#and i will continue to push my dancing arias agenda

[tonguetiedraven]

I had a funny little fic idea and I'm not sure if you'd be up for it, but. I had the idea that Rin keeps like hitting on Ryuuji and trying to get him into bed and Ryuuji keeps missing the hints of his boyfriend trying to seduce him until he has an "oh o:" movement and realizes what Rin had been doing. Nsfw if you want but mainly just a flirty Rin fic

Double prompt fill with help from @marble-wolf! I'm posting the first T rated half up here, and I'll put the link for the second half of the story under it <3

Ryuuji could feel the tension in his shoulders as he read through the report Lewin had sent him. He had one hand holding the ketchup stained report open —because even the new copies Lewin sent him were always stained (and ketchup was preferable because it was at least identifiable) —and the other holding a duster as he attempted to get the small apartment at least somewhat clean. He was fighting a losing battle against demon fur, but it was a battle he couldn’t stop fighting. 

He only had twenty minutes to read and memorize the report before he had to be on a call with Lewin and Osceola, and with the way those two argued, it was likely to be an hours long call, and he was hoping he could go over the Myodha’s financial papers while he attended it. He’d have to make sure he had the other notes on this report close, because Myōō knew Lewin wasn’t going to remember any details, and then he’d have to run to the office and pick up Sato’s intel and drop off the books for Yaouzou, and hopefully make it back before dinner went cold or his fiance —

Ryuuji paused for a moment, letting a bit of dark fur fall (Kuro or Rin? It was dry so it wasn’t the sunekosuri) from his duster as a sappy smile lifted his lips.

Fiance. He was going to marry Rin.

The smile dropped a little. He was going to marry Rin tremendously soon, and everything was nowhere near to ready for that. He still had to finish this assignment, get the research for the Akaei (how did a fish the size of an island manage to hide so easily?) and somehow get the Myodha in a financial spot to last a few months without him actively intervening. (He adored his people, but they could not budget to save their lives.)

That wasn’t even touching on the wedding itself, and now he was dusting a bit frantically, sending dust and dirt and fur to the ground  as he looked back at the report. There was too much to do and nowhere near enough time. The slight throbbing in his head and the ache in his shoulders and neck were just going to have to wait. 

Rin wasn't quiet about his entrance to their little sitting room. His socked feet slipped across the floor, his eyes set on his fiance. He wanted and Ryuuji was standing there looking stressed and worried and Rin would serve as a distraction to whatever was causing it. 

He slipped behind Ryuuji and his tail embraced Ryuuji around the belly and his hands came up to rub at Ryuuji's shoulders. Rin peeked over Ryuuji's shoulder. 

"Hi! What are you stressing about?" Rin asked.  

Ryuuji hummed a bit absently, flipping the page and grimacing at the smear of something dark. He was going to get Lewin veggie burgers next time he was sent for food as payback. 

“What was that, babe?” He asked, shifting to accommodate Rin’s weight and turning his head to brush a kiss to Rin’s cheek, hitting his ear instead and not even noticing as he hurriedly read the report.

(He might be crazy, but they’d already known all this. Had Lewin not even bothered to read this thing? Figured. Lazy slob.)

Rin flicked his tail at the corner of the paper and took the duster away to set aside. 

"I can feel your stress on the other side of the apartment. How about a break?" Rin suggested.   

Ryuuji watched the duster go away with a bit of despair. So much of the apartment was still dusty. (It wasn’t, he just noticed every piece of dust when he was stressed. Not that he was stressed.)

“I can take a break later. Got some more stuff to do.” He settled his hand on Rin’s tail as it wrapped back around his stomach and gave it a few pets, not minding as much as he should that it left a bit of black fur on his shirt. 

Rin huffed and shook his head, kissing Ryuuji's shoulder. "You're so tense though. Wouldn't a warm shower or some exercise be nice?" 

He would take what he could get. If that was a quickie in the shower then so be it. (Though he was dying for more than that. It had been ages . Weeks at least and the need was getting worse.)  

Ryuuji sighed a bit. A shower sounded fantastic, but Rin brought up another thought for him. He could go on a run to the office and take the call there while he did everything he needed to, then run back instead of taking the bus. He could get a light work out that way and it would fit without messing up. It might even get him home in time for dinner without being late.

“That’s perfect,” Ryuuji decided, giving his head a decisive nod. He turned around in Rin’s arms, giving him a hard kiss and squeezing his hips a little before tossing the report onto the end table and darting to the bedroom to pull on his running gear.

Rin perked up, tail lifting to wag and he hurried after Ryuuji. He didn't know what sounded perfect but the hip squeeze made Rin hopeful. 

Entering their bedroom, he found Ryuuji shedding his clothes… and pulling on his running clothes. 

For fuck's sake. Ryuuji had taken the exercise in a literal sense.

"Ryuuji? Where are you going?" Rin whined, not feeling guilty for it.  

Ryuuji tugged his shirt on and gave Rin a broad smile. “I’m gonna run to the office. I’ll be able to do the call there and get my workout that way.” 

He shoved his feet in his shoes and snatched up his keys and wallet before moving back to Rin. He cupped his fiance’s cheek (and there was the sappy smile again) and gave him a soft kiss before moving towards the door. “I’ll be back in a bit! Love ya!” 

And then he was running out the door and towards the office. He’d print himself another copy of that report once he got there.

Rin sighed, scowling at the shut door. He would just have to try harder. 

-- -- -- -- --

Rin couldn't help but wonder if Ryuuji caught on and was just being cruel now. Because fuck … why was Ryuuji having him be his spotter right now? Why was Ryuuji shirtless? 

It was hot both figuratively and literally and Ryuuji's skin was tempting him to run his hands over the smooth, muscled skin. 

Rin swallowed and tried to not blatantly stare but he felt it wasn't his fault. It was 100% Ryuuji. 

"You about done, babe? We can go get something for dinner after. Get a shower and some time to relax… together?" Rin suggested, unable to tear his eyes away from Ryuuji's arms and stomach and chest.  

“Just gotta finish this set,” Ryuuji panted, shaking his sweat damp hair out of his eyes and glancing up at Rin. His fiance (he still couldn’t stop the sappy smile) had that focused expression in his eyes that always sent a thrill through Ryuuji, and he used that to push through. 

He was, in truth, far too tired to be doing this. He hadn’t been able to sleep much thanks to stress, and work had kept him rising much too early. (Even for him.)

Oh. He couldn’t relax yet. He had to stop by the temple and get the paperwork from his father and Yaouzou. 

Paperwork for the wedding, and he still didn’t have enough to buy the specific beads he needed for Rin and all the other wedding things, but damn it all, he was going to get Rin beads that wouldn’t hurt him at all and he didn’t care if he had to do over time for it. 

Ryuuji hefted the barbell up a final, frustrated time, and set it over the rest, taking a moment to get his breath back before hefting himself back up. 

Rin offered Ryuuji a water bottle and towel, waiting patiently for him to catch his breath before pressing for an answer. 

Ryuuji took the offered items with a murmured, “Thanks, sunshine,” and downed the water, dabbing at his face and neck as he did. 

Finished with that, he tossed the towel towards the laundry basket (he still had a lot of that to do) and stood up, letting himself use Rin for support a bit more than he really needed to, simply because he wanted to touch him. 

“Go ahead and order something?” Ryuuji asked, swaying a little and rolling his neck. “I gotta shower and run to the temple real quick.”

Rin knew what he was signing up for by getting into a relationship, then being engaged to a man that was the Bocchan and the assistant to an Arch Knight and an exorcist. He knew Ryuuji would be busy but it still drew a noise of annoyance from him. 

But real quick was promising. "Okay. I'll be waiting." Rin said, pressing a kiss to Ryuuji's lips. "And don't forget to stretch and try not to overdo it?"  

“If I do, I got you to help me work out any kinks,” Ryuuji said, flirting a little as he moved to grab his shower supplies and hopefully not fall asleep in there. Rin had had to rescue him from falling asleep in the bath more than once. (It wasn’t entirely his fault that he found it easy to fall asleep when he was all warm. Rin always wound around him at night so he associated comfortable warmth with sleep.)

He would be quick. He would manage it and get back for some couch cuddles. (Nirvana, that sounded so nice.)

"I can do that. Happily." Rin said, helping Ryuuji toward the showers. He wanted to join him. So bad. He wanted to work out one particular kink but he wanted hours . (He was desperate enough to be past being partially satisfied by a quickie.)  

Ryuuji got himself in the shower, singing a bit as he thought of the quickly approaching wedding and all that was planned for it (trying not to think about all they still had to do) and got out as quickly as he could, still feeling a bit wobbly and as he got dressed. He came out with his hair still damp and in his eyes and yawned a bit as he gathered his wallet and keys before bending down to give Rin a kiss. 

“See ya in a bit?”

Rin brushed back Ryuuji's hair, and let his hands trail down Ryuuji's throat and chest. 

"Yeah, I love you. There will be food!" Rin said, ignoring the sneaky tail that was wrapping around Ryuuji.  

“Mmm,” Ryuuji hummed against Rin’s lips, giving him another kiss, “food and you? Perfect.” He straightened up, gave Rin’s tail a pet and freed himself from its grip before going out the door for the temple. 

Rin watched him go before returning to the apartment. He ordered their dinner, fed Kuro and Rin found himself with only mission reports to do. He avoided those by doing a quick clean around the apartment, the food arrived and—

His phone buzzed from where Kuro was laying and Rin moved to pick it up.  

[Torako: Your fiance fell asleep in the temple. Tatsuma has moved him to his old room. You’re welcome to join him for the evening or I can send him home?]

Rin sighed. He had known Ryuuji was tired… 

[Rin: thank you for telling me. I'll come there. Let him sleep.] 

At least Ryuuji was taking a break to sleep.  

-- -- -- -- --

It was always the longest damn chants that had dances to go with them. Ryuuji was tempted to do some research on the correlation, but he really didn’t have the time. (At least right now.) 

“Subhūtirāha-evametadbhagavan, evametat sugata.” It was his third run through of this chant that he now knew by heart at this point. It would be tiring on its own, but it wasn’t on its own. There was a complicated dance to go with it, and Ryuuji was having to draw out the trapping and exorcising magic circle with his own body in the intricate dance. 

Thankfully he had his fiance (and fight or not, nothing could stop his smile at that word) with him so it was okay for him to blink and look at the ground on occasion while they fought the enormous mekurabe and the hundreds of skulls that made it up. 

The twists and turns and pirouettes were one after another, and there was a flip coming up he wasn’t looking forward to. 

“Trade!” He called out as he finished the third round of the chant and moved onto the fourth. He blinked his dry eyes and took a deep breath for the triple flip. 

Rin forced his eyes away from Ryuuji, staring back at the demon with a pout. The damn demon was interrupting his ogling. Rin was weak to Ryuuji dancing and now he got to stare at this ugly demon rather than Ryuuji's body moving so effortlessly sexy. 

It was, on the bright side, easy to stare and glare at the same time and he allowed a snarl to leave him. He was also fighting the skeletal bodies that lumbered around and was honestly more of a tripping hazard with how the dry bones caught fire. But temporarily, he got to stare at this demon. 

Rin growled before speaking, lifting his tail in a teasing wiggle, "babe, you're going to have to dance for me. I'm getting jealous."  

Ryuuji completed the triple backflip, landing next to Rin and letting his hand slide up Rin's arm to his shoulder with a pronounced wink as he kept the chant up and turned back to face the demon and take over the staring contest so Rin could turn the skeletal bodies into kindling. 

He liked dancing with Rin. (And showing off for Rin.) 

A few more steps had his footsteps starting to glow, and his hands were leaving behind a faint golden shimmer, which meant he was actually getting close to activating this damn circle.

That wasn't fair. Ryuuji was glowing and Rin got smacked by a flailing femur or something with his distraction. He batted it away and distantly watched the skeleton go down before watching Ryuuji more. 

It was making his body want and… 

"Fuck. You're so hot, tease." Rin growled. He was so pent up. 

“Tease?” Ryuuji asked, finishing another round of the endless chant and gearing up for the final round. He was entirely glowing now and this was probably his favorite part. It was entirely too much fun to dance while he left golden light behind. He should try this with Rin at some point and he could be the one glowing while they danced.

“And you’re the one on fire, hottie.” He did a spin and another flip that had him next to Rin, caught him by the waist, pulled him into the next spin while he stole a quick kiss, and moved back to finish the chant. (And hopefully finish the pile of skulls.)

"Tease!"  Rin squawked, breathless from the kiss and the fight. 

Ryuuji looked like he was a star, radiating a vibrant light that had the skeletons shying away but attracting Rin like a moth to flame(ironically.) 

"Just cause I'm the one on fire doesn't mean you're not making me crazy." Literally. Rin needed.  

Ryuuji moved through the final verses, putting in a few more flourishes than necessary and probably  being a bit risky as he took a few more chances to shoot Rin a smile or long look. He was just having fun, and it seemed like forever since he’d really gotten to just flirt (shamelessly) with his fiance. (A slightly less sappy smile and slightly more giddy smile this time.)

The last moves required him to do a series of chaînés around the length of the circle. He executed them lightning fast, remembering too many classes that had felt tremendously stupid but had more than paid off, and finished with a flourish as the circle (and Ryuuji) erupted with golden light. He finished the chant, stepping back into the center and tugging Rin with him, pulling his fiance flush against his side as he completed the last hand signal and directed the golden light at the demon, not even caring that he was absolutely showing off at this point, because Rin was worth showing off for. 

The exorcism complete, the golden light consumed the skulls, and Ryuuji squeezed Rin into a quick hug before moving to let go and bless the ground the skulls had come from. 

Rin watched the display, as amazed as he always had been but also thoroughly distracted by Ryuuji. Ryuuji glowing and his body.  The sharpness that was brought to his features with the glow. His eyes and earrings reflecting the light and making Rin yearn to touch him. 

Rin growled as Ryuuji moved away and Rin doused his flames, crossing his arms. 

"So… what now?" Rin managed, valiantly attempting to ignore the want that was thundering through him.  

“Pick up some food on the way home?” Ryuuji suggested, finishing the blessing and turning back to Rin as he did a few stretches. He hadn’t danced like that in a while. He might be a little stiff later. 

Rin's heart thumped with excitement and he nodded over eagerly. Ryuuji finally wanted to. 

"Yeah!" Rin was going to take Ryuuji home and he wouldn't let anything interrupt them.  

Ryuuji snagged Rin’s hand in his own and placed a pickup order on his phone as he led them away from the exorcism site. He ordered yakisoba with the slight hope that his fiance would make yakisoba buns with the extra and chatted cheerfully about the exorcism and then the wedding, and if Rin really was okay with lotus flowers being part of the ceremony, and it seemed almost no time before they were jogging up the steps to their apartment, meal in hand. 

Rin seemed to inhale their dinner, and then stared as Ryuuji ate, and it made him feel like he was missing something, but he couldn’t think of anything, and the kiss he got as he stood up to put the dishes away was enough to have his knees feeling a little weak. 

Knee weakening kiss or not, Ryuuji put the dishes away, warm and happy and promptly stopped as he saw the pile of Lewin’s laundry by the washer, molding and covered in growing coal tars.

No. Not in his home. He was not getting a coal tar infestation somewhere he lived. It shouldn’t take too long…

With a glance at the sitting room where Rin was, Ryuuji moved to do Lewin’s laundry so it wouldn’t infect his home and he wouldn’t have to deal with Lewin’s stinky ass any longer.  

Rin's head snapped up at the sound of the washing machine door opening and Rin's mouth dropped open. 

No way. Did Ryuuji really get distracted by laundry?  

Rin stood and hurried into the doorway and, yup, Ryuuji was doing laundry. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Rin's tone was exasperated and just come on, Ryuuji.  

Ryuuji felt his eyes go a little wide. “I, uh…” Why did he feel like he’d gotten caught doing something naughty? It was laundry. 

“Lightning’s shit was starting to get coal tars,” he explained, frowning a bit in embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he’d let it sit long enough to start creating coal tars.

Rin snapped his fingers at Ryuuji in the universal "hurry up" sign. "Okay, so, stick it in the wash and come on."  

Rin was out of patience. He was already hard and he wasn't even sure when it happened and Ryuuji was messing with laundry.  

Ryuuji looked back at the laundry. “You can’t just stick it in. I gotta  cleanse it all first or it’ll get in our stuff too. Plus I gotta make sure he hasn’t got anything in his pockets and separate the fabrics—he wears a lotta wool and you can’t —”

"No."  Rin had crossed the small distance between them, sending out a wall of flames to swallow up what coal tars that had appeared. 

Rin grabbed Ryuuji up, tossed him over his shoulder and turned away from the laundry. 

"No. I'm not waiting any longer."  

. . .

[salvatoreschool]

Legacies Boss Breaks Down That Major Vardemus Twist

We've known something hinky was going on with Professor Vardemus (Alexis Denisof) since Legacies first introduced him earlier this season, but we never considered he was as duplicitous as he turned out to be! The final moments of Thursday's episode revealed that without his special little ring on, we can see Vardemus for who he really is: Ryan Clarke (Nick Fink)!

As usual, getting one answer to a Legacies mystery has left us with about a thousand more questions. Is this act all an elaborate plan to kill Hope (Danielle Rose Russell)? Does his loyalty truly lie with his father? Why is he so adamant about pushing Josie to use dark magic? And for the love of God, was chowing down on that Shunka really necessary?

TV Guide spoke to Legacies' executive producer Brett Matthews to get answers to some of those questions as well as some insight into Josie's discovery of Landon's song for Hope.

How excited were you to do a Legacies decade dance, since it was such a staple of The Vampire Diaries?

Brett Matthews: Very excited obviously. Having written on The Vampire Diaries for so many years, that was very well-trod ground, but I always wanted to do the '80s. We tried. The only time we did the '80s on The Vampire Dairies we never saw the party, we saw the aftermath, so it was really fun to revisit it and do it right. Any time we bring in things from the old show, as someone who's worked on both, it really tickles me. It just makes me nostalgic in the same way that I'm nostalgic for the '80s having grown up in them... It's the songs, it's the movies. As [executive producer] Julie [Plec] may have rightfully pointed out, we may have leaned too heavily into the movie costumes in the episode, but for Thomas Brandon, who is my brilliant co-writer on this episode, that's just where we're from. And those movies meant so much to what we do for a living, so that's why the episode skews that way. It's also the video games, it's the music... It's a little bit of it all.

To be clear, has Professor Vardemus been Clarke this whole time?

Matthews: He has. You have never met the actual Vardemus.

What can you say about his motives for taking on this identity and especially for pushing Josie (Kaylee Bryant) toward dark magic?

Matthews: God, he probably has a plan! I think he has a plan he's working on. When last we saw Clarke, at the end of the season premiere, he was in the Void and he was angry and he was reaching out to kind of make a deal with his dad to destroy Hope Mikaelson. So he has found a very inventive way to get close to her, and we will learn a lot more about Clarke and his motivations and exactly what his powers [are] and his deal is in the coming episodes for sure. We really liked that move for him. You will definitely get more of Vardemus, who's become this very favorite character because we love the way Alexis portrays him and we love the way Nick Fink plays Clarke. So it was really fun. It was a fun way to hide somebody in plain sight.

We did get to see some humanity in Clarke in the premiere, so will we continue to toe that line of whether he's good or bad or somewhere in the middle?

Matthews: I think so. Clarke, on some level, is a pretty murderous villain obviously, but I think the difference in Season 1 and Season 2 — and I think Julie and I had to figure this out about him along with Nick and the team — is he's harder to understand in Season 1. He services a lot of plot in Season 1 and he's got some great reveals, but I think the minute we latch onto the fact that he's not just some guy who works at Triad ... the minute he's a kid who has a bad relationship with his dad, everything about the character clicks. It's a kid who doesn't feel like his dad loves him, and that's who that character is. The minute we figure that out, I think we are very excited about who Clarke is. Never good enough for his dad, I think what that does to a person, that's why you're feeling more humanity in him this year. That will remain a part of his character, as will his treachery, and the question will be what wins out in the end?

Was Josie finding that song Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) wrote about Hope in Penelope's journal the first clue that Hope was someone they've all forgotten?

Matthews: She can't remember Hope, so she cannot intellectually access those memories, but it does leave her with massive suspicions and a big question to solve. Obviously as we head into Episode 6 the following week she will be on that trail. Excitingly enough, that trail may even take her to New Orleans.

How do those doubts about her relationship with Landon and Landon's with Hope affect her emotionally moving forward?

Matthews: She's just got to figure out what it all means. I think on some deep, emotional level she feels it's obviously not good. I think her relationship with Landon this season has been real, and she needs to and will do everything she can to get to the bottom of it, starting at the top of next episode, and we'll see how that plays out for her.

Is Sebastian (Thomas Doherty) really as awful as he came off in this episode, or is there more to that story?

Matthews: Oh, there's something more to his story. He's just a vampire from a different time. Julie and I always say he's a vampire from the other show, and that's the reality. Sebastian and Damon Salvatore probably would have had a beer and a good time together, but the world has changed so much in the small space of time between the two shows. A Gothic Romance vampire is not such a happy fit into the current landscape and the current show. Our kids are so different, so he is an outlier for that reason. But to him, he is just a vampire who is doing his job and being true to his nature. But he's going to go on quite a journey, and you'll certainly learn a lot more about Sebastian, where he comes from, and why he feels the way he does in the coming episodes.

Thomas Doherty told us Sebastian's attachment to Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) has something to do with a woman in his past, so what details can you share about that?

Matthews: It's true. The name of the following episode is ["That's Nothing I Had to Remember"] and so you will learn more about Sebastian... and you will learn more about the person Lizzie so specifically reminds him of.

Given that the dark magic blast let Lizzie remember Hope, how feasible is that option when it comes to helping others remember her?

Matthews: I think that's a good question. Obviously, if it happens to Lizzie, it can happen to other people because that's just how magic works on our show. The question is will they put those pieces together? How will it play out? I think the question also is, should they? Is the world better, is it not? The awful situation you're in as a viewer is Hope coming back will make some people's lives instantly better and it will make some people's lives instantly worse. So even if such a thing was an option, what do you do? That's definitely a question I hope we explore in the coming episodes.

We haven't forgotten about these cloaked figures lurking around Mystic Falls, so what, if anything, can you say about them and their agenda?

Matthews: They're pretty mysterious, right? They're obviously working on something and that something is obviously not good. We will certainly know more. The question we hope the audience is asking is who is under that robe, and why are they under that robe? ... The answer tickles Julie and I and all of the other writers. We hope when we get to that point the audience will feel the same. Certainly much more to come on that front.

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.