#and now i’m five years from thirty having never so much as held hands with a man

[sugusearrings]

( ' safe & sound ' )

just close your eyes, the sun is going down you'll be alright no one can hurt you now come morning light you and i'll be safe and sound.

— summary: captain levi ackerman the strongest warrior alive is struggling to adjust after the war. but you (fem!reader) are there to remind him he deserves peace. — genre: fluff but tiny bit of angst. — playing: safe & sound by taylor swift — note(s): so aot just ended and i'm still in denial it's really over. my boy eren did nothing wrong but i understand, 80% is kind of a lot BUT HE WAS A CHILD WAR WEAPON. anyways, post war. SPOLIERS AHEAD JUST A FAIR WARNING OKAY. levi ackerman and reader have a slight age gape ( reader is 25 and levi is in his mid thirties). mentions of brief sex. mentions of scars and death. maybe some spelling errors i missed but i tried ~ levi may be grumpy and mean but he's a total softie to the reader. — word count: 2k

He inhaled sharply as his upper body sat up from his sleep. He could feel the cold sweat formed on his the side of his head rolling down. His chest rose up and down with each inhale he took. He ran his hand over his face. He glanced down at his hands. His two missing fingers always reminded him what happened almost five years ago now. The rumbling ending. Everyone is trying to rebuild a normal life. He never really knew what a normal life was. His life was all about fighting and survival and now it was over. What was Levi made for now?

He quickly reached over for his cane leaning against the nightstand.

Levi was determined not to be stuck to that damn chair, he did whatever exercise he could without putting too much on his body. There were some days he had to be wheeled around. But using the cane on the daily was happening often. He didn’t want to be helpless or dependent on anyone. He was never like that so why start now?

He made his way out of the bedroom and walked into the small hallway that normally took two minutes to pass but it felt entirely. He was on alert, adrenaline pumping through his veins already. How could he protect now? He felt so useless. Once the greatest warrior to this. At first it was hard accepting this new reality of his. All he wanted to do was sink more into the dark and isolate himself.

If he was gone, would anyone notice? Would anyone care? Those he loved and cared for were long gone leaving him alone. He never knew loneliness would become his true enemy.

He held his breath accepting his fate as he walked into the kitchen. His dull gray eye widen seeing you standing there already pouring some tea in one of his favorite cups. He nearly dropped his cane.

“Name…”

“Captain Levi?” You looked up at him a bit startled he was awake. He let out a heavy exhale.

“After all this time, you still callin’ me that?” He rolled his eye then shook his head. “Give me a break.” You giggled quietly with a light blush appearing on your cheeks.

“I’m sorry, it’s just an old habit I guess.”

“What are you doing up?” He asked you completely ignoring what you said.

“I figured you would want some tea when you would wake up.” You replied walking over to grab another cup from the cabinet. Levi could feel his ears beginning to burn. He cleared his throat.

“You…know?” You turned around to see the flustered older man. You tilted your head slightly to the side and was baffled. He thought he could hide his nightmares from you. His nightmares of the past.

“Of course I do.”

Your warm smile still made his heart throb the same way it did when you two met.

He found you the most annoying thing ever. You were too optimistic for his liking and you were very emotional. You were immature and very impulsive. But he adored that about you. You weren’t scared to stand up for what you believe in, even against him. When he was your captain and you were just a cadet on his squad. You two saw things from different perspectives but he respected that. He wasn’t sure if he ever told you he did.

“I’m sorry I woke you.” He made his way over to the nearest chair at the table. He pulled it out so he could sit. You took the cup full of tea and walked over to place it in front of him.

“It’s okay, Levi. Your nightmares don’t always wake me,” you placed your hand over his, “I have my own too, y’know?” You gave him a gentle squeeze.

The guilt sunk deep in Levi’s chest. How could he not think about you having your own trauma for what you both went through. Losing people you love, being injured and almost close to death several times. You had many scars to prove it. Especially the one on your neck reaching to the top of your chest. It was easier to hide but doesn’t mean it wasn’t a constant reminder when you would change outfits, shower, even during intimate times.

“I’m a horrible husband aren’t I, name?” He sighed deeply, reaching to grab his cup the same way he always has. You smiled remembering the time you made fun of the way he held his glass to your other comrades. It was all laughter until Levi was behind you the whole time. When you turned around looking white as a ghost seeing Levi glaring down at you. You screamed loudly then he made you clean his office and room from top to bottom.

“A little bit.” You teased him playfully. You grinned when your husband glared at you. “I’m kidding, Levi. How are you a bad husband?”

“My wife has fucking nightmares next to me and here I am sleeping.” He snapped. You bit your bottom lip and lowered your eyes. “But I even breathe a certain way, she knows if there’s something wrong with me.” He went on becoming more aggravated with himself.

“You’re being hard on yourself again.”

“You’re not denying it.” He countered. You sighed deeply.

“Levi…I have nightmares, yes. But you help me just by being there next to me.” You gave him another squeeze. Before he could say some smart ass remark you cut him off. “You remind me of what’s happening now. I can’t forget the past...I can never forget. But waking up next you eases it and makes it better to deal with.” Levi remained silent.

He couldn’t believe someone like you could ever love someone like him. To this day he would be in disbelief. You were so warm and he was so cold. But here you are sharing a life with him.

“You make it sound so easy.” He mumbled lowly.

“I know when you have nightmares when you hold onto me tight.” You admitted. His eye widened looking over at you. You smiled shyly looking away. You were trying to hide the dark blush on your cheeks but he would always see it. You couldn’t hide it from him.

He could remember the first time he made you blush. It was the first time he saw you with your hair down. When he complemented you ( in his own way that didn’t sound too mean ), you blushed. His heart fluttered how perfect you looked with your cheeks flushed.

“You woke up because I wasn’t in bed this time…” You spoke snapping him out of his own thoughts.

“I thought in a marriage there was no such thing as secrets.” He joked dryly.

You laughed covering your mouth with your hand. He noticed some faint scars on your hand. He remembered that scar. He remembers all the scars on every inch of your body. He would kiss them gently some nights making your breathing hitch. He would kiss the scar on your neck the most. He felt that needed the most attention. The day he almost lost you for good.

You were fighting alongside him against Zeke for the first time.

That’s when Levi realizes his feelings for you.

He stood by your side whenever he can, waiting for you to recover. He would even read out loud to you. When you woke up a few days later, you asked him to re-read the sentence he just read because you couldn’t hear him.

What nearly broke him when he thought you drank the wine with the spinal fluid.

Thankfully you didn’t but he confessed his feelings for you the same night. Yes, it was inappropriate for a caption to be with his cadet but he didn’t care about his title or yours in that moment. Levi just needed you to know in case something happened. He was ready to hear your rejection but when you confessed your own feelings for him, he was relieved.

That’s when Zeke did the explosion, Levi had enough time to push you off the wagon leaving him to suffer the injuries alone. He doesn’t regret it. He’ll do it all over again.

“Is this how you pictured how things would be after?” You asked him gently. Levi closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them. His dull gray eyes staring into yours.

“Yes and no.”

“That’s not a fair answer, Captain Levi.”

“Name.”

“Sorry.” You held your hands up in defense. He sighed softly.

“Yes, I pictured this after the rumbling. Marrying you, having a normal life with you. Just being with you in peace. What I didn’t expect was to be like this.” He glanced down at his hand again that bandaged up from the fingers he lost from that explosion. “I wasn’t much of a looker then but god look at me now.” He let out a sad chuckle. You frowned, feeling your heart aching. Was he serious right now? You thought Levi was the most handsome man you ever met. You were drawn to his dark gray hues. During the day they would glisten.

“Levi, don’t think that. You’re still handsome to me and always will be.”

“Don’t feed me that shit, name.” Levi scoffed. His stubbornness was still the same as before. You sighed and rested your chin on your hand letting him ramble on his negativity. “Probably see me as a pity case.”

“If that’s so, why do we still make love four times a week?” You questioned. When you looked over to your husband who was silent but red in the face. You felt your lips curl up into a smirk. “Cat got your tongue, captain Levi? Oh I’m sorry, I forgot to mention how we fuck multiple times. All night if I don’t tap out.” You purred in a tone you knew was his weakness. Levi shifted a bit in his seat then brought his left hand to clear his throat.

“Shut it you brat.”

You simply smiled at your victory.

“I love you, Levi. I don’t know why you can’t accept that.”

“You deserve better.”

“So do you.” You replied back. Levi glared at you once again.

“How can you say that shit?”

“Because you’re saying it so why not?” You shrugged then got up to pour yourself that tea you swore it was cold by now. Levi’s eye scanned down to your body how it hid underneath his white shirt. When you would lift to reach something it exposed some of your bare flesh underneath. He held his breath for a moment.

“I just…hope this is what you want.” His voice spoke. You didn’t turn around. Your eyes glanced down at your cup you were holding. Your ring finger was empty but the silver band stood on your nightstand with your glass of water that was empty now. Levi would always bring you a glass of water before bed.

“I want to spend my life with you, Levi. We’re at peace now. You’re at peace. You deserved this. You risked your life so many times. Everyday it’s a struggle for you to live with what happened. But we can do it together, just trust me?”

You turned with glossy eyes staring back over to him. He used his strength to stand up on his own for a moment. Then he made his way over to you. Once he was close enough, he placed his hand on your cheek just studying your face.

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings…I’m just scared to lose you.” He confessed not trying to make eye contact with you. You placed your hand on his cheek and stroked it with your thumb. You stroked over the scars left behind by the stitches on his face you did for him. “I don’t know what I would do if I ever lost you.”

“I survived to live a life with you, Levi.”

You whispered then leaned forward to place your lips against his. His arm wrapped around your waist to bring you closer to his body. His lips moved against yours passionately. He pushed his body against yours causing your lower back to press against the counter. You let out a shaky breath when he broke the kiss then started to kiss along your neck. His fingers trailed down to the buttons on your shirt. Just when you were going to close your eyes and enjoy his lips sucking on your skin you were interrupted.

“Mommy? Daddy?”

You both pulled away at the same time to see a groggy toddler with messy dark hair all over the place. He hugged his stuffed bear tightly with his other arm.

“Hi baby.” You greeted him softly making. Levi straighten your shirt making sure the buttons were still in tact.

“What are you doing up, hm?” Levi asked him. The toddler frowned with his gray eyes half open.

“I wanna sleep with you and mama.” He made grabby hands towards him. He shook his head.

“Sorry kid, you have to go sleep in your bed like a big boy.” Your son sniffed and his big gray eyes began to water. Of course you were a sucker but you didn’t expect for Levi to be the one who caved in. “Tsk. Fine. Just for tonight.” Levi grabbed his cane and began to walk back into your bedroom. The little boy’s eyes beamed, making you giggle quietly. You brought the two cups to the sink thinking you were in the clear.

“Clean those damn cups.” Levi’s voice echoed from the bedroom.

You sucked your teeth with an eye roll.

“I’ll clean them in the morning.” You entered the bedroom seeing Levi already in bed. He leaned over to bring his son into bed. He snuggled up against his father, sighing happily feeling his warmth. You went over to your side on the bed to lay next to your son.

Levi always spoke about not wanting children. You didn’t have a clear answer if you wanted them or not. Some days you did but bringing them in a world like this wasn’t fair either. But finding out you were pregnant on your wedding day was a surprise. It meant you were pregnant during the fight that stopped the rumbling.

It was a miracle the child growing inside of you survived. But he’s a fighter like his father.

Asher Levi Ackerman.

A fortunate blessing for you both.

You leaned against the headboard stroking Asher’s hair as his eyes began to close.

“He looks just like you.” You whispered to Levi as you moved some of Asher’s dark hair out of his face. He smiled a bit.

“You think so?”

“Everyone says it. He looks nothing like me.”

“But he acts like you. A brat.”

You reached over to shove him playfully. It made him chuckle.

“Sleep, name. We have a long day at the shop tomorrow.”

“Fuck me.” You mumbled under your breath with a groan.

“Maybe tomorrow.”

Levi laid down and closed his eyes hearing you giggle quietly before drifting back to sleep. You laid down staring at your son and husband cuddling with one another. You could tell Levi’s nightmare was over for the night. You soon drifted into a deep slumber.

And yes, you did forget to wash the teacups in the sink

But Levi washed them before opening the tea shop for the day but he did remember to scold you about it.

[babygorewhore]

Greedy

Older! Rafe Cameron x fem reader!

Rafe is normally selfish in bed, doesn’t care about anyone’s pleasure but his own until he meets you.

This is a little blurb. Less than 1k words.

Warnings! Age gap! Reader is 25 and Rafe is 33! Oral! Fem receiving! Unprotected sex! Rafe covers your mouth so idk if that’s choking because I’m stupid. Also not proofread because I don’t have the willpower today. Dividers by the sexy, @xxbimbobunnyxx

Rafe normally didn’t eat a lot of pussy; he didn’t usually care enough to. If he didn’t pound someone until they saw stars right away, if he was feeling generous, he would sometimes use his fingers first. But you? The twenty five year old girl who was dog sitting for him, he literally dreamed about burying his face between your legs.

At thirty three, he was very used to female attention. You were different. You interested him, made him laugh and you made him feel…soft. He wanted to take care of you, take away all your troubles and of course fuck you until you literally couldn’t walk. And now, Rafe finally had opportunity after two weeks for you to stay over. It was late and dark outside. He didn’t want a young woman as yourself to drive home and he asked you to stay.

He half expected you to hesitate but you surprised him with a “Yes.”

Obviously, he had a guest room but he needed you in his room. And you didn’t have any clothes to change into to sleep in. So, Rafe told you, “You can sleep in one of my shirts.” You were wearing a Halloween shirt, black skirt and boots. Your nails were painted black, you fiddled with your rings as you stood in the doorway of his room.

He picked out a t shirt, nothing else and held it up for you. “Here. This one is comfortable.” Rafe crooked a finger at you as you lingered on the edge, giving you a smirk.

You cleared your throat and approached him, reaching up for the material.

You did the sneaky girl thing where you changed shirts without actually showing him anything in the corner but he didn’t want to scare you into leaving. However, when you looked at him, shirt only going to your thigh and wide eyes peering at him, Rafe extended his hand to you.

“C’mere, doll. I want you to sit down for me.” He guided you to sit on his bed and you did. He nudged your knees apart with leg and he moaned quietly as your panties peeked through. “Fuck, I guess it was pointless for me to give you that shirt. Since I want to just rip it off,”

You shivered and bit your lip, a tinge of shyness overtaking you. “I didn’t think you noticed me like that.” You trialed off and Rafe snorted with a quirked eyebrow.

“Didn’t notice you? Baby girl, normally I’d never be this fuckin nice. Lean back for me and let me taste your sweet pussy.”

You seem to hesitate for a second and Rafe wasn’t going to have it. “None of that overthinking shit, princess. Be a good girl and lay down.” You laid on your back and Rafe kneeled on the ground, pushing your legs apart. He pulled off your panties, the sticky material in the center and your cunt tightened around nothing.

He leaned forward, licking a firm strip around your clit before he flattened it and gripped your thighs. He pushed your legs up, exposing as much of you as possible as he shoved his whole face in. You whimpered and whined, your hands burying in his hair as he moved his head around and tongue fucked your pussy.

“Being so fuckin greedy, hiding this pretty pussy from me.” He grunts as he slurps and sucks your clit, he buries two fingers inside you and curls them upward. Rafe loved how you bucked your hips, moaned and clawed at him as he lapped your cunt.

He had been fucking missing out and he savored every single drop. Rafe slapped your ass and you cried out, “cream on my face, princess. Then I’m gonna fuck you, get it all wet for me.”

Seconds later and you came all over his mouth. Rafe was relentless as he tasted it, keeping his pace with his fingers as you rode out your high and he pulled away. He didn’t bother to wipe his lips as he crawled on top of you and smashed his lips to yours in a deep kiss.

He tugged down his pants and underwear down, ripping away from your mouth with a pant. Rafe pumped himself a few times before he pressed his dick inside. You mewled and threw your head back as he thrusted, his cock splitting you in half. ���Shit, you’re so fuckin tight, baby girl. Squeezing me so hard I can barely move, must of really needed this, huh?” He huffed as he moved.

“Mhm, you could have cum from eating me out,” you pointed out and he latched his lips to your neck, hovering above you.

“Can you blame me? You have a fuckin porn star pussy. Bein all selfish and keeping it from me.” He said against your skin and he covered your mouth with his palm.

Your eyes rolled back as he gave you a particularly hard thrust, his balls slapping against your ass before his cum emptied inside you. Your substance mixed with his as you followed suit, you groaned against his hand as he sloppily kept going.

“Aw, my bunny so cock drunk you can’t talk?” He mocked as he removed his palm. You managed to nod as he wickedly smiled. “I’m not fuckin done, princess. Get on your hands and knees. I think you owe me a few more.”

Tagging, @marchsfreakshow @oceandriveab @starkeysprincess @drewstarkeyslut @gri959 @redhead1180 @rafescurtainbangz @rafeinterlude @rafesthroatbaby

[fastlikealambo]

The third wife of rhaenyra targaryen.|| rhaenyra targaryen x black!fem reader

In the five years since Queen Rhaenyra The Conqueror, Bringer of New Valyria, triumphed over the usurper without losing a single dragon, the realm is at peace. Having no need of husbands and taking two other wives, Queen Alicent and Queen Mysaria, the dragon queen is in need of a third and final wife to rule the seven kingdoms at her side.

You were just a girl from nowhere, watching the sky fill with dragons at peace, destined to be a scullery maid in a vicious household and the future wife of a ratcatcher until fate and blood decide your future for you. 

History will remember Rhaenyra Targaryen as the great unifier, the second coming of Visenya Targaryen who brought another golden age of dragons out of war. But they will sing songs of you, the smallfolk who ascended to fire and blood as the queen’s favorite, the one they tried to kill so many times, the third wife of rhaenyra targaryen.

Some notes: Aegon, Aemond, and Daemon are dead but their dragons were saved, and Otto Hightower and Criston Cole spontaneously combusted, I don’t know what to tell yall. Luke lived, Jace lived, Helaena lived, Jaehaerys lived, Baela and Rhaena are happy goddammit.  During the short war, Rhaenyra married Mysaria and one year after the dance of dragons ended, she also married Alicent.

Some other notes: This is dark and I drew some inspiration from Cinderella and Hurrem Sultan (the fictional representation of her from the show's magnificent century but nobody I know watches that show). Rhaenyra is in her thirties and reader is in her twenties. 

Trigger warnings for violence, murder, abuse. MINORS DNI

Chapter One.

Chapter Two: All that you are is transformed.

 “I wish to be anointed.”

   “Anointed?” 

The question did not come from Princess Rhaenys but from Queen Rhaenyra herself, who sat forward on the throne. You dared to allow your eyes to meet hers and her gaze, though formidable, was not cold, simply curious. 

  “I’m smallfolk, Your Grace.  I do not carry the rank or protection of a house, everything you see before you is all that I am. To be by your side would be a blessing, not only to me, but to those who serve you, to all smallfolk. Anoint me, Your Grace, and you anoint yourself.”

Where in all the gods did that come from?

Didn’t matter.

    “Shall we continue on, Your Grace?” Rhaenys asked but Queen Rhaenyra lifted her hand and beckoned you closer.

 You forced one foot in front of the other until you were in front of the dragon queen, your face reflecting in the famed sword Dark Sister, the queen rested one hand on its hilt, the other was outstretched to you.

No, you would not go back to mending dresses and waiting for good bread. You would not die today, not tomorrow, nor the next day.

 You bowed before Rhaenyra and her hand found your cheek, a calloused thumb brushed away your tears. 

   “You believe yourself capable to rule next to me? To forsake all that you have known, all that you are, to be mine and only mine, my lady?”

No one had called you their lady before, much less a lady.

   For your mother, for yourself, you took Rhaenyra’s hand that held your face and put it over your heart.

     “All I ask is for my mother to be safe and never know hunger again. With that I’m yours, Your Grace.”

  You released the queen, only then remembering there were other people in the throne room.

Perhaps you had overestimated yourself, you should have been more demure,curtsied better. Perhaps if you told the truth, confessed that you were wearing a dress stolen from the back of a noble lady you murdered, the queen would show you mercy.

There was no going back now.

Queen Rhaenyra stood and you curtsied again, a sudden storm of fear sweeping over you that calmed when Rhaenyra bent forward and put her lips on your forehead, each cheek,and lastly your lips. 

To know the mouth of the dragon queen was to know The Gods themselves.

  “Send the rest away, I have chosen. “ Rhaeyra ordered and took your hand in hers.

    “I believe the gods have brought you to me for a reason and you will be safe here. Come, we will get you settled in and then I will introduce you to my wives.” Queen Rhaenyra said and suddenly you felt dizzy.

Was this really happening?

Had your fate truly been transformed?

As you two took your leave, a crowd entered the throne room, the not chosen ladies clambering to see who was chosen.

 You spotted your former employer’s daughters and watched their eyes widen at the sight of you on the queen’s arm. They pushed and shoved their way to the front, shrieking.

  “Do you know them?” Princess Rhaenys asked, studying you for a moment.

You made complete and total eye contact with both girls before letting the Queen lead you on.

  “No, I do not believe I do.”

Just a little something to tide you over! Hope you liked it!

@asvterias

@nxcxllxsevens

@newcaptainofsquad9

[cameronspecial]

fallin' all in you by shawn mendes and back to life by zayn

best friends to lovers, always there in the bad moments, always there in the best moments. those times of seeing the other with someone else til they finally confess to each other they are in love

Always There

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Swearing and Mentions of Sex

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 3.2K

A/N: Sorry this isn't more related to the songs but the prompt really had me going.

Masterlist

It didn’t take long for Rafe to learn that she was going to be the most important person in his life. No, it really didn’t. It took the thirty seconds that it took for their fathers to leave the room for him to make that realization. The six-year-old stared at the short five-year-old girl in front of him, examining every part of her. He starts with the polished black Mary Janes that adorned her feet. They revealed the folded at the top perfectly white socks she is also wearing. The bottom of her wrinkle-free plaid pink dress kissed the bottom of her knees and not a single stain can be found on her white cardigan. Her nails were painted the same shade as her dress with no chip in sight. Small pearls circled her neck and her ears were studded with pearls as well. To complete the pristine look of the young girl, her hair was smoothed back into a high bun. Rafe was quick to assume he wasn’t going to have any fun playing with his father’s business partner’s daughter, but he was proven wrong by the first words she said to him. “Do you want to go play in the dirt?” Her question took him by surprise because her clothes certainly didn’t give the impression of a little girl who would want to play outside. Nevertheless, he nodded with a massive grin and dragged her to his backyard. 

When it was time to leave, the two newly made friends went running to their fathers; just not exactly in the same condition that they were left in. Both their clothes were now stained with mud and wrinkles were a plenty. The tight bun Y/N once wore at the crown was sagging at her nape and several knotted strands framed her face. Rafe’s gelled-back hair was mixed with mud, standing on its ends. To match their parallel appearance, her chipped nail polished hand gripped his slightly bigger ones. He had insisted that they held hands while they ran towards the back door. 

Ward’s eyes widened when he saw the state that the children were in and embarrassment flashed across his face. He was sure his son was the reason for the state they were in. He turned to the other adult prepared to apologize, “Nolan, I’m so sor-.” Mr. Y/L/N let out a good-hearted laugh with a shake of his head. “I told your mother that dress wasn’t going to last long. She knows you hate staying still or clean,” he noted, hunching over while taking off his glasses to wipe fake tears from his eyes. His daughter began to giggle with him and jumped into his arms, neither of them caring if his shirt got stained. Ward and Rafe looked at each other with uncertainty and continued to watch the other pair. Nolan stood straight with his daughter in his hold, “Did you have fun, Ladybug?” Y/N grinned at him. “YES, DADDY! Me and Rafe looked for worms and I chased him with one. I was faster. He is my best friend. Can we come back to play again?” The small boy’s heart flipped in his stomach at her words. He had hoped she had just as much fun as he did and he wanted nothing more than to be able to play again. He waited for her father to reply in anticipation. 

Nolan smiled warmly at his daughter, “Of course, Ladybug. Maybe he can come over to our house sometime. I’m sure he’d love to see the treehouse you and your brothers built.” He turned toward Ward for the next part. “That is, of course, if it is okay with Mr. Cameron.” “I think that’s a great idea,” Ward agreed. No one could see it, but Rafe did a little victory dance in his head. He had never been more glad to have been woken up early on a weekend because he was pretty sure he had met his future wife. 

———

That day he certainly met his best friend; where Y/N went, Rafe followed and vice versa. However, if the pair weren’t together, it was hard for either one of them to find the other. The bars of the ladder creaked as he climbed up them. As he got higher, he could hear the soft sniffles she was letting out. He got to the top and her hunched position confirmed she had been crying. His heart squeezed at her tears, causing him to hurry across the sun-shaped rug they had brought up there to her side. Once he was close enough, she instinctively turned into his hold. The twelve-year-old boy nuzzled her face into his neck. He ran his hand through the hair on the back of her head, waiting for her to calm down enough to speak. “He’s gone. Bernard is gone,” she wailed into his skin. He knew that. Her eldest brother had called when he couldn’t get her down from the treehouse. James explained to Rafe that Y/N’s pet snake, Bernard, had died and she had been up there all day, refusing to come down for anything. 

His cheek moves against her skull. He moved some of her hair behind her ear and kissed the skin beside her eye. “I know. I’m so sorry, Cookie. He meant a lot to you,” he mumbled with his lips against her skin. He could feel her nod under him, “He was supposed to have more time. They live for at least twenty years in captivity.” A cool breeze came over them. Even though it was the middle of the summer in the Outer Banks, the setting sun caused the temperature to drop. Her bare arms were littered with small bumps and his lips tightened. His hands began to rub up and down her arms in an attempt to bring her warmth. 

“Sometimes these things happen. Sometimes the people… or animals we love get sick and they have to go. That doesn’t mean that we stop loving them or they stop loving us, it just means we have to have faith that we will see them again,” he eloquently shared. “How about we go inside? We can get something to eat and talk about him.” 

She froze, raising her head to look at him. “I can’t. I can’t go back in there because it reminds me of him… Is this how you felt after your mom died? I mean, it must have been ten times worse because she was your mom.” His breath hitched at the mention of his deceased mother. He hated talking about his mother, yet whenever she asked, he answered. “Yeah. It was and sometimes still is hard to be at home. Right after I lost her, there were moments when I forgot she was gone,” he revealed. “I would be doing my homework in the dining room and occasionally expect her to come in to ask if I needed help. Or if I smell organes, then I wait for her to offer me some…” He trailed off, getting lost in the memory of his mother. She sensed the pain the recounting had brought him and contorted them so that he was the one with his ear to her chest. “We can share an orange now if you want. To honour her,” she suggested. He raised to check if she was sure. “We don’t have to. We would have to go inside to get one and I understand if that is too hard for you.” 

She took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. Her legs wobbled as she tried to stand. He held his hand out to help her. Her hand fell into his. “It’s okay, I think I can do it with you by my side.”

———

Rafe had been falling for Y/N since they met, except he had only realized that three years after Bernard had died. It was quite possibly the worst time for him to be going through it because he was going through puberty. His face was pimply and his voice cracked at horrible times. Although he still got girls, his unstable state caused him to lack the courage to go after the person he desired the most. It didn’t help that she only saw him as her best friend. 

“Ahhhhh! I got in,” she squealed as she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him into a hug. He chuckled and moved his hands to the back of her thighs, giving them a little tap. She got the message and jumped to be in his hold. On-lookers would assume they were dating. He leaned back so he could see her eyes, “I’m so proud of you, Cookie. I knew you could do it. No one deserves it more than you.” They had been in that position for a few seconds and his biceps began to ache. He took it as a sign to start hitting the gym more. He wanted to get more toned anyway. His lack of strength was kept to himself because she loved it when he carried her. He had to agree that the position did give him butterflies, especially when the light would hit her face just right. His eyes found her irises and the air in his lungs deflated. Thankfully, the universe sent Gabriel to break the tension. “Eww, could you guys not do that in a common area,” he complained. Pete followed his brother into the room and nudged the older sibling with his elbow. “Leave them alone. They are in love.”

Y/N groaned at the interruption from her older brothers and dropped to the floor with an eye roll. “We are just friends. Plus, we are allowed to celebrate. I just got into a coding summer program I wanted to get into,” she announced. Rafe felt burnt by her first sentence. Her brothers went to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Both of them gave her congratulatory words. The siblings stepped back from each other after a moment of happiness. “We are bringing back takeout. Text us what you want,” Pete briefed before the two boys left. Silence covered the room and their eyes connected. 

His head gestured to the couch and they sat back down on it. The distance between them was quickly filled in by Y/N shuffling in. She rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh, both of them staring at the screen announcing the news. Reality set in for her. “We are going to have to be apart for a month,” she declared. To date, the longest they had been apart was three days. She had to go to Colorado at the last minute for her great-aunt’s funeral. Besides that, their families solely took group trips together because the pair refused to go without each other. Rafe felt her anxiety coming up and offered his hand to her. Her impulse drove her to grip his ring between her fingers. He let her rock the metal band back and forth on his digit. He shrugged, “We’ll be fine. We can text during the day and FaceTime whenever you want. It will be like we are together. I’ll even text you every time I need you to pick out what I eat. As if you are here with me.” She paused to think about what he said for a second. “Would you send me letters? Like people do in the movies.” He removed his hand from her lap and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Of course. With the number of different ways we will talk, I am always there for you,” he promised, thinking this might be the perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt. 

———

He never sent the letter and four years later, he regrets his cowardness to this day because now, it is too late. His hand resists the urge to crush the neon-green solo cup. She insisted that he got the colourful cups for his party because she thought they were cute. Of course, he gives into her every whim in hopes it will make her finally see him. It doesn’t work though; if it did, then she would be at the party with him and not with her boyfriend of one year, Jay. Jay, the new addition to the Kook civilization, is polite and always put together. So the complete opposite of Rafe and Mrs. Y/L/N's dream partner for her daughter. Rafe loathes the fact that Jay gets the title of Y/N’s first boyfriend and maybe one day her first sexual partner. At least two things provide him comfort, he was her first kiss and obviously, she must not feel confident in her relationship with Jay or else she would have had sex with him already. 

She isn’t a prude (the friends often talked about their masturbation fantasies) or waiting for marriage. Her wish is to give her virginity to someone she is certain loves her, so Jay must not give her that feeling. Rafe has seen the couple say I love you to each other and this confirms his suspicion that something feels authentic to her. Nonetheless, she stays in a relationship with Jay. The best friend once questioned her continued status as the other man’s girlfriend and she said she felt a spark she wasn’t ready to let go of. Rafe thought she was lying. Jay is the first choice her mother approved of and Rafe suspects that is one of the reasons Y/N is holding on to him. 

He is snapped out of his thoughts by a splash on his hand. His gaze leaves the sight of Jay whispering into Y/N’s ear as she giggles and trails down to his hand. The cup that was holding his beer is now rumpled in his gasp. He doesn’t mind. After he changes his beer-soaked shirt, he can get something stronger. He swims through the sea of people to get upstairs, chancing a glance at her before he disappears.

It takes him a while to find a shirt to wear. Every time he picks one up, he hears his best friend’s voice in his head. That one is too busy. That colour looks like puke. That one washes out your eyes. He searches for the slightly baggy silk-black button-up that she loves. She prefers a looser-fit shirt because she thinks a shirt that is too tight makes men look like sausages. No matter how many abs they have. He groans, remembering that the shirt is hand-wash only and the maid left it in the laundry room to dry. The shirts in his hands are thrown onto the floor and plans to go shirtless until he retrieves his shirt. As he is about to open his door, the familiar rasp of Jay’s voice can be heard through the door. “I can feel it, Dude. I am so close to sealing the deal with this bitch,” Jay hypes into the phone. “Of course, it is going to be worth it. She’s a virgin. You and I both know that they are always the freakiest because they want to try everything.” Being guilty of saying crude things, Rafe pieces together the meaning of the phone call. 

Anger slides under his skin, creating a large splinter. He doesn’t go after the asshole because his concern is Y/N. She deserves to know the truth before she makes her decision. 

He waits for Jay’s footsteps to fade and slides out of the door, taking a different route to get to her. It is perpetually easy to find her in the crowd. Her joyful aura draws him in wherever they are. Her hips sway to the beat of the music and her hands are in the air, one holding a pink solo cup. Her hair flows with the carefree movement of her head. Rafe hates that he has to be the one to wipe the smile off her face. The crowd doesn’t object to him pushing his way to her. They can see he is on a mission and everyone is familiar with his famous temper. His warm hand on her lower back causes her to turn in his direction. “Hey, Rafey. Where have you been?” she greets with a bright smile. A clench shoots through his heart, “We need to talk.” Her lips turn into a line at his serious expression. They understand each other’s small facial tics which makes reading each other’s emotions easy. Her head bobs and he guides her to his room. 

He closes the door and turns to find her sitting on his bed with a bounce. “What’s wrong?” she inquires. The corner of his lip puckers between his teeth. “You might not believe me, so I want you to know that I am telling you this because I love you.” She stands to shuffle by his side. “What do you want to tell me?” she presses on. He comes to shit beside her and rests his hand on hers, preparing himself for when she needs to play with his ring. “I overheard Jay on the phone and, I’m going to spare you the details, the sole reason he is dating you is because he wants to sleep with you. He sees you as a game and you don’t deserve a person who doesn’t appreciate you.” 

She isn’t shocked by the news. The lack of surprise doesn’t mean she isn’t upset. Sure, she isn’t head over heels for Jay, but they still spent a year building a relationship and trust. The fact that he is lying and simply sees her as an object is understanding. In spite of that, Y/N finds herself not as upset as she should probably be. She racks her brain for why the news isn’t more detrimental to her and the answer comes up in the form of two cerulean eyes. The man who played in the mud with her even though she was a girl. The man who would hold her in his arms whenever period cramps were hitting her hard. The man who always knew her order, no matter her restaurant. She never fell in love with Jay because she was already all in with Rafe. He is always there for her and she is now realizing she only wants him there. The small well of tear that is about to crop up gets waved away by her newfound feelings.

“That’s okay,” she whispers, shuffling closer to him. He stares into her eyes with arched eyebrows, “Really?” “Yeah. Because so far, I’ve been falling for men who weren’t how they appear. But I think I found a man who is exactly how he appears.” His confusion doesn’t wave from his face, so she makes her point clear by leaning in. He clocks her movement and his eyes flutter shut as he follows her lead. As their lips meet, love is breathed into each other's lungs and it becomes all-consuming. His rough lips soften with the help of her lip balm. They break apart in a small pant and their forehead smooch together. She grins at him, “If it isn’t clear, I have fallin’ all in you.” “Did you just quote Shawn Mendes?” he chuckles. She feints irritation, “I guess I won’t say what I was about to say then.” He shakes his head and rests his hand on the back of her neck to keep her there. “No. No. No. Keep going.” Her smile returns. “I love you.” The future he has imagined for them starts playing at full speed and he can’t believe he gets to catch up to it. “I love you too.” 

Taglist: @winterrrnight @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @thepatriarchykeychain @drewsmusee @starkowswife @maybankslover @forstarkey @loving-and-dreaming @magicalyoura @rubixgsworl

[joelswritingmistress]

You Scare Me, Professor: Chapter 6

Summary: The reader is taking graduate classes at a local university in the wooded upstate New York. She is drawn to her professor, Dr. Joel Miller, though she is also inherently aware that he has something dark about him that she can't quite put her finger on. As the reader's attraction grows deeper, she has to decide whether to endure the danger or run away as fast as possible.

Pairing: Professor Joel Miller x f!reader 

Did he just say that? He just said that. Right?

I wondered if I had somehow inserted that last excerpt from Dr. Miller’s mouth into the conversation on my own. Had my mind made it up because I wanted him so badly?

He was smiling now, not at all able to fight it back. I could tell that he was attempting to without avail.

“Does that make you uncomfortable?” His voice caused my knees to part under the table. I didn’t know if it was instinctual or if the muscles in my legs had suddenly just turned to Jello but I literally felt myself melt down further into the oversized mahogany chair.

“That, uh..” I toyed with a strand of my hair for a half-a-second in my nervous tic, “That makes me a lot of things.”

“Another round?” The waitress appeared out of thin air and I was about to speak but Dr. Miller responded, with a simple, “We’ll take the check.”

I wanted to stay. When he was so eager to get the check after just one drink I couldn’t fight off the look of discouragement that was written all over my face. I knew what I must have looked like and I couldn’t reel it in. And then I thought about it some more. Maybe he was getting the check because he wanted to go somewhere else.

Like his house. It was wishful thinking.

“Stop looking like someone just shit in your cereal.” His accompanying laughter made me grin. There had to be something up his sleeve. This night couldn’t end with such an obscene, suggestive comment and lead nowhere.

“Didn’t want another drink?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“It’s a school night. We both have to be up early.”

“It’s barely nine o’clock.”

Dr. Miller gave a chuckle again and then looked up as the waitress handed him a black, leather case with the tab for two drinks tucked inside. He held up a finger, slipped a one hundred dollar bill inside and then handed it to her.

“I’ll be back with your change,” replied the woman.

“It’s yours.” He looked me in the eye as he spoke to her again and then began rising to his feet as he reached for his coat.

I followed his lead and allowed him to lead us out of the place.

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

Was the night really over? On that note? On that red hot amorous note that had been left with a teetering, ‘dot, dot, dot’ next to it. To be continued? Would it?

Stop freaking out! My brain was screaming, shrieking; throwing a fit like a five year old in Toys ‘R Us that didn’t get the toy she wanted to play with. On the outside I smiled, gripped my keys and tried not to stare for too long as I walked beside Dr. Miller.

“You never gave an elaboration to your response,” he said to me once we stood by the driver’s side door in front of the old church.

I looked down and back up. “Should I elaborate?”

“I’d like to know where we stand.” He looked at me with certainty but, again, there was the slightest hint of uneasiness in his posture. Dr. Miller was tense in his shoulders and it traveled up his neck into his jaw as he waited.

“So would I,” I responded, taking a breath. I couldn’t look away from those brown eyes that were swelled black around the pupil. I knew what that meant - at least I thought I did.

“Well, how about this?” He took a step in my direction so there were only a few inches between us. “If you want to discuss it further, I’m opening up my office hours during our regularly scheduled class time on Thursday. Seven-thirty, I’ll walk you into the building, myself.”

I cleared my throat. Of course I was going to go. “Thursday.” I gave a little nod, wishing I had something to say that would affect him as much as he was currently affecting me.

“Email me if you change your mind.”

“I won’t,” I said right away. My chest heaved beneath my jacket and I opened my mouth to speak. At first nothing came out but then I finally asked the question that had been on my mind for the past seven or eight minutes, “Was that true what you said?”

“Which part?”

“About the elevator.” I swallowed hard now and Dr. Miller laughed again.

“Save all of your questions for Thursday at seven-thirty.” He took a step toward me and then nodded toward my vehicle, “Now get in your car so I know you’re safe.”

I looked at his lips. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to lean in and see if he reciprocated, but from what I could tell of Dr. Miller, he was a forthright individual. If he wanted to kiss me, he would kiss me. He wanted to tell me about his racy musings when we were alone in the elevator. He wanted me to meet him alone at the school on Thursday. If he didn’t lean in for a kiss that means he didn’t want one.

Yet, I told myself.

I hit the button on my key fob and heard the click as my headlights flickered to let everyone in the immediate area know I had just unlocked the car.

“Goodnight (Y/N).” Dr. Miller gave a pained smile that emphasized the crow’s feet on the outskirts of his eyes.

“Goodnight Dr. Miller.” He didn’t correct me this time or ask me to refer to him as Joel. I knew at least a part of him liked having the title roll off my willing lips to acknowledge his authority over me.

Shutting my car door might as well have been shutting the jail cell. I gave a wave and started up the vehicle before reluctantly backing away from where he now stood on the walkway.

Even as I drove down the road, I glanced in my rearview mirror until I could no longer see his figure there and then finally turned the corner to head towards home.

The next day-and-a-half had me worrying about myself. My behavior felt obsessive. I had inspected every social media outlet in search of Joel Miller but there was nothing. He didn't even have a LinkedIn. That one, I had to say, surprised me.

No Snapchat. No Instagram. No Facebook. Nothing.

For my own senseless reasons it frustrated me. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to see a collection of pictures from his life over the course of the past decade. I decided I was spoiled for having access to just about anyone else's life I wanted to dig into.

Maybe I should put my profiles on private. It was Dr. Miller's casual piece of advice. Anyone could dig into my life and I was too concerned about getting “likes” than I was my own privacy. 

I'm a walking cliche of today's pre-thirty generation. 

Seeing as though my plan to gain access to Dr. Miller's life fell flat on the pavement, I carefully adjusted the private settings on all of my accounts. It had been a suggestion echoed to me by numerous friends and professionals that I hadn't taken seriously; yet here I was after one fleeting proposition from a man I just met making the meager change to my digital identity.

After work on Wednesday I found myself driving past The Library. My eyes scanned for the black Mercedes and I was actually satisfied in knowing that Dr. Miller wasn't out at the bar - at least when I drove by. It allowed my brain to rest rather than toy with the idea of dropping everything to go search inside for him.

Yes, I was officially obsessing. It felt like a violation of not only Dr. Miller's privacy, but also my own sanity.

It didn't stop me from repeating the action on the following afternoon after work. My amateur investigations weren't particularly thorough, though I assumed his car would stand out if he had been around, especially when my eyes were actively seeking out one specific automobile. 

There was a light at the end of the tunnel, however. It was Thursday. It was the evening I would be attending Dr. Miller's office hours.

Office hours. I was sure he hadn't actually posted any office hours. I was going to be alone with him.

In all of my years I hadn't had an off-kilter fantasy. My brain had never fancied the idea of taboo love affairs, or men in uniform or any of the typical sexual scenarios that I had heard others speak about.

Now, the idea of letting my handsome, older professor take me on his desk was enough to ignite a fire in every single part of my body - my head, my heart, my soul, my.. everything.

I wouldn't deny him. Correction, I couldn't deny him. I had created the scenario in my mind time after time. It was far too heavy a weight on my shoulders by now to just shy away from. I wanted Dr. Miller in the worst way.

Tori, my roommate, eyed me suspiciously as I exited my bedroom that evening. My clothes were casual, though rather than a sweatshirt and my white Converse sneakers I wore knee-high, brown boots and a tight, gray sweater that revealed just a bit of cleavage. 

My ponytail was replaced by perfectly straightened hair and just a tad more than the average amount of makeup I typically sported. Yes, if our roles had been reversed I would have had questions. Unless we were going out somewhere I always slummed it in the most comfortably acceptable clothes I could manage.

“Umm..” My roommate’s eyebrows pressed together, “Do you have a date I don't know about?”

I decided to meet her questions in the middle. “I'm going to a quick study session.” Tori gave me an ‘I don't believe you’ look and so I went on, “And then I'm going out with a guy I met at school.”

My professor, I added in my mind.

Not quite a lie. Not quite the truth. But she seemed to believe it and so I smiled when she offered me good luck.

“I'll fill you in,” I lied, knowing whatever happened that evening I would surely be keeping to myself - at least for the time being. Although I loathed the ‘YOLO’ expression, there was a time for everything and so I reminded myself, you only live once.

The drive to Woodbridge had my stomach in knots. I didn't know what was going to happen. Suddenly I wondered if I would even know what to do. I was twenty-seven. I had had sex before - plenty of it actually. I wasn't a nun.. but I wasn't a freak either. What was Dr. Miller expecting? He had certainly been around the block a time or two.

The faintest hint of sweat coated my hairline, a result of my budding anxiety. I couldn't wait, but then again I was so completely out of my league. I had never met a man so sure of himself. The guys I had dated, we were on an even playing field. I felt like a fan in the stands of a rock concert that was just called on stage to sing with Bon Jovi.

Stop putting him on such a pedestal, I told myself; though I truly couldn't help it. All reason had betrayed me.

The black Mercedes was there when I pulled into the lot and I saw Dr. Miller casually step out of his vehicle the second my blinker winked in favor of the parking lot on the left off the main road that cut through campus.

I parked closer to the building and slowly climbed out of the car as he approached. I knew I was a mess. There was no hiding what I was feeling. I was sure he might even be able to hear the thudding of my heart in my chest.

“I offered to walk you in,” he reminded me, to which I nodded as we walked in silence through the threshold of the academic enclosure.

Dr. Miller walked with a purpose toward the elevator in the main lobby, eagerly pressing the down button that would lead us to the basement where his office and our lecture hall sat vacant.

I thought of his words from Tuesday night at the bar as the doors opened and we entered. There were no other people in the building that I saw. There were no cameras in the elevator. As the doors shut with a resounding thump I side-glanced at my professor.

Out of my peripheral vision I could see how tensely straight he stood. His eyes were straight ahead; focused. He didn't blink or move. It almost looked as if he was holding his breath.

Please. I begged him in my mind, though I have to say when the doors reopened and we emerged to the basement level I was disappointed that he didn't immediately try to jump my bones. The opportunity had presented itself for Dr. Miller to do all the dirty things he claimed to have been craving and he hadn't even flinched on the ride. It was okay, now, wasn't it? Now that he knew I was a willing participant.

You're being ridiculous. I was currently questioning my every thought, my every word, my every move.

The stillness of the typically buzzing building heightened my anxiety. It felt as if butterflies were having a rave inside of my stomach. The only sound that gave a mild echo off the walls of the vacant corridor were the gentle clicks of Dr. Miller's shoes.

My temperature felt like it was rising with each door we passed. I counted them to maintain some level-headedness.

One. Two. Three. Four.

When the fifth door came into clear view, Dr. Miller reached a hand into his khakis and removed a ring of keys. 

Next to the oversized, wooden door was a black piece of plastic with Dr. Miller’s name etched into it. Below his name was the door number: 007.

Of course it is, I thought, almost smiling and rolling my eyes. The heat returned to my cheeks, however, when my gaze met his from just a few inches away.

I swallowed hard when the silver key eased into the door handle, glancing down for just a second, before regaining his eyes.

There was a moment of hesitation on Dr. Miller's part before he finally turned the key and let the door swing open from a little push of his forearm.

“After you.” His arm extended outward now and the light automatically went on as I crossed through the threshold. “Can I get you something to drink?” 

He waltzed in, loosening his tie a bit as he rounded an oversized, espresso desk. 

“Umm.. no.” I shook my head, “No I'm fine.”

The corner of Dr. Miller's mouth tipped up in a little smirk. “Please, have a seat.” He motioned to a chair across from where he made himself comfortable and leaned forward with both hands folded on top of the desk.

I did as I was told. On the surface I thought I appeared like I had my shit together; like I wasn't imagining him pinning me down on the desk and having his way with me; like I wasn't conflicted about whether my feelings on the matter were wrong or right; or if he could lose his job if something did happen between us.

The man had a way of building tension. The brief moment of silence that lingered was deafening. His stare was almost too much for me. I wanted to say something, anything, but I couldn't find the words to kick off a conversation.

“I assume you still have the question in your mind.” Dr. Miller finally spoke. “From the other night.”

My chest heaved up and down once from a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. I opened my mouth to speak but I was interrupted.

“Dr. Miller!” An overzealous young man waved a stack of papers and held an IPad under his arm as he entered through the open door from the hallway.

I held my breath for half-a-second. It was Trevor Nelson. I had had two classes with him and his sheer presence alone was enough to drive me crazy. Right then, he was the bane of my existence. What was he doing here?

His stammering repetition of Dr. Miller’s name almost led me to a physical eye roll.

“Good evening.” Dr. Miller extended his arm out and Trevor eagerly shook it. “Remind me again of your-”

“Trevor,” he more-or-less shouted, glancing at me briefly.

I could see Dr. Miller was taken off-guard, though it was his organically, suave nature that allowed him to get through the unwanted conversation with ease.

“What can I do for you Trevor?”

“I just wanted to discuss a few points from the reading if you had a moment,” Trevor said, “And seeing as though you sent out an email with office hours I suspected you had the time.”

Office hours. He did send out his office hours.

Fuck! Was I all wrong?

“Yes,” Dr. Miller motioned to a second chair beside me. “I wasn't expecting you,” he admitted, “I sent out a sign up sheet-”

“My Wifi kept malfunctioning,” Trevor went on, cutting him off. “I tried. And that's why I printed some things out. I just assumed you would be here anyway and..” He shrugged and then looked at me for the first time, “I'm surprised to see you here.”

Dr. Miller huffed a laugh now. He looked at me with raised eyebrows as if to study what my reaction would be. What would I say to Trevor’s snide remark?

His very tone and uppity attitude was the precise reason why I couldn't stand him.

“I had questions about the reading, as well.” I remained cordial. There was no way I was about to air out a petty reply that would make me seem bitter or immature in my ways.

“Well.. great. We can bounce questions off one another then.” Trevor forced a smile that, while mum, seemed to have the same whiny tone as his nasally voice. 

“I blocked off twenty minute time slots,” Dr. Miller reminded him. “I have another appointment at 7:50.”

My stomach dropped and our eyes caught one another’s. He winked as Trevor took a fleeting peek at his watch with as much disappointment as I knew my face had suddenly been white-washed with.

Despite the wink I couldn't tell if he was serious or lying. Was Trevor really fucking up my twenty minutes alone with Dr. Miller? Was there another student coming in at ten of eight?

As my classmate began his vexatious ramblings I felt a burning hostility brewing in my core. At one point Dr. Miller's foot grazed mine beneath the table but he didn't look in my direction as it happened.

I decided I had to harness my disdain, which I knew was heightened to an unwarranted degree for poor Trevor. I actively told myself to stop being a jerk.

The genuine question that I had from the reading the other night popped into my head. Hallelujah, reason prevailed.

“If it's not too morbid, do you think whoever killed the girl on campus might be suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder?” It was my first genuine attempt to engage in the conversation. 

Typically, I truly did enjoy the subject matter. That night, however, my mind was deep in the gutter. That's why I had to run with the lone, pertinent thought that inhabited my brain.

Dr. Miller turned and a small smile formed on his face. The dimples that drove me crazy were out in full force and I could see he was intrigued by my question.

“Interesting.” He leaned back in his seat and folded one leg over the other. “Depending on the motive I could entertain it as a possibility.”

I smiled wide, enjoying his mild praise.

“That is an interesting question,” Trevor added.

My eyes shifted toward Trevor for a second as he eyed the ceiling as he pondered my question. When I looked back, Dr. Miller had tipped his mouth up in a half-smirk again.

When Trevor came back down to earth, our professor motioned to the clock above me on the wall. “I'm sorry to kick you out.” Dr. Miller looked directly at Trevor now, “I think we've ended this session with a valid question that we can open with during Tuesday's class.” He rose to his feet and extended an arm in my classmate’s direction, “Sit on that idea over the weekend. Bring some notes to class.” He glanced at me and added, “I think that was a great topic of conversation Ms. (Y/LN).”

“Thank you.” I gave a little nod and Trevor appeared appeased as the three of us began a natural shift toward the door.

“Thank you for your time Dr. Miller.” The young man smiled and tucked his IPad back under his arm before vacating the room ahead of me. He turned for a second and asked, “Do you think they'll catch whoever killed that girl?”

My gaze switched from Trevor to Dr. Miller and he sucked his teeth while folding his hands together on top of the table. “I'm no investigator,” he said, “But if you want my honest opinion..” a breath exited through his nose and he finished with a simple, “No. No, I don't.”

“Why not?” Trevor leaned an arm on the door and Dr. Miller laughed while motioning to the clock again.

“Save it for another time.”

Like Trevor, I wanted to know his reasoning; though I didn't dig deeper into it right then. As intriguing and scary as it all was, other emotions were tugging at my core.

“I'll see you in class,” Trevor said, though I didn't know if he was speaking to me or our professor. 

I wasn't so quick to leave, but I knew it was time. I hadn't expected Dr. Miller to actually post office hours so it was probable that there was another student about to arrive.

Was it a female student? Yep, sparked jealousy inside of me.

When Dr. Miller didn't immediately make a plea for me to stay, I wandered through the open door toward the hallway.

And then I jumped. It was almost inhuman how fast his arm wrapped around my midsection and pulled me back into the room with him with the ferocity of a wolf mauling a lamb.

A gasp escaped my lips when he turned me around to face him as the door closed and my back planted against it. It was all one giant obscure action; a whirlwind of tension released when our bodies were finally pressed up against one another's and I was left panting.

“I thought you had another-”

His finger found my lips to shut me up. A wicked smile advertised his true intentions and his blackened eyes could have set me ablaze right there.

“You are as gullible as your friend Trevor.”

Before I could respond his lips crashed against mine. They literally crashed leaving the back of my head slamming against the thick wood behind me. I barely felt it. 

What I did feel was a rush of adrenaline and desire and a thirst for the man that I couldn't suppress - not when his hands were roaming my body and his tongue aggressively penetrated my lips.

I could barely keep up. I had built the moment up so much and now that I was wrapped up in the middle of this avid tornado of passion it had far surpassed my fantasies.

My arms wrapped high around his shoulders, though he quickly pinned them above my head against the door with one hand. His other hand hastily fiddled in his pocket to remove a set of keys, at which time my cheeks blushed a more fiery red when I saw his arousal peaking the front of his khakis.

My eyes were the only part of me capable of moving freely. The rest of me was a willing prisoner to the force of his body against mine. I never wanted to be released.

Dr. Miller's key slipped into the slot in the center of the doorknob and a click secured us behind closed doors.

With an echoing clank the keys hit the floor and my aching, vacant lips were welcomed back with the immediate warmth of his. When his hand released both of mine on the door my arms instinctively wrapped around him again. I was on cloud nine; in a state of mindless bliss. For the first time, possibly ever, I thought of nothing and just acted without reserve.

It was only when I struggled to breathe that I took a parting breath, allowing air back into my aching lungs. Dr. Miller groaned with the brief separation though it gave him the second he needed to wrestle with the button on my jeans.

In that one swift movement of his fingers he had access to everything I had to offer. I bit my lip in anticipation of him touching me for the first time. Just before my eyes were forced shut I saw his hungry eyes drinking in every part of me.

Dr. Miller's over-pronounced sigh accompanied the sensation of his first two fingers as they made home against my most sensitive areas.

I moaned as quietly as possible, though he made the task more difficult when his lips grazed the area just beneath my ear.

I let out a louder moan when his fingers pushed inside of me and his hot breath landed on my neck, the other cupped over my mouth and my eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Shhh..” Dr. Miller gave a hushed reminder that we weren't exactly in our own private love shack while his fingers continued their exploration. “We wouldn't want Trevor to wander back here because he heard a suspicious noise would we?”

Slowly, his hand was removed from across my mouth. I reached a hand down toward his waist but he swatted it away.

“You're not ready for that yet,” he growled, still speaking in a voice just above a whisper.

I was paralyzed. Paralyzed by pleasure. Paralyzed by the thrill. Paralyzed by my raw attraction to Dr. Miller. At that moment I didn't think I could speak if I tried.

A brand new combination of nervousness and arousal made home within me when his free hand now lingered on my throat. The barely-there pressure added something to what I had been feeling all along.

“You like that?” It was closer to a statement than a question but I choked out a whispered, “Yes,” in response.

There was a shake in my legs that I couldn't relieve. Dr. Miller felt it. There was no way he didn't. I was writhing beneath him against the door as the distance between my parted feet on the floor widened with the spread of my legs.

It didn't take long to reach my climax that was induced by his fingers, his hand on my throat, and the dirty nothings he whispered as he encouraged my impending orgasm.

I struggled to maintain my composure. As the first curse word escaped my lips his hand more forcefully clamped over my mouth again, though all the same his lips found my ear again as he encouraged me to, “Let it out,” in a hiss of whisper.

That was the final push. Fireworks might as well have gone off in my lower half as my muffled moans sounded off against the warmth of his palm. My eyes alternated between open and closed in those final seconds and Dr. Miller's provocative growling voice took my right back to the dream I’d had. This was no dream.

The shot of adrenaline had filtered through my body, numbing my limbs like some type of drug had just been injected into my veins.

Fuck! For several seconds I could only focus on the pleasure as I breathed heavily in and out in an attempt to remain quiet.

When I began to come down off the high. All of my senses began to return and I could hear my own breathing as his generous hand warily crept back out from beneath my damp panties.

A smile formed on my face as he stared at him. I was hot and disheveled. My pants were still down off my waist and as I went to tug them back up Dr. Miller stopped me.

“Oh we're not done yet,” he assured me, glancing over his shoulder toward the oversized desk. When he turned back around he reached for my hand and towed me across the room. I felt like I was floating.

When he made himself comfortable in the oversized chair, I just stared at him. With the two fingers that had just been inside of me he waved for me to come to him and pulled me down in for another heated kiss before whispering against my lips. “Now you're going to get down on your knees and return the favor.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

@untamedheart81 @amyispxnk @grogusmum @michilandcof @morallyinept @akah565 @cesspitoflove @brittmb115

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Runaway - Chapter Eighteen.

The notes hit 30, so you all know what that means. You get an update, and you get an update, and you get an update, and alright I’ll stop being like Oprah now xD Big thanks, guys! Such a lovely audience I have!

Previous chapters - Prologue  One  Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Seven  Eight  Nine  Ten  Eleven  Twelve  Thirteen  Fourteen  Fifteen  Sixteen  Seventeen

Taglist - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed

Words - 1,980

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

“Isn’t it nice, just to have a minute to breathe around being a mom,” Lily spoke as she and Hannah sat down in the coffee shop the former used to work at, Willow at day care for her usual three hours per day, and Lola with her daddy. They’d just finished a workout at Hannah’s ballet class, Lily mentioning she’d like to give something a little less violent a try where fitness was concerned when they’d found themselves deep in conversation at the clubhouse, Hannah inviting her along to see what she thought.

“I’ll say! She’s started teething and the poor little thing is keeping me up most nights, howling like a banshee because her gums are sore.” Lily made a sympathetic face, remembering the time well with her own daughter.  

The night where Hannah had stayed for a few drinks at the clubhouse, they’d really enjoyed their time talking, finding that while they didn’t have too much in common, they found the other to be interesting, warm and friendly. It was always nice too, to make another mom friend.  

“So, did you hear how long Jodie was in labour for in the end?” Hannah shook her head, blowing the steam from her latte. “Thirty-three hours! She was exhausted, but she’s so happy that Harvey is finally here.”

“Oh, that’s a cute name!” she exclaimed. “Yeah, I was in there for thirty-one with Lola, and I swear, every last second of it was torture.”

“I was lucky, mine was really quick once it got going,” Lily revealed. “I was three days’ early and Angel was just heading back from a run, so for the first six hours, I was crying on my dad, screaming that I didn’t want to do it any longer and that it hurt too much! He kept me sane, though, reminding me how tough I was, while I was wailing and clinging onto him for dear life!”

“Your dad is Taza, right?”  

“Yep, that’s my pop.”

“I hope you don’t find this rude of me, but I have to say, I can’t see the resemblance. You must take after your mom more.”

Lily was quick to gently correct. “Oh no. Dad adopted me by himself. I was an adult when I came into his life. We bonded quickly, and he became like a father to me, so he surprised me with it for Christmas one year, adult adoption papers.”  

Hannah held a hand to her chest, her face alight with how beautiful her story was. “Oh my goodness, that’s so sweet! I have something similar with the woman I call mom, my stepmom, Jackie. My birth mom died when I was little, so I don’t remember her. For me, there’s only ever been her. She’s the only mom I ever knew, although she always kept pictures of Lydia, my bio mom around, never looking to replace her.”

Lily felt a small pang of envy at hearing her story, remembering her own mother, the selfish junkie who had been the furthest thing from one, but she smiled brightly nonetheless. “That’s so nice for you, to have her so accepting of you when she and your dad got together.”  

The women further chatted about their family dynamics for a little longer, before Lily couldn’t help but broach the elephant in the room. “So, um. You and Manny.”

Hannah began to nod, her shoulders bobbing as she inclined her head. “I was waiting for that.”

“What’s the score there? I mean, I’m guessing you guys are, well I’m not sure. Is it an affair, or... what?” she asked, realising she truly was owed no explanation by a woman who was, at best, a very new friend.

“Yes, I think it’s safe to say that’s what it is. It’s... oh, I don’t know, Lily. It’s like, it’s all I can think about sometimes, yet I don’t want to, if that makes sense? I’m not thinking of the intricacies of it, I’m just...”

She was quick to fill in where Hannah paused. “Enjoying the thrill? I hear you, girl. I’ve heard the gossip about Manny from the hanger on girls around the club. He has a rep for being a grade A fuck.”

“I feel so awkward talking to you about all of this, with you being a married woman. I mean, I know Manny isn’t married, but are you tight with Carmen?” she winced, wondering suddenly, if Lily’s questioning wasn’t borne of the magnanimity it appeared to be.

“Oh, hell no, honey!” she breathed a sigh of relief. “Truth is, I can’t abide Carmen at all. She isn’t well liked. Now, that doesn’t mean I necessarily condone Manny’s cheating on her with you, but I think I get it. The more time I spend with you, the more I get it, at least.” Hannah frowned slightly, Lily continuing.  

“You give him way less of a hard time, for one. You’re naturally very easy to get along with, and Carmen, she’s hard work. It’s grating on him, too, her immaturity with the whole Lola issue, putting herself first there and not understanding how it is. I guess I kind of can’t fault that, though, because unless you have a child, you don’t understand how for a parent, they become the centre of your world. Carmen is used to being the centre of Manny’s, and she doesn’t like having to share him.

“It isn’t like he’s expecting anything much of her either. He does all the work with Lola when she’s with him, he only wants her to say hello to her, maybe hold her once in a while, form her own relationship with her, but she refuses to show even a grain of interest. I find that so hard to get my head around. Lola is such a lovely baby.”  

Her words were delivered with a simple shrug, draining her coffee and wishing she could have another. She was on a strict diet, though, preparing for her next fight, having to keep sugary, dairy-laden treats to a minimum. “Do you see if going anywhere, if he were to break up with Carmen?”

Hannah made a small groan of discontent, shrinking down in her seat a little. “I don’t know, and I’m scared to think it. Also, it’s the guilt there, too, that I’d be blowing up another would-be marriage down to impulsive actions. No matter how much trouble she’s giving Manny currently, it isn’t right, what we’re doing. I can’t help myself, though. I mean, you know, you’ve seen him.”

Lily smiled, covering her hand with hers. “He’s gorgeous, I’ll give you that. Even Angel said if he had to bang a guy, he’d choose Manny, and my husband is as straight as they come.” Her statement had her in soft fits, which was exactly what Lily wanted, watching some of the tension ease from her with every chuckle, the worry lines upon her forehead smoothing once more.  

“Oh, mami! He ain’t that straight!” A sudden boom interrupted, a cute guy in an apron moving to hug Lily.

“Hey baby! Aww, I missed you!” she cried, kissing her dear Carlos on the cheek. “How’ve you been? Oh, Hannah, this is Carlos, my friend, and my husband’s boyfriend.”

Hannah shook his hand, receiving a double cheek kiss, her face a picture of curiosity.” Hello, beautiful. It’s a little joke we have, since I absolutely do not hide the fact that I’m crazy for her man!”

“You should see him when he visits the clubhouse, he can’t contain himself. Last time he turned up there, Bish licked his cheek and I swear, this one nearly came in his pants,” Lily spoke, Hannah in soft fits, Carlos looking dreamy at the memory. A lot of the guys warded him off and wouldn’t entertain being playful around the fact that the cute little gay guy was enamoured with just about every man there, but Angel, Bishop, and Manny were three who always obliged, to hilarious results.  

With Carlos finishing his shift and the girls heading down to the yard, he decided to go with and pay everyone a visit, Hannah witnessing the hilarity first hand. She’d barely brought the car to a stop and Carlos was out the back door, sprinting across the ground, bouncing right up into a waiting Angel’s arms.  

“My papi!” he gushed, cuddling his head.  

“Thanks for bringing me my side piece, baby,” Angel said as Lily and Hannah approached, the latter laughing hard as Carlos rubbed Angel’s chest with a huge, happy grin. “Yo, calm down. You’ll make me hard, and I don’t got the dick room in these jeans.” He added, smacking him on the ass before setting him down, Carlos looking thrilled as usual from the attention.

“Not a lot of guys would have the security to oblige him like that,” Hannah noted, Angel grinning as he welcomed his wife with a kiss.  

“Just you wait until you see him with your baby daddy!” She didn’t have to, the three of them heading into the clubhouse just after Carlos to see Manny stretched out on a couch, the former literally climbing on top of him, Manny wrapping him in a full body hug.  

“Hello, princess,” he rasped, Carlos beaming.

“I love it when you call me that!” He then looked down at Lola, sleeping in her car seat beside him. “When did you? Is she? You and Carmen?”  

“Nope, that’s mama right there,” Manny pointed at Hannah, giving her a wink that sent butterflies right through her. “Happened in the BC time; before Carmen.”  

“Oh! Oh, she’s so pretty! I’d ask if I could hold her, but I see she’s napping, so I’ll just hug you instead,” Carlos replied, Manny laughing. He lay there completely at ease with being so heavily – and physically – flirted with, chatting away about the recent Raiders game, Hannah marvelling to herself as she moved to grab Lola when she began to grizzle. Michael would never, ever be that relaxed if a gay man acted like that around him, and she’d seen it with her own eyes.  

One of Emilio, Shonda’s husband’s best friends from high school was gay, and whenever Kevin had been around, Michael would always be on edge. He greeted everyone, male or female, with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, sweet and gregarious that he was, but Michael had never been welcoming to such innocent affection.  

“Dude! Do you got a boner, or is that your cell against my leg?” Manny suddenly exclaimed, Carlos grinning and shuffling against him, everyone in hysterics.  

“I don’t, but I can make it happen for you!” he cried, grinning wide.  

Manny just shook his head, taking it in his stride. “Of course, you can, princess. It’s my raw charm, man. Nobody can fight it.” Nope, Michael would have been throwing holy water on him. It was just another thing she found to like about Manny. Speaking of his raw charm...

“So, are you busy tonight?” he asked, just after Hannah had fastened Lola’s seat into her car.

“I’m not. Are you?”

He licked his top lip momentarily, the action making something entirely too pleasant ripple through her. “I am, actually. I was planning on writing the next great American novel.”

She tilted her head back, a smile tugging at her mouth as she wondered where he was going with that. “You were?”

“Yeah, with the tip of tongue right on your clit.”

Her eyebrows rose high, a little burst of laughter like song in his ears. “Then I’ll meet you back at my place?”

“Nah,” he began, reaching to stroke the side of her neck. “Mine is closer. Carmen is away for work, and I need you as soon as possible.”  

An hour later, with their baby sleeping soundly, Manny was making a very good start on his literary word count.  

[brasideios]

Snippet Sunday

I wanted to share something new this week, because I’m really vibing with what I’m working on (extremely casually) just now. Feeling very chill and enjoying myself.

A tiny bit of background: Titus (Apple-Blossom 🤦‍♀️) appeared as a very complete character out of nowhere in a 2019 thought dump, maybe six pages long. I was just starting to write about Rome at the time, and he was a false start, but I never forgot him.

I started mulling over this false start a couple weeks back, and have begun tinkering with a few small scenes.

So… here’s Titus Lartius. Single dad and dutiful son, who has a lot going on behind the scenes.

The springtime morning was dark and cold. Titus pulled his cloak tight around his shoulders. The sound of rain dripping into the compluvium of his mother’s house was loud in the atrium as he followed Nonius to the front door. He carried a lamp before him, which caught the mosaic into a circle of twinkling stars around his feet. He liked to be awake so early, before anyone else in the house was awake, when it wasn’t so cold at least. Nonius unbarred the door, and opened it, allowing Titus to slip through into the street with muted thanks. Outside, the moon was high in the sky, a fingernail moon on the wane. He adjusted his fur-lined cloak again, tucking his hands into his armpits, and hurried towards home. The nails of his boots were loud on the paving stones, but once he’d reached the main thoroughfare, there were many others like him, huddled against the cold, on their way to a morning salutatio with a servant in tow, their faces pinched in the cold, though some relaxed a little when they saw him, greeting Titus with a respectful bow of the head. Some were his own clients, on their way to his door. ‘Phillipus,’ he said, greeting one of these cheerfully. ‘It’s good to see you. When did you get back from Rome?’ The middle-aged man, reed thin with rheumy eyes, smiled warmly. ‘Just yesterday afternoon. What a to-do there was on the road. Some Capuan, a centurion apparently, had been attacked by bandits, and he’d got together a band of men from the caupona in a nearby town to hunt the thieves down. They were roughing up anyone they met.’ He chuckled, which turned into a cough. It was a moment before he continued, ‘They questioned me and my bodyguard for an eternity, in the pouring rain. I kept saying, do I look like I have the wherewithal to attack a man of thirty-five, in his prime, who’s fought off barbarian hordes?’ Titus laughed along with him. ‘You were fast enough in your time.’ ‘Ha! In my time, but that time’s long past.’ He sobered a little. ‘I think I’m going to take myself off to the shrine of Hygeia, at the thermal baths in the hills next week. This cough, you know, it just will not shift.’ Titus looked at him with concern. ‘You think it’s serious?’ He nodded solemnly. ‘I do; but it’s in the hands of the gods, of course.’

~~~

Oh but I have to add this extra tiny snippet, too, because Titus is a package deal with his son, Quintus :)

~~~

Titus was trying to leave his house, but he was hindered by his son Quintus who, with a fierce scowl on his chubby five-year-old face, had wrapped himself around Titus’ leg. ‘Pater, I want to come too!’ Titus couldn’t quite smother his smile behind his severe frown. ‘Quintus, I don’t have time for this.’ ‘Then take me with you.’ He leant down and scooped up his son into his arms, and held him so they were eye-to-eye. ‘I’m only going to visit your grandmama; I won’t be long, and you don’t really want to sit with her and her boring friends, do you?’ Quintus wrinkled his nose, no doubt thinking of the last time, when he’d been chastised constantly for not sitting still; but he said, ‘I might. Novia gave me cake last time.’ ‘If you stay here, and behave for Anthia, I’ll bring you some cake myself. How does that sound?’ He pursed his small lips and pushed his unruly black curls, much like Titus’ own, out of his eyes impatiently. ‘Alright - if it’s the kind with the almonds in it.’ Titus smiled. ‘I promise.’ He set Quintus back onto the floor. ‘Do we have a deal?’ He held out a hand to his son, who shook it enthusiastically. ‘Deal.’

[goddessofeternity]

Chronicles of the Supernovas: Chosen

Chapter 22: Truths, Lies...and a little Family Drama

Masami

My marriage is really over. 

After three hundred and twenty-five years, my wonderful and loving marriage with my dear husband was over and there was nothing that I could do about it. I would be gone by the time that he came back from the mission that he was on. I finally manage to pack the last of my bags and clean up around the house. I could at least make sure our…his own home was clean when he returned. After hauling all of my things to the front door, I turned off the stove to finish up the rest of the meals that I made for him. I just fell into my normal routine as I cleaned around the house. It was starting to get dusty and I should change the bed sheets. The garden also needed to be tended to so I should probably do that before I left as well.

“Oh! I didn’t get the groceries! I should go…” Before I had even realized it, much of the house was clean and food was stocked again. 

I felt my heart rip to pieces when I saw that it wasn’t there anymore. I held my hand against my chest as I took several breaths so I wouldn’t cry for the sixth time. Rubbing my temples, I rushed to the door to grab my bags before I broke down again.

I would have rushed out quicker if I didn’t catch a glimpse of our wedding picture on the wall. A day that was overflowing with joy, laughter and love. A day that my heart was filled with so much love that I feared it would burst forth like a geyser. Perhaps I shouldn’t have left my wedding dress behind for him to see. This whole situation was heartbreaking enough as it was.

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I grabbed my bags and left my home. I was sure that I would never recover from this pain, for the rest of my life.

~~~

“Welcome home Lady Masami!”

“Shh! Shh! Thank you…I don’t want to wake anyone up right now. I’ll just head to my room.” The maids dispersed without another sound. The walk to my room felt heavy and tiring, like I had been walking for months without rest. Finally reaching my room, I opened the door and laid out on my bed with a heavy thud. The days ahead would be long and painful, but my family would be here for me in this trying time. My body would have its rest, but my heart would need more than rest to heal its damage. I turned my face into my pillows so that I would not wake anyone with my crying and whimpering, they deserved a good rest before hearing my horrid tale. It was not long before the rays of the sun forced me awake and I forced myself out of bed. Leaving my room to take a shower, my ears were assaulted by a high pitched scream.

“KYAAA!” I couldn’t help but smile as my youngest sister came flying down the hall at me. “I had no idea you were coming home!”

“Yes I…I thought it was time for a visit.” I rubbed her head as I nuzzled her cheek. “I was about to take a bath before seeing everyone…would you like to join me?”

“Yes!” I smiled at her enthusiasm as we went to the bath. The maids laid out one of my favorite kimonos as we laid in the water. “Ohhh…Mimi-chan! I’ve missed you so much!”

I chuckled as she snuggled up against me and I stroked her hair once more. She was still the same after not seeing her for almost thirty years. Although it seemed as though she let her hair grow out again, and she was a bit more…busty. Something that I’m sure that my father was not happy about. If he was going to be upset, he should be upset with himself for marrying our mother. She was quite curvy and well filled out to put it bluntly. So it only made sense that her daughters would be the same. 

Hmm…I missed them after so long.

“So! Mimi-chan! You have to tell me all about your life so far! How is my brother-in-law?” My heart skipped a beat as I looked into her shining eyes. So hopeful and filled to the brim with a curiosity to hear more about a husband that I no longer had. “Or…are you here to tell us that we’re gonna have a new family member?”

“O-Oh no…I’m not pregnant Emi. I just wanted to visit everyone again. Callum…he’s fine. He has some business that he is taking care of…”

“Ugh!” She pouted and sank into the water and blew bubbles in annoyance. “....”

“Emi…I can’t hear you if you’re talking with a mouth full of water…”

“I want to meet him already!” I shook my head as she jumped up from the water. “These stupid rules about not revealing ourselves are so stupid and outdated!”

“I…I’m sure that they are in place for a good reason Emiko.”  I desperately wanted to change the topic from my marriage. “So…how are you? I heard that you have someone in your life now.”

“Oh yeah…he was in my life. I have moved on from him and taken on a new partner.” She sighed dreamily before sinking into the water. “Father isn’t all too pleased with all of my frequent lovers. I just have a lot of love to give.”

“I think father just wants us to be his flowers forever.” I giggled as she rolled her eyes and twirled a loose hair around her finger. “I’m guessing that you…”

“Hmm? Oh yeah…the first time was awkward…but everything after was great!” I never thought that my youngest sister would have already…ahem…done the deed. I suppose it was because our parents weren’t as strict with us. I also think my father forgot that when children grow up that they start to think about such things. I was never the type, but I’m sure he was more concerned about my brothers getting into some trouble. 

“Oh oh! Hikaru is supposed to be bringing her lover over to meet us today. You came at the perfect time Mimi-chan. Father is being a baby about the whole thing, but mother is excited though.”

“Hikaru is seeing someone?” Huh…she only has ever seemed interested in her potions and such things. She had loves here and there, but for the most part she seemed content on being alone. I really needed to check on my siblings more. 

I suppose now I would have the chance. 

“I think mother is hoping for one of us to get married at this point. She probably wants to see us as happy as you are.”

“Yes I…marriage is really a beautiful thing…” I guess that was the difference with my parents. My father wanted his girls to be unmarried flowers, while my mother wanted us to be married to our lovers, but she was happy for her nonetheless. After we got out of the bath, my mood immediately went right back down. I hoped that I could put on another happy face before my parents. I was not ready to talk to them about my struggles. My parents had changed the mansion once more, but it still held that familiar air to it. 

Emiko walked with me to the main sitting area and I could hear the sounds of Mei’s biwa as we drew closer. Her talent was unmatched and it was always such a soothing sound to listen to early in the morning. I’m sure that my parents were already sitting and eating breakfast to listen to her. 

“Father! Mother! Mei! Good morning! Look who came to visit!” I smiled at her hyper voice so early in the morning. My mother was not a morning person so the twitch of her eyebrow was not missed. It was quickly gone once she locked eyes with me. Both her and my father rushed to hug and nuzzle me before I could even greet them. 

“Oh Masami! Oh I’ve missed you so much!”

“Are you well butterfly? Is your…husband treating you well?” I was glad that my face was buried in between them. 

“Father…you don’t have to say it like he’s some creature…” I chuckled as Mei stopped her playing to hug and nuzzle me too. “You have to stop being so cautious about it.”

“Yes I know I know…I mean no disrespect. I just wish you never left home…”

“Father…”

“Oh Takeshi enough!” He grunted as my mother jabbed him in the chest with her elbow. “She has been married for many years now. Our girls will not stay here forever.”

“I mean…they could…” Her growl silenced him and we all shared a laugh at that. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so hard if I was surrounded by my family. 

“Now…come sit and eat with us. Your brothers are away at the moment and Hikaru should be coming with her lover soon too.”

“Tch…” My mother glared at my father and he coughed and sipped his tea away from her. She never failed to put my father on ice. The glint from the gem on her forehead in the sun made me stare. It was such a beautiful gift that was given to her by the Gods. She never did say why they gave it to her though. 

“Callum…Callum is well. He had some work to do so he’s away at the moment. So…I thought that I would come visit.”

“Oh I wish that my boyfriend was here…”

“I don’t…” I chuckled as my father mumbled against his tea cup and my mother pulled his ear.

“You need to stop…let our girls be happy.”

“They are happy…right here with me and you. Isn’t that right Mei?”

“Hmm?” Mei looked up from her biwa and just shrugged. “I have no opinion about it.”

My father pouted at her as my mother rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to me. The way that she was looking at me was too motherly and analyzing. If I didn’t think they noticed before I was wrong because my mother was looking right through me.

“Masami-“

“Hello family!” I was saved by Hikaru throwing open the tatami doors. 

“I have such loud children in the morning…” My mother grumbled under her breath and my father chuckled and kissed her head. The sight made my heart ache in the best and worst way.

“Oh! Masami!” I was once again assaulted by a hug and nuzzles as Hikaru almost took the breath from my lungs. “I didn’t know you were coming to visit! I would have gotten your room together and had some potions ready for your garden.”

“It’s ok Hikaru…this was a spontaneous thing. I just really missed everyone so I thought I would stop by.” My mother was still staring hard at me as Hikaru informed everyone that her lover was here. Mei was also giving me the side-eye, but I just focused on eating a rice cake. 

“So…your…partner is here? Now?” Hikaru rolled her eyes as she went into the hallway and came back pulling on the arm of a handsome kitsune with dark brown hair and gentle eyes to match. 

“Welcome to our home. I hope the trip to come here was good.” My mother elbowed my father hard and he just frowned in his usual pouty attitude. 

“Oh! Y-Yes my lady. Your lands are beautiful and your home even more so.”

“I’m glad that you think so. I thought it was important for my children to be surrounded by beautiful things.” He gave us all a swift bow before looking at my father and mother and touching his forehead to the floor in respect. “My lord…my lady…thank you for allowing me into your home…and for giving life to the woman I love. I see that she gets her beauty from her mother.”

“Hehe…charmer…” My mother giggled and the look on my father’s face almost made me choke on my tea. “You can raise your head…what was your name?”

“Oh…my name is Yasuke Nagamasaki…I come from a region in the west.” I was surprised that he had gifts for not only our parents, but also for me and my siblings. I eventually left them to their conversation, I would hate to watch my father grill Yasuke. Hopefully Hikaru and my mother could keep the peace. Walking around the outskirts of the mansion, I was greeted by another relative that I hadn’t seen even longer. 

“Masaru?”

“Oh! Well there’s a face that I haven’t seen in a long time.” He hugged me and he seemed to have gotten even taller. I thought my brothers were tall, but Masaru was becoming a tree. “I thought we would had lost you to married life.”

“Mmm…you should try it sometime. You might like it.”

“Nah…when I meet a woman who can throw me over a cliff…then there might be something to consider there…”

“Uh huh…so…is your father around?”

“He was here just the other day. He got into an argument with your mother the other day.”

“What for?” My mother and my uncle were notorious for their arguments, but honestly I felt as though my mother was still punishing my uncle. The things he did in the past were…horrible and unforgiving, but they were out of his control. There was so much evil in the world and something attached to my uncle. He only ever wanted to make things right and be the man that he was always meant to be. I missed him terribly.

“Oh…well Shino showed up unexpectedly and spooked her. Aunt Izumi thought that…well she was not happy about hearing Shino shriek and my father was standing in the same room.”

“It was just an unfortunate coincidence…my mother has got to stop with her attitude. Things will never change and get better if we hold onto hate.”

“That is funny coming from you…” I only shoot him a look and he threw up his hands immediately. “Sorry sorry! Anyway…I swear you are closer to my father then I am. You truly are his favorite…”

“Mmm….well don’t say that…you are his son…his only child. I highly doubt that I’m his favorite.” He scoffed and sat down on the veranda with a frown. I suppose something must have happened if he was making that face.

“Masaru…”

“We had an argument a few weeks back. We were in another land and you know…my father and I just travel and train and train and train. It seems to be the only thing that we ever do together. The only thing that we do besides train is drink together and occasionally have an actual father and son bonding moment that includes more drinks and sometimes women.”

I sat down beside him as he sighed and rubbed his temple in further frustration. The fur on his tails was even standing on edge as he thought about his father. I had never known the two of them to argue about anything. I hoped that whatever it was they could work through it. 

“What caused the argument?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Oh yeah…and this is hardly the first time.” They argued about me? Why in the world would they have an argument about me? And it wasn’t the first time? “We got into a fight with some bandits and I had gotten injured. One of the men got the better of me…and after we left my father…he just snapped.”

“....”

“You are useless boy! How can you not handle some simple bandits?! You need to be more like Masami! She would never have struggled with them! She has always been perfect! While you can only be described as highly unexceptional! This is why she is my favorite! The only one who has a fucking spark!”

“He…he said that?”

“Oh yeah he did…it continued on for a bit too. Wishing that you were his daughter instead…hoping that you would come home soon. I was fed up with it and I came back here. I hadn’t seen my father in over two months, well that was until I saw him arguing with your mother. He barely spared me a glance though.”

“I’m so sorry Masaru…I never thought that…” I didn’t truly even know what to say to him. My uncle and I had always been close. He was like a second father to me, he was my mentor and he helped me with a lot of things, even though my mother absolutely loathe him. I could actually see that he seemed to prefer me over his own son, but to admit such a thing to his face? It was a horrible thing to do. 

“Hey…you aren’t at fault here. It's just my idiot of a father being an ass. We will eventually talk and work things out like we always do.”

“Still…he should have never said those things to you.”

“Eh…he’s been really stressed out lately. I think it's mostly because he’s been trying to have his own territory, so it's been hard to gather resources and people. He’s trying to get out of your father and mothers way. Now with that argument the other day, I feel that he might want it even more.”

“Mmm…I wish I could have seen him before he left…” Masaru chuckled before he stood up and patted my head. I grumbled and fixed my hair as he did. 

“I’m sure that he would love a visit from his favorite.”

“M-Masaru!” He said nothing else as he walked back into the house and I sighed deeply. It seemed that my family needed some therapy or just help in general. It had been some time since there was any sort of drama in the family, but now it seemed as though things had resumed. My problems could be swept away in their current mess though. Although, my mother could be more hawk than kitsune when it came to us. 

Speaking of family, besides my brothers, there was still someone that I hadn’t seen yet. I should go and see if she is awake. Of all my sisters, I think I missed my sweet sweet Chiharu the most and I wished that I had brought her a gift. I would make sure to get her something soon since I had the time for it now. Standing by her door, I could hear her shuffling around, most likely getting ready for the day. She was probably fussing with her hair. I suppose that I should help her with that, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face when I knocked and I could hear her fussing more.

“C-Come in!” 

I was assaulted by the gentle aroma of various flowers and the sight of many many stuffed animals. My dearest sister was such a girly girl. My father loved to spoil her with delicate and feminine things. I suppose that she got that from watching me. I was never as into stuffed animals as she was, but others often remarked on my feminine grace, but that was to be expected of the eldest daughter of a powerful clan. 

“Well good morning my love!” I smiled at Chiharu from her vanity mirror and her eyes almost left her skull when she saw me. No more words were said as she flung herself into my arms. The force behind the hug was stronger than I thought it would be, but we laughed the whole way down to the floor. Like I thought, her hair was giving her trouble once more. She had also gotten even more beautiful and I thanked my parents everyday for being together. My siblings and I were stunning and I would forever be conceited about that. 

“Masami! I’ve missed you so much! You have been gone far too long and you must never be away that long again!” I kissed the top of her head and sat up only to see that she had tears in her eyes.

“Oh love…please don’t cry…” I wiped her tears as she tried and failed to keep a straight face. “Come on…let’s fix your hair hmm?”

“O-Ok…” She was practically vibrating in her seat as I brushed through her long hair. Grabbing her bow, I tied half of her hair up into a bun and let the rest fall over her shoulders and back. I never knew how she couldn’t keep her hair tamed, it was so soft and didn’t tangle up too badly. 

“There you go. The prettiest kitsune in all the lands.”

“I think that will always go to you, Masami. If you weren’t married you would probably get more marriage proposals than me and Mei.”

“You both have been getting marriage proposals?” 

“Oh yes…father mostly burns the letters anyway, but some of them still get through. The only reason Emi or Hikaru haven’t gotten any is because father has spread a rumor about her having poor health.

“Poor health huh?” Yes, that was quite the believable rumor considering how often she runs around and is keen on being the most hyperactive kitsune around. 

“Hehe yes…Hikaru hasn’t been getting many proposals because she and father somehow convinced the entire kitsune populace that she was the cause of a recent plague across the region.”

“Huh?”

“Hehe…so every person that has ever been in contact with her has gotten a “deadly” illness. Of course it was nothing serious, but enough people thought it was. It turns out that father and Hikaru mastermind and plotted around with her magic and potions. It was quite a big issue for a while. Mother was beside herself in anger for weeks.”

“I…wow…I’d imagine so.”

“Hehe…father and Hikaru were effectively banished from home for three months before mother let them come back, and even then she made them sleep out in the gardens for another three.”

“Yes that…that sounds like something mother would do.”

“I guess the man that Hikaru is seeing most know that everything was a lie, or maybe she just really likes him, which I’m glad for her. Seeing your love with Callum makes me wish the same for the rest of our siblings.”

“Yeah…” I brushed through her tail before I moved on quickly. “How about for yourself?”

“O-Oh I…I don’t know…I would like to love…b-but…” I raised a brow as her stutter came back in full force, something that only really happened when she was nervous or embarrassed. I thought it was adorable. 

“What is it?”

“W-Well…you know…when you have someone you…d-do things together…”

“Yes? That is usually something you do with a lover. You go on dates and vacations and such…”

“N-Not that! I mean…things that…m-married people do…l-like you and our parents…”

“Like me and…oh! Oh!” Her face burned bright as she looked down at her hands. I twirled the brush in my hands as my own face grew red. Intimate matters were something that I kept private myself and I often got flustered too. Now, to hear my precious and innocent Chiharu bring it up brought a whole wave of embarrassment. “Well…um…you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to love.”

“I know..b-but…it just seems so…like so much and embarrassing…”

“Well…in my um…experience…when it is someone you love and who respects and appreciates you…it will be a wonderful experience. You won’t even feel embarrassed I promise.”

“Really? W-What about you?”

“Oh I…it…it was perfect.”

“Well…that does make me feel better.” I was about to ask her if she had any other stories to tell, but Mei suddenly appeared at the door.

“Sorry to interrupt, but mother wants to see you Masami.” Of course she did. She couldn’t just let me sulk for one day. 

“Alright…we can chat later Chiharu.” My smile disappeared once I made my way down the hallway. What was I to say to them? That my marriage is over and my heart is broken? My father would lose his mind over it and my mother would try to stop him from doing something so stupid. 

I sighed outside the room before I entered to see my mother with an already calculating frown, while my father just looked confused, bless his heart. 

“Yes mother?”

“I thought that I would check on you my butterfly. You seemed distracted when you came in this morning…more closed off.”

“Oh…I’m just tired…it felt strange to be in a bed that I haven’t slept in for so long.”

“You could always stay Masami. Your bed will feel familiar once more.” My mother rolled her eyes but kept her comments to herself. 

“I’m fine really…I just cleaned and prepped dinner for Callum. It just took most of the afternoon since I also went to get food and tend the garden a bit.”

“Does the man do nothing to help you? I swear…”

“No no! I enjoy tending to my home and Callum! Being a housewife is very calming and relaxing for me…I just…needed a break and Callum helps me around the house all the time.”

“Mmhmm…” My father grumbled and went to the other side of the room to sign his documents, but my mother didn’t seem convinced of what I was telling her at all. 

“Masami…is there something going on with you and Callum?” She held my hand and pulled me in close to her. It was easy to relax against her and I just wanted to cry because I had no idea how everything just seemed to fall apart. We should have been planning for our anniversary right now, or at least just loving each other.

“I…yes…” I didn’t want to admit the problems in my own home, especially seeing how wonderful and perfect my parent’s marriage is. It was such a stupid thing to leave him for. It just made no sense to me and I hated it. 

“What?! What happened?”

“I…something happened that wasn’t supposed to happen. The one thing that I wasn’t supposed to do as a kitsune.”

“The…what my butterfly?”

“I shouldn’t have done it!” I buried my face in my hands as my tears finally spilled out. “There was a waterfall and I just wanted to soak in it…I had no idea he was there! Callum saw my tails and everything! So I left…I left our home, my ring, him! It’s over between us!”

“Oh my dear…” My mother hugged me tight and rubbed my back, but it barely did much to comfort me. The love of my life was gone because of a simple mistake. These stupid rules ruined everything and they just made no sense. “I…I’m sorry butterfly, but I don’t see how him knowing that you are a kitsune would ruin your marriage.”

“W-What? Of course it would…that’s why I had you all be in disguise for the wedding. I couldn’t let him know the truth.”

“That’s why we haven’t had a proper meeting with him? I thought it was because we needed to keep our identities hidden because of the forces that he faces. It was understandable, which is why we never fought it and took you for your word that he was a good man. I thought that he knew you were a kitsune?”

“N-No…f-father told me that once a kitsune’s lover sees their true form that they would to leave or something horrific would happen…and it would be even more dangerous because Callum is a Supernova. If my identity would put him in danger with his greatest enemy…I could not risk that no matter what. Our family has a history of misfortune…so I took father’s advice and kept it to myself.”

“....” I leaned back to wipe my eyes and my mother was wearing a blank expression on her face. Her tails suddenly cut through the air angrily before she slowly turned to look at my father…who was currently climbing out the window. “Takeshi!”

I blinked in confusion as my father jumped from the window and my mother practically tore out the window as she chased after him, a slew of curses spewing from her mouth. Rubbing my eyes, it was not long before I heard more cursing and things crashing. The maids walking the halls squeaked in shock as I could hear my mother wrestling my father. It was not long before they both stumbled back into the room, with my mother pinning my father’s arm behind his back before shoving him to the ground, her knee deep in the center of his back.

“I-Izumi! I-I give! I give!”

“Apologize now!”

“L-Listen I only-”

“APOLOGIZE!” 

My father grumbled despite the death grip my mother had on his arms at the moment. If she kept up the force, I’m sure that she would have caused some damage if not ripped them off. “F-Fine…”

Releasing him, my father rolled his arm as he grimaced in pain, and my mother stood over him with her arms crossed and seething in rage. Taking my hands, my father sighed once more before he looked at me quite seriously. “My butterfly…what I told you about the secret and keeping it…was not true. I…it was an old myth that has been disproven for many many years. I…I have always had a hard time with you girls growing up, and when you announced your engagement…well I thought I was losing my daughter. I should never have been petty and done something that has caused you great distress. Forgive me, daughter.”

“....” There was no conceivable way that my father lied to me just because…I…of all the things to do! “So I…I left my husband for no reason! A lie!”

“Masami…I…I know and it is still a failing of mine-”

I wanted to have my chance to rail into him, but my mother suddenly looked out the window. Her eyes were alert, but it was like she was looking at something far away. My father instantly stood and held her hand, and she tightened her grip, which meant that she wasn’t having a vision. She hadn’t had a vision in quite some time, but I just took that as a good thing. I could have been seeing things, but it almost looked like the gem on her forehead started to shimmer. 

“Takeshi…I’m going to head out for a bit.” She gave me a smile before she planted a gentle kiss on my father’s head. “Try not to tell our daughter more ridiculous things.”

“Mmm…” Once she left, I glared daggers into his skull and he rubbed the back of his nervously. “Masami…please forgive me…I never meant to hurt you…”

“Hmph!” I turned my nose at him, intending on making him work for my forgiveness. This also meant that I had no reason to stay. I could save my marriage and be happy once more. “I will think about it…”

“Well…that is the best that I can hope for huh?”

“Yes…yes it is…” 

I was more than a little curious about whatever it was that my mother was doing. It seemed to be something serious, but my father did not budge from his spot. He was always ready to follow my mother anywhere she went to keep her safe. Of course, she would argue him down about being able to take care of herself, but I think she secretly liked to put up a fuss and have my father care for her. Once I finished nagging my father in the ground, I could not help being curious. 

I followed my mothers scent deep into the woods outside our home. Perhaps she was just taking a walk, she often did this every few months, but was always gone for hours at a time. Whenever I asked, she just said she liked the peace and quiet that the forest brings. I never believed it for a second, but I never pressed the issue and eventually left her to her secrets. Now, there was a pull and a need to discover what she was doing. After that, I would leave and be ready to talk to Callum and explain what happened and apologize for everything. 

It was eerily quiet despite it being so early in the morning. There wasn’t even any animals running around. I quicken my pace towards my mother because I didn’t like the feeling that I was getting. It wasn’t until I heard her voice that I finally stopped. 

“Yes…I know…it is holding strong…I promise that you have nothing to worry about and if anything happens you will be the first to know.”

“....”

“Yes…I will stay close by to ensure that it doesn’t break or that no one has discovered it.” I crept closer so that I could hear who she was talking to. 

“I have to get to them…but they are fighting back far more fiercely than I would like. They want that child badly…but she’s running out of time…”

“I have faith that you will persevere and get through your battle. I wish that I could give you more hope than just my words.”

Wait…that female voice sounded like…

“I can’t send it directly to her while I am fighting…”

“I’m glad that I was able to make it so quickly for you, but yes…there is no telling if it will be delivered while they are fighting. It could get lost or smashed in all of the chaos…”

“Masami…perhaps you could help?” My ears perked up as I stepped through the brush. My mother’s eyes narrowed as I stepped over to her. Looking at the person she was talking to…I was surprised to see a pure white kitsune, and even more surprised when I realized that I recognized her.

“Lady Serafina?!”

“Masami! What are you doing out here?!” I flinched at my mothers tone, but she relaxed when lady Serafina placed a hand on her shoulder. It was only after she did that I realized that I could see right through her hand, and most of her body for that matter. This was only an image of her, her real body must be indisposed somewhere else, and by the sounds of it, she needed to get somewhere in a hurry-

“Is Callum alright?!” My heart leaped to my throat as I rushed over to stand beside my mother, who still looked annoyed at me being here. That didn’t matter because Callum was the only person on my mind. They were in the middle of a mission and she was voicing such concerns that something must have happened. 

“He…well they are running into some serious issues. Celica in particular is going through the worst of it. She’s dying Masami…and she has less than an hour left if something isn’t done.”

“What?!” I felt sick. I felt useless and weak. MY legs felt like they were going to give out under me if not for my mother holding my waist. My Callum was in danger and my best friend…she…she would be dead in an hour. What in the world was happening on that mission?

“It is the weapons that are being spread across the cosmos…” She turned and ran a agitated hand through her hair. “They give even the weakest mortals strength and if a god was to wield them…well it has been a disaster.”

“There….there must be something that can be done right?! You have to help them!”

“Masami I am trying…believe me I am. The Darkness is making it impossible to make it down to the planet. I came here to ask your mother for a healing tonic she specifically made for injuries only the Darkness causes.” 

“You made a medicine for injuries that the Darkness causes?” I raised a brow at my mother who sighed deeply before sharing a look with lady Serafina. 

“Do you remember all those years ago when…when we were at war with the Nobara clan? Those creatures in the woods were from the Darkness. It caused a lot of injuries but…well your mother is pretty smart when given the right tools and cause. So I made something that Celica needs to heal.”

“I…I remember them but…” That day flashed back in my mind, thoughts of the war always found their way to my mind at random. The entity in the field that day, it was not just some creature…it was-

“It is exactly what you think it is Masami.” I snapped my eyes up to meet lady Serafina’s and she only gave me a weary smile. “You were…very lucky that day- no…luck had nothing to do with it. You are stronger than anyone would dare give you credit for.” 

“...” I highly doubt that. It had to have been sheer luck for things to go my way that day. The thing that was nagging me was how did my mother and lady Serafina know each other? Looking at my mother, it seemed that she didn’t even want me in these woods, and I swear that gem on her forehead was shimmering again. “Mother…what is your relationship with Lady Serafina? That gem on your forehead…what is it and what are you hiding in this forest?”

“Masami…” My mother sighed deeply as she faced me. “My butterfly…I promise that this is nothing for you to worry about. We…we have known each other for a while and the reason for that is nothing to be concerned about. Your friend and husband are in danger…”

“I…”

“You can discuss it with her later.” I looked back at lady Serafina as she locked eyes with my mother. “You can tell her about it, but for now I need something from her.”

“What? My daughter is not about to be tangled up into something that is no concern of hers…this is something that your people have to handle.”

“Mother please…” I grabbed her arm and she sighed in annoyance. “What is it, my lady?”

“I need you to go to Zosmuna and get this medicine to Celica. I will send you there so I would need you prepare. Celica does not have much time…none of them do. I could fight the Darkness for a long time…they don’t have that and the child must be moved.”

I could feel my mother growing agitated next to me, but I could only think about my love and my friends. I had to help them no matter the cost.

“Mother…I will be alright.” She closed her eyes and I could see the gears in her head spinning, spinning in fear. “Callum will be there…I will be surrounded by gods who will keep me safe.” 

“I…I don’t like this one bit…”

“Mother…I will be just fine. I will be in and out.” I hugged her close and she nodded against my shoulder. 

“Alright…just be careful. Your father is going to have a heart attack over this though.”

“Yeah…I imagine that he would.” Rubbing my cheek and giving me a final hug my mother left me alone with lady Serafina.

“So…how are we doing this?”

“I will send you to the planet and I’ll give you something to track them if you need it. Other than that just get the medicine to Celica. I will try to wrap this fight with the Darkness up so you all can make it back to my temple.”

“Alright…I can do that…” Turning back to the mansion, I was stopped by her speaking up once more. 

“I know that it has been some time Masami…but hopefully you won’t have to get involved…”

“Yes…for their sakes…”

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

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[firetrucks-fastcars]

The Holiday Season

Buck spends an eventful Christmas holiday with Christopher and Eddie. His first as Eddie's fiance and Christopher's dad.

Read on ao3 here

“Buck, Buck! Dad! Wake up! It’s Christmas Eve, you gotta get up!”

“Wha-?”

Buck was barely awake enough to brace himself as Christopher clambered onto the bed, flopping down right in the center of Buck’s chest. Two small hands held his cheeks, and he leaned in to press their noses together as he spoke.

“Buck, get up.”

Buck slowly opened his eyes, going cross-eyed as he tried to focus on Chris. Eddie groaned next to him, rolling over and blinking blearily at them.

“Good, you’re up,” Christopher said, sitting up but not moving from his position on Buck’s chest. He said it as if he’d already forgotten that it was his commotion that had ripped them from their peaceful sleep.

“Chris it’s seven thirty,” Eddie said, voice bordering on whiny. 

“It’s Christmas Eve.”

“Yeah, I understand that buddy. But it is way too early to be awake.”

“But we have stuff to do today.”

“Yeah we do,” Buck held Chris tightly and rolled, depositing him on the mattress between him and Eddie. “But all of those things don’t happen until later. Much later. So your Dad and I would really like to go back to sleep for a little bit if that’s okay with you. You don’t have to go back to sleep but you’ve gotta be quiet, so you can stay here with us and watch the iPad quietly, or go play in your room until we get up.”

“I wanna stay here,” he decided, curling up snugly between them. Buck handed him the tablet from where it was charging on the bedside table and got him set up with his cartoons and a pair of headphones.

“Nice save,” Eddie whispered once he was thoroughly engrossed in his show.

“I try.”

In the end, the shows bought them an extra hour of sleep, which was slightly more than Buck had been hoping for, to be honest. This wasn’t the first time he’d been on the receiving end of Christopher’s holiday excitement, but it was the first time he’d experienced it so early in the morning. This was the first time he was waking up on Christmas morning with Eddie and his son. 

It had taken them a lot to get to this point, but Buck had never been happier to experience the holidays with his two favorite boys. Since he’d met Eddie, they’d spent the holiday together in some capacity. The first year, Shannon had returned to their lives, and he hadn’t wanted to feel like he was overstepping. But Eddie had invited him over the day after Christmas for games and to exchange their presents. The next year, they’d been working on Christmas Eve but Buck had found a way for them to spend it together regardless. This year though was his first Christmas as an official member of the Diaz family. Eddie would argue that he’d been a member of their family since they met, but Buck felt truly established now, with Eddie’s engagement ring on his finger. 

“So give me to holiday run down,” Buck said, once they had sent Chris off to get dressed and ready. 

“Okay, Abuela’s today for brunch, then Bobby and Athena’s for dinner. Tomorrow, we’ll open presents here and have lunch with Maddie and Chim. Shannon should be picking Chris up around five tomorrow and he’ll spend the rest of the weekend with her and she’s gonna drop him off sometime Monday after our shift.”

“I’m glad she got the time off work to spend with him. Partly because I’m gonna need a seventy-two-hour nap to be functional after this weekend.”

“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”

Buck should have been more grateful for Christopher’s early wake-up call since they ultimately ended up being late trying to get everything together. They were the last ones to make it to the house, but the food wasn’t quite ready yet as they made their way inside.

“Buckaroo,” Athena greeted. “Rough morning?”

“Chris woke us up at seven-thirty,” he explained, moving into the kitchen to deposit his and Eddie’s contributions to their meal on the counter.

“And you were still late?” Hen teased. 

“We gave him the iPad and fell back asleep. Guess we should have stayed awake.”

“Denny was up at five,” Karen sympathized. “I’ve lost count of how many cups of coffee I’ve had.”

“You look like you need this,” Bobby shoved a warm mug into his hands. 

“Bobby you’re a live saver. What is it about Christmas Eve anyway? I know we have things going on today, but Chris was acting like he normally does on Christmas morning.”

“It’s the anticipation. They know they’re getting presents at every party today so they can’t contain themselves.”

“I don’t miss that about having young kids,” Athena said. “If all of you weren’t coming, May and Harry would have slept until well into the afternoon.”

“How much longer until we reach that point?” Eddie asked, leaning over Buck’s shoulder and stealing his coffee cup, grimacing at the amount of sugar, but taking another drink anyway. 

“Don’t wish it away you two. They grow up too fast.”

Buck couldn’t help but agree. There were times in the last couple of years that he wished time would slow down. Christopher was only nine, and he knew realistically that they had a few more years of Chris waking them up early in his excitement. As much as he didn’t enjoy waking up early when he wasn’t on shift, he loved seeing his son’s face light up as he tore into his gifts. Eddie had told him what it was like, seeing Christmas through the eyes of your kid, but Buck couldn’t have imagined it until he was living it himself.

“Food is ready,” Bobby called out into the living room. “Come and eat.”

Buck helped Christopher make his plate and settled him at the table between himself and Eddie. It was loud, as they sat around the table eating and chatting, a dozen different conversations mixing together around him. He wouldn’t trade this for anything. Christmas with his found family was more than he had ever hoped for as a kid. 

The plates were barely cleared when the kids began shouting about it being present time. Each child had a gift from Bobby and Athena, but to make things simpler, the team and their partners had drawn names for Secret Santa. Buck had drawn Athena and he’d never had a harder time shopping for someone. He’d had to call in reinforcements in the form of Hen, swearing her to secrecy. In the end, he’d gotten her a gift certificate for a massage at a fancy new spa downtown. 

Maddie insisted they do gifts at random, spinning a wheel on her phone to choose who would go next because it was “more fun this way”. Bobby had chosen his name and his gift had almost brought him to tears. It was a cookbook of all of Bobby’s recipes, handwritten by the Captain. He fought valiantly against the tears, but they’d ultimately fallen when Bobby pulled him into a hug and whispered that the blank pages in the back were for his own recipes that he created with his family. 

Karen had drawn Eddie and had managed to score tickets to the Rangers vs Phillies game in the Spring. It was a sort of joint present for him and Buck, but Eddie, the bigger baseball fan had made a Christopher-like face of excitement when he opened them. 

Eddie’s pick had been Bobby, and his gift for the Captain had been a hit. It was a World’s Greatest Dad mug, signed by each member of the team. Bobby had gotten a kick out of it, immediately going to the kitchen to wash it and fill it with coffee. 

After the gifts had been exchanged, he and Eddie had gathered Christopher to take him to their next event. They’d stayed at Bobby and Athena’s much longer than they meant to and they only had an hour to make it to Abuela’s. She’d requested that Buck and Eddie come early, telling Buck that it was time for him to learn how to make her famous tamales. 

“Thank Bobby and Athena for your gift buddy,” Eddie had reminded as the couple walked them out, assisting them with the armfuls of leftovers they’d all but forced them to take home. 

“Thank you,” Chris said happily, clutching the new lego set to his chest. He’d already requested that Buck help him build it when they got home from Abuela’s house. 

“Thank you for brunch,” Buck kissed Athena’s cheek and gave Bobby a quick hug.

“Of course Buckaroo. You two have a good night.”

“And Merry Christmas,” Bobby added.

The drive to Abuela’s house from Bobby’s wasn’t long, but Buck found himself nearly falling asleep in the passenger seat as Eddie drove. When he glanced back at Chris in the rearview mirror, he found his son in a similar state, head falling to the side as he dozed. Eddie carried him inside, depositing him in Abuela’s bed to nap until dinner was ready. 

Eddie was immediately banished from the kitchen, being told to sit at the counter and not touch anything. Buck had taken pity on him and let him help chop the vegetables for the sides, knowing there was no way Eddie could make them inedible. Eventually, Eddie moved into the living room to see his sister Sophia and his niece who had come up from El Paso. His parents, thankfully, were not going to be in attendance. They were working on their relationship, and it had improved, but family gatherings made things unnecessarily tense. Instead, they had decided to stay in Texas with Adrianna and her fiance, Eddie, and Chris planning to take a trip down for a few days when Chris’s school was out on spring break. 

Abuela sang along in Spanish to the music playing from the speaker as she moved around the kitchen, occasionally giving Buck instructions. When the tamales were steaming, she’d sent Buck out of the kitchen and into the living room to mingle. He slotted himself into Eddie’s side on the couch, resting his chin on his shoulder and listening to the conversation Eddie and Sophia were having. He wasn’t sure what they were talking about, just content to listen to the rumble of Eddie's voice as he spoke.

“Hey babe,” Eddie turned to acknowledge him as Sophia was called away by her daughter.

“Mm, hi.”

“How did cooking with Abuela go?”

“Tamales are hard. But she promised to write down her recipe so I could work on making them at home.”

“Good, you’ve gotta earn your keep somehow,” Eddie teased. 

“As if washing your sweaty socks isn’t enough.”

Eddie laughed and kissed the side of his head, “We should probably go get Chris. Food will be ready soon and his mom is almost here.”

“I didn’t know Shannon was coming.”

Buck and Shannon, surprisingly, had gotten along really well. A little too well for Eddie’s taste if he was being honest with himself. Things had been rocky at first, with Buck and Eddie dancing around their feelings for each other in the months leading up to the divorce being finalized. But once they had settled into a routine with co-parenting and Buck and Eddie had finally gotten together, Shannon and Buck became fast friends. They were often the ones to text each other to communicate pick-up and drop-off for Christopher on her weekends or for Buck to tell her about school events where Chris had requested her presence (as much as they both loved Eddie, he was horrible with dates and it was much easier to cut out the middle man when it came to things like that).

“Yeah, Abuela invited her, figured it would be nice since we’re all on good terms now.”

“I agree.”

As if on cue, the door opened and Shannon stepped in, holding a plate of cookies that looked homemade. 

“Shannon,” Buck stood to greet her, giving her a hug and taking the plate from her hand. “I’ll take these to Abuela.”

“That better not be code for ‘I’m going to hide and eat them all’,” she chuckled, but relinquished the plate. 

“I would never.”

“Where’s Chris?”

“I was just about to go get him,” Eddie answered. “He wore himself out at our team brunch this morning and fell asleep on the way over. Buck put him in Abuela’s room to sleep for a bit,” Eddie stood and pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too Eddie. I’ll go grab him if you want.”

“Sounds good. I’m gonna go make sure Buck doesn’t eat all of the cookies.”

When Shannon returned with Christopher in tow, they all gathered for Abuela to lead them in grace before digging into the spread of food.

“The tamales turned out great Buck,” Eddie complimented.

“You made these?” Shannon asked, mildly impressed.

“Abuela did most of the hard work.”

“You were the best helper mijo,” Abuela complimented, everyone laughing when Buck ducked his head to hide his blush. 

Buck felt as if he’d gained twenty pounds by the time they finished eating. Eddie echoed his sentiment, leaning back in his chair next to Buck.

“Is it present time?” Christopher asked once the plates were cleared and the adults were sitting around talking.

“Yes,” Abuela declared. “Present time.”

They all moved into the living room, Eddie, Shannon, and Buck squeezing onto one couch, with Christopher in his dad’s lap. There weren’t as many children there, not nearly as many as there would have been with all of Eddie’s extended family so the opening of presents didn’t take long.

Chris received a few books from Abuela and a new set of dinosaur figurines from Pepa. Each of the older grandchildren, Buck and Shannon included, got money from Abuela, who said it took all of the guesswork out of gift-giving. 

Eventually, the excitement died down, Sophia and her daughter left, saying they needed to get home and rest before their flight back. Some of the other cousins retired too, leaving just Eddie, Buck, and Shannon. Chris stretched out across his lap, reading through one of his new books with Shannon while Eddie helped Abuela and Pepa clean up. 

“Buck,” Chris whispered.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I’m tired,” he turned his head into Buck’s belly, snuggling close to him.

“Me too Chris. Wanna see if we can wrangle your dad and head home?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay buddy, let me up.”

Buck made his way into the kitchen rounding up Eddie so that they could head home. Shannon helped Chris out to the car, hugging him as she helped him into the seat.

“Bye, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you, Christopher. You three drive safe.”

“We will.”

Chris was asleep by the time they were halfway home and Buck didn’t bother to wake him up again, just carried him inside and deposited him into bed.

“I wanna sleep so bad,” Buck grumbled, falling face-first on the couch and into Eddie’s lap.

“Me too babe. But we have to play Santa.”

They snuck around the house as quietly as possible, putting Chris’s presents from Santa under the tree. Buck had wrapped them in different paper to distinguish them from the ones he and Eddie had gotten him. They sat on the couch with the plate of cookies between them, eating enough to make it look like Santa had eaten them, and Buck even took a bite out of the carrot Chris had insisted on leaving for the reindeer. 

Once everything was set up, they moved into their bedroom and fell into bed, practically falling asleep before their heads hit the pillows. 

“Buck, Buck! Dad! Wake up! It’s Christmas, you gotta get up!”

Chris gave them a replay of their wake-up from the morning before, dragging his parents out of bed and into the living room for gifts. He tore into them with uncontained excitement, Buck sitting back to watch. Eddie appeared at his side with two cups of coffee, handing him one and keeping the other for himself.

“Thanks, babe,” he leaned over for a quick kiss. 

They leaned against each other, watching as Chris’s excitement built with every gift he unwrapped. When they were all opened and the three of them were surrounded by crumpled wrapping paper and ribbons, Chris settled down with one of his new toys.

“We should probably clean up all this paper,” Buck said, leaning his head on Eddie’s shoulder.

“We’ll get it later. Just enjoy the moment.”

Eddie kissed the top of his head as they huddled together on the floor, watching their son.“Merry Christmas Buck.” “Merry Christmas Eddie.”

[mossy-kit]

What’s the white whale fic about!

(also answering this ask from my beloved @yrael “hiiii you should talk about forever's a luxury” thank you also 😊)

ohoho my white whale... my holy grail.... my "one day if this were done it'd be really good but it is distinctly not done"... forever's a luxury, aka my Tyler Violet post ambush reintegrating into their life fic. Started back pretty much right after Tyvi got resurrected, back in summer 2021, and then I kept picking it back up and sticking bits on it and rewriting intermittently for quite some time, up until my lull a while back at least.

The central premise of this one is essentially just Tyvi, who died back in season 3, coming back after being unceremoniously ambushed roughly thirty years after they died. They immediately leave the Tigers’ shadows to go back to stay with Ziwa, who I tend to lore as their childhood friend and essentially lifelong ride or die. For both of them, it’s this incredible gift they never expected to be given, but at the same time Tyler’s got a lot going on: nearly their entire team was Ship of Theseused away in their absence (which they still feel guilty for and particularly broken up about, since they helped sign up a lot of the early team members), the game is still going on and putting the people they have left in danger, they feel bad for leaving their teammates still down in the Hall, and mostly – on some level, they want so badly to fit into the hole that was left, and so do their friends, but they’ve been gone thirty years, and never had a chance to do the growing that the still-living ones got to do, so they’re stuck with a lot of twenty-something baggage and habits that the people they’re closest with (namely Ziwa, and then Greer, their sort of ex) have moved on from in a lot of ways, and it’s about them finding their way through that to keep going forward anyway.

some snippets because now I’m in the word document again and remembering how much fun this was to write:

“Tyler still can’t help but feel like if they blink, one of them will disappear. Because the gods don’t offer gifts for free. They know that. So if they’re alive, it’s because they’re a marionette held by callous hands, and they’ll need to dance to earn their place, just like everyone else. It’ll catch up with them; they don’t know how, but they know it just like they knew the minute Jaylen burned that they would too, eventually.

But Ziwa’s here, they’re here, right now, solid and wide eyed and so very, very alive, and so is Tyler, even if only for tonight.”

“Sure, they look like the one they knew; they could have been twins. This one’s glowing eye is green instead of purple, but even in that difference, the mischief lighting up the unlit eye is almost exactly the same. They watch this Jenkins high-five a scruffy looking pitcher with an extremely bedazzled jacket, and they keep having to remind themselves that this isn’t them, that this person won’t remember always sharing the Hawaiian pizza with them in the away game hotel rooms, tag-team teasing right back if anyone tries to argue the old pineapple-on-pizza debate. Because that person’s gone, has been for a long time now. And it’s not like she didn’t know that, but it’s not every day you have to look the proof in the face.” <- Tyler is not so much getting along with Jenkins in this fic at least at first lol

“Their first thought, when they wake up, is whether Kennedy’s going to want to go and stand by the big rock that they claim “gets better reception” to see if they can get a Haunting in that day, maybe try and pass the last message they wrote through to Vela. And then for a moment they’re wondering where Hobbs is, because he usually ends up half sleeping on their arm and maybe he got up early to go talk to some of the Magic like he does when he’s bored because he’s never really slept much and then they’re wondering where all of them are, because Eli should be snoring, even though they don’t breathe he still manages to find a way to snore, and Trev should be stirring by now too, and then they get this horrible, sinking feeling in their gut that something’s wrong, something’s horribly wrong, and so they force their bleary eyes open and all of them are gone, and the memories crash back in all at once.”

augh. anyway. one day I’ll write this, shake my fist at god, etc etc. thanks for the ask! always fun to get into it again 😊

[the-void-writes]

"Remember me" Ruhi and her sister 🥹

Thank you so much for all the fun prompts love! 💖 I know this one was a typo, but you gave me such an amazing idea that I had to write it out, so I hope that’s okay!

Context: Viraj was Ruhi’s arranged husband, but they were both in love with someone else. The day of the wedding, they confessed their love to their childhood friend Avir, but Avir was only in love with Viraj and convinced him to run away. Ruhi’s mother tried to marry her off again immediately, and Ruhi was so distraught that she ran away and accidentally fell into Paradise. Years after recovering from the heartbreak, she finally asks King Gazali to let her see her friends, but she only finds Viraj, dying from illness in a hospital.

The Birth of Paradise - Remembrance

Ruhi couldn't recognize her old friend. Time had worn Viraj’s strong and glowing face down to a dull, wrinkled slab. She half-expected Avir to be sitting beside him, also afflicted by the passing years, but Viraj was all alone in the room. No family, no friends, not even a neighboring patient in the bed next to his own. It was just him and Ruhi.

The view from the window brought a tear to Ruhi’s eye: her town had changed so much. Their old park, where she and Viraj and Avir spent most of their younger years, was completely gone. It was nothing more than a big square of dirt in the moonlight.

Ruhi took a deep breath and approached Viraj. Her gentle hand on his arm roused him from his sleep.

“It’s too early for medication.”

His soft voice broke her heart. When they were due to be married, his voice could have shaken the sea. Now, it was a wisp of wind rushing by on a late afternoon. Ruhi composed herself, knowing that Gazali’s magic wouldn’t last very long. She wanted whatever time she could get from Viraj.

“It’s been a long time,” she said, “and the years have been unkind to you, but I hope somewhere in your mind, you remember me.”

Viraj finally focused on her face, studied her features… and began to cry. His shaky hand came up to her cheek.

“Ruhi,” he whispered, and she cried right beside him.

“Yes, I’m here.”

She pressed her head against his, waiting patiently as he found his words.

“You haven’t aged a day.”

She chuckled. “I know.”

“Ruhi—” he coughed. “Am I dead?”

“No, dear. You’re very much alive.”

“But you’re here. They told us you jumped.”

Ruhi screwed her eyes shut. “They were going to arrange another marriage. I felt hopeless without you and Avir. I’m so sorry, Viraj—”

He coughed again, harder and longer. “No, Ruhi. It wasn’t your fault. We never should have left.”

“Please, don’t blame yourself.”

“I wanted to go back for you. Avir just wanted to run, and— I let him convince me to leave. The next day, we heard you were gone.” Viraj stared out the window at the moon. “Thirty-five years, I’ve had to live with what we did.”

Ruhi hushed him and held his head to her shoulder. He clasped her hand, still mumbling to himself about Avir. His warbled breathing broke her heart.

“Please,” she said, “tell me about your life. What have you seen?”

“Nothing compared to your life, I’m sure.”

“Tell me anyway, please.”

Viraj looked up at her. “We went to France.”

“You did? How was it?”

“Just as beautiful as I imagined. Avir tried to sell his work there, but it never took off.”

Ruhi brushed his brittle gray hair. “So you moved back home?”

“I did… but Avir went to America to sell his art.” He closed his eyes. “He called me his muse, long ago. I must have stopped inspiring him. They let me attend the funeral, at least.”

That explained why Avir was nowhere to be seen. Their love hadn’t lasted, and if Ruhi had still lived on the Mainland, she may have felt even worse about being left that day under the mandap. Now, seeing what Viraj’s life had become compared to hers, she couldn’t help but feel she had dodged a bullet.

“I never did marry,” Viraj said. “Not that I could have, anyway. My reputation crumbled when I left you.”

“Viraj…” Ruhi held him tighter. “I wish I could have brought you with me.”

“Where did you go?”

“You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“You’re not crazy, Ruhi. You were always the smart one.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“So where were you?”

“The water took me somewhere far away. I wasn’t entirely appreciative of it, at first, but I’ve come to love it. The people are kind, and you can live your dreams without ridicule.”

Ruhi smiled as she thought about Paradise, of her friends, her life— and her wonderful, beautiful, talented roommate.

“I think I’ve found love.”

Viraj’s eyes brightened up at the sound of her voice. “You have?”

“Her name is Cecilia, she’s a dancer. The most amazing and beautiful dancer I’ve ever seen.”

“A dancer…”

His voice sounded weaker than before. Ruhi tightened her grip on his hand, as though it would keep him with her.

“So please don’t blame yourself, Viraj. I think I’m finally happy.”

“Happy…”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m happy.”

“That’s… wonderful.”

He leaned back against his bed. The noises of the monitor were starting to slow down, to Ruhi’s dismay. She wouldn’t leave him until he was truly gone. He needed her, now more than ever before.

“Viraj, were you ever happy?”

A smile spread across his wrinkled face. “I’m happy now, Ruhi.”

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

Ruhi dried her eyes as she returned to Gazali’s Sanctuary. The purple, star-covered sky shimmered through the window, and Ruhi had never felt more at home. She opened the doors and stepped into the pavilion, where Gazali and the others were waiting. The king smiled at her gently.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“Of course. I hope you found what you were looking for.”

Ruhi searched through the crowd until she found Cecilia. Her dark skin glowed in the starlight, and her messy curls were more beautiful than ever.

“I did, your majesty.”

She walked over, stood on her toes, and kissed Cecilia until she couldn’t stand upright anymore. Her lips were so soft, like petals in spring. She held Ruhi closer so she wouldn’t stumble and fall away too early. When they finally parted, Ruhi combed her hand through Cecilia’s hair.

“I couldn’t be any happier than I am with you.”

Cecilia giggled and wiped away a tear. “Neither could I, Rue.”

Ruhi kissed her again, not even caring that their friends were watching and grinning at them. Back home, she had been convinced that her life was over. Now, she had a long and happy life to look forward to, with someone that she could confidently say that she loved more than anything in the world.

[life-of-the-pride]

Life of the Pride Cast – AJ's Origins

You can’t make a trio until you have a duo.  Our second member to join the local pride is Alexios-Jidalgo Ruiz.  Quite the mouthful, so feel free to call him AJ.

The son of two Cuban-American lions, AJ was the first of six children born in St. Petersburg, Florida.  AJ’s status as a single child only lasted for three years.  Soon enough, he was an older brother before he even started kindergarten.  As he grew, so did his family and the responsibilities of being an eldest sibling along with it.  By the age of 11, he had five other siblings to help his parents take care of.  

Like any other preteen getting to grips with their sense of self and hormones, AJ began to realize something about himself.  He had no interest in the opposite sex.  Those interests were firmly set with other guys.  “I’m gay,” he realized.  However, this moment of self-discovery coincided with a major life event.  Outside of his young point of view, AJ’s parents, Carmila and Jaime, were experiencing a decline in their marriage.  And as tensions rose between the two, AJ would come out to them one solemn night.  Both fell silent as he delivered his revelation.  That silence was broken by Jaime leaving the house, not returning until the next morning.  AJ was broken.  His mother offered the only solace she could by holding him in her arms and promising she’ll be there for him.

A month after his coming out, his parents had divorced.  It was a long time coming, but to AJ, it felt like his world collapsing all at once.  And the seeming spontaneity of it gave a young AJ the impression his coming out was the catalyst.  Carmila assured him that wasn’t the cause, but a young mind will make connections.  Following this, AJ would scarcely see his father.  Quite honestly, he preferred it.

From seventh to eleventh grade, AJ played second role model to his five younger siblings.  With his mother working two jobs, the pressure was on an adolescent AJ.  Now, he loved his siblings as much as any older brother could… but they were a handful his young paws couldn’t handle.  Any free time he managed to scrape up would fizzle away to tend to his brothers and sisters.  With the stress of school and family care, it was a miracle he held on to a B average.

There was relief in his last year of high school.  Carmila’s brother, Raymond, came back from an extended family visit in Sandino.  Hearing her plight, he decided to stay with her and help out his nieces and nephews.  Raymond quickly became AJ’s favorite uncle.  Even if it was senior year with less than a semester left, he could finally get in a little bit of time to himself.  Raymond picked up a job too, letting his sister leave one job behind and have more time for her kids.  For AJ, this gave him a massive amount of relief for his last year of school.  

After graduation, he was able to attend a respected community college and receive his associates degree.  Tertiary education gave him far more time for recreation, the likes of which he hasn’t had since early childhood.  He made new friends, saw new sights, and learned things about the world I never knew.  But it was a fleeting moment.  After graduating with a Bachelor’s, the friends he met moved on, using their degrees to get jobs across the country.  He remained the only one in his group to stay in Florida.  And even though he kept contact through text and phone calls, it wasn’t the same.  Between graduation and the age of 30, he held down a good but uneventful job.  He moved into an apartment with two roommates he knew very little about -- cordial yet no sense of friendship.  

Thirty and nothing going on.  A complete reversal of the eventful life he had in college.  He wanted that back.  He needed that back.  Luck was in his lane when he met someone online at the age of 29.  This friend, whom he would know by the name of Benny, would propose an idea: AJ, Benny, and another friend of Benny’s should move in together.  AJ scrounged up the money for rent and a ticket to Texas where Benny lived.  He took a few weeks to get a job in the local area and had to stay with Benny and his uncle during that.  But soon enough, the third roommate would arrive.  AJ was introduced to a tall, somewhat broody lion named Isa.

Once the three moved in to their quaint house in Juniper Bole, something in AJ awakened.  Now in a new town with new friends, he wanted to re-engage with the go-getter lifestyle he had in his college years.  At thirty-two years of age, he wanted to reignite that flame with his two friends in tow.  Would his attempts to carpe each diem lead to embarrassment or a life worth living?  Just how far can he bring Benny and Isa into his mad-capped schemes?  

[thatlovinfeelin]

Eye Of The Storm -four- Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw

Baby Kazansky X Rooster

One  Two  Three

The three girls were laughing as they packed up some of Molly’s things. Really, just the last two boxes and her small duffel bag. They had an old volleyball playlist blasting through the apartment, singing and dancing around as they went. There were several bottles of beer strewn around the living room, none of them keeping track to which belonged to whom.

“He’s coming in today right?” Erika asked, handing Molly a faded sweatshirt.

“Yeah, his flight is supposed to get in later this afternoon,” Molly replied, checking her phone again, “He said he’d text me before he took off from his layover so I could go pick him up.”

“I do believe you’re blushing Bliz,” Beth nudged Molly.

“Three thousand uninterrupted miles with him? I’d be blushing too,” Erika shrugged, “Even if he wasn’t fourteen years older.”

“Thirteen,” Molly said under her breath, “I’m going to make another sweep of my room to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”

Beth shot Erika a look before getting up to follow Molly, who not so subtly slammed the door in her friend’s face. What they couldn’t see was the way Molly’s face crumpled as she covered her mouth, trying not to make a sound.

Thirteen years. Thirteen years separated her from Rooster. She knew that already, of course. But for some reason she was able to almost ignore it. But now…now he was coming. Now he was sitting in an airport, waiting to get on the last flight that would bring him to her. They would drive back to California and she would be living within ten minutes of him for the whole summer. There was no ignoring it anymore. In comparison, she was a child. Not even twenty-two yet, while he was thirty-five. She was a child. He was a grown man. Older than her oldest sibling. Born before her parents were even married. Just a year and a half before, but still.

“Hey, c’mon Mol, she didn’t mean to upset you,” Beth said from the other

side of her door, “We were just pulling your chain.”

Even if they were messing with her, Molly knew they had a point. He was too old for her. Her family would never approve, and realistically, how much of a future would they have? Everyone would judge them, or make fun of them. Molly swore something in her chest broke. For the last few weeks she could almost imagine how life could be with him. But now, she could almost see it crumbling around her, all because of one simple realization.

“Damn you Erika,” Beth grumbled, “You just had to bring that up.”

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Erika shot back.

“She won’t come out now, so yeah.”

Molly sat on the floor with her back against her door. She picked at her nails, trying to calm herself down. Maybe him coming was a bad idea. But it was too late to call him and cancel now. Besides, she hated the idea of driving all the way home by herself.

Her room was empty now, aside from the bedroom set that she was leaving behind, and the few boxes still left. This was her home for three years, and tomorrow she was going to leave it all behind.

Molly could hear hushed voices outside, before a strong knock on her bedroom door, “Mak? Are you in there?”

She pushed herself up from the floor and flung the door open. He looked almost beautiful, still just as tan with his cheeks and nose slightly burnt. She felt like all of the air was forced out of her body. He wasn’t supposed to be here yet. She was meant to pick him up later.

“Wha-” She shook her head, “What are you doing here?”

“I had an earlier flight, I thought I would surprise you.”

Her body seemed to move before she could process, throwing her arms around him. He let out a little laugh and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. His body was warm and solid against her. She still felt safe in his arms, she hated how she did though.

“You’re here.”

His hands gently held her face, looking deep into her eyes. He could tell she’d been crying. Just knowing that something happened made his chest ache. Beth and Erika said they upset Molly, but he didn’t think he’d find her crying.

“What happened?” He asked gently, waking in just far enough that he could kick her door closed behind him.

She shook her head, settling down on her bed, “Nothing. Just roommate stuff.”

“So we can talk about everything for months,” He stated, “But the second I’m here, you freeze up?”

She shrugged, not knowing how to put everything she was feeling into words. How could she explain it, when she didn’t even know how he felt about her. Maybe he didn’t even care about her like that, maybe he was just being friendly and taking care of her due to obligation.

“Okay, well, how about I give you your graduation present,” He fished a black box out of his pocket, “Then maybe you’ll feel like talking.”

“I told you not to get me anything, Rooster,” She groaned.

He just smiled and sat down next to her, “It’s small.”

He opened the box to reveal a small silver bird on a chain, “It’s supposed to be a snowbird.”

“A snowbird?”

“So you don’t forget about being Blizzard,” He replied softly, “You kept saying that you were worried about coming home.”

She didn’t have any words. Truthfully, it might have been the most thoughtful gift she received. He carefully put the necklace on her before stopping to look at her. She looked different. Somehow, it was like being in Connecticut changed her. He expected her to be free, but instead it looked like weights were on her shoulders, pulling her down.

“I can’t-” She shook her head quickly before reaching over to hug him, “Thank you.”

He was quiet for a moment, just holding her. Part of him couldn’t convince himself that she was even real. Part of him wondered if he should even be here with her. He didn’t want to cross any lines with her. The last thing Rooster wanted to do was spook her. There was still so much about her that he didn’t understand. But he wanted to.

“You’re here,” She whispered against his chest.

“I’m here.”

“I missed you, Roost.”

“I missed you too,” He replied softly, before kissing the top of her head, “Congratulations.”

She sat up, brows furrowed, “You called me Mak, earlier. What was that about? You’ve never called me that before.”

He couldn’t help but smile, “M.A.K, your initials. I figured you needed a new nickname since you said you wouldn’t be going by Blizzard after you leave here. I can stop if you don’t like it.”

She shook her head, smiling a little, “Actually, I love it. For the record, you’re BRB in my phone.”

His laugh was almost like music to her. She loved the way his hand was resting on her leg, squeezing it slightly before laying back on her bed. The worry was gone for a while. She was comfortable with him. He didn’t look like he was that much older than her. Sometimes she didn’t feel like he was. Maybe age wasn’t even real once you were fully legal. Did it even matter anyway?

“We were all planning on going to the bar tonight, one last round with the teams, you know? But we don’t have to go.”

“You really want to stay in for your last night here?” He questioned.

She shrugged, “I would, if you don’t want to go out.”

He sat up, smiling at her, “Show me how you party, Blizzard.”

Three hours later, Molly, the remaining half of her old volleyball team, Rooster, and random members of the boys team were all crowded into one of the local bars. Molly was already three shots in, dancing around with her friends. Rooster sat back watching her, watching the freedom she seemed to have found. He loved the way she smiled as moved around everyone. She was fluid in a way, not much unlike a feather drifting on the wind.

She danced around with a drink in her hand, as if she didn’t have a single care in the world. Her necklace shimmered in the low light of the bar, making Rooster smile. Molly was a free bird.

“Blizz!”

Molly spun around, throwing herself in the arms of the young man behind her. She felt nothing but pure joy. One last night surrounded by her friends, her little college family. Jack, or Frost as he was known to the men’s team, was her counterpart. They played the same position, and played the same way. Blizzard and Frost, two sides of the same coin. Molly often thought that in another life, she could’ve loved Jack.

“Frosty,” She laughed, kissing his cheek, “You’re going to be so lost without me.”

“No kidding,” He hugged her tightly, “C’mon, let's get a shot. We need shots.”

Molly held onto Jack’s hand as he pulled her through the crowded space towards the bar. In a strange way, she felt a bit of pain in her chest knowing she was leaving him behind too. Jack was a year younger, just going into his senior year of college. They met during his orientation week and grew close during the first few weeks of practice. Somehow, they understood each other in a way that the others couldn’t.

“So, who’s the guy?” Jack’s mouth was close to her ear so she could hear him over the noise.

“What guy?”

“Eighties porn stache.”

Molly tried to hide her smile. She could see Beth and Erika dragging Rooster out to dance with them, laughing hard at the goofiness of his movements. Warmth spread throughout her, because like that, he looked younger.

“That’s Bradley,” She responded simply, “He’s driving back with me. He’s a…friend.”

“Oh shit,” Jack leaned back against the bar, “You have that dreamy look. Holy shit.”

“Nope, this conversation is off limits,” She warned, picking up the shot glass and downing the contents quickly.

“I’m not saying that as your…whatever we were…” He defended himself, “I’m saying that as a friend, Molly. Be careful, okay? You choose how much of yourself you give away. You choose what he gets, not the other way around.”

Molly’s heart felt like it was in her throat. Jack, sweet Frost, knew everything about her. She didn’t plan on being so close to him, but little bits came out over drinks during the course of his freshman year. Some things were almost like pillow talk when she would crash in his crap room at his Frat house. But he knew it all, he knew why she kept everyone but a select few people at more than an arm’s length. He protected her, and cherished the parts that she gave him, he kept them safe until she was ready to really give herself to someone again.

“You turn into such a sap when you’re drunk.”

“Yeah, maybe a bit,” Jack laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulder, “C’mon, you should go save porn stache from the girls. They might try to jump him.”

He was quiet for a minute before he spoke again, “Off the books, and I will deny this if you mention it again…but damn, if I were you, I would already be in bed with him.”

“Shut up.”

When they returned to the group, Molly grabbed onto Rooster’s arm pulling it around her. She leaned back into him, feeling his warmth. It didn’t matter that she was already sweaty from the heat of the bar and the alcohol. But she didn’t care, she liked the feeling of him being near.

By the end of the night, he was having to help her into her room. She could walk still, but by no means could she walk straight. She was still coherent though, but she laughed at almost everything. Rooster couldn’t decide if he liked seeing her like this or not.

He watched as she drank several glasses of water before collapsing back on her bed, “We leave tomorrow.”

He nodded as he tucked her blanket around her, “We do. Are you okay?”

She hummed, snuggling into her bed, “Just gonna be strange, ya know? Haven’t lived in North Island in years. Being back under my parents roof and shit.”

He couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. He remembered what it was like to be in his twenties, but then again his life was a little different. But he could imagine that it would be strange for her, after having so much freedom for the last few years.

“But you’ll be just down the road,” She sighed, closing her eyes, “It helps knowing that. Won’t have to go across the country to see you.”

“Get some sleep,” He said softly, “We’re leaving around 9, okay?”

The next morning, Rooster helped Molly and the girls pack up the rest of Molly’s truck. Several members of the team showed up to say goodbye, though most of them were still hungover from the night before. There were some tears, lots of them. Molly hugged every one of them, promising to call them when she got settled.

Beth and Erika waited until everyone else was gone. The three girls stood in front of her truck, crying and holding each other as tightly as they could. They spent four years together, and lived together for three. To Molly, they were as good as her own sisters. She loved them so much.

“We’ll come out before the end of summer,” Beth promised.

“Oh shit, I almost forgot, I made you some biscuits for the road last night.” Erika handed her two big Ziploc bags, “And I put the recipe in your phone.”

“You’re going to make me cry more,” Molly covered her face with her hands, “Life is going to fucking suck without you two.”

“Alright,” Beth said, wiping tears from her cheeks, “I need to go now before I end up on the ground. I love you so much. Hey, flyboy, get her home in one piece. I have the Admiral himself on speed dial.”

“She isn’t kidding,” Molly laughed, crying harder now, “My dad loves them. I’ll call you guys at every stop.”

“You better,” Erika hugged her once more, “I love you Molls.”

“Okay, you guys need to leave, because I won’t get in the car if you keep standing here,” Molly told them, taking a step back.

It took another thirty minutes for them to get on the road. Molly was ready to leave, but at the same time the thought of leaving made her sick. The radio was playing softly throughout the truck. Rooster was driving, seeming to understand she would need a little while to process.

She quietly watched as Connecticut started to blur by them. Three thousand miles until she was back in San Diego. It almost didn’t seem real to her. But then there was Rooster, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the center console, looking so relaxed.

“Are you doing okay?” He quietly asked her.

“Yeah, it’s just weird knowing that I’m closing one chapter of my life and starting another. It’s a good kind of strange though, I think.”

He reached over to pat her knee, “New beginnings are a good thing.”

She took a deep breath before looking over at him, “Is it weird that I’m glad you’re here. Like, I’m glad you’re the one I’m doing this with?”

He smiled softly, looking over at her for a minute, “No, it’s not weird. I’m glad that you wanted me here.”

She laughed for a minute, “It was cool seeing you last night with everyone. You almost looked like you belonged there. I don’t know, it was- uh it was fun.”

“I had fun last night too, Molly,” His voice was soft.

She looked down, her hair falling into her face to hide the blush that started to creep up her cheeks. Molly wasn’t sure how she was going to make it back to San Diego in one piece when he was so close to her. She swore her heart would give out if he smiled at her again, or touched her.

“So that guy that you went to the bar with last night…what’s the story there?” He suddenly questioned.

Molly nearly choked on air. That wasn’t a question she expected to get from him. She didn’t think she would ever have to explain her relationship with Jack to Rooster. Nor was she sure how she could explain it all.

“That was Frost. Oh sorry-uh-shit- Jack. His name is Jack,” She stammered, “Frost is his team nickname, like how they all call me Blizzard.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that. Who is he?”

Molly couldn’t look at Rooster as she swallowed and took a deep breath, “A friend, kind of. He looked after me,” She shook her head again, trying to get a clear thought, “I guess you could say he’s kind of my wingman. Or was…that kind of job can’t be done from all the way across the country.”

She could see him nodding from the corner of her eye. Molly truly wanted to just shrink away. She didn’t want to be having this conversation this early in the morning, and she certainly didn’t want to have it with Rooster.

“Friends are good to have in your twenties,” There was a different inflection on the word friends. His voice almost seemed forced.

“Okay, we aren’t talking about this anymore. It’s making me uncomfortable,” She stated.

They stayed silent for a while as she looked out the window. But something seemed to be gnawing at her, refusing to let her have a moment of peace. Finally, she groaned before turning to face Rooster.

“This should be weird. You and I…whatever we are. But it’s not, right?” Molly wished her voice sounded steady and confident, but she knew it didn’t, “I mean, I feel comfortable with you. I like being with you, and talking to you. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Feels like we’ve known each other forever, right?” Rooster’s voice rang out through the quiet car a few minutes later, “I’ve thought about it, you know? How I should keep my distance, or how your father would actually murder me for being near you.”

“He isn’t that bad,” Molly tried and failed to convince both of them.

Rooster chuckled, both hands now gripping the steering wheel, “The point is, Molly, I like being around you too. I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t feel the way I do,” He shook his head before glancing over at her, “But dammit, Molly. I don’t think you understand the power you hold.”

Molly couldn’t help but laugh. Rooster clearly didn’t understand her feelings about this whole situation. For her, he held all of the power. Somehow causing her to do things she swore she never would, feel things she promised herself she’d never feel again. Almost like they were set on a collision course with no hope of rescue.

At first she tried to keep him at a distance. But after one night during spring break, that plan was smashed to bits. The exact events were still fuzzy, thanks to the sheer amount of alcohol everyone downed while on the beach. But she knew it ended with Rooster having her backed against the side of the bar, mouth dangerously close to hers. But just as she thought he would kiss her, he shook his head, seeming to regain cognitive functions again, and backed away. He swore he wouldn’t do that again, and apologized more than enough. She realized the next morning that she liked his touch a little too much.

Every day since she kept trying to convince herself it was nothing. She didn’t feel sparks every time he touched her, her heart didn’t threaten to explode with every letter, and she certainly didn’t feel the ache in her chest after every phone call. All she was doing was lying to herself though. Because she felt all of those things, and then some.

“You know what, I think I’m going to close my eyes for a little bit,” Her words seemed almost robotic and very guarded, “I think I’m a little hungover. And we definitely shouldn’t be having this conversation on the first day of the drive, so just forget I said anything.”

Molly reclined her seat and rolled over, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see the way her eyes were watering. She wouldn’t cry in front of him. Not over this. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw was someone she could never have. Her father loved him too much, and felt too responsible for him. She was too young for him, and could never give him everything he should have from life.

But in a lot of ways, it was too late. They already collided, and neither would ever be the same again. They were already intertwined, a part of the other in ways they would never really understand.

Rooster sighed and turned up the radio just a bit, trying not to let the quiet drive him insane. But all he wanted to do was reach out and hold the hand of the girl sitting next to him. Instead, he turned his eyes back towards the road ahead of them and tried to focus on getting through the next few days without crossing any of the boundaries he set for himself.

[messers-moony]

So Perfect | J.P

Paring: Young!James Potter X Fem!Lupin!Reader

Summary: James falls in love with a bookstore called, Lupin’s Library, and can’t believe what they’re going through. 

The bookstore was quiet most days. It was a tiny little two-story shop in London. The idea was it had a book for everyone. On the second story was a living quarter for the two siblings that worked at the shop. It was a small two-bedroom apartment, but it did what it was needed to do. 

Remus and Y/n Lupin were the owners of the shop. It was their eighteenth birthday gift from their parents. Growing up, their parents didn’t have much, so for them, it means a lot. The name of the shop was something simple - Lupin’s Library - but inside held memories that they would cherish forever. 

When they started the business, it was slow. Most days, no one would enter, and Y/n worked a separate job to help Remus pay the bills. But after a year it seemed that people preferred the shop over any other place in London. They enjoy the warmness of Remus’ smile and the radiant happiness from Y/n. 

Remus worked behind the counter at the register, and when there wasn’t a customer, he was reading on the stool he sat on. Y/n did inventory and stocked books. She didn’t like to sit still, preferring to be on her feet moving around. Sometimes early in the morning, she’d grab donuts to leave on the front counter for early customers. 

There was nothing like Lupin’s Library, and that’s why people loved it. 

The bell-ringing announced a new customer into the shop. It was a tiny ding, nothing majorly loud. Y/n was stocking books while Remus was sleeping upstairs in his room. Over the past winter, he had caught a nasty cold leaving Y/n to take over the bookstore until he got better while also trying to take care of him. 

“One moment, and I’ll be with you!” Y/n called as she slipped the last book into place. 

She skipped to make it behind the counter where she met a man about her age - twenty-five. He was taller than her, maybe just around six feet. His hair was messy and curled slightly at the ends. His eyes were a beautiful hazel, and he radiated a certain playfulness Y/n could get used to. 

“Mornin’ sir!” James was taken away by her light and fluffy accent, “What can I do for you today?”

He smiled, “Looking for something to read for my son.”

“How old is he?”

“He’s about to turn five.” James smiled proudly. 

“That’s adorable!” Y/n gushed, “Any way we have magic treehouse books, maybe he’d like those?” 

“Maybe, he’s been begging for new books.” James ran a hand through his hair, “It’s the only way I can get him to calm down.”

Y/n smiled, “You know, on Saturdays, I read to kids. If you want him to join us, he’s more than welcome. Saturdays, I read to kids five to nine. Sundays, I read to kids from ten to fifteen.”

“Wow,” James replied, “I’d love to take him in if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all!” She smiled, “Everyone’s welcome.”

James gave a grin in response as he searched the Library for these Magic Treehouse books. It took him five minutes before even finding the kids section, but when he did, James grabbed the set of them. He placed each book on top of another and brought them to the counter of the pretty girl. 

He watched at how gently and smoothly she moved the books to scan them. James was so focused he didn’t even notice her handing him the books and the receipt, “But I didn’t-“

“It’s on the house.” Y/n replied, “I’ll see you Saturday.”

James’ face flushed; he hadn’t felt this way since Lily, “I’ll- um- see you Saturday….”

He walked out of the shop with a happy smile placed on his face. James hadn’t felt flustered and nervous around a girl since Lily in seventh grade. He had been head over heels for her since then. They began dating in sophomore year and had Harry right out of high school. It was poor planning on their part, but Harry was everything James had dreamed of. It wasn’t until Harry’s second birthday when Lily said she couldn’t take it anymore. 

Not only had it broken James’ heart, but it broke Harry’s too. Harry had no idea where his momma had gone. What broke James’ heart the most was Lily saying she wanted absolutely nothing to do with either of them. Lily had placed the engagement ring on the wooden table, collected her things, and left, just like that. 

Then it was just them against the world. James and his little mini-me, as Sirius would say. Sirius was the one who recommended the bookshop. He wouldn’t shut up about how cute the boy behind the register was (“Oh James, his hair looks so fluffy!”). It was like hearing a broken record. James didn’t see the boy with fluffy hair, but he did see the girl with the radiant smile. 

That night James sat beside Harry in his twin bed. Harry was thrilled to see the new books on his shelf, and as James began reading, Harry became more hooked with each page. When James shut the book, Harry was devastated. He wanted to know more and finish the book! Alas, he had to go to sleep, and if he did, James promised him that they’d finish the book tomorrow. 

When James brought up going to Lupin’s Library on Saturdays, Harry was ecstatic! He couldn’t wait to meet the new kids and begin a new book. By the time Saturday rolled around, they had finished two of the Magic Treehouse books. James entered the shop with Harry in front of him, hands on the little boy's shoulders. Now at the counter, he saw the boy with fluffy hair. 

“Good afternoon, sir.” He greeted in the same soft accent, “Here for the kids reading circle?”

Harry nodded, and the boy chuckled, “Great. It’s just in that back corner.”

James thanked him before bringing Harry to the back corner, where kids were already sat on a rug. Blankets were spread among some of them, and the girl was sitting on a chair in the corner while the kids made a semi-circle around her. James beckoned Harry to sit, and James smiled at the girl in the chair. 

As the reading began, James decided to venture through the bookstore. The bookshelves were surprisingly clean and rid of any dust. The books were taken care of, not a crease or bent page unless he went into the used section. Some people preferred new books; some preferred used. There truly was a book for everyone in here. 

He made his way back to the front desk with some books he had gained from the shelves. A multitude of paperbacks and gently placed them on the counter. Remus put a bookmark in his book and began to scan each book just as smoothly as the girl. His hands didn’t seem as soft. They looked calloused and scarred. Sirius’ type, all the way. 

“You wouldn’t happen to see a boy with straight black hair in here sometimes?” Remus quirked an eyebrow, “Wears ripped jeans and a leather jacket?”

Remus smiled, “Yes, we get him in here quite frequently.”

“Do you mind if I got your number for him?” James questioned, “He’s talked the world of you and your bookstore.”

“It’s not just my bookstore.” Remus correctly playfully, “My sister works it with me, who I see you’ve been well acquainted with.”

James’ face flushed pink, “I didn’t- I don’t-“

“It’s fine.” Remus replied, handing him the books and the receipt, “She’s a big girl. I trust her to make her own decisions.”

“I didn’t pay for these.”

“You can thank my sister.” Remus winked as he sat on the stool and began reading. 

James grunted at not paying again. He rummaged through his wallet and placed forty pounds in the tip jar. Remus chuckled and shook his head at the gesture, appreciative nonetheless of the man's kindness. Another thirty minutes went by, and Harry was running back into his dad's arms. 

“That was awesome!” Harry exclaimed softly, “She was so nice! She gave us lollipops!”

“Did she?” James asked, and Harry nodded. 

Y/n smiled softly as she joined Remus behind the counter, grabbing some books to stamp while all the kids filed out to find their parents, “Looks like we’ll be back next Saturday.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Y/n replied, “I’ll look forward to it.”

Harry smiled, “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

James and Harry walked out of Lupin’s Library together with smiles on their faces. Harry wouldn’t stop jumping with joy the entire day. He couldn’t get over how lovely the lady was and how she gave him a lollipop. Truthfully, it was the little things when it came to kids. Remus chuckled as they left the library together. 

“He quite likes you, I’d say.”

“Little kids like anyone who give them candy.”

“I don’t mean the boy.” Remus replied, “I mean the adult who seems quite fond of you.”

Y/n hmphed, “And what about the man who wears the leather jacket and the straight black hair?”

Remus blushed, “‘Oh, Y/n, he’s so perfect.’” Y/n mocked.

“You’re annoying.” Remus nudged her with his elbow. 

“Love you too.” 

It wasn’t until Wednesday when he came back in again. Y/n had been absent from the shop due to having to help her friend bartend. Despite working at the bookshop full time, she still had a part-time job bartending. If she spent the whole day at the bar, then she spent the entire night at the bookstore. Working two jobs was no easy feat, but she did it. 

James walked in and wandered aimlessly after not seeing or hearing her. Remus smiled amusedly as he walked in and continued to read his book. James felt the spines of the books but never plucked one from the shelf. Remus got tired of his lost puppy look and finally called to him. 

“She’s not here, you know.”

“Oh,” James muttered, “Where- Where is she?”

Remus placed his book down after bending the corner of the page, “Helping a friend.”

“I’m sorry for wasting your time,” James replied nervously as he went to walk out the door. 

“Wait!” Remus called, and James turned, “I can- um- I can give you her schedule if you want.”

“Schedule?” James questioned, “She doesn’t work here full time?”

Remus shook his head, “No, she works part-time at a bar around the block. It helps-“ He scratched the back of his neck, “It helps pay the bills.”

“You guys don’t make enough to stay in business?” 

“No, we don’t.” Remus murmured, “I can't really do much else other than work here, so Y/n took up another job. Which she hates, and it drains her.” 

James was appalled. These people were so nice and kind. How weren’t they making enough to stay in business? Remus looked utterly embarrassed by the whole thing, confessing to a customer that they were struggling. James, himself, was a Nephrologists at a hospital not too far away. His family was small, and he made a lot of money. 

Without another word, James left the shop leaving Remus in a confused state. He walked to an ATM that was only a couple of blocks away before pulling out a decent amount of cash. James walked back into the bookstore and placed an envelope on the counter. Remus stared at it confused as he got on his own two feet to open it. As he peeled back the seal, he saw what was inside. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t-“

“Please.” James begged, “Harry would be devastated if his favorite place went out of business.”

Remus had tears in his eyes as he placed the money beneath the counter, “Thank you. You have no idea what this means. Our parents bought this shop with almost nothing, and we’ve been trying, but it’s so hard.”

“Well,” James began, “I don’t know if I could live with myself if this place was gone, especially after knowing you’re guys’ kindness.”

Remus smiled and grabbed a piece of paper with a calendar on it. At the bottom, he wrote his and Y/n’s names along with their phone numbers. His handwriting was tidy and curvy. Remus handed the piece of paper to him, and James took it gratefully. 

“It’s Y/n’s schedule along with her part-time bartending job. Our numbers are at the bottom.” Remus motioned to the calendar and at the numbers on the bottom. 

“Thank you, Remus.” James smiled as he pulled out a business card from his wallet, “Obviously, you don’t need me to be your doctor, but my number is on the card if either of you needs anything.”

Remus took the two cards gently, “Thank you, James. We really won’t forget this.”

“I’m glad.” James smiled, “Because I won’t forget you two.”

He left the bookstore with a skip in his step. It felt good to do that. James hadn’t felt this happy since Harry was born, but now he felt like himself again. He felt like that energized boy from middle school who was always destined to be great. 

James didn’t know what it was like to be poor. He grew up with his parents being doctors. They made decent money, and James always got what he wanted. They lived with the higher class. It made his heart ache that Remus and Y/n, who were so sweet we’re struggling. He couldn’t take it. He had to do something. It felt good to do that something. 

Around the block was a bar called Whiskey Woes. It was old and rugged-looking. The black stone bricks seemed to be cracking in every spot. It made James grimace. Walking inside was even worse. The pungent smell of older men with no taste for cologne made him scrunch his nose. But behind the counter, he saw an exhausted girl who was giving it her all to get tips. 

James made his way to sit on a barstool, and sluggishly Y/n made her way to him, “Good afternoon, sir! What can I getcha today?”

“A glass of water?” James replied, lifting his head, and Y/n let out a visible sigh of relief, “‘Course.”

A minute of running around the bar later, a glass of water was placed in front of him, “How’s work, Y/n?”

“How’d you find out my name?”

“Well, your name tag says it.” James pointed, “And I went by the bookstore today.”

Y/n hummed, “Remus tell you where I work, huh?”

“Yeah.” James replied, stirring his water with his straw, “And I want you to quit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want you to quit working at this shithole.” James repeated, “And take this.”

Another envelope was passed to her across the bar. Y/n eyed him as she broke the glued seal on the white paper. Inside she saw cash, and it didn’t look like just a tiny amount either. Y/n’s face showed visible shock, and James smiled sheepishly. 

“Consider it a tip.”

“This is more than a tip.” Y/n chuckled, “This is like three of my yearly salaries.”

James’ smile faltered just a tiny bit, “You don’t belong here. You belong at the bookstore with Remus. You don’t seem happy here, and Remus sees it too. Says you come home exhausted and drained.”

“Is there anything I can do to repay you?” 

“Maybe go on a date with me?” 

Y/n blushed, “A date?”

“Yeah, a date.” James muttered. 

“I think you deserve a lot more than a date.” Y/n replied, and James smirked, “Only if you’ll let me.”

She laughed, and it made his stomach flutter. It was a sound he wanted to hear forever. It made his heart flip and the corners of his lips quirk. The way she tilted her head back and how her hair flowed as she did so—the crinkle of her nose and the creases of her eyes as she shut them tightly. 

She was so perfect. 

[f1nalboys]

Okay, okay! So I love your poly!Ghostface dark/angst, but I wanna see you do some poly!Ghostface dark/fluff too(if that's a thing?)! Still unhealthy/toxic relationship, but one where their feelings are at least actually true and genuine. Trio vs the World shit. Best Friends to Lovers blah blah blah cause you know Im a slut for that lmao. NSFW too if you're willing 👀

AHH so glad I finally got to this request I'm sorry it took me so long :(( HOWEVER i had fun writing it!! i really hope you enjoy (ps, no smut unfortunately i tried to add it and it was coming out wrong ahhh) flashbacks are italicized! 

WORD COUNT: 2352

WARNINGS: toxic relationship, kinda cute moments between the three of you, cursing, little bit of stalking, threats of violence, no nsfw because i was a little lazy sorry :,(

Had someone told you five years ago that you'd be dating not only Billy Loomis but Stu Macher as well, you’d have laughed straight in their face. And yet here you were, curled up on the couch between the two, your legs thrown over Billys and your head resting on Stu’s shoulder, watching a horror movie. You smile softly as you feel Billy’s hand grip your thigh slightly. He never seemed to realize he was doing it which made it even cuter.

“Remember the day I met you guys?” You question, head moving off of Stu’s shoulder when he turns to look at you. He gives you a goofy grin and nods, kissing the tip of your nose. “Sure, baby. Why?”

“Did you think we would have gotten together? Like, back then?”

“Definitely,” Billy says, poking his finger into your side. You raise an eyebrow at him, catching his hand and holding it in your lap. He sighs, grinning slightly. “Alright, maybe not the day we met, but I knew pretty soon. Why? What’s got you thinking about it?”

You shrug, not really sure yourself. Something about the situation you three were in at the moment made your mind drift to those few awful god damn weeks. “You two really sucked then, you know? Honestly, I’m surprised I didn't kill you both.”

Stu gasps, throwing himself back with a hand on his heart. You roll your eyes; ever the dramatic. “You would have hurt us? I can’t believe this… the betrayal!” You elbow him and he sits back up, laughing, and wraps his arms around you, planting a few sloppy kisses onto your neck.

“We weren’t even that bad, babe.” Billy says, eyes widening as you glare at him.

“Not that bad? Do I need to remind you of the first thing you said to me when we met?” You shoot back, sitting up closer to Stu. You had already forgiven the two for how they acted then, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give them a hard time.

The first day you met Billy and Stu, it had started out good. You still didn’t have many friends but that was perfectly okay with you. You were sat in the grass outside one of the buildings where your next class was held, waiting. Thirty more minutes and you got to go to math; yay. You were leaned up against a tree, headphones in, trying to relax, when two men stood in front of you. They were pretty cute. One was tall, wearing a thin sweater and a goofy grin, while the other was shorter with dark hair and a smirk. The tall one's mouth moves and you pull your earbuds out, about to apologize for not hearing him, when the shorter one speaks.

“Pretty stupid to wait for someone to talk to you before taking your headphones out.” His smile was still there but it was clearly masking his annoyance. Your eyebrows raise in surprise at the gall of this dude. You don’t even know him and he thinks he’s owed a conversation?

“Excuse me?”

“What? You’re deaf and a bitch?” The taller one slaps the back of his head immediately and he grumbles, rubbing the soreness. You scoff, shaking your head, fuming. Was it just this dude or were most people here dicks? You didn't want to find out.

You stand, grabbing your bag and pushing past the two, heading towards the building. Your eyes instantly roll into the back of your head when you hear the sound of footsteps behind you. “Hey, I’m sorry about him, really. That’s how he jokes and sometimes it comes across as mean. I’m Stu and he’s Billy.”

Stopping in your tracks you turn to face Stu, the taller one, and take a second to think of a response. Glancing over at Billy, who had finally caught up with you, you can see what resembles regret on his features. “Well, he didn’t come across as mean, he came across as an asshole.”

Stu laughs, nodding. Billy shrugs, giving you that same weak smile he had shown when he approached. You shrug your backpack up higher onto your shoulder, the weight of it starting to get to you, when Billy grabs ahold of it and yanks it off of you. “What the hell? Give me my shit back!”

“Least I can do is to carry it for you. You going to class?” He asks. It’s like he wasn’t taking no for an answer. You give a large sigh and nod, silently thankful for the weight off your shoulders. “Which building?”

“Sycamore.” He nods and begins to walk there, you and Stu trailing behind him. “Is he always so...?” You ask Stu under your breath, trailing off, unsure of a word that could describe the man. He grins and nods. “Annoying? Mean? Stubborn? Yes, yes, and yes.”

Billy groans at the memory, annoyed. He hated when you brought that up. “I told you I was just having an off day! Come on, you’re acting like Stu didn’t offend you too! Do you not remember when you got food with us, like, that night?” Stu punches Billy in the shoulder hard, pissed that he had brought it up.

“Oh yeah! I kinda forgot about how much of a dickhead Stu was,” You say, leaning back against the couch. It really was a shock your relationship with the boys got to where it was now.

Billy and Stu followed you around all day. It seemed they were trying to apologize for Billy’s attitude earlier but, if you were being honest, it was kind of unnerving. After your math class, where they had walked you inside the building and only left when the professor came in, you saw them waiting outside under the tree you had been at.

“Can you guys stop following me?” You had told them the third time you noticed them, this time at the small diner you stopped by after your last class. Stu’s face turned red and he looked behind him as if there was someone else you could be talking about. “Yeah, you two.”

“We wanted to apologize for earlier,” Billy said, motioning for you to join them at their table. You had to choose which one to sit next too and, after your not-so-pleasant meeting with Billy that morning, you sat next to Stu. He sticks his tongue out at Billy who rolls his eyes.

“You already apologized. It’s getting kind of creepy.” You say, placing your elbow on the table. Before the boys could respond, the waitress walks over, placing down their drinks. She flashes you a smile and takes your order, walking off with a sway in her hips, much to the boy's enjoyment.

Stu throws an arm over your shoulder and you shrug him off, ignoring the pained look he gives you. “We just wanted to make sure you really knew we were sorry! Billy here never acts right around a hottie,”

“Stu you fucking idiot.” Billy spits, throwing something at him. Stu laughs, holding his hands up in mock surrender. Billy looks at you and gives you what looks like a real, genuine smile. “Sorry about him; he can’t seem to think with his upstairs brain.”

“Don’t need to when my downstairs one leads me to be sitting next to a smoke show,” Stu says, holding his hand out to you for a high five. Your face flushes and you ignore him, scooting away from him slightly. He was cute, sure, but way too forward. “What? Can’t compliment people anymore?”

“Not when your compliments are preceded by stalking.” You mutter, a part of you hoping he doesn’t hear it. Unfortunately, he does. You see his face change in your peripheral vision and your eyes flick over to Billy. He grins at you, sitting back in the booth, and taking a sip from his drink. He was enjoying this.

“Stalking? You’re fucking with me, right?” His rant is cut short by the return of the waitress who hands you your drink and places the food the boys had ordered onto the table, completely oblivious to your discomfort. She leaves and Stu grabs a fry from his plate, chewing loudly. “We’re not fucking stalking you - trust me, there are better ways to spend our time.”

Billy throws his balled up straw wrapper at Stu, catching his attention, and you let out a soft sigh of relief when Stu’s demeanor changes. He was back to smiling and laughing as if he hadn’t just been attempting to tear you to shreds. “Sorry about that… I’m pretty tired, that’s all.” Stu says, playing with his fingers.

“S’okay, I guess.”

“Why don’t you let us take you on a date? You know, as an apology?” Billy chimes in and Stu grins, nodding. A large part of yourself was screaming no. There was something off about these boys, something dark just under the surface, but you were intrigued. And so you smile.

“Yeah, I guess you two can do that.”

Billy had his arms wrapped around you, laughing at the excuses Stu was stammering out. He was obviously getting frustrated at the memory and you opened your arms to let him join in on the cuddling.

“You know, I really am glad we stuck together. I don’t know what I’d do if it were for our nightly cuddle sessions,” You say, your words muffled by Stu’s sweater. He pulls back and gives you a kiss, Billy swooping in to take one from him as well.

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do without our fuck sessions,” Stu hums and you groan, punching him in the shoulder. What a way to ruin the moment. “Wait, let’s not act like you were a saint in all of this! I remember you being pretty awful at one point.”

“What?! No way!”

Billy nods, tickling your sides for a second. “Sure were, babe.”

Two months into the relationship was your breaking point. You really did like, if not love, the boys and yet you were still an outsider. Walking into the shared apartment just for their whispered conversations to stop. Late nights spent in the living room with hushed voices while you tried to sleep. You felt as though you only knew a portion of the two people you had come to like; no, love.

You admit it was petty. It wasn’t the right thing to do in any circumstance, but you did it because you knew it would get a reaction. You had packed a bag and sat in the living room. You wanted them to see you leave. Wanted them to see how much their secrecy had taken. You had been together only a short while and yet you felt so at home with them that the idea of actually leaving, of breaking it off, nearly tore you apart.

The door opens and in enters Billy and Stu, wrapped up in their own conversation. Stu waves at you, carrying on before realizing what he had just seen. “Babe? What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.” Your voice was confident, not a waver in sight, and you knew it was because you weren’t planning on leaving. Some would call it manipulation, sure, but you were backed into a corner. Stu’s mouth drops open and Billy stares at you, his eyes narrowed.

“What? What do you mean you’re leaving? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Stu rushes to sit down next to you on the couch, not wanting to accept the idea that you were leaving them on your own volition. His arms wrap around yours and you shove him off. “Babe?”

You shake your head, standing from your spot on the couch, grabbing ahold of the bag. Billy was still standing near the door, his arms crossed, watching you. “Don’t call me that. The two of you… It’s like I’m not even in this relationship. I’m an outsider with the two people I love and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”

“Where the hell is this coming from?” Billy questions, grabbing ahold of your arm when you try to walk past him. His voice is thick and you could see the vein in his forehead throbbing. He was angry and you hate to admit it but that’s exactly what you were hoping for.

For the next two hours the three of you talk about your relationship and the future of it. Stu cried, you cried, Billy sniffled a few times, and then you came to an agreement. No more secrets. They told you things that they hadn't told anyone before that they hid behind a vague threat of ‘once you hear this you’re stuck with us,’ and you told them things you had planned on taking to your grave. To say you weren’t shocked at what they told you would be a lie.

Murder wasn’t what you thought they were capable of and especially not murder so gruesome. But, oddly, you felt better about being with them. They trusted you, loved you, enough to let you know their biggest and darkest secret. And you loved it.

Knowing they wouldn’t hesitate to kill for you was a major turn on, which they soon found out.

“Wow, I really was kind of horrible, wasn’t I.” You mutter as Billy recounts the memory with a few interruptions by Stu. You didn’t remember it that way but the more they talked the more you could tell they were being honest. “Well, good thing we stuck together, hm? Would have been pretty bad if we hadn’t.”

“Yeah because we would have killed you,” Billy whispers into your ear and you shiver. He’s telling the truth and that’s what makes the relationship the way it is; they choose to be with you, to keep you around, to love you. “Yeah, we would have given you a call a while ago,” Stu says, his finger making a slicing motion across your neck.

You roll your eyes not because you don’t believe them but because you do. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[heartxfkyber]

Pairing: Boba Fett x f!reader

Rating: 18+

Warnings: mentions of drugs + alcohol, mature sexual content/implied sexual content

Word count: 5.4k

Summary: Working in a spice den means you have to keep secrets, keep out the authorities, and keep away from bounty hunters. The only issue…what do you do when a bounty hunter comes to you?

masterlist

☾✧⋆*⭒ ━━ 𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐘: boba fett

The first time you laid eyes on him, he was without his armour. You were standing behind the counter, your shoulders low and your face expressionless. Your eyes, however, were sharp. They were sharp as they searched through the haze of smoke curling through the stuffy air of the room; sharp as they sought out the shadow of the new customer walking right for the reception counter; sharp as they settled upon the gaze of the man now watching you with dark eyes. He didn’t look like the average patron. He didn’t look like anyone else who usually wandered into the inn, searching for someplace to take their spice or smoke their tobacco or drink varieties of alcohol that had long since been banned from every other sector but this one. This man did not look like anyone else who frequented a spice den disguised as an inn.

You offered him a flat look, still a little slouched where you stood, and you analysed him. Dark hair, tawny skin, battle-hardened features and a few scars criss-crossing their way across his face. Early thirties, probably. The dim lights that flickered on the ceiling threw shadows at him, bathing him in a dark ebon and cracked gold as they blinked in and out of use. He wore the usual garb of someone looking to keep themselves hidden from plain sight…but his eyes…his eyes were sharp. They possessed no glazed-over sheen to them, no hidden spectres, no desire to escape from something. These were not the eyes of someone who wanted to run. These, you knew, were the hooded eyes of someone who made others run.

“I need a room,” he said flatly. His voice was low, like gravel and smoke and something darker.

You gave him a one-shouldered shrug, reaching under the counter for a room key. When you extended your hand towards him, the dusty keycard clutched between your fingers, he reached out to take it. As he did so, you snatched your arm back. “Are you a bounty hunter?” you asked, and you kept your voice just as toneless as his.

“No,” he replied. “Why?”

Another shug, two shoulders this time. “The boss doesn’t want hunters here. Says they cause too much trouble.”

“I’m no hunter.”

You let him take the key, and you knew he was lying.

The next morning, he left. He hadn’t given back his room key, nor made any indication that he wasn’t coming back, and so you assumed he’d return at some point later on. The inn was never busy at this time of day: everyone renting rooms had usually left by this point, and the repeat nightly patrons had yet to appear.

The mornings were your cleaning time. Your manager, the owner of the inn, designated all housekeeping to you—and you never complained once. You never made a fuss, because the moment you did, you’d be back to wandering the streets in search of a job. You liked the one you had. Despite the danger of being shut down if any of the local enforcement officers wandered past at the wrong time, or the encounters with some…unsavoury characters every now and again, you enjoyed working at the inn. You got to meet people, got to hear their stories. Some came to the inn for an escape. Others came for company. Some came because they had nowhere else to go…and you spoke to them all. You listened when they held conversations with you, laughed when they joked with you, gave them a friend when they wanted one.

You left the counter at the front of the inn, heading up the dusty staircase leading to the five rooms available. Your routine hadn’t changed for the last two years you’d been working here: walk up the stairs, get the cleaning supplies out of the storage closet, and work on each room thoroughly. Sometimes you wished you had someone to help you—but your boss couldn’t afford another employee. It’d be dangerous, he’d told you. No way of making sure they wouldn’t let slip about the less than legal goings on at the inn. You’d suggested a cleaning droid once, and you received an empty promise that one would be ordered. That was eight months ago. You’d stopped asking soon afterwards.

The first room was unused. You remembered handing over the key to someone, though, just yesterday. A Rodian, looking for somewhere to spend a few nights. But it seemed, as you entered the space and cast your eyes across the perfectly made bed and untouched floor, they had opted for staying downstairs until morning. Still, you went through the motions of checking for damage, for dust, for anything you could clean or put back into place. There was nothing amiss, and so you moved on, to the second room, to the third, and when you reached the fourth, you were already more than ready to take your mandatory twenty-minute break. One more room, you thought to yourself as you fumbled for the right key and opened the door. One more room, and then I’ll take my break.

One more room.

His room.

Like the first, this room felt…unused. But there were little signs that someone had occupied the space at one point or another: the curtains, skewed just slightly from their position against the wall; the adjar ’fresher door; the slight indent on the otherwise untouched bed, as though someone had sat upon the edge of the sheets…and the case.

Sitting still on the chair in the room’s corner, the silver case, square in shape and with its lid closed, caught the light of the suns through the window and held onto it tightly, like the glass of a lantern hugging the flame within. That light was shimmering across the metal surface, golden and amber and almost dancing across your vision, and you allowed yourself to stare at the case for another two moments before shaking yourself out of it. You needed to get to work. Just do this room, and you’d take your break before cleaning the final one.

One more room.

Just one more room.

You tidied up, straightening the bed and curtains and closing the ’fresher door with a soft click, before turning, cleaning supplies in hand, to exit. But something licked at your mind, nipped at your heels, whispered in your ear. Intrigue. Curiosity. Morbid fascination. It curled through your veins like the very haze of spice-laced smoke that always had a presence downstairs; it lapped at your resolve like a breath of fate’s own voice. You shouldn’t look inside that case. You knew you shouldn’t, you knew you were in the room of a bounty hunter, a man whose very presence seemed borne from silent thunderstorms and raging nebulas…yet you found yourself turning back around, placing the supplies on the carpeted floor and padding carefully over to the chair. When your hands found the lip of the case, they were hesitant, yet somehow certain in their movements.

There was a lock. Undone by a single black button, the pad of your thumb pressed down against it, and with a small, barely audible hiss, the lid gave a little jerk as it sprung open. Your eyes were alight with the desire to explore as you pushed the case fully open—and your heart stopped beating. For inside, pristinely packed and utterly unmistakeable in its appearance, was armour. Green, red, gold, your gaze found the scratched paint and gentle dents, and you found yourself barely breathing.

The T-shaped visor stared up at you blankly where the helmet lay face-up in the centre of the case. Your throat bobbed, your hands trembled, and you looked straight back into that ruby-rimmed ebon void with empty fear slithering over your muscles, coiled tight and keeping you in its wicked grip. You knew this armour. There was not a single being in the galaxy who didn’t; and you knew the reputation of the man who wore it. The man who took lives without a second thought. The man who cared for nothing but his own job. The man whose name sparked terrible, terrible fear from even the toughest sentients.

The man to whom you handed the key to this very room.

“Don’t touch that.”

You startled, whipping around too late to see a hooded figure behind you. But then there was a hand on your arm, and you were slammed back against the wall of the room. Dark, flame-filled eyes narrowed as they drilled right into your face—oddly, you had the brief thought that those eyes would look soulful if they were ever touched by the soft sparkle of a smile.

Right now, though…they weren’t smiling.

Kark.

“What’re you doing?” he demanded of you, low and molten as his lips peeled back over his teeth in a snarl.

You struggled, eyes wide and afraid as your hands moved to grip his wrist uselessly. “C-cleaning!” you gasped. He wasn’t even choking you—his gloved hand hadn’t moved from its position on your arm, his grip like durasteel—but your throat was tight either way and your vision swam with the release of pure adrenaline as your instincts screamed.

He tilted his head. “And that involves snooping through my belongings?” His fingers tightened a fraction.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“That’s right, you shouldn’t have.” Those deep brown eyes narrowed some more, and when he dropped you to the carpeted floor, you coughed, landing on your hands and knees and staring up at him with something unreadable lying beneath the visible fear on your face. “Get out,” he said coldly.

So you scrambled to your feet, snatched up your cleaning supplies, and you did.

Two days later, you found two room keys on your desk when you reached the reception. The first was the one to Room 1; you’d handed the key to the Rodian customer just three days prior. The second was the key to Room 4. His room. There was no one around—it was too early in the morning for much company, anyway—but you still checked the space around you for any signs of movement. All there was was hazy air, grey with morning light and the last remains of smoke; amber streaks shone through dusty windows and hit your skin as the twin suns of Tatooine continued their rise into the dusky sky.

The next time he came, in the dead of night and the dawn of activity in the inn, he still wasn’t wearing his armour. But you knew those features, shadowed beneath the lip of a hood. You knew those eyes in particular. You knew the way they darkened in rage, the way they seemed to swallow you up and trap you in their gaze. You knew those lips. You knew how they snarled. You knew that presence, and you knew his name.

“Same room as before,” he told you, without any sort of preamble. His voice held that same gravelly smoothness to it as it did when you last heard it, the same timbre, the same rolling, languid accent.

The last time he saw you, you’d been on your hands and knees. Scared. Vulnerable. Caught off-guard. Now it was different. Now, as you stared evenly at him from behind a curtain of smoke and incense as the inn’s usual patrons chattered away with their spice and their alcohol, you only regarded him with cool indifference. “Bounty hunters aren’t welcome here,” you told him plainly, lounging back against the wall behind the desk.

He merely looked back at you with an indecipherable expression, partially cloaked by the hood. “I’m not a bounty hunter.”

“Your armour suggests otherwise.”

“I’m not wearing armour.”

You paused for a moment, already holding the key to Room 4 between your fingers. Finally, with a little huff, you extended your hand towards him, and he reached out to take the keycard. But at the last moment, you drew back. “The Rodian,” you said quietly. “You took them with you when you left, didn’t you?”

“There was a price on their head,” he replied blankly. He nodded at your hand, still holding the key. “Are you going to give me that, or do I have to take it from you?”

“I thought you said you weren’t a hunter.” Your eyes found his again, focusing solely on those irises of mahogany and fractured starlight as you held his gaze. In response, he simply held your stare for a few moments longer, and there was something in his expression, you thought, that almost looked like a stormy sort of bemusement. Your eyes narrowed, and without another word, you handed him the key.

You raised your hand and knocked on the door once, twice. There was a moment of silence, another, before his voice, quiet and clear, beckoned, “Come in.”

You opened the door, palming the control panel and watching as it slid aside to reveal…him, sitting at the edge of the bed with a rag in his hand. He had shed his cloak, wearing only a dark tunic and equally dark trousers. His hands were still in gloves, his feet still in boots…and the case was sitting on the very same chair it had sat just a few days ago. Except that this time, it lay open and empty. Its contents were spread over the bed, methodical and flawless, and you found your gaze being drawn towards the rust-red vambrace currently in his lap, in the middle of being polished by its owner. And, you realised belatedly, for the first time, you got a proper look at his face.

Your previous assumption of his age hadn’t been wrong—he was, at most, in his mid-thirties. Those dark eyes of his fixed themselves upon you like topaz pillars of undiluted depth, and you felt the weight of his stare like fire’s heat upon your brow. His features were strong, littered here and there by faint little scars from years gone by; he looked like he’d been hewn from rock, and you were, for a moment, caught on the precipice of pure captivation. But then he jerked his chin at you, scanned you swiftly up and down, narrowed his eyes a fraction. “Cleaning?” he asked, and his tone was flat, mechanical…bored, almost.

“I clean the rooms every morning,” you replied, just as lifeless in your intonation. Your eyes were on the pieces of armour arranged on the bed, skating over burnt amber curves and muted emerald corners and iron-red edges. Your turn to jerk your chin at him. “Why are you here?” And you didn’t just mean in this room.

His dark gaze dropped a couple of degrees. “That’s none of your concern.”

“It is when I see this.” You gestured to the armour with the hand that was currently clutching a rickety old bucket.

He didn’t falter once. “Then why did you give me a room key?”

“You said you weren’t a hunter.”

“You didn’t believe me.”

“No,” you told him blankly. “I didn’t.”

“Yet you handed me the key anyway,” he told you, eyes flitting momentarily to the vambrace.

“Yes, I did.”

“Then that was your mistake.”

You snorted, an expression of pure annoyance lashing its way across your features. “You know what, I’ll come back to clean your room later,” you said with a sarcastic smile. “Seems I caught you at a bad time.”

“Don’t bother,” he replied blankly. He looked back down at the vambrace, swiping the cleaning rag over its dented surface and ignoring your presence entirely.

You almost scoffed, but held yourself back at the last moment. “Enjoy your stay, Mr. Fett,” you told him in a sickly-sweet response borne purely of scorn.

And as you strode from the room, the corner of his lips twitched upwards in an almost imperceptible smirk of amusement, and you pretended not to notice the way your stomach flipped.

He left the afternoon afterwards. Again, his room key was placed on the reception desk, and there were whispers from the other customers that when he’d disappeared, he’d taken one of the regulars, a Quarren named Vendi, with him. Forcibly. With a blaster pressed against Vendi’s skull, apparently. You just shook your head upon being told, pocketing the key to Room 4 and going about your menial tasks for the day.

And so that was how it continued: every few days, sometimes weeks, he’d show up, request his room, and stay for a couple of days at most, before leaving with someone in tow. You grew naturally curious, and your customers grew naturally afraid. They had no clue as to who this stranger was, this hooded figure who whisked away friends and trusted associates. He was seen as a shadow of death itself, disappearing into inky nights and hazy sunrises. He left no trace he’d ever set foot into the inn. He was a mirage, a reflection caught in the corner of one’s eye, a ghost.

You should have turned him away long before now. You should never have handed him that room key from day one, yet every time he walked through the front door and approached you at the desk, you found yourself extending your hand more and more swiftly. Once he’d even strode straight up to you while you were in the middle of cleaning Room 3. That day, you’d handed him his key directly out of your pocket. You thought you saw something in his brown eyes glitter.

You didn’t clean his room during the day. Not while he was staying in it, anyway. No, you waited until late evening, when nobody was around to get a glimpse of what lay inside Room 4 whenever the door opened to allow you inside. And every time you cleaned, he remained inside, just watching you with keen eyes of fractured teak and charcoal. He was always standing, too. He never sat down when you were cleaning: either he stood by the window, or by the side of the bed, always pristinely made.

Today, your intrigue and puzzlement finally reached boiling point. “People are getting scared,” you said, pausing where you’re dusting the top of the wardrobe and turning to face him, damp cloth in hand. “If word gets back to my boss that you’re a hunter and I’m letting you stay here, my ass is on the line.” You levelled him with a firm look now, and where he was by the window, his head slowly swivelled towards you. “I need to know why you keep taking people.”

At first, you thought he’d ignore you. He was utterly silent, half his face washed over by the silvery light of Tatooine’s three moons. It cast him in a pale glow, highlighted the contours of his features and the few scars on his skin like they were poems on a page, untouched and unread. But then he spoke, that raspy tenor spilling from his lips. “Everyone I take,” he replied slowly, “is a former associate of my employer. He wants them in his dungeons. Revenge, you could call it, for years gone by.” He seemed to almost shrug with his gaze. “It’s all credits to me. People getting scared isn’t my problem.”

“It’ll be your problem when I stop giving you this room.”

“You’re not going to stop giving me this room.”

Your eyes narrowed a fraction. “You sound so sure of yourself,” you commented, and your words were laced with just a hint of mockery. Nothing more, nothing less. You weren’t going to risk getting a blaster bolt through the head; yet anytime you argued with him, he almost seemed amused. You could tell by that little flash across his irises, like a bird taking flight, wings outstretched and soaring towards the bluest of skies.

He merely continued to hold your gaze, unflinching and—not cold, the pair of you were more civil than that by now—almost disinterested. “If you were going to turn me away, you would have tried to do so by now.”

You raised your brows in challenge. “Tried?” you echoed.

A one-shouldered shrug, and you swore you saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards for the briefest of broken moments. “We both know I would’ve taken the key from you regardless,” he explained simply.

There was a real smile on your own face now. More akin to a smirk than anything else—your own amused expression. There was a tingling in your chest that sent sparks skittering through your bloodstream, and they backlit the little smirk on your lips until it became something illustrious. “I’m sure you would’ve tried,” you murmured, and you turned back to your cleaning, your eyes sparkling with the same newborn liberty that his own did.

“Who is he?” Alli asked you, her jade eyes narrowed into ravenous slits as she stared you down from in front of the reception desk. The Twi’lek was a regular customer here, someone you’d struck up a friendship with over the months she’d been visiting the inn.

You shrugged, examining your fingernails and only allowing your eyes to flicker up to challenge her for a millisecond. “A customer,” you told her.

“You realise he’s marching people out of here every time he stays the night, right? He’s a karking hunter.”

“He told me he wasn’t,” you replied simply, finally dropping your hand to your side and tilting your head at her. “I don’t ask about what people are doing here. Not my business.”

She settled you with a look, fuschia lekku curling at their tips in distaste. “He’s a hunter, and for some reason, you’re covering for him.” She leaned forwards. “Listen, I’ve heard things from time to time. People are getting antsy whenever he’s around…There’s been word of telling Baz what’s happening.” At the mention of your manager’s name, your face lost a shade of colour. If he found out you allowed a bounty hunter in here frequently—and one with such a reputation, no less—he’d have your head. Hunters were trouble. Hunters could potentially lead authorities here.

The next time you cleaned his room, you took your worries with you. He was by the window again, a holotransmitter in his hands, but it was powered off. Usually, he’d turn to look at you with a slight easing of the sharp lines in his posture. Tonight, he only grew more tense upon reading the concern etched across your features. It spilled like ink straight through your chest and into the soft flesh of your heart, bleeding your body black with each beat it took.

You looked over at him, your throat bobbing slightly as you drew yourself up to your full height and said, “You need to leave.”

Usually when the two of you spoke, you were the one to do most of the talking. Tonight was no different, and you watched as he waited for you to continue speaking.

“I could potentially lose my job. My boss might get told about how I’m letting you in here, and with the way everyone’s getting scared—”

“I got the last target this morning,” he cut across you quietly. His eyes, like polished topaz, searched your own for an answer that wasn’t there. “You won’t need to worry about me paying any visits here again.”

That caught you off-guard, and you blinked at him for a moment. “You did?” A nod, and you blinked again. “Oh…Fine.” Something within you seemed to curl up and wither, a rotting flower whose petals had fallen piece by broken piece into the abyss of scorched earth. When you focused fully upon him again, you asked, “Then why are you still here?”

There was silence for a while. He watched you, those eyes of his always alert and sharp, but he stalked towards you with something else dusted across his irises that couldn’t be called soft—he was never soft—but something akin to it. The holotransmitter was tossed lightly onto the chair, and only when he was a mere breath away from you did he come to a halt.

Your eyes met again, and something in the way your heart was beating spoke of desire, of feeling, of something you were too afraid to give a name to.

His hand slowly reached forwards, and you found the cleaning cloth you held being carefully pulled from your grasp and set aside by calloused fingers. Next came the bucket, until you held nothing but empty air. He didn’t pull away, and you glanced away from his shadowed face to where his fingers stroked over yours with reckless grace. It was as if he were seeing you for the first time, making sure you were real. That beating in your chest turned to racing; he met your eyes, and you dared to shift closer so that his hips were framing your own. Every breath you took, your chest grazed his, and still neither of you broke apart.

His fingertips left your hands and travelled to the gentle swell of your lower lip, tracing its curves with unyielding finesse. Where his touch went, it left a trail of fractured starlight and moonlit phantoms across your skin, setting you alight and taunting you. It dared you to close your eyes and beg for more. Slowly, your hands settled on the rounded tops of his shoulders, your bleeding heart fluttering so rapidly that you were almost positive it would tear its wicked way through your chest.

“You know why I’m still here.” His voice was a low rumble, a honey-coated blade, a promise.

You balled the fabric of his top in your hands, fingers clawing into hard muscle. “Yeah,” you murmured. “I know why you’re still here.”

Deep brown eyes darkened, and you watched him move closer, closer, closer, and then he leaned down, his lips shadowed on the base of your throat. You fought off a gasp, but it tumbled from your mouth before you could stop it. The sound fed his burning touches, and his tongue moved against the hollow of your throat. Flames brushed against you, tantalisingly soft and supple, and your fingers dug into the poised muscles between his shoulder blades.

His name was harsh. His name was sharp. His name was a lashing of the tongue, a written snarl. His name fell from your lips like a prayer, and your eyes slid closed.

Your own name was a promise built on burning syllables, twisting from his mouth and burying itself deep beneath your flesh like a tattoo. It seared your skin and scorched your veins, and your body began to bleed soft rivers of lust. He trailed slow, heated kisses along your throat, coming to rest on your jaw, and you made a tiny sound of longing.

“More,” you rasped, and at that one word, he became undone.

His mouth moved hungrily to yours, enveloping it in the kiss. His tongue was met shamelessly by your own, and your hands found the hem of his tunic just as his own slid down to grip the underside of your thighs and hoist you into his arms.

You caught his lower lip between your teeth, and only when you felt him laying you down on the bed did you break the kiss, simply looking up at where he was poised above you. And as your gaze smashed into his, more heated than newborn stars and just as bright, you knew that this was something dangerous, something risky, something neither of you should be doing.

And you wanted it.

Clothes were tossed aside, and his skin was hot upon yours. Mouths searched, hands wandered, and in that moment, all you knew was him. Everything else was null, void. There was only him. Only him, on his knees for you. Only him, wrapping an arm around your waist and lifting your hips towards his mouth. Only him, dragging gasps and moans from your lips like secret little poems.

You gripped his hand tightly as it splayed itself over your chest, as he guided your legs to curl around his shoulders and pull you further against him. Your eyes fell closed, and you gave yourself fully to the desperate way your body sought out his. You lost yourself in the rhythm of his mouth against you, in the syllables of your name as he whispered it against your skin, in the feeling of him breaking you into pieces. The sounds spilling from your lips only brought more intensity from his ministrations, more sparks, more unbearable heat coiling in your core like a snare. And when you fell from the heights, he moved back up to claim your mouth in a dizzying kiss to swallow up every little sound you made.

The pair of you were hungry, yearning, simply trying to sate a ravenous sort of need that brimmed within both your cores, and as your bodies came together as one, as he continued to drink up the sounds of pleasure that bled from your mouth, you only fell further and further into him. You got swept up in the marks he sucked onto your throat, in his teeth grazing your pulse point, in the way he gripped your wrists to pin them above your head.

The next time you cried his name, his hips slammed so deep into yours that you nearly saw stars. He murmured things to you in a language you didn’t understand, took you like you’d been his to have all your life, left you reeling and chasing after his body with crimson-petaled fervour.

You looked deep into those dark eyes of his, dove into that ocean of pure need, and you didn’t come back up for air.

You didn’t know what you were expecting from him that night, but somehow, waking up the following morning to find the sheets beside you completely empty was both something you hated and something you almost knew was bound to happen. To think that when your eyes fluttered open, you’d find him with his arm around your waist and his body warm against yours, just as the two of you had laid last night after he’d left you boneless and panting, was foolish. No, he was a bounty hunter, and you worked in a spice den. One night was all either of you would ever have together, and you were more than prepared to accept that.

“He didn’t cart anyone off this time.”

Alli’s voice jerked you from your reminiscing, and you blinked at her. “Huh?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, leaning against the reception desk that you were currently standing behind. “Your bounty hunter. Saw him leave this morning, and he didn’t steal anyone else away.”

You nodded vaguely, your eyes moving towards where you were busy examining your nails. Dimly, you wondered if you had enough credits in your pocket to get them done, but then Alli spoke again: “Did you talk to him?” she asked. You glanced at her, to find her green eyes already on you. “About him literally kidnapping people, I mean.”

A wry smile wanted to tug at your lips, but your expression remained neutral. “Something like that,” you said softly, your tone laced with amusement.

Through the haze of leftover smoke and early morning air, you looked towards the doorway, half-expecting to see a cloaked figure striding towards you, those dark eyes of his fixed on your own and that little smirk on his lips. But all you saw was the dusty sunlight from above, golden and murky, and it was as though he’d never been here at all.