#and none of them realise the other one already gave me shit

[cruelsister-moved2]

my job is like heyyy we know you work 3 days a week but can you do 3 peoples worth of full time jobs in that time? xoxox 

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 6.7 K Warnings: None. Prompt: It's a night to talk This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.

Chapter 27: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Remus didn’t need to see your flushed cheeks nor did he need to hear your now slightly hoarse voice to realise what had happened behind the curtains. No, he would’ve noticed the moment you dipped back inside the cloak, you smelled divine, it was that combination of scents he just couldn’t get out of his head. 

Unfortunately, he had realised earlier, not because he was trying to pry, but because he had a really keen sense of hearing, sometimes the perks of being a monster weren’t all that convenient. He had leaned into the wall as he heard Sirius kiss you. He had seen him do it so many times, he thought he should already be immune to it. But fuck did he wish he was you at that moment. Which made him feel like shit, yet again. 

And then you came out, looking a little dizzy, trying to hide your stupid lovesick smile and he almost broke, how ever could he wish to take your place, when you looked so pretty like that? Sirius was lucky, you were lucky, and he was fucking miserable. 

And then you turned to him, a mischievous smile on your face as you placed every single ounce of your attention on him and he almost forgot why he was feeling so luckless. “I believe you have a certain thing to show me…” 

Remus, who was still a little fazed from all the emotions he had gone through in such a short period of time, had absolutely no idea what you were talking about “I do?” he asked. 

You arched your eyebrows, tilting your head down just a little, Remus swallowed, how was it possible he had been so close to having a heart attack from Sirius earlier and now that he was looking at you, staring at him like that, he felt completely and utterly enamoured by you instead? He must have had some serious issues if his mind could switch just like that in a matter of minutes.  

At the lack of response, you leaned towards him just a little, the same smile still playing on your lips, and you whispered “Something about a certain map I could finally see?” 

Remus seemed to finally know what you were talking about “Ah, the map!” he said with a smile and pulled a piece of parchment, the same one he had tucked in while Sirius pulled you between them that night. He handed it to you, a rather satisfied smile as you looked at it, moving it around and unbending the pieces of parchment glued on top of each other to try and find the map, but it was empty. 

You heard the boy chuckle and you narrowed your eyes at him, pulling your wand and placing it on top of the parchment “Revelio,” you whispered. Nothing happened. The boy chuckled again. You looked at him, mouth shut tight as he stared at you, clearly diverted. “Did you just hand me a blank piece of parchment to wind me up?” 

He shook his head, his lips pressed tightly as he tried to suppress a smile. He took a step towards you, closing the already short distance the cloak allowed the two of you to keep, and he leaned down a little, “Wand on the parchment,” he said. You gave him another look but followed his instructions, “bit more in the centre,” he said as he grabbed your hand to place it where it should be. 

You looked up at him, he was too focused on getting your hand in the right place to notice you were staring. He looked so pretty in the low light of the castle at night, his skin looking a little more golden and softer, the gilded specks in his eyes shining a bit more than normal. Britain really had gotten its hands on all the handsome bachelors of the century, there weren’t boys this pretty in your older school. You wondered if Alice knew how freaking lucky she was. 

Remus leaned in just a little bit more, close enough for his mouth to brush on your ear as he whispered something, the whole thing sent a shiver down your spine, you were not expecting his slightly rough voice to sip into your brain like it did. 

You gulped and nodded, he pulled back, and then you smiled, whispering “I solemnly swear, I’m up to no good.” Ink started appearing on the map, from the centre of your wand to all around it, you marvelled at the intricate details and letters drawn over the map. 

“Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP”

You looked at the drawing of the Whomping Willow and awed at the details of text written on every branch, aside from being a map, it was a piece of art, worthy of display. You looked up at him, the astonishment evident in your eyes, he smiled proudly, he knew for a fact you’d be fascinated by it, and you hadn’t even seen the entire thing. “Open it,” he prompted. 

You did as told, inside it was a detailed map of Hogwarts, from passageways to names of classrooms, to a way more elaborate version of the map Remus had drawn you a while back so you could feed your fireworms. You instantly recognized it and brushed your fingers over it, giving him a questioning look. He nodded, “There’s many more of them, the map has all the ones we’ve discovered.” 

Then you noticed, the small star was moving in one of the passageways, there was a deer and a rat in the common room and there was a moon right where you stood. You took out the moon charm Remus had given you earlier, it had exactly the same shape. You smiled “You’ve tagged each other, that’s how you found me!” 

He nodded, “Peter’s working on making one of you,” he said with a smile, “he’s using the charm of the necklace Sirius’ swiped from you a couple days ago.” 

“But… that’s silver,” you added alarmed, “I thought he was taking it away because he knew it’d hurt you, like he did with the ring that day. I was going to get rid of it.”

Remus smiled, “He’s transfiguring it into aluminium, it’s too pretty for you to throw it away just because it hurts me.”

“Nothing will ever be ‘too pretty’ not to throw away if it hurts you, Remus.” 

He cleared his throat after that, really trying to ignore the butterflies your words had made him feel. You thought of him as a friend, you were such a freaking incredible friend, why did he have to go and fall for you. 

“The makeout room Richie showed me should be somewhere over here,” you said pointing at a section of the map. 

Remus almost choked “The what?!”

“Oh… right, that’s what Richie used to use it for, and for keeping his illegal books I guess,” you said casually as you tried to figure out the details of the map, “What’s that?” you asked when you noticed there was a moving symbol with an “AF” written on top. It was walking a couple of passages away from you. There were other symbols with letters like that in different sections. 

“That’s Filch,” he said as he grabbed your arm and started pulling you towards the other side. 

“You tagged Filch?!” you asked surprised. 

“We started playing with a small little trinket until he confiscated it. We knew he’d keep it around, and now we know where he is all the time.”

You looked at him with a mix of admiration and shock, you already knew your friends were clever, only clever people could plan something like what you were about to do, but they weren’t just clever, they were also resourceful, imaginative, strategic and analytical. They were freaking geniuses. 

You followed behind him, both walking towards the dungeons and to the potions’ classroom. Once you arrived he pulled his wand out, but you shook your head, pulling out a copy of the keys. 

“How did you?” he asked as he saw you slide it in and heard the pins adjust into place. He was staring at you in awe. 

“He gave it to Lily to get some things earlier in the morning,” you explained “I got Alex Wood to teach me how to use Gemino a couple of weeks ago, and used it to make our very own copy.” 

He was sure he couldn’t be more in love with you than he was, until you said that. “Our”, the word lingered on his brain, he’d have to tell Sirius how goddamned sneaky his girlfriend was, he was sure to get a kick out of it. 

The two of you walked together, he waved his wand over the door of the ingredients room “No alarm spells,” he told you. You smiled and used the key to open it, there were rows and rows of ingredients in the small potion room. You had already gotten most of them, but you still needed some key things for the potion. 

Remus handed the book over to you and you went straight to the page with the ingredient list and marked what you already had in hand, and the two of you started to work together seamlessly, you’d say the name of the ingredient and he’d pull it from the shelf and put it on his bag. 

“Is that the last one?” he whispered as he saw you mark the paper with a pencil. 

You nodded, but then shook your head “No wait!” you said “Spider venom essence, grab some spider venom essence.” He turned to you,  an eyebrow arched: that wasn’t on the book, he knew. “Richie recommended it, he also said he might have some other useful ingredients on the hideout.”

Remus nodded at your explanation and leaned down to take the spider venom essence from the bottom shelf, along with  another small bottle and placed them on his shoulder bag “Now we’ve got everything.” 

You looked through the list and went over everything you had already gotten. “Indeed we do,” you said after a couple of seconds of concentration. He smiled at how cute you looked, from the angle where he was crouching in. 

“Let’s go to your makeout room then,” he said as he finally stood up. 

“We really need to find a better name for it,” you said as you rolled your eyes. You left the small ingredient closet and Remus placed the cloak around the two of you again. He took the book from your hands and placed it on the bag as you took the map again “Looks like the way’s empty, we just have to be a bit more careful with the prefects, in case any of them is patrolling somewhere.” You said as the two of you started to walk away. Both stopped for you to close the door, and once it was done you handed him the keys, “here,” you said as you placed them over his hands.

He looked at you puzzled “Why?” 

“You’ll come with the boys more often than me,” you said simply “And you’re way more responsible than any of them, if anyone should have the keys, it should be dear Moony.”

He rolled his eyes with a smile at the way you used his nickname, he found he liked you calling him Moony almost as much as he liked it when you said Rem. But he liked Rem better because that one had been entirely yours.  

The two of you walked towards the make-out room side by side, at some point Remus had placed his hand near the back of your neck and he pretty much guided you through the halls as you stared at the map, making sure you weren’t getting close to Filch or any of the other prefects that had already been tagged by the boys.

“Have you considered doing something to tag absolutely every single person in the castle?” You asked as you walked through a particularly quiet hallway. 

He smiled, great minds think alike, he thought. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to do it for a while.” He told you “We can’t exactly give a charm to every single student.” 

“You need to charm the school instead,” you said as you pulled your head from the map and leaned over to check on the passage you’d go through afterwards “I’m not saying it will be easy but there must be a way to tap into Hogwarts’ magic,” you said then “That or you charm the Hogwarts Express, since everyone goes through the Hogwarts Express at least once.” 

Remus turned to you with his eyes wide open “That’s actually brilliant!” 

You turned to him with a small proud smile “Thank you,” and shot him a small wink. By then, the two of you were already reaching the small statue. “All right, at the count of three, you placed your hand on the frog and rub, deal?” you asked, looking at him with a smile. 

He looked at you incredulously “you want me to rub the frog?“

You nodded “I know, It’s weird, I thought that too, but trust me,” you said with a smile, and how could he not?  He placed his hand on the frog “I’m gonna place my hand on top,” you warned before gently sitting your hand over his, he almost melted right then and there. “Go ahead then–“ 

He rubbed the frog, and it swallowed the two of you this time, you tried to land on your feet like you had done on your way out earlier that day, but you didn’t think how much more complicated it would be to do it with someone else also being inside the passage so instead you tripped over Remus’ long legs and the invisibility cloak. By the time you were falling over the small room, he was the first one on the ground, you fell on top closely behind, gravity and the force of the frog having your lips crashing against the corner of his. 

“Ugh sorry,” you said as you used your good arm to prompt yourself up and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of your sweater, you were certain some of your saliva had ended up rubbing all over the poor boy’s face, even if you couldn’t see shit. Remus was thankful the place was so dark because if you had actually seen how red he’d gotten, you probably would’ve started to realise that something was off. 

“It’s fine,” he said, grabbing your arm gently to stop it from rubbing into his face, he licked his lips, you still tasted exactly like you had at Marlene’s party. He felt bIood start to rush down, and coughed, moving his face to the side “Would you mind getting off, though?” 

“Sorry,” you repeated, lifting yourself and standing all together. You extended your hand for him to grab as soon as you were up. You still barely made the figure of him on the floor, but you were sure he saw a lot better, since only seconds later he grabbed your hand, and started to stand as well. 

“Your shoulder ok?”

You rolled it over “Yeah, fell on my chest,” you said. Yeah, I noticed, he thought, but didn’t say a thing “And you broke most of the fall. Are you okay?” 

He nodded, then remembered you probably couldn’t see it, “Yeah, totally.” 

You pulled your wand from your pocket then using a very controlled version of incendio to turn on the kerosene lantern in the corner, but when you did, several other candles, one by one, started to turn on all over the room, and then out of a small phonograph started playing soft, sexy music. You looked around, taking the whole place in, and when you realised what was going on, you broke into a laugh. 

Remus started laughing right afterwards, the whole situation was so hilarious to you that you straight up bent down, placing a hand on the table to keep yourself standing. You felt Remus place his hand over your upper back as he too tried to hold himself up “Wouldn’t have assumed Richie to be such a romantic,” you said as you tried to regain your breath.

“What?! But he had a whole love triangle going on,” Remus told you, he was also trying to regain his breath “He was a total heartbreaker at his time.”

You gasped “Wait really?” 

“Yeah, heard some other ghosts talking about him.” 

“You really do learn something new every day,” you said, finally standing up straight, and pointing at the old phonograph, it stopped playing instantly. Good riddance, whatever version of spicy 1800s sexy music Richie was into, wasn’t vibing with you.

Remus was relieved that the laughing had made you just as red as him, you were as flushed as each other now, just for different reasons. You took a few more deep breaths and stood in front of the table, casually walking over to him and pulling the book from his bag, still panting a little.  You had done it with such a naturality, such confidence as you invaded his personal space that he almost thought you were Sirius for a second. 

You opened the book on the table and started looking for the potion you’d be brewing, taking out some of the ingredients from your backpack as he busied himself pulling the stuff from his own shoulder bag. Once you had all the stuff you’d brought on the table you walked over to the small potions cupboard Richie had left in the corner of the small room. 

“You think this place is soundproof?” he asked. 

“Well, if it really was Richie’s make-out room, and if he even had a phonograph, I’d say it’d make sense for it to be soundproof,” you said diverted “Why, wanna bring Alice over?” you added with a cheeky smile. 

Who?!, he almost asked, before remembering what an ass he was for even thinking it, “It’s your secret spot, I’d never.” 

“Technically It’s Richie’s,” you said with a shrug. “But I’d let you.” 

“I still wouldn’t want to,” he said then, almost too quickly, “It’s ours,” he mumbled almost to himself, you’d taken him there, he was not going to take any other girl, or boy for that matter. Either way, the only boy he’d want to take there would be Sirius, and you’d probably take him there eventually either way. 

“Oh, he has some good stuff here,” you said as you continued checking, distracting yourself with some of the vials and flasks in the corner of the room “You think these can expire?” 

He turned to you “Uhm… Haven’t they been here since the 1800s…” 

“Mid 1800s,” you corrected “Like… 150 years ago.”

“Right…” Remus said, “I mean I guess the dried stuff wouldn’t actually expire,” he shrugged, “Pass me the small cauldron, would you?” he asked. You grabbed it from the corner, using both hands when you realised it was heavier than you expected “BIoody hell what did they make them with back then?” 

“Cast Iron,” he said as he walked towards you and pulled it from your grasp with one hand, carefully sitting it on top of the table. You narrowed your eyes at him, slightly jealous of his werewolf strength. “You brought the measuring cups, yeah?” 

You nodded and pulled them out of your bag before handing them over to him, and turning back to the section with the vials “We’ve also got this,” you said as you pulled a small weight scale from the cupboard “They’re meant to be more accurate.” 

“They are,” he agreed as he extended his hand to take it from yours. You kept exploring the ingredients on the cupboard as he measured. You found a few interesting things, along with Richie’s very own pot of Spider Venom’s Essence. Except this one had evaporated with time and was a way thicker liquid –like molasses- pooling at the bottom of the vase, while the one you’d gotten from Slughorn’s was syrupy, like a serum. You unclogged the corkscrew at the top and leaned it towards your nose. 

“Wait, hold up!” Remus said, but it had been too late, you had already gotten a whiff, and then you felt it, thousands of tiny feet crawling all over your skin, you shivered, closing your eyes shut as you hoped for the feeling to go away. You knew it was because of what you had done, so you didn’t panic, but your knowledge did not make the experience any less excruciating. You were sure you were flinching every couple of seconds as you felt Remus approach. 

He placed his hand over your good shoulder and you flinched again, “Here, drink this,” he said. You did as told, slowly the crawling started to go away. Remus still had his hand on your shoulder and was looking at you with a concentrated expression “Better?”

You nodded “Almost gone,” you said as you shivered one last time. “I was so not expecting that,” you said “What did I drink?” 

“Water and a bit of Webbane,” he said. “Yook it when you told me to grab the essence, I thought it could be useful…” 

You looked at him bemused “That was a brilliant call,” you said as you rolled your good shoulder to try and get the last bit of the crawling to go away, he finally pulled his hand away, just after he felt the way your muscles shifted underneath his hand.“How did you know?” 

“We were gonna use it once for a different prank, Peter did the exact same thing you just did, and he was whining about the crawling for like 2 hours. We investigated how to contrarrestar it afterwards.” 

You gasped “You’re telling me I would have gone through two hours of that if it hadn’t been for you?!?”

He shrugged, “Probably more, that thing looks really freaking potent.” 

You shivered just at the idea “Thank you, my saviour,” you said, he chuckled at your nickname. 

“You’re welcome,” he said with a little proud smile “Come on, let’s get back to work, we don’t have much time.” 

“We’ve got all night,” you said as you walked next to him and picked one of the ingredients at the bottom of the list to measure from bottom to top while he did the opposite. It’s something you had done many times before in classes. You had developed it to be faster in the measuring process and get on with the potion-making before most of the other teams. Your speed and precision always got you and Remus praises from Slughorn. 

“I’d rather get some sleep, tomorrow we’ll actually stay up all night setting everything up.” 

“I’m sure we won’t take too long,” you said. 

Unfortunately, the potion had a lot of rather precise steps and worse of all, long waiting times in between ingredients. You had laid your head down on the table, toying with a tiny little crystal globe that you had picked from one of the shelves, rolling back and forth, over your fingers and then side to side. Remus, who was actually sitting on a small stool you’d found and decided to take turns to use, leaned over his arms on the table, looking ahead at some of the books, and checking his wristwatch every couple of minutes. 

“How much longer till the Puffskein puff dust?” you asked with a yawn. 

“10 more minutes,” he responded, “then another 15 ‘till we can add the hairs from a nervous niffler,” he said, checking his clock one last time. And then looked at you, you were still rolling the little globe in your hands, carefully brushing your fingers around the small ball, with rather elegant hand movements, he stared straight at your hands. He was thinking of how delicate they looked, small and adorable, especially compared to his own, coated with scars.Remus suddenly felt a little self-conscious and shifted in his seat, pulling his hands under the table, you turned to him at the sudden movement, your eyes focusing on his “Do you want to play with it?” you asked as you picked the globe up and turned it in your hand. 

He shook his head in response “I was just looking at the way you were moving your hands,” he admitted “It was rather effortlessly elegant.” 

You shot your eyebrows up “You think?” you asked “I really liked going to the ballet when I was younger, maybe some of their movements stuck,” you said with a shrug, perhaps that was another reason you had been so drawn to Nighshade at the beginning, she moved like the dancers you so enjoyed looking at. 

He leaned his head on his hand again, turning to look at you instead “Did you ever do ballet?” 

You shook your head “Dad wouldn’t let me, said it was too much of a fairy thing to try out.” 

“And he doesn’t like fairies because…?” 

“My grandma’s half-fairy,” you said casually, “tho my parents have been trying to hide that from everyone since like forever.” 

“So you’re not actually a pure-bIood?” He asked, trying to hide his surprise. 

You shook your head with a tight-lipped smile “Never have been. But since Dad wanted to secure his place in the ministry and all those political things, he decided to keep the fact that he married someone that wasn’t actually pure bIood a secret.” 

“But that– Oh…” he said as if something dawned on him. “That’s why you’re so freaking charming and pretty, you’re part Fairy!” he said, not quite thinking before speaking. You looked at him with a surprised, slightly teasing expression “I didn’t- I mean…” 

You smiled a little wider at his sudden bashfulness and then burst into a laugh, “I too think you’re pretty Remus,” you said in between chuckles. 

He looked at you half surprised, and then shook his head sheepishly “‘m not.” 

“Well, I think you are and you cannot change my mind,” you said with a shrug, “catch this one,” you said as you rolled the crystal globe towards him, he caught it with ease.

She thinks I’m pretty. 

“What does it feel like to be part fairy?” he asked. 

“Normal,” you said with a shrug “What does it feel to be a werewolf?” 

“Take a guess,” he told you with an arched eyebrow and a very sarcastic tone.

“I mean… yeah, full moon’s shit. But in other times,” you said, “I’ve seen you, you have really good senses, you see better in the dark, you’re a lot stronger, you heal faster…” 

“Seems like you’ve been paying waaay too much attention to me,” he teased. 

“You’re my best friend, of course I would,” you said simply. Then the last drop of sand fell on the hourglass and it emitted a soft chiming sound. 

You stood straight and walked towards the small cauldron next to the boy. Placing the Puffskein puff dust on it and carefully mixing the ingredients clockwise, when you were done you flipped the hourglass again and walked back around the chair and the boy, sitting on the table this time, letting your feet dangle like you had done when you talked to Richie. 

“If you want the stool I can–” he said as he shuffled in his seat.

You shook your head “-Nah I’m fine,” you said as you looked at the ceiling and let yourself fall on the table, slowly so you wouldn’t disturb the potion, your skirt rode up a little and Remus forced himself to look at your face, but the way your hair had sprawled all over as you laid in the table wasn’t helping him either. You then dipped your hand in your pockets and took out a bar of chocolate.

“Want some?” you said as you broke the bar in half and extended your hands towards him. 

He smiled “Of course,” he said and grabbed the piece, his hand brushing over yours just slightly. He did it on purpose, he wanted to feel your hands, the way you moved the globe had been tempting enough. “You know I’d never refuse a chocolate.” 

You smiled “Even less if it’s Honyduke’s,” you said with a smile, he just chuckled in response. 

That night Remus and you talked about nothing and everything all at once, he told you about his parents, about his father being against werewolves and how the retaliation of that had ended up in his furry little problem. You told him about your old school, about your family, about the time you met Sirius. Although he had already heard the story, he was interested to hear it from your point of view instead of Sirius’. All the while you’d carefully measure and add the ingredients on the potion. You talked about school and classes and he told you some of the pranks they had done before, all the different ways they’d gotten caught, just for you to be careful tomorrow night. 

“You think we can use this one instead?” you asked as you grabbed the thicker and older version of Spider venom essence.

He had his head turned towards the caldron and looked at you through his lashes, yeah there was no question about it, Remus John Lupin was pretty. “You think it’s a good idea?” 

You shrugged “Could make it a bit more potent?” 

Remus laughed, “If you want to do it, we’ll do it.” 

You shook your head “I don’t want to actually hurt them, though.” 

“SVE is not poisonous, can’t actually hurt anyone unless it’s combined with something else. It will make you feel miserable for a couple of hours depending on the portion thought.” 

“You think it’s a good idea?” 

“This is your revenge plan sweetheart, your call.” You had a brief flashback to Richie calling you that, it didn’t sound the same way as it did from Remus’ lips. In fact, you’d go as far as to say that when Remus said it, it… sounded right. “So…?” 

You looked at the vial in your hands and then turned to him, a mischievous smile dancing on your lips “Let’s do it.” 

It must have been like three a.m. when the potion was finally ready. You had to retrace your steps, going back to Slughorn’s to return all the ingredient bottles and cover your own tracks. Both you and Remus were careful enough to wipe all the bottles clean since you had talked about detective novels and fingerprints earlier that night. Finally, you went back to your rooms, he walked you all the way to your door and gave you one of the potions you’d brewed, the one that you’d have to use the next morning. He kept the ones you’d be using at night. 

“See you tomorrow,” you whispered, leaning onto him so that it would be barely audible and then sneaked inside of your room. 

When the door slowly and silently closed behind you, Remus sighed, letting out a long breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding so far. Then he shut his eyes and crouched on the floor, taking deep breaths as he tried to process everything that had gone through his mind that night. He was sure he was going crazy, must have been consumed by greed. How was it possible for him to fall in love with not one but two of his best friends? At once?!?!  

Friday, November 26th, 1976

Later that morning you’d been the first one to wake, and because of the prank, there was no way either of you skipped your morning rides since you all wanted to appear as natural as possible. Regardless of the fact that you had actually gone, James had developed a couple of tactics so that it only looked like you were practising really hard, by screaming and telling you to do laps while the three of you hid behind one of the towers or something. You basically made a huge show of it. And when you went back to the castle you were all laughing. You took the quickest shower of your life and walked straight downstairs. 

This was going to be one of the most crucial parts of the mission, and they had trusted you with it. You took a deep breath and used your wand to rub the pear at the entrance of the kitchens. “Have you seen Nimbletwist?” you asked one of the elves who shook his head in response. You sighed and continued asking around the elves frantically, but neither of them knew where Nimbletwist was. Which was logical since you knew she had been commissioned to the Owlery all week. 

But as you continued walking around the kitchen frantically, you started to lay small portions of the liquid you had hidden in your left sleeve onto every single one of the water, juice and even wine vases available. It was a relaxing potion, similar to the one Remus drank, but with a longer release time, which meant, every single person in the castle would have a very swell and relaxing day. And –and this is where the catch was– they would also sleep like a log. 

The best part is that this particular potion was untraceable since there was no smell nor taste to it, and no one in the castle would be affected by it, at least no more than accidentally falling asleep in a class because they drank too much orange juice in the morning. Once you were sure you’d placed drops of the potion all over the drinks, you hid a smile that was tempting to creep up your face and turned to yet another elf, one that you knew hung out with Nimbletwist often. 

“Haven’t you seen her?” You asked the small elf with an innocent tone.

“Her? You mean Nimbletwist master?” he asked in a squeaky voice. You nodded, and he shook his head in response “Pebblier hasn't been spotting Nimbletwist because she isn't in the kitchens anymore. Nimbletwist has been labouring in another location all week.” 

“She has?” you asked with a bit of a frown and a gasp, selling damn well your false surprise “And here I was making trouble all over the kitchen while looking for her…” you added with a small pout and a slightly dejected look.

“You hasn’t been making any ruckus master,” Pebblier said “We house elves enjoy yer company, in the kitchens. You’s a very kind witch.” 

You swallowed, feeling a little bad for having tricked them all to get the prank going, but it really was a harmless thing, so even if you had tricked them, you were sure they wouldn’t find trouble because of it. So you managed to smile awkwardly, trying to think of ways in which you’d make it up to them. “Thank you Pebblier, you’re very kind yourself.” 

The small house elf smiled and gave you a thumbs up, walking alongside you towards the exit as he told you about the lemon pie recipe he had been working on the past week. He said it’d be available the next day as a special little treat. He also asked where exactly on the table you sat so he could send one up right where you were and you could make sure to size a slice. Nimbletwist had told him how much you liked pie at some point, and he was rather eager to have you try it.

You wondered how it was possible that Hogwarts house-elves were so nice in comparison to the one in your house, or the one in Sirius’, whom he had told you about. 

Once out of the kitchen you walked straight upstairs and sat alongside the girls “No conspiratory plotting in the morning,” you had advised them, which is why James suggested that you sit with the girls instead of them, so even if something went wrong in the end, you had an alibi. And you all had already prepared your alibis for the night too. Remus had told everyone he’d be studying late in the library, and everyone knew when he studied late, he often found a small little nook somewhere where he wouldn’t be bothered by anybody. Sometimes people even thought they saw him in the library even if he hadn’t been there from how often he did it, so it was perfect. 

You and Sirius had planned a “date”, you’d told everyone you’d be walking together by the lake that evening, and you’d even convinced Tom, who you knew was going to be practising apparitions on the grounds, to tell people he had seen you there. Tom, being Tom, had just given you a cheeky smile, a suggestive look and said “I’ve got you covered,” with a rather exaggerated wink. 

James and Peter would hang out in the Gryffindor common room for a while and then head up to their room with the excuse that James wanted to be well-rested since he had to start preparing his mind and body for the game against Gryffindor that Sunday. They’d planned to make a very loud exit and make sure that at least ten people saw them leave. Once they were in their room, they would use Sirius’ record player to play some snoring and their own voices filmed in between. That way if anyone passed by when it was still early, it would sound like they really were in the room, even if by then, they would have already put on the cloak and left. 

Once in your place at the table, you turned in the direction of the boys, looking at each of them straight in the eye and raising your goblet filled with water. Sirius smiled, you winked at him. And after smiling back at the girls, you placed the goblet back onto the table, without drinking a drop. That was the signal the boys were waiting for, they too gave a small toast in between themselves,  empty goblets in hand clashing against each other. 

Later that night on divination you were sitting next to James when you realised one of the Ravenclaw girls, who normally paid attention, was falling asleep as the Professor went on and on about the qualities of reading divination balls. Others were so dazed as they stared at their crystal balls, that they might as well have been asleep altogether. 

You snickered as you pointed at Quentin Finchley, a Ravenclaw boy who was practically snoring in the back. 

James rolled his eyes and whispered, “Look at what you did Vixen, you’ve plummeted the GPA of the Ravenclaws for your little vendetta.” 

“Shut it Prongs, it’s not as if this part of the plan hadn’t been your idea.” 

He just shrugged “Might have been. But remind me again who went around the kitchen tricking all the poor elves?” 

You elbowed him playfully on the side, ready to continue your little quarrell when you noticed Spellman turning to you with a heavy stare. You gulped and stood straighter, prompting James to look at the crystal ball, as if that had been the thing you had been talking about from the very beginning. 

After divination, you had Magical Theory, where you both worked on your glasses until they were ready. You still had to work on the presentation and on the written section of the design, but the teacher had been so impressed with how fast you’d managed to make your item work that he prompted you to also work on another of your ideas.  He said he’d give you an extra mark on your grades for the second part of the school year if you did. 

All thought both you and James had whined about it when he was gone –since you’d had much more work to do– you were pretty excited about the fact that you’d get to work on one of the other ideas, especially some of those long-distance communication items inspired by muggle technology, you thought they could be extra useful for the break, to keep in contact with each other. 

After class was over, the plan finally went into motion. You had decided you’d all meet inside some of the passageways. That way you could each use your own little entrance and reduce the risk of being found out. After dinner, you went straight to the entrance that Remus had shown you on your first day since it was the closest to the Dining Hall and the path you knew best. 

Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

TAGLIST:  @rayrlupin @callmelovergirl @warcelia @ireneop @endversewinchester @moonyunebi @smuttysluttybitch @mazzymoons @drugs-for-memes @sofiacblair @vmpir3lvr @remuslupinisbae @rabluver @willgrahamisalesbi4n @thatobsessedreader @orkwardx0  @itskailey24 @hell0-kittie @belovedmoony @blacksgarden @loving-and-dreaming @cassie-love20 @starchaser-lily @zucchini-queenie @springflwer07 @sseleniaa @cometsghost @orkwardx0 @imdoingbetternow  @sbrewer21 @remuslupinsbae @maxinehufflepuffprincess @wifiatthetrainstation @unstablereader @msblacklupin @oliversaurus @jaylienpotter @remussbitch @hermionelove @izuoyarmin @themarauderswife7 @keira-kaz2y5 @lampthemacarenagod @bugg06 @a-n-1-m-3-f-r-3-4-k @darlingeels @kissmeunicornbaobei @xluansstuff @boo8008 @angelmixer @voteforintensedreams @allons-y-molly @aremuslupinsimp @imaginexred @writingshae

Leve a comment telling me if you wanna be tagged on Gilded Constellations

Want to support me? Like and reblog this post (reblogs are extra nice since they help me get my work to more people), also guys, I absolutely love reading your comments, so do throw them my way if you have any!

A/N: Happy New Year!!! Some of you must already be in 2024, some of us are still in 2023, so this is definitely an interesting time to post. And while some of you might be enjoying dinner with family or partying out with friends, I decided to give a little something to those who are home alone and in need of some friends. I love you guys, you have made my 2023 so much better just by commenting and existing and being there, may 2024 bring you all the joy and love in the world. Lilly xxx

Raead more Marauders Fiction

[ashsimpsalot]

Family Business (Kid X Rich!Reader x Sita)

Your eyes trailed from one of your lovers to the other. You could see the gears in his brain almost wearing out from how much thinking he's doing. It's like his world stopped, he's just standing at the corner of the room, totally oblivious that he's visible to everyone, just staring intensely at your other lover, doing her job.

Well maybe the years of grudge he's held against the owner of the pair of hands that roamed around on her skin isn't helping too. You sighed and took a sip of the whiskey you've been nursing. Your mind wandered back to how you three got into this arrangement. The night you trailed 'Bobby' into the alleyway, confronting him about his plans.

"Kid," You confidently called him by his legal name.

Kid was beyond shocked when he realised that someone noticed him, him, the boy that came from the untouchables, in such a big, rich place.

"I think you and me should go for a little drive," he's even more shocked when he's made the connection that it's you, the only breathing relative of Queenie.

It was Sita, honestly, out of the three of you she's more observant, she came up to you, legs swinging over your own, straddling your lap, your hand carefully placed on her back, knee ready to press on her just like she always love, she had her lips kissing your ear before whispering that there's a man, a mere waiter, she's been curious about.

"could you find out for me, baby?" her sweet voice in your ear sending shivers down your spine.

"How could I ever deny my girl?" you asked her with a tease in your tone, already pulling her chin softly for a kiss.

It took a while, for the three of you to be a thing, though you've known Sita for a long time you two had never made it official. even then she's the only woman you've taken up to your real apartment. Not that you've not had your fair share of people you've brought up to the VIP room.

Sita felt the same way, you're the only person she's followed back home. Others she's only taken in the hotel.

Well Kid is Kid. He's had close to none romatical relationship.. Except that one guy he slept with for a bed and warm food for a couple of days that one time but that's a different story.

"everything's alright?" Queenie's voice cut you out of your thoughts. You hummed, holding up your 4th glass of whiskey and sipping them.

"everything's great," you replied with a fake smile. Fucking hate the bitch, want to pretend she cares and shit.

"oh no it's not, she's been in the blues!" one of the men laughed. You almost successfully tuned out all the annoying business partners Queenie had, unfortunately for you, your dad was a big investor in the hotel, when he died, it all went to you.

Now you're stuck sitting in a circle full of annoying rich fucks that Queenie associated with.

You're a rich fuck too but that's not the point.

She frowned and then gave you a smile.

"pick anyone in the room, my treat," she said. You tried to hold in your expression, can't make a decision too fast, she'll notice. You three had decided to go forth with the plan on the night before Diwali. You'll request Sita as your girl. You've thought about plainly 'buying Kid off of Queenie's hands'. Not like she hasn't done that.

Your auntie's eyes searches the room. You know she's only being nice to you because she thinks that she's still in your will. Jokes on her, when you discovered that she killed your mother, you've taken her name off of the will.

But that's not enough, you want her to suffer, and when she's finally dead, you're coming for all her assets next.

"I assume your favourite girl huh? Sita," she said eyeing Sita who was too busy with Rana. "will he let her go?" you 'joked'. She hummed and called to Sita, sending two other girls towards Rana. Not like the man would care, anything with holes and legs he'd stick his dick into.

Sita walked towards you, one of the men slapped her ass when she walked pass him, making her yelp but professionally covered it with a smile. She immediately straddled your lap, swaying her body with the music. You held her back close. Turning to the man and 'playfully' punched his shoulder, making him yelp and held his shoulder.

"my girl," you 'joked' with a stupid smile. None of these people can do anything to you anyway. You'd love to see them try.

You kissed her neck making her whine, you smiled into her neck before she leaned in, kissing your ear.

You listened carefully. It's a sign that she wanted to say something to you.

"Kid? He's been staring at me, I'm scared seeing Rana triggers him like before," she said softly, the love and worry in her voice made your chest flutter.

You pulled away and turned to your aunt.

"what if I want two?" you asked playfully, your hand tracing on Sita's chest over her black dress. Trying to deceive her, making sure she can't see that this woman in your arms doesn't just hold your lust but your heart too.

"take your pick,"

You pretend to eye the room, not like you don't already have your answer. You pointed towards Kid. "that waiter," you said simply.

"the waiter?" she asked. "the tall one?" she asked again, snapping her fingers at him. Kid immediately walked towards the table. Moving to hand the table the drugs but stopped by Queenie. She whispered something in his ears.

You realised the looks of the men in front of you, it's the first time you asked for two, it's the first time you asked for anyone else when Sita is already in your arms. You had to think quick.

You can't let them think anything is off. You can't elt them use your loves as a point of weakness to attack.

When Kid stood in front of you awkwardly you felt guilty for putting him in an uncomfortable place but you had to do something to throw their suspicions off.

"on your knees," you said simply, earning a look of confusion from Kid. Sita who's still swaying and grinding herself to the music on your lap tried to look unfazed.

Kid does it anyway, kneeling next to your seat, looking up at you like an obedient puppy. You reached out your hand and pat him like one.

"Saw something about pet play in the magazine," you started, putting that stupid stuck up rich face all the people here have. You hands played at Sita's chest, roaming them on the neckline and toying the strap. Before turning your head into Kid's direction and lifted his chin with your index finger.

"they said something about male pet having more ego. It's more fun to break," you bullshit your way through, you figured it worked because they all laughed. Of course, fucking up someone's self esteem is most of these people's past time.

"well have fun then!" one of the men laughed, you just smirked.

You pulled Sita into another kiss, more passionate one, you felt the need to erase any taste of that Rana off of her, at least so that later Kid won't taste anything but you and Sita, she panted at how heavy the kiss turned. When you pulled away, she let out the most beautiful whine, looking into your eyes with pure need.

"you wanna go out now, baby?" you asked softly. Which she then nodded.

"well gentlemen, we'll be going now, our girl here needs some attention," you joked as Sita stood up holding both of your hands. You wrapped an arm around her waist and bent to pull Kid by his tie. "come on, pet" you simply comanded.

The drive towards you apartment was filled with silence. At a traffic light you can't hold it in anymore. "I'm sorry," it came out with a heavy sigh.

"for humiliating you like that. I didn't... I saw the men and they all looked so fucking confused and suspicious an-and I knew these fucking people, I'm so scared they're going to dig in more or something," you rambled quickly only stopping when you felt Kid's huge hand resting itself on your shoulder.

"it's okay, I know you didn't mean anything by it," his quiet voice tried to comfort you. Sita already had her hand reaching out for yours.

"I just felt like one of those stupid rich fucks and I hate it so much" you brought Sita's hand to your lips and left a little peck, then reaching to caress Kid's hand on your shoulder.

The light turned green and you switched the gear and drove. One hand still holding onto Sita's.

"Just a few more days, baby, and we'll be as public as we want," she tried to comfort you, you offered her a tiny smile.

Day in and day out, pretending not to know them beyond just renting or using them at the hotel hurts but it always end with a night of gentle and slow passions pouring into each of you. Before you know it, it's one day before Diwali.

You've 'rented' Sita as your date, you decided to bring her on a little shopping spree, letting her choose whatever she wants, wherever she wants. You just followed her with a stupid smile on your face, carrying whatever bag she decided to hand you. She bought a new dress for herself, then dragged you into a store to find a pair of shoes that actually matches your outfit.

"it's your day, sweetheart, you should buy for yourself, not anyone else," you said simply as she goes through the store to find you the right match. She shakes her head and pouted a little before siting next to you. "what is it?" you asked tentatively, placing all the shopping bags on the floor.

"I just wish Kid was here. I... It's unfair that we're here preparing for tonight while he's just.. God knows where," she sighed, placing her head on your shoulder. You sighed too, throwing an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"When this is all over, I'll bring you two anywhere you want, buy you all the things you want," you said smoothly and she lifted her head to look at you. "really?"

You nodded your head and kissed her. "anything for my favourite girl," you said and kissed her again.

"you can pick out anything for Kid, too. It's not like he can say no to you," you joked.

The night came and you saw Kid outside of the building, he gave you a little nod but nothing more. Though you did note the new necklace Sita bought for him.

"take my card, sweetie, my feet hurt from following you around," you tried to make her laugh. Sita's face light up and stood up to go searching for more things she wanted to buy for Kid.

Sita looked gorgeous, a new gold dress you bought her, a bangle to decorate her wrist, a new necklace. "I feel you staring," she teased as you held onto her waist and lead her to sit at the designated spot.

"hm? Not like you mind," you cheekily answered.

The rest of the night was fucking boring, hearing all the bullshit Baba Shakti spew.

You looked over your shoulder, Kid just went into the hall and stared at you before nodding. You slowly took Sita's hand, kissing her on the back of her hand twice to notify her and Kid that everything's on que.

Multiple gunshots were heard from the lower floor, loud screams of panic filled the hall. Everything was silent before another series of gunshot was heard. People started evacuatimg from the door before you pretentiously pulled Queenie by her hand. "Auntie, what's happening?" you tried to appear panicked.

She just shakes her head. "everyone's evacuating to the lower floor, the VIPs are going up to VIP levels, we should go to the penthouse," she explained the escape route. You nodded and followed her. Sita hand held yours tightly.

You saw Kid trailing Rana Singh. Decided to leave him be and followed her to the elevator.

Once you're in the penthouse, Queenie was going through her purse to find her phone, before she could do anything Sita hit her head harshly with a tray, resulting in her falling to the floor, unconscious.

"that's kinda hot, sweetheart," you smiled and kissed her, Queenie on the floor was barely able to move. You took the tray and hit her head again. "fuck you! You killed your own sister! My mother!" you yelled and stepped on her hands. Earning a loud yell from her. You pulled her hair roughly. Forcing her to look at Sita.

"see that girl you degraded so much? She's the one your filthy money is going to be spent on when they're mine," you said with a mocking tone before hitting her head again with the tray. Again. Again. Again.

Until her face and head is basically a bug puddle of blood.

Before you could turn to say anything to Sita, a figure of a man was about to near her. You threw the knew you see on the counter right into his thigh, earning a loud groan. Sita turned and hit his head with the same tray.

"that's Baba Shakti, good job, baby," you smiled and kissed her, tying him up in a chair.

You chopped a piece of Queenie's finger and looked over to Sita, handing her a gun. "Remember what I said about using this?" you asked her and she nodded, you pulled her into another kiss "take care of yourself, if he wakes up just make sure he doesn't get out of the ropes."

"be careful," Sita said before you smiled and goes down the elevator.

You searched for Kid, finally finding him on the VIP floor, hitting Rana with a high heel.

"love," you said in relief that he's still alive. Kid looked up to you, so does half conscious Rana.

"y-you.." he croaked out. All the hate and stories Kid told you in vulnerability at night comes to you. All the bullshit he had to go through because of this man, the hate came to you and you looked at Kid. "finish the job, love,"

"you think... You can get... Away?" Rana hoarse voice said. You rolled your eyes and gave him a sweet smile. "of course I can, I'm fucking rich," you said and signaled Kid to end it. Which he did with the last swing of the high heel.

"come on, love, Sita's upstairs. Baba Shakti too," you said leading him up to the penthouse.

Baba Shakti was screaming insults at Sita even though he's tied in that chair. Kid just went and slap him across the face. "that's not how you talk to a lady," he said with a stern voice. "do you know who I am?" he asked, eyes not leaving the old man once.

You pulled Sita towards you, holding her, standing little far from Kid but close enough so he knows you're both there. Let him have his moments.

You looked at your phone, one of your guy shoot you a text saying that you all need to be out by 10 minutes, they're burning the whole hotel down. "5 more minutes, love," you said over the sound of Kid beating Baba Shakti again and again. Sita had leaned her head onto your shoulder, arms around your waist, both of you watched Kid fulfill his plans and eventually he's stopped. "let him burn to death," he said before walking towards the both of you and into the elevator.

Life is easy when you have money, much more easier when most policemen you knew speak the same language. Bribery.

It's really not that hard, cough up a little when you got out of the building, give money to whoever needed to testify that the gunshots they heard weren't gunshots but really just glasses being blown because it's too hot downstairs and they start exploding, pay a cop here and there to dispose some evidence.

Cry on interview when talking about your aunt.

Wear white at her funeral, having your lovers by your side and pretend to mourn.

Then voila! You're in a new apartment with your lovers, enjoying a jacuzzi while drinking wine and eating grapes.

You hummed as you laid your head onto Kid's chest, he's chuckling as Sita went from kissing his neck to just tickling it to mess with him. "I can sleep like this," you said with a sigh. Sita leaned over to kiss you before tickling your side. "hey!" you yelped and caught her hand making her giggle. You pulled her towards you and she yelled when you tried to dunk her into the water. She pulled at Kid's hands for help but instead she got the opposite.

"surrender! Surrender!" she begged when Kid lifted her, walking towards the outdoor pool you had. "Wait, wait, dalring, no! No! Bad monkey! Bad! Ahh!" she yelled when Kid threw her into the pool. You let out a big laugh when Sita keep throwing water in Kid's direction.

God he looks too hot like this. Under the sun with swimming trunks and Sita... She wearing her little bikinis.

Barely could hold it in.

"what are you laughing about jaan?" Kid asked walking towards you.

Shit, time to run.

[actual-changeling]

some short and painful s6 angst set a few weeks after they get back on the x files. depression has been kicking my ass and enjoying shit i technically love is harder than it should be, so if angst is all i can produce then angst it is. hopefully the angst lovers among you enjoy this one.

you know when sometimes you're angry and you say something you technically mean but not like that? and you regret it as soon as you hear it? yeah. side note that i always imagine an eventual happy ending no matter how much i torture them on the way there

———

She doesn't know how they end up standing across from each other and yelling across the entire room, but she doubts it could have been prevented anyway.

It's a powder keg finally catching fire, months of quiet resentments and disagreements piling up until a muttered off-hand comment sets them alight. The file is still scattered in front of her, Agent Fowley's scribbled handwriting as unreadable as fifteen minutes ago, and somehow that was enough to push Mulder to start the fight she did not want to have.

Everything blurs, time moves too fast and too slowly at once, and she barely hears, let alone processes, what either of them is saying. Her mouth is moving, and so is his, and she's clinging to the desk between them with a deadly, white-knuckled grip. None of it was ever about that woman until Mulder made it about her, and now it's suddenly Scully's problem, her fault, her emotional overreaction as she tries—and fails—to repeat what she already told him. 

He did not listen to her or the Lone Gunmen, he does not listen now, and she draws from her anger, and focuses on the ache in her lungs and the pain tingling through her body. Pain is what keeps her from crying, not that it would change anything, they're too far gone for that. 

Scully breathes in, shaking, and flinches when her own palm meets the wood with a cracking snap and burning static shoots up her arm. Words tumble from her mouth, thoughts she had kept to herself as a favour, a courtesy, her personal olive branch he didn't care to notice.

"She gave me cancer, Mulder, she almost fucking killed me."

His eyes glint, he steps towards her, and she steps back, not because she is afraid but because she knows he can hurt her, that he will hurt her—and she's right. 

Of course she is.

"I DON'T CARE."

It takes her several seconds to realise the wounded noise breaking through the sudden silence is coming from her, and as she does, the implications of what he said trickle into her blood like ice. Mulder blanches with a dawning sense of horror, but she's the first to move. Her coat in hand, she almost makes it all the way to the door before he catches up with her, his fingers wrapping around her wrist.

"I didn't mean—"

His head whips to the side as she smacks him across the face with a deafening snap, and the pain is sharp and good, shooting deep enough into her bones to keep the tears from falling.

"I know what you meant," her voice isn't her own, and it echoes through her hollowed mind. There are lines she never expected him to cross, and yet here they are, firmly placed on the other side—and she's not the one who led them into the dark.

"I know exactly what you meant," she repeats quietly, dead, somehow still upright, and then she's gone.

[suckerforcate]

A little too much Alcohol Pt.2

Pairing: Brienne of Tarth x Reader

Word Count: 746

Warning: none

A/n: Part 1, this might be shit, sorry. I wrote half of it at the airport and the other half in a Pub. Also I'm so sorry for the lack of fanfics atm, I have so much to do!😭

Waking up, you immediately felt like someone was trying to drill through your head. Thankful for the glass of water at your side, you gulped it down in one. The sunlight that fell through your window made your head sting, and you hastily pulled the curtains close.

Today wouldn't be too active. You just wished to stay in bed and sleep through your immense hangover. No matter how hard you tried, the memory of the last evening didn't seem to come. Instead, your headache just seemed to get worse, so you gave up and crawled back into bed.

You had nearly drifted back to sleep as you heard someone open the door. The steps were light and yet firm. You immediately recognised them as Brienne's. Feeling safe with her, you stayed in your current position. Back turned towards her, nuzzled into the sheets. You felt the bed dip down a little as she sat down and soon a warm, soft hand stroked your shoulder. She lightly pulled at your shoulder, as to make you turn to face her. You obeyed.

Brienne smiled at you warmly, leaning down a bit to place a soft kiss on your lips.

"Morning, little Chatterbox." You hid your face under the covers, embarrassed. You had already assumed, that you had talked a lot. Probably a lot of embarrassing and stupid stuff. You always did when you were drunk. Which didn't often happen, which explains why you had never been this drunk. So you imagined it must have been horrible. Like someone vomiting words.

"What did I say?" You mumbled through the fabric, peaking over it with one eye.

"It's nothing- just..." you could see Brienne was searching for words, that didn't happen often. And she was lying, which also didn't happen often. What on earth had you done?

"Brienne, I know you're lying. Spit it out." You sat up straight, looking at her seriously. Why was she so strange about this matter? You could imagine having said anything hurtful. Because: drunken words are sober thoughts. And you had never, ever had one bad thought about Brienne.

Brienne saw the panic in your eyes, and however hard it was for her to understand why. She knew you never wanted to hurt her.

"It wasn't anything bad, don't worry. It's just-" She sighed, looking down a little embarrassed herself.

"You said that I was really tall. And then- you didn't realise you were talking to me- then I thought you would say something insulting, but... You said it was hot." She nearly whispered the last part, and you had to lean in a little to understand her. Taken aback, you lean against the headboard. Staring at her, you tried really hard to keep your laugh in, and failed miserably. A deep, throaty laugh escaped you as your head fell against the wall.

Brienne was too stunned to speak, her eyebrows furrowed a bit. You quickly grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I'm sorry, Brienne. But that's not what I expected, I thought I had insulted you or- I don't know. That's just the blant truth." Her eyes shot up, looking at you surprised.

"Oh, don't look so confused. I thought you knew. I love it when you tower over me, it's so hot, and it makes my knees go weak. Honestly, you can't be so oblivious." Brienne shyly looked at you. The revelation hit you like a truck. Right in the face. She was. She absolutely was that oblivious.

Leaning forward a little, you tilted her chin up. You cupped her cheek and pulled her closer to you. Her lips on yours erupted butterflies in your stomach. It was one of those kisses that could make you nervous and shy, even if you had been married for twenty years.

Slightly pulling back, you leaned your forehead against hers. Her eyes were shut, her breathing was ragged. You knew she was on the verge of tears.

"Brienne, my beautiful girl. I always thought you knew how mesmerised I am by you. I don't just think you're beautiful, you make my heart skip, my breath hitch. I never want you to second guess how much I love you and how stunning I think you are. Understand?" A single tear escaped and ran down Brienne's cheek. You gently brushed it away, and placed your lips on hers.

"And now, lay down and keep quiet. I have the headache of a century." Brienne lightly chuckled and obliged.

Tag List: @thoroughly--confused, @danveration

[fckyouiwontdowhatyoutellme]

Okay. Fuck it. I said I'll get it done until the weekend but considering I'll make it into 3 parts now, have part 2 of 'Sanji having a tattoo and Zoro being super normal about it' before writers block kicks my ass again.

Pt. 1 can be found here

This part gets a bit horny and also kinda emotional....at least as emotional as these idiots can get. Enjoy😊

For a few moments the bathroom was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Then hell broke loose, or rather Sanji broke loose. With a kick to Zoro's stomach he tried getting the green haired man off him.

"The hell is wrong with you? Did all that moss on your head finally grow into your brain or what?!" he screamed. But the swordsman didn't move, eyes fixed on the tattoo. Sanji cleared his throat, aiming for another kick. "Mosshead, I'm talking to you!" he tried wriggling free but it was no use. Zoro still held both his hands in an iron grip with one hand, while the other reached out towards his chest as if the sentient seaweed was in a trance, unfamiliar gently tracing over the rose. It took everything in Sanji not to shiver at this.

"You know..." Zoro started, his fingers still tracing over the tattoo. "I really hoped you weren't that dumb. Tattooing some random girl's name, fucking stupid!" as soon as the last word left Zoro's mouth, he found himself splashing backwards into the bathtub. Maybe he should have seen that one coming. "Bet her reaction was comparable to yours right now, am I right?" Zoro asked as he hoisted himself upon the ledge of the tub. The shitty cook made an angry noise at that, stomping over to the swordsman.

Crossing his arms Sanji gave Zoro an angry stare. "What happened to asking about it like a good boy, huh? Instead you barge in here like a perv and assume you know shit about what I conciously put on my body! I didn't know what I expected from someone who only has alcohol poisoned moss for brains, but it certainly wasn't this!" he yelled, contemplating to just kick the shitty swordsman back into the tub. At least that would take care of his personal hygiene. Already raising his leg towards his opponents head, he noticed that the shithead wasn't even looking at him anymore. Ignorant bastard. Instead the green haired idiot was staring towards the ceiling and was that a blush on his cheeks? For a moment Sanji wanted to blame that on the overall temperature inside the bathroom, then he finally realised that he was still entirely naked and the swordsman literally had a front row seat to see his dick right now.

As soon as the shitty cook raised his leg towards Zoro, all thoughts left his brain. This sight was better than anything his imagination ever produced. Long legs still dripping with water, muscles flexing, ready to deliver a painful kick. He wished to feel them wrapped around himself, to mark them up with bites, kiss along them up to...No. As much as he wanted to appreciate those powerful thighs and everything between them some more, this was not the right moment. It took all his willpower to look at the ceiling instead of the very exposed cook infront of him. Why did he even go through with this stupid idea? He should just walk out and forget this ever happened, the cook wouldn't let him live it down anyway. Speak of the devil, said shitty cook shook out of his momentary stupor to grab Zoro's chin and force him back to eye level with himself. "First of all, my eyes are here mon chou" he almost purred with newfound confidence and Zoro felt heat curl in his stomach. "And second, you still haven't asked to see me like this, it's not that hard...unlike you".

Sanji didn't really know what he expected from teasing the mossball or where he took his sudden confidence from but he was still surprised when a callussed hand grabbed his wrist and a dangerous growl escaped the swordsman. "Don't fucking talk to me like that! I'm none of your hopeless flirts curlybrows!" he hissed, guiding Sanji's hand aways from his face. "I've already seen it now so there's no need to ask anyways!" Zoro sounded different as he said that, tho Sanji couldn't quite pinpoint why. This entire situation was too weird for them to think about such little details now. He never thought the swordsman would stoop as low as this just to see his tattoo. But here he sat infront of Sanji dripping wet and with a very visible boner. This was the weirdest thing of all and the blond had to dig very deep through his memories to not match the swordsman in his compromising position (For once he was glad to have seen his old man in the rattiest pair of underwear known to mankind). He wouldn't give the mosshead that satisfaction. Not yet at least. For now he wanted to sort through this mess that startet shortly after he joined the Strawhats and maybe finally tell the truth about the name over his heart. The swordsman didn't seem to buy the lie of Sanji getting the name tattooed for a random girl, so truth it had to be. Goddamn shitty marimo and the things his presence did to Sanji. He needed a cigarette. Or three. For now he settled on a deep sigh.

"Alright marimo, this is ridiculous even for us. Take care of your little problem and then find me in the galley. If I'm gonna tell you about this, at least I wanna wear pants" with that the cook yanked his hand out of Zoro's grip and made his way out the door. Zoro sighed. The love cook was right. This whole thing was ridiculous. The only thing he himself got out of it was the most embarrasing boner of his life and uncomfortably cliging wet clothes. He waited until he heard Sanji's steps retreat, then quickly took care of the problem in his pants. After cleaning himself as good as possible and wringing out his clothes he made his way to the galley. Hopefully all this shit was worth it, he just wanted to know wich poor girl was forever stamped on the cook's chest and if it was something he could use against him. With a teasing grin Zoro swung open the galley door. "So, who's the unlucky lady on your chest curlybrows?" he asked and settled on the couch. The cook already looked ready to kick him again and took a long drag of his cigarette. Oh this would be a fun story to hear.

"Will you finally stop with that assumptions you shithead? And maybe apologize first for spying on me" Sanji hoped he could stall for a bit, still contemplating to tell Mossball the same lie as anyone else. But he said it himself. He knew Sanji wasn't stupid enough to do something like this. And why was that idiot so determined to see it anyways. That was the question that drove Sanji insane the most. "Well shitty swordsman? I'm not hearing an apology and why are you so dead set on seeing my tattoo anyways, hm?" if he was to answer the swordsman, he also had some things to explain first. Sanji watched the still slightly wet marimo opening and closing his mouth like a fish, all while looking like doing the hardest mental gymnastics. Maybe it was mean to force Zoro into telling, considering he didn't like to talk about personal things. No. No, for once he had to explain himself no matter how uncomfortable it made him. Sanji was right there with him anyways. After a while, Zoro finally decided to speak.

"Well, I was just curious I think" he managed to get out. It was only half the truth but he wasn't ready to tell the shitcook the entire reason why. Zoro's eyes flicked around the kitchen, he couldn't look at the blond in front of him. Not when the images from the bathroom were still fresh in his mind. He never thought to see the cook like this close up and it was a sight to behold. Nope. Full stop. That train of thought had to wait until this conversation was over. He wished he could stand up and get some Sake, that always made talking easier. But noticing the ashtray on the counter filled with cigarette butts he at least knew he wasn't alone in his nervousness.

Sanji sighed. "Curious? That's what you call spying on me in the shower? I'd call it being a creep" he said pointing his cigarette at Zoro.

"If anyone's a creep it's definetly you curls. Seeing as you got some random girl's name tattooed" Zoro grumbled out, not caring for the shitty cook's sharp intake of breath.

"Will you stop with that? Have you even considered that it could not be a random girl?" Sanji had a hard time trying to keep his voice calm.

Zoro huffed out a half hearted laugh. "Well then, enlighten me cook! I already asked you once but you didn't answer me. So go ahead, now is the time"

"First off: you were drunk off your ass when you asked me, I doubt you'd even remember it if I told you back then. Second: unless you apologize, I won't tell you shit!" by now Sanji didn't even care if he was yelling. Sometimes that was the only way of communication the mossball infront of him understood.

"Fine shit cook! I'm sorry for being curious about your stupid tattoo! Now tell me who the poor girl on your chest is" Zoro yelled back and narrowly escaped another kick aimed at him.

Sanji took another deep breath. The mossball had sort of apologized and he was getting tired of his stupid assumptions, so now it was all or nothing. "It's my mother's name, shithead!" he said in a calm and measured tone that even surprised himself.

That left Zoro stunned. He blinked, opened his mouth, blinked again and closed his mouth.

Sanji took the last drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out in the overflowing ashtray. "Bet that never crossed your mind, eh marimo?" he asked looking at a still very much speechless Zoro that looked like he was questioning his entire being right now. It made him kinda nervous. Sanji never thought that the first person, besides Zeff, to know about his tattoo would be the stupid moss haired swordsman that is Roronoa Zoro. He basically bared a part of his soul to the one person he knew could destroy him with this knowledge.

After a few more seconds that felt like hours, Zoro finally found his voice again. "Shit, curls....'m sorry" he mumbled, looking anywhere but the cook. Feeling his curiosity come back he added: " Why didn't you tell the others?".

Sanji leaned against the counter, already fumbling with his next cigarette. "Dunno, they never questioned my cover story. I'm sure at least Robin-chan and Nami-san know it's not the truth but they never pressured me for an answer, unlike you dumbass." he chuckled. "The others would probably never believe you if you told them what I told you"

Zoro nodded. "Wouldn't have told them anyways" he said, decidedly not acknowledging the cook's provokation. Sure curlybrows mostly was an idiot but that didn't mean Zoro would tell his secret to everyone. He still had some sense of honor.

"Thanks, mon chou" the words fell out of Sanji's mouth before he could stop himself, mentally cursing the unusual fond tone of his voice. He blamed the weird time of night for it and hoped Zoro would ignore it like his jab towards him. Unfortunately luck wasn't on his side.

"Anytime curls, thanks for trusting me with that" came Zoro's equally fond reply. The atmosphere between him and the cook was weird enough anyways, so what. The blond lowered his guard, so Zoro could too even tho he didn't like how mushy he sounded. Like a lovesick teenager, wich was technically the truth but he didn't really want to put that kind of feeling into the conversation right now and risk making things even weirder. So he decided to test his luck, maybe the cook would tell him some more. "How was she? Your mom, I mean" he asked, playing with the hem of his still damp shirt. Sanji looked at him like he'd grown three heads.

"Why the sudden interest in my family mossball?" Sanji asked. That question was decidedly too personal for the two of them and considering he wanted to keep his family history hidden from the world. His crew knew enough about him already. Zoro just shrugged at him. "Well marimo, I'm still mad at you for what happened in the shower so why should I tell you? Also it's late, I have to get up early and I believe you still have a night watch to get back to" with that he made his way to the door, running away from the question like a coward. "Good night!" he added before leaving the galley.

Zoro was left sitting on the couch, suddely very aware of his damp clinging clothes and the ruined moment between him and the cook. Damn this pretty blond bastard and his ability to scramble everything in Zoro's brain. And damn Zoro too for handling emotional matters with the grace of a bull in a china shop. Grumbling about Sanji and himself he made his way back to the crows nest where he stewed in his thoughts for the rest of the night.

[fizzing-imagines]

Carrie | Gareth Emerson x Girly! Cheerleader! Reader

Notes: This has been living in my head rent-free, so here y'all go

Warnings: None

Words: 2.3k

You had a guilty crush ever since you first saw him in class. It was very unlikely, at least your friends would say that. He loved D&D, was in a metal band, wore ripped clothes every day. But most of all; your friends couldn't stand his peer group. The Hellfire Club were called freaks by your friends daily, and although they didn't seem to care you always felt bad when you saw it happening. And it made you question if you'd even wanna be friends with them still but who else would you have? You didn't even have a chance with Gareth Emerson.

At least that's what you thought. One day, while you were rushing to history class, you crashed into Gareth, making his books fly everywhere. "Shit, I'm so sorry.", you said while helping him pick up his books. "I didn't mean to run into you, I'm running late." You profusely apologised while giving him his things. "Don't worry, it's fine.", he said to you. Everything fell into place that day, because you had a note with your landline number in your pocket. You kept one because you've felt sick that day and wanted to have it in case you needed to call your dad, but now you slipped it to him. Gareth noticed, and he gave you a questioning look. "I...I think you're cute.", you stuttered out before rushing off down the hall. And he stood there, note in hand and blushing profusely.

He called you the same evening. At first, your father picked up but handed the phone to you once Gareth said he wanted to call to make sure he didn't hurt you in the accident earlier. The two of you talked for a good while, laughing, genuinely laughing, and chatting about school. "Not every day a cheerleader calls me cute.", he said after a while. "I don't know what went through my head, I'm sorry. But I meant it." Your face was flushed red and even though he couldn't see it, he could hear it. "Don't apologise, I didn't mind.", he said. His lips formed a smirk when he heard you fumbling for your words. "Although I don't know if this is all a scam. Cheer squad hasn't been nice to me, like, ever." Oh yeah, that was your biggest concern. "Well, I'm not gonna pull a Carrie on you.", you said with a slight giggle. "(Y/N), popular cheerleaders, knows Carrie?", he said in an ironic tone, followed by a chuckle. "It's my favourite movie. Horror movies in general are my thing.". Gareth really didn't think about his words, it just spurted out: "Maybe we should watch it some time. As a date?" Once again you blushed, a deep shade of red this time. Did he actually just ask you out on a date? "Y-yeah. Yes, I'd like that. Really like that, actually." You were a stuttering mess and couldn't grasp the concept of him asking you out on a date. "Tomorrow, after school? My parents don't come home until eight, we can use the living room then." You nodded, then realised that he couldn't see you. "Y-yeah. Tomorrow after school sounds good." As it was already late, the two of you wished each other a good night and hung up.

Next morning, you carefully picked out your outfit for the day. Blue flared jeans, a pink spaghetti strap top, pink and white sneakers and some jewlery. In the end, you put your hair into a half up half down style with a pink bow on top. You thought you looked cute - and hoped Gareth would think the same. Once you ate breakfast and grabbed your bag, your father dropped you off at school. You met up with your friends on your way in, who gave you compliments for your outfit, and walked to your first class: Math. Lucky you, Gareth is in the same class. Once you walked into class and saw him in his seat you couldn't help but smile. He smiled back, looked you up and down, then started grinning. He did like it! Class went by fast, on your way out Gareth brushed your hand while passing by you. It made your heart beat faster and impatient for the afternoon. But just like math class, any other class flew by in no time. At lunch, Gareth couldn't stop looking over to you. Yes, you looked like the complete opposite of him but exactly that was what made you even cuter to him. Nobody at your table knew that you were a horror nerd who has a secret interest in anything paranormal, only him. They didn't know what he knew. Gareth loved that thought and grew just as impatient as you for the afternoon. A peanut to his face, followed by a "Earth to Gareth." from Eddie was what pulled him out of his thoughts. "What?", he asked with a confused face. "Jesus man, you were almost drooling at that cheerleade.", Jeff said while nudging his arm. "Cheerleader, huh?" Eddie smirked, then his head turned into your direction to see who he was looking at. "Don't make it obvious, man!", Gareth said as he threw the peanut back at Eddie's head. "Someone's got a crush.", Jeff teased with a snarky grin. "So what, she's nice." He had a feeling where this conversation was gonna go, and he didn't like it. "She hangs out with the basketball players, there is no nice.", Jeff said, now with a displeased facial expression. "Which one of them, anyways? They all look the same. Except Barbie over there." Gareth punched him lightly in the shoulder at that, giving away just who he liked from the cheer squad. "Her? Really?" The third Hellfire member at the table said. "She looks like a unicorn shit her out." Gareth rolled his eyes, now clearly annoyed by his friends. "Let him be man, you don't know her." Eddie said in his defence. Finally, someone with common sense.

After school, he waited at the exit for you. He realized you two never made out a place to meet up, so he thought the exit was his best chance. And he was right. Once you came out and saw him, a wide grin formed on your face. "Hey.", you said in an excited tone. "Hey.", he said back with a smile. "You look beautiful." You blushed at his compliment and stuttered out a "Thank you." before you two started walking to his house. Luckily, he lived 10 minutes away from school. What the two of you didn't realize that both, you and his friend groups, saw you two walking off and him taking your hand. But this wasn't relevant now, because him holding your hand made the butterflies in your stomach fly all around your body. Once you two arrived at his house, he told you to get complete in the living room while he grabbed the movie and some snacks. So you did, you sat down on one side of the couch and crossed your legs over one another. Gareth came back soon after, with two VHS, chips and some drinks in his hands. "I hope you like cherry coke.", he said while handing you a can. "I love cherry coke.", you replied with a smile while he put down the food on the living room table. He smiled back at you before holding the VHS up. "So, I have Carrie and I also have The Shining, which I think you've watched already." You nodded your head in agreement."I did, multiple times." His lips formed a grin at those words. "Great, so you wanna watch Carrie first? I also have Friday The 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist if you prefer those." You giggled at his words while opening your can. "Came here for Carrie, but I'd love to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre afterwards." Gareth nodded his head, put the VHS in and sat down on the couch, a few inches away from you. 10 minutes into the movie and he put his arm on the backrest of the couch. You knew what he was trying to do, so you scooted closer to him and leaned your head against his shoulder. He took it as his chance to put his arm around your shoulder and squeeze you a bit closer. It was so nice, you could barely concentrate on the movie with the feelings erupting inside you. Regardless, you remained like this, only moving sometimes to readjust your legs. At the end of the movie, neither of you wanted to get up to change the VHS. You were way too comfortable like this. It just felt natural - meant to be. "Gotta get up, (Y/N).", he said after a while. And he did, but not without you whining in protest. He thought it was the cutest thing ever. While he went to his room to grab Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you took the bow and ponytail out of your hair because it's gotten quite uncomfortable while having the back of your head leaned against his shoulder. And you could only imagine that it kept pressing into him. Once he came back downstairs and saw you with slightly messy hair, he thought you looked even cuter than before. "Got it.", he said while walking over to the TV. You smiled as you pulled your knees up to your chest and wrapped your arms around your legs while he was putting on the movie. A look on the clock in his living room told you that it was six already - only two more hours. That thought displeased you before being replaced by being happy that you even have two more hours. Once the movie started playing, Gareth sat back down next to you and wrapped his arm around your shoulder again. "I could roll you around like an egg when you sit like that.", he said with humor in his voice. You laughed at that "Try it.", you dared him. And he did. He moved you around from left to right, front to back, until you almost fell from the couch and held onto his shirt to not land on the rug underneath you. He quickly wrapped his arms around your waist to not let you fall, holding you close to his body while profusely apologising. "Was that my payback for running into you yesterday?", you joked before laying your head down on his chest. His heartbeat was fast, you could hear it. He adjusted his legs, with one dangling off of the couch so you could lay down on top of him with your head still on his chest.

"This is really nice.", you mumbled as the credits rolled. Gareth hummed in agreement before letting out a yawn. "Tired, huh?", you asked him with a smirk. "Not of you, at least.", he responded. That comment made you blush, as if you haven't been laying on top of him for the past hour. "Wanna stay like this.", he mumbled before letting his right arm travel up to your head and carefully playing with your hair. "Me too.", you said back while relaxing under his touch. "But your parents are coming home soon." He hummed once more. "They won't mind, it's not like I've ever brought a girl over anyways.". You giggled, not wanting to think that that was actually true. "So no dates, no girlfriends, anything?", you asked in disbelief. "Nope, not one.", he sighted after those words. "You?" You thought about your words for a while. "Like, two boyfriends from the basketball team. Irregular dates sometimes, but all of them were so bad." Gareth chuckled a bit at those words. "I hope this one wasn't." You smiled and moved your head so you could look up to him. "Not at all."

The two of you kept having dates, usually at either your or his place. When Friday Fright came out, he took you out to watch it together. Eventually, the big confession happened.

You were laying on top of him, as you did on your first date, and decided to take your chance. It was now or never. "Gareth?", you asked while looking up to him. "Yes?", he said while looking down. "I...I like you. Like, really like you." Your face went red once again. And Gareth knew that what he was about to say was mean. "I don't." All colour left your face as you got up from him and sat down on the couch. To be precise, you were ready to cry. "I love you, actually.", he added quickly once he saw the tears dwelling in your eyes. You did start crying, but out of joy as you tackled him in a hug. "You're so mean!", you sobbed into his shirt while holding tightly onto him. "I'm sorry, princess.", he said before placing a kiss on your temple. There was still a chuckle in his voice, but he tried to hold it back. "I'm sorry, okay? I love you." You sniffled and whiped a few tears from your cheeks once you let go of him. He whiped the remaining tears from your face while looking into your eyes. "I love you, too.", you mumbled after a while. Gareth smiled, then leaned forward a bit to see if you'd do the same. He has kissed you on your forehead, cheek and top of the head before, but this would be your first real kiss. And also his first kiss. He wanted it to be perfect. Lucky him, you leaned forward as well, closing the gap between you two and kissing him. You leaned back onto him, making him lay down on the couch again as you got completely on his lap while still kissing Gareth. It was you who broke the kiss after a while and resulting in you starring into his eyes. "Can't believe you're my boyfriend.", you mumbled with a smile on your face. "Me neither.", he responded, grinning like an idiot. You leaned into him once more and kissed him again.

The two of you ended up being the most unlikely couple at Hawkins High.

[lol1tzme]

Fic prompt~

Phum centric..

-setted in future, Every couple are happy and busy in their everyday life, Peem owning his own art gallery and selling few of his arts whislit helping aunt pui with her cafe. Phum joining his dad's buisness, since their older brother was not interested and Fang became an architect, Q handles their family resort, Toey and Matt still studying, Tan handling his family garage, Chain became a dentist and Pun joined as a social worker helping different schools and universities and organizing camps.

-it was phum's b'day, although ever since he got peem and the friend group he never had a lonely b'day, but the past still lingered in his heart. Making him anxious everytime before his birthday arrives, and everytime his friends and boyfriends surprised him with a really nice birthday party.

-However this time, He and Peem had a argument just a few days before his b'day, It wasn't normal for them to have such long argument however it was a really serious argument, both of them too mad at each other due to it.

-It was the night before phum's b'day, the whole day, he was an anxious mess, he had an argument with his dad yet again at the company, due to their different views on one project and the argument with peem still going on, He was feeling like shit and couldn't find peem for comfort due to their argument. Everything happned was enough to make him anxious, he had not received even a single message from any of their friends, not even Fang had wished him. Fang and Beer were always the first to wish. But none had today.

-somehow he managed to sleep, convincing himself that they must be preparing a surprise, morning arrives and nothing...he was starting to lose hope, his thoughts convincing him that no one is going to come..he is alone again. Noon arrives, still nothing. Phum lost all hopes. He locked himself in the house, alone with his thoughts

-Peem who was just mad at phum, due to their argument, met up with the boys a night before, not even remembering that phum's b'day is tmr, he met yp for drinks with just him, chainpun, Q and Tan. He was too drunk that night, everyone where except for Q and Tan. Q and Tan did advice peem to talk to phum since ignoring is not the solution and peem decided to talk to phum the next day, however he woke up with a headache and hangover and decided to talk later, but was caught up with a problem with his next exhibition date, he decided to talk with phum after handling the issue, it got late in noon, he decided to cook for phum after going back home and having a talk.

-realization hit him harder than he expected, It was phum's b'day...he didn't wish him, no one did, reason he asked to not contact them for the whole day tmr, to leave them alone, not even realising that it was phum's b'day, the others thought they would just call in later at nigjt to wish, maybe that's what peem meant. A misunderstanding. Herealised how much he fucked up. He not only himself forgot to wish phum, the others didn't too, cause of his own mistake, he knew the other's must have mistaken his words.

-I don't know how he would make up, but I need some crying, some hurt, I already gave the angst and Comfort, a lot of comfort since phum deserves the world. Peem shouldn't be that guilty since its not his fault other than forgetting the b'day and that was also due to the heated argument they had days ago and his anger took over his usual calm demour.

-you can even chose what could the argument be based on since I don't really much idea...

-just a hurt/comfort phum centric fic and PUPPY PHUM...BOTTOM PHUM If you could pls...(It's just my request, you could make it top phum too but I would prefer it bottom phum)

-hope it's not hard to understand, point out if you can't understand~ TAG ME IF YOU WRITE IT PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS

[naavispider]

could you write a short where quaritch fully accepts his human form and goes back to his old ways of bombing and killing only because spider exists? so he accepts his human memories as denying them would be denying spider and hes the only thing that matters to him. I’ve seen so many fics where Recom quaritch is seen as the better alternative. But I’d love to see recom quaritch be evil and irredeemable and not even spider can do anything to stop him.

TLDR: evil recom quaritch who is only evil bc he accepts his human memories as they are the last thing he has of spider.

“What’s your name, kid?”

He had an inkling… Not that he knew it, but his brain had already started to connect the look of the boy’s face - the shape of his cheekbones, the colour of his eyes - to the woman he had once loved. 

“Spider,” the boy said. Quaritch let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Socorro.”

It was like the floor had been pulled out from under him. Like he was now left floating around in the dark, fumbling, trying to work out how exactly his world had just changed forever. 

He dropped to one knee, the better to see the boy in front of him. He didn’t know if he could get the confirmation out. “Miles?” 

Quaritch knew it. He could see it in the boy’s face. He could see it in the way the kid that called himself ‘Spider’ immediately schooled his expression, the hardened lines forming around his eyes and mouth. He knew it before the boy spoke again. 

“Nobody calls me that.”

It was him. 

It was Miles. 

The one good thing that Quaritch had ever been able to produce. The one whole and pure thing that he had put into the world. Quaritch wasn’t yet fully attuned to his new body, so the rush of emotion initially surprised him. Was he about to have a heart attack? His heart was thumping so hard and fast it surely wasn’t natural - for human or Na’vi. There was some other sensation as well… some sort of swelling in his chest. Was it some kind of build up of fluid? Had his blood pressure burst some internal organ he wasn’t aware he possessed? Shit. 

“What are we doing here, Colonel?” Lyle asked. It sounded so far away, though his right hand man was standing only a foot beside him. 

In that moment, he realised. What are we doing?

We’re fighting this goddamn war anyway we know how. 

He called in to Ardmore to arrange a pick up, taking both his son and the Sully kids with them. The reintroduction of Miles Socorro into his life was both unexpected and useful. It gave him a purpose where he had none before. 

He’d never admit that without Miles, he was just the RDA’s bitch. A piece of property to be controlled totally. Now, he finally got himself back. He remembered how it felt to hold Miles when he was a baby. He remembered how he would cry and cry and only stop when Quaritch rocked him in a particular way… 

Everything they were doing here now made sense. He needed to win this war, not for Ardmore or some distant vision about the ‘home of humanity’, but for Miles. To build him a home. 

Miles hissed as he was pushed to the ground while the squad awaited extraction. Looking at him, Quaritch knew this wouldn’t do. The kid was practically naked, covered in plant juice and wild. He was a feral animal. 

It clawed up Miles’s insides like a poison. First things first, he needed to get his son back. Not just physically, for that was already accomplished. But in all the other ways that mattered. 

Then, he would tear this moon apart until he could build a future for him. Whatever it took. 

And that started with ripping Jake Sully’s cold, unbeating heart out of his chest. 

[doiesfav]

✧. ┊ Starlight - Xiaojun ||

Pairing: Xiaojun x fem!Reader

Plot: (fwb) You and your friends went to the amusement park to celebrate finishing your first year in college.

Genre: Short story, love at first sight, non idol AU, strangers to lovers, fluff.

Contains: cursing, childhood memories, kissing, ferris wheel, fireworks..

1k+ word count

MASTERLIST

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

(y/n pov)

Finishing your first year at college is surprisingly very rewarding, studying for almost 16 years just to study another 4 years to get a job. And of course like every other person, I would like to celebrate it.

My group of friends (5 including me) were discussing about how we should celebrate it. ''Why don't we go drinking?'' but none of us agreed since it was to ordinary. ''Sky diving?'' firstly, where the fuck do you sign to go sky diving, also, probably some of us would shit ourselves while doing it.

''Let's just simply go to an amusement park'' and we all agreed. Going there is an affortable, simple and enjoyable activity. We were so excited to that day to come, it has been a very long time since I went to one.

I remember when I was 6 years old telling my mom that I would take my future boyfriend here. It was like an untalked tradition in our family. Someone in our family would go to an amusement park and meet their soulmate, that's how my parents, grandparents and more meet.

I made sure to be prepared very well, so I was already trying on new clothes i bought yesterday. It was a denim mini skirt with a cute cropped black top covered by a racing jacket.

We were meeting by 8pm at the entrance, I came the first so obviously I had to wait for them. Watching all these people around me made my heart warm, it was as if I became a kid again.

As soon as they arrived we went to different rides and games, it felt so nostalgic so I knew I had to go to my all time favourite ride. The ferris wheel, I loved being at the top of it while holding my smalls hands with my parents.

Now that I grew up, I had to go, not with my parents but with my friends who I admire a lot. We helped eachother's struggles, sadness and shared happiness since highschool.

When we arrived there, the long queue felt like it was never gonna end. Even buying the tickets was taking too long, so to save up time 4 people were at the queue while I went to buy tickets.

Suddenly a boy behind me tapped my shoulder nervously, ''excuse me, your skirt still has the tag on'' I looked at his face (not gonna lie, I felt like I stared at him for 10 minutes) then analyzed his blonde almost golden hair when I snapped out of it and reacted.

''Oh my god, thank you, I haven't noticed'' I laughed nervously and turning my head down covering up my red blushed face trying to cut the tag, ''don't worry, can you cut it off?'' he put his hand on the hair offering his help.

''No thanks it's okay, I can do it by myself'' I gave him a smile to cover up the embarrasment, when I finally broke the tag I said thanks and just then it was finally my turn to buy the ticket. ''5 tickets please'' I quickly payed and waved to say goodbye to the blonde guy.

Searching for me friends was difficult but then I captured them almost at the front of the line. ''Girl why is your face all red'' they all started asking questions but I just answered ''no just nothing'' trying to not blush harder.

''Hey we meet again'' I slowly turned around praying it was the guy from before, and it was ''oh hey, guess I should have expected this'' I laughed it off with an akward smile. ''Oh so you are that guy'' my friends also giggled.

Just in time it was our turn to enter the cabins, not knowing they had changed it to two person maximum to make more cabins but less people in there, of course the size of it was smaller like this. Then I realised someone had to be alone with a stranger, our heads turned at the same time facing each other.

''I don't care if I go alone'' but that was the same thing we all said. But before I volunteered to do it the recognisable voice that made me blush spoke up. ''I can go with you'' I turned around and found him with his arm wrapping my shoulder.

Of course I had to agree, I mean he was like a dream. So my friends started to get in pairs and when it was our turn to enter he winked at me ''ladies first''.

I sat down and saw 6 more man cheering him when the staff closed the door I heard ''YOU GOT IT RIZZER'' from one of those guys. ''sorry If they are making you feel uncomfortable, I'll later kick their ass or something'' we both laughed ''no don't worry is okay'' I said nervously.

We were both facing eachothers face and I could see him getting nervous aswell. ''Sooo, what's your name?'' I broke the akward silence, ''Dejun, or Xiaojun as you want haha'' 'beautiful name really, mine is y/n by the way, basic right?'' I laughed akwardly.

''Could I get your number?'' I shaked my head inmediatly and gave him my phone, when he returned it I saw the name ''Junnie🦖'' saved. I laughed ''you really give vibes of a t-rex''.

The air between us wasn't an akward anymore but rather a loveful (a/n: wtf) one. We both knew the conextion was special and the silence was melodically great.

Minutes passed and we kept getting to know each other until he asked me:

''Can I kiss you?'' At that moment butterflies were in my stomach and my heart beated like crazy. I slowly approached him putting my arms onto his shoulders trying not to give him a lot of weight.

My head slowly got closer when one of his hands was pulling a strand of hair behind my ear which was covering part of my face. Then Xiaojun carefully placed his hand on my jawline, and our lips touched.

It was my very first kiss and I think he could hear my heart beating like crazy. Then we had to break that kiss because of the fireworks, we laughed it off to not seem akward and stared at the fireworks.

Those were lovely and I could fell in love with it. ''Did you know it was my first kiss?'' XIaojun's eye wide opened and giggled while saying ''oh my bad hahaha, as long as you liked it'' Then I pulled in closer for a second one, this kiss he was leading it making it more passionately.

I didn't have any experiences before so I just followed his doings, we kept going until we were both out of breath and just in time our ride ended. We both separated our bodies quickly but wishing for more, ''text me anytime'' he said before separating our path. I winked at him this time.

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

This is my first ever story so I hope y'all like it <3 (sorry if there's any mistake!)

[gofancyninjaworld]

Information in OPM: Frameworks

Shit that happens in One-Punch Man may be fanciful, but one thing ONE does not joke with: information. He is as strict on it as any police procedural: who knows what, when, where, why, and how? What do they make if it? Why? What will they do with it? What happens as a result? 

I have many things I could say about it, but as I’ve been saying, life isn’t affording me the time for long essays. I’ll keep it short and focus on one aspect, the what do characters make of a given piece of information?  Something ONE is very aware of is that WE DON’T LEARN FROM DATA.  It’s not information without a framework.  Scientists will formalise that framework as a paradigm but we all have a certain set of assumptions and a framing story within which we have expectations of the world and which influence our understanding of whatever we perceive.  I don’t want to get distracted into the importance of framing, which is the lifeblood of politics, advertising, and any field where persuasion is important.  Just framework. 

Take this security camera footage, which has been reviewed by the Hero Association security guards, Dr Bofoi, and Amai Mask. We get three very different responses, based on their frames of reference.

The security guards aren’t stupid, and to their credit, they are at least considering alternative possibilities, but they have no basis to understand how reliable or how strong the newly-installed robots are. The robots don’t have a track record yet. Their impression of Metal Knight is that he’s an arrogant braggart, so they’re primed to think that he’s over-promised.

They have no basis to understand who Saitama is -- and Saitama acts too fast for them to see that he’s the one responsible for destroying the robots. As far as they’re concerned, the witness statement (from none other than the great King, who they do understand to be an exceptional hero) that the robots just blew up is as good a working theory as any. At least until there’s more information to contradict it.

Metal Knight sees the footage differently, of course.  He has the background of knowing just how strong his robots are and how extensively he has tested them. On that basis, he’s able to understand that there’s no chance they spontaneously blew up and infer that the causative agent is this Saitama guy. A guy he’d be well -advised to watch carefully.

Whatever one may think about Genos, he gave Amai Mask the framework to understand what he was seeing. Saitama is not just strong, he said, he’s crazily strong beyond any logical understanding you may have. His being prepared to take Genos’s words on board is founded on his frame of reference about Genos: as an extremely serious and credible hero, who would not have taken the time to speak of Saitama so without good cause.

Because of that, when Amai Mask sees Saitama standing before a robot, the robot taking a swing, an explosion and then Saitama still standing there, he doesn’t think ‘oh, malfunctioning robot’ but ‘damn, this guy is for real.’

A man can make no better decision than the information it is based on, to paraphrase a Conan Doyle character.

And that information is itself based on his frame of reference. This becomes extremely important when information is not complete WHICH IT USUALLY ISN’T.  We, the readers, are the only ones who were given a view of Saitama hitting the robots: it happened too fast and there was too much smoke and debris occluding the field of view for anyone seeing the security camera footage to see that.

So often in reading/watching fan responses to the story, it’s clear that many readers don’t take into account how drastically what characters already know and believe to be true affects the way they understand any new information presented to them. Makes for some really daft takes, doubly so when readers don’t realise that sometimes, it’s *us* who don’t get given the full picture.

ONE’s wonderful understanding of the importance of frameworks allows him to let people misunderstand situations without having to be stupid. It’s also an excellent way to give us insight into who various characters are without having to stop the story for it. And of course, it helps make the things the characters actually do as a result of that understanding that bit more interesting.

[newobsessioneveryweek]

Heeeey

so I have never written a complete fanfiction for TOA

And I have some ideas for angst but one persistent thought keeps demanding to written first

This thought comes courtesy of my dear sister and my many stoner friends. (Like seriously, I am friends with a staggering amount of stoners).

You see where this is going, don't you?

Anyway, since I don't smoke the green stuff myself, I asked my sister to give me her best rundown of how it feels to be high and what the experience is like- especially how it feels to get high by accident.

Again, you see where this is going?

I'm writing this because I have 2 ideas for how I want this fic to go. I would like you guys to help me choose. Here's a brief summary of both. There's a poll at the end of this post. Feel free to share your thoughts as well if you feel like it☀️

Both of these are going to be built on the same premise: Travis comes back from college and brings along with him a pack of edibles. Here where I live smoking weed is legal and I'm not exactly sure what the situation is like in the US but I'm gonna assume that college students are not strangers to Mary Jane. Also, this is my fic and I can do what I want.

Anyhow, Travis brings back weed (in gummy form), probably hoping to share, probably not, but long story short it winds up in a packed bag lunch, the person having packed said lunch thinking it was an ordinary bag of gummy bears.

This lunch was packed for none other than Will, who has been working so diligently at the infirmary that he won't even take the time off to go have lunch with the rest of camp.

So on this particular day Apollo visits camp and decides to help Will at the infirmary. When lunch time rolls around and Will sits down for a small break to eat he sees the gummies. In this fic Will isn't a sweet tooth and tells Apollo "I don't really like candy, do you want these?" and Apollo goes "only a mad person turns down gummy bears" and gratefully takes them.

And this is where the plots diverge.

Option 1:

Will assures Apollo that he can handle the rest of the work and dismisses him, telling him to go have fun with the rest of his kids. He leaves, munching on the gummies as he makes his way to the dining pavilion. Enter Travis and Connor (who Travis enlisted to help him find his missing weed).

They intercept Apollo on his way to the pavilion, asking where on earth he got those gummies. He tells them Will gave them to him. The brothers stare at each other in horror then ask him how much he ate of it. Apollo doesn't answer immediately. He just asks "why?" nervously, holding the packet close to his chest as if they were going to snatch it. They do, and then realise that there is only. One. Gummy. Left. Of a pack of 10. Oh dear.

For reference:

2 gummies MAX! This dude at FOUR TIMES THAT +1

Anyway, here's a little dialogue:

Travis: Apollo, where did you get that?

Apollo, still chewing his 9th gummy bear: from Will. Why, did you want some?

Travis, eye twitching, ignoring the question: Where did *Will* get it from?

Apollo: uhm, I think Nico?

Apollo, getting fidgety now: were these yours? Sorry, I didn't know, I wouldn't have eaten them if I'd known.

Connor: Them?

Travis and Connor share a look of horror

Travis: how much of that did you eat?

Apollo, visibly nervous: ...why?

Connor, grabbing the package and looking inside: ...oh no... There's only one left.

Travis: ...shit

Apollo, sweating, looking between them with a mix of horror and annoyance: I'm guessing this is bad.

Option 2, a lil more angsty ngl:

The second option, as I said, stems from the same beginning: Will gives his dad the sweets and excuses him from helping out at the infirmary. But this time Travis, Connor, and Will find Apollo when he's already high as a kite, laying on his back among the strawberries, claiming he can taste sounds or something like that.

Travis has been looking high and low for the goods ever since he lost them and has been trying to inconspicuously ask other campers if they've seen it without revealing what they actually are or why he wants them back so badly if it's just a pack of gummy bears. About an hour or two after lunch Will gets off work and the Stoll brothers ask him if he's seen a totally innocuous bag of gummy bears recently and he says yes, he just gave a bag of gummies to Apollo about 2 hours ago.

He asks what brand they were, he says he doesn't know but describes the packaging. Travis confirms that this is indeed the bag he's looking for and that if Apollo ate them then that's very bad. Will is curious and asks about it and Travis reluctantly admits the nature of these particular candies.

So they look for Apollo, enlisting the help of the other (mostly age appropriate) cabin 7 kids, and eventually find him in the aforementioned position, lying in the strawberry fields muttering nonsense to himself and giggling at his own jokes.

Travis insists they take him to the infirmary. Will doesn't question it and they try to lead Apollo to the camp without giving away his current state. This goes terribly. The minute he stands up he staggers, doubles over and throws up. And it just gets worse from there.

Here's a little dialogue:

Travis, effectively deducing just how much Apollo has eaten: oh gods, he has greenies.

Will, horrified by what he's seeing: "greenies"? What the hell are "greenies"?

Connor: *is*

Travis, gesturing at Apollo who is miserably dry heaving: *this* is greenies.

Will, patting Apollo's back like a good son: I'm still confused.

Travis: greenies is a state of being so high out of your fucking mind that you can't function.

Will, obviously distressed: how long does it last?

Travis: typically a few hours. For Apollo it should be less since, you know, he's a god. He'll be fine though, after a while. Just try to get him to sleep it off.

(I should clarify that greenies can make you hyper paranoid and anxious so in either scenario Apollo's gonna have a bad time. But it'll be funny too. Gotta have fun with this prompt, especially since I have first hand experience with taking care of my friend who gets absolutely ridiculously silly when she smokes outdoor XD it's gonna be vibes on top of the agony)

So yeah, those are my little thoughts.

[hettiesworld]

Name of fic: The Distance Pairing: John Doe x OFC (Violet) Plot summary: After joining Sweet Tooth’s gang, she stumbles across John Doe and Quiet, as they were on their way towards New Chicago. She couldn’t help but feel attracted towards the milkman with a funny sense of humour… Warnings: Strong language, violence. Author's note: This is in a 3rd person POV, but it does have their thoughts in this fic.

Chapter 1

John was helplessly pulled along by Sweet Tooth, as he offered the dark-haired woman a forced smile. He was nervous, more or less because he wasn’t sure just how long this would take. He would have to stay and watch the clown’s show, and then he could be free, right? That’s what he was hoping, as he was lead into a large dining room, with a big stage, a rack of clothes, and a makeshift bed made for the clown. John looked around, before looking towards Sweet Tooth.

“What, was the suite already booked?” He joked. It got a laugh out of Sweet Tooth, as he explained himself a bit, before he pointed out what used to be an old fish tank, long dried out, that went from the floor to the ceiling. Inside was none other than quiet, who pounded on the glass with her fists.

Making sure Sweet Tooth was busy, John ran up to the glass.

“Serves you right. Why should I help you anyways?” he stated, as the woman reached into her jacket pocket, and pulled out his keys. “Shit…” He cursed, before he looked towards the other woman who’d been stuck here with them. “We’ve got to convince him to let her out. Without those keys, I’m stuck here. We’re stuck here.” He told her softly, before a scream just down the hall was heard loudly ringing out. Shit, more people? It seemed Sweet Tooth was already alerted by the noise, but John sort of stopped him before he could move on.

“Hey, wait up man, can’t we let her go?” He asked, pointing to Quiet. “Wait! Hear me out, but wouldn’t you want more people to see your show? Well, why not have three…or more people clapping for you when the shows all over?” He reasoned, forcing a smile to the clown.

Violet just ignored the milkman, but little did John know is that she was actually listening to his words. She watched the intruders' conversation, as she acted as one of Sweet Tooth's guards. All that Violet could hear from Sweet Tooth, when John suggested to let Quiet go, was deep laughter from the clown.

"Stay with them, Dragonfly. Don't let them get into any trouble." The clown asked Violet, ignoring John’s suggestion completely, as she stood there in her leather jacket and boots, her Nirvana t-shirt was on show as her bow was strapped around her body. She nodded as it gave John the idea that she was working for the clown.

When she looked away for a moment, she started to blush, noticing how handsome John was. She then cleared her throat as she looked back at Quiet and John, taking a gulp of water from her metallic gold water bottle to hide the fact that her face was bright red.

As the clown came back, with blood on his mask, he thought for a moment before shaking his head. This made Violet realise this might be her chance of escaping his casino, so she cleared her throat making the others look at her. She then muttered to Sweet Tooth, "He is correct. You might want both of their feedback for your show." She tried to convince the clown.

“What?” Sweet Tooth and John said in unison. Both were surprised by Violet speaking up. John was more surprised because he didn’t even know she could talk up until that point. He blinked a few times, before nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, what she said. We’ll stay for your show.” He insisted, as he gave Quiet a look, as if saying she better play along. “Well…you do make a good point…and it’s not like we get a lot of women around to give feedback for that demographic…alright! Dragonfly, let her out!”

Sweet Tooth agreed, after a moment of thinking it over. John sighed with relief and looked towards Dragonfly. He’d owe her one for sure. For now though, he’d focus on the situation they were in.

“So, what about the other guys?” John questioned, catching the clown’s attention. “What other guys?” Sweet Tooth asked, sounding intrigued. “The ones that are back in the casino. Didn’t you hear their car pull in?” John questioned, before suddenly the clown grabbed his large machete, and faced Violet.

“Dragonfly. Keep an eye on these two. I’m going to get more people for the show.” He insisted, as he moved out of the room, promptly leaving the three together as John moved to help get Quiet out of the large fish tank.

“You know, you have one hell of a boss.” He commented towards Dragonfly as he shook his head, although he was entirely glad she was on their side. A pretty woman like that? Of course he would be glad to have her on their side.

As Violet nodded to the clown's instruction, she chuckled under her breath as she heard John's accusation, shaking her head. "He's not my boss. God, he's too crazy." She rolled her eyes as she watched John help Quiet out of the empty fish tank. "After he heard that I was a part of the Army, he forced me to join his gang." Violet explained softly to the two of them so that Sweet Tooth couldn't hear her.

“Part of the army- no way! A pretty woman like you?” John asked in surprise, as Quiet finally climbed out of the tank, equally as surprised as John, but said nothing. Not yet. She couldn’t just trust anyone just yet.

"WAS a part of the Army." Violet said to them, shaking her head.

She then adjusted the bow and quiver on her back and then put some gold-coloured lipstick on her lips, looking into her pocket mirror, realising that it was smudging slightly. She cursed softly, "Sh*t-" She muttered to herself as she put her mirror back inside of her jacket pocket.

The man smiled as he watched Dragonfly for a moment, before he cleared his throat. “So, you ready to get out of this place, I take it? I mean, you said it yourself, the guy’s too crazy.” He questioned, to which Violet just shrugged her shoulders. He figured she must be interested in taking him up on his offer, which was fine enough for him. Still, they’d have to wait for Sweet Tooth’s show, something that did bug him. He had a schedule he was on.

He had to pick up that package, and fast. He only had ten days, after all. He couldn’t afford to waste one of those whole days here in Vegas. The man was pretty intrigued by the killer clown wanting to do a show though.

John wondered what the hell kind of show Sweet Tooth would even do? “If you were with an army at some point…did you used to live in one of the cities?” He asked curiously as he looked towards Violet, before realising he was getting ahead of himself. He hadn’t introduced himself at all yet.

"I was a Staff Sergeant. And yes I'm going to escape this fucking place, but you can't tell Sweet Tooth." She replied to John's question, before explaining to him that she had no idea what Sweet Tooth's show was going to be.

When Violet said he couldn’t tell Sweet Tooth, the man gave a nod in agreement, and gave a signal that his lips were sealed. “No worries, I gotcha.” he told her in a hushed tone, just in case the clown came snooping around during the conversation.

She knew that she was going to be apart of this 'show' and entertaining Sweet Tooth with her singing. "Yes. I used to live in Boston, but then I moved to Austin, Texas." She answered John.

“Boston? You’re from up North?” He suddenly asked, rather surprised. He’d never been up north, everyone knew it was bad up there. Too many vultures, butchers, and Holy Men. In fact, there was probably far worse up that way than he liked to admit. Even though North was exactly where he was supposed to be heading. Yeah, he really still wasn’t too thrilled about that, but at least the job was definitely worth it.

“Shit, that’s right, you don’t know who I am! I’m John. Her? I have no idea who she is. She’s a mute, I’m pretty sure.” John introduced himself, before he pointed towards Quiet who promptly flipped him off and rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

“See? This is what I had to deal with out there…” He muttered, shaking his own head, clearly not thrilled with Quiet at all. The man eyed Dragonfly though, very interested in her. She was far too pretty to be stuck in a place like this, and she seemed interesting enough. He wanted to get to know her more.

"Nice to meet you John. I'm Violet. People just call me Dragonfly because of my necklace." Vi then showed him her dragonfly necklace around her neck before looking over at Quiet, nodding at her. She wanted to tell Quiet that she was just like her, quiet but badass.

Just then, she heard loud footsteps, knowing it was Sweet Tooth and she knew he wanted them to go to the stage. Violet sighed. "I think he wants us to get to the stage. Follow me." She said so sternly, wanting John and Quiet to follow her.

John was still intrigued with Violet though, and wanted to get to know her more. They didn’t have the time though, as she mentioned getting to the show room. “Oh, right! You think he got those other guys snooping around? The guy seems pretty thorough.” John questioned, as he followed Violet along, Quiet not far behind as they entered the show room only to find a blonde woman sitting there.

“Wow, okay…that accent is very Boston…you two wouldn’t happen to know each other, would you?” The man joked, as he looked towards the blonde, then towards Violet. He chuckled awkwardly afterwards, and took a seat at a table, looking around the room. Something really did smell good, and he hadn’t noticed it until just then. Was…Sweet Tooth actually giving them a show, and food?

Violet only rolled her eyes at John, mentally apologising for his behaviour at Juliet. "No." Is all that Violet said to John's question before nodding at the blonde and going backstage to get ready for Sweet Tooth's show. She wore a black dress and matching heels, her hair was up in a bun. She then heard the clown walk into the same room where they were.

“I take it the two of you got roped into this…any clue what the shows about, exactly?” The blonde woman – who was in the same room as John, Quiet and Violet was – asked the milkman.

John watched Violet as she walked off. Seriously, how could he not? His eyes lingered right up until Quiet nudged him harshly in the side, forcing his gaze back on her. “What?” he responded, before the blonde spoke up. “No clue, blondie. Hey, why exactly are you here yourself?” He questioned curiously. She had to be a milkman. Given how casually she was treating this, it was something a lot of them shared amongst each other. He supposed he was just so used to other milkmen at this point, he could just pick up on that sort of thing.

Before the ‘blondie’ could reply, the crazed clown came back into the room.

"Are you ready Dragonfly for the show?" The clown called out to Violet, to which she replied with, "Yeah I'm ready."

She then walked onto the stage as the intro to 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse started to play. She held the retro-looking microphone in her hands as she began to sing with such a sultry voice.

John didn’t have a long time to think about it really, let alone think about much else as the music started playing, and Violet got up on stage.

If John had been head over heels with the woman before, he was certainly head over heels in love with her now. Okay, maybe not ‘in love’, but was she drop dead gorgeous? Yes. Was her voice absolutely breath taking? Absolutely.

His eyes were glued to her as she sang, and his eyes never left her figure. Quiet, who was equally as impressed as the other two rose her eyebrows in awe, and gave a slight nod of approval. Really, the woman was amazing, and the three had the fortunate chance to see it. All three of them were beginning to think that this show wouldn’t be as bad as they were thinking it would be to begin with.

Violet went off stage and that was it for the first act. The other two was up to Sweet Tooth for the other acts, having no idea what his plan was going to be. She got dressed back to her original outfit, as she was intending to escape with that outfit and not with a dress on.

John watched Violet return and gave her a wide grin. “Wow, an army woman and a great singer? You’re really something else.” he complimented.

Vi tried so hard not to blush in front of him as he complimented her. Just then, she felt Sweet Tooth pull her by her arm, to which she did not like and the others could tell she didn't.

John wanted to say more, but before he could, Sweet Tooth went pulling her along, and John didn’t like that one bit. In fact, it made him shift in his seat, as if stopping himself from getting up immediately and starting a fight with the guy. He already knew from experience that would be a bad idea though, so instead, sat still. He wasn’t sure just how honest Sweet Tooth had been about letting the two of them go after the show. Especially now that more people had miraculously shown up.

"Dragonfly, my little girl… I would like for you to entertain our guests again with a little show, if you know what I mean." She cringed, knowing exactly what the clown was on about.

But she saw the confusion on the others' faces as she sighed, going backstage yet again to get ready for the second act.

Then again, the crazed clown had actually been kind of nice to him after their little fight, so who knows. John looked over towards Quiet, who casted a glance towards him. “I know, I know…we’ll get out of this as soon as we can…” He promised the girl. She just glared at him, and turned her gaze towards the stage.

John wasn’t leaving Violet though. He couldn’t now. There was no way in hell he would let her stay back here and suffer in this place. He could tell she wanted to leave, and so, he’d help her. He was determined now more than ever to do so.

After 2 more acts of Violet wearing outfits that were too revealing, and singing 'Sexyback' by Justin Timberlake and 'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X, she was exhausted as hell from the 3 performances. John couldn’t keep his eyes off of Violet, as she came out and sang in the revealing outfits.

His eyes lingered over her body, and whenever it was a bit too long, Quiet would nudge him. Quiet on the other hand had realised that the blonde was busy freeing herself when the clown wasn’t looking. It seemed everyone was focused on escaping. Well, everyone except for John who was more focused on Violet on stage. It seemed like he’d long forgotten about what they been discussing before this show.

She looked at Sweet Tooth, who was cheering and applauding it.

"Sooo… what did you guys think?" The clown asked John, Juliet and Quiet, tilting his head with curiosity as he leaned his baseball bat against his beefy-looking shoulder. Violet wasn't sure how he was going to react with either a compliment or a criticism about her show, so she just stood there nervously.

Once the show was over, it took John a moment to remember where he actually was. What they were doing here.

Oh shit. That’s right. “Y-yeah! It was great!” John agreed with the blonde, although was surprised at the clown’s violent reaction. That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear? The man looked towards Violet and wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m serious! She was amazing!!” He quickly said.

The clown got annoyed at John's compliment, the grip on his baseball bat got tighter. He didn't want them to compliment the performance at all. He wanted to them to be brutally honest about the whole thing, and he would keep his promise of letting them go.

Quiet then spoke up. “It was fine. She has a great voice and all, but you’ve got to change up a show when you’re entertaining people.” She said, suddenly making everyone go silent. “What?” John asked, surprised the woman could even talk. “Well, not everyone likes music right? Maybe you could’ve…done some skits between the music.” Quiet added, causing the clown to stop and think, seemingly debating the woman’s idea.

When he heard Quiet's criticism, the smirk on his face grew at the fact that the woman could actually speak. He laughed out loud before saying to them, "Okay, okay! I'll let you go now. Go on." He then went to uncuff Juliet from her chair, not noticing that she tried to get out of it.

John was relieved when Sweet Tooth seemingly just accepted Quiet’s criticism and stood up, ready to leave. But as she saw John trying to get Violet to go with them, he stopped them in their tracks. "Not her. She stays."

Violet looked down to see Sweet Tooth's hand gripping her arm, not letting her go with them. She was speechless as she looked over at John with a pleading look in her eyes. She couldn't take down the clown on her own, even with her judo and karate training but she was getting angry with him touching her arms.

"What? But you said-" She tried to explain to Sweet Tooth of their deal, but he interrupted her yet again by laughing in her face. "NO! That was not part of our deal, Dragonfly. You still stay, remember?" He suddenly shouted at her, as she felt his grip getting tighter.

John froze in place as the clown stopped Violet from leaving. He turned to look at the clown, and shook his head. “Come on, man. Just let the lady go, she doesn’t want to stay here anymore.” He said, knowing fully well it wouldn’t convince the clown. He gave Quiet a look, and the woman seemed reluctant, but ready to help. They’d need to team up, he supposed, especially if they wanted to get out of here in one piece, altogether.

“Well, if she ain’t leaving, then we’ll just have to bust her out.” John said, as he threw a well placed punch at the clown, but it hardly made the man budge. The man’s eyes widened in horror. Shit. He forgot the guy was a damn good fighter. Quiet shoved John out of the way, just in time to avoid the machete to the face. Instead, the machete got lodged in the floor. “Shit!” He shouted, as he looked around the room. The blonde was gone, and it seemed like it was only he, Quiet, and Violet for now.

As Sweet Tooth let her go after going after John tried to punch him, she managed to avoid the situation as she grabbed her bow and quiver. She notched a cool trick arrow onto the bow and aimed it at the clown, whilst climbed on a table. She then shouted at him, "Hey dumbass!" She said in Spanish, which made the clown turn around towards her. "This is for making me stay here!"

She then let go of the arrow and as soon as it hit Sweet Tooth's mask, it let out some kind of gas that would knock out a person, including some crazed clown.

John watched as Violet’s trick arrow hit Sweet Tooth, and knocked him out. Relief washed over him instantly, and ran after her as soon as she shouted for them to do so. “You are the most bad-ass woman I know!!” John shouted with a chuckle as he and Quiet made it to Evelin, his own car.

Quiet tossed him the keys, and John started up the car, glancing towards Violet. He wasn’t about to lose her, not when he was just getting to know her. Besides, without her, Quiet and himself would’ve been stuck there themselves. They might even have been dead already without her.

She got down from the table and rushed over towards John and Quiet. "Let's go! What are you guys waiting for?" She said to them as she managed to get out of the casino and to her motorbike Archangel.

“Hey, Violet!” John shouted. “Stay close, we don’t need to lose you when we just got you out of here!” He added, before he heard Violet call back at him.

"Already ahead of you, John!" Violet rode Archangel, her motorbike towards John and Quiet in his car, Evelin and stopped it to look at the two of them. She had to admit though that John did look handsome whilst he was driving his car. But she was nervous that Quiet was going to steal John away from her. But he wasn't hers. He will never be hers, right?

They all quickly pulled out of the casino, and started driving in the direction John had been driving in beforehand, eyes glancing over to the mirror to make sure that she wasn’t far behind. With that, he sped off out of Vegas, glad to leave the city behind. He never wanted to see a clown ever again. At least, not for awhile.

"We should get a motel. It is getting late." Violet suggested to the two of them, knowing that there was a motel between Vegas and the checkpoint. As she followed John and Quiet out of Vegas, she realised that there was a checkpoint a few miles ahead of their journey. She didn't know where they were going to, but after that whole time with Sweet Tooth, she was willing to follow them.

John felt pretty damn good after that. Mostly because now he had a pretty woman to look forward to talking with. Chances were, she’d be a lot of help on his journey to ‘New Chicago’. He just needed to get that package, and bring it back to Raven. It definitely sounded easier than it was. Who knew what would await them up North. If it were anything like that deranged clown, he really wasn’t sure how they’d manage. They would though. They’d have to.

Hearing Violet’s voice, John looked over towards her, and gave a nod. “Yeah! I know a place, just follow me!” He called back, as he sped ahead, but not too fast. With it getting darker out, they ran the risk of running into vultures, butchers, and even Holy Men, if they were even more unlucky. It wasn’t much longer of a drive, and John stopped at an abandoned hotel. It gave them ample opportunity to relax and at least figure out where to go from here. Especially since Quiet was an… unwanted guest in his vehicle he was only reluctantly allowing to tag along.

[pacifymebby]

My Bloody Valentine

Chapter One

Soft as Snow (but warm inside)

 I watched my breath condense in the air before me as I dawdled home beside my best friend's boyfriend. The October night had snook in suddenly with a chill that threatened frost and none of us were really dressed for the weather. 

Still, that didn't stop us from slow walking back along the main road trying to elongate the evening and preserve the last ten minutes of the night before we split at the cross roads and said goodnight. 

"Reet this is me by the way," I said holding back a little way from the lights. Shoving my hands into the pockets of my too big leather jacket to search for my cigarettes and a lighter, surveying the quiet roads and the warm glow of the streetlight flickering above us. 

"Oh shit," sighed Alys turning her head to take in her surroundings, finally realising where we were, "huh... You live closer than I remember..." She mused, sucking in her cheek as she turned to Johnny who looked just as surprised as she did. 

"Oh come on man..." I smirked at her dazed boyfriend, "you helped me move in like two months ago..." 

"Yeah..." He nodded rolling a cigarette between his fingers as he looked down the hill towards my house, "yeah I did didn't I..." 

"Yeah," I smirked shaking my head at them both in affectionate disbelief, trying to control my shivering. 

The chill hadn't been so bad when we'd been walking but now that we'd stopped I could feel the sting of the cold around my fingers. Inside my little ballet slippers my feet were being forced to regret the misjudged aesthetic id chosen to run with that night and I was beginning to grow inpatient for the warmth of my bed. 

We hadn't meant to stay out as late as we had, just one drink after Alys' birthday dinner, but of course one drink had done as it always does and several hours later we were all comfortably drunk, the last in the bar at kicking out time.

"Okay well I'll see you soon," said Alys throwing her arms around me, hugging me tight, promising that we'd see one another again before she went away. "Let me know when you get home safe... I know you won't but still..." 

"I'll try..." I smiled already guilty because we both knew I would forget. 

"See y'soon pet," yawned Johnny as he pulled me into a hug, rocking me dramatically from side to side before he let me go. "Don't try, do..."

I gave them a little salute as I stepped backwards into the road, one foot behind the other wobbling just a little as I shoved my hands back into the depths of my pockets and turned on my heel. I could hear their conversation fade as they walked away up the hill, leaving me alone to the quiet of the midnight street I wandered down. 

I took a cigarette of my own and lit it, captivated by the flame of my lighter as I flicked it on and off and on and off. It was pretty, the way it danced and flickered, licking at the tip of my cigarette. Pretty enough to distract me as I walked so that I wasn't really paying any attention to my surroundings. Wasn't really looking where I was going. Just dawdling the familiar route back to my flat on autopilot. 

I took a long drag on my cigarette and took pleasure in blowing out, watching the thin plume of smoke rise and dissipate into the night. 

I didn't notice anyone else on the street. Didn't notice the hoodie emerge from one of the alleys which connected the backs of all the restaurants and bars along the main road. Didn't notice their steps trailing mine. 

Not until it was too late. 

Not until their elbow was digging into my neck, one hand over my mouth, the other arm squeezing tight around my waist, lifting me just far enough from the floor for me to realise my helplessness. 

Even when it happened, even when the air had been snatched from my lungs so that screaming wasn't an option, I wasn't quite sure that it was really happening. 

"Give me your fuckin phone!" They growled, "your phone an your wallet yeah fuckin give me em now..." 

I tried to open my mouth to speak, panic gripping me when I realised that I still couldn't breathe. 

"I said give me your fuckin..." 

And then suddenly their grip went slack. Their arm went limp, their hand fell away from my mouth and my feet hit the floor as he let me go. 

I stumbled away from them, one foot tripping over the other from the momentum of my fall, turning just in time to see the hooded stranger shoved up against the wall by someone else. 

"Told you before mate," growled the stranger, the rest of his threat too hushed for me to hear as i stood watching in stunned silence. My saviour in a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt, effortlessly holding the hooded lad up off the floor by the neck of his shirt. He gave him a short sharp shake knocking his lolling head back against the concrete before sending him shoved into the street to scramble away. 

All I could do was stand and stare as the lad in the hoodie stumbled up the street, breaking out into a clumsy run and darting round a corner. He disappeared into the night just as quietly as he'd cut into it and as I gazed a little dizzied at the now empty patch of pavement he'd been stood, I pulled my jacket around my body a little tighter. 

"Are y'alreet Poppy?" 

I stood quietly, shivering with my arms wrapped tightly around myself. I wasn't exactly dazed just breathless. Stunned, my heart beating out of my chest, my senses working over time. 

It took me a second to realise what he'd said, the stranger who stood before me. He held one hand out to me, hesitant to take my arm and steady me. When I looked up at him closer however I was certain that's what he was, a stranger. 

"H..how do y'know my name?" I asked, trying not to stutter, failing miserably because now that he was so close to me it was him overwhelming my senses. 

He stood over me with one hand cupping my elbow, his body shielding me from the street. He was pale and his sharp features were unfamiliar to me, that I was certain of as I looked up into his brown eyes. They were dark, swallowing the light from the street lamp overhead, dark enough to send a shiver through me as I trembled beneath his touch. 

There was something about him which left me feeling weak, made it difficult to listen to the voice of reason in my head which told me to say thank you and flee as quickly as possible. 

"What?" he asked a small smirk tugging at his lips, "course I know your name," he said, brows tugging into an amused frown, "met before haven't we..." 

I mirrored his frown then, a cold wash of embarrassment rippling through me, sitting heavy and uncomfortable as a stone in my stomach as I looked up at him, studying his smirking expression desperate to recognise him and remember his name. 

"H...have we?" I asked softly, feeling guilty because if we had I really didn't remember him at all... and that struck me as odd because I was certain had I ever met him before I'd have remembered him - he wasn't exactly the kind of... "Oh..." I breathed softly as a name drifted into my head like a cork floating on the tide, "Sam?" 

I watched as his smile broke, grew wide and bright lighting those dark irises, leaving little creases in the corners of his eyes. 

"I'll put your forgetfulness down to the shock eh?" he asked shooting me a wink as he trailed his hand from my elbow down to my wrist, turning my palm up to reveal the keys I'd been clutching in my hands. The deep red imprints they'd left. His smile softened then, his fingers closing mine back around the keys, patting them closed and letting me go. It was strange, the way the absence of his touch left me feeling colder. How the sudden distance between us made me step forward, closing the gap between us again quicker than my brain could think to stop me embarrassing myself. 

He smirked down at me, pushing his dirty blonde hair from his face, scrunching it in his fist before letting it go. Reaching for my shoulder again. 

"Are y'alright Poppy?" he asked again, watched as this time I frowned again, shook my head. I closed my eyes for a second, my thoughts finally catching up to me, my confusion blurring every thought into the next so that it hurt to try and think about what had happened. 

"H... how did you... where did you come from?" I asked quietly, not the question I'd wanted to ask but the one I was left floundering with, a blush spreading across my cheeks as I shivered in the cold. 

"What dya mean where did I come from?" he chuckled gesturing vaguely across the street, "the offy like," he said holding a fresh packet of cigarettes up as if he needed to prove himself. Which of course he didn't because it had been a stupid question. 

"H... how did you..." 

"No offence poppet," he smirked cutting me off, stroking my shoulder with his thumb, "but a meant are you alright? Did he hurt ya?" he asked his words hushing me into a shy kind of quiet. I hadn't really thought about it, I'd been too shocked and then too relieved to consider whether I'd been hurt. 

"Uh," I caught my bottom lip between my teeth before I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head feeling exhaustion beginning to sneak up on me. "I don't know S...Sam..." in the back of my mind there was a hesitance to say his name, as if I still didn't quite believe that I knew him, "I don't think so.. I'm probably fine.. uh, thanks for.. I don't know..." I trailed off, blush burning my cheeks as I realised what I'd been about to say. 

"Savin you?" he asked brow raised, the way his smile felt like he was laughing at me only burning my blush deeper, "makes you sound like my damsel in distress that does..." 

I couldn't help but shy away then, tugging the sleeves of my jacket down over my hands, hugging my arms around my chest as I averted my gaze to the floor. 

"I..." I started, trailing off when he grinned again. 

"Long as you're alreet yeah?" he asked shocking me when he pushed my chin up with the side of his fingers, let his thumb linger on my jaw, "you're sure you're not hurt?" he asked again, his dark eyes locked with mine, making me think twice about my answer, making me want to be honest with him. 

"No," I said shaking my head, "no I'm fine Sam a promise... just.. just scared me I guess..." 

"Aye," he nodded, "am not surprised poppet," he said wrapping an arm around my shoulder steering me down the street towards my flat. I can only put it down to the shock, the shivers of adrenaline still racing through my body, senses wired, thoughts clouded, that I didn't stop to ask how he knew the way to my flat. 

"Don't wanna sound like 'yer da' lass, but what were y'doin walkin on y'own anyway like?" 

"I wasn't..." I said, losing my words to another blush, catching my thumb between my teeth when I realised what I'd said, "I mean... my friends were... I'd only just said goodbye to em and my flats like what, two minutes away... I guess I thought I'd be fine..." I said trying to defend myself, feeling suddenly like I needed to justify my mistake, "I walk this way all the time and it's usually..." 

"Fine?" he asked with a smirk, "y'know this end of towns proper rough lass, y'shouldn't be walking round at night alone.. specially not when you've been on the drink like..." 

"Wh.." I trailed off eyes widening as I turned my head away from him, mortified to think that he could smell the booze on my breath. I hadn't been that bad, we hadn't had that much...

"Don't look like that," he laughed, "were a lucky guess poppet, y'don't stink like a walkin brewery," he laughed at me, squeezing me back into his side where I'd tried to shrink away from him. 

"Wait.." I frowned, "if its so rough round here why were you out on your own?" my question only etching his smirk deeper. 

"Thats different," he shrugged. 

"Why cause you're a man?" I asked unimpressed eyebrow cocked, my confidence faltering when he grinned and shook his head. 

"No lass," he grinned but he didn't give me an answer, just trailed off, rubbed his hand over my shoulder and stopped walking. When I stopped too, looked up at the door we'd stopped in front of my breath caught in my throat. 

"Wait how... how do you know where I live?" I asked my brain fuzzing over with a sinister confusion, my heart beginning to race as that cold shiver ran through my body again. But when I turned away from my door back to him I found myself alone. Found myself frozen to the spot, shivering in the car park, thoughts jumbled in a cloudy panic as I starred at the empty car park, the quiet street. The shadows which were simply shadows. 

"Sam?" I called out, trying to keep the edge of fear from my voice, "Sam?" I asked again, a little louder though still only a mousy squeak as I fumbled with my house keys trying to find the right one to slip into the lock as quickly as I could. 

Because I hadn't been scared in his presence. Hadn't been scared to walk home with him. 

Was, in his absence, terrified. 

Suddenly I felt like the loneliest girl in the world. 

[silly-little-soul]

Purr for your thoughts?

A/N: This is a repost from one of my Wattpad accounts, I wrote it forever ago; there’s a bunch of grammar mistakes and it’s generally not very good

(Requests are open)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fandom: Last Legacy (Fictif)

Format: oneshot

Characters: Stella, briefly Felix (relationship not specified but it's friendly)

Type: crack, slight comfort, I’m not sure tbh

Reader info: 1st person, no 3rd person pronouns

Warnings: some swear words, d/ath related mentions

Word count: 1628

Proofread: no

Summary: after a long day you hang out with Stella

The door clicks as I turn the key Felix gave me. As I open it I am met with utter chaos and while it isn't a surprise to find his study in such a state it still earns a loud groan from me. That is really not something I wanted to deal with today. I flop down on the small sofa and sigh. When Felix asked me to get one of his books he didn't mention I'd have to fight myself through such a mess to find it. The day was already stressful as it was: Sage needed to get bailed out of some trouble, I was assigned the reappearing Saaros-lotion-situation (we stocked up on lotion and thought it as solved but apparently you 'can't use that lotion with these weather conditions'), I unfortunately ran into Felix right as he was searching for someone to test a new spell on and Anisa somehow talked me into taking some of her chores today while she's on some mysterious mission.

I should've just told Felix to get his stuff himself, but no, I thought "how bad can that one little task be compared to all the shit I already did today". Honestly I should've expected something like this from him. Not that I'm mad, it's just frustrating to think I spent all day doing stuff for people that they just see as a small favour while I am completely exhausted with all the crap I did for them.

Little no-big-deal snowballs add up to an avalanche burying me in stress and tiredness.

I'm happy to help out best I can but heck, some appreciation would be nice. But today no one seems to pay attention to me at-

"Meow?"

I turn my head to see two big green eyes staring right at me. Well, maybe someone does after all.

"Let me guess.... You want food?"

Stella jumps on the sofa and stretches.

"Hard day, huh? Yeah, me too. Everyone seemed to need help with stuff! You know how annoying it can be to do things for others and not get the recognition you think you deserve. I mean, you've been protecting this place for, actually how long is it? Years I'm sure. I've only once seen Felix even touch you and..... actually, I don't think I've ever seen anyone feed you? Do you even eat?" I laughed lightly "Well, at least that's not what you want from me then. Don'T get me wrong, I would've fed you! I just did so much today already and now I also gotta find that book somewhere in here, gosh I just wanna have dinner and go to bed. It's exhausting to be busy all day with none of it even being for yourself, and then not even being sure if you'll ever get anything back..... do you think I'm being selfish?"

I once again turn my head in her direction and am met with her very confused expression (though... maybe that's just how her face looks?)

I groan at the realisation I'm talking to an undead ball of fluff right now.

"Alright, c'mere zombie kitty", I say as I pat my lap.

Felix has warned me often not to cuddle with or even touch her but hey! She's a little cat. Yeah, she's undead. Yes, she's got some weird super dangerous demon-thingy in her. Yup, she has eaten spirits in my presence multiple times already (wherever these came from). But hey. She's small and fluffy.

After a moment she obeys, making her way on my lap. She curls up there, her stub moving slightly. I rest my hand on her, almost gasping.

"You're so soft!"

She looks up, as if questioning what I said.

"Yes! You're so soft!", I started, switching to baby-voice. "Especially considering that, you know, you're a corpse and all. Such a fluffy little princess! So sooooft. And adorable of course! You're very- geez do you ever blink?"

She kept staring at me a bit longer before I carefully guided her head to lay back on my leg.

"Aaaalright. Yknow little one, you're really awesome. You're doing a great job. You're an amazing little demon cat."

I start stroking her back with my fingertips, afraid to scare her away. When she moves I'm already worried she'll leave, but instead she stretches across my legs to reveal her belly to me. Her cuteness almost makes me squeak, but what actually makes me is how soft her belly fur is.

"So sooooft", I whisper yet again as I pet her, mesmerised by her fluffiness. As I give her little head scratches for a change she slowly reaches out for my sleeve with her little paws. I quickly move my hand a bit in amusement, making her move quickly in an attempt to catch it.

Thinking a moment I remember the ribbon that still lingers in my pocket (for whatever reason), pulling it out with a quick movement that makes Stella basically jump up.

"Heeere kitty kitty kitty", I say smiling as I move it around, leading to Stella sitting in my lap while her front paws are stretched towards the ribbon above her.

It's like she's possessed.

Haha.

Comedy was always my strength.

Half lost in thoughts I don't even notice when I pull the now-cat-toy a bit too far, only realising my mistake when I hear Stella land on the floor with a thud.

"Stella?" I look over the sofas edge, seeing her lay still with her face turned away from me. "Uhm.... Stella?" I gently tap her back but don't get any response.

Shit, did I break her?

I panic as I realise she isn't breathing for a moment before remembering that of course she doesn't, she didn't before either.... I think.

Just as I'm considering getting Felix she quickly turns her head and grabs the ribbon I no longer paid attention to from my hand and scurries away with it.

I just stare for a moment before chuckling in disbelief. "Clever puss. Is that what Felix meant? You're really evil, huh?" Stella lays a bit further off playing with her new prey and I doubt she's listening, but I continue nonetheless. "Oh, you need a villain name! Something good. Nothing boring like LoRd Of ShAdOwS (lord of shadows), like what kinda name is that? It's always just something with shadows or darkness and then that boring Lord. 'Dark Lord' this 'Lord of Shadows' that, these are so boring!"

I notice Stella is now looking at me like I have her full attention. I still with pride at the thought of her considering my monologue interesting.

"How about.... Furry death? Fiendish floof? Cutie of destruction?" She meows, though I'm not sure if it's in approval or not. Before I can think of another terrible villain name for her she turns away and jumps up the small table, knocking down some papers placed on it by a messy necromancer.

I get up to place the notes back, stacking some of them up to avoid further chaos. Right, the book. I've been gone for a while already, I don't wanna make Felix wait too long. Skimming through the books still on the shelf I notice quickly it must be laying on the floor. I try to make my way back to the sofa to work myself through the mess from there, but accidentally knock over a stack of books.

"Nah shit!" Stella jumps up at the sudden noise, making me sigh yet again. "I'm sorry, Stella." 

After a moment I suddenly feel something softly pressing against my arm. I look to see the little cat put her head against me, now looking up at me.

"Meow"

She almost sounds commanding.

Her little paws carry her down the table and across the floor, where she circles a book with what seems to be some notes and an old cup of tea on it. "Hm?" I Walk over and carefully put papers and cup away, to reveal the very book I was searching.

"You found it!", I cheer as I take Stella into my arms and lift her up. "Thank you, little monster." I nuzzle my face into her back. She's. So. Soft.

Just as I'm about to give her some more cuddles the door opens again.

"Ah, here you are."

I look up to see Felix in the doorway. When he sees Stella in my arms his face turns concerned. "MC-" before he can go on with what definitely would've been a lecture about how Stella is dangerous she jumps out of my embrace and hurries away, distracting Felix for long enough for me to change the subject.

"Er, I got your book. Sorry I kept you waiting." I quickly grabbed it from the floor and made my way over to him.

"Thank you."

"Not to be rude but I think I should get going, find something to eat somewhere and then just head to bed."

I go to move past him, but he stops me.

"Actually, we made dinner"

Huh?

"We, Uhm, kind of talked and noticed you helped all of us out today so we thought we'd give something back to you."

My heart warms at the gesture, a smile spreading across my face.

"That's so sweet of you guys..."

Felix smiles and motions for me to follow. I turn around one last time, looking at Stella.

She blinks at me slowly, and I return the gesture.

So she does blink.

"MC?"

"Ah, right!" I quickly close the door behind me, catching up with Felix to eat whatever kind of dinner him and the others made.

I'm glad the thought is what counts, cause I doubt it'll be actually edible.

[ihateclaws]

Secrets of Subtlety (Prelude)

This is a story about my Fallout 4 OC Eiden! It’s very self-indugent, with a shapeshifter Deacon and Shaun’s birthday party.

“What,” said Sole incredulously, “surely you’re not suggesting you show up dressing up as me and expect no one to realise every single feature doesn’t match.”

They could've just said no, but that'd be too good of intel to pass. The timing was really unfortunate, though, as it was right on the day of Shaun's birthday. Hence Deacon suggested going instead.

That’s how Sole found themself staring at their exact copy, wearing a jacket they vaguely remember making some offhandedly comment that it looked like something their style when travelling with Deacon.

Wait.

“Is that the jacket in that dresser in, I don’t know, in the middle of nowhere?” Wait. “Wait, did you take it for preparation of dressing up as me?” No hang on there’s something else. “No. Hang on. You - I - what the fuck?”

Sole - Deacon - Deacon that looked exactly like Sole, whatever - took off his sunglasses. “We’ll have to find a pair like yours. I know a place just down the road. Come on. We need to move quickly.” He put it back on.

“What the fuck,” said Sole flatly.

“Oh, you also need to give me one of your signature guns, or it would be the shortest infiltration mission ever.”

———

Turned out the place was fairly secluded, which was a big bonus considering there were currently two Soles walking side by side. The young man inside took one look at these two and sighed.

“Terrible idea, D. Terrible fucking idea.”

Deacon looked sheepish. It really didn’t look well on Sole’s, well, whole person in general. That young man sighed again, pulled open a drawer, and grabbed a pair of sunglasses that was exactly the same as the pair Sole was wearing, all without a second glance.

“Why can’t he just ask for my ones?” Sole asked.

“Ah,” the man said delightedly, “so you don’t know! Deacon is extremely near-sighted. Next time, just steal his glasses, and he won’t be able to move, like, at all.”

Deacon snatched the glasses from his hand.

“No fun time activities in those, all types of fun time included,” the man - Sole really should assign him a name now - warned. “And get the hell out of here.”

“Young man, when I was your age,” Deacon started,

“Really? You want to go there? Great, remind me what you did when you were my age, and the year before it, and the few years before that. Please, do tell.”

The two men glared at each other. Sole blurted out a “maybe I should get going” hurriedly.

“Oh. Shaun’s birthday, isn’t it? Can I get him anything? Would he like to have a small-power laser pistol? I have this thing that almost shoot like a mini gun. Shit, I really don’t know what ten-year-olds like,” the young man rushed out apologetically.

———

Shaun was a bit disappointed that Deacon didn't come, but it was quickly forgotten when agents and companions showered him with hugs and gifts. Sole almost cried when Shaun declared that they were the best parent in the world and gave them a fancy-looking gun mod he made.

It was already well into the night when Deacon (looking like Deacon) arrived, that young man at his heel, just before Shaun’s bedtime. Shaun let out an excited shriek and immediately launched into a heated conversation with Deacon.

“Hi, uh, I believe an introduction is due?” The young man shifted and turned to Sole, “Eiden. Tech, intel, this kind of stuff. Can I talk to Shaun? I’m not very good with, people in general. What are the rules? I know I shouldn’t swear or anything but is there anything-“

“Sure, go ahead,” Sole said. Eiden nodded solemnly.

While Eiden and Shaun were seriously discussing if the former can be both a brother and an uncle to the latter because Shaun consider Deacon as an uncle, but none of them are biologically related, and no, the whole point of found family is that no one should be assigned into boxes people keep in mind for others as in biological family, Sole walked over to Deacon.

“So,” they said.

“So,” Deacon mirrored, and then laughed good-heartedly, “there really aren't many ways to do this without sounding like I'm tricking you again, is there? Well, where do I start?”