#anyway please ignore me i just wanted to whine into the void

[thewenglishwarlock]

.

[wileys-russo]

show and tell II a.putellas (before the void blurb)

part of the filling the void universe show and tell II a.putellas (before the void blurb)

"too tight!" you whined as alba ran a brush through your hair and started to braid. "fresa you just told me to do it tighter." your sister sighed, fingers letting go of your hair as you huffed. "sí tighter but not too tight." you replied in a duh tone with a roll of your eyes.

"vale, new plan." alba glanced at the clock knowing she needed to get herself ready for school soon. "but i wanted-" you started to complain feeling her scrape your hair up into two buns atop your head.

"sí but because you are being difficult hermanita, this is what you get instead." alba finished, tying off the second bun and nodding her approval. "you still look very cute for your big day." she kissed your cheek as you pulled a face and wiped it off.

"gross." you grumbled as your sister grinned, you were still a very affectionate kid but you were currently in a phase of detesting kisses, though the youngest in a spanish family that never went your way.

"its not a big day! its just show and tell." you argued, more for your own self soothing than hers. "lo sé, but its still okay to be nervous." your sister sat down on your bed next to you.

"remember what we talked about when you feel nervous fres?" alba asked gently and you nodded, pushing yourself off the bed and moving to your drawers.

"can you help me please?" you held up the bracelet she'd given you as alba smiled, lifting it off your palm and wrapping it around your wrist, tying it securely and kissing the braided material.

"when i have this on, i can't be nervous." you echoed her own words she'd spoken to you time and time again as alba hummed her agreement.

"exactamente, and do you want to know a secret pequeña?" you perked up at that and nodded eagerly. "alexia is more nervous than you are anyway." alba whispered and you let out a laugh as she scooped you up and tossed you over her shoulder.

"why?" you chirped as the two of you exited your room. "because besides you she's scared of all the little niños and niñas in your class." alba answered, dropping you into a chair at the dining room table.

"she is not!" you argued as your sister kissed your mami's cheek good morning and gladly accepted the cup of coffee offered her way. "is too, she told me last night." alba shrugged, making herself breakfast.

"no she's not scared of anything, thats what she told me!" you argued, standing up on the dining room chair and ignoring the disapproving click of eli's tongue and firm look as you did so.

"well she is lying to you then hermana, vergüenza." alba shook her head with a sigh as eli nudged her with an elbow and a look to which the teenager only rolled her eyes.

"bon dia!" your face scrunched up in disgust as alexia tilted your head back and kissed your forehead good morning, picking you up under your arms and dropping you to be sat down in the chair again.

"did you lie to me?" you accused with a scowl, using the collar of your shirt to wipe the kiss from your forehead as alba sat across from you to eat her breakfast.

"qué? no?" the older girl looked at you puzzled as you glared back at her. "alba said that you said that you are scared of my class." you parroted, crossing your arms as eli placed down a bowl of cereal in front of you.

"why don't you wipe hers off!" alba scoffed as eli kissed your cheek a few times and you kissed hers back in thanks. "cause mami isn't gross." you shrugged, shoveling a mouthful of cereal in as alba rolled her eyes for what felt like the tenth time in an hour.

"i am not scared of your classmates nena, alba is lying." alexia clarified, chopping up some fruit in the kitchen. "told you!" you stuck your tongue out at the older girl across from you who flicked a piece of granola at you in response.

"fresa!" you paused where you had a spoonful of cereal ready to fling in your sisters direction, eli raising an eyebrow daring you to continue as you sighed and pushed it into your mouth instead, ducking as another piece of granola was launched at you with a smirk.

"leave the baby alone!" alba whined as alexia's hand connected with the back of her head making you giggle, eyes lighting up spying the bowl of strawberries in your sisters other hand.

"nope, gotta pay for them first pequeña. beso!" alexia sat down and tapped her cheek as you let out a sigh but did as she wanted, leaning over and pecking her cheek as your sister slid the bowl toward you.

"mine!" you smacked away alba's hand which reached for a strawberry, hugging the bowl possessively making alexia chuckle. "you need breakfast too ale, mami says its important!" you reminded your eldest sister who didn't appear to be eating anything.

"sí, lo es. i already ate though fres, i am ready to go when you finish." alexia explained as you gave her a strange look. "you can't wear that!" you pointed to her as she frowned and looked down at herself.

"why not? this is what i always wear when i take you to school." "because you're my show and tell! you have to wear your barça shirt." you groaned, sliding out of your chair.

"i'll go get it." you assured your sister, pausing for a moment before climbing back up and grabbing your bowl of strawberries, sticking your tongue out at alba and jumping back down to the ground racing off toward alexia's room.

"fresa if you get your dirty little strawberry hands on anything in my room-" "i won't!"

~

"walk faster ale we're gonna be late!" you grunted as you pulled at your sisters hand, annoyed it didn't make her budge in the slightest. "relájese hermana, the bell just went." alexia chuckled, purposefully walking a little slower as you groaned.

"i have to take you to the office to sign in and then go to class!" you reminded as your sister smiled and stopped, squatting down. "fresa i know where the office is. i can take myself and you will go to class, and i will be there soon. vale?" alexia spoke gently, a hand on your shoulder as you hesitated.

"look your friends are waiting nena, and you don't want them to be late do you?" alexia waved to the small group hovering a few feet away over your shoulder as you shook your head.

"woah! i will see you in like ten minutes fres." alexia laughed almost losing her balance as you launched at her in a tight hug, squeezing you momentarily and letting go.

"promise?" you asked, holding up your pinky hopefully. "i promise." your sister assured, linking her pinky with yours for a second before adjusting your backpack on your shoulders.

"fresa what do you have in this? it is never this heavy." alexia frowned with concern jostling your backpack as you quickly stepped back away from her.

"nothing! go to the office!" you sprinted away to catch up with your friends as the older girl rolled her eyes in amusement, standing up and doing just that to go sign herself in.

~

"-and now its fresas week for show and tell. i understand you brought a special guest niña?" your teacher smiled once your class had all gathered together cross legged on the floor as you nodded eagerly.

a light chatter broke out among your peers at that as you ducked out of the classroom, taking alexia off guard as you grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, yanking her inside with you as the room fell silent.

"this is mi hermana, alexia!" you introduced her as your sister smiled very awkwardly and raised her hand in a small wave, twenty four sets of unfamiliar eyes staring back at her.

"alexia is a footballer and she plays for barcelona and she also plays for españa!" you explained, pausing for a moment to grab your backpack from your cubby.

"alexia has played football for longer than i have been alive, and she is very very very very good!" you recounted, turning your backpack upside down as an array of items tumbled out, alexia now realising why your backpack was so heavy.

"she has won a lot of trophies, and she wears a lot of cool shirts!" you crouched down and lined up several of alexia's medals and trophies through the years, as well as smoothing out a few of her jerseys you'd had bundled up.

your classmates all made a collective oooh and shuffled forward to inspect everything, your teacher nodding at you encouragingly to continue.

"i think alexia is the best footballer in the world. she trains six times a week, goes for a run every day, she has scored..." you paused to hold up your hand where your mami had helped you scribble down a few things.

"...twenty two goals just this season for barcelona, and eight this year for españa." you read out off your hand looking up with a proud grin toward your sister who looked like she was about to cry as she smiled back down at you.

"alexia is also the best hermana in the world. she always puts our family first, she always looks out for me and my other hermana alba, she always helps our mami, and she is a very good listener. she taught me how to ride a bike and how to run really fast and tie my shoes up and how to blow bubbles in milk and to be kind to everyone. and that making mistakes is important because thats how you learn stuff." you rambled out in one breath, pausing to catch it for a second before continuing.

"when my papi died i was sad and i didn't know where he went. but alexia was always there with hugs and kisses and to read to me and take me to our special spot in the park so we could sit in the sun and talk to papi together in heaven. i love her very much, she is very cool and when i grow up i want to be just like alexia, she's my hero!" you grabbed your sisters hand and again beamed up at her, alexia's bottom lip wobbling ever so slightly as she fought every human instinct she had in her not to break down in a puddle.

"you can ask her questions now!" you let go of alexia's hand and pushed her forward as a chorus of tiny voices started to shout all at once and the footballers eyes widened trying to separate them.

"do you know messi?" "why is there a drawing on your arm?" "do you know how to juggle?" "can you show us how to score a goal?" "why number 11?" "have you met messi?" "whats your favourite food?" "why are your hands so big?" "do footballers have to be tall?" "how fast can you run?" "do girls play football different to boys?"

"vale vale vale! one question at a time, we will go in a circle and everybody gets a turn. ana you can go first!" your teacher clapped to gain everyones attention as your sister let out a small sigh of relief, sending the woman a grateful smile.

"ale sit down with us!" you tugged on her hand again as your sister moved to sit cross legged and everyone shuffled a little closer making the older girl chuckle slightly.

almost an hour later and several failed attempts to wrap things up, your teacher put her foot down for good, clapping a pattern and whistling loudly though her fingers as you all immediately fell silent.

"i am sure alexia has training today, and she needs to go get ready." your teacher sent your sister an amused smile who nodded, your class all groaning and complaining but another loud whistle had you all fall quiet.

"can i walk alexia to the gate por favor? i'll run back and be very fast!" you asked your teacher once she'd instructed everyone to thank your sister and say their goodbyes, herding everyone back to their desks to start your lessons for the day.

"sí fresa but you come right back here after. no dawdling!" your teacher warned as you nodded enthusiastically and took alexia's outstretched hand, a final goodbye sung out from your class before the two of you left through the door.

a comfortable silence fell between the pair of you as you lead her over to the front gates. "that was so cool. i think that was the best show and tell ever! gracias ale." you quickly hugged her leg goodbye and turned to run back to your classroom before your sister snagged the back of your shirt.

"hey i said i wouldn't dawdle!" you protested as alexia spun you around, crouching down and yanking you into a suffocatingly bone crushingly tight hug.

"ale i can't breathe." you mumbled out with your face smushed against her shoulder, hitting her back with your hand but still your sister made no move to let you go.

"ale i gotta go, i'm gonna be late!" you whined, trying to pull away and grimacing in disgust as she loosened up only to kiss all over your face.

"no! fres you are not allowed to wipe those off. they're special." your sister warned catching your wrist in her hand as you huffed but none the less obeyed. "why are you crying? are you sad?" you realised as alexia tried to wipe the single tear which escaped but not fast enough for you to miss it.

"no hermanita, the opposite. i am very very proud of you, and i love you very much. you know you are my hero, sí?" "really?" "really. pinky promise!" just like this morning your pinkies interlocked.

"and when i grow up, i wanna be like you!" alexia smiled, flicking your ear as you gave her a strange look. "you are grown up!" you frowned as alexia only let out a small laugh.

"well then when i grow down. go to class, diablillo." with one final pinch of your cheeks she was standing again and nodding behind you across the playground.

"will you be here to pick me up later?" "always fresa, i will always be here."

[st4rrth0ughts]

Hello!! How are you doing? Is everything okay? How did you sleep? In any case, don’t forget to have a snack if you haven’t already!

I really enjoyed your Argenti fic! I actually have so many more ideas, but I don't want to push myself too much.. But anyway! What did you think of Blade with a fellow immortal reader? Again, ignore if you don't like it!

-🌾anon

im running on 6 hours of sleep and Subway so im fine :33

Bladie with immortal reader who's indulgent in his desires. 🗡️🩸

tw, cw: a little bit of knife play. bladie is a maso, and your all to happy to indulge him (going into uncharted territory)

Blade and you weren't so different, other than the fact you were in the IPC and he was a Stellaron Hunter. But you two could care less about that. Damned be your bosses, your both immortal, what the hell were they going to do? The cosmos were infinite, and there were millions of planets the two of you could run away and settle down in. If you were to describe your bond with the man, its passionate, sweet, everything in between. But even then, new things were always being explored by the two of you, like how the both of you could heal from wounds instantly. Might as well make use of it.

Tracing the knife over the exposed skin of Blade's neck made him shiver, his hips already trying to grind against your thighs as soft sound escape him, his eyes tearing up. You click your tongue disapprovingly, pressing the tip over the side of his neck, breaking just a little bit of skin to draw blood, but not enough to be too painful, as much as he wants that. He whimpers, watching his blood trickle down the knife, the deep red of the liquid making him grind faster, a growing wet spot more and more visible in his pants.

He's bucking himself on your clothed cock, gripping your shoulders tightly, whining as he buries his head in your shoulder, soft pleas of 'wan' you to fuck me' and 'I'll be a good boy, please?'. Its rare to get him to even submit so willingly, to get him to be begging and panting like a little bitch in heat is even rarer. Savouring how his fingers dig into your arms, pretty tear filled eyes closed in pure shame and arousal as he grinds his bare pussy against you, your own self restraint is broken when he lets out the smallest whimper.

The normally cold swordsman is thrashing against the pillow as your tongue is plunging into him, cuffs forcing his legs open as he twitches from overstimulation, sobbing as he squirts on your mouth as your finger his clit roughly, flicking and fiddling the nub as he arches his back and grinds his head back into your mouth, fisting your hair as your tongue grazes the soft spot that made him squirm against the mattress. You trail the knife over his stomach, lightly touching his abs as you press it right above his cunt, eliciting a squeal from your love.

When you finally push your cock into him, he splutters as he rubs a bandaged hand over the bulge in his belly. He's babbling some stupid shit about how you were going to fuck a baby in him and being your cute baby momma. How adorable, he cant even speak properly. He really was mushy in your hands, wasn't he? You start off slow, pumping your cock into him as he grips the sheets, soft moans spilling from his lips as his eyes close in pure delight.

of course, it quickly progresses into you pounding him into the mattress, Blade swore that you were trying to fuck his womb with how roughly your cock his hitting his cervix, making his body spasm and loud shrieks of 's' too big-!' as his pretty red eyes are shut as tears spill from them. Your finger reaches out to pinch his clit, flicking and pulling it roughly as your length impales him, making his back arch violently against the bed, dark hair spreading around the bed, giving the illusion of a sea of darkness, the prettiest void you set your eyes on.

The immortal doesn't know how many times you've wrung a orgasm out of him, you haven't even came yet! he's sobbing stupidly into the pillows, pleas of 'cant- s' too much-!' and 'n-no, cumming! m' cumming, please, don't-!' as he fists your ponytail, trying to get you to stop, he cant even think straight and speak anymore? Perfect! Afterall, your goal was to break him and make him a cute little cocksleeve greedy for your cum! You finally decide to end your lovely swordsman's pleasurable torment, movements slowing as your seed fills his womb, making his eyes roll back as you pull out with a wet sound, cooing in his ear as you finger your cum back into him, making his body weakly squirm. You'd honestly thought he would have been able to handle you better, but oh well, being able to fuck him stupid on a daily basis is awesome too.

[quaranmine]

The Babysitting Game

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, Grian doesn't have a child but he does have an egg and a village. That’s basically the same thing, right?

Grian acquires an egg. His friends help him.

No romantic relationships or content warnings. Mainly fluff! Hermits: Grian, Mumbo, Pearl, and Scar. My first publish fanfic since 2016 and my first hermitcraft fanfic :D ao3 link and some inspirations to be linked in a reblog

Words: 2862

•·················•·················•

"What if I touched it really quick?" Scar asked.

"No, don’t-don’t touch the egg," Grian said seriously. "Look, I even made a sign! It specifically says ‘Do not touch.’" He gestured to the sign in question, but Scar ignored him.

"Can I rub it?" he said. The man leaned over it, studying the object carefully. Grian hadn’t known where to place the egg when he got it, and it was just sitting on an anvil for the time being. He didn’t even have a starter house yet, but clearly he was going to need something soon if he was going to protect the egg from some of the more . . . mischievous residents of their Boatem village.

“No, don’t touch the egg! Scar-” Grian walked closer, hands outstretched, just in time to see Scar reach out with his hand and pat the egg.

Vworp!

The egg disappeared into thin air.

Dragon eggs had a tendency to do that. It was a survival tactic--Grian didn't really know how it worked, but just as endermen could teleport away from danger, so could the egg if it were touched. Now whether or not Scar was dangerous remained up for debate…

Scar giggled. "Oh, where did you go?" he sang, hunting around the area.

Well, he COULD be pretty scary sometimes.

"Scarrrr," Grian whined, helping him look. "I told you not to touch it!"

"It's over here!" Scar shouted, finding the egg at the bottom of a small slope nearby. "Just one more time…." He reached out again.

"No!" Grian said, slapping his hand away. "Look, you've got to pick it up the right way." He demonstrated, carefully lifting the egg and placing it in a pouch slung over his back. He had hurriedly stitched it together not too long ago, worried that transporting the egg normally might break it. “If you do it roughly, you’ll scare it and it’ll teleport away again.”

"I see!" said Scar.

"Now, please, don't touch the egg.”

"Oh," Scar said. He straightened. "You're really serious about this."

Grian glared. "I am."

"I'm sorry, I just thought it was funny!"

Grian sighed. "It's okay, Scar. It's just--this thing is a baby, it needs to be handled gently! You can't just go around scaring it! What if it falls into a hole or something?" he hissed.

"Oh my god," Scar laughed, "you're its mother now!"

"No, no, I'm not!"

"You are!" Scar cried. He suddenly stopped. "Oh no, didn't you kill its mother?"

"Well it doesn't know that!" Grian snapped. "Truthfully I didn't realize there would be an egg! And I couldn't just leave it, you know! Here, look at this." Grian gently withdrew the egg from its pack, and Scar moved closer. He held it up to the sun. "Look at that."

The sun shined dark red through the deep purple shell of the egg, making it glow within. In the middle, the silhouette of a curled up creature was illuminated. Blood vessels radiated outward, and at the bottom there was a blank space that Grian assumed was air. The egg’s shell was too thick for any detail to be made out, but the processes happening within were clear. Grian was enchanted with it.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

"Wow," Scar breathed. "There's actually a dragon in there! What're you gonna do with it after it hatches?"

"Well, I haven't exactly thought that far--I just want to worry about keeping it safe first. I mean, what do you even do with this thing?" Grian put the egg back in its satchel, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I suppose you keep it warm and safe but, like, I don't know what else-"

"I could help!" Scar said.

"You were just playing with it!"

"Hey," Scar said defensively, "that was before I knew more about it!"

Grian rolled his eyes.

“What are you guys doing over here?” said Mumbo, wandering over. Grian just knew he’d been up to something, and sure enough, there was a new tree next to his little collection of chests. Grian wasn’t very bothered by it, because he already had a plan to get Mumbo back for it.

“Grian is just showing me his new baby!” Scar teased. “He’s a mom now.”

“I am NOT its mother,” replied Grian tiredly, but he smiled at the sight of the other man.

“A baby?” Mumbo asked, choosing to ignore the rest of Scar’s statement.

“A dragon egg,” Grian answered. “I found it in the End.” He paused for a moment, feeling almost bad. “After I killed the dragon.”

“Grian! You’ve orphaned it!” Mumbo sounded scandalized.

“Why do you all keep bringing that up!?” he defended, glancing between Mumbo and Scar, who both gave him disapproving, albeit playful, looks. “I know you’re Mr. Peace, Love and Plants this time, but we’ve always killed the dragon in every new world!”

“Well, I guess that’s true, but it is a little sad isn’t it? You’re taking care of it but only because you killed its mum.”

“Yeah,” was all Grian said. The dragon always needed to be taken care of in each new world they visited, and while it was always a bit of a shame, he’d never really contemplated it that much. After all, he normally wasn’t the one who fought it--that last time in Evo aside. He didn’t really know what he had gotten into but he felt deeply like he needed to protect this egg. It was like a tug in his chest, drawing him into the egg and telling him not to let go.

“Show him the egg!” Scar said.

“You just want to see it again,” Grian replied, but pulled the egg out of the satchel again anyway for Mumbo to see. The surface of the egg wasn’t smooth, like a chicken’s egg, but bumpy. The purple spots almost seemed to glow, and occasionally little violet particles drifted off of it. Grian felt like he could stare at it in awe all day, and apparently his friends felt the same.

“How’re you going to keep it warm?” asked Mumbo after a moment of admiring it. “That satchel isn’t going to be enough, and to be frank, I don’t see you spending any time sitting on it, even if the mental image is pretty funny.”

Grian rolled his eyes at the comment, but thought about it. How would he incubate it? He may have had wings, but he didn’t know anything about eggs, other than that it was a safe bet to assume it needed to be kept warm. “I'm not sure, actually.”

“Hey, let me design something for you!” Mumbo said excitedly. “I could probably use some redstone and make an incubator of some sort for you.”

Grian smiled. “I’d really appreciate that.”

Asking Mumbo to create a contraption for him--what could go wrong?

•·················•·················•

“I’m not wearing this thing, you know.” Grian said, holding the contraption while Mumbo wheezed with laughter in the background. The design that Mumbo had come up with was essentially a backpack with heating elements strung through it, except for one thing . . .

“You-you wear it in the front,” Mumbo choked out, wiping a tear from his eyes.

“Yes, I see that,” Grian replied, unamused.

“Like a swaddle!”

“Yes, I see that.”

Mumbo laughed harder. Grian had to begrudgingly admit that it was well designed, however. It would fit the egg perfectly, keep it warm, and most important it was mobile to ensure that he could take the egg with him. It was thoughtful, especially since Mumbo knew Grian was quite protective of it.

“I’m not wearing this thing,” Grian repeated. “I’m not going to let you all laugh at me while I walk around the server with an egg swaddled to me!”

“I thought you’d say that,” Mumbo chuckled. “Here, you can switch the straps around and turn it into a backpack.” He unclipped the straps and moved them into the new configuration.

“Thank you, Mumbo,” he said gratefully. “This will certainly do the trick.”

“Glad to hear it mate,” Mumbo replied. “Now, while you’re here, may I ask why there is an incredibly tall tree on top of my camper?”

“Sorry, got to go!” blurted Grian, snatching the backpack from Mumbo’s arms and flying off in a burst of feathers.

“That’s unfair, I don’t even have an elytra yet to go chase him down with,” muttered the man as he watched Grian disappear.

•·················•·················•

Grian sat in the grass in front of his starter home and rubbed his eyes wearily. He was exhausted. Is this how all parents feel? he wondered. Was he just uniquely unqualified to be one? After all, this was only an egg! It hadn’t even hatched yet and he was already tired of keeping up with it.

Carrying it in the backpack was heavy, and Grian tired out quickly. It was hot on his back, and Grian found himself having to take breaks to avoid overheating. It was also cumbersome, and he found it difficult to build with as it shifted his weight. He almost fell off the roof once while building it! Of course, having wings meant that Grian could catch himself easily, but it had still given him quite the scare. Dragon eggs were pretty sturdy, and would teleport themselves out of danger if possible, but he was still so paranoid about breaking it. And now there was the Boatem Hole to worry about--what if it teleported itself into the void? These things kept Grian awake at night.

But if he left it...well, just like Grian had a tendency to lose items in his chest monsters, he also had a tendency to forget where he placed things. He had been forced to go back and rescue the egg from some place he’d left it more than once, which he wasn’t exactly proud of. What sort of parent forgot their child?

. . . He was definitely not admitting to being its parent.

Oh God, what did I get myself into?

“Hey Grian, what’re you up to?” came a voice, interrupting his thoughts. He looked up and saw Pearl standing over him. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and her hands were in her hoodie pockets. She took a seat on the ground next to him, and followed his gaze overlooking the Boatem village. “What’s on your mind?”

“This--this egg,” said Grian. It sat next to him in its backpack, still radiating heat. “I don’t know what to do with it. I’m just so tired of carrying it around!”

“I have to admit,” Pearl said, “I didn’t expect you to immediately adopt a baby dragon the very next time I saw you.”

“Yeah, well, it was an accident.” Grian groaned. “I don’t know what to do with it now, let alone when it hatches!”

Pearl thought for a moment. “You know, the rest of us are all here for you. The other hermits would be happy to help out, I’m sure.”

The other hermits . . . well of course they would. If it was one thing they were all good at, it was supporting each other. Scar had already taken a particular interest in the egg, although Grian was still a little suspicious of him scaring it again. Mumbo had specially designed an incubator for it. Pearl was visiting him to check up on him and offer help.

All Grian had to do was convince himself to let it go. To let them help.

“I know that but . . .”

“But what? Have you had any reason to believe they wouldn’t?” Pearl asked.

“Well, no.” He thought for a while. He thought of how his friends would lend materials when needed, or how they’d help replace someone’s armor and items if they were lost. He thought about the days where they all teamed up and chose one hermit to help out, and he thought about all the things they did for the good of the entire community without even being asked.

His desire to protect the egg was strong, and putting it into the hands of another person almost felt like simultaneously a betrayal of the egg itself and the biggest leap of faith he could take. But the hermits were good at leaps of faith, because someone was always there to catch you.

“You think it’d be okay?”

“I know it’ll be okay,” Pearl replied. “I haven’t been here very long but from what I’ve seen, I know they’d all help. They wouldn’t hurt it. They might be a little mischievous sometimes,” she said, glancing at Scar’s house, “but they know how important it is and would be happy to help. They helped you before, didn’t they?”

Pearl was right, of course. Nobody on the server had any desire to hurt the egg. He trusted that. If there was anyone that he could trust, it was them.

But how would he get them all to essentially sign up for babysitting?

An idea struck him, and Grian scrambled to his feet. “Pearl, you’re brilliant. Thank you!”

She blinked, a little startled. “Always happy to help.”

•·················•·················•

Grian stood back, admiring his work. A near perfect duplicate of the egg that was currently sitting in the backpack slung around his shoulder, but at a much larger scale. It was built out of obsidian blocks and crying obsidian for the spots, and if Grian was pretty proud of how it looked.

If Grian knew anything, it was that his friends loved minigames. And Grian was not above gently exploiting that fact to get a little help--just like barge game from the last world, where he managed to get his friends to help mine out the stone from next to his mansion. Just slap the title of “game” on something and you could get a hermit to sign up for anything.

“Now . . . I just have to write the signs on the inside.”

The game Grian had come up with was officially called Tegg--he needed to stay on brand with his tag games in every world--but he’d mentally been calling it “The Babysitting Game” for a while now. Because that’s what it really was--each hermit who signed up would also sign up to watch the egg and keep it safe. He set to work outlining the rules.

RULE ONE: Protect the egg and keep it safe.

RULE TWO: Keep the egg incubated or it’ll die.

RULE THREE: Keep a close eye on the egg.

RULE FOUR: Call Grian if it starts to hatch.

Satisfied, he wrote out the rest of the instructions. Because it was a game, he wanted to make it fun for the hermits too, so he’d decided to make it like a scavenger hunt. People were allowed to take the egg, provided they adhered to the rules, and were encouraged to hide it and keep it safe. Otherwise, someone else who wanted to have it could get it. The safer the egg was, the less likely for someone else to find it. The winner was whoever had the egg the longest when it finally hatched. Grian didn’t know how long that would take, but he didn’t want to miss it either, hence rule four.

Yep, totally outsourcing his babysitting onto his friends.

Grian squinted at his wall of signs, before placing one final sign at the bottom: Grian will track the game and has final say on points and rules!

“That should do it,” he mumbled. He still wanted to keep an eye on the egg, to make sure that he knew who had it and how many people’s hands it had gone through. After all, he was the one ultimately responsible for it.

Grian pulled the egg out of the backpack and carefully placed it on the ground. He’d somehow made a habit of just speaking to it every now and then--he had no idea if the little dragon could hear anything in there, but he liked to think that it could. “Hey there,” he whispered, and stroked the top of the egg. “Some new people are going to start taking you pretty soon, but it’s okay. They’re going to give me some help and make sure you’re safe.”

He paused, taking in the little room he’d made and the wall of signs he’d written with meticulous instructions for the egg’s care. It may have been the first thing he’d built for this egg, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be his last. A baby dragon was a commitment and for the first time Grian really let himself think about what that meant, beyond just an egg that he had to carry around. Would he house it? Train it? Let it stay by his side? Would he love it?

I think I already do, he thought.

He thought of the hermits--their mischievousness, their pranks, their hard work, their friendship, and their goodness at heart. They were his family, now. What was one more addition?

“It’s okay,” he whispered to the egg. “I trust them all with my life, but more importantly, I trust them with yours.”

[sendyefrogs]

saudade

a/n: WELL. im back! *confetti pops out*. i mean, kinda hehe, apologies im absolutely swamped with school and my degrading mental health :). n e way, this is LONG, because i’ve missed writing a lot <3  wrote this for @sykuui, this is long overdue babe tw: verbal and (probably) physical abuse, kuroo just being a gigantic dick, dont come after me pls ily, cheating, swearing word count: 2K (word vomit ;-;) pairing: kuroo x gn!reader genre: angst (if it’s not very good, pls forgiveness, internet person)

What keeps you up at night?

Gentle snores, his soft hair brushing your arm, muffled breaths reminding you that the world knew not of the Kuroo that slept by you at night, unburdened by the worldly dilemmas. For just a few hours every night, he was yours, through and through, in your arms while the clouds drifted across the jet black sky with no destination, and the moment seemed to freeze.

Love, love for Tetsuro, is what kept you up, and it would never have once crossed your naïve mind that love is what would break you, keeping you up, not for the love you felt, but the love that was torn from you.

Simple signs would not tell you what happened, it came crashing down on you all too quick, for he was proficient at hiding it, behind his caring smiles and affectionate touches. His love wasn’t as pure as yours, he did not yearn for you as you did for him, and it showed, eventually enough. The cracks in the relationship built up gradually, slowly but prominently, too wide for either to bandage up alone, and that is how you found yourselves; alone.

He did try to provide for the both of you as best he could, being the sole income earner, and it didn’t always end well when you expressed that maybe he was too occupied by his office for your liking, unable to care for you as he once did throughout high school, when he was attentive to you no matter when you beckoned.

“Tetsuro, welcome home!” You’ve had a long day and not nearly enough time with your husband, deprived of his peppering kisses and gentle strokes of your hair. You get neither, receiving just a simple grunt, and it is clear he has had a grueling time as well. “Dinner is ready when you want it.” He nods slightly, not making eye contact with you yet, his hair appearing even less groomed than usual. You stand on your tip toes to kiss his forehead, but he shoves you away, harder than playful, glaring at you.

Maybe it’s just weariness, but he makes no attempt to apologize. You blink back the sting of tears, walking towards the kitchen to serve the food that you had learnt to make for him. He’s just tired. I’m sure he didn’t mean to push me away. That was the first tear, in the loosely woven fabric that was your relationship, that began as high school sweethearts but was now, you realized only later, becoming too stifling for Tetsuro.

The steam rose of the bowl of rice and curry, curling around your jawline as you carried it to the tall figure seated at the table, with his head in his palms. “Do you want to talk now, baby?” Your question is only answered with another sound of fatigue. You seat yourself beside him, curling your arms around his bicep, watching him lift the spoon to his mouth, trying to make him comfortable. You wanted to show him that you’d be there when he wanted to share his exhaustion with you, never occurring to you that maybe, it was exhaustion of you that plagued Tetsuro’s mind.

“Y/n, can you please be quiet for once?” It was barely a whisper; you weren’t sure if you heard him right.

“Huh?”

“Just shut up for once, god.” The tears stung again. What was with him today? He seemed genuinely mad, but you didn’t know what you had done to make him behave like this.

Little did you know, it wasn’t actually you, but the idea of you. Kuroo had grown to be frustrated with his daily routine, tired that every day was the same, that his life had lost that spark it had when he peaked in high school, your presence monotonous and the marriage empty. He didn’t want it.

“Tetsuro, why would you-?” His hand swiped out, knocking the bowl off the table, a gasp erupting from your mouth. In that moment, all you can think about is to get as far away from him as possible. There is an uncharacteristic bitterness in his eyes, directed towards you as you lie in his line of vision. You flinch as he raises his hand to run fingers through his hair. Without a second thought, he spits his frustration out at you.

“Y/n, I’ve had a long fucking day, and I don’t need you to make it even worse with your constant questioning.” The chair slides back with a scrape, not unlike the scrape of his words against your soul. There is, and always has been, an insecurity bubbling away in you that maybe you aren’t good enough for Tetsuro, maybe he deserves better, maybe you are too overwhelming for the calm male that now stands enraged in front of you.

“You need to learn to shut the fuck up sometimes, because no one wants to listen to your endless whining. I get it, you need constant reassurance that you’re the perfect partner, but I couldn’t be fucking bothered. And you sure aren’t perfect with how clingy you’re being right now. So shut up, and leave me alone.”

Kuroo knocks over a jug of water on his way out, slamming the door over the sound of it shattering as your sobs rack through your body, dry but hard enough to hurt.

Being furious wasn’t a thought that occurred to you, and whether this was his fault made no difference, because it was yourself you blamed when you found him the next day, with his secretary, the bento lunch you had packed him, to resolve the night’s arguments, spilled over the wooden floor, much like the shattered pieces of your heart.

What broke you, was that there was no chase; Tetsuro didn’t come after you, didn’t try to convince you to stay, didn’t try to explain that this was a mistake, didn’t even try to salvage a nine-year long relationship that he tossed out the window of his high-rise office building, not a single second glance back at the spouse that had supported him through his struggles, through thick and through thin, comforting him when things got tough, consoling him as he lost matches, lost money, lost old friends.

Gratitude wasn’t something he had ever considered. You were always there after all, there to ensure that he was happy, that he was content with his unchanging life, the responsibility of being his unpredictable little spark of excitement weighing down on you.

You were gone that night, with hurriedly packed bags, worn out spirit and tears streaming down your face, sparkling as they dripping onto the marbled floor, sparkling like the diamond of your wedding ring that you left behind on the counter top, with one last admiring glance. It was worth a lot, but not enough for what you were being put through. And recognition of that fact is what liberated you, to start your own life, without a Kuroo Tetsuro.

What keeps you up at night?

Y/n. Bubbling laughter and affectionate aura. Everything that was gone, that now made Kuroo’s life… empty; as empty as he had left the relationship, as empty as the void that was once filled with y/n’s warm smiles, that he now attempted to fill with anyone who would throw themselves at him.

A different face to wake up to everyday, but none of them yours, the only one he longed to see, heart aching as though it might burst out of his chest to find its rightful place with you.

The day after you left, he had had no idea that his life would crumble without you, the backbone around which he organized his life, the foundation for his happiness. He knew it was unfair to put the expectation of his functioning on you, but he did it anyway, and without you, he couldn’t wrap his head around the concept that was independence.

“Tetsuro”, his seventh secretary in two months waltzed into the room, carrying a stack of files, discovering him with his head in his hands, glaring up at the one who dared use the name that you had so loving adorned upon him, the word only perfect on your tongue. “Do you want me to spend the night again? You seem tense.”

Kuroo growled, at the audacity they had, suggesting that they were even worth attempting to comfort him like you did. With a swipe of his hands, he knocked the files off the table, standing up to spit his frustrations out at the secretary.

But one glance at the look of apprehension on their face made him buckle, reminding him of the very last night he spent with you, broken jug, bowl of curried rice upside down on the floor. You; cowering from him, frightened of what he would do to you, flinching as he raised his hand.

Dry choking sobs left his mouth, you were afraid of him, the person you had loved more than life itself, given up everything to make happy, and he had never even uttered a word of gratefulness.

Realization engulfed him, leaving him on his knees. He hadn’t shown you how much he loved you, forgetting or simply just ignoring you.

No wonder you were gone, because what was there to stay for, in the dead-end life that you lived, without a loving husband or self-contentment? What had he done? Why had you stayed for so long?

Why had you stayed up all those nights for him?

Tetsuro never could forget about you, the absence of you gnawing away at him, slowly taking over his life. The final straw that broke him irreparably was you, at the national volleyball match that you attended, not for him, but as a sports reporter, beaming in pride in your professional outfit.

Your independence is what did it, because if you could live without him, it mean you would never return. And why should you, after everything he had done, why should you when you had finally found yourself, why should you when there was nothing to return to?

His eyes followed you around, trying to take in as much of you as he could. Interviewing people, smiling at them, the warm smile that was once only for him. Suddenly, your eyes locked, and he froze, standing close enough to see the hurt swim in yours as you lay them upon him, and the moment was over just as quickly as it began.

“Hajime!” What? Why were you yelling out his name, jumping into his arms, fondly glancing up at him with that adoring look, completely forgetting about the one man that had been missing you for so long? Why weren’t you running back to him instantly? Did you not love him?

But Kuroo knew the truth.

You did love him, just, not anymore. He had lost you the second he took you for granted. And he wanted to yell that he would never do it again, come back to him, please just stay with him, he will always love you.

He couldn’t. The beam reaching from end to end of your glowing face, words bubbling over as Iwaizumi held you close, it was too bright to interrupt. The sparkle in your eyes not unlike the diamond that sparkled on your wedding ring, the one he still kept in his pocket, in hope that you would one day, return to him, forgive him, love him again. But-

Kuroo knew that he didn’t keep you up at night anymore.

[sharkboygirlish]

Messy.

ONE-SHOT

Word count: 2793

Disclaimer:  One piece and all it’s characters belong to Eiichiro Oda, I just like to write about them.

Warning: None

Rating: T (i guess?? there’s cursing)

Author’s Note: Whale, this is the first fanfic I’ve posted on the interwebs since high school so please keep that in mind, lol. I do plan to finish it sooner than later so check back in a few days if you want to read the rest, sorry I don’t have it all done right now.  At long last it it FINISHED.

Feel free to tell me what u think! Unless it’s mean, then I ask that u keep those thoughts in ur noggin because I’m just writing these for fun not for grades.

Without further ado, here ya go.

Author’s Note pt 2: So i didn’t end up going the smut route like I originally planned, but I think it worked out better bc this one got nice and Emotional.

Summary: Zoro really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

__________________________________________

The moon was floating high in the night sky when Nami wandered onto the deck, unable to sleep even after a few hours of sketching. 

She wanted company – specifically, she wanted the company of the crew’s resident alcoholic. It only took a few minutes to find him on the lawn deck with his back against a tree and his eye closed. ‘How typical.’

Nami smiled a small, excited smile as she strode over to him and squatted between his parted legs. An unconscious sigh left her nose as she swept her gaze up and down his face. She caught herself thinking, ‘He really is easy on the eyes isn’t he.’ ....again. 

Who was she kidding? She’d been thinking the same thing every time she looked his way lately. 

Two years ago she’d been able to keep the immature crush she had on him locked tightly away but somehow - it had gotten out and was slowly consuming her entire being. 

Nami hoped he hadn’t noticed how often she invited him to drink with her because she didn’t think she could handle being rejected. So she settled for spending time alone with him whenever and however she could. 

“Hey, moss-head,” the navigator said finally, leaning in to squint at him, “Are you asleep?”

He had literally just settled down for a nice cat nap when the navigator appeared suddenly to interrupt him. ‘Damn. What the hell did she want now?’ 

Instead of answering, Zoro chose to ignore her and pretend like he was deep asleep. ‘Why won’t she go bother someone else?’

Nami started prodding his cheek with one finger to rouse him if he really was sleeping, ”Zorooo wake up, I wanna drink,” she whined and his eyelid opened instantly.

‘Why’s she so damn pretty..’ was the first thought he had when he realized that she was a lot closer than he’d anticipated. 

He mentally chastised himself after, trying to remind his id that Nami had never once indicated that she wanted to be anything other than friends and he should respect that. 

But… There was no harm in looking from time to time was there? And she was pretty. She’d always been... ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, now he sounded like Sanji. He needed to get a grip.’

“Helloooooo,” Nami waved her hand in Zoro’s face until he snapped back to reality and snatched her wrist up, pulling it away. He scowled but it wasn’t deep, and now he was refusing to look her in the eye. “What was that about, huh Zoro?”

“Nothing.” The swordsman replied perhaps a little too quickly to avoid suspicion, “Thought I heard a noise, doesn’t matter – oi, didn’t you want to do something?” 

He couldn’t remember what exactly it was. He’d been so distracted by the way her bangs framed her face and sometimes got caught in her eyelashes—’Damnit! He was doing it again.’

Nami smirked again but didn’t press the subject anymore. She’d do that later once they started drinking. “Weren’t you listening to me? You’re so rude, maybe I should find someone else to share my booze with.”

Was it a good idea to go drink with Nami when he kept catching himself thinking about feelings that he’d been suppressing for the last two years? Probably not…

But he couldn’t just decline an opportunity to get buzzed. ‘And... Maybe he wanted to get buzzed with Nami, specifically.’  

Zoro scoffed, mostly at himself. “Quit playing games, damnit, do you want me to drink with you or not?”

“You’re so stubborn,” The navigator teased with a pleased smile that made his heart beat unevenly, “I could care less if you join me, but you’re not allowed to come unless you say you’ll be nice.”

“Nami. I am older than you, quit treating me like a fucking child or I swear-”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady who’s getting you drunk for free, Roronoa Zoro. If you can’t be nice then I’ll just add the cost of everything you drink to your debt and-”

Zoro didn’t have time to ruminate over the way hearing her say his full name made him shiver because he had to shut her up before she did charge him. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll be... nice.” He hissed through gritted teeth and her answering giggle made his pulse flutter. He had to fight to keep himself from smiling. ‘What the hell was going on with him tonight? Was he sick?’

“Good boy,” she turned and started walking towards the Sunny’s aquarium bar, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure he was coming.

“Don’t push your luck, woman.” Zoro snarled to mask his confusion over the sudden need to touch her that he felt scratching at the back of his head. He really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

He knew it, but he followed her up the stairs all the same.

                                                       * * *

“Why d’you always want to drink with me anyway, witch?” Skeptical of her intentions, his narrowed eye fixed itself on Nami as she approached him holding two maroon tinted bottles. She offered one to him and he accepted it – but he didn’t let his guard down yet.

Zoro lowered his gaze to check the label out, whistling long and low when he read 23% alcohol per volume. A couple puzzle pieces clicked together in his head ‘Oh, that’s why. Because if she tried to drink this with anyone else they’d pass out after two glasses.’

“Would you believe that I just like hanging out with you?” Though her tone was teasing she was actually being genuine, she had a lot of fun with him whenever they went out.

“No–“ He paused when Nami kicked him in the shin hard enough to make him swear. Reaching down with his free hand he rubbed the sore patch of skin and glared daggers at his crewmate. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“You said you’d be nice, Zoro! So be nice or I’ll charge you a hundred thousand beris for that bottle.” Nami uncorked hers but waited to hand the corkscrew over until he behaved himself. The look he was giving her would probably frighten a small child but she didn’t flinch.

‘This was his choice.’ He reminded himself. Of his own free will he chose to get drunk with Nami instead of napping, and that meant dealing with her bossiness no matter how much he loathed it. ‘Sometimes he just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and make her shut up, there were better things her mouth could be doing anyway-‘

“Why do you keep staring at me like that, do I have a zit or something?”

Zoro sat up so fast that he banged his shoulder on the underside of the countertop. ‘What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with him?’ He hadn’t even opened the damn bottle and he was already making himself look like an idiot.

“No,” the swordsman grumbled, wracking his brain for a believable excuse, “Just thinking about how I’ll owe you money even after I’m dead if you keep charging me for bullshit.” That made her laugh and Zoro cursed himself for how much he liked hearing it. “Don’t see how it’s funny for me, witch.”

Nami let him take the corkscrew from her, eyes crinkled with amusement while he opened his bottle. “You’ll just have to stay alive until you pay me back in full, I guess!” She trilled before taking a long, heavy drink from hers.

“Yeah?” Zoro snorted before mimicking her and downing about half of the wine in the container. It tasted disgusting, which he’d expected, but that didn’t make the bitter aftertaste any less miserable. His nose wrinkled slightly as he set the bottle down. “I bet even if I did try to pay you off you’d find a way to charge me more.”

“You make me sound so heartless,” the navigator batted her eyelashes innocently, pretending to look hurt, “Why would I ever do such a thing?”

“Hah.” He scoffed before chugging some more wine and failing to keep track of how much he was drinking each time. “Because you want to keep me on a leash since I don’t throw myself at you like that dumbass cook.”

An impish smirk crawled it’s way onto Nami’s face that made him immediately regret what he’d just said. ‘Fuck. Damnit!’

“So…” She began slowly, savoring every second that the swordsman spent avoiding direct eye contact with her, “You admit that you are one of my lap dogs?”

A muscle in his jaw flexed and he stopped drinking for one second to grunt, “That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what I heard!” Chimed Nami as she rose from her seat, stepping over to Zoro and tracing a finger under his jaw while he drained the last few drops of liquid. “I should get you a collar, so people know who to bring you to when you get lost.”

Normally he would have snapped at her for poking fun at his sense, or lack thereof, direction but he wasn’t listening to her. She’d come close enough for him to pick up her scent and maybe it was the alcohol intensifying his feelings, but it was suffocating him in a good way.

He loved the way she smelled. Tangerines from her soaps mixed with salty seawater and traces of sunscreen. A hint of orange blossom, but only when she was close to him like this. 

Zoro inhaled deeply through his nose and, without realizing it, his expression melted into something affectionate and gentle. ‘In two years she’d changed in so many different ways… but she still smelled the same. She still smelled like home.’

                                                        * * *

“What are you thinking about, Zoro?” Her voice void of it’s usual teasing tone, Nami’s curiosity was piqued by his sudden shift in demeanor. He looked soft and peaceful, like he didn’t have anything to worry about. She wanted to know why.

‘Ah, fuck.’ What was he supposed to tell her? That he was thinking about how good she smelled? ‘Yeah right.’ Zoro was quiet for a while, mulling over his words until he came up with an explanation that didn’t sound as creepy – but also wasn’t a lie.

“I guess..” he finally murmured, his gaze shifting to meet hers, “It’s just been a while and… I was thinking about how nice it feels to be back here, with everyone…” a brief pause then he added, “I missed you guys.” ‘Look at him being all gushy and emotional, this wine really was something else.’ Zoro reached to brush his fingertips by her temple, catching a stray lock of hair and tucking it behind her ear, “I missed you.”

When had Zoro ever been this honest with her about the way he felt? Never was the answer, but now he seemed to trust her well enough to know she wouldn’t spill his secrets. Nami took his face in both of her hands, surprising him, and pulled his head down so she could kiss his forehead. “I missed you too, Zoro.”

Something about hearing her say that she’d missed him too broke a dam in his chest that he’d been trying to keep together for two years. Hormoness flooded through his bloodstream quicker than Zoro could even process them and before he knew it he was practically throwing his arms around Nami’s waist and crushing her against his chest.

“Nami—” he pressed his face into her neck to hide the tears that he couldn’t hold back anymore. Sober he might have cared about losing it like this around her but she was here and… ‘He just – needed to hold her.’ Hold her and smell her and feel how real she was because she had almost been taken from him.

‘He’d barely begun to process what he had been through on Thriller Bark when they were attacked in Sabaody. If he tried to think back on it his memories would get hazy and his bones would ache from their very cores. He knew what had happened but it’s like his brain was protecting him from understanding how close to death he’d come. Then – to be torn away from the people he loved with all of his heart? Who he had just nearly killed himself to protect?

It had ripped him apart and rubbed salt into every wound. And it fucking hurt. The same kind of pain he felt when he saw Kuina dead on the floor of their dojo. He was scared, he was furious, he was devastated – all over again but this time it was so much worse. So, so much worse.

That was why he had trained so hard over the last two years. Because he couldn’t bear the grief that came with loving them so deeply – so he got stronger. And stronger. And stronger. No matter the cost to his body, he would become powerful enough to defeat anyone who crossed them. Then… He would never have to feel the agony that he did when he first woke up on Kuraigana Island ever again.

Taking on all of Luffy’s suffering in Thriller Bark had been the most physically painful experience of his entire life – but that was nothing compared to how much it hurt to think that his friends were gone forever, that he hadn’t been able to protect them.

Training made it easy not to think about what had happened -- but now he was home, and they were safe - and he was realizing just how close he’d come to losing all of them. At once. And he could do nothing to stop it.’

Startled by him grabbing her, Nami was prepared to give the pirate a good smack if he was getting handsy but… He started trembling. ‘Was he not feeling well?’ Her mouth opened to form the question then stopped. His breathing hitched while his entire body jerked and she realized…

‘Zoro was crying.’

Roronoa Zoro, who prided himself on his strength, was sobbing wretchedly into her neck. ‘He must have been holding this in since Sabaody.’ Nami’s heart ached for him and his stupid pride that forced him to torture himself instead of letting him cry like he needed to. She’d been expecting him to crash at some point, how couldn’t he? Even someone as strong as Zoro was still a human being.

One of her arms cradled his head while the other wound round his shoulders, her fingers combing gently through his hair. “Oh you sweet, sweet boy…” she spoke in the tone that Bellemere used to use when Nami and Nojiko were frightened by a passing thunderstorm. It always calmed her, maybe it would calm Zoro, too.

‘Quit fucking crying you loser you’re supposed to be a man.’ But he couldn’t, he literally could not stop because he was trying to. “I wasn’t strong enough,” his voice quivered at the edges and he hated it. ‘He was definitely never going to drink this kind of wine again ever. Not if it turned him into a blubbering mess like this every time.’

“Shhh, no. No. Don’t you dare try to blame yourself for what happened. Hey, look at me.” Nami urged his head off her shoulder and cupped his face in both of her palms, “None of us were strong enough, okay? Not even Luffy.” Each tear that fell she tenderly swept away with the pad of her thumb. The corner of her mouth turned up as she assured him, “But we are strong enough now. We can take care of each other. Nothing is ever going to tear us apart again, Zoro.”

‘She was right. Of course, she was right. He needed to have faith in his crewmates and his captain. They could do anything as long as they had each other.’ His breathing slowly evened out as he focused on anchoring himself back to reality. He wasn’t in Sabaody or Kuraigana – he was on the Sunny. In the bar, with Nami who had grown so much since he last saw her. The look in his eye softened like it had before his breakdown.

“You’re staring at me again, Zoro.” The navigator teased, her hands falling to rest on his shoulders. He hadn’t let go of her yet but she didn’t mind, he could hold on to her for as long as he needed.

A ghost of his usual smirk passed across his face. “Sorry, Nami…” Zoro took a little risk by leaning in to press a chaste but lingering kiss to her cheek, then traced a path with the edge of his nose to her ear, murmuring, “Wine makes me a little… Messy.”

[monkeydlesbian]

# KISS OF GHOSTS.

hanamaki takahiro x reader

wc: 1.2k

content warning: making out, hurt/comfort kinda? makki is insecure :(

a/n: i’m trying to get myself back into writing so i can finish my matchups, so i decided to write a little something for takahiro. he’s really easy for me to write i think. reblogs help hehe <3

“You’re not the best at hiding it, y’know,” Makki comments from beside you on the couch.

He stops copying down the notes for tomorrow’s lecture and sets his pen down onto the table in front of you. You can feel the shift of his long limbs turning to face you, and now the weight of his gaze.

You gulp, “what are you talking about?”

At your feigned oblivion, he laughs, snatching the pen out of your hand and chucking it across the room dramatically until it hits the wall.

“Makki!” You growl, turning to face him properly now, “I was using that!”

“Not anymore. Now, why the hell are you staring at me so much? It’s like you’re trying to set me on fire or something,” he jokes, but the realization that he’s figured you out is no joking matter.

You flounder a little, stuck at how you should approach this.

Or whether you should approach it at all.

“You—” you start, “you’re just—”

He raises a concerned eyebrow; you decide to look at everything in the room other than him.

“I’m just…?” He prompts, moving his hands in a rolling motion, as if to say ‘move it along.’

You take a deep breath, pondering the outcome of the situation if you decide to just blurt it out right then and there.

On one hand, it could go over smoothly. If the slightly flirtatious looks and quips he’d given you these past few weeks are anything to go by, then he’d likely receive your comment well.

On the other, he could think you’re a total weirdo and a creep and never want to speak to you again.

To hell with it.

“You’re pretty.” You blurt out, finally, with little to no ceremony. Your eyes are squeezed shut and your fists are clenched on top of your knees, and you’re flinching back like he’s going to hit you.

A pregnant pause, then he’s laughing.

Annoyed, your eyes jerk open to get a good look at his face before you fight the urge to punch it in, only to see a bright shade of pink sitting atop the apples of his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

Through laughter, Makki speaks, “you—you think I’m pretty? That’s why you’ve been staring at me? I thought I pissed you off or something!”

“Stop laughing,” you half-grumble, half-whine as you throw your head back in embarrassment. “This is no laughing matter!”

“Sorry, sorry,” he throws his hands up in surrender once he finally stops, “you’re right, this is serious.”

“You... you’re not mad?” You ask tentatively.

Technically, no one should be mad about being told that they’re pretty, but you’ve let your apprehension get the best of you.

“Why would I be mad that you called me pretty?” The question is genuine. You can practically feel the insecurity injected into the words he chose to emphasize, and it breaks your heart a little.

“I—well—I don’t know... and why’d you ask it like that?”

“Like what?” He feigns ignorance, turning his body away slightly so he won’t have to meet your eyes. He picks at the fabric of his sweatpants. They’ve gotten a little small, and they’re riding up his ankles more than they did in the past. Well, he did get them in high school, so it’s probably time for a new pair anyways. He suddenly remembers the new store the two of you passed coming back a different route from the library one afternoon. Maybe he’ll stop by tomorrow and—

“Like you’re not pretty,” you explain honestly, “and like you think you’re not worthy of being called that.”

“You’re makin’ me sound like I’m Thor or something,” he jokes. Normally he’d laugh at himself, but he isn’t joking around for the goal of laughter this time.

“You’re pretty, Makki,” you say firmly, confidently, so sure of yourself that it makes Makki’s eyebrows furrow and his eyes squeeze shut. He doesn’t believe it, but it’s obvious you do.

“It’s just hard to believe that the prettiest person I’ve ever met just called me pretty.”

His tone is dripping in self-loathing, disguised as flattery towards you. You recognize this, yet you still can’t help the butterflies that erupt deep inside your core.

“Makki—“ you stutter, eyes widening when he jerks his gaze towards yours, “can—can I kiss you?”

It’s deafening silence for a couple seconds, and you can feel your heartbeat in your ears the longer it drags on. Makki’s eyes widen in surprise, before disbelief escapes him in the form of a breathless chuckle.

“Well—yeah. Yes. Please,” he breathes, scooting closer to you until his knee bumps against your own. He’s warm, you can already tell, and it’s then you’re reaching to cup his face in your hands.

Your eyes flutter closed when you feel a puff of his breath hit your lips, before you’re pressing your mouth to his own.

You thought your first kiss with Makki would’ve been fun, lighthearted, maybe even a little teasing. But as it turns out, it barely even feels like a kiss. Your lips are barely pressed against his, but you still feel your body grow warmer and subconsciously scooting even closer to his own.

The two of you break away from the kiss of ghosts, and your eyes flutter open to meet his own, the void of his pupils dwarfing the steel gray you’ve always been enamored with.

“Again?” He breathes against your lips, knocking his nose against yours, “can I—can I kiss you again?”

You don’t answer him verbally, instead opting to press your lips against his again, more firm this time. He sighs a contented little sound into your mouth, moving one hand to the back of your knee, bringing your leg over his own, and moving the other to cup the nape of your neck, tilting your head so he can press his lips against yours more intensely.

Your hands move from his cheeks down to his warm shoulders, covered by the crewneck you borrowed from him just last week. You tug a little, wanting him closer to you and his chest pressed up against yours.

Instead of yielding to you like you thought he would, like he usually always does, Makki just drags your thigh further atop his own, hoping you’ll get the memo to crawl into his lap.

And you do, thank God. You swing your other thigh around his hips without breaking away from the kiss. Further into his hold you slip, moving a hand to play with the thin strands on the back of his head. Those slim and shaky hands of his shift to your waist, feeling across your ribs and tummy covered by another thing of his that you’ve borrowed; the air conditioning unit in Makki’s apartment works exceptionally, and you forgot your own sweatshirt at home.

(‘Will you ever learn?’ Came his fond response to you shivering on his couch, getting up and grabbing the sweatshirt he left on the chair at the dinner table.)

His lips leave yours, and you let out a noise of disappointment as you try to chase them. They eventually move to the corner of your mouth, across your cheek, along your jaw, and eventually down the side of your neck.

These kisses aren’t intense like the very long one before, instead they’re soft. They’re the kisses of ghosts.

It’s then you figure you wouldn’t mind becoming one with him.

all rights reserved © sweetbakugou || do not translate, repost, or claim my works as your own.

[jincherie]

florescence | vi

❀ — pairing: taehyung x reader x seokjin ❀ — genre: hybrid au, hybrid tae, hybrid jin, poly au, fluff, smut (future), angst ❀ — words: 4.9k+ ❀ — rating: sfw...ish? ❀ — warnings: everything is smoothing over.... and now that angst is out of the way, oc is having to deal with some thoughts that now have the time to rise to the surface. so um. hickeys and also an almost risque dream ❀ — notes: happy birthday to me!!! i hope u enjoy this!!! every chapter we get closer and closer to the heat!!!!!!

Okay, so maybe you’re lonely, and maybe there is something missing in your life, a void that you maybe want to fill with a companion that may or may not be of human origin… You’re perfectly content not doing anything about it though, until your best friend calls you in desperate need for your help and you suddenly end up coming home with not one, but two hybrids that may or may not have been on the way to the chopping block had you not taken them in. They’re more than a little rough around the edges, and the situation is less than ideal but… maybe the best things don’t always come in perfect, shiny packages. Maybe they just need a little time to bloom.

— posted; 30.03.2020 // masterlist || prev. | next.

It seems that for all your many efforts over the weeks in reassuring the two hybrids that they’re wanted by you and that they can settle down and make this their home, it doesn’t really sink in until after the night you let them scent you.

Which, of course, makes sense considering that was what was making them unsettled in the first place. You knew that letting them do that would return their behaviour to normal, but you weren’t expecting that in the process it would also do a complete one-eighty.

It’s like a switch has been flipped.

The first thing you notice, is that when you all head to bed and you enter your room, closing the door behind you, they seem to hover outside of it for a moment before continuing to their own room. Now, the old you would be thinking why? But! This is the new you, the new-and-improved y/n who knows how to use google when she should! And since you’ve been referring to google and the more trustworthy sites you’ve found, you know that they’re probably battling the urge to be closer to you.

What you mean by that, is that you read that more often than not hybrids prefer to be as close to their owners as possible at all times—and this can also mean that they want to sleep in the same room. It soothes an instinctual part of them, apparently. You can understand it, plus, if you’re being honest…. You’re not as opposed as you should be.

The idea of getting to cuddle with them while you sleep makes you feel warm and gooey inside, but the thing is that after the way things were hinted to be going the other night… you kind of have to chase off more than inappropriate thoughts every time you think about it. You can’t help it! They’re both handsome, sweet boys, and—

You’re gonna stop yourself there.

“I’m home!”

You call out as soon as you enter through the door, an unnecessary act considering they could probably hear you all the way down the street if they really tried. Still, it’s habit. You used to yell it even when no one was here, because it made you feel less lonely. Kind of sad, now you think about it. You hum, reaching the bench and placing your things down on top of the counter.

You’re startled into yelping when thick arms slip around your waist, heat pressing against your back and a face mushing into your neck. The lack of whining tells you it’s Taehyung that has reached you first today, eager to cuddle close until every trace of any other hybrid’s scent is gone. They’ve taken to doing this every time you get home—at first you wanted to protest, since they barely let you get five steps through the door before accosting you, but after seeing how pleased and content they look after, you couldn’t be mad at them for it even if you wanted to.

“Tae,” you hum, reaching up to run your fingers through his hair; your nails run against the back of his ear by accident and something akin to a purr thrums through his chest. He presses his lips to the junction of your neck before nipping it lightly in greeting, arms tightening around your waist fractionally. “I missed you too.”

When he pulls away and moves around to your front, you’re taken aback by how pleased he seems to be that you pinpointed what he was trying to say. His big chocolate eyes with those long, pretty lashes are looking at you so earnestly you can’t help but coo, bringing your hands up to pinch his cheeks. They instantly flush pink beneath your grip.

“So cute,” you coo, grinning as you squish his cheeks like he’s a newborn baby and you’re an aunt who is performing her obligated first cheek-pinch. “My cute baby Tae, I really did miss you so much.”

Teasing him probably isn’t the best way to deal with the sudden overstimulation of your senses at how cute he is, but his reactions are always worth it. He’s growing so bold lately that even though he doesn’t talk still, you almost forget how shy he can be. Blushing, Taehyung steps forward and drops his head, headbutting your shoulder to hide his face. A laugh tumbles from your throat before you can even register it, arms coming up to hold him close. You’re gonna die from a heart attack at his cuteness one of these days, you just know it.

“Where’s Seokjin?” you ask after a moment of holding him, trailing your fingers down his spine soothingly. His tail wags in joy each time you do it.

At your question though, he pulls back, and you’re surprised to see a look of hesitation on his face. You tilt your head, wondering as to the cause of it. “Is he okay?”

Taehyung nods instantly, not wanting you to worry, and seems to make up his mind about whatever he was considering. He slips his hand into yours, entwining your fingers, and tugs you towards the stairs. You follow, letting him lead you easily—this works well with your plans since you wanted to get changed into your pyjamas anyway. You kind of expect him to take you to his room, but your eyes widen when you see him turn and pull you in the direction of yours. You don’t have a name for the light, fluttery feeling that occurs in your stomach.

The door is slightly ajar as you approach and Taehyung goes straight in, pushing it open softly before stepping to the side and halting, a somewhat sheepish expression crossing his face. You see why a moment later.

There, on the edge of your bed closest to the wall, is Seokjin. He’s curled up around the blankets, a blue material you quickly recognise as one of your shirts clutched against his chest as he snoozes. He looks so at peace, cheek mushed against his hand and his hair tousled so endearingly; you’re making your way over before you even realise it.

As you approach and take in the other side of the bed, the comforter rumpled and another shirt laying discarded atop the covers, you surmise that Taehyung must have joined the older male in his nap at some point as well. When you shoot him a knowing look, he purses his lips and averts his eyes somewhat guiltily, making you laugh softly.

“Seokjin,” you say quietly, resting a knee on the bed so you can lean over and nudge the fox’s shoulder. His hand uncurls from his chest and you tickle his palm with your fingers. “Seokjin.”

He grunts softly, smooshing his face into the bed for a moment. Reflexively, his fingers start to curl around your own. You try calling him to wake again, “Seokj—oop!”

The sensation of falling onto the bed has your stomach temporarily being left behind your body as you’re pulled down, arm instantly slipping over your waist. Your cheeks heat, heart thudding so loudly you’re sure Taehyung can hear it; right in front of you is Seokjin’s face, so close that if you leant forward even a centimetre your lips would brush his own. The knowledge has your blood pressure skyrocketing.

A soft sound, almost like a whimper, comes from behind you, and you turn your head to glimpse at the dhole hybrid who still has a hold on your other hand—his expression is almost indecipherable, a mix of fond, jealous, and somehow amused all at the same time. There’s something else in there that melts his citrine irises into dark honey, something that makes your stomach flip instinctively before you push it forcibly from your brain.

Brushing your thumb over his hand to soothe him, you then turn back to his brother and ponder how to proceed. You need to wake him up because, to be honest, you’re hungry as hell and want to sort out dinner already. He has your hand trapped and held against his chest, hugging your arm like a teddy, and so you free your other hand from Taehyung’s grasp (ignoring his soft protest) and bring it to cup his cheek. Admiring his features for a moment, you brush your fingertip down his nose, and then pass your thumb over his cheekbone; even asleep, he nuzzles easily into your touch. Your chest is so warm.

“Seokjin,” you murmur, not wanting to alarm him by being any louder. “Seokjin, wake up please.”

He mumbles unintelligibly, bringing the hand he has in his hold up to his cheek and nuzzling against it—honest to god you think your heart is going to explode like that bird in Shrek when Fiona sings to it. What are you supposed to do with these feelings! There’s so much of them!

Unable to help yourself, you end up channelling it the exact same way you did before. You pinch Seokjin’s cheek, huffing, “Seokjinnie, wake up, I’m hungry.”

Apparently the pinch did the trick, because in the next second he’s cracking his eyes open, blinking blearily. As soon as he catches sight of you—or really, as soon as he registers that it’s you in front of him that he’s been staring at the past few seconds—he freezes, mouth popping open.

He continues staring at you for one, two, three seconds. Then he jerks back like he’s been burned, flinging somewhat haphazardly into a sitting position with a yelped, “y/n!”

You take the opportunity to sit up and climb from the bed now that he’s released your hand, smiling at him cheekily. “Missed me, did you, bub?”

His face erupts into a violent blush, but surprisingly he doesn’t shy away. “No!” he denies, before realising how incriminating his current location and choice of teddy-bear is, and later amending, “… Maybe.”

You laugh, grabbing his hands and pulling him to a stand; fluidly, in the same movement his arms slip around your waist and he curls around you, face going straight to the other side of your neck to perform his daily evening scenting. You allow him until the soft trailing of his nose along your neck tickles too much and you let out a squeak, wriggling out of his hold.

“You guys are gonna kill me one day,” you remark, shaking your head with a smile. Still sleepy, Seokjin returns your smile with a dazed one of his own, his hand coming to clutch your sleeve as you beg to depart from the room. Taehyung rushes ahead to get the door, fluffy russet tail swishing happily behind him. “I missed you both too. What did you get up to today? I mean, besides napping in my bed.”

Seokjin lets out a protest at your teasing, but it doesn’t last long before he’s happily filling you in on the details of the day, running you through its contents in detail. You listen attentively, pulling out utensils and dishes for dinner as you do so. You only pause when Seokjin halts suddenly, and you feel his tentative touch on your elbow.

When you turn to him, it’s a determined, pleading look in his amber-hued eyes that greets you. “Can I cook tonight? I want to learn so I can make dinner for you. You always come back and make it for us after being away most of the day.”

Something akin to fluster creeps under your skin and warms your cheeks—you don’t know what to do with the way his words make your heart throb. “Oh, o-of course. You remember how to make spaghetti?”

At his fervent nodding, you relinquish the items in your hold to him and step back, moving to join Taehyung on the stools at the other side of the counter. Now that he’s gotten his question out of the way, Seokjin resumes his earlier chattering, speaking enough for the three of you. You did have some slight reservations about him cooking by himself, but as you watch you realise that he really has been paying avid attention every time you teach him how to make something. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he’d taken notes and studied.

“We wanted to nap on the hammock outside, but it’s not the same without you,” Seokjin pouts, squinting his eyes as he slices onions. “Also, we kind of finished that season of The Dragon Prince without you… sorry.”

“That’s okay,” you answer immediately, before letting out a surprised gasp when something brushes your back. You didn’t even know Taehyung had moved until you feel him pressing against you from behind, slipping his arms over your shoulders to hang slackly and resting his chin on your head. “You’re very cuddly today, Tae.”

“He missed you,” Seokjin supplies without pause, pausing his cutting only to give the younger hybrid a fond look. His peppery tail sways and wags contentedly behind him. “You were gone extra early this morning, and he didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“Ah,” you hum in realisation, tilting your head back to meet Taehyung’s gaze, your hand coming to touch one of the arms hanging over your shoulders. “Sorry, Tae. I’ll make sure to say goodbye in the future.”

To your utter surprise, the dhole hybrid lets out a sound oddly like a mew and a chirp blended into one. He brings his arms to hug your shoulders, face burying into your hair happily; you can feel his ears flick against your head and you focus on that instead of the way his hand had accidentally brushed against your chest when he moved his arm.

“You’re forgiven,” Seokjin informs you, amused. His words bring a smile to your face.

Seokjin is quick and concise while making your dinner, but spends a fair amount of time in the final stages making sure it tastes just right. By the time the food is served and steaming in a bowl in front of you, it’s barely been forty minutes and you’ve never been hungrier. The smell alone in the last twenty minutes has had you salivating consistently.

To Seokjin’s credit, it’s delicious and honestly better than your own cooking. You make sure to tell him so and he blushes, shoving a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth to hide his happy smile. The praise makes him glow with pride for the rest of the evening, Taehyung telling him in his own way that he enjoyed the meal too. You wonder if Seokjin would be interested in looking up other recipes, and make a note to look into finding a recipe book for him.

After eating, the three of you move somewhat lazily to the living room to watch something before you retire. Well, you say that loosely. What really happens as soon as you sit on the lounge is that your two hybrids lay on top of you and command all your attention in the form of cuddles. You’re so happy that things have resumed the way they were, better even. You feel soothed, and surprisingly a little bit giddy with anticipation for how things can only go up from here. As you turn on Netflix and catch up on the series they’d watched without you, you can’t help the way your thoughts stray to what is going to happen as soon as you call bedtime.

Honestly, you haven’t paused and let it sink in that you found Jin napping on your bed earlier. Do they do it often? It would explain a lot—namely the way your bed when you come home would sometimes be in a different way to how you left it in the morning. It also makes sense considering you’ve noticed how drawn they are to your room. It’s not like it’s explicitly out of bounds for them, but you get the sense that to them it’s a topic that they don’t know how to approach yet. You wonder if tonight you will catch them lingering on the way past your door again.

A few hours and several episodes later reveals that the answer is: yes.

You’ve just finished changing into your pyjamas, some shorts and a loose, thin singlet, when you catch familiar shadows moving from underneath your door. You smile, stretching as you make your way to the door as quietly as possible.

When you swing it open and catch two hybrids standing hesitantly outside it, you promptly scare the living daylights out of them.

“Sorry,” you say, grinning at the way Taehyung pouts grumpily at you and Seokjin places a hand over his heart. “Wanna tell me what you’re doing outside my door?”

At your question, their faces draw a blank. Apparently, they hadn’t realised that you noticed their usual lingering.

“Um,” Seokjin bites his lip, canines digging softly into the plump flesh. “No?”

You try not to laugh, for his sake. Your hybrids always blush to easily and while they look cute when they do you kind of wonder if there’s any long-term side effects of having that much blood rush to your head on the regular.

The longer the interaction goes on, the more flustered he gets. “Um. We were just going to bed. Goodnight—”

You don’t miss the way Taehyung smacks his arm, giving him a pointed look, and you decide to be the bolder person in this case. You made a promise to yourself after last time that you were going to be more attentive and proactive, and so here you are! Doesn’t mean you can’t tease them a little while you have mercy on them, though.

“Oh,” you say, letting out a sigh. “Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to sleep in here tonight, but if you want to go to your own bed it’s o—”

The way their eyes light up is almost comical, Seokjin cutting you off hurriedly. “No! No, we don’t want to—I mean, we like our bed, but i-if we can, um, sleep in yours…”

You opt not to say anything, simply stepping back and opening your door to them. They dart inside like they’re scared you’re going to change your mind, diving onto your bed and worming beneath the covers in record timing—you have to laugh as you climb into the space they left you in the middle. Using your remote, you make sure the light is off and your fan is on since you have a feeling you’re going to wake up overheated.

It’s only the fairy lights framing your window that cast a soft, blue glow over the handsome curves of your hybrids’ faces now, both of their eyes trained on you as you settled down onto your back. As soon as you’re comfortable, they dive forward and plant their faces in the respective sides of your neck they’ve claimed.

“Sorry,” Seokjin murmurs after a moment, nosing against your skin and inhaling softly. “It’s… a hybrid thing. Being around your scent is really… calming.”

“Oh,” you say, flustered. “So long as I don’t stink, then. Tell me if I insult your nose.”

“I don’t think you could ever smell bad, y/n,” he confesses lowly, Taehyung humming softly in agreement. The vibrations against your skin almost make you shudder.

“I’m flattered but I can assure you that’s not true,” you laugh, breath hitching as Seokjin buries his face further into your neck, nosing along your hairline.

“Whatever,” he mumbles, wriggling closer and hugging you tight. Taehyung almost fights him for the privilege of having an arm around your waist but settles for looping it over your ribs instead. “Go to sleep, ‘m sleepy.”

You roll your eyes, wondering how you never noticed his sassy streak earlier on, but oblige his request. Its warm in their hold, and as it usually does you find yourself quickly melting into the security of it, sleep coming easily. You pass out, limbs intertwined with those of your hybrids as you all slip into your respective dreams.

x—x—x

About midway through the night you find yourself waking, eyes blinking blearily at the ceiling before you even realise you’ve been roused from sleep. For a moment, you find yourself sifting through the fog of sleep in your mind for the reason why you’ve woken, until you become aware of a sensation at your neck.

It’s wet, you realise belatedly at the feeling of cool air brushing your sensitive skin, but that’s not all. Warmth travels down your spine and your thighs twitch with the urge to move at another sensation, one that takes you another moment to identify.

Someone… is sucking on your neck?

Your brain, even still hazy with sleep, is quick to piece it together after that. It’s Taehyung, soft chitters escaping him as his chest thrums with something akin to a purr against your shoulder. He’s still asleep, you surmise, but even in sleep he’s really ravaging your neck. Each soft suckle of your skin into his mouth is paired with the scrape of his teeth, a shudder fighting to roll down your spine as something a little too synonymous with pleasure shoots through you.

Distantly, you know you should push him off of you, but your head is so fuzzy and your heart is doing a tumble routine in your chest. You go to push him away softly by placing a hand on his shoulder but only end up bunching it in the material of his shirt when he moves lower and huffs before attaching his mouth to the tender junction of your neck and shoulder. The whine that rises in your throat thankfully gets caught before it can escape, your hand sliding up from Taehyung’s shoulder to touch his cheek.

Your finger accidentally brushes his mouth, but what catches you more off-guard is that he immediately detaches his mouth from your neck and goes for your finger instead, the hand wedged between you two holding it to his face as he nibbles and licks the skin there instead, much more gently than he had your neck. You think your heart is about to give out, but now that the sensations aren’t so overwhelming, you find yourself sinking back into sleep once more. You’re so tired, after all, and it’s so warm… it doesn’t take you long at all before you’re snoozing away once more.

x—x—x

When you went back to sleep, you weren’t expecting to be thrown back into a dream—but you have a fleeting realisation, for just a moment, that that’s where you’ve ended up.

Everything is a little foggy.

“you—you won’t… you never…”

You pause—you’re waiting for him to continue. You’re in his room, and you don’t know where Taehyung is. The shower? Maybe. Seokjin is confessing something to you, something to do with his hybrid nature. It filters through your brain—you’ve messed up again, but it’s something different this time…

“Why are you upset, Jin? You scent me, Taehyung scents me. I thought that was what you needed to feel more comfortable? And at ease?” you push softly, prodding for an answer that will finally enlighten you. You’re on the bed now, reaching for his hands—were you on the bed before? You can’t remember, but it somehow makes sense that you’re there now. His hands are startlingly, lucidly warm in your own.

“Y-yes! We do! Because we care about you!” his tone has grown sharper now, voice lower and rougher. “But you—you don’t do it, and you never do it, so how are we supposed to f—”

It clicks into place in your head about midway through his rant, what has got him all bothered this time—the information comes to you like a premonition. A hum escapes you, and you shuffle closer to him on the bed, watching his gaze rest elsewhere. At least, it does until he feels your hands come to his waist where it blends into the sight flare of his hips, material bunching in your grasp.

Maybe its because a part of you can tell that this is far too fuzzy and far-fetched to be real, that this is really just a dream, but something foreign and brazen wells up in you, fills every inch of your body like a hand slipping into a glove. You’ve never had these thoughts before, but at the same time… they don’t feel unfamiliar. The urge you’re feeling isn’t one you recognise but it doesn’t feel out of place.

Even so, when you move you’re surprised by your own boldness—its like you’re only controlling a portion of your own body, and the rest of it is acting out a script you’ve never seen.

“You think I don’t care about you because I haven’t ever scented you, Jinnie?” you ask, tone soft but clear.  His ears flick towards you before flying back, his tail flicking once behind him. His cheeks are a familiar pink, but the heaviness of his golden eyes isn’t something you recognise—you struggle to discern, even in your dreamlike state of omnipotence, exactly what you’re seeing. An optimistic thought whispers across your mind; is it yearning you glimpse? “Even though I tell you every day, and every night, how much you mean to me?”

Seokjin stumbles over his words as he fumbles with his grip on you, eyes wide and stuck on your face. You don’t remember the transition, don’t think it even happened, but his back is pressed to the pillows now, and you hover above him. The soft cotton in your grasp is all too easily pushed up to allow your fingers to brush his skin—wasn’t his shirt different before? It’s not important enough to keep you occupied.

“N-no, I mean y-yes, b-but you—”

“Alright, Seokjin, I understand,” you breathe, meeting his gaze and taking in the way he shudders at your words, confusion flicking across his features. “You want me to scent you? I’ll scent you.”

The poor fox hybrid doesn’t even have a chance to orient himself after those words before you’re swinging a thigh over his hips, knees pressing into the lush bedding. He scrambles to adjust out of instinct, unintentionally helping you in the process as he tips you forward, your face landing against his neck. Immediately, he freezes, the slightest sound catching in his throat, and you know you’re on the right track. Distantly, you realise the dream would have carried you here no matter what.

You allow your arms to slip and embrace him, laying against him for a moment until you feel his racing heart calm just a tad; it’s an odd detail that sticks out to you amongst the fog of everything else. Then, you turn your head and take in a long, deep breath, and it starts thudding frantically away all over again. His hands clutch the material of your shirt tentatively, chest moving yours with it with each inhale.

Realising where your face is pressed, somewhat playfully you smile and hum against the smooth skin of his neck, feeling his whole body shudder beneath you in response. He rasps, voice thick, “y-y/n—”

He doesn’t finish whatever he begins to say, though, because in the next second you’re nuzzling your face against him, tip of your nose brushing the dip beneath his jaw before it’s replaced by your lips. He chokes mid-sentence, breath catching audibly in his throat, and you’ve never been so endeared and… other things, in your life.

Yearning, yearning, yearning—it fills you to the brim and you feel you’re about to overflow.

You don’t give him much of a chance to adjust, especially since you suddenly recall exactly how he was when you first let him scent you, barely a week ago.

At the sudden sensation of your tongue dragging along the flesh beneath his jaw, Seokjin jerks and whines.

You blink your eyes open, the harshness of the sunlight filtering in through the window making you snap them shut once more.

What. The fuck.

The details of the dream are still fresh in your mind, but you can feel them slipping away even as you ease your eyes open to check where you are. Okay, you’re in your room. What just happened, didn’t happen. What even…

As you lay and mull over the contents of your current reality, it sinks in exactly who and what happened in your dream—instantly, your face burns. You’re mortified, and only now do you suddenly recall the two hybrids that had been sharing your bed.

One of which, you just almost had a raunchy dream about.

To your surprise, though, when your gaze flicks to either side of you, the bed is empty of anyone but yourself. Instantly, relief flushes through you. They probably got up to make breakfast, and of course they have no idea about the contents of your dream. You’re just being paranoid because you’re somewhat ashamed right now.

God, you need to repent—but you’ll do that later. In the meantime, you’re just thankful that your two hybrid housemates are none the wiser to the mess that is currently going on in your brain.

Little do you know, that the reason they’d fled your bed early was because of the telling, sweet scent that begin to sink into their senses partway through your dream, and the instincts that had begun to rise within them in response to it.

a/n: happy birthday to me!! please let me know what u think and whether u enjoyed by leaving a like n reblog!!!! <3 <3

masterlist || prev. | next.

[amara-scott]

Confessions

Movie: Harry Potter (Maurauders Era) Characters: Remus Lupin x Reader Categories: Fluffy and Sweet

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It was a cold winter morning when Lilly woke me up to join her at breakfast. I groggily complied, following her without having exchanged a word. I am not a morning person. And she very much knows that. But she is my friend and leaving her to go alone on a Saturday morning would be too cruel. Simply because of one person. James Potter- we all know they are meant to be. They are both just too stubborn. Well, Lilly is. James would marry her right there and then.

"Thanks again, (y/n), you know I can't handle him. Especially not in the mornings." I just smirk, nodding.

But my smirk is wiped off my tired face as soon as I catch a glimpse of Remus. Remus Lupin. Aka the death of me. Those brown locks and shy smile drive me mad. Sure I didn't tell anybody, everyone would make fun of me for it. Just like they do with Potter and Evans. Besides, I know he doesn't feel the same. He has a huge crush on that Gryffindor Girl that has luscious golden locks and full, pouty lips. It's hopeless, really. But Lilly has other plans as she drags me with her, right up to the Marauders.

"Good morning, beautiful Lilly-flower. How did you sleep?" There's the reason why I'm here.

"Shut it Potter, not today." Lilly mutters as she sits down opposite him and pulls me down next to her. Her small blush obvious to everyone. I sit down. Right next to Remus. I try not to show my excitement. Or how nervous I've gotten all of a sudden. And definitely not turn toward him.

It must have been too forced which is why Sirius sends a smirk my way. I raise an eyebrow in return.

“Why so tense, (Y/N)? Can’t handle the beauty in front of you? You seem overwhelmed-“

“Actually, let me stop you right there, Sirius. Nothing of the above.” Remus chuckles next to me but it turns into a muffled cough, which catches my attention and I can’t help and turn too look at him. The first time I really do today. And a sense of hurt fills me as I see his scared face. Another rough night. I lift a hand to touch his shoulder but decide against it mid-air.

“Remus, are you alright?” He doesn’t glance back just pokes at his food and still holding a fist to his lips after the cough. He shakes his head and ignores my question. I frown and turn back forward, trying to feel hungry. Actually, trying to feel anything but a void in my stomach. And hurt. He never ignored me. Sure, he is frank sometimes and maybe doesn’t always looks me in the eye when we talk but- he never once ignored me.

“Soo, are we going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?” James asks, trying to cut the tension at the table but I can’t hold it in anymore and am scared they will see my glossy eyes.

I shake my head and stand up briefly. “Sorry.” I speed walk down the table and out of the Great Hall. I only stop once I reached the common room and decide to sit on the couch until classes would start. Who needs food anyway. I bury my head in a book and nearly miss to leave for our first class. Potions. Funny enough this is the only class I usually sit next to Remus because James sat next to Lilly the first time. Now I slow down my walk and hope he might have switched seats. When I enter though Remus is glancing around until his eyes land on me. I freeze for a second but gulp down my nerves and take my usual seat next to him.

It’s quite for a while. I don’t look over and he doesn’t say anything. Not even raising his hand when I can clearly see he did his homework and knows the correct answer.

A paper ball lands on his side of the desk which catches my attention. I don’t want to be nosey so I don’t try to read what’s written there. But I get where it must have come from by the look he is sending over to Sirius. Sirius gestures wildly at him, looking stern and I frown until he points over to me and our eyes meet- he quickly whips his hand up and ruffles his hair, sending me an awkward smile with a wave. Then turns back around.

I frown but don’t question it any further, trying to also ignore the eyes I feel on the side of my face. I Scribble down on my parchment but can’t help and notice Remus clearing his throat a couple times. After the third time I sigh and glance up. He’s wringing his fingers below the table and his eyes dart up as he sees me looking up. His eyes growing wide for a second before he sends me a small, uneasy smile.

“Hey.” He whispers. I can’t help but let my gaze linger on the scar below his eye. It looks painful and I quickly relax my face as I notice I’ve been cringing at him.

“Hi.” I reply and have to send a smile back. I can’t stop myself. He does that to me. Goofball. I am about to turn back to our task as he opens his mouth, inhaling- as if to say something. But he stops himself.

I raise a brow at him and wait. “What’s up?” Is add, trying to encourage him to keep going.

“I- I just-“ he smiles down at his hands and turns toward me slightly, “-I wanted to apologize. You probably think I’m absolutely rude and, and insufferable-“

He wants to ramble on but I glance up to the podium to see McGonogall sending us a suspicious look. I turn back to Remus, taking one of his fidgety hands and he stops talking, looking down at our hands.

“Remus, it’s okay. I still like you- let’s get back to work and talk later, alright?” I give him another small smile and he sighs, sending one back, nodding.

It took a short moment longer before I let go off his hand and turn back forward. I shield my warm cheeks from his view with my hair covering them now. The grin on my face suppressed.

___

“So- who’s up for a ride on our magnificent sled this fine evening?” James asks as he rounds the couch of the common room where Lilly and I sit, reading and talking. Our eyes go up to him as Sirius joins his side, throwing an arm over his shoulder and sending us mischievous smile. I roll my eyes and glance over to Lilly who’s sighing. But she wears a smile, her eyes finding mine.

“What do you say?” She asks me and I shrug my shoulders, standing up and throwing the book onto the soft cushioned couch.

“Why not, it’s beautiful outside.”

“Remus is coming as well~” Sirius is singing teasingly as he walks off with James to get ready, but not without winking at me over his shoulder. My eyes grow wide at his remark. Does he know? I tried really hard to hide that crush.

“-(Y/N)? Let’s go, come on.” Lilly pulls me out of my trance and pulls me after her at my sleeve.

“So, what’s that with you and Remus?” She asks, a small grin on her lips.

“What do you mean? Nothings going on.” I reply, maybe too quickly because Lilly sends me another big goofy grin and I roll my eyes, as she rummages through her stuff, throwing a beanie at me and one of her gryffindor scarfs.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” She mumbles and we jog back down to the common room, waiting for the boys.

As they join us, James picks up a squealing Lilly and runs ahead. Sirius carries the sleds and nods at us. “See you there, losers.” He runs off as well, yelling after them. Now it’s just Remus and me. Peter needed to rest, he’s been sick for a few days already, enjoying his peace in Madame Pomfrey’s Medical Wing.

“Are you going anywhere special this Christmas?” I ask, trying to cut the tension I felt growing. I loved that we quietly, without saying a word, decided not to run after them. We kept walking normally.

“No, just staying home, what about you?” I bury my hands deep in my pockets as we step outside, the wind instantly blowing across our skin.

“No, neither do we. My grandparents are coming over this year tho, so- that will be interesting.” I mumble and he chuckles, I glance up at him.

“I couldn’t hear what you were saying.” I realize I’ve talked into my scarf and push it down a little, my face now warm anyway.

“Hey! Watch out-“ I can’t even look at the source of the voice when a snowball hits me right on the cheek. I stumble, squeezing my eyes shut but Remus holds me before I slip.

I blink my eyes open, Remus wiping at my cheek, frowning. “Are you alright?” I nod quickly, staring into his warm eyes.

“Guys, come on!” Sirius whines and runs over.

“Seriously, be more careful Sirius.” Remus mumbles, quite annoyed as he turns to him, his hand leaving my hair, where he had also tried to get the snow wiped away.

“Aw, are you mad I threw snow at your girlfriend?” He smirks and folds his arms. I stare at the icy ground now and Remus says something under his breath while bending down and collecting a pile of snow, Sirius quickly runs off and giggles. Remus runs after him, holding his beanie as it’s slipping off.

“Get back here, Black!”

I hide my smile behind the scarf and walk toward where Lilly is watching James, who seems to struggle with a spell. He rearranged his glasses, his cheeks slightly tinted pink as he sends a shy smile over to Lilly. “I nearly got it.”

“Hey, why aren’t you sledding yet?” I ask as I join Lilly’s side.

“James wanted to make the sled bigger so- more people could fit on. But-“

“-I nearly got it, okay?” He clears his throat again and gulps. He gets so flustered, trying to prove himself to Lilly. It’s absolutely adorable. “Enlargio!”

I take a step back and Lilly follows suit. The sled grows in size, not too much either. Well, I guess successful?

“See?” He smirks and gestures toward his accomplishment. Lilly claps, her mittens muting the sound.

“Well done, you mighty wizard.” I add and he glares over, taking a pile of snow quickly. I hold my hands up.

“Sorry, sorry, please don’t- I already got enough snow in my face for today.” He chuckles and we look over to Remus still running after Sirius, he finally tackles him to the ground and pushes a snowball into Sirius’ face. We all laugh at the scene and walk over, up the hill.

“Hey, let poor Sirius go, I think he learned his lesson.” Lilly states and I nod, smirking at Remus as he stands up, out of breath, just as Sirius.

The latter stands up too, wiping himself off the snow and flares at Remus.

“What was that for anyway?” James asks and Sirius smirks through his white lashes.

“Yeah, Remus, what for?”

“I just- just don’t be so rude to-“

“-to, (Y/N)?” Sirius finishes for him and I roll my eyes, Remus sighing.

“Yes.” He grits out and I raise a brow at them both. They are standing now, facing each other again, Remus looking ready to throw another snowball if Sirius kept talking. And Sirius- well he just doesn’t know when to stop.

“Why don’t you just tell her that you like her? Maybe then I’ll stop.” He grabs more snow and strides my way, throwing a look over his shoulder at Remus. I shriek and turn, running away. But I am no way as fast as he is. He grabs me around my waist with one arm and lifts me up, laughing as I try to wriggle free. He holds his other hand close to my face, turning us to face the others.

“Come on Remus, you know what to do-“

“Sirius, stop, I’m gonna get sick-“

“I like her, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Don’t tell me, Remus, tell her-“ Sirius turns me further and I stop struggling, looking at Remus. He seems in conflict but shuts is eyes for a moment. When he looks back at me he gulps and steps forward.

“I- I really like you. A lot.” I want to throw my scarf and beanie off, that’s how hot I got and run toward him. Telling him I feel the same. But before I can even say anything I feel cold snow. My eyes back closed. I step on his foot now causing Sirius to finally let me go.

Remus is by my side once again and helps me with the snow. “I’ll kill him.” He whispers and runs his thumb across my cheek.

“You may. But- not without-“ I lean up and holds his face as I press a kiss to his lips. Brief but all I needed to tell him I return the feelings. He smiles down at me, his face now warm and eyes lingering on my lips and back up my eyes.

“I’ll be right back.” He adds quietly and runs around me, Sirius not noticing at first so they both stumble to the ground and throw snow at each other.

Lilly walks up and James follows suit. “Well, that took longer than expected- I owe Peter 5 galleons now.” I whip my head toward him and frown, he looks back at me, startled. “Did I say that out loud?” I nod at him. “Oh oh.” He turns around and runs off, me hot on his heels and Lilly joins me.

“Come back here, Potter!”

_________________________________

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[now-im-a-belieber]

Ooh! Can I request some Liebgott with the prompt “of course it meant something”? Pretty please?

prompt: "of course it meant something."

joe liebgott x reader

a/n: thank you kindly for sending somethin' in luv! idfk what this is but, here have it!

══════════════════

You weren't sure where they'd found all the booze. But it flowed through the night as the sun left the sky. The company's spirits brightened the inky night and you were delighted to have taken part in the celebration.

The promise of home was about to be made. The practice of polishing guns had been forgotten. And there was nothing to do, truly, besides, enjoy the last bit of time you were left with alongside the men with whom you'd made it this far.

One drink down and a bubbly haze coloured your vision as you admired your friends mucking about the parlour of the cottage you'd all been staying in. By morning you'd all up and leave like you gotten so good at doing. Only this time you'd each be going your separate ways... heading wherever home was.

It should've been more exciting. You should've joined in with everyone listing off their big plans, dreaming up dreams to make true. But you didn't want to think about what was next. You couldn't think of what was just ahead. Maybe that was a terrible habit you'd picked up somewhere back in between foxholes. But the same dread settled in your gut as thoughts of the near future came to mind. You swallowed another drink of liquor and cast your gaze to the company laughing together; sitting just on the outskirts to admire the scene.

Malarkey looked happy. Not as carefree as he had at the start of your knowing him. But far less plagued by darkness than he'd appeared not so long ago. His chuckles set your soul at ease, to know they were genuine.

Lipton looked tired. And you couldn't help but smile. He'd been tired for a while. But he was finally relaxed enough to let it show. You leaned closer to the armchair he'd slumped into and suggested he head to bed, saying he deserved rest more than anyone here.

Skip should've been here. Penkala too. You missed everyone who used to decorate spaces with their smiles and pass time with dumb jokes. And then you realized that very soon you'd miss everyone here just as well. Each man you'd come to know since the start of all this was about to become nothing more than a memory.

The thought ambushed your mission to remain steadfast to the moment. You sucked in a breath in hopes of washing away the dread that only seemed to cast darker shadows over your disposition. It was becoming a struggle to remain ever-present in the party that was in full swing by now.

And in a way, it seemed the party was only just beginning. Luz had made his way to stand on the coffee table, raising a glass to make his fourth toast of the hour- this time, to the sight of Martin carrying another set of bottles into the room. Some cheers and claps followed and the sound of collective mirth only served as a reminder that this was all really over.

"Maybe you're the one who needs some rest, huh?" Lipton's voice resonated in your ear as soon as the feeling of his hand on your shoulder did. And you realized your irrational fears had conjured up a sheen of tears you hadn't yet let fall but clouded your gaze evidently enough.

"I'm just gonna miss you guys is all." You shrugged the shoulder where his hand still rested, and his fingers squeezed tighter at your confession, as some kind of condolence. The lieutenant's gentle manner was interrupted then, by someone with a starkly enigmatic mien.

"Are you cryin'?" Joe asked in his usually distinctive tone, words strung together by drink. You couldn't help but chuckle, at the way he'd asked what he'd asked.

Joe abandoned the half-empty bottle in his grasp on a table just near and moved closer to you with a determination that made your heart skip a beat. Drunk or sober, you'd never been able to help the way you'd felt about Joe. Not to say you'd ever let your feelings so obviously show.

Lipton leaned away from you then, pretending to spark up a conversation with someone passing by. While Joe knelt in front of where you sat, biting back your feelings that were beginning to brew into one big dangerous storm of emotion.

You really couldn't afford to have Joe so close, tonight. You couldn't look right in his eyes, like you wanted. You could only stare at the hand he dared to place on your knee; as he cocked his head to try and see your face you attempted to hide away.

"Don't cry." He suggested through a smile, nearly letting a snicker escape too. This was what caused you to finally look up, to search his face in an attempt to place if he was making jest of your plight, or if he was really just that drunk. The latter seemed true, with the way Joe's eyes blinked slow and searched your own past a vitreous sheen.

"Don't cry." He repeated again in a whisper much more assured. The grin on his face dying away as his eyes stayed glued on yours. Funny, how his command did settle something within you, yet made you want to burst into tears all the same. You'd miss him most of all.

A faint few flashes of the days you'd plan your weekend passes together and the nights you shared beds of dirt flickered in the back of your mind, as you suddenly realized how close Joe was to you now. And like he knew you were thinking of broadening the space between the two of you, he closed it.

The press of Joe's lips against yours was a shock to your system. All your dread and fear halted as you processed what was happening. His kiss was brief and quick but not at all void. You knew it came from a place of well-meaning, somehow, but still; it wasn't right.

When he moved away, opening the space that belonged between the pair of you and kneeling further till his eyes met yours again, you were done for. All those feelings that had been halted by Joe's kind gesture flooded back tenfold and you couldn't hide the rush of tears any longer. You brushed away his hand, stood, and bolted for the nearest exit.

You thought you heard Joe ask you to wait up. You nearly ran into Bull on your dash away, and ignored his worried asking what the matter was.

"Okay, no more drinking," You heard Lipton declare, "It’s everybody's bedtime!" You heard a few chuckles and whines following his announcement just before you'd made it to the hall. You kept up your swift hurry with a hand shielding your tears and only let yourself start to lose it when you reached the room that belonged to you.

This wasn't how things were supposed to end. You were supposed to be glad for new beginnings. But everything you couldn't have seemed to suddenly plague you. Everything you'd tell yourself you'd worry about later, in the midst of the mission after mission; came bubbling up. You cried for one dozen reasons and let yourself keep on till your eyes grew heavy. Maybe by morning, you'd be able to move on, because you had to anyway.

///

You awoke early enough to be the first. Glad for the extra time to stroll toward the waterfront, and breath in some of the fresh morning air.

It was a new day. But it felt the same as so many others. You knew there were only hours left to spare in this chapter of your life. Yet you were still plagued by things that had and had not happened. You were still here.

You looked across the still blue lake and the soft green trees and listened to the dock creek under your feet, as it balanced and bobbed in the water. These were the things that calmed you. These were certainties. The colour of the trees and the rising of the sun. But then there were steps sounding on the dock you hadn't expected, and while it obstructed your state of taking in the scenery, you weren't surprised to be interrupted. You'd come to expect the unexpected over these years.

You turned from the end of the doc to find Joe lingering near the boards secured to the land. He looked vastly different from the night before, more put together, less wasted. He took a step closer as you cast your eyes to his feet, unsure of what to say to him, or how to act. Only a week before and you would've been able to trade chatter about your next mission or duty of the day. But now there was none of that sort of conversation to fall back on. There were only questions you'd never dreamed of asking, but one you knew was about to be addressed.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night." Joe started. You hadn't expected him to apologize. You hadn't even really wanted him too. And the fact that he did was the nail in the coffin that housed your trepidation. You bit your lip and turned away, holding back what you really wanted to say.

But Joe noticed your befuddled expression and apparently wasn't keen to let you sulk in silence. He stepped ever closer, the sound of his strides more assured as he asked what the matter was.

"I said sorry, what more can I do, huh? I didn't mean to upset you, you gotta know that-"

"I always wanted you to kiss me." You blurted, not quite facing him. Not quite meaning to expose your feelings either. But the regret that came after you spoke was distant, as a much stronger emptiness filled your gut. Everything was already over. Might as well have gone on confessing... "Only, you were drunk. So it didn't mean anything. And I'm upset because I wish it did...mean something."

You'd never spoken like this to Joe. You'd only ever traded jokes, or jabs or game plans. And now you were an hour from leaving him behind. This was the last of your knowing each other, and a silence followed your statement that brought back to life the regret you'd only just cast away.

Your heart ached and your eyes stung as you turned to face the water once more, the boards of the dock creaked and the sheer thought of Joe walking away was enough to make you break down. But then his voice called, just over your shoulder, stealing away your sorrows like his closeness had only the night before.

"Of course it meant something." Joe's voice demanded, thick with emotion you'd never heard him display.

When you turned your head and then your shoulders to face Joe and cast him a curious glare, the only way you could ask all the questions jammed in your head at once; he leaned in and kissed you again.

His hands held either side of your face as his lips pressed to yours with all the kind tenderness he'd displayed last night, and a new sort of urgent determination. You wised up to kissing Joe back, and thought of nothing but exactly that for what felt like forever.

He was the one to stop, to pull away and meet your eyes. His hands held your face, still, as his brow furrowed, and a small smile bloomed. His eyes searched yours for a moment before he seemed to take in the rest of your face. You stood entirely mesmerized by the man, like you always had been, only finally letting it show. That's when the sound of distant car doors slamming, and engines roaring to life sounded over the hill and past the trees you'd come out to admire one last time.

"Come on." Joe seemed to decide, letting his hands fall away, till one met yours. "Let's go home."

Joe laced his fingers through yours and led you away from the dock, toward the rest of the company starting to leave. And when thoughts of the future you'd soon be heading into started to flash through your mind, you welcomed them.

[btssaysstudy]

Rebound Pt. 1

Pairing: Jungkook x reader, Taehyung (V) x reader Genre: Angst Warning: Swearing, cheating mentioned Synopsis: After encouraging your best friend, Taehyung, (also crush) to tryout for the volleyball team, he had gained attention and you started getting closer to one of his teammates. When Taehyung gets himself into a relationship, you found yourself growing attached to Jungkook. However, when Taehyung’s relationship turns sour, he turns to you to fill the void - something Jungkook strongly opposed to. Word count: 6k+

 Idk if people would be interested so request for a part 2 if you’d want one and if you want to be tagged?

PT. 2

“There’s no way I’ll get in.” Taehyung shook his head as he read the sign up form. You rolled eyes and shoved the laptop closer to his face. “You won’t know until you try! Plus, you said you wanted to try something new this year.”

It was the second week of the new academic year. It was your third year in college and Taehyung told you earlier on his new year’s resolution. So you were just doing your best friend duties, making sure he fulfils his resolution. “I don’t know y/n…” Taehyung frowned at the screen but you could see him slowly start to reconsider.

You and Taehyung had met during orientation week as freshmen and ever since, you were inseparable. Your first two years were spent being ‘lowkey’, avoiding the “It Clubs” and spending time within your own circles. Taehyung, on the other hand, had always wanted to try out a new sport however he was rejected when he first tried out track during freshmen year.

“You better do it or I’ll do it for you.” You threatened him, sitting up and giving him a pointed look. He chuckled and reached out for your laptop, beginning to key in his details. You smiled triumphantly, lying back on the bed as you watched your best friend fill up the sign up sheet.

You would never admit it to his face but he was cute. There was no lie in that. Even though he remained ‘lowkey’ with you, Taehyung would still get confessions time to time or even get girls sliding into his DMs. You were sure that if he ever joined any of the “It Clubs”, he would be popular.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Taehyung gave you a questioning look. “Admiring my beauty?” He winked at you and you scoffed, throwing a pillow at his face. “Please, I was just thinking about how popular you’ll get once you get accepted.”

“If I get accepted.” “You didn’t even deny about the popular part.”

Taehyung grinned, shutting the laptop and lying in bed beside you. “If you’re worried about me ditching you, you don’t have to.”

“I’m not worried about that, idiot.” You laughed. Taehying shifted to lie on his left side, looking directly at you. You shifted on your right to look back at him. “Good. Because that won’t happen.”

_____

“Did you hear from them?” You asked, skimming through your lecture slides for the week. Taehyung was over at your dorm room after class, waiting for you to finish your ‘review’ so that you could go out to eat dinner. “I don’t know.”

You turned back to look at your phone lying on your bed, scrolling through his Instagram feed. “I don’t know? What do you mean?”

“I haven’t checked my email.”

“Why not?”

He just shrugged his shoulders, his eyes glued to his screen. You sighed, scooting your swivel chair next to the bed. You shoved him, nagging him to get up and check his email. “If you don’t get in, it’s fine! You survived college so far without it anyway.” After a few minutes of whining and delaying it, Taehyung gave in and signed into his email. You waited anxiously, watching his facial expressions for any signs of bad news or good news. His eyes shifted as he read through his emails. “So? Anything?” You pressed for an answer.

Taehyung locked his phone and tossed it on the bed. You frowned, reaching out to his pat his shoulders. “It’s okay, you did your best—“

“I got in!!” He exclaimed joyfully, pulling you in for a hug, wrapping both his arms and legs around you. You let out a short scream from the shock before wrapping your arms around your best friend to congratulate him, ignoring the fluttering feeling in your chest.

“I’m so proud of you Tae!” You squealed in excitement with him as he rambled on about how he couldn’t believe it and if he was dreaming. You laughed, “Why don’t you let me go and we can go out for dinner to celebrate?”

“Right.” Taehyung cleared his throat, promptly releasing his grasp on you. The two of you grabbed your belongings from your room and left to have a celebratory dinner.

_____

Practice took up a lot of his afternoon time but you saw it coming. Sports clubs are known for being time consuming but you were just glad that Taehyung seemed to be enjoying his time. Being ‘club-free’, you had a lot of spare time in the afternoon to join him at indoor sports hall to watch him train. You did this only because he asked you to be there and because he always promised for dinner after practice.

It didn’t take long for the team to be acquainted to you. “Back again to support your boyfriend, huh?” You looked up from your laptop to see one of Taehyung’s teammate grabbing his bottle of water and towel. You tried to not trail your eyes down to his sweat soaked shirt. “Once again, not my boyfriend.”

“And once again, always good news to me.” He winked at you, to which you laughed in response. “Go and train Kook.”

“Yes ma’am.” He laughed and jogged back to the court. Jungkook was in the same year as you and Taehyung. However, he was in the Volleyball team since freshmen year. There was no doubt about his popularity in college, especially amongst women. You never thought you’d become friends with Jungkook.

You looked around for Taehyung, catching him training his receiving with his seniors. A smile crept on your face as you watched in admiration, noticing how he face could be serious for one second and then flashing his boxy smile the next when his senior would compliment him.

You really had it bad. But it was fine as long as he didn’t know.

Their first volleyball match didn’t take too long to come, Taehyung was having his first game jitters. He had called you the night before the game, asking if he could come over to get his mind off things. You obviously agreed even though you were about to get ready for bed. You were annoyed at yourself at times for always being ready to drop anything for him. Though you reasoned out that it was because you were best friends. But you knew better.

“You’re going to do well Tae.” You placed your hand on top of his as a gesture of encouragement. “I’ve been to almost all your practices. You’re always training so hard and your seniors and coach trust you enough to put you in on the game. You gotta believe yourself sometimes man.”

Taehyung pressed his lips into a thin line, staring down at the floor. “I know you’re right but I’m scared I screw up this chance and they won’t put me in anymore.”

You shook your head, placing both your hands on his shoulders to shift him in a way that he faces you directly. “Stop thinking about the negative side Tae. Just focus on doing your best tomorrow and you will, okay?”

He finally gave you a more relaxed smile, “Yes ma’am.”

You laughed, punching his shoulder lightly. “That’s right. Now you should go rest.” You let out a yawn and he had a guilty look on your face. “Sorry I kept you up y/n.”

“No no, it’s fine. I’m just glad I helped you gather your thoughts before your game.”

“You’re going to be there right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” You grinned at him.

_____

Taehyung was truly a fast learner. His practices was displayed on the court, following the team’s plan easily and reacting to any changes in a split second. He had mad reflexes and it was truly an attractive thing to you. You cheered for him enthusiastically throughout the game. Your college easily took the first win, your whole area jumped up with joy as the team huddled together in celebration. “Come join the party, please?” Taehyung pleaded with his puppy dog eyes, knowing you couldn’t say no to that.

So there you were, in one of the volleyball senior’s house, trying to find a quiet corner to sit and use your phone. You didn’t want to hold Taehyung back and you could see he was enjoying his time with his seniors and newfound “friends”. A pang of jealousy hits you as you watched a batch mate approach him rather flirtatiously, offering him a drink. He was clearly enjoying this attention and you hated it. You admit that you could’ve prevented that by being by his side and party with him but you never liked these scenes.

“Careful, people might think you’re about to murder someone.”

You jumped in your spot, turning to see Jungkook chuckling at you. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You crossed your arms defensively. He shook his head, jutting out his lower lip as he mocked you, “Alright, my mistake. He’s not your boyfriend anyway.”

“Yes I told you Taehyung and I—“

“I didn’t even mention his name.” He raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk tugging on his lips. You glared at him, “Who else would you be talking about?”

Jungkook shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. I mean there are quite a few seniors over there, like Namjoon, he’s pretty hot too. Did you see his thighs—“

“Okay quit teasing me. I’m not in the mood.”

“Hey I’m sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood—“

“I don’t need any of that.”

Jungkook nodded his head, following your gaze to see Taehyung with the seniors, being surrounded by a group of girls. He glanced back at you and sighed, “But I’m guessing you need some fresh air?”

You looked at him and grumbled, “Maybe I do.”

Jungkook led you to the backyard where there was a pool and barbecue pit. The two of your sat on the bench next to the pit since most were either in the pool or about to jump into the pool.

“Those girls are harmless you know. They’re always the same ones that come to the party just to flock to the team.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“Then why are your eyebrows still furrowed like you’re ready to slap a bitch?” Jungkook’s tone was half concerned and half amused. You sighed and leaned back on the bench.

“I’m just not a party person.”

“So why are you still here?” Jungkook followed suit, leaning back into the bench.

“Tae.”

“You did your best friend duties already, y/n.” Jungkook shook his head, “You don’t have to sit through the night to watch him flirt with strangers.”

“Maybe I don’t. But I can’t ditch him. He’s my best friend.”

Jungkook sighed, “I get that, but you gotta remember you’re his best friend too. He shouldn’t be putting you through this.”

“Tae doesn’t know anyway.” You sat up abruptly, pointing a finger at Jungkook. “And it stays that way so you better not utter a single word to him.”

The boy smiled, doing the action of zipping his mouth shut and throwing the key into the pool. You laughed, Jungkook grinning at you. “There’s the laugh I love to hear.”

“Sure.” You scoffed.

“There’s a reason why I joke around with you during practice. It’s nice to hear your laugh.”

You were flustered from that genuine compliment, unsure of how to react. Jungkook laughed and patted your shoulders. “Don’t go falling for me now y/n. You have Taehyung to catch.”

Just from that all the flustered feelings were gone and you playfully nudged the volleyball player.

“You wish.”

_____

You arrived late for one of the volleyball trainings since you had a project meeting to attend to. Once it was over, you excitedly headed over to the indoor sports hall to support your best friend.

However, your mood immediately turned sour the moment you entered.

Who is she? You thought to yourself, stopping a scowl from forming on your face. “y/n!” Jungkook jogged up to you to greet you. “You’re late today.”

“Well at least you noticed that I arrived.” You grumbled, “I should just head home.” You spoke defeatedly while you still watched Taehyung joking around with an unfamiliar figure.

Jungkook sighed, “Yo, Taehyung!” He hollered at his teammate. Taehyung finally noticed you had arrived, happily approaching. “Y/N!” he pulled you into a hug. “H-Hey, sorry I’m late.”

“No no it’s fine! Anyway, I have updates to tell you.” He wriggled his eyebrows and you looked at him in confusion. “What updates?”

He grinned cheekily at you before tilting his head in the direction of the girl waiting behind. “We met at the party and exchanged numbers.”

“Oh!” You feigned excitement for your friend. You felt your heart ache from the news and you were ready to turn around and dash out. Taehyung was about to head back to court before he stopped, “Oh yea,” He looked back at you, “I can’t go out for dinner after practice. I’m taking her out somewhere. That’s cool with you right?”

“Y-Yea sure! We can always eat another time.” You smiled at him.

“Thanks y/n, you’re the best!” He flashed you two thumbs up before heading off.

“I’m guessing you’re leaving?” Jungkook came back to your side. “I have no reason to stay anyway.” You sounded defeated and you couldn’t be bothered to sound okay in front of Jungkook.

“Wait!” He grabbed the strap of your bag. “Why don’t we head out for dinner? Stay and watch.”

“Watch then flirt with each other? I’ll pass.” You scoffed.

The coach blew his whistle, signalling everyone to get back on court. “Just think about okay? We’ll go out for dinner afterwards.”

Jungkook gave you his classic charming smile but you could see it in his eyes that he was concerned about you. You gave in, nodding your head and made your way to the seats.

Throughout the practice, you were glued on your laptop, distracting yourself so that you won’t look at Taehyung and his new girl. You had to admit that you would catch yourself watching Taehyung being dead serious during practice. You would roll your eyes when you hear his ��number one’ supporter cheering him on, while at the same time, hating your jealous side.

Once practice ended, Taehyung came up to you, slightly surprised. “Y/N! You’re still here! I thought you would’ve left.”

With a shrug, you opened your mouth to reply but Jungkook had beaten you to it. “She waited for me!” The sweaty player jogged up to your side, draping his arm over your shoulder.

“You’re sweaty.” You commented, trying to wriggle out from his grasp. “Yes I’m aware.”

“Waited for you?” Taehyung directed the question at his teammate who just nodded his head. You spoke up, “We’re going out for dinner.”

“O-Oh!” Taehyung’s eyes widened slightly before composing himself, “Well have fun you two! I’ll head off first! I’ll text you tonigh!” Taehyung ruffled your hair and headed off with his new companion.

“You’re stiff.” Jungkook shook your shoulders, trying to loosen you up. “Let’s just go for dinner.” You ignored his comment, grabbing your bag to head off with Jungkook.

Jungkook really took you by surprise. You couldn’t help but have a prejudice against members of these “It Clubs” in your college. You knew it was bad to assume but most of time, it was accurate. However, with Jungkook, he was actually shy at times. He could be really confident when he stood on court but you noticed outside the indoor sports hall, he was almost a different person.

“You know, never thought I’d be hanging out with Jeon Jungkook.”

He quirked his eyebrows, “Why do you say that?” You scoffed, “Because anyone on the volleyball team is usually popular.” He chuckled, ruffling his own hair. “I always hated that.”

“Oh sorry I didn’t mean to offend—“

“N-No no, you didn’t.” Jungkook shook his head. “I love my team members. They’re like one of the few real friends in college. I never knew how bad this popularity craze was until I joined the team. I just never got it. We’re all just college students.”

Nodding your head, you tried to think of a response. You never knew Jungkook had these thoughts. Then again, you never really sat down to get to know him better. Jungkook chuckled and you looked back up at him. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing. Just feels nice to talk about it with someone.”

You gave him a comforting smile to which he returned one as well, for the first time, you both truly just enjoyed being in each other’s presence.

Ever since your dinner with Jungkook, you guys grew closer. You started to look forward to meeting Jungkook after training or after your own classes. Taehyung had also been busy with his own date and it seemed to be going well since his frequency of contacting you had decreased over the weeks. You had stopped going to watch their training since your midterms were drawing near, agreeing to meet Jungkook at a chosen eatery afterwards. “How’s Taehyung?” “What do you mean by how is he?” “Did he not tell you?” Jungkook looked hesitant to continue his sentence. You straightened your back, narrowing your eyes at Jungkook. “Tell me what?” Jungkook averted your gaze, slumping back in his seat. “They fought and the girl called it off. He skipped practice thrice in a row.”

“W-What?”

You started to wondering why Taehyung didn’t update you about it. Whenever you asked him about his relationship, he would say things were going well and it didn’t seem that it was going sour. “I didn’t know…” Your voice trailed off as you started to worry for Taehyung.

After a short moment of silence, you caught Jungkook raise his hand to get the bill. “Come on, I know you want to go check up on him. Let’s call it a night.”

“N-No, I can drop him a text later on.” Jungkook only smiled at you but you were taken aback by how forced it look. “Can’t fool me y/n.”

You frowned, feeling guilty about calling dinner early. “I’m sorry Jungkook. At least let me pay for dinner this time.”

“Not gonna happen. Also, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Let’s go check on your friend.”

After Jungkook insisted on paying for dinner, he accompanied you over to Taehyung’s dorm. “Text me when you’re back home later, yea?” Jungkook ruffled your hair goodbye before stuffing his hands back into his sweatshirts’ pockets and walked off. You watched Jungkook retreat away, wondering why he sounded dejected. Shaking your head, you looked at the door in front of you and knocked for Taehyung.

“Tae? It’s me.”

There was silence on the other side, you waited for a while before knocking once more. “Tae, I know you’re in there—“

“Y/N, why are you here?” Taehyung opened the door wide enough for you to come in. “I’m here to check on my best friend. And also to ask you why you didn’t tell me about what happened.” Taehyung sighed, plopping himself back onto his bed. “How did you find out?”

“Jungkook told me.”

“Jungkook? Since when were you guys so close?”

“Not the point here Tae. Why didn’t you tell me about it?” You asked him in a soft, comforting voice. Taehyung stared at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact. “It’s not a big deal anyway.”

“Really?” You scoffed, glancing around his room, “Your room tells me otherwise.” His volleyball outfit was hanging untouched on his door and polaroids of his newly ended relationship was thrown in the trash. Taehyung had been lounging in the dark before you came as well, his go-to “I’m sad go away” music playlist running softy in the background.

“It wasn’t going to last either. It got pretty rocky towards the end.”

“But I’m your best friend Tae. You shouldn’t be going through this alone.” You patted his knees, telling him to sit up and he did. Taehyung looked into your eyes, “Why can’t we just become a couple?”

“W-What?” You nearly choked on your saliva. Taehyung shrugged his shoulders, “We’re best friends. We know each other’s flaws and secrets. We’re close enough to get together. Why can’t we just get together?”

“Because you have to like each other romantically to get together—“

“We can try things out?”

“Tae, you just broke up with your girlfriend—“

“We’ll take things slow!” Taehyung grabbed your hands in his, ”We’re best friends! That’s like a couple already, all we just need is to go out on romantic dates!” As each second passed by, you knew Taehyung was becoming more attached to his idea and was starting to think that it was the perfect idea. You shook your head, pulling your hands away from him. “That’s a stupid idea Tae.”

Taehyung frowned, reaching for your hands once more. “Y/N, I care for you a lot. More than enough for us to try things out together. Tell me honestly, can’t you see something romantic between us?” You felt your heart pounding, your mind racing back and forth between the two sides. You knew he was just heart broken and he was going to treat you as a rebound. However, another part of you always wanted to try things out with Taehyung, you did like him after all.

“O-Okay fine.”

_____

After that day, Taehyung had been asking you to come back to watch his practices and he was serious about taking you out on dates. You started ignoring Jungkook’s texts. A part of you felt guilty to be talking to Jungkook. He had checked up on you that night to asked if you had gotten back safely. You felt butterflies reading such a simple text from Jungkook. That immediately made you feel guilty and you decided to ignore him.

That was why you had been hesitant to attend volleyball practices, but Taehyung was persistent.

You walked side by side with Taehyung, his arms over your shoulder as he kept you close. These moments made you forget that you were rebound as you allowed yourself to fully enjoy the moment. A big part of you felt that maybe Taehyung won’t see you as a rebound but things could really work out between the two of you. You felt happy being close with Taehyung again and you loved going out with him on dates.

“Y/N! It’s been awhile!” Namjoon hollered, waving wildly at you. You chuckled, greeting your senior hello. Jungkook’s posture perked up as he heard your name, he turned around eager to greet you, only to freeze when he saw you standing close to Taehyung. He composed himself before approaching you two, “What’s going on here?” He forced a teasing tone.

Taehyung grinned like a giddy nine year old boy, pulling you closer to him. “We’re just trying things out.”

Jungkook raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight before him, “Didn’t you just break up, Tae?”

“What does that have to do with me and y/n?” Taehyung frowned at his teammate. Jungkook raised his hands in defeat, shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing! I was just asking.” He casted a disappointed look in your way and you wished you could erase it from memory.

Halfway through practice, the coach whistled for a 15 minute break. You had gone out to buy a snack for yourself. “Y/N! Wait up!” You almost ran the moment you heard his voice. It was Jungkook. “What do you want?”

Jungkook just grinned at you, “A snack.”

The two of you walked to the vending machine to grab yourselves a light snack. “You know you’re his rebound right?”

“That may not be 100% true—“

“Y/N.” He called your name in a firmer tone, his friendly demeanour gone. Jungkook wrapped his hands gently around your wrist. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Taehyung’s my best friend, Kook. He’s not going to hurt me.” You replied defensively, getting worked up by the thought of being a rebound. Jungkook sighed, “I know he’s your best friend—“

“And that’s enough for me to know he won’t hurt me. Can we drop it, please?”

Jungkook stayed silent, nodding his head. The walk back to the indoor sports hall was anything but comfortable. “Anyway, good luck for your upcoming game.”

“T-Thanks.” Jungkook pressed his lips into a small smile, opening the door for you.

_____

It was no surprise that the team won, you cheered from the stand as you proudly watched the team huddle together to celebrate. You caught Taehyung look back at the crowd, flashing you his boxy smile. In that moment, you felt that everything was right and finally coming together.

That night, it was their celebratory party. You should’ve learned your lesson about not liking parties. But you were there to support your date. “Thanks for coming Y/N.” Taehyung brought you out to the backyard, sitting by the pool. The guests were only starting to arrive so it was mostly the team at the house. The backyard was just for you and Taehyung to use.

“It’s not a big deal. I’m proud of you.” You smiled at him, patting his thighs encouragingly. Taehyung chuckled, “I’m also thankful you agreed to try things out between us. I hope you have no regrets.”

You looked up at him, shaking your head. “A-Actually, I always kinda liked you. For a long time, in fact.”

Taehyung frowned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“No there’s nothing to be sorry about Tae. I didn’t tell you either.”

Silence ensued as you two continued to look into each other’s eyes. The cheering from indoors suddenly went silent and all you heard was the sound of water as you both swayed your feet in the pool. You watched Taehyung slowly lean in and you did the same, closing the gap to kiss your best friend. You dreamt of this moment so long and it had finally happened.

When you two pulled away, Taehyung had a cheeky smile on his face. “Can’t believe I just kissed my best friend.” “Shut up.” You shoved him, getting up from the ground. The two of you headed back inside, Taehyung sneakily intertwining is hands with yours.

The other college students started to arrive and it didn’t take long for the party to begin. You went to the kitchen to get food since you were starving. You talked to the other volleyball players who have grown to be acquainted with by the kitchen counter, near the food station. Taehyung went to the living room to mingle with the guests.

“By the way, have you seen Jungkook?” You asked Namjoon. “Oh, he’s playing beer pong outside.”

Once you finished your plate you excused yourself and headed out to find Jungkook. “Hey!” You shouted over the music. Jungkook glanced at you before easily shooting into the last cup successfully. “You guys go ahead.” He told the group and left with you. “Thought you said you’re not a party person.”

“Yea but Taehyung’s here. I’m just here to support.”

Jungkook nodded his head, stuffing his hands in his pocket. “Where is he anyway?”

“Probably drinking too much with the others.” You chuckled, glancing inside. Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows, “You know she was invited right? His ex?” You tried your best to shrug it off, “Oh really? Didn’t know that.”

He shook his head in response, stopping in his tracks. “You should stop being in denial y/n.”

“I’m not. We just had a heart to heart talk awhile ago and things are going great between us.”

“I’m just saying that because I care about you.”

You sighed, nodding your head, “I know Jungkook. I know that.” You guys suddenly heard a group of buys singing their hearts out through the microphones from inside. With a chuckle, Jungkook suggested that you guys head in to watch Namjoon singing Titanic.

“No way, Yoongi is belting it out too.” You laughed, watching the two passionately sing their hearts out. You glanced around the living room, noticing that Taehyung wasn’t there.

“I’ll go get a drink, want any?”

“Whatever you get. Thanks y/n.” Jungkook thanked, busy taking out his phone to film his seniors singing Titanic. “This is blackmail material.” He chuckled to himself. You squeezed through the sea of people, making your way to the kitchen to grab a drink.

However, a part of you wished you stayed to watch the Titanic performance in the living room.

You stood there frozen, not even knowing what to say. Taehyung was leaning against the kitchen counter, dangerously close to his ex as they talked and laughed about whatever their conversation was. You watched as she trailed her hands down his chest, Taehyung not declining the gesture at all. “I missed this.” He admitted out loud. “Maybe we can have another chance?” She asked Taehyung as she seductively grabbed the collar of his shirt to pull herself closer.

You took a deep breath in and walked inside to make your presence known. “I think you guys should get another chance together.” You bitterly interjected their conversation. The two immediately pulled away from each other. “Y/N, w-we were just talking—“

You scoffed, taking an empty cup and filling it up with whatever hard liquor you first touched. “I know you were. I heard everything - how you missed it. It’s okay Tae, I get it.” You shook your head, more disappointed that you have been fooling yourself the entire time. “I’m the fool here anyway. Enjoy your night together.”

Raising the cup, you tilted your head to their direction. “Cheers, to you guys getting back together!” You turned on your heels and started to walk away.

“W-Wait y/n we should talk—“

“Oh yea,” You looked back at him, “That also means I’m done dating you.”

You didn’t wait for a reply as you walked out of the kitchen and passed the living room. “Hey! Where’s my drink?” Jungkook stopped you. You looked at him and back to your cup before downing the whole large cup of liquor.

“Woah, slow down Flash.” Jungkook reached out to take the cup from you. Though, it was already empty. “I can get my own cup. You didn’t have to down—“

“Yea, why don’t you go inside the kitchen and see the couple getting back together. I’m sure it’s a sweet sight.”

“W-What?” Jungkook’s head jerked to the direction of the kitchen, watching Taehyung walk out of the area in panic with his ex trailing behind after him. You heard the plastic cup crunch in his grasp, and you nodded your head. “You’re right, I’ve been fooling myself the whole time. I even snapped at you. I’m sorry.”

Jungkook’s attention shifted back to you as he watched your eyes water and your attempts to blink them away. “Let’s leave this place.”

“No, it’s your celebratory party, I’ll go—“

“We’ll go.” Jungkook took your hand in his, leading you out through the main door.

“Y/N!” Taehyung’s voice called out for you as you two left. You turned around to see Taehyung catching up to you. “What are you doing with Jungkook?” “I’m going home.”

“With Jungkook? Y/N, please, we need to talk—“

“I don’t think she wants to talk—“

“You’re not part of this conversation, Jungkook.” Taehyung glared at him. “And why don’t you keep your hands off of her!” Taehyung reached out for your hand but you stepped back, tears brimming in your eyes. “Please, just leave me alone.”

Taehyung glanced between the both of your before laughing. “You’re upset with me with what happened in the kitchen yet you are leaving the party with another man? I should be upset too—“

“Shut up Taehyung! You know I would never do that to you, we are at the same fucking party and you still have the audacity to flirt with your ex! Under the same fucking roof! All Jungkook did was comfort me after seeing such an amazing sight! So no, you have no right to be upset! So can you just leave me the fuck alone?!” You snapped, yelling at the top of your lungs at Taehyung to just leave you.

“Y/N, it can’t just end like this… We’re best friends—“

“We should’ve just kept it there. That’s my fault.” You aggressively wiped your tears away, looking back at Jungkook. “I want to leave.” He nodded his head, “I’ll drive you home.” The two of you walked away, leaving Taehyung to stare at your retreating figure as he started to realise what he had done and what it had cost him. In the car, you stared outside the entire ride, letting tears fall silently as you started scolding yourself internally. You had both eyes wide open the entire time yet you still allowed it to happen to you.

Jungkook being the gentleman he was, gave you the silence you needed throughout the ride back to your dorm. The two of you made your way up to your room, collapsing onto your bed the moment you entered. “We can talk about it tomorrow after you rest.” Jungkook handed you a glass of water.

“I’m free the whole day—“

“Can you stay the night?” You meekly asked, sniffling in between words. Jungkook’s heart ached at the sight of you crying, gripping the cup as you tried to calm yourself down.

Nodding his head, he sat beside you, carefully taking the glass from your hands and placing it on the bedside table. He wrapped his arms around your as he pulled you in for a hug as you started weeping, scolding yourself at the same time.

“I hate myself. I hate that I agreed with his plan. I hate—“

“Stop hating yourself y/n, people make mistakes. Now you just have to learn from it.” Jungkook comforted you, gently rubbing your back to calm you down. Exhausted from crying and also from being tipsy, you managed to fall asleep in his embrace.

So yea, request if you’d like a part 2 and if you want to be tagged! I’d love to hear from you guys if you liked it!

PT. 2

[clonecest-bin-account]

Assorted Clonecest Fics - Alone (Colt/Hevy) | E

(Fic under the cut!)

It’s not uncommon for Hevy and Colt to take a nice long shower after sparring together; they both get so drenched in sweat that they need to get cleaned, and besides the warm water also feels nice on their sore muscles, since they always go all out when sparring.

No, what is uncommon is to find the showers entirely empty. Now that’s unusual.

Given how many clones are on Kamino, it’s rare to find such a communal place void of any life, except for the two who have just walked in.

At the notion that they’re alone, Colt simply shrugs, already walking to the bench and lockers so that he can begin to undress. Hevy, on the other hand, has already begun devising a plan that, well, isn’t really even a plan, but what the hell, they never get many chances to be alone, so why shouldn’t they take advantage of this? And hey, if he gets to seduce Colt in the meantime, that’s just a bonus.

 He tries to be as subtle as possible, even though that’s not his strong suit at all - there’s a reason he’s called Hevy after all. A shoulder there, show some skin, bend over to get rid of your lower blacks a bit too much, but not too overt. He even put himself not too far from Colt, so that he can see him and he can monitor his reactions.

As for now… He doesn’t seem to have noticed at thing, or at least he’s not paying attention to him, not of the kind he’d want anyway. Not even when he turns around, having gotten rid of his blacks in record time, appearing in all his nakedness, he acknowledges him.

What is Hevy supposed to do? To just shove it in his face?

 Also, why is Colt taking so much time undressing? Does he really need to take off his armor so methodically?

Hevy wants to wait for him, but his shivering body doesn’t really agree with his decision: it’s so cold! Ugh, fine.

“Hey, I’m going ahead. See you there, I guess…” he mutters, before making his way to the showers. At least Colt nods at him this time.

 Once he’s under the spray of warm water, he’s almost able to relax, if not for the frustration he feels at the fact that he’s been ignored.

Maybe he should’ve touched his shoulder or something, run his hands over his back, whispered something to his ear, but Hevy wanted to be subtle for once, and that’s as subtle as a brick wall!

Besides, “see you there”… Where else were they supposed to see each other? What a dumb thing to say.

Idiot…

 He’s so lost in head that he doesn’t notice Colt approaching him from behind until he circles his body with his arms, making him instinctively jerk - never sneak up to an ARC like that.

“Colt!”

“What, surprised?” Colt teases him. He doesn’t let Hevy get even a word in that he begins to leave a trail of kisses from his shoulder to his neck.

Hevy wanted to reply, he swears he did, but he melts immediately under Colt’s touch, which makes the other chuckle. “You thought you were going to get me all hot and bothered?” he says then, pushing Hevy against the shower wall, and not missing the consequent moan. He licks the shell of his ear, sending a shiver to his spine. “You know I’m older than you, right? You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Kark of-- Oh!” There’s nothing Hevy can do, except moan, when Colt lowers his hand to grab his cock without any kind of warning. “P-Please!”

Even though he can’t see Colt’s face, he can hear the pleased smile when he speaks. “See? That’s already better.”

 He slowly strokes Hevy to full hardness, all while Hevy can only moan and whine at his ministrations. When he uses his other hand to lightly scratch at his nipple, his legs almost give away.

“Tired already?” Colt teases him, though Hevy can hear the subtle worry in his voice.

He turns towards him as much as he can, and he sends a smirk his way. “I could do this all day,” he replies, making Colt chuckle.

The grip on his cock gets tighter, and Hevy already feels the pressure building up. Fuck, is he going to last so little? Really?

“Go on,” Colt eggs him on, though. “Show me how much you wanted this.”

Hevy makes his head fall forward, resting it against the wall, loudly moaning as the pressure builds and builds and builds, until he can’t hold it in anymore. He must find a release.

 He’s gotta say it: this might be his faster nut ever, but it’s also definitely the most intense, so much that he even almost blacks-out.

He needs to get some more experience in, because he won’t stand for this to be the norm… but he supposes he can give it a pass this time, since he’s been caught by surprise and because Colt is, well, Colt.

 Speaking of him, Hevy refuses to leave him like this, without coming. He turns towards him, then, and this time Colt lets him, and languidly kisses his lips.

He doesn’t stay up there for long, however, as after sending a wicked smile his way, he drops on his knees, lips right at the same level of Colt’s cock which, wouldn’t you know it, looks pretty hard. Seems that, in the end, he’s managed to seduce him, although not in the way he thought he was going to do it.

Before beginning anything, however, Hevy drinks in Colt’s expectant expression on his face. He even wonders if he’d be able to make him beg in such a predicament, though he finds himself shoving that thought to the side when he comes to the conclusion that, given how well he took care of him, it would be unfair on his part to do that. Another time, perhaps.

 In the end, not even Colt lasts that long, and how can he, when Hevy’s blowing him so well? The way his lips stretch around his cock is perfect; it’s like he was born to do this.

Once Hevy pulls away, Colt waits for him to take a couple of breaths before pulling him up, shoving him against the wall and kissing him, kissing him, and kissing him again, and Hevy laughs, closing his arm around his neck and sneaking a thigh right against his still sensitive cock, to which Colt replies by grabbing his ass and beginning to play with it, making it clear that this isn’t over, oh no that it’s not over.

 After all, it’s such a rare occasion to get some privacy over here! It would be a waste not to take advantage of it, wouldn’t it?

Tag list: @maulusque @captainrexwouldnever If you want to be added feel free to let me know!

[dreamii-yume]

In honour of ace’s birthday can we get a yume crumb of bullied darling broken down by ace’s bullying please

Anonymous asked :

“Good morning yume! I loved your ace bully fic so why dont we combine a yume crumb of that with his birthday crumbs for today? Double the crumbs!”

Double, DOUBLE the crumbs! (๑･̑◡･̑๑)

“Hey. Hey~!” Ace called out, even going as far as waving his hand in front of you. You were staring off into space again and the ice cream in your hand was slowly melting down. Ace puffed his cheeks, you’ve been doing this a lot and he couldn’t tell if you’re doing it on purpose or not. It was weird, it’s like you were looking at something he couldn’t see that it’s been pissing him off lately.

Finally, he took a deep breath and placed his hand quite roughly on your shoulder. “Hey.” He said, his voice upset and serious that it instantly brought a shiver down your spine, jolting you awake. You turned to him, confused as he stared down at you, bangs looming shadows above his eyes making him seem more menacing than before. “What are you looking at.”

“A-Ah...Nothing. I-I’m sorry, I was just spacing out, that’s all...” You said sheepishly as you looked down, it was at that instant where reality had suddenly came back to you. That’s right, you weren’t floating in a void as means to escape somewhere, you’re on a date with your...Boyfriend. You’re currently in a happy, jolly amusement park with him, waiting in line for the roller coaster with an ice cream on your hand, which had unfortunately melted down.

Seeing that you’re finally back, Ace went back to his usual, cheerful self. “Geez~! It’s my birthday so don’t you go ignoring me like this!” He whined but flinched as he unexpectedly grabbed your arm tight. He smiled at you, but it didn’t quite reach his darkened eyes. “Didn’t I already told to stop spacing out like that, dummy?”

You gulped at how threatning he sounded like to you, but to the bystanders listening, it sounded like a really clingy but cute boyfriend wanting the attention of his girlfriend. Which wasn’t exactly wrong, it’s just a little...different than that. “R-Right, I’m sorry. I’ll...I’ll keep work on it.” You apologized as you looked down, looking at him in the eyes still proves to be a massive challenge to you.

Ace gave a wide grin as he playfully flicked your forehead. “That’s my girl.” He said as he got a handkerchief from his pocket and practically shoved them in your face. “Wipe your face and hands too, you’ve been so painfully slow that your ice cream melted! You’re so hopeless~!”

“Honestly, aren’t you glad to have a boyfriend like me, taking care of you like this~? Others would’ve probably given up on you a long time ago!” He casually said but he knew how those were the exact words land a critical hit onyou but you couldn’t move your mouth to say anything at all. There wasn’t any point anyway, he would always retract any protest right back at you, it’s tiring to argue with him. You didn’t want to test his patience as well, not anymore at least, you didn’t want to go back to that love hotel again.

“Oh! Look at that, we’re up next, (Y/N)!” Ace cheerfully bounced up and down as the two of you finally reached the top of the line. He smirked and intertwined his fingers with yours. “Since I know how much of a scaredy-cat you are, I’ll allow you to cling onto me just for today~!”

“You better cling onto me.” Was what he was trying to say and you hated how perfectly you understood him after just a couple of months in this relationship. Still, you found yourself inching closer to his side anyway and grasped his shirt as a response, forcing a smile in your face.

“...I’ll count on you then.”

[lunaraen]

A Jesse Surprise

Written for Spirit, who requested Aiden/Jesse/Lukas, as part of the 2020 mcsm discord secret santa

Some uncharitable mornings, when Aiden is deep within the warm and dark embrace of slumber, he thinks he preferred the early dawn stirrings in New Sky City (he also personally prefers its unofficial name, Ground City, but it’s not like he’s winning these battles).

Even though sleeping on his cot, and then later his bed, was like sleeping on gravel, even though the guards who woke him had no interest in letting him have a smidgen of comfort they could steal and were themselves likely culprits who chucked bricks through the windows of the Blaze Rods’ shack of a home, even though his waking mind and the crash of reality remind him of how grateful and lucky he is to have the love and comfort he does now, the security and safety he could never count on in a city full of people he’d almost killed.

After all, back there and back then, he didn’t have Jesse and Lukas coaxing him out of sleep, sweetly and gently tearing him from that slumber, with sweet kisses and soft prodding.

He loves them with all his heart, but he’s not a morning person and they make it hard to scurry back into the cover of unconsciousness the way he wants to.

(Living in the Order’s temple has its ups and downs, even if it’s mostly ups with few downs.

Sappy wakeup calls on his days off fit into both categories.)

So, eloquently, he tells them exactly what he thinks about their loving plotting.

“Mmf. Stoppit.”

And alright, maybe it’s halfway muffled by the pillow his cheek is currently smushed against, but it’s not a whine.

“Ooh, somebody’s grumpy.” And he can hear Jesse’s grin, feels it a second later when they kiss his not-smushed-into-a-pillow cheek while Lukas nudges at Aiden’s ribs again with his cold fingers. Jesse’s eyelashes flutter against his skin. “I thought you didn’t want to sleep until noon again.”

Winter days may be shorter and generally darker, thick cloud cover and snow more often than not working as a dense curtain to block out the sun, but there’s no way it’s noon.

A little past nine, maybe. Ten, tops.

“Changed- grhg, changed my mind.” His groggy, groggy mind, which is more than happy to latch onto the luxury of sleeping in as much as he wants on days like today, days when he isn’t working and gets to stay snuggled up inside as much as he wants. His prodded body, crying out for mercy, has other ideas, and Aiden slaps at Lukas’s wrist, only halfway missing as he bats Lukas’s hand away and twists himself upright. “Ghk- Lukas, if you poke me one more time, so help me-!”

(He’s generally much better with his temper now than he used to be, taking a number of cues from Lukas, but sleepy-Aiden still needs to work on it.)

“Oh, good, you’re up!” The dual smirks he’s getting are utterly shameless, and Aiden groans as he slumps against the headboard, bitter taste of defeat impossible to ignore.

How do they manage it?

He’s not sure, but they always do.

(Maybe he should’ve just crashed with Maya and Gill at their place.)

“Yeah, yeah- alright, I’m up, I’m up.” Despite himself, Aiden can’t hold back the beginnings of a toothy and tilted smile. “What is it?”

“Jesse’s got something to show us.”

Aiden snorts, elbowing Lukas’s side as he slips out of bed onto the regrettably chilly floor.

“Like you don’t already know what it is.”

“He doesn’t! I made sure of that- it wasn’t hard, when I just had to get him focused on messing with you.” Jesse, still sitting on the bed, kisses Lukas on the cheek and smiles so sweetly, like honey in tea and a field of flowers on a sunny day and the inviting glitter of an enormous rainbow, and Aiden’s grumpy heart melts just a bit more.

Oh, they’re not innocent- far from it.

Jesse’s crafty and sneaky and absolutely pleased with themselves for how snugly they’ve got Aiden wrapped around their finger, but it’s always hard to stay mad at Jesse even when he knows all of that so well.

“Thanks for that, by the way.” Aiden saves his toes from the frigid floor, putting on his slippers as he brushes his bedhead back with still-sleepy fingers. “You know, there have got to be better ways to wake somebody up- shove some snow down my back next time, maybe, or just get me with a bucket of water.”

“Aw, but then I don’t get to let you know how much I love you!” Jesse’s tone is outright teasing before it drops into something more mischievous, practically cheeky. “And besides, we already know you’re a total sap.”

“I am not-”

“Aiden, I’ve known you for just about forever.” Lukas plays with the silver comb from Aiden’s nightstand, touching up his already-perfect hair as he gives Aiden a far too knowing look and wry smile. The wind continues its steady beat against the window as flurries flutter past. “I’ve seen you at your best and at your worst. Yeah, you totally are.”

That’s a bit of an understatement, all things considered- Aiden’s willing to make the argument that Jesse and Lukas bring out the best in him, and his worst was pretty bad, given that in involved chucking them into the void.

They’re willing to make the argument that Aiden, far more humble and reasonable as well as just smarter now than he was back then, is even more of a sap than words can say.

“And you’re totally letting me fix my hair before you drag me to gods know where.” Aiden’s not giving up on the tatters of his thrashed dignity, though, and he’s not admitting it any time soon. He snatches the comb out of Lukas’s fingers, already aware that there’s no way they’re going to wait and let him gel his hair the way he likes to after already waiting for him to wake up and then deciding to do the job themselves.

Is he bitter Lukas has clearly had the time to go through his own hair care routine? Maybe, but it’s Aiden’s own fault for sleeping in.

(He’s grouchy and anything but happy to greet the morning, but he can recognize that.)

“Nope!”

“Yeah, definitely not happening.”

“I love you.” Aiden tosses the comb back onto the nightstand as he yanks his jacket off the bedpost he last threw it onto, rolling his eyes as he shoves his arms through and shrugs it up on his shoulders. His cozy sleepwear doesn’t quite match with his jacket the way his usual outfits do, but it’ll work for a Jesse-trip. “So much.”

“We know!”

“Cool.” His fingers are clumsy, from sleep and cold alike, as he attempts to yank up the zipper before deciding to forgo it altogether. He doesn’t need to hide his nightshirt. They’ve seen him in far worse conditions, far crueler and horrendous states, than in his sleepwear. “Can’t wait to bump into somebody in the hall and have an awkward conversation about how I look like I just rolled out of bed.”

(They’d be right.)

Lukas laughs, light and loud, and it captures Aiden’s attention instantly, enthralling as ever.

(What’d Petra say- stupid, perfect Lukas? Fitting.)

“Trust me, we’ve all seen worse- everybody’s bumped into Ivor in the middle of the night.” Aiden winces. The less said about his sleepwear and how it ‘breathes wonderfully’, the better.

Half the time, Ivor’s wearing his robes during those chance encounters.

The other half of the time, not so much.

“Yeah, okay, fair enough.” He adjusts his jacket, and not for the first time since moving in wishes it had a hood he could flip up to hide his not-yet-right hair. “Is it in the backyard, or are we going further than that? Because if I need to get my boots, they should just be by the door.”

His coat should too, and it would be plenty warmer than his jacket.

“If Petra hasn’t stolen them.” Aiden has, rather unfortunately, ended up on the wrong side of the latest prank war, something Jesse’s endlessly amused by. They’re kind enough to help him out when he begs- if Petra has taken his boots, he’ll just beg Jesse to have a talk with Petra about forgetting the chorus fruit incident.

“Oh, she definitely did.” Lukas waves off his look of alarm. “You’re good- apparently Jesse’s surprise isn’t even outside.”

Better Petra than Axel, anyway, and if she didn’t, he would’ve.

“I can try something snow-related next time.” Jesse’s eyes just about sparkle as they toy with one of Aiden’s errant bangs, calloused fingers brushing against his skin as their other hand cups his cheek. “Remember that deal I struck? For that room in the basement?”

“Barely.” He leans into Jesse’s touch before leaning back, not deterring Jesse or their mischief in the slightest. His bangs don’t usually get the chance to be in the way like this, rather than neatly slicked back, and Jesse’s milking it for all its worth. “It wasn’t like you let us know a whole lot about it, other than that Cassie’s good at negotiating.”

Cassie Rose, a different sort of enemy Jesse and the others have helped and taken in even when most people would never consider it, spends much of her time in the sprawling and labyrinthine basement.

“Shrewd. I believe I said shrewd.” Jesse gives the bang one last flick before their expression softens. Aiden doesn’t know exactly what they traded or had to promise Cassie, but Jesse’s more than decent at negotiating themselves. “But yeah, she’s pretty good. Anyway, she’s been letting me mess around in that part of her domain, and that’s what I want to show you guys. After you have some breakfast, of course- Axel made the best pancakes.”

Axel makes good breakfasts the way Jesse worries about everyone not eating enough- as surely as the sun sets and rises.

“Jesse, it can wait.” Aiden holds up his hands, palms facing outward and fingers slightly curled, when Jesse narrows their eyes. “I promise I’ll have a good breakfast and enjoy those pancakes after you show us what you’ve been up to.”

That placates them, Jesse beaming as they grab his hand.

If Aiden remembers correctly, Cassie’s not the only one Jesse’s been working with on this, terrifying a thought as that already is.

He’s pretty sure their alchemist got roped into things.

It’s an interesting thought, if not a necessarily pleasant one, to be entertained by as they make their way through the temple, weaving through hallways and past busy rooms to the basement stairs.

Cassie and Ivor may be the ones directly involved, but the knowing looks and waves they get suggest that Lukas and Aiden are the only ones in the dark.

Harper’s grin at her workshop table is as impish as it is (probably) accidentally intimidating, thanks to the dark and glinting lenses of her goggles hiding her eyes entirely while reflecting sparks from the iron she’s cutting into.

Aiden’s always been a sucker for mysteries.

It’s not until they start descending, shoes and slippers silent against carpet before clacking against cold stone as the stairway becomes less and less like the hallways they were just in, that he nudges Lukas, slipping his free hand into Lukas’s to hold it loosely.

“So, what can we expect from Ivor and Cassie that’s not an inventive death trap?”

Lukas chuckles, lightly pressing his shoulder against Aiden’s own.

“Ivor’s not that bad.” Not to Lukas, maybe, but Aiden got a number of intimidating talks from the other Order members when he first moved back to this world. Ivor’s was the most… creative. “And Jesse’s involved too- it could be anything.”

They take a turn, moving away from the more used areas of the basement to the series of corridors and rooms Cassie’s claimed as her own.

“Pet witherstorms?” A year ago, when they were figuring this and so many other things out, Aiden wouldn’t even think of joking about the behemoth that hurt them and their world in so many ways, his spiraling scars aching even now under his jacket at the mention and Jesse’s less physical scars making it so that thunderstorms more often than not lead to panic attacks. They’ve healed in a lot of ways, though, all of them, and monsters of the past are more and more easily used for lighthearted jokes.

He himself is something of a monster of the past, and they’ve done an incredible job of letting him back into their lives and then some.

“Enchanted endermites.”

Another turn, this time to the right, the yellow-orange glow of regular torches switched with the gentler light of redstone ones.

“Talking cats.”

The back-and-forth reminds him of guessing games he and Lukas would play to pass the time, before, ages ago, back when it was easy to be bored and when having the most outlandish guess was as good as anything else.

“A tap-dancing-”

“Alright, alright, you can stop guessing.” Jesse pauses at a dark oak door, fingers resting on a handle that’s a lighter color than any of the ones they’ve already passed, and gives them a look that’s trying very hard to be exasperated and failing. Jesse loves with all their heart; it’s hard for them to not look adoring. “If you want to just go in and find out for yourselves, that is.”

First, he asks the question that’s been on his mind since they brought up the surprise.

“What’s the occasion?”

Aiden’s been keeping a close eye on every important event and celebration he can think of; all he knows about today is that it’s supposed to be an average Saturday.

“I just wanted to surprise you guys.” The door creaks as Jesse nudges it open, just as likely in genuine need of oiling as it is intended to make sounds for dramatic effect (Cassie has a penchant for the theatrical), and Jesse’s given up on hiding that small smile when they look back to him and Lukas. “With something we didn’t have to leave the temple for, or risk our lives over- we have plenty of adventures and things to do normally. This is just… something for us.”

Inside the room, likewise dimly lit with redstone torches, three plants Aiden has never seen before are growing from decent sized pots up and along the dark walls towards the even darker ceiling. They’re almost vine-like, with ruffled leaves that actually glow along the edges and symbols along the dark stems that look natural to the plant rather than carved or printed- looking again, Aiden can see that the symbols glow too, different colors.

Symbols that are more than interesting lines and curves, actual letters tilted this way and that as they spell out each of their names.

The one that reads Jesse has a red sword symbol at the base of its stem, while Lukas’s has a teal book and quill.

It takes him a third look to make sense of the image on the one spelling his name.

Instead of a book and quill, it’s a green book and sword, with the book placed over the sword- even if Aiden wasn’t a writer, he thinks he’d see the meaning pretty clearly, the focus on peace and positive changes.

He’s long since given up waving swords around recklessly, though he trains with Jesse and Lukas. He’s capable, but it’s not his first instinct when his temper flares anymore.

Aiden glances at Jesse, whose smile has somehow gotten even softer.

He’s a sap and he’s not crying about it.

(A quick glance at Lukas proves he’s in a similar boat, eyes shining with unshed tears and his hand over his mouth as he crouches in front of the plant spelling his name out in blue and purple characters.

If Jesse can give a bad gift, Aiden has yet to see it.

Lukas is more used to seeing the odd assortment of plants in Ivor’s lab than Aiden is, on account of having been there more, and even then he doesn’t seem any less surprised than Aiden feels.

Jesse’s ideas are often like that, born from looking at the same thing in a slightly different way.)

He clears his throat and brushes away the welling tears that aren’t there.

“Jesse, this is amazing.” Despite having cleared his throat, his voice wobbles just a bit, and Jesse open arms are too inviting to ignore. Even with as silly as he probably sounds and looks right now, their gaze stays warm. Aiden hugs them, tight grip only relaxing briefly when Lukas joins the hug in order to wrap an arm around him too. “Thanks. Looks like we’ll just have to find our own ways to surprise you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” Jesse squeezes them, feeling every bit the strong hero that they are, and gives a contented hum. “Just being able to do these things with you is more than enough.”

“I don’t think we could ever give you enough, Jesse.” Lukas presses a kiss into Jesse’s hair before doing the same to Aiden, his voice doing a slightly better job of staying strong despite the tear tracks shining on his cheeks. Aiden gives him a kiss in return, the quick peck on the lips making Lukas’s smile widen.

A fourth voice, one that perhaps shouldn’t be so unexpected, interrupts before they can get too cuddly.

“If you’re going to be sappy, take it anywhere upstairs.”

Cassie Rose leans against the doorway, her partner in crime meowing from where he winds between her legs, purring as he rubs against her pants.

Though not quite the senseless killer she once was, she’s certainly an efficient mood killer.

Winslow, not so much, even if there’s a playful glint of his own in his eyes.

The hug breaks, though no more than necessary, the three of them still standing close together even as Aiden shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ve got a strict no-PDA policy.” She smirks, gaze shifting to Jesse as she points a thumb towards the nearest plant- Lukas’s. “Remember, the deal’s off once you take these upstairs and do whatever you’re going to do with them.”

“Got it.” Jesse’s thumbs-up placates Cassie enough to get a short hum out of her, and their smile stays bright as they turn their attention back to Aiden and Lukas. “Ivor said they should be fine as long as they’re kept out of direct sunlight. Even then, they’ll be alright for a while, but you won’t be able to see the glow very well.”

While Jesse explains and they nod, Aiden keeps an eye on Cassie out of the corner of his eye.

In spite of that close watch, even though he glances away for barely a moment, as soon as he opens his mouth to thank her, he finds she’s already vanished, her feline friend likewise missing.

Huh.

Oh well.

He’ll thank her and Ivor for their part in this later.

“Well, if we’re taking things back upstairs anyway, I guess we could head back to your room and cuddle properly.” It wouldn’t be hard for Lukas’s voice to be mocking, but it does a good job of riding the line between joking and being genuine, and it oozes affection regardless as he wraps an arm around Aiden’s shoulders. Aiden takes a second to appreciate how lucky he is to be here, to be with them, while his heart soars. “You know, let you get some more sleep.”

“Maybe do breakfast in bed.” Jesse’s voice is just as affectionate, and the idea of getting something to eat as well as some more rest doesn’t sound half bad.

Of course…

Aiden lets his head rest against Lukas’s shoulder, huff somewhere between a fresh groan of defeat and a laugh.

“Could’ve started with that.”

Jesse, in flagrant violation of Cassie’s policy, squeezes his side and kisses his nose, startling a lopsided smile out of Aiden.

“Less exciting that way.”

If there’s something he can count on here, with them, it’s always excitement, one way or another.

[shinglescat]

ooga booga

Previous stories here. Kanarielle’s character page here.

It’s been quite a few months already since the power transit already, and to everyone’s surprise Esmir not only did not mind it at all, she even welcomed the change with her arms wide open. She did protest once, however, at the start of it all, when her grandchildren expressed their demands for her - the old lady surely expected her grandson to take the reign just out of spite, not the fragile granddaughter; she voiced her concern, but they did not listen. Still, she was suspiciously okay with the turn of the events, and Mark guessed it was because of more of the available free time in her schedule for… debauchery and other side projects. Other than that, Esmir’s been insisting on them both showing off at a soiree, just to keep the nobility talking about them, sort of a power display, and Livaen planned everything out from there herself as the new head of the family, as the new Lady Sorano.

It wasn’t in his plans to go alone, yet the circumstances thought differently. Livaen managed to talk him into this, promising an easy evening and a “free-to-go” card after. As soon as he opened his mouth to agree on the occasion, his luck decided to go south - later the same evening Aspen had to leave him due to some “unforeseen events” in a complete urgency. Mark knew better than to ask, as it was near impossible to get anything out of the man, so he was left on his own until he met with an old friend of his again. The luck wasn’t on his side this time either; he had to attend the soiree alone anyways, even though he and his friend arrived together and even agreed on playing out a couple for the public to spare the elf from unwanted attention and unsolicited affection; the girl had to take care of a sudden matter at hand, so he left her in the Void to her own devices and proceeded with the gathering alone.

- Hope it went well, - she greeted him as soon as he showed up, notes of worry in her voice. She was modestly sitting on his bed, in one of the smaller residences of the family, watching him as he got upstairs, walked up to the bed and crashed into the sheets with his face down right beside her. Kana patted him on the back lightly, feeling of guilt making her cheeks turn red for leaving him like this alone, - I’m sorry you had to be there on your own tonight, - she quietly apologized, - Won’t happen again.

- It’s okay, don’t sweat it, - he raised his hand to stop her from saying anything else, mumbling into the bed, eyes closed, - Could’ve figured the luck wasn’t on my side, - he snickered, drained and overwhelmed with the spotlight he had to endure with no way for him to retreat. So much for the promised easy evening.

Kanarielle rolled her eyes.

- Man, if you aren’t a diva, - she reached his head with her hand, her nails scratching the scalp. The elf tensed up a bit, but then relaxed into the feeling, pleasure from the touch tingling at the nape of his neck, - You can complain now, please do begin.

Mark sighed loudly.

- Nothing to complain, - he took a moment to breathe in and out, to calm down the heart that was beating way too fast in his chest, - It was a ginormous lie. She promised an easy evening, but… I dunno, if that’s an easy evening for her, I’m dreading of the harder ones, - he turned on the spot, his back against the bed sheets, facing the elf girl, - There was a woman… Has to be from Livaen’s retinue. Very insistent and utterly… handsy, kept touching me the whole evening, - Mark groaned, remembering the altmer lady - Niluer, the touch of her fingers still lingering on his skin, her nails on his jaw as she tried to get his attention, - And I’m not mentioning the other ones that were eyeing me like I’m a piece of a fresh delectable meat or something. Felt like they were about to devour me alive.

The girl raised her eyebrow, chuckling.

- Oh boy, are they in for a surprise tomorrow, - she said, whispering, - when I’ll be the only one groping your ass in public… - Kana cheerfully slapped her knees in anticipation, nudging him with her elbow, obviously joking. Mark had none of that; he tried to push her away, grunting disapprovingly at the mental image, - Alright, alright, no groping, - she gently stroked his shoulder, adding in a small voice, - Though you are the piece of a fresh delectable meat, - her hands went up into his hair, fingers combing through it, - Thought no one’s gonna notice you return into the family? You are one helluva promising bachelor, – he whined, attempting once more to shove her off the bed. She slapped his tummy lightly in retaliation, - Oh, and let’s not forget your grandma! Anyone in their right mind would want to bask in her power, - Mark tried to say something, but she covered his mouth with a palm of her hand before he would voice anything, - They gon be fighting for your body parts, heart and hands, all that. BUT!, they are the least of your problems.

- And the big problems? – Mark forcefully removed the hand off his mouth, snorting and rolling his eyes.

This time she casually smacked him on his forehead, clap rather loud than painful, the sound muffled by cushions and furniture.

- You have a huge profit sign on your forehead, - Kana pointed her index finger right in between his brows, pressing it into the skin rather painfully, - that’s what I’m saying; they will use and do anything to get to you. And since Livaen is… you know, I’m not talking about her even here, this seems to summon her out of thin air – this makes you a better target.

- Ugh, don’t lecture me, - he brushed off her warning, knocking the hand away from the face, - Like I don’t know it, there are always the people who would suck a dick or two to get some benefits, - Mark looked at her, then shifted his gaze at the window. He tried to ignore the thought, dismiss it as if it was of no concern, tried to act tough, but his mind still lingered on the concept. With a sigh, he rubbed his eyes, set on steering the conversation away from him and the uncomfortable subject, - Was it the same in the Sanctuary? For you?

Kana shifted on the bed inelegantly, her entire spine stiffening up at the mention of the place. She looked nowhere.

-   No, not really, no, - she paused, reminiscing her own family, or rather those she used to call like that, - We’re far from nobility you saw there, though as far as I remember, - she hummed, biting her lip, memories resurfacing again after years of oblivion, - Mandil mentioned Bellaniel being a higher up member of the Falmeri society before the fall of the Snow Prince. We were more like a cult, I think, worshipping our blood and condemning the men, - Kanarielle snickered, - Imagine a club for old and bitter edgy elves – that’s us! It was similar for Ryl tho – Bellani intended on finding a party for her once she’s of age, marry her off to someone of their people, so they would “continue to carry on the legacy”, whatever that means, “of the last Snow Elves”, secluded in their own little world, of course, - something stirred inside her, and she paused, - Fuck, she’s probably married already, gotta have a kid, - her guts twisted unpleasantly, entire insides doing somersaults at once, a wave of nausea going up her throat. She tried to will it go away, but the awful feeling didn’t fade, - It’s been years since I last saw her. We were sixteen when I ran away, Mark, and Rylnir already had suitors courting her by that age, sucking up to Bellani, - the girl gasped for air loudly, as if suffocating, - They probably didn’t think of her anything but a hole in a piece of meat on the legs. We were just children, for fuck’s sake, but our fates were already decided for us.

Mark sat up straight.

- What about you? – he asked carefully, feeling uneasy, anxious of what she’s about to say, the memories likely distressing her.

- Dunno if I had it better, - she shrugged, leaning on his shoulder and hiding her face in the crook of his neck, - Ryl’s to become the next Matriarch once Bellaniel’s dead, and I was set to become the guardian to the realm. Bellani did everything to indoctrinate me, all that inspirational religious bullshit, and it honestly worked – I was bitter at men, at what they had done to us, - Mark hugged her by her shoulders, holding her tight against his side, feeling a faint shiver and a frequent, fast heartbeat, so strong it was reflecting in his own body, almost deafening. She was tense, her entire body stiff, ready to fight, - She played the “you’re the last of your kind” card, and I was dumb enough to fall to that. She poisoned me with hate, - the girl pulled back, looking into the elf’s eyes.

- You hate her too, - he whispered, cringing on the pain in his forearm, as she clung to it like to a lifeline, - No… You are afraid of her.

She sighed, releasing the arm from her grip, settling back on his shoulder. The fury, the anger she felt died out in a blink of an eye, replaced with an empty cold calm.

- I am, - her voice tranquil, - I used to hate her, now I’m just scared. She did everything to turn me into a willing vessel for Meridia, - she straightened her arm, reaching out into the air, green sparks swirling under her palm, - I was to become a purified, think you’re familiar what that means. She always talked about caring of all meri, but was only interested in the survival of her own kind, didn’t give a shit about anyone else. Leo was the last adult ayleid in the realm, and I was the only child of my “untimely deceased” ayleid parents. Isn’t it weird? – she glanced at him, puzzled, -  Guess she found it poetic.

Mark lowered them both onto the bed, still holding her in a hug, gently stroking her arm. Meridia again, huh, with a quest for an army of brain dead glowing vegetables.

- How did you escape?

- No clue, Mark, I swear. I was sitting in my chambers, talking to Mandil, then I blackout and later find myself swimming through a cave with a thing chasing me. Was scared shitless, but managed to get out, ended up at the western shore of Ilinalta, - she rose up above him, pointing at her silver eyes, - You know, I used to have blue eyes, but I guess she or… they tried to punish me for leaving, tried to make me blind. I thought I’m done for, but Jack found me, did some magic, restored my sight, - her voice sounded much more serene than a few minutes before, heartbeat no longer audible, - A few years later Bellani tried to bring me back, affecting me through dreams. Almost succeeded, too, but Jack intervened, pierced her through in one of the nightmares and sundered the connection to the Sanctuary. Hadn’t had them since.

- Shit, Rie, that’s….

- Now that’s the name I hadn’t heard in a while, - she laughed hopelessly, interrupting Mark before he would express his condolences, still towering above him. She looked sad, though the weak smile on her face tried to say something else, - Jack used to call me that, - the girl closed her eyes dreamy, as if she heard him call her again.

- What happened to him? You were so inseparable, - the elf inquired, pulling her back onto the bed.

- Yeah, were, but he grew distant, and I had to leave him, all that bubbly stuff, - she turned on her side, her head resting on Mark’s chest, - I loved him, otherwise I’d leave him sooner. It was hard to let go, but it was for the best. Him growing distant helped to sever the bond.

- Did he love you though? – Mark asked into the air, gently stroking her arm, eyes growing weary, fatigue steadily putting him to sleep.

- Don’t know. I think he was just attached, nothing more, we were never meant to be, - she laughed humorlessly, - He saved me though, and I’m grateful for it, would never make it to the adulthood without him. Would be lying if I said I don’t miss him sometimes too. He was my first real friend anyways, was foolish of me to fall for him, - Kanarielle paused, thinking about something for a moment, - But I have Scott now… Actually, - she rose up, looking at him as another thought crawled into her head, - Do you think there could be something between you and I if the circumstances were different?...

Mark gazed outside, genuinely thinking about her question for a good minute or two. He couldn’t tell if he liked her appearance or not, as it was the foremost to judge a potential partner, he never gave it much thought in this regard, and found himself unable to… check her out, no matter how hard he tried to do so. Then he tried thinking about the other girl he knew, tried to compare them – Braenn was one example, but something in his own head prevented him from doing so. He thought of Meltem – yes, that woman was the best of them all; he thought of Livaen’s Nilufer – the woman was quite alright in the looks department; but then he went back to Kana, then mother, then Visenya, and the block returned. As far as the personality went… he burst into laughter, giving the girl funny looks: they would be like an unconfined wild fire together in the middle of a field of a dead dry grass in winter, self-combusted from a rogue zombie-flame under the ground, with someone dumping the fuel to keep them roaring. He didn’t like her at first, she seemed to be too haughty; he guessed she didn’t like him at first either, must have been something about him as well. As the time went by, he figured her being too proud of herself was a defense mechanism, and as they grew closer he discovered a whole new side to her; it probably was the same with her opinion of him, otherwise they would never make it to good friends able to share some darkest, and dumbest, secrets.

- Honestly? – he looked at her, a single tear dancing in the corner of his eye, making the image blurry. She nodded, - Don’t think so. We’re too much alike, and that’s the recipe for a disaster, - the elf girl smirked, approvingly patting him on his chest.

- True, you were really annoying back in the days, - Mark raised his brow at that, looking playfully offended, - And the fake beard of yours?

- Ugh, - he groaned, smiling, - Remember yourself, you thought you are the all mighty ayleid, and it was in your destiny to make the world bow before you, you wanted to conquer the ruby throne, - the elf gestured wildly with his hands, making the girl pinch the skin on his sides and poke him somewhere under his rib.

- Oh, oh! Remember that huge eyeliner you had? Why did you paint it like that? Also, glad you dropped it, - she finger gunned at him.

- Meltem used to paint it, - he explained, - Helped with… identity at the time. She came up with the idea, really boosted my self-esteem. Can’t do it myself though, hands aren’t as steady, - Mark grunted, - Asked Aspen to help me put it on once Meltem left with Livaen, but he said I’m fine as I am and hid the pencil somewhere, still haven’t found it, - Kanarielle wheezed, giving thumbs up to the absent man for the idea; she was glad he made him ditch that horrendous face paint. They laughed for a little longer, remembering the vices and virtues of each other; it was a good distraction from the talk they had before, yet the thoughts in Mark’s head like cockroaches kept racing and bringing him back to the delicate subject, replacing the cheerful smile with a frown, - Shit, - he rubbed his eyes again, prompting Kana to yank his hand away from his face, - Shit, I didn’t know. You never told me the whole story.

- If that is of any comfort, I had no idea either, - she hugged him across his chest, - That is… until you brought me back yesterday. The Void is so different from what I remember, - Kana made a quiet laugh, - Catherine kept me from going out with you, had to tell this to me; couldn’t join you after the revelation, needed to process this through first, - it made him rise on his elbow, looking at the ayleid with eyes wide open. She knew Catherine? Or did she introduce herself while he was gone? - Don’t be so surprised now, - she rolled her eyes, pushing him back into the bed sheets, - I lived in a daedric realm for more than half of my life, don’t you think I know how to communicate with the entities? - Kanarielle giggled, adding in a low voice, - It must be awkward to have her watching over you all the time, especially during the..., - she hummed, - frisky moments, - red in the elf’s face started showing, making her add, - I missed the girly gossips.

- Oh my god, why, - Mark whined, hiding his face behind the palms of his hands, embarrassed, blood rushing to his head, turning him red, - Why you have to ruin everything.

- Well, that was intentionally awkward, - she grinned at him, pretty happy with her achievement, - Now let’s talk about you instead. How were you?

Mark groaned, still red as a pomegranate, but gladly changing the funny subject nevertheless.

- She prolly told you how I was as well, - he couldn’t help but reply in an annoyed and sarcastic tone, and she smacked him across his forehead for that, - Stop hitting me! – the elf grabbed her forearm before she’d descend another blow upon him, throwing daggers at her with his eyes, - I’d probably be dead as well, alright? Not brain dead like you or Cath, just dead-dead in my case, - he scratched the bridge of his nose, - Father told us, hadn’t I met Aspen, I’d be floating among the pillars with my throat slit open, no biggie, and you’d probably be the first one to find me, - he fell silent for a second, deciding to reroute the conversation one more time, - You have to teach me later how to interact with the whole place. But only basics, nothing in-depth – wanna leave the reigns in Cath’s hands.

- Sure thing, - she replied, readjusting herself on Mark’s chest, putting a hand under her head and enjoying the silence, - Don’t wanna turn into your daddy, do you? – it was Mark’s turn this time to smack her lightly on her back, - Ouch. That hurts, - the girl glanced at him, insulted. She wanted to make a comeback, but the elf already had his eyes closed, breathing quietly, chest calmly rising up and going down, exhaustion finally getting to him. She watched him for a second, musing whether to follow his lead and go to sleep, or to mess with him more, when a sudden thought emerged, - Mark? – she called him, drawing a dozy hum from him, - You ever thought about making it official?

- Official what? – it took a whole long moment for the elf to reply, mind already slipping away into slumber.

- You know… tying the knot, - she elaborated, gesturing vaguely, - getting the arrow to the knee, - Mark snorted, - Marriage, for fuck’s sake, you deep skull dingus, - the elf snickered, shoving the girl off him, turning his back on her, - Seriously, Mark. You need to.., - she couldn’t finish the sentence, as he bent around rather uncomfortably, putting his hand over her mouth.

- Sure, you’re gonna be my flower girl, - he unbent back into his place, tucking his hands under his head, sleep returning to him once more, - Now shut up, - she pinched the skin on his side yet again, mad at him for interrupting her, but the elf didn’t react, - Nah, you’re not getting the maid of honor, that’s gonna be Meltem.

________________________________________________________

- Where is he, you dipshit, - Kanarielle cornered a servant, holding him by his throat, green fumes shimmering in between her fingers, threatening the poor man with a slow and painful death. She’s been stalking him like a predator this whole evening, observing from a distance first to confirm her suspicions, them making a move, - Where is he?! – she repeated, her voice raw, uncharacteristic to her, as she slammed the servant into the wall. The man whined like an injured dog, - I saw him with you, you stupid cunt, what did you give him and where did you take him? – the man kept silence, anxiously shooting glances behind her as if someone were to save him from the enraged ayleid. She slapped him across his face, - Sunnabe, dead or alive, you’re telling me everything either way, - Kanarielle spat, piercing through the skin on the neck of the servant with the shards of ice condensed at the tips of her fingers, turning the them red as the blood leaked out of the wounds. She didn’t want to resort to puppeteering – it was hard, tiresome to hold the connection, she hated to control living beings like this, and most importantly at the moment – she was wearing an expensive evening dress; it was something Mandil taught her in secret from Bellaniel, figured she would need this knowledge should she be in a grave danger. It was different from the common known blood magic; hers was primordial and basic, relying on the blood flowing through the creatures of flesh. One way to use it was to draw blood of a target, allowing her to control it indefinitely; there could be multiple targets at once, up to a full army, with, possibly, no limitations, though she had no opportunity, or will, to test it. The other way was to manipulate a target though the power of her own blood, ideal for covert operations and perfect for remote control. Both had their drawbacks: first was messy, leaving wounds on the victims, having literal strings attached that get severed with a distance; the second required constant concentration, and she couldn’t hold it for a long period of time, draining her of her powers, - Now speak, - the flesh under her hand relaxed, and she removed herself from the body, - From the beginning, - she commanded the servant, smearing his warm blood in between her fingers.

… She made her way down a green cavern, voices becoming louder and louder. It was dank in here, moldy smells in the air; the cave floor was muddy, footprints barely visible in the wet dirt, occasional slide marks too – someone lost their footing and slipped on the slope. Luckily, she didn’t notice any signs of fight or struggle.

The servant, or rather his willing body, proved useful in tracking down the abductors. The people behind the kidnapping were some backwater nobles of the Reach, merchants by trade, criminals by fate, barely known to the world; the business became harder with the more frequent attacks of the foresworn and the vampires, and their town in the middle of nowhere quickly depopulated, turning into a shadow of its former self… Like it was blooming before, Kanarielle snorted. Apparently, they were helped by some families once or twice with soldiers, food and gold, but their inability at keeping it together turned away their former allies, leaving them alone. Fast forward few years later, and the family finally resorted to racketeering, trying their “best” to help their town to survive. They should’ve just left it altogether, there was nothing valuable in the area safe for a small field of crops and an iron mine.

Kana warned him, told him to be careful around the nobility, to trust no one and be on a high alert, but he did not listen. He was careless around people, bothered by something so much he had lowered his guard down; she tried her best to keep him out of harm’s way, but failed, letting him slip from her constant surveillance. Now where was he? Kidnapped, held captive as a tool to regain someone else’s power; he was here somewhere, hopefully not dead or sick. The Soranos didn’t know, not yet, neither did know Meltem about what happened – she kept her discovery secret, preferring to keep it quiet to keep the collateral damage as low as it could be possible. An easy job, infiltrate and rescue, she’s done this a hundred times already with Jack. So far she did good, only once having to knock out a brute at the entrance; entering a combat would be a death sentence for her alone without anyone to back her up.

The servant uncovered their ploy. The merchants turned criminals joined together with a group of highway robbers: the first were to find an unsuspecting target and to gain their trust – they still were nobles despite the shady dealings; the second were to wait outside for the first to render the target unconscious to abduct them to a secluded retreat far into the forests; the nobles then would be free of any suspicions, and later can present the wounded party with their help, saying they… found the culprits through their connections in exchange for a favor and some fame points. And Mark just made their entire bank and more, Kanarielle shook her head disapprovingly, they probably didn’t expect to make it with a hostage of his size.

She climber up a ledge, observing the roaming bandits below: she counted five of them, all minding their own business; they did not seem to notice an intruder yet. Behind – she passed three more, and she had no idea how many of them were ahead. “How much you think we gonna get for he arse?” – she heard one of them asking the other. Kanarielle slowly exhaled, not knowing she had her breath held this whole time, relieved with the question - it meant these bandits were still on the same page with the merchants back at the party. “We’re better off selling him to someone else”, - another voice chimed in, low and worried, “The kid’s a Sorano, his granny won’t leave us alive once we do the deal”. Right, the girl thought, the merchants told them there’s going to be a negotiation, but failed to mention them slaughtering all the bandits to keep them quiet and away from their own affairs. “We have our orders! The boy is to be sold to his family. Our patrons shall cover us”, - another one spoke, flailing around with a rusty mace of his. A dangerous stuff, Kana noted, as she noticed a sick yellow aura radiating from it, the glow floating on the surface of the metal. “You so sure?” – the man from before replied, sarcastic tone of his voice, definitely having experience in this matter, “Our dear “patrons” might as well rescue the kid themselves! You know how they operate, we mustn’t trust them. Gotta sell the boy to someone else, get our gold, save our lives as well while we can…”

Kanarielle didn’t listen to them any longer, dropping down from the ledge, trying not to slip on the wet floor, and proceeded further. She sneaked behind the rocks and furniture, snippets of their conversation getting to her ears, none registering though. Her mind was still at the thoughts expressed by the last guy – little idea he had about how close to the truth he was; their “patrons” were to rescue the elf in a few hours, slaughtering each and every single one of them on sight so they wouldn’t tell the truth to Esmir.

Another bend of the tunnel, and she saw cages and a guard, so carelessly standing with his back wide open to the entrance, watching after the precious prisoner. Without wasting anymore time, she sneaked up on him, delivering a sharp blow with a dagger right under his ribs. His blood rushed to the wound, turning her hand red; the man did not utter a word, but tried to fight her and the feeling, yet the control over his body slipped away eventually, and she took over it herself, his blood like strings attached to her fingers.

- Guard the entrance, - she commanded quietly, blood shimmering in the weak light of the torches, - Do not let anyone in, tell them whatever you must. Do not pick a fight, try to stall them as long as you can, - the man nodded, turning on his heels.

She looked around herself; the elf was lying in front of her behind the bars, seemingly unconscious, thick metal cuffs around his wrists digging into his skin, a tight metal collar around the neck. The keys to the cages were lying flat on the wooden table across the room, covered in a layer of rust, all of the same shape and size, so it probably didn’t matter which one she used to open the locks.

Kanarielle entered the cell, kneeling before him and inspecting the shackles – runes were all over them, glowing lightly with violet, radiating something that made it harder for her to breathe, fatigue getting to her, probably enchanted with silence, draining the prisoner of his magic; they were prepared well, even predicted the possibility of a magic-capable hostage. She tried to open the locks with the keys from the cells, but none worked the key to the binds was probably in someone else’s hands, and she had no time to go back and look for it. The other way to rescue the elf was to disintegrate the metal altogether: the ayleid put her hands around the collar first, watching it start to age, rust flakes falling slowly until there was nothing left, all crumbled to dust, the enchantment gone as well. A wave of power washed over her as the barrier containing the magic was gone, and Mark gasped for air, his consciousness returning to him.

- What the…? – he tried to ask, but his throat was dry like a desert, preventing him from speaking more.

- Don’t talk, - Kana told him, cupping the cuffs with her hands, disintegrating those as well, the metal turning to rust and to dust, - Gonna tell you later. Can you walk? Gotta get out of here, - she got back on her feet, handing him a small flask of water she had stashed in a pocked. The elf finished the entire container in no time.

The kid tried to stand, shaking violently, muscles sore, but standing nonetheless. He was no fighter at the moment, more of a burden, and she had to get him out of here to the safety of his grandmother.

  ________________________________________________________

- Esmir was furious when I dragged your sorry ass to her, - the ayleid laughed lightly, applying a soothing balm to the irritation on the skin from the rusty metal cuffs on his wrists and his neck. There was some swelling here and there, bruises and scratches, but nothing that wouldn’t heal with the time, - Not gonna lie to you, it was scary, - Mark hissed quietly at the girl rubbing on his wounds. He was already sitting at the edge of the bed, ready to take off from the discomfort of the balm she was using, - Shit, sorry, but you gotta take it as it is, I’m no healer, - the elf silently nodded, turning his head to the side, - You know, your grandmother’s a terrifying woman. She was all fury for the first couple minutes, then calmed down, and next she was playing along with the guys who ‘napped you. Esmir, the helpless and innocent old lady, - she snickered. A crackling sound in the distance alerted her; she turned to look into the direction of the sound, but there was nothing. The Void was calm as well, so she paid no further attention to it, resuming the talk, - She sent Orlan after them, then went in herself. Dunno what happened there, but she was… ecstatic on their return, totally soaked in blood.

- Picked the wrong granny to mess with, - Mark laughed, coughing, still exhausted. It’s been a few days already, and he still hadn’t recovered from the incident, magic depleted. Esmir figured the shackles had some strong enchantment bound to them, and it would be for the best to let the kid rest in the Void, to let the place do its job; Kana brought him back here, staying at his side this whole time and tending to the bruises.

She added one last smear of the balm to the swelling on his neck and set the jar aside.

- Damn, you never told me she had a daedra for a lover. Disgusting. And what’s even more disgusting is that it said it’s your… I’m sorry, half-brother? – she had a mixed expression on her face, disgust with repulsion and confusion sprinkled on top.

Mark groaned.

- Don’t ask. Father’s side. Luckily they aren’t related. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they were, she can do anything, - he brushed it off as if it was a no biggie. Really, it was a no big deal for the woman, she found interest in everyone and everything that moved and had some semblance of personality to them. Her main lover was her bodyguard and ex-general Orlan, whom she trusted with her life and everything she had. The other was the daedra, Walerian, and she praised him as a versatile worker bee, though Mark wished he didn’t know that; he was the usual resident of her beds, and she loved showing him off in the public. Another one was a woman she mentioned once, an old altmer mage, but he couldn’t remember her name, and an unknown dunmer with violet eyes. Esmir was a married woman though, not even a widow, yet that did not hold her back in her love affairs.

- That is gross. Anyways, - Kanarielle covered her face with the palms of her hands, trying to make her face relax after cringing so hard, - It? He then? said they had a fun time messing with them, - she paused, listening to the sudden footsteps sounds growing louder and louder, as if someone was getting closer, but the Void, Catherine, didn’t alert her to the intruder, so she tried to not mind it, - He went into the details, but I had to cut him short. Really disgusting, thank you very much, and I’d rather not hear about the guts hanging for the ceiling and eventual… you get the idea. Super gross. Apparently they had some fricky time in the pools of blood and right on top of the corpses, - she added quietly, gagging. Esmir did enjoy some blood and gore plays.

Someone walked into the room, their steps echoing against the stone.

- What happened here? – the silver-haired man inquired, looking at the elves on the bed, blood dripping from his hands and a huge serrated sword, leaving a red trail behind. He lowered the weapon with its jagged edges near the entrance, the blade making a clacking sound against the stone.

Mark shushed at Kanarielle, giving her the most intense looks she’s ever seen in her entire life. His face went from asking to threatening to murderous and to pleading, but she had none of it.

- No biggie, - she winked at the elf, - this dumbass got himself kidnapped, - the girl shrugged her shoulders as the dumbass in question hit her lightly into her thigh. Aspen cocked his eyebrow at them, - He oughtta know what kind of idiot you are, stop being pissy, - the elf rolled his eyes, giving the ayleid the middle finger, - I’m wounded! – she exclaimed, - Alright, cue taken, gonna leave you two, - Kana raised her hands into the air, getting up from the bed and leaving the room.

Aspen took off his blood soaked coat at the entrance, disposing of it rather untidily. There was a hint of worry in his otherwise blank face, and it took the elf by surprise when the man approached him.

- You hurt? – his voice uncharacteristically concerned, - Let me see, - he reached his hand out to the elf, trying to catch him by his arm, but the elf pulled away, almost jumping, violently shaking his head.

- You ain’t touching me with those, - he pointed at the coagulated, almost dried out blood on his fingers. Face nonchalant, Aspen grabbed a fistful of clean purple bed sheets and wiped the hands with them, reaching to the elf once again. Mark groaned, giving him his hand at last, - Who’s blood is that?

The man gently touched the swollen bruise, his fingers finding the wet sticky balm Kanarielle applied a few minutes ago; he stroked the entire scar lengthwise, occasionally drawing huffs and puffs from the elf: it’s been less than a week since the incident, but the area under the binds still hurt as if covered in tiny invisible cuts.

- Not mine, - Aspen answered with a low and tired voice, letting go of the hand and switching over to the bruise on the neck, - Should be gone in a week, - the man concluded, pulling the elf’s black haired head closer, giving a quick peck under the jaw and letting go.

Aspen looked drained, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than ever, the elf noted, watching him from below remove messy articles of clothing; he looked like he’s about to crash, and his gear did not want to cooperate with the fatigue. Mark had to stand up; he stopped him with a gesture of his hand, grabbing the apparel himself and pulling down, discarding near the bed – he’ll tidy it up later. The man thanked him faintly, clumsily climbing on the bed, crashing into the sheets with eyes already closed; the elf sat at the edge, looking all over him for a moment: he seemed uninjured, just deadly tired.

- So, when are you returning? – Mark asked after a long pause, having nothing else to ask. Aspen tilted his head at the elf, one eye barely open, sighing in exhaustion before closing it again, - Fine, gonna leave you alone then.

- Stay, - he muttered, catching the elf by his forearm before he would get up. With the residue of strength he had left, Aspen pulled him onto the bed, a tad higher than himself, - I have to get some sleep, - he told him as if explaining an obvious concept to a toddler, throwing his arm around elf’s waist to keep him grounded. The man was tense, muscles stiff and rigid, - Need to get going in a few hours, - his words carried a concealed plea, and if Mark didn’t know him any better, it would go unnoticed.

He nodded, awkwardly climbing higher onto the bed, almost curling around the man, around his head and the torso; his white hair smelled of iron and gunpowder, a hint of ash too as he combed through it, the scent becoming stronger as he planted gentle kisses. Aspen softened into the feeling, brows relaxing, breath steady. Mark smiled gingerly, his hand going lower, caressing man’s temples softly, thumb brushing the high cheekbones; eventually, both drifted to sleep.

  ________________________________________________________

Mark was woken up by a scent of marigolds with faint notes of lemon balm, thyme and sage, all carried with an overwhelmingly sweet and sour aroma of sea buckthorn. He cringed; he loved the tree, it was absolutely unique in its looks of silver needle-like leaves and amber fruit, yet the berries’ taste was disgusting in his book, and it made him want to get away from it as far as he could.

Something touched his neck, warm and oily, thick liquid slowly going down his skin, rerouted by a touch somewhere else. He opened his eyes; instead of seeing Kanarielle with the tingling, itchy balm Esmir’s healer gave them, he found Aspen bent over him with a smelly jar in his hand, amber of color, applying the oil to the bruise on his neck.

- Miss Aquilla brought me the ingredients I asked her, - he noticed the elf wake up. Mark winced, the smell of the berries too strong to bear. The man smiled; he put the jar aside to pet the elf on the head with his clean hand, leaning closer to kiss him on the forehead, - The one you used before caused irritations, had to make something different, - his fingers dipped into the oil again, smearing another portion of it on the other side of the neck, gently rubbing it in until it stopped dripping.

- Thanks, - the elf mumbled, trying to get up; Aspen pulled him up, switching his attention to the bruises on the wrists, - Thought you needed to get going, - Mark said, watching the man rub in the oil into his skin; he’s bound to be smelling funny the whole day. The man nodded.

- I have some time left, - he switched onto the other wrist, - Need to tend to your bruises first, - the jar was finally closed, and Mark exhaled in relieve; surprisingly, the new mixture didn’t sting at all like the fat-based balm before did, and he’ll probably get used to the smell later on, - Mark, why can’t I leave you alone? – Aspen suddenly asked, grabbing him by his hands, taking the elf by surprise. He sounded like a disappointed teacher, - You have to be more careful, - the man explained, drawing a wheezing laugh from him, - I’m being serious, Mark, - he paused, - I don’t want to come back one day and find you missing a limb, - Mark laughed nervously, staring at the weary man; the intense look in his eyes said more than he needed to know, filling the elf with guilt the more he kept staring. He muttered an “I’m sorry” under his breath, shifting his gaze somewhere to his feet, fidgeting with fingers, “I’ll be more careful”, - I know you are worried as well, - Aspen pulled the elf in a hug, feeling him rest his chin on his shoulder, - I will be back soon.

- Yeah, - Mark sighed, hiding his face in the crook of man’s neck, - Haven’t heard anything from you for almost two weeks, and last night you appeared soaked in blood. Can’t mind my own safety when I don’t know if you’re okay or not.

- I’ll be back soon, promise, - he repeated, pulling away, - I have some unfinished business, it won’t take long, - Aspen kissed him on the forehead, getting up from the bed, - Have to get going now, - he told him, collecting his gear lying around on the floor haphazardly, the blood dried out and flaking already, leaving red spots throughout the clothing; Mark rose up after, helping him put the apparel on him.

- You are disgustingly sweet, - Kanarielle took both by surprise, silently entering the room, almost sneaking up on them, - Might as well start selling all that sugar of yours… Here, the last piece of your order, - she came up to them, handing Aspen a leather pouch filled with something, hard edges prominent under the hide. The man thanked her with a nod, palpating the purse and the contents inside; happy with the thing delivered, he kissed the elf goodbye and bowed to the ayleid, - Boy, aren’t you two looking like a couple of mushy puppies, - she commented, watching the man leave them alone and disappear into the portal.

- Kana, - Mark suddenly called her, weirdly excited. Her comment was ignored, - tell me, why can’t I make shortcuts through the Void?

- Shortcuts? – she was taken aback by his question, expecting anything but this. She furrowed her brows, looking for a better answer. Unlike the Void that one could access from anywhere, the Sanctuary had a single door inside and out, connected through a disguised portal to a series of flooded long caverns for a more difficult access inside a mountain range in Skyrim. To travel from within the realm, Bellaniel had built a secret chamber with hundreds of doors, all connecting to the outside world, and she was the only one who had the keys to get in and out, - Well, the Void is closer to a pocket realm: you exit where you enter, - the girl explained, gathering her thoughts together, - It’s like a hub; to exit elsewhere you need to have a door or two with an anchor in the world outside. Something like that.

- Can we make them? – he inquired cautiously, thinking about the prospect, - And are there any security risks?

The elf girl laughed.

- You are bothered by the security? Oh boy, Mark, you can make it so no one gets there, ever. This whole place belongs to you, you are the master key; you give and revoke invitations to the place, it’s as secure as nothing will ever be, - she hugged him by his shoulders, ruffling his hair, - I have no idea how to open or make doors, but… - Kanarielle listened to the breeze, - but I think Catherine is more than happy to help us.

[a-menagerie]

Overheard

Based on this ask here, a continuation of a previous prompt! It begins with the original piece so that new readers find it easier to follow 💕 I hope y’all enjoy!

“Will you tell him?” Veth asked. The two of you were sitting at a table in the tavern, the rest of the Nein having already retired to their rooms.

“Pfft, please,” You make a dismissive noise, waving your hand in the air. You’re only sort of drunk. “Caleb has a crush on Jester, how could I compare to her?”

“That’s not fair. You shouldn’t compare yourself to her. You’re good enough for him on your own.” Veth argued.

“You’re the one who told me about his crush.” You deadpan.

“It slipped! I’m sorry!” Veth whined. “I just want him to be happy.”

“And I can’t do that for him. But I’ll still love him from afar, okay?” Veth gave you a sad, half-hearted smile as you got up to return to bed. As you passed by the table behind yours, you spotted the glowing reflection of Frumpkin’s eyes.

“Frumpkin!” You shriek, grabbing the cat and holding him in front of you, his legs dangling. You squint at him, trying to discern if Caleb was watching through the cat. “Is Caleb in there?”

Frumpkin yawned.

You give up, tucking the cat against your chest. He started purring and settled down in your arms. On your way back to your room, a door to your left creaked open.

“Are you kidnapping my cat?” Caleb asked, causing you to freeze in the hallway.

“Are you spying on me with your cat?” You accused. Caleb gave you a sheepish smile.

“Veth said I might want to hear that conversation.” He admitted. You groan and burry your face into Frumpkin’s fur. “Maybe we should talk.”

“I don’t wanna talk, I want melt into the void. Anyway! Here’s your cat, goodnight!” You shoved Frumpkin into Caleb’s arms and power walk down the hall to your room. You hear Caleb call after you quietly but no knock ever comes to your door.

Over the next few days, you throw yourself into any and all activities that keep you away from both Caleb and Veth. Cooking meals with Caduceus, going on shopping runs with Jester, or even just running errands on your own; you avoid the two like the plague and it does not go unnoticed by the rest of the party.

However, none of them manage to get any solid answer out of you and they turn to Caleb and Veth. Caleb lets nothing slip, feigning ignorance but Veth does not hold up as well under pressure.

“Hey! Open up!” Beau’s voice booms from the other side of your door. You jolt in surprise, before going to open the door as she starts banging against it again.

“Okay, okay, hold...on.” You trail off as you open the door to Beau, with Caleb standing beside her. She grabs Caleb’s arm and all but shoved him into your room.

“You two. Talk. This mopey shit is getting real old.” Beau pulls the door closed, leaving you and Caleb standing together awkwardly.

“I assure you, I had nothing to do with that.” Caleb says, gesturing to the door.

“Well, feel free to leave.” You reply, going back and sitting down at the table in your room, where you’d been pouring over a new book you’d found in town.

“What're you reading?” Caleb asks.

“Caleb.” You groan, closing your eyes and leaning back. “Can you just leave me to my embarrassment?”

“I, ah, I wish you would talk with me.” Caleb says quietly.

“I wish for a lot of things.” You mumble. You stand and face him. “Okay, here it is. Yes, I like you, a lot. Yes, I know you’re crushing on Jester, I really can’t blame you for that. We can stay friends. Conversation done.”

Caleb steps forward, grabbing your face in his hands, and pulling you into a kiss. You pull away, shocked.

“What the hell?” You demand.

“If you’d listen to me; let me explain…” Caleb trails off, taking a steadying breath. “I told Veth I liked Jester because it was easy; it was an infatuation, really. But then we met you and...you were like a sunrise after a too long night.”

You stared, mouth slightly agape while Caleb blushed darker the longer you were quiet. You both jumped when a ‘wham’ came from the door.

“Are y’all banging yet?” Beau yelled, with muffled Fjord in the distance yelling at her to leave you alone. You exchange an exasperated look with Caleb, a small smile growing on your face.

“Go away, Beauregard.” Caleb called back at her. You held your arms out to Caleb and he stepped back into you, your hands gripping the edges of his coat. “We okay?”

“We will be if you kiss me again.” You reply cheekily and Caleb goes from smiling to nearly beaming, before you pull him into a kiss.

It’s heady and passionate and you never really thought Caleb would be this good but gods, is he good. You lift your arms and loop them around his neck, pulling yourself closer to him. Caleb lets out a low groan and teases the seam of your lips with his tongue. Instead, you pull away, leaning your forehead against his.

“I really do love you, you know?” You say. Caleb’s answering smile is soft and sweet.

“And I, you, meine Liebe.”