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gojos-whatnow · 4 months

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『Make Your Dreams Come True』⇝♡

⭒Alt. title: normal call gone booty :000

⭒Synopsis: Gojo's flirting with you over the phone, as usual, when you suddenly ask him to come over...

⭒Warnings: NSFW, sexual content, subby satoru ml, reader and Gojo are both switchy tho, afab!reader, fingering, dick riding, not clearly stated that reader/gojo are virgins but you can imagine it, reader/gojo are best friends at the start, lots of the word "baby", implied fortnite (I'm probably missing stuff but oh well)

⭒Setting: Juju high Satoru but aged up ykyk cuz his sunglasses are so mmf

⭒Notes: first post but I'm considering making this a series HELP

You and Satoru happened to be playing games together, as usual when you weren't on missions or doing schoolwork. You adjusted your headphones slightly, feeling the growing head discomfort from wearing them too long. It was worth it for Satoru, however, since he never ceased to make you laugh.

"Why would you run so far off, dude, you're gonna get sniped," you sighed, seeing how far away he was on the map.

"Pfft, I'll be fine, worry about yourself, you're one-tap."

"Maybe if my teammate decided to come help me I wouldn't be."

"You're jus' sayin' that cause you miss me."

This was the usual back-and-forth until one of you got ambushed or something. The normal flirting from Satoru while you shrugged it off with a chuckle. Though, you'd been playing for hours now, and tiredness was creeping into your skull, knocking down the filters of brain and speech one by one.

"Yeah, miss you a lot," you murmured, meaning to sound teasing. It came out all too genuine. "Wish you would come save me, Satoru."

You listened to the clacking of his keyboard, faint over your headphones. Satoru's silence made it all too easy to hear the lull in his playing, the quick pause and pickup. You looked at the map, knowing exactly what it meant. Sure enough, his ping was high-tailing it towards yours. You chuckled to yourself, feeling warmth in your chest. What a hero.

"Something funny?"

"No, no, you're just down bad for me is all," you spoke slyly.

"As if I try to hide it."

"Y'know, I reread our chats when I want an ego boost."

"You serious?" He snickered.

"Yeah. All the times you've called me gorgeous and told me I had a nice ass..."

"Wait, waitwaitwait-"

You heard the clacking of his keyboard stop entirely. Pausing, you realized and looked at your phone, tapping into your messenger. His typing bubble was up, as expected. You continued walking towards him in the game as you waited for his message to come up.

"Ok, there."

You turned to your phone and deadpanned.

S͟a͟t͟o͟r͟u͟u͟u͟u͟u͟ ͟🥺͟️͟🥺͟️͟:͟

Beautiful tits

And rack

You shook your head and hastily typed back 'nice cock' before picking up where you were. You heard his phone go off, a few seconds go by, then his seductive voice spoke to you again.

"Wanna see it, baby?"

"Bet."

He breathed out a laugh and you continued playing, occasionally speaking your mind a bit too much from grogginess. The sleep deprivation had started to show in your voice, though.

"You tired or something? Need a sleebge?"

"Yuh, I'm eepy," you yawned, rubbing one of your eyes. "But let's just finish this match."

"We're gonna lose if you're nodding off while you're getting cracked. Might as well quit while we're ahead."

"Ugh, that phrase. You sound like, fuckin', me." You cringed at your own phrasing, letting out another yawn.

"I wish I was fuckin' you."

After the moment it took your mind to register the words, you felt a response roll off of your tongue faster than you knew it was even there.

"Then come over."

You heard the usual chuckle that you and Satoru would share after something like that snake through your headphones. When you didn't join in, there was a pause.

"Are you... serious?"

A moment. A single moment was all it took in your tired mind to commit to this idea of yours.

"Did it sound like a joke, Satoru?"

You could hear his speechlessness, you could tell he was floundering like a fish right now, his keyboard, his screen, the whole match left completely forgotten. Once you'd had enough of the silence, you spoke to him again.

"I'm absolutely for real right now. Door's unlocked...

Lemme make your dreams come true."

"Ffffffuck."

You watched on your screen as a popup appeared. "THE_honored1 has disconnected." With a smile, you left the call, pulled off your headphones to let your ears breathe. You had just finished standing and stretching when there was a soft knock on your door. So uncharacteristic of Satoru.

You quickly checked your clothes and hair, just to make sure you didn't look like an absolute slob who had been in their gaming chair all day. Oh well, Satoru probably wasn't too far off from that himself.

You opened the door, only to find your friend was completely quiet, barely able to meet your eyes, though it seemed like he couldn't look away from them either. With a friendly smile, you stepped out of the way and motioned for him to enter. He stepped past you, hands in his pockets. You closed and locked the door behind him, then turned around just in time to feel an arm wrap around the small of your back and a hand gently grab your chin.

"I need to know..." He paused, taking a breath. He was basically panting, hot breath ghosting over you with each exhale. "I need to know right now... if you really meant it."

"Every word."

"You still do?"

"Of course."

At that, the hand under your chin pulled your face to his and his lips crashed into yours. You could feel him trembling as your arms wrapped over his shoulders, and you could feel his heart racing, beating right out of every artery in his body.

He felt sparks, fireworks, the whole nine yards, as he kissed you. His whole body seemed to stall like an old car as soon as his lips touched yours. His brain turned to mush- no, melted. Reduced to a boiling soup in his skull. Because finally, finally he was kissing you.

'Girl of my dreams' wasn't how he would describe you, but he'd dreamed of you. He'd literally seen you in his slumbering mind, and wished he could do more than just the occasional flirting and borderline sexting. Satoru had been fantasizing about you for years, it felt like, ever since you'd reached that casual first-name basis. He wanted to know what it would really be like. If those fantasies could be recreated.

And when you kissed back, waking him from the sloshing pool his mind had become, he tugged you close, bodies flush. He felt your breasts squish against his chest, one of your hands cupping the side of his head just under his ear, and God did it make him lightheaded as all the blood in his slovenly brain ran south. He could feel his voice in the back of his throat, threatening to let out a moan with every exhale. He struggled to hold it back, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of you by acting like an animal in heat just from your kiss and your touch.

You couldn't say you weren't feeling anything yourself, though. You were sure that, without your bra, Satoru easily could've felt how your nipples were hardening, and your breath shook as one of his hands left your chin and sensually trailed down your side and up under your shirt. But, of course, these feelings weren't nearly as turbulent as Gojo's excitement and arousal, which were only hightened when your tongue slipped between his lips.

You softly leaned into him, tapping his leg with your foot to signal for him to move back. As you continued kissing him, you led him back to your bed, shoving him down to sit on the edge of it and finally letting your lips leave his. As you caught your breath, you crawled up onto him, straddling his lap. He looked up at you with eyes that screamed how bad he wanted you, panting heavily but still wanting more. Then, he chuckled.

"This isn't at all how I expected."

"Hmn?" You beckoned for him to explain, draping your arms over his shoulders and carding one hand into the hair at the base of his neck.

"It's all so backwards from how I pictured it. I always thought I would be the one to invite you over, run the show... be the one in charge, but fuck, I'm such a loser," he sighed out, trailing his hands over your waist and stomach under your shirt. To help him, you pulled it over your head and off, giving him better access and a nicer view.

"A loser? What, for having a girl on top of you?" You purred, trailing kisses along his cheek and jaw. "Please, there's at least a billion guys who'd sell their soul for that."

His voice and breathing trembled as he tilted his head to the side for you. "No, I mean... how I barely had the balls to even come over... Let alone ask you to."

"Trust me, baby, you can do anything if you're tired enough. Or if you're Satoru Gojo," you whispered, nibbling lightly on his ear. A shudder ran down his spine at that, and he felt like he could cum right then and there.

"Fuck... Keep talking like that and I won't last for shit."

"Yeah? And how do you think I feel when I'm touching myself to your messages, hmn?"

He let out a soft gasp as you ground your hips against his. His hands ran to your hips, gripping them and guiding them as they rolled.

"Saying I could last three minutes would be a generous estimate."

"God, you do that too?" He asked, voice coming out whiney. You let out a seductive chuckle that burned through his loins.

"Of course I do. Ego boost, remember?"

"You like when I call you gorgeous?" He sighed, feeling you throb against his crotch.

"Don't dislike it," you admitted. "You're pretty damn gorgeous yourself, though. Pretty boy Satoru."

He felt his rock solid cock twitch in his pants at your words, once again. He was doomed. His molten mind knew that, even as he helped you take his shirt off. And then your hands trailed down his chest and stomach, making him even dizzier.

"Don't think... I can take much more of this..." He admitted as your soft lips kissed down his shoulder. He could feel you smile against his skin.

"Hehe, awwwe, you close Satoru?" You giggled and gave a few harsh rolls of your hips, sending hot pleasure coursing through his lower half. He gasped, hands gripping you tightly.

"Fuck, fuck, Y/n, don't do that."

"Okay, baby, I think you've waited long a enough. Just how long, I wonder?"

It felt like his whole life. An eternity he'd waited for this, for the chance to watch you unbuckle his belt and tug his pants down and off of him, followed by you doing the same with your leggings. You crawled back on top of him, hovering over his thighs and holding his shoulder with one hand to steady yourself. Meanwhile, your other hand found its way into his boxers, and you could hear his breath hitch as your fingers wrapped around his length and slowly started stroking up and down.

"Y-you don't have to do that," he breathed out, a hand gripping your wrist. "Trust me, I'm as hard as I could get."

"Well, I should hope so. You're bigger than even I expected," you chuckled, stilling your hand and pulling it away.

He sighed softly and looked up at you through his pretty lashes with a smug look. "And what about you? Think you could take it? Think you're even ready to?"

You felt yourself clench on nothing at his words, feeling how intense his eyes were on yours. With a smile, you grabbed his hand and placed it at the waistband of your panties.

"Why don't you find out?"

His smile left his face, mouth opening as he took a breath. His eyes left yours to look at where his hand was, and his mind stalled only a moment before his fingers dipped under the fabric of your underwear and softly tugged them down.

He left them about halfway down your thighs and reached up to cup your sex. He drug a finger through your folds, feeling how wet you were and suddenly wanting nothing more than to see how much pleasure he could bring you.

He continued pulling his finger forward until he found your clit, stopping to rub gentle circles against it. He heard a soft noise fall from your lips and watched your hips just barely twitch. God, did he want to turn you into a mess.

He looked up at you and your heated expression. "Can I...?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead," you spoke, sounding the least composed he'd heard you all night. Carefully, he slipped one of his fingers between your folds, stopping at a shallow depth and curling his finger to tease you.

"You want it all the way in?" He asked with a smirk on his face and a playful lilt to his voice. You bit your lip, lidding your eyes at him, and wrapped your hand back around his cock.

You watched his whole teasing nature melt away as his cock twitched in your hand, begging for friction. Silently surrendering, he pressed his finger deeper until your cunt reached the base of his finger. He felt around your insides, watching you squirm slightly.

"'S that feel alright?"

"Yeah, you're all good."

At that, he curled his finger forward finding your g spot and feeling your walls clench around him. He added another finger and prodded against that spot. Your hips rolled against his hand as a soft moan was pulled from your lungs. The moment he heard your voice make such a heavenly sound, he was hooked. He couldn't help but move his fingers faster, try to reach deeper, and softly rub his thumb against your clit.

"Satoru," you called, somewhere between a moan and a fond chuckle. You reached a hand up to cover your mouth, only for it to be stolen away and replaced by a greedy pair of lips, drinking in every soft moan you gave. It didn't take long from there to feel a coil tightening in your abdomen, and as you pulled away from Satoru's lips for air, you leaned into him, pressing your chest to his and resting your chin on his shoulder.

"Y-you really want- hah- want me to cum now?" You asked making sure he was actually alright with that fact and not just lost without a thought.

"Fuck yes, baby. And I'll make it happen again when I'm inside you, mark my fuckin' words."

Hearing this, you felt your orgasm crash into you, making you stuff your face in the crook of his neck to muffle your sob. After all, two of your walls were shared with Shoko and Utahime, and you'd prefer that neither knew what was happening (particularly Utahime).

Once your orgasm had ended and you were catching your breath, you felt Satoru pull his fingers from his cunt, letting the cool air of the room touch your slick and make it embarrassingly obvious how wet you were. You pulled away from his shoulder and looked at him, finding he had two fingers in his mouth and a dreamy look in his eyes.

You tasted absolutely delicious. If he wasn't so painfully hard and losing patience, he'd have started eating you out right then and there, not stopping until you were barely lucid. God, how gorgeous you would look like that. But it'd have to wait for next time, and he'd make sure there was a next time.

"Need a break?" He asked softly, though it would pain him to hear you say yes.

"No, no, not after you've been waiting so nicely," you murmured, kissing across Satoru's face. As you did so, you took a hand off his shoulder and used it to tug your underwear all the way off. Once he realized what you were doing, he shifted around to tug his boxers down his own legs, leaving him completely bare under you. There was only one thing keeping you from being just the same.

"You gonna keep this on the whole time?" He asked slyly as he tugged at your bra strap.

"You want it off?"

"Wanna watch 'em bounce." He turned his eyes to yours, pausing your kissing. "You wanna keep it on?"

"Well, it's..." suddenly you looked the most flustered he'd seen you. Ever. Even when he was knuckles deep in your cunt, you'd kept some sort of stoic persona. But now, suddenly, even through the dark he could tell your face was red. "It's embarrassing..."

"Why's that?" He cooed, pulling you close so he could kiss along your shoulder.

"Whaddya mean, 'why-"

"I mean, it shouldn't be embarrassing around me. I worship you. It hasn't changed yet, why now?"

You thought through his words for a second, then sighed and grabbed both of his wrists, pulling them to your shoulder blades.

"...go ahead."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's like you said. Why not?"

He gave you a soft look and pressed an even softer kiss to your lips as he fumbled with the clasp of your bra. He unhooked it and carefully pulled it off of you, leaving you completely bare and with an urge to cover yourself as you felt your nipples harden even further with the cool air.

"'S okay, yeah?" He asked reassuringly, dropping his hands to your waist. When you nodded, he leaned forward and trailed kisses along your chest and both of your mounds. Your breath shook as you watched him and how his eyes would occasionally meet yours, making sure you knew how much he loved you and your body. After a bit more kissing, and some hickey-leving and groping, his lips lifted to meet yours, and his hands returned to his waist.

"You ready yet?" You sighed out, pulling your mouth from his.

"I've been ready for an hour, baby," he laughed, his enthusiasm returning.

"You sure?" You cooed playfully.

With a frustrated look on his face, you felt Satoru tug your hips down, pressing his cock against your folds. You bit your lip, feeling yourself throb and softly grind against him. He loosened his grip and you took that moment to lift yourself up enough for you to grab his length and line it up with your entrance.

You both exchanged a glance before he helped you ease down onto his cock, blissful sighs leaving both your throats. You felt Satoru whisper out his thousandth curse of the night and bury his face into the crook of your neck, letting out shaky whimpers as you continued to ease down.

"D-don't worry about- hah- t-taking it all..." he reassured, no longer helping you down - letting you go at your own pace.

"I can fit it," you murmur, continuing your careful decent down onto him.

"God, you're so hot inside. F-feels like I'm melting... All cause of me..."

You meant to chuckle, but it came out as more of a near-silent whimper as you sat down fully, feeling the tip of his cock kiss depths inside you that had never been reached before.

"You really did fit it all," he sighed out, an obvious smile on his face even though you couldn't see it. "You're a fucking angel."

He ran his tongue over several of the hickies he'd left along your neck and shoulder, all easy to hide, as per your request. You rested where you were, trying to get used to his length being the full way inside you.

"You alright?" He leaned back slightly, pulling your chin so you face him. "You're so quiet. You short-circuitting?"

You wiggled your hips and smiled at him, watching his lashes twitch as his eyes threatened to roll back at just that. "I could ask you the same thing," you purred between soft breaths. He leaned forward and rested his chin on your shoulder, wrapping his arms tightly around your waist in a way that was hug-like. One of his hands reached down under one of your thighs and attempted to lift you up, but you stayed put, clenching your walls around him and hearing him let out a shaky breath.

"Can't wait, baby," he whimpered softly. "Can't wait. Please move."

Indulging his sweet, pathetic pleads, you lifted yourself up slowly and sat back down, the feeling of his tip ramming into a certain spot inside you making you clamp down on him once more. His arms tightened around you. "Shit," he let out a sobbing whisper.

"You're so shy right now, Satoru," you cooed, trying embarrassingly hard to keep your voice from cracking. "What happened to all the talk you give me over our calls?" With that, you slid yourself back up and down. The resulting sound that graced your ears was glorious. Right next to your ear, you heard the great Satoru Gojo squeak. So vulnerable.

You picked up these movements at a slow and steady pace, not wanting to overwhelm Satoru, but make him feel amazing. And amazing he felt, dizzy and with his soup-mind more than numb. His soft grunts told you that much.

Everytime his tip prodded against a sweet spot inside you, you wanted to slam yourself down onto him and feel it again, but you knew Satoru wouldn't last if you went too rough. Right now, his arms around your waist pulling you up and down told you what pace he wanted as he steadily pulled you faster. You slipped a hand up his neck and into his hair, tugging softly to hear more of his voice. As the speed mixed with pleasure started making it impossible to keep quiet, you pressed your mouth to the top of his head.

It was clear he knew he was hitting a good spot, as he kept angling his hips to reach that spot with every bounce. One of his hands reached down to rub at your clit and, in your mind, there was the thought that you might actually cum first.

"Fuuuck, I'm close," he whined out, and you could feel his hips twitching up in an attempt to meet your bounces. Between your moans, you whimpered out a "me too."

He started tugging your hips up and down faster, and his hips struggled to meet yours to ram into the very back of your cunt. You yelped the first time his tip slammed into that sweet spot, and hid your face in the side of his head, recalling your wall-mates.

It took barely 30 seconds for your orgasm to wash over you. At the last moment, Satoru grabbed your face and shoved his tongue down your throat, lapping up your orgasmic mewls and keeping you somewhat quiet. Your cunt squeezed his cock tight, and one more thrust did it for him, sending his eyes up and back into his skull as he saw white. Without a thought of hesitation, he pumped your insides full of his cum, orgasming harder than he'd ever felt in his life, and it only felt better at the thought of making you all his.

His lips still stuck to yours as you both attempted to catch your breath. He pulled away for a moment to look into your eyes, only to lean back in and give you a real kiss, making you whimper.

"I fucking love you, Y/n," he sighed out as he pulled away, looking back into your eyes with a gaze so genuine, it made you freeze. "This... this is a terrible way to ask, probably top 5 worst ways, but... will you be my girlfriend?"

You sighed out a laugh and pulled his lips back to yours, kissing him with a completely different intention now. "How could I say no to you, honey? Heh, and you called yourself a loser," you shook your head. "Would a loser be in this situation?"

He rolled his eyes at you and pecked you on the lips. You gave him a soft smile, but yelped as you felt him swing you around, tossing your back down onto the bed. Your mind caught up just in time to see him on top of you with a dopey smile on his face.

"So, Sweetheart, you wanna go again?"

BONUS: The Morning After

After spending the morning making sure that your legs still worked, your hickies were covered, and that no one was around to see Satoru leave your room, you met with your classmates as if it were any normal morning. It seemed like one too, as you greeted everyone, including Satoru. He'd waited for you to text him that everyone had already left, so he was the last one out.

"Morning, Sleepyhead," you waved.

"If I had known you would be so late, I would've came and woken you up myself," Geto sighed. You quietly thanked God that Geto didn't attempt to do that.

"Hey you guys," Shoko waved. You felt nervousness in your chest at how amused she seemed.

"Did you have fun last night?"

Your stomach dropped, and you slowly turned to Shoko, finding a smug look on her face. Geto look confused, but knew something was up when he saw the terrified stares of you and Satoru.

"What happened?"

"Nothing important," Satoru waved his hand dismissively with a sigh, but his face was red too.

"I'll tell ya later, " Shoko leaned over and whispered to Geto.

"What're you idiots making such a big deal about?" Utahime asked, looking at you and Satoru's expressions.

"Hey, Utahime, you didn't happen to hear any weird noises last night, didya?" Shoko asked, leaning around you to look at her.

"I did, actually. Around 11, I think. Why?"

"Nothing, just making sure I wasn't hallucinating or something," she brushed it off, continuing to smirk at you and Satoru. At that Utahime left with a suspicious look.

Geto suddenly put the pieces together, eyes widening. "Wait. You two..."

Shoko nodded with a knowing 'mhm'.

With a look over his shoulder to make sure that Utahime was really gone and Mei Mei wasn't looking, Satoru reached over and tugged your collar to the side, displaying a blue hickey. You slapped his hand away, looking at him with a beat red face.

"Satoru!" You gasped.

"Oh, we're dating, by the way." He spoke coolly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Took you long enough," Geto rolled his eyes.

"I told you, man, I had a plan this whole time."

"Last I checked, that wasn't at all the plan."

"Well, I had to make some... situational changes."

You, Geto, and Shoko all deadpanned at his bullshittery.

"Okay, look, the point is that it worked out."

"I guess I can confirm that," you sighed.

"Is he any good?" Shoko asked, nonchalantly. "Eh, why bother asking? I could hear the answer to that last night."

"Shut up!!"

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seuonji · 9 months

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彡 as long as you're here, i can endure it. — yoon jeonghan

—office worker au! desk neighbour jeonghan.

notes ๑ gn!reader. oneshot. alt title: 9-5 jobs suck

genre ๑ fluff to angst.

warnings ๑ smoking (i don’t support smoking but it’s for the plot.)

word count ๑ 1k

from aya: please reblog if you enjoyed! feedback is always appreciated<3

the agonising sound of keyboard clicks, printers printing, and overlapped conversations rang in your ear. overwhelmed, you curled into your arms and let out a distressed exhale. you covered your ears and for a while it was tranquil.

only for a while.

“ynnnn let’s go for a smoke,” your desk neighbour, yoon jeonghan casually tugged at your sleeve without looking away from his screen. one of his hands held his cigarette pack and a lighter. even with the bulk, he was still typing like he normally would. you squinted your eyes at his laid-back nuance but did not have the energy to point out his weird skill.

you took a peek to your screen and it seemed like a good time to take a break anyway so you fulfilled his demands and got up from your seat. you waited and adjusted your clothes, standing beside jeonghan who was finishing up to his goal.

"alright, let's go!" he practically jumped out of his seat after saving his work.

as you reached your designated smoking spot which was just the rooftop of the building, you embraced the breeze that greeted you. you held onto the railings and looked down at the semi-dead street, wishing you were down there catching a taxi that was headed to home.

jeonghan plucked two cigarettes from the pack and positioned one in between your lips. he sparked a flame and lit his cigarette before leaning closer to you. he held your chin and as the tips of your cigarette touched, your cigarette ignited.

“9-5 jobs suck,” you exhaled expressing your disdain for your current life situation. “did someone not warn you beforehand?” jeonghan chuckled before continuing, “i think even pre-schoolers know that.”

“i'm probably just tired of how works getting repetitive," you sighed before turning to him and asking, “how are you holding on?“

“i’m fine, i really don't mind this line of work,” he took another puff, eyes squinted because of the sun targeting his face.

“really? i would've suspected that you'd hate this job more than me."

he seemed taken aback by your statement, "do you know me enough to assume things like that?"

you pouted defeatedly and nodded in agreement. he had a point, your 'relationship' with him had only begun a few months ago and there was only so much you could know about him.

you and jeonghan were the newest employees of the company who had started on the same day. overtime when you started to get comfortable working there, you coincidentally ran into him on the roof. both of you knew you were there for the same reasons.

since then you two have gotten closer. you two would only rely on each other, even occasionally grabbing lunch together on your accord but most of all you two always spent your breaks smoking together.

“just assuming from what i’ve observed so far,” you answered, pinching the smoke in between your fingers.

“you’ve been observing me?” he said cheekily.

“barely,” you sternly say while rolling your eyes.

he was humored by your expression. moving closer, he closed the distance between you and him and leaned on the railing right by you. his shoulder grazed against yours and you jolted at the sudden physical contact but tried to hide your reaction.

you cleared your throat to fill the silence, “so, what do you like about this dreadful 9-5?”

“well...it’s a bit flexible in terms of schedule. the food in the cafeteria sucks though and the people in our unit are kinda incompetent, except for me of course. the air conditioning system is quite good but it gets stuffy at times. another thing, they seriously need to upgrade the machines and technology, the printer keeps jamming on me—“

you softly smacked his arm cutting him off, “you are describing it how a person who hates this job would.”

he sneered as he looked off into the distance as if he was in a movie. he had a slight grin on his face as he truly answered your question,

“i don’t mind this job because i met you in the process."

you were in the middle of taking a drag from your cigarette when he said that. caught off guard by his words, you profusely started to choke on the smoke. “yn? you good??” he worriedly called your name and patted your back, as if that would help.

“i’m good—” you said in between coughs. "do you want me to get your water?" he bent down to your level, still patting your back.

“it's okay, we’ve got to get back to work anyways," you weakly said as you walked towards the exit door.

you faced your colleague and kept up an energy despite your throat literally dying from the inside, "come on now, i’ll make fun of you if you work overtime again," you joked, silently changing the subject.

he shook his head in disbelief and laughed as he walked towards you.

you threw your cigarette into the ashtray and opened the door to the stairs. jeonghan followed behind you disposing his cigarette before placing his hands into his pockets.

as you both settled down at your desks, you shared a smile with him before silently getting immersed in your work. in spite of that, some parts of you drifted into thought.

on your side, you thought that if you knew any less, you would've assumed jeonghan had feelings for you with the way he worded that answer. it wasn’t possible, he meant it in the friendship way, right?

on jeonghan's side, he was a bit disappointed, he thought today was the day he could finally confess. maybe he should’ve been a bit more direct, or was it too soon?

overall he didn’t fret much, he gets it if it was a topic you weren’t ready for. for now, as long as he had you as his desk buddy who would smoke with him in any given moment, that was enough for him. sooner or later, he knew he could eventually work his way up to being something more than someone who just smokes and gossips with you.

that was what he thought, until he saw your phone one day. he happened to glance at it when it was near his side. it had just received a notification from a sender under the name, “shua” followed by a pink heart. he even caught a glimpse of your smile when your eyes saw the notification.

suddenly, everything in the world clicked but for jeonghan, everything had shattered.

「shua💓: hi my love! i’ll be home early today, what do you wanna have for dinner tonight?」

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bobohu4eva · 1 year

Text

Good to You - Part 4

Characters: Idol!Baekhyun x Reader

Genre: Maid AU, fluff, smut

Warnings for this chapter: Explicit unprotected sex, alcohol consumption

WC: 5.8k

Tag List: @scentlacigarette @ltamiee @listxn

Masterlist

True to your word, when the next day came, you acted like nothing happened. You greeted him in the morning the same way you always did, and made sure he ate something before leaving for work.

Baekhyun was having a much harder time ignoring the events of the previous night. Of course you had assured him that nothing would change, but he didn't understand how he was supposed to just ignore it.

You noticed, and when he came home later that evening he was still acting uncharacteristically shy. The two of you sat down to eat dinner together as you usually would, and you asked him about his day, but every response was far more reserved than you were used to.

“Is everything okay?” You eventually asked. He fidgeted in his seat, avoiding your eyes. “Baekhyun?”

He was blushing, and he let out a sigh. “I know you said everything would stay the same but, I think I need time to get used to.. everything.”

You frowned, hoping that he'd be back to his normal self soon, you missed his usual easy going nature. It wasn't exactly surprising to you that he felt a bit weird after what you'd done together, though.

However, you were surprised when he knocked on your door later, after you'd each said goodnight and retired to your own rooms. You told him to come in, and you could tell by his bashfulness what he was there for.

“I can't sleep.” He said.

You couldn’t help but laugh a little, he’d told you he had a pretty high sex drive but you still hadn’t expected him back in your room so soon, especially after acting so awkward all day.

“And why’s that?”

He just whined, embarrassed, but still made his way to the bed where he joined you. “Don't make fun of me.”

“I'm not!”

“Mhm sure.” He was pretending to be offended, but you knew better than to take him seriously when you felt one of his hands start to move up your thigh. “Can I..?”

You hummed in agreement, and he was over you, once again attaching his lips to your neck, his hand still on your thigh, getting closer and closer to where he wanted to be.

This was how it would end up happening most nights, now that you'd opened that door to him. When the day was over, he would knock on your door, waiting for you to let him in, and then he would join you in bed. He would start slowly, kissing down your chest as he undressed you, and then finally when he had you naked, he'd start to touch you.

His delicate fingers ghosted over the sensitive skin, leaving the gentlest of touches, thoroughly enjoying the view of your body before him, watching you get more and more turned on as he increased the pressure. It didn't take long until you were more than ready to have him inside you, but he just kept going, ignoring the way his dick was straining against his pants and underwear.

You always stopped him before he could make you come. The way you saw it, this was for him, to help him relax. It felt good for you too, of course, but if he made you come, especially while he was inside you, it would break down an unspoken barrier that you still felt you needed to hide behind.

This time too, you held onto his wrist when his fingers inside you almost became too much. With the other hand you tugged on his clothes, and he granted you your wish, returning to the bed as naked as you.

Every time he entered you, the first push made you gasp and hold onto him for dear life. He was fairly gifted when it came to size, big enough that you needed a few seconds to adjust before he'd start thrusting. And when he did start to move, you both couldn't manage much past incoherent curses and moans.

Unlike the first night, he wasn't going to cum so soon. He was loving how you felt around him, and he moved one of your hands from where it held onto his back, intertwining your fingers with his own, pressing them into the mattress next to your face as his lips kissed over the spot on your neck that made you gasp.

The combination of his cock stretching you out and his mouth on you nearly pushed you over the edge, but you held back, refusing to give into the feeling. His thrusts were picking up speed, getting more punishing every second. Like him, it had been too long since you'd been cared for this way, and it was almost too much.

Without any warning, he slowed down, leaning up a bit. “Look at me.”

You'd kept your eyes shut the last time, but now you quickly opened them, finding him gazing down at you. He brought a hand to your face, leaning back down until he was almost kissing you, but not quite, knowing that was unfortunately still off limits. His eyes stayed fixed on yours, even as he continued to fuck you, not wanting to miss the way you looked at him when he made you feel like this.

Eventually, however, he gave into the feeling, fueled by the way you looked and felt beneath him as he let go.

You too couldn't look away as he fell over the edge, pushing in as deep as he could before leaving you completely, accompanied by his cum as it ran down your thigh. His face when he came was goddamn beautiful, and you hoped you would be able to remember it for a long time. This time when he brought you a towel and helped you clean up, you let him stick around for a little while, but eventually, he went back to his room to sleep.

The next day he had schedules from the morning until late into the evening, but the whole time he thought of you, and how much he wished he could’ve stayed in bed with you for the rest of the night. He still hadn’t slept very well, he just wanted you there next to him.

When he got home that evening and you weren't there, his heart sank. Of course you still had your own place that you needed to go back to every few days, but he felt awfully lonely that night without you.

As the weeks went on, he started to dread those nights horribly. Most other nights he would at least come into your room and have you that way, but it was also starting to sting a little more each time you’d tell him goodnight, his cue to go back to his own bedroom. He knew that he wanted so much more than what you could give him.

He also couldn’t help but wonder why you didn’t let him eat you out, or why you never came with him. It was clear that you enjoyed being intimate with him, but you never let yourself give in to him the way he wanted you too. He wanted to feel it, and he wouldn’t stop trying until he finally did. Another part of him also hoped that maybe if he could take down one of those walls you’d built, you would finally accept him as a real lover. The way things were between the two of you was too much of a confusing mess for him to bear.

There was a day that had been particularly tough for him, over 12 hours of being up on his feet and having to deal with endless disagreements among staff at various shoots had left him drained. By the time he was on his way home his entire body ached and he was in a pretty bad mood. He knew that as soon as he saw your smiling face and sat down to eat, he would feel much better, but when he got to his apartment, he found it empty. You were at your own place again.

He knew he shouldn’t have gotten as upset as he did, and felt a little pathetic when he grabbed a bottle of liquor, and used that to get himself to sleep away the bad feelings of the day.

The next evening Baekhyun was glued to your side, insisting on watching a movie with you after eating dinner. Even when the movie ended, and it was time for you both to start getting ready to sleep, he didn’t want to let you go. After many nights of laying alone and thinking about it, he finally decided to ask you, “How would you feel about sleeping in my room tonight?”

Before you had the chance to talk yourself out of it, you agreed. When you got into bed with him, you expected him to want sex, but to your surprise, he didn’t. He did want to hold you, but he wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate. But just knowing that you were there with him still helped, and he slept better that night than he had in weeks.

After giving it some thought, he decided to make you an offer, and the next mornig when you sat down to eat, he decided to bring it up.

“You like staying here right?” He asked, looking surprisingly nervous as he awaited your response.

“Yeah of course, why do you ask?”

“I was thinking, you stay here more often than not anyway, and you're paying for a whole other place that you're barely at, what if you moved in here, like for good?”

He'd caught you a bit off guard, but you quickly accepted his offer, and any anxiousness you'd seen in him earlier was replaced with a wide grin.

“That's really generous of you, I hope I'm not impeding though.”

“No, not at all! I actually.. I kind of miss having someone to come home to when you’re gone.” He admitted sheepishly.

Now it was your turn to hold back a smile, knowing that you probably liked hearing that a little too much.

“I'll need some time to pack and whatnot, but I could probably start staying here for good by the end of the month.”

He looked happy with your answer, but you could tell he still had more to ask you.

“Also, I know you have all your stuff and need somewhere to put it, and you'll still want your own space, but.. I’d like it if you kept sleeping in my room, if you’d be okay with that.”

When you hesitated, he quickly filled the silence again. “Only if you want to! I know that's kind of a lot to ask, if you'd rather stay in the other room that's okay, I think I just sleep better when I'm not alone.”

His ears were pink, and he looked so so cute, even in a simple t- shirt and sweats. Especially in the mornings, he had a softness about him, just because of the way he was, when he wasn't quite fully awake yet.

You knew you didn't need to tell him, he could tell by how big you were smiling. Of course you'd sleep next to him. He knew you'd do nearly anything for him. But only nearly. Moreso, he wondered why you didn't allow the few things he craved even more, things like kissing you.

He knew what it felt like to cum inside of you, but not what your lips would feel like against his own. You would sleep next to him, but wouldn't acknowledge the undeniable, real, attraction you both felt for each other, not just sexual. He'd said it plainly, you were everything he could ever want or ask for, but you chose to brush it off.

It wasn't hard for him to understand why. You had to be careful just getting in and out of his apartment to avoid people who might see too much and start talking. He would never have the freedom to take you out on a real date, and being seen with you in public could easily make things unsafe for you. Not to mention his work schedule, he knew it was shitty to constantly come home after midnight, and have to leave for sometimes weeks at a time for overseas schedules. He knew he couldn't be the kind of lover you deserved.

For the time being, he was just grateful to have you in the ways that he could, getting to have sex with you and fall asleep next to you was still far more than he felt he'd earned.

Sleeping in the same bed with you, and nice as it was, also made him want even more. He hated that he still paid you, not because money was a problem for him, it wasn't, but he wished you were there with him because you wanted to be. Unfortunately though, the way you two met made that impossible. This was still your job, despite how much it didn't feel that way anymore. As much as he wanted things to change, he was worried that if he brought it up, you'd be out of his life completely. He knew that starting anything real with you would make your life significantly more difficult and complicated and he couldn't do that to you.

Spending your nights next to him was something you'd quickly learned to love, waking up to his smiling face was your favorite part of the day, and made early mornings far more bearable. Going to bed with him was also nice, but on the nights you'd have sex you were starting to struggle to keep your boundaries in place. He was getting to know your body better, and you knew you wouldn't be able to hold yourself back forever, but you were scared for what would happen and how you would feel when he finally succeeded in pushing you over the edge.

Your other boundaries were also starting to slip. About a month after you started sleeping next to him, on a particularly cold night, you'd curled up against him for warmth, smiling when he wrapped an arm around you. He held you every night after that, and you enjoyed it too much to stop him. When you were secure in his arms you felt more blissful than you even knew possible. His broad shoulders and strong chest easily encompassed you, making you feel protected and warm, and he even smelled amazing. The faint lingering of his cologne combined with his natural scent swept over you like a weighted blanket, making you sink into him as far as you could. Every night he relished the way you clung to him, keeping you snugly in his embrace.

On the day you turned your keys in at your old place and officially moved in with him, Baekhyun bought a nice bottle of champagne and ordered an equally fancy dinner for you both to share.

“You didn't have to do all this.” You told him as he poured you your first glass, but he shook his head.

“I wanted to! Moving is such a hassle, now that everything's finished we should celebrate.”

He smiled and held up his glass, and you followed suit. “Cheers.”

It was cute, he seemed even more excited about the move than you did.

“Cheers.” You clinked the rim of your glass to his, and took your first sip. You didn't want to know what he'd paid for the bottle, but from what you could tell, it was probably a lot.

“I also wanted to thank you again, for everything you've done for me since we met. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful you've been, I seriously don't know what I would do without you, so thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve all this.”

You couldn't help but blush, of course you always did your best when it came to the household stuff, but you assumed he was talking about more than just that. A normal housekeeper didn't have sex with their boss, or live with them, or rub their back after a long day. A normal housekeeper wouldn't consider their boss one of their best friends either.

“You really think that a good housekeeper is more telling of virtues from a past life than landing a job where millions of people are constantly telling you how amazing and in love with you they are?”

He laughed, “Okay you have a point but that's just work, you make everything else that isn't work so much better than I ever imagined it could be.”

For a second you thought about asking him to elaborate, but you were pretty sure you knew what he was implying. Even if there wasn't anything official between the two of you, you were likely the closest thing he'd had to a romantic relationship in a while. But you knew if you started thinking about that too much, you would lose it, so you didn't.

“Don't mention it.” You said, and took another sip of champagne.

“Do you like it?”

“The champagne? Of course, it's probably the fanciest drink I've ever had.”

He grinned, very pleased with your answer. He'd give you all the beautiful and delicious things in the world, if it meant he got to see you happy.

The dinner was equally amazing, and you'd both finished the bottle of champagne surprisingly fast, especially considering how little you usually drank. But it was so good and went so well with the meal, you were even a little sad when he emptied the last of it into his glass.

You must've been pouting pretty hard, because right away he stood up and told you he was getting another bottle. You tried to tell him that he didn't need to, but he insisted that the store was really close by and if you wanted more, he would deliver. You didn't seem drunk, so he didn't see any harm in keeping the celebration going a little longer.

When he returned, he happily refilled your glass. It was your idea to move to the couch to watch something, but the romcom you picked out went mostly ignored as you kept drinking and laughing together.

Baekhyun wasn't the best at handling his liquor either, and by the halfway mark you were both giggling like little kids.

After accidentally brushing against your stomach in a way that had you involuntarily laughing out loud, yelling that you were ticklish there, he kept trying to tickle you, so you kept trying to poke his “cookie pouch”, as he called it, the soft area of his lower stomach where he gained weight the quickest. You hadn't smiled so much in years, and neither had he, the alcohol lowered both your inhibitions to the point where blatant flirting didn't even feel out of the norm. The touching and teasing felt perfectly natural, like you'd known each other for years. Both of you made no effort to keep your hands to yourselves, pushing past the pesky clothes that were blocking the skin beneath. He was beyond adorable when he was like this, and you gushed at how cute he was, not caring to censor yourself in the slightest, He just kept insisting that you were even cuter. He was able to give you the kind of butterflies usually reserved only for young girls with their first crush. Baekhyun was simply too good to be true, he had to be. Someone that gorgeous, talented, and successful couldn't also be a genuinely lovely, humble and caring person. And if he really was, he wouldn't be giving you the time of day. As good as it felt to be on the receiving end of his affection, you knew in your heart that you didn't deserve him.

You couldn’t remember much after the movie ended, including how the two of you got into bed that evening, but clearly you did since you woke up in his room the following morning, head pounding.

He was already up and getting ready for the day when you started to get up, but after only a few seconds of standing you felt the urgent need to run to the bathroom to throw up.

It had been ages since you were last hungover, but this was worse than anything you could remember.

“Y/n?” He knocked on the door, and you groaned. “Are you okay?”

You dragged yourself off the floor, rinsed out your mouth, and opened the door.

“I think I'm hungover.”

He could see how pale you were, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that you'd just puked.

“Shit.. I'm sorry I shouldn't have gotten that second bottle we were just having such a good time and you looked so sad when the first one was gone so I-”

“Baekhyun, it's okay, I'll be okay, I just need to take it slow today.”

“Do you want me to get you anything? I can go to the store and get you some Gatorade and some pain killers, or if you want to eat something let me know and I'll order it.”

You smiled, “Don't worry about me, you're gonna be late for work and hopefully I'll be feeling better by this evening, it's just a hangover.”

“One second..” He disappeared for a minute, and when he was back he wore a big smile. “I don’t have to work, I’m going to the store.”

You gave him a weird look, but you knew he wouldn’t skip work so you didn’t say anything, just waved him goodbye before he headed out the door.

He wasn’t gone for very long and soon he was handing you a bottle of gatorade, headache medicine, and some bread. “Is there anything else I can do to help? I could run you a bath, or make some tea, or coffee.”

He looked so worried, and it was kind of cute, but you only had a hangover, by the end of the day you’d probably be fine.

“I’m okay, really. Thank you for getting all this for me, that’s really sweet of you.”

“Are you sure? It’s my fault you’re hungover, I want to help as much as I can.”

He was still looking at you with those puppy eyes and you so badly wanted to grab him and hug him and tell him how cute and lovely he was, but you held yourself back.

“Yes, I’m sure, if I do need anything I’ll tell you. Are you gonna be home all day now that you don’t have to work?”

He nodded happily, and you were going to say something, but before the words could come out you needed to run to the bathroom again. Nothing would even come up anymore, but you still felt awful, and decided to just get back into bed. A couple minutes later, Baekhyun was coming in with a pot of tea, setting it down on the nightstand along with a cup and some honey. “When I was little my mom always made me ginger tea when I got an upset stomach.”

His thoughtfulness made you smile, “Thank you.”

You were planning to take a few sips and then go back to sleep, but when he asked if he could keep you company with that same devastatingly adorable pout from earlier, you made space for him to get into bed next to you.

There was plenty of space for you both, but you still leaned into him, resting your head on his shoulder.

He turned his head to look down at you, surprised by how affectionate you were being. When your eyes met his, you were awestruck. He was so beautiful, so kind hearted, so generous, so caring, you almost thought you might still be dreaming. Men like him were too hard to find, it couldn't be that you were here with him, in the apartment that you both shared, cuddled up together as he helped you get over your hangover.

“How are you not hungover at all? You were pretty drunk too.”

He smiled, vaguely remembering some of your shenanigans. “Yeah I was, but I only felt a little groggy this morning. After one coffee it was gone.”

“Lucky.”

“Next time I have to remind you to drink more water. I chugged a glass of water right before bed, that probably saved me.”

You just hummed in agreement. The nausea was finally fading, and exhaustion soon took over, until you were nodding off on his shoulder.

Baekhyun happily stayed there with you, playing on his phone while you took a nap. When you snored a little he laughed, finding it endlessly endearing. Your sleeping face was so cute, and before he could give it a second thought he was pressing his lips to the crown of your head. The no kissing rule was becoming more and more frustrating to have to follow with each passing day. Especially during sex, he had to fight off the urge to just give in and finally press his lips to yours.

You woke up from your nap a few hours later, and decided to try and eat something. Baekhyun insisted you start with the bread he got you, something easy on your stomach in case it decided to start acting up again. He got up to go make you more tea, leaving his phone on the bed with you.

He'd been gone a few minutes when it started vibrating. You looked at who it was, ready to call him back over if it was someone important, but you realized it was his manager, and he’d tried to reach him over ten times already. There were endless texts and voicemails too, and you almost couldn't believe it, but it had to be.

He skipped work because of you.

When he turned the corner into your room holding the tray with more tea he was grinning happily, but when he saw you holding his phone, he quickly ran over, snatching it out of your hand.

Unfortunately for him, you'd already seen enough. His smile was long gone and your disappointed face told him all he needed to know.

You let out a long sigh. “Baekhyun, what the hell? Are you seriously ditching work right now? Why?”

The soft droopiness of his eyes made the emotions behind them hit you just a little harder.

“You said you didn't feel good.” He replied quietly, cheeks and ears growing a deeper shade of pink with every passing second.

“What does that have to do with your work? You wouldn't even skip when you were actually really sick.”

“But that's different.” He sat down on the bed with you again, avoiding your eyes.

“It's not your job to take care of me.”

“Don't remind me.” It came out sounding surprisingly bitter. “They only did rehearsals today anyway, I didn’t miss anything important.”

“You still shouldn’t just skip, and it was only a hangover.”

When your eyes finally met his, the faint sadness in them surprised you. He was good at pouting and it was usually just cute to you, but this was something else. Something inside of him appeared genuinely hurt. “You don’t get it.” He said it so softly, you almost missed it.

“I don’t get what?”

A sigh escaped his lips, eyes squeezed shut. His face when he opened them made your heart twist. It was more than just sadness. “For once I want to be able to take care of you the same way you take care of me.”

“You do take care of me, you pay my bills.” You tried to lighten the mood, but he was still sulking, and simply shook his head. Without another word, he got up and went to the other room.

You left him alone for the rest of the day, until it was time to go to sleep. He was already in bed when you joined him, curling up next to him, and you felt a flood of relief when you saw him smile. All day you'd felt bad about how sad he looked, and how quiet he’d been after. You couldn’t be sure, but he’d seemed to spend the rest of the day sulking after leaving you alone. Maybe it was just your imagination, but it seemed like he held you tighter than usual that night.

In the morning Baekhyun woke up before his alarm clock went off, and for the first time, you felt him wake you up with his lips on the back of your neck and his hands running down your body. It wasn't long until you felt his dick against your backside as well.

“Good morning” you hummed at his actions, and he turned you around to face him.

“Good morning.” His cheeks were flushed, and still a little swollen. He looked breathtaking.

“May I?” The way his hand crept up your inner thigh told you what he was asking. As usual, you nodded, unsuccessfully holding back a smile.

The whimper that fell off your lips when his hand reached its destination egged him on even more, sliding into the confines of your underwear.

Baekhyun didn't know it yet, but morning sex, to you, was the best. You loved it, and wondered why it had never happened with him before. You needed him in a far more urgent and desperate way than you'd ever experienced.

His pretty fingers found your clit right away, teasing it with gentle circles, spreading your wetness around. You had to bite your lip to keep yourself from begging for more. Trying to keep your composure this time was going to be near impossible.

You clung to him, one hand nearly breaking the skin from how hard you grabbed onto his bicep. Unsteady gasps replaced any normal breathing pattern you'd once had as his fingers kept slipping around your wetness, bringing you closer to release too quickly for comfort.

“Fuck, too much.”

Your hand moved to his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, but he wouldn't budge.

“You really want me to stop?” He'd slowed down abit, but your hand on his wrist didn't stop the movement of his delicate fingers as they gave you exactly what you needed. He was looking straight down at you, daring you to tell him to stop, but you stayed quiet.

The only sounds that made it past your lips were moans, curses, and cries of his name. You were so close, and almost gave into the feeling even after denying yourself for so long, but he pulled away.

The loss of contact had you shivering and yearning for him even more, but he didn't make you wait for long, quickly pulling his shirt over his head and pushing his pants and underwear out of the way.

He was back on top of you within seconds, and this time, you felt the head of his cock pushing against your waiting pussy. Finally, he filled you, pushing in all the way, leaving you unable to breathe, let alone speak.

Despite fucking you more days than not, you still didn't get used to his size. He always filled you up so perfectly. The heat and weight of him above you stole any rationality from your mind, intoxicated by the feeling of him surrounding you, and deep inside you.

When you squirmed, moving your hips against him, he knew you were ready, and started rolling his hips. It was lazy, slow and deep, taking his time to feel you, to enjoy you, in his tired state. One of his hands moved to the headboard, holding on to push himself even deeper. Your hands could only grab desperately at his strong back, digging into the smooth skin. In that moment you were sure that this was the closest thing to heaven you could possibly feel.

When he started to pick up the pace, you almost screamed. You wouldn't have been surprised if your lip started bleeding from how hard you were biting it, attempting to hold in the sounds of pleasure he was forcing out of you. It was too much, too fast, and you knew that this time, there was no way you could keep yourself from cumming before him. You were already so close, and he was still only getting started.

“Don't hold back, let me hear you.”

Against your better judgment, or any judgment really with how gone you were, you obliged, now moaning freely. His name fell from your lips over and over, begging him to keep going, despite the tightening feeling in your stomach. That very feeling, that you had been pushing away with him for months.

Baekhyun too could tell the difference in how you reacted to his touch. This time there was no underlying tension, no restraint on your end. Not anymore, at least. When his hips started rolling faster, thrusting deeper, and harder, you moaned his name unabashedly. You needed all of him, and he was happy to provide.

The second you started to fall, throbbing pussy clenching tightly onto his length, he was done for. The moan he let out almost sounded pained as he finally felt you let go, cumming on his cock.

For you, it was earth shattering. The orgasm was easily the best you'd ever had. Intense, long lasting, and just so fucking good. You knew that nobody else would ever be able to make you feel that way. It was him, and how long you'd held yourself back. When you finally, inevitably slipped, it was heavenly.

“Y/n, baby.” Your eyes opened, still feeling the waves of the powerful orgasm washing over you as you met his eyes. “Fuck, I wanna kiss you so bad.”

You put your hands on either side of his face, bringing him closer. You saw the disbelief flash across his features before he started moving, and then he was kissing you.

Neither one of you was able to hold back the sounds of pure bliss as your lips finally met. And for Baekhyun, it sent him headfirst into his own orgasm.

His lips stayed glued to your own, even through the gasps and whines of your shared highs, and the gradual descent back to earth as the pleasure faded away. He tasted like home, lips soft but still full of need as they moved with yours.

Finally, he had you the way he really, truly, wanted, and the real thing was so much more satisfying than any of his fantasies could've prepared him for. He didn't want to stop kissing you, but eventually you both needed a second to breathe, and the way you smiled back at him told him everything he needed to know. Finally, you were his.

Next Chapter

#baekhyun smut #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun #exo #baekhyun fic #exo fluff #exo fic #exo smut #baekhyun fanfic #exo fanfic

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daenysx · 1 year

Note

hey!!!!! I just wanted to say that your writing is absolutely stunning!!! You are such a good writer and write the Hotd characters so well. Could I request fluffy daemon fic about him and the reader comforting each other after stressful days? I totally need that in my life rn 😂😂😂

thank you for this request and your sweet words, i hope you like it! i don't know why but i feel incredibly tense today, i just wanted to write this more comforting and fluffy. also i started to love writing soft!daemon, he is just too sweet to write. :(

my masterlist

curses & bubbles

after a horribly stressful day, you and modern!daemon try to comfort each other.

daemon targaryen is on the edge.

no, literally, he feels like he'll fucking explode. it's a terrible day, disastrous, awful. he wishes for it to end, even prays to the gods inside his head.

he watches the clock for minutes, has 5 more cigarette breaks, and drinks 2 cups of coffee in the same hour. even though he doesn't hate his job normally, today everything gets on his nerves. at least it's friday, he thinks. two days of rest and he'll be fine. hopefully.

when it's time to leave, finally, his phone rings and he sees your name on the screen. he smiles for the first time today since he left you in bed, as he was leaving earlier. he answers your call, impatient to hear your sweet voice.

"sweetheart?"

"oh my god, can you tell me what the hell is wrong with today? are we cursed or something?" you sound tired and frustrated.

"well, if it'll make you feel better my day was horrible too. i think we might actually be cursed."

he hears you exhale. "i'm going home now. did you leave the office?"

"yes, i'm on my way. see you at home, baby."

you say the same words and hang up. daemon drives fastly, silently begging for some relief. he is too tense, he just wants to find some comfort.

he opens the door with his key, and finds you lying on the couch with your clothes on. your skirt is wrinkly and your heels are thrown out on the floor.

"sweetheart?"

you lift your head as you hear his voice. you leave the couch to jump into his open arms, wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist. he holds you there for a few moments, inhales the scent of your hair and feels the comfort it brings him. you press a kiss on his neck beneath his collar.

"i missed you." your voice sounds muffled as you talk.

"i missed you too. terrible day, right?"

"mm-hmm. i just wanted it to be over."

he nods, carries you to the bedroom. "let's have a long bath, shall we?"

you nod happily. you love long baths with daemon, he knows how much you love them and he has grown to love them too. you spend hours covered in bubbles as you sit between his legs, and daemon thinks you look adorable. too adorable for his pathetic heart.

"you take off your clothes, i'll prepare the bath." he says.

"and bubbles, daemon."

"of course bubbles, sweetheart."

you take off your clothes and put your hair in a messy bun on top of your head. he comes out of the bathroom, opening the buttons of his shirt, and you can hear the sound of water filling the tub. you walk to him, help him take his shirt off and press a kiss on his chest. he takes off the rest of his clothes and carries you to the bathroom as you laugh.

the tub looks perfect. it smells perfect, too. you think you both deserved this after a long and dreadful day. daemon gets in the tub, his muscles welcome the warm water and soft bubbles. he opens his arms for you and you adjust yourself comfortably between his thighs.

"this is amazing." you whisper.

"yes, fucking amazing."

you put your head on his chest as he strokes the skin of your waist. your fingers play with bubbles and draw foamy shapes on his chest. you hum softly when he brings his fingers on the spot between your neck and shoulders, the muscles there are tense and hardened. you can't help but softly moan when he presses his fingers harder.

"you like that, baby?" he asks. you nod, look at him with big eyes.

"come on, turn around then." he says.

you turn around and your back is against his chest now. he leans and kisses the back of your neck. he kisses your shoulders, and starts massaging the tender muscles there.

"you should relax for me."

you inhale and exhale a deep breath. the water is perfect, bubbles are perfect, and daemon's hands are perfect. his big hands easily cover your shoulders, he applies just the right amount of pressure on your achy muscles. your eyes close after a few minutes, melting to him, and smiling.

"i'm gonna fall asleep on you if you keep doing that."

he chuckles. "it's fine by me. wouldn't be the first time, anyway."

you try to turn around to see his face and he helps you. you see him smiling softly. you smile back, the tension long gone.

"do you want me to return the favor?"

he leans closer to you, cups your cheeks and kisses your lips. he kisses you as you sat there all naked and softened for him, sitting between his thighs covered in bubbles.

"you're too sweet for me." he says.

you bring your hands to his neck as you return the kiss. daemon keeps you there until the water gets cold. he helps you get out of the tub and wraps a soft towel around you. you go to the bedroom to wear your clothes and he does the same.

"so, which one of your shirts should i wear tonight?"

he smiles. "we have to choose a different shirt for each night?"

you nod, as if this is a deadly serious thing to decide. "yes, and i should also choose a pair of knee socks. it's all about the colors, daemon."

he gives you his blue shirt, loves seeing you in his clothes. you find yourself a pair of knee socks. he dresses into comfy clothes as well and you leave the bedroom.

"hungry, sweetheart?" he asks.

you shake your head. "not really, but coffee would be perfect."

he nods. he doesn't feel like eating as well. he takes two of your favorite coffee mugs and prepares coffee quickly. you are lying on the couch on your usual spot and he puts the mugs on the coffee table before he joins you. he pulls your legs on his lap and you lean to the pillows. he hands you your coffee mug and you two drink your coffees when you talk about your own dreadful days.

when the coffees are finished, he pulls you closer, you sit on his lap, and wrap your arms around his neck. you caress his beautiful hair, kiss the spot beneath his ear and he wraps the fluffy blanket around your shoulders.

he holds you there like a baby, rubs your neck and your back. your eyes get heavy with the warmth and the feeling of safety in his arms.

"sleepy, baby?"

you nod. "can we go to bed?"

he turns off the television, the movie you chose for some background noise long forgotten. "of course we can."

he carries you to the bedroom and you find enough strength to go to the bathroom to brush your teeth. he does the same and you both return to bed finally. he holds the covers open for you and takes you in his arms. you kiss his neck before whispering good night and closing your eyes.

he forgets all about his stressful day then. you give him the hope of waking up to a new day, new possibilities. he would've think that is a little bit fucked up before but now he smiles and accepts it. he just holds you closer, kisses your hair, and rubs your back until he is sure you're comfortably sleeping.

"good night, sweetheart."

#daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen x female reader #daemon targaryen x reader #daemon x you #daemon x reader #house of the dragon #hotd #daemon au

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appocalipse · 2 years

Note

hi!! could you please do a steve drabble with 60 & 70? and congratulations on 600!! <3

thank youuuu 💘 i love your writing btw <3 also i turned this into an exes to lovers, i hope it's okay and to your liking 💋 | “You were never my second choice” & “They're not you” with Steve Harrington.

“I think we should stay a little bit more, just to be sure,” he says. “What if you have a concussion?”

Steve Harrington is standing by the bed, shoulder resting against the white plain wall like he's all calm and relaxed — though his expression is anything but that.

He was at work when he got the call; now he could honestly thank his mom for something: when the local hospital called, she picked up the phone at home. She even went as far as to call him at Family Video and let him know the reason behind the call: your girlfriend, she'd said, she's in the hospital.

Steve didn't even acknowledge the fact his mom didn't know you two had broken up — though it has been a few months now — because when she repeated your name, he felt as if the world had stopped spinning. He mumbled a few almost unintelligible words at Robin — Y/N, accident, gotta go. But he thought she somehow understood, because she nodded her head vigorously and said go, watching as he clutched his keys tightly, running as if his life depended on it.

Well, not his life.

Your brain now registers his arms crossed over his chest, a familiar crinkle of worry between his warm brown eyes; he straightens his posture and stares down at you with utmost intensity.

“I don't have a concussion,” you guarantee, your voice small. You're exhausted, yes, but his presence, his proximity, keeps you alert.

You shift on the bed, about to get up, and he rushes to your side at lightning speed.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Steve nods at your ankle — on a cast — and the crinkle between his brows deepens when he turns to you once again.

You're painfully aware that he's touching your forearm — gently, respectfully, only in hopes of keeping you steady should you need it…but still touching your forearm. Not completely unlike all the times he’d touched this exact same spot before, in a completely different situation, an utterly different dynamic...

“I'm going home. They said I could.”

“They didn't say you should.”

“It's just a sprained ankle, Steve. I'll live.”

You stand. He looks about ready to panic, hand firm on your arm.

He's wearing his Family Video uniform, you notice. Stripes under the vest, even that little name tag. Up close, he smells like good memories and heartbreak, like lazy mornings and sweet words and all the things you wish you could forget.

But you can't.

“Were you at work?” you ask.

His gaze is soft. He can read you like a book. “Don't worry about that.”

“They shouldn't have called you,” you insist, too quickly, too embarrassed. Too familiar. “I'm sorry, I completely forgot you were my emergency contact. I should have-”

“I don't mind.”

“I don't want to bother you.”

“You're not bothering me.”

“Steve,” you try to adjust yourself to the additional weight of the cast on your left foot. He stares at your face as if he is afraid you might break. “You should go back to work. I don't want you to get fired because of me.”

“I won't be fired. Robin will cover for me. Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer just to be sure?”

“Steve.”

“I can't just leave you here. Let me drive you home, at least.”

His tone is almost pleading.

“You don't have to,” you say, well aware that every minute this close to him is a new opportunity to make a mistake. “I can call-”

Who? None of your close friends have a car, you recall, maybe a bit late. You couldn't lie; he would know in a heartbeat. Steve also knows that your father is normally out of town this time of the month, and so all your excuses die down your throat.

All but one.

“I could take the bus,” you shrug. Sounds silly even for you.

Steve frowns. “Don't be ridiculous.”

Later, when you reach your front door with his arm around your waist — for support and nothing else, you assure yourself —, you’re not really sure of the hows and whys, and maybe it’s better that way.

There are memories coming to the surface; you try to push them to the back of your mind as he leans down to grab the spare key. It’s under a small vase beside the porch, but he remembers it on his own. You don’t have to say anything.

You both enter. The house feels oddly warmer.

The sun is setting outside, painting his silhouette golden against the doorframe. “Are you hungry?”

He gently hands you the crutches you got from the hospital, making sure you have a firm hold on them before letting go.

“I’m not gonna break, Steve,” you say. As if his concern doesn’t make you feel all warm inside.

“I know,” he’s biting the inside of his cheek. Anxious. Not looking at you at first, then staring like there was no other choice. “So, are you? Hungry?”

“I don’t know. Not really.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

He takes your silence as a bad sign.

“I”ll make something for you,” he says.

“Steve-”

But he’s already moving on to the kitchen, towards the fridge and the cabinets. He knows where everything is.

You half walk, half limp towards him with the help of the crutches. He watches your every movement from the corner of his eyes, trying to be subtle — but failing. He looks like he’s experiencing physical pain just from seeing you hurt.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Sit down and rest. Please?” Steve indicates a chair nearby, hands quickly sorting through everything you have in the kitchen — not much other than a bunch of ramen and a few carrots, he notices, defeated. And worried. How are you even alive eating like this?

He’ll lecture you about that later. Maybe he can even convince you to let him go grocery shopping for you.

Steve settles on a canned soup he finds stored in the back of the cabinet after checking if it’s not expired. He is halfway through warming it up when he glances over his shoulder and catches you staring back at him.

An eternity seems to pass between the moment your eyes meet and when you open your mouth and say, not particularly thinking it through before doing so, “I heard you had a date tonight.”

He’s taken by surprise, that much is clear. “I…Who said that?”

“Dustin.”

Steve rolls his eyes, turning his back on the soup once he’s sure it’s safe to leave it on its own. “Of course he did.”

“It’s okay,” you say. And it should be.

He’s silent for a moment. Then he sits down across from you, leaning back on the chair with his arms crossed. So close yet so far.

“Is it?” he asks.

“Of course.” No, it’s not.

His proximity is suddenly suffocating, his gaze suddenly heavy. Your eyes prickle and you’re not sure why.

“It smells good,” you stand up, not bothering, or remembering to, grab the crutches as you start for the stove, not one bit interested in the soup but pretending to be so.

Steve is up in no time. Which is good, because you trip almost immediately, and his hands on your waist are the only thing keeping you from falling over unceremoniously.

But now he’s close. Closer than before. Closer than he’s been for the last few months you’ve spent apart.

“Careful,” he says, not moving an inch.

Your traitorous, traitorous eyes end up on his lips. You don’t want to get away from him, but you must.

And yet, you don’t move.

Then, unexpectedly, almost unintentionally, he lets out, “You know none of these dates will ever lead anywhere, right?”

You’re not entirely sure you’re breathing now.

“Why not?”

“Because,” he whispers, taking his time, “they’re not you.”

Or maybe you’re breathing too fast. Is there such a thing? Suffocating on too much oxygen?

Maybe more like on too much love.

“Steve,” you mumble. He leans down, closer, the sound of his name on your lips pulling him in.

Then….

“We broke up.”

“No,” he says, lips brushing against yours as he speaks. “You broke up with me.”

He tilts his head to the side, too close, and your breath catches in your throat.

“Steve.”

His voice is nothing but a whisper, “I miss you.”

Your lips part. You wanna reply I miss you too, so much, but you’re breathing each other, his hands now hugging you tighter, closer, more desperate, and there’s a voice in your head saying you should probably remember why you broke up with him on the first place.

So you do.

“I can’t do this. We can’t do this. You’re…”

You step back, not half as gracious as you’d hoped, but still — out of his reach. He lets you. No resistance, arms falling back to his sides.

His eyes tell a different story, though.

“I’m not the one you’re missing,” you say, your own eyes prickling with tears. “Not really.”

“Y/N-”

“I don’t wanna be your second choice, okay? I won’t.”

“You were never my second choice!”

He sighs; licks his lips, runs a hand through his hair. Steve’s a mess; he wants the words, the right words this time, but he feels like he can’t think straight, like you’re slipping through his fingers once again.

It’s complicated. Everything is so complicated.

He wants to make it simple.

He takes your hands in his; gentle, familiar, comforting. Your touch anchors him, his thoughts, his feelings — here, where he wants to be.

“There was never even a choice to make, Y/N,” he brings your hand to his chest, movement gentle, and places it over his heart; carefully, in no rush, finding the exact spot where you can actually feel his heart beating under your palm.

For you.

Maybe he’s being cheesy, he thinks. But he's helpless; Steve couldn’t care less if he does.

“It has always, always been you, from the moment we met, this heart has been nothing but yours, all yours, Y/N. And even if you don’t want it- even if-” he gives your hand a gentle squeeze, eyes wandering everywhere as he tries to grasp the words once again. “I was yours long before I had the guts to let you know. I'd rather be here eating canned soup with you then anywhere else with anyone else.”

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington oneshot #steve x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #stranger things #stranger things drabble #stranger things oneshot #stranger things imagine #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n

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halothenthehorns · 4 months

Text

Chapter 21: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY TAKES A DARK TURN

Thank you so much to:

@ary-cm

on Tumblr for the awesome cover image!

I can't believe I'm already almost done with one of the three series?!

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Will read what he was sure to be the last chapter title with heavy concern. What on earth could be left to happen to Percy that couldn't have waited until the next disaster of an adventure to start with?

Nico's heart sunk that's how his appearance was described. Apparently whatever respect he'd gained from Percy was already twisted into fear so early. He couldn't blame him, after what he'd talked him into. A lifelong curse he now had no clue about...

"Please involve something cool and fun for once," Thalia sighed, imagining him having one last fight to the death and passing out on his birthday or something. "Like blacklights! You don't enjoy the effects of those enough!"

"To see all the blood in my room? No thank you," Percy scoffed.

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal.

Will's tone was happy, hyper even, he seemed genuinely excited he was finally getting to share Percy having a normal time at their camp for actual weeks on end for once.

The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. We played capture the flag (though we all avoided Zeus's Fist).

"Clarisse actually sat out of most of them," Percy recalled in surprise. "Her whole cabin didn't, but she and Chris helped be the medics for a few fights. It was sooo weird, but it made a lot of the campers who were clearly uneasy about him warm up a bit. Especially when Mrs. O'Leary cuddled up to him too."

"He caught on pretty quick," Will agreed, "he still helps out in the infirmary too when he doesn't really need to anymore," he finished with a significant look at Nico. Most kids didn't seem to care who was helping them as long as the pain was going away, his parentage or whatever he'd done in the past usually wasn't on their mind when it hurt like that.

"Are you sure it wasn't changed to Kampe's fist?" Alex asked when Nico didn't seem to be answering in any way. "The first never even seemed to fit."

"Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to try and get everybody to agree on a new name for something?" Will asked. "Even if we did a poll it would be chaos."

Which was no bother at all to Alex of course, so she looked at him like he was the one who was nuts for pretending that was a good excuse not to.

We sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins.

Will hid well how hard the adjustment had been for him that time marched on. Kids had come and gone from the camp, his siblings hadn't been immune to shocking deaths from a random monster attack in the forest or even defecting, it wasn't even the first time he'd been witness to such a thing, if only a handful of times before; but it was usually the ones who'd been there a few weeks. The kids who he'd barely gotten to know.

Lee had been there from day one. Had shown Will the ropes and been his Luke, his best friend, his go to for advice on everything there. It was strange for so long to not wake up every day and have him rousing them for breakfast. Micheal had never tried to emulate him either, he'd done it his own way, which had been all right, but a part of Will had wished someone in there would keep making Loony Tunes references, would keep challenging them to archery target practice instead of just letting the memory of him slowly fade away. Hearing him in Percy's life had been the most he'd been able to think of him in a few years now, and it felt nice.

I spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Annabeth and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with her, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with her, too.

Percy expected the laughing at the teasing, probably a few snarky comments about Rachel.

None came, and as he looked around in surprise he just saw sympathy. Because he didn't have that option now with her nowhere to be seen. He had friends down here, but he still didn't have someone very important to be going through all of this with him.

I wanted to talk to her about Kronos, but I couldn't do that anymore without bringing up Luke. And that was one subject I couldn't raise. She would shut me out every time I tried.

Jason couldn't let that one go without a good laugh though. "I'm now imagining you following her around and she actually darts into random cabins or bathrooms or anywhere she can to slam a door in your face. Maybe even a window if you agitate her enough."

"You're right Jason," Percy sighed with indulgent exhaustion. "I should have cornered her in the woods, maybe used Grover and Tyson to triangle her in so she couldn't escape."

"You say that like she doesn't need an intervention," Thalia grumbled.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on my bed after breakfast, warning me that the cleaning harpies would devour me if I stayed past noon.

Magnus opened and closed his mouth several times like he couldn't decide if he wanted to ask how real that threat was. If he stayed and killed the harpies would he be punished or rewarded for yet another fight for his life? Would they devour him if he stayed until 12:01 or if he managed to avoid them until next summer would the ban be lifted?

He ultimately closed his mouth and decided it wasn't worth the headache.

At ten o'clock I stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take me into the city. I'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after.

"Tell me you at least intend on riding her down the streets of New York once Percy," Alex looked rather betrayed such a glorious hound was being confined to one camp.

"She deserves to be on a farm where she can stretch and be happy, um, without the death metaphor," Percy shrugged.

"You can still have her for the weekend," she sighed but didn't argue the point further.

Tyson and I would take turns visiting her during the year.

I hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with me, but she only came to see me off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer.

"I can't decide how the bus should feel about that," Jason told him with an almost straight face. "You now range from blowing them up to awkward silence when she's around."

"He's blown up more on his own in his younger years without her, I think the bus should be worried," Thalia offered.

Percy sighed and muttered something about normal friends, whatever that meant.

She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months.

"I think you should be thanking some god out there for making sure she stepped away from it," Will agreed.

"She slept with it, Malcolm has proof," Thalia agreed.

Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, that but," Percy agreed with the same feelings of awkwardness swimming through him now. A feeling that apparently wasn't as good of a swimmer as him, as it kept coasting up and down his throat like vomit!

"Truancy, something even a child of a wisdom goddess would never break the rules for," Alex agreed tragically.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.

"I'll get the key," Nico promised through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you could lose a few while you're at it," Will muttered. Nico seemed to have been better as of late about not keeping everything so close to the chest, but it was still something he found himself worrying about.

"Annabeth," I said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.

"You would nag Zeus himself about not finishing destroying you," Alex told him with a hint of awe in her voice.

"Seriously Perce, learn to let it go," Jason couldn't help but agree with a troubled frown. Annabeth had been through enough.

Percy didn't feel particularly ashamed though. His stubbornness paid off, and if Annabeth didn't resent him he wasn't going to let these guys make him feel guilty for getting the full picture. It had happened so rarely before meeting her.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," I remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead.

Magnus had a cheeky remark on his tongue for, 'who's this we,' before he paused and realized. Bianca might never have revealed herself to Nico if Percy hadn't been there. His coming along on Annabeth's quest was likely essential for that to happen. It hurt his head, a lot, to realize all over again how powerful those fates were to be able to weave together such immensely different and important things.

We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor.

A line that Annabeth had probably hoped referred to Luke all this time, Thalia thought miserably. The girl had been a hopeless optimist when it came to him, but that would imply she'd ever fully admit to Luke being a full blown traitor.

We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."

"Raised, and or released," Will agreed.

Jason pursed his lips rather than putting in. He kind of regretted his comment to Percy because he loved that they went over these at the end to analyze them, but he felt like he'd only be encouraging Percy.

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted me to stop.

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," I pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us.

Nico still smiled at how casually Percy acknowledged the good he'd done on this quest instead of that unfortunate period of threatening his death. Seems Will had been right, Percy really didn't go around saying a bad thing about him.

And the child of Athena's final stand—that was Daedalus."

"I'm sure Malcolm is so relieved," Percy snorted.

"Percy—"

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth.

"Which is very awesome," Alex couldn't deny. "Though I'm still mildly disappointed Annabeth didn't discover some kind of sonic blast breath or something along the way."

"She uses words as a weapon, isn't that enough?" Percy sighed.

"Whoever said words don't hurt never got hit by a dictionary," Thalia nodded in agreement. She'd gotten quite angry in her youth trying to memorize all the homonyms once and thrown it across the room where Thalia's head happened to be.

But what was the last—"

"And lose a love to worse than death." Annabeth had tears in her eyes. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?"

"No," Percy whispered, shivering for the first time in the cold depths of the ocean. He'd always known she liked him, but it didn't really hit him until now she liked liked him. Not just admired and was impressed, as Percy once was. It left a very dead feeling inside him, wondering what had stopped her from running away with Luke back when he'd tried to kill Percy. If Luke had gone to Annabeth and taken her away then, how different his life could have been without her.

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago. "Oh," I said. "So Luke—"

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I—I didn't know if..." She faltered helplessly.

If it meant him, Percy clearly understood that context! She'd thought him dead, she might have even thought kissing him was some final breath that had been all her fault!

He found himself scrunched up in his seat to stop himself beating at the walls. He wanted her in here! He wanted Annabeth to look him in the eyes and say she was okay with how this had all gone and mean it! It was probably selfish of him to want her to relieve this nightmare with him, but he ached for her in a new way he couldn't even begin to describe to himself. Annabeth meant so much to him, couldn't her prophecy have mentioned that!

"Luke and I—for years, he was the only one who really cared about me. I thought..."

Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to us, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air.

Magnus finally released a breath he'd been holding for getting to jump off the topic of the creepy idea of his cousin hoping some guy twice her age would be in love with her too and instead blanched in horror if that was Kronos/ Luke about to appear from thin air and murder them all. How was it possible her life was so much more miserable and complicated than his?

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." Standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.

"Oh hey," Alex said with a hint of violence already on the horizon. "She owes you an explanation!"

Percy grinned a scary sight, tapping his fingers impatiently on his leg and glowering at the book. She'd scarred the piss out of Annabeth, her advice had been in no way helpful, and he had a bad feeling already he could blame more on her soon for how miserable this quest had gone.

Jason sighed. Just what they needed, another god for Percy to piss off.

Thalia was glancing uneasily between Percy and Jason though as her own guilty thoughts got an unpleasant jumpstart. Their reaction to her showing up only reinforced in her she was doing the right thing for now, keeping her suspicions to herself. Percy was already unhappy at Hera for his own and Annabeth's past, if he found out what Thalia was considering he'd rip apart the ocean in a heartbeat just to get rid of his growing tension.

Jason, Jason just looked like he would want no part in this. He was too cautious, to content to let things slide. She enjoyed that about her little brother, it would make picking on him much easier and made him nothing like their dad, but for this it felt right to keep him where he felt safe.

"Hera," Annabeth said.

The goddess smiled. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."

"A success?" Annabeth said. "Luke is gone. Daedalus is dead. Pan is dead. How is that—"

"Our family is safe," Hera insisted.

Will couldn't help but read that in agreement. He couldn't help but share the sentiment, that the good had outweighed the bad this time. His brother had died, his camp had felt vulnerable and left him scared to sleep at night like nothing before...and yet he still had a bed. Siblings he could lean on. Not all was lost as it could have easily been. There were better paths out there, like if Hera had actually stepped in and banished all the monsters before any of her 'family' had to die, but Will honestly read that with a sense of joy in his tone that, to Percy's ears, had somehow been lacking. Hera had been stating a fact with pride, Will made Percy smile in some sense of agreement of the word family, even if not the whole pie.

"Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."

I balled my fists. I couldn't believe she was saying this. "You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you?"

Hera shrugged. Her dress shimmered in rainbow colors.

"Taking a rainbow in vain," Alex scowled hotly for such a beautiful representation of inclusiveness being taken hostage by someone so selective.

"I wanted to speed you on your way."

Will's voice cracked, like someone had stabbed his bubble with a knife. He knew Annabeth had a beef with Hera, the whole camp knew she blamed the goddess for Percy missing. His heart broke though that Nico's journey hadn't even been considered in her wisdom? That she'd only paid for just Annabeth's group to get through and any other half-blood could suffer the consequences? That had been Hera!

"But you didn't care about Nico. You were happy to see him turned over to the Titans."

"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Hades said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong."

The pain of hearing that surprised Nico more than the actual words. His dad said it all the time, he assumed it frequently from the few interactions he'd had with these major gods, but for Hera herself to just come outright and say it made him flinch.

Which quickly morphed into admiration when he heard Will cuss. He hadn't seen that before. Sure he'd been angry in the past, but never full-blown swearing like he was doing now. His southern accent really came through too, he was twanging bad on all his i's and drawing them out to a noticeable level.

"It's, erm, not a big deal Will," Nico patted his hand again. Not one person in here looked like they even sort of agreed with Hera, instead they all looked varying levels of anxious at Will and a tad angry too and his behalf. For some reason that didn't surprise him anymore, which surprised him. "We all know that's how the gods feel about-"

"It is a big deal Nico, because she's being a mother fu-"

"Will," Alex sighed, rubbing her temples. "I agree with every word you're saying, but maybe use some other language, oh child of a poetry god."*

Will finally shut his mouth with a restrained grimace. He didn't feel nearly the amount of better as he'd have liked after venting, but Alex looked as discomforted as Nico for once, who was looking equal parts uncomfortable as usual at being so focused on, everybody watching him for his reaction, and just a tad flattered at Will so vehementily defending him; all while looking rather anxiously at the book clearly wondering how Percy had reacted to that.

So Will conceded he'd made himself plain enough while wondering what the opposite of an offering was as he muttered and searched for his place.

Thalia looked on, mildly impressed and perhaps recruiting Will on her kill Hera crusade, while Percy just felt bad the guy was finally at his level of outrage. He hadn't wanted to drag anyone else down with him.

Magnus and Jason were to busy glancing at every speck to make sure Hera wasn't going to appear and blast them all to smithereens to react properly in time.

"Hephaestus was right," I growled. "You only care about your perfect family, not real people."

Will's voice still shook with fury at just how right the god of the forge was about that apparently. When the gods were born, how much understanding did they have? Had this newborn child looked up at his mother and seen the look of disgust on her face before being pitched off a mountain?

It was an ugly truth Will had never really been confronted with until this moment. It made him sick to realize if Luke had been telling kids this kind of stuff all along and how it wasn't that unbelievable to him anymore. He'd never considered the gods perfect, but growing up in camp had always given him a sense they'd at least grown from their first depictions as the very worst they could be called today. They'd laid out a safe space for their kids to practice and grow, they had to have been evolving with the times, if slower, right?

His breath shook loose, a calming feeling as he remembered his dad helping Percy find Artemis and how awkwardly yet fervently Posideon continued to help Percy. None of them were perfect. They were distant and often harsh and more often unhelpful if they did try and tended to make their lives worse, but Hera was just a horrible exception.

Ares and Hephestus, Zeus and Posideon, he'd never really had much firsthand experience with any god except Mr. D and flip-flopped between pitty and heavy annoyance with him with minimal grudging appreciation he didn't just incinerate them all and call it a job done. Percy's adventure in detail didn't really change anything, it just gave him a heavier feeling of what he'd been fighting for than he'd gone to Manhatten with.

It sort of scared him for a moment, actually, as he frowned at the rest of the page and his skin twitched with displeasure at what he'd really just been doing. He never would have considered thinking all that before being thrown in here, let alone saying it out loud, verbosely, and only having to be stopped because someone asked him to. He'd been noting Nico's slow change with enthusiasm, but hadn't really stopped to consider his own until this moment, and it left an uncomfortable knot in him as he continued.

Her eyes turned dangerously bright. "Watch yourself, son of Poseidon. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain.

Nico felt his mouth open for several moments before he realized he should close it. Not since the stories of old had he heard such blatant interference, and it kind of impressed him. That Hera had gone so out of her way, unprompted, to help them every step of the way. He'd never have believed such a thing from Percy's own mouth, but to hear it from an Olympian herself was amazing. Like a real flip of the cards to reveal what her plan had been all along and strike down all foes come to life.

It was, of course, possible she'd done all that just to gloat and change history a bit in making her seem like the caring mother her title suggested she could be, Thalia's painful looking sneer proved this wasn't a popular thought, but Nico still found it extremely fascinating. He'd have never wanted such help from a god before all this, every interaction he'd had with them was laced with tension and she herself proved they wanted nothing to do with him in return...but that didn't make this less interesting to hear by a mile.

Annabeth, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."

"Do you think anybody sacrifices to her?" Magnus had very mixed feelings about hearing this, Percy was a tad disgusted to hear a touch of pity in his voice. "I think she really did do this, like a kind of adoption?" He didn't sound that sure though. Like a theory he expected to get trashed. He even mouthed 'sorry' to Nico, not trying to disconnect from the fact she didn't do it well! Yet Annabeth's own mother didn't seem to have stepped in here, maybe Hera had really wanted to help and was just out of practice.

Percy strived to keep his voice even and not too harsh in return. "I, um, think it's a tad more selfish. It sounds like she was willing to win by any means necessary, it just happened to align with our means."

Annabeth stood still as a statue. She could've said thank you. She could've promised to throw some barbecue on the brazier for Hera and forget the whole thing.

Jason looked very queasy at all of this, for once instead of being the arguing party he understood both sides well. Juno probably did feel undervalued, with no direct link to those kids at Camp. Her temple dusty, her history rarely spoken of and if so negatively.

Yet, he had a feeling what Annabeth was about do. The same thing Percy would have done. He had almost grown used to the level of disrespect these guys so often showed to the gods, and it froze some inner part of him with dread at the mere bubble of thought, let alone what his ears were about to hear worse than anything Will could have called her.

But she clenched her jaw stubbornly. She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx—like she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble. I realized that was one of the things I liked best about Annabeth.

"Name a thing you don't like about Annabeth," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Percy opened his mouth, closed it, thought about it for a moment, and then said with confidence, "her love of olives. I tolerate them at best, but she puts them on everything!"

"Ah, the olive theory, a classic," Alex snickered while Thalia just looked at him with complete pity. Gods, boys.

"Percy is right." she turned her back on the goddess. "You're the one who doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks...but no thanks."

"Not really as harsh as I was expecting," Magnus admitted even as his heart tried to jump around his chest like a jackrabbit on crack no matter what he said.

"I guess that was her restrained dismissal," Alex agreed with a tad more disappointment. She'd probably wanted at least one jump scare at minimum to impress her.

"And this was the girl who warned you to be polite to Ares," Jason mumbled through numb lips, expecting her to drop dead any second honestly.

Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow.

"That, is not great," Magnus said with a very dry mouth. Somehow Percy constantly pissing off gods felt like second nature by now, it really wasn't that great of a concern at this point since he was alive.

Where the heck was Annabeth?! Was this curse to be forced to live at the bottom of the ocean meant for her? If so, the digs seemed way to nice, though perhaps by their standards this was poverty?

"You will regret this insult, Annabeth. You will regret this very much."

I averted my eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light.

Most of the others flinched and instinctively wanted to close their eyes, imagining a mushroom cloud in her wake after that.

Except Jason, who sat frozen in place without the good sense to do anything other than mutter, "uhoh."

Percy sighed, already knowing he'd probably have to tackle this idiot to the ground at least once in his life if he saw something cool enough to kill them all.

The hilltop was peaceful again. Over at the pine tree, Peleus the dragon dozed under the Golden Fleece as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth told me.

"She's sorry?" Percy asked meekly, a very strange expression on his face. "Where's my apology?" His tone implied none was needed though, his lips were twitching to much and he kept rubbing his thumb across them. They all figured out what that tone was and collectively decided they didn't want to hear it again.

"I—I should get back. I'll keep in touch."

"Listen, Annabeth—" I thought about Mount St. Helens, Calypso's Island, Luke and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and how suddenly everything had gotten so complicated. I wanted to tell Annabeth that I didn't really want to be so distant from her.

Then Argus honked his horn down at the road, and I lost my chance.

"Remind me to smack an eyeball onto Argus's sense of timing," Thalia groaned. She would have personally handcuffed the two together if it would have resolved their problems already.

"Duly noted," Percy and Jason both promised, causing the others to snicker hard.

"You'd better get going," Annabeth said. "Take care, Seaweed Brain."

She jogged down the hill. I watched her until she reached the cabins. She didn't look back once.

Percy had never felt so much at once seeing her take off like a blond comet across the green fields. Her confidence in every stride, how happy he was for her she'd finally made peace with her dad and felt no need to look back.

The longing he wished she'd at least slow down, that she'd shove that tenacity of hers in his face and kiss him again when he wasn't about to die. That she'd tell him he was a Seaweed Brain and that her feelings for him were just as complicated as they were for Luke's at minimum.

Will's voice startled him out of his memory, to be dragged back here as lost and confused as ever what Annabeth would ultimately decide was best for her with no clue how to show her it could be him.

He didn't even know who to ask for advice about this. His dad was kind of out of touch at the dating thing, he'd probably just suggest Percy snap his fingers and offer to split the ocean for her or something, or ban him from talking to Annabeth if he didn't already know who she was. His mom was just way to embarrassing to even consider every time her name came up. Chiron, maybe...nope. Still to awkward. He was starting to become more convinced by the hour that lone memory he'd awoken in here with was a dream and a fortune teller was probably his best bet. Gods he was hopeless.

Two days later it was my birthday. I never advertised the date, because it always fell right after camp, so none of my camp friends could usually come, and I didn't have that many mortal friends.

"Do you, have any?" Thalia honestly tried to ask without sarcasm, but it sounded that way anyways.

"Um, I used to cat sit for this really old lady before we moved and she'd give me jelly beans when I walked her dog," Percy shrugged.

"A true bestie I'm sorry we never got to meet," Thalia chuckled.

Besides, getting older didn't seem like anything to celebrate since I'd gotten the big prophecy about me destroying or saving the world when I turned sixteen.

"There are so many themes you could do around that though!" Alex sighed. "I can think of three off the top of my head!"

"Alex can and will make a volcano explode in your apartment," Magnus sighed with full confidence.

"But I'll leave the surprise of who jumps out," she winked.

"Pass," Percy could only say hesitantly though. It sounded fun, he'd never even had a bounce house before...but hadn't it already happened? Retroactive birthday party? Maybe? If he survived another year?

Now I was turning fifteen. I was running out of time.

My mom threw me a small party at our apartment. Paul Blofis came over, but that was okay because Chiron had manipulated the Mist to convince everyone at Goode High School that I had nothing to do with the band room explosion.

"Yes!" Percy fist bumped the air with such exuberance there was yet another new crack in the ceiling. "I thought of that before but didn't know if I'd remember to tell Chiron before I left!"

"Now remember this plan for the next time," Nico chuckled.

Percy sighed at the already assured knowledge there was going to be a next time, but it had been a nice five seconds while it lasted.

Now Paul and the other witnesses were convinced that Kelli had been a crazy, firebomb-throwing cheerleader, while I had simply been an innocent bystander who'd panicked and ran from the scene. I would still be allowed to start as a freshman at Goode next month. If I wanted to keep my record of getting kicked out of school every year, I'd have to try harder.

"You say that like it was your fault," Magnus told him bracingly. "Until someone invents monster repellent, you can try all you like and get nowhere."

He meant it in a positive way, but Percy nodded as glumly as before. It was something he'd heard all his life being ADHD. He'd have to try ten times harder than the 'normal' kids and still never be on their level, which to him sounded like he really shouldn't bother trying that hard at all.

Tyson came to my party, too, and my mother baked two extra blue cakes just for him.

Percy bounced in his seat for a moment with one of the happier grins they'd seen on his face today. Annabeth couldn't or wouldn't be there, Percy didn't feel like his own birth should be celebrated, but his little brother was there. His mom had opened the door and greeted him with a Tyson worthy hug and had extra cake just for him and that was pretty much the greatest birthday present he'd want anyways.

While Tyson helped my mom blow up party balloons, Paul Blofis asked me to help him in the kitchen.

As we were pouring punch, he said, "I hear your mom signed you up for driver's ed this fall."

"Would Percy's bus explosion problem translate to cars?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Gods I hope not," Percy sighed.

"I'm not sure I get the stereotype about New Yorkers and driving," Magnus admitted. "You have to walk everywhere because the streets are horrible, but if everybody walks or takes the subway why are the streets so bad?"

"We're fearless about any obstacle but are to impatient," Percy grinned.

Magnus might as well have asked him to spell out those Canadian monsters names again for all the light that provided on the subject.

"Yeah. It's cool. I can't wait."

Seriously, I'd been excited about getting my license forever,

"Pretty sure that's something we look forward to from the time we're born," Will said wistfully. He'd spent the whole day of his sixteenth birthday on the chariot track, imagining it as his dad's sun-mobile. He'd spent the previous week painting it bright red and everything and, according to his own imagination, won every Indie 500 Race that day.

Only to have several of his siblings show up and hog the races the rest of the day from the rest of camp to make that a reality. Kayla had even painted brands and logos on some of them for authenticity while Micheal and Lee somehow always had the dastardly bad luck of fumbling the finish so Will could sail through.

It really had been a good day, and only a tad bittersweet at the end as he sat on the roof of his cabin watching the sun go down, his prayer unanswered of hoping his dad would just make an appearance, let alone let him touch the sun. Austin had assured him that night as he flopped into bed they'd all made that wish and Apollo hadn't answered in centries for any of his kids, just another day.

but I guess my heart wasn't in it anymore, and Paul could tell. In a weird way he reminded me of Chiron sometimes, how he could look at you and actually see your thoughts.

Will realized his thoughts had drifted him into a melancholy mood, and trying to jump right back out, he offered, "hey, did you know Chiron will help kids at camp get their license if they want to. He does something with the mist, gives them papers if they need it, but they still have to pass on their own merit," he finished with a grin at remembering Connor nearly drove his practice car into a jewelry store and still insisted it was an accident. It probably was an accident, but it was still funny too.

"I was actually wondering about that for a second," Magnus told him gratefully. He knew he was out of luck on that front and would likely remain homeless forever because of it, but for once this Camp finally had a solid, irrefutably good thing he might be able to look into.

I guess it was that teacher aura.

"Is the dark turn Paul's been a secret FBI agent all along infiltrating the school," she paused with a wild gasp, "or your family! And he reveals the secret conspiracy of hauling you all away to Area 51!"

"Alex," Percy sighed with a good-hearted grin. "You are going to be excellent at whatever you decide your life is."

"Living that dream," she smirked.

"You've had a rough summer," he said. "I'm guessing you lost someone important. And...girl trouble?"

"I guess we know who the problem child is, the ones the parents gossip about," Thalia did a pretty good impression of an ornery older sister to Percy's ears while he flushed and muttered a bit about how he wasn't surprised this had come up with his mom.

I stared at him. "How do you know that? Did my mom—"

He held up his hands. "Your mom hasn't said a thing.

"Oh," Thalia sounded as stunned as anybody while Percy went from shocked to pleased the fastest. Percy had never really missed his life as a mortal, he'd spent to much of his younger years being the odd kid out to even know what that felt like but at this moment he knew that if Paul was the dad in his life that he didn't have to be, things would have still turned out all right for him.

And I won't pry. I just know there's something unusual about you, Percy. You've got a lot going on that I can't figure. But I was also fifteen once, and I'm just guessing from your expression...Well, you've had a rough time."

I nodded. I'd promised my mom I would tell Paul the truth about me, but now didn't seem the time. Not yet.

"Save that for his birthday," Jason chuckled, "see how long he thinks you're pranking him and asking for his real present before it sinks in."

"Well I know who I'm scratching off my next guest list," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I was on the list?" Jason looked surprised, which Percy hoped was a joke. Obviously everybody in here was.

"I lost a couple of friends at this camp I go to," I said. "I mean, not close friends, but still—"

Will looked touched all the same Percy didn't go back to his home and try to forget it even happened. Maybe the next time there was a war council meeting and Lee wasn't at the table Percy wouldn't just blink and breeze right past it like it had entirely left his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. And, uh, I guess the girl stuff..."

Percy had never been the greatest with his words. He had no more clue what to say to Paul than to Annabeth herself, how to get started on her and Rachel and Luke and the constant question mark bouncing around in his head. It wasn't because of Paul though. He'd stood there waiting patiently the entire time as he'd gathered his useless thoughts and then scraped them at least five times.

"Here." Paul handed me some punch. "To your fifteenth birthday. And to a better year to come."

We tapped our paper cups together and drank.

Percy couldn't have asked for a better toast. Any year had to be better than the one he'd just had. Right?

"Percy, I kind of feel bad giving you one more thing to think about," Paul said. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"He asks you if you're a half-blood?" Thalia asked, because really, it had to be something with Paul. Maybe he could see through the Mist too and never knew how to say it before he saw Kelli.

"Is he going to ask what he should have gotten you for your birthday?" Will asked, imagining he'd gotten Percy, like, a black puppy that turned out to be a hellhound too or something and that was the 'dark turn.'

"Is he going to ask to move in already?" Magnus asked, no clue how fast these things were supposed to go, but it felt like 'a step,' worthy of including Percy.

"What is the capital of Bulgaria?" Alex chuckled.

"Yeah?"

"Girl stuff."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh gods," Jason's mind started spinning like a guinea pig. "He's not going to ask you what he should get your mom for her birthday?"

"Sounds, um, kind of nice?" Nico offered. Percy obviously got along with Paul, maybe Paul was looking for a way to spend more time with him.

"Your mom," Paul said. "I'm thinking about proposing to her."

"Oooh," all seven of them said with the same blank look. That was, so beyond the scope of their understanding honestly, they barely knew how to react to that other than nonplussed, maybe a little mild pleasure. None of the others really had a great enough relationship with their own mortal parent to process entirely what was being said.

I almost dropped my cup. "You mean...marrying her? You and her?"

"Sally and Paul, sitting in a tree," Thalia burst out singing with surprised laughter.

Percy came out of his dumbfounded state enough to react to that and give her a shove. He was happy for them, a hundred percent. Really, it wouldn't even be that weird, the guy was over all the time anyways. He just didn't even know how to process something like this because it didn't involve stabbing something.

"Well, that was the genera idea. Would that be okay with you?"

"You're asking my permission?"

Paul scratched his beard. "I don't know if it's permission, so much, but she's your mother. And I know you're going through a lot. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't talk to you about it first, man to man."

"Man to man," I repeated.

Percy had never been called anything more than his mom's little man before. He found himself sitting up straight in his beanbag chair, smiling with a new kind of pride.

It sounded strange, saying that. I thought about Paul and my mom, how she smiled and laughed more whenever he was around, and how Paul had gone out of his way to get me into high school. I found myself saying, "I think that's a great idea, Paul. Go for it."

It had felt like the obvious answer the moment he'd said it. Paul had looked him right in the eye while asking, despite their height difference. He was always there for his mom, he'd never made her cry. Percy didn't even know what else people needed to be in a marriage, but he already knew it would be better than what she'd had before.

He smiled really wide then. "Cheers, Percy. Let's join the party."

Percy had followed him with a strut in his step he'd never had before. His imagination had already been going wild, asking Paul to help him put on those weird monkey suits he'd only seen on TV. Would Paul ask Percy to call him dad? How upset would he be if Percy never wanted to?

But his mom...those seemed like minor problems when he could already feel the happiness through a kind of faith alone he'd never had for the gods that she was never going to stop smiling after this day.

I was just getting ready to blow out the candles when the doorbell rang.

"Did you make a wish?" Thalia asked with interest. The only time she'd ever managed to sit down for one of her birthdays was over a trashcan fire with Luke and Annabeth. They'd found some lumpy, frozen chocolate that had clearly all once melted together and were chipping it away, the two teasing her not to blow out their 'candle' that was keeping them warm, and she'd only promised her wish would be it never did. Other than that experience, she had no clue what someone would wish for.

"Yeah," Percy grinned without elaborating. It had just been a feeling really, of hope, that everything would be okay. He'd bottled it up tight and been about to exhale it onto that candle as a kind of offering all its own to the cosmos when that knock had interrupted him. He tried not to frown at that being some kind of bad omen.

My mom frowned. "Who could that be?"

It was weird, because our new building had a doorman, but he hadn't called up or anything. My mom opened the door and gasped.

It was my dad.

Percy had instantly felt zapped, shrunk back down to twelve years old again and seeing him for the first time on Olympus. He'd wanted to load him into a taxi and have some fairy tale ending. Instead, he'd told Percy he regretted him being born.

He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks, like he usually does. His black beard was neatly trimmed and his sea-green eyes twinkled. He wore a battered cap decorated with fishing lures. It said NEPTUNE'S LUCKY FISHING HAT.

"Pos—" My mother stopped herself.

"What kind of fake name could she have even given?" Alex asked in amusement. "Pos, pause, pus," she kept trying to enunciate that into something and looked increasingly frustrated coming up with nothing. "Posterior? Pustrami? Pussudinym? Postumus? Possible? Positive, Pustual, Potter, Pos-"

"Posey?" Percy offered. That was a flower, and a girl's name, right? Then he went crosseyed as he realized what he just suggested his dad should go by for any length of time.

"Yes! Great one Percy!" Alex cackled in delight.

"I think we could go through every religion to find his alter ego and he'd still rather just go by his own name," Will finally interrupted the madness with a laugh.

She was blushing right to the roots of her hair. "Um, hello."

"Hello, Sally," Poseidon said. "You look as beautiful as ever. May I come in?"

"Can you say no to that?" Magnus stage whispered.

"I wouldn't want to try," Percy shrugged though because it was his dad, not in general.

My mother made a squeaking sound that might've been either a "Yes" or "Help." Poseidon took it as a yes and came in.

Percy shook his head at the six of them getting a good laugh out of that, Thalia of course escalating it by giving him a hearty clap on the shoulder and saying, "well, now we know where you got that from too."

"I don't squeak," he finished with a long, exhausted sigh knowing he couldn't really deny any such thing.

Paul was looking back and forth between us, trying to read our expressions.

Jason nodded in understanding. Some random guy showing up probably had Paul instinctively worried about Gabe showing up, if Sally had shared anything about him at all.

Finally he stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Paul Blofis."

Magnus crinkled up his nose in disgust at the idea of a creepy, three-eyed monkey coming to mind who always introduced himself like that at the end of those old cartoons. He'd really hated that thing. It had nothing to do with Paul, it was just a bad name association.

Poseidon raised his eyebrows as they shook hands. "Blowfish, did you say?"

"Ah, no. Blofis, actually."

"Oh, I see," Poseidon said. "A shame. I quite like blowfish.

"Poseidon's favorite son confirmed," Will snorted.

"At least it's not Antaeus," Percy shrugged.

I am Poseidon."

"I kind of like that better," Alex said. "Just come right out with it, why hide?"

"I think we just heard Alex's life motto," Nico grinned.

"Poseidon? That's an interesting name."

"Yes, I like it. I've gone by other names, but I do prefer Poseidon."

"Like the god of the sea."

"Very much like that, yes."

"Well!" my mom interrupted.

"I have never thought of your mom as a killjoy before this moment," Thalia admitted. "Even when she's being boring and safe and loving, telling you not to die and be careful and all that nonsense. This, this I would have paid to see how long your dad would go on like this."

"She's a little stressed," Percy shrugged, "and she gets a free pass."

"She gets all the free passes," Thalia nodded in agreement.

"Um, we're so glad you could drop by. Paul, this is Percy's father."

"Ah." Paul nodded, though he didn't look real pleased. "I see."

"Oooh, jealousy," Alex snickered in surprise.

"I'm guessing Paul's not his biggest fan," Percy agreed, confusion mixed into every syllable of how he felt about this. "My mom always made sure I knew my dad didn't abandon me, but you know, I was a little kid. I don't think Pual would have taken to that lost at sea thing. He probably wants to speak to him man to man too," he finished with an awkward smile he'd definitely have to be a part of that conversation to make sure nobody got turned into blowfishes.

Poseidon smiled at me. "There you are, my boy. And Tyson, hello, son!"

"Daddy!" Tyson bounded across the room and gave Poseidon a big hug, which almost knocked off his fishing hat.

"Naww," Magnus smiled in surprise.

"It was that or Tyson was going to burst into tears of joy or something," Percy grinned in relief at this choice.

Paul's jaw dropped. He stared at my mom. "Tyson is..."

"Not mine," she promised.

"Legally," Percy mock whispered, using air quotes and everything.

"It's a long story."

"I couldn't miss Percy's fifteenth birthday," Poseidon said. "Why, if this were Sparta, Percy would be a man today!"

"That's true," Paul said. "I used to teach ancient history."

Poseidon's eyes twinkled. "That's me. Ancient history.

"Have the gods written a memoir?" Jason asked with a false amusement meant to hide his instant need for such a thing. "An autobiography? A manuscript? A rough draft I could steal?"

"Jason, that last one could count as high treason, worse than stealing the bolt," Percy told him with wide-eyed concern that wasn't really mocking.

Jason laughed like he was kidding, but even to his own ears he knew he didn't convince anyone.

Sally, Paul, Tyson...would you mind if I borrowed Percy for a moment?"

He put his arm around me and steered me into the kitchen.

Once we were alone, his smile faded.

Percy sighed as that chapter title came true, again. He wished they wouldn't even be there to kill his blue skies, always looming over whatever nice moment he'd been having. Like storm clouds rolling in and chasing everyone off the beach. His dad hadn't done it on purpose he was sure, it had just instantly killed his mood.

"Are you all right, my boy?"

That immediately felt like the storm running out of rain though as Percy smiled. Chiron had called him that many times, but it had never hit as hard as that did.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I guess."

"I guess," Thalia nodded without surprise. "You know Percy, you don't have to guess every question you're given."

"I'm right like, fifty percent of the time," Percy shrugged.

"I call bullsit on that number," Jason scoffed.

"And I'm to bad at math to do the actual percentage," Percy scoffed right back.

"I heard stories," Poseidon said. "But I wanted to hear it directly from you. Tell me everything."

"See, this is why they invented cellphones though, to avoid awkward moments like this," Magnus said with a twitchy feeling in his gut. The gods popped up at any old place now, yeah been there done that, but something about Poseidon being in Percy's apartment was giving him a feeling of anxiety. Ever since Gabe had left, Percy had always felt safe there, and though his dad was clearly no threat to him, it felt invasive. Like he could hear howls in the distance...

So I did. It was kind of disconcerting, because Poseidon listened so intently. His eyes never left my face. His expression didn't change the whole time I talked. When I was done, he nodded slowly.

"I cannot say I've ever had a god's undivided attention before," Will said with a touch of awe. When Annabeth had done it, he'd been infuriated beyond words. Now his mind felt overflown with jealousy at Percy getting the same from his dad. It really did feel like all or nothing for the Olympians sometimes.

"So Kronos is indeed back. It will not be long before full war is upon us."

"As opposed to the minor battles you've been dealing with," Nico sighed.

"What is war if not just for a bunch of little battles," Thalia agreed.

"Violent," Alex offered.

"Profitable," Percy raised his hand for something he actually remembered from a class.

"You two think you're so clever," Thalia scoffed.

"What about Luke?" I asked. "Is he really gone?"

"I don't know, Percy. It is most disturbing."

"But his body is mortal. Couldn't you just destroy him?"

"We've been asking that since he summoned a scorpion and tore a rip in the air with a sword," Magnus said, and by we he clearly meant himself.

"Mortal, perhaps, but there is something different about Luke, my boy. I don't know how he was prepared to host the Titan's soul, but he will not be easily killed. And yet, I fear he must be killed if we are to send Kronos back to the pit. I will have to think on this. Unfortunately, I have other problems of my own."

"That, was the best summary of the gods, and I didn't even have to Sparknotes it," Nico sighed. Yeah, your problem sucked, but I'm busy with other things!

I remembered what Tyson had told me at the beginning of the summer. "The old sea gods?"

"I wonder if Oceanus is listening in on us and muttering about how his strategies still would have worked," Thalia said with interest. She wished he wasn't such a reclusive old nut, she'd have liked the chance to hear the perspective of an old Titan.

"More likely he'd forget our names every other minute and be whining about how the Olympians run things," Percy rolled his eyes.

"Back in my day we squashed puny mortals on their birthday!" Alex even gave a helpful old man impression again to prove Percy's point, earning a grin from said child of the sea.

"Tethy's didn't seem that bad," Jason was clearly on Thalia's side with a hopeful smile at the door.

"So long as she keeps that thermometer away from me," Percy insisted.

"Indeed. The battle came first to me, Percy. In fact, I cannot stay long. Even now the ocean is at war with itself. It is all I can do to keep hurricanes and typhoons from destroying your surface world, the fighting is so intense."

His dad had been stroking his beard the whole time, a nervous tick Percy had never seen him do before. He didn't have his triton on him, also a first. Poseidon had seemed more human in that kitchen than Percy realized he even could be. Like that delirious moment of him just waltzing back into his mom's life and snapping his fingers to make everything perfect was possible for just this second.

And then what he'd said really sunk in. That his dad, in all his godly power, was already exhausted and torn in half by a war long before Zeus even admitted one was happening. His father, like any of the gods, was far from perfect.

"Let me come down there," I said. "Let me help."

"The summer camp I'm honestly surprised you haven't attended yet," Alex agreed.

"Not for lack of trying!" Percy groaned.

Poseidon's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Not yet, my boy.

"Yet," Percy sighed, though when he did try and search through his mind to get a glimpse for that feeling, it hurt. A trace of pain lancing through him he had no wish to play connect the dots with in the slightest.

I sense you will be needed here. Which reminds me..." He brought out a sand dollar and pressed it into my hand. "Your birthday present. Spend it wisely."

"Is, that a joke?" Jason asked slowly.

"Um, spoiler, I didn't laugh," Percy promised if it was.

"Uh, spend a sand dollar?"

"Oh, yes. In my day, you could buy quite a lot with a sand dollar.

"Could probably buy a whole sand mansion or something back in his day," Nico snorted.

"Wasn't he kind of born owning the ocean?" Magnus asked. "How rich is he from just all the treasure in the seas?"

"More immeasurable than his already infinite power I'm sure," Percy sighed at them missing the point, as usual.

I think you will find it still buys a lot, if used in the right situation."

"What situation?"

"When the time comes," Poseidon said, "I think you'll know."

Percy sighed at the strange feeling that gave him. Like he knew his dad was right, and it wasn't even particularly painful like the last time he'd just tried to understand this cryptic advice, but it was still as exhausting as wondering whose string those old ladies had cut. Better than sending him another card though.

I closed my hand around the sand dollar, but something was really bothering me.

"Only one something?" Jason sighed. "Because I'm over here losing track of all my somethings."

"I prioritize better," Percy smirked.

"You forget more," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Dad," I said, "when I was in the maze, I met Antaeus. He said...well, he said he was your favorite son. He decorated his arena with skulls and—"

It had been a really horrible moment in a vast, never-ending sequence of horrible moments down in that maze. Nobody was surprised this one had stuck with Percy.

It was nice he got the chance to air it for once. That Poseidon had a chance to answer for why he'd never stepped in and told Antaeus to knock it off with the murdery entertainment.

"He dedicated them to me," Poseidon supplied. "And you are wondering how someone could do something so horrible in my name."

I nodded uncomfortably.

Poseidon put his weathered hand on my shoulder. "Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names...well, it usually says more about them than it does about us. And you, Percy, are my favorite son."

Percy smiled to bright for them to do anything other than smile along, the answer had clearly meant a lot to him that they weren't going to badger for more.

Yet it felt more like a redirect than an answer.

He smiled, and at that moment, just being in the kitchen with him was the best birthday present I ever got. Then my mom called from the living room.

"Percy? The candles are melting!"

"You'd better go," Poseidon said. "But, Percy, one last thing you should know. That incident at Mount St. Helens..."

For a second I thought he was talking about Annabeth kissing me, and I blushed, but then I realized he was talking about something a lot bigger.

"There was something bigger that happened?" Alex said in an oh so innocent impression of Percy's voice.

Percy gave her an eye roll for that, a blush on his cheeks but sinking lower in his seat all the same for what he'd done.

"The eruptions are continuing," he said. "Typhon is stirring. It is very likely that soon, in a few months, perhaps a year at best, he will escape his bonds."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean—"

Poseidon raised his hand. "It is not your fault, Percy. It would've happened sooner or later, with Kronos awakening the ancient monsters.

Percy couldn't believe the weight that was lifted off of him, like taking a much needed breath of air. He did still feel the responsibility of that on his shoulders, but for his own dad to assure him it wasn't his fault was unbelievable when he knew best the gods would try and blame this kind of mistake on the easiest target available.

But be aware, if Typhon stirs...it will be unlike anything you have faced before. The first time he appeared, all the forces of Olympus were barely enough to battle him. And when he stirs again, he will come here, to New York. He will make straight for Olympus."

"Oh, so it's not just my birthday that took a dark turn," Percy sighed. "It's the whole stinking continent that's soon going to be covered in ash and blotting out the sun getting a dark turn."

Thalia gave his shoulder a gentle shake and her usual spiel about not freaking out to early while Nico batted his eyes at Percy in surprise. He'd been so sure that stupid thing related to him, that he'd hear Percy's uncomfortable thoughts about inviting him inside to darken his apartment. Percy's wasn't exactly a great interpretation, but it certainly was different than his.

That was just the kind of wonderful news I wanted to get on my birthday, but Poseidon patted me on the back like everything was fine. "I should go. Enjoy your cake."

And just like that he turned to mist and was swept out the window on a warm ocean breeze.

Alex chuckled for a moment before telling Nico, "you still have the best calling card in this one by the way, but Poseidon does get points for spirit on that."

Nico swelled with pride he was being compared to some god other than his dad to care what those points were worth.

It took a little work to convince Paul that Poseidon had left via the fire escape, but since people can't vanish into thin air, he had no choice but to believe it.

"I feel so bad for Paul," Magnus chuckled as he rubbed his temple. "Knowing the answer you're given isn't the truth but feeling crazy there's no other answer."

"Yeah," Percy agreed with a sorrowful nod. He'd felt awful lying to Paul after the awesome talk they'd just had and resolved in himself to tell him the truth sooner rather than later. He hoped he'd managed to do that before this whole disappearing off the face of the earth thing he'd apparently done so his mom had someone to really confide in about her worries.

We ate blue cake and ice cream until we couldn't eat anymore. Then we played a bunch of cheesy party games like charades and Monopoly. Tyson didn't get charades. He kept shouting out the answer he was trying to mime,

"Which is lucky for you because he would have kicked all of your butts being such an awesome artist," Alex grinned.

"I call him on my team!" Jason instantly yelped.

"Hey, no dibs before we even set up our own game night," Alex narrowed her eyes with a menace none of them were sure was entirely playful.

"Got to be faster Alex, sorry," Jason just shrugged smugly.

Thalia loudly cleared her throat to move that on before she had to restrain the two.

but it turned out he was really good at Monopoly. He knocked me out of the game in the first five rounds and started bankrupting my mom and Paul.

"I see Tyson really got all of Poseidon's good traits," Magnus laughed in surprise.

"I call him on my Monopoly team," Alex said swiftly.

Jason sighed in defeat they would switch it up between games and gave in.

"How do you play Monopoly in teams?" Percy asked.

"By making shit up I'm sure," Thalia shrugged at the amount of chaos that was going to happen when this night happened.

I left them playing and went into my bedroom.

"Aw Perce, don't tell me you're a sore loser," Will frowned.

"More like I was getting a headache watching their money move hands so fast," Percy grinned.

I set an uneaten slice of blue cake on my dresser.

Nico smiled in surprise that finally explained why, when he'd materialized, he'd heard shouting in the background like there had been a gameshow on when the TV was off as he'd come in. He'd thought he had shut it off or something crazy when he'd come in with his weird powers and aura and they'd fallen silent upon seeing him. Turned out it was a much more fun, and mundane reason.

Then I took off my Camp Half-Blood necklace and laid it on the windowsill. There were three beads now, representing my three summers at camp—a trident, the Golden Fleece, and the latest: an intricate maze, symbolizing the Battle of the Labyrinth, as the campers had started to call it. I wondered what next year's bead would be, if I was still around to get it. If the camp survived until next summer.

Percy did have another bead on there, of course, and he clasped his fist around the lot now, his throat as tight with worry as ever what had happened between all that. He felt like the best-case scenario was he'd come out alive, but the more realistic possibility was he'd just gone nuts and molded one for himself in a mock victory from his grave or something before being plopped in here.

I looked at the phone by my bedside. I thought about calling Rachel Elizabeth Dare. My mom had asked me if there was anyone else I wanted to have over tonight, and I'd thought about Rachel. But I didn't call. I don't know why. The idea made me almost as nervous as a door into the Labyrinth.

Thalia sighed with guilty relief he hadn't. It would have just been awkward if Annabeth found out about that...and yet she knew from Annabeth Percy had spent a large chunk of time coming up hanging out with Rachel so she was a tad surprised that hadn't started here.

I patted my pockets and emptied out my stuff—Riptide, a Kleenex, my apartment key.

"You kept up with that this whole time," Will asked in complete disbelief. "I need the brightest rainbow lanyard I can find to keep up with my key to my cabin because I keep losing the dang thing and my siblings started locking me out after the seventh time."

"I never lock my cabin door," Percy said blankly.

"You scare kids to much to sneak in there," Thalia scoffed.

"I want to know how and why you got a kleenex," Alex snorted. "And, more importantly, why you didn't offer that to Annabeth when she was sobbing her nose out."

Percy's heart froze and his mind scrambled as he suddenly found himself asking the same thing before Magnus jumped in saying, "probably pocketed it from that meal with Hera, I wouldn't trust that thing not to be poisoned anymore. Grover's probably just immune to such things."

Which didn't make Percy feel better, but did make him laugh for a moment along with the others.

Then I patted my shirt pocket and felt a small lump. I hadn't even realized it, but I was wearing the white cotton shirt Calypso had given me on Ogygia.

"I bet Annabeth loved that," Jason muttered, imagining she'd hardly looked at him the entire time because of the reminder.

Percy had been amazed it held up so well, covered in dirt, mud, and other unmentionable things he was sure. She was probably more amazing with a loom than Circe for giving him clothes he hadn't lost and or torn to shreds.

I brought out a little piece of cloth, unwrapped it, and found the clipping of moonlace. It was a tiny sprig, shriveled up after two months, but I could still smell the faint scent of the enchanted garden. It made me sad.

Percy touched where the little pocket had been over his heart, of course no longer there on his camp shirt. He had done the impossible, he had forgotten about Calypso even for a brief time in all the other madness that went on when he came home. Now it was Annabeth, Rachel, and Calypso all bouncing around in his head like a screen saver all fighting for his attention as his fingers tightened in his shirt before he dropped his hand back to his lap and sighed.

What the hell had Hera meant by it, sending him to her island? Had it been a warning, that all the Titans had faced punishment and Percy had better remember which side he belonged on? Had it been her deranged way of helping, giving him a chance to heal there, a place she knew he'd never stay on?

All he did know was that, like all help with the gods, it felt more harmful than good really. From now on, only his dad was allowed to send him off on vacations, and that was a spotty vow considering he wasn't sure what the outcome of this place was going to be yet.

I remembered Calypso's last request of me: Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you? I opened the window and stepped onto the fire escape.

My mom kept a planter box out there. In the spring she usually filled it with flowers, but now it was all dirt, waiting for something new. It was a clear night. The moon was full over Eighty-second Street. I planted the dried sprig of moonlace carefully in the dirt and sprinkled a little nectar on it from my camp canteen.

Nothing happened at first.

Then, as I watched, a tiny silver plant sprang out of the soil—a baby moonlace, growing in the warm summer night.

"I'm surprised Grover didn't sniff that out and eat it," Alex broke the heavy tension falling around them. "I honestly expected this to be mentioned back at camp as an invasive species and D would rip it up and threaten to strangle you with it."

"My brain works in mysterious ways," Percy grinned, a sad but meaningful one to help take his mind off all the bad. "That's probably why it waited until just now, weeks later, for me to ever think of cleaning out my pockets."

"Mmm, yes, mysterious," Alex laughed, because she said mysterious like one would their least favorite kind of cheese.

"Nice plant," a voice said.

I jumped. Nico di Angelo was standing on the fire escape right next to me.

"Nico's back!" Will yelped in surprise. For once he hadn't been tensing up beside him, fidgeting and internally freaking out about this happening, so Will had not a hint of warning any more than anybody else.

"I've been here the whole time you nit," Nico rolled his eyes with a smile.

Will's arm pulled him just another tiny little bit closer as he just laughed in surprise and kept going like the whole room was a bit brighter all of a sudden, making Nico blush and for the first time think of pushing him away making this 'a thing.' It was just a fleeting thought though, one he didn't act on.

Will didn't find it hard to explain to himself why he was so jazzed for this news. It was the very first instance of Nico reaching out to anybody, especially the most perfect person on the planet being Percy with his mom right on the other side of that door. For Nico to get a glimpse of how he should be greeted any time he entered a room.

"Is anybody going to ask how?" Percy yelped loudly, rudely interrupting Will's joyful reading as he stared strangely at Nico. "You appeared out of nowhere dude!"

"Practice," Nico said with pride in his voice, which of course, was no answer.

Percy groaned, Chiron and Thalia were known to do that too so it wasn't just the gods being cryptic and annoying, they were passing it on!

Nico really did give him a sorrowful smile though and pressed his finger to his lips, his skull ring gleaming. They had shadow-traveled a lot in the coming time, and he didn't want to upset Percy now when he saw the last page in Will's hand. They were nearly done with another, no need to go pushing Percy's mind to its limit when he'd get his answer without Nico forcing it on him soon enough.

He'd just appeared there.

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"That's—that's okay. I mean...what are you doing here?"

Nico inhaled carefully, letting his mind think of that with interest now rather than the little happy dance he'd been doing in his head Percy's first reaction back then hadn't been pushing him off the fire escape in surprise. Now he really heard this for what it was. Not the blatant acceptance he so craved, just Percy reacting to him somehow even better than he had Rachel popping up in his mortal life. It was surprisingly a nicer, warmer feeling than his old feeling he had to keep off any part of his face.

He'd grown about an inch taller over the last couple of months. His hair was a shaggy black mess. He wore a black T-shirt, black jeans, and a new silver ring shaped like a skull. His Stygian iron sword hung at his side.

"An outfit you apparently never changed out of," Jason chuckled in surprise.

"I bet he has a closet full of the same outfit," Alex sighed tragically.

"I like this color," he kept the childish note out of his voice almost well enough. He should get used to defending his odd choices now if he was going to go to camp and hear this over and over...then he was surprised how easily that thought had come to mind. Tartarus had gone to far from his plans, he realized as a cold feeling swept him.

Will's hand curled gently around his arm, a warm pulse radiating from his palm that gave Nico a chance to exhale and focus on this.

"I've done some exploring," he said.

"A common day pirate," Will smiled in delight. "A vassst yee, I shall be tied down to no land!"

"See, now you're getting it," Nico's eyes shimmered with delight at the goofy impression.

"Even pirates need a secret cove to bury all their treasure," Will reminded hopefully. If that's all camp could be to him, a way station of safety, it would feel like enough so long as he'd always feel free to use it.

"Hmm, I'm not much of an artist Will, I'll have to work on getting a map together," Nico couldn't help the glib comment, the wishy-washy response. Despite how comfortable he felt under Will's arm, it was the longest, most permanent feeling he'd ever had in his life up to this point. Something so solid, even more permanent like Will kept wanting still sounded like to much for him to wrap his mind around right now.

"That's okay, I know a good one. X marks the spot and all that," he grinned all the same. He'd still carve that on Thalia's old tree when he got back and knew Nico at least would get the reference.

"Thought you'd like to know, Daedalus got his punishment."

Will's voice somehow sparked with even more joy getting to read this so soon. He really had wanted to know his fate, and Alex was right there with him, leaning forward eagerly in her seat, her teeth sunk into her lip as she wavered back in forth in her head how harsh she wanted to hear this being.

"You saw him?"

Nico nodded. "Minos wanted to boil him in cheese fondue for an eternity, but my father had other ideas.

Nico had been surprised when he'd showed up in his courtroom he hadn't even needed to step in and offer anything for this. Daedalus had been such a notoriously lost soul for so long Hades had already taken an interest, and swift execution before Nico had even woken up.

Hades had laughed to himself about the cheese fondue idea and even filed it away for later though. As far as Nico knew, Minos was still on his seat at the judge's table, so he hadn't exactly been as punished as Nico would have liked, but hey, you win some you lose some.

Daedalus will be building overpasses and exit ramps in Asphodel for all time. It'll help ease the traffic congestion. Truthfully, I think the old guy is pretty happy with that. He's still building. Still creating. And he gets to see his son and Perdix on the weekends."

It was just the perfect kind of Greek ending really. Quintus, Daeadlus the fifth's body, had had a very long road, and his punishment was to continue making them. It was no reward, but really, it was no great punishment. Hades seemed to have found a stroke of balance in his domain that all wished for really, a kind of medium eternal life after his grand adventure that rocked to many boats.

"That's good."

Nico tapped at his silver ring. "But that's not the real reason I've come. I've found out some things. I want to make you an offer."

"What?"

Percy hadn't squinted suspiciously at him or anything, he hadn't gone for his sword or jumped back in and slammed the window in his face. He hadn't exactly jumped to his feet with delight either and hugged him for finding all this out, so, that had been the highlight of Nico's month.

"The way to beat Luke," he said. "If I'm right, it's the only way you'll stand a chance."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm listening."

Will's voice was so happy as he read that, his pupils kept wanting to jump away from the text to glance at the two with such bright eyes. This, this had been what he'd been hoping for Nico for so long, ever since he'd vanished after the Titan War. He already knew Percy and Nico made an awesome team, the two working together had been the saving strategy and the reason they were probably all alive today. Why did Nico constantly think he wasn't accepted again when Percy had been open and amenable from the start to his plan?!

Nico glanced inside my room. His eyebrows furrowed. "Is that...is that blue birthday cake?"

It had been the strangest feeling, Nico shook his head at himself. He'd been glancing around for an enemy, someone eavesdropping. Instead he'd seen the brightest splash of color, a blue swirl patterned cake with sprinkles. The exact kind of thing Bianca would have smacked his hand for reaching for, telling him he'd get a cavity just looking at that thing.

He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he'd ever even been invited to one.

No, and no, Nico pursed his lips together rather than answer. Will, thankfully, read right over the moment without waiting for an answer, bless him. Nico still considered himself a no on both too, because he hadn't been 'invited' to this party. He'd gate crashed.

"Come inside for some cake and ice cream," I said. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

"Everything Percy brags about his mom's cooking is true by the way," Nico said swiftly before anybody could ask questions they weren't going to get an answer to. "It was, the best cake, I've ever had." He smacked his lips in appreciation at just the thought. It had been the most solid food he'd had in months and he was pretty sure his ambrosia had switched to tasting like that for a while.

"We'll get her her own cookbook, or a TV network show or something," Jason laughed.

Percy had a lot more questions buzzing around his mind about how that night would have continued. He opened his mouth with at least three trying to all bunch together, but all that came out was a very rude yawn.

"The question now is, do we take a break or just start the next one?" Thalia asked, stretching and jumping to her feet all the same.

"A break, definitely," Percy pleaded at once. "Hell, can I take a nap, since the days all out of whack anyways and we start the next one tomorrow."

"Nap yes," Thalia told him not unkindly, "but I am waking you back up to at least start on the next one! We'll be in here for twenty years if you sleep to your heart's content Rip Van Winkle!"

Percy nodded and then, actually just slumped over, right there in his chair. It would have been a tad concerning if he hadn't started drooling only moments later.

Nico expected Will to jump up and join the others as they all started talking quietly, stretching and going off to eat, but instead he stayed in place, hugging the black book tight to his chest and smiling at it still. Nico still thought him nuts, but a very charming kind. Nuts and berries.

Something had been nagging at the back of his mind though. A pessimistic idea that wouldn't leave him, an observation about Will always being so happy and optimistic at the idea of Nico being at camp. "Did you kiss me because you want me to stay at Camp?" Nico asked, his stomach in painful knots that the answer was going to be yes and how much he should care about that and how much it would make a difference. Maybe Will did just want something from him-

"No!" Will's startled blue eyes were pure honesty. "I kissed you because I wanted to, no other reason." Nico still seemed confused though, so he offered, "look, I, I feel like I should apologize, for kissing you right then," Will confessed. "That, um, wasn't exactly, 'friendly,' and if that's what you need right now-" his arm started to pull away even.

"I like it," Nico interrupted, the surprise on his own face for admitting that causing him to sheepishly avert his eyes, but his hand darting up to hold his fingers in place, nearly pining them to his black shirt. "L-liked. Um, it was, it feels- felt, good, but if you regret it-" his hand spasmed as he told himself to let go.

"Woah, I never said that," Will interpreted right back. "I've been trying to get to know you since we met. I just, um, was trying to make sure-" he was blushing himself and stammering and going very blank in the mind to find words to describe anything.

"Right, well," Nico took a shaky breath but looked back at him with a hesitant smile. He interlocked their fingers, and Will easily mimicked him. "That's, established. Neither of us, regret it, and we both like talking, so let's just, keep doing, that."

"Sounds perfect," Will grinned.

PJOPJOPJO

I am not promising that this will be the last book to end with Solangelo, I don't want to be a liar like that, but I do already have the ending to the next book planned out and it's not focused on them, so there's that?

So I'm taking a short break and then posting Demigod Files next month for sure, and then I'm going to start Last Olympian in May! I'm so excited guys, I'm looking forward to it all as much as anybody!

*I know most people probably imagine Alex using the f' word like a bestie, but I'm more familiar with people who grew up in verbally abusive households disliking strong language because it's been used on them to much. Also I do my best to keep these PG, T at most, so it's going to stay at least in the level of clean you've seen so far in the tone of the original books, so this is what I'm going with.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #HDYSG #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #alex fierro #Magnus Chase #Will Solace #nico di angelo #solangelo #fierrochase #percabeth #BotL #battle of the labyrinth

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mistydeyes · 10 months

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Hi! Would you be interested in doing an angst piece for Gaz?

Gaz ends up in the hospital/med tent and meets reader. They get to know each other until he ships out and reader can't wait to see him again - until he ends up back in front of them with extremely severe injuries...

a/n: i am so sorry this took me so long to get to but i LOVED this request and wanted to do it justice! thank you again for submitting anon :) there are no happy endings here so buckle up

a modern day florence nightingale

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summary: Fresh out of training, your first assignment is at the famous Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in Birmingham. While most of your colleagues dread their first assignment, you find yourself slowing falling in love with your newest patient.

pairing: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x nurse!gn!Reader

warnings: medical/pharmacy terminology, medical inaccuracies, swearing, depiction of wounds and violence, ANGST

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"Corporal, you have a last-minute transfer to Room 7," the chief nurse paged and you closed out your evening reports. "Thanks, Captain, I'll check in and collect the vitals for you," you replied and made your way down the quiet hall. You were fresh out of training and on your first assignment which met you had the absolute pleasure of collecting vitals and performing monotonous tasks. However, while some other corporals groaned at their placement, you enjoyed finally having hands-on, out-of-classroom experience. As you approached the door, you pulled the clipboard which identified the patient and some of the pertinent medical history. You knocked on the door gently and announced yourself. "Sergeant Garrick, welcome to Queen Elizabeth's," you said as the man sat up in bed, "hopefully you won't have that long of a stay." You said this to all your patients, while you enjoyed the friendly conversations, a hospital wasn't an ideal permanent stay.

"Thank you, Corporal," he replied and the room seemed to light up with his smile, "besides the shrapnel getting dug out of my leg, it's been a pleasant stay." You smiled at his pleasant attitude, it wasn't often you had a patient like this yes. "Well I am happy to hear it, Sergeant, if you don't mind can I take some vitals?" you asked as you loosened the stethoscope from your neck. "As long as you call me Kyle, I have no complaints, Corporal," he responded and shined another bright smile. "Okay, Kyle, just sit up for me and breathe normally," you said as you went to the bedside and manually pumped the blood pressure cuff, and listened for the Korotkoff sounds. "119/78, nearly perfect," you remarked before you held out his hand to place a pulse oximeter. Just like before, his oxygen levels and pulse were ideal. "Look at you Kyle, the perfect patient!," you proudly said, "I'd give you a lolly if I had one." "I try, Corporal, I try," he joked and you checked his vitals on the monitor to make sure he would sleep through the night.

"Alright final few questions, can you rate your pain on a scale of 1-10?" you asked as you pulled out your chart. "Um a 4?" he said with a questioning tone, "Definitely not the worst injury I've gotten but my thigh still hurts like hell." Your smile faltered a bit before you flipped through the pages to see what medications he was put on post-operation. "The medication will kick in soon, it's not the strongest stuff but it should minimize some of that pain," you explained and he nodded in compliance. "Does the area feel hot or pulsating?" you continued with your routine questions. "Dirty wording there," he joked and you couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "can't say I'm experiencing that though." "Just some routine things, trust me I wish I could rewrite a lot," you sighed before finishing your assessment. "That's all for now, do you need anything before you get some rest?" you asked before adjusting the lights of the room and reclining his bed. "Not that I can think of, have a goodnight, Nightingale," he smiled and you exited the room. You closed the door gently and walked back to your station. As you sat down to record Kyle's nightly intake you found yourself smiling in content. Nightingale, you liked the sound of that especially when it was accompanied by his gorgeous smile and eyes.

The next evening, you were happy to see that Kyle was your first official 1-on-1 patient for your residency. His physical assessment demonstrated he would likely be an easy patient to round on and most people appreciated his positive attitude and lack of signs of sun downing. You were ecstatic as most had been giving difficult patients that would test their profession. As you received report from the morning staff, you couldn't help but wonder how to announce the "good news" to him. You didn't want to seem weird as most patients would be concerned at the enthusiasm a nurse showed at their injuries and hospital stay.

As you entered his room, you decided to play it cool and explain it as if it was a formality. "Good evening, Nightengale," he said as you entered the room. "Evening to you as well, Kyle. I'm just here to check on how you're doing and also let you know that I will be your primary nurse for the remainder of your stay," you explained and gave him a small smile. "Better now that you're here," he joked and your face began to flush, "the morning staff woke me by pulling back the curtains and tugging on my arm!" "They're new as well, not necessarily known for their bedside manner," you commented and Kyle could hear the slight twinge of annoyance in your voice. "Oh you're new as well?" he questioned as he complied with the routine of collecting vitals. "Fresh out of training," you explained as you wrote down his oxygen levels and pulse, "this is my first assignment." After going through your typical questions and happily hearing that his pain had decreased substantially, he continued with the conversation. "You're doing a great job, I honestly thought you had been here for years," he commented and you couldn't help but admit you loved the flow of compliments. "I had some experience in civilian hospitals and general trauma care before I decided on the career change," you explained as you prepped him for bed. "I'm sure you'll be able to tell me all about it while I'm here," he said before settling into bed. "I'd like that a lot Kyle, goodnight," you whispered before leaving the room again.

"I'm not joking, I did have the best sutures," you exclaimed as Kyle laughed heartily. Somehow you had gotten on the topic of basic trauma procedures and he simply could not imagine you on the battlefield. "I don't believe it," he said through a string of laughs, "your bedside manner is too good for that." "Who wouldn't want that after a gunshot wound?" you exclaimed, "If I had a bullet lodged in my abdomen, the least someone could do would be to entertain me." Kyle was just about to reply when you were paged to another patient's room. "Well I'll see you for your medication rounds then, sleep well, Kyle," you said sadly as you walked out. "I await your visit, nurse," he jokingly saluted and you turned off the lights. The next few weeks progressed the same, you learned more about Kyle's life before the military and he teased you incessantly about your previous life as a nurse. You even managed to sneak in some takeout for him so he wouldn't have to suffer through the disgusting, bland rations from the dining hall.

As you ate the buffet of Chinese takeout and looked at Kyle slurping the noodles, it was clear neither one of you wanted your time to end. You were cleaning up when you felt his gaze on you. "I think you have something on your cheek," he said and beckoned you to come closer. You felt his warm touch gently wipe away some excess sauce and linger on your face. Before you could speak, he took the moment to say something that caught you off-guard. "You look beautiful like this," he whispered and you could feel your cheeks turn pink. "You look so relaxed, not worrying about vitals and medications," he continued as he held your face softly. "Just wanted to say that," he finished and you felt his hand dropped. There was probably some manual somewhere that said what you did next was a dischargeable offense but you both didn't seem to care. Maybe it was the way his eyes lingered on your lips or your soft touch to his cheek but the way his lips felt against yours was worth any punishment. It was quick and gentle but you both pulled away with smiles plastered on your faces. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kyle," you whispered as you parted and shared another kiss before you exited the room.

The unit could tell that Kyle's appearance at Queen Elizabeth's changed your mood drastically. Maybe that's why no one told you of his discharge. You happily walked over to his room for an evening chat before you realized the bed was being stripped and prepped for another patient. "Sorry, must have gotten the wrong room," you sheepishly replied as the other nurses looked at you. You walked over to your commanding officer, the head nurse, to find out if there had been a room transfer. "Where's the patient in room 7?" you asked the head nurse. "Oh he was discharged earlier this morning," she replied, looking up briefly from the morning reports. You could feel your smile falter as she spoke. "Did he say where he was going?" you asked her, hoping for something, anything. "You know that information is confidential, Lieutenant," she replied and walked back to her station, leaving you along with a twinge of heartbreak.

Months went on without seeing Kyle. At first, you were saddened he left without saying anything but you gradually became angrier with each subsequent week. You went through all the stages of grief as you wished for any word from him. You thought you honestly had something special with him, he was your first patient after all. Were all the moments you had meaningless? You were at the boiling point when you saw, on your list of patients for the day, a Sergeant Kyle Garrick was in Room 15.

Needless to say, you were pissed when you stormed into the room. You finished your rounds for the day and angrily opened the door to Room 15. It was clear there was tension in the air as your gaze pierced Kyle. "Hey there, Nightingale" the man joked and you lost it. "'Hey there?' that's all I fucking get?" you said angrily. You didn't care who heard. "You sit in this bed for weeks, making me care about you, and then you fucking leave ONLY to come back here like this," you yelled as you eyed his leg casts, black eye, and IV drip. "Why the fuck are you acting like the one who got blown up?" he responded, anger rising in his tone. "I'm not one of your little girlfriends who is amazed that you're in the SAS, Kyle," you said viciously, you could feel hot tears run down your face. "I actually care about you and you fucking left me with nothing." With that, you walked out the door and turned to unleash a final comment. "I'll get another nurse to take care of your sorry ass" you choked out and shut the door on him.

#kyle gaz garrick #gaz x reader #kyle garrick x reader #task force 141 x reader #task force 141 #cod x reader #call of duty modern warfare #cod mwii #modern warfare 2 #call of duty #mw2 imagine #madebyizzie #gaz imagine #kyle garrick imagine #mw2 #izzie is writing

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samisonehotman · 2 years

Note

please please please write about alpha!colby

𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Colby Brock / reader

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: you, an Omega, gets harassed all the time by Alpha's and your best friend, an Alpha, doesn't like it

𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬: Fluff / SFW

you were reminded of the fact you hated your dynamic every time you were alone in public. it was just supposed to be a simple run to the grocery story for dinner items, in and out in ten minutes. but, an Omega roaming around alone while unscented by an Alpha would always raise unwanted interactions.

Colby hovered nearby as you unpacked, eyes following you as you moved. something feral in the far corner of his mind snarled at him to get rid of that rancid smell. he couldn't tell if it had meant the distressed scent rolling of you in waves, or the lingering catch of vile stranger Alphas. he leaned against the counter on the opposite side of the stove, tracking your tired body like a hawk. at some point Colby was vaguely aware of his own scent mingling with yours, tart and angry.

when you returned to the apartment you shared with your best friend, the room immediately was swamped with the scent of irritation; it almost smelled like rain during a storm. you set grocery bags on the kitchen counter at the same time Colby came around the corner. he, an Alpha— not even yours— did not like the fact he could smell others of his dynamic on you. people that were not him.

he was only a little jealous.

it was silent as you two ate dinner in the living room, TV muted and playing some bogus show. Colby glanced over at you, hating the way you were zoned out and so offset. he couldn't imagine the normal encounters affecting you this much. the uncomfortable quiet dragged on long after dinner, late into the night. he let you pick out a movie this time, something you two usually had to argue about.

"why are you so sad tonight." Colby ended up asking so bluntly, during a commercial. you look at him, cocking a brow at the odd question. sure you had been lost in though for awhile, but you wouldn't have interpreted it as sad. "i'm just tired of getting catcalled and harassed. i don't wanna go anywhere without you at this point." you sighed, leaning back against the couch.

even though it isn't needed at the moment, you tug it on. "that'll work. shit, it absolutely reeks of Alpha, doesn't it? and look how big it is on you." Colby comments, eyeing you up and down as you stand to adjust it. he's... right. you seem to drown in the thick fabric. you wish you could stop yourself as you pulled the collar of it to your nose, thoroughly enjoying being surrounded by the comfortable scent of the upper dynamic. he hums, reaching out to adjust the sleeves.

your best friend looks at you, and you can almost hear the gears turning in his head. "what if i scent you." he suggests, and you roll your eyes but laugh anyways. "it'll just wear off too soon."

Colby rather quickly pulls his hoodie off, flinging it at you immediately after. you try not to show the way you nearly drool at the sudden warmth in your arms and the comforting, masculine scent of... him. the only way you could describe it. the little Omega in your head was overly excited, only apply to supply the thoughts of, alpha! alpha! alpha!

unbeknownst to you, Colby had betrayed like, the first rule of having a roommate: don't catch feelings. yet here he was, in love with the sight of a pretty little Omega swamped in his hoodie, smelling like him. you look up at him with big doe eyes, tiredness gone and replaced with a subtle spark of joy. he smiles at you, and he can see you return it, even from behind the hoodie. there's a couple moments of tension filled staring.

and then you're dropping the collar and leaning towards him, eyes fluttering closed as you press your lips to his. it was completely involuntary, but you couldn't keep swooning over him forever. not when he looked at you the way he was. he's kissing back, reaching to pull you in to him. you slid into his lap with a happy hum, pulling back with a pop.

"i love you!" you confess, face warm. your hands fidget with the sleeves of his hoodie, falling to your lap. your heart thrums as his cheeks flush red, toothy smile beaming at you, "i love you too!"

he squeezes you in his embrace, nuzzling along your jaw with joyful little rumbles. "are you purring?" you giggle, and he nods into your neck. Colby rocks you back and forth, and you laugh at the way his happy scent easily overpowered yours and drowned the room. "never ever gonna let another Alpha even touch you!" he promises, voice airy and happy.

#colby brock #colby brock x reader #xplr #sam and colby #colby brock fluff #samandcolby #alpha!colby #alpha!colby brock

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fiction-box · 2 years

Note

Hello hello I see requests are open 👀 I loved your "only one bed" fic w Ashe so I'm here to ask for more lol

May I get a fem or gn reader tutoring Felix and Sylvain (you can just choose one if you're not feeling inspired) in magic? If I remember correctly both of them have a budding talent in reason magic so maybe the professor saw that and assigned reader to help cultivate that talent??

Idk how much detail you like in your requests so feel free to ignore the rest of this!! But if you want more specifics maybe reader has always been a little nervous around the nobles in the BL house since they're a commoner?? And even though they have every confidence in their abilities they're not very assertive so Byleth wanted reader to learn how to take charge in a situation and actually tell people what to do lol

Thank you in advance!! :D

This is one of the reasons I value requests so much. There are so many ideas you guys come up with that I want to discover!

I took these two stories in two very different directions, but I think they both stay true to the prompt in their own way. The different sways of each story are heavily influenced on how I think one would have to interact with each character to achieve the specifics we're looking for.

In this case, I was inspired to write Sylvain's story with more edges and harsh moments, though Felix's was created with a much softer arc in mind.

Enjoy! Requests are open to all. Send in as many as you wish!

The stories will be continued under the cut.

Sylvain:

“N-No! No. Please wait!”

For what must have been the third time this session, you adjusted the position of Sylvain’s hands so that his fingers were curled inwards.

“Remember? If you don’t curl your fingers in, you aren’t directing the magic properly. That could cause the fire to spread sideways rather than forward, and then you’d be putting everyone around you in danger.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “My bad.”

You were quite certain he did remember, but you didn’t say anything about it. It was a trivial matter, really. Curling his fingers yourself every once in a while was nothing compared to what you knew he could do to you if you got even slightly too pushy with him.

“That’s alright, just…try to keep it in mind as we go through the motions, okay?”

Taking a step back, you sighed and relaxed your body a bit. You were going to make sure the only thing he lit on fire would be the target across from him. Burning down the training grounds was not an appealing idea to you.

“So, different people pull their magic from different places within them, yes? For example, Mercedes feels her magic from somewhere closer to her heart, while Annette describes her pull as somewhere within her head. Personally, I feel my own resonate within my palms.”

He nodded. Good. You were getting somewhere.

“I can’t just tell you where to pull yours from, though. What I can say is that once we find your source, the rest is easy. While we could do some research or studying to make a more educated presumption, I’ve found that the fastest method is just to guess and check.”

Sylvain stretched out his arms and hands, “Sure. Walk me through it then, professor~.”

You were just about to until he returned his hands to the wrong position. Again.

No, you were not going to sigh. You were not going to show any signs of impatience, you were simply going to breathe normally, approach him calmly, and gently reposition his hands.

And as much as the little nickname irked you, you wouldn’t say anything about that, either.

What was the scale of a commoner’s displeasure at a nickname when compared to that of the power of a noble? One with a crest, no less. He didn’t need to learn magic in order to ruin your life. Or order your death.

He certainly didn’t need to know you were intimidated by him, lest he get any ideas.

“You’re pointed at the target right now. I’ve adjusted your form so that it’s perfect. The only thing left is for you to pull the magic from your body and feel it spread into your fingertips.”

“Got it,'' he winked, then turned his eyes back to the target.

There. You were almost done. The only thing that was left was for him to find the magic. After all, you were confident in your ability to show him how to use it.

“...”

“It’s fine, don’t worry!” you reassured him frantically. Goddess knows what he might do if he thought this was your fault. “It can take a bit of time, just make sure you’re focusing on tracing it to your- NO, WAIT-!”

You rushed to his side when you noticed he had wrecked his form and yet was still trying. This time, a small flame did come out of his hands. However, thanks to his uncontrolled form, it began to widen to his sides.

“Woah. Uh, what do I do now?” he asked. A sliver of panic had slipped its way into his tone.

“Just aim at the target and imagine it shooting forward. Do it quickly; it’s too late to control the fire at this point, so we need to let it go before it-”

You let out a squeak of surprise as you watched it shoot across the room to the target. The widened flame hit it, but the fire didn’t truly catch onto the target. Though you were certain it would have missed if his form was actually correct, it had become clear what the professor had meant when she mentioned he had a “budding talent” in the art.

When you were originally assigned to work on magic with Sylvain, you had voiced your concerns to Professor Byleth.

“You want me to teach? And a noble, of all people? One that you claim has talent, yet has never even accessed his magic before?”

“Good,” she smiled, “so you heard me.”

“I…please, I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t know the first thing about teaching, or…or giving orders…or…”

“That’s why you’ll be teaching one of your classmates. It will benefit us all for you to find your backbone.”

“Well then, what about Ashe? I’ll teach Ashe, or I’ll even teach Dedue, but…it isn’t really my place to teach a noble. Besides, I have a family, and if anything happens-”

“Okay,” the mercenary laughed, “now you’re definitely not getting out of this. It looks like you can learn quite a few lessons from such an experience, after all.”

“But-”

“Sylvain will be waiting for you at the training grounds. I expect you to arrive on time. I will check on you periodically.”

Well, so much for that, you thought to yourself. You hadn’t seen so much as the color of Professor Byleth’s hair since this whole thing began.

As you finished the task you had originally approached Sylvain to complete, you began to wonder how curling his fingers of all things would be the most challenging part of this lesson. He was clearly listening to you when you spoke, so the issue must be in your directions, right? Maybe you really weren’t cut out for this whole “giving-orders” thing, even though you thought you had been doing a good job, so far.

“Hey,” Sylvain began. “Why haven’t you said anything to me?”

You paused, “What do you mean? I’ve been talking you through the process this whole time.” Honestly, now you weren't sure if he was listening. Maybe he was the spacey type.

Sylvain quirked an eyebrow, “Every time I fail to go back into position, you just stop and move my fingers manually. I must have done it at least four times by now, and most girls would have told me to knock it off at this point.”

“I don’t…” four was an understatement. But did he really not realize the reason for your hesitation? “...know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes. You do. There’s this look in your eye every time you notice it. You have a lot more patience than I do, that’s for sure. Your tone of voice stays neutral or positive, and each time you maneuver my hands, you don’t move them any rougher than you did the time before it. But even with all of those behaviors combined, you manage to give it away through your eyes.”

What.

He’s been able to notice all of those…traits…of your behavior over the past two hours you’ve been working to teach him, but he still can’t do any better than a spread flame of-?

There’s no way.

“So you’re saying you know how to use the proper positioning?”

“Pssh. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say I got it the first time.” the red-headed noble teased, “But all those extra times you spent showing me really helped-”

“Do it, then.”

His brows knit lightly, “What?”

You pointed at the target he had only technically hit during his last shot, “Get into your form. Aim at the target. And light it on fire.”

Sylvain was too stunned to speak. Instead, he did as you said, turning to face the target and firing a small fireball at the center. Sure enough, it caught fire. Right on the mark.

His smug demeanor returned, “So, how did I do? Don’t you think I should get some form of a reward for all my hard work today?”

You slowly exhale, closing your eyes and calming your heartbeat. Then, you fire your own flame spell at the target. The hay is half ember and half ash when you turn to leave.

“We’re done. I’m done.”

“Woah,” Sylvain’s eyes went wide as he stared into the remains of the fire. Quickly recovering from his shock, he turned back to you, “You oka-?”

“Two hours of my life!” you snap, spinning on your heel to face him. “Gone! Wasted!”

“Hey, now, don’t get too upset. After all, I know a few women that would be jealous of someone getting to spend that much one-on-one time with me,” his signature smirk returns, and all you can think of is how much you’d like to burn the look off his face. “Why don’t we go out and get some tea together? Would that make you feel better?”

“Two hours! And now you want even more time?”

You actually wanted to cry, now, but there was no way you were going to give him the satisfaction.

“I was supposed to spend my time with Mercedes and Annette, this afternoon! I would’ve had tea with them! Then we would’ve studied for our certification exams, and…I didn’t need this! And you certainly didn’t need this much time from me.”

Sylvain actually looked a little hurt at that, and before you could truly process everything you had just done, you heard three small raps at the entrance of the training grounds.

“That’s quite enough, you two. Sylvain, please head back to my classroom and wait for me there. We’re going to be having a little chat about training etiquette, but not before I speak with your classmate.”

His regretful expression left almost as quickly as it came when he turned to face Professor Byleth with a wink, “Right. Don’t keep me waiting, Professor!”

She glared at him, and you were immediately glad her look wasn’t directed at you.

“Don’t tempt me. Maybe I won’t show up for two hours. Whatever keeps me entertained, right?”

The Gautier noble lost his smirk as your own mouth formed a thin line to keep from smiling. You weren’t sorry for him in the slightest; especially not after he treated you like a plaything for the better part of an afternoon.

“And no detours!” she barked as he left.

You stepped forward, “Professor…I don’t-”

“I disagree.”

You blinked twice, “What?”

“With what you said earlier,” she smiled, “about not needing this. I disagree.”

The tension in your shoulders dropped in defeat, “What are you talking about, professor? I must have completed what you told me to at least an hour ago, but I wasn’t even competent enough to pick up on it. There was absolutely no reason for me to stay any longer than that, and especially not with someone as depreciative of my company as-”

But it didn’t feel like she was listening to you. Her smile was just growing, and all you could do was trail off and watch as your professor turned and headed for the door.

“You’ve grown more than you realize. You were finally able to assert yourself today.”

You shuddered a little, “I’m still worried about what I said to him.”

With her hand on the door, Professor Byleth faced you one last time, “Don’t be. Now you know as well as I do. Those nobles think they can do whatever they want, so it’s an important lesson for us to learn.” She nodded once, “It’s okay to stand up for yourself, my student. Someone needs to keep them in check.”

The doors of the grounds shut behind her with a thud.

She was right, you knew. You felt more sure of yourself, just as she had asked you to become. Not only that, but now that you knew people like Sylvain were qualified to be nobles, you weren’t as scared to talk to them.

But now you had a new fear. One day, Fodlan’s future would rest in the hands of nobles like these.

If messing around was the best they could do, they definitely had their work cut out for them.

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

Felix:

“It’s not working.”

“Don’t worry, th-that’s alright! This is only your first day, after all. I think you’re doing well.”

Felix huffed, “Doing well isn’t going to save my life when I can’t cut through someone’s armor. Stop flattering me and actually do something to help.”

“R-right! Of course!” you stumbled. You allowed your eyes to scan Felix’s body, evaluating his form and making a mental checklist. He was able to create the magic just fine, but the Faerghus noble was completely lost when it came to firing it.

“Well, your stance is great, and you can summon the magic easily enough. B-but I don’t have enough information to properly identify a problem area-”

“Then show me again,” he ordered as Professor Byleth entered the training grounds. She was carrying a handful of spears that she must have just bought.

“That’s enough, Felix. You're the one listening, here. Let your friend do her job.”

He balked at that. “She is not my friend. Neither of us are here by choice, in case you’re having trouble recalling the context of the situation you put us in!”

Your teacher began swapping out the new lances in her arms for the broken and rusted ones discarded around the training grounds. “Well, complaining about it isn’t going to get you anywhere. Just be nice and listen, and I’m sure this will be over before you know it.”

The swordsman turned to you, clenching his teeth, “Please. Show me how you performed the spell. Again.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Ah-ah. No,” you turned to Professor Byleth as she looked you in the eyes, “You’re the professor. You’re the one giving the orders. Felix isn’t teaching you how to teach. You’re teaching him magic.”

“Ah, right,” you stood a little taller, “In that case…Felix, I’m going to demonstrate how to cast the Thunder spell once more.”

Your posture faltered at the resounding sigh from across the room. “I’m going off to the shop to repair these weapons. I expect this…dynamic…to be fixed when I return.”

As you watched your professor leave, the noble next to you cleared his throat. Back to work.

“Okay, I-I can go slow. And I’ll talk you through it!”

You got into your original stance, going over each component from your feet to your fingers. Felix reproduced your efforts methodically.

Next, you informed him of the process of garnering magic from your internal source. As the Thunder gathered in your hands, it did the same in his. It was just as bright as yours, which had always come as a surprise.

You didn’t dwell on it too long as you came to the part of the system you knew you’d spend the most time on. You tried to describe it as best you could; tracing an imaginary line between your fingers and your target before letting it go. And while yours went, the lightning magic between Felix’s hands began to grow in size and glow ever brighter.

“Tch. Not again.”

“Hold on, I’ll get it!” you reassured him, running across the room to grab one of the logs you were using as targets. Returning to him, you placed the wood in his hands as it took the brunt of the power from his spell. However, the rest of it went into you.

“Agh-! Th…that’s-” you hug your arms to your chest, attempting to cradle them against one another lightly, “that’s definitely what a Thunder spell with double the power would feel like.”

While Felix didn’t outright ask if you were alright, you felt his eyes scanning over your arms. But as long as you were the one taking the hit and not him, he couldn’t get any more upset with you, right? A commoner teaching magic to a noble. While you didn’t doubt that you could, you were not exactly confident that you should. However, it wasn’t up to you. Professor Byleth called the shots.

Shots that you needed to be giving right now, you remembered.

“Forgive me! I need to focus.”

Felix opened his mouth as if in protest, but you spoke again before he could get any sound out, “So, tell me exactly what you’re thinking when you try to fire off the spell.”

He furrowed his brow, “Just like you said. I draw that invisible line in my mind, I run my arms along it, and I think of letting go. Releasing.”

“Hmm. I think that might be our issue.”

“You think?”

“Hey, I’m not exactly the best at teaching compared to just doing, in case you couldn’t already tell.”

Only after the words were out of your mouth did you realize what you just said.

“Oh no- I’m so sorry! Look, I…I’ll figure this out for you, you’ll execute it, and then we won’t have to do this again.”

“Calm down. You’re allowed to be frustrated, too,” he scoffed. “I haven’t exactly been a model student.”

“Right…a-anyway, try going through the routine once more, but instead of thinking about releasing, think of pushing. That way you’re using both mental and physical force.”

So you watched as Felix did just that. He got into his stance, gathered the magic into his hands, pushed his arms forward, and furrowed his brow.

But the lighting grew ever brighter, the supply of logs grew ever smaller, and your arms grew ever more sore.

“W-why-” you asked, cradling your arms together once more. Tears formed in your eyes as you looked elsewhere, fighting the pain. “I don’t get it.”

“Come on!” Felix shouted at himself. With your head turned away from him, however, you had presumed your so-called “student’s” anger was directed at you.

Consequently, you flinched away from him.

From outside of your view, Felix’s eyes widened slightly. He softened his tone a bit, “Woah…Hey, are you alright?”

“Please,” you pleaded, turning to fully face him. “I’m doing my best. I just…if you could just give me a bit more time to wor-”

“I’m not mad at you, and I’m definitely not about…to hurt…you…” he began to trail off.

He was staring at your arms. Once you followed his gaze, you could see why. With a gasp, you held them straight out in front of you.

The flesh of your arms was burned.

It went in a pattern that made it look like something had lashed at you. The last log you used must not have been as effective as you had hoped it would be. Your knees dropped out in shock.

Felix burst toward you. Catching your torso, he lightly lowered you to the ground.

Dread cloaked your thoughts like a shadow as your breathing became more shallow and stuttered. You couldn’t cast healing magic over yourself. Moving your arms at all was a special kind of torture, but performance of the spell you needed couldn’t be achieved without more range of motion.

“Teach me how to heal you.”

You opened your mouth to speak, but you were still too petrified to register what he had said.

“What?”

“Look, maybe I can’t fire off lightning, but we can both clearly see from your arms that the spell worked. If you can teach me how to heal, even if I can’t send it into you, you can still make use of the spell on yourself by placing your arms where you used to put the logs.”

It sounded like a reasonable enough plan. It was the best thing you had at the moment, anyway. You didn’t think you could move about to get help in this state, and you didn’t like the idea of being left alone in the training grounds, either.

So you walked him through it. Kneeling together on the floor, you told him to change his fingers into a cupped form. He was instructed to send the power through his wrists rather than his fingertips to get it to form. Then, with his hands glowing green and hovering over your arms, you directed him to give the magic directly to your afflicted areas.

Both of you were stunned when Felix was able to send the healing magic to you on his first try. You didn’t need to move into it, it just flowed from his wrists into your arms.

Your head gave an involuntary bow as you felt the magic wash over you. It was like a light breeze on a hot day. More like a cool salve on a burn, you supposed.

“Thank you,” you breathed, head still lowered. Your breaths continued, slow and deep as you closed your eyes.

It got you thinking, though. How was it that Felix could fire his healing magic effectively, but not the Thunder spell you had both been working on? It was the same principle, though you think you conveniently forgot to instruct him on it, this time.

Your eyes opened lightly as you felt the flow of magic dissipate from your body. Felix must have stopped, then.

As you tried to lift your head back up, your vision spotted and dizziness set in. You supposed you had never truly been injured that badly before. Sure, the attacks you had taken throughout the time of one battle all added together might total quite a bit of agony, but Mercedes was always around to heal you at intervals whenever you suffered anything noticeable.

“...ngh..”

“Easy,” Felix stated, moving his hands to balance your shoulders, “you’ll get up when you’re ready. Nothing good will come from you pushing yourself right now.”

Focusing on your breathing, you put your head back down and placed your palms in front of you for balance.

“What were you thinking…" you took another deep breath, steadying yourself. "When you sent the healing spell, what was the thought permeating your mind?”

His hold on your shoulders tightened subtly, “I was just thinking that I wanted you to take it.”

“There, then,” you affirmed as your voice returned to you in full. “That’s going to be what you need to do in order to fire your spells. Your objective will be to get the recipient to take the spell from you.”

Trying to lift your head up once more, you succeeded. You let your eyes blink a few times, then turned to the noble kneeling next to you.

“So, go do it. One more try,” you nodded. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll be done.”

His lips pressed against each other, and his eyes hardened. You could tell he was less than interested.

“I promise I have learned from my mistakes. You’ve already found the solution, Felix. You performed it just now. The only thing that’s left is to use the proper spell.”

“Got it,” he stood, moving into position a few feet away from his target. Before he gets into his form, though, he looks to you.

“If it backfires-”

“It won’t.”

He clenched his teeth, “It might not, but I’m telling you that if it does, you’re not grabbing that log. I’ll find a way to take care of it myself, understood?”

You laughed, “Don’t worry, I couldn’t stand if I tried.”

“I mean it.”

“I’ll stay right here. I promise.”

That seemed to be the answer he was looking for. The swordsman turned back to the target, took his stance, and you observed as the lightning formed in his hands.

You watched him shove the spell forward, and just as you predicted, the lightning flew from his hand into the center of the target.

“Just like that!” you smiled warmly, eyes fixed on where the projectile had struck.

Right on cue, the doors to the training grounds flew open, unceremoniously announcing the return of Professor Byleth. The first thing her gaze landed on was the scorched target across from Felix.

“Wonderful jo-” as she turned to address the two of you, however, her eyes caught on your own position.

“Why are you on the floor?”

“...”

“Uh…Felix knows healing magic, now…?”

After a quick interrogation to ensure neither of you deliberately hurt one another just so he might practice his powers in faith, the mercenary escorted both of you to see Professor Manuela.

Fortunately, she didn’t spot any remaining injuries on either of you. This led your own professor to become quite pleased with your performances, and she insisted that this become a more permanent arrangement.

You were originally concerned about how much time you would have to spend teaching until Professor Byleth began a weekly rotation system between the two of you.

Though you can’t say you were ever fond of the sword, you were definitely not expecting to ever become so experienced with one in such a short period of time. Now that you and Felix could both effectively use magic and metal interchangeably, the two of you possessed extreme versatility on the battlefield.

The Blue Lions were now more than ever a force to be reckoned with, and it was safe to say that the House overall was far from displeased.

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