#and then his face lights up with a flash like one of those magical cartoon girls

[perlelune]

Tag, You’re It | Ethan Landry | ii.

Happy, carefree college days meet their abrupt end when every guy who approaches you mysteriously turns up dead.

Warnings: NON-CON, Stalking, Bimbo!Reader, Clueless Reader, Loss of Virginity, Incel Ethan, Cheerleader Reader, Skin Carving (w/knife), Canon Typical Slashing, Voyeurism, Kidnapping

This is a dark story. Heed warnings before reading under the cut.

𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

The party’s already in full swing when you arrive at the OKB house. While getting ready, you lost track of time. Putting the finishing touches on your hair and nails took longer than you planned. 

You dodge the bodies swaying to the loud music to make your way to your friends through the swirling blue lights. 

Mindy spots you right away and waves at you. 

"Not bad, freshman," she praises as you twirl in front of her and Mindy to show off your nurse costume decorated with splashes of fake blood.  

They’re both sprawled on the couch, limbs twined. Expectedly, only Anika made the effort to don anything resembling a costume, a pumpkin-colored hat with a bloody knife poking out of it sitting atop her head. 

Mindy even bothering to come considering what happened the last time she attended a frat party is already a huge effort on her part. 

You chat for some time, sharing the latest news regarding your friends. 

 You learn that apparently Tara got into it with her sister…again.

A lot of tension has built between the two of them lately, Sam’s protectiveness clashing with Tara’s craving for independence. 

Maybe Sam’s been overdoing…but who can blame her?

Those two have been through hell and back. 

"Have you guys seen Connor?" 

While you attempt to sound casual, even tossing a shrug, Mindy sees right through you and flashes you a teasing grin. 

"One-track minded, huh?"

Your face warms. "Sorry, I just…I really looked forward to seeing him."

Anika gives your hand an encouraging squeeze. 

"It’s okay, babe. To be young and in love."

"And horny," Mindy adds, dragging a quick eye over your outfit as her smile broadens. 

Her comment sparks more heat in your cheeks. Sure, things between you and Connor are growing steamier. But you don’t want to rush anything. You like him, and you want your first time to be special, romantic.

"I’ll see you guys later."

"Have fun," Mindy says, waving her beer bottle at you.

Your search resumes and you grow nervous, pondering if Connor is even in attendance. Maybe you missed him. Downsides of running late. 

Damn you and your tendency to spend hours dolling yourself up. 

 As you wander across the room, you nearly crash into a familiar broad, muscular back.

An easy smile creeps on your face when your friend turns to face you. 

"Hi."

"Hey, looking good."

"You too, cowboy."

You’re pretty certain Chad’s never looked bad a day in his life. There’s a reason why he’s the most popular player on the team, and one of the most sought-after guys at Blackmore. Well…several, starting with the fact that his hotness is only matched by his unwavering kindness to everybody he meets. 

You suppose if you hadn’t known him for so long, you’d harbor a crush on him too. But you’re too familiar with Chad to see him in that light. You still recall when he insisted on wearing a Pokemon onesie for nearly a year. You used to watch cartoons with him and Mindy as children, play together. He’s even tried to get you into Magic: The Gathering at some point but you couldn’t understand how the game works so he gave up. He’s like the brother you never had. 

"So I hear you've met Ethan. He's cool, right?" He throws his muscular arm around Ethan’s neck affectionately. "A whole snack he is. Look at him." An endearing tinge of red decorates Ethan’s cheeks, his gaze fleeing yours. 

It draws a smile from you. You’re glad they’re getting along. 

You tilt your head, gauging his appearance. Confusion fills you.

You’re not exactly sure what Ethan’s costume is supposed to be. A knight perhaps? Either way, it’s original and it suits him.

"Hey again," you greet. 

He lifts two bashful fingers as a response, returning your smile.

"Yeah. I appreciate him helping me out."

Ethan’s chestnut gaze widens at your words. 

College’s busy enough for everyone. It’s incredible of him to offer some of his free time to help you out when it doesn’t benefit him in any way. 

Ethan opens his mouth as if he were about to say something but, before he can speak, someone taps you on the shoulder, beckoning your attention. 

You pivot in your high heels.

Your chest floods with warmth at the sight welcoming you. 

"Hey, gorgeous," Connor hums, giving you an appreciative onceover that turns your legs into jelly. His voice lowers as he approaches you. "I’ve been looking for you all night. Where have you been?"

Your heart skips a beat at his closeness, the scent of his masculine cologne and his mesmerizing blue eyes overwhelming you. 

"Just ran a bit late," you mumble. 

His hooded gaze takes you in as he suggests, "Well, you’re here now. Wanna go hang out in my car?"

Pursing your mouth, you hesitate. 

"I…I don’t know. Is that safe? Mindy says it’s always best to stay in crowded-"

He halts your explanation with a hand under your chin. Bewildered, you gawk at him. 

His pearly whites shimmer in the dusky blue and green hues saturating the room. 

"Do you trust me, gorgeous?"

You blink up at him, dazed and lost in the sea of his gaze. 

"Y-Yes, I do."

"I’ll keep you safe. I promise. Come on."

His hand engulfs yours as Connor begins to drag you toward the exit.

Chad’s deep, concerned voice interrupts the abrupt getaway. 

"Are you sure?" His forehead creases as he inches closer. "You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. You know that, right?" 

At first, you’re a bit confused. 

Then you remind yourself he’s just being protective. Both he and Mindy share that trait. In fact, her attentive eyes carve a searing dent in your skin from the other side of the room. 

Usually, you adore that about them, how caring they are. But right now, you find it a bit much. 

Connor isn’t a threat. He’s just the guy you like, not a serial killer. 

You place a placating hand on Chad’s arm. 

"It’s fine. I trust him. Catch you later, okay?"

He gives a belated nod, his jaw clenching as he stares Connor down, before letting you walk away. 

You wave Ethan goodbye but are somewhat dejected when he stares at you and doesn’t reply, his blank expression unreadable.

Both you and Connor step outside. 

Moonlight bathes the damp pavement in silvery light as you trail behind him. 

He wastes no time once you’ve reached his expensive sports car, pinning you against the hood and kissing you senseless. 

"Fuck, been dying to do this ever since I saw you in that slutty costume," he purrs against your temple. His hands begin to roam over you, impatient fingers fondling your curves. 

When he sneaks under your short dress and tugs at the waistband of your panties, you push against his chest. 

A sudden tide of discomfort swells inside you. 

"Connor…wait. This is going a little fast for me," you giggle.

Ignoring your protests, he keeps kissing you and even turns things up a notch by grabbing a fistful of your ass. You gasp. 

"Just relax. I won’t hurt you, gorgeous."

His weight presses against you, a sizzling cage of need you can’t escape. Tears prick at your eyes. 

"Connor, please…" you whimper.

Annoyance ripples in his tone as the grip on your rear gets firmer. 

"How you’re gonna be a fucking cocktease then give me blue balls, come on, gorgeous."

His tone is light but your chest is heavy. This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go. You hoped Connor would be gentle and nice. 

This isn’t nice. 

And you’re starting to feel a little scared. As the taut bulge in his crotch rubs at your front, your stomach knots.

But things don’t get to wander any further.

In fact, they hit a sudden stop as Connor stills against you. Your brows knit. 

As he chokes on his own breath, blood gushes from his mouth, painting the front of your costume crimson. 

Your eyes widen as his head lolls before he slumps to the pavement with a heavy thud. 

Time stands still when your gaze lifts. 

Your heart slams against your ribcage.

A tall figure clad in black and donning a Ghostface mask is now standing before you.

The blood rushing in your veins makes your ears ring.

The stranger cocks his head, studying you for a few seconds before pouncing on Connor’s prone form like a starved hyena. 

Horror-struck, you gawk as the stranger rains vicious stab after vicious stab upon Connor's writhing body. Each strike draws a shudder from you, more violent than the last and causing scarlet rivers to flow from every part of Connor. 

The world becomes red. 

A scream bubbles in your throat but remains trapped in it, shock striking you mute. 

When Connor's body stops moving, the sickening squish of the blade twisting out of his mangled flesh reaches you. 

With the knife in his hand still dripping blood, its crimson hue catching the moonlight, the killer rises to his feet. 

His focus travels to you. Your insides coil, deadly anticipation gripping you as tight as a fist. 

A gravelly, distorted voice rises beneath the mask. 

"This is the part where you run, princess."

Right…

It’s what happens in those horror movies Mindy had you watch with her, you think. The characters run away, fighting whatever’s chasing them with all their might. 

It’s the sensible thing to do. 

And you want to move. You should move. But you can't. 

Even breathing is toilsome, stilted whimpers and gasps spilling from your chest instead. 

All you can do is peer into the pupil-less gaze of the mask as you crumble into a quivering, sobbing heap onto the pavement. 

The killer inches closer and it's as if your heart jumps out of your chest. 

His blade kisses the trembling flesh of your throat, right above your racing pulse. 

Languid tears roll down your face as he traces your jugular. 

Cool metal slices past your collarbone, to your rapidly heaving chest. 

The song of the night yields to the symphony of fear echoing in your ears. Every scattered heartbeat. Every uneven breath. Every desperate sob.

A sharp stinging blooms in your delicate flesh as he carves oblong patterns on your breast with his knife. 

His motions are slow and focused, as if your skin’s the canvas and his blade the brush. 

Paralyzed, you don’t move. His cloaked figure bends and blurs in your misty vision, more monster than man in the scarce light provided by the street lamps.

He slants his head when he’s done, admiring his handiwork. 

This must be it, you infer, the moment all of it ends. 

Your eyes quake shut as you wait for the inevitable blow. 

You wait… An eternity it seems. 

For the blood. For the agony. For the darkness. 

Yet nothing comes. 

When you open your eyes, Ghostface is gone, the only nightmarish vision before you being that of Connor's body lying unmoving on the pavement. 

You pay no attention to the chaos around you as you pull the thin blanket closer to your frame.

The lights of the ambulance twinkle in your hazy sight. 

Amidst the chatter of shocked students standing in the street behind the yellow tape, the whispers of reassurance of Mindy and Tara fade to white noise in your ears. 

Numb, you gawk as they drag Connor’s body away on a gurney.

For some silly reason, you keep expecting him to rise again, to not be dead.

Because this cannot be real.

This cannot have happened. 

The police ask you a barrage of questions and you give mechanical answers. None of them help and they grow frustrated with you, sparking a heated argument between your friends and the stubborn cop. 

"I’m just doing my job," he insists, raising his hands when Chad gets in his face.

If it weren’t for Detective Bailey vouching for you, you’re not entirely sure you wouldn’t be sitting in the back of a patrol car right now. 

"Can’t you see the kid’s traumatized. She doesn’t know anything," he berates one his co-worker who seemed unwilling to accept your version of events. 

The one where you froze and Ghostface somehow let you live with only a strangely shaped scar on your chest as a souvenir. The one the medic commented looked a little like a heart. 

Absently, you pat the gauze covering the healing wound. 

It's weird…but it hurts your head to ponder why this occurred. The only emotion you can process is the crippling guilt consuming you. 

You’re alive while Connor's cold body is on its way to the morgue.

Your friends gather around you, their warmth chasing away the night’s chill. While Tara and Mindy sit next to you on the pavement, Chad stands protectively in front of you. 

"I-I didn’t do anything, Tara. I just let him…" Your voice cracks, withering into a sob. 

The arm around your shoulder gets tighter.

"Hey, don’t talk like that. It’s not your fault," she feverishly responds.

You open your mouth to argue but close it once it dawns on you that all the energy’s been drained from your body. There is none left in you.

Still, you can’t help but disagree. If it were Tara, her sister, or even Mindy, you bet they’d have fought tooth and nail instead of shrinking and crying like you did. 

You’re the weak link in your group. Not smart enough, or strong enough. 

The thought makes you sob harder. 

Mindy rubs circles on your back. 

You cast a quick glance around before your tearful gaze finds hers. 

"Where’s Anika?"

"She went home. She’s not great with blood. She sends her love though."

You nod at that. If you could, you’d be home too, hugging your stuffed bear and trying your best to forget this awful night ever happened. 

Chad’s irate tone startles you out of your fog. 

"Speaking of people not being here… where the hell is Ethan?" 

You blink up at him, confused as he and Mindy trade a pointed, heavy look.

You don’t get it. 

Sure, Ethan’s new to the group, and the twins are slow to give their trust. You know that. But Ethan? He’s entirely too sweet and kind to have anything to do with this…Right?

Ethan wouldn’t. You’re sure of it. 

~

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 49: The Dark One Stirs

As always, I have to warn you about spoilers or you'll whip out your magic staff and fireball my perfectly delightful garden of evil. There's not just spoilers for this book (though as we're steadily approaching the end what could you expect) but the whole of this series. If you don't like it, please rub your face all over these flowers and you'll die instantly. Thank you.

Like the last chapter, this chapter has the Blight icon. This is because we're in the Blight. I don't really have any deep analysis for that.

He wondered if women had a way of reading men’s minds. It was an unsettling thought. All women are Aes Sedai. Telling himself he was letting the Blight get to him, he rinsed out his mouth and hurried to get the bay saddled.

This better be the Blight (or rather, the taint) getting to you Rand, because it has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

Nothing happened that Rand could see, except that Nynaeve and Egwene shivered despite the heat and rubbed their arms briskly... The two women looked at one another, then Egwene nodded and grinned, and after a moment Nynaeve did, too, though her smile was only halfhearted. ... He was sure there was something in the silent exchange that he should understand, but that feather-light brush across his mind vanished before he could grasp it.

Dear God the Blight is making him dumber. Maybe Mat and Perrin are better with girls. (Or maybe he's actively in denial about everything because acknowledging what has to happen next is far too stressful.)

“Look as if they want to grab us,” Mat said nervously. Nynaeve gave him an exasperated, scornful look, and he added fiercely, “Well, they do look it.” “And some of them do want it,” the Aes Sedai said. Her eyes over her shoulder were harder than Lan’s for an instant. “But they want no part of what I am, and my presence protects you.”

Another delightful species of Blight horror that our heroes powerleveled entirely past by the time we actually got around to going back to the Blight. Missed opportunity I say.

Silently a massive body leaped out of the trees at them. The Warder spun Mandarb, but even as the warhorse reared, ready to strike with steelshod hooves, Mat’s arrow flashed, piercing the one eye in a head that seemed mostly mouth and teeth. Kicking and screaming, the thing fell, one bound short of them. Rand stared as they hurried past. Stiff hair like long bristles covered it, and it had too many legs, joining a body as big as a bear at odd angles. Some of them at least, those coming out of its back, had to be useless for walking, but the finger-long claws at their ends tore the earth in its death agony.

Really the thing about a chapter like this is that there's not much to say except "why couldn't these things show up more?" because they're far more terrifying than the standard Shadowspawn. Sanderson really should have thrown more of them into the Last Battle as a way of upping the stakes.

If the trees had not struck into the mass of attacking flesh as much as at the humans, if the creatures, no two alike, had not fought the trees and one another as much as to reach them, Rand was sure they would have been overwhelmed. He was not certain it would not happen still.

Oh look at that, is that the main theme of Jordan's good vs. evil dichotomy? There's a reason that the complex villains of the story are all at least nominally on the side of light while the cartoon villains are all on the side of shadow. The Dark One isn't complex, it doesn't represent balance or an alternate and ambiguous morality, it is one of the two extremes that actual humans exist between and those who throw themselves into its service lose that humanity and ability to actually be effective in achieving their goals.

“Won’t the Worms follow us into the mountains?” Egwene asked breathlessly, and Lan gave a sharp laugh. “They won’t. Worms are afraid of what lives in the high passes.” Loial moaned again. Rand wished the Ogier would stop doing that.

Dammit Rand it's hilarious, stop fighting it.

The void eluded him, forming, then shivering into a thousand points of light, re-forming and shattering again, each point burning into his bones until he quivered with the pain and thought he must burst open. Light help me, I can’t go on. Light help me!

Note to self: Pay attention to what happens when Rand actually asks the Light to help him. This time it summoned a verdant ex machina. Earlier it did nothing for Lews, helped Rand calm down enough to find Moiraine, helped Rand channel, helped break him out of a Ba'alzamon dream (twice!), convinced Gill... I guess it didn't do much when he was freaking out about Moiraine and false dragons... But still, Rand has an amazing response rate for prayer.

He studied the others, just now getting down from their horses, and his eyes lit on Perrin. “A Wolfbrother! Do the old times truly walk again then?”

This is hella early installment weirdness. Wolfbrothers shouldn't have been running around in the Age of Legends for the Green Man to recognize, and Green Men definitely weren't part of the age before that so... What is up with that? Were there Wolfbrothers at some point in the Age of Legends, and if there were what happened to them?

“Strange clothes you wear, Child of the Dragon. Has the Wheel turned so far? Do the People of the Dragon return to the first Covenant? But you wear a sword. That is neither now nor then.”

Funnily enough, Rand is a huge outlier on this front. I wonder how many Aielmen have ended up in the Eye of the World as they try to die in the Blight. One can hope that just as the Ogier minimized the number of crazy men running around at any one time that Someshta's care minimized the number of brainwashed Aiel in the Town.

But that's all for today! Next time: the Eye - and the bad guys!

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[sourbons]

I predict that Keith's mark on his right cheek is actually some kind of scar. Or maybe just a real mark and not a weird shadow (I want my son to have a cool mark)

i don’t think it’d be a scar :o it’s too similar to krolia’s markings, so it’ll definitely be something that appears bc of his galra heritage. as for how it appears, i’m not entirely sure alsdalkd

[botherkupo]

7 days of lovesquare (day 1)

for 7 days, i’ll be writing lovesquare oneshots as a thank you to anyone who would like to support me during this difficult time. Find out how you can help (and more info) HERE

Day 1: Detransformation Dilemma

AO3

“No, no, no,” Adrien muttered as he leaped from building to building, his ring beeping warningly. He was about to detransform any minute, but alleys and rooftops seemed to be the new hang out place today. Teens smoking behind the rubbish bins, an old man polishing boots, Mr Banana trying to catch a monkey.

Mr Banana trying to catch a monkey?

Adrien yelped as he almost crashed into a billboard. (Of himself, of course—the one where he was wearing angel wings and looked like he was halfway through a magical girl transformation, probably about to go catch some Clow Cards.) Too bad there was a couple canoodling under the billboard, gaping at him like startled fish, or he would have ducked behind it and destransformed there.

Beep, beep, beep, beep!

Damn it. This was not the time to get distracted.

“Uh, you guys look great together,” he said, giving thumbs up, and jumped over the couple’s heads and landed on the next building.

People stopped on the street and waved up at him. A little kid on a balcony squeaked with glee and tried to grab his tail. Then a loud thwup, thwup, thwup deafened his ears, and wind swooshed his hair everywhere.

“Are you kidding me?” he groaned as a helicopter passed overhead, video cameras filming.

Was he being punished? Did he offend a day-ruining deity this morning? Even when he’d tried to go home, he’d found it impossible to get inside, as cleaners were busy cleaning the windows and a bunch of gardeners were about doing maintenance. All of his routes to avoid the security cameras had been blocked.

“Look, it’s Chat Noir!”

Gah! Why did he have to be so popular today?

He vaulted away with his baton, panic swelling in his chest and sticking to every breath. Then his panic turned to horror as he realised he was about to land on a pot-bellied dude bending over a basket of washing. Reflexes kicked in, and Adrien managed to avoid kicking the dude in the butt, but his foot snagged on the clotheshorse and knocked it over. (And got a pair of pink heart boxes stuck to his boot. Seriously, people actually wore those? Did they want to be a living cartoon cliché?)

“Sorry!” he called, already jumping to the next building. “I’ll buy you a new pair!”

How many seconds did have left now? Ten? Five?

A familiar balcony caught his gaze, decorated with flower pots and fairy lights. Had he really gone full circle and ended up back at Marinette’s house?

“Screw it,” he muttered.

The skylight was open. There was no time left. He’d just have to take the risk.

He dropped inside the skylight and appeared right in front of Marinette, who was sitting on her bed.

“Chat Noir, what—”

He threw her blanket over her head. Green light flashed and snatched his superhero suit with it.

“Hey!”

She started to pull the blanket off, but he pounced on her and held her down, keeping her trapped under the blanket.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he said, his heart lodged in his throat, “but I need you to stay there.”

“Are you crazy? Get off!”

A knee crashed into his stomach and his breath disappeared in a graceless wheeze. He fell back off the bed—and took her with him. They crashed on the floor, groaning and entangled. The blanket slipped. His mind was a white noise of protect identity, protect identity! Maybe that’s why he wrapped his arms around her and smooshed her face against chest.

A muffled growl. “Let me go, you—”

She froze. It was so abrupt that he was shocked into paralysis as well, his heart pounding wildly. Her hand patted at his shirt, then wriggled up so that she could touch where his bell should have been.

“You’re not transformed,” she breathed.

He swallowed audibly. “Sorry for freaking you out. I, uh, panicked.”

“It’s okay. I get it now, but what are you doing here?”

“I didn’t plan on it, believe me. I was trying to find a place to hide so I could detransform, but I was running out of time and there were too many people around.”

“So you came to my room?”

“Seemed the safest option.”

“You have a weird idea of what safe means. Did you already forget that you almost revealed your identity to me?”

“That’s why I came here,” he said simply. “If I had to risk revealing my identity to someone, I’d rather it be you.”

Silence.

Wait, had that come out wrong? Why was she being so quiet? He wished he could see her expression.

“Hey, Chat Noir?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you plan on transforming again any time soon, or are you going to keep me trapped here?”

Heat surged across his cheeks. “Oh, sorry.” His gaze darted about her room until he spotted Plagg sitting on her computer desk. “What are you waiting for? You know where the cheese is.”

“Didn’t want to interrupt,” Plagg said with a sly little smile. “You two seemed so comfortable snuggling with each other.”

Adrien’s blush darkened. “Plagg!” he hissed. Trust that nasty little gremlin to turn their current situation into something much less innocent.

Plagg grinned and then swooped down, snatching the cheese from Adrien’s pocket. One gulp was all it took and then Adrien was suited up again. Thank goodness. There was no saying what Plagg would say next.

“I’m really sorry about this,” he said, releasing Marinette. “I swear it won’t happen again.”

She crawled off him, her freckled cheeks dusted with pink. “Don’t worry about it. We can’t have all of Paris discovering your identity, right?”

“Right.”

More silence.

He bit his lip and fidgeted with his ring. Awkward. This was so awkward. He didn’t even know why—only that it was suddenly difficult to meet Marinette’s gaze, and his heart kept stumbling and quickening like it had forgotten how to keep a steady beat.

Marinette cleared her throat. “Um, so I guess you’ll be heading off then.”

“Yes!” He scrambled to his feet. “I just remembered I have to—have to help Mr Banana catch a monkey.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is!”

They stared at each other. His cheeks burned hotter.

Damn it, this was all Plagg’s fault. If only he’d kept his stupid mouth shut and not made things weird.

“Anyway, I gotta go,” he said. “That monkey isn’t going to catch itself. Seeya around, Marinette.”

He pulled finger guns and fled through the skylight.

[justafewsmallsteps]

A look into LadyNoir for my Reversal AU, The Other Way Around. You don’t really need to read the other parts to get this one :)

Title: The Other Way Around, Part 3 Pairing: Lovesquare (LadyNoir)   Rating: G+ Word Count: 2.5K

The first time Marinette really interacted with a cat was at a friend’s house. She was six years old at her very first sleepover. Nervous and shy, she’d spent the majority of the evening worrying about what would happen once the lights were out. She’d never had to sleep through a night without her parents or family with her. No amount of cartoons or pillow fights could fully ease the fear of impending darkness.

The other three girls seemed totally adjusted and excited, but Marinette could hardly eat dinner even though it was pizza from their favorite spot. Then she nearly burst into tears at the table when they served the cookies her parents had sent with her, overwhelmed with missing them so badly. With her eyes stinging and her voice ready to cry out that they should call home to pick her up, Button the cat suddenly sprung onto her lap. She was a fluffy tan thing with two black dots going down the center of her back, hence her name. In that moment she looked just like a chocolate chip cookie, albeit one that blinked up at Marinette’s face with huge, adorable brown eyes. The cat smooshed her head against the girl’s stomach, sat down, and began to purr. In her surprise and fascination, young Marinette forgot what she was so upset over.

She never had pets growing up—the hair was too much to maintain when her family also lived in a bakery—so she hadn’t any courage to approach Button before, even when the other girls had spent time petting her. She knew cats had claws and their yawns revealed sharp, pointy teeth. The last thing she wanted was to get scratched or bitten when she was already terrified. Cats had been a scary mystery. Button was small and fluffy and warm. The moment she cuddled up to her, Marinette fell in love.

After that day, cats became her favorite animal, and while she still wasn’t allowed to have one (despite the begging and puppy eyes that her mother valiantly fought against with gentle reasoning), Marinette surrounded herself with them as a good luck charm. She had kitty keychains, plush toys, cat-covered folders to take to class, and cat-print bedsheets. The obsessive phase lasted for three years, but the fondness stayed even when her room took on a pink and floral theme to match her changing design aesthetic. Obviously when she found the giant body pillow shaped like a cat, she knew she had to have it anyway. After long days of dealing with Chloe’s yapping and her own special trademark combination of back luck and clumsiness, hugging that massive squishy cat became her ultimate comfort.

That was, until another cat fell into her lap. Well, crashed into her entire body was more what happened.

When she was gifted her miraculous, Marinette thought herself a poor fit for a superhero. She liked leadership positions and really didn’t have a big problem taking charge when needed, but saving lives was a ton of pressure. She’d thrown her yoyo randomly, not sure of a single move she made, and in doing so managed to tangle her partner and herself up despite the superpowers. Chat Noir seemed more natural, and surely he deserved a partner that had the confidence to match his skills instead of her. Marinette was stuck in her head with apprehension. She’d totally screwed up her very first mission by letting the akuma multiply instead of purifying it. She wasn’t excited to be a hero. She was terrified.

Maybe it was the cat bias that made her instantly trust Chat Noir, but it was the way he put his warm hands so squarely on her shoulders and assured her that she could do this, that made her fall in love. It was the second time a cat had saved her from giving in to her fears.

He gave her the courage to stand up to Hawkmoth, and the moment she vowed to take him down was a triumph of bravery. She wouldn’t have been able to do that without him.

Of course she fell for him.

He didn’t make it any easier for her as they got closer. He was just so endearingly sweet, throwing compliments at her all the time for encouragement.

If only she didn’t turn into an absolute pile of goo whenever he did. At least she was always able to pull herself together to get the job done, but it was his fault. What could anyone expect from her when her partner was talented, smart, super handsome, and somehow humble about all of it?

She’d witnessed how he avoided the spotlight in favor of checking up with akuma victims. She’d seen him time after time go out of his way to protect others, especially her, from harm’s way. And after he did all those things he’d throw her the credit as if she was the one saving the day.

They worked together well, reading each other’s moves and adapting to each other’s pace. But he never needed the attention, happy to just get the mission done. It was a side of him that she got to see when the crowds weren’t looking, proud at what they’d accomplished while holding his fist out to hers in solidarity to say, “We did it!” Together. Always together.

But then their miraculouses would beep, and they’d have to go their separate ways with her casting lingering glances towards whichever horizon he’d disappear off to.

At least during some of their mutual patrols they had time to talk. She looked forward to each one, no matter what other responsibilities she had waiting for her once it was over. Getting to know her partner was such a highlight to her identity as Ladybug. There was the triumph of victory, the thrill of the physics defying feats she could accomplish, the heartwarming gratitude of the citizens… and then there was this: sitting at the top of the Eiffel with their feeting dangling in the cool Parisian air, aimlessly talking above a safe city set aglow with evening lights; the warm sense of security yet tingling excitement of hanging out with her one and only crush.

“Favorite hot drink?” she wondered.

Asking non-identifying questions was their way of bonding without compromising themselves.

Chat Noir hummed thoughtfully over a cookie—raspberry macarons, a favorite she had learned fairly early on. “The hot chocolate you brought in the winter was great. Probably the best I’ve ever had, actually.”

She blushed and kicked her feet nervously. She swore that she would’ve tripped if they’d been walking. Somehow his compliments did that to her. “T-thanks.”

He grabbed another macaron and turned it over, studying the ruffled feet as he added, “Otherwise I’m really fond of tea. My mother liked English high tea; always insisted we have a tea break at some point in the day. When I was a kid I was only in it for the cookies and sandwiches, but at this point I like the drink too. It's nostalgic.”

He always got wistful when he spoke about his mother, but Marinette knew that train of thought would lead them to somewhere too personal. It wasn’t that she didn’t yearn to know more about him. Quite the opposite, but they both knew that it wasn’t safe yet. There had been too many close calls. She followed up with another question. “Any tea in particular?”

“Earl grey, usually. I’m a fan of London Fogs over coffee.”

She smiled down, looking at her home’s direction. They had a lovely macaron with that flavor as well, she thought. She could bring him a variety box next time. Maybe one day they could do tea together in some fashion. A picnic, perhaps? High tea during an evening patrol seemed a bit strange, but she could always brew him a decaf in a thermos so he wouldn’t be hopped up on caffeine. Or maybe that was too much if she was already bringing the same flavor in a cookie. Did hot chocolate go well with earl grey? What about the raspberry? Plenty of people ordered a variety of flavors all the time. Maybe she should throw in a few others for balance, like the rose ones. Wait, were rose flavored macarons too romantic? Would it seem like a date if she brought him flower-flavored food? Not that she didn’t want to date him because of course she did but—

“Deep in thought, Ladybug?”

Chat Noir’s twinkling green eyes greeted her, just a few centimeters from her face. He must have been trying to get her attention for a while.

Surprised, she suddenly scooted back and flailed. “Oh!” Thankfully she was securely seated on the beam enough to not begin a sad plummet to the ground. Desserts were well and good, but she’d prefer to avoid becoming a polka dotted pancake. “Yes, sorry! Did you say something?”

He laughed his magical laugh, accustomed to her tendency to get lost in her own head. “No need to apologize. I was just saying that it was my turn to ask a question before we turn in for the night.”

Ah, was it already time to go back? Sheepishly, the heroine smiled. “Did you already ask it?”

A flash of teeth showed off his mirthful grin. “I did.”

“Sorry.” He had already told her not to apologize, but it was embarrassing that she was fantasizing about dating him when he was literally sitting besides her. “What was it again?”

“I asked if you’ve been on a date lately, Little Lady.”

Oh.

Her mind short-circuited. Had she been babbling out loud? How desperate had she sounded? “What? Me! Doing to date you? I mean, going on a date with someyou? Someone!”

If her slip up meant anything, he didn’t acknowledge it. He never did. Did she want him to?

“Yep. Like a romantic one-on-one date. I, uh,” he bashfully scratched the back of his neck, “I’ve been thinking about it lately.”

A rush of blood warmed her cheeks. “Y-you were?” Thinking about dating someone? Her? Them? Romantically!

He avoided her eyes, choosing to look up instead as he laughed nervously. “For a while now. I don’t even think I could, but there’s a girl…”

I’m a girl, her brain supplied with excitement.

“You can’t ask her?”

He clicked his tongue. “There’s a few conflicts. First of all, I don’t know how she really feels about me, and… I don’t know how to say the other part without really giving anything away.”

Ladybug pursed her lips and gave him time, either out of courtesy or because she was freaking out and incapable of speech.

“Um, it’s like… an occupational issue, I guess. I don’t know if I’d be allowed, in a sense. Then there’s the issue that I know nearly nothing about dating,” he explained.

For all his vagueness, she fit his description enough. She’d never outright confessed to being in love with him, so he didn’t know her feelings. Also they weren’t really supposed to date with all their responsibilities, and wasn’t that just part of their job as heroes? So for all intents and purposes, Chat Noir really could have been talking about her. The possibility made her head spin.

Her hope was strung on a tightrope; a precarious position that could go either way. She could ask him directly if he meant someone in his civilian life or if by some miracle he was talking about her—or she could stay on the precipice between disappointment and bliss. But for all her clumsiness, Marinette preferred balance whenever she could manage it. So she stayed her course, eyes far from looking down at the possibilities and instead on the objective: answer him.

“I haven’t been on a real date recently, no.”

She looked for any hint about his feelings in his response, any indication that he was relieved or just pitied her. He simply nodded, leaving her clueless as she continued to walk the tightrope.

“Same,” he let out a whiny sigh. “I guess I can’t really ask for advice then. I’m terrible when it comes to romance.”

She traced one of her spots with a gloved finger, trying to keep a clear mind despite the slight relief that her crush wasn’t out on dates all the time. “I doubt it. You’re so amazing, you’d make any girl really happy and lucky to be with you.” Saying those words aloud had her face feeling as red as her suit.

“Luck is your department, LB,” he grinned. “I imagine admirers are chasing you left and right.”

“Not in any serious manner,” Adrien’s corny and outlandish attempts to get her attention came to mind. He was just a flirt by nature, hardly what someone would consider a real admirer. “I… I’d be happy to go on a date with somebody who really liked me though.”

He gave her a thoughtful look that made her pause.

She stood up suddenly. “I mean, not just anybody! Like… if I knew they actually liked me, then I might give it a chance? Depending on the person.”

Chat Noir smiled again, patiently letting her ramble as usual.

She took a deep breath to collect herself. “It doesn’t matter how experienced you are with dating, at least that’s what I think. If she’s a nice person then she’ll also understand and you’ll both get through it together. You just have to be yourself.”

“You’re right as always, Little Lady,” he sighed. Her stomach did a flip at the soft sound of his voice. “You know, you do give the best advice.”

Balance, she reminded herself. Tightrope.

But he spoke again, “I can always count on you to cheer me up if things go wrong, can’t I?”

The words were kind—like a soft breeze—which was just enough to throw off her careful, barely established balance; just enough information to tip her over to the fact that he must have been talking about some other girl if at the end of the day he could still find comfort in her, his partner.

And so she fell. Or, well, she’d fallen for him a long time ago. What did she expect? Something happier, she’d hoped. Something more similar to catching herself with her yo-yo, lifting back up to soar instead of her hopes tumbling down.

“Ladybug?”

She took a second to glance down at the ground where her heart felt like it had dropped. From their high position on the Eiffel, it was a long way down. For how much she loved him, she wasn’t sure just how her heart would break. Shatter like glass? Crumble to pieces? Or would it plummet and dent the floor because it certainly felt as heavy as lead when she turned to face Chat Noir, an achingly sweet melancholy painted on face as he smiled at her.

“Of course you can count on me. You and me against it all,” she assured, holding out her hand to help him up. It was time to go, after all.

He grinned as he stood, “Everything from akumas to heartbreak.”

She gave a weak laugh in reply. “Good night, Chat.”

“Good night, Little Lady.”

[ruiniel]

Fandom: Castlevania Series (2017-2021)

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Alucard/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades

Characters: Alucard, Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades (for now)

Additional Tags: Post-Castlevania (Cartoon) Season 2, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Trephacard, Grief/Mourning, Mental Anguish, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Other Tags to be added

VI.

They begin cleaning and tidying efforts, as much as is in their power, starting with the castle — both to pass the time and to prepare for the cold season ahead. The structure is large enough to make it an impossible task for three people to refurbish in its entirety, but they can focus on the areas Alucard deemed important, ones that have seen destruction but are recoverable: a few sleeping chambers, the laboratory, the library, the main hall. Alucard also proposed he think of a means to enable easier access to the Hold, but for now, they’ve started with his father’s former study: a chamber small enough and close enough to the kitchen area which they could use to spend the evenings.

Even here, there is no small amount of work to be done, and the place bears the marks of fighting and struggle. Alucard and Sypha have begun picking up the books scattered on the floor and ordering them back onto their shelves, while Trevor busies himself with removing the broken furniture. The cat, having followed them to the castle proper the other day with no prompting after Trevor set him down, now moves about the space with his head and tail held high, exploring and pawing at fallen objects. Sypha had named him Zori — for the brightness of his eyes and spirited flair, not unlike the fresh, rising dawn.

“Some of these books are so rare,” Sypha says as they work. “Imagine the value they hold.” Her eyes widen in interest and wonder. “Look, just here is ‘The great cosmology’ by Democritus, the full breadth of it. It was thought all of his works were lost!” She turns from the shelf, paging through the tome.

“Yes,” nears Alucard, “this one is a copy of the original work, the scrolls having been lost in the burning of the ancient library of Alexandria.”

Sypha looks at him, fascination alight in her gaze. “If you seek tranquility, do less - Democritus,” she murmurs, staring into Alucard’s eyes.

“You two are awful, awful nerds,” mutters Trevor as he kneels down, staring with interest at the shards of a mirror spread onto the floor, and his broken reflection in them. He carefully picks up one piece of glass, inspecting how the light from the window falls upon it in peculiar glimmers of blues and reds. 

“His work was groundbreaking!” starts Sypha, uncaring of Trevor’s rolling eyes. “He proposed the theory that the Universe is made of tiny particles, working together, called atoms, which are indestructible, and have always been and always will be in motion; that there is an infinite number of them.”

“Fascinating,” Trevor voices, his attention on the broken pieces. “Alucard, what… is this? It doesn’t look like your average mirror, and I somehow doubt it was of any use here if it were.”

“Stand aside,” Alucard says as he nears, and Trevor raises an eyebrow but does as he’s bid. 

Alucard raises an arm, fingers spread wide, and his eyes flash red for a split second before slowly, the shards rise into the air one by one, clinking and singing, fusing together and forming the semblance of a large, oval-shaped surface. They stand before it, but there’s no reflection — it’s all a blur, like boiling magic absorbing the pale daylight pooling through the room. “This is a transmission mirror.”

Trevor’s eyes go as wide as Sypha’s when looking into those books. “I had no idea one still existed…” he raises a palm as though wanting to touch the surface, then thinks better of it. “Carpathian?” he looks to Alucard, who’s staring at the mirror, a blank expression on his face. 

Alucard nods, and Trevor tries not to think of how sickly he looks, though at one point, a topic nagging the hunter for some time now will have to be breached. He has questions — one question in particular, rather, but now isn’t the time. 

“My father had come by this some four centuries ago, as far as I know. It was the last of its kind, made by the Carpathian scrying hermits.”

“How does it work? What does it do?” asks Sypha, kneeling to pet Zori, who purrs and arches his back into her hand.

“Unlike the one from the Hold, which only shows locations based on thought and intent, this one allows matter to pass through it.” Alucard places a clawed hand on the mirror, drawing a few incomprehensible runes over it. Instantly it sings and vibrates, a crystal-tinker rising in the air. “To anywhere,” he says, even as the surface morphs and details change, and both Sypha and Trevor gasp as the image of houses and hills takes shape before their eyes.

“A portal,” concludes Trevor, looking at the plain dwellings, the dirt road, and yellow-green hills rising in multitudes behind them. “This is really something…”

“It is,” Alucard stares at the image, silent as his arm falls back to his side. 

“What is this place?” asks Sypha, who’s come close, a hand lightly placed on Alucard’s arm.

The blank expression falls like a broken mask, and longing shines through the cracks. “Lupu village,” he says. “My mother’s home.”

Sypha’s hold on his arm tightens as Alucard turns his head, staring at the portrait of a yellow-haired woman in a violet dress, set on the opposite wall. She’s smiling back at him, youthful and happy, trapped in the frame. “After she and my father began a life together, she would use the mirror to return, to treat people as was her trade, or simply if she was homesick. We needed not move the entire castle to get to places, not always. Sometimes,” he pauses, gazing long at the crooked houses with thatched roofs sheltering simple folk, who live and love and die so far away, “she would take me along, for her visits.” He lowers his head.

“Alucard,” Sypha murmurs, her hand drifting down his arm, to his wrist. Her fingers twine with his and press tightly. 

Alucard takes a deep breath; exhales. He looks down at her upturned face, and his long fingers squeeze hers back. “It might come in useful, someday,” he says, no discernible emotion in his voice.

The mirror shatters to the floor in a shining heap of chipped fragments, so suddenly Trevor starts.

“Yeah,” the hunter agrees, eyes drifting over Alucard, over their locked gazes, down to their joined hands. He looks away and sets to gather the fallen pieces. 

~

“Have you seen Sypha?” Trevor enters the study after he’s cleaned himself up later that evening, seeing Alucard at the table surrounded by rulers and drawing utensils, a large piece of parchment before him. Night has fallen outside, and they’d agreed to have a meal together, but the Speaker’s nowhere to be found. 

“She left a while ago to rummage through the library,” Alucard looks up from his work. He’s tied his hair back from his face with a strip of leather, and he’s holding a stylus between his fingers. 

“I never knew you were a leftie,” Trevor comments as he nears. 

Alucard can’t but smile, looking Trevor up and down as the hunter approaches. “Ambidextrous, actually,” he says, “like you, from what I’ve seen,” he comments, at which Trevor shrugs. “Though I favor my right hand with weaponry.” 

The hunter looks better, much better than a week prior, his health having returned fully and through the murk of his own mind and its tribulations, Alucard found a relief so strong in that truth he knows not what to do with it.

“Anyway,” Trevor says, “I guess I’ll try the other wing,” he turns, making to leave.

“Belmont.”

“Hm?” 

Alucard sets the stylus aside and looks out the window into the night, leaning back in his chair. “I’ve been sitting here for too long. Walk with me?”

He sees the reluctance, the stiffness in his shoulders as Trevor looks to the side, then at him. “Well come on, then.”

They cross corridors and halls until they reach the outside world, breathing in the pine and sweet aroma of wildflowers dotting the clearing. The stars shine in their heavenly bonds. The man’s heartbeat bursts strong, and there comes the unfamiliar strangeness taking over, though he easily smothers the side of him that would relish it, that would fall to its scent and bask in its taste.

He’s felt nothing like it before, and shame warms his face at the thought as he ponders what his father had shared of the thirst, its iniquities, its effects. 

They walk together in silence, Trevor with his hands behind his back, his knives in their sheaths at his chest and whip at his belt. Alucard’s sword rests in the scabbard at his hip; no risks to be taken, and precaution trumps comfort.

Alucard glances at Trevor, who’s studying his boots with great interest, a frown on his face. It heralds, he’s come to know, something uncomfortable for them both, but more so for him. “Well?” he asks, stopping at some distance from the castle, his face upturned to the stars. 

“Well, what?” Trevor turns to him.

“What did you want to ask me about?” Alucard crosses his arms; he could be mistaken, but most often than not, it hits the mark. 

Trevor shakes his head. “No, I don’t know what you’re… no, you know what? Yeah, I did have a question.”

Alucard braces himself. But they stayed. They stayed. Unbidden, his thought flies back to another starry night, to the hunter splayed beneath him, to the balm of his words and the warmth of him, the wet silk he’s scraped with his teeth. “Tell me.”

Trevor takes a deep breath; his heartbeat quickens, and Alucard braces himself; the scent of his blood is powerful, heady as it swirls around him, and for a moment he forgets the crime and the spill of his elder’s blood, the mirror and even his mother’s last words to him in a dream of flame.

“I know little about your…” he stops, looking Alucard over, sighing. “You barely eat when we eat. You look like shit.”

Alucard nods, though his heart drops to his feet. How does one admit to choosing death over harming another? How does one make it believable? The question comes from an honest place. He can’t fault it. Trevor Belmont fears him not, that much he knows. Still.

His eyes see through the darkest night, and now Alucard garners the unease on Trevor’s face, as one who feels guilt even as they deal the blow. “No, Belmont, I do not require human blood to survive.”

A pause. Silence. A shift. “But you do... uh, need it, sometimes?”

Alucard looks towards the castle, and from the distance he sees Sypha there, on the long suspended bridge, gazing out with her arms folded over the balustrade. Trevor looks too, following the direction of his stare. “It would speed the healing process if gravely wounded, and it would enhance my powers, to an extent.” He falls silent for a few beats of the hunter's heart. “But, to fully answer your question, I don’t depend on consuming blood. Not as a full-fledged vampire would.” 

“All right,” Trevor says, and asks no more on the matter. 

Alucard breathes; easier. “May I ask you something in turn?” he starts as they walk back towards the castle together.

“Mm. Like for like. Sure, shoot.”

“While you were ill, you kept repeating names of… people.”

A sigh. “Such as?”

Alucard runs his tongue over his teeth. “… Amelia?”

Trevor says nothing for a long, long while, and Alucard doesn’t press him. Perhaps he should not have asked. Old pains scar, but they’re still there, their presence lingering like black oil on the limpid surface of water. Curse him, he should not have asked.

“Amelia was my eldest sister.”

Alucard looks back at the hunter, taking in his hunched shoulders, the heaviness settled over his bearing.

“She was the first to pick up the profession, went on many hunts with my father Gabriel, taught the rest of us most of what she knew when he couldn’t.”

“How many siblings did you have?” 

Trevor sighs. “There were seven of us. Four sisters. Amelia.” He kicks a pebble with his boot. “Lidia.” Another pebble. “Mona.” Silence. “Miriam. And two twin brothers, Simon and Andras. I was the youngest of us. I could barely snap a whip.”

“And neither of them—”

“Dead,” Trevor mutters. “All of them. Before I fled here.”

“I’m… I am sorry,” Alucard murmurs. Curse him, curse him, curse him.

“Doesn’t matter,” says Trevor, pinching the bridge of his nose, his voice gravelly and curt. “Not anymore. The robed bastards with blades and decrees ensured that. Can we talk about something else now?”

“I did not mean to pry, Trevor,” Alucard says, as the man’s dread and hurt seeps through him with the force of a tidal wave. He didn’t mean to, but he did; how strange the realization of loss, to see beyond his own guilt and the trappings of his own pain, to learn of what others lived through, what they’ve seen and survived. And the hunter’s wounds and sorrow, so similar to his own, grip him and coil about his heart like smothering, hungry serpents.

Trevor stops in his tracks. “Wait…”

Alucard turns to him. “What?”

“Say that again.” 

“... I did not mean to—” 

Trevor groans. “No, you arse. My name.”

“Oh.” Alucard blinks, taken aback by his own realization. He licks his lips. “Trevor.”

The hunter nods, and looks up, at Sypha on the long, ragged-edged bridge uniting two wings of the castle. He glances back at Alucard. “Keep using it.”

Alucard says nothing; they both look away from each other, their smiles shielded by the dark, their flimsy hopes flowing, led astray by the nightwinds. 

“Will you fetch her, or should I?” asks Trevor finally.

Alucard glances up to where Sypha lingers. “I’ll meet you upstairs,” and he doesn’t wait for an answer but takes flight, rising towards the bridge.

~

He lands carefully on the iron and stone-wrought platform; she’s there, on the bridge, but not alone. Alucard sighs, shakes his head and breathes deep, presses his eyes shut. When he opens them, his father yet stands behind her. He always looks the same, when he appears: the red gaze, the endless regret, the bleeding heart and remnants of clarity in his wretched stare before the end and the ashes. It’s always the same.

He wavers. The apparition never speaks, merely watches him, watches him with sadness and love and remnants of frayed dignity. It’s always the same.

Alucard approaches.

He keeps his eyes on Sypha, her silhouette silvered by the night, a specter of flesh and bone. Someone he trusts; someone who trusts him, who always accepted him as he was, what he was, without scorn or fear. Who’d sought him for an idealistic quest, only to find… 

He stops next to her, placing a hand on the stone edge; their eyes meet and Alucard watches her, watching him. She can be sweet and she can be ruthless, Sypha can blast the world to smithers and can lure his demons away with her song. Another outcast, another life threaded with his by fate or chance — he’s long stopped caring which.

“What are you thinking?” he dares, leaning forward against the balustrade.

“I’m thinking…” their elbows touch as Sypha rests with her arms crossed over the edge, “I’m thinking about my tribe, and how they’re faring. How I miss them.”

Alucard stares down at the world below. “You were always together. This must be hard for you.” 

“No,” she closes her eyes, allowing a sharp gust of air to flay at her face. “It was my choice to stay. One I do not regret.” 

“I am…” she’s fire where Trevor is stone. They work so well together, he can hardly separate them in his mind. “I am grateful you stayed,” he says, because he is. God knows he is. Hell would, too.

Sypha looks to the darkened scenery, then back at him. “I can say the same about you.”

Alucard hesitates; did she really think him lost to her? Had he been such a source of worry that she fretted for him while he was chasing his own tail and drowning in the murk of his misery? He glances at his father’s wraith, still lingering, silent and gray next to her. Alucard closes his eyes. When he opens them, the specter is gone. “I have been distant, I know,” he says. “But believe me, Sypha, it is not because of—”

“No, it’s all right,” Sypha turns to him then, stops his poorly knit excuses with a slender finger to his lips. “Please don’t. We’re trying; let us keep trying. No more. No less.”

Alucard nods slowly, watching her blue fire-stare as her finger slides from his lips.

Sypha turns away and rubs quickly at her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she sniffs, “aren’t I horrible? Standing here whining about my living family.” 

“Competing in misery, are we?”

Sypha groans. “That wit. As much as you bemoaned him, you’re too much like Trevor sometimes.”

“Oh, no, anything but that,” Alucard parrots mechanically, and they both mellow, shoulders falling until they’re leaning into each other on the stone balustrade.

The sky is awash with fading stars now, flickering as the wind whistles around them, coiling about the castle spires.

“Hmm,” she turns her face to the heavens. “Look at us.” A smile. Bittersweet. “The prince and the nomad.”

“Do you miss the road?” asks Alucard. He would come closer, he would wrap his arms around her and tuck her against him like those nights spent in that wagon cart; something holds him back. 

“No,” Sypha says. “Contrary to what you might have learned, we don’t move around as often. We could stay years in one place if there is a need.”

“Is… that how you view remaining here?... Well,” he frowns, pondering as his fingers grip the balustrade tighter. “I suppose it is. You are still bound to your creed.” 

Sypha lets her head fall over her twined arms before she looks his way again. Her eyes are soft, her face reminding him of saintly figures depicted in stained glass, looking upon mortals with care and love and understanding. But this — the things she speaks without speaking — this is truer and more honest than they could ever be. Her hand reaches up, cupping his face and he does not move away, doesn’t think he could. “Nothing binds me to you, but my choice, and yours, son of Dracula. Remember that.”

Alucard swallows. 

“Tell me,” she insists, “tell me you will remember.”

“I will,” he sighs. “I will,” he whispers, as though the darkness were a spy hearing their every word, and as before with the hunter, her scent fills him, teasing and strong and painfully alluring, pressing down with the guilt of his yearning. He takes a step back from her. “Let us return. Trevor will be waiting.”

~~

Chapter VII

[ethanharli]

Requested: On Wattpad

Pairing(s): Steve Rogers x Top Male Reader

Warning(s): Smutt, Nsfw, Bottom Steve, Top Reader, daddy kink, biting, slightly public sex, slight cum denial.

A/n- .. I'm rusty lol

____________________________________

"Should I say the pledge or?" I tilted my head in confusion, sipping away at my coffee while my gaze lazily trailed over Steve's body, seeing him in his Captain America uniform, but my eyes lingered a little longer on his figure then I'd ever be willing to admit. Steve's eyebrow twitched in annoyance that I so happily inflicted upon him, not caring for the stares of Nat' and Tony as they shared a knowing look. "You should learn some respect" He shot back, yet before I could make another comment he then stood tall and shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, I forget men of your nature know nothing of respect" The grin that spread across his face had my nose twitching in irritation. My upper lip nearly curling up in a snarl, but I hid it well behind my coffee mug.

"At least 'men like me' have more of a backbone then good little soldiers like you" I practically growled out the words, anger slowly stinging through my veins like molten metal. But I couldn't stop the wolfish grin from spreading on my face at the sight of him, his fists clenched at his sides, his teeth gritting together in obvious irritation and if this were a cartoon I'd think there'd be fume coming from his ears. Steve about came running at me until Nat rested her hand on his shoulder, Tony making sure to stand between us like some sort of barrier. "What do you get out of being an ass?" Steve shot back, glaring at me through narrowed eyes that held no affect against me. So pushing myself off of the counter I sent another smirk his way, but it felt weaker than before, "Language Cap'."

I could feel his eyes bore into my back as I walked away, not knowing why I even bothered to push the argument, hell I don't even know why I started one in the first place, but pushing those thoughts away I let a different one flood through my mind.

He looks good in that suit.

----

It's been a couple of hours after that, and I decided to sit on the roof to take in the cold breeze that flicked through the air, sending a deep chill to my bones that I much appreciated. However everything looked magical at this time of night, the sky coated in a pallet of blues and purples, the stars shinning as bright as they could against the light of the city below, which bustled with life and at some point I could've sworn I saw flashes of blue and red swinging about. Barley hearing the door open behind me, I continued to stare towards the city, gently tapping my heal against the wall of the tower as I let out a drawn out sigh of content. "It's nice out here" The sudden voice didn't faze me, only nodding in return while Steve stood besides me, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"What do you want? You never come around me of your own violation" I grumbled out, feeling a twinge of regret right after I said it. I've never been much of a people person, but when it comes to Steve I don't know- I just don't know how to make conversation with him, doesn't matter how badly I want to, I always mess it up one way or another. "You know what, nevermind-! I came out here to be civil and have an actual conversation with you but you obviously don't know what 'civil' is" He spat out the word, leaving me with a vile taste in my mouth as I stood from my spot and turned towards him, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Civil? Civil?! Oh that's fucking rich! The great Captain America wants to lecture me on being civil!" I shouted, my hands shooting up in exasperation, anger slowly starting to bubble up within me as I took a step towards him, forcing him to take a step back.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you'd stop acting like a street thug!" He retorted, holding my vicious glare with his own, taking another step back when I took another step forward.

"Yeah well this 'street thug' didn't even get a fucking thank you for saving your life! Is it so fucking hard for someone as 'great' and 'amazing' as you," My words came out dangerously low, trapping the slightly shorter man against the metal door, my hand slamming down besides his head as I spat out the words. "To tell someone 'like me' a simple thank you? I got hospitalized and in the end the only ones that thanked me were the one's I didn't even save."

I didn't even notice the way his face heated up from the close proximity, being to wrapped up in my own bubble that I just couldn't pay attention. "Is it really that impossible for you to tell me something so simple just because of my profession?!" I couldn't even feel the way his hands gripped at my coat, "Cause if that's the case then fine! I'm so fucking sorry for caring-!" My words were cut short when I was suddenly yanked forwards, feeling a pair of soft lips press against my own in a desperate motion that left me breathless. My hands immediately found their way to his hips, pressing his back firmly against the metal door as his hands traveled up into my hair, his fingers tangling into the [H/c] strands while mine slowly slipped under the hem of his shirt, feeling his bare skin against my fingertips.

"You talk to much" He mumbled out softly, pulling me closer against him until our bodies were completely connected, and I couldn't tare my gaze away from those beautiful blue eyes that I didn't even know how much I adored until now. "You're insufferable" I growled out playfully, not truly meaning the words but from the smile that tugged at his lips I could tell he knew that. I was pleasantly surprised when he lifted his leg up to hook around my hip, and knowing his intention I happily placed my hands under his thighs and hoisted him up, his legs instantly wrapping around my hips as he quickly yanked off his shirt, as I did the same. Letting my hands wander up his toned body while my leg helped keep him propped up against the door.

My heart practically hammered in my chest, and I could only hope he felt the same when I slowly dragged my tongue up from the base of his neck to his ear, taking his earlobe between my teeth to give it a small tug, feeling a light sting in my lower abdomen when I heard a choked gasp come from his parted lips, along with a few heavy pants that brought a wolfish grin to my face. "Damn, we barley even started and you're already panting like a bitch in heat" I purred, moving a hand down to run over his growing erection, "Ah!" I couldn't help but lick my upper lip in a slow motion, feeling my excitement grow from all the cute reactions he makes. Letting out a low chuckle I pressed my tongue against his shoulder, opening my mouth to leave a harsh bite, "F-Fuck!" He cursed, panting heavily as I press my nose to the base of his neck, biting down there as well while my thumbs graze over his nipples.

"D-Daddy.." I froze at the name, surprise evident on both our faces but a deep red blush manages to crawl up his neck and cheeks while a long smirk tugged at my lips. "I-Im so sorry-" I quickly shut him up by capturing his lips with my own, pressing my hips against his own to create some sort of friction as my thumbs begin to roll over his nipples, toying with them almost agonizingly slow. Drawing my tongue over his bottom lip I felt him moan into the kiss as I slipped my tongue inside, our tongues brushing together in heated desperation until I pulled back for air, a string of saliva connected to our lips as a deep chuckle reverberated throughout my chest, bringing my lips to his ear, my hands slowly working at his pants. "C'mon baby boy, say it again."

"Daddy.." He moaned out breathlessly as I lifted him up further to pull down his pants and boxers, just enough to make it easy as I wrapped my hand around his cock, rubbing my thumb over his swollen tip, "D-Daddy!" My tongue darted over my upper lip once more as he pressed his forehead against my own, his arms gripping onto my shoulders tightly as I moved my hand at a faster pace, loving the way his mouth parted with sharp breaths that I could see in the chilly air that couldn't even nip at our skin because of the heat between us. "Fuck!" Steve shuddered in my arms when I suddenly pressed my thumb against his tip, holding back his orgasm as he looked at me with pleading eye's, his sweaty blonde hair sticking to his face as he let out a low whimper, "P-Please.. Please let me cum."

"Not yet baby, now suck" My voice was steady and commanding as I brought my fingers to his lips, feeling my own erection twitch uncomfortably in my pants when he happily took three fingers into his mouth. The warmth of his mouth forced a drawn out groan from my lips, wondering if next time he'd take my cock instead. But forcing the thoughts down I pressed the pad of my middle finger against his tongue, watching as he stuck his tongue out his mouth, drool slowly dripping down it in a motion that nearly had me hypnotized until I looked into his eyes, using my other hand to slowly cup his cheek, "This'll feel uncomfortable at first, okay? If you want me to stop just tell me alright?" And with a swift nod from him I brought him back into a kiss to distract him from my fingers.

My middle finger slowly pushed inside him, but I made sure to keep him distracted with rough kisses and harsh love bites that had him whimpering in my grasp, and slowly I added another digit. A low hiss slipped past his parted lips, causing me to freeze for a moment until he gave me a reassuring nod, but even then I made sure to take it slow, moving my fingers in a scissoring motion that left him breathless. "Daddy-" He whimpered out, pressing his hips down onto my fingers after a few moments, "Daddy please.. Please fuck me, I need it.." He groaned out, looking up into my eyes with a hazy gaze that made me weak.

"Who knew you were good at begging" I mocked lightly, but my own erection made itself known from the tightness of my pants, so hoisting him up some more I quickly pulled them down, letting my cock spring free as I rested one hand on the top of the door frame, making sure he was secure between the door and I, "You ready?" I asked, watching as he gave a quick nod. So in a slow motion I pressed my cock against his entrance and slowly pushed it in, instantly moving my hand to hook under his thigh to stable him, "F-Fuck- Daddy!" He groaned out, panting heavily and it took everything in me not to just start pounding into him, simply relishing in the feeling of his tight walls around me until he got adjusted.

A few moment's passed until he finally gave me the go ahead, so I slowly began to thrust into him, both of us letting out pleasured groans as I began to quick up speed, "Nng! D-Daddy! F-Faster, please" Steve begged in a low whimper, his nails digging into my back as I hooked both hands both hands under his knees, gaining better access as I pounded into him, "Daddy!!" He shouted as a groan slipped past my lips, feeling my core begin to tighten as I listen to his moans and whimpers. "Fuck baby, you're so fucking tight" I let out a small hiss from the way his walls wrapped around me drawing me closer to my orgasm as he dragged his nails down my back, and I knew they'd leave marks.

"P-Please! Please let me cum- Please!" He whimpered desperately, so pulling him into a quick kiss I nodded my head, "Go ahead baby, cum for daddy" I grinned watching as he slowly unraveled, his cum coating both our lower abdomens and soon after I caught my own relief, releasing my cum deep inside him, "Ah!" He let out a surprised moan, slightly trembling in my arms. So carefully pulling out of him and setting him down, I made sure to grab my shirt and clean him up, wiping away any left over cum.

But I couldn't stop the small that seemed to spread on my face, my heart warming softly in my chest as I looked over his peaceful yet tired expression. "What are you doing..?" He asked groggily, looking up at me with a hazy gaze.

"Cleaning you up idiot, I'm not a complete asshole, now lets get you to bed."

[lifewithsyfe]

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Not quite sure how to put this into words, but someone else needs to know what I know. This story can save so many people and I won’t feel right until it’s consumed by as many as possible. I can’t express how many times I’ve tried to get this out. I almost even gave up on it, but God wouldn’t let me. So, let me make another attempt at it - this is how I escaped the devil: 

-

It was a Friday night, April 5th, 2019. 

I’m at El Rey on U street, having a few cold ones by myself. Just got off work, taking it easy...

-

Then, I end up running into and old “friend” I used to hangout with. Known him for about 7 years at the time: (Dave) - tall, black, dreads, above average build.

-

After a couple of drinks, he asks if I want to hangout at one of his friends house. Said we can smoke there and that she has a lot of drugs. 

So I accepted cuz I was originally going to let the night unravel on it’s own and it didn’t sound like such a bad idea at the time.

-

It was a habitual routine I developed during my heartache…

I’d go out alone, run into a group of people I knew, bar hop ‘til we ended up at an after hours spot (or someone’s place) and shamelessly sleep my next day away.

-

So we get to the front of his friend’s building and it’s like a 60sumn-year-old lady: 

(Robin) - fat, white, short, blue hair, top row gold grill and “ride or die bitch” tattooed on the back of her neck (amongst a couple others, but that one stood out most cuz it was in my face, while she was unlocking her apartment door).

-

At first, I thought it was a descriptive-type of tattoo. Like, she was saying that that’s what she was.

But in retrospect, it was almost like it was something she was saying to me - you’ll see what I mean later, if you don’t get it now.

-

Oblivious to what was about to happen next, I continued to walk through that door...

Something felt off, but I just figured it would be something low-level weird. 

I’m always seeing signs that show somebody dabbles in magic or the dark arts, but I figured “if I’m not actively practicing divinity or doing weird rituals, it won’t personally affect me…if I don’t create a ceremonial invitation, then I’ll be okay.”

-

Now, I’ve already had a good amount of spiritual experiences at this point (good and bad), but for some reason I just didn’t think anything like this would happen…at least not to me. 

-

I thought I had it all figured out, cuz I thought I’d seen it all - or at least enough. 

I should’ve known though…I was just so emotionally numb at the time, I was doing anything to feel anything.

I mean aesthetically, she looked like she’d have a few good stories or something. Needless to say by now, but I ignored the red flags. 

-

So, moving forward...

We walk in, sit on the couch, watch skate videos and start breaking down.

After a few minutes of small talk, they offer me some acid from a vile. Emphasizing how it was very high grade stuff - but I didn’t need much convincing anyway. 

-

I was very into psychedelics and considered myself extremely experienced in that realm. 

But just because I did it a lot, didn’t mean I was. You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t though.

It was usually my go-to for when I needed that unrivaled escape from reality. 

So yeah, I took the witch’s brew thinking it was something I considered fun.

-

Once it starts to kick in, I can feel her beginning to stare at me from the end of the room - with a big grin on her face.

She then suggested that I take my jacket off cuz I’m going to end up getting really hot, and cackled like it was the funniest thing the world to say.

-

It was something she said a couple of times too. At first I didn’t know exactly what she meant, I just thought she was a basket case - but she was implying that I was going to end up in Hell…you’ll see what I mean.

-

A few moments go by and they suggest we move the party to the rooftop cuz her place was limiting and we could see more from up there. 

Plus, she wanted to blow bubbles…and I figured “tripping indoors is boring anyway, why not?”

-

Now because I took my jacket off and left it in her apartment, I began shivering after a while. 

I didn’t expect for it to be that windy, I wanted a nice little breeze.

So she says she’ll get me one, cuz she had to go in for more soap anyway - comes back and asks to put this fur coat on me. 

It was a nice coat, so I let her.

-

So I’m cozy now and she gives me a tour, showing me the cool visible parts of the city.

Telling me not to be afraid of my true potential and that I can obtain everything I want. 

I was feeling pretty good about those words, until I thought “that sounds familiar…what if she isn’t speaking in general?” - but I just chalked it up to her being an old hippy. 

-

She then grabs my arm and tells me to look at this red wall, as we walk to the other side of the building. I figured it’d be something visually enticing she was trying to share, but this was going to be her first attempt at hypnosis.

-

She asked if it felt like my soul was being massaged - encouraging me to ride it out. Essentially, trying to get me to put my guard down, saying “this is where dreams become reality.” 

Then, I began seeing holographic outlines of people in the wall. The traces reminded me of a glowing snail trail.

-

Right after, I saw myself turn into a block of flesh and almost being slid into the wall if I stared any longer. 

But like I woke up in one of those falling dreams, I snapped out of it.

-

With a laugh attached, she says “damn, almost!” 

And that’s when I stopped letting myself be completely naive. The veil was clearly being lifted before me and I needed to be alert. It’s just, I had this slight muffle surrounding my common sense. 

-

Now I knew hallucinogens were considered sorcery in the Bible, but I figured - one more time won’t hurt. It’s not like I wasn’t still smoking and drinking. 

It’s just crazy, cuz it was after learning about what the fallen angels taught us, is when I decide trip again. 

I blatantly chose to play with fire and defy God that night.  

-

See, these hypnotic spells are telepathic contracts. Once the manipulator is installing a vision, it’s at the last second where it becomes your choice to see what happens next.  

-

It nudges at your curiosity, feeling like it’s a part of the trip you’re supposed to let ride out.

But every time I almost did, my heart wasn’t having it and I’d snap out of it again.

-

Every time she would cast a spell, I could feel my soul almost getting pulled out - with a malicious presence surrounding me. 

The goosebumps I got from this thing, felt like it was ready to defile me in every way possible.

-

In disbelief that what I thought might be happening, wasn’t - I tell myself “let me not cause a ruckus for no reason, I am trippin’ after all. Think of something positive.”

But now my eyes are shifting everywhere, cuz I keep getting a glimpse of whatever’s approaching. 

Even with that many peculiarities, something kept me in denial.

-

Still though, she tries another set-up and tells me to look at how high up we are, as she gestured for me to look down from the rail. As if I didn’t already know, but I go cuz I also didn’t want to be rude.

-

So I grab the rail and lean over…

(Dave) says “don’t let go,” giving me this wide-eyed look with a smile and said “you feel it, don’t you?”

Then just like that, my heart jumped and my mind began getting flashes of demonic symbols and images like subliminal messages. 

-

My vision was about to go black, like the circle closing at the end of a cartoon…until I snapped out of it and backed up with my head on a swivel, angrily questioning them. 

That’s when I caught (Dave) behind me, quickly hiding his hands. 

-

Now I’m on survival mode and it feels like I can’t even make a step without risking my soul. I can feel that I’m being made a fool out of, but of course they gaslight me and try to calm me down…

I still didn’t want to believe I was in this kind of mess, but I’d be naive to let all that slide so easily.

-

So with caution, I’m trying to plan my escape - playing it as cool as I can, but my body is getting heavier by the second.

She then lifts her speaker and says “listen to these different frequencies, it can change your mood.”

I really wasn’t trying to listen, because I needed to leave and I didn’t trust her at all now. Especially not with anything sound related.

But then out of nowhere, I hear a distorted garble come out of the speaker and hit my ear.

-

I said “huh!?”

Then (Dave) was like “oh, you heard that...?”

I looked away and acted oblivious, cuz I felt that if they knew I could hear that, they’d bring out the big guns.

-

(Dave) laughed, saying to Robin “wait, he still don’t know what this is yet?”

Unintentionally, or intentionally letting me know. 

So I tried to leave and they started laughing. Trying so hard to keep me there…

-

(Dave) said “you already ‘bouta do it, it’s better this way anyway.”

Then he was like “look at my hands, this shit trippy, right?”

Followed by him creating an infinity symbol with his waving hands. 

Now this infinity symbol was made of light and floating in mid-air in front of him after he did it. 

Right after that, he did the hermaphrodite/goat-headed deity’s pose, flipping his hands and head perfectly in a stiff dance.

Which then caused me to see it’s true form in my minds eye. I snap out of it once again, trying to get a hold of my reality.

-

Once I can see them again, it’s like time stood still and only I could move. 

I’d look around and they’d be frozen. 

At this time, I can hear them having two conversations, simultaneously. 

All I caught was (Dave) say “he can’t hear us in this plane.”

-

Then as he slowly got up - like I was tuning through a radio, I hear a screeching static clear up. The sound then becomes like an electronic bleating and bellowing from a goat, in-sync, surrounding him.

-

At this moment, I’m a part of their their collective conscious conversation - essentially telepathy.

Then they began letting me know who they were. 

Saying that they were angels, that they were around before us and that I can be like them.

-

The whole time they were talking to me, they were trying to weaken and hypnotize me with hand signs - trying to convince me. Thing is, when they did try to convince me, they’d always talk around the subject at hand - but once you know what the subject is, the situation becomes clear. 

-

A lot of people might think they’d get physical and get out of there. I just don’t think they’d understand how it is fighting sleep paralysis, awake. 

I also knew that one false move would take me to the ‘sunken place.’

-

I knew I couldn’t just stand there though, but right before I grab the door to get to the elevator, (Dave) says “okay, you gon’ be waiting on that elevator forever; this is a REAL trip…c’mon, I thought you liked this shit.” 

Mockingly he asked “yeah, I guess you gon’ think twice about taking LSD again huh?”

-

I was thinking in my head “fuck, did I really just lose my soul? Is this how it happens? Is this where it all ends?”

I thought that was it, so I was about to give in and accept the offer - see what benefits I could get, if any.

-

Then from there, every time we almost sealed the deal, I would feel a hungry fire approach me from behind.

The one time I decided to look for where it was coming from, I got a vision with an orange blur in it - slowly materializing, until I could make something out of it. With the bit that I saw, I knew it was me being swallowed by fire and not dying. 

-

Immediately after, almost as if I had touched the flames themselves, I yelled in confusion “wait, what? No! Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!”

-

To which (Dave) nonchalantly responds “okay, you do that...that [N-word] died a long time ago.” 

I look at him with disgust and continued to pray.

Telling God that He would never abandon His children if they encountered evil and that if there was a way for Him to save me to do it.

-

(Dave) says that I’m blowing his trip and leaves to the gas station.

At this time I could’ve left, but I still didn’t want to be alone in an elevator with him.

-

So as I’m praying, I begin to feel the dark grip they had on my heart loosen up. It was like my heart was pumping electricity throughout my body, then all around it. I could feel the forcefield - Christ had arrived and I could move my body freely. No more fear in taking the wrong step.

-

So on (Dave’s) way back, (Robin) announces it and says let’s go downstairs and get him. That’s when I hear (Dave) say - not yell, “open up” from all the way downstairs and I was amazed...I was like “wait, can he still hear me?” 

With him responding “DUH! Damn, you some shit!” and continued on his way.

-

So if I was to leave, this was going to be my chance.

In the elevator she tries enchanting me again, but I rebuked every attempt. 

I’m trying to maintain focus the best that I can, so I don’t slip - which made this elevator ride unnecessarily more intense than it needed to be.  

-

Once the elevator door finally opens, I see (Dave’s) silhouette behind a thick glass rail, carrying an ominous slouch. 

Walking towards me, he notices that I’ve calmed down. So when he sees my face, he smiles and asks “oh, you’re good now?”

-

I replied “I am and I’m not with the goofy shit y’all up to - I’m gettin’ the fuck outta here.” 

So as I’m walking towards the exit, he yells “that’s not the way out!”

To where I respond “fuck y’all!”

-

You would’ve thought I opened the door before touching it, the way I left out so fast. 

As that door closed, I did a little jog to get across the street. 

But a few seconds later, I feel this tingle in the back of my brain, as though it had neck hairs that stood up. 

I look over my shoulder and noticed he decided to follow me…of course. Shortly after I noticed him - with that bull-like slouch, he started running. 

-

Now I was a little ahead of him, so I didn’t start running yet. I had to make sure I knew where I was going before exerting my energy.

Every time I moved my head, I could feel the tingle coming from his direction. 

So there was no losing him - but I am fast.

-

I couldn’t call a ride because my phone was dead and I couldn’t go to anyone’s house at the time, cuz it was around 5am now.

As (Dave) got closer, I felt my vision going black and my body getting heavy again. A lot stronger this time…time to kick it into high gear.

-

Once it clicks into my head that the easiest place to catch a taxi in such a heated moment would be in Adams Morgan, an opportunity presented itself.

-

Ahead of me was a crosswalk and the orange hand was counting down it’s last seconds. Everything I ever learned told me I wasn’t going to make it, but I wasn’t going to stop running either.

-

So when my foot lands off the sidewalk, is when the cars to my left and right begin to move. 

That’s when everything moved in-slow-motion…and a burst of energy launched me across the street.

I’ll remember that moment as my own Air Jordan.

-

That moment bought me time, but he kept going too. This is when I start hearing echoed garbles crawl off buildings and jump into my ear “you acting like a bitch - come back!”

Perfectly as if he was next to me…I look behind me and it’s like he hasn’t broke a sweat. Completely focused.

-

From the gas station diagonal to the 9:30 Club, to the McDonald’s in Adam’s Morgan.

My body wanted to give out most of the way, but soul wouldn’t allow it.

I just had to keep running until I found a taxi - which I did.

-

That’s when (Dave) caught up, yelling “you look like an unk right now!” cuz 4 taxis stopped for me in that intersection.

To where I respond “I don’t give a fuck, I made it out alive!” 

I get in the car and tell the taxi driver to drive towards Maryland, that I’ll give him the address on the highway.

-

Finally, after surviving a living nightmare, I made it home. 

I went to my room, played some worship music, got on my knees and wrung myself out of tears to Christ.

-

Afraid to sleep because I knew they could contact me in my dreams.

So I didn’t until the drug wore off in the afternoon the next day…

I even felt that burn on my back as if it was sunburn for the next couple of weeks.

-

I’m so grateful to still be alive, because I’m 100% positive I’d be in Hell (with something else in my vessel) if I didn’t call on God that night.

It was like I was tiptoeing on a needlepoint to keep my soul.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Lucien’s Whimsical Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Disney Dates Collection: Gavin // Kiro // Victor

The date begins with MC in the office at around 9pm

She has been working tirelessly on a program for about half a month

She’s worried and stressed because she can’t think of something innovative for her program

 Lucien suddenly calls to ask if she’s still at work, and suggests that she sets her work aside and relax i.e. by going to the amusement park the next day

MC hesitates, but Lucien goes into science mode and tells her that her efficiency might actually decline if she keeps focusing on one single thing

MC caves in, and immediately feels happier <3

The next day, the weather looks fine and perfect

And then it suddenly starts POURING right when they are two streets away from the amusement park

Lucien covers her head with one hand, and pulls her hand with the other to find shelter from the rain

They end up outside a shop

Lucien: Come to think of it, our story seems to always be associated with rainy days. 

[Note: I did this translation while listening to a Chinese gameplay commentary, and the commentator said, “Your story is associated with rainbows, but you just can’t see them...” T^T] 

Lucien notices cute Disney character plushies in the window of the shop and smiles

Lucien: I think I can understand the meaning of this sudden rain. 

Lucien: Perhaps it was meant to sound a prelude so that would come here. 

Lucien: Since it’s still raining, why don’t we go in to take a look? 

A pair of Mickey and Minnie plushies catch MC’s attention, but she can’t reach it. Lucien tries to get them for her, but he keeps grabbing the wrong ones 👀

Because she's trapped in between the shelf and Lucien’s fine chest, she turns into a Gavin i.e. her ears start flushing

Lucien finally gets the correct set:

Lucien: This pair?

MC nods vigorously, and says they can get one each

While saying this, I reach out to take Minnie from Lucien’s hands. However, Lucien suddenly retracts both hands. 

MC: Eh? 

Lucien sways the Minnie in his left hand lightly, then smiles faintly as he reaches out his right hand, which is holding Mickey.

Lucien: If possible, I actually prefer to keep her. If MC wants to use these dolls to represent the both of us... I’m thinking this would be more meaningful, right?

 After hearing his words, I feel the temperature of my cheeks rising even further. I gently poke the doll in Lucien’s hand. 

MC: [blushing] ...put these back first!

Lucien: Hm? Why?

Lucien raises his eyebrows slightly, his smile gentle and calm. There’s a hint of mischievousness in his narrow eyes. 

MC: [blushing] There seems to be other styles over there. Let’s go and take a look!

With this, I turn around and run towards the other end of the plushie section. Behind me, I hear the sound of Lucien’s faint, low laughter. 

~

By the time MC leaves the shop, the rain has reduced to a drizzle. Soon after, Lucien walks out of the shop too.

I walk up to grab Lucien’s hand, and swing it twice. 

MC: Lucien, let’s go!

Lucien: Judging from your expression, you seem to be in a much better mood?

MC: It’s because even before I’ve done anything, the heavy rain has already run away!

Lucien: You’re not wrong. Even though we don’t have umbrellas, the rain has dissipated on its own. This is why even when you meet temporary difficulties, don’t blindly immerse yourself in the feeling of loss. Everything has a solution, am I wrong? 

MC agrees, and they finally head to the amusement park, which is still as crowded as ever despite the rain

Lucien suggests that they try something different today - instead of being participants, they become observers

Lucien: Sometimes, people’s emotions have an influencing effect, especially in this place. 

As they wander around aimlessly, MC feels delighted because she doesn’t have to consider what attraction to go for next, etc. 

The smiling faces of the visitors, the vibrant colours, the colourful balloons, the inter-dimensional cartoon celebrities... I can more clearly feel the charm of the amusement park. 

I also have his company at my side...

I turn my head, sneaking a peek at Lucien. Similar to what I was doing just now, he’s watching the visitors queuing up to take a picture with a cartoon celebrity.

As though noticing my line of sight, Lucien turns his head over, meeting my eyes directly.

Lucien: What’s wrong?

MC: Nothing!

I shake my head, but the corners of my lips curl up involuntarily. Suddenly, a colourful castle enters my vision. I point excitedly at the one which has a spire.

MC: Lucien, look at that castle! Isn’t it very pretty? Since young, I’ve always liked colourful castles with spires. I’ve even dreamt of them! 

MC: I once dreamt that little monsters took over a castle, and I turned into a little super warrior, bravely sending those monsters running! 

MC: The moment the monsters disappeared, there were colourful rivers of light outside the castle.

Lucien blinks slowly, then his eyes bend at a nice angle. 

Lucien: Sounds like it was a righteous yet intriguing dream. 

I purse my lips and smile, then look at my surroundings. 

MC: We seem to have walked around the entire park. Let’s go for the attractions!

Lucien: All right. I’ll have to trouble MC to be my guide. 

Immersed in the joyful atmosphere, I even forget the time. When I come back to my senses, I realise that the sky has started to darken, and the rain has long since stopped. 

MC: It’s already 6pm...

Lucien: After this, do you want to have something to eat and have a rest, or continue playing? 

MC: Let me think...

The lights in the park start flickering on one by one and MC decides to bring Lucien to the spinning teacup ride

MC asks if Lucien finds the light installations pretty

Lucien: When I’m with you, it seems I can always discover a different scenery. 

All of a sudden, there are dazzling lights in the sky. 

[Note: The original word used here is “流光”, which can mean (1) “rivers of light” (like an aurora...?), or (2) streamers (i.e. party confetti). I picked the “rivers of light” interpretation because it seems more appropriate. But I’m really not sure which one the writers are referring to so please don’t scold me if it turns out to be party confetti LOL]

MC: Too perfect... we were just talking about rivers of light just now, but I never thought that we’d see them. It’s so magical!

Lucien stands next to me. His expression is calm as he lifts his head to look at the lights. Then, he leans down slightly. 

He laughs lightly, and I feel his warm breath brush against my cheeks, as tender as a feather. 

Lucien: In the amusement park, nothing is impossible. That includes the whimsical lights in your dream. 

Hearing his words, I’m left stunned. In the next second, a thought flashes across my mind. 

MC: ...! Lucien, did you...?

With a sudden realisation, I look at him, my eyes filled with disbelief. Lucien doesn’t say anything. He just smiles faintly and straightens a finger to do a “shh” posture.

I was right! These lights were created by Lucien! 

-- in order to complete the whimsical dream I once had. 

Lucien rubs the top of my head, the corners of his lips turned upwards slightly, the colours in his eyes tender. 

Before he retracts his hand, I hurriedly hold onto it, and then entwine my fingers with his. 

MC: ...Lucien, thank you.

I originally planned to say even more, but my eyes are drawn to the couple in front of us. 

They are lifting a Mickey doll in their hands, happily taking a selfie with the almost vanishing lights as a keepsake. 

Thinking about how we ended up not buying the dolls from the shop just now, I suddenly feel slightly envious, and a little regretful towards my earlier decision. 

Lucien: What are you thinking about? 

MC: ...N-nothing much.

Following my line of sight, Lucien’s eyes sweep towards the couple in front of us, then holds my hand to walk forward. 

Lucien: Let’s go, it’s almost our turn.

They ride the spinning teacup

MC confesses how she feels:

MC: I regret not taking photos of those beautiful lights, and regret...

I bite my lip, letting out a light sigh. At this moment, a low laugh travels to my ears. Lucien turns his face over, drawing nearer to me. 

He pinches the tip of my nose gently. 

Lucien: Do you still feel regret now? 

MC: Eh? 

Before I can react, Lucien takes out a pair of dolls from behind his back. It was the pair we saw at the shop!

My eyes widen in surprise, and I have no idea what to say. 

Lucien: After you left the shop first in the afternoon, I bought them. 

Lucien: As for why they could appear here, it’s thanks to the enthusiastic helpers in the shop.

Lucien: As for your other regret... want to take a photo? 

Without waiting for me to react again, Lucien suddenly places the dolls into my arms and takes out his phone.

“Kacha” “Kacha”

Facing me, he takes several photos.

MC: ...eh, are you going to create more rivers of light? 

I take the phone from him in confusion. After swiping through the photos, I realise that the photos only feature me, looking silly while holding the plushies. 

MC: Why am I the only one in the photos... I even thought you’d capture the lights!

I purse my lips, pretending to be unhappy. Even so, the gradual heating up of my ears reveal my inner happiness. 

Lucien laughs and sits even closer to me, gently wrapping an arm around my shoulders. 

His body temperature seeps through his shirt, travelling from my arm to the depths of my heart.

I lift my head to look at Lucien. Neon lights flash across his face, casting a reflection in his eyes. 

In the midst of the mottled, changing lights, I can clearly see a tiny me. 

Lucien brushes my hair which has been messed up by the wind, then places a hand on my back, speaking in a low voice.

 Lucien: Only you. Only the time spent with you are worth treasuring forever. 

His warm breath lingers on the tip of my nose. He gazes at me tenderly. In that moment, my heartstrings are tugged, as though making contact with electricity.

The surrounding scenery and neon lights follow the movement of the spinning cup and continuously change. Only the starlight above us remains bright. 

However, no matter how beautiful these lights are, they can’t compare to the tiny universe in Lucien’s eyes - the ones that reflect me in them. 

MC: ...it’s the same for me.

Hugging a doll each, Lucien and I are nestled together quietly. As the music gradually reaches an end, the speed of the spinning teacups also slows down. 

As though noticing my reluctance, Lucien suddenly asks. 

Lucien: I wonder if MC’s “battery” is fully charged? As compared to the library, isn’t the relaxation from this trip to the amusement park even more fruitful? 

MC: You’re right! My entire body is full of energy! Tomorrow, I can definitely welcome the new day of work with vitality!

Looking at my brilliant smile, the corner of Lucien’s lips curl upwards as well. 

Lucien: In that case, it’s my turn to gain energy.

After saying this, he takes my hand in his once again, pressing his forehead against mine. His eyes drift shut.

In our arms, Mickey and Minnie’s foreheads are also leaning against each other.

As though energy could really transfer from my body to his, the space between Lucien’s eyebrows smoothens out, and his expression is one of a rare, complete state of relaxation. 

I close my eyes too, feeling my throbbing heartbeat and his body temperature. Our skin is tightly pressed together, allowing our breaths to gradually mingle.

Perhaps more magical than the amusement park is Lucien - a miraculous existence.

As long as I’m by his side, I am always surrounded by happiness and joy.

-

Lucien’s Post: The amusement park at night seems to possess an even more unique charm. 

MC: I think so too!

Lucien: Perhaps next time, we can consider staying here overnight.

-

Lucien’s Post: The amusement park at night seems to possess an even more unique charm.

MC: Eh? What charm?

Lucien: I feel very close to you.

-

Lucien’s Post: The amusement park at night seems to possess an even more unique charm.

MC: It’d be great if today never ends.

Lucien: Even if it ends, it will remain in our hearts.

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 106

I know I’ve been on a fluff kick lately, and I’m not even remotely sorry. This chapter started out as an excuse to re-visit an offhand comment from a previous chapter, and ended up with Sophia having the kind of night off I wish I could have.

Thanks go out to @baelpenrose (beta and also creator of our favorite teacher-cum-warlord-cum-teacher), @charlylimph-blog (because no one else could have created the ball of chaotic friendliness that is Charly, nor her strong, silent, and charming partner), @werewolf2578 (because I will never not love Maverick), and @creakingcryptid (for donating faerself and Antoine early on to the cause, and putting up with me in real life.  This entire story, from chapter 1, would never have happened if not for faer, and I’m not even remotely exaggerating about that).

“Lift the right corner a bit more,” Tyche called out. “Yeah - Dammit, Arthur, that’s too high. Bring it down a bit more.”

“Do you want to swap?” he quipped, dropping his side of the large, white sheet to exactly where it had been before.

Ignoring him, Tyche asked Maverick to lower his corner instead, to much greater success. At least satisfied with the results, she turned to me and made a ‘ta-da’ gesture towards their work.

I shook my head at her. “And we need this why?”

“Movie night,” she reminded me needlessly.

“Eyeah. It was kind of my idea.”

“And none of us have been to a proper movie theater in ages.” She had a point there.

“Do we even have a projector?” Maverick asked, grinning, as he walked up.

Arthur, right behind him, grinned almost malevolently before Tyche cut him off with a glare. “I told Charly we were doing a movie night,” she offered by way of explanation.

“She insisted she had popcorn covered,” Arthur ventured carefully. “Do I even want to know?”

Eyes wide, I turned to him. “She didn’t tell you?”

He shook his head. “I asked what that meant, and all I got out of her was a maniacal laugh. By any chance, does she always carry around a cartoon-villain moustache in case she needs to twirl it?”

“And cat ears, yeah,” I confirmed absently. “She really didn’t tell you?”

“I just asked if she got the consoles to actually make popcorn that wasn’t better used as packing material,” he admitted.

Maverick erupted in laughter. “You are in for a treat.”

“Will it poison me?”

“Doubtful,” Tyche shrugged regretfully.

“Hmm. Pity.”

Trying to get somewhat back on topic, I pressed on about the projector. “So, you told Charly we were doing movie night this week, so she is going to… obtain? Steal? Jury-rig a projector?”

“I try not to ask, unlike some people,” Tyche arched an eyebrow defiantly. “Gift horses, mouths, you get it.”

“I doubt she’s stealing one,” Maverick offered. “She’s an engineer. Pretty sure she already had one she made, or is finishing one up as we speak.”

Fair. “What movie did we end up agreeing on?”

Maverick and Arthur answered in unison. “Star Wars.”

“Nuh uh. Nope,” my sister argued. “Repo! The Genetic Opera.”

“I’m with her,” I jerked my finger toward the person not insisting I watch a movie about a war in space while actually on a spaceship.

We continued arguing good-naturedly while getting non-popcorn snacks and drinks together. Arthur, to no small amount of surprise, was putting a very impressive amount of thought and consideration into the arrangement of blankets and pillows on every conceivable seating surface in my living room - some of which I didn’t even recognize and probably didn’t want to know where he got them.  At some point, Derek and Sam arrived, judging by the latter sitting happily next to a moving lump in Arthur’s careful construction and petting my cat.

About the time snacks were ready to be carried into the living room, the door opened to reveal Conor, who abruptly stopped to remove his work boots.  Unfortunately, he was knocked down by a clattering intruder behind him and saved only by the - no joke - knee deep ocean of bedding.  A hinged brass lid and a metal piece of something went flying past his head, revealing the intruder to be Charly. “Hi, guys!” she waved cheerfully. “Don’t worry. Coffey has the projector.”

White teeth flashed in a dark, handsome face as the man in question held up the device. “Her hands were full,” he shrugged before glancing past Conor. “You take movie nights seriously,” he added with an approving nod.

Charly, who I couldn’t remember having even seen wear shoes, had already scrambled over Conor’s laughing form so that she could grab the lid and basket, which she brought along with the enormous pot into my kitchen area. “Popcorn,” she declared, gently slamming the pot on a heating surface.  “As promised. I’m thinking green today.”

“That’s not popcorn,” Arthur pointed out, curiosity etched into every bit of his face.

“Duh, Mr. Farro,” she sputtered. “It’s how we’re going to get popcorn.  The consoles never season it, and it’s always stale, or soggy, or just… not good.  So. I made a whirlypop.” With a clatter, she patted her copper contraption. “It makes absolutely perfect kettle corn, every time. And I can make it whatever color I want, too.”

“It’s really good popcorn,” I confirmed. “She brought some to your fight with Jokul.”

“Of course she did,” he sighed. “I thought you said no selling tickets and no concession stand for that?”

“Doesn’t mean she can’t bring her own, screaming blue popcorn with her,” I held up both hands in surrender. “I couldn’t argue with the logic, and she was the only person there with popcorn, can confirm.” 

When I glanced back at her, I saw what I pretty much expected to see: her handy cartoon-villain moustache was pasted firmly on her face and she was twirling one end in what could only be described as a dastardly fashion. Arthur, on the other hand, was almost sputtering. “I - how? I was facing you, Charly. How?”

“Don’t ask, you probably don’t want to know,” I sighed with a wave of my hand. “Besides, I’m reasonably certain the answer involves a collective hallucination, blood sacrifice, or time travel.”

“Two out of three,” Charly nodded, sounding impressed but not clarifying any further. “So! Everyone ready for- oo! Mini pizzas! - popcorn and Master and Commander?”  A collective groan went up at a third movie being added to our ongoing argument over what we had agreed to watch. “What!? It’s my favorite!”

Maverick explained the conversation we had earlier to those who arrived after. Even having nine people voting now didn’t help: we were still split evenly across all three movies.  In the end, we agreed to take a run at watching all three, but that led to another discussion - what order?  We knew the odds of getting through all three were slim, and nobody wanted theirs to be left out.

Sam finally interrupted us. “If we don’t stay awake through all three, can we watch the last movie on another night?”

My jaw clicked shut mid-argument. Tyche tilted her head, “That makes entirely too much sense.”

With that anticlimactic resolution, we quickly took votes to determine which movies were most popular.  In the end, we ended up with Star Wars first, Master and Commander second, and Repo! last, much to my and Tyche’s chagrin.  At least we weren’t the only ones who voted for it, so I was mollified. Somewhat.

While we were hashing all that out, Charly somehow called upon the popcorn deities and managed to fill nearly every bowl and bucket she could find in my quarters with a rainbow of fluffy kernels. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t figure how she managed to make that much in roughly fifteen minutes, and when I asked, the only answer I could manage to get from her was “Two out of three, like I said.”

I wasn’t asking after that, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know if blood magic was involved, honestly.

Antoine arrived right as I was trying to figure out how to fit on the couch, where Maverick and Conor were cuddling and hogging the whole damned thing.  Unfortunately, between the immense quantities of popcorn, blankets, pillows, and people strewn everywhere - and somehow my Christmas lights were carefully hanging from the ceiling, which I had a sneaking suspicion was Derek’s doing - our poor resident therapist looked a bit confused.

I couldn’t help but grin as I waved at the chaos. “Welcome to movie night, apparently. You can sit anywhere except there,” I explained, gesturing at a particular pile of blankets.

“Why not - ah….” he trailed off in understanding as a hand darted out of the ‘pile’ to snag a mini pizza.

“Eyeah, only Mac can sit there, I think. And nobody better be feeding him pizza?” I warned. “Whoever does gets to keep stinky cat for the night while he has tummy trouble.” Turning back toward the couch, I stuck my lip out in a pout. “Where am I supposed to sit?”

“We’re comfy….” Conor whined, hiding what was probably a grin behind Maverick’s head. Rather than sitting up in any capacity, the two were laying down along the entire length of the couch, both their feet sticking off. There was maybe two inches of couch between them and the edge.

While my attention was focused on my boyfriends, two strong hands grabbed each of my arms and tugged me down. With a yelp, I fell across Charly and my sister, both of them giggling. Deliberately, Charly started to pet my hair as clumsily as humanly possible, and the scowl I directed at her set Tyche off in hysterics. When I opened my mouth to protest, popcorn was thrown in.  With another scowl, I surrendered to being draped across both of their laps, with a fluffy blanket spread over me from somewhere.

I still sulked, and ignored that I probably looked like a particularly perturbed cat.  With much determination, I managed to keep a scowl on my face until the first movie started rolling.  It was hard to stay even faux-upset after that, as what ensued was the most laid back night I had enjoyed in longer than I could remember. Seats were stolen every time someone got up for any reason, snacks were eaten and refilled, popcorn got everywhere….

It. Was. Glorious.

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[keichanz]

Like Magic

hmm self control? don’t know her *fucks off to the land of unfinished WIPs*

so, i started this oneshot a while ago, forgot about it, then decided to dig through my WIP folder to maybe work on something else besides YRM for a while because I needed a small break from it. found this again, immediately dove in and welp here we are haha. I had a lot of run writing it and I hope you guys enjoy it :) it’s 32 pages jesuS CHRI

real quick, if Souji appears smarter than the average 2 year old boy it’s because i legit don’t know how to portray children since i know virtually nothing about them, so just pretend that half-demon children are slightly more advanced than human kids in this fic mkay? kthx. :)

oh and also when reading Inuyasha’s little light show for Souji, think about this video.

@fantastiqueparfait​ @morikothehalfangel​ @cammysansstuff​ @heyy-ahriii​ @tsukinohimeusagi​ @eternalnight8806-3​ @mamabearcat​ @hinezumi​ @sssuperbartola​ @doginabirdcage​ @ideasthatbuildcities​ @armor-emblem​ 

oh and @meggz0rz​.....remember a while ago when i first started this oneshot you mentioned that i should make Inuyasha do Joker’s pencil trick on Kouga? 

well...you’re gonna get a kick outta the ending ahahahah.

enjoy, lovelies~ 

Kagome’s head was positively throbbing and she was pretty sure it had more to do with the very distraught, screaming child in her arms than the fresh cut on her forehead that was still bleeding.

The flashing lights and loud engines of the emergency vehicles combined with the tow truck’s back-up alarm as it prepared to haul her totaled car away definitely wasn’t helping matters, and she was damn positive all the noise wasn’t helping her baby’s current temperament, either. With his ears pinned flat against his head to no doubt muffle the noise, his face red and scrunched up into a consistent howl with tears running unchecked down his flushed cheeks, her precious Souji had been inconsolable ever since she pulled him from her wrecked car.

At first she’d thought he was hurt somewhere and so she’d frantically searched him over as he cried, ignoring the witnesses that rushed over and asked if she was alright, but she’d only been able to marginally relax upon discovering he’d only suffered a few minor scrapes and bruises. She’d taken most of the damage, with a gash on her forehead, severe bruising on her side and diagonally across her torso form the seat belt, and her right ankle was aching something fierce, but she’d gladly take all that and more if it meant her baby boy was spared.

The accident had happened nearly an hour ago, Kagome was tired, sore, worn out, and Souji was proving rather thoroughly that he was perfectly fine by showing the entire neighborhood that he had quite the set of lungs on him.

Which really was quite unfortunate since it was, y’know, one o’clock in the morning and no doubt people were trying to sleep. Key word: trying. Kagome was pretty confident the entire damn neighborhood was awake now because of her son’s consistent shrieking, and she sent another mental apology to them.

She’d tried everything to get him to calm; singing his favorite lullaby, settling him in his mercifully undamaged car seat to rock him back to sleep, talking to him, walking around with him in her arms—absolutely nothing was working. Some of the kind spectators and even police officers had tried offering food and a young mother had even provided a sippy cup of chocolate milk, but Souji was having none of it. Kagome cursed herself for leaving her phone at home since usually putting on his favorite cartoon worked like a charm, but this was supposed to be just a quick drive to get him to fall asleep; taking her phone hadn’t seemed necessary.

He refused to let anyone come near her to treat her wounds, and he wouldn’t let anyone take him from her either. He became aggressive and nearly hysterical whenever an officer or EMT tried to take him, and she was sporting several scratches from where his claws had dug into her shoulders and arms. His screeching was the worst when that happened and it wasn’t long before they stopped trying altogether. Probably because with every attempt, whoever it was walked away with teeth marks or scratches somewhere on their body and Kagome had lost count of how many times she’d apologized.

To be honest, however, she couldn’t say she was very surprised. Ever since she’d left his father, Souji had been extremely protective of her, and even though he was only two years old, he let it be known if they were out in public that no one was allowed to touch her. He started growling whenever someone got too close, even bared his teeth on a couple occasions, and more than once she’d had to stop him from physically swiping with his claws.

Kagome understood his behavior. She knew why he was acting like this, and while most of the time it was endearing, sometimes it…well, wasn’t, and she wanted to go back in time and punch her ex-boyfriend in his stupid face for what he did. It was his fault her sweet little Souji was like this, and while completely understandable, it was still utterly frustrating and difficult to deal with, especially during times like this so Mama could get some relief.

“Oh, baby,” Kagome cooed for what seemed like the thousandth time, bouncing her son in her arms as she walked aimlessly around a little ways away from all the action of the police cars, ambulances, and curious spectators. Souji continued to wail at the top of his little lungs and she sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed his back and tried to ignore the pounding in her head. Her arms were aching from holding him for so long, she had a limp from her sore ankle, and his slight weight agitated the fresh bruises on her body.

Ignoring the looks directed her way from the police, medics, and street residents alike, Kagome limped her way back over to the flimsy plastic chair someone had provided from somewhere and gratefully sank down. She grimaced when her sore chest and side protested, but she endured it as Souji burrowed against her, clinging to her shirt and digging his tiny claws in as he sobbed into her neck, his little body shaking, his sobs breaking her heart.

She kissed him between his little ears, feeling completely helpless. She knew he was scared and this was just his way of telling her that, but still, she wished she could do something. She wished she had the ability to make him understand he was safe, she was here, and nothing would ever harm him as long as she was around.

“Shh, baby, shh,” Kagome soothed, resting her head against his own and heaving another sigh as she stared tiredly at the ruckus surrounding her.

The man that had ran the stop sign and slammed into her had long ago been detained and was, last she knew, passed out in the back of a police cruiser. If she recalled, he had sustained little to no injury and that just freaking figured, didn’t it. It was always the drunk assholes that suffered the least, and the victims ended up with most of the damage.

Police tape was cordoning off the scene of the accident, and her car was in the process of being secured to the back of the tow truck along with the truck that had totaled her little sedan. Most of the spectators had returned to their homes, either too tired, or leaving because the excitement had passed. Police milled about, taking statements of witnesses or those who claimed they saw what happened, and the medics just sort of wandered around since their only patient was unapproachable. She felt a little guilty since she was keeping them from doing their job so they could pack up and go home, but it was fleeting because she had no energy to care anymore.

She just wanted to go home because maybe then Souji would finally calm down once he realized he was in safe, familiar surroundings, and a long, hot bath sounded positively divine right now. Thank god she worked from home so she didn’t have to worry about that in the morning, and though she doubted she’d be able to sleep in – a thing of the past when she became a mother – she would at least be able to sneak in a couple naps when Souji slept.

Souji paused in his howling to suck in a few unsteady breaths before continuing his distraught sobbing, mercifully at a slightly lower volume this time, and Kagome sighed as she rubbed his back, thinking that she would just have to let him cry it out. What else could she do?

When Inuyasha arrived on scene, he was greeted with the familiar sight of flashing red and blue lights, ambulances, and a tow truck with two very banged up vehicles hitched to the bed. It was your typical accident scene, nothing at all he hadn’t seen before, and when he spotted several of his colleagues seemingly just standing around doing shit all, he wondered why the hell he’d been called in if medics were already here.

He’d been planning on spending the night watching bad movies and eating slightly burnt pizza since he still hadn’t fixed his oven, but then he’d gotten the call to report to an accident not far from his apartment and those plans sailed right out the window. If it had been anyone other than Kaede that had called he would have flat out ignored them and carried on. But if it was his boss that was calling, he knew it had to be serious, so he hadn’t bothered to ask questions before giving his affirmative and suiting up.

Now, however, as he approached the yellow police tape and cut the engine on his Ford, he had a very good idea as to why his services were required. His ears flicked from beneath his ballcap and when he opened the door, the racket get even louder, confirming his suspicious. Oh yeah—that was one seriously ticked off kid.

He sighed and retrieved his medical bag from the backseat along with another smaller drawstring bag before ducking beneath the tape and heading toward a waving Kaede. He took a moment to glance around, instantly pinpointing where the racket was coming from, and his eyebrows rose into his bangs. Jesus, the kid couldn’t be more than two years old, and the mother looked pretty banged up. What the hell? Why hadn’t she been treated yet?

When he reached Kaede, she didn’t bother with pleasantries and launched right into an explanation. That’s what he liked about her; she never beat around the bush and didn’t like to waste time with small talk, much like himself. Probably why she was the only one he could tolerate to be around for more than five minutes at a time.

“Two patients, one child aged one to two years, one female, appears to be in her lower twenties,” Kaede started, relaying what he already knew, but it was standard procedure so he didn’t stop her. “Baby appears to be unharmed—”

“You don’t say,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath but Kaede ignored him.

“—both from observation and continued reassurances from mom. Mom has sustained several contusions along the torso and left side, possible whiplash and bruised ribs, possible sprained ankle, and possible concussion—”

“Possible?” Inuyasha repeated with a perplexed frown. “Why is nothing confir—”

Kaede leveled a glare at him and he wisely shut up.

“Nothing life threatening,” she continued, shifting her gaze toward the two patients in question and Inuyasha watched as some of her professionalism slipped, face softening into a concerned frown. “However, because we are unable to get close enough to perform an accurate assessment of both of them, injuries for both are as yet undetermined, so nothing concrete is confirmed.”

This just kept getting weirder and weirder. “Why the hell can’t anyone get close? It’s a woman and baby. Hardly any threat.”

At this, Kaede actually sighed and looked directly at him, her one gray eye intense and serious.

“The child is not fully human, Inuyasha,” she revealed and his eyes widened. “Any attempt to get close or take him away results in the babe physically lashing out in an endeavor to, I suspect, protect his mother. Unusual behavior for a child so young, and the mother refuses to have him sedated, which I can’t blame her.”

Inuyasha sucked in a breath and shifted his gaze over to the mother and child, amber eyes zeroing in on the infant bawling against his mother’s chest.

“You said…not fully human,” he murmured and flicked a glance at his superior.

Kaede nodded.

“How��?”

“She managed to relate some information before the child started getting aggressive,” she supplied. “I called you, Inuyasha, not only because of your skills with children—”

He snorted at that because really?

“—but because I thought perhaps out of anyone, you might be able to get close enough to treat both of them without the child deeming you as a threat. It’s a long shot, I realize, but at this point I’m willing to try anything.”

Inuyasha took note of the exhaustion in her eyes and posture and he couldn’t keep the corner of his lips from twitching upward.

“How long has he been screaming?”

“One hour and thirteen minutes,” one of his colleagues groaned from behind her and Kaede sighed again as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Fine,” Inuyasha finally said and then cocked a brow at her. “I’ll do what I can, but he’s probably only howling because he’s scared, Kaede, not because he’s hurt. No doubt he smells his mother’s blood and senses her pain, and combined with the shock of experiencing something he doesn’t understand and all the different scents around, it’s unlikely he’ll let me examine him.”

The look Kaede sent him was very dry and suggested that this was reason number two as to why she’d called him. He shrugged and simply raised his brows as if to say “what?”

“Just do something,” the same colleague pleaded and there was a general murmur of concurrence of that statement from the people still present, three of which were police officers.  

Shaking his head, Inuyasha nonetheless did as he was bade, however before approaching he took a minute to appraise his tiny patient and his mother. He still couldn’t get over that the kid was in fact a half-demon like himself since they were such a rarity now a days, but he didn’t allow himself to think on it for too long. The kid was trying his level best to burrow inside his mother’s shirt - a shirt, he noticed, with numerous tears in it no doubt caused by wee claws - and she looked…well, she looked like hell.

Unsurprising, considering she’d just been in a goddamn accident, but still she looked about ready to collapse and before Inuyasha even realized it he was moving forward, absently slipping his hand inside the smaller bag he’d grabbed to set his tentative plan in motion.

“Sou, you’re gonna rip Mama’s shirt if you keep doing that,” Kagome murmured and once again gently stopped him from trying to crawl inside it. “I don’t feel like flashing everybody here if that’s okay with you.”

Souji screeched his protest and Kagome winced, fearing that after this she’d be partially deaf. Sure he’d had his tantrums before, but never like this. She hadn’t even known his voice could reach that pitch, and if it hurt her ears, she couldn’t even imagine what it was doing to his. Then again, he did keep them pinned down most of the time, and he was upset enough where he was ignoring all her attempts to calm him down, so perhaps he wasn’t even aware of it.

“Shh, Sou, it’s okay, Mama’s here,” she soothed for the nth time, kissing his forehead and rocking him in her arms, or as much as she could while sitting. “Mama’s got you, you’re safe, it’s alright…”

Her baby boy continued to cry, obvious, and Kagome’s heart broke a little more. God, she hated this, hated that she couldn’t figure out what he needed, hated that her son was so upset he was having trouble breathing, and she hated how useless she was. She felt like the world’s worst mother and tears pricked her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. Now was not the time for that. She needed to be strong for her baby, she needed to be there for him. And no doubt he would smell her tears and become even more upset and she really wanted to avoid that.

Feeling helpless, Kagome started humming his favorite lullaby under her breathe as she rubbed his ears, but paused when she glanced up and saw the approaching figure. She sighed and shook her head in a wordless plea for him to keep his distance, vaguely registering that this was someone new she hadn’t seen before, with a lean build, broad shoulders, and long silver hair that hung over his shoulder in a loose ponytail. It didn’t matter, though; man or woman, human or demon, Souji always reacted the same and made it clear that they were not to be touched. She was positive this time would be no different.

As predicated, Souji started growling when he registered the new, unfamiliar scent that was drawing ever closer and when he was close enough Kagome opened her mouth to warn him. But then to her surprise, instead of getting too close and immediately trying to cajole Souji into compliance, the man stopped a few feet away and slowly lowered himself into a crouch before them.

Kagome blinked. Eyes the color of whiskey regarded her steadily before his head dipped in a slight nod and bemused, she returned it. His gaze flicked to the child in her lap and he seemed to be waiting for something, not moving, his posture relaxed, expression giving nothing away. If Kagome had bothered to look up at that moment she would have seen nearly everyone present was watching them but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the admittedly very attractive man in front of her who, she belatedly realized, must be an EMT judging by his attire.

Souji’s growling steadily grew in volume until, when the scent did not move away like anticipated, he spun around in Kagome’s arms and snarled at the newcomer, his little face screwed up and baring mini fangs. The man was unfazed, calm in the face of her infant son’s righteous fury and since he wasn’t in the vicinity of tiny claws, Souji merely continued to glare at him.

Though not exactly a very good tradeoff for his constant howling, the reprieve was nonetheless welcomed and Kagome was sure she was not the only one giving a soft sigh of relief.

Evidently having been waiting for Souji’s attention, the man braced one knee on the ground, propped his elbow on his opposite thigh, and then did something that Kagome’s exhausted brain was having a very difficult time processing.

He brought his hand up, reached into his uniform shirt pocket, and…brought out a…glowing red ball of light?

The results were instantaneous and so confounded by how the hell he did that, Kagome didn’t realize until a solid ten seconds later that Souji had gone quiet. His growls had stopped, he wasn’t snarling, and he wasn’t attempting to lash out of the man. Utterly captivated, his blue eyes were fixated on the red light grasped between the EMT’s clawed fingertips and Kagome could only gape at him in astonishment. Part of her was actually a little insulted that it had been that easy to gain his attention, but the much larger part of her was just plain glad he’d stopped screaming.

Satisfied he’d gained the pup’s undivided attention, Inuyasha resisted the urge to grin in amusement as he started “tossing” the red light back and forth from one hand to the other, those blue eyes following every move. Relieved his plan seemed to be working, he put on a little show for his two-person audience, making the light disappear and reappear, and he’d be lying it he said the look on the kid’s face was completely endearing.

So was the woman’s for that matter, but that was something to dwell on later.

Alright, on to part two now. Allowing one side of his mouth to quirk up into a half-grin, Inuyasha brought his hand to his mouth and pretended to swallow the red light before splaying out his hands, showing it was gone. The kid made a sound of confusion and blinked. Flicking a brief glance at the pup’s mom, Inuyasha lifted his hand and removed his hat, revealing the twin ears atop his head.

She gasped but he didn’t look at her again as he flicked his ear a few times for effect, tilted his head, and gave a few solid taps to his temple as if to empty his ears of water. He lifted his other hand to his ear and the red light reappeared between his fingers, as if he’d plucked it from his ear. The kid’s face lit up in delight and he caught the soft giggle of the woman before him.

Inuyasha dared to inch a little closer and when the child did not react, his eyes zeroed in on his hands, he edged closer until he was kneeling right in front of him. He never paused in his little magic trick, tossing the light and catching it again in his fingers, changing it up at times by putting the light in his fist and then opening it only to reveal it had vanished. He “ate” it a few more times, only for it to reappear on some random point on his body, and it wasn’t until the fear in the pup’s scent had significantly decreased that Inuyasha decided to take it a little further.

The next time he pretended to swallow the light, instead of plucking it off of his body, Inuyasha very slowly reached forward and grasped it out of thin air beside the pup’s head. He actually giggled that time and Inuyasha released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, giving a quiet chuckle as he caught the gaze of the woman behind the child.

She was smiling at him, big brown eyes bright, and he detected a trace amount of salt as she mouthed, “Thank you.”

Inuyasha swallowed thickly and felt his face grow a little warm as he nodded once, his stupid heart doing stupid little palpitation in his chest, and he returned his attention to the task at hand. The light appeared once again and he was surprised when the kid actually reached for it and amused, but grateful, Inuyasha held still and waited until little fingers curled around his own.

It disappeared and Inuyasha held his hands out as he rumbled, “Where’d it go?”

The pup blinked at him and pointed to his ear. Inuyasha obliged and reached for an ear not unlike his own, gasping softly when the light reappeared in his fingers.

“Found it,” he said and received a happy giggle before tiny hands went to grab it again.  It vanished, and he plucked it from under the babe’s chin this time.

Delighted, great blue eyes swung around to regard his mother with a big grin and Kagome couldn’t help but release a choked laugh and lean forward to kiss his forehead. God, she couldn’t thank this wonderful, beautiful man enough.

Inuyasha blew on his fingers and the light vanished. The toddler laughed and pointed to his nose. The older half-demon chuckled and plucked it off the tiny nose that time before boldly reaching for a small hand and placing the magic light onto the chubby little palm.

He held his hands up and said, “Throw it at me, bud.”

Blue eyes blinked at him but the Souji grinned and he waved his entire arm in an approximation of a toss.

“Whoa,” Inuyasha exaggerated, rearing back onto his heels and pretending as if the throw had a lot of force behind it. The kid laughed and bounced in his mother’s lap, utterly delighted. He held out his hand again and the silver-haired medical technician put the red light onto the small hand.

Immediately Souji smashed his hand against his mouth and Inuyasha gasped in faux outrage.

“Did you eat it?” he asked and was rewarded with joyful baby giggles. “Well then, I guess I have no choice but to…”

With a crooked grin, Inuyasha darted his hand out, tickled the pup’s round little tummy, and as the sound of his laughter rang into the night, he withdrew his hand with the magic red light grasped between his fingers.

Souji made the most adorable little “o” face and put both of his small hands over his belly, blue eyes wide as he stared down at it in astonishment. Then he whipped his head around to stare up at his mother in wide-eyed wonder and Kagome couldn’t help but laugh.

The toddler turned his attention back to the EMT in time to watch him put the red light in one pocket of his uniform slacks, only to bring it right back out of the opposite pocket with his other hand. He did this several more times, much to Souji’s giggling pleasure, before one hand up to his mouth and blowing on his fingers.

As he predicted, the kid gasped and started looking around, as if he would find the vanishing light floating about in the air somewhere. Flicking a glance at the woman behind the pup, Inuyasha wasn’t expecting to find her already staring at him, her eyes soft, her smile small but warm and totally grateful. The urge that slammed into him then was so strong and abrupt Inuyasha didn’t even think to fight it, his lips quirked upward slightly as he reached toward her.

Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he heard her soft gasp as he brushed his claws against her cheek, snapped his fingers beside her ear, then withdrew his hand with the red light glowing anew between clawed digits.

Absurdly Kagome felt her face heat in a soft blush even as a delighted smile blossomed across her face. In her lap Souji made a questioning noise and suddenly started squirming around until he was facing her. He pushed to his feet, balancing on her thighs, and Kagome’s hands automatically went to his waist to steady him as his hands reached for her ear and started inspecting it, his face utterly bemused as little sounds of confusion escaped him.

Inuyasha chuckled at the sight and figuring that was enough tricks for now since he still needed to examine his mom’s injuries – that cut on her forehead was especially concerning – he pocketed the fake fingertips and sat back to watch the two for a minute. Despite how clearly exhausted she looked, her patience was evidently limitless as she allowed her son to poke and prod around her head.

But then when he caught himself on her shoulders as he teetered a little on her lap, she gasped and then hissed through her teeth as her face scrunched up in involuntary reaction to the pain. Souji froze as his eyes went wide and as if he felt her pain as clearly as she did, his eyes started tearing up and he whimpered, his little hands fisting in her shirt.

Inuyasha’s eyes widened and they flew to Kagome’s. She was staring at him too, her eyes just as wide, and they knew if they didn’t do something fast Souji was going to go into another screaming fit.

Fuck. Fuck. Wracking his brain, Inuyasha darted his eyes to the pup, who was sitting on her lap now and putting even more tears in her shirt with his claws as he tugged at the fabric. Kagome grunted as she shifted him on her lap to alleviate his weight against her bruised flesh and Inuyasha went with the first idea that popped into his brain.

As Souji’s whimpering became louder, he flashed his eyes to Kagome and urgently mouthed, “Name?”

“Souji,” she immediately whispered back and started rocking her son in an attempt to stall his hysterics, wincing when his claws scratched at her skin through her shirt.

“Souji,” Inuyasha repeated aloud and much to his surprise the pup actually went quiet and turned around to stare at him, most likely perplexed as to how this stranger knew his name.

Encouraged, Inuyasha tried to appear as unintimidating as possible as he continued, “You know your mama is hurting, right? Do you want her to feel better?”

Souji blinked those great blue eyes at him and then nodded, his bottom lip trembling as more fat tears leaked from his eyes and another whine echoed in his throat.

Inuyasha nodded in what he hoped was in a reassuring fashion and cajoled, “Okay, champ, that’s good. Now listen up, I know how to make her feel better. I can treat your mom’s hurts and take the pain away, but in order to do that, I need you to let go of her and come to me, alright? Your mom needs help, and I want to give it to her. You understand?”

There was no way to tell if Souji did indeed understand what he was saying or if he didn’t as Inuyasha watched him, heart in his throat. The young half-demon frowned at him as if he was digesting the words, turning them over in his head, but at least he wasn’t on the verge of another break down which, in Inuyasha’s book, was a success.

Biting his lip, Souji turned his gaze to his mother and stared wide-eyed up at her, uncertainty and a smidgen of fright in those clear blue depths of his. Kagome’s heart ached and she smiled down at him, ignoring the ache in her side and shoulders as she gathered her baby boy closer and kissed him between his ears.

“It’s okay, baby,” she told him gently, rubbing one of his ears and then kissing his pudgy little cheek. “You can trust him, okay? He’s going to help me feel all better and take away all my hurts. Remember when Mama took care of you when you were sick last month? He’s gonna do the same thing, Sou.”

Souji blinked, furrowed his brow, then glanced back at the older half-demon, still a little uncertain. Could this stranger really make his Mama feel better? He remembered when his tummy hurt a while ago and Mama took care of him and made him some soup and crackers and rubbed his ears to make him feel better. This man would do the same?

The pup was still struggling a little on whether or not to trust him so Inuyasha gave him a little nudge in the right direction, slyly slipping his hand back into his pocket.

“You can trust me, squirt,” he rumbled and withdrew his hand to reveal his fingers alight with a familiar red glow. “I have magic fingers, remember? I promise I’ll make her feel better.”

The kid’s eyes grew wide once again as his gaze zeroed on in the clawed fingers. That’s right; he was magic! Then that meant he could make Mama feel better if he had magic hands. Right?

He looked at his mama again and when all she did was smile down at him with a little nod of encouragement, Souji made up his mind. His mama would never lie to him and he did want her to feel better. And besides…this man was different than the other people who tried to take him away from her.

He smelled like him, so he had to be good. Right?

Nodding and giving a little sniffle, Souji finally nodded back and slowly crawled off his mother’s lap. Relieved, Kagome helped him down, keeping her hands beneath his arms in case he slipped and when his tiny socked feet finally hit the cold pavement, she took a moment to rub his ear and run a hand through his hair, so very proud of her little boy.

“There’s my big boy,” she said softly, contrary to her thoughts.

Sniffling again, Souji wrinkled his nose and turned toward the other half-demon, hesitating before taking small steps over to him.

Breathing a sigh of relief and exchanging a quick thankful look with Kagome, Inuyasha offered a crooked grin at the kid and gestured him a little closer. Even though he was a half-demon like himself, he’d still feel better, and no doubt so would his mother, if he performed a brief exam just in case.

“Atta boy,” Inuyasha praised when the kid stopped in front of him and he reached up to ruffle his hair. The twin ears, just a shade lighter than the black hair, flicked in response and then he was rewarded with a soft, watery giggle.

“Thanks for trusting me, Souji,” he went on and reached down to tug his medical bag closer. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions first before I treat your mom?”

Souji wrinkled his nose and looked back at his mother as if wanting her approval. Kagome nodded and gestured that it was alright, so the little half-demon sighed and turned back toward the older male before giving a nod.

Inuyasha had to smile a little at that. “Thanks, bud. I’ll be quick. I’m gonna use this”—he held up a standard stethoscope—”so I can listen to your lungs and see if there’s anything wrong. That okay?”

Souji nodded again. He recognized that weird smelling thing whenever Mama took him to the get-better man.

“It’s gonna be a little cold,” he warned and with swift movements, Inuyasha placed the eartips into his ears before lifting up the hem of his shirt a little and pressing the diaphragm against the pup’s small chest. Souji squirmed a little at the cold steel but nonetheless stood there and allowed him to listen to his lungs.

“Everything sounds good,” Inuyasha announced a few minutes later and caught Kagome’s gaze over his patient’s shoulder. She was looking at him like he was her hero, eyes bright, the biggest, most grateful smile on her face and he could practically hear the sincerity in the two words as she mouthed to him, “Thank you.”

Inuyasha’s face softened even as a lump developed in his throat and he nodded once.

Putting the stethoscope back into his bag, the silver-haired medic started gently inspecting his arms and legs for scrapes or bruises as he asked, “Do you hurt anywhere? Your head? Ears? Feet?”

Souji wordlessly shook his head and bit his lip, unable to stop from wriggling beneath the older half-demon’s professional touch. He didn’t like people touching him, but he had to be a good boy so Mama could feel better. This was all for Mama, because he had to protect her, right?

“Do you feel sick? Does your stomach hurt?” Another negative. “Do you feel dizzy? Like you can’t see straight?” Souji once more shook his head, his young face open and honest.

Satisfied, Inuyasha nodded and pulled his hands away. “Good. Now, I have one last question.”

Souji cocked his head and blinked.

Inuyasha grinned. “Are you hungry?”

At that, Souji visibly perked up, ears swiveling forward, eyes going wide, and he put his hands over his tummy as if just now realizing he was indeed hungry.

The older half-demon took that as a yes and he chuckled a little then gestured him forward a little. Souji inched a little closer and Inuyasha placed his hand on the kid’s back as he directed his gaze over to a slightly confused, but smiling Kaede.

“See that woman over there, the short one with gray hair?” he asked and pointed across the way toward his boss. Souji stared blankly for a moment and then nodded. “She’s got some snacks for you along with some juice if you’re thirsty. Don’t worry, you can trust Kaede. She’s my friend and she’s also here to take care of your mom, alright?”

Souji was clearly hesitate though, despite the quiet rumbling in his tummy, and his ears flattened as he looked uncertainly between the nice man that smelled like him and the old lady he was pointing too before finally settling his gaze on his mom, needing a little guidance.

And even though her head was pounding, her side was aching, and her shoulder was burning, Kagome managed a warm smile for her little boy. Though it was slightly strained – something that Inuyasha did not fail to notice – it was completely genuine.

“It’s alright, Sou,” she encouraged, sounding tired but nonetheless sincere. “Go ahead. I know it’s late and you aren’t allowed snacks this time of night, but just this once is okay. Bring me back some juice, yeah?” She winked at him and was finally rewarded with her son’s brilliant smile.

Excited at the prospect of a snack so late at night, Souji nodded and with one last glance at Inuyasha, who quirked him an encouraging grin, he brushed by and headed toward the old woman, confident that the man would take care of his mama like he said he would. After all, he smelled like him and his ears were the same as his so he couldn’t be a bad person.

Kaede, already knowing what her half-demon subordinate was up to, gestured to one of the EMTs still lingering to fetch the bag of snacks she kept in her car for just this purpose. She knew it had been the right decision to call him in. Despite his constant gripes about being bad with children, he always proved himself wrong whenever it came to calming down a child and it was a sight she never got tired of. She was certain that the little boy being a half-demon like the EMT was definitely in his favor as well.

It was merely a bonus, she supposed with a sly little smile, that the boy’s mother was single and attractive to boot.

Chuckling to herself, Kaede thanked the young medic that handed over her bag full of treats and sweets and then told him, along with the rest of them still milling about, to either head back to the station and wait for another call. She was fairly certain Inuyasha could take things from here, and sneaking a glance over toward the two adults as the boy finally approached with wide blue eyes and cute little ears, she smiled.

Yes, she thought, kneeling down to Souji’s height with a warm smile. Calling Inuyasha in had been a very good idea.

Two pairs of eyes, one caramel colored and the other a rich honey hue, watched him toddle away, matching looks of relief on both of their faces. When the two-year-old reached the woman Inuyasha had pointed out to him, they both looked at one another and the smile she gave him had Inuyasha’s heart doing double time in his chest as his stomach did not so unpleasant flip-flops.

“I know I sound like a broken record at this point,” she began, her eyes suspiciously bright, “but I honestly can’t thank you enough. For your little show, stopping his crying, and looking him over even though he’s half-demon. So just…thank you.”

Inuyasha felt his cheeks warm and he shrugged, trying to play it off as he picked his hat off the ground and shoved it back on his head.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled, although he couldn’t stop the little curl to his mouth a he picked up his bag and scooted a bit closer to her. “Just doing my job.”

“So calming down hysterical and terrified toddlers with magic tricks is in your job description?” Kagome teased and she was a little caught off guard by the slightly roguish grin the medic sent her.

“Keh. It worked, didn’t it?” he asked, not exactly sure where this confidence was coming from but not about to squander it. Not with the way she was smiling at him with a little blush on her cheeks and looking absolutely beautiful.

Inuyasha paused. Here she was, shirt nearly in tatters because of her son’s claws, hair a disheveled mess, face a little pale, bags under her eyes, and dried blood on her forehead from a cut and he thought she was beautiful.

Fuck. He was done for.

“I can’t argue with that,” she said, drawing him out of his musings and he focused his attention back on her. “I have to admit, even I was a little captivated. It was a neat trick.”

She giggled and good god could she get any fucking cuter.

“Oh good, because the real reason I do that particular trick is to reel in pretty mom’s with blue-eyed half-demon sons,” Inuyasha shamelessly flirted because fuck it, he was already one toe in dangerous waters he’d only ever attempted to swim in once before; why not just dunk his whole fucking body in in one go and get it over with because at this rate she’d have him on his knees before the night was over.

Crouching next to her now, Inuyasha watched in proud amusement as her pale face turned a deep, becoming shade of scarlet as those dark eyes widened with delighted realization. The corners of her lips twitched upward and she bit her lip, ducking her head a little shyly, but not once did she take her gaze off of his.

Yup. Totally, absolutely, wonderfully done for.

His eyes softened and he murmured, “What’s your name?”

“Kagome,” she replied right away, so trusting, so goddamn beautiful and god fuck she was pretty.

“Kagome,” he repeated and slid his arms beneath her body. She gasped and her arms automatically went around his neck. “I’m Inuyasha.”

Without preamble he stood with her in his arms, his medical bag slung over his shoulder even though he wouldn’t need it, and ignoring the knowing look he just knew his boss was casting him right now, he strode over to the idle ambulance with the open back doors and hopped inside.

“Better light and more convenient,” he explained as he carefully set her on the stretcher. “Plus it’s got better equipment and medical supplies than my bag does. And I think Kaede mentioned something about a possible sprained ankle?”

Kagome’s expression cleared and she nodded, flexing said ankle as if to test it and she winced at the twinge of pain that shot through it.

Silently the handsome golden-eyed medic started poking around the limited space of the vehicle, collecting the supplies required to treat her injuries and managing to find some painkillers along with bottle of water while rummaging about.

“I’m gonna start with that cut on your forehead since head injuries are top priority,” he announced and sank down on the cushioned seat provided for the medics before reaching over and tugging the gurney closer to him.

“Then if you’re alright with it, I’ll examine any contusions, determine if you have any fractured or bruised ribs, and take a look at your shoulder and ankle.”

Kagome gasped a little and curled her hands around the railing beneath her knees. He chuckled and gave the bed one final tug until her knees were between his spread legs. Perhaps the position was a little scandalous, but he needed a good look at that cut to determine if it needed stitches or not after he cleaned it.

“Sorry,” he murmured and received a smile in response. “I probably should have asked this before, but better late than never. Are you dizzy or lightheaded at all? Nauseas? Ringing in your ears? Any disorientation or confusion?”

Kagome took a moment to do a mental inspection of her body, but besides the general feeling of exhaustion and soreness, she otherwise felt fine and told him as much.

Relieved, Inuyasha offered her the painkillers and water for the no doubt pounding headache she had and she gratefully knocked them back with a swig of water. While she did that, he ripped open an alcohol swap and debated on whether or not to use gloves, but decided against it. His claws would just slice the latex, anyway.

He waited until his patient had had her fill of the cool refreshing liquid before muttering a word of warning for the sting and carefully started cleaning the cut on her forehead. Kagome hissed and flinched a little at the anticipated sting, but remained still so he could treat it with minimal difficulty, breathing deeply as she fisted her hands around the cold steel of the railing beneath her.

Inuyasha saw the strain on her face and his ears flattened against his head, feeling guilty, but knowing it was necessary. The more he cleaned it, though, the more apparent it became that she probably wasn’t going to need stitches so at least that was a bit of good news he was more than happy to share. This had no doubt already been the night from hell for her and he didn’t want to make it even worse.

“Good news is,” he said and used a fresh cotton swap to dab some antiseptic on it, “you don’t need stitches. It’s minor and should fully heal in a week or so.”

Kagome sighed, relieved. “And the bad news?”

Inuyasha’s mouth quirked. “It’ll probably leave a bit of a scar, but hey. It’ll look pretty badass, in my opinion. A battle scar.”

Kagome blinked and then snorted a laugh at that. “Something to tell the grandkids about?”

“Yeah, but lie and say you got it fighting a dragon.”

She outright laughed at that and Inuyasha grinned, thoroughly proud of himself. At least he seemed to have distracted her from any pain she might be feeling.

Then her laughter slowly turned into a groan as she wrapped an arm around her middle and bent over a little, however she was still smiling while shaking her head.

Grimacing, feeling a little guilty for indirectly being the cause of her pain, Inuyasha snatched a gauze pad and the medical tape, hoping she hadn’t fractured any ribs and they were merely bruised.

“You alright?” he asked once she straightened up, her face once again pale with lines of pain bracketing her mouth and eyes.

“Yeah,” she answered a little breathlessly and winced as she rubbed her chest, where the seat belt had dug into her skin when she’d been thrown forward. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he immediately said and reached up to brush her bangs away. “My fault for making you laugh. Can you breathe okay? One to ten, how bad is the pain?”

While he carefully went about applying the bandage to her cut, Kagome closed her eyes and thought about his question, trying to rate the amount of pain she was in. Probably not counting her head and ankle, she ranked it to be about a seven or so.

“Maybe a seven,” she answered honestly, knowing it wouldn’t be a very good idea to lie about that sort of information. “It hurts to breathe a little, but only a dull ache. Probably from when I got thrown forward against the seat belt.”

“Thing probably saved your life,” Inuyasha told her, keeping his eyes focused on the task of securing the bandage. Satisfied, he dropped his gaze back to hers, a slight frown furrowing his brow, and Kagome gasped a little at the intensity in his eyes.

“I’m glad you were wearing it,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble, and butterflies rioted in her stomach as he brushed his knuckles against her skin, just below the fresh bandage he’d just applied.

Swallowing, Kagome said a little breathlessly, “Me, too,” and she watched with a little thrill as his gaze dropped to her mouth.

Kagome’s breath sped up a little and she licked her lips. Inuyasha’s gaze grew heavy-lidded and the growl that leaked past his lips did very pleasant things to her insides. But just as she was about to say screw it and lean forward, Inuyasha’s expression suddenly cleared, he grimaced, and leaned back, turning his head with a light flush on his cheeks.

Hoping the disappointment didn’t show on her face, Kagome sighed and ducked her head, biting down on her lip. Well, that had been dumb, and she felt a little foolish now. What had she been thinking, leaning in like that and hoping…

“I need to check if you have any fractured ribs,” Inuyasha stated in a voice huskier than he would have liked and he cleared his throat. Though he was still blushing a little, he didn’t look away from her eyes as he continued, “If that’s alright with you, anyway. I’ll understand if you’d rather I didn’t and if that’s the case, I can go get Kaede and she can do it.”

Kagome blinked as she tried to understand what he meant by that, but then realization dawned and her eyes winded a little, her flush deepening at the thought of where his hands would be on her. But Inuyasha was a professional and she trusted him. Besides, Kaede was keeping Souji occupied, and she didn’t want her son to see the extent of the damage on her body.

Clearing her throat, Kagome managed a wan smile and responded, “No, it’s…okay. Go ahead, Inuyasha. I trust you.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened at that and his ears perked straight up beneath his hat. Something warm and wonderful bloomed in his chest and the corners of his mouth quirked up slightly, those three simple words meaning more to him than she could ever know.

“Thanks,” he murmured as without being told, Kagome lifted her shirt to expose her belly and ribs while still keeping her modestly covered. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

Kagome smiled wordlessly and he leveled a quick grin at her before getting to work.

The first thing Kagome noticed was that his hands were warm and calloused, not at all unpleasant against her skin, and she almost missed it when he told her to take a deep breath because she was so focused on his touch. Inuyasha frowned, then withdrew one hand to take his hat off, dropping it to the ground before replacing it on her ribs and repeating his request for her to take a deep breath.

She did, her eyes trained on those adorable ears of his so much like her son’s, only a lovely sterling instead of black, and she winced a little when her chest protested the action. Inuyasha was still frowning as he moved his hands up and down her ribs and she breathed deep once more without being told. Again her sore body protested the movement, but it was bearable.

“Well,” he said after a moment and removed his hands from her, trying very hard not to think about how soft and smooth her skin had been. “I don’t think you have any cracked ribs, but there’s some definite bruising. I can’t tell for sure without an x-ray, and I’m assuming since you weren’t immediately whisked away to one when the ambulance got here that a hospital is out of the question.”

Kagome grimaced, but nodded. “With the way Souji was acting, it would have been a very bad idea. It probably would have just made the situation even worse.”

Inuyasha sighed and nodded as he raked his claws through his bangs. “You’re probably right. I do recommend it, though. Preferably as soon as you’re able.”

Kagome nodded in understanding. “Of course. Just…not tonight.” She smiled a little apologetically and he had to return it with his own lopsided grin.

“Nah,” he murmured, eyes soft. “I get it. As long as you can breathe fine, then there’s no urgency.” He nodded to her shoulder then. “Let me see?”

Wordlessly Kagome tugged the collar of her shirt over enough so the skin of her left shoulder was visible. Her eyes widened because this was the first she’d seen of the extent of the damage. No doubt caused from the seat belt, the wound was an angry, bright red stretch of skin that extended down to the top of her breast where the color changed to an array of yellow and purple. A few places had scabbed over where there had been open scrapes, and all in all in looked very painful. No wonder it had hurt so much when Souji had caught himself on her shoulders.

Inuyasha whistled low, drawing her attention, and she watched as he grimaced and very, very gingerly brushed his thumb over the bruised skin.

“Fuck, baby,” he murmured and Kagome blinked at the unexpected endearment but it seemed as if he hadn’t even realized what he’d called her, his eyes focused on her shoulder. “That thing really did a number on you.”

Kagome sighed and gave a tired, wry smile. “A small price to pay if it means I’m still here.”

His eyes flashed to hers and for the second time Kagome’s breath caught in her throat, her heart stalling, warmth blooming in her stomach, in her chest. Her lips parted and for the second time that gloriously honeyed gaze dropped to her mouth, making the blood rush in her veins as more butterflies took off in her belly. Inuyasha was the one to lean in this time, his hand sliding from her shoulder along her arm, claws gently grazing her skin and feeling her shiver beneath his touch.

He growled, Kagome sighed—and then a familiar and very unwelcome scent reached his nose right then and Inuyasha forced himself to lean away with a short growl of irritation, ears pinned against his head. Kagome blinked at him, confused and unable to hide the flash of hurt in her eyes as she sat back. Inuyasha cursed and opened his mouth to explain—

“Mama!”

Gasping, face dark red, Kagome spun around, and then groaned when her sore body protested, arm going around her middle as she muttered, “S-Sou?”

Sighing, Inuyasha leveled an annoyed glare at the old woman that stood before the open ambulance doors, one eyebrow lifted and a knowing little smirk on her face while Souji clambered up into the vehicle to be with his mother.

Recovering quickly, though with a strained smile, Kagome nonetheless accepted her son’s weight in her lap when he crawled onto it and shoved a juice box under her nose. She smothered him in kisses and hugs before taking the offered beverage and setting it aside for now, not particularly in the mood for some juice despite having asked him to bring her one.

While Inuyasha sighed and studiously ignored his boss still watching him with that damn smirk, he hunted down an ace bandage for her ankle since there wasn’t much that could be done for her side or shoulder except let them heal on their own.

“Thank you,” Kagome said and a quick glance revealed she was addressing Kaede with a grateful smile. “For watching him so Inuyasha can treat my injuries without a fussy toddler to distract him. I hope he wasn’t too much trouble and behaved himself.”

Smiling warmly at the young woman, Kaede shook her head and said, “Oh, not at all, my dear. Your boy was perfectly behaved and he was very pleasant company. I did my best to distract him for as long as I could, but I suppose his concern for mom came back after his third mini bag of animal crackers because he ran over here before I could stop him.”

“Three bags?” Kagome repeated with a little smile and poked her son’s belly. Souji giggled and tried to shove her hand away. “You little piggy.”

“No!” Souji protested through his giggles and shook his head with a grin.

Despite his initial irritation at having been interrupted, Inuyasha had to smile a little at the sight. Kid was cute; he had to admit that, at least to himself.

“Thanks, boss,” Inuyasha said loudly, drawing the old woman’s attention. “I got it from here. Can you take care of the paperwork for me? I still need to wrap Kagome’s ankle and take care of a few things.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow and that damned knowing smile was back, but thankfully she said nothing and simply nodded.

“Of course, Inuyasha,” she said, trying not to laugh. “You can have the next few days off too, since you came tonight despite having just ended your shift.”

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. “Sure,” he said slowly, knowing she was up to something, but not sure what.

Her one gray eye twinkled as she smiled at him then turned her gaze toward the mother and child, her expression softening.

“Kagome, was it?” she asked and said woman nodded. “My name is Kaede, dear. While usually I would say it has been a pleasure, I’m sure this night has been anything but for you, hm?”

Kagome sighed and smiled wryly, the exhaustion evident in her eyes and the lines on her pale face. Absently she ran a hand through Souji’s hair, who had settled down and was cuddled up against her chest, the long and eventful night finally catching up with him as a big yawn escaped his mouth.

Kaede’s heart went out to the poor girl and her child and she was glad she had Inuyasha to help her through such a hellish night. He was a good man with a good head on his shoulders; she knew she was in good hands and would be well taken care of.

“Make sure to get plenty of rest, dear,” she told her and Kagome nodded with a grateful smile. “You too, Souji, though it seems you’re already half way there.”

Blinking at the old woman drowsily, Souji grunted then burrowed his head into his mother’s good shoulder, his arms going around her neck with a gusty sigh.

Kaede chuckled and with one last glance at the clearly impatient half-demon that was still pegging her with an annoyed glare, she turned and headed back to wrap things up with the police. Kagome and Souji were in good hands; she wasn’t worried.

Shaking his head and grumbling under his breath, Inuyasha turned toward Kagome and discovered that Souji had more or less passed out in her lap, his breaths deep and even. Kagome was smiling gently down at him, all the love in her eyes as she kissed his head and rocked him slowly back and forth, stroking his hair and back like a loving mother would to her child.

Inuyasha’s heart melted and he suddenly wanted very, very badly to be a part of their cozy little duo.

But then reality slammed into him hard and he ducked his head to hide his grimace, ears flattening against his head as he fiddled with the rolled up ace bandage in his hand. What the hell was wrong with him—she’d literally just met him an hour prior, and he doubted dating was anywhere close on her mind on such on a shitty night. Plus, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t even thought of this before, making him inwardly curse himself for his earlier attempt to kiss her, there was also the very real possibility that she was unavailable. Hell, she had a fucking kid; the father could be waiting at home for her, though if that was the case he wasn’t sure why the guy wasn’t here by now. Wouldn’t she have contacted him?

Beneath his hat, his ears perked just a little. Then again, she hadn’t mentioned anything about the kid’s old man, and maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he could have sworn she’d leaned in earlier like she wanted to kiss him before he foolishly pulled away, so…maybe not?

He flicked a hopeful glance at mother and child, took in the tiny ears on top of Souji’s head, and the hopes promptly came crashing back down. Souji was a half-demon, which meant the father was a full demon.

Why go for half when she could have full.

Inuyasha bit back a groan and dragged a hand down his face. Dammit, he was reading too far into this. She was his patient, for god’s sake, he had no right to—

“Inuyasha?”

Startled out of his thoughts by the soft inquisitive voice, Inuyasha jerked his head up and his gaze collided with dark, beautiful depths filled with concern, delicate eyebrows dipped down into a small frown.

“Hey,” she said, offering a little smile. “Are you okay? I lost you for a second there.”

Inuyasha blinked at her choice of words and the instinctive response of “You’ll never lose me, Kagome” was right on the tip of his tongue but then he remembered himself and shook his head. Fucking hell.

“Yeah, uh, no,” he said, frowning at his own words and tried again. “I’m fine, Kagome. Sorry. Didn’t mean to space out on ya.”

Her smile broadened. “No need to be sorry. It’s been a weird night, huh?” She chuckled a little and Inuyasha couldn’t help but level a crooked grin at her.

“Yeah,” he agreed then held up the forgotten ace bandage in his hand. “Which ankle is bothering you? I’ll check it out and wrap up so you can finally call it a night and head home.”

“That sounds heavenly,” Kagome said with a sigh and lifted her right foot. “This one. Please tell me it’s not broken.”

Inuyasha only tossed her a wry grin before very carefully pulling off her slip-on shoe and cradling her bare foot in his hands. She winced a little when he turned it over as he inspected and she shook her head at his muttered apologies.

“Can you pin point the pain for me?” he asked and leaned forward to tenderly touch her fingertips to the soft part of her ankle, just a little above the bone. There was some mild swelling and she could still flex her ankle slightly, but not without pain.

“You’re in luck,” Inuyasha said after a minute and shifted forward to prop her foot on his knee while he prepared to wrap bandage around it. “Looks like it’s just a mild sprain, but you should still keep your weight off of it as much as you can.”

Kagome laughed dryly and at his inquisitive look, she raised her brows and remarked, “It’s hard to stay off your feet when you’re a single mother with a hyper-active two-year-old.”

Despite himself Inuyasha felt the hope bloom warm and wonderful in his chest again and he really hoped the excitement didn’t show on his face. She was single. She was single. The dad wasn’t in the picture, fuck yes!

Wow, you fucking idiot, can you be any more insensitive? To hide the shameful blush that colored his face, Inuyasha ducked his head and focused on wrapping her ankle. For all he knew, something tragic could have happened and she might still be recovering. Jumping to conclusions would not only be foolish, but inconsiderate to her as well, and he needed to stay in her good graces if he ever wanted to have a chance with her.

And he wanted. God, did he ever.

“Is there anyone that would be willing to stay with you for a while? Friends? Family?” Inuyasha only flicked her a brief glance before turning his gaze back to his task, not wanting to make the wrap too tight or uncomfortable.

Kagome wrinkled her nose and adjusted Souji in her arms, wincing when her shoulder protested the movement.

“Mama and Gramps are both retired and don’t have the energy to chase after a toddler like they used to, and my brother is away at college. And the only friend I really have is…well, he’s not really…a good candidate for babysitting.”

Inuyasha paused to quirk a brow up at her, a wordless inquiry.

Kagome sighed and her voice was dry. “Let’s just say that Miroku is more interested in the baby making process than actually raising one.”

The silver-haired medic snorted and continued his work, passing under the arch of her foot and around her ankle one last time before gently securing the end via the strong Velcro attached to it.

“How’s that?” he asked, sitting back and inspecting his handiwork. “Not too tight?”

Flexing her foot a bit, Kagome smiled and nodded in approval. “Feels perfect. You’re really good at that; I remember whenever I hurt my ankle when I still lived at home Mama always made it too tight or too loose so I had to fix it myself.”

Inuyasha shrugged off the compliment, though inwardly his ego was inflating to twice its normal size.

“It’s my job,” he remarked and started putting everything back where he’d found it. “Be a pretty shitty EMT if I couldn’t do something I was specifically trained for.”

A soft laugh reached his ears. “I suppose you’re right.”

They lapsed into comfortable silence, and since the driver for this damn thing was still nowhere in sight, Inuyasha decided to give voice to a curiosity that refused to leave him alone and really, really hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

“So, uh,” he began, frowning down at the plastic bin of bandages in his hand as he tried to think of how to phrase it without sounding like an opportunistic asshole. He slid the bin back home to its proper place in one of the cabinets and tried to make himself look busy, avoiding her curious gaze.

“Pup’s father. Is he, uh, is he still around? Why isn’t he here?”

As soon as the words left his mouth Inuyasha wanted to slam his head against the nearest hard surface. Smooth, asshole. Real smooth.

Too busy beating himself up, he missed the little smile that curled Kagome’s mouth as she watched him. Honestly she’d been waiting for him to ask that question. She’d purposely hinted earlier that she was unattached by saying she was a single mother and he hadn’t seemed to really take the bait, so she was glad he took the initiative this time and asked. She’d thought about dropping another hint, but didn’t want to seem too desperate.

“Do you remember how Souji was acting earlier?” she asked by way of reply. “Growling, sort of aggressive and wouldn’t let anyone come near me?”

Not expecting that, Inuyasha turned toward her, the confusion evident on his face. But then he frowned and nodded, prompting Kagome to continue.

“Last year his father and I got into a screaming match that got out of hand and he punched me in the face. Souji saw it happen. I left him and ever since that day Souji has been extremely protective of me and he’s very distrustful of strangers, especially men.”

She looked down at the slumbering boy in her arms and her expression softened, her smile turning sad as she kissed his little brow.

“My fierce little warrior,” Kagome murmured, smoothing back his hair before glancing back at the handsome medic. Inuyasha was frowning at her but she could see the concern in his eyes with a hint of anger simmering just beneath the surface and she had to smile. He was angry because of what had happened to her, even though it had happened a year ago, and she thought that was incredibly sweet.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Inuyasha said, his voice a low rumble and his gaze intense, sincere as he stared into her eyes. “I’m sorry Souji has such a shitty sperm donor, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there to deck the son of a bitch myself for hitting you. Women are meant to be protected. Cherished…loved. Never hurt.”

Kagome didn’t know what to say to that so she said nothing, eyes locked on his and heart in her throat.

Another moment of silence passed as the two of them simply gazed at one another, the air between them charged, heavy with something both of them didn’t quite understand, but then Inuyasha sighed and racked a hand through his hair, shaking his head. Kagome blushed and cleared her throat, dropping her gaze to watch her son’s face, relaxed in sleep.

“So you’re telling me a full demon punched you in the face and he didn’t knock you the fuck out?” Inuyasha quite tactlessly asked, a puzzled frown creasing his brow.

“I saw it coming and managed to dodge at the last second so he only glanced my cheek and temple,” Kagome readily answered, grateful for the subject change if only to calm the rabid beating of her heart. “I smacked my head against the kitchen counter as I went down and I was dizzy for a few minutes, but it passed and I was able to grab Sou and get the hell out of there. I haven’t seen him since.”

“So you have full custody,” Inuyasha assumed.

Kagome nodded and heaved another sigh. “Yes. But even if I didn’t and it was shared, I still wouldn’t see hide nor hair of him.”

Inuyasha’s eyebrows rose at that. “You mean the asshole has no interest in his own son?”

Kagome closed her eyes and the smile that curled her lips was so incredibly sad Inuyasha had to fight against the urge to take her into his arms.

“Souji is the reason why we were arguing that day,” she explained, eyes fluttering open to regard her baby boy the way only a loving mother ever could. “When I told Kouga that I was pregnant, he told me to get rid of it. He didn’t want a half-breed to be related to him in any way, shape, or form, regardless if it was his own offspring or not. I didn’t, of course, and our relationship deteriorated after that. I know I should have left him that day, but part of me hoped…”

She trailed off with a sigh and idly ran a hand through Souji’s dark hair. The toddler stirred slightly and grunted softly in his sleep, but settled down soon after, going still with a quiet sigh. Kagome kissed his head, so overcome with love for her brave, beautiful little boy.

“At the risk of sounding completely selfish and maybe even a bit like an asshole,” Inuyasha began, drawing Kagome’s gaze back to him and he stubbornly refused to look away despite his face heating.

“I’m…sorta glad it happened. I mean not that he punched you of course, I would never—because you’re here now and—ah, fuck.”

Groaning, Inuyasha dropped his head in his hands and willed himself to just fucking turn into a ghost so he could phase into the goddamn ground or some shit but then the sound of soft laughter reached his ears and he dared at a glance at his beautiful patient. Judging by the hand over her mouth, she’d tried to stifle her mirth and failed but even if she’d succeeded, the amusement in her eyes would have tipped him off easily and despite himself Inuyasha felt himself grinning in return.

“Me, too,” Kagome whispered, lowering her hand to reveal a soft, beautiful smile and fuck, what he would give to have her look at him like that all the damn time.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, anything as long as she’d keep looking at him like that, but then she suddenly yawned and he remembered where they were. She blinked and then gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.

Chuckling, Inuyasha pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Two AM,” he supplied and tucked it back in his pocket. “Things are wrapping up here anyway, so how about we call it a night and get you two home?”

The thought of her bed was nearly enough to make her weep. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Kagome replied and shifted Souji in her arms again. Her shoulder twinged in protest and she hissed through her teeth.

“Um, can you do me a favor?”

Inuyasha crossed his arms and cocked a brow at her, waiting.

“Could you get his car seat for me, please? My shoulder is starting to really hurt for holding him for so long.” She tossed him a pleading smile and he was helpless but to obey.

He deliberated for only a second, casting a brief glance at the child in her arms before surprising her by saying, “I’ll do it.”

She blinked. “What?”

Shrugging, though not without a slight flush on his cheeks, Inuyasha turned his gaze away and repeated, “I’ll put him in it. I mean if you don’t mind. It’ll save you from having to lift your arm if it’s hurting you that much.”

Both of her brows lifted into her bangs and she tilted her head. “Do you know how?”

Inuyasha frowned and looked offended.

Immediately Kagome winced and shook her head, a flush darkening her face. 

“Sorry, that was rude,” she murmured and received a grunt in response. “I was just surprised, is all. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”

He grumbled but nodded and Kagome somehow knew he wasn’t really upset over it. Still, she leveled him with an apologetic smile and adjusted Souji in her arms to make the transfer easier.

“Please,” she entreated softly and the wind was abruptly blown right out of his sails.

Relaxing, Inuyasha wordlessly bent down to carefully take the slumbering child from her arms and cradle him in his own. Souji didn’t stir and Kagome watched as the handsome medic who had taken such good care of them tonight stepped off the ambulance and crossed the scant distance to the car seat sitting on the ground. The sight of him slowly settling her baby boy in and checking to make sure everything was secure warmed her heart in ways she hadn’t felt for over two years now. It made her think that maybe, just maybe…that missing piece of her heart, the part that Kouga had viciously destroyed with his actions and carelessness of his own son, could be replaced with a new, much stronger piece to make it whole again.

And that piece had golden eyes, a fanged grin, and two adorable silver dog ears so much like her little Souji’s.

Kagome was just thinking that maybe this night wasn’t as bad as she thought it was when Inuyasha returned and gingerly set her son’s car seat with sleeping toddler cradled within on the ambulance floor before hopping back up into it.

With a rumbled word of warning, he slipped his hands beneath her and easily lifted her up into his arms, only to hop back to the ground a minute later and set her beside her son.

“Sit tight,” he said and before he could stop himself he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll bring my truck around since I can’t carry you both at the same time with him in that thing.”

“You’re gonna take me home?” Kagome questioned, surprised, but undoubtedly pleased.

He leveled her with a look and quipped, “You really think I was gonna make you walk home with a bum ankle and a toddler?”

Kagome offered him a sheepish smile. Neither of them pointed out that she could just catch a ride with one of the cops still hanging around for whatever reason.

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha shook his head and walked away, grumbling under his breath about silly wenches and dumb questions, Kagome’s soft laugher following after him.

Fifteen minutes later Inuyasha had his two patients bundled into his truck with the still snoozing Souji secured in the backseat of the crew cab and Kagome beside him in the passenger’s seat. Despite it being a rather mild night, she was wearing his leather jacket that had been lying on the floor in the back, the EMT claiming that he hadn’t wanted her to get sick on top of everything else she’d endured tonight. Kagome had simply smiled and tugged the garment closer against her and Inuyasha had delighted in the fetching shade of scarlet that colored her cheeks.

The ride to Kagome’s apartment was spent in comfortable silence but that had more to do with Kagome being dog-tired than not having the need to fill the quiet with soft chatter. Inuyasha let her doze with her head resting against the widow and he was content to steal brief glances at her during the short commute. Souji hadn’t stirred once strapped into the back and the half-demon doubted the pup would wake any time before 7 am, possibly later since he’d had a long night.

Parking in front of the address Kagome had given him, Inuyasha put his truck in park then cut the engine before turning his attention to his lovely passenger. She hadn’t stirred, and he hated to wake her up, but he needed to get them both inside so they could get some proper rest.

“Kagome,” he murmured and reached over to gently nudge her awake. “We’re here. Kagome?”

She murmured and frowned, but otherwise ignored him and he chuckled. Shaking his head, he unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted his hand to tenderly cup her cheek, sweeping his thumb across the softness of her skin.

“C’mon, baby,” he rumbled and was gratified to see caramel eyes flutter open to blink drowsily at him. “Let’s get you and Sou inside so you can get some sleep in a real bed. Doubt you’d be very comfortable out here all night.”

Blinking once more before wrinkling her nose in the most adorable way, Kagome offered a small, sleepy smile and gave a slight nod. She yawned and Inuyasha hopped out to retrieve Souji still passed out in his car seat. The older half-demon was a little surprised the pup didn’t wake even once as he carefully scooped him up into his arms, figuring he’d just come back for the car seat after he’d settle the two of them inside. Instead Souji merely sighed, snuggled against his chest, and Inuyasha’s heart about damn near exploded with affection for the kid.

It was astounding, and maybe a little frightening, how badly he wanted these two in his life, and he hoped to god that Kagome would allow him to see them again after tonight.

Keeping the sleeping toddler secured against him with one arm, Inuyasha helped Kagome down with his other arm tight around her waist and he effortlessly bore most of her weight as he led them down the short sidewalk to her front door. He didn’t like how she’d left her door unlocked, but after her explanation of how she’d planned on coming right back after a short drive to get Souji to sleep, he accepted it with a soft grunt and more or less carried the both of them inside her cozy little apartment.

Reluctantly he released Kagome and she took her son from his arms before tossing him a quick smile and turning to no doubt put him to bed. Inuyasha watched her go, frowning at her limp, but forced himself to remain where he was. She needed to stay off of her ankle for it to get better, but he couldn’t very well tuck in her son for her. While he wouldn’t have minded, he didn’t want to impose, and they had just met, after all.

He also didn’t like the thought of her staying here alone with no one around to help and he thought about asking her if it was alright for him to stay, but again he didn’t want to be weird or make her uncomfortable. They were practically strangers and despite the strangely overpowering need to care for and protect the both of them, he didn’t want her to think he had an ulterior motive or the paramedic side of him wanted to ensure she would be alright.

No, it went much deeper than that. But he didn’t want to scare her or freak her out, so he’d force himself to back off unless she outright told him she wanted him around. Or hell, he’d even take a very obvious hint that was impossible to ignore. He didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her, or the kid, and he desperately hoped the feeling was mutual.

Kagome came limping back down the hallway after closing Souji’s door most of the way and instantly Inuyasha diverted all of his attention on her. She looked utterly drained as she gimped her way over to him, however she still managed to muster up a smile for him and his heart ached.

Inuyasha closed the remaining distance between them and wordlessly scooped her back up into his arms. Kagome’s exhaustion was evident in the way she didn’t even gasp, merely releasing a quiet sigh as he strode down the hallway and followed his nose to Kagome’s bedroom. He set her down on the bed and knelt before her so he could carefully remove her shoes for her. He checked her bandage while he was at it, making sure it was good and secure before resting his hands on her knees and lifting his gaze to hers.

“Thank you,” she whispered and he knew it wasn’t just for taking off her shoes.

“I wish I could do more,” he confessed, eyebrows dipping into a slight frown. “I don’t like the thought of you being here by yourself. Are you sure there’s nobody you can call? I’m sure even your friend Miroku wouldn’t mind helping out if you told him what happened.”

Kagome stared at him, warmth blossoming in her chest. Somebody must be really looking out for her up there to introduce her to such an amazing, caring man like Inuyasha. Granted, she could have definitely done without the circumstances in which they met, but, well…beggars can’t be choosers and all that.

“It’s sweet of you to worry,” Kagome began, lifting a hand to cup his cheek and she smiled when he unabashedly leaned into her touch. “But I promise I’ll be okay. Souji will no doubt crawl into bed with me sometime during the night and wake me up when he’s hungry. After he eats something he’ll probably go back to sleep and I’ll be able to stay off my ankle, if not catch a little more shuteye myself.”

Inuyasha still didn’t look happy, but he finally conceded with a sigh and a nod. “Can I at least leave my number with you so you can text me if you need help? Just for my own peace of mind. Please.”

Boldly he reached up, dragged his claws against the soft skin of her jaw and caught a strand of ebony hair between his fingers. He kept his gaze on hers as he brushed his knuckles against her cheek and he heard the way the breath hitched in her throat. Inuyasha fought back a grin and tenderly tucked the lock of dark silk behind her ear.

Biting her lip, Kagome didn’t give herself time to think as she dropped her hand to grab the lapel of his uniform shirt, fingers curling into the fabric to keep him close. Inuyasha didn’t move, didn’t even dare to breathe as she smiled and peered at him from beneath twin fans of midnight lashes.

“You could,” she murmured, her smile widening just a bit. “Or…you could stop by tomorrow morning and we could maybe talk over coffee and pancakes. If you want.”

Abruptly the breath left Inuyasha’s lungs in a relieved whoosh of air and he nodded, eyes going hooded as he slipped his hand into her hair.

“Yeah,” he said, voice husky. “I want.”

“Yeah?” Kagome repeated, eyes bright, lips curving up even further in obvious delight.

Inuyasha nodded again, gaze fastened to her mouth, and that time Kagome sighed. Her hand tightened on his shirt, refusing to let go, or maybe she was unable to. She couldn’t tell, not with the way Inuyasha was staring at her. Or more accurately her mouth and unconsciously she swallowed, lips parting on a stuttered breath.

“Okay,” he muttered. “Alright. Good.”

“Good.”

They stared at each other, saying nothing, her hand gripping his shirt, his in her hair, and Inuyasha was fighting desperately to keep himself where he was, to not give in no matter how bad he wanted to. He couldn’t take advantage of her like that, he couldn’t risk destroying the trust she had so graciously given him—

She breathed his name, the softest of whispers falling from her lips, and Inuyasha’s control shattered.

“Aw, to hell with it,” he muttered right before surging up and claiming her mouth in the passionate kiss he’d been wanting to give her all damned night.

Immediately Kagome responded, both hands gripping his shirt now as Inuyasha braced his knee on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from falling as he leaned over her. He nipped her lips and she parted them with a gasp that turned into a whimper as he deepened the kiss, greedy for her taste. Despite the hunger ravaging in his gut, however, he kept his kiss gentle, his mouth moving over hers in a hot, sensual dance that she eagerly reciprocated with flicks of her tongue and gentle nips.

He growled and with his hand cupping the back of her head, fingers tangled in her hair, Inuyasha pulled back only to press a series of hot, lingering kisses to her mouth but it wasn’t long before he was unable to keep himself from going in for a much longer, deeper taste once more. Her breathy laugh turned into a moan and he would have smirked in arrogant pride had he had the higher brain function to do so.

Several heated seconds later, Inuyasha finally pulled back to allow them both to breathe and he rested his forehead against her own as they panted for breath.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” Inuyasha admitted in a low rumble that sent pleasant tingles down Kagome’s spine.

“Funny,” she whispered. “I’ve been wanting you to do that all night, too.”

He chuckled and couldn’t help but to brush one last lingering kiss across her smiling lips.

“Get some sleep,” he entreated against her lips. “And I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” she sighed and gave him a sleepy, but genuine smile. “Good night, Inuyasha. Thank you for…everything.”

Inuyasha smiled at her and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Anytime,” he husked. “Good night, baby. Sleep well.”

He helped her get settled into bed and wasn’t surprised that she was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Inuyasha sighed, kissed her brow one more time, and then quietly stole out of her bedroom to let her sleep. Before he even thought about what he was doing, and almost like it was second nature, he checked on Souji who was still fast sleep in his little toddler bed before making sure all the lights were off and ensuring her door was locked when he finally left a few minutes later.

Just as she’d predicted, Kagome woke up just a little after 7 am to the feeling little hands on her face. She opened bleary eyes to find her son hovering over her, wee hands on her cheeks and blinking owlishly down at her. The biggest, sunniest grin split his cherubic face when he saw that she was finally awake and he patted her cheeks with a happiness only a child could have after only going to sleep a few hours before and getting up at what the fraaaaack o’clock in the morning.

Tiny fingers grabbed her nose and Kagome sighed even as a tired smile lifted the corners of her lips.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Kagome murmured and then released a yawn. “It’s too early for your shenanigans, Sou.”

“Mama,” Souji said by way of reply as his mother levered herself upright with a groan. God, she hurt everywhere. Her entire body was sore, not just her torso and shoulder. Not surprising, considering what she’d went through last night, but still.

Ow.

With a soft grunt, Kagome very, very slowly wriggled around until she managed to get her feet on the floor, her sore body protesting every movement. Obviously any pain meds she’d taken last night had worn off by now and her ankle throbbed in protest when she put a little weight on it. Kagome winced and dragged a hand down her face. God, today was going to suck.

But at least she had something to look forward to, Kagome mused to herself, a little smile lighting her face as she remembered they were going to have a visitor that morning. Which meant she needed to get her ass in gear, take a much-needed shower, and feed her hungry toddler.

Souji wedged himself between her knees and stared up at her with worried blue eyes.

“Hurt?” he asked and very gently patted her knee as if the barest touch would cause crippling pain.

Kagome sighed and smiled for her little boy, running a hand through his dark hair and tweaking his ears.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But I’ll be fine, baby. It’s only a little hurt”—lie—“and I’ll feel better once I take a nice hot shower and get some food in our tummies.” She poked his belly and was relieved to see the smile bloom across his face.

“Puffs,” he said and darted for the kitchen.

“Puffs it is,” Kagome murmured and taking a deep breath, she braced her hands on the mattress and slowly pushed herself to her feet. There was pain, but it was tolerable, and she tried to keep as little weight on her bad ankle as she could as she hobbled her way to the kitchen to pour her two-year-old a bowl of Cocoa Puffs cereal.

Even though she wanted nothing more than to sleep all day to let her weary, banged up body recover, being a single mother made that very tempting option unavailable So, despite being slow and muttering curses under her breath every few minutes, Kagome provided her boy with his coveted diabetes-on-a-bowl disguised as sugary chocolate cereal and then went about making herself a cup of much-needed coffee.

After two cups and by the time Souji had finished his second bowl, Kagome was starting to feel human again and since her son had wandered off into the living room to watch cartoons, Kagome seized this chance to take a shower. She knew Souji would pass out soon after on the couch so she wouldn’t have to worry about him for a few hours, or at least until Inuyasha arrived.

The thought of the handsome medical technician brought a flush to Kagome’s cheeks and warmth to flood her entire body. She couldn’t wait to see him again and she wondered if he was as excited about it as she. She could only hope, and the giggle that bubbled up in her throat as she hobbled into the bathroom was girlish and completely involuntary.

Half an hour later Kagome was showered, dressed, and feeling much more like herself, if not still a little tired, but she supposed that was to be expected. The pain meds she’d taken with her coffee had dulled the pain in her ankle, side, and shoulder, and she was grateful because the pain would make whipping up some breakfast much more difficult.

Unsurprisingly Souji was passed out cold in the most ridiculous position on the couch while Paw Patrol played on the television and Kagome left him be to start breakfast. She had no idea when Inuyasha would show up and she wanted to have something made up by then.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before her phone started ringing and Kagome whipped her head around to stare at the device. It was still on the counter where she’d left it last night before venturing out for a drive with Sou and she sighed because she had an idea as to who it could be. And lo and behold, when she picked it up, “Mama” flashed across the screen.

Kagome grimaced, braced herself, and answered.

The conversation with her mother went as expected. Evidently someone from the accident scene last night had captured a brief video snippet of Inuyasha performing his little magic show for Souji and her mother had seen it circulating on social media. Asako explained that she recognized her own daughter and grandson in the video and Kagome managed to calm her down enough to enlighten the older woman what had happened. Several times she had to assure her mother that she and Souji were both fine and probably sometime later that day they were both going to go to the hospital to get an official checkup and an x-ray for Kagome’s ankle and ribs.

Of course, her mother being her mother, wanted to come over and help with Souji while Kagome focused on recovering, but the younger woman managed to convince her that she didn’t need to make the drive just for a likely sprained ankle. She might have put in the little white lie that Miroku would be stopping by later and it was enough to pacify Asako into agreeing.

It wasn’t really a surprise that seconds after hanging up with her mother, her phone beeped with a text message from Miroku but she really didn’t have the energy to put up with him right now so she ignored it and went about preparing breakfast.

In hindsight, she really should have replied to that message.

It was about a quarter after nine when the doorbell rang and instantly butterflies took off in Kagome’s belly from a combination of nerves and excited anticipation. Still, though, it was impossible to hold back the brilliant smile that spread across her flour-dusted face as she shuffled as fast as she could to the front door, heart pounding in her chest as she quickly unlocked it and whipped it open. God, but it was embarrassing how much she’d missed him—

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kagome asked, her radiant expression instantly dropping to one of horror.

Kouga didn’t answer and instantly zeroed in on the bandage on her forehead, blue eyes narrowing as a sense of unease roiled in his gut. So the stupid human hadn’t been lying, then. Least he was good for something other than grabbing ass.

“I don’t want you here,” Kagome hissed after recovering from the shock of seeing her ex out of nowhere. “Leave. Now.”

Stone-faced, she grabbed the door and started to close it in his face, but Kouga wedged his foot into the threshold and prevented it. Kagome glowered at him and tired again, but Kouga pushed his way inside, forcing her to stumble backward and nearly crumple to the floor as her ankle was forced to bear her weight. She gasped as pain ricocheted up her entire leg and she would have fallen backward had it not been for her ex grabbing her wrist and hauling her back up.

“What the fuck, Kagome,” Kouga growled and darted his gaze down to her feet, snarling when she saw she was favoring her right one. “Were you really in a goddamn accident last night and didn’t fucking tell me?”

Regaining her bearings and her balance, Kagome yanked her wrist out of his grip and stumbled backward with a scowl, dark eyes flashing with a mixture of pain and anger.

“Why the hell would I tell you anything?” she snapped, flicking her gaze toward the living room and hoping like hell Souji would remain asleep. “We’re not together anymore, Kouga, or don’t you remember when you punched me in the face?”

Crossing her arms, Kagome simply glared at him, giving up on getting him to leave because she knew in her current state there was shit all she could do. Even if she were at peak physical health, he was still ten times stronger than she and he never let her forget it, either.

To her surprise, Kouga actually looked regretful as he winced and thrust a hand through his bangs. His hair was up in its usual ponytail, but it looked as if he’d dressed in haste, donned in a simple t-shirt and loose sweatpants he wore when jogging. Oh please; don’t tell her he was actually worried?

“C’mon, Kagome, you know I hate it when you bring that up,” he muttered, having the audacity to actually look embarrassed. “I said I was sorry and it’ll never happen again. It’s been a year, can’t we just forget about it and—”

“You and I both know it’s far more than just a punch to the face, Kouga,” Kagome murmured, face tight with pain and old fury that bubbled up to the surface at his sudden reappearance. How the hell had he even found out, anyway? As far as she knew he wasn’t on social media and her mother would never reach out to him after what happened last year.

Kouga tensed and clenched his jaw, cobalt eyes going hard and cold as steel. Evidently his opinion hadn’t changed about half-demon’s and the old scar he’d left on her heart ached.

Deciding now wasn't the time or place to revisit that particular topic, Kagome sighed roughly and leveled him with a suspicious glare.

“How did you even find out, anyway? I know my mother didn’t tell you.” She arched an expectant brow.

Kouga snorted. “Of course she didn’t,” he confirmed. “It was that perverted friend of yours, Miro-whatever. At least he had the sense to—”

Tuning out the rest of whatever he was going on about, Kagome snapped her gaze around to land on her discarded phone still lying on the counter and the color drained from her face when realization dawned. Oooh, that complete and utter moron! That asshole! She was going to throttle him when she saw him next!

“Ooooh, I’ll kill him,” she hissed, glaring with such vehemence at her phone it was a wonder it didn’t burst into flames right there on her counter.

“—good thing he did because you can’t be staying here alone in your condition, you could fall and hurt yourself even worse—”

“Shut up, Kouga,” Kagome cut him off and the wolf-demon was so startled by her cold tone he actually did. “I have no idea why Miroku would ever contact you because it’s literally none of your business what happens to me or Souji because we are no longer together. I haven’t talked to you in a year, and I liked it that way, so now I want you to leave before my son wakes up and sees you. We’ve both had a very long night and he does not need the stress of your presence after what he went through last night. So get out. I’ll be talking with Miroku to make sure he never contacts you again.”

Arms tight across her chest, dark eyes stern and lips in a flat, thin line, Kagome stared him down and didn’t even flinch at the low growl her ex-boyfriend emitted.

“Like hell I’m leaving here without you,” Kouga growled, his eyes twin pools of blue fire as he stalked forward and reached for her arm. “I don’t care what you say, you can’t be alone—”

“So you’re the asshole sperm donor Kagome told me about, huh.”

While Kouga stiffened and slowly turned around with a dark scowl on his face, relief swept through Kagome and the smile that split her face was grateful and positively radiant.

“Inuyasha,” she breathed and Kouga sneered, crossing his arms as he took in the unwanted newcomer.

Leaning against the door jamb, a paper bag tucked under his arm and holding a cardboard drink holder with two coffees in it, Inuyasha looked unimpressed as he returned the once over before shifting his gaze to the woman behind the wolf. Kagome looked infinitely glad to see him, relief swimming in those dark eyes of hers, and his expression softened. Damn, he’d missed her.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Inuyasha ignored the question and kept his gaze on Kagome.

“You alright?” The sperm donor was blocking most of his view, but from what he could tell she seemed alright. His nose told him Souji was napping in the living room and he was glad for that. From what Kagome had told him, the pup didn’t need to see his father here and have a repeat of what happened last night. Poor kid already went through hell.

“I’m fine,” she assured him and stepped around her ex to take the bag and drinks from him. “I was in the middle of making breakfast, but now I suppose I don’t have to. Smells absolutely divine.”

The most delicious smell of muffins and honeybuns were coming from the paper bag and her stomach growled in agreement.

“I thought about taking you two out for breakfast,” he admitted a little sheepishly with a shrug. “But then figured you wouldn’t really wanna go anywhere considering what happened.” He paused. “How you feeling, by the way?”

Shuffling over to the bar counter and completely ignoring the increasingly pissed off wolf-demon, Kagome deposited their breakfast onto the surface and went about collecting some plates.

“Sore, obviously,” she told him. “But it’s tolerable. It still hurts to walk on my ankle, and I had to take the bandage off so I could shower, so if you wouldn’t mind wrapping it again—”

“I asked you a question, asshole,” Kouga interrupted their pleasant little conversation, stepping up and inserting himself right in front of the half-breed’s vision so he was forced to look at him. “Who are you and how do you know Kagome?”

Immediately Inuyasha’s expression changed from warm pleasantness to cold and flinty as he finally looked at the fucker in front of him that had so rudely interrupted his conversation with Kagome. The wolf was attempting to pull off a pathetic intimidating act by snarling in his face and baring his fangs while glaring balefully at him, a steady growl leaking past his clenched teeth.

Inuyasha stared at him for a beat before saying curtly, “I don’t think that’s any of your business, wolfshit. Matter of fact, you don’t have any business being here so why don’t you do us a favor and get lost because Kagome clearly doesn’t want you here, and you know what, neither do I. Your stench is already giving me a headache. There’s the door. I hope it hits you on your way out.”

With that, the half-demon roughly shoved his way past the other male and made his way over to Kagome who had silently watched the exchanged with a worried frown.

Kouga was having none of that, though, and spun around with a snarl to reach out and dig his claws into the mongrel’s shoulder.

“Listen asshole, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are—”

Inuyasha reacted so fast his movements were a blur. He spun around and in the same movement threw his arm above Kouga’s head before jerking it down hard against his back to dislodge the wolf’s grip on his shoulder. Kouga grunted but could do nothing as the next second the half-demon forced his body to turn and then with a swift kick, swept his feet out from under him. He landed on the floor with a grunt and a scowling half-demon glaring down at him.

“I know where very major artery is on your pathetic, weak little body, wolfshit,” Inuyasha growled and narrowed his eyes in lethal warning. “Touch me or her again and my claws just might slip. Comprende?”

While Kouga grumbled and glowered up at him as he pushed himself to his feet, behind him Kagome was feeling quite flushed at having witnessed the hanyou display a very effective self-defense skill and she had to resist the urge to fan herself.

Good lord, but why had that been so hot? Not to mention that threat if he touched her again.

God, Kagome mused, pressing a hand over her wildly beating heart. Take me now.

Scoffing in the face of the half-breed’s anger and threat, Kouga rolled his shoulders and leveled another scowl at him. If he thought he was just going to—

“Shit.”

Inuyasha’s ear flicked behind him at the muttered curse and a familiar scent told him the reason of Kagome’s sudden apprehension. Instantly schooling his expression, he shifted amber eyes toward the living room and found sleepy blue eyes blinking at the three adults. His black hair was a mess and he’d managed to kick off his pants sometime during his nap.

“Hey, bud,” Inuyasha greeted the toddler with a grin, not even sparing the sperm donor another glance. “Remember me?” He wiggled his clawed fingers and raised his eyebrows.

Souji, sleepy mind still trying to register what he was seeing, blinked and settled his gaze on the older male. He sniffed a few times, tilted his head, and wrinkled his nose.

“Magic man,” he said and gave a toothy grin.

Inuyasha’s face softened. “That’s right,” he affirmed. “The magic man. You hungry? I got some tasty muffins and honeybuns that I’m sure you’d like.”

“He shouldn’t be,” Kagome opined, hobbling over to stand beside him and beckoning her son over with a smile and a wave. “He had two bowls of Cocoa Puffs before his nap.”

“Lucky,” Inuyasha commented with another grin. “My mom only lets me have one bowl.”

Kagome snorted a laugh and covered her mouth, but Souji was too busy staring at Kouga to react. His ears were pinned, his little face was scrunched up and Inuyasha couldn’t tell if it was because he was scared or agitated at his father’s unwanted presence.

Shit. Acting fast, and without thinking twice, Inuyasha crossed the distance between them and abruptly scooped the kid up into his arms. Surprisingly, and thankfully, Souji let the older half-demon carry him and fisted a tiny hand in his shirt as Inuyasha crossed back over to Kagome, who was smiling and had suspiciously bright eyes.

“Chock?” Souji asked and it took him a minute to figure out what he was requesting.

“I’m pretty sure I got chocolate muffin for you, champ,” he said and watched the kid’s face light up in delight. It was true; he did have a chocolate muffin that he’d gotten for himself, but he’d give it to Souji in a heartbeat if that’s what he wanted.

Tired of being ignored, Kouga growled and stalked forward again, refusing to let this mutt get the upper hand here. If anyone should leave, it should be the half-breed, dammit!

“Goddammit, I’m not done—”

“Hey Souji,” Inuyasha interrupted the wolf’s tirade loudly and big blue eyes stared up at him questioningly. “Wanna see a magic trick?”

The tot’s eyes widened and he nodded, remembering the magic he’d showed last night with the red light and his fingers. There was more?!

Wordlessly Inuyasha handed the kid over to his mother and at Kagome’s puzzled frown, he merely grinned and winked before spinning around to face the red-faced wolf-demon. Grabbing a pencil that he assumed Kagome used when making grocery lists, he promptly stabbed the pointed end into the counter with enough force to make it stand upright and he mentally apologized to Kagome for ruining the surface. Kouga paid it no mind and stormed forward, growling low while Inuyasha casually rounded the counter to meet him head on.

“I’m gonna make this pencil disappear,” he announced jovially just as Kouga reached him and with both Kagome and Souji’s wide-eyed gaze on him, Inuyasha promptly grabbed Kouga by the back of the head and slammed his face down hard onto the counter.

Kouga dropped to the floor with a groan as Inuyasha threw his hands up, gesturing to the counter now sans pencil.

“Ta da! It’s gone,” he announced and while Souji squealed in absolute delight and clapped his hands, Kagome gaped at him in disbelief. Where…where did—

Inuyasha reached into his pocket and procured the aforementioned pencil before carelessly tossing it onto the counter. Crossing his arms, he stared dispassionately at the writhing wolf-demon on the floor, clutching his nose with both hands and the scent of blood was prevalent as he groaned in pain.

“I won’t ask again,” Inuyasha growled, golden eyes hard and flashing with thinly veiled warning. “Now make like the fucking pencil and disappear before you really piss me off, wolfshit.”

Managing to heave himself to his feet, but still clutching his nose that hadn’t stopped bleeding, Kouga glared murderously at the half-breed mutt and then shifted his gaze to Kagome. He was expecting sympathy, maybe even a little anger on his behalf – the fucker broke his nose, dammit! – but instead what he got was complete and utter ignorance from his former flame. She dedicated her attention to the boy in her arms, setting him on the counter and reaching inside a paper bag to retrieve what looked like a chocolate muffin, not even sparing him a glance.

And just like that the fight left Kouga and he sighed, giving up. Fine, he could take a hint. He pinned the mutt with one last venomous glare before turning tail and finally leaving, closing the door behind him.

Inuyasha grunted. “Good riddance.”

“Rinse,” Souji repeated with a mouthful of chocolate muffin and Inuyasha turned around to face mother and son. The toddler had more muffin on him than in him and the older half-demon chuckled as he stopped forward to ruffle his hair.

“That’s right, runt,” he praised and then locked eyes with his mother, who stood a few feet away, arms crossed and staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Magic trick, hm?” Kagome drawled as he made his way over to her, trying to remain stern but unable to keep the smile off her face as Inuyasha snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

He shrugged, unrepentant. “Souji liked it,” he defended and grinned down at her. “Hi.”

Kagome gave up and laughed, wrapping her own arms around his neck. “Good morn—”

His mouth cut off the rest of the greeting and Kagome melted against him, happily returning his kiss with a little hum of contentment.

“Sorry,” he rasped as he pulled back. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“Hmm,” Kagome murmured and pulled him back down for another one. Kagome felt his husky chuckle and smiled against his lips, tangling her hands in his hair and sighing in bliss as he nibbled the soft flesh of her bottom lip.

Several more kisses were exchanged, some sweet and slow, others deep and hot, until eventually Inuyasha figured it probably wasn’t he best idea to make out in front of her toddler son so he reluctantly pulled back with a sigh and contented himself by holding her in his arms. Kagome seemed perfectly happy to remain there as she watched her son sitting on the counter making a big mess with his muffin. He’d managed to get it on the floor too and she sighed. She wondered if she could persuade Inuyasha to clean it up while she gave the messy toddler a bath…

Her gaze suddenly landed on the pencil and she blinked.

“Hey,” she said and Inuyasha hummed in response. “How did you do that, by the way?”

“Do what?” He rose his eyebrows in question, but the corners of his lips twitched upward, belying his innocence.

She gave him a look and he smirked at her.

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he rumbled and leaned forward to kiss the corner of her mouth.

“Oh, so you’re a magician now?” Kagome breathed, shuddering as he trailed kisses along her jaw.

“Obviously.” Inuyasha ran his hands up and down her sides, claws snagging the fabric of her thin t-shirt. “I mean I have magic fingers.”

He gave a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows as he said that Kagome couldn’t stop the snort-laugh from erupting from her throat even as a light blush stole across her cheeks.

“And speaking of,” he continued with a devilish glint in honey eyes. “Wanna see me do another magic trick?”

Kagome eyed him suspiciously. “Okay,” she agreed somewhat warily, curious despite herself.

“Alright,” Inuyasha said and nodded. “Now watch closely.”

Kagome blinked and stared at him. Inuyasha stared back and vaguely she was aware of his hand crawling up her back, the feeling of claws through her shirt sending shivers to crawl along the length of her spine.

“What am I supposed to be watching?” she whispered and Inuyasha merely grinned before leaning in to press a lingering kiss to her lips. She felt a slight pressure against her back, but paid it no mind, his kiss thoroughly distracting her.

Then he pulled away, released her from his arms, and that was when Kagome felt the tell-tale slackening of an unlatched bra and Kagome gasped as she immediately snapped up an arm to keep the garment in place.

The devil had just unhooked her bra! Through her shirt!

“Inuyasha,” Kagome squeaked, her face turning five shades of red as the wicked half-demon cackled and darted away, grabbing a happily squealing Souji and making his getaway.

“You—! How did you—?! Dammit, Inuyasha, get back here!”

With one arm pressed against her chest, Kagome took off after the pair of laughing half-demons, chasing them around her small apartment and it wasn’t long before she was laughing too.

“I told you!” Inuyasha shouted as he hopped the couch, grinning when Souji laughed in utter delight. “It’s magic!”

“Oh yeah, well watch as I magically shove my foot up your ass! Let’s see your magic solve that one, you mangy mutt!”

Inuyasha’s reply to that was to drop Souji safely onto the couch, catch his pursuer around the waist as she lunged at him, and then swoop her into a kiss and when Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and immediately responded, it was warm, it was wonderful, it was…

Like magic.

[monstersandmaw]

Embers - male dragon shifter x reader, Chapter Eleven (sfw)

Another fluffy chapter, but I hope you enjoy seeing our boy opening up a bit more and learning to be ok with being vulnerable. Featuring Celia too, our niece.

Also it's way longer than I wanted it to be, but when the muse insists, you know? It's 2353 words, no warnings, sfw.

Next week, it's Murder Mystery Dinner evening!! 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

Morning crept through a chink in the curtains and flashed gently off the glinting scales on his bare torso.

Mikaeïl lay fast asleep, his lips gently parted, exposing the points of his canines to you as you stared in wonder at him. Perfectly naked, though the sheet was draped rather artistically across his hips, he looked like a temple statue, his torso pale as marble until it seemed to catch fire with those coppery scales.

He didn’t stir until after nine, and you were perfectly happy to doze with your head on his shoulder. He hadn’t shifted back to his usual form after the exertions of the night before; his hands were still clawed, and the scales rippled up his arms to his elbows. He shuffled slightly and tugged you closer to his chilly body and you grumbled. “You only want me because I’m warm,” you grumped.

“Not true,” he slurred sleepily, nuzzling at your neck.

“Mostly true?”

“I can’t deny that I like how warm you are,” he said, blinking groggily. “But you’re gorgeous and funny and talented. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way you came so beautifully for me last night…”

You blushed at that and buried your face at his chest. Surprisingly, Mikaeïl turned out to be ticklish and you nearly got a spined elbow in your face for that.

Later as you sat at the table in his conservatory while he cooked eggs for the both of you, your phone buzzed and you saw the message preview from your brother. ‘Hey, I’m so sorry but can you take care of Celia tonight?’

You opened it and bounced a reply back. ‘I had plans with Mikaeïl this weekend… what’s up?’

‘Work’ he replied. ‘They need someone to cover the late shift’

Knowing he needed the money, you sighed just as Mikaeïl came over with a cup of tea in his now ordinary-looking hand. “Everything alright?” he asked, setting it down on the table and pushing it towards you. “Different blend this time,” he added while he waited for you to reply.

“It’s my brother,” you said. “He wants me to take care of Celia this afternoon and tonight. He’s got called in to cover a late shift at work.”

“That’s alright,” Mikaeïl smiled, reaching up and stroking your hair affectionately just above your ear. “Would she like to stay here? I’ve got plenty of spare rooms. We could have pizza and a movie and a sleepover or something?”

Unexpectedly, tears filled your eyes and you hugged him.

When your brother dropped her off, you saw the way Mikaeïl weighed him with his gaze. Your brother was taller and broader than you by a long way, and had the rough edges that made him good at his job with the police force, but there was a familial similarity between you. Celia barrelled out of the car a moment later and flung herself at you, and you spat a feather out of your mouth as the little half-siren flapped about excitedly. The moment she saw Mikaeïl, however, she went quiet and still, and looked a bit anxious. Glancing back at him, you realised that he’d slipped back behind his glacially cool mask again.

“Mikaeïl, this is my brother, Jon. Celia you’ve already met, I think.”

“Briefly,” he said, shaking your brother’s hand before crouching down to be at Celia’s eye level. “It’s nice to see you again, Celia. I suppose it might be strange for you to be here without your flute…” she shrugged and he smiled. “Well, you know where the music room is if you feel like going there.” He glanced up at you and added, “We thought we might have a go at making some pizzas for supper tonight. Would you like to help us with that?”

“Making them?” she asked, her eyes going wide, as if she’d never considered the possibility that you could make your own pizza. She probably hadn’t, to be fair.

“Mmhmm,” he smiled. “We’ve already got the bases. You can put whatever you like on top.”

She perked up a bit at that and offered him a wary smile, and your brother chuckled. “I can see she’ll be in good hands tonight. Not too much sugar afterwards though?” he said and you nodded.

“Take care,” you said, giving him a quick hug. He bowed his head once and climbed back into his truck after handing Celia’s bag to you and giving her a farewell hug and asking her to behave herself.

Celia trailed you inside, but didn’t seem to settle. She kept looking warily at Mikaeïl, and the more often it happened, the more distressed Mikaeïl seemed to get. Not that it really showed, but there were little cracks in that porcelain mask of his that seemed larger to your trained eyes now than they ever had before.

He ground his teeth and looked a little panicked. Then he blinked and smiled slightly. “Celia?” he asked in a quiet, gentle voice. “Do you like magic tricks?”

“Yeah…?” she said cautiously from her seat beside you in the conservatory full of plants.

“Do you know what a sparkler is?” he asked, going over to a kitchen drawer. You watched him curiously but didn’t intervene. He had captivated her attention completely.

“Yes,” she said. “We have them at Halloween.”

“That’s right. I know it’s not Halloween now, but I have some. Would you like me to show you a trick with one?”

“Like a magician’s trick?” she asked, unimpressed.

He shook his head. “No. I’m going to use real magic. You want to know a secret first?”

She nodded immediately.

“Well, you’ll have to promise not to tell anyone unless I say you can… Can you keep a secret?”

Celia’s eyes widened and she nodded again.

“Alright,” he said, and knelt down again, lowering his head to show her his horns. “You see these?” he said, tapping one and she stepped warily closer. “You know what they are?”

“Horns,” she said, patronisingly.

“Indeed,” he chuckled, still with his head bowed. “And which creatures have horns?”

She thought for a moment. “Frankie does,” she said. “But you don’t have sheep feet.”

Both of you snorted at that and Mikaeïl bit his lips for a moment. “No,” he said, still smiling. “I don’t. Can you think of any other creatures who have horns?”

Again, she thought about it. “Tieflings have horns, and minotaurs, and… uh… some lizards do. There’s a lizardfolk girl in my class who has little horns but they’re yellow not red.”

“What about a dragon?” he said quietly and she gasped.

“Yes! But… You’re not a dragon…”

“How about if I told you I can change my shape,” he said. “Like a werewolf can shift between wolf and man…”

“You’re a weredragon?!” she giggled, clapping her hands. “Can you only change on the full moon?”

Mikaeïl shook his head and sat back a little bit, still down on one knee, but more crouched now and resting his elbow on his knee. “No,” he said. “I can shift whenever I like, but it’s very painful because becoming such a big creature takes a lot of effort. But that wasn’t why I wanted to tell you what I am. What can dragons do that most others can’t?”

“Fly?” A reasonable guess.

“That’s right, but what else can they do. It’s related to that sparkler I mentioned…”

She went very still and her eyes got even wider. “Can you breathe fire?”

“I can,” he said, “But only as a dragon. When I’m like this though, I can still control it. Shall I show you?”

He stood and got out the box of sparklers from the back of a low drawer and held one between finger and thumb. With a click of his fingers, the sparkler lit and began to crackle and fizz. Celia laughed at the simple trick, but when he raised his other hand and began to gesture, she gasped again. The little sputtering sparks flew away from the stick and began to dance around the room. Somehow he kept the reaction going and they popped and danced all the way around the room until they finally fizzled out.

“Do it again!” she cackled immediately.

That set the tone for much of the afternoon. Mikaeïl became almost another part of the family to her, listening to her stories about her music and the things that fascinated her, even though they couldn’t have been of any interest to him whatsoever.

Pizza making was probably a mistake, given that you ended up with olives on the ceiling and flour all over the floor by the end of it, but she had a grand time and only made it halfway through the cartoon movie she chose from Mikaeïl’s online TV subscription before she collapsed in a snoring pile of feathers between you on the sofa.

“Let’s get her up to bed,” he smiled, and you nodded.

You led a very sleepy child up and helped her wash her face and brush her teeth before tucking her and her little stuffed minotaur into bed for the night. “I’m just at the end of the corridor,” you said, “So if you need me, you can find me, but I hope you sleep well.”

As you left, she wiggled in bed and sat up. “Are you and Mikaeïl like mummy and daddy were?” she asked.

You felt a tightening in your throat as she brought up your late sister-in-law. She’d been the life and soul of every gathering until she’d fallen ill. “Maybe,” you said cautiously. “I’d like to be, but we haven’t known each other as long as Jon and your mother did.” A moment later you asked, “Do you like him?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “He’s scary but I think he’s nice.”

“I’ll tell him you said that,” you laughed and she giggled. “Go on, lights out.”

When you went downstairs again, you found Mikaeïl in the last stages of cleaning up the bomb-site that had been the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about that,” you said. “I know that wasn’t how you intended to spend our first weekend together.”

He looked up at you then and you saw a strange, tearful expression on his face.

“Mikaeïl?”

A single tear rolled down his cheek and he set the cloth down that he’d been using to wipe the surface.

You crossed to him and held him, cupping his cheek in one hand. “What is it?”

“She’s a delight,” he said. “That’s all.”

“That’s not all,” you insisted gently, “But you don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

His eyes darted to the sofa and he said, “I’ll join you in a minute…” and you backed off, knowing he needed another few moments to himself. The arrival of you in his life had been one huge change for him - he’d told you as much already - and you didn’t mind being patient with him.

When he did come and sit with you, it was with a whisky in his slightly trembling fingers, and he sat with one leg folded under him in a remarkably childlike pose. You hooked your arm around his shoulders and gently toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Can I take it down?” you asked, tugging slightly at the hair tie.

He nodded, and a moment later his fiery red hair was falling loose around his shoulders.

“Thank you for the way you were with her today.”

“She was frightened of me to start with,” he said, staring at a point on the other side of the conservatory wall. Darkness pressed against the windows and you thought vaguely about shutting the blinds, but you didn’t want to move from his side. The length of his thigh was pressed against yours, as if drawing heat and comfort from the contact.

“She’s wary of most people,” you said. “I don’t think it was personal. She likes you now though… she told me so upstairs before I said goodnight.”

“Really?”

“Mmm. You worry too much, Mikaeïl,” you said, thumbing away the creases that lingered between his sharp copper brows. He still hadn’t really articulated quite what was troubling him.

After a sip of whisky, he said softly, “The ‘me’ that you’ve come to know…” he glanced around the kitchen, “Here, at home… It’s not the ‘me’ I present to the world. I find it difficult to reconcile the two people… you know?”

“I figured,” you said and he turned to look at you. “I mean, when I first met you, I thought you wanted to eat me or something. You looked so cross that I’d held up your day with a question about flute lessons for my niece…”

“I was cross,” he admitted with a chuckle. “And I was late to my lecture because of you.”

“You were?”

“Mmm.”

“I’m sorry.”

He laughed again and his shoulders dropped a good two inches as he relaxed. He surprised you by kissing you, not squarely on the mouth, but delicately, right in the corner. “I’m worried that at the fund-raiser next week… I won’t be the person you’ve come to know. I’m worried that you won’t like ‘Professor Mikaeïl…’”

You snorted and grabbed his whisky from his hand, setting it down on the low table before swinging into his lap to straddle him. He looked surprised, but pleased. “I’ve heard you being called ‘Kaeïl’ by Frankie, and ‘Mikki’ by Kiriavin, and I’m sure your sister has a few choice names for you as well, judging by what you’ve told me about her. You can be lots of different things to different people, Mikaeïl, but you are this to me,” you said, and you grabbed his horns and kissed him.

He bucked his hips up slightly into you at that, with his deep, sonorous, happy rumbling echoing in his chest, before holding your waist and then hugging you tightly while he kissed you back.

When you finally parted, he smiled, eyes glowing and glistening, and said, “I worry too much.” You both laughed at that.

—

Part Twelve

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[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Six: A Hellhound Requests Cuddle Time

“Luz, you look terrible! When was the last time you slept right?” Willow asks in shock, reaching over and gently turning Luz’s face in her hands.

She laughs nervously and gently pushes her hand away. “I’m fine! I just didn’t sleep well last night, but I’m sure tonight will be better.”

It was a blatant lie. She hadn’t slept right since the night Amity was nominated for her quest. The last fourteen nights since she’d left, Luz had been plagued with the nightmares of the man in the mountain, pointing the sword and her and laughing. Some nights were better than others, but last night had been particularly draining, and Luz had only slept for a couple of hours.

Luz had always been good at hiding her problems from the people in her life, usually with her Mami, but she supposed she was starting to push what she thought she could get away with. She had never really had friends to lie to before.

The night of the nomination, Luz had been so terrified by the dreams she had left her cabin before the sun was even in the sky, deciding she would take a walk to clear her head. Usually, she would draw, (the wall next to her bunk was quickly filling up with tacked up drawings and photos of her and her friends at camp) but the dream had freaked her out so badly all she’d wanted to do was leave the cabin as quick as she could.

She paced the strawberry fields in frustration, trying to put together what the dream had meant. She had slept funny on her arm and irritated the cut that had clotted over from where Amity’s sword had skimmed it, and while it didn’t hurt, it was itchy and uncomfortable.

She drew Aletheia watched the bronze blade appear in front of her, still so polished she could see her face reflecting in it. Luz remembered Willow and Gus saying the blade brought bad luck. Maybe that’s why she was having these dreams.

“Can’t sleep?”

Luz jumped, spinning around and holding up her sword defensively. She came almost face to face with Amity, who didn’t even flinch at the blade, her gold eyes staring at Luz blankly. Luz lowered her sword in embarrassment.

“Sorry about that,” Luz mumbled.

Amity shrugged her shoulders. Luz noticed that she was already packed and ready, dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt, leggings, and boots. She had a black backpack swung over her shoulder, and the only remnants she was wearing that showed she might have been a camper was her amethyst-studded xiphos on her belt and the leather necklace around her neck.

Luz did a double-take when she saw it. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before. There were five beads strung on it, but the thing that made it stand out was the amethyst pendant strung around the middle. Now that Amity wasn’t wearing the staple orange t-shirt and jeans, it was a lot more obvious.

Amity was still staring at her, and Luz realized she had never answered her question.

“Uh… yeah. Nightmares, and whatever,” Luz added awkwardly, and Amity’s eyes flashed knowingly. Luz wondered if she wasn’t the only half-blood plagued by the dreams.

“So what are you doing down here?” Luz asked, trying to keep her voice light. Luz still didn’t really know what to make of Amity after their conversation last night. She felt like she had gotten a glimpse of who she might be under all those layers, but she still wasn’t sure.

Amity swallowed, looking away from Luz and towards the huge pine tree that stood proudly on Half-Blood Hill. Luz remembered Willow telling her that the tree was a huge source of the camp's magic and that the Golden Fleece on the tree wasn’t a replica, but the real deal.

“I come up here every morning and go for a walk before training,” she eventually said. Luz felt the tension radiating off of her in waves. She wasn’t sure if she should try and comfort her, or if she would think Luz was making fun of her.

“How are you feeling?” She tried gently, and Amity shuffled her feet.

“I’m fine. This is what all half-bloods are born to do. We do quests, and bring honor to Olympus.” Amity’s voice rose slightly as she said it, and Luz thought that Amity might just be saying it to convince herself.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Luz said softly, and Amity flinched. Frowning and slowly reaching out, Luz put her hand on Amity’s forearm. She tensed, her gaze turning back to Luz’s.

“I’d be terrified in your position,” Luz said honestly. While she had thought at the pavilion last night that a quest would be a fun adventure, her nightmares had given her a whole different perspective. At camp, she had all of her new friends to help pick up the pieces when something scary happened. On a quest, Amity would only have Boscha and Skara. She didn’t know Skara all that well, but from what she’d seen of Boscha she didn’t exactly peg her as the comforting type.

Amity looked down at Luz’s hand, then back up at her face. She seemed to be grappling with something before she just sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. She gently pushed Luz’s hand away.

“Can you just promise me one thing?” she asked quietly, turning her body away from Luz and wrapping her arm around her body. Luz was nodding the second the words were out of her mouth.

“Of course.”

“Take care of the camp while I’m gone,” Amity said quietly, swallowing hard. “Demigod dreams are usually a good indicator of how serious things are. I don’t know who that guy is on the mountain, but he’s dangerous.”

Luz blinked, not sure why Amity would want her of all people to watch after the camp. But she looked so on edge, Luz wasn’t going to refuse.

“Uh, yeah sure. I’ll make sure everything is fine here.”

As Amity walked away to the pine tree where Lilith would send her and her friends off, Luz was smacked with the realization that she had never said anything to Amity about her dreams… and especially not about the man in the mountain.

Ever since she left camp with Boscha and Skara, Luz had been on edge. The conversation with Amity had really freaked her out, and Luz wanted to make good on her promise. She had changed and gotten ready in the Hermes cabin before setting right off to the Big House.

Hooty, the houses magic security guard/door stopper/living owl had asked Luz a bunch of questions she couldn’t answer when she just told him she needed to see Eda. Eda had opened the door in her pajamas, looking disgruntled to be woken up so early, but regardless she’d let Luz inside.

Luz hadn’t been expecting to tell Eda everything she’d seen in her dreams, or about her conversation with Amity, but she just hadn’t been able to keep it in any longer. Eda had sat there and listened intently, her face morphing from annoyance to worry the longer Luz talked. When Luz asked Eda to train her again, so she could make good on her promise to Amity, she had readily agreed.

Eda pushed her hard. It wasn’t in a way that freaked Luz out or anything, but she always expected Luz to be her best, and Luz would be lying if she said she didn’t find the whole experience exciting. She asked a ton of questions every night in the arena, and Eda would always offer a thoughtful (abelite unconventional) solution. Sometimes Willow or Gus joined them, and Eda would have Luz scrimmage against them while she offered pointers. King was always there too, usually sleeping in the corner or yelling threats of encouragement.

While Luz had learned a lot in the two weeks she’d been training with Eda, the mental and physical exhaustion of the nightmares was getting harder and harder to avoid. She didn’t want Willow or Gus to worry, especially since they didn’t know the full extent of her dreams.

“Yeah, seriously Luz,” Gus said, looking at her up and down. “You haven’t been yourself lately. You haven’t even touched your lunch, and that’s saying something.”

“If you have no meat on your bones, you will never be able to destroy your enemies!” King said from his place on Luz’s lap. The tiny talking hellhound had gotten into a habit of following Luz and her friends around, usually curling up in one of their laps or joining them for meals hoping he would get some of their food. Luz rolled her eyes at him, but there was no malice to the gesture, and she reached up to scratch behind his ears.

The trio had decided to get lunch together in the pavilion since it wasn’t as formal of an event as dinner the place was pretty empty. They were sitting at the Athena table by themselves, and even though Luz’s chicken and cheddar sandwich looked fantastic like all the other camp food, Gus was right. It remained untouched on her plate, with Luz’s appetite disappearing when they sat down and Luz caught a glimpse of one of the slash marks in the columns that had yet to be sealed post skeleton attack.

“I’m myself!” Luz tried, doing her best at her typical “Luz chipper” that her friends always made fun of her for. “I’m still good ol’ Luz! Camper extraordinaire!”

Willow and Gus shared a look, and Willow turned back to Luz and pursed her lips, not buying it.

“Luz, you need sleep,” Willow said firmly, her eyes locked on the bags that had been forming for days now under Luz’s eyes. “You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard.”

“I’m not pushing myself too hard,” Luz retorted with a frown, “I need to be the best I can be in case something like this happens again.” She gestured to the column, and Willow and Gus’ face lit up with understanding. Willow reached across the table comfortingly, putting her hand over Luz’s.

“Luz, it’s not likely that something like that will happen again,” Willow said, giving her a comforting smile. “It’s been two weeks since Amity left on her quest, and we haven’t had a sliver of trouble at all.”

Luz’s stomach flipped, thinking again about her last conversation with Amity. “Do you think they’re doing alright?”

Willow frowned, moving her hand away from Luz’s to clamp them in her own lap. “It’s hard to say with Amity… you never really know what she’s thinking.”

Luz blinked at the tone of Willow’s voice. It was almost… resentful. Even Gus noticed it, his mouth set into a hard line. Luz suddenly remembered something she’d forgotten that happened during capture the flag two weeks ago.

“During the game, Boscha called you “half a half-blood” Luz started curiously, unable to resist. Willow looked at her hands, clearly upset, and Gus shot Luz a warning look. Luz pinked, realizing she might have crossed a line.

“Sorry, it’s none of my business…” she started, but Willow cleared her throat, shaking her head.

“No, it’s alright. You’re my friend, you should know.” Willow looked up and met Luz’s gaze, giving her a nervous look. “They call me that because I’m not really a half-blood. Well… I am… I guess… but I wasn’t born the way a lot of you guys were. My dads have a really popular farm in Minnesota, and it was enough to get Demeter’s attention. She blessed them, and my dad’s say I just showed up on the front porch of their farmhouse.”

Luz nodded slowly, picking up what she was saying. “So Amity and her friends bully you because you weren’t born like they were. That’s terrible.”

“Amity wasn’t always like that,” Willow mumbled quietly, looking forlorn. “When I came to camp, we were the same age and we became friends. But when I told her about my dad’s and what happened… well…”

“She ditched you for Boscha and Skara,” Luz concluded, doing her best to not get angry. “That’s stupid! The camp boundaries keep everybody who isn’t a half-blood out, and they let you in just fine. You’re just as good a half-blood as everybody else.”

“She’s not just as good, she’s better,” Gus added with a smile. “Demeter campers haven’t shown magical abilities like Willows in thousands of years.”

“Yeah!” Luz exclaimed with a grin, nodding to her encouragingly. “I saw you make that wall of thorns during the game, it was a huge reason our team won. Don’t even let Amity and her dumb friends convince you otherwise.”

Willow smiled bashfully. “Thanks, guys. But you know, even though Amity was so mean to me, I do really feel bad for her right now. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

There was a pause between the three of them as they suddenly grew solemn.

“I can,” Luz eventually said quietly.

Luz didn’t know if it was because Willow had just shared something personal with her, or because she couldn’t keep it bundled up any longer, but soon she was spilling everything. She told them about her conversation with Amity right before the skeleton attack, the dreams she’d been having ever since she got to camp, and then finally about the last time she saw Amity and the suspicion she had about the connection of their dreams.

By the time she’d finished telling them what happened, she slumped forward, feeling like a weight had finally gotten off her chest. Gus wrapped his arm around Luz comfortingly from next to her, and Willow somewhere along the way had taken Luz’s hand in hers again.

King had sat up and listened intently, and when she was done, he snuggled closer to her chest. “No wonder you’re so tired, Luz. I would be too if I had been having the same nightmare for so long.”

“Amity was right, half-bloods are known to sometimes get dreams when something is off with our world or Olympus,” Gus said, his brow furrowed with both worry and confusion. “But I don’t understand why you’re having similar dreams to Amity if you’re not a hero on her quest. That’s pretty unusual.”

“So you two haven’t had any dreams like this?” Luz asked desperately, and the two shook their heads. Luz sighed, reaching up to rub her tired eyes with her fist. “I don’t understand why this is happening. Who is this guy and why won’t he just let me sleep?”

“It’s not like any of what he said is easy to pinpoint either,” Willow mumbled with a shrug. “Lots of heroes and villains in Greek Mythology have a vendetta against the gods.”

“This must have something to do with Hestia,” Luz said certainly. “I think he knows where she is. If I could just talk to this guy-”

“That’s not how these dreams work,” Gus interrupted with a frown. “Sorry Luz, but you’ll only see what he wants to show you.”

“Amity had been having these dreams too,” Luz mumbled lowly, not wanting to upset Willow by bringing her up. Thankfully, Willow didn’t seem to be angry right now, just concerned. “She asked me to look out for the camp. Why?”

Willow and Gus shrugged, but King looked up at Luz with serious blinking eyes.

“If Amity is anything like you guys have just described, then she’s been thinking about this for a while. Luz is a new camper, and Amity wouldn’t just tell her something like that if it wasn’t important.”

The three half-bloods slowly started to nod. “You’re right, King.” Willow said, “I’ve known Amity for five years now, and she doesn’t do things like that on a whim. This means something.”

Except Luz didn’t know what it was, or what she could do to help. She groaned in frustration, letting her head hit the table with a clunk. “Why is being a half-blood so confusing,”

King wiggled underneath her. “You seem upset. Not that I want you to or would appreciate it at all, but you can hug me if you so choose.”

“Really?” Luz asked excitedly, scooping him up in her arms, and cradling him to her chest. King pretended he wasn’t happy about this, but Willow and Gus smiled knowingly when they saw King press his head against her collarbone.

“The King of Demons can also be the King of Cuddles,” he said, daring them to make a comment.

Luz was feeling a lot better as she and her friends headed to the arena for their afternoon practice. Eda had set up an obstacle course for campers in there and they would participate in teams to complete it. Today, the Hermes cabin would pair with Demeter, while the Athena cabin played against them and would pair with Aphrodite’s cabin.

While Luz was sad Gus wouldn’t be on her team, it would be nice to test her new skills and see how far along she was coming. She thought she was getting a lot better with her sword, and hoped all her hard work was boosting up her endurance and strength. Today would be the first real test since capture the flag… and as she had already confessed to Amity she hadn’t exactly won fairly.

The arena was divided into two sides, and Eda had obviously taken some inspiration creating this course from the mortal military one. Each side was composed of a short climbing wall with an oiled rope, a tough barricade of barbed wire you’d have to army crawl under, a balance beam (with enchanted vines to try and trip the camper, courtesy of Willow), and then the two competing campers would have to scrimmage at the end in a tiny makeshift circle. The first camper to be knocked outside the lines loses.

“For every camper who makes it to the end and wins the scrimmage, their team earns a point.” Eda finished, and Luz was beginning to feel stressed. That was a lot of work for one point. “The team with the most points at the end wins, with their chores divided amongst the losing team for one week. High stakes, kids.”

That perked Luz up, as well as the rest of the Hermes cabin. Their chore this week was dishes, which was definitely not fun since the Harpies wanted them to wash them in literal lava for a spot-free solution. Luz cuffed the sleeves of her camp shirt, getting excited at the idea of passing it along to a different cabin.

She saw Amity’s siblings, Edric and Emira, standing next to Gus. Maybe Aphrodite could get their chore. Luz thought that was fair revenge for letting them sneak past her during capture the flag.

Eda blew the whistle, and they were off. Luz’s team had decided that the Demeter cabin was going first, and they were going to line up according to seniority, which meant Luz had to run dead last. She fidgeted anxiously at the high stakes but did her best to ignore her nervousness to cheer on her team.

The other team, of course having Athena, had a different and more thought-out strategy. They would have their newest campers run first to try and secure a more solid lead at the end of the game when their best campers were still fresh and ready to run.

Willow ended up having to face Gus after the two had been neck and neck the whole time they ran the course. As Willow drew her sword and Gus his spear, the two were very well matched, and Luz was torn at who to cheer for. When she expressed this to Viney, the counselor jokingly threatened to strangle her.

“You better start cheering for Willow,” Viney said to Luz, not able to keep the smile off her face as she said it. Luz laughed.

Due to a quick slash from Willow’s sword, Gus had no choice but to step back to dodge, effectively being pushed out of the circle. He sighed in disappointment, and Willow apologized, but Gus just smiled and gave her a high five for her good effort.

With Luz’s team slightly in the lead, she continued to watch and wait for her turn. Viney went up against Emira, and Luz leaned forward excitedly. Despite her injury from two weeks ago, the slash had healed impossibly fast, and Viney had returned to training just a few days later. Viney had winked at Luz, saying the healing process was almost magical. Luz had a feeling she was making fun of her.

The two were a perfect match, with Viney swinging a three-foot sword hard towards her that got deflected every time by the tip of Emira’s knife. Luz gasped when she saw it happen, only a really talented knife user would be able to pull something off like that. She now understood why the Aphrodite cabin was no laughing matter.

Viney’s brow furrowed in frustration every time she did it, with Emira making a couple of teasing comments Luz couldn’t hear from so far away. It seemed to make Viney swing a little harder each time, and Luz wondered if this was the Blight twins “way with words” Willow and Gus had mentioned before.

Eventually, out of a pure slip on Viney’s part, she swung and Emira moved, causing Viney to accidentally step willingly out of the circle. Viney cursed in Greek, and Emira smiled coyly, and Eda called the point in favor of their team.

Viney walked shamefully back to their side, where her siblings all gave her murmurs of encouragement despite the loss.

“That girl is going to get her tongue cut out by someone one of these days,” she growled in annoyance to Luz and Willow. Luz thought she had a good point, but Willow just laughed.

The points jumped back and forth a couple more times before Luz realized she was up, and worse, the game was tied. Then she looked left and realized who she was up against.

Edric looked over at her and grinned, giving her a teasing wink. Luz’s face pinked, and she cuffed the sleeves of her shirt, ready to go. They waited for the campers to jog back to the beginning before they took off running, and when they reached the first climbing wall, Luz spared a glance towards Edric and her mouth dropped in surprise. He was keeping perfect pace with her, and he leaped over the wall like it was nothing. Like his sister, he was a natural.

Luz pushed herself up the wall with shaky hands, leaping into the air and hitting the ground running to the next task. Instead of army crawling like she was supposed to, (where Edric was already almost halfway done) she decided to try something a little more Luz, (Willow would later smack her and call it too risky and dangerous).

She tucked her back leg under her thigh, baseball sliding down on her back and under the entire barbed wire netting in one swift slide. She couldn’t believe it had worked, and she hadn’t poked out an eye or anything. When she cleared the netting (while getting another rush of adrenaline at the roar of approval from her team) she pushed herself to her feet and ran to the balance beam now neck and neck with Edric.

She saw Edric grit his teeth competitively and together they jumped up on the beam, sprinting far too fast for any of the thorns to latch around their ankles. When they landed smack into the center of the circle, they each drew their weapons and turned to face one another.

Edric had a three-foot xiphos that was so similar to Amity’s Luz almost did a double-take when she saw it. But instead of amethysts studded into the blade, Edric’s sword had gems that were blue. Edric seemed to be just as skilled at fighting as her sisters because when he swung at Luz and she connected her sword with his, the force of the impact almost knocked her out of the circle instantly. She grit her teeth and lunged, but he deflected the blade easily.

“Come on, Luz,” he said with a cheeky smile. “Where’s all that power Amity had to deal with during capture the flag?”

“You want power?” Luz asked, taking another swing at him. “I’ll give you power!”

The pair clashed for a few more minutes, and Luz had to block out the cheering coming from both sides of the teams. It was clear Luz’s team hadn’t known the full extent of what she could do, expecting her not to be able to hold a coin to Edric. But her training with Eda had her feeling fresh, and she found her pointers rushing back to her like muscle memory.

“Remember to move in when you have a shorter blade.”

When Luz saw the opening, she took it. Pushing forward, she stabbed with Aletheia and forced Edric to take a few wild steps backward in an effort to getaway. The second he did it, his foot slide outside the circle.

“You’re out!” Eda yelled, and Luz’s team broke out into crazy cheers. “Hermes and Demeter win the game!”

Her team came rushing around her in an instant, patting her on the shoulders and screaming in her ears. Luz’s whole body vibrates with exhaustion and excitement. She’d done it! A grin broke out onto her face, and Willow and Gus met her eagerly, Willow pulling her in for a hug and Gus giving her a begrudging smile.

But Luz could only savor the moment for a few seconds, before the loudest road she’d ever heard came thundering down in the distance, over by Half-Blood Hill.

The crowd instantly quieted, all of them drawing their swords at the sound. Luz fumbled for her blade in terror, the volume of the roar itself washing terror over her body. Eda reached for Owlbert, shifting him into her spear holding up her hand. Her face was unusually serious, and she didn’t hesitate before rushing forward.

“Somebody is trying to get inside the camp. Half-bloods! Rally with me!”

The flood of campers from the four cabins drew their weapons and followed, and Luz hurried to keep pace with Willow and Gus.

“What does Eda mean, somebody is trying to get in?” Luz said to them, doing her best to steel her nerves from the serious situation.

“Most half-bloods who come to camp don’t fly in like you did, Luz,” Willow says seriously, gripping her kopis so hard her knuckles were turning white.

“Most of them come from the road by Half-Blood Hill,” Gus finished, looking unusually nervous. “Usually being chased by some kind of monster.”

Well, that explained the roaring. Reading her own sword, Luz and the other campers climbed the hill with Eda in the lead, heading towards whatever monster had just made that sound.

Luz was holding her breath as she reached the top, and the party of demigods passed the protective pine tree and into the forest. Luz looked around cautiously, but before she could even realize what was happening Willow was diving into her.

“Get down!”

There was another terrifying snapping roar, as she and Willow went tumbling away from the group, and the half-bloods scattered, Eda, yelling ferociously and calling out orders. Luz rolled to her side and got to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to locate what had just snapped at her.

When she saw it, her blood ran cold.

It was a dragon, but it wasn’t. It had huge thick scales, and claws that could cut Luz in half with one swipe. But the most terrifying thing about it was the head… no… the heads.

Six of them exactly, glaring around at the yelling half-bloods who had run to meet it. The one that had snapped at her and Willow had turned away when it realized it had missed them and turned back to Eda, who was stabbing wildly with her spear at its scales. Luz quickly helped Willow to her feet, and Gus joined them, hovering over them protectively with his own spear.

“What… is that?” Luz managed, so terrified she was lucky she hadn’t passed out.

“A Hydra,” Gus yelled, and Luz had no idea how he could look so awed in a dangerous moment like this. “Whatever you do, don’t cut off any of its heads!”

“Who was the Hydra chasing?” Willow asked, and Luz noticed that she was also trembling with anxiety. “We should find them while the monster is distracted by all the other campers!”

Luz knew she was right. With at least fifty campers helping fend off the Hydra, it was a good idea to look for whoever it had followed to the hill.

The three of them darted past the scales, dodging the snapping heads of the Hydra as they looked for anybody hurt.

“I don’t see anybody at all!” Gus exclaimed as he jabbed his spear at a head who had gotten too close while snapping at Viney and Jerbo.

“Me neither!” Willow yelled, slashing her sword at exposed scales from behind a tree. One Hydra head roared in outrage, giving Eda the opportunity she was looking for. She stabbed hard with her spear in its eye, and it must have been a daughter of Zeus thing because the whole head shook with electricity as it was stabbed, hitting the ground with a thud.

Luz scanned the clearing desperately when she saw them.

“There!” She screamed to her friends, pointing just beyond a large tree twenty feet away.

A girl in a black hoodie holding her sword in one hand while dragging along an injured girl, her other hand wrapped around her waist. The girl who was limping was holding a broken bow, and her face was streaked with exhaustion. When Luz realized who it was, her eyes widened in shock as she raced forward with Willow and Gus to help.

It was Boscha and Skara, and Amity was nowhere to be seen.

[blaiddlleuad]

We'll meet again soon - wolfstar

Part 2

Sirius is eleven when he comes back.

This time it’s a Wednesday morning. Its late September and the trees are just starting to lose their green. Sirius couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned, flipped his pillow and changed pajamas. But he still was wide awake. He flips on the lamp that wobbled on his bed side table and sat back to staring at the mirror.

He can see himself inside. He's got his mother's grey eyes and his father's sharp cheek bones. He let his hair grow at the beginning of the year and now reaches at his shoulders. It's the same dark black as the rest of his family, one day he thinks he'd like to dye it like those men do in the magazine's he steals from the shops when he sneaks out.

He's been doing that a lot lately. Sneaking about like he's up to no good. He supposes he is really. Leaving his house in search for something fun to do. Ignoring his governess's words of wisdom to stay in line and his brother’s pleas to just be good for once. It's not the he's doing anything wrong, it's more like he's doing what his mother doesn't approve off (His father thinks it's funny, like how he was as a boy) and Sirius will do anything to piss her off.

The boy walks past just at that time. Between a blink and the light flickering. Sirius nearly misses him but he still sees the boy, taller again now.

"Hello?" He calls out.

Sirius wonders why he's doing this. Why he thinks it would be a good idea. But it was spur of the moment and the flash of something magic. A bubble that popped and a fairytale opening. A wisp of blue and purple and a flurry of dust. He couldn't miss it. The excitement coming alive. Or whatever it may be. He was being pulled towards something different, something that tickled the back of his throat.

"Hello?" He called out once more.

Then a head popped round the mirrors edge. His eyes amber, strong and mystery circled and swirled, a hint of confusion and curiosity. His tawny hair ending in curls and flopping across his head. Three great big scars ran across his face but freckles over populated and hid the scars behind them. Sirius thought he was beautiful.

"Why are you in my mirror?" The boy asked. It sounded like he was from Wales. (How is a welsh boy in an Italian mirror?)

"I'm not in your mirror. You're in mine." Sirius said. Well now that’s just odd he thinks.

"I'm sure I'm not in a mirror." The boy replied, he was now sitting down. Legs crossed and arms folded in a jumble, pointing which way and everywhere.

"Well, I'm sure I'm not either. What's your name?" Sirius asked.

"Remus. I’m Remus."

It's not until a couple of weeks later that Sirius and Remus have any sort of conversation. They smile and nod if they see one another and Sirius makes sure to say good morning and good night, even if Remus isn't there to hear him.

It's been a long day. With having a new tutor and the responsibility of being the eldest son is more tiring than Sirius expected. (He's only eleven for crying out loud!)

He changes out of stiff uniformed suit, ugly green and satin black, into his more comfortable loose jeans and blue shirt. He puts on his radio and listens to the buzz that fills the room as if it's empty and he's all alone. Like the room has expanded and grown larger in the time he took to switch it on. It makes everything echo, every breath he takes, every rustle he makes. But it's not a terrifying echo that would reach him and rid Sirius of safety, instead it gives it to him. Handing it over as a gift that should be looked after.

Sirius sits on the floor with his back against the bed. He's more stable when feeling the ground beneath him, more in control and he likes that. Regulus has found it funny. It was then that Remus came into view.

"Hello Sirius. You look tired." Remus said a matter of factly. He was wearing a too big jumper and joggers, Sirius wished he could go up to Remus and hug him, he did look soft and cuddly.

"Hi. And thanks."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. Is everything okay?"

"Ugh yes, just my tutor is so annoying. He's so old and, and old."

"Tutor?"

"You don't have one? Well I got a new one start of September, apparently I'm too old to be working with the governess. I actually liked her. She gave me sweets."

"Governess?"

Sirius faltered for a moment. Just a moment where he stopped, and everything around him did so too. It was late and of course his parents were in the parlor and his brother in the library but it seemed to him that even them had stopped. The radio still blared out music though it was all a jumble of words and sounds. Remus was different to him. Not a bad different but definitely different. Whether that be his clothes or his interest in books or the fact that he was from Wales. He was different.

Sirius however, couldn’t get it out of his head. He liked Remus, so him being any different wasn’t going to change that. He likes his smile and how his eyes light up when he does so, he likes his large cotton jumpers and his fluffy socks usually mismatched, he liked his array of freckles that resembled the stars and how they too were beautiful and that they kept distracting Sirius. He was always pulled away when Remus was in his head. But he didn’t mind. He rather liked it. At least he wasn’t constantly thinking about his mother.

“Do you go to school?” Remus asked, as Sirius came back from his momentary thinking.

“Yes, of course.”

“Like to a school. Not at home.”

“Well no. I mean, what’s it like?”

“Massive. Much larger than the local comp. Bigger library too, more books to choose from. The teachers are stricter and we have homework every week. I, I don’t really have friends, everyone is nice enough, some bitchy people but you can’t have everything, I guess. I like it, its nice. Chaotic but good.”

Sirius listened intently and imagined him and Remus sitting next to each other, passing notes and whispering about a teacher while their back is turned. Walking around, eating lunch, cracking jokes and bunking off boring lessons, hiding in the bathrooms. He imagined Remus with his head down, writing furiously, sticking his hand up and answering questions right first time, carrying around his books and reading it whenever he had a spare moment. He imagined himself pulling faces and winking at the girls, legs up relaxed and pen dangling from his teeth, tie wrapped around his head and jumper tied around his waist, sleeved rolled up to his elbows and cartoons drawn in black ink on his skin. Sirius wanted to hang out with Remus, wanted to wave him goodbye and hug with tight after a long holiday apart.

After that, they talked every night before bed. Sirius asking for more stories for Remus to tell, from his books or his life, Sirius didn’t mind, he just laid back and listened. Remus even asked his own set of questions, like what his favourite colour is to his deepest secrets. And, Sirius answered every one.

He is thirteen when he made a discovery.

It was while on one of his excursions, Sirius came about a bunch of boys around his age, maybe older he couldn’t tell. While he was wearing steam ironed shirts and smart trousers, they worse baggy jeans and jackets. Casual, Sirius thought. One of them was even wearing leather with patches and badges. They stood by the side of the road, by an alleyway that reached a rather run-down park. Sirius caught their attention as he tried to walk past.

“Oi posho!” One of them shouted. The boy with the leather. The boy with the brown eyes and perfectly straight teeth.

“Yes?” Sirius said and turned. Even though he could stare at them all day long, he really should be getting back.

“Should you be walkin’ bout these parts by yourself?”

“Why? Am I going to be in trouble?”

“Nah, jus’ gotta be safe ya know. Don’t want someone like you gettin’ in bad business.”

“Someone like me?”

“mph defiantly someone like you. Come on guys, mum said we havin’ bacon sarnies.”

The group of boys left, some more in a hurry than others but all leaving Sirius confused and alone in the middle of the path. He brushed it off and rushed home without raising suspicion from his parents. Sirius didn’t tell Remus about his little encounter and he certainly didn’t tell him about his feelings about it.

It was odd but not uncomfortable, slightly unnerving yet not something he would try and make go away. A soft and prickly feeling deep in his belly. A dizzying fermented bloom that sits peacefully within. A huge rounding urge that moves up and down, sideways and which ways. It flutters in his head and sinks in the pits. And he has these dreams. Fantasies that seem to real to be all in his mind. The touches and the looks. The flushed faces and cheeky winks. Sirius wakes up flustered and dazed, confused and shy of his own body, running to the bathroom before he can end up back asleep.

And it wasn't like he thought it would be. Sirius those he would be tripping up and dropping his things and walking into walls over girls. With the plump lips with perfect red lipstick, the dresses that flow when they spin in the wind, hair put in a bun effortlessly so even if pieces come out it looks like it was meant to be. That's what he sees when he goes out, when he sneaks glances over his shoulder or out of his window as a gaggle of girls squeal past. But that wasn't what he saw.

Sirius sees boys with boystorus laughs and rough shoulders, a bobbing Adams apple and the picked nails. The carless clothes and the forgotten hair that ruffles in the morning. The side looks filled with recognition and a silent talking that speaks too loud and too distant. Voices with envy and jealousy, tones with calm and gratitude. Sirius sees what he doesn't understand, what others don't notice. What they might deem inappropriate and juvenile.

Sirius couldn't make himself feel the same way for the girls. They didn't make him blush and turn away to hide it, they'd didn't make him dream about those pillow talks, they'd didn't make him fall head over heals. Sirius secretly enjoyed his difference. Though when it occurred to him who exactly made him feel that way; he didn't like it as much as he thought.

He liked Remus. More than just friends. He wished for things to happen and then didn't when he realised who it was. He had him in his dreams and let him come closer until he remembered and pushed away. He couldn't. No, he couldn't be falling for the boy in his mirror.

Sirius is fifteen when Remus told him his secret.

The years had gone by like lightning flashing after thunder. Quick but the rumble still goes one and is rarely forgotten. Sirius told himself to never forget the times he watches Remus talk; when he grows tall and when he gets excited, where he flashes him the smile that send him sky rocketing, even the times where they are both silent. He captivates everything. Storing it in his head and keeping it safe.

Sirius had hoped that maybe his falling would stop and he would be caught be another. But it never happened. He was stuck in a sticky pulsing red that captured him and held him tight. As Sirius watched Remus grow through the mirror, he fell faster and faster.

Its a warm August evening. His fan ran circles to cool him down and stop the sweat from bubbling up. His windows were strechted open a soft breeze coming through though not in aid to the heat that gathered. Sirius changed into shorts and a tank vest top. It was either that or being naked. And Sirius didn't think neither he or Remus would find any delight in that sight.

"Hey Sirius. I see you are getting the heat wave."

"Oh yeah it's just so great. Hang on! How are you in a jumper?"

"It's not hot. Cool breeze we have here."

"So unfair. I'm telling you. You should see Regulus, he cant handle the heat and has been taking ice baths to cool down! I think you would get along with him."

"Sirius."

"Yeah."

"I need to tell you something."

Remus whispered that. It was quiet and barely audible but Sirius caught and couldn't help but stare. For the first time that night he really got a look at Remus. Instead of the casual boy that always chose to sit cross legged with a smile, he was anxiously running his hands through another and Sirius noticed his eyes cast away, down at the floor like his carpet had changed patterns and was now interesting.

"Are, are you okay Remus?"

"I have to tell you something."

"Okay."

"I, I'm, god this is hard. Well basically, I am, I am gay."

He has tears in his eyes. Sirius can't talk. His throat is dry. Sirius just plumetted to the hard ground in which he had started falling towards. He smiles.

They are nineteen when ready at the train station.

They run and run, breathing is hard but they don't care. Bags thumping against backs and shoes squeak as they dodge past other people. They lose eachother other for only a moment though it is too long of a second for then to shrug it on. It has claws that scratch and teeth that bite. The second passes and they both stop. Staring at eachother in the flesh. They stop and just stare. Its too unreal, too much and too heart aching.

But it doesn't matter. The throbbing pain that threatens to tear them apart subdues as the platform grows quiet. They slowly take steps forward, engulfing the space between before it's nothing more than a mere inches. Remus makes the first move. He wraps his arms around Sirius and sqeazes tight. They both do. It's been too long to not let go.

"You are even better in person." Sirius whispers into Remus's chest.

They pull away just the much needed to reach and hold onto each others faces. With no one around and no one to disturb them, they kiss. Gentle and soft. Lips press together, fitting around awkward and fitting snug. A bliss that shines bright, a pleasure that rushes red, a joy that filtered around the edges.

"You've always been in the middle of my mirror."

"You've always been in the middle of my mind."

[illshowyourhurricanes]

Rooted

I’ve been writing and re-writing and changing versions of this story since May 9th. I wrote I don’t know how many fics between, and I not one idea why this took me so long, but it’s finally here. The lovely @obscurilicious requested image 12 with Benjamin Greene x reader. 

That being said, aside from a little more coming for Flash (featuring the irreplaceable Billy Russo), this wraps up my follower event. Thank you all so much for participating, for requesting and reading and hopefully enjoying what I’ve come up with. It means the world to me, from the bottom of my heart!

Image prompt 12 :Benjamin Greene x reader

Rating: PG

Word count: 2890 of pure fluff

Tag list: @obscurilicious @the-blind-assassin-12 @something-tofightfor @logan-deloss @lexxierave @madamrogers @yannii04 @gollyderek @carlaangel86 @maydayfigment @vetseras @thisisparadisemylove @malionnes @thesandbeneathmytoes @delos-destinations @luminex3 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @tenhargreeves @witchygagirl @fific7 @pheedraws @my-rosegold-soul @russobill

If you’d like to be added to or removed from my tag list, please just send me an ask or shoot me a DM!

Special thanks to @something-tofightfor for beta reading this monstrosity far too many times.

I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

You were filthy and so was Benjamin. The two of you were seated on the ground outside, caked with soil and dirt and laughing and grinning like fools. In front of you was a small pile of vegetables. But they weren’t just any vegetables. They weren’t bought at a farmers market or picked up from a grocery store. They were, of course grown, but home grown, at your home, and by you and Benjamin. They were planted and nurtured and cultivated by the two of you together, and despite his playful reservations and general eye-rolling in the beginning phases, you and Benjamin— neither of you having any knowledge about gardening whatsoever— had successfully grown vegetables. And you found the irony of it all hilarious. 

Piled haphazardly in front of you were long orange carrots, radishes just a shade shy of mulberry, and beetroot so caked with dirt, they resembled potatoes. You’d even been able to gather a couple of your zucchini , and your radishes were close to being ready for picking as well. 

“We were born with green thumbs. We just didn’t know until now.” You turned to Benjamin and grinned, happiness shining in your eyes, and it was unmistakably obvious how genuine it was.

Your relationship with the man was different than anything you’d experienced before. Benjamin wasn’t one that never had tricks up his sleeve, but he didn’t base time with you on grand gestures. He didn’t get annoyed when he came home with plans to take you to an impromptu dinner and you were covered in charcoal dust. Benjamin understood that the smallest of moments, the most mundane of activities, the parts of life that could be seen as tedious or necessary, didn’t have to feel that way. There was always room to spin things into something more meaningful. An infinite amount of room. 

You could be just as ingenuitive and impulsive as Benjamin was. There was never a dull moment, never a lack of surprise. The garden the both of you sat in front of in awe, the soil and mud that you’d both be scrubbing off in the shower until the water grew cold was an impulsive idea, and on your part. You’d woken up one Tuesday morning with the idea that you had to plant a garden. 

“Benjamin,” you’d said, sleepily, scooting closer toward him as morning light streamed through the windows and gauzy curtains. White sunlight bathed the floor in swaths, and as you curled up to press your body against his back, the idea struck you. It was a eureka moment, the kind you saw on old Saturday morning cartoons that was always accompanied with a lightbulb turning on. 

“B,” you repeated, so alert it was as if you’d had several cups of the morning coffee you hadn’t bothered to make quite yet, “B, let’s plant a garden.”

 It hadn’t taken too long for Benjamin to agree, though you’d given him time to wake up and eat breakfast first. You couldn't believe he actually conceded, yet he laid out a disclaimer of sorts beforehand: he was not, under any circumstances, a gardener. That was her thing. I was never allowed to help, not even to assist by handing over a tool.  Far be it for me to taint her process just by being there.  For Benjamin, just stepping foot into Julia’s greenhouse garnered a look of annoyance and feeling of intrusion. It had made the idea of ever venturing into any sort of agricultural task turn sour… that was, until you had mentioned it. Benjamin was convinced that anything you touched was magic, like you’d been sprinkled with fairy dust-- a reason you’d laughed about once that had turned into a childish inside joke.  Who were you to debunk a theory that worked so well in your favor?

But you weren’t a gardener either, you reminded him. And I’m not her, you added silently. I’m nothing like her. Any and all expertise you’d had with plant life was either in sketching them or bringing your work outside instead of staying  cooped up in your studio.

“We can learn together,” you promised, your voice bright and a glimmer of excitement shining in your eyes. Benjamin had pulled you close, your cheek pressed to his chest, and he kissed the crown of your head, lingering there to breathe in the scent of your shampoo , entirely as enticing and unique as you were. 

“You’re entirely aware that I can’t say no to you.” One corner of his mouth turned upward into a half-smile. You looked up at him through your eyelashes, blinking innocently 

“Whatever do you mean, Mr. Greene?” He leaned down to kiss you again, and you playfully darted from his arms, laughing as you turned to walk away. You turned your head to shoot him a wink followed by a cheeky grin. “You’re not ever meant to, B.”

                                                ****   ****   ****

“Why did you choose root vegetables?!” 

Standing upright and, wiping at your hairline with the back of your hand, you surveyed your work so far. The raised beds you and Benjamin built before planting hadn’t been too difficult, yet he built twice as much as you had, and  in the same amount of time. “Are you sure you’ve not done this before?”

Squinting up at you from where he was squatting, Benjamin shrugged in a joking manner. “I did my research. And because root vegetables are some of the most difficult to cultivate and grow… and especially to plant.”

You threw up your arms in defeat and brushed your soiled hands against your denim-clad thighs. “Unbelievable!” You were smirking,  however, as you turned to walk inside for bottles of water. “

“Go big or go home,” Benjamin called after you. 

You called back to him,“I’m already here!”

Just an hour later, you and Benjamin had managed to plant several plots of seeds: his chosen root vegetables of radishes, beetroot and carrots, and rutabaga. You’d picked up zucchini and cucumber seeds as well, but decided to save those for planting the next day. Gardening was hard work.  After a bit of clean-up, you kissed Benjamin’s face, wiped soil from his cheek, and went inside to clean yourself up.  After a hot shower, you promptly fell asleep across the bed, towel still wrapped around you.

Because of your impromptu accidental nap, you woke around 11:30. Now that you were awake and Benjamin was asleep, you had time; you were working on a surprise for Benjamin. It was an idea that had entered your mind the moment you’d started to pluck packets of seeds off the shelf the morning prior. Another eureka moment, which seemed to be occurring much more often in regard to this entire gardening thing . 

Garden markers seemed necessary, but aesthetics were important in your artist’s mind. Regular, plain garden markers just wouldn’t do, so you’d decided to mix things up a bit.

Benjamin had  fallen asleep sitting up in bed, glasses askew and a textbook in his lap. You seized the opportunity, stopping by your chaotic supply closet and pulling out several plastic bags. You put a great amount of effort into keeping the rustling to a minimum as you sneaked outside onto the front porch. 

The sky was clear— stars shining down like glitter dusted in the sky, the new moon beautifully bright. The temperature was mild, even a bit chilly when a breeze blew, and there was no humidity to hinder paint drying. One by one, you carefully slid each wooden garden marker from its bag, softly speaking to yourself as you lined them up, side-by-side. 

“Radishes… carrots, beetroot, rutabaga…zucchini, cucumber.” You sat back on your heels, eyeing the six blank signs you were turning into plant markers. Peeking into the remainder of the plastic bags, you removed paint, brushes, and other essentials, arranging them to your right. “Radishes, you’re up first,” you said under your breath, and with one swipe of red paint, you were off. In just over one hour, you were finished, each garden sign pushed off to the side and left outdoors to dry. Paint, brushes, and the like were gathered together and put back in the closet-meticulously - as to not disturb Benjamin, whom you were sure was still asleep.

When you tiptoed back into your bedroom, Benjamin was just as you’d left him. You lifted his book from his lap, closing it and gently laying it on his bedside table.Then, you attempted to slide his glasses the rest of the way off his face without waking him were unsuccessful. 

He stirred, and you froze for a moment. He was still asleep. Gently laying his glasses atop his book, you clicked off his lamp and climbed into bed, Benjamin rolled onto his side and scooped you closer, your back against his chest. You fell asleep almost instantly, muscles slightly nagging with ache as your breathing fell in time with his.

                                              ****   ****   ****

You were awakened with the slight prickling of a beard to your skin and warm, tiny kisses peppered over your cheek. Instead of your usual morning groan, you smiled and hummed in contentment, eyes still closed. Sleepily, you shifted to face him and your grin faded with a puckering of your lips, waiting expectantly. He kissed you softly once, following it up with a loud, playful smacking of his mouth on yours. 

“Coffee?” you offered. Before Benjamin had answered, you were already making your way back across the bed and planting your feet on the hardwood floor. “You stay here, coffee in bed seems essential today.” 

You were using liquid fuel as an excuse to sneak outside and peek at your handiwork, maybe even put each plant marker in place if you worked quickly.  Yawning as you set the coffee pot to brew, you semi-quietly slipped outside, leaving the door open slightly. The morning was balmy, but not humid. Catching sight of the work you’d done last night, you tiptoed across the porch and glanced down at the painted signs with a small smile. Sketching with charcoal might have been your favorite, the most honed artistic craft you indulged in, but painting brought a different sort of tranquility. You’d taken enough classes while working toward your degree that you were comfortable with painting, and it showed in your handiwork. 

The faint aroma of brewing coffee tickled your nose, but you had just enough time. Your muddy shoes from the day before were just to the side of the door, and you slipped them on quickly before stacking the wooden planks and carrying them down the steps and in the direction of the garden. The first plot of seeds were radishes, and you carefully chose a spot that wouldn’t affect Benjamin’s work.. Placing the remaining five signs on the ground, you stepped around the beds the both of you had raised. You realized then, as you swore you could feel someone watching you, that you’d probably need some sort of shovel or other garden tool to break up the dirt and secure the markers in place. 

“Coffee’s ready.” Benjamin’s voice called out, and you stood upright quickly. Shit. 

You waved at him sheepishly and made your way back toward the house. “I need to work on my timing, obviously,” you replied as you walked, your calf muscles and quads screaming with each step. “Are you as sore as I am?” you asked him. 

You slipped out of your dirty shoes as quickly as you’d put them on before, leaving them where you’d found them before approaching Benjamin,  the man holding a mug of steaming coffee in each hand. Holding out the one that was lighter with creamer, he looked down at you with a quirked brow and crooked half-smile. “Gardening without me? Were you sabotaging my radishes, Y/N?” His expression changed then into one of widened dark eyes and a slightly open mouth, and you laughed at Benjamin’s dramatics as you sat with your coffee on the top step leading to the ground. You patted the stone step you settled on, signaling for Benjamin to join you. 

“You’ve foiled my plan!”  You may have still had a touch of sleepiness in your voice, but you felt completely awake, excited about what you’d done for him. Taking a tentative sip of the hot liquid, you angled your legs to the right as Benjamin joined you, naturally turning toward him. “Today, radish sabotage. Tomorrow, it’s the carrots. I’ve got an entire schedule made out. I’m quite the seasoned saboteur, you know.”

Benjamin was amused, eyebrows quirked and his mouth curled upward into a smirk. He allowed himself to shamelessly stare, his eyes surveying your face before roaming down the rest of you, your legs exposed in the old pair of shorts you wore that were once a pair of sweatpants. You stared back, watching him and smiling over the rim of your coffee mug. Finally, his eyes moved back upward, catching yours. 

“Are you checking me out, Benjamin Greene?” He responded with a cheeky grin, taking your mug from you and setting it to the side with his.  “Hey!” you protested as he stood and reached behind you for his shoes. You reached over him to take your coffee back, but Benjamin was too quick for you. In one swift motion, he scooped you into his arms, kissed your lips, and threw you over his shoulder, proceeding to walk toward your newly-planted garden. 

You burst into laughter, your ponytail hanging in your face and you kicked your legs just once in the air.  “Benjamin! I haven’t got any shoes on…” He stopped as he reached the area of the yard the two of you had dug up and raised into beds just the day before. You just sort of hung there for a moment, gently batting your fists against his lower back, saying his name again. 

He readjusted you until he was holding you in his arms again, and he looked down at you with absolute love and adoration in his eyes. 

“I was wondering what you were doing out here at midnight.” 

You grinned up at him, shrugging sheepishly. “I didn’t want to wake you,” you laughed. Obviously, he’d only been half-asleep. 

Benjamin looked down at the ground, nodding toward the wooden signs you'd painted the night before laying haphazardly on the ground. They’d come out nicely, the names of your vegetables in their infancy painted in poppy red, vivid blue, kelly green. Your gaze followed his, just glancing at the plant markers you’d personalized. 

“Who put those there? What a nice gift,” you teased. You were actually very pleased at how they’d come out. They looked much better in the morning sunlight than they had as you painted by moonlight and then dim porch light that hung from the porch ceiling. 

When you looked back up at Benjamin to gauge his reaction, he met you with a kiss to your lips. You sighed against his mouth as he teased with his tongue, coaxing you to do the same. He tasted like coffee, diluted with just a drop of milk and too much sugar.  When he pulled back, you were breathless.

                                                  ****  ****  ****

Lying back in the grass, you squinted upwards at the sun as you smiled. You were already sprinkled with dirt, so lying down and getting soil and grass stains on the back of your clothes wasn’t any matter. It struck you again how ironic it was that you and Benjamin had actually planted a garden and, with no help, raised and cultivated vegetables. They’d actually thrived. 

You caught Benjamin’s eye, and he laid back in the grass beside you. He offered you a wink when he got settled. 

“All the pulling roots tired you out, Y/N?” he teased, punctuating his question with a peck to the tip of your nose.  Turning your head to the side, leaves undoubtedly stuck in your hair, you felt your heart swelling with love for the man lying beside you. 

Without thinking, you tangled your fingers with his and said what was on your mind. “Why don’t we sow some more seeds?” You frowned momentarily. That sounded not at all like what you were actually thinking.  “Or… why don’t you sow some permanently… here?” The space you called your own was quaint, but you were sure you had enough room to tuck away Benjamin’s belongings. He spent more time at your place than he did at his own, anyway, and it just made sense.  “After all, you’ve got a garden to tend to now.”

Benjamin stayed still for a moment, just searching your face, appreciating every feature, and then without warning, rolled over and hovered over you. You pursed your lips, suppressing a laugh. 

“You’ll decorate my moving boxes?” he asked, warm chestnut eyes shining. “You’ve got leftover paint, a closet full of art supplies. Perhaps some glitter to add a touch of pizazz.” His voice was low, his words tinted with laughter, but you could tell by the expression on his face that he was happy.

“I take that as a yes.” Your grin lit up your entire face. “Even better than I did those plant markers,” you promised.And with a simple raise of your head to seal the deal with a kiss, Benjamin readily reciprocated, then whispered in your ear.

“You’re too good to me, Y/N.”I hope you’ve got room for all my books.”

[soobadnoonecanstopher]

Dressed Up, Part 2 of 2 (An I Give Up Deleted Scene)

Genre: Fluff / Smut (18+)

Word Count: 11.9k

A/N: Warnings(AKA goodies): sugar daddy kink, semi-public sex, sensory deprivation, panty sniffing, cum fetish/cum play with marking, cream pie, dirty talk, jeez stfu baek.

[Part 1]

IGU Deleted scenes masterlist

  You hadn’t done much research on the topic, so you couldn't be sure about how likely it was to actually happen, but you were nearly positive you were about to spontaneously combust at any moment. 

The aftereffects of your sexy video call with Baekhyun had left you in about as much of a state as you had ever felt yourself in before. 

 Perhaps your decision to hold off on the easy and quick gratification; to let it go for now and focus on making yourself look beautiful for the evening instead, perhaps that had been a mistake. Your goal, of course, when you pulled yourself up from that bed and forced your body to move back into that bathroom so you could clean yourself up a bit, apply another coat of that lovely scented lotion to your already oversaturated skin, the only goal floating inside your fuzzy mind, was perhaps a little bit rooted somewhere in the realms of revenge. 

 It wasn’t that you were mad. 

 You were just wound up. In an if-I-don’t-get-dicked-down-soon sort of way. You were frustrated. Your skin was sticky-hot to the touch despite the air conditioner in your apartment blasting a frigid temperature over your head and you were certain that if this had been a cartoon, animated heat waves would be visible rising up from the top of your head. 

 This wouldn’t do. You needed to cool off before you slipped on the very expensive and luxurious dress that hung on your closet door; watching you and no doubt judging you for this obviously pitiful display of human malfunction. The garment made of sheer tulle and high-end silky lace with hand-stitched sterling embroidery wouldn’t be caught dead desperately chugging ice water and then sticking it’s entire head into the open freezer door when the ice didn’t cool it down fast enough. 

 You had to just use this. This mood that persisted would have to fuel your every move. 

 You were going to get ready. You would put that dress on and its silky fingers would caress every inch of your hot skin as you slid into place inside of it and it cradled your curves and your bones in its beauty and you would show him and everyone at that party exactly what a truly beautiful and desirable woman could look like. 

 You were just going to have to kill him.

 You’d called ahead for the car. One of the perks of living in this particular apartment high-rise was the car service offered at an insanely expensive, completely unreasonable price. You’d only ever seen Baekhyun use it a handful of times, opting instead to drive his own car most of the time. Tonight was different. Tonight was special and you couldn’t quite see yourself stepping out of a plain old taxi cab onto the steps of the party venue, a luxurious five-star hotel in the heart of Seoul, wearing a dress of this caliber and gussied up in such a way. A taxi? No way.

 No, tonight required an exit from the backseat of a large and mysterious black sedan with blacked-out windows and a personal crisp-suit clad driver who called you ‘Miss’ and when you smiled into your response to his inquiry about where you were headed tonight, he actually stuttered a little bit and turned pink in the cheeks. 

 He was young and adorable and seemed to be hesitant to make eye contact with you in the rearview mirror at the red lights even as you asked him casual questions about how long he’d been driving and where he was from. Satisfied with his short responses and finding little else to ask the man, you let your mind drift in the back of that car as your eyes raked over your own appearance at this very moment. 

 When you were seated, minimally obscured by sheer red tulle, your smooth bare legs were completely visible up until high up on your thighs where the flesh-colored lace underdress began. The expensive elegant strappy heels, the soft skin of your legs, the perfectly manicured red toenails. Even the way you smelled — clean, tastefully perfumed in a new scent you had picked up at the salon — you had never felt quite this clean in your entire life. All of this effort which had been the source of much exhaustion throughout the day suddenly felt invigorating. 

 You looked good. Better than good, you looked like the kind of expensive that most could only dream about and when you shifted in your seat, uncrossing one leg to switch to the other, pointing your toe inside of your shoe and slipping the sheer dress up higher to expose more of the leg you could see the diamonds around your wrist sparking in the night lights of the city despite the dark tinting in the windows; you could still make out some sparks in those magical stones. 

 Slipping easily into your traveling mind came his face. 

 His slight lips; the softness and pinkness you would see in them. The yielding flesh of his cushy cheek that gave just a little when you pressed your lips against them. The goosebumps that would travel up your spine into the back of your scalp and explode over your crown when you would feel him arrive behind you and slip his long fingers over your shoulder. He would coat you slowly but completely as your back connected with him and his hand would move. Lightly touching and reaching for the space over your voice box; his fingers tripping lower over your sternum and grabbing with a hot palm over your breast, before the heat from his breath preceded the soft wetness of his lips on your neck. The warm exhale through his nose as his lips would open up and teeth would bite down on sensitive skin, pulling the flush of your skin to the surface with the suction of his mouth — it would make you melt; would make you moan; would make you acquiesce. 

 A soft sigh from your own body betrayed you.

 There would be rules tonight. Of course, there would. You wouldn't be allowed to touch him freely; nor he, you.

 So... climbing into his lap and fucking him at the dinner table was obviously off-limits. 

 Would you get to dance with him at least?

Could you even stand that? Being held in an embrace while being denied the satisfaction of and encouraging the drift of his hands or the tense grip of his fingertips into the curve of your ass. 

 The daydream had brought a fresh wave of longing and your flushed skin once again prickled and heated. The warm temperature you felt in your thighs intimated to the much warmer, much more compelling heat that taunted from your inmost hollow. 

 A pointed beep sounded out; an impatient driver in the car directly behind honked their horn and you looked up from your hands running lightly over warm thighs to catch the instant your driver looked away from the image of you in his rearview mirror. The car surged forward through the green light that had grown stale with his preoccupation. 

 The feeling was unmistakable. The way you looked tonight was like a tempting and untouchable work of art. Made to be looked at and desired. Dreamed over perhaps. 

 And untouchable by all except for one. 

 The car came to a stop behind a line of cars all similar in price range and you waited for just a moment for the traffic to move through the large archway of the entrance to the hotel. Your invitation said the party would be held in the grand ballroom and there were crowds of people milling around outside, all flanking a central walkway where the occasional dressed up party guest walked. 

 As your car moved closer, the butterflies inside your stomach began to flutter and rise up when you realized that the twinkle of lights you saw was not some flashy hotel signage but was actually the flashbulbs of cameras going off. 

 You thought for sure the crowds of press and fans would have dissipated by now, but it appeared that a good number still remained, keeping a close eye on arriving guests for any sign of glimpsing a beloved celebrity. 

 The cars were moving and your number was up. There was no turning back now. 

 Your driver was out and you held your clutch tightly in the hand that gripped the tulle of your dress. You inhaled a steadying breath and poised yourself for your exit. 

 Your car door opened. You reached for the extended hand of your driver and placed a heeled foot down on the cobblestone of the hotel’s circle drive. 

 You heard voices and shouts and a murmur of sounds from people who clamored around you and a number of bright flashes illuminated your peripheral vision. 

 You were not deaf, nor were you blind. You understood the questions on their voices. You, a regular girl who just happened to have been thrust into this life. You felt like an alien and a little bit of a fraud. Making them believe that you might be somehow worthy of their cameras, yet what other choice did you have? You had to walk this pathway to enter the venue, there was no side entrance for party guests. 

 The ‘Who is she?' and ‘What agency?’ mingled with their best guesses about who you might be. Even approving comments on your style and a few shouts for you to stop and turn for their photos. You gave a stiff smile and a tiny wave and your diamonds sparkled brightly when their flashes exploded. Despite you being a complete nobody in their world of entertainment, you certainly seemed to fit the look of the kind of VVIP that would attend such an event. Pictures were snapped. Curiosities and questions were left unanswered and as you approached the rows of security at the main entrance, you’d hardly had a chance to pull out the exclusive invitation from your sparkly new Tom Ford sequined evening clutch bag before you were simply ushered through the doorway. 

 Nobody even really looked at it. You nearly paused your steps to make sure they really took notice of the invitation — your right to be here, dammit —you’d gone through the trouble of bringing it along with you. But the velvet ropes had been open for a while already and you ran the risk of blowing your cover completely if you questioned the inviting extended hand of the staff-woman who begged for your movement. 

 “Right this way, Miss. Might I know the name of your party?” 

 She walked along and slightly ahead of you. 

 “Byun,” you said softly with just a little bit of that secret taste in your mouth as you spoke his name. You did not have to say his first name, as he would be the only Byun in attendance. Aside from you, of course. 

 “Ahh, very good. Artists of EXO are seated at the front section of tables on the left side. You will find your place labeled as the guest of the artist. Please let me know if you need anything.” 

 She was bowing at the waist and you nodded your thanks, watching the top of her tightly formed bun of black hair that did not raise back up again. You gathered that she might stay there all night, bent in half like that, if you didn’t move to enter the main ballroom doors that were open in front of you. 

 And you were going to go inside, it was just…

 Well…

 The noises inside were loud, boisterous, clanking of glassware, laughing voices, and modern pop music easily reaching your ears through that open doorway and well…

 It was just so scary now. 

 The enormity of this evening was hitting you hard and fast and you turned to look again at the bowing woman to find that, thank god, she was no longer bent in half but standing with her hands folded neatly over her belly and she merely looked at you with an innocuous smile on her face. 

 “Just in there?” You asked the obvious and she smiled a millimeter wider and nodded her head once. 

 You nodded in response and opened your lips to speak again but swallowed it away quickly.

 A deep breath through closed eyes, just for a little more oxygen. A little courage. A few more seconds... One...two... 

 On three you lifted your eyelids and your chin. You straightened your shoulders, aligned your spine, called upon every ounce of confidence you had inside of you to flow into your limbs and command your body...

And you walked. 

 It was really just one several thousand dollar foot in front of the other. No big deal.

 But oh… Oh, the brilliance was staggering.

Opulence, all around. From the enormously tall cathedral ceilings to the several, several enormous crystal chandeliers that added to the incredible lighting display of the ballroom. 

 It was too much to take in — the flowers and greenery that seemed to transform the entire place into a glistening botanical indoor garden to the lights that netted over the ceiling, giving the illusion of a starry night sky. And even the tables — the crisp white linens covering expertly decorated table settings that glowed with candlelight arranged around tall centerpieces made of fresh flowers with enough sparkle and glitz to blind you. 

 It was a fairytale. 

 Ultimately it was recognition that eventually pulled you out of your stunned reverie. Standing just a few feet away from you, holding a glass of champagne and covering her mouth as she laughed at something was, the queen of Kpop, BoA. You felt stunned and star-struck at the same time. She was so much smaller in person than on TV. Even with the tall heels she wore. She was just tiny. And so beautiful

 Oh right, more than just seeing your dear sweet husband who you loved and missed dearly, you would also be right in the middle of this enormous SM Entertainment branded party. Most of the faces you saw were somewhat recognizable to you. And more than just floored that these talented and amazing people were actually real, you were flabbergasted with just how incredibly beautiful they all looked. As if SM itself had the secrets to the fountain of youth and slathered all of their artists with it upon entry into the company. 

 Or perhaps it was just the money that did it. 

 You lifted a palm to rest over your cheek, having seen an image of a glamorous woman in the mirrors that lined the walls near the entrance of the ballroom and realizing that she looked a lot like you. Only it felt impossible that you could compete with the beauty you saw in the faces of the beautiful people all around you. 

 But was it possible? Did you also carry yourself with the same confidence and poise? 

 Should there be any reason why you couldn’t? 

 You were certainly dressed the part. You were successful and intelligent; even without the millionaire husband. You could hold your own in the busy hectic emergency room at the hospital and soon you would be finished with your internship and would be hired full time at the same hospital if you wanted. 

 Hell, you might even skip the ER and make the move to specialize in the ever lucrative field of plastic surgery. You were practically overflowing with potential and there was no reason why you had to feel intimidated by that obviously well-off older gentleman who just walked by you wearing an actual smoking jacket and fuzzy Gucci slippers on his feet; looking quite pleased with himself to be out in public wearing a glorified bathrobe and house shoes. 

 You must have looked at him for too long. 

The old man had turned and locked eyes with you for long enough for your gawking to appear purposeful to him and his lips pulled into a wide grin. Directed right at you. Oh no.

 Your mother had always taught you to be polite to elders and on instinct, you smiled softly and gave a single head nod. Something meant to acknowledge but you did not mean to encourage. 

 When his grin changed into a single eyebrow lift and a swift change in his direction of travel, your smile fell. 

 “New girl group?” He was speaking to you now. You hadn’t even walked very far into the party and you were already having this sort of experience. 

 The man did not wait for you to answer, for now, he was really getting a good look at you. His eyes took you in from head to toe and you blanked out your face, lifting your chin and sighing a little loudly as you averted your eyes and relaxed the arm that held up your clutch bag, letting it drop dramatically and swing along your thigh. You felt it coming and you honestly didn’t want to do this. Come on, old man. 

 “Or maybe someone with more connections?” 

 Your sigh was not meant to be rude. You had no intention of being rude to him, but you were quite used to being leered at by creepy men who still had hope inside of them and you were beginning to lose interest in where this was headed. 

 “Let me buy you a drink?” He said while reaching into his jacket for what you hoped wasn’t a wad of cash. 

 It was a business card and you could see the letters C.E.O. Boldly written beside a name and above that, in larger letters, a company that you knew well. In fact, every time you used the refrigerator and microwave at home you saw his company’s name. 

 “Isn’t this an open bar?” You asked out of genuine curiosity as you looked down at the man’s card. 

 The old man’s eyes widened and he threw his head back as he let out a genuine laugh that pulled at the corners of his lips and his eyes. 

 You couldn’t quite grasp what he found so funny about your question. You could clearly see waitresses and waiters carrying trays of various alcoholic drinks all around you and at the bar across the way, beside the walls covered in golden colored heavy drapery, the liquor was flowing freely without so much as a single bill exchanged. 

 It suddenly occurred to you that he probably didn’t mean he wanted to buy you an actual drink right now, but more along the lines of perhaps buying you several of them at a later date at a fancy hotel bar and then a few more up in a penthouse suite room. You had mistakenly taken his pickup line at face value. 

 He took a moment to recover and rubbed at his eyes. “Beautiful and funny — I like you,” he said, “Will you tell me your name.”  The pattern of his speech took on a more direct delivery and while his request sounded, on the outside, like a question, there was little in his delivery that suggested as such. This man was very important, extremely aware of his own importance, and was not used to having to work very hard to get people to do what he wanted. 

 “I’m sorry, Sir, but I need to go. I am meeting someone. Thank you for the...uhh...the card.” 

 You lifted a, hopefully, polite hand as an apology and gave a small smile of faked regret. 

 “Okay, dinner then. Or anything you want. I will spoil you rotten.” He was leering. It was too much and you shook your head again, with your smile slipping away into what you hoped wasn’t too rude of an expression, however persistent he was, you had to admit you felt a bit amused with the man’s attempts. Perhaps this was how he had come to be so successful in his life. He was just charming enough to keep you from getting mad. Still, you had no idea what kind of power this man had and what trouble he could cause if you weren't careful with your rejection. 

 “I hope you have a lovely evening, Mr. Choi,” you said and you watched the moment of realization that flashed over his eyes. His lips pulled into a small pout and he shrugged lightly and dismissively. 

 “Give me a call if he treats you badly,” he said, pointing a finger down at the card you still held between your fingers. You shook your head and tried your best to hand it back to him. Somehow not wanting to keep this, for fear that such an act might actually be an inappropriate thing to do. He wouldn’t take it back and you sighed, looking down and wondering where you could put this thing. Did you slip it into your purse? Did you put it in the trash? 

 He was gone by the time you looked up and you walked further into the ballroom, where you began to recognize more and more faces of partygoers. 

 Names were fuzzy. You recognized the faces of group members. NCT there, a few of them at least. Red Velvet was over there. Probably not all of them. OH! A few faces from Super Junior and was that PSY? Your mind was overwhelmed. You made eye contact with Johnny Seo and you quickly looked away from the man. You tried your best to play it cool. No big deal. Just Johnny from NCT. Oh god, he was looking at you. Why was he looking? You were just a nobody. Wow, he was handsome in person.

 You saw his height first and a feeling of relief bubbled up inside your chest to see the wide toothy grin of Park Chanyeol as he talked and laughed with someone shorter whose face was obscured by other guests. But Chanyeol was like a beacon. Like a street sign that directed your travel. You could always see him in the crowd and if you just traveled toward him, you would be sure to find Baekhyun somewhere close by. 

 North Star Park Chanyeol would lead the way. You would follow him to find your love.

 A waitress passed by carrying a tray of champagne glasses and she paused in front of you for a moment to give you a chance to grab one. 

 Your nerves were reaching new heights and you had agreed with yourself to keep it to a 2 drinks per hour limit tonight. It was a party, after all, and you were pretty certain that two would keep you just social enough to be able to handle looking at all of these untouchable people in the face without shrinking into yourself or falling to their feet to worship them. Two drinks as a limit would also keep you from being drunk. You could still control yourself with two drinks. This drink would be your first. You reached for the glass after slipping the C.E.O.’s business card that you, impossibly, still had under your thumb and your bag.

 The champagne was of high quality and went down smoothly. You downed the entirety of the glass before you realized how you must look to the casual observer and you made a quick glance around yourself to survey the situation. 

 You were met with eye contact and a smile. Again, it was Johnny, who seemed to be, beyond all reason, still paying close attention to you despite the small group of people who he stood amongst. Members of his group. A giggling pretty girl touching his arm, begging for his attention. 

 Damn the eye contact and damn the amused smile of that man that watched you. 

 The waitress was back and you placed the empty glass on her tray. 

 It felt like a magnet. The pull to look back at your witness. It was mostly the embarrassment of your awkward moment being caught, but you gave in to the urge too easily and of course, he was still watching you, only this time his smile had changed to a chuckle and a head shake. 

 Now was not the time for shame. You were gorgeous and you were here to have fun. Perhaps to make some new friends too. You grabbed for champaign number two from a tray that walked by and you lifted the glass in his direction with a smile and a lift of your eyebrows. He lifted his own glass into the air and the little exchange pulled the smile to your lips to match his. 

 Maybe you would ask Baekhyun to introduce you later. 

 The groups of people mingling, chatting, and networking grew a bit denser and you wove between the crowds, brushing a bit close behind Oh Sehun who spun around quickly and did a double-take when he realized who you were. He did a wide-eyed full body once over of you and his lips pulled into a friendly smile. 

 “Oh my god, look at you — You look incredible!” He said noisily and his arms wrapped around your shoulders as he leaned down to plant a soft kiss against your cheek. Sehun had always been one of your favorites. 

 “It’s so good to see you, Sehun,” you said, and you meant it. While he was a close and reliable friend, his schedule was just as busy as your husband’s and you found that you didn’t get to just sit and chat with him nearly as much as you would have liked. Occasions to see him, such as this, were extremely precious and rare. 

 And while part of you longed to stay here and catch up on all you had missed in the life of the tall dark and handsome man who stood before you also noticed the interesting body language of the girl he had been chatting with and the way she quickly and discreetly pulled her hand away from his forearm, averting her eyes and looking down and away from him in the presence of someone she did not know. 

 You leaned a bit closer to him and glanced pointedly toward the girl; a silent question on the subtle nod of your head. 

 Sehun’s lips parted and he inhaled. A pregnant silence sitting for a moment on his tongue before he leaned down to whisper something into her ear that sent her head shaking back and forth in quiet protest. You heard a soft whine from Sehun in response. 

 “Actually,” Sehun’s voice was very low now and you could see the grin on his lips as he gave actual voice to what was clearly some sort of secret between the two of them. 

 “Sehun,” you heard her voice give out an obvious warning. 

 True to his character though, Sehun didn’t heed the warning.

 He was never one to do the expected and you heard the long sigh of defeat from the girl who now shot daggers up into the side of his face and then quickly looked at you with her eyebrows raised, ready to defend.

 “Actually, this is my gi—” 

 “Actually, I am...part of his security team,” she spoke over him quickly and the conviction in her voice wavered some when he looked down at her with disbelief written all over his face. You heard another whine, this time much stronger and he reached for her fingertips, gripping her hand to swing it back and forth. 

 “But you said—” 

 “I said I would think about it, Oh Sehun—you can‘t always just do whatever you want.” 

 There was obviously something vitally important happening between these two and you waved a quick hand and gave a sheepish smile to Sehun as you made your way away from the bickering couple, suddenly invigorated by seeing more and more people who were closely connected to Baekhyun; he had to be close by. 

 There were just so many people. 

 Your eyes searched every face and when a laughing woman tipped her head back with a particularly violent burst of amusement you caught a glimpse of light pink hair just behind her. Your heart leaped.

 And when that woman moved you saw broad shoulders filling out a crisp black tailored suit jacket. You saw the outline of his strong back. The instantly recognizable shape of his hips filling the same black slacks you’d seen him zipping up a little over an hour earlier. 

 He turned his head to the right and when you caught a glimpse of his beautiful profile the impact of it was significant — pink lips, pointed chin and all; he was smiling wide; breathtakingly brilliant. His straight white teeth, his beautiful neck— Baekhyun was talking to someone, and she was leaning in, laughing easily at his jokes and her fingertips reached for him, intending to lightly brush over the smooth crisp fabric of the suit, right over his firm chest.

 The instant she reached you saw him move, his balance shifted and he leaned away. Her touch had just missed him. It was such a subtle gesture that it looked entirely coincidental. Had it not been for the smallest shift in his feet, one might have thought their timing was just a little off. That this man hadn’t intentionally avoided the touch. But you knew him very well and he was always incredibly insightful even down to his body language. 

 The eye contact that she attempted was frantic. You could see it in the way her gaze reached for his eyes. Desperate for any little bit of a connection she could get. 

 But Baekhyun was looking down at his watch and when she gave up and turned to find someone else to flirt with, his eyes left hers and lingered above her head, floating past the many faces of the people around, he seemed to be searching the room for something...for you.

 Looking and looking...

 Your heart rate increased and you gripped the stem of your champagne glass tightly as you downed half of the drink. His search would come to fruition now. He would reach you soon.

 You could practically count it down with each deep breath of oxygen you pulled into your lungs.

 On the third exhale his eyes found yours and the search was over. 

 He had found you.

 Baekhyun’s face held steady for exactly two seconds before you saw the swift rise of his chest and parting of his lips as they hung open in surprise. 

 He took his time with it. 

 Perhaps it only felt longer to you. 

 From your view of him, only a few feet away, you watched the tick of his irises as his eyes traveled from your face, down, with a pause at your neck, another at your chest, then much too slowly down to the floor and then he screwed his eyes shut tightly; overcome for just a moment. 

 His hand reached for the tray that passed by and grabbed a glass of champagne. He held it up, opened his mouth, and tossed the golden liquid back with enough quickness to be able to place the empty glass back on the very same tray before the serving staff moved on. 

 Oh, this wouldn’t work. It had been too long since you’d seen him in person. His skin was clear and lovely. The volume of his cheeks was softer; his cheekbones less angular. Angelic even. His hair had grown some. You’d always been weak to pink. He was looking at you with a building intensity in his eyes and it was smoldering. 

 How would you manage this? 

 He was so beautiful. You found the simplest of things difficult. Breathing in particular — he looked like a fucking prince. How could you get your lungs to work when he was easily the most beautiful man you had ever seen? 

 Like the swing of the compass needle, your entire body was drawn to his magnetic pole and you gave in so easily. 

 You wanted to run. You wanted to throw yourself into his open arms and taste the rough collision of his skin on yours. His muscles and his bones would smash against yours. 

 Instead, you pushed it down. You shoved down hard with every bit of your fortitude and when you found yourself within whispering distance of him you watched the view of his incoming lips until they blurred and vanished and you felt the light brush of those soft lips as he lightly kissed your cheek. 

 It was the same sort of friendly greeting as Sehun had given you mere moments earlier but Baekhyun’s hand lightly trailed along your waist, finding the place where the back of your dress dipped down low and exposed the small of your back. 

 His fingertips lingered there and his touch might as well have been an electric shock. 

 He pulled back but the fire inside his eyes did not lessen. 

 “I thought I was ready,” he said under his breath and he inhaled a deep breath which he exhaled through parted lips. You could smell the sweetness of the champagne on his exhale. 

 “But, what the hell? How can you be this pretty? I need to sit down.” 

 You’d underestimated how badly you would want to touch him. You longed to reach for his hand, slip an arm around his waist. Slide your hand into his suit jacket and slip your fingertips into the waistband of his pants. Tiny things you’d always done very comfortably like a palm on his face, a kiss on his lips, your fingernails raked over the scalp at the back of his head; suddenly completely off-limits to you and you held on to the props that filled your hands for dear life. 

 He had moved to a table and pulled out a chair. He sat down roughly with a groan and his entire body moved with agitation. 

 “Can I sit with you?” You felt so on guard with your actions that you began to second guess every one of your moves before you did it and he was leaning on his elbows with his hands fisted together right in front of his face. 

 “Yeah.”  His answer was short and well controlled. His legs were shaking under the table. 

 His eyes found their way to you and followed as you pulled out the chair beside him. You sat down, finally having somewhere to place the drink and bag you’d clung so tightly to since arriving. 

 “What’s that?” 

 He’d noticed the white business card that sat under your bag and he reached for it with his fingertips. 

 Baekhyun held it up to his face and his eyes were moving over it, eyebrows instantly furrowing together. 

 “Some old man gave me his card when I arrived.” 

 Baekhyun lifted brown eyes up roughly and his lips pulled into a hard line. 

 “Who?” 

 You lifted a single eyebrow and kept the smile free from your lips. 

 Good ol’ Baekhyun. At least he was reliable. 

 “Some eccentric millionaire who wants to be my new sugar daddy.” 

 As soon as you were through the sentence Baekhyun had leaned forward with the card held out between his index and middle finger and he pushed the card through the opening of your champagne glass, fully submerging the paper within the wetness of the alcohol. He left the card there and rose to his feet. 

 “Hey!” You put your best into it; fake-protesting the destruction of such a valuable business card. “But, he said he would spoil me rotten, Baek.”

 He reached down for your hand, gripped tightly around your wrist and pulled you up behind him. 

 “Tell me you want to be spoiled rotten. I dare you to say it.” 

 He had turned to speak to you in a low growl as you followed behind, your arm still held within the grip of his hand and the sensation of this one hand on you was exhilarating. You’d grown so desperate for him to touch you for so long that even this had sent the butterflies in your stomach flying again. 

 He dropped your hand and you looked around to see unfamiliar faces laughing and talking amongst themselves. 

 “Friends, okay? We are just friends to these people. Come. I have to mingle and try to act normal.” 

 For the first hour or so, you felt a bit like a puppy following its master. You didn’t exactly know many people here, apart from EXO members, of which there were several who had greeted you cheerfully. 

 With the new faces, you performed well enough. Smiling and introducing yourself comfortably. You found that most of his friends and acquaintances didn’t question the friendship beyond the initial explanation. By this far into the evening, many of them had already been drinking. What you did notice, was the lingering looks you received from a good number of the men, and at least two eye rolls from some catty women who seemed to take exception with you for existing within their eyesight. 

 It wasn't something you could control, and you didn’t care as much as you thought you might for the scorning looks. Envy was a bitch, but your champagne was tasty, at least. 

 Alcohol was one thing, but your stomach was beginning to crave something else when party guests began to make their way back to their tables for the dinner to begin. 

 There would be speeches and an award presentation for the company during the meal. 

 The food was delicious, albeit a little hard to focus on with Baekhyun sitting beside you, tapping his knee against your knee below the table. 

 When the lights dimmed for a musical presentation you missed the meaning of romantic ballad being belted out because Baekhyun’s hand had reached for yours below the table and he was running slow and deliberate circles into the palm of your hand with a pointed index finger. He used just enough pressure for it not to tickle and when you focused on the shape he was drawing you realized there was a point at the bottom and a dip at the top. A heart. Again and again, a pretty secret etched into your skin with a wandering hand. 

 What you wouldn’t give for just one hour alone with him. 

 The lights remained dim after the performance, and Baekhyun quietly excused himself for the bathroom, leaving you at the table with a fresh glass of cola with a splash of whiskey. 

 A DJ on the stage filled the silence after the applause with high volume, high energy music that blasted through the sound system around the ballroom. 

 People were drinking. The music was too loud for casual conversation, but a lean in, a hand on a shoulder and a few giggles and nods was all it took for people to rise from their seats, finish off the last of whatever drink they had been nursing, and take to the dance floor. 

 The joyous mood was infectious; you loved this song. Your body moved on its own; bobbing your head and drumming your fingers to the beat on the table surface. 

 “You look like you need to be out there dancing with somebody.” 

 The voice came from right behind you and you turned to find the source.

 You’d yet to have an introduction with him and you felt rather starstruck looking at him up close; finding Johnny standing there with a small smile on his face speaking to you about things like dancing and your apparent need for it, stopped your head bobbing and finger tapping and made your jaw drop; the alcohol buzzing inside of you kept you loose enough to keep from jumping up and down and asking for an autograph.

 He was tall. You pushed up from the chair you had been occupying and stumbled just a little to put a bit of space between you both so you could look up at him.

 “Oh, no. I’m very happy with watching.” 

This evening didn’t need to get any more surreal than it already was. 

 “So are you, umm, I noticed you are sitting with Baekhyun—” 

 What exactly was happening right now? It must have been the champagne that made his cheeks look a little flushed and made his voice unsteady. 

 “What about me?” 

 Baekhyun was back. He did say he would only be gone for a moment. 

 “Ahh...Baekhyun,” Johnny spun when you did and the three of you stood like points on a triangle facing each other. “So are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

 Baekhyun’s eyes flashed to you and you looked at him with for guidance here. It felt like a standoff. After all, this was his world and outside of his ridiculous good looks, impressive height, amazing dancing, and smooth rapping in one of your (secretly) favorite K-pop groups ever (a fact you would deny until death), you really didn’t know much else about Johnny. 

 “Actually,” Baekhyun was still looking at you as he spoke and you could hear the clench of his jaw as the words pushed out slowly, no doubt grabbing to hold on to his teeth and the sides of his lips as he forced them out, “we’re just friends.” 

 He reacted strongly the f word. As if he’d just straight up cussed in front of his grandmother. 

 Johnny looked from Baekhyun to you and back again at Baekhyun who actually followed wherever Johnny looked like he was watching a sports match. 

 “Oh,” Johnny said in a bright and chipper tone. 

 “In that case, would you like to dance with me?” 

 He was speaking to you. You had a wide smile on your face. And it was genuine. You couldn’t help it. You had a little shuffle in your shoulders already from the music that played overhead and you looked toward your husband who was looking down at his foot and kicking at the carpet with as subtle of a pout as you had ever seen on him. He looked up into your bright smiling face, not matching your enthusiasm one bit.

 “Do I?” You whispered excitedly and covered a little laugh that escaped. 

 He looked into your excited face and exhaled into an eye roll. 

 “Baekhyun, Oppa!” A high pitched shrill voice pierced your eardrums and popped your happy little bubble with her bouncing up and down inside your line of sight. She was inside of the triangle, uninvited.

 She was like a chihuahua and she obviously believed she was on ‘Oppa’ terms with your dear husband. 

 “Baekhyun, dance with me,” she was whining and pleading and his arm was already being pulled and bounced all over. 

 She, as Baekhyun quickly introduced to you, was Sana and she was a junior at his company who he had been so helpful toward when she was new and still unsure of the ropes. 

 What was immediately evident was that this little girl had a silly little crush and she would have declared her immense gratitude to the man for telling her the time lunch was served or informing her where the bathroom was. It didn’t take much to impress her when Baekhyun was involved. 

 “I guess we’re dancing then,” Baekhyun gave in and Sana squealed not unlike a happy little piglet with a fresh pile of slop. 

 The excitement you felt about getting to dance with one of your favorite idols was just a little bit dimmer as you watched the pair of them hop off to join the crowds on the dance floor and while your expensive heels gave you some height to work with, Johnny was much taller than Baekhyun was and it took you almost the entire first half of the song to find a comfortable rhythm with him. 

 Although with Baekhyun it was never in public, when he pulled you up with both hands from the sofa and made you yelp in surprise laughter with the twirls to the beat of some ridiculous song that caught his ear on the radio, or when the song shifted and his arms wound tighter around your waist and his steps slowed to the romantic ballad that he sang along to in your ear, you never experienced an off step. Not with him. 

 Not like the awkward steps you tried to discreetly correct with Johnny. From where you were on the dance floor, you could see the expert ease with which Baekhyun and Sana danced. They kept a decent distance from each other, and of course, she was smiling and laughing like a maniac. 

 Baekhyun’s focus was light and loose on her. His dancing was effortless and still looked professional. Of course, he was a professional, but they didn’t have to look so damn good together. She was small and pretty, of course. Positively ripe and begging to be tasted. But Baekhyun, no, his focus drifted over to you while he danced. Looking absolutely beautiful and perfect as he moved his body. 

 You, on the other hand, you imagined to the outside observer, might look like one of those inflatable signs they set up outside of businesses. The ones designed to attract attention for being ridiculous with its flailing arms and offbeat torso movements. A calamity in a pretty dress and heels. 

 It definitely wasn’t Johnny’s fault. He was doing great. He was working with what you gave him in downright adorable ways and soon, your missteps turned into smiling and when Johnny let out the first loud laugh after you had stepped on his foot for the third time, you found it difficult to keep up the fragile composure you’d been desperately holding on to. 

 “I’m sorry, I think I might be a very bad dancer,” you laughed and he laughed harder, reaching out to try and connect with you in some other way, with a hand along your waist. You felt the warmth of his fingers along the skin of your lower back and when you actually relaxed and paid closer attention to his touch, you found that if you just let your body listen to what he was telling you with his movements, that it wasn’t so hard to follow him along. You just had to give in to him. 

 “There you go!” He cheered when you’d done something he was pleased with and you held on to his arm and his waist a little bit tighter when he spun you in a dizzying circle, laughing all the while.

 By the end of the song, his warmth was all around you. Never in your wildest fantasies did you imagine that you would have this sort of intimate familiarity with the way Johnny Seo of supergroup NCT smelled after a vigorous round of dancing; with just a light sheen of sweat actually visible on the surface of his skin. 

 Still, the song had finished and you stood completely still, the spell of his arms still around you despite the opening rhythm of the next song beginning to play overhead. 

 Johnny was looking at your face with an unwarranted and serious expression in his eyes with no traces of the lighthearted laughter from before. You were the one to take the first step back from him, breaking the trance he had been under. He let you go, but his hands remained in an embraced position for a good second or two after you were out of them. 

 You straightened your dress some, noticing how the deep plunge of your neckline had slipped and made a bit more of your skin visible, particularly between your breasts. You should have used the double sided tape. At least you had avoided a full flash, but damn this sexy dress didn’t mix very well with dancing. When you pulled your eyes up to the spot where Baekhyun and Sana had been you expected to see them both pulling away from the dance floor and heading toward the tables. 

 What you saw was a single pair of achingly familiar black eyes set on you. 

 He was watching you. Even in the dim lighting, you could see the spot Baekhyun occupied was at least three shades darker than the rest of the room; from the completely obvious storm cloud that sat over his head. 

 How long had he been watching? 

Had he ended his dance with Sana early just so he could stand there and burn in flames as another man danced with you like that? 

Did he see the laughing and the touching too? 

 Would he be consumed by it now? 

 You had to look away. Your skin was buzzing with an electric feeling. You could hardly stand it.

 You quietly thanked Johnny for the dance and excused yourself for the bathrooms and made your way away from the bustle for a moment of peace. 

 A moment of quiet, where those dark eyes could not set you on fire.

 Your respite was short. You returned to the party but lingered on the outskirts. 

 Would Baekhyun be dancing with Sana again? Or someone other pretty young thing? 

 You scanned the crowds, searching for the familiar light cotton candy pink of the top of his head. 

 It was darker in here than it had been when you’d first found him and all of your casual searching came up empty. 

 Until a light touch on the back of your elbow pulled your attention just behind you. 

 “Here you are,” Baekhyun whispered and the sight of his face was instant relief. How did he do that? Just seeing his face in person calmed your soul. Quenched the needs you didn’t even know you were longing for. 

 “Dance with me,” he said. His hand was up, waiting for yours and you gave it. 

 “Will it be okay?” 

 “No,” he mirrored your unease what a confession of his own, “this is definitely going to kill me.”

 At least the song was upbeat. At least the dancing was fast and fun and involved laughter and spinning and cute noises he made with his mouth into your ear as he warned you about the next move. A spin, a dip, and ’one two one one, one two one one, I said one TWO one one, that was my foot, darling,’ At least it was fun enough to distract you from the warmth of his hands as they held onto you. At least the quick movement of your feet kept you from standing too still inside his embrace; from feeling it too much. You had little time to get used to the overwhelmingly wonderful smell of him within his suit jacket if you only got quick short bursts of it.

 And when the song ended and another began he was pulling you again, asking for another dance. Just one more. You could have another dance with this man without it being too dangerous, right? The lights were dim enough, and guests were occupied with their own dance partners. Plus with how much they had all been drinking, surely another dance would raise no alarms. 

 Of course, you gave in. There was no harm in this. When would you ever get another chance? 

 The second song ended too quickly. Upbeat danceable pop songs these days were infuriatingly short in length. They should all be at least a minute longer. At minimum. You released his hands and felt the cool air of the room replace his body heat and you took a step back from him when the next song began. 

 It was a ballad; a slow romantic love song. 

 The opening piano chords played overhead. A glance around you showed couples responding to the song. Some left, some stayed. You were thankful for the darkness around you that obscured their faces well enough to give the scene just a little bit of privacy. 

 You’d been prepared to leave. You’d even pivoted on your heels and began to walk back, back to your table, back to a fresh drink of something cold to battle the heat, back to a reality that did not allow for this sort of grand romantic moment with the man you loved more than anyone else in existence. What you hadn’t let yourself hope for was the way he reached for you with a low hand, and pulled you hard; pulled you back into his arms.

 The force of the way he pulled made you spin in a little teetering circle and you collided with all of the warmth and firmness of his chest. Baekhyun’s arms encircled you, moving down to your waist and the darkness of the dance floor gave you just enough of a cover to hide the intense flush you felt flooding your cheeks. 

 “Baek—” your voice came out in a single whispered breath pushed straight from your lungs. 

 “I need this,” he said through gritted teeth.

 “But, what if...someone—”

 “Fuck them. I need this, right now.” His voice was a low and dangerous whisper against your ear and the music drifted all around, matching the beat he swayed with. 

 He was leading you and you melted into the smell of him, laying your forehead against his shoulder and allowing your air to come from the crook of his neck. 

 And you danced with him. 

 Just as you often daydreamed you might have slow danced with him on your wedding day. Had that day gone differently. 

 As the song played on, you could feel the change in him. The spell was working its magic on the both of you and you gave in to the embrace with a hand slipped inside of his parted jacket. Just to feel his warmth and life easier. You were greedy for him. 

 You wanted to forget who he was and where you were. The softness of his fingers as they ran along the small of your back didn’t help. You were intoxicated by his touch. Was he singing along now? That sweet lullaby in his perfect voice tickled along your eardrums as the darkness around you both enveloped and teased. 

 You had drifted. Quite literally with the dance when you finally pulled your eyelids open you had found that he’d led you toward a quiet corner off the side of the dance floor. Far away from the groups of people that danced, it was much darker here along the wall where the thick golden colored drapery covered whatever color paint the walls might have been before. 

 The netted twinkle lighting that covered the ceiling had no effect here in your dark corner where his arms held you tight and you stood completely still quite deafened by the pounding of your heart inside of your ears. 

 When Baekhyun took another step back you could see that he was about to hit the thick curtains. He would run out of places to retreat. There was only so far into the darkness that he could go before he simply ran out of pathway to travel. 

 The surprise came when he took yet another step and pulled the curtain away from the wall where it hung heavy. He stepped behind it, into the complete and utter blackness behind there and the momentum with which he pulled made you surge forward, toward him, with the quick movement. 

 And every bit of light was gone. The dark was absolute.

 There hadn’t been much light to work with before this, but inside this dark space with one side of you, a wall, the other side the heavy fabric of a curtain and in between you both stood in the space, only enough room to stand and nothing except for the closeness and low and heavy breathing from his lungs you heard and felt along your cheek. 

 “Baekhyun, what are you doing? I can’t see anything” 

 “But you can hear me,” he said against the side of your face. The sound of his voice was incredibly clear in here. The heavy drapes were muting the sounds from the other side. 

 You felt the warmth of his fingertips along your face, running slowly from your jaw line up to your ear and behind. 

 Your breathing felt too fast. You couldn’t see anything, but his warmth was too much.

 “And you can feel me.”

 Without your eyes to tell you he was coming, you had to rely entirely on touch. The sensation of his warm exhale along your jawline where his fingers had been. His hand had moved to behind your neck and you felt the plush softness of his lips traveling lightly along your face. 

 He let out the smallest moan a second before his lips reached yours and his mouth opened over yours, claiming you. He was demanding. The desperation you knew he had felt all night, the same desperation you had felt all night, boiling over now with this single needy and unrelenting kiss. 

 When he pulled away from the kiss it was for a gasp of air and you felt yourself too affected for this to be just one kiss. 

 You reached for him again, a hand wrapping around the back of his neck to pull him down you connected your lips to his once more, reveling in the way he gave in to your kiss so readily. 

 But he pulled away once more; clearly something on his mind to pull his lips away from yours. 

 You wished for some light so you could look into his eyes just once. 

 Why would he steal you away in this secret and dark space only to keep you at this weird arm's length? 

 “Did you have fun?” His question was a dull whisper into the space directly in front of your face. 

 Did he mean the party? 

 “It’s been nice,” you said in a whisper that matched his in volume but not in the strange intensity.

 “Dancing with him?” He breathed out the second half of his question that you had interrupted with your misunderstanding. 

 “I think— I think I must be the more loyal one, between the two of us. I didn’t even touch her once, and yet… he wants to fuck you, you know.” 

 “Baekhyun.” You said in a much more controlled voice. 

 You could hear his rough exhales now. He was losing control of himself. But part of you knew. You’d seen it too; that flash of desire inside of Johnny’s eyes. 

 “He’s not going to get to fuck me. You know that.” 

 You reached for him. Your hands landing somewhere along his stomach and he did not retreat. 

 “You’re his fan.” 

 This wasn’t a question. You heard no traces of doubt in his voice and you were thankful for the darkness now. You had no response. You felt caught off guard by it. 

 “Why so quiet, love. You look at him with the same expression of pure fucking delight that you have when you watch that baking show you love so much. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Did you honestly believe that it was something you could keep from me?”

 You were stuck; your hands were still touching him, gripping with your fingertips around his shirt. Then he moved and you felt his hand slip over the back of your right hand. He gripped hard and pulled your hand off of him until you released his shirt and relaxed your grip within his hold. 

 “I know you, baby. Did you forget how well I know you? I know you...inside and out.”  

 He rotated your hand, moving it down lower so that your open palm was laid directly over his dick. He was very hard below the slacks. Your mind was swimming and you moved your hand over the bulge that you felt there. The overwhelming effect you had on him. The way he wanted you, just as badly as you wanted him. 

 “I don’t blame him. Or any of them. You—” his voice hitched once when you squeezed over him, slipping a hand up the length of his erection, not finding the end, as it disappeared somewhere behind the waistband of his pants. “—fuck, you…are, the most beautiful woman in this entire place.” 

 “I don’t want any of them, Baek. There’s only one person I want.”

 You reached for the button of his slacks and popped it open, struggling against the pressure from behind. The zipper caught halfway down and you didn’t get to feel the smooth skin of his dick before he was talking again. Before he was wrecking you with the filthy words he whispered into your ear.

 “Did you enjoy wearing my gifts tonight, baby? Did you like being seen in them?”

 You felt the tips of his fingers trailing over the diamond bracelet you wore around your wrist. His head dipped and you heard the sound of his mouth opening as he pulled one of your diamond earrings in between his lips and lightly sucked on it. Letting it go with a gentle pop which he followed with another kiss on your neck, just below your ear. He inhaled to speak again. 

 “I have to confess, I loved seeing you in them. I loved the way they looked at you tonight and thought ‘Ahh...she’s somebody’s. Someone really loves her a lot.’ I want, so badly, for them to know whose wife they are fantasizing about when they think about fucking you.”

 You could only focus on your own breathing. Part of your mind tried to remind yourself that while this darkened curtain gave the illusion of privacy, you should really keep your mind about you. You were in a very public place right now, playing this very dangerous game with this man who had lost every bit of his own self-control. 

 “Because, my sweet, darling girl, that is what they are thinking. When they see you in this dress, that’s what he was thinking. I bet he jerks off tonight dreaming about how good your pussy must feel. But I guarantee, his hand will never compare to you.”

 He surged with motion and spun you by the shoulders and pressed you against the wall. He was at your back and one of his hands reached around, slipping inside of your dress and squeezing and kneading your breast.

 “I know he wants to bend you over, lift up this pretty little skirt and slip his dick inside of you...like only I get to do.” 

 You could not help the way your body responded to him. Your desperation reached new heights as you bent at the waist and pushed your ass toward him. You felt the grind of his dick when he gave you just a little of what you wanted. The words he whispered made you lose your sanity. You felt the fabric of your dress move. You felt the air up high on your thighs. Higher even, he pushed the dress up, baring your ass with his roaming hands. You knew he could only feel with his wandering hands, without any speck of light in here. 

 “Do you want me to do that, baby? Do you want me to fill you up with my cum? Do you want to feel it dripping out of you as you dance with him?”

 “Fu—Baek—” Words malfunctioned. He was too much. Eternally. Without exception. The man was too much. 

 You had worn the lace panties. They helped with your wetness only just, but it was better than nothing. You felt his hands slipping between the lace, landing over your bare skin as he began to pull them down. 

 You felt the slip of fabric and pushed your knees together to aid in their removal. He was low, crouching on his ankles to remove your panties from around the heels you wore and you wondered about the special attention he paid to them. 

 Then the swish of fabric flowed slowly beside your face. Slow enough for the inhale of breath and the scent of your own arousal to tickle your nostrils. Immediately after the fabric left, you heard his deep inhale from behind you, followed by his low appreciative moan. He shifted and you assumed he pocketed them. 

 “I’m keeping these,” he said, “I want you to drip.” 

 There was more movement and you flinched and whimpered when you felt the lightest touch of his fingers between your bare thighs. You were so wet. You were so desperate. 

 Only sounds followed. A zipper pulled and the sibilant sound of fabric, a rustle and then warmth. A hand on your hips, then moving below and your indelicate whimper and then the pressure came. 

 You were so wet there was no resistance as he sunk into you and your lips parted with a hiss as he filled you entirely in one motion. You could not help the short high cry that betrayed you and his hand rose to plant a hot palm firmly over your open mouth. 

 He held you there, thoroughly held in place with two hands, one pressing heavy over your mouth and the other gripping hard into your bare hip and he moved again; fast and rough and you shifted against the wall that had nowhere to hold on. 

 You felt completely had; in that moment, as the small crawl space of darkness grew uncomfortably warm and what precious little fresh oxygen grew sticky and humid, you were consumed. Eaten up. Used by this man in the most satisfying of ways. The rough pounding slapped hard into you and the steady thumping of some dance song just outside of that curtain provided a perverse soundtrack of this forbidden sex. It was raw and it was exhilarating. If only you could get a little more air. Your mind grew dizzy and lightheadedness mingled with the rough pounding against your insides making you shake and tremble as your hands slipped and your legs gave way with the orgasm.

 It swallowed you up so completely you only barely noticed the way he stiffened and trembled behind you. You felt the telltale signs of his climax with the tiny tremors that pulsed with each burst of heat inside of you and when he went still enough to loosen then cover over your mouth you gasped in for the precious air he had deprived you of so completely. 

 You were gasping too hard. This dark damp space was too warm now and the comedown from the high was a slow one. 

 Baekhyun was motionless as he struggled to catch his breath and after a moment you heard his low throaty voice again reach your ear. 

 “This is what is going to happen—”

 Your eyes were closed but you opened them to listen to his words, despite seeing absolutely nothing when you did. 

 “I am going to pull my dick out, and there will be a mess. You see, I’ve been saving myself for you, my love. Nothing, and I do mean absolutely nothing compares to the feeling of filing you up with my cum.” 

 You felt yourself squeeze around him as he spoke. It was involuntary. The effects of him. It was just his power. 

 “Are you listening to me, baby? You feel a little distracted.” 

 He’d felt you, of course.  

 You nodded your head once and exhaled through your parted lips. 

 “I’m listening,” you said. 

 “Good. This is what will happen. I will leave first.” You nodded along as he spoke, trying not to be too distracted by the feeling of his size receding. 

 “And I will go upstairs and book a suite for the night. Now just because I’m leaving early doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, My Baby. I want you to enjoy the rest of the party. I want you to dance some more. With whoever you want to dance with. And I want you to feel me all over your skin as you do that. Can you do that for me?” 

 He’d done it. He’d pulled himself out and you felt the rush of liquid slipping out of your entrance and rushing between your legs, messing up the smooth clean skin of your thighs and lower. You felt a drip sliding down, a crawling sticky thick wet trail that was pulled by gravity. It reached the inside of your knees and when you squeezed them together in some attempt to contain it, the sticky wetness merely spread around. 

 Surely you’d have a mess on the dress. Maybe even trailing down to ankle and dripping over the expensive shoes. 

 He ran a hand then, slipping his long fingers between your thighs directly into the mess, he emerged with a wetness for which he had a purpose. 

 Pinching wet fingers on your exposed nipple, he rubbed until the slick grew tacky. 

 “You’ll join me in my room for the night after you dance. I’ll bring you a key. I might even come down again just to watch you enjoying yourself.” 

 “I...didn’t bring anything else to wear, for tomorrow, Baek.” There was a slight whine to your voice. You heard it and he certainly heard it. 

 Then you heard the smallest chuckle. A laugh from somewhere in the darkness and there were sounds of his zipper. 

 “You are so cute. I’ll buy you something new. Something pretty.”

 A flash of light from the curtain surprised you and you watched the small bit of light seem to swallow up his outline and he was gone.

 You straightened the dress. You counted to 100. You then emerged from the darkness into the dimly lit empty space of this secret corner and you made your way quickly to the bathrooms. 

 You gave yourself a once over in the mirror. Much as you had expected, you looked as if you had been thoroughly fucked in a hot dark hole in the wall and it took a bit of smoothing and straightening for to bring yourself back to a somewhat normal state. 

 While you couldn’t do much about the bright red bruise you saw just behind your earlobe, you managed to at least get your appearance more toward ‘possibly just drunk’ and away from ‘definitely just fucked.’ 

 You did not touch the mess between your legs. The arousal that still pulsed through your veins was fueled even further with each step you took. 

 Out of the bathroom you walked with purpose. The music was pulsing and each heavy beat of the song was another step toward the dance floor and you made eye contact with an achingly familiar face. One that lit up with a bright smile to see you and of course he was so damn willing to dance with you. 

 It was halfway through the dance when you saw a flash of color. A familiar head of cotton candy pink pushed between you and Johnny on the dance floor. 

 His steps did not slow but you felt the hard plastic of something being shoved into the palm of your hand. You looked down instantly.

 A hotel key card, marked with two words that made your lungs inflate and your heart surge inside of your chest. 

 Pent House 

 You didn’t even try to contain the laughter that flew freely from your lips. 

 Byun Baekhyun was, once again, without exception, entirely too much. 

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