#her older brother fully came in AN HOUR earlier last week without asking me first. he made me leave lmao

[emmcfrxst]

having teenagers be like 95% of your coworkers is so fucking irritating

[yurislotusgarden]

Hello there, are still open for some requests ?

If you are, may I request some platonic short fic for Dazai, in a story where Dazai and reader (female) are hanging out or having fun together at a Cat Cafe. So reader is having a bad day and Dazai decided to cheer reader up by taking her to the Cat Cafe

Some small information, Reader is Dazai’s younger sister in the story, and she lives together with Dazai, but to avoid some misunderstanding they sleeps in a separate bed room

That’s all, thank you, and I hope you have a lovely day 💐💖💐

Cat Cafe is the solution

ʚїɞ Platonic!Dazai Osamu x Reader

ʚїɞ Keep in mind English is not my first language, so there may be mistakes!

ʚїɞ Word count: 927

ʚїɞ I don't like this one too much, it sucks compared to my other works (in my opinion). I do not know why I struggled with this one so much since I never struggled with writing platonic fics??? We are also gonna ignore that I didn't post anything for almost a month :)

ʚїɞ Tw's: None! reader's gender is said to be female from one "little sister but otherwise I didn't write anything else about the gender (I didn't even notice help)

A knock on the door to your room caused you to pry your eyes away from the book you were reading. Looking up, in the doorway was standing none other than your annoying, yet beloved older brother, Dazai Osamu.

“Do you need anything?” You asked looking over at the clock on your nightstand. 14:52 (2:52 pm), an hour Dazai still should be at his job, but it’s normal for him to randomly come back to the small agency apartment you two live in. “And shouldn’t you be in the agency? Kunikida is gonna scold you again” 

“We’re going out!” You get dismissed, but you ignore that fact due to your confusion. “Huh? Where?” “That’s a surprise!” You sighed. Of course, the brunette wouldn’t tell you, what did you expect? Before you could react, the brunette came up to you, grabbed your wrist, and pulled gently until you stood up from your bed where you were sitting, the book falling onto the bed. You just hope the page you were on wasn’t lost.

“C’mon! N/n, we need to go before Kunikida realizes where I went” Oh, so you weren’t fully dismissed earlier.

“Why did you even randomly decide to take me somewhere?” “Oh why, It’s my duty as your older brother  to make your day better, little sister!” How did he even know your day was shit even without talking much with you today? You won’t question it, you gave up on that years ago.

////////////////////////////////

“Cat cafe?” 

Here are the two of you standing in front of a small cafe which you quickly noticed to be a cat cafe to be specific. If you remember correctly, the cafe opened only 2 weeks prior, you’re not gonna hide you wanted to go here with what you heard about this place.

“Yeah, Yosano-sensei told me that you talked about this place last week in one of your guys' gossip talks” “Wha- She said she won’t tell you!”

The ‘gossip talks’ as named by Dazai, aren’t really only for that -even tho gossip is the thing that is mostly talked about at those meets- but just talking about random things with a little alcohol… no one needs to know about the other part.

“She didn’t want to tell me absolutely anything until I bribed her with something that will hurt my wallet a lot”

“You mean Kunikida-kun’s wallet”

“I don’t know what you are talking about” 

You think that maybe you should buy something for Kunikida for putting up with your brother’s bullshit all the time, maybe a new pen? Or pay for one of his meals? Maybe- And there you go being dragged again, this time into the cafe itself instead.

////////////////////

The interior was welcoming when the two entered the cafe, the bell above the door jingling, alerting the workers that more customers arrived. The beige and brown walls made it seem homely and comfortable. The cold air from the AC was gently blowing on you and the brunette, instantly cooling both of you down from the warm fall air. Since the cafe was fairly empty at this time, you and Dazai went to sit down at a booth in the far left corner by a window after ordering drinks. You could hear quiet music playing from the speakers in the cafe after listening a little more closely.

“Do you even know anything about cats?” You started a conversation knowing that your brother may start something that will get you kicked out of the calm place. The safer option is to start it yourself.

“I do! Quite a lot actually!”

“I don’t believe you. Why would you know anything besides the basics? Look at you.”

“I’m taking the last part as a compliment. But! To answer your doubts, searching stuff up between work is much more entertaining.”

“What work? You mean sitting in the office and annoying Kunikida-kun until he’s close to having an aneurysm?” A fake offended gasp came from the brunette, as you expected.

“I’ll have you know that I work very hard every day!”

“You being late every day and paperwork being given to Atsushi-kun speaks something different!”

“Do you want me to prove that I know a lot?” Dazai leaned onto his arms on the table.

“Do it.”

Surprisingly, he indeed knows a lot more than you expected. Is that what he does when he isn’t jumping into rivers? Searching up stuff about cats? Why does he know all that stiff if he never did and still doesn’t own a cat?

////////////////////

“You thought that my bad mood will disappear just because we came here?” It was over 15 minutes before you remembered why were you even in the cafe in the first place.

“Of course! We both know my ideas don’t fail!”

You were going to say how coming here won’t magically fix your mood, that it doesn’t work like that,  but that was your thought before 2 of the cafe cats decided you’re the perfect person to bother. One cat -who you heard didn’t even like people that much and normally just sits in random places to evade people- is casually lying on your lap and accepting pets like it’s normal for him, and then there’s the other one who’s sitting beside you in a way that you have no option to put your hand comfortably to the side, therefore, resulting in you petting that one too.

A chuckle came from the older who unlike you didn’t have any cat anywhere near him. “You were saying?”

“Shut. I at least have cats that like me”

Notes, comments, reblogs and anything else is greatly appreciated <3

[woah-were-halfway-there]

Mia’s First Game

A/N: as requested, here’s the little blurb that I originally was going to post the other day but didn’t. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Word Count: 2.2k

With Mia being born at the end of January and the Leafs' season getting cut short at the beginning of May that year after a brief playoff run, she still hadn't been to a game. She was only three months old when the season finished, and although the thought of taking her to one of the games definitely crossed your mind, with how she was in the routine of falling asleep around 7pm every night, it just wasn't possible. However, as summer came and went, you knew you'd be taking Mia to her first NHL game to watch her dad once the season started back up again, and you were pretty excited about it.

The original plan was to take Mia to the Saturday game after the first home game of the season that took place earlier in the week. Auston's family was flying into Toronto on the Friday, so you and Mia would go to the game with them the following evening. However, shortly after Auston left to head down to SBA for the home-opener, that changed.

While talking on the phone with Steph, who was getting ready with a couple of the other wives and girlfriends of players, you became convinced not to spend your night at home. The girls booked a booth at SBA to all get-together and watch the game as a way to celebrate the new season starting, and of course, you and Mia were invited. But you kept declining because you were so set on attending Saturday's game, although you really had no reason not to go to both.

At eight months old, Mia was full of energy, and you knew she'd have a ton of fun hanging out with the other girls that she's come to know, all while cheering on Auston and the rest of the guys. You weren't sure why you didn't agree to just go in the first place regardless of whether you'd have to leave a little early and take Mia home, but the more you talked to Steph, the more you became convinced that you should.

However, with you being, well, you, there was no way you were going to start getting ready without talking to Auston's family first, seeing as you knew they were excited about going to the game with Mia on Saturday. They immediately told you not to worry about them and to go have fun with your friends, but not without mentioning how they'd be watching for Auston's reaction to one he realized you and Mia were there.

The thought of seeing your husband's surprised expression after noticing that his two girls were at the game made you smile, and you became even more excited as you quickly packed up your things, then grabbed Mia and left to go over and get ready at Steph and Mitch's place.

About two hours later, you and Mia were all dressed in your matching Matthews jerseys and were ready to go. It was great catching up with all the other wives and girlfriends that you hadn't gotten to see since your wedding at the end of July because after that, you got sucked into everything involved with moving from the downtown condo to your new house. You also met and welcomed some of the new girls that recently moved to Toronto with their man for the new season as well, all of whom were lovely.

Mia was having a great time too, and just by seeing how happy she was, you knew that you made the right call about going to the game. But, soon enough, it was time to go. After the whole group took some pictures in their jerseys, including Steph stealing Mia for some pics with her goddaughter, you all headed downtown together so you could watch your guys in action.

Upon arriving at the arena, your whole group went to the suite that was booked out for you girls to drop off your things, then you, Mia, and Steph headed to the Platinum Club so the three of you could be let up to the glass one warmups started. You chatted with a worker who was going to escort the three of you to the rinkside just as the Leafs took to the ice, as Mia babbled away in your arms and took in her surroundings.

Soon enough, the team was announced, and the crowd started going wild. You and Steph then followed the worker down the hall and walked right up the glass before waiting and watching as the guys took the ice. You could hear fans nearby talking and mentioning pointing out that Auston's wife and daughter were there, which made you a little nervous because Mia has never really been so in the public eye before. But, your nerves soon melted away.

"Mom, they're wearing Matthews jerseys like us," You heard a small voice speak up, then glanced over to where two kids were sitting with their parents. The little girl appeared to be maybe six or seven. Meanwhile, her brother seemed a bit younger. With how she was glancing up at who you assumed was her mom, obviously looking for a response, you knew that she was the one who mentioned the jerseys.

"Yes, honey," the mother replied. "That's Auston's family. They're here to watch the game just like we are."

Your heart swelled so much watching their interaction, and you could feel yourself getting a little emotional because of it. Steph chuckled slightly as she watched you but also had to admit that it was all pretty cute too.

Then another voice spoke up.

"Is this your little one's first game?" An older man who was sitting in the row behind the family asked you.

"It is," you confirmed with a smile, then glanced down at your daughter. "Except we decided to come last minute, so her dad doesn't even know we're here yet. Can you say hi, Mia?"

Mia squealed in response, then got all smiley, which made those sitting nearby laugh and awe a bit at just how cute she was.

"Your daughter is beautiful," a different woman stated, making you feel even more emotional than before.

"Thank you," you responded. "I still haven't fully accepted the fact that she looks more like Auston than she does me, but I'll get over it."

"Speaking of Auston, here he comes," said another person, but you didn't even get the chance to see who because you were turning back around to face the rink just as your husband skated down from centre ice and took a shot on net.

He scored, then skated over to the boards a little bit behind the net to where Mitch, John and Willy were all standing. They talked for a few seconds before Will's gaze drifted in your direction until he spotted you, Steph and Mia, a smile stretching across his mouth as he did so.

Will then nudged both Auston and Mitch, then pointed to where you were standing so they could see too.

Upon locking eye contact with you, Auston's face lit right up, and it wasn't long before he and Mitchy were both skating over to the corner.

There was no way the two of you would've been able to hear each other through the glass, so instead, Auston gave you a look as he approached, showing that he was surprised to see you there. He also expressed that he wasn't mad about it as he winked at you and grinned cheekily.

Once the two guys reached the glass, they started waving at Mia, and much to your surprise, she immediately recognized them even in all their hockey gear.

"Da-da," she said and then reached towards the glass. Acting fast, you shifted her in your hold and lifted her so that she'd stand on the little ledge around the boards and be face to face with Auston. "Da-da!"

Mia's smile grew even wider as she stared at her dad and banged on the glass a little bit while he waved at her and blew her kisses. You then looked at your cousin as he stood next to your husband and couldn't help but smile at how he was smiling so widely as he watched Mia and Auston.

Mitch then looked at you and gave you a knowing look as if to say you better not leave before he gets the chance to see his goddaughter after the game. You nodded in understanding, which made his smile grow even wider.

However, soon enough, the moment had to come to an end because Auston and Mitch both had a game to play. It wasn't until then that you noticed the Leafs photographer only a few feet away as well and knew that he had just captured that little moment forever.

Auston and Mitchy then waved bye to you, Mia and Steph before going back to the rest of the team to finish up their warmups and get ready to start the game.

Mark, the team photographer, then approached the three of you to show you the images he took. There was one of you holding Mia while facing the fans with your backs to the camera that showcased your Matthews jerseys, another of you, Mia and Steph, all standing together looking very happy as you waited for your guys. And then the last one, which was probably your favourite, was a closeup of Mia and Auston as they smiled at each other through the glass, then had you in the background looking at the two of them and smiling fondly. It was adorable, and Mark assured that he'd send the pictures to you and Auston once he edited them.

After that, the three of you headed back to the booth, but not without saying bye to the Leafs fans you chatted with and told them you hoped they enjoyed the game.

Everyone welcomed you back excitedly at the suite before you all settled in and got ready to watch your guys play their first game of the season.

The Leafs ended up winning, which had the energy in the arena feeling insane but in the best way possible. On top of it, Auston scored two of the goals, which helped result in the team's 4-3 victory over Calgary.

By the end of the game, Mia was very tired. However, she wasn't getting fussy. She just continued fighting so hard to keep her eyes open and enjoyed her time being around people she was comfortable within this entirely new setting.

As everyone began clearing out of their seats, your whole group went back down to the Platinum Club and waited for the guys. Steph carried Mia all the way there, but after a few minutes, Mia began reaching for you because whenever she got exhausted, she only wanted her parents and would become overly snuggly.

Once you took her from Steph, she immediately clung to you and leaned against your shoulder while you assured her that you'd be going home very soon.

A few minutes later, the guys started filing into the waiting area, all happy to see their significant others and families as they greeted them after their big win. As you waited for Auston, you spotted Mitchy first, and he wasted no time coming over to say hi to Mia but was also very respectful of the fact that she was exasperated.

Not long after that, Auston entered the room and smiled so wide again once he laid eyes on you and Mia.

"There's my girls," he greeted happily as he approached the two of you, then took Mia from your hold, awing as she let out a yawn and immediately snuggled against him. "You tired, mini?"

"She's very tired, but she's trying hard to stay awake at the moment," you explained, then smiled as Auston wrapped his other arm around your waist and pulled you in for a kiss.

"And how are you feeling, baby mama? This was your first big night out with Mia, and I must say, you both sure made my night by being here."

You rolled your eyes at his baby mama comment but couldn't help the blush that burned your cheeks at the rest of what he said.

"You're making it sound like I don't have a life, babe. But I'm good. Really glad I decided to bring Mia out tonight. We had a lot of fun, didn't we, sweet girl?"

Mia didn't respond. You didn't expect her to, especially with her minimal vocabulary. Instead, she mindlessly brought her hand up to her mouth and began sucking on it, then using her other hand to rub her cheek. She'd been teething like crazy lately, and those actions were what she did when her mouth was beginning to bother her.

You and Auston looked at each other knowingly after that because you both knew how if she were in discomfort, mixed with how she was already so exhausted, things would get real messy real soon. So, without even having to agree on it, you both started saying your goodbyes and headed home.

Deep down, you knew that night would probably be a little rough with Mia and trying to get her to sleep comfortably, but you weren't worried. You were so content and knew that Mia also had a good night out, so it was worth it. And besides, you didn't have to do it alone. Auston was there too, he wasn't going anywhere, and you knew you'd get through whatever else your little family needed to face together.

[foilfreak]

Beauty and Her Beast: Chapter 7 (aka the ‘big boobie vampire mommy’ and ’mutant servant girl that is very horny for her’ chapter)

WARNING PLZ READ BEFORE CONTINUING: This fic is rated NSFW and contains graphic depictions of things some people may find disturbing or alarming, including, but not limited to: violence, gore, unhealthy family relationships, Oedipus complexes, gratuitous amount of pornographic literature, ableist language, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, etc. If you are someone who does not enjoy fiction with these elements in them, then I suggest you refrain from reading this, because this fic will have all that, and probably a lot more. So, this is your first and final warning to turn around and go somewhere else if stuff like this just isn't your vibe, because from this point forward, your emotional wellbeing is in your own hands, and I will not be accepting blame if you disregarded my warnings and ended up reading something you didn't like. Idk why I feel compelled to write one of these despite this being Resident Evil fanfic, but I figured I'd cover my ass just in case.

(AO3 link below:)

“Good evening, sir. Is there something I can assist you with, tonight? It’s quite late, and my mistress has already retired for the evening due to the strenuous nature of today’s events, so while I’m sure the good Lady Dimitrescu won’t be too terribly displeased if you’ve come with urgent news that requires her immediate attention, I’m afraid anything outside the realm of absolute importance will have to wait until morning, when my mistress will be better rested and therefore better able to address whatever concern you’ve brought” The low and smooth voice of an older teenage girl said, staring slightly downward at Salvatore with a level of such blank indifference that he would have wondered if the girl hadn’t seen him had she not outright greeted him upon opening the door.

With piercing red eyes, dark skin and long, black curls tied up neatly and carefully into two thick buns on either side of the top of her head, and dressed in a pretty, but still practical dress, the older teen looked every bit as much the role of a dignified estate’s head servant as she acted, right down to the pencil straight stiffness of her body. Despite how uncomfortable the stiff position looked to Salvatore, the subtly bold way she carried herself did give the older teen an air of confidence and reliability, however what it didn’t do was answer the multitude of questions flying around in Salvatore’s head about who she was, and more importantly, where she came from.

And then it hit him.

“Y-you’re… Alcina’s g-gift… aren’t y-you?” Salvatore asks aloud, though seemingly more to himself than the girl standing in front of him. Said girl furrows her brows in confusion for a moment before huffing in, what appeared to be, mild offense. Though what on earth Salvatore could have done to offend the young teen, he had absolutely no idea.

“I have no idea what you mean when talking about these so called “gifts”, however I think it's important for you to know that I am a very busy woman with a great many things to do, so if this is all some kind of sick game you’re playing to waste my time then I’m going to have to politely ask that you take your rotten whale behind and go throw yourself into the nearest body of-”

“Anastasia?” a low, feminine voice booms from somewhere behind the older teen standing before him. The girl immediately stiffens, her skin around her nose and cheeks darkening even further, her eyes growing wide and her breath catching in her throat as she turns around. Immediately abandoning Salvatore at the still open front door, the young servant clumsily made her way further into the room before disappearing out of the narrow view the hooded man had been given of the castle through the crack in the door.

Taking a step forward and opening the door enough to slip inside, making sure to close it securely behind him, Salvatore lingered along the walls of the room, merely observing the events before him unfold as the young girl, Anastasia, quickly moved to stand in the center of the circular design on the floor of the entrance hall. Waiting for her on the landing at the top of the stairs was none other than the lady of the house herself, Alcina Dimitrescu, standing as tall, proud, and intimidating as Salvatore last remembers, though it would appear that the disfigured man’s fear of the much larger woman was not shared amongst everyone in the room.

“Y-yes Lady Dimitrescu! Is there something I can do for you this evening, my Lady?” Anastasia asks, hands clasped together in front of her and eyes blown wide at the gargantuan woman leering from above, like a lovesick puppy dog waiting for a command from its beloved owner. Eager to perform. Eager to please.

“Why yes, my sweet, I was just wondering what on earth all that racket was and if it could wait until morning to be finished? The girls and I have had quite the taxing day and I do so wish to retire to the sound of peace and quiet” Alcina coos warmly, causing Salvatore to pause in confusion.

“Oh goodness, I apologize, mistress. It’s just that there was a visitor at the door and despite my repeated attempts to convince him to come back when you were rested, he insisted upon making a nuisance of himself. Please forgive me if my attempts to preserve your restful evening were for naught” the girl said sadly, bowing deeply in apology as she continued to speak.

Alcina practically purrs in delight at the teen’s polite, but genuine behavior. “Fear not, my dear, I had only just taken off my earrings when I heard the commotion. I came out here merely to see if things were getting out of control, but it would appear as though you’ve handled things perfectly.”

The girlish blush on Anastasia’s face only darkens in color as the young teen casts her adoring gaze to the floor, joyous glee from having been praised by her mistress evident all over the younger girl’s body.

Not wanting to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary, especially if this is what he’d have to witness the whole time, Salvatore gathers all of his strength and uses it to clear his throat and take a step forward, revealing himself to both women as he gingerly comes out into the light.

“YOU!” Anastasia yells, immediately turning on her heel and making a beeline toward the increasingly anxious Salvatore. “So not only have you made enough of a nuisance of yourself to disturb the lovely Lady Dimitrescu just as she’s about to retire and rest from a very long and taxing day, but now you’ve decided that you’re so above everyone else that you can just waltz right into someone else’s home without even the slightest hint of respect or admiration for the incredible woman living in it, how dare you be so crash and selfish you overcooked blowfish, exit this castle immediately, or I’ll shove my boot so far up your rear end you’ll be fishing around for it for weeks you-”

“Anastasia, calm yourself, dear” the loud, but calming sound of Alcina’s voice said, causing the young teen to pause in her angry scolding of Salvatore.

“My Lady?” The young teen asks, dutifully awaiting orders.

“Let the wretched man inside, he’s the furthest thing from a threat to us, even if he is an annoying little manthing. Although, I’d be lying if I said a visit from you at this hour of night is something I’ve come to expect of you, dearest elder brother.”

The disfigured man swallowed thickly as he stepped past Anastasia to fully face his other younger sister, who looked all the more intimidating from her looming perch upon the upper story.

“I-I know this is s-sudden…” Salvatore begins, hoping he’d at least be able to explain himself before Alcina tossed him back outside on his ass.

“I’ll certainly say” Anastasia bursts in angrily, but she’s quickly silenced and sent away to tend to her other duties by Alcina, who motions for Salvatore to ascend the large set of stairs leading up to the rest of the castle and join her on the landing for a moment.

“Spunky little thing, isn’t she?” Alcina says when Salvatore finally makes it to the top of the stairs, panting slightly as he follows the much taller mutant’s gaze to the door that Anastasia had just exited the room from.

“Th-that’s certainly… one way… o-of putting it” Salvatore stutters, not wanting to offend Alcina by calling her servant rude, but clearly not seeing what’s so great about someone who just yells at you a lot the second you walk through the door.

“Yes! She apparently received a strain of cadou that was quite similar to mine, however her need to consume blood to maintain herself is far more similar to that of leeches. Rather than having to consume it regularly in smaller doses, like myself, she’ll only require one feeding every few weeks or so, which I thought was quite interesting. The only issues Mother Miranda brought up was the fact that her hunger, if it gets bad enough, can trigger both her transformation, as well as some sort of feral and animalistic meltdown that only ends once she’s finally had her fill. Apparently more than a few villagers were lost in the process of learning this information” Alcina comments casually, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Mother only brought her over earlier today, just before dinner, and yet she’s already managed to carve quite the little space for herself here. I hadn’t realized how dirty this place was without any girls left to take from the village until she went through and washed all the walls in the west wing spotless. It was like night and day, I could hardly believe how open and bright the halls looked” Alcina stated.

“W-wow… so th-then… d-do you think y-you’ll keep her a-around… long term?” Salvatore asks curiously, craning his neck so he could get a better look at his sister’s face.

“Perhaps. I’m certainly thinking about it. Not only is she an incredibly hard and fast worker, but she’s also got such a lovely spark of energy and excitement to her, and she’s always very polite and respectful, if a bit obvious in her “admiration” of those she looks up to… not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily. It’s quite sweet, actually!”

“S-she did look… q-quite taken… by y-you” Salvatore comments, having noticed the girl’s far-too-eager-to-be-innocent disposition when Alcina was in the room, vs. when it was just him. Not that it was a terribly surprising turn of events. Alcina, for all her monstrous height and sheer mutant bulk, was still a very beautiful, and very desirable woman at the end of the day, meanwhile Salvatore was only about 2 rolls of the genetic dice away from sharing a more recent common ancestor with the blobfish than he did humans.

“I know, isn’t she adorable? She came exactly like this, too. Mother Miranda has no idea if this is a result of the mutation process or if it's merely her former personality finally returning now that she’s awake and out of containment, but I suppose the logistics of things aren’t really important in the end. I'm so glad I chose her over the other two, I don’t know what I would have done had such a promising and delectable little morsel like her go to waste on the rest of you imbeciles” Alcina coos in amusement. “Regardless of what Mother Miranda said however, I was almost certain this whole “gift” situation was going to be nothing more than a pile of useless drivel that I’d be left to clean up all on my own once the novelty wore off, however after having Anastasia here for these past few hours, and seeing all that she’s willing and capable of doing, I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps I’d been too hasty in my final decision.”

“Funny… K-Karl thought m-much the… th-the same thing i-initially… w-when I t-talked to him… th-the other day… th-though… knowing him… I doubt h-he’s having q-quite as much… of a ch-change of heart… as you a-are” Salvatore said suddenly, more than anything due to the incredible shock that was the concept of Alcina and Karl sharing a similar opinion, at the same time, while both occupying the same dimension of reality.

Alcina’s face immediately turns sour at the mention of Karl. “Oh, did he now? That’s an unfortunate thing to learn,” she says in annoyance, clearly displeased by the notion of agreeing with Karl on anything.

“Y-yes… he… he th-thinks that maybe… M-Mother might b-be using the g-gifts… to d-distract us w-while she’s g-gone away… o-on her mission… b-but that maybe… sh-she also wants… s-something else out of a-all this… something… th-that she isn’t t-telling us… f-for some reason” Salvatore explains, unsure if he should be revealing all this information to Alcina, notorious and open critic of Karl and quite literally everything the younger man has ever done and said, is doing and saying, and will do and say sometime in the span of his chaotic lifespan.

Contrary to what Salvatore assumed, however, instead of looking bored and uninterested in what Karl thought about this whole situation, Alcina looked just the slightest bit… intrigued, if still clearly wary. “Really? And what, pray tell, does our dear sweet little brother Heisenberg believe will come of this whole situation then? Did he say?”

“H-he… he never m-mentioned anything s-specific… but he th-thinks that the g-gifts… might p-play a l-larger role… in all th-this… than M-Mother has been l-leading us to believe.”

“I see,” Alcina says, remaining silent for a moment as she thinks, looking almost concerned by what she’s heard. “And what do you think of this whole mess, Salvatore?”

“U-um… well… I-I think it’s nice… th-that Mother trusts us e-enough… to g-give us her p-previous experiments… and u-use them however w-we want… b-but I’d be l-lying if I s-said… that I d-didn’t think Karl… was o-onto something… I-I don’t know w-what I believe to be t-true a-at the moment… but I d-do know… th-that I’d like t-to give… g-give a gift of m-my own… to Nadine… and that… and that y-you might be… s-someone else who c-could help me… w-with that” the hooded man explains nervously, hoping that Alcina was in a good enough mood to feel like humoring him and his sudden request.

“Nadine?” The tall, pale woman asks in confusion, before suddenly nodding in understanding. “Ah, your gift…”

Salvatore nods. “D-Donna… is f-fashioning a n-new dress… for her… a-and even gave me… this b-beautiful nightgown… to hold h-her over until… until the real one is c-complete. I th-think she w-will… e-enjoy the nightgown b-but… but I’d like to… l-like to get her something else t-too… like a… like a necklace… a-a gold one… o-one that w-would… c-complement her skin tone… j-just right.”

Alcina briefly stares at Salvatore with a blank expression, momentarily making the hooded man worry that he’d overstepped his boundaries and said something to offend the much larger woman. His nerves are thankfully calmed when Alcina turns and orders Salvatore to follow after her, which the disfigured man happily does if it means what he thinks it means.

The two siblings arrive at Alcina’s personal chambers just as Anastasia is exiting them, her arms filled by a large basket of blood soaked towels and clothes, some collected from Alcina’s room, the others likely from either Bela, Cassandra, or Daniela’s rooms.

“Good evening, Lady Dimitrescu! Are you finally retiring for the evening?” Anastasia asks, bowing cheerfully as she finally notices her mistress approaching her. “I’ve already gone ahead and prepared your bed for you, as well as collected all the soiled laundry from today’s harvest. Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?”

“Thank you, my dear, but not quite, I have one more matter to attend to before I fully turn in. Since you were so kind to offer however, I would greatly appreciate it if, once Lord Moreau and I are finished with our affairs, you would be so kind as to escort him to the front door and bid him a good night, for me. You are free to retire to your own chambers for the evening once he’s left” Alcina orders softly, which the young girl obediently nods her head to.

“Of course, mistress, thank you very much! And I’d be happy to see Lord Moreau out for you, so please don’t hesitate to call me once you’re finished with your meeting” Anastasia says, bowing lowly to both Alcina and Salvatore before wordlessly skittering off to do… whatever it was she planned on doing to those dirty garments.

“Now, about that gift you were talking about” Alcina says upon entering her personal bedroom, immediately striding over to her vanity and beginning to sift through several boxes worth of jewelry, “you said you wanted gold, correct? And a necklace specifically?”

“Y-yes! I-if you have anything y-you’re willing to… g-give away… of course… I’d feel t-terrible taking something i-if it meant a g-great deal to you” Salvatore answers, standing awkwardly in the doorway as he waits for Alcina to return to him with whatever she finds.

Of all 3 of his siblings, Alcina was the one Salvatore was easily the least close to, despite having been the only two around for a considerable amount of time before the eventual arrivals of both Donna and then Karl. It wasn’t that Salvatore was displeased when Mother Miranda first informed him that he’d be getting a “sibling” all those years ago, but Alcina’s natural personality, coupled with her terrifying size and strength from the mutations, had made the very meek and timid Salvatore hesitant to reach out and form any kind of sibling bond with the younger woman, like he had with Karl.

Karl was a royal pain in the ass to deal with on even his best days, but at the end of it all, there’s still only so much a 6 year old can do to you, anger issues and mutant metal bending powers or not. Alcina was both a royal pain in the ass to deal with more often than not, but also a fully grown adult when she first joined the family, so needless to say the 2 oldest siblings hadn’t been given very many appropriately opportune moments to bond or get along.

That being said however, the simple but elegant golden locket that Alcina procures from one of her many boxes of jewelry has Salvatore wondering if maybe he had misjudged Alcina, having never expected her to show him something as luxurious and real-looking as this, especially when the understanding was that she’d be giving it away whatever item of jewelry Salvatore took a liking to.

“This is an old locket I received for my 3rd birthday from a relative who died long before I was old enough to care about who they were, though all those diamond star details on the front do make me think they could have been close with us at one point, or perhaps they just had that much money to throw around? It’s an old and well-loved piece of my collection, but Duke has been bringing back such wonderful treasures from his travels that I just have to start getting rid of some of these old sentimental trinkets so I can make room for all the new additions I plan on purchasing once he finally returns” Alcina explains, gingerly handing the necklace over to Salvatore, who could do nothing but gawk at how extravagant and, to be perfectly honest, expensive the necklace looked.

With 4 small diamonds, likely real knowing Alcina, embedded into the surface of the locket’s front cover, surrounded by small engravings that give the glimmering stones the appearance of stars in the night sky, the necklace looked like it belonged upon the neck of a fair and noble princess, into which the radiant beauty could then place the photo of the man who’d stollen her innocent heart. Nadine wasn’t actually a princess and Salvatore all but gagged at the idea of a picture of his face, mutated or not, being put somewhere for anyone to see, however the necklace was far too perfect for the hooded man to possibly turn it down.

“So what do you think? Will something like this do?” The taller woman asks, curiously. “I could continue looking if that isn’t quite what you’re after, however if that is the case, then I would like to politely request that you come back and look at them tomorrow. It's already so late and I’d have to have the rest of my collection fetched from the vault downstairs.”

“N-no no… th-that’s alright… this i-is perfect… thank y-you… Alcina… this w-was very k-kind of you to do… f-for me” Salvatore says, carefully tucking the glittering necklace into the bag Donna had placed the nightgown in.

“Don’t fret about it too much, I only did it because I had a bit of time to spare prior to going to bed, and you happened to catch me in a good mood. That’s it” Alcina states firmly, though something in the back of Salvatore’s head can’t help but take the taller woman’s words with a grain of salt, feeling as though there was more to Alcina’s sudden generosity than just pure coincidence. “Besides, who knows what gaudy thing you’d have shown up with had you not made the surprisingly wise decision to invoke Donna’s and my vastly superior knowledge of the feminine experience. I don’t even want to think of what tacky little trinket you’d have tried to gift her. Why the thought of that alone is enough to make me want to run for the hills, how on earth do you think your poor little gift would have felt? I’d have had to murder you on the spot if I found out you tried to pass some disgusting pile of garbage off as an appropriate gift. In fact, if I didn’t know that Donna was working on a more fitting dress for her already, I’d have half a mind to skin you alive for only having a flimsy nightgown to take back with you, but I doubt any of the dresses I have, that would be appropriate to wear with that kind of necklace anyways, would come close to fitting her, and I really do want to start making room for some newer, more exciting pieces. So, with all that in mind, count your blessings that the stars have aligned in your favor tonight, dear brother, because I won’t be doing this for you again… unless, you’d be willing to do me a few favors in exchange for some of the other pieces of my collection, that is.”

Aaaaaaaaaaand there’s the Alcina that Salvatore knows and secretly likes. In vehement denial that she feels anything positive for her 3 siblings and also actively trying to get someone else to do her dirty work for her. It's certainly not how the hooded man prefers to operate, but he supposes that if Alcina can somehow convince everyone around her to do all of her work for her, why wouldn’t she take advantage of that as much as possible?

“I-I think that’s e-enough… for t-tonight actually… maybe i-if I decide I’d l-like to get her s-something else… I’ll c-consider that offer y-you brought up” Salvatore says, bowing politely to his sister as he makes his desire to leave obvious.

Thankfully, Alcina seems more than happy to send her older brother on his way, calling Anastasia to come lead Salvatore back to the front door so he could finally begin making his way home.

“Th-thank you again… Alcina… I really a-appreciate this… an-and I'm sure Nadine w-will love the gift t-too” Salvatore says just as he’s about to bid Alcina goodnight and begin following the young servant girl.

“Yes, yes, you’re very grateful of my wondrous kindness to you, I know, you’ve made that fact more than clear already, brother” the taller woman says with an only mildly annoyed roll of her eyes as she stands just outside the door to her chambers. “Just make sure you don’t waste the opportunity my graciousness has afforded you, do you understand?”

Salvatore stiffens nervously as Alcina shoots him a pointed look that screams ‘don’t fuck this up or I’ll fuck you up’, a threat which the hooded man knows she’ll make good on, should Salvatore make it necessary for her to do so. Salvatore wasn’t sure how Alcina had picked up on the nature of his budding affections for Nadine so quickly, or how she seemed to instinctively know what he was planning despite having never asked directly, but clearly she’d noticed something and was now in the process of making the matter of whether Salvatore successfully courted his gift her business.

Heavens above have mercy upon whomever is unlucky enough to have their problematic situation noticed and meddled with by Alcina Dimitrescu.

“Y-yes… I u-understand… an-and I’ll be s-sure not to w-waste... waste the g-golden opportunity you’ve g-given me… OH! An-and Donna w-wants her mannequins b-back... too… sh-she wanted m-me to tell y-you” Salvatore replies, his anxiety only mildly calmed when Alcina makes a face at the mention of Donna’s yet-to-be-returned-still mannequins.

“Oh for goodness sakes, I always forgot about those stupid things. Anastasia?”

“Yes, Mistress?” The young servant dutifully answers.

“Please make a note to remind me to have Heisenberg come by so he can collect and return the manequins Donna leant me while I was commissioning some dresses from her earlier this month. That foul-mouthed mutt owes me a favor, and so if all goes the way I’d like I’ll be making this his problem in the morning” Alcina says devilishly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Of course, Lady Dimitrescu, I’ll be sure to remind you of that first thing tomorrow morning” Anastasia replies warmly, though her amicable grin is quickly replaced by a flush and a girlish giggle when Alcina waves and turns on her heel, swaying her hips in an obvious fashion before bending down to enter through the door of her chambers.

Salvatore passed exceptionally confused glances back and forth between his sister and the young servant standing in front of him, totally clueless as to what just unfolded a moment ago as a feeling of disgust, the kind you get when you see something you wish you hadn’t, began to curl in the pit of his stomach. Whatever it was that was going on in the Dimitrescu house, and more importantly with their new servant girl, it was clearly none of Salvatore’s business. Not that he’d wanted it to be in the first place.

Salvatore had enough problems to deal with regarding his own gift, he didn’t have time to worry about whether or not Alcina was already making moves on hers.

“Have a safe journey home, and do make sure to stop by with Nadine if things turn out well between the two of you. Based on how today played out, it would seem as though things are about to get a lot more interesting around here… and a lot more fun too. Goodnight, Dear Brother” is all Alcina says before gently closing the door to her chambers, effectively ending their conversation without so much as a single word from Salvatore, not that he minded being handed the chance to finally get out of here, especially after… whatever the hell that exchange between Alcina and Anastasia was.

Best not to think too hard about it, probably, especially when there was another woman back at the reservoir who was much more deserving of Salvatore’s lustful and impure musings.

“Uuum… the front door is this way… Lord Moreau,” Anastasia says suddenly, her face still dark from embarrassment, though whether it was from her earlier treatment of him before she learned he was another Lord and not just some random man from the village, or from… that thing he just saw that he doesn’t feel like thinking about anymore, the hooded man couldn’t tell.

Nor did he particularly care to find out.

[citydreamgrls]

they were roommates - part six

a weasley twins x fem!reader fic

summary: she had nowhere to go, fleeing home to pursue something along the lines of freedom, so being welcomed into the entrepreneurial twins life was a whole world of new experiences waiting to happen.

an: i apologise for how long it has taken me to update this series, i promise it has not been forgotten. after all the lovely messages complimenting this series, i wanted to make each new part just as perfect for you all so i’ve been dwelling over decisions etc... also! thank you, omg omg, for 900 followers, it’s mental it’s obscene, i genuinely squealed out loud when i saw. also thank you to everyone who continues to support my work, you are all my lifeline, hope you enjoy, love always <333

words: 4,436

It was late, but Fred couldn’t for the life of him shut off the constant flow of thoughts that plagued his mind as he laid awake in bed. That and the drilling sound of rain on the loft’s roof forced him to get up and pace around the kitchen while he waited for the kettle to boil.

With an old tea-stained between his two hands, the man perched on the back of the sofa to get a better view of muggle London's skyline. It hadn’t been until the girl had pointed out it’s beauty that he really stopped to give it a good look. Now since then he had discovered a newfound peace in watching the little cars run along the road, the twinkling lights ever changing and moving around. It was like the stars.

Fred had presumed the girl had slipped in earlier, knowing that he wouldn’t have heard it from all the way at the top of the building, so jumped quite a bit when the door to the loft opened behind him.

The girl seemed just as surprised to see him awake at such an odd hour, taking a step back in hesitation, her heels echoing on the wooden floorboards. Her hair was damp from the rain, but she still looked just as beautiful as when she left. As perfect as when he’d first seen her behind the bar at the leaky cauldron all those months ago.

“Can’t sleep?” She asked, kicking off her shoes and tiptoeing over to him with a small smile. He nodded, letting her settle herself beside him in a similar position. Her eyes lit up at the sight before them both, the orange glow reflecting onto her slightly flushed cheeks.

“Good night?” He braved, fearing the answer.

“It was… nice.” They nodded together, neither one of them sure of how to approach the subject of dating older brothers.

The silence grew on them, that previous tension rippling away as y/n rested her head on Fred’s shoulder. No doubt giving herself the chance to fully think over the last twenty four hours.

“It was just nice.” She finally sighed, her cold hands playing about with the hem of her dress.

“Really?” Fred was genuinely caught off guard by this, thinking back to how happy the girl and Bill had seemed together. The way both of them just clicked, it had to have worked out, right?

“Don’t get me wrong he’s lovely, and a true gentleman, but it was just that-” The man watched her face as she spoke, her eyes never leaving the lights. The girl knew if she looked over at him that she would break.

“Bill’s always been the perfect one,” Fred laughed lightly, taking a sip of his tea and offering it out to the girl. Her fingertips burnt against the heat of it as she took it, but it wasn’t even noticeable over the thoughts rushing through her head. “I’m surprised, I thought you two were really gonna work.”

Y/n wanted to scream out in frustration, hating the way that she played around with how she felt all because Bill was there and willing when Fred didn’t seem to be.

“So did I, but he just- he… he wasn’t…” Fred “It doesn’t matter.” She finished.

“He wasn’t what?” The man asked.

“It wasn’t what I expected… that’s all.” She lied.

In fact, her date with the older Weasley brother had gone exactly as she had expected it to do so after the break-in. When she finally realised that there was only one person who would risk everything for her, and he had been the one to look after her all day, selflessly.

She went on the date out of courtesy, knowing that it wouldn’t give her the kind of butterflies she got when Fred looked her in the eyes. Nothing else would, that was one thing she knew for certain. She also knew that she wanted to look at him more than anything, but held herself back a little longer.

“He feels the same,” That was true.

“Really? He does?” Fred cursed himself for sounding so excited, but the girl looked none the wiser. She nodded.

“We get on, that’s obvious, but I don’t think it’s anything more than simple attraction.”

The mug got passed between them until it ran dry, the man retreating back to the kitchen to make them another. He knew she had only said yes to stall them a bit longer, there was no way she wanted to go back into her room alone. So if she wanted to stay awake and chat with him a little longer, he would do so, it wasn’t like he was going to drift off anytime soon.

When he brought her a tea of her own she was stood up, facing the window and breathing slow, deep breaths. Not even the sound of the porcelain against the coffee table stirred her.

“Y/n?” He called to her, hushed, but she didn’t move. Fred frowned, walking over carefully as not to spook her. “You okay?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, waiting for a small squeal or a jump. But she was frozen on the spot. “You’re freezing.” He exclaimed, not having felt the way her skin had chilled from the rain.

“Freddie?” She asked, stopping him as he went to fetch her a blanket to warm up in. He stopped, moving closer again, seeing her face glowing orange against the lights once again.

“Yes?”

“Thank you…” It sounded like she was deep in thought, like her words were coming out before her head could even comprehend it.

“What for?” The man was confused, never having seen her zone out this way before.

Her head turned slightly, her glassy eyes meeting his after what felt like years. Fred felt his heart pause for a moment, without his doing, the sight before him was one that he wished to frame in a gallery for all to see. Yet it was just them in this silent moment, one that he longed to last forever.

“Everything…” It was a little more than a whisper, like a gentle plea. Her face leant closer, titing to fit perfectly against his. The man’s breath was stolen away in one brief second, as her lips locked onto his. It felt like seeing the sun after years of being in darkness, in fact, she felt like the warmth of sunlight against his skin as they touched.

Her cool hands reached for his neck, fingertips playing over him like they were dancing. The man sighed out in content, his own body finally kicking in and holding her waist with an intense grip. She felt like heaven, like his angel.

Freddie wanted it to last forever, he wanted her to last forever. But she jumped away, like the man’s lips had shocked her. The girl looked down at her feet, breathing heavily from the lack of air and staring at the floorboards as if they were bearing a message.

“I’m so sorry.” She groaned out. “It’s okay.” He tried to reassure her, but she backed away from him like she didn’t trust herself. That beautiful moment, those stolen moments that he had longed for, looked to be her biggest regret.

“I’m an idiot, god, you must-” “Y/n stop.” He reached out and rubbed the side of her arm carefully, bowing his head to look at her properly. But she didn’t dare look into his eyes again. She couldn’t risk it.

“It’s j-just been a long day,” She sighed, falling back onto the sofa and out of his reach.

She wavered as she spoke, her voice threatening to break into a string of sobs.

“Hey, hey, let’s get you to bed huh?” Fred’s voice was soothing, his smile comforting as he offered out a hand for her to take.

She went with him like a child who needed caring for, her footsteps slow and unbalanced as Fred took her up the small set of stairs to his room. He watched her get into his bed, still dressed in the outfit she’d left the loft in, and bury herself beneath the covers.

“I’ll be on the sofa if you need me,” He told her quietly, waiting by the door. The bedside lamp was still on, but it seemed like the girl wasn’t going to make any moves to change that, so he left it alone.

She nodded in response, her head facing the small window as the rain continued to fall down against it.

“That way if anyone tries to get in, they’ll need to fight me off first.” He joked, a small giggle sounding from the mass amounts of duvet around the girl’s head. Fred went to leave, a small voice stopping him.

“Freddie?”

“What is it darling?” The girl froze again, somewhat amazed that he wasn’t back to his unusually cold ways once again.

“Thanks, again… I won’t kiss you this time though- I promise.” She chuckled, her cheeks a little red as she sat up to face him in the doorway, a brave smile on her face even as while she felt like crying.

“You’re dangerous you know,” He scoffed, smiling sweetly. “Goodnight y/n.”

-

Fred thought it best that the girl rested up while he worked in the shop, leaving her to sleep in while George opened up. She had been confused, for a number of reasons, when she woke up in Fred’s bed still wearing her white dress.

It all came back to her. The unfulfilling date with Bill, the rain that she’d stood beneath as she saw a figure walk around in the loft above, the lights from the living room window, the kiss with fred.

“Oh you idiot!” She groaned again, reliving the moment that she’d realised how stupid she was being. He had spent the past week being a mute around her, and now she was dropping to her knees after one day of kindness. After all that, she had still thought there was a chance he liked her back.

She stumbled back to her room, still half-asleep, ignoring the way George frowned at her appearance as he served a customer on the tills. The room was still cluttered from the break-in, glass on the floor and a shattered lamp by the bed.

It had felt like a cage at the time, trapped in those stranger’s arms, but as she waved her wand and watched the mess disappear before her eyes, the memories didn’t seem all that constant anymore.

The girl looked into the small wardrobe, her collection of clothes barely filling it half-way, and picked out a black skirt and white shirt to pull on.

“Damn.” She looked in the mirror, her only bra’s black fabric showing through the button up. “Suppose I was too cold anyway.” The girl shrugged, grabbing a sweater vest and pulling it over the top.

“Scourgify.” She whispered, too behind on the day to waste time with a shower.

She was sitting on the small chair at her desk, pulling on a pair of boots so that she could leave the room and finally face the day with what little respect she had left for herself. But as her head lifted she spotted her pile of blank parchment stacked on the table before her.

The twins wouldn’t even notice her absence a few minutes more as she scratched out a quick letter, the girl decided, dipping her quill into the golden ink pot her father had gifted her one childhood birthday. It was one of the only things they had given her that she felt important enough to run away with.

Her thoughts felt rushed as she wrote, but all the same she didn’t hesitate to make her point very clear. Dear Bill, had felt appropriate, given that she praised him so highly in her mind. He was the perfect match, handsome and kind, and an all-round gentleman. But he wasn’t her perfect match, a fact that she was certain he already knew.

The final signature of her name was shaky, and full of nerves as it finally hit her that she was back to square one. Still confused, still wondering, and still somewhat alone.

-

George smiled widely when the girl reappeared from her bedroom, wearing a fresh set of clothes, and looking a bit more aware of everything as she approached him.

“Morning,” He grinned, leaning against the counter like he was expecting something from her. “Did you just get in?” He asked, regarding her previous outfit.

“No, I slept in Fred’s bed- where’s your owl I need to send a letter.”

The man almost choked on his sip of coffee, struggling to find the right words as she looked around for the bird that often perched on the higher shelves.

“You slept with Fred?” He gasped, but the girl wasn’t concentrating on him as she walked off, the envelope gripped between her two fingers.

Fred was busy looking over some invoices, and didn’t spot her pass by, so George dragged him over to the counter, where they were free of customers for the moment.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He hissed, pulling his brother closer as the girl wandered around nearby.

“Jesus George, what are you on about- let go of me.” He swatted the man’s hand away, taking a few hesitant steps away.

“You slept with y/n?” He accused him.

“No-” “Well she said she slept in your bed.”

“Yeah, I was on the sofa though. Just figured she wouldn’t want to be in her room after the other night, you know.”

George nodded slowly, choosing to believe his brother. After all, he would have been able to tell if the two of them actually had slept together, because fred would be jumping around the shop instead of walking.

“Is she okay?” Fred asked his brother, finally seeing her for the first time that morning, as she watched their owl fly out the open window.

“Not sure, she seemed a bit distracted this morning, how was she last night? Did she mention how the date went?” George wanted to know every detail, preferably from the girl herself, but it was obvious that would be harder than expected given that she had barely acknowledged their previous conversation.

“She said it was nice.” Fred told him. “Then she kissed me.”

“She what!” George’s voice was nothing shy of a yell, catching the attention of a small group of kids browsing their newest stock of screaming yo-yos.

“Keep it down will you?” His brother dragged him further behind the counter, out of sight of the girl, who hadn’t moved from her spot since her letter had been taken off into the sky.

“What about Bill- does he- oh god he’s gonna kill you!” George rambled, seemingly going through all stages of grief. If he had thought things were complicated for his twin before, this new information was sure to rock the boat.

“She’s not sure about Bill, I don’t think she had the best time on their date - and besides,” He peeked around the corner, making sure no one was going to walk into the middle of their hushed conversation. “-I don’t think the kiss meant much to her.” George’s face dropped. He hadn’t thought about Fred, or how it would bother him. His twin didn’t seem visibly annoyed by any of it, but he knew it would crush him to be toyed with by the girl he was so obviously infatuated with.

“So she doesn’t like Bill, and she doesn’t want you either?” “It’s not that simple Georgie.” Fred sighed, backing away and leaning up against the cool wall behind them. “It was pretty sudden, she probably wasn’t even thinking straight.”

“But-” “People are allowed to make mistakes, we can’t be annoyed because she messed up one time.” He explained, turning to leave.

“Freddie, you’re not the-” “I know.” He lied. He was the mistake.

-

For the rest of the day all three of the workers kept to themselves, finding solitary jobs to do to pass the time whenever the stream of customers died down. George knew he couldn’t say anything to the girl, presuming that she too had enough to deal with, but part of him resented her for putting Freddie through so much pain. Not that she even knew it.

It was dark when they finally closed up, the autumn season bringing with it shorter days of sunlight. Fred was busy in their office sorting out orders and George was counting up the day’s earnings, while y/n tidied shelves all around her.

The redhead could see how her eyes drifted to the same window she had watched out of earlier that morning, most likely expecting a response from whoever it was she had written to.

“I’ll meet you upstairs,” He came up behind her, the sound of his voice a surprise to the girl as she tensed up slightly. The man gave her a sympathetic smile as she nodded. “I’m cooking dinner tonight by the way, so um- bring the fire extinguisher will you?” He chuckled, a pang in his chest when she smiled weakly.

He had no real reason to hate her, especially since Freddie was forgiving of her moment of weakness. If he could be okay with it, then George would be to. It was as simple as that.

The man had been cooking for all of five minutes when his twin came to join him, offering to help out given that the girl would most likely not be up until the owl returned. They worked away in shared silence, the faint radio doing wonders to break the possible tension in the air.

George was pouring out a bottle of wine into three glasses when the girl padded into the kitchen, her big boots forgotten and a thick cardigan wrapped around her sunken frame. The two men stopped in their tracks at the sight of a piece of parchment between her fingers.

“I thought I should let you both know- because he’s your brother- and well, you deserve to know. But, there’s nothing between Bill and I anymore.” She croaked out, making it obvious that she had been crying.

“Oh- darling,” George whispered, reaching out on instinct for her to sink into his arms. It was strange, hearing it from Fred had filled him with so much anger, but then seeing how upset she was about it changed everything. Her body felt small against him, like she had sunk into the ground with every step up to the loft.

There was a small sob from the girl, almost incoherent, before she leant back and wiped her eyes dry, putting on her best smile and sighing.

“It’s okay, everything’s fine- it’s for the best.” She told them, laughing lightly at the way Fred held out the wine to her, unsure what else would help in that moment with his brother already comforting the girl.

-

The subject of Bill was avoided for most of the night, as they ate dinner together and finished off another couple bottles of wine between them as if things were normal again. George, of course, acted like the true older brother he was and did all he could to make sure y/n was cared for.

Fred took the backseat, letting her be doted on like a child with scraped knees, in fact it was a similar scene to when their own mother could comfort them when they were younger. That must have been where George got it from.

After a while Fred’s other half passed out on the back of the sofa, half-empty glass of wine still in hand. The girl chuckled, her mind still on other things as they kept quiet as not to wake the sleeping man.

“You tired?” Fred whispered, his legs slumped onto the coffee table. The girl just shook her head, the smile on her face fading as she realised that was the first time he’d spoken to her directly all evening.

The man stood up, taking an unopened bottle from the table and nodded towards the door.

“What?” She asked, hesitant to follow.

“I wanna show you something.” He smiled sweetly, slipping a pair of shoes on and heading for the loft door.

He disappeared into the darkness, the faint sound of the girl’s questioning tone following him out to the shop landing.

“Where are you going?” She asked, seeing him push back the curtain that turned left at the top of the stairs, instead of right into the loft. “I thought there wasn’t anything back here.”

“There isn’t, just a load of junk.” He told her, talking normally now that george was out of earshot. “But at the end of this hallway,” He flicked his wand, letting the small ball of light show the way, “-there’s a ladder.” “Fred, can you just tell me what’s going on.” “No freddie?” He frowned childishly, his face cast into a shadow.

“Huh?” “You always call me freddie, why not now?” The girl blushed at the way he picked up on a habit even she had failed to notice all this time, shoving his shoulder in an attempt to distract him.

“Because you’re leading me down a creepy hallway, possibly to kill me, in the middle of the night.”

Fred scoffed, ignoring her to climb a few rungs up the ladder.

“Well if I took you in the daytime,” He stopped climbing. “Then the view wouldn’t be so good now would it?” The man smirked.

“What view?”

One hand reached up above his head, the small bit of light from his wand revealing a trap door. Fred pushed it open, the stars above them shining down as he stuck his head out the top.

“This view!” He announced, jumped out of the trap door and onto the roof, leaning down to offer a hand for the girl below. Her jaw hung open in awe as she caught her footing on the top of the building, the sight of the city even further below taking her breath away.

“I knew you’d like it,” Freddie laughed, sitting at the edge and pulling open the wine bottle. Behind him, the girl’s eyes shone.

“Why haven’t you ever mentioned this place?” She was still in shock, the roof couldn’t even be seen from the alley below them, it was so high up.

“It’s sort of my secret, even from George.” “You haven’t told him? Surely he must know about it?” She laughed, taking a seat beside him and drinking from the bottle he offered out to her.

“Well I stumbled across it the day we moved in, we had no use for that weird hallway so neither of us bothered to do anything with it. We only found out about it when we got a leak, and George made me go up here and fix it.”

“Still, he knows the roof is here.” She scoffed, leaning into his side as the sight before her became hypnotising against his words.

“Of course, except he thinks it’s smashed to pieces and basically too dangerous to venture onto.” Fred explained.

“Why would he think that?” “Because that’s what I told him, duh.” He shook her one shoulder, leaving an outstretched arm around her as she rested against him so naturally.

“You really are cruel Fred Weasley.” She laughed.

Fred looked down, not trying to catch her eye, but just to take her all in as they basked in this beautiful moment. He had missed her laughter, even if it had only been a short amount of time, and hearing it again felt like a wave of calm washing over him.

-

The pair of them stayed up on that roof all night, their legs swinging off the side of the building until y/n fell asleep slumped against Fred. The man decided it was best to let her lay down away from the edge, just in case she slumped too far forward and fell.

He watched her sleep for a few moments, then laid on his back beside her and watched the stars as they twinkled above them. The girl beside him murmured in her sleep, something he had noticed when she had slept under his watch after the break-in.

At the time he had assumed it was just because she was having nightmares, but now he was close enough to catch passing words as they fell from her dainty lips.

Sorry… I can’t …. Please d-don’t

“Y/n,” He whispered, shaking her shoulder slightly. “Come on, let’s go inside.” “Not yet.” She mumbled back, rolling onto her back and breathing a few heavy breaths.

He let her watch the sky in silence, fearful that he would break her moment of solace with any stupid statement.

“I wrote to Bill.” She said, her gaze unmoving.

“Oh- right…” “It was his reply that I had earlier, that’s why I was - you know.”

“Of course, I’m sorry about all that.” Fred didn’t want to pry any further, but the girl wanted him to know.

“I don’t think either of us really expected things to be so- just okay-” “I get that,” The man nodded.

“He wasn’t right for me, and I wasn’t right for him either- it’s just hard to admit it.”

The skin on her hand was cold as she reached for fred’s, slipping their fingers together gently as she spoke.

“It’s funny really- he said something in his letter about you.” She chuckled, finally looking over at the man who couldn’t take his own eyes off of her.

“Oh god, I can’t imagine it was anything good.” He scoffed, smiling at her rosy cheeks.

“Actually… he said he thinks we might be a good match.”

“Did you-” “No, I didn’t tell him a-about the kiss.” She seemed ashamed again, the same way she had the night it had happened.

“So he just has this feeling about us?” Fred asked, an air of disbelief in his words.

The girl laid her head back again, nestling into the man’s side and looking up again as they hid out on the highest point of the alleyway. Bill had to be right about them.

Y/n hadn’t met many people in her lonely life but she knew that, as Fred held her close, no one else compared to the way he made her feel. She would give up everything if it meant just one more night of staring up at the stars with him at her side.

“I think he’s right.” The deep voice beside her spoke, with searing pride.

[crowdedimagines]

Happy To Help - David Dobrik

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up in our bed. David came in with a serious look on his face. One that I don’t see very often. Definitely not this early on a Sunday morning, it’s still early and quiet. The only reason he got out of bed was his mom calling his phone.

“My dad threw out his back really badly and he needs surgery.” He walks over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Is he okay?” I ask tentatively.

“Yeah, he’s claiming he’s fine but my mom said he can’t even move. He’s in a lot of pain.” David wipes at his face, “Fuck.”

“How can I help?” I take his hand in mine and try to get him to focus, “Should we fly out to help out? If he needs surgery he’s going to be in the hospital for a while.”

He nods and leans into my touch. I pull him back to lay on top of me on our bed. He worries about his family all the time, this is like a nightmare for him.

“I’m gonna call Jack.” He announces.

He grabs his phone and calls his manager to inform him of what happened. I tune out most of what he says as I grab a bag for each of us. I start packing my own things so we can leave as soon as he needs to.

“Are you serious?” David’s voice suddenly pulls me from my thoughts. He’s sitting on the Lovesac with his phone on speaker.

“I can try to get you out of that shoot David, but they're just going to cut you out and move on with someone else. The only real issue with it is that filming for Dodgeball Thunderdome starts this week. We’ve signed a lot of contracts, I can try to get you out of them but I know how excited you were about hosting this show.”

“Fuck.” He mutters softly. “I need to be in Vernon hills by tonight. My parents are going to in to Chicago for surgery so someone needs to stay at the house. Plus once they get back they’ll need help.”

“I totally get that David.” Jack agrees, “I just want you to know the gravity of you leaving this week. The position you’re putting in those you work with. I just worry about your reputation a little and if they’ll be willing to postpone for you.”

“I’ll go.” I cut in. There’s no need for David to give up something he’s worked so hard for and he loves so much. He’s one of the hardest working people I know and he deserves everything that he’s earned.

“What?” David’s head snaps in my direction.

“You stay here, get everything done that you need to. I’ll fly out and help with the girls and Toby. Then I’ll be there when your parents get home to help. You can fly out once you’re done with everything or you get a break.” I shrug.

“Jack, let me call you back.” He hangs up the phone and gets up from his seat. He walks over to grab my hand and fully pull my attention from the clothes I had been folding, “Are you serious right now? You would do that for me?”

“Of course I would.” I smile, his arms wrap around my waist so mine settle over his shoulder, connecting at the back of his neck, “I would do anything for you, and your family. This is not a big deal, and it would make me happy to help. Plus then you don’t have to give up hosting your show. You’ve been excited about this for months.”

“I love you so much.” He sighs, pulling me in tight against his chest.

“You’re alright.” I tease, earning a laugh from him.

David insists on paying for my flight and driving me to the airport.

“Okay, my parents are waiting to leave once you get there. I already set up a rental car for you, so then you’ll have one the whole time you’re there.”

“Thank you, babe.” I press a kiss to his lips.

We get out of the car and David pulls my suitcase from the trunk.

“I cannot thank you enough for this.” He wraps his arms around my waist.

“I don’t need a thank you.” I shake my head, “One more kiss will do, though.”

David happily obliges, leaning in and pressing a kiss that lasted longer than all the others.

“Call me when you land.”

“Of course.”

I start to walk away, knowing that we could be saying our goodbyes for the next half hour if I don’t.

“I love you.” “I love you too.”

The flight is fairly uneventful and quiet, I try to sleep on the way to just be fully rested. Once I land I go find the car rental place and David (Natalie) had set everything up in advance so there wasn’t much waiting there either. I text Ester to let her know that I am on my way, she is definitely the Dobrik I talk to the most, other than David obviously. I make the drive to the Vernon Hills home, I call David on the way to talk for a while and let him know that I landed safely.

I park on the road so I don’t block in their car in the driveway and take my suitcase from the trunk. Toby greets me before I can even make it to the door, pulling me in for a hug. He holds open the door for me and I am greeted by the whole Dobrik family.

Palo is laying on the couch, in obvious discomfort. I send him a smile and say hello. I notice that they’re already packed up with everything they’ll need for the week.

“Thank you for being so kind.” Cristina sighs pulling me in for another hug.

“I am happy to help in any way I can.” I smile, “Please let me know if you need anything else, honestly, anything you guys need.”

We talk for a little while before they leave so they can check in. It’s over an hour drive to the hospital they’re doing it at so they leave now.

“Alright, now it’s just us.” I laugh, we’ve all already eaten dinner so we all sit down in the living room to watch a movie. We don’t stay up late, all three of them have school tomorrow. Ester stays up a little later, she talks to me about school, boys, and drama.

After we both say goodnight I make my way up to David’s room. It’s always been the room I stay in with David, but I’ve never been here without him.

“I’m laying in your childhood bed right now.”

“Why do you make that sound so sexy.” He laughs, “It’s kind of turning me on.”

“Gross.” I laugh loudly.

“How’s everything going?” He asks.

“So far it’s fine. Your dad looked like he really needed to get out of the house tonight and get checked in so I’m glad I flew in tonight instead of tomorrow morning.”

“Me too.” He sighs, “I can never thank you enough for this.”

“You don’t need to thank me, isn’t that what girlfriends are for?” I laugh.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a girlfriend do something like this for me before.”

“I guess I’m pretty special then.” I grin, turning on my side. It’s not very often that I sleep by myself now that David and I live together, but it’s comforting to hear his voice.

“That you are.”

I don’t remember saying goodnight to David, but at some point I must’ve fallen asleep. I wake up when my alarm goes off, notifying me that I need to get ready so I can get everyone else ready and drive them all to school.

“Good morning.” I smile seeing Sara and Ester come down the stairs.

They sit down for a bowl of cereal, eventually Toby comes down, his hair angled in fifty different directions, reminding me of his older brother.

“Alright, everyone’s ready for school?”

Everyone piles in the car and we leave. I drop off Toby first, seeing as his school day starts earlier than the girls. I drop off Sara next, leaving only Ester and I in the car.

“What’s so funny?” Ester grins, glancing at me from the passenger seat.

“I never thought that I would be a soccer mom at twenty-two. It’s a little odd dropping kids off at school.”

“Whatever.” She bumps my shoulder lightly, “You’re not a mom. Yet.”

“Yet?” I raise my brows, looking over at her amused. David and I have never talked about kids, even though it's known that we both want them, just not any time soon.

“You and David will be married any day now. And the way David talks about you guys on the podcast, it doesn’t seem like you guys are staying celebete.”

My face takes on a red tint. I’ve never been a shy girl, but I was not expecting this to be our car ride conversation. Ester is old enough to not be phased by talking about sex, we’ve been having boy talk for practially as long as David and I have been dating. I’ve talked about worse, but I’ve never gone into details when it pertained to her brother.

“Oh my god, shut up!” I laugh.

“What we always talk about boys!” She grins.

“Well, it’s definitely different when my boy is your brother.”

“Yeah, that’s not the greatest, but I like talking to you. You give off older sister vibes.”

“Thanks. Now get out of the car.” I smirk, teasing her. We’re pulled up in front of her school, the same school David went to high school.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime!” I manage to pull out before many fans take notice. Thankfully, I’m not David, but still we could easily form a crowd if I stayed for too long.

It takes a few more days to fall into a good rhythm with everything. Between the kids homework, making meals, cleaning, and just trying to keep everything organized for when David’s parents come back it's been an exhausting yet rewarding week. Palo’s surgery was today, it went well. He only needs a few days in recovery before he can come home.

“Y/n, David’s asking for you.” Ester comes down the stairs, phone in hand.

“Babe, you didn’t answer your phone!” He yells through the phone.

Ester holds out her phone so I can see him on facetime.

“Sorry, Sara and I are painting our nails!” I hold up a hand as proof and he nods.

“So, how’s everything going?”

“It’s good babe, it’s actually been a pretty fun week.” I smile, “I’m starting to like your siblings more than I like you.”

“And we definitely like Y/n more than you!” Toby teases leaning into frame.

“Fuck you guys.” He laughs.

“So how’s filming been? I saw your story! Very fancy them giving you someone to follow you around with an umbrella.”

“It’s been fun. I forgot just how good it feels to be working! Do you have any idea when you’re coming back?”

I shake my head, “No, your parents are coming home in three days and I’ll talk to them and go from there. Are you still planning on staying in L.A?”

“Yeah, my mom insisted I stay here. She already feels guilty enough making you fly out, but we’ll see.”

“Okay, keep me posted. Love you.”

“Love you more.”

Ester takes her phone back and continues talking with David.

“I like the color you picked better.” Sara comments, noticing the light color I’ve picked for my nails.

“Wanna trade?”

“What? We already painted one of our hands.” She looks up at me confused.

“So what! It’ll be different. Then we kind of match.”

Sara and I finish up our nails. We all call Palo and Cristina, our nightly ritual to say good night to everyone. Everyone goes to bed, I stay up a little later so I can clean up the dishes from dinner and the nail polish that we left on the counter.

The rest of the week passes by without any hiccups. There’s a few times I can tell Toby really misses his parents, but other than that everything’s been a breeze. More than that actually, I feel closer to all of them. I was nervous to come, even though I would never tell David that. I was afraid to step in and try to help when I have no clue what I’m doing, but it went better than I could imagine.

“Are you absolutely sure?” I ask, “I don’t mind staying longer at all!”

“No!” Cristina insists, “We are fine, Palo is feeling fine now that he’s been back at home for a few days. We will be okay.”

She places a reassuring hand on my arm and I simply smile.

“Only if you’re one hundred percent sure.”

“I already told David to book you another flight.”

I thank her and go upstairs so I can pack up all of my belongings. I ended up spending ten days in Chicago, but it was alright. I had fun, and it felt good to be needed.

“Okay, I think I’m all packed up.” I bring my suitcase to the bottom of the stairs and smile at the family in the living room. I get hugs from everyone, and several thank yous. Too many if you ask me.

“I’m going to walk Y/n out to her car.” Ester grabs one of my other bags to walk with me.

“Me too!” Sara tags along.

You could never get me to wipe off the grin watching those two girls bound away with my stuff.

“The ride to school is going to seem boring now.” Ester sighs.

“I’m sure you’ll manage.” I grin.

“Yeah, but mom doesn’t talk about weed or hooking up at parties.”

“Shh!” I clamp a hand over her mouth, “And if anyone asks I don’t talk about that stuff either!”

I give them each another hug and start to get back in the car.

“Y/n, will you call me tonight? Like once you’re back home and settled.”

“Yeah, is everything okay?” I raise my brows.

“No, I just have something I want to talk to you about. You’ll get it, it’s fine!”

“Okay, weirdo!” I laugh shutting my door. I back down the driveway and notice that all of the Dobriks are out on the front porch now waving. I wave back with a smile and drive back to Chicago to finally head home.

“Baby, I’m home!” I yell, letting myself in our front door. The goal was to surprise him, he didn’t know that my flight landed early, causing me to get the jump on him.

“Y/n?” He yells back loudly. I drop my bags and round the corner to see him coming to find me.

“Baby!” He instantly pulls me into his arms, “God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” I sigh, pulling him in a little tighter.

After a good long cuddle in our bed it’s nice to just settle in again. It’s nice to see Natalie and Ilya too. I wasn’t that long, but I was weird to be apart from the whole group for that long. We purge on a large dinner ordered in, after stuffing our faces, David and I settle on the hammock outside together. The sun is setting slowly, letting the sky take on a pink hue.

“I can never thank you enough for what you did.”

“David, you have to stop thanking me.” I sigh, letting him twist and play with my fingers.

“Y/n.” He says my name softly.

“Hmm?” I turn to look at him, he has a surprisingly serious look on his face.

“We just moved in together. I’ve never done that with a girl, I thought that I would be afraid to do it, but with you I am not afraid of the future anymore. The only thing that scares me is a future without you, as cheesy as that sounds. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, more than anything.”

He reaches into his back pocket and I can feel a smile growing on my face. He opens up the black velvet box to reveal a beautiful ring with a large diamond sitting front and center.

“I bought this ring after you left for Chicago. I knew that I wanted to marry you before that, but right then and there I decided that I needed to lock you down.” He pauses to laugh a little, I join in too, “I needed to make if official. Make it real, because I don’t want to waste anymore time as your boyfriend. You treat my family like your own, and I want to make you mine. Forever. Y/n, will you marry me?”

“Of course!” I sigh, no longer fighting the teary eyes. I pull David in for a long sweet kiss. We pull apart laughing, he slides the ring on my finger and I smile even wider.

“Baby, it’s perfect.”

“Ester helped me pick it.” He grins, pressing several more kisses to my temple.

“She did? Of course she did. Well you both did a great job.”

“I’ll be right back, I got us champagne!” He climbs out of the hammock carefully. I smile softly watching him walk away. I pull out my phone to call the girl herself.

“Hello?” She answers almost instantly.

“You picked out a stunning ring.”

“You said yes?” She shrieks.

“Well, duh!” I laugh.

“Yay, oh my god. I love this! She said yes!” She yells loudly to I’m sure the whole family.

“Did everyone know?” I ask, sitting up a little more.

“Yeah, he’s been too excited to keep it to himself. Told everyone in L.A and of course he told us. I think everyone knew but you.”

“Sneaky boy.” I roll my eyes. David makes his way back outside, two glasses in one hand the bottle in the other. The same smile stuck on his face.

“Hey, who are you talking to already?” He rejoins me.

“Your sister. I promised her I would call.”

I put the phone on speaker so David can hear too. We talk with Ester and everyone else in the family for a while. It feels comfortable. We spend the rest of the night snuggled up together, even as it gets colder.

Natalie took a video, which I was completely oblivious to. We also got some really cute pictures, which David proudly sends to the group chat, informing everyone who he had gushed to that I had in fact said yes. It was a steady stream of congratulations.

“Ready to go inside?”

“Mhm” I sigh dreamily looking down at the new piece of jewelry on my hand.

“C’mon, it’ll still be there in the morning.”

an// this was some CUTE fluff!! Also what is David’s mom’s name? I wrote this and then I couldn’t remember if it was right so i went to look it up and i can’t even find it. so if anyone knows, cool! lol

what did you guys think?!?!

[solastia]

The Dragon’s Lair | 6

- Riddle Me This -

Pairing: Dragon Hybrid Namjoon x Reader

Word Count: 5,094

Notes: It feels like so much has happened and this has been going on for so long, right? But this is actually the very beginning of my long and complicated outline lmao. Anyway, it’s time to meet our Sphinx! I wonder who this could be *insert lenny face here*  And if you’re wondering if there will ever be an end to me adding other kpop fandoms: no, no there will not be. We’re catchin em all. 

The winter storms were slowly giving into the spring rains. Of course, this made everything horribly humid and muddy, but at least you weren’t snowed in for days on end anymore. 

As soon as you were able, you scheduled contractors that specialized in hybrid-friendly rooms to help get one prepared, as you fully planned on starting the adoption process for Mark when it was done. You had to make sure it had its own heating and cooling system separate from the rest of the house, insulation for winter, and UV lighting, among other things. Needless to say, it was not going to be a quick process, but Mark was safe at the shelter with Heechul’s near-constant vigilance. 

You’d also begun to clear out the barn that you’ve only been using for storage since your grandparents had adopted out all of their animals. You weren’t quite sure how serious you were yet about getting some animals in there again, but for now, it gave you something to do while construction was going on inside your home. 

You spent a lot of time throwing out or giving away anything unusable, sweeping out stalls, and scrubbing everything down until it shone like it hadn’t in years. Thankfully you still kept in touch with a lot of the people that had worked with your family over the years and it was easy to have fresh supplies brought in, half of which you weren’t even sure you’d ever use, but everyone was happy to hear that the farm was going back to work in a sense. 

Despite all these other changes, your relationship with Namjoon was settled into a comfortable path. Not to say that things were unexciting - the man never failed to find some new way to make your heart flutter - but it felt secure and steady now. Like the two of you being a forever thing was assured. It continually surprised you when you remembered that you actually hadn’t been together for very long. He felt like he’d always been there. 

Most days were simply routine. You’d both wake up at the same time and shower - together more often than not -, have breakfast and then he’d head to the shelter while you’d work in your office. At least three times a week you’d meet up to have lunch together, thankful that both of you had lenient bosses that wouldn’t freak out when an hour-long lunch turned into two or three. Once he was home for the day, the two of you usually just spent your time together. You’d watch a movie or read while you cuddled on the couch, oftentimes ignoring the screen to simply listen to him talk. The way he viewed the world was beautiful and you never grew tired of listening. 

Namjoon had put his foot down and declared date night mandatory. So every single Saturday without fail he’d drag you into town for some event or into the mountains for a hike, always doing his best to create the most romantic day possible. You’d tried to convince him that he didn’t need to do all this, that simply walking with him in the forest near your home was romantic as long as he was there, but he claimed he was still “courting” you so it wasn’t something he could just stop. You assumed that meant it was something to do with his Dragon side and let him do as he pleased. 

Once a week you’d usually tag along and go to the shelter, spending most of your time in the playrooms. According to one of the volunteers, Heechul’s shelter held an average of one hundred and fifty hybrids at any given time, which seemed an astronomical amount if one didn’t know about the secret wings and the fact that you were pretty sure he’d borrowed the whole ‘bigger on the inside’ concept. 

You tried to spend as much time as you could with all the hybrids, but as you were only one person there was only so much you could do. Still, you did have your - as Heechul called them - “cub club.” There have been many arguments in the little group about the name - starting with you wondering why they needed a name at all - since they were composed of all different species, but they gave in after Heechul’s continuous use of it and the fact that it apparently was cute, according to Namjoon. 

Basically, it was a group of hybrids that seemed to have singled you out as a clear favorite and would follow you around the moment you stepped into the building. The unspoken leader of the group was your little Mark, who was always waiting by the front door of the building when you would come in. Usually right next to him was Felix, who seemed to split his time between your cubs and Namjoon’s fan club fairly equally. Some newer friends of yours were a teen tiger hybrid named Seonghwa, and wolf pup siblings Changkyun and Jooheon. There were a few others that came and went, but these were your regular crew. 

Today was one of your shelter days, and you were once again surrounded in the playrooms. Mark was sitting next to you with his raccoon hybrid friend Donghyuck, who was an honorary member of Star’s Cubs at this point with how often he was attached to Mark. They were both coloring a picture of their dream bedroom - a sneaky idea you’d gotten so that you could have Mark’s room ready and decorated when the adoption finalized. 

Felix was having a Namjoon day, so after he’d run up to hug you when you’d first arrived, he’d gone right back to the class that Namjoon was currently teaching. You’d probably see him again at lunch, and then he’d talk a mile a minute about everything Namjoon was teaching him and demand cuddles. 

Changkyun and Jooheon were currently wrestling around on the floor near your feet. They were a complicated pair. They had both been found in the wild several months ago, seemingly without any sort of parents or guardians whatsoever. The boys themselves weren’t sure, but you judged them to be around nine or ten. They were smart kids but had obviously been living on their own for quite some time. They mentioned a “her” a few times, speaking of someone from their memories that would make certain foods or clean them, but they couldn’t remember who she was. Their mother, you assumed. 

Needless to say, they were perhaps not the most well-mannered children, but they were sweet and eager to please. To you, at least. The other volunteers usually tried to interact with them as little as possible after a few too many bites and temper tantrums, often referring to them as feral monsters. You had, of course,  taken that up with Heechul, but the damage had already been done and they were labeled as such by everyone. From the day Jooheon had met you, however, he’d decided you “smelled nice” and would bring you scraps from their dinners (that they apparently hoarded - bad habits left from living in the wild). It had taken Changkyun a little longer to warm up to you, but one day he’d just walked up and pushed Felix out of your lap and took his place. You’d scolded him and made him apologize, but you’d let him stay, deciding it had probably been a very long time since he’d been hugged by anyone besides his brother. They’d gotten better about waiting their turn and learning to ask first, but you still went out of your way to cuddle them as much as they’d let you. 

Seonghwa sat nearby doing his homework. He was...interesting. It was the nicest thing you could think of to say about that whole situation. The thing was, he was a nice kid. Almost seventeen, had been here for a few years. Definitely beautiful, no denying that. You didn’t know too much about his past yet, as you hadn’t wanted to pry and he didn’t volunteer much information. He helped you with the younger kids a lot though, asked you about your work, was genuinely sweet, and fun to talk to when he was just chill. The issue was...you were apparently his “first love.” 

He wasn’t creepy about it or anything. He really was super sweet. He would bring you flowers and treats, help you carry anything heavy, and was just really attentive. Unfortunately, then he’d start walking around you in circles, staring intently with his tail flicking around in the air as he sang to you. He had a sweet voice, but they were of course all highly inappropriate love songs to be singing to an older woman. And according to Namjoon, the circling and singing thing was a tiger courting ritual, so you took great care not to acknowledge it. You’d tried letting him down as gently as possible, but somehow he seemed to just consider it more of a challenge, and you really didn’t want to be mean and be his first heartbreak as well. Namjoon surprisingly - or not since he could be a brat himself - thought it was hilarious. He’d often ask how your tiger cub was doing, laughing when you’d swat him. Of course, he was still a territorial dragon, so he would occasionally go out of his way to kiss you with a bit too much tongue or pinch your butt where everyone could see to get the message of your status across. 

Things at the shelter have been fairly quiet and routine, as far as such a big place could be. That’s why you were awfully surprised when Heechul storms into the playroom looking distraught and frazzled. He brightens slightly when he spots you, rushing over and placing his hands on his hips. 

“You’d be perfect, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that earlier!” 

You frown, thoroughly confused. “Thanks, I think. For what?” 

He clucks and shakes his head. 

“We have an exotic on his way here. He was one of mine that I raised until he was ten, and then he was adopted by this lovely couple. Unfortunately, they were a bit too old even then, but they adored Seokjin so I let him go.” He sighs wearily and flops into a nearby recliner. “They passed away last year and left him everything. He’d been living on his own just fine until someone tried to rob the place and he ended up hurt. Then the police of course had to see his medical records and - surprise! - a hybrid had been running around owning a house and living free for an entire year and they don’t like that. They were going to send him to a state-run hybrid institution, which essentially means death if you’re not a baby or usable on the black market. So, he called me in a panic and I have it all settled with the police that he’s officially one of ours and they don’t have to worry about him anymore. But he’s too used to independence to stuff him back into regular hybrid life, so I was thinking maybe you could foster him? Just like, let him hang out at your place until we figure out some way he can go back to living how he likes?” 

“I mean, I have to check in with Namjoon, but I don’t see why not. What kind of hybrid is he?” 

“Sphinx,” Heechul answered, his deadpan voice at odds with his amused eyes. 

“A what now?” 

“Sphinx. You know, part bird, lion and man. Likes riddles. Has big statues.” 

“Sure, why not,” you sigh. This place really made your brain hurt. 

Heechul chuckled and reached out to pat your shoulder. 

“Thanks. I know it’s a lot to deal with right now, with your new romance and getting ready for Mark, but Seokjin deserves a chance. I think you’ll like him.” 

“You know, it’s really creepy when you do that. At least let me tell you with words what I’m planning about Mark.” 

“I didn’t even need to use magic to see that’s where it was headed. He’s basically already yours,” he scoffs, standing up with a light groan. 

“When is this Seokjin going to be here?” 

“He’s on his way to the shelter now. I figured he could just come here first, meet you and have dinner with everyone, then head home with you guys after. If that’s okay.” 

“Again, just have to check with Joon, but it should be fine. Sphinx and dragons aren’t like, mortal enemies or anything, are they?” 

Heechul grins, “Hardly. In fact, I remember they were actually pretty good friends when they were little. Jin was older and would tolerate Joonie like a big brother. Not sure how well Namjoon remembers him, though.” 

“Alright, I guess. Joon’s class is over in a few minutes. I’ll go talk to him now.” 

“Thanks, Star!” 

You shake your head as he flounces away, wondering when he’d started using that name too. At this point, that was basically your official name. 

“Does that mean you’re going to have to stay home all the time? To take care of a new hybrid?” 

A little sniffle came from your right as you registered the fact that your cubs had just been quietly listening to your conversation with Heechul. Mark’s eyes were beginning to glisten with unshed tears and you quickly snatched the boy up and cuddled him close. 

“Of course not, sweetheart. By the sounds of it, he’s older than both me and Joon, so he’s not going to need much looking after. He basically just needs a place to crash until he figures out what to do.” 

“Oh,” he sniffles again, and you try not to laugh about the fact that it’s not helping, as his nose is starting to water too. “So you’ll still come to see me?” 

“Of course! And as soon as the farm is cleaned up you can come to visit me too. How does that sound?” 

“Really? And Felix? And Hyuckie? And...and…”

“Yes,” you interrupt, knowing the boy will try to name literally everyone he’s ever talked to. “Anyone that wants to visit will be able to. I just wanted to make sure it’s safe first, so no one gets sick.” 

“Okay!” Mark squeezes you clumsily but is quickly back to being a ray of sunshine and crawling off of you to go back to his picture. 

“Seonghwa,” you call, snorting inwardly as the tiger practically jumps to attention, “Watch the kids for a bit, okay? I’m going to see Namjoon.” 

He nods quietly and sets his books down, smiling softly as he watches you leave the room. 

*** 

As you’d expected, Namjoon was more than agreeable to the idea of helping his childhood friend but was understandably concerned over how his dragon instincts would react to another creature in his new den with his new...well, mate. (Although he insists that you aren’t official mates yet. And he blushes and refuses to answer whenever you ask what makes you official).

“It’s just, like, I don’t want to stress him out even more, you know? If he’s already going through all this, then I don’t want to be growling and snapping at him,” Namjoon sighed as he stood with you in the lobby, grasping your hand tightly as you both waited for Seokjin to show up. 

“I know, but Heechul told me that Seokjin is the only one of his kind as well so if anyone were to understand that this is a learning situation and not blame you for it, it would be someone like him, right?” 

Namjoon shrugs, “I guess. From what I remember, Jin hyung was really outspoken too, so I think he’d be sure to let me know if I do something to offend him.” 

“And if all else fails, you can just take him behind the house and piss on him,” you try to hide your grin as you tease him. 

He growls playfully, leaning down to tug your hair. “Watch it. I’ll mark you next.” 

“I thought you already did,” you quirk an eyebrow as you refer to certain activities that had taken place before he’d let you leave your bed that morning. 

“Hey, let's keep the rating down in my presence, please,” Heechul sighs wearily from the other side of you. 

The two of you fight valiantly to keep your giggles under control, only able to stop fully once a taxi pulls up in front of the building and nerves once again take over. 

The man that steps out takes even your breath away - quite a feat considering how whipped you were for your own boyfriend. He’s tall, nearly as tall as Namjoon, and has a regal bearing. He has a face that many would pay millions for, with full lips and wide expressive eyes. His hair and lion ears were the same mahogany brown shade, as was the fluffy tip of his long tail. It seemed he had no trouble showing off his lion side. You weren’t sure if that’s all there was to his transformation though, considering he was a Sphinx, not just a lion. 

He turned to pay the driver, who was actually smiling and laughing like the two of them were old friends. Seokjin reached out and shook the man’s hand heartily and shoved what was apparently too much money towards him if the way the man tried to argue about it was any indication. You supposed this meant Seokjin was the friendly sort, which boded well. 

You were a little confused by the fact that the hybrid was only carrying a single suitcase. Perhaps he had left the rest behind to be picked up later? From what Heechul had told you, the hybrid had grown up in a fairly wealthy household, spoiled and doted on. You would think he would be walking in here with twenty name brand suitcases, and yet here he was with only a small rolling suitcase meant for a child with Mario on it. Something about that felt wrong. 

The hybrid seemed fine, however, breezing through the front door with a wide smile like all was right in the world. He stopped right in front of Heechul and stared at him a moment, cocking his head. 

“You haven’t changed a bit, hyung. You don’t have a single new wrinkle. Are you trying to compete with me?” 

Heechul huffs and reaches out to hug the man. Seokjin laughs quietly, pulling Heechul into a bear hug so fierce Heechul squeaks a little. He releases him and pats him on the shoulder before he turns to Namjoon. 

“Don’t tell me you’re little Joon bug? You can’t be anyone else, with those dimples. I used to swear I could use them as cereal bowls if we ever ran out.” 

Namjoon shyly looks down and kicks his foot, but he’s smiling. “Hi, Seokjin-ssi. It’s nice to see you again.” 

The hybrid waves his hand carelessly, “Just call me hyung, Namjoon. Or even just Jin.  We don’t need honorifics with our kind.” 

Namjoon nods and pulls you closer, drawing the Sphinx’s attention. His thick brow raises your way as his smile quirks mischievously. 

“And this must be Miss Star, the one I’ve been hearing so much about,” he raises up his hand like he’s going to shake yours, but the moment you grasp it he holds on tightly. His face suddenly settles into serious lines as he looks down into your eyes. 

“Answer me this. As small as your thumb, I am light in the air. You may hear me before you see me, but trust that I’m here.” 

You hadn’t been prepared for this, for some reason. Duh, Sphinx’s whole thing was about riddles. 

You bite your lip and give it some thought for a moment. “A hummingbird?” 

His smile brightens back up and he releases your hand before he slaps Namjoon’s back. 

“Hey, she’s smart. You got a good one” 

“Yeah…” Namjoon answers dreamily, staring down at you with a dopey grin. You blush and grab his hand. 

Jin’s arm was back to flailing around again, and you were wondering if he was in control of his limbs or if it was the other way around. 

“Hey, listen, want to hear a joke about construction?” he asks. You’re not sure if he really expects an answer, but you squeak out a somewhat genuine sounding “Sure,” anyway. 

“I'm still working on it,” he answers, before cackling loudly, his laughter practically shaking the glass windows as he slaps his leg in amusement. 

You decide, if nothing else, he seems easy to keep entertained. 

You politely laugh and wait for him to finish before taking the chance to steer the conversation in another direction. 

“Are you hungry? We thought we’d stay and have dinner here before we went home. Only if you’re comfortable with that, though.” 

“I’m famished,” Jin answered, slapping his flat and obviously in-shape stomach like it was the opposite. “I wouldn’t mind sticking around. Kyungsoo still the cook here?” 

“Yup. And Wendy is making dessert,” Heechul tells him as he grabs the little suitcase. 

“Sounds great.” 

It hadn’t escaped your notice that no one brought up his past owners or any difficult subjects. You sigh quietly as you walk behind everyone as they went to the dining room, knowing that it was probably going to be all up to you. 

***

Dinner had gone as it usually did, with only the occasional fights to break up between over-enthusiastic kids. You used the time to observe Seokjin, trying to see what you could pick up about him in a group setting like this. He was polite and charming, yes, but very quick to steer the conversation away from himself. You supposed he wasn’t ready to talk about his problems, which was fine. You had time. 

He was also an enthusiastic eater and at one point seemed to have an almost mini-competition going on with the elephant hybrid over who could eat the most. You’d decided to break it up before anyone found out since the elephant was only seven and didn’t need to compete with a grown man. 

Seokjin and Namjoon seemed to get on perfectly well, thank goodness. Jin treated him like a little brother - making sure his bowl was full, teasing him every time he stared at you, telling him at least five jokes about giants. 

The man didn’t seem to have a shred of animosity in him at all, which would normally be a good thing. If one didn’t take into account what had happened to him. He should be upset and crying, or at least mad. Irritated. But he seemed more like he was just visiting some dear old friends, with nothing to fret about. That worried you more than anything because the poor man was probably just really good at covering it up then, and you hoped you’d be able to help him. Or that he’d even let you. 

These thoughts plagued you the whole way home, as you occasionally peeked into the rear view mirror to see Jin sitting quietly with his tiny suitcase that you still hadn’t been able to bring yourself to ask about. 

At least he was here with the two of you, somewhere he could be safe and have people looking out for him. That was the best you could do for now. 

After you show him to a spare bedroom, he thanks you quietly, smiling with his lips but not his eyes. The door closes and you sigh, retreating to your own room to wrap yourself in Namjoon’s arms. It haunts you that something like this could happen to him if anything were to happen to you. That he would get sent back to the shelter with nothing, despite the fact that you wanted to give him the entire world. You’ll have to ask Heechul what you can do to make sure he’s safe. 

***

When you wake up the next morning, it’s to the smell of meat cooking. Normally, this would be a dream come true. Unfortunately, you’ve been living with Namjoon for far too long and your mind now associated unsupervised cooking with near-death experiences, so instead your first reaction is terror. 

You jump out of bed, unmindful of your state of near-undress, and run to the kitchen. Your ears are hyper tuned to every sound, waiting for bellows of pain, but so far you simply hear the slap of your bare feet against wood and sizzling from a pan. 

You round the corner and grab the wall, catching your breath as you stare into the kitchen. Namjoon is sitting at the bar eating a heaping plateful of scrambled eggs and cheese, giggling as Seokjin preforms some a dirty gesture involving sausages and eggs. The Sphinx is standing over the stove with your bright pink apron, confidently cooking away, and both men are fine. You breathe a sigh of relief, slumping slightly as the tension leaves your body. Both men turn at the sound, smiling in greeting. 

“Morning, baby. Jin’s making breakfast. He’s a good cook!” 

“I see that. Morning, everyone,” you reply, walking in and trying not to let on how nervous you’d been. You peck Namjoon’s cheek and peek over the bar at the stove. 

Jin meets your eye and smiles mischievously like he knows what you were concerned about. 

“And here is one for you, madame,” he says with a flourish, setting a plate in front of you piled high with food and even garnished with a couple of tiny flowers from the garden. 

“Wow,” you blurt, honestly astounded by his skill. Everything looked perfect and you couldn’t wait to dig in. 

“What’s with that look?” He says loudly, quirking an eyebrow at you. “You just fell for me, didn’t you? Ah, I’m too charming.” 

You laugh and take a bite, nervously peeking at Namjoon to see if he’d taken the joke too seriously. Seokjin must have magic in his food because you doubted the dragon had even heard since he was too busy shoveling food in his mouth like you’d been starving him for months. 

“Slow down,” you cluck and tap his shoulder. He turns and grins at you with a disgustingly full mouth.

“Isth good,” he mumbles, and you laugh despite your disgust. 

“I can see that.” 

You swirl your fork around as you watch Jin settle in with his own plate, letting him get a few bites in before you strike. 

“So, Joonie and I both took the day off to help you get settled in. We figured you might need to do some shopping or something. I know the bedroom is pretty bare since we were focusing on another room right now.” 

Jin glances up and for a moment his gaze is troubling. You’d seen the brief flash of melancholy before he’d covered it up with a charming smile. 

“I could use a few things to tide me over until I’m out of your hair, I suppose. I do have my own money, but most places around here won’t let you shop without a license.” 

“That was nice of them to leave you money, They must have been good owners.” 

His eyes cloud over and he glances away from you, staring at one of the windows. 

“They were amazing parents. But the money that they left for me got taken away. I believe everything went to my Mom’s cousin - someone she didn’t even really know.”

“I thought you said you had money?” 

“I...uhh...had some stashed away. My dad never liked banks - didn’t trust them. He always had a rule that whenever you used your card, you should take out some cash and squirrel it away just in case. So we’d always take a little out and stash it in this fake book. From the outside it looks like Crime And Punishment, and who reads that willingly?” he snorts, peeking over at Namjoon. “Besides this kid, obviously.” 

Namjoon just shrugs, unbothered with the truth. 

“But...Jin hyung, you mean they kept everything?” 

The Sphinx sighs wearily and drops his fork, reaching up to rub his forehead. 

“Everything. The cousin’s lawyer grabbed my old suitcase from storage and told me I could keep anything I could fit in there as long as he approved of it. I got some clothes, my mom’s recipe book, my dad’s favorite fishing lures, and the stash of cash because he thought it was just another book,” Jin shrugs like he’s just telling a story, never mind that the sound of your heart breaking was probably audible at this point. 

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” you murmur, struggling to stay calm for his sake. 

He shrugs. “No big. I’m a hybrid. Should have expected it.” 

“No, you should not have. People treat actual animals better than they do hybrids and it’s disgusting. I’m so very sorry. I know nothing I say can erase what’s been done to you. Just know that you are safe here and welcome in my home for as long as you like.” 

Jin opens his mouth to say something but snaps it shut again like he can’t figure out what to say. Namjoon grins proudly at you and slaps Jin’s shoulder. 

“Told you, hyung. She’s the best. And she’s right. You are welcome here and I can assure you that I feel no urge to fry you to a crisp.” 

“I...was not aware that was a potential issue. Thanks for not ruining my beautiful face, I guess,” Seokjin says, obviously done with the serious talk and choosing to fall back into humor. 

“And with that settled, I should probably go put on some pants. Thanks for the breakfast! We’ll meet up and go shopping in an hour, yeah?” 

You grin at them both and leave the room, the smile dropping the moment you were sure they couldn’t see. 

Poor Seokjin. 

He had grown up loved and cared for by those people, and just because he was a hybrid he’d lost everything. The fact that this could easily be Namjoon’s story if you were to kick it tomorrow didn’t sit well with you, either. You needed to figure something out that could stop this from happening. Or at least figure out somewhere hybrids could go besides back into shelters. It seems like an impossible task, but one that needs doing, obviously. 

As laughter filters towards you from the kitchen, you smile. One thing is for sure, your first task is going to be convincing Seokjin that he’s already home. 

[dragons-socks]

Baby Bumblebee chptr 3

“Hey, Captain Lennox, Bumblebee isn’t here if that’s what you’re looking for.” Sam said as Ironhide pulled up and the captain jumped out. Mikaela waved from her spot inspecting the old engine of Sam’s replacement car when Bee is out in the field.

“I know. That’s why I’m here.” Something about the way Lennox said it had both teens dropping what they were doing and turning fully to him.

“Is he alright? Did he die. I swear if you wrecked him, I’m going to beat-” Sam began frantically threatening Lennox when Ironhide’s passenger rear door popped open and tiny light-the-night yellow sketchers popped out followed by black overall-shorts over a yellow t-shirt, but was drowned out by an overly large bee-themed jacket. The kid slipped on the last few inches out of the truck, landing smack on his bottom. Instead of crying out like most children do, he let out a series of clicks and chitters.

“I said I’d get you in a second, kid.” Lennox sighed, walking over and picking the child up to his feet. Sam looked between the kid and Lennox. He turned to Mikaela to make sure she was also seeing the kid as well.

“Uh, I didn’t know Epps had a kid?” Sam asked. “What’s his, uh, name?”

“Bumblebee.” Lennox said, face flat. Sam wanted to laugh, but the kid just looked down at his shoes, scuffing his toes in the grass.

“No way.” Sam knelt down to take a closer look at the little boy. “Like, my car? Like the 18 foot alien robot?” The kid let out a sad whine.

“Why is he a child? Shouldn’t he be older, even if he was turned into a human.” Mikaela asked, standing closer to Lennox.

“We think that is the purpose of the weapon, not to just turn the autobots into humans, but also small and defenseless.” Lennox explained the battle and how Bee saved Optimus from their weapon. Sam ruffled Bee’s fluffy blonde hair.

“He looks more like you cheated on Sarah with some cute African mama while on tour, then Epps and his girlfriend’s kid.” Mikaela cooed at Bee.

“I think my babysitter has the same idea.” Lennox groaned. “We tried to say he was a dead friend’s kid, but I’m not sure she completely bought it.”

“Sarah would have you sleeping in the dog house if that were true.” Mikaela assured.

“Oh, I’m in the doghouse either way. Apparently it’s a little traumatising to experience being a human than just observing them.” Lennox laughed as Bee let out a series of grumbles and chirps.

“So I have to stick with the crapper?” Sam bemoaned. Bee turned to him, letting out chirps and chitters. His tiny hand rested on Sam’s cheek, a determined look taking over his whole face as he promised he didn’t become a human to shake his duties to and for Sam.

“It was a joke, buddy. Don’t worry.” Sam laughed.

Judy walked out and completely went heads over heels for the kid little kid in her front yard. She snatched him up instantly, pinching his chubby cheeks and gushing about the brightest blue eyes she’s ever seen.

“Ma! Mom! MOM!” Sam shouted as Bee struggled against the matriarchy of the Witwicky family. “You’re freaking him out. Will you put him down?”

“He’s so small, you were this small once. Oh, I remember when you used to just rip your overall’s off cause you didn’t like them at all. But look how cute he is!” Judy at least set Bee down, who ran and hid behind Lennox’s legs, glaring at the woman from behind them.

“Yeah, yeah, ma. Why are you out here anyway?”

“Dinner is almost done. We have enough for you two as well, Captain Lennox.” She turned to the other adult.

“I’ll have to decline. We’re supposed to be picking up the last of the supplies for Bee and then headed back to the wife’s dinner. She’d kill me if I came with a full stomach.” Lennox gave a tight smile. Judy went on about being a good husband and yelling at her own to take notes. Ron yelled back about having been her husband for long enough to know how to handle his marriage.

“We’ll be able to see Bee at the base, right?” Sam asked.

“No. Optimus isn’t a fan of having him with the other Autobots and my superiors feel the same with having a child running around base. So he’ll be at my house until we figure out how to get him back to normal.”

“And if you can’t?” Lennox didn’t answer, not verbally, but the look on his face said enough. Bee let out a grumble, folding his arms and shaking his head. He wouldn’t rest until he could kick ass and drive fast again. “Well, I could always look after him if you need someone. I owe him for looking after me all this time anyway.”

“Thanks, kid. We’ll be around.” Lennox said. Bee wrapped his arms around Sam, who picked him up and helped him back into Ironhide, finding a kid’s car seat. Sam suppressed the need to laugh. An autobot that’s been in wars, has killed, and can take a brutal beating, has to also resort to being put into a car seat for his own safety.

“See ya later, Bee.” Sam ruffled the soft curls one last time. Bee waved goodbye.

Lennox was a little surprised that it wasn’t like pulling teeth to get Bumblebee away from Sam. He was almost positive that the autobot-turned-boy would try to stay with his ward. Maybe it was the promise of seeing Sam again that eased the separation. But Lennox wasn’t complaining. He wasn’t lying when he said he still had to get Bee a few more supplies for his room and Sarah was expecting him home at some point.

Bumblebee’s eyes went wide as they walked into yet another store. Lennox had been dragging him in and out of them all day. He’s been shoved into clothes for hours, and made to choose sleeping supplies and shelves. He was placed in front of plastic toys, but he didn’t want to look at those. Lennox held out a newer version of the yellow toy car and put it in the cart. Bumblebee didn’t want to acknowledge it’s presence so he turned away. His hand brushed against something soft, which made him stop in his tracks. Peaking to the side, he found a large box filled with fake earth animals. It was staring into his spark with beady black eyes, long drooping ears rested around its face.

“You can have the bunny if you want, Bee.” Lennox said, lifting it out of the box and placing it in Bee’s hands. Bumblebee’s fingers gripped automatically to the soft fur. He let out a stream of happy clicks.

The bunny was now in his room at the house, safe, protected. This new store was different. It was just shelves and shelves of books. Lennox wasn’t really browsing as he had done the other stores. No, he was walking straight to the counter where a girl sat, typing away at her computer. She ignored the duo until Lennox cleared his throat. She let out a sigh, turning to him with bored eyes.

“The children’s section is down the hall and to the right. The education corner is up the stairs all the way in the back.” She went back to her computer.

“I’m William Lennox. I called earlier.” He said.

“Oh, yeha, my boss said something about that. We’ve pulled some books for you.” She spun around, digging around a different shelf behind her before she pulled out a stack of large books. “These are the ones we’ve found.”

“I’ll take them all.” Lennox said. Bee went on his tiptoes and pulled down a small thin book. The cover had a cartoon child smiling, their hands in an odd position. The title was colorful and in big letters, ‘American Sign Language for Children’.

______________

The first time Lennox got back to the autobot base wasn’t until a whole week after getting into a healthy routine with Bumblebee. The kid was picking up sign language faster than Lennox could relearn it, so communication was still rocky, but it was getting better. They also had a grid of pictures and words that Bee could point at to help let Sarah know what he needed.

“Lennox, good to see ya back.” Epps clapped him on the back. “How’s the kid?”

“10,000 years of prior knowledge really makes ‘em smart, you know.” Lennox tries to smile, but it doesn’t quite appear. He drops his facade, running a hand down his face. “He’s upset on good days, throws tantrums on bad ones. He gets stressed easily and frustration runs high every minute.”

“That doesn’t really sound like Bumblebee. He’s usually so upbeat even in tough situations.” Epps commented.

“Ironhide thinks Bee is reacting to his physical age due to the human chemicals and endorphins bumping through his body. I’m inclined to believe so as well. Also, it’s a situation none of us has ever gone through before. He’s in unknown territory without his family to help him. He’s been abandoned and outcast and everything is a constant reminder of what he’s lost. He sacrificed himself for his leader, for the one he looks up to for guidance and safety. And because of the outcome, he was pushed away by that very man.” Lennox tried to explain the feelings that have been tearing Bumblebee into pieces.

“Yeah, that does sound stressful.” Epps slouched. “How’s Annabell taking having an older brother?”

“She hates it.” Lennox groaned, sliding down to the floor.

“It can’t be that bad.” Epps laughed at his friend’s pain.

“She’s just fine sharing, as long as its in the way she wants, which Bee usually gets overwhelmed with her demands and ends up with Annabell throwing a tantrum and Bee hiding away in Ironhide.” Lennox took a deep breath.

“Do I even want to know how Sarah is taking this?” Epps helped Lennox to his feet.

“Oh, she’s loving how much room she has in the King bed without any company.” Lennox gave a dry bark of laughter.

“Seriously?”

“She loves Bee, didn’t even take a second to warm up to him. She is mad that I made this ‘life-changing’ decision without her.”

“Well, we’re wife and kid free here, man. So just come down to the hanger and see what the bots have been up to.” Epps led the way to the large warehouse where the autobots were walking around and talking with other military faciliants. Or they were trying too. Ironhide was shouting at Optimus and anyone else who tried to argue with him or try to calm him down.

“I’ve got tear stains in my leather upholster, because he thinks he’s been abandoned! And you know what, he ain’t wrong.” Ironhide folded his arms, glaring at the leader of the Autobots.

“We’ve been over this, Ironhide. He would not be safe here. I’m not going to change my decision.” Optimus huffed, getting frustrated at this endless cycle that was getting them nowhere.

“Oh, I know. But I want you to live with the guilt of that decision riding on your conscience till the All Spark has mercy.” Ironhide spins his cannons, but doesn’t engage in any violence with his commander. Lennox was surprised the weapon’s expert held back. Ironhide had been overheating with rage for the whole ride here.

“Don’t start a fight, Ironhide. Bumblebee knew the risk.” Wheeljack said. “Besides, being alone isn’t the worst. I’m by myself all the time.” Wheeljack didn’t get to continue his thoughts as Ironhide slammed his fist into the other’s face.

“Hey, hey, Ironhide! They’re not going to change their minds with senseless violence. We’re here to do a job. Just keep it civil, big guy.” Lennox said, running to break up the bots.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to the range.” Ironhide transformed into his truck and rolled away from the others.

“Thank you for understanding, Captain.” Optimus started, but Lennox shot a glare up to the large mech.

“Don’t think I’m on your side, Prime. I just hate cleaning up the messes that happen when you guys fight.” Lennox turned away from the bot to organize his men.

[junhyukiscute]

to all the boys i’ve loved before (mcnd x reader)

100 followers special! thank you so much!

author note: thank you guys for 100+ followers!! i didn’t know how to express my gratitude so hopefully this ot5 mcnd x reader will help??? also this doesn’t fully follow the movie at all <333

my letters are my most secret possessions. i write them when i have a crush so intense, i don’t know what else to do. there are 5 total.

minjae, the star of my school’s football team and partner in english,

sungmin, the class clown who shows me magic tricks whenever i’m sad,

huijun, the shy nerd who helped me study for history when i was failing,

junhyuk, the artist who asked me to become a model for him,

and seongjun, but he’s my older sister’s boyfriend.

nobody knows about my crushes. no one except for me. until one fateful day.

“hey sis! you’re welcome,” your older brother, wooseok said.

“what do you mean?” you questioned while you ate your cereal.

“your letters, i sent them out,” he replied.

“WHAT?!” you slammed your hands on the table as you stood up, “wooseok, how did you even find those?!”

he grinned, “i was snooping through your closet to borrow some clothes and a box fell on me. i decided that since i’m such an amazing brother, i would send all those letters that were in the box to the guys you addressed. five guys, huh.”

“wooseok- those, those weren’t supposed to be sent out?! what’s wrong with you?” you cried out before grabbing your backpack to run to school. great, today was just not going to be your day, huh.

“good luck, lil sis,” wooseok cackled. you really were related to the devil. you prayed that you wouldn’t see any of the guys today.

your first period was pe, thank god. you shared the class with none of the boys. you were just walking around the track with your friend who was chattering very excitedly about this new rookie group’s comeback song called “spring”.

“hey (y/n), can i um, talk to you?” said a low voice. you widened your eyes as you turned around to see junhyuk in his tennis uniform. what was even worse was when you saw your mint green envelope in his right hand. oh great, you forgot that he was apart of the tennis team, who had practices during first period. your friend stopped talking and gasped as she pieced the situation together before wiggling her eyebrows at you and started to jog away. great. you were about to jog off with her but junhyuk grabbed your wrist before you could. “i read the letter last night and i was kinda shocked. did.. did you really mean it?” he asked with desperate eyes. his grip on your wrist tightened almost desperately as he grabbed your other free one with his, “please be honest with me and don’t give me any false hope.”

you gulped as your face turned red. “false hope..? junhyuk, i don’t understand..”

he sighed before looking at you again, “meet me at the tennis courts after school today. this isn’t finished,” he hesitantly let go of your wrists before waving to you with the letter in his hand, “see you later, (y/n).”

after the traumatic morning you had, it was second period. you walked slowly to class as it dawned upon you. great, you though, i have huijun in it. as you walked into the class, you avoided eye contact with everyone in class and waited for the teacher. the minutes felt like hours, but once your teacher came in, you let out the breath you didn’t know you’ve been holding in.

“okay class, take out the books in your desk and open to page 401,” your teacher yawned. you grabbed the book from the little space you had under your desk and a folded lined piece of paper fell out on your lap. “for (y/n)” it said in near handwriting. out of curiosity you opened it and it read with neat handwriting: hey (y/n), i received your letter. i didn’t know that you thought of me like that.. i feel the same. can we meet up at the top media cafe later to talk about this? love, huijun

“ahem, (y/n), is history that interesting?” the teacher crossed their arms. you got out of your shock from huijun’s small confession before shoving the paper in your backpack.

“uh- no, um i mean yes?” you meekly replied. the class laughed as the teacher shook their head before returning to the lesson. you snuck a glance at huijun who was writing diligently before looking up and waving slightly at you. you sighed before pulling out a pencil and paper.

it was passing period now and you were walking to your locker when you saw seongjun leaning against it while holding a brown paper envelope. nope, not today, you thought before turning the other way.

he caught sight of you before yelling, “(y/n), wait! i need to talk you!” you widened your eyes before running off to your next period: english. not a lot of people were there yet so you just sat at your desk and huffed. this day seemed to weird to be true. you buried your head in your arms. you weren’t even halfway done with the day yet you were ambushed by more than half of the boys already. deep in your thoughts, you jumped when you heard the chair next to you screech. minjae, you thought. you panicked because, well, he was going to be next to you this whole period. you pretended to snore so you wouldn’t have to talk to him until the teacher came. a few moments later you felt a jacket drape over you. the warmth it had was too inviting and then you actually fell asleep. 

the bell had rung, signaling for fourth period. “(y/n), wake up, you’ll be late for your next period,” minjae gently shook you. you lifted your head up drowsily and saw a few books standing up to prevent you from being seen by the teacher. oh, he took cover for you so that you could survive the whole period napping.

“hmmm...?” you rubbed your eyes to get a better look at minjae smiling softly at you.

“hurry up, (y/n), you slept through the entire third period. i covered for you because you seemed really tired. i’ll walk you to fourth period.” without thinking much, you grabbed your backpack and nodded.

“thanks for covering me, minjae,” you yawned as you guys walked to your next class. 

“yeah, no problem. i wanted to ask you about something though,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “so i got a letter earlier? did my smile actually brighten up your week?”

you inwardly cringed at the memory of writing such a sappy love letter to him, “haha, what letter?? it couldn’t possibly be the- oh” you stopped as minjae held up a pink envelope with a cherry pattern on it. you blinked a few times in disbelief as he carried it with him this entire time.

“this letter. i can’t believe that you’d write something like this, it’s kinda cute. i always knew you were a good writer,” he grinned as he waved the letter around.

“don’t just wave it around like that, give me it!” you said as you tried taking it away. it was unsuccessful as he lifted the letter up and away from you. he put it in his pocket.

“you’re not even gonna let me finish what i was saying?” he smirked. you guys reached your classroom and as you were about to walk in, minjae hugged you from the back and whispered in your ear, “come to the football game tonight, i’ll save you a front row seat,” before letting you go. your eyes widened at the sudden affection before looking around. great, now you see the minjae fangirls glaring at you. you shuddered at the ice cold tension that was in the classroom before making your way to your seat. 

it was only until the bell had rung when sungmin had ran into class. “safe!” he yelled out with a salute as you heard a teacher yell “detention!”. the classroom was filled with light giggles at his energy. you made eye contact with him and his smile slightly faltered before smiling again at his friends. ouch, you thought. you rolled your eyes before pulling out the materials for this class.

once fourth period was over, it was lunch. you sighed in relief to finally be able to eat your problems away. as you exited out of the classroom, a hand grabbed your shoulder. you let out a small shriek before whipping your head to see sungmin, with a small grin on his face.

“can we talk?”

you nervously laughed, “look, if this is about the letter, you can just forget about it.”

“well.. what if i don’t want to forget about it? (y/n), these are your feelings. you can’t just hide them forever or throw them away like it’s nothing,” he said, his grin never faltering. wow, where did the happy jokester go? you rarely ever see him being so serious, so this was probably really important to him. 

you cracked a small smile, “listen, sungmin. those feelings were hidden for a long time, it could’ve been forever if you never had been given the letter. i appreciate the words but i... really need to go now, i’ll see you,” you said as you walked away. 

“check your blazer’s pocket!” he yelled from across the hallway. you stopped and looked back, but sungmin was already gone from your sight. you found a paper sticking out of your pocket. that silly boy, he probably put it in when you weren’t looking. when you took it out, you saw a ticket to the school’s dance showcase after school at 5 pm with a post-it note saying “i hope to see you there <3 i’ll perform a song just for you”. you shook your head before putting it in your binder. 

once you entered the cafeteria, you got your lunch tray and walked outside to sit under one of the school’s trees. once you plopped down onto the cool grass, you sighed and leaned against the tree’s bark. you cursed wooseok for sending the letters and cursed at your horrible luck when you saw seongjun walking towards you. 

you were too tired to leave the relaxing shade so you just sighed as he stood in front of you. 

“(y/n)...” he started.

“before you say anything, that letter was a mistake. i know it was wrong to write a letter to my sister’s boyfriend. i don’t like you anymore,” you said a bit too quickly.

he crouched down to your level before letting out a smile small, “i broke up with your sister after i read your letter.” 

your eyes widened and you sat straight up, “you did WHAT?!” you shrieked, “h-how could you?! my sister really loved you! oh my god, seongjun! what the hell..?”

he ruffled your hair like he would always do when he visited you, “i know you wrote more letters. your older brother told me.” oh my god, you felt like such a horrible person. the guilt you had for liking him, the fact that you had probably ruined all these friendships you had, it all weighed down on you and you found yourself crying.

“i’m sorry.. i never meant for any of this to happen.. if only i didn’t write those letters..” you choked out.

he shook his head before gently pulling you towards him so that you could cry in his chest, “it’s okay, (nickname), you can’t control who you like. it’s none of your fault for liking someone, or should i say some people?” he joked. you punched his stomach lightly as he laughed out loud.

“not funny, seongjun,” you mumbled, “you know, i don’t know why i had liked you in the beginning.”

“well, for starters,” he said as he pulled out the letter from his pocket, “you said that i had a personality that was just so warm and inviting and-” you punched him one more time, a bit harder, as you sniffled, “okay, okay, i get it. who were the other people you wrote to? i think i’m the only one who knew of multiple being sent out, so you’re good.”

“.... minjaesungminhuijunandjunhyuk,” you mumbled.

for some reason, seongjun caught all of that and widened his eyes, “really?”

you sniffed and nodded, “yeah but can we go back to why you broke up with my sister so suddenly...”

he sighed, “man, you’ve always been really persistent, haven’t you?” he thinks for a bit but the lunch bell rings and cuts him off once he opened his mouth to speak.

“you’re kidding me!” you cried.

he stands up and gives you a hand to take. once you take it and grab your backpack, he ruffles your hair one last time, “if you want to hear the rest, then wait for me after school. i’ll walk you home and explain all of it, okay? see you (y/n).” the next actions shocks you as he mumbles “don’t hate me for this” and he kisses the top of your forehead before walking off. you blushed at the sudden contact before shaking your head and walking back into the school building.

fifth period had gone by quickly, and the last period was a self study period. you doodled on your notebook as you pondered over your choices. huijun had always helped you out whenever you needed help or was called out by the evil teacher. junhyuk was the shy boy who asked you to model for him because he found you pretty, and had gotten closer to you during the process. minjae was like a childhood friend you’ve known forever because you guys had always gotten along and always had each others backs. bic was like a breath of fresh air; he’d always cheer you up whenever you had a bad test score, there was never dull moments with him. lastly, there was seongjun, your older sister’s boyfriend, who had always treated you so well and listened to your problems while never criticizing you for your mistakes. 

you never imagined this happening to you, let alone, even have your feelings being reciprocated. you giggled a bit, you sounded like some main character in a wattpad fanfiction. you tapped back into reality as you thought about it. if you choose one, you would ditch the four others who would be patiently waiting for your answers. actions really do have consequences, you thought bitterly. your stomach dropped as you heard the last bell ring.

who do you choose to go to?

song minjae

bang junhyuk

[ruewrites]

We’re Blooming Together Chapter 3: Eyes

AO3

Ships: Solomon/Asmo

Word Count: 3023

Warnings: None

Chapter 1-Chapter 2-Chapter 3-Chapter 4-Chapter 5-Chapter 6-Chapter 7-Chapter 8-Chapter 9-Chapter 10-Chapter 11-Chapter 12

“I thought you said you were going to focus on yourself for a while.”

“I am … But they could also be cute, you know? Now stop moving before I stab you with the pin.”

All Asmo had to do was make a few adjustments so his latest assignment actually fit Solomon before making his judgement. If it didn’t fit him just the way he wanted it to, it would look bad if not every little last detail was perfectly in place. Not to mention, the colors looked good on Solomon. Long black jacket that flared down to his knees, with dark blue snakes hiding in the fabric. They were almost invisible until the light hit the sequence just right. Underneath was a white a light grey shirt with golden trim on the collar which bled into dark grey pants. They flared out at the bottom just a bit and also had the same gold trim.  Dark and mysterious, a perfect contrast to his person. The blue of the snakes almost matched the specks of blue in his grey eyes.

“I mean note writing is a little ‘high school’ I guess, but it never happened to me before… So I think it’s kind of cute. Plus it’s very well done, much better than anything any of our old classmates could have pulled off,” Asmo sighed, adjusting the cuff of the slacks. He’d gotten a few more letters since the first, some had even included little gifts. Each one had made him bubble up with joy.

“Have you told any of your brothers?” Solomon asked, looking down at Asmodeus.

“ Hell no . While I’d love to go on and on about it, the others wouldn’t let it go , and you know how protective Luci can be.”

Lucifer had been thrown into a parental role earlier than he should have been (honestly he shouldn’t have had to do it at all), but he’d done a fairly good job from what Asmo remembered. Of course they’d had guardians, but Lucifer always tried his best for all of them. He’s also been fairly protective over all of them. Asmo could still remember how he had reacted with his first break up,or the time a group of guys had ganged up on  Mammon and Levi after school. Neither situation had ended well for their offenders. Nothing really changed much. The only difference now was that Lucifer was a big, fancy, successful lawyer. While Lucifer was smart in his own regards, it also helped that he’d just so happened to make friends with Diavolo during his studies, a man born into money and power. Diavolo adored Asmo’s dear older brother, and wanted to see him succeed in life. Despite Lucifer’s many protests, Diavolo had poured a lot into Lucifer’s law firm and helped him make Morning-Star&Dev ílle the successful and glorious firm it was today. Long story short, people used to be scared of messing with any of the younger Morning-Stars, now they were absolutely terrified .

Asmo stood and walked around Solomon once more. Everything seemed to be marked properly for him to sew later so he brought Solomon over to the mirror. He let out a low whistle.

“I like this one,” Solomon grinned, gently tugging on the long dark jacket, “And Mammon really wouldn’t model this for you?”

“Not without pay no. He doesn’t do ‘free gigs’.”

More like he didn’t have time for them. Mammon was broke every other week. Asmo didn’t really know how he could do it, so he spent most of his time in the studio to make as much as he could. Asmo had tagged along with him to the studio once, mainly so he could talk to some of the designers. However, he would say that Mammon made a pretty good model.

Even so, he liked having Solomon as his model, and he wouldn’t have to redo measurements often. Plus, Solomon looked good in everything he made. It could be because he had a tiny thing for him, or that he was his type, but whatever. He had an attractive model who he also got along with, and that was important.

“You knoooow, you could always come along with me. I’d make you my own personal model, then I could make you clothes all the time,” Asmo hummed, peaking over his shoulder, “Mr. Author and or professor Solomon would always have a snazzy new  suit for every day of the week, or outfit of your choosing. I’m not picky with what I make.”

He caught Solomon’s smirk in the mirror, damn he was attractive . He always got this little twinkle in his eyes whenever he smirked, it was so mischievous. When had he started doing that? When had that shy little boy on the playground become this man before him?

“Perhaps. I’ll think about it.”

Asmodeus hummed for a moment before pulling his bangs back slightly, there it was. That was a nice look. “Oooh you should pull your hair back when you model for my class! Or do it more anyways, that way people can see more of that handsome face of yours!” he said. Or so he could see more of that handsome face of his.

Solomon chuckled and shook his head, pulling Asmodeus’ hand away and brushed his bangs back into place. “I don’t know, I kind of like my hair the way it is. I’ll leave the fancy stuff to you Asmodeus.”

“Pulling your hair back is hardly considered fancy, dear Solomon.”

Something was still missing… Asmo circled Solomon a few more times. What was it? He stared at the breast pocket for just a moment before snapping, “Got it!” Going over to his dresser, he plucked one of the fake flowers from its place. The yellow perennial added a nice splash of color to the outfit and stood out nicely against the dark fabric and matched the golden trim, even if it hadn’t been one of the fully bloomed ones. “Now it’s perfect .”

Solomon adjusted the collar just a bit, eyes fixed on the flower in his pocket. One arm was crossed over his abdomen and the other near his chin, one finger underneath his lip. Slowly he nodded.

Why did he have to be so wonderful ?

Asmo pushed those thoughts away.

“If you think it looks good, I trust you,” Solomon smiled, “After all, you’re the designer here, not me.”

“Good! Now take it off so I can adjust it. I still need to try a few ideas for your face until I’m done with you.”

******

A familiar meow greeted Asmo as he entered the cafe. One of the many residents greeted him happily looking for chin scratches and other affections from him. Few people were here at this hour, and honestly that was for the best. After all, he didn’t want people to overhear his little gossip sessions with Satan. Visiting his brother on break was always fun. He’d get to hear countless stories of odd customers that came in that day and Asmo could tell him about some of the latest gossip on his campus.

“All I’m saying is this, the next kid that pulls one of my cats’ tails is gettin drop kicked out the door,” Satan growled, “I don’t care if he’s six Susan, do your fuckin job as a mom and teach him to not hurt my cats. ”

Asmo nodded along with his brother’s words as one of the tabby’s pressed her head into his palm. “ Children. Surely we weren’t bad when we were that age.”

“Lucifer might beg to differ.”

Asmo flicked the paper wrapper from his straw at him, and Satan snorted, “Well he would .”

“Hush. Luci basically raised us, you know he loves us.”

Satan mumbled a bit and rolled his eyes.

“Anyways,” Asmo continued, “Wanna know my latest thing while there’s no eavesdropping brothers?”

Satan leaned over the table to meet Asmo half way, a smirk on his face. “Any dirt on dear older brother? Or did something happen on campus? Some stupid freshie do dumb shit at the latest frat party?”

That was when Asmodeus hesitated for a moment. Should he tell him? He could always pull something else out to tell him. It wouldn’t be that hard. After all, he knew all of the latest news on campus, he could think of something he hadn’t told Satan yet. No. He could trust Satan. Satan could keep a secret. Even if he couldn’t, Lucifer would be the last person he’d tell. Lucifer was the one he was worried about finding out.  He would worry. He’d think the worst.

Not that he blamed him. Lucifer had heard more than enough horror stories from clients to last him five lifetimes over. He knew what the world could be like.  He had to face it almost every day he walked in. Asmo just preferred to ignore those parts. Worrying too much could cause wrinkles, and that was one thing that Asmo never wanted to happen to him. Besides, they’d all been fine up to this point and they would continue to be fine.

The letters spread across the table and Satan raised a brow. Asmo slowly opened them and even placed some of the tinier gifts on the table. “ Read them ,” he said, “Satan they’re so wonderful . So beautifully written! I’ve been finding them in my things. My bag, my laptop, my textbooks, my desks, my makeup bag- Oh it’s so romantic and secretive .”

Satan opened one of the letters slowly, eyes scanning over the words slowly, processing what this was. Asmo held his breath, eyes trained on his brother. Oh he could wait to hear Satan’s thoughts. Of course talking to Solomon had been fun, but Solomon was more of a listener. Solomon was a good listener. Those beautiful grey eyes trained on him, nodding to let him know he was listening. He also never interrupted, which was nice. He always listened to him, no matter what. And those eyes…

“Well, their penmanship is certainly impressive.”

“ Satan. Is that really all you have to say?” Asmo couldn’t hide the exasperation in his voice, “This is romance . You know, like you have in some of the books you have in that mountain of a bookshelf? And all you can comment on is the handwriting? ”

“Well it is rather exceptional,” Satan shrugged, “And you don’t have a clue who it could be?”

Asmo had fantasies about who it could be, but as far as clues went-

“Nope! Not in the slightest. All I know is that they say such wonderful things, and they sound like they absolutely adore me!” he sighed, “They even used my favorite color for the letter. I can only imagine how sweet they are, or how wonderful they might be.”

“Or they could be a complete psychopath.”

“ Shut up . This is my fantasy and you’re about to be uninvited.”

Concern crossed Satan’s face, and Asmo could already feel himself starting to suppress a groan. “I’m just being rational. It could happen. There’s plenty of weirdos out there who’d do anything to get what they want you know.”

Of course Asmo knew, but that wasn’t the case here. It couldn’t be the case here.

Right?

“You’re starting to sound like Lucifer.”

“Please, don’t insult me like that,” Satan let out a sigh and looked out the window of the cafe, “I don’t want that to be the case. You’ve only been getting these on campus?”

“ Yes. Unfortunately they don’t follow me wherever I go. It’s not like one’s going to magically pop up while we’re sitting here in the cafe. Besides, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself if something does happen. They probably just look at my accounts. It’s not hard to find my favorite color.”

He wasn’t helpless, and he certainly wasn’t stupid. He was allowed to enjoy this.

“Perhaps,” Satan couldn’t shake all  of the concern in his eyes, but he could get rid of most of it, “Although, I may have to have a talk with them if they ever choose to reveal themselves. While they’re writing is good , I’d love to help them work on their  descriptions.”

“Satan.”

“It’s cute in a sense, but there are certainly more romantic things that could be said if that’s what they were going for.”

“ Satan .”

“For example, they could have put more of an emphasis on your eyes-”

Asmo groaned and slumped over onto the table, “Satan I don’t want you giving my precious Secret an entire lesson. Knowing my luck you’ll scare them away.”

He heard Satan chuckle and felt him ruffle his hair. Asmo’s eyes peaked up from his arms so he could glare at his brother, but only for a moment. “You know the rule for partners. They get brought in, we get to embarrass whoever brought them in.”

Asmo grumbled out a quiet “yeah yeah I know ” before sitting back up straight. The future for him and Secret would be unforgiving when it came to his brothers, but he didn’t have to cross that bridge yet. Maybe he’d be able to find a way to save both of them from their cruel fate, or more accurately, maybe Asmo could save himself from the cruel fate of being embarrassed in front of his precious Secret.

“You’re all so cruel. You know that right?” Asmo huffed, “Here I am, searching for the love of my life, and all any of you can think of doing is whipping out old stories or teasing me until I turn red. The nerve of you.”

“Everyone gets the same treatment Asmo.”

“I know, but still,” Asmo smoothed his hair back over and let out a sigh, “Couldn’t you let it slide just this once? Please ? They could be the one.” He put on his best puppy dog eyes and batted his lashes for extra measure. For a few moments. One. Then two. Then-

Satan burst out into laughter, “Nah. Nope. Sorry Asmo. If the rest of us have to suffer so do you. Not to mention all of your partners, in your own words, ‘could have been the one’. I’m starting to think that you say that more than you realize.”

That’s because each time he honestly believed it.

“Oh whatever. In any case, this stays between us okay? No one else knows. Especially not Lucifer.” Asmo’s voice was stern. Satan had to know he wasn’t joking around now. He knew what mode Lucifer would jump into if he figured out what was happening, and Asmo couldn’t have that. He didn’t want Secret to be scared off by him. If Secret truly did care about him like they wrote about, Asmo wanted them to stick around for a while….

Satan nodded, “Asmo, you know me. Anything spoken between our exclusive circle stays between us. Lucifer isn’t going to find out. Not until you want him to anyways.” He refolded the letters and pushed them back towards his brother. It was their little secret.

Asmo smiled and took the letters back carefully. “I have a new one to read tonight. I can tell you what it says tomorrow.”

“Oh? You didn’t bring it with you?”

“I’d like the first read through of a first letter to be reserved for my eyes only.”

It made the moment more intimate that way. It was special. Every new letter he opened felt like a warm embrace from his Secret. He bet their embrace felt even more wonderful than he imagined.

“Now, care to tell me about some more of your horror stories?”

*******

To the keeper of my heart,

Where do I even begin when it comes to you?

Some days I fear that my words may fall short

Or that there will be no words left to describe you properly.

What will I do then?

Perhaps I would have to come out from hiding

Hold you close

Never let you go

And recite all of the wonderful mysteries about you.

I love when you get excited about your passions.

Your eyes sparkle and outshine all of the stars in the sky

Your lips curl up in the most perfect of arcs

You voice lilts and picks up ever so slightly.

I’ve never known a more passionate person than you.

Never let anyone take away the life in your eyes.

Think of Me,

Your Secret

Asmo had read the letter three times over. Each time his eyes scanned over the words his heart skipped a beat. Of course he wasn’t new to compliments, he’d received so many over the years. People stared at him, People wanted him. Sure maybe it was a little narcissistic, but why deny it if he knew it to be true? Despite all of that, people rarely went into detail about what they loved about him. He’d had partners brag about how hot or cute he was, but many had also made him feel self conscious. He still remembered the disappointment that flickered behind an old boyfriend’s eyes the one time he had decided to “dress down” one day when he stayed over. The dismissive tone in his voice… Even though Asmo thought he’d looked cute…

Things like that stick with you.

Would Secret still love him if he dropped below the bar one day?

He didn’t want to find out…

Asmo placed the letter on his nightstand, and curled up under his covers. He certainly did think of Secret every night. He tried to create a picture of them in his head. He imagined their voice, how wonderful their embrace would feel, how absolutely perfect they would be. They truly adored him. How could Asmo not think of them? As he drifted off, his mind once again wadered to Solomon. Even if it wasn’t possible, thinking about it couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like he was going to actually start falling for his childhood crush again. He was still allowed to think he was cute. Plenty of people were cute, that didn’t mean that he’d fall for every cute person he saw.

Once again, Asmo found himself dreaming of his best friend and his beautiful eyes.

[hotpotrandomfics]

Fifth Year AU: A  Reckless Caregiver and Confession

Summary: It has been a few weeks since the werewolf incident and Jason is trying to get back into his usual habits. Thought the boy hasn’t really let himself rest and today was the last day before he collapsed if not for a certain witch...

Word Count: 3,849

It was an earlier Saturday morning at Hogwarts, and the school was buzzing with students running to go to Hogsmeade for the first time or causing silly mischief to each other or the rival houses. Merula was at Quidditch practice and was a bit out of focus. Her frienemy was nowhere to be seen in the stands. She wondered where they were because they always came to watch Slytherin practice.

"So, if I add two Mistletoe Berries then my Antidote to Common Poisons will work fine?" asked a first-year Slytherin.

"Yes, but remember to keep attention to detail. Professor Snape doesn't appreciate any explosions in his class and will take house points." Jason yawned as he looked through the first-year notes and nodded in approval. "Now then can any of you three remember the counter curse charm?"

"Um, Infinite Incatium?" said a Hufflepuff first year.

"No, you?"

"Infinite Ractium!" a Gryffindor first year shouted.

"Shhh!" Madam Pince hissed at the study group.

"No shouting and wrong again," Jason pinched the bridge of his nose sighing. "Please tell me you all have been studying as I said to?"

The small group of first and second-year students looked at the Slytherin Prefect laughing nervously. Some seemed down disappointed as they knew he'd get upset. For the past few weeks, Jason had been tutoring many younger students. Jason had been famous with many of the younger students and praised as the "Nice Slytherin" and other variants of the sort. He didn't mind the compliments but didn't like his House being demeaned by those words. The students had been making progress albeit slow progress. Jason would almost spend at least three to four hours tutoring them. All of that plus his duties as a prefect, searching for the vaults and studying for his O.W.L's he'd been pushing his limits and only enough sleep to make it through the day.

"Finite Incantatem," Jason said as ran a hand through his hair, "remember it now because I won't be the one taking your test for you. You all need to be independent. Okay?"

"Yes sir." said one of the second years.

"You don't need to call me 'sir.' I'm only four years older than most of you. Anywho, you all know what you need to study on so take your time but not too long."

The study group responded to Jason and went back to studying their notes and calling Jason when needed. He had an easy way to explain how to go about solving the problems without answering. Doing that gave the students confidence in their knowledge and understanding of their academics.

After another hour of tutoring, the students left, and Jason was packing his satchel with his notes of his O.W.L's and the vaults. Somehow they always got mixed. As he made his way to the threshold leading out of the library a swing of dizziness hit him out of the blue causing him to lean against the doorframe.

"Well aren't you a sorry mess," said a voice Jason knew too well.

"I tend to look like that a lot from the gossip I hear apparently." Jason looked down at Merula in her Quidditch uniform. Beads of sweat rolling down the tips of her cheek. Somehow he found that seeing her like this made his heart beat fast. "H-hi Merula, how are you?"

"I'm amazing as always, but you seemed like you just fought a chimera or something."

"I did fight one some time ago." Jason laughed as he stood straight feeling the dizziness fade slightly.  "But not today, just a little tired after tutoring a few people. I'll live."

"I see." Merula eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I do hope the next time you fight a chimera I get to watch you fight it."

"Please don't wish that on me," he laughed then raised a hand to his mouth and yawning. "Anyway, I got to head to a meeting with Professor Snape."

"Why don't I accompany you?" Merula looked at Jason while fiddling with a piece of hair.

"W-well I always enjoy your company," Jason blushed while looking at her with a soft expression. "Shall we get some air before I meet Snape?"

"I don't see why not but it's raining so we should watch our step," Merula smiled leaning close to him prompting her chest.

"O-okay then." Jason's face became more flushed as she stared at him with the gems she called eyes. "Why is she so beautiful?" ran through his head.

The two Slytherins walked down the corridors of the castle till they reached the outer edge of the courtyard watching the rainfall. They chatted about the tutoring Jason was doing. Merula talked about a lot of the tricks she did. Some dangerous but somehow she pulled them off though Jason pointed out her little scratch on her elbows causing her to get defensive. That made him laugh even more.

"Oh stop laughing you buffoon!" she pouted. "I swear Aurelius I'm gonna-"

"Help!" shouted a Slytherin first-year boy.

The two fifth-years turned to the boy and looked at him seeing he was covered in scrapes and soaking wet.

"Jason, my sister fell into the Black Lake!"

"Calm down," Jason said as he kneeled to the kid's level placing a hand on his shoulder while speaking in a gentle voice. "Tell me what happened."

"We were skipping stones off the cliff to the east and these Gryffindor third years were harassing us, and then my sister tried to step up to them but slipped on her robes and-" the boy tried to say more but was choked up.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jason ran off leaving Merula with the young Slytherin boy. Merula followed behind and told the boy to find a teacher. She didn't know why but she had a feeling in her gut something worse was going to happen. Within a few moments, Jason had made it to the eastern cliff of the lake dropping his satchel and tossing his shirt, and diving into the lake off the cliff.

"Oh Merlin, please tell me that idiot didn't just..." Merula ran to the edge seeing Jason's stuff on the ground. "Aurelius, where are you?" she mumbled while looking at the surface of the lake. She started to panic slightly and started calling his name out.

A few moments later Jason broke the surface with the girl and making his way to the shore. He pulled his wand from his pocket and focused on the water in her lungs slowly dragging it out. The girl cough as she took a large gasp of air and looking around panicked. He carried the girl on his back while Merula met them with Jason things and a sigh of relief.

"You're an idiot and very reckless at times you know?" Merula looked up at the shirtless giant blushing and trying to avert her eyes from his torso. "Seriously, who dives headfirst into a lake from a cliff?"

"This idiot I guess," he laughed while patting her head gently, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Merula swatted his hand away while looking at him and reprimanding him for his carelessness. She normally wouldn't give a care at all about what he did, but she didn't want him to get hurt over something ridiculous or daring. The two dropped the girl off at the hospital wing to be examined by Madam Pomfrey. Professor McGonagall had shown up with the girl's brother.

"Mister Aurelius De Leone. Miss Snyde. I see you two are- the boy put some clothes on!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. "We are not barbarians here."

"Apologies professor," Jason said as he took back his shirt from Merula who didn't seem to keen on returning it.

"Thank you, now then this young man explained everything to me, and I see you've taken care of the matter?" she inquired.

"Yes, professor."

"For selflessness, I am granting twenty points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, Professor!" The two Slytherins said in unison.

A few minutes later Jason and Merula were walking down a corridor. Jason was regaling her in the meeting he had to have with Snape. Most of it was regular reporting on how Slytherin as a whole has been.

"So Aurelius," Merula looked at him, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Why do you ask?" Jason looked at her curiously.

"Come now; I'm not easily fooled. I can tell you're not alright. You've got bags under your eyes and as far as I can tell you're overworked," she looked at him with what seemed to be a concern in her eyes. "I mean that whole stunt you pulled off somehow an hour ago and still have the energy to spare?"

"When you put it like that it sounds like I'm not normal," as he did what was between snicker and yawn, "Merula I'm fine."

"Seriously? You fell asleep in Flying class and almost dislocated your arm." She frowned while placing her hands on her hips. "Not to mention you  tried showing the Depulso charm to first-years and almost knocked the cauldron through a window."

"Yeah but-"

"But nothing! Your shoulder hasn't fully healed, and you're still being reckless! Do you ever thinking of yourself?!"

"Merula I..." Jason muttered as his vision started to get dull.

"And you," she started to mumble while fiddling with pointer fingers in a circling motion, "missed me practicing too."

"Merula..."

"It's frustrating enough seeing you do all this while trying to find the vaults. Aurelius, I'm worried about you too believe it or not." Merula stomach felt like it was in knots trying to find the words to convey how she felt. "After the Greyback debacle started to realize I care about you. I care a lot actually and I-"

As Merula began uttering the words, she been digging to find but saw the tall boy lean against the on the verge of collapsing. She called for him, but everything sounded distorted as though Jason was underwater. He felt cold as he still hadn't changed his clothes after the whole lake fiasco. He tried to keep himself steady but felt his knees bulk and started plummeting forward to the ground. Luckily something soft and warm managed to keep him from hitting the ground.

"Hey, Jason?!" Merula called out to him as he muttered gibberish incoherently. "That's it; you need your bed and to change as well." She said as she tried to lift him.

"N-no, I got another study group to tutor later." He groaned trying to keep his balance but failing.

"Like hell you are! I'm taking back to the dorm!" Merula said as she slugged his arm over her shoulder.

"Merula I'll be fine. I swear I'll be fine-"

"No arguing!" she shouted while her eyes clashed with his. "Let someone else help with your burdens. You're not a one-man army so don't be so hardheaded about me helping you. You idiot."

Something about this concerned Merula made Jason's heart skip a beat. The last time they were this close was when they were running for their lives. It was amazing that a girl no more than 5'2 could hold a 5'10 boy was hilarious but scary too. He as he leaned his weight on her shoulder caught the essence of her flowing along his nostrils that was beyond intoxicating and made the dizziness amplified because of it. But it's wasn't a bad scent he thought.

After a few minutes of struggling, Merula managed to get Jason back to their door without too much trouble. No one was in the dorm from the look of it.

"Okay, let's get you upstairs?" Merula was glancing at him to make sure he was still conscious. "Hey now, don't pass out on me because we'll both fall."

"R-right," Jason muttered as they made their way to the boy's dorm. "Sorry if the room might be slightly messy."

"I think I can take a little messiness." Merula chuckled as she pushed the door open. "Huh, you call this messy?"

The two stepped in and walked to Jason's bed that was most well-kept in the room. His nightstand and a picture of what Merula assumed was his family. The nightstand was stacked with notebooks and parchment sticking out, one of the covers was "vault notes," and another was "tutoring guide."

"Alright, sit down, and I'll grab your clothes."

"You don't have to"

"I'm doing it whether you like it or not! Now sit!" Merula growled as she lowered him down on his bed.

"Yes, ma'am."

Merula went through his drawer pulling out a tank top and his pajama pants. She placed them on his nightstand while she grabbed his towel he slung on his chair. She began drying his hair gently. The sound of thunder roared through the castle causing her to jump on Jason. A storm must have been rolling in, and everyone who's out in Hogsmeade without a doubt won't be able to come back anytime soon.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Merula looked up at him nervously.

"Y-yeah." He blushed as he felt her chest pressing against him and her breath grazing his neck. "Are you okay-"

"I'm was caught off guard. Not like I'm scared of thunder; don't be ridiculous." She said defensively.

"I didn't say you were scared did I?" he smiled at her nervously.

"No, you didn't," she muttered as she pushed herself up from his chest. "You need to get changed," she said as she started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Um Merula, I can handle getting changed you don't need to"

"I said I am helping you now shut up." She said trying not to blush as she looked down at him. "It's not like this isn't weird for me." She glanced down at his chest seeing some of the scars he bared. "Why do you have these?"

"You don't want to know." Jason crimsoned with embarrassment.

"Tell me," she asked as she traced a finger down a scar located on his abdomen.

"Some are from back home. Some from the vaults or whatever mess I find myself," he looked up at her.

"And from saving me," she mumbled as she pushed his left sleeve off and tracing the newest one to his collection. "You don't know how to think of yourself."

"Never have," Jason laughed softly as he pushed himself on his elbows. "Did I ever tell you how pretty you are?"

"What? Now I know you're losing it." Merula couldn't help but smile at the compliment despite herself. "Let me finish this so you can sleep and get your senses back."

"I'm being serious Merula."

"Just keep quiet for like five minutes and stop being weird."

What felt like an eternity passed by with Merula helping Jason get changed. She let Jason handle putting his pajama pants on while she had her back turned. She was tempted to steal a glance at his bare body. The sound of the belt from his pants hitting the ground rang in a loop in her head. By the time she couldn't bear it as she snuck a glance seeing he'd secured his pajama pants but still didn't have his shirt on. Was his back always that muscular she thought as she eyed him and bit her lip. Jason sat back on his bed despite his not wanting to while his back was turned to her. All of a sudden Jason felt arms wrap around him and something soft and firm pressing against his shoulder blades.

"Merula?"

"Do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked as she placed her forehead to his left shoulder holding him tight.

"I do."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I thought even you would notice." Jason placed a hand over hers. "Or at least have an idea."

"I guess what you said a few weeks back was just my hopeful thinking or the blood lose getting to your head." Merula smiled as she turned his head to face her. Eyes locked. "Should we continue where we left off that day?"

"I thought you wanted me to get sleep?" he teased as he caressed her cheek.

"I will do as I please thank you!" she smirked as she cupped his chin.

"Then..."

The two leaned into each other finally having their lips met for the first time. It was soft and gentle like the petal of roses grazing the other or the sensation of when a gentle stream grazes the skin. The two parted blushing while smiling at each other. Jason turned to face her leaning in to renew it. Merula obliged by pulling him gently from the nape of his neck while he inched her closer by pulling her by her waist. Something in her snapped as she climbed onto his lap kissing him more passionately pushing him down. Jason wrapped his arm around her pulling her close to him. Hands were reaching and clawing each other's bodies. Fingers were brushing the supple lines of waist and chest, trying to feel more and more as the hunger rose. Their lips and tongues continued battling more ferociously as the tension from the years just spilled out. They parted briefly to catch their breath before they renewed it he took control and pinned her down kissing her more sensually.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" She asked as she pecked his lips softly running her finger down his chest. "Bloody hell, I didn't think you'd be such a good kisser."

"I've wanted to for the longest time but feared you hate me or kill me if I tried anything," Jason smiled at her kissing her again. "And this my first time kissing anyone too."

"I probably would have hurt you in the past but I..." she blushed as she looked at the daunting man over her. "I'm happy I can give mine in exchange for yours."

"Merula I care about you deeply and-" before he could finish she placed a finger to his lip.

"I know, and honestly I feel the same. Jason, I like you too." She bit her lip as she caressed his jawline. "I have for some time now."

"Merula," Jason smiled as he looked into her gorgeous eyes that encourage him to think things any boy would keep quiet about.

The two gazed at each other with such intense lust and continued with their duel of the mouths. Merula wrapped her arms around his torso slowly dragging her nails down as she grew more desperate with their activity. He moaned as her nails marked him, he usually protests pain, but this was one he could get used to.

"You need to get to sleep," she whimpered as Jason kissed along her jaw to her neck. His breath was tickling her but somehow made her excited. "I'm serious Aurelius. Jason, please~."

"S-sorry, I don't know what came over me. I guess I was just excited to kiss you and finally-" Jason blushed as he started to ramble nervously.

"You fancy me a lot?" Merula pushed herself up on her elbows and smiled at him.

"Since our first year." He scratched the back of his neck while smiling down at her.

"Seriously? Why didn't you say anything?" she moved up to sit and looked at him taking his face into her palm.

"I was afraid you'd reject me." He looked down feeling his nerves jump at her gentle touch. "We fought for so many years and I know I said mean things to you out of my insecurities and pain. Stuff I regret to this day even though all I wanted was to keep close to you. I'm sorry."

Merula looked at him dumbfounded. Sure, they fought in the past but back then Merula was filled with anger and loneliness. She never really hated him; in fact, she felt like Jason was one of the few people capable of understanding her. He cared for her and tried to be a friend to her even when she repeatedly pushes him away. If there was a thing that made her feel happy in this world was that this boy, -this man, never gave up on her and always reached out his hand.

"You don't need to apologize," Merula pulled him close, bearing his face into her soft and plump bosom. "I will admit I acted like an arse to you on one too many times. So I understand why you would have been angry at me."

"Still I..."

"Jason, you've done so much for me, and I have my answer for your question." She kissed the top of his head. "Well I gave it to you moments ago before we started our 'duel' and I fancy you too. So um does this mean we are, you know?"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend? If the most intelligent and beautiful witch in all of Hogwarts would have me be then yes." Jason chuckled.

"Okay, then but I got some conditions. One, I can only be yours, and you are mine. Two, we have to keep it secret for a little while. I don't want your friends to think I bewitched you."

"You already did with those eyes of yours." He giggled as he felt the dizziness slowly come back.

"Oh quiet you! Three, most important, n-never be reckless for my sake. I almost lost you and me -," Merula was caught off by Jason giving her a peck on a cheek and offering a playful wink.

"Can't follow the last one because I do it again and again." He smiled as slowly lost consciousness. "You're important to me," he muttered as he drifted into slumber from his exhaustion.

"Guess so," Merula smiled as Jason's head was nuzzled in her breast. "Sweet dreams Jason," she whispered as she caressed his hair gently.

An hour later, Merula snuck her way out of the boy's dorm and made her way into her room. She laid down in her bed grinning like a fool in love, which she was, and couldn't help but squeal happily as Jason and she are now an item. Truth be told Merula had fancied him for some time but was too nervous to say anything. Now, it was as if a dream came true, and kept giggling about it until a second-year Slytherin girl walked over to her holding what seemed to be a box of candy in the shape of a heart.

"What?!" Merula looked at them with a raised brow as she sat up on the edge of her bed.

"Excuse me, Merula, um do you know where Jason is? He supposed to have a study group in the library."

"He's resting now, and you'll have to wait till he gets some sleep. Aurelius has been working his hide off to help you a lot so let the man rest!" she growled. "Study amongst yourselves."

"Yes ma'am!" the girl ran out terrified.

She sighed as she laid back down and slowly drifted off into sleep. It seems she needed to sleep too and knew her dreams were to be filled with nothing but happy thoughts thanks to her new joy.

[in-tua-deep]

I saw your other ask and I do wonder if an actual 13 yr old Five will pop up after they stop the apocalypse. It’s so interesting to have both Fives in the same place! And to see the stark contrast between what he was without the apocalypse. How does his older self feel (and does he still look 13 too?!). And how do his siblings react realizing how much the apocalypse and the Commission took from their brother! I love this idea and your blog!!

okay a solid half of me is like “wow there’s so much potential for angst and having Five confront the fact that he lowkey hates himself and what he’s become alone with feeling redundant alongside a younger version of himself that does match up to what his siblings remember instead of being the broken old assassin he actually is”

and the other half is like “but also consider the CHAOTIC GOOD TIMES” and at heart I’m a not so secret softie so that is the louder side at the moment

SO they stop the apocalypse. They’re all trying to figure out what happens now. Five is home alone (Allison flew home for a week to see Claire/figure out her situation, Vanya is at her apartment packing some things up to move back into the mansion for a while, Diego took Grace out shopping, Luther and Klaus went to grab groceries and are probably going to come back with so much sugar because Luther is still being a pushover trying to make up for his whole ‘locked Vanya away’ debacle) 

Five is sitting on the front steps of the house (it’s too empty and too quiet inside and he may or may not be coming down from a panic attack) and that’s when there’s a blue flash down the street and Five freezes. Because down the street there’s a boy turning with a puzzled look and they both catch one another’s eye and it’s like looking in a mirror because they’re the same person

So of course they go inside to figure out what the fuck and Five has no patience left for baby Five and pretty much gives it to him straight: he time traveled to April 3rd, 2019, where there was supposed to be an apocalypse. They may or may not fight when baby Five doesn’t believe him and he is convinced when Five beats him easy - thank you assassin training. There’s an hour more of incredulity and explanations as they both loudly theorize about the potential world breaking-ness of them both existing in a paradox

but hey it doesn’t seem like the world is ending and they already touched each other during the fight and nothing weird happened so,, they just both exist?

They’re sitting there quietly contemplating what next and waiting for the others to come back when baby Five, with his wonderful childish sense of mischief, looks at Five and asks a simple question: “Hey, how long do you think it would take for the others to realize there’s two of us?”

(they already had the breakdown where baby Five tried to go back in time and failed and Five smacked him because he worked really damn hard for this version of reality to exist thank you and basically informs baby Five that if he goes back the world could literally end and that’s kind of that. baby five is stuck.)

and look,,, Five is a grumpy old man assassin but he never did lose his sense of mischief - though it’s been somewhat buried over the years and especially so the last week or so. So he may or may not perk up at the suggestion with intrigue, and baby Five knows himself and knows that means he’s in so - 

(Baby Five kind of feels guilty for being a little relieved he doesn’t have to go back in time actually. He wants his siblings desperately, but Reginald is dead here. No more training. No more private lessons. Freedom. And - and technically his siblings are right here, right? They’re free as well? If he jumped back in time wouldn’t that be putting them all back under Reginald’s thumb? He isn’t sure if he could do that to them... but is that just a justification to himself?)

and cue the absolute shenanigans that exist as Five and baby Five pretend that there is only one (1) of them in this timeline. 

also cue some very confused siblings because there are some serious differences between the two Five’s.

Vanya is confused when she offers ‘Five’ some coffee and he wrinkles his nose and declines like he thinks coffee is gross. Which can’t be right, right? She literally saw Five chugging coffee straight from the pot yesterday?

Luther wonders if there’s something off with Five when he doesn’t seem to remember the conversation they had earlier about going to the local history museum with the rest of the family. He seemed excited earlier but now just looks put out?

(”We can’t both go to the history museum!” Five hisses at baby Five, who is rolling his eyes.

“Dude, you’re practically a dinosaur why would you even want to go to a history museum?” Baby Five points out, “Didn’t you see enough history with your little assassin job?”

Five scowls, “Maybe I just think it’s interesting considering my ‘little assassin job’ you sanctimonious child. Maybe I like museums.”

“You’re so transparent! You just want to spend time with our family.” Baby Five teases, fully aware that he’s probably going to have to dodge a knife in a second but continuing to push buttons anyway. It’s what he does. “Or - if it’s really just about all the wonderful history then we can always go again without the rest of the family.”

Five scowls as baby Five bats his eyelashes but doesn’t say anything, which means baby Five totally won the conversation, ha!)

the brilliant thing is that thanks to Five’s powers, no one thinks anything of it when they see Five downstairs and then head upstairs and see him doing something up there so even though a lot of the siblings get suspicious they probably attribute anything really off to Five’s glaring PTSD and trauma

the first one to catch on is Klaus. Well. Not really. Actually Ben is the first one to realize that he’s seeing double and tells Klaus

(”Well well well.” Klaus interrupts, making both boys on the bed jump where they had their heads bent over some mathematical textbook. Klaus is going full drama, draping himself in the open doorway like he’s a bad movie villain. “It looks like someone has been keeping secrets from your darling family.”

“Don’t tell the others!” One of them blurts, while at the same time the other growls out, “Tell the others and I kill you.”

Klaus claps his hands together, absolutely delighted. “So you aren’t the same person! Well, go on, introduce me. Is this your slightly less evil twin?”

They both exchange glances. There’s an short nonverbal conversation consisting of vague gestures and shrugs before one Five rolls his eyes and turns away, clearly done with this whole situation. The remaining Five smiles brightly and waves, “Hey Klaus! Long time no see, almost seventeen years now right?”

There’s a second of processing before Klaus gets it - or maybe Ben gets it and relays the information it’s unclear - and his hands fly to his face as he gasps loudly. “You’re a baby! A child! Under our rooftop!”

“I’m thirteen.” Baby Five protests while Five snickers under his breath. Age is a point of contention between the duo.

“What which one of you did I offer alcohol to the other day?” Klaus demands.

Baby Five raises his hand.

“I knew there was something off about you saying no to booze!” Klaus declared, pointing dramatically. Then he blinked. “Wait I offered alcohol to a minor!”

“You’re such a hypocrite.” Baby Five rolls his eyes again, “Like a week before I came here I had to half carry you to your room you were so wasted and you were thirteen.”

“He has a point.” Klaus muses to the air, probably commenting to Ben. “But I’m still not seeing a way that you two aren’t gonna get your butts totally whupped by the others when they find out about this little charade.” He says charade with a fancy french accent that hopelessly mangles the word.

The two share a look again, and again it’s baby Five who takes the lead. It may or may not be that he’s the better of the two with people considering he didn’t spend forty some years in isolation. 

He grins at Klaus with bright eyes, “Aw, c’mon Klaus. It’s just a game! Besides, isn’t it more fun to be in on it?”

“Hmm.” Klaus hums, making a show of thinking it over. All three of them know exactly what the outcome is going to be, though.

“Please Klaus!” Baby Five demands, still grinning, and he suddenly looks so young and unburdened that there isn’t even a question about whether Klaus is going to be in on it or not.)

It’s not that the two don’t fight. They do. Because Five doesn’t understand how he could ever be so naive and reckless and impulsive (even though he really should expect it considering he jumped through time in the first place) and Five doesn’t understand how he got so grouchy and old and weird about so many things

but they usually solve it by shoving it down and getting along through bribery basically

(”...want to learn how to use a sniper rifle?” Five offers into the tense silence.

There’s a solid pause where baby Five is clearly mulling that over before he finally turns in the chair to face his twin. “...Griddy’s on the way home?”

“Deal.”)

It takes an alarmingly long time for the ruse to fall apart, and it 100% happens because both Five’s show up at the same time due to a miscommunication where they immediately devolve into a yelling match about how it was totally their turn downstairs and the other is an idiot and they’re literally spatial jumping after one another around the room before Diego throws two knives and manages to pin both of the arms of their uniforms to the wall and make both stop

“What the fuck is this?” Diego demands, gesturing between the two Five’s wildly. 

“It’s his fault!” Both Five’s point at the other

but the ruse is up and the duo are able to hop down whenever they like and torment the family. 

This au is full of healing and baby Five teaching old Five how to be a kid again and more of less rubbing off on Five and dragging him into games and appealing to his sense of mischief and drama and also making the rest of the family go to like,, the zoo or laser tag or a water park

baby Five is still holding out for disney world, personally

and they are a ferocious team up,, like literal terror twins they are fully capable of terrifying the pants off of the rest of the family and then turning around and laughing and looking innocent enough that it was difficult to say no because they’re kids and are fully capable of bringing out the rest of the family’s protective instincts

even if they know intellectually that one of that duo is an assassin who could kill them in the same breath it took to tell them what idiots they were being because he could protect himself

I dunno I just want actual kid!Five dragging grumpy old man!Five into shenanigans that Five complains about but secretly likes going along with them because lets be real who doesn’t like doing impulsive childish shit from time to time and he has an excuse because he has to stop baby Five from getting himself killed, right?

after all, as Five will defend himself, he isn’t sure if his younger self’s untimely death will also kill him, right? As a future version? Kind of like the whole “you can’t kill your grandmother” argument or whatever, right? Time is weird shush

(even though they’re both pretty sure that old Five is actually from an alternate dimension vs. time travel and that this is actually baby Five’s universe, but their worlds didn’t diverge until old Five popped in eight days before the apocalypse so technically baby Five’s death probably wouldn’t have any effect on old man Five but

hey, better safe than sorry, right?)

Baby Five feels kind of indebted to old Five for,, you know,,, saving his siblings by preventing the apocalypse and preventing him from a fate worse than death with not having to deal with isolation and the apocalypse?? so he’s more patient than old Five probably deserves

and old Five feels kind of responsible for baby Five because they both know baby Five can’t go back in time and unravel everything with how delicate it is and so baby Five still lost the equivalent of his entire family since he doesn’t exactly know these older version anymore and

hey, who knows the other better than themselves, right? Baby Five understands old Five’s motivations and shares history, knows exactly how far he would go for his family when pushed

so yes now they’re essentially twins and 100% pretend to be one another constantly and get on the others nerves and help each other heal and that’s the tea on that

[drjackandmissjo]

Roses are Red, Tattoos are Forever

Chapter 1 --- Next Chapter

Feysand Masterlist

Pigtails and Liliums

They have two shops, one next to the other. They're friends. She disappeared and now she's back. He tries his hardest. The only thing that gets a reaction from her isn't the one he planned

Florist and Tattoo Artist Au, Modern Day

“Excuse me, sir?” a little girl with missing front teeth and pigtails asked him as he was cutting the leaves off a long Lilium.

He gave her his brightest smile and, after having put the tools down on the counter, leaned over towards her. “Yes, sweetie. What can I do for you?”

The little girl began to look nervous and turned her little head towards her mother, who motioned for her to go on with her question. The girl couldn’t have been older than seven and, after taking a big breath in, she said:"Do you have to put the drawings on every morning by yourself or does your mom help you?”.

Rhys was shocked for a couple of seconds, but promptly replied:"My mommy helps me every morning before I leave for work. But, if you want and if your mom agrees, there is a little shop next door that can give you a drawing for your skin that can last for a week or two! And your mom doesn't have to help, there are some that you can put on your own."

The little girl’s smile grew so wide and bright it might’ve outshone the Sun itself. The mother mouthed a little ‘thank you’ laughing a little at his response.

He nodded his reply and went back to his work. He gave the flowers to her after he was done as the little girl kept on asking:"Can I get one of those for one week? Pretty please."

Rhys did not hear the mother’s affirmative nor negative response as she said it while getting out of his shop, but he imagined it must’ve been affirmative, based on the girl’s reaction.

He went back to work, smiling to himself.

***

An hour later, it was time to close the shop and call it a day.

What a wonderful day it had been!

He had an appointment with the others for dinner at Amren’s house, and he knew perfectly how much she hated when he showed up late, so he turned the sign at the door and went on to finish his chores. He had exactly 20 minutes to complete his paperwork and head out, so he moved as quickly as he could. Or at least he wanted to.

When he had arrived halfway to his desk, he heard a small knock on the glass door.

“We’re closed, I’m sorry.”, he yelled without looking.

“Did you just send a freaking seven years old into my tattoo parlour?”, yelled back the person on the other side.

Rhys didn’t turn around, but simply smiled and took some steps backwards, until his back hit the glass door. “I did it one hour ago, not ‘just’, and I sent her to get a temporary one with the roses that you hand draw and that usually last a week, just as those into the Polaretti.”

“I know and I proposed one of those, but she saw my arm and choose a full sleeve. I gave her a henna one. Will wash down in a month or so.”

Now he turned around to open the locked door, letting the girl in.

Feyre wasn’t particularly remarkable: golden brown hair, piercing blue-greyish eyes that usually threw daggers and glared at everyone and threatened everyone from her 5’6 glory. A tattoo adorned her whole left arm, a full sleeve made of intricate waves and vines and thorns that went from the top of her shoulder to the tip of her fingers, leaving only her palm empty of ink. On the back of her hand, there was a little spot not covered by those thorns and those vines, but by a VFD's style eye. His idea. It came out off a bet, like many things in their friendship.

He did not like that word.

When Feyre walked past him to walk into his shop, she left a trace of vanilla and blueberries in her wake, probably from her shampoo or perfume.

He was intoxicated.

“It’s the third kid that you specifically send me to get a temporary tattoo.”

“Do you blame me for making you work a little bit more?”

She sat on his counter and pouted. “I blame me you for the looks the parents give me after the job’s done.”

“I’m sorry they’re causing you trouble. They look very convinced when they leave from here.”

She threw her hands in the air:"As they are when they come in! But, as soon as my work's finished, they whine about how the kid will get sick of it, how their classmates will react, how their other parent friends will react, etcetera etcetera etcetera.”

He nodded respectfully. They set into a comfortable silence and, while he worked, Feyre read one on the handwritten labels next to some petunias, explaining the meaning of the flower, the history, its origin and even a synopsis about Harry Potter’s aunt.

“I’m sorry again if I have to cut this lovely visit short, but I gotta be at Amren’s, and you know how she gets when someone’s not punctual.”

She nodded solemnly, fully aware of the of the little one’s wrath.

“Besides”, he continued even though the topic pained him, “don’t you have to be home soon? It’s a miracle Tamlin lets you out of the house to go to work even. Without anyone to check on you regularly even!”

She scolded, but didn’t comment, shutting the conversation down.

Shady? Maybe. True? Yes. Bitter? Totally.

He had been in love with that woman since day one, but didn’t have the guts to ask her out. They started as friends, then besties and then, when he finally found his courage, Tamlin came into the picture.

The blond-haired lawyer asked her out the same day he had planned to, just one hour earlier. Feyre then came to his place, as they had planned, to a Disney movie night and ice cream, and told him everything. Rhys couldn't believe his luck, but as long as she was happy, he wouldn’t have said anything.

And he didn’t. Things started out perfectly for them, but Tamlin rushed into it head first, arguably forcing her into moving in together at his place, which was very much better than hers. ‘Arguably forcing her’ because, even though she denied, he gave her no choice. Small comments here and there about her living situations, bigger comments about how he would’ve appreciated to have her around 24/7 and three weeks later, she had given up her apartment.

"You'll save money like this, since you don't have to pay rent anymore.", he said.

And then:"I don't see why you choose that as a living profession. It isn’t proper for a lady to work in a tattoo shop”.

Later:"You know you can stop working, right? My salary is high enough and, besides, the house could use someone to pay attention to it."

That sentence came one month earlier. Feyre didn’t show up at her little shop for almost four weeks after that, not even texting Rhys or letting anyone of their shared friends knowing if she was alive. Rhys had to even call her bigger sister, Nesta, that didn’t exactly appreciate him very much, nor his brother Cassian for the matter.

Moral of the story: nobody knew where Feyre was for three weeks and four days. Three days earlier, when Rhys went to work, the little tattoo parlour next to his florist shop was open. He rushed in, relief written all over his features, but she was with a client already, so he decided to swing by later. She was constantly with clients whenever he showed up to check up on her.

It pained him, how she looked: pale, almost invisible. Her collarbones were showing more than usual, the bags under her eyes more prominent than ever.

The worst thing was a simple one, though. A month or so, after she had started dating Tamlin, she stopped drawing.

She did her job, still perfectly. Only with less passion.

She used to draw the tattoos by hand on a piece of paper before transferring them to the skin, to make them more personal for the buyer. She made the most complicated details with her pencil and pens and the results were breathtaking.

After moving in with him, she started using her laptop, searching for the tattoos online or using pre-drawn models. She still focused and did what she was paid to, but each time with less energy. Until she stopped at all.

Now she was back, empty as a shell. And still didn’t hand draw anything.

Until now. It struck him as a lightning.

“Feyre, you gave that girl a Henna, isn’t it?”

She smiled, timid and small, but it was a smile nonetheless. “She couldn’t stop talking about how pretty was the tattoo on you and how pretty was mine and how she wanted one up her arm and I couldn’t just make a sticker one.”

“You free-handily draw that?”. Rhys was hoping so hard. He prayed every deity he knew.

Feyre looked down at the point of her shoes. She was shutting him down again.

He couldn’t let it happen. “Fey, what happened? You stopped coming to work, stopped talking and texting. And now you come back, looking like a ghost. And a little girl shows up and you gave her a free handily henna. It’s the first drawing you’ve done in months. What happened?”

“She reminded me of you.”, she said, still looking down. “She reminded me of you and I... I just wanted to. I left him. A week ago. I just couldn’t stay there any longer. He was obsessive and jealous and I felt like I was dying. We argued about how maniacally he was acting and he snapped. So I packed all my things and left in the middle of the night, as he was sleeping. He came looking for me the next day and I was scared. I told him to get the hell out of my life or else I would've gone to the police and fucked up his perfect lawyering career.”

For once in his life Rhys didn’t know what to say. He simply stared at her as she was looking at the floor.

“Who kept Lucien?” his voice said before his brain could even register.

Feyre’s head bubbled up quickly, her eyes open wider in disbelief.

“I mean, he’s like a puppy. A red furred puppy. So, usually, when two people split up, one keeps the dog.”

“Lucien is a grown man and can make his own choices.”, she replied stubbornly.

"I take that as ‘at first he chose The Tool and now he's turning around towards me'”

She smiled. “Indeed”

Rhys’ heart was about to explode. He was about to tell her everything, how he felt truly.

But he didn't. Instead, what he said was simply:"I gotta go at Amren's. There is a seat reserved for you, you know."

Feyre looked at him, truly looked at him for once and he thought she could stare at his soul.

“Smile again” he whispered. She did, broad and without restraint.

“You’re exquisite”, he breathed.

She was brilliant, broken and healing at the same time. She needed time and he would’ve given her all the time in the world.

Feyre looked at the clock on the wall. “If we leave now, we can arrive at Amren’s in time, hell even beat Az in the race there!”

That was enough for now.

[naerryn]

Walk In The Dark

“I am so jealous...”, my stepmother Lucy spoke as her thumb slid down the screen of my phone, looking through the countless pictures my aunt and cousin had sent me the last couple days.

“At least my brother is still stuck in Kanto for a bit longer.”, my mother called out from the living room, obviously listening to our conversation with half an ear as she was looking over Morgana, my Espeon, which had recently gave birth to a little Eevee.

“Alola looks so beautiful.”, Lucy handed me back my phone and I took a brief glimpse at the Selfie of my cousin and their very first Pokémon, sitting on the stairs in front of their new house in Hau’oli City.

“Last time I saw them, [cousins name] was just as tall as Odin when it was still a Charmeleon. And it evolved to Charizard like what... three years ago?”

“Nah, three years ago you were in Kalos. I still have the photo of you and Odin in his mega evolution framed on my desk at work.”, my mother remembered as she walked through the open door from the living room and entered the back porch, a glass of water in her hands.

”Right, you got me the autograph of Diantha back then.”, Lucy added with a big smile on her face, wiggling her eyebrows as she watched my mother sitting down next to us at the garden table.

I looked over my shoulder to the living room, watching Morgana snuggling down in the basket where her little puppy was still asleep. She’s a fantastic mother, I didn’t came around to notice, and I will let her retire here at my mothers place in Aspertia City.

“Four years? No, there was no vacation between my stays in Galar and Kalos. Five?”

“That sounds about right. Arceus, have mercy, we are getting old.”, my mother threw her hands in the air, but laughed lustily and nudged her partner in the side.

“I thought about visiting them.”, I took a bite from the cake Lucy made earlier the day, watching Odin landing gracefully in the soft grass of the garden with mothers Swanna right by his side.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the quick glance my mother and Lucy exchanged before the latter started sipping on her coffee while the other didn’t stopped went into a huff about something.

“What?”

“You haven’t been to Alola yet.”

“Your point is?”, I didn’t break the intense stare between my mother and me, even through the large shadow of my Charizard felt on me, seconds before he laid down in the grass and rested his head on my lap.

“Nothing, nothing. I just thought you may get bored of your trainer life one day and”

“Please don’t.”

“Settle down somewhere. Finding yourself”

“Mom, please!”, I interrupted again, louder this time and successful, since she froze in her motion for a split moment and gave me an apologetic smile. Lucy still sipped on her coffee, her eyes traveling back and forth between the two of us.

Odin, on the other hand, already took advantage of the situation and relish my slice of cake.

“Maybe we should start looking for an even bigger house to fit all those new Pokémon [Y/N] will send us?”, Lucy said jokingly after she set her empty mug down on the garden table, eyeing my Charizard with a disapproving shake of her head. Not like Odin would care.

“Arceus have mercy.”, my mother muttered under her breath, followed by more sentences I couldn’t hear clearly since she lifted herself off her seat and walked back inside the house, my now empty plate on her hands.

“She missed you. We both do. You’re on the road since your eleventh birthday, giving yourself barely a break and”

“Alola doesn’t have a league. Nor gyms for the matter.”

“Really?”, Lucys eyes widen in surprise and my mother returned with a new plate in one hand, in the other, she carries a Spelon Berry. Throwing it through the air, Odin raised from his place and started chasing after the berry.

“Really. Just an island trial for kids. [Cousin name] is attending it. I just want to spend time with the family. Maybe show them a trick or two, you know.”

“And catch more Pokémon.”, my mother added with a playful smile, it looked like the new information soothed her mood a little bit.

“Can’t help it, mom. They’re all so damn cute.”

~

I can’t sleep in airplanes. Never could, never will. At least Odin will be fully rested after all that time in their Pokéballs once we the ferry boat ride from the main land to Alola was finally over.

I really forgot about all the complains my cousin sent me when they moved here from Kanto, at least I was already a bit closer to the this region then them.

“Mor?”, the needy sound of Sparkles, my Morpeko, reached my ears as I looked down on my lap, watching him rubbing his belly as he looked up to me with pouty lips.

“Ten minutes, okay? I can already see the harbor. [aunts name] will pick us up there.”

“Morpeko.”, he exhaled in a dramatically suffering voice, laying back on my thighs and stretching out all of his limbs. I should have called him Diva or Drama King back when I caught him.

“Oh come on. You will survive. I gave you half of my sandwich not even an hour ago.”

Sparkles only respond was that he reached on of his arms in the air, slightly shaking it before collapsing on my lap, his eyes closed for a moment, but then he started to peek at me from the corner of his dark eyes.

Shaking my head, I straightened my back as the speakers around the ferry boat carried the voice of the captain through the air, announcing our arrival in Hau’oli City on the Melemele Island in less then five minutes.

Morpeko, obviously back alive, jumped up on my lap and crawled up my arm to sit on my shoulder, one of his arms resting loosely in my hair.

“Morpeko.”

“Relax.”, I shook my head while an amused smile graced my lips, and I raised from my place on a bench on the upper deck to slowly walk towards the exit in the lower deck.

Once the ferry boat moored at the landing pier, I was one of the first passengers to leave for the island, my eyes searching for any sign of my aunt in the Ferry Terminal.

To my surprise, it wasn’t just my aunt to greet me with a big toothy smile in her face, but also my cousin and two teenagers around his age.

“This is really [Y/N].”, the teenage boy next to my cousin said a little bit to loud, making a couple people look around and I instinctively lowered my head as I walked over to their spot.

“I though you were kidding when you told me you’re related to [Y/N].”

“Hau, stop it! You make them uncomfortable!”, the pale, blond teenage girl on the other side of my cousin hissed loudly, an apologetic look in green eyes.

‘Maybe that their angel and devil standing right next to them.’, I thought to myself, looking at my cousin as I came to stop right in front of the four of them.

“What is this Pokémon?”

“Hungry.”, I looked at the boy, Hau, if I heard it correctly, who was stared at my Morpeko a spark in his eyes, but my respond left him dumbfounded for a moment which I used to embrace my cousin in a bear hug.

“I am sorry it’s been so long.”

“I saw every of your matches on TV. So, it didn’t felt that long.”

“How was your trip?”, my aunt pulled me in her arms, squeezing me tightly and looking at me from head to toe after she released me from her grip.

“You look amazing. Kalos?”, she asked me while pointing at my clothes, but I told her, to her surprise, that they’re from Unova. Some of Lucys old clothes, since I have more of the tendency to spend my money on new stuff for my Pokémon. My mother always told me I spoil them to much.

“You must be tired. Let’s get you to the house.”

~

I found out that Lillie, the blond girl, and Hau, grandson of the island kahuna, are my cousins new friends here on Alola, and the latter is also on his island trial. Lillie, not a Trainer herself, accompanies them on their journey.

My aunt reminds me of my own mother back when I was eleven and got Odin, sad that their little baby leaves the house for the first time, realizing that they’re not their little baby anymore and in a couple years, would be grown adults. On the other side this little, bittersweet feeling of happiness about the regained freedom.

Once my cousin and their friends left for the Akala Island to continue their trial, the house felt suddenly so silent without them.

“They’re sweet kids.”, [aunts name] said as the two of us sat on the stairs of the front porch, a glass of wine in her hands while her Meowth dozed peacefully on her lap.

I wondered if she ever told my cousin about her carrier as an infamous Meowth trainer. She was my idol back then, I grew up watching her matches just like my cousin grew up watching mine. Funny how the circle continues.

“Everyone is so nice on this island. Sure you didn’t got yourselves into some secret, brainwashing cult?”, I asked her in respond, earning a soft giggle before I sipped on my own glass of water. As a responsible trainer I avoided drinking to much alcohol, and my aunt already opened the second bottle of wine half an hour ago.

“Do you think they will be safe?”

“Don’t think to much about it. You said yourself, that this trials are more familiar and smaller then the gyms in Kanto. [cousin name] has their Pokémon and friends. They will be fine.”

“I would still feel safer if you”

“[aunts name], please. No one followed you nor me when we were eleven and went on our own journey. Let them enjoy it. Only this way, they can figure out which path they want to follow in the future. [cousin name] and their friends are only once young and independent. No strings attached to them. The older they get, the harder it becomes to find and follow their true passion.”

Silence felt upon us as my words laying heavy on my aunts mind, I could see it in her eyes. Before I started my trip to Alola, my mother and I had a talk about this, how she felt all those years ago when I left. How she feels deep in her heart whenever I leave the house to start a new journey up to this day. But she came to peace with it, even through she still hopes that I will start a different carrier and create a family on my own one day.

~

I spend another two and a half weeks alone with my aunt, exploring the Melemele Island and sleeping in my cousins room with their consent. Then, my uncle arrived from Kanto, and I stayed for another week before I decided to give the two of them the long deserved intimate togetherness.

During those weeks, I sent Sparkles back home to my mother, he couldn’t handle the heat of the Alolan region and became more and more ill tempered. But I was able to call a little Rockruff my own, called her Lightning since I found her in a stormy night all by herself.

“So, where do we go to first? Akala? Having our own little trial challenge?”, I asked Odin and Lightning, the three of us sitting at the beach and enjoyed the fresh breeze of air that came from the ocean.

Odin growled in respond, while Lightning tilted her head to the side and flipped one of her ears down while the other remained up in the air.

Bzzzzz.... bzzzzzz....

Fishing my phone out of my bag, answering the phone without paying attention to who’s calling me. Only family members, close friends and my manager have this number.

“Yeah?”

“[Y/N]?”, I hear my cousins voice on the other side of the line.

“How’s your trial going?”

“Smooth, if it wouldn’t be for Team Skull to always show up and being a pain in the ass.”

I heard of that Team Skull, even encountered a handful of grunts when I was strolling through Hau’oli City. They wanted an autograph and went back on their own business, just to pick up a fight with that Captain Ilima.

“What’s their problem anyway?”

“I have no idea. We are leaving Akala tomorrow and head to Ula’ula. Want to grab some Malasada in Malie City?”, my cousin asked me out of the blue, and I looked at my two Pokémon partners to wink at them.

“Looks like our decision was already made for us. Where do you want to meet up? I will fly with Odin today and stay in some hotel there.”

Muffled voices were in the background, probably Hau, since Lillie didn’t gave me that kind of vibes to interrupt someones conversation. Or the professor? He was also with the kids, and it wouldn’t surprise me if my aunt wasn’t to blame on that.

“Malie Garden? Eleven... Twelve o’clock? By Arceus, you can ask her that tomorrow!”

“Who can ask me what?”

“Hau. If you found any Alolan Pokémon to your liking yet.”

“A Rockruff, thanks for asking. Bring your Rotom Dex with you, I wanna see all the little cuties you encountered so far.”

“Sure. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Be safe.”, I told them before we hung up, putting my phone back in by bag before I loosened Lightnings Pokéball from my belt and held it in my hand. Within seconds, she was back in her Pokéball and I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder.

“Ula’ula is the southeastern of the four islands. Should be a piece of cake. Ready?”, I asked Odin, who nodded in respond and I climbed in his back before he lifted us up in the air.

~

The sun was setting when I left the small, cozy hotel in Malie City, which was close to the Garden, when I decided I would take Lightning on a stroll to stretch our legs before the night.

She was walking right next to me, I kept a slow pace so she could take a time sniffing around at what felt like every single thing, from the walls of houses over benches to flowers and even the blades of grass.

What didn’t surprised me that I spotted members of Team Skull everywhere, but they didn’t paid me or other civilians much attention as I entered the Malie Garden.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”, I asked Lightning, leaving the first bridge behind as I stopped to take in the sight ahead of me, but my Rockruff was busy sniffing at a large stone which lower half was in the water.

With a half smile, I let my eyes travel around, noticing I wasn’t the only stroller at this time of the day, the Garden still appeared very lively. Guess it’s a nice spot for a stroll or to take a date out.

I saw a lot of familiar Pokémon, from a Pikachu that accompanied their human partner to some Ledians flying around. Even a Goldeen and a handful of Magikarp I could spot around the river that flowed through the Garden, but they dived down in the water once Lightning came to close to them.

“What the...”, I mumbled to myself when my eyes finally landed on something new, and my legs started to carry my closer to the Pokémon that caught my interest in the distance.

It’s a large, arthropod Pokémon  with a hunched, humanoid posture. I noticed the silver armor plating that covered it’s pale purple body once I came close enough to take in more details.

When I walked down the last bridge and followed the sandy path that separated me from discovery, I spotted a tall man standing in front of the Pokémon, talking to it.

‘Must be it’s trainer.’, I made the conclusion before I walked over to them, making sure with a quick glance over my shoulder that Lightning was still following me, even through she was busy casing after a Rattata.

The trainer was just as tall as his Pokémon, with two-toned hair and grey eyes. He wore a black jacket with a zigzag pattern on both sides of his jacket. Along with that, he wears a white shirt, some black pants with two white X's under his knees and pair of white shoes. Sunglasses with a golden frame graced the top of his head like a crown, and a golden locket hung loosely around his neck.

The locket reminded me something, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.

“Excuse me?”, I raised my voice softly, the man looking at me from the corner of his eyes and his expression was hard to read in the dim light of the setting sun.

“What?”, he grunt in respond, crossing his arms in front of his chest and his Pokémon turned around to face me as well.

“I must sound stupid, but what is this Pokémon?”

“Tourist?”, he asked me with a raised eyebrow, his grey eyes scanning me from head to toe. It didn’t felt uncomfortable to my surprise, normally, I felt like my clothes being ripped off of me when most people do this, especially fans. But here, I felt more like facing a new opponent in a tournament.

I decided to simply nod in respond, making him tilt his head slightly to the side.

“Why do you ask?”

“It looks cool and strong. I would like to know where... Why are you laughing?”, I could feel my facial features drop when the trainer in front of me burst out in a loud, booming laughter. Definitely a one of a kind like, but to my own surprise, I started giggling along. Panic?

“You definitely haven’t seen a Wimpod yet.”

“Is this a Wimpod?”

“No, silly. This is my Golisopod, it evolved from Wimpod. Bug-water type.”, he told me calmly and I exhaled a sound of excitement in respond.

“Bug-water, huh? Been a while since I had one of those. Anything special on how to take care of them?”, I asked curiously, taking in the sight of this Golisopod from this close and it straightened it’s back proudly.

Dumbfounded, his trainer blinked his eyes a couple times before he lightly shook his two-toned hair and I had to admire that he could wear this kind of hairstyle. Kind of unique.

“Nah, nothing special I guess. But Wimpods aren’t easy to catch.”

“Really?”, I said delighted, already looking forward to a little more challenging catch and waited for the man in front of me to continue talking. Skepticism was written all over his face.

“Yeah. It runs away at the slightest movement. Who the hell are you?”

I could hug, maybe even kiss this man out of pure joy right now. Over the years, I encountered a lot of people claiming not to know me, but obviously knew damn well who I was. But the look in his eyes told something different. He really didn’t know who I am. In his eyes, I was probably just one silly tourist asking to many questions.

“[Y/N] [Y/L/N]. And you’re?”, I offered him one of my hands, he eyed me intensely for a moment before he firmly took a hold of my hand with one of his own. His skin felt rough against mine.

“Guzma. Just Guzma.”

“Nice to meet you.”, I said, his grip around my hand tightened for a split second before he let go of it, instead, his long fingers stroke through his short hair.

“Haven’t heard that in a while.”, he mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for me to understand it. But before I could ask him about it, the joyful barking of Lightning caught me out of my thoughts. Looking over my shoulder, she ran towards me with a punch of flowers in her mouth.

“Yours?”

“Yes.”

“Haven’t you said you’re a tourist?”, Guzma asked me suspiciously and crossed his arms in front of his chest again, but I really can’t blame him for it.

“I arrived three weeks ago. I visited family in Hau’oli City and now I also want to see the rest of Alola.”

“I see. A trainer?”, he rested his chin against one of his hands, opening his posture a little bit and eyeing me in curiosity, the grey orbs of his appearing softer again.

I hummed in responds, confirming his question as I picked up my Rockruff and little pedals landed all over my clothes.

“Your first Pokémon?”

“Charmander.”

“How casual.”, Guzma said with a smile, and I an unusual warmth in my cheeks. Thankfully, the dark of the night is taking over and the dim light of the lanterns are masking the faint blush on my skin.

“I would still do it all over again. Casual or not.”

“I see. So, where are you staying?”, I pointed in the direction of the hotel once he voiced his question, telling him that I am supposed to meet my cousin here tomorrow at noon. Both of us had called our Pokémon into their Pokéballs and walked back the path I came from earlier.

“They’re on their island challenge.”

“Oh, really?”, Guzma said amused, his dark eyebrows raised and a mischievous smile graced his lips. I felt a pleasurable knot forming in my stomach at this sight.

“Mhm. But this Team Skull is giving them a hard time.”, I told him, but Guzma appeared to be lost in thoughts as his eyes stared at the way ahead of us.

“You’re a local, right? What’s the deal with them?”

“Team Skull?”, he asked while glancing at me from the corner of his eyes, and I gave him a quick nod.

“Most people think they’re just a bunch of misfits that failed the island challenge. Stealing Pokémon and stuff. No goods that only cause trouble.”

“And what do you think?”, I wondered, both of us freezing in our track as he turned around to face me directly. His features completely serious.

“They’re family. When everyone turned their back on them, those people welcomed them with open arms. They have each others back and”

“Are they stealing Pokémon?”

“I don’t know. Maybe some of them.”, he shrugged his shoulders and I knit my eyebrows, eyes landing on the golden locket around his neck. The sign of Team Skull, as realization his me like a headbutt right in the belly.

None of the grunts wore something similar to that locket.

“They’re your family?”

“Yes.”

We both stood there in silence, my eyes lingering on the locket for a little while longer before I met his gaze again, his grey orbs reminding me of an ocean during a heavy storm.

“Are you stealing Pokémon?”

“No.”

There was silence again, some strollers passing us here and there as they left the Garden, but not paying to much attention to us. Even through, I came to notice that some people moved way faster past us then others. Locals?

“I understand if you would like to take back your words.”

“Huh?”

“That it was nice meeting me.���

I stared at him, now being the one left speechless and when Guzma was about to turn around to leave, I grab him by one of his arms to stop him in his motion, earning a questioning look on his face.

“You still haven’t told me where I can find a Wimpod.”

“Oh... it’s on Route”

“Why don’t you just show me? You are way more experienced catching them. You can show me a trick or two.”

“Wha... Are you sure? I am a”

“Nothing I can’t handle myself.”, I interrupted him gently, feeling my heart beating against the inside of chest as I watched him shifting lightly on the spot, softly waving his head from one side to the other.

“You meet  your cousin tomorrow, right? I pick you up. Right here.”, Guzma offered, or more decided, before he turns himself around towards the exit of the Gardens.

“Come, I bring you to your hotel.”, he called back over his shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts as I quickly chased after him.

[imaginesmai]

Hvitserk Crush (AU) 2

So, here is the second part! I hope you like it! I’m so in love with this idea I might make something more. Not another part, just some one shot with this Hvitserk as the protagonist. What do you think?

Plot: Hvitserk is like a disney prince; funny, beautiful, kind... But you are not sure you are his princess.

Life with Hvitserk turned out to be perfect. You still lived with Ubbe, but you spent more time at Hvitserk’s apartment than at your own. Working in the bar kept you from being with him as much as you would want to and, even if at first you thought it would be a problem, Hvitserk was fully supportive and went to visit you whenever he could. Torvi and Ubbe were getting a little tired of your fuck-wherever-we-can way of life; if you thought they were bad before, now you were ten time worse. But not everything was a fairy tale and, although he didn’t do any wrong, a little fact was keeping you awake at nights.

-          It’s been nearly half a year, Torvi. -you complained to her. Both of you were laying in the sofa while Ubbe was trying to finish a university project with Alfred, a guy form his class.

-          He should have said something, I know. -Torvi agreed. -Maybe he is just waiting for the perfect time?

-          At this rate I will have his children first.

-          Can I say something? -Ubbe tried. He had been banned from the conversation you were having when he suggested you were overreacting. Alfred had to tuck under the desk to avoid your flying shoe.

-          No. -Torvi said.

-          You should just make out, I feel already out of this relationship. -Ubbe whispered.

-          I heard you Ubbe. -you said. -Anyway, how do I make him ask me?

-          Making him jealous. -Torvi looked at you in the eye, leaning forwards. -You hear me, you go to the tattoo salon, get the other guy, Magnus, to-

-          Are you hearing yourselves? -Ubbe scoffed, turning towards the sofa. -That’s my brother you are talking about.

-          Babe, you don’t understand. -Torvi smiled sweetly at her boyfriend. How you wished to have a partner like her. -It’s a severe situation. Level eight from ten probably.

-          An eight-what? What are you talking about? Alfred, help me.

-          I don’t know, man. -he laughed. -We gays don’t have that problem.

The problem wouldn’t be half as bad if you weren’t the paranoid shit you were. It all started two months ago, when you met Thora, a friend of Hvitserk. She was beautiful, cute and nice, you just couldn’t hate her. You were with Torvi when he introduced her to you. He told her, literally, “this is Y/N, my friend”. Friends. You looked at Torvi with wide eyes, but he didn’t notice it. Sure, he kissed you in front of her, he hold you hand that night and even sat you in his lap. Yet you couldn’t help but wonder if, for him, whatever you had was just an open relationship, a fuckbuddy one, or you were just spending time with each other.

-          Just ask him yourself. -Ubbe said before asking Alfred something about the world war. -He isn’t doing it on purpose. Just thinks you guys are already a couple, without labels.

-          That’s not how it works, Ubbe. -you said, plopping your head down. -I need to see that he wants me to be his girlfriend. That way I can know that he is mine and not fucking any other girl.

-          He is not- -Ubbe started but decided against it after a second. It was pointless.

You kept talking with Torvi for a while, and the boys eventually left. That night you were going out with Hvitserk again. Working until late was not cool, but he said he would pick you up at ten and have dinner with you in your break. Little things like that made you think that you were the luckiest woman alive, and sometimes they made you feel bad about thinking of him cheating of you. He was just too good to be true.

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That day’s shift had been horrible. There was a football game or something like that on the TV, so a lot of people came to the bar to see it. One of your co-workers had taken the day off for personal businesses, and the other one was stuck in the kitchen as a cook was missing for some unknown reason. That left you with the new boy, a tall and thin guy who was not older than eighteen years. You didn’t want him to get scared and run away on his first day, so you decided to attend groups while he just took the normal ones. Halfdan wasn’t helping much either; he just sat with a group of his friends and saw the match without helping any of you.

-          Halfdan? -you asked, getting closer to his desk. It was already half past ten, and you could see Hvitserk’s bike outside. -It’s my break time.

-          What? -he asked you over the loud people.

-          I told you when I arrived that I was going to take my break at ten. I’m going out, and someone needs to cover me. -you repeated.

-          Girl, you can’t go now. -he laughed. -There is a lot of people here.

-          But I need a break. -you whispered. You were tired and just wanted to hug Hvitserk.

-          I don’t care girl! If you don’t do you work, you are out.

-          Maybe you can cover me for a while? -you said, already feeling the tears in your eyes. Normally you weren’t that weak, but it was late, you had a shitty day and you were beyond tired.

-          What the fuck did you just say? -Halfdan got angry, and you knew you had screwed up. -Don’t fucking disrespect me, Y/N. I’m your boss.

-          But-

-          You are staying until this place close. -your eyes widened; your shift was supposed to end at twelve today. -And pray that I pay you all the hours. Fucking teenagers, you don’t know that respect is.

You stood there while you caught your breath before turning around. Halfdan was always harsh towards his employees. Once he made your co-worker Lizzie stay after she puked and fainted because of her pregnancy. So you kind of understood that you feeling sad and tired wasn’t at his top priorities. However luck smiled at you when the new guy, Rick you thought was his name, offered you to leave for a few minutes. Halfdan was too busy with the game to notice it, and he could manage the whole bar for ten minutes. The tears you had fought so hard to contain almost spilled out of gratefulness. You kept them at bay and took your coat, walking towards the exit. Hvitserk was sitting in his motorbike, with a lollypop hanging lazily from his gorgeous lips. He was checking something in his phone, and you felt bad that he had waited for so long just to see you.

-          Hey. -he looked up at your voice, and you smiled sweetly at him. -I’m sorry, there is a lot of people and I couldn’t get out earlier.

-          Hey beautiful. -Hvitserk said, putting you between his legs. -Doesn’t matter, now you are with me. There is this-

-          Yeah, about that. -his face fell and his eyes saddened like a kicked puppy. It was not the first time you had to cancel plans with him. -Loonies’ is full, and Halfdan wants me to work until it’s closed.

-          Again? -he scoffed. -Come one, you closed last Wednesday too!

-          I know. -you sighed. He had every right to be angry about it. -Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow?

-          And then you will tell me that you have to finish something at university. -Hvitserk answered. -Or that you are tired and you prefer to stay home.

-          I can’t help that my boss is an ass Hvitty!

-          Just tell him you are feeling ill Y/N. Or that you have an important event.

-          You think I didn’t try that already?

-          I haven’t seen you since weekend. -he said, looking at the ground.

In the six months you had been together, you discovered that Hvitserk was what you could call a touch-starved boy. You learned that, in his house, all his brothers had important jobs or an amazing quality. Bjorn was his father’s favourite, and even if he was in the illegal businesses, they had always been together. Ubbe was the smart one, the only brother who had gone to the university and probably be married and with children when he finish it. Sigurd was pretty famous in the music industry, he had a lot of friends, lovers and fans. And Ivar was a mommy’s boy; his mother only paid attention to him, which left Hvitserk alone most of the time. He was raised without hugs or kisses, just with the fights between brothers and the feeling of being the forgotten one. So you understood that he needed all type of love and affection he could get.

-          I’m sorry. -you told him, meaning that there wasn’t any chance of being together that night.

-          Do you want to take a walk? -he tried again after a silence.

-          I shouldn’t have come, Hvitty. Ryan is making me a favour and he’s covering me now, but I have to go back.

-          Okay. -he said. -I’ll…be at the studio. Call me or Ubbe when you are over.

You pushed yourself up in your toes and kissed his lips softly. It was obvious that he was angry, or disappointed, yet he didn’t deny you the kiss and moved his lips against yours. When you pulled back, he followed your mouth a few inches, not wanting to let go so soon. He sighed once again and, after one last hug, he put his helmet on and left without saying a word.

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If you didn’t know what you had before, after Wednesday night you didn’t know if you were even together anymore. When you finished your shift that night, you called Hvitserk a few times before deciding to try with his brother. Ubbe took you home, and next day your “boyfriend” told you that he was busy with a new design of a tattoo. He didn’t pick you up from university, neither saw or called you in the evening. You were getting worried on Friday morning, not because something could have happened but because he might have cut off whatever you had.

-          It has been a lot of time since we made a movie night. -Ubbe said, helping you to clean up after eating. -Do you have something to do tonight?

-          Not really. You are not going out with Torvi?

-          Nah, she has night shift.

Torvi was a doctor already. While it was nice because she had whole days off, she could be working nonstop for a week.

-          What do you suggest? -you asked. Hvitserk hadn’t told you anything about going out, and Halfdan surprisingly decided to give you a free weekend. -I’m not seeing the Notebook again.

-          First, it’s a wonderful movie who is worthy of all the time we see it. -Ubbe laughed. -And second, no, I was thinking about letting you choose today.

-          Oh god. -you faked surprise. -You are so generous. Are you okay? Are you really going to let me choose?

-          Depends of what, but yeah, I feel generous. -he smiled.

Afternoon passed quickly. You were locked in your room all the time, trying to finish some works and studying for finals. It wasn’t easy to concentrate with your mobile phone in your desk, but you didn’t put it away. A few hours ago you sent Hvitserk a message asking about how he was; he ignored it, just like the five you sent before that one. You were waiting for the green light in your phone to appear, a signal that you had a new message, but you only got a notification from new follower and an email from your teacher. When night came, you decided to turn off your phone to end the suffering and went to the living room. Ubbe was already there, in his goat printed pyjamas and with two bowls full of popcorn.

-          I have to ask, has Torvi seen that? -you said, sitting in the couch and wrapping yourself in a blanket.

-          Of course not. We may have been dating for a long time, but this is the line. -Ubbe put on the TV and searched for Netflix.

-          Then why do you have it? Why do I deserve this punishment?

-          It’s comfy, that’s why. I have taken out of the washing machine your old panties. They look like a granny’s one. -he laughed.

-          I guess we are even. What are you looking for? I thought it was my time to choose.

-          Just wait a second Y/N. -he kept scrolling until your favourite movie was on the screen. -I’m going to press start, I don’t want to hear any excited shouts, you can’t touch me and if you throw something at me because I talk, the film is over.

You knew that Ubbe wasn’t a big fan of action movies, so it was a big surprise when Mad Max came into view. He was being extra nice with you that day, and even if he warned you about over exciting about Tom Hardy, he was making a great effort with you, and you were grateful of that. The film started but you couldn’t concentrate on it. Hvitserk sad face was the only thing that filled your head, and fact that you didn’t know if you were dating before the fight made it worse. What if you lost him? What if he was with other girl in that moment, calling her beautiful and fucking her in his office? The TV switching off caught your attention, and you realised that Ubbe was facing you with a worried look.

-          You didn’t even look at the screen, Y/N. What’s the matter?

-          Nothing. -you sniffled, not noticing the dry silent tears in your cheeks. -Put that back, I was-

-          Is it because of my brother? -Ubbe was met with silence. -Look, I might not be as good in giving advice as Torvi, but I’m his brother. I know him better than what you think. What’s wrong?

-          We…kind of had our first fight on Wednesday. We were going out, and it had been a lot of days without seeing each other. But Halfdan made me work until late, so he came to the bar for nothing and got angry because we don’t have time to meet.

-          He understands that your work is a shit. -Ubbe told you. -Hvitserk is just sad that he can’t see you as much as he wants, not angry.

-          Then why hasn’t he called me since Wednesday? -you didn’t want to cry in front of him. -He could have called me or something. I’m not his girlfriend Ubbe, so he doesn’t have to be loyal. Hvitserk could be with another girl.

-          Look, my brother is complicated. -Ubbe cleaned your cheeks with his thumbs. -He really likes you, and I dare to say that he loves you too. Margarethe really hurt him, so he just needs you to make the first step.

-          Now he doesn’t talk to me. -you moved so that you were hugging Ubbe with the blanket long forgotten in the floor. -How am I supposed to do that?

-          Tomorrow is Saturday, and he opens the tattoo shop. Go and talk to him, I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding. And I like you as my sister in law, so I can kick his ass if it doesn’t go well.

You were grateful for having a friend like Ubbe. He might have horrendous pyjamas, talk too loudly and have an annoying cleaning obsession, but he was with you at your worst, and that was important. The TV was kept off and you two talked about everything, from your problem with Hvitserk to his relationship with Torvi. Ubbe told you that, even if it seemed perfect, it was far from it. Torvi dated his older brother for a while, she was older than your roommate, so he had a hard time asking her out. The first five times she said no, but he was persistent and ended up dating the beautiful doctor. She had rough shifts, handsome partners and a mature mind, and Ubbe fought hard for her. It was normal for couples to have fights, he told you, and you went to bed that night calmer than before.

Next morning you woke up earlier than ever, had coffee and by the time the tattoo shop was going to open you were there. It was a little disappointing that Hvitserk wasn’t there the first one, it was Magnus who was in charge that morning. You supposed he was asleep in his bedroom, but the fear of facing him with someone else didn’t let you check it. Magnus was a nice guy, a little strange and over excited. You had met him on a few occasions, and even if he knew you, it was awkward staying there without saying or doing nothing.

-          Are you…waiting for Hvitserk? -he asked from behind the counter.

-          Why would I be waiting for him? -you didn’t know why you said that, just not wanting to seem desperate for him.

-          I don’t know why would you be here otherwise.

-          Maybe I just wanted to hang out here for a while. -you answered as a girl walked through the door.

-          It’s a tattoo studio, Y/N. -Magnus gave you a weird look. -Are you getting a tattoo?

-          Yes.

As soon as the words left your mouth, you regretted them. You didn’t like tattoos. Well, Hvitserk ones yes, but not the process of getting one. Magnus looked at you with surprise and apologised. He told you that, after he was done with the girl, you could have your turn. Didn’t people wait months to get a tattoo? It seemed that luck was avoiding you that week. The girl was not old enough to get a tattoo for sure, she had this face where you could see that she still was in high school. Magnus didn’t care, however; he asked her about the money and, when she paid him, got into the black seat. You decided to wait inside of Hvitserk office; you had been there before while he was working, so he decided to give you an extra key for you to wait inside.

It was dark and surprisingly clean, so you rose the blinds and sat in his armchair. In his desk you could see a lot of papers, bills, a notebook with the reservations and some draws of new tattoos. He had the habit of drawing things in the strangest places. There was a beautiful dragon painted in a napkin of the restaurant you went two months ago, and he had drawn a pair of hands in a corner of one of your university papers. You smiled when you saw between all of that a photo of the two of you in the park. It was in summer, when you went with all of his brothers to have a picnic. Hvitserk was hugging you with one arm while with the other he held the camera, smiling, and you were laughing with your eyes closed trying to get away. When you put that back, you noticed a new draw, and your mouth hang open from the surprise. It was a beautiful rose, with a lot of details and with the word luck entwined with its steam.

-          Y/N? -Magnus knocked the door. -The girl is gone. Are you ready?

-          For what? -you asked, your eyes not leaving the beautiful draw.

-          The tattoo. -Magnus said. -Oh, I see.

-          What?

-          I didn’t know that one was for you. -Magnus answered, talking about the one in your hand. -Hvitserk has been working on it for two days.

-          Two days? That’s- but I mean, it’s not for- Magnus cut you.

-          Come on, I already have everything ready.

You doubted for a second before following him. It was a madness, you were going to get tattooed when you just wanted to fix things, and you were going to use a draw that was probably for another person. A girl, you thought. Magnus was sitting in his chair, waiting for you to tell him where did you wanted it. After thinking, you pointed to your forearm and he put some sticky substance in it.

-          Do you like it? -he asked once he draw it in your arm. It wasn’t the final result, just a pen drawing of it in your forearm. You kept looking at it for a while before nodding. -Good. Sit down and wait till I get the pistol ready.

-          Pistol? -you said, not moving. -What the fuck is a pistol?

-          It’s the thing I use to make tattoos Y/N. -he sighed, not feeling like being patience anymore.

-          But it’s going to hurt? -you asked.

-          Probably. Is your first tattoo. You will feel like a million of bee stings, that’s all.

-          That’s all? -you were panicking.

-          It’s not a big deal.

-          It is! You can’t just tell someone that is going to hurt, you are supposed to calm me!

-          Do you even want the tattoo? -Magnus looked at you annoyed.

-          I don’t know-

-          Y/N? -Hvitserk voice came from behind you.

-          Yes. -you said without looking back. -Yes, I want it.

Hvitserk appeared in your sight by the right. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a white v-line t-shirt. His hair was messy and his eyes sleepy. You had to prevent yourself from drooling.

-          What are you doing here? And what do you want? -he asked.

-          She is here for the tattoo. -Magnus said, trying to make you sit down on the chair.

-          Are you…getting a tattoo? -Hvitserk asked, feeling a little offended that you had come without calling him and that Magnus was the one doing it.

-          I saw this in your desk. -you said, sitting in the chair and handing him the draw.

-          This one is already requested. -he smiled although you didn’t see it. You knew it, there was another girl. Your words were cut by the sound of the tattoo pistol, suddenly too close to you.

-          Can you just stay the fuck still? -Magnus asked angry.

-          Magnus. -Hvitserk took his arm out of you a little too roughly. -Go somewhere else, I can do this.

-          But you have an appointment in-

-          You handle that. -Hvitserk said, sitting where Magnus was before.

Magnus said something under his breath before leaving towards the counter. Hvitserk took the drawing again and let it rest in the desk beside him. With care, he put your arm out and redid the drawing in your arm. You stayed in silence until he switched on again the pistol.

-          Are you sure? -he asked, trying to calm you down caressing your tight.

-          Yeah. If whoever was getting it is okay with it. -you answered, not looking at his eyes.

-          Won’t care.

It did hurt, but you felt proud of yourself for not letting any tear drop. Hvitserk’s hands were careful and slow, and you watched his face closely while he did it. He had his brown frowned in a cute way, his eyes fixed on the tattoo, the veins on his arms showing because of the effort and his mouth hanging open. You wanted to stop and to kiss the hell out of him, but the little stings in your forearm kept you from that. After half an hour the design was over, and you had a perfect rose tattooed in your arm.

-          It’s beautiful. -you said.

-          I know. It was…Well, I was going to make it to myself. -he laughed, scratching his neck.

-          What? -you looked at him. -It’s not for the girl?

-          What girl? -in that moment, Hvitserk seemed to understand it. -Y/N! I would never cheat on you.

-          It wouldn’t be cheating actually. -you whispered. -I mean, we are not a couple yet, we are just friends.

-          No, you are my girl. -he told you. -My beautiful and amazing girl.

-          You didn’t ask me. -you said, a smile forming in your face.

-          I didn’t think it was necessary. -he sat with you in the black seat, taking your hand in his. -The tattoo… I was thinking of you as I made it. I just, you are most important thing in my life, my luck. Life has not been to kind for me, but with you I have it all. I’m sorry if you thought you I was with another girl. I just want you, beautiful.

-          I’m sorry too. I know I work too much and- what the hell is that on your cheek? -because of the way you were sitting, you could see a purple bruise fading from his cheek, and after looking closely, you found a little bump in his forehead.

Hvitserk laughed and told you about what he had been doing that two days. Apart from designing that beautiful tattoo, he went to your bar in Tuesday morning to talk to your boss. He was angry that you didn’t get free days or enough breaks and ended up with a black eye because he sassed him out. Hvitserk didn’t want you to get angry with him, even if he did get you a free day, so he decided to hide until the bruises healed.

-          You are an idiot. -you smiled, putting your hand in his face and turning it to kiss him.

-          I know. -he took you by the hips and, with care of the tattoo, moved you into his lap. -And you are my beautiful tattooed girlfriend. As your tattoo artist, I recommend you to take care of that thing. So you should probably be as close to me as you can.

-          You don’t think I’m capable of curing it myself? -you laughed.

-          Who is going to kiss it better if you live in your apartment? -you were going to argue but Hvitserk shut you with a kiss. -Listen, we can both live here, we already are. So just move your things here. You don’t have to pay me, and you can quit your shitty job.

-          I can’t live for free, Hvitty.

-          Then be my sexy secretary.

Living with Hvitserk sounded good, better than good. And leaving your job even better. You giggled and kissed him again, not getting tired of his lips. After a while, it was a full make out session, his hands in your ass and yours tugging his hair. You heard Magnus complaining from the other part of the tattoo shop, but you didn’t care. You had your boyfriend between your arms (and legs), a new life ahead of you and a wonderful tattoo in your arm. Yeah, you did have a big crush on the tattoo artist.

Tags:

@supernaturalvikingwhore

[isobel-thorm]

“Cruel, isn’t it?” :D

Here it is, the Punk Bitch Discord breaker of 2/22/19. 

We’ll Meet Again 

Ship: John Seed x Nic Raylan 

John wakes up one morning to find out that his entire life with Nic has been a dream, and her and their children are a figment of his imagination. 

Over the years, John had learned to take as much sleep as possible when he could. Having an energetic, natural born leader of a wife and three kids had driven that point home. So when he woke up on his own one Saturday without having two little brunette girls pounce on him or Nicolette hovering above him and waking him with a kiss and a to do list, something was off.

He opened his eyes wearily and turned to Nicolette’s side of the bed and found it empty- and made. She never made her bed lately. But something else seemed…even stranger. His eyes came into focus and he realized why. He hadn’t had those sheets since before the Collapse. As the rest of the room came into view, he found that the sheets weren’t the pnly changed things. It was his old bed, his old dresser, his old everything. Upon looking at the skylight, he found the sky a brighter blue, sans aurora. What the Hell? “Nicolette? Cal? Girls?”

No answer.

He got up and headed for the exit door into the hallway.

His old floors. His old decor. No single trace of his wife or kids anywhere. The place barely looked lived in. Just like… no.  But as he kept on moving around the house, the same went for everything within it. The house was pre-Collapse in all cases. Great, so this was some sort of nightmare. Or somehow it was probably a Bliss trip. But where had anyone found Bliss?Who would’ve dosed them?  He had gone into the great room and passed the dining table where that goddamn outdated landline still sat somehow. But even before it had gotten destroyed in the Collapse, it was useless. It was old and outdated and yet the only reason he had kept it was that damned voicemail that he refused to play. That damned red light would blink at him as a constant reminder of Joseph’s ever present hope…. And disappointment.

But there was no blinking. There was no light on at all. 

“What the Hell?” he found himself repeating. He looked up upon hearing some music coming from the floor below:   Vera Lynn- Til There Was You. It had been a joke a while ago between him and Nicolette. Addie had mentioned they didn’t have a song. The pair of them could’ve cared less,  but he had suggested We’ll Meet Again as a joke, and she  had promptly punched him in the arm and insisted that if they were going that cheesy, it was damn well going to be a different song of Lynn’s. Was this some sort of joke on Nicolette’s part? What was going on? He followed the music and pushed open the living room doors, fully expecting to see her.

What he got instead was Joseph, sitting on the couch, looking over a few papers. But he looked younger, less troubled- too much so. It pulled on his heartstrings until he realized Joseph wasn’t supposed to be there. He had been exiled from the area by him and Nicolette, he wasn’t welcome- and up until then, Joseph had respected that.

His heartstrings gave another yank, but in a far more angry direction. “Where’s Nicolette?”

Joseph’s head shot up, not having heard him. His eyes were even brighter tha he had seen them last weeks prior. “John.” It was said like a declaration, not a greeting.

“Where’s. Nicolette?” John repeated.

Joseph made an uncertain face and immediately crossed the room to stand before him. 

John tried to smack his hands away when his brother took his jaw in his hands and forced his chin down to examine a spot on his forehead. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, why the Hell wouldn’t I be?” John demanded. “Where’s my wife? Where are my children?! What have you done with her? Is this some sort of joke? You got sick of playing by her rules so you changed things? Who built this place?

“Wife? Children? You built this-” Joseph began, then guided him to the couch and sat him down. He leaned in too close, focusing on his eyes. “You need to rest again.” He reached out to John again.

John stepped back. “No, I don’t need to rest, I need to see my wife, what have you done to her?”

“John, you’re confused-”

“What. The Hell. Is going on?!” John repeated, and his head pounded at the effort.

“You tell me,” Joseph answered. “I have no idea what you’re going on about. If you had a wife, I would hardly do anything to her outside of welcome her into our family.”

Oh, you have no idea. John opened his mouth to protest, but couldn’t find the words.

Joseph looked him up and down. “You’ve been hurt. We were building the church, there was an accident. You took a tumble over a railing and hit your head. You’re lucky to have survived. The doctors suspected some sort of head injury, but if your memory... your imagination-”

John stared at him for a while. He remembered that day. It was nearly twenty years ago. But he hadn’t fallen, he had caught himself- he remembered. But something about the way Joseph was looking at him- had he dreamed he caught himself? Stranger things had happened in history with medical patients doing so as a way to cope. But twenty years worth of a life beyond that? A life? A fall from Joseph’s graces? A wife? Children? A family? No. No. This wasn’t- he couldn’t have? The thought had briefly occurred to him now that everything was back to what ha been normal, but- no. He couldn’t have just dreamed it all up in some... medical haze. He could feel his world crumbling to ashes around him. No.  “Calen-” Christ, Callan. No. “Calendar,” he forced out, mostly to himself. He wasn’t sure if he was going to vomit around the word, either. He looked off to the side by the door where he used to hang the object, and sure enough, it was there.

And then the most important detail came into focus and made all of his thoughts grind to a halt. 

September 2011. The year the Church went up. The year before things had started to get… violent between the Project and the people. Six years before an annoying Deputy had made his life a living Hell. Six and a half before he fell in love with said Deputy. And Nearly twenty before he had been the happiest man on Earth raising a family with her.

No. He hadn’t just fucking dreamed up twenty years in… however long he had evidently been unconscious for. Was it even physically possible? Could a human brain do that? His knees gave way before he was even aware he had moved, and he found himself crumpled on the floor with no desire to get up. 

Joseph, to his credit, was immediately at his side. 

Joseph had taken him by the hands carefully- like he was holding something glass that would easily break- not that he was far off from that- and promised him, looking insulted but concerned all the while that there was no trick like he had asked earlier. Joseph had merely not left his side after his fall over the railing. His older brother had managed to talk the doctors into letting him stay at the house to be observed.

John, of course, was beside himself, barely hearing any of the logic, far too caught up in his loss. It was all in his fucking head. Nicolette, their time together, their children, his fucking happiness- all a lie concocted by his traitorous mind. A mix of a fever dream and who else knew what  after an injury, because God apparently wasn’t done ruining him. And this was 2011. He hadn’t even committed his worst sins yet. He cast his eyes upward briefly. A bit too cruel, isn’t it? He snarled in his head to whatever God was listening.  He had loved Joseph so fucking much he was willing to look past all the blind faith the first time around. He was willing to spread God’s word for his brother. But any God who could put him through such torture by letting him be happy for years and then ripping it away in seconds was no God of his.

Joseph had sensed the turmoil going on in his brother’s head, and although he was clearly concerned and confused, he excused himself to give John alone time, promising he wouldn’t go far.

His brother had barely been out the door a second before John absolutely shattered and broke down. After a few seconds, his thoughts strayed to the last time he had sobbed that hard: the night he had woken up drunk in Sharky’s bunker after finally coming to terms with Joseph’s betrayal, with Nicolette hovering over him, making sure he was okay, checking on him, even after all the evils he had done to her or otherwise- the night that he stopped hating her. And then the fresher memories of Cal curled up beside him on bad days where his demons wouldn’t leave him alone came to mind. He could almost feel his son curl up next to him and lean into his side like he did any time he heard his father wake from nightmares. But they weren’t real. It had all been a fucking dream. God’s cruel joke. And he had cried even harder.

Joseph came back an hour later and held him, still confused but hurting for him and whatever was going on in his head.

His brother’s comfort should’ve reassured John. He should’ve been happy he had lost his apparently fictional family but gotten his brother back. He wasn’t. 

After a while he had pried himself away from Joseph, saying that he just needed to rest again like Joseph had suggested.

Joseph looked less than convinced, but he had touched his forehead to John’s, promised to see him the next day, and departed.

John had retreated back to his room, to a hauntingly empty bed and tried to sleep.

He didn’t do that, either.

Hours without his family blended into days, then weeks. It didn’t get easier, but he could manage after a while.

He had barely eaten or drank anything the first few days. It was Joseph that kept coming by and saw the house and his brother in disarray and implored the man to take care of himself. 

John did it to make his brother happy, but he might as well have been on autopilot the whole damned time. Except in matters with the Project. So his family was fake- it didn’t stop him from second guessing everything involving the cult- the Project.

Joseph’s sermons made him uncomfortable. He couldn’t look at Joseph that long if he touched anybody for an extra few seconds- he knew it was nothing lecherous, but he had learned- would learn?- that it was just part of his manipulations.

Reuniting with Jacob was… better but worse. Getting Jacob back had been literally miraculous. He had laughed and cried upon seeing him and thrown himself into the man’s arms despite the man’s grumbling- but the feeling immediately soured as the accusations from his dream piled up. Torturer. Murderer. Killed for sport. Broke people. Broke my wife. He had tried to smile through it all, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was lucky that Jacob had never noticed those details.

Weeks later, when Jacob had started muttering things about people not being strong enough, John had insisted that some people weren’t meant to be strong. ‘If there are no weak people, there would be no purpose for the strong people to protect them’,  ‘You learn from weaknesses. Weaknesses made you stronger.’

Jacob had grunted but looked like he was considering it. It was good enough.

When Only You came on the oldies station ten minutes later, John had nearly broken his finger in his effort to change the station as quickly as possible.

He had met Holly at a sermon shortly after. She had flirted, but her eyes weren’t green enough, her hair wasn’t dark enough, her smile wasn’t equal parts miscievious and comforting. She wasn’t his wife- or whatever his brain had come up with as his ideal wife. He had politely excused himself from the conversation with her and left in favor of talking to Nancy.

Joseph had come to him after that, citing that he had noticed how much John had changed ‘in the last few weeks’ and that he was proud of him. He was happy that John wasn’t falling back into old habits. And his heart had ached all over again. He could imagine Joseph’s thought process, how his phantom wife had helped him be a better person- in general and for Joseph’s needs. He had never been enough before, and he was teetering on the edge again: if he forgot Nicolette, he’d be back to his old self, but if he held on, it would be the end of him. But Joseph was only happy because John was being faithful to a phantom, an idea, And it hurt.

Months later, the mass Baptisms had begun at the Church. It hadn’t sat well with John. One day, he had helped welcome people, and one of the women who had looked after Cal when he and Nic were away, Roberta, had shown up. John remembered how Cal loved her and her cooking, and that had been enough for him. If things went the same way, he couldn’t watch this woman go down that path. And so he had faked being sick and sent them on their way. That night he had gone to Joseph, claiming he needed to ‘get away for a while’ and left. 

Joseph had protested and requested he stay for help with more expansion and the Baptisms.

John had bristled and asked if the Voice  asked that of him before he could stop himself.

Joseph, to his surprise, looked quite shaken. But John had just gone off to get his bags and left the man conflicted in his wake.

John had packed a bag, thrown it in Affirmation and headed for Missoula after that. The plan had been lay low for a month to just get away and reset his mind that hadn’t stopped racing.

Two weeks into the stay, he had gotten a call from Joseph. He had sighed heavily and looked out on the mountain view his hotel room had- one he knew Nicolette would’ve adored- no, no, she wouldn’t have, because she wasn’t real- but he had a vague recollection from the dream and had a sinking feeling he knew what was coming. His timing hadn’t entirely been random. He didn’t want to be there for when it all started to go wrong. When Joseph had accidentally killed Jerome’s daughter and didn’t think a damn thing of it.  He picked up the phone and waited with baited breath-

And Joseph had told him that he had ‘sent the pastor’s girl away when she had shown up for the Baptism’- she ‘was lost and needed to be found- but not here.’  The Voice was evidently growing silent- and had been quiet and left him alone after he sent the girl on her way.

John had tried to sound impassive about it. But no. He had put seeds of doubt in Joseph’s head because this bastardization of hindsight was a bitch and he wasn’t going to let his family fall to such destruction, whether that dream of a life had been a premonition or just his imagination at work. If his brother could hear God, maybe John was given his own version of a gift and a curse as well. As much as he despised God, he wasn’t going to waste his gift, as cruel as it had been. 

“Come home, John,” Joseph requested over the phone one night. 

“Not yet, but soon,” John assured him. Then, carefully, ‘I love you, Joseph.” It was a test, the ultimate test, and so his breath caught and he waited...

“I love you, too.”

And his heart ached all over again, and he had to blink tears away at that.

A few more days passed and John was getting utterly bored in Missoula. Things had been… looking up in Hope County. No deaths, no disappearances, no one was questioning Joseph’s motives. It… might have been safe.  

And so he made plans to return.

Of course, the day he scheduled to leave, a snowstorm came and grounded every single plane in the area.

He was getting antsy and had taken to pacing around the area. He had turned a corner down one hallway too sharply. Someone had called out ‘wait’ behind him and he had stopped short to turn their way- and then something hit him square in the chest and there was a wet pop and something soaking into his jacket that smelled distinctly like too-sweet coffee- hold on, how did he know a detail about coffee just from the smell-

“Shit! I’m sorry!”

That voice. He glanced up and his heart just about stopped.

Nicolette was standing there, looking dazed and holding the now-open coffee cup with its contents still sloshing around, staring at the growing stain on his shirt. She immediately launched into rapid-fire details that was just like her. “I can’t walk in these damn boots and I just thought that one person was calling me and I stopped and then fucking tripped and-”

 His mouth twitched in multiple directions, not sure whether to smile reassuringly or let his jaw drop or frown or fight to keep from blurting out it’s you, I missed you, I love you, I’d die for you- “It’s okay,” John forced out.

It wasn’t.

His wife gaped back at him. The mother of his children, the light of his absolutely horrible, tragic fucking life, though she was softer around the edges and her hair was a few inches longer. Hope County hadn’t gotten it’s hooks into her yet.

“No, it’s really not, holy shit, I’m so sorry, I can’t even-”  she started digging into the duffel bag at her hip.

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve had thrown at me,” he assured her, with far too small of a voice.

She laughed at that, and his heart ached the worst it had since he woke up that night. She had the same laugh. She was real. She was real, she was here, she wasn’t a fucking figment of his imagination. He had to ball his hands into fists to keep from touching her, and his nails had bit into his palms in the process.

‘Probably isn’t the best thing, either,” she replied apologetically.

“Day’s still young,” he countered, and yeah, he knew that was an extremely bad line before she blinked at him a couple of extra times than necessary.

It still didn’t stop her from producing a few tissues from her bag and half shoving them at his chest, trying to get whatever excess thankfully-lukewarm liquid out of his shirt.

He had to stifle a laugh and hold back tears of joy when at some point in the cleanup she stopped to steady herself and held his hip to do so- and she blinked after a moment. She had always had a thing for his hips. She had confessed it after they had spent one night in bed in the bunker.

“Ive never been into guys who are almost skinnier than me, but I mean, what even is this hip to body ratio, do you even eat?”

“Yes, I eat.”

“... ... Well?”

The fact that her interest transcended dreams and reality was wonderful. He realized perhaps a moment too late that he was staring, and looked out the window to counter it. “Can you believe this storm?” he asked. It was a terrible attempt at small talk, but he figured he might have died if he didn’t hear her voice again.

“That’s Montana for you,” she agreed, though she sounded grateful for the distraction. “Crazy weather, always cold. Have you heard how long it’ll be before flights aren’t grounded anymore?”

“A few hours at least,” John answered. He reached up to take one of the tissues from her and their fingers brushed and she looked at him- a mix of kindness and thankfully attraction and Christ, he had missed that look, too. She was real. She was real. The flights could stay grounded forever if it meant keeping her there with him. “What brings you here?”

“My dad’s got a job opportunity for me. Have a private plane flying me out. Law enforcement. Yay,” she deadpanned. 

“Not a fan?”  he asked, though his heart had started to race. Had it been a premonition after all?

Nicolette shrugged. “Well, I love my dad.” An explanation. She was doing this for him and him alone. Could it have been Whitehorse and she was just simplifying their situation to a stranger? Or was it her abusive scumbag of a biological father? Or neither?

She laughed. “Here I am, nonstop talking about me after all of this.” She motioned at the wet parts of his shirt.

Never stop talking to me. “It’s fine. A  conversation to pass the time for a minor inconvenience sounds like a fair trade to me. Where are you flying to?”

“Hope County, middle of nowhere, apparently.”

Holy. Shit.

She smiled again- that same warm, reassuring and teasing smile he had missed so much that seeing it physically hurt. “What about you?” she asked.  

“Same, actually. Have family out there.”

“Small world,” she answered.

Thank fuck for that.

John nodded after a moment, then motioned at the chairs by the window. “Want to sit? I could use the company before I die of boredom.”

“Well, like you said, I kinda owe you if you don’t mind conversation as repayment for that.  It’s the least I can do if I just christened you with a half a cup of coffee.”

“Again, I’ve had worse.”

She laughed again, then sighed and sat with him when he motioned again. “I’m Nicolette by the way. Friends call me Nic.”

“John. Good to meet you.”

——-

Several thankfully cult-less, deathless, happy months later, he’s sitting knee-to-knee next to Nicolette in his bathroom. The pair of them stare down at a positive pregnancy test. Because the Universe had given them a fucking Oops Baby in the real world as well as his dream world, now.

She looked scared but hopeful all at once, meanwhile he was beside himself with utter joy. It was painful keeping the relieved, disbelieving laugh in. And then, before he could stop himself, not that he would if he could: “I always liked the name Cal.”

The absolutely murderous look she gives him before she caves, laughs tiredly and agrees is worth it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

A/N: Bold of you to assume I’d go full angst you heathens.