#anyways I’m changing my work hours so I can stare longingly at him more often

[violencewithwings]

Ok

So

I may not have mentally lived through that shift

(my crush who just so happens to also be my manager looked at my very adoringly and told me he missed working with me??? I’m gonna pass out)

But I am home now and it’s time to go back to reading

[cinnaminsvga]

Undercover (M)

→ summary: the company banquets that your family loves to host are often drearier than you would like them to be. lucky for you, your bodyguards have the perfect solution: why don’t you play a little game with them? 

the only rule? you must keep quiet at all costs.

→ pairing: vamp!jungkook x reader x siren!seokjin → genre: bodyguard!au, supernatural, smut → warnings: dom!jin, switch!kook, sub!reader, remote vibrator, rough public sex, fingering, orgasm denial, multiple orgasms, blood-drinking, hypnotization, jin is kinda sadistic, basically pwp ;_; → words: 5.4K → a/n: this is for the holiday fic exchange that was held on @btsghostiewritersnet!! my fic is dedicated to ms @jincherie​ (aka the loml and also the recipient of 1/3 of the fics i’ve written this year??) who requested this prompt. i’m not really good with poly or smut fics, but i tried my best??? it ended up being a lil more jk centric than i anticipated but HHHH IDK I JUST HOPE YOU LIKE THIS EVEN A TEENY BIT ;o; anyway... happy holidays everyone!!

You can feel their eyes on you.

Except that isn’t much of a revelation—they are always watchful of you, after all. Your father pays a hefty enough salary that they would risk their lives to keep you safe, so it isn’t much of a surprise to know that they are lurking at the sides, keeping distant and close all at once.

This time, however, is different. You know for a fact that it is different. There is a subtle shift in the air, something tangible enough that you can almost touch it, taste it. You know that if you glance back at them, you will find two pairs of eyes, watching and waiting for… something.

That fact alone is enough to keep the goosebumps on your arms from subsiding. You feel like a canister just waiting to burst, a small disturbance enough to get you to erupt into flames and burn every last inch of propriety left in your being. Tonight, they are here to ruin you.

“Why are you acting so damn fidgety? Stand still,” your brother huffs after a while, pinching you lightly in the side. It breaks you from your reverie, causing you to jolt away with wide eyes.

“W-what?” you ask breathlessly. You wipe your clammy hands across your expensive dress, leaving wrinkles in their wake. “Sorry. I just… had a lot of coffee before coming here, is all. I needed the wake-me-up.”

He watches you for a moment, raising an eyebrow at your odd behavior. You can tell that he’s suspicious, but he inevitably shrugs it off, too unbothered to care. Like you, it takes a whole deal to get Yoongi excited about anything, and having a jumpy sister is far from reaching his quota. “Whatever. Just don’t cause a scene, alright? These events might be boring as hell, but dad has a bunch of important people here tonight, so you better get your shit together.”

You snort. “Right. Like when does he not invite important people to these parties?”

Yoongi rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. Just behave, alright? I’m not covering for you if you piss someone off.”

“Wouldn’t have dreamed of asking,” you mutter. Little does he know, you are already planning on behaving tonight, anyway. That is the name of the game, after all.

On a makeshift stage at the head of the ballroom, your father has just finished giving his opening remarks, thanking all his esteemed guests for making it to tonight’s banquet. Polite applause follows soon after, the clamor loud enough to mask the way you inhale sharply in surprise. Your back straightens imperceptibly, your body going rigid as if you had been struck by lightning. To your left, your brother is none the wiser to your panic, his attention glued to his phone.

When the clapping breaks, you nearly speak your prayers aloud when the ambush on your senses suddenly stops as well. You take one, two calming breaths, your core throbbing needily as you await the second wave to hit. Disappointed when nothing comes, you smooth your dress down, fighting the urge to look around to see if anyone was watching.

Legs slightly weaker and breath a little shakier, you walk among the throngs of people as they make their way to their seats, getting ready for dinner to be served. Instead of heading to where your family’s table would be located, you change direction halfway and walk towards the back. Yoongi does not comment, just nodding back at you and going the other way as well. This is normal etiquette for both of you, anyway—your father has always expected the two of you to wander during these parties, greeting guests and socializing with them as proper hosts should.

Except that isn’t on your agenda for tonight. Right now, you have a game to play, and you don’t intend on losing your focus to anything else.

It does not take you long to find who you are looking for. Just like he promised, Jungkook is standing close to the east entrance, standing stock still against the wall in his designer black suit. When he notices you approach, his stern demeanor softens, a small smile gracing his Adonis-like features. It is nothing more than a quirk of his lips, but it is enough for a flash of something sharp to catch your eye. It disappears before you can even blink, but you know that what you had seen is far from a figment of your imagination.

To an outsider, Jungkook looks as intimidating as any regular bodyguard should be: tall and muscular, coupled with a dangerous gaze that could pierce diamond. He certainly works like one too, as your father would have never hired him if he wasn’t 100% sure that Jungkook was up to his lofty standards.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there is something else that sets Jungkook apart if you just looked close enough. Even from a few feet apart, you can see the redness lining his irises, the deathly pallor of his skin, the sallowness of his cheeks. As you get closer, you notice other things too, like how his hands tremble against his sides and how his breathing has gotten shallow.

Everything about him screams vampire—a starving one, at that.

“How long has it been now?” you murmur, gently nudging your shoulder against his. You keep close to him, feeling yourself relax at the mere scent of him. Jungkook always somehow manages to smell good; you suppose that’s a given since you don’t think he’s even capable of sweating.

“Since the party started?” he asks.

“No, silly. How long has it been since you last fed?”

“Three days, seventeen hours, and twenty-one minutes, ma’am. But who’s counting?” he wheezes, offering you a strained smile. “Is it that obvious?”

“Not really, but I know you,” you reply. A little too well, in fact. “Seokjin hasn’t even allowed you a snack? Even once?”

Jungkook coughs out a laugh, amused. “You and I both know that hyung wouldn’t be that merciful. He did say that if I behave today, then maybe…” he trails off. You don’t miss the way he stares longingly at you, thinly veiled desire rolling off him in waves.

You feel the blood rushing up to your face, turning away from him in embarrassment. You have to remind yourself not to rub your neck, lest the make-up covering your fading scar give away your dirty little secret. “I’m sorry, by the way. I kind of did this to both of us, huh?”

Jungkook chuckles, snaking an arm around your waist. You shoot him a warning glare, but you both know he only dares to get comfortable with you when he’s sure no one is watching. Besides, it’s always been hard for you to get mad at the boy, not when he has always been so sweet with you.

“No, it’s fine. We all agreed to this when you proposed it. Besides, neither hyung nor I are going to risk our health when your safety is on the line. It’s not that bad, I promise.”

“If you’re sure,” you say, glancing at him doubtfully. You have never seen Jungkook quite so… unhinged before, as if he’s just a step away from teetering off the edge. It scares you just as much as it arouses you, but you make sure to keep that to yourself. “I honestly didn’t think Seokjin would be this ruthless.”

Jungkook snorts. “I’ve known him for a long time, Y/N. Trust me when I say that he is definitely going easy on us, especially you.”

“If this is easy, I’m afraid to know how he’s like when he goes all out then,” you say, but the thought of Seokjin becoming even more merciless than usual sends an excited shiver down your spine.

“How about you?” Jungkook asks. “Are you doing okay with the, um, you know?” He flushes, still shy to even say it aloud even after all the things the two of you have done together.

You giggle, unable to resist the urge to tease him. “You tell me, Koo. You can smell me, can’t you?” You lean closer, looking at him through your lashes. “You could probably smell from across the ballroom, especially with how hungry you are… My poor baby,” you coo. You have your chest pressed against his, your low neckline leaving nothing to the imagination. And yet, his gaze is fixed elsewhere, red eyes following the way your tongue darts out to lick your lips.

It’s a rhetorical question; you know he can smell you. The remote vibrator in your underwear has been on the lowest setting ever since the night started. The vibrations are persistent enough to keep you constantly aroused, but it’s never enough to give you what you really want.

And just when you think you’ve gotten used to the sensation, Seokjin will spike it up occasionally, causing your composure to crack ever so slightly. You’re pretty sure he hasn’t turned it on to the highest setting yet, but judging from how the dampness of your underwear has seeped past your thighs, you aren’t sure if you’d be able to keep your cool if he did.

“Do I smell good, Koo? I know you said my blood tastes sweetest when I’m like this, right?” you whisper, trailing a finger down his chest. He does not reply, his nostrils flaring as he struggles to control his breathing. He has a dangerous edge in his expression, a simmering darkness just begging to be released. It’s the kind of lust that sweet and lovely Jungkook hardly ever has the capability of showcasing, except during moments like these, when he is at his hungriest and most desperate.

“I’m not going to lose the game this early on,” he says, voice quiet. There is danger in still waters, you recall your mother telling you when you were younger, and you find that there is truth behind her words after all. Jungkook may sound calm, but the edge in his tone is laced with meaning.

“No fun,” you laugh.

As if on cue, your own dose of karma hits you when Seokjin decides to turn the vibrator up to its maximum setting. “Shit,” you gasp, barely holding back your moans. You nearly double over, mostly from shock, not expecting the intensity of the vibrations. You feel your legs turn to jelly, your body heating up and breaking out into a sweat. You have to lean against Jungkook for support, your grip on his biceps so tight that you’re afraid that you might have torn through the fabric. If he had been human, you might have worried that you were hurting him.

Jungkook stumbles slightly against your weight, surprising the both of you as he’s normally as sturdy as a brick wall. Your worry for Jungkook supersedes the lust addling your brain long enough to wonder if his blood fast is starting to affect him.

“S-sorry, Koo. Are you okay? Are you getting dizzy from hunger?” you ask, your words stilted and breathy as you try to ignore the pleasure coursing through your veins. “We can go somewhere and—fuckfuckfuck—”

You are unable to finish your sentence, having to muffle your moans by biting into his shoulder. You’re shaking and panting, the relentless assault on your clit causing a fresh wave of arousal to drip down your cunt and ruin your panties even further. The coil inside of you is close to snapping, your long-awaited climax just inches away. You have half a mind to reach under your dress and chase after your high, but the sensible part of you reminds you that you are still at a public event—your father’s public event, to be exact. So instead, you wrap your arms around Jungkook to restrain yourself, looking to all the world as if you were just two lovers in an embrace.

Just as you’re about to finish, the vibrator shuts off completely, snatching away any hopes of you coming. You want to scream in frustration, a few tears threatening to fall as you squeeze your eyes tightly. Eventually, you release your death grip on Jungkook, keeping your head bowed to hide the way you’re still short for breath. When you feel less hazy, you take a shaky step away from him while muttering apologies to Jungkook.

“S-sorry about that. So much for Seokjin going easy on me, huh? I really didn’t expect him to pull a fast one on me like that—”

When Jungkook doesn’t respond, you turn back to face him. “O-oh,” you whisper lamely, your blood heating up when your gaze meets his. “Jungkook?” you call out, though you don’t think he’ll be up for much conversation right now.

You have never quite seen him like this before. His eyes have started glowing red, so much so that there’s barely a sliver of white remaining. His fangs have extended far past what should have been humanly possible, its sharp tips puncturing his bottom lip. He doesn’t even appear to be moving, not even showing any signs that he might have been breathing at all.

“Jungkook,” you repeat. You tug on his sleeve hesitantly, but he stands as still as a statue. “Jungkook, get a hold of yourself!” It takes you a few moments of coaxing and shaking before some semblance of lucidity returns to him.

He blinks a few times, but his incisors have yet to retract. “Sorry,” he grunts, bringing a hand up to his face. He rubs at his eyes, and when he reopens them, they’ve stopped glowing. His irises are still a deep shade of red. “Sorry, I didn’t think I’d lose myself there. That’s never happened before.”

“You were kinda scary there for a second,” you laugh nervously. “Almost like you were going to eat me alive.”

“I honestly might have,” Jungkook admits. “If Seokjin hadn’t stopped you from coming right then, I might have just fed from you right in the open.”

You shiver. You kind of hate yourself for liking the sound of that, even if it was hypothetical. Your bodyguards wouldn’t risk your reputation like that. For a moment, it almost could have been real though, your mind unhelpfully supplies.

“You would’ve lost the game then,” you say instead.

Jungkook chuckles weakly, shaking his head. “You, Seokjin, and I already knew from the start that if anyone was going to lose, it was always going to be me.”

“Conceding defeat, then?” you ask. You press your thighs together in anticipation, catching the way he watches your movements like a predator awaiting its prey. “Is anyone watching us?”

With your back facing the party, you would never have known if anyone was close enough to hear your strangled moans back then. Ever the attentive bodyguard despite hunger and lust clouding his mind, Jungkook had still made sure that the two of you were far away enough from prying eyes. Well, with the exception of one.

“He was watching us,” Jungkook mumbles. You don’t turn to look when he points somewhere behind you. “He’s by the northwest entrance. He was watching us the whole time, but now he’s talking to your brother’s bodyguard.”

“How much do you wanna bet he won’t notice us sneaking out?” you ask, giggling when Jungkook gives you an incredulous look. “What? Didn’t you once say you could sneak me out of anywhere without my father knowing?”

“Your father and Kim Seokjin are two different people in two different leagues,” he points out. He glances at Seokjin once more, rubbing his neck nervously. “Oh, he’s definitely going to figure out what we’re doing the moment we get out of here.”

You shrug, already tugging him by the hand towards the restroom outside the ballroom. You wink at him, your giggles full of mischief. “Then it’s settled. We lose this game, and then we start another one.”

“Another one?” Jungkook echoes, following you like a dutiful pet. When you exit the ballroom, you find the reception area empty save for a few other security guards loitering by the elevators, surreptitiously on their phones. You easily make it past them and head to where the restrooms are, setting your sights on the polished wooden doors.

You push Jungkook inside the women’s restroom, locking the door once you both are settled inside. Turning to face him with an eager grin, you almost let out a laugh at the overenthusiastic gleam in his eyes. “New game plan. I call this one the ‘let’s see if we can get off before Seokjin catches us’ game.”

“Sounds thrilling,” Jungkook chuckles, but he’s already opening his arms when you walk over to him. You accept his embrace, pressing him against the marble sinks and slotting your lips together.

The kiss is fiery, all teeth and no finesse. He has one hand grabbing fistfuls of your ass and the other cupping your jaw as he holds you in place. Your own hands almost seem like they don’t know what to do, scrambling up and down his sides before finally locking around his neck as your mind goes blank.

Jungkook’s incisors cut your lips accidentally, causing droplets of blood to trickle down. They don’t even make it past your chin before Jungkook’s voracious tongue is already lapping it up, his groans echoing in the vastly large room.

You barely register the pain before Jungkook is offering another distraction in the form of his lips trailing down to your jaw until he reaches your neck, his breath leaving goosebumps across your skin. “Y/N,” he rasps, his fangs dizzyingly close.

Before he can choose to do anything, you trail a finger to his chin, forcing him to look at you. His eyes appear glazed over, almost as if he isn’t even fully cognizant of his surroundings. But when he catches sight of the way a fresh droplet of blood is already beginning to take form on your lips, his gaze hardens immediately.

You smirk, giggling when he groans at you licking up your bloodied lip. “No marks on my neck, baby. You’re gonna have to drink from down there.”

In any other scenario, you might have been concerned at how quickly he drops to his knees. He doesn’t look too bothered, however, as he bunches up your dress to your chest and tears your pathetic excuse for underwear into shreds. The small purple vibrator falls to the ground along with it, neither of you worried about where it is rolling away.

“You’re so fucking wet,” he groans, burying his nose into your cunt. You yelp loudly, sensitive after hours of edging. You unconsciously try to trap him with your thighs, but he holds them apart with an iron grip. From your vantage point, you can only see his eyelashes grazing your stomach as he licks two long stripes across your slit, nearly causing you to fall over had he not been holding you.

“Shit.” He leans back to look at you properly, his mouth shiny with your slick. “Can I? Can I please?”

You don’t even know what exactly it is that he’s asking, but you’re already nodding anyway, eager for him to do something, anything. “Yes, yes, yes. C’mon, Koo. Give it to me,” you whine. Your voice sounds hoarse to your ears, desperate and delirious.

Not one to disobey, Jungkook does exactly that. One moment he is on the floor and the next he is lifting you with ease, placing you on the marble counter and standing between your legs to keep them spread. He returns to kneeling and hooks your legs onto his shoulders. He caresses your thighs with a gentleness that seems out of place, craning his neck sideways so he can plant a chaste kiss on your inner thigh.

You whimper impatiently, nudging him with your knee. “Jungkook, this is sweet and all, but my pussy has been aching to be stuffed for hours now so I’d really appreciate it if we can just get on with the pro-o-g-gram—” you stammer, your verbal skills forgotten the moment his thumb brushes your clit. Your body jerks on instinct, his delicate touch like lightning on your skin. “Ah, fuck! Jungkook, please!”

You have your head thrown back, unable to keep still when he proceeds to push a finger into you without warning. He pumps into you slowly, the drag of his fingertips torturously slow as you incoherently beg for more.

“More? You fucking asked for it,” he grunts, adding a second finger and being rewarded with another chorus of moans from you. He fucks his fingers into you like a drill, the obscene squelch of your sopping cunt coupled with the sound of palm hitting against your clit is like music to his ears. He can sense the way your blood is rushing through you right now, pleasure thrumming through your limbs and making you intoxicatingly sweet.

“I can’t wait to taste you, darling,” he says, licking his lips in anticipation. “You must love this, don’t you? Love it when I finger you like this, even though you know hyung is going to catch us and punish us for this?”

You nod fervently, incoherent babbles dribbling from your open mouth. “W-want both of you! Want S-Seokjin to catch us and make us cry.” You gasp, your stomach clenching when he curls his fingers in just the right way to make your toes curl in pleasure. “Koo, I’m a-almost there!”

Your pussy, despite hours of being constantly aroused, still feels like a vice grip, selfishly sucking him back. He relishes your moans, drawing more sounds out of you that you had not known you were capable of producing. There is no time or space for shame as your whines grow higher in pitch, calling out his name when you sense your orgasm approach.

Jungkook feels feverish when he finally takes a bite from your skin, your blood made sweeter when you climaxed from his fingers alone. The meat of your thigh gushes crimson like a fountain upon his desert-like tongue. He is drunk on you; not even nectar can be sweeter than you.

He drinks for what feels like hours, lapping at your wound until he cannot stomach another drop. A blatant lie, of course, but he also does not wish to drink you dry. So with a heavy heart, he pulls away, leaving one last lick up your thigh to stop the bleeding. He slumps back on his knees, his head lolling drowsily as he looks at you with a satisfied smile.

You are in no better condition, your chest heaving as you struggle to regain your sanity after both the mind-blowing orgasm and blood loss. Still, you smirk sleepily back at him, your eyebrow raised as if in question.

“What?” Jungkook drawls.

Instead of a verbal response, you point at his crotch with your feet. When he looks down, his dick is completely hard, his erection straining against his slacks. He was so deeply engrossed in the flavor of you that he had not even stopped to consider his own arousal, but now that it has been so kindly pointed out by you, the need to be inside of you consumes him like a fire burning him on a stake.

A guttural sound escapes his throat, a renewed fervor pushing him to climb to his feet in an instant. Impatient, he struggles for a moment to loosen his belt, has half a mind to just tear his pants in two when—

“Jeon Jungkook, can you hear me?”

Jungkook stiffens. Unable to hear the voice coming from his earpiece, you give Jungkook a quizzical look, wondering why he’d suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Koo? What’s the matter?” you ask, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Jeon Jungkook, answer me,” Seokjin’s voice is slightly garbled by static, but the authority in his tone is unmistakable.

Jungkook swallows thickly. He lifts the small microphone attached to his lapel, bringing it closer to his lips. “H-hyung?” he stutters. Your eyes widen, realization and panic seizing you.

You both share a frantic look. Fuck!

Seokjin chuckles darkly. “Took you long enough. Did you and our little mistress have fun?”

“W-well, we—” Jungkook stammers, looking to you for help. You shrug your shoulders, equally as tongue-tied. He returns to his mic, “We were just, umm…”

“Open the door,” is all Seokjin utters before Jungkook’s earpiece goes dead. Jungkook rips the small piece of plastic from his ear, both of you turning to the door when a loud knock reverberates across the restroom.

“It’s…” Jungkook cuts off, but he doesn’t need to say anything for you to know exactly who is waiting outside the door.

“Open the door,” Seokjin repeats, but there’s a certain quality to his voice that makes both you and Jungkook immediately want to follow his command. Without another word, Jungkook stands up stiffly, his feet dragging as he unlocks the door to allow him inside.

“No fair,” you complain. You pout, crossing your arms. “You used your siren voice on us!”

“I wouldn’t have needed to use it if you two weren’t acting like a pair of brats,” Seokjin says, sickly sweet. He’s smiling, but there is darkness lingering in his expression. It doesn’t help that your lower body is still exposed, free for his gaze to roam. “Do you have any idea how much trouble the two of you are in?”

“I’m sure my father is hardly concerned,” you scoff, filled with false bravado. You smirk when his eyebrows furrow, keen to tempt his anger. After all, Seokjin is the most fun to play with when he lets go. “Besides, I pay you to look out for me, don’t I? I’d expect you to come up with an excuse on our behalf.”

“I suppose so,” Seokjin hums. He glances at Jungkook, whose prior arousal has yet to subside. In a flash, Seokjin has Jungkook backed up to a toilet cabinet, roughly grabbing his bulge. Jungkook wheezes, his eyes flashing open in surprise.

“And you?” Seokjin asks, using his free hand to force Jungkook to face him. “You understand that you left your post, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Jungkook gasps out. Seokjin’s grip tightens, and Jungkook releases a soft moan.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes hyung,” Jungkook emphasizes, his hips unconsciously rutting upwards. Seokjin situates his thigh in between Jungkook’s legs, letting the younger boy rock against it for a few moments before pulling back just as quickly. Jungkook whines pathetically, jaw agape.

“You both lost the game. What makes you think you deserve anything?” Seokjin asks. He directs his question to you, glancing over his shoulder. “Well? Did I interrupt something I wasn’t supposed to see?”

When you don’t reply, Seokjin frowns. “Answer me, Y/N.”

His voice is musical, and it pulls the answer out of you, unable to resist. “Yes,” you say, through gritted teeth.

“What were you going to do?”

“He was going to fuck me,” you say. You smirk when his shoulders tense. “We were going to fuck without you.”

At your admission, Seokjin considers you with an unreadable expression. The tension in the air is tangible. Jungkook has his eyes averted, but judging from the way his cock twitches in his trousers, you know he’s also aware of what’s going to happen. All you need to do is wait a little, and then Seokjin will—

He steps away from Jungkook and walks towards the chaise lounge situated near the wall of the entrance. He sits on it primly, his back straightened as though he were about to call you in for tea. “Go on then,” he says, flapping his hands flippantly. When neither of you moves, he quirks an eyebrow in amusement. “What? Don’t let me ruin your fun. Continue where you left off.”

“Um…” you say, thoroughly at a loss. This is usually the point where Seokjin decides to punish either of you, or perhaps drag the two of you back home for more adequate disciplinary action. Instead, he seems content to allow the two of you to do as you please. He has a mask of indifference on, and it’s always been a little hard for you to figure out what he was really thinking.

“But…” Jungkook gulps. “W-we wanted you to, um…”

“What? To join you? Oh please,” Seokjin laughs, a little cruelly. “No, I’d rather not stop your fun. Carry on.”

“But—”

“Carry. On.” Seokjin commands, his power trickling onto his words. At once, Jungkook straightens up, his feet carrying him towards you and spreading your legs apart. You gasp, the sudden movement surprising you.

“Seokjin, what are you..?”

“Fuck her, Jungkook,” Seokjin interrupts, ignoring your baffled stutters. “Fuck her until she can’t even stand.”

Jungkook shoves down his pants and underwear in one swift motion, kicking them off his ankles somewhere behind him. He situates his cock against you, rubbing the tip against your slit for a second before thrusting forward and splitting you open.

You both scream and moan at the sensation, your warm walls clamped around him deliciously. He begins his brutal pace immediately, both due to his desperation to meet his orgasm and also the magic imbued in the simple command given by Seokjin.

The intoxicating roll of his hips has your eyes seeing stars as he pulls out nearly all the way before pushing back in. He angles himself until he hits your sweet spot with every thrust, ripping ragged whimpers from your throat. Your second orgasm is quickly building before you know it, your body tightening up as he continues to rut into you.

With a trembling moan, you gush around him, coating his cock with your arousal. Your legs are still shaking even after you finish, your entire body going limp from the exertion. Jungkook slows down, still painfully hard inside of you.

“Did I tell you to stop? Keep going,” Seokjin utters quietly. He is the picture of calmness, his hands folded delicately onto his lap.

“What?” you exclaim. “I can’t, no, it’s too much—”

But when it comes to Seokjin, his word is the law. Between the two of you, Jungkook has always been more susceptible to his voice, completely powerless under Seokjin’s influence. And so, Jungkook resumes fucking into you, mindlessly obedient.

“I’m too—Jungkook, stop, I’m sensitive,” you cry out, but your pleas go unheard as he reaches between the two of you, his thumb grazing your clit and causing your entire body to jolt forward. Your walls squeeze around his cock in response and Jungkook trembles in pleasure. His ministrations on your clit, in tandem with the swiveling of his hips, are almost vicious, the sting both pleasurable and painful.

You can feel the beginnings of tears forming, the assault on your senses almost too unbearable to handle. “S-Seokjin, please! Make him stop!”

Jungkook is nearing his climax, his rhythm growing erratic and showing no signs of slowing down. He is unable to hear you past his desire, completely entranced and hypnotized.

“You want him to stop? Fine,” Seokjin says, amused. “Jungkook, stop.”

“No, please!” Jungkook lets out a tortured wail. His body freezes in place, his cock still twitching inside of you. The poor boy lets out a few stray tears, his eyes squeezed shut as his body refuses to do his bidding. He sobs, his voice cracking as he pleads, “Hyung, I was so close!”

“Not my problem,” Seokjin giggles. He gets up from his perch on the sofa, leisurely walking towards the both of you as he surveys the frozen boy with a satisfied grin. “That ought to teach you a lesson,” he says, patting Jungkook on the back.

“And you,” he says, facing you, “aren’t getting away so easily.”

You gulp, a shudder running down your spine. “B-but, the party..?”

Snorting incredulously, Seokjin taps his microphone on. “Namjoon-ssi? Yes, I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly. I found Miss Y/N. It seems that she is having stomach problems, so I’ll be escorting her home. Please inform Master Min about her early departure,” he says in one breath, shutting his earpiece off before the other man can reply.

“It seems like everything is already taken care of,” Seokjin says angelically, even though he is anything but. He bends down to pick up Jungkook’s discarded pants, handing them to the younger. He also finds your forgotten vibrator under one of the sinks, picking it up and placing it neatly into his pocket.

He smiles. “Get dressed, both of you. The night is still young, after all.”

[ellstersmash]

if you wanted the sun

Fandom: The Wayhaven Chronicles Pairing: Mason x Theo West Rating: T for Teen (language) Words: 1639 [Read on Ao3]

mason takes theo somewhere special, for @wayhavensummer days 5 (stargazing) + 6 (date night). extra kisses to @brightpinkpeppercorn​ for the inspiration ♥

“What the hell is this?” Theo climbs out of the passenger side. Hands shoved into her jacket pockets, she slams the door shut with one hip and stares up at the letters mounted above the building.

Mason walks up next to her. “A planetarium.”

“Wow,” she drawls. “Thanks, man. It's tough navigating the world without being able to read a fucking sign.”

He snorts and heads for the door. A wide white path, clean, lawn edged harsh and neat, leads to the entryway.

“I meant what are we doing here?”

That's not an answer he's prepared to give up, but even without it, she follows. Steps as familiar as her heartbeat right behind him, faster, then she catches up.

“They're closed,” she points out in a deadpan tone, leaning against the glass next to a list of white-etched business hours. “See? I have eyes.”

Mason glares at her wearily but she screws her face up to match, then sticks her tongue out to make him break.

And he does. He always does.

“C'mon, you little shit,” he says, and veers off the sidewalk, hugging the whitewashed walls to the back door. Metal, up a few shoddy-looking cement steps, all lit by one long loudly buzzing fluorescent bulb. A shake of the handle tells him enough: the hardware's sturdy but there's no deadbolt to break.

Grip firm, he yanks the door open.

Theo blinks, frowns, then climbs the steps. Her fingers smooth across the shredded wood around a small mangled hole where the latch strike busted free.

“Sometimes I forget you can do stuff like that,” she says, wearing an uncertain expression.

“Surprise.”

“You know, I probably could've picked that and saved the museum a buck.”

Mason shrugs and squeezes past her, swinging backward and hooking a finger in her belt loop as he passes. “In my defense, sometimes I forget you can do stuff like that.”

They wander down the hall past a few Staff Only and storage rooms and into the lobby, eyes peeled for cameras or even a cleaning crew. Despite the sheer size of it, there’s no sign of security. Probably reserved for the museum next door and all its grand exhibits and ancient artifacts, but there’s definitely some shit in here worth stealing.

Dotting the floor are embedded golden plaques with names and companies, ego-appeasers for generous donors, and at the center sits a large elegant model of the solar system. After a cursory search, Theo finds a basic-looking switch behind the membership counter that brings it to life, planets crawling their thrown race around the sun while a few moons whirl around their mother planets.

She hops onto the counter—first attempt a false start that makes her snicker, but the second takes—and thumps her sneakers against it. “Looks different than I remember it.”

Her voice is hushed, though there’s no need. Even so, it echoes around the room. Bounces off the sparkling floors and high ceilings and smooth painted walls. Follows a million paths into Mason's ears.

“Yeah?” he asks. “You come here often?”

She shakes her head, craning her neck to see all there is to see from her vantage point. “City's too far for school field trips. But I came once a few years ago. It's weird being here in the dark.”

“Want the lights on?”

“I don't know, do you want to spend the night in jail?” she shoots back, leaning forward on the heels of her palms. “Because that's how you spend the night in jail.”

Mason hums thoughtfully and approaches her perch. Theo doesn't shy back when he parts her knees to stand between them, knuckles planted on the desk beside her hands. A top-down view of long lashes as her gaze flickers to his lips.

Funny how that doesn’t get old.

“Think they'd let us bunk together?” he asks. “Because I'd be down for that.”

“Bet you would.”

It's late and she's tired, eyes all soft, blinking a little slower and staring a little long. Mason's reaching up for her before he can think about it, not that thinking about it would end any differently. Not these days. It's just more time spent not doing it, so why bother?

Fingers beneath her chin, his thumb sweeps across her lower lip—she follows it with her tongue as if trying to taste him there.

Kissing her is dangerous, but he does it anyway. Real quick, but he sinks back in like he knew he fucking would, all too ready to lose himself for just a minute in this one good thing. Her lips. Her tongue. Her hands climbing up his chest. Her eyes, blue-black, when she pulls away with a hard shake of her head that tells him she got lost, too.

“So, uh…” She clears her throat. “I'm assuming we didn't drive for three hours to break in here just to fool around on the front desk.”

“Sounds like a good time to me.” Mason grins and gives her room, throwing an arm around her shoulders once she's got her feet back on the floor. He tilts his head toward a set of double doors at the back of the lobby. “Wanna catch a show?”

The nod she gives him is almost gleeful.

Inside the theater is pitch black, doors sealed so well not even he can see. Theo digs in his pocket for his phone and the screen bathes both their faces in harsh blue light before she turns the flashlight on and the screen off.

It’s an impressive place. The domed ceiling takes up the whole upper half of the structure, stark white against the dark carpet and soundproofing and circular rows of seats. The projector in the center of the room, almost futuristic in appearance, has its own stand and accompanying instrument panel.

“That’s new,” Theo murmurs, flashlight sweeping back and forth across the panel as she inspects the various labels on each of the sliders and switches and screens.

“You know how to work this thing?”

She turns to him with an incredulous stare. “Do I—? What do I look like, some kind of A/V wizard? No, I don’t know how to work it. Do you?”

Mason looks over the panel. He flicks a switch mounted alone on the side, and the edges of the screen glow faintly as the projector whirs. 

“Lucky guess,” Theo mumbles. Reaching past him, she presses another button, and all at once Mason’s senses are slammed by light and sound and vibration. He staggers, clasping his hands over his ears.

Almost as quickly, it abates. 

“Shit!” Theo hisses through her teeth, hand soothing on his shoulder. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he says. “I’m fine. But let’s not do that again.”

“I think this one’s the master volume.”

She slides the knob all the way down, and they hope that means off but he braces for the worst. Thankfully, this time, it’s only the screen and without the rest, it’s not too much. Just a dizzying sky filled with pinpoints of light spinning silently above them.

“Woah,” Theo says with her eyes cast upward. 

“Well? What do you think?” Mason asks, just to hear it.

But the smile on her face is more than answer enough. She slides his phone back in his pocket and takes his hand instead. Brings his knuckles to her lips. Leads him to the rows of seats and they pick two and clamber over, Mason’s arm settling back around her shoulders. Easy.

The view abruptly changes to one of an astronaut on a spacewalk. As their tether drifts weightless around them, their feet hover above the faraway Earth, all that emptiness in between and nothing to show the scale of such an unfathomable distance.

“You know,” Theo muses, “I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger. Well—” She gazes longingly at the scene. “Ok, longer than that.”

Mason does know. She’s mentioned it sort of in passing, before, though not as a story to be told. “What changed?”

She shrugs one shoulder. “Nothing. Got talked out of it. Bobby was going to school for journalism and wanted us to have more classes together. Said my p— Uh. My writing was ‘too good to go undeveloped.’”

That last bit is accentuated with a snide voice and finger quotes but it still sounds off. In Mason’s experience, that shithead reporter doesn't know how to give a compliment without wanting something for it.

Theo bumps her elbow into his, a sweet half-smile cutting through his growing rage. “I see that look. And you're right, it was total bullshit. He just wanted someone to carry him to graduation.”

“It’s interesting how nothing I learn about that asshole makes me not want to punch him.”

“Yeah,” and she goes so quiet. “But guess which idiot fell for it?”

Not you, he wants to say. Just... another younger stupider you.

Yeah, that won't come out right. He squeezes her hand instead.

The idea of her out there, stuffed into that suit, all that nothing between her and here, makes Mason’s chest tighten in a way he’d rather not think about. But she would love it. And she’d be incredible, he knows, brave and smart and decisive and curious.

“You could go back.”

“Maybe. Probably won't, though. I've lost so much time. And momentum. And shit, I'm too tired to sign up for twelve more years of academia. Besides, if I was up there, I wouldn't—” She shifts next to him and drums her fingers on the armrest, little echoes in Mason's skull. “You know. Wouldn't be here. Doing this.”

Fuck, her heart is so fast. Flying through beats like they're disposable. As a solar flare arcs across the ceiling, she meets his eyes for a split second, skin painted with freckles like stars, and he gets it.

[blu-archer]

Disaster Day

There are probably going to be grammar mistakes, because I can’t proof read to save my life... But hopefully it’s not hectic

Anyway, this was requested.. I kind of got carried away a bit, but I hope it’s close to what you may have wanted!! 

Word count: 6691

SNZ - Allergies

‘Sickie’: Jungkook

Caretaker: VHope

like [mild] inducing I guess... it’s meant to be cute and like, familiar..?

Hybrid Universe

*Awkward Peace Signs* 

uhh yeah, thank you for support and please enjoy it..<3

****

Jungkook was exhausted.

To be fair, his day had been jam-packed full of lectures and dance activities, so it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise – if only that was the initial cause of his problems. No, despite his day of hard work his fatigue plagued him less due to the events of his schedule and more specifically to the day. His annual disaster day.

It had started when Park Areum had pranced up to one of his best friends in the food court that morning. Giving a shy smile before unloading a gift bag of chocolates and whipping a small bouquet of various bright flowers out from behind her back as she whispered a soft ‘happy valentines’. Jungkook had to force the urge to groan, not wanting to appear rude while Jaehyun politely accepted the gifts, shooting an apologetic glance towards the hybrid. And from there it had only gotten worse.

It was rather unfair. Jungkook loved flowers, they were beautiful, and they smelt sweet and pretty, but the love was clearly  not mutual. It hadn’t taken him long before the incessant itch clung to his sinuses, making paying attention to his classes increasingly difficult. All around him students traded cards and flowers with mirth, and he wanted to go home. Yugyeom had given him some of his own allergy medication, upping the dosage, but it was never truly effective for Jungkook. His hybrid genes just burnt off anything in his system before any real progress could be made. So, he was left to suffer.

It was hard to believe his day had taken such a turn for the worst, it had started off so well too. 6am he had been nudged awake by soft prodding and strokes along his sides. This had caused him to twist and muffle his giggles into Taehyung’s bare chest - only to realise that he had trapped himself in the infamous ‘iron cuddle grip’ and had left himself vulnerable to the hands rousing him from sleep. Hoseok hadn’t hesitated to continue, letting Jungkook’s whines and squirms be responsible for waking up Taehyung, and even if the witch had pouted and been grumpy for the first half an hour, it had quickly dissolved into teasing and discussion about whatever usual whacked dream Tae had had during the night. They had eaten breakfast together and shared kisses in the shower and had even gone as far to drop him off at school together to give him final kisses and promises for the day ahead.

Yet now he sat miserably in his drawing class, catching a sharp flurry of sneezes into his palm, and trying his best to sink into the shadows and away from everyone’s lingering gazes.

It wasn’t like he could help it. The frequency of the attacks were becoming more apparent with each passing moment and being in an enclosed theatre wasn’t helping. The girl next to him offered a sympathetic look before digging out some tissues for him, gesturing to a smudge of charcoal on his face as well.

Jungkook didn’t even care how desperate he appeared when he excused himself to the bathrooms to blow his nose. His head was beginning the ache and no amount of sniffling could help his running nose. There was a lengthy moment in the bathrooms just dedicated to splashing water on his face before staring blurrily at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were tinged red and his nose had taken on such a bright hue that if he walked home someone would probably grab him to shoot a cold commercial. Looking closely – and this very well may have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that he could see a fine layer pollen sticking to his black ears. It was probably there. With how tight his chest was feeling, there had to have been something on him.

He coughed and blew his nose once more, contemplating if it would help if he just blocked his nostrils with the tissues from the rest of the session. He would look like a fool, but it could help… then again, with how sensitive his nose was currently it would probably just make it worse.

 A big part of him wondered what Tae and Hobi were doing, they weren’t allergic to flowers like he was so they were often able to still enjoy the day without having to worry too much about how they were going to feel at the end of it.

Hoseok had probably been spoiled by his classes and other staff members. Even before they’d started dating, Jungkook could see how much he appreciated the small little love notes or being gifted with a flower or a surprise date, or just being able to flaunt a relationship and be emerged in a bubble of emotions that left people staring longingly. He was able to do and get all of those things now, perhaps not all from Jungkook, but he got everything he deserved. Valentine’s day was always a big day from Hobi, probably because he never really cared about it before – especially back when he had still not to come out. And Jungkook was glad that he got spoilt now, he loved that people loved his boyfriend, and he especially loved how after being showered in complements and affection all day, the dancer came home and reached out in preference to his boyfriends.

With regards to his witch, the events shouldn’t be that much different. Taehyung was probably hiding behind some shelves, going through spell books. Or playfully flirting with Namjoon and Yoongi again. Or knocking off the love attempts of his small following of ‘fans’ that often came to the shop to swoon over him – much to Yoongi’s annoyance. Jungkook could never actually tell how Tae’s day would go. It seemed that every day was a day that someone expressed their ‘love’ for him, that hadn’t changed from when they had been teenagers.

Sinking to the tiled floor, he brought out his phone, frowning at the new crack in the screen from when he’d dropped it early that day. His ears drooped low, almost hiding his face as he stared down at their group chat.

Tae had posted an image about an hour ago of him fanning away faux tears while holding up three red roses dramatically, claiming that someone had -Unsurprisingly - confessed their undying love to him. He could see Yoongi over his boyfriends plaid shoulder entirely unamused at his apprentices actions. No doubt Tae had been lectured or had been subjected to a mouthful of tired, witty complaints after taking the photo.

Jungkook smiled at the quick replies beneath it.

From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

“Hope they have life insurance.”

 From: ~♥Tae♥~

“Hobi... You can’t kill them….”

 From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

“Don’t need to. Poor heart must have given out in defeat after you told them about your two super protective boyfriends.”

 From: ~♥Tae♥~

“Two super protective, lovable and sinfully attractive boyfriends. And yes. I think a part of it did, and again when Yoongi interrupted them after they propositioned for a number swap…. but on an upside. I got to boast about you both again!! Highlight of my working hours.”

 After some more mild threats, Hobi mentioned some other points of his day – mostly speaking about the dare Jimin had been put up too, crashing into the staff room that morning wearing a bright pink and white cupid outfit with wings and a halo, throwing around confetti and giving him sunflowers, and then all of the cute cupids throughout the separate grades coming to hand out things or sing to designated students.

There were some time gaps in the conversations after that, between the sections where either of them were too busy too answer, but they seemed to be having fun as they switched to teasing each other. Both had left prompts or questions for Jungkook more than once, always willing to drag the youngest into their banter. Although his absence wasn’t uncharacteristic, his eyes still lingered on the softly toned question that Tae had slid out barely fifteen minutes before, asking whether Jungkook was busy and what he had been up too…

 Not feeling up to making excuses, Jungkook tapped into his camera and took a quick, slightly blurry selca – not even bothering to double check it before he sent it through the chat. He looked terrible, and he would still look terrible if he checked it anyway.  He breathed heavily from his mouth as he wiped his nose, only to increase the sensitive tingles that pulsed through him. Jungkook could feel his eyes burn with irritated tears and they itched. God he wanted to rub at them, and his ears, they always got this way when he was around flowers for too long, but he knew it was a bad idea. University was not the place to let his allergies and instincts completely control his actions.

He lifted his phone lazily to see new messages had come through.

 From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

“Oh Bun…”

 From: ~♥Tae♥~

“Are you okay?”

“Allergies?”

“Is it bad there?”

“Can you breathe fine? Should I come fetch you?”

 From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

“I think you should leave early… Tae, ask Yoongi to borrow his car..”

“and maybe bring something menthol.”

 ..

“I’m fine mostly… Just really sneezy. And my chest is a little tight but it’s not that bad, probably frojnm” –

Jungkook sneezed openly into his lap, blinking in a daze before realising he had accidentally sent the message.

“from exposure.”***

..

From: ~♥Tae♥~

“I’m going to leave now, should I come fetch you from a specific building? Or wait outside?”

..

There was a small part of Jungkook that felt bad for being an inconvenience, but mostly he was satisfied that he was going to go  home. Even if that meant that Tae missed out on some of the usual adoring customers being even more adoring towards him, Jungkook will get to shower and nap and just exist in peace for a bit. And that sounded great.

“outside. I’ll leave now.”

..

From: ~♥Sunshine☼~

“love you Jungkook. I’ll be home as soon as I can!”

 From: ~♥Tae♥~

“I’ll be there in ten minutes, maximum.”

   He didn’t waste any more time. Discarding his used tissues, Jungkook shuffled back to his classroom. He coughed into his fist as soon as the door to the theatre had closed behind him, locking him inside with his demons. Thankfully he didn’t have to explain much to his lecturer. They had taken one look at him and just waved him away sympathetically, telling him to feel better and to try get some work done later if possible. Given the all clear, he had practically sprinted out of the room after grabbing his supplies.  

 The sun beamed down on him, almost brutally. His black wardrobe wasn’t helping much in that regard, but he walked hastily through the bustling courtyard to find the shading parking area just outside the security gates. A campus guard gave him a brief wave as he passed, eyes softening a little at the state of the shy, yet charismatic hybrid that he had come to know. Jungkook held his wrist to his nose as he ventured further away from the small crowds of people. He found an old bench that was situated under one of the many large Korean oak trees, that’s shadows were cast over his skin mimicking that of a cool breeze. It wasn’t the most comfortable seat, but it served his purpose. After getting as comfortable as he could on the frail wood, he tried once more to clear his nose. It was a hopeless attempt of trying to rid himself of symptoms, one that had obviously failed and had left him sinking back into the old harsh wood of the bench with closed eyes. He couldn’t smell the usually musky, earthy scent that clung to this area and he wasn’t willing to send himself into a fit by looking up at the dappled light shining through the leaves over head – although he could probably recall each and every possible shade that it could be right then. He’d tried to paint the various lighting on the leaves many times, year-round. The view was usually one he’d never want to miss, but the day had taken every last bit of energy he had and trying to appreciate it right this second just wasn’t going to be possible.

 “Kook?”

Jungkook opened his eyes to see Taehyung peering out of the driver window of Yoongi’s much loved Jeep. Had ten minutes passed already? It hadn’t seemed like it… Jungkook blinked slowly at the vehicle a few steps in front of him, reached to rub subconsciously at his eyes. Taehyung looked just has beautiful as he had that morning, his pinched brows more prominent by the red bandana that exposed his forehead. He had parked the car at a slant so that he could pull off easily, not caring about the irked glances security was sending his way for taking up more than one parking.

Realising a bit belatedly that this was his lift,  Jungkook sniffed and grabbed his things, shuffling tiredly to the passenger door. He vaguely heard Tae say something else as he hopped into the seat and tossed his things to the back, but he wasn’t really paying attention. A warm hand brushed through his hair, down his arm and then settled on his own fist. Jungkook closed his eyes once more and rested his head against the glass as Tae started driving, his hand being intertwined into a tight grasp that lay between the both of them as he drifted languidly to the sound of tires on tarmac and Tae’s gentle humming.

    **

“How is he?” Hoseok asked as Taehyung grabbed two of the three grocery bags the elder had been carrying inside, both moving too quickly put them onto the kitchen counter before starting to pack things away.

Hoseok had wanted to come home straight after work but had opted to going shopping in order to at least make something up for later if Jungkook was up for it – he was able to grab a few things for his boyfriends as well. They usually didn’t get things for each other when it came to these types of holidays, but he couldn’t help himself.

Taehyung shrugged. “He was really tired, so I had to wake him up a few times before he could shower, then he just kind of went to bed. I barely got a full sentence out of him.”

Hoseok sighed heavily. It wasn’t as worrying as the first few times he’d seen Jungkook get allergy attacks, he’d learnt that the hybrid tended to get stuck in his head and what he was feeling. Most of the time Jungkook didn’t even realise that he was going quiet, but Hoseok wished that he would at least let them help more.

“He probably just needs some time for the worst of it to calm down, I bought some scented lotions for later. If he wants it. Some dark chocolate too.”

“Should we make a soup or something?” Tae pondered. They usually stuck to warm foods when it came to allergies and colds, especially with Jungkook who was prone to rhinitis.  

“I was thinking about making a curry, or ordering one in if Jungkook needed us, but if he’s still asleep we can start making it now. The spices would help a bit.” Hoseok pursed his lips as he looked over what was yet to be packed away, his hands resting on his hips.

He startled a bit when he felt Taehyung wrap his arms around him from behind, resting his head into the crook of Hoseok’s neck as he engulfed the dancer into a fierce yet tender hug. Taehyung laid a kiss just below Hobi’s ear, smiling against the elders skin before sighing happily and relaxing onto his boyfriends sturdy frame.

“Why don’t you go shower so long? You’ve also had a long day… I’ll start cutting everything for you, I’ve gotten better - you’ve taught me well.” Tae said softly, his chest warming as Hoseok leant back as fluidly as he had leant on the dancer. “Then we can set up for a nice night in. Kookie didn’t even bother to set up a nest earlier, so I think it would be nice if we tried to do something like that for him. Then he can be comfortable enough to decide if he wants help or not…”

Hobi chuckled. “A little eager?”

“What can I say? He’s adorable… and I wasn’t the one that bought scented lotions and chocolate.”

“Touché.” Hoseok stepped out from the embrace with a grin, not wanting to inform the witch that he’d gotten those specifically because he knew the other two enjoyed it. He didn’t typically get the same reactions from it as they did, but he loved the care involved. Thinking about what the night entailed got his body buzzed with warm sparks as the expensive gift bag that he’d smuggled inside using his duffle bag came to mind. He couldn’t wait to for his boyfriends to see what he’d gotten them. “I’ll go shower, hopefully Kook is feeling better later… Be careful with that knife!”

 It wasn’t long before both Taehyung and Hoseok had finished with their preparations. Their meal was simmering away, filling the apartment with rich spicy aroma’s, and they had transformed their lounge into what they hoped was an appropriate nest of sorts. Carrying a mattress from one of their guest rooms had been a little difficult to do quietly, but Tae had peeked in on Jungkook to see that he was still uncovered, lying diagonally across their bed, smothering his snores into a pillow. After that, collecting a variety of blankets, pillows, plushies and majority of the soft scarves and sweaters that they had, had been a piece of cake. Hobi had made sure to dedicate a small table to the lotions and tissues, while another stayed mostly bare for their food and drinks later, the only thing adorning it was the chocolates Hobi had bought alongside a small herbal arrangement that Tae had gone and grabbed from Hoseok’s little garden on the ground floor, adding a few roses that he had easily twined up from wire.

Overall, it looked cute. It had even been fun to make.

They curled up on their soft creation while Taehyung set up a line-up of movies, listening to Hobi’s suggestions intently – not caring that half of his ideas were going to leave them crying if they watched them.

If its what Hobi wanted, it’s what he was going to get.

 It was just before six when Jungkook stumbled into the room. His nose was still red and a bit swollen, and his fist rubbed at his one ear with annoyance. The bunny hybrid had paused, his brows pitched into a tight frown as he took in the set up before him, then sniffled and collapsed onto Taehyung where he sat amongst the blankets.

He had woken up feeling a bit more refreshed, that tightness in his chest had disappeared, but he was still bothered by that  itchy feeling in his sinuses and congestion.

“How’re you feeling, Bun?” Hoseok asked as he joined them from the kitchen. His hand tangling up into Jungkook’s hair before scratching slowly at the base of his ear.

The hybrid blinked as a buzzed sensation did a lap through his body, leaving him rubbing a finger under his nose harshly. He could feel Taehyung pulling him back so that he’d be resting against the witches chest, Tae’s large hands rubbed ticklish circles into his sides that left him twitching in the elders lap.

..

..

“Bun?”

“’m fine..” Jungkook answered, focusing his slitted gaze on Hoseok’s face hovering before him. “Just…meh.”

Hobi hummed lowly. He dragged his nail along the length of Jungkook’s ear, sending shivers to course through his body. Hoseok did it again – slower – grinning as he watched as Tae flushed lightly and bit at his lip while Jungkook squirmed harder against the witches lap.

“What’s bothering you Kook? Should we help?” Hoseok asked softly.

“We made some food for us, too.” Taehyung added, a smidge deeper than usual. “We were going to wake you, but then we wouldn’t have been able to surprise you…”

Jungkook smothered a yawn into his fist, resting his head back onto Tae’s shoulder as he glanced around. The smile that spread across his lips wouldn’t stop growing as he caught sight of everything that they’d put into their attempt at nesting. They’d actually done well, almost an exact copy of what he would have done. His gaze landed on a set of lotions and the itch in his nose only seemed to increase at the thought of opening one of them.

“Food sounds great.” He said, scrunching up his nose. “I didn’t really feel like eating earlier.”

Without a moments’ pause Hoseok was heading back to the kitchen, followed closely by Tae who had gently nudged Jungkook to curl into the blankets beside him rather than on him so that he could help. They had dished up hastily, putting a hefty amount of the curry and rice mixture on the hybrids plate before carrying it out. Tae had made sure to grab a few bottles of flavoured milk before he returned to the room, where Hoseok and Jungkook were lighting up two of his large, sturdy scentless candles. With a soft smile he flicked his wrist towards the switch on the wall as he sat beside Jungkook, letting the room fall to darkness before the candles flame settled into a stable glow. They moved the candles up on either side of the tv screen and away from any possible accident range.

The meal had been a simple setting of silence, the trio all paying attention to either their food or the film that was playing just loud enough to not disturb the neighbours. Jungkook had sat through half the meal with tissues grasped in his hand, wiping at his nose every few minutes as the spices and heat opened up his sinuses. The itch had still not left, but had taken a bit of a backseat momentarily, which Jungkook didn’t know if he was thankful or annoyed about.

This definitely wasn’t exactly how he had planned for this day to go, it never was, but his boyfriends had somehow found an alternative to still have a good time. A part of him knew, the part that kept glancing back to those meticulously arranged lotions, that it would feel good to sneeze now, unlike earlier when the rest of his symptoms were problematic. Yet he didn’t want to ruin the soft mood that had been created. Not to mention asking them to help him with his nose was probably not very high on the romance list. Just one normal Valentines. That’s his aim. Just one. Surely it was possible…

So, he bit down on his lip and tried his best to ignore that lingering tickle, sipping on some milk, and letting the chocolate melt over his tongue.

They had just started the second film -another cute romcom that Hoseok had been hung up about- when Jungkook felt that tickle become apparent once more. Consuming him so far that he hadn’t realised that he had audibly hitched until he felt Tae’s soft, concerned strokes along his back. Defeated, Jungkook raised his hands to hover in front of his face, letting his breath shake and build – only to rapidly blink in confusion as the urge left him disappointed and sniffling. He frowned, then shrugged sheepishly at his boyfriends who had both turned to watch him. Hesitantly, they returned their focus to the movie, Hoseok had shuffled a bit closer to hug into Jungkook’s side while he watched so that he could hide his smile into the hybrids shirt each time something cute or embarrassing happened on the screen. Which Jungkook usually encouraged, but now Hoseok would give him a quick sideways glance each time he felt the youngers breath stutter – and he was almost certain that Taehyung had been aware of it as well after he moved the open box of tissues closer. After the fifth empty promise Jungkook didn’t care that it was blatantly obvious what he needed, he just wanted to be able to sneeze.

He sat up straight, causing Hobi to be pushed off of him, and rubbed at his nose as he glanced up to the ceiling. His breathing built shakily but once again, nothing happened. He let out a frustrated moan and pressed both hands to the base of his ears, rubbing hard to try and force some sort of result out of him.

“Jungkook?” Hoseok prodded, pulling one of the hybrids hands away from his ears. “What’s wrong?”

“I ne-h’hih-ed to sne-ehh..hh’heh…”

And then he saw through teary eyes, the soft tissue held before him.

“Let us help then, yeah?” Tae said deeply. It wasn’t like Jungkook was going to decline that offer.

Taehyung wrapped an arm over Jungkook’s shoulders to get more comfortable and then gently placed his tissue-armoured hand over the hybrid’s twitching red nose. Jungkook stiffened as his breathing faltered further by just having the enclosed warmth from Tae’s palm, both arms falling to his lap. An urgent whine crept from his throat as he felt the pressure of the witches fingers on the sinuses either side of his nose. His mouth had fallen open with  soft, panting breaths and he could feel Tae’s arm tightening around him as he gently massaged in silence.

A tight ball of heat had settled in Jungkook’s stomach, gradually working its way into his chest as he was left a physical mess and Taehyung pulled away to switch to a new tissue, deciding that the old one had become useless. Jungkook had been about to complain when he felt a long cooling breath directly hit his nose from the left. His eyes had snapped shut and he had pitched forward so quickly that Taehyung had barely made it time to catch the wet fit of sneezes that had allergic tears trickling down Jungkook’s cheeks.

 Huhe’TSHhh!! ..Hehh’ETCHhew! Eh’TSHhiew!...... …  Heh’ehhhshheww … Heh’eehhhTCHsheww!!

 Instinctively Jungkook had reached up to cover, trapping Tae’s hand in place as he snapped forward with another triple – half stifled as he squished into the steady palm.

“Bless.” Hoseok pressed a hand to the nape of Jungkook’s neck. “Better?”

Jungkook sniffled as Taehyung pulled away, only to have Hoseok press another tissue to his nose.

“Blow for me.”

A flush spread across Jungkook’s cheeks at the request but he did as was asked, taking a deep breath before blowing out with wet muffled burst. Hoseok didn’t flinch away and wiped at the hybrids nose once he’d finished.

Jungkook glanced away to see Taehyung slip a piece of chocolate into his mouth, then the witch met his gaze through dark, heavy lashes.

“Better?” He repeated Hobi’s question.

 Mostly. The itch wasn’t completely gone, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to brush it aside anymore.

His mouth fell open to begin his explanation only to be met with chocolate flavoured lips. For the first time since that morning Jungkook was able to fully catch the witches scent. A wave of familiarity doused him, urging him into further contentment. He sniffed and leant closer as Tae had gone to move away, pressing his lips to the column of his neck as he breathed in the woodsy scent once more. A rumble vibrated through Taehyung’s throat as he laughed, pulling Jungkook into him as he rolled back into the nest playfully.

“You seem better.” Hoseok murmured with amusement.

“I-“ Jungkook looked up to see Hobi also reaching for the chocolate. “Thank you…It still… its fuzzy.”

“You want us to keep helping you, Kookie?”

Slowly, Jungkook nodded. A heat spread up his neck as Taehyung grinned at him, almost like he’d been waiting for Jungkook to ask all night.

“Can you lean back into me Bun?”

The question was practically rhetorical, Jungkook wasn’t going to be going against anything they asked of him at this point. He glanced over Tae’s shoulder and the elder’s grin slid into a lazy smirk.

“Tilt up.”

Their movie played on in the background, barely being heard over the pounding in Jungkook’s ears paired with his heavy breaths. Hobi held him gently and rubbed his cheek against the tender part of Jungkook’s neck, only increasing his pants a light trickle of pleasure bled through him. Taehyung took his time, dabbing a small section of his wrist with one of the bottles Jungkook had so keenly peered at before twisting a tissue up, ready to get to work. The hybrids nose twitched as he caught the sweet, fruity scent – at first only becoming slightly irritated until Taehyung moved closer. The candlelight hit the elder like a heavenly glow, an angel descending towards him with expression of something fallen rather than graced. He wondered what Hoseok would look like next to him – he wondered what Taehyung saw when he looked at them. From the depth of his gaze, Jungkook could only assume that it was something just as mesmerising as his view…

His senses burned.

Jungkook gasped and felt his eyes flutter shut as Taehyung moved to sit on his lap, his legs overlapping Hobi’s on either side of Jungkook. The witch reached up and pulled lightly at one of his ears and Jungkook moaned as he sniffed deeply, earning himself a lungful of the intoxicatingly sweet scent that had him pitch forward with a sharp ‘H’ehh’nngxch’. A finger settled below his chin and he met Taehyung’s burning eyes and tilted his head back obediently, his breath hitching against the scented wrist of the witch as he carefully inserted the tissue. The tickle that had permanently settled at the back of his nose reared into a dominant existence as Taehyung moved the ‘tool’ around in a calculated manner, while Hoseok took to laying soft kisses along his neck and ears.

Hoseok murmured soft words as he rubbed his thumbs into Jungkook’s lower back, asking how he was or if he wanted more. The bunny couldn’t even formulate a full sentence without his breath stuttering off. God, if he knew this was how his day would have ended he probably wouldn’t have been so annoyed about it in the beginning.  

Tae angled the tissue to reach slightly further in, biting his lip as Jungkook slackened beneath him, but still resulted in nothing more than desperate hitching.

“Angel…” Tae whispered deeply as he pushed the bottle of lotion that he’d opened towards Hobi. “Maybe we should work together on this…”

Hoseok kissed Jungkook’s neck a final time before he emptied some of the oil onto his palm behind the hybrids back. Taehyung returned his attention to Jungkook, dragging the tip of his forefinger lightly around the rims of the hybrids nose before returning the tissue to the next nostril.

Nghh hh hih… … huh.huh ..huh hhh… mmghhm..

Jungkook was going to die of frustration. Truly and entirely. Taehyung was teasing him now. The witch could very easily help him alone. He knew exactly what to do and where to go, and yet he wished to tempt and torture it out of Jungkook. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but damnit… now?

Jungkook gasped as heat scorched his blood. Taehyung had to rest a hand on his shoulder to steady him from slipped forward as Hoseok slipped his hands beneath the bunnies shirt. The dancers fingers glided over his skin like a sculptor, fluidly glazing his skin with the cold lotion. His nose quivered and his chest heaved. Immediately he was crumbling into a sniffling mess, Taehyung had even taken a moment to stop his tempting – although that may have been a new type of torture, letting Jungkook’s breath build. Somewhat desperate, Jungkook reached up to paw at the bridge of his nose only to have Hoseok grab a hold of his wrist, pulling it to join his own trailing the hybrids clenched stomach.

“Poor Kookie.” Taehyung brushed his hand through the youngers hair, tugging it lightly before petting down the length of Jungkook’s ear. “Why can’t you sneeze… hmm?”

“T-hih- teassahh ..snf snf..ah huh hh...”

Almost pitying, Taehyung settled his hand on Jungkook’s cheek, and the hybrids nostrils flared. A single finger ran down the bridge of Jungkook’s nose and his chest burst with an aching heat.

Huh iih eh ehh ehH’HESHI’uh! HEH’ITDZshhh! …Huh.. hh..nmmnmm snf. SNf. … eh ehh’hh ..h he heH…. heh’NGGXTshhheww! H’NGCHh’shuh… snnf

Jungkook panted and sniffled thickly, refusing to open his eyes to see the mess he’d probably made on Taehyung’s arm that had yet to move. One of Hoseok’s hand found its way up Jungkook’s spine, steadily sending chills through his body until the dancer slipped out and massaged at Jungkook’s ears. The bunny snapped forward into another bout of desperate breathy sneezes as his fur became slicked back and oiled as well.

“There you go..” Taehyung murmured lowly as he brought a tissue to the hybrids nose, catching the wet expulsions with a gently grasp – giving soft, prodding massages whenever the younger stuttered off shakily.

Between Taehyung’s pestering and Hoseok’s support and wayward gestures, Jungkook was pretty fucking blissed.

 ..

“You good?” Taehyung asked, pulling the younger into his embrace once Hoseok had excused himself to the bathroom.

“Mmmm. Stuffy… but good.” Jungkook ran his wrist under his nose, only to prompt a congested sneeze into his lap twice more.

Even after the lengthy shower that they’d had, Jungkook still couldn’t breathe out of his nose but it wasn’t exactly surprising. Taehyung had continued his teasing for almost an hour before deciding he’d done a decent job of satisfying what Jungkook needed. It had been great, Jungkook couldn’t remember the last time Taehyung had played this way, the last couple times that he’d asked for help had been simple and somewhat time restrained. And having both his boyfriends at his disposal had been the topping of it all.  

He closed his eyes and lent his head back onto Tae’s chest while the elder started to hum a soft tune that had a gradually serenity flooding into Jungkook’s body, almost encouraging the bunny to slip into sleep. He had been teetering on the edge of darkness when he heard the sound of Hoseok’s light footsteps re-enter the room.

  “Oh… is he asleep?”

“No,” Taehyung answered just as softly as Hobi had asked. “Not yet anyway..”

“Okay… Okay, I have to do something.” Hoseok said, oddly serious.

 Jungkook forced his eyes open again to see the usually spriteful dancer shuffling awkwardly in the dim candlelight, his thick jacket grasped tightly in his hands. Jungkook tried to swallow his yawn, failing to a second one, before clearing his throat with a light cough.  

  “You’re … leaving?” Jungkook frowned, his ears drooping low at the mere thought of not having both of his boyfriends near him.

“No!” Hoseok moved to his knees directly in front of the pair. His jacket falling to the ground with a thud. “I need to do something with you two.. or say something rather… and I hope you.. I don’t know.. like it? I guess?”

“Okay then..” Taehyung set his chin lazily on top of Jungkook’s head, giving Hobi a small reassuring smile. “I’m pretty sure we agreed no gifts, but if you need too…”

“I do.” Hoseok licked his lips, taking a shaky breath. For a moment the only sound in the room was Jungkook’s soft sniffles that he tried to muffle into his sleeve. Another breath, deeper and steadier this time. “I love you… both of you, so much I can’t even comprehend it. How did I end up at this point? The closeted human kid ending up in a relationship as comfortable and loving as this with not one, but two heart throbbingly precious men whose souls are probably the most kind and fearless and open that I will ever meet… I got so lucky.. I can’t imagine not seeing you every day, or not waking up to a full bed, or not watching you two bicker over food, or kissing you after a long day, or hearing your completely bizarre daily adventures – especially you Tae, I want to know every time you accidentally set something on fire or make potions combust in their jars –“

“it was two times!”

“My point being,” Hoseok laughed. “That I want to be in your lives for the rest of mine. I know I probably could have planned this better, but I suppose everything about us was a bit spontaneous…” he reached into the inner pockets of his jacket and retrieved two velvet boxes in each fist. “I know you both would do this differently, given the obvious differences, but I felt like this was the right time for me… we don’t need to like do anything straight away or anything I just-“

Jungkook reached out to touch Hoseok’s leg, halting the mans speech. “You’re rambling Sunshine.”

Hoseok bit at his bottom lip as he saw the faint confusion tinted in the bunnies furrowed brows and pursed lips, yet Taehyung was beaming with glistening eyes, his gaze never leaving Hoseok’s face.

“I- uh… here.” He handed the emerald box to Taehyung, who seemed to be trying not to shed any surprised tears, then pushed the crimson box into Jungkook’s palm. The hybrid’s confused expression rapidly turning into one of awe. “It’s not a unique sigil, or a mating mark, but this is the only way I can make a physical bond. I’ve thought about this for so long and I just…..I… yeah.. ..m-marry me?”

“Ma-Marry?” Jungkook blinked widely, while Taehyung squeezed the hybrid tightly with a huge boxy grin.

“As if we’d ever say no to you?” Taehyung giggled, the candlelight doing a good job at hiding the flush that had crept to his cheeks.

“Marry?” Jungkook repeated, almost hollowly.

Hoseok swallowed hard at the what could be about to happen. God, had this been a mistake? “You don’t need to say yes Bun, I just.. this is something I needed to ask. I just wanted us.. I just want to be bound to you more than just words. I want people to see that you’re mine, but it’s okay if you don’t want to.”

Taehyung peered down at the bunny questionably then opened his box. The ring was a thick simple band of white, laced with gold intricate designs of engraved roses and small rose quartz embedded in a circle throughout the centre. He didn’t stop the tears from falling then. Just nodded while biting down on his lip. Jungkook turned to see the ring, then looked down at his own box with his mouth agape.

“You.. You want to marry me?” Jungkook spoke softly. “I just spent the last hour and a half sneezing myself into the next plain of reality, and you choose now to ask this?” The hybrid gave a choked laugh, opening his box to see a black ring that was identical to Tae’s in design. Simple and yet so beautiful.  “Oh my god Jung Hoseok. You have the worst timing. I love you so much.”

Hoseok sucked in a tight breath and shifted to sit beside the pair. “Is that a yes?”

Jungkook started laughing again, sniffling back his tears. “Are you going to put these on us?”

Hobi grinned so widely it hurt. His blood danced and his heart screamed as both of his boyfriends leant into him, letting him slide their rings on.

“Ohhh  this is going to start a riot at work.” Taehyung teased happily. The giddiness in his voice only increasing as time passed.

“Good those girls can finally leave you alone.” Hobi kissed Tae’s shoulder as he intertwined his fingers with Jungkook’s. the ring pleasantly cool against his skin.

“To think I wasn’t looking forward to this day.” Jungkook mumbled, leaning back into both of his boyfriends arms.. “Best Disaster Day of my life

[redisriding]

The Right Swipe - Chapter Four

A Court of Thorns and Roses Modern AU Fanfic

All character’s belong to the wonderful Sarah J Maas.

Tag List: @superspiritfestival  @duskandstarlight @perseusannabeth​ @courtofjurdan​ @omg-aelin​ @keshavomit​ @rainbowcheetah512​

“What about this one?”

“No, it still doesn’t look right.”

“How are you both bigger and smaller than me at the same time?”

“All my suits are tailored to me, they’re not the cheap off the rack stuff you buy.”

“You say that like I own more than one suit.”

“Don’t you?”

“Nope. One suit. I wear it weddings and funeral, that’s it.”

“Then why do you need to wear one tonight?”

“Because, Rhys said this place is fancy, as in dress code fancy. They have some stupid rule about wearing jackets.” Cass sighed. He thought it would be easy to borrow something of Az’s to wear tonight for his date with Nesta, they were roughly the same size. Turned out Az was both leaner and slightly taller than he, and when the former got his clothes tailored, they looked stupid on the latter. There was no point asking Rhys, if Az’s jackets didn’t fit Cassian, Rhys’s definitely wouldn’t.

Az cocked his head to one side surveying Cassian. “Why are you bringing her to this place anyway?”

“Because it’s fancy and she’s the kind of girl who you have to bring fancy places.”

“Perhaps, but you’re not fancy—.”

“Thanks?”

“No, hear me out. You have been talking to this girl and you like her, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re getting dinner so you can get to know each other better, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“But this guy,” Azriel gestured to Cassian standing in front of him in an ill-fitting suit, “Is not who you are. You don’t go to fancy restaurants that have dress codes and names of food you can’t pronounce or alcohol you can’t afford. And this girl…Nesta?”

“Nesta.”

“She has been getting to know you over the last week and a half too. She must like you if she’s agreed to go on a date. Do you not think she’s going to realise pretty quickly that a fancy restaurant is not your scene at all.”

Cassian sat down on the end of Azriel’s bed and put his head in his hands. He did not need this right now. He was nervous enough about his date with Nesta he didn’t need his best friend to undermine his plans for the evening with logic. 

“I don’t stand a chance with her if I don’t take her somewhere nice. I know she’s been on dates with other guys, I’m sure they’ve brought her to the best places in Velaris. I need to go all out if I want to impress her.”

“Who cares where other guys take her, she’s single and going on a dat with you, so it clearly hasn’t worked out with them.”

“All the more reason to go all out.”

“Be real Cass, you don’t stand a chance with her at all if she thinks that you really are whoever you’re pretending to be tonight. Sooner or later it’s all going to come tumbling down.” 

When he looked back on it later Cassian would realise that not only were Azriel’s words true, but they weren’t really intended for Cassian. They were words that he wanted to say to someone else. Someone who had lead him to believe that they were one thing, a thing that Azriel fell in love with, and when that person revealed their truth, his whole world crumbled. 

But in the moment, confronted with his own insecurities, Cass didn’t react the way he wished later he had. 

“That’s the thing though Az, girls don’t like the real me.”

“Girls like you—.”

“No Az, they don’t! Girls like you, they always have. Mysterious Azriel, he’s so handsome, he’s so smart, he’s so talented,” Cassian was aware that his tone had turned mocking but it was too late for him to roll back on it, “they liked you before you had fame and money, they sure as hell like you more now. If you weren’t so terrified of having your heart broken again then maybe you would see it too.”

He knew he had said the wrong thing the second the words were out of his mouth. Regret flooded Cassian as Az recoiled from him as if he had been dealt a physical blow. 

He stood from the foot of his bed where they both sat and headed for the door. 

“No, Az, I’m sorry I didn’t mean that…I just—.”

“Good luck on your date tonight Cass,” Azriel said cutting him off. “I hope for your sake you don’t fuck it up.”

Azriel’s words, his wounded expression, bounced around in Cassian’s head an hour later as he stood outside the entrance to the House of Wind. 

Okay, that was a lie. He couldn’t standing still. He was pacing up and down the sidewalk, no doubt wearing away the soles of Azriel’s shoe’s he had stuffed his feet into. They were the only thing he wore that fit. 

Cassian didn’t think he’d ever been as nervous in his entire life. Then again, he had never been on a proper date before. 

He’d had drinks before. When they were in school, he would hound Az into asking one of the girls who hung around the hockey team out for milkshakes, and convince her to bring a friend for Cassian. It always ended the same though, he would gaze longingly at the girl, trying to strike up conversation, while she would have eyes for no-one but Azriel. It was pathetic, and Cassian remembered being awkward, but never nervous. Maybe because Azriel’s presence meant there was no real chance of anything happening. No risk of being rejected by someone he really wanted. 

Later he would sometimes ask Emerie for a drink as a prelude to their evening. He liked the company. 

But he had never been on a ‘try to find out if we’re compatible enough to spend the rest of our lives together over the course of a dinner’ date before. 

And he was terrified. 

He desperately wanted to run his hands through his hair, a nervous habit of his. He had tried a couple of times too. Only then to remember that he had gelled his wild mane in place in order to look presentable for tonight. 

The doormen eyed him as he paced back and forth, like they knew he didn’t belong there. If there was one thing that Cassian learnt living in the mountains however, was that you should never show weakness. Not to the wild creatures that lived in the forrest, not in the face of the potentially deadly weather, and certainly not in front of the battled hardened locals. 

So, he met those stares right back with a menacing one of his own. 

His fingers found the soft petals of the rose he held. He had bought it for Nesta from one of those carts that rolled around the city, catching men unawares as they strolled with their ladies. He knew it was an over priced and cheesy but it had felt right. 

He might not be the kind of guy who wears suits and eats in fancy places often, but he knew that if he had a girl he would absolutely dote on her. And so a single rose seemed like a good place to start. 

It was on what felt like his millionth time passing the restaurant that he saw her. Crossing the road towards him, she emerged from the bustle of pedestrians like Aphrodite from her shell. 

Cassian’s world seemed to slow. The nerves that flooded his body became still. The only thing that he was aware of was his breathing and her. 

Nesta. Nesta. Nesta. 

Something deep inside of him was called to the surface at the sight of her. 

She was every bit as stunning if not more than she was in her pictures, brought to life by movement. 

Dressed in a simple, yet elegant grey dress, her hair was coiled on top of her head. It was then that he remembered her bio, how apt it was, a queen that he would have to earn.

“Cassian?” She asked, her expression quizzical as she neared him. 

“Hi—,” Cassian squeaked. Squeaked! He hadn’t heard his voice that high since his balls had dropped. Loudly clearing this throat, he tried again. “How are you?”

Better. 

“Good thanks. How are you?” She came to a stop, looking up at him with deep stormy eyes that cut right to his core. 

His head emptied as he gazed down at her. She was so much smaller than him, her head reached the middle of his chest. Her body was soft and curvy; deliciously feminine, but her face…the pictures didn’t do her beauty justice. The depth of her eyes, which she had lined with kohl for dramatic effect. Her high cheek bones. And Cassian didn’t allow his gaze to drop to her lips, which she had painted a deep red. It was sinful.

He was still motionless, gaping like a fish, when she moved. Stepping closer to him and rising up onto her tiptoes, she placed a hand gently on his shoulder to steady herself. A jolt of electricity shot through Cassian, his senses suddenly shocked back into action. 

He leaned down to meet her. He went to his left as Nesta went to her right. Instead of bussing cheeks, he ended up colliding with her mouth. 

His lips met hers. 

It was only a gentle brush. 

And only for a second. 

But it was fireworks. 

Like a star exploded somewhere inside of him.

Cassian’s fists clenched as he tried to restrain himself from grabbing Nesta and pulling her onto him right in the middle of the busy street. 

A small laugh came from Nesta as she stepped back. Her cheeks were stained faintly pink. 

It only added to her beauty. 

Cassian felt his own cheeks heat, and knew that in comparison he resembled a tomato. 

He looked down, away from her for a moment, and cringed. The rose was a crumpled mess in his thick palm. He flushed further. He wished he could hide it, or dump it in a bin somewhere, but Nesta had already seen.

“Eh…this is for you,” he thrust the rose awkwardly at her. 

Nesta accepted the rose with a wry smile, “You shouldn’t have.”

“I really shouldn’t have,” Cassian sighed, “I’ve already ruined this date and it hasn’t even started properly.” 

Nesta didn’t seem to hear. She looked down at the rose, rubbing one of the crushed petals between her finger tips. 

Cassian just watched her for a moment, unsure what to say. Maybe he should call the whole thing off now, to save whatever dignity he had left.

But when Nesta looked back up at him, something in her face had changed. “So, shall we go in?”

————

Nesta had to suppress a laugh. The date was going badly. Terribly even. It was categorically, beyond a shadow of a doubt the worst date that she had ever been on. 

Cassian was not what Nesta had expected at all. The person sitting across the table from her was not the sexy mountain man from his pictures, whom she had been messaging for the last week and a half. 

Another lesson in online dating, she supposed, you really need to meet a person in order to get to know them. 

But that was just it. Nesta didn’t think she was getting to know Cassian at all. 

Instead, she was on a date with the person Cassian thought she wanted him to be. 

She should have guessed when he had first suggested that they get dinner at the House of Wind that it was somewhere he thought she expected to be brought, rather than somewhere he would ever actually go. 

Nesta had been to the House of Wind on many occasions, most recently a few days previously when she had met another Swipe date, Eris, here for drinks. A fact that Nesta thought was best not to mention to Cassian. 

The House of Wind might be fancy, but it was cliché. The kind of place men brought women to lubricate them - socially, with alcohol - before they brought them home to their bed. 

Sure, that was what Eris had done, wasn’t it?

On the many previous occasions that Nesta had been at the House of Wind she had never seen a guy like Cassian there. 

The type of guy who, in an attempt to look presentable, used so much gel in his wild hair that it more closely resembled a helmet. Who cobbled together a suit, that clearly neither matched nor belonged to him, in order to meet the dress code.

The type of guy who brought his date a crumpled rose to impress her. 

The gesture was so tender that something hard inside Nesta’s chest had cracked at the sight of it.

Thomas had only bought flowers to appease Nesta after an argument. ‘Now let us forget about all that’ he would say to her. Flowers were a sign that he was done arguing and wanted to sweep the matter under the rug, resolved or not.

Nesta glanced at the rose that was lying on the table beside her. She knew, regardless of how this date ended, she was going to bring it home and put it in water. And then, when it eventually died, she was going to press it gently between the pages of a book and keep it forever. 

A memory of this night. 

That she was deserving of someone who cared about her. 

Cassian cared. He cared about impressing her, about making sure she had a good night. He cared so much about what Nesta thought of him that it was stifling any attempt of getting to know him. 

And he was nervous. 

That much was apparent when he clumsily bungled their greeting. 

He still had lipstick on his face from when he’d accidentally kissed her. It had only been the faintest of brushes of their lips, but Nesta’s heart had leapt. 

Something had ignited inside of her like a burning fire. 

More than it had when Devlin had taken her to his bed the night before. Even with his head between her legs she hadn’t felt that much of thrill. 

So Nesta didn’t tell Cassian about the lipstick.

“Everything okay?” She asked, as Cassian looked up from the bill that had been handed to him.

“Eh…yeah. It’s just…” he blanched. 

“Yes?”

Whatever he was going to say he decided better of it. “Nothing,” Cassian shook his head, “I just need to make a quick call. I’ll be right back.” 

Cassian hurried away from the table, towards the door. Once he was out of view, Nesta leaned across the table and picked up the bill. 

Ah. 

She figured she hadn’t known he was ordering $100 glasses of whiskey. She probably should have said something, but she didn’t want to emasculate him. Other men she dated would not have reacted well to that. 

Beckoning for the waiter, she pulled her credit card from her purse. 

The date was truly awful, and yet Nesta found herself utterly endeared. 

———--

Across town, squeezed into a tiny little sushi restaurant, Elain laughed. Harder than she had laughed in a very long time. 

Maybe it was the foreign feeling of food warming her belly, or the Sake that she had been sipping, but Elain was pretty sure it was the company itself. 

“That’s not true!” She giggled at Lucien’s latest punchline. 

“I swear it on my life,” he said, his eyes going wide, sincere. 

“I still don’t believe you.”

“Scouts honour!”

“I bet you weren’t even in the Scouts.”

Lucien laughed, raising his hands in the air, caught. “Okay, I was not in the Scouts…But that doesn’t make it any less true.”

Elain giggled again. Lucien was not only more handsome in person, but his easy and charming nature had put Elain at ease from the beginning. 

“Elain.” Lucien said, his laughter dying. 

“Yeah?”

“I think this place is closing.” 

“What? Oh!” Elain looked behind her to find the restaurant empty and the staff beginning to clean up. Tucked into a little nook, Elain felt like her and Lucien could have been in a world of their own. 

Elain glanced at her phone. There was a text from Feyre in their sister group chat, wishing her and Nesta good luck on her respective dates, but it was the time that had Elain jumping up. 

“Oh figglesticks, the time! I must hurry if I want to make the last train.”

Lucien gave her an amused look. “Figglesticks?”

Elain felt herself blush, “Sorry, I’m just used to being with children all day. It’s bad to swear.”

“I think it’s very sweet,” he said with a soft smile, “Let me just pay and I’ll walk you to the train.”

Elain made a move to pull her purse from her bag but Lucien stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm, a shiver went through her. “This is on me,” he said. 

“You’re very kind,” she said, blushing again. 

It had been a long time since a man had done anything like that for her. In an instant the warm mood of the evening evaporated, fear overtaking her. What if Lucien was only paying because he wanted something from her in return? Was she safe walking with him to the train stations? What if he dragged her down an alleyway and had his way with her? Leaving her cold and crying with no way to get home. 

Elain closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. This were the kind of intrusive, anxious thoughts that she had been working to overcome with her therapist. 

There was nothing in Lucien’s behaviour tonight to suggest that he was anything other than a nice guy.

“Ready?” He asked, returning from paying for their meal. 

“Yes.” 

He offered her his arm as they stepped out into the cold autumn night. 

“The nights here are beautiful,” he said, gazing up at the clear nights sky. 

“Velaris is the best place to go star gazing.” 

“Sure looks that way.” 

“Have you been here for Starfall?”

“Not yet, I’m looking forward to it.”

“My sister always throws a huge party to celebrate. It is really spectacular.” 

“I can only imagine.”

The continued like that, strolling along on the empty streets, looking at the sky, chatting about nothing in particular until they reached the train station. 

“So…” Lucien said, coming to a stop, “I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me too!”

“You sound surprised?”

Elain shrugged, “I guess I didn’t really know what to expect.”

“Would you maybe like to do it again sometime?”

“Yes, I would really like that.”

“Good,” Lucien smiled. 

He hesitated for a moment, before deciding to lean in.

Elain held her breath, her fingers wrapping around the keys in her pocket. A pathetic weapon, but one that might make the difference if she needed it. 

But Lucien simply brushed his lips to her cheek before pulling back. “Safe home, Elain.”

[megalony]

She’s a good girl- Part 13

Here is the next part of my murderer! Ben Hardy series, I can’t believe how many parts I’ve got done so far and it’s not near finished yet. I hope you will all enjoy it and feedback is always lovely.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog @im-an-adult-ish @crazylittlethingg @allauraleigh

Series taglist: @onceuponadetectivedemigod @lelifesaver​

Series masterlist

Summary: (Y/n) is a good girl from a church-going family and her brother, Joe is trying to put Ben behind bars. But when (Y/n) starts to fall for the dangerous killer, things get complicated.

Enjoy.

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"That's the fifth time it's rang in an hour." (Y/n)'s voice was groggy and on the verge of inaudible but she knew Ben had either heard what she said or already knew what she was thinking.

"Just ignore it."

A shiver ran down (Y/n)'s spine when Ben grumbled his response into the crook of her neck, a sure sign that he didn't care to answer the phone, he just wanted to go back to sleep. His arm that was looped around (Y/n)'s waist pulled her closer until her back was moulded to his chest and his face was buried in her neck.

(Y/n) had stayed in hospital for a week before being discharged but since that meant they were at twenty four weeks they were advised to play things safe. They had been home for five days now and Ben had put Mark in charge of the club so he could take time off to be with (Y/n) but he was now realising he had chosen the wrong person to be in charge. He didn't seem to be capable of going one day without ringing Ben up and asking about one thing or another or what he should do in a scenario. It wasn't as if Ben had given him that much to do whilst he was gone because Ben had brought the rota and the finance books home to sort them himself.

It had been strange but nice to have Ben at the hospital with her and then at home with her all day. (Y/n) was so used to Ben having an awkward work schedule, some days he went to the club for an hour, sometimes he was there all day or late into the night. And even though he still did some work whilst he had been home, it wasn't nearly as much as what it normally was.

But (Y/n) had a feeling Ben would be going into work today rather than having another week off like he planned. It wasn't often Ben actually took time off from the club because for one, he was the boss and had to oversee everything and two, he had a lot of business and backstreet dealings going on. The club worked more efficiently and properly when Ben was there and (Y/n) knew he was going to have to go back and get it running properly very soon.

(Y/n) wanted to bury her head in her pillow and block out the world when she heard her phone starting to ring for a change but she couldn't lay here and listen to the constant ringtones anymore. Reaching her hand out, (Y/n) grabbed her phone and tiredly opened her eyes before she leaned back into Ben and held the phone out to him.

"He's ringing me now, just answer it." The last five times Ben's own phone had rung he either ended the call or let it ring out until Mark gave up and ended the call himself. Ben wasn't supposed to be at work he was on time off and he couldn't be bothered to keep listening to Mark ranting and being unsure what to do.

Ben grunted as he lifted his head from (Y/n)'s neck, taking the phone from her in annoyance. It was one thing to repeatedly ring Ben, but then to go to the extent of ringing (Y/n) when he knew she was ill and off work was something else and Ben was not happy about it.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ben turned from laying on his side to laying on his back, staring at the ceiling when he just wanted to go back to sleep. It was only eight in the morning and Ben didn't often have time to lie in. Moving his free arm, Ben hooked his arm around (Y/n) and gently pulled her into his side until she slowly turned over so she was facing him.

With a sigh, (Y/n) laid her head on Ben's chest and leaned into his side as he started to feather his fingers up and down her waist. The slow movement of his hand contrasted to the anger she could feel radiating off of him and the way he was breathing harshly down the phone. Surely Mark knew ringing this much would only rile Ben up and if Ben did end up going to work (Y/n) knew as well as anyone else that he wouldn't be a happy man when he got to the club. There would be very little point dragging Ben into the club if he was in a bad mood because he would snap at anyone and everyone who annoyed him.

"Why the hell did I put you in charge when you can't understand simple instructions Mark? You're there so I don't have to be, do you get that? I'm supposed to be on leave and I don't want you calling (Y/n)'s number to get to me either. She's off sick so you don't call her for any reason and you certainly don't call her to try and get me on the phone, now fuck off."

Ben felt the urge to launch the phone at the wall when he hung up the call but it wasn't his phone and he knew smashing (Y/n)'s phone wasn't exactly going to make him feel any better.

He tossed the phone back onto the side table before he rubbed at his eyes for a few moments. He didn't appreciate Mark trying to ring (Y/n) to get through to Ben when Ben specifically told every worker at the club that (Y/n) was off work for the foreseeable future. Most of the guys there saw her as another boss there anyway, she knew what went on and what to do and Ben let her see a lot of the records and files no one else got to see. So he made sure they all knew she wasn't well and they couldn't ring her for anything to do with the club or him unless she came back to work in person.

"Are you going in?" (Y/n) tilted her head up so she could rest her chin on Ben's chest to look up at him but the look in his eyes wasn't a very pleased one.

"No, I'm on leave. What's the point of making Mark the manager if he doesn't do fuck all?"

"Ben, he's gonna keep calling until you go in and sort out whatever's wrong, the club doesn't run well without you. Go in I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

Ben tangled his fingers in his curls before he tilted his head towards (Y/n) and she watched his lips curve at the side into a sorry look. He didn't want to leave and she knew it but it wasn't as if she was in any immediate danger right now or the hospital wouldn't have sent her home. As long as (Y/n) didn't do any heavy lifting or strain herself and took it relatively easy then everything should be fine with no further issues.

"I think I'll have to, you sure you don't mind?" Ben knew deep down he couldn't leave the club for a few more days with Mark in charge because he clearly didn't know what he was doing. Leaving the club for a while was weird for Ben when he was there almost everyday and it felt good to have a break but he wasn't used to it. He liked being at the club almost everyday because it meant no changes could happen and nothing could go wrong without him knowing and trying to fix it. He liked being in charge and being in control.

"I'll be fine, I feel a lot better now. And technically... I could go back to work next week-" (Y/n) traced her finger over Ben's chest that sunk inwards beneath her touch as he took a deep breath and she knew what he was going to say.

"Don't start something you can't finish, doll. You know far too well that it would be too early to go back to work next week and you know full well I'm not letting you back either."

Ben pressed his lips longingly to (Y/n)'s forehead before he pulled out from under her so he could sit up and try to wake himself up. Going back next week would be far too early and they had already talked about this, Ben didn't want (Y/n) to go back for a few more weeks yet. It was better to play things safe than sorry and Ben was in charge of the club at the end of the day, he could just keep changing the rotas so (Y/n) would get frustrated and stop trying to go back into work.

"When can I go back then, boss? I'm six months along and I don't take maternity leave until I'm eight months, that's three months in between where I should be working." (Y/n) didn't want to push herself too much and she knew her limits, but she liked going to work.

Ever since Ben first gave her a job it felt like (Y/n) was finally grown up and she liked working at the club, it was different and made her feel important and it wasn't boring work which is what she wanted. (Y/n) knew when she went on maternity leave she'd be busy with the baby so working from home didn't seem like it would be an option and she would have been working for Ben less than a year before taking maternity leave. She didn't want to be stuck in the house getting bored, especially if Ben was going to be at the club working and she was just home alone.

"Baby... look, I know that you're gonna get restless and I know you want to go back to work but right now I'm not putting you on that rota for at least another two weeks. If you stress yourself out at work there will be problems we both know that. And when you come back to work you'll be stuck in the office most likely anyway."

"Ben..." (Y/n) whined his name pleadingly even though she knew it was near impossible to change his mind on most things.

Pushing herself to sit up, (Y/n) leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder causing his head to turn in her direction with a smile. Ben's brows rose when (Y/n) started to feather kisses against his jaw and the top of his neck and he moved his hand to hold hers that were hanging around his neck. He knew she was creeping around him to try and make this work in her favour but he wasn't having it.

She could cling to him all she liked, his mind was made up. Stress would only make (Y/n) a lot worse and when she did come back to work she wouldn't be able to be running around the club doing everything like she did before. Ben would let her do the audits, the rota, the finance books, anything she wanted, but she would be in the office doing that rather than doing anything strenuous.

"What, you think I'll let you run around stocking up or tidying up or moving everything around? If you want to work you can do any of the audits and books you want and you can work from home whenever you want but you are not running around like you always do. Trust me, creeping around me like this won't change my mind, no matter how much I like it."

(Y/n) sighed but her lips curved up when Ben turned around in her arms and leaned over her until she had no choice but to lay back down with Ben hovering over her like the devil himself.

(Y/n) felt her chest starting to flutter and expand like it was filling with air when Ben pressed a rather desperate, bruising kiss to her lips before he started to trail his lips lower. He kissed the junction between her neck and jaw and pulled the skin lightly between his teeth causing an electrifying burning feeling before he moved his lips further down. (Y/n) watched his movements with wide eyes as he reached his hand up and hooked his finger around the collar of the shirt (Y/n) was wearing which he knew to be his own. He pulled the collar down to expose her sternum and the valley of her breasts before he continued kissing her newly exposed skin.

"I thought y-you were going to the club?" (Y/n) breathed heavily through her words and she knew Ben could feel her shivering under his touch.

"Not yet, I've gotta take care of my wife first." Ben murmured the words against her skin and (Y/n) could feel his lips curving into a smirk before he bit down on her skin causing her to gasp.

He wasn't going just yet.

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

"Can we talk?"

"Why are you here? You seemed rather determined to stay away from me these past few weeks." (Y/n) tightened her hand on the door handle like she was trying to find the courage to shut the door in Joe's face and put distance between them. But she knew she would never be able to do that, she couldn't shut him out like that no matter how badly she wanted to sometimes.

Part of (Y/n) wanted to hide behind the door to stop him scrutinising her and staring at her like he was but (Y/n) felt paralysed to the spot.

"Believe me, I shouldn't be talking to the wife of the murderer I'm trying to arrest... but she happens to be my sister and I need to talk to her."

(Y/n) debated shutting the door, she really did. For the longest second in her life, (Y/n) knew shutting the door would be easier. She knew that if she shut the door on him that would be it, she would be doing to him what he did to her a few weeks ago. He said he couldn't help her and (Y/n) didn't need any help, Ben wasn't a threat to her, he wasn't hurting her and he wasn't putting her in any danger so Joe didn't have to worry or try and get her out of this.

But (Y/n) couldn't shut Joe out, she never had and she never would be able to because he was her brother and he was the only family she had that she could tolerate. When the baby came along Ben and the baby would be the only family (Y/n) had, shutting Joe out somehow felt wrong when a family was all she had ever wanted.

(Y/n) could tell the moment Joe followed her into the living room that he didn't feel at all comfortable. He was walking into the house of a murderer, a man he had told himself every day that he was going to arrest and put behind bars for good. Joe felt like he was trespassing or breaking into someone's house, he felt like he shouldn't be here.

"What do you want to talk about?" (Y/n) brushed her fingers through her hair to push the tangled strands from her face before she slowly moved to sit down on the sofa. She pulled down the sleeves on Ben's dark maroon jumper and leaned back into the sofa, slouching down a bit. Her eyes followed Joe as he moved to it down on the chair, knowing a small amount of space needed to be added between them in case this chat didn't go the way they planned.

"Did he hurt you the other week? Please (Y/n), be honest with me if he did-"

"You watched him take me to the car and drive me to hospital, why would be be that worried if he had hurt me?" (Y/n) smoothed her hand over her stomach as she leaned her head on her free hand. If Ben really had punched or pushed or hurt her then he wouldn't have been so worried about her or concerned because Joe had to know by now that Ben didn't put on a show or fake emotions. He wouldn't have rushed (Y/n) to hospital if he had hurt her and been the cause of her pain.

"Can you blame me for thinking he did? Look, everyone who knows him knows the shit he gets up to but he's slippery, I can't get anything to stick on him even though we all know he did these crimes. If he has hurt you or you know what he's up to... tell me, come and make a statement at the station. You won't be in the wrong or in trouble for doing this."

A violent shiver ran down (Y/n)'s spine and she coiled back into the seat like Joe had threatened her himself.

He was here to try and persuade her to stab Ben in the back. He was trying to get her to go against her husband who she had married a month ago. How could he think she would be so heartless and cruel as to do that and condemn her marriage this soon after marrying Ben? Joe knew more than anyone that (Y/n) married him because she loved him, not out of any fear of Ben or fear for her safety or future. She loved him with everything she had despite who he was or what he did and nothing anyone said was going to make her go against him.

"You can't come running to me trying to get me to go against him like that just because you can't pin anything on him. It doesn't matter if everyone thinks he's done it, I'm not lying about him for you."

"It wouldn't be lying-"

"Joe, he's never hurt me or threatened me before and I don't know what he gets up to, I work at the club and all I see is the legitimate business, I know nothing of any crimes. I won't lie for you, I love him."

(Y/n) held her breath when Joe looked like he wanted to tear his hair out and start screaming. He was at the end of his rope because he was no closer to nailing Ben and it cut right through him that (Y/n) was now on Ben's side. She was in love with a murderer who Joe wanted to put in prison and he knew if he ever managed it, he would tear his baby sister's world into pieces. But he was willing to do that if it meant getting Ben and trying to keep his sister and her baby safe even if she didn't think she was in danger.

He seemed to take a deep breath before he sat on the edge of his seat and propped his arms on his knees. He wanted to put all of his thoughts into (Y/n)'s head and get her to see this from his point of view, but at the same time, he wasn't able to see things from her eyes either.

"(Y/n) it looked like he punched you that day, do you know how that frightened me? I didn't stop you marrying him and one week later he has to take you to the hospital. From the moment I let you walk out that door I've been terrified that I'm gonna get a call out to a domestic situation or the hospital or a body on the ground and I find out it's you. He may love you, he just may, but that doesn't mean he won't lash out and attack you or the baby and all I want is for you to be safe."

Joe saw Ben's record, he had it drilled into his head and he had to put half of those crimes into the system. He saw Ben beat up his most loyal workers until they were put into comas and sent to hospital, he saw Ben beat up men and leave them by the side of the road to be someone else's problem. Ben had no problems with who he hurt and all of his crimes suggest that a wife wouldn't curb his attitude or his frame of mind.

Being married to (Y/n) wasn't going to change Ben and Joe seriously thought that one day Ben was going to snap. He would be angry or worried about something and if (Y/n) said the wrong thing Ben could just blow up and attack her or even just frighten and threaten her and that was enough for Joe to want his sister out of this relationship. With a baby in the mix, it looked like a recipe for torment and abuse to Joe and he couldn't have that happening to (Y/n).

"Never once has Ben made me scared of him, he hasn't degraded me or hit me or been violent or even been angry in front of me and I think that counts more than your intuition that he might, one day, snap at me. He didn't punch me because he would never hurt me, I have a... pregnancy complication, he didn't do anything wrong he's taking care of me. I know you worry but I don't need you to try and ruin this because you're scared of him and I'm not."

"(Y/n) I'm not getting called out to a scene and finding my sister is dead because her brute of a husband thought it was his right to hurt her! You don't know what he's capable of!"

"Money laundering, blackmailing on a large scale, public brutality and GBH. He's broken a man's leg and sternum, he's shot someone in the kneecap, he's slashed a man from his elbow to his wrist vertically until he lost two pints of blood. I saw his file that day at the house, Joe and I looked through it. I knew who he was when I met him and I still married him and you know why? Because he loves me."

(Y/n) saw Ben's file that fateful day and it didn't ward her away from him when she first met him, if anything it drew her in because she didn't believe that charming yet cheeky man could be capable of what was in the file. Part of (Y/n) was still unsure how Ben could do what he did when he was so caring, loving and overall kind and generous to her. But she didn't care, (Y/n) overlooked it all because she loved him and he was the first and only person to show her what love was and who didn't try and put her down or mould her into who he wanted her to be. He influenced her but he didn't shape her or force her into a mould.

He was different and (Y/n) loved him for it.

"A man capable of all that tells you he loves you and you risk your whole faith and religion for him? Don't you see how many sins he puts on you for being with him? How can you be with a man like that and say that you still have faith in God?"

"I don't expect you to understand but I expect you to stop acting as if I'm the killer here. Ben offered me a cigarette when he met me, he didn't make fun of my dress or how childish mother made me look, he didn't question my faith or bring me down because of it. He gave me a car, he gave me a job I love, he taught me how to drive and he gave me a home and my freedom and he never asked for anything in return. He doesn't believe in marriage but he married me because he knew how much it meant to me and my faith. How many other people have been that kind to me in my life? How many others can say they love and appreciate me that much?"

If this conversation lasted much longer (Y/n) knew she was going to have to tell Joe to leave. She was starting to get a headache and he was stressing her out which wasn't a good idea right now. This was pointless anyway, she wasn't going against her husband and nothing Joe said was going to change that or make her agree to what he was asking which was far too much.

"Joe, we're not doing this anymore-"

"Why won't you help yourself! Having a murder's baby, is that really the life you want for your child? Will you tell them all the shit he does or not? If you just come down to the station and make a statement about anything you know or something, please, I can get you out of this I can help you!"

"I don't want your help! I love him, how can you think I'd marry him and then shop him in to you that quickly? I won't do anything like that so you have to stop asking."

"Fine. If he ever does hurt you then for the sake of that child you best come and tell me because I'll still listen, but I'm done trying to save you. If you want to live with him then that's your sin, not mine."

(Y/n) could feel tears welling up in her eyes but they were tears of frustration rather than tears of pain or heartache for her brother. She didn't need saving because she wasn't in danger, Joe was the one in danger constantly trying to pursue Ben and arrest him when he had nothing on him. It wasn't a sin to live with Ben because anything  he did didn't reflect or lead to (Y/n), God may punish Ben but he had very little reason t punish (Y/n) other than her turning a blind eye to her husband.

Pressing her hand to her mouth, (Y/n) tried to calm her breathing that was starting to escalate rather quickly. There was no point getting angry when the conversation was over now.

A shudder ran through (Y/n) when Joe slammed the front door behind him and (Y/n) leaned her head back into the sofa as she closed her eyes. He didn't have the right to come round and say that and expect (Y/n) to understand when he didn't bother to listen to where she was coming from. She was happy, she had a husband and a baby and she wasn't oppressed or confined or told what she could and couldn't do. (Y/n) had a life now and it was her own and that was all down to Ben. She would never stab him in the back like that.

Tilting her head down, (Y/n) looked at her stomach and slowly started gliding her hand over her bump. Three more months and her life was going to change even more than it already had. She would have a proper family, a purpose and no one would be able to control her or tell her what to do or try and make her the perfect little girl.

"When you're here, everything will be better."

[rboooks]

Can you show us Harry getting jealous of Orion because Hadrian pays him more attention? And a picnic with the whole family(Evans, Lupin & Black, and Potters), where they play games and stuff and Harry stares longingly at Hadrian but everybody thinks he's staring at Bill. Both the Evans are totally oblivious)

 This is oddly specific but in a good way anon. So here is my attempt to fullfill your request. 

Based off the wonderful fic C’est La Vie by the ever talented @cywscross. Ya’ll should read it if you have the chance. 

The picnic is an unofficial tradition that started sometime in the last magical war. Maybe it was to left their spirts in dreadful times, maybe it was a show of defiance against the blood supremacists’ fear tactics or maybe as the Weasley twins put it, the picnic was just an excuse the adults needed to relax and have a bit of fun.

Whatever the case, the picnic happens every spring, when the weather grew warmer and the grass returns from its frosted slumber, dressing the ground in brilliant green. They always rented a little space in the forest of Dean’s camping sights.

It wasn’t much but it had muggle repealing wards, along with warming charms and offered some picnic tables. It was also in a clearing in the middle of the woods, allowing the sun to peek down on them, with enough trees to hide any that wished to fly their brooms.

Harry wasn’t one to normally notice this but today that sunlight was resting in Hadrian Evans’ hair like a glowing crown and it was distracting. So terribly distracting.

He had to force himself to notice nature just so he wouldn’t be caught staring at Evans. This silly infatuation he’s developed for the other boy since the beginning of the year was rapidly getting out of control. 

Everything Evans did only made it worse, but most especially whenever the other boy lost his temper. He was light a firework bursting in sudden colorful flames that left him feeling awe in the glory of it. Harry was beyond frustrated about that fact. 

He’s tried to talking to Evans after the incident, but the other avoided him like a plague, choosing Orion over him.  That’s never happened before. The more Harry pushed to get his attention away from the mutt the more of Evans’ beautiful fury he saw- which on one hand was good and on the other, it wasn’t.

As the year progressed, Evans started to get closer to the Slytherin and the Golden Trio (but that was more after Evans was un-petrified and Longbottom’s guilt drove him to seek the green eye boy out). Not to mention Diggory and Lovegood, who was often spotted with the group as well.

It was darn near impossible to get close to Evans. Harry was slowly losing his mind, whining to Dean and Seamus over his newest problems. His friends weren’t much help, seeing as they never had a significant other either, but they listen to him anyway.  

His dad thought it was hilarious and even his mom couldn’t fight back the twitch of her lips when Harry let some of the love problems become verbal to them the first time. Though he never said the name of the boy and his parents were old aware of his crush being, male, dark wild hair, and green eyes. 

They must have guessed correctly since his Dad kept sending him teasing smirks whenever they passed by Dimension Hoppers during the Easter holidays. 

Since they both knew about his maybe-crush (could he call it that?) they were quick to agree when Sirius asked to invite the Evans boys to the yearly picnic. Harry had overheard Evans mention his big brother before but he never actually met the man properly (The meeting after the fight was spent with him more worried about his nose and the sudden realization how pretty Evens is to really pay attention to the oldest)

When the pair of brothers arrived, Harry had almost forgotten how to breathe. Walking towards them almost in slow motion, the Evans brothers were wearing muggle shorts and muscular shirts, both laughing at something the other had said, and honestly who gave them the right to look like that!? Who gave them the right to wear something like that while looking like that?! 

He’s a half-blood himself but he preferred robes since his mother didn’t really go visit the muggle world. He couldn’t understand how muggles were so comfortable in those restricting clothes. Especially those near his age, they were always wearing something bright or stupid on their clothing. 

Often times, they were fitted like a second skin and quite frankly didn’t do a lot of them favors. Nothing beats the flowing elegance of robes, highlighting the possibility of a body in Harry’s opinion. 

It certainly didn’t do the mutt any favors. 

Harry had thought Orion looked ridiculous in those muggle pants and printed shirt, the words “Moon-Walking away from my problems” in bright silver on black made the muggle shirt that much more hideous.

That was until Evans’ whole face brighten when he saw it.  “You’re wearing the shirt I got you!”

The mutt had looked as embarrassed but pleased as Harry has ever seen him. “It’s hilarious”

“I know right?” 

Evans had barely given Harry’s best set of robes (something he wore in hopes of getting some kind of the green eyes boy’s attention)  a glance, instead of talking about more “one-liners” he was planning on putting on shirts for Orion. The werewolf looked like he would kill to wear them. 

Maybe, it was time for a change in his wardrobe. 

It’s been a few hours, maybe two at most, since they started the picnic, the food was slowly being cooked under the watchful of Uncle Remus. Werewolf he is, but the man was the best at outside cooking spells. Must be all those years he spent on the streets like the rest of his kind.

The other adults had all pulled around the spell pit, some of them levitating some meat over the magical flame and chatting. Will easily join in with them, a cup of fire whiskey in his hand, filled but untouched. The man’s wild mane of hair stood out among the adults for its youthful shine as he told jokes and conversed.

His dad and Uncle Sirius hadn’t stopped laughing since he opened his mouth while his mom kept giving the eldest Evans smiles.

Since the adults were chatting the kids went off on their own. Usually, they played some games after eating, so before then the two would sit at a table where Harry would whine about the mutt being the only one around.

Now, Orion and Evens sat on the other side of the field heads bent over a muggle notebook, where Evans was drawing in a blue glitter pen. Orion would occasionally point, and add something with his own green glitter pen.

Evans’ eyes danced every time he did. 

Time went by, until the two had rushed over to Will, who had waved his wand and made a box of blank white shirts appear. Harry had watched them grab some art supplies and start to fill up the white cloth with words he was too far away to see.  

At one point Evans had even introduced the werewolf to tie-dye, apparently thinking this was the best picnic activity there could be. Harry doesn’t remember seeing Orion smile so much as he dripped color on the rubber-ban bound shirt. 

A part of him long to join. But he didn’t. 

Instead, Harry asked his dad for his broom.

Harry had gotten on his house Quidditch team this year. He is a good flyer, and boys were impressed with good fliers, right? So he busted out his broom, spent a good half hour working up a sweat with daring flips and turns with the hopes of getting that same kind of reaction from Evans.

If a shirt with some stupid pointless words were enough to get his green eyes to sparkle like that then surely Harry weaving and waving in the air would have a bigger reaction?

Now here they were. Harry on one side of the picnic ground doing some circles on his broom and Evans sat on the other side sharing a book of runes with the mutt offering Orion little smiles here and there as he babbled away about the symbols.   

Evans hadn’t looked up once and Harry was starting to get discouraged. He continued to do some broom maneuvers trying to work a tricky Gryfindor formation (he really needed to practice) occasionally throwing looks in Evans direction to see if he was looking.

He wasn’t.

Harry sighs. 

“That was pretty close.”  The sudden voice almost makes him fall off his broom. Looking down he sees the eldest Evans- Will- grinning up at him. 

“What?” 

“The Whirlwind Turn. You almost got it.”  

Harry raises a brow in surprise. “You know how to do it?”

“Of course. May I?”

Harry hates it when someone thinks he needs their help, and he almost tells the other male to piss off but he’s Evans’ older brother. He doesn’t think he’ll endear himself to the other boy if he’s rude to his brother. “Sure.” 

He goes to the ground handing over his broom with some hesitation. He doesn’t like it when someone who doesn’t know how to use brooms properly touches his and he’s worried the elder will be one of those fools. The doubt all melts away the second Elder Evans takes flight soaring through the air like it was born to do it.

He does the Whirlwind Turn so quickly he almost blurs on the spiral down, making Harry’s jaw drop. The Whirlwind got its name by the rapid and tight spins that one had to while going down or up, it took a large amount of skill and dedication to get it correctly but when one did, they defended or accelerated rapidly. “Wow.”

The man winks moss green at him “Want me to show you how to do it?”

Harry grins “Yeah!”

________________________________________________________________

Unknown to him the adults are watching from where they are pilling plates with their meals. Sirius gives Harry a slightly cold look before elbowing James  “Looks like your boy got a crush there.”

James watches Harry’s red face brighten as Will helps position correctly on the wood. “Hmm. Maybe. He was glancing over here a lot a while ago. Should I be worried?”

“Let him be,” Lily says. “It’s just a crush. It will pass.”

“Yes, besides Will is a good kid,”  Remus adds, his own smile just the slightest too tight. “Nothing to worry about him. As far as I’m aware neither of the Evans boys seems aware of their admirers.”

He gives a meaningful head nod to where Orion is holding hands with Hadrian as the pair attempt to practice for the three-legged race that will commence the moment the Weasleys arrive. Hadrian didn’t seem to notice that he was giving his son a heart attack but pressing himself so close to the other, as they stumbled about with one of their legs tied together.

Both boys were covered with their tie-dyed shirts having given each other the one they made. It was so cute. He would make sure to take a picture of them soon.

This was in his opinion the best picnic so far. 

[thekatthatbarks]

The Shadows at Our Feet

for @raendown

ao3

              For many people the trouble of finding a soulmate wasn’t seen as that big of a deal. If you didn’t, you could still find love and your life wasn’t very impacted.

                But for a Nara, it was a lot more… troublesome.

 ***

                “Well, hopefully it will happen when you’re young, Shikamaru.” His father glanced at him with a smile as he read his newspaper. Shikamaru could see the worry in his eyes though and how it seemed to worsen each year Shikamaru went without a soulmate.

                Shikamaru already was young.

                Shikamaru tsked. “Why did we make this our technique anyway? When so many people don’t even have shadows.”

                Shikaku turned the page. “It’s still a valuable jutsu, son, maybe even more so with not everyone having a shadow.” Shikamaru understood that he couldn’t help his frustrations. For his clan members to have only a chance at using the shadow technique they specialized in felt so cruel and disappointing.

                Shikamaru looked down at his plate. The son of the head of the clan and he still hadn’t found the person to give him his shadow. A clan that was famous for their shadow jutsu.

                If only it was simpler, something like meeting them would give you your shadow. But no, the gods must have thought that would be too easy. They had to love you. They had to be your soulmate and they had to love you for everything that you were. His mother liked to lament that if someone met their soulmate, they would likely love them anyway. That’s why they were called soulmates. But Shikamaru didn’t see how it could be treated so simply.

                “What if I never get my shadow?” Shikamaru finally seriously posed the question. It had riddled his mind at night, when he looked at clouds, when he saw shadows in the streets. But he’d never said it outright. Not since he was little, and his father had simply ruffled his hair and told him not to worry about it.

                Shikaku sighed and put down his paper. He met Shikamaru’s eyes and shrugged. “Then, you don’t get it, Shikamaru. And that’s fine. You are a more than capable shinobi without using our shadow jutsu. You don’t need it.”

                But he wanted it, it belonged to his family. Something he could be proud of. How could he not want it?

                Shikamaru didn’t say any of it, knowing he’d sound like a toddler stomping their foot up at the gods. He gave his father a nod and stood up from the table, excusing himself from breakfast much to his mother’s disappointment.

 ***

                Sakura had thought at first that she didn’t love Sasuke enough and that was why his shadow hadn’t appeared. But even through all the years, nothing had changed. After the final battle, she saw his shadow lay at the bottom of his feet as she fought to keep his and Naruto’s hearts beating.

                She knew it wasn’t because of her.

                She moved on with some heartbreaking acceptance. Maybe she would find her shadow. Maybe she wouldn’t. Did it really matter?

 ***

                “You’re not even trying!” Ino yelled at him exasperated and Shikamaru felt his anger start to rise.

                “Ino, you know how –“ He turned on her. Out of everyone, she knew. She knew how much finding his shadow meant to him. How it had started off as something that was expected of him. Then, something he wanted for his family. Then, a challenge. But now, it was just something he felt he needed, just for him, for his sake.

                “I know,” She interrupted him, her eyes hard as her breath left her. “I know, Shika. So, why won’t you try this out? Go on a date with her.”

                Shikamaru sighed and pulled out a cigarette, not looking at her. “It’s not her, Ino. I don’t think this is supposed to work like that.”

                Ino gave him a sad smile and then bumped his shoulder with hers. “Then, just do it to do it. Forget about the whole soulmate thing. Don’t you like her?”

                Shikamaru shook his head, knowing it was a lie or at least a partial lie. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t forget.

                Ino let it go and didn’t push it again.

                Shikamaru stopped actively looking, wanting to move on with his life without it looming over his head. He never stopped waiting, though. Hoping that he’d find them. Just to prove that there was someone out there for him.

 ***

                “It should only take a second,” Sakura told him, his broken arm in her capable hands. Shikamaru winced as her chakra moved through him, mending the bone back together. It was always an odd feeling being healed, to have someone else’s chakra twist around your own. Sakura’s always felt so light as it moved before it dived deep where it needed to go and turned into this intense energy that felt like the first breath after drowning.

                Shikamaru felt exhausted after she pulled away with beads of sweat on her forehead. He felt guilt at her having to use so much chakra on him while they were still in a dangerous area. But he had miscalculated, and mis stepped in the heat of a fight. At least Sakura hadn’t sustained any serious injuries besides teetering on the edge of chakra exhaustion.                      

                Shikamaru moved his arm, knowing Sakura wouldn’t be satisfied he was completely healed until he did so. She smiled, her eyes going up to meet his. He felt himself give her a smile back. “Thank you, Sakura-chan.”

                She shook her head, shrugging off his thanks and then looked around them. After a moment, she relaxed and sat beside him at the base of the tree he leaned against. “I think we’re safe for now.”

                Shikamaru nodded, trying to sense anyone nearby and coming up empty.

                He didn’t get too many missions with Sakura. But usually if he was on a mission that needed infiltration or strategic planning, she was his partner or at least on the team. He could see why. Sakura was a great strategist and incredibly smart. He had started to find comfort when she went on missions with him. He liked how she was interested in his plans and his way of thinking, challenging things when she thought there was a better route. He preferred it so much more to blind faith that a few people gave him.        

                “We’ll have to wait a few days before trying again,” Shikamaru told her regretfully. It would be best to strike when the iron was hot, before the enemy could go to camp and lick their wounds. But they needed to do the same and neither of them wanted to risk their lives if there was another path to take. “They’ll get back to their false sense of safety and let their guard down. We can sneak in then. We at least know the route inside the compound now.”

                Sakura leaned against him tiredly. “That’s probably the best. I’m exhausted. I probably couldn’t throw a small child if I wanted to.”

                Shikamaru snorted and glanced down at her. “Do you often measure your strength with how well you could throw a child?”

                Sakura chuckled and shrugged. “Sometimes.”

                “I’m going to tell Kurenai to not let you babysit Marai anymore.”

                Sakura hit him lightly in the chest, making him laugh.

                They waited a few more minutes, still catching their breath and regaining some strength. Then, they quietly moved out, needing to set up camp far away enough from their targets before resting. They would be on high alert for the rest of the night and tomorrow and Shikamaru didn’t want to run into another fight.

                When they had put some good distance between them and the compound, they dropped down to the road and started walking. Shikamaru looked up longingly at the sky and sighed, crossing his arms behind his head. “Man, I’ll be happy when we get home and I can do some cloud watching.”

                Sakura rolled her eyes beside him with an amused smile. “Why do you enjoy that so much anyway?”

                “It’s…” Shikamaru tried to think of how to put it. “It’s relaxing. Sometimes I feel like they help me put my thoughts in order. Other times, they just… make me think nothing at all.”

                Sakura looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled. “I’ll have to try it out then.”

 ***

                Shikamaru had been laying in the grass, the cool breeze washing over his face as he stared up at the sky and tried to not think about anything.

                “Mind if I join you?”

                He must’ve been out of it to not notice her walking up the hill. He looked up at her curiously. Sakura stood there with a small smile, dressed in her white coat with her hair up. Her eyes had the smallest flicker of nervousness in them. They’d always considered each other friends but had never really hung out one-on-one – missions really didn’t count. It made him feel like there was more to her question than what was on the surface.

                Shikamaru shrugged against the ground and tried to ease her nerves with a lazy smile. “Sure.”

                Sakura laid down beside him, shrugging off her coat and balling it up to use as a pillow. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t you guys supposed to treat the coats with respect or something?”

                Sakura rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up. I’ll wash it later.”

                Shikamaru chuckled and they drifted into a content quiet. He thought Sakura might have too much antsy energy in her to just lay there for so long, but he’d been wrong. She quietly stared up at the clouds, watching them go by and fade like he did. He felt her eyes drift to him sometimes, but they didn’t linger.

                Eventually, he asked her, “So, what happened?”

                “What do you mean?” Sakura looked at him confused, slightly startled by the sound of his voice after a near hour of silence.

                “Well,” – Shikamaru waved a hand in the air – “you’re still dressed in your hospital outfit so I’m assuming you came straight here. Looking for relaxation or whatever. So… what happened?”

                Sakura sighed. “You and your stupid smart mind, always picking everything up.”

                Shikamaru fought back a laugh at the sentence. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me. Just thought I’d ask.”

                She paused before telling him, “I don’t know. It just felt like a lot today, but maybe it’s been feeling like a lot just in general. One of my patients mentioned it was a nice day out and it got me to thinking about you, wondering if you were out here doing your cloud watching and if you were onto something.”

                He snorted. “I don’t think I’m onto anything.”

                Sakura laughed lightly and replied softly, “You know what I meant.”                        

                Shikamaru looked over at her, her eyes looking up at the clouds like she was searching for something with a sad smile. “So, do you think I’m onto something?”

                Sakura met his eyes, pursing her lips. “I don’t know. I don’t think I got to the point of thinking completely nothing, but it seemed to calm my thoughts a bit.”

                He didn’t know what compelled him to say, “Maybe you’ll have to keep trying it.” Like her question earlier, there was more meaning than what was on the outside.

                Sakura’s smile was warmer when she replied, “Yeah, maybe.” Shikamaru couldn’t explain the kind of relief that gave him.

 ***

                Sakura came by to join him a few more times over the following weeks. They never said much, neither of them being one for idle meaningless chit chat. But Shikamaru still found it comforting and it felt like they were growing closer even with so few words exchanged.

                Shikamaru had just come home from a meeting with his councilman – another dull meeting filled with numbers on deer population, medical stock, and random updates on clan members. Another meeting where some of the elders took his quietness as disinterest and laziness. He knew a certain few of them were thinking of ways to bring up switching over clan head to someone else even after four years – he was sure if it ever came to it, they would throw their own names into the ring. He was too young, inexperienced, and in way over his head.

                While Shikamaru would admit to more than a few of his flaws and that he did find the title a little intimidating, he had no desire to give it up. He wasn’t a punk kid anymore and he understood responsibility. He was never meant to get the title so young, but he wasn’t going to dishonor his father by doing a shit job either. He’d been unsure of a few things in the beginning and might have been reluctant to make such big decisions that affected the whole clan. But he felt like he was getting past that. A lot of the clan were proud of him and had faith in his leadership. There were only a few that had their doubts. But Shikamaru was never one to let others’ opinions weigh him down.

                Shikamaru was washing the dishes as he thought about what his mother had told him over dinner. How she loved and appreciated him, but that he didn’t need to stay with her and she would be fine on her own. The thought of moving out had crossed his mind on more than one occasion but he had never entertained it for long. He knew he could get a house nearby and come to visit often. But it felt wrong leaving her just a few years after his father died.

                He continued mulling it over until he heard a light knock on the front door.

                Shikamaru figured it was Ino or Choji coming by for a late visit. He dried off his hands, waiting for the door to open as they always simply invited themselves in. But when no one did, Shikamaru walked out of the kitchen curiously, wondering who would visit this late beside his two best friends.

                When he opened the door, he was welcomed with the sight of Sakura leaning against one of the posts and looking up at the sky. She turned when the door opened and gave him a smile. He chose to ignore how his heart skipped a beat.

                “Sakura? Is something wrong?” Shikamaru didn’t think Sakura had ever been to his house before. For her to just show up late and out of nowhere, made him slightly worried.

                She shook her head and stepped towards him, letting out a short breath. “Are you busy?”

                “No…” Shikamaru gave her a confused smile.

                Her face brightened and she glanced to the side. He could see a hint of nervousness in the way she stood with her hands hidden under her – was that a blanket? “Well, I had an idea earlier that I think you might enjoy.” She looked back to him and then added in an uncertain voice, her smile faltering. “If you’re not too tired.”

                He was. “I’m not.” Shikamaru had complained most of his life about being tired and sneaking out of most social things. But he’d outgrown that. Even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t sure he could say no to the way Sakura smiled nervously at him.

                Shikamaru realized he should’ve closed the door and stepped outside to talk to her when his mother called from inside the house, “Shika-kun? Who is it?”

                “It’s Sakura!” Shikamaru yelled back at her reluctantly, knowing what was to come.

                “Sakura-chan?” She called back and Shikamaru sighed as he heard footsteps. Sakura chuckled under her breath in front of him.

                His mother appeared at his shoulder seconds later to smile at Sakura. “Sakura-chan, how are you? Would you like to come inside? My son’s so rude making you stand out here on the porch in the dark.”

                Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her, making her elbow him in the side when she noticed.

                Sakura smiled at her with a faint blush on her cheeks. “I’ve been well, Yoshino-san. And no thank you. I was actually inviting Shikamaru out for… something.”

                She raised an eyebrow at her and then looked to Shikamaru, her smile turning sly as she pushed him forward. “Well, then, have fun!”

                The door closed behind him, barely missing his ponytail as he stumbled forward. Shikamaru felt his face warm as he huffed through his teeth. He looked to Sakura to see her fighting back a laugh. He gave her an embarrassed smile as he scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “So, what was your idea?”

                Sakura did laugh then and simply turned back down the steps. Shikamaru fell into step beside her as she told him, “I thought since you liked cloud watching so much, you might like stargazing.”

                “Yeah, I think I would,” Shikamaru told her, something warm sprouting in his chest.

                The tension in Sakura’s shoulders eased and she smiled as she looked at him. She shrugged. “I don’t know where to go though.”

                 Shikamaru turned on his heel and jerked his head. “I know a nice spot in the forest.”

                 Sakura walked beside him but looked at him hesitantly. “The Nara Forest? Are you sure?”

                “Yeah, Sakura.” He chuckled. “This is me, the clan head, inviting you into our forest.”

                Sakura nodded with a small laugh and followed him to their forest.

 ***

              Shikamaru smiled as Sakura walked next to him, her eyes drifting to the scenery around them. They caught the attention of a few of the deer, but they let them be. The forest was getting thicker as they went through it, but Shikamaru knew it like the back of his hand. There was a small clearing a little more south with a nice hill on it. It was where he went when he really didn’t want to be found.

                He quickly remembered Sakura didn’t know the forest like the back her hand when he had to reach out and catch her before she could trip over a tree root. Sakura laughed softly, looking at him with a blush in her cheeks. “You know, some would say I’m one of the greatest shinobi. Jokes on them. I’m from the Leaf and trip over tree roots.”

                Shikamaru let go of her with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” He didn’t tell her he could watch her trip over hundreds of tree roots and he’d still think she was one of the most impressive people he knew.

                When they reached the clearing, Sakura looked around in awe and then up at the night sky. She turned to him with a wide smile. “This is beautiful.”

                He smiled back at her and they climbed up the small hill. Sakura laid out the actually very large blanket and Shikamaru couldn’t help his snort.

                Sakura rolled her eyes at him. “While laying on the grass isn’t all that bad, blankets are nice, too, Shika-kun.”

                Shikamaru’s face warmed at her teasing and clicked his tongue against his cheek before laying down. Sakura giggled before lying down beside him.

                They were quiet for a moment as they gazed up at the stars with only Sakura’s soft sigh. “This is pretty amazing.”

                Shikamaru hummed beside her and they drifted into their comfortable silence. The night became a first in other ways as Sakura turned her head towards him and asked, “How is being clan head, anyway?”

                Shikamaru glanced at her thrown off by the question and then back to the stars. He folded his arms behind his head as he answered, “It’s alright. I like the work and consider it an honor.”

                “But it’s tiring, isn’t it? Being so young and in charge of so many people?” Sakura’s voice was quiet, almost comforting.

                Shikamaru felt himself laugh and finally admitted out loud. “Yes, yes, it is.”

              He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye as she told him, “I’m sure you’ll get used to it and it won’t be so hard.”

                She didn’t tell him to quit or to suck it up or even that maybe he just wasn’t cut out for it. She didn’t even tell him he was doing a good job. Shikamaru sighed, wondering how someone he barely talked to had understood what he needed to hear. Just some reassurance, some hope.

              “Aren’t you in a similar position? Being medical director?” Shikamaru asked her back.

                Sakura let out a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s been kind of hard since Tsunade left with Shizune, going back to their travelling.”

                They continued back and forth like that, sharing small parts of them they hadn’t before. Shikamaru didn’t think he’d ever talked so much about himself before. But Sakura laid there next to him, her shoulder brushing his even on the large blanket, her soft eyes taking in every word he said.

                She gave as much back and Shikamaru regretted not becoming better friends with her before.

                At some point, she sat up and leaned on her elbow looking down at him with a warm smile. The moon was shining down on them, her skin soaked in the light as her hair had a shine to it as it moved around her shoulders. “Well, I think it might be time to call it a night. You already looked tired when I picked you up.”

                Shikamaru didn’t argue with her and helped her fold up her blanket before walking back to his house. Sakura paused at the foot of his steps, looking up at him with that soft pink on her cheeks. “Thanks for this, Shikamaru. It was fun. The sky was really beautiful.”

                He smiled back at her, the rhythm of his heart going off beat. “Yeah, it was.”

                She told him goodnight and Shikamaru slipped quietly back into his house to not wake his mother up.

                He was going to have admit at some point, at least to himself, that he’d barely looked at the stars that night, all too distracted by another beauty.

 ***

                “Shika-kun!” Shikamaru heard as soon as he’d slid open the door and felt himself smile.

                “Hey Akiko-chan.” He went over to the little girl on the bed and handed her the flowers.

                She giggled and buried her face in them before smiling shyly up at him. “You don’t have to keep bringing me flowers, Shika-kun.”

                Shikamaru chuckled and took the flowers when she gave them back. Just like routine, he switched them out with the dying ones in her flower vase by the window. “Hospitals are such a drag. I’ll give you anything that helps lighten up your day.”

                She shrugged from the bed and said quietly, “I just like it when you come by.”

                “Then, I’ll keep coming by.” He ignored how his heart ached and turned back to her with a smile. “At least until you get sick of me.”

                She laughed, scrunching up her now. “I don’t think I could get sick of you, Shika-kun.”

                He chuckled with her and reached for one of the bags near the guest cot. “So, what game are we playing today?”

                They played for a while and then Shikamaru glanced at the clock, realizing he needed to leave soon. His chest had a heavy weight to it as Akiko followed his eyes and then smiled sadly at him, “Shika-kun, you can –“

                There was a light knocking on the door before someone stepped into the room. They both looked to see Sakura reading over a chart before she looked up with a polite smile. When her eyes met Shikamaru’s, she gave him a surprised smile. “Shikamaru?”

                He smiled back at her, a fuzzy feeling in his head as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Hey, Sakura-chan. Are you Akiko’s doctor? I thought it was Miwa-san?”

                Sakura glanced at the curious child on the bed and gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Akiko-chan. Miwa-san has come down with a something so I’m going to be your medic until she gets better. My name is Haruno Sakura and I’m a friend of Miwa-san’s. She’s asked me to take very good care of you and I intend to do just do that. Are you alright with that?”

                Akiko nodded and asked worriedly, “Is she going to be okay? Is she sick like me?”              

                Shikamaru’s chest felt tight and he put a comforting hand on Akiko’s back.

                Sakura shook her head and Shikamaru could see that slither of sadness she wasn’t able to hide away in her eyes. “No, Akiko-chan. Miwa-san just has a cold. She’ll be up here running around with her goofy smile in no time.”

                Akiko smiled at her, looking relieved. “Okay, Sakura-san.”

                Sakura walked over to her and asked her a couple questions before putting her clipboard down. She raised a hand towards Akiko. “I’m going to run some test on you with my chakra before we take you to do some scans.”

                Shikamaru couldn’t explain the feeling he had as Sakura waited for Akiko’s nod before reaching out to gently lay her down and run her hands over her.

                After Sakura was done, she held out a hand for Akiko and she hopped down from the bed. Another medic appeared at the door with a small wheelchair. “Ready, Akiko-chan?”

 Akiko hesitated, then turned to Shikamaru as he stood up from the bed and hugged his legs. “I’ll see you later, Shika-kun.”

                He ruffled her hair with a smile. “You bet, Akiko-chan.”

                Akiko left with the other medic while Shikamaru stood there watching her go as Sakura finished some notes on her chart. Shikamaru cleared his throat before asking, “How is she looking?”

                Sakura looked at him with a sad smile. “She’s not any worse than last month.”

                Shikamaru sighed. “But not any better, either.”

                She shook her head and glanced back down at the chart. “We’ll keep looking but…”

                Shikamaru interrupted before he had to listen to the same spiel again. Chakra can’t heal everything. It’s not a cure all. Certain cells are irreparable. Brain and lung cells are very different from skin and bone cells. He had already known what they could try and what wouldn’t work. He didn’t know as much as Sakura, but he had studied the Nara medical books growing up. He understood more than some people might assume. “I know.”

                Sakura nodded and changed the subject. “Do you visit her often?”

                “Yeah, we all try to visit her as often as we can, and she seems attached to me for some odd reason.” Shikamaru tried to keep up with all his clan members, asking after them and wanting to know about any serious injuries. But Akiko was so young, he favored her a bit and had made a habit of visiting her when he wasn’t too busy.

                Sakura smiled softly to herself. “I can’t imagine why.” She turned on her heel, glancing back at him. “Well, I have to go do some more rounds. I’ll see you around.”

                Shikamaru nodded and stepped into the hall after her. His feet paused as he watched her walk down the hallway, turning to someone with a smile. She tucked her hair behind her ear and Shikamaru held back a chuckle as the hair stubbornly untucked itself.

                Realizing he was blatantly staring, he moved in the other direction before someone could notice. He thought about that soft smile of hers as he walked out of the hospital. About how she threw her head back when she laughed. About the warm pink when she blushed…

                Shikamaru groaned and ran a hand down his face.

                He had on a crush on her, didn’t he?

 ***

                “Well, yeah it sounds like you like her.” Choji stated the obvious as they walked.

                “Yeah, I think I figured that out for myself, Choji. I was kind of trying to figure out what do about it.” Shikamaru sighed. “If I should do anything at all…”

              “I appreciate that you’re asking me.” Choji gave him a grin and then shrugged. “But I’m not really the best person to ask since I’ve never dated anyone.”

                Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Not like I really have either. Who else am I supposed to ask anyway? You’re my best friend and it’s not like I’m going to ask Ino. Who knows what she would do?”

                Choji chuckled. “She’d probably lose her mind with excitement.”

                Shikamaru felt himself smile. “And we don’t need an Ino with a lost mind.”

                Choji let out a deep laugh and pulled out some snack from the pouch on his hip – Shikamaru thought it was jerky. They walked quietly for a minute, then Choji told him, “I think you need to just forget about shadows.”

                Shikamaru looked over at him in mild surprise. “I wasn’t even – “

                “I know you were. At least a little.” Choji gave him an apologetic smile, but his eyes were serious. “But just forget about it. She could be and she couldn’t be. It doesn’t matter. Just ask her out.”

                Shikamaru sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

                Choji added, “She’s not seeing anyone. I’ve seen her around with Sasuke and Naruto, but it doesn’t look like she’s dating either of them.”

                Shikamaru nodded and Choji let the subject drop.

 ***

              Shikamaru sighed and then knocked on the door. What the hell.

                Sakura answered the door a few moments later. She smiled seeing it was him. “Hey, Shikamaru!”

                Shikamaru smiled back at her, feeling his nerves coil in his stomach. “Hey.”

                She raised an eyebrow at him and stepped aside. “Do you want to come inside?”

                “I actually wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me.” Shikamaru told her, feeling his face warm.

                She gave him an odd look – probably because of how he just blurted it out – but then smiled amused. She glanced inside her apartment. “Yeah, sure. Just let me grab my – “

                Shikamaru felt his heart rate pick up, wondering if he was about to ruin this growing friendship they’d built. But he had to let her know. He cleared his throat and she turned back to him in the middle of her sentence. He gave her a nervous smile and hoped his voice was steadier than it felt. “I meant as a date.”

                Sakura’s lips parted in surprise, a blush sprouting on her cheeks. It was a second before she nodded, her blush deepening as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’d love to.” She jerked her head inside with a smile. “Can you give me a minute to get ready then?”

                Shikamaru tried to not breathe out in relief as he scratched the back of his neck. He shrugged, not able to stop his smile. “You don’t have to. I’m not really – “

                “I don’t mind, but I’d like to if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes.” She interrupted; her voice warm. “I just want to change.”

                Shikamaru nodded and followed her into the apartment. Sakura gestured to the couch and then kept walking to her room. “I’ll be just a moment!” she called over her shoulder and then he heard a door shutting.

                Shikamaru all but fell against the couch, finally letting out that breath of relief. He leaned his head back and wished for his racing heart to calm down. He didn’t have to wait long before Sakura was walking back into the room. He didn’t know if the time alone had increased his nerves or settled them, but he stood up anyway.

                Sakura smiled at him, now out of whatever clothes she lays around the house in and in a simple lilac dress. Shikamaru was relieved at how easy the words spilled from his mouth, “You look beautiful.”

                Sakura laughed lightly. “Thank you, Shikamaru.” Her smile was nervous, but he could see some excitement in her eyes, and it made the tension in his chest ease. “So, where are we going?”

                Though it had its moments of awkwardness when they remembered they were on a date, for the most part, it had that same ease of conversation they’d developed over the last few months. His heart rate would calm down to only spike up again when Sakura bit her lip as she eyed him nervously. He felt his face warm more than once, but Sakura had a faint pink dusting her cheeks most of the night, so he didn’t feel too embarrassed about it.

              He walked her home afterwards and Sakura gave him a smile that was somehow both bashful and confident as she leaned her back against her front door. “Think you’ll want to take me out again?”

                Shikamaru stepped towards her with a chuckle. “Yeah, I think I will if you’ll let me,” he told her softly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Sakura looked up at him and then hummed as her fingers grabbed his hips and tugged him closer. Shikamaru felt his heart race in the seconds before she said, “Maybe. I want to see something first though.”

                Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as her hands snaked up his chest to rest behind his neck. Her smile turned coy, her voice low and soft in the night. “If you’ll go for it, Shikamaru.”

                Shikamaru felt a chuckle vibrate in his chest and he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her flush against him. She bit her lip as she met his eyes and he brought his other hand up to hold her face. Sakura’s eyes fluttering closed with her cheeks a warm pink had to be one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.

                Kissing Sakura felt like taking a breath. It was easy and his lips seemed to know exactly how to fit naturally with hers. It was like their relationship; tentative and slow but filled with something. The way her arms locked around him and pulled him closer as she reached up on her toes made him think she felt it too.

 ***

                Sakura woke up slowly if not painfully. The first thing she saw was white and she hated it. It was so blinding, and she felt like she hadn’t opened her eyes in days. She blinked in an attempt to ease the burning and turned her head to the person she felt on her right.

                Naruto grinned at her; his eyes tired. “Hey, Sakura-chan. How’re you feeling?”

                Sakura opened her mouth to reply, her throat feeling dry, but then she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked to see Shikamaru leaning against the windowsill, his arms crossed over his chest as he smiled softly at her.

                If Sakura’s head hadn’t felt so foggy, she would’ve felt bad about completely ignoring Naruto’s question. Her voice felt rough as she spoke, “Shikamaru?”

                Naruto leaned back in his chair and watched with a curious expression as Shikamaru stepped towards her bed. “What do you need?”

                “Water.” Sakura tried for a smile and Shikamaru nodded. He slipped out of the room a second later.

                Sakura turned back to Naruto to see his eyes on the closed door. She cleared her throat and his eyes went back to her with a smile. She looked at him tiredly. “I just feel tired. How long was I out?”

                “A couple days.” Naruto shrugged.

                Sakura moved to sit up in the bed and instantly felt dizzy, groaning and laying back down. Naruto’s hand was on her shoulder, steadying her as she grabbed her head. “Sakura, you know you don’t need to be moving around a lot, just stay laying down.”

                Sakura sighed and reached down under the sheets to her stomach to feel at where a sword had sliced through her days ago. Stitches aligned it and Sakura winced – another scar to add to the list. She mentally shrugged; it was worth it. “How’s my team?”

                Naruto’s voice was a weird mix of pride and worry. “They’re okay. You had the worst injury along with the chakra exhaustion. They probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, you know.”

                Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to go back to sleep, but she needed to re-center herself. “That’s all that matters.”

                Naruto didn’t reply, though she knew his sigh was at her willingness to die to keep her team alive. She ignored it; it was a fight that they’d had too many times with both of them in the hot seat.

                Shikamaru returned a few seconds later with a pitcher of water and a glass. He set them on the small table beside her bed and glanced at her as he filled the glass. “Can you sit up?”

                Sakura hesitated before telling him with a faint blush, “Not by myself and not much. Maybe just prop up the pillows behind my back?”

                Shikamaru moved to help her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and lifting her slowly. Naruto stacked the pillows behind her and Shikamaru gently laid her back. Sakura felt a hundred times better, even as her head tried to adjust to the change in elevation. She smiled thankfully at both of them and Shikamaru handed her the glass of water.

                She swallowed it greedily and Shikamaru gave her a soft chuckle before taking the glass and refilling it for her.

                A medic came to check over her, hiding their nervousness well at having the medical director in their charge. Sakura smiled at them, trying to ease their nerves but probably only made it worse. She had some pride at the stern look they shot her as they ordered her to stay in the hospital for three more days as she recovered. She tried to argue to rest at her apartment, but the medic was adamant – as they should be – and didn’t budge. Sakura sighed as they left the room.

                 The guys stayed with her, catching her up on random things on the village while she had been away. After a while, she noticed Naruto kept stealing glances at Shikamaru, who was sitting on the edge of her bed by her hip. When she caught his eye, he stopped, though she was sure Shikamaru had already noticed.

                A couple hours later, Shikamaru stood up from the bed and slipped his hands into his pockets. Sakura’s eyes latched onto his warm ones as told her with an apologetic smile, “I promised my mother I’d stop by for dinner.” There was a pause before he added almost unsure, “I’ll come check on you later.”

                Sakura smiled at him, a little worried at the tension in his shoulders. “Okay, Shika, tell her I said hi.”

                He nodded and Sakura tried to not be too disappointed he left the room without giving her a kiss. Sakura turned to Naruto a moment after the door closed and raised an eyebrow at him. “What is wrong with you?”

                Naruto looked at her taken aback. “What do you mean?”

                “Why did you keep looking at Shikamaru like that? Are you mad at him or something?”

                “No.” Naruto looked to the side like he was trying to put his thoughts together. “It’s just – why is he – I didn’t know you were even close to Shikamaru?”

                Sakura felt a blush crawl up her neck. They had gone on a few more dates but hadn’t told anyone. Sakura figured Shikamaru’s mother still knew somehow, though. They hadn’t really talked about that kind of thing.

                Sakura answered vaguely, “We’ve gotten closer over the last few months.”

                Naruto hummed and leaned back in his chair. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him when he propped his feet up on her bed, but he ignored her glare. “I guess I just didn’t notice.”

                Sakura looked down at the blankets over her and asked, “How long has he been here, by the way?”

                She could feel his eyes on her as he answered, “Since you were brought in. I don’t know how he knew, but I heard in the morning and came to see you and he was already here.”

                Sakura felt her heart clench knowing he’d probably been very worried about her and hadn’t even been able to express it with Naruto here. She couldn’t stop her smile though at the thought of him being by her side when she needed him.

                “It was weird,” Naruto mumbled.

                Sakura’s eyes went back to him annoyed. “Shikamaru is not weird – “

                “I didn’t say he was but – come on, Sakura. It’s weird.” Naruto looked at her defensively, holding out his hands. “I didn’t even know you guys hung out and to see him tired as hell by your bedside looking like – and the way you two are around each other, it’s almost like – “

                “We’re dating, Naruto.” Sakura interrupted him with a sigh.

                Naruto stood up from his chair and pointed a finger at her. “Ha! I knew it!”

                Sakura rolled her eyes at him and asked, “Yeah? Do you want a cookie?”

                Naruto sat down on her bed with a grin. “So, when did it start?”

                Sakura snorted and settled more into her pillows. “A few weeks ago.”

                “You’re not telling anyone?”

                “We haven’t really talked about it,” Sakura admitted in a quiet voice, not even wanting to go into details with Naruto without talking to Shikamaru first. But Naruto was her best friend so he shouldn’t be too surprised.

                Naruto’s grin fell and he asked, “He’s keeping you a secret?”

                “No, no, Naruto.” Sakura quickly defended him. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to put her thoughts together. “It’s not like we said to not tell anyone. But I don’t know … it feels… we’re still figuring it out ourselves. I feel like we should have a firmer grasp on things before telling everyone.” It had felt like they’d been in a little bubble the past few months; just themselves learning about each other, gently caressing that something between them. Sakura was selfish, she didn’t want anyone else to be involved in it.

                Naruto chuckled and Sakura opened her eyes to see a teasing grin. “You really like him, don’t you?”

                Sakura blushed and beat down some embarrassment before telling him, “I do.”

                Naruto nodded and then asked her after a moment, “I know you don’t like to talk about it – “

                “Then, don’t say anything,” Sakura cut him off with a glare, already knowing where he was going.

                Naruto sighed but relented, not pushing for once. “Alright.”

 ***

                Naruto had already been gone an hour when Shikamaru came in through the window as Sakura was about to fall asleep. She couldn’t help her chuckle as his feet touched the ground. “Usually shinobi are sneaking out of the hospital, not into them.”

                Shikamaru smiled at her as he walked over to her, stopping at the edge of her bed. “Well, I knew they wouldn’t let me back in if I’d gone through the front.”

                Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, a smile growing on her face as she reached a hand out for him and he intertwined their fingers. “Do you know that from experience?”

                She felt some satisfaction in how his cheeks reddened in the dark room. “Maybe.”

                Sakura laughed lightly and pulled on his hand. She scooted back in the bed and asked him tiredly, “Lay with me?”

                Shikamaru’s eyes were warm as he smiled at her and Sakura didn’t think she’d ever get over that. He slipped off his vest and hung it on the guest chair before stepping out of his shoes and climbing into the small bed with her. Sakura sighed contently as his smoky scent hit her and she moved the blanket over him.

                Shikamaru brought a hand up to hold her face, his thumb stroking across her cheekbone. He leaned forward to kiss her and whispered against her lips, “Sakura, I can’t sleep here.”

                “Why not?” Sakura asked back, her fingers curling into his shirt.

                He chuckled and told her, “I don’t think that’s allowed.” But he clearly didn’t care as he made himself comfortable, wrapping an arm around her waist.

                Sakura rolled her eyes. “As the medical director, I think I can make an exception.”

                “An exception for you?” Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her and Sakura couldn’t help but lean forward to kiss his smile.

                “Yes,” she mumbled between them with a smile.

                After a moment, Sakura leaned back to look at him and said with a hint of nervousness, “You know, they might let me go home if my boyfriend promises to stay with me.”

                She could see the same nervousness reflected in his eyes. He hid it well, though, as his grip on her hip tightened and he said with an almost teasing tone, “Oh? Is that what I am?”

                “If you want to be,” Sakura answered, then added with more commitment as she met his eyes, “I’d like you to be.”

                “I do.” His voice was soft in the quiet of her hospital room, but his kiss was softer when he closed the distance between them. Sakura held him close to her and enjoyed the moment before leaning back, her pulse loud in her ears.

                “There’s one thing, though…”

                Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah?”

                Sakura swallowed thickly and met his gaze. “I don’t care about shadows. I… I want to know if you do. If – if that doesn’t happen, if you’re going to leave. Because if you do, then – “

                Sakura was interrupted as Shikamaru pressed his lips against hers making her breath catch in her throat. She kissed him back as he deepened it, losing all sense of thought as she tangled her fingers in his hair, ruining his ponytail. If she hadn’t been breathless already when he broke away, she would’ve been at the wide smile he gave her and how it softened the longer he looked at her.

                “I used to, Sakura. I used to care a lot about them. But I – I don’t anymore. I don’t need it to be happy.”

                Sakura let out a sigh of relief and pulled him closer to her. She kissed the corner of his mouth before tucking her head under his chin and burying her face in his neck. Shikamaru leaned his head against hers and she fell asleep with him combing his fingers through her hair.

 ***

                Years passed and their feet remained bare, without the attachment of a dark outline.

                People who saw how they were with each other told them it was only a matter of time. It was usually people who didn’t know them well and they just smiled at them with a shrug. They didn’t care if they weren’t soulmates.

                It was three years later and Shikamaru was at his mother’s kitchen sink helping her with the dishes. It reminded him of that night Sakura showed up on the doorstep with a blanket and an invitation to watch the stars with her. Shikamaru felt himself smile as he dried a plate.

                He told his mother in a quiet voice without looking at her, “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

                Yoshino gasped beside him and seconds later she had her arms around him, dishes clinking loudly from her dropping them into the sink. Shikamaru hugged her back as she laughed happily and didn’t comment on the tears in her eyes.

                Sakura may not be who the world decided was his soulmate. But he loved her, and he didn’t think he could ever love anyone more.

  She didn’t have to be his soulmate.

  She was so much more than that.

[writteninsunshine]

I Don’t Want To Feel The Emptiness - Axel/Demyx - SFW

Title: I Don’t Want To Feel The Emptiness

Author: Donnie

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Delphi Beach (Hercules)

Pairing: Axel/Demyx

Characters: Axel, Demyx, Saïx, Xemnas, Vexen, Roxas

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Rating: T

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 1354

Type Of Work: One-Shot, Part of the 8 Days Of Axel Series

Status: Complete

Warnings: Gay, Slash, Yaoi, MLM, Canon Character Death, Demyx is Anxious about Vexen’s Death, Post CoM but before II, Demyx was in Thebes and went to Delphi for the beach, Vague mentions of Aquaphobia

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

Summary: Collecting Demyx wasn’t all fun and games like it should have been.

AN: Hey guys, it’s me again! Just thought I ought to say, if you want vague updates and to talk to me more, I have Twitter and Tumblr, too! Twitter is Sunshinecackle, and Tumblr is Writteninsunshine! I also have a writing Discord that is currently pretty dead. xD I can PM it to people who want it on FFN, for everyone else, it’s here: https://discord.gg/FyaWw25

So, originally this fic was titled Sunset Strip, and as I was writing it… Well, the song by Cake was stuck in my head but I kept going to the next line, I Don’t Want To Feel The Emptiness. We’ll see if it changes again or not before I post it.

Anyway, so, I’m finally trying to write again. I was late to the party for the 8 Days of Axel event, but I’m joining it anyway. This is day 2, late, naturally. I’m working on day 3 for today as soon as I finish editing this and getting it posted. I’m gonna try and catch up, at the very least. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Kingdom Hearts Fic Masterlist

I Don't Want To Feel The Emptiness

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Always trust Demyx to find a beach anywhere he went and spend his entire day staring longingly into the waves. Axel had been sent to find him, considering he should have checked in with Saïx by now, and simply hadn’t shown up. It seemed the redhead was always going off to find someone, to fetch someone, to eliminate someone. At least, this time, Demyx just needed to be plucked from the warm sunset sands of the beach in Delphi, and not killed. While it was a solid day or so away from Thebes, it didn’t take nearly as long to get there thanks to the Corridors of Darkness.

Stepping out of the swirling, lapping darkness aiming to find a strip of skin, Axel reached up to pluck his hood from the top of his head, guiding it down to rest on his shoulders. Just as he suspected, Demyx sat on the pristine white sand, hood down, strumming away at his sitar, drawing songs from it he’d never heard before. He hummed here and there, as though he might let his voice rise with the music, but it never came. Axel was used to watching Demyx play but now wasn’t the time; Even if he figured Saïx would much rather sit and listen just the same as he did. 

As he finally strode over, Demyx looked up from where his eyes melted into the ocean, shaken from his thoughts by the tinkling of metal on Axel’s coat. A warm, easy smile worked over Demyx’s lips as he peered up at him, teal meeting green for a split second before Axel looked away.

“What’s up, Axe?” Demyx asked, his fingers never once leaving the strings of his sitar, “Not often you come to check me out when I’m--” Those eyes went wide and his jaw went slack for a split second, then he jolted forward and his sitar dissipated into a puddle in his lap. “Working.” 

“Yeah, man, you forget about something?” Axel couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath, shaking out his mane as he turned his eyes up to the sunset. “Saïx said something about a report on Hades?”

“I-- I totally, definitely did that.” Demyx pointed towards the sky, his hands moving at a hundred miles per hour as he tried his best to write the report in the air with all of the words falling out of his mouth. Axel rose a brow at him, smirk in place as he listened to the stuttering, half-thought-out rearranged dictionary trying to explain what Demyx had been up to until Axel finally held up a hand.

“That’s between you and Saïx, Dem. For now,” He glanced out over the water, saw the reflections of oranges, pinks and blues on the slowly lapping surface, and a soft, tender smile overcame his face, “Let’s just watch the sunset. I’ll take the fall for the next ten minutes.” Ten minutes, indeed.

The instant switch being flipped from panic to relaxation could have made a lesser man’s head spin, but Demyx took it in such stride that Axel got the emotional whiplash, instead. Hands behind him to rest in the soft, warm sand, Demyx leaned his weight on them and shifted his legs out in front of him, absently nodding beside himself. He hoped Axel would join him; It had been a while since the two of them had just vegetated together.

“Then get down here and sit with me.” His voice was melodic in a way that lulled even Axel into a sense of safety, and he settled in beside the other despite how close they were to the lapping waves. Water made him anxious sometimes, but Demyx’s presence definitely made things seem less threatening. Much as Demyx could be a one-man party, he knew when to exude calm in waves. Saïx always got to see the more relaxed side of Demyx, though the blond was careful to try and hide the side of him that was so relaxed he got Roxas to do most of his work for him. Not that he thought Saïx was stupid enough to think he didn’t do it.

Axel brought one knee up, the other leg straight out in front of him, as he pressed one hand behind him into the sand and the other elbow pressed into his knee. Chin in his hand, he hummed a little.

“Man, I’d kill for some sea salt ice cream right about now.” He sighed dreamily, eyes on the sky as it blossomed from red to blue in a rapidly melting display of light and color. 

“Kill?” Demyx laughed softly, shaking his head as he let it hang back between his shoulders for a second, “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Was it easy to see his thinly veiled anxiety? Probably. Even Roxas would have been able to see the uncomfortable line his shoulders had become.

“Aw, c’mon, Dem, I’d never--” But how could Demyx know that? After what had happened with Vexen, everyone had started treating him a little (or a lot) differently. Brows drawing in and his good mood ruined, Axel pursed his lips, “I couldn’t do that to you.”

“Because you can’t light water on fire or because you…” Care. The word died on Demyx’s lips, and the two men simply stared at the sky for another minute or two in uneasy silence. Demyx wished he hadn’t opened his big, fat mouth, and Axel’s desire for ice cream went beyond his simply being accustomed to getting it every evening. It would also be a good excuse not to talk to one another, better than simply trying to find anything at all to focus on that wasn’t sitting right beside them.

“Look, Dem, I… What happened with Vexen wasn’t…” Nobody had listened to his side of the story, and now that an opportunity to explain himself had arisen, Axel didn’t have the words. Demyx’s clear anxiety only made him want to change the subject because if the sitarist wanted to run, he would at the drop of a hat. Somehow, he hadn’t, yet, and Axel needed to do something, anything to keep him rooted to his spot.

“Nah, man, it’s--” Demyx turned to look at Axel just in time for the redhead to lean in and kiss his cheek. After a second, the blond turned his head, brushing their lips together softly, just as the last rays of sunshine slipped beneath the horizon. While he was surprised, Axel gently caressed Demyx’s cheek, leaning into the kiss more until he finally pulled back with a little smile. 

“What was that for?” Axel questioned, head tilting slightly as his smile turned into a full-blown smirk.

“I… Miss feeling safe with you.” Demyx muttered, his eyes finding the leather of his coat pressed into his knees, “If it wasn’t… If Vexen wasn’t… Your fault, then it wasn’t. Right?” He still looked flighty, but at least he was glued to the sand, warm and soft as it was beneath him.

“Yeah… Yeah, that sounds about right.” Axel nodded with a little smile, his eyes turning tender and his expression softening considerably, “Don’t worry, Dem, I’d never hurt you.” There was no reason to, and he didn’t think he could if he wanted to.

Their lips joined once more, and they held it until the stars above them twinkled a warning. They were definitely forgetting something. It took an hour of kissing on the beach before Demyx broke it, his eyes wide again.

“We have to go!” He exclaimed, “Didn’t you come to get me for Saïx?”

“Crap--” Axel joined Demyx’s mad scramble to get to his feet, “Yeah, we better head out.”

The Corridor of Darkness could only carry them so fast, and the fact that they both knew they’d be getting chewed out when they got to the end didn’t make them go any faster. Saïx didn’t take too kindly to being kept waiting, if only because the Superior didn’t like to be kept waiting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Welp, there we have it, the first piece for the 8 Days Of Axel that I’ve completed. I want to try and get to the next ones, too, and go back and do day one because I was really late. xD Writing these in one day seems to be a bit of an issue but hopefully, today is better for focusing than yesterday was.

Prompt: 8 Days Of Axel Day 2 Sunsets

[lavender-lotion]

WYIB Chp. Three - My Nephew Is An Idiot | 4,647k

Read more chapters here! Read on AO3 here!

First day at school after being abandoned, mediating, quitting lacrosse oh my! Also, magic, yay! Also, is that the Sheriff and Peter flirting? Yes, yes it is.

On a normal day, Stiles would be fine with forgetting his coffee. It wouldn’t matter nearly so much. Except today he is exhausted and he honestly isn’t sure that he’ll physically be able to make it through his day. There is also the fact that Stiles isn’t sure what today is even going to be like.

It’s only Wednesday, only midway through the week. He can’t - he can’t remember the last time he was this tired, even right after everything with Gerard and he was unable to sleep more than an hour at a time before he was waking with a scream, kicking and crying out for the man to get off.

So instead of heading straight to school like he should, he stops to get a coffee. Beacon Hills Brews is one of his favorite places and the owner is a small elderly lady who currently has blue hair. She is probably Stiles’ favorite person and is awesome.

She used to make Stiles special hot chocolate, topped with so much whipped cream that he’d have to eat some with a spoon before he could even think of taking a proper sip. Now, he comes for the cheap coffee and lives for the ‘hipster/college student’ vibe that the place has.

Not that Beacon Hills even has a hipster/college student clique, but if they did, this is where they would get their coffee.

He’s in and out much faster that he planned to be, so he drives a little under the speed limit the rest of the way to school. It isn’t so much that he’s scared of the pack, because he’s not. He’s secure in his ability to protect himself, especially with the wolfsbane he has in his pocket.

His spark is getting stronger. Telling his father about the supernatural released a huge weight from his shoulders. The guilt had been weighing on him so heavy for so long that he had just gotten used to it, hadn’t realized just how much it had been crippling it had been. The last few weeks he had felt lighter than he had in years, even before the supernatural came into his life.

Ever since he told his dad his magic has been more - receptive. Without having the added stress of lying to his only family he was able to focus more on his magic. His simple exercises that used to exhaust him now came with ease.

He was especially good at forming mountain ash circles.

So he wasn’t scared of the pack doing anything. He can feel his spark shining bright inside his chest and while he knows he may not able to do much, not yet, it’s still there, the potential is still there. Besides, the pack is made up of baby wolves who can hardly control their own shift. The only member he is actually scared of is Allison and maybe, maybe Derek.

It’s more so the - emotional aspect. Everything he has done on a day-to-day basis is product of the pack. He orbits around them despite having been an omega for much longer than he is willing to admit. It’s not that he spends an ample amount of time with them - because he doesn’t, not anymore. He doesn’t sit with them at lunch, or walk with them in the halls. He doesn’t text them or call them or talk to them.

He - he lost them long ago, and he can only now that admit that to himself. But admitting that he no longer has the pack means admitting that he no longer has friends, no longer has anyone in his corner that he can too, no longer has a support system. He does have his dad, and after this morning he is secure in the knowledge that he has Peter, too. It’s just, it just hurts.

And, for so long all of his free time had been devoted to them. Whether it be pushing himself to be better - to better himself physically or to improve his magic - or endlessly researching for them, it had all been for the pack. He doesn't know what to do know that he’s given up, now that he no longer has something to put all his focus into.

He finds it daunting, to be so unsure of his time.

With a sigh, he pulls into the school parking lot. For the first time since junior year he doesn’t have to worry about meeting up with Scott at the large oak tree near the front steps. Even Scott hadn’t been there since the school year started Stiles always had, a small part of him hoping.

Like he said, naive.

He takes his time walking up the front steps. Normally he would be rushing, having waiting until the last moment for Scott to show. Today he walks calmly down the hall, taking his time at his locker. Without the constant presence of the pack looming over him, the constant stress that had been always been right there, hanging around the edge of his conscious, he feels calmer, grounded.

He does his best to saunter into his first period class, though he honestly isn’t sure what he looks like. He’s hoping he transmits ’I am doing so much better now that you are not in my life look at me be amazing’, but, he could  very well look like an idiot. Still, he doesn’t glance at any of his previous pack, ignoring the no-longer-empty seat next to Scott and instead sitting down next to a girl named Jane. She’s always smiled at him when they caught each other’s eyes in the hallway, so.

It beats sitting alone, anyway.

“So I hear you’re getting a ninety three in this class?” Stiles asks, angling his body towards her.

“Yes?” She asks, the corners of her mouth twisting down.

“Nice! I’m getting an eighty nine but mostly because Harris is a dick,”  He says it because he knows last year Greenberg sat beside her just to get a better grade, and he doesn’t want her thinking that he’d do the same, “Can I sit here?”

“Why?” She asks, eyes wide as she glances over to where Scott is glaring at them.

“Scott was a bad dog and I’m punishing him by making sure he can’t copy all my answers anymore.” He says. He doesn't mention that he hasn’t sat beside Scott once this year, that he hasn’t been welcome to. Instead he uses humour to deflect and thankful she laughs.

“Usually when my boyfriend acts up I just refuse him sex, but I guess that doesn't really work with best friends, huh?”

“You never know,” He says, waggling his eyebrows as she laughs again, only turning to the front when Harris starts speaking.

After that, chemistry really wasn't too bad.

Lunch - well. At lunch, nothing had changed. He still didn’t have a seat at the pack table but instead of the usual twisting of his gut and the stinging in his eyes, he just walked out. Of course it still hurt, but it was already beginning to dull. What had, only last night, felt like a gaping hole in his chest was hardly more than a little pulse of hurt.

It helped that ever since Peter had stopped by this morning there had been a warm thread of a pack bond settled neatly next to his spark. It was still tentative, still weak and barely there but it was something, something real and solid that he could focus on when he needed it. It helped, knowing that the man was his pack, that he still had pack.

He wasn’t going to pant after his ex-pack like some pathetic lapdog. He was better than that, knew firmly that he was better than that. If they didn’t want him he wouldn’t want them, either. He also would no longer show them that he cared. He was sure that up until now, he may have stank of hurt and abandonment, but not anymore. He wasn’t going to sit at the back of the cafeteria and stare longingly at his ‘friends’.

Instead, he made his way to the line of the preserve. He only needed to walk for a moment before the trees were thick enough to cover him, obscure him from view and hide him from any curious eyes. He sat himself on the forest floor, letting his spark rise bright in his chest. He could tell the bond with Peter was helping to stabilize his magic somewhat, watched inwardly as his spark twined around the soft thread and pushed, turning it into something stronger, sturdier.

He felt joy flood into his chest, the same place the bond sat, and knew it was from Peter. The man felt like warmth the same was his father did, and right now, letting their connection wash over him felt just as good as any hug he had ever received from his dad. He laughed softly, smiling wide as he poked at their connection, rejoicing when he felt the man poke back gently.

He focused more on his spark after that, pulling it right under his skin and letting it hum under his fingertips. He had never been able to see it so clearly before, never been able to access so much of his magic. This was even better than the bright light of potential that sat in his chest and he laughed loudly this time, letting his magic glow under his skin and watching as he lit up the foliage around him.

Stiles was overjoyed when the last bell rang, even more overjoyed because he had economics last period so he didn’t have to search the man out. He made his way up to Coach’s desk, waiting for the rest of the class to head out before approaching the man. He liked Coach. Sure, the man was loud and rude, but he had a level of sarcasm that leveled Peter’s, and that's saying something.

“What do you want Bilinski!” Coach barked, his eyes softening his harsh tone.

“Well, I would like to drop lacrosse and join track.” Stiles said. It was something he’d been thinking of even last year, even when he and Scott were still friends. Still close. But now that they're not, Sitles has no reason to stay.

“Why in the hell would you be doing that Bilinski!”

Stiles cringed a little, because if Finstock was anything he was loud, “Uh, well I was really only on the team for Scott, and uh, I’m not exactly good? But I am a good runner?”

“Ah I see! Well why didn’t you say that Bilinski! You know you’re my favorite student, don’t ya? I mean Male Circumcision! Hah! Taught me a thing or two about my own manhood with that essay!” His teacher announced, and it made Stiles’ heart feel warm. It wasn’t a secret that Stiles was often disliked by teachers, not uncommon for them to unfairly treat him based off their personal feelings. It was annoying, yes, but Stiles was used to it.

“Thanks coach,” Stiles said, voice a little softer than he meant for it to be.

“Good, good. Now leave before I have to see you cry! I hate it when kids cry!” Stiles just smiled warmly, leaving the room with a soft laugh.

Things continue much the same for the following two weeks. He laughs easily with Jane during chemistry - Stiles is glad to say he actually can make friends outside of the pack. He makes joke with Coach in the hallways, attends Track meetings and does well, easily one of the best long distance runners. He meditates almost everyday during lunch and his spark continues to grow stronger, strengthening as he uses it more.

He doesn’t let how the pack pushed him away dictate how he lives his life. He did that far too much before and he refuses to continue.

He sneaks into Deaton’s office to ‘borrow’ more books - though the Druid knows what he’s doing, but he doesn’t say anything as long as Stiles brings them back in the same condition in which they were taken. Atop that, he’s slowly putting himself into the magical community that resides in San Francisco. It isn’t too long of a drive to make and he does so both weekends, cautiously putting his name out there.

He doesn’t tell anyone he’s a spark, doesn’t need that type of attention. Instead he lets shop owners think he’s just another witch who recently came into their magic. It’s much safer this way, he knows. He came across a few Grimoire's and old readings detailing the history of Sparks and - and it wasn’t pretty. Sparks were long ago hunted, a rare, pricey commodity for hunters. They were sold as slaves, imprisoned for centuries.

So he lets people think what they want and he slowly builds up a collection of allies. He doesn’t when he’ll need them, if ever, but he can’t help but thinking it’s a good idea to be prepared. It’s also why he gets his father to go to Chris Argent. Having his dad stocked with appropriately deadly weaponry eases his mind. He knows the man can handle himself now, is confident in his father's ability to keep himself safe now that he has the proper tools.

He sleeps better than he has in a long, long time. The nightmares that haunted him are lighter now, slowly, slowly getting lighter. He thinks it has something to do with his strengthening magic. Knowing that if it were to happen now he would easily be able to stop it eases his mind just a little. It helps that his father is always there when he wakes screaming, and he’s not able to fall back asleep as long as it’s in his father's bed.

He had been worried of bothering the man that first night, but his dad had looked so proud the next morning that Stiles had just crawled in beside him that night.

Stiles finds that once he’s no longer stressing over the pack nor attending lacrosse practice - track meets during lunch twice a week and weekends - that he had an abundance of free time. He no longer has to carve his schedule around desperately helping the pack in his own way. He starts making dinner for his dad - as per his previous routine - but now he sits down with the man.

He has Peter to update him with the goings on with the Alpha pack - and really, they aren’t doing much at the moment - so he doesn’t have to constantly worry about that. He knows if something happens he’ll be told and it allows him to rest easier than he has in a long time. Peter himself is a new addition to his life.

After that first morning he had made himself a regular at the Stilinski home and his father didn’t seem to be protesting one bit. The man joins them for dinner more than a few nights a week and Stiles always makes enough food to have leftovers for himself, his dad, and Peter. He knows the man has been going to the station for lunch nearly everyday - the deputies tell him everything at this point.

He - he finds he doesn't mind. He always thought of his father dating with a grimace. He had never once seriously considered it, because he knew his father had also never considered it. In fact Stiles is certain that the man is completely oblivious to the fact that him and Peter are dating, and have been for two weeks at this point.

So Stiles thinks nothing of it when Peter invades the Stilinski household on a Friday afternoon. Stiles lets him in and has to rush out of the way to avoid being pummeled by the plethora of grocery bags the man is carrying. He and his dad meet in the middle of the hallway, silently watching as Peter pulls out food and pots, a case of beer and a box from the Polish bakery they both like.

Stiles mentioned it in a text the other day as having his dad's favorite dessert and that knowledge makes Stiles snicker. When his dad looks over at him with a raised brow he doesn't answer the question, instead letting the man keep guessing. He just can’t help but find it cute that Peter is so obviously courting the other man and his father seems it have no idea.

He feels a little strange leaving his dad and Peter alone, sort of feels as though he should go out and do something crazy like chaperone them. But, but he actually wants this to happen, and he's going to let it happen naturally and not interfere. Instead of thinking about it, he pulls down the book he needs. It’s filled with protective magics, spells, and rituals and different wards to use.

He finds it on a stroke of luck, almost the exact series of wards he wants to put up around his home. The series he’s looking at begins with keeping out those with ill intent, then there’s two specifically there to power the overall series. The fourth is for protection from harm, strengthening the first ward, but also adding strength to the structure of their home. Fifth is a fire repellent and lastly one to keep out wolves.

Which - isn’t exactly what  he wants. He draws them out in his note book, careful to keep any magic out of his fingers as he does so, focuses on pushing back his spark as to not ward the book in his hands. He takes time fiddling with the last ward, calls upon his spark now to lead his hand as he draws. He adds a few lines to the original ward, making it specific to him, overlaying the wards for safe entry and pack.

He squeals when he’s finally done, laughing brightly as he stares down at the piece of paper in his lap before jumping out of his desk chair and all but running out of the room, excitement causing his spark to shine bright in his eyes. He launches himself down the stairs, permanent marker already in hand as he heads to the front door, ignoring both Peter and his Dad when they walk out of the kitchen together - making an effort to really ignoring his dad’s blush.

He slides to his knees at the front door, marker in hand as he slowly takes his time to draw the wards, pulling at his spark and letting it well up bright and hot inside him, pushing it out of his fingers and into the lines he’s drawing. He knows his eyes are glowing white, most likely the rest of his body as well.

Deaton told him once - right at the beginning of the summer when he was still getting some semblance of proper sleep - that he looked as though the moon's light was placed under his skin. He said that Stiles magic was calm and erratic, cold and warm. That his spark is a series of contradictions in the most beautiful way. It was the most words he had ever gotten out of the man at one time, and it made him so pleased he walked around with a dopey smile and flushed cheeks for three days.

Now he can feel it, feel his magic inside him as it pulls and pushes, like the tide of the ocean as it shines bright, feels as it sinks into the walls of the house, surrounds his entire home. When he finishes the last symbol, there's a clear drop in temperature accompanied by a loud pop as all the air in the room drops before rising again.

Stiles is pushed back onto his ass and all he can do is laugh, laugh bright and loud because his magic is so much more. Not only has sleeping and eating helped, but the subtraction of stress to his life had done wonders for his magic. There is also the daily meditating, how he spends an hour each day at lunch - and usually more once home, on his magic and keeping it strong, flexing and working it out and watching as it grows.

When he finally, finally manages to stand up on shaky legs his dad is already there to help him and guide him to the couch.

“Well that’s certainly going to be helpful in the near future,” Peter drawls as he settles himself in the arm chair across from the two Stilinski’s.

“What is?” His dad asks, frown firmly in place as he looks between the other two.

“I placed wards around the house. Protection, one to repel those with bad intent, and one to keep out any wolves I don’t want coming in.” Stiles answers, cuddling into his dad's warmth as his own rapidly leaves his body.

“Are you okay?” His dad's voice is twisted with concern and he does feel bad, a little guilty but all he can do is nod.

“Magic is taxing on the body. Stiles here just used a lot, if even I’m able to feel the wards he just put up. He needs food and rest.” Peter explains, getting up and running a hand down the back of Stiles’ head, squeezing the nape of his neck before lifting him under the shoulders and settling him on his feet, “C’mon pup, I made dinner.”

Stiles leans into Peter, letting the man take all his weight. He lets out a growl when he walks into the dining room, sees the plate of steak wrapped in bacon and punches Peter’s arm, “I will not give you courting rights if you’re going to feed him beef!”

“Courting rights?” His dad asks at the same time as Peter says, “You would give me permission?”

“Doesn't matter and obviously, I care about you both, and if being together makes you happy then why would I stand in the way?” Stiles answers both men respectively. His dad is still fairly confused but instead of asking dives into his baked potato - which has cheese and bacon and sour cream on it jesus fucking christ - while Peter’s face breaks into a large, gentle smile and he tilts his head to Stiles, baring his throat in a casual manner and acknowledging the younger boy’s position in their newly found pack.

Stiles eats with a smile and despite wanting to steal away his father's plate and replace it with a bowl of kale, he enjoys the food. Peter turns out to be a fairly good cook, and the conversation is light. It’s domestic, having someone other than just his dad eat with them especially as his dad and Peter spend the meal bantering, a light amount of flirting thrown in for good measure. Stiles can’t find it in himself to care, really, too happy at watching the easy smile on his dad’s face, or the way Peter blushes when the older man teases him.

It’s comfortable and when everyone's finished, but the easy smile drops from Peter’s face and is replaced with something akin to a snarl, his lip curling gently over his top teeth. He lets out a long breath, scrubs a hand wearily over his face and sighs, disgruntled.

“My nephew is a goddamn idiot,” Peter says as he blows out a breath, slumping a little in his seat.

Stiles can’t help it, but he snorts out a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand when it devolves into a bright giggle. Derek is an idiot, “No, I’m being serious. Also, the McCall boy? I will never regret anything as much as I do biting the little brat.”

“Okay, what stupid plan did Scott talk Derek into?” Stiles asks, leaning forward.

“Dear god. They seem to think - and this really is a testament to their stupidity - that meeting with The Alpha Pack would somehow be a good idea!”

Stiles chokes on his own saliva at that, his mouth dropping open as he sits there, stupidly blinking as his mouth tries to form words. Because alright, no. That is possibly the worst plan Stiles has ever heard jesus!

“Did they not read my research?”

“Hey son, calm it down alright?” John mutters when the lights in the kitchen start flickering on and off, the distinct sound of silverware clanking together from inside the drawer on the other side of the room sounding into the silence.

“Well, I obviously did, and I left the whole folder with Derek and urged him to, but well, my nephew is an idiot.”

“Yep. That’s definitely a bad idea. Wait, when are they even doing this?” His dad asks, turning to Peter now that Stiles has settled down a fair bit.

“Sunday at six.”

“Jesus,” John mutters, standing to clean off the table.

Stiles just sort of sits there, mouth dropped open in shock. He knew, intellectually, that the pack wasn’t going to read his research, but well he still hoped. He put so much of himself into it, so much time and energy and sleepless nights and skipped meals.

But above all else, that folder was to keep them alive. It was good information, useful information. It was all they needed to take down the Alphas, and knowing that they didn’t read it, that they’ll be going in blind when Stiles literally gave them all the answers, is what’s pissing off Stiles the most.

He stays in his seat until Peter comes and ushers him up, leading him to the couch. Stiles settles into the side, curling his legs up and resting his head on his knees. He knows what this means, knows that he’s going to have to do something to keep those idiots safe, whether he wants to or not. His dad flops down onto the couch beside him, tugging Peter down before wrapping an arm around the wolf and pulling him closer.

Stiles smiles at that, all earlier anger leaking out of him, “This might be too early, but when you guys get married I better be the best man,” Stiles says softly, laughing as Peter’s smile turns smug and his dad blushes, the slight pink turning to deep red as Peter shoves his face into the older man's neck to breathe. “Scenting. Werewolf thing.”

His Dad just hums at the explanation, rubbing his chin against Peter’s temple, already adapting. Peter purrs at that, a god honest purr erupting from his throat and in turn his dad pulls the man closer, a soft smile gracing his lips as he continues to rub his scent into the wolf.

“Okay, ground rules. No sex when I’m here, but sleep overs are on hundred percent a-okay. Peter, I expect you to keep buying me that really good coffee and to stop buying those doughnuts.”

“Stiles, you do realize I am the father right?”

“You may be the father, but Stiles is most definitely the Alpha.” Peter grumbles from John’s neck.

“Yeah Dad, I’m the Alpha.” Stiles says, smiling to himself.

John just sighs, because what is he going to do. His - boyfriend (maybe?) and son are going to team up against him on everything, it’s already happening! “Alright, so what are we going to do about this meeting?”

“Oh, I’m going to be there,” Stiles says, plan already in motion.

“Dear boy, I would expect nothing less,” Peter comments, leaning back into the couch, “Alright, so we will be on the north perimeter of the preserve…”

The rest of the evening is spent in the soft light of the TV, Stiles and Peter loosely coming up with a plan as some game show plays softly in the background. At some point Stiles curls up into his Dad’s side as Peter does the same on the other.

That’s how Stiles falls asleep, to the light of the TV and his Dad and Peter whispering to each other.

[kpopcametoslayourlives]

Secrets Out - A JB Oneshot

3rd POV

“Naya! Let’s go! We’re going to be late for class!” A girl shouted from the main gates to the school, waiting for her other friend who was arriving a bit late to school this morning because she had to take care of her little cousin before leaving, and mistakenly lost track of time.

“Chillax Val, I’m here aren’t I?” She replied to her friend as she completely ran passed her and went towards the school building.

“You’re on school grounds, not in class. There’s a big difference!” Val replied as she started to run behind Aniya to catch up with her.

Aniya had cocoa brown skin and short hair, much like her height, only standing at 5 foot 4 inches. She usually wore glasses but she just recently got contacts which allowed more people to better see her dark brown eyes.

Her friend was a girl named Valerie. She was a Peruvian girl with eyes that changed from brown to hazel to green from time to time, and long brown hair. They had been friend for almost two years now, having met each other last year in a dance class. This year they were still together in a new dance class and had made two new friends, Jessica and Breanna.

The four of them were practically inseparable and did everything together, and told each other absolutely everything about anything that ever happened with any of them.

Like Jessica moving in with her boyfriend even though she’s only 18.

And that Breanna started dating her best friend after finding out he liked her and soon returned his feelings.

Valerie was just chillin. Single as a Pringle and ready to mingle.

Aniya had a boyfriend that she had been secretly dating for around two months now. His name, was Jaebum. Known as JB by his close friends.

The only people to know that they were dating was Val, Jess, and Bree. And JB’s friends Jackson, Mark, Yugyeom, Youngjae, Jinyoung, and Bambam.

Not even their parents knew, mostly because neither family could properly keep a secret when it comes to their children.

“Geez guys, took you long enough to get here.” Jessica complained as Aniya and Val finally got to their English class.

“Hey don’t blame me for being late, I had to take care of my cousin.” Aniya said as she raised her hands up in the air to prove her innocence.

“Whatever, I still blame Valerie for it all anyway.” Jessica replied, laughing at the mildly offended look Val gave her.

Jessica was your typical blonde hair blue eyed beauty that was definitely more on the petite side.

Breanna had shoulder length brown hair with the ends dyed blonde, brown eyes and braces. She was currently texting her boyfriend and smiling like an idiot at whatever it was they were talking about.

“Awe, it’s so cute it makes me sick.” Val said as she placed a hand over her heart but somehow still managed to look disgusted.

“You’re only saying that because you’re the only one here who’s single.” Breanna fired back.

“Woah there, I thought Valerie was bitch number one?” Aniya said as she ducked for cover from the shots being fired.

“I still am bitch number one, so stay in your lane bitch number three.” Val said as she playfully swatted at Bree’s short hair.

“Haha I lied, bitch number one coming through.” Aniya said as all four girls laughed and started teasing each other. Being the nicest one in the group she was bitch number four, leaving Jessica as bitch number two.

“What’s so funny over here?” A new voice chimed in.

“Jackson!” Aniya shouted happily at seeing her best friend.

“Hey Naya, Jess, Bree, Val. How’s it going?” Jackson replied smiling and full of energy as always.

“Nothing much, bitch number one just showed up, that’s all.” Breanna replied pointing at Val.

“This early?” Jackson asked looking at Val a bit surprised.

Said bitch number one merely shrugged her shoulders in response to the accusations.

“Ya’ll should know by now my inner bitch shows up whenever she damn pleases.”

More laughter came from a group of boys watching by the back of the classroom.

“Believe us, we know.” Jinyoung said with a terrified look on his face. Not surprising since he was often the one on the receiving end of most of Val’s bitchiness.

Valerie however was too busy noticing the look that one of the guys in the back was giving Aniya.

Park Jaebum, or JB as he prefers to be called by his friends and the girls, was openly staring at Aniya, who was staring back just as open.

“If you guys want to still keep it all a secret I suggest not eye fucking each other in the middle of the classroom right when the lecture is about to start.” Val said only loud enough for their little group of friends to hear.

Both before mentioned people had blushed at the words of advice that came from their cherished friend.

“We told you bitch number one came out early today.” Jess said as she tried not to laugh at the embarrassed expressions on both JB and Aniya’s face.

“Alright class, take a seat, class is about to begin.” The teacher said as she made her way to her desk.

~•~

Three hours later all eleven found themselves in the dance room getting ready to pack up and head to lunch.

Jess and Bree had already finished changing back into their other clothes from their dance clothes while Aniya was still tying her shoes.

A few seconds later the guys walked in.

“Finally its lunch time, I’m starving!” Bambam wailed as he rubbed his stomach which was growling angrily at him.

“Before that aren’t we missing some people?” Mark asked as he did a head check and only came up with nine instead of eleven.

Bree however merely jerked her head to the middle of the dance floor where Yugyeom and Valerie were going over the choreography they had just learned and were changing up some of it to make it their own. They always did this. After all, dancing was a passion for the both of them.

“Huh…” Aniya said as she watched the two move in perfect synchronization to the beat of the music. Popping and locking with the base of the song.

“What is it?” JB asked while trying to see what Aniya was.

“I never actually noticed how good they would be together if they were to start dating. I mean look at them.” Aniya explained as everyone turned to look at what she was talking about.

Both finished dancing the part that was choreographed and just started fooling around with the rest of the song, laughing and fake battling each other.

“Oh no.” Youngjae and Jinyoung said at the same time.

“What? I actually think they would be good together now that I see it.” Mark said as the others agree.

“It’s not that they wouldn’t be good together, it’s just that, can you imagine the evil maknae and bitch number one dating, our whole lives could hang in the balance.” Youngjae said as Jinyoung shivered at the thought.

Everybody else’s jaw dropped at the realization.

“Sorry we made you guys wait.” Yugyeom said as he walked up to the group followed by Valerie.

“We’ll change back really fast so we can get food, yeah?” Val said as she and Yug ran off to change.

~•~

The entire walk to the cafeteria JB and Aniya were side by side making small talk.

“I hate how we’re hiding the fact that we’re dating. Why do we have to keep it a secret?” JB asked as he looked at you longingly, wanting nothing more than to just kiss you like he’s been wanting to all day since he first saw you this morning.

“Because you have fan girls that neither one of us wants to deal with.” JB sighed at the truth of her words.

Flashback (sort of)

He remembers when they first started hanging out, just the two of them from having to work together on an English assignment and his fan club went crazy and started threatening her to stay away from him. But they didn’t stop there. They started pushing her in the hallways, tipping her chair in class and at lunch, and even started throwing things at her.

No one ever knew about it though because she kept it to herself.

One day though the fans went too far and pushed her down the stairs. The staircase has roughly ten steps but that didn’t make it hurt any less being pushed down them.

After ending up in the nurses office however Val, Jess and Bree all demanded to know what happened. After spilling the beans bitch number one through three all came out and ready to fight.

As bitch number one Valerie was the first one to live up to her reputation and marched right up to the queen of the club and shoved her right up against her locker.

“Alright, listen here bitchstick, I don’t know why the fuck you think it’s okay to push my friend, my best friend, down the stairs just because she is working with Jaebum on a project. It wasn’t even her idea to be partners with him, that decision is up to the teacher and them alone. And another thing-” Valerie was cut off by Yasmine’s scoff.

Yeah, the bitches name was Yasmine. Not even Jasmine, but Yasmine.

“Look Victoria,” Yasmine started but was cut by Val correcting her.

“It’s Valerie.”

“Whoever, just because Anita-”

“Aniya.” Val corrected again, thoroughly getting irritated.

“Just because Anita was chosen to be with JB doesn’t mean she has to fling herself all over him trying to kiss him.”

“Woah there, now you hold on just a second there bitchstick. What do you mean try to kiss him. Aniya is shy in general when it comes to people she hardly talks to, what makes you think she’d muster up any kind of courage to do that to him?”

“I don’t know, I just know what I saw, and what I saw was her all over him. And would you stop calling me bitchstick?” Everyone pretended not to hear her last question and instead focused on the other thing that was said.

Valerie didn’t understand what Yasmine was saying nor did she believe it.

“Aniya’s also a bit clumsy, maybe she slipped, tripped, or fell over a step or even her over own two feet and Jaebum was just there to catch her and help her out? You know, like a gentleman?” Breanna said adding in her two cents.

As soon as the words gentleman left Bree’s lips Yasmine did a one eighty.

“Oh he is a gentleman isn’t he?”

As the bitchstick rambled on and on the three best friends who came for blood and answers were starting to get irritated.

But instead of it being bitch number one who threw the punch, it was bitch number two, Jessica, who got the first strike against the bitchstick.

A few seconds in bitchstick had a few friends show up that Val and Bree were able to get their hands on, and soon it was an all out cat fight.

“What the hell?” Almost immediately Yasmine and her two cronies stopped fighting and insisted started crying for their lives.

“JB oppa! Help us from this crazy bitch, she’s attacking us for no reason!”

“N-no reason?! What the hell do you mean ‘no reason’, you pushed our best friend down the stairs just because she had the misfortune of being paired up with this, this…” Val yelled, trying to find the right words to describe Jaebum who was standing right behind her with his friends staring on wide eyed.

“This shrimp dick fuck nugget!”

Yasmine practically screeched at the insult while Jaebum tried not to look too offended, and his friends were trying not to laugh.

Bitchstick and her friends all lunged at the girls and the guys immediately sprang into action.

Yasmine’s scream from earlier must have been loud enough to have alerted the teachers because soon enough two teachers came from around the hallway and tried to break up the fight.

~•~

“Alright, somebody tell me what the hell just happened.” A teacher said and he rubbed his eyes, feeling them begin to throb with a headache soon to be coming his way.

He along with the other teacher who helped stop the fight and the principal who was called were all in the nurses office along with bitches number one through four, bitchstick and her cronies, and the masculine seven.

Soon all the girls were speaking at the same time.

“They came out of nowhere and just started attacking me for no reason.” “Oh that’s bullshit bitchstick and you know it! As soon as I confronted you didn’t even bother denying anything, but now that your precious shrimp dick fuck nugget over here is around you’re trying to play the victim, who is really Aniya because you’re the hairy ass that pushed her down the stairs in the first place!”

“Valerie, language!”

“Excuse me!? Hairy ass? Just who do you think you are calling me that? My ass isn’t hairy JB sweetie, it’s not. You believe me right?”

“Uhh…”

“What do you mean not hairy? I saw you over the summer at the beach! It’s like that scene from White Chicks. When’s Don King going to pop out and say "Born in America.”?“

"Shut up bitch, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you even have any proof that it was me?” Yasmine finished the yelling spree as everyone quieted down at the question.

But instead of being stumped at the question Valerie smirked though you could see it in her eyes that she was still pissed off.

“You mean besides Aniya, the actual person who witnessed it all, saying it was you? I think I have more physical evidence.”

Everyone watched as Val walked over to Aniya’s bag and searched through it before pulling out a small wad of papers. Then she walked over to Yasmine’s bag and did the same, except for pulling out a wad of papers she pulled out a note book.

“Along with shoving her in the hallways, nudging her chair at lunch while she was eating, you were also throwing things at her. Throwing things like threatening notes.”

Valerie opened Yasmine’s note book to the first page that had her hand writing all over it in her pink sparkly gel pen, then opened the wad of papers showing the same pen and hand writing on the threat notes.

“If the jury could look closely at the resemblance.” Everybody scoffed trying to hold in their laughter. “This is the same pen and hand writing of the one, the only, bitchstick.” Yasmine looked like a deer caught in the headlights, clearly panicking.

The principal stood from his seated position and took the 'evidence’ from Valerie’s hands. He looked it over for a few seconds before sighing.

“Miss Yasmine, would you and you’re friends please come with me, back to my office.”

The three girls followed but were protesting the entire way. All that was left were bitches number one through four and the masculine seven, and the two teachers.

“Well, now that this mysterious crime has been solved.” The teacher started, pointedly looking at Valerie, following up on her judge and jury joke. “Why don’t the rest of you get cleaned up and then take Miss Aniya home, school has been over for the past twenty minutes already. Go home and get some sleep, all of you.”

As soon as both teachers left it was quiet in the nurses office, awkwardly so, painfully awkwardly so. Until Aniya burst out laughing that is.

Everyone around her was looking on in confusion or concern.

“You okay there Naya? You didn’t hit your head too did you?” The only thing she could manage to do was shake her head 'no’.

“Then why are you laughing so hard?”

“B-because of V-Val! Hahaha! Those insults were amazing!”

It took a few seconds for her words to register in everyone’s mind, but when it did Mark and Jackson were the first to laugh, everyone else soon following.

After the girls bandaged their wounds they all made their way home. But because of the directions they all lived they had to split up.

That night Aniya was walking alone with Jaebum, and that was the start of their relationship.

From that day on he walked her to and from school, him and the guys started eating lunch with the girls. Their groups merged together.

End flashback scenes

“It all seems so long ago.” Aniya said as she too remembered everything.

“I wish you didn’t have to have gone through all that.” JB said while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I’m actually glad it happened in some weird twisted way.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, it’s how we stared dating and how we all became friends.” JB smiled at Aniya before humming in agreement.

~•~

Everyone was now in the cafeteria, Aniya and Bree being the only two needing to go through the lunch line because everyone else brought food from home. In the lunch line Bree went towards the sandwiches while Aniya went to the nacho line. While waiting Aniya spotted a poster on the wall next to her.

School dance this Saturday night at seven. $10 for singles tickets $15 for couples tickets Be there or be square. Theme; masquerade

“I completely forgot about the school dance this weekend.” Aniya said out loud, unknowingly catching someone’s attention.

“Are you going?” Aniya turned her head and saw none other than Kim Jongin, otherwise known as Kai.

“Um, I’m not sure yet but probably.”

“Yeah? Who are you going to go with?”

Aniya froze, she couldn’t say JB, they were a secret. She couldn’t say Jess or Bree because they both have boyfriends. And if what everyone saw earlier in the dance room, Val would probably be going with Yugyeom.

“I’ll probably just go solo but hang out with my friends.”

“Well that would be no fun. Why don’t we go together instead?” Aniya was frozen in shock, not only because was Kai one of the most sought after males in the school, but because of who was behind Kai when he asked.

“JB.” She whispered in shock as he strode up to Kai and grabbed him on the shoulder.

“She won’t be going with you.” Kai stared wide eyed and in confusion.

“I don’t believe I asked you, Jaebum.”

“But I’m still telling you, Jongin, she’s not going to the school dance with you.” The boys were unknowingly causing a scene. Aniya noticed it though.

“Um guys?” They ignored her in favor of continuing their own conversation.

“Who are you to tell Aniya who she can or can’t go to the school dance with?” Kai asked, finally starting to get irritated, but so was JB.

“I’m her boyfriend, that’s who I am to tell you that you can’t take her to the school dance.” Aniya along with everyone else who was watching, and recording thinking a fight would happen, gasped as the words left his mouth.

“JB!”

Aniya shouted, finally gaining his attention.

Looking around JB realized that the secret was now out, but he wasn’t really that mad.

“I don’t care that our secrets out. We’ve been hiding for two months.” More gasps were heard. “And if anyone try’s anything, they’ll have to answer to me.” With that being said JB finally did what he’s been wanting to do all day, and kissed Aniya.

~•~

Kai had walked away as soon as JB let go of his shoulders, his job was done after all. He walked up to Valerie and took the $50 that she held out to him.

“Nicely done Kai, or would you prefer I call you Nini?” Kai smiled.

“Nini, I like hearing you say it. You were the first one to ever call me that. I was actually kind of sad when you stopped.” Val smiled at him.

“I’m actually surprised that this worked out though, considering you do have a girlfriend. Speaking of which Krystal was okay with this right?”

“Of course she was, she knows I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

“Good, just because you’re also my best friend doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass if you hurt my Krystal Unnie.” Kai only smile again before ruffling her hair and turned to leave but paused really quick.

“Hey Val, what’s up with you and Yugyeom?”

“What do you mean? He’s a great friend and a great dancer, I respect him greatly.”

“Have you ever thought of him as more than a friend?”

“Why?”

“I just noticed how well you two would look together. Not to mention the way he looks at you.” Val blushed and smiled while looking at the floor. “So you have thought of him that way.” Val nodded slowly.

Kai chuckled.

“Just remember that if he ever hurts you I’ll kick his ass, I’m still your childhood best friend, remember that.” Kai said while walking away.

Valerie smiled to herself as she walked back to the table to tell everyone what happened, sitting closer to Yugyeom than what she usually did. Instead of scooting away though he just smiled at her.

That would also definitely be going somewhere.

Okay guys, this was a story I wrote for my best friends from high school, we were all Kpop addicts and my friend had begged me for a story pairing her with JB, so this was lowkey like a crack fic just because of how wild it was haha but still a story that I had immense fun writing. Let me know if you want a sequel for a continuation of this story or like a second one about Valerie and Yugyeom and about their story. Check out my other stories if y’all have time!!

[fernsandsunflowers]

Hi guys,

I never really make personal posts on here but I wanted to talk about my little buddy somewhere that was both public and private at the same time.

This is Zorro, I was almost 11 when we first met. My parents brought him as a bday surprise for my brother. I didn’t know they were going to get him a dog so I squealed when I saw my mother sneak him into the pantry to hide him away. The moment my brother set off to stay the night at a cousin’s I ran to the pantry and knelt on the floor. He was hiding behind a kitchen chair, peaking at me from behind one of the legs. I called to him and he tilted his head staring at me, a little unsure…I called again and his mouth broke into a giant smile and he bounded towards me, missed the landing and crashed right into my leg. We have been inseparable ever since. That night we gave him milk, the same amount we used to make for a giant German shepherd we dogsat a couple weeks ago, and he drank the ENTIRE bowl. His tummy got so big it dragged on the floor and he couldn’t walk straight. I begged my parents to let him sleep in my room. They reluctantly agreed, and I ended up spending the entire night mopping the floors because he peed EVERYWHERE. My parents brought him for my brother, but he was always mine. He followed me everywhere, even if I was just walking two feet away. He would wait outside the bathroom door for me. when I was in school, he’d come to the gate by 1pm and sit and wait for me to come back home. When I started work, he would wait at the gate by 4pm. When he got older, he’d wait by the doorway of my room or in the tv room his head facing the front door.

He was the number 1 fan of pets, he hated when I came home smelling like other dogs, he loved little kids and would let them torture him to no end - when my cousin was born my aunt stayed with us and that was the one time Zorro didn’t follow me around, he would stay by the door to their room and bark or come call someone the moment the baby started to stir. I also have this seriously hyper kid cousin who used to just throw stuff at him and poke him, and he wouldn’t bat an eye, he’d go and sit by him and let him do his thing - He loved to eat chicken, his favorite fruit was mangoes, and he used to eat anything we gave him as long as he knew we were eating it too. He loved to roll around in grass, and pee on mom’s new plants. When he was younger and did something naughty and mom would yell at him he’d get his revenge by going to her favourite plants, carefully biting off a flower and going and showing it to her. He didn’t give a rats ass about thunder, he’d sleep right through thunderstorms, but he HATED fireworks. We’d have to tie him up and give him some Piriton to help him sleep, but he was never one to be forced into anything. For a small dog he was strong, he’d manage to break out, fight the sleepiness and actually try to catch the firecrackers. You’d think this is impossible, but I come from Sri Lanka, even kids handle fireworks in my country, and a lot of the time we use fireworks that go off on the floor. One of my favourites was this one that would spin like a wheel on the ground, one time he got loose and chased one of them down the street trying to catch it in his mouth. Half the neighbourhood ran after him screaming to try and get him away. I was in hysterics for hours. But he was fine, except for a few burnt whiskers… His sense of smell was never really the same after that - we’d play hide and seek and he’d run right passed me sniffing at the floor. He loved walks, as most dogs do. Sri Lanka also has a lot of strays and my neighbourhood has its own little gang of like 15 dogs. They’d follow us on walks from a distance and I’d always be terrified they’d jump on him. But Zorro completely ignored them and I later figured out that he was actually sniffing out and peeing where the other dogs pee… he’s just that salty. He had long hair that curled at the end and my Cats loved to play with them. They’d slide along the floor and attack him as he walked and he’d stand there and let them have their fun. He never once snapped or growled at them. He hated when I’d start singing, he would tolerate it for about 10 minutes and then would start huffing pointedly. It didn’t stop me from writing him and singing him a lullaby, he didn’t seem to mind that one so much. I used to play the piano when I was younger and he’d make me stop by jumping onto the keys and walking all over them. He once saw a garden snake come up behind me and attacked it. Another time, a bird got fried on the overhead street wiring and my mom kept it on a rock while she went to find her gardening tools so she could dig a grave for it. When she came back the bird was gone and Zorro was covered in dirt. He had buried the bird himself. You’d think this is nothing, dogs often bury bones and things, but this is the first and only time Zorro has ever buried anything. We have a rambutan tree in our home whose branches fall onto our roof, the two of us would climb up to the roof every fruiting season and sit and eat rambutan. He liked the bitter ones the most which worked out great because I liked the sweet. He loved sweets too, cakes and candies and the rare tiny piece of chocolate. We’d have to take care to never keep anything within reach of him… things used to mysteriously disappear anyway. He learned pretty soon that when he was sick he was more likely to get sweets, we used to hide his pills in cakes and gummies, so he would pretend to be ill. He’d limp a little when people were a round and act like he can’t get up. Dad’s favourite story was the time he caught Zorro, who we thought had somehow injured his ankle (he even whined when the vet touched his ankle, she said nothing seemed broken or twisted, it must just be sore because he slept on it wrong so prescribed him something for the pain), walking normally and start limping, on the wrong foot, when he spotted my dad. 

He was beautiful, his fur always shone and his hair was thick and long, he had little eyebrows and even eyelashes. I have never seen a cocker spaniel in Sri Lanka that looked as beautiful and as healthy as he did. You might say I’m biased but every vet we’ve ever been to and every person who’s ever seen him said the same. We had several little proposals for him but they never worked out. We had three girls brought home for him but he HATED them all. The poor things tried so hard to make friends with him but he lashed out at them. Eventually we stopped trying. My brother and I are pretty sure this was because he was gay. During mating season we’d sometimes find him staring longingly at the local dog gang (all male) through the bars of the gate. He loved Tuk Tuk rides because he was just too short to see out the car window. He walked the streets like he owned them and it showed, people would come out of their homes to fawn over him and he’d trot along, head held high. If he was in the way of oncoming traffic, no matter what the vehicle, it was clear that he would not move from it but the vehicle had to move for him. Every vehicle in the neighbourhood knew to make a nice, wide turn, away from his path because he wasn’t going to change his. About 4 months ago our garden wall was broken down for reconstruction and we had taken him out for his nightly pee and poop session. He was taking ages and mom and I were watching a show on tv. So we told him dad was on the way home and he’d let him in and went inside. He had decided to go looking for dad who worked about 150 metres away from our home. He’d one over the broken wall and made it to the main road. I was told that the Tuk Tuk drivers with the help of one of the traffic policeman had created a wall against oncoming traffic so he wouldnt get hit, and because he refused to let anyone touch him two men came running to our house to fetch us so we can bring him back home. Thank god he’s so famously known in town! He created a massive traffic jam and noone complained. Mind you he was deaf and blind at this point so we are pretty sure he simply followed dad’s scent because we have never taken him that way towards the main road before and dad’s the only one who takes that path and he was apparently very purposefully making his way to dad’s office building.

He grew to display behaviour so fundamentally similar to me that we were almost the same person. He hated potatoes, He loved chicken. He hated getting up in the morning and was most active in the night. He hated being helped, towards the end he found it difficult to get up, difficult to walk, but he always had to try by himself for several minutes before grudgingly allowing us to help him. He pretended to hate attention but loved being the centre of it. He hated having his picture taken and he liked baths only after he was in them. He was ticklish on his sides, he was grumpy in the mornings, he liked to go to places only for the ride, once we got to a place it was like ok home now. He was very mellow, he took everything in stride and never complained, he would be mad at you for approximately 2.5 seconds. He was friendly towards everyone but had his favourites… this showed. He was a little afraid of birds. He hated milk by itself and loved roasted dhal. He liked his bread buttered and only slightly toasted. He didn’t like being told what to do and would pathologically rebel, whether it was being asked not to sit during bathtime or being given sedatives at the vets before getting stitches (he was given enough sedatives to affect a much larger dog, but he refused to let it get to him and didnt even go to sleep that night). 

I should have accepted that his time was done, I shouldn’t have tried to force down his medicine. I think I caused him a lot of pain towards the end. I should have just let him be in peace. I shouldnt have carried him to the doctors every day. He hated being carried. I’m so scared that he hated me those last few days. I told him over and over that I was sorry, I just wanted to help. But a dog doesn’t understand all that. He’s gone now and and I caused him all that stress for nothing. And it’s breaking my heart.

He was my home for 14 years and 3 months and 9 days. I don’t really know how to be or do without him here. How am I supposed to want to come back home knowing he won’t be there waiting for me. How am I to sleep without the sound of his snores punctuating the air. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go to the washroom without hearing him padding to the door and loudly sniffing underneath it to see if I was there. I keep expecting to hear him bark softly from outside the door to let me know he was outside and not inside. I keep tripping on myself thinking he was lying on the floor and I was about to step on him. I couldn’t go to sleep yesterday because he didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night to ask for a midnight snack or to let me know he needed to pee.

There was a brilliant sunset yesterday, the whole sky turned gold as we set him down in his little coffin and decorated his grave with flowers. There was a rainbow too. People sent me pictures, saying it was a sign. I don’t want a sign, I don’t want him up there. I want him home with me where he’s supposed to be.

[lronhusbands]

if you like the prompt do write it modern au where steve is just plain mean to tony, he likes him but can't say it. tony is afraid of him. bucky likes tony and one day he asks him out. bucky didn't appreciate steve being mean and had tried to stop him too. tony says yes. steve regrets his behaviour and apologises and after a lot of thinking ends being happy for them. in the end he starts dating sam. winteriron Hea.

After a million and a half years I’ve finished it thank you nonnie for the prompt.

If the format is weird it’s bc my fucking laptop broke.

Anyway here it is!!! 

Steve Rogers was a dick. He’d been a dick since the day the met and his attitude had hardly changed. Tony hardly enjoyed being around the supersoldier. In fact, Tony made a point to avoid being around Steve. Sometimes it didn’t work. He couldn’t avoid Steve on the battlefield, or during briefing, or during the mandatory movie nights (which Tony would never admit that he actually liked). 

Tony was used to being berated, thanks to Howard, but the Steve talked to Tony sometimes was just a little too much for him to handle. Tony didn’t confront him, he was afraid that if he did, Steve would react like Howard used to. He forced himself to suffer through the words of his teammate.–“You don’ gotta talk to him like that,” Bucky said quietly.

Steve just sighed, he was staring longingly at the doorway where Tony had disappeared through, like he was wishing the genius would come back.

“He just doesn’t listen! What if he’d gotten hurt? This wouldn’t happen if he would follow orders,” Steve protested.

Bucky didn’t know how to respond to that in a way that wouldn’t piss the Captain off, so he didn’t say anything.

Later that day, however, Bucky ventured down to Tony’s lab to make sure he was doing ok. He found the engineer at his workbench surrounded by different holographic schematics. Bucky loved it when Tony was in his natural habitat, he was beautiful.

“Hey doll,”

Tony swiveled around in his chair and smiled at Bucky. The bots, who were each in their individual corners, beeped at him in way of greeting.

“Hey Buckaroo! What brings you down here?” Tony asked.

“Was bored,” Bucky responded with a slight shrug.

He plopped himself down on the tattered couch, he leaned back and looked over at Tony with a lazy smile on his face.

“What do ya got goin’ on down here?”

Tony smiled a little shyly before he started to tell Bucky about the different projects he was working on. Bucky really loved seeing Tony in his natural habitat.–It became something of a routine. At first Bucky would go to Tony’s lab if he knew that Steve had been a dick, then it progressed to him going down there every evening, whether or not Tony had even seen Steve that day.

Bucky just loved being around Tony.–“This is a bad idea,” Nat drawled.

Bucky looked from her to Steve and Tony who were in the boxing ring. Nat didn’t look even a little bit concerned.

“Does Tony say no to anything?” Bucky asked, he was successful in keeping the nerves from his voice but that didn’t mean that Natasha didn’t realize how nervous he was.

“You think I’m worried about Tony?” she asked as she raised a single eyebrow.

“What?”

In the boxing ring, Steve was teaching Tony some moves, Bucky could hear Steve’s slightly condescending tone. What a fucking jackass. Bucky looked at Natasha, she was probably as done with Steve’s bullshit as he was. She nudge him gently and gestured to the ring. Bucky looked just in time to see Steve hit the floor. Bucky’s jaw dropped.

“I think I can handle myself just fine Cap,” Tony said easily.

Bucky didn’t even try to stop the smile that spread across his face. Tony was fucking amazing. Tony looked over at them and winked.–“Did you teach him that?”

It had been a few hours since Tony showed Steve up in the boxing ring. Bucky still couldn’t believe what he saw.

“I only helped him perfect his techniques,” Natasha responded.

Bucky nodded and took another bite of whatever vegetable it was that Nat was chopping up.

“If you’re not going to help us cook then the get the fuck out of the kitchen,”

She brandished a knife at him and he was quick to leave the kitchen. He went down to Tony’s lab. Dum-E was the first to greet him as he usually did if he wasn’t in time out for making a mess.

“Hey little guy,” Bucky said fondly, bumping his fist to Dum-E’s claw.

“Evenin’ doll,” he drawled by way of greeting to Tony.

Tony was tinkering with one of his suits, he was covered in grease and somehow still looked effortlessly beautiful.

“Where’d you learn how to get the drop on Cap like that?”

Tony pulled away from the suit for a moment to look at Bucky.

“After the arc reactor,” he said.

Bucky nodded. He’d heard the story of how Tony got the arc reactor in his chest.

“Started boxing with Happy- J make a note to remind me to call him. Gotta make sure he’s doing good,” Tony called.

“Call scheduled,” JARVIS responded after just a moment of silence.

“Then my honey bear forced me to do some other training. Nat helped me clean up my technique. I think it was her way of apologizing,” Tony added.

“I’ve never seen Stevie go down so fast,” Bucky said, a smile growing on his face as he recalled it.

Tony laughed gently, and equally large smile on his face.

“He’s was being a dick, I couldn’t help it,”

“It was fucking amazing doll,”

Bucky could have sworn he saw Tony blush before he ducked back behind the suit. –

The more time Bucky spent around the Tony, the more he realized how much he genuinely enjoyed being around the engineer.

He couldn’t fathom how Steve could continuously be so goddamn rude to Tony.–   

Tony was an insomniac, Bucky needed maybe four hours of sleep a night, so they would often find themselves in the communal living room, watching movies.

Bucky, who had been a mindless assassin for 70 years, loved watching movies. More specifically he loved watching movies with Tony. He always provided the best commentary.

And, if he was lucky enough, Tony would fall asleep against his side. In Bucky’s not-so-biased opinion, there was nothing quite as beautiful as a sleepy (or asleep) Tony Stark, it was one of the only times he was completely relaxed.–

“Are you sure J?”

Bucky looked at the sunflower in his hands and then up at JARVIS’s speaker.

“It is the sirs favorite flower,” JARVIS informed him.

Bucky just nodded. The elevator doors opened and Bucky started on his way toward Tony’s lab. He punched in his access code and stepped in.

Dum-E was the first to greet him, Bucky bumped his fist against the bots claw and smiled.

“Hey doll,” he called to Tony.

“What brings you down here Bu- what’s with the sunflower?”

“Well… it’s uh… for you actually,”

Tony looked incredibly stunned. He slowly took the flower from Bucky and beamed.  

“No one’s ever gotten me flowers before! How’d you know I liked these?” Tony asked, his eyes bright with excitement.

“JARVIS told me,”   

“I was actually wonderin’ doll… if you’d like to go out on a date with me?”   

There was a moment of silence between them.    

“I… yes… that would be… yes,” Tony said, he sounded completely flustered.   

There was a huge grin on Tony’s face, Bucky knew the smile on his own face was just as big.   

“So what are you workin’ on today, doll?” Bucky asked as he flopped down on the couch.–   

Bucky was on cloud nine right up until the point where Steve cornered him.   

They’d never yelled at each other so much. Steve felt betrayed by Bucky’s actions. Bucky was pissed at how Steve was treating Tony.    

Steve stormed off and slammed the door behind him.   

“That was long overdue,” JARVIS commented.   

Bucky’s lips quirked into a small smile.–   

Tony was acutely aware of the fact that after Bucky asked him out, Steve started being unnaturally nice to him. Tony was a little uncomfortable. He was far too used to Steve being a dick that the sudden 180 made his skin crawl.   

It wasn’t long before Tony snapped.   

“Look Cap I don’t know what the fuck you’re playing at but it needs to stop,” Tony said.   

“What?”   

“This whole… you being nice bullshit! Just go back to insulting me,”   

Tony left the room without giving Steve a chance to respond.–   

Tony was picking at things in the fridge when Steve walked in. It had been a few days since Tony had seen the super soldier, for that he was a little bit relieved.   

“Hey Tony,”   

“Cap,”  

Tony was weary of Cap’s presence. He really wasn’t in the mood to be berated.

“I’m sorry,”  

Tony stared at Steve, he was completely speechless.  

“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you. It was wrong, and I don’t even have a good reason. I know I’ve said some real bad stuff to you, and I know that a simple apology won’t make anything better, but I hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me,” Steve said. 

When Tony didn’t respond Steve gave a short nod and walked out of the kitchen.  

“JARVIS what the fuck,” Tony said.  

“Captain Rogers recently reviewed video’s of how he has been acting toward you, sir, and I think- as he should rightfully be- he is ashamed of what he has done,” JARVIS supplied helpfully.  

“What the hell,”–  

It took a while for Tony to get comfortable around Steve. Once he did, however, it was nice. Tony and Bucky would go on double dates with Steve and Sam.   

Life was good.

[lazy-safetastic-13]

Oooh, may I suggest 7 and 8 fellcest? Maybe with 18 as well? For the writing meme.

Wwwww I did it again, and leaned toward fellbros. I keep thinking that if they were in an established relationship, they wouldn’t need to point out nor do they need to express it. So that’s why it may seem like they’re not together together. But will put fellbros anyway just in case. 

Also, 3 things. O-O I cry, but here you go. 

Note: I forgot the sayings were exclaimed …. So they are not exclaimed in the story. My bad. I had them in my notes as not exclaimed. Hope that it’s still okay with you. 

7. “Because nobody cares about me!”

8. “Because I care about you!”

18. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Title: What is to Care?

Pairing: Fellcest/Fellbros

Words: 2, 433

It struck him now on a cold snowy day, as he watched hisbrother come home without so much as a greeting and passed by the couch to thekitchen.

It was something that lingered in the recesses of his mind;a thing that he hoped to be a lie, just him self-depreciating again.

“Uh, welcome back, Boss.”

‘Boss’ … Even he didn’t know exactly when it all started.Though, he had inkling.

It was most likely the time when Papyrus was promoted in theroyal guards, and he had jokingly called him that. The skeleton had looked sohappy that it must’ve stuck to him to keep calling his brother as such.

He cursed his past self who didn’t think about what wouldhappen down the line. Now their distance grew and found himself saddened thatthey didn’t bond as much as they used to.

His call wasn’t answered and instead, heard the refrigeratorshut and the sound of steps heading up.

There was a prick in his soul; he was ignored so often. Butthis was normal between them.

This was … normal …

“Hey, bro!“ Sans turned around, arms on thetop of the backseat as he pulled himself up to a kneeling position to look upat his brother.

He saw the latter come to an abrupt stop and it almostintimidated him when he met his gaze.

All attention was to him and he almost chickened out, but hemustered up the courage to plow on.

“If … If I left, would you miss me?”

Papyrus huffed, crossing his arms. "You leave allthe time, Sans.“

“No, I mean.” He gripped onto the leather materialtightly. “If I, uh, hypothetically speaking, disappear or get dusted orsomething.” He was starting mumble near the end before he asked, loud witha hint of anxiousness. “Would you miss me?”

Would you care?

Do you still care?

He did not back down when Papyrus said nothing and stared athim. He wanted—needed to know. Was thereanything left between them?

The tense silence was broken when Papyrus clicked histongue. “You’re being stupid again, and I simply have no time forit.” Then, he went to his room and slammed the door shut.

Sans stayed there for moments; moments of disbelief … andbegrudging acceptance. His eye lights disappeared, and slowly turned; hisweight almost seemed heavier when he pressed his back against the cushions.

A loud hefty sigh escaped his mouth. And he buried his headin his hands.

What was he expecting?

Just like Papyrus had said, he was being stupid. As if itwould matter what happened to him. Papyrus has his own life now. And he wasjust a leech.

“Is there anything you want to get, Paps?” Hehad gotten his paycheque from his part-time jobs, and he didn’t mind spendingthem for his little brother.

But Papyrus shook his head. “No.”

The skeleton couldn’t help quirk a brow. “Are yousure? Didn’t you say you wanted a toy? What was it? Oh, right! The Mettaton4000 DX model? We can get it now if we hurry to the store. I hear they sell outpretty fast.”

But Papyrus shook his head again. “It’s okay.”

Now he stared at him with a frown. It wasn’t often thatthe latter asked for things, but he made sure that his little brother got whathe wanted and the very best one at that. He wondered what changed his brother’smind. “Are you sure?”

“Yup!”

“… All right. But don’t come complaining to me aboutit.”

“I won’t. Besides I already have something much more important andcan never be replaced.”

“You do? What is it?”

“You!”

His cheeks flushed, moved by the sincerity and honesty ofhis sweet little brother. “Heh, you’re so good to me, little bro.”

“Nyehehe.”

He smiled condescendingly at the irony of the passingmemory. “Heh, looks like I’m nothing now.”

Tears blurred his vision, but he wiped them away with theback of his arm. It wouldn’t do to cry. He may be useless and unwanted, but atthe very least, he should be strong enough not to bawl like some weakling.

Maybe some cool air would calm him. No need getting weird and stupid again.

As he got up and prepared to leave, he looked around theliving room as if never seeing it before.

… It’s funny, he thought.

All he focused on was not losing Papyrus … But he wondered:would anyone miss him when he’s gone? 

He smiled when the answer came clear.

Of course not. Becausenobody cares about me. He looked to Papyrus’ door, longingly and forlorn. Not anymore at least.

And he was gone.

The door slammed shut and he winced. He should really findthe time fix the hinges to his door or else one day, he’d find himself missingone.

But putting that aside, Papyrus walked to his bed andplopped himself on it. He stared at his ceiling, furrowing his brows as hefrowned. Why did Sans ask me that? 

Just thinking about the question made him growl. "As ifI’d let that happen.” What was the point of getting stronger if Sans wasgone? Pointless, that’s what.

“Is there anything you want to get, Paps?”

He looked to his brother and felt a sense of sadness washover him, but only briefly as to not worry his brother.

He noted the dark thick lines just below the eye sockets;no doubt from the lack of sleep and countless hours of working almost nonstop.He knew that his brother did everything in his power to provide and protectboth of them. And it was a wish of his to return the favour, but at the moment,he was powerless.

He also wished Sans would buy something for himself everynow and then.

“No.” He really didn’t need anything.

“Are you sure? Didn’t you say you wanted a toy? Whatwas it? Oh, right! The Mettaton 4000 DX model? We can get it now if we hurry tothe store. I hear they sell out pretty fast.”

“It’s okay.” And it was. He had only mentionedthat just for topic to talk about. He had no real desire in getting the toy.

“Are you sure?”

Seeing his brother begin to frown, he had to becomeenthusiastic as to reassure his brother. “Yup!”

The skepticism was there, but he was more than relieved Sans didn’t pursue the topic any longer. “… All right. But don’t comecomplaining to me about it.”

“I won’t. Besides, I already have something much more important andcan never be replaced.”

“You do? What is it?”

He smiled brightly, gripping the other’s hand to conveywith absolute certainty that it wasn’t a joke. “You!”

Sans had smiled warmly at him, and he longed to protectthat expression; to see it as much as possible. “Heh, you’re so good tome, little bro.”

“Nyehehe.” For his brother, he was willing todo anything.

The sudden recollection made him smile. He had come far toget where he was now, he learned how to pay the bills, set up puzzles to trap ahuman, became the second-in-command of the royal guard—they had a home, food,and enough money to spend for themselves. And yet …

Papyrus sighed and sat upright.

And yet he hadn’t seen Sans smile at all.

It frustrated him. Was he doing something wrong?

He looked down at his precious red scarf—the first gift he’dgotten from his brother. You couldn’t tell, but if one were to look closely,there were numerous tiny stitches found all about; always patched up by hisbrother.

“Sans!” He sobbed,presenting a tear to his brother.

“Hey, hey, it’s allright. Your scarf will be fixed in a jiff all right.”

“I’m so sorry, Sans. Ithought … I’ve been so careful but—” More tears were about to fall, when Sanspetted his head.

“It’s okay, Paps. Iknow you were, and it can’t be helped sometimes. But you know what?”

“… What?”

“It doesn’t matterbecause I will always fix it for you.”

“R-really?”

“Always.”

He beamed at hisbrother, and went to hug him tight, “You’re the best, Sans!”

Just then, he heard a familiar noise outside his room. Hisbrother had teleported again.

Papyrus rolled his eyes, no doubt that his brother went tothe bar again and—

“Would you miss me?”

… And …

“Would you miss me?”

Papyrus’ eye sockets widened as he got up and headed out,not caring when almost tripped going down the staircase as he scrambled out ofthe house.

All his thoughts were focused on Sans. It’s always been Sans.

Sans had no particular destination, just mindlesslywondering around until he was in the middle of the old bridge above the largewaterfall.

He heard that a lot of monsters committed suicide here;simply throwing themsleves off as they say their final words to an echo flower,or maybe even not at all.

He recalled a brief moment in his life when he was one ofthose monsters who thought of doing it. It was easy at the time, because lifehad been so goddamn unfair. But he would think Papyrus. And he would turn backand try again.

Sans sighed as he sat on the edge as he had done in thepast. There were no thoughts of ending himself like before, but the sound offalls was soothing. It allowed him to clear his thoughts. And now he planned.

Maybe he could suggest reading to him again just like oldtimes. Or maybe he’d surprise him by actually staying awake at his station.Cooking dinner tonight would be good too.

He looked down, and his thoughts went to wondering how theflow of water never seemed to end.

Where is all that water coming from? Maybe it can beanother way out of the underground. And why are there echo flowers even. Theydo nothing but talk back to you.

They just … stand there. Being a flower … I wonder ifI can bring back one. It would pretty amusing for a couple of days. And itglows. Pretty useful for blackouts. I should get a basketful—

“Sans!”

He jumped in his spot and turn his head.

There stood Papyrus at one of the ends of the bridge,breathing heavily as if he had just ran a marathon.

“B-Boss? Why are you—” It was rare for the latterto come here, so it perplexed him.

“Don’t do it!”

Do what? "Huh?“ Shit. Did hefigure out I was planning to take some flowers home?

He saw his brother curl his hands into tight fists and Sanspouted. Maybe if his brother heard his reasoning then he’ll agree to get somewas what he had in mind when he spoke. "Why not? I mean, it would both dous some good. Become efficient even.”

The latter faltered. “W-what? E-efficient? You …really want to?”

The sad undertone of his brother’s voice made him reluctant. Didhe not like the idea that much? "I mean, do you not wantto?“

"Of course not! Why would even think that?! No, infact, why didn’t you tell me?”

“What? I just thought of it rec—”

“We can still talk about this, Sans. Don’t do this.Let’s go back home and I’ll cook and you make your dumb puns and …”Sans’ eyes widened and worry and protectiveness set in as Papyrus was downrightsobbing.

“Pap—”

“I care about you, Sans! Everything I did was allbecause I care about you. If I didn’t, they I would’ve have bothered to work sohard to get where we are, but I do. I love you so much, and I thought I wasdoing it right.” He dropped to his knees as he continued. “I’ll doanything to make things right between us again, so please, please tellme what I’m doing wrong. I can't—I don’t want to loseyou.”

… Sans tried not to smile but he ended up doing so, andevenly rudely outright laughing.

Papyrus found himself heating up and getting angry, here hewas pouring his heart out and Sans had the audacity to laugh at hi—

“I’m not planning to kill myself, Paps.”

The tall skeleton stared at him, unable to comprehend all ofa sudden in his confusion.

“I’m not planning to kill myself.” He repeatedslowly. “Looks like we were talking about different things.” Sans gotup, patting the back of his shorts before heading towards his puzzled littlebrother and stopping before him.

“I was talking about bringing some echo flowers homewith us.”

He watched the other work it out, and was intrigued thelatter turned red, most likely from embarrassment. But really, there wasnothing shameful about it.

Sans needed to hear it, and he was more than thankful to bereminded.

“But you were right, Paps.” The tall skeletonlooked at him as he moved to embrace him tight, “I was beingstupid. I’m so sorry." He found himself tearing up, "There wasno way I’d ever leave you. Sorry for worrying you … putting you throughthat, and … making you feel like you aren’t good enough.” He felt armsreturn the gesture as tight in their hold. “Heh, you’re still so good tome, bro … I love you too. And I … I needed to hear it.”

They stayed liked, feeling weights of burden lift from theirshoulders. For the first time, both thought that things were going to getbetter from now on.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Sans.” Papyrushuffed as he stood, carrying Sans along, “We’re going to have a talk oncewe get home. Things will change between us, understood?”

“Heh, you’re the boss.” Sans laid his head on hisbrother’s shoulder, feeling content in a long time.

But then, Papyrus walked to the middle of the bridge, andlowered himself near an echo flower. “Pick it, Sans. My hands arefull.”

Sans looked at him in the eyes in surprise, then brightenedimmensely; hurriedly taking one into both hands, feeling like a small childgetting a present. He laid his head back to the other’s shoulder and playedwith it as the latter began walking.

Their relationship wasn’t perfect, but that was okay. Afterall, love was when two people who care for each get confused.

My goodness. This took me a while. Hope you like it! 

Also, When I wrote mustered. I WAS SO TEMPTED TO PUT MUSTARDINSTEAD. But I didn’t want to ruin the mood. :’)

Thanks for the request. Gonna post the next one in a jiff.

[kottawrites]

Too Damn Stubborn Chapter 2

George Washington

Word Count: 2,163

Contains swearing.

Ship: Thomas Jefferson/James Madison

Links: Ao3 // FF.net // Wattpad

Enjoy!

They had been friends since age ten.

Best friends since age thirteen.

Had a crush on each other since age sixteen.

Roommates since age nineteen.

Boyfriends since age twenty.

They had their first real fight at age twenty seven.

Yes, of course they often had arguments, but over little petty things, never anything more. It was hard to not have disagreements when you were in a relationship with someone as argumentative and confident as Thomas Jefferson.

But this? well, this felt serious.

Madison had come home in a bad mood after work, he’d had to deal with many moody mothers of students at the university after there had been a mistake with some of the student loans- which (as James had told them many times) isn't something he has control over anyway!

Jefferson was irritated thanks to the bad weather making his leg ache more than usual and Hamilton had managed to somehow get an article Thomas had worked really hard on pulled from the final print of the next days Newspaper.

So the air was tense before they even greeted one and other.

Jefferson wanted to rant about Hamilton- get all his frustrations out of his system.

Madison wanted to complain about his job and all the wrongly placed complaints he gets.

Neither of them wanted to listen.

“You know, I feel like you do nothing these days but obsess over Hamilton!” James had snapped “Every day all I hear is ‘Oh you'll ever guess what Hamilton did today!’ or ‘I pulled the most amazing prank on Hamilton earlier.’ and I always listen because it makes you happy.” He heaved a sigh “I know you're self centered- but hearing you talk about someone else as much as you talk about yourself. Its draining.” James said bitterly, not making eye contact with the other man who stood across from him.

Thomas raised his eyebrow, and said possibly the worst thing he could have- but unfortunately he never thought before he spoke “Well my life has to be interesting enough for both of us- considering how dull each day is at your little reception job.”

James looked up at Jefferson at that, his face a painful combination of hurt and disappointment before he stood up slightly taller and deadpanned a simple “Fuck you.” at Jefferson before he took his bag and left their apartment, slamming the door behind him.

The silence that Thomas was left in was absolutely suffocating.

But as confident as ever he sat down on their sofa and tried not to think about the colossal disaster he’d just caused.

Besides, James would be back later that evening.

--

James wasn’t anywhere to be found in their apartment the next morning.

--

James didn’t come home that next night.

--

The sun rose on the second day after Jefferson's big fuck up, and Thomas knew he couldn’t take this anymore.

James had replied to none of the one-hundred and seventy six text messages Jefferson had sent.

He hadn't picked up any of the two hundred and eighteen calls Jefferson had tried.

Anyone who could know where James might be wouldn't talk to Jefferson.

The worry he felt for his boyfriend (God, he hoped they were still boyfriends) was overwhelming. His entire body felt tense and all he seemed to do was nervously unlock his phone very thirty seconds- just in case James had tried to contact him.

He may have taken slightly more of his pain medication than he should have- trying to stop the pain in his heart along with the pain in his leg, but that only made him want to sleep.

He woke with a start the next morning at five AM. He’d fallen asleep uncomfortably on the sofa and felt disoriented as he gathered his surroundings. Once again, finding no James and no messages from James. He felt utterly defeated- which is a feeling he doesn't think he has ever felt before.

Thomas had picked up his phone and typed out a hasty: “Hi, I won't be in work today. Got some crazy bad food poisoning.” to his manager- this was one hundred percent a lie because Jefferson had lost his appetite the second James had left.

He struggled to get himself up off the sofa and stared longingly at the front door to their apartment, wishing desperately for James to come in quietly like he always does. But there was no chance considering it was five AM and that Jefferson had been possibly the worlds biggest ass hole the other day, and honestly he didn’t deserve to see James's warm smile again.

But he wanted to see that smile and the man it belonged too like he needed air to breath.

He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and start taking action.

--

So that how Jefferson found himself trespassing on Reynolds University property at half past seven in the morning, with a pitiful bunch of flowers at his side- it was all the supermarket had left before they got their order in later that morning.

He sat down on a wall near the main entrance to the university, where he knew the reception area was.

Where James would be in about an hours time.

He closed his eyes and willed time to go faster, his hands resting on his cane in front of him.

“Excuse me- but, you look a little old to be a student here.” Someone said standing above him. Jefferson lifted his tired gaze to see a man who stood a bit too proudly and alert for such an early hour. “You know trespassing isn't allowed.” The man said coolly, his deep voice sounding as though it should be commanding an army- not talking to Jefferson.

“I’m waiting for someone.” Thomas sat up, trying to hold his own against the older man.

“Are they expecting you?”

Thomas considered lying, but he couldn’t help but feel like there were consequences for lying to the other man “Unfortunately not.” he sighed.

“Now why is that?” The man said, he sat next to Jefferson on the wall.

Thomas felt weary all of a sudden, why was this stranger taking so much interest in him? He began to politely say it was none of the other guys business when the stranger spoke again.

“Sorry, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. Not everyday some random guy comes up to you and starts grilling you on your problems.” he chuckled and put his hand out for Thomas to shake “I’m George Washington, a teacher here at the university.”

“Charmed.” Jefferson said nonchalantly, he he shook the other man's hand weakly, trying to make his disinterest clear.

George must have picked up on this, because he seemed to roll his eyes and smile slyly “I've worked here long enough to know the staff pretty well. Especially our wonderful reception team…”

Jefferson perked up at that comment. George thought to himself ‘bingo’ as his hunch about this trespasser had been correct.

“I’m assuming yore Thomas?” Washington's tone had changed, and suddenly Jefferson couldn’t help but feel like he was about to get the the lecture of a lifetime off of George “The cause of James’s recent heartache?”

Thomas shouldn't feel happy about the fact that James was sad too- but he did. This means there was still a chance for them right? “That would be me, yes. The ass hole who cant keep his stupid moth shut.”

“I've heard.” George nodded. “Son, I can't say I’m pleased with you. In fact I think you have a lot of work to do.”

Thomas felt himself choking up- he never got choked up. But the weight of the situation really was dawning on him. How could he have said that to James? James is all he really has in this world that makes him unconditionally happy. Why did he leave it so long to come and find him- surely he couldn’t have just assumed that Madison would come crawling back to him after he’d been so bitter? “I know.” Was all he could manage to say.

George let Thomas stew over his regretful thoughts a little longer, before clapping the other man on the back gently “This is a good start though. The flowers could be better, they are a little rough around the edges- much like yourself.”

Jefferson looked at the bunch of flowers he’d put next to him and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips “They do look shit don’t they?”

George laughed “I wouldn't go that far.” He stood up again “Son, I’m happy to see you're making an effort to right your wrongs, but you must keep it up. I can tell you love James a lot, but, loving is easy, young man, proving it is harder.”

Thomas nodded and said “Thank you, for talking to me, that is. I’m going to try so much harder from now on.” He stood up also, feeling more energized than he has in quite some time “I love James Madison and I’ll be damned if I don’t let him know it every single day!” he exclaimed confidently to George.

“Well you had better start soon. I have work in half an hour.” someone said from behind Jefferson. He knew that voice better than his own. I loved the sound of that voice more than his own- and that was saying something.

“James!” He jumped, cheeks suddenly going red- embarrassed that he’d been caught being so cheesy.

“Well would you look at the time, I had better get to my classroom.” George said, mining looking at a watch on his wrist that wasn’t there before he wandered off across the campus.

“I haven't forgiven you just yet.” James warned.

Thomas felt his stomach drop, his regretful mood returning “I don’t expect you to have Jemmy. But I’m going to do all I can make it up to you.” He grabbed the flowers off the wall hastily and thrust them towards James “I have been a class-A asshole and I am so sorry I can't even begin to explain it.”

James took the flowers and looked at them thoughtfully “They're a little rough around the edges… just like you.” he commented looking Thomas up and down “I’ll see you later after work.” his signature warm smile beginning to show itself on his lips.

Thomas’s heart thumped loudly in his chest, he don't know how much he’d been longing for James since the he’d had left “See you later sweet heart.” He said perhaps a bit too quickly. He felt like he was sixteen with the biggest crush ever on his best friend again. It was not an unpleasant feeling, the excitement was certainly getting his blood pumping.

“See you.” James waved before walking off toward the universities main entrance.

Thomas was left, standing love struck for a short while before he managed to snap himself out of it and walk home.

On his way back he picked up the ingredients to make the special Macaroni Cheese he makes specifically for his other half. It was lactose, dairy and gluten free so that it wouldn’t set off any of James’s allergies and also it tasted amazing.

Although Thomas regrets deeply what he said to Madison, the silver lining is It really made him realize how good his life is with James by his side.

--

When James had come home later that evening, the pair had shared a candlelit dinner and talked the night away as if they were only just dating again. James informed Thomas that the teacher he’d spoken to had invited them to a barbecue at his house the following weekend- if he wanted to go.

Thomas had of course agreed, he was looking forward to seeing George again, grateful for the kick in the right direction he’d given him.

All in all, despite his best efforts, things were looking up again for Thomas, and he planned to keep it that way from now on.

--

[lilahmontgomery-blog]

Occultus (M)

Title: Occultus

Rating: Mature (18+)

Pairing: Hermione Multi, main pairing: Hermione/Snape

Summary:  Hermione is seventeen and back at Hogwarts after the fall of the Dark Lord. Struggling to go back to 'everything as normal', she uses the Time Turner and travels back to the Marauders era. Lost in both time and her own past, Hermione must fight through the lures of Dark Magic, self-indulgence and lust before she and the future she comes from are lost forever.

Occultus

By Lilah Montgomery

Chapter 1

31st October 1977

The dormitory bed creaked as he finally climbed on top of her.

More than half an hour of bringing her higher and higher with his mouth and clever fingers had preceded this intimate act, an hour of kissing and grasping at clothes as they made their way here before that. Hermione was filled with an almost feral desperation, legs wrapping around him, fingernails scratching lines into his flesh.

How was it he was doing this to her?

Dark magic?

His brilliant mind?

Did it matter anymore?

Hips crashing together, moans and gasps from both participants. A declaration of love from him, a cry of ecstasy in return from her.

He felt so good, she could not deny it. She broke from kissing his collarbone to stare longingly into his obsidian eyes. They held in them a million swirling thoughts and feelings, all intermingling with pleasure and power.

She adjusted their angle with a slight tilt of her pelvis and was overwhelmed as he hit the perfect spot inside her. Frantic gasping followed as he drove into her, right to the edge, then right over into blistering heat and technicolour.

The force of it silenced her. Her breath was trapped in her lungs and her mind swam with bliss.

He was so perfect. How could she have not seen it before?

Her dark haired lover slowed his pace and moaned into her shoulder before stopping with a sharp gasp. His body became as relaxed as hers and for a few minutes, ragged breathing was the only sound.

Hermione pulled her head up and embraced him against her. She tightened her legs around his hips and kissed his dark head. He returned the affection with kisses wherever he could reach.

We're seventeen, we could do this all night! Hermione reminded herself,

Her lover pulled his head up, breaking their embrace. He stared into her eyes, the hint of a smile playing on his lips.

"You are beautiful, Rose," he told her gently. "What are you going to do to me?"

Hermione felt him slip out of her and watched, almost sadly, as he stood up and stretched.

She pulled his sheets over herself and considered her answer very carefully.

"Severus Snape," she replied, "I'm going to save you."

~0o0~

A mirror can serve perfectly as a window to a person's future. Big bags under the eyes in the reflection: today will be a struggle for you. A winning smile and a 'good hair day' in the reflection almost promises a pleasant time of it for that person. This may go some way to explaining why they are used so frequently in the wizarding and muggle worlds alike for uses beyond fixing smudged lipstick. Be it "Mirror mirror on the wall…" fairy tales, communication via magic portals, revealing one's darkest desires or used in Divination- a wholly, often misunderstood branch of magic practised only by those gifted.

Hermione Granger, at the age of seventeen, should perhaps have been more cautious of the power of mirrors as hers smashed in front of her one summer morning.

1st September 1998

"Bollocks."

"What was that?" Ron called up the stairs.

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh and started collecting the pieces of glass now scattering the floor.

"Just some glass, I'll sort it!" She called back. She retrieved her wand from her dresser drawer and wordlessly charmed the glass to form a soft, reflective putty which slithered itself into the wastepaper bin. She grinned triumphantly and threw the plastic frame in with it.

Hermione tugged her wild curls into a neat-ish bun and grabbed her bag as she made her way down the stairs.

Mrs Weasley was waiting for her in the kitchen, pretending to be hand washing a jug in the sink. The jug was quickly forgotten in the soap suds as Hermione walked through the door.

"You're up, dear!" The older witch fussed, pulling her by the arm to the table. "Did you sleep well? Are you excited to go back to Hogwarts today? I can write to Professor McGonagall if you're not quite ready? Ron said you broke a glass?"

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"It was just a makeup mirror, Mrs Weasley. I've been meaning to make a better one anyway." She explained.

Mrs Weasley nodded, unconvinced, and waved her wand over the table. Toast, jam and a variety of fresh fruit appeared before Hermione's eyes. Dropping into a chair, she tucked in greedily.

Hermione had been staying at the Burrow for the last few weeks of summer. She had gone initially saying she would help with the repairs but in actual fact had wanted to spend time with the youngest Weasley brother-her friend turned lover, Ron.

"If you need more time, dear, I do think they'd understand. After what you went through…"

The matriarch's voice broke slightly and she stopped talking for a moment. Hermione stopped eating, knowing the woman was silently reliving the battle which claimed one of her sons.

"Well, if you want me to come and get you at any point, you know how to reach me." Mrs Weasley added. She started charming some of the pots to clean themselves and stopped speaking while a grateful Hermione finished eating.

The younger witch magically cleared away, enjoying the fact she could use her wand outside of school, grabbed her bag again and went to join Ron and Ginny on the bench outside the front door.

The pair stopped talking when they saw her and each greeted her warmly, Ron even standing up to hug her. She sat down with them and stared out at the meadow behind the rickety house.

"How's mum?" Ginny asked. Hermione shook her head slightly and continued to stare ahead.

"She's still fussing a lot and clearly doesn't want me to go back." She replied.

Ginny made a noise and shook her head in a matching gesture.

"Nor me," she said, "I think she wants everyone around her at the moment."

"I'm staying." Ron piped up. "Harry says he'll come and stay for a while too while we work out what we're going to do with ourselves now."

Hermione was awash with pure exasperation but held her tongue. Ron and Harry's decision not to return to Hogwarts to complete their schooling had been the source of many a row over the summer, leading to her realising that perhaps she and Ron were not as suited as she had thought.

Hermione saw herself as competitive and ambitious, she did not understand her boyfriend's lack of drive to study for his NEWTs or to take the opportunity to amass more knowledge.

She smiled weakly and stayed quiet.

She felt Ron squeeze her hand and her eyes met his.

"You don't have to go back either, you know…" he suggested.

The witch laughed and pulled her hand away.

"I'm sorry, Ron, but if you think I'm going to carry on with my life without a NEWT to my name, you have another thing coming! Besides, if I want to continue my work with SPEW then I need to get a decent job at the Ministry, they won't hire someone without the credentials."

The red-haired boy looked shocked for a moment, then crestfallen.

"The Ministry? I'd hoped you'd want to maybe stay home and raise a family...in the future, I mean…"

Ginny shot him a warning look which Hermione noticed and he shrugged his shoulders quickly.

"What I meant was, I'm surprised you want to work there and not stay here with us, that's all…" He spluttered.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and let the suggestion of no career pass. She mentally added it to the ever-growing list of reasons they did not have a future together.

~0o0~

The journey to the train had been relatively cheerful, though the goodbye at the platform was extremely emotional. Mrs Weasley broke down in tears several times and kept grabbing hold of Ginny, refusing to let her go.

George, who had chosen to take a year out to be with his family, held her back as the girls boarded the train.

"Write to me?" Ron called after Hermione before the door was closed. She assured him that she would and sat with Ginny in an empty compartment, finally able to express excitement about going back.

She sat by the window after changing into her robes and broke a chocolate bar in half to share with Ginny.

"How was your summer with Harry? Are you going to miss him?" Hermione asked.

She noted the hesitation before Ginny answered.

"Of course," she said, "It was really nice but I'll be glad to get away for a while… give me some time to grieve…"

Hermione's heart broke a little. With no siblings of her own, she could only imagine what Ginny was going through. She decided to change the subject and produced The Advanced Book of Potions from her bag. Opening the page, she touched the handwritten note gently: Property of the Half-Blood Prince.

Ginny craned her neck to look and stared at Hermione quizzically.

"It was his...Snape's…" Hermione explained. "He was a bit of a genius, even as a schoolboy…." She stroked his pen marks again with her fingertips. "This book was his. Harry accidently inherited it and gave it to me. He's improved all of the potions with tweaks here and there and since I can't learn off the Professor anymore…"

"You weren't there when he was Headmaster, Hermione, so I wouldn't expect you to understand, but the less I hear about that 'genius' man the better!"

Hermione was slightly taken aback but then remembered the stories of torture and fear which had occurred at the school the year before. Ginny and those left behind had endured trials as traumatic as herself and her friends on their quest for the Horcruxes and it showed on the younger witch's face.

Hermione quickly shut the book and tidied it away. She pulled out her Runes book instead and opened it to study.

She glanced up at Ginny after a few minutes and saw silent tears slipping down the younger girl's face.

~0o0~

Hermione sat on her four poster bed that night in Hogwarts, flicking through the Half-Blood Prince's potions book.

She had thought that the familiar castle and grounds would fill her once more with a sense of stability and belonging, but instead, the witch found herself buried under memories of all those who had been lost just a few short months before.

Some faces from the past were welcome: Neville and Luna had both greeted her so warmly she felt her heart may burst and Hagrid had lifted her clear off the floor in a massive bear-hug.

Others were not so welcome. Draco Malfoy had also returned and had given her a curt nod of his platinum head and left it there.

Her mind swam with the faces she would never see again around the castle. Remus Lupin, Fred Weasley, Albus Dumbledore and of course…

"Severus Snape…" She whispered to the pages before her.

It was odd. She had never considered herself 'attached' to her former Potions Master, yet somehow, with his old school book providing an insight into his clearly brilliant mind, Hermione found herself disappointed that she would not have the chance to learn from him or know him better.

The pages had scribbles ranging from ordinary to profound; spells, curses and the odd word or phrase which Hermione did not understand or recognise. Some had little tags next to them: "For Enemies…" or "Work in Progress". Others were written with strings of numbers or symbols next to them.

Hermione rubbed her eyes, suddenly aware that it was getting late. She shut the book but held it close to herself, deep in thought.

She wondered silently, as she stared at her reflection in the dark window, how she was supposed to carry on as normal when everything felt so far from it…

~0o0~

The harsh sunlight hit Hermione's eyelids as it flooded in through now fairly familiar windows. The term had barely started and yet she was enduring her third hangover of the year plus an altogether not unpleasant drunken memory…

She giggled slightly as she recalled Malfoy stroking her silky bare legs under the table as the other seventh years were distracted by a drinking game. His warm palms had caressed her, working their way teasingly close to the bottom of her short lace dress, yet never quite reaching where she had started to wish they would wander.

His eyes had locked with hers as she sipped the fire whisky he had bought her...seeking permission? Daring her? She could not be certain. Perhaps she would never find out.

She listened to Ginny's soft snores from the other side of her bed and sighed.

Her flirtatious rendezvous with the young man previously her enemy had ended abruptly as word reached her that Ginny had "rather overdone it" and needed to be taken back to the castle. Hermione had got them both back and bundled Ginny into her own bed for safe-keeping while she sobered up herself.

She wondered in her morning-after haze whether or not Snape would have invented a potion to cure hangovers.

He probably wasn't a drinker… she reasoned, thinking back to the cold, controlled man she had known.

Her head swam as she sat up but she fought on and dressed, gathered her school things and left for the potions dungeon.

~0o0~

"Good Morning, Hermione, dear, how are you?"

Horace Slughorn, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin: kindly, attracted to the rich and powerful, far too upbeat for Hermione's liking.

She smiled a weak smile and took her place near the front of the class. Draco Malfoy had already sat down and glanced up at her as she sat.

Slughorn smiled around the room and gestured to the potion sat bubbling on his desk.

"Today, we are going to start to brew Wolfsbane Potion. Can anyone tell me about it before we begin?"

Hermione ignored the looks she was getting and averted her gaze to the floor. Having been so excited to show off her knowledge before, it just wasn't the same without Ron staring open mouthed at her or Harry grinning proudly.

"Anyone?"

Draco Malfoy put his hand up and started answering, his voice sounding a little gruff after the drinking and lack of sleep.

"Wolfsbane Potion is known to allow the Werewolf to keep their mind during transformations so they do not become a wild animal and bite anyone who comes into contact with them. It was discovered by Damocles Belby who is the uncle of Marcus from our last year in Ravenclaw…"

Slughorn smiled broadly, though winced a little at the mention of Marcus. Hermione remembered the old man being disappointed that Marcus was not in touch with his famous uncle anymore, a fact which led to Marcus' invites to further 'Slug Club' meeting getting 'mislaid'.

Hermione also remembered Slughorn boasting about how he had taught Damocles "...everything he knew…".

"Ah, Damocles. I was his teacher, you know." the old man started up while making his way to the potion on the front desk. "I taught him everything he knew!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and smirked. She fished her copy of Advanced Potion making out of her bag and set herself up near a cauldron.

She discovered the Wolfsbane potion on her page was annotated as usual in Snape's scrawling handwriting.

"Now, everyone. This is extremely advanced potion making. No one but myself and Damocles has been able to produce it from scratch, therefore the exam will focus on theory as well as method after the ingredients have been collected and treated. At no point will you be expected to produce this on your own."

Hermione's mind took her back to her third year and she would have stuck up her hand, were it not for Draco Malfoy making an appearance beside her.

"Snape could do it too. Saw him make it for.…" the youth muttered to her.

Hermione nodded. "And Lupin." She added.

Draco took the cauldron beside her and unpacked his things, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he did so.

"Why are you cutting lengthways?" He whispered after a while. "The book says-"

"I know. Why don't you do your own."

The two continued to work in silence for a few more minutes before Draco spoke again.

"About last night," he said, "things got a bit….I don't normally do that, particularly with girls of your…"

Hermione glared at him, daring him to mention her blood status.

"...background." He finished.

The witch rolled her eyes and groaned.

"I thought maybe we could have a Butterbeer or something this afternoon. If you're not busy…?"

"I'm seeing Ron at the moment, actually," Hermione snapped, stinging a little from his 'background' comment. The Slytherin stood with his mouth open for a moment before angrily slicing his herbs.

"I see," he replied, "you must have forgotten that last night since you didn't mention it once and let me make a fool of myself."

The witch held back a haughty response and reflected instead. She debated silently how best to answer before finally doing so.

"I was enjoying your attention," she admitted, "you're handsome and it was thrilling since Ron and Harry wouldn't approve. I think I liked the naughtiness of it….but we couldn't be more than a grope in a pub, Draco, not after everything...and your family would never approve of me if anything came of it. Probably best if we just shake hands and leave it there?"

Before he could answer, Hermione gathered her remaining ingredients and left him at the workbench alone.

If Hermione Granger could see her reflection in a mirror as others were starting to see her, she would see the cracks forming all over her once neat image. She would watch as, piece by piece, little shards had come away leaving her looking lost and incomplete.

She was held together by her inner strength determination to succeed, yet a looking glass cannot be held together by will alone and the next little tap could see the whole thing shatter…