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quillsanddaydreams · 3 years

Text

i don't like you

james potter x reader

—author's note: This was a story from my main that I adored so I thought why not rewrite it? The plot is the same, my ability to tell a story however, has changed. James and you do not like each other. Not even a bit. I hope you enjoy ;) Please do leave a comment, it makes my day.

—warning(s): couple of harmless pranks, slytherin! gender neutral!reader (pronouns aren't used).

—word count: 3,431

Groaning, you got up and squinted to make out the details of your dorm. Shouts and rushing made your head thump. You slowly realized a god-awful smell was filling up your room, quicker than you could think. Squeezing your nose shut, you rushed out. Other Slytherins were alongside you, you could hear coughing all around. Your eyes pricked with tears, your throat felt raw. Seeing a very familiar messy dark-haired boy run away jeering; you sensed rage gripping your form like a vice.

Third time. It was the third time the same week that Potter and the elder Black brother had pranked you all. Except it wasn’t funny anymore. That was what pranks were supposed to be right? Something that made everyone laugh along? Looking towards Elodie who was clenching her eyes shut at the sensation, you made a plan in your mind. You knew it was crazy. But when did that ever stop you? James had never conversed with you. Nor you, him. Yet it was clear that he did not like Slytherins. Not one bit.

-♡♡♡-

James yawned, stretching his limbs for a new day. Scrunching his nose, he felt a flowery scent attack him. Maybe it was just Sirius with one of his experiments. Shrugging, he got up and into the shower. That day he had transfiguration, charms, and astronomy. Thankfully nothing with the snakes, they might still be sour about the prank they pulled yesterday. Getting out of the washroom, he hummed to himself as he passed Peter who was still fast asleep. Remus was asleep and Sirius was furiously scribbling on his homework. Always finishing at the last moment.

He didn’t realize the uniform he was putting on until he looked at himself in the mirror. And boy oh boy did he panic. Eyes widening almost comically, he rummaged through his wardrobe, everything a dark green color with silver accents. A note fell at his feet.

“Dearest Marauders,

Take this beautiful gift of green robes from me. I know not all of you deserved this, but then again, I didn't feel like any of you should be left behind. I know how much you love us, Slytherins. Why not showcase it?

With love,

(Y/n) (Y/l/n)”

“Sirius! Remus!” he called out. “Wormtail!”

Sirius didn’t even look up from his parchment, Remus let out a grunt in response. The only answer he got was a faint ‘what’ from the shared bathroom.

“Mates listen to this,” James said firmly, reading the letter out loud. That got their attention. “Our robes are all green. Vivid Slytherin green!”

Remus got up suddenly, with wide eyes rushing to check his almirah. He groaned loudly on finding them in the same predicament James foretold grass-like and smelling heavily of flowers. Sirius however, started crackling.

“What?” James bellowed, his nostrils flaring.

“Well, the sarcasm in that letter is…” He snorted, stopping himself seeing James’s frown. James shook his head as Remus glared at them both.

“This has a strong one-week dye,” he said, punctuating each word, infuriated. “There’s no way it can be removed before the expected time. Why should I suffer for all the things you two do?”

“And I am not suffering?” James quipped back as Remus just shook his head, huffing, and went back to his bed. James looked at Sirius who didn’t look worried at all.

“What? Aren’t you bothered at all?” James asked.

“I look great in everything,” he replied shrugging, making James want to punch him.

He dressed up quickly after, dashing out of the dorm towards the great hall. Ignoring the looks of the students from around and the snickers he looked for you amidst the Slytherin table. It was infuriating, how casually you ate your breakfast, almost oblivious. Stalking towards your place, he cleared his throat grabbing your attention. Your eyes sparkled amusedly, taking in his appearance.

“Why the hell did you do this?” he demanded.

“Now, that’s not a way to talk about the gift I gave you,” you said, batting your eyelashes as he scowled at you. You muttered a spell under your breath, waving your wand slightly before continuing. “I worked hard, you know?”

“You Slytherins are the best thing to walk on this planet!” he shouted before he could stop himself. His eyes grew large. Everyone’s attention now seemed to be on your table.

“Thank you, I know,” you smirked, challenging him. He narrowed his eyes on you.

“You put a speaking charm on me didn’t you?” he hissed as you put on an innocently sweet expression.

“Well, I thought you needed some help with words,” you prompted, getting better reactions than you hoped for. James growled, jumping up and down in annoyance. You tried not to laugh. Did. But the corners of your mouth turned up anyways. He looked like an idiot. The giggle you let out grabbed his attention, his cheeks turning a rosy red.

“I don’t like you,” he said in a rather squeaky voice.

“I don’t like you,” you retaliated. James hated himself for thinking the laugh you let out looking adorable. Anger, which was more of a frustration gawned on his skin. He knew exactly what he was going to do next. Giving you a sickly sweet smile, he enjoyed the slight shiver that went through your arm. Let the prank war begin.

-♡♡♡-

You rushed out of the bathroom, vexed. It had been a long exhausting day and this was the last thing you needed. Your skin was tinted green. Bright neon green. Elodie stared at you in stupor.

“What happened?” she asked and you couldn’t help the raucous whine that escaped your lips.

“I don’t know, okay? I was in the shower and after using soap, my skin turned freaking green,” you hissed as Elodie tried to calm you. You handed her a small piece of paper. “Oh and look what I found beside the shampoo bottle.”

Dear (Y/n),

A gift from me, to showcase your pride in your house. You could thank me later.

James.

P.S. This gift in no way means I’ve started liking you. I don’t.

“James. James did this; that bastard!” you said, nostrils flaring as Elodie rubbed your back.

“Well, it’s just hands and legs…”

“I'm gonna get back at him. Just watch me.”

Your jaw clenched. You knew just what you were gonna do. James started a fight with the wrong person. And you didn’t like him. At all.

-♡♡♡-

You were reading your book when you saw James pacing towards you, from the corner of your eye. Trying to keep a straight face, you fixed your gaze on the book in your hand. Yet you couldn’t help the twitch your mouth gave as he stood right in front of you, folding his arms.

“Wow,” he breathed through clenched teeth. You looked up.

“Real mature of you,” he said in a baby’s voice. It sounded like he pronounced everything through his nose. You made an effort not to start crackling right then.

“Well, one of us had to be, right?”

“Yeah. And giving me the baby voice makes you the adult.”

“I’d think so, yes.” You said brushing his hair. They were surprisingly soft. James glared at you.

“I don’t like you.” He squeaked as you raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we already established that. I don’t like you either boy,” You said, letting out a laugh.

-♡♡♡-

Adjusting your cap, you pulled your books closer to you. It was like everyone was staring at you. Specifically how stupid you looked. A whistle caught your attention. James, it had to be. When you turned towards the sound, you were sadly proved right.

“I like your cap,” he commented, clicking his tongue.

“Geez. Thank you. Just bought it,” you said, threateningly. Take one step James, I dare you; you thought. He didn’t get the message.

“I wonder how it would look on me,” he said, taking a step towards you. You hissed.

“Sorry, not gonna let you borrow it,” you tried to say in a normal tone, but it came out quite high pitched. James dared to grin.

“What if I just…” he said, coming closer as you took a step back, glowering at him in a warning. Not that he took it. He snatched the cap from your head as the long white hair fell. They reached your feet.

“James, give it back,” you warned and he put it on his head.

“Nope,” he said, his eyes full of mischief. You hesitated at his expression, he looked as candid as a child. Maybe you never noticed it, his hair fell round in pretty curls, framing his face. James winked, making you break out of your reverie.

“I think,” he said thoughtfully. “I think I’m going to keep this cap with me, I quite like it. If you want it back, you’re gonna have to take it from me.”

James took a step back as your eyes dilated. He turned around and started sprinting in that direction.

“James!” you shouted, chasing him.

People around you bolted aside, gasping at the scene. A ghostly white-haired student chasing after James as he chortled. It had been going for quite some time and everyone wondered who would win. Few in the favour of James, who had been pranking ever since he set foot in Hogwarts; a few for you since you were a Slytherin and Slytherins never lose. Others just shook their heads, wishing they would get it over with already the cat and mouse game was becoming rather tiring. No one however had the courage to raise their opinions out loud, lest they got involved in the prank war.

-♡♡♡-

“James," you said calmly, though the atmosphere made you anything but. Thick hot fumes rose from all around you making beads of sweat form on your forehead. "James, this doesn’t go in. We have to stir it first.”

“Why don’t you do it then? Little miss know-it-all” he snided. You looked at him fiercely. Slughorn had paired the two of you together for the next project and it couldn’t be more of a disaster. Only if he could just listen.

“I would if you let me,” you pointed out, finally taking over the shared pot. James watched you take a few breaths before starting to work on the potion. Muttering for ingredients from him now and then, you stirred the concoction. Soon, it started to show the exact signs given in their books.

James couldn't help but stare at you as you worked, humming to yourself all the while. You seemed cute like that, bending over the book, occasionally muttering to yourself. His face heated up when you caught his gaze. Luckily he could blame it on the heat.

“Could you cut some beetroots for me?” you asked, ignoring the way he flushed. James nodded, chopping them to the required amount. The two of you finished up fairly swiftly after that.

"So," you started after Slughorn left. He had commented on your work and applauded you both. Happiness was evident from the smiles on your faces. "Library at 4?"

James grinned, giving you a thumbs up. He packed up his stuff before turning to leave. You couldn't help but stare at his retreating figure, thinking, maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Shrugging, you shook away the thought and went your own way. There were things you had to get done that day.

-♡♡♡-

As time passed, the thought started becoming more predominant. He wasn't so bad, your mind reminded you time and time again. The more you started to know James, the more you believed in it. Constant teasing and bickering wasn’t something that became unheard of between the two of you. But it was more lighthearted now… almost as if you were friends crackling over a shared joke. James had somehow caught your eye again, in a completely different way.

It seemed you were noticing new things about him, like how he didn’t look at you with hatred. Come to think of it, was it even ever ‘hate’? Yet there was something soft about the way he gazed at you now, gentle even— you couldn’t put your finger on it. You had come to enjoy his goofy personality, the smile he gave when his eyes were light with mischief. Knowing where these musings led, you had tried your best to beat them down. What was it that you did not try? Remembering every single detail that made you despise him once, all those times your blood boiled at the prank he pulled but nothing— nothing ever worked and your heart still fluttered every time he complimented you.

Was it that bad an idea though? Liking James?

You shivered, pulling your sweater closer to you. Walking had failed to heat your body the way it always did and you reckoned that your deliberation also had something to do with that. It wasn’t about you liking him, your mind prompted, it was about whether he could feel the same way. And if you knew something, you knew that you couldn’t take the answer to be no. The skip in your step halted, and you couldn’t help the sigh that escaped your lips.

Path to the library couldn’t have been more daunting. That was until you saw James and Lily around the corner. Talking, laughing, and standing too close to be called friends. Evans, the one girl James was head over heels for, the one girl you never paid attention to much.

It was like the final shoe dropping. James and you didn’t like each other. People knew that you did as well. It was time you believed it too. Your stomach twisted up at the sight, your mood souring. You turned, walking away.

“Oi!” James called out to you, apologizing to the students he bumped into. You brisked forward, hoping to make it to your dorm. It didn’t work, James ran to catch up with you. Damn his long legs.

“Stop fucking running,” he huffed on reaching you. “Where are you going? We have a study session. You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”

You gritted your teeth.

“I was heading to the library but you and Evans seemed quite busy, so I thought against it,” you said, albeit aggressively. Jealousy was never a good color.

“We were just talking for a moment,” James explained. “I want us to complete the project first though.”

He looked at you, confused. It was hard controlling your anger right then. You couldn’t help the dry laugh that escaped your lips.

“Of course,” you said in a temper. “The faster we finish up the project, the faster you can get rid of me, right? Because you don’t like me.”

James’ smile dropped. Sadness gave way to rage. Of course, you still thought that even after all the time he spent with you.

“Yeah. I don’t like you,” he hissed, gritting his teeth. “So let’s complete the project, shall we? To get rid of each other?”

You looked away. It was the last thing you wanted to hear. You yearned for him to tell you otherwise, to apologize for his words, and to reassure you that it wasn’t so. That you two were something. Friends, companions, anything but this. Yet the bigger part of you told you that he was right. And you were nothing to him.

“Yeah, sure.”

-♡♡♡-

The following study session was tense. You two never worked quietly. Jokes, laughs, and incessant chatter filled the air when you were together. James had regretted his words as soon as they came out of his mouth. He watched your expression fall and a wall build up around you. Your eyes hadn’t met his since. It ate him up. Somehow he didn’t know how to break the bubble he created.

He hated seeing you close off to him.

You heaved a sigh checking the last lines you’d written and then looked at the clock. It had been two hours.

“I think we should stop. There are just two pages left, we can do them tomorrow and you’ll be free,” you said, packing up your things. James opened and closed his mouth as you picked up your bag.

“Hey, wait!” he said as you turned towards him.

“I didn’t mean to, “ James started, but you cut him off.

“James, it’s alright,” you said, taking a deep breath blinking away the tears that emerged. “I understand. You don’t like me, I don’t like you and we’re stuck together for some time. You don’t have to apologize for that.”

James sucked in a breath. That wasn’t right. At all.

“But—“

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you,” a voice came and you shifted to see Elodie. You looked over at James, whose eyes pleaded you to stop. But you couldn’t.

You left the library, walking towards your friend leaving behind the boy who stood transfixed at his spot. Why did he feel like he was losing everything? He grudgingly moved his feet towards the common room, your thoughts plaguing his mind. James heard a shout behind him, twisting to see Lily jog up to him.

“James, I was wondering,” she began biting her lip. “Maybe we could sneak out for some butterbeers today? It’s freezing and the snow looks heavenly.”

James found himself shaking his head. His mood was far too spoiled for anything.

“Not today, Lily,” he answered. “I’m tired.”

“Oh, I meant it as a date, you know?” Lily added hopefully. James considered her for a moment. It was everything he had wished for years. Yet he couldn’t feel the happiness that should have come with it. He wanted, no— he needed someone else, someone who made him far giddier. He needed you.

It was like a bolt striking him. He had never been so sure of anything else. Unable to keep the grin off his face, he spoke his next words in a rush.

“Lily, I’m sorry but I can’t,” he shouted, sprinting towards the dungeons. Running through the rather empty corridors he saw the snow which coated the grounds. His breath came out in puffs as he urged himself to move faster. He stopped when something caught his eye. You. Standing out in the snow, looking at the sky with a smile.

Moving towards you, he conjured up a snowball and threw it on your back. Your eyes widened in shock as you jumped, looking towards him.

“What now James?” you snapped.

He conjured up yet another ball and threw it at you. Your eyes grew larger and you glared at him.

“I wanted to say something,” he said as you conjured up a ball and threw it at him in response. He hissed at the icy sensation.

“Then say it.”

“I don’t want to get rid of you,” he said, throwing a snowball at you as your teeth clattered at the sensation. You threw a snowball in return, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Then stop acting as you do.”

He threw yet another ball at you.

“You make me act like that,” he stated. You threw a huge one in response.

“I make you act like an idiot?”

“Yes, you drive me crazy,” he said, throwing some snow at you as you grunted.

“Then why don’t you leave me alone?” you huffed as he threw yet another ball at you, making you cough and splutter.

“Because I can’t.”

“Why?” you asked, throwing a ball at him.

“Because I can’t leave the best thing that happened to me,” he said, making you stop. You stalked towards him and poked his chest with every word you spoke.

“I'm the best thing that happened to you? What is this? Some kind of sick prank? You don’t even like me,” you sobbed, frustrated and angry. That was how he made you feel. Everything all at once. James didn’t know how to answer you so he just took your hand away and cupped your cheek with his other one, leaning in to kiss you. Your eyes fell shut as feeling his lips against yours. You grabbed his shirt pulling him closer feeling his arms tighten around your hips, sucking his bottom lip. When you pulled away you both caught your breath.

“I promise those are the truest words I’ve ever said,” he whispered, his hair messier than usual. He cradled your face, pressing his lips against your forehead. You crossed your arms.

“I still don’t like you,” you said in faux anger. James let out a teary chuckle.

“I don’t like you either,” he replied, smiling.

—as for the taglist: I don’t make taglists, I have a blog @from-my-quill which is updated whenever I post fanfiction. You could have the notifications on for it and it will work just like me tagging you.

⟨⟨REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE APPRECIATED⟩⟩

#james #james potter #james x reader #james potter x reader #james x y/n #james potter x y/n #the marauders #marauders #james x you #james potter x you #james potter fluff #james potter angst #lily evans #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter one shot #james potter fanfiction #from anu's quill

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stray-kids-react · 3 years

Text

Making jewelry with them

Masterlist

@mariafeh

...

Bang Chan

° Walked through your apartment doors, arms filled but buckets of string and many different assortments of beads.

"The craft store had a sale on."

° Makes you a bracelet with a cute wolf charm in the middle, just so you have one more thing to remind you of him.

° Ends up staring at you rather then finishing his bracelets, loving your focused pout and giddy behavior when you finish one.

° You kept working on this bracelet secretly, not wanting him to ruin the sickly sweet surprise you had prepared for him.

"Baby I want to seeeee~"

° When you finally finished the bracelet, you still kept it behind your back. Asking him to close and cover his eyes, walking behind him just in case he decided to peek.

° You placed the black and white bracelet on his opened palm, the letters arranged to say 'Forever'.

° He loved the colors and how much thought you out into it, but wondered why you put forever on it out of all things.

° That is until you raised your wrist to reveal the letters spelling 'Together'.

"Aw, baby~ you're too cute. C'mere I want to kiss your face."

Lee Know

° You were both bored, wanting to do something cute and simple without having to go out into the cold weather.

"Let's make bracelets."

° You knew he secretly just wanted to make bracelets with the cat's names on it. But you didn't mind, you loved the cats too.

° You began to head Minho giggle to himself as he assembled another bracelet. He hid it behind his arms, still chuckling.

° Once he finally finished, he cupped it in his hands and asked for your attention. A smug smirk stretched across his soft lips.

"I hope you *chuckle* like it."

° The cool beads fitted into your palm perfectly, you looked down to see the start of a word. My Second Love, you soon realized the meaning of the bracelet.

° You pouted cutely as the cats came first once again, but you could stay mad at him for being an adorable cat father.

° Minho kissed your pout away, leaning closer and closer until you pushed onto the floor of your apartment.

° His smug smirk returned once again, this time much more apparent and sly.

"Don't pout and expect no kisses, your still my sweet lil kitten."

Changbin

° Changbin knew that the fast few weeks have been hard on you, due to the lack of time spent with him.

"Sweetheart, want to hang out?"

° The way your eyes lit up with extreme amounts of joy, melted and broke his heart at the same time.

° He loved hanging out with you, swooning over your small habits and quirks. But he felt bad for not doing it more often.

° You stuck your tongue out for the tenth time as you tried to tie the bracelet together, failing once more to your disappointment.

"Here let me help you."

° You both never realized how close you were until he looked up at you, his hot breath fanning across your skin. Before you could even say a word, his lips were on yours.

° This kiss wasn't usual from Changbin, it was very cautious as if you were going to break. He only did this when apologizing.

° You knew something was eating him up inside, just by the glossy layer on his eyes. He looked on the edge of tears.

° Changbin didn't have to explain, you just held him close, knowing he needed it.

"I'm so sorry, I really don't deserve you sometimes. I love you y/n."

Hyunjin

° You were having a tough day, being miles away from your family. And not being able to visit them due to the risk of the virus.

"Why don't we send them something?"

° Hyunjin was your positivity throughout these tough times, encouraging you to keep moving forward with him.

° He placed the buckets of beads from art projects that never happened, and handed you the different colors of string.

° Hyunjin played your favorite movie on for background noise, sometimes getting lost in the scenes and dropping his bracelets.

"You look so cute when you're focused."

° His messy ponytail lost small strands of hair that kept blocking his vision. He constantly shook his hair away, making you giggle at the annoyed scoffs he made.

° As he finally finished his bracelet, he gently tugged at the sleeve of your sweater. Asking to place it across your wrist.

° You smiled gently as the mint green and brown beads spelled out 'My Home'. His lips landing gently across your head.

"Well get through this together, I'm just glad we have each other during this."

Han

° After winning an award for Back Door, you wanted to give them something as a congratulations gift.

"Pumpkin, what are you up to? ~"

° You showed off the five bracelets you've already finished, each holding a different symbol and different color patterns.

° Jisung's face beamed only pure joy, seeing your criss crossed on the floor as you focused on congratulating them.

° He knew that none of them asked you to make these and your company was far enough, but that made it even sweeter.

"I swear you are the cutest person on earth."

° He didn't tell any of the members, knowing they'd melt just as much as he did. Especially Felix and Jeongin, since they were already quite close to you.

° For the rest of the night, Jisung ordered your favorite take out and helped you finish your adorable project.

° The next day, sent his heart into a frenzy as you shyly passed them to each member. Hoping they like the gifts.

"This is why I love you, you're just so damn cute and it ruins me."

Felix

° You and Felix were known to always do cute activities like this, even fitting in time during his busy schedules.

"Let's make some cute bracelets."

° His hair was messy from the recent dance practice, clearly tired from his hard work. Yet he still insisted to spend time with you.

° You worried that he felt the pressure of having to spend time with you, even though you reassure him that you don't mind.

° After the long silence as he concentrated on a pastel based bracelet for you, you confronted him on your concerns.

"Spending time with you calms me down."

° The beaming grin with his sweet tone, melted away all of your concerns. Giggling like one of his many admirers as he fluffed your hair playfully.

° After around bracelet 4 he began to get increasingly tired, crawling his way to your lap. Burrowing his way into your grip.

° You both just lied there quietly, playing with his hair as he places small kisses to your shoulder blade.

"Thank you for calming me down love, I truly owe you for always being so amazing."

Seungmin

° You were currently in quarantine after your landing to south Korea, only having the virtual company of your boyfriend.

"Only two more days til I can see you again."

° You laid on the carpet of your hotel room, creating a bracelet for him when you see him face to face finally.

° Seungmin ranted to you about how much he misses his fans, thanking you for making his days brighter and more pleasant.

° His messy bed head and cute glasses always sent you heart into a frenzy, wishing you were there to play with his fluffy locks.

"Is that bracelet for me darling?"

° You quickly hid the cute gift behind your back, chuckling softly as you tried to tease him on his "secret" gift from you. Seungmin laughing with you, as you failed to hide it.

° As the laughing quieted down, both of you smiled sadly. Never knowing how long two days could truly feel when waiting.

° He could see the sad look in your eyes, and wished he could just kiss all of it all better. But the only thing he could do was talk.

"Don't worry darling, the days will go by in no time. And we'll cuddle non stop."

Jeongin

° You were spending quality time with your boyfriend and your best friends, all of which happened to be in Stray Kids.

"Y/n made us some cute bracelets!"

° The excited shimmer in his eyes made all of you feel just a bit happier, his energy always contagious to anyone.

° Throughout the bucket of handmade bracelets, he searched to find the one you specifically made for him.

° An adorable confused pout when he couldn't find it, knowing you were hiding it due to the shy smirk on your lips.

"I know you too well baby, hand it over. ~"

° You reveled a beautiful bracelet, with a shining ring in the middle of it. Which happened to be detachable. The admiration that filled his eyes, made you shiver.

° He knew it was a promise ring, and loved how you took so much effort to make something for him. It swelled his heart.

° Before you could explain the meaning of anything at all, Jeongin molded his lips against yours. The members going wild.

"You're so thoughtful and caring, I'll cherish this forever my adorable y/n."

#stray kids #kpop #changbin #skz scenarios #stray kids reactions #han jisung #hyunjin #jeongin #lee know #bang chan #Lee felix #skz seungmin #skz edits #skz fluff

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sunflowerstache · 4 years

Text

Lifespan

A/N: Hello! This is very different from most of my writing, not only because its an OC, but because the storyline is just something out of my comfort zone. But I really hope you enjoy it(: I got the inspiration from a ad I saw on Facebook a long time ago lmao but yeah, come say hi once you’ve read it and tell me what you think! It’s much appreciated! I love you all so very much! Also hugeeeee shoutout to @devil-in-bw-the-sheets for spending like six months reading and re-reading this every single time I rewrote it and changed things and encouraging me each time! And @emotionally-imbruised for beta reading it for me!💛💛

Word Count: 7.3k

“Doll?”

The fog that seemed to have settled over your mind instantly melted away upon hearing the barista’s voice, her sweet drawl grounding your focus back on her. She was an older woman, probably nearing her sixties based on the collection of grey hairs scattered throughout her small ponytail. But still so incredibly full of life. She had red glasses perched atop her nose - which perfectly completed the red polka dots covering her black dress - a beaded chain dangling from the end to the front of the frame, a pair of silver peace sign studs resided in her ears, and the anatomically correct symbol for caffeine dangled in necklace form on her chest.

“What? I’m sorry.”

“Just asked if you wanted the cream on that.” She smiled, thin lines spreading out and away from the sides of her eyes as her mouth widened. Upon glancing down quickly, you took notice of her clearly hand drawn name tag filled with swirling letters - different then when you stopped by earlier in the week when she had used stickers to spell out “Rita”.

“Oh, um yeah sure. Why not.”

“My husband always says that during weather like this, the calories don’t count. That they disappear with your shivering. Can I just have your name, dear?”

“Georgie. And your husband sounds like a very smart man.”

“Oh, he is.” A dreamy look took over Rita’s features, like just thinking about the man made her heart race. “Been together for forty-two years and he still teaches me new things.”

Your heart ached with each word; the fog slowly started to creep back through your mind while you watched her grin fondly. The hope and excitement for the future that was always so very clear in people’s eyes was what made it so hard not to explain everything you knew, every secret you held. However, as much as you wanted to urge everyone to live the life they’ve always wanted, you knew there was a natural balance to life, and opening your mouth would undoubtedly throw that balance off. So instead, you grinned and nodded your head.

“He sounds wonderful.”

“My best friend. Counting down the minutes until the end of my shift. We’re heading up to see our grandbabies for the week.” It was like she knew exactly what kind of secret you were keeping and made sure to hit you where it hurt each time she opened her mouth. As if her being impossibly sweet didn’t hurt enough.

“That sounds nice.” Digging around in your bag for your wallet made it much easier not to focus on the ticking time bomb in front of you. “How much do I owe you?”

“Oh my! I’m sorry, I know I can’t talk forever if no one stops me.” her laugh was soft, inviting, one you would love to listen to while storytelling. “It’s four pounds.”

“You can keep the change.” You said when handing her some cash, but stopped yourself before you turned to walk away. Even if you weren’t ever going to outright explain anything to anyone, slipping in tiny, reassuring comments made you feel at least a little better before parting ways. “Have an amazing night with your family Rita.”

The coffee shop was relatively empty at the hours you stopped by. Other than the same group of men that were there every morning, chatting over the newspaper and a black coffee and a young nurse who was just getting off of her night shift, only customers on their way to work stopped by. But that was just how you preferred it. It was much easier to avoid running into people when the sun had barely just peeked over the morning horizon. You suppose the city isn’t exactly the best place to reside when you’re on a mission not to get close to anyone, but you’d much preferred the hustle and bustle of the city than the silence of the countryside. At least here you were able to escape your thoughts when they got to be too much, out there you were left to drown in the weights you held.

Rita was right when she said the weather would bring shivering. The moment you stepped through the café doors, all sense of warmth you previously had was sucked out of you, leaving the tips of your fingers tingling against the warm cup. You hadn’t ever really gotten to know the woman behind the counter, a few kind greetings every now and again, but she seemed to be someone who brought a lot of joy to those around her. And she always put extra chocolate curls on your drink. You made a mental note to send some flowers to her family within the coming days.

It was a car horn that initially took your attention off of the pavement, turning to look for who was in such a rush at 5:30am, but the hard torso smacking into her shoulder is what brought your attention back. Followed by the searing heat of your hot chocolate spilling down your front.

“Oh fuck!” you yelled, immediately dropping the paper cup and trying to pull your shirt away from your body to decrease the chance of a burn. There goes your chance to get home and drive right to work without any issue.

“Oh my god! Oh shit!” the man that had ran into you gasped, stopping in his tracks and grabbing onto your elbow to steady your wild movements.

Even though his words were quite loud on the empty street, his voice was still husky, almost like he wasn’t awake yet and still had some left over sleep in his throat. And when you turned to look at who had ruined your shirt, your own voice got stuck in your throat. He was tall, which made sense considering your head had bounced right off of his chest. He was wearing black basketball shorts with tall white socks and a light grey hoodie, which was pulled up to cover the dark grey beanie resting on his head. With one hand he was holding a water bottle with ease, while the other was frantically pulling the airpod from his ear. But apart from his sheer stature, you couldn’t ignore how beautiful this man was. How even the worry lines littering his face were perfectly accenting his features. Or how the green of his eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light of the Whole Foods you had been stopped in front of.

“I’m so sorry! Shit are you okay?” he quickly asked, shaking his head before you could even respond. “Obviously not, that was probably hot. Oh god I’m so sorry!”

Finally getting your bearings back, you couldn’t help but nod. “Yeah it was pretty hot.”

“Shit, I don’t even know how that happened. I must’ve taken my eyes off the pavement for one second. I’m so sorry.”

“So you’ve said.” You chuckled, bending down to pick up your now empty cup at your feet and tossing it in the bin by your side. “Don’t worry about it. Really it’s fine.”

“It’s not, I’ve ruined your shirt.” If the disappointment in his voice wasn’t evident enough, the small pout on his lips definitely was. He looked absolutely distraught at the sight of what he’d done. “Let me at least get you a new drink. It’s the least I could do.”

“Oh, um, that’s alright.” You’d always known it was rude to speak to someone and not give them eye contact, it was something your father had drilled into you as a child, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Looking someone in the eyes meant seeing above their head, and that was an area you actively tried to avoid looking. But there was something about him that drew you in, and you couldn’t help glancing up at him quickly again. “I actually have to be getting to work. Thanks though.”

“Are you sure? I feel terrible.”

“Positive. Have a good morning.” Your touch was soft on his arm as you made your way past him, leaving the mystery man standing on the pavement staring as you walked towards your flat.

You didn’t mean to be so short with him, but it’s just how you’d grown accustomed to living life. It was the easiest way you found not to get close to many people, which meant less hurt in the end. And you’d been around enough hurt in your short twenty three years. It may be a lonely life, but you were happy with your cat, comically named Lucifer, and living a simple life. Sure, there were times you wished you could live the carefree life everyone around you got to experience, your only issues being stresses of work or relationship drama, but that wasn’t who you were. After living the life you did, there’d be no way you could live a normal life.

“Don’t give me that look, Luci.” you grumbled when walking through your front door, your cat perched on the dining table just watching as you moved through the living room, ripping your destroyed shirt from your body. “This wasn’t my fault.”

You’re sure that you looked like a crazy person if anyone was watching on, talking to your cat while walking around your flat in nothing but a pair of black slacks and a bra. But you didn’t care, because this was your normal. You ranted to her after a long day at work or a particularly draining day, and she always sat and listened. Mostly because she was a cat.

“He just ran right into me, like he literally couldn’t see me. How odd, right?” you stopped briefly while searching your closet for a new shirt. “God Luci, he was cute though. So cute. And tall.”

Just because you secluded yourself in the world didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy taking a peak at what it had to offer. It was the forming relationships that put you off, not because there was a level of uncertainty - nothing was uncertain to you - but because you always knew the timeline of said relationships. It was always the same. So why put yourself through it? But also, why not? What if that was just what you needed to make such a painful existence a little more bearable?

“I didn’t even get his name. Maybe I’ll see him around the cafe sometime.” you hummed, throwing the new peach colored blouse over your head and peeking your face out of the hole. “No. No Georgie, don’t go there. Who are we kidding, it’s not like anything could ever happen anyway.”

Lucifer meows loudly at your comment., making you turn around to glare at her. Obviously she didn’t know what was actually going on, but it was nice to entertain the idea of someone listening to your problems and helping you talk them out. You were a secluded young woman, not crazy.

“What? Like I’m wrong? It’s not something I’d be able to keep from a boyfriend forever. And It’s not like I’d be able to just flat out tell them.”

She meowed again, jumping off the table and prancing her way to your feet, rubbing her side against your ankles.

“What would I even say? Hey, I was born with this thing where I can see a floating clock above everyone’s head that literally counts down to the day you die? Yeah because that won’t get me sent to the looney bin.”

From the start of time, there has always been a beginning and an end to everything. No matter if it was an Oscar award winning film, delicate relationships, or even life itself, it all ended. People come, and they go, but the world continues on; taking care of those who stay to see another day. And on a daily basis, the idea of the end rarely floats through anyone’s mind. Except for you.

For you, it was impossible not to think about when it was quite literally staring you in the face. For as long as you could remember, you walked through life with a different outlook on the end than most other people.It wasn’t because you had some near death experience, but due to a gift. Or at least what some people in the world would consider a gift, because in no way would you call being able to see the exact day someone is going to die, a gift.

It was something that over the years you had grown to ignore, trying not to look too far away from people’s eyes and never thinking too hard about the ticking numbers.They weren’t obnoxious or flashy signs hanging above everyone’s heads - like you had seen some films try and depict - but instead, just a simple, faint, white clock just above the tops of everyone’s head, showing each individual’s lifespan. No matter how many hours you sat down and tried to rationalize why you were able to see this, there was never any answer. No one else in your family carried the burden, and because of that, you never mentioned it to anyone in fear of sounding crazy. But you knew you weren’t crazy, not when you prayed night after night for those numbers to disappear or for someone’s clock to be wrong, only to be let down.

You knew you weren’t crazy when you finally saw your favorite florist Don after he spent some time away, and his clock suddenly read 3 years, 20 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 6 seconds instead of the 27 years you had grown used to seeing on him every day before he left. It didn’t take long for you to find out he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and treatments had stopped working.

You knew you weren’t crazy when you got to watch Kim’s clock - the very sweet receptionist at your job - begin to slow down the more she adjusted to a healthy lifestyle of eating right and taking care of her body. What was once a ticking time of a measly 21 years adjusted what would be a long and fulfilled 59 years more.

And you knew you weren’t crazy when at only seventeen years old, you watched as your best friend’s clock suddenly dwindled down to zero’s across the board like a slot machine while laying on the bathroom floor of a house party. The drugs in her system being too much for her young body to handle and completely consuming the 72 years she once had left.

You weren’t crazy, you just carried a burden no one should ever have. And because of it, you made sure not to get close to anyone in fear of watching yet another clock strike zero.

So you moved on with your life, forgetting all about the tall man who had spilled your drink and run into your mind, making you think things you hadn’t in so long, and instead, focused solely on getting through your days at work and getting back home. It was an easy routine, one you hadn’t strayed from much since moving to the city six years ago; wake up, feed Luci, get coffee, go to work, go home, shower, watch tv, go to bed. And as happy as you were that life wasn’t so painful these days, boring would be the only word good enough to describe your life.

Until your neighbors moved in.

You were standing in the kitchen, lifting the collar up to your mouth to try and quickly lick the hot sauce off the old, ratty Elton John Tour shirt you were wearing before it left a stain, wearing nothing else but some shorts, a nice pair of cheetah print slippers to cover your chilly toes, and one of the two hundred paper face masks you’d ordered off of Amazon in an attempt to clear your skin, when the loud bang on your front door startled you. Not only did your family not live in town, but your neighbors knew that you weren’t a people person. Ever since you made that very clear to them upon moving in, they hadn’t tried to contact you, so you just assumed whoever it was had gotten the wrong flat number.

But the knocking persisted.

Lucifer’s head had picked up from her lap upon hearing the first knock, now watching as you made our way closer to the front door. “What do I do?” but the only response you received was her head tilting to the right, like she was saying ‘Really? Answer it you idiot.’

You wanted to be angry, you really did, because you were nearly ready to be completely settled in for the night after a terribly long day and you just wanted to watch some bad tv with Luci, but the moment you twisted the door knob and peered into the hallway, any anger you had felt, completely washed away.

“Hey! Sorry, my mates and I-” he abruptly stopped mid sentence once his eyes landed on you, like his train of thought literally face planted into a brick wall. A look of realization flashed across his face quickly, and in a matter of milliseconds, what was once stress turned into a look of excitement. “Hey! It’s you!” he smiled.

“It’s me.” something about him made it very difficult for you not to mirror his smile, but that desire was overpowered by the confusion coursing through your mind.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again! I still feel terrible about what happened, are you sure you were alright? You didn’t burn yourself, did you?” The man was incredible at changing his emotions at the drop of a dime, for now his eyes were laced with concern where excitement had just lived. “Or I guess I should say I didn’t burn you, did I?”

He was much more put together this time, the workout attire you had last seen him in was traded in for a pair of light red slacks that looked to be a crushed velvet material paired with a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black vans. He looked like any university boy you’d see walking the streets, but at the same time, like nothing you had ever seen before. Something about him standing in your doorway brought you a sense of calm, like just his presence was enough to wash away the stresses of your day.

“I mean I can’t say that it felt particularly good, but I didn’t get burned, no.”

“Oh good. That’s good.” he nodded, and you made the mistake of following his hand with your eyes as he lifted it up to his curls to fix the glasses perched on his head. You didn’t want to know, didn’t want to see what kind of fate the universe had in store for him because the peace he had brought to you in the few moments he’d been standing there felt better than anything had in the past few years. But you were never that lucky.

Your eyes quickly casted back down, looking back at the white of his shirt while you cleared your throat. “Did you need something….” you dragged out the end of the word to indicate that you didn’t know what to call him since he hadn’t bothered to mention his name.

“Oh, right. ‘M Harry.”

“Georgie.

“Hello Georgie.” if possible, the grin on his face doubled in size, causing two dimples to appear at the corners and the air in your chest to feel as though it was tightening.

The two of you stood in your doorway without saying anything for another moment before you spoke up; “So did you need something or…”

“Fuck, yeah.” his voice was breathy when he responded, standing up straighter, “My mates and I just saw you come home and we’re in desperate need of a needle and thread. You’ve got one?”

It only took a second for him to realize his words and that surprised look from when you first opened the door was back. His eyes widened and his hands raised in front of him as a way to stop you before you could respond.

“Not in a creepy way! We weren’t like watching you or summat, swear! My mates Niall and Louis just moved in across the hall.” using his thumb he pointed to the open door across the hall where you could see two other guys watching yours and Harry’s interaction. Upon realizing they were spotted, they raised their hands in a small wave. “We heard you come in. Not that we were actively listening! Just - ‘m sorry. I swear we aren’t creeps.”

“Good. Thought I’d have to sic my monster of a dog on you.” you replied, turning to dig through the small table in what could barely be considered an entryway. The table had started out as a place to keep your keys and mail, but like most did, quickly turned into a junk drawer. An abyss to put any and everything only to never see it again.

Harry’s eyes frantically looked behind you like some crazy monster was about to lunge at him for bothering you at night, even going as far as taking a small step back when the door opened a bit wider while you were looking for the tool. You laughed when glancing up quickly at the movement. It was obvious he was panicking at the new information of potentially getting mauled by a massive dog while simply asking for thread. So you put him out of his misery.

“There’s no dog. I’m just joking…”

As if on cue, Lucifer waltzed up to see what was going on at the front door, her small body weaving between your legs to get a nice scratch while checking out the never before seen man. “Oh! A cat! I love cats!”

“Yeah she’s pretty great.” you nodded, closing the drawer and holding your hand out to Harry. “Here you go. Um, not sure what colour you need so you can just take the whole bag.”

“You’re a lifesaver, thank you! Niall has a date in ten minutes and he’s split his only good pair of trousers.” he turned his head to look over his shoulder at the boys inside the other flat, trying to seem like they weren’t listening to the conversation, but very obviously doing just that. “Have to sew him in like ‘m some sort of tailor.” he chuckled, turning back to face you.

“Sounds like an exciting night.”

“Oh riveting. I would ask if you’d like to join but you look very busy-” the corners of his lips were trying hard not to curl upwards with the light sarcasm, wobbling a bit as he continued speaking, “-so I wouldn’t want to interrupt anymore than I already have. I’m sure I’ll see you again, I practically live with these two idiots.”

“‘M sure I will.” Luci hadn’t left your side since joining you at the door, instead, she began meowing quite loudly, so you bent down to scoop her into your arms.

You liked Harry, not only because he was a very obviously a good looking man, but because he seemed to pick up on your social cues fairly quickly. He didn’t linger and try to get as much out of you as possible or make the fact that you clearly didn’t have much interest in talking uncomfortable. And it was the first time in a long time that you felt content being around someone. Not fearing what the future brought.

Harry halted his movements halfway between flats and spun back around quickly. He didn’t say anything at first, just watched you press kisses to Lucifer’s head while standing in the doorway. Something you gathered from the very brief times you’d shared an encounter was that Harry was not very good at hiding his emotions. It was almost like he had no control of his mouth, because you could see him try to stop the smile from spreading, but it was no use. The dimples popped out in full force.

“I still owe you for that coffee.”

“Oh, um not a coffee.” you tried not to be loud enough for him to hear, noting that the fact that it wasn’t a coffee was not really that important, but he heard you anyway.

“Pardon?”

“Just um, it wasn’t a coffee. More of a hot chocolate drinker actually.”

He didn’t respond right away, instead just continued watching you with fond eyes and a now very prominent smile. You felt as though he could sense how out of touch with relationships you had begun to get over the years. What other explanation could he have for being so soft with someone he had just met and barely even known

“Right, well keep your schedule open so I can take you out for that replacement cocoa.”

Your door swiftly closed the second he turned back around, not leaving any extra seconds for him to turn around and look at you again. And the second she heard the click of the lock, Luci leaped out of your arms and made her way over to the sofa, meowing her entire journey.

“Yes that was him.” another meow. “I told you he was cute, and I also told you nothing would be happening there.”

Harry wasn’t lying when he said you’d be seeing him again. It seemed as though every day when you got back to your flat, he was there. Sometimes on his way out, other times just standing outside the door waiting for the other boys. And despite how at peace being around Harry had made you feel that day he came knocking at your door, you never put in much more effort than a “hello” here and there. He and the others had tried quite a few times to get you to join them on their night out, but each time you came up with a different excuse. Even if they were comforting, what was the point in forming that friendship when you knew you’d just isolate yourself again eventually. You had made it this long without getting too close to anyone else, and you weren’t going to start just because two attractive lads moved in across the hall who happened to have a very fit, very inviting, friend.

It wasn’t until nearly a month later that you actually had a full conversation with Harry again.

Typically you tried not to go to the coffee shop by your flat any later than lunchtime because it just got too busy. There were too many people for you to fully avoid them all and seeing too many clocks dampened your mood significantly. But you had already had a shitty morning and needed something to give you a boost.

The place had felt very melancholy since Rita’s unfortunate passing last month, she’d passed peacefully in her sleep while spending time with her family. You’d sent the family flowers as remembered, and also made sure to drop a few bills in the jar on the counter each time you’d been in the shop. Other employees were setting up a fund for Rita’s family since she was such a loved member of the community just with the joy she brought from behind the counter.

“Just a large hot chocolate for me, please.”

“For here or take away?”

“Take away please.”

“Actually she’ll have that for here, please.” a familiar voice behind you spoke up as you were digging through your bag for your wallet. You could see him out of the corner of your eye move from his spot behind you, to gradually standing next to you, looking directly at the barista behind the counter.

“Um..” you felt bad for the young kid, he couldn’t be any older than eighteen and all he wanted to do was get to work and get out. But here you were making his day more stressful than it needed to be. “So… for here then?”

“Harry I -”

“Come on Georgie. Please.” never in your life had you seen a grown man bat his eyelashes, but here he was, trying to lure you in with his breathtaking green eyes.

“Fine.” your voice came out soft and you rolled your eyes, but on the inside you felt giddy, like what you remember life to feel like before you started isolating yourself. “Um, sorry. I’ll have it for here I suppose.”

“Do you want the cream?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, I’ll have a -” Harry’s profile was something you could get lost in. How the tip of his nose seemed to bounce with every word he said, how it looked as if his lips were made to form the words falling from between them, or how no matter how many times he tried to get it to stay back, one of his curls would continue to break loose from the rest and fall past his forehead. From what little you’ve seen of it, Harry had a great sense of fashion. Comfortable. A brown teddy bear jumper was covering his upper body, sleeves long enough to gather just past his hands and torso short enough that you could see his white shirt peeking out from underneath, ripped black jeans, a pair of black chelsea boots, and those same tortoise shell glasses perched on his nose completed his look.

“Ready?”

“Huh?”

“You ready? ‘ve got a table back by the door.”

The two of you made your move to walk back towards the front of the shop, but you halted in your tracks when you saw that yes, he in fact did have a table waiting for him, but it was also being inhabited by the two boys you had seen behind him when he came to ask for thread. Neal and Liam? And a girl was sitting between the two as they chatted amongst themselves.

“Harry I don’t -”

“Come on, I promise we don’t bite.” Apparently you still didn’t look convinced because he leaned down to be at your eye level and stuck his lip out in a pout. “One drink. Please? I owe you remember?”

“Yes and you’ve already bought me a new one, thank you by the way, so you don’t owe me anything else.”

“I know.” the apples of his cheeks began getting pinker the longer he stared at you, “But I’d very much like to spend some time with you.”

Just like he did when he knocked on your door, his eyes widened and immediately seemed to want to backtrack what he had said. “Wait no, not in that way. In like a ‘hey I think you’re cute -’ no fuck that’s not -”

“Harry.”

“Yes?”

“One drink.”

The relief was instant on his features, his shoulders sagging and eyebrows un-furrowing at your words. “Good. Afraid my mates were going to start thinking I made you up.”

“I live across the hall, they’ve seen me.”

“Well yeah, but I talk about you so much they thi- I - fuck.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that fell from between your lips. You may not have had many friendships or relationships of any kind, but you did know excessive rattling wasn't generally how people spoke to one another. “You babble a lot.”

“Only when ‘m nervous.”

“Why are you nervous?”

Harry wasted no time in his response, taking a quick glance over to you. “Because I finally get to spend time with the pretty girl across the hall.”

The heat rushing to your cheeks had become something of a common occurrence when speaking with Harry. It wasn’t obvious if he knew what he was doing or not, but you couldn’t imagine someone like Harry not knowing how to flirt. Thankfully, however, someone from the table spoke up before you could dwell on his comment longer than necessary.

“Finally!” the man sitting at the end of the booth spoke. He was dressed very similar to Harry in color - a tan quilted shirt was hidden beneath a cream colored teddy bear jacket, and pleated brown trousers. The light facial hair stubbled along his cheeks made him look slightly older than Harry, but his complete baby face counteracted that.

Harry looked at you briefly, raising his eyebrows with a ‘what did I tell you?’ kind of look as he bent down to slide into the booth next to the other man. His style was much different than the other two, more streetwear. He was wearing black trackies and an old gray band tee under a denim jacket, baseball hat and the very apparent smell of cigarettes finishing off the outfit. Another difference with him was that he had a girl with him. What you assumed to be his girlfriend by the way her head was resting on his shoulder and his hand fell on her knee. She was beautiful, long brown hair fell loose around her shoulders, only kept back by the fragile looking sunnies that rested at the top of her head. She was wearing a simple white top and a pair of white,black, and brown plaid trousers, both of which were overshadowed by the beautiful black Balenciaga jacket hanging off of her shoulders.

“Was starting to think you’d been lying about actually knowing her, Haz.” the one closest to Harry spoke, earning a light slap to his chest from the girl on his shoulder.

Harry disregarded all of their antics and turned to pat the seat next to him, indicating he wanted you to sit down, and he gave you a reassuring nod when you nibbled your lower lip between your teeth.

It was subtle acts like Harry letting you sit on the outside of the booth so you could make a quick getaway if needed that reminded you how easily he seemed to pick up on your social cues - even if you didn’t realize you did them. It made your chest tickle that even just from the two substantial conversations you’d had with him, Harry picked up on things you did.

“Piss off.” Harry chuckled, reminding you a lot of friendships you’d seen on tv where they all take the piss but it was easy to see that they all cared for one another. It was something you’d always been envious of while watching the world from the sidelines. “Georgie, this is Niall, Louis, and Louis’ girlfriend Eleanor. Everyone, this is Georgie.”

You were met with a chorus of hellos and you would’ve loved to just jump right into their conversation about the best places to get guacamole, just so that they knew you weren’t intentionally being rude to them. But not only were you not good at this conversation thing, but you also were still on edge about forming any sort of connection with these people. Apparently you should get used to Harry and his all knowing mind, because before you could excuse yourself from the awkwardness, he spoke up.

“So, how long have you lived in the building?”

Unprepared for the question, you froze for a second. “Oh, um going on six years now.”

“Impossible! What are you, like twenty? No way you’ve lived there that long!” Eleanor asked, her head no longer on Louis’ shoulder, instead she was sitting upright and looking directly at you. Of course, over the span of the years, you had gotten quite good at looking at people without really paying any attention to what was only visible to you above their heads, but it still made you uneasy. The best solution was just not to look at them at all. But these people, people who had no idea who you were a mere ten minutes ago yet were now welcoming you into their lives, made you want to work on avoiding the numbers. Because this was the most alive you’d felt in years.

“‘M twenty three. Be twenty four next Friday.”

“No shit! Alright well I’m coming over so you can teach me your skincare routine because you look flawless.” she gleamed, leaning forward on the table to jot down her phone number on one of the many spare napkins littering the tabletop.

“As much as I love a good skincare routine, let’s not skip over the more important part of that sentence. Your birthday is next week?” Harry asked, gently shoving his shoulder against yours and offering a kind smile when you glanced up at him.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. I haven’t really celebrated my birthday since I turned like eleven.” your parents used to throw you a party every year while growing up, a lavish over the top kind of party where all of your classmates were invited and family you had never even heard of pinched your cheeks. But as time went on and you didn’t give up your ‘ridiculous fantasy’ as your mother so kindly put it, they began to stop throwing the party. Now, you were lucky if they sent you a card on the day. Plus, celebrating your birthday alone is kind of a downer.

“You haven’t celebrated your birthday in over a decade?” Niall’s mouth hung open like that was the craziest thing he’d ever heard.

“Nope.”

“Well that just won’t do.” you may not know very much about the people seated around you, but the smirk on Louis’ face told you everything you needed to know. “We’re having a party.”

“Um, thank you. Really. But parties aren’t really my thing. Plus I’m working that day so…”

“Oh, where do you work?” Harry asked, thoroughly interested in where you spend most of your days.

“Good Samaritan.”

“The nursing home down on Adams?”

“That’s the one. I’m a caregiver.” when you first applied for the position, you thought you were crazy. For someone who doesn’t want to get close to anyone in fear of their untimely demise, you definitely went for a job exactly the opposite. But that was the appeal to you. Sure, it was terribly sad to see one of your patients pass, but in the time leading up to it, you knew exactly who needed a little extra love. It was nice to be able to remind their loved ones to visit while making routine phone calls, and to do things to make them smile in what only you knew were their last days. It was the only time you thought what you were born with was some kind of gift. The tiniest most unwelcomed gift.

“That’s wonderful.” Harry’s voice was gently next to you, like he was hanging on to every short word that you said.

“Well, we’ll just have a party once you’re done with work.” Louis shrugged, but held his hands up when you opened your mouth to remind him you didn’t want anything. “Not a party, a friendly get together with friendly neighbors and alcohol.”

That day in the cafe was the beginning to a new start for you.

Obviously Lucifer had to hear about everything that happened that afternoon, but she was there to experience it first hand when Eleanor came knocking on your door the following day. She got to watch as you bent over in genuine laughter at your shared banter. She watched from the kitchen counter as Harry came by with food one night, saying he just happened to order extra lo mein and heard you come home. And as the two of you sat in the living room watching Big Brother, talking about everything from your favorite color to why he majored in physical therapy in university. Luci got to watch you break out of the shell you’d worked so hard on forming around you, and even though you knew she couldn’t understand what was happening, you liked to think her frequent meows were those of encouragement.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The yells came from all corners of the room when you walked into Louis’s flat the following Friday, making your eyes widen and shoulders straighten. As much progress as you’d been making in your life, with branching out and slowly losing your fear of connection, it would take more than a week to crack down those barriers you’d built so high for so long.

“Thank you.” you laughed, putting down the bottle of wine you’d brought just in time for everyone to start surrounding you in hugs.

“Happy Birthday, love.” Harry’s voice was soothing in your ear, like a sense of relief in the overstimulation the other three had given you. You didn’t regret their company like you would have only a month ago, instead you welcomed the foriegn feelings. But it was still nice to have a moment of calm to fully process everything.

“Thank you Harry.”

“I hope it’s not too much. I told them to cool it on the balloons and confetti - especially since we all know I’ll be the one to pick it up in the morning.” he laughed, offering you a glass of wine that everyone else seemed to already be enjoying.

“No, no, it’s great. A nice segway from doing nothing every year.”

“Still can’t believe you haven’t celebrated your birthday in so long! That’s a day that should be celebrated by everyone!”that same look you’d grown to quite enjoy flashed over his features, his momentary distress as he realized he said something he wasn’t planning on sharing. But the look disappeared when he saw your knowing smile. “Don’t start.”

As promised, there was no party, per say. Everyone was just scattered around Louis’ living room telling stories about absolutely nothing that had everyone in stitches. It was the kind of party you’d always been envious of, one where mates could hang out and lose themselves in the company of each other. It was the first time you didn’t have a single thought about impending doom for more than an hour, a feit you would be sure not to forget.

Niall was laid out on the floor under the windows, a half empty bottle of rum in his hand and the other rested on his stomach, occasionally itching an invisible nuisance. Louis was seated in the arm chair directly across from Niall, a very buzzed Eleanor draped across his lap and the more the night went on, the less chances you had of seeing their faces separated. And Harry was seated next to you on the sofa, his arm hung on the back of the cushion in such a way that everyone so often you would feel the very tips of his fingers skim the exposed skin on your shoulder.

You wished you could freeze this moment in time, because a photograph or video would never do it justice. It was almost as if you were watching the night play out in front of you like a movie, not really in your body but watching from afar. Watching as the girl who hid herself from the world began to hatch, slowly cracking the hard exterior surrounding her. And you would do anything to bottle the feeling of pride that swelled in your chest knowing you had achieved that.

“Literally right in the face mate. No joke.” Niall cackled, his laugh a contrast in that moment; escaping his mouth loudly but carrying throughout the room softly. Taking off like a leaf blowing through the fall breeze.

“Georgie.” your name slipped from between Harry’s lips beautifully, like he was created for the sole purpose of saying your name over and over again; forever. “Alright?”

And sitting in the living room of Louis’ flat, listening to your friends’ wine induced giggles, looking at the most captivating pair of green eyes and curly hair that only whatever magical being that was above could’ve created, you were alright. You were so alright that the minuscule ticks of the clocks of your new and only friends, ticks you tried so hard to avoid paying attention to, almost seemed to disappear completely. Almost.

71 years, 2 months, 10 days, 3 hours, 16 minutes, 55 seconds. 68 years, 11 months, 3 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes, 2 seconds. 68 years, 7 months, 21 days, 1 hour, 58 minutes, 33 seconds. 62 years, 8 months, 9 days, 11 hours, 12 minutes, 2 seconds. 2 years, 1 month, 30 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes, 56 seconds.

#harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles x reader #harry styles x oc #harry styles x you

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thusspoketrish · 3 years

Text

Play Pretend (Part 1/5)

TRIGGER WARNING (PLEASE READ THE TAGS. PLEASE READ THE TAGS. PLEASE READ THE TAGS): Depression. Suicide Attempt. Suicidal Ideation. PTSD. Poor Coping Mechanism.

Harry Potter & Astoria Greengrass; Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter; Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy; Astoria Greengrass/Others; Draco Malfoy/Others; Harry Potter/Others

Content: Friendship. Forced Marriage Arrangement. Unrequited Love. Falling Out of Love. Falling in Love. Betrayal. Friendships. Breakups. Mental Health Issues. Apathy. Flatmates. Acceptance. Positive Thinking. Therapy.

SUMMARY: Fate boasts a strange sense of humour when a severely depressed Harry finds himself convincing a drunk Astoria Greengrass off the ledge of Waterloo Bridge at three in the morning. The events that follow after are an exercise in strength as Harry finds himself relearning how to cope, forgive, and love alongside the blossoming of new friendships.

Thank you to @starlitsilvereyes for the beta!

====================

At approximately 2:07 AM, Harry Potter shoves his arms through his black wool coat before wrapping his Gryffindor scarf tightly around his neck. He shoves on the misshapen scarlet mittens Hermione knitted for him several years ago, realising he could summon a better pair as she’s improved greatly since Hogwarts, but finding that these reminded him of a better time.

Finally, he shoves his wand up his sleeve before wrenching the door open and taking the steps down from Grimmauld two at a time, the door slamming shut behind him with a finality. As he breathes in and out sharply, white puffs curling outward from his chapped lips, Harry looks skyward. The moon is heavy and hangs low tonight, full and beautiful as swirls of snow begin to gently fall. It’s dark, and beautiful, and it hurts to look at.

Harry had spent the entire day cleaning Grimmauld from top to bottom. Not that this mattered as Harry has found that no matter how much he cleaned or remodelled the house, he was incapable of penetrating its doom-and-gloom atmosphere. But he had cleaned to the best of his ability, and had arranged all his necessary documents across his office table several hours ago. He carefully placed each note facing upward, the individual names of all his friends in his spidery scrawl. He had even left notes behind for the Dursley’s, though, not imparting a single kind word, as seen in his other letters. He had left the Gringotts keys of the Potter Vault behind in Ron and Hermione’s name and endowed a small trust to any future children they may have. He had left the deed and keys to Grimmauld and the Black vault to Teddy and Andromeda.

Harry doesn’t think he left any stone unturned.

He had been planning this for months. Had made the nearly 40-minute walk from Clerkenwell to Waterloo Bridge nearly every night for the last three weeks, simply staring out at the water, yearning. It would take nothing, he thought, to sit on the ledge, cast a simple spell to increase his weight, and fling himself over the edge. And at three in the morning, it wouldn’t be hard to do this uninterrupted.

A numb sort of blankness overcomes him as he rolls his shoulders and makes his way through the quiet roads, onto the high street where the slow crawl of busses and cars creep past. Harry’s vision is a tunnel of black and white images flickering in and out of focus as he sets himself on autopilot. He could do this route with his eyes closed.

It’s not that Harry thinks he deserves to die. He’s simply come to the conclusion that he wants to.

He’s tired, much too tired from the debilitating numbness that’s crippled his entire existence. He’s remained frozen in time since dying and coming back to life in the Forbidden Forest. The experience has left him immobile, like a statue, weathered by the storm called time but never feeling the effects of it no matter how long he holds his breath, patiently waiting for something to come along and happen. He was waiting for the spark of life to feed his blood as it had during the war, and nothing, no reason or rhyme, has been able to replace it. He had quit the Aurors, had isolated himself from the pitying expressions of friends and family, and had shrunken himself on the outside to reflect what he felt on the inside—absolutely nothing. He was nothing, a lingering afterthought in his own mind, something ugly and broken with a piece of its soul missing. He couldn’t stand to live with that knowledge any longer.

It was no one’s fault, not directly. Harry’s never been whole, not as a child curled up and forgotten in the cupboard under the stairs; not as a child, shaped into a sacrificial soldier, not as a twenty-three year old man, alone, shrouded in the dark cloak of night, ready to end his life.

The black and purple swirls of fog and clouds paint a pretty backdrop for the breathtaking view of the Thames, the London Eye, and Parliament from Harry’s position on the bridge. It’s the only time his vision shifts to full-colour, when he’s standing on the bridge, hands gripping the cold railing as he peers over, his glasses sliding slowly down his nose. He uses a mittened finger to push them back up, a hollow laugh escaping him as he reaches deep down inside of himself to search for a feeling, anything. He wishes for even a fissure of panic as he places both hands on the railing again, wondering if 100kg added to his feet would successfully prevent his ability to kick back up to the surface.

A harsh wind whips by, and with it carrying a whimper. Harry turns, his gaze sharpening, harping on an elongated figure further down the bridge perched on the railing.

He turns back to the water, staring out at the inky black waves. He shouldn’t care.

The whimper turns into full on sobbing.

He shouldn’t care. He doesn’t.

Then, there’s a horrible scream of anguish that pierces the quiet, the sound full of devastation. He blinks several times, pushing his glasses up again. He may not have the ability to care for his own well-being anymore but he still...he still seems to care about others.

With a sigh, Harry walks to the centre of the bridge, noticing a lone figure down the road walking towards them before abruptly stopping and turning away from them.

Harry ignores them, and instead approaches the person perched on the railing. He can see that the person is wearing a black, long-sleeved ballgown, tiny sparkling beads of emerald green, gold, red, and silver shimmering in the moonlight, taking the shape of exploding fireworks across her bodice along the back of the dress. It’s beautiful, and Harry gasps when the woman turns to face him.

He’s seen this woman before, has seen her pretty pale face at the Slytherin table at Hogwarts. Her long black hair whips across her flushed face, mascara-tinged tears sliding down her cheeks. Her red lipstick is smeared across her lips and down her chin, piercing blue eyes unfocussed as she sways side-to-side.

“What do you want?” the woman asks miserably, her voice slurring, intoxicated. Harry steps closer to her, as if she’s a wild animal ready to leap away from him. The woman’s lips turn down into a terrible wound of a frown, misshapen by the smeared lipstick. “Did he send you?” she cries.

“No,” Harry says, not knowing who she’s talking about as he slowly approaches her. “Why don’t you come down?” he asks, extending an opened hand.

The woman’s gaze twists from Harry back out to the dark depths of the Thames. Harry inches closer.

Another whimper escapes her. “He doesn’t love me,” she cries, her body shaking as she weeps.

“There are people out here who love you,” Harry says, wincing. How many times has Ron and Hermione said this very thing to him over the last year?

“But not him!” she shouts, her shoulders trembling, the harsh winds whip her hair. “I’ve tried everything. I’ve even given him all of me, all my love, all my hopes and my bloody dreams, and nothing. Nothing I do makes him look at me…at me...as if,” the woman breaks off, a trembling cry escaping her before she shouts, “Why...why not me?”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Harry says, his voice carrying on the winds, tone firm. A small spark of indignation is felt in his chest. This woman, this woman is suffering, and it’s fuelling a knife-sharp sensation alongside his slow-beating heart. He wants to touch her, see if he can pull her grief into him, see if it’ll help him feel his own, for once.

The woman tilts her head back, a wail escaping her. “I don’t deserve him! I can’t help him, I can’t even bloody keep him. I’m useless.”

“Stop it, don’t put yourself down like this. He doesn’t deserve you...you’re stronger than this pain, this numbness you’re experiencing, and you know it. You know you can do so much better than him, that your life and your hopes and dreams outweighs whatever the fuck you think he sees when he looks at you. You don’t need anything from him, not when you’re this strong,” Harry says, shaking his head. He doesn’t know where these words are coming from, they feel foreign to his own ears. A part of him wonders if he wished someone would say this to him. “What’s your name?”

The woman draws in a shaky breath before she answers in a tiny, strained voice, “Astoria. Astoria Greengrass.”

Harry nods, now remembering her, remembering where he’s seen her name lately. “Come, Astoria. You have so much to offer the world. You’re strong, but sometimes even the strongest among us have bad days, but that doesn’t make us worthless,” Harry says, the feeling in his chest swelling, lighting him on fire from the inside. Harry gasps. “You’re worth fighting for, you’re...let me...let me fight for you, Astoria, until you can fight for yourself. Please...please, take my hand. You don’t have to do this...you don’t have to do this alone.” He’s now beside her.

A wicked wind whips past them again, the snow falling now coming down in thick, fluffy sheets. Astoria huffs out another sob before she turns around, her hand stretching out.

Harry clasps it, pulling her forward. She wraps her arms around his neck, digging her face into this layered scarf, clinging to him like a lifeline. They both sink to the ground as she weeps. The cold stings the trail of tears on Harry’s own cheeks.

She smells like the cold, along with lingering scent of bergamot orange and rosewood. He knows it's a combination of scents he'll never forget as he cradles her against his chest before quickly opening his coat to wrap around her shivering form.

All the while, feeling more alive than he has since the day he died.

#HP fanfiction #Harry Potter #Astoria Greengrass #drarry #Astoria x Harry #Astoria x draco #Draco Malfoy #trigger warnings #please read the warnings #series #will update #1/5

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yonqha · 3 years

Text

—- 🍭

“this is a weird way to spell my name.”

wonjin x reader // fluff

word count: 1.03k words

masterlist

“wonjin, scissors.” you stretched out your hand to the male’s direction, while your other hand held the measured string you were going to cut. your eyes trailed to the array of colored beads in front of you, planning what color combination and bead arrangement you were going to do.

a few seconds passed and you started wiggling your fingers in hopes of catching wonjin’s attention, but it didn’t seem to work. your eyes tore away from the beads to face wonjin, who was clearly having a hard time getting the right size for the string. bits of cut nylon were scattered in his area, and his face was painted with a look of struggle. the sight of him made you laugh a little.

you dropped the string you were holding and scooted over to his side. “here,” you mumbled as you took the string and scissors from his hands. you realigned the string at a favorable length, and cut off the excess after.

“thanks!” wonjin excitedly took the string from your hands. “this is perfect.”

“you usually wouldn’t care that much about the details, i’m surprised you’re trying so hard,” you remarked as you went back to your earlier position, finally cutting off the excess string from yours using the scissors. you then started gathering the beads you wanted and placed them in your palm. “i’m usually the one who’s like that.”

“well...i just...wanted to make a good one this time!” the small pauses in between his words made you a bit suspicious, but you didn’t mind anyway. you were used to wonjin’s spontaneity.

you and wonjin were both sitting on the bed, which was a pretty reckless idea (considering how the beads would go all over the place if any one of you decides to move around the bed). but wonjin insisted (he whined), saying that it would be much comfier to work on the bed.

the two of you decided to make beaded name bracelets together, but this time making one for each other. you decided to make a blue, yellow, and green colored bracelet for him just because you thought the colors would suit him.

you tried peeking over at wonjin’s progress, but he quickly hid it from you and snuck out his tongue. “no peeking! please wait until i finish this.”

you scoffed lightly. “oh? alright, alright. you better make it look good or else.” a small threat was given, and wonjin just merely chuckled.

“we’ll see about that.” he replied.

you and wonjin fell into silence as you focused on finishing the bracelets. a small smile formed on your lips, the silence giving a calming effect to you. quiet times like this with wonjin were what you enjoyed the most. no, it’s not because wonjin is finally quiet for once. rather it’s because his company gives you warmth. being with him like this makes your heart flutter, making you all giddy inside.

you thought that everyday with him is full of excitement and fun. times were mostly spent with him full of playful banters, but you didn’t mind. you enjoyed it a lot. the spark in his eyes, the never-ending energy he has, and his contagious laugh that can cheer you up in seconds. being with wonjin is never a dull moment.

“i’m done!” wonjin’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts and back to reality, making you realize how your cheeks have started to heat up.

from your thoughts, maybe?

“wait, i’m almost done with mine—”

“that’s fine, finish it later!” wonjin cut off your words. “try out the bracelet that i made!”

the suspicion from earlier came back. his excitement was a little too much from the usual. you narrowed your eyes at him as he offered the bracelet, the item resting on his palms. you took it from him with your eyes still on his bright face.

before you were able to wear it though, you noticed the words that were formed with the letter beads in the bracelet. this alone made you fully blush.

the beads formed ‘I LIKE U’ with clear beads spaced in between.

and it all made sense— from him suddenly asking you to make these bracelets together (and for each other, too) to how wonjin was so careful and focused on crafting the bracelet that is now in your hands. you thought it was just his usual impulsive self, but no.

it was a confession, and he wanted everything to be perfect.

wonjin is confessing to you through beads connected with a nylon string.

fumbling the bracelet in your hands, you smiled. you thought that this act was something he would definitely do.

“so?” wonjin broke the momentary silence with his anticipation. he still had his bright face, full of hope as he awaited your response.

“i thought we were supposed to make name bracelets for each other,” you let out a small laugh as you wore the bracelet. “this is a weird way to spell my name.”

wonjin giggled at your response, and it rang like a melody in your ears. your eyes continued to admire the rainbow-colored bracelet hanging on your wrist, almost forgetting to give wonjin a proper response.

“i like it.” you said as you lifted your eyes up to look at wonjin. though, his face fell into a pout. you raised your eyebrows at the sudden gesture, a little confused at his reaction.

“what about me then?” wonjin mumbled but it was clear for you to hear. it took you a while to process his words, but as soon as you understood it you let out a loud laugh.

you raised your hands to squish both of wonjin’s cheeks. “i like you too, dummy.”

and that was enough for wonjin to tackle you in a big hug, with the beads scattering around the bed and onto the floor as a result.

“this is why we shouldn’t make bracelets on the bed, wonjin.”

wonjin released a fit of laughter as he ignored your words. you sighed, knowing you can’t argue with him at this state.

but you didn’t mind. after all, wonjin just confessed to you. why ruin the moment?

you could clean the beads up later.

#cravitywriters #cravity #cravity oneshots #cravity imagines #cravity drabbles #wonjin #ham wonjin #wonjin x reader #cravity x reader #kpop oneshots #kpop x reader #kpop imagines

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peachyteabuck · 4 years

Text

good behavior

summary: bucky has very strict rules for his little, doll. not only does this involve a rigid structure of punishments, but also an occasional, decadent reward.

takes place in the same universe as old school (make me drool) but it is not required reading to understand this fic.

pairing: bucky barnes x little!ofc

words: 2058

trigger warnings: heavy ddlg, heavy d/s dynamics

notes: this was done for @nsfwsebbie‘s birthday! she’s kind enough to write birthday fics for all us mutuals (including me!) and deserves something in return. i hope your next trip around the sun is even more excellent than the last!

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

Doll has a pretty pink paci in her mouth, a matching pink dress adorning her body with her hair folded into perfect milkmaid braids with bows the same pink as the rest of her outfit holding them in place. Normally she’s not as dressed up – Daddy prefers her in a simple onesie with her hair in two little buns high up on your head – but today is Bunny’s birthday party, and Auntie Nat had told all of her friends (including Daddy) that she would be taking pictures of all of them to immortalize the event, and she expected all of the littles to be dressed appropriately.

So Doll, clad in clothes she’s not used to, sits in the playroom with the other littles as they laugh and play away all the cake and ice cream and juice their caregivers had allowed them to consume throughout the long day.

Auntie Nat’s house is huge – what her and Bunny called a “playroom” acting as a giant space where the caregivers could watch their littles play with all of Bunny’s toys – an already impressive pile of stuffies and puzzles and whatever else she’d wanted only added to by the presents the other caregivers had bought her to celebrate her special day.

Doll’s Daddy’s house is about the same size, but there the playroom is a much smaller space where Doll is allowed to be alone, a single rocking chair there for when her Daddy needs to keep watch or wants to read her a story.

Auntie Nat also had a large pool they all had swam in (though Doll preferred to stay at her Daddy’s side, napping in the sun), and patio big enough for several large tables where they all ate and watched Bunny open her presents.

Now, though, everyone was inside, the littles playing on the ground while their Daddies and Mommies sat chatting on the large sofa in the playroom, one that was so large it fit against two walls instead of just one.

As the air cooled outside while the sun began to sink out of sight, Doll’s tummy begins to turn inside her as the loudness of the other littles ceases to wane.

She crawls over to where her Daddy is on the center of the couch, pulling on one of his pantlegs lightly to get his attention.

It works, the much larger man stopping mid-sentence to look down at her – his metal arm holding a half-drunk liquid only the adults are allowed to drink while the other rests at the back of the couch.

“You wanna go home, Doll?” he asks, voice soft and low.

Her Daddy pulls the paci from her mouth with his flesh hand, allowing her to speak. Doll nods, picking at the soft lace trim of her party dress. “Y-yes, Daddy.”

Her Daddy gives her a small smile, leaning down so he can pet her head (carefully, though, as to not mess up her hair) and give her forehead a small kiss. “Yeah, I know you wanna go home. Give me a few more minutes with Daddy’s friends and we can go, alright?”

She pulls her lips into a small, tight frown but doesn’t protest – something Daddy notices immediately.

“Do you want to stay here at my feet until we go, Doll?” he asks. He knows what he’s asking her is true – she’s always been awkward in social situations, never as outgoing as Princess or Peter. Even Bunny, though quiet, was able to be around the other littles for longer than Doll is (to be fair, it is Bunny’s birthday party, and her small body has consumed a simply incredibly amount of sugar throughout her special day – but still, Doll is nearly always the first to request to be brought home).

Doll chews on her bottom lip before replying. “Yes, Daddy.”

“She’s a sweet little thing, Bucky” she hears Uncle Stevie saying above her. “Trained her quite well.”

The others on the couch laugh, thinking of all the times the man’s Princess had pulled such bratty behavior she had to be spanked or reprimanded in one way or another in front of the other littles.

Despite the loaded compliment, Doll’s Daddy smiles down at her as she sits between his legs – protecting herself from the rest of the room. “Yeah, she’s my special little angel.”

He wraps the conversation up with ease, thanking Auntie Nat and giving Bunny one more “happy birthday” before carrying Doll to the car and strapping her into the car seat.

Unlike the rest of the caregivers, her Daddy plays no music as he drives home, knowing Doll prefers the silence after a long day of thunderous roar of all the littles together.

The pair arrive home without incident, with Daddy carrying Doll inside and allowing her time alone in her playroom to cool down from the experiences of the day. Her paci and shoes were removed with ease, her Daddy taking them away as he walked out of the room to wherever it is he felt he needed to be.

Her Daddy returns a few minutes later, leaning down with both arms behind his back.

“You were such a good girl,” Daddy tells her, now sitting cross legged across from her on the floor.

It’s rare for her to see her Daddy in such a context – though she doesn’t remember much of it, when she first arrived she was quite firey and refused to be broken. It took all of her Daddy’s might (and much advice from the other caregivers, along with time with the other littles so he could remember why he so badly wanted one of his own) not to give up.

And, of course, it was worth it. All of the nights in the basement and strict enforcement of his many rules molded Doll into the beautiful, fragile apple of his eye that she is today.

Doll says nothing, watching her Daddy with wide eyes as he – for the first time in recent memory – lowers himself to her level.

He clears his throat before speaking, his arms still behind his back. “I know it’s been a rough day for you, and I’m very proud of you, not just because you were so good for so long, but that you told me when you wanted to go home so politely…”

He coughs once more, trying to clear the awkwardness in his own voice. It’s certainly hard for him to be, in a sense, vulnerable; much easier to bring down his hand when Doll needs reminding of the rules than offering her something for remembering. Still, he does his best, and Doll’s wide wondering eyes urge him to continue.

“So I bought this for you,” he says, bringing his arms from behind his back to reveal a soft, plush arctic baby seal with an embroidered eyes, nose, and mouth (Doll doesn’t like the hardened facial features – always telling her Daddy they make the friends harder to cuddle). Its “fur” is a light, hazy blue – nearly white unless one has the sharp eye Doll does. Upon seeing the heinously cute creature, Doll gives a sharp inhale of excitement, whole body tensing as her eyeline locks on the present in her Daddy’s hands.

“I picked this up for you,” he says as he gives it to her, giving Doll a nod, permission to grab at the gift. “When we went to the aquarium with Natasha and Bunny. I saw you eyeing it when we passed the gift shop. Thought you’d like it.”

Even though she wasn’t asked a question, and therefore is not allowed to respond, Doll’s wide smile and how she’s got the stuffie in a tight hug tell her Daddy all he needs to know.

He watches her for a moment, enjoying her sheer delight while she babbles nonsensically while holding the animal’s soft face close to hers. Occasionally she leaves a small kiss somewhere, nimble fingers exploring the two-toned fur.

Eventually he becomes bored just watching her, though, so her Daddy moves closer to her, hand on her bare knee as she continues to play.

“I’ve got another reward for you, Doll,” he whispers in her ear, heat swirling in his stomach as he notices her body reacting to his. “Do you want to know what it is?”

“Y-yes, Daddy,” Doll squeaks out, gnawing on her bottom lip as she watches him loom closer to her.

“I’ll give it to you, Doll,” he says – voice low in his chest. “As long as you keep holding on to your new stuffie. You got that?”

She nods, voice barely above a murmur as her Daddy pushes her onto the carpeted ground. “Yes Daddy!”

He smiles as he pushes her frilly dress to her stomach, adjusting her legs so that her socked feet are planted on his thigh as he undoes the button on his slacks. “Good girl,” he tells her as one hand moves down to her center (Bunny’s birthday party is a special enough event to necessitate big girl panties). He rubs her, reveling in her small, breathy moans as his cock becomes harder against his dress shirt. “Now I need you to be quiet for me, so I’m gonna give you that nice paci you like.”

Doll’s always accepting of her Daddy’s stipulations for their play time together, welcoming the expensive paci he gifted her for her last birthday into her mouth when he pulls it from his back pocket.

He coos more praise towards her as he pushes a finger into her, feeling how wet, how desperate she is for him.

“You ready for me, Doll?” he asks, swallowing the spit that gathers on his tongue as he watches Doll with a sniper’s eye. She nods, eyes screwed shut, hands clutching the stuffie’s fur. He smiles ear to ear as she does so. “Good.”

The anticipation burns at his skin as he aligns himself with her dripping core, easily bottoming out before giving her a few seconds to adjust to his impressive cock.

That’s all Doll gets, though, before her Daddy takes what he wants from – fucking into her pussy as she grips the stuffie with all her might, her loud moans muffled by the paci’s large, pink guard with Daddy’s Little Doll spelled out with circle, black-and-white lettered beads.

“That feel good, Doll?” he coos, arms bracketing her under his much large form. “You like it when Daddy makes you feel good?”

Doll’s eyes roll to the back of her head, jaw struggling to stay closed as she loses herself to the pleasure.

Her Daddy just laughs. “Oh, of course you do. Your Daddy’s little Doll, and Daddy always takes care of her toys.”

One of his hands moves down to the ever most sensitive part of her, his callous flesh thumb making tight circles as her pussy tightens around his cock.

It’s a delicious feeling, one that makes her Daddy moan deep in his chest. “Fuck, do it,” he tells her, rubbing her even faster. “C’mon, make Daddy proud.”

Just as Doll always does, she follows her Daddy’s instructions; obeys his word to the letter, and reaches her peak while her Daddy chases his.

His groans can barely be heard over her high-pitched whines now, caught in her throat but filling the room nonetheless, tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes and whole body tense as her Daddy continues to fuck in and out of her.

It doesn’t take long before he knows – before he pulls out to come on her soft stomach, narrowly avoiding the expensive faux fur as he paints her skin with streaks of thick white.

“Fuck-“ he hisses, jaw going slack with his whole body being held in the hair only by his hands planted flat on the ground on either side of Doll’s head. “Fuck you’re my best little girl.”

She looks up at him with eyes hopeful but tired, ready to fall asleep right then and there as she pants through her nose.

“Yes,” her Daddy assures her, picking her up to bring her into the bathroom so he can clean her up. “Yes, you always are and always will be my perfect little Doll.”

With that she falls sleep in his arms, allowing him to manipulate her into the bath as he washes away everything the day had brought upon her.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x little!reader #lukis writes stuff #old school (make me drool)#little!reader

366 notes · View notes

vampcubus · 4 years

Text

Quiet (Midoriya/Reader) [part 2]

| A/n: I have to admit, I re-wrote the ending several times and I’m still not satisfied with it but here we go anyways! |

| See part 1 ... here |

✦✿ Warnings: Angst with a happy ending. ✿✦

✦✿ Words: 5500+ ✿✦

are you guys ready to c r y??

. . .

You stare blankly at a red and purple sky, eyes lazily watching the clouds roll by and the half-visible sun dip down and slowly set. You leaned forward to capture that perfect in-between moment, smiling as the last sliver of the sun finally dipped behind the horizon, letting the sky gradually shift from warm pinks and oranges to dark blues, indigos, and purples. You sighed and sank into a more relaxed position as your eyes welcomed the appearance of the moon as it took to the sky, washing the park in its gentle white light.

You sat at the same rotting-wooden picnic table you sat at every night, a familiar book with kitty skeletons draped in red and black across the cover sat just beneath your hand. The lukewarm coffee you’d picked up hours earlier sat right next to the book, half-empty from your lack of interest despite it being your favorite kind.

You’d even considered dropping by your dorm to throw it in the freezer—to beat yourself with later if you kept thinking about a particularly annoying green-haired boy—before coming here, but you found that you just didn’t want to be on campus more than you had to.

Being out and about decreased your chances of running into him.

You let your eyes stray from the steadily appearing stars and to your right, where Midoriya had sat just a few nights ago.

You let out a frustrated sigh, turning your gaze back up to the sky and raising the cup of coffee to your lips. It didn’t taste amazing right now, but it served as a good enough distraction to stop thinking about him. You’d done the right thing, whether you cared about Midoriya or not, you wouldn’t let yourself be manipulated. You would not come running back into his arms only to be forgotten when other things in his life became more important than you again.

It was better this way.

You told yourself, trying to convince yourself that you would only distract Izuku from his dreams. You’d only get in the way and end up broken again when he realized that.

You flicked the book open and skimmed your eyes over the pages. The illustrations of grim-themed yet still cute cats above each new chapter momentarily consuming your attention. Your soft smile faltered when you stumbled upon a particularly strange looking cat with wild, curly fur and huge round eyes cowering underneath a couch. Your eyes lingered on the drawing, everything about it just screams Izuku.

You shake yourself out of it and flip to the front page, breath hitching when you noticed a sticky note attached to it. It was in the handwriting of the clerk you’d grown familiar with. She often scribbled funny quotes or little notes things into the books you purchased for you to laugh about when you stumbled into the shop again.

He was here today, wanted me to slide this to you once you came in today. Not quite sure if he knows that ‘secret admirers’ are supposed to be discreet?

-Kiko ッ

You almost smile at that, not doubting for a moment who she was referring to. But then you knit your brows together in confusion when you noticed an arrow at the bottom of the note. Curiously, you unstuck the unusually heavy sticky note and flipped it. Your heart stopped functioning entirely when you saw a familiar bracelet taped to the back of it.

You gasped tearing the bracelet from the note and inspecting it closely. No way… there’s no way he even remembered this existed.

It was a colorful and cute bracelet with mostly green beads and white lettered ones spelling out ‘All Might.’

The sight of the bracelet brings you way back, and suddenly you are no longer outside at the park.

Instead, you are laying on your stomach with an impressive fort of blankets hanging above your head. Your small hands fiddled with the beads, tiny fingers slipping on each random-shaped bead you could find in your craft box that was remotely green in color. Across from you lays a much smaller Izuku on his belly with his nose buried in a comic book, eyes sparkling and lips noisily slurping at the straw of a juice box.

“Y/N-chan look!” The curly-haired boy squeals, shoving the comic book over to you and pointing at a panel of a very stylized All Might with multiple civilians draped over his shoulders. It’s a familiar frame from the video you’ve watched with the boy about a million times already. You personally didn’t idolize the symbol of peace as passionately as your friend, but it always made him happy, so you always watched it with him. You squinted, scrunching up your nose at the picture.

“They drew his hair wrong!” You complained pointing at the clearly exaggerated shojo-looking hairstyle the number one hero had been illustrated with.

“No, that’s just the artists’ style.” Little Izuku exclaims, standing up in the fort, proudly posing in his All Might one-sie, holding the comic book up into the air like it was Simba.

“Ohh,” You remember humming thoughtfully before returning to tying an s-clip to the end of the bracelet, looking your newest creation over with pride. You sat up too, looking anxiously over to your best friend who had engrossed himself back into the comic. “Gimme your hand.”

You vividly remember the young boy’s freckled face lighting up and his hand being shoved in your direction. You slid the way-too-big bracelet over his tiny wrist and looped it around a second time so it wouldn’t fall off. “Here, so everybody knows you’re the next All Might!”

His big green eyes overflowed with tears, almost flooding your blanket sanctuary and drowning you both in his own tears when he tackled you to the ground, hugging you tight. You remember him showing the bracelet off to all of his friends and Kacchan the next day. He wore it even more religiously than his hero-onesie, his mother even mentioning that he only took it off to bathe.

You recall your shock when a week later he dropped a similar home-made bracelet with your favorite-colored beads and your idolized hero’s name on it. It had been the first time anyone had ever made something for you and you cherished it.

“We match now, so that means we gotta become big strong heroes together when we get big!” You remember his high-pitched voice declaring with his best All Might impression.

You felt your eyes burn with salt and the telltale weight of tears welling up in the corners of your eyes, your fingers shaking as they clutched the bracelet. Despite how old the plastic piece of jewelry was, it was in outstanding condition--save for a few scratches on the bigger beads here and there.

You’d thought that he’d lost it or thrown it away a long time ago. It’s been years. How on earth did he still have this?

Feeling your breath start to quicken you shot up from your seat, grabbing the book from the table and dashing off towards U.A. You turned each sharp corner, narrowly avoiding crashing into several other students—including Bakugou who hissed and swore at you as you retreated to your dorm You shoved the door open and slammed it shut. The next fifteen minutes were spent digging through your stuff, looking through untouched boxes of your things you’d brought from home but never needed until now.

And then, you finally found it tucked away in an old pencil pouch. You pulled out an all-too-familiar bracelet, holding it up to compare to the green one in your other hand. There was no doubt about it, it was real. Your fingertips traced the familiar beads of your own bracelet, eyes flickering between it and its counterpart.

Why…?

Why did he keep it so long?

You kicked the box back into the closet and toed the door shut, tossing both bracelets onto your nightstand and flopping face-down onto your bed.

It didn’t matter. It was just a bracelet, nothing more than a flimsy piece of plastic. Nothing compared to the friendship you had. So what if he held onto some dumb bracelet? That didn’t make up for months of distance, weeks of him slowly forgetting you existed while you stood idly by. Letting it happen because you cared too much.

So why did you feel so guilty?

You groaned exasperatedly into your pillow snuggling your face into it when it started to soothe your headache. Your eyes opened suddenly with a furious glower when your stupid brain immediately thought back to the times you and Izuku would nap together when you were kids, anywhere anytime. You often played so hard you knocked yourselves out so his mom would find you cuddled up against one another in your blanket forts, on the couch, on the slide at the park, under the sink once… anywhere you could fit into and doze off, you would.

In fact, you didn’t shake the habit of napping together until you were at least thirteen, which is usually around when parents start getting suspicious so you stopped doing it. You felt a slight blush rise to your cheeks, remembering those special times in middle school when you would sneak in and sleep together for a while if one of you had a nightmare. That was most likely the most rebellious thing you two innocent little suck-ups ever did.

You sigh, eyes drifting over to the bracelets strewn carelessly across your nightstand.

How can one bracelet bring back so much nostalgia?

. . .

Midoriya was slumped miserably against one of the couches in the dorm lounge, pen shakily scribbling away at an assignment. His handwriting has gotten a little better since last year, still wobbly and inconsistent in places but his teachers have voiced their appreciation of its improvement. He thinks back to earlier when he had dropped off that bracelet at the bookshop, afraid that if he approached you, you wouldn’t want to see him or he’d start crying again.

It really tore him apart inside to part with it, having kept it for so long. He’d found the bracelet while looking through some of his things one day. It fell out of a box with a bunch of his older more beat up action figures.

Seeing it after being put away for so long had brought the biggest smile to his face, remembering how much he’d loved it when he was younger. It was also what made him remember you… It was as if you suddenly popped back into existence. And in excitement to share the memory with you, perhaps catch up with you over coffee, he had disregarded the fact that it had been months since you’d last spoken.

He now realizes his mistake.

But after last night he knew he didn’t deserve to have such an important piece of you to himself. He absentmindedly wondered if you still had yours… probably not, huh? His wasn’t as pretty as the one you made him, and why would you keep it after he practically ignored you for a year?

Still, he had hope that just maybe there was a chance he could make it up to you, that he hadn’t messed up so bad that you never want to speak to him again. Midoriya closed his eyes, frowning down at his notebook in shame. Who was he kidding? It was just a piece of plastic and likely held no value to you after what he did.

He misses it. Already.

“Midoriya.” Iida’s voice piped up and the green-haired boy jumped.

“Oh hey, Iida. Did you need something?” He asked, trying not to sound as worked up as he really was, forcing a small smile.

“I came to ask if you’d heard from L/N at all today?” Midoriya’s heart dropped at the sound of your name.

“No… why?”

“Well, it’s just that several students claimed to have seen her running obnoxiously through the halls earlier this evening and I was curious if you’d happen to know anything about it?” Iida asks, straightening his glasses with a displeased expression, clearly not amused by your behavior.

“No, I haven’t. Sorry,” Midoriya admitted sullenly, eyes downcast to the floor.

Iida’s eyes softened and the bluenette sighed, taking a seat next to his friend. Ochako and he hadn’t managed to get much out of the sulking Midoriya since the other night, but they suspect that things didn’t necessarily go well between him and you. Not to mention he’s been a zombie all for days, barely getting any sleep at all these past few nights

“And, as your friend, I am concerned about your wellbeing,” Tenya confessed, pushing his glasses up closer against his face as Midoriya sighed.

“I’m fine, Iida.” Midoriya offered him a half-smile but otherwise made no attempt to spill anything. Tenya made eye-contact with Ochako across the common room, who had been the one to encourage him to approach Deku in the first place.

“Midoriya, what happened between you and L/N last evening?” The Iida son pressed, cautious not to pry too much in fear of upsetting him.

“I messed up,” Midoriya looked down at his lap, a drawing of your face in the corner of his math homework. He abruptly turned the page in hopes Iida hadn’t already seen it. “Really badly.”

. . .

The next morning, Izuku is as sluggish and mopey as ever, worrying his classmates with his lack of enthusiasm.

“You should talk to her.” Todoroki’s cool voice shakes Midoirya out of his daze after homeroom. He’s been staring absently at you as you ignored his existence, focusing on the lesson. It isn’t hard to guess who the half-and-half teen was talking about. And yet he still found himself surprised.

“I’ve tried, Todoroki. Talking won't help.” Midoriya sighs, eyes dropping to his mess of notes, including several crumpled up drawings of you.

“And sulking around doing nothing will?” Todoroki questions, not able to recognize the shell of the boy in front of him.

“I messed up, and she wants nothing to do with me now.” And he respects that.

“Something tells me that isn’t entirely the case.” Shouto replies and the green-haired boy sends him a puzzled look.

“What do you mean by that?” He asks, a brow raised at the possibility that Todoroki knows something he doesn’t.

“You forget that Y/N and I are close friends now, although you haven’t necessarily been around so you may not have known at all.” He states bluntly and it does nothing to comfort Midoriya at all. He hadn’t known you and Todoroki were friends! What else did he not know about you?

“What are you getting at, Todoroki?” Deku asks with a defeated tone, wishing the stoic prodigy would just be out with it.

“Y/N tells me everything, don’t think she hasn’t told me about what happened a few nights ago. But when she spoke about you it didn’t seem like she didn’t want anything to do with you.” Shouto explained, definitely catching the young Midoriya’s attention. “She’s upset, yes, and you aren’t wrong to assume that she is angry with you right now. But the longer you wait to talk to her about it—if you planned to at all that is—the longer it will take for her to forgive you.”

Forgive him? Was that even possible at this point? He didn’t know, but if what Todoroki said was true, and he actually had a chance, he couldn’t waste any more time ‘sulking around and doing nothing.’

“Are you sure that’s even possible, Todoroki?” Deku questioned, eyes adept as ever as he searched the bi-colored eyes of his rival and friend for answers he may not even have.

“I don’t know for sure, Midoriya. That is up to Y/N.” Todoroki admits, and Deku bites the inside of his cheek still torn over this. “But I don’t think she will forgive you if you don’t try.”

“Mm.” Deku nods, thanking the two-toned boy and packing up for his next class of the day.

. . .

Your ears perked up at the sound of someone knocking on your door later that night. You sighed into your pillow, not wanting to leave its soft embrace. You tried to ignore it at first, pretending to be asleep but he insistent knocking continued. Grumpily you pushed off of your comfy bed to sluggishly open the door, thinking it was most likely Mina and she’d just keep knocking until you opened up.

You were not expecting Midoriya to be standing there.

“What do you want?” You asked, your voice holding no softness or enthusiasm ad your narrowed eyes stared coldly at your former best friend. He flinches at the icy tone of your voice.

“I-I um… can we… talk?” Izuku asks anxiously, wringing his hands together, elbows drawn in close to his stomach self-consciously. “Please?”

He meets your steeled gaze with his own apologetic one, green eyes pleading with yours. Izuku owned the most convincing pair of puppy-dog eyes you’ve ever seen, even when he wasn’t meaning to and even now you faltered.

“Why? Why should I let you in? Give me one good reason not to slam the door in your face and go back to bed?”

“B-because I w-won’t leave until I say what I need to say,” Midoriya stated as firmly as he could, a determined glimmer in his eyes as he did so. You don’t doubt that he might sit at your door all night if you refused him. “A-and I have a feeling you have some things to say too.”

He wants to resolve this.

“I have nothing to say to you.” You hissed stepping back into the threshold of your room starting to close the door but his hand smacks against the wooden surface, a desperate look in his eyes that only makes you push harder. “Move.”

“Please! Please just hear me out, Y/N, please just give me this! Let me try! You don’t need to forgive me. I just need you to listen!” Midoriya pleads, his glossy eyes already spilling hot tears down his freckled cheeks. He’s shaking. “Please…”

Midoriya stumbles forward when the door opens and he just barely catches himself, wide eyes darting up to yours as you take several steps away from the entrance. You cross your arms, you can’t believe you’re actually doing this.

“You have five minutes. Start talking.” You relent, sitting down on your bed.

Midoriya sighs in relief, closing the door behind him before clumsily scrambling over to you. You pat the spot next to you, avoiding any and all eye-contact. Izuku’s heart skips a beat when he spots his bracelet on your nightstand. So you did get it! His breath gets caught in his throat when he tries to speak at the same moment his eyes drift to your wrist, where a relic of your friendship dangles.

You kept it! He feels his eyes overflowing, the ugly fat tears streaking down the sides of his face as he stares dumbfounded at the familiar bracelet.

“You have four minutes.” You flatly remind him, and he jumps, trying to think of the words he’d practiced just a half-hour before he showed up at your dorm.

“AH—o-okay! um, I…” When he fails to speak even after a good minute passes, you sigh deeply. If he had nothing to say, why’d he even come? What happened to all that gusto about ‘saying what I need to say’?

“Why did you keep it?” You ask out of the blue after an uncomfortable silence and his head perks up, but he looks confused, eyes searching yours.

“Keep what—?” He starts, but you cut him off.

“The bracelet. Why did you keep it? It’s been years, I didn’t even think you still remembered that old piece of junk existed.” You blurt out, each word sounding distressed and just… confused. You wanted to understand.

He stares at you, mouth agape at a complete loss of what to say. His mouth suddenly feels dry and his tongue rubs anxiously against the roof of his mouth.

“Because… because it was important... to me.” Izuku breathes, the muscles and nerves in his hand twitching as it laid only inches away from yours. “I was s-so happy when you first gave it to me, my mom had to pry it off of me just to bathe me.” He chuckles, smiling at the memory.

“And I kept it because it reminded me of you, it felt like there was a part of you with me even when you couldn’t be there. It comforted me, knowing that you put s-so m-much thought into something j-just for me and I f-felt so special!” He breaks off when his hiccups start to get out of control. “A-and—”

He chokes and apologizes taking a moment to breathe again. You hadn’t realized how much one silly piece of jewelry had impacted him until now, so much so that he’s crying over it.

“And I made a promise, remember?” Izuku sniffs, wiping his eyes uselessly with his hand, only really smearing the wetness across his cheeks and wetting his hand with his own tears as they continued to spill down the freckled planes of his red cheeks.

You nod, but turn away when you feel your own emotions starting to spike up. You bit your lip, held your breath, clenched your teeth. Anything to keep the tears at bay as they threatened to fall.

“I-I said that when we—”

“We match now, so that means we gotta become big strong heroes together when we get big.” You butt in, sniffling and raising a hand to scrub at the tears streaming down your face and pooling at your chin. “That’s what you said.”

Deku stares at you, guffawed as you quoted his younger self. He hadn’t expected you to remember it so clearly, It makes him feel even worse. Knowing how much it must’ve hurt you when you grew apart. How hard it must’ve been on you to keep quiet about everything while he lived his best life, forgetting all about his dearest friend.

“Why’d you give it back?” You asked, voice trembling as you wiping your eyes with your arm. You glanced over at the green bracelet lying on your nightstand. “If it meant so much to you, why give it back?”

He closed his eyes. He listened to his heart as it slammed against his chest like a pinball machine, demanding him to say something.

“Because I forgot about the friendship it represented, and I shouldn’t have. I wish I wouldn’t have, but I did. I broke my own promise and e-even worse, I hurt you because I was just too caught up in my own problems—my own dreams—to remember that you’ve been a part of them since the beginning.” Izuku sobbed, there was no point in holding it all in now.

“I gave it back because I was so afraid I screwed up everything between us, and I don’t deserve it!”

I don’t deserve you. The phrase rang in his ears so loudly it was almost deafening, he wanted nothing more than to say it too. He couldn’t because he couldn’t catch a single damn breath to say it. But even as he feels he has gathered that breath it’s stolen away once more when he feels your hands on his face.

In a flurry of your own emotions and a nagging force of habit you had reached out and grasped his face, the soft pads of your thumbs wiping at his cheeks.

“Stop crying already, you had something you wanted to say right? Stop letting your emotions get in the way of that.”

The firmness in your tone as your stern eyes descended upon his own struck a chord in him. You’ve said something like that to him before. Years ago.

“Stop crying, Izuku! Stop letting your emotions keep you from standing up for yourself! Kacchan steps on you because he knows all you’ll do is cry!”

Multiple times.

“Would ya quit crying already? You’re tougher than that, Izu. Like All Might!”

Constantly.

“Stop crying because you don’t have a quirk! Become a hero without one!”

It had always been you. You there comforting him, encouraging him, telling him to quit crying and speak up for himself. To keep pushing on despite the fact that he just wasn’t as gifted as other children. How could he have forgotten one of the most important lessons you ever taught him? How could he have forgotten about you?

You tugged one of your bunched sleeves down with your teeth and dried up the downpour of tears from his cheeks with your hoodie sleeve. Careful not to rub the skin raw, you kept at it until he was simply too shocked to cry anymore. This is the first time you’ve done this in years, yet far from the first time you’ve had to do it at all. Even as children, you were using your fingers, your sleeves, the edge of your shirt to wipe his tears away.

“I—”

“Shush, I don’t want to hear it unless it’s what you came here to say.” You interrupt, and the look in his eyes changes from nervous to determined.

“I was going to say that I am s-sorry,” He stutters.

“What else?” You encouraged, watching as he slowly gained more confidence. “You said you weren’t going to leave until you say what you need to say, keep your promise.”

“I was going to say that I don’t deserve you!”

“And are you lying?” You ask.

“No!” Midoriya exclaims more confidently, more certain of himself than before.

“And is that all you wanted to say?” You asked again, smiling as the sobbing boy from before completely changed with your encouragement, egging him on.

“No…” Midoriya confesses, faltering slightly as his nervousness returns. He doesn’t know if he’s ready to say it yet. Would that even be acceptable right now? Even as strong as he feels right now he can’t help but hesitate, to blush, to avoid your gaze.

“Then say it.”

“I…” He trails off, suddenly terrified of the thought. He couldn’t! It would put everything on the line! “I-I…”

Your hand cups his cheek coaxing him to look back up at you.

“Stop hesitating, tell me what you want to say.”

He’s already put your friendship on the line, what difference would it make? You wanted the truth so you’d get it! He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes before opening them again, meeting your own straight on. There’s a spark in those green eyes that wasn’t there before he squinted them shut. It’s like an emerald fire was lit behind them.

“I love you!”

It’s quiet.

You stare at him, and he stares right back, his determined gaze never weakening as he maintained eye-contact.

“You what?”

“You heard me,” Midoriya replies.

This time it’s your turn to shy away. Your face darkens incredibly fast, heart racing against your chest as your eyes darted from side to side, deep in thought. Your mind threw numbers together into every equation it knew, each answer coming out the same. You had expected an “I want to be friends again!” or “I want a second chance!” or “I want to fix this!”

Never in a million years could you have predicted him to say that. Not to you. Your eyes drifted back up to his. He looks a little less confident now, almost worried as he awaits your response.

“Get out.” You breathe, eyes wide as you stare at him watching his determined face change to one of confusion.

You couldn’t believe it. After forgetting your existence for almost a year, after only remembering when he found the bracelet, after only wanting to talk to you because it was most convenient to him… and he has the goddamn nerve to say that he loved you.

“W-what?” Izuku gasped, not understanding what was going on. Suddenly you were pressing yourself against the wall farthest from him on your bed.

“G-get out!” You exclaim, the angry tears running down your face.

“Y/N, what are you s-saying?” His voice shook, the tears starting to fall from his eyes again, his nose beginning to run as well as his entire body shook. Why were you telling him to leave? Did he make the wrong call? Did you not feel the same?

“Why are you lying to me?” You asked, the question coming out like a whisper.

“I-I’m not lying to you, I love you!” Midoriya cried. “Please, you have to believe me, I wouldn’t lie to you! I’ve always liked you—since we were kids, Y/N! I can’t fake that! You know I can’t!”

You shake as his desperate green eyes plead with yours, a sincerity in those irises you grew up staring into, a sincerity that just can’t be faked. He actually… he actually loved you? But why? He ignored you for a year!

“And you can honestly tell me that in that year you forgot about me you loved me?!” You demanded, your tears making your vision blurry and unmanageable.

“I never stopped loving you, even if it was overshadowed by my dream to become a hero, even if I made mistakes not even I can fix, my heart always belonged to you.” Midoriya crawled over to kneel in front of you on your bed where you still had your back pressed to the wall and your knees pulled tightly to your chest. “I’m not perfect, Y/N. I made a mistake by not being there for you, and I will do anything it takes to fix it if I can.”

“And you won’t forget me again? You promise?” You ask shakily, feeling a little embarrassed by how small you felt, scrunched up in such a way and crying in front of someone other than your cat at home.

“Yes,” His immediate response confirms it, not an ounce of hesitation present in the way it rolls off his tongue. “I promise, I’ll never forget you. And I’ll never be the reason you cry again.”

“Can you believe me?” Izuku reached his hand out to you.

“I… I believe you.” You admit, a small smile gracing your lips as you take his hand. Izuku lets out a relieved sigh, his free hand trembling over his heart. You can tell how terrified he was. “This doesn’t mean I forgive you though, Izu.”

“I know, and I’m going to try my very best to make it up to you. I promise.” Izuku states. It doesn’t bother him that you didn’t say ‘I love you’ back, he wouldn’t have deserved it. He’s going to have to work for it, and that was fine with him.

“Do you…” You started, face flushing and eyes avoiding his as you removed your hands from his face. “Do you wanna hug it out?”

“Yes!” You yelp when he throws himself at you, tackling you to the bed with his arms around you. You squeeze your own arms around him, face burrowing into his shoulder as you squeezed the life out of one another.

“Sorry.” He mutters when he realizes he’s practically on top of you and most likely crushing you. He moves to roll off of you but your arms only tighten around him.

“No, please just… can we just stay like this for a while?” You asked, and Izuku felt his heart beating so fast he was convinced it eventually just commit seppuku if it pounded any harder. He nodded against your shoulder, cheeks burning a bright crimson as he relaxes.

“Also,” You spoke up and he hummed in response, he couldn’t be bothered to move. You reached over to your nightstand to snatch the green bracelet from it, the green-haired boy whining when he had to re-adjust after you started moving. “Gimme your hand.”

He pulled away, green pools swirling with confusion. He complies with your sudden request and gasps when you slide the bracelet back onto his wrist.

“This belongs to you.” You smiled and he mirrored it with one of his own, hand impulsively taking yours, fingers intertwining with your own. Your matching bracelets reflected the dim light of the room, casting a warm glow over your faces as you smiled at each other. No longer did you feel forgotten or used, instead you felt loved again. “Now get off me.”

Izuku laughs and slips off of you to lay at your side, his arms pulling you in close so he could cuddle you, just like you did when you were kids.

Izuku rested his forehead against yours, one hand reaching up to timidly brush against your reddened cheek, causing your eyes to flutter closed and a small sigh to escape your smiling lips. He missed seeing you smile. But there was still something else that he needed to take care of before you drifted off to sleep.

“Y/N?” He asked.

“Yes?” You sighed sleepily,

“Don’t ever feel like you have to keep quiet anymore, alright? Please, always talk to me.”

You blinked, your mouth opening and closing several times.

“Okay.”

3K notes · View notes

poisonously-alluring-sev · 3 years

Text

Snape One Shots ~ A Touch Of Blue

Summary: Cloe has been hiding some strong feelings for her professor. Soon her friends will find out this hidden secret and maybe, just maybe, Cloe and Severus can make their much needed relationship work.

Pairing: Snape x Female

Warnings: Swearing and such

Time: Half-Blood Prince

Word Count: 8100

Recommended Song: False God by Taylor Swift

Main Character: Cloe Todd; sixth year; Ravenclaw; Leo; long black wavy hair; bright blue eyes; tall thin figure; low self-esteem

The day was Friday night and nobody had classes until Monday morning, but I had taken all week to handwrite a letter to Professor Snape because... Well... It really isn't easy to hide a crush that you have on a teacher from your best friends let alone have them keep their mouths shut about it around people so you kind of have to take things into your own hands, like what I am doing. Writing a letter to be sent to Snape at 11 pm where he will hopefully not chase Hope, my owl, back to my room. I read over the letter I had written to make sure that I had spelled everything correctly and I had made the sentences sound realistic hoping that he wouldn't slap me across the head right when I got into class on Monday or search for me over the weekend. I warmed up some black wax, put the letter into an empty envelope and pressed the hot wax onto the sem and then painted some gold glitter on the rose that the wax press left. I whistled for Hope and gave it to her and told her,

"To Severus Snape, and don't mess this up." She flies out of my window and I took this moment to go to sleep and if there was a response waiting for me the next morning we'll see if I have enough time to even look for it since Luna will want to take me to Hogsmeade bright and early.

****The Next Morning****

I woke up to the sound of someone trying to play my piano but failing miserably. I opened my eyes and saw Cho gently tapping on the keys trying to find a good rhythm that made sense, but to be honest she was having a hard time trying to figure it out. I groaned when she hit a flat note and she turned over to look at me.

"Ugh, thank gosh you're awake, Luna won't stop sending messages to ask me if you had woken up already."

"And thank gosh you stopped playing." I chuckled as Cho just frowned at me.

"I'm trying my best alright?" I chuckled again and got up to go to the bathroom. I put on some fairly normal muggle clothes which are only black and wrapped my hair up in a bun since I was too tired to go and have a shower before meeting Luna in the courtyard. I grabbed my combat boots, a bennie and throw on my light grey jacket and left the common room hoping I wouldn't run into anybody knowing about what I sent to Snape last night. I made my way through the hallways saying hello and good morning to the professors that I knew and finally found myself walking towards Luna where she ran up to me and grabbed my arm.

"Come on! We can't waste any more time!" She said before she started to drag me alongside her as she starts to move at a jogging pace.

"What is SO important that I have to wake up this early and run to Hogsmeade with you for?"

"We have to prepare for your first date dummy!" I stopped in my tracks which made Luna slow down very quickly and turn towards me.

"No, I am NOT going on any dates you have planned Lovegood."

"Oh come on Clo! You'll love him!" I let go of her hand and said back,

"I most especially will not! You know I'm not the kind of person to do these types of things." She sighed and responded with,

"Trust me, once I am able to hook you up with Snape-" I cut her off right when she finished saying his name.

"Shh!" I looked around and saw a few people walking in front of us not even look back at us like we weren't even here. I looked back at Luna and said,

"When and IF you do it better not be a joke or some shit like that." She laughed and said with her airy voice,

"That would be a funny joke, but I wouldn't want to hurt you in the process. I also know that you sent him a letter." My eyes widened at her last comment.

"How?" She patted my back as we started to walk again.

"I saw your failed letters, but don't worry I think you probably did a good job." She smiled and not as a joke, but she was being serious. I smiled back and we started to talk about some other stuff as we made our way to Hogsmeade. Once we got there Luna needed some new books first and foremost so we went and got those spending 20 minutes of the day, but I honestly was NOT ready to see what she had planned for me today. After a few more minutes walking around she finally brought me into a store which was actually a tailor store for formal wear, now I was starting to panic.

I better not have to wear a damn lace red dress for this.

After Luna dragged me around for about half an hour trying to find a dress for her she then finally moved on looking for one for me. At first, I hated it to the point that I was ready to just disappear and leave Luna here, but of course, she wasn't going to let that happen and sooner than later I started to have fun with trying on dresses. Luna would say things like, "Just imagine walking into a ballroom wearing this! You would win all of the guy's hearts!" or "Snape would fall over on his face if he saw you wearing that." After a while, she started to bring up my confidence in dress shopping and at one point I didn't even realize that we had missed lunch. I finally had the thought of what this was all for and asked Luna.

"The Yule Ball of course! I know you wanted to go just for fun, but I think you should try to grab someone's attention while you're there." She then winked at me as she pushed me back into the dressing room. After that Luna had given me a few more dresses to try on, but I wasn't too comfortable with how much flesh they were showing off whereas Cho really wanted me to wear them. I went around the store one more time to try and find the perfect dress and I finally found it. It was a nice pearl blue with a tad bit of beads on it. I ran to the open dressing room and throw it on as quickly as I could, once I was finished putting it on I can out and showed Luna and Cho who both gasped at the dress, I also added in a quick spin to make the dress flow in the thin air. Yes it didn't really have much holding the dress up and I didn't need to wear a bra, but it definitely was the dress I was going to buy.

Luna loved the dress and once we got back to Hogwarts she made Cho and I do kind of like a fashion show with the dresses we all picked out and because Cho is Cho she told us that we all should get pearl blue dresses to match each other at the ball in a few weeks. But of course, Luna then came up with another idea where I would have the lighter coloured dress and be in the front of the group, like V-formation, and Luna and Cho would have darker dresses and be on my left and right sides as we entered the ball.

After we had dinner and I jammed out a bit on my guitar I was pretty bored and decided to take a walk around the school just because I could. Soon I left the common room and decided to start my walk on the top floor near the Ravenclaw common room and to also get a beautiful few of the school grounds from the top of the astronomy tower as the sunset. I made my way up the steep stairs and sat on the railing that viewed the Black Lake with the sun coming down reflecting off of the water making everything look gorgeous. I took this moment to just relax and breathe deeply, I didn't have enough time to think about what Professor Snape would say to me about my letter since I was busy dress shopping, but now my mind was ready to just relax and calm down so I wouldn't be so stressed about it if I thought about it at this moment. As I watched the sunset disappear under the horizon and have the darkness of the nightfall over the school I walked around the lower east part of the school making my way to the courtyard I heard an owl screech coming from my right and saw a deep grey giant bird about to fly into me, but flew up and dropped what he was asked to deliver on my head. After I stared down the owl as it flew away I opened the letter, but before taking it out of the envelope I made sure that it was my name on the front. Then my heart started to pound at a crazy strong rate so much that I could feel and hear in it my forehead. It was my name written in Snape's handwriting. I ran back to my dorm room praying that Cho and Luna were at least in the common room so then they could read the letter before I do instead of me waiting around for them or just reading it myself and feeling hurt and scared by myself. Thankfully Luna was sitting on a chair near a window and I quickly grabbed her arm and pull her up the stairs, once we got into the dorm Cho was reading as well along with studying Herbology. I sat them down in front of me on the floor while I rocked back and forth basically having a panic attack as they read what Snape had to say in response. After a few minutes of them reading and me trying to breathe normally and keep my heart rate low they finally looked at each other and whispering quietly until they both looked at me and then gave me the letter. As I was reading my heart and breathing weren't staying stable, but Luna was trying to do her best as I read it. To sum up the letter in response he just addressed what I had said and wants to meet up with me to talk about it. As I was trying to calm myself down as my mind was racing with thoughts of him going to yell at me, tell Dumbledore or punish me in some way or another. Cho read over the letter, again and again, Luna was rubbing my back and trying to calm me down by playing music and singing along with it. Her voice has helped me calm down from a panic attack before so it clearly works, but I wasn't so sure about this time. After about 20 more minutes of Cho and Luna talking about what the letter could mean and breaking it down I was slowly feeling very tired and felt like trying to fall asleep. Luna told me what time it was and after I got under my blankets Luna kept singing lightly and rubbing my back as I slowly drifted into sleep.

Waking up the next morning was hard since I really wasn't up for leaving my bed when I might run into Snape and get screamed at in the hallways. Luna had convinced me to at least go have a shower and all of that jazz before breakfast which I'm guessing she was going to try to convince me to go to as well. I put on my black muggle clothes and put my hair up in a messy braid, but Luna said otherwise. She had me sit down on the bathroom counter as she curled my hair and put on some light, but visible green and black eyeshadow. I was confused about why she was dressing me up when I was just going to be in here for most of the day besides meals, so I asked her.

"Well, if you do run into Snape, not saying you will, but if you do, I think that you should look your best casually and maybe, just maybe if he isn't happy about what you sent in that letter then he will see you and think 'damn maybe I should at least give her a shot' and then bam true love." She giggled and I said back in response,

"Umm, I don't think that's how love works."

"I know, but it's the best way I can think to explain it to you." As she finished to my hair and all of that jazz I started to think about what he might say if my looks changed his mind. I smiled to myself and I guess Luna noticed and she smiled as well. We walked to the Great Hall and sat in our normal spots at our normal time before everyone arrives all at once. Cho came along soon after and was talking to her other friends who I never talked to before and Neville Longbottom came and sat on the other side of Luna. After a few more minutes students and teachers started to flow into the Great Hall and took their seats before our breakfast magically appeared in front of us. Once everyone was in their seats and Dumbledore talked for a few minutes our food arrived and people started filling up their plates and started up conversations with one another. Just out of curiosity I looked up to the professors' table and scanned my way through the teachers until my eyes locked with someone, it was Snape. He was already looking at me before I glanced his way, but as soon as we made eye contact Luna tapped my shoulder and brought me back to the conversation we were having. I tried my best to keep my eyes away from the teacher's table and started up any kind of conversation that I could to distract myself from looking up there. After about 15 minutes half of the students had finished and left the Great Hall me being one of them. As I stood up to leave a tall and dressed in black person was right in front of me, I looked up to who it was to ask them to move so I could walk past, but my voice was caught up in my throat when I saw that it was Professor Snape. We looked at each other for a few seconds then he spoke first and said,

"Ms. Todd." I could only respond with,

"Professor." Then I slipped past him and walked away with a little more speed to my step. As I was nearing the entrance of the Great Hall ready to start running once I got out of there to the common room I left someone staring at me and I knew it was Snape, but then in the back of my head it felt like someone was trying to fight off my mind and look into it. The feeling only lasted until I rounded the corner and was out of the sight of whoever was doing that to me. Once I got back to the common room I grabbed my guitar and my notebook and started writing down some chords and notes. After about half an hour of finding a nice melody, I started to write some lyrics down and add them into the melody. As I strummed my guitar I added the words slowly into it and listened to how it sounded to see if I needed to change anything in the song.

I opened my eyes

watching you pass me by

Not even looking in my way

Wondering why you don't see me

But I won't judge you

I just want you to stay

I wrote down a few changes to the chords and started up again.

Not only that

But you don't even smile

I'm wondering if you even have a heart

I feel so broken

Without you

But you'd never even notice

What I'd do for you

I had practiced playing those chords and singing those lyrics to make sure that they fit together right and as I was doing this, many people were listening in and watching me play. As soon as I stopped playing and decided to use this uneventful day nearly everyone in the common room complimented me on my songwriting and the Head Boy even told me,

"Whoever that song is about, they clearly don't deserve you if they make you feel like that, don't get distracted by idiots, do your own thing, Cloe." I thanked him and went to go on a walk on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. As I was walking I was thinking about what everyone said to me after they listened to the lyrics that I wrote down and gently laughed to myself.

If only they knew.

I stayed outside for a little while longer and sat down on some clean grass near the water's edge of the Black Lake and just took in the cool breeze that moved my hair and loved every bit of the fresh air that surrounded me. Soon I was laying on the grass with my eyes closed and just taking in the heat of the sun as it shone down on my face. I could hear other students that were either outside for a walk or were playing some kind of sport-related game along with the sounds of birds every which way. There was one point where I heard someone walk fairly near me then the footsteps stopped and I couldn't hear them for a few minutes until the person walked away, and yet again I felt that weird pain-like feeling in the back of my mind trying to get into my head. I quickly pushed them out even though it was pretty difficult to do so. I frowned and sat up to see where this person was so then I could give them a glare, but I couldn't see anyone around me what so ever so I then decided to get up and head back to the Great Hall to get some lunch and then probably go have a nap or something until dinner and then study for my classes while there still was time left in the day. As lunch was passing and Hermione was giving Harry a lecture about something just behind us I, yet again, felt that pain-like feeling in my head and at this point I really wasn't happy and wanted to smack whoever was trying to get into my head. So as anyone would I tried to search out for this very bold person and after a few minutes looking around at the students I still could feel them trying to get in my mind and I realized that no student would be able to do Ollcomency so I looked up at the teacher's table and looked to see if anyone was staring me down. Nobody was looking at me from what I could tell, but I still could feel someone trying to get into my mind, I looked back up at the teacher's table just to make sure. And sure enough, I found the person staring me down trying to get into my head. I was fairly shocked and kind of scared when I realized that it was Professor Snape. My heart started to beat faster with fear and anxiety and soon enough I could hear it in my head. I was very worried that at some point he would get into my head and hear my thoughts which will most likely be about him or that he might search through my memories and find the ones involving him. My breathing got heavier as the fear was boiling under my skin, I could also hear another heart beating and more breathing like it was coming from me, but it wasn't.

Was I able to hear the pace of his breathing? There's no way that can be possible? If I can hear him, can he hear me?

My eyes widened with even more fear, I was completely shocked by the fact that I could hear his heartbeat beating in my chest versus my own and feeling air being pulled into my lungs, not on my command. It was very nerve-wracking to know that we had traded breathing paces and heartbeats, but I was trying my best to calm myself down to not hyperventilate or embarrass myself in front of Snape. I broke eye contact with him and I know it probably made me seem weak but doing so it was easier to calm myself down without having to see him stare into my eyes. Soon I was able to push him out of my mind and feel myself breathing again and was able to hear my heartbeat once more. I let out a big long sigh which seems to catch Cho's attention.

"What's with the sigh Clo?"

"I'm just tired and don't want to start classes again tomorrow, mainly Potions." I put my hand on my head trying to keep my heart beating at a slow pace and to cool myself off from the huge stare-off I just had with a teacher.

"Why Potions?"

"Snape is assigning another essay again."

"Damnit, I forgot about that."

As Cho asked Luna for help with a Potions essay and just help, in general, I looked back up to the teacher's table and saw that Snape was having a conversation with Professor McGonagall not even realizing that I was now the one staring at him. McGonagall glanced at me and saw me staring at Snape, doing I was snapped out of my thoughts and went back to eating food and listening to what my friends were talking about hoping that she wouldn't ask me about it or even realized that I was looking at Snape and turned my eyes away when I noticed her looking in my direction. As soon as my friends and I were finished lunch we got up right away and made our way out of the Great Hall, but before I could leave I felt the pain again and this time I really wasn't having it. So I spun around and saw Snape looking at me as he made his way to the main entrance of the Great Hall which was also where I was. As soon as he got closer to me I glared at him harshly and he came near me and stopped in front of me making me look up to be able to see his face as I had a not-so-happy expression plaster on my face. We just stared at each other for a few seconds until I said,

"Yes, Professor?" He responded to my question with,

"You seem to have joy with trying to intimidate me, am I correct?" I smirked and said back,

"I could ask you the same thing." We both stood there just glaring at each other not saying a word until Cho called my name and grabbed my attention making me look away to find where her voice came from.

"Looks like you'll need to try harder next time, looking away really doesn't work." He then passed me and left the Great Hall leaving me there wandering through my thoughts. I sighed and found Cho who asked to go to the Black Lake to do something and she wouldn't even tell me what it was she wanted to do after I asked her about 20 times in two minutes. Once we made it there, Luna and Ginny had already claimed a spot on the bright green grass and were having a conversation until Cho and I sat down beside them. Ginny gave them both a look that seemed pretty cheeky and mischievous like Ginny was at certain times. I didn't want to ruin their surprise or whatever so I didn't address the look on Ginny's face, but I did ask them,

"So, what is this all about?"

"Your date of course!" Ginny said very loudly and covered her mouth and laughed right after she said basically screamed it at me. I tilted my head and asked them what Ginny meant by 'date'.

"Well, remember how I told you about that guy I had a date planned for you with?" Luna said,

"Yeah?"

"Well, we still kinda have to get him to say yes to having a date with you because I didn't actually ask him I just thought that we would be able to get him to like you enough, the reason why we are here, to get him to ask you out." I slammed my hand on my face and sighed. Cho and Luna sat there waiting for me to tell them that I wasn't doing this, but instead, I asked them,

"And how were you planning on doing this without me finding out who the guy is?" Luna opened her mouth and responded back with,

"Right, um haven't totally planned that bit out yet, but I think I got it." I nodded and Ginny smiled and said in one very quick breath,

"I'm so happy you're going to finally have a boyfriend!" She giggled again along with Cho and they started to talk about what each person had to do and what things could happen and go wrong along with what we needed to do to fix those mistakes if they happen. After about half an hour of that we walked around, Luna said that they were looking for him but to be completely honest I think she was just stalling, but soon Luna spun me around and set us up for whatever she thought was going to work. As I had to help a little first year with Potions and saying things like 'my mark in Potions is so high I think I might've beaten Snape's marks when he was a kid' or 'I think I'm Snape's favourite, but you know him, he won't talk about it' I kinda felt bad about bragging about this stuff to a first-year who probably too scared to even look me in the face, but as Luna signalled me to keep going I could feel the pain start-up in my head again. I stopped talking mid-sentence and peaked my head up to find Snape standing somewhere staring at me. Soon enough I found him walking closer to me through the courtyard locking eye contact with me. I realized that I couldn't stare at him for too long since I was just having a conversation with another student so I looked away and continued on while I did my best to keep him out of my mind. After I looked away I could feel him pushing harder and harder into my mind and it became difficult to focus on what I was saying. As he walked by both the first-year student and me looked up at him and I glared at him whereas the first year kind of cowering in fear which I don't blame him for that, but once you get to know him it isn't so bad. He stopped in front of us and he said to me,

"Ms. Todd."

"Snape." You could feel the heavy tension that was growing between us and I could see Luna kind of freaking out behind him, but I didn't want to pay attention to her at the moment, her plan could wait. I continued to glare at him and then he asked me,

"Why are you wasting your time on this first year?" I scoffed in my head and responded with,

"I think that it's at least worth a try to help someone versus just watch them struggle, don't you think?" This time he scoffed and walked away without looking back, but still trying to get into my head. I finished helping the student early since I really wasn't having it with Snape today and went up to Luna and asked her,

"Did your plan work or what?" Cho nodded aggressively and Ginny was jumping up and down.

"Yeah, I'd say it worked. So what did Snape talk to you about?'

I knew this was going to happen.

"Nothing much, he just insulted the first year and we glared at each other for the most part." Cho was shocked by what I had told her and said,

"What? Why!"

"Ummm because he's bee-" I stopped myself before I said anything too loudly and pulled them closer to me so I didn't have to talk loud enough for others to hear.

"He's been trying to use Occlumency on me all day." They all gasps and I smacked them on their arms.

"It's really not that shocking, to be honest," Ginny said and I nodded in agreeance. We talked about it for a little longer until Hermione came and grabbed Ginny who I guess had promised to study for a test with her and forget about her so Luna, Cho and I just went back to our dorm and just studied for our own classes I also went over the lyrics and chords that I wrote and put into a song and finished it. Soon it was dinner and I really didn't want to come face to face with Snape again or have Luna randomly say that it's time for another setup plan thing. We made it to our usual seats and waited for Dumbledore to say his daily speech before we can all eat. As soon as the food was on the table I dug right in and tried my best to hold myself back from looking up at the teacher's table for as long as I can, which hopefully will be throughout the whole meal. Luna was talking about the next setup with Cho and I was just listening in to the best of my ability since they were trying to talk quiet enough so that they could hear each other over the other students talking, but not loud enough for me to hear. I sighed and just focused on my food and thought about classes and whatnot which I was happy to get back to so I didn't have to be under Luna's rath the whole time with this stupid date-set-up thing. Soon it was the end of dinner all three of us had finished and wanted to go and take a walk around the lake I looked up at the teacher's table just out of instinct and as I scanned I didn't see Snape sitting in his normal spot.

Maybe he's in his class getting ready for classes tomorrow

I thought. I walked out with my friends, but before I could round the corner I felt a tinge of fear or anxiety in the back of my chest, probably because I thought that Snape not being at dinner was odd, even though I probably shouldn't think much of it, it still was in my mind. I pushed it out of my mind when Cho punched a Slytherin in the face and he fell to my feet. I stood there shocked at what Cho had down and looked up at her for an explanation and she said back with some tone,

"He slapped my ass!" She was about to kick him when Snape came around the corner and stopped her foot mid-swing with a spell. He let her foot fall to the ground and came up to us to say,

"Ms. Chang, Detention for hurting another student. As for the rest of you move along." Luna and I walked past the kid and grabbed Cho's arm and started to walk away from the scene, but before we could get far Snape said,

"Ms. Todd, I need to talk to you after I get this boy some ice, meet me in my office," He stared right into my eyes and said once more,

"Don't be late." He grabbed the boy's arm to pick him up and summoned some ice as we walked away fairly quickly so I could freak out without Snape seeing me.

"Are you kidding me?" I put my face in my hands to try and calm down my anxiety whereas Luna was freaking out more than I was. Well, she was more freaking out because of what I told her earlier and how now he wants to talk to me, alone, along with the confession letter I sent him earlier this week.

"I think you'll be fine, no worries Clo," Luna said as her breathing got a bit faster as she talked. I rested my head on the wall behind me and told them.

"I better go, can't be late." Cho wished me good luck as I rounded the corner to head down into the dungeons to Snape's office hoping that I wasn't going to be embarrassed or anything.

Who am I kidding?! This is going to be the actual end of me

My breathing slowed as I tried to calm myself down, but I just ended up making my breathing worse since I was slowing it by not breathing in general until I needed to breathe to stay alive. I ended up in the main part of the dungeons and followed the hallway to the Potions class, I was doing my best to keep myself calm, but being able to hear my heartbeat in my head wasn't really helping. I got to his classroom, but before I entered I leaned against the wall and let out a sigh, as soon as I felt comfortable with entering to my death I stood up straight and went to knock on the door, but before my hand could make any impact I heard someone on the other side say 'come in' I dropped my hand and opened the door saying to myself,

"That's a little creepy."

"It's hard to ignore footsteps coming from the other side of a door." I looked up and saw Snape sitting at his desk and from what I could tell he was marking tests. I walked farther into his classroom and with each step it felt like everything was getting hotter and hotter as I got closer to my death and I was going to be dragged to hell for it.

"You wanted to talk to me, professor?" I made it to his desk and stood on the other side of it hoping to keep something physical between him and me.

"Yes, I wanted to talk about many things, but I think we both know what we need to talk about Ms. Todd." I breathed in deep when he said my name in such a manner and told myself to not think like that which he was most likely going to yell at me. He glanced to a chair near his desk as to say 'pull up a chair as I did so I could feel the fear building inside me and just wished for like a basilisk or something to just pop out of thin air and kill me on the spot. He cleared his throat and said,

"How have you managed to be able to stop someone from using Occlumency on you?" I wasn't really expecting that kind of question and I didn't really know the answer, but I had to ask him a question about that too.

"Why were you trying to use Occlumency on me I think is the better question?" I glared at him and he snared, but still answered my question before moving on.

"Dumbledore has me making sure that each student is following the rules."

"And he said that it's okay to use Occlumency on students that break simple rules?"

"Students that could be moving into the path of becoming a death eater." I widened my eyes, but then thought,

Why would he use it on me then?

"Why on me then? I can confirm that I have nothing to do with Voldemort or have any intention to join him and his little rebellion." He continued to look at me and then asked,

"Again, how are you able to block people from entering your mind?" I sighed and said,

"I don't know. I seriously don't know." I crossed my arms and then he leaned forward in his chair and said,

"Seems a little suspicious, don't you think? You aren't involved with Voldemort, but you can stop people from taking over your mind..." I sighed and said,

"Okay, I gave you an answer to your question, can I leave now?"

"Oh no, we still have way more to talk about." I looked up at him and in his eyes when he said,

"How about we start with the letter, Ms.Todd." My heartbeat dropped and as well as my breathing. I knew that he was probably going to talk about it, but I wasn't sure that it would be right now. I kept looking into his eyes as he leaned back into the chair and said once more,

"I think that's the better question." I gulped and seat down more in my chair and to be honest I didn't know how to start this or what I should do first off.

Do I just run for it? Or do I sit through it and deal with nearly facing my death right here, right now?

Soon enough I got the courage to speak and give him some kind of response.

"Are we sure we need to talk about this? I mean classes are tomorrow and I want to get started on my essays-" My breathing hitched as I listened to his words.

"Yes, we need to talk about it. You sent me a confession letter and have been ignoring me all weekend instead of saying it to my face." My throat started to close up which meant that tears were about to form, but I didn't want nor need them too so I pushed that feeling away and said back to him,

"It was a ridiculous act that I did at 11 pm on a Friday after a week full of school, I was most likely not thinking straight." I folded my hands together and sneezed hoping that he will buy my bait and let me leave, but I knew that wasn't going to work.

"You've literally run away from me after you sent it, normally you'd stare me down or say hello, but you haven't been. You clearly were thinking straight when you wrote it." He was staring me down and at this point, I didn't know what to do. I was scared. Being as frightened as I was I just, out of random instincts, told him,

"I really am uncomfortable talking about this right now and I'm not going to lie I am pretty afraid." I squeezed on my hands again trying to hold back tears of fear and it wasn't the normal fear, it was the fear of rejection and fear of saying something wrong and messing this whole thing up, and I might've just done that now. I gulped as Snape took that information in and we sat there in silence for a while until he spoke up, but his voice was very soft and quiet.

"You know you did bring this upon yourself, and you can't blame me for trying to talk to you about versus going right to Dumbledore and talking to him about it instead." It was sympathetic really, and I didn't understand why he would talk like that. I stayed silent for a while which I guess moved him to speak some more, probably trying to make me feel better and not scared.

"Listen, I didn't want to talk about this either, believe me." I still couldn't find my voice and was actually starting to think on how I could make this less nerve-wracking so I just asked him a simple yet kind of dumb question since I know the answer already.

"Do don't need to have these kinds of talks often, do you?" He shook his head no and now I could feel that he wanted me to speak and continue to speak for as long as I could and knowing this I was very anxious, but I decided that since I'm already here, might as well face a fear I didn't know I had.

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, which I get, can we just forget this ever happened?" I said leaning forward in my chair as in ready to get up and leave, but his next response made me want to stay longer.

"You know, I've been in the same place as you, and you can't just forget these feelings. Trust me, they're the reason I'm so cold to everyone and why my life has become dark." I was shocked to hear him confess something to me. I really wasn't ready to hear that and it stunned me, not gonna lie. I give him a look of interest but also mixed with shock and empathy. His face was softened and kind, but as soon as he saw my reaction of empathy it faded away and the cold hard Snape was back. I let off a disappointed expression and then said,

"But this time those words don't matter do they?" I realized how attacking those words sounded and instantly wanted to take them back, but it was too late now. He was giving off a vibe of sadness or guilt rather than making me feel that way since that was the way he had treated me and everyone else for years before now and it's hard to think that he could try and be nice. He sighed and said,

"It really does seem that way doesn't it?" I nodded lightly and dropping my head down a little to break eye contact with him, he continued with,

"Maybe it doesn't have to be that way... for you." I was shocked and lifted my head back up to look at him and he just gave off a slight smile and he totally changed right in front of me. His posture softened and the muscles in his face relaxed and his eyes, good god his eyes, they shone with so much sympathy and possibly love that I instantly relaxed too and took in a deep breath waiting for what would happen next. Soon enough he leaned forward in his chair and got up. I stood up with him and he said,

"You should probably go now, it's a few minutes until curfew." My eyes widened once again in fear.

I'm going to get caught by Filch and have to do some sort of scary punishment"Don't worry though, if you don't make it back in time, I'm always here to give an explanation." He said pointing to his head.

"You probably don't know it, but if you can block someone out of your head then you most likely can enter someone's head." I nodded after I learned something new and made my way over to the door with Snape following me. Before I could leave he turned me around and asked me,

"Why don't you give it a try. Try it on me." I shrugged and focused on him and him alone, feeling myself push into a cold and hard barrier like it was right in front of me but there was nothing there. I felt the wall drop and I instantly pushed into his mind and was brought to his mind only to hear him say to me through his thoughts,

"See? It really isn't that hard once you get it, and neither is this." He had trapped me in his mind, closing the wall behind me, but I had pushed myself out. Once my mind was back in its rightful place I noticed Snape leaning in and felt my own body leaning towards his. Soon enough his hands cupped my cheeks and the coldness of them seeped to my hot skin. He looked at my face getting in every detail until he brought his eyes to mine and at that point, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into me causing our lips to crash together. Soon enough he started to kiss me and we moved our lips in sync causing my legs to go weak by the way his lips covered mine and how passionate and sweet his kisses were. Before I could actually fall to the floor he wrapped his arm around my waist and I could feel myself go light-headed with the feeling of his cold touch on me and the fact that we were face deep into each other. But all good things have to come to an end and I slowly pulled away from him still in his arms looking into his deep onyx eyes. Not knowing what to do next and being so full of love and happiness I smiled and gently laughed which made Severus smile and laugh a little too.

"Okay, but you should really get going."

"Yeah." I was still in his arms and leaning tight against his chest and I said,

"I'm going to need to be set free to be able to go you know."

"Oh yeah right." He gently dropped his hands and rubbed the back of his neck. I put my hand on the door to leave, but before I opened it I said to him,

"And thank you for understanding me." He smiled at me and it just filled me up so much that I turned back to him and gave him a deep long hug, soon enough he returned it and I needed to feel his lips one last time before whoever knows when again. It was much more gentle and loving than the last and I left his office feeling like I was at the top of the world. I basically ran back the whole way to my dorm to tell Luna and Cho feeling like I would never run out of energy every time his laugh played back in my head or his smile showed up in my vision. Once I burst through the door getting their attention I closed the door, cast a sound-proof spell around the walls and just yelled at them,

"We kissed!" Luna literally jumped up and grabbed me in a huge big hug and spun us around as Cho screamed and was super shocked. Soon enough I was laughing and daydreaming about him along with tears flowing strongly down my face. After we had calmed down a bit an owl landed in our window and dropped off a letter. I grabbed it to see who it was for and yet again I had received a letter with my name on it in Snape's handwriting, I squealed again and basically jumped onto Luna who was ready to sleep for tonight.

"Read it, read it!" Cho said from the other side of the room on her bed and I opened it carefully making sure not to rip the parchment and read it out loud for them to hear.

Dear Cloe, Yes this is random and there really wasn't any need for me to write this to you, but I just want you to know that if you need help with anything I'm here for you. If you need any comfort I'm always by your side and I will never leave it. You have finally made me come out of my hard shell and have made me realize that living in the past is never a good thing. I couldn't imagine what would've happened if I missed you and didn't give myself another chance at love. You truly mean a lot to me, and I know that I mean a lot to you, and that's all I've ever wanted to feel.

Sincerely, SS

Any Requests?

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lizardkingeliot · 3 years

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First Line Meme

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line, then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

tagged by @phoenix-ascended thank you!!!! 💖

Okay SO. I’m gonna cheat a little bit here. The first nine I’m going to post are all going to be from the first nine chapters of time cast a spell on you (but you won’t forget me) but to be fair the chapters are so long they each might as well be a story all their own lmao. ANYWAY. Here we go. I’ll post the first paragraph from each I guess, in order of chapter number obvs:

1. Quentin shook out the tension in his hands. He didn’t understand why it wasn’t getting any easier. For days on end he’d been trying to perfect the illumination spell the rest of his fellow First Years had nailed in a matter of hours. But no matter how he tried, Quentin couldn’t seem to make anything more than a spark.

2. Quentin waited until Eliot was asleep to slip out of bed and hastily tug his clothes back on. The illuminated screen of his phone told him it was just past 12am. Clutching his shoes to his chest, he opened the door as quietly as he could manage and tip-toed out into the hall, all but running to his room and clicking the lock shut firmly behind him.

3. Dry-mouthed and groggy, Quentin woke in Eliot’s bed alone. He groaned, groping around for his phone to check the time for a long moment before remembering he’d left it in his room. Quentin rubbed at his eyes, rolling over and up to his feet, muscles he didn’t even know existed screaming as he went. He picked his bathrobe up from the floor and pulled it on, then tottered down the hall to empty his bladder and brush his teeth and gulp down frantic handfuls of water from the bathroom sink.

4. Tuesday morning was hell. Quentin woke just before eleven, empty as a husk. Filthy, all used up. His thighs sticking together where Eliot’s come had dried there in the night. Quickly realizing he’d already missed his first class of the day, Quentin pressed his face into his pillow, pulled the covers up over his head, and surrendered to the blank comfort of late morning sleep.

5. Quentin couldn’t feel his face, or much of his body for that matter. Which was… fine. It was great. It was fucking phenomenal. As long as it meant he also couldn’t feel the sinkhole that had formed in the center of his chest. The one that had been there for days, weeks, months, fucking years. He couldn’t feel anything at all.

6. Quentin felt a lever turn inside his chest, the source of his magic eking out a spark. Enough at least to send a message to Julia back at Brakebills. One of those little enchanted paper airplanes they’d learned his first week in Practical Applications that he never could get to fly quite right. He scrawled his SOS on a cocktail napkin and watched it flutter away like the world’s saddest butterfly. The universe took pity on him. Quentin figured he was probably due. 7. Christmas morning was a lackluster affair.

Exchanging gift cards over coffee and devouring great mounds of Ted Coldwater’s Famous Ham and Eggs while still in their pajamas. After, Julia and Quentin lay on the living room floor and Skyped with James, his grandparents waving hello from Pennsylvania in the background. They opened the stack of impersonal and overly-extravagant gifts from Julia’s mother that had been delivered to the house the night before. Quentin received a pair of cashmere socks and a leather belt with a shiny silver buckle.

8. Quentin stood at the bathroom sink, watching his face shift in the steamy mirror glass. Stark naked save for the towel looped around his hips. Hair dripping in cool, fat beads down onto the planks of his shoulders. So clean he swore he could feel himself sparkling from the inside out.

9. Quentin tossed his phone down onto the floor and leaned back into Eliot’s heat. “It’s almost like you want my dad to know I’m faking sick so I can stay in and let you fuck me until I pass out.”

Some patterns I guess: I love how chapters 2-4 all open with Quentin in bed after hooking up with eliot but all with very different vibes. In chapter 2, he’s just experienced subspace for the first time without having any idea that’s what actually happened to him and he is having A Time. In chapter 3, they had a very intense hook-up the night before and Quentin is sneaking out again, but this time he fully plans on returning right after. And in chapter 4, we see the joy of their beginnings at Columbia contrasted hard with the misery of where Quentin is at Brakebills.

ALSO 2/3 of the chapters begin with Quentin’s name which feels right considering just how deep into his headspace we are in this fic.

Okay. Anyway. Moving on:

10. Eliot loved watching Quentin lose himself in a moment.

It could be anything really: mastering a brand new spell; savoring something decadent and sweet; fussing with his hair when he thought no one was looking; focusing very hard on making himself a cocktail and getting the ratios just right; ranting about his Fillory books; reading his Fillory books, to himself but especially aloud; reading anything; riding dick...

That last one held a particularly special place in Eliot’s heart.

(from but i would die for you in secret aka the one where eliot is pretty sure quentin is only using him for his dick. spoiler alert: he’s not they’re just idiots)

11. Teddy was turning six years old. There was nothing in the world he loved more than stories.

His favorite was a version of Lord of the Rings Quentin had cobbled together from memory. He must have told it to their son a hundred times before it occurred to Eliot he could contribute more to story time than ogling Quentin’s hands while he spoke, or popping in to suggest when the Balrog should actually be making an appearance, Quentin.

(from in a land far away aka the mosaic fic where eliot makes margo hand puppets for teddy)

12. The words came out of Quentin’s mouth without a single coherent thought behind them.

“I’m just about to catch a movie with my boyfriend!”

There, outside the coffee shop on Eighth Avenue, Quentin’s maybe-friend from high school whose name he couldn’t even remember shot him a wide-mouthed grin. “Oh, that’s wonderful!” she said. “Which movie? My wife Danielle and I don’t have any plans for the afternoon and we’d love to tag along. Isn’t that right sweetie?”

(from your name like a song (i sing to myself) aka the one where quentin’s memory is shit and he and eliot pretend to be boyfriends in a post-monster world)

13. Eliot dropped the last box onto the floor. “Daddy’s wardrobe is safe at last,” he said, lowering himself down into the gold chair with a sigh. “Though I can’t seem to shake the terrible feeling that Todd raided my closet at the Cottage before I could get to it all.”

Quentin surveyed the damage from his spot on the sofa: there were at least seven large packing boxes bursting at their seams scattered around the penthouse. “I don’t know how you would even be able to tell. I’m pretty sure one of those boxes is just vests.”

Eliot quirked a brow in his direction. “Some of us are cultivating an aesthetic, Quentin,” he said. “And I didn’t see you complaining when I let you dress me for dinner last night.”

Quentin couldn’t help but smile. “I wouldn’t call picking between two pre-approved ties dressing you, El.”

“I’m also counting the fact that you said my ass looked great in my new pants.”

(from the parentheses (all clicking shut behind you) aka the suspender porn fic)

14. The night Quentin Coldwater died, a brand new star appeared in the sky over Brakebills. A little brighter than Venus, it stayed fixed in the same position for weeks on end. Eliot hardly would have noticed such a thing if it hadn’t been for the way that it hummed. Or at least, that’s how it felt. A humming in his bones. An old, familiar presence. Margo thought that he’d gone mad with grief. Alice was the only one who could understand.

(from a myth of devotion aka the one where eliot is sorta icarus and quentin is sorta the sun)

15. It didn’t happen the way Eliot expected it to. He dropped the letter into the mailbox, and pain blossomed in his abdomen so brightly it was like he’d gone supernova.

And everything went dark.

(from by night, beloved, tie your heart to mine aka the one where eliot sends the letter)

16. Eliot stretched out over the mosaic, his shirt riding up just a little as he clicked a yellow tile into place, and Quentin’s pulse leapt in his neck once, twice. Three times. His breath hitched. It was becoming nearly impossible to focus. In the heat of the sun, watching the sweat soak Eliot’s shirt clean-through.

(from i won’t deny (all the things i would do) aka the one where quentin and eliot start hooking up three months into their life at the mosaic)

17. After they decided kissing on the mouth was okay, Quentin and Eliot wanted to do it all the time. In every corner of the penthouse (“If you don’t stop sucking face while I’m trying to eat my sandwich,” Kady said one afternoon, “I’m literally going to feed you to the Baba Yaga.”), outside coffee shops, in between bites at the sushi place in Chelsea that Eliot loved. Once, they went to see a movie they couldn’t even remember the name of just to make out for two blissful, uninterrupted hours in the dark.

(from and a song of praise upon your lips aka part three of the box of chocolates series where quentin and eliot are definitely dating and finally talk about their feelings)

18. Eliot startled awake to something sharp and pointed slamming into his shin. He opened his eyes, and the toe of Margo’s shoe made contact one last time. Pain seared up the side of his leg, and he winced. Jesus, she really did not realize her own strength sometimes. Or the strength of her Jimmy Choo’s.

(from that you may know (the secrets of your heart) aka part two of box of chocolates aka the one where hand stuff is still banging)

19. Eliot Waugh was High King in his blood, and somehow that felt right. When they first arrived in Fillory, Quentin assumed he would be the one to wear the crown. He’d dreamed of it most of his life after all. On the throne in Whitespire, a fleet of talking animals at his disposal, a noble quest waiting around every corner to ferry him away to the next grand, heart-stopping adventure. But when the blade bit into his palm and drew no blood, and Eliot’s came up red, it felt like the final piece of some perfect puzzle clicking into place.

(from and this is the map of my heart aka the one where quentin wants to marry eliot and they have some incredibly filthy sex before everything falls apart)

20. Eliot walked into the penthouse to an eerie quiet. He found Quentin sitting in the kitchen under a dim illumination spell, drinking a beer and poking at the screen of his phone.

“Hey,” Eliot said, setting his shopping bag down on the counter. “Where is everyone?”

Quentin sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Out. I don’t know.”

Eliot squinted at him. “You didn’t want to go with them?”

Quentin lifted his eyes, shot Eliot a look. “No.”

(from for love (if it finds you worthy) aka part one of the box of chocolates series)

And I have now been here doing this for so long I no longer have time to try and find anymore patterns lmao BUT I will be tagging: @thelucindac @akisazame @fishfingersandscarves @nellie-elizabeth @freneticfloetry @rubickk7 and anyone else who wants to play!

#the magicians #queliot #otp: proof of concept #myfic

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mc-lukanette · 4 years

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Take Stocking In

For Marinette, it was no longer "Christmas Day." It was now officially dubbed, "Marinette Christmissed the Mark Completely Day."

She'd originally thought it'd be a great idea to surprise Luka with. When she heard that everyone was getting individual stockings together and placing anonymous gifts into each one, she saw an opportunity.

She'd wanted to respond to Luka's confession for a while, but the stocking was the perfect chance; she intended on writing an "I love you," on it, then signing it and placing it in his stocking. After all, only Luka would see the signature; no one else had to know that it wasn't an anonymous gift.

The problem? She'd forgotten to sign it. She presumed that she knew deep down that the gifts were meant to be anonymous, and thus forgotten her signature out of habit.

It was technically better than what had always happened with Adrien where she just straight-up forgot without reason, but still, come on! She couldn't even tell Luka that it was hers later since it'd be too late and thus wouldn't be special anymore.

Worse still was the fact that, when everyone had finally gotten together and sat in a circle, the order was decided by age: youngest first, oldest last, meaning that Luka was last and she was going to have to stew over her inevitable suffering for as long as possible.

As if that wasn't enough, when it was her turn, she knew which gift had been his. At first, it looked like a simple drawstring attachment to her purse, perhaps to carry a few small things, like lip balm or some batteries, but a quick feeling of the pink fabric confirmed that there was something inside. She'd waited until it was the next person's turn to get their stocking, then poked and prodded to feel the foreign object.

Her eyes had widened at the realization that it was a music player; one to replace her old one that she'd broken not too long ago. It was definitely out of the recommended price range for the gifts, which was probably why Luka had hidden it in something cheaper. Marinette shot Luka an offended pout over the action, and while he'd looked away from her, his grin was anything but innocent.

Darn that sweet boy and his part-time delivery money. It only made Marinette feel worse about her upcoming unsigned gift. With each person's passing turn, she started to delve into worst-case scenarios.

Maybe it didn't matter if she didn't sign it, because what if he didn't even like the gift anyway? What if he did like it, but didn't think her confession was enough or thought it was pathetic that she'd forgotten to even sign it? Heck, what if he'd gotten sick of waiting and didn't even love her anymore? Worse yet, what if he saw the 'I love you' and was hoping it was from someone else, and what if he actually went to that person and they reject him because they don't love him and then he finds out that the gift was from her and hates her forev—

"Alright! Luka's turn!" someone shouted out, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts. She looked over as Rose grabbed the last stocking on the table, the thick white trim decorated with glitter-y lettering (obviously done by Rose herself) that spelled out Luka's name.

Luka let out a polite "thanks" as Rose brought the stocking over to him. He took it, settling it into his lap and making sure it was steady before reaching inside.

Marinette held her breath, only able to watch as Luka riffled through the stocking, seeming to be leaving whatever he'd grab up to random chance.

But, of course, the first thing he pulled out was her gift. There were a few sounds of interests amongst the room, a few people leaning in to ask what it was.

Luka turned the square object in his hand, it being not far off from a minaudiere, though the hard outer case was decorated in a cotton-y fabric rather than beads or crystals. Marinette bit her bottom lip, noting the fascination in Luka's eyes as he reached to undo the clip that kept it closed.

It opened with a satisfying 'pop' sound, a tiny card fluttering out in the process. Luka caught it, but observed the inside of the case first. It was black and soft inside, small indentations evenly spaced apart that were shaped like rounded triangles.

A flash of recognition came to Luka's face. Briefly setting the card down on his leg, he reached into his chest pocket, pulling out the black guitar pick that he used so often. He looked between the guitar pick and the indentations, then slipped the pick inside one of them.

It was a perfect fit.

Juleka leaned over, muttering something about how "cool" it was, but Luka was oddly silent. Marinette fidgeted in trepidation, unsure as to whether that was a good thing or not.

Finally, Luka turned his attention to the card. He held it close to himself, possibly aware that the contents may be for his eyes only. He gave Juleka a glance, to which she backed off and gave him space.

Marinette quietly wished to be put out of her misery, but on the plus side, she'd been holding her breath the whole time so maybe she'd fall unconscious before she saw his reaction?

Luka opened the card slowly, eyes shifting just slightly as he read. Marinette forced herself to maintain a neutral face, especially as Luka's brows rose in surprise and the hand holding the card went stiff.

Luka's original appearance of calm faded, his measured movements suddenly gone. Without a word, he placed the card back inside the case and shut it. When Juleka opened her mouth to say something, he tossed her his stocking so he could stand up. A few called out to him in confusion, but it was like he was in a trance.

Marinette let out the breath she'd been holding as he walked across the room, right towards her. She blushed, inching back and briefly looking behind her in hopes that maybe there was something there that he'd been after instead.

She looked back at him when she heard him get down on his knees. The case was held tenderly against his chest while his other hand reached forward to rest on hers. Marinette went to say his name, but the intense look in his eyes made it too hard to speak.

She was only able to mouth out 'Lu—' before he leaned in and kissed her. Her already rigid body stiffened further, a stark contrast to how soft his lips were and how easily his hand gingerly squeezed hers in reassurance. People around them were either gasping or cheering quietly, which was when it finally registered with her that this was real and he was really kissing her.

Her eyes fluttered shut, her free hand moving upwards to rest on his cheek so she could stroke his face. The way he leaned into her assured her that he enjoyed it.

It took her a while to realize exactly how long they were kissing when someone vocalized in a whisper that they were "surprised they hadn't come up for air yet." At that, they both pulled away, either because they realized that they were actually out of air or it had just been embarrassing to hear someone say that.

"Ah—" Marinette paused, needing a moment to bring herself back to reality. She glanced down at the case Luka was holding, then back to his love-struck face. Lowering her hand from his cheek, she said, "I-I don't get it. I didn't sign it; how did you—?"

He cut her off with a chuckle. She blinked at him, confused, and he simply raised the hand he'd been touching to his face.

Giving her hand a kiss that made her heart do flips, he smiled and replied, "I'd know your work anywhere, Marinette."

"...Oh," she uttered, her already red face turning redder as she smiled. She couldn't let out anything coherent with him staring at her like that, so she simply shifted her hand in his until she could slip her fingers through his and press their palms together.

Someone in the circle cheered, "Wow, way to go, Marinette!" Then, after a pause, someone else added, "But how are we supposed to compete with that?!"

In response, both Luka and Marinette joined together in laughing, which gave a very clear answer to the question: they weren't.

#type: story #story: oneshot #Flower Arrangement Shipping #event: Christmas #((There. Got all of my depression out.))#((lol))#((Thanks Lukanette!))#Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

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mermaidxatxheart · 5 years

Text

As You Wish

So, my birthday was a couple weeks ago. I didn’t do much, but what I did do was watch one of my favorite movies. The Princess Bride. If you haven’t watched it, you definitely should. So, here’s my little homage-not nearly the caliber of that genius. But, I hope you enjoy it all the same. Message me or send me an ask telling me what you thought. If you’d like to be tagged in anything I write, just let me know. Lots of love~Jamie.

Pairing: Bucky X Reader

Word Count: 3900

Warnings: Angst, fluff, mentions of violence and PTSD.

Summary: You’ve been watching movies with Bucky, trying to help him catch up on all the things he’s missed over the years. But, he’s having a difficult time adjusting to a Hydra-free life, and in the process, hurts your feelings. Can he ever make it up to you? And how would you ever believe him?

“Bucky! Ready to watch a movie?” You skip into his room, as you always do, without knocking and never gently.

He’s come to expect it, enjoy it even, but he’d never let you know it. Once it’s known that he likes something it gets taken away. And he can’t let you go. So, he pretends to tolerate you, just barely managing to keep you at arms—length.

“What is it this time?” He asks with a sigh, coming out of his bedroom.

“The Princess Bride. Steve said you would have never seen it, so I thought it was perfect. It’s one of my favorite movies!” You skip to his couch, ignoring his sighs as you usually do. He loves that about you. You just don’t care that you are potentially putting yourself in danger every time you’re with him.

He really didn’t want to watch what sounded like a very boring chick flick, but then you look at him with those big round eyes and how the fuck is he supposed to say no to you now?

“I guess we’re watching,” he picks up the case. “The Princess Bride. Why does the cover look like that? The writing is so loopy.”

You laugh at him and take the case out of his hand, turning it upside down. It takes him a second but he realizes the writing upside down spells the same thing as it does right side up.

“Oh, that’s cool. What’s the word for that? Um...” he struggles to think of the word for a minute before looking to you. He knows you know it, and he knows you’ve had it on the tip of your tongue since he looked at the case. He also knows that you would never blurt it out, waiting to see if he can find his way there. Sometimes he does, sometimes it escapes him, but you’re always there with what he needs.

“Ambigram.” You smile up at him, taking the case and slipping the round disc into the player.

“Twentieth-anniversary edition?” He looks at the case again. Gold scrolling letters form the title over mirror images of scarlets and blues that somehow both work together.

“Yeah, it came out in 1987, just before I was born.” You say looking at him as you head back to the couch.

He groans loudly. “You’re making me feel old.”

“You are old, Bucky.” You laugh and he swears, you could make fun of him all day long if only you keep laughing like that. You take the seat in the middle of the couch and he’s left with a conundrum. If he sits on either side of you, he’ll be close enough to pull you against his side, and even though he wants that more than anything, he would rather have you in his life than just a few seconds of touching you. But if he sits in the armchair, he knows you’ll be hurt.

“Bucky, I don’t bite that hard, sit down.” You tell him, patting the seat next to you.

He bites back a second groan at the images that are now running through his head. He takes the seat next to you, shifting the pillow to put a pathetic barrier between your body and his.

He’s not an idiot, he knows you see it. He also knows that even if it hurts you, you’d never let him know.

Fuck.

It’s like you were put on this earth just to torment him with what he can’t have. And even if he could, he’d never deserve you, never be good enough for you, with all the blood he has on his hands? And you, you’re so innocent, so pure, why would you ever want someone so broken?

But, of course, that’s why he loves you so fucking much. Because you’re everything he’s not.

“So, not gonna lie, this is my favorite movie, hands down. I know every line, start to finish, so if I get annoying, just smack me with a pillow.” You warn him with a teasing smile.

You make that offer every time you bring a movie to his room, but he never takes you up on it. For one, he loves watching you mouth the words along with the characters, and for two, the thought of hitting you, even jokingly with something soft like a pillow makes his stomach curdle and his skin crawl. He would never hurt you.

And now he’s curious because he’s never seen you so excited over a movie before. You press play and settle back into the couch. Your legs are cross under you and you seem to almost fold in on yourself and he feels he needs to do something to relax you.

“Why do they show all these things at the beginning?” He asks and you look at him for a minute.

“It’s just to advertise what movies are coming out soon or that they’re out and you can buy them now.” You shrug.

“But this movie was made... thirty years ago.” He adds quickly in his head. “What’s the point of having them on there now?”

“To complete the experience? It would feel incomplete, almost amateurish if it didn’t have previews beforehand. It’s just something people expect.” You explain patiently. You never lose your cool with him, always patient.

“They didn’t use to.” He sighs, thinking about how complicated the world has become.

You simply smile at home and fast forward through the rest. “I never usually watch them anyway, unless it’s the first time.” You select ‘play’ and the screen changes to black and a weird noise sounds.

“What is that?” Bucky asks, tilting his head.

“It’s a video game that was popular back in the ’80s. Like an interactive baseball game.” You say, a smile curling on your perfect lips.

He aches to trace it with his thumb, to feel your tongue swipe over it, the silky feel of you wrapping your lips around it—he forces the thoughts down. Those lead down dangerous paths and he has to stay away.

He turns his attention back to the screen, deciding if this one is so important to you, he can watch it instead of you.

“Farmboy, polish my horse’s saddle. I want to see my face shining in it by morning.”

“As you wish.”

“As you wish was all he ever said to her.”

“Farmboy, fill these with water...please.”

“As you wish.”

“That day she was amazed to discover that when he was saying ‘as you wish’ what he meant was ‘I love you’. And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.”

“Farmboy! ......fetch me that pitcher.”

“As you wish.”

That doesn’t mean he isn’t hyper-aware of you mouthing every word, sitting so close that all he has to do is twitch his hand out to touch you.

“Inhale this, but do not touch.”

“I smell nothing.”

“What you do not smell is called iocaine powder. It is odorless, tasteless and dissolves instantly in water. It is among the more deadly poisons known to man.”

He’s conscious of you looking over at him but he keeps his eyes on the screen. You’re not annoying him at all, how could you? Your enthusiasm for this movie is infectious and he’s hooked.

What he isn’t aware of is that you’re subtly shifting closer to him. With each adjustment or stretch, it brings you closer to his side.

“Boo! Boo! Boo!”

“Why do you do this?”

“Because you had love in your hands and you gave it up!”

“But they would have killed Westley if I hadn’t done it.”

“Your true love lives, and you marry another! True love saved her in the Fire Swamp and she treated it like garbage! And that’s what she is! The Queen of Refuse. So, bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the queen of slime, the queen of filth, the queen of putrescence.”

You mouth every word in perfect synch. The words feel familiar to Bucky, not necessarily the true love part, but the name-calling. He feels that on a personal level.

Suddenly, you’re there, snuggling into his side, pulling his arm tight around you. Your fingers trace the plates on his fingers and knuckles and you’re so hot against the metal, he almost loses focus on the movie. He tenses, you have to feel it, but you don’t pull away, and he doesn’t push you away.

“Why don’t you ever touch me?” You ask. Your voice is so soft, so quiet that if it weren’t for his enhanced hearing, he never would have heard you.

His blood stills in his veins.

He tries to keep his eyes on the screen so you can’t see him panic.

“I don’t know what you mean. We’re touching right now.” He says quietly.

You let out a loud sigh. “Because I’m making you. If you had your way, I’d be at the other end of the couch. You touch Steve, even Sam when he’s not bothering you to death. Natasha, Wanda, you touch them.”

“You’re missing the movie.” He points out, a bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

You pout and he loves the way your bottom lip pokes out. “Can I stay like this?” You ask and he’s absolutely too weak to say no.

“If you stop talking so I can hear.” He tells you, corners or his mouth tugging.

You smile brightly and worm your way impossibly closer to his side.

How is he supposed to say no when you look at him like that?

“A technicality that will shortly be remedied. But first thing’s first. To the death!”

“No! To the pain.”

“...I don’t think I’m quite familiar with that phrase.”

“I’ll explain. And I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.”

“That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.”

“It won’t be the last.”

He’s so enthralled with the movie that he doesn’t see Steve pass by the door. The blond man doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to Bucky.

The credits roll and you turn to Bucky. “What’d you think?”

He quickly arranges his face into his normal scowl. “It was alright, a bit sappy. I can see why you like it, though. The satirical aspect of it really made it.”

You laugh, easing up away from him. He almost doesn’t let you go, but there’s a knock on his door. He jerks away from you, guilt churning in his gut at having been caught. Steve pokes his head in with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry to interrupt. Y/N, can I have a few minutes with Bucky?” He asks you.

You nod and scoop up your movie. A part of him wishes you would leave it behind so you would have a reason to come back. But he lets you go, pretending you’re not there, turning away at the last minute so that he doesn’t see your happy wave. The door clicks shut and Steve is so silent Bucky almost thinks he left, too.

“What’s going on?” He asks finally. Bucky turns away from him, meticulously fixing the cushions on the couch. “Bucky, tell me the truth.”

“Nothing is going on, Steve. She likes movies.” He shrugs.

“Buck. She only watches them with you. You like her?” Steve guesses, hitting the nail on the head.

Bucky flinches. “No. She just wants company. Easy to tune her out.”

Steve rubs the back of his neck. “You’re hiding something from me. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it. Whenever you’re ready to tell me the truth, you know where to find me.” He turns to leave, opening the door and freezing. “Y/N.” He says and Bucky’s heart plummets, but he refuses to turn around.

“I just forgot my phone.” You say, clearly struggling to keep your voice even.

Bucky’s heart constricts at the sound of it, but he scoops up your phone, handing it to you. He walks out of his quarters and heads for the gym without a second look. He can use a brutal workout right now.

He changes in the locker room and wraps his hand in the boxing tape. He steps up to the bag and starts punching. The burning of his muscles is welcome as he dances around, light on his feet. It’s something to focus on besides the way you smell, the feel of your fingers on his metal hand. Anything but the way you feel against his side, so natural and warm.

He becomes aware of Steve leaning against the wall next to him. He doesn’t know how long he’s been there, but he refuses to break the silence. Strands of hair are plastered to his face and neck.

Finally, he can’t take Steve’s stare anymore. He thought he was tough, that he could handle it, but the guilt of hurting your feelings was already eating away at him.

“Words are hard,” Bucky mutters, pausing and breathing hard. Steve remains silent, waiting. “I can’t...” Bucky shakes his head. “She’s too...” he looks helplessly at his best friend. “Important.”

“You act like you don’t care about her.” Steve points out. “If she’s so important to you, why do you act like you don’t even like her that much?”

“Because I have to.” Bucky snaps before blowing out a sigh.

“You have to?” Steve repeats.

“Steve, you don’t.... it wasn’t the same for you.” Bucky shakes his head and Steve stiffens.

“Hydra.” He guesses.

“I wasn’t allowed... if I liked anything....” Bucky rubs his face frustratedly.

“You’re not at Hydra anymore, Buck. No one is going to take her away from you.” Steve pushes himself off the wall. “How long have you felt like this?”

“Couple months? Maybe a year? It’s hard to keep track of time.” Bucky shrugs.

“You need to go talk to her.”

“And say what? I know I’ve been an asshole but really, I’m crazy about you? Yeah, that will go over well.” Bucky replies sarcastically.

“Guys, we have a mission. Take off in ten minutes.” Natasha pokes her head into the room. Steve looks at him and he sighs.

“Alright.” He jumps in the shower quickly before getting dressed in his mission suit. He wants to run up to your room to say goodbye, but there isn’t time.

“You can talk when we get back,” Steve reassures his best friend.

One week later

“Bucky! Go left!” Steve shouts.

Trusting his best friend, the Winter Soldier veers to the left, fighting off anyone the comes his way. Light flashes a split second before a boom echoes. Bucky is flipped over, plain flaring up his side. He gasps for air, his chest refusing to expand.

Something is wrong.

“Bucky!” Steve shouts, quickly eliminating his opponents.

Bucky rolls over onto his back, he can feel his chest is wet and the whole area burns as he presses his hand to it. Natasha is there, hovering over him.

“Can you hear me?” She asks.

Bucky tries to push himself up but she forces him back. He needs to talk to you; he can’t die with you thinking he doesn’t care. “Y/N,” Bucky groans deliriously.

“Stay down!” Natasha yells.

He can hear her, but her words aren’t making sense.

“Bucky, stay down. Stay still.” Steve peels back the fabric of Bucky’s suit and winces. He snaps a couple pictures and sends them to Doctor Cho.

“That’s really bad,” Natasha says, her voice becoming muffled. The light filtering down between the leaves dims and Bucky is left in the dark, again.

***

There was a lot of commotion outside the kitchen, people running and shouting at each other. The team has been gone for a week and you were even more miserable than before.

Bucky had left without saying goodbye to you, which just confirmed your fears. He really didn’t care. Maria informed you that it was just because there wasn’t time, but she didn’t know what you did, that Bucky only tolerated you. He didn’t care.

All that time you spent falling in love with him was wasted. He just put up with you because you forced your company on him.

How could you be so blind?

The commotion gets louder as people are running back the other way. What the heck is going on? You move to the door in time to see a gurney being moved at top speed.

You would recognize that dark brown hair anywhere, the silver arm and red star were just extra giveaways.

Your heart turns to ice in your chest and you sink back against the door, legs unable to support you. His side was bright crimson red and sticky wet. His face was pale, and he was still.

So very still.

“Bucky?” You whisper. Your eyes turn blurry and you don’t understand why.

“Y/N,” Steve starts, touching your shoulder.

You jerk away from him. “I... I think the ceiling is leaking?” You stammer. That didn’t make sense, you were 30 floors from any type of roof, and there was a gym above you. Nothing to leak.

“We should talk.” He says softly. He helps you stand up and leads you to a private room.

You slump into a chair and look up at him. “You might want to get Tony on that leak.” Your voice wavers.

“There’s no leak, Y/N. You’re crying.”

“Well, that’s a lie.”

He gives a small smile. “Bucky is going to be okay.”

A dozen waspish replies run through your head, but then you remember how he looked on the gurney and you swallow every last one. “What happened?”

“A sniper. I missed it.” Steve curses under his breath. “I can’t believe I missed it.”

“You were gone for a long time.” You say.

He kneels in front of you, his hands resting on your knees. “He won’t want me to say this, because he’s a punk. But he was coming to talk to you, to tell you how he really feels when we got the mission.”

“Steve, you don’t have to do this. I know how he feels.” You sigh.

“No, you really don’t. He’ll want to see you when he wakes up.” He looks up at you with those impossibly blue eyes. “I know you’re hurt, but please. This is important.”

You nod wordlessly and he sits in the chair next to you.

It’s silent for hours. Your entire body is tense and aching. Steve hasn’t stopped bouncing his knee the entire time. You’ve recited every line from the Princess Bride in your head and now you’ve taken to reciting plots to Indiana Jones.

“Should it be taking this long?” You ask, looking over at the big man.

“I’m sure everything is fine.” He says, reassuring you.

You are not reassured.

The door opens and Natasha pokes her head in. “He’s awake. Asking for Y/N.” She jerks her head at you.

You look at Steve and he gestures for you to go. “Just tell him I’m sorry.” He squeezes your hand and nudges you towards the door.

The walk down the hall to the medical wing was the hardest, longest walk of your life. You hesitate outside the door before knocking once.

“Was.... was that a knock? I couldn’t tell.” You hear his voice on the other side of the door, sounding a little tired but still strong and it’s like a dam breaks in your chest. You lean against the door, unable to open it because you don’t want him to see you a crying mess.

“Y/N?” He calls.

“I-I’m here.” You reply.

“Are you going to come in?” You can hear the smirk in his voice and it makes you want to smack him a little.

“No. I-I think I’ll stay out here.” You can’t handle seeing him lying in that bed right now.

“As you wish.”

“Are you okay?” You ask, sliding down the door.

“I’ve had worse.” He says lightly.

“Steve feels bad. He blames himself.”

“Typical. He’s an idiot.”

“Bucky?” You start and he lets out a sigh. “Bucky? Are you okay?” You rush, reaching for the doorknob.

“I like the way you say my name.” He says softly. “Are you sure you won’t come in?”

“Can we just talk like this for a little bit?” You ask, rubbing your eyes.

He’s quiet for a minute. “As you wish.”

“I’m sorry I forced my company on you.” You say and he groans. “If I had known that it bothered you that much-“ the door behind you opens and you topple backward. “What are you doing out of bed?” You yell at his retreating back.

“I couldn’t hear you.” He says and you can’t tell if he’s lying or not.

“Get back in the bed!”

“As you wish.” He says patiently, hobbling back to the bed.

You scramble up and follow him. He eases himself back into the bed with a groan, capturing your hand as you stand next to him.

“Bucky,” you start again and he closes his eyes. His words sink in and you look at him sharply.

He laces his fingers with yours, his thumb tracing the shapes.

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Saying what?” He mumbles, resting your intertwined hands on his very broad chest.

“You know what! Stop it.”

“As you wish.” He says evenly. His eyes open and he looks at you square on. You try to back away but he holds you tight. “You wouldn’t fight a guy that just almost died, would you?”

You look at him for a minute before yanking your hand out of his. His perfect blue-green eyes turn sad as he nods a little.

“I understand.” He says softly.

You can’t hide the smile as you throw your arms over his shoulders, hugging him as best you could, so instead, you choose to hide your face. He lets out a small groan but his arms encircle you anyway. Then you remember that he was shot.

“Oh shit!” You try to pull away but he doesn’t let you. “Bucky-“

“It’s worth the pain.” He shifts you so that you’re more on the bed than off, and still able to touch him. “You asked why I never touched you.”

“We don’t have to talk about that.” You rush, just wanting him to rest.

“But I want to, so we’re going to.” He takes your hand and rests it on his chest, playing with your fingers. “It was ingrained into me over and over again, for seventy years, that I was nothing. That I deserved nothing. Anything I wanted, anything I enjoyed, it was taken away. I couldn’t let anyone see how I really felt, you’d be taken away.”

“You don’t think you deserve to be happy? Even after all this time? All the pain you’ve been through?”

“How can I? After everything I’ve done?”

You press a finger to his lips. “Because if you had a choice, you wouldn’t have done all those things. That’s the difference between you and The Winter Soldier. You deserve all the happiness in the world, Bucky.” You say gently, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. “And I’m going to be here to make sure you get it all.”

“As you wish.” He mumbles quietly.

Tag List: (If I forget anyone, I’m so sorry.)

@everythingisoverrated @dsakita @i-dont-want-to-be-called @thefridgeismybestie @alexblrus @bitsandbobsandstuff @after-avenging-hours @thinkingsofamadwoman @fortheloveofallthatsholy @crazychaotic @pleasureoftheguiltiestvariety @redstarstan @septic-boye @justreadingfics @themistsofmyavalon @sebastianstanslefteyebrow @wkemeup @thiccbinch @glide-thru @moli1497 @ellaenchanted91 @part-time-patronus @janeyboo @jensensjaredsandmishaslover @uncledaddykelbo @thirstybitchqueen

#bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky barnes #fluff #marvel #fanfic #writing #mermaidxatxheart #princess bride

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aegmblacklatte · 3 years

Text

Miss Mochaccino (Pt 2)

***[Mature Content]***

"The nightingale sings. A scarlet letter burns upon our lives and snatches it away…

"But what can we do? Look toward the light, and find your answer."

The clapping of hands, "That was motivating as usual, m'am! Now, for our next entry… by 'Germaine'. Let's give her a warm welcome..!"

The Beret Girl made her bow towards the packed audience and slipped out of sight while the next contestant got up out of her seat and got on stage. Down the steps, she turned around to see her competition before being rammed headfirst into a damp cloth—

The introductory applause drowned out a horrifying scream.

The young woman felt herself surrounded by burly animals—Crazed eyes snapped from face to face, "Out the back," a calm hiss.

The last thing she could perceive was the visage of her most current nightmare looking down upon her with a wide smile, deprived of sanity.

Eyes fogged out, and then everything went black.

* * * * *

"I've read that novel."

The arms wandered on silk. Stirring in forced sleep. Cool. Comforting. As in a dream… Lips parted and searched for air…

"Ohh.."

The dark eyelids took forever to pry open. Opening, closing. Reds and golds. Velvet. Heat awash on every part of her body—

Too warm.

"What happened?" When a hand supported her delicate frame and when the focus sharpened into clarity, the Beret Girl realized something.

Immediately wrapping her exposed arms around her unclothed self.

The only cover was lace; obsidian hiding away her feminine treasures.

"No." Pink became crimson when her wild orbs made contact with a silhouetted figure, lounging around in his regal seat, like that of a pharaoh, amidst the flames of his grand fireplace.

Bradley Uppercrust the Third was in nothing but his red, black lined robe.

"Have a good trip?" Incisors glimmered within the shade.

The girl saw her discarded clothes at his feet. She bolted for them, but felt the garment being pulled away. His breath like ice in all this intense heat,

"If you want them back, you're going to have to entertain me first."

Thin brows came together in disdain.

"Oh come now I'm not all bad! I can be nice, if you want me to be… Of course,"

Suddenly bringing out a dagger behind him, "I can always use this as a last resort." Brad threw it over his shoulder and across the room. It landed in the middle of a soft, lush carpet.

The girl nearly fainted on the spot, bleach white.

"Ha ha ha!" Delicate fingers touched the cheek, "Pity. You're so beautiful…"

. . .

"Why?"

"What's the question again?"

"Why me?" Licking his lips, he brought her forward in her kneel,

"Are you insinuating you haven't the slightest clue?"

Bradley's eyelids drooped as his brows came together, and gave a feather's kiss on quivering lips. Sudden chills went coursing through the woman's body. The junior took his chance and slid a gentle hand down her back, "Sit with me."

The Beret Girl stared in disbelief. The usual wackiness to his character was replaced by some Don Juan. Dark, persistent, yet gentlemanly in this request… She couldn't bring herself to "entertain" him willingly. The glint of silver on the carpet snapped her out of her trance and into deep blue pools. "Please, sit."

He put his lean, toned legs over the edge of the seat and helped her to a stand. The woman's body on silk nearly put her in Lust's spell, had it not been for the fact that this was the trash that had taken itself out…

"I—" Holding her close, a grip on her waist, then on her voluptuous curves, the jock went in for another deep kiss, giving just the tip of his tongue to hers. For a split second, she thought that his voice was growling incessantly in her mind, "join me". His strong arms under the liquid fabric wrapped all around her unstable frame. The woman found it hard to breathe when the wet muscle cleaned her neck and shoulder blade, "You…"

"What about me?"

"…"

"You're so shy when you're not up onstage… Cute." The predator's gaze went away for a second to give a child's smile. This only made the girl quite unsure about these actions, "Can't you give me just one kiss?"

It sounded as if he wanted the chocolate wrapped in foil.

The random image in the young woman's vision made her giggle suddenly.

"What's so funny??" Playing along—touching his nose to hers. She couldn't stop herself from getting another hot rush to her cheeks—still giggling like a little girl. A side never seen in that café, "Nothing!"

"Nothing?" Bradley regained control of the situation and slid his whole tongue into dew-kissed lips… She fell. Within his embrace, his scent, and sweet nothings whispered in the back of her mind. Their exposed muscles greeted one another. At first Puppy Love, transforming into a crazed sinful necessity. The heat of the flames against silk caused a single bead of sweat to roll down her neck and side of her collarbone, lapped up by a desperate man. The hands finally found the clasp behind her and opened the brassiere, taking a caring hand between the woman's shoulder and her strap, leaving the thumb to remove the lace…

"You… will be the best one yet."

Yet?

Deep green eyes were all of a sudden up in shock, "What??"

Petrified as he took her right leg to his hip and leaned down upon his seat once more, with the Beret Girl on top,

"Maybe you weren't paying attention." She couldn't grasp what he meant,

"You should know that you're not the first, nor the last—

"Are you saying—?" hollow whisper.

"You're just another. Is there a problem with that?"

That was a big problem. When the words processed, her intoxicated gaze turned into a leer,

"Bradley."

"Miss Mochaccino." The same dark laugh from the confines of the dressing room…

"No. I don't want to do this

"anymore." Finishing her sentence, "But you wanted to, and that's all that matters."

"I changed my mind!" The junior was far from impressed at her protest—

"When love is conditional, that isn't love at all. But I know you want this." lowering his voice to a hiss before opening the robe and exposing his chest, "Now come here," motioning with his finger. She shook her head and tried to tear away, both legs held down by rough hands, "I said—

Fingers went behind her head and pulled her down before she could yell. The other hand traveled to a snow white hill and rubbed feverishly despite her squirming, trembling. She went hard at the nip. He had to trail out of her mouth just to see her reaction—

"Stop!" He flashed a devilish smile and sat up, letting his robe slither down to the middle of his torso. More licks to her ghost's face before sucking hard at her breast and teasing her with his bared teeth, with the jaw never clamping down—

"Please stop!" Then the other one, leaving a mess of hot saliva and sweat from his damp chest. A rushing of blood to his other head made him remove the robe completely. She didn't dare look down,

"But I'll make you."

He pinned her down to the lower end of the long cushion so that her hair was nearly touching the floor, neck barely supporting her skull, "Hold them together."

"What?!" An abnormal high pitch to her usual sultry voice.

"Hold them together." A stern tone. The atmosphere went cold, but the fire silhouetting their figures blazed on for what seemed like an eternity.

Tiny yelps escaped as his erection went in between her coarse pair. At first slow, then pushing a little faster—faster still, beginning to throb to his moans…

"That's always a good alternative to masturbating."

His straightforward commentary was sickening. The Beret Girl shut her eyes to his lust-shot expression, but she didn't notice—

"Ah! Ah!" Strong, thin fingers pressed harder into the lace mesh. The spot was touched, "Ahh—" Again. An appendage went through the black panties and only went in further in spite of the woman's sudden shrieks. Now two were inside, rocking and giving her a high degree of forced pleasure, muffled by another kiss—no longer caring, but wanting to eat her alive--!

"You want more." Spreading them out in front of her face, strewn with vaginal liquid. Soft pants answered his observation.

Uppercrust got up and lifted her, cradled in his arms.

At this point the girl didn't know what to do. This guy went from polite to dangerous in just a short amount of time. Whatever satisfaction she felt couldn't drown out the fact that she was just another sex doll to this aged demon, ensnared inside a 20-year-old body.

"You're so beautiful; I want you tied to my bed…"

Dark hands ran forever through flowing keratin as she was placed into the scarlet sheets, "just to see how long you would last." A slight scowl formed when he said this.

Nothing good could come out of this. Beret Girl's leer turned into a glare, "No chance of that."

The difference in height made it hard to even sit up—Uppercrust kept his body all over hers, feeling her up, massaging her legs, hips, behind—going in between to find her sheath again, hooking onto the hem of her cover. The poet's hands were powerless even as she put up a determined struggle, trying to wriggle away from this steel trap. Incisors bit down on her hill's peak and began to savor the rest of her. Bite marks shone red on white—he, growling like a wild animal—

"Br—Bradley!" His name echoing off the high walls. Going into overdrive when the lace was removed and about ready to go inside--

"I'm not happy. Are you?" Suddenly calm.

"Go to hell!"

"I'm already in it!!"

A blood curdling scream rang as he broke through skin, going all the way in—heavy thrust upon heavy thrust. The man's features darkened. This wasn't just another woman…

"Go on, little lady: Snap your fingers." Bradley let out a horrid, sadistic, childish giggle and delved in again. The woman let out another shriek, at last realizing why he had brought her here… Against her will, the girl began to shed crystal.

"Ohh!" Strong legs began to shake under the tension.

"Please! Stop—"

"I'm not through with you yet!" whispering harshly in her ear before nibbling the lobe. A few more thrusts were all he needed, "Ah!" pulling out just in time to let his dew sprinkle over an empty womb—"You're not worth having a child with."

Her brows furrowed despite the suffering and pitiful sobs. Miss Mochaccino had enough.

"I have more respect for the common whore than women like you. You. The way you act. The way you move. It screams, 'fuck me!'"

All she wanted to do was cover her ears; the jock had them wrenched to her sore sides.

"I'm just fulfilling your wishes. Your innate desires…"

It was as if she were made of glass, he seeing right through her very being. Her heart ached as her mind cried out, "That's not true! That's not true!"

"It is. Don't deny it. It's within all of us." Glowing red eyes pierced through her own; his lips were sealed shut.

…

"Now tell me," now speaking, "if you don't mind... What's your real name, little Miss Mochaccino?"

The woman spat in his face.

"Oh. You shouldn't have done that."

Violated. Where only a lost soul would go. Sodom and Gomorrah.

Bodies entwined, locked together. There was no love.

No love at all…

Yelling, screaming and cursing from each partner. Once or twice did he have to raise a dominant hand—

"Shut up Shut up SHUT UP!!"

"No!" The weeping only got more flagrant.

The noise pounded in his eardrums. He couldn't take it anymore. Bradley was going hysterical. She wasn't bleeding. Only bruises near the areas of her once sacred femininity after his corruption—

A poisonous thought jolted through his brain—All of a sudden he wanted the Beret Girl dead, even if it meant having to strangle her with his bare hands—

But that's not what I want!!

He exploded within her, and the twisted fantasy died with it.

"Agh!" Burying his face and screaming into her bosom, before he burst into tears.

Like a child that had lost its mother.

I'm tired! So tired… So tired.

They slowly distanced themselves from one another. In excruciating pain, emotional turmoil, and a confused, scorching hatred. The junior collapsed—a dead man trying to get off the bed.

Bloodshot eyes could never understand what this creature knew, what he went through to get himself in such a damned place as this, cold and shivering on the ground. And how she, a woman that meant no harm, only living to express her deepest thoughts, fears and desires in the guise of pretty, sensual words—ended up being dragged down with him…

This Hell on Earth.

#bradley uppercrust #bradley uppercrust iii #beret girl #an extremely goofy movie #fanfiction #disney #shipping #oh noes #bad mojo

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thirsty-x1 · 4 years

Text

Make My Day | Lee Hangyul

Request(s):

Hi~ Thank you for your hard work. Can i request 'Your birthday with Hangyul' or vice versa. Have a nice day/week and take care of yourself 💕💕💕😊

Hi again~ Can I request a scenario of Hangyul and you playing with kids. I need more fluff, please and thank you. Take care~ 💕💕😊

↬ Pairing: Hangyul x gn!reader. Lowkey grown ups au?

↬ Genre: Fluff.

↬ Warnings: none.

↬ Word Count: 1.5k

The night breeze was nice as you walked home, Hangyul apologizing for not being able to pick you up after an emergency took place suddenly. You understood, the shared apartment wasn’t very far anyway and it was a rather safe zone, besides you appreciated the alone time it gave you. It had been three years since you two were together now, and you couldn’t help but to laugh thinking back on all the things both of you had gone through. Supporting each other in your hardships, fights and discussions that would always end up with both apologizing and hugging each other shortly after, getting to know each other’s secrets… It wasn’t an easy ride, but it was worth it. Now everything was finally settling down, both getting used to the way the other reacted and managed certain situations, trying to talk things out instead of bottling them up, complementing each other in order to make something better. Hard work paid well.

You went upstairs until reaching to your floor, a sigh coming out of your lips while unlocking the door, flinching when you heard a loud pop followed by multiple cheers.

“Happy birthday!”

There was so many people in the small apartment that you could barely see the furniture. Your friends came up to hug you and congratulate you, followed by the ten boys you would recognize anywhere, and finally your boyfriend, with a playful smile dancing on his lips before pressing them against yours.

“Was this your so called emergency?”

“Maybe.” You chuckled at his reply, getting inside and greeting everyone, looking around you to appreciate the decorations that painted the whole place.

Hangyul loved celebrating birthdays. He enjoyed parties in general, but there was something special in the way his face lighted up whenever he got to hold the cake so that someone would blow the candles, or when he put up the ornaments, even inviting people to come over and planning different games to spend the time. It was adorable to see his child-like enthusiasm when surrounded in that atmosphere, always trying to make everyone happy. He was always good to the rest of the boys, trying to get closer since the beginning. Sometimes you wondered if the reason behind him acting like that was to hide his naturally intimidated expression…

“Y/n, won’t you play with us?” Dohyon’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts, redirecting your attention to the cards that were set on the table.

“Ah, of course, I have won against Hangyul multiple times.”

“You are attacking me ignoring the fact I prepared this magnificent celebration? I will never forgive you.” You laughed at him before placing a small peck on his lips. “I take that last part back.”

Everything seemed to be in slow motion: Dongpyo complaining when you pulled a +4 on him, Eunsang sighing frustrated whenever Hangyul made him skip a turn, Seungyoun screaming as he won the first round easily, Yohan stepping up to protect a pouty Hyeongjun from losing, Junho quietly winning the second round with Minhee staring at him in shock (“how are you so good at it?”), a shy Seungwoo writing his name with his butt as a punishment for being the worst at the game, the idea being suggested by Wooseok as Dohyon tried to deal with the second hand embarrassment through loud squeaks. It was definitely a beautiful scenario, but it still felt like there was something missing…

The rest of the night proceeded like that, with high pitched laughs, karaoke and dancing competitions and a few drunk members, the noise going down a bit before receiving a complaint from the next apartment, the younger ones letting out drowsy giggles. Your friends left first, followed by Seungwoo and Wooseok saying that the kids needed to get proper rest, including a blabbering Seungyoun that was about to chug another glass of alcohol before Hangyul stopped him, cringing at the sudden outburst of aegyo from the older.

“Did you have a good time?” His voice sounded a little bit hoarse while making the question, doing the dishes as you picked up the leftovers from the party.

“I had the best time.” Right after putting everything in the trash can, you hugged him from behind, smiling as he laughed breathily. “Thanks for another amazing birthday.”

He finished, turning around to embrace you, saying nothing but rather trying to study your expression.

“There is something you are not telling me.”

It was impossible to try and hide your smile. “Actually, I want to go somewhere tomorrow…”

As you looked in the box a thousand times, you couldn’t help but to get nervous. Hangyul would laugh at you and brush it off, but what if he didn’t like the gift? What if it was too much or even worse, not enough? The three of you met a year ago, but maybe it was too soon…

“It’s going to be alright, he will love it, really.”

“Okay yes, that’s nice, but what if he doesn’t?”

“Then we apologize, simple as that.” He always had an answer ready and that was annoying, mostly because he was right. “Now get out of the car, I’m sure he’s waiting.”

You felt your heart beating faster with each step you gave, the ominous door that usually made you feel warm was now standing firm and causing chills to run up and down your spine. The second it opened, you froze in place, melting immediately as you saw his face, having him run towards you before feeling the impact of his hug.

“I thought you weren’t going to come! Took you long enough.” His words were like arrows, making you feel guilty for doubting so much. “Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday to you too, little one.”

“Is that for me?” His curious eyes lingered on the box you were holding before smiling mischievously, almost grabbing it before Hangyul snatched it and held it high.

“For later, first we have to eat the cake.”

“Cake?! I love my birthday.”

The three of you got inside, you paid attention to the kid blabbering right beside you while Hangyul stayed back to talk a little with the woman that was in charge of everything. The little steps and jumps that the kid gave while talking to you made you smile, feeling more at ease as you saw his sparkly eyes while telling you what he did today, the surprise that the rest of the kids had prepared for him, how despite enjoying it he was dreading to spend his birthday with you two and especially you, because he liked the fact that both got to share that special day (“it feels like we were destined to meet, doesn’t it?”).

“That’s settled, then.” Hangyul announced as he got in the room, expression changing when you shoot him a glare. “The cake. The cake is settled.”

“Yeah, duh, we had to prepare it because you wouldn’t come.” The mocking tone that the boy used made you feel a little bit proud, patting his back as if saying he did a good job.

Hangyul close the door, cautiously checking that any of the other kids weren’t around and finally sat on the table beside the birthday boy, fixing the two numbered candles while muttering how he definitely was the birthday expert and not you two. Both started to sing the traditional song, giggling when he got shy before he blew out the candles.

“You are eleven now, what’s your take on this?” Your question seemed to put him deep in thought as Hangyul cut the cake.

“It’s pretty good… I haven’t received any letter confirming I’m a wizard but there’s time.”

He was always like this, joking around, smiling and even acting a little bit sassy on everyone around him, but both of you knew he had an amazingly kind heart, acting older than his age often but none of you ever told him that. In a certain way, he reminded you of Hangyul, some other times you saw yourself in his attitude… maybe that was what had pushed you to make the final decision.

“Ah! I have a gift for you, wait a second.” He disappeared in a flash and coming back with what looked like some bracelets. “I made them! There’s one for Hangyul too.” You thanked him and felt a knot in your throat as you saw that the little beads spelled his name next to yours, doing the same with Hangyul’s. “I didn’t know what to prepare… But I wanted to give you something since we got closer during this past year.”

Since you couldn’t talk, Hangyul did. “Actually, we have a gift for you too.”

He put the box on the table, both of you staring anxiously to the boy’s expression as he opened it, your tears spilling involuntarily as he read the papers over and over again, looking at you and then back at Hangyul before simply covering his face. You hugged him, holding him closer when you felt his breathing shaking. After a while, he calmed down, trying to pull himself together, letting out a choked laugh.

“Not the letter I was expecting but still it’s so much better… I don’t know if I’ll get used to call you 'my parents’ and all that, though.”

Hangyul nodded and started giving life lessons as if nothing, the little boy rolling his eyes at it, and you could only stare, trying to burn this moment into your memory as the start of a new family.

This one sucks a whole ass lot, like I pictured it so nicely in my head but it doesn’t reach that image at all... Maybe I’ll edit it in the future so that it’s at least a little bit better but... sigh... I don’t know why I chose a boy either?

Anyways, I stan the idea of Hangyul adopting a kid that’s not so kid because he knows how fucking hard it is to go through it, especially for the more grown ones and now I’m crying, bye.

~Nani

| Masterlist |

#not the daddy we were waiting for but the one we need #lee hangyul #hangyul #lee hangyul scenario #lee hangyul fluff #lee hangyul imagine #hangyul scenario #hangyul fluff #hangyul imagine #x1 #x1 scenario #x1 fluff #x1 imagine #x1 hangyul #x1 lee hangyul #mbk #im

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ellaofoakhill · 3 years

Text

The Ice Cream Pail

Meline woke with a stretch and a groan. It was the last afternoon of September. She dressed, opened the kitchen window, had a quick breakfast of timothy bread and a saskatoon with tea, and gathered her medicine bag, her staff, and her mantle, along with her pack. Tonight was a gathering night.

In the time between times, after sunset but before the first star, Meline whistled a tune and opened her door. And jumped back with a start.

Fetched up against her door was an ice cream pail. It was upside down, and poking from beneath it was a plastic bag. It was the bag, snapping in the breeze, that made Meline jump back. It would’ve caught her full in the face if she hadn’t moved. As it was, the bag did touch her braid. The smell of burning hair filled the room, and Meline was seized with a fit of coughing.

Once she recovered, Meline used the tip of her staff to shut the door. A bit of bag still poked in under the jamb, but Meline was not about to open the door again. She cut off the smoking tip of her hair.

“Okay,” she said to herself, “I have a plastic bag and ice cream pail sitting over my front door, which will burn me down to nothing if I touch them. No problem. I’ll just stroll out my back door and go get help!”

She opened her back door and stared at the enormous plastic bag sitting over it. It had cuts and holes in it, and out of these poked more plastic bags. It wasn’t directly in front of the door, at least, but the narrow stair leading up from Meline’s back step left no way around it. Even in the gentle breeze, the waving, snapping bits of plastic would be sure to strike her.

Meline took a deep breath. Maybe tonight was not going to be a gathering night.

She went to her bedroom window and started piling furniture. Once her room was in complete disarray—it had taken a long time to get the bed, the dresser, and her bookshelves to cooperate—she climbed up on her dresser and tried the window. It slid open. Grinning to herself, she ducked her head through, then her shoulders. Chest and waist just slipped through, and then Meline’s hips caught. She scraped and pulled, but the moss kept breaking just as she got purchase. She looked back over her shoulder. No, she thought to herself, I’d never make it out this window any time after my six hundredth birthday.

After some wriggling and pushing, and more cursing than many fey would expect of her, Meline tumbled back into her room, whacking her skull against the headboard of her bed. Rubbing the sparrow’s egg swiftly making itself known, she went to her kitchen. She pulled out her measuring string. Her hips gave her no chance against the kitchen window.

Meline took a few deep breaths. “My front and back doors are blocked. I cannot escape through my windows. I blocked my cellar door last autumn with a rock bigger than Havel could lift, and it’s outside, where I can’t touch it, so my magic’s out.”

It was getting dark. Meline spoke a word of power, and her wall crystals glowed to life. She blinked, and looked back at them.

She hopped down from the window, and took out a small chrysoprase box. She lifted the tarnished silver clasp, and flipped up the lid. On the bottom of the lid was a crystal mirror. In the box was a series of square glass beads. Each bead had a letter in the Feyish script embossed in it.

She spoke a word of power, and the mirror flashed to life. Meline saw she had sixty-four unwatched messages. With one finger Meline tapped the letters that spelled Ella’s name. Shot in the dark.

“Fairy not found.” Meline supposed, since they’d been exchanging letters for almost three months, it should be unsurprising that Ella didn’t have a scrying mirror.

Evelyn was next on the list. The mirror crackled, and then Evelyn appeared in the mirror.

“Hi, Evelyn, it’s—”

“Hello, this is Evelyn and Vedris of Pondside. We’re out at Oak and Stone just now, so if you wouldn’t mind leaving a short message, we’ll get back to you soon.” A thought seemed to occur to the Evelyn in the mirror. “Oh, if this is Archie, we reached an accord with the crayfish. And Meline, we’ll be expecting you for lunch night after the first quarter. Ta-ta!”

Meline bit her tongue to keep from cursing. When the mirror chimed, she said, “Evelyn, it’s Meline. I have an emergency, and can’t get out of my house. If you could recruit a stoat or a fox, or even a couple leopard frogs to come help, I’d be very grateful. I hope you’re well, and you get back very soon.” She closed the box, waited a moment, and re-opened it.

Her parents were much too far away to be of any help. Felix was at a concert in Oak and Stone. Gillian was visiting her in-laws until the first quarter. Julian was on his nectarmoon—Meline remembered after scrying she’d attended the wedding. Millie was actually home. She was also forty thousand years old, mostly deaf, and altogether unable to do anything herself to help. She said she’d try to flag down a nice bunny, though. Meline thanked her, and patiently explained that rabbits did not like being called bunnies, and never had, and it hadn’t been acceptable to call them that for over three thousand years. She wasn’t sure how much Millie heard and how much she pretended not to hear.

So that was every fairy Meline knew and trusted outside Oak and Stone. The fluttering plastic under her door mocked her.

She went back to her kitchen window. She laid a hand on the bare earth. She spoke a word of power, felt it ripple in the ground. She took a deep breath. And howled at the top of her lungs. “Is there anyone who can help me? I’m trapped in my house!”

How could the normally sweet sound of cricket song, she wondered, suddenly become so grating? The moon started to rise.

A quarter of an hour later, she did the same again. And then again. And again. By the fifth time, she didn’t care what she said, if someone would just pay attention. Just as she finished a stirring tirade which would’ve turned her father’s face permanently red, and stalked away from the window, she heard a flap. She turned back, and flushed. A red bat was crouched by her window with a broad grin.

“I was just flapping past, dear,” she said, wiggling her impressive ears, “looking for moths, and couldn’t help but overhear. What was that you said about the wood-rasp and the cricket strigil?”

Meline’s face could’ve boiled granite. “Nothing important!”

“Oh, well, have a fine night, then!”

Meline’s hand shot out. “Wait!” The bat stopped and turned around. “Alright,” Meline said, “what’s your name?”

The bat pricked up. She swung her impressive wing around in a tottery bow. “Maia Squeak, at your service.”

Meline gave a perfunctory curtsy. “I’m Meline of Wild Rose. If you deliver a message for me, I can give you four cutworms for your trouble.” “Ooh!” Maia squeaked. “The babes do love their cutworms! What’s the message?”

“Uh… give me a moment?”

“For four cutworms I’ll wait an hour,” Maia said as Meline dashed to her cupboard and pulled out an envelope and a sheet of mothwing parchment. She took a quill and wrote:

Ella,

There’s a plastic pail over my front door, and a plastic bag blocking the back. I can’t get out of my house. I’ve scryed everyone I know. Help will likely not come until late tonight at the earliest. I’m okay, but please come quickly. I l

Meline.

She threw the letter in the envelope the instant the ink was dry, addressed the envelope, and gave it to Maia. “Take that to Ella of Oakhill,” she said. “She lives in the oak by the house in the yard on the far side of the pasture. Please hurry.”

Maia nodded her head. She crouched, adjusted her grip on the letter, and sprang forward, digging her wrists into the ground. Her long arms extended, vaulting her into the air, and with a powerful flap—Meline’s shutters banged against the wall—she was a black spot in the night sky.

Meline started reading, and gave that up. There was nothing she could cook that didn’t need her to gather ingredients. She played solitaire, and Fey’s Bend. She cleaned her kitchen, the living room, and the dining area. She even tried to rearrange her bedroom furniture.

The night was old when she sat at the table, poured herself a goblet of rosehip wine, and munched on a honey biscuit. She glared at the plastic poking out from under her front door.

“I hope Ella gets here soon,” she said, to hear someone talk. “She’ll probably bring Coarser, and Havel.” She chuckled to herself. “He’ll make someone very happy someday.”

Meline mulled her half-finished goblet. “Ella’s not impossible to read, but hard enough. Is that how nobles are? Different manners, different sensibilities?” She sipped. “It’s been nice, you know? Having someone to talk to, who clearly wants to talk to me. We’re really different—she’s a lord, I’m a witch, she works metal, I harvest the fruits of the earth, she’s tall and strong and has the ageless beauty of a glacier lake and I… can’t squeeze out my bedroom window.” She swished her wine. “So… why do I think she loves me back?”

Still thinking along these lines, Meline was starting on her second goblet when a sound rolled through the window that stopped her heart.

Ella’s horn. Just on the edge of hearing, but she’d recognize it anywhere. Meline rushed to the door and flung it open.

The bag flapped up and snagged on her wrist. She cursed, wrenching her hand back and slamming the door. Her hand turned angrily red in seconds, and blisters started rising on the last two fingers.

The horn sounded again as Meline, cradling her hand, grabbed a pot from her kitchen. The redness was spreading. It’d be above her elbow in minutes if she didn’t do something. She

dumped six cups of fine clay and one of charcoal in the pot, and added the last of her water. She mixed them until the consistency was even.

She pulled out a small sealed jar labelled “Fairy Tonic”. She unscrewed the lid—the pain grew only slightly more agonizing—and, with a dropper, squeezed three drops on her tongue.

She swallowed, and resealed the jar. Then she immersed her hand in the clay, and let out a sigh. Her hand only felt like someone was burning it.

She allowed herself a moment to savour the relief before she began speaking. Words of power flowed from her tongue. As the lights around the room dimmed, the clay began to glow. Softly at first, but as Meline layered word upon word, it glowed brighter, until it blazed like a white sun.

The air thrummed. Meline was so focused she didn’t notice the third horn blast, much closer, or Maia land outside her window, beady eyes wide with wonder.

Meline took a deepest breath, spoke one final word, and the magic ended. The clay went out, and the only light in Wild Rose shone in through the windows.

Meline put a hand on the worktable to steady herself. Even with the tonic, she was dead on her feet. She slid her hand out of the clay, which crumbled as she moved. It was bone-dry and steaming. She felt her hand. It was slightly warm, and had the waxy, bumpy texture of burnt skin. She’d keep an eye on it the next few nights, but the poison had likely been drawn out.

“Meline!” She looked up at the window. Maia, whom she’d just realized was there, hopped aside as Ella came into view. “Are you alright?”

“You came.”

Ella grinned. “Of course I came! Now are you alright?”

Meline nodded. “Yeah.” She’d never let me live it down if I tell her how this happened. “There’s the ice cream pail out front, and another bag at the back door. The pail’s got a bag stuck under it.”

“I’ll see to them,” Ella said, “In the meantime, stay put. Havel’s coming behind with the rest of the gear.”

Meline waited by the front door. There was a tapping and a hammering, with muffled curses. Plastic scraped against wood and earth. Meline saw the plastic under her door draw tight. She eased the door open, and it slid out and away. She closed the door again.

After a short pause, there was a knock. Meline opened. She rushed forward as Ella lowered her head. Her forehead banged against Ella’s helmet. Their stifled curses turned to laughter.

Then Meline’s arms were around Ella, and Ella’s were cradling her, her fingers stroking Meline’s hair.

They held each other for a moment. “Havel is going to be disappointed he couldn’t help rescue me, I think,” Meline said, still chuckling.

“Havel will be happy enough to help haul away this trash,” Ella said.

Meline was crying. The wet spot by her ear suggested Ella was likewise.

Ella spoke so gentle and quiet Meline would’ve missed it if her mouth hadn’t been so close.

“I love you. Please don’t scare me like that again.”

“No promises,” Meline said. They both chuckled, a bit wetly. Meline turned her head, raised Ella’s visor, and kissed her. “I love you too.”

#the fairy tales of ella and meline #tftem #the ice cream pail #chapter 10 #my original work #fantasy #lgbtq+#romance #fairies #iyashikei #healing #fairy tales #all ages #fey #fae #magic #family #strong female protagonists #backyard fantasy

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