#he probably sat in the back alone at a lunch table and thought “heh... all these people don't know I'm the main character... Sigma mood...”

[mrbrightxside]

I GOT SO HAPPY I JUMPED 🌈🌈 GEN Z TEEN VERS I ASKED DYELL ABOUT THIS ME WOOHOOOOO

[bimboamyrose]

Unfamiliar - Ch. 15: Invitations

Art: @mmm-asbestos​ ☆ First 2 chapters ☆ Prev. (Ch. 14)  ☆ AO3

It was a quick run to the future site of Magic City at the edge of town; Amy was disappointed she couldn’t convince Sonic to slow down and chat for a bit. They’d zoomed off from her house and zipped up and around the hills and through town in no time. But there was always after the mission- maybe he’d be more receptive to taking a break then, Amy mused. She could sense that he was still on edge for now.

Letting Amy down from his grasp, Sonic looked into the construction site. Enormous foundations had been laid over several acres since the last time he’d visited. But now, instead of a bustling job site he and Amy found themselves in a comparatively calm environment. No heavy machinery in operation or foreman barking commands. Just dusty concrete floors and towering piles of materials- mostly sheet-metal- dotted with a few temporary trailers probably housing small offices and equipment. The pair looked at one another in confusion, unsure what to make of the unexpected silence.

Amy tiptoed over the dusty ground in a vain effort to prevent her shoes from being covered in construction debris. “Are they on a lunch break or something?” she asked as the pair approached a large trailer. 

“Maybe…” Sonic flung himself ahead to the trailer, leaving a dusty cloud in his trail.

He pressed his face to one of its windows. The structure served as a break room for the workers on site, but the tables and chairs inside sat empty. “If they were, they’d be here, but the place is abandoned!” Sonic turned back to a wheezing Amy, who was waving an irate hand through the dust cloud in front of her face. “Oops- sorry,” he chuckled awkwardly.

“It’s fine,” she responded, holding back a sneeze. Now’s not the time to complain, she told herself. Things had to go as smoothly as possible.

The two walked around a while in silence. The dusty sound crunched beneath their steps. It was desolate.

As the silence grew more awkward, Amy rattled her brain for conversation topics. What could she bring up to convince Sonic to stay alone with her after they were finished here? She was about to blurt out the first thing she could think of.

That’s when a low rumbling cut through. Amy raised a brow at Sonic.

“Did you skip breakfast?”

He looked away in embarrassment. “Yeah… heh. Sorry.”

She shook her head smugly. “I’ve told you not to do that.”

“You know I don’t like to eat first thing in the morning,” he groaned. His stomach followed again.

Amy laughed. “So you woke up minutes before picking me up, huh?”

“So I might’ve been up late..” Sonic smiled, mildly embarrassed. “But I found that picture while I was cleaning up, so it was worth it!”

Her laughter slowed to an amused giggle. “Yeah, it’s probably the only picture we all have together when we were kids.”

“We’re busy people,” he shrugged . “Can’t exactly sit down for cake when we’re saving the planet.” His smile only widened at the thought, as if reminiscing about past adventures.

“Well, maybe this year we’ll have a chance. Oh! We should totally recreate that photo! Wouldn’t that be cute?” she beamed.

As little as he enjoyed having his photo taken, Sonic did like the idea. But it wouldn’t stop him from teasing her about it. 

“We could… but I thought you’d want something more exciting for your party this year. You’re gonna be an adult! Can’t be acting childish anymore,” he joked.

“Oh, yeah, gonna be 18. I’m practically middle aged,” she ribbed back. “And you’ll be 21 this summer. What does that make you?”

“Ancient. One foot in the grave.”

They burst out laughing in unison. When their voices echoed back at them in the empty landscape, the pair both covered their mouths, doing their best to hold back their snickers. But watching your friend try not to laugh is one of the funniest things you could see. They both had to stop walking until they caught their breath.

Wiping a hysterical tear from her eye, Amy finally took a deep enough breath to recover. There probably wouldn’t be a better opportunity to ask.

She looked to him confidently. “Hey, let’s go to lunch after this.”

“Sure,” Sonic responded between breaths. “I’m starving. We’ll let Tails know-”

“Oh! Look!” she quickly changed the subject. “Uh… Are those people over there?”

Sonic looked toward the horizon. From there, it seemed like the flattened landscape went on forever. He squinted into the distance.

“Hey, you’re right!”

I am? Amy was just as surprised as he was to finally spot some people a couple hundred yards down the way. 

A pair of stern-looking men lolled around with clipboards, wearing hardhats but otherwise in business attire. They were being led around by a woman in coveralls- the only person for what seemed like miles that looked to be part of any kind of construction team. 

“Hey!” Sonic called out to them excitedly, “are you guys with the construction crew?” 

The strangers all turned back in their direction. Amy noticed the woman immediately bring her palm to her face in annoyance as the men looked on in confusion.

“Oh, hey, it’s you!” Sonic lit up. “Wait there!” His voice echoed through the sparse landscape as he got ready to run in their direction- but stopped himself as he remembered the dust cloud he’d kicked up. He turned back to Amy. “Hey- I talked to that lady last time I was here, I bet she’ll help us.” 

“Yeah... she seems to remember you.” Amy took notice of Sonic’s quick change of pace. She couldn’t keep a small smile from forming across her lips as he walked just barely ahead, slowing down with her in mind. Before she could overthink the gesture any further, Sonic reached back for her hand.

“Come on, don’t wanna keep her waiting,” he winked playfully.

As he ushered her along, the subtle smirk on Amy’s face spread into a lovestruck grin. There was a lot of good to be said about Sonic, but to say he could be brash was an understatement. They joked about growing up, but maybe this small, mindful act was a demonstration of his growing maturity after all.

The woman groaned an apology to the two men before stepping out of their earshot. 

Sonic approached with a wave and Amy in tow.  

“You’re back,” she said to him plainly. “And there’s two of you now.”

“Glad you remember- though I can’t say I’m surprised,” Sonic smirked confidently.

There was no sign of amusement in her expression. “I have very important people here today, so you need to leave. Now.”

“Aw, come on! We’re just looking for Eggman. Help us out!”

“That’s- ugh.” The woman let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, that’s not my department. Call his assistant or something.”

“Does Eggman have an assistant?” Amy whispered to Sonic. He offered a shrug before turning back to the lady.

“We’re sorta in a hurry. Just point us in his direction and we’ll get out of your hair,” he told the woman.

“No. You’re trespassing, we’re behind schedule, our investors are irate- just leave before I have to call security.” 

“Behind schedule?” Amy chimed in. “Didn’t you guys just break ground a few weeks ago? Why isn’t there anyone here if you’re behind?”

If the poor woman had any patience to begin with, it ran out then and there. “Well, most of the staff’s contracts were cut short like 3 days ago. Doctor Eggman said he’d take care of the rest of the building himself but apparently his ‘equipment’ isn’t in yet for some reason, so he has us stalling, and I’m here with two very upset investors who are ready to pull out of this project if we don’t get things moving, and somehow opening date is in a matter of weeks, and-”

Amy interrupted. “Oh, that’s what we’re here to talk to him about,” she bluffed.

The woman looked skeptical, but it was plain to see that stress was getting the better of her. “About… opening date?”

“About… why his equipment is missing. We took it. Hostage.” Amy’s eyes shot back at Sonic’s momentarily. He stood wide-eyed but let her continue.

A momentary, stunned silence followed. 

“Are you serious?”

“Yep,” Sonic cut in. “That’s what we do! Live to be a thorn in Egghead’s side; Mortal enemies and all.”

In her desperation, the woman turned back to see her clients studying their wrists impatiently. One of the men pointed to his watch irritably. She returned her attention to the nuisance at hand, lowering her voice. “I know you two have some ancient beef I don’t care about, but I’ve just been hired to do an honest job, ok? I’ll tell you where to find him- but you didn’t hear it from me.”

“Totally!” Amy responded, louder than she intended. “Our lips are sealed!”

“Quiet down! Ugh- I’m so fired…” 

She instructed Sonic and Amy on how to reach The Doctor in hushed tones and subtle gestures. He was evidently on sight in a freshly-built underground lab. The entrance was hidden but accessible via key-card. 

“So, any chance we could borrow your ID?” Sonic chuckled. 

The woman responded only with an eye roll before quickly going back to her work. 

“Thanks, anyway,” he called out to her with a wave. “Well, guess we’re on our own from there.” He turned to Amy with a grin. “Nice bluff!”

“Thanks,” she returned. “But, what do you think she meant by missing equipment?”

“Well, maybe…” Sonic trailed off without finishing. “Ah- who knows. Let’s get moving.”

The entrance wasn’t hard to find for those who knew where to look. A series of square steel support columns lined a freshly laid concrete slab, one of many around the acres-wide construction site. There was the faint shape of a doorway outlined on the otherwise smooth surface of the pillars, just where Sonic and Amy were told they’d find the entrance.

“I bet this is it,” Amy remarked, running her fingertips over the shallow mark on one of the column’s facets. “It’s… subtle.”

“Bit outta character for Eggman.” Sonic’s fist met his hip as he leaned back in observation. “We’d usually just break in, but…”

A flick of her wrist surrounded Amy’s hand in a sudden cloud of pink. “Well, it’s worked so far.” She brandished her hammer with a giggle. “Been a little bit since I got to use this.”

“After you, then.”

Amy curtseyed playfully before taking her stance. A moment later, her hammer made contact with the hard surface, denting it considerably to reveal the clear shape of a doorway. A screeching alarm rang out from the door upon contact. Ignoring it, Amy pulled back her hammer a second time, the door well off its hinges after another swing. The high-pitch whine grew louder, emitting from an alarm panel just beyond the destroyed entrance.

Sonic scratched at his ear with a grimace. “Gotta love an alarm. Let’s-”

A third bash of Amy’s hammer interrupted him. The heavy door smashed against the control panel and cut off the screeching alarm in an instant as the dented steel slab fell off the frame to the floor beyond the entrance. “Better?”

“You bet,” he snickered.  “Good work. Let’s get in there!” As he took a step forward, Sonic left a pat on Amy’s shoulder.

A sweet chill tickled Amy’s spine when he did. She couldn’t hold back a soft giggle as they stepped into the dark inside the structure.

Just beyond the entrance sat a short level, leading directly to a winding underground staircase, deep past the concrete foundation they were standing on a moment ago. The ceilings were fairly low, the top of the column no doubt built with sturdier materials to support the eventual building it would be housed in. Dim lights lined the walls, the only indication that there was anything beyond a few feet in front of them. Amy and Sonic moved forward cautiously. The eerie, quiet stairwell echoed with their steps and grew darker as they descended. It was a far cry from the audacious design they had come to expect from Dr. Eggman.

The pair were just a few steps down when they were greeted by a line of unfriendly security bots floating their way up the stairs in their direction. 

“Right on cue,” Sonic sneered.

He jumped into action instantly, making quick work of the first two robots in front of them as Amy smashed her way through a third. Sonic spun out a good way down the staircase, knocking around several more. Amy swung at each of the disoriented guards before they could regain their balance, finishing them off as she caught up. When she reached the next level, however, she stopped in her tracks behind Sonic’s outstretched arm.

Two much larger robots with hammers of their own stood in front of them, a doorway just beyond their guard. They each took a step toward Amy and Sonic as the latter got ready to spring back into battle. Suddenly, a shrill voice could be heard from a nearby speaker mounted to the ceiling. 

“Stand down boys, these two little rodents are guests,” Eggman commanded.

Sonic’s ears perked up. “Could’ve told that to the unlucky bunch back there,” he smirked.

“You could’ve waited for your invitation instead of knocking down my door, you pest,” Eggman retorted harshly. “But since you’re here…” 

“Invitation?” Amy whispered to Sonic. He looked just as perplexed. 

The doorway behind the guard bots split apart. The room beyond was bright- blindingly so- revealing an office suite fit for a business executive, complete with a robotic secretary sitting at a front desk. Stylishly decorated, it was hardly one of Eggman’s usual lab setups. 

Sonic and Amy squinted as they walked past the robots cautiously. Amy held her hammer up close to her chest defensively.

“I’m afraid there are no weapons allowed in the executive suite,” a feminine robotic voice rang out from behind the desk. “I can take that for you if you’d like, miss.”

Amy’s head whipped around to meet the secretary’s gaze. It looked on at her stiffly with an eerie “smile” and coldly lit blue eyes. Amy thought she’d be used to being stared at by a robot by now, but this creepy computer was nothing like Metal. She couldn’t help but think of him as “alive” now. But the secretary in front of her was just a machine. 

“I can take that for you if you’d like, miss,” the robot repeated.

“Oh- no- thank you.” Amy responded finally, her hammer disappearing from her grasp in a rosy puff.

The robot did not react. “Can I get you a drink?”

Sonic ignored her. “Yo, Eggman! You gonna leave us waiting?”

“The Doctor will be with you shortly. Can I get you a drink?” the secretary asked again.

“These robots are getting creepier, huh Ames?” Sonic said as he peered directly at its icy eyes.

Eggman’s voice interrupted once again, this time from a speaker on the secretary’s desk. “It’s alright- let them in.”

“The Doctor will see you now.” The light in the robot’s eyes blinked green momentarily as another door opened behind its desk. 

It remained unmoving, facing straight ahead as Amy and Sonic walked past it. Definitely creepier, Amy thought.

“So glad you could make it,” Eggman remarked sarcastically from behind an executive desk. “Sit.”

“Swanky place you got here,” Sonic commented as he peered around the room. “Unlike you to be this tasteful.”

“You’re a delight as always,” he grumbled back. “Harassing my staff and destroying my security just weeks before opening. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Yeah, I keep hearing that- no offense but this place is pretty far from opening date,” Sonic snickered.

“Of course you would think that. I said sit!” 

Sonic shrugged and sat back in a stiff chair opposite Eggman’s desk. Amy did the same, still taking in her surroundings tentatively. She looked for a spot to leave the surveillance microphone. 

“Alright,” Sonic said impatiently, “I’ll get to the point- what evil scheme are you up to this time?”

Eggman cackled in response. “I’ll tell you all about my ‘scheme’ if you tell me what you’re doing with my ‘equipment’.”

“You heard that, huh?” Sonic shrugged. “It was just a bluff.”

“Well, since you’re here…” Eggman slapped four glossy tickets on the desk in front of him. “You and the other two pests are invited to the grand opening of Magic City.”

Sonic blinked. “Very funny. Are you gonna tell us what you’re really up to?”

“Are you going to tell me what you think you’re doing with Metal Sonic?”

Amy stiffened at the mention of the name. Sonic couldn’t keep his brows from rising  in surprise.

“And why would we be harboring that creepy thing?” Sonic responded after a pause.

Eggman grumbled. “He’s been missing for weeks. You were the last ones to see him.”

“Sounds like you need to keep better track of your property.”

Amy didn’t like the idea of calling Metal “property,” but she stopped herself from saying anything. She could feel Eggman’s eyes on her from behind his dark shades. She turned her face away without a word in the silent moments that followed.

“Hm.” Eggman leaned back in his chair, pensively folding his hands over his chest. “You know, Metal wasn’t thrilled about this idea. I suppose it’s my fault- all Metal’s ever done is go after you.”

“Can’t blame my copy for being obsessed,” Sonic interrupted smugly.

“Humph. You could call it that- if you’re ignorant. But, it was a prime objective for many years…” Eggman scrunched his brow. “Bah- anyway, my goals are different now. Perhaps he was a bit conflicted. We all know he has a tendency to be… rebellious, despite my best efforts…” 

Sonic rolled his eyes at the long-winded response. “Why wouldn’t you just reprogram him?”

“Don’t act like a fool. You know as well as I that Metal’s AI makes him more than a machine!” Eggman paused with a sigh. “Not that I haven’t tried,” he mumbled under his breath. “Well, given his unique ‘programming,’ I thought a bit more freedom could be beneficial at this stage in Metal’s development. So, I let him have it,” he shrugged. “That’s why I didn’t go back for him. However, I did expect him back by now…”

Amy couldn’t help but scoff at his last remark. “Did you even try to look for him?”

Eggman raised a brow at her. “Of course I did,” he grumbled. “Metal wasn’t where I left him and all systems have been offline. Why would you even care?”

“I don’t!” Amy huffed. Getting his attention was a mistake. She fidgeted uncomfortably in the stiff chair, waiting for his focus to shift away from her.

“If you’re so sure we have your robot,” Sonic chimed in, “why don’t you just come looking?”

“Because,” Eggman gestured with both hands to the wall behind him, which immediately lit up with concept images of the upcoming Magic City. “You saw my investors, you’ve harassed my staff. This is my life now. The time for barging into your pathetic little hideouts is behind me.” He grinned sardonically. “I need to be on my best behavior, don’t you think?”

A brief, stunned silence followed as Amy and Sonic squinted at the intricately rendered images and plans rotating on the screen behind Eggman. 

“You expect us to believe that your so-called investors trust you to build a whole luxury resort with your track record?” Sonic shrugged arrogantly. “Every casino and theme park you’ve built has been a deathtrap.”

“My experience is unmatched. Why do you think they trust me to be the one to build it?” Eggman grinned.

“I don’t know,” Sonic continued, “they didn’t seem too happy with your progress.”

“I have my ways.” Eggman lowered his arms, folding his hands on the desk in front of him as the massive screens dimmed once again. “If you would just return my ‘equipment’.”

Now Amy and Sonic realized how accurate their earlier bluff really was. They exchanged a quick glance in realization.

Uneasy, Sonic pressed himself up in his chair. “What’s Metal Sonic gonna do for this dump?”

“Trade secret.” A beam of light flashed across Eggman’s eyes, reflecting off his shaded glasses as he turned his gaze down. His hands folded over his rumpled mustache. “Consider this a truce. Send back Metal Sonic, and we’ll just stay out of each other’s hair from now on, hm?”

“Why would we do that when we could take out your whole operation now?” Sonic grew serious, drawing all of The Doctor’s attention. 

Amy saw her opportunity and gripped the bottom of her chair to plant the device. She sat bolt upright when it made a tiny click. Neither Sonic nor Eggman seemed to notice.

“So you do have him.” An irritated scowl twisted The Doctor’s mouth.

“Yeah, right.” Sonic leaned back into his chair with crossed arms, challenging Eggman with a defiant stare.

“So aggressive,” Eggman shook his head. His elbows made their way onto the arms of his chair as he sat relaxed into it, uninterested in participating in a staring contest with the pest in front of him. “Just come to the opening and see for yourself that there’s nothing nefarious going on. You little rats will get to have the night of your lives, and everyone will see that there are no hard feelings between us. Good for branding, as it were.” 

Sonic only raised a brow, peering into Eggman’s obscured eyes.

“Are you scared?” The corners of Eggman’s mouth lifted smugly.

Sonic scoffed. “What?”

“Never thought I’d see you so apprehensive to come to a party! Why else would you refuse?”

“I’m not-” Sonic huffed indignantly. “How do we know this isn’t one of your traps?”

“You don’t. But it’s never stopped you before,” Eggman cackled.

The phone on Eggman’s desk chimed, followed by a robotic voice. “Doctor, your next appointment is here.”

“Thanks, we’re almost finished here.” Eggman turned his attention back to the pair in front of him. “I do hope you can all make it. However, I’m a very busy man with many meetings, so if you’ll see yourselves out…” he gestured again, this time to his right. The wall behind him opened to reveal an elevator a few feet away.

“Right. More investors, I bet,” Sonic said sarcastically, standing up from his seat. “We’ll be there. If we don’t bust you first.” 

Amy followed behind him, glancing back at her seat apprehensively. She was relieved to see the device wasn’t visible from the side.

Eggman stood up, ushering the pair into the lift. 

“Oh, and Sonic,” as they were both stepping  in, Eggman took Sonic by the shoulder to get his attention.  “I trust you’ll make the right decision about returning my… ‘equipment’.”

Sonic turned back to The Doctor. He paused at the uncharacteristic gesture. “Uh- I don’t know what you mean?” He stumbled on his words.

Eggman stepped back, waving them off. “Sure, sure. And clean Metal up before you reactivate him or I’m sending you a bill for damages.”

“We don’t have your-” Sonic began to shoot back before the elevator’s rounded doors snapped shut between them. 

“Can you believe him?!” he turned back to Amy irately. 

“Shh!” Amy scolded faintly as the lift made its way back up to the surface. She shifted her eyes around the compact tube, sure they were being watched. 

Sonic caught on, clicking his tongue. He crossed his arms with a grumble as they made their way back to the surface.

They both stepped out warily once there. The tube opened from another towering column, diagonal from the one they had entered. Its doors abruptly clamped together behind them. Amy and Sonic could see the towering structure they’d entered from hundreds of yards away

Amy and Sonic gave each other a knowing look. He reached a hand out to her.

“Let’s go.”

----

hiiiii thank you so much for reading if you’ve gotten this far esp after all the hiatuses. ily. i’d love to talk abt the fic or metamy in general so feel free to send me asks/msgs! i love seeing your tags also they make me very happy!

btw work slowed down a lot thankfully but i’m taking this figure drawing class that’s 6 hours 2x per week and my shoulder is so so sore. did not know drawing could be this physically taxing. but it’s fun i’m having fun (or so i tell myself). shout out to my boss for letting me just take class during work time. #1 mvp

[r0zyp0zy0zy]

Haikyuu!! Prompt list trial

HQ!! Prompt list

Words: 3000+ {oops it was meant to be 1000}

Warnings: smut! First time, nervous Yamaguchi, Tsukki bein a wingman?

Pairing: Yamaguchi Tadashi x FEM!reader

Prompt(s): 1 & 4

PART 2 IS HERE

I LOST THE ASK!! But I did copy it down so.. also this was A LOT longer than I intended

"heh, you're awfully close— a-are we going to kiss now?" And "AH! I'm sorry, I'm sorry— I didn't mean to!" With Yamaguchi please? (I was thinking maybe a first-time scenario mayhaps? It's ok if it's not!) thanks!

Yamaguchi never thought that he would be in this situation, ever. To be fair, it was mostly Tsukkishima's fault that this was about to happen. Yamaguchi probably should've kept his mouth shut about being jealous that Tsukki had lost his virginity, mostly because he forgot that Tsukki had no shame asking girls for sex; and also that he would do it for Yamaguchi. He honestly didn't even know how Tsukishima had convinced someone to hook up with Yamaguchi of all people.

"So remember when you told me you wanted to lose your virginity?" Tsukki picked at his lunch with a cheeky grin on his face.

"...yes? Why, it's not that big of a deal." Yamaguchi replied, scared of what his best friend was about to say to him.

"I got someone who wants to help you lose it," Tsukishima quirked a brow as he took a bite of his salad. "You interested?"

Yamaguchi choked on his sandwich, and he had to take a few minutes to get his food down his throat, "you- you what?!"

"Quiet, unless you want everyone in the cafeteria to know you wanna get laid," the blonde said carelessly. "So do you want to or not?"

"I-I..." Tadashi was speechless, trying to spit out a 'yes! Please yes!'. "Er, who is it?"

"Y/n," Tsukki smirked, watching his friend's mouth drop open in shock. "Careful, you'll attract flies."

"Y-you didn't straight up say that I wanted to have sex, right?!" Yamaguchi whispered.

"Nah, I just said that my buddy Yamaguchi hasn't lost his virginity yet and that I wanted to do him a favour because he's too shy and hopeless to talk to girls," Tsukishima mused. He watched the green haired boy in front of him have an existential crisis in the span of a few seconds before he gripped the sides of his own face.

"Is this real? You're not pranking me, right? You're not that much of an asshole," Yamaguchi worried in disbelief, crossing his fingers praying that his luck shone through.

"I wouldn't do that to you," Tsukishima reassured, "Hinata and Kageyama... maybe."

"Holy shit," Tadashi exasperated, "I hope to god that she's not pitying me. Or even worse! She'll come over and she'll make fun of me!"

"She will if you're into that," Tsukishima finished the last of his salad.

"You're not helping," Yamaguchi pouted, "I'm really worried."

"Yams, if I thought that she would do that than I wouldn't've asked her. Y'know, she told me that she thinks you're cute," The blonde packed up his lunch containers, "she also said that you're very sweet."

"What?!" Yamaguchi's eyes were as wide as saucers. Did she really? Is that really what she thinks of me?

"Yes. Pack up your shit, the bell's about to go," Tsukki pressed, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

So now Tadashi was in his bathroom a few hours before you were supposed to come over, his dad's electric razor in hand. He didn't exactly know how to angle his body so he could catch the falling hair on a paper towel, so he just sat himself on the toilet with his mum's vanity mirror propped on a stool.

Once Yamaguchi eventually managed to trim up, (with an unusually long 'is that what it looks like?' period of discovery), he took a shower and made sure he didn't smell. He scrubbed the hell out of his nails, and brushed his teeth squeaky clean. As he nervously awaited your arrival, he cleaned up his room and made his bed. He blushed as he laid out several condoms that Tsukki had given him, remembering the other day where he had to test them to make sure that they fit.

Yamaguchi eyed himself up and down in his mirror, trying to figure out what he should wear, (which he normally wasn't worried about at all). Should I wear boxers or briefs... will she even know the difference between the two? Should I wear a belt, or would that be too much work? Is a button-up a bit too formal for this event? Yes, ok T-shirt time.

The minutes leading up to your appearance made Yamaguchi sick to his stomach, and he tried to calm his nerves by taking deep breaths. Would he be too scrawny for her? Maybe his dick was small and he just didn't know it? Now that he thinks about it, are his nipples a bit weird? He attempted to flatten the cowlick on the top of his head, but it wouldn't comply. A 'ding' from Tadashi's phone makes him freeze, and he glanced over to peer at the screen.

Y/n: I'm here! I didn't know if I should've knocked or not

Yams: I'll be right there! One moment

Yamaguchi dropped his phone and grabbed one of his pillows before screaming into it. He delicately set it back down, and he made his way to the front door. He was lucky that his dad was working late, and that his mum was away to visit a sick relative. Otherwise, he would have a very hard time explaining your presence to them.

"Hi!" Tadashi said breathlessly as he opened the door to his home, eyes meeting with your e/c ones. God, were you beautiful.

"Hello," you replied shyly, playing with the straps of your bag.

"Come on in," Yamaguchi's chest felt tight as you took off your shoes and put on the guest slippers.

He led you to the living room, unsure if he should take you to his room so soon. He went off to prepare some tea, and his mind swirled dizzily. The two of you barley talked at school, and the past week of getting to know you over text just made Yamaguchi fall for you harder. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and brought the tea tray to the living room with shaky hands.

"Uh, I wasn't sure what you liked, so I hope blackberry is fine..." Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing the carpet with piqued interest.

"It's fine!" You smiled gently, pulling your cup closer to you. "So anything that you want to talk about before uh, the main event?"

Yamaguchi was glad he hadn't taken a sip of his tea, because he would've sputtered like an idiot if he did, "uhm, n-not really? I'm j-just really nervous, so please take care."

"Of course! We'll go as slow as you want, no worries," you reassured, taking a sip of your tea, "y-you do have condoms, right?"

Yamaguchi stuttered again, "y-yeah". God he was awkward, getting embarrassed over damn latex.

The two of you did some studying to loosen the mood, and Tadashi started to feel just a little bit more relaxed. It was English you were studying, and since you were a speaker you helped him immensely.

"I know, i's and e's together are tricky, even for me. Most of the time the 'i' is before the 'e', but English can be a dickhead sometimes and it'll be the opposite," you leaned over the table to him as you corrected a few of his words. "But other than that, it looks great!"

Tadashi blushed at the praise, and thanked you quietly. He had to take a few moments so he could breathe normally again as he wasn't used to you being so close. His flush reddened tenfold when he noticed that your shirt seemed to have gotten pulled down a bit, exposing some of your breasts to him. He took a sharp intake of breath as he forced himself to look away.

"It's fine, Yama-kun," you giggled. "You can look all you want."

"S-sorry!" He apologized, embarrassed that you had caught him.

"C'mon, you can take a closer look," you pushed your chair back as you stood up to lean towards him, your shirt complying with gravity.

Tadashi was too flustered to speak, let alone look away from the eyeful you were giving him. You used one hand to grip both of his cheeks to pull him forward, causing him to stand up too. You guided his face so he was level to your boobs, and smiled bashfully when he let out the smallest whimper. You pulled his head up to yours, and you leaned in so your noses were almost touching.

"Heh, you're awfully close— a-are we going to k-kiss now?" Yamaguchi gulped nervously at the thought of your lips on his, and he inwardly groaned in annoyance that he was already getting hard.

"If you want to~," you smiled invitingly at him with your pretty e/c eyes as you touched noses with him.

"O-ok," he gulped, blinking harshly because of nerves.

You closed the gap and pressed your soft lips on his, kissing him slowly with purpose. You pulled away for a moment before going back in for a second taste, and you trailed your fingers down Yamaguchi's torso until you reached his waist. You gripped him gently, slowly riding your hands higher and lower. A gasp left his lips once you pulled away, and his cheeks were ferociously flushed.

"H-holy..." Tadashi mumbled, his lips still tingling from your kisses. "I didn't think it would feel so good."

"D'you mind if we head over to your room now?" You asked, chest still rising and falling a little unevenly from the kiss.

Tadashi gulped nervously as he led you to his bedroom up the stairs, trying to hide his erection so you wouldn't make fun of him for getting hard so fast. Once he locked the door behind you, he looked back to his bed where you were sitting, taking off your necklace and placing it on his side table, taking care not to tangle it. You encouraged him to come over with a beckoning of your hand, and patted beside you with the other.

"C'mon Yams don't be shy, take a seat. I won't bite," you smiled warmly at him. "Unless you want me to."

Tadashi blushed as he walked over, plopping down beside you. You turned to face him and tilted your head to indicate that you wanted to give him another kiss, he leaned closer and you gently held his face. He let out a soft whimper once your mouths collided again, and gripped the sheets under him tightly.

"Touch me, Yams," you moaned into his mouth, and Tadashi thought that he was going to pass out at your words.

He anxiously reached out his hands to grip your waist, and squeaked in surprise when you groaned against his lips, opening your mouth and gliding your tongue across his lower lip. Tadashi let your tongue graze against his, and his whole body shivered at the unfamiliar sensation. The green-haired boy tensed when he felt your hand drop from his face to his chest, which was rising and falling quickly and unevenly.

"You alright? Still want to keep going?" You asked breathlessly, toying with the neck of his T-shirt.

"Hmng," Yamaguchi struggled to formulate a sentence, "y-yes please."

"Using your manners at a time like this? You're so cute, Yams," you cooed, gliding your hand down his torso, giving him a peck on the lips as you continued down to his belt.

"C-call me Tadashi," said the young man, blushing profusely, "p-please."

"You're so cute, Ta~da~shi~," you whispered in his ear, sliding a hand between his thighs.

Yamaguchi moaned as your hand drew agonizingly closer to the strain in his jeans, desperately trying not to rut upward into your touch.

You looked into his half-lidded eyes, purring, "can I touch you, Tadashi?"

"Yes," he answered, too quick for his liking. He inwardly cringed at his eagerness, but it was soon forgotten once you trailed a finger over his clothed cock. "Hah~," he squeaked.

You took ahold of one of his hands and brought it up to your breast, squeezing it for him lightly. Apprehensively Tadashi slowly started to knead it, bringing his other hand to cup your opposite breast. He was very gentle with your assets, taking care not to clutch too harshly on the soft mounds. Tadashi had almost forgotten that your hand laid on his thigh, until you firmly gripped his package.

"Hmmgh," Yamaguchi moaned against your mouth, leaning forwards as you leaned backwards to separate your lips. He was about to apologize, for what he didn't really know, but shut up as you peeled your shirt off your body. He had dreams of this happening, and now that it was real he didn't know what to do. Tadashi blushed furiously as you gripped your own boobs, pinching at your clothed nipples.

You peered at him expectantly, but noticing his cocked head you bowed forward and grasped the hem of his shirt. Tadashi felt foolish at the fact that he forgotten he had to take his clothes off as well, and he warily helped you lift his shirt over his head. The boy huffed anxiously as your eyes drawled across his torso, his head starting to spin with embarrassment and insecurity.

"S-sorry if i-it's not what you h-hoped for," Tadashi heaved, shoving down the hot tears that were building up inside of him. He rubbed his arms as if to warm himself, cowering in apprehensiveness.

"Oh Tadashi, you're exactly what I hoped for," you hummed lowly, trailing your hands down your body to rid yourself of your pants/skirt. He gulped in relief and arousal, watching carefully as you rubbed up and down your torso, occasionally playing with the hem of your undies.

You reached forward to grab his belt, undoing it with a jingle. You threw it onto the floor and dove back down to unbutton Tadashi's jeans, licking your lips in excitement. Just the sight alone made him groan, feeling as though he could cum any second. He watched you with wide, curious eyes when you slowly unzipped his pants. You grinned wildly once you finally rid Yamaguchi of his pants, and gently palmed him through his boxers.

"M-maybe you shouldn't do t-that," Tadashi stuttered as you continued to rub his clothed, twitching cock. "I- I don't wanna f-finish too fast and then we c-can't, uh, y'know..."

You hummed in understanding, and slid away from the dark haired boy. Tadashi awaited the reveal of your breasts as you teasingly struggled with your bra, and you saw him lean in a little closer. He watched in awe as you exposed your tits to him, continuing down to your underwear. Yamaguchi gulped when you peeled them off, staring at the slick string of your juices connecting you to the piece of clothing.

Tadashi was frozen in place as he watched you slowly spread your legs open, giving him a show of teasing yourself. In all honesty it looked like he was about to faint from the lack of blood in his face, but that quickly changed when you softly moaned his name. A whimper escaped his lips and he rutted forward into the air, feeling the blush creep quickly onto his cheeks again.

You breathed deeply as you slowly spread yourself open, carefully inserting a finger, and then another one a moment later. You felt so aroused that you didn't think you even needed preparation; still in a little bit of shock that, oh god your crush was in front of you with a painfully hard erection looking at you as if you were the whole world. The fact that you had scored this opportunity was incredible, and you still couldn't believe it.

You met Tadashi's eyes and slipped your slick fingers in your mouth to suck them clean, observing his awed expression, "wanna taste?" You asked sultry, dipping your fingers back into your heat.

Yamaguchi's eyes were the widest they had been all night, and a strangled nod of his head let you scooch forward to him. He nervously opened his mouth, poking out his tongue to suck on your fingers. You felt your cunt clench desperately at the sight in front of you, and you sighed a moan. You took Tadashi's hands in yours and leant backward onto his pillows, letting him trap you with his arms beside your head.

"Hah— f-fuck," Tadashi choked out, grinding his still clothed cock on your thigh. "P-please~."

"Take off your underwear, 'Dashi," you murmured hotly to him, trailing your hands down his back to his waistband.

He struggled with the article of clothing before throwing them to the floor, blushing profusely once he realized that he was completely exposed to you. A groan was ripped from Tadashi's chest when you gave him a few pumps, reaching out with your other hand to grab a condom.

"Are you ready?" You asked. "You can back out at anytime, no judgment."

"F-fuck yes," Tadashi stammered, shakily rolling the thin latex on his fluttering cock.

He let you take charge, taking a deep breath when you grasped his dick and guided him slowly inside of you. Tadashi's mouth widened into an 'O' as he sank deeper into your hot pussy, taking the air from his lungs. A low groan rumbled in his chest, and he gripped the sheets tightly. He couldn't move, he realized. If he moves, he cums. Game over.

"I-I-," Tadashi gasped, struggling to find the right words. "T-tight."

"You can move, Tadashi," you encouraged, trying not to clench around him.

So he did, wanting to impress you somehow. His abs tensed painfully as he fiercely held in his orgasm, slowly dragging back and forth. He heard himself whimpering and he was scared that he was going to start crying. Your reassuring moans didn't help Tadashi from his sensitive state and he cried out as he came, shaking as he emptied his load into the condom.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry— I didn't mean to!" He panicked, lip trembling as he ridiculed himself for being so embarrassing. He hid his face from your gaze by locking his eyes on your chest, focusing all his energy on not crying.

"It's ok! It's ok, don't worry," you soothed, a little surprised at Tadashi's reaction. "There's always a next time," you added shyly, blush deepening.

"—n-next time..?"

[mismess]

Jeremy went to pick up coffee.

Now Jeremy didn’t always drink coffee in the morning but this day he was asked to get some, so while he’s there he might as well indulge. He could use a boost of energy anyway.

So on his usual drive to work he took a small detour to a local coffee shop, he got two coffees, one medium roast with extra milk and sugar, one dark roast with milk and one sugar. He didn’t think to get more, he wasn’t told to get more so why would he?

This dark roast with milk and one sugar had to do with a call, a call he got early in the morning, around 6:30 am, which is too early and it probably woke up half the house, it was Scotty calling from work, Jeremy didn’t think Scott really registered what time it was, he sounded out of it, but still profusely apologized about his request for him to pick up coffee.

This leads back to a scene from earlier in the week, the coffee pot in the break room had been broken leaving the Fazbear employee’s caffeineless, which isn’t a problem for him but Scott seemed rather upset about it, he did recall him often having a cup in hand, might explain some of his jumpiness, perhaps Scott should cut back on the caffeine actually.

Just another unhealthy habit Jeremy thought to himself

But the thing is Scott almost NEVER asks anything of anyone, even if he probably should, so of course Jeremy agreed. He can’t turn down the one time he’s asked for something, even if it fueled that habit, it was the least problematic of them anyway.

So Jeremy picked up the coffee.

As he arrived at the pizzeria and walked inside, the main entrance opened up to a large open room, to the left were tables that costumers sat to eat pizza and watch the animatronic band perform, the flooring was black and white tile while the walls had star patterned wallpaper with colorful images of the band along on some of the walls, other walls had a few drawings from past costumers put up on display. To the right of the entrance he saw Fritz in their usual spot, in the prize corner near the games, while all their jobs were rather loose in nature and you simply go where you’re needed, that was their ‘main’ job, they take tickets and exchange them for prizes, Fritz was often leaving that post however to help a kid cheat at ski ball or something.

The place had been open for just around an hour, there was a couple of older kids lingering around on the arcade games but it was far from busy. Fritz didn’t take notice that Jeremy had arrived as they were messing with the little prizes behind the counter, such as the finger traps and those rubber poppers. He liked those poppers if he was being honest, and sometimes took one for his own enjoyment.

Jeremy walked past the prize corner and towards the break room, it always felt rude to talk to someone unless they were close enough to him, -what that distance was exactly he didn’t really know himself, depended on the mood and person-, or if said person directly talked to him first, and it felt silly to walk all the way up to someone just to say hello and turn away. So he stayed quiet. This sometimes labeled him as rude either way if someone expected a greeting and he didn’t supply.

He opened the break room door to find Scotty sitting at a table, slumped forward propping his head up with his hands while rubbing his temples with his thumbs, but when he heard the door he looked up, almost in a startled fashion, but that friendly crooked smile he always has on quickly replaced his nervous face.

Jeremy liked that crooked smile, it always leaned towards the right of his face, showing off his dimple on that side.

Underneath his smile however he looked tired, and it seemed like he just got more worn down with every day that went by. Scotty’s always been an overachiever when it came to work, he took long hours and probably did the equivalent of three people's jobs at the same time, but lately it seemed like it’s taken a toll on him. Jeremy’s tried to discourage this behavior in the past but that would usually just end with Scott finding a way to weasel his way out of those conversations.

There wasn’t much to the break room, it had a couple of plain tables strewn about with mismatched chairs surrounding them, a counter against the wall to the left of the entrance with a microwave sitting on it, the coffee pot formerly sat next to it as well, with a couple of cupboards above it that didn’t house much of anything besides a few cups, and at the end of the counter a fridge.

“I’m here.” Jeremy announced, giving him a quick smile

“Oh thank God! I have such a headache-” Scotty said as he shot out of his chair and walked over to Jeremy

Jeremy held out the dark roast with milk and one sugar to Scott

Scott took it and realized he wasn’t being very polite, “OH- Sorry, uh- Hello! How ya doing?” he asked, but quickly followed it up with another question “ Oh, how much was it?”

“Um. I’m fine. And you don’t have to worry about payment.” Jeremy reassured him

“Nonsense!” Scott said, reaching into his pocket “You are NOT paying for my addictions... Ah-!”

“- That’ll do!” Scott said while handing him a crumpled-up wad of spare change, just looking at it Jeremy could tell it was way too much for one dark roast with milk and one sugar.

Before Jeremy could say anything the break room door swung open again as Fritz walked in

“Ooooh, coffee!” Fritz said as they walked by Jeremy “Didn’t get me one~?” Fritz said in a tone that seemed playful, but Jeremy couldn’t quite tell if it was. He’s never been good at picking up tones very well.

“I didn’t know you wanted one, I’m sorry.” Jeremy said. He should have got more coffee, for everyone.

“Nah it’s ok, Jere, I’m joking, I’m sure Scotty called before I was even here.” Fritz said leaning on Scott’s shoulder while he sipped on his dark roast with milk and one sugar

“Wait a minute-” Jeremy started as he realized what time Scott really did call at “You did call from here right? Just how early did you get here?”

But before Scott was able to answer Fritz piped in instead "Dude, he’s BEEN here since 12 last night!” they gave Scott a friendly nudge, but as Scott pulled the coffee away from his mouth he gave out this nervous chuckle

“Wait- wait- Scott, you’re working the night shift?” Jeremy asked, he suddenly felt a sense of dread at the mention of it

“Um. Uh- Yeah, heh...” Scott said awkwardly

Jeremy hadn’t realized Scott had taken over the night shift, no wonder this man seemed more exhausted than usual.

“But you’re here during the day all the time!” Jeremy stated “Ok- Just how many double shifts do you take?”

“Uh- W-Whatever I’m a- asked..?” Scott said with a nervous grin, his shoulders raised up as if to brace himself, he put his coffee down on the table

“Scott-- God the night shift-- Do you LEAVE?”

“O- Of course! I can’t live here!”

“You say that like you would if you could!” Jeremy was obviously showing frustration in his voice, he didn’t mean to but the amount of work this man did stressed Jeremy out, and the night shift stressed him out even more

“Well- I mean- I’m not doing anything else anyway-” Scott started

“Well you should! Scotty you’re already working so many hours, do you sleep?! You have to realize this isn’t healthy-!” Jeremy was cut off by the break room door opening again

William stood in the doorway, his usual calm demeanor did not seem to be about him today, his brow furrowed and shoulders hunched in a manner unlike him “... What is going on in here?” he asked

“- Brought up Scott’s poor work-life balance, now the boys are fighting.” Fritz told him

William pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed “... Ok. I don’t care- There’s currently no employees out on the floor and a birthday party in an hour, can we stop the chit-chat and get things moving.” he snapped

“Yes, you’re right, William!” Scott quickly moved past William out the door on to the floor, obviously glad to find a reason to stop the conversation. William followed.

Jeremy took a deep breath as he watched him walk away “... You think Scotty works too much too, right?” he turned to Fritz, hoping he had an ally, fearing he might be coming off a little too overprotective.

“Oh definitely,” Fritz replied “He’s stubborn when it comes to work tho, you can’t get that guy to sit down. Seeing as you didn’t know he’s on the night shift I guess you haven’t seen his schedule, you should take a look, that thing is a MESS.”

Fritz walked out the door as well, leaving Jeremy alone with his medium roast with extra milk and extra sugar. He didn’t like the mood that was left hanging in this room, he felt bad for getting upset with Scotty, his problems wouldn’t improve just cause Jeremy got fussy with him. But Scotty always pushed these things aside, insisting they could “bring it up later” or “it’s not that bad” or simply just changing the subject, he didn’t know how to talk about it with him without getting fussy at this point.

It seemed like most of their recent conversations ended in frustration. Scotty grew a lot more distant after The Bite, and didn’t tell him about anything anymore, and if asked he would brush him off, he stopped having lunch with him or Fritz and usually spent most his time working or talking with William so any time for socializing was spent elsewhere. He missed his friend.

He didn’t want to just drop it but he didn’t know what more he could do, if Scotty didn’t want his help he can’t force him to talk to him or make him take less hours.

... The night shift...

Jeremy had sworn off the night shift after his first and only week on it, he didn’t like thinking about it, but the reason it was so bad was the animatronics weren’t right, they had something wrong with them, which is why they were scrapped. Those animatronics that seemed out for his blood weren’t in use anymore, and with them the problems of the night shift were gone. At least that’s what William said, Jeremy had no intentions of seeing that for himself, just the thought gave him anxieties.

But that means at least Scott would have the 6 hours to just sit down and relax, right?

He still didn’t think it was good, and Scott definitely should be taking more time off, but maybe Jeremy’s reaction was a bit unwarranted. He would apologize for his harsh tone when he got the chance.

Jeremy took both his medium roast with extra milk and sugar and the half-drunken dark roast with milk and one sugar and put them in the break room’s fridge, maybe they could drink them at lunch together later he thought.

and he got to work.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Shuffle Playlist - Rewrite - Part of Your World - Harry Hook x Reader - Part 15 - Sleepy mornings and try outs

*this is pretty much just a filler chapter srry if its boring*

=

You woke up to the sound of your alarm going off, Harry groaning into your neck as you smacked it to make it shut up. You peeled open your eyes, letting out a harsh breath as the sun just barely peeked through the shut curtains. “what time-“ you glanced at the alarm clock, harry yelping as you suddenly sat up and knocked him off your torso “WHAT THE FUCK ITS 9 AM?!”

You tried to remember what time you and harry had gone to take your nap…you got back to your room at like, 1:20 pm, Harry took a thirty-minute bath, it was twenty minutes doing his nails and-2:10pm that’s when you and Harry went down soo that was…19 fucking hours of sleep holy shit.

“What's wrong?” Harry's groggy voice finally broke through your bewilderment. You turned and let out a soft sigh, smiling at his slightly grumpy look, his eyes almost completely closed and his hair a fluffy mess.

“We slept for nineteen hours hun” you chuckled, bursting out into laughter as Harry just stared at you for a moment and then pushed his head into your pillow and tried to pull the blanket over his face. “Harry no, we have to get up, we missed lunch and dinner, we need to eat” you pulled back the blanket, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek “Come on”

He made a grumbled complaint but obeyed, slowly sitting up only to rest his cheek on your shoulder and lean heavily into you. You rolled your eyes with a fond smile on your face as his arms wrapped around your waist and tugged you into him “Yes yes I know, cuddles are great, but Saturday pancakes are even better” he peaked up at you again and seemed to consider your bribe before closing his eyes again and tightening his grip. “Alright, then I guess I’m going to breakfast alone and leaving you here in this warm bed that’s going to turn cold without me here to cuddle you~” Harry groaned and finally sat up, pouting as he dragged his feet to his room to get dressed “Thank you!”

He let out a small grumble and opened your door, shaking his head to wake himself up more. The door closed behind him as he stepped out and you jumped off your bed to get dressed.

You decided on a comfy red long-sleeved shirt that you had also commandeered from Harry a few weeks back, your most comfortable pair of jeans, and some black sneakers.

You freshened up in your bathroom and sighed, grabbing your key to lock your door when you saw a note on your corkboard. You walked closer to it and took it off the board, holding it close to read.

-Thank you for helping me design yours, Harry’s, and Gil’s outfits, it saved me a lot of brainpower I needed for other things :3

-Evie <3-

You smiled and set the note on your desk, grabbing your bag and checking inside, nodding as you spotted your sketchbook, pencil, eraser, and some snacks inside. You grabbed your phone from your desk and walked out of your room.

As you locked your door you heard Harry's dorm room door open and close, arms wrapping around your waist moments later “Hi love” you hummed, turning in Harry's grip and pecking his nose, smiling at the small grin that came from your affection “Come on, let's go get some food, we need the energy for today” He gave you an odd look before he remembered

“oh, righ’ cotillion” he grumbled, hands sliding up your waist and trailing down your arms, intertwining his fingers with yours. You squeezed his hand and walked down the halls with him, humming to yourself as you walked towards the cafeteria.

“So how are you feeling today?” Harry thought for a moment, rolling his shoulders and tensing his arms, then shrugged.

“Not sore anymore, I think the bath helped with tha’” you nodded in relief.

“That’s good, I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable the entire day, soreness is not good for dancing” Harry rolled his eyes at that and snorted.

“Yes, because that’s all I’m goin’ ta do, dance” you gently pinched his arm with your free hand “oi!” you snickered at the noise he made and pushed open the cafeteria doors, the smell of pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs, bacon, and many other breakfast foods invading your senses.

“Yum,” you hummed, squeezing Harry's hand one last time before moving to get in line for your food “find a table for us?” Harry nodded and looked around, spotting the vks sitting around a large rectangle table with two more spots open. He walked towards it and plopped down next to Carlos, who shifted to the side a bit to give harry a bit more room.

“morning~” Evie sang, giggling a bit as Harry crossed his arms on the table and laid his head down on them “oh someone’s sleepy~”

Harry just grunted and lifted one of his arms from below his head and placed it over his face, hiding the light from his eyes. “I haven’t seen you or (y/n) since the talk…where the heck have you been?” Jay asked through a stick of French toast, reaching forward and poking at Harry's bedhead.

“When I went to go drop off (y/n)s dress they were asleep…I think It was like, four-thirty? So, I think they’ve just been sleeping the entire time” Evie laughed, turning and smiling as you passed around the table and set a tray in front of Harry and sitting down across from him. Harry parked up, licking his lips as he looked at his pancakes, sunny side up eggs, bacon, and strawberries. “so, where have you two been for the last day?”

You snorted, facepalming a bit “we slept for nineteen fucking hours Eve” the table stared at you in shock as they snickered at the absurdity of your words “I know I know, but one moment it was two-thirty the next it was nine am”

Carlos sighed, shaking his head “you two are not going to be able to sleep for two days” Harry grunted through his fork as you rolled your eyes.

“Whatever, I have a fucked-up sleep schedule anyway not like that’s going to do me any worse” Harry snorted at that, pausing the inhaling of his food and gulping down his apple juice.

Evie clicked her tongue in disapproval and stood, taking her empty tray with her “I bet you’re happy that summer vacation is soon, then you can sleep till your heart's content without missing class” you grinned at her as she walked away towards the trash cans.

“When’s summer vacation start again?” Gil asked, shoving a hard-boiled egg in his mouth, nodding as Carlos answered for him.

“Monday, I think yesterday was the last day of school but I think we were all a little busy doing something else heh” you hummed, tapping your finger on your cheek.

“I think yesterday was a start of a three-day weekend, FG said something about letting everyone get a day of rest before cotillion” Carlos squinted a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, I think I remember her saying something like that, well, at least we won't get in trouble for missing algebra” the table snickered a bit, Harry pushing his empty try towards you and laying his head back down on his arms. “Geez you two sleep for nineteen hours and he’s still tired.”

“Well, I don’t think he slept on the isle, plus sleeping too much can make you even more tired, Harry come on, you can’t go back to sleep” you shoved at his shoulders, giving him a soft smile as he glared at you “I’m sorry love, I’ll get you some coffee from the café how bout that?” he kept glaring for another moment before it softened.

“Mocha-Caramel frappe” he flopped his head back down and his shoulders rose and sank in a quick motion.

You stared at him for a moment before looking at the others “those don’t have a lot of caffeine, right?” Mal shook her head “okay you answered that way too quickly” she snorted and smiled at you.

“Just order with an extra shot of espresso, that’ll keep him for the day and through cotillion” You mentally noted that and thanked Mal, turning back to Harry and pushing at his shoulder.

“Harry, come on, go with Gil to the amphitheater, I apparently have some people to watch try out for the team” he let out another grumble, pouting as Gil stood from the table, handed you his tray, and hoisted Harry from his seat, carrying him in a fireman's hold before Harry forced Gil to put him down. You giggled as Harry grumpily made his way to the amphitheater with Gil just behind him, hopefully preventing Harry from running back to your room to get more sleep.

“When did you learn ‘bout the new ones?” Jay asked through a mouthful of waffles, swallowing them down with cafeteria coffee.

“When I woke up to a text from Fergus, get this, we have ten people who signed up for the team” Jay and Carlos’ jaws dropped “I know right?”

“Probably cuz you kicked off Chad, right?” Mal guessed, popping her last strawberry in her mouth and laughing as you winked at her.

“yep, I’m fully betting on that” you took yours, Harry’s, and Gil’s empty trays and walked towards the trash can, raising your brow as you saw Evie was still standing there, now talking to some of the girls who had gotten their dresses asking styling questions.

“oh, I would do a natural look with some rouge lips, it would make your eyes and dress pop a bit more” Sophia; Robin Hood’s daughter, nodded and pulled out her phone, going to look up make-up references before you pulled Evie away.

“Sorry girls, I’ll be stealing the princess now” the others whined as you set your trays on top of the can and pulled Evie by her arm back towards the vks.

Evie let out a sigh of relief and slumped against you “thank you (y/n)! I would have been stuck there for ages! I love helping style but I’m still not fully awake and ready to deal with all that” you hummed in response and let go of Evie as you arrived back at the VK table.

“alright I’ll see you guys later, I gotta go look at R.O.A.R tryouts” the four VKs nodded and engaged in their own conversation.

You spun on your heel and walked out of the cafeteria building, making your way back towards the main school to get to the amphitheater inside. Passing by a couple of students who were grabbing the last of their school supplies before summer vacation started.

You pushed the doors to the amphitheater open and nodded to the group that was standing just to the side of the main ring, they nodded back and you walked over to Harry, Gil, and coach, the latter handing you a clipboard with the names of the those who were trying out.

Amra Triton

Raven Loxley

Kuzo Emporia (made up last name don’t come for me)

Ellie DunBroch

Alvin Oldenburg

Yuan Yao

Adrian Liddell

Tyron Maldon

 Eva Fitzherbert

 Pax Darling

You nodded to yourself as you looked over the names, you glanced up from the clipboard and let out a piercing whistle, the new recruits immediately falling into line. “alright! We’re gonna do this tournament style! The last one standing gets the spot! Any cheating and you’re permanently banned from even trying out for the team. Line up just in front of the boxes, two lines please!”

The recruits obeyed and lined up, two lines of five in front of you.

You started to call the match.

“Ressembler!”

“salute”

“lower the point”

“masks down”

“en garde!”

You waited a few tense moments before letting out another whistle, the chaos of the fight almost immediately deafening the room. Ellie quickly took out two others, flipping over Pax and landing behind them, spinning on her heel and smacking their butt. Pax quickly spun around and blocked another swing of Ellie's sword, the two quickly delving into their own match.

You looked over at Tyron and Yuan, the latter of the two easily kicking the former's ass. Tyron let out a yelp as he fell to the floor, sword sliding across the ring and hitting the wall.

“Tyron; out! Stand behind the line!” the teen smiled at Yuan and hopped up from the ground, jogging over to the line that was behind you and coach and continuing to watch the mini-tournament.

Amra and Adrian’s swords were flung out of their hands, coach quickly calling them out of the ring. They moved to stand by Tyron and watched the rest with rapt excitement.

Ellie finally managed to disarm Pax and caught the sword she had sent flying with her free hand. Pax let out a sigh and ran over to the others who had been called out.

Ellie turned to Raven and the two immediately began to clash swords, the others still in the match stopping for a moment to watch with wide eyes as the two girls easily matched the skill of the other and blocked and parried so hard the blades shook.

Eva took the chance of the distraction and took Kuzo out of the match, the latter pouting as they stomped over to the others.

It was down to five; you let out another whistle, making them split apart and stand at attention.

“stand around the blocks and wait for the signal” once more they obeyed and stood around the ring, just next to the parkour blocks.

You and Gil watched with rapt attention as the last five started at each other with giddy looks, Eva and Ellie flipping their blades to release some of their energy.

You let out another whistle, laughing a bit as Ellie launched herself at Alvin and took him down within seconds. The boy huffed to himself and scooted out of the ring, sitting crisscross on the floor and leaning back on his palms with a grin.

Now only four left, it was two versus two for a moment before Yuan kicked Eva out of the ring, leaving just the three girls to battle for the spot on the team.

Ellie jumped back as Yuan swung at her, the latter blocking a stab from Raven in a swift motion before spinning into a crouch and kicking Raven's feet out from under her. Yuan kicked Raven’s sword away and ran towards Ellie as Raven was pulled out of the ring.

“last two” Gil muttered to harry, mentally wishing he had popcorn, this was better than those action movies Ben had shown them. Harry let out a low grunt, while the fight was exciting, he was still pretty tired and was just wanting to go back to bed until cotillion.

Ellie and Yuan quickly clashed swords, the two evenly matched as they danced around each other.

Swing, parry, block, thrust forward, block, flip over parkour block, parry, swing, miss, flip, block, repeat.

Then, at last, Yuan’s foot slid just a bit more than she was meaning to and Ellie took the chance, placing her foot behind Yuan’s and sliding it back, throwing Yuan’s balance off.

Ellie ducked under Yuan’s arm and hoisted her up, flipping her over her shoulder and slamming her into the ground.

“call it!” Coach yelled out, the two girls halted in their fight and stared at each other, their chests heaving with heavy breaths.

You walked into the ring, holding out your hand to Ellie who grinned and eagerly took it “congrats Ellie, welcome to the team!”

The others who had been defeated cheered and walked over, ruffling Ellie's hair and congratulating her “and great job to the rest of you, if there's ever another spot open, I want you all to try out again!”

They call cheered in agreement, setting down their gear and walking over to coach as he called them over.

You walked over to Harry and cupped his face, tilting his head up to you and smiling at him “hey sleepy baby, how bout that mocha-caramel frappe now hm?” he gave a soft smile and nodded, grabbing onto your offered hand and pulling himself up, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and leaning towards the doors “Okay okay we’re going, see you guys!”

Ellie and the others waved back before turning back to coach.

You, Harry, and Gil walked out of the school and headed to the campus café.

-

It was only two hours to Cotillion. And Uma was pacing around Ben’s room, she had spelled the king only 10 minutes before, but now she had to wait the two hours till 6 pm to even do anything, lest anybody get suspicious.

Luckily Ben had let her stay in his room at the castle and informed everyone that his room was not to be entered till after cotillion. Possibly; that it could have also created suspicion but Uma was not aware of Ben's habits enough to know that it would or not.

But she would have her revenge on Auradon, and do what had been promised 5 months ago.

The barrier would come down.

And Harry and Gil would regret betraying her.

-end part 15-

Srry again if this one was boring but at least it ended interesting?? Anyway, cotillion starts next chapter!

permtaglist

@queer-cosette​ @sephiralorange​

@lunanight2012​ @daughter-of-the-stars11​

@musicarose​ @descendantsobsessed​

@random-thoughts-003​ @remembered-license​

@verboetoperee​ @rintheemolion​ @thecaptainsgingersnap​

@imtryingthisout​

taglist

@thesailbells​ @beccad10x​

[of-wrens-and-whirlwinds-blog]

Nanny

Commission for the ever-wonderful @depressedstressedlemonzest ! I hope you enjoy this, my love! Even though it got away from me a bit, eh heh heh. *sweats* Commission info is in my about page!

CW: ableism

~

Geralt did not know what to expect regarding the nanny he had contacted. He had been open to it being anyone, as long as they weren’t a creep.

He would never in a million years have expected his one-night-stand for two days ago to end up on his doorstep.

Geralt and Jaskier stared at each other, equally stunned. Finally, Jaskier cleared his throat and said lamely, “So you’re the Mr. Rivia who emailed me?”

“Yes,” Geralt got out stiffly.

“Daa-ddyyyy!” Ciri wailed from the living room. “Hungry!”

Geralt grimaced and rubbed his forehead. “Please come in,” he said with no enthusiasm. “I have to get Ciri her lunch.”

Jaskier nodded and followed him inside the small townhouse.

Ciri was stomping inside her pen, making frustrated noises. As soon as Geralt lifted her out, she beamed and threw her arms around his neck. “Hungry!” she yelled again, right in his ear.

“Of course, love,” Geralt agreed, rubbing her back soothingly as he took her to the kitchen. “What would you like for lunch today?”

“Ramen!” Ciri squealed, bouncing in his arms and tugging his hair. Geralt didn’t even flinch. He was used to it by now.

So he put Ciri in the high chair, started the ramen, and only remembered Jaskier when Ciri asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Julian,” Jaskier replied. “And you are?”

“Ciri. That’s my daddy!”

“I noticed!”

Geralt’s mouth tightened as Jaskier and Ciri chatted. They were already on their way to being friends. Not good. If he decided not to hire Jaskier, Ciri would be upset and cry. But it would be better to not hire him. Right?

It had been a very good night when he shared Jaskier’s bed. He’d especially liked how Jaskier had--

Geralt swallowed hard and poured in the ramen noodles. They had both decided to end it there. It was a bad idea to let Jaskier stick around. He was too… bright, and loud, and frankly annoying. It didn’t matter that his terrible flirting was entertaining, or that he was a great singer, or that he obviously knew how to befriend children. Geralt would probably get pissed enough to throw him out in a week.

Ciri crowed with laughter and Geralt’s breath caught in his throat. She hadn’t laughed like that for anyone other than Geralt since Yennefer left.

With his heart sufficiently aching from Ciri’s excitement, Geralt turned away from the stove and walked to the table. Jaskier was already teaching her that stupid song about the spider and the water spout, and how to move her hands to the words. They were both grinning, as Ciri tried to sing along. Geralt wanted to say something, but she was happy, so he got a juicebox from the fridge and set it in reach for her, then retreated to the counter to watch them.

“Do you like ramen?” Ciri asked Jaskier, her green eyes wide with fascination.

“I do,” Jaskier replied, still smiling. “It’s one of my favorite foods.”

“It’s mine too!” Ciri said gleefully, waving her arms and knocking over the juicebox. Geralt lunged and caught it, and set it on the tray of the highchair again. “I like chicken ramen best! Daddy makes the best chicken ramen!”

Jaskier glanced over to Geralt, looking thoroughly amused. Geralt reddened in embarrassment. “That’s wonderful, wee,” Jaskier told Ciri. “Do you eat it often?”

“Every day!” Ciri crowed proudly.

Jaskier’s smile faded a little, but then he brightened it again. “Wow, it must be really good.”

“It is!”

Geralt looked down at the floor to hide his shamed expression. It was a good thing Ciri liked ramen, cold cereal, and canned soup; Geralt hadn’t had the money to buy fresh food since the lawyers stripped Geralt of his income from Vesemir’s estate. Unemployment payments were barely enough to pay the mortgage, the utilities, and Ciri’s diapers. Anything extra came from odd jobs around the city.

But he simply could not afford to leave Ciri alone, not when he needed to find a full-time job, and none of the daycare centers would accept a child of a Witcher. So--a nanny.

Ciri and Jaskier kept talking, and Geralt kept feeling more and more horrible, as Ciri told Jaskier all about her and Geralt’s playing every day except the days after he drank too much, and visiting Lambert and Eskel for dinner (they had insisted on at least feeding them, though Geralt refused their financial help), and her mommy sending her presents in the mail. At least, Daddy said they were from her mommy.

Geralt turned away at that point. The presents were not from Yennefer. They were what he could buy with scraped-up savings. He didn’t want Ciri to think Yenn had abandoned her, and to never remember her fondly.

The ramen was done. He drained it, put half a packet of seasoning in, and brought it to Ciri, along with her favorite spork. She squealed in delight and immediately began eating. Geralt’s stomach ached. Fuck, had she been hungry all morning? Was that day’s breakfast not enough? They didn’t have much cereal left, and he wasn’t sure he could afford more when the next check came in, oh fuck, he was going to have another panic attack--

“Please slow down, love,” Geralt managed to say, stroking Ciri’s hair gently. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Ciri grumbled, but slowed. Geralt sat at the table across from Jaskier, and waited for the reprimands. Everyone reprimanded him when they got to know how he was raising Ciri. It was why he never told anyone about her unless pressed.

He was shaking. His chest hurt, especially his lungs. Why did he feel so light-headed?

“So,” Jaskier said, breaking through Geralt’s fearful thoughts. “I’m assuming the interview can happen now?”

No, absolutely not. Jaskier should leave, and swear not to report Geralt for neglect. Instead of saying that, Geralt nodded mutely.

“Innervu?” Ciri asked with her mouth full.

“An interview is where a person asks another questions, usually about their work,” Jaskier told her.

“But Daddy doesn’t work,” Ciri replied, confused.

Jaskier’s face flickered sadness before he shut that emotion away. “No, he’s going to ask me questions.”

“Ohhh.” Ciri nodded wisely and continued eating.

Geralt swallowed hard. Questions. He’d had a list of questions, hadn’t he? On his phone? He pulled his phone out of his pocket and navigated through his various note and writing apps until he found the one where he kept questions for professionals like doctors and lawyers. There, the list for the nanny. He opened it and slid it across the table to Jaskier.

Jaskier picked it up and read the first question out loud. “Do you have education related to caring for children? Actually, yes, my major in college was childcare. I’ve kept up to date on research and techniques, especially for younger children. How long have you been a nanny? About eight years, now; the first child was about ten and was sent to boarding school a year later, and the second child was a pair of twins. They were delightful, but I have very little training for special needs children, so I pointed their parents towards one of my colleagues who is trained. Do you know sign language? A little. I can converse in it, but I’m not an expert.”

Geralt listened hard as Jaskier worked down the list of questions, and grudgingly decided that Jaskier was a good enough fit. There were probably better nannies, but Geralt would never be able to afford them. So, when Jaskier handed the phone back, Geralt nodded and forced himself to say, “Good.”

“Daddy,” Ciri said suddenly, putting her spork down and reaching for him. “Breathe-hugs.”

Geralt obediently stood and picked her up, and hugged her tightly, facing away from Jaskier a little. Breathe-hugs. He kept forgetting his breathing exercises, but hugging Ciri helped him remember to calm down. This was only the fourth time that she had offered breathe-hugs before he thought of them. It made him feel terrible, that he leaned on her so much. But she was also the only thing still holding him to this shitty world.

He shouldn’t use his daughter as an anchor. He really shouldn’t.

After several deep breaths, he was calm enough to put her down again, and sit. He swallowed hard and said, “Thank you for answering my questions.”

Jaskier was frowning slightly. “You’re very welcome,” he replied. “Are you alright?”

Geralt nodded. “Do you have questions?” he asked, hands tightening on his elbows.

“Ah, yes, a few. Do you have any kind of steady income?”

“Yes,” Geralt said. “I get my unemployment check every month.”

Jaskier pursed his lips and frowned more. Then he asked cautiously, “How much will you be out of the house?”

“I… don’t know,” Geralt confessed. “I’m starting an internship on Monday, but I’m still not sure if I have a schedule yet.” That pained him worse than knowing the position was given to him out of pity.

“Paid internship?”

“...No.”

“Oh.” Jaskier tapped his finger on the table and bit his lip, then nodded firmly. “Well! I think we’ll suit well enough. What do you think, sir?”

Geralt blinked, then blurted, “I do too.”

“Excellent.” Jaskier beamed at him. “I’ll be by tomorrow morning to start.”

~

It was three weeks later and Geralt was a wreck.

Jaskier had started right out with telling Geralt that penning Ciri for most of the day was a terrible idea, and then showed him how to childproof the house.

“Pens are fine if you’re trying to train a puppy,” Jaskier explained, “But children aren’t puppies. She needs room. She needs to explore the house.”

“My father put me in a pen,” Geralt said hesitantly. “I turned out fine.”

Jaskier gave him an unimpressed look. “Nevertheless, Ciri isn’t you. Give her space to play.”

Ciri hadn’t known what to do without her pen, until Jaskier convinced her to play hide-and-seek. Then they had both run all over the house, hiding and laughing and exploring. Geralt’s heart was in his mouth the whole time, as he tried to make sure Ciri was safe and unhurt. The pen had been as much to keep her safe as it was meant to keep her where Geralt could find her.

After that, Jaskier went through the kitchen and declared that he was going to buy some frozen food and fresh veggies.

“Those are expensive,” Geralt blurted, alarmed.

Jaskier shook his head. “Not all of them. Bring Ciri, and I’ll show you the good deals.”

Geralt did not have a car safe enough to drive Ciri in. The one he used to drive was on its last legs, and so he usually either begged a ride from Eskel or took the bus with her. Jaskier frowned a little, and asked, “How long have you had that car?”

Geralt shrugged. “About twenty years,” he said.

So they took the bus, and Jaskier let Ciri sit in his lap and play with his necklace, which held a silver pendant shaped like a lute, with gold designs inlaid on it. They talked about animals, and Geralt kept his head down. The shame from being stared at like he was some sort of creep for having a daughter still roiled in his gut and made him nauseous.

Grocery shopping was strange, because Jaskier kept pointing out things that were cheap and Geralt had to tell him, over and over, in front of other people, “I only have fifty crowns, I can’t afford to spend it on only one week of food.”

Jaskier somehow negotiated him into buying some potatoes, and wretchedness settled on Geralt when he realized he wouldn’t have enough money to buy Ciri a present for two or three months. She had plenty of toys, though, surely she wouldn’t mind?

“Daddy, why are you sad?”

Geralt hugged Ciri closer and kissed her forehead. “I’m not sad, love.”

The internship was more draining than any other job he’d ever had. Everything was too loud, too fast, too hot, too much--but he had to do this. He had to be hired. Because he needed money for Ciri.

Jaskier kept Ciri company, and taught her songs, and bought her workbooks with her favorite cartoon characters. Most evenings, Geralt showered, changed clothes, and then slumped wherever they were and watched. It hurt, honestly, that she was so much happier with Jaskier. But, well, Jaskier was a better person in general.

And then on the third week of everything, Geralt completely broke down.

It was while he was making dinner. His nerveless fingers dropped the butter and the spoon, his knees buckled, and when he was crouched on the floor, rocking on his toes, he let himself whimper a little. He could not cry; he would not cry in front of Ciri. She didn’t deserve to see him be weak like this. But gods, he wanted to sleep, sleep forever, vanish from this planet and become nothing, so he would never feel or hurt or cry or disappoint or scare again.

A large, warm hand settled gently on his back. “You can go lay down,” Jaskier said gently beside him. “I can finish dinner. Go lay down, Geralt. It’s okay.”

So Geralt went to his room, and shut the door and laid down and let himself sob. Worthless, useless, couldn’t even keep a fucking internship long enough to be hired--

He must have fallen asleep, because when he opened his eyes it was late at night. He sniffed, wiped his scratchy eyes, and got out of bed. Maybe there were some leftovers in the fridge. Probably not. Ciri had been eating so much lately, and her energy had gone through the roof. Geralt had to keep cutting down on his own portion so she would have enough. Was that why he was so exhausted and achey lately?

When he reached the kitchen, he blinked.

Jaskier was at the table with a laptop, looking grim. He had papers all over the table, and a thick notepad that he wrote in every few seconds. He looked up at Geralt in the doorway, and managed a tired smile. “Hey,” he whispered. “There’s food in the fridge. Ciri wanted to leave everything, but I convinced her to eat some.”

Geralt nodded and got the leftover soup and fried potatoes out of the fridge, not even bothering to heat them up before spooning some into a bowl and sitting down at the other side of the table to eat. He hurt. But because he wanted noise, any noise, to keep his thoughts away from the evil place in his head, he looked up at Jaskier and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Researching unemployment laws,” Jaskier answered, tapping a few keys and then scribbling on his notepad. “It’s illegal to pay you so little when you have a child. Did you know you’re supposed to get two thousand crowns a month?”

Geralt gaped at him. “Whuh… the lawyers told me I could only have eight hundred,” he replied, feeling another surge of confusion and self-hate boil up in his chest. “Because my brothers have jobs.”

Jaskier looked up sharply, and he looked livid. “They were basing their calculations on your brothers’ incomes?” he demanded.

Geralt flinched, and nodded. “They--they have custody of me,” he explained. “Because a judge ordered when I was nineteen that I have to have a guardian.”

It was Jaskier’s turn to gape. Then he asked, much more gently, “If they are your guardians, why don’t you live with them?”

“Because…” Geralt frowned, trying to remember. “Because the homeowner’s association forbade my brothers from taking me in. So they gave me money to buy this house, and moved to a new apartment. But when I bought the house, some attorneys came by and claimed I was violating court orders, so they took my inheritance.”

“That’s illegal!” Jaskier burst out, aghast. “Why would they do that?”

Geralt’s head was pounding and his breath was getting shorter. He didn’t like thinking about that year. He didn’t like it all. It was a clusterfuck of despair and confusion and terror and he didn’t want to think of it. “I don’t know,” he said, and his voice shook. “I don’t know.”

Jaskier opened his mouth to say something else, then thought better of it, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Geralt,” he said. “I shouldn’t have pried. But now we have some idea of what to do.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’re being discriminated against, mistreated, and refused the help you need. So.” Jaskier steepled his fingers and grinned, eyes glinting fiercely. “We’re going to tear these fuckers apart.”

~

A year later, Geralt hated the memories of the confusion and rage of dealing with laws and lawyers and people casually threatening to take Ciri away from him if he didn’t shut up and go away. He hated them with the fury of the planet’s molten core.

But outcomes had been good.

His payments were raised to the legal amount. He was allowed to go to therapy and job training without being threatened. Ciri had new clothes and a new bed and new favorite foods. And Jaskier was not annoying anymore. On the contrary, he had become something much, much better.

Jaskier was still only the nanny. But Geralt had a plan, and it involved the engagement ring he bought on the one-year anniversary of hiring Jaskier.

[shadow-assassin-blix]

A Picture is a Poem Without Words

Chapter 9

A/N: Okay. Some slight drama. Canon typical violence. Slightly nsfw-ish in that there's some fingering.

(Noticed far too late that half of it didnt transfer over, fixed that)

Diego and Blix do some much needed bonding.

Everything tag: @mikeisthricedeceased

Pacho tag: @yungkvte

They laid there a few minutes more, simply enjoying one another’s presence, before with a small groan, Blix sat up.

She quietly stretched, turning her neck side to side, grunting at the small pops and cracks her neck made. Pacho straightened up next to her pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

“Gilberto said he found you in my office last night? Doing homework as he claims,” Pacho teased as he brushed her back behind her hair.

“Just… trying to understand your world. Gotta say… it’s far more complicated than I thought it was,” Blix lightly noted as she turned to look at him.

“It’s not all crazy parties and getting high. It’s a lot of work to be one of the best cartels in the world,” Pacho said with a smirk.

Blix hummed in response, pushing off the covers, as both of them got up. Blix quietly got dressed, throwing on some shorts and a tank top. She finished getting ready, as Pacho waited, looking at all the things she had unboxed the day before. He stared at the items curiously.

“Your mother had very strange tastes,” He muttered quietly as he picked up the mace.

“Indeed, she did,” Blix stated as she walked up to him, ready for the day.

Pacho turned to look at her, “Not planning on using any of these on me, are you?”

“Hmm. Don’t know. Depends on whether you’re a good boy or not. Don’t test my wrath,” She said with a teasing smile as she walked past him, toward the hallway.

Pacho shook his head with a smile, before following after her.

They made their way downstairs, joining the others for lunch.

She got about halfway through her meal before she remembered she had to make some phone calls. She got up and called Theo to see where he had gotten on the warehouse that they believed was König’s.  

“Hey, so there is a lot of activity going on in a warehouse that’s allegedly abandoned. We’ve been monitoring it from a safe distance, and we’ve seen a lot of armed guards patrolling. We’ve seen König wandering the property, but we have yet to see anything damning,” Theo reported, a small yawn escaping him as he finished.

“Good to know. Keep watch for now, we’ll catch him soon enough. Has there been any other robberies I should be made aware of?” She questioned as she paced around the living room.

“None so far. Not sure if that’s good or bad. But I’ll keep you posted,” Theo answered.

“Yeah. Hm. He’ll mess up soon enough and we will be there when it happens. Talk to you later,” Blix ended the call with a small sigh.

She ran her hand over chin, in contemplation. She had slowly wandered down a hallway away from everyone and was near a door that was slightly ajar. She looked inside and saw something that made her smile. She pushed the door further open and saw books lining several shelves and cases.

As she examined the books, she realized they were the books that her sisters sent her from their mother’s home. She ran her fingertip down the spines of several, quietly remembering each story. Several were antiques of the classics and others were miscellaneous. She walked further in and noticed there was an area full of throw pillows and soft cushions surrounding a window nook.

The window, she noted, looked out over the grounds, and it was slightly breathtaking.

She sat on the seat, gazing out.

“See you found your library. Pacho will be sad that you found this before he could show you,” Diego’s voice came from behind her.

“I’ll act surprised when he shows me. He set this all up just for me? Why?” She asked looking around from her seat.

“Isn’t it obvious by now? He cares for you. Loves you even. Just like he does me,” Diego responded as he joined her.

“Are you okay with that though? Sharing him? I know we never actually really sat down and talked this out,” She mentioned as she made room for him to join her.

“I’ll admit in the beginning, I wasn’t thrilled by you,” Diego began.

“’Wasn’t thrilled?’ You tormented me for days!” Blix exclaimed shoving him lightly.

“Okay. I was an ass. The point is, I see now, you are not just some fling of his. You make him happy in ways that I cannot. Just like I make him happy in ways you can’t. He wants both of us. We are not fighting for his attention. He wants us, we want him. That’s that. Plus, he’s allowing you to see the inner workings of the cartel; information that is usually pretty heavily guarded. If he trusts you with that, then I can trust you with him,” Diego explained, taking her hands into his.

Blix nodded once in response, with a small smile.

“So… is he going to be busy with the brothers today?” She inquired after a moment.

“Probably, why?”  Diego asked looking at her curiously.

“Well. One, I promised Phobos I would take him out for a ride today. Two, I just thought me, and you can hang out. Get to know one another. If you ‘re cool with it,” She proposed.

“How about tomorrow? I have somethings I need to do this afternoon, but tomorrow I am pretty much free. We could run around town if you’d like?” Diego countered.

“Sounds good to me. Now, gotta harass someone in to taking me to the ranch,” Blix muttered thinking of who to choose.

“Or… I’ll drop you off on my way out. Gotta head out anyway,” Diego offered.

“Ooh. Yes. Lemme go put on boots,” Blix said excitedly, getting up.

She rushed upstairs to get her socks and some boots. She hopped on one foot each, as she threw them on. She ran downstairs, meeting up with Diego; they hopped into his car, driving off.

In no time, he had dropped her off. She walked over to Phobos’ stall, grabbing a brush on her way to him. She pulled him out of his stall, taking him to a small post to tie him to. She began to give him a thorough brushing, quietly talking to him.

Once he was brushed, she saddled him up and began to trot around with him. She walked around with him, letting him get used to her. They spent a good 2 hours wandering the grounds before returning to the stables.

Navegante was waiting for her when she got back with Phobos. She got him settled back into his stall and stretched for a moment before joining Navegante. He took her back to Pacho’s home, dropping her off before disappearing himself.

She walked inside and was told by some guards that Pacho and the brothers had left; Pacho should be back by tonight though.

She decided to just continue her reading upstairs in his office. She spent a few hours doing that, when a guard informed her dinner was ready if she was. She got up and made her way downstairs, after securing the files she had pulled out. She took the plate of food, eating at the table, somewhat watching the soccer game that was playing on the television.

She had just finished eating, when there was a knock at the door.

“What the hell?” She whispered as she got up.

She grabbed a gun that was hidden in a drawer, walking toward the door. She opened it cautiously, gun tucked behind her back.

She stared at the man before her. She had never seen him before, but noticed he looked somewhat familiar.

“Hello? Can I help you?” She questioned him.

“So, you’re the woman my boy is in love with? Seems he’s finally becoming a man,” Came a deep, gravelly voice.

It was then she realized why he looked familiar. He looked a bit like an older Pacho, but with Alvaro’s curls.

“Mr. Herrera. What brings you here?” She asked him dully, immediately annoyed by his presence.

“Wanted to speak to him. Found you instead. You’re much prettier to look at then he is,” He announced pushing his way inside.

“Yes. Please come in,” She muttered annoyed.

She quietly grabbed her phone, discreetly calling Pacho, hoping he picked up. She set the phone down on the counter, watching her intruder look around the living room.

She took a breath of relief when she saw that the phone had connected.

“Mr. Herrera. I don’t know why you are here, but you need to go. Pacho is not here, nor is Alvaro. You are not welcomed. So, either get out, or I’ll make you leave,” She warned him loudly, trying to gain his attention.

“Please. You’re not going to do anything. So, what is it about you that you turned my son back to a normal man?” He asked with a snarl as he turned to her.

“Normal? Oh no. He is still very much gay. He just enjoys my company. Get. Out.” She replied coldly, as she pulled the gun out.

He chuckled, somewhat darkly, “Are you really going to shoot me? I don’t think you have it in you, wench.”

She narrowed her eyes in response, aiming the gun to a spot near his head. She took one shot, the bullet grazing his ear at it embedded itself in the wall behind him. He groaned loudly, touching his ear gingerly.

“Next one, will go between your eyes. Now get out. Leave me alone. Leave Pacho and Alvaro alone. Neither of them wants anything to do you with. You come near them again, and I will bury you so deep into the ground that the Earth’s core will incinerate your corpse,” She promised him, motioning with the gun for him to walk out the door.

“Such loyalty to a man who will only break your heart. Tell me, whatever did he promise you to receive such protectiveness?” He asked as he slowly moved to the door, his eyes fixated on the gun.

“Heh. He’s not the first man to ever break my heart, doubt he’ll be the last. Why does everyone think he bought me? Bought my loyalty? It’s truly starting to vex me. I’m a simple woman Mr. Herrera. Offering simple human decency is enough. Now get out of my home. I truly hate cleaning up blood,” She growled as she stepped forward.

She watched as he ran out, to his car, and made sure he drove off before closing and locking the door. She moved over to the phone, picking it up.

“Pacho. You there?” She asked her voice cracking slightly.

“Yes. I’m here. I’m almost home honey. Is he still there?” He inquired, his own voice shaking.

“No. He’s gone. Ya know… I expected your dad to be a piece of work, but I never thought that I would want to immediately strangle him once he started talking,” She tried to joke, but in all honesty, she was a bit freaked out.

She hears him snort before replying, “Yeah. He’s… something.”

“How… how far away are you?” She asked in a whisper.

“5 minutes. Tops. Salcedo has already… detained… my father who we passed by on our way in. He won’t be bothering you anymore,” Pacho firmly stated.

“I’ll see you in a few then?” She confirmed as she took a seat on the couch.

“Yes. I’ll see you in a moment,” Pacho tells her.

She slowly hung up, waiting on the couch for him. In a minute, the room was filled with guards and Pacho.

Pacho walked over to her, his eyes roaming over her, as he checked her.

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Pacho questioned as he looked her over.

“No. I’m okay. He just… unnerved me a bit,” She answered him.

Diego popped up next to them, whispering something in Pacho’s ear. Pacho simply nodded in response, his eyes never leaving hers.

The whole house was buzzing about with tension; several people were trying to figure out where the hell the guards were that was supposed to be there. Why was he able to come on the grounds?

Blix was tired of everyone fussing over her, 10 minutes had passed and everyone and their mom it felt, had come to ask her if she was okay. She stood up, and made her way upstairs, away from everyone and their concern.

She hid in her room, keeping the door locked. She went to bed, but it was a fitful sleep. When she finally woke up the next day, she felt exhausted as she sat up. She quietly got ready for the day, hoping a shower would wake her up, and wash away the funk she felt. She walked into her closet trying to decide what to wear, when she heard a rumble of thunder, followed by the sound of rain.

“Guess that answers that,” She mumbled to herself as she grabbed jeans, a shirt, and some boots.

She quietly got ready, unlocking her door, as soon as she was dressed. She strolled downstairs, smiling smally at the sight of Diego, who was leaning against the back of the couch, waiting.

“Hey. Ready to get out of here for a bit?” Diego asked her when he sees her.

She nodded, looking around. She spied Pacho in the kitchen, she slowly walked over to him. He was finishing up a phone call, when he spotted her. Once he hung up, he made his way to her.

“I’m sorry for just… leaving the room last night. Not used to that many people fussing over me. It was a bit overwhelming,” She whispered as he stood before her.

“It’s okay beautiful. I’m just glad you are okay. My father… he won’t be bothering us ever again. I’m sorry you had to deal with him by yourself. He should have never been able to get to the house,” Pacho said pulling her into his arms.

She hugged him back with a sigh.

“I hear you and Diego are spending the day together?” Pacho mentioned with a curious look.

“Yeah. I mean… we both care about you. May as well get along right? So, we are going to go get to know another,” Blix explained scratching the back of her neck.

“I like that you two are spending time together. Though now you two will conspire against me I feel. But I’ll deal with that later,” Pacho teased as he walked her back into the living room.

She chuckled at that, grabbing a jacket and an umbrella that was offered to her, as her and Diego made their way out to his car.

“Alright. Where we going first?” Blix asked as they started to drive.

“Figured we could go grab a bite to eat to go, followed by either some shopping or we could go to a museum?” Diego listed out as he fiddled with the radio for a moment.

“Food yes. Shopping maybe. Museum. Hmm. I’d be down for that. Be nice to go to museum that I don’t have to investigate,” Blix replied nodding her head to the music that was now blasting from the radio.

Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi was playing, and she began to rock out to it. Diego laughed for a moment before joining her.

When they got into downtown Cali, they picked up some muffins and hot teas to drink. They ate as they drove to a nearby museum. They parked, dashing inside the museum trying to avoid the rain as much as possible. They strolled around the museum, talking about each piece that caught their interests. Diego was apparently quite a history buff.

Blix looked at him with a soft smile.

“What? What’s with that look?” Diego questioned as they were finishing up their walk around.

“Nothing. It’s… it’s nice talking to someone who knows what I’m talking about without… having to explain 30 other events and situations. It’s honestly nice, having someone else explain new facts to me,” She explained with a shrug.

“Clearly, you haven’t dated the right men. Pacho especially loves art, ask him to take you to an auction sometime. He’d loved that,” Diego joked, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“Hm. Loves art eh? Is that why he bought a Caravaggio without verifying it was real?” Blix snorted as they walked into the gift shop.

Diego choked on a laugh, “Oof. Well. First off, Miguel bought that and gifted it to Pacho. Pacho only kept it up because it was a gift. He hated it otherwise.”

“Good to know. So, where should we go after this?” Blix asked staring at some trinkets.

“Don’t know. Where do you like to shop?” Diego asked picking up a glass figurine, staring at it before putting it back down.

She bit her lip at the thought that came to mind.

“Ever been thrift store shopping?” She inquired, with a raised eyebrow.

Diego looked at her surprised, “Noo. You… you like thrift stores?”

“Yeah? Duh. Do I look like the kind of person who likes to shop at fancy-schmancy places?” Blix countered gesturing to her outfit.

“Soulmate. That’s what you are. Let’s go!” He excitedly said dragging her out to the car.

The two of them spent the next several hours, going to various thrift shops, trying on outfits and being goofy. The two of them both bought several things from each shop, items varying from outfits to accessories.

When they had their fill of shopping, they grabbed a bite to eat, parked on the side of the road, munching away happily.

“I don’t ask this to annoy you, but are you okay after last night? I’ve had the displeasure of meeting their father as well. It’s…” He trailed off making a face.

“Yeah. I’m okay. It was just unnerving how much he and Pacho looked a like,” Blix noted with a small shudder.

“Same. Took me a while to separate that what he said, did not come from Pacho himself. This is the third time he’s appeared out of nowhere and it’ll be the last. You can always talk to me about it. Pacho… he knows how terrible his father is but doesn’t quite understand why it’s hard to get over the things his father says,” Diego commented.

Blix nodded with a grateful smile, “Thanks.”

The two of them finished their meal, tossing the remains into a nearby public trashcan. As they made their way back to Pacho’s house they talked about their pasts. He knew a great deal about hers so, he was telling her mostly about himself.

“Parents abandoned me when I was a kid. Bounced around in the foster system for a long while. When I was 17, I ran off, decided I wanted to make my own way through the world. Ran into Pacho, quite literally, and my life changed from that day forward,” Diego began.

“How did you ‘quite literally’ run into Pacho? Explain that good sir,” Blix wondered with a teasing smile.

“Was running from a cop, stole food cause I was hungry, and ran right into Pacho. Cop was fortunately on the Cali’s payroll, so Pacho just waved him off. Took me in, 2 months later we were together, and have been since,” Diego told her with a laugh.

Blix laughed softly at that, listening to him tell more stories about himself.

Soon enough they had pulled up to the house, and after grabbing as many bags as they could, they hurried inside. It took a few minutes to sort out what went to who, but soon enough they had parted to go placed their stuff in their rooms.

She was hanging stuff up when she heard Pacho’s voice, “Did you two have fun?”

She looked toward him, before skipping over to him, “Yes. We did. It was a good bonding experience.”

Pacho shook his head at that, pressing a kiss to her lips softly.

“Would you like to come swim with us? I think Diego may be a bit in love with you. Something about history and thrift shopping?” He ribbed lightly.

She kissed him back, walking over to her closet to grab a bathing suit. She grabbed a two piece, changing into it quickly. It was times like this she was glad his pool was indoors. She grabbed a towel, following Pacho to his room, where he changed as well.

Pacho after getting dressed, stopped and stared at her for a moment. He was checking her out, a smirk growing on his face as he examined her.

She noticed his staring, “What?”

“Just admiring you,” He stated simply as he walked forward.

She looked down and away, a slight warmth to her cheeks.

“Snake charmer. That’s all you are,” She muttered as she turned and led the way to the pool.

Pacho’s smirk only grew, especially as he was treated to her backside.

“Stop staring at my ass,” She called over shoulder.

Pacho slowly caught up to her as they entered the pool house. Diego was already doing some laps when they joined him. The water was warm, as she stepped in, dunking herself when she got in deep enough. She floated calmly as she heard the guys goofing around and splashing each other.

She felt one of them swim up to her, and she turned her head to see who appeared.

“May I ask where all of these scars came from?” Diego politely requested as he looked at her.

She straightened up, to stand, wadded over to the edge, pulling herself up to sit on it.

“Ask away,” She granted, ringing water out of her hair.

He came up to her and would point at a scar. Her answers tended to be brief as she explained them, many were from work and others were from her childhood.

Pacho had at some point joined them, listening quietly. Once she was done, Pacho slowly pulled her back into the pool. As she rejoined them in the water, Pacho kissed the side of her neck, gently. She turned her head to him, kissing his cheek. She moved forward, wanting to do some laps before she got too tired.

When she was done, she got out, wrapping her towel around her, watching Pacho & Diego for a moment. While they were distracted, she made her way inside the house, briefly stopping to get a drink. It was while she was taking a sip of her Pepsi that she heard a strange noise. Setting her drink down, she moved toward the sound, which led to the basement door.

She knew she should let it go and ignore it, but she couldn’t help herself. She opened the door, walking down the dimly stairs. As she reached the bottom there was a lone light shining onto a man, tied down to a chair.

She realized as she got closer that it was Mr. Herrera, who had been badly beaten. His head lulled up to look at her, hearing her footsteps.

“Well, well, well. My son’s whore. What brings you here? Want to take a few hits too?” He taunted, spitting out blood.

“No. Heard a noise. Making sure the house wasn’t haunted. Now that I see that it’s just you… well. I think I’ll let you die alone and miserable,” She responded disgusted.

She turned away from him, planning to just go back to her room.

“Wait. Don’t you turn your back on me. Come back here,” He demanded, with a groan and a cough.

“No. Don’t think I will. Enjoy the rest of your life. However short it may be,” She stated not turning around.

She could hear him yelling more profanities at her as she closed the basement door, grabbing her drink, and going upstairs.

Unaware that Pacho had seen her emerge from that room, he listened to his father’s shouts for a minute before ordering Navegante to get rid of him. He found Blix in her room, grabbing clothes to change into for bed, after her shower.

“You should join me in my room, once you are done,” He told her, causing her to jump slightly as she wasn’t expecting him.

“Christ! Clearly need to throw a bell on you, so I have a warning system,” Blix startled, pressing a hand to her chest.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Pacho apologized before requesting. “I know that…sometimes curiosity can get the best of us. Do me a favor, please don’t go down to the basement anymore. For your own safety.”

“I promise. I’m going to go clean up, and then I’ll join you in your room,” She promised him.

About 20 minutes later, she was strolling into Pacho’s room. She had finished her drink beforehand and joined him on the bed.

“Diego joining us?” She wondered.

“Not tonight, he has other plans,” He whispered to her.

“Your dad… was he always like that? Or was he just good at hiding his hate before he found out about you?” She asked him, shaking her head.

“Hm. Let’s just say… my mother left him for a good reason. She was trying to gain full custody of us when he kicked me out. I didn’t care much. I was moreso worried about Alvaro. I was able to help my mother gain custody of him at least,” Pacho explained, as he wrapped his arms around her.

She returned his embrace, “That’s good….” She paused for a second. “I assume Navegante took care of him.”

Pacho nodded in response, and Blix simply said, “Good.”

She burrowed herself into his arms, growing tired.

“I did want to thank you though. For defending my honor. Not many people would be willing to shoot at their partner’s parent. In fact…” Pacho trailed off, as his hand slowly slid down her curves.

His hand languidly found its way into her sleep shorts, moving past her underwear. His fingers ran themselves up and down her slit, toying with her folds lightly. She took in a shuddering breath as his thumb brushed against her clit.

He gently slid a finger inside her, making a come-hither motion, before a second finger joined. The palm of his hand brushed against her clit teasingly, slowly working her up. Her body was growing warm, and breath short as his movements became more deliberate.

Soon his fingers found a spot that made her gasp loudly, her hands trying to find purchase wherever. His fingers moved over that spot several times, leading her to a swift orgasm. She rode out her orgasm for a moment or two before he pulled his hand away.

“Well. I was tired, but now I don’t really want to sleep,” She moaned softly.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Pacho groaned as he rolled them over slightly, laying on top of her.

They spent the rest of the night trying to wear each other out.

[pruinaelibrary]

The Babysitter

“Are you sure it’s okay to leave Boo with Blade?” Ranboo asked as he followed Techno through the tundra.

“Heh? Oh, yeah. You’re kid’s fine, Ranboo. Little Blade has been babysitting Little Blue forever, so your little enderman will be fine.”

---

“So, what do you wanna do kid?” Little Blade asked the smaller girl. Little Boo looked around the house nervously. “Fair enough. You like to draw? Maybe read?” Boo perked up at the sound of reading and Blade nodded. “Alright, reading it is.”

Blade walked towards the bookshelf, pulling out some kid books. She placed them on the table, and looked back towards Boo. “You can sit here and read, I’m going to clean up a bit and make lunch.” Boo didn’t say anything, but she did move towards the table and sat on a chair.

Blade walked into the kitchen to make some food for the two, and to organize, as it was impossible to find anything in the kitchen thanks to her father. As she cleaned and cooked, Boo walked into the room.

“Ms. Blade?”

“Yeah kid, what’s up?” Blade asked, sorting spices.

“Do you have any other books I can read?” Blade stopped for a moment and looked back at the younger girl. A teasing smirk grew on her face.

“What? Didn’t like the books I had to offer?” Boo shook her head.

“No, I finished them already.” Blade blinked, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 10 minutes had passed, and she gave the kid six books. Blade shrugged it off and put the mushroom stew she was making on a lower heat, then walked out of the room after Boo to find more books.

“Um… I don’t know how many other kids books we-”

“Can I read that one?” Boo interrupted. Blade looked over at the girl, who was pointing to a book up on the bookshelf. Blade pulled out the book to reveal ‘The Iliad’. 

“I don’t know, kid. This book might be too big for you.”

“I’ll be fine.” Boo said promptly. Blade was silent for a moment, then shrugged, handing the book to Boo.

“Suit yourself. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Blade returned to the kitchen to continue making the mushroom stew. Time passed by pretty quickly after that, and soon the stew was done. Blade cleaned up after herself, then took a bowl of the stew to Boo. “Here you go, kid. Eat up.”

“Thank you.” Boo placed The Iliad down, and Blade raised an eyebrow to see the young girl was already halfway done.

“You a speed reader or something, kid?”

“Mr. Philza says I’m able to read faster then most kids my age, so yes.” Blade huffed out a laugh at Boo’s bluntness.

“Alright, kid.” Sitting at the table as well, Blade ate some of the mushroom stew, thinking of what else she could do with the kid besides reading. “You wanna play outside in the snow later?”

“Okay.” Blade stopped talking, allowing the young girl to eat. The two ate in silence. Steve’s steady breathing caused Blade’s attention to be drawn onto him. The polar bear walked into the room, probably looking for Techno. Boo froze, staring at the bear in slight fear. Blade noticed and bit back a smirk.

“Kid, Steve. Steve, kid.” Blade said, introducing the two. Boo didn’t move, but she did speak.

“You… you have a bear…”

“His name’s Steve. Say hi Steve.” Steve let out a growl that sounded more like a purr, but it didn’t stop Boo from flinching. Blade chuckled slightly. “Calm down, kid. Steve is just dad’s support bear. He’s about as dangerous as a fire ant.” Steve let out another growl, then walked out of the room, not finding Techno.

“Your family’s weird.”

“Compared to other families… I’d say yeah we are.”

“The way you just admitted that-”

“Kid, have met my uncles and cousins? The only sane one of all the SBI is probably Angel. But then again, she did adopt Dream, so…” Boo stared at Blade for a moment, before going back to her stew. The two continued to eat in silence, till Boo finished, pushing her bowl towards Blade.

“I’m done.”

“Alright, kid. Put on your jacket while I clean up, then you can head outside.” Boo ran off to get her jacket, and Blade took the two bowls to the kitchen. Rinsing them out and placing them in the sink when she heard the front door open, but not close. Blade let out a sigh of annoyance, then let it go. Kids were kids after all.

Blade walked outside… only to be met with a snowball in her face and Boo’s giggles. Blade wiped the snow from her face glaring at the girl, before smirking.

“I do hope you know that’s an act of war, kid.”

“Please. As if you can hit me. I’m the best at snowball fights after all.”

“Yeah? Says who?” Blade asked, taking off her crown.

“Dadboo! And he’s never wrong.”

“Is that so? Well, kid…” Blade untied her cape, letting it fall behind her. “Snow for the snow god.” 

And like that, a snow war had begun against the two. While Boo did get the first hit, Blade was trained in the art of war, even if the war was just a snowball fight. The two were so into their battle, they didn’t notice the growing amount of crows watching them.

---

Philza walked with Angel through the snow back towards his and Techno’s houses. Armen stood on Angel’s arm as she was showing him all of the items she got from trading the villagers. The sound of yells and laughter drew the attention of Angel and Phil, and they saw the battle between Blade and Boo.

Blade was obviously winning, though Boo seemed to be having the most fun, laughing loudly every time she got hit or every time she hit Blade. Angel giggled, watching the crows watch the fight, flying whenever snow got to close.

Both girls were covered in snow, so Philza whistled to get their attention. Both Blade and Boo turned to Philza, Blade being hit in the cheek by a snowball that Boo had already thrown. The crows let out sounds that sounded like laughter, and Blade was tempted to throw some snow at them.

“Alright, you two. Let's head inside and get you dried off.”

“Okay, Dadza.”

“Okay, Mr. Philza!”

Boo led the group, picking up Blade’s cape and crown as she went.

“Hey, Mr. Philza? I won, right?” Phil chuckled.

“With that last hit, most definitely.”

Boo cheered, running inside followed by Phil. Blade rolled her eyes and leaned towards Angel.

“I totally won.” Angel just laughed, shaking her head.

---

After Blade and Boo were changed into dryer clothes, Angel went outside to do some chores while Philza went off to make some potions. Blade sat on the couch, reading while Boo was coloring something for her father.

“Ms. Blade?”

“What’s up, kid?” Blade asked, flipping a page in her book.

“Does your dad ever… talk to himself?”

Blade froze, then looked over to Boo, who was still besides her breathing. Blade was… aware of her father’s voices… despite his and Phil’s attempt to hide it from her. She knew they told, asked, and demanded things of him, and his actions would depend greatly on them.

“Why… why do you ask?”

“My… my dad speaks to himself some nights. Or at least, he talks to someone, but no one is with him. And he’s not talking to me. It’s always when he’s alone.”

Blade sat up, placing her book down.

“How long has this been happening?”

“As long as I can remember, maybe. I just didn’t realize until now.”

“Do you ever hear what he’s saying?”

Before Boo could answer, Angel walked in, followed by Techno and Ranboo.

“Boo, time to go home.” Angel said.

“Dadboo!”

Boo ran to her father, who picked her up.

“Hi, Little Enderman. Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah! I beat Ms. Blade in a snowball fight, I got to read, and I even drew you a picture! Here, come look.”

Boo dropped from her father’s arms and dragged him to the picture. Ranboo crouched, trying not to hit the ceiling. Blade walked up to her father, watching as Angel left the house.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey, kid. Was everything alright here?” Blade nodded.

“Yeah, it was fine.”

“Hey, Blade?” Blade and Techno looked over at Ranboo, who was holding Boo again, who was now holding the picture. “Thank you again for taking care of Little Enderman.” Blade shrugged.

“It was no biggie, I swear. Just bring her over again sometime and we can have a rematch snowball fight.”

“Yeah!” Boo cheered. Ranboo chuckled.

“Okay. We better get home.”

Everyone said their good-byes, and Blade watched Ranboo and Boo leave to go home. Blade thought back to her and Boo’s conversation and turned to her dad, who was sitting on the couch, Steve’s head on his lap.

“Hey, dad?”

“Yeah, kid?”

Blade wanted to tell him about what Boo said, she wanted to ask about the voices, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she quickly closed it and shook her head.

“Nevermind. Don’t worry about it.”

[eerythingisshaka]

Check Up 2

[Doctor!Erik “Killmonger” Stevens x Reader]

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Teledoc

You let a whole week pass.  Thinking about your ‘prescription’ is all you can do with your free time.  You kept that sheet of paper in your purse and took it out during your lunch break, at happy hour, and every night you sat on the couch alone at night.  And when you went to bed, you gave up on underwear because apparently wet dreams affect women too and you could not get him out of them.

You couldn’t talk to your friends about what happened.  As far as they knew, you chickened out before the appointment.  You really wish you did tell them though because now this prescription is burning a hole in your hand and you can’t figure out what to do with it.  

One night, you decide hanging with your girls is a good distraction and call them up to come over for a get together.  Sipping and snacking with a movie that none of you pay attention to was a great distraction.

“But chile, let me tell y’all about the last time I went to the doctor,”  your high school friend exclaims, setting down her glass.

Your college friend coughs into her chest.  “I told you that bump on your puss was nothing but an ingrown...but if I was wrong, I also told you to stop messing with the dude you met selling phones outside the grocery.”

She waves her off.  “I’ll never have to pay a phone bill again though.  However, you were right about the ingrown but I mean the pussy clinic.”

You perk up, leaning with intrigue.  “Yeah, how did that go?”

“Well, I made my appointment and everything, even requested him specifically to see me.  So after I got my wax and went over there, I got seen and put in a room for examination.  He comes in and BITCH!”

You feel your heart lurch in your throat.  Of course he sees other women with this.  But one of your friends?  Is there anything more disgusting?

She continues, “...so I’m sitting there like a deer in headlights looking at this brown, tall, muscular, educated with an attitude ass that I could never let slip from my grip if he needed it.”

Your college friend hoots and hollers.  “Baby GIRL!  So how did he do?  Did y’all fuck?  Oh my God that’s one of my favorite porn genres:  Doctors and Bosses fucking you all over the office!”  

High school friend shrugs, taking her glass up woefully.  “He is unfortunately long winded and VERY clinical in his explanations of the damn vagina.  I never thought I could be so bored of it, I almost wanted to sit on his face just to shut him the fuck up, which I did offer.”

“To sit on his face?!”  you exclaim loudly, checking yourself internally for your outburst but she doesn’t notice.

“I offered for him to see it.  I thought a gynecological exam came with it, which it does but he steps out and some white woman comes in and does the same bullshit I always get at my regular doctor.”

“Damn, so the streets were telling lies?”  College friend whispers, looking incredulous into the distance as her hopes crumbled in her mind.

“Unfortunately, I think so.  So (y/n) don’t even worry about missing that appointment, it’s literally a lecture with a pap smear at the end, which is worse than any lecture I sat through in college.  At least my TA was down for a make out every exam time.”

You chuckle absentmindedly, but not because of her academic indiscretions.  You had to know why he gave you the treatment differently.  And you have left him on a limb for over a week now when there is no greater sign than this that he may have clearly expressed interest.  You couldn’t be left stuck on stupid.

“Hey y’all, I’ll be right back.  My mama wants me to call her about some movie actors she wants me to look up.  She never gon learn Google.”

Your friends go right back to chatting with each other as you walk back to your room and shut the door.  It’s 6:30, would he even be available to talk?  You have no idea if this is a personal number or his work number, but if you had to leave a message, that would be better than nothing.  You are a patient, after all.

You sneak back to your bedroom, closing the door and laying out the prescription paper on your desk to make the call.  Your heartbeat was pounding strong in your chest as you became excited.  The back and forth pull of hoping he wouldn’t pick up while hoping to he would makes you feel foolishly juvenile, but your muted shriek as the phone rang confirmed how exhilarating this all is for you.

It rings once, twice, three times, then four.  You start to wonder if you should hang up or wait to leave a voicemail.  What would you even say?   How could he respond to-”

“Good evening, Dr. Erik Stevens speaking.”

Your heart couldn’t take the pressure, leaving your body it seems as you freeze in shock.

“Hello?  Is this (Y/N)?”

You plop back on the bed, beating a pillow beside you to work out you sudden burst of energy.  How the hell did he know it was you?

“Uh, yes.  It’s me, thanks for calling,” you reply professionally.

“...you called me,” he says with a warm laugh on his end.

You smack your forehead, “Oh yeah!  I did, you’re correct.  I meant to say thanks for answering.”

“What’s up?”  he asks coolly.

You puff out your cheeks, finding the words as smoothly as possible.  “Um, I had wanted you to fill me, erm, fill YOU in on my progress but really there isn’t much to go on.”

“Really?”  he says, sounding genuinely curious.  “What’s been happening?”

You shrug as if he can see it.  “I mean, who knows but I know I have been busy so I can’t dedicate a ton of time but also, when I have tried...you know…”

“Masturbation?”

You felt your pussy jump 3 feet that time.  The word sounds so 1970s PSA after school special to you but when he says it, it’s like your favorite thing on the menu being a happy hour item when you didn’t expect it.

“Heh, yes.  So when I tried like you did, I couldn’t feel the things I did in your office,”  you feel so meek and shy talking about this.  He is a doctor, it’s his job and he has seen it all but you shrink within yourself discussing this.

He gives a couple uh huhs and pauses before asking, “How did I make you feel during your visit?”

Your body tenses up again as you stammer some, getting worked up.

“Now be easy, that is the start of the issues right there.  Calm down and relax.  Take some deep breaths.”

His voice is like coffee: rich, energizing, needed to get from one activity to the next.  You do so clutching a pillow tightly in front of you.  “Ok.  when I was there honestly I was nervous.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but friends said I should see you just cuz you’re so fine.”

“Hm, I guess that’s a recommendation I won’t complain about.”

You both laugh together.

“It’s crazy but I wanted to see what the fuss was.  I should’ve known better, why would I go do this after so many women before me,”  you make sure to add that to get a gauge of his status of wooing anyone else like you.

“I don’t take on every patient that comes in, so you know,”  Erik says assuredly.

“I know…” you say trailing off with slight disappointment.

“Also...I gave you extra...care because it seemed to work best for you.  I have not done that with any other patients because they seem honestly more into the information I provide or ask for a female doctor or are very enthusiastic about examining themselves.”

You tried to find the right words to say just so that it doesn’t come off as too thirsty but real.  He wanted to know that he took care of you after all.  

“Well, I appreciate you being in tune with your patients like that.  I didn’t necessarily expect what happened but it felt good all the same.  I mean I really had some issues with seeing the good of my…”

“Vagina, though you probably mean vulva,” he says matter-of-factly.

You felt embarrassed again.  How you, a woman, couldn’t say it but from him it’s like reading a feminist poem.  “Vagina/vulva, exactly.  I always hear about so many standards guys have and that influences women to pass on even more standards on what it should look like, smell like, feel like, but none of it matches me to a T.  So you informed me and that made me not feel weird about opening myself up to you after knowing you for 5 minutes.  Plus, it’s your job of course, so I know I ‘m not the first.”

“You weren’t just a part of the job though.”

“Come again?  What?”  you ask, sitting up straight.

“I can’t lie when you were here, I was highly attracted to you.  You engaged me in conversation, which showed me how smart you are.  And you’re...beautiful, in every possible way.”

You practically eat your pillow at the revelation.  “I...that is...amazing you would say that.”

Erik chuckles.  “I mean that too.  And I apologize in advance if it’s forward but I hoped you would call when I gave you the prescription, I almost didn’t think it would happen.”

You fan yourself excitedly, “Can’t seem too eager.  But I could use a refresher on what I was taught.”

“Exactly what this hotline is for!  So let me think here.  You’re in a comfortable space, right?  Alone.”

This reminds you that your friends are in the other room.  “Sure, yeah.”

Erik’s voice drops a little lower as he discusses the topic at hand.  “Ok.  The best way I find that works for you is if I were to spread your legs wide.  It gives me a lot of space to work with.”

You feel yourself warm up at the image.  “Sure, that definitely works.”

“Yeah, cuz I can have you completely open in front of me, so there’s nothing and nowhere to hide.  Your body is served up right and ready for me to...demonstrate.  By now, I could tell already that you’re aroused.  Do you want to do this, while you’re on the phone with me?”

You run lightly over to your bedroom door to lock it, kicking off your shorts and underwear to fly back onto the bed.  “Ok, sure.  And you really could tell already?”

“Uh huh.  Cuz you can’t look straight at me at first and you holding on to the sides of the table to brace yourself.  But I promise I won’t do anything that would hurt, ok?  Then I take my hands and run them along your inner thighs.”

“Oh wow,” you say already breathless, as your fingers feel the softness of your inner thigh, tightening your stomach up from the sensation.

“Does that kinda tickle you?”  he asks gently.

You giggle.  “Yeah it does,”  you say, running one hand down your inner thigh back and forth light as a feather.

“That’s good.  It helps with anticipation, excitement.  Your laugh is cute too, and that makes me want to hear you do other things too, so I kiss the skin on your thigh cuz it’s soft and-”

You gask, jerking your legs together again and smile with all teeth, trying to hold in the goofy laugh that almost spurted from your mouth.  

Erik laughs.  “...and I make you gasp and laugh just like that.  Like I did something so innocent and childish when I’m only getting ready to bring the freak outta you with just my tongue.”

You exhale, feeling yourself become anxious as your body gets antsy.  You wish with all your heart he was in the room.

“Now I can see for real you wanting me.  That pussy starts to talk back to me a little and it makes me curious.  You remember how my fingers felt pulling your lips apart for the first time?”

“God, yes,” you moan, reliving the very moment.  You feel your lips, vulnerably tender to your touch, you take your fingers down between them and shudder, looking down as you part them, you catch a glimpse yourself in the full length mirror on your closet door.  

“And when I do that, it tells me everything.  I can tell your body is getting your shit ready for me, making your skin more sensitive for my touch, those walls getting warm and wet to make you want more and more, and I want to taste it.  The sweet drip that pools from within you, I gotta have it.  But only a taste.”

“You can taste it all,”  you whisper, reaching for your clit.

Erik laughs.  “Ok, thank you.  But don’t you dare touch that fucking clit yet.”

You sit up, putting your knees together feeling frustrated.  “What?  Why?”

“So before I get my taste, I have to taste with my eyes right?  Now I got to taste it with my touch.  So, let me place my hand on top of you, running my fingers through some curls of yours til I get to your lips, dragging my thumb up and down so you good and coated with all that drip.  Go ahead and do that for me.”

“Wow, yeah,” you hiss, turning over on your stomach, spreading your knees wide with a high arch, imagining him seeing you fully vested.

Erik sounds very close to the phone as he says, “I really really like the way your lips look under my fingers, it’s like they dance with my rhythm and it’s hard to stop.  But I had to know what your pussy was talking to me about from earlier, so I put my finger inside you, slowly, pushing in.  That’s when I feel you tighten up a little.”

You slide two fingers in and out of yourself as you bite the pillow.  “More.”

“More?  That’s what I thought too, since you tighten up for one finger, I easily put another in, feeling your walls put their work out on me.”

You dig your forehead into the mattress, not able to wait any longer, you move your soaked finger up to your clit, shuddering against your touch.

“I know, especially, when I work your clit with my fingers in you at the same time.  It’s like you forget to breathe, going quiet then gasping sharper, faster..”

You feel your arousal at its peak, breathing into your chest as your back curls up, pushing your hand deep into your sheets.  You sit into your hand further, not wanting to let go of your climax too soon.

“Ohh, shit, I think you found your nut, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes!  Fuucck Erik,”  you repeat over and over with the rhythm of your hips as your orgasm grows, messing up your sheets and giving not a fuck about it.

“I did, but you know what I need now?  I got my eyeful, and my touch, but now I really really need to taste you,”  Erik says with a growl.

“Taste it,” you plead.

“I take my fingers out of you and they are soaked with you cuz you wanna give me your all.  I want you to look at me as I lick my hand clean of you.”

“I see it.  Taste some more.”

“Your hips are moving at me, getting closer like you need more.”

“I do!”  You say louder feeling a concentrated force work from your center toward the outer edges of our body.

“I love to see you need it.  You ain’t playing with me laughing and smiling, you’re begging and angst ridden.  Now I have to make you feel me, it’s what I have to do.  Just when my tongue touches down on your lips, your legs jerk around me, but I know that’s only a reflex so I dig my tongue into your deeper, whipping it up to your clit before wrapping my lips around it.  

“Shit!  Fuck!” you whisper feeling your clit get over stimulated, aftershocks leaving you jerky..

“Just like that, baby girl.  You hooked right into me.  Feeling your hands dig into me skin while you cum had me solid.  It took everything for me to not turn you over and show you the real shit.  Now I want you to come.”

You push yourself up slowly, your head feeling hazy.  You hadn’t came that hard since the last time, and you just had to get the full experience.

You roll over, feeling lifted.  “I have.”

“Nah, I need you to meet me.”  Erik demands. You spring up from your bed.  “Where?  When?  Like, huh?”

“Just come to my office.  We closed 30 minutes ago.  I’ll wait for you.”

You run to your shower to get a quick fresh up before putting on something cute but functional.  You figure something that will allow him to get all of you just like he said he wanted over the phone and no one is more naked than going to the bathroom in a romper,s o you chose this olive green, with skinny faux belt in the front and a love neckline.  Some platform sandals that match your skin tone and some curl refresh in your hair, and you’re good to go.  

As you walk out of your bedroom, seeing your friends there almost scare you.

“Uh, girl where are you going?  Is your mom alright?”  Your college friend asks while looking you up and down in your new outfit.

You put on your best acting performance.  “She is, but she lost the remote again and hit a button so I need to reprogram something.  I’ll be back, stay long as y’all want to.”

“AHEM!  You look rather nice for a pop over to your mama’s.  Is there something else going on?”  High school friend asks with a judgmental gaze.

You feign frustration, “Ugh, I know, it’s such a  hassle, but daughter’s gotta do what they gotta do.  I’ll be back in like...a while.”  You exit your apartment in a rush, dodging all follow up questions aimed at your back.

Masterlist

[randomfandomimagine]

Shared Secrets (Zuko x Reader)

Characters: Zuko, Iroh

Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender

Tags: Reader Insert, Male Reader, Earthbender Reader

Warnings: None (a bit of awkwardness)

Word Count: 1,9k words

Requested by anon: hello! i was wondering if you would write an imagine or ficlet for a male!reader x Zuko. i was thinking that Zuko is working for his Uncle Iroh in a tea shop in an town that is being controlled by Fire Nation, but almost all residents are Earth tribes. And the reader is an earth bender but has to hide it and Zuko grows and interest to the reader and wants to save the reader when he gets captured by fire nation because he’s an earth bender? i hope that makes sense! :) 

Zuko x Male Earthbender Reader

-

You took a deep breath as you stopped at the corner and only once you knew you were safe. Being an earthbender in a Fire Nation controlled town wasn’t easy, especially not when you were constantly showcasing your skills.

When your accelerated heartbeat finally regained a normal pace, you continued walking, trying to pretend like nothing had happened and you hadn’t just escaped from the Fire Nation army. Finding a refuge from that stressful moment, you arrived to that familiar tea shop you frequented.

“Ah, my boy!” The owner, an older man named Mushi, gave you a warm welcome as always. “It’s good to see you again!”

“Thank you” You tried to hide your restlessness and exhaustion as you sat down.

“Get comfortable, we’ll be right back”

“Great”

As Mushi left, you exhaled another deep breath. Your racing heart had almost completely calmed, yet it picked up its quick pace at the sight of someone else. Lee, the young man who was also in charge of the tea shop, was heading your way.

“Y/N” He gave you a polite smile as he stopped by your table. “The usual?” 

“Yeah” You thought for a moment, leaning back in an attempt to rest your tired muscles after so much bending and running. “And something to eat? I’m starving”

“Sure” Lee nodded his head at you. “It’ll be a moment”

You smiled back at him, watching him as he walked away. 

He had always caught your attention, and it wasn’t the first time you thought about asking him to take a walk with you some time. You wanted to get to know him, to see him outside of the tea shop. It must have been the adrenaline still cursing through your veins, but for the first time you suddenly felt courageous enough to do it. Your fingers impatiently tapped on the table as you waited for him to return. 

After one minute or so Lee came back, carrying your tea and a small plate with apetizing snacks. With the corner of your eye, you saw his uncle looking your direction with great curiosity and no subtlety at all.

“Here you go” No matter how moody you had seen him, Lee always seemed to be the nicest to you. He put your order on the table and smiled when you hungrily reached out to pick up a bread roll.

“Mmm...” You happily hummed, already feeling better when the warm food spread the delicious taste on your mouth. 

“Is it good?” Lee asked, watching you closely and still smiling a little.

“Yes, and I bet so is the tea” To confirm it, you took a sip and nodded your head to assure him you hadn’t been wrong to believe it. “Give my compliments to the chef”

Much to your surprise, Lee laughed. You had never heard him laugh, and he seemed quite flustered by his small outburst as well. His cheeks tinted with pink.

“Hey, are you... doing something later?” You suddenly asked him before you could think too much about it. 

“What? Uh...” He lowered his head, hiding behind the short tufts of dark hair that didn’t quite cover his eyes. He soon looked back up and shrugged, giving you a soft smile. “I don’t know, why are you asking?” 

“Maybe we could take a walk later” Noticing how he watched you in shock, you tried to play it off a bit. “So... so you can tell me about Mushi’s recipes”

“I... heh...” He awkwardly scratched his nape, too bashful to hold your gaze. “Well, I... uh...”

“He would love to” Mushi was suddenly beside him, giving you the biggest smile you had seen him compose, which was saying a lot. “You boys have fun!”

“Uncle...” Lee muttered under his breath, hanging his head low. That didn’t help to cover the blush that reached his ears and his neck.

You exchanged a quick glance with Moshi, who eagerly nodded his head to give you his blessing. Giggling a little, you tugged at Lee’s wrist until he looked up at you again.

“Meet you here after lunch?” 

“Really? I-I...” His uncle nudged him in the back, pushing him out of his stuttering. “Sure!”

-

You wouldn’t have expected the moment to be so awkward. You had spoken with Lee many times before, and conversation used to flow naturally, but now that you walked together, complete silence reigned. Was it because you were alone? Because you liked each other too much? Because you couldn’t let your voices lose themselves amongst the chattering of the tea shop?

“Um...” You took a good look at him as you rummaged through your head in search of something to say. “The weather is nice today”

You had to supress the urge to slap your forehead in embarassment. Talking about the weather? You really couldn’t think of anything else to say?

“Y-Yeah...” He hesitantly replied, gazing up into the sky. When he looked down again, he averted his eyes and twiddled his thumbs. “It’s warm”

Hoping to come up with a better thing to ask him, you stared at Lee. His scar was very noticeable, and although you were curious you didn’t want to bring attention to it. It surely was a reminder of a very painful and tragic past. Quite possibly, Lee and his uncle Mushi had escaped the Fire Nation after paying a big prize. Another family destroyed by them.

“How long have you been here for?” You asked instead, hoping that created more conversation.

“Uh... not long” Lee nervously answered. “We are refuges”

“I see” You smiled at him, being endeared when he smiled back. “Are you liking it here?”

“It’s kind of dull, but...” He took a deep breath before finishing his sentence. “It’s been better ever since you started coming to the tea shop”

You laughed a little, equal parts surprised and endeared. Lee blushed slightly, and you squeezed his arm fondly to reciprocate his kind words.

As you continued to walk the peaceful streets, something caught your eye. Lee’s voice faded in the background as he continued rambling, but you weren’t paying attention anymore. 

Not far from you, a group of children were playing with a ball they tossed between them. They were laughing and running, but a couple of Fire Nation soldiers were far too close to them. Knowing their kind, you assumed only the smallest spark would be enough to send them into an explosive fiery rage.

“Y/N?” Lee asked when he noticed you weren’t listening.

You turned your head slightly, still watching the soldiers, and opened your mouth to reply. As you feared, though, the children’s ball flew out of their reach. Forgetting about replying to Lee, you headed their direction.

“What’s wrong?” Lee asked you just as the ball hit one of the soldiers in the head. Seeing this, your companion followed after you. “Oh, no...”

The soldiers were already shouting at the children, who clumsily apologized while the scary men faced them. You weren’t going to wait any longer, even if this was your second encounter of the day. Throwing all caution out the window, you extended your hands towards them. The earth under their feet shifted, elevating them as your arms rose and dropping at your command, sending them to the ground with a violent thud.

“What the...?” One of them exclaimed, searching his surroundings.

The other one soon spotted you, pointing a finger at you as he rushed to his feet.

“He is an earthbender!” He announced to his partner, and the both of them hurried your way. You stood your ground.

“Run!” Lee yelled, reminding you of his presence after his awed moment of quietness. “Move, Y/N!”

Seeing that you were determined to face the soldiers, he took you by the wrist and tugged at it until you were following after him. The two of you ran as fast as you could, trying to lose them. 

They were on your tail, however, and refused to give up. Trying not to fall or slow down, you used your bending to throw boulders at them and try to hinder their advance. It wasn’t working, as they retaliated with their fire. 

One of their attacks was suddenly directed at you, making you gasp.

“Watch out!” Lee pushed you out of harm’s way, with so much force that you fell to the floor. You instantly tried to stand to your feet, but before you coud move something froze you in place.

Your companion was throwing fire against them. That awkward but sweet boy from the tea shop was from the Fire Nation. Your hands turned into fists as you watched how he successfully held them back and made them retreat.

Gawking at him, you let him pull at your arm until you stood once more. 

“Get up” Lee said, although that probably wasn’t his real name. “We need to keep moving!”

He didn’t let go of you as you took advantage of their moment of hesitance to escape. You ran in silence for what felt like hours. The sound of your feet against the ground, your racing heart and breathless panting made your ears whistle. Somehow, though, your thoughts were louder than any of that. 

He was a firebender. His uncle probably was as well. He had been lying to you.

Just as you dwelled on those discoveries, he carefully pushed you against a wall and took refuge there with you. Hidden in a lonely alley, the soldiers ran right past you. You barely noticed this. Your mind worked faster than it ever had as he set his amber eyes on you. Ready to confront him, you opened your mouth.

“I know what you’re gonna say” He quickly said. “I am a firebender. I’m sorry I lied to you”

“Why did you?” Your voice came out weaker than you wanted it to be.

“We are refugees, that part is true. We’re hiding from the Fire Nation...” He took a deep breath, breaking the eye contact. “My name is Zuko. Now you know who I am”

“Prince Zuko?” The pieces clicked in your head as you realized he was saying the truth. The scar, his uncle, how secretive they were about their past... It all made sense now.

That changed everything, however. He wasn’t just an escaped firebender, he was the banished prince. And he seemed to truly care about you to some capacity.

“You... put your secret at risk just to save me...”  You found yourself saying, earning a cautious look from him. “Why did you help me?”

“I know what it’s like being rejected by what you are... by who you are” He absently looked at his hands, weapons just like yours. Then he shrugged a little. “Besides, I like you... you’re nice”

You paused for a moment, realizing that his secret wasn’t bothering you as much as you thought. Not anymore.

“Lee?” When he opened his mouth to correct you, remind you that his name was Zuko, you shook your head and smiled at him. You had accepted him as Lee, not as the person everyone else saw and rejected him as.

“Yes?” He whispered, even if a hint of a smile grew on his lips as well, touched by your response.

“I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine” You held your hand out for him to take.

Zuko... Lee stared at it for a moment. Then he sighed in relief, and as his smile grew bigger, he nodded his head.

“Deal” You shook hands in mutual understanding, the gesture implying many thank yous and a secret expression of your fondness for each other. Especially so when you two lingered a little bit in the touch.

-

Tag list: @call-me-harley-quinn​ / @lotsoffandomrecs​​ / @lotsoffandomstoimagine​ / @undercanonthots​ / @bubblebars / @coldlilheart / @inkai-ghost / @xionroxas / @emmacata​ / @bucky-blogs​ // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, let me know!! // Reblogs and comments are appreciated!

[delusionalbiatch]

Jack’s Birthday Story

This came to mind and it’s because I love him so much and good boi deserves the best. I love him. And he came home too. Although I’m late because I have school stuff to do sksksk

With a female MC!reader~ who has a crush on him. Because I DO AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH BABY BOY DESERVES THE BEST.

Y/N looked at the time, waiting for the clock to strike 12. She had been waiting for October 11th to arrive, since she knew it is Jack’s birthday. She didn't feel intimidated by him and befriended him anyway, although he's such a tsundere. She loves how he always denies helping although he's already doing it anyway. Aside from her crush on him she always felt that he helped her a lot of times, even when things were a disaster, due to Ace, Deuce, and Grim making a complete mess of themselves. She knew he’s got a kind heart, and she respects how he’s very determined.

Y/N had gone out to buy a thermos water bottle with little cactus pictures on it. It maintains the temperature of anything inside it pretty well, so that when he finishes his training his water is still cold enough to be refreshing, or if he wants to store hot water, cocoa, or tea inside it’ll be kept warm and nice. She contained it inside a paper gift bag. She fiddled her fingers to contain her excitement. It’s only 1 minute more!

Ding ding ding~!

The ringtone on her phone rang. She sprung from her room, quickly running towards his room at the Savanaclaw Dorm. She had made a promise with Leona to buy him bread during lunch for a week straight so that he’d let her in at night and she’ll be able to give Jack a surprise.

When she arrived to the dorm, she saw Ruggie still up, probably done with his chores. “Ah, Ruggie-senpai!” She greeted him with a smile. He smiled back at her, saying, “Jack is probably asleep. I heard from Leona that you wanted to give him a surprise? At night?” He asked with a concerned look. She grinned at him, her eyes glinting with confidence. “Yes, I planned to give it in secret so he’d be surprised by the morning!” She said. Ruggie laughed at her. “Oh really? Good luck then, Y/N-san.” He waved his hand and went back to his room, yawning.

She fast-tiptoed all the way to his room, gently and very carefully opening the door, peeking her eye through the crack to see if he was sleeping or not.

She saw a flurry of white on the bed, softly rising up and down. “So he’s asleep…” Her heart warmed at the thought of seeing him in a vulnerable state like this.

She slowly closed the door behind her and gently placed the bag beside his bed. She had inserted a letter inside it.

She slowly looked up to see him still sleeping. Her heart thumps loudly, seeing him in this state.

"What if I..."

Y/N leaned closer to him, her face only mere centimeters away from his. Then...

*chu*

She kissed him softly. On the cheek.

Immediately, her face went beet red, retreating after that soft touch of her skin against his.

"W-what did I just...Oh God...!" She thought, as she quickly ran and, still slowly, closed the door behind her, her face redder than Riddle's hair.

"Stupid, hahahaha how stupid! If he found out, it's confirmed you'll ruin your friendship with your best friend you idiot!!!!!" The devil on her right shoulder said, laughing as she dashed back to her dorm.

"It is alright, child. You conveyed your honest feelings to him and you will be rewarded." The angel on her left said, although not too promising in her ears.

"You both..." Y/N said in her head..

"SHUT UP!!!!"

......

Meanwhile...

The door to Jack's room opened, revealing Leona yawning and looking at the small present on the floor.

"You can stop pretending." He said. "Y/N left."

Jack's ears twitched, as he sat up, his face already red. "Y-yes. I...didn't expect her to actually come...this late at night." He murmured.

"She's very persistent, so..." Leona's word trailed as he saw the look on Jack's face.

"What the--what happened? Did you hit your face or something?" Leona asked, his eyes narrowing.

Jack immediately shook his head. "N-no, I'm okay, Leona-senpai! I was just feeling a bit hot!" He denied, shaking his hands.

Leona huffed and scratched his head. "Fine. I'm going back to sleep. Remember, you asked for me to tell you all this. So you be responsible with your actions. Happy Birthday. Tomorrow you're in for a treat, pup." He grinned and closed the door.

Jack was again, left alone in his room. He reached down and took the bag. He opened it to see a letter and a water bottle.

He took the water bottle, examining it. Cute cactuses with little faces smiling decorating the bottle. It was cutesy...unlike the whole perception of who he is.

Big. Intimidating. Delinquent.

But she didn't think of him that way. Y/N, although unable to use magic, always challenges him to be better. Her determination, hard-working self taught him that, she's strong. Maybe even stronger than him in will. She was kind to everyone, especially him. He felt special.

He even went far as to ask Leona's opinion about it a few days ago. The lion only laughed. "It looks like she cares about you. No one would ever give you care and love like that, except for her, don’t you think?" He asked.

Jack had thought about it for a while. Her smile always seemed to brighten his day. Her laugh, her voice. Everything about her. Made his day a lot more brighter.

"I...I want to see her smile. Make her smile." He said. 

The lion only nodded. "Then...what will you do as a brave, responsible man?” He asked. “You are one, aren’t you?”

Jack’s golden orbs looked up to his dorm leader. “I-I am! I...have to talk to her.”

Leona smirked. “Heh. Didn’t know you had it in you. Thought you were just a little pup who only knows how to bark and bite.” 

Jack ignored that comment, and he prepared himself. He thought about how Y/N, though seemingly fragile, is strong-hearted and always so supportive. How he would convey his feelings.

People usually pick on him because he's big. They pick meaningless fights with him. He never expected for anyone to accept him, though. He just wanted to constantly improve himself and one day prove he's the best. And she knew that, she understood that, she rooted for him.

He read the letter, written in cute little cursive handwriting.

"Happy Birthday, Jackie! May all your wishes come true. I know you'll get stronger and stronger every day! That's why, you're so cool and reliable! But, once in a while, don't forget to rely on me too! After all I'm the very dependable prefect! And I can teach you stuff you don't know, too! So don't be too hard on yourself, okay? Best of everything for you! ♥️"

P.S. I hope this will be useful to you! Good luck with Track and Field Club! └( ＾ω＾)」

-XOXO- Guess who this is (＾3＾) ♪

“Of course I know who this is. Idiot...” Jack blushed.

His heart bursted at the seams when he read the letter. Aside from the letters he got from his younger siblings, he never received something as cute as this.

Cute... He blushed, tail wagging as he read the letter and held the bottle dear. He had to struggle to sleep as he couldn’t contain the excitement to see Y/N again in the morning.

6 hours later...

Y/N snored softly on her bed, the late night mission she did had worn her out. Grim, instead, is snoring loudly, still asleep on the edge of her bed, curling into a cute ball.

Little did she know, that Jack had wanted to see her in the morning to give her his thanks.

He stopped by the front gate of Ramshackle Dorm, ears a bit drooping.

Is this too forward? Will this break the relationship they have?

He shook his head and went inside, asking the ghosts where Y/N is.

“Fufufu~ She’s still sleeping, big boy.” One said.

“Yes, yes, you want to spoOOk her?” The other said.

Jack shook his head. “N-no, I just... I wanted to thank her for giving me a gift...” He explained to the ghosts.

“Huh, boring~ Okay then be our guest! Fufufu~”

The wolf trudged up the stairs, being extra careful to not make a sound.

He opened the door to Y/N’s bedroom, blushing a bit, thinking as if he’s doing a crime. He gently walked in, looking at her sleeping form.

Oh, how the tables have turned, huh?

He gently nudged her, though, he didn’t want to...erm, secretly kiss her. He knew what she did last night was quite accidental so he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

“Um...Y/N, wake up, please.” He said.

The girl stirred, flinching a little and opening her eyes. To her surprise, her crush is standing there, all 192 cm of him.

“J--J-Jack!!” She shouted, her body toppling to the floor, an “Oomph!” flying out of her mouth as she landed with a thump.

“Y-Y/N are you okay?!”

He helped her get up, her full height not even reaching close to his face, so she had to look up.

“J-Jack...Why are you here?” She asked, trying to fix her hair and rub her eyes to look at LEAST presentable. “You know, I haven’t taken a bath yet and I look so disheveled!” She complained, patting the creases on her pajamas.

Pajamas. She looks so cute...She wears pajamas to bed! Jack screamed internally, holding back a smile as he blushes and covers his face with his right hand.

“That’s...That’s okay! I don’t mind.” He grunted out.

She looked up at him, stopping to see his yellowish-golden eyes staring into her. He’s so...handsome. She inwardly thought.

She looked back at the bed, seeing Grim still sleeping soundly despite the noise. It’s after all, still 6 a.m.

“Why don’t we take this to the living room? I don’t want to wake Grim up, he’s grouchy this early in the morning.” She smiled. Jack nodded and followed suit.

Once they’re back downstairs, she sat on the sofa, patting the spot beside her. “Come sit down.” She softly said, yawning a bit, holding a glass of water she had taken from the kitchen on the way.

As they sat beside each other, Jack balled his fists. “How do I start this...”

“Uh...Y/N.” He started. She looked up at him. “I--”

“OH! I forgot. Happy Birthday, Jack!” She said, cutting him off. “I hope you’ll achieve your dreams, become a great person...even though you’re already great as you are.” She giggled.

That’s when his heart skipped a beat. He looked into her eyes, beaming at him with adoration and kindness.

“Y/N...Sorry, but...let me...” He whispered. She nodded. “What?”

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, hugging her.

“W-wha-Jack!” She squeaked, placing her small hands on his chest, but letting them slide to his back, returning the hug.

“Thank you. For being kind to me. For being nice to me. For being supportive. Thank you for the gift. I will cherish it. You’re the best..uh..you’re the best.” He stammered, Y/N not being able to see how red his face is.

“N-NO need to thank me that much, Jack! I mean...it is your birthday. And I act that way to you because, well...everyone should be treated well! And...I admire you. You’re a great person. You’re hardworking and serious but kind. Seeing you gave me motivation and it challenged me to become better too. I...”

They paused, looking at each other.

If I don’t say it now... Y/N thought.

If I don’t tell her now... Jack thought.

“I like you, Y/N / I like you, Jack!” They said in unison, blushing furiously.

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

They looked blankly at each other, not believing their ears.

“I...You like me?” Y/N asked.

“So you really like me?” Jack asked.

A pause went on, before Y/N burst out laughing.

“Ahahahahaha! Oh my that was so funny! I didn’t know that these things could happen in real life! We confessed to each other at the same time!” She laughed, her voice filling Jack’s ears.

She’s smiling. She’s laughing. His tail wagged with happiness.

“D--don’t laugh at me! I--I said what I said, okay?” He huffed, crossing his arms. He thought she didn’t realize how badly his tail is wagging right now...

“Hehehe, I’m sorry! Now, let me freshen up and we can do anything you want today! And meet our friends too! It’s your birthday!” Y/N stood up and brushed a stray hair away from her face.

Jack smiled, looking at her with awe. “Then...are we...dating?” He asked.

She blushed. “Well, if you want to, Jack. I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to.” She shyly said.

He shook his head and stood up. “No. I’m a man, and I don’t want this to have no meaning. I...want to be your lover.” He said, a bit stumbling on his words but gently holding her hand.

EEEE he’s so cute! Y/N thought, squealing inside.

“Then...I’m in your care, Jack.” She said.

“Me...Me too.”

.

.

.

“Oh...and...Y/N?”

“Yeah, Jack?”

*chu*

“This is payback.” He grinned.

And that’s when Y/N combusted from the overload of cuteness from him.

And thus, Y/N and Jack met their friends with blushes on their faces. No one knew yet...except for Leona. He knew what’s going on. He could really consider being a cupid now and then.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And it’s done! Oh goodness it’s been so long since I last wrote something. I hope you guys enjoy this short story!

[ketsuyuki-hibana-typed]

Requested by @sherillda (maybe the user change the name, can't tag)

By the way, it's almost impossible for a Shinazugawa Sanemi to be in trouble at pinch situation (except final arc)

It's canon that he could hold sword's handle with his toe, he could stop the bleeding with his muscle (it's his ability), he could trigger Genya's gun RIGHT at his ear without disturbing his movements, he still moved fast even though the wounds were all over his body, not to mention he's PARTIALLY COLOR BLIND but didn't bothered by that.

Like, wow. Stan this man.

But again, I thought, "This is fiction, Hibana." Ah right, everything could happen.

Shinazugawa Sanemi x Pillar!Reader

Warning: Heavy Injury Description

"THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS IS HARDER TO DEAL WITH!!"

"HAAH?!! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

It was a morning couple quarrel before Pillars meeting.

You wanted him to be more softer towards his students. You couldn't take their painful stories about the training and promised them to talk with Sanemi.

But it's getting worst.

"It's my students, and I could do whatever I fucking want!!"

"Yes! Yes, I know! But it's inhumane!!"

Thus, the squabble between you and him were continued until Oyakata-sama presented himself in front of the Pillars

In the middle of meeting, Oyakata suggested to make a pair mission for you two, because the request from a certain region was actually difficult.

But, Sanemi insisted to go alone and told Oyakata to assign you to other region.

"I'm afraid that she will get in my way."

It tickled you off. How dare you, how dare you Sanemi? I'm literally equal to you!! But you just stay on your folded feet, and tried to press your anger.

Oyakata-sama smiled and said, "She's not weak, Sanemi. You knew it too, she willl not be here if she's not strong. But, if you persisted."

It really pissed you off to see his hidden grinning on Oyakata's back.

The quarrels continued, now instead of talking about his students, you scolded him for being rude and implied that you're weak.

Himejima had to step up ande mediate between both of you. He pulled Sanemi off while Mitsuri calmed you down.

After that, you neither talk to him nor had lunch with him.

"COME!! ATTACK ME WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT! WHY, BECAUSE IM MAD RIGHT NOW!! HAHA, I'M WEAK?! LET'S PROOF IT THEN!"

That's nonsense!! Your students shivered in fear because you never being like this before, but they had no choice and attacked you.

They were like sand-bag for you today.

Sanemi's side wasn't getting better. Their train getting more excruciating than ever.

He still went to the assigned mission that night, without you of course. You went to assigned region.

No secret kissing, hugging and promise to stay alive together like always, you avoided him and he avoided you.

Because it's obvious. If both of you met again, you and him will just throw profanity each other again.

Sanemi's head was in cloud. He did everything to excite his anger on his way. Punching the trees, kicking stones, stomping the ground, cursing, anything.

"Dumb like her only thought about happy things and will be killed as soon as she stepped on this place."

He's too busy with his mind, and didn't realize there's demon who eyed on him from behind.

Meanwhile, you finished your part on your regions. Not in the blink of an eye, it's pretty difficult fight. There were wounds on your chest, but you still able to restrain the pains.

"I wonder how is Sanemi- WELL I DON'T CARE, WHATEVS, HE'S STRONG RIGHT?, HE DOESN'T NEED ME!"

After receiving some gratitude from the lower Demon Slayer Ranks because you helped them too, you planned to head back to headquarters.

And suddenly a loud blast was heard from the wood east.

You looked at the direction, it's Sanemi assigned region.

"Huh, why am I thinking about him. My job is done. I don't care."

But, you stopped your walk. What if the situation getting dangerous, what if the demon he met didn't intoxicate with his Marechi blood, what if-

'I had a bad feeling about this.' You clenched your fist. "Evacuate all of the villagers around here. For the rest of Demon Slayers, help Kakushis brought injured slayers back to the headquarters." You ordered the rest of Kakushis.

"Yes, (y/n)-sama!"

"Are you planning to go to that area? You got injuries too. Please let me treat you first." asked one of them.

"No worries, I could handle this alone. There's no time. I count on you."

"Understood."

That being said, you started to sway your bad feelings and run to his direction.

On the other hand, Sanemi's fight with the demon was started long ago.

He let out heavy gasp, getting battered from the annoying demon. He started to move recklessly, attacking with his breath techniques but none of it were able to take the monster down.

"Tch!"

Sansmi could feel the blood dripped on his abdomen, no, it's flowing now. "Fuck." He muttered under his breath, trying to surpress his wound with his muscle ability. He's tired, he know, but of course he couldn't run away from here. He knew there is village nearby and he couldn't let this giant demon murdered the villagers.

He jumped again to avoid random attack from the demon. His breathe was heavier than it should be.

A mere demon supposed to be intoxicated by his blood but now, his deep wound on his left and no sign of the demon to moving slower are the real proof that this isn't just a mere demon. A new type? Poison? Probably.

His back was sagged behind the tree, trying to catch a breath but failed. The demon didn't give him rest. It lifted its claws on the air, ready to torn him apart.

"Heh, you even won't let me breath?'

'At least, let me say sorry to her.'

"Couldn't believe that Great Shinazugawa will be in hopeless state like this."

Then, he saw a familiar yet beautiful breathing technique unleashed upon him.

"Third form!!" You gracefully stepped up in front of him, targeting its neck and pushing force thorough your blade.

"What, it's thick!" You jumped back, positioning yourself in stance, pointing your blade towards the demon and protecting Sanemi.

He stared your back with surprised expression. Aren't you going to your region? Why are you here?

"If you could stand, then help me out."

He stood up, joining you at your side. "Don't be a shitty brat, you're injured too."

"Whatever you call."

You tried once more again, with different form of breathing. He went to the other direction. Both of you tried to swing your blades on this demon, but it fend Sanemi's attack and pulled your back with his claw.

You cut its hand off, and quickly jumped backwards, using a tree to let you caught breathe for a moment before used the trunk to support your jump again.

"Fourth style!!"

This time, you and him succeeded to slashed your blade to its neck.

You saw it degraded into ash,nwiping your sweat from your temple. You looked at Sanemi laid down on the ground while panting hard.

"Are you okay?" You knelt in front of him, trying to not look so unsympathetic, even though all you wanna do now is hugged him, and told him, "I'm so relieved you're still alive."

"I don't need you."

"There you go again." You sighed. He sat down. "Let's treat your wo- huh?"

Your vision suddenly blurred. Your hands felt cold. Shivering, you started to lose control of your own body.

And fell into the ground.

Sanemi looked at you in shock. He moved forward and brought you into his embrace.

"Hey, what- goddammit." His palm felt sticky when he touched your back. He looked at his hands.

It made his heart sunk into his stomach. He swear he could make a small pool of your blood with his palm only.

It's not just a scratch, the demon tore your back apart, some of your muscle meat were about to fell off. He suspected it was from earlier when both of you was being attacked back.

"HANG ON!!" He screamed.

"Sa... Ne... Mi... What-"

"DON'T TALK AGAIN!" He quickly suturing the necessary skins to prevent your blood flowing more. He wrapped you in his haori, and soon your blood absorbed into the fabric. "I know you could bear this!! Hang in there!!"

He desperately tried to keep you awake by yelled and called your name while carrying you on his back.

You couldn't feel anything.

It's cold.

It's numb.

You remembered you didn't have chance to say sorry to him.

That one last thought and you dropped your body fully on to his back, unconscious.

You often heard somebody's voice in your sleep, calling your name but you can't move your finger, let alone your body. You couldn't do anything, just hearing that desperate voices saying, "I'm sorry. Please wake up."

It's a pity voice, you thought. I wanted to tell this person that I'm fine, that he didn't have to apologize.

And one day, you snapped your eyes open and white ceilings is the first thing you saw.

You gasped, processing the last fight that rolled again on your brain.

"Oh my God, he's right, I'm weak."

"You're awake and the first thing you say is that you're weak?" Shinobu entered your ward. You let out an awkward laugh. "How is your feeling?" She asked cheerfully.

"Better! I felt great!" You sat down with her help.

"That's good to hear, because I was threatened by your boyfriend if I didn't make you open your eyes in one week, he will kill me. Well, I doubt he could do that."

"Wait, I was sleeping for almost 1 week? I'm really sorry, Shinobu-chan."

"It's okay. I'm actually surprised too because it's a miracle that with this fatal injuries, you're still alive."

"...how bad is it?"

"Scratches on your back."

"Just scra-"

"Big and deep scratch, I could saw your spinal bone thorough your wounded back."

"That's- that's bad."

"Now you know. I will check on you later again. Please rest."

"Will do, thank you! Do you know where Sanemi is?"

"I don't know."

With one last waving, you put your back on the pillow. You looked at the table beside you, a vase with white lily in it and two untouched Ohagi.

"Must be him." you thought. You didn't expect him to visit you because you know he prefers training but looks like he really did stay here for awhile.

You stepped down from your bed slowly. Your back was still hurt but you really wanted to go outside and felt the sun.

It's really quiet here.

"Huh, my back must be so ugly now."

When you walked around, the triplets found and greet you, saying "I'm glad you're fine!"

You talked with them while sitting on engawa and that's when you saw Sanemi from afar. He also noticed you.

You stood up from your seat and waved at him.

"Sane- wha-"

He dropped everything on his hands and went towards you with furious steps.

And pinched your cheek.

"Wawawawa!!!"

"FINALLY, YOU FUCKING WAKE UP."

"Ah, Shinazugawa-san! (y/n) is still injured!"

"SHUT UP."

The girls were running away in fright, but not forgetting to wave at you.

You puffed your cheek and pressed your palm on both of it.

"It hur-"

He suddenly hugged you, almost made your back collided with the floor. He quickly held your back, preventing you to hit the wooden floor.

"Sa- Sanemi?"

He made you sat, still hugging you and planted his forehead on your crook.

"You're alive."

"Yeah? Looks like I am? You're being weird. I'm scared, a little."

"Shut up. It's my fault, I'm sorry."

"What-" He tighten up his embrace. You saw a vague red on his ear tip.

Oho.

"I won't repeat it twice."

"I get it, I get it. I didn't really think about it anymore." You caressed his hair and rubbed his cheek. "You're alive too, that's the matter."

"If I didn't being so stubborn and being more stronger, you probably didn't have to encounter this." He muttered on your skin. He really relieved when he saw you sat there, he really thought he will never see you again. When the thought of he never saw your smile again, he became crazy, and blamed himself. He couldn't help but think that it's his fault.

But now, you're breathing, he felt yiur warm skin, he felt your soothing voice again.

"Well, I'm sorry too, because you proofed my point, I'm the one who weaklings here."

"If you're weak, you di- nevermind, I don't want to think about it."

This dumb quarrel should've ended earlier.

"Yeah, me too." He pulled a warm smile and kissed your lips quickly. You blushed from the unexpected action.

He just realize what he has done and he wanted to hid his face right now.

Sanemi released his hug, changed his position. He put his head on your thighs, facing your stomach, and hugging your hips.

Not wanting to show his burning face.

"I wanted to sleep, I'm tired of taking care and guard the princess for almost one week. She gave me hard time. Wake me up at noon." You giggled.

"Sure." You stroked his white hair slowly. He shifted for a moment to find comfortable position. His stiff shoulder was relaxed and finally sunk into your tender body.

Your fellow Pillars were coming and heading on your way. You put your index finger on your lips while looking at them. All of the Pillars were stopped for a moment when he saw that feral man slept peacefully on your thighs.

Except one man, Uzui Tengen.

"Look, it's the guy who begging for his girlfriend to come back to life but being tsundere and now casually being intimate in the estate."

Sanemi snapped his eyes open, sat up and turned around. You jolted. Even though you couldn't saw it, you could feel Sanemi's malicious eyes pierced thorough that flamboyant man.

"I'LL KILL YOU, UZUI. I'LL KILL YOU."

[cowplantberry]

Chapter 6

As I stood there with my mother preparing for my fitting, I could not help but think about the previous night. Every time I got to the part with Merlot’s heartfelt confession, my heart would begin to ache. I hoped Nilla was coming, but she was not even home when I got up this morning. She must have had an early morning at work.

“Ah Yes. Miss Floss come with me.”

The dress was beautiful. My mother looked so happy. I tried to fake a smile, but I just couldn’t keep the facade up very long. My smile began to droop and my mother picked up on it very quickly.

“Whats the matter love?”

“Nothing Mom. I’m fine.”

She looked me over for a second and I could tell she was not buying it.

“Uh, Miss. Truffle could you excuse us for a moment?”

“Of course.”

She quickly left the room.

“Ok really. Whats wrong?”

I drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. I didn’t even know how to begin. My brain was running in 500 directions. I just felt so confused.

“Mom. Do you think I am making the right choice? DO you think Turq is the right one for me?”

“Awww honey you just have cold feet. This happens to a lot of brides before their weddings.”

“So is that a yes”

“Sweet heart I don’t know the answer to that one. That decision is yours and yours alone. Are you happy?”

I sat down in the little chair provided in the fitting room. I wanted to confess everything. The dreams, my feelings for Merlot, our midnight rendezvous. I could feel the words creeping up in my throat. I swallowed hard hoping they would recess back down.

“I think I am just a little tired. Miss Bitters has been riding me pretty hard lately.”

I hated lying to my mother, but there was just no way she would ever understand. No one would.

I gave her a really big hug and thanked her for being so supportive. She smiled and I could tell she felt very accomplished. She motioned to Miss Truffle and she re-entered the room. She finished the fitting and we parted ways. I wish we could have hung our a little longer, but I acutally had a small lunch date to attend at Turq’s. I started to feel a little better as I headed to his place.

When I arrived at Turq’s I did feel a little more at ease. I gave him a hug and it felt really good. Man it seemed like it has been ages since I had seen him. I rested my chin on his shoulder for a few extra moments.

“Hey there stranger. How are you feeling?”

“Huh? Oh! Much better ya.”

“Thats good. I was kinda worried about you, when you took off that night at the club. I tried to call, but Nilla said you were pretty much passed out.”

“Ya heh. Don’t let me around the juice… its bad news.”

“Well its good to see you. I missed you my sweets.”

He leaned in a little closer. I leaned in as well. I looked into his sweet eyes and all I felt was guilt.

“How about I make us a little lunch!”

I hurried off to the kitchen.

I began preparing my specialty salad and giving myself a little pep talk at the same time. Nothing happened that night. There is no reason for you to feel guilty. You still love Turq. You are still getting married right? Of course.

Once I was finished. I prepared to serve. I could feel the guilt beginning to wash away. I smiled as I brought the plate to the table. Probably the first real smile all day.

We ended up having a very nice meal and a wonderful conversation. It started to remind me of all the wonderful things I loved about Turq. He was really easy to talk to and always very supportive. I decided this would be my chance to tell him how I felt about my job. I dropped my fork to the plate and then I came out with it.

“You know I have been thinking. Once we are married, maybe I could quit my job and be a stay at home wife and maybe someday soon… Mommy.”

“Quit your job? Gosh I don’t know. Are you sure? Maybe you should reconsider. Maybe someday but I don’t think that such a good thing right now.”

I dropped my eyes back to my plate in disappointment.

“Ya, maybe you are right.”

After dinner I had to head out a little early. I had work in the morning and as much as I did not want to go. I really did not have a choice. I kissed Turq goodnight and headed home.

As I walked down the steps I did start to feel a little better. See I told myself, everything was going to be just fine.

When I got home I found Nilla on the couch, but there was something different about her. I called out to her.

“Hey Nill! I’m home.”“…”“Nill? Everything OK?

She finally looked my direction and got up off the couch.

“Have you completely lost your mind?!”

Wow. What the heck had gotten into her?

“What do you mean?”“Fairy don’t play dumb with me. I know what happened last night.”

I froze.

“How could you possibly know about that?”“Well when you snuck out of the house with out saying I word. I got a little concerned. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Then when I saw you get into Merlot’s car. I couldn’t hardly believe my eyes.”

“You followed us?”“Not one of my shining moments I know, but its a good thing I did. Now I can tell Turq. Fairy what on earth were you thinking? You’re getting married in a week!”

I was horrified. I could feel my salad beginning to make its decent back up.

“Its not what you think I swear.”

She stared at me with those disproving yellow green eyes.

The last thing I wanted to do was cry for the third time in two days, but I couldn’t help it. Now my best friend was angry at me. I felt completely alone.

“I don’t know what I was thinking!! I am just so confused right now! Please don’t tell Turq!”

“Oh jeez Fair. Don’t cry… I didn’t mean it honest. I guess I was just a little jealous.”

*Uncontrollable sobbing*“I just don’t get it. I thought you loved Turq?”“I do! Turq is a good man. He is always supportive and understanding!”“Ya thats great and all, but are you in love with him?”

I started crying all over again.

She pulled me in and I cried and cried.

“Well you better figure it out quick, or its gonna be too late.”“I know.”“Well…What ever you decide. I will be here for you ok?”“Thanks.”

When I headed to the bedroom, I never felt so exhausted in my whole life. And as I closed my eyes I hoped that maybe I would have the answer when I awoke.

[therainroguefanfiction]

🎃 Frightful October Act I, #1 ~ Storm (Tetsuya Kuroko)

📑 Table of Contents

Genre: Friendship, Fluff, Halloween, Autumn

Word Count: 2,157

Pairing: Reader x Kuroko

World: Kuroko no Basket

───── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─────

“Okay, class, for this week’s assignment, you’re going to write a short story for Halloween!” The literature teacher clapped her hands excitedly as she stood at the front of the room. “You’ll be working in pairs and, no, you will not be choosing your own partners!”

There was a collective groan of disappointment, mostly from the girls.

You sighed, leaning back in your chair. ‘It’s bad enough they force us to interact with other people in video games, now we gotta do it in person?’

She reached behind her desk, setting two black top hats on the smooth surface. “In this first hat are slips of paper with the entire classes names. In this second hat are slips of paper with prompts relating to Halloween in some way. We’re going to start with you, Yayoi.” She pointed at the bespectacled boy sitting in the front row by the window, then her finger cut across the air, following the row to the other side of the classroom. “We’ll finish the row with Matsuda and then move on to Aioi behind him.”

Following that pattern in your head. With five by five rows of desks, it formed the most messed up Z you had ever pictured, like two number 2s stacked on top of one another. You scrunched your nose up as you sketched it out on the corner of your notebook.

“If someone pulls your name, you don’t have to come up. We’ll just go to the next person. Come on up, Yayoi!”

You vaguely wondered if someone would pull your name before it got to you. You turned your gaze to the gray sky outside the window. The forecast had eluded to a thirty-percent chance of scattered showers in the afternoon and you hoped that chance increased.

“It’s your time, Ami.”

The girl that sat next to you stood up, cheerfully approaching the teacher’s desk.

‘Shit, who got me as a partner?’ your eyes scanned the class, but no one was paying you any mind. With a groan, you let your head slam down onto the desk, earning a weird look from those that sat near you. ‘Why is she forcing us to work in pairs, anyway? This is so stupid.’

The bell rang, signaling the start of lunch and the chatter in the room increased as people discussed their partners and the prompts they had gotten. You considered asking the teacher who you had been paired with, but then she would lecture you again for not paying attention.

“Y/N-san?”

You could always ask one of the other students, but you didn’t really interact with any of them unless you had to.

“Y/N-san…?”

You groaned again, rubbing your head frantically. Why did life have to be such a pain?

“Y/N-san.”

“Heh?” you blinked dumbly at the boy standing by your desk.

Kuroko stood there with a slip of paper in his hand, head tilted to the side as he watched you curiously. “Are you okay with starting on the project this afternoon?”

‘Oh, I guess he’s my partner. I don’t really know much about him, but he’s quiet and keeps to himself. That’s good.’ “Uh, sure. In the Library?”

He nodded, setting the slip of paper down on your desk. “I have practice after school, but if you don’t mind waiting, I’ll meet you there after.” he bowed before walking out of the room to go buy his lunch.

You picked up the slip of paper. “Vampires?” you scoffed. ‘That’s almost as cliche as – ‘

“Our topic is werewolves!”

Your head fell onto the desk, earning strange looks from your classmates.

───── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─────

When the final bell rang, you gathered your things. You weren’t part of any clubs, nor did you have anyone that you were close enough to hang out with after school so you just headed straight for the library.

The short path connecting the school building and the library was outdoors, covered by a tin roof. As soon as you stepped outside, you recognized the familiar pitter-patter of rain falling to the Earth. The hand that had been tightly clutching your bag immediately relaxed and you let go of the tension your shoulders were holding.

Rain always calmed you down.

While you were mostly annoyed at being forced to work with another person on the project, you also felt a bit nervous. Working together to write one story? Your mind pictured all of the ways that could go wrong. What if you couldn’t agree on anything?

You frowned as you pulled the library door open. ‘This place always feels like it’s in an alternate dimension or something.’ You glanced at the front desk, but the librarian was nowhere to be found. Maybe she had gone home earlier before the rain could set in.

Without thinking, you headed towards the back corner – you always sat there because it was hidden from most of the library – but you stopped short when a thought struck you. ‘If I sit there, he probably won’t see me. He might think I stood him up, but… I don’t really want to be the first thing people see when they enter, either,’ you groaned, squatting down as you ruffled your hair in frustration.

“Um… excuse me?”

“Eh?” you looked up in surprise. You hadn’t heard anyone approach.

“Are you… okay?” The librarian asked, softly, tilting her head. Marie Youko was a young woman in her mid-twenties with a mousy disposition. She always spoke softly and was kind to everyone she met, even those that didn’t give her the same courtesy. Her hair, chocolate brown in color, were set in two braids that sat on her shoulders. Her eyes were the same color.

You shot up straight, a bead of sweat rolling down your cheek. “Y-Yes, ma’am, I’m fine. Sorry.” You quickly bowed and speed walked to one of the tables near the back. It was in the direct line of sight of the doors, but it was the farthest table from it. You fell into the chair was a heavy sigh. ‘How long does practice typically last, anyway?’

You turned sideways in the chair so you could look out the window. The pace of the rain had steadily increased, covering the glass. Your eyes followed them as they descended, leaving streaks in their wake. ‘What is it, I wonder, that makes rain so relaxing for me. Even in my darkest days, rain makes me feel at peace. Are there others that feel the same?’

From what you’ve experienced, most people didn’t like the rain. It was annoying to them, ruining the hair they spent hours on and making their favorite pieces of clothing cling to their bodies like cellophane. For them, it was an inconvenience. They didn’t see it for what you did – a wonderful gift from mother nature.

You felt a presence behind you and turned, locking eyes with Kuroko who was pulling out the chair across from you. He was surprised that you had noticed him.

“Hello, Y/N-san,” he spoke softly.

“Is practice over already?”

He cocked his head to the side as he sat down. “Practice usually lasts longer than an hour, but I let them know you were waiting for me.”

‘An hour?’ you sat back in your chair, glancing at the clock on your phone. ‘I really need to stop zoning out so much.’

“Have you come up with any ideas, Y/N-san?”

‘Shit, I should’ve been working on that…’ “Um, a vampire steps out into the sun and everyone is horrified when he starts to sparkle?” you joked, immediately regretting it.

Kuroko tilted his head, not getting the reference. “That’s an… interesting idea.” He wrote it down in his notebook and you sweatdropped.

‘This kid is so serious…’ “That one was a joke, Kuroko-san…” he blinked at you and you clarified. “It’s the plot of a really bad movie. I, uh, I got distracted and didn’t think of anything, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he crossed out the idea before tapping his pencil against his chin, thoughtfully. “A love story would probably win over our class since the majority are girls.”

“That’s a good point, but I bet most of the girls are gonna pick romance.” ‘Plus I hate romance.’

“That’s true.”

Thunder shook the window behind you and you glanced back. “What about… a vampire with some weird disease that prevents him from biting anyone unless it’s raining? No, that’s stupid. The rainpire – every time he feeds, it starts raining? No no, that’s too weird. Instead of drinking blood, the rain nourishes him? That’s even worse!” You groaned, grabbing your head and frantically rubbing your hair. ‘All these ideas suck!’

Thunder boomed again and the lights flickered, making you both look up at the high ceiling.

“We should get home before the storm gets worse.”

You watched as he placed the notebook into his bag before standing up. ‘What the hell he actually wrote down all of those ideas?!’

He glanced over at you when you didn’t budge. “Are you not going home?”

“My brother is at work until tonight,” you answered with a shrug. ‘I would love to walk home in this weather, but my bro finds out, he’ll kill me. Worse than that, he’ll probably lecture me again!’

“I can ask my grandmother to drop you off.”

“Please don’t. It’s okay, really.” ‘If I came home with a stranger, he’d be even angrier.’

Kuroko nodded, sitting back down. “I’ll stay with you, then.”

“What, why?” you questioned in surprise.

“I don’t want to leave you here alone,” he answered simply.

The words made your heart skip a beat, cheats warming up. You quickly coughed loudly, turning back to the window. “You don’t have to force yourself, I like being alone.”

“I’m not forcing myself,” Kuroko pulled the book back out from his bag. “It’s dangerous to be alone during a storm, and if you’re going to stay anyway, we can continue working on the project. Did you have any more ideas?”

You turned your head, looking into his clear blue eyes. Ever since he joined the basketball team, a lot of students had begun talking about Kuroko. Typically you ignored gossip, but it was difficult when those that sat close to you in class talked about him. No one really knew anything about him, though. They called him a shadow, a boy with no presence, but no one spent any time with him so they didn’t talk about his kindness.

“Kuroko-san?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

That was the first time you had seen him smile and it warmed your heart. You wanted to befriend him, get closer to him.

A loud boom of thunder made you nearly jump out of your skin. The windows rattled so hard, you wondered if they would break. The lights flickered again before turning off, leaving the large room in darkness.

You grabbed your phone, bumping up the brightness of the screen before setting it down. It gave off a small cone of light around you. “I wonder how many students are still here,” you squinted in the darkness, but couldn’t see very far. The pounding of the rain outside covered up any movement in the room.

“Probably not that many,” he answered.

You leaned back in your chair, tapping your fingers across the table. “What about a vampire that gets locked in a library on a stormy night?”

His eyes widened a bit and he scribbled on the paper. “That’s a really good idea. Let’s go with that.”

“We have to make it interesting, though. Let’s say that he’s not alone, there’s someone else hidden in the library!”

“Why are they hidden?”

“Why?” you hummed, eyes narrowed at the notebook. The pencil hovered over the paper, waiting for more of your ideas. “She’s a… vampire hunter! Or maybe a vampire enthusiast?”

Lightning struck, the light shining onto your back through the window.

“A vampire hunter that is secretly a vampire enthusiast?”

“Ooo, that’s juicy. We can make it a comedy,” you leaned forward, slapping your palms on the table. “She sees him and falls in love with the fact that he’s a vampire, but he thinks she’s crazy!”

The storm continued well into the night, but you both continued brainstorming ideas. Your brother had called you at ten-thirty, worried sick that you hadn’t returned home yet. He insisted on coming to pick you up, but you worried about him driving in the bad weather so you convinced him to wait until it calmed down.

It was just after midnight when the rain started to slow. Kuroko had a few pages full of ideas and plot points, and he said that he would try and write up the start of the story for you to go over together.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N-san.”

You smiled at him, watching as he climbed into his family’s car. Light drops of rain fell on your head as you approached your brother’s car, sliding into the passenger seat.

───── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─────

[azo-dye]

hey lover, won’t you treat me right

you can read this here or on AO3. Enjoy!

---

“Hey, are you still going out tonight with that guy you’ve been talking to?”

Cas looked up from his book. He had been pointedly told that he wasn’t allowed to help with dinner and was sent to read in the living room to ‘stay out of the way and keep Dean company’. Dean was referring to the latest guy Cas had met through online dating, and the latest reason for Cas feeling vaguely guilty about not reciprocating feelings. “Oh, no. I told him I just wanted to be friends.” He frowned, “Don’t put too much tomato in it!”

Dean huffed and waved him off. No one told Dean how to cook, especially something that he’d made a thousand times from scratch. “You didn’t even give him a chance, Cas.”

Cas shrugged,” He was... annoying to say the least. He texted too much. The happiest I was with him was when he was ignoring me or busy.”

“Well, did you tell him that?”

“No, but I know the worst thing is feeling like you’re annoying someone you like, and I didn’t want to put him through that. I texted him last night.” Cas went back to his book. It was one thing to talk about his love life with his best friend and roommate. It was quite another to dive deep into his deep-rooted issue with finding a suitable replacement for... someone he actually wanted.

Especially when that person was currently making spaghetti four feet from him.

“And how did he respond?” Dean asked, staring hard at the vegetable he was dicing.

Cas lowered the book again. “Well, he... hasn’t answered yet.”

Dean looked up from where he was cutting a final tomato with a universal ‘yikes’ expression. It was an unfortunate end to his brief relationship with Patrick, but it had to be said. He’d rather Patrick think he was a bastard now, than lead him on and have Patrick assume they were headed towards mutual love and affection.

“So anyway, I have to assume that he doesn’t really want to be friends then.”

“Hey, Cas, don’t take it too hard. He’s missing out.”

Cas considered, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m not... sad, or anything.”

Dean chuckled. “Heh. Ouch. Tough break for him.”

Cas shrugged, turning back to watch Dean work.

Dean gathered all his chopped vegetables together in a neat pile on the cutting board and transferred them to the pot where he was making sauce in a neat flourish, evident of all the times Dean had been in charge of home-cooked meals. “What was so bad about this guy? Did he smell? Ask you to make a blood pact?

Cas looked away from the tantalizing sight of Dean’s hands. “No, he... wanted to cook me dinner.”

Dean looked up from the pot of spaghetti noodles he was now stirring.

“Oh, you’re right,” Dean said, gesturing with the pasta spoon. “Definitely a good thing you curved him. Absolute lunatic.” He bent over to take a taste of the now-simmering sauce, a soft smile on his face.

“Well! It just... makes me uncomfortable. I mean, he could be a serial killer.” Cas grinned playfully, finally giving up on reading and marking his page to step away.

“Don’t you think if he was going to serial kill you, he’d have done it by now? He’s got a lotta ground to cover. This is LA. He’s gotta move quick if he wants to make even the slightest impression on the LAPD.” Dean nodded towards the fridge where their salad sat. Cas had insisted on a salad to go with the carbo-load that was Dean’s favorite and famous Spaghetti Night. It was a rare thing for Dean to allow so much green at a meal, but Cas was always somehow able to convince him.

“I dunno,” Cas pulled out the salad and turned to the cupboard to start gathering plates. He placed a healthy amount of salad on each, making sure to push it to the side to leave ample room for the absolute heap of pasta Dean would place on each. “He just... he texted me all the time, and he always wanted to know how I’m doing and what I’m up to, and it gets old telling him I’m doing the same old things every time. I don’t do much during the day.”

“Sure you do, yesterday you made that cool greenhouse thing out in the backyard.” Dean was referring to the monstrosity built out of thrifted window panes in the far corner of the yard. Cas had seen the idea online on Friday, and by Saturday was cruising through every yard sale and thrift store in the county looking for windows. The frame was easy to put together once Dean had gotten the drill sorted out. It wasn’t much, but now Cas had a great place to put some of the many plants they had around the house.

Cas shrugged. “Right, but I can’t tell him that. He wouldn’t care, and then I’d have to explain every piece of why we needed one and he wouldn’t want to hear that story.”

“Look, I’m not saying you didn’t do the right thing by being honest with him, but it just sounds like maybe you didn’t like him all that much in the first place if you’re able to be so casual about it.”

“I know,” Cas sighed. “I’ve gotta stop doing this to guys. Before him it was Nate, and Collin. I’m a mess.”

Dean spooned a frankly frightening amount of pasta on a plate. “Nah, you’re not a mess, just a bit careless with your dirty socks. You wanna try some sauce or just butter?”

“No, I’ll try it. You worked so hard on it. A little bit of sauce, please. Not too much.”

Dean smiled and rolled his eyes, dripping the perfect amount of homemade marinara on top of the pile of spaghetti. They sat down to eat and Cas twirled his fork in the noodles. The sauce was great. While the base was tomato, it wasn’t overwhelming or acidic like tomato can get in inexperienced hands. Garlic and mushroom had space in the sauce as well, making it perfectly well-balanced.

Cas stood up. “I’m getting some more sauce, this is really good, Dean.”

“Thank you, pickiest eater in the world. That is a compliment far greater than you know.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

Dean piped up with his mouth full. “So, like, what—are you just gonna chalk it up as a loss and move on or what?”

Cas shook his head. “I’m deleting the app, I can’t keep doing this to people when it only serves to piss me off and disappoint other people.”

Silence fell again for a brief moment. “Have you considered maybe it’s not you?”

“Thank you, Dean, but scientifically speaking, it has to be me. I’m the only constant in this string of nearly identical outcomes.” Not much else could explain it. Cas was just... bad at love. Bad at being in a relationship. Bad at getting on with his life.

“Maybe you just need to date better people. Maybe... people you already know?”

Snorting, Cas scooped up the last on his pasta. “Come on, everyone we know that’d be even sort of willing to put with me are already married, have kids, or both.”

“Well, not everyone...” Dean muttered, mostly to himself.

Cas chewed thoughtfully. “I think I just gotta face facts. I’m not built for relationships.”

“Kinda lonely outlook.” Dean wasn’t wrong. They were renting the house together, but that could easily change once Dean found a nice girl or boy or... person to settle down with. He was a good looking guy, good with his hands, nice laugh—it wouldn’t be hard for him at all. Cas could very easily be alone, very easily.

Cas shrugged. “A fact’s a fact. It happens. People grow up and just... never find love. I mean, it’s kinda sad but... I’ve got other things in my life.” That was less true. For all that Dean and Cas got along and had in common, he never understood why Dean was alone and chose to hang out with him so often.

Dean snorted. “I don’t know how much a roommate in a shitty starter home counts for, Cas.

“Well, maybe my purpose here is to make sure that roommate is happy then, yeah?” Cas picked up his dish and set it in the sink. He kept his attention towards the sink, concentrating on filling it with soap and water so he didn’t have to see Dean’s face of pity. He wasn’t sad about it. Not really.

Well, he would probably end up being okay.

Dean pushed back from the table to set his dish in the water by Cas’s hand. He busied himself with the leftover pasta on the stove, pulling a plastic container from the cupboard above the range. Dean would probably insist Cas take it for lunch tomorrow.

“Well, what if the roommate wants something specific to make him happy?” Dean asked, sounding strangely formal.

Cas blinked and turned towards Dean, surprised to see him flushed to the tips of his ears. He squinted.

“What does the roommate want?”

If possible, Dean blushed even harder and ducked his head. How curious. Cas felt a strange tingle in his palms. He had a sudden vision of pressing in close and watching Dean take a surprised breath. He shook his head slightly.

“He—I— uh, heh. A beer is what he wants.” Dean said, face brightening in a way that made Cas squint harder on suspicion. Pasta container in hand, Dean switched around Cas, hiding the fridge for a second. He emerged having swapped the plastic container for two beers, one of which he offered to Cas. Hands still wet, Cas gestured for Dean to sit the bottle down to the side of the sink. Dean popped his open, took a swig, and set it down next to Cas’s beer. He picked up a dish towel and got to drying. Together, they steadily and silently cleared the table and counter of all the dishes, leaving their little kitchen tidy once again.

Afterwards, Dean plucked his beer from the counter and took another sip. Cas cracked the lid off of his and did the same. He leaned against the sink and tilted his head as he considered Dean. He was still a bit pink and he wasn’t looking at Cas... or anything really in particular.

“Dean... are you feeling alright?” He almost looked nervous.

Dean blinked. “Huh? Oh yeah, just... thinkin’.”

“Careful with that.” Cas teased.

Deans mouth quirked up in a half smile before falling back to his thoughtful expression.

“Cas, you really think you’re gonna end up alone?”

Oh. Dean was worried he’d have to be saddled with Cas forever. “I dunno. I’m mostly over-dramatic. It’s not looking good right now, though. Kind of a downer.”

“But I mean, you’re young still. Plenty of time to settle down with someone.” Shit, he really did look worried. Maybe he was worried about his own prospects, being single at their age as well.

“Dean, if you’re secretly worried about yourself we can go to a bar or something. I’m not overly concerned about it—“

Dean wasn’t done and talked over him. “And you’re a great guy, you’re smart and funny and... you’ve got nice hair,” Dean finished haltingly. “I just think you’re selling yourself a bit short is all.”

Cas blinked, feeling a slight flush on his cheeks. “Well, thanks but I think the real issue is more with my shockingly horrendous commitment issues and all that.”

They drank in silence, steadily ignoring the other. All this silence tonight was starting to get deafening in Cas’s professional opinion. He was about to open his mouth and change the subject when Dean did just that. “Did this guy... what’s his name?”

“Patrick.”

“Did Patrick ever kiss you?” This question caused Cas to pause. It was an innocent enough question, but the way Dean asked—anxious eyes, and twitchy fingers—like he didn’t really want to ask but was dying to know.

Cas had to tread carefully here, as to not pull too quickly. He might be unsure with guys he met online, but it there was one man he’d climb like a tree with no second thoughts or regrets, it was the one standing in front of him, distractedly shredding the artisanal label off his beer bottle.

“Oh I’d never let him get the chance. Too weird.” He silently dared Dean to call his bluff.

Dean sighed and looked up at Cas, expression guarded. He set his beer down on the table behind him and took a step towards Cas. The tingle in his palms kicked up, spreading up his arms and across his chest, flooding up his neck and to his ears.

“And you know, right away? Who you’d like to kiss?” Dean asked like there was any possible way Cas would turn him down.

“I—definitely. I know within the first half hour of meeting someone if I’d like to—like to kiss them.” Even Cas was stumbling now. He didn’t dare move and shatter this strange, wonderful moment.

Dean was close now. Close enough to see the apprehension in his eyes and catch the subtle tremble in his fingers, hanging loose by his sides.

“Does that feeling ever change?”

“No, once it’s there, it’s all I can think about.” Cas’s gaze tripped between Dean’s mouth and his eyes. Everything was buzzing now. He still wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but he knew things weren’t like this with Patrick. Or Nate. Or anyone else he had been on a date with.

It was special for Dean.

Their chests were nearly touching now. Dean was so close. The heat coming off him was incredible, and Cas wanted nothing more than to get closer.

“Me too,” Dean murmured. “Once I want to kiss someone, it’s all I can think about, too.”

Cas often though about how green Dean’s eyes were, sometimes annoyingly and distractedly often, but now that they were boring into his, it was hard to think about anything else.

Except maybe his mouth. Or his hands, slowly coming up. Shit, this was going exactly where he thought it was. Right here in their shared kitchen.

“I’m gonna kiss you, Cas,” Dean said, drawing in a breath. “And if it’s not what you want, we can pretend it never happened. I won’t make it weird, I promise. I just have to—“

Cas pushed up to press his mouth against Dean’s, hands coming up to fit along his jaw. He watched Dean’s eyes flutter shut before closing his own. Dean gripped his t-shirt before sliding his hands around and up his back. Their lips moved together, pulling and giving back, wet heat between them. He pulled back after a second, an audible smack when they parted.

“I don’t want to push too far—“

“Dean Winchester, kiss me again. Please. It’s good.”

Dean grinned and yanked him back in by his collar, pressing him back into the counter. Cas felt the frenzy build, and he pushed his tongue into Dean’s mouth. Dean sucked on the tip of it, before reaching up to press thumbs to the bolt of Cas’s jaw, opening it further. Cas reached down and slipped his fingers back down into Dean’s back pockets, hauling him closer.

When they finally had to surface for air, they were both grinning.

“That wasn’t weird, right?” Dean had the audacity to ask, breathlessly.

“Definitely weird.” Cas answered, cheekily.

“You’re not gonna ask to be just friends later, right?” Dean sounded like he was mostly kidding but with a touch of real anxiety behind it.

“No, but suddenly it makes sense why everyone else didn’t compare.” Cas said, pressing a smooch to the side of Dean’s jaw. “You’re not just doing this because you feel bad for me?”

Dean rolled his eyes and smacked Cas on the ass. “Been wanting to do that since I met you, dummy. I’m glad we had this chance to finally straighten out that I’m the only one for you.”

“Yeah, probably.” Cas whispered. “Wanna go make out on the couch?”

Dean smiled.

[thebestestboyo]

Because I am stressed and my friend requested a prompt, we're gonna do one

Prompt #3: Drunk/Sloppy Kisses

Why Not?

Tw: Alcohol/Swearing/Mention of puking

Originally, Janus didn't mean to end up drunk at some stupid house party. At first, he was hoping on having a quiet Saturday night in for once. Get Chinese food from that nice restaurant down the street, watch documentaries about the social plannies of the world, and curl up with his snake Diana. He was not planning to end up shitfaced on the couch while chaos reigned around him, and he felt as if he was going to puke if he got up to leave.

But unfortunately for him, his stupid cousin Remy decided that he needed to get out more, and dragged him along to this stupid party so that he'd be able to 'socialize for once.'

Please, Janus socialized plenty! He had friends! Two close ones, to be precise. Virgil Timore and Logan Crofter, who he had known for several years and talked to daily. Hell, Wednesday he and Virgil bingewatched conspiracy theories together and got lunch afterwards. Janus was perfectly fine with his two friends thank you very much.

He had showed up to this party, which he was told would be small, and was disappointed, but not surprised to find that it was practically filled to the brim with drunk college kids. He couldn't go two steps without running into someone, let alone get to anywhere quieter in the house without someone probably trying to frisk him.

So he had to settle for the couch. For now. He was at least somewhat away from the action, well, as much as someone could be in this frat house crammed with people. Nursing a ginger ale he found in a cooler (unopened, he didn't trust any of the punch on the table. Was punch supposed to be green?), Janus was ready to stick it out sober. He didn't know any of these people, so why should he trust his drunk self with them?

...which is what he thought, until he saw him.

The absolute gremlin of the fucking year, Remus Whitby.

This little prick not only was in half his classes, but also managed to have a seat near him in every single one. He was absolutely infuriating, and if Janus didn't think better, he could have sworn that guy chose to sit next to him just so he'd have someone to piss off.

And to top it off, he wasn't even half bad looking! True he dressed like a walking fashion disaster, but it was at least a hot sort of fashion disaster. Somehow his smug little self managed to make floral and bright yellow work, while still wearing the most outlandish pair of cowboy boots to class, as if a dad and a gay cowboy had designed his outfit.

Not to mention he was always trying to get Janus to talk with him! All he had to do, was scoot his chair close to him in the lecture hall, spout some new bullshit of the day, and wait. Their most recent debate was about the reasoning why you shouldn't try to befriend wild possums with preprocessed cheese.

He was crude, he was a terrible dresser, he was smart but in a way that infuriated you, he ate weird concoctions in class that probably weren't compatible flavor palates, and Janus was utterly in love with him.

Now this was something Janus would normally take to his grave and never speak of to anyone, but he was bored, fed up, and altogether too headstrong to care right now.

So making what would probably be a bad decision for his future self, he grabbed a nearby bottle of whiskey, chugged half of it, and strode over to Remus in what he hoped looked confident, but more likely looked as if he was drowning in the crowd due to his shorter stature.

Remus perked up immediately at Jan's arrival, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Why hello, if it isn't the non-believer of making friends with garbage critters! And what might the distinguished Janus Milton be doing here?" His front tooth was slightly crooked, Janus noticed. It was cute, in a dork sort of way.

"I could ask you the same thing. Don't you have seagulls to train or something?"

"Usually I would, but unfortunately most seagulls aren't around during the day. I was trying to teach some of the frogs by the swamp to sing Never Gonna Give You Up though!"

"Of course you would." Was it just the overwhelming amount of people milling around them, or did Remus get a little closer to him?

"They all have names! My brother wanted to help but he was going to name them something too cute."

"Let me guess. Horror authors?"

"Close! Serial killers! I got Jack the Ribber, Dalmer..."

"Wait hold up. Jack the Ribber?" Okay he had to admit, it was a good name.

"Of course! It seemed to fit him. But that doesn't answer my earlier question cornsnake. What are you doing here? Doesn't seem like your thing."

"Normally it wouldn't be. But my cousin decided it would be good for me to get out." He didn't add the part about Remy thinking he was a shut in, that wasn't important. "But I'm not a cornsnake. Why would you even think I was a snake?"

"You do lie a lot, my slippery serpent."

"I most certainly do not."

"Ah, but you do! You even do that thing with your s's and c's when you are."

"I have no idea what you mean." Janus took that moment to take another swig of his whiskey, throat burning with the taste.

"Whatever you say Janny! You wanna go in the pool in the backyard? Beats being crushed by everyone here."

"Is there people skinny-dipping?"

"Not yet! Wanna be the first?" Was Remus...wiggling his eyebrows at him? No, it was probably the alcohol. He wasn't exactly known for having a high tolerance for it.

"I'm only going down to my pants."

"Aw you're no fun!"

_________________________________________

Since Janus hadn't fully undressed, Remus only went down to his boxers. By that time, Janus probably wouldn't have even noticed nor cared anyways, because he was already more than a little tipsy.

He was straight up (or gay up) drunk.

The two had already climbed out of the pool and stumbled to the front yard of the house (probably the least crowded place), Janus leaning into Remus for most of his balance.

"You certainly don't hold your liquor well do you cornsnake?"

"Shut, shut up Remus. I hold everything. Bags. Phones. Car keys. Six inch subs."

"Uh huh sure. Do you still have your phone?"

"Most certainly!"

Laughing, Remus held up what looked like...Janus's phone! How'd he get that?

"Hey! Give it back!" He attempted to reach for it, but due to his lack of dexterity while hammered, only managed to throw himself into Remus's lap. It was even more annoying that when he grumbed his discontent, Remus just laughed harder.

"I took the liberty of holding it for you. You left it in the backyard and I don't exactly know if anyone else is sober enough to keep track of both of you."

Before he could do more than open his mouth, Remus's hand began to card through his hair, smoothing out the still damp strands. While normally, the only people he'd ever let touch his hair was his friends, it felt utterly sublime, so he was in no mood to stop it.

"Hey Re? Heh, re."

Remus jolted a little at the sound of his voice, but answered anyways. "Yeah cornsnake?"

"Come ere' I need to tell you a secret."

"What? Why would you-"

"Shshshshshsh no! I need to tell you the secret!"

"Well okay?"

It took quite a bit of effort, but through Janus grabbing at Re's arms for leverage, he managed to sit upright in Remus's lap, leaned into his chest. "You can't tell anyone okay?"

"You needed to sit in my lap for this secret?" His voice sounded like he was teasing, but for some reason his face was just getting redder. Maybe it was Jan's imagination?

"Yes! It's important."

Waiting for dramatic effect (even drunk he was still a drama queen), Janus tilted his head up and kissed him, smiling afterwards. "I love you!"

Was his face always that red? Janus didn't know, but he really wanted to kiss him again. Maybe not at the moment though, right now his stomach was feeling a little sick-

Thankfully for Remus's clothes (and Janus's dignity, whatever was left of it) once Remus saw that look on Jan's face, he wrapped his arms around his middle and turned him to face the other way.

"...I think we ought to get you out of here cornsnake."

Wait was he disappointed? Did he not like Janus back? What was that tone in his voice?

He didn't know, so his drunk self elected to cry. Great.

"Nononononono it's okay! It's alright, fuck, I never expected you to be a sad drunk, it's okay." The arms around Janus's middle moved to cradle him, as Remus lifted him up and away from where they were sitting.

"I just-" He couldn't get through a sentence without hiccuping through the tears. "-You sound- so dissapointed."

"Janus I'm not dissapointed! I'm just, god am I...worried?"

"Re reeeeeee."

"Sorry, just thinking out loud. Look, I don't know where your dorm room is, so I'll take you back to mine okay? I'm not disappointed, you're all good, let's get some water in you and get you to bed."

_________________________________________

It was most certainly against road laws to have someone sitting on your lap as you drove, so Remus had to transfer a teary-eyed Janus to the passenger seat. For some reason, the only thing calming him down was if Remus would hold his hand (which, he did, that was nice).

It was strange, Remus driving while Janus sat in the passenger seat, playing with the fingers of Re's hand, but it was oddly nice. Beats having him stay at the party where he'd probably hurt himself.

Or tell more of his secrets. Like how he got that scar over his face. He seemed to hold that one pretty close to his chest, so it was unfair to learn it through his drunkenness.

He was actively ignoring the secret he was told, about how Janus loved him. If he thought about it right now, he'd probably end up crashing out of excitement of the fact that he himself had been pinning after him for a solid half of the school year to find that his feelings were reciprocated.

Maybe being drunkenly confessed to wasn't the best way to find out, but hey! He'd prefer it to the sappy romance novel way that his brother was always droning on about.

Once they pulled up to the dorms, Remus went around to Janus's side (not trusting that he'd be able to walk by himself) and lifting him up again, much to the delight of Janny.

"Look I'm your princess!"

"Mmhm, right now this princess has to drink some water, and maybe take a nap."

"Heh Sleeping Beauty took a nap for a long time."

"You wouldn't be sleeping beauty I think, you'd be little red riding hood. Because I'm the wolf, and I've stolen you off!" Tickling at his sides a bit, he pushed open his door as his face was already starting to tinge red. He never expected Janus to be a giggly drunk, then again, he never expected Janus to let himself get drunk. Musta been a tough party experience.

His roommate, Patton, was already asleep, so he didn't have to worry about him asking questions, at least till morning. A quick water break, and a successful attempt at getting Jan's shoes off later, Remus had tucked him up into his bed, planning on sleeping on the chair nearby in case he woke up.

"Re re waiiiiit!"

"Hm?"

"Can I have a goodnight kiss?"

He hoped that Janus wouldn't remember this in the morning, he had already shown so much of his softer side, that if he did, his reputation would be ruined. Part of him hoped he did remember anyways, as he lightly kissed Jan's forehead, going off to sleep.

_________________________________________

When Janus woke up, it was certainly jarring to be in a completely different bed than his own. In a different room, with a splitting headache. And...Remus was sleeping on a chair?

Wait....

Was this Remus's room???

Oh lord. He must have blacked out. It was stupid to drink that much, he always knew he was a lightweight, he probably made a fool of himself in front of Remus.

"You ok cornsnake?"

OH GOD HE WAS AWAKE.

"Considering my head feels as if someone is knocking a wrecking ball through it, I'm as good as I can be at the moment. What am I-"

"I uh, didn't think you'd be okay if you stayed at that place while you were drunk. You got pretty emotional."

Oh no.

"So I decided that, since your phone was locked and you had the dexterity of a clownfish stuck in a riptide, I'd let you chill here...?"

"Please tell me I didn't say anything that embarrassing."

Remus was making that face. He knew that face, that face was the same look a dog made when it had been caught digging in the trash.

"What was it."

"It was really, well, uh-"

"Remus please I'm hungover and tired."

"Yousortaconfessedyoulovedme."

"..."

...

Fuck.

"I mean! It was probably a fluke right? Drunk people always go confessing their love for random people, I know I have!" Remus looked...nervous? The world was too painful to look at for the moment to tell. But he was throwing him a line, so that they'd be able to forget it happened.

Well you know what? Janus was tired in two ways. Tired because he ran around a bunch last night and got drunk, and tired of pretending. So why not come out and say it.

"Actually, it wasn't a fluke."

"I- what."

This certainly wasn't the way he intended to go about this confession if it ever happened, but it would have to do.

"Due to your insistence on talking with me during classes, I've grown...fond of you. One might even say I love you."

Before Remus could get anything else out, Jan continued, knowing he was prolonging his inevitable rejection, but powering through anyways.

"And I while I doubt you hold these same feelings, I'd just like to clarify that I was not lying when I confessed to you drunk. So if you wish, we can both go about our seperate-"

"You dumbass! How can you be so smart and yet so dumb?? I've been in love with you ever since you talked to me about crabs!"

"Wait that's oddly specific-"

"It's true! And I'm gonna prove it."

Taking Jan's head in his hands, Remus looked for a nod of confirmation, before kissing him deeply before pulling away to breathe.

"So how bout it cornsnake?"

Hands looped around Remus, he only had one answer.

"Why not?"