#how did we go from this to boring brooding shadow idiots

[yaralulu]

I miss my faerie princes this is so unfair 💔💔.

Hi-res version of the by frostbite.studios & atouchofmagicdesigns ACOTAR dust covers! Bless them for making Lucien and Tamlin look SO FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!!

[shadowsingerlightsinger]

A Court of Shadows and Sunlight Chapter Three

I'm baaaaaack. Finally felt inspired to keep writing. Warning for Az once again being a self-sabotaging idiot.

Part One|Pt.2

Ao3 Link

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azriel was, quite possibly, the most bored he had ever been in his entire life. He had been on the outskirts of autumn for two weeks now, and had absolutely nothing to show for it. Not that he expected to find much when he originally set out. After that morning in the ring with Gwyn and the prompt talking-to from Cassian, he knew he had to distance himself. Thus: Autumn. Dull, soporific, beautiful Autumn. Even when he found himself entirely worn out by this place, he couldn’t deny the beauty of the fiery shades in every tree and the cool breeze that brushed the hair from his forehead. 

Are you done being avoidant, brother? Rhysand’s night-kissed voice murmured into his mind. Azriel huffed and shifted where he sat, arms braced on his knees where he looked out over a cliff face. From this vantage point, he could glimpse the entrance of Beron’s palace. When it became clear he wasn’t going to respond, talons grazed the walls of his mind before he felt Rhysand’s presence fade from his consciousness. Rhys had first accepted Azriel’s decision to depart on a mission for autumn without comment, trusting his brother's intuition when it came to the need to gather intelligence. As the weeks wore on, though, Azriel knew his brother was beginning to suspect that this mission was more for escape than anything. He refused to speak on it despite Rhys’s unending attempts. Rhysand still didn’t know what was going on in Azriel’s personal life. Only Cassian knew what had happened, and he planned to keep it that way. 

Suddenly, he felt a shifting in the breeze behind him. A shadow crept up and curled around his ear. Eris, it whispered. He stiffened, annoyed by the future high lord’s unwelcome intrusion into his brooding. 

“What do you want, Eris?”  he spat without bothering to turn his head from the view before him. Eris strode around to stand in front of him, red hair lit like a halo by the sun behind him. Gods, why did everyone in autumn have to have red hair? Every time he caught a glimpse of a woman out of the corner of his eye, his heart leapt, reaching for Gwyn. 

“Just checking to see if I might need to be hiring someone to deal with my court's new bat problem” Eris responded with a sneer. “We may be allies, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate your hulking presence shadowing the borders of my court.”

“You’re father’s court” Azriel corrected, never one to pass up even the slightest opportunity to shoot a barb at the prince.  Eris dismissed the statement with a wave of his hand. 

“Either find me some information of interest, or take your snooping elsewhere”. With that, autumn leaves swirled around the male and he was gone. Message received. His presence in autumn would no longer be tolerated. Azriel stood with a groan, his legs aching from sitting in the same position for so long. As much as he didn’t want to return to the House of Wind, he didn’t think Rhys would appreciate him starting a feud between Night and Autumn. It was time to go home. Silently, he summoned his shadows and stepped into their endless night, transporting himself back to the Night Court. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn he heard a few of them whispering Valkyrie as they carried him home. 

When he landed on a balcony of the House of Wind, Cassian was already there to greet him. 

“She’s in the House’s library” he said without preamble. How he knew Azriel was coming, the he wasn’t sure. 

“Glad to see you too, brother,” Azriel responded. Cassian simply pinned him with a look, crossing his arms over his chest. Azriel blinked back, face impassive. He wasn’t going to let Cassian push him around, especially when it came to her. Seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere, Cassian retreated into the House with a shake of his head. Azriel followed behind his brother, making his way to the kitchen. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he’d barely eaten today. As he sat at the table, he asked the house for a meal. A bit aggressively, an empty plate clattered into place in front of him. 

“Really?” He called out into the silent air. “Can I please eat?” In answer, a full plate of food materialized on the side table that stood in the hallway. The smell of roast chicken and vegetables wafted to him tantalizingly. Azriel reluctantly rose to his feet, walking down the hall. Just before his fingers could grasp the plate and bring it back to the dining table, it disappeared, rematerializing on the stone tiles further down the hall. 

“Seriously?” He said to no one. In response, the lights seemed to flicker as if responding yes, seriously. The house continued to take him further down the hall, leading him with dinner like a horse with a carrot. If he wasn’t so hungry, he would have given up, but he continued to play the house’s game. Finally, the plate landed just outside the door to the private library. Valkyrie is inside, his shadows whispered, our mate. As he approached, the plate disappeared again. 

“Oh thank you,” he heard a soft voice say through the door, “but I’m not hungry”. When his dinner didn’t reappear, Azriel resigned himself to going to bed hungry. Clearly, the house didn’t want to feed him, deciding to play with him instead. He still wasn’t sure what he’d done long ago to earn the sentient building’s ire, but it never made the simplest requests easy for him. When he turned to go to his room, though, the library door swung open of its own accord. He froze, suddenly exposed to the Valkyrie seated in the plush armchair directly across from the open doorway. 

“Azriel!” Gwyneth exclaimed, putting her book face down on an arm of the chair, “welcome back”. The priestess stood, striding across the room. 

“Is this your dinner?” She asked, gesturing to where his still steaming plate sat on the low coffee table. 

“Yes, sorry,” he said, barely able to meet her gaze. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but the house wouldn’t let me eat in the kitchen”. He couldn’t stand it, being in such close proximity to her now that he knew how her lips tasted. Every instinct cried out within him to take, claim. His shadows had already mutinied, twining themselves around her shoulders and arms instead of his own. 

“Please, come in,” she urged, placing a guiding hand on his arm. He involuntarily tensed, not trusting himself to hold his desires back at even this small amount of contact. Sensing his unease, she retreated to the couch, once again encouraging him to sit with her and eat. A particularly traitorous shadow pressed at his back, and he begrudgingly entered the room, seating himself on the far end of the couch. Wordlessly, he picked up the plate of food, the house finally allowing him to eat his meal. 

“You were gone a while,” Gwyn began as he speared a bite on his fork and chewed. 

“Yes,” he said once he swallowed, “Autumn needed to be watched”.  Liar, a shadow whispered. 

“Oh,” she said, a blush rising to her freckled cheeks. Gods she was stunning like this. Fire and faelight gilded her skin and hair, her flushed skin sending his mind reeling with visions of what that skin would look like against his sheets. “It’s just- I thought- oh nevermind,” she stammered. 

Our mate is feeling uncomfortable, a shadow breathed. That shook him from his thoughts. For the first time that evening, Azriel took a real look at the priestess. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her teeth worrying at her full bottom lip. Clearly, something was on her mind. He inwardly admonished himself. She was his friend first, and here he was lusting after her while she had something to get off her chest. 

“Priestess,” he said gently, setting his plate and fork aside, “what is it?”

“It’s nothing,” she said hurriedly, “just silliness”

She’s a liar too, his shadows muttered. 

“Berdara, I can tell something’s up with you” he cajoled her. He pinned her with his “spymaster” stare. The look that said, you will tell me what you know. She squirmed under her gaze. He didn’t relent, content to let her stew until she was ready to talk. 

“I just,” she began, before stopping herself to take a deep breath. “I thought maybe you left because of what we did in the ring that day”. The words left her mouth in a rush. Her teal eyes flicked to his and them away, flitting around the room as her admission settled between them. His heart cracked a bit at her truth. He could sense her hurt down their one-sided bond. When he left, he didn’t stop to think what it might look like to her when he ran so soon after her brave kiss. Brave, beautiful, mate, his shadows sang.

“No,” he said sincerely, “my leaving had nothing to do with you”. His hand reached out to her almost of its own volition before he caught himself, reeling it back in. Gwyn’s keen eyes tracked each movement, seeming to shutter when he stopped his grasp. 

“I’m not sure I believe you,” she murmured, eyes downcast. 

“I promise you,” Azriel urged, “it had everything to do with me, not you”. She looked pointedly at his hands before returning her piercing gaze back to his own hazel stare. She clenched her jaw, her spine stiffening in what seemed like anger. 

“Then why won’t you touch me?” She questioned. When he didn’t answer, Gwyn reached, grasping one of his scarred palms in her own smooth hand. When he tensed, she held on tighter, fiercely staring him down. “Do you regret it?” she asked, her attitude daring him to respond. Azriel didn’t trust himself to answer. Knowing her past, he was almost certain she would detest the primal nature of a mating bond. He didn’t want to force that upon her, and he wasn’t sure he could trust his own mouth not to spill his soul’s secrets. 

“Do. You. Regret. It?” She pressed, scooting closer to him on the couch. They were nearly knee to knee now. Azriel could feel her warmth through the leather of his pants. Her nearness scrambled his thoughts. He could barely remember what she had asked. Cauldron boil him, he felt like a youngling, flustered by a pretty girl simply holding his hand. Our Valkyrie awaits your response, a helpful shadow reminded him. 

“No,” he croaked, voiced barely above a whisper, “I don’t regret it”. 

“But you can barely look at me,” she responded, silver beginning to line her lovely eyes, “and you react to my touch like it repulses you”. His heart broke open. 

“Never, you could never repulse me,” he reassured her, grasping her other unoccupied hand. The touch sent a shock through his body. He pushed down his body’s need, forcing himself to focus on the priestess kneeling on the couch before him. She searched his face, looking for signs of a lie. When her lips parted to question him further, he couldn’t help himself. He rushed forward, capturing plush lips with his own in a gentle kiss. Almost instantly, she softened beneath him, leaning back so that he could press her into the cushions. His tongue swiped across the entrance to her mouth, and she welcomed him, tongue tangling with his own. He groaned, deepening the kiss, unable to stop himself from consuming her. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to get enough of her mouth. Her taste on his tongue. After what felt like an eternity and also not nearly enough time, she broke the kiss, pulling back to look him in the eye. 

“What do you want, Azriel?” She questioned him, still breathing hard. “Because I know I have feelings for you, but I can’t keep doing this if I don’t know what you want”. Everything, he thought, I want everything. He couldn’t tell her that though, would never force the bond on her. If, when, she learned of the bond, he wanted it to be on her own time. He realized now, though, that he couldn’t keep himself away. There was no helping it. They would go at her pace then. IF what she wanted right now was to know what he felt for her, then he would give that to her.

“You, Gwyn,” he murmured against her lips, “I want you and whatever you are willing to give me”. 

“Does this mean you’ll be my partner, then?” She asked innocently, mouth quirking into a smile. She had his heart firmly in the palm of her hand.  “My boooyyyfriend?” she said playfully, drawing out the vowels. 

“You can call me whatever you want, priestess, and I’ll answer” he breathed against her ear, relishing in the shudder she let out. “But yes,” he answered her question finally, “I would be honored to be yours”. Gwyneth grinned furiously before pulling him back down into another crushing kiss. Mate, mate, mate his stubborn shadows murmured in his ear. 

[fanmoose12]

Nifa Strikes Back

Levi hates St. Valentine’s Day with burning passion. The only thing that makes this holiday somewhat bearable to him is a little tradition he shares with his best friend Hange. But after hearing the news that Hange is going to skip the years-long ritual to go on a date with someone else, Levi is faced with conflicting and severely confusing feelings. 

thanks @innocent-ghost-demon for the idea! (i’m sorry it took me so long to actually write it lmao)

In Levi's personal opinion, St. Valentine's Day was the worst holiday of them all. It was meaningless and explorative and it served no other purpose than to fill the pockets of flowers and chocolate sellers. Levi hated it with burning passion, getting groceries in the weeks leading to the forsaken holiday was the cruelest torture, as he was immensely annoyed by big pink hearts and cute figurines with naked babies on display. It was almost impossible for him not to gag.

The only thing that quelled his hatred towards this day was a small tradition he shared with his best friend Hange. It had started years ago, when they were still in college. Hange's boyfriend had dumped her - she was heartbroken and upset, while Levi was furious and ready to go, find that bastard and beat the shit out of him for making Hange cry. Naturally, as college students, they knew only one way to deal with that kind of complicated feelings - get absolutely wasted at the local bar. Next morning they woke up with the worst hangovers of their lives and vowed to never repeat the same mistake.

But next year, Hange was rejected by a girl she wanted to ask on a date, and, like a good friend he was, Levi once again offered his shoulder for Hange to cry on. And once again they've found themselves clinging to each other as they shakily stumbled towards their dorm.

They got drunk that year again. And that's what they've been doing every year after that.

It was the only thing that got Levi through the awful holiday. Because of that, he was actually looking forward to it.

***

"Hey, four-eyes," Levi looked over the wall that separated their cubicles, throwing a small piece of paper to get Hange's attention. "Is your place as messy as usual? Or have you cleaned it for the occasion?"

"Huh?" Hange raised her eyes from a screen, pushing the glasses up her nose. "What do you mean?"

Another paper was thrown at Hange. This one landed on her lap.

"The shitty holiday, Hange. It's this weekend. So are we going to your place of mine?"

"Oh," Hange raised her hand, rubbing her neck. "About that..."

Levi frowned, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Did he hear a twinge of hesitation in Hange's voice? That was unusual. What could it mean?

"I can't go this year."

His frown turned into a scowl. "Why the fuck not?"

"I have a date."

Levi blinked. Hange's words... surprised him. And more than that, his own reaction surprised him. He felt displeased, but not just that. He was angry, he was disappointed. He was sad?

"You're going on a date?" he asked, cursing the weakness that colored his voice. What was going on with him?

"Yeah, sorry," Hange gave him an apologetic smile. "With all this work, I forgot to tell you about it."

"That's fine," he answered, even though it wasn't fine. Hange was going on a date, and Levi wasn't fine with it. Why wasn't he? Hange was his best friend, he was supposed to feel happy for her, right? Did it mean that he was a bad friend?

No, Levi decided. He wasn't a bad friend, he was a good one. He was worried about Hange, he had seen her get hurt by someone else, and he simply didn't wish to repeat the experience.

"Who is your date?"

Was it someone from the office, he wondered. If it was their co-worker, that'd be good, Levi could keep an eye on them then. But what if they start dating? Would Hange stop spending her lunch-breaks with him? Would she go and bother someone else if she's bored? Would she pay less attention to him?

Levi shot that train of thought as quickly as it appeared. He didn’t like thinking about it. It made him feel weird. It made him upset.

"It's Nifa's cousin, she set us up. I don't know the guy yet," Hange shrugged. "But if he's at least half as cute as Nifa, then it's worth a shot, eh?"

She looked at him then, tilting her head and smiling. It was Levi's cue to congratulate her and wish her luck. Or express his pity towards the guy. Instead there was an unpleasant, ugly feeling inside him. Hange broke their years-long tradition. To go on a date. With someone else.

And it pissed him off.

"Levi?" Hange reached out to him, grasping the sleeve of his jacket with her fingers. "Are you alright? You look a bit weird. Are you upset that we won't be hanging out this year? I'm sorry about that, I'll make it up to you."

"You don't have to," he grunted, shaking Hange's hand off. He turned around, feeling the acute need to leave. The concern on Hange’s face was annoying him. "Have fun on your date and don't worry about me. I wasn't looking forward to our get-together anyway."

*** It took Levi two days to admit his own weakness.

He promised to himself to ignore Hange. To forget about her stupid date and stupid feelings it had provoked in him.

But then he saw Nifa alone in the hallway and he just had to ask.

He approached the girl, stopping just behind her shoulder. "Your cousin," his rough, low voice made Nifa jump. She didn't hear him walk up to her. "Is he a good man?"

Despite a scare Levi just gave her, Nifa's lips lifted into a smug smirk. She looked at Levi, observing him closely. His face was as blank as always, but his shoulders were uncharacteristically tight and his eyes showed even more annoyance than usual.

Her plan was working.

"Cousin Greg?" Nifa twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "He's great! I think Hange would get along with him!"

Cousin Greg wasn't that great actually. In fact, he was quite boring and very annoying. But Nifa wanted to help her superiors admit their feelings for each other and Greg owed her a favor after that time when she had covered for him during the grannies' birthday. Hange didn't have to like him. In fact, if she starts liking him, it'd destroy all of Nifa's plans.

Hange didn't have to like Greg. And Levi didn't have to like the fact that Hange was going on a date with him.

Evidently, the most important part of her plan already proved to be a success.

"He won't hurt four-eyes, right?" Levi asked, a shadow of worry passing through his eyes.

"He won't," Nifa promised with a serious face. Inside, however, she could barely contain herself. Levi was so concerned! It was so cute! Nifa needed to share these news with someone, and quick.

"Alright," Levi pressed his lips together and nodded. "Thanks." He added before walking away, his head bowed and shoulders slumped.

As she watched him go, Nifa's heart constricted painfully. Levi looked so miserable, just like a kicked puppy. She actually felt bad for him.

It was for his own good, she had to remind herself. She was doing him a favor. Levi, no, Hange too - both of them - will later thank her for this. She was doing a right thing.

Nifa repeated these words a couple of times and then rushed over to the break room, where she knew she would most surely find Moblit. Her best friend would be thrilled to hear about her success. 

*** He wasn't brooding, he told himself as he threw another disgustingly sweet candy in his mouth.

He wasn't sulking, Levi thought, as he put the glass of wine to his lips. It was awful. He had been drinking this brand of wine for years, but he never noticed how mawkish it was. Hange’s taste in wine was as horrible as her taste in romantic partners.

He didn't care about Hange and her stupid date, Levi tried to convince himself, paying only half of his attention to the movie.

On his TV screen Harry ran away from Sally after their first night together, and Levi scoffed at his stupidity. It was obvious they're in love with each other, why couldn’t they just admit it? They were both idiots and this movie was stupid, Levi decided. Why Hange liked it so much was beyond him.

***

Harry and Sally started arguing at the wedding, when Levi's phone started ringing. He made no move to get up and pick it. It couldn't be Hange calling, because she was on a date. And if that was Erwin, informing him of some emergency at work, he could kindly go and fuck himself. It was Levi's day-off and he was allowed to be as miserable as he wanted in the coziness of his apartment.

After a few seconds his phone fell silent, but before Levi could sigh with relief and continue watching the movie, he heard a few pings that announced that he had received a couple of messages. Erwin wasn't one for texting, and that got Levi wondering who was trying to get into contact with him.

Was it Petra, inviting him to a bar with others from their office?

Or, maybe, that was Yeager or any of his friends, wishing him a happy holiday?

Either way, Levi decided to ignore the messages too. If it was Petra, she'd understand his desire to be left alone. And if the messages were from any of their interns, then Levi most certainly didn't want to deal with that. It was bad enough they'd given him chocolate at work. It made him feel like he was a high school teacher, not a partner of the law firm.

He shouldn’t support this kind of behavior, Levi decided and returned his attention to the movie. 

*** Levi was halfway through a bottle of wine and Harry was ready to confess to Sally.

Fucking finally, he thought, pouring himself more wine. What kind of idiots waste twelve years denying the feelings they have for each other? Just when Harry was going to say those three little words, someone knocked on Levi's front door. With glass of wine still lifted to his lips, Levi paused the movie and stared at the door, wondering who could be fearless enough to visit him at ten pm.

As he continued to sit and ponder on it, the initially soft knocks turned into vicious bangs.

Cursing at the impatient idiot, Levi put the glass down and got to his feet, marching to the door with a glare on his face.

He threw the door open and— froze, blinking in surprise.

Hange stood on a threshold, holding a bottle of wine in her hands and wearing a wide grin on her lips.

"Will you be my Valentine?"

Levi bit his cheek to keep himself from blurting out 'yes'.

"What happened to your other one?" he asked instead, putting on a mask of cold indifference.

"Ah," she ruffled her hair. "He was actually boring as hell. Not even half as cute as Nifa," she shrugged. "I guess she's the sole owner of all adorable genes in their family."

Levi scoffed, plucking his lips. He would not give Hange the satisfaction of laughing at her lame joke. "Your date turned out to be a moron, so what? You've decided to come and bother me?"

"Yeah? Would you let me in or not?"

Levi knew he could put up a fight. He could tell Hange how annoying and inconsiderate she was. But he also knew that it would result in absolutely nothing. Hange would still get what she wants. He would still let her get what she wants. Because in all the years of their friendship he hadn't learned how to say no to her.

So with an irritated tsk and a shake of his head, Levi took a step back, allowing Hange to come inside.

"Did you bring something, except wine?" he asked while Hange was busy taking off her shoes.

"Yes!" Hange passed him her handbag.

Levi opened, finding chocolate inside. Lots of chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

"Four-eyes. Did you rob the candy shop?" he inquired dryly.

"No!" Hange snickered. "These are gifts."

Levi had received chocolate too. His collection wasn't quite as vast as Hange's, though.

"Are all of these from brats?"

"Some are from my team. Where's your chocolate, by the way? If I received so many, I can't even imagine how much you got."

"It seems like this year you're more popular than me," Levi pointed at only a couple of box of chocolates on his coffee table.

Hange's face fell after his words. She even opened her mouth, probably with the intent to apologize or, god forbid, comfort him. Levi scowled, silently telling Hange the misplaced pity to herself. He didn't really care about such trivial matters.

And he was more than happy to find out how well-loved Hange was. She deserved nothing less than that after all.

"Don't just stand there," he snapped, when Hange continued to stare at him without saying anything or even moving.

Hange lifted the corners of her lips and hurried after Levi to the living room.

"Oh!" as soon as she saw what was on the TV screen, she clasped her hands in delight. "When Harry Meets Sally! I love this movie!"

I know, Levi almost said.

"And it's one of my favorite scenes!" Hange continued to gash. She plopped down on Levi's sofa with a wide grin.

However, as she took a closer look on a coffee table, her excitement diminished considerably.

"Two glasses?" she mumbled, frowning in confusion. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"No, it's just..."

A habit, Levi realized. He put two glasses simply out of habit. He was so used to drinking with Hange that he had taken two glasses without even thinking.

"It's nothing," he finished awkwardly. "Let's watch the movie."

Hange stared him for a second, her eyes wary. But then she snapped out of it and a smile returned to her lips. She waited until Levi took his place on a sofa and then put her head on his thigh.

"Must you always do it?" Levi complained without making a single move to change their position. "I'm not a piece of furniture, you know."

"Just put on a movie, Levi," Hange mumbled, too used to his constant bitching to have any kind of reaction to it.

"So bossy," he huffed, but took the remote in his hands and resumed the movie.

On a screen, Harry was confessing to Sally.

"It's kinda bizarre, don't you think?" Hange asked. "They knew each other for so long and yet they've realized their true feelings only years after."

"It's a movie, Hange."

"So you think it's unrealistic?" she lifted her head to stare at him. "That two people can be close friends for years and continue to be blind, refusing to see how much they need each other?"

"I think you have to be unbelievably dense to not realize that you're in love with your best friend."

Hange giggled, and the quiet sound was like music to Levi's ears. "Yeah, maybe, you're right. They're really dense."

"Idiots," Levi agreed, laying a hand on her shoulder and pulling her closer.

[legendofzelda4life]

The Divide and Return

Okay we goin day 13 strong and today I gift you with some Legend and Ravio non-platonic angst.

I said Legend instead of Link bc this has the other LU boys in it lmao.

Enjoy!

… hopefully…

-------------------------

Link stood behind everyone as they walked to Lorule’s Sacred Realm. This was how Zelda and himself would go home but…

He looked over to a certain merchant.

That was why he didn’t want to leave.

Look, Link may hate to admit it. But he’d grown quite… attached to this boy.

He thought about this as he stood behind said boy, eyes basically boring holes into the back of his head as he remembered all the times he treated Ravio poorly.

Why couldn’t Hyrule’s hero express his emotions towards the boy? Why did he always push him away? Why? WHy? WHY?

Link didn’t know the answer.

“Quite ironic I have the triforce of courage and can’t even confess to this idiot.” Link thought, moving his head down to the floor.

“Please now, if you will give me your bracelet, Link.” Hilda said, reaching out for Link’s bracelet. This snapped the boy out of his trance-like state. He handed the bracelet over, sneaking a quick glance at Ravio as he did so.

Hilda took the bracelet carefully and approached the giant stone thingy in front of them. “I should be able to use the last of its power to send the both of you home to Hyrule.” She spoke.

Suddenly, Link’s hands were grasped by Ravio’s own.

“It’s been a pleasure, my friend. I got to meet a real, live, genuine hero.”

Link felt his face heat up and tried to look away. “Th-thanks, Rav.” He muttered.

Ravio…

Link’s friend.

Link’s only love interest.

Gone.

A whole world between the two.

After restoring the triforce and sealing the entrance too and from Lorule, Link brooded.

And sulked.

And cried.

And went through all five stages of grief.

This took weeks.

But Link finally accepted, no matter how much he loved Ravio…

They were divided.

Time skip to LU

Legend walked through a forest in his Hyrule. Was that always there? Who knows.

And yeah, his name is Legend now.

He was on a journey with eight other incarnations of the hero’s spirit. So basically, eight more of him.

It’s actually going a lot better than you’d think.

“Okay so basically, if we take a left here we should reach-”

“Link?”

That voice…

Out of everything he could’ve forgotten…

Why not his voice?

Legend felt his heart clench and he stood up straight. “I need you guys to leave.” Legend said, not turning to face anyone.

“Bu-”

“Sailor, just leave it.”

“That sounded harsh, captain.”

“Sorry, Twi”

Legend didn’t doubt that at least someone smirked during that conversation. He couldn’t check either, the words were exchanged as they left.

“Link?”

The voice again.

He loved to hear it.

But wanted so desperately for it to leave.

Legend ducked his head, hands in fists at his sides.

“Why did you never come back?” Legend asked. “I didn’t have magic.” “When did you come here?” “Like a week ago. Why are you asking so many questions?” Ravio asked. Legend turned further away from the boy’s voice. “Link! Look at me!” The boy paused and Legend could hear his voice break.

“Please.”

Legend felt his heart shatter. Ravio’s voice was barely a whisper as he pleaded for the hero’s attention. Said hero resulted in looking in Ravio’s direction, but still at the floor.

“I missed you.” Ravio said quietly. Legend scoffed. “It didn’t seem like it Ravio.” That’s right, Legend dropped the nickname. “I spent weeks and weeks, crying because I felt like I lost a part of me. I was home for months and months and I know it doesn’t take that long to get magic.” Legend looked up at Ravio, tears running down his cheeks silently.

“So what took this long?”

Ravio’s shoulders dropped. “Y-you really dropped the nickname? Wow.” His voice became more saddened and quiet as he spoke. Had he just lost Link?

“You do know that restoring the triforces closed the gateways right? I had to have an insane amount of magic to get here. I only came here once every six months because of that and Zelda always said you were busy.”

Six months?

Legend looked Ravio in the eyes as he thought for a bit.

Then it hit him.

“That fucking bitch.” He snarled. Legend was home all of those times except for one and that’s because he had met the other Links.

Legend looked up at Ravio.

“Alright well, Zelda’s an asshole but so am I. I’ve changed Rav, I’m not the same Link you once knew.”

“You called me Rav though.”

Shit.

“Force of habit.”

“You haven’t had to say it for three years.”

Who said he hadn’t?

Legend looked back at the floor.

“It was the only thing keeping me going.” He mumbled. “What?” Legend repeated what he said, but loud enough for Ravio to hear it.

The Lorulean turned scarlet but Legend didn’t see it.

“Better now than never.” Legend thought.

“I was- am in love with you Rav - goddesses I sound crazy. When the gateway closed-” Legend got choked up. “I was miserable. I sulked, I brooded, fuck me I even cried. I was crazy for you.” He looked Ravio in the eyes.

“But as time passed-” “So did hope.” Ravio had cut him off and he nodded in response.

“I tried so hard to forget you Rav but… anytime I saw something purple, something you gave me, or even a little white bird, I’d remember everything and it hurt.”

Suddenly he was engulfed in a hug.

It was soft…

Warm…

Ravio.

“I missed you too! I didn’t sleep properly for weeks because I wanted to see you again!” Ravio squeezed Legend a little and cried into the hero’s chest. Legend, in short, was shocked.

Ravio missed him…?

Legend wrapped his arms around the, slightly smaller, boy and squeezed back. “Y’know, I say I only cried for months…” Legend chuckled a little. “When things get hard, I sit and hug that dumb bunny plush you gave me until I get a chance to cry.”

“Good.” “Good?!? How is that good Rav?!?!” “You think of me.” Ravio smiled innocently. “Oh my god. Fuck off.” 

“There he is!” Ravio said in a sing-song voice.

“Who-” Legend was cut off by a pair of lips on his.

They were tender, soft as they moved slowly. Legend leaned into it but it ended pretty soon.

“The Link I fell in love with has returned.” He cheered, wrapping his arms around Legend tighter.

Ravio was back.

Ravio...

Had returned.

----------------------------

Hi, yes, this obviously wasn’t the original plan. They were meant to have a huge argument (nothing physical tho), one of them would confess - the other following suit.

And then Legend would have his heart broken.

Ik, I’m an asshole lol

Hope ya’ll enjoyed tho.

LEAVE REQUESTS BELOW!

REQUESTS MUST INCLUDE: PAIRING TYPE/GENRE/CATEGORY (fluff, angst, etc) PLATONIC OR NOT

I WILL WRITE ONLY ABOUT THE LINKS (including the ravio, shadow, and requested characters. Will not write about whole other fandoms though)

I CAN DO READER INSERTS IF REQUESTED (no oc’s tho)

CAN DO AN AU IF REQUESTED

[ruorelabrealis]

Behold the xiaoven oneshot I impulsively wrote without a title;

Notes: I didn't revise this yet so criticize if you must. This ship will be the end of me one day.

He really doesn't want to fight Venti. Xiao thinks as he waits in the room below the stadium, hearing the crowd cheer aa the last battle's winner is declared.

He spends like last seconds before stepping out for the next battle composing himself.

Venti, the Anemo Archon, Xiao knows, is the same boy who plays beautiful melodies on his flute and makes flower crowns for the village children. Just the thought if him beaten up is enough to make Xiao grimace slightly.

Still, He can't let Rex Lapis' name be tarnished just because he would pity this certain bard if he'd see wounded, beaten up, green clothes torn, hair in a mess... He sighs.

He doesn't know the reason why Rex Lapis was so eager to participate in this Mondstadtian event. All he knows is that he is to dutifully follow his every command. This one isn't an exception.

If he thinks about it Rex Lapis has given him far worse requests than this. This wasn't even a big deal.. supposedly. If only he hadn't heard that bard's tune that night.

The huge cage-like door that divides Xiao from the main arena opens, snaps Xiao away from his brooding, and a duplicate of it does the same on the other side.

Across the even grounds of dirt and dust he sees the familiar shades of aqua blue braids and how the wind violently thrashes with the white cecilia kept on his hair and the white hood at the back. Venti is... not wearing his usual attire. This must be the stuff he wears as an archon, Xiao concludes as he assesses the silk garments and flamboyant gold linnings.

He can almost feel it, the smile coming from that direction.

Meanwhile Xiao narrows his eyes at the figure, pulling out his spear and warily stepping half an inch forward when he sees that the other does not draw a weapon.

When the two step out where the shadows no longer proon over them and into the sunlight making it's declaration under the absence of a roof above the battle field.

The crowd's cheers louden. Many cheering for Mondstadt as they were on it's grounds. Familiar faces looking down upon Xiao which he does not need to look back at to know who. They're assessing him.

He could feel the thrill of excitement vibrating from the stands and how Xiao hates being in the spotlight.

The crowd's screams soften into doubtful murmurs when they take in the sight of the Xiao's oponent. What is a mere bard doing battling a skilled adeptus? they must be thinking.

"Boy, get out of there!"

"You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"This is boring we have a clear winner already"

Such idiots they were, Xiao thought. Although he could not really put the blame on them, only few knew of the bard's true identity and those who did either gasp or have a solemn line on their lips.

Against the growing protests and remarks of doubt amongst the people, Venti only grins wider. The mischief never leaving his eyes.

"Xiao, Conquerer of demons, Mighty Yaksha!" Xiao cringes at the call of his name, "versus... Venti.." The anouncer declares with lack of climatic rise at the last part.

"That's my name" He hears the boy chuckle from afar. "So dear adeptus, shall we start?"

Venti's stance is slovenly, showing no conduct of offense or defense. Xiao's grip on his spear tightens. Hesitation begins to flood his senses voices saying 'Him too?' 'No more' He inores them all eyes shut.

He trudges forward with his spear swiftly. The attack is quickly evaded with a burst of wind. Xiao might admit it wasn't his most precise attack but it was one nonetheless and he can't help but feel a gush of relief that it was dodgable.

"How rude, surely we must start with proper introductions, even if we are in a battle field," Venti says after finding his footing, placing his hands on his hips.

"So, who shall go first?"

"I know who you are," Xiao says, they are now on the opposite sides of where they had started.

That statement was meant to cut this conversation short but Venti only beams in pride, "My my how delighted I am that the breeze had blown my name to Liyue. Shall i sign a poster for you?"

"You can drop the act or I'll tell them your true identity right here right now," Xiao says knowing that thr winds would shield the audience from picking up this conversation.

"You wouldn't." Venti challenged. Xiao attempts another front attack with his spear that is evaded again. And another right after that pointing to Venti's head, he ducks.

"Hmph fine, so you already know who I am, What about you then? Do I know you?" Venti says after avoiding all of Xiao's plays.

His patience is wearing away. "Xiao. loyal server of Rex Lapis, yaksha. The announcer told everyone earlier, maybe you were too caught up in presenting yourself to hear."

Venti disregards the remark and frowns, "Your telling me about the warrior, the one who follows commands, I'm not asking for him. I'm asking about you. I want to know who Xiao is."

Xiao beginning to get more frustrated by the constant philosophical sentennces, only ignored that comment and lands another attack only rougher.

"Don't tell me you don't know who he is?" Venti questions after multiple dodges.

Xiao stares dumbfoundedly, spear pointed at the other boy's chest. A meter away from peircing through. "Ofcourse I know who I am,"

"Do you really?"

He stays silent at that and the other boy only frowns more.

"Enough chit chat we want to see action!" A random voice shouts from the crowd. "Yeah!" And a chime of voices agree.

"Alright alright" Venti rolls his eyes at whatever direction, "It seems we have to cut our introductions short, my apologies,"

"No apologies needed." He had opted to make this quick, fewer riddles to think about would help in that matter.

At one point, Xiao notices the crowd getting evidently used to their battle pattern. Attack, Dodge, Attack, Dodge. That was all that was ever seen. Venti never went on an offensive and that was all Xiao did. Neither ran out of stamina.

At one point it's the hundredth or so attack Xiao lands, when the sunny skies suddenly blink to night. Cheering was replaced by the familiar sound of the Dihua flute. And Venti's armour flickers to the green clad attire he normally wears.

When Xiao blinks the world goes back to normal and he realizes that his spear is an inch away from the other boy. He staggers on his feet, aim clumsly redirecting to the empty space beside him.

In the crowd's eyes it looked like Venti has yet again dodged Xiao's attack but those in the battle field could clearly tell that Xiao made a mistake. Venti sees this.

He makes a step forward to the recovering adeptus. "If you have no plan on fighting you should declare a defeat now before time runs out."

"I won't let down Morax's name" Xiao replies, though it, too, sounded to him that he was desperately convincing himself rather than the archon.

Xiao was about to land another attack when the Archon begins drawing out a bow from wherever it came from and shoots Anemo embedded arrows.

Xiao doesn't dodge, he doesn't need to, the arrows are shooting right past him forming a circle with him being it's center.

Is the Anemo Archon belittling him? He was about to ask just so when a bursts of air coming from every direction where the arrows were shot shakes the arena resulting in a cloud of dust in the battlefield.

A smoke screen, he realizes. Had this been his plan all along? The other boy could no longer be seen admist the fog of brown dust and Xiao is ready to defend himself from all attacks he might pull.

What he wasn't ready for was the Archon's body slamming against his, both of them fall on the ground. Venti is ontop of him, pinning both of his arms to the floor. Shit he was caught off guard.

Despite his feeble form the boy's grip manages to keep Xiao pinned to the ground. Had he used less energy than this Xiao would've successfully broken free.

"What makes you think I'd hurt you?" The Archon asks out of nowhere as Xiao struggles to move. Wrong question to ask really, to an adeptus whose been in bloodshed for as long as he knew.

"Get off," He warns.

"I'm sorry, this will only be painful for a little bit," Venti apologizes, to his surprise, looking genuine despite his micheivous demeanour. He bends down to the point where Xiao can't see anything but the bright glow of blue eyes fading to green.

Venti's lips touch his own. Xiao lets out a burst of surprise from the sudden act.

He tries to ignore the alarming amount of heat creeping upon his cheeks as he attempts in breaking their contact.

But then he softens, and how he curses himself for it. He closes his eyes and melts into the other boy's kiss.

As the kiss goes on longer the more his grip is lossening on his spear, the more of his struggling to get out of Venti's hold and protests in his mind die down.

Until he feels Venti pull away and refuses to meet his eyes.

As the other boy's eyes seem to light up, literally, and he can see the reflection of his own glow. He feels a gush of air arise in his viens and flows everywhere throughout his body.

Despite what Venti had said, it isn't painful at all, he notices, only a tad uncomfortable. It's like getting a vaccine shot.

As the unknown gas stems to his inner organs, all the hidden tension in his body completely slips away. He feels numb but the voices in his head disappear. He can no longer move, he can't feel his fingers, legs or anything for that matter.

Then suddenly he remembers Zhongli saying "Acharis Demeanti, An ancient spell only to be used by archons. Causes the victim to be rendered immobile by the touch of an Archon's lips"

He is left there lying on the ground by his spear as Venti walks away. He looks at the clouds that pass by as he remains still.

The cloud of dust that was surrounding them dissipates as a burst of anemo energy is shot out of the boy's hands. Venti stands there, hand on his hips and the other stretched out to wave as the crowds cheer.

"Venti wins!"

Some look to be in confusion. And the millions of murmurs about what could've happened within the vision obstructing cloud of dust that made the strongest adeptus lose.

I'm sorry, he thinks as he sees Zhongli frown from the corners of his eyes.

"Drink this," Venti comes into his view a moment later, looking down so that Xiao could see him. He places a bottle of bright blue liquid onto Xiao's open palm and winks before he's out of sight.

Minutes later when he feels that he can move his fingers enough. He plays with the small glass bottle in his hands and feels the anemo energy stored inside it.

This could be another trick, he ponders. But would Venti be the type to pull another stunt right after a battle. After consideration, he gulps it. It tastes like... Dandelion wine?

Whatever witch brew that was, The trance he was in completely fades as he stands up and leaves the open arena.

"Rex La– Zhongli, my apologies.." He says, guilt rising from his stomach, as they walk out of the stadium amongst the crowd.

Zhongli waves it off. "There is no need for that, I'm not mad" It's hard to tell, he has that same stoic expression. "We should've known he'd pull a trick like that,"

"But"

"You were rendered uncapable of continuing the fight because of his spell, were you not? It isn't anything to apologize about" Zhongli questions.

That only made Xiao feel even worse, for his grip on the weapon had loosened long before the spell had made it's way to his body. But he did not argue any further.

"Now, We ought to find Childe and have dinner–"

Two loud voices in the plaza nearby cut him off. "What was that" A man with blazing red hair crosses his arms.

"Hey, I won didn't i? Now you have to treat me to a years worth of wine haha!" Venti cheers to himself, looking proud and victorious even if from afar he looks like a child being scolded by it's guardian.

"You cheated, didn't you" The taller one acusses.

"Rules don't say anything about me not using magic alright? I won fair and square!" Venti huffs and glances to his side, his eyes widen in delight, "Right Xiao?"

The man in question turns away, embarassed. But Zhongli walks toward them, to his demise.

"My apologies for his actions" The man– Diluc– bows to him, placing one hand to his chest. Zhongli shakes his head stepping forward, while Xiao keeps a distance.

"Although I hate to say this, He's right," Zhongli says proving his statement when his eyebrows crease "Congratulations" He sounds bitter.

"See! I told you so!" Venti turns back to Diluc.

"That doesn't mean you should go smooching around placing the forbidden Archon's spell on people!" Xiao only backs away more at the phrase 'smooching'.

"Adepti," And turns even redder when Venti doesn't correct him about it.

"Not the point." Diluc sighs and brings a hand to his forehead.

"Hmph. I'll make it up to you later Xiao! I promise!" Venti promises to the boy before lightly skipping away, "Now, thou art must be taking my leave! Farewell! For the vin we must retrieve!"

"Where do you think you're going?l!" Diluc shouts but Venti doesn't stop.

"Wine! wine! wine! Here I come!" He says in a sing-song manner and disappears to a burst of feathers before Diluc could reach him.

Xiao thinks he peeks at mirth-filled blue eyes one last time before they vanish, What exactly did he mean by 'make it up to you'.

The endddd tundundun i don't know what to write as a continuation.

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Amsterdam Chapter 56

Daredevil stood broodingly on the roof, like a living gargoyle protecting his small corner of the city from those who would prey on it. Head bowed slightly to allow his ears to hear even the slightest of wrong-doing in the city beneath him.

“Yoo-hoo! Double D!” called Wade as he tumbled into place on the roof next to the masked vigilante. “How are you—urk!”

One of Daredevil’s hands closed around Wade’s throat. “Deadpool,” he said stoically.

Deadpool pushed him away and he allowed it to happen. “Man,” said Wade. “What’s with the grabby-grabby?”

{Rude. We should shoot him.}

[We’re not going to shoot him. We came for his help, remember?]

{If you’d just let us kill the bastard—}

Daredevil sighed. “What do you want?” he demanded tersely.

“Oh. I see. Brooding and morose. Well, I didn’t come—heh heh—to talk to the masked Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, I came to talk to the Badass Blind Lawyer.”

“A lawyer.” Wade was certain that if Daredevil’s mask was emotive—or had, you know, eyes—the man would be rolling them. “Why do you need a lawyer?”

“It’s not for me!” protested Wade. “It’s for my boyfriend! Well, I think he’s still my boyfriend? He hasn’t broken up with me yet, and he needs a lawyer.” Wade paused. “And, uh, I’d appreciate it if you could pretend to be taking the case pro bono. I’ll pay you,” Wade added quickly, “but he gets a little—finicky about that sort of thing.”

“You—have a boyfriend.”

“Aw, and he’s the sweetest thing!”

[He might not still be your boyfriend. You did kidnap him.]

“I had to! He would die otherwise!”

“Is that what you need a lawyer for?” asked Daredevil.

{Please. As if we’d need help with that.}

[Given that your plan was to kidnap the hot boyfriend who loved us, yeah. We need help.]

“I can hear your curiosity,” taunted Wade in a sing-song voice. “But no. We’ve got it covered.”

[We do not, you costumed ass!]

“So what do you—your boyfriend, need a lawyer for?”

“I think his landlord is pulling some shady, and I mean super shady, Shady Pines, shit with his lease.”

“That’s—surprisingly appropriate,” said Daredevil slowly. “I’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“Thanks, mi amigo!”

“Now go away. I have things to take care of.”

“Things? What things? Maybe I can help?”

[Maybe you can make it worse.]

“You don’t know that! Neither of us know what’s going on yet!”

Daredevil sighed. “This gang is having a meeting with a new player. I need to see,” the vigilante continued over Deadpool’s giggles, “if it’s something I’m going to have to interfere with.”

“Well, give me the down-lo on the low-down, and maybe I can help.”

“Can you shut up?” demanded Daredevil. He took a deep, slow breath.

{Wonder if that helps him calm down?}

“Deadpool,” said Daredevil slowly, carefully. “I need to go in stealthy. I do not want them knowing I’m there.”

“No problem,” Wade drawled. “Let’s go.” Daredevil glared at him, but turned to lead the way.

[He’s probably realized that fighting you over this will be loud enough to alert the people he’s trying not to alert.]

{Be vewy vewy quiet. We’ah hunting Dahdevil.}

[Shut up!]

“Shut up!” hissed Daredevil, alerting Wade to the fact that he was humming the Ride of the Valkyries under his breath.

“Sorry,” hissed Wade as they snuck into the abandoned theatre. Well, abandoned by the officials, anyway. Judging from the clutter below, it seemed that squatters had moved in. Judging from the tagging on the walls, these were gangs.

[Odd. Why isn’t the outside of the building marked?]

That—was a good question. Wade watched carefully. There were several gang members lounging on what used to be a stage while even more hid in the shadows on either side of the stage.

{Look! They’re wearing the red scarves as belts!}

They were. Wade silently swung around Daredevil to get a better look. The one in the center of the stage was clearly the leader and even though he was lounging in an oversized beanbag chair, Wade could tell he was tense. They all were. Whoever this “other player” was, they were on edge.

Footsteps alerted Wade to the new arrival and he turned as a teen walked confidently towards the stage, huge wings tucked close to her back.

{Isn’t that the girl we raised in another reality?}

[You mean, ‘Isn’t that the girl Peter raised in another reality.’ I seriously doubt she’d still be alive if we raised her.]

The teen on the chair began a slow clap as she approached and she stopped just before the stage, still mostly shrouded in shadows. “If it isn’t our very own interferer,” the teen said as he heaved himself out of his chair. His hands shot into his pockets and Wade could see the handles of guns in them.

[She’ll be fine. Remember, she heals faster than we do.]

“Interferer?” drawled the girl. “That’s rich, considering what you’ve been doing.”

What was she talking about?

[If you shut up and listen, we might find out.]

“Not something we’ve been able to do. And we didn’t attack your little sister again.”

{She has a little sister?}

The girl spread her arms wide. “They’re all my little brothers and sisters,” she said before settling her hands over her hips.

Wade was many things. He was flaky, he was insane, he didn’t have a good grasp (or any grasp, really) on social norms. But he knew a perfectly balanced fighting stance when he saw it.

[Maybe we did raise her.]

“Oh, they are? Then where were you when we started?”

“Not here; that’s for sure. You never would have gotten as far as you did.”

“Do you even know what we’re doing?”

“Do you?”

The banter was light, almost playful. The looks and body language were anything but. Wade stared, fascinated by the scene in front of him. The boy had the high ground (literally), but it was clear the girl was in charge. How had Daredevil put it? The girl was a player.

But—when had that happened? As far as he knew, she’d been in town for less than two weeks. How had she gotten mixed up in this mess, whatever it was?

“I know about the demon,” said the boy as he leaned forwards. Wade shifted. He recognized that tone of voice; it was the same one those religious freaks who’d tortured mutant kids had used. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

“And it was tall, had eight legs, six eyes, and huge fangs,” replied the girl. She sounded—bored, of all things. “And you saw it transform right in front of your eyes, from a normal person you never would have looked twice at if you passed them in the street.”

[That was specific.]

The boy faltered and the girl nodded. “Yeah; I’ve seen it all before. You’re not the first to be roped into this, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you are the last.” Even from the catwalks Wade could see the amber eyes glitter. “I have my own problems with that one.”

“Oh? And what about the seal?”

The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes. “There is no seal,” she told him firmly. “There never was a seal. You’re being used to create a horde of monstrous minions.”

“Better to walk at the Devil’s side than be in his way,” said the boy, recovering remarkably.

The girl sighed. “I adore how naive you are,” she told him. “I really do.” She paced a step forward. “Those things have been changed. Those things are being controlled by a power-hungry psychopath. Despite all of this—they still need to eat. What do you think they eat?” Another step forwards. “What do you think they’ll eat when that one no longer needs you?”

The boy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re playing with fire,” he told her, voice shaking. She’d clearly said something that hit him hard—but he wasn’t willing to back down.

“Oh, are you referring to the ten armed people you have waiting in the wings? Yeah,” she continued as he broke out into a sweat, “I hate to break it to you, but you’re toddlers attacking a tank. It doesn’t matter how many of you there are, I’m a tank. You can’t hurt me.”

The boy, despite being on the stage and using the height to tower over the girl, took a step back. There was something in that flat tone of voice, something with that subtle hint of exasperation, that showed she was telling nothing but the truth.

“We can try,” the boy said as he pulled out a gun. He shot her.

Daredevil tensed and leaned for a jump down, but Wade stuck out a hand to stop him. He knew the girl would be all right. She had to be—even if she’d grown up in another version of his world, she was raised by him and she wouldn't have survived if a mere bullet could kill her.

The bullet hit the pink leotard, sank inwards—and then bounced back as the girl rounded back out to normal dimensions around where the bullet had been. “This is armor you idiot,” she said as she reached out and caught the bullet. She lined it up on the palm of one hand before flicking it with the other. The bullet grazed the cheek of the boy in front of her—exactly as it would have if she’d shot it from a gun. Impressive, considering it was flattened out of all recognition from the impact with her chest.

“Just to warn you,” the girl said, “I have perfect aim. I didn’t want to kill you.” She gently rubbed at her chest through the material of her leotard and grimaced. “That is changing quickly,” she muttered.

Wade drew himself up to his full height. “You can’t kill these kids!” he announced in his deep, SuperheroTM voice before dropping down in full Superhero landing style.

“That,” commented the girl dryly as he stood up, “is so bad for your knees.”

“I know, right?” said Wade. “But everyone does it!”

“To be fair, most superheroes don’t live long enough for the repeated damage to be an issue,” the girl responded.

“Eek! Dark humor; me likey!” He gave the girl a high five before clearing his throat and donning the voice again. “Spiderman will be pissed if you kill these children.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes and chanted the next part in time with him. “Because with great power comes great responsibility.” She dipped her head for a moment and then looked at Wade again. “Yeah,” she said. “Heard that one a lot.”

He smirked. “I bet you have.” He turned to the boys who were staring at him. They all knew who Deadpool was, and they were hesitating to engage.

“Remember Deadpool,” the girl said impishly, “Spiderman will be pissed if you kill these children.”

[Forget the children. Spiderman’s going to be pissed about Peter.]

{But Peter isn’t pissed!]

“Stay with witnesses,” the girl said grimly. “Hopefully, the army isn’t too big yet.” She turned, gently bumped her fist against Wade’s shoulder and started to walk out. She paused. “I didn’t make a mess in your turf Daredevil,” she said firmly with a wave to the vigilante before continuing out.

“Daredevil?” asked the boy.

The vigilante dropped behind the boy, landing almost silently on the stage. “Yes,” he hissed.

[pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles]

The Sweetest Taste

AU Ice Cream Shop Featuring Cake for the 5sos fic event sponsored by @maluminspace and @h0tsos

Word Count: 5,979 (I’m a long winded bitch, oops)

CW: this is smut so 18+, NSFW etc. M/M and M/F oral as well as sexual situations and strong language from the outset and throughout.

Special thanks to @adoring-lrh for helping me edit this monstrosity.

Event Masterlist

"I'm so bored," Calum complained, leaning back against the counter. 

"Me too, but I have to train you how to close so you're not leaving early," you told him but you were just as bored as him. 

Your parents had recently expanded the family business by opening up a second Cali-Cone Dream location in the touristy "historic district" downtown. Your dad's grandparents started the ice cream shop after moving to California from Missouri after World War 2.  They'd invested their life savings in the shop and helped build the boardwalk. You’d grown up in this shop, and since it was early in the season and still slow, it was up to you to train the new hires. It was a pain in the ass, but at least your parents weren't breathing down your neck. 

"If you keep complaining I'll make you clean the freezer. You'll have shrinkage for a week," you teased him. 

"Like you wouldn't find a way to fix that," he shot back, wiggling his dark eyebrows at you. 

Calum was the only new hire you liked. Jeremy was a kiss ass to your parents, Rico was boring, and Amanda was dumber than a bag of hammers. The smartest thing to come out of that girl's mouth was her boyfriend's dick. You'd already told your Mom it wasn't going to work out when you'd asked her to cut lemons for tea and she came back with oranges. Calum, however, was funny, a quick learner, and great with customers, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.

"How is it only 3 o clock? Can we play cards or something? If I stand here much longer I'm gonna keep eating ice cream, and this is supposed to be my hot girl summer," he pouted before giving you a saucy wink. He was a total flirt and you weren't complaining. Three weeks ago he'd barely said a word, but you two had become fast friends and he'd really come out of his shell. 

"I don't think you have to worry about that," you laughed.

 The dark blue, slightly too tight, uniform t-shirt accentuated his bulging biceps, broad chest, and golden brown tan. The Cali-Cone slogan, "The Thrill of the Taste" scrawled across his back in bright red letters kept giving you dirty thoughts. 

"We could close early, maybe show me another of your secret spots." Calum leaned towards you with a smirk and you rolled your eyes.

 A week ago you'd gotten tired of him whining that there was nothing to do now that the college bars were dead since most students went home for the summer. You'd taken him out with you after you closed up shop. You'd avoided the popular rowdy country bar, and the dark thumping underground hip hop club, choosing instead to head for the beach. You took him to a spot under the boardwalk past the large boulders known as "The Breakers" where the local police patrols usually stopped.

You brought your beach bag and a popup tent you could both lounge in so bugs wouldn't eat you alive. He'd managed to sweet talk a bottle of wine out of his landlady, who knew he was only 20. It wasn't very strong, but it made you giggly and warm. Perhaps Calum lounging next to you on the blanket had something to do with that.  After a few rosé flavored kisses his hands began to wander, and you had to put an end to it.  Calum started to apologize, but you told him that the only reason you stopped was that your cycle hadn’t ended yet. 

After that, Calum laid back on the blanket and began to talk.

He told you he was in his second year studying music composition and theory at the Strozzi Conservatory. He'd recently broken up with his high school sweetheart, and it had been painful. As a result Cal decided to not go home for the summer, deciding instead to take a workshop on-campus teaching local teens. He was a bit lonely but looking forward to the tourist season.

"This is the first time I've had time to myself where I don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks about me or what I do," he told you, taking a gulp before handing you the wine to finish off. You were sitting up and he was laying across your outstretched legs looking up at you.

"Ooh the wild college years," you laughed. You had seen many sheltered middle-class suburban kids get the first taste of freedom away from their helicopter parents and lose their minds. "If you're trying to get fucked up don't buy anything on the boardwalk. I've got a friend so at least you know it's clean." 

"Nah not like that, but good to know." Calum took a deep breath, looked up at you, and then away. The shadows from the small camp lantern made him look mysterious and brooding. "Can I tell you something? I feel like I can trust you." His voice was soft and he rolled on his side concentrating on tracing lines along the skin on your legs. 

"You can tell me anything," you assured him.

"I want to--uh I guess experiment with different sorts of types of experiences with something new. I mean, obviously new. What I mean is, not what you'd expect maybe. Shit!" Calum rubbed his eyes and you held back a smile. "What I'm trying to say is that," he paused again.

"Calum, are you into guys?" You ask, not wanting to rush, but you were running out of time. You only had about half an hour before the tide would start coming in and you had to leave. 

"Is it obvious?" He asked, his eyes wide. 

"Nope, I wouldn't have guessed at all, but I've had this conversation with a friend before. I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me, but we have to leave here in a bit." You checked your phone.

“So that’s it?” he asked. 

“Dude, it’s not that serious. Tell me who you’re scoping out and I’ll let you know what’s up. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun as well,” you told him.

He looked so relieved, and you could only imagine what it took for him to tell you that.

Calum sat up and you started rolling up the blanket. You packed up your beach bag and Calum held the lantern as you twisted and folded the tent in three quick fluid motions before sliding it into its bag. 

"How did you do that so quickly in the dark?" Calum looked impressed.

"Practice, now come on, follow me, watch your step. It's slippery," you cautioned him.

It had gotten chilly and you were both shivering as you ran back to your car. 

"You won't tell anyone at work will you? I know it's not a big deal but I don't want everyone in my business." Calum bit his lip and you could tell he was questioning his decision.

"Dude you're fine, but what made you decide to tell me?" The question slipped out before you realized it.

He looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was hoping maybe you could help me out. I don't know how to read people and I don't want to make an idiot out of myself." 

"Of course," you replied, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Did you have anyone in mind?”

“Well there’s this lifeguard. He’s blonde and has a bird tattoo on his arm,” Calum told you. 

You cringed, knowing exactly who he was talking about. “Sorry sweetie,” you replied, “ that’s Cody and he’s not only straight, he’s a complete jackass.”

Calum slumped and looked defeated. “Don’t worry sweetie,” you reassured him. “The summer is just getting started”

A clap of thunder pulled you from your daydream.  If it was going to rain there was no chance business would pick up. You glanced over at Calum perched on the stool behind the cash register playing on his phone. His dark curls were falling across his forehead and your fingers itched to play with his hair. Being bored and horny was never fun and you were willing to bet Calum could take care of both. As if he could read your mind Cal looked up and caught your eye. The smirk that spread across his face let you know you were being too obvious, but you didn't care. 

"If you keep looking at me like that I might forget I'm on the clock,"  Calum licked his lips and looked you over. "You're lucky there are cameras."

"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind? It just so happens I know all the spots the cameras can't see," you raise your eyebrows at him, challenging him to take it further. 

The loud jingle of the bells hanging from the door startled both of you. You look up to see a familiar figure ducking through the door just before the sky opened up and began pouring rain. 

"What's up Luke? Since when are you afraid to get wet," you teased the tall blonde walking towards the counter. You'd known Luke Hemmings for years, his dad was on the city council with yours and his mom taught sixth grade. He'd been a year ahead of you in school, and you'd both played varsity basketball in high school. He'd dated several of your friends, and before that, your older sister had a tumultuous relationship with his brother Ben several years back. 

"Maybe I'm sick of the pool and want my old job back," Luke shot back. He'd worked three summers scooping ice cream next to you until he turned 18 and could work as a lifeguard on the beach. 

"Sorry, dollface, I've managed to replace you, I even found someone better looking," you replied. 

The Hemmings brothers were gorgeous and always had girls falling at their feet, but you'd never been that impressed. Not that it stopped y'all from hooking up on occasion, including once in the walk-in cooler after closing the summer before your senior year. It was a small town and you'd dated, hated, or hooked up with most of the guys your age.  Luke's history was more extensive than yours. He'd not only hooked up with you and many of your female friends, but you'd kissed many of the same boys. 

He looked from you to Calum who was standing to your right suddenly engrossed in the patterns on the tile floor. You could see the flush on his cheeks and his leg was jiggling nervously. Luke looked Calum up and down, his blue eyes lingering on the younger man before shooting you an approving grin. 

"I see you found a college boy. Can't say I blame you, much better looking than that ginger from last year," Luke snickered.

"I'm gonna go check the cooler," Calum told you, barely audibly before ducking in the back. 

You looked at Luke who was as confused as you were before excusing yourself to follow Calum. 

You barely made it around the corner before Calum popped out at you nearly scaring you to death. 

"What the hell," you squealed as he pulled you into the freezer.

"That's the guy I was telling you about," he hissed as the door shut behind you.

"What are you talking about?" 

"Remember when you drove me home the other night? You asked if I had anyone in mind so you could find out which team they played for," his voice was a panicked whisper, and his dark eyes were wide as saucers.

Then it clicked. "You were talking about Luke?" I asked, my voice louder than I meant for it to be.

"Why are you yelling? Yes, obviously that's him, except you told me his name was Dylan."

"You said tall, curly hair, with a bird tattooed on his arm. Luke doesn't have any tattoos, his mom

hates them," I replied, but doubted myself now. I hadn't seen Luke in ages, he'd always been a spoiled Mama's boy and maybe Liz finally caved.  

"That tall drink of water has a hummingbird tattooed on his arm, but that's not important right now. Have y'all hooked up?" You nodded and Calum scowled. "Figures he would be straight," he sighed.

Your brain finally caught up to the situation at hand, and you had an idea. 

"Listen to me Calum, you're gonna wait on him. Offer him a strawberry waffle cone, it's his favorite," you pushed him out of the cooler and back towards the front. 

You popped your head around the corner and whistled making Luke look up from his phone. "I'll be out in a second. I keep telling Dad this freezer needs replaced, have one on the house, but try not to scare off my new employee please," you shoot him a stern look as Calum came around the corner behind you. 

"I'll try not to bite, but I make no promises," Luke laughed before turning his attention to Calum. 

You moved just out of their sight, but still within earshot to see if your little plan worked. 

"So uh, yeah, the boss said you could have a free waffle cone. She said you like strawberry ice cream," Calum started out a squeak but he cleared his throat and continued, in a deep rough tone that gave you the shivers.

"Did she now?" Luke's voice dripped honey and you could hear him smiling. "I'm surprised she remembered, but she's good like that." 

"That's why she's the boss," Calum was cautious, and you stifled a laugh. "Have y'all known each other long? Are you close?"  

"Oh we know each other very well, and we've been close, very close sometimes. She's easy to talk to, I'm sure you know how it is," Luke answered and you had to put your hand over your mouth to hold back a laugh. You'd recognize that syrupy flirtatious tone anywhere, it was obvious Luke was seducing your new employee. You peeked around the counter to see Calum handing Luke his ice cream cone. A double scoop, perfectly dipped, pink and creamy, just barely starting to drip around the edge you watched Luke begin to lap it up while keeping his eyes on Calum.  

The power flickered as Luke leaned back against one of the tables in the dining area, half sitting half standing, his long legs crossed at the ankle. He was wearing the black swim trunks trimmed in bright red every lifeguard wore on duty and a thin white reflective windbreaker unzipped almost all the way to his waist revealing his broad bare chest. You could see Calum fidgeting nervously with the ice cream scoop while trying not to stare. Luke was not making that easy, his lips and tongue working obscenely in a way that was starting to make you horny, and you knew what he was doing and why. Poor Calum didn't stand a chance. It didn't help that he'd worn basketball shorts to work and the clingy fabric made his arousal obvious even where you were standing. 

You stepped back trying to figure out your next step. Your intention had been to introduce Luke and Calum but watching them together made your thoughts wander places they shouldn't. The rain was really coming down, sheeting the windows and sounding like pebbles being hurled against the roof. Daylight had turned dark as the storm really kicked up. You could hear the guys talking as you checked the weather on your phone. You were stuck here at least another 30 minutes as a big blob of red on the radar moved through your area. 

"She said I dare you to kiss the person on either side of you, and I didn't know if I wanted to kill her or kiss her." You heard Luke's voice and realized you'd zoned out and you headed back towards the front. 

You stepped through the swinging doors just in time to hear Calum ask, "why was that?" 

"Because the girl to his left was my friend who was absolutely gagging for Luke's cock," you answered as Calum jumped and Luke laughed.

"What was her name? Crystal? Kristen?" Luke bit the tip of the waffle cone off and sucked the remainder of the ice cream out of the bottom, glancing at you before his eyes returned to Calum. 

"Kirsten, you did end up sleeping with her, " you reminded him. "Tell him who was on the other side."

Luke licked his lips and grinned. "Keeeerstin, that's right, and that 4th of July we all did crazy things if I remember correctly. To my right however was the hottest soccer player in school who I'd had a crush on for ages." 

Calum nodded and Luke's gaze flickered your way once again, his blue eyes bright and mischievous, before he continued, "I was freaking out when we kissed but then he ended up taking me back to his house and we fooled around on his sister's swing set." 

You laughed along with Luke as you watched Calum realize what Luke said. His head snapped up, blinking rapidly and his mouth opened and closed refusing to find words before you saw him look at you, then Luke, and then back to you as everything clicked into place.

"Is that what strawberry ice cream meant? Were you setting me up?" Calum asked.

"Not a setup, but wanted to see if Luke remembered the code. Turns out there's not as dumb as he looks," you walked up to Calum stopping just inches from his chest looking up at him. "And you did say you were bored." 

"What did you have in mind?" He raised his eyebrows at you, still unable to look at Luke. 

“I mean, Luke likes strawberry ice cream, and so do you. I doubt we’re going to have many customers with this rain,” you told him. 

“They closed down the beach because of lightning so no one is coming out,” Luke chimed in. 

“That’s what I was thinking, so it sounds to me like the three of us have some time on our hands,” you replied. You looked at Calum and he nodded but his eyes burned into you.

“Are you sure you’re up for that?” he asked apparently reading your thoughts. 

“I can handle anything,” you puffed your chest out and heard Luke snicker, but you didn’t dare take your eyes off Calum.

“I’m down if y’all are,” he challenged, finally looking at Luke. 

Am I really going to do this? Your thoughts were racing and your heart was pounding as hard as the rain. CAMERAS you thought before remembering you'd been the one who updated the security system and there was a workaround.

Thunder crashed so loudly you felt it shake your bones. No one would come around today, and it made no sense to stay open or send Luke home in this storm. 

"Calum, go make sure the back door is locked, Luke if you could flip the bolt and get the blinds," you told them before you ran back into the office where money was counted. Behind the desk was the breaker box and you flipped the switch that shut off the security cameras and half the lights. 

You poked your head out at Luke and motioned for him to follow you towards the back. You bumped into Calum as he came back towards the front.

"Where are you going?" He asked

"Break room, even with this storm I'm worried about someone peeking in," you reply.

"Really?" Calum was skeptical.

"Around here you never know," Luke told him.

You flipped the light switch, but only two bulbs lit up casting the room in soft blue light with long shadows. 

"So I hear you got a tattoo, Hemmings," you said, trying to break the ice. Calum looked even more nervous than you felt, and you silently asked Luke to take charge. 

He winked at you unzipping his jacket and shrugging it off his shoulders. You noticed he was still lean and lanky but he'd definitely filled out, added some muscle definition. Sure enough, there on his right bicep was a small hummingbird. 

"I can't believe Liz finally caved," you teased.

"Honestly I just went and did it, and then dealt with the consequences. She's still mad, but nothing I can't handle," he replied. Luke looked over towards Calum. "You have way more than I ever will, can I see them?" 

Calum nodded and came up beside you. He started off nervous, but as he explained his tattoos starting with his parents’ initials on his hands, working up past his wrists, to the lovely bird with his sister's name, he explained when and where he'd gotten them. Some, like the thistle on his left bicep, had special meaning relating to friends and family. While others, like the spade and the horseshoe, were aesthetic choices. 

"Is that it?" Luke raised his eyebrows and bit his lip. 

"Nope," Calum smirked, warming to the other's man's attention. He reached behind his neck and in one swift motion pulled his shirt off over his head. You felt your pulse quicken and heard Luke suck in his breath next to you. Calum was brawnier, broad-chested with black ink on brown skin. Without realizing it you reached out to touch him, trailing a fingertip along what looked like a feather etched underneath his collarbone.

"What's this?" You asked, feeling your insides quiver when he turned his brown eyes towards you. 

"It's a silver fern, my mom's Maori from New Zealand," Calum's voice was a sultry whisper.

"And this?" Your fingers slide down to the "Choose Life" on his chest.

"It's from Trainspotting and- OH," Calum moaned as you absentmindedly tugged his nipple.

"Do that again," Luke told you, his hand sliding down over his dick now a bulge in his black and red lifeguard trunks. 

You tugged, harder this time, and were rewarded with a sound somewhere between a moan and a hiss. Calum licked his lips before his mouth hung slightly open as your fingers traveled to the other one, repeating the motion. Both men moaned in response and Calum noticed Luke palming himself through his shorts.

"Enjoying the show?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"Oh my God yes," Luke responded, squeezing his cock slightly. "All I can think about is the two of you sucking me off." 

"I'm down for that," you reply. "What do you say Cal." 

Uncertainty crept into his expression and he paused, "I want to but I've never done that before."

"If you want I can show you," you offered, the idea had you excited like never before. 

"Is that ok?" Calum asked.

Luke's blue eyes went wide. "Fuck yes, please," he whispered.

You untied the drawstring on Luke's shorts and tugged them down past his hips letting his long cock spring free. Rock hard and leaking as you wrapped your hand around the shaft, you could feel his body react to your touch. You stood on your tiptoes and playfully kissed his lips before you sank to your knees in front of him. 

You looked up at Calum who was watching your intently, lips pursed in concentration. 

"You know what you like so start there. Personally I like to tease a bit to start off," you tell him, flicking your tongue around the tip. "You wanna keep it wet and keep it moving. I think spitting is gross but if you gag a little it gets everything nice and sloppy." You took Luke's cock in your mouth getting it slick and shiny as you bobbed your head, taking him further down your throat each time until your nose was almost touching his belly. 

"Oh shit," you heard Luke's growl above you as you came back up for air. You continued pumping him with your hand as you looked up at Calum. 

"Come on, you try," you beckoned to him. 

Calum was eager now, as he kneeled next to you, looked up at Luke, and wrapped his hand around your much smaller one as you stroked Luke's cock together. 

"Oh God," Luke moaned, the sight almost sending him over the edge. 

Calum leaned forward and brushed his lips against the taut skin before his tongue darted out to get his first taste. Luke's knees started to buckle and he leaned back against the break table which was inches behind his thighs. Calum hesitated, eyeing the table before glancing at you, but both you and Luke knew the table could easily hold his weight. 

"It's fine, keep going," you pulled back and gave his arm a nudge.

"Are you sure? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I almost never do,” he replied.

"You're sucking a dick not disarming a bomb, just don't bite and you'll be fine," you told him with a giggle.

Calum swirled his tongue around the tip and you saw Luke grip the table's edge, his knuckles white. Calum began sucking, softly, and slowly before gaining confidence he built up a rhythm. Luke grunted, his eyes screwed shut and his chest heaved.

"Stop," he pleaded, "you're gonna make me cum too fast." 

Calum pulled back with a pop. "I thought that was the point,"  he smirked up at the older man.

"God what I wouldn't give to let you both take turns riding me," Luke moaned, grasping his cock tightly, fighting for control. 

"What's wrong Luke?" You reached up and ran your thumb along Calum's plump bottom lip. "His pretty mouth got you all excited. Thinking about how you're the first guy he's ever sucked off? About how lucky you are?

"You keep talking like that and you're gonna make me cum in my pants," Calum warned you.

"Not yet, I wanna help with that," Luke growled. 

"We gotta finish you first," Calum grinned and got back to work. Luke cursed loudly as his cock disappeared down the other man's throat. Calum stopped and almost pulled back but kept going. 

You looked up at Luke, he was staring down at the two of you with half-open eyes. You reached up and cupped his balls, giving them a gentle tug. That sent him over the edge.

"Oh shit I'm gonna come," Luke yelled, bucking his hips. Calum tried to swallow but he started coughing so he leaned back, cum dripping from his chin and splattering on his chest. You watched Luke fight to keep his eyes on Calum before they rolled back in his head as his knees shook and his breath escaped him in ragged gasps. 

He sank to the floor next to the two of you watching as you pulled Calum in for a kiss tasting Luke on his lips. When you broke away, Luke was there kissing you first and then Calum. 

"That was so good, let us take care of you now. I bet you're ready to burst. Let's see what we're working with here," he said as he reached into Calum's shorts. You both smiled as Luke pulled out a cock that was a bit shorter but thicker than Luke's. 

"Damn Cal, you've been holding out on me," you purred in his ear as you moved behind him. 

"I would've fucked you that night on the beach if you'd let me," he admitted.

"I was indisposed, but we'll have to make up for that," you tell him before you kissed your way up his neck.

"Raise up a bit," Luke told him as he pulled his shorts up before laying on the carpet. He positioned his head just under Calum's balls blowing on them as you reached around and massaged Calum's cock. "This is gonna be all I think about tomorrow at work. I'm gonna be rock hard sitting up in that chair just thinking about what I wanna do to the two of you." 

A huge thunderclap seems to shake the building and the lights flickered as your lips found Calum's neck as you nipped at his skin. You'd been fantasizing about marking up his throat and couldn't resist leaving a mark. He whined in response and pushed back into you before moaning as Luke's mouth went to work getting Calum's cock nice and wet before sucking and humming on his balls. You continued to suck tiny bruises on Calum's flesh as Luke's mouth stayed busy alternating between working over Calum and talking dirty. 

"I'd love to watch you fuck her before I come up behind you and take that ass. Imagine being between us, having your cock buried in her pussy while you're stretched and full," Luke told him and the idea gave you the most delicious thrill. The idea of Luke fucking Calum into you had you aching for your own release, but right now you wanted to make Calum feel good. You twisted your hand slightly as you stroked his cock.  Calum's head rolled back resting on your shoulder, moaning over and over as you kept one hand on his dick and the other tugged his nipples. You couldn't see what Luke was doing but you heard sucking noises between Calum's moans. 

"I'm getting close," Calum warned you. "Oh God keep doing that," he gasped and you could hear Luke humming as he sucked. 

You jerked him faster, concentrating on the tip, tugging his nipples harder as your teeth grazed along his shoulder. 

He erupted onto Luke's chest with an "Oh God" that was both a prayer and an exultation. Luke quickly moved so he was sucking the tip and the two of you worked together to drain every drop. 

Calum slumped back against you and you peppered his skin with kisses as you felt him shudder as he came down from his high. 

"That was incredible, I don't think I can feel my legs," Calum said as he shifted so he was no longer kneeling. 

"I bet," Luke laughed as he got up. He walked over to the sink in the corner by the refrigerator and grabbed some paper towels. He got himself cleaned up before bringing some back for you and Calum. 

"Are you ok?" Luke asked when he noticed you were breathing heavily. "Do you need your inhaler?" 

You reached out your hand so he could help you up. "I'm fine, that was just intense and I got excited," you winked at him as you stood up. He pulled on your arm and caused you to stumble and fall into his chest. He wrapped you in a cuddle and bent his lips closer to your ear.

"I haven't forgotten about you princess," Luke's words made you shiver with the anticipation. You could tell your panties were soaked and your core throbbed as Luke gripped your hips and lifted you on to the break table. He stepped between your legs and put this hand under your chin and pulled you in for a kiss. Calum was still on his tongue as it tangled with yours and you tasted his essence which was sweeter than Luke's. His hands tugged at your shirt and you broke away to let him lift it over your head. He kissed you again as you fumbled with your bra, unhooking it before you tossed it across the room. Luke's mouth moved to your breasts and you saw Calum still seated on the floor as he watched you with Luke, his eyes glazed over with lust.  

When your eyes met Calum jolted out of his gaze and scrambled to his feet. You almost laughed as he tripped over his own feet as he readjusted his shorts, but at that moment Luke's mouth closed over your stiff nipple and the laugh became a moan.

Luke's fingers were clawing at your waistband and you lifted your hips as he pulled your shorts and panties down at the same time. 

The rain was beating against the roof in sheets now, but you could barely hear it over the sound of your own heartbeat.

Luke spread your legs and stepped back to show Calum. "She how pretty and wet she is for us. We gotta give her something special as a thank you. Want me to show you how to make her squirm," Luke teased, running a finger in between your soaked folds, and you pushed your hips up with a frustrated grunt. 

"Nah," Calum looked you dead in the eye with the cockiest smirk you'd ever seen in your life.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I've been fantasizing about this for weeks," he was talking to Luke but his eyes were on you. "Tell me princess, do you taste as good as you look. I bet you're as sweet and juicy as a pink Starburst." 

You don't even recognize the sound that escaped your lips when Calum's mouth moved between your thighs. His tongue danced and moved in ways you'd never experienced, curling inside you before swooping up between your lips and lapping up your nectar. His pillowy lips sucked on your clit alternating with soft cool puffs of air over your fevered skin.  

Luke buried you in a flurry of kisses and you didn't know where each one was going to land, your mouth, breasts, neck, belly, shoulders, along your hairline or on your fingertips. 

Calum was relentless, barely coming up for air as he buried his face in your pleasure. You felt like a live wire as your nerves danced under your skin while Calum's tongue found every pleasure spot. Your heels beat the table in time with the storm raging outside as your orgasm started to build. You wanted to praise him or cry out but Luke covered your mouth with his. 

You arched your back almost slamming your head back on the table as Calum furiously worked on achieving your high. He wasn't going to let up until you were screaming for him, and you gladly obliged. Your climax hit you hard enough to see stars and your whole body let go.

"Damn baby," Luke's voice was in your ear but sounded very far away. 

You tried to close your legs but Calum wouldn't let you. He held them open still sucking your clit his fingers buried inside you as he coaxed another orgasm out of you.  He moaned into your skin as you drenched his face, your thighs, and the table as you came undone. He didn't stop until you were whimpering from being overstimulated, and only then did he finally pro back. 

He stood up and grabbed Luke for a kiss leaving the tall blonde as breathless as you were. The storm was still raging but your heartbeat was returning to normal. You sat up, a bit embarrassed by the mess.

"Sorry about that, can one of y'all get some towels?" You ask even though you hated to interrupt them. 

"Don't apologize," Luke stroked your thigh, and Calum did as you asked. "That was the hottest thing I've ever seen." He looked over at Calum, "will you teach me how to make her squirt like that." 

"Hell yeah," Calum answered as he gently cleaned you up. He landed a tiny kiss on your nose. "Thank you," he whispered, almost too softly to be heard. You reached down and squeezed his hand as you shared a smile. 

"How about I help y'all close up and we head back to my apartment?" Luke asked. 

"Great idea, we'll order pizza and see where the night goes."  You slid off the table, wobbled a bit but Calum wouldn't let you fall.

"Sounds like a plan, boss," Calum grinned. "Can we get ice cream too?" 

"Sure, what flavor?" You asked as you pulled your shorts up and Luke tossed your bra to you.

"Strawberry," they answered in unison before you all cracked up.

"Oh this is gonna be a great summer," you called over your shoulder as you walked out of the room.

@kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @ghostofmashton @sexgodashton @sublimehood @ihatetigers @calteahood @5-secondsofcolor @tea4sykes @wildmichaelflower​ @noshamenion​ @punkrockpreferences​ @rosecolouredash​ @cal-pal-cuddles​ @damselindistressanu​

[ellewritesathing]

Faking It  -  V

Summary: You’d done plenty of dumb things in your life, but the dumbest had to be picking Greendale’s latest bad-boy to pretend to be your boyfriend.

Masterlist  Prev. | Part 5

Word-count: 2.6k+

A/N: ... so that was some rough stuff. i hope this makes up for it!!  💕

Considering that your relationship with Caliban had been entirely fake from the start, you had no reason to be as pissed off about it ending as you were. But there you were: lonely and pissed off, with all the little trinkets he’d ever given you surrounding where you were moping on your bedroom floor. 

The flower he’d picked from the field and put in your hair? In the shoebox. The ticket stubs from the first movie you’d seen together? In the shoebox. The detention slip you’d gotten when you cut class together that he’d written and drawn all over? In the shoebox. Any and all feelings towards him? In the goddamn shoe box. 

Despite the progress you were making with trashing your room, you and your brooding were interrupted by someone knocking at your window. You pretended not to notice Harvey perched haphazardly on your window sill and started heading out to the hall when Sabrina stepped out to block you. For a tiny person, she could be pretty intimidating when popping out of the shadows like that.

“Open the window,” she said. 

“You can’t tell me what to do. This is my house.” 

“Your house is going to have a dead body out front if you let Harvey dangle out there for another five minutes. He’s not exactly well coordinated.” 

You rolled your eyes before walking over and throwing the window open. Harvey swore as he climbed through and you walked over to flop on your bed. As you settled on your bed, Sabrina dusted Harvey off and checked that he was okay - a very small action that made you feel sick given your very recent single status. 

“So what do the two of you want?” you asked. They looked awkwardly at each other and you rolled your eyes. “Come on, you ambushed me in my bedroom. You want something. Spit it out.”

“It’s not that we want something,” Sabrina said, gingerly making her way over to your bed. She made a spot for herself among all the junk you had piled high around her. “We just wanted to check on you. It’s been a while since anyone saw you.” 

“It’s been a day, first of all.” You waved your finger around as you spoke. “And second of all, that still means you still want something.” 

Harvey mumbled your name and sat on the bed right next to you, forcing you over to the side of the bed with the junk if you didn’t want to be crushed. “Come on. Just tell us what’s going on with you.” 

“Harvey, you were there,” you said. “Both of you were there. You know what’s going on.” 

“Caliban never told us what happened. He left right after you did,” Sabrina said. 

Did he try to come after you? His car was a lot faster than yours so he would've- 

“Did something happen with Lucy?” 

You scoffed and took something out of the junk pile to fiddle with. Did something happen with Lucy? I don’t Brina, what was your first clue? 

“Yeah, something happened with Lucy,” you said instead of snapping. “They were making out and I caught them. The cycle of bullshit continues.” 

“Oh, Y/N,” Sabrina said softly. 

At the same time, Harvey got awkward next to you as he reached for your hand. “I know how you feel,” he said with a small smile. “Fucking sucks.”

You laughed and pulled yourself up to hug him. The two of you had been through a lot together, but this was by far the weirdest thing yet. You had the lucky experience of being heartbroken over the same two people kissing, how many best friends could say that? 

“Okay, you two, stop moping,” Sabrina said as she got up. “We’re going out. You, get dressed. You, help me get Roz and Theo.”

“I’m not leaving the house until I absolutely have to. My plans are to burn that box and watch 10 Things I Hate About You so I can cry over Heath Ledger.” 

And not Caliban. 

“Fine, then we’ll have a movie night!” Harvey said. He sounded too cheery at the thought of being cooped up in the house with you. “Then you don’t even have to get changed, but, uh, you are starting to smell, so maybe you should.”

“Harvey, so help me God-”

After taking a shower and getting into fresh sweats, you spent the rest of the long weekend curled up with your friends under a mountain of blankets and eating so much junk food that your stomach hurt. Despite your determination to be in a bad mood, spending this much time with them got you to stop thinking about Caliban and lifted your spirits. 

It was still awkward whenever one of them would slip up and mention him before turning very quickly to check that you weren’t going to burst into tears, but it got better. Roz braided your hair and Theo distracted you by telling you all about this kid named Robin that he met. It was the best post-breakup hangout you guys had had yet. 

That perfect little bubble of denial burst when you got into the car to drive yourself to school and found Caliban’s jacket waiting for you in the passenger seat. He’d left it thereafter you convinced him to let you drive him home after one of his boring baseball games.

Once you got to school, you gathered the jacket and everything else you wanted to return and stomped over to Caliban’s locker. He looked a lot more like the pissed off wannabe Abercrombie & Fitch model you met those months ago and less like the softer version of Caliban you’d come to know. You didn’t know if it made you sadder or feel pettily vindicated. 

You faked a sweet smile at him when he closed the door and saw you standing there. “Here’s all your crap.” 

Caliban looked down at the box and took it without anything more than a thank you. But even if he didn’t say anything else, he didn’t make any attempts to walk away. He just stood there, looking at you with those confusing eyes. Was he trying to say something? Trying to figure out how you felt?

Whatever he was doing, you didn’t want any part of it. You mumbled a goodbye before shaking your head and turning to walk away. 

“So that’s it?” he asked. Caliban hadn’t moved an inch when you turned around but he looked … sadder, less angry somehow. Still confusing.

“What do you want me to say?” you asked. “That we both knew this was a bad idea from the start? That I’m the idiot who got emotionally attached? Something like that, Caliban?” 

“Emotionally attached?” Caliban repeated. 

The bell rang before you could curse him out, so you decided to listen to divine intervention for once in your life and just walked away. Every step you took broke your heart a little more because the sound of your shoes hitting the ground reminded you that he was never going to come after you. 

---

A week passed and he still hadn’t come after you. It made being at school remarkably awkward given how your friends had attached to him, but you pushed through it. Until Harvey ambushed you. Meet him by the locker room after practice and you’d get lunch, he said. Bullshit. 

It was suspicious enough that he wanted you to wait for him by the locker room and even more so when it took him twenty minutes to change, but you let it slide. What you wouldn’t let slide, however, was when you came out of the restaurant bathroom and Caliban was seated across from Harvey. In your spot. 

“What the hell is going on here?” you asked, stopping in front of the table and pointing an accusatory finger at Harvey and then at Caliban. “You hate him.” 

“Yeah, but you don’t,” Harvey said, getting up to stop you from bolting out the door. “Just hear me out, okay?” 

“After this, I don’t think I’m listening to you ever again unless it’s to make fun of you,” you said. All your snark aside, you let Harvey guide you into a seat. But then he just sat there, looking nervous and unsure about the situation while you grew restless. “So are you going to say anything?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, totally,” Harvey said. He leaned closer and looked down for a second as he strung his thoughts together. “You guys have been huge downers since you broke up. You’re moping all the time and listening to sad music and you’re racing and getting into fights-” 

“You’re fighting again?” you asked, knitting your face together slightly as you looked at him. 

Caliban had told you bits and pieces about his fighting. He had anger issues as a kid so he’d always been in some kind of contact sport. Between that training and the bullying, he’d learned how to be a pretty decent fighter. And then he got old enough to get a believable fake ID and start fighting underground. God knows he didn’t need the money, but you had the feeling it was the only way he felt anything other than angry and empty.

“Not like that,” Caliban said quietly, looking at you for a moment before returning his attention to Harvey. 

Liar.

“Yeah, well, whatever,” Harvey said, skipping over all the tension. “Point is: You were annoying when you were dating, but it’s even worse when you’re not. Just talk it through, alright? Please?”

You shrugged and Harvey went on for a few more awkward minutes before getting up and telling you he’d be waiting in the car for you. The restaurant felt suffocatingly silent without him, but you didn’t know what to say and Caliban wasn’t exactly known for his emotional vulnerability. 

So you used this quiet time to think about how you’d paint this scene: You on one side of the table, muted colors and soft lines making you up but reds and oranges all around you, and Caliban on the other made up in harsh, black and white lines and blues surrounding him. You’d call it Starcross’d. Fake your death and sell it for thousands on the black market. 

It was the perfect plan, really, if it weren’t for those perfectly imperfect hands on the table. Calluses were starting to form on the undersides that you could only partially see, the knuckles were slightly swollen and red, and his boney fingers tapped the table absent-mindedly as he thought. All you wanted to do was reach out and hold them, a quality you could never capture on canvas. It fucked up your painting just like he fucked up everything else. 

“I’m not sure where to start,” Caliban said quietly. You’d been so busy staring at his hands that you hadn’t noticed him staring at you until you looked up. “I’ve never had this kind of relationship with someone, fake or not. It’s all very confusing.” 

That made you laugh a short and bitter laugh as you straightened up in your seat. “Yeah, tell me about it.” 

Caliban smiled slightly but there was something else there. He was nervous. “I’m not very good at this.”

“Try.” 

He took a breath and shifted in his chair, drawing his hands in and tapping them one more time. “This meant more to me than I expected it to,” Caliban said. “I thought it would be fun for a week or so to mess with Billy, and then when Harvey got so mad at me … He was talking to me again. I gave it another week.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you only liked me because it made Harvey mad?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Caliban sighed and mumbled under his breath about not being good at this. “What I meant is that I like you because you’re the only liar I’ve ever met who can’t throw a punch. You’re funny, and smart, and insanely competitive in a way that doesn’t make me care if I lose,” he said with a short laugh. “And you showed me that Harvey would still talk to me if I didn’t piss him off.” 

He looked annoyingly sincere as he spoke with his eyes avoiding yours. As much as you wanted to believe him, you weren’t sure you could open yourself up to him and his bullshit again.

“Let’s say I believe you - which I don’t - then why did you lie about you and Lucy?”

“I never lied about her,” Caliban said, careful to keep calm. He looked like he was straining to keep his voice even, clearly uncomfortable with talking about himself. “Lucinda was my best friend - my only friend - for many years but she can be … possessive. I went up to explain to her that I couldn’t do it again and tell her that I thought she should leave. She didn’t handle the rejection too well.” 

“It didn’t look like a rejection from where I was standing,” you mumbled. 

“I know, and I’m sorry. Truly,” Caliban said, almost reaching across to you. He took a breath and pulled his hand back. “She kissed me and I panicked like a stupid twelve-year-old boy. You caught the wrong end of it and I just thought … you deserved so much better than me anyway. If you wanted to leave, I wasn’t going to be the one to hold you back.” 

“Bullshit.” You leaned forward and got close enough that he had to take his eyes off his hand and look at you. Your voice was harsher than you meant it to be, but you were still so angry at him. “You didn’t stop me because you were scared, not because you’re some noble knight.”

“Don’t you get it?” Caliban asked, his voice just as harsh as yours. “That’s the point. I didn’t come after you because that’s not who I am. I am not a noble knight. I’m not the person you deserve.”

“You don’t get to make decisions about what I deserve,” you said. You were close enough to him still that you could almost feel him breathing. It made your heartbeat annoyingly fast. 

“I should. You might end up with a good guy,” Caliban said quietly, dropping his eyes to his hands again. They were close to your own now that you’d gotten all up in his face, but he wasn’t moving them any closer.

“Believe it or not, I still think you’re a good guy,” you said, voice just as quiet. “I’m just not sure if I … I don’t know if I can do this again. All the lying and secret-keeping.” Caliban started pulling away and saying something but you grabbed hold of his hand. “So if we do this again-” you said, talking over his arguing “-Then we do it for real. No more lying from either of us.” 

Caliban took a breath as he adjusted to the new position the two of you were in. He started untangling one of his hands and you held tighter before he tilted his head slightly and pulled his hand free. He lifted it to move some hair out of your face.

“I never lied to you.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to lose,” you said with a small smile. 

He shook his head and smiled to himself as he looked down at the table. “Are you sure you want to do this again?” 

Honestly, no. The only thing you were sure about was that your life kind of sucked without that pissed off Abercrombie & Fitch model. 

That, and if you ever saw Lucy again you’d knock her teeth out. 

“Well, it’s either you or Billy, and I fucking hate Billy,” you said.  

At least he laughed at your joke, that was progress. 

“Alright,” Caliban said eventually. He still seemed sad but he was calmer as he looked back up at you. “But you need to let me make this up to you before anything else.” 

You smiled. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out, Abercrombie. And you know where to find me when you do.” 

Tagged:  @t-a-i-l-o-r-m-a-d-e​  @miss--moose​  @marrypuffsstuff​  @harryscarolinaa​  @igorsbby​​  @foji2000​​  @mschfavngz​​  @artaxerxesthegreat​​  @thxmagic​​  @strawberriesandknives​​  @xealia​​  @hotmessindisguise​​  @acciomaximoff​  @reheated-coffee​​  @shelby-x​​  @perseny-blog​​  @millie-753​​  @luneerius​​  @shizzybarnaclee​​  @lettherebelovex​​  @throughparisallthroughrome​  @ietss​  @thebookwormlife​  @mechanicalanimalz​  @mariamermaid​  @nqbmf​  @caliban-is-my-girl  @music-movies  @luquincy  @olivia-west-allen  @drrramaaaqweeen​  @roxytheimmortal​ Struck through wouldn’t tag 

[reidology]

He Was A Skater Boy... (Chapter 2) (Hotch/Reid)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner / Spencer Reid 

Summary: Spencer and Aaron finally meet and they make a deal. Oh how the cherry blossoms.

Words: 1,575

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Chapter 2: Something Wicked This Way Comes...

It was safe to say that reading at the skatepark was now part of Spencer’s routine. Most evenings he would get to the park and read his assigned philosophy readings on top of the halfpipe, then move on to his own books. When it became too dark, he would stop reading and watch the magnificent sunset. It never got old. Here he felt relaxed. Finally, Spencer had found a safe space other than his therapist’s office. Indeed, this place belonged only to him.

That was until one evening, when his new-found comfortable routine was wonderfully disrupted by the hottest guy he’d ever seen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spencer’s nose was floating around the depths of a wondrous world of murder and mystery fabricated by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle when it happened. The sun was setting, casting strange shadows around the park, he hadn’t noticed a particular large silhouette rolling his way. Not until he heard the sound of wheels barreling toward his serene perch did he look up, and oh he wished he hadn’t , because when he looked up he came face to face with none other than the guy-with-no-shoes from days earlier.

He stood on top of the opposite halfpipe, jumped down on his board and came towards Spencer. But when he got to him he didn’t stop, simply rolled back to the other side and did quite an impressive turn-flip-trick where he spun and brought the board to his hand. Is he trying to impress me? Because it’s working, thought Spencer. The dude landed with a flourish right next to him. Spencer looked up half in shock and half in awe (because that was pretty hot). He couldn’t stop looking at his face, it was so angular and gorgeous and the light framed his face perfectly, his dark hair falling into his eyes. The definition of tall, brooding, and handsome. He died a little when the guy nodded down at him and spoke, “Sup, do you like ice cream?”

His voice was so deep . That and the fact that he was towering over him was too much for his little genius brain compute. Quantum theory he could handle, helplessly attractive men brought his IQ down into the negatives.

And how could anyone expect him to be coherent when the guy looked like that , and not just his face but… everything, from the slope of his shoulders, to the curves of his triceps, to the way his lean frame dipped into very delicious-looking calves, and finally those infamous socked feet, still shoeless.  It was when Spencer had been eyeing this handsome stranger’s feet for a good ten seconds that he realized he’d been asked a question.

“Uhmm.. pardon?” Casual. Polite. Was he in this guy’s way or something?

The man chuckled sickly sweet and gave a devilish smirk, “I asked if you like ice cream?” And he lifted his hand, wherein he held a cone of what seemed to be chocolate ice cream. How had Spencer not noticed that unfairly-hot-guy-with-no-shoes was holding ice cream? Did he skate up here with that? Did he do those tricks without dropping the cone?

Either way, Spencer did not know how to respond. He was feeling very confused, amongst other things...

“Uhh… I- sure…?”

The guy grinned and sat down next to Spencer, skateboard on his lap, and handed him the cone. Spencer hesitantly reached and took it, eyeing it suspiciously.

“Hi, I’m Aaron. I’ve been watching you”,

“Oh?” Spencer immediately blushes at the thought of this stupidly attractive man, Aaron , taking notice of him. And even though Aaron had already shown the classic signs of a Dangerous Situation™ (giving him ice cream and watching him), Spencer couldn’t help but be absolutely smitten.  

“Yeah, you’re always reading,” he nodded at the open book in Spencer’s lap, “what are you doing here?”

What was he doing here? “I- uhmm..” What was he supposed to say? Fuck it , “My therapist wants me to get out of the house and find a hobby.”  Way to sound normal, you really hyped yourself up there, idiot.

“So you chose skateboarding?”

“What? No…I’m just studying here instead of at home. And when I finish my work I read my own books.”  

Spencer could feel Aaron’s intense gaze boring into his face, he was beginning to notice that Aaron’s natural expression was a perfect dark, (sexy) , serious pout.

Aaron broke his attention from Spencer’s face and glanced beyond the boy’s lap to the satchel overflowing with books, “... you read all of those in one day?”

“Uh… actually I read all of those in an hour.”

Aaron blinked a few times.

“Really? You must be… I mean, how do you do that?”

He was sure he was going to say ‘you must be a loser’ but he tried not to think about that. So far, Aaron had been nice to him.

“Um, I don’t know. I have an eidetic memory and read a lot as a child, so I guess my baby brain just learned to process words quicker than others.”

“How quickly?”

“20,000 words per minute.”

Aaron raised his eyebrows in interest, still giving that smoldering stare. He was so very intrigued by this strange, skinny, adorable kid. From the moment he saw him hunched over, reading, engulfed in his own world, Aaron had been fascinated.  And when their eyes met that fateful evening, all he could think of was I need to know him .

“So what are you studying for?”

“Right now I’m going for a BA in Philosophy.”

“Oh? I wouldn’t have pegged you as the philosphe type , smart guy like you ought to be a scientist or something,” Aaron chuckled.

That laugh would be the death of him. It was so deep and sultry, Spencer felt like burying himself in it.

Sheepishly, Spencer corrected him, “Actually, I have two PhDs in Mathematics and Chemistry. I wanted to begin an engineering PhD this summer but my mother got sick and I had to take care of her, so I figured a Bachelor’s in Philosophy wouldn’t take up too much of my time.”

Aaron gawked at him and made no attempt to hide it.

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Damn. Well, here we are, a 19 year old genius and 21 year old law school burnout. Funny we’d end up in the same place at the same time.’’

The pink-orange-purple of the sky seemed to give Spencer a boost of confidence,

“Weren’t you stalking me? That’s not much of a coincidence,” he teased.

“I wasn’t stalking you, I said I was watching you. There’s a difference.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I came to say hi.” Aarons eyes glistened.

Spencer couldn’t help the tinge of pink on his cheeks and the small smile he gave. Aaron came to say hi. For a while they sat in silence, both considering what to say next. The older man opened his mouth to say something but Spencer took charge.

“You’re a law student? Do you go to Georgetown?”

Aaron nodded, “First year at Georgetown, did pre-law at Columbia.”

“Wow, those are good schools! I’m surprised you’re failing!”

“Yeah, Georgetown’s a lot more than I was expecting. Nothing you couldn’t handle I’m sure, Mr. Philosophy-Bachelor’s-For-Fun.”

Spencer laughed a genuine laugh, he didn’t answer though, because Aaron was right, he’d totally crush it in law school.

“You go to Georgetown, too? How come I haven’t seen you around campus? The Law Center isn’t that far from the Philosophy Department.”

“Well I don’t live on campus, I’m with my mom. And most of my classes are early morning, my therapist said that would be a good way of starting the day but really all it did for me was give me an unhealthy coffee dependency.”

Aaron actually laughed brightly at that.

“So, you’re going to tell your therapist you took up skateboarding when in reality you’ve just been reading in a skatepark?”

Spencer nodded bashfully.

“What are you going to do when she asks to see it?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Well, it seems we’re both in a bit of a predicament, huh? What do you say we help each other out?”

“How do you mean?”

Aaron smirked that same wicked smirk from the first night they saw each other leaned in, “I’ll teach you to skateboard… if…”, he bit his lip and looked into the younger boy’s eyes, “you help me pass Midterms.”

Spencer couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Aaron leaned in impossibly closer and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Spencer.”

“Spencer,” He said deliciously, “do we have a deal?”

Aaron’s gaze was so intense but he couldn’t look away. His eyes were a deep, rich, coffee color with glistening flecks of green and they did not falter. This close, Spencer could see the few light scattered freckles feathering his nose and cheeks. And he was still biting his lip, Spencer stared and didn’t care. The breathtaking man in front of him was really offering to spend more time with him, how could he say no? Penelope would be so proud to find out he just had a conversation with a stranger and he was going to see him again.

“Deal.”

Aaron grinned maniacally, “Sweet.”

They sat just smiling at each other for a little bit, then Spencer asked, “By the way, why don’t you wear shoes?”

Aaron shrugged, smirked and brought his lips close to Spencer’s ear, “I like to feel the board,” he whispered.

Spencer was a goner. The ice cream had melted.

thank you for reading <3 leave some feedback/like/reblog <3

[mycandylavynder]

Episode 12 Thoughts (Spoiled)

This episode was pretty bleh in my opinion, apart from the LI. I absolutely hated the internet went down concept. I thought it was stupid and it was annoying watching everyone act like idiots. I wish the cell company just lost a cell tower instead of the entire internet went down. That would have made more sense. But, whatever. When does Beemoov ever make sense?

I'm glad Rosa and Alexy finally made up so we don't have to waste AP on their stupid feud in episode 13. I'm just so over them at this point. Rosa's outfit was absolutely ridiculous but it fit her since she is absolutely extra. I was pretty bored hanging out with them and welcomed the distraction of auntie.

I don't understand auntie at all. She is so weird. But I love seeing what weird shenanigans she has gotten herself into.

Hyun was also another great distraction. As awkward as it was to be in the middle of his family drama, I'm so glad we got to meet his mom and dad. I seriously love his mom and dad. His mom is gorgeous. I hope we get to meet his sisters in the near future. But I really liked the whole encounter. Hyun is sweet and has grown on me through the episodes.

Now on Nath's route, you start out cuddling in your dorm and he writes the note. But you wake up and he reads it to you and you hug and snuggle and fluff it up. Ugh! I loved it. I love how affectionate he is now that he has been able to open up to Candy. I loved how he came back and asked about the article in the newspaper. I liked that he was able to trust Candy when she said nothing happened and didn't push it or make a big deal. He has definitely matured. I'm interested to see what he says in that scene if you did accept Castiel's one night stand proposal.

Now the ending with Nath. AHHHHH! I loved it!

I loved when he took Candy's hand in a show of male dominance against Castiel. Lol like yes Nath. Claim her. And I loved how what he said to her when he made it official. Who ever writes his route makes me happy. I love his tenderness and vulnerability. It's the best. I look forward to seeing how we get him out the drug cartel.

Now. For Castiel.

The morning after with him went how I thought it would. He was cold and casual, a seesaw of brooding emotional distress. But who ever writes his route writes some strange dialogue. Maybe the dialogue is smoother in other servers, but in English I just feel like some of the wording in both Candy and Castiel's dialogue is awkward, choppy, and downright cringe worthy. But if you pick the right answers in the morning and get the hell out of there fast, it isn't that bad but if you stay and voice your feelings...just ugh...

Then Candy spends all day moping about the situation and how he is a total booty hole. She even falls asleep listening to his music. Weak sauce Candy! Don't give that tool any listens. He is in the wrong, not you.

Then you run into him at night and he actually tells you that he has been hiding in the shadows waiting for you... Like wtf Cas. Lol What kind of cringe is that? I mean I get WHY but don't ADMIT that, you creep. I mean save a little face. I just can't deal with the dialogue sometimes. Lol

I will say this though, I am so glad he opened up to her about everything in the dorm. It was so redeeming. It was everything I wanted to hear. It was the vulnerability and deepness I have been craving from him all along. Just to hear him admit that from day one, from the first time he saw her at the concert, he wanted to kiss her...

And he opens up about not having anybody to call to tell the great news that Crowstorm is going on a world tour next summer...and how he has been trying to distance himself from Candy because the long distance thing was going to be hard (as they already know since he is Candy's ex although they don't. address. this. enough.) And he was just freaking out all together... Like CAS.... Stop isolating yourself... I love you. Let me be here for you. LET ME LOVE YOU DAMMIT!!!

Seriously though...him admitting all this was just...Ahh. It was so satisfying to me and is the reason why he is my personal favorite. I am a glutton for punishment. He is a total turd but when you finally...FINALLY open him up and experience his soft side it is so so so so satisfying. Like share with me how all of this neglect has caused you to ice out others and lets work on this together.

But on a different note, them bringing up him leaving in the summer... I swear, if we break up....I am going to lose my 💩.

I want to be married to him. I will not accept a break up. I will follow his ass to the ends of the effing Beemoov Planet...Hell, if he goes on tour on Beemoov Mars, best believe my Candy bout to be there in a tacky Beemoov inspired space suit . And Beemoov better not leave it as we break up...no... I want a wedding. I want CHILDREN. I want my happy ending Beemoov. I want my man. You better give us ALL what we DESERVE at the end of this hell!

[kusunogatari-a]

[ SasuHinaMonth Day Nineteen: Jealousy ] [ @sasuhinamonth ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto ] [ SasuHina, NaruSaku ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ]

He doesn’t like to call it jealousy. Jealousy is a petty, insecure thing. And Uchiha Sasuke is not insecure.

...though he may, in some small ways, be just a little bit petty.

It’s hardly unheard of to run into his teammates while out and about. Konoha may be big, but so too does it crawl with people he knows, whether it be as well as the rest of squad seven, or just acquaintances he knows by face, if not by name. And anymore, he has quite a few outings with Hinata. Another unsuspicious thing, given that they are, indeed, dating.

...but still…

Like themselves, Sakura and Naruto tend to travel in a pair. That, at least, doesn’t bother him in the slightest. They suit one another, he thinks. Both loud, obnoxious, but with good hearts. Just like he and Hinata are quiet, unobtrusive, and fairly good people.

...perhaps she more so than him, some days.

...most days.

Today they run into one another along one of the village’s busy shopping district streets, the dark-haired couple just emerging from a door as the others pass by. Without pause, Hinata (a few paces ahead of him, carrying her bags) gives a greeting, asking how they’re doing, what they’re up to.

Cocking a hip and preparing to wait, Sasuke leans against the building, expression cool and hands in his pockets, handles looped around his wrists. And he watches.

She’s so good at talking to people. Which, admittedly, wasn’t always the case. There are few who weren’t aware of Hinata’s reclusive nature as a child. But time and experience have helped temper her hesitation. She quips openly with Sakura, making plans to see them again (something he’ll have to put up with for her sake). Naruto then chimes in about how they haven’t seen each other in a while - feels like they’re all so busy!

And then he...hugs her.

Sasuke’s one eye narrows ever so slightly as Naruto’s blooming height reaches down and gives the little Hyūga a warm embrace. She smiles, laughs a little.

Something clenches in his chest.

“So, we’ll see you Friday, then!”

“Yeah for sure!” the blond replies, grinning. A hand reaches to the back of his head to scratch. “It’ll be good to spend a little time together, eh teme?”

Broken from his broodings, Sasuke blinks. “...sure.”

Sakura makes a small sound of disappointment, planting hands on her hips with a forward lean. “Don’t sound so enthusiastic, Sasuke-kun. It’s not like we’re going to be torturing you.”

...aren’t you? “...we should get going, Hinata.”

Looking to him curiously, pale eyes blink, clearly a bit taken aback by his wanting to leave. “...all right. I guess you are carrying all the bags - here, let me take some.”

Wordlessly handing them over, Sasuke gives the others a curt nod before they head down the roadway.

Silence hangs for a few minutes. Only once she’s sure the others aren’t near enough to overhear does Hinata ask, “...what was all that about?”

“What?”

“You sounded...annoyed.”

“Dealing with those two is exhausting. Something I have to build a buffer for.”

In spite of herself, she laughs softly. “I know...but still...are you sure nothing’s bothering you…?”

His one dark eye glances to her, trying to see if she’s cheating and reading his chakra flow. “...I just want to get home. Shopping’s not my thing. Didn’t want to just stand around and chat when we’ve got things to do.”

Another pause.

“Sasuke-kun...you aren’t jealous, are you?”

There’s a clench of his jaw. “No.”

“...are you -?”

“Look, maybe it’s a little hard to see you and Naruto act so buddy-buddy sometimes.”

“...but -?”

His mood is souring, and he wouldn’t admit this otherwise, but he’s already said too much. Might as well just go all-out. “...I know you cared about him. That you loved him. And I know that sort of thing isn’t so easy to let go off.” He’s seen someone else close hang onto a love even after the atrocities her heart’s desire had done. “...maybe I’m worried you’ll...fall back into that sometime. Don’t you feel that way when Sakura talks to me?”

For a time, Hinata goes quiet, and that only serves to make him more...nervous.

“...no. I’m never jealous of Sakura-chan.”

He gives a snort of disbelief.

“...because I know you never loved her. Just like Naruto never loved me.”

...oh.

Watching the ground as they walk, it’s clear she’s mulling over her words carefully. “...Naruto-kun was...everything I wanted to be. Confident, not caring what people thought, without the burdens I bore. I wanted that freedom, that ability to love myself and turn my back on all the bad things people thought about me. But…” She sighs, shoulders wilting. “...eventually, yes, that turned into a crush. And maybe something more than a crush. But...I think I was still just chasing what he had. He was getting so strong, and everyone was rallying to him. As I was. And while it’s true, I do still care about him...I know now I don’t feel about him as I did before. Naruto-kun is a wonderful person, and he’s a good friend. But...he’s not someone I want to spend the rest of my life with.

“What I have now - how my life has changed - isn’t quite what I envisioned when I was young, and when I idolized him. I gave up being heiress. I no longer want to impress my father...I just want to be myself, and be strong for myself. My clan is moving in a better direction...one I helped start. And I have a job now that lets me feel...appreciated. Useful. More involved with my village. It makes me happy.”

Turning to him, she gives him a warm smile. “...and you make me happy. I have everything that I want, even if it’s not what I started out wanting. I’m...content. And I wouldn’t risk that for a moment. I don’t want you to feel...uncomfortable around Naruto-kun when I’m there – he's your best friend! I hope you know...I don’t have any intentions of ever chasing after him again. That’s in the past. And you...you are my future.”

Silent as Hinata speaks, Sasuke can’t help but swallow thickly at her last words. He glances aside, trying to disguise his faltering expression.

Gods he’s an idiot.

Averting her eyes as not to make him uncomfortable, Hinata instead gently weaves fingers with his own, feeling his grip clench tightly. “...let’s go home - it’s getting late. I need to make dinner, and you need to be ready for your early shift tomorrow.”

“...so do you.”

“Which is why I’ll be right beside you.”

     Word count: 1124      Cumulative: 24,396      Welp, another one a day late - yesterday was a rather not great day, sooo I thought better to try today as not to let that tamper with my writing~      Uchiha certainly never get jealous. Jealousy is beneath them! They just...are very protective of what’s theirs. That’s all x3 They also don’t get teary-eyed when their girlfriends get mushy. Nope. Not at all.      I’ll probably do today’s ACTUAL prompt later on this evening. I’ve got a lot to catch up on my RP blog, too. But I should (gods willing) see y’all again tonight with today’s drabble!

[atricksterproblem]

Devil May Care: Part One

It’s doooooone!!! Chapter One of this new Ghost fanfic can be found below.

This is the first time I’ve ever tried writing long prose fiction before, so I really hope it doesn’t suck.

Summary: 

Papa Emeritus III is in a difficult position. While his own supporters were able to elevate him to his leadership role in the Church, opposing factions are hatching plots of their own. In the midst of this turmoil, a chance meeting between Papa and a shy young novice may change the course of the Church's future--and the course of their own.

Prologue

Papa felt a headache coming on as he left the meeting room. These council meetings, he thought, are definitely not improving with age.

Antonio kept pace with him as the various council members went their separate ways. Glancing around to ensure that they were now alone, he said, “Papa, the Order of the Widow’s Son is still yours. Don’t worry about these bitter old men.”

Papa nodded. The Left-hand path Masons were some of his staunchest supporters. It was a good thing that they counted some influential people among their number, or even they would not be enough to hold things together.

I have been leading the Church for over a year, thought Papa. Our recruitment numbers are higher than they’ve been in a decade. Why are they still fighting me over this?

That stronzo Miller was the worst of the lot. “Are you sure these new recruits of yours are serious?” He’d sniffed. “These young people could just be here for the novelty. What evidence do we have of their commitment to the Church?”

As if being a dour old bore was the only way to demonstrate that the Church mattered to you.

Papa supposed that the opposition believed it. Oh, you could be stern or frightening or have a great big stick up your ass and they’d fawn all over you telling you what a great example you are. Try anything else at all and they’d turn up their noses.

“We need to find some other way to make them see what we’re accomplishing, Antonio. Nothing we’ve tried so far has convinced them in the least.”

“The Band Project is more successful than ever. Surely in time when they see that the new recruits are staying they’ll come around to our way of thinking.”

“I hope you’re right,” Papa said. “I’m getting tired of trying to find new and exciting ways to say, “The numbers speak for themselves.”

They had arrived at the cloister walk. The two men stopped and exchanged the Masonic handshake. “I assure you, Papa, we’ll keep things on the square“, Antonio said.

Papa clapped him on the shoulder. “Good man. We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

They separated, and Papa entered the cloister walk, heading home.

 One: A Chance Meeting

 The light of the waning day slanted through the cloister windows, leaving the walk in alternating light and shadow.

Still brooding over the meeting, Papa nearly walked right past the novice who was staring out at the courtyard.

She turned to face him, a half-smile on her face. Pale, hair an indifferent shade of brown, light-colored eyes behind thick glasses. A bit on the chubby side. She could walk right past you and you’d never even see her.

He recognized her; she was one of the newer novices. “Vashti, isn’t it?”

She nodded, eyes wide.

Of the many novices present in the abbey, he remembered her as one of the quieter ones. Set apart. She always seemed to be alone, even when she was around the others.

She was nervous, yes. He was used to that, most of the novices were nervous around him. But there was something else in her eyes.

“Something’s wrong. What is it?”

“N-nothing, Papa. I’ll be all right.”

Well, now he was curious, because she didn’t look all right in the least. He made a snap decision.

“I was just on my way home. You should come with me.”

She blushed and started to stammer out what sounded like an excuse. What was she---oh. OH. Right. His reputation.

Papa laughed a little. “Confession is good for the soul, my dear. You need somebody to talk to.”

She appeared to reach a decision of her own. “You’re right, Papa. I think I do.”

“Of course I am.” He grinned. “Come along, it’s this way.”

 He let them both into his suite, gesturing towards the living room. “Please, sit.” While she settled into the sofa, he put on a kettle in the kitchen area.

“I will make us some tea. It makes everything easier, yes? We will follow the English example.” He gave her a teasing grin over his shoulder.  She gave him a small smile back. “Tea would be lovely, thank you.”

Soon enough, he joined her with a couple of mugs of tea and a small bottle of the Good Stuff. He added a healthy glug of the Good Stuff to his own mug and held the bottle out to her inquiringly.

She started to decline. She was sitting stiffly, face a bit flushed. She was, in his considered opinion, way too tense. This would never do.

He smiled gently. “It will help you relax, I promise.”

She hesitantly agreed, so he added a far smaller amount to her mug and passed it over.

She took a sip, stopped, and coughed. “What IS that?”

“It’s homebrewed grappa. A friend of the family makes it. He calls it the Good Stuff.”

“The GOOD stuff? I guess if you like paint thinner, maybe!”

He laughed. This was more like it. “Hey, it gets the job done, doesn’t it?”

“I should say it would!” She was smiling. Maybe now she would be able to talk.

“Now. Tell me what is troubling you, child.”

She looked down at her mug, seemingly unable to meet his eyes. “I—I haven’t been here very long. I just wasn’t sure what to do, now that I’m done for the day.”

“You could go to the common areas. Most of the other novices will also be relaxing now, you could meet some of them.”

“I…don’t find it easy to talk to people, sometimes. I’m not good at it.”

“You are shy, maybe?”

“Sometimes…sometimes it just seems like no one will ever understand me. I get a lot of strange looks. It’s tiring.”

“I know just what you mean.”

She looked up at him, disbelief plain on her face. “But—how can you? You’re the head of the Church, you’re—“

“The cutest one in the Emeritus line? Why, thank you.” He ran a hand affectedly through his hair.

She blushed and laughed, just as he’d intended. “So. You are new here and you still don’t know many people. Very well, you shall start with me. What do you like to do for fun, Vashti?”

“Well…I read a lot.”

“What kind of books?”

“I study when I can during the day. Before I came here, when I was in school, I was studying Linguistics. I’m trying to improve my grasp of the Celtic languages—“

“Brythonic or Goidelic?”

She stopped cold and blinked at him. “…You’re interested in this too?”

He smiled thinly. “Wouldn’t have thought so, would you? You’re not alone. Yes. Years ago I stumbled across a very old book in the library written in a language that seemed impossibly strange to me at the time. The librarian told me it was in Old Irish, so I did all I could to pick up enough to read it.”

“Then you must have been a good student.”

“If you mean in school, then no. I hated school. It was boring as fuck and my grades were mediocre. I like to study things that interest me.

But you are telling me about what you work on, not what you do to relax. Do you read for pleasure also?”

“Yes, often. Almost every day.”

“Good. I am in the middle of a book just now. Will you stay and keep me company? The shelves are over on that wall; feel free to pick up anything you like.”

“Sure! What are you reading?”

“It’s about two elves who live in a big city and solve murder mysteries. I’m on book three.”

“Is it any good?”

“Oh, it’s TERRIBLE. Complete trash. I LOVE it.”

“Perfect. Can I see book one?”

They settled in with books and spiked mugs of tea in hand. They read for a long time in companionable silence, until it grew dark.

Vashti looked up from the page. “It’s getting late. I didn’t mean to keep you—“

“You didn’t.”

“…I should probably go, though.”

Papa shrugged. “As you like.”

She gave him back his book. “Did you like it?”

“Oh yes. You know, if you like these, you should really read the series I’m in the middle of myself.”

“What’s it about?”

“Two anthropomorphic animals, a cat and a giraffe. They’re on a quest to save the universe from alien insect zombies.”

“…is it any good?”

“It’s AWFUL. I can’t wait for book three.”

They grinned conspiratorially at each other for a moment.

“I’m glad you came to visit me, Vashti. I’m sure we’ll meet again, yes?”

“I’d like that, Papa. Good night.”

“To you as well.”

She left his apartments, and he sat for a moment, lost in thought.

When was the last time I had a quiet night in while somebody else was with me?

 Later, at home, Vashti lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

What just happened?

She thought back over the evening and it didn’t seem real, or even possible.

He must have pitied me. That must be it.

But then how was he so easy to talk to?

She lay there awake, long hours after, still unable to make any sense of it all.

 Abbey life returned to normal the following day. Vashti did her chores and the studying that was expected of all novices. She went to the library and resumed the translation she’d been working on the day before. Finally, the hour grown late, she decided it was time to go home.

She approached one of the larger common areas on her way and heard raucous laughter from within.

Glancing around the entryway, she saw a large group of clergy on the couches in the lounge, everyone talking and laughing at once.

Three clergy were sitting on one of the couches. Papa was sprawled across all of their laps like a large, lazy cat. The two Sisters were giggling, and the impossibly pretty Brother was running his fingers slowly through Papa’s hair.

She felt a sharp pang of jealousy, and then laughed bitterly at herself for it.

And how did you think it would be? Did you really think yesterday MEANT something?

Because you talked about BOOKS? And you READ together?

This is Papa. You know who he is.

Idiot.

She passed the lounge as quietly as she could.

 Two days later, Vashti sat at a table in the refectory with her lunch and a book. She heard the scrape of a chair being pulled over, and looked up to see Papa. He’d dragged over a chair, turned it the wrong way around, and was now draped over it, smiling at her.

“You know, it occurred to me that you never finished that book the other night.”

“…that’s true….”

“So I was thinking that you might like to borrow it. I’m on my way to a meeting right now. You should go get the book with the cat and the giraffe, and I’ll go get the mystery-solving elves, and we should meet back here around eight tonight. Sound good?”

“…okay?”

“See you then!”

Vashti looked after him as he left, more confused than ever.

[mindingmyownbusiness]

Slow Burn

Pairing - Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary - Could something as simple as a s’more bring you and Bucky closer together? Prompt - Toasted marshmallows Warnings - none, just 100% fluff Word Count - 3,021 Notes - For @promarvelfangirl​ 2k Fall Follower Challenge - congratulations on your milestone! I LOVE FALL so writing this fic was a real treat. (sorry this is like forever late, life man…) Special thanks to @sgtbxckybxrnes​ for her invaluable input on s’mores and to @bucky-plums-barnes​ for her fabulous Insta creation seen below.

My Masterlist

The sun was sinking low in the sky as your small caravan made its way towards a rustic cabin set far back from the main road near a small lake in upstate New York. With the world safe for the moment the resident Avengers had taken this opportunity to schedule some bonding time, away from the compound and the responsibilities that hung over everyone’s head while they were there. It was about time too. You knew that the team needed to have some normalcy, something to remind them that even though they were enhanced and highly skilled they were still human. Well, most of them anyway.

You may not have been the one to come up with the idea but you were the one who had been tasked with organizing the trip. Finding and securing the location was the hardest part, after that you just made sure to pack some fun activities and special snacks to make sure that everyone had a good time. Your leg was bouncing like crazy from where you sat in the passenger seat and you kept craning your neck to get a better look.

“Calm down, (Y/N),” Steve teased from the driver’s seat. “We’re almost there.”

“I can’t help it,” you whined, “I’m excited. And I want everything to be perfect for you guys. After all, you save the world on the regular, you deserve a few days away to relax.”

“So do you, you know,” you rolled your eyes as Steve went on, “I’m serious (Y/N), you might not be out there dodging bullets but you work just as hard as the rest of us. Promise me you’ll try to have some fun while we’re here?”

“Okaaaaay, dad…” Steve chuckled as you slumped in your seat, only to perk right back up when the cabin came into view. You breathed a sigh of relief, noting that it looked even more picturesque than it did online. Steve pulled into the driveway leaving plenty of room for Clint and Bruce to park behind you then put his new old VW Bug into park, smirking as he glanced in the rearview mirror.

“You got a picture of that, right?” Steve said, nodding toward the scene in the backseat.

“Are you kidding? Those two were on Snapchat the instant they started snoring.” You turned to take in the scene behind you, Bucky with his head thrown back, mouth open, while Sam is slumped over, drooling on the Winter Soldier’s shoulder. “It’s almost a shame to wake them up… almost.” You waggled your eyebrows at Steve before the both of you suddenly and simultaneously hopped out of the car and slammed both the driver and passenger doors at the same time.

You almost forgot how to breathe for how hard you were laughing at what happened next. After a fair amount of pushing, shoving, and cursing the two men unfolded themselves from the back of the Bug, red-faced and grumbling under their breath.

“You okay there, Buck?” You wiped away a tear or two as you caught your breath. Bucky, still fuming, was slicking his hair back and scowling in Sam’s direction. “Damn birdbrain, droolin’ all over me…”

“C’mon Buck, don’t be angry. We came here to have some fun, remember?” You laid a hand on his bicep which seemed to instantly defrost his icy demeanor and he returned your hopeful smile with a small one of his own. It always amazed you that you had this sort of effect on the stoic supersoldier. Maybe it was your determination to treat him no differently than the rest of the team, maybe it was the gift you had for bringing people out of their shells, heck maybe it was the copious amount of baked goods you created and had decided Bucky would have to be your official taste-tester for. Whatever it was it worked and had created a unique sort of bond between you and the brooding brunette.

Avenger after Avenger had climbed out of the vehicles and were in the process of grabbing their bags and taking in their surroundings. “This place looks amazing, (Y/N),” Wanda exclaimed from behind you, wrapping one arm around you in an affectionate hug.

“I mean, it’s not my chalet in Aspen but it’ll do-oof!” Tony winced as Pepper elbowed him in the side. “W-what I meant to say was that this looks like the perfect getaway. Just what we all needed. Fantastic!” Tony lowered his voice as he passed you with a sheepish smile, “Seriously, ya did good kid.”

You smile to yourself before getting everyone’s attention. “Alright guys, this is it! There’s a couple hours before it gets dark so you have some time to settle into your rooms before dinner. The weather is perfect so we’ll be having a bonfire down by the lake, just head down there whenever you start to get hungry. Oh, and the rooms aren’t labeled or anything so it’s every man for himself. Have fun!” You giggled watching Peter and Scott practically trip over each other to be the first ones into the cabin.

“Idiots,” Bucky shook his head in their direction and turned to find you struggling to open the trailer where you’d stashed all the supplies for the weekend. “Here doll, lemme help ya with that.” He had the door open in no time and began to help you unload.

“You should go on in, find yourself a good room before you end up stuck with Sam or something,” you said as he helped you carry crates of food down toward the beach.

“Nah, you know me, doesn’t really matter where I sleep. I won’t be getting much of it,” he said matter-of-factly. “What about you, doll? You planned all this, dontcha want a decent room?”

Setting your crate down on a picnic table you grinned and showed Bucky what was in your pocket. “Like you said, I planned all this. So naturally I made sure to tell the caretaker to lock up one of the best rooms just for me and forward me the key. It’s got a huge bed, a spectacular view, and its own bathroom.” Bucky chuckled as you pocketed the key again. “Listen Buckaroo, I may be nice but I’m not naive, I made sure to take care of me this weekend too.”

With Bucky’s help you had everything set up and ready in no time, including a large stack of wood for the bonfire. You parted ways as you entered the cabin, you heading directly to your room for a quick shower and Bucky assuring you that he could figure out the place on his own. Before you knew it it was time for the evening’s festivities to start.

There are certain moments in life that you wish you could cement forever in your memory. This, this was definitely one of them. You took in the scene, everyone gathered around the crackling fire, all you could see were smiling faces. Everyone looked so at ease, not a trace of tension or darkness on anyone’s face. Laughter filled the air as different members of the team told stories, reminiscing and sharing favorite memories.

You found your gaze continually returning to one face in particular. Bucky was always on your radar but tonight you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off of him. Steve had just said something that made Bucky throw his head back and crinkle his eyes and absolutely laugh out loud and you swore it was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen. It filled your heart and your soul and you never wanted to forget it. Ever.

“Take a picture, (Y/N), it’ll last longer.” Natasha’s low voice in your ear startled you but you quickly regained your composure, getting up and moving towards the food table. “So,” she said sidling up to you with a smirk, “how long has that been going on?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Nat.” You busied yourself by digging in the crates for the marshmallows, hoping that the shadows were doing a decent job of hiding the blush creeping over your features.

“Deny it all you want but I know what I saw.” She looked over at Bucky and then at you. “For what it’s worth, you’d be good for him. He needs someone who doesn’t see him through the filter of his past. That’s a rare thing, believe me.”

You chanced a look at Bucky again, smiling slightly as you saw him still having a great time with the rest of the team. Shaking your head to break yourself from the moment you returned to your task of gathering the rest of the ingredients to make s’mores. “It doesn’t matter anyway Nat, he’s an Avenger, a hero... and... and I’m just me. I should consider myself lucky just to be in his orbit.”

You could practically feel Nat’s glare boring into your skull. “Lucky? He’s the one who’d be lucky to have you.” She looked over at him again. “You know I could talk to him if you want--”

“No!” you said, your exclamation coming out louder and more panicked than you intended. You lowered your voice, a pleading look in your eyes,  “Look Nat, just drop it, okay?” Grabbing the small crate you turned back towards the fire, a smile plastered on your face. “Who’s ready for s’mores?” you called out, thrilled to hear a chorus of cheers from your friends.

While some of them wasted no time getting started, others held back a bit. “I am unfamiliar with this Midgardian delicacy, (Y/N)” Thor picked up a marshmallow, eyeing it curiously. “What exactly is a suh-more?”

You giggled as Clint stepped up, plucking the marshmallow from Thor’s grasp and spearing it onto one of the roasting sticks you had picked up just for this occasion. “They’re called s’mores big guy, and you don’t know what you’ve been missing. I mean, you get to set something on fire and then eat it, what could be better? I do this all the time with my kids, they love it. C’mon..” Clint grabbed another stick and marshmallow for Thor and proceeded to show him how it’s done.

You scanned the scene, checking to make sure everyone had what they needed. Steve and Sam were already working on their second round, Tony was making faces as Pepper tried to get him to take a bite of hers, and Vision couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. He had completely blackened several marshmallows in a row as Wanda tried not to laugh. Natasha had politely declined claiming they were just too sweet for her. You continued looking around, realizing the one face you were missing was the one you wanted to see the most.

Finally a glint of metal drew your eye to his quiet figure, set back from the fire practically in the shadows. You slipped over, taking a seat beside him on the cool grass. “You seem to be missing something… not a fan of s’mores?”

“Wouldn’t know doll. I, ah, actually haven’t ever had one before.” He cleared his throat, “Not much of a chance for a treat like that when I was younger and well… the last few decades are sort of a blur so…” His voice trailed off, Bucky clearly doing his best to push back the dark thoughts of his past.

You placed your hand over his, pulling him back to the present. “Let’s see what we can do to change that, yeah?” You stood, tugging at Bucky’s hand, encouraging him to come with you. “I haven’t made myself one yet so we can share.”

“Share…?” Bucky looked slightly confused until you picked up one of the roasting sticks that had two prongs on the end.

“See? One for you and one for me.” You speared a couple of marshmallows and lowered the stick above the fire, slowly rotating it. “The trick is to not put it directly in the fire like some people.”

“I heard that (Y/N)!” Sam protested through a mouth of graham cracker. “Burnt and crispy in under five seconds is the way to go!”

Shaking your head you continued, “It takes longer but I like to hold it just above the flames, that way there’s plenty of heat to make it super gooey all the way through without destroying the taste by burning it.”

“So what you’re saying is you like a slow burn.” You jumped, Natasha appearing out of nowhere yet looking like she’d been there all along warming herself by the fire. You glared at her then turned your attention back towards what you were doing.

“Nothing wrong with taking my time Natasha, some things are worth the wait.”

“Like s’mores,” she said with a smirk.

Exasperated you blew a strand of hair out of your face. “Yes, Nat, like s’mores.”

“Mmm’kay (Y/N), can’t really disagree with that.” Nat walked away with a smile leaving you with a scowl on your face.

“Um, did I miss something...?” Bucky asked.

“What? Oh, no it’s just.. It’s nothing, really…” You turned the marshmallows one more time, quickly changing the subject. “Looks like they are about done…” You brought them over to Bucky to put them together. “Okay we need the graham cracker first, then the chocolate, and then…” You laid the marshmallows right on top, both of you using the other half of the crackers to slide the gooey goodness off the stick. “Perfect.” You smiled, walking with him back over to where you were sitting earlier so you could both enjoy your treats in peace.

“Ready?” You couldn’t help but grin giddily at this memorable moment.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, doll.” Glancing at each other you both went to take a bite of your s’mores at the same time.

S’mores had already been your favorite treat for practically your whole life, but to see the look on Bucky’s face and to hear the sigh of satisfaction that came when he got his first taste of one… you’d never be able to look at a s’more innocently ever again.

“Doll… this is amazing!” He quickly took another bite, almost finishing it off.

“And messy..” Laughing you reached out with your thumb to swipe a glob of melted chocolate and marshmallow from the corner of Bucky’s mouth then without thinking licked it clean. You froze, thumb still in your mouth, once you realized what you’d done. You quickly looked away, embarrassed, missing the look of shock and awe on Bucky’s face.

Awkward silences were the worst. You popped the rest of your s’more in your mouth while your brain scrambled for something to say, finally settling on pretending it didn’t happen and just moving forward. Then maybe moving to Switzerland. “Um I should.. yeah I should really start cleaning up or I’m gonna be out here all night.” You started to get up but felt Bucky reach out and take your hand to pull you back down.

“Wait, you’ve.. ah, you’ve got a little something right here..” His eyes flickered down to your lips as his thumb wiped your bottom lip clean, mirroring your previous actions by sucking the stray chocolate off his thumb. You were pretty sure you’d stopped breathing as Bucky looked back into your eyes, the two of you gradually gravitating towards each other. You closed your eyes as his nose brushed gently against yours. Your heart was pounding and everything else faded into the background as you became hyper-aware of what you hoped and wished and prayed for was about to happen.

“Doll..? I’d really like to kiss ya if that’s alright..” Bucky’s lips ghosted over yours as he uttered his quiet plea.

“I think I might die if you didn’t,” you responded breathlessly. You were instantly rewarded with Bucky’s lips pressing ever so gently against yours. A small sigh escaped you as you placed a hand on his chest, one of his hands cupping the back of your neck as he continued to kiss you sweetly for a long moment. You could feel him smiling into the kiss as he pulled back slightly.

“You were right doll, some things are worth the wait.” Grinning you leaned back in, happily initiating the kiss this time, teasing him with your tongue until he opened up to you and oh if he didn’t taste of chocolate and coffee and heaven on earth. You wanted to keep kissing him forever, and you probably would have if it weren’t for something soft hitting the back of your head. Several more soft thuds on your back and shoulders caused you to pull back and look around confused only to realize that the two of you were on the receiving end of a barrage of marshmallows being hurled at you by several of your friends. “What the hell…?” Bucky quickly moved to shield you from the onslaught. “Really guys? So mature.”

“We had to do it, you guys were about to scar Peter for life.” Scott mock scolded the two of you while tossing a few more marshmallows your way.

“Seriously you two,” Tony was using his dad voice, “get a room already.”

Bucky looked at you. You looked at Bucky. Grins broke out on both your faces as he hopped up and pulled you up with him. “I believe that can be arranged. Scott!” you called out in your most commanding voice, “You’re now officially on cleanup duty. See you guys in the morning!”

The two of you got out of there as fast as you could, not stopping until you reached your room. Stepping into the darkness you couldn’t take your eyes off the view through the huge picture window of the moon reflecting off the lake. “Oh Bucky, would you just look at that…”

Bucky stepped up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “It certainly is a gorgeous view... and the lake doesn’t look half bad either.”

You swatted his arm playfully as you turned to see him smiling down at you in the moonlight. “Now, where were we…?”

“Right about here…”

Just Some Tags: @dianelogan @bucky-plums-barnes @buckyywiththegoodhair @cate-lynne @avengerofyourheart @sebspocketsquare @sgtbxckybxrnes @bionic-buckyb  @plumfondler @ms-potts-to-you @chaneltheavenger @imaginingbucky @sexonastickstan @angryschnauzer @witchymarvelspacecase @palaiasaurus64 @eyecandybarnes @the-observant-fangirl @trinityjadec @ballyhoobarnes @kjs-s

[theofficialautisticgamer]

No Tails, Not True Dat Why Sonic Forces' Story Is An Epic Fail Critique by TheAutisticGamer (Michael) SPOILERS FOR SONIC FORCES DOWN BELOW! WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE! People who play Sonic games are so divided nowadays. There are the ones who hate every modern Sonic Game, then there are the people complaining about the ones hating every modern Sonic Game, then there are the people who think Generations and Mania are the only good ones, but we also have people who think the Modern Games are good with the exception of the Xbox 360 Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric... It's just a god damn mess. But, for me, I haven't played a 3D Sonic Game since Sonic and the Black Knight (which I liked at the time) but when I finally played through Sonic Forces, I liked it. I liked the graphics, the short burst gameplay (Even if it's two and a half hours long) and the awesome kick ass soundtrack which was the Persona 5 of the Sonic series. However, aside from one of the worst and most cringe worthy villains of all time, there is one thing that Sonic Forces fails at tremendously. The story. Now people might think, Michael, of course the story is going to be shit, Sonic Adventure 2 had the moon blow up in half and the Earth didn't go out of orbit with the other planets. Or Michael, Shadow The Hedgehog's story made you play through it 10 times just to get to the real ending. This is on a whole nother level of shit. First, even if Sonic Forces had a good story, we would still have to sit through some of the most cringe worthy dialogue and scenes ever put to game by Sonic Team. So lets get into why the story was an epic fail, even for a decent game and how we could have fixed it. Basically, Eggman is planning something big and laughs evily at his new creation. Then, all of a sudden, you're thrown into a level with Modern Day Sonic with Tails being like "OMFG SONIC EGGMAN IS ATTACKING EVERY1 HELP!!11" and it feels really rushed and disjointed. The level ends pretty quickly as well so then you get to another cutscene where Sonic saves Tails and some generic looking OC characters. Who are they? Why should we care if Eggman kills them? With the exception of Tails? Then, Eggman beats Sonic while Tails looks at his IPad or whatever he has and DOES LITERALLY NOTHING TO HELP HIM. Tails doesn't just fly into action trying to fight the hallucinations of characters, he just sits there saying "HMMM... I can't identify them." Basically, everyone then thinks Sonic is dead and Eggman takes over the whole world. Uhm, you know, there are other people who wouldn't take that shit. Where is the military? Where is the president from Sonic Adventure 2? Where is ambassadors of peace? Seriously? No one? Of fucking course, because this world only has one human and millions of anthropomorphic people who do jack shit. So Silver, Knuckles and everyone else form a rebellion and say some pretty bad dialogue and then we are introduced to our OC who you create. Knuckles immediately tells him to go on a mission that could get him killed even though it's his first day on the job. So that's when we find out Sonic is alived and has been tortured for months. But when we see Sonic, he is acting like "AH YEAWH, DIS IS HAPPENIN!" from his Sonic Adventure type of character. This is not believable at all. First, he doesn't look like he is scarred, bruised, bloody, battered, anything that would make him look like he had been tortured. What was the torture? Making him watch Jersey Shore? Because that could psychologically damage him and not kill him. Also, he gets out easily because for some reason his bonds are untied automatically and then he fights Zavok and... punches him? SINCE WHEN DOES SONIC PUNCH PEOPLE!? So the OC rescues Sonic and even though Sonic was apparently tortured for months, Knuckles asks him to immediately go on a dangerous mission with the OC that could potentially kill him because of his apparent tortured state. You know what? I'm thinking he was tortured with boredom because he doesn't do anything. The whole game then consists of Tails trying to get Omega working, then Classic Sonic apparently shows up and Tails says "Oh, you're that Sonic from another dimension, Yeah, that makes 100% Total Accurate Not Bullshit Sense" which makes no sense at all considering we have no clue how we got there. Later, Tails joins up with Modern Sonic, OC and the Rebels and mostly it's just boring from there. Sonic makes a joke about how it's been Generations (GEDDIT IT'S A THROWBACK TO GENERATIONS!11) and it's cringey as all hell. It's not until we get to the big city that things start turning for the worst again. Eggman decides to pull something out of his ass then after Sonic meets him called Null Space that's apparently something you can't get out of. Sonic gets out of it immediately with OC. Also Tail's instead of going "SONIC NOOOO!!!11" goes "How can this be!? I thought we did Blah Blah Blah!" Way to be concerned with your friend pal. This is a Deus Ex Machin if I ever seen one as Sonic just blasts out of Null Space because why not. Then, oh god... The rebels, Sonic, Classic Sonic, OC and a hundred cut and paste generic OC Characters get together for the final "Epic" battle. First, everything is wrong. It's just the same OCS copy and pasted over and over again making me not care for them at all because they are literally the exact same. The charge is just embarassing and one of the worst things I have ever seen in a game. The fighting is also not exciting. Everyone seems to either use Wispons or Hand to hand Combat and it's just boring as fuck. The whole story led up to this and then... WAIT OMEGA IS BACK!? Yes, for some reason, Omega is now turned on and is ready to fight even though he couldn't possibly have known where the fight was taking place. What the actual fuck. Basically, the story is just more boredom from there as you play as Classic Sonic and OC as everyone starts brooding how they're going to die. Then, the big bad null space goes away and then we fight Infinite who is easy as hell and then you fight Eggman and apparently kill him. He's not seen going to jail after he has been beaten or people throwing rocks at him for being a dick, he just dies and that's it. Wow. That's kind of dark. Then it becomes incredibly stupid again. Classic Sonic fades away for some reason without any explanation of the science of it from Tails, the genius in science and engineering. Sonic throws a blatant and convoluted message at the audience and Tails then says the worst thing ever: "True Dat" Fuck you Sonic Team. So, the story is a gigantic epic fucking failure of behemoth proportions that couldn't have been saved because Sonic Team was on crack this whole time. Or could it? How would I have written the story to Sonic Forces? I would have done it kind of like The Empire Strikes Back. See, Sonic Generations was the light hearted adventures of Sonic and Classic Sonic just like how it was a fun adventure in Star Wars (A New Hope) with Luke, Ben/Obi Wan Kenobi, Han, Leia, Chewy, C-3PO and R2-D2. This should have been the dark horse of the series. The story should have been much more darker, while having a few funny moments here and there. The dialogue should be semi serious like a Marvel Movie, the villain should be three dimensional and tragic instead of edgy edgelord who cuts peoples hearts out with his brooding edginess. So basically, here is the ten things they could have done: 1. Have Sonic actually been tortured for months at the start, show him bruised up and lost some of his power. 2. Have the villain be a tragic hero who helps Sonic and the team defeat Eggman and realize he is not a slave to him. 3. Cut the kiddy crap and have actual edge. Not too much, just enough to make people actually care about what's going on. 4. Have a bunch of the OC characters look different and make them have back stories and personalities or quips like "Before the war I was baker, now I live in poverty because the economy crashed" 5. Don't make the story so fast paced, it makes everything feel disjointed as all hell. 6. Have Tails use actual science to explain things about Infinite, Classic Sonic, Null Space, that stuff instead of being a useless twat. 7. Have the OC Character talk and have some interesting dialogue and interactions with the Rebels. 8. Cut all the filler crap, it just makes the story and the gameplay boring to play and watch. 9. Make Omega a bigger part of the story. Why is Tail's repairing Omega? Is he significant at all? Can he possibly stop Eggman and Infinite? 10. None of that assinine dialogue meme crap like "True Dat" or Knuckles being a dumbass. Have actual character conversations and dialogue and some funny quips here and there to contrast the dark with the light. These things could at least make the story decent, if not interesting and pretty good. I'm not saying I want a Goodfellas story or Citizen Kane performances, I just want the story to not be so idiotic and brain dead. Everything about Sonic Forces story sucks (including the Shadow DLC, but that's a whole nother story), but that doesn't mean it's an entirely bad game. The graphics and good for the most part, the environments are colorful and classic, the handling of characters feels okay, the gameplay is short burst and fun. The only other complaint I have is that the game should have been longer. I hope you understand where I come from when making this critique. It's not to bash on Sonic or trash this game, it's to tell you how not to write a story and how not to do dialogue. Hopefully, Sonic Team will learn their lesson and make another Hybrid Sonic game with actual heart and edge to it. But not too much edge.

[cleopatraas]

A Court of Wings and Chiara (acowar spoilers)

Anonymous asked: I just finished ACOWAR and ugh I kept thinking about Chiara the entire time! Please make a post where you have head canons or something and she's in ACOWAR. I need it, I need to know what she would have done in those scenes.

For everyone who doesn’t know Chiara is my original character. Rhys’s sister, Tamlin’s mate, High lady of the Night Court. 

I’ll be honest with you. I literally just finished ACOWAR last night and I forgot what half the book was about. So this...is gonna be rocky. 

This turned out to be...super long and I really hope you guys read it even though it’s long. And I will do a  cut...only for you guys. 

Warning: if there are typos...I will literally jump off a bridge. Because I’m sure even after proof reading, there will be at least one (1) typo that hates me. 

The Meeting: aka the Court of Dreamers is reunited. 

Feyre and Chiara are best friends, they are sisters. You can pry this from my cold dead hands. They ALMOST went from enemies (because of Tamlin) to friends (this is what they are now) to lovers (but...there’s Rhys) but I’ll be honest. I ship these ladies so much. 

But they’re just weeping and crying and clinging to each other and Chiara hisses, “I’ll kill him with my bear hands if he touched you” I have nothing that rhymes except sisters before misters, but basically they’re that™ friendship. and Feyre is like “No, no. It’s fine, it’s fine” 

Chiara is the only person who recognizes Lucien’s trauma. She was there. In the Spring Court. I do not™ care about the timeline, these two were friends. And she just...talks to Lucien. And she hears him talk, and talk, and talk. But she doesnt react, tries not to clinch her fists, and then she hugs Lucien and promises him that, “You’re safe here. I’ll protect you with my life. If you want - you are my court now, Lucien. This home, these people, are yours. When you are ready” 

Summer Court Attack: aka that time when Tarquin put everyone in their place 

Chiara shows up a little late (you’ll know why later), but boy she’s in Illyrian leathers and she’s flying with the Illyrians with Cassian, taking down Hybern’s aerial army. And they’re both working so well together, because you can PRY this from my cold dead hands but they were always super close and Chiara always got him through his kills, especially his first ones. 

Chiara can feel Rhys, through that sibling bond, that slimmer of magic they share. She checks on Feyre and Mor, but she knows her besties got this covered, and then she faces that hologram projection of the King of Hybern. And she and Rhys are side to side, the Siblings of the Night Court, Death Incarnates, or whatever other titles Rhys had, and they’re both getting ready to be martyrs (siblings who are idiots together, stay together). But then the projection goes poof and the ship and all those warriors go Mist™  

Chiara feels so bad about what they had to do to get the Book and she was genuinely starting to feel something for Tarquin? (Or Varian or Cresseida. I will captain all of these ships). That was in ACOMAF and in that time Chiara was finally...healing. After Tamlin, after Amarantha, and she just...saw something in those bright blue Summer Court eyes. And she had to betray them. 

Chiara keeps her Court in check™. There will be no disrespecting Tarquin in his own court. She just lays her hands before him, pleading with her eyes, regret, so much regret, written clear on her face. 

“You stole from me”

“I know”

“You could have just asked me” 

“Tarquin, I know. But I won’t say sorry, those are useless words. But I am. You don’t have to take the blood rubies off our names, but know that we saved you today. And I would gladly drag more Illyrian solders, I would gladly drag my family out here to do it again. Nothing owed, ever.”

“Get out”

And she’s just?? She doesn’t know what to do. She bows and then takes her Court and goes to check on the wounded. And into the night and all throughout the day, you see one Illyrian female tended to every wounded she can find: both Summer Fae and Illyrian. 

Chiara isn’t in a lot of scenes because she’s got BUSINESS to take care of. (and also because I really can not remember a lot rom ACOWAR)

The High Lord Meeting: aka the scenes where all my wigs were snatched and I still haven’t gotten them back 

The Court of Dreamers came to slay. No masks, no lies, all wings. Chiara walks in front, but she’s wearing simple trousers and a tunic, everyone else can be fancy. Some earrings, chokers, bracelets and rings here and there too, of course. But at some point in her life she had to stop being a little girl and be a ferocious High Lady. And if everyone else in pants, then so is she. 

She has a crown on her head and I’m shaking at the imagery. She has stars in her hair, nightmares in her eyes. She looks behind her, at her Court, and she nods. She gives an extra nod to Nesta (you can pry this friendship out of my cold dead hands. Try it). And then she walks into the room, her wings flaring behind her. 

She meets all the High Lords’ eyes and then Mor squeals. I love her friendship with Viviane and Chiara used to be friends with Viviane too....before Amarantha. And she just watches Mor and Viviane and gives a polite smile and then sits down. 

Tarquin shows up, like the truest boss he is. Chiara’s heart squeezes. She tries to catch Tarquin’s or Varian’s eye, but they won’t look at her. Beron and the Brood show up, eek. 

Everything is going...as well as it can be, UNTIL TAMLIN WALKS IN, IN ALL HIS PETTY GLORY. And that tug, that tug that is so small, so fragile, makes their eyes meet. And Tamlin’s nostrils flare and Chiara grips her chair tightly. 

But Chiara is the Bigger Person™ and she gets up and walks over to Tamlin and holds her hand out. Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel are on edge. Mor, too. They’re the only people who know the entire story, of what went down, what went wrong. 

Tamlin sneers at her so she sneers back and huffs and goes to sit down on her chair, letting her wings flare. And Tamlin’s eyes roam over them, and something like sadness fills those green orbs. 

Then Amarantha comes up in the conversation...and it takes everything for the Bat Brothers to not snap at Tamlin and Beron. But Chiara sits with a removed silence, tilting her head to the side. Titles are flung - “High Lord Killer” which causes Tamlin to cringe, and other titles as well. (Yes. Chiara killed Tamlin’s father, beheaded that fool for killing her mother, then she left his brothers to her brother and father. And Tamlin killed her father. I told y’all their story is ...)

“You call me High Lord Killer, Beron, as if you don’t understand those three words. Would you like me to give you a live demonstration?” Helion snorts. Thesan chokes. 

“How did it feel to kill your mate’s father?”

Chiara tilts her head to the side again. “It felt glorious to get revenge for my mother if that’s what you’re asking, Beron, and if not, I would like to get to the topic at hand. Hybern”

But then the Winter Court comes up...(Rhys and Chiara both sacrificed themselves to Amarantha to keep Velaris safe. Rhys did it because he wouldn’t let his baby sister do it alone) 

“We stopped her from killing you, Kallias. We had no idea what the costs would be” Chiara falters and her eyes go to Tamlin for a moment, before she looks away. “I thought keeping her busy would distract her. But she sent Rhys instead”

Azriel protec™ but he also ATTAC™ ERIS FOR INSULTING CHIARA.

Chiara protec™ but she also ATTAC™ BERON FOR INSULTING HER AND RHYS.

Skip, skip, boring political stuff, Tamlin being petty, the usual. 

Skip!

Helion comes to their room. And Chiara smiles and she hugs him and Feyre is like “Wut?” and Chiara shrugs, patting Helion’s shoulder. 

“You two....Chiara please tell me not every High Lord is in love with you” Like Feyre is trying to piece the pieces together and she looks to Mor, Cassian, and Azriel for help and Cassian and Azriel are watching Helion, and mor is just giving small thumbs up and a wink. 

“Of course not, silly. Beron is old enough to be a pile of ash by now, and quite frankly, I have better taste than that. And Thesan has better taste than me” She™ Did™ That™. And Feyre snorts and mocks her. 

“Have fuuuuuun”

“I will”

Chiara saunters off and Feyre whistles and Mor joins in, clapping and I love girls supporting girls no matter what. I just...I love it. 

You could literally drag me away from this friendship, beat me, tie me to a tree, and I would somehow find a way back to it. 

Skip, skip, skip. 

Skip!

The Second Attack On The Summer Court: aka where I decided to finally disown Tamlin for 2 seconds 

Also the moment Chiara decided her fist belonged on Tamlin’s fast. Hard. Fast. Many times. Julian?? Redemption arc?? Idk him. But sure, let’s keep it. 

Chiara fights side by side with Tarquin and Varian and I’m literally wiping tears at how precious it was. Varian at her back, Tarquin at her side, they fight together. Shadow and water, blinding and drowning, cutting down enemies. They never falter and finally FINALLY their relationship is repaired and I can ship them in peace. Who? I still don’t know yet...

Chiara flies over to Cassian and she finishes cutting down enemies and Cassian takes down the commander like the TRUE BOSS is his. And it was just amazing and yet again, Chiara tends to the wounded, the High Lady, the High Lord Killer, getting on her knees and healing people who are supposed to be “far below her” 

She disappears for a bit and doesn’t appear until the second battle (You will know why)

The Second Battle: aka where everything went down hill so fast my mind was spinning 

Anytime Cassian and Chiara fight together I get literal chills. ANY TIME ALL FOUR OF THE SIBLINGS FIGHT TOGETHER I LITERALLY COLLAPSE ON MY KITCHEN FLOOR. Azriel is somewhere behind her, blue light flashing. Cassian is to her left, red light flashing. And Rhys is cutting through soldiers on her right, green light flashing (Rhys isnt High Lord so he has does have all those powers so yes he has seven Siphons and they’re green). 

But the line...it starts to crumble. She loses sight of Azriel, then Cassian, and then Rhys. And she doesn’t know which brother to go to first, which person to cut down to get to them faster. And she always has this fear...this fear that she won’t get to them fast enough, like she didn’t get to her mother fast enough. That all she will be able to do is get revenge instead of saving them. 

She feels Feyre tug at the bond. And she spins around, looking up at Feyre. I need you. And Chiara shakes her head, she can’t leave her brothers, and Feyre doesn’t need anyone. You got this. Go. Be safe. 

(Remind me again why I don’t have them dating?)

CHIARA. SEES. CASSIAN. FALL. She’s fighting and she finally got to Azriel and Mor is with Rhys and all four of them are trying to get to Cassian, but then that stupid commander cuts her brother down. And she screams and a wave of magic finally takes out the Hybern forces. 

And she and Azriel are running to Cassian and she lifts him up without a second hesitation and Azriel is right there with her, holding Cassian’s guts in, and she’s sobbing and telling Cassian to stay with her, and Rhys is below them, making sure they’re protected. They’re flying through the sky, Mor winning below them, trying to get their brother to a healer, before it’s too late...

Feyre comes back with Helion, the latter just nodding at Chiara once. Chiara barely sees it, she’s covered in Cassian’s blood, sitting by his side. But she has so many tricks up her sleeve...she needs more sleeves. 

The Cauldron, Elain and The Rescue: aka that moment where none of us were scared but we were all low key scared

Nesta locates the Cauldron and Chiara squeezes her shoulder gently, her hand on her lower back. (Remind me again why I don’t have them dating either?) “You did well” and Nesta gives the slightest bit of a small maybe?? And Chiara gives one right back and...great. I swear Chiara is shippable with literally everyone, even that ROCK. 

The Cauldron takes Elain or however that happened?? I still don’t understand it, but let me not question it or I’ll drive myself crazy. Chiara insists on joining Feyre. She grabs her shoulders, “You sisters are my sisters, Feyre. We are family. We do not leave one behind, one link could break us all. I’m going with you”

Chiara is in the shadows with Azriel, watching over Feyre in Ianthe™ form. Jurian saves Briar (?? its just unrealistic he didn't save himself) and then they’re on the run. Azriel is carrying Elain, Feyre running behind him, and Chiara is running behind her, trying to keep a shield up.

Chiara pushes Feyre forward and she hisses “Fly” and Feyre shakes her head, gripping onto Chiara. “I won’t leave you, I won’t leave you, I won’t leave you”, but Chiara pulls out a long sword and she shoves Feyre harder. “Fly! That is an order, Feyre Archeron!” 

(I swear they’re dating. Rhys who?) 

Feyre sobs and Chiara wipes her tears and she pushes her after Azriel. “Go, I’ll give you a lead” And she turns around and cuts a hound in half, staring the King down. Chiara pulls out another long blade, and as the hounds jump on her, and beast slams into them. 

YOU MIGHT AS WELL SKIP THIS IS IF YOU DONT SHIP TAMLIN AND CHIARA 

Chiara whispers, “Tam” and the beast looks at her, before they go after the hounds together, Chiara cutting them down, Tamlin attacking them, working together, as a team. She looks back and a hound runs past her and she leaves Tamlin and chases it down, but it gets to Azriel and she screams as it shreds his back. 

She turns back around and keeps fighting by Tamlin’s side, until she feels the wards break. Tamlin shifts and she grabs his hand and they run, their fingers linking. Chiara tosses her weapons aside 30 steps, 20 steps, 15... 10... 5... and she launches them both into the air, grunting, holding Tamlin against her, flying through the break in the ward. 

And she looks down at Tamlin and they share a look, before Tamlin winnows. Chiara catches up with Feyre and Azriel, and Elain and Briar, and she guards their backs, trying to heal Azriel in mid air. 

When they get back, Chiara collapses in Rhys’s arms, gasping for breath. “He saved us” And Rhys just strokes her hair, holding his sister as she finally, finally cries for what she lost. But she stops crying, because she knows what she can gain. 

THE COURT OF DREAMERS: aka the scene where my emotional dramatic self finally started crying

This is it. The final speech. Chiara has given a lot to her brothers, her cousin, her friend. She has given one or two to Feyre, but none to Elain or Nesta. She sighs and leans against her sword and gives a sad smile. 

“I’m glad I met all of you, and I mean that. I truly mean that. I don’t know where I would be without you...likely cowering on my own throne or dead” Chiara smiles and turns to Rhys. “To the first brother I knew, who gave me the world on a silver platter, no questions asked. Who protected me from the world with a silver sword, with maybe a few questions asked” Rhys smiles. 

“To my other brothers, who saved me even though they claim I saved them. Who saw butchering and darkness far greater than I can comprehend, who trusted our mom, who grew up with us. Who gave me the strength,” She squeezes their hands “When I needed it”

“To my cousin, my best friend, the light of my eye,” Mor smiles and her hands shake at her sides. “Who made me realize that I was not alone, that I was not the only female fighting. Who made me realize why I was fighting and kept me fighting”

“To my scary, scary tiny firedrake” Amren scowls and Chiara laughs. “Thank you. For simply existing, for simply being curious, for simply allowing me into your life. What an honor it has been” 

“To my Feyre,” Feyre grins and she doesn’t even care. She flings her arms around Chiara’s neck and Chiara wraps her arms around her waist. “Who brought the light Under the Mountain. Who taught me...who showed me that it was okay. It was okay to love again and I did. I love you fiercely. Who suffered at the hands of my mate, but still loved me back. Who loves my family, my brothers, and one in particular. Thank you so much, Feyre Archeron, I will never be able to thank you enough” (Why are THEY NOT TOGETHER IM MAD AT MYSELF AT THIS POINT)

And then she turns to Nesta and Elain and holds out her hands. Elain takes her hand and Nesta stares at it, so Chiara just almost lets their fingertips touch. “To my newest sisters, who I haven’t even begun to understand, to know, to love. But the time we’ve had together, I have seen your strengths. I am glad to have you at my side. I have seen your weaknesses and I am glad to protect those with my life” 

Chiara looks at the empty space somewhere in the circle. “And to the one I lost - I may have lost you, but I have gained so much more. And I hope you do too” And they all join hands and it turns into a group hug and even Nesta MAYBE joins.

And I swear to God...

THE FINAL BATTLE: aka everything was moving so fast and I’m still trying to figure out what happened

EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST CAN SOMEONE JUST PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? 

All I know is...Chiara had so many plans up her sleeves and here they are. She was a little late to the battle, but that doesn’t matter, MY GIRL HAD SOME PLANS. 

She made a bargain with The Boner Carver, The Weaver, Bryaxis, AND whatever that Book summoned (Remember that? You know...the huge plot hole that was never addressed again? Like...you do realize they probably have beasts and monsters and whatever creatures trying to get to Hybern/Prythian/wherever the Book is bc Feyre put the Book together...but okay)

I don’t know how bargains work, I don’t care, I just know Chiara, High Lady of the Night Court, DID THAT, and now has some amazing tattoos all over her back and arms. Because...that’s how it works right? 

But honestly I just love the aesthetic of the shields breaking and then Chiara is standing there, in Illyrian FEMALE armor, her arms up and then the glamors fall and she has all these monsters and?? Like yeah she probably sold her soul for this to happen, but is that the point? No. 

She’s just controlling...all of them. Never been done before. Literally never been done before. The true High Lady of the Night Court. She just looks behind her and smiles “Bone appetite” and then disappears and GOD I love her?? So much. 

And then she’s back like five seconds later and she’s flying through the skies....with Illyrian females behind her. “Cassian!” She screams for her brother to get up here with her, as she leads the females to war aka what we were all waiting for but never got?? That’s where she’s been. Saving and recruiting these females, training them, being the best person in Prythian history. 

And Cassian is just gaping at her and then he grins “Not bad, little sister” And she scowls and leaves Cassian with the Illyrians - male and female, fighting side by side, in the air, as one. And she winnows in next to everyone else, a grin on her fast. 

“That a good enough army for you, brother?” And Rhys gives her a small smile and then he’s gone, fighting with the troops on the ground. Chiara makes sure Azriel stays™ because his wings are damaged and she will not have her brother hurt. 

“It’s not enough,” Azriel says and Chiara looks at him sideways. “Have ye so little faith in dear ole sister?” She mocks gently, looking down at the battle. She looks at her wrist, as if looking at a watch. “They just need to hold the lines”

The Cauldron goes off?? I don’t know how that happened, but it does. RIP Bone Carver. Forever missed. Chiara tackles Cassian when he flies back to them, because she almost lost him and she sobs, looking back at Nesta. And Nesta gives her a small smile and she nods. And I’m not even remotely sorry when I say that this? Could totally be a ship. 

I don’t know what else happened, it was all moving so fast, but Chiara got Miryam and Drakon to come. The ORIGINAL gangster. I love her...with everything I have. She flies into the skies once again, taking Feyre with her, Cassian taking Nesta. 

Chiara just greets them and says “You came” and Drakon ruffles her hair gently. “You came banging on our wards” “Wards are so tedious, Drakon. You can thank me later” and everyone is just gaping at her like...what?? when did you do all this?? She did it when everyone was being jealous of everyone and doing god knows what other useless stuff. 

She and Cassian command the Seraphim, Peregryms, and Illyrians. Fighting as one, driving back the aerial army. We have the humans and Vassa and Papa Archeron. Chiara leaves Cassian and she fights side by side with the High Lords, side by side with Tarquin and Helion. 

THIS WOMAN. THIS HIGH LADY. SHE CAME OUT AND DID ALL THIS. 

Chiara ends up by Cassian, Nesta, Feyre, Amren, to hear that terrible plan that almost got Cassian killed? Yes. THAT one. And Chiara begs him not to go and Rhys appears and Chiara is shaking her head and yes, she’s the first High Lady, yes she’s so powerful, but she’s still just a baby sister who needs all her brothers. 

And Cassian kisses her cheek gently and pulls her closer, smiling against her hairline. “I love you, Chi. I never got to thank your mother-” Chiara presses her hand against his mouth “Our mother, Cas, and she needed...wanted no thanks from you. She loved you...so much” 

And Cassian smiles and moves her hand “Then let this be the way I show her I have protected you” and Rhys and Feyre hold her bask, kicking and screaming, as Cassian takes off with Nesta. (the worst?? most idiotic?? plan?? i have ever witnessed?? but ok)

And then...so much more went down?? And I remember like...a fourth of it. But it was all pretty dramatic and everywhere. 

Skip, skip, skip.

Skip!

YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT READ THIS IS YOU DONT SHIP CHIARA AND FEYRE 

Feyre and Amren are at the Cauldron and Chiara is down on the battlefield with Rhys and the other High Lords. And Feyre reaches down their bond, a bond from so long ago, a bargain Chiara gave her when they were Under the Mountain, a bond Chiara offered to take away; a bond Feyre refused to let go, a bond they both found comfort in, found warmth in their coldest times, and Chiara freezes. 

And it’s like even from where she is...all the way down there... She looks up and she sees Feyre and Feyre sees her. And that bond, it glows. And they both smile at the same time, a smile of thanks, of gratitude, of love, of kindness, of being loved, and giving the love; of needing each other, of holding each other up when they both wanted to fall, of shared memories and sweet talks, of short walks and long runs, of flying and training - all in that one smile. 

And then Chiara shifts into her beast form and Feyre grabs onto the Cauldron and maybe, just maybe, that’s the last time they’ll ever share that smile again, ever feel that bond again. 

(At this point...they’re married, right? Like it’s obvious they’re so in love)

More stuff happens...that I can’t remember...Amren is unleashed. Seriously, what was she? Actually, don’t tell me. She was The Devil and anything other than that is a let down. 

Hybern loses. We win. No one dies that we care about except the Suriel. Basically what happens. 

Rhys’s Death: aka we were all pretending to be shocked or we were all actually shocked that he “died” and came back to life?

Rhys’s death would have been so much more powerful....if Feyre wasn’t the only one who reacted. Everyone else looked like they were watching a squashed bug die. It felt very emotionless to me, but ....

Chiara screams loud enough to break the battle field when she sees her brother lying there, motionless. She looks over at Cassian and Azriel quickly, but she darts to Rhys, pulling his head in her lap. And she just stares at him and her worst fears have come true - she didn't get to save him just like she didn't get to save her mother - she can only get revenge. But...she cant even get that? Because who is she supposed to kill? She killed Tamlin’s father for killing her mother...but does she kill Feyre? The Cauldron?

No. She just sobs over Rhys’s body and straightens his armor and tries to make him look nice, because he would want that. She grips his shoulders and wipes her tears impatiently, gritting her teeth. And there’s this moment...where she’s alone. Rhys, she believes so deeply, that he’s with their mom (and hopefully not their dad). And yes, Cassian and Azriel are her brothers, but she had this bond with Rhys. And she cant...she cant feel it. 

So she glares at the High Lords, her eyes red, tears staining her cheeks, “Bring him back.” and it’s not Chiara saying it. It’s the High Lord Killer glaring at them, snarling at them, clutching onto her brother, the one killed by the Cauldron. The one killed by the thing that blessed her. The irony, the tragedy. 

“I will kill you if you don’t bring him back” But she takes a deep breath, her hands still shaking, and she’s still falling apart. And Tarquin steps forward, kisses her forehead, and does that whole magic thingy. Then Helion, Kallias, Thesan, then she does it, pressing her hand against Rhys’s chest, whispering into his hair. 

“Tamlin,” She breathes. “Where is Tamlin? Where is my mate” And she looks around, still holding onto Rhys. And Tamlin steps through the crowd and she stares up at him, and its deja vu. She’s crying over Rhys, as she cried over her mother. And he’s just staring at her...doing nothing.

And maybe Tamlin sees that. And he gets down beside her, kisses her forehead and whispers, “I’m sorry. Forgive me, for all of this, for everything and more” And Chiara sobs into his shoulder and she watches as his magic sinks into Rhys’s chest. 

YOU MIGHT AS WELL SKIP THIS IF YOU DONT SHIP TAMLIN AND CHIARA 

Tamlin holds her against him and she’s sobbing into his chest, gripping onto his shirt. And he’s stroking her hair, looking at Rhys. And then that bond...that bond between them. Maybe it finally has the means to get stronger now, maybe it doesn’t. But it’s still there, and they will always have hope. 

And Rhys opens his eyes and reaches for Chiara’s hand, whispering “I saw her,” and Chiara screams and pounces on him and even Cassian and Azriel pull him into a group hug and he just whispers, “She’s so proud of us” And he’s talking about their mom and I am SO DONE breaking my own heart. 

“You saw mom?” Cassian’s voice breaks and it turns out IM NOT DONE BREAKING MY OWN HEART because Rhys has one arm wrapped around Azriel, the other wrapped around Cassian and Chiara and he nods, smiling. And Azriel has tears running down his face and Chiara she asks... “Did you tell her I was sorry”

And Rhys says, “There was no need to”

The Meeting: aka everyone in the same room so who dies first? surprisingly no one. but we’re all very cranky. 

Chiara tackles Lucien in one of the biggest, cutest bear hugs there is. And Lucien spins her around and she laughs, burying her face in his neck. He’s wearing Illyrian leathers and Chiara squeezes harder and Lucien whispers, “My High Lady” and Lucien is a part of her court now and Chiara smiles and kisses his cheeks. 

Blah blah, politics talking, I was half asleep reading this scene, to be quite frankly honest. 

But then there’s this scene, it’s just the Bat Siblings and Tamlin left in the room and Chiara stares at Tamlin. And he stares back and swallows. “Could we have been happy? If I fought that day, fought at all?” And Chiara lets loose a breath and she gives a pathetic shrug. 

“We can’t know. Something else may have come along, Amarantha was another barrier between us, Tamlin”

“If I hadn’t tried to break the bond-”

And Chiara shakes her head and she walks forward, hugging him slowly, kissing his cheek. They both shudder and she breathes in his scent. “I don’t want to focus on the should have, could have, would haves with you. We either work or we don’t. We either start trying now or we don’t.”

She brushes his cheek and kisses his brow “Tell me your decision later” and she walks out and the Bat Brothers follow her.

Chapter 81: Aka Rhys’s POV and how the book should have ended but didn’t.

Rhys is standing out in the garden and Cassian, Azriel, and Chiara go to him. The latter with a drink for him and Rhys takes it. They all stare at Elain’s garden and Chiara sits down, looking up at her brothers. 

And they just all share these smiles and Chiara laughs softly, downing her drink. “No more wars for at least another five hundred years. Or more. Please” And Cassian agrees and he lounges in the sun with his sister and Chiara smiles and plants her head on his shoulder, holding his hand. Azriel sits beside her and Rhys sprawls out by their feet and they all share jokes and they laugh. They have a family, yes, they have their Court, yes, but they also just have them, the four of them, siblings no matter what.

Feyre, Elain, Nesta, Mor, and Amren join them later and Chiara looks at her Court of Dreamers.

And she looks to the skies, to the stars that haven’t come out yet, but have definitely answered, and she whispers “Thank you”

THIS WAS SO LONG I LITERALLY SPENT HOURSE ON THIS. And I know it’s not going to get any notes and I’m cringing at the very thought, but I worked so hard on this and I might as well share it. So lease, just please, leave comments. 

[pekkarolling]

Compiled here is a series of my most notable memories relating to the Triwizard Tournament in 1994-1994. You may noticed that these are written in present tense. The reason for this is that they are adapted from several journals, interviews, and memories of the time, and so may deviate slightly from fact.

I want a scoop.

And he's it.

I can almost imagine myself in the crowded Hogwarts Hall as the flaming blue goblet spits out his name, and all the countries go mad because he's not supposed to exist!

And the speculation is delicious. The Chosen One, chosen yet again--but this time in a special competition! Is he power-hungry? Glory-hungry? Looking to impress a certain young lady? Andhow did he do it? Tricking the age line, a confundus charm...The possibilities are positively endless, I swear, I just need an interview to spice up the story...

Sighing, I look down at the note my boss left on my desk. Try to get the politics of it too, it says. And god, I hate politics--it doesn't sell and unless someone's taking over the world, no one cares. And then politicians--ugh, don't even get me started on politicians. Especially in conjunction with one of the juiciest social events of the year.

For them, it's some trash like international cooperation. I know that's what Fudge thinks it is; he said so himself as "he wiped his sweaty hands down on the sides of his trousers and his eyes darted back and forth" (courtesy of Larissa, my green quilled friend). He didn't appreciate the representation, and neither did my boss, but what can I do? It sold copies, and if there's one thing Rita Skeeter is fabulous at, it's getting readers hooked.

Now all I have to do is hook Harry Potter himself.

****

I'm waiting because Harry Potter, possible egoist that he is, is late. Fleur Delacour is busy flirting with the other Hogwarts champion, and Viktor Krum, like the brooding hero he is, is sitting moodily in the corner. I tap my red nails on the handle of my bag and wait. We have to get this going.

"Ludo, where's the final champion?" I ask impatiently, adjusting my glasses. The portly idiot (lost his career as a Beater, you know, although if you ask me he wasn't all that good) ignores me, instead looking towards the curved archway where the boy should come through any minute. A moment later, he does--short, bespectacled, his hair even messier than his father's used to be. Even from here I can see the striking green eyes that remind me of Lily's...I did a piece on the tragic deaths for the Prophet a couple years ago, and some boy did a drawing of the two of them. Her eyes were the brightest spot in those pictures. Such a shame, really, a tragedy... (we sold more papers that weekend than only a couple in the past few years. It's one of my greatest hits)

Ludo is going up to Harry now. I adjust everything I own to make it look perfect--although I'm already quite close to that goal--carefully folding my magenta robes into place.

"This is Rita Skeeter," Ludo says, and I step off of my stool. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet--"

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," I say, my eyes sweeping over Harry's face. His eyes are shadowed by dark circles--sleepless, much? I wonder what's been keeping him up at night.

Well, now's my chance to find out.

"I was wondering if I could have a little word with Harry before we start? The youngest champion, you know...to add a bit of color?" The fourth champion's face contorts, and I nearly sigh as Ludo asks something to the degree of "yes, but only if he agrees".

"Lovely." I grab the boy's arm and steer him towards my favorite place to go in Hogwarts: the broom closet where I entertained many people with secrets. "We don't want to be in there with all that noise," I say by way of explanation. "Let's see...that's nice and cozy." I open the door to the cupboard and press him in. "Come along, dear--that's right--lovely." I sit myself down on a lovely bucket and start to rummage through my bag for Larissa and some candles to, mm, shall we say shed some light on the subject? It’s easy enough to find both--I’m a stickler for organization, and they’re both in the front pocket. I levitate the candles and light them with a quick swish of my wand. I’m about to get Larissa out when I realize that I have to bloody well get consent for the Quick Quotes quill. Right.

“You don’t mind, Harry, if I use a Quick Quotes quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…”

“A--a what?” Poor boy, he looks dumbfounded. I take Larissa out, suck on the tip so my writing voice transmits onto the parchment, and place the parchment down onto a crate. “Testing...my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter.” Larissa starts to churn out the usual stuff--my looks, my age--and so I tear off the top of the parchment and stuff it in the trash pocket of the bag. I really can’t leave my age lying anywhere around--as far as the rest of the world knows, I’m thirty two. Then I wave Larissa into work again.

“So, Harry...what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?”

He’s staring at Larissa. Not the goal. “Ignore the quill, Harry,” I say, and he relaxes the slightest bit. “Now--why did you decide to enter the tournament, Harry?”

“I didn’t.” Sure. “I don’t know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire. I didn’t put it in there.”

I raise an eyebrow. That’s highly unlikely. “Come now, Harry, there’s no need to be scared of getting into trouble. Our readers love a rebel.”

“But I didn’t enter,” he says, and I glare at Larissa to stop writing that down. “I don’t know who--”

“How do you feel about the tasks ahead? Excited? Nervous?”

“I haven’t really thought about it...yeah, nervous, I suppose.”

“Champions have died in the past, haven’t they? Have you thought about that at all?” I need some drama from him--more than just nerves conveyed awkwardly.

“Well...they say it’s going to be a lot safer this year.” I roll my eyes. I better turn the conversation to his dead parents if I’m going to get anything from this interview at all. “Of course, you’ve looked death in the face before, haven’t you? How would you say that’s affected you? Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because--”

“I didn’t enter,” he says, his tone tight, and I can barely contain my sigh.

“How do you think they’d feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tounament?” He doesn’t respond, so I prompt him. “Proud? Worried? Angry?”

His face is contorting, and he glances over at Larissa, and I’m about  to tell him not to when--

“I have NOT got tears in my eyes!” he proclaims hotly, and I’m hurrying Larissa and stuffing the papers into my bag as the door bangs open.

I wait around through a near interrogation from Dumbledore--honestly, the man is a nightmare-- and have Larissa take notes through the weighing of the wands. Then it’s time to get the meat of the story--student interviews. They’re always the ones that know what’s truly going on.

I meet a boy in the hallway and ask him about Harry Potter. The little boy smiles, and I do too.

Oh, what a story this is going to be. I can just imagine...

****

I can't believe I overlooked Cedric and Krum. Harry may be The Chosen One, but these boys scream heartthrob, even when they're sleeping (I would know). Cedric's perfect, chestnut locks and puppy dog eyes are enough to send any girl reeling, and Krum on a broom with that thick, sexy accent will send those reeling girls straight towards them. Plus, both of them are athletes, something everyone likes to hear about.

I could do a quidditch piece on my three male champions, I suppose. Pictures of them standing elegantly by their brooms, talking about why quidditch is important to them, what they do in it, their position, blah blah blah blah blah. Especially after Harry’s success with the first task, and Krum’s Quidditch Cup win this year...it’s almost perfect!

I start to write a killer intro, which, all in all, sounds more lovely than Celestina Warbeck’s rendition of “A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love” when I read it aloud. I’m paging through my notes to find possible quotes when I hear the distinctive clomp of Boss’ boots parading past my office. “Hey!” I call. “Hey, Boss!”

“What is it, Rita?” he grunts, poking a fat head through the door. “Another piece making fun of Dumbledore?”

“No, I--” I smile. I can’t forget to turn on the charm, especially now. “What do you think of a quidditch piece on our three guys?” He doesn’t say anything, and my smile freezes. “Wouldn’t it just be lovely?”

“We need more of the girl, Rita. Get me more of her.”

I rip the beautiful writing out of the typewriter and start over. If he won’t do something that includes seventy five percent of our champions, then I’ll do something that includes none of them. And it’ll still sell, because I overheard something delicious in the Hogwarts courtyard during the Yule Ball.

If Boss won’t go along with my ideas, then I’ll go rogue.

****

Journal Excerpt:

Miss Fleur Delacour is completely boring, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

She's pretty, sure, but she doesn't have any...mmm....star quality. Nothing there is to be said about her is anything anyone but kiddies want to read. She loves her sister? Go to some Muggle family and see that. She's connected to her veela heritage? Wow, great, now can we have some pictures that reveal a little less of the heritage and a little more of her? She is the top student at Beauxbatons? This isn't a trophy room, goddamnit.

And then there's the faded bruises down her arms. I suppose there could be a story made out of the possible abuse, but the funny thing is? It won't sell. No one likes to feel guilty about a hero who's a sex symbol and a half. They just want to... indulge in her.

Maybe I can call up a camera guy so Boss doesn't get on my back for not having stuff on her. But in the meantime, her section in my journal is pretty blank.

I'll just keep selling copies. Tick, tick, tick, down to the wire.

It’s what I do best.

****

A letter from Dumbledore:

Dear Miss Skeeter,

I can assure you that we do not take race and other like considerations into the process of hiring teachers. We judge based on merit alone. I would therefore sincerely ask that you decline from writing any such articles in the future, and to respect the ban from Hogwarts that has been placed upon you. Please also note that I am on good terms with the superiors of your office and can arrange that you be fired if necessary.

Your former teacher,

Headmaster Dumbledore

A letter to Dumbledore:

Headmaster,

I can assure you that I am only looking out for the safety of our youth. You have continually put students under the care of dangerous creatures, such as werewolves and giants, and I know that many will not stand for it. Please note the need for good journalism in today’s society, and for good justice as well. I hope that you consider this as you make hiring decisions for next year.

--Rita Skeeter

Journal Excerpt:

Hermione Granger can go--

Voldemort and Harry’s delusions would have made an excellent story, Boss.

Letter Draft:

Dear Boss,

Please, take me back

I’ve been fired.