#how many of those letters were steamy? huh???

[celemee]

They had their own code language... ;_; Make of that what you will

[mamaestapa]

Baby Mama Drama

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•series summary: Y/n Hubbard, the younger sister of Cincinnati Bengals Defensive End Sam Hubbard, finds herself in a difficult situation after a steamy hookup with her brothers best friend, who just so happens to be the quarterback for the Bengals. In just nine months their lives will be changed forever. How will Y/n and Joe manage to to go through parenthood together? more so, how will Sam take the news he is going to be the uncle of his best friends baby?

•chapter summary: There's some drama during Emma's baby shower that leaves you in a worrisome situation at the end of the day...

•word count: 7.5k

•warnings: pregnancy, fluff, angst, drama, arguing, mentions of blood, heavy topics toward the end, chapter ends in a cliffhanger...

series masterlist

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March 21, 2023

4 months pregnant

"Oh, this is perfect." You said as you picked up a pink flower onesie off of the shelf. Joe chuckled as he watched you add another newborn outfit to the cart. "Y/n, I think that's enough outfits. She's going to grow out of all of those a few weeks after she's born anyway." he grumbled as you looked at him with raised eyebrows, “Uh huh, I know," you mused, "buuut, a girl can never have too many outfits."

Joe just sighed and moved out of the way so that you could put another outfit into the cart.

You and Joe decided to do a last minute target run this morning before you went over to the Hubbard's house for the baby shower later this afternoon. Today is Emma's (your sister in law) baby shower. You haven't spoken to her or Sam for a little over a month now. And even though Sam has been a complete d-bag to both you and Joe, that's not stopping you from attending and celebrating the sweet baby girl that will be your first niece.

As you and Joe were leaving the baby aisle, a onesie caught your eye. Not one for Baby Hubbard, but one for your baby. You stopped pushing the cart, making Joe look at you with a puzzled expression. He watched you walk over to the rack of baby boy onesies. You pushed your bottom lip out as you held up the tiny newborn onesie that caught your eye.

"Look," you said, eyes growing watery as you held up the onesie for Joe, "It says, 'Game Dey Baby'. Isn't that so cute?" The Onesie was white, with orange letters and black tiger stripes in the letters. "He could wear it on game days." you said, pushing your bottom lip out even more. The baby aisle of Target was a cuteness overload that made your pregnancy hormones go into overdrive. You wanted to buy everything in sight for your baby boy. It's a good thing Joe was shopping with you, otherwise you would have bought a lot more—both for your niece and your son.

Joe sighed as he looked at you holding the Bengals themed baby onesie. You certainly didn't need to be buying any baby clothes just yet, but he couldn't say to you when you looked the way you did in that moment. You looked so happy holding that onesie, plus, Joe couldn't deny that it would be cute to see his son wearing that on game days this upcoming season.

"Put it in the cart," he said to you with a small smile, "it would be cute." You grinned and picked up the onesie, making sure to grab one a few sizes bigger so that your baby would be able to wear it for a couple weeks during the season. You started to push the cart again, finally leaving the baby aisle.

"What's next on the list?" you asked, glancing at Joe, who had his notes app open. “Starbucks." he replied with a smile. Joe isn’t much of a coffee drinker, but he knows you are.

You clapped, "Yay! Mama needs some coffee." Joe shook his head and chuckled at you. "Not so fast. Mama can get her coffee, but only if it's decaf."

Ever since you moved in with him, Joe has been extremely protective over you and the baby. Meaning, he sort of controls what you can and can’t eat and drink. Too much sugar? Immediately no. Large caffeine content? Absolutely not. Contains anything that could potentially harm you or his little man? You can go nowhere near it. It’s sweet of him, but a caffeinated coffee and a pint of ice cream or two, won’t hurt you or the baby.

You groaned, "Oh, c’mon Joe. One venti caramel iced coffee won't hurt me." Joe reached out and rubbed the center of your belly with his fingertips. "It’s not you that I’m worried about, it's the little guy." You pulled his hand away from your growing belly and rolled your eyes. “Joe,” you sighed, “he'll be fine, seriously. Doctor Montgomery said I can have two-hundred milligrams of caffeine a day. A venti has one ninety-five."

Joe knew he wasn’t going to win this argument with you. You were going to get your coffee no matter what.

"Fine,” he said, sighing in defeat, “you can get an iced coffee."

"Yes!” you cheered silently, “thank you.” As you “celebrated”, Joe held his pointer finger up as a way to scold you, “but, you can only get a grande. Just to be safe, please?"

You sighed. You wanted a venti, but, you guess you’ll have to give in to Joe’s demand. You still get your coffee, so at least you’ll both be happy.

“I can work with that.” You nodded, getting in line to order your coffee. Joe smiled, “Good.” You and Joe walked up to the counter and ordered your drinks. The brunette barista immediately recognized Joe. She asked for an autograph and a picture, which Joe happily agreed to do.

Joe was in a great mood today. You could only hope it won't be ruined once the two of you see and talk to Sam soon.

After getting your coffees, you went over to where the self checkouts were, paying for all of your items. Once you paid for everything, you and Joe exited the store and made your way out to his car. You opened the passenger door, sitting down and immediately buckling your seatbelt before Joe could say anything. As soon as you were in the car and comfortable, you took a sip of the delicious Starbucks iced coffee you had been craving for days.

"Ugh," you moaned as the caramel flavoring filled your mouth, "I haven't tasted anything this delicious in such a long time." Joe just shook his head and chuckled at you. Once he backed out of the parking spot and got onto the highway, Joe reached over and gently placed his hand on your bump. He kept it there for the short drive to your brothers house. Your nerves grew the closer you got to the Hubbard's house, but Joe's touch brought you instant comfort. You were hopeful that today would be the day that Sam finally mans up and apologizes for his actions from the past month. Only time will tell if your hopes are true or not...

You let out a heavy sigh as soon as Joe pulled into the driveway of Sam's home. Joe must have noticed you growing tense because he moved his hand from the center of your tummy to your thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Y/n, look at me." He said softly. You slowly turned your head to lock eyes with Joe. His blue eyes were soft as he looked at you. He squeezed your thigh reassuringly as he spoke, "Everything is going to be fine." You gulped nervously, "But what if it's not? I know we have to talk to Sam about everything at some point, but," you sigh softly, "what if it just makes things worse, Joe?"

Joe frowned. It broke his heart to see you worked up over this. Even though the majority of the problem is his best friend, he too can’t help but feel somewhat guilty. He was the one that put you in this situation in the first place…

“Then it gets worse and he never speaks to us again.”

“Joe!” You practically whined, “you think that makes me feel better!?” Joe’s frown deepened, “Well it’s the truth, Y/n. If it gets worse, and Sam can’t get over himself and his drama with us, then there’s a chance he won’t talk to us. Maybe not never again, but at least for a while.”

Your chin quivered as you pulled your lips into a thin line. Tears welled up in your eyes as you thought about the possibility of never speaking to your older brother again. You know Sam would never not speak to you ever again. You’re his baby sister, his built in best friend. He’ll get over it eventually for your sake. But there is a chance he’ll never speak to Joe ever again. Joe promised you he was staying around, no matter what. Which means Sam will have to deal with Joe being around when you’re around. He just needs to get over this.

Plus, even though you wanted the truth from Sam about why he made Joe break your heart in college, all you really wanted, was for things to go back to normal. Things to go back to the way they were between you and Sam before you told him you were knocked up by his best friend. You and Joe have no choice but to talk to Sam about everything today. As your thoughts ran wild, you pinched the bridge of your nose and let out a sniffle. Joe sighed softly as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He reached over the center console and did the same to yours. Once your seatbelt was undone he brought a hand up to your head, gently pulling you into his chest.

“It’ll be OK, sweetheart.” Joe soothed quietly as he cradled your head, “I promise.” You nodded against his chest and wiped the tears from your eyes before they could cascade down your cheeks. Joe kissed the top of your head before you pulled your head away from his chest. He moved his hand from the back of your head, tracing his fingertips over your jawline before letting his hand rest against your cheek. He smiled at you as he spoke softly, “You’ll always have me. No matter what.”

“Promise?” You sniff. Joe nodded, responding wholeheartedly, “I promise.” You nodded and gave him a small, teary eyed smile. Joe frowned and pulled you back into him. He rested his chin on the top of your head, keeping his hand placed against your cheek. Stroking your skin with his thumb as the two of you just sat there in silence. You and Joe were both preparing yourselves for what could happen once you enter the Hubbards home.

You pulled yourself away from Joe, giving yourself a couple minutes to settle your emotions and compose yourself before you and Joe got out of the car. Joe wrapped an arm around your waist as the two of you walked up to the door. He gave your waist a gentle squeeze as he smiled at you reassuringly. Joe took a deep breath before he balled his hand into a fist and brought up to knock on the front door. He gave two quick, hard knocks.

"I'll get it Em!" You heard heavy footsteps approach the door before it swung open, revealing a grinning Holly.

"Hi guys!" she exclaimed in her usual upbeat tone, "it's so good to see you." You smiled, "It's good to see you too."

Holly stepped to the side, letting you and Joe enter the house. She shut the door and pulled you into a tight hug, mindful of your growing belly.

"You look so good!" she beamed, pulling away from you and placing a manicured hand on the side of your bump, "How's the little guy?"

"He's good," you smiled, "I think I’ve been feeling little flutters all week for the first time. Joe’s just waiting for him to kick."

Holly smiled and scrunched her nose up as she pulled her hand away from your tummy. She ushered for you and Joe to follow her into the living room where the rest of the guests were. You felt Joe tense up beside you as the two of you followed Holly into the living room. You slowly brought your hand over to his, entwining your fingers together and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Joe glanced down at you and gave you a small smile before he turned his attention to the group sitting around in the living room.

As the three of you walked in into the living room, you immediately locked eyes with your older brother. Your breath hitched in the back of your throat as you noticed Sam's eyes move between you and Joe, before trailing down to your prominent baby bump. Your bump has grown a lot since he last spoke to you. Emma, who was sitting next to Sam, was in deep conversation with Morgan when she noticed you enter the room. She shot up from the couch, eyes widening slightly as she looked between you and Joe.

"Y/n," she seemed almost shocked to see you. A large grin broke out on her face as she approached you. She wrapped her arms around you, the two of you hugging each other as much as your baby bumps would let you.

"it's so good to see you." she said as she pulled away. You nodded in agreement, "It's good to see you too, Em. I've missed you." She smiled sadly, "I know, me too." She shook the sad smile off of her face, letting out a breath as she gestured to your belly. "Look at you!" she gushed, "you look great." You smiled at your sister in law as you put your hands on your tummy. "Thank you." you gestured to her dress, "but so do you! That pink dress looks perfect on you."

Emma did a little twirl as she cradled her bump, "Thanks." She glanced over at Joe, greeting him quietly before she grabbed the gift bag he was holding. Emma walked over to a table that was set up in the living room, full of gifts wrapped in pink wrapping paper, and lots of diapers. You couldn't help but smile as you looked at the small diapers on the table. All you could think about as you gazed at them was that in just five months, you and J will be going through many of those with your baby boy.

Emma brought you out of your thoughts as she said, "You guys can sit down if you want." Joe nodded, thanking her quietly as the two of you walked further into the living room, greeting everyone before you sat down on the couch. You made sure to stay on the side opposite of where Sam sat. As you sat down next to Joe, you couldn’t help but glance at Sam. He was staring intently in the direction of you and Joe. His light colored eyes eventually looking into yours. You felt your heart sink as you made eye contact with your brother. You wished things weren’t so awkward. Sam used to be your best friend, but that’s clearly changed…

You gave Sam a small smile, deciding to just sweep things under the rug for now. You’d talk to him later. Sam returned the smile before he snapped his eyes back up to his wife, helping her sit back down on the couch. As a few more guests arrived, you and Joe sat on the couch and caught up with Morgan and Logan. They had just gotten back from a week long trip to their home state of Wyoming. It sounded like they had a great trip, which made you happy. You know how much Morgan loves it out west.

Once the baby shower eventually started, Emma thought it would be a good idea to take you and the other girls outside to sit on the patio and catch up a bit, before all of the baby shower activities kicked off. With some help off of the couch from Joe, you followed Emma, Holly, and Morgan into the kitchen. Upon entering the large kitchen, Emma walked over to the china hutch in the corner of the room and pulled out four wine glasses from the cabinet. She placed the glasses on the counter and Morgan poured in some sparkling Welches Rosé, the same kind you had at your gender reveal. You, Holly, and Morgan followed Emma out to the backyard. The four of you sitting at the table on the patio just a couple feet away from the sliding glass doors.

Once you were all sitting, Holly held up her glass of non-alcoholic Rosé. "I just want to make a quick little toast." The rest of you held your glasses up in a toast as Holly gave a little speech. "Today, we celebrate baby girl Hubbard and her beautiful mama. I hope you have the best day celebrating your daughter, Emma. She is going to be so lucky to have you as her mom." Holly finished with a smile.

"To Baby Hubbard!" Morgan cheered, clinking her glass against all of yours. "To Baby Hubbard!" you all cheered in unison. With wide grins on your faces, you each took a sip of your bubbly beverage.

It was so nice to be surrounded by your friends to get your mind off of the Sam drama for a while.

Some time had passed very quickly as you and the girls conversed, catching up with each other over anything that happened since your gender reveal. Morgan talked about her Wyoming vacation with Logan, Holly told you all about her workout program and plans to head home to Michigan for a few weeks, and Emma shared some updates on her pregnancy, excitedly telling all of you that her baby girl kicked for the first time about a week ago. Hearing Emma tell the story of her baby kicking made you even more excited for the moment you and Joe will get to feel your baby move for the first time.

"So what's new with you Y/n? How's baby boy doing?" Morgan asked, giving you a sweet smile. Emma's eyes widened at her questioned.

"You're having a boy?"

You didn't realize Emma didn't know that you and Joe are expecting a baby boy. If Emma doesn't know, that means that Sam definitely doesn't know. Which, you know makes total sense since neither of them went to your gender reveal. But you figured they'd hear the news from someone or somewhere else..

"Yeah," you smile, "I am." Emma nodded, beaming as she said, "That's amazing. I bet Joe's happy."

"He is," you nodded, heart swelling at the thought of the genuine joy Joe got every time he was around you and the baby, "he really is."

Emma's smile faded as it turned to a frown. She sighed softly, "Y/n, I am so sorry that Sam and I didn't go to your gender reveal. I know you must have been pretty upset with us for not going."

Your lips formed a straight line as you thought of how to respond. You weren't upset with Emma, but it's no secret you were upset with Sam.

"It's OK," you sighed softly, "I understand why you didn't go. I'm sure you know, but Sam didn't take the news very well. He and Joe got into it pretty well the night we broke the news to him. I don't think they've talked to each other since then. I know I haven't talked to him."

Emma nodded, "He was pretty upset. Not at you, but with the situation. It really hurt him that you snuck around with Joe behind his back."

Snuck around with Joe behind his back? It was a one time thing! You thought. It's not like you were secretly hooking up with Joe for months before you got pregnant. Besides, it's not really "sneaking around" when the two of you have known history with each other. Plus, Sam was the one that made Joe leave you behind in Ohio all those years ago and you didn't have single clue. If anyone was sneaking behind anyones back, it was Sam.

You couldn't help the scoff that escaped your lips at Emma's words. You rolled your eyes, "He's making such a big deal out of this. I can't believe him." you sighed, frowning slightly as you looked at Emma, "I'm sorry, I know he's your husband."

She shook her head, "Don't be sorry. He's your brother, Y/n. You're family, you have the right to be upset with him when he's acting like this."

You just added, staying silent for a few moments. You hated to pour all of this onto your friends, but you've had this anger with your brother pent up for a month now. You know you need to let it out, and even let them in on a few important details they don't know about.

Morgan reached out and placed a hand over yours, “You look like you just need a minute to let everything out.” You just nodded, causing her to gently squeeze your hand, “We’re all ears, Y/n.”

That’s all you needed to hear before you went on an angry rant. You told them all about Sam’s reaction and how you understood how he took the news, until he did a full 180 that same night. You told them that what was a somewhat calm discussion soon turned to a screaming match between Sam and Joe, resulting in Joe saying he loves you and Sam confessing to breaking the two of you up in college because of his own personal fears.

“You and Joe were together in college?” Holly asked, her jaw dropping in shock. You shrugged, “Sort of.”

You weren’t really with Joe, but the two of you definitely had a connection that was more than just friends.

“What do you mean sort of?” Morgan asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

You sighed softly as you crossed your arms over your chest, “We were never a couple, but he and I definitely had something together. We hid it from Sam and we always had to make sure he wasn’t around wherever Joe and I were together.”

“Sam never knew?” Emma asked.

“Well, we thought he didn’t know. He clearly found out somehow though because according to Joe, Sam was the one that made him break things off with me before Joe went to Louisiana. I was willing to make long distance work, but Joe left me behind.” You explained, feeling a heaviness in your chest as the old memories came flooding back to you.

Holly frowned, “Girl, I didn’t know about any of that. I’m sorry Joe did that to you.”

You shook your head, “It’s not his fault. My brother was the one that made him break my heart. I didn’t know,” you sighed, “I didn’t know it was Sam who told him to do that. I always thought Joe was just using me before he left for LSU, but the truth came out a few weeks ago. Joe never wanted to leave me.”

Morgan got up from her chair and walked over to you, wrapping her arms around her. “I’m so sorry all of this is happening right now. This can’t be easy on you.”

“It’s not,” you said, shaking your head, “but I have you girls and Joe to help me through it. Joe and I had our differences after our “break up”, but I think this baby has brought us even closer together.”

Holly smiled, “I’m glad. You two seem really happy together. Are you together now?”

That’s a tough question. You still aren’t really sure what you and Joe are right now.

“We’re not together, but we’ve shared some moments where it’s obvious we want to see where things go with each other. We said “I love you” the day of our gender reveal, and we’re living together now.”

Holly eyes widened and a huge grin broke out on her face, “Oh my gosh, Y/n!” You laughed, “What?” Holly reached out and grabbed your hands, giving them a squeeze as she said, “That’s so exciting! Have you guys talked about you know…maybe being together?”

You shook your head no.

“Don’t rush into anything,” Morgan advised, “but, I think you and Joe should give it a shot. You know, a second chance at a relationship since your first chance was ruined by your dumbass brother—sorry Emma.”

Emma chuckled, “Nope, don’t be sorry. I’m totally on Y/n’s side. Sam shouldn’t have done that to you or Joe.”

“I can kind of see where he’s coming from,” you reasoned, “but I’m still so pissed at him. With the Ohio State thing and how he reacted to the baby.”

“Have you talked to him about any of this? Maybe it’ll make things better if you talk it out with him.” Morgan said. You nodded, “Joe and I agreed that if the opportunity comes up today, we’ll talk to him about everything.”

“That’s good.” Holly said, letting go of your hands and getting up from her chair. She stood next to Morgan and leaned down to give you a hug, “well whatever happens, you know you’ve got us.”

You smiled, bringing your arms up to hug Holly, “Thank you.”

You girls spent a couple more minutes outside, with each girl giving you a hug and sharing their love and support for you and Joe. Eventually, the four of you went back inside to get back to the baby shower activities. As you walked back inside, you saw Joe standing in the kitchen and talking to the McPherson's. His head snapped over to the sliding glass door when he heard it open. A smile pulling at his pink lips as he saw you walk back into the house. Joe's eyes trailed down your body, taking in all of your features in the simple baby pink sundress adorning your body. You smiled back at Joe and walked up to him, greeting Gracie and Evan as you snaked an arm around Joe's waist.

Joe looked down at you. "Hey," he greeted quietly, doing the same with his arm, wrapping it securely around your waist. "You doing OK?" his soft tone was laced with concern. You looked up at Joe and nodded reassuringly, "Yeah, I'm good right now. I talked to the girls for a bit and that seemed to help. How about you?" He shrugged, "S' a little awkward, Sam's been avoiding me." You frowned as Joe sighed and continued speaking, "but I'm doing good."

Just as you were about to respond, Sam entered the kitchen. His eyes immediatly fell on you and Joe. Joe took his arm off of your waist and cleared his throat. The tension in the air was thick as the three of you stood in silence in the middle of the kitchen. You decided to break the silence, knowing it was best to greet Sam.

"Hi Sam." You greeted, your voice low. Sam gave you a quick nod as his lips formed into a tight smile. "Hey." was all he said before he put his hands in his pockets and walked away to find Emma. You and Joe watched as he walked off, Joe shaking his head in disbelief at your brother.

"It's fine," you breathed out, "if he doesn't want to talk, I won't force him." You pushed yourself off of the counter and turned to Joe, dramatically placing your hands on your hips as you said, "I'm done with the drama. It's had me stressed out for weeks and it's not good for the baby."

Joe nodded in agreement, "No, it's not. I'm willing to have a conversation if he is, but like you said, I'm not forcing anything."

It was good to hear that you and Joe were on the same page. As much as you both wanted to confront Sam, you weren't going to force a conversation with him and his drama. You needed to have a civilized conversation--not another screaming match. If the opportunity comes up today, you'll confront Sam. If it doesn't, then you'll wait. You don't need to stress yourself or your baby out anymore about the situation.

You filled up a cup with some pink lemonade and Joe grabbed a bottle of water before you both headed into the living room to join the rest of the guests--who were getting ready for Emma to open up her gifts. As you and Joe entered the living room, Holly and Joey made room for you and Joe next to them on the couch. You smiled warmly at Holly as you sat down on the couch, Joe sitting down next to you and letting out a soft sigh as he leaned back in the furniture. Joe set his water bottle on his thigh, holding onto the lid with one hand while bis free hand draped around the back of couch. He let his hand rest on your shoulder, making you smile at the feeling of his fingertips brushing against your exposed skin.

Once everyone was situated in the living room, Emma had begun to unwrap the gifts that were sitting on the table set up. Some of the gifts she had gotten were a couple super cute outfits from Morgan and Logan, along with a fluffy, pink baby blanket. Holly and Joey got bottles, a baby book, and a stuffed tiger lovey, while Zac and his wife Sarah pitched in and got the two a crib. Eventually, there were just a few more gifts left, all of them being from you and Joe. She opened the remainder of the gifts, gushing over how precious the outfits were that you got for your niece, and how the cute, pink swaddle blanket that Joe picked out would be perfect for the little girl. After putting all of the opened gifts on the table, Emma and Sam walked around and gave all of the guests hugs, thanking you all for coming and for going them all of the thoughtful gifts. Sam didn't acknowledge Joe much when it was your turn for hugs. He just gave Joe a simple nod and a "thank you". But to your surprise, Sam actually gave you a hug. You were taken aback when your older brother wrapped his arms around you, but you hugged back nonetheless. He thanked you for the gifts and told you he misses you. You just nodded and gave him a small smile in return, unsure of how to respond to him.

Sam misses you? It's his fault for not speaking to you for the last month, not yours. If he missed you, he could've reached out and sorted through his issues with you and Joe...

After your tense interaction with Sam, you and Joe headed to the dining room to get some food. Neither of you had anything to eat yet today, so you figured you'd get some food in your bellies in case you did end up talking to Sam at some point. You didn't want to risk saying something to Sam that you didn't mean to say due to your hanger. That being said, you and Joe stood by the table full of food, filling up your plates with food from the delicious trays full of assortments of food Emma and Sam made and bought for the occasion. As the two of you were standing together, enjoying your food, you looked throughout the room at the different crowds of people. You couldn't help but chuckled as your eyes fell on Emma, who was practically waddling as she headed to the bathroom.

You shook your head, "My best friend is a penguin." you said in amusement as you gestured toward Emma. Joe must have noticed her, because he too was chuckling. He looked down at you, "You're laughing now, but, that's going to be you someday soon." He smiled, resting a hand on your tummy. You smiled up at him, "And I can't wait for that day." Joe caressed your bump with his thumb, "Me neither." he mused.

You had yet to reach the moment in your pregnancy where your bump was big enough to the point where you were waddling more than you were walking. However, you couldn't wait to get to that part of your pregnancy. Because one you get to that point, it means that you'll be even closer to finally meeting your baby boy.

As you and Joe stood around and enjoyed your food together in each others company, you were approached my someone who you least expected to see.

"Hey Y/n."

You turned to your left, eyes widening slightly as you saw Sam approach you.

"Sam," you said, sounding slightly taken aback, "hi." Sam gave you a small smile as he put his hands in his pockets. He cleared his throat before he asked the question you've been wanting to ask him all day.

"Can we talk?"

You took a deep breath as you went outside with Sam. You followed him out onto the lawn, sitting down next to him on the cushioned bench that sat under the pergola lined with fairy lights. You leaned back against the cushion, placing your hands in your lap and looking off in the distance as Sam leaned forward in his seat, rubbing his hands together. He knew he had to talk to you, had to apologize to you for his actions--from both the past and present, but he had no clue how to start that conversation. He couldn't just say sorry, it wasn't that easy.

"So I heard you're having a boy." Sam said quietly, finally breaking the silence. You nodded, sucking in a breath as you said, "Yeah, found out a couple weeks ago."

Sam nodded as he leaned back. He glanced at you with a raised eyebrow, "You happy?" You nodded, a smile pulling at your lips as you spoke, "Yeah, I'm really happy." Sam smiled, his voice soft, "Good. I'm happy for you."

You didn't respond. You didn't know how to respond. Sam certainly didn't seem happy when you told him about the baby last month. The two of you sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, both of you thinking about what you were going to say to the other. As much as you wanted to rip him a new one, you knew you couldn't. even though you're extremely angry with Sam and his actions from the past and now, he's still your brother. You know you'll forgive him at some point, just like he'll forgive you, too.

Sam broke the silence once again, "Look y/n," he sighed softly, "there's a lot that I want to apologize for." He glanced over at you. You just nodded, letting him know you understood and that you wanted him to continue.

"I've been a jerk lately. I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did. I shouldn't have ignored you for the past month, and I certainly shouldn't have missed your gender reveal because I was upset about you hooking up with my best friend again." You scoffed amusingly at his words. Sam continued, "I know I've been a complete asshole, and I'm sorry. That baby is my nephew, not some random kid. I love him, just like I love you Y/n/n." He finished, smiling sincerely at you.

You took a moment to process his words before you cleared your throat and finally spoke. "I'm still upset with you, for more than just how you reacted to the baby news."

Sam's shoulders slouched as he sighed deeply. "I know." Was all he said as his voice grew quiet. You sucked in a breath as a small smile pulled at your lips, "but I love you too, Sammy." Sam smiled once again, pulling you into a tight hug. It made you happy knowing you were starting to finally resolve things between you, Joe, and Sam.

However, just as you thought things were starting to look on the bright side, the situation took a turn for the worse...

Sam pulled away from you, his tone serious as he looked at you with raised eyebrows, "but just because I'm apologizing to you, doesn't mean I'm OK with Joe." Your face turned to a look of disbelief as you pulled yourself away from him. "I still think he's going to leave you, Y/n. There is nothing tying him down to you."

You stood from the bench and crossed your arms over your chest. You couldn't believe you were having this conversation with Sam again.

"You can't be serious right now."

As you uttered those words, Joe had made his way out to the backyard to join you and Sam. He wanted to make sure that you were OK and that the conversation didn't go south. Boy did Joe arrive just in time...

"Everything OK?" he asked, walking up behind you and placing a hand on your shoulder.

"No"

"Yes."

Joe narrowed his eyes as you and Sam eyed each other. In that moment, Joe could tell the conversation had gone south, and that it was only going to get worse now that he had joined.

Joe walked past you and towards Sam, standing next to the bench that Sam was still sitting on. Joe crossed his arms and stared at Sam intensely as he spoke. "What's the problem?"

Sam shook his head, "I'm just trying to help my sister."

"Oh yeah? Like you did in college?"

Sam stood up, getting dangerously close to Joe. Both guys jaws clenched as they started at each other. You snuck past them and sat down the bench, letting out a defeated sigh as you prepared yourself for another screaming match. So much for a civil conversation amongst the three of you about the whole situation.

Sam crossed his arms, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Joe scoffed at his answer, "Bullshit. You were the one that confessed to being the reason I broke things off with Y/n before I left for LSU."

Sam nodded, "I was only looking out for both of you. Long distance wasn't going to work between the two of you, you knew that Joe. You could never make a relationship work in college, whether you were in the same state or not. Hell, while you were sneaking around with my sister I'm sure you had three other flings you felt the same way about. You never stick to one girl, Joe. You never have and you never will." He said, voice dripping with venom as he dug at Joe. Joe was absolutely fuming at Sam's accusations. Joe never made a relationship work in college because he only wanted to be with you. You were his only college fling—at both OSU and LSU. It always has been and always will be just you. But Sam can't seem to understand that.

"I loved Y/n, Sam. I still love her. I didn't want to break her heart like that, I wanted to make things work between us--long distance or not." Joe pointed at Sam's chest, "but you got in my head and insisted that I break things off with her because you hated the idea of your best friend and sister being together. You saw how things turned out between Nick and his best friends sister, so you just assumed Y/n and I would end up the same way they did." Joe looked like he wanted to sock Sam as he started going on a tangent about how your relationship is completely different than what Nick and Jenna's relationship was like.

Soon, the somewhat calm conversation has turned into raised voices and even more accusations being shared between the two of them. You could feel your heart racing as Joe and Sam let all of their pent up emotions out on each other. The bickering back and forth only got worse and even more relentless...

"I knew about the two of you the whole time you were sneaking around. My sister is too good for you, you arrogant son of a bitch."

"I don't care if you never speak to me again, I'm staying around for Y/n and our son."

"You snuck around behind my back and expected me to be OK with it?"

"You snuck around behind my back, Sam! You knew I loved Y/n and you didn't give a shit. You made me break her heart because you cared too much about yourself and your own insecurities."

"This baby deserves someone better than you, Joe. You're going to leave her and that kid behind Joe. You have absolutely nothing tying you down to her. You're not married, you're not dating, hell you're not even living together. You have absolutely nothing."

"Actually we are living together. Y/n moved in a couple weeks ago, and you'd know that if you weren't sulking over yourself and the problems you have with her and I."

The yelling only got worse. You were shocked nobody had a thrown a punch yet. As much as you hate to say it...it's good for the two of them to scream at each other. It's only going to get worse before it gets better. The screaming mean things at each other had to happen before a civilized conversation could be had between them. That's just how it works in a situation like this: a guy being with his best friends sister. Add an unplanned pregnancy into that and it's even more accurate. Deep down you know the two of them will talk it out someday, but for now, they'll stick with what they're doing.

As the arguing continued between Joe and Sam, you could feel your stress levels rising. You were extremely emotionally overwhelmed right now. It's not easy seeing your brother and the man you are in love with, fight like the way they are right now. The whole situation has been weighing pretty heavy on you for the last couple of weeks, causing large amounts of stress and nerves every time you thought about the whole situation. Your heart rate quickened and your blood pressure raised as you listened to the men argue. You leaned forward on the bench and rubbed your hands down your face in agony a few times before you couldn't take it anymore. You snapped your head up, your heart dropping to your stomach as you were beginning to feel different. Something inside of you just didn't feel right. You brushed it off as just being overwhelmed over Joe and Sam's arguing. You stood up from the bench and sighed deeply as you walked away from the scene in the backyard. Neither Sam nor Joe even realizing you had left the backyard, the two of them two engrossed in yelling at one another. You shut the sliding glass door and headed to the bathroom to compose yourself and try to get your heart to stop racing.

As you walked to the bathroom, you still felt off. Something just didn't feel right, and you had no idea what it could possibly be. Until you sat down on the toilet and pulled your light, lace panties down.

Your heart dropped to your stomach and your face grew pale. You let out a gasp as you saw it.

Drops of deep crimson on your light underwear were staring back at you.

You were bleeding. It wasn't a significant amount, but still enough to make your heart skip a beat and your mind immediately fill with worry. Your mind was racing as you reached for toilet paper, wiping yourself off and sure enough, there was a little blood on the toilet paper, too. Your hands were shaking as your thoughts ran wild.

What is happening?

Am I OK?

Is the baby OK?

You didn't know what to think, but you knew one thing was certain. You needed to go to the hospital, ASAP.

You pulled your underwear up and flushed the toilet, quickly and carefully washing your hands before you exited the bathroom and made your way back outside. Your whole body was shaking in fear, and your eyes were welling with tears. Joe and Sam's arguing had died down, but they seemed like they were still quite angry with one another.

"Joe," you called out shakily, your voice full of fear and uncertainty, 'I'm bleeding.”

hey loves!!

wow…a lot just happened in that chapter, huh? and it ended on a cliffhanger too!?

it was kind of all over the place sorry. i promise what happens in this chapter will lead somewhere

i told you this chapter was going to be drama filled and angsty. sam can’t seem to get over himself and now y/n is on her way to the hospital because of complications from all the stress the situation between sam and joe is causing her. this poor girl can’t seem to catch a break!

i promise it’ll start to get fluffier soon…but we have to get through some things first.

i hope you’re all doing well! as always, i appreciate all of the love and support you’ve shown me with this series. i’m extremely proud of it and makes me SO happy seeing all of you excited for more!!🥹🤍

tags: @dandelionwrites8 @joeburreauxsworld @theflawedwriter @mrsshiesty @ann288 @ijustcrypretty @theoneandonlyfanz @wickedfun9 @venus-b @hummusxx @stainednailpolishremover @a-moment-captured @alternativemadchen @erinmartin1987 @sirlewisworld @kkrenae @unhingedfangirl @sublimemusic-rebel @meameagirl @ilovejoeburroww @hallecarey1 @j-worlds-blog @blinkloverx3 @jordyn14 @kristencochefski1125 @ryiamarie @unsaidjaelinrose @sinners-98-world @ozwriterchick @hearts4papayas @emherb10

[edendaphne]

“Discordant Sonata” Chapter 19

>>Click here to read on Ao3<<

>>Click here to read on Wattpad<<

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CHAPTER 19: ATTACCA

Music glossary:        Attacca - "To attack at once"; used as a direction in music at the end of a movement to begin the next without pause

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(Mood music: "The Conversation" - Pearl Django)

Being mere months away from graduating lycée meant that their group of friends didn’t have as many classes together, due to their diverse individual interests and talents. However, they always made sure to make time to hang out after school before their extracurricular activities began.

And thus, Adrien, Nino, and Alya made their way to the classroom where the art club gathered to meet up with Marinette. From there, Adrien would make his way to either fencing lessons or Chinese, depending on the day of the week. Marinette would join him on days when he had Chinese (as she’d become determined to master the language ever since her uncle visited from Shanghai a few years back), Alya would go to her journalism club, and Nino would travel to his part-time internship at the local recording studio.

“–and the backlogs just keep piling up!” Alya spoke as they walked, voice full of vigor and excitement. “I’ve had to recruit yet another mod to help me keep order in the forums! Especially since the Ladyblog has started going international and we’ve had to organize servers in different languages. You wouldn’t believe how crazy it’s gotten in there recently!”

“Dang, babe,” Nino interjected. “Sounds like things are super rough for you right now.”

“Not really, more busy than anything. Especially because I have that big research article due next week, there’s just not enough hours in the day to try to read everything that goes on in there. But I have my mods report to me daily, ‘cause I always like to stay on top of everything that goes on in the chats!”

“What’s gotten everyone so riled up in the Ladyblog lately?” Adrien chimed in. “I don’t recall it being nearly this busy last year.”

The trio entered the art club’s classroom and settled down at the table where Marinette sat, getting her various sketches organized. The art teacher was quite easy going, so they didn’t have to talk in hushed whispers and could come and go as they pleased.

“Well, to be honest, it’s because of Chat Noir,” Alya replied.

Adrien tried to contain his surprise. “R-really? What– uhhh, what do people have to say about him?”

He winced inwardly. He knew he shouldn’t ask. But curiosity got the better of him today. Maybe learning the news through the filter or Alya’s paraphrasing instead of reading the negative comments firsthand would lessen the sting of what people said about him.

Marinette whipped her head around at the mention of his alter ego. “Wait, what about Chat Noir?” she inquired.

“Girl,” Alya replied, her voice filled with renewed exuberance. “You would not believe how much we’ve had to censor and moderate all the inappropriate things people have been saying!”

Adrien flinched in his seat. “Wow… do people really hate him that much?” he asked, trying to conceal the dejection in his voice.

Alya busted out into loud guffaws. “Hate?! Dude, most people don’t hate him; they LOVE him! By ‘inappropriate’ comments, I mean the kinda stuff you wouldn’t want your grandma to catch you reading! There’s a whole giant section dedicated to his new fan club!” she said as she removed her glasses so she could wipe away the tears of laughter.

“WHAT?!” Adrien squawked in confusion, his face feeling hotter than the ovens back at the bakery. “A fan club??”

Marinette burst into uncontrollable snickering. “Has it really gotten that bad?!”

Nino joined in, “Bro! Adrien, I can’t believe you haven’t heard Alya rant about these rabid fans before! They call themselves the ‘Noir Nation’, and the kind of things they’ve been writing would make adult romance authors blush like schoolgirls!”

Alya nodded, thoroughly amused. “And that’s not including all the fanfiction people have been writing.”

“Wait– the WHAT?! There’s fanfiction?!!” Marinette gaped in shock, as if she’d been hit in the face with an enormous pie. “Alya, how come I never knew about this?!”

“Why? You wanna read em? Girl, you’ll get no judgment from me. If you wanna check ‘em out for yourself, just go check under the hashtag ‘Ladynoir’.”

Marinette stammered as her arms flailed in her bewilderment, accidentally knocking her phone off the table and onto the floor, her eyes bigger and rounder than Adrien had ever seen them. “They have a ship name?!” she screeched.

“Just mind the ratings though,” Alya advised. “Some of them can get pretty steamy. You wouldn’t want someone to catch you reading those in public,” she added with a wink.

Marinette continued to sputter incoherently. “NO, I am NOT gonna read it!! It would be different if they were fictional characters, but I could never read fanfiction about real people!”

Alya raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. “Mm-hmm… Sure.”

Marinette’s hands flew to her face, trying to hide how red her entire face had gotten, and released a long squeak that resembled a hamster on helium. As shocked as Adrien was about these rather unexpected news, seeing Marinette’s over-the-top reaction brought a wide grin to his face and he busted out laughing.

He bent over to retrieve Marinette’s phone, since she was too busy being mortified to notice it had fallen to the floor. As he was about to hand it back, the screen lit up and Adrien saw the lockscreen wallpaper: it was the same photo of Ladybug and Chat Noir that he himself had saved earlier that day. He smiled, not exactly sure what to make of it, but finding it adorable that she’d liked the photo enough to set it as her lockscreen.

He tapped her shoulder, waiting for her to respond. She emerged from behind her impromptu hand shield and turned her head, then her eyes widened once again as soon as she saw what Adrien was showing her. She jolted straight up, stiff as a board, and her eyes met his, cheeks turning tomato red. He winked at her, amused about this little secret between them, and handed back her phone without a word.

Marinette accepted it with a meek-sounding, “Thanks,” looking like she wanted to explain the photo, but not able to do so unless she wanted Alya and Nino to find out that she was potentially a… ahem– “Ladynoir” shipper.

Switching the conversation to something else (which Marinette seemed to be eternally grateful for), the group chatted until it became time for them to scatter to their next destinations.

With a wave, Adrien exited the classroom and headed towards fencing practice, one of the few activities he decided to stick with despite not being forced to participate. Fencing, along with Chinese lessons, were not only enjoyable, but were also quite useful. Sadly, he didn’t have access to a piano anymore, so he wasn’t able to pursue that hobby for the time being. Hopefully later down the line, when things had settled down and he’d found his own place to live, he’d be able to finance one.

Thinking about the future had become an exciting pastime instead of an anxiety-inducing one, and it was all thanks to his friends and those he cared about. He smiled as he reached the door to the locker rooms, continuing to daydream of what was to come.

(Mood music: "Recollection 3" - Shirō Sagisu (BLEACH OST, "The Diamond Dust Rebellion")

Adrien finished getting dressed for fencing, his head still blissfully floating in the clouds. He stored his belongings into his assigned locker, shutting it with a loud clang, which echoed through the empty room.

Huh...? Empty?

He swiveled his head around, surprised that there was no one beside him. He stood up and began walking down the large room, peeking down the other locker rows looking for his classmates; but there was nobody.

Where was everyone? There’s no way that every single one of them was running late. Had his lessons been cancelled and he’d somehow missed a text message or email? He began heading back towards his locker to check his phone for any schedule changes.

Before he reached his destination, however, heavy thudding footsteps broke the eerie silence. Adrien whipped his body around to greet whoever they belonged to.

The owner of those footsteps was one of the last people Adrien expected to meet here.

“Gaspard?!”

Adrien stood agape, face to face with his old bodyguard, whom he hadn’t seen in a couple of years; not since he’d resigned and moved out of the country. Nathalie had mentioned that in his resignation letter, Gaspard said that he’d become involved in an overseas business venture involving the market of rare action figures. Nevertheless, Adrien couldn’t help but suspect that his father’s ill temper and poor treatment of their employees was the true reason for his departure.

Adrien’s first reaction was surprise and joy, and he rushed forward to greet and embrace him. However, as he approached and got a better look at the man’s face, Adrien’s mood instantly morphed into confusion and apprehension. There was something odd about his eyes.

Something wasn’t right. Why was Gaspard here? And why now?

He came to a halt about a meter before reaching him. An oppressive weight seemed to press in all around him, and he had to suppress a shiver. “Wait. Gaspard, did–” he gulped, “–did my father send you?”

His old bodyguard did not reply, but took a heavy step towards him. Adrien stepped back.

“Please… I can’t go back. I live somewhere else now, and I’m very happy there. Whatever he told you about the situation, it’s a lie.”

His bodyguard continued to approach him, his stare vacant and unsettling.

Fighting the urge to panic, he pleaded, “You don’t have to do this. If he’s offered you compensation, I can match it; it’ll just take me a bit of time. But we can work something out, right?? For old time’s sake?”

He continued walking backwards until he bumped into something firm, but it wasn’t a wall; it was another person. Before he could turn around, they grabbed him by the shoulders, detaining him and preventing him from running away.

He was about to shout for help when something sharp jabbed him on the side of the neck, injecting a cold liquid. Adrien’s eyes grew wide in terror.

Shit.

Adrien swore as he jerked away, elbowing whoever was behind him and managing to break free. Rubbing at the spot where the syringe had stabbed him, he glanced back to take a look at his other assailant, only to see... another Gaspard?

Why are there two of him??

This was wrong. Gaspard didn’t have a twin; he knew that for a fact. He’d worked for the Agrestes ever since Adrien was a toddler and was too young to even pronounce his name correctly (hence the nickname “Gorille”, which stuck around for years afterwards). Additionally, there was something uncanny, otherworldly, even, about the way these two men looked and moved.

He shook himself out of his stupor. He didn’t have time to contemplate any possible explanations. He had to get out of there fast.

He sprinted towards the exit, but only managed to travel a few paces before he lost his footing and tripped. He fell to the ground hard, almost hitting his head on a nearby bench. As he struggled to get up, he realized that his fingers and toes had already gone numb.

Not good.

Time was running out. Adrenaline coursed through him and, with a grunt, he hefted himself to his feet and scrambled towards the exit, as fast as he could despite a heavy limp. Though his heart was hammering and his legs felt like they were filled with sand, he pushed himself, concentrating on reaching the door.

After taking a few steps, however, he realized that even if he did manage to exit the locker room, the area beyond was an open courtyard. Meaning he wasn’t going to be able to reach someplace safe before getting caught. He had no choice but to transform into Chat Noir, and hopefully Plagg’s powers and strength could help him escape and find somewhere to hide.

He’d scarcely uttered the first syllable in the transformation phrase when he was tackled to the ground. A giant hand swiftly covered his mouth and Adrien felt his hands get bound together with thick zip ties behind his back. A muffled scream of writhing frustration made its way up his throat as his limbs became more and more useless by the second.

No… This can’t be happening! Please, this can’t be how it all ends!

Just when his life had finally gained a semblance of normalcy and he’d found happiness again, it would get ripped away and he would disappear without a trace, leaving everyone to wonder what had happened to him. Leaving his friends to think that Gabriel had pulled him from school and they would never see him again. Leaving Ladybug to wonder if Chat had abandoned her forever. Leaving her to fight Hawkmoth alone. Again.

He couldn’t let that happen. He thrashed and struggled as furiously as he could, fighting the feelings of overwhelming helplessness that threatened to consume him. Nearing despair, he was too distracted to notice Plagg phrasing through the wall, away from the skirmish, in search of the only person who could save him.

(Mood music: "Run" - Ludovico Einaudi)

Marinette fidgeted with her pencil, her feet wiggled and bounced under her desk. She didn’t understand; when she’d arrived at the art club, her head had been filled with inspiration and ideas that she’d been excited to draw and execute. However, at the moment, her mind was filled with noise and disquietude.

Having had enough, she excused herself to visit the restroom. Once she’d walked far enough from the classroom, she opened her purse to talk to Tikki about her current dilemma.

“It’s the same feeling as last night, Tikki! Except that would mean one of three possibilities. Option A.) It’s nothing and I’m going crazy. And— don’t give me that look, Tikki! I can see what you’re thinking and I don’t have time for your cheeky sass right now!” The kwami snickered while Marinette cleared her throat and continued, “Option B.) that Chat is here, at this school, which is impossible because his school’s on the other side of the city, that’s why he always leaves the house super early for his long commute.”

Tikki opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something, but then didn’t (...or couldn’t?).

Marinette resumed, “Or, C.) that my–– what do I even call it? My ‘Spidey sense’??–– that it’s got a long distance mode, and Chat is all the way across Paris and he’s in trouble! But what am I supposed to do about that from here?! I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking!”

Tikki shrugged. “Follow your instincts, Marinette. There’s no harm in taking a quick look around the school, right?”

Marinette groaned. “UGH! It doesn’t make sense!! Am I going to get interrupted like this all the time from now on?” She shook her head resolutely. “No. I can’t just go off on random field trips every single time I feel a random fit of anxiety. I’m sure it’s just leftover jitters from last night. I’m supposed to call Master Fu after school anyway; he can help me figure everything out. I’m just gonna go back to class and forget about it.”

Tikki frowned, not quite convinced, but deciding not to press further.

Marinette made her way back to the classroom in a frustrated huff. But as her hand reached to turn the handle, the feelings of danger and urgency multiplied tenfold. Without a word, she sprinted away in the opposite direction, not even knowing where she was running to, only knowing she had to get there immediately.

She reached the large common area of the school downstairs. Her head whipped around, frantically searching for something, anything. In her haste, she didn’t notice a small black creature zoom into her open purse.

A few moments later, she felt a frantic tugging at her shirt from below.

“Marinette!! Over there! Check the locker room, quick!!!” Tikki whisper-screamed as she peeked outside the purse, her tone uncharacteristically frantic.

Marinette nodded, then sprinted to the locker room.

“Wait! You should transform first!” Tikki added.

No time!

“Marinette, wait!!”

Despite Tikki’s protests, Marinette raced towards the double doors, tackling them open.

Three sets of eyes landed on her as she skidded to a halt, but only one pair consumed her entire attention. She gasped in horror, hands flying to her face as she stared at what was occurring in front of her. Adrien let out a desperate, muffled scream urging her to run.

His panicked voice snapped her out of her dazed shock; but instead of running, she stood her ground, eyes darting back and forth across the area searching for something useful. The room was remarkably barren except for a lone broom a short distance away from her. She grabbed it and leaped towards the closest attacker (the one holding Adrien down), swinging it like a baseball bat.

The man didn’t even try to avoid the hit; the broomstick merely bounced off the side of his face where Marinette had hit him. She frowned in confusion, then tried hitting him again, bringing the stick down on the top of his head like an axe.

SNAP.

The end of the broom flew off, and Marinette stared in shock at the broken broomstick.

“What the hell are you?!” Marinette exclaimed, shifting her grip on the shortened wooden stub.

She pounced at the second bodyguard, bringing her weapon down in a stabbing motion; but he swatted at her hand, disarming her. She yelped in pain, leaping backwards to get some distance between them.

She was outmatched. The only strategy available was to use their own size against them. With a feint to the side, she shot at his legs for a takedown, hoping to catch him off balance. He called her bluff and shoved her backwards with his giant palm, then kneed her in the stomach.

Winded from the impact, Marinette doubled over with a gasping wheeze, fighting with all her might to keep herself from collapsing onto the ground. She forced herself upright and attacked again. With a clumsy jerk, she lunged forward, swinging wild punches at her opponent. The shots connected but his expression barely changed; it was like beating a breathing punching bag.

The bodyguard backhanded Marinette across the face. Pain shooting across her cheek, she staggered, almost losing her balance. In her daze, she watched helplessly as the man reared his arm back. There was no chance to dodge. His fist connected with her abdomen, delivering a liver shot that shut down her entire body. She crumpled to the floor as if boneless. She tried to call out Adrien’s name, but her mouth merely opened in a silent scream.

Marinette could hear Adrien’s distressed screaming, but it sounded distant, like they were underwater. The edges of her vision grew black and fuzzy, the entire room dissolving around her. She had to consciously force her lungs to inhale, but couldn’t fill them all the way, as if a boulder had been placed on top of her chest.

Faintly, she felt herself getting picked up off the ground and carried away over someone’s shoulder. Disoriented and semi-blinded, the sudden movement and rough jostling made her head spin and gave her vertigo. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block it all out.

A few moments later, they stopped moving, and she heard a door burst open. Where were they? Before she could gather her senses, she was in the air, thrown several meters away, landing with a hard thud. A sharp pain traveled down her body as she rolled into the wall across them. The shriek that tried to escape her throat emerged as a strained, shallow whine.

The man stomped out, leaving her alone in the room. “Stop…!” she rasped out, managing to tilt her neck upwards, head pounding.

The bodyguard slammed the door shut, followed by a bang and a clattering sound that could only mean he’d broken the doorknob of whatever room she was in.

Marinette's vision became more and more blurred. At the verge of losing consciousness, she fought to keep her eyes open as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

No, she couldn’t pass out! She had to save Adrien! Stay awake, Marinette, stay awake!!

She bit down on her lip hard, focusing on the sharp sting, on the swelling that was already forming around her right eye, forcing herself to feel the pain her body was in. At this moment, feeling pain was better than falling unconscious. She concentrated on her breathing, slowly regaining her senses.

She reached down to open her purse and get Tikki’s help… only to be met with emptiness. Panic settled in her gut as she realized that sometime during the skirmish, the purse had slipped off her shoulder. She sat up, slowly, so she wouldn’t risk feeling faint again from the change in positions.

She squinted, adjusting her eyesight to the darkness of the room. It seemed to be some sort of supply closet. After a failed few attempts to stand, she crawled towards the door instead, careful not to bump into the crates and shelves that filled the area.

The girl eyed the broken doorknob wearily. She was pretty proficient at lockpicking and breaking into things, but not as good at breaking out. Her only hope was that Tikki would be able to find her… if she was even nearby.

She swore to herself. Why had she rushed in and attacked two grown ass men (who, incidentally, may or may not be supernatural to boot!) instead of hiding and creating a strategy?! Now she was useless, Tikki was gone, and Adrien was surely on his way to get auctioned to the highest bidder in the criminal black market and ransomed off for an enormous sum. Great job, Marinette. Adrien’s been abducted and it’s all your fault.

Gathering all the determination she could muster, she tried to call out for help. But her voice was still too hoarse, and only a weak croak came out. She clenched her fists, grumbling irritably. Time for a different approach. Somehow, she needed to make noise.

After a brief search, she found a hard, metallic object that she could use to hammer on the door. She tested it out; it was surprisingly effective. She doubled her efforts, making as big a racket as possible. Hopefully, it would only be a matter of time before somebody heard her, let her out, and she could go find Adrien.

She couldn’t let anything else happen to another loved one. Not again.

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I'M REEEAAAAALLY SORRY FOR THAT CLIFFHANGER JSHDKFJHSKDF ᕕ(╯°д°)ᕗ  I tried splitting up the sections differently but it didn't really flow as well.

But the next chapter is almost done, so I'll have it ready by next weekend!!

[nobodycallsmerae]

139. “Hey! I was gonna eat that!” BBStar? (Beast boy x StarFire)

First off, I am so, soo sorry for the late answer!! 🙇🏻

I personally don't ship Beast Boy with Starfire, so ngl I was a bit reluctant to write this as I did not wanted the interactions to be stiff and weird ^^’

But, I wanna thank you for giving me this pair because I had a blast writing this!! (and guess what, I even low-key ship them now.)

Also, I read "the habitual affection of undefined things" by @callmefairyofthesea to like, get into the ship, and that one there is a masterpiece. You should totally check it out if you haven't already!!

I hope you like this story!! (I really, really hope you do 🤞)

_____

It was a beautiful sunny day, but Beast Boy was not exactly pleased.

It wasn’t that he was against sunny days or anything; the shapeshifter was all up for a bright day of team bonding and shenanigans, but on idle days like this, when they’d have nothing exciting to do, the bright, beautiful day reminded him too much of her.

The way the leaves waved in the air, much like her long fiery hair. The way the birds chirped and sang, almost rivaling her cheery aura, and most of all the way the sun shined, reminding him how she would make the room light up with her presence alone.

Sunny days never failed to remind him of her.

He blinked and looked away from the huge windows, coming back into the Titans’ common room with a sigh.

‘What’s with the sighs dude, you’re creeping me out.’ Cyborg commented from the couch, looking at him with a skeptical look.

Beast Boy just slightly shook his head with a tired smile as a silent response to his friend. He looked around the common room. Cyborg was on the couch, non-committedly playing a video-game and Raven was curled up with a book as usual. The green boy was sitting on the dining table, poking a piece of chocolate cake in front of him.

The delicious looking frosted cake was fresh, it was only brought to the Titans’ Tower that morning by Barbara Gordon, the leader’s girlfriend, who was visiting Nightwing from Gotham. The two bat-kids had been in a relationship for a year now, having started dating a year after Starfire and Nightwing had broken up.

The previous love-birds didn’t have a fight, and neither was their break-up nasty; they’d just realized that they weren’t exactly “the one” for each other, and called it quits on friendly terms.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Beast Boy spotted Silkie crawling on the table, inching closer to him, and he subtly slided the plate farther away from him so the mutant couldn’t reach it. He loved Silkie very much, but no sacrifices were to be made to the last piece of his favourite cake.

The alien animal happily moaned and squealed as the shapeshifter took him into his arms and began tickling him with care. Beast Boy was like Silkie’s dad, having co-parenting it alongside Starfire.

He sighed yet again, impulsively taking a look at a distracted Cyborg before falling into his thoughts again. Whatever he did, everything always came back to the alien beauty. Though it wasn’t an obsession, he made sure of that, it was just that thinking about her made him feel warm and giddy and things he never thought he could feel so strongly before.

The truth was, Beast Boy had fallen for Starfire.

How could he not?

He’d already had a school-boy like crush on her when he’d first met her all these years ago, and honestly, it was totally because of how she looked. Her beautiful hair, the elegant yet fierce way she carried herself, and didn't get him started on her magical, shining eyes. But over the years, as they’d all grown together, physically and emotionally, he’d fallen for her because of who she was.

She was Koriand’r, princess of Tamaran.

Starfire, a hero, who would do anything for the ones she loved, and even the ones who did not deserve her love.

She was kind, generous, compassionate, and so much more which Beast Boy guessed he didn’t know the words to describe.

She would always make others smile, and even have that pretty smile on her face, even when she didn’t feel like it. In many ways, Beast Boy had learnt through their many evenings together, she was so much like him.

She made him happy, truely, and he liked to believe that he made her happier too. Star would always smile when she was with her friends, but Beast Boy felt that sometimes, her smile would grow brighter, wider… or even softer when they’d have those unexpected stop and stare moments.

The green superhero let Silkie crawl out of his grasp as he heard the doors of the common room swooshed open, letting in a gush of air, as if to fan out his fogged thoughts.

He didn’t have to look up to know that Starfire had entered the room. Even though the princess hadn’t announced her entry yet, Beast Boy just knew. It was the aura that she carried herself with that told him. The aura of rainbows and gumdrops and unicorns who would totally kick your ass if you messed with them.

‘Hello friends!’ Starfire sang, gleefully flying into the common room.

Cyborg silently waved and Raven nodded in her direction, as Beast Boy smiled at their teammate’s entrance.

‘Hiy’a Star!!’ He greeted her with his usual goofy-grin. Even though he knew he was too obvious sometimes, he could never consciously let Starfire know about his unrequited love for her.

She could never know. He would never be able to face what comes next after she knew. Because, truth be told, Beast Boy knew the alien princess could never return his feelings. She’d dated the Boy Wonder, Dick Grayson for God’s sake! And the fact that she was who she was, she could do so much better, she would never even consider the elf-eared jokester.

‘There you are, my bumgorf!’ Starfire smiled as she flew closer to the dining table, where Silkie was resting beside Beast Boy’s feet. ‘I have been looking all over for the you!’

‘Don’t worry, Star, he was just playin’ with me.’ Beast boy reassured her with a smile.

‘Not again. I can’t take it any more.’ He heard Raven mutter from the couch, but he wasn’t sure if she was referring to him or her book.

‘Ooh, is that the chocolate cake Babs brought?’ Star asked, pointing at the long forgotten plate on the table.

‘Oh, yeah, I was ju-’ Before the hero could complete his sentence, the alien princess swooped in and ate the cake piece in one gulp.

‘What the-’ Beast Boy’s eyes opened wide in shock. ‘Hey! I was gonna eat that!’

‘But it was so far away from you. I didn’t think that..’ Starfire looked at him with confused eyes.

‘Yeah, but I was going to eat it!’ The shapeshifter cried, looking at his teammate. He looked at the crumbs and frosting sticking to her mouth, though he wasn’t completely sure if he was looking at the cake crumbs or her soft, rosy lips.

‘I am so sorry Beast Boy, I didn’t mean to steal the cake from you!’ Star confessed, feeling awfully guilty with her actions. ‘Did you really like it that much?’

‘Well, yeah,’ Beast Boy silently muttered with a pout. ‘It was my favourite…’

‘Well, if that is the case,’ Starfire walked towards him, with her cheeks dusted in a lovely pink. ‘You can have this.’ She timidly muttered, before pressing her lips into the unsuspecting shapeshifter’s.

Beast Boy’s first instinct would be to be on high alert, to understand what the hell was happening, but he was too much in bliss to think about any of that.

The strong taste of cocoa and vanilla was still lingering on her lips, mixed with her own unique taste that he knew he was addicted to the moment it mingled with his own. He wasn’t so short now like he used to be, so his well-built arm draped around her middle, with her hands resting on his muscled chest.

On the couch, the empath and the tin-man spared each other knowing glances, and Raven not-so-subtly forced out a cough, to let her friends know that they were there before things got more steamy.

The two superheroes let go of each other after a minute or so, both of them out of breath, and ridiculously red.

After an eternity of just staring at each other with dopey smiles, Beast Boy’s smile faltered, and he clenched his hands, looking at his feet.

‘What language?’ He muttered, not able to face her.

‘Huh?’ Star tilted her head in confusion.

‘What language?’ He repeated. ‘I don’t think there’s a language that I know and you don’t. Then why…?’

‘Don’t you get it, Beast Boy…?’ Starfire muttered under her breath, so quietly that Beast Boy could barely hear it with his super senses.

Starfire sighed and smiled at him, looking the most confident, yet at the same time the most nervous he'd seen her.

‘It was your favourite cake right?’ She began, twiddling her fingers. ‘How about I treat you to cake tomorrow evening? And a cup of coffee..? Or milkshake, anything! There’s a new cafe I know that opened down of the town.’

‘Oh..’ Beast Boy’s eyes opened wide with her offer. ‘Uh, yeah, sure, of course!’ Y-Yes.’

‘Glorious!’ The princess sighed, visibly relaxing. ‘So then… it is the date?’ She meant to say it as a statement, but it came out more like a question.

‘Ye-yes!’ Beast Boy exclaimed, almost jumping while dying it. ‘It-It’s a date!’

‘Joy!’ Star giggled, and joyfully flew out of the common room, not before giving him a sweet kiss on his cheeks. She even gave Raven a knowing glance, one that read “girls’ night tonight!” in big, bold letters.

As Beast Boy just stood there for forever, dumb and love-struck, he finally came to his senses as he touched his cheek. And lips.

‘Dudes…’ He breathed, ‘Th-that really happened right?’

‘Back up, sister,’ Cyborg laughed from the couch, playfully putting an arm in front of a smirking Raven. ‘Loverboy’s gonna blow.’

Silkie randomly squeaked from the ground, and the starstruk shapeshifter aimlessly looked out of the window and smiled.

And at that moment, Beast Boy knew one thing.

He loved sunny days. Even more so than chocolate cake.

_____

I feel like I've cheated on an actual person wt-

(but dang i'm actually into them now.) (don't tell bbrae i said that.)

random but this pair totally reminds me of Jackson and Siena's relationship from Hannah Montana~ (also the fact that Siena was a b-b-b-bikini model.)

[and yup, I am open to prompts now!! I have to practice writing for my fic (the titans musical one (check it out already y'all!!)) and as I feel like I haven't written anything in forever, I'm really rusty, so feel free to send prompts!!]

ps, please share your thoughts! they make me happy >///<

[harmoni-me]

hello it’s me again! thank you for fulfilling my request i just loved it. can you please do a continuation? like- reader starts receiving these anonymous love letters and gifts, this drove the boys (and the reader) to confess their feelings in the end. angst to fluff

Wow, thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! This one is even longer than the last, so please have fun reading this one!

Nagito Komaeda x Sweetheart Reader x Kokichi Ouma Pt. 2

Crunch

Huh? What in the world-

Last time you remembered reaching into your school duffle bag, all you had in it was a comfy change of clothes for when gym activities rolled around, and a wet bottle of water that was dripping with condensation, but…

You didn’t remember an envelope, not in the slightest.

A nervousness started to boil over from your head to your heart, face heating up as quickly as hot coals on a cold evening. Is this… what you thought it was?

You’re stomach dropped at the realization, plunging into the depths of your being, as a realization struck.

This…this was probably not who you thought it was from.

In retrospect, the sting would only sink in deeper if only a single letter was given.

You weren’t satisfied, and that made you feel like you were scum, too dirty to even bother to be dealt with.

Even feeling a great amount of resentment to the silly thing, it’s not like you weren’t going to open it. You weren’t heartless when it came to the topic of possible confession. I guess you could say that the author of the letter made you feel something you haven’t felt in a while.

It’s was pure, unbridled, bitter jealousy. Jealousy that engulfed your vision, clouding all sense of realism.

Why could someone so anonymous have more guts about dealing with their crush than you? This person, who you didn’t even know, had the heart of a lion to sit down, write out something deep and personal, and somehow get it to you.

You were jealous, because you would never have the heart to do the same.

Once the bell rang to signal the last period of the day, you begrudgingly stood from your desk, knowing what you had to do. You had to open it, it would be extremely inconsiderate if you didn’t.

While you were walking in the hallway to somewhere slightly more secluded, you slipped the letter out of your bag. It was pure white, and it wasn’t made out of anything fancy. The opening was sealed by a simple piece of clear scotch tape, and when turning the message over, on the back was large, red letters that spelled your name in delicate cursive. You really wanted to get this over with.

“BOO!”

“OH MY GOD-“ You jumped out of your skin, dropping the envelope in your hand, causing it to flutter to the floor.

“Nehehe! I got you so good!” A purple-haired brat giggled at your jump of fright, rounding the corner he was hiding behind. His eyes then wandered to the envelope that was laid flat on the tiled floor, his eyebrows rose, and a smirk slowly carved his way onto his face.

“Oooo, what’s this little thing, hm? An invitation? A secret message?….”  Kokichi knelt down to pick up the letter, fitting the paper between his middle finger and index finger. He got up all in your face, an evil smile plastered on his face, reaching all the way up to his eyes. He got closer to your ear, voice dropping, and his breath hot against your ear.

“Maybe…a love confession? Aww, how sweet…” Kokichi hummed, pleased by the steamy expression your face turned when you were embarrassed. Then, as suddenly as the actions before, Kokichi hopped backwards, grasping onto the letter with both hands, raising it aggressively high in the air.

“Ahhh! The anticipation! What’s inside, what’s inside, what’s inside?!” Kokichi kept on blabbering, waving the envelope all over the place, as if he was a child on Christmas Eve, shaking a wrapped gift to see if they could guess its contents.

When you saw the best opportunity, you quickly snatched the letter back from the naughty boy’s grubby little hands, huffing with a blush on your face once you retrieved what had been addressed to you.

You leaned your back against the hallway wall, which had now been abandoned. Slowly, you sunk yourself down to the ground, not once taking your eyes off of the red lettering that spelled your name in flawless cursive. You noticed upon close inspection that the lettering was a little smudged at the ends, most likely from Kokichi’s roughhousing with it.

A rough thump rang out next to you, making you look over with not much interest. Kokichi, in all of his nosy glory, had sat right up next to you against to wall, head shoved all in your business.

“Come on! Open it already! The suspense is killing me!” Kokichi was vibrating from waiting so patiently....to what extent Kokichi could be patient, that is.

You sighed, giving up. It was most likely anonymous anyway, so Kokichi won’t even know who to target ruthlessly on for the next month.

You let the tip of your finger slide into the opening of the letter, breaking the tape to the prized information. You carefully slipped out the neatly folded piece of paper, which was a thicker, almost card stock like texture.

Even before opening it, you could feel the emotion that radiated out of the paper. You suddenly had an image turn in your mind, of a person looking to be your age, carefully writing every word down as perfectly a flawed human could. Though, you could imagine them also grasping at their hair, crumbling up previous attempts, over and over again, as if disposing of their emotions, yet rebirthing it to be conveyed better each and every time.

It made you feel that much worse, knowing  that the writer’s feelings are in no way reciprocated. You couldn’t, because the feelings to give back were already stolen in their entirety. By two other people, none the less.

Ironic how one of your two fattest crushes you’ve ever had in your life was basically huddling into you right at this moment, wanting so desperately to know what the paper read.

When finally did unfold the letter, you were met with beautiful, curvy handwriting, not a spelling error or smudge could be found.

. . .

To the one who my heart yearns for the most,

I’ve lost track on how many times I have written this letter. For reference, the bin next to me is now filled to the brim and was completely empty just two hours ago, but that’s not important, is it?

Let’s get the obvious things out of the way, shall we? I adore you. Though I’m keeping this anonymous, I want you to know that my heart has grown ten times it’s size ever since the day I met you. Every single attribute about you I hold as a precious keepsake within my mind. Every time you do anything, say anything, I want to keep it all to myself. I want to lock the sound of your voice, and keep vivid pictures of your smile fresh within my memories.

You, (Y/N), have made me feel things that I  thought I had become numb to. I was unapproachable. A man that was blinded by his own psychotic desire to be used, that’s what I was.

You might think I’m exaggerating, but I believe you’re my guardian angle, sent to be due to God’s pity. Now that I’ve written it down, that was stupid, but I’ll keep it, because it’s the truth.

You saved me from myself, causing me to unsurprisingly fall in love with the one who made me realize I was a human, standing among other flawed humans, all having different lives, hopes, talents, aspirations...

Your kindness, no, your everything gave me so much room to simply breathe, and realized what I was doing to myself and to others.

Now that that’s out of the way, I would like to mention something I’ve...conjured.

I’m not very great at using my words, so that’s why I’ve poured everything into this letter, but you deserve to know who I am.

I’m scared, and if you do see me, I might not be able to get a good amount of words out but

In two days from now, after school, I want to meet you. I was thinking on the school rooftop? If you decide to come, I’ll be there waiting.

. . .

Wow

Who...who was this guy? And why...

Your eyes were brimming with tears, glossy from such words. This could be anyone, yet, what did you do? You were friends with many people, but not like this...you don’t think?

You suddenly felt something warm wiping away your now falling tears, gliding over your cheeks to brush away your liquid sadness.

“Hey, don’t cry...it’s not a good fit for you.” Kokichi then used his bandana to gently dry your puffy eyes and crimson cheeks. You looked up at the boy, who had the tiniest smile present on his face. It was almost as if that was how far the smile could go.

The sun broke through a window across the hallway, landing on Kokichi and his facial features. You looked into his eyes, but something was off.

Those eyes, they reflected a lot more light than they usually did, as if they were simply water in a pond. Was he-

“Well, that sure was something, huh?” Kokichi turned around, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, trying to be discreet. You noticed though, but decided to not say anything.

. . .

When you thought things couldn’t get worse, you had totally jinxed yourself the next day.

You wanted to get your water bottle out of the your school duffel bag during class, because humans have to drink every once in awhile, but when you did...

Crunch

What...what even was that?

You honestly didn’t even want to bother until the end of the day with how you were feeling right now.

You were slumped, once again, in an empty hallway, browsing your phone and looking at funny cat videos to raise your vibrations. At least they made you smile.

“Is there a kitten nearby?” A voice had pierced the atmosphere. You looked up, it was Nagito standing over you, a face of half wonder and half concern delicately painted on his features.

You looked downcast, and you hated hiding your emotions, so it was plainly evident to Nagito how you felt in that moment, and he was heartbroken.

He placed his belongings next to you, along with himself, comfortably hugging his knees into his chest. He turned to you frowning a bit.

“You...only watch cute animal videos when you’re sad. Is... there anything wrong?” Nagito questioned, wanting to help you as much as you’ve helped him.

“It’s kinda personal, but your company already makes me feel better, so it’ll all be fine.” You gave the white haired boy a little smile, showing just how genuine you were.

Nagito hummed, nodding in understanding. He was playing it cool in front of you, but he really wanted to punch the person that made you feel like this.

It’s funny, because he probably has an idea of who...

“Oh, yeah, the thing...” You mumbled, reaching over to dig around in your duffle bag. When you felt the crunchy texture, you pulled it out, revealing something something that you honestly weren’t expecting.

It was a large pink lollipop, and it was in the shape of a heart.

It was probably as big as your head, and there was a clear, wrapper-like foil around the treat, preserving it for the consumer.

“Where did you get that?” Nagito raised a brow, because it was quite ridiculous how absurdly large this lollipop was. It was a funny sight though, seeing you side to side with with a sweet that could easily cover your whole face.

“I... think someone game this to me?” You thought, smiling a bit at the silliness of the situation.

But your mind wandered... was it the same person who wrote the letter? Then again, you didn’t think it would make sense with someone like him getting, well, this. Especially after writing something so deep and personal. This just kinda seemed incredibly random.

Either way, you started to unwrap the lollipop, wanting to eat some of it, even though you were most likely not going to finish the thing.

Resuming the cat videos, you repositioned the phone between you and Nagito. The boy took a glance, watching as he saw a fluffy white kitten get scared from playing a note on a piano, making him chuckle.

“You wanna watch somethin’ else, Nagi?” You asked Nagito, making him perk up in attentive nature. His smile conveyed so much care for you, as if you were his most prized gift he had ever received in his life.

“I’m bound to enjoy anything you would like, (Y/N)! Please, pick whatever you would like!” Nagito waved his hands, signaling not to worry about him, after all, you were the sad one out of you two for the moment.

“Ok! We’re watching Gordon Ramsay yell at people!” You promptly spoke, grabbing the phone and setting up the Hell’s Kitchen episode.

“Don’t mind me asking, but who is that?” Nagito questioned genuinely, making you gasp in surprise. How?

“He’s one of the best chef’s in the world, but he’s super strict with his employees, so it’s kinda entertaining. You’ll see!” You exclaimed, scooting yourself closer to Nagito, propping up the phone. You leaned into his side, taking a little nibble from your lollipop.

Nagito’s eyes kept on darting from you to the screen, having trouble with containing his emotion with you simply leaning on him to watch a show about...a vulgar-mouthed chef.

“Hm? What’s the matter?” You looked up at him, face inches apart from his. He didn’t respond, too nervous to trust his mouth. Lucky for him, you cut in.

“Oh! You want some?” You stuck the untouched side of the lollipop to Nagito’s mouth.

His brain and heart were on fire, and not a lick of logic was left. He pressed his lips against the candy, and sucked on a small portion.

It was your favorite flavor...he liked it way better than artificial grape soda, by a long shot.

After licking to his satisfaction, Nagito locked his teeth into the part he had been abusing with his mouth, biting off a piece for to-go.

“I need to go to the restroom, ok? I’ll be back.” He said, getting up from his seated position, making his way and entering into the boys bathroom at the end if the hallway.

You don’t know if he knows, but boy, you were blushing up a storm. He literally just gave you an up close and personal presentation on how his tongue did it’s work. Now, you didn’t really care for dirty thoughts, but after witnessing that, you couldn’t help it...

You looked down at the lollipop, now with a small chunk of it gone missing from the main snack. You examined it, and realized something so blatantly obvious, it was embarrassing.

Rapped around the white stick of the lollipop was a piece of yellow paper, and without much thought, you unraveled it.

It was a note, but it was short, and written it blue colored pencil.

. . .

Found this at a candy store, and bought it because you looked sad the last time I saw you. Seeing you sad makes me sad and stuff so yeah. I’m not signing my name here or anything, cuz that would just give away the surprise! But I’ll confess to you properly in person, cuz I’m better at talking. Meet me tomorrow after school, on the roof!

. . .

Huh?

Was this...the same guy? No, no it’s really couldn’t have been. The handwriting was different, the spelling was off, and they seemed a lot more laid back. Also, the author of the letter clearly stated that he was better at conveying is precious feelings by writing, while this one said they were more than happy to spill their own feeling with their voice.

So, you’ve got two secret admirers now...and both of them want to meet at the same place, and the same time.

Maybe this was all just some twisted, elaborate trick by a group of thugs, wanting to lure you in, then gang up on you like street cats when they found a lowly mouse to pray upon.

You’ll never know, unless you sucked it up and went tomorrow.

. . .

Well, there you were, on the roof after school the next day.

No one was there.

The sky was as clear as your blank mind, which you had forced to stop thinking about the world around you, and what you were doing. The breezed tickled your face, as if the wind tried to replicate the feeling of tips of grass grazing on ones cheek.

The only noise was the muffled chattering from students below, creating the perfect background noise to just...relax.

Until you heard yelling.

It was coming from the stairwell that lead up to the roof. You didn’t move a muscle, it was probably just loud, rambunctious students.

But it just kept on going, and going, on and on like a hyper parakeet who had a shot of expresso.

Well, since your admirers haven’t shown their faces for the past fifteen minutes, there’s nothing better right now than to snoop on the possible drama rumbling around in the stairwell. Might make a good story to tell someday, you never know.

You made your way into the stairwell, only to be met with very familiar voices, but you quickly made your presence unknown to them, hiding behind a wall.

“Kokichi! I told you not to not to get yourself involved!” Nagito raised his voice a little, but not to the point where it was just pure anger talking. Kokichi stood, fists balled up in pent up frustration.

“I know you did! And it was stupid that I did, but-“ Kokichi yelled, desperation in his voice.

“Then WHY? You knew I wrote that letter, hell, you were there helping me write the damn thing, but you go and do this?!” Nagito’s heart was the one talking at this point, because you’ve never heard his voice twinge in such genuine emotional pain.

But now you knew who wrote the letter, it was Nagito.

That didn’t sink in as hard as it was supposed to, until-

Wait, Nagito?

“Y-you don’t understand!” Kokichi responded, clenching his teeth from emotional agony.

“I do understand, and I just want to tell you that you’ve went way too far on this sick joke-“

“IT’S NOT A JOKE!” Kokichi cried out, a rasp in his voice becoming evident.

“Then what is it, Kokichi? Spill it. You know how important this is to me, and I don’t like yelling at you.” Nagito was stern, his voice dominating the purple-haired boy.

“Because...I-I...” his voice broke in sadness and so, so much regret. He suddenly huffed, opening his mouth to wallow out.

“B-BECAUSE I LOVE THEM TOO!” Kokichi sobbed. Thick, wet tears rolling down his swollen cheeks. Nagito was shocked, not saying a word. Nagito’s frown deepend because of the wallowing boy in front of him that he cared so much for. Yet, like always, he could never find the words to wrap Kokichi in warmth and apology. The thought made Nagito’s eyes begin to water.

Look what you did, you hurt him, you absolute scum.

“B-but *hic* I-I-I’m s-so *hic* s-selfish...I...” Kokichi hiccuped, trying his absolute best to get his words across.

“I’M SO FUCKING SELFISH, BECAUSE I LOVE YOU TOO, NAGITO KOMAEDA....y-you b-b-big jerk...” Kokichi wailed, a river of tears poring, falling to the concrete floor; the droplets staining the ground in a darker shade of grey when they landed.

“O-oh my god...K-Kokichi...l-“ Nagito started, hands shaking violently. This was bad, this was really bad.

And you knew that.

So you ran. You ran so fast out of your hiding spot, down to the two people in this world that you cared about the most.

And before you knew it, you harshly brought the both of them into your arms, causing the three of you to to collapse onto the ground.

You let it all out. You bawled into their arms, letting out your cries. Whether it was just from sadness, or of relief, that didn’t matter. You cried, until your eyes went dry, and all of your tears were soaked into the boys’ shirts.

. . .

After a bit, all was silent, except for the breathing of you three all mixing together. Your bodies were intermingled, assuming the best position for comfort and care.

You needed to say something, anything. You needed to tell them, or else everything will fall apart.

“I can’t choose.” You put it simply, the two other boys perked up, tear stains prominently showing on both of their faces.

“(Y/N)...” Nagito mumbled.

“I desperately need the both of you. So badly. I want to love you two so much I want my lips to hurt from kissing you two so much by the end of each day. I want my hands to cramp from holding both of you two’s hands so much.” You proclaimed, letting out everything that has been building up in your heart.

“I want to wake up with the warmth of two. I want to spend my days and nights with all of my love coming from two. And...I want to try each and every new thing life brings me, with the love of two.” You gasped for air, sighing out of your mouth, regulating your breath to its normal pace.

“I understand if you don- mphf!” You were promptly shut.

Kokichi had placed his lips on yours, causing a jolt of passion to ignite your soul. The feeling was delicate and new, but it was incredibly lovely  You promptly kissed back, feeling a joy you’ve never felt before in your life.

The two of you parted with the kiss when the both of you felt soft lips gently peck both of your foreheads. It was as soft as a feather, yet it made the two of you go so incredibly soft.

You and Kokichi looked up to see Nagito, a small smile on his face. One of his hands reached up to your left cheek, while the other hand made its way to Kokichi’s right. He then lovingly dragged his thumbs across both of your cheeks, smile growing wider, while his face became rosy.

“There’s...so much I want to say but...I hope my actions can at least convey how my heart wants to treat the two of you.” Nagito said, his voice dropped, but in a more of a endearing tone than anything. The boy was still smiling like this was the happiest day in his life.

“I think it would be fun if we all had a slumber party as our first date.” Kokichi giggled, nuzzling into Nagito’s long, slender fingers.

“That sounds like fun, I think it would be delightful.” Nagito playfully pinched Kokichi’s cheek lightly, causing Kokichi to giggle, smiling wide.

“But we do have one thing to take care of first...” Nagito glanced over to you, chuckling.

You were fast asleep within the palm of his hand. It made him fall in love all over again, to be honest.

Nagito and Kokichi worked to untangle themselves from your limbs, trying not to wake you. They then promptly proceeded to place you on Nagito’s back, in a comfortable position so you could keep on sleeping soundly.

“You up for taking our little Cutie back to her place?” Kokichi snickered.

“Of course, love. Only if you would accompany me? Nagito stuck out his hand, waiting for the warmth of another.

“You’re lucky I really like you, clover.” Kokichi hastily grabbed his hand, weaving their fingers together.

As they began walking out to the main exit gate, Kokichi spoke.

“You know, I said a lie earlier I didn’t like. I don’t just like you...I actually really love you. The both of you. That’s something I could never lie about.” Kokichi pledged, the evening orange sky bouncing off of his face. Nagito squeezed the shorter males hand lovingly.

“I love you too, Kokichi. And not just you also, but the both of you. My heart will be forever loyal to the two of you until I rest in my own grave, remember that.”

[suna-is-the-loml]

two days

pairing: tsukkishima x reader

genre: slight fluff then slight angsty???

word count: 1.3k LOL

a/n:  i am in love with salty frenchfry and this is cringe station so enjoy this really badly written fluff +angst or something bye <3

yes i love the number 3

3 years, 3 whole years kei spent loving you, yet his dumbass still hadnt confessed till today, today of all days,that is 3 days before you were leaving.

he was hurt, he wanted to tell you he loves you, he couldnt muster the courage to do so. quite ironic for someone who is salty asf LMAO, he always had a soft spot for you, he knew you were someone important to him, he just couldnt figure out how.

he thought he knew you so well, or so he thought.

he didnt know you were in too deep for him too, he didnt know youd take a bullet for him, he didnt know you got jealous everytime some other girl flirts with him, he didnt know how much you defended him, he didnt know you rejected the confessions for kei. (kei being the dumbass thought you rejected the confessions because you wanted to concentrate on your sport). 

he wonders how many minutes he spent adoring you, how many seconds he spent loving you because how much ever that was, he knew it wasnt enough. he loves you. a lot. and you deserve all the love

he wanted to tell you.

you are vvsmart but dumb enough to not realise your best friend was in love with you big time. you knew your goodbye party will involve alcohol sO you had it 3 days before you left because you hated hangovers.

you wanted to confess to kei. whats the probability that he would like you back?, the worse thing he could say was “i never want to see you again’’ which works because you were leaving japan anyway.

the day after the party- today seems good, its perfect actually, you message him

“hey, wanna come over? :D”

kei looks at his phone, as your name popped up in his notifications he felt himself smile.

sure :)

kei knew he had to say it today, its either today or never

you took a deep breath. ‘tell him today’ you told yourself.

it was around 7pm when he finNALLY came over. kei had your favourite chips packet with him. smiling at him fondly you invited him to your room. it was natural. everything felt home with kei.

you wanted to confess but you wanted to see how he feels about you first- atleast maybe an idea.

“hey kei, guess what?”

he looked at you with a twinkle, he smirked as he looked into your eyes.

“i am in love with someone”

‘huh? what? love? does she like no ‘love’ someone ? oh, not me thats for sure’ kei’s mind ran spewing thoughts. he was not able to say anything. he was surprised. no surprised was an understatemeant. he was seething with jealousy, pity, sadness, betrayal, he could feel his heart break into two. he kept a stoic face and whispered ‘‘oh?’’ with his eyes no longer being in contact with yours.

you smiled, you knew, you knew what he was feeling, afterall you have felt the same so many times whenever someone flirts with him. you knew he liked you but you wanted him to confirm it. you whispered “kei? is everything okay?”

kei finally looked at you again, “y/n”

“i love you” kei finally said. he closed his eyes and turned away from you, he was scared to see our expression.

“aww kei, i love you too” you said as you reached out to hold his hand. he immediately took it and squeezed it. 

he looked at you again with the same fond expression “ no dummy i love you in a romantic way, i am in love with you”

you looked at him with a dumbfounded expression “ kei i am in love with you too, in a romantic way”

he felt his adrenaline pushing himself towards you, as if on instinct he cupped your cheeks and kissed you. he kissed you softly hoping the kiss would convey how much he loves you.

he whispers against your lips “you have no idea how much ive wanted to do this dummy”

“kei, i’m gonna leave in 2 days” you remind him after a steamy makeout session

his face immediately falls

“what are we kei”

“i dont know best friends to lovers trope?” he said hoping to avoid that topic. the fact that you, his love is finally with him and that you will be leaving you in two days.

you laughed and then pulled a serious expression “ kei tsukishima, what are we” you asked squeezing his hand.

“hmm, lemme think about it” kei taunts you, you pulled out your best puppy dog eyes and pouted at him and he had the audacity to smirk at you. you turned away from him and stared at the corner because suddenly?? it?? seemed?? interesting??

you felt yourself pulled to his lap. he looked at you, his eyes filled with love he whispered “ y/n i love you a lot but i-” you interrupted him with a kiss, “i know kei, its gonna be hard but can we fall in love for the night atleast?’’

“yes y/n we can” he said lovingly.

its been exactly 16 months since you’ve left. 16 months since the magical day- the day he kissed you for the first time,the day he confessed to you, he remembers every minute of those two days.

he sighed and plopped on his headphones.

now playing- lets fall in love for the night by finneas

Let's fall in love for the night And forget in the morning Play me a song that you like You can bet I'll know every line

he remembers how you both fell more in love the last two days. he remembers the day you shared the playlist you made, mainly consisting of finneas’s songs. he saw how happy you were when you listened to your playlist commenting on how its a masterpiece. he remembers the day he realised he was in love with you. he remembers your ‘jamming’ sessions as you both sang your hearts out.

he closed his eyes as he remembered the day your first boyfriend kissed you, how he was seeping with jealousy, how he badly wanted to be your first kiss. it was then he realised he loved you. revisiting his memories with you always calmed him down, you stole his heart afterall.

keeping in touch with you has been a little difficult considering college and the different time zones, yet you both tried to keep in contact with each other

I'm the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid Don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, fuck that noise I know better than to call you mine

he remembered how your first boyfriend tried to stop meeting him and how your ex sometimes crashed you both hanging out together at your place. kei knew that your ex was jealous, yet you stuck by him considering that was your first relationship. after you broke up, you were sad and he was there to comfort you. he was always there for you.

he knew what was the best for you, but he also knew that you werent his. he couldnt stop you from dating who you want.

You need a pick me up I'll be there in twenty five I like to push my luck So take my hand, let's take a drive

he remembers the late night calls and how he would show up at your door exactly in 27 minutes when you call him over. he remembers how you used to persuade your parents so he can stay over for the night, he remembers how you used to cringe at the cheesy romcom scenes, he remembers how you fell asleep on him,he remembers how happy you were when you finally got your favourite college acception letter. he remembers how happy you were when karasuno reached nationals. he misses you a lot.

I've been living in the future Hoping I might see you sooner I want you riding shotgun I knew When I got one right

he was so happy found out he was significant in your life. he imagines a life with you by his side, he imagines smaller versions of you both running in the house. he knew it was going to be tough, so after around 7 months, he ghosted you for a whole month. you were hEARTBROKEN. did you go wrong somewhere? does he not love you anymore? overwhelmed with anger and heartbreak you ghosted him back. but he didnt even try to hold a conversation with you, he didnt ask any questions, he didnt call you too. was he done with you? was this it? you were done, done being heartbroken and done waiting.

but ghosting you just made him miss you more. was it a bad idea? he wanted to hear your voice so bad but he knew it will just make him miss you more, instead he started to concentrate completely on college and tried to remove you from his mind, he tried removing you from his life, but he couldnt, not a single minute goes by without him remembering the little things about you. he knew he was gone from your life when you ghosted him back. 

 he wants you, he wonders if you feel the same way he does. have you moved on?have you found someone else? did you fall out of love with him? 

he wanted to move on but he was hopeless, hopelessly in love with you,

how he wished he could relive those two days forever

a/n again?: JSJSJSJSJS THIS became longer than i expected?? the second slight angsty part was heavily inspired by let's fall in love for the night by FINNEAS ahh i love his songs sm  

[cheesecaketyrant]

Eventually a knock came to the door of her office with the head mech of security entering the office known as Ironhide, a war veteran and a good friend. They haven't talked much ever since Chromia's arrest, Windblade's former body guard but she still remains to be her best friend. The City speaker turned around to see the red mech allow himself into her office before she walked back into the office herself. "Ironhide? What is it, can I help you with anything?" The caminus city speaker asks, taking two steps towards him.

Ironhide, however did not know how to exactly ask her this question but then again it's something he wishes. "Listen, I've been watching ships fly from here to the capital city of Kaon. Now, I'm not sure what it is you're doing but you do know that Kaon is not only a capital city here on Cybertron but it's THE Decepticon capital." Ironhide mentioned to her. He felt uneasy with the rebuilding of that city, however he's only approaching the ruler of Cybertron about this because of the dark history that city holds.

The femme acknowledged his words, her servo grabbing his and holding it softly. "Ironhide, my only intention is to rebuild cities. Capital cities so, that maybe more of your people will come home instead of continuing to roam the galaxy. I am aware of what that city meant to the Decepticon's, but we can't continue to let the past ruin the future. Do you trust me, Ironhide?" Windblade let go of his servo before walking to the wall of the office, pressing her servo against it for it only to open up and cart of a sweet energon beverage that wasn't alcoholic.

"I trust you, Windblade, I just feel uneasy about this. Look, I have to go here. I'll be back tomorrow to continue talking about this." After his words, the war veteran left her office. Windblade didn't say anything when he left, instead, she sighed heavily before grabbing her drink and sipping the sweetened energon beverage.

------

After a while, the Seeker was downing his sixth drink of the night. Intoxicated, heavily- he had his helm resting on the table, his wings flat against his back struts. The server had been long ago told him that this was his last. Lifting up his helm, Starscream staggered out of the chair he once was occupying.

By now, the bar was close to empty accordingly it had been a few hours ago. Starscream didn't bother to pay his tab, as he exited out of the building heading out to an Inn he had visited earlier during the day.

Once he had reached the Inn, and into his own quarters, the Seeker plopped onto the birthbed. The puck was still clutched in his hand, it was a gift- the first gift that anyone had given him. He made a mental note to make sure to give thanks, closing his optics, Starscream drifted into a deep statis slumber.

------

A few hours later Windblade was tiding up in the office, putting whatever work she had out up in the drawers of her desk. She locked both the balcony door, and office doors before entering the room behind her office. The femme seen a recharge slab calling her name for the night. Yawning she stepped towards it, flattened her wings out before gently laying against the bed only to close her optics and power down for the night as the slab started to recharge her circuits and wiring, giving her energy for tomorrow morning.

Come morning, the sun slowly rising over the horizon the city speaker awoke from her slab, getting her morning stretch on before getting out of bed to start the day off. But who could start the day off without a hot cup of caffeined energon? Windblade surely couldn't as the femme pressed the button on the device that sat on the counter next to her birthbed. A cup underneath a hole that eventually shot out a steamy stream of caffeined energon.

------

If it wasn't for the rays of sunshine that had woken up Starscream, it would be his internal clock that would have done it. The high grade had run its course, sitting up Starscream had scowled at the window with much loathing. Though it might as well be a good time to make his presence know, through the window, not from where he was residing- was the establishment Windblade was in.

Throwing his peds off the edge of the slab of the birthbed, Starscream stood. With only a few strides of steps, the Seeker took a very much needed intake, the air filled his vents, then as soon as it came he had vented out.

His nerves were high, but Starscream pushed that filling down, now wasn't the time to have second thoughts. Opening the door, the former ruler of Cybertron; Ex-Con second in command, left the building.

------

The second her hot caffeined Energon beverage had finished brewing she grabbed the handle of the cup, holding it with both servos as she placed her metal lips on the rim of the mug. Taking a sip she let the hot substance sit in her intake for a moment before swallowing it and feeling it move down to her fuel tank she closed her optics feeling her circuits and wires warm up slowly. The femme made her way into the office, allowing the air to squeeze through the vents on her wings and seen four to seven data pads on her desk that contained tons of paper work for her to get through today.

She opened the metal shutters that covered the window to let some beautiful sun light beam into her office. She took one look at Metroplex city, inhaling and exhaling softly before turning to her desk and taking a seat. Windblade grabbed the seven data pads, checking to see if any of them were just filled with letters, or mail from the civilians on the streets and would you happen to know there is one data pad containing the contents she is looking for.

Opening it up she sourced through letters marked important by those who sent it. She read one about the police force, again. She read another that contained a list of workers that sent in applications to get a job here in the Citadel. "Huh, never usually this many people looking to work here-" She didn't seem to find it suspicious but it was strange that all of sudden there is ten different bots looking to work here.

------

Grabbing the second data pad, Windblade, found herself scrolling through the first bits of paper work today surrounding the rebuilding of Kaon. She sighed heavily, knowing that she wouldn't able to complete the listings that it requests for her to sign over towards the construction. The femme rubbed the back of her helm before receiving a call from the main office downstairs to alert the delegate that those who submitted applications were right outside the front doors. She didn't answer but instead kept her gaze on the cellular device, biting onto her lower lip component before she used one digit and pressed the white button. "I'll be down there in a moment, open the doors to them and tell them to wait where they are." She moved her digit away only to stand up from her desk and straighten out her posture. Windblade straightened out her wings before keeping them in the air to show others she is in a happy mood but really she's just hiding her true feeling's.

Delegate Windblade, made her towards the elevator that took her down to the hallways that she soon entered after exiting the elevator on the first floor. The femme's pedes stepped across the floor, heading towards the crowd of ten bots looking to work, however she wouldn't know that a certain someone else is in the crowd.

The crowd had three femmes and seven mechs waiting to get their tour but first, their dear leader must greet them first. All of them held data pads with their ID and other information. Finally coming around the corner she seen this crowd chatting with each other, getting to know one another. "How could there be this many positions open here at the citadel?" She quietly mumbled to herself. The delegate cleared her throat, raising both servos in the air to get their attention. "Everyone, everyone be quiet! Windblade is here-" A mech shouted as all of them lowered their voices before going silent in respect for the camien city speaker.

Her servo covered her intake after she let out a fake cough, her optics trailing to the crowd from the floor she stood on. "Th-Thank you all for coming here and submitting your applications. My name is Windblade, which I'm sure most of you know by this point other wise you wouldn't be here." She joked, a few of them giggled to it and went quiet minutes after to let her continue speaking. "I just wanted to come down here and see all the new faces I'll be looking at around the citadel! You all have a purpose, but sadly I will not be the one giving you all the tour. Once again thank you all for coming and I can't wait to see you all among the workers here!" The delegate wondered her optics through the crowd seeing who all is here until she detected a familiar figure in the back, a familiar.. face. She seen him, she seen the seeker! The femme wasn't sure, rubbing her optics to look back he was gone. The femme turned herself around, going to the elevator and moving her digit towards the button panel. She pressed the office button, gazing at those buttons on the panel.

Moments later she found herself at her desk as her mind now focused on the seeker whom she released from jail several months ago. "No, he couldn't have been-.. but then that would mean... I know what I saw!" She shouted to herself. Her processer had two different sides on the mech, one side happy to see him whole the other side felt suspicious, curious, and some frustration.

------

As soon as Windblade had appeared, and started to speak, Starscream had the sudden feeling of fleeing. Not that he was afraid of the femme, but more of confronting the Delegate for help.

It wasn't easy in the beginning, the first week of his release, he had escaped the capital. He transformed and zoomed out in his alternative embodiment. For the few weeks, he had kicked up a storm. Never really being on his own, without surviving in the Decepticons faction.

A cold chill ran through his back strut. Looking up, as she had made a joke, the others laughed. Starscream fidget with his digits, not too much to cause a distraction for those who were around him, but enough to put the seeker at ease.

His wings laid flat, was he really this nervous to talk?

Was he even sure that he REALLY wanted to go through this? Like a plant back on earth, Starscream was rooted where he stood.

In those weeks, on his own- he had cried. Not for his actions, but for what he has done. Beating himself up for the fact he had lost what he believed what he had wanted. If he hadn't gone and confessed to everything- and Bumblebee wasn't there when had been released.

It made Starscream frightened, despite the fact he KNEW it was part of his conscious prosser system to form to cope with his self-consciousness.

At the end of her speech, he had let out a release of a vent he hadn't noticed he'd taken. He had called out Windblade's name but didn't get any response than a turn of a helm. She walked away.

Dropping both of his servos to his side, balling them out into fist. He had felt betrayed. After all, wasn't she supposed to be happy into seeing his return? With his wings trembling in hostility. Wasn't she the one that saw potential in him? Scoffing, he had turned around, defeated.

Walking on the street in broad daylight, mechs and femmes started to whisper about the Seeker being back.

He ignored them, he ignored the conspiracy assumptions that was said about him.

Defeated, at the courage, he had built up. It felt as if Megatron, had given him a good old fashioned beating.

He recalled, that at some point he became numb to the pain.

Was she, disappointed in him; did he failed her? His mind was reverting back to before he had become the 'Chosen One'. Before the war ended, when he was 'Starscream, Air commander, Second in command.' He felt more alone then the day of his creation.

Taking the puck out of his subspace, he felt it was more of a mockery. Telling him that he could NEVER be the mech he was supposed to be.

But- he couldn't find himself to toss it out. So, he clung onto it; a reminder that even a fragment of his own happiness was a joke to Primus himself.

The only happiness that he will get would be from himself to himself and for himself.

------

This conclude Chapter Two, the playlist will eventually be updated-

There was some struggle on my end.

Please do leave feedback! This may end up becoming a spin-off for TAAO.

The next chapter will be posted when there is more. Starting to get emotional? Maybe...

Thank you once again, to my dear @idw-windblade for everything!

Please do leave comments...and let us know what you think.

This is an rp format, the dashes represent different povs.

Please leave any hate mail at the door...

[smolbeandrabbles]

Don’t Let Me Forget - Director Keller x Reader (Captain Marvel)

GIF Credit: X

Author’s Note: It’s been a little while since this Director graced my blog. And you all have @mandy23b​ to thank - who gave me the ultimate challenge of writing Keller without Ms.Maliyah... Well! I only ever was gonna go one way 😉 Because it literally the one idea I had for him Also - Me? Still bitter about the ‘R Keller’ thing?! NEVER!!!

Disclaimer: Captain marvel characters / plotlines not mine,and neither was the R Keller decision, so I will reverse it forever! / lyrics not mine

Premise: ‘Hide The J’ is Keller’s top S.H.I.E.L.D agents favourite activity, you’re prepared to make this a little risque... if he’s prepared to play the game.

Words: 3920

Warnings: Swearing / Sexual Pre-Amble / Sexual Connotations  

______

Today is one of those I wish that I could frame Or keep it on a video, replay it over and over Just replay it over and over Cause right now I'm feelin' like I'm walkin' on a cloud But I know what's up's gotta come down sooner or later Will I come down sooner or later? I don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring But can you promise me one thing? Don't let me forget Your hand in mine The firefly drives The time I feel asleep and you carried me inside Kissed my head and said goodnight When we were sparks Just the start Our naive hearts had never felt that kinda fire That you and I were playin' with So don't let me forget One day the sound of you sayin’ my name Won't make my heart stop in the same way That it used to So remind me how we used to Stay up late, sing those songs That made us feel invincible when we were together I always wanna remember...  I don't know what tomorrow's bringin' All I know is I don't wanna lose this feelin' ---

All of you liked to play a game every so often. It was easy to play. And there were no rules. Save one: Hide the J.

Your boss’s name was Jonathan Richard Keller. And the little plastic letters outside his office displayed as such. J R Keller. Or R Keller. Depending on who was hiding that J today. And he hated it.

But he was too nice to reprimand anyone for it. So the best you got out of him ever was an exasperated “Agh!!! Guys!! Again!!” Before he sighed and began wandering around searching for it. Sometimes it couldn’t be found and he’d go as “R Keller” for weeks until someone finally returned it or he ordered in a new one.  During which time everyone liked to call him Richard - or worse still, nickname him Rich - and drive him insane… Now, it was your turn to do so. Only, there was a small little problem with that. Keller wasn’t just your boss, but your significant other. That wasn’t really a well-known fact, you kept it professional at work, and unprofessional at home. But - if he happened to deem the mission important enough for him to also take part in, there would never be any doubt that you were going to be the one he would ask to accompany him. Some people - like Nick Fury - got wise to this fact. But apart from indicating that he knew about it, Nick never really seemed to show much interest one way or the other. You and Keller were suited to each other and that was fine. So long as it didn’t affect your working relationship, Nick didn’t have any qualms. And most of the time it didn’t - you respected Keller as the authority here... even if sometimes him choosing to lead off with you meant sometimes there would be spontaneous (and sometimes quite steamy) make out sessions that would just “happen”.

 The mission prior was no such exception and he held your hand on your knee as he drove you back home.  “That was some mission... huh?” “Well... nothing if not for a few thrilling scrapes...” “Oh yeah?” He smiled knowingly as he checked his mirrors, “What kinda scrapes would those be?” “Well I feel like getting a little scratched up chasing the target is one thing - scrapes against the back of elevators cuz someone got a little eager-!” “Oh hush!” “Your defense, Mr.Keller?” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and returned his hand to yours, clearing his throat; “I thought it was a little bit bigger than that - alright? I misjudged the dimensions!” You couldn’t help but laugh; “Well at least it’s the only thing you misjudged-! If you misjudged your aim people could have got seriously hurt!” “Why do you think I wear glasses?!” “Thought that was more to do with flying.” He whistled through his teeth; “Ah-! Now she wounds me!” “Words are a little nicer than the bruise I’m gonna have now-!” “I told you to hush!” You laughed, “That doesn’t sound like an apology, Director!” “Come off it-! Like I didn’t already apologise a thousand times...” He looked across to you - his sorry in his innocent blue eyes as he kissed the back of your hand. You smiled “Well... when we get home. If those are to be your apologies, maybe you ought to do it another thousand times...” He smiled gently against your skin and focused his eyes back on the road “...Gladly, if that is what you wish...”  

** You stared at the piece of paper on your desk You’re Up! You smirked - Oh! You were about to have some fun with this!

Knowing he’d been called out early, you took a leisurely stroll back to his office, you would have nearly all the time in the world to figure out a place to hide it. You wondered why they didn’t just get him a new plaque where this wouldn’t be possible, or why he didn’t order one. Maybe he liked the game? Maybe he just wanted you all as his subordinates to have fun and didn’t want to get in the way of that. Perhaps Keller only acted annoyed with you all when it disappeared. Guessing could well have been as much fun for him as hiding was for you. It took a little longer than usual - the adhesive must have been much better this time round - but eventually you prised the tiny letter off. You held the J in your hand for a moment and smiled gently; now... where to hide it!?

 **

 You figured you could hear Keller’s frustrated yell from more than just a few corridors away and that was signal that the game had begun. As the several emails wishing you good luck that suddenly pinged into your inbox also denoted. You heard nothing more until 10 minutes later your team received a group message from your boss: Very funny. What is this the 5th time this month!? Come on guys. Give it up - who has it? You almost wanted to reply with ‘Not me’ but wondered if Keller would take you seriously, or if he’d figure you were trying to cover your tracks and come straight to you. Mind you even if he did come here it was well hidden. He’d have a job finding it.  

** There was a knock on your door, and Keller didn’t even wait for a response to open it. “Director?” You weren’t sure exactly what he was here for, considering the analysis you were busy working on wasn’t due for another few days - if he wanted it early (which didn’t seem like a Keller thing at all, but wasn’t unheard of) then he wouldn’t get near enough close to what he wanted. He closed the door behind him though, and then you figured you were in trouble. “Y/N.” Definitely in trouble. “...Yes?” You batted your eyelashes at him innocently. “Give it back.” Your eyebrows knitted together confused for just a second - and then you realised he was taking about the J - quite forgotten about from this morning’s little escapade. “...I don’t have it.” “Yes you do.” “No way!” You didn’t think a fellow agent would sell you out, but also wouldn’t put it past any of them. “Yes, way.” He held up at least three sheets of paper, “Rule one, don’t leave an email trail.” “...Are you kidding!?” - you always wished each other good luck, was Keller getting wise to that or did he always know!? “C’mon where is it?” You raised an eyebrow, hoping you might also have reason to throw the rulebook back at him - “I feel like my boss going through my work emails isn’t exactly policy, Sir.” “Really not hard to set up some spyware that the minute I come into work will tell me you received several emails wishing you luck. Also not rocket science to piece that together, is it?” You pouted slightly, crossing your arms “You’ve made this considerably less fun.” “Well you should think of that before defiling my name plaque...” Keller took a step forward, holding his hand out, “give it back.”

You stared at him for a minute, unwilling to concede. And then realised you didn’t have to, this could still be a game, after all. You stood, hands down and leant over your desk with a sudden smirk. “Why don’t you come get it?” He regarded you coolly for a moment, folding his own arms, trying to work out if you were serious. Tracing his to your clothes however, he decided you weren’t. “...That seems like it’s against the rules.” He was forgetting this game didn’t have any rules. “...Was that a complaint?” The look on your face was almost innocent. Keller rounded your desk, making you stand straight, “No.” “Good. I should hope not.” “I just think maybe it’s a bad idea.” “What, you think other people will try it??” “Oh, what if they do?” “Well I don’t know, Director, I think I might get a little jealous...!” He delicately placed his forehead to yours, and you had to bite your lip to keep the moan of anticipation from escaping. This was probably very against the rules. And god knows how many policies and codes you were breaking here. But then again, the man about to kiss you was the Director – he could bend those rules as much as he liked. His first kiss was soft, and if he thought that was going to get him anywhere he had another thing coming. You pulled back just a little more for every kiss he gave you. “That’s not going to get you very far, Director, now is it.” “Y/N…” Even his voice was supposed to be gently persuasive. Usually it’d work – but you wanted to see how far you could take this. “mm mm…” You shook your head and took his hands in yours – placing them on the hem of your shirt; “You’re going to have to at least undress me for it…” “At least?” He pulled back from you slightly, and you realised that his face was already flushed. Keller was about to get very flustered indeed – and that’s when you loved him the most. You pulled him closer to you, and you knew he hoped you didn’t notice his little gasp at you taking control for even just a second. “Why don’t you just fuck me for it?” The smirk on your face at the bold confidence of your question then did really fluster him. He released his grip on you and stepped back – bright red. Keller really had no way out of this, but you knew he was wishing you didn’t say that. He took a few deep breaths as he tried to decide what was worth it. Conceding that notion to you, or walking away and getting called Rich for the rest of the week until you actually gave it back. You knew which decision it was by the shaky way he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He still wasn’t looking at you, preferring the floor of your office. This was a movement Keller often made – usually when he’s flustered, but also when he’s shaken, scared or angry. Only the context of the situation would let you know which it was… and maybe also the stage of red his face was at. It was pretty clear which one this was (but, maybe he was a little pissed at you two for putting him at your mercy.) But when he took his next deep breath those blue eyes flicked back to you, and now at more of a steel grey it was clear the only way he was giving you what you wanted was if he was in full control. And if that look wasn’t sexy as hell anyway; the little growl in his voice as he pinned you up against the wall was. “Fine. I guess I’ll find it the hard way…”

Pfft. As if he really minded…!

**  

You both panted, making your way slowly down from that extreme high. He pressed his forehead to yours; tie slacked; shirt unbuttoned- glasses curiously still on. In a hurry, Keller? Your jackets were both discarded and half your suit also; no surprise there - he was trying to find a tiny black letter under all your clothes and you had invited him to do so.

Only he’d failed. Not that he cared much right now.

You unwound your legs from his waist and he let you back to the floor gently.  There were still no words; you were both far too breathless for that. He cleared his throat, and began straightening his clothing l - as did you. He got that slightly embarrassed look on his face that always happened when these occurrences transpired in work situations. But you felt they were fairly absentminded, because they would always be replaced with this confident little smirk you loved seeing on his face that he would wear all day.

But as soon as you were both redressed, he pinned you back to the wall with a kiss. “Where... is my letter... if it’s not on you...” You stole another kiss whilst you could and pointed behind you, to your desk. Sitting propped up on your keyboard - black against the white was the two inch ‘J’ from his name plate. Keller’s mouth opened, are you kidding me!?, but he didn’t voice it - although he looked back to you, unimpressed which caused you to grin: “Oops! Guess I forgot it was hiding in plain sight!” He took a step back, gathering it between his fingers, but didn’t relinquish his hold of you.  “You...” he didn’t finish, and the anger on his face was a clear facade “I What??” “You’re lucky I like you...” he claimed your lips again, and that kiss was exquisite. You groaned into it none too softly, and perhaps for the second time that day, were glad the walls of every office in this building were sound proofed.

 *** Months Later… His car was there when you arrived, but Keller himself was nowhere in sight. That was fine with you, he would likely be along shortly. You sat on the sidewalk and tipped your head back to warm yourself with the last few rays of sun for today.

You realised where he’d been when he sidled across the parking lot with a can of soda in his hand. “Bad day?” “Ha!” He sat next to you and popped the can; “You got that right!” “...I’m sorry.” “Not your fault.” He took a sip and held the can out for you, but you politely declined. His face clearly said suit yourself, so he took another. “But if I was there-!” You tried to protest that it hadn’t been your fault – as one of his top agents you should be making sure this kind of thing didn’t happen to your Director. “I’m glad you weren’t...” You leant on his shoulder, rubbing his arm affectionately.  Keller smiled, resting his head on yours “What about your day?” “I’m exhausted...!” “Doing what?” “Running around after you.” Or, the other him. “Ah! Well. See I should be sorry!!” “Don’t be. I’m just glad he didn’t haul me off like you usually do. Or that would have been really awkward.” Keller chuckled, “Sounds like he gave the game away...” “Well, I did find that odd. The alarm bells really went at the right-handed thing though.” “Oh, dear Lord.” He placed his head in his free hand for a moment, voice pitching in embarrassment. “Well, yeah, I knew there was no way in hell you’d suddenly switch your good hand, especially when you also draw left... it looked awkward.” “And no one else noticed!?” You gave a shrug; “If they did I haven’t heard anything.” “Ought to fire them all-!” This time he took a gulp from the can and you raised an eyebrow, “That healthy for you. Director?” “Better than cigarettes.” He shook the now half empty can at you “I thought you had that covered?” He pointed to the car, “No toothpicks or I’d be fine.” “Fine? After your day?” You raised an eyebrow “Well now you mention it, I do have one hell of a headache...” Keller rubbed his wrists, although neither of you were sure if that was because they hurt, or because he was just thinking on it “That’s just embarrassing-! Knocked out and tied up!? Like, how am I supposed to live that down??” “Oh-!” You rummaged in your pocket and held out his pass, “I rescued it.” He took it from you delicately “Ah... thank you... there was a gun with this, did you get the gun?!” “Didn’t bring it in case you go through with that threat of not ever being able to live it down..!” He pushed you, “Not literally!” You didn’t dare laugh; “It’s in my desk draw, don’t worry...” “It’s to be hoped we don’t get called out now!” “Well I wasn’t about to carry an unlicensed firearm around LA after this morning was I!” “It’s licenced-!” “Not to me, Jonathan! To you!!” He attached the pass back to his belt and stretched his arms. You studied his wrists carefully in the two seconds they were on show, glad to see there weren’t any marks “I tell ya...” he sighed, shaking his head “Bound and gagged in your own office... that is not an experience I ever want again.” You folded your arms and smirked “Aw. Damn. And here I thought we were going to be spicing things up in the bedroom.” “What?” He looked to you for a moment uncertainly as it clicked, “What!? Oh god! No! No! No! No! No!” Instantly his face flushed. And you acted disappointed; “Aww... but I thought It’d give you confidence... if you’ve done it once-!” “Y/N...!!” His face was still burning as he buried it in his arms.

He remained like that in silence, flustered and needing to calm down for a number of minutes. So long in fact that you were beginning to wish you didn’t say anything. He didn’t even retaliate to you prizing the drink out of his hands and taking a sip for yourself. “You do realise that you’re R Keller again.” “Yeah I did.” “Certainly wasn’t me this time.” “Oh-! Don’t you say that after what you just implied!!” When he did eventually look up at you there was still a trace of embarrassment painted across his cheeks. As he tried to figure out if the seductive joke was serious. You just sat there, can in hand, the picture of absolute innocence. He raised an eyebrow - “At least buy me dinner first!” You stood, can empty - “Oh no. Dinner’s on you tonight.” You held your hand out. And Keller let you help him up; “oh!” He laughed “Well then it’s on the other me. Ready to go?” “Yes...” He took your hand and kissed the back of it as he walked you to his car, “Just don’t get any funny ideas about any of my ties, alright?!” but he knew by the amused smile on your face that you already were, and he’d just given that thought to you for free.

“Oh! One more thing...”   His sigh was exasperated and he rolled his eyes as you got into the car, which had you grinning- “What else could there possibly be to add...?!” “The other you didn’t know what a black box was.” Keller’s eyes widened as he was forced into a stunned silence - then he leant forward to rest his head on the steering wheel and let out a cry of anguish “My reputation-!” You were all too happy to add fuel to this fire; “Some guy at the Pegasus facility thinks you don’t know what a black box is, let that sink in. When he researched famed Agent Keller and sees Air Force he’s gonn-!” “Stop!! Please! I can only take so much defamation!” He wrung his hands and then took a deep breath, running them over his face. “God help me.” He muttered more to himself, then cleared his throat to signal there would be no more talk of this, before he turned on the ignition. The radio was on soft, but Keller turned up the dial. You were met with the familiar sound of country music. “Still at it with country, I hear.” “Well, you know what they say...” he did all his checks before moving off “You can take the man out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the man - so to speak.” You squinted at him, but your look was playful “You pinning yourself as a Southern Gentleman, Keller?” “You said it not me!” But he was grinning “Alright, my Southern Beau...” you reflected his grin, “take me home.” He turned to you with a wink; “Yes m’am!”

 **

 It was a pretty long drive back home - with Keller between so many offices his places of residence were never particularly central to where he needed to be. The wide scope also meant that a call coming from LA could send him to a neighbouring state, and he’d been to the Utah facility innumerable times for the labs they had down there. Sometimes you wondered how much Keller really knew - maybe a little too much. He had a way of looking when someone would offhandedly mention something - the way he would shift in his seat and fold his arms - that always made you think he was aware of too much. But he was never telling you. The weight of being a Director must have been great - and you knew he had a great many briefings with the President. How was he supposed to tackle the idea of aliens though? Or... did he do that already? You knew one thing - if you questioned him on the World’s deepest darkest secrets, he would never tell.

It wasn’t long before you drifted to sleep, the sound of the radio and the motion of the car was not something you were going to fight. And not even Keller’s soft humming along was going to stop you. Which made him smile - sounded like you needed rest, running around the Pegasus facility couldn’t have been easy, and it was by no means a late start!  Still, he was a little disappointed that he’d missed it; what he wouldn’t give to have reason to go down there himself. He might be able to make one up, he supposed. Fascinated with both space and aircraft, Jonathan knew he’d missed out on a lot by being unconscious on his office floor... His cheeks burned slightly though - As long as I can convince them I really know what a black box is!!

 ** You were still fast asleep when he pulled up in the drive way. He thought perhaps turning off the ignition would stir you, but it didn’t.  Good. He checked he had everything and slid out of his seat, gently closing the car door to make sure he didn’t wake you, before rounding to the passenger side. You groaned gently as he lifted you from your seat, but still didn’t wake, and he carried you and your things back inside - again closing the front door as quietly as possible.

He wasn’t about to wake you for no good reason, so with a soft laugh he carried you upstairs; “Alright darlin’... lets get you to bed...” He removed your shoes and your jacket but left you alone after that before tucking you into bed. Keller watched you for a little while with a smile, as you lost yourself in dreams. He leant forward and kissed your forehead - “Goodnight, Y/N...” He was half way out the door before he heard you call back softly, and he turned with a smile – your eyes were barely open, but they were fixing him with a look of adoration. And he couldn’t help but smile more as that feeling reached his heart. “Sorry, sweetheart?” Keller hadn’t really missed it, he just wanted to hear you say it again. “Goodnight, babe…I love you.” He chuckled gently, turning off the hallway light to let you sleep in peace; “I love you too.” --- @dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad.

[alitheamateur]

A Taste of Home

Summary: Amelia Calvert is a Boston-born girl returning home after the sur turn of events in her marriage. Her life is turned upside down, leaving her nearly broke, jobless for the most part, and sleeping in the childhood bedroom of her parents home. As if things weren’t shaken up enough for Millie, a familiar face discovers her return to the city, and her world turns to the happiest, most confusing whirlwind of shambles. 

Characters: Chris Evans X OFC

Warnings: Slight age gap (9ish years). Language

Back home. Back to square one. Back like things never changed.

Except everything had. You were returning without a job, no abode of your own, and a nixed husband. It was all supposed to be under wraps, but whispers spread like an unrelenting rash. The bad kind of rash that you never want to have to call an ex about… Your city may be a big one, one supposed to be above and beyond all that small-town “he said, she said” nonsense. But, gossip found it’s place no matter the zip code, and you just happened to be square in the center of it.

You much preferred Boston to the sweltering air of rural Texas, but the things we do for love, huh? Your husbands’ home-base office happened to stand in the city of Austin, and at the time, you would’ve followed him to Tim-buck-too had it been necessary. “At the time” meaning before you found him on all fours, belt loose around the ankles with his paralegal. You’d had her in your home, schmoozing her with expensive wine, and an overpaid caterer because you didn’t want to poison her with your shit concoctions in the kitchen. “At the time” anyway….

Leaving your soon to be ex-husband without so much as a “see you later”, Boston called your name. And for the time being, so did your old room on the upstairs floor of your parent’s house. You chose for a few months at least to believe those clichés about “never being too old to go home.”

Your travel blog hadn’t quite caught on with the public yet, and since your divorce wouldn’t be final for countless days, money was nearly nonexistent. You were separating from a lawyer, too. Meaning a substantial monetary settlement in your favor was highly unlikely.

Thankfully, you always had a place at Calvert’s Cup, your family owned coffee shop just a mere 4 blocks from your childhood home. The familiar solace of the place was comforting, and the warm, fuzzy smell of the house blend soothes your aching, confused heart, as well. Sure, the little downward brows of pity from the nosey morning crowd who’d made it a freaking special ops mission to discover your reason for returning to Boston wore you out. But, there was no stopping them. No way, no how. So, you played on with your best smile, and did your due diligence around the little shop.

 One Tuesday, with the rain pouring outside like the coffee at morning rush, and thunder rumbling against the loose panes of the front window, you ran back to the register once hearing the twinkling of the entry bell. Your line of sight never raised as you greeted the patron approaching your counter.

 “Morning. What can I do for you?”

 A cackling, raspy outburst and the clapping of a heavy set of hands swiped your attention.

 “Hold on a fucking minute.” The yelping announcement from the very familiar male voice instantly made you want to fall into a cave never to see the light of day again.

 You’d know that loud, Boston city charm anywhere. You swiped a loose lock of hair around the curve of your ear, hoping to God your face didn’t appear as heated & humiliated as it felt.

 Chris, the always handsome kid that lived two doors down from you your entire childhood, in the flesh & very much grown up. Of course, you were highly aware since his face frequented any slimy gossip column on the newsstand weekly. The two of you hadn’t been extremely tight knit in the category of friends almost 15 years ago since he’d been a handful of years older. But he was a face you spent many an hour daydreaming about.

 “Amelia Calvert, in the flesh. God, how long’s it been!? What are you doing here?” He smiled, shaking off the mist of rain settling on his coat.

 Yeah, what are you doing here? Let’s hear it. And don’t leave out that part about moving back in with your parents. That’ll be a real smash.

 “I uh... I’m back here now. For good, most likely. Some things have just.... well, changed recently.”

 Before he had time to retort, his pocket chimed. Pulling the telephone culprit loose, he checked the screen and dismissed its interruption.

 “Well, well. How ‘bout that? I’m sure your mom is ecstatic. I know how chipper my mom gets when I’m in town for a break.”

 The valley girl in you wanted to squeal a little. He was unfathomably handsome, decked in a dark shaded baseball cap, and a shirt resembling the same. The beard was new, but inexplicably welcomed.

 He was simply, well, just Chris. The choir boy who made everyone laugh, and whose house the entire school knew had the best parties. You remember him typically strumming a guitar, and starring in the lead role for every drama club production. Not a single person could ever deny his natural born taking to the stage. And all these years later, the stars, and that damn near perfect beard, had fallen perfectly into the place for him.

 You could feel the metal clasp of your diamond earrings warming against the bashful heat of your blush. Here you were, tied into a stained apron, dry-shampoo caked in your fitful hair, smudges of whipped-cream splattered on the glasses you usually never wore in public, standing in front of a literal A-list celebrity. When were the stars supposed to fall into place for you? Those bastards.

“She’s loving it. She and dad both. I did miss the place…”

“What brings you back anyways? Florida, was it?” He questioned cocking a thick eyebrow, endearing little wrinkles appearing above his left eye.

“Texas, actually. Yeah, it was Texas. I guess it was uh, it was just time to hang up my cowboy hat.”

It drew a belly laugh out of him, and he flapped a hand over his stony peck as if to choke back his uproarious reaction. You needed to feel a laugh like that. But instead, as of late, you were only the butt of such laughter.

His incessant mobile buzzed out again, this time in the palm of his hand.

“Hey, a large house blend, please. 2 sugars would be great.” He politely whispered, muffling the speaker of his phone.

Chris moseyed in circles a few feet from the counter, far enough to make your eavesdropping much more challenging as you appeared to innocently make his order to go. He still talked with his hands, boisterously tossing his head about. That had to be the theater upbringing in him. He may live up to his lax, ‘go with the flow’ reputation, but he definitely had a thing for the dramatic, as well.

You sealed the lid tightly on his biodegradable cup, marking his name across the side with your sharpie, and without thinking, dotted the letter “I” in his name with a tiny little heart. Your psyche was clawing it’s way through to the light one way or another.

“God, sorry about that. Agent bullshit, and all that jazz.” He nodded, rolling his extremely bright eyes.

“Living the dream, right? I can only imagine.” An airy giggle escaped you.

His fingers tapped on the counter, the other hand accepting the steamy java you had whipped up. He chewed his lower lip, gnawing back the tiniest traces of a smile, but the crinkles around his nose gave up his jig.

“It’s damn good to see you, Millie.” It was a simple sentiment. Meaningless, really. But, you could feel behind the bold, warm cadence of his voice that he’d meant exactly what he said. It wasn’t one of those things you say to an old acquaintance because you feel like you have to. Chris seemed…genuinely pleased at your unexpected presence. Which caused those same certain warm cadences in your…. areas. Your heart could’ve exploded into a million beating pieces as your nickname fell from his mouth.

Why the hell did he care though? What did your miniscule return to the city matter? There’d been no contact since his golden ticket was stamped, and truly before now, you weren’t sure he would even recognize your plain face in a crowd.

“Well, I’m happy to know that little ol’ me could brighten your day. And that I’m sure that glorious cup of dark roast had nothing to do with it.”

You were rocking fretfully back and forth behind the counter. Your hands fiddled with the loose watch band fastened around your bony wrists. You were fidgeting undoubtably. You were a fidgeter. The soft auburn whiskers sprouted around his sharp jaws made you fidget.

What those jaws would feel like flexing between your thighs…..

“You’re right. I do love the dark roast. Your dad always leaves a bag with my mom around the holidays for me. This cup seems to taste a little better though, I’m not gonna lie.”

Okay. Was he flirting? That was definitely flirting. You were getting a divorce, not dying. But, he didn’t know that. The wretched “D” word news surely hadn’t spread that far, had it?

You let yourself smile, timidly accepting the compliment with apprehension. This guy could have the ass of half of America on a platter had he been that sort of person. Nothing about the saggy, tired circles under your eyes, and your hair tied into a blonde crows-nest at the crown of your head screamed sex appeal in the slightest.

Chris leaned over the counter, fat beads of rain residue still hanging from his coat dolloped on the counter, one catching your finger. You froze in an instant. Your mind already warring whether to suck his slightly chapped lips into your mouth, or faint from the heavenly poison of his scent climbing into your nostrils.

“But don’t tell your dad. Wouldn’t want to ruin my source of supply.” He whispered deep into your ear like he was spilling some undisclosed secret of the CIA. The mans mouth grazed the shell of your ear, goosebumps climbing up your tensed neck.

“Mhmm…” you choked on your tongue trying to clear your throat. “Your uh, your secrets safe with me.”

“Cross your heart?” With one thick brush of a finger, Chris marked an ‘x’ over the now heaving rise of your chest, politely minding not to drag over your breast. The pert of your begging nipple may have made things a bit awkward.

“I’m a fortress.” You gulped, trying to swallow down the unrelenting urge to capture his lips.

He took a long pull of the coffee, never releasing you from his cuffed stares. You didn’t want to look away from his swimming, batting eyes, but something about the way his neck strained with his swallow called for your attention.

“Come to my place, Mills. Tomorrow night, if you don’t have plans?”

Well, your mom would certainly be distraught that you’d miss movie night, but you could probably squeeze in some time for the guy. But, alone? At his place? No one around to hold you accountable for the screaming, near melted center of your body that suddenly ached for him?

Lacking all power of will, you nodded a probably overzealous acceptance, making his mouth open into a pearly-white smile. A movie star smile. Literally.

“I’ll text you the address then! Have a good one. Glad I ran into you, Amelia.” It was as if the light of the room followed him out the door when it closed behind him, and you were left standing in a blissful fog to make some sense of the events of the last 5 minutes.

And what the hell did you have to wear to Captain America’s house? 

*A/N: PLEASE let me know if you’d like to be added, or removed from the taglist*

tags: @miidailyinspiration @mollybegger-blog @littleluna98

[atopearth]

The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya Part 6 - Hayabusa (Hayato) Route

Oh no, I love big brother types! Hayato might be the death of me🤣 Honestly though, Misao and Hayato reminiscing their childhood memories of the time before he suddenly “disappeared” was sweet and nice. It felt like they really shared a bond that they both looked back on fondly and still remember to this day. I always find it heartwarming when two people cherish the same memories. As expected, their childhood separation seemed like a sad one since she was so attached to Hayato as a kid, but I guess Hayato adored her too, so it was painful for both. It also seems like he’s working hard in hope that he can leave Yoshiwara in a few years and properly confess to her at that time. He probably didn’t want to meet her under these circumstances, but I think it’s a good thing, since they’ll get to see whether they are both still the person that they liked so much in their childhood imo.

I was glad Hayato sent that letter to tell her to come to Kikuya. I mean, despite how he wants himself to feel, I doubt many people could resist seeing the person they love when they’ve just reunited haha. Lol at him asking questions to see if she had been visiting Yoshiwara frequently, but it was nice of him to apologise for probing to see if she was still “pure”. More than the fact of whether she was pure or not, I think Hayato just wanted to believe that Misao is still just as innocent and sweet as she was when they were children, and confirming that she hasn’t changed probably made him happy, since it was inevitable for him to have changed considering his circumstances, but seeing the same Misao must make him feel that things can go back to how they used to be? Hayato seems so dejected about himself being a courtesan and not being worthy to be someone important to Misao, so his rejections can kinda hurt. But I can see why he wouldn’t take those valuable belongings from her though, it’s worth so much, how could he just take it like that lol. Lmao though, Hayato feeding her candy felt more like he was feeding a kid rather than it being something romantic. To be fair though, Misao is pretty childish lol, especially since he had to convince her in such a cute way that she should keep the valuables to herself just in case she needs money in the future. I knew he cheated in the game for her sake (so that she would take the valuables home), but that’s understandable since Misao is stubborn.

I don’t like the name Hayabusa so I’m going to keep calling him Hayato haha. Hearing him speak about his childhood memories with Misao, you can really see how much he cherished them, and how much he’s been wanting to see Misao all this time. It’s kinda saddening though, because whilst Misao pretty much just went on with her life after he left, it feels like for Hayato, Misao has always been his motivation to leave Yoshiwara asap so he can properly meet her as another man rather than as a courtesan. Ohh wow, I’m kinda glad the story is focusing a bit on the idea of Misao possibly getting caught for letting the couple elope. It was always just an excuse for Misao to have the money to go to Kikuya so I’m kind of happy that they’re actually exploring the consequences in this route. On the other hand, Hayato really can’t keep his cool when it comes to Misao huh? He loses most of his judgement and rationality that you can really tell how much she means to him. It’s a good and bad thing though, since he needs to keep calm to help her better, but it’s heartwarming to see that he’s not completely jaded by the world of Yoshiwara. It’s so sweet how Hayato used his allowance ever since he was a kid to buy those comfit candies all the time hoping to give it to Misao someday. Her existence really kept him going… I think Iroha’s proposal to keep the valuables at Kikuya as payment to see Hayato is a good idea. Iroha obviously doesn’t seem to care about where the money came from as long as it’s money, and Misao needs to hide them from the people checking up on her, and she wants to keep seeing Hayato, so really, it’s mostly a win win situation.

I kinda like how Hayato finally decided to express his feelings and kiss Misao. He’s afraid that she might find another courtesan before he’s able to leave Kikuya and I think that’s understandable lol. But I’m glad he’s finally being honest with himself, since even though Misao would wait for him, I don’t find there being any reason to force themselves to not see each other until he’s free from Kikuya. Misao and Iroha were really careless to talk a bit about their deal at the entrance to Kikuya, and lol right when I was thinking how careless they were, the patrol supervisor busted in trying to arrest Misao since they already investigated that it’s impossible for her to have such valuables. It was pretty crazy but expected that Hayato would admit to their crimes in her place. I find it crazy that the police or whatever would torture Hayato and possibly execute him… I love how nice and caring all the guys are in this route though. I wonder if it’s because Hayato is such a sweet and honest guy hahaha. You can really see why Hayato admires Takao, not only is he a great courtesan, he’s also a really reliable and kind guy. It was touching to see how far Hayato was willing to go to protect Misao tbh.

Well, Misao’s mother knowing the patrol supervisor was certainly convenient! And it was because Misao’s mother stopped the patrol supervisor from eloping back then that she ended up being able to live an honest life here, so she owes Misao’s mother lol. It’s kinda interesting though, makes me wonder whether the patrol supervisor did this job because she wanted to stop people from risking their lives going to the mainland and wants them to instead work hard and hope for a future here instead, or does she just think they’re stupid now lol? But not everyone is a top courtesan so not everyone gets to pay off their debts… Maybe I’m just thinking too much haha. Anyway, it was nice to see Misao and Hayato reunited. Oh btw, not sure but I feel like from Kagura onwards, the story really doesn’t delve much into the sex, it’s just kinda like, they did it, yay! Whereas, in Tokiwa and Takao’s routes, they actually sounded pretty steamy! I personally don’t really care, but it just felt kinda weird to be lacking in that part when it’s a story about courtesans hahaha. I also kinda like how in this route, instead of wasting her money all on meeting the guy or whatever, the valuables do end up contributing to allowing Hayato to retire early and being able to marry Misao. It’s kinda nice that it shows how Hayato really did work hard all these years, but at the same time, it was a blessing that these valuables ended up bringing happiness to another couple, which is what the eloped couple hoped for Misao to have due to her kindness, so I liked that it showed how what goes around comes around haha.

I think it’s nice that in the sequel it shows how Misao and Hayato are both helping out with their family businesses. I guess it’s just nice to see how they both have families and are both working hard taking care of their parents and their own married life. I love the trope where they share a candy together through kissing, it sounds nice and sweet hahaha! The happy ending was interesting, since the both of them decided to go to the mainland and look for the eloped couple to tell them about how the girl’s parents have been looking for them etc, and it was nice to know that they were thinking of writing a letter back. Not sure if that’s a great idea since they eloped but I guess the game doesn’t really care about that hahaha.

Overall, I liked Hayato, but I feel like I mainly liked him because he’s a big brother type rather than for himself. Like, Hayato is sweet, he’s kind and very self sacrificing and stuff, but I feel like their romance lacked a spark. I feel like maybe it’s because a lot of their feelings relied on you understanding how much they loved and cared for each other back when they were kids rather than seeking to show how much they loved each other in the present. It was still nice though, because it was quite saddening to see how much Hayato thought about Misao and how much he wanted to see her once he could leave, and I really liked the change in perspective/story where they focused on the consequences of eloping and how it can affect others. And Hayato is super cute so it’s all good haha.

Overall Review I feel like Kikuya gets a lot of mixed reviews so I was a bit scared that I wasted my money, but I think it was better than I thought! Honestly thought the courtesan setting was going to be pretty trashy but it was actually pretty pure lol. It doesn’t delve a lot into the darkness of Yoshiwara and stuff, but it definitely establishes that the life of the LIs aren’t one to be envied, until they meet Misao anyway, because that brings happiness into their lives lol. Although most of the routes were pretty average, I did really enjoy the Takao, Tokiwa and Hayabusa (Hayato) routes. The game definitely doesn’t have a great plot, especially with how ridiculous some things can be, but it’s mainly a game for the romance anyway, so that’s fine haha. At times, I do have to admit even the romance isn’t the greatest either though, and I think only Takao really appealed to me, but it still has its merits with the variety I guess haha. I’d say if the game is on special and you’re bored, I’d recommend it, otherwise, there’s really nothing special about it lol. It’s pretty typical, pretty cliche but it was still kinda enjoyable. It’s not too long either (around 20 hours according to my Switch), so that’s good I guess? I’d say it’s easy to read since you can kinda turn off your brain and enjoy it, but at the same time you can’t when you’re faced with some ridiculous situations hahaha. Overall though, it’s not bad, I’d give it like a 6/10 probably.

[demonicpiano]

Cold-Blooded

RusCan Sprite AU

Everything is just a normal human AU except these guys called sprites are running around. Snow sprites manipulate the cold, heat sprites do well in the hot weather...yadda yadda. Our boy Canada isn’t doing so well. He keeps shivering but gets nauseous if he tries to warm himself up. Maybe it’s just a second onslaught of puberty. Either way, he’s not the only one.

Check it out on my AO3!

~.~

"It's a little chilly, eh?"

"It's winter, yeah."

Matthew gave his coworker at the next desk over a long look. No acknowledgement. He turned back to his own computer screen with a light sigh, flexing his stiff fingers before going back to compiling these ungrateful bastards'—oops, lovely reporters'—findings into a somewhat presentable column. He wore a thick turtleneck. He still shivered.

A glimpse around the cramped clumps of desks and lost souls bent over in their seats foretold nothing of sharing his blight. That guy was wearing goddamn shorts in the middle of winter. Matthew gave him a subtle shake of the head, although the tough guy wouldn't notice - he was too worried about bending over some newcomer's work and shaking his buttocks at her.

Matthew whispered to his adjacent sufferer-in-arms, "I'm going to get something warm to drink. I'll be right back, in case one of the bosses comes by."

No reply.

Matthew rolled his eyes, saved his work, then pushed from his chair. The only reason there were cocoa packets for the taking in the break room was because they were leftovers from a manager's party, and nobody wanted cocoa without marshmallows. And milk. Water would (very unfortunately) have to do. It was something warm.

Chilly hands clutched a cheap Styrofoam cup, shaking and sloshing around cocoa powdered-flavored water as Matthew slowly lifted it to his face. Instead of a nice wash of steam opening his nostrils, a slap of sweaty, undesirable muck came over him. He jerked away, waggling his tongue at the sink tempting him to dump the rest of the watery abomination out, but he decided to take it back to his desk and use it as a hot pack.

Matthew set the cup down, curling and uncurling his fingers. The cocoa's spell backfired; instead of relieving numbness, his fingers turned into noodles. At least those were supposed to soak in hot water. Not cocoa. Yes, this ruined the whole point of a steamy beverage. He was raised with standards. At least for hot chocolate. And men.

His shivering lessened to a nauseous quivering. Matthew crammed a lump back down his throat before tacking on his keyboard. He tossed more cocoa back as he started to get toasty under his sweater, regretting doing so as the taste washed over his tongue, but persevered through the rest of the dull day.

On the walk back home, Matthew tried to remember what he did for eight hours, but could not think of anything besides white walls of text. The snow banks seemed to give extra cold to the air, like Canada was a giant refrigerator and God just turned down the temperature dial.

Matthew eyed their grayed, gravel-infested lumps along the sidewalk, imagining too easily how the cold drifted and curled over his skin. Even under three thick layers, it was as if the cold was inside of him, posing as miniature ice cubes in his veins.

An uneventful walk, an uneventful handful of hours before bedtime. His flat was quiet. He kept the TV set low as news reporters poured over anything wrong with the world. Oh, and a local puppy adoption. Hey, puppies were the best.

Matthew violently shivered on the couch. He sent a weird look to the thermostat before relenting and hobbling over to give it a nudge for warmth. Back to the couch. Shivering. Thermostat again.

Oops, too warm now. Matthew shed his blanket and turned down the temperature a little. Back to the couch. Blanket intact. Weather time. It was going to be cold all week. Then a snow storm by the weekend. He bet the school kids were excited at the sound of that. He would muster up a smile at the thought of pretty sparkling flakes before relentless feet stomped it to pity if he weren't shaking in some kind of fit.

Matthew decided to keep the thermostat down, as he could always add more layers and more blankets, as opposed to shedding his skin when it got too warm. Under five blankets—yes, five thick comforters—he shivered. Of course he shivered. As if the blankets weren't going their job. Or he wasn't giving them warmth to give it back to him. Huh.

Matthew glared in the direction of his bedroom wall, twitching and shaking and quaking so much his darn muscles started to get sore. He plucked his cell phone from the nightstand, trying for the weather again, but this was so damn ridiculous, especially without his glasses, and the screen was just a blur of light jumping back and forth. He slammed the device back on his nightstand and flipped himself over with a growl.

He couldn't shiver all night. Eventually, he would pass out.

~.~

"Agh! Ow, oh, what...?" Matthew pulled his hands from the covers, gawking at his bone-white fingers. He was white, but not that white. He whipped his blankets away, putting his icicles-for-legs to the floor and hobbled around his room like the cold from the floor seeped into his feet.

"Ooh, man, this is bad," he spat between trembling teeth. "Just how freaking cold is it? This is starting to get ridiculous."

Matthew grabbed for a pot for tea or even more damn cocoa-water, something warm! Okay, he managed to fetch some milk from the fridge, hissing at the cold coming from there, like there wasn't enough in the world. He stared at the milk gently steam like an insane person would, tempted to stick his fingers in the flames below.

Hey, there was a good idea. Matthew lifted his hands, holding them a little ways to the fire warming his milk. He smiled and nodded to himself as the almost-non-metaphorical sheet of ice against his skin started to melt. Then it burned. He yelped and jerked away.

Matthew was not even close to the stove. Not that close. He twisted the knob to lower the heat, grumbling at his own stupidity. He had a roof over his head; he'd warm himself with his heating bill, not the stove top, for crying out loud.

~.~

However, Matthew did not get warm. He got ready for work with stiff fingers. Ate some doughnuts with hands made of ice instead of muscles and what not. Shivered some more. Sometimes the quiet flat was too quiet, but not in a suspicious-spy movie way. It was quiet in a 'damn, I need a boyfriend or a dog in here' kind of way. The teeth chattering filled the silence and rattled his nerves.

Surprise, surprise! It was a cold walk to work, too.

Matthew has been cold many times in his life. Sometimes it was fun. Other times, the snow or freezing rain soaked his socks, and that wasn't as fun. But he never, ever got freaking sore from shaking so much. He wondered how much of a workout was shivering. Maybe he burned (or froze off) plenty of calories from those two donuts he ate that morning.

"Oh, Mister Williams!" A middle-aged 'Can I speak to the manager' woman strode to his desk with too bright lipstick for the sorrow in her eyes. "Hey!" She nasally brayed, "How's the column going? Did you get my e-mail?"

"Um...the one about the cat pictures? Yeah..."

"Yeah?" She smiled, parting the sea of pink that shouldn't be on someone's face. "You like it? Don't lie, I can see that you do. Everyone's gonna love it. They all love cats. They better, anyway, providing you do your little keyboard magic, and move everything just right...!"

Matthew just blinked as this lady went on and on how one of the previous programmers left a stray code in the middle of her article last quarter, and they received a bunch of angry letters from people that had nothing better to do than complain that they saw 'greater than' and 'lesser than' symbols outside of a school classroom. He let out a shaky exhale, trying not to bite a chunk of his tongue off from his teeth trying to rattle up a band.

"Oh, honey!" The lady cried in a decibel that would make dogs whine. "You look so pale! Are you sick or something? Oh!" She pulled her scarf over her mouth. "I hope you don't give me anything!"

"Mm, n-n-no, I d-don't think s-s-so."

"I'll see about turning up the heat a bit for you, okay? Just...make sure you cough into your sleeve! I'll come by again to see how things are working out! I can't wait to see those kitties on the front page!"

That was new. Asking how Matthew felt. Usually the quick, 'Hey, how's it going?' did not warrant an actual response. Yet if he didn't toss a fast, 'Fine, thanks,' then he would seem rude. What a cruel world.

Matthew managed a stiff nod. Words were improbable.

His neighbor gave him a long side-eye, like the chills were contagious. Were they? Matthew didn't know. He almost started to type in the search bar, but his hand quaked as it hovered over the keyboard. A jumble of letters. He could hardly get himself to press the proper keys.

"Ugh," Matthew bemoaned his blight. He sat in his chair, glaring down his keyboard as his glasses slid down his nose. If only the keys would tell him they had everything and not to worry about his work; they got it. Another shudder grabbed a hold of him, and he squeezed his eyes shut to stay sane through its hold.

"Uh...hey," his neighbor leaned forward to eye him up. "Are you...going to be okay?"

"No."

"I think you should go home."

"I just got here."

A long look.

Matthew wanted to say his colleague didn't want to get sick, that's all. He twisted, planting his heels flat to the ground before pushing himself from his chair. A slap of heat came over him. He grunted, and a sticky sheen of dampness poured from his, well, pores. The world and the bewildered faces of journalists swirled around and around and around. "Oh, maple."

The carpet came for him in a flash of ugly stained blue.

~.~

Murmuring. Beeping. Constant beeping. Brightness. Matthew groaned at it all as his head lolled to the side of a...pillow. He was lying down. His eyes flew open.

"Oh...fuck!" He spat to himself in a hospital. A damn hospital. "No, no, come on..."

Matthew was surely sick, but not that sick. Jeez, those reporters are so dramatic. They probably clutched their pearls and flapped their hands in front of their faces at the sight of him passing out. He had to have passed out. How would he have gotten there?

"Oh, God, oh, no," Matthew warbled as a strong shudder griped his body. His teeth snapped together, and he let out a furious hiss of breath. "Damn it with the shivering!"

A pretty nurse came into the room, poking around, and tossed a glance toward him looking and feeling miserable on the bed. "Oh, you're awake!" She sang. "Hi! How you feeling?"

"Cold."

"I bet!" The nurse had her best service smile on, but her eyes screamed terror. "Your body temperature was down to thirty-five! Everyone's amazed how you were still up and about like that! So...just take it easy, and the doctor will be right in to...ahem, discuss things with you."

She left in a hurry. Matthew gawked at the ceiling as his insides were shivering now, too. "Thirty-fucking-five degrees."

(Ninety-five for Americans.)

"It's getting colder," he let out a whimper. Grown adult or not, he hurt. He was freezing from the inside out like someone stuffed ice packs under his skin when he wasn't looking. Maybe they did. Those bastards.

The vent in the ceiling kicked to life, slapping his face with a wave of heat. He moaned, squirming to get away without getting anywhere. "No, no, no, turn that off, please-!" Another sickening quake grabbed him and would not let go. He doubled over and gagged. The warmth kept coming.

Matthew drew in a sharp breath, snapping, and yelled in annoyance, pain, anger, anything cold-blooded inside of him, it needed to come out. A noise from the side of his bed crinkled. Then the IV bag leading to his arm burst, raining icicles on the floor. He lifted his arm up to gawk at the tube flailing uselessly from his skin.

Okay, kids, nobody is supposed to do this, yet everybody in movies does - however, instead of ripping it out like some kind of grunting barbarian, Matthew slowly wiggled the needle out of his arm with a little 'Ooh!' and 'Ouch, ouch!'

The tube started to fog in his grip, and he went to peel and detach anything between him and the monitors. Then he was free. Now Matthew could panic.

"Agh!" He ran to the window and smacked his palms to the glass. It was snowing. Wait, snow wasn't called for days. How long was he out?

"Mr. Williams?!"

"Sir, sir! We're going to need you to come back to bed right now!"

Matthew gazed at frost etching from his fingertips, fanning icicles into crystal white designs along the glass.

Nurses approached, "Mister Williams?"

One grabbed his shoulder. The man immediately recoiled with a cry of pain, grabbing his arm as his fingers throbbed against blue-purple skin.

Matthew slowly turned around, arms held up as ice peeked from his pores, running freezing water down to his elbows and dripping to the floor. The entourage of medical staff gawked with wide eyes, breath catching in warm puffs of fog as they met the chilly air. "I think I know what the problem is," he started as the window behind him crackled with frosty intrusion. "I'm made out of ice."

A moment before the window shattered, pouring over the sill as the winter wind flung itself into the hospital room. The staff screamed, throwing their arms over their faces and ducking for cover. Matthew turned to the gray sky, to the white mercilessly pelting the streets. The ice encasing his arms reveled in contact with the biting wind. He was so cold.

"We need the E.R. team in here, stat! Mister Williams?!"

Matthew stepped toward the window. His feet crunched on the glass shards, poking harmlessly against the thickness edging along his skin.

"Mister Williams!" The nurses screeched as he pulled himself through the window, and let himself be blown into the breeze.

~.~

"I can't find the coffee stirrers. Over."

Bssch, "They're in the upper cabinet, left hand side. Over."

A man sat at a desk, in a room completely to himself. He pinched the bridge of his nose before snatching the radio off his desk. "Toris! Eduard! The intercom system is for important calls and emergencies, not your personal hand-helds!"

A voice murmured from one side, "But it was important..."

"Hush!" One of the men hissed. His voice grew closer, "Uh...sorry, D-Detective Braginsky."

Ivan slammed his radio back on his desk, giving his head a shake before flicking a page of his magazine.

Various murmurs resonated through the radio, calls from around the city. He turned the dial down by a smidge. Just a smidge.

"A stray dog..."

"...my leg got stuck in a snow embankment...in front of the woman I was supposed to be writing a ticket to..."

"Not to sound stereotypical, but I could go with some doughnuts right now."

Static.

"...at the hospital. Some kind of, uh...icy intrusion."

Ivan picked up his head from his magazine.

He turned the dial back up in time to hear another cop relaying, "Yeah, like, some kind of artic blast busted into the medical center. A couple of people have frostbite and cuts from the shards."

"I hear you," Ivan said. "Wait, I'm on my way."

"Detective?"

"Yes. Hold on."

"Oh, the head detective's coming with us?"

Ivan threw on a thick wool coat and stormed out of his office. Various men and women hovering over desks and pouring over bulletin boards hunched and skittered away from his path. Their eyes pricked his broad backside on the way out.

A snow storm was well underway. Two cops popped their heads over their cruiser at his approach. "Sir! You, uh-"

"Move," Ivan said. "I'm driving."

"Uh, yes, sir! The keys are already in the ignition."

Ivan gave him a stupid look, as the vehicle was already rumbling with life and sputtering hot fumes into the air. Once situated, the pair gave each other mirroring looks of shock through the bars blocking the back seats. Worried murmurs and static came from the radio, but other than that, it was a short but extremely thick silence to the medical center.

Another cruiser and private cars haphazardly parked before the entrance, and as soon as the keys left the ignition, Ivan stormed the place just as icily as the building storm outside.

Medical staff bustled around, trying to help confused patients that crept from their rooms to investigate the disturbance. A frail old lady held up a shaky hand to a nurse and complained, "Dear, it's so cold! Won't you turn up the heat?"

Ivan pressed against a wall and snuck around the pair.

"Oh! Is that the police?! Oh, oh! What are they doing here?"

"Ma'am, please, calm down, there was just a mild disturbance..."

Another officer jerked his head to a certain room. "Over here!"

Ivan followed.

Glass decorated the tiled floor, blowing from the grand window lining the furthest wall. Warm breath came from his teammates' faces as their wide eyes scanned the perimeter. One asked, "What could have done this?"

"Who?"

A weird look.

"I spoke to the witnesses. They said a man by the name...Williams approached the window, and it burs into icy shards."

Ivan asked, "Are you sure of that?"

The officer gave him a good gawk. "Based on witness accounts! The nurses that weren't injured by the flying glass."

"And this Mister Williams escaped?"

"Yes, sir, they said he jumped right out this window."

"Well, there's no body there."

"Yes, sir. He ran off."

"He ran off? After jumping out a window?"

"Apparently."

"So you're implying he is responsible for the window shattering?"

"And injuring the staff members, yes."

Ivan curtly turned away. "Stay here and get the full story."

"Sir?"

"I'm going to bring this Mister Williams into custody." His fellow officers trailed after him. He barked, "Alone!"

"But there's a storm on its way!"

"I won't be long."

Another officer hushed, "Just...let him go. He's the only one that can handle-"

Ivan was already down the hall. Of course, the eyes of medical staff and patients hooked onto the scarf flapping against his back, waving goodbye to the place when he wouldn't. A gust of cold air and snow pellets slapped his face, pulling his coat from his legs as soon as he stepped outside. Dusk was approaching. He needed to be quick.

Shoe-marks stamped the light dusting of snow in the parking lot. Ivan paced until he lined himself below the shattered window. Glass crunched under his boot. His eyes followed down the side of the building, a two story drop, and across the parking lot. The streetlights shimmered against clumps of ice leading across the car pack.

Further, toward the street, the icy dimples morphed into foot-prints. A shallow snow bank, but someone must have fell into it and struggled to get up. The steps led down the sidewalk. Ivan darted down the road, eyes steady on the distant field still covered from the previous snowfall.

The field remained virtually untouched, except when Ivan plowed himself through the ever-deepening sea of white the further out he went. He slowed as struggling leg divots in the snow intersected with older trails until he finally stopped, glancing around sparse trees and a metal baseball cage some distance away.

Before Ivan could step forward, something snagged one of the tail ends of his beige scarf. It tightened against his throat, and he let out a quiet gasp. He twisted around to snatch the cloth away, but icy claws protruded from the snow and kept a firm hold.

"Mister Williams?"

The snow shifted.

A snow-caked head of what should be blond hair emerged. A bone-white face. Wide, hallow lilac eyes. Ivan felt his own face try to pucker into distaste. Pale lips cracked open, and the man hoarsely whispered, "What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Are you Mister Williams?"

The man was deathly still - a statue frozen to the ground. Until he barely moved to answer, "Yes."

"Mister Williams," Ivan started, fishing a badge from his coat. "I'm the head detective for this town's police department. I'm going to get you out of this storm and get you warmed up, but I need to ask you a few questions-"

"No, oh, no, no!" Mister Williams released Ivan's scarf, but his arm stayed stunted into the air, claws of ice wide apart and poised to the darkening sky. "No, no, I'm in trouble, aren't I?" His voice stretched thin as ice grasped his throat, "I hurt those people! Oh, no, no!"

"Mister Williams-"

"I'm a monster! You need to get away. B-b-before I hurt you, too!"

Ivan's eyebrows fell. Less enthusiastically, "Mister Williams, you are not a monster. Do not say that. We just want to-"

"I said...get away!" A hiss of strenuous pain, and a roar of wind poured upon Ivan's head. He threw up his arms as a fury of snow burst from the ground, swathing him in cold, unforgiving white. He shook the clumps off his coat, and Mister Williams' backside peeked from his hospital gown as he clumsily scrambled amongst thick plows of snow.

Ivan sighed, flexed his fingers, and rolled his head. "Okay, then. Hard way it is."

He swooped to the ground, planting his palms into the snow. Mister Williams had not gotten too far, lunging about in a straight line. Icicles shot over the embankments and under his hands and knees. He yelped as his nails scratched onto the sudden layer of slick, and he fell forward, rump going into the air.

Ivan straightened and approached with slight urgency.

Mister Williams pushed himself up with a delirious shake of his head, tossing a frightened glance over his shoulder, and yipped. It was a short warning before he smacked a hand to the ground, and spikes of ice lurched for Ivan's face.

Ivan's arms cut through the night air, and a sheet of iced-over snow emerged from the embankment to catch his assault.

"What the..." Mister Williams cried in shock and fright as everything crumbled to the ground. "You're...you're...!"

"Mister Williams," Ivan dully sang as he came closer. The carpet of ice withered beneath his boots, "You should try to make this as easy for yourself as possible."

Mister Williams scrambled backwards against the weakening ice. He gasped as it melted, only to clamp in a frozen lock around his hands, gluing him to the dead grass. "No! I don't want to go back! I'll only hurt more people!"

"Oh? Because you think you're a monster?"

Wriggling intensified. Mister Williams managed to burst one of the clumps of ice around his hands and flail his free arm in the air. "Yes! Look at me! What else would I be?!"

Two waves of snow rose from the ground, but Ivan swished his hands. They harmlessly crumbled into loose sentiment. He fell on top of Mister Williams' legs, much to the other man's horror, and clamped icy fingers over his head.

Mister Williams wreathed and put his own palm to Ivan's face. "What are you doing?!"

Ivan took a deep inhale as cold sank into his skin, freezing his veins, and a smile played with his lips, "You shouldn't say that! Because if you're a monster..."

Spikes of ice protruded from his pale hair, and Mister Williams could only watch as frost etched across the detective's body...

"Then what does that make me?"

A sharp breath to scream, but nothing came as the entirety of ice encasing Mister Williams receded, right into Ivan's pores. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped into the snow. Unmoving, the whiteness to his skin morphed into a slightly more healthier pink.

Ivan released his clutch, and left Williams on the ground to rise to his feet. He tipped his head to the sky, and let out a long sigh, dispelling dragon's breath of ice into the air. The frost against his clothes melted, dripping back into the ground, and he, too, looked unlike a 'monster' anymore.

Ivan dug around his coat for his hand-held. "Unit one, this is Braginsky."

His radio crackled and hissed. He held it from himself until it died down. "Unit one, do you copy?"

Hissing. A disconnected, "Sir?"

"I found Mister Williams. I said, I found Mister Williams!"

"Is he alive, sir?"

"Yes, although unconscious. He will need medical attention right away. I'm bringing him in." Ivan tucked his radio back into his coat without waiting for a reply. "Monster," he mused with a scoff. "Just for shivering and blowing out a window? That is child's play."

It was a cold, nightly walk back to the hospital with Mister Williams in tow.

~.~

Beeping.

Oh, no, heart monitor beeping!

Matthew's eyes flew open.

Just as he shot to sit with a horrified gasp, something clamped onto his chest and shoved him back down. A hospital room. Of course he was back in a hospital room. His wrists were free, however, not tied down like some wretched creature's would be. His fingers gripped the stiff fabric of his cot as he zoned on another man dwarfing a visitor's chair beside him.

"Stay down."

Matthew complied with a skittish gulp. The man's hands seeped cold back into his skin, a moment before he relinquished himself back to his own personal space. "Aren't you with the police?"

"Yes. You remember me?" Almost lightheartedly, although the big man's smile did not meet his eyes, "We had a little bit of a romp in the snow back there."

Matthew awkwardly grunted, gluing his gaze to the ceiling. He was in so much trouble. He was probably going to get life behind bars. If evil science people did not get to poke him with lots of sharp tools, first. Ice picks, probably. He was made of ice. Or at least, it felt like it. A little less. Maybe his veins were filled with slushy ice water instead.

The man raised his strong eyebrows. "Mister Williams? Are you feeling okay?"

Stinging. Tears pooled in Matthew's eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't know...I didn't mean for anything bad to happen." He scrunched his nose and turned his face away so he was not bawling in front of this near-stranger, "Ugh, my entire life is ruined. Ugh, it wasn't even impressive in the first place-"

A cold palm eased against the back of his hand. Matthew's fingers twitched against subtle prickles etching along his skin, "You are not a criminal, Mister Williams. You are a troubled man."

"I'm in trouble."

His company retracted his hand again with a sharp sigh. "Let us start over, okay?" He gestured to himself, to his soft cheeks yet cold eyes, "I am Detective Ivan Braginsky from the Police Department. You are in the hospital because you need help. Not because you are a monster. You are not a criminal. You are confused. That is normal. You just shot ice from your fingers. Again, that is normal. I will tell you why. We will help you."

Matthew lolled his head toward Braginsky. "Okay." He probably already was headed to the can. Minus well get answers. In a small voice, "Why?"

Perhaps it was his imagination, but a light clap of chill ghosted Matthew's cheeks as Ivan leaned forward, much less jaded and annoyed with the world. In near wonder, "You are a snow sprite."

"Um, what?"

"They are a species of humans that can manipulate and are manipulated by the cold-"

"I know what a snow sprite is."

Ivan stared.

"I've read up on the different kinds of sprites throughout my life. My brother's a heat sprite."

Ivan's eyebrows crunched together. "Ah. A heat sprite. Yet you...hm, that's odd. Are your parents...?"

"Both are rain sprites."

"Mutts?"

Matthew almost smiled. "Yeah, you can say that. Got a whole bunch of mixed blood in me, I guess."

"And out came the ice instead?"

The cold permeating the room didn't feel so bad. It almost felt warming, but not warm, in a kind sense. Matthew let out a long, easing exhale. "Yeah. Looks like it."

"You never...gave off any indication that you have these sorts of abilities?"

"Nope. Well, my brother always felt too hot to the touch. Like, if he hung on me too long, I would always sweat, and-"

"That's normal for heat sprites."

"Oh."

"Maybe it was simply years' build up. Or a late onslaught of growing up?" Ivan leaned against his chair, dragging his hand over his chin. Then a slight uplift to his lips, "You are an enigma, Mister Williams. When I got that call that some lunatic threw himself out a window in the middle of a snow storm, I was not expecting this."

"You were expecting some crack-addict, were you?"

"In kinder words."

Matthew found his own face pulling to a smile. "Thank you, Mister Braginsky. You're much kinder than the impression your stories give off."

Short lived bliss. Ivan fell solemn. Some haunt behind his eyes, "My stories?"

"I compile reports from around town for the local newspaper. I remember your name popping up a lot." Matthew tapped a finger against the bed, nonchalantly goading for attention, "There was a fire at the nearby quick stop last year. You were there. A generator, I think, overheated, and you...you 'sucked' the cold out of the air, and literally cooled it with your hands. It was amazing reading the reports. What you said about it. I could never imagine being able to do something like that. Amazing."

Ivan dropped his gaze to the hands folded on his lap. "Oh, that."

"Just 'that?'"

"I got into trouble from that. Mostly a slap on the wrist, but people say what they want to say in those kinds of situations. You're not supposed to make a big speculation of your powers around other people. Especially our type." Ivan's prominent nose curled as he hissed the words, "'Public disturbance.'"

Thoughts of getting thrown in a stony jail plagued Matthew's mind again. Scientists, with big, sharp scalpels-

"It's a solitary life," Ivan murmured. "Not enough people know much of anything having to do with us. Not enough people want to know anything. Our touch can and will hurt them. Who would you blame but yourself for your own loneliness?" He blinked, and picked up his head. A slight slap of cool air dusted Matthew's cheeks. There windows were not open. "Ah, that was a little bit too sad, yes?"

Matthew couldn't help a little laugh. "Yeah, that was real freaking sad. We are monsters."

"Now that was sad. I suppose even monsters feel it, too, yes? Does that really make us monsters, compared to those who deny it?"

"Ugh, stop it, you're making my head hurt."

Ivan let out a giggle. A giggle. The grin cracking along his pale face attracted eyes more than that gloom hanging over the room. "It is not all bad news, Mister Williams."

"Really, you can call me Matthew. And what is it?"

"Matthew. Matvey. No, Matthew. Yes. Uh, you're most likely going to get charged with the cost of window repairs."

"I knew that. That's not good news, anyway."

"You also hurt people."

"Detective, I thought you said you had good news."

"You're not going to get arrested, or tossed in some spooky prison."

Matthew's eyes went wide. "What?"

"The hospital is not pressing charges, as long as you cover the damage. Not as a criminal, at least, but there was nothing I could do to dissuade them from seeing it as an onslaught of mental health issues."

Matthew fell back against his pillow. "They probably are, anyway."

"Don't say that."

"Whoops."

Ivan scrunched his face for a moment, before it fell back into a sly grin. His hand breeched the mattress, crinkling the hospital sheet, "You live in a good place. People will take care of you. Maybe...when you come back...if you find yourself without a job, the station is always looking for honest people to share our stories. Journalists. Reporters. Programmers, too. Those are always in demand."

"What?" Matthew gasped, "Mister Braginsky, no. You can't. You shouldn't-"

"I'll put in a good word for you."

"Why?"

"I like your stories." Ivan almost said he liked Mister Williams. That would have been a bit too soon, wouldn't it? He just tackled the guy to the snowy ground and knocked him out, after all. Usually people don't make friends that way. Usually he didn't make friends at all. He decided to go with, "I always read my stories coming back to me, from you."

Matthew's hands curled over his own face. "Oh, no..."

"I think you even called me a 'hero' once-"

"No, no..."

Ivan grinned, "I actually don't live an impressive life, Matthew."

"Says you." A ripple of cold air drifted across the cot. Matthew shot the detective a look that was supposed to be threatening, almost as if goading him to 'Try me.' "I think...what you did...I thought that was impressive."

"Do you mean, what I did a few hours ago, or just in general?"

Matthew lightly smacked Ivan's shoulder, grinning, "Shut up."

Ivan found himself copying the mingling chills in the air. "I'm going to have to ask you a few questions about what happened."

After some thought, "Okay, Mister Detective. Ask away."

It took some guts to reach over and put an icy palm to another.

At the end, Ivan stepped out of Matthew's hospital room, realizing his interrogation was something more of a self-indulgent questionnaire. Snow sprites live solitary lives. Maybe this one didn't have to.

[thegoods]

“wait, I don’t even know how to drive a stick”

My first REAL lesbian experience was....wet. But lets back up a second...Now I knew from an early age that I liked girls. Like... I liked them liked them. In Kindergarten I used to hold hands with a girl at nap-time. We had our section in the classroom, placed our blankets right next to each other and held hands underneath them. Genius right?! Up until one day as our teacher was making rounds she stepped on our hands! I can't remember to this day if she had a "talk" with us, paid it no mind or ratted us out to the feds. I also can't for the life of me remember who the girl was. I've been a romantic ever since lol My first kiss was with my 3rd grade best friend. She was perfect in my eyes and those love and basketball kisses we shared sealed the lesbian deal for me. I wonder if she even remembers our few make-out sessions after school or all the illegal cable porn we used to watch on the weekends. When we played house, I was always the dominant one...LMAO! I've been sexually fluid ever since. We didn’t talk about it at all. As we grew older, we made separate friends and grew apart. She's married to a wonderful man now and even though it was decades ago I don't kiss and tell... pisceans die with their "skeletons". Now fast forward to freshman year in high school. LGBT was not as open and accepted back then. There was probably 2-3 openly gay females at my school. I immediately met one of them who-made-me-melt. For fun lets call her "Amy". Amy was funny, charming, attractive and quite the hoe. Her hands were always soft and smelled like baby lotion. I had a boyfriend at the time who later turned into my baby daddy. Yeah, right... check out that blog when you get a minute. Anyway, I didn't care if i had a boyfriend or not. I had to have her. A lot of exchanges of "letters" later and I found out that Amy was dating my boyfriend's relative, who found out about the letters we wrote.  Pretty steamy stuff by the way. The relative was just bothered that I had Amy's undivided attention, she didn't give a damn about my boyfriend but she made it seem that way when she outted me to him. Well thought she did! I will never give anybody that much power over me. (Pro-tip: you can't shame someone who isn't ashamed) She told him and we broke up of course and that same Friday-- I had sex with Amy in the backseat of her car with the clearest conscience ever. Thank you *evil laugh*  She was taking me and my best friend home when I reached over and placed my hand on her thigh. Not even a mile later, we were pulled over at a gas station, switching seats and my best friend yelling "huh, wait I don't even know how to drive a stick!".  Amy and I were in the backseat of her car making out like our lives depended on it. Hands gripping necks, tongues gliding over nipples, fingers entering vaginas..... *brb*.  My best friend and I still laugh about the music being so loud, us hitting the drivers seat one too many times and her learning to drive a stick quick as fuck! I know that I lived maybe 10 minutes from our starting point but that moment seemed to have lasted so much longer. I felt alive and in tune with both our bodies. I knew exactly what to do and I didn't want to stop. Not the sex, or the sex with her but that rush and feeling of pure bliss. A few months passed, she was back on her hoe shit and I was back in a relationship with the same guy but my heart was with her. We barely spoke in public. In private, we talked and texted for hours. We hung out and got to know one another. Memorial Weekend that same year, we had sex again. My mom was out of town and I was home alone. She came over and licked my pussy like she was in love with it. That was my first experience with oral sex and yo! Before I knew it we were, I know now, 69'n tf out each other. I loved it. I needed it. Giving her oral wasn't just for her-- I was dripping myself. Once she graduated and we just went our separate ways. No discussion was had or needed. Amy is a part of who I am today and she deserved an honorable mention in my life’s story. Crazy... My sex life has been a roller coaster ever since. #TheZipper 

[unholyhelbig]

Bechloe Prompt: Chloe: “I suggested we play spin the bottle so i could kiss you, but now everyone else is kissing you except me”

[A/N: I’ve been so stumped lately but, I tried something new today and it helped!] 

SUBMIT YOUR PROMPTS HERE

When Chloe Beale was buzzed, she didn’t make the best choices. Her mind would get fuzzy, and her body would start to feel almost weightless among the hot and sweaty bodies in a club. Chloe liked to skip “Buzz” and go straight to drunk. It wasn’t about pacing herself, because if she paced herself, she would think too much.

Of course, she was always careful. She kept her cup with her at all times and ended up dumping out most of the alcohol in the metal sink if she let it sit for too long. Hell, she had even been the designated driver for the girls on hundreds of occasions.

But now was not one of those times. Now, Chloe was thinking way too much, and nursing about half of her “Down-under-tornado” That Amy had brewed up in the Bella’s kitchen. It was an unnatural shade of neon blue, making her stomach churn and her mind run as her veins warmed up with the prospect of forgetting her troubles for just one night.  

When Chloe got buzzed, she got handsy, but more importantly, she got reckless. Even as the girls slowly pulled out a bout of board games. Some cards were missing, and pieces hidden under the sectional in the living room- but they laughed through it all the same.

“Okay, there is no way I am playing Yahtzee!” Stacie proclaimed, raising her red cup her lips with a long gulp. Her back placed firmly along the front of the sofa.

“Too many letters.” Beca agreed, waving her hand wildly in the air.

“Yahtzee is all about numbers, B.” Cynthia rose stated from her perch behind the couch, arms leaning against the back. Her fingers fiddled with the gold chain across her wrist, the small charm marking her place in the group.

“Same thing.” She was slumped over on the ottoman, amber bottle resting between her fingertips as she rested her elbows on her knees. She shot a sly glance Chloe’s way, a bit of redness coming to her cheeks. “Beca doesn’t have the patience for a board game.”

“Beca needs to stop referring herself in the third person.” Aubrey chimed in.

Chloe drew in a sharp breath at the dirty look exchanged across the room. “How about we play something else?” She mused “You know, an old sleepover game or something.”

“light as a feather, stiff as a board?” Amy said. “I am not letting the lot of you lift me off the ground.”

Chloe snorted at the idea. She had never paid much stock in those types of games. It all seemed like something designed through myth and tall tales just strung through time. There were a few games that peaked her interest: Never have I ever, seven minutes in heaven, but more importantly: spin the bottle.

The words seemed to rush through her lips. “Why don’t we play spin the bottle?” She got a few odd looks, an amused smile from Stacie, and a horrified stare from Aubrey. “We just need a bottle… but if no one is-“  

Beca held out her hand hastily, finger extended as she signaled the room to give her a second. They watched, Stacie leaning back further into her seat, pressing her shoulder against Aubrey’s- cheeks heating up by the second. It could be the alcohol, but it could be more.

The tiny brunette gulped down the rest of her frothy drink in a few seconds, the liquid dripping off her chin as she scooted to the end of her seat. Her feet planted firmly on the ground as she finally pulled the bottle from her lips, letting out an unseemly belch as she dragged the edge of her arm against the corner of her mouth.

Buzzed Chloe was never more attracted to her.

“I like that idea.” She placed the bottle on her side, flashing her stare near Chloe, who had inadvertently moved to the edge of her own seat. “We’ve never played it before.”

“Maybe because we’re respectable women of acapella that don’t go around sloppily kissing everyone that happens to sit in a circle,” Aubrey grumbled, not the least bit as tipsy as the rest of the group.

“Oh, relax Bree.” Stacie cooed, letting her hand fall on her knee. “I’ll even move to sit across from you if that makes you feel a little better about the odds.”

“Why would… I mean, you-“Aubrey was speechless for once in her life, cheeks flushed as she darted her stare down to the floor. Her fingers picked at a bit of carpet, mind not up to fighting Beca on this anymore.

With a triumphant smirk, she flicked her hand to the side, the glass let out an ungodly scraping sound as it spun and spun, and it even made Chloe feel a bit sick to her stomach. It was that or the fact that Chloe hopped the tip of that very bottle landed on her. That she could have an excuse to kiss Beca without the prospect of forgetting it all tomorrow. Without blaming wandering hands on drunken mistakes.

She didn’t have such luck, fate landed on Jessica. The blonde lifted her eyebrows as she pulled her shoulders back. It was Beca who drew herself over the table, smiling into the small peck on the lips that she gave the young alto. It made Chloe stir, but after all, this was her idea. The smaller of the two flopped back into her chair, grasping the half-empty bottle from Emily’s hand.

The youngest of the Bella’s had been nursing her drink all night. If their captain hadn’t grasped it and finished it off, then it would be poured down the sink instead.

“Did I see tongue?” Ashely asked, almost with accreditation as she flicked her wrist to the side, letting the bottle run its course. She was joking, Chloe hoped because the deep heat that licked at the side of her stomach made her queasy.

Chloe tilted her head back and emptied her own drink as the game continued. Ashely locked lips with Flo, Aubrey got that chance to have a steamy make-out session with Stacie that leads to red cheeks and the absence for the rest of the game. Hell, even Lily licked the tip of Cynthia Rose’s nose. But the redhead just leaned further into the couch, not amused as she remained in her half-sober state.

“Chlo,” Amy rammed her elbow into the girl’s side, earning a grunt as she popped her oceanic eyes up towards the room. Every bit of focus was on her. “It’s your turn, Ginger Spice.”  

She plastered a fake smile on her face, not sure if the hot feeling in her throat. The bottle was freezing against her touch as she gave it a good spin. The noise that she had become so used to had the decency to make her cringe. Beca’s bewitching stare. Chloe held her breath until her lungs ignited.

The tip of the bottle landed on Emily.

Sweet little Emily that widened her stare as she choked on the air that was in the room. She dug her back further into the ottoman, leaning into Beca’s leg. It was almost cute, the girl clinging to a woman as her face flushed. The room was in near silence.

Beca leered behind her drink, running her pinky over the perforated edge of the label. Her legs were crossed, elbow resting on her knee as she lifted her steel-toed boot and slammed it into the base of the coffee table with as much force as she could muster. The bottle shifted, it’s mouth pointing towards the young DJ.

“oops.” She husked, smiling into her drink as she tilted it back and polished the rest of it off.

Chloe swallowed back the sour taste in her mouth as Beca raised from the seat, she placed both of her hands on the edge of the coffee table, leaning towards the middle. “Chlo, don’t you know you have to follow the rules?”

“Huh? Yeah, yes.” She nodded with haste, the whole room watching the two of them. Amy bit her bottom lip as Emily lifted her eyebrows. If Aubrey were here, and not holed up in Stacie’s bedroom trying to be silent- then she would grasp Chloe by the collar and hold her back. But nothing was stopping her now.

Chloe grabbed her by the chin, tilting her lips forward as the taste of alcohol mixed with her own lingering breath. She had waited months, years, to finally feel Beca under her touch. The usually dominant girl melting until the sudden authority. She responded quickly and with a hot hunger, fingers lifting from the table and tangling in deep copper locks.

Beca moaned into the embrace, pulling apart as her own chest started to burn. Her cheeks were full-blooded, mouth dry as she exhaled shakily. She had sobered up, and thankfully for Chloe, her buzz was cured.

A low whistle rocked through the room as Chloe darted her stare towards the blonde that sat on the couch, swinging her own glass around with a prideful smile on her lips. She mouthed something triumphant that Chloe didn’t have the gumption to decipher at this point.

Chloe Beale was Buzzed. But she didn’t’ mind remembering this in the morning.

[eldritchsurveys]

877.

5k Survey V

201. Put these creatures in order from what you would least like to be reincarnated as, to what you would most like to be reincarnated as assuming reincarnation ended up existing AND you were given a choice. Female human, male human, dolphin, house dog, caterpillar, manta ray, wild dog, vulture, oak tree, rock. >> No. I only know what it’s like to be a human, so of course I have no way of telling what other creature I would most want to be. I wouldn’t even have the same level of consciousness, so how would I even... know that’s what I was... this question is too many levels of “???” for me, I’m moving on. 202. What do you feel unworthy of? >> I feel unworthy of a lot of things. I’m not going to delve into that here, right now, thanks. 203. Would you rather be remembered for having done something for humanity or being a really nice person? >> I don’t care, dude. 204. Which do you value more: science or intuition? >> Why... would I value one over the other... this isn’t even a dichotomy, ugh. 205. Your best friend and your significant other are in the hospital at the same time with the same ailment. Who do you visit first? >> Oh, man, I’d wondered how long it would take for this survey to get to the kinds of questions that make me want to tear my hair out.

206. Does the universe revolve around human beings? >> It legitimately baffles me to think that some people could answer “yes” to this and not think that was weird. I am rabidly curious to know what leads someone to believe that. 207. If you are no longer a virgin, do you wish you still were? >> I literally do not care. 208. Who is your favorite poet of those who are alive right now? >> I don’t have one. 209. What is your favorite song from the 90’s? >> I like a lot of songs that were released in the nineties... 210. If you were in alphabet soup what letter would you be? >> I wouldn’t be a letter. Because I’m a person, you see. 211. Do you believe in fairies, ghosts, aliens, angels, dwarves, elves, etc.? >> Out of this list, I think my favourite stories are those about faeries and those about aliens. There have been some interesting angel ones too, and I definitely enjoy a good Tolkien-style fantasy (particularly of the video game variety). Aside from that, I know a few people who might describe themselves using some of these words, and I am willing to also think of them in those terms. 212. What makes you want to be someone’s friend? >> I don’t know, I rarely think about it. Mostly because I’m not sure how friendship even works. 213. Do you troll around the Internet harassing people anonymously for fun? >> No, that doesn’t interest me. 214. Have you ever seen the movie A Man Who Fell to Earth? >> Oh, I love that movie. Bowie is so young and tempestuous and otherworldly (I mean, obviously, huh) in it! 215. What is your favorite line from a movie? >> I don’t know. 216. What’s your favorite video game? >> I don’t have one, I play a lot of video games. 217. Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? >> I used to shoplift, so, yes. Also, one time I stole a Watchmen comic from someone’s house. *shrug* Don’t ask, all I have is the memory of the event, not any of the emotion or reasoning behind it. 218. What is one phrase people say that irritates you? >> Just one??? --Actually, I can’t think of any off the top of my head, I just know that there are plenty. 219. You allow strangers to read your diary, but would you let your parents read it? >> --- 220. Hot steamy bubble bath or quick in and out shower? >> Quick in and out shower. 221. Are you allergic to anything? >> No. 222. What is your favorite Terminator movie? >> I haven’t seen any of them. 223. What is your favorite fast food? >> --- 224. What would someone have to do to get you to never speak to him or her again? >> I don’t know. 225. Would (or have) you ever whip someone or be whipped by someone in bed? >> I’m pretty sure I’ve done it before (my memory is flaky on it but I know I’ve been to a lot of kink events and I’ve held a lot of floggers, so at some point one thing had to lead to the other), and I certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to do it again. 226. Have you ever said ‘I hate everyone’ and really meant it literally? >> Of course not. (I mean, I’ve said it. Of course I didn’t mean it.) 227. Why do some people want to get more money than they could ever spend? >> Because their society has taught them from a very early age to value money and the acquisition of wealth as the highest of all virtues, and that their self-worth is directly tied into how much capital they can control and how many people they can subjugate in the service of money. 228. Have you ever won a carnival fish? >> No. 229. Did it live more than a week? >> --- 230. What’s the best sounding accent a person can have? >> --- 231. What’s the most boring thing you’ve ever read? >> I’ve read a lot of boring things... 232. Do you prefer buttons or touch screens? >> Touchscreens have been a part of my life for long enough that I’m largely used to them, but when it comes to doing anything involving the intensive use of a keyboard, I will always prefer physical buttons (and a full computer keyboard most of all). 233. Do you think there is a lot of similarity between the Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings series? >> A lot? Not really. They’re both fantasy series, and of course they share a few common fantasy and “Hero’s Journey” type tropes. But to me, that’s where the similarities end. 234. Would you consider yourself to be naive? >> Not particularly. 235. Which of your friends is most likely to go to jail? >> --- 236. What is the smallest amount of money that could be in a public toilet that would make you reach in and grab it? >> I would not do that. Ever. The very suggestion makes my insides shrivel and my skin itch. 237. Would you ever wear real fur? >> Probably not. I’m just not terribly interested in fur clothing, and the only reason I could see to wear it is if I lived in the Arctic or somewhere like that. 238. Arachnophobia or Eight Legged Freaks? >> I’ve not seen either one of those. They sound like very similar movies, though... 239. What are your feelings about police officers? >> My feelings are largely negative. 240. what is your favorite line from a song? >> --- 241. Is fifty dollars a lot of money? >> That depends on context. Several layers of context, even. 242. Do you like the band Front 242 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_242)? >> I don’t remember what they sound like, it’s been a while since I listened to that kind of industrial. Always reminds me of the Cybertron parties that VF put on. 243. Would you rather have fame, money, or self-satisfaction? >> Having enough money leads to a feeling of stability, which makes the attaining of self-satisfaction more likely. I hear some guy named Maslow made a diagram about this. 244. What’s your middle name? >> Shadow. 245. What is the absolute limit, the craziest thing you would do for a million dollars? >> I wouldn’t do any crazy thing for a million dollars. 246. Are you good, evil or neutral? >> I’m unaligned and unalignable. 247. Should ebonics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics) be considered a language? >> AAVE is considered a dialect, which is what it is. God, I haven’t seen the word “Ebonics” in years and I was very happy about that... 248. What color is your bedroom? >> The walls are off-white. What color would you like it to be? >> I don’t care, dude, it’s an apartment. I’m not going to be living here for the rest of my life.

249. When are you planning to move to a new home? >> We’re not planning for that right now. 250. If you added up the cost of everything in the room with you, approximately what would it come out to be? >> I don’t fuckin know, man.

[diabolik-shu-lover]

~ Your Birthday with Shuu ~

Warnings: +18; mature themes; NSFW; degradation; gore; knife play - honestly, don’t read if you’re too weak for this sadist. Fluffy is only the start :x

Dear Alise, I wish you the most wonderful birthday and hope that you will had a great day with your precious little girl and all your loved ones.  This One-shot here is your present from your Shuu. It somehow turned more into a Shuu x Reader, since I wanted to write it for you, but I hope you know, that with “you” I mean you and nobody else. And I hope you enjoy your fluffy, kinky, sexy, steamy and very sadistic time with him ♡ He will challenge you again and give you a lot of pain, and the fun part is somehow quite short (sorry about that.. Shuu and I are not very good at it lol), but I have the feeling that you’ll like it nonetheless ^.~

Have fun ♡

The day started for you pretty similar to every other day, except that you were incredibly excited what would happen. It was your birthday after all and you dearly hoped that this wasn’t forgotten.  Still lying in your bed, but already wide awake, you stretched yourself and yawned once more, before you sat up and your toes touched the fluffy carpet underneath your bed. You got up and walked over to your window, opening the heavy curtains to watch the last sunbeams disappear.

That was your day since you lived with them. The day turned into your night and the night became your day - you shared your life with vampires. And one of them happened to became dear to you, more than any other person before in your life. It was the eldest of the Sakamaki brothers, Shuu. You wouldn’t go that far to say that you were a couple, you knew your place as his prey and play thing, but you loved him nontheless with all your heart and every fibre of your body.

“I hope he hasn’t forgotten that it’s my birthday..”, you sighed to yourself. It wouldn’t have been surprising for you if he had, you knew that he didn’t care about such things like birthdays and holidays like Christmas. But you had gathered the courage to write a very short letter to him with your wishes for your birthday and you really wished for them to come true.

“Well then! Let’s get ready~” you hummed in delight, walked over to your wardrobe after a short bath and picked one of your favorite dresses, which you know would Shuu like as well. Combined with some legwarmers that reached up to your thighs against the cold, boots and a cardigan, you were ready for the day.

With a smile on your face you made your way to the bedroom of the handsome blond vampire to wake him up, already imagining a nice day together with him. But when you opened the door you realized he wasn’t there. You wandered around the mansion, searching for him, but he was just nowhere to be found. Your expression turned into a sad one, “.. So he really forgot, huh…”

“Heh.. what did I forget, hm? ..”, the deep voice echoed in your head and you spun around, looking straight in those ocean blue eyes.  “Shuu!” you exclaimed as you flung your arms around his neck and added in a sadder tone, “.. I was searching for you..”. “And I was waiting for you downstairs.. but I don’t mind if you don’t want to go somewhere else for your birthday.. in fact.. that would be less troublesome..”.

“W-what? No! Shuu, please!” you replied to his little tease, falling for it again, as you did always. A smirk started to form on his lips and he ordered you to follow him, which you did in delight, happy about the fact that he hadn’t forgotten that this was a special day for you.

~~~

After a short while you both arrived at the demon realm, the city, where the carnival took place, to be explicit. And it was wonderful. It felt like a real date to you which you had never expected from the normally lazy vampire who always kept his emotional distance. But it seemed to you that he had put quite a bit of effort into planning this day for you, to make it a bit more special.

Shuu held your hand all the while as you two strolled from booth to booth, you eating sweets, cotton candy and playing some games while he watched over you the whole time. At some point he insisted on a short break on a bench near the fountain, resting his head on your lap and you stroked his hair. You had nothing against it of course, for you hadn’t even expect a day like that with him.

The ferries weel was your last stop. Maybe it was a bit cliché for you, but you were also glad to have some time with him alone, without so many people around who constantly eyed you both. Your imaginations began to run wild a bit, maybe a kiss at the highest point of the weel?

A soft chuckle reached your ears as you looked at him in expectation, “.. you’re looking more at me than the scenery outside.. do you expect something from me? .. Something like a kiss, maybe?..”. Why was it that he always knew what you were thinking? But before you could answer with lightly flushed cheeks, he continued, “.. then come here and maybe I’ll do it.. I don’t mind giving you a small foretaste of what is to come as soon as we get to our room..”

You didn’t hesitate long, you had waited too long this day to feel his cold lips pressed onto yours, so you straddled him and cupped his cheeks with your hands, kissing him like you could finally take a deep breath after a too long time without air. As your lips finally parted, you could see him smirking, “what an obedient woman… I wonder how far this obedience will go today…”

~~~

The hotel room was just amazing. There was a balcony with a great view, the moon shone bright in its fullest right through the window and onto the giant king size bed. And it was just then as you realized that it was indeed a full moon night. You stood for a while, staring out of the window and a small lump began to form in your throat.

Then you heard a deep chuckle right next to your ear, “.. did you realize already? .. Hahah.. you were far too busy with being happy about this short trip.. maybe you also asked yourself if we looked like a real couple? .. Don’t be mistaken.. you’re just a mere toy to me… now come.. it’s time for my reward for being so caring today…”

A shiver ran down your spine, feeling his cold breath so close to your ear and hearing his low, husky voice that always managed to seduce you in just a few seconds. His choice of words didn’t hurt you, he always talked like that, instead you could feel the excitement grow inside your stomach.

His shirt and pants, your cardigan and dress - it didn’t took you long to take it all off and they were now lying on the floor. But he took his time with you, he didn’t want to rush it, the night would be long after all and he had a lot of energy today. You were on top of him, straddling and leaning forward, your chest close to his mouth, “Sh-Shuu.. please.. don’t tease me like that..”, you plead for his fangs. You wanted to feel them, thrusting into your delicate flesh, the painful sting and the soon following pleasure when he began to suck.

“Heh.. such a lewd woman..”, he scoffed in response, “.. I’ll give you what you desire and much more… and I’ll treat you just like a dirty little slut like you should be treated…”, and with another teasing smirk he sank his fangs deep into the soft skin of your breast, his sharp nails digging into your back to keep you in place, hard enough to leave bruises. You felt your heated blood running down your skin and his groans and gulps echoed through the room.

Shuu cupped your breast with his palm as he pulled away, his tongue darting out to collect the dropples of your blood, to tease your hard nipple with steady swirls, just to breath against the wet skin, while his fingers pinched and played with your other one. Your breath grew heavier as you felt his left hand wandering down across your back, then to your belly and further down between your thighs, finding the sensitive bud of your still clothed sex.

“Ah~! Shuu!”, you started to moan as he rubbed the bundle of nerves between your legs, soon pushing the soaked fabric aside to run his digit along your slit, “you’re already so wet for me, you naughty girl..”, he whispered into your ear between nips and bites at your neck, before pushing two of his digits between your folds, earning a sharp gasp from you.

“Let me hear more of your voice..” he demanded as his fingers swirled inside of you, thrusting in and out and his thumb continued to tease your clit, and you gave him what he wanted, “Shuu.. more.. please.. I need.. more of you.. I need you inside of me..” you plead between soft moans and your body ached and plead for him as well as the sounds of your wetness filled the room.

With a wide grin on his face he pulled his soaked digits out of you, “I know.. you’re a greedy woman after all..”, he brought his fingers up to your mouth and tipped them at your lower lip, “..lick.. and you may take from me what you desire..” he demanded with his seductive voice. Your cheeks began to flush in a deep shade, but you were too turned on to care about your embarrassement and so you did as he wished, taking his digits into your mouth to lick and suck off your own juices.

“Heheh.. good girl… that’s how a whore like you should behave…”, he mocked, “.. now.. you wanted more, right? ..” You nodded in agreement, sliding your hands down over his bare chest to his boxers, just to take them off, freeing his already hard member. Your own panties followed just as quick and you didn’t care that you would do the work again, in fact, it wasn’t bad since you were able to decide the pace like that.

Your walls welcomed his shaft as you slowly positioned yourself on top of him and began to move yourself up and down in a steady pace. Shuu groaned and grabbed your hips to guide you, but not hard enough to take control over your movements. You earned some confidence over the time with him and you wanted to tease him back just once, so you went almost painfully slow for him. And it seemed to work, he closed his eyes and frowned, and deep, annoyed growls rumbled in his chest.

You smirked down at him, savoring the pleasurable feeling that slowly built up inside of you, not leaving him out of your sight. That was until he opened his eyes to glare at you. His blue orbs gleaming with lust.. not only the lust to fuck you senseless, but the lust to show you your place again.

In a swift movement he switched your positions without disconnecting from you, pinning your arms down above your head with one hand, as he reached for his knife with the other one. “You shouldn’t tease me in a night like that, you lewd woman…”, he cooed into your ear, while the knife slit down from your neck to your cleavage, leaving a red trail of blood. Your expression turned into a pained one almost immediately, the sharp blade eliciting a burning sensation in your skin.

“Hahah… yes.. that’s the face I want to see… you like that, don’t you? .. You’re such a masochist.. heh… ahh~ .. wasn’t a choker with my name one of your wishes? …”, you absolutely didn’t like the way he said that. Panic began to form in your chest, your heartbeat increasing rapidly as Shuu brought the knife close to your neck.

“N-no! Shuu, please, no!! What if you cut too deep!?”, you nearly screamed, but he just chuckled, “Heh.. I guess then you’ll die…”

He placed the cold steel of the blade on one side of your neck and you felt your blood tickling down your skin, beginning to struggle in attempt to get away from him. “Ah.. stop struggling, idiot… you don’t want me to slit your throat open, right? .. Just endure it and keep still… heheh..”, and you did in fear. His knife slowly wandering around your neck, leaving a bleeding cut, just like a choker. Just like you wished.

The vampire hummed in thought as he eyed his work, not really satisfied, “.. you want to keep it, don’t you? .. Heh.. maybe I should make it a bit wider, so that you’ll get a pretty scar? .. Ah.. I’ll do that.. hold still..”, he said as he leaned down to your neck, widening the fresh cut with his fangs and adding new wounds, bite marks, around it. Tears welled up in your eyes from the pain, you even feared to pass out because of it, “Shuu, please stop.. it hurts.. it hurts so much!”

“I said endure it, didn’t I? ..”, he bucked his hips once, which shot another, this time pleasurable sensation through your whole body, distracting you for a short moment and making you gasp. “Now.. my name.. heh..”, and you felt the blade once more sinking into your soft skin as he carved his name into it just underneath your new, never fading choker.

He smirked amused as he saw your expression, distorted with pain, the tears running down your cheeks and finally throw away his knife, which clattered on the floor as he took your face to turn it around to make you look at him. “You’ve earned your reward with that, little girl..”, he leaned down to you and pressed his lips onto and slowly moving against yours and his wet muscle opened your mouth to play with your tongue, as he began to slowly move his hips as well. Thrusting in and out of you, while capturing your lips to muffle the moans of both of you, the burning pain of your fresh wounds was soon forgotten, leaving only the tingling sensation that slowly rose inside your stomach.

As you felt the knot from your nearing orgasm tensing inside of you and Shuu felt your walls slowly clenching around his shaft, he pulled away from your lips, leaving both of you now the needed oxygen for heavy pants and groans. You heared a deep growl inside his chest as he got close to his climax as well and he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He bared his fangs once more to sink them deep into your shoulder, eliciting another scream from you, this time filled with pleasure and his thrusts became hard and forceful.

It didn’t took you long to reach your climax like that, feeling the knot inside your stomach coming loose and sending electric waves through your body, your walls now clenched tight around Shuu’s member. When he felt that, a last deep groan muffled by your shoulder escaped his mouth, biting down just a bit harder and he pounded into you a few times more, before you could feel his semen warming up your insides, mixing together with your own juices.

Finally pulling away from your shoulder, you were greeted with a bloody smirk, “.. I hope you know that I’m not finished with you yet…”

~~~

As you lied peacefully asleep next to him after this long and active night, cuddled up to his chest with his arm around you, he couldn’t help himself but admire your face. He always asked himself why you would want to be together with him and he still didn’t understand. But he understood that you were more to him than just a toy like he always called you. Carefully to not wake you up, he nuzzled his face into your silky locks, inhaling your scent as he closed his eyes, “you did well today… I love you.. Alise…”

(Thank you soooo much!! You've taken so much time with this! I'm honestly so happy! Made my birthday so great! ❤❤❤ Love it!! Love you!! Love Shu!! )