagined. With a simple motion, he made her lift her butt just long enough to pull the dress over it, then continuing his journey kissing along her soft stomach, upwards and upwards until he was over her bra. She barely noticed him dragging it over her head, too focused on his lips trailing along her chest, her shoulders, up her neck, until they met her own lips again.

Nothing they were doing even came close to the disaster of last time. Awkward fumbles had been replaced with steadfast hands. Drunken murmurs were turned into heartfelt words. Constant check-ins, lingering eye contact, and a calm as they took their time exploring each other, turning a perfect day into a perfect night. Nothing else mattered, the world around them forgotten. Schedules, wake-up calls, interviews, performances, university rejections, paparazzi photos. It was impossible to focus on anything but each other in this moment.

This time, there was a condom, preparation, a final confirmation of consent before he had her, body and soul, keeping her as close as possible. She couldn’t remember sex ever being like this. So loving, so intimate, and yet so ridiculously hot at the same time. With Damiano as a partner who was happy to accommodate all her needs, listened to her every whimper and whisper, and would not be satisfied until she was.

And, oh, she was satisfied that night. And that morning. Twice. She was sure they hadn’t spent more than a few minutes at a time nodding off, an insatiable need drawing them together time and time again. The morning light brought clarity, a distinct sense of all of this being real in a way the night often liked to hide. And yet, it didn’t change anything. Huddled up under the covers, Y/n was convinced she would be happy to stay here forever, live in this moment of pure happiness, one where finally everything had been said and done, nothing left between them but love. Only when the clock read 11 and alerted them that they’d have an hour until check out they untangled from the sheets. Even in getting up and stretching her aching muscles, she felt more relaxed and relieved than she had felt all month. Possibly all year, now that she came to think of it.

It didn’t take long - in fact, she only just made it to spot where her underwear had mysteriously ended up - until she felt Damiano sneak up behind her, then two strong arms wrapping around her and holding her tight. His chin came to rest on top of her head. A feeling of pure happiness washed over her, and by the way he chuckled she could only assume he felt the same.

“Still sure about everything?” He murmured into her hair, before pressing soft kisses to the skin behind her ear.

“Even more than before,” she confessed, turning around in his arms to throw her own around his neck. “Thank you for yesterday, for everything.”

“My pleasure, mi amore.”

She barely managed to contain her smile long enough for him to kiss her, lips easily curling into smile. This was everything she wanted. Him, in her arms, in his life, in the background of every single thing she did. By her side, in her head, like quiet music playing in a reassuring loop, without ever being too much or too little. The one constant she had been missing in her life, now promising to stick with her, hopefully forever.

Musica tranquilla, una dolce ninna nanna nella notte per cantare al sonno. Un ronzio per calmare le tue preoccupazioni.  Una musica tranquilla che una volta lì, non vuoi mai smettere di ascoltare.

Quiet music, a sweet lullaby in the night to sing you to sleep. A hum to soothe your worries. A quiet music that, once there, you never want to stop listening to.

***

Taglist | @damianodavide @lizstans @unitersmoonshine @its-afucking-mess @ethaneskin @dont-let-me-drown-in-you @vampirtet @lividisuigomiti @juststalking @tabi-toast @ethan-torchio-angelo @cheese-toastie-11 @thewitchinthemountain @ethanesimp @sofckinelectric @daddydamiano @finelinejpm @superchrystaldrug @ginny-lily @nientedaridere @rainbowmarta @ilwiwbysmv @tiaamberxx @shaunthesheesh @enjcltaire @rocketqueen @aleksanderwh0r3 @damianodavidhands @megann-duff @teatrodellavita @coven-daddy @till-you-scream-and-cry @solasullabarca @fanfictionandfluff @makapaka11 @slave4yourlove @geklutst-ei @marriedwithmarktuan @bookish0918 @mehrmonga @kanevill @butterfly-skinnylegend @lidiyabest @killerqueen1985 @ccweasley @bluscryn @deluxeplanteater @ohtorchio @bidet-and-legolas @maybanksslut @katyldamusic @fuckim-so-gay @demoiselle-en-detresse00 @petit-poussin @fedorable-killjoys @luvbadass @buttercup-beeee @navs-bhat @etaerealboyv @mell-bell @fenhakwe @softforlukescurls @vicsangel @theimpossiblehologramtree @alina-exe @cherricola66 @supercorp-mari @onlykissystyless @thatonebraziliangirl @dannasixxworld @immrbrightside @lifeofa-fangirl @gr8rainbowpunk @que--sera--sera @achilleveleno @therealeponine27 @maneskinyakaar @hiraetheral @iosonoarina @8iunie @idyllicbutterfly @fanfictionandfluff @blackberryblossom @immrbrightsideeee @odilevonbrekker @writingmaneskin @cc0le @maneskindiva @thatmeganthing​ @dpaccione​ @katyasrussianaccent​ @ykaaarus​ @maneslut 

[irenedubrovna]

A post regarding Euphoria for the benefit of myself and basically no one else

So, it really bothers me when people say Euphoria is groundbreaking, progressive media. Here’s a dissection of why I don’t think it is, because this is what I feel like doing at work:

The character of Rue is objectively great. She by far receives the least overt sexualization, and is treated neutrally in terms of active sexuality. She’s treated like a normal teenage girl with mental issues and an addiction to drugs. She falls in love with a girl who she pines for and places on a pedestal. The reason I think she is written this way is because she is a Sam Levinson proxy. She written with gender ambiguity and with little regard to the experiences she’d go through as a black gay female, probably because Sam Levinson has no insight to that aspect of life. Her performance is heightened of course by Zendaya, who breathes unique life to the Sam Levinson’s artistic extension, and without her performance this show would not get even half the acclaim it gets. Attribute that to Zendaya of course, because the director has done little to deserve this acclaim.

The rest of the females, sans Lexi, are pornified to a disgusting extent, not only due to the fact that they are supposed to be underage, but also because their existence as people is treated as being absolutely secondary to their sexual appeal. They are foremost presented in terms of their relation to sex. Cassie, Maddy, Jules, and Kat cannot be removed from their sexuality without disrupting the plot or their journeys in relation to the plot. Why are the females so intrinsically linked to uber fetishized versions of female sexuality, or uber fetishized versions of blossoming female sexual identity?

Maddy is presented not only scantily clad 90 percent of the time, but also dressed in a precariously unattainable sexual fashion. At any given time she is styled to look straight out of, simultaneously, a high fashion editorial, and a “barely legal” porno. She is airheaded and profane, and promiscuous, her mannerisms dictated by the adult films she’s “studied” in order to project an image of perfect hyper sexual femininity. She’s complacent in becoming a prototypical housewife because it will earn her a comfortable place as a trophy wife. She has no aspirations beyond that. So, let’s unpack all of that. Maddy’s role in the show is mostly passive. The most active thing she does in the plot is revenge fuck a man in the pool of a party. Nearly everything else she does in the show that is plot relevant is of someone else’s volition. Even less of what she in the show is related to anything other than a man. She is abused and then pressured into framing another man for said abuse. She has no agency as a character. The only notable difference to this rule is when she takes drugs at a carnival, knocks a pot of chili over, and calls her ex’s mom a cunt. Removed from her active sexual life and carefully cultivated aesthetic, she’s a trite stereotype of an unambitious girlfriend who gets treated poorly. I see people call Maddy iconic, but if she wasn’t gorgeous and well dressed, I doubt anyone would even think twice about her, let alone create fancams and Instagram pages dedicated to her. She exists as a plot device, and as pretty set dressing to build up the shows aesthetic. Her emotions are not well explored, her motivations are sexist, and she is often there to be demeaned, objectified, or to say a bad word. The most damning part of her involvement in this show is her episode where it is stated that she, as a fourteen year old girl, lost her virginity to an adult man, and it is stated she was in control of the situation. This is a dangerous thing to say about a character, to any audience, but especially a young one. To imply that a precocious young girl was in control during her first sexual encounter with a much much older man implies things that frankly border on rape apologist ideology. This show states this unflinchingly and with no further elaboration. If there’s one thing that tells you that Euphoria is a bad show, let it be that. Also, if there’s one thing that tells you about Sam Levinson as a person, and the way he views girls and women, let it fucking be that.

Jules is a young trans girl. She also likes to have sex with men as a means to “conquer femininity”. Scratch that, she likes to have degrading sex with older men in order to “conquer femininity”. This mindset is shown to be toxic, of course, but I think the problem with this idea in general is that there’s no deeper exploration for what this mindset means. It implies that she believes women are the sum of their intrigue and degradations. This mindset I can only assume would be a cultivation of dysphoria and internalized misogyny, which this series is absolutely not prepared to address in a tactful manner. Jules is a teenager with mental illness, trauma, and is undergoing an identity crisis. There’s something powerful in her character, something worth saying, however we only get trimmings of those meaningful things, and are ultimately left with a hurtful depiction of a trans girl because all of her musings on womanhood and identity are incomplete, and they fail to reach beyond the surface of their thesis statement. She wears colorful clothing, is overtly feminine and artistic in her presentation. Everything about her screams insecurity over her own womanhood. That is the crux of her character. Now, I think we should ask ourselves, is trans person who is insecure about their identity peak representation? Is this what trans people deserve? Is it “groundbreaking “? If this show was run by someone else, I might be inclined to say that there’s nothing insidious about this, but this is the guy that made Assassination Nation, so I think we know what he thinks of young women, the way they should be portrayed (that is, for the capitulation of a man) and realize his inclusion of a trans woman in his cast is no more meaningful than the inclusion of any other woman. Women to him are made to be categorized and should, at the end of the day, be easily palatable for the capitulation of a man. The device of having Jules being interested in older men and rough sex for identity reasons is transparent. Trans women are exploited and objectified with a similar fervor to cis women, the caveat being that they are “a forbidden fruit” of sorts to straight men. Jules is sissified, her presentation fetishistic. Her role in the plot is more involved. Her relationship with Rue is sweet, though toxic on both sides. She is ultimately betrayed, blackmailed, and snowballs into something of a manic episode, all well portrayed by Hunter Schafer, but I don’t think her inclusion in the show absolves it of any of its many sins.

Let’s talk about Cassie. Cassie is the Eurocentric beauty standard exemplified. She is the blonde haired blue eyed girl next store, and her boobs are of course always on display. She is notably promiscuous, something I say right off the bat because that’s how she’s introduced, as a so called slut through the words of the devil (Nate Jacobs). She is a girl with daddy issues, which we are all familiar with at this point. Her sexual boundaries begin and end at the whim of her partner. The terms of her consent are much like the terms of consent of many young girls brainwashed by society and the rising tide of degradation porn: everything is alright as long as you provide them comfort and affirmation afterward. You can touch them roughly without asking, you can use them as a tool to affirm your masculinity. This is the way men prefer their women now: just broken enough to say yes to anything they want. It’s become a joke at this point. Men like girls with issues, but only the ones that will feed their own desires. Cassie Howard is meek. Her inclusion in the plot I suppose ties to themes of drug addiction and how it divides and destroys the people you love. It doesn’t show what it does to her beyond shaping her sexual encounters, which is no surprise. Overall I’d say Cassie is in this roster of females as the most traditional categorically, in relation to how men view women and further how they sexualize them. She has a relationship with someone who doesn’t really love her. That mostly what she does here. Gets used. Doesn’t drive the plot or conflict much. More pretty set dressing. More aesthetics. How this show consists of so many women but is driven so much by men is unsurprising, and, again, very enlightening in the grand scheme of things.

Lastly we touch on Kat. I’d like to begin with the fact that self actualization through sexual exploration, in a show run by a man, is just a cloak for a woman to gratify the audience with her sexuality. Regardless of whether or not she is plus sized, this is overt objectification. She is on this show to be sexy. Beyond that, the fact that a minor using sex work as a form of liberation is disgusting. Whether or not she is portrayed as “owning” her sexuality is negligible, and speaks to the same mindset discussed with Maddy. Minors cannot fucking consent to sex, sexual acts, or anything within the confines of such. It’s crazy that this occurs with two different characters in such a similar way. It has echoes of “Well, she looked older..” and “Well, she wanted it..” or “She’s advanced for her age”. Never, not once in the events of the series is there meaningful introspection on what doing this kind of thing does to a minor. Moreover, these acts are explicit, and made clearly for sexual gratification. None of these things are absolved by the fact that she’s plus sized. If anything, her body type is fetishized in this context. It’s also another case of a “good girl to bad girl” transformation, which are archaic and, of course, sexist. With the rise of adult websites targeting minors for explicit content, this is even more reprehensible. Once again, in terms of representation, is this really what speaks to you as progressive? Groundbreaking? A girl gains control of her own narrative by having sex with lots of men. She gains control by being sexy. She gains control by dehumanizing and objectifying herself. No she doesn’t. Media controlled by men will tell this story to you thousands of times, don’t listen because she’s bigger than a size four.

ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE UNDERAGE. ALL OF THEM HAVE EXPLICIT SEX SCENES, EVEN THE SEXUAL ASSAULT IS MADE CINEMATICALLY PORNIFIED. THESE SHOTS ARE MADE TO BE OBJECTIVELY SEXY. THIS IS NOT A CASE OF SOMEONE CREATING SOMETHING FOR THE SAKE OF REALISM. IT IS ABOUT MAKING SCENES THAT SPEAK TO A MALE AUDIENCE. THAT CATER TO THE MALE GAZE. ARGUE WITH THE WALL.

I won’t go further into the plot, other characters, or the structure or the episodes for sake of brevity, but I felt compelled to air my thoughts on this to the void. I can only hope I was critical enough that Sam Levinson will one day see this and cry because another bad feminist thinks something that he made sucks

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #245

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're continuing our divine sightseeing tour with the god of misfortune Lakshmibai! I'm pretty sure she didn't bring Alakshmi with her into Chaldea, but we didn't roll her so we're mostly basing this build on what she's like in the lostbelt.

She's a Samurai Fighter to fight for far longer than you'd expect, and a Wild Magic Sorcerer to mess with people's luck a bit.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Ask me no questions, and I'll Tell you no lies.

Race and Background

Lakshmibai is a Human, that whole fusing with a god thing happened later. This gives her +1 Dexterity and Charisma, proficiency with Perception to scan the battlefield, and the Tough feat. If you're going to tank the hits of a god, you'd better have plenty of hit points to back that up. This feat gives you an additional 2 HP every time you level up, which aught to help.

You're a noble, but you're more famous for your battlefield skills, so we're going with the Soldier background for Athletics and Intimidation proficiency.

Ability Scores

Thanks to Arjuna's meddling you're part god now, so your powers are innate, and that means they're Charisma based. After that is Wisdom. You rule well, and you can keep a battlefield straight in your head. Your Dexterity isn't as high as I'd like to start with, but being a god of bad luck does make you a little clumsy. After that is Constitution; again, if you're gonna have bad luck, you've got to be able to tough it out. Sadly this means your Intelligence isn't as high as I'd like, and we're dumping Strength. You fight with a shortsword and a gun, neither of which need it.

Class Levels

Fighter 1: Starting off as a fighter gives you proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, plus Animal Handling for horseback riding and Survival to drag your fights out a real long time. You also get a Fighting Style, and Two-weapon fighting will help you out in the long run. It lets you add your ability score to the damage you make with offhand attacks. We can't dual-wield properly yet, but if you want to use two swords, go nuts. If you'd rather use a bonus action defensively, check out Second Wind for some healing on your bonus action once per short rest.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, so you can take two actions in a turn once per short rest! Now you can rooty tooty and aim n shooty at the same time!

FIghter 3: You're one of history's foremost experts on sticking around where you aren't wanted, and so are the Samurai, if those movies are anything to go by. Anyways, you get proficiency in Persuasion and a Fighting Spirit this level, so you can spend your bonus action to get advantage on weapon attacks for the turn, plus some temporary HP, three times per day.

Sorcerer 1: Swapping classes now will cause your godly magic to go Wild, but we'll do it anyway. Now your DM might make you roll a d20 when you cast a spell, and if it's a 1 it'll activate a Wild Magic Surge, causing a random magic effect to happen afterwards. You can also influence the Tides of Chaos to get advantage on one attack, check, or save per day, but you'll get another use if your DM forces a surge. Speaking of, you actually need to cast Spells with your Charisma if you want surges to happen, so let's pick some up. For cantrips, Blade Ward will make an enemy forget to sharpen their weapon, or some loose ground will weaken their stance, or something like that. Regardless of flavor, it'll give you resistance to any incoming attacks from nonmagical sources this turn. On top of that, Gust will knock things around, and Light will get in your enemy's eyes. If none of those work, Prestidigitation can cause all sorts of minor magical effects that might work as bad luck. For leveled spells, pick up Mage Armor so you can fight in whatever that outfit is supposed to be, and pick up Silvery Barbs as well. You can basically force disadvantage on an attack, check, or save near you, and if the target fails you can give another creature advantage on their next attack, check, or save. It's good, maybe make some spell scrolls when you get some downtime.

Fighter 4: Okay, enough magic for now. Bouncing back to fighter gives you an Ability Score Improvement, and we're using this ASI to improve the score of our ability Dexterity, for better AC and better fighting.

Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack each action, so you can attack twice per turn, four times with a surge, and five times with your off hand.

Fighter 6: At sixth level you get another ASI, so pick up Crossbow Expert. If you want to focus on your rifles, this means you can attack with one multiple times per turn now. Also, being in melee won't force disadvantage on ranged attacks, and you can dual wield a melee weapon with a hand crossbow, finally letting you wield the same kind of firepower you do in-game.

Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are Fonts of Magic, but we're not getting to third level so this just means you get an extra 1st level slot each day. On the plus side you can use it to cast Shield which is nice. +5 to your AC for the round and it auto blocks magic missiles. They were thiiis close to hittin ya, guess that's just bad luck, huh?

Fighter 7: Seventh samurai- sorry, seventh level samurai are Elegant Courtiers, giving you proficiency in Wisdom saves, and you can add your wisdom bonus to persuasion checks, so it's like you maxed out your charisma now! We're not actually doing that though, almost none of your spells have any saves involved.

Fighter 8: Eighth level fighters get yet another ASI, so bump up that Dexterity again for better just about everything you could want.

Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, so you can re-roll a failed save once per day. Maybe save it for death saves, you don't want to leave those up to chance.

Fighter 10: At tenth level you have a Tireless Spirit, so if you start a fight without a use of Fighting Spirit, you get one! That's especially convenient since you get 10 THP per use now!

Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack, so you can hit people 3-7 times in a single turn now! It's not flashy, but it gets the job done. Hopefully. If not, give it a level, we'll get something to help you tough it out.

Fighter 12: Gee, fighters get a lot of ASIs don't they? Use this one to become an Inspiring Leader, giving up to six friendlies (possibly including you) temporary HP equal to your level + your charisma modifier. Sadly you can't add your wisdom to this one, but still, a total of 90 HP for basically free is nothing to sneeze at. You just have to give a 10 minute speech first, and nobody's crazy enough to actually make you do that, right?

Fighter 13: At lucky 13, you get another use of Indomitable per long rest. With your luck, you'll need as many as you can get.

Fighter 14: Use this ASI to give your Constitution some love for an extra 16 HP right now, and an extra 1 every time you level up. Remember, HP scales retroactively.

Fighter 15: 15th level samurai can create Rapid Strikes, letting you ignore advantage on an attack once per turn to get another attack in, which likely will have advantage anyway. So that's three attacks in a single action, four if you have advantage, seven with an action surge, and eight if you use your offhand attack. It's almost like you have an entire army backing you up or something. Also, your THP from your fighting spirit hits 15 per use now.

Fighter 16: Use your last ASI to finally max out your Dexterity for the best offense and defense possible. (I mean if you want to be technical the best offense would be sharpshooter and the archery fighting style, but that's power building.)

Fighter 17: Seventeenth level fighters are like sixteenth level fighters but more, since you get an extra use of both Action Surge and Indomitable. You can still only use one surge per turn, but otherwise? Go nuts, show nuts, whatever.

Fighter 18: Our capstone level gives you your final samurai feature, and the reason we didn't dip further into sorcerer. You can now find Strength Before Death, using your reaction when you hit 0 HP to take a turn before falling unconscious. Taking damage will still make you fail death saves, and you'll still hit the ground after if you don't have any HP (THP doesn't count here), but it gives you just a little more time to kick ass and take names. You can do this once per day. So tank those hits and last until the end of the ride.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

For a fighter, I think this is one of the toughest builds we've done. With 200 HP, ways to reduce incoming damage, 23 THP from a speech, 45 THP from Fighting Spirit, the distance between you and your opponents in general, maxing out the one Big Three save you're not proficient in, forcing disadvantage on attacks, AND having an AC of 18-23 all in one character? Yeah, it's gonna take a while to whittle you down. Oh right, and you don't die when you're killed. Fun.

Despite being unlucky, you're really good at beating the odds. With Fighting Spirit for advantage on attacks, Indomitable for saves, and Tides of Chaos/Silvery Barbs for advantage on just about anything else, you can eke your way out of tricky situations a little bit easier than most.

You make for a solid party face, with essentially maxed out charisma for persuasion plus some skills to make sure you aren't getting swindled. It's almost like you're a noble or something.

Cons:

Despite having spell slots, we have no magical damage, so unless you get lucky and your DM gives you a magical weapon high level enemies will be a problem to fight.

Speaking of magic, you have a grand total of 4 slots a day, which wouldn't be too much of an issue if not for your Wild Magic Surges, and by extension, Tides of Chaos, relying entirely on you casting spells. Plus mage armor eats through one of those on a regular basis, so maybe try to spring for better light armor by the time you hit high level play.

Despite dropping quite a bit of reliability in order to dual wield melee and ranged weapons, actually getting into melee range might be a bad idea since your low strength means you can get pushed around pretty easily.

[theasstour]

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟒𝐤 𝐍𝐁: 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭

A/N: Now that we’re at the end of year 1, there will be a lil pause in updates for the time being, just fyi! Next update will be on Sunday 23rd May and then every Sunday until the end of the second year again, which is a tag bit longer and MUCH more eventful than the first year aiajfiegj ✨ Anyway !!! Enjoy chapter 11, it’s a Lot 🏛️🦅

December 2013

Though Y/N was used to her sister doing things when she wanted to and not really having a care in the world for what anyone else would think, it still took her a little by surprise when she walked in the direction of the woods. The sisters had helped their parents carry all the luggage indoors, not doing so would result in Lottie scolding them for being lazy. Neither wanted the Christmas cabin trip to start on a bad note.

“You coming?!” Marcela called to her sister, stopping by a tree and resting her hand against it.

“Coming…” Y/N said to herself, looking over at the cabin door that still stood open before glancing in Marcela’s direction again. “Coming where?!”

“Let’s take a walk!”

It was just about to get dark, the sky above them white like a cotton blanket was draped lazily over the south of Wales, but greying with an oncoming storm. The last time Y/N had been to Newport was a weekend in October, but it had been raining constantly, so she had not taken the time to walk around the forest or stroll down to the ocean a mere 10-minute walk from the cabin. She had just been indoors, reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and not feeling any sort of need to leave the cabin’s four warm walls. Marcela had been in Manchester then, busy with uni work, and planning on spending the weekend studying in the library. She had an article that needed to be written for the UoM’s monthly academic journal, she said she wanted to finish it as quickly as possible, so Y/N had not asked her sister to drop it and come regardless. Though she had very much wanted to do just that.

“Y/N!”

Y/N walked over to her sister instantly, jogging a little to reach her before Marcela just turned around and started walking on before they were side by side. Though the trees around them weren’t many, they were big. Huge beech trunks rose up from the ground around them sporadically, their massive branches stretching out around them like the long, slithering limbs of many insects. Different coloured leaves covered most of the forest floor, though some brown and yellow still lingered in the dark, old trees. In summertime, most of the forest was left in shade, covered up by the thick layer of leaves that rose high above them, preventing actual sunbeams from touching the ground.

“Any idea what you’re gonna be wearing for New Year’s Eve?” Marcela asked once the two of them had walked a minute in silence.

New Year’s Eve was just a few days away, and the family planned on spending it alone in Newport. Marcela usually spent it with Kit and friends in Manchester, but it had been a while since she had celebrated a proper Brazilian New Year’s Eve. Though the Montes family usually spent it in Nottingham with the rest of their big family, Davi and Lottie wanted to try and spend this one with just the four of them. Neither one of the sisters were opposed to the idea, it just meant they wouldn’t have to watch their primos, Edgar at 7, Valentim at 5, and Raimundo at 2, while tia Gilma and tio Jaren ate their Véspera de Ano Novo dinner undisturbed. They loved their primos dearly, but it often left both of them massaging their temples to get rid of a throbbing headache afterwards.

“I brought a white tee shirt and some white joggers,” Y/N said, wrinkling her nose. “I hate wearing white.”

“Why, it doesn’t go with your gothic-black-clothing type of lifestyle?” Marcela laughed, reaching up and picking a yellow leaf off a branch.

Y/N did not feel like telling Marcela why she hated wearing white. And in turn therefore hated part of New Year’s Eve. Only that one part.

Davi always started off every Réveillon, or every new year, by knocking on his daughters’ doors and exclaiming, “Ano novo, vida nova!” New Year, new life. Brazilians are extremely superstitious when it comes to New Year’s Eve. What you do, eat, and wear on New Year’s Eve, will draw certain energies and wishes for the upcoming year. New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro is a massive beach party from Copacabana Beach to Ipanema and beyond. Millions upon millions of people gather at their nearest beach to celebrate, starting early in the evening and going all night, Y/N had always dreamed of one day experiencing that herself. She had been to Brazil, but never on New Year’s Eve.

One of the Brazilian traditions for New Year’s is to wear all-white. Y/N was told by Davi years ago that the tradition came from African religions as an homage to the God Oxalá. It was then adopted by Roman Catholics and Evangelists alike, and though their family wasn’t religious, they practiced this regardless. Another tradition that you did alongside the all-white, was that you have to wear coloured underwear on New Year’s, and it all depended on what you want you want the new year to bring.

“I brought a white dress,” Marcela explained. “What colour?”

“Hmm, I brought a few colours. Think I might go with laranja.”

“Orange,” Marcela smiled. “Professional success. Good choice.”

“And you?”

“Amarelo.”

Y/N blinked. “Yellow.”

“Luck,” Marcela said. “What do you think everyone that sees us at the beach on New Year’s Eve are gonna think? They’ll see us jumping into the water and into seven ondas.” Marcela laughed. “Unless they know of Brazilian culture, they won’t understand what’s going on.”

Y/N smiled.

“Let’s confuse them.”

“Going into the ocean at midnight and jumping into seven waves for good luck, is nice.” Y/N wrinkled her nose. “If the water just hadn’t been so cold.”

“And we need to jump into the ice-cold waves head-on.”

“But you can make one wish for each wave.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s been a while since we got to do that, not a lot of ocean in Notts.”

Marcela smiled. “If only we were in Copacabana.”

“I want to watch the fireworks there so baaad!”

“Instead we’re stuck in Newport.”

“Well,” Y/N said, cocking her head to the side as she caressed a tree when they walked past it. “You decided to come here yourself, I was forced. I’m stuck, you can leave.”

Marcela only bumped Y/N’s shoulder with her own, shaking her head at her before she jogged a bit away. Y/N just continued on walking, thinking that her sister had just found a rock or something else that she wanted to pick up, but after a few metres, she was still not back. Turning around, she saw her sister hunched over something further away than she had seen her last, wiping at something on the ground as if to reveal something hidden beneath the layer of leaves and dirt there. Y/N walked over, feeling as if the forest around them had just gone deadly quiet. Marcela stood as Y/N approached, pointing at something on the ground.

A small cellar hatch. Made out of old wood and painted a ghastly brown colour to blend in with the nature around it. In the 10 or so years the Montes family had owned the Newport cabin, never had Y/N stumbled upon this hatch. It looked aged, as if it had been there for way longer than the cabin had. Or maybe it had been made in a hurry and left just like this, with no one to care for it. Y/N looked over at Marcela who was studying the hatch, bending down again to check it out more closely.

“Do you think anyone lives here?” she asked. The question made Y/N feel oddly cold.

“Would hope not. It’s right next to our cabin.”

“Why would it be here otherwise?”

“Dunno.” Y/N looked around them, the forest looked darker now. “Mari, let’s go back.”

“Y/N, we can’t just leave. We need to check this out,” Marcela said, reaching for the metal handle. “I thought you liked exploring.”

“I do, but… this is creepy.”

“No, it’s not.”

Without warning, Marcela opened the hatch, flipping it over so it rested on the other side, leaving the contents of the cellar visible to them both. Y/N took a small step back, but then took one forward again, wanting to be quick to her sister’s aid in case someone or something jumped out at her. But nothing did.

Instead of seeing a cellar exposed to them right under the hatch, a rather narrow and long tunnel straight downwards showed itself to them instead. A metal ladder ran along one of the walls, reaching a long way down, but the destination was left completely in darkness, making it hard to make out anything but the rotting wooden panels around the ladder and the rusting metal of said ladder. Marcela got her phone out, turning on the flashlight and shining it down the tunnel.

“There’s a room down there,” she said, moving closer, squinting down at the cellar.

“Mari, let’s go.”

“Must be here from the second World War or something.”

Y/N looked around, anticipating someone running up on them.

“I’m going down.”

“What-“ Y/N’s head whipped in her sister’s direction, but before she could even try and stop her, Marcela’s feet were on the rusting ladder. “Marcela, what the fuck are you doing?!”

“I just want to see what’s down here.”

“Which is a terrible idea. Get up.”

However, Marcela had never been one to listen to anyone but herself. She merely rolled her eyes at Y/N before she started her descent, keeping her phone in her mouth so it would shine downward and onto whatever she was about to see. Y/N felt herself both worried stupid and curious. She too wanted to know what was down there as well, but her concern for her sister and what she was doing championed over any curiosity she might have felt.

“Mari, I don’t like this,” Y/N called down, sitting on her knees by the cellar opening, not caring that her trousers would get dirty.

Marcela said something, though Y/N could not hear properly through the phone in her sister’s mouth.

“What?!”

Marcela struggled to get her phone out of her mouth, gaze turned downward as she examined the room underneath her. “I’m down!”

“What is it?”

“A shelter room of sorts.” Marcela let go of the ladder, jumping down into the dirt floor. “There’s a bed, some cabinets.”

“Great, you’ve had a peek,” Y/N called down. “Now get up.”

Marcela stood still for a second, turning around 360 degrees to take in the whole room. She suddenly stopped, eyes landing on something at the other end of the room. She walked toward it, disappearing from Y/N’s view.

“Marcela!” Y/N shouted, but Marcela did not reply, not even when she shouted a second time. “Mari, where are you-“

“-Y/N, oh my days,” Marcela groaned. “Chill out.”

“What was I supposed to do?! You disappeared!”

“I was okay,” Marcela said, grinning up at her sister. Y/N could almost just make out her sister’s teeth. “This is the best hiding place by our cabin, I think.”

“Can you get up here now? I think it’s starting to rain.”

“Fine,” Marcela said, putting her phone back in her mouth as she reached for the lowest rung of the ladder. Wrapping her fingers around the rusting metal, she was ready to pull herself up when she yelped. Next thing Y/N knew, metal clanged against the soil of the cellar and Marcela gasped for air, the flashlight of her phone cast at the ground, drenching the cellar in an unremitting darkness.

“Mari?!”

The only thing Y/N heard was Marcela heaving for dry breaths and shuffling, as if she was trying to find her phone on the floor of the cellar. With shaking hands, Y/N reached for her own phone, and though she was unsure of how much her phone would help, she shone her own flashlight down in the cellar. It gave Marcela just enough light to finally find her phone and shine a light around her. The rusty rung had fallen completely off the ladder, now laying somewhere Y/N could not see.

Marcela stood back up, dusting the dirt off her black tights.

“You okay?!” Y/N shouted.

“Fine.”

But she did not sound fine, and she looked worse as she walked up the ladder, finally making it to the surface. Y/N took a grip of her sister’s jacket, helping her out the last metre.

“You’re fucking mad,” Y/N hissed. “Never do that again.”

“Calm down.” Marcela stood up, Y/N joining her not even a second later. “I’m fine.”

“That cellar is old, Marcela, what were you thinking?! It could’ve collapsed, it-“

“-But I’m fine. It didn’t collapse.” Marcela took a grip of Y/N’s shoulders. “I’ve seen that hatch before, but only when I was on walks alone, I didn’t dare open it up and check what was down there without someone here. Now you were, and I didn’t feel so afraid anymore.”

Y/N clenched her teeth, her heart still hammering awfully fast.

“You make me brave, meu docinho de côco.”

My coconut sweet. The pet name made Y/N halt a bit. It had been years since Marcela had called her that. It’s an old-fashioned Brazilian pet name, one Marcela had started calling Y/N when she was just a baby because she had overheard their avó calling someone that, and so she had adopted it herself. They had countless of home movies filmed on rubbish cameras where five-year-old Marcela sat with baby Y/N in her lap, giving her a kiss to the forehead and repeating “meu docinho de côco” over and over again.

“Let’s go back to the cabin,” Marcela said. “Mum is probably angry we haven’t made our beds yet,” Marcela laughed, but Y/N only managed to smile a tine bit. “Aw, Y/N, I’m fine, really,” she assured her. “If I had died down there, I would’ve let you kill me.”

“Good.”

Marcela only laughed before she turned around and closed the hatch.

Friday, 27 April 2018

Y/N didn’t like being in central London. Though there were people everywhere in the capital, there was something about the never-ending crowds of the City of London that made Y/N detest being there. Tourists would walk in and out of shops, clogging up the streets to look at Google Maps on their phones, and not have a single care in the world for those who lived there and just wanted to get to their final destination.

April was definitely not the worst month, there had been and probably would be far worse months with tourists everywhere, but London was a natural and easy weekend trip for anyone living in Europe, and a nice place to visit for anyone else in the world as well, which resulted in it being a busy city at all times. It was not enough that over 12 million lived in or close to the capital, it sometimes felt like there were just as many tourists visiting the city as there were inhabitants. Today, Y/N ended up walking behind a particularly slow group of Dutch people, she recognised it immediately as they spoke, having heard Annalise speak just like them before. Regardless of that, Y/N just wanted to enter a shop without mowing her way through them. It took her a few minutes until she was able to navigate her way around them, by sprinting past them on the street beside them, making it back onto the pavement in time for a double decker to zoom by.

Finally reaching New Look on Gracechurch Street, Y/N walked on inside, feeling in the humid air outside that it was just about to start raining. With Communion playing in her ears and the voice of Olly Alexander singing about being confused about whether to want love or desire from someone, Y/N took a right as she entered the massive New Look, excited to treat herself to some new clothes.

She had been sitting in the Mile End Library on campus all day. The three essays she needed to finish along with revision for her exam in May was all catching up to her, almost making it impossible to fall asleep at night. She would lay awake, thinking about what she had to do the next day, what she should’ve done today, and the five-hundred things that needed to be done at one time or another. It had been a while since she had spent her time overthinking as much as she was right now. Now that almost none of her mates were in London yet, she spent most of her time by herself, either sitting in the library or a café, always doing uni work and always zoning out when she remembered something else she needed to research or another argument to bring up in another one of her essays. She didn’t like studying all by herself in her room. It felt too quiet. She needed people around her, some kind of sounds, even if that was just a student coughing a few tables down from hers. Even though she was by herself in the flat, at least she wasn’t completely by herself all the time.

Her thinking about uni hadn’t been the only reason it had been hard for her to sleep at night. Even though part of her detested herself for it, she still felt relieved at the thought of Harry arriving later that day. Finally she wouldn’t be alone in the flat, someone else was there with her. Even though she had heard their neighbours talking and moving around in their own flats before, she always woke up or stopped whatever she was doing at the smallest sound, even though part of her knew it was just one of their neighbours. She had never slept in a house completely by herself before. Whenever her parents were away, Marcela would come stay with her, and if she couldn’t, then Nathan would sleep over. Y/N had never been so alone like she was now ever before. It scared her.

Even though she knew nothing would actually happen to her, she knew how to throw a punch and knee someone in the groin so it hurt a little extra, it still felt good knowing Harry would be there now.

Suddenly, she stumbled upon something that had her stopping rather abruptly. A white tee shirt with a black X on it, a pink dragon slithering its way in and around the letter. Y/N absolutely loved it. She could see it going super well with her black pleated skirt, some fishnets, and her Docs. She took it off the rack, studying it a bit closer, she turned the head and hung it over the rack again, pulling it out to check the size of it. It was rather small. She checked the sizing, seeing that it was a medium. Putting it back properly on the rack, Y/N started filtering through the different tee shirts, trying to find one large or X large. After all, she could not deal with it being a slim fit. But she found nothing, they only had it in 2X small, X small, or medium.

“Excuse me,” she said, walking up to someone who looked like they worked in New Look. The employee smiled at Y/N as she approached. “Do you by any chance have this one in extra-large?”

“I’ll go check,” the employee said, walking off rather quickly so she could check and get back as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, Y/N still stood where the employee had left her, but she came back, a little out of breath, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, we only have it in large or anything under, not extra-large.”

Y/N felt her heart sink, she smiled at the employee anyway. “Thank you for checking.”

“No problem,” she smiled back. “Also… uhm-“ She pointed over her shoulder at the escalator. “-If you’re looking for plus sized items, they’ll be upstairs. We don’t have many extra-large alternatives downstairs.”

Not only had Y/N’s heart sunk to the very bottom of her stomach, now it had just fallen out of her arse and down to the bottom of the universe. Telling herself that the employee only meant well, Y/N nodded, thanking her, and put the tee shirt back on the rack. She walked to the escalator, taking it up and looking at the board for the overview of the different sections of the store. Downstairs was woman’s clothing, first storey was more women’s clothing, men’s clothing, and plus size, while the second storey was shoes, accessories, and changing rooms. That put Y/N off. How come there were more shoes and accessories being offered than plus sized clothing?

She started walking around the first storey, looking for the plus size section. It took a while for her to find it, but when she finally located it, she understood why and didn’t understand at the same time. The section was just as big, if not smaller, than the men’s clothing section, and how could she have not seen it when all the clothes looked the same? Everything looked at something her 50-year-old mother would wear, and though some of the items would look cute on her mother, nothing stood out to Y/N. None of the items were cute. In fact, they rather looked like bin bags with a bit of cleavage and zero tailoring to accentuate a woman’s figure. It just looked like clothes for the sake of wearing clothes, nothing that would stand out in a crowd or make the wearer look cute.

Y/N found a blouse that she was sure her mother would have loved, burgundy with blue flowers on it. However, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw what was written at the very top of the blouse. Maternity. Quickly, Y/N put it back, looking around her to see if the maternity section was anywhere close to the plus size one. However, upon closer inspection, she realised that the maternity section was just combined with the plus size section. There was no difference. After all, it was all just bigger clothes. Plus size, maternity; did it matter.

Balling her hands into fists, Y/N left the store. She willed herself not to cry, not to lose it, until she reached a less crowded area. As she walked, it was hard for her to formulate how she was feeling. It was hard to put words to what she was going through. Even though she could’ve taken the tube or the bus, Y/N walked home. And in the 40 minutes it took her to reach the flat, she had not come to a conclusion to understand why she was so sad. The words were there, she could read them and see them, but as soon as she reached for them, to admit them to herself and to fully grasp them, they evaporated into grey vapour. She could not say it.

Sunday, 29 April 2018

“You’ve been quiet.”

Y/N tore her eyes away from the raindrops racing down one another on the window beside her. She glanced at Harry behind the steering wheel, his eyes on the road ahead of him, but he must have looked at her to understand that something was wrong. Or… well, he didn’t really have to. Y/N liked to talk, if she was quiet, then something was most likely wrong.

“Have I?” she asked, looking at her hands resting in her lap.

“Yeah, you alright?”

“No, I…” Y/N bit her lips together, feeling something in her throat clog up, as if the words refused to leave her mouth. She didn’t know what those words would even be if she were to speak them. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what’s wrong?”

She leaned her head back against the headrest. “Still working on it.”

“Alright,” Harry said, shifting his grip on the wheel. “Wanna talk? To get your mind off whatever’s bothering you?”

Y/N could feel herself smiling a tad at that. “Yeah.”

“I got the dagger tattoo.”

She looked at Harry. “You did?”

“Yeah, did some of it myself, but some angles were hard to do properly, so Wes helped me out.”

If Harry had only told Y/N earlier, he could have shown her the tattoo while they were still at the flat. Now, instead, they were in Harry’s car, driving down a tiny road that led to the cabin on the outskirts of Newport, Wales. They had been quiet most of the way, Y/N suspected Harry had given her silence so she could think. After all, they were going back to the cabin where her sister had been murdered, if she wanted to stay silent and reflect upon that then she should be allowed to. So, Harry let her be, only occasionally asking questions and making conversation, but for the most part, he just kept quiet, thinking and knowing that was what she really needed.

“You’ll have to show me later,” she said, smiling over at him.

Harry kept his eyes on the road as it went from gravel to dirt, making the drive bumpier than it already had been. Those same big trees rose above them that Y/N remembered from her childhood, keeping the best hiding places and all the world’s secrets. Leaves occupied the trees now working like an impenetrable roof for the forest floor beneath, which explained why the grounds were so brown and not a lush green colour.

“Down here,” Y/N said, her voice sounding faraway. Distant, even.

Harry must have noticed too, but he did not say anything, instead keeping his eyes on the road as it grew narrower. It did not even take a minute for the wooden cabin to show itself. An old Swedish couple had built it in the late 1980s, making it look very Scandinavian and half finished with its brown colour and small square windows. Y/N had not brought a key, knowing that she did not have the guts to enter the cabin just yet. She just needed a look, just needed to check something.

Harry cut the engine as they reached the parking spot Y/N’s papai always used. It was less of a marked-up parking spot and more of a convenient place to park your car. The ground showed of where a car had once stood many times over, and so Harry did the same as Y/N’s papai did. The window into the living room was just to Y/N’s left, and though you could barely make anything out without coming up close to look through it, she kept her eyes trained on the forest in front of her, not daring to even look in the direction of the cabin.

She closed her eyes, finding something that could resemble courage, and let it take over her. As long as she just did this without thinking too much, then she could get through it. She could reflect on what had just happened at a later time. Now, she just needed to get out of the car, and do what she came here to do.

She opened the car door and stepped outside, walking away from the cabin right away to create as much distance between her and the darkest place on planet Earth. Y/N heard her panicked breathing, and realised that if she looked at the cabin one more time, then that courage she had found bottled up inside her would not be enough to keep her on her feet when a panic attack came over her. She heard footsteps behind her and felt Harry’s presence at her side seconds later, his hands in his coat pocket as he looked up at the grey sky above them. It had been hot enough for them to wear tee shirts only yesterday, but now they had to wear jackets in order not to freeze. That was the weather in the United Kingdom for you in a nutshell.

“You alright?” Harry asked, his voice reassuring, but the hand he put at her back eased her more.

She nodded her head.

Harry looked around them at the dark forest that stretched out in all different kinds of directions, then scanning the sky above again. “This looks just as creepy as I would’ve imagined.”

Y/N swallowed, closing her eyes as she tried to calm her racing heart. The mere fact that the cabin was behind her made her want to throw up right then and there. “You think?”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “You loved it here when you were little?”

“I did. It was a safe haven,” Y/N explained, opening her eyes again, facing the exact part of the forest that she wanted to walk down. “It wasn’t this dark before.”

Harry only looked at her, but the next second, Y/N walked away from the cabin, continuing down the path her sister had taken her all those years ago. Harry followed suit, studying the woods around them the trees they walked by, the thick layer of green leaves above them. A crease appeared between his brows, indicating that he was incredibly uncomfortable being here. Somehow, that comforted Y/N.

The two of them walked for a few minutes, Harry not once asking where they were headed or what Y/N wanted to do out here in the forest, only following and trusting that she knew what she was doing. These woods had been her playground when she was little, she knew parts of them as well as she knew the inside of her room home in Nottingham.

Finally, they reached what Y/N had wanted to come to Newport for. When she stopped and bent down, Harry almost fell over his own feet, for some reason not having seen this one coming. He only watched as she dusted dried and dead leaves off the forest floor, revealing the old and wooden hatch. Touching the handle felt strange, as if she were touching part of history. She slowly opened the hatch, revealing the ladder beyond and the darkness of the cellar. Seeing it again brought back the memory of her and Marcela being her together all those years ago, of seeing her sister lose grip of the last rung. Hearing her meet the floor of the cellar with a thud.

Y/N reached for the phone in her pocket, bringing it out and getting her flashlight out, pointing it down at the pitch-black hole. It was just as she remembered.

“What’s that?” Harry asked, taking a careful step towards the hole to get a closer look.

“A cellar of sorts,” Y/N said. “My sister once told me this was the best hiding place near our cabin.”

Harry glanced at Y/N then, knowing what was happening next. Y/N put her phone in her mouth like her sister had done, and then let her feet dangle off the edge of the hole. She gripped the topmost step and planted her feet on one further down.

“Y/N, that’s pure fucking madness,” Harry said. “Get up.”

She took her phone out of her mouth. “Harry, I need to check to see what’s down there. It might be nothing, but this has eaten me alive recently. I need to check.”

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright, but let me go down there first.”

Y/N blinked. However, she did not protest, merely removed her feet from where they were already firmly placed on a step, and let Harry get his own phone out.

“Fuck, it’s dark,” Harry mumbled as he shone a light down in the cellar. “Have you been down there before?”

“No,” Y/N said. “But Marcela has. I suspect she’s been there multiple times.”

“Did the police ever find this place?”

Y/N thought for a second before she raised a shoulder in a shrug. “Dunno. I’ll have to ask mum and pai.”

Harry nodded, putting his phone in his mouth like she had just done. He sat down by the hole and took a grip of the ladder, a curl falling into his forehead as he started on his descent. Y/N watched him as he climbed all the way down, jumping off the ladder and onto the cellar floor with ease. He looked around, scanning the room slowly with his flashlight while Y/N sat by the top, watching like she had watched Marcela.

“The last steps are gone,” Harry called up.

“I know,” Y/N called back before putting her phone in her mouth, telling herself to just fucking do this. She had to do this. For Marcela. Y/N gripped the ladder and started climbing down like she had just watched Harry do, like she had watched Marcela do four years ago. The ladder felt old and rusty under her fingers, making her entire body tense up. She was ready to fall to her death any second, to be the sole reason why her and Harry starved to death in a cellar no one but them knew existed.

Finally, with sweat dotting her forehead and cupid’s bow, she reached the last whole step. But as she was about to put her foot there, she met nothing put air. She squealed a little, holding a little tighter onto the ladder with her hands and other foot.

“Oi,” Harry said, moving closer and putting a hand up. “Easy. I told you the last few steps had fallen off.”

Y/N furrowed her brows.

“Just jump, I’m here,” he said, voice so reassuring and warm that everything felt okay for a single second.

She did as he said, jumping from where she stood. Her feet hit the ground a little to hard, making her wince, but Harry was right there, one hand gripping her arm while the other arm snaked around her waist, holding her upright.

“There we go,” he mumbled, only just then realising that his phone’s flashlight was shining into Y/N’s jacket, making it harder to see the cellar. He took a small step away, letting her regain her footing as she glanced around. It was emptier than she thought it was. A simple wooden bed stood there, but no mattress occupied it, and some cupboards were on the other side of the tiny cellar, though some of the doors hung off their hinges, others looked fine, and some were removed. The walls and floor consisted of compact dirt, and the whole place smelled of rusted iron. Y/N hated it.

“Cosy place, innit,” Harry said, sounding like he meant the quite opposite. “Throw in a disco ball and you could host a rave.”

Y/N almost chuckled, but then her eyes landed on something on the floor beside some of the cupboards. A blue dog bowl. Whether it had been used for water or food, Y/N did not know, but it looked very out of place in such an old and dirty cellar. It had some dirt on it, probably having fallen from the ceiling and down into it over time, but the rather modern, blue dog bowl looked completely out of place. Y/N was certain this had not been here when Marcela was down there, or she would have told Y/N about it right away, even picked it up to show her.

What kind of sick human being had left a dog down in this cellar to die? Though it was dirty, the bowl did not seem to have been used. Maybe the dog had been given a last bowl of water before the owner just left it there to rot.

“What’s that doing here?” Harry asked, looking at the bowl over Y/N’s shoulder. He took it from her hands to examine it further, turning it over in his hand. “Strathy.”

Y/N blinked. “What?”

“Strathy.” He turned the bowl, showing Y/N the name that was written on it in neat handwriting. “The dog’s name.”

“Strathy,” she mumbled under her breath, feeling an immense sort of sadness take over her. She might not like animals much, but even she saw how wrong this was.

Harry grimaced, clearly feeling absolutely disgusted with this as well. After all, his dad took care of dogs at a dog hotel in Buckinghamshire. He had a rather special bond with the animal, Y/N supposed.

“Who just leaves a dog bowl down here?” she asked aloud, not expecting Harry to answer.

He frowned at it, giving it back to her so she could look at it. “Doesn’t make sense.”

Y/N turned around, looking at the ladder. And it was as Harry had said, the last two steps were gone, laying in pieces on the floor beneath the hole. “No, it doesn’t.”

Harry glanced over at where Y/N was looking, furrowing his brows. “Your sister said this was the best hiding place by your cabin?”

“Yeah, in December before the year she was killed,” Y/N said. “No one would find you if you hid here.”

Harry looked at Y/N as she looked at him. “Then why did someone else, someone who clearly came here after you and your sister did in December, know about this cellar?”

Y/N felt sick. “They must have known the grounds pretty well to know this was here.”

Harry only nodded, eyes falling to the dog bowl in Y/N’s hand. She glanced at the ladder again, feeling confused and furious at the same time. Who had been here after her and her sister had?

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

Even though Y/N’s door was open, Harry still knocked on the doorframe, looking in through the small slit in the door to check if it was alright with her if he entered.

“Disturbing my peace and quiet,” she said jokingly, putting a few folded tops in her suitcase to bring with her home for the summer.

“Thought you would appreciate the sight of the biggest hunk on the British Isles,” Harry grinned, opening the door and leaning a shoulder against the doorframe. “Give you some inspiration. Some motivation, even.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, Harry chuckling at the sigh as she put some more clothes in her suitcase. The room fell back into silence as Harry gave her some breathing space, obviously thinking that she did not appreciate him blocking her in any way when she was packing. She was not packing her entire room, after all she was coming back in September, but most of her clothes were in London and she wanted to take them home with her so she could wear them there. They were of no use just laying in her dresser in Hackney.

“How’d the exam go?” Harry asked.

She looked up at him, taking in his simple outfit. A loose buttoned-up shirt in a nice cream colour was tucked into dark brown trousers, his feet bare and his skin already glowing with an oncoming tan. So, he had spent most of the day outside. The tan would look nice against his tattoos. Y/N’s eyes fell to Harry’s tattoos, the ones on his knuckles in Greek that she still did not know the meaning behind, and then the barbed wire, making him look more badass than Y/N knew him to be. He now had a fern just below the dagger he had taken in April and a leaf on his pinky finger just below the barbed wire. At this rate, Harry would be covered in tattoos by the end of the year.

“New ink,” Y/N noted.

The right side of his lips tipped upward as he looked down at his arms and hands. “Yes.”

“You’re just taking advantage of the fact that you know how to use a tattoo gun.”

Harry chuckled. “Someone should take it away from me.”

“Truly.”

“I’m scared that I’ll, like, come up with cooler tattoo ideas later on, but then I’ve already filled up the spot where it’d look best.”

Y/N tilted her head at him. “Then you should slow down the tattooing.”

“Nah, can’t do that, love.”

She only rolled her eyes again, sitting down on top of the suitcase so she could close it and pull the zipper shut properly.

“You didn’t answer me earlier,” Harry asked, walking inside and sitting down on Y/N’s bed. “How’d your exam go?”

Y/N sighed, resting her chin in her hand as she glanced over at him. “Alright. We had an hour to, like, answer the two questions, one short answer and then a short essay. I was about halfway through my essay when I realised I only had ten minutes left.”

Harry grimaced.

“So, I just had to write until my wrist and hand ached, and was about to start writing the conclusion when we had to hand the papers over. I think Isla wrote way more than I did, dunno how she managed that.”

“How many pages did you get in?”

“About 12.”

Harry just stared at her. “And Isla got more down?”

“I think closer to 20.”

“20 handwritten pages in an hour?!” Harry said, sounding absolutely bewildered.

“She’s a machine that one.”

“Obviously.”

Y/N nodded, getting up from her suitcase and walking across her bed to get to the windows. She closed them both firmly, pulling the white heart pointelle cami top further down her torso, though it was supposed to just reach her belly button. Thankfully, her black tights reached just a little bit further up, keeping any more of Y/N’s skin to be exposed than what she wanted.

“Okay,” she said, sitting down beside him in bed again. “I want to be sure you’ve actually gotten better.”

“Understandable,” Harry retorted, nodding slightly.

“So, I don’t want to do too much just yet.”

He stopped for a second. “What does that mean?”

“That I want to just make out and get a feel of where you’re at. I think sex comes when we’re both turning each other on to the point where it’s actually going to be enjoyable. When I’m wet enough and you’re hard enough.”

Harry tried not to smile, but Y/N could tell he wanted to flash her a smirk. “I can assure you, you can make me do anything, and I’d be hard on the fucking spot.”

Y/N’s chest felt warm, and within seconds, her cheeks were approximately around the same temperature as the sun’s surface. There was something so very sweet about that, yet incredibly hot. She looked away from him, trying to act unbothered as she tried to find her words again, but by the slight chuckle emanating from Harry’s lips, Y/N knew he saw right through her act.

“What I’m trying to say is that I just want us to get familiar with the other’s body. Foreplay isn’t just about touching someone; it’s about touching someone. Feel their crotch, slide your hand under their clothes, grinding against them to the point of torture sometimes. That’s when the best sex happens.”

Harry nodded. “Take it you’re a big fan of foreplay.”

“The biggest.”

“Feel like I’m in good hands, then.”

“Figuratively and literally.”

He smiled.

“If you matched me on Tinder, and we were about to shag-“

“-I actually don’t think I’ve ever been on Tinder.”

Y/N blinked. “That’s not a flex.”

“Have you?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve got the app on my phone.”

“Wicked, you’ve got to show me then.”

She smiled, inhaling slowly. “I will. But first, let’s-“

However, fantastically, Harry took Y/N’s face in his hands and brought her to him. Before Y/N managed to finish her statement, they were kissing. The familiar feeling of Harry’s lips on hers made her previously tense shoulders relax considerably, making her involuntarily moan onto his lips. Harry kissed her more fiercely at the sound, moving closer so it would be easier for him to wrap his arms around her. She fell back onto the bed, crawling backward, and Harry crawled after her, settling himself so easily between her legs that it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

The ease at which they were doing this felt reassuring, like a good hug after a stressful day. She trusted that Harry knew what he was supposed to do, that he remembered from last time. And oh, did he remember.

She felt his hand slide down her front, laying the smallest amount of pressure on her breast, and Y/N realised with a suddenness that almost made her gasp; Harry was trying to tease her. His fingers slid over her, never laying his entire palm down against besides that grip of her boob, but besides that, he was touching her as lightly as possible, leaving Y/N’s body aching in its waking.

“Where’d you learn that?” she asked between kisses.

“What?”

“The teasing.”

She felt him grin against her. “Do you really want me to tell you?”

“Surprisingly enough.”

He chuckled. “Well,” he trailed off, looking down at the duvet beside her face. “The internet.”

Y/N felt herself halt a bit, looking at Harry as he refused to still meet her eyes. “You’ve been searching around?”

“About sex, yes.”

The corners of her mouth lifted. “Really?”

“How many times do you want me to admit it?”

She giggled. “Harry, it’s not something to be embarrassed about.”

“I think it is.”

“No, it just shows how dedicated you are to this. Which is anything but embarrassing.” She tried to catch his eyes. “It’s actually rather sweet.”

He met her gaze then, staring at her for a long while as if he could not quite believe what she had just told him. “You think?”

“You think I would’ve said it if I thought otherwise?”

Harry chuckled. “True.”

She smiled, arching her back a little so her tits were pressed against his chest. Harry bit his bottom lip, looking down at her front as she lowered herself down onto the mattress again. Raising her eyebrows, she watched as Harry took in her tits again, looking over at her with anticipation etched into his irises.

“I’m trying to silently tell you to kiss me again,” she said.

“Oh!” Harry exclaimed, bending down over her again. “Right.”

“Other’s might not do that, they might tell you, or maybe even expect you to do so. So, try and decipher what that person needs, what they want.” She settled herself into her duvet cover, Harry sinking further in between her legs as she wriggled her hips ever so slightly. His lips parted, both plump and swollen from kissing.

“What do I do if they don’t say anything?” Harry asked, lips hovering above hers. God, how she just wanted him to kiss her.

“Communicate. You can’t expect someone to know you and your needs right off the bat, people are different.”

“Right,” Harry said, sliding his nose against hers.

“And now I would really like it if you kissed me,” Y/N whispered against Harry’s lips, making Harry grip onto the duvet cover above Y/N’s head. Fiercely, he pressed his lips against her, slowly sliding his tongue into her mouth, making all kinds of shivers run up and down her body. Even after just one time, Harry knew certain buttons of hers that he had to push in order to get a reaction out of her. She wondered how long Harry had gone out with his previous partners for them to give up on him so quickly. If they had just shown him what they liked, if they had just explored, then Harry would have been a decent lover. He was so incredibly willing to learn new things that it was almost ridiculous. How had they just broken things off like that? If they had just been a little more patient, then Harry would have genuinely surprised them.

On the other hand, he had not actually showed her how bad he was in bed, like he was making it out to be, which could truly be the game changer.

Regardless, in that second, Y/N did not care about Harry’s skills in bed, instead she focused on how they worked outside the context of sex. They were just making out now, just checking each other out, trying to think about various ways to touch the other in order to turn them on.

One of Harry’s hands rested at Y/N’s knee, bringing it further up her chest so he could get a bit better access. She moaned as she felt his already hardening erection against her, instant wetness pooling between her legs. Her grip on his shirt tightened and she felt her nails dig into his skin under his shirt, urging him to continue doing what he was doing. Just like she had shown him last time, Harry grinded against her, doing it slowly and rubbing himself very deliberately against her for his own pleasure, but also trying to make sure she enjoyed it. The desire that ran up her spine was undeniable, making all hair on her body stand on end. His hardness grinded against her wetness again, the both of them moaning at the same time, losing themselves completely in one another.

Harry’s hand ran down Y/N’s thigh, coming to rest at her belly, slowly making its way to her very centre. She felt a yearning so intense it had to radiate off of her, engulfing her and Harry. Halting a bit, Harry’s fingers seemed to retract a bit, unsure if this was somewhere Y/N did not want him to venture or it if was encouraged. Instead of asking her, like she emboldened him to do multiple times, he traced the same path back up her belly, going to grab her breast again.

Y/N made a noise of protest, taking Harry’s wrist in her hand. She could feel Harry’s eyelashes flutter open against her own, and she opened her own eyes, detaching their lips. Slowly, she slid his hand down the way it had just come, making him lay as little pressure on her as he slid his hand down in order to tease as much as possible. Personally, she hated when someone would tease her because it only made her want sex even more than she already did, making her hungrier and more desperate than she would like, but it also made for the best shags. Teasing and dragging out, being needy for one another, was what created the best action when you finally had sex.

As they were just above her centre, she led his hand to her inner thigh, urging his fingers to trace along the skin of one of her most delicate places. Harry looked down between them, eager to follow along with what she did in any way he could. With care and maybe a little too much roughness, she made him grab her, at once showing how he would cherish her but at the same time make her squirm for more when the time came. Though Y/N was doing it herself, it was Harry’s hand that touched her, that made her entire body vibrate with expectancy. She bit her bottom lip, eyes not wavering from his face.

Slowly, his pinky came into contact with her centre, then his ring finger, middle, index, and lastly, his thumb. Each felt like a firework, reverberating through Y/N’s body and lighting her core on fire. It had been a while since someone had touched her with so much consideration, so patiently. Harry’s eagerness to please her, even though she was the one that showed him how to touch her, made her even hotter for him, if that was possible. With ease, she put her hand over his, putting extra pressure on his hand now and a little extra on his middle finger, she dragged his hand over her covered up cunt. A small gasp left her lips, eyelashes fluttering slightly. Harry looked up at her instantly, lips parting as his eyes scanned her face, ready to take in each one of her features when she laid under him like this. She did it again, this time putting a little more pressure at the very top of her centre, making a spark flood from her clit and out to the very tips of her fingers. This made her moan, involuntarily arching her back just a little at the sudden flash.

“Now you go,” she whispered, their eyes not wavering from one another.

Harry nodded, looking down between them at where his hand rested in her like that and then her removing his hand, letting him either mimic her moves or do something different. He watched his hand at first as it slid over her, putting that extra amount of pressure at her bud, making her gasp for breath. His eyes landed on her face again, eyes intent on her as he did it again, this time inhaling sharply as she moaned under him, of his doing.

“Just like that,” she encouraged, voice half moan and half mumble.

Harry did it again, earning the same reaction from her, his breath coming out all shaky, as if he could not quite believe he had this effect on her.

“You look bewildered,” Y/N said, trying not to laugh.

“I always thought that touching someone like that would be a little much too soon. Would you not rather I touched your cunt when we’re naked and about to have sex?”

“Yes, of course,” Y/N said, regaining her breath. “But you’re showing me what you’ll do to me when we actually get naked. Teasing can be pure torture, but it’s what makes the reward so much better when we actually fuck.”

Harry nodded, his already red cheeks reddening considerably. “Alright.”

Y/N smiled. “What?”

“I guess I… I’m not used to being…” Harry sighed, looking away from her and at his hand fisted in the sheets. “It’s vulgar.”

“What?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Touching me?”

“No, touching like that. Grabbing someone through their clothes, touching your cunt like that.”

Y/N smiled again. “I can tell by the way you’re whispering the word that you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable, it’s just a new way of having sex, I guess.” Harry blinked. “Also, what word do I whisper?”

“Cunt.”

“Oh.” Harry met her eyes again. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“It’s… vulgar.”

“It’s dirty,” Y/N said. “Not my cunt,-“ Harry laughed at that. “-but the word. Saying it, especially in this setting, is hot.”

“You like dirty talk?”

“When it’s done right. When it’s not, it can really ruin whatever’s going on.”

“Oh, right,” Harry said, nodding slightly. “There’s a balance.”

“Exactly,” Y/N smiled. “Annalise told me about this time she had sex with an American, like proper southern American.”

Harry chuckled a little at just that.

“And they were in doggy, so she asked him to grab her hair, and-“

“-Do you like that?” Harry asked rather quickly, as if the question had occurred to him on the spot and he had been unable to stop himself from asking.

“What, having my hair pulled?”

Harry nodded.

“Dunno, haven’t really tried it.”

Harry smirked, and Y/N could already see what he was thinking. She only rolled her eyes and continued on with the story, the bulge of Harry’s trousers pressing against Y/N’s centre.

“Anyway, she asked him to pull her hair, and if you, like, grab it with one hand, that’s hot and feels good, but if you grab it with two, if feels more like you’re trying to ride a horse.”

Harry chuckled.

“And while this man was holding Annalise’s hair with both hands, he just said ‘Easy, girl’ and this southern accent, and it sounded fully like he was trying to calm a horse down.” Y/N suspected that Harry was laughing more at Y/N’s attempt at a southern American accent than the actual story, but seeing him howling on top of her, burying his face in her neck to laugh some more there, made it impossible for her to even finish the story. They laid like that for a little while, just laughing and bathing in each other’s presence. It took a while for them to look at one another again, smiling when they remembered how ridiculous Y/N had sounded and how this all happened in the middle of a rather heated moment.

“Okay, let’s move on,” she said, making Harry chuckle some more.

“Right, what’s next?”

Y/N pushed him off her and down onto the bed beside her, quickly straddling him. She leaned down, kissing him hard, having missed the feel of his lips in the few seconds they hadn’t been touching hers. Harry’s hands fell to her bum, pushing her down onto his hard cock, Y/N instantly reacting by letting go of a small groan. He knew what to do now, how to handle her with care, but also make sure to let her know who was in control. Well, kind of, anyway. She was certainly the one with the most control out of the two of them.

She started grinding against him, sliding her hot core over his erection, a shock of pleasure running up to her chest, heating up her entire body. Harry must have felt something similar because he moaned into her mouth, his grip on her arse hardening along with his cock. She did just that again and again, feeling him become more desperate under her, grabbing onto her thighs and arse, one hand holding onto her neck to keep her lips on him. She felt herself get more needy as well, suddenly wanting to feel that release she had told the both of them that they would not be chasing today. However, when she was this wet and he was this hard, both of them clawing, gripping, and moaning at each other, it was very hard to remember what they had agreed upon earlier.

“Do you want to be in control?” she mumbled against his lips, a shaky breath leaving Harry’s lips.

“Show me how,” he said, panting just like she was.

She took his hands, putting them above Harry’s head. “Keep them there,” she said. “Don’t move.”

“What happens if I do?”

“I’ll have to punish you.”

A breath left Harry’s lips; his eyes filled with lust as he looked up at her. He only nodded, looking absolutely entranced by her. Y/N pressed a kiss to Harry’s jaw, then another one to his neck, then the front of his collarbone, feeling him squirm beneath her as she did. The need to have his hands on her, to make her grind against him to feel something, was clearly an instinct that was hard for him to fight.

“Lay still,” she urged him as her hands found the collar of his shirt, fingers sliding over his exposed skin until they came into contact with the button that kept his beautiful chest from being bare.

Slowly, she unbuttoned his shirt. She kissed down his now exposed chest, making her way down his torso until she was by his navel. Untucking the shirt, she undid the last button before pushing the fabric to each side, baring his chest to her. The red dragon on his right back and the black on his left were finally right there. The tattoos she had been thinking about for so long now, finally right in front of her. She made her way up to them, tracing her finger from the head of the red dragon that almost reached Harry’s collarbone and down in a circle and some waves before reaching the tail that ended up right beside his nipple. The black one did only slither to create one wave along its long and slim figure, but its wings were bigger, almost reaching Harry’s left shoulder, while the pointy tail came to rest just beside his nipple. Y/N could not explain how attractive she found his tattoos, especially these ones. Harry must have the exact same taste in tattoos as her, something that made her very happy about their little deal.

When she settled over his crotch again, his erection was even more prominent than before, the hardness feeling absolutely fantastic against her warm cunt. She put her hands on his knees behind her, slowly beginning to grind against Harry again. He craned his neck, lips parting as some slight release washed over the both of them. Dutifully, his hands still laid above his head where she had left them, where she hard ordered him to keep them. The sight of him displayed like that, all hers and trembling underneath her while she teased him, was maybe one of the hottest sights she had ever laid her eyes upon.

He looked up at her, eyes wild and bottom lip all dark pink from him having bitten it so hard while she had kissed her way down his chest. Their eyes locked, and Y/N could tell Harry wanted to grab her, to hold her to some extent. She recognised now that Harry liked holding her when they were like this. If they were getting things going, it seemed out of the question if he was not touching her to some extent.

Which must have been why he finally snapped, sitting up and taking a grip of her waist. Y/N exhaled sharply when Harry turned them around, making her back come into contact with the mattress again. Harry held onto her knee again before letting his hand trail up her side, the other one taking her hand in his, resting their intwined fingers above Y/N’s head as they started kissing again. Finally between her legs again, Harry started sliding over her again, this time his movements had a little more force behind them. She felt it in her toes, the heat in her core growing with each stroke. Bloody hell, she just wanted to fuck him right then. Harry had truly proven to her that he knew how foreplay worked, how incredibly important it was. Though he was the most impatient person she knew, he truly seemed to be enjoying himself when they teased each other like this.

Maybe, like her, he enjoyed the power it brought. You truly felt so powerful, so potent, so paramount, when you could make someone tremble at your touch.

Harry’s movements grew more frantic, his hands grabbing at her harder, and she felt her own nails dig into his flesh, begging him for more. Suddenly, without much warning, Harry got up from between her legs, and then made her turn over so she was on her stomach. This took Y/N completely off guard, but she welcomed the change, welcomed him trying something new and taking control. After all, that was what he wanted to learn how to do, how to become confident enough to order someone around in bed without thinking he was disrespecting them and their bodies.

Harry came to rest on top of her, his hand sliding from the rolls at her sides and up to her shoulder where he slowly traced his way to her neck. There, he took a light grip of her, bending down so that they could both feel his erection between her arse cheeks. Y/N closed her eyes at the sensation, feeling a very welcome chill run up her spine out of pure excitement. He stayed there, kissing her shoulder, her neck, breathing against her skin and making Y/N hyper aware of each one of his movements.

Because he remained immobile, she arched her back and lifted her bum ever so slightly off the bed. She pushed herself against him, then move her arse against him, wanting to feel some kind of friction even though it was barely existent on her part. Harry drew in a sharp breath and moaned instantly, holding onto Y/N’s neck with one hand while the other held him upright on the mattress. She continued to move over him and Harry grinded against her. Harry’s breaths came out quicker, slight whimpers leaving his swollen lips, vibrating against Y/N’s skin. It had certainly not been the point, but as Y/N understood what was going to happen, she just continued to rub herself against him, and Harry did the same.

His grip on her loosened and he put his hands on either side of her hips, moaning and panting and whimpering as he grinded against her. Suddenly, he jerked, and he gripped Y/N’s hips tight, trying to move against her, but he only managed to move in jagged motions. He came as Y/N slid her bum over him, feeling his cock move with each squirt inside his boxer, pulsating against the fabric; against her. Harry stayed like that over Y/N, and when she looked over her shoulder, it looked like he did not know what has just happened. After all, they weren’t supposed to do anything, really. They were just supposed to make out. And yet…

“In an ideal situation,” Y/N said. “You start having sex before that happens.”

Harry met her eyes, laughing loudly along with her. He fell down onto the bed beside her and she turned to lay on her back as well, both just looking up at the ceiling of Y/N’s bedroom.

“Note to self,” Harry said, still coming down from what had just happened, panting slightly. “Don’t come during foreplay.”

Y/N laughed, and Harry looked at her with the biggest grin on his face. “Add that to the list of everything else I’ve taught you, and you’ll be good for when we have sex.”

Harry chuckled, looking up at the ceiling again. “Tattoo appointment when we get back in September, then?”

She nodded, sitting up in bed. “Yeah, it’ll give me enough time to think about what I want tattooed.”

Harry sat up as well. “Imagine I’ll have a few more tattoos as well.”

“You’ll be working at Asgard this summer?”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “I’ll just either live here or at my mum’s, visit my dad a bit.” He shrugged. “But I have a tattoo gun so I’ll just do it at home, don’t need to be there unless I want some ink a place I can’t reach properly myself.”

Y/N’s heart stopped a little. “You have a tattoo machine here?”

Harry studied her face, a small grin appearing over his face. “Yeah. Your fanny fluttering at the thought?”

She slapped him across his still exposed chest; Harry laughed. “You know what, just leave. I need to finish packing.”

Harry grinned, getting up from the bed as he started buttoning up his shirt again, looking around Y/N’s room as he made his way for the door. “Will you miss London while you’re away?”

Y/N glanced around at her room, taking in the four walls she had spent so much time within during her first year of University. It did not seem real that she would be in Nottingham over the next four months, that she would go back to living with her parents for the time being until uni started back up again in September. Her first year had gone by so quickly, it did not seem real that it was coming to a close. She could not believe that it had almost been a year since she moved to London, since she med Chloe, Thian, Hayden, and Annalise, since she started working at Domino’s. It at once felt like ages ago, yet it also felt like it all happened last month. She remembered everything in vivid detail, and knew she would probably remember her uni years that clearly for eternity. So far, it had been the best time of her life.

She nodded her head, looking back over at Harry again. “I’ll miss it. But I’ll be back in September to pester you another year.”

Harry grinned. “Good, almost thought you would stop bullying me by the time we get back.”

“No, don’t you worry,” she said, smiling. “The bullying won’t stop for the world.”

Harry tucked his hands into his trouser pockets, whipping a curl out of his face as he said, “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Friday, 17 May 2018

“Happy birthday!” Hayden screamed when Y/N answered their FaceTime call, their hands over their head and their short hair an absolute mess. They dropped their phone onto their bed, only to appear a second later with a red party hat on their head, waving it in front of the camera.

Y/N laughed. “Thanks, mate.”

“What’re you up to today?” Hayden asked, leaning back against their headrest.

“Well, since I’ve already been awake three hours, I have been up to quite a lot, actually.”

It was Hayden’s turn to laugh now. “What’s that then?”

“Pai and I made some pão na chapa, which is essentially skillet toasted French bread rolls, for breakfast, nothing extravagant. Then we went to pick up a cake that mum’s had made for the occasion, and then mum took me shopping for some new clothes. Just got home,” Y/N explained. “But we’re having a big lunch later with our entire family and we’ll serve a big dinner then.”

“Sounds like a very you birthday.”

“Good thing it’s my birthday, then.”

Hayden laughed, leaning their head back against the wall and forgetting about their birthday hat, making the string snap off their chin and the hat fall off their head. Y/N chuckled as she sat down in her bed as well, looking over at her window to see if it was closed or not. Her papai must have opened it while her and her mum were out shopping. Y/N quickly walked over to close it, but then a breeze came in through the small slit, cooling her down in what had already been the starts to a very hot mid-May day. She left it open.

“I wanted to ask you about something,” Hayden said, throwing the party hat away somewhere in their room.

“Yeah?”

“What do you want for your birthday? Like, is there a specific birthday present you’d want from say…” They shrugged. “Me, Thian, Annalise, and Chloe.”

Y/N smiled. “You’re getting me a birthday present, are you?”

“Of course!” Hayden said, sounding shocked. “You’re our mate! Now, what do you want? It can be anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” Y/N thought for a second, sitting back down on her bed. “Maybe like concert tickets, but not expensive ones for like a popular band. Maybe for a more lowkey one, one where tickets aren’t super expensive, and we can all go.”

Hayden nodded. “That sounds like so much fun, though. Just the gang, and your flat, of course.”

Y/N smiled. Someone shouted something in the back of Hayden’s end of the call, making them groan loudly before rolling their eyes.

“Right, my mum needs me to come downstairs. But,” Hayden said, getting out of bed, stepping on the party hat and crushing it under their weight. A stream of curse words left their lips before they bent down to retrieve it, showing it to Y/N before throwing it away in the bin. “We’ll bake a cake when we see each other this summer, okay?”

Y/N’s smile widened. “I’d love that.”

“Good, ‘cause we’re baking a cake when we see each other this summer.”

Y/N giggled. “Your mum gonna kill you or something?”

“Think she’s just realised I’ve raided the cupboard of Digestives.”

Y/N laughed.

“I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Hayden smiled, waving at the screen.

“Yeah, yeah,” Y/N said. “Hope you survive your mum’s wrath.”

“Doubt it.”

Y/N smiled, waving at the screen before they both hung up. A knock sounded at Y/N’s door a second later and then her mother walked into her room, smiling at her. She held a white envelope in her hand, holding it out for Y/N to take.

“You’ve got post, my dove.”

Y/N halted a little, unsure of who could possibly want to contact her through post. Lottie walked back out the door, leaving it open as she walked back downstairs, Davi’s singing sounding from the kitchen as he prepared everything for lunch. Y/N sat back down in her bed, studying the envelope in her hands closely. She thought she recognised the handwriting at the front of the envelope that spelled out her full name and her Nottingham address under it rather perfectly. As she turned the letter around to see the return address on the flap of the envelope, she realised why.

13 Dovecote Close, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, HP27 9JU. Harry E. Styles.

She bit her lips together, already feeling the oncoming grin tugging at the edges of her lips. She should not have put it past Harry to do something for her birthday, this was just like him, to go out of his way and send her something in the post rather than just give it to her while they were both still under the same roof the week previous. Y/N opened it, peeking inside to see two different notes, reminding her an awful lot of the ones she slid under his door to set up a time for their little sessions. She reached in, pulling one of the two out.

Happy birthday, Y/N. Turn this around to see what I think your next tattoo should be.

She did, only to find herself laughing instantly. A heart was drawn on the other side, ‘Harry’ written in magnificent handwriting inside it. She let her finger trace the letters, imagining how smug Harry would have looked drawing this, knowing exactly the kind of reaction he would conjure up out of her. Chuckling still, she reached into the envelope and pulled out the second and last note.

And here’s something I actually think you would like.

Turning this one around, she found a drawing that took her breath away instantly. With black wings spread wide, almost glittering in the light that was supposed to shine on them, a crow was drawn in vivid detail on the other side. It looked strong, terrifying, even, staring straight back at her with an intensity and intellect only crows managed, as if they knew all your secrets and weren’t afraid to tell them to the wind, letting them carry through the world. Y/N ran a finger over the crow, feeling very overwhelmed all of a sudden. She had not expected him to draw something for her that he thought she would like tattooed on her body forever, yet here he was. It was the most beautiful thing Y/N had ever seen, and she wondered what had made him draw it.

Y/N awoke gradually, suddenly realising with slow efficiency that she was awake. Her room was draped in complete darkness, the streetlamp outside her window having been turned off for the night. Her eyes focused on her door for no particular reason, zoning in and out of what was going on, part of her thinking it was a dream while the other told her she was awake. Once she realised this was indeed reality, she tried closing her eyes again, readjusting the placement of her head against her pillow, tucking the duvet up to her skin.

A car drove by. Y/N’s eyes shot open. The car sounded closer, as if she had just stood outside, and she quickly realised why that was. Y/N had not slept with her window open since before Marcela disappeared, not in this house. Preferring to keep it closed, it felt safer that way. No spirits, no people, nothing, could sneak in through a closed window.

But as she heard footsteps outside, as if someone was walking hurriedly by her house, Y/N knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that her window was open. Wide open. It had not been that open since the night before Marcela was declared murdered. Grabbing onto her duvet, Y/N looked in the direction of the window only to confirm what she had been thinking. There her window was, the blinds open, open to let all the air, everything, inside. She wanted to get out of bed and close it, but her legs were locked to her bed, her limbs felt too heavy, too unsteady, for her to walk on right now. She had to calm down, blame it on her not closing her window earlier that day after talking to Hayden. That was it. It was the draught.

If she could just reach for her phone, she could call her mother and ask her to come into her room and close the door. Maybe she could check under her bed as well to make sure no one had gotten into her room in the time the window had been wide open. Y/N’s room was on the first storey, so it would be difficult to get in through her window, but she was also paranoid beyond belief.

Out of the corner of her eye, Y/N saw movement. A stupid sense of relief washed over Y/N, thinking that maybe Lottie had come to check up on her. But no, it was not her mum. Averting her eyes from the window, Y/N looked to the end of her bed, feeling her heart stop beating. Her body lay still for a few seconds until she suddenly started shaking. It was not violently, but uncontrollable. She gripped into her duvet even harder, telling herself over and over again that this was not real.

Not real. Not real. Not real. This is just a dream; you are just having a nightmare. Close your eyes. Go back to sleep.

And Y/N tried. She closed her eyes, telling herself that this was just a figment of her idiotic imagination. Whatever she had just seen was not real, it couldn’t be. However, falling asleep when you had just seen your dead sister standing at the foot of your bed was hard.

Y/N opened her eyes, feeling a small whimper leave her lips out of pure fear. Even though she could barely see without her glasses, she still saw that. Marcela looked at Y/N with an eerie sort of passiveness, eyes resting emotionlessly on her younger sister as she shook with fear in her bed. The only way Y/N could tell it was her sister was by the slight light that came naturally from the night beyond, only illuminating half of her dead sister’s form. She did not look dead. In fact, her sister had to be a hallucination. She looked like Marcela, yet she did not. It was strange, almost devilish. She wore the exact same outfit as the last time Y/N had seen her, a floral dress and her denim jacket. A tiny smile rested on her lips, but not one Y/N had ever seen before. There was absolutely zero joy behind it. It rather looked like she was smiling for the sake of smiling. As if to ease the nerves of a terrified deer before she attacked to devour every last bit of her prey.

“M-Mari?” Y/N croaked, still unable to move.

Marcela only cocked her head to the side, still smiling that bizarre smile, making her face appear uncanny. Slowly, she raised her left hand. Y/N felt herself shrink behind her duvet. Marcela’s eyes fell onto her wrist, and when Y/N looked, she felt herself draw in a shaky breath. Marcela looked up at Y/N again, that uncanny smile still lingering on her lips as her hand fall to her side again. Slowly, Marcela walked backward towards Y/N’s door, opening it just barely. Moving out of the light of the open window, Marcela looked like a ghost. Black like complete darkness, moving unseen and transparent towards the door. Keeping her eyes on Y/N the entire way, she stepped outside. The door closed just as gradually as Marcela had walked, barely audible as it clicked into place.

Though she was trembling, Y/N removed her duvet, put her glasses on, and shakily made her way towards her door. She walked around the spot the hallucination of Marcela had just been standing, refusing to be near it. Carefully, she laid a hand on her door handle, it felt cool to the touch. As if no one had touched it a mere minute ago. Or that person had been very cold. Slowly, she opened the door, looking out into the hallway beyond. No one was there. Not a trace, not a sound.

Y/N had a hard time falling asleep, and when she woke up at 6 the next morning, it barely felt like she had gotten any rest at all. However, she wasted no time. She got dressed as quickly as she could, put some contacts in, and sent a text to her parents that she was out and about. With some breakfast in hand, Y/N drove as fast as she could. There weren’t too many out driving now, but she knew that she would be spending a lot of times in queues the closer she got to the capital. She zoomed down the motorway, not paying any attention to anything but the road ahead. Whenever she went on drives like this, she would need to have some of her own music playing in the background so she could jam out. Music could wait right now, because there was something she needed to check. Something that could simply not wait.

Once she reached the outskirts of London, the traffic was horrendous, making Y/N bite her nails as anxiety and stress started eating at every single one of her limbs. Though it took a decent amount of time to get into London by normal standards, Y/N still felt like that hour and some was the longest of her life. When she finally reached Hackney, Y/N felt her anxiety ebb just slight away. Driving in London was ridiculous, but at least she knew the streets near her well and could take some small and less busy shortcuts.

On Orsman Road, Y/N jumped out of her car and ran for the flat building’s front door. Then, after unlocking it, ran for her flat, and unlocked that front door too before sprinting for her room. The entire flat was empty, no one but her were there, which almost made it wrong for her to be there, it felt like. This was supposed to be a place she shared with Harry, Nathan, and Mason. Not someplace to run through, anxiety high, pulse higher, to get to her room as fast as possible.

She burst through her door and looked at her desk, trying to calm her breathing down as the sight in front of her dawned on her. With clammy hands, she rubbed at her eyes, maybe that would help her see more clearly. But it made no difference. She walked over to her desk then, throwing the books on her bed and putting the mug filled with pens on her dresser as she searched everywhere. But it was of no use. None at all. The watch was gone.

This is what I imagine Harry’s crow painting to look like btw!

NEXT UPDATE: Sunday, 23rd May, 9PM GMT!

Huge thanks to my AMAZING beta readers! 🏛️ @aileenacoustic​ 🏛️ @devil-in-bw-the-sheets​ 🏛️ @fromyourstrulyh​​  🏛️

FIC PAGE | COME TALK !!!

READ TWO CHAPTERS AHEAD ON PATREON | CHECK OUT THE OTHER FIVE EXCLUSIVE PATREON STORIES HERE!

[btsqualityy]

Assuage: Chapter 22

Yoongi x Reader

Genre: ABO (Alpha/Beta/Omega) dynamics, angst, fluff, smut, enemies to lovers

Warnings: Smut, dirty talk (like, it gets dirty lol), some light degradation, unprotected sex, choking, creampie

“Ow!” Jungkook shouted as he landed hard on his back, his eyes narrowing at Yoongi who was now standing over him. “What the fuck hyung?!”

“Hey, it’s training,” Yoongi shrugged. “Don’t be mad at me kid.”

“Yeah exactly, it’s training,” Jungkook scoffed. “That doesn’t mean to try and fucking paralyze me.”

“Come on kid,” Yoongi chuckled, extending his hand and waiting until Jungkook grabbed onto it before helping him back to his feet again.  Everyone was out in a clearing in the woods, preparing themselves for the war against Seo-hyun’s pack, just like they had been everyday for the past four days and Jungkook and Yoongi had been put together as sparring partners. 

“I see why everyone not so subtly refused to be your partner,” Jungkook groaned as he got into his fighting stance again and waited for Yoongi to do the same before throwing a punch.

“Everyone except Hobi,” Yoongi grunted, dodging Jungkook’s fist before retaliating with a shot at Jungkook’s arm. 

“He’s still mad at you?” Jungkook wondered with an oomph, Yoongi knocking the wind out of him when he raised his leg and kicked Jungkook on the side of his abdomen. 

“If you call staring at me with distain and looking as though he’s ready to kill me at any moment and the only thing holding him back is that Namjoon told him to let it go being mad, then yes,” Yoongi answered, lifting his leg again and doing a type of fan kick that caused him to hit Jungkook in the hip and drag him down onto the ground. 

“How are things going over here?” Namjoon wondered as he walked over to them. 

“I need a new partner,” Jungkook huffed. “Yoongi hyung’s trying to kill me.”

“I doubt that,” Namjoon laughed as he held his hand out and helped Jungkook stand up straight again. “We all know Taehyung would kill him if he tried and I doubt Yoongi wants those problems.”

“You got that right,” Yoongi muttered in agreement. “We’re doing good though. How’s everyone else?”

“I actually think we’ll have a chance to win tomorrow,” Namjoon smiled proudly. 

“Well, that’s reassuring to hear,” you spoke up as you walked up to them. Yoongi immediately leaned over so that you could press a quick kiss to his lips before pulling away.

“What are you doing here?” Yoongi asked. 

“Yeah, what are you doing here Y/N-ah?” Namjoon repeated. “You know what I told you.”

“I’m just here to get Yoongi since training is over for today,” you scoffed. “And yes, I remember what you told me even though I still strongly believe that you’re making a mistake by not letting me fight as well.”

“Y/N-ah, it just wouldn’t be smart,” he sighed. “You’re our Pack Physician now. Who’s going to take care of the inevitable injuries that are going to happen tomorrow if you don’t?”

“I get it, I get it,” you replied. “I just feel weird about the fact that everyone is going out to fight tomorrow and I’m not.”

“You’re still helping the pack baby,” Yoongi assured you. “Just in a different way.” You just smiled at him then, leaning over and kissing his cheek again. 

“As much as I do love to see you two be all fluffy with each other,” Jungkook groaned. “Are we free to go hyung? I wanted to spend some time with Tae hyung before tomorrow.”

“Yeah, just let me say something to everyone really quick,” Namjoon nodded before turning around to face everyone. “Alright guys, training’s over for the day and if I could get your attention, I’d like to say something to you all.” Everyone turned around to face Namjoon and silence fell over them all before Namjoon began to speak again. 

“Tomorrow is going to be a hard day,” he started. “There are some of us who are veterans when it comes to war and for others, this will be their first time. Regardless, the only thing that I can tell you all is to be as brave as you possibly can and fight for this pack. Until tomorrow though, when you’ll have to worry about that, go home. Go home and spend time with your families, your mates, your pups. Have a good meal and get a good night’s rest and tomorrow, we fight for the fate of this pack.” 

Everyone applauded once the short speech was over before beginning to disperse. Jungkook said goodbye to you all before walking away, and Namjoon did the same as well.

“So, wanna go back to mines?” You asked Yoongi and he nodded his head. 

“That sounds amazing,” he nodded. 

.............................................

“I wish you’d just be honest with me,” Yoongi groaned as he laid in your bed, watching you move around the room as you got ready for bed. 

“I am being honest,” you shot back as you pulled one of Yoongi’s t-shirt over your head, taking a second to throw the shirt that you had had on all day into the hamper before moving to unbutton your pants. 

“Baby, I can smell the worry in your scent,” Yoongi pointed out as he watched you take your pants off, leaving you in only your panties. You then walked over to the bed, crawling onto it and settling your body down right next to Yoongi’s. He raised his arm and allowed you to cuddle up to him so that you were resting your chin on his chest and looking up at him. 

“What do you want me to say?” You asked.

“I want you to talk to me,” he urged you. “It’s you and I right now, no one else.”

“What, you want me to tell you that I’m absolutely terrified of what might happen tomorrow?” You questioned. “You want me to tell you that I’m afraid of something happening not only to you, but to my brother and two of my closest friends too?”

“Yes, if that’s how you feel,” Yoongi nodded. “And you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“You don’t fucking know that so don’t try and sell me on a promise that you know you can’t keep,” you warned him.

“Well, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to not fight then?” He asked.

“When you first told Namjoon that you would, yes that’s exactly what I wanted but I don’t know now,” you shrugged. “I love the fact that you want to fight for the pack but I just...”

“You just what?”

“I don’t want to lose you,” you confessed, tears welling up in your eyes. “I’m a strong woman Yoongi but I’ve lost so much over the years, I don’t think I’d be able to handle loosing you too.”

“Hey baby, it’s ok,” he sighed as he reached down and grabbed your hand that had been resting on his chest, intertwining your fingers with his. “I know that I can’t make you any solid promises about what might or might not happen tomorrow so I won’t but I can promise you that I’ll try my damndest to make sure that I come home to you.”

“You promise? You won’t do anything crazy or stupid?”

“Considering that it’s my first time fighting in a war, I hope not,” he chuckled. “But I guarantee you, I’ll do everything in power to make sure that I’m able to come back here tomorrow night and tell you how much I love you.”

“I love you too Yoongi,” you whispered, leaning up and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. That gentle kiss quickly became heated though, Yoongi’s hands moving down your body and settling on your ass as he pulled you closer to him.

“Missed you,” he murmured against your lips.

“Missed you too Alpha,” you replied. “I wanna feel you.”

“You wanna feel me where baby? You gotta use your words,” he smiled and you pulled away from his lips to look down at him. 

“Want to feel you inside of me. I want you to give me your knot.”

“Get on your back for me,” he instructed and you didn’t hesitate before rolling over, letting your legs fall open as he climbed on top of you. He leaned down and attached his lips to your scent gland, sucking on the skin there. 

“Ah, ah,” you moaned and you belatedly realized that it came out super high pitched but you could honestly care less because it feel good and you missed him. 

“Mm, baby likes that,” Yoongi teased and you rolled your eyes at the ceiling. 

“Don’t be mean,” you huffed and he just hummed in reply before sitting up again.

“Lift up for a second,” he said and you did so, lifting your arms afterwards so that he could take his shirt that you had on off, leaving you in just your panties. Once he threw it over his shoulder, he immediately grabbed ahold of your breasts and sucked your left nipple into his mouth. 

“Shit Yoongi,” you gasped as you fell back onto the bed, Yoongi following you easily. After a few seconds, he switched over to your right nipple to give it the same treatment. 

“I need more,” you whined as you lifted your hips up off of the bed and Yoongi pulled away from your breasts to look down at you. 

“What do you want baby?” He asked you, his thumbs skimming your now hardened nipples. “You know that all you have to do is tell me and I’ll give it to you.”

“I want you to fuck me,” you told him. “Now.”

“No foreplay?” He checked.

“As much as I love it, I just wanna feel you right now,” you replied. “Please?” 

“You got it baby,” he smiled. The both of you worked on getting completely undressed, you taking off your panties and Yoongi pushing his boxers and pajama pants down his legs. Once you were both bare, Yoongi settled himself in between your legs on his knees and he marveled at how slick you had gotten.

“Someone’s missed me,” he smirked, reaching out and lightly touching your clit which made you jolt for how sensitive you were. 

“D-don’t tease m-m-me,” you whimpered, biting your lip when he gently pushed his pointer finger inside of you. 

“I won’t for too long, I promise,” he murmured as he began to finger you slowly. Usually, one finger wasn’t enough for you but you were so turned on, it felt like heaven. 

“Yoongi, please,” you groaned. 

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled as he pulled his finger out of you, using some of your wetness to lubricate his cock. He then shuffled closer to you, grabbing ahold of the base of his cock before pushing himself inside of you. 

“Oh fuck,” you moaned loudly, your arms immediately coming up to rest around his shoulders. 

“Holy shit Y/N-ah,” he grumbled, making sure that he was steady on his knees before starting to fuck into you. “So tight for me.”

“Come here,” you whispered and Yoongi lowered his upper body so that he was hovering right over you. You leaned up to meet him and stuck your nose into his neck, deeply inhaling his fresh water and citrus scent.

“Oh, that’s what you wanted,” Yoongi chuckled as he continued to fuck you. “You know, you’re trying out to be a scent slut.”

“I can’t help it,” you whimpered, not even bothering to deny. “You just smell so fucking good Alpha.”

“You do too baby, you do too,” he huffed, your walls clenching around him making him feel like he could come at any moment. He tried to straighten up again but your arms wrapped around his shoulders prevented him from doing so.

“No,” you whined. 

“Baby, I wanna rub your clit and I can’t do that from this position,” he laughed and you reluctantly loosened your arms, letting them fall away as he sat up straight. “Aw, don’t pout baby. Don’t you want Alpha to make you come?”

“Please,” you nodded and Yoongi held his pointer, middle, and ring fingers in front of your face.

“Get them wet baby,” he instructed you and you quietly opened your mouth, wrapping your lips around all three digits and sucking on them. You rolled your tongue over and in between his fingers, making Yoongi groan because you were literally sucking on them as if they were his cock. 

“Fuck, you look so sexy like this,” he grunted, his hips snapping against yours harder now. “Drooling all over Alpha’s fingers. God, I could pop my knot just from watching you.”

“Dow rit,” you gurgled, trying to egg him on and he just chuckled as he pulled his fingers out of your mouth and set them on your clit.

“Gotta make you come first,” he smirked as he began to rub firm circles onto the nub, making you keen from how good it felt. As he continued to thrust into you and rub your clit, you felt your orgasm winding itself up in the pit of your abdomen. 

“Holy shit,” you gasped. “I-I’m gonna come.”

“I’m not stopping you baby,” Yoongi smiled as he rubbed your clit faster and that was what made you come undone. Your back arched up off of the bed, your body jerking lightly from how hard you were coming. Yoongi cooed at you as he watched, his Alpha feeling proud that he was able to make his Omega come so hard.

“P-please, slow down,” you huffed as you reached down to push your hand against his hip in an effort to stop him. He took his hand off of your clit and reached down to grab your hand, lifting it away from his hip and bringing it up to his lips in order to press a few soft kisses to your palm. 

“You wanna turn onto your side for me?” He wondered and you nodded your head, wincing a little when he pulled his cock out of you. You then turned over and laid on your right side while Yoongi settled himself behind you, scooting closer so that his chest was pressed against your back. He grabbed your thigh, pulling on it until it was hooked over his hip.

“This ok?” He checked in and you nodded, laying your head on his right arm that had snaked it’s way underneath you. Grabbing his cock, he slowly guided himself inside of you, making you sigh quietly when he bottomed out. 

“O-oh,” you moaned when he began to fuck you. “Fuck, that’s deep.”

“It is,” he agreed easily. “You’re opening up so good for me baby. Taking Alpha’s cock so well.”

“Mmm, yeah,” you whimpered. “Alpha’s cock feels so good.”

“I bet it does. You’re so wet that I can smell your scent from your pussy,” he grunted, moving his hips faster now. “You gonna come again for me?”

“F-fuh-fuck,” you stuttered, your hands scrambling on the bed and your fingers twisting themselves into the sheets. Taking his left hand that had been resting on your hip, he brought it upwards and wrapped his hand around your throat gently.

“If you want me to stop, tell me,” he whispered into your ear but you shook your hand, bringing one of your hands up to rest on top of his and squeezing it lightly to send him the message. He then squeezed the sides of your throat, which made the walls of your pussy clench around his cock.

“You’re so fucking perfect Y/N-ah,” he muttered as he began to fuck you even harder and faster. “You gonna cream on my cock like you did when I rubbed your clit? You gonna mark your Alpha?”

“Y-yes.”

“Fucking say it,” he demanded harshly. 

“G-gonna c-cream Alpha’s c-cock,” you stammered. Yoongi didn’t say anything else and it surprised you a little when you heard him letting out what could only be described as growling. Hearing it made your Omega happy though, because it meant that you were making your Alpha feel amazing. 

He didn’t let up the grip that he had around your throat and as he fucked you, it almost felt as though he wasn’t moving his hips anymore and was using his hand on your throat to pull you back against his cock. You felt like a ragdoll and that thought only quickened the pace at which your orgasm was hurtling towards you.

“Shit, I’m about to come,” he announced in a rough voice. “You want that? Wanna feel Alpha’s knot?”

“Fuck yes!” You exclaimed as you came, your orgasm slamming into you like a car with no brakes. As you came again, you were vaguely aware of Yoongi pushing his knot into you and his cum following swiftly behind, and this only prolonged your own orgasm. 

“Holy fuck Y/N-ah,” Yoongi chuckled, letting his hand fall away from your throat and letting his forehead rest against the back of your head as he wrapped his arms around you. 

“Same,” you giggled as you set your hands on top of his, letting your eyes flutter shut as your body calmed down.

“Can I make a confession?” Yoongi asked after a few minutes of silence and you just hummed in reply because you honestly were half-asleep. “At the end there, I wanted to bite you.” 

Your eyes immediately popped back open at those words, because you knew what they meant. Giving someone a mating bite was the equivalent of getting married, and admitting to wanting to give someone a bite was the same as confessing that you wanted to marry them. 

“Are you asking me something specific?” You wondered, trying to fish some extra information out of him. 

“Depends on how you feel about it,” he shot back and you couldn’t help but to roll your eyes because of course he would reply with that. As you thought about it though, you didn’t completely hate the idea. You knew that you had confessed to wanting him to bite you during your heat and you figured that if your Omega trusted him enough during what was easily the time when you were at your most vulnerable, then she must’ve been on to something. However, you knew that you two were gonna have to talk about it more and you didn’t want to do that with tomorrow looming over your heads.

“How about you come back home to me tomorrow, and then we’ll talk about it?” You suggested with a soft smile as you looked at him over your shoulder. 

“Sounds good to me,” he grinned, leaning over you and pressing his lips to yours.

.............................................

Tag List:  @jikook-enthusiasts @veryuniquenamegoeshere @seolarsyj @littlrmills14-blog @preciouschimine @kt-rny @copenhagenspirit @min-yus @cheysjimin @to-the-joon-and-back​ @jaiuneamesolitaiire @icycoldbeanieweanies​ @barbikatherine

[impala1967dwinchester]

Dean Winchester: Miracle and Simon

Pairing: Dean W. x Wife!Reader Pov: Dean Warnings: Fluff, a little bit of angst, Dean, dogs, talk of infertility, sadness, overall fluff, comforting Dean, Sam is mention. Summary: Y/n and Dean learn after a long time of trying for children that Y/n is unable to bare a child. With this news, they decide to wait. When Dean comes across two very cute pups how can Dean pass it up? Word Count: 2.3k A/N: Written for band-psychos 1.5 followers writing bingo challenge. This is sad, but good at the same time. By the way, I have absolutely no clue what it's like to be told that I won't be able to have children, so what I may say may be wrong. Also, I'm sorry if this is something that affects you. Square: First Pet

Dean Winchester Master List

Main Master List

Tag list: @band--psycho @akshi8278 @deanswaywardgirl @hit-meup69 @doctorlilo @fofisstilinski @wonderfulworldofwinchester

Month, turned into years of trying for a baby. It was okay in the beginning, but it turned into constant disappointment. Not disappointed in Y/n or myself. Just overall disappointment in the situation.

How we had been stripped of the ability to have kids. Y/n being stripped of the chance of being the best mother I know she can be. I felt more hopeless, and helpless than I had in any other part of my life.

My darling wife unable to bare a child, unable to be the most gifted thing in life. Unable to become a mother. That day was horrific, She cried in my arms and spent the drive back home in silence.

She stayed away, she had moved back into her old room. Forcing everything that we had built to be crushed. She pushed everything and everyone away.

It was horrible, she wore her ring still. Years of marriage, years of trying. Years of our life being shut out. Being put behind a wall because she felt as if she wasn't enough, wasn't worth being with.

There were nights of course I'd try and make conversation with her, but it always ended in silence, or in me talking enough for the both of us.

The few months that she pushed me away were the hardest, hearing the loud sobs echo through the halls. Not hearing her voice at all was the worst of it all, not being able to see the bright smile that used to blossom on her face was horrible.

So many things that I wish that I could change for her, so many things that I wish that I could make better. Better for her, better for me, but most importantly better for our relationship.

Finally one night.

Hearing a soft knock on my door, even with it being ajar. "Dean.. Can I come in?" Y/n asked, barely poking her head into my, our room. I was still a little confused on that one.

"Of course honey," I said pulling the bedspread back so if she wished she could climb into bed with me. She walked in slowly, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

She wore an old shirt of mine, sleep shorts, and her slippers. She looked just like she has always looked comfortable, but the look on her face was a displacement of how she looked. Her voice was white, heavy purple and black circles under her eyes, her face even looked a little bit too skinny.

Y/n say slipping her slippers off before climbing to the bed with me. "Hey." She said timidly like, "Hey baby," I said. During the time she had taken to be by herself, I had done more than enough research about what happened when women learned that they were infertile.

How they need space, or how they didn't like to be touched, how they could have outbursts of many different emotions. It's been five months and now Y/n's back in our bed. I'm hesitant to touch her, I think she can tell.

"Let me first say that"

"I missed you"

We spoke at the same time, speaking at the same was something that we always tended to do... God to hear her voice was amazing, like cutting butter so smooth and calming. She was so perfect to me no matter what was going on outside of this moment right now.

I smiled, and Y/n smiled back at me. It wasn't a full smile, but it was true and halfway there. "Do you want me to go first?" I asked not wanting to push her if she wasn't fully comfortable with it.

But if she wasn't comfortable with it then she wouldn't have come to my... our room and sat down next to her husband. Right? 'Stop asking so many questions.'

"If you want to Dean." She said her voice starting to waver. She's going to start crying, start talking Dean.

"I'm going, to be honest with you here. I don't know what to say.' Smiling afterward, ' I... I want you to know that you aren't alone in this, I know now that you needed your space, I want you to know that no matter what you think I don't blame you at all, not once. Because I'll forever love you. I've also been reading a lot,' Y/n was smiling now, raising her eyebrows at my reading comment. 'Anything for you Y/n you know that, but regardless I've been doing some reading on this situation, how this may affect us, you and myself. I just want you to know that I'm here for you." I said finally shutting my mouth.

She didn't look like she was going to cry anymore. Y/n was smiling a bright tooth-grinning smile. "You know Dean even when you don't know what to say you always manage to say the right thing, every single fuckin' time," She said through her smile.

Is it weird to say, but I know when Y/n is at her most happy because she curses. She spouts out every single bad curse word there is known to man. Just to tell you how happy she truly is.

God, I missed her smile. You don't realize just how much you miss something or even need it until it stops coming into your life and then comes back into your life a bullet.

I reached out to touch her, but I'm still hesitant. Very hesitant she most definitely saw that. When I went to take my hand back to my lap, she reached out grabbing my hand.

She's so soft, and her hands god how I've forgotten how much smaller her hands are to mine. Look at her hands, look at that ring, still shiny and glistening under the light of our room. That ring I think is what brought her back to me, no scratch that I think our love for each other is brought her back to me.

I had been looking for weeks after Y/n finally came back. Everything needs to settle down before I can even prompt the question to her. I want her to feel safe, I don't her to feel pressured or like I might be trying to replace the idea of children.

I again dived in and did the research for my idea. Sam even helped me, helped me to try and find the right one for her and me. Sam knows a lot of things but he especially knows this about me. When I do something I do it all the way, no half-assing anything and that only becomes ten times more when Y/n is thrown into the situation.

Doing the best research I could with the help of my brother of course. I found the best thing, not something I necessarily like the idea of but anything to help Y/n.

Anything for her.

They passed my screen, and before I knew it I was scrolling back up to them. In the loud and bold letter, it read.

These two come together, a pit bull and a golden retriever. Price is free, just come and pick them up today.

It just clicked, you ever have those types of moments. Where you can feel deep down in your mind, and body. Gosh, I'm really starting to get more and more like Sam.

I shouldn't say that because honestly, that's how it was for me when I first met Y/n. But that is most definitely a story for another time. I jumped from my seat sending the library chair to slide and then fall against the tile floor.

"Are you okay?" I heard Y/n's sweet voice ringing from behind me. 'Shit I forgot' "Yeah I'm fine, I just remember that I forgot to grab something when I was out earlier," I said, turning jamming my phone in my back pocket, calmly walking over to her, and kissing her temple saying bye.

I rushed, driving down the gravel road that leads to home sweet home. If nobody knew what I was doing they'd probably all think I was trying to get away from a murder that I just committed.

The drive to pups was silent. I'd driven baby so many times alone, but this time it just felt different. My impala was the first one parked, a few people close behind me. I rushed up to the fairly older man. He looked over my shoulder, he huffed before waving the other people off.

"Now listen heree son, I'm given' you 2 pups for nothing, so I don't want to hear anything." He said stepping down the porch and walking in front of me to the red broke down barn.

"They're in here. All yours." He said pulling back the door and then walking back to his barn house. Pointing in a very general area, there were 2 pups as the old man called them. Curled up into each other, 'cute' I thought to myself.

'I've already been gone for too long, hurry up Dean.' I said to myself. "Do they respond to commands? Like come, or no?" I asked as I slouched down to the height or near height of them. He hummed and said a few things under his breath.

"Come here," I said gently, just like if I were talking to Y/n. I know that as husband and wife you're supposed to talk about things before you just go outright and do them, but I kind of figured that Y/n wouldn't have any cons to having some furry children. It would most definitely take her mind somewhere else for the moment.

Waking them up from their shallow sleep, they were both wary at first, but grow to be giving me kisses had me rolling around on the dirty ground.

"Come on son!" The old man said. I jumped up from the ground dusting my clothes off and whistling for the dog's attention. "Let's go" They followed us out of the barn and chased after each other. There was no need for a transaction seeing as he just wanted them gone.

I whistled again, both chasing each other and coming to a fast stop in front of me. I was hesitant to let these pups in my baby, but anything for my girl, for her happiness, anything for her.

Both jumping up and finding a comfy spot and laying down. I speed back home, I'd already been gone for much longer than I originally wanted.

I once again speed down the gravel road heading to my home sweet home. Parking in the garage caused the pups to raise their heads. That being the first time, at least they don't complain about my driving like Sam does. That's rather nice.

I opened the back door and let both of them slip out. Yes at that moment I had realized that I had in fact told nobody of my plans, and I also had nothing to give them food-wise.

Letting them into the bunker they seemed to feel at home, but the more odd thing was that they didn't seem to care about anything other than finding Y/n.

An odd moment, it's like Sam said years ago sometimes animals can sense evil, so why can't they sense happiness or even sadness. I wonder?

The two of them led their own ways to the door of our bedroom. "Sit," I said quietly. They looked at each other and sat down, well actually they laid down.

I knocked and then came in seeing at it was also my room. "When'd you get back?" Y/n's honey slick voiced asked. "Just a few moments ago, love...." There was a comfortable silence between us, but Y/n always knows.

"What are you hiding Winchester?" She asked, pulling the sheets from her body. 'No don't get out of bed' "I need you to stay in bed for this surprise if you will." I said gesturing her to lay back down. " Be ready okay?" I said opening the door,

There sat a golden retriever and a pit bull. I heard her gasp "Dean?!". Behind me I saw the two dogs slowly sit up fully, they looked over at me, then over at Y/n.

I nodded and whistled. The pitbull was the first one to reach Y/n his nose nudging her arm. "Dean?" I heard again, so I turned I was smiling, the dog has already made a way onto her lap. "We.. are.. you." Y/n was most definitely stumbling over her words.

"Yes, they're ours. I thought that if we y'know. We could find a way to take care of something. I think he likes you, baby." I said walking all the way into the room having the golden following close behind me. "Yeah and I think she likes you, Dean." She said, patting the pits head.

"They need names," I said nodding to let the golden know that it was okay for her to jump up on the bed. I want my bed to remember them too, cause my bed is memory foam.

"Miracle and Simon. What do you think." Y/n said resting her hand on top of the pits head. "Whos who?" I asked, Y/n pointed at the dog taking up most of my lap, "That's Miracle" then moving and pointing over the sleeping pup in her lap snoring "This, sweet boy is Simon." She said a single tear falling down her cheek.

"What's wrong honey?" I asked "I know that I didn't even ask you if this was okay," I said worrying as more tears fall down her soft warm-toned cheeks.

"Nothing is wrong Dean, I just remembered that I wanted to maybe name our son Simon when we finally got pregnant." She said, I wiped her stray tears and said, "We've got our son and daughter just in fur version. And being together is enough for me." Kissing her forehead. A whispered, "Thank you Deanie Beanie." I rolled my eyes and kissed her forehead again.

Completed on: 05/24/2021

Posted on 05/25/2021

[baecvlt]

hi um.. this might be an odd request and ofc you dont have to do it but uh can i get a byakuya togami x reader (smut oneshot) in which the reader has a degradation kink and well, its byakuya, you can decided on the rest

The Same Deep Water as You

in which the reader is degraded by Byakuya Togami 

Byakuya Togami x Reader

smut

(as stated in follow up dm) fem reader

requested by anon: first tike working with this kind of thing

warnings: degradation and slightly masochist actions to be aware of (not too severe). good ending tho so..

enjoy !

She was a quiet girl, never really spoke to anyone but Makoto and Kyoko. They weren’t so awful. While others weren’t awful, she didn’t think of them as approachable. She could talk to them, but she couldn’t be too trusting. Especially of—

“What did I tell you about looking in my direction, you cretin”

Byakuya Togami.

Makoto and Kyoko looked back at Byakuya, staring. “I wasn’t staring,” she argued,“Honestly, I wasn’t”. He approached her,“So, I’m a liar now?”. She shook her head frantically, hoping he’d go away. “Give it up, Togami,” Kyoko said,“Leave the poor girl alone. She’s having a rough day”. She looked away and put her head down on the table. “Whatever,” he said,“I’m not even half interested to know why. Just keep your distance”.

She had no idea what was wrong with him, why his cruelty shone on her and no one else. He was a dick to everyone, but most of all towards her. It was kind of starting to hurt, but mostly because being in this situation of a killing game was rather stressful. Byakuya’s unnecessary cruelty didn’t help. Still, she tried to keep a smile, if not, at least a friendly face.

“Well, Makoto and I have business to attend to with that whole next blackened bullshit. See you later. By the way, just stay out of Togami’s way. He’s a prick, it won’t do u any good to be near him. Okay?”

She nodded, taking his advice a little too literal.

She did exactly as Kyoko told her as she tried keeping a routine. She went to her room, grabbing her very little laundry. She walked to the laundry room, pusbing open the door. When she got a view of the room, she immediately turned back, for Byakuya was sitting there doing his laundry. She went to her room, set her clothes down, and waited for Byakuya to leave.

Finally, he was gone. This allowed for her to wash her clothes. After drying and folding, she decided it’d be a good idea to relax and enjoy what the school had to offer, such as the sauna. What? Who cares if this is a killing game? It was far more luxurious than anything she had in her day to day life. She has the right enjoy things. Wearing her bathing suit underneath, she walked her way to the sauna, but before that, she stripped down and put her normal clothes in a locker. Then, she was off.

As she sat in the heat, she thought to herself. All these thoughts were regarding Byakuya. It was things like “Why is he such a dick?” and “Why me? What did I do?”. They were all valid thoughts. At this point, he was treating her worse than he treats Toko. It’s got to he something he has against her. Then again, she couldn’t act like she didn’t like it. The sheer degradation of it all gave her a thrill, but Byakuya wasn’t fucking her so really he had no reason to act that way. Just as she wrapped up her thoughts, she decided it was a good time to leave before the sauna burned her skin right off. She walked right out of there. When alone, she was pretty confident about herself, her body. Its when she’s around others that she gets quiet. Judgement is a fear of hers, so she’s learned that the more you say/do, the more susceptible to judgement you are.

...but she was alone, she didnt worry.

Confidently, she walked out of the sauna. Despite the heat, it was refreshing. She opened her locker, getting her clothes out. She began to get dressed, realizing no one was around, then straight up stopped giving a fuck. She got her normal underwear on without interruptions, sliding on her pantyhose then skirt. Now it was time for her top. She took off her bikini top and replaced it with her bra. That was when she heard footsteps approaching, but they faded, so she ignored it. Putting on her long sleeve button up, her torso faced the entrance as her eyes focused on her buttons.

“Christ, screw me”

Without thinking, she replied,“Give me a time and place?”. She very slowly realized who the voice belonged to as she stopped buttoning up her shirt. Byakuya stared, she covered her mouth. “Eager, aren’t you?,” he scoffed. She finished her buttons as she walked right past him, ignoring his snide remark. That perv. Surely, he could’ve said something. He was there for a while. Was he judging her or did he like what he saw? Who knows?

What we know now is that the Togami’s raised a weirdo.

This only gave her a better reason to avoid him. Everytime she went somewhere, if she saw him there, regardless if he had seen her or not she’d walk out. Like when she wanted a snack, he was there. “Hey,” he said to her, but she was gone. This also happened in the Rec Room, where she was playing with Celeste. He walked in, looking for Makoto. Even still, and mid-game, she dismissed herself. If only there was one place where she wouldn’t have to see him. Then, she remembers she overheard Byakuya say he was in no need of the library.

She figured it’d be a good opportunity for her to go there and read something, be in solitude. She’d been there once and it was so quiet. She walked her way there, peeking first to make sure the coast was clear. She picked up a random book of poetry. It didn’t matter what book it was really, she just wanted to read. She was glad the library was unoccupied. It was quite peaceful. Unlike the sauna, it took her mind off Byakuya. God, he’d be perfect if he wasn’t a prick. Why was he so cute? So attractive? If given the chance, she would show him how she cares, but what’s it worth if he despises her for no reason? Oh, well. She had read enough pages, deciding to leave an hour later. Suddenly, she got the feeling that she wasn’t alone. She had a pretty good instinct when it came to these things.

She didn’t want to be the next victim of anything, so she ran out and hurried to her room.

Bing-bong, Bing-Bong!

Nighttime, how great. Well at least that night ended on a rather okay note, despite everything else. Just as she was headed to her bed, there was a note slipped underneath her door. It startled her, picking it up.

“Come to my room at once. Togami”

Great.

So not only did she have to endure his verbal abuse during the day, it seems it could also branch out at night. She knew she didn’t have to go, but maybe if she did as he said, he’d back off. She walked to his room, only a few doors down the hall. She knew, this was disobidience of the bed time rule, but in that moment, it was the least of her concern. She put on her clothes from earlier today, heading out. She knocked on the door, waiting for him to open the door, and it did after a few seconds. Her heart was pounding as the door opened, his blue eyes shining in the dim light. “Y/N,” he greeted casually. She noticed he still wore his suit and in no way looked like he was at all getting ready for bed. “Good evening, Mr. Togami”. She wanted to be as respectful as possible. “Come in”. She cautiously stepped in. He closed his door, going to sit on his bed afterward.

“Sit”

She sat down on his chair, still nervous. “You look so tense,” he said in a softer tone, much softer than his usual demanding tone,“Relax”. She nodded. He looked at her and got up. Walking behind her, he ran his fingers through her soft hair. “How does it feel to be the object of my lust?,” he whispered. A chill ran down her spine as she muttered,“What?”. “Do you want it?,” he asked,“Me, treating you like a stray dog, I see how it excites you. I’d be more than willing to give it to you”. Her breath hitched and her face was hot. “Y-Yes”. He raised a brow. “Use you words, Y/N,” he said, placing a hand on her throat. “Fuck me, please,” she groaned, craving him. That was enough for him to start putting her on edge. He wanted her to beg, he loved to hear it. “How long has it been since you’ve been touched this way”. 

“Too long”

His hands reached for her breasts, teasing them as he kissed her neck. “Oh my god!,” she cried. Her legs spread and he took note of this. “Go to bed,” he ordered,“I want you on your back”. She didn’t hesitate. She leapt to his bed and lay down. He immediately followed, hovering over her. He pinned her wrists down and began kissing her skillfully. She couldn’t help, but bite him and him flinching further increased her excitement. “What the hell?,” he cursed, she smirked. It angered him that she was having fun with this. He pulled off her skirt and ripped open her pantyhose, spreading her legs. “From now on, you are to call me master and nothing else,” he told her, moving her panties aside and licking her pussy. His tongue focused on her clit, but god, it felt good. She whined, reaching for his hair. While she was able to pull it a little, he grabbed her by the wrists and pinned her down again. His tongue began focusing on all other parts of her, rolling his thumb on her clit, softly. All she could do was squirm, but even that was hard to do. “Who’s pussy is this?,” he asked. 

“Yours, master”

“That’s my girl”

She was cumming, practically dripping the more he touched her. He let go of her wrists, allowing her to finally tease her breasts and play with his hair as he ate her out. He loved her taste; she was sweet. Without moving his mouth away, he carefully worked two fingers into her, allowing him to taste her even more. “How’s that making my little slut feel?,” he asked. “Really, really good. Please, m-master,” she whined, but other than that, it was all incoherent babbling. She was frantic at that point.

“Look at you,” he whispered as his mouth was really going into it,“You’re making quite the mess, you know?”. “I know, master”. Her apologetic tone begged a question. “Come here,” he ordered. She sat on the balls of her feet, waiting for his next words. His hand was soft as he put it on her cheek, caressing her.

“Has my little slut had enough?”

She shook her head, muttering,“I want more”. Her lust-filled eyes stared into his as she went for his belt buckle. “Not like this,” he said, sitting down properly. “Okay,” he assured,“Come here, doll”. She went for his belt buckle and undid it. Carefully, she took his cock out, spitting. “Master, you’re aching”. He twitched as she stroked his sex with those words falling from her mouth. His stomach sank as feeling of her hands touching him this way dawned on him. He needed her, so bad.

“Bend over for me”

Her stomach lay flag on the bed as her ass was in the air, waiting for him to fuck her. “Shit,” he exclaimed, that was the first time she’d hear him cuss. “What’s wrong?”. He sighed.

“I don’t have any protection on me”

Thats when she reached into her shirt and bra, handing him a condom. “What the hell? How long did you have that in there?”. “No more questions,” she said softly,“Come on, baby”. Slowly, he teased her entrance, rubbing his cock slowly and making her shiver before grabbing her hips, slamming into her. Upon impact, her pussy spasmed around his cock as she reached for the pillow in front of her. He gasped, his fingers digging into her soft skin. “I’m gonna stretch you out”. She whined into the pillow as he repeated that, slowly at first. As much as he wanted to pound into her, he knew knew if he did that, he wouldn’t last long. “Ah! master, that feels really good,” she cried,“I need more.. please!”. He could barely speak. “I go at whatever pace I want, slut!,” he managed.

“M-Master, is it because you know you’ll cum fast if you do? Even thinking about pounding me makes you go slower than you already are, doesn’t it?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

His hand slammed onto her ass. She winced, gripping the sheets as he picked up the pace. Her eyes then rolled back. “Is this what you wanted?,” he said with gritted teeth. She let out a shaky cry and said,“Master, it’s what I needed”. A mirror was in front of them, Byakuya using it to check how she reacted to certain things. Letting him hit all around her walls drove her insane, but he still wasn’t going so hard. She also used the mirror to her advantage. She saw how he was struggling to fuck her hard without cumming. She wanted to mess around too. She smiled with lustful eyes, putting two fingers in her mouth and drooling over them. “What the hell”. Her playfulness left him flustered. He grabbed and held her up by her hair and slammed into her repeatedly.

“Oh, master, don’t ever stop! Please, don’t stop!”

He held her up with his hands on her breasts, kissing her neck. Her stomach went crazy, finding new ways to make her sick every time he hit her sweet spots. He had no problem finding them, he must have them memorized by now. There was about her, something so fucking intoxicating. She was like a drug and he was addicted. At first, he despised her for it, but soon enough, he started love her for it and that was scary. It all hit him when he saw how this woman devoted herself to him, even before fucking. She always respected him and saw him for other than money or looks. Immediately, guilt struck him.

That’s when he wanted to take things slower and actually look at her as they fucked. He sat up as she straddled his lap, riding his cock slowly, rhythmically almost as they kissed. Their kisses were much more passionate. His lips let her win, allowing her to kiss him sweetly. His hands held her back, hers wrapped around his neck while one played with his hair and it all felt right. Melting onto one another, he admired her eyes and how satisfied she appeared to be and how angelic her face was when he hit just the right spots. They spoke in between kisses. “Master-”. He shushed her, softly, rather than abruptly. “You don’t need to call me that now,” he whispered as he caressed her cheek.

“Byakuya, fuck, I love you”

“I love you too; all of you,” he muttered, maneuvering her hips in a way that made her groan. She rolled her hips down and tightened around him. That was when he realized that he could no longer continue. “I think I’m-”, he grunted and gasped, digging his head into her chest. “Did you cum?,” she asked, Byakuya nodding. His head suddenly peeked up. He was flustered and asked,“Did you really mean all that? You love me?”. He spat the word as if it sickened him. She nodded and played with his hair.

“I knew you’d mock me for it. Falling in love during the killing game? Pathetic”

“So... am I also pathetic?”

“No, what?”

“I said it too. Does that make me pathetic?”

She shook her head. “No,” she whispered,“Of course not”. There was a moment of silence between the two, where they just lay there and waited till someone said something. “I’m gonna head to my room,” she said. He nodded, although deep down, he protested and wanted to ask her to stay. He couldn’t do that, though. So there, he watched her get dress and leave the room with a funny walk.

The next morning, she got dressed and on her way to meet with the others. Upon opening her door, she was greeted by Byakuya. “Oh, good morning, Togami,” she said,“I didn’t expect to see you-”. He suddenly kissed her, taking her by surprise. “I love you and I want you to be mine,” he blurted. It shocked her even more since this was extremely out of character for him. “What?”. He held her hands. “Ever since we made love the other night, it’s been impossible for me to stop thinking of you”. People stopped at the door, staring because for some reason he heavily emphasized that fact. “You what?,” Kyoko asked. Byakuya stood in front of her to block her.

“Come on, Y/N”

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he asked for your hand (in a way). He loves you? It was hard to believe, but the more you thought about it, the more it felt right. What are you to say?

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[kookdbean]

unbothered

a/n: another addition to so it goes! just little snippets of acts of service between jungkook and oc. this takes place over the first school year together. also, if you guys have any ideas for more drabbles, pls send them in! enjoy! warnings: mentions of food consumption, coffee consumption, hints at students family life.

series masterlist

i.

It's Friday, the end of the second week of school.

The past three days, Jungkook and you have been arriving at the same time. You'd wait for one another, catching up from the day before since you parted. He'd crack a joke about how he wasn't sure what tires him out more, his roommate's stupid shit or waking up early five days in a row.

Today, you're running twenty minutes behind; twenty-five minutes before school started.

Teeth brushed and face washed were your first two priorities this morning. You were able to throw your hair up into a messy updo; not having enough time for the full routine, only patting moisturizer into your skin. It would be enough to make it seem like you put some effort, right?

It's after you've parked, backpack hanging over your shoulder, tote bag hanging low from your hand, that you spot Jungkook's car and freeze.

Did you leave him waiting?

Clocked in, you make your way to drop off your belongings in your room as fast as you can. No one stops you in the hall, a small sigh of relief leaves you. Who knows how long Ms. Lee Ji-Wan, a second grade teacher who literally beams sunshine, would have kept you if she spotted you.

A moment, just a small moment you allow yourself. A moment where you're not rushing yourself, worried about being somewhere, in the comfort and stillness of your classroom. Hand rubbing your nape, head slowly rolling out to the side. Just a moment.

And it's not ruined, not when you hear three soft knocks on your door before sliding open.

Jungkook's head is poking in, his wide eyes searching the room before settling on you. His eyes quickly look you over before he allows himself in, door closing behind him.

"You didn't wait, did you?" is the first thing that comes out of your mouth, your hand moving down to rub your fingers against your collarbone.

"Not long, no," Jungkook reassures you, not staying still.

"Jungkook," you frown, reaching over to your desk for your coffee, that you realize you forgot when your fingers wrap around nothing, balling up into a loose fist.

"Here," Jungkook laughs, moving his hand from behind his back. An iced coffee.

Hands instantly clasping against your chest, big eyes and a hopeful tug of your eyebrows; your facial expression reading, "is that for me?" Jungkook laughs, holding the coffee out to you, shaking it to show you that it's real, and it's for you.

"I got here just before you, actually. I was in the mood for some expensive coffee and figured you'd like one, too," Jungkook explains, that smile never leaving his lips.

ii.

The end of a meeting is always such a relief.

The quiet, exciting buzz that comes with the meeting being called to it's end, almost like an exhale that relieves your body from the weights of the world for just that moment; weightless and carefree.

The chairs being pushed away so teachers could stand, the sound of shuffling paper and occasional crumple, quiet chatter while some people gathered together, others just making their way of the room. Talk of lunch plans, upcoming events (personal and 'professional').

That was feeling is what you look forward to at the start of every meeting.

It's the feeling you relish this moment. Tae-yeon rubs your forearm, telling you she'll see you after the day ends before rushing off to join Jae-eon, physical education teacher. You look after her, standing up, watching as the pair makes their way out of the room.

You turn back towards the center of the room, eyes scanning the room until you spot Jungkook.

Jungkook's not in the spot he deemed as his unassigned assigned seat during meetings, but at the front of the room, talking to the principal. His body language is animated; his papers on the chair closest to him, hands moving regardless of close they are to his body. You could see how his eyes widened and his tone came off as serious, passionate.

You can't help but watch. You can't help but wonder what he was so passionate about, what he was sharing with the principal.

You can't take your eyes away, not until they bow to each other and the principal is turning towards you, to make his way to the exit behind you. Quickly, you duck your head and a quiet wish leaves your lips, "have a good day, sir."

"You waited," Jungkook simply says, your head turning upwards and eyes automatically moving to his face.

"Yeah," you hum.

"You didn't have to," Jungkook reassures with a small smile, folding his small stack of papers in half and tucking it under his arm. He makes his way towards you, hand gesturing towards the door.

"Yeah, but I wanted to. We always go to lunch afterwards," you state.

"Oh," Jungkook falters behind you. He watches you make your way to the door, turning midway when you don't feel his presence.

"You wait for me," you shot back, a teasing look on your face.

"Yeah, because I haven't been sucked into a teacher's clique," Jungkook defends jokingly.

iii.

You're looking over the math worksheets from this morning, red pen in one hand, chopsticks handling japchae in other.

"This is DEAN" playlist on Spotify plays softly from your computer. You hum, in tune to the music and to the taste of the japchae that your roommate, Sana, made last night.

You don't hear the door open, your face down towards the container of noodles. Cheeks full and puffed out, you throw your head back, a quiet moan, eyes closed. God, you loved noodles.

"You okay?" Jungkook laughs, taking you by surprise.

Head lowering to look at him, your eyes are wide and don't bother chewing, just watching as Jungkook gets closer.

"I thought you had lunch plans," you struggled, slowly chewing and swallowing, repeating the process until your mouth becomes empty again.

Jungkook laughs again, reaching over to twist the cap off your bottle of juice open before handing it to you.

"Take it slow."

You wave him off, taking a sip, eyes looking him up and down.

"You didn't met up with your friend... Seokjin?" you ask curiously, hoping you got the name right.

"I did," Jungkook nods and taps his finger against your desk, "but Jin-hyung had something come up."

Your lips pout, brows furrowing, "Sorry. I know you were looking forward to it."

"It's fine, I know where he lives," Jungkook cackles, placing a small container in front of you, "but just as I promised..."

"Is this the cake he made last time?" You gasp hopefully, pulling yourself closer.

There's a glimmer in your eyes, it makes Jungkook laugh quietly, shoulders shaking and nose scrunching up as he nods.

"He gave me some extra after I mentioned that I shared it with a friend from work," Jungkook smiles, popping the lid open.

What you didn't know about Jungkook that his hyung(s) did was that Jungkook only shared food with people he really cared about.

iv.

Since the days Jungkook and you used to just magically show up at the same time to school and wait for each other so that you could enter the building together (neither you or Jungkook know that the other peeked at the time when they realized that arrive at that time, thus the new addition to their daily routines), you've both had the other's phone number.

First, texts were exchanged when one of you decided to go for a coffee run, always asking the other if they wanted something.

Then came the texts to tell the other that you were running late (you showed up ten minutes before the school day started just to find that someone turned on your computer).

Following that were the texts that came in the evening. The "what was the name of the website that you those pens?," "what was the dish you mentioned Namjoon made for dinner?," the "I have roommate cake and coffee tomorrow morning!!!"

You remember the first time Jungkook took a sick day, after the winter break, after you'd deemed yourselves friends and not just coworkers.

You're in the teacher's lounge, lips hovering over your water bottle. You're pretending to pay attention to your phone, thumb scrolling against the screen as if you're on social media, but in reality, you had your conversation with Jungkook opened. Subtly trying to type out everything you were hearing in the teacher's lounge.

"before you call me a child, I just have to say... you chose the wrong day to be absent, mr. jeon."

Jeon Jungkook: what is this? are we fourteen? are you trying to get me to wonder what the day is like without me?

You scoff to yourself, trying to bite back a smile.

Jeon Jungkook: when I woke up again this morning, it was already 10am, and the first thing that popped into my head was that it was two hours into the school day and math is almost over.

A laugh leaves your lips, the noise from the nearby teachers becoming quiet as they looked over at you.

Eventually, your texts ranged throughout the entire day. From the morning texts asking if the other wants coffee, texts swapping recipes in the late afternoon, to just asking about weekend plans and just...talking to one another.

v.

"I'll have you know, Jeon Jungkook, that my Saturdays are sacred," you gushed, waggling your finger jokingly.

Jungkook snorts, pushing the cart past you, leaving you standing there. He throws a quick glance over his shoulder at you, rolling his eyes with a smile on his face.

"No one forced you to tag along," Jungkook points out.

"You're right. But, you also know that I cannot and will not turn down a lunch invitation," you sigh dramatically.

"Ah, so when you see my face, you see a money bag?"

"Didn't you hear? The way to someone's heart is through their stomach," you sigh, hand over your chest, walking closer to where Jungkook's stopped.

Jungkook's looking at things that he can gift the students in the after school art club. You both had already gotten little gifts for your respective classes, but Jungkook had told you that he wanted to give his art kids some supplies so that they'd be encouraged to keep doing art; supplies that parents couldn't afford or in some cases, didn't want to purchase.

"I have three students who go to high school next year," Jungkook murmurs to himself, scratching the back of his neck, "but I don't want the rest of them to think I don't care about them."

"What were you planning on getting for them?" you ask gingerly, hands running over the different sketchbook covers.

"Taehyung was able to get some good quality mixed media sketch books from the art museum. They hold workshops every week and he found some extras," Jungkook turns to look at you, a hint of a soft smile, "so I was thinking a basic watercolor set, some pencils, color pencils?"

"Mmm, maybe leave the water colors for the ones going to high school? Not that you don't trust the younger ones, but water colors seems like some more responsibility," you comment.

Jungkook hums back in acknowledgement, moving to stand next to you. The hairs on the back of your neck stand at his proximity, your heart racing when you catch his scent.

"You added erasers and sharpeners?"

"Pencil set."

"Hmm," your eyes scanning down the aisle. You spot chalk hanging at the end of the aisle, hand reaching out to pat Jungkook's bicep before quickly moving down the aisle. Adjusting your bag onto your shoulder, you dramatically gesture towards the various packs of chalk.

"Not only can they make art in their sketch books, but out in the neighborhood," you try telling it to him like a salesman at a car dealership, "art that can be remade, reworked. Sidewalks, driveways, whatever!"

Jungkook can't fight off the laugh as he doubles over, his laugh echoing around him.

His laugh is contagious, it might be your favorite sound. It has you breaking character, your laugh joining his; a symphony that could bring crowds together, one that people never wanted to stop hearing.

"What? It's not good?" you defend yourself through giggles.

"Did I say something?" Jungkook chuckles, pushing the cart towards you, carefully placing several packs of chalk in.

"Did I win myself some dessert?" you turn away to peek at the other aisles.

"That already came included with the lunch offer. You, my friend, have won yourself something even better."

You realize Jungkook's movement until you hear his voice right in your ear.

"You get to pick one thing from the store and I'll buy it for you."

You shiver, stepping away from him, overwhelmed. You try to brush off the way the back your neck heats up, your heart beats a little faster, your hands get a little clammy. Just a moment to compose yourself, yet, a moment becomes too long when the hairs on the back of your neck fall back down and his scent is no longer surrounding you.

You look up with wide eyes, watching Jungkook make his way into the aisle that had "acrylic and oil points" written at the top.

"Wait!" You call out, trying to catch up to him, "you can't judge what I pick!"

tagging: @yslkook