#every time berry gets attention or nice comments - my heart giggles

[maria-ruta]

local man gets kissed 50 times, avoiding 6 smacks and 15 suspicious activities!!!

based on twitter poll i did for fun

[midnight-dreamerness]

It’s Always Been You

(This is NOT my gif. Credit to the creator <3)

summary: Jay stopped speaking to you unexpectedly and then you see each other at Molly’s.

pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

warning: Curse Words??

word count: 2.4k

A/N: theres a slight mention of the reader being plus size…

You never thought you’d be replaced. But in came Erin Lindsay and suddenly she was all he talked about. And eventually he didn’t call anymore. He didn’t pull up in your driveway with pizza and a pack of beer out of the blue anymore. There were no Saturday movie nights or Monday monopoly despite you both knowing he always won.

You were lonely. After meeting Jay in high school, it was the two of you against the world. And when he left for the rangers, you were lost. But he came back to you. And you were the happiest you’ve ever been. But this time was different. You were losing him, falling right between your fingers right In front of your eyes and there was nothing you could do was watch from afar as he loved someone else and ached to be that someone.

Erin was a good person with a good heart. She was good for him. But you couldn’t help but hate that you couldn’t give him everything she could. Whatever that was you didn’t know. Maybe it was because you were bigger. Maybe it was because you were different. Whatever it was, you didn’t want to know. It would only break you in the end.

You tried to go out but it seemed the ghost of him followed you wherever you went.

You glanced at him for a moment, noting the stubble covering his jaw and remember how much you ran your hands over it giggling when he spun you around in the middle of his apartment.

You both were closer than normal best friends. You slept in the same bed and cuddled countless times. But every time you woke you he was gone.

Your friend snapped her fingers in front of your face with a laugh.

“You’re staring,” she commented, sniggering. You grimaced, biting at your lip and removing your intense gaze from the man across the room.

He was with a group of people but his arms were laying across the chair of the girl you wanted to hate but couldn’t.

“I hate nice people,” you grumbled, only making your friend laugh more. You ended up grinning, her laugh being contagious.

“Hello, ladies.” You now noticed the blonde who had walked up to your table, recognizing him from Jay's group from across the room.

“Hello, handsome,” you flirted, resting your chin on the palm of your hand, fluttering your eyes at him. He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m Adam. I couldn’t help but notice you from across the room. Can I buy you a drink, both of you?”

“You can buy her a drink. I’m going to talk to the guy who's been eyeing me since I walked in. Good luck!” Your friend exclaimed and started to walk away but turned around and added, “Oh! She likes the fruity stuff. Berry Lemonade Margarita is her favorite. Thank me later.” She gave the blonde, Adam, a wink before finally walking away. You place your hands in your hands, a blush settling over you cheeks.

“Berry Lemonade Margarita it is.” Adam said walking to the bar. You sat there and chuckled, shaking your head. You could feel eyes on you, so you looked up and met his eyes. His hand had fallen from behind Erins chair, a sad smile on his face. You looked away letting out a sigh. Adam was back in a matter of minutes, sliding your drink in front of you and settling in the seat in front of you, a glass of what looks like Whiskey in his hands.

“Thank you,” you muttered, giving him a small shy smile.

“You don’t talk much do you?”

“When I open my mouth I usually embarrass myself.” He only laughs, shaking his head.

You ended up talking for a good twenty minutes about anything and everything. He was easy to talk to but you couldn’t help but ache for another man who would glance at the two of you from across the room ever so often. He hated it. He hated watching Adam making you laugh. It was really his own fault. He has no right to be angry or jealous. But he was. All he wanted to do was march right over there and rip him from that seat. Instead, though, he watched from afar, detaching himself from the conversation his friends were having. You brightened up the room as soon as you entered, his eyes on you as soon as you stepped foot into Molly’s.

“You know Jay?” Adam asked, leaning back against the booth. You nodded, swirling the straw in your half empty drink.

“We were best friends. Things happen, though. People change.”

“Well you're glancing at him every couple of minutes so apparently something happened there.”

“Oh fuck, Adam. I’m sorry,” your shoulder slump as you feel the guilt build inside you. He simply laughs and shakes his head.

“No need to apologize. Does he know?”

You wanted to ask him what he meant but you knew. So you shook your head, “No.”

He purses his lip. “Have you thought about telling him?”

“Only a thousand times. Erin is good for him, though.”

“If Jay wanted to be with Erin he would’ve made it official. So clearly something is holding him back.”

You hated how your chest filled with hope that maybe he held back because of you. But he left you. Stopped calling. Stopped texting. Stopped everything.

“C’mon,” Adam said standing up, glass in one hand and the other held out for you to take. You gave him a curious look but took his hand anyway and grabbed your drink before he could pull you away. When you noticed the direction you both we’re headed you tried to stop but it was no use. The two of you had gained the attention of the entire group.

“Hey, this is my girl, (Y/N). This is Kevin, Kim, Erin, and Jay.” Adam said, pointing them all out with their name. You gave them all a shy smile and a wave. Anxiety filled you and you suddenly felt sick to your stomach.

“Oh no, has he talked your ear off yet?” Asked Kevin who only made the rest of them laugh, aside from Jay, who only glaring at him. He hated the way the words “his girl” fell from Adam's lips.

Your shoulders dropped as the anxiety left and you let out a small laugh.

“He’s getting there.”

You didn’t even have it in you to look into his eyes. You tightened your grip on Adam's hand, who simply nudged you towards the empty spot next to an African American man, who you now know as Kevin. Adam sat next to you, sending you a wink before throwing his arm over your chair.

“Truthfully. She loves me,” Adam says shrugging. You take a sip of your drink, eyes widen, a laugh nearly falling from your lips.

“I’m just waiting on my chance to run,” you suddenly spoke. There was a slight pause before laughs were heard around the table and a whine came from Adam.

“Babe, that is so mean,” Adam moaned, holding his hand over his heart as if you broke it.

You simply giggled and slapped his chest lightly.

A conversation started and you added in a couple of times but mainly you were putting your focus on avoiding his gaze or trying not to cry at the sight of his hand resting on Erins shoulder.

As a certain song came on, you were suddenly pulled into memories of only a couple months ago.

It was the night he made you dance with him. You remember giggling and letting him spin you until you were dizzy and ready to pass out. You remember how his hands fell on your hips to try and steady you before you fell. He was laughing the entire time until his face came close to yours. And he almost kissed you. He was so close and you prayed that he would. But he didn’t.

The memory only causes your heart to ache and knowing that the man you loved was sitting right in front of you with another girl on his arm made it ten times worse.

You wanted to scream and to cry but you trapped it inside, bottling it up until you could let it out once you got home.

The sound of your slurping pulled you from your thoughts. You were out of adult juice. With no intention of going home, you were going to need another drink to get you through the night.

“I'm going to get a drink. I’ll be back,” you told Adam before hopping out of your seat. He gave you a nod.

“Yeah, me too. Anyone want anything?”

You pushed through the groups of people trying to get away but there was no use, Jay caught your arm and pulled you away before anyone at the table noticed. You were in a hallway suddenly and before you could say anything Jay was in front of you.

“Adam? Really?”

“What? What’s wrong with Adam? And why do you care?” You are getting upset now. Jay had no right to question you on who you were seeing. Not anymore.

“He’s not really your type.” You snorted at his reply. What were you supposed to say to that? You didn’t understand why he cared when he had left you and all of a sudden he wants to look out for you.

“Jay, you have no idea what my type is anymore. People change. Maybe I like blondes now.”

“Yeah well I remember only a couple months ago you much preferred brown haired, blue eyed men.”

“What are you implying?” You asked, stepping closer to him, your eyes set in a glare. He folded his arms over his chest, his muscles catching your eyes for a split second. Your thighs clenched before you copied his stance, your nails digging into your arms.

“You know exactly what I’m implying, princess.”

The nickname made you weak at the knees and so did that fucking smirk on his face. But you stood your ground, slipping your hair over your shoulder and attempting to walk around him. He caught your wrist, pulling you into his chest. You took in a breath at how close you both were. It had been so long since you touched him and every part of you wanted to melt into his arms.

“You left me, remember. Replaced me. No calls, no text, no goodbye. And no excuse. You have no right to try and tell me who I can or cannot be with.” As you spoke you snatched your wrist from his grip and pulled away, walking right out the side doors. You walked up to Adam, the excuse falling from your lips easily.

“I’m not feeling too well, I’m gonna head home, Call me. It was nice meeting you guys.”

And you were out the door before they could say anything. Your phone was blowing up as soon as you sped off down the road but you didn’t once pick it up knowing who it was.

It was your turn to ignore him now. You blocked his number later that night and cried yourself to sleep, trying your hardest to let go of that stupid schoolgirl crush you had for him and grow the hell up. You only wished it was as easy as saying it. But your mind betrayed you and you thought about him for the next two days. And then he showed up.

When you heard the knock you assumed it was the package you had been waiting on for three days now but when you took a peek through the peephole, you closed your eyes and sat your back against the door.

“Please open the door,” he begged, resting his head against the door. You let out a sigh and pushed yourself from the door, turning and swinging it open. He stood there with a pizza box in his hand and a pack of beer resting on top. You couldn’t help but smile as you noticed the flowers hiding behind his back. He pulled them out, a grin overtaking the sadness on his face. The look of excitement cured the nervousness that had settled in his stomach.

“Can I take the pizza, beer, and flowers and leave you on the doorstep?” You joked about taking a hold of the flowers, bringing them to your nose to smell them. You closed your eyes as your favorite flower's scent invaded your nose.

Jay let out a laugh. “No, princess. It’s a package deal.”

You let out a chuckle and opened the door wider for him. Jay walked inside, instantly making his way to the living room where he sat the pizza and beer on the table. Instead of following him you entered the kitchen and placed the flowers in a vase and filled it halfway with water. You placed them on the counter, cocking your head to the side as you arranged them perfectly in the vase. Jay watched from the entrance, leaning against the frame with a smile on his lips.

“I’m sorry. And I know it isn’t much, but I hope this is a good start to getting you back.”

His voice causes shivers to roll over your spine. You purses your lips, taking in a breath.

“I don’t want to play anymore, Jay. I want a relationship and if you can’t give me that then please just say so.”

He walked forwards, cupping your face in his hands.

“I didn’t know what I wanted back. But I do know now. And it’s you. It's always been you.”

With a sigh of relief you captured his lips, your hand running up his chest before clasping around his waist. You wished you had done it before, that you both hadn’t played around the thought of a relationship and just did it. But you had him now and that’s all that mattered.

His kiss made you fuzzy and you Found yourself leaning against him for support. His tongue swiped across your bottom lip and you parted your lips eagerly. You moaned at the taste of him and moved your hands to then settle on his chest. You have never been kissed like this before. And you loved every part of it.

You pulled back, taking in a much needed breath as he leaned his forehead against yours attempting to catch his own breath.

“So, you want me to beat your ass in monopoly or what?”

[subwaysurf45]

Winter Makes Ice (Ep.7)

Summary:  you’re captured after a brawl at the Avengers building, Bucky and others must save you before Hydra makes a new Winter Soldier out of you, Bucky has given up that title

Words: 3412

Episode: seven

Warning: PTSD, vomiting

Masterlist! Winter Makes Ice Episode: Six

Time: 8:01am 

Date: October 7th 2024

Were you running late?

 Yes.

Your final appointment with Bruce was today and it was scheduled for 8:00 in the morning, you had set your alarm with enough time to get there but Bucky had other plans. While you were getting up Bucky snaked his metal arm around you, he knew you couldn’t break out of it, he pulled you back in his chest so you could stay for a little longer but you managed to bribe him after giving a few kisses down his neck. As you sucked his hand relaxed and when he didn’t see it coming and you snuck out to your bathroom to get ready for the day, you knew he was too tired to get up and pull you back. 

The surgery for both your nose and removing the serum went without a hitch, though you did have a panic attack a day later because it seemed too good to be true for you, everything else went fine. Bruce managed to take samples of your skin and make them into cartilage for your nose, it took a couple days for it to marry and accept your face, it would turn really red and then lose all colour in a matter of minutes. The serum removal took longer than expected, and it turns out what Bruce’s lab was creating wasn’t what he was expecting. The antibiotic would actually get into your bloodstream and split the serum from the red blood cells, but it wouldn’t remove them, the serum would still circulate in your body but just next to the red blood cells. 

A heart-lung by-pass machine was used while you were sedated, you could have been awake but seeing your blood fill a tube and then go back into you while a bag filled with blue liquid was just extra trauma you didn’t want to see. There were always complications with being sedated, but Bucky supported you no matter what. You weren’t left feeling sick after but like you hadn’t slept in days, you found there was a difference between waking up from passing out like you did in the cell and just lack of sleep, Bucky had looked at you quizzically when you said it randomly, but you couldn’t seem to explain. 

You still get headaches from time to time, it normally comes from that same spot in the back of your head and high on your neck, you’d feel around for a scab or scar but would find nothing. There was a bump when you’d checked recently but it seemed as though it was a goose egg form getting hit, but that was so long ago. You didn’t talk about your bump much because you thought people would look at you crazy, some people already did; while others looked at you like you were a ghost. 

As you walked to Banner's lab an agent stopped talking to her friend to look you up and down, and hand came to cover her mouth but you saw the smirk in her eyes. You just shrugged and turned into the lab. 

“You’re late,” Bruce said, he was sat on his stool with everything in hand, clipboard and pen at the ready. 

“Sorry,” you smiled and sat down. 

Bruce began to do the checks, he got good at hiding that he was taking blood, he’d point across the room to show a floating hologram of all your vitals and while you were reading over them he’d quickly stick the needle in to draw a bit of blood. 

He did the same except he pinched your thigh as he stuck in the needle point to make your attention go to your leg instead of the inside of your elbow. 

“Ow!” you slapped his hand away, “I’m used to it by now, and I also trust you and know you’re not trying to stick a foreign serum into me.'' You shook your head and read the file that was left open, “I can’t believe it’s my last test,” you sighed and leaned back in the chair. 

The whirl of the centrifuge wasn’t too loud, Bruce stood beside it with one arm holding his weight on the desk. He watched as you looked over the file again and again, your finger would trace the words and slowly find their way to the corner of the page to flip. The further you got into the file the further back you went, Bruce noticed you tend to stay on your injury report page a bit longer than the others, you’d study the little picture of a person and all the ‘X’s that were drawn where you got hurt; you could barely see the human drawing underneath. He’d watch as you read over every description of the injuries you’ve gotten, one time he asked why and you looked at him and said. 

“Because I go over how to fix each injury, so when I go back into the field I can stay on my toes.” 

But he knew you were just tired of feeling like you weren’t helping when in reality you prompted a medical breakthrough, not everyone gets infected by a mind controlling serum, but the new use of a heart-lung by-pass was being looked at by hospitals. 

Bruce took the blood out of the centrifuge and looked into the vial, there was no trace of blue like there was the first time he did it, just plasma and blood. You were still reading and he knew you’d pass his test so instead of telling you he was starting the evaluation, he just did it. 

“Close that book.” He lowered his voice which sent a boom through the lab. 

You didn’t close it but it did scare you for a second, a little jump but you went right back to reading. You weren’t trying to be mean by not listening but you had to show that you wouldn’t follow orders but rather respond like a normal human, the first day you flinched for the stool when Bruce asked you to walk it over to him but after that you tended to act like he wasn’t in the room. 

“Stand up.” he barked. 

You looked over to him, “no thanks,” you smiled, Bruce smiled back. 

“Can you stand for a second, please?” Bruce squinted and leaned back on the desk, he was challenging how you’d react to an indirect command, it was an offer rather than a command. 

“I don't know, can I?” You tilted your head to the side, a wide smile was being suppressed by a terrible poker face. 

“May you please stand?” Bruce walked over with a proud smile on his face, he was no longer challenging you. 

You just laughed and stood, “only because you asked so nicely,” you let your teeth flash while you both laughed. “Why did you choose standing? That’s like, day one stuff,” you sighed from laughing and closed the file. 

“Because I want to hug you,” he opened his arms wide, “to congratulate you. Now give me a hug, that’s an order!” he giggled but laughed even more when you pretended to scope him out, “just kidding, come ‘ere, kid.” 

You fell into a hug and wrapped your arms tightly around him, Bruce did the same. It was quick but it meant the world. “Thanks for everything, Bruce.” You smiled as you walked out of the room, “I mean it, you really helped me out.” 

“Don't mention it, you’re free!” he opened his arms wide to shew you out of his lab. 

You walked out and closed the door behind you, you only took a few steps before staring off into the distance. “I guess I am…” you muttered to yourself before continuing to walk back to your room. 

As you walked you didn’t even see Bucky in the kitchen “doll!” he called and you turned instantly, “breakfast?” he tilted the frying pan over so you could see french toast. 

Your eating and sleeping were the only things that didn’t seem to get better, nightmares plagued you every night and you could barely stomach a workout smoothie. Bucky would try his best to get you to eat but he typically ate your leftovers instead of making a meal for himself, it was hard to watch because you weren’t gaining weight and he still felt guilty when he’d touch your back and feel every ridge. 

“I’ll have a bit,” you smiled and walked over, “I’m a free bird now.” you commented as he slipped the bread on your plate. 

“Way to go, babe, I knew you could do it.” He scrunched his nose and took the stool beside you, “eat slow and as much as you want, no worries.” He kissed your temple before pulling out his phone. 

You slowly started to eat, you put the corner of the bread in your mouth and chewed slowly. The sweetness and the flavour was still overpowering, you weren’t used to this much intensity and it only made you feel nauseous. As much as Bucky acted like he wasn’t paying attention you could see his eyes look over as far as he can to gauge your reaction, when you’d catch him looking he’d just cough and look forward. You only got four bites in before turning your nose up and pushing the plate to Bucky. He didn’t want to seem disappointed but he was, not in you but rather himself, nothing was working. 

“What do you think you can eat?” He asked softly. 

“Plain yogurt?” you questioned. 

“I’ll give anything a shot,” he breathed and stood. The yogurt was far back in the fridge but he found it eventually, he poured a little bowl, “you want granola?” he asked. 

“Just yogurt,” she sheepishly replied, a thin line formed on your lips. 

He served it up and went back to eating the french toast, you scooped it up and took a spoonful. It was so plain and boring, nothing tingled on your taste buds. There was no category for it, it wasn't sweet or sour, it wasn’t savoury; it was just plain. The metallic taste from the spoon had more power than the yogurt itself. Nothing to chew, no berries or granola. 

It was perfect. 

In no time you scarfed it down, the spoon clicked on the bowl as you scraped for the ends of it. Bucky had been cooking your favourite foods to make you feel at home, you liked spice and sweetness normally. You’d turn down yogurt a month ago if it didn’t have your favourite granola in it, but what both you and Bucky didn’t realize was that you started with crazy flavours instead of the basics. Butter and bread, plain crackers, and maybe some almonds sounded great right now.  

Bucky looked over in shock to see you done with your food, he watched as you went to the pantry and pulled out some unsalted crackers. You plopped a few into your mouth and just waited to see if your body would reject it, but it didn’t.

“Guess I went too fast, too soon, huh?” he let out an unhappy laugh, “you could’ve been eating for a while…” he muttered and stood. He was exhausted, the darker circles under his eyes and the flatness of his skin didn’t go unnoticed. You woke up every night screaming and thrashing around in the bed, the sheets would be piled on the floor from your arms swinging around. As much as Bucky wanted some sleep, he knew for a fact that you’d been in disposition before, you’d been the one to gently ease him out of a nightmare for three weeks straight.   

“You did your best and I love you for it,” You smiled and leaned across the counter to kiss his lips, he sat back down again, “I would have done the same thing, if it makes you feel better.”

Bucky just rubbed his face and looked up to you, “how?” was all he asked. 

“How...what?” you giggled, but Bucky didn’t crack a smile. 

“Why are you so upbeat right now, I get it you finished your tests with Banner but, god, I don’t know how you’re so happy?” He didn’t sound angry but more in disbelief, if it were him, Bucky knew he’d be curled into a ball in the middle of the bed for days, there wouldn’t be anything to make him happy. 

You just sighed and sat down next to him again, “I’m not upbeat right now, if I’m being honest,” you looked forward and the sleek grey cupboards, “I can’t train because my stitches will fall out, I can’t run for the same reason. Half of the team treats me like fine china while the other half still punches me in the arm when they tell a funny joke, if I’m hanging out with Steve he will ask if I’m okay after every little thing while Tony doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t like sneak attacks anymore.” You wiped down your face with both hands, “my head still hurts like crazy, especially in that one spot in the back, everyone is too loud and I’ve been called ‘too quiet’ too many times for me to count.” You finally looked over to Bucky who had the saddest eyes, his lips curled down as he scanned over you, “you’re the only one who I can be, somewhat, happy around because you get it. Yes, you can be very cautious but you’ve backed off when I’ve said no and you’ve learned not to push when I can’t remember much. Bucky,” you cupped his face with one hand, you could feel him push into it, “you see me happy around you because you’re the only one who knows how to put a smile on my face right now, and I’m so happy it’s you.” Before he could say anything you pulled him in for a kiss, he hummed into it and reached up to place his hand over yours; it was still resting on his stubbled cheek. 

“I didn’t know I was doing all that right, I thought I was failing.” Bucky muttered against your lips, you could feel the sadness in his voice. 

“I still can’t lift my arm up all the way without it hurting, you wash my hair and put it in the clip when I ask, you might not have figured that food out or my nightmares but you do the little things, and that’s what makes it better.” Bucky’s arms moved down to hold you at your waist, you were still close. All he could do was smile, the kind of smile you use when you get a prize for a thing you really didn’t think mattered or when you’re embarrassed of how you fell in front of everyone; his lips turned down but his eyes smiled. 

The rest of your morning flowed into your afternoon easily, you’d spent some time just lounging in the bed and keeping each other warm. Little make-out session might brew but nothing went too far, it wouldn’t for a while and you both agreed on that. At one point you fell asleep curled up against Bucky’s chest, he stayed still and when it came time, he helped you out of your nightmare. The little kisses littered your face until you were calm again, he didn’t dare to fall asleep at this point because he knew you would too and being woken up by twitches and little pleads for help weren’t something he enjoyed for his own mental health. 

Time: 9:30pm

Date: October 7th 2024

Everyone filed into the cinema room for movie night, this was your first one since you came back. Bucky had tried to talk you out of it due to it being October and a horror movie was on the list, apparently it was a early 2000’s slasher, basically the worst movie to come back to. You were done with hiding away from the team, you wanted to see them again, scary movies didn’t bother you before because you knew they were just movies and alien killers weren’t real, you really didn’t know how much could change now. 

There was a bowl of popcorn for you and Bucky, you sat in the corner so you were nestled into the armrest and the back pillow, Bucky was on your left, cautiously watching you as Nat queued up the movie. 

“I now present,” she held her arms in front of the screen, “Camp Blood!” The movie faded in from black and a hush fell over the team. People snuggled deeping into their blankets and got ready for the movie, you just leaned your head on Bucky’s shoulder and threw a few pieces of popcorn- without butter -in your mouth.

Not even a half an hour later you were really shaken up, the gore and the blood had slowly broken down your walls and gotten to your head. You had hid it so well Bucky genuinely had no idea even though he was checking in on you after every kill, a little kiss to your temple before a double check. 

“I have to pee,” you whispered to Bucky and left the room. 

You sprinted down and to the back where there was a door to the outside, the air was suffocating and you couldn’t breathe. It seemed everything you could remember was flashing in your mind all at once while new memories were coming into play, it was all so overwhelming and you couldn’t handle it. You pushed the door open and stumbled to your knees and the cold fall weather opened your lungs so wide you thought they were going to pop, the gasps came out unevenly and some were quick shots of air. Your hand was pulling and scratching at the finally held bruise on your neck, it was like you could feel the chains slowly wrapping around you like a snake's tail, coming up around your neck and squeezing tightly. 

With one push, the chains in your mind snapped and all the popcorn you had eaten came back out, right onto the deck that was power washed three days ago. A few pieces of kernels got stuck when you took your first breath in but after spitting them out you could finally breathe again. 

You sat back up on your feet and just looked into the night sky, it was too cold for you to be out here but it was peaceful. With the serum you would have been fine with this weather but that had left you, you were free now, if you wanted you could run down the grass into the forest and never see anyone ever again. It was horrifying that that idea was pleasant to you, you’d never see Bucky ever again but you could be free. 

One foot hit the grass, but then the sound of a lock pulled you from your fantasy, you looked over your shoulder to see the lights off and the red emergency lights spinning around. You ran up to bang on the door but no one could see or hear you, “let me on!” you screamed for anyone but you knew these glass doors were sound proof. “Fuck!” 

“Soldat,” you froze, the voice you remembered vividly rang through your head, you shook it off and kept pounding on the door, “they’re never going to help you,” it chanted in your mind. 

“No, let me in!” you screamed again, your head hit the glass door in defeat, the voice mocked you in your brain. You pulled away from the glass and looked into the building, but then your focal point focused on the reflection. 

“Soldat, break in and kill them all.” the voice said, the slick hair and the notch in his brow, the leader that got away. To your horror, your break straightened and your chin went up, you turned towards the man who never gave you his name. He dressed in all black and wore a Hydra pin over his heart, “you really think we’d let you get away?” he asked, “you really think we only gave you the serum?”

“What is happening?” you asked, your mind was being taken over. 

“I’ll say it again. Soldat, break in and kill them all.” his smile grew. 

You didn’t want to, but somehow the other part of you did. 

“copy.” 

And the glass shattered with one punch. 

Winter Makes Ice tag list: @small-death-and-codeine​ @commonintrest​ @buckyys-doll​  @lil-baby-nor @wafflesncream​​

let me know if you want a tag!!!

[starbuckie]

𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

challenge: the cbc 1k writing challenge by @captainscanadian​

prompt: “do you treat all your hookups like this?”

pairing: carter baizen x reader

words: 4.7k words

warnings: fluff, angst, assault, swearing, some degrading comments, and implications of the sexy times 

summary: waling up next to one of New York’s most eligible bachelors brings on a lot more than what you expected.

a/n: what’s up y’all! i’ve essentially been dead for the past two weeks, but i’m back! i lost motivation for a bit, but i feel a lot better now, and what better way to come back then a little carter baizen? i ended up writing a lot more than originally intended, but i like the way it turned out. anyways, enjoy, and thank you for all of your support<3 

main masterlist || sebastian stan characters masterlist

As you awoke with a long stretch and yawn, memories of the previous night had you smiling like an idiot. Sunlight streamed from the half-closed blinds of your windows and the smell of coffee wafted to your room from the kitchen. You grabbed your lover’s dress shirt from off the floor and slipped a pair of satin slippers on your feet. 

The night before had been amazing. It had started with a beach reception when you had finally caught his eye. The two of you had been playing a game of cat and mouse during the whole wedding, only giving lustful stares and shy smiles, but when you finally had a hold of each other, your night only got better. The rest of the night had the sounds of only tearing clothes, pants, and moans. 

Snapping out of your sweet reverie, you stared at the man in your kitchen. His bare back was faced towards you, giving a great view of his shifting muscles while he made pancakes. A bowl of mixed berries were laid out on the table, along with strawberry syrup and mugs of Peruvian coffee. “Do you treat all of your hookups like this, Baizen?” 

Carter, finally noticing your presence, turned around and gave you a heartwarming smile. He flipped the last few pancakes over and walked over to wrap his arms around your waist. Burying his face into the crook of your neck, he mumbled, “Haha, cute joke. After everything we’ve been through babygirl, this was definitely not a hookup. And I only treat my favorite person like this, so eat up.” He gestured towards the food on the table and with a quick kiss to your lips, turned his attention back to the pancakes.

You sat in one of the chairs and took a sip of steaming coffee and looked out of the ceiling to floor windows surrounding the room. The New York City skyline would never get old from this view, no matter how long you and Carter had had this penthouse. Sighing, you looked down at your left hand, the sun casting light on the diamond on your fourth finger. 

You had been engaged for only six months, but it didn’t feel like anything new. At the age of 33, you didn’t feel any different than you did ten years before or even ten before that. Hell, you always knew that you would be Carter’s friend, but one drunken night had changed that very quickly.

As your fiance joined you at the table, he set a plate of warm pancakes in front of you. Sure, he could have had your housekeeper, Marybeth do it for him, but he also liked pampering you himself. Together, you sat in silence and stared out the windows. Carter tore his eyes away from the city to study your face. He would never understand how after twenty years of friendship, it ended with him finding his one love and putting a ring on your finger. 

“Hey, baby?” He asked, and you hummed and met his gaze. “How’d we even get here?”

You smirked and replied with, “Well, I walked from the bedroom, but I don’t know about you?”

“Don’t be cheeky,” he said, pinching your elbow. You swatted his hand away and smiled. “Anyway, what I meant to say before I was so rudely interrupted, was how did I end up with the most beautiful girl on the Upper East Side?”

“Well, if I recall, it started with me being fed up with your stupid ass, and you finally confessing that you had been madly in love with me since we were thirteen.”

“And I still am.” He moved towards you to place his lips on yours. “You’re mine now, baby.” You grinned against his lips and went to sit on his lap.

“Mr. Baizen, you’ve had me from the moment I laid eyes on you. With that cute little schoolboy outfit, and your hair! Oh god, remember-”

With a playful glare, he cut you off as you giggled. “We do not need to talk about my middle school style, fiancee, but I will gladly talk about when I fell in love with you.”

“That sounds good.” You smiled at each other and went back down memory lane, into your long, long, shared history.

20 YEARS EARLIER

Looking in the mirror, your maid had finished tailoring your school uniform. When she deemed you presentable she scurried out of the room to help your mother, and you immediately went to call your best friend.

“Carter, are you ready for our first day? We’re finally in eighth grade. Next year I’ll be headed off to Constance and you’ll be going to St. Judes, and there’s gonna be a whole ton of hot guys-”

Your friend’s chuckles were heard through the phone. “Y/N, we haven’t even begun the first day yet.”

“Yes, I know, but we’ll be one step closer to the best years of our lives!” Your mom’s voice called you from downstairs. Oh crap. Only the Lord knew that Andrea L/N did NOT want to be kept waiting. “Okay, my mom’s coming, but we’re coming to pick you up right now. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“See ya soon, Y/N.” You smiled at his voice and responded.

“See ya soon, Baizen.” You hung up the phone and ran to your vanity. Making sure your mascara wasn’t smudged while you had dressed, you spritzed on the Chanel perfume you had stolen from your mother's room. Truth be told, you only dressed up for Carter, but you would never tell him that. 

His parents were two of New York’s socialites, famous and wealthy, so they got along well with your parents. Though your dad didn’t pay too much attention to you, your mother made sure you kept up with your grades and social life. She was always the shoulder to cry on, offering you wisdom and advice. Not to mention, but your mom was a fantastic shoe designer. She was truly the greatest woman you knew. The two of you grew up closely with his sister Caroline, from the time you were babies to now. Caroline had gone to a boarding school in France in the fifth grade, but that didn't tear your friendship, and only made it stronger. However, while you stay poised and polite, Carter had always had a bit of a bad boy streak. Albeit, he was charming and sweet, sometimes too much for his own good, but the two of you were opposites. Yin and yang. Sun and moon. At the age of thirteen he was the Upper East Side’s darling sweet-talker, who had girls and boys alike fawning over him. 

Including you.

You never realized when you had started developing feelings for your friend, but it was a huge shock to you. It helped that he was cute as hell, but you got to see the sweet side of him, that was respectful and caring. He always made sure you were comfortable and happy, giving you a small sliver of hope that he liked you back. You always helped him, whether it was being a wingwoman, or giving him schoolwork, you were always there at his beck and call. 

The next seven years were absolutely painful for you, however. In high school, he charmed the skirt off of every single girl at Constance, and constantly blew you off for hookups and dates. When he was cut off and went to travel the world, you called him to make sure he was okay, though he always seemed fine to you. You stuck with him through everything, and the more you went on, you barely knew the man who claimed to be your best friend. 

Dating Serena was the last straw. You were twenty-one, studying political science and business to hopefully one day become a lawyer. Your father had disapproved of your majors, but your mom fully supported you. 

Sighing and putting your textbook away, you stood up and went to put something on for the party you were invited to. Normally, you would have stayed in your NYU dorm, but Carter had miraculously managed to get you to leave, claiming you needed to meet his girlfriend, who you didn’t know at the time. You grumpily slipped on a champagne sequin dress, and grabbed your white stilettos to match. After hailing a cab, you were off to Blair Waldorf’s house, unknowingly driving to the end of you and Carter’s friendship.

You had to admit that the party wasn’t half bad. Blair certainly knew how to decorate, and it wasn’t hard to believe, considering her mother was the infamous designer, Eleanor Waldorf. You bumped into a lot of old classmates from your high school years, and grudgingly exchanged greetings. When you finally found Carter, he had his arm slipped around the waist of a pretty blonde, making your heart drop to the pit of your stomach. He turned around, and let out a smile that normally would have made you happy, but instead filled you with dread. 

“Y/N! You made it! This is Serena Van der Woodsen.” As you went in to hug your friend, you were stopped by none other than Serena's hand stuck out for you to shake. 

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you, Y/N. I’ve heard so much about you.” You stared into her blue eyes, and were immediately filled with envy and irritation.

You had no right to be mad. You knew Carter could date whoever he wanted, but at this point you didn’t care. Exhausted, you started to yell at the couple.

“Really, Carter? You go off to travel some other goddamn countries and come back to date a high schooler? A child? Who the hell do you think you are?” The entire room went silent, all of their attention focused solely on the college girl who went crazy. Serena stared at you, absolutely dumbfounded. As she came to her senses and started to yell back, Carter stopped her.

“Y/N, let’s go outside,” he gritted out. His eyes were burning red, and you could tell he was furious, which was never a good thing.

However, at this point your emotions were so heightened that it rivaled his anger. Once the two of you were outside the building, he started lecturing you. “What the fuck was that, L/N? I introduce you to my girlfriend, and you start yelling at her. You have no control over who I date, and you have absolutely zero right to insult them. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

He knew he had hit a sore spot there. He knew your deepest insecurities, how you were self-conscious about your body, and how you were saving yourself for the one. No one had ever looked at you throughout high school, and even if they had, you would’ve been too blinded by Carter to see any of them. He had always had you wrapped around his finger.

You chuckled mirthlessly. “You are such an asshole, Baizen. I have been there for you for years. I was always there to make sure you had done your homework, I looked after you, I fucking lied for you. I have done everything for you, and for fucking what?”

“So you yell at my girlfriend? I never knew you could stoop so fucking low, Y/N.” He glared at you, on the verge of tears, and saw that your face was already wet as well. “Oh, poor you. Cries whenever someone raises their voice at them. You had no right to say those things about her. What are you, jealous?”

Your heart stopped beating in your chest. It was the longest five seconds of your life, as tears ran down your face in hot paths, and he stared at you, for once, not knowing what to say. 

“You are.” His gaze turned sympathetic. “Wait, Y/N, I never knew-”

“It doesn’t matter, Carter,” you yelled, “I don’t fucking care anymore. I’m not gonna go on loving you, because it’s never gonna happen and I can’t sit around to wait for you. I’m done.” With that, you left, his last memory of you stomping off into the streets of Manhattan at midnight. 

PRESENT

“That wasn’t my best moment exactly.” You cringed, face flaming from your actions that had taken place that night.

Carter placed his hand on your jaw and rubbed your cheekbone. “It wasn’t your fault, I was kind of an idiot. But in a way, I’m kind of grateful, because that really woke me up to what was happening outside of that little bubble I was in. It made me see what I had lost, and remember that it was you who finally saved me from the hole I was digging myself farther into. You were my hero. Still are.”

You grinned bashfully. “But then we ended up seeing each other two years later at that other party.”

“Oh god, the party,” he smirked, “we had some fun then, didn’t we?”

“I can’t remember, we were both drunk as fuck.” 

10 YEARS AGO

The last two years had changed you. You had still focused on school and kept up with your studies, but the old Y/N was no more. Carter Baizen had ruined your life, and now you were just getting a taste of what you had missed out on in high school. A barrier surrounded your heart, with the one rule of no man staying in your bed for more than a night. You had a reputation to uphold, of course. Every social event now had your name on the attending list, and guys were lining up at your feet for a night with you. Your hair was longer, the clothes you wore out flashier and your style rivaled that of Serena Van der Woodsen’s. You were unattainable and everyone knew your name.

Your father’s private jet flew in on the evening of December twentieth. Merula, your family’s maid, helped carry your bags from the jet and your mom greeted you with tons of hugs and kisses. However, that didn’t last very long, as you had a party to attend. Going up to your old room, you took a quick, yet luxurious bath, and went to fix yourself up. Your old closet was still intact, and you were happy to know that the short red dress you had bought five years before still fit you. After you slipped on the dress and your black heels, you curled your hair in loose waves, and swiped on some dark red lipstick.

You were dead set on getting laid tonight. But then again, when weren’t you?

With a goodnight call to your mom, you ran out to the limo waiting outside your family’s penthouse. Giving the driver the address, you pulled your compact mirror from your Valentino clutch. Flawless. Like any other night. Paying attention to your looks was now tiring. And this life was lonely. You hadn’t had any friends besides Carter at the beginning, but now you were truly by yourself.

Carter. You hadn’t thought about him in a long time. In your furious haze after the incident two years ago, you blocked him on all forms of social media, and ignored any headlines from Gossip Girl including his name. It was lonely, naturally, but you had enough men filling your bed to avoid you from the empty void in your chest. The void that was filled with whispers telling you to apologize, to call him, to take him back, because the truth was that you missed him like hell.

The party was full of college kids, neatly dressed in the chandelier-lit room. Ugh. So far you couldn’t see any lookers. A couple of guys who looked like they were in their late twenties were eyeing you up from the corner, and grabbing a flute of bubbly champagne, you headed in their direction, licking your lips. As you crossed the room, you could feel more eyes on you but you didn’t dare look at them. No, you liked being in charge, controlling the room. Heels clicking against the marble floor, you blatantly checked out the tall blonde in the middle. He was pretty handsome. Cropped hair, a muscular frame, and electric blue eyes that kind of reminded you of Carter. 

Stop thinking about him, go get laid.

You stopped in front of him. “Hey, pretty boy. Can I get your name?” 

He wasn’t even fazed by your flagrant introduction. You were absolutely shameless, and though you received glares from the other women in the room, you couldn’t have cared less. “I’m Steve. What’s your name, beautiful?”

You opened your mouth to speak and Steve’s eyes widened as he saw the figure that shouted out your name, abruptly stopping you. “Y/N?”

Freezing, you prayed that it wasn’t him. His voice that haunted you daily, and made guilt and sadness pool in your gut. It had to have been your imagination. You started again. “Sorry, but I’m-”

“Y/N.” Turning around, you came face to face, well, face to chest with Carter Baizen. He had grown taller since you had last seen him. Even with the noticeably darker bags under his eyes and growing hair, he was still as gorgeous as ever. 

“Hey, Carter.” Steve had walked away by then, not wanting to intrude, but at that moment, he was the only person you needed. Heart beating in your chest, you finally met Carter’s eyes. “How are you?”

His mouth was gaping a little, taking in your form, seeing that it was so much different than it used to be. “I’m good.” Pausing for a moment, he added, “You look great.”

A blush rose to your cheeks and you managed to mumble out, “Thanks.”

“Can we talk?” 

That’s how you ended up outside on an empty balcony overlooking Manhattan. Taxis and honking were heard, but it was fainter due to blood rushing in your ears. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off. “Carter, before you say anything, I want to let you know that I’m sorry. I really am. Last time we saw each other, I knew what I did was wrong, and though I was in love with you, I had no right to be upset.” Sighing, you placed your hand in his. “Can we be good again? I really hate how we left things off.”

Silently, he nodded his head, eyes wide and subtly taking you in again. The last two years hadn’t been kind to him, after Serena dumped his sorry ass, and he ended up with no money and nowhere to run to. His mom had allowed him to stay in the family house for a while, and his father was even giving him a second chance at running the company, but it wasn’t easy for him. He was slowly spiraling down, and only when he saw you did he wake up and take a look at himself properly. He looked like a piece of garbage next to you. He hadn’t even gone to school, and here you were, even more beautiful, which he never thought was possible, and a successful law student at Harvard.

“We’re good, Y/N. I brought you out here for another reason though.” He paused and looked at you as you nodded for him to continue. “It’s been a few years, I know, and I shouldn’t be saying this now, but I miss you so much. These past few years have made me realize how much of a fool I am for you, but God, I’m in love with you, Y/N, I always have been.”

You stood up, anger coursing through your veins. Now? When it’s most convenient for him? No. You needed to get drunk. “I’m sorry Carter, but I fell out of love with you one hell of a long time ago.” Swallowing the lump rising in your throat, you continued your lie. “You made your decision, I made mine. I wanted to be friends, Carter, but I can’t have that laying around us.”

Stomping away, you heard the crestfallen voice of Carter. “Y/N, wait, please.” He stumbled his way over to you, and caught your hand again before you ripped it away. “Please, Y/N, please, I’m in love with you. I’m sorry I was such an ass, I was so stupid, please.”

Tears fell from your eyes as you shook your head. “I need a drink.” 

He numbly nodded as you made your way back inside, asking one of the servers for a gin. You needed to get drunk. It was a necessity at this point, and as you got more and more tipsy through the night, you found your way back with Steve. By now the party had started to get crazier, people making out in corners and drunkenly stumbling everywhere. Steve held you up as you grinded against him, but stopped when you felt his hand go up your dress. 

“No, no thank you,” you slurred.

He smirked, giving you a steely glare. “You’re asking for it with this slutty little dress and winding me up.” He forcibly grabbed your wrists and started to drag you to a bedroom. “I own you tonight, baby.”

Before you could scream, someone came over and punched Steve in the jaw. You were speechless, staring at his already bruising face. Once again, you were being pulled away, only this time, out of the party. The person dragged you back to your place, and your drunken mind asked, “You wanna come in?” 

Without another word, the two of you were attached by the mouth, clothes being thrown haphazardly around your room. Earlier events from the evening wiped from your memories, and you could have only hoped that your parents weren’t home. Falling into your bed, you and your unknown lover tore up the bedsheets for several hours until you both drunkenly passed out.

When you woke up the next morning, you looked up. You silently thanked yourself for closing your windows before you had left the other night, and only then realized you were cold, naked, and in your own room. 

“What the fuck.” You whispered to yourself. Throwing on a robe from your closet, you looked around seeing the scattered clothes from you and whoever you had spent your night with. They were still here.

You flew down the stairs at a record-breaking speed, and slid into the kitchen, risky business style, and saw a familiar head of brown hair sitting at the table. “What the fuck, Baizen?”

Carter calmly turned around, smiling as he blew into his coffee. “Damn, Y/N, good morning to you too.”

Scoffing, you grabbed the newspaper he held in his hands and started to whack him with it. “Ow, what the hell?” He grabbed your wrists to calm you, then pulled out a chair next to him for you to sit. Reluctantly, you sat and frowned at him, raising an eyebrow to ask what happened. “Do you treat all your hookups like this?”

“Did we…” You didn’t even want to finish that sentence.

“Sleep together piss-drunk after you told me you didn’t love me back after two years? Yes, we most certainly did, beautiful.” Though your face burned red at the old pet name, you asked for what had happened. “Well, the asshole you were dancing with tried to get you in bed, but I came over and punched him, while we were both still drunk, and I got you back here, and you offered me to come inside and we fucked.”

Your eyes were comically wide, and he would have found the situation really funny if his heart weren’t beating erratically inside his chest as he awaited your full reaction. “So,” you started, “you're still in love with me.”

He tried not to let his embarrassment show, but his cheeks flamed anyway. You smiled genuinely, but you were terrified of whether he meant it or not. “Do you mean it, Carter?”

You stared into the depths of his eyes and he answered, “Yes. I’m so sorry that I was a horrible, horrible friend to you, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness. And I know you already expressed how you felt about me, and let me say, I understand completely. If you want me to, I’ll walk out of that door right now, and you won’t have to see me again. But if you let me stay , I’ll spend every waking moment of my life making sure you feel happy and loved, and making it up to you.”

He stared at you with pleading eyes, and held your hands gently. Suddenly, stinging tears obstructed your vision, and you whimpered. “I love you, Car,” you gave him a watery smile, “never stopped.”

His eyes started to tear up as well, and smiling you finally pressed your lips to his, taking in the moment. The past few years had been torturous for you both, dealing with the loneliness and pain from your broken friendship, but slowly and surely you two built trust. It took a long time, and you took the relationship slowly, but patience was key, and it was all worth it in the end.

PRESENT

“And now we’re here?” You asked. Carter combed his hand through your hair, the soothing action making you rest your head on his shoulder.

“And now we’re here.” He glanced down at you, smiling and pecking your lips.

“Damn, we had one dramatic-ass story.” He chuckled at that and sighed.

“We sure did, baby. But hey, look at us. We’re on top of the world right now. We have a wedding in a few months, you don’t have any cases, and I have the most beautiful girl in the world in my arms right now.”

You smiled against his neck. “Hey, Car?” He hummed against your hair, looking out the window. The sun had fully risen, making the room glow. “I know we haven’t had this discussion in a while, but are we ready to have kids?” His brow furrowed, but he said nothing. “Car?”

“I mean, sure, we’re both doing so well right now, and we could raise a kid here, right? We’ve got an empty bedroom right across from ours, and we’ve got plenty of space here. I think with the combination of me and you, we’d have a pretty great kid. They’d definitely have my eyes though.” 

“They better have your eyes.” You looked up at him. “So pretty.”

He chuckled and kissed your forehead. “The wedding’s coming up pretty soon though, so we can start trying after that.” You laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Before we get too old.”

You smirked and rolled your eyes. “We’re thirty-three, Carter, we aren’t that old.”

He laughed and said, “I guess you’re right.” Heart beating in your chest, you sighed loudly. “What brought this on?”

You cupped his cheek and took a deep breath. When you had taken the test a week before you had been elated, only to freak out after realizing Carter might not feel the same. But you had been okay for ten years, right? When the two of you had finally gotten together, it did take a lot to find that balance in your relationship, but hell, you were getting married in a few months. Carter was your best friend, number one supporter, and fiance, so you prayed that he would be just as excited. 

“Carter, I’m pregnant.” Looking at him dead in the eye, you hoped that he would be happy. You awaited his reaction for a few seconds, and you wanted to scream in anticipation.

And then you saw it. 

His eyes started to water, and his hands moved to your stomach. ”Really?” He asked, voice wavering. You nodded, eyes beginning to tear up as well.

“We’re having a baby, Mr. Baizen.” You laughed joyfully, as he picked you up by your waist and you wrapped your legs around him. Hands found their way around his neck as he pulled you in for a kiss. 

Tears poured from his eyes, as he laughed. “I love you so, so, much, baby.” Hiding your face in his neck, you giggled some more. “God, we’re having a kid. I swear on my life, I’ll do everything to make sure you and this baby are happy for the rest of our lives.”

And he did. Not such a bad hookup after all, now was it?

[emsylcatac]

(Continuation of the Marichat emojis story 😂🥺😭😗😞)

Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3

Thank you again @chatnoirinette for beta-reading this one! Since lots of people liked the first part, I felt like I had to make sure this one would be satisfying enough haha and your comments really helped! ♥

Read the first part before reading this one ;)  (contrary to the 1st part, this one isn’t part of an emoji story at all.)

_________________

Adrien walked through the still-crowded streets of Paris, the gentle wind ruffling his hair and prickling at his skin. It was still quite early in the evening. People around were gathered in cafés and restaurants, discussing and laughing loudly. Some children were chasing each other, screaming and giggling. A couple was walking hand in hand, stealing kisses and whispering sweet nothings. Groups of students were skateboarding; others were talking about which bar they should go to next.

Adrien didn’t pay attention to any of them. He was simply focused on moving, further and further away from the noise, further and further away from them, further and further away from himself. Just like he had been doing for the past two years.

To say Adrien had been shocked at discovering his father and Nathalie were the ones behind the masks of Paris’ most infamous supervillain terrorists was an understatement. And yet he couldn’t help but think that he shouldn’t have been surprised. That he should have known. His father had only been slipping away from him more and more with time; Adrien had always thought that he hadn’t yet come to terms with his mother’s disappearance. In a way, it had been the truth. He still wished he had been more prepared anyway. He had just been there, young and naive, forgiving and forgiving and forgiving again all of his father’s absences and mistakes.

And it was ironic, wasn’t it? He, the so-called ‘superhero’ Chat Noir, Ladybug’s most trusted partner, just so happened to be the son of their enemy. And he. Had never. Noticed.

He hated himself for that. He hated how stupid and naive and oblivious he had been for missing all the signs. Stupid boy with stupid superpowers and stupid dreams and stupid— stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Adrien turned around a corner in a much emptier and calmer street, quickening  his pace. He remembered the first few months after the fight. How the people had reacted towards Adrien—the shock, the pitiful glances, and then the blame and the hate. If someone should have realised something, surely it must have been the ‘golden son.’ How could he not, living under the same roof? What proof was there that he hadn’t worked with his father? Some of the media and his former friends were still doubting him. And really, how could he defend himself when he had been absent during every attack so he could secretly fight...those very attacks? It had been hard to find an alibi.

And then... then, there was how people had reacted towards Chat Noir. He had been, much like Ladybug, acclaimed. Thanked again and again and again. The news of him almost dying during the fight had quickly spread—he had made it there. He was a true hero. The media and the citizens had praised him for weeks and weeks to months. And it slowly drove him insane.

Adrien’s hands curled into fists inside of his pockets as he turned off down the street. How fickle they were all being. How dare they put all the blame on him while giving him all the credit at the same time? How could they spit on him while glorifying him? It shouldn’t—it wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair. And yet...

He felt ashamed. He couldn’t bear transforming anymore to hear people cheering his name, not knowing they would all be booing it the second the magic faded. So after trying to juggle through it all the first few months, he had to put a stop to it. He told Ladybug to give him time—he hoped she would understand. He couldn’t—he wasn’t ready to show her who he was. He didn’t want to see the pity he was sure to find in her eyes. He wasn’t strong enough for that. ‘And she deserves better,’ a treacherous voice was whispering in his head.

Adrien finally saw his apartment block at the end of the street and found himself slowing down. Reminiscing this period of his life was putting a weight on his feet and he felt his heart getting heavier with each step. During those first months, he hadn’t had the time to really think about everything that had happened; there had been too much going on. It had been hard, but his friends had been there. They had supported him. Well, those who believed him had, anyway. But he had never been able to tell them the whole truth. His father had tried to kill him and he—they couldn’t know nor understand why he was feeling as bad as he was. But they were there.

Until.. until life slowly got back to normal. They were still present, but not as much. Because daily life had caught up with them, as it should. Except Adrien’s had stopped. Everything was turning fast, so fast around him and he was just...here, frozen in time. How could they all be happy when nothing was right?

He arrived at his place and pushed the door open before climbing the seven stairs leading to his apartment. It was always so long to go up all the steps, but some days it felt longer than others; today was one of those days. Maybe it was just because he felt tired— tired of feeling too much and feeling nothing all the time; of trying and trying and failing to keep up with life. No matter how hard he worked to climb out of the hole he was in, he always found himself back at the bottom. He sighed. Grieving was a long process. When he told Ladybug to give him time, he thought it would take him a few months at most. Wrong. After the endless circle of pain came the numbness. He was devoid of feelings—happiness, sadness, joy, pain...his emotions were passing over him, but he didn’t actually feel or experience them. It was a weird sensation. And not a nice one at that.

It’s not that he hadn’t missed Ladybug during those two years; he just hadn’t felt like he was missing her. Or anyone else, for that matter. And he wasn’t feeling ready to bear the mantle of Chat Noir just yet. So he kept postponing the day he would come back to her. Later, he was telling himself. Later. Later. Later...

Adrien fumbled with his keys before opening the door to his flat. Once he was in, he dropped his coat on the sofa before staring blankly straight ahead, eyes unfocused. Seeing his younger self had been...unexpected, to say the least. A weird out-of-body experience of sorts. He had immediately fled to Alya and Nino’s room to avoid saying something he shouldn’t. And because it was like he had...forgotten, somehow, that he had once been Chat Noir. He knew it. He had just decided to ignore it. But then all his friends came in and it had felt like too much. And he had decided to walk back home.

He couldn’t remember how many times he had insulted this boy for being that much of an idiot. But seeing him like that, so full of joy and curiosity and wonder, ready to take on the world, while Adrien knew he was dealing with so many issues in his life that no one even suspected, he just realised that—

“I was a kid,” Adrien whispered, unmoving. “Oh my god, I was just a kid.” He slowly clutched his face and let his tears fall for the first time in a year.

Sobs started to rack his body, and he let himself fall on his sofa, all his feelings finally crashing down on him. And that was it—how could he put the actions of a deranged adult on the shoulders of a child?

Plagg hovered silently above him, letting him cry quietly but offering support with his presence.

After a little while, he spoke softly:

“I know. That’s what I’ve always told you. I’m glad you’re able to see it too now.”

Adrien cried harder at his words.

“You’re very brave, you know...it doesn’t change much for you to hear, but I am proud of you. I have always been,” Plagg whispered.

“Thank you, Plagg,” he answered between sobs. “That... means a lot.”

He continued to cry a few minutes while Plagg sat on his shoulder, patting his cheek.

He finally spoke after he had calmed down. “I...I must see Ladybug. I owe her that and...and I miss her.  But I don’t feel like transforming...not just yet,” he said, wiping tears away from his face.

“Take your time,” Plagg told him. “You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

Adrien chuckled sadly. “I just saw myself, it’s not...I wouldn’t call that ‘a lot,’ you know.”

“You realised a lot. And I’m glad to see you crying for once. You needed it.”

Adrien smiled painfully. “I guess I did.”

They both kept silent a few more minutes, letting all the emotions of the evening sink in.

Adrien was about to stand up when a loud bang on his window stopped him in his tracks. He raised his eyes to it, wondering what could possibly make such a sound and—

—came face to face with a frantic-looking Ladybug, who was making wide gestures and bouncing up and down in place at the sight of him. She had tears in her eyes.

Adrien approached his window with wide, incredulous eyes. He had barely opened it when she stumbled in his arms, gripping him as tightly as she could and whispering between sobs...

“Chat— Chaton. Oh my god, Kitty. It is you. It’s you, it’s you, it’s you.”

_________________

Okay, so as you might have seen at the top of this post, I’ve decided to make it not a 2 parts story but a 3 parts one! I hope you liked this one and are ready for the finale one :) again, thank you so much for your interest on this little fic where I just wanted to try my hand at angst AND at writing ♥ and thank you for all the nice comments I received!! It means a lot!

People who asked to be tagged or who asked for a 2nd part, here you are: @momabells, @mrs-berry​, @taora93, @paintedbirdsong, @whimsicallyconfusedforlife, @kpohe8, @kasienda, @aplayfulplatypus, @amychi2000, @magnitude101999, @mochegato, @iridescenceoflove, @katieykat513, @mandlien, @bowser14456, @marikittynoir

[calligraphist-artemisia]

Soul of a Lion (Chapter 4)

Sequel to The Smallest Blade.

Summary: After the Red Lion steals them away from the Marmora base and takes them through a wormhole, Shiro, Keith, Katla, and Lance find themselves in front of a majestic castle with nowhere to go but inside. The events that unfold while they’re there will change the fate of the universe.

Also posted on AO3 under the username “kishirokitsune”.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

4 | History Revealed

Allura was in good spirits as she made her way to the dining hall, where Coran was already seated and enjoying a heaping plate of food goo. She grimaced at the thought of eating more of it. Food goo was truly an acquired taste and she hoped Hunk was making plans to look into what was available on the planet.

Before she could shuffle off into the royal kitchen for her own plate, Hunk came bustling through the door with a broad grin on his face and a tray carefully balanced in each hand. One of the kitchen droids – a little one nicknamed 'Nikbot' for all of the times Hunk used it to transport picnic supplies – scooted along behind him, beeping in a happy tone as it carried a tray of drinks.

“I made breakfast!” Hunk announced, depositing one tray laden with all kinds of fruits and berries into the center of the table. “Or, well, I found breakfast.”

Nikbot beeped loudly and bumped into his legs.

“Nikbot and I found breakfast,” Hunk amended. “This planet has so much food! We'll be set for phoebs with all of the stuff we found, even with seven of us to feed.”

Allura cleared her throat and held out her hand, allowing her four new friends to scurry down from her shoulder onto the table. “Actually, there are eleven of us. Apparently they shared a pod with me for all of this time! You're looking at the last four genuine Altean mice!”

“Awww,” Hunk cooed.

Coran leaned forward in interest. “Well, hello!”

Allura happily introduced them, starting with the large yellow one (Platt), then the smallest blue one (Chulatt), followed by the skinny greenish-one (Plachu), and finally the pale pink one (Chuchule). She made no mention of her ability to communicate with them – Hunk certainly wouldn't approve of her spying methods, no matter that her intentions were to ensure their safety.

As the mice helped themselves to the array of fruits before them, Allura gladly accepted a steaming cup from Nikbot's tray and took a long, slow sip of the hot beverage. She hummed in pleasure and then surveyed the food, giggling as she witnessed Platt open his mouth wide and fit a whole berry into it. He turned to look at her, his cheeks bulging, and Allura giggled even harder.

“It's good to see you in such high spirits, princess,” Coran remarked as he accepted one of the cold beverages from Nikbot.

“It is going to be a good day, Coran,” Allura said in response. “I thought we could go over our itinerary while we eat. There's a great deal that needs to be done around here and planning is the best way to ensure the important details are accomplished.”

Hunk shifted a little. “I was going to take more food down to the others. I don't think they're fans of the food goo.”

Allura's smile was strained. “Then I shall be brief.” She gently set down her cup and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she needed to give them a chance to prove themselves and that getting angry over it wasn't good for her health. “Our automated systems have kept things in good working order for all of this time, but just in case, I sent out the repair bots last night to see if there's anything that needs our attention. We should have that report once we return to the bridge.

“As long as there isn't anything we need to immediately address, there are tasks that each of us need to complete. Coran, I would like you to check on the engine room. You have the most knowledge and experience in that area and I trust that you'll have it in working order in no time. Hunk, I see you've already begun your work in the kitchens. Once you're certain that the kitchen bots have everything under control, you'll be in charge of the care for our guests. Should Coran need your help in the engine room, he'll call for you.”

She went on to explain that she would be checking in on the crystal chamber, which housed the various power crystals that kept the Castle running. Using her Aspect of Spirit, she would be able to recharge any of the crystals that were running low on energy. It would take her some time to go over all of them, but she predicted to be finished by midday.

After lunch, she would take on the difficult task of speaking with their guests.

Or perhaps she'd only talk to one of them.

Yes, one at a time would be best.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

“They don't really think we'll be content to sit in our rooms all day, do they?” Katla complained as she laid on Shiro's bed and stared at the ceiling.

Next to her, Lance gave a half-hearted shrug. “Maybe it's a test?”

Katla snorted. “If it is, then it's a stupid one.” She sat up suddenly and looked at Shiro and Keith, who were going through a series of warm-up stretches in lieu of their usual morning routine. “If you give me a few doboshes to look over the sensors on our doors, I bet I could disable it without anyone catching on.”

“I think we can offer more patience than that,” Shiro spoke up. He stood up straight and raised his arms above his head as high as he could before relaxing and letting them fall back to his sides. “I don't like feeling stuck either, but we can't blame them for wanting to be cautious. Wouldn't you be, if the situation was reversed?”

“I guess...” Katla reluctantly grumbled and then flopped back down, jostling Lance.

Shiro was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear it.

She supposed she was meant to also feel grateful that they were given nice rooms instead of being put into prison cells where their freedom would truly be stripped away. And she was! But that didn't stop the anxiety from kicking in the longer they sat around.

“If we don't see Hunk during lunch then we'll do some exploring on our own,” Shiro said.

Keith looked at him in surprise. “What if we get caught?”

“Well, I've always been good at talking the two of you out of trouble,” Shiro joked with a fond smile.

His comment eased the tension in the room and even Lance cracked a smile – the first Katla had seen from him since their arrival at the castle. It was a smile that immediately fell when they heard a knock at the door.

None of them were surprised to find Hunk standing on the other side.

“I thought you guys might want to get out and see more of the castle,” he said casually.

Katla sat up in an instant, her ears fanned out in excitement. “Can we, Shiro?”

“I suspect I'll have a mutiny on my hands if I say no,” Shiro remarked. “Keith, Lance, what do you two say?”

Lance heaved a sigh but muttered an agreement, while Keith answered by approaching the bed and helping Katla to her feet, which earned him a smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“Everything alright?” she asked quietly.

Keith nodded and turned his head so no one else could see his lips moving as he whispered: “I'll tell you later.”

With everyone in agreement, Hunk began the tour by leading them back to the kitchen and then onto a new branch in the hallway, at the end of which was an elevator. They rode it up three floors and when the doors opened they found themselves in an odd room.

Katla peered around Keith for a better look at the massive console lining the opposite wall, her eyes wide as she took in the startling amount of buttons and switches and the various touch-screens that covered it. Above the module were wide windows that stretched all the way up to the ceiling, through which an even larger and very empty room could be seen. If Katla had to guess, the lower room took up nearly an entire floor on its own.

Shiro stepped forward, his mouth slightly ajar. “Hunk, this is... Are you sure we're allowed to be here?”

“I don't see the harm in it,” Hunk said with a shrug. He waved them in and then walked right up to the console, which lit with a soft glow as he drew closer. “This is the control room for our holo-deck, which you can see down there. You can use it make your own training exercise or use one of the pre-programmed ones, like the electrified invisible maze.”

“But if it's invisible, how do you keep from getting shocked?” Katla asked.

“Oh, well, it's meant to be a teamwork-building thing. One person is up here with a map and can give directions. If you do it well enough, there's no electrocution,” Hunk explained. “Here, let me show you how it works.”

Katla barely refrained from squealing as she pushed past Shiro and Keith so she could get an up close and personal look at how everything worked.

Hunk quickly proved himself a fantastically patient teacher and he answered all of the questions she had, as well as anything Shiro or Keith asked. He walked her through the steps to creating her own program, which turned out to be relatively easy – so easy that she probably could have figured it out half-asleep and with no prior knowledge of what any button did – and then pulled up a full list of every pre-programmed exercise they had. Everything was meticulously labeled and divided into different categories and each program had different levels of difficulty that were clearly noted.

While Shiro and Keith actively participated in the lesson, Lance hung back away from the group, not saying a word but still listening to everything that was being said.

“That's about it,” Hunk told her. “Want to try it out?”

“Yes!” Katla didn't know it was possible for her voice to go that high, but she was too excited to get her hands on Altean tech to really be embarrassed by that fact. (For something so ancient, it was the nicest piece of technology she had ever laid eyes on.)

“Something simple to start out with,” Shiro advised.

Katla barely took notice of what he was saying as she scrolled through the options, oohing and aahing over the possibilities. “Uh huh.”

“Katla, I'm serious.”

“Okay, okay. Something simple,” she promised with a sigh, resisting the urge to call him a killjoy.

Hunk said something about a track, didn't he? One they could put hurdles on for an extra challenge? Katla's fingers hovered over the selection, wondering if it wasn't too simple. The option of an obstacle course was so much more tempting...

Katla selected the track and, with the exception of Lance, they all crowded around the window to watch as the floor of the holo-deck began to warp, twisting parts of itself up into tall squares and rising slightly in the center of the room so there was a clear indentation where they were meant to run.

“So, how do we get down there?” Shiro asked Hunk.

The answer turned out to be pretty simple: there was a second door to the right of the elevator they rode up on and it opened to a moving staircase they could ride down to the holo-deck. Once there, Hunk showed them a secondary control panel.

“You won't be able to change to a different program from here, but you can change the difficulty or move things around. It also has voice recognition that you can use when one of the combat programs are active. It's a built-in safety feature,” Hunk explained.

“This is all so cool,” Katla breathed, looking around the room with a delighted spark in her amber eyes. She grinned and mischievously tapped Keith on the shoulder before sprinting away. “Catch me if you can!”

Keith's grin was a little more feral as he tore off after her.

Katla laughed as she vaulted over the first hurdle. “Shiro, Lance, come on!”

It took a moment for Shiro to talk Lance into running with them, but he eventually agreed and it wasn't long before the four of them were embroiled in a fierce game of tag while Hunk sat back and watched, a smile on his face.

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

Shiro was a little wary as he entered the dining room where he was meeting Allura for lunch. After what happened the last time he tried to talk to her, he was understandably uncomfortable about being alone with her, even with Hunk's assurance that she wanted him there.

He hesitated in the doorway when he saw her already seated at the head of the table.

“Shirotak, thank you for joining me,” she said, giving him a strained smile. “Please sit. Our meal will be out shortly.”

Shiro didn't take his eyes off of her as he crossed the room to his seat. “Is it just the two of us, highness?”

“Yes. Coran has a few things he's looking over on the Bridge and will be taking his meal there. I believe Hunk is eating with your friends,” Allura said. “I thought this would be a good opportunity for the two of us to talk and... and I wanted to apologize for my behavior.”

It was the sincerity in her voice that put Shiro more at ease. “Thank you. I can't imagine that it was easy to wake and find yourself surrounded by strangers. Is there anything we can do to help you feel more comfortable?”

“I think getting to talk will help immensely,” Allura responded. “But first, we should eat.”

As if on cue, a pair of kitchen droids rolled into the room and served each of them a plate of food. Shiro was glad that there wasn't a single spoonful of food goo in sight. (But then again, Hunk had told them there was plenty of fresh food to be found on the planet, so was it really such a surprise?)

Shiro waited until Allura took her first bite and then dug into his.

Most of their meal was spent in silence, but Shiro didn't mind the time to think over all of the things he wanted to say to her, as well as to determine what he was allowed to say. Obviously, he'd have to reveal a few things. There was only so long they could keep the Blade of Marmora a secret before someone started to get suspicious, though he was pretty sure he could get away with only hinting towards a secret organization for the moment.

By the time they finished eating, Shiro had most of a plan. For the rest, he'd just have to wing it.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to join me,” Allura said as the droids cleared away their empty plates. “The truth is, I don't know what to think about this whole situation. I know there's a reason why the Red Lion brought you here, but I don't understand why it's specifically the four of you. The original paladins all knew each other beforehand, so maybe that's part of the prerequisite? But that doesn't explain why there are only four of you and not five...” She trailed off, her gaze distant.

Shiro wondered how much of that she really meant to say. After a few ticks had passed and she didn't continue speaking, he said “I don't have an answer for that.”

Allura blinked and sat up a little straighter as she refocused on the conversation. “Then perhaps a question that you will be able to answer: do you know how the war began?”

“Growing up, I was taught that the Altean king declared war upon the Galra when he ordered the destruction of Daibazaal and that the retaliation of Zarkon and his forces was justified. I later learned that it was all a lie, but we don't know the full truth of things either,” Shiro paused, watching as Allura's expression softened from outright rage to simple indignation.

“My father was a general in Zarkon's army. My mother was convinced of the might and righteousness of the Empire, like many are, and she raised me to believe the same. It was something she believed in until they tried to take me from her.

“It's tradition for the firstborn to begin training at a young age. More than tradition, actually. It's an unspoken requirement that most follow without question. My mother hoped that because of my father's status as a general, as well as the fact that I was the only cub she was able to have, they would allow me to stay with her instead. The army disagreed. My mother ran and took me with her. She didn't get far.”

Shiro hadn't intended on divulging his past to her, but judging from the horrified expression on Allura's face, it was the right way to go. At least she was listening.

“That was the day my faith in the Empire was broken. From that moment on, I began to see them as they truly were and I did everything in my power to become too troublesome to keep around. I knew that one day I would be too old to stay in training and they would send me out whether they thought I was ready or not. When that day came, I would be able to sneak away and they would be too thankful that I was gone to go looking for me. But then came a day when I did something exceptionally... foolish.

“I saved the life of a commanding officer. I can't even say why I did it. In-fighting is common in the Empire and it's not unusual for them to be to the death, but when I saw someone try to sneak up behind her I just... moved. It's how I earned this,” Shiro tapped the bridge of his nose, where his scar cut across. “In return, Ranzaria saved me from my destructive spiral, and eventually, she introduced me to a group dedicated to ending Zarkon's reign of fear and subjugation. I've been with them ever since.”

“Shirotak, I... I'm so sorry,” Allura murmured.

“It was a long time ago, highness, and I would not be the person I am today had I not gone through those experiences,” Shiro said. “But back to your original question, no one knows how the war truly began. The Empire has done everything in their power to obscure the truth and anyone who did know died a long time ago. At least, until the three of you woke up.”

Allura bit her lip and lowered her gaze to the table. “We were allies, once. It... it is true that my father ordered the destruction of Daibazaal, but it was not intended to be an act of war, but of prevention. Sometime before I was born, a meteor struck the surface of Daibazaal and when it was extracted, it revealed a terrible rift that penetrated deep into the core of the planet. For a while, it merely seemed to be an anomaly and was carefully studied by a few hand-picked alchemists, but as time went on they began to realize that it was destabilizing the entire planet. Left unchecked, the rift would have eventually ripped Daibazaal apart and, after that, continued to spread to encompass the entire universe. Destroying Daibazaal was the only way to seal it and prevent such a catastrophe.”

Shiro frowned. “I feel like I'm missing something. Shouldn't it have been up to Zarkon to give that order?”

“Unfortunately, it was not our first attempt at closing the rift.”

Shiro quietly listened as Allura told the whole sad story about trying to use something called “Voltron” to seal the rift and how they had only succeeded in increasing it tenfold, as well as costing the lives of two people – Emperor Zarkon and his wife, Empress Honerva. In the midst of the chaos left from Zarkon's death, King Alfor did his best to maintain control and used his role as head of the Galactic Alliance to order the evacuation and destruction of Daibazaal.

“Had the situation been reversed, it would have been well within Zarkon's rights to do the same,” Allura said, though it pained her to admit it. “Of course, everything went wrong after that. Zarkon was somehow resurrected. My father thought it had something to do with the rift, though we never knew for certain. He declared war on Altea and the rest of our alliance, destroying each of us one-by-one.”

She clenched her hands and glared at the surface of the table. “I never imagined the war would go on for so long. I- I should have fought harder to use the Lions and fight back! If I'd only tried a little harder-!” Her voice broke as a single tear fell from her eyes. She furiously wiped it away and lifted her head. “No longer. This is our second chance and I will not let it go by. I want to know where you stand, Shirotak.”

“We stand against Zarkon and his forces,” Shiro answered, meeting her eyes. “We stand with you.”

☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆ - ☆

Coran knew that he promised Allura that he wouldn't pull an all-nighter to reconfigure the navigation system, but what harm would it do to check on one last little thing while the system sorted itself off. It wasn't like he'd be able to sleep until he knew why the holo-deck was using extra energy anyway. He'd just pop over to the control room for a quick look and then go to bed.

He looked around the Bridge one last time, checked the progress bar for the seventh time in as many doboshes, and then reluctantly left to begin his trek to his room.

The holo-deck was only a brief detour on his path and Coran swore that he wouldn't stay long. He entered the command room and had to take a moment to comprehend what he was seeing. It was more than just a little problem. The console was fully activated, as though someone was running a program at that very moment.

“Impossible!” Coran said, rushing forward. Allura had gone to bed vargas ago and Hunk wasn't known for skipping out on sleep, or for frequenting the holo-deck. He was about to begin methodically shutting everything down when he happened to glance through the window and into the room below.

Two of the Galra were there. One was the boy with unusual black hair and the other was the girl. They were playing around on one of the climbing courses, occasionally dropping to a cushioned mat below in order to start all over.

Coran found himself relaxing the longer he watched them play. It was as they dropped to the mat at the same time and began a game of chase across the floor, breathlessly giggling, that Coran realized it was an oddly familiar sight.

A long time ago, he'd been blessed enough to witness the beginning of a truly great romance. It was one full of laughter and life and only grew more beautiful once Alfor was able to catch his beloved princess. A love that was cut tragically short.

In the room below, the boy caught up to the girl and pulled her into his arms. His balance must have gotten knocked off because they went down in a tangled heap, huge smiles upon their faces.

Coran couldn't bring himself to interrupt. Eventually, he dragged himself away from the window and off to his room. His dreams that night were full of his memories of happier days when Alfor wasn't yet king and still trying to find the right way to woo the future queen.

[hobeemin]

Rêveur "Wistful"

▪ Genre: Angst

▪ Pairing: Min Yoongi x (f)Reader

▪ Rating: PG

▪ Warning(s): Unrequited love, Exes, Breakup

▪ Word count: 936

▪ Inspiration: “13430”; ‘In contrast to my heart that feels like it’s about to explode, at this moment, the temperature is -248 degrees’

▪ A/N:  This was created for the @minthlynet​ ’s Lyrical Healing collaboration

Also a BIG thank you to @mindays for looking this over on such short notice. You are a gem. I can’t thank you enough!!!💗😭

◽▪◽▪◽

The air, crisped and slightly damp blew gently on the street. Yoongi’s feet crunched under the brittle leaves noting the reds and oranges. Sniffing the air, a small smile appeared. Autumn had arrived. Yoongi adjusted his wire frames before tightening his hold around the portfolio folder. He sighed as the people around him walked on.

Three years on being overseas, and he still couldn’t get used to it all. The language barrier alone kept him isolated, but also getting around the city always seemed like a chore. If there was one thing he hated, it was getting lost. He walked this route almost every day to get to the conservatory and still managed to get turned around. He huffed in frustration, looking around. It shouldn’t have been that hard: three blocks down from his apartment, turn right, walk one block, wait at the bus stop.

Furrowing his brow, he glanced at the street sign. Swiping his dark brown bangs off his face, he scrunched at the words. Grumbling, he looked around.

Maybe I should have taken those English lessons seriously.

He noticed a passerby standing near the corner and jogged over to them. She looked so engrossed in her phone that he worried about spooking her. With some hesitation, he reached out and tapped her shoulder. As she spun around, hair whipping, he caught a whiff of her perfume. The intoxicating combination of gardenias and fresh berries swirled around him, wrapping him in an embrace. 

Yoongi stepped back as he was hit with nostalgia instantly. Molten brown eyes stared into his as thick eyelashes fluttered open. Lips, pink from the chill, pouted from the interruption. She met his gaze as he stared dumbfounded back. Recognition crossed her face as a smile spread.

“Yoongi? Oh, my goodness! Hi!”

He stuttered as his cheeks pinked. “Hey.”

She tucked her phone back into the pocket of her coat and stared back at him. Her fingers curling around her tresses to push back behind her ear. “How have you been? It’s been what two years–”

“Three, actually, and I’ve been well,” he corrected, brushing his hair off his face.

She nodded, “Right. Three years,” she bit her lip, looking around. “You look frazzled. Is everything alright?”

He chuckled quietly, casting his gaze to the ground. “Uh, yeah. I was looking for the bus stop. I have an appointment to get to.”

Her eyes lit up with curiosity. “Oh? Where?” She paused red creeping into her cheeks. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

Yoongi smiled, remembering how inquisitive she used to be. “No, it’s fine.” He switched the portfolio to the opposite hand. “I have an audition at Julliard.”

Her jaw dropped. “J-Juilliard?! As in The Juilliard School?”

His gummy smile widened as the shyness took over. “Yeah, that same one.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Wow. Yoongi, that’s amazing. Let’s get you where you need to be. I’m going in the same direction.” She grabbed his hand and started walking across the street. 

Yoongi, flabbergasted, let her pull him across the street. Once they reached the other side, she dropped his hand, shoving hers deep in her pockets.

“Your hands were always so cold,” she commented.

He chuckled nervously as they walked on. But you never minded it. A dull ache formed in his chest as he stood next to her, she really hadn’t changed. It was almost like yesterday. They had been happy as if nothing else in the world mattered but the two of them until it all came crashing down.

“I can’t love you the way you want me to.”

Yoongi realized she stopped talking and was staring at him. He blinked a few times in confusion. “I-I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

She giggled, shaking her head. “Still the same Yoongs, head up in the clouds.” She pointed up to the sign near the corner of the street. “There’s your bus stop.”

His eyes lit up with excitement. “Thank you! Ah, I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t find it.”

Without thinking, he wrapped her in his arms, squeezing her gently. She gave a nervous chuckle and patted his back. “Yoongi, I–”

“Babe!”

Yoongi froze as he looked over her head to see a man jogging towards them. He released her stepping back awkwardly. A look of regret passed as quickly as it came before she lit up in front of the man.

“Hey, sweetie.”

The man kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her waist. He glanced at Yoongi curiously. “Who’s this?”

She giggled, poking his side. “This is Min Yoongi, a friend from long ago.”

Yoongi winced inwardly as he felt the pang in his chest. A friend? That was what he’d been reduced to? Feigning a smile, he looked at them. “Yeah, we knew each other back in Seoul. Close friends. Nice to meet you.”

The man gave a nod of acknowledgment, returning his attention to her. 

Just as the silence became unbearable, Yoongi glanced at his watch. “My bus should be here at any moment.”

She gave him a pout. “You sure? We can give you a ride. Right, sweetie?”

Yoongi shook his head. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the bus approaching. “That’s not necessary. Thank you. It was great catching up.”

I miss you.

He turned, looking at them just as the bus stopped and the doors slid open. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, she gave him a tiny wave. He exhaled, holding his folder close just as the doors shut. Taking a seat, his heart clenched just as he watched her kiss her boyfriend, holding him close.

◽▪◽▪◽

[chaoticneutralwriter]

The Grinch Who Stole New Year

You no longer like Christmas, you love Christmas. But perhaps it was still your heart that grew three sizes before the end of the year.

guardiandemon!Jimin x reader

genre: slice of life, supernatural, fluff, comedy

word count: 4.4k

A/n: You know me, I never get stuff out on time LOLL But to make up for it, I tried to do a mash up of the two big holiday/season into this one drabble. Hope everyone’s had a great holiday and a happy New Year! 2019, let’s get this bread. Forewarning; it’s half unedited so....asfsdkgh

 December 31st

 “You look awfully happy.” Jaehee comments from the kitchen threshold. You glance up only briefly, not bothering to hide the dopey, wide smile you currently have. It makes Jaehee laugh before she asks, “Is it the guy you told me about?”

 You sputter, nearly knocking out the lone ear bud you’re wearing with how you jostle your laptop to indignantly squawk, “As if!” You take a hold of your laptop and turn it just slightly to show her your paused screen, cooing affectionately as you say, “It’s my boys.”

 “Oh.” She drags out the sound and rolls her eyes playfully, “Should’ve known.”

 You grin back at her before continuing where you left off. Curled up on the sofa with the fluffiest blanket, sipping one of your favourite white wines, you’re watching your copy of BTS’ Seasons’ Greetings 2019 on your laptop. Sure buying it might’ve put a rather large dent in your wallet but in your defense, it was deemed to be your Christmas present to yourself. Plus, in your opinion, it’s worth every penny. 

 “So what happened to the guy then? Did you ghost him or something?” Jaehee calls out again, coming to settle on the other end of the sofa where your feet haven’t reached.

 “Oh… him.” You reply offhandedly, paying more attention to the conversation the group was having on screen but at the thought of…. him, you can’t help the snort that comes out of your mouth that isn’t entirely because of BTS’ antics.

 Oh, Jimin…. Well, your demon version of Jimin…. 

 You can’t say you feel completely sorry for him because ever since the season to be jolly had crept closer and closer, he had become more and more like a mixture between the Grinch and Grumpy Cat and while it should’ve made you a little apprehensive of his temper, you were absolutely loving it.

 -

 12 days before Christmas

 “On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” You find yourself singing as you work on stringing the Christmas lights up so that they frame your living room windows. You stand back to admire your handy work, still humming the song and you can’t help the giddy wiggle when you see how perfectly the lights twinkle in rhythm.

 “You bought more lights?” A begrudging voice sounds from within the darkened depths of your room. You turn and the grouchy mood your room invader has does nothing to dampen your own high-spirited one. In fact, his appearance looks too much like a certain grumpy house cat that even his glowing ruby eyes doesn’t detract the image. It makes you choke back a giggle, which seems to make him bristle (much to your delight).

 “Don’t you know that you can never have enough lights?” You make show of reprimanding him as if you’re an over-enthusiastic grade school teacher, hands on either side of your hip and head slightly tilted. He glares harder at you and you think this is the perfect chance to rub it in his face more. “And guess what else I got?”

 You whirl around to reach into your shopping bag and pull out your two additional purchases, shaking them excessively in both hands with excitement and a shit-eating grin stretching so wide you feel your cheeks starting to hurt. “Santa hats!” And they’re not just any old, normal looking ones. They’re red sequined and they jingled.

 “You’re disgusting.” is your only response before he promptly slams the door shut to your room. But you can’t be bothered, too busy cackling to yourself from his reaction. You’re honestly living for how much your demon guardian is loathing the holiday season. Before, you can barely get him to stop popping up at the most inconvenient times, claiming it to be ‘watch duty’ (when really it’s just to annoy you and give you a heart attack for his own amusement) but ever since Christmas started to loom around the corner, he’s gone reclusive, avoiding the outside world like the black plague was on the loose. 

 Needless to say, you were ecstatic. You could finally meet up with your friends without having to look over your shoulder or become too distracted because he thinks it’s funny to do outrageous things under the invisibility spell (you’ll never forget the time he decided to make balloon animals two seats away from you, all the while keeping the most stoic face you’ve ever seen). 

 So it’s no surprise that you’ve decided to take full advantage of this new discovery, going to lengths you never had before in a way to get back at him. To be honest, you weren’t even that big on Christmas, doing the bare minimum in the past to celebrate the holiday but thanks to him, you’ve gone all out in the decorating department and it only seems to fuel your enthusiasm (so no, you wouldn’t call it being completely petty; just more festive).

 A most wonderful time of the year indeed.

 You toss the Santa hats onto the couch, taking the moment to step back and admire your entire setup. The tree was up and filled with ornaments on nearly every branch you can hook, standing in a corner by the sofa, blinking prettily with it’s many lights, complete with a faux fur lined tree skirt. More lights were pinned just above the sofa and along the small bookshelf while garlands and wreaths were placed on your front door, above the kitchen threshold and the railing outside of your entryway. The magazines on your coffee table were tucked underneath in favour of the poinsettia candle-holder centrepiece, complete with faux self-lit candles.

 And although you don’t have a fireplace, it didn’t deter you from buying stockings to hang just below the TV stand (I mean, if you turn on the fireplace channel, it could still work right?)

 Overall, you’re quite happy with your little home makeover. Your place looks exceptionally decorative and you get a kick out of annoying your demon house cat for once. Two birds with one stone.

 -

 2 days before Christmas

 “What is that?”

 “What’s what?” You ask innocently, biting your lip to hold back a snicker as you pretend to busy yourself in fixing the holly you’ve got in your hands. You can practically feel the temperature drop behind you from the sofa but you’re perfectly warm in your oversized ugly Christmas sweater.

 “That!” He hisses. You spare him a glance but his gaze is so fixated on the little ceramic figurine on the coffee table that you actually think he might set it aflame.

 “It’s Mary and Joseph and the newborn king, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; gosh I thought you of all beings would know them?” You flippantly reply, having to turn away again to hide the smile that’s starting to creep up on your lips. 

 “I do but I also know for a fact that you’re not even Christian. So why do you have this here!?" 

 “Jesus loves everybody and it’s not exactly them, it’s a very abstract depiction of them. And besides, it’s a nice candle holder that says Noel so calm down.” 

 You hear angry muttering and then a huff, making you sneak a peek only to nearly burst out laughing at the pout he’s sporting. You have to admit, it’s adorable but only because he looks like Jimin. He turns to you and you can’t help the corner of your mouth from twitching. Your Jimin clone raises a finger, pointing at you as his expression turns accusatory, comically so.

 “You did this on purpose.” 

 “Did what?” Your voice comes out in a higher pitch because you’re trying so hard not to laugh but also because you’re clearly lying through your teeth.

 “All of this!” He finally exclaims, like his week long pent up frustration is coming to head. “I can’t believe you would go along with the capitalism of this holiday, just to get back at me!” 

 “You’re a demon! I thought you’re supposed to encourage this sort of thing?”

 “There are many things I encourage…and this is definitely not one of them!” 

 “Oh c’mon, don’t act like you totally hate the holiday season; I’m not the one sneaking gingerbread cookies at two in the morning."

 A pause.

 And you smirk; gotcha.

 Yeah, there was no way you wouldn’t have noticed that every time you decided to bake some holiday treats (for the household and your workplace), the portion left for home would mysteriously disappear at an alarming rate. You knew for sure you didn’t eat any because you literally had your fill when they were fresh out of the oven. Jaehee didn’t really like gingerbread cookies nor sweets for that matter but she indulged you and had the bare minimum.

 So doing the math for that wasn’t too hard and if the deep crimson blush Jimin had on was anything to go by….

 “So what? I had like two…” He says defensively, crossing his arms. You let a snort go, turning back around to fiddle with the fake holly berries. 

 “Sure…whatever helps you sleep at night.”

 “Demons don’t really sleep.”

 “Ugh, you know what I mean.” You roll your eyes, finishing up and stalking back towards the kitchen again. “Anyways, I’m gonna go make some cookies since someone keeps eating all of them before I can leave any out for Santa.”

 “He’s not even real!”

 “I don’t want to hear it!”

 Safe to say that your chewy chocolate chip cookies turned out fantastically, you think they’re good enough to open your own bakery even. Once the tray cooled, you take three for yourself and a glass of milk, heading back into your room. You take a quick a glance in the living and find that your demon guardian has vanished. You shrug, kicking open your door and get settled in for a little movie night in bed.

 The next morning, you find the tray more than half empty.

 “Oh wow, chocolate chip cookies. You should really open up a shop, Y/N. You’ve got a knack for baking.” Jaehee comes up from behind you, peering over your shoulder. “Why’d you make so little? Just had a craving last night?”

 “Yeah…” was the only thing you can say in utter disbelief.

 That bastard.

 He could’ve saved you some to last the week.

 -

 Christmas Day

 Oh boy, you probably should not have drank that much. You’re regretting it deeply now as you stumble up the stairs after thanking your Uber driver and wishing them a happy holiday. The Christmas party your friend held was super fun, something that wasn’t too rambunctious like a frat party even though you're totally sloshed right now. It was a gathering of close friends and their dates but friends who definitely know how to party. The night started off rather tamed with the exchange of presents and pleasantries in catching up, eating and light drinking before the games started. 

 That’s when the drinks started pouring because games are fun but they’re even more fun when alcohol is involved (and anything can be turned into a drinking game if you tried hard enough). Coupled that with your fairly low tolerance and it’s no surprise that you’re about ready to fall asleep in the closest corner you can find. But no, you’re a trooper and you held on, even when Jaehee (who was no less sober than you), insists on going home with you. So after ordering you an Uber she deemed trustful (cancelling around five of them), she saw you off, not without demanding that you text her when you’ve arrived safely at home.

 You’re almost inside, fumbling with your keys and checking thrice to make sure it’s the right one before slotting it into the keyhole. As the door opens, you let out a loud noise of relief like you’ve just finished a marathon.

 “Goddammit….” You slur to yourself as you shut your door and nearly topple over in removing your boots. You fling them off after finding your balance on the wall, heaving yourself to the living room where you promptly collapse onto the couch, energy spent. Your head is pounding already as if your hangover is beginning to form even before your body has a chance to sleep it off but you still have so much to do; take off your jacket, text Jaehee, change your clothes, wash your makeup off, brush your teeth, drink some water, the list was endless but all your body and inebriated mind wants to do is to close your eyes and just rest here for a bit because this couch was so comfy…man, investing in those throw pillows and blankets sure was a good ide—

 “I don’t remember letting in a hobo.” 

 Through your curtain of hair, you blearily make out a shadow looming over you. Tossing your head back a bit more, you find an infuriatingly handsome face staring down at you, one that you want to punch but kiss at the same time.

 “Jimin…?” 

 “Yes, but not quite darling.”

 You frown, muddled mind sifting through information like dial up Internet before you make a noise of affirmation. “Not Jimin…English too good.” 

 You hear a breathy laugh as your heavy head lops to one side, too tired to hold it up any longer. A clicking sound, the kissing of teeth in a way you can only imagine a mother would do when scolding her child.

 “Someone’s indulged a little too much in the blood of Christ.” 

 In your head, you think you’ve formed words that sound something like ‘You don’t even like Christmas’ but in reality, it comes out half way before dying in a mumbling, incoherent mess. Your head continues to pound to the rhythm of your heart and as you close your eyes, trying to will it to go away, you very nearly drift off when you feel a tug at your arm. You make an attempt to swat at it but fail miserably, giving up because you don’t have the energy to care.

 “I don’t get paid enough for this….” You faintly hear as you’re suddenly lifted into strong arms and the familiar scent of vanilla and lavender invades your nose.

 “Mm…So strong…” You giggle drunkenly, head burying against the soft cashmere sweater he’s wearing. A groan rumbles against your ear before you’re unceremoniously dumped onto the fluffy comforter of your bed. You whine loudly at being jostled, blindly rolling to your side in an attempt to sit up. A firm hand stops you from straight up falling out of bed.

 “Where do you think you’re going?”

 “Mm’face is dirty…”

 “Don’t worry, you rubbed half of it off on my sweater anyways.”

 “Jimin…!” You whine petulantly, a hand stretched out as if you could summon a cleansing wipe if you thought hard enough. Even drunk you refuses to go to bed with makeup still on your face; imagine the mess it’ll leave on your pillows!

 A loud sigh and before you know it, you feel the dampness of one of your cleansing wipes in your outstretched hand. You take it with a grunt of appreciation before slapping it onto your face and begin rubbing it in the best way you think you can get the makeup off. You try to be strategic about it, going by sections of your face but eventually, you keep forgetting if you’ve went over the area or not. You end up wiping your face for a good fifteen minute straight.

 “I think you missed a spot.”

 You let out another grunt, loudly, tossing the wipe in the direction you hear his voice coming from, “Shuddup.”

 The wipe doesn’t come close to reaching his stupid handsome face like you wanted it to, it lands rather pathetically at the edge of his knee, right where the rip in his jeans were. Still, he takes it and effortlessly sends it flying to your trashcan.

 “Finished?”

 “Mm.” You hum, snuggling into your pillows before letting out a content sigh through your nose. You feel the covers tuck a little closer to you, the weight lifting from your bed and your hair being brushed out of the way. 

 “Now stay, and sleep.” 

 “Mm…Merry Chris…Nn—Merry Holiday, Jimin.” You mumble sleepily, drifting off finally though for a split second, you could’ve sworn you heard a “Merry Holiday” in return.

 The next morning, you wake up with a splitting headache that renders you incapacitated for half the day. When you did have enough strength to get up, you’re pleasantly greeted with a steaming mug of peppermint tea (the one with cute little snowflakes on it) and a pack of painkillers.

 Jaehee’s door was still shut, no doubt she’s either still passed out in sleep or she might’ve spent the night with her date so it’s with a half-hearted reluctance that you accept who could’ve done this. Nevertheless, you gratefully take the tea, cradling it in your hands as you make your way over to the couch. Settling down on the plush seat, you go to reach for the remote on the coffee table, only to notice one minor detail.

 Your little Noel candle holder was missing.

 You could only let out a sigh. In truth, you’re not even mad.

 -

 Present day

 “You sure you don’t want to head over to Jisoo’s? We can stay only until the countdown is over.” Jaehee asks once again as she straightens her sequin dress.

 “Nah, I think I’ve maxed out my social metre for the year in just this past week alone.” You laugh, stretching your arms over your head before settling back down again, cradling the laptop perched on your knees. You’re halfway done the season’s greeting DVD and you’re thoroughly enjoying yourself where you are.

 Jaehee acquiesces, adding a couple of finishing touches to her look, giving you a twirl and you giving her your seal of approval in return. She throws on her jacket just as her phone goes off, signaling her dates’ arrival to pick her up. Jaehee bids you farewell, wishing you a happy new year beforehand as she slips through the door. You brief chill from outside reaches you and you bring the throw over blanket closer to you, resuming your video.

 Throughout the entire time, you’ve got a smile stretched wide across your face. You can’t help it; BTS does that to you. Even when the DVD comes to a finish, you’re still left with the faint feeling of happiness and utter adoration for them and honestly, it kind of makes you care even less that you’re spending your New Year by yourself.

 So with a content sigh, you eagerly fill your glass again, wiggling happily as you settle further into the cushions to continue perusing the Internet. Now this is what you call self-care.

 “You look crazy.”

 You resist the urge to groan aloud.

 “Well, look who decided to crawl out of their bat cave.” You decide to shoot back sarcastically as you glance up just in time to see him emerge from the darkness beyond your living room. The way he strides towards you makes it look like the shadows had melded to his form and given shape to his clothing as well; all black but looking rather cozy to your surprise; a simple black hoodie and sweatpants, the comfiest and most casual you’ve seen him. The change is startling and makes your heart palpitate a little, though you brush it off as the wine working its way into your system.

 “And I see you still have those obnoxious decorations up.” He looks disdainfully at the numerous Christmas lights still strung up and around the space, crinkling his nose a bit. “When are you gonna take it down?”

 “When I feel like it.” You deadpan, going back to search up the latest performance video.

 “Do you want me to burn it down for you?”

 That causes you to snap your gaze up, eyes narrowing in warning. “Don’t you dare.”

 All you’re met is a devilish smirk, eyes challenging before he turns and seats himself on the opposite side of the couch, preening. You only puff up in annoyance but then forgo getting worked up over the light bantering. It’s a common occurrence between the two of you now; a strange, love-hate, dynamic that though you may yell and complain about how much you find him absolutely irritable, a very, very, very deep part of you admits that he’s grown on you…. like a rash.

 “So are you really just going to spend the remaining part of your year binge watching BTS related content, drinking wine?” You hear him ask. You spare him a glance over the top of your laptop, finding him doing the same except he’s scrolling through his iPhone X (which you have no idea how he even got). He’s got the judge-y eyes but you see the underlying teasing glint in them that only causes you to roll your own.

 “We’ve been over this; the only thing that can melt my glacial heart now is seven beautiful and talented Korean men whom one of which, might I reiterate numerous times now, you stole their identities to.” 

 “Details, details.” He says unconcernedly, making show of stretching his neck and working out the kinks. “Ever heard of how there are actually at least six people in the world that look almost exactly like you? So it’s not that big of a deal.” 

 You could only shake your head (because low-key yes, he’s right but you won’t admit it), opting take a generous gulp of your wine.

 “Careful darling; wouldn’t want a repeat of six days ago.”

 “Hey at least I didn’t throw up on you.” You say defensively, cheeks heating up slightly when you recall what he said you did after getting home from the Christmas party (as payback, he made you hand-wash his sweater). You set down your glass to pour yourself more wine, feeling him watching with eyes piercing though that does not deter you at all (you will assert your dominance here). He scoffs but does nothing to stop you from filling your glass three-quarters of the way and taking another sip so you take it as a small victory in proving that you’re right. 

 It continues on like this; a comment made here and there, some back and forth before you both settle rather comfortably, just sat across from each other in actual companionable silence. You’re halfway through your bottle before you had the conscious to stop, feeling the buzz hitting you in growing waves. By then, you’ve settled onto browsing through your phone, much like how he’s doing right now but even after a few minutes, you had to rest your head against the back of the couch, too tired to keep it up. The strength in your hands is the next to go and soon, you had to resort to taking mini breaks in between. 

 It gives you the chance to really look at Jimin, or more like this entity that has taken the form of Jimin. You take in the way the lights bounce off of his face; all soft yet sharp angles at the same time, the way his lashes flutter at the tops of his cheeks when he blinks, and the dainty mole right at the edge. You see how the dangling silver earring catches the light at the slightest movement of his head, but also notice the helix stud that is shining as well. It’s such a small detail, however one that you find most profound; the real Jimin doesn’t have a helix piercing anymore.

 Now, as the more you look, you’re starting to find other things that the real Jimin would have that the one in front of your doesn’t; like the faint dusting of freckles you would see when real Jimin isn’t wearing makeup and when the Jimin in front of you brushes his hair back from his forehead, you don’t see the moles that should’ve been there. 

 Half of you thinks that this shouldn’t be that big of a deal, given that a major difference between this Jimin and the real one is that he’s fluent in English (and you have a sneaking suspicion other languages too), but there’s just something about actually seeing the differences physically now with your own eyes makes you feel….

 “Your eyes are going vacant darling; is it way past your bedtime?”

 His voice snaps you from your thought and the familiarity of it in contrast to what you have discovered seems all the more jarring. You blink to focus, the spitting image of the idol coming back into your view.

 “I’m not old enough to start falling asleep before the countdown happens.” 

 “But you are old enough to miss it completely.” Jimin’s voice is laced with hints of laughter bubbling at the edges but his remark makes you whip your phone up to your face, checking the time to see that indeed it’s 12:01. 

 Well, damn.

 The laugh he’s no doubt been holding back finally bursts out, a raspy sound that’s just the slightest bit airy. It’s probably from the look of utter disbelief on your face but you don’t really care, eyes too transfixed on the way he’s thrown his head back, Adam’s apple bobbing and after he calms down to just grinning do you see— 

 That his teeth are perfectly straight.

 “I guess we should say, 'Happy New Year’ yes?”

 He’s smiling at you so brilliantly, eyes almost turning into crescents as they twinkle at you with this boyish charm, cheeks rounding a little more the same way that Jimin had made your heart stutter. It makes your own smile tug onto your lips, and you have half the mind to marvel at how easily swayed you are by him.

 This Jimin, that is so like him—

 Yet not at the same time….

 The feelings tug at your heart again, except this time you think you might be able to pin what it is.

 You feel…. relieved.

 But for what?

 Your smile falters for a split second at the revelation, but you swiftly pull yourself together, covering up by reaching for your forgotten wine glass. It’s empty, however you raise it all the same to him.

 “Happy New Year.” You breathe out softly as if you’re afraid to disturb the peaceful atmosphere between you two, all the while the words have you feeling like a small weight has been lifted from your shoulder.

 He smiles in response and for a split second; his face softens almost endearingly as he replies to you with an equal softness in his voice, “Happy New Year.”

 In the quiet of your living room, with only the twinkling lights of Christmas past, you find you're less alone than you would be welcoming in the New Year.

 And somehow, you don’t quite mind that it’s thanks to him.

 -

  Bonus

 “You owe me a new Jesus candle holder.”

 “…How about no?”

New Year, and he’s still insufferable. It was worth a shot.

[loverscreation]

4- FIRST CHRISTMAS

YOOOO This took so long! For that I'm sorry, but know I have a lot of stuff on the way and it's going to be nonstop until November! Hope you enjoy <3

I paused before the double doors to gather my nervous thoughts. Hello, Dolly! aside, this was our first proper reunion since we started going steady. And it was Christmas night. The thoughts of gift exchanging was put out of the picture early as I had no money to afford gifts to share in return, though I still feared the idea of rule breakers to grow my guilt. 

A breeze rolled by, causing me to tighten the coat around my form with my free hand. The other hand held a plate of promised peanut butter cookies. With every added second spent out here I risked freezing. the air back home on the west coast could not bite this hard.

I knocked on one of the doors and waited for a good few seconds before someone opened it. Standing before me was Sister Imperator. 

“Hi! I'm Alys, I was invited over by The Second,” I informed her with a kind smile. No matter how hard I tried to stand still, I resembled a Chihuahua with how heavily I was shivering.

Imperator moved aside to let me in the delightful warmth. “Come in, come in! You must be freezing, you poor thing.” 

A weak chuckle left my lips as I entered the church, immediately being soothed by the temperature “Thank you, Sister. It's nice to meet you!” Creating a gap in the plastic wrap protecting the plate, I offered her a cookie. There was one for everyone.

After shutting the door, she took the treat and gave me a gracious nod in return. “It's nice to meet you as well, I've heard many good things about you.” I looked away shyly and hooked a piece of hair behind my ears. 

“He should be in his study just down the hall. It's the fourth door on the left,” she instructed. A naturally shaking finger pointed me down a rather dark hallway with blue tinted lights hung along the walls. Festive touch aside, there was no way the place wasn't haunted.

My stomach twisted about in excitement. “Again, thank you. I'm sure I'll see you again tonight?” She gave me a nod of confirmation before sending me on my way. 

With my destination in front of me, I let out a deep breath to calm myself and tapped upon the door.

“Come in,” his voice came through. 

Doing as instructed, I entered with a large grin and shut the door behind me. “Merry Christmas! I brought cookies if you’d like one?” 

He slid his chair out and patted his lap. “Come here, darling.” 

Without hesitation, I practically skipped to him. His legs supported my weight nicely and his arm hooking around my waist added extra comfort. A treat was snagged from the plate, followed by a hum of approval. 

“An excellent baker. Is there anything you cannot do?” 

My eyes rolled so hard I feared they may fall out of my head. “You flirt,” I snorted. 

No doubt my reaction was considered success to him. “So tell me, how was your family dinner? If I am not mistaken, you were dreading it.” He gave me an expectant look, showing me he was willing to listen to whatever I may have to say about the matter. 

“It sucked, like always. The political comments mixed with being the only one without their partner there made me want to leave so badly.” A nervous chuckle escaped me as I raised my eyebrows. 

A hum of disapproval reverberated from The Second. “Let Papa make it all better. You once told me you wished to sit by my fireplace in my arms, yes?” There was not a single complaint from me, only a smile. He remembered. “Let it be reality. I will stoke the fire, you pick out a blanket. And would you please dim the lights for me while you are at it, darling?”

I shot up for his lap and he soon stood with considerably less energy. A few blankets rested on his bed, making a good selection to choose from. In the end, I picked the black throw blanket. The fluffy texture won me over. 

Before anything, I knew I had to make myself comfortable. Shedding my jacket and shoes, I placed them by the door. The blanket took the entire span of my hold as I carried it to the chaise lounge directly across from the fireplace. 

He peeked over his shoulder. “Ah, an excellent choice,” he commented. I giggled and spread the cover over the elongated chair. 

A moment later, the satanic figure joined me. He took the spot closest to the armrest, legs spread out on the seat. Once comfortable, he opened his arms in my direction. 

Though my shy nature was no secret, I tried not to hesitate while I crawled up his legs. My body lowered onto his and I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck. The smell of his aftershave hit my senses in calming waves.

A large hand gently rubbed my back, smoothing away the remaining tension of my muscles. If only every day was this peaceful.

“I am glad you made it,” he whispered into my hair. Just the statement alone unleashed shivers through my being. Words of appreciation were spread thin in my circle these days, but he never fell short of filling the gaps. 

My lips curled into a smile and parted, emitting a relaxed sigh. “There is no way I’d miss an evening with you.” 

His free hand curled under my chin, lifting my face back into view. Only an inch stood between us. With a racing heart, I tried to recall any other time our lips had been so close. My memory came up empty. 

“Dinner is ready,” called the muffled voice of Sister Imperator. 

The Second frowned deeply. “We will be right there, Sister.” He removed his hand from my chin. “Up you go.”

I obediently followed his words, reluctantly pulling myself from his warm embrace. To keep myself from awkwardly shifting, I strolled to his desk to retrieve my cookies. 

The two of us joined the family in the dining room. A rather long table with a feast placed upon it awaited our arrival. I gaped at the sight, frozen in the doorway. No restaurant could even touch tonight’s menu- and to think I only brought a small plate of sweets.

The Third cleared his throat rather dramatically to gain my attention. That smirk wreaked of mischief.

“What did you do?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it. 

“Well, dear Alys, look above you and find out.” He twirled a gloved index finger, the tip landing to point upwards at the end of the loop.

Dark green leaves that came to multiple points, accompanied by fake red berries. It was tied to a hook by a matching red bow.

Heat ran to my face and I gazed at The Third with helpless eyes. “You didn’t...”

“Oh, but I did. Now onto tradition!” His hand gave us a hurrying motion before he crossed his arms over his chest.

My hazel eyes of shock snapped to my lover. For once, displeasure didn’t plague his features at his brother’s antics. He wanted this. The thought of him wanting to kiss me was something I couldn’t fathom, but the truth couldn’t be mistaken.

He took the lead, resting a hand on my lower back and urging me closer. In no way would I resist. Only an inch separated us and I lifted onto my tiptoes to help close the height gap. He leaned forward.

His mustache tickled my skin as his soft lips captured mine. With my eyes fluttering closed, I cupped his cheeks and he held my waist. The kiss ended too quickly for my liking, but his family shouldn’t witness any more than they had already.

I snickered nervously as we parted. Never had I thought our first kiss would happen like this, but who was I to complain? Smiles seemed to be shared by everyone present, but The Third looked all too smug with himself. The youngest brother turned to us with a flourished swing of his arms, spreading his wingspan in his proud moment. His victory came in a heavily cocky silence.

The moment broke as I stepped away from the doorway, settling at the table with the rest of the family. On my right sat my sweetheart, and his father to my left. Sister Imperator worked at making sure everyone had been served to their liking.

However, my focus didn’t concentrate on the food. “This may be a weird question, but why do you celebrate Christmas like this?” I gained their eyes. “I mean, this is the Christian adaptation of the holiday.”

“Mockery more than anything,” spoke the ever quiet eldest brother. “As I assume you know, Christmas came from the origin of the winter solstice- A pagan ritual.” I nodded. “We do put our twists to it, taking the commercialized holiday from the captures themselves.”

I softly snickered into my hand. “You’re outdoing Christians at their own game. I love that!”

“This does raise the question, however. What is it that you believe in?” This question was due to come up at some point, considering I decided to see a satanic pope in a widely Christian country. 

“I consider myself spiritual more than religious,” I answered simply. “Whatever higher power is out there or what happens when you die is beyond me, but I do believe in what I’ve seen. Things like spirits and energy.”

The First took a liking to this answer. His gaze stopped shifting between his food and I, his piercing stare giving itself to me fully. “And do you have a spiritual practice?”

The response delayed this time, embarrassment flooding my cheeks. “Sort of, but it’s not solid. I mostly do research out of interest, and my family and I do what we can to protect ourselves.”

“Hm. A more neutral approach, then. Perhaps- if you get curious- I could teach you a thing or two from my own practice.” Was that the start of a smile I saw? “There is no better method of research than to learn from the source itself.”

This offer baffled me. "I would love to do that! Thank you!" 

The table went silent for a moment, though not in any sort of discomfort. Mouths were being filled with delicious food, relaxation being shared through the air. Small bouts of conversation sprouted up and died down naturally. 

While I mostly kept to myself and stuck to listening, a hand snuck onto my thigh. I looked beside me to my Papa. His eyes were already on me. 

"Are you enjoying yourself?" I nodded. "What is your opinion of my family, now that you've gotten to see them for what they are?" 

I looked around at every member of the table before gazing at him once more. "I like them. They make me feel right at home, and they seem to like me, I think." 

The hint of a smile traced his lips. "It pleases me to hear this." 

A smile of my own formed and I put a hand on top of his own. 

Once the meal drew to a close, most of the men took off to pull out presents. However, I stayed behind with Sister Imperator and The First to clean up. 

"Such a doll," commented the Sister, "no wonder you've been the new family buzz." 

I blushed as I made my way to the sink with her. "You all are way too nice to me, I swear!" 

She shook her head like a mother would. "Nonsense! You're something special for The Second to hold onto you, you know."  

The First handed me dishes to clean and I did so as efficiently as I could. They were handed off to Imperator to dry and tuck away. While I enjoyed helping, the magic of Christmas lies in the company by the tree. 

"What's it like to live here?" I shifted my attention between the dishes and Imperator. 

She hummed a bit. "It depends on the church. You see, The Second is the only one that truly lives in this church. Our family is scattered." 

"How so?" 

"Papa Nihil, The First, and I run the home church in Italy. The Second, here in New York. And The Third in England." While she said it factually, no thrill coated her tone. 

My eyebrows knitted together softly. "Must be hard." 

"It's quite alright, dear. Such is the life of the busy," she responded softly. 

Before we knew it, the sinks were empty. Imperator rested a cold hand on my lower back and led me out with The First. 

Across the way in the recreational space sat a glorious tree with many gifts underneath, all wrapped with care. I took my usual spot by my partner and he gazed down at me with soft eyes. I returned the silently given love before turning my fixation to the activities. 

"Mine first-" announced the youngest brother as he shot up from the couch. He all but bounced to the tree and a number of gifts were passed about. 

However, his head dropped a bit and he shuffled my way. I raised my eyebrow as he smiled sheepishly. "I know you said you didn't want any gifts, but these called your name." 

The box was handing off to me. It wasn't too large, though with a bit of weight, and the wrapping was a beautiful muted red pattern. I tilted my head in curiosity. I ripped away at the paper and he lifted the top. 

Three different types of polished crystals lay on their padding, identification cards on top of them. Amethyst, black tourmaline, and rose quartz. "Holy shit," I breathed and reached in. 

My fingers traced over the smooth textures. A hot tingling pricked my nose, though I wouldn't let tears form when I looked up at him. "Thank you so much, I-" I shook my head a bit "-I don't know what to say." 

The Third's grin returned, his arm pulling me into his side for a hug of gratitude after I set the box down. "I am glad you like them, however, I must take my leave. The lady awaits!" 

Hs partner was mentioned in my text conversations with The Second. Jehanna, a fellow sister taking a holiday vacation with her Papa. I've heard many good things about their relationship.

"Tell her I said hi," I beamed. With a nod and farwell, he was out the door in the blink of an eye. He must be excited. 

A large hand caressed my lower back. "I could not resist," murmured The Second. He held a small container in front of me. 

With a glance of hesitancy thrown his way, I took it. Whatever he could think to get me was lost on my mind. 

I opened the container to see a ring. No, not one for engagement, but a gorgeous emerald accessory. My heart almost stopped. 

"Babe," I called out softly, "you shouldn't have-" A tight hug was shared between us. 

He whispered in my ear. "Now you have a piece of me whenever we part."

He pulled it from its enclosure and cradled my right hand. He slid it onto my index finger for a perfect fit. 

A smile traced my lips. "It's beautiful. Thank you." Now that it's been done before, I lifted onto my tip toes and pecked his lips. 

That brought a smile to his face, though he was quick to move on.

Thoughtful items and thanks were passed about. As much as I wanted to stay around and bask in the good company, I knew I had to return to the hotel room The Second rented out for me. My flight back to Oregon would take off early that morning.

My hand slid into The Second's hand, the other one rested on top. Turning his head, he gave me his attention.

"It's getting late," my voice trailed off.

A moment passed before he looked away and nodded. "Let us get a driver ready for you."

The two of us searched the place, soon finding a sister on duty for driving. I stood before the door, turning back to him.

"Thank you, for everything. You've all given me the best night I could ask for."

We shared another kiss, this one more meaningful. Slowly, we parted, yet our faces remained an inch apart. Our eyes locked. I missed him already. The look in his eyes assured me he thought the same.

He pecked my lips before straightened himself back up. "Be safe, and message me when you arrive.

I nodded and hurried to the car.

[lostinfic]

Kink flashfiction: semi-public sex with Mercier/Betty? Please!

aneclipsedhabitue said to lostinfic:Just general Dom!Mercier x Betty¿

Anonymous said to lostinfic:Mercier x Betty + Dom/sub? ;)

Bonus kinks: teacher/student, roleplay, spanking (for the Hardy x Hannah anon)

➜ Kink flashfiction

Ao3

Mademoiselle

Betty never got to attend university. For her thirtieth birthday, she decided it was high time to remedy that situation. She thought it better to start slow, as she lacked confidence in her academic abilities, and enrolled as an auditor: no homework or exams, only classes.

She chose a French history course.

On her first day, she arrived twenty minutes early, wearing a pencil skirt and blouse. She sat primly in the second row, crisp notebook and a brand new pen laid out in front of her.

No one else walked in, and she double-checked the classroom number. Then triple-checked five minutes later. At last other students walked in, in jeans or sweatpants, most of them equipped with shiny laptops.

She avoided eye-contact with them and doodled in her notebook instead. She was here to learn, she didn’t have to fit in, this wasn’t secondary school (and thank God for that).

The teacher came in. He looked just like she expected with suede elbow patches and a battered leather bag. But he was younger than she’d pictured and certainly more clean-cut: straight tie and tailored trousers.

All eyes were on him as he walked through the rows of tables and handed out syllabuses. Students assessed him and tried to guess what kind of teacher he was. But Betty could only think that he was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. Her heart beat faster as he neared her seat. When he reached her, her mind went blank, and she didn’t take the document he was holding out for her. He smirked, and put the syllabus down on her desk.

Oh, bugger, I can never show me face here again.

The teacher checked his watch and cleared his throat to get their attention. Chatter dwindled down, and he introduced himself.

“Bonjour, I’m Jean-François Mercier, and it will be my pleasure to tell you all about the history of my country. I’m not a professor. I work for the French Army and I’ve worked as a diplomat in various countries.”

She had to hold back a dreamy sigh upon hearing his light accent. She chastised herself for romanticizing the situation. Clearly she had read one too many Mills & Boons novel involving French men or teacher-student romances.

She liked that he wasn’t a professor. Some may turn up their noses at his lack of tenure, but to Betty his work experience gave him more credibility than someone high up in his ivory tower.

“I recently took a sabbatical to study and teach and share my passion.”

He locked eyes with her as he said that last word. Passion. Okay, maybe she would show her face here again after all.

He spoke for two hours. Whereas other students showed signs of impatience— perhaps they didn’t expect a full lecture on their first day— Betty drank his every word.

He gave some homework for the following week which was met with some groans.

Betty couldn’t wait for the next class, and the following Wednesday, she arrived early again. This time, Mr. Mercier was already in the classroom. She sat in the same spot, and he walked up to her. Up close, she noticed the light freckles dusted across his sharp cheeks.

“Bonjour, mademoiselle. Do you want to hand over your assignment right away?”

“Oh, I didn’t do it.”

“Why not?” His voice was stern which was not entirely unpleasant.

“Oh, I’m only an auditor, I don’t have to do any work, I’m just here to learn.”

His frown turned into a smile. “There is no such thing as just learning. That’s quite admirable.”

She shrugged off the compliment and fiddled with her pen.

“What is your name?”

“Betty.”

“Betty. My office door is always opened to those with a desire to learn.”

Betty’s mouth went dry. Was the flirty undertone real or wish fulfillment? She didn’t have a chance to find out because a group of students walked in.

For the next two hours, he talked about Paleolithic France, and she was fascinated by everything mere cavemen had accomplished. During the break, she even checked the university’s website for courses on prehistory. It had simply never occurred to her that Neanderthal men did more than pick berries, hunt mammoths and carry women over their shoulders— not that she was opposed to being carried over someone’s shoulder. Would Mr. Mercier be strong enough to do that?

The following week, she decided to take him up on his offer. He had office hours on Tuesdays, she traded shifts with Maria, and took the bus to central London. She wore a white dress with blue flowers, and told herself that it was to enjoy the last beautiful days of September. And the opened buttons? Better to feel the last sunrays on her chest… or his wandering eyes?

She took a deep, steadying breath before knocking on his office door.

“Mademoiselle Betty, hello.”

“Hope I’m not bothering you.”

“Not at all. You’re the first student to visit me.”

She wondered if he was nervous, she would be.

The room had none of the leather and oak she’d imagined, it was a rather bland space meant for temporary employees. But he’d brought in many books to fill the shelves and art prints to brighten up the beige walls. 

Betty sat on the edge of a chair, twisting her skirt nervously.

“What can I help you with?”

“You mentioned an author last week, and I didn’t catch the name, he wrote prehistoric novels.”

“Aurel?”

“Could be.”

He gave her a few other names, indicating she should find them in the university’s library. Betty admitted she had yet to set foot there and had no idea how to find a book.

“I’ll show you.” He sprung from his seat.

Betty was taken aback by his enthusiasm but certainly couldn’t refuse his offer.

They crossed the campus together, commenting on the nice weather. A light breeze whispered through her dress, and Mr. Mercier’s eyes lingered on her.

He guided her through the high bookcases of the library to the French literature section. He stacked books in her arms, enthusiastically talking about his favourite authors. A librarian warned him to lower his voice. He looked exaggeratedly shamefaced, making Betty giggle.

“Tell me more about Molière,” she asked.

He answered her questions in a low voice, standing closer to her, almost whispering into her ear. They stood by a high window overlooking the campus and their hands brushed together.

She was back the next week, and the one after, asking for more book recommendations. Classics and contemporaries alike. Victor Hugo and Proust. Beaudelaire and St-Exupéry. Each visit lasted longer than the last, and they talked less about French history and more about their personal lives. Childhoods and past loves. Heartaches and dreams. Stendhal and de Beauvoir. Flaubert and Musso.

He talked to her as he would a friend, not a student. And the following day, in class, she watched him pace the room and listened, enthralled. Some may call his voice monotonous, but she loved its hypnotizing steadiness, calming, like the ebb and flow of waves. She sat there and let it transport her through history from Jeanne D’Arc to the Enlightenment. And sometimes she felt like she was alone with him in the room, that the class was all and only for her. That he chose moments in history that would resonate with the souvenirs and thoughts she’d shared with him in his office.

As eager as she was for the next class, each week also brought her closer to the end of the semester.

“I wish your class would never end,” she said.

“Fifteen weeks isn’t enough to cover all of France’s history, perhaps I can convince the university to offer a follow up course. Or perhaps I should offer some… private lessons.”

Betty blushed at the suggestion. Surely there were many things she could learn from him. And with him.

And just when she thought he was attempting to seduce her— not a difficult task by any means— he switched the subject and stepped away from her.

She knew there must be some restrictions against student-teacher relationships, but she was very much an adult and not a proper student. Is that what stopped him or was he simply not attracted to her?

And then one day, her doubts were lifted when he lent her a book from his own collection: Justine by Marquis de Sade.

He handed it to her with all appearance of nonchalance, but she knew the name, of course. And the subject matter.

She read it every night, for hours on end, savouring the lecherous words and his notes in the margins.

“When she’s abandoned her moral center and teachings…when she’s cast aside her facade of propriety and lady-like demeanor…when I have so corrupted this fragile thing and brought out a writhing, mewling, bucking, wanton whore for my enjoyment and pleasure…..enticing from within this feral lioness…growling and scratching and biting…taking everything I dish out to her…at that moment she is never more beautiful to me.”

Again and again she brought herself to orgasm as she imagined Mr. Mercier and herself as the protagonists.

The next week, Betty sat on the bus, holding the book close to her chest, her heart pounded under it. Halfway to the uni, it started to rain and by the time she got out, it was pouring. Rain soaked her clothes and hair, as she ran towards the faculty building. In her haste, she tripped. Justine landed in a puddle.

“Oh, no, no.”

The pages were already engorged with water.

Betty’s hands were shaking when she knocked on Mr. Mercier’s door. She got a few odd looks from two students entering the next door office.

Mr. Mercier opened the door. “Betty, my god, you’re soaked.”

He attempted to dry her with tissues which was completely ineffectual. His hands slowed, and he stared at her dress, cheap yellow fabric clinging to her body.

“Did you enjoy the novel?”

“I ruined it.”

“Pardon?”

She showed him the sodden book. “I’m so sorry, I’ve ruined your book. I was running and the rain and it fell. I should’ve been more careful.”

“Yes you should have, mademoiselle.”

“I’ll buy you another one.”

He scoffed at that. “It was a rare edition, it cannot be replaced. I thought I could trust you. I’m very disappointed in you.”

“Please, don’t be. I’m such a klutz, what can I do?”

He linked his hands behind his back and paced the small office. “How should carelessness be dealt with?”

“Dealt with?” she stammered.

“I cannot let you go unpunished.”

The scenario felt very familiar. Betty swallowed thickly as she realized what was happening, heat curled in her belly. “No, sir, you certainly can’t. I should be punished.”

He schooled his features so as not to smile. “Bend over, mademoiselle,” he said. “And do be quiet, the walls are thin.”

Betty released a shuddering breath and leaned forward on her elbows. Every hair on her body stood on end, anticipating the next touch. She’d never felt so alert to sensations: the crinkle of his crisp cotton shirt, the shift of air as he moved behind her, his woodsy cologne. When he didn’t touch her, she grew antsy and glanced at him over her shoulder. He stroked her back gently, soothing her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the calmness coming over her. She’d waited so long to feel his touch.

His warm hand, splayed wide, resting on her lower back. “Okay?” he asked.

“Yes.”

His hand slipped over the curve of her bum, he squeezed the flesh in a rather mechanical way. Betty pressed into his touch and heard a low chuckle. Red bloomed over her cheeks. Mercier squeezed the other side, hand lingering this time.

“Now, mademoiselle, how many spanks should you get for destroying my precious book?”

“I- I don’t know, sir.”

“Let’s see. How many chapters are there in the book?”

“Ten, sir.”

“Ten it is.”

Then came the first slap, mostly absorbed by her clothes. And another, before he flipped over her skirt, and his hand collided a third time with her arse. The shock was stronger, Betty gasped loudly.

“Shh. Professor Morton is right next door,” he said, so close she felt his breath on her neck.

He spanked her again and Betty squeezed her eyes shut. The heat on her arse cheeks spread wide, and she felt the first tingles between her legs. Mr. Mercier caressed the back of her thighs and it sent a quiver straight to her core.

“How many spanks left, mademoiselle?”

“… six?”

“Six.”

He spanked her three times in a row, then tugged down her panties. If anyone walked through that door, the first thing they would see was her bare arse and cunt. And somehow that turned her on even more.

Betty realized it wasn’t just her own ragged breathing she was hearing. Mr. Mercier ran a featherlight finger up the inside of her thigh, leaving goosebumps after its passage. Betty clutched the side of the desk.

“Please, sir.”

He stroked the other thigh. “Please what?”

“May I have another?”

Footsteps and loud chatter came from the hall.

“Do you think they heard you beg?” he whispered into her ear. “You do it so well.”

His palm smacked her flesh twice more. Harder this time. It resounded between the walls of his office. The sting ebbed into a pleasant tingling. She squeezed her thighs and felt the moisture between her folds. She was dying to dip her fingers in that wetness or better for him to do it. She dropped her forehead to the desk and stilled, her whole body tensed to stop herself.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Betty? Look at me,” he insisted.

Gone was the stern voice. She raised her head and met his beautiful, concerned eyes. It made her heart melt, and a less carnal sort of desire grew in her.

“One more, sir.”

She felt the warmth of his palm, but he didn’t touch her. He swished his hand, built the anticipation. A hairbreadth away. Another swish and the last blow landed between her cheek and thigh.

Betty squealed. She hoped his hand print would show.

“Ten. Have you learned your lesson?”

“I have. Promise. I’ll be more careful with your books.”

“Good girl.”

He pressed between her shoulder blades to keep her bent over the desk. He stood behind her. Staring? She felt exposed and vulnerable. And empty. Her inner muscles clenched around nothing. He sat on his haunches and bit into the reddened flesh of her bum. A drop of moisture tickled her sensitive nether lips.

“I see the Marquis de Sade was right: ‘it is only by way of pain one arrives at pleasure’.”

She glanced over her shoulder and caught him pressing his palm over the bulge in his trousers. She smiled, proud that he was affected too.

“Eyes ahead,” he chastised her.

He moved around for awhile then laid something on her back, then another thing, heavier, and a third. “Some of my favourite books,” he explained. “Diderot, Beaumarchais, Voltaire… on your lovely behind. Make sure you do not drop one of them.”

“Wha— Oh!”

Two fingers brushed down her slit. He caressed her slowly, lightly. Sometimes wiping his damp fingers on her thigh. Every time she squirmed for more contact, the books swayed and Mr. Mercier would cluck his tongue and stop touching her.

“Careful, mademoiselle.”

He pushed his middle finger in her, and she automatically bucked back. The books fell off her. He muttered in French, and spanked her with a leather-bound novel, twice on each cheek. She clenched her teeth and breathed deeply. Mr. Mercier put the books back on her, adding a fourth, and admired his work. She missed his touch already.

Someone knocked at his door.

“Should I open,” he whispered.

Betty shook her head vehemently, but perhaps, when he fingered her again, he felt her clench at the thought of getting caught.

Another knock and Mr. Mercier moved his fingers faster. Betty bit her fist to smother her moans. How she wanted to buck and thrust, deeper and faster, her legs quivered from the strain of holding back. She thought she might lose her mind. Sweat beaded along her spine.

“Good girl, you are doing so well.”

When no other knock came, Mr. Mercier stood up. She heard the rustle of fabric and a zipper. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, desire coiled low in her stomach.

“Stay still,” he said, holding her hips, before rubbing his length along her slit.

“Please, sir, I don’t think I can— the books. Please,” she stammered incoherently.

“Shhh, just a while longer.” He moaned, still teasing her, and teasing himself too.

The head of his cock rubbed her clit, and she choked on a sob. She wanted him to take her, any way he desired, she didn’t care.

“Please, sir.”

“Use your words.”

“Please fuck me.”

He removed the books, tossed them on a chair carelessly. “Stand up.”

She did as he asked, confused, knickers still around her ankles. Her eyes dropped to his opened trousers, and she licked her lips.

He cupped her cheeks and claimed her mouth. An all-encompassing, hungry kiss. Their lips moved eagerly together, with nips and licks. Betty melted into the kiss, clutching his shirt, arching into his body.

He hiked her up on the desk, she kicked off her heels and knickers. He tugged her legs around his waist, and entered her in one deep thrust. They groaned in unison, and Professor Morton slammed an unhappy fist into the wall between their offices. They laughed hiding their faces into each other’s neck.

“Don’t stop,” Betty demanded, voluntarily tightening around him.

Mercier moaned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

He snapped his hips as fast as he could, both too on edge for anything with more finesse. Teeth and nails dug through the fabric of their clothes. The musky smell of sex rose in the room as did their moans.

“So close.”

“Presque. Attends-moi.”

“Can’t— Ah!”

Betty’s toes curled, her thighs quivered and one last, deep push, triggered her orgasm. Bliss spilled through her blood. And Jean-François followed with a loud grunt.

He fell into his desk chair, bringing Betty with him. They kissed slowly, tenderly.

Betty giggled. “I can’t believe we did that.”

“Who says married couple have boring sex.”

“Not us… Can we do it again?”

“There are eight weeks left to the semester,” Jean-Francois said. “Will you still come to my class anyway?”

“Of course! I really do like it. I’m learning so much.”

He held her closer and kissed the top of her head.

“Me bum’s kinda sore,” Betty said shyly.

“Let’s go home, I’ll rub some lotion on your behind and make you cum again.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, ma belle.”

[you-and-i-for-forever]

10 Things I Hate About You AU Chapter 2

Fandom: Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen                                             Ships: Boyf riends, treebros, richjake, Zolana, Pink Berry                         Word count: 2.9k

Feel free to read this on my ao3 instead!

Read the chapter 1 here (tumblr) or here (ao3)!

Jeremy and Michael had planned to meet up during lunch. Michael only arrived at school just as the bell was about to ring for class so there was no way for him to meet Jeremy that morning.

They weren’t able to get any classes together, the ones Michael had signed up for were all full since everyone had signed up last spring and Jeremy had had to pick through the classes that nobody wanted.

Jeremy had ended up in German 1 and Jazz Band.

“Can you even play any instruments?” Michael had laughed over his gaming headset when Jeremy told him over the summer.

“No, but it was either that or Parenting Prep and I did not want to carry around a sack of flour and pretend it’s a child.” Jeremy had responded, tapping away at his controller.

The only upside to this all was that they had lunch together so Jeremy was relieved to at least get to see his friend for 45 minutes every day.

Jeremy had finally been able to navigate his way to the cafeteria. As helpful, needed and wanted as Jared’s explanation of the school’s social stratosphere had been, he hadn’t mentioned anything about where anything was in the building.

After Jeremy had finished gawking at the handsome Jake Dillinger, he realized Jared had disappeared on him. Jeremy was left to try and decipher the messy hand drawn map of the school Evan had given him a few days ago. Evan had even highlighted Jeremy’s classrooms, locker location, bathrooms, and nurse’s office for him.

So when Jeremy was finally about to make it to the lunchroom (after getting turned around several times), he was nervous when he didn’t immediately catch sight of Michael. The lunchroom was large, loud, and crowded and Jeremy didn’t know what to do.

Standing here looking for a friend would make him look weird and awkward but wandering up and down the lunch tables would make him seem pathetic and sad.

Jeremy started to sweat and feel jittery, he needed to make up his mind now before anyone realized what a complete weirdo he was. Jeremy quickly stepped into the line for a school lunch.

Jeremy was fully aware that he had a packed lunch in his bag but he didn’t know what else to do. He stood awkwardly in the lunch line – not really sure what to do with his hands – and hoped he could find Michael in the sea of people.

He made it to the cashier with a foil wrapped burger and some fries; still no sign of Michael anywhere.

Maybe they had gotten it wrong and he and Michael had two separate lunches.

“Jeremy!” A voice yelled from behind him as he stepped out of the lunch line.

Jeremy looked up from his tray, and spun around and, thankfully, finally spotted Michael.

He was in his signature red sweater shirt and white headphones.

“Michael!” Jeremy called, relieved to see his friend.

Michael jogged over to him, maneuvering around slow walking people.

“Dude, what’s up?” Michael laughed when he was finally at Jeremy’s side.

“Nothing, just waiting for you man,” Jeremy said, feeling a large, dorky smile plaster on his face.

Michael bumped his shoulder with his own, “Well let’s go then.”

Jeremy followed him, weaving in between jam-packed tables and packed tables. Michael led him into a separate section of the lunchroom, connected to the first through a pair of opened double doors.

Michael found them a more secluded table and sat down, Jeremy following his lead.  

“Dude, this is so weird being at school with you,” Jeremy said.

“Dude I know, It’s awesome! Now we can just hang for the next 2 years!” Michael said, bumping Jeremy’s shoulder again, “How’s classes so far?”

Jeremy shrugged and started to unwrap his burger. He watched Michael pull a container full of sushi out of his backpack, slightly jealous.

“They’re alright, just boring without you in them,” Jeremy said and took a bite of the burger. He scrunched up his nose, it wasn’t bad…but it wasn’t great either.

Michael gave him a warm smile as he chomped on his sushi rolls.

“How about you?”

Michael hummed, “They’re fine, much rather be getting high in my basement and playing games though.”

Jeremy blew air out of his nose in a laugh and shoved fries into his mouth. Michael opened his mouth to say something else but someone cut him off.

“Hey loser, what’s up?” A voice said from the other side of Michael.

Jeremy leaned in and saw it was Jared. He swung his backpack off and sat down in a seat.

“Nothing,” Michael said and fist bumped Jared.

“How have you already made friends with the new kid?” Jared asked with a laugh, eyeing Jeremy.

Jeremy waved at Jared, a little confused. He didn’t really know that Michael had any friends at school, at least not any he ever mentioned to him.

“Oh, me and Jeremy go way back. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers.” Michael explained twirling his chopsticks around his fingers.

“Dude, we were in preschool, you were the only one still in diapers.” Jeremy corrected him with a snort.

“Yeah, whatever.” Michael scowled at the memory.

Jared pulled out his phone and started typing away at it.

“I didn’t know you guys knew each other. Kind funny.” Jeremy commented.

“We always seem to get paired up to be lab partners in science so we just started hanging out.”

Jared, continuing to mess with his phone, reached over and grabbed Michael’s blue Gatorade. Michael huffed but didn’t both trying to get it back.

“I beat his high score on Super Monkey Ball a few years ago and he won’t leave my house until he breaks it and that’s the only reason we’re friends,” Jared explained, obnoxiously slurping on Michael’s drink.

Jeremy felt sort of weird about the whole situation. Why hadn’t Michael told him about Jared before? It’s not like they didn’t talk basically every single day.

Jeremy watched Jared lean over and show something on his phone to Michael. Michael pointed and laughed at it and Jeremy felt weirder. He hadn’t realized he was going to have to share Michael when he got here.

-

The first day back was bad. Not for any particular reason, most days were just bad for Evan.

He sat down in the middle of the classroom of 5th period English, (sitting in front meant everyone could see every little movement he made and sitting in the back might make him look like a troublemaker) relieved the day was almost over.

“Hello, class!” The teacher, Mr. McCormack called after the bell had rung, trying to bring the students attention to the front of the room. “I hope everyone had a good summer and that you all did the summer reading because we’re jumping right into The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway today.”

There was a low murmur of annoyance in the room at the teacher not exclusively going over the syllabus. Didn’t really mind though. No lesson plan on the first day always meant “Get to Know You” games and he’d have to try and interact with his peers. Not that he didn’t want to try and talk to some of them, he just knew it would just end with everyone thinking he was a complete freak, all sweaty and stuttery. It was just better for him to keep his head down and only talk to someone when he absolutely had to…and sometimes not even then.

Evan pulled out his copy of the book. He had really enjoyed it, he loved the way Hemingway described the traveling and bull fights.

“What did everyone think?” Mr. McCormack asked, looking around for volunteers. Evan watched Alana raise her hand immediately.

The teacher gestured to her then looked down at the attendance clipboard, “Yes, uuuh…”

“Alana Beck, sir.” she offered before clearing her throat to continue, “I thought the book was very romantic, but Hemingway himself was an abusive alcoholic misogynist who squandered half his life hanging around Picasso trying to pick up his leftovers.”

The teacher must have never had Alana in a class before, his eyes widening at the thorough answer.

“Very nice Alana, that was a very interesting and deep take away from this particular story. Would anyone else like to add onto that?”

No one raised their hand. Evan watched Alana look around a little, almost excited that she was the only one to answer on the first day.

“All right well I’ll just call from the attendance sheet…Let’s see…Evan Hansen?”

Evan’s heart jumped into his throat. Why had the teacher picked him? Why out of all the 30 people in the class did he have to call on Evan?

Evan looked up at Mr. McCormack, who was staring at him, waiting for an answer.

“Uuummmmmmmm” Evan let out and quickly flipped through his book, hoping he’d see a passage or clue on what to say. He had completely forgotten what the book was about the second the teacher had called his name.

“Uuhh,” Evan malfunctioned “It’s – The, uh – When – Ummmm.”

The teacher raised an eyebrow at him and Evan thought he might throw up.

Oh god, everyone was staring at him, everyone was thinking that he was crazy. All of his peers were probably laughing at him right now all thinking he was a complete idiot and that he hadn’t read the book.

Evan made a few more noises before he heard giggles behind him. They were laughing at him.

His brain was screaming at him to GET OUT THEY’RE ALL LAUGHING AT YOU YOURE SUCH A FREAK GET OUT OF THERE NOW!

“We’ll come back to you Evan, don’t worry,” The teacher promised and called on someone else from the attendance sheet. Evan could barely hear him.

He felt like he was going to explode. He was all twitchy and his heart was pounding in his chest and it was hard to breathe and he knew everyone was thinking about how stupid that Evan kid was.

The second, literally the second, that the teacher let them have a 5-minute break, Evan fled to the hallway with his backpack. He unzipped it as he walked, looking for his anxiety meds.

His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest and he was losing it and everyone could see GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!

Evan rounded a corner and saw a bathroom. He rushed into it and thought he had found his pill bottle and pulled it out. Only it wasn’t his meds, it was his pencil case that was half stuck under a couple of his notebooks so when he pulled it out, half of the contents of his backpack came with it.

Evan scrambled to pick up everything. He didn’t even know if there was anyone in the bathroom but he tried to shove everything back into his backpack as quickly as possible so no one would happen upon him and think he was a loser.

He glanced in his backpack and still didn’t see his pill bottle.

He heard the lock of a bathroom stall click.

Evan froze. From behind him, he heard someone walk up behind him and speak.

“So – um, what happened to your arm?” The voice asked.

Evan shot up and whipped around. Connor Murphy was standing in front of him, gesturing towards his cast with one hand, the other stuffed in his black jacket pocket. This was not the time to be dealing with a guy like Connor, someone who might blow up on him and make his panic attack worse. Evan hunched over slightly and looked everywhere but at Connor, feeling so incredibly uncomfortable.

If it was bad being Evan Hansen, school nobody, it was even worse to be Connor Murphy, school freak and nut job. Evan knew to stay away from him; he had a violent streak and a bad temper.

Plus he had suddenly vanished at the beginning of last year. He was there one day and then gone another and hadn’t shown back up until…just now. Rumors had spread like wild fire of course. None good. Some said he had gone to jail for killing someone in a hit and run while under the influence and some thought he might have dropped out of school to start a porn career. Most of the rumors figured he had killed himself and the Murphy’s were just trying to cover it up.

But Connor was back now, standing in front of Evan and he had asked him a question.

Evan looked down at his cast and felt flustered, heart beat still thumping in his throat.

“Oh I um,” Evan paused for a second “I fell out of a tree actually.”

“Fell out of a tree?” Connor asked.

Evan made a sound of confirmation. He started tugging at the bottom of his shirt, a bad habit of his. One his therapist was trying to get him to break.

“Well, that is just the saddest fucking thing I have ever heard,” Connor said in a deadpan tone.

Evan let out a breath of awkward laughter, “I know.”

He just stared down at his cast, thinking how it really was the saddest fucking things, and yet, if Connor knew the whole truth, it would have been even sadder.

“No one’s um,” Connor started and Evan looked up at him, “signed your cast.”

Evan was surprised that Connor even noticed or bothered to point it out. He wasn’t known around the school for being very empathetic.

“My step – My stepbrother did.” Evan flipped his cast over to reveal Jeremy’s small signature that was towards the top of his cast, right by the crook of his elbow.

“Well, it’s kinda sad to only have one signature,” Connor pointed out, looking a little uneasy and unsure about what he was going to say. “…I’ll sign it.”

Evan looked up at him. Connor wanted to sign his cast?

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Evan’s voice came out in almost a rushed whisper.

“Do you, uh, have a Sharpie?” Connor asked in a soft tone.

Evan pulled the marker out of his pocket and awkwardly closed the majority of the distance between himself and Connor. Connor took it and grabbed his broken arm a little too rough.

“Ow,” Evan accidentally let out. He usually just tried to keep quiet when someone bumped into it in the hallway. He didn’t want to cause a scene.

“Oh,” Connor said, and hesitantly bent over a little to start signing.

For half a second, Evan was worried he was going to draw or write something profane on his arm and he’d have to walk around with it for a few more months and then teachers would get mad at him but there’d be no way to get rid of it.

But Connor simply signed his name, albite in a large font that covered all of the top side of his cast.

“Oh great, thanks,” Evan said, looking at the large text. Could he really be that annoyed though? It wasn’t like anyone else was going to need the space. Connor handed him back the marker.

“Yeah well, now we can both pretend that we have friends,” Connor said, kind of shaking his head and shrugging.

How did Connor know Evan didn’t have any friends? Was it that obvious? Did he look that sad and desperate? Did his face just scream “lonely weirdo”?

“That’s a good point,” Evan said under his breath and reached for his backpack that was still sitting on the ground, ready to leave from this conversation.

Evan could feel Connor’s eyes on him and Evan started to head towards the bathroom door when he spoke again.

“Is this yours?” Connor asked and Evan heard rattling.

He turned to look at what he was talking about and Connor was holding his bottle of anxiety medication.

“It rolled over there,” Connor gestured over to the stalls “And it had your name on it, Evan Hansen, that’s your name, right?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, no that’s just my stupid, it’s just a stupid–” Evan reached for his meds but Connor pulled them back to look at the label.

“Alprazolam? That’s some pretty powerful stuff.” Connor said with a thin lipped smile, finally handing it back to Evan.

“Oh yeah I know…it’s actually not mine – it’s my stepbrothers he, um needs it um right now and that’s why I was going there now.” Evan finished the lie lamely. He didn’t want anyone knowing that he took meds. It was already embarrassing having these issues, he didn’t want people thinking he was clinically insane and needed pills to sedate him.

“Cool…well bye,” Connor said with a slight wave and walked past Evan, out of the bathroom. Evan watched him go.

Evan stood there for a few more minutes before he realized that his panic attack had calmed down a little. His heart was still racing and he was sweaty all over, but the dread and panic that was almost spilling out of him had subsided for the most part.

Evan packed him meds back into his backpack and slowly made his way back to his English classroom, thinking how lucky it was that Connor had decided not to try and kick his ass or kill him or something.

Though Connor Murphy did seemed a lot different now. Much calmer and somewhat subdued, not at all the same person who had slammed others into lockers or shoved them to the ground. Evan decided it was still a safe bet that this wasn’t a permanent fix and the smart thing to do was to avoid Connor at all costs so not to be one of those kids who got pushed to the ground.

…Again.

[sleepynobie]

19 Relationship Goals (707 x Reader)

(A/N: This would be my fav from all time lol XD)

1. Role Play

Zen: Guysss!! Hear me out!! I got an offer to become a model in one of the famous fashion company!

(Name): Congratulation Zen

Zen: Awww thank you ;). I guess they're really appreciate how awesome my body is. I am God's most majestic creation after all

(Name): ....

Zen: Hmm? Are you speechless right now? I know, I understand how you feel (Name)..

(Name): SEVEN HAS THE MOST GORGEOUS ABS LIKE OMG DO YOU KNOW HE WORKS OUT EVERY SINGLE DAY AND TOUCHING THEM FEELS SO HEAVENLY #absgoal #therealGod'smajesticcreation #screwyounarcissist

Zen: Uhh (Name)... Are you okay?

707: WHAT THE HELL SEVEN, I'M NOT LIKE THAT! NOW GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE OR I'LL THROW ALL YOUR HONEY BUDDHA CHIPS OUT

(Name): But that's what basically you're saying last night ;)

707: What?! No! Aghhh sorry Zen but I'll be right back

*707 left the chatroom*

(Name): Totally can't wait for tonight~

*(Name) left the chatroom*

Zen: ... These two...

2. Same Clothes

"Hey you two-" Yoosung waved happily as both of you finally arrived after waiting for a while to watch a movie together since he's looking forward for it too and need someone to watches with him. You two happened of wanting to watch as well so you didn't mind watching with him. However, Yoosung's expression changed into a horrified one when Seven wore a girly clothes with similar fashion as you.

"What? Why are you looking us weirdly?" You looked baffled before turning your attention to Seven "He looks pretty right?"

"Well of course duh. And today, I'll be Lucy okay?"

You giggled before nodding "Yes Lucy"

"Wait wait wait, what are you two trying to do? Why the hell are you dressing as a girl, Seven?" Yoosung asked and tried to comprehend what was the motive behind this.

"To make Yoosung for having two girlfriends!" Both of you said the same thing before clinging on his arm on each side.

"But the two of you are dating! Not me!"

"But you're our homie! Besides, don't you feel happy for having girls on your side? Right, (Name)?" Seven smiled to him before to you.

"I know right, Lucy!" You smiled back to him.

"ONE OF YOU IS CLEARLY NOT A GIRL!"

"Well detail doesn't matter. Anyway, let's just go in~" Seven cheered and you cheered as well before basically dragging him inside the cinema, much to Yoosung's dismay.

3. Switch Clothes

"Hellooo guys! Welcome to God 707's house!" Seven greeted the rest of the RFA members who came to celebrate the return of his twin brother before he dabbed.

However, it wasn't the real Seven.

"(N-Name)?! That's you right?" Zen asked.

You laughed and tapped his shoulder while pointing to yourself "What are you talking about? I'm Saeyoung! The cute tomato! Anyway, come in!"

Zen sweatdropped while Yoosung just chuckled nervously, Jaehee sighed, and Jumin... Just giving straight face as usual. However for them, what came worse was that when they looked at Seven... Dressing as you.

Seven was laying sideway on the couch while posing like that "Draw me like one of your french girls" meme. To make it even worse, he purposely showed his thigh since he was wearing dress of course. Meanwhile his brother could only facepalm from distance.

"Hey guys! Look how sexy I am~" Seven smirked seductively and trailed his fingers on his thigh. This made you blushed in embarrassment as it wasn't like what both of you planned and quickly chided him whereas Seven seems whining at how 'great' his idea was.

Zen was the one that received the most shock and seems traumatized by the sight. Yoosung facepalmed, sometimes wondering why was he his friend. Jaehee merely gave a 'wtf did I just see' look and Jumin felt uncomfortable but tried to compose himself.

But anyway, this is how you two usually do in daily life (and Saeran has to cope with this shit)

4. Texting ft. Puns and Flirting

(Name): If you're a fruit, you'll be a fine-apple ;)

707: I HAVE A PEN, I HAVE AN APPLE, UGH, APPLE PEN

Zen: What the? You just ruined the pick up line man!

(Name): I have a pen, I have pineapple, ugh, pineapple pen~!

Zen: Wha...

707: I have (Name), I have me, ugh, Mini me and (Name) *dabs*

(Name): *DABS*

Zen: .... You both really meant for each other huh

707: Of course we are a great pear right~

(Name): Indeed... I'm berry grapeful that I meet you, Seven <3

707: Aghh stop being adorable! Dammit, olive you so much!! *kiss emoji*

(Name): Awww... Your words are raisin my smile now X3

Zen: BOTH OF YOU GET OUT

707: I guess someone does not found our conversation appeeling *shows a picture of him peeling off a banana* HAHAHAHA

*Zen left the chatroom*

5. Cleaning (Not really LOL)

"Hey, I was doing just fine before I met you, I drink too much and that's an issue, but I'm okay" You said started singing with your broom as the standing mic.

"Hey, you tell your friends it was nice to meet them, but I hope I never see them again" Seven continued with his duster as the mic.

"I know it breaks your heart, moved to the city in a broke-down car and" You then sang the next line before Seven took over again.

"Four years no calls, now you're looking pretty in a hotel bar"

Then both of you sang together "And I, I, I, I, I can't stop. No, I, I, I, I, I can't stop"

You two were about to get into the refrain where suddenly Vanderwood shouted "WOULD YOU STOP SINGING AND START FREAKING CLEANING?!"

Seven said in surrender before he grumbled "Okay okay... Even though you're the maid-"

"I can hear you"

"Let's continue on the next room" You whispered to him and Seven beamed before both of you chuckling together and went to the next room, claiming to clean it and left the current room on Vanderwood. But of course, you two were actually singing again until Vanderwood had to scold both of you again.

And that is why, Vanderwood will be their forever maid #shot

6. Gaming (First Person Shooter)

"I'm so sorry I got shot down a lot" You sighed and the other teammates were quite being a bitch when your team loses because of you.

"What are you talking about? You work really hard" Seven said before sighing too "Those guys are the one that being rude to you"

"Maybe... I should quit?"

"NO!" Seven replied before puffing his cheeks "Don't worry, this time I'm gonna make sure you're okay and win"

You looked confused but Seven seems confident looked reassuring so you shrugged it off. Turned out that he became a sniper and kept following you while shooting anyone that secretly tried to shoot you. Then, he told you the position of the enemies that are coming on your way. Thus, you ended up winning over even beating the number of kills by your teammates.

"Now who's the noobs here" Seven chuckled evilly as he typed sarcastically to piss them off. Although it was kinda cheating but you grinned at how adorable your boyfriend was for trying to make you feel better.

"Thanks Seven" You kissed his cheek which made him slightly blush before grinning.

"At least I managed to bang a girl~"

"SEVEN. NO"

7. Defending from Your Ex

"Pfftt... That's your new boyfriend?" Your ex stifled a laugh as unfortunately he met you when you were on date.

"Well yes why? At least he's so much better than you" You blankly replied while Seven frowned at him.

"Whatttt? How is he better than me? Besides, I'm even already got a girl who's hotter than you" Your ex scoffed before laughing and you glared at him.

"Wow this guy is such an asshole" Seven stated and as your ex heard it, he instantly scowled at Seven.

"The hell did you just say?! You wanna fight with me?!"

You and Seven instantly looked at each other, as if knowing what to do next before suddenly you two began to perform a dance.

Seven and you held hand and he twirled you before you jumped into his arms as he carried you bridal style. This made your ex looked confused and Seven spun around before deliberately hitting your feet on his face.

He got taken aback by the hit before glaring as he was attempted to punch you. However, Seven crouched down and let you off him, managed to dodge your ex's punch before you quickly stood up and slapped on his face. This was followed by Seven where he slapped the other side.

"And thank you for watching. Have a nice day~" You smiled sarcastically before holding Seven's hand and walked away with him.

8. At the Water Park

"Ready?"

"Totally!"

You both sat on the float where you sat on the front part while Seven on the back. The staff then pushed the float before you both started sliding down on the slide. Of course since the slide that you chose was the super bowl, you two decided to sing a song while sliding down. And when it was on the bowl..

"YOU SPIN MY HEAD RIGHT ROUND, RIGHT ROUND~ WHEN YOU GO DOWN, WHEN YOU GO DOWN DOWN"

Even if there was another pair showing up, you didn't care at all and sang before eventually slid down into the hole and finished the slide.

"I think we nail it" Seven commented as he gave a hi-five which you returned and grinned.

"Totally~ That was fun! I just hope the staff doesn't kick us out"

(Based on real life experience LOL)

9. Beach

"Woah damn... She looks great on that beach dress" One of the guys whispered to his friend and he seems agreeing as it showed how they started to approach her.

The guys walked up to her and greeted until they realized, it wasn't a pretty lady that they expected.

"Well hello there gentlemen!" The 'lady' with long, yellow wavy hair smiled and began to flirt with them. Judging from the voice and the physical shape if you looked closely, it was obvious that this person wasn't a lady at all.

"Uhh..."

"My my, you two have a really nice physique" She said in rather seductive way as her fingers began to trail on one of the guys's abs. This created a chill on the guy before both of them began to back away as they wanted to escape.

"U-Umm... We have to go see ya!" The guy smiled nervously and even stuttering before quickly left the scene.

"Pfffttt! Their freakin reactions oh my God!" You came out from your hiding spot as you were recording the whole thing while the lady who turned out to be Seven just smirked proudly.

"I told you, I could pickup some guys!"

"Well you attracted them but they didn't want you sadly" You giggled.

"Yeah... I mean how could you just ignore this beautiful lady here right?" Seven sighed dramatically and you giggled even more.

"True! How could they ignore Lady Lucy!"

Seven laughed "I like that name. I should keep that name for my female self"

"Well then Lady Lucy! Let's test your luck whether you could get a man or not!"

He smirked and flipped his hair "Sure. I'll show you I can do it"

And one time, someone actually fell for it and Seven was absolutely horrified that he even got carried bridal style by the guy. You recorded the whole thing of course and shared to the RFA chatroom which made it worse for Seven as he felt slightly traumatized. So after that, you just gave him a full attention and comfort him by cuddling.

10. Karaoke

"Seven, we are going to sing unravel" You said and chose the song from the tablet.

"Huwaa... You want to strain our voices huh?"

"More like, I wanna scare the staff when they brought our food and drinks" You grinned mischievously and Seven who didn't think of that suddenly grinned along with you before taking the mic.

You both started singing and of course you tried to follow the high notes but ended up not so good. But Seven managed to sing high notes which made you jealous but whatever, what matters was the fun part right? Fortunately, just a good timing (Well you sort of predict it but yeah), the staff came into the room and you were practically screaming starting from the refrain.

"YURETA YUGANDA SEKAI NI DAN DAN BOKU WA, SUKITOOTTE MIENAKU NATTE, MITSUKENAIDE BOKU NO KOTO WO MITSUMENAIDE"

The staff put the food and the drinks awkwardly. Out of nowhere, it was Seven's turn especially when he was hiding behind the door the whole time. Oh and did I mention the room was dark with only the TV screen to illuminate the room? So yes, it was certainly creating a jump scare for the staff.

"DAREKA GA EGAITA SEKAI NO NAKA DE, ANATA WO KIZUTSUKETAKU WA NAI YO, OBOETEITE BOKU NO KOTO WO"

You both heard the staff screamed before she quickly walked out and closed the door. You both felt slightly guilty but it was certainly a successful prank as both of you gave hi-five to each other.

"I think she's gonna hate us"

"She probably blacklist us but oh well, let's finish this song!"

11. Gaming (Console games)

You sat comfortably on Seven's laps and rested your back against his torso while he sat on the gaming floor chair. Both of you were competing on a fighting game where somehow you were leading because of the miracle of pressing random buttons. Seven pouted as he lost again and you cheered before grinning to him.

"Looks like I win again~"

"Yeah and this time you keep using the same freaking move. That's not fair"

You shrugged before returning to the screen "Well, let's play one more time cause I wanna eat Honey Buddha Chips already"

Seven nodded and you two played another round. Well of course you had to use the same technique although Seven managed to counter as he began to get used to it. However, what surprised you was that suddenly, you felt something on your neck which made you instantly blush when you knew what it was.

"S-Seven?! You're.. Distracting me!"

But of course this boy paid no heed as he continued to do it until he finally managed to beat you.

"Yes! Defender of Justice finally prevails!" Seven cheered and you were silent for a moment as you lowered your head down. This made him look confused of course, wondering if he made you angry because he was kinda cheating.

"(Name)? Umm..-"

However suddenly, you stood up and straddled on his laps with you facing him. You gave an 'innocent' smile although your intention didn't seem innocent at all.

"I suppose I have to pay back for what you did to me huh, Seven?"

Seven widen you eyes and chuckled nervously before welp, it wasn't a gaming session anymore.

12. Couple Photo

"Okay... What the actual frisk Saeyoung? Do you want me to break my bones?"

You gave a blank look when he pointed a couple photo that both of you looked through using his computer since you kinda wanted to do a unique one but you need inspiration.

Seven chuckled nervously "I'm just kidding.. But this looks so cool right? There are a lot of pictures like this too"

You sighed before scrolling down to search other photos "Well sorry to disappoint you that I'm not that flexible. I'm just a potato okay?"

"Well a cute potato indeed" Seven grinned "And I never say I'm disappointed. Why would I when my girl is perfect as she is?"

A blush appeared on your face before you smiled and punched his shoulder playfully "Shut up"

You both then kept searching for pictures but somehow you felt something lacking. They were all indeed cute and different but they didn't really define both of you.

"Hmm... I want to show something that is cute but it defines how we are... What do people think of us though?" You asked Seven.

"Well.. Memes, cats, and cross dressing?" He replied and immediately you laughed at how accurate that was.

"Should we combine them all and create our own couple photo?"

Seven nodded and with some inspirations that you received by googling, you two began on your couple photo shoot. Oh and unfortunately for Saeran, he will have to be your photographer since Seven begs for it LOL.

And this is how it becomes.

Yoosung: WHAT THE HELL SAEYOUNG-HYUNG?! HOW COULD YOU SIT ON (NAME)'S SHOULDERS LIKE THAT?!

Yeap. Seven sits with leg on each side of your shoulders while dabbing to the same direction. Oh and also, you both wore neko mimis

(Name): I am just that strong lol

Seven: She is~ I'm so proud of my girl, I love you <3

(Name): (///) Awww I love you too <3

Zen: Oh no... DID YOU TWO REALLY HAVE TO DO THIS? REALLY? Dammit I just sneezed..

Seven: EMBRACE THE CATS

(Name): YEAHHH

Yoosung: GUYS, ISN'T THIS MORE IMPORTANT ON HOW WRONG ON THAT SAEYOUNG-HYUNG IS ON TOP OF (NAME)?!"

Jaehee: ...

Seven: I'm always on top of her ;)

(Name): No! I can be on top of you!

Jaehee: Poor you that you have been deceived

Yoosung: What? O.o

Saeran: Basically, my idiot brother cross dress as (Name) and vice versa

Seven: Eyyyy Saeran is here!

Saeran: Shut up

Yoosung: EEHHHHH?!

(Name): Booo, it's spoiled already

Seven: But it's one of my favorites! We have some others too~

And Seven began spamming with pictures of both of you mostly dab but in different poses. One with you sitting on his laps, stand next to each other and dab on opposite direction, Seven cross dress as you carrying you as Seven bridal style (and of course with you dab), your and his phone next to each other where you dress as Honey Buddha Chips on his phone and Seven as Dr. Pepper on yours, and lastly the most normal one from all are the selfie of both of you with neko mimi and duck lips from the chips.

"Should we make a unique family picture next time?" You asked and Seven nodded excitedly before grinning at Saeran.

"It will be great right, Saeran?"

Saeran gave a disapproved look "No. Exclude me"

13. Trolling

Seven: We did the trend! (A/N: Just pretend it's really you two with your original clothes and all okay lol)

Zen: Oh! (Name) is so pretty!

Seven: Of course she is! That's my girl ^^

Yoosung: You two make me jealous T^T. Stapphh

(Name): Hihihi thanks Zen! And Yoosung, you will get one someday!

Yoosung: Thanks (Name)! I hope she appears soon!

Seven: *Sends his cross dressing picture*

Yoosung: WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?

(Name): Seven... Are you gonna cheat on me..?"

Seven: Of course not! I just thought Yoosung will like it ;)

Yoosung: BRO, NO. Oh my God, (Name), I totally don't like this kind of stuff okay?

Zen: What the hell Seven? This is a nightmare.. I have traumatized enough by your previous picture

(Name): Umm... *Backs away*

Seven: Pffttt

Yoosung: AGHHHH, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, SEVEN!

Seven: Ehhh why? T^T

Yoosung: (Name) is gonna think weirdly on me... OTL

(Name): Pfftt I'm just joking Yoosung, don't worry!

Seven: Yeah chill man

Yoosung: Huh? Really? Wait... You both just teased me together, didn't you?

Seven: Yeap. HAAHAHHAAH

(Name): Hehehe sorry Yoosung~ You're just so cute XD

Yoosung: Meanie T^T

Zen: These two..

Jaehee: That's a pretty picture. Finally something normal from you two

Seven: Hey! What's that suppose to mean?

(Name): Thanks Jaehee ^^

Jaehee: It's true. Both of you always send either cross dressing pictures or cats or memes

(Name): Pfftt

Seven: Well that's what we always do and we never change that

Zen: Huh? What do you mean?

Jaehee: Wait.. Are you saying that..

Jumin: The picture in there is Seven, not (Name)

Seven: Oh! Juju is here!

Yoosung: WHAT?!

Zen: NO WAY SERIOUSLY?!

Jaehee: *sigh emoji*

Seven: Yeap. So thank you for calling me pretty ;)

Zen: .... I'm gonna smoke for a while

Jumin: *Resend the picture plus the one for Yoosung*

Zen: THE FRISK?! YOU TRUST FUND JERK! I'M OUT!

*Zen left the chatroom*

Yoosung: I feel like I can't trust any photo you send me

Jaehee: That's just how they are

Seven: Yeap so stay tune for the next picture to see whether it is me or the real (Name) B)

(Name): Hihihihihi

14. Matching accessories

"Seven, Seven!" You smiled as you came to him with your hands on the back.

"Yes, what is it my dear 606?" Seven grinned and turned his attention from his computer.

"There's something I wanna give since you know, we are a couple and all" You said before you gave a small box of present to him. Seven looked slightly surprised of course since it was the first time after you two just become a couple. He opened the box excitedly while you just watched him happily. The present turned out to be a couple bracelet which he just noticed after seeing you wear one of the bracelets. What he loved the most was how you remembered about his proposal of marriage in space, therefore there was a decoration which was a small UFO spaceship with you inside. The one that you wore was the one with Seven inside and really, he found them super adorable.

"So umm... Did you like it..?" You asked sheepishly and suddenly, Seven enveloped you into a hug before burying his face on your shoulder.

"I love it so much. Thank you (Name)"

You smiled and hugged him back.. Before slightly panicking when you heard a small sob coming from Seven. Later on, you both started wearing it together and even showed it to the RFA members of course on how cute you are.

"Relationship goals guys!"

"Shut up!"

15. Hiking

"Oh my God is this still long?" You whined as you and Seven had gone for hiking as holiday. However, you didn't expect it to be this long.

"A bit more (Name)! It will be worth it, really" Seven said as he tried to motivate you.

"That's what you said a while ago" You pouted "Piggyback me, Seven!"

"I wish I can but, I have backpack to carry you know" Seven said and held your hand "Come on, I thought we're going to take a photo like in Lion King?"

You looked at him before sighing "Of course, that's why we are the meme couple"

"Exactly"

Seven and you held hands and you asked him to distract you from the tiredness, only to slightly regret when he kept bombarding you with puns that made you lose from being able to counter him.

"Gahhh I run out puns!"

He chuckled "Too bad, I guess you will never beat me in terms of puns then"

"Shut up"

Both of you kept going until finally, you could saw the goal already where you were on top of the mountain. The view was mesmerizing at the greenery of the other mountains and trees which complemented the blue sky. You hugged him in joy as both of you achieved it before starting to selfie together.

And of course, the moment has come.

"It's about the time... We create the beloved pose of Lion King" Seven said and you nodded before he carried the long cat plushie that he brought (lol) and posed like in Lion King. You took the photo before you asked him to take one for you too.

"Yessss, this is gold!" You said excitedly and Seven grinned until suddenly, he had an idea that he wanted to try.

"(Name)"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to carry you like in Lion King?"

You widen your eyes and pondered for a bit. Well, you brought the tripod and camera so you could put the timer but could Seven actually carry you?

"Umm.. Will it be fine though?"

"It's gonna be fine! Trust me okay?"

You nodded and Seven smiled before you prepared the camera and quickly went to Seven as he started carrying you while you curled to make you smaller. It required a couple of takes as Seven couldn't able to hold properly that you felt that you nearly died before finally, you got one.

"This is just so beautiful" Seven said dramatically and wiped his non existent tears.

"Yeah that almost cost my life" You deadpanned before sighing "Let's never do that again"

Seven chuckled "Yeah... I don't wanna risk losing my girlfriend after all"

16. Surprise Present

Most couple gave flowers, chocolates, or even teddy bears for his girlfriend. However, this would be a different case for Seven as right now, he was waiting for your reaction upon seeing the present.

"Seven, I'm home-" You widen your eyes as you saw a huge box and you suspected that it would be another Seven's shenanigans.

"You're in there, aren't you?" You muttered and frowned before you pulled the ribbon and took the cover part. You expected that he would suddenly stand up and appear to surprise you which you had predicted of course but instead, you found a bunch of Honey Buddha Chips.

"Uhh.. Okay... Maybe it's a gift for Seven?"

"No! It's a gift for you!"

Seven said as he suddenly appeared from the box and stood up, spreading his arms to hug you. You widen your eyes before shrieking in surprise and took a step back instinctively. You panted and clutched your chest as you tried to breath and calmed down, making Seven laughed.

"Mission success! Surprise, (Name)!"

You glared at Seven for a bit, only then to look amazed when you noticed he was wearing white cat onesie.

"So... This is my surprise present?"

"Yes!" Seven grinned "It's me and this"

He dug into the box before taking another onesie which is a black cat onesie "Let's wear this together, meow!"

You looked at awe as you took the onesie before you quickly changed it in bathroom. You then walked out and grinned where Seven who was already out of the box, smiling at you.

"My girl looks so adorable~"

"You're more adorable!" You said before tackling him into a hug "Thank you so much for this! I always want an animal onesie!"

Seven grinned "Your welcome! Oh yeah, I also bought your favorite cake so if you want, you can take it in the fridge"

You beamed before giving a kiss on his cheek "Oh my God I love you so much! Let's eat together, Seven!"

Seven nodded before both of you shared the cake while still wearing the onesies.

17. When you're down

There would always be time when you just felt depressed and hated yourself. Feeling useless, worthless, do not even deserve anything that you wished you just disappear. You tried to mask it with cheerful face as you didn't want to worry Seven but of course, he had been through this before and he knew, your smile seems different these days that he decided to confront it.

When he heard that you had been feeling down lately because you felt that you had so much flaw and didn't have any good points, his heart just shattered. What do you mean by not having good points? Having a lot of flaws? That weren't in his dictionary. He defines you as someone who saves him. Someone who is perfect and means a world, no, a galaxy even to him. For someone that actually can made Seven think like this, he was sure that you were very important to him.

In that whole day, Seven was beside you and comforted you by cuddling. However later on when you suddenly fell a sleep, he spent the time to take a book and started writing on each page of one good point that you have and why there is no reason for you to think such negative thoughts. Ever since that incident, whenever you felt down, you would cuddle with him and read the book that he made for you as you read one by one.

"What do you mean I'm like Katniss?"

"Because you're strong and admirable?

"There are other strong women out there though"

"Yeah but-"

"And Katniss is only a fictional character. There are real strong and admirable women like Joan-"

"Okay it's just that there is cat there okay? You know Katniss? Cat-"

"Oh my God okay. I got it, Seven. Say no more"

18. Playing music

It was a night time where you both managed to find a quiet place and sat on the grass. For some reasons, you were feeling a bit sentimental that you actually brought a guitar and had been wanting to sing something, especially for your boyfriend when he had been the most precious person for you. And so, after both of you spent time for stargazing, you decided to start singing as a song came up into your mind.

"Eh really? You're gonna sing a song for me?" Seven looked excited and you nodded before you started strumming on your guitar and sang.

I'm telling you

I softly whisper

Tonight, tonight

You are my angel

Seven widen his eyes at how familiar this song was since not only it was one of your favorite but this song was really emotional.

Aishiteru yo

Futari wa hitotsu ni

Tonight, tonight

I just to say...

Seven smiled and closed his eyes as he enjoyed listening to you.

Wherever you are, I'll always make you smile

Wherever you are, I'm always by your side

Whatever you say, kimi wo omou kimochi

I promise you "forever" right now

You smiled at Seven before continued singing again.

I don't need a reason

I just want you, baby

Alright, alright

Day after day

Kono saki nagai koto zutto

Douka konna boku to zutto

Shinu made

Stay with me

We carry on...

Suddenly, Seven somehow sang along with you which surprised you slightly you before singing along with him.

Wherever you are, I'll always make you smile

Wherever you are, I'm always by your side

Whatever you say, kimi wo omou kimochi

I promise you "forever" right now

Wherever you are, I'll never make you cry

Wherever you are, I'll never say goodbye

Whatever you say, kimi wo omou kimochi

I promise you "forever" right now

Then you let him sang solo.

Bokura ga deatta hi wa futari ni totte ichiban me no kinen no subeki hi da ne Soshite kyou to iu hi wa futari ni totte niban me no kinen no subeki hi da ne

You whistled at Seven at how good he was at singing where he just grinned sheepishly. Then both of you continued again.

Kokoro kara aiseru hito

Kokoro kara itoshii hito

Kono boku no ai no mannaka ni wa

Itsumo kimi ga iru kara

Wherever you are, I'll always make you smile

Wherever you are, I'm always by your side

Whatever you say, kimi wo omou kimochi

I promise you "forever" right now

Wherever you are

Wherever you are

Wherever you are

Seven clapped his hands while you giggled slightly before smiling.

"I hope this song goes through you"

He then stopped clapping before he smiled and leaned to you, pressing his lips on you.

"It certainly did" He said after pulling away from you.

(A/N: It’s One Ok Rock - Wherever You Are just in case if anyone wants to know XD)

19. Birthday

"Seven? Are we there yet?"

"Nope, just wait a bit longer"

You sighed as you were currently being blindfolded while Seven was leading to God knows where since he said it was the best birthday present you could get. Well you were looking forward for it of course but being unable to see for long time felt uncomfortable for you.

"Seven?"

"Not yet. I know you're excited but we're almost there"

"Okay.."

You both kept walking and Seven kept entertained you by joking so you could just get distracted for a while from the complain of haven't reached the place yet. But after a while, you two finally arrived and Seven was ready to took off your blindfold.

"Are you ready (Name)?"

"I always am! Now take it off"

He laughed before he took it off, only to reveal you a blank space while he quickly took a VR and the controller.

"Wait.. What is going to happen?"

"Wear the goggle first and hold the controller okay?" Seven said and helped you to wear it which you nodded. Just when you wore the goggle, you noticed that the controller had a function as a brush. Therefore, you began to get excited as it seems to be something that you thought it would be impossible.

"No way... I could draw anything here?"

"Yeap" Seven said after wearing the goggle too "I mean don't you always want to draw in larger scale? This room will be your canvas, (Name)"

You screamed in excitement before hugging Seven, with the careful of not hitting the goggle of course.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! This is awesome!" You said and couldn't helped but squealing before you started drawing. But then suddenly, you had an idea as you wanted to draw a space and then maybe you both could take a picture with it?

"But you do realise it's only in VR right?" Seven asked and you looked as if you just realized before feeling disappointed.

"Oh yeah... It won't happen in real world... We won't have our wedding in space..."

"But that doesn't mean it's impossible to do~"

Seven grinned and you looked confused but he told you to draw to your heart content. Although you still felt slightly sad about it but you decided to enjoy right now when you could as you drew the planets, milky way, even the terrifying black hole lol. But you also draw the beloved UFO Spaceship and also rockets along with the astronauts.

"Seven, are you drawing Nyan cat?"

"Yes. Yes, I am"

You laughed and let him be with the drawing while you continued on your own. Seven also added Elizabeth 3rd because he wanted it to be here even though he couldn't get it in real life. After you are all done, you took a look around again before you took off the goggle. To be honest if it was even possible, you would want to stay in VR and enjoy this everyday. However, Seven asked you to remove as he already removed his and you had no choice but to remove. But suddenly when you thought it would disappear as soon as you took off the goggle, they didn't disappear and instead remain the same.

"No way... Holograms?" You asked and Seven nodded before grinning.

"It took a lot of efforts to be honest. I have to request Jumin earlier and planned to use my money to pay him. But he refused since he said to use it when we actually have the wedding in space so this kinda ended up not from me-"

"But you thought of this right?" You said before smiling warmly and hugged him "Thank you so much! This is really the best present I ever receive! I had so much fun!"

Seven smiled and hugged you back "Ah yeah, you know when we cosplay with our wedding clothes?"

"Yeah?"

"I brought it here. And at least I hire a photographer to take the photo for us~"

You widen your eyes and pulled back before you heard someone entered the room.

"Oi, let's get this over with" Saeran said coldly and you beamed before hugging Saeran as you thanked him.

"Alright! Let's have our wedding in the space that you've created, (Name)" Seven said and you nodded before grinning.

"It's me and you, idiot! But yes, let's have our wedding here~"

And both of you changed to the wedding clothes and actually performed a little ceremony with Saeran as the priest (LOL) while he was recording the whole thing. Then of course, both of you took a lot of photos with different poses and this had become the most favorite picture that you have.

"We definitely need to have this at home"

"Ah yeah... The VR is your present too"

(A/N: This is what I meant for the VR thing XD)

[elizacornwall]

Vengeance is an Idiot's Game - Chapter 30 - Flutters

Read all the published chapters here. -------------------------------------------------- A few days later Eliza was tending to the chickens when Hosea approached her with a new idea for one of his scams. It was a simple one, to be played out at the train station in Valentine, so she would have to dress up a bit to not be recognised, just in case. They planned it for two days later, and he went to collect more information about their target. She had kept herself busy with chores and daily rides on Polaris, Miss Grimshaw was thankful she had brought back some dinner but didn’t relent on giving her plenty of things to do. Tents needed to be fixed, clothes mended, firewood chopped and there was always the preparation for Pearson’s stew. Eliza did those tasks without a complaint but was much happier to do them with her friends. She found her mind drawing circles around Arthur Morgan whenever she didn’t have to concentrate on whatever she was doing, and only conversation would pull her out of that downward spiral that ended in her getting frustrated at herself every time. She tried to avoid the man without being too obvious, if anyone had noticed anything they hadn’t asked her about it which she took as a good sign. She hadn’t been sure if he would say something if she suddenly didn’t show up for their morning coffee at the drop anymore, but he didn’t mention it in the two brief conversations they’d had. Staying at a distance was the only thing she knew was helping her keep a level head right now. They didn’t have any more riding lessons together, but she thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to be alone with him until her stupid stomach stopped to flutter wildly whenever she was near the man. So she resorted in hard work and as much idle gossip as possible.

The story of her and the stable boy had reached her friends’ ears later than she had expected, Molly wasn’t quite as talkative as she had assumed it seemed. It had made its way through camp regardless, and of course Karen took wild pleasure in the fact that Eliza knew how things worked when it came to intimacy between two people. The blonde girl had taken it as a free pass to discuss the nastiest things and techniques with Eliza, they were very one sided discussions but that didn’t keep her from falling back to the topic numerous times a day, until Miss Grimshaw had overheard her and given her the telling off of the season. Both Tilly and Mary-Beth had covered their mouths behind their hands in feigned shock, but Eliza had seen both of their lips twisted in a supressed giggle. From then on Karen had relented a bit, but sex was still a topic she talked about often, musing what her and Sean would try next. Eliza mostly stayed quiet and nodded her head. She knew the girl was filthy from the crown of her hair down to the tips of her toes, the books she had lent her were proof enough of that, but she had never met anyone this open about their private doings. She didn’t mind it after having known the girl for a while now, but it did slightly increase her little problem. She had caught herself staring at Arthur’s broad back a few times, wondering what he would look like without his shirt. Every time she mentally slapped herself and reminded herself that this was exactly why she needed to stay away from him. Today Eliza was chopping some firewood, the sun stood high in the sky and she felt the sweat running down her back. It was hard work but she didn’t mind it, building up her strength would only benefit her in the long run. She had planned to take a bath at her little spot later, so Polaris and her would get a nice long ride today. She was just done hacking apart another slab when a familiar gruff voice caught her attention. She hadn’t known it was possible for a heart to take a leap and sink at the same time. “Come on Miss, that’s no work for a lady. Let me take it from here.” Arthur had approached and she hadn’t even noticed. If it would have been anyone else she would have protested, but knowing he was a stubborn man and wouldn’t let her refuse she didn’t even try. “Oh, uh, sure!” She gave him a nervous smile and handed him the axe. “Thank you.” He took over, placing his hat on the ground next to him and rolling up his sleeves. The man had barely split the first log when Eliza hastily murmured some excuse and hurried off. Seeing his flexed forearms and muscles beneath his shirt immediately increased her body temperature tenfold it felt like, she had to get out of there. She quickly decided that this was the time to have that bath, she needed to cool off desperately. So she quickly readied Polaris and rode off, down the hill towards the stream, not noticing the pair of puzzled blue eyes following her until she had vanished between the trees. What is wrong with you girl, Eliza scorned herself. How could she be this affected by anyone? She had never experienced anything like it. It was frightening, she felt as if she was slowly losing control over her own body. Something needed to happen, she couldn’t go on like this for much longer, it was embarrassing and shameful. She and Polaris made their way along the river in a slow jog, it didn’t take half as long for them to arrive at Cumberland Falls as it had when she had walked here last. Eliza led the mare down closer to the river and tethered her reins to a broken tree before she pulled the robe she had brought from the saddle bag and stored it dry and securely near the log that led up to the little hidden alcove behind the falling water. She climbed the log and crossed the fall, hiding her out of sight from the rest of the world. She quickly undressed, the cold water felt lovely on her skin and she started scrubbing herself down vigorously with the little piece of soap she had brought. The days had been hot and although she had a quick dip in the river not too long ago,

she already felt tacky again. Summer wasn’t far off now for sure. She laid down on the cold stone for a while, enjoying the cool spreading through her body. The deafening roar of the stream almost lulled her to sleep, so she decided she better get up and back to camp. Maybe she’d bring back some food too while she was out here. She gathered her clothes and only put on her shirt, making sure it covered everything. One hop and she was out in the sunlight again, where she clambered down the log and to the spot where she hid her gown, quickly making sure there was no one prying and swapping the shirt for the longer and more modest piece. She had planned to lay out her clothes to dry before she headed back but didn’t want to leave Polaris on her own for too long so she’d have to sit with the mare for a bit, where she was easily spotted from the road, not like here beneath the cliff. She just about hopped over another boulder when her beautiful gypsy cob came into view – but she was not alone. The huge shape of Moonshine stood next to her, the two were nibbling at each others manes. Her eyes darted around and landed on the war horse’s owner, sitting at the base of a rock, his hat pulled into his face, seemingly napping. What in heaven’s name was he doing here? She was sure no one had followed her, least of all Moonshine. The massive horse wasn’t exactly hard to spot. She pulled the robe closer around herself before she approached, careful not to make any noise. She could just mount up and ride back, hoping he wouldn’t wake up. But that would bring up questions, Polaris was quite a distinctive horse and the chance someone else had a mare with similar markings around here were low, so that lie would fall flat. She sighed internally and spoke up. “What are you doing here?” Morgan woke with a start, pushing his hat back and blinking the brightness of the sun out of his eyes. “Eliza?” his voice was as gruff as ever. “Of course it’s me. How long have you been here?” “Uuh not long. I was gonna wash myself, but then saw Polaris hitched up at that post. Suppose someone had to find my secret place sometime.” His lips twisted into a half smile and he got up, patting the dust off his trousers. “Wanted to make sure no one was gonna pry on ya, a horse alone without the rider is suspicious.” She dug at the ground with her toes, not sure what to say. She hadn’t thought of the possibility someone else could know about this secret hiding spot, just like Arthur apparently. “Mind doing the same for me? I ain’t feeling quite as safe anymore with no lookout. Don’t want no one catch me naked and without a gun”, he laughed. “I- uh, sure, no problem”, she stammered. Of course, easiest thing in the world. The heat rose to her face and she was sure it was very obvious, but Arthur didn’t comment if he saw. He stored his gunbelt on Moonshine and climbed down the direction she just came from, vanishing between rocks and bushes.

She stared blankly at the gap where he just had disappeared for a few seconds before she came to her senses and remembered to lay her clothes out to dry. Why in the world couldn’t she just get away from him? It was mind boggling, really. She had tried her hardest to escape this stupid spell, without avail. She sunk down and sat herself on the grass, not far from the two horses that were now grazing side by side. Polaris looked so tiny in comparison to Morgan’s Ardennes, she could have just as well been a small pony. Eliza couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. She let herself fall backwards into the grass and shaded her eyes with one hand. This situation was ridiculous. It was like whoever run the world was toying with her, shoving what she wanted in her face but keeping it out of reach due to the circumstances around her. To keep her mind occupied she tried to focus on recognising the plants around her. Charles had taught her a lot about the wildlife of this country, plants included. She spotted some burdock root by the water, higher up were some blackberry bushes and even some ginseng. She got to her feet and gathered some of the berries as well as the ginseng plant, and decided instead of idling around trying her best not to think about a certain man and what he was doing she would be better off collecting some herbs, maybe Pearson’s stew could be enriched with some thyme. Sure enough, a bit further up the hill she found some bushels and before long she had stuffed her saddle bag full with useful herbs and plants. Arthur reappeared as she tried to shut the leather pockets without squashing any of the yarrow she just picked. “You gone off gathering? That’s quite the collection you got there”, he mused, rubbing his hand through the wet strands of his hair vigorously. His clothes were completely dry. Must have taken them off before he hopped through the water… She nodded, ignoring her indecent thoughts to the best of her ability. “I figured I’d make myself useful instead of waiting around.” She turned to her clothes on the floor, they had dried out almost completely, the day was that hot. “Would you make sure no one watches while I get back into these?” “Uh of course”, he answered, turning his back on her. She collected her garments in a hurry and hid behind a bush out of his sight. He wouldn’t look of course, he was too proper for that, but she still felt it was more secure to change there. Fully dressed and composed as much as she could be, she marched back up the slope. “All clear, thank you Arthur.” She stowed the gown with the bedroll behind her saddle and pulled herself up. “I was going to get us something for dinner”, she began, desperate to split up. “See you back at camp?” He had one eyebrow raised and was observing her curiously. “I ain’t got anything planned, how about I accompany you and show you how to use a rifle properly? I hear Hosea didn’t guide you much”, he offered. She bit her lip. Being able to use a rifle would be useful, and he was a good teacher after all. But being alone with him still made her uneasy, she was afraid of what she would do if she lost her self control. “I-uh… Okay sure, I guess that would be really helpful. Thank you Arthur”, she managed. His eyes hadn’t left her face, still looking at her in that slightly confused way. “If ya rather be alone that’s fine, I-“ “No no, not at all! I’d be really grateful if you could teach me”, she interrupted him. She didn’t want him asking questions about her wide swing to sudden independence or even think she’d be trying to leave the gang. He didn’t seem quite convinced, but nodded after a short pause. They mounted their horses and Arthur lead them up the waterfall. They had crossed the river and were riding silently side by side, following the road parallel to the river. It was stifling hot and even the few animals they saw were all hiding in whatever shade they could find. She was admiring an eagle that was soaring high above them in the sky, when Arthur broke the silence. “You ain’t have to feel bad saying you’d like to be

alone you know. Sometimes I camp out in the wilderness for a few days just to get away from people”, he said in a suspiciously conversational tone. “Ain’t a crime wanting a bit of solitude.” He didn’t look at her directly, but Eliza was sure he was observing her reaction out of the corner of his eyes. Her thoughts raced to find a plausible explanation for her initial hesitation. At least he didn’t think she was preparing to run away. “I’m fine, really. Camp gets a bit much sometimes, that much is true, but I don’t mind spending time with you. You’re not nearly as exhausting as some of the others!” She gave a chuckle before she continued. “I just don’t want to take up too much of your time. You’re always busy with jobs Dutch is sending you on and yet you’re taking on my… Training as well.” Eliza wasn’t lying, that thought had crossed her mind multiple times before. She sighed before she continued, weighing every word carefully before it left her lips. “Arthur… why do you spend so much time trying to teach me these things? You’re not doing it for anyone else, not even Lenny. I bet he’d be over the moon if you’d offer him to have a little one on one!” There, it was out. The cards were all in his hands now. The pause in which she was waiting for his answer went on for such a long time, she feared she had said something stupid, or worse, hurtful. Finally, he lifted his gaze from the road and looked at her. “I guess I… I just wanna protect everyone. You’ve never lived like this, you didn’t know anything about this life we’re livin’. Lenny was a dirty little thief when we found him, same as Karen or John, same as most really. They can take care of themselves.” He gave a deep sigh. “I don’t mean any disrespect but you ain’t even know how to shoot a gun really. I just… We lost too many people.” Eliza was quiet for a long while after this. She got the impression there was something more lingering on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t say anything else so she just nodded. His words dimmed her nervousness a little like she hoped they would. He’s not doing it because he likes you, that mean voice in her head whispered. Of course not. She wanted to be relieved, yet there was a part of her that was overcome with a terrible sadness. Still better than not being able to control herself, so she supposed she’d better take it as a positive outcome. “I know I’m not able to protect myself yet. I’m trying hard, I promise.” He gave her a smile. “Yeah I know. You’ve been picking things up much quicker than I thought you would. Suppose you got talent for this kinda life after all.” Eliza blushed at this compliment. “Don’t say that until I can shoot a rifle properly”, she responded with a laugh. He chuckled and started to explain to her the ins and outs of handling a rifle. Having spent days trying to stay away from the man Eliza hadn’t realised until now how much she missed his company and conversation. The impressive train bridge of Bard’s Crossing came into view, dominating the landscape with it’s incredible size. They spotted a group of whitetail deer down at the river, not too far from them, and Arthur signalled her to stop. They both dismounted and he handed her his Springfield, together with four bullets. He repeated the instructions how to load it in a low voice to not startle the animals, Eliza was following along in practice. “Here, lift the latch, then pull the chamber open. It ain’t got an empty shell in here right now, it’d get ejected if it was. Put the bullet in – yeah, like that. Close the chamber and you’re ready.” She nodded, trying her best to memorize the steps. She lifted the rifle to her shoulder, aiming it in the direction of the herd when he tapped her back. “You gotta hold it higher, it ain’t gonna be steady if you keep it that low. Place the butt between shoulder and chest, right here”, he explained, adjusting the firearm for her. “You’ll have a hard enough time staying still anyway with the knockback, small as you are.” She snorted amused. “Yeah, last time Hosea gave me his rifle I almost got thrown

over backwards. Still hit the deer though”, she told him. He gave a breathy laugh. “Lucky you hit, don’t usually work like that if ya loose your footing. Let’s get a bit closer.” They sneaked along the path, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. When he thought they were close enough Arthur held a hand in front of Eliza. He lifted his finger to his lips and pointed at a majestic buck that stood guard for his herd. She understood. Slowly, she stood up tall and gripped the rifle firmly, placing it against her shoulder joint like the outlaw had shown her. She took her time, widening her stance and making sure she could aim down the scope right. She shot a quick questioning look at Arthur, who nodded and gave her a thumbs up. She took aim, slowed her breathing and pulled the trigger – and lost her footing, falling back onto the ground by the force of the bullet. The shot missed, the deer were scattering and Arthur was laughing blaringly. Beet red and cursing, she scrambled to a sitting position and gave him a dark look. “You can stop now, I didn’t find it very funny myself, thank you”, she grumbled. He didn’t reply, he was still chortling and held out a hand to help her get back up. “How on earth are you supposed to stay upright with that thing?” She was frustrated, he even gave his approval to her posture! “Surely it can’t be just my stature, I’ve seen bloody kids use these things!” Arthur had calmed down now and gave her an empathetic look. “You just gotta learn how to stand right. Come on, let’s find some more deer then we’ll try again.” She patted the dirt off her clothes and they sat back up, slowly making their way further downstream. The crossing near the bridge became visible, and with it another little group of the tasty animals. It looked to be a bachelor band, there were four young bucks in total, plenty to choose from. They left the horses, closing in bowed low on foot. The two took cover behind a boulder and Eliza looked at Arthur. “So explain to me what I need to do differently please”, she whispered. “Place your feet diagonally, right one back. I’ll keep ya steady, don’t worry. Won’t happen again this time.” She doubted that very much, but stood up straight once again, taking care to place the rifle right and following his instruction set the right foot back. She leaned forward a bit, hoping this would give some added stability and tried to shake off her nervousness by taking deep, slow breaths. Aiming down the scope quickly got her focussed on the task at hand, she would not fail this time. The buck closest to her was her mark, and she followed the movement of his head smoothly with the barrel. “Got your target?”, Arthur asked quietly. She nodded. “Alright, I’ll be right here, you ain’t gonna fall.” Eliza felt him step close behind her, so close in fact she could feel his breath at the side of her head. Goddamnit. Her concentration faltered and her heart started beating wildly. The crosshair wobbled over the animal’s head, impossible to take a sure shot with her trembling hands. She cursed internally. “You always this shaky? Breathe slow, hold your hands steady.” He leaned in and held her lightly by the left shoulder, reaching his right arm around her to stabilise the rifle. His touch was light, not invasive but purpose driven, but it made her head spin. He was so close to her, surely he could hear her heart hammering. Her hands were damp with sweat. She prayed to heaven he wouldn’t notice how flustered she had gotten all of a sudden because of him and looked through the scope again. With his help her aim was steady again, only wavering with her shaky breath. The heat from his body made her shiver. She took three breaths and counted down in her mind. Zero. She pulled the trigger and the deadly force pressed her back into Arthur’s broad chest, keeping her from staggering backwards again. For a split second she felt warm and safe... He let go immediately and stepped away as soon as she held her own balance, nodding approvingly. “See, ya got it! Just gotta make sure to keep stable.

That’s gonna make for a fine dinner tonight I bet.” “Y-yeah, I sure hope so! Thanks for your help”, she replied. She felt shaky, the air suddenly felt cold and harsh on her back after he’d been so near. She remembered to check for the buck and was relieved to see it lifeless on the ground, his group fleeing up the hill some distance away. At least you hit it this time, she thought. Not sure whether his presence had been helpful or hurtful, she approached her kill and tried to lift it, but failed. Arthur chuckled and hoisted it up on Polaris for her, who didn’t seem to mind the extra weight. Complimenting her on her kill, they both sat up and rode back to camp together, Eliza careful not to let her true emotions show through the enthusiasm of her success.

[heartbxnd-blog]

Back in our days

This is a discord thread with @auraguardians

Part 1 | Part 2

Part 3/3

Description: Their fateful encounter, that soon evolved into a Summer romance. Morty is nothing more than another teen living in the streets of Johto’s cities. Meanwhile Riley, who tagged along his uncle’s business trip, finds himself in this new region to him - in an attempt to escape from his dreadded memories assosciated with the Summer.

Once they were both actually completely clean and dressed again - Riley in the shorts and button-up shirt he'd picked out, and Enoki in a pair of Riley's jeans and the shirt Riley had worn the previous day - Riley tossed his bedsheets and Enoki's (still soaked) clothes in the wash and had set about making some breakfast for two.

It was... a strangely nice taste of a domestic setting. Riley was beaming as he got the jam out, to spread on their toast.

"Hey - what's your favorite flavor?"

Yet again they find themselves acting- completely wrapped up in this fantasy. A comforting setting for these two.

Morty was feeding their pokemon- having set Riolu's bowl down while he held out his ghosts' snacks. Both Misdreavus and Haunter were cheerfully chirping and giggling while eating off their master's hand.

"Ah-! Y'know I'm not quite sure, it has been awhile since I've had any..."

His voice trailed off, as he keptfeeding the ghost types.

"Oh hold on! I just remembered it- Pinap berry jam! I ate it all the time when I was younger!"

Now that he is done tending to his pokemon, he could return to Riley- this shirt looked quite oversized on his small body. So much so that one of his shoulders was even completely exposed, Morty was smiling as he watched over the toast being prepared.

While waiting on Enoki's answer, Riley would take out the whole set of jams his uncle had stocked in the fridge, spreading his own favorite blend on the first piece of toast. Payapa Berry...

"Aha, here we go - we have it! You're lucky, Enoki - Riolu here loves spicy food. And my uncle, he... spoils his Pokemon rotten, really, but they're contest pokemon so - psh. Such divas."

He laughed as he spread the jam out and passed the toast to Enoki, a little content sigh leaving him.

"So - not to... make things weird. But - would there be a way to keep in touch? Like... letters?" As soon as it's out Riley feels a blush spreading on his cheeks. Letters - thanks for that suggestion, uncle Aaron.

"I mean - we can talk about that later. There's still two days. I just - want you to know..." I'm still interested. 

"Divas? Gee I can't imagine your uncle participating in contests..."

Morty chuckled lightly before he took the first bite out of his toast- that crunchiness, the taste...He wished he could wake up to this everyday.

His attention averted from the food- and went to Riley at his question, is this the part where he tells Riley to forget about him?

"Hah...Letters?...Yeah sure send them to me through the trash can..."

He tried to poke fun at it, but it wasn't quite working- now was it? Morty goes silent as he takes another bite and keep quietly chewing on the toast.

"...I'm heading to Kanto tonight, so..."

Morty sighed as he stopped eating- suddenly he couldn't bring himself to eat anymore of it.

"Riley-- maybe-"

The teen went silent as soon he heard a noise coming from the outside- was that the sound of a car?! It immediately prompted Morty to stand up straight, ready to dash out of there.

"Shit! Is that your--?"

Even Enoki's little comment didn't lighten the air at all - not with the blow Riley was sure was coming. Riley, maybe... we should just end it.

But even as he was steeling himself for that - Riley also heard the sound of the car pulling into the drive, and he didn't even need to tap into aura to know that sound.

"Ah - yeah, that's my uncle...! Quick, this way!"

Riley grabbed Enoki's hand to lead him through the house to one of the back windows, managing to give a soft laugh as he opened it all the way. "Here - go on."

He would tug Enoki up into a kiss, only hesitating briefly. "What time's the train? That is how you're leaving, right? Our ship leaves tomorrow night, so..." 

Morty was quickly and easily dragged by the arm, thankfully the Haunter had picked up his belongings- unfortunately he had completely forgotten about his clothes which were being washed up.

Regardless of it- the teen had climbed up the window, and flung his body- he was about to jump. That is- until Riley pulled him in for one more kiss.

"Mn- don't worry about the train...! I...I promise I will show up there...! You will take the ship in Olivine city right?..."

He asked in a raspy tone, as he tried to muster a grin at him. He swears he can hear the uncle calling for Riley.

"Mm... yeah - 6pm departure. I'll... I'll see you there, Enoki."

He pressed in one more quick peck before letting him go, with the Pokemon following. Ah, shit, no time to clean up the kitchen...

"Haha, welcome back, uncle!!"

___________________________________________________________

The next night, Riley would be waiting by the docks - in a carefully chosen visible location with only his little Riolu and a oddly shaped bundle.

This might be a dumb idea but Riley will only really feel dumb if Enoki doesn't show up at all.

Riolu, in tune with Riley, kept whining and nuzzling up next to him every time the boy got choked up. He'd never admit it, but he'd been crying on and off all day - ever since leaving the house in Goldenrod behind.

Even Aaron was suspiciously quiet - only offering a blanket-y sensation of you'll be ok, kid.

"Yeah, bud... I know he'll show up." 

The train was just some bullshit pulled out by Morty to try and get some time for himself.

See if he could get his mind straight, maybe return sooner to the streets. Admitedly, he didn't want to show up- he didn't want to create yet another painful memory that will only torment and fill him even further with guilt- of leaving Riley.

Many tears were shed, as the boy found himself at a loss- even his pokemon could feel it coming from him. If only he could be honest with Riley- speak exactly what he wanted all along.

Despite all the odds, he didn't break his promise- his way to the city was just painfully slow. His heart and chest ached, the moment he spotted Riley while still hidden in an alleyway- it hurt so badly. He just wanted to cower himself there, until his boyfriend was gone.

After about 5 minutes or so- he showed up, still wearing Riley's clothes- and still looking way too large for his body's size. He wasn't sure how to present himself to him, should he have a sad expression? A cheerful one? He decided to go with a neutral one- although his face did give signs that he had cried not too long ago.

"..."

The blond is at a loss for words, as such his gaze is quickly drawn into- whatever he has in his possession.

Riolu noticed Enoki first, and Riley would quickly wipe his face again before forcing himself to grin at the other boy. "H-Hey... You made it!"

He quickly took in everything - but most importantly, the fact that Enoki's eyes lingered on the little bundle Riley had with him. Of course. He cleared his throat and gave an anxious laugh.

"Uh - this... this is just some stuff... I've been meaning to give you, before I left. I just - I've been trying not to think about it, so. It's all here. Everything - um. Except your clothes, those... are probably packed up with my bed sheets. I forgot..."

Oh boy, not again.

Riley quickly wiped his eyes dry and laughed. "Sorry. You - you can keep mine, too. It's ok. They... look good on you, anyway." He teased, giving Enoki a little pat on his chest. 

No, no- what are you doing?

The thought ran through his mind, as he seemingly accepted the bundle- reaching out for it, and bringing it back to his chest. So far Morty hasn't said a thing, he has been avoiding to look straight into the other's eyes- to establish a visual contact with him.

There is- another urge to cry, as his hold on what he has in his hand- tightened itself.

Morty took a deep breath- as he finally looked up at Riley's face, still no words- instead he was pulled into a tight hug- his head rested on his shoulder and he couldn't hold them back anylonger.

"...Riley..."

"I'm...I'm so sorry..."

His voice comes out raspy- cracking up by the sobs and sulking, as he tries to cling onto Riley for as long as he can.

"...I love you..."

And I will be back to my loneliness- from where I shouldn't have ever left to begin with.

For a moment, Riley was sure Enoki was just going to panic and reject him, but instead... here they were, hugging tightly while Enoki sobbed.

I love you.

Those were words Riley had not steeled himself for, and as such they set off the waterworks all over again. He held tight to Enoki, his face ending up buried in his beautiful soft hair, little hiccup-y sobs the only noise he could make for a while.

"I... love you, too. Enoki..." He sniffled and pulled back enough to meet Enoki's eyes. "Thanks for... making this the best summer ever. Maybe - um. Well. Have a safe trip - mind the weather. Don't want to... find out you got sick or something. Hah..."

Clearly, Riley was still holding on to that tiny shred of hope he'd hear from Enoki at all. He wiped his eyes again and sighed as the ship's horn went off and he heard his uncle calling for him - and with that, Riley cupped Enoki's cheeks and pressed in one more quick, hot kiss.

"What I mean is... Stay dry, honey." 

He stayed back and watched his beloved Riley get on board of the ship, he stayed there hugging his gifts until the ship was gone- silently weeping.

Isn't this what you wanted? Needed all along? Back into being a nobody, a no one out in this world. Doomed to remember these better times.

With Riley gone- Morty was at a complete loss, he didn't know where to go next- or what to do. His mind was left in a numb state, as he wandered the streets and road- seemingly without any destination. Every inch of his body hurts- depite visibly giving signs of pain, tears shedding from his eyes- no one even batted an eye.

Back into being nothing- invisible.

He doesn't recall how he got to Goldenrod's train station- by now it is evident his body is moving in some kind of autopilot without any thoughts at all put into it. He just wanted to get out of here. Once on board of the train cart, he finds himself a corner within it to sit at- away from the very few lost souls in that place.

The trip would take the entire night, he had plenty of time to stare out at the night and the bundle- by his side. At some point- late into the night, all that the boy could really think of was Riley' face- his voice...Almost as if the bundle were beckoning him to open it. Finally he succumbed to it, and actually opened the thing up.

Right away he was greeted with a jar of Pinap berry jam - and the picture of that morning hit him. Next item- the teen desperately kept yanking the objects inside of it, each one bringing forth a memory. He only stopped when he found a letter.

By the end of reading it, tears no longer were being shed- because of how drained he felt. His fatigue had caught up to him- Morty had put everything back into the bundle, and he proceeded to put it on the floor next to his satchel- so he can spread his legs on the empty seat.

"...I'm not Enoki..."

The boy muttered to himself in a low tone, while drifting to sleep.