#i can finally use shortcuts n its so nice

[vampyregrrrl]

closeup of one of my many wips xP

[n0tamused]

Hello! Hope you're doing well! So I saw that your requests were open so, may I request something about Kakashi's gf being pregnant but being afraid of telling him? (because he lost so many loved ones, she doesn't want to pressure him into being a father idk if that makes sense) Like she's pregnant but it's not visible yet but she as some symptoms already? Kakashi didn't really noticed until someone mentioned it?

It can be a one shot or a drabble, i'm leaving that to you. But I would like it to be fluff if you don't mind 👉🏼👈🏼

It's really specific i guess and I hope ypu don't mind! If it's bothering you in any way feel free to skip it 😊

Have a nice day/night and take care!

Warnings: pregnancy, throwing up, a hint of angst

Words: 2.406

Kakashi Hatake x Reader

The cashier held the packed groceries for Y/N to take. A polite smile ever-present on her face. "Have a wonderful day!"

She managed to smile back and take the bag into her arms. It wasn't the need for groceries that got Y/n to the store, but another item that got her mind running a few nights ago.

The realization hit her then. She didn't even have to take the test to know it was true. A gut wrenching feeling broke throughout her as she was just passing through an alley, a shortcut to Kakashi and her's shared home. Frozen in place, eyes glued to the floor, she felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes. Vision getting cloudy and blurry.

She knew Kakashi wouldn't react in a way that would harm her, not in any way, shape or form. But it was hard to deny the fact that it was anxiety inducing, this wasn't something to be taken lightly. Neither of them were planning on kids any time soon. Not to mention the sad history of the Copy-Nin. Even in the beginning of their relationship it took time for him to finally warm up, to really be comfortable with the new intimacy. With receiving such love and care, to finally be safe to be vulnerable. To feel protected and loved and to form an attachment.

The walk home from there felt slow and the wait for the test to show the results was even worse. Nausea raked and coiled in her gut as she sat beside the toilet, having thrown up some time ago. How much time has even passed?

The woman looked forlornly up at the sink where the stick laid. The tiles were cold under her, yet she found herself glued to them, letting the coldness of them seep into her flesh and bones. But eventually she had to get up.

Fear now started to rampage in her system, mind spiraling as her nimble fingers took hold of the test. An unfamiliar haze was brought over her eyes, it made it hard to see but she soon realized that she was staring at two prominent red lines on the small window of the test. Shock. The fear suddenly gone and was replaced with a hollow feeling deep within her which felt even worse. Tears began to sting her eyes again and they came pouring out like a waterfall, in large beads and onto the sink. Cold hands gripped the edge of it for some stability as the woman hunched over it, the test abandoned as the other hand came to knuckle and wipe away the ongoing stream of tears. Silently she let herself cry it out, she couldn't bottle it up any longer. Kakashi wouldn't be home until the sun was already set, and now the sun was still high in the sky.

The woman couldn't look herself in the mirror after that. Hiding the test in her room she decided that it was best to tell her beloved the sooner the better. Hiding it from him would only prolong her fear and anxiety, and she didn't want to imagine the reaction he would have after hearing the news and how much she just waited to tell him. Not to mention it would be quite a task to hide something like this from someone like Kakashi. The evening was spent with a poor attempt to make some food, something to fill the gaping hole in her gut, something to make her feel warmth again. Filled with the vast expanse of helplessness she barely made anything in the end.

When Kakashi arrived home he was met with coldness. Something he became familiar with when Y/n wasn't in the best of moods. He padded through the hall quietly, listening for any sounds that may come, but all he heard was the sound of shuffling. Pushing the door open it unexpectedly creaked, a long cry of the old worn door caused the woman on the bed to startle. Body twisting around like an eel to meet his confused stare.

"Hey, it's just me, love.. What's the matter..?"

He felt worried immediately, he was used to sadness and gloomy moods but he wasn't used to her being so frightened. Not around him. Not on the battlefield and definitely not in the comforts of their shared house.

"Oh I didn't hear you, that's all.."

Came her reply, yet she found yourself moving into him, arms embracing around his middle in a desperate need of comfort. Kakashi didn't hesitate to return the hug, nuzzling his cheek into the side of her head for a moment. Mind running laps in an attempt to figure out what got his belovee like this, but it all came back blank.

"Kakashi I have to talk to you."

The sentence made him stiff, but he nodded and let her lead him to sit on the bed, one arm loosely wrapped around her tense shoulders.

All words that came to her died immediately on her tongue, and swallowing hard her gaze fell to the ground. Eyes threatening to spill tears again but she pushed them back.

"I…"

Y/n tried, but it all felt like bile in her mouth. Not having rest properly,the stress of missions and now this too. It was all catching up to her now. From her peripheral vision she could see the brows of the silver headed ninja furrow in confusion and worry.

"Did something happen? You're looking sickly, are you feeling ill?"

"No."

Her response came a bit too quickly, head shaking before she took a deep breath, exhaling before she looked at him. His eyes searched hers as if he could find the answer that way. Y/n felt horrible. He had gone through enough and all the attempts of telling him about it came to a halt. She couldn't do this to him, not now, he had to rest. She could tell him some time during the week, she told yourself.

"I just… it was a long day, I barely got any rest last night too. I missed you Kakashi.."

His expression suddenly lightened but it did not lose its worry and confusion. She had slept alone the last few nights before work prevented him from coming home at all, so he understood. Yet he couldn't help but feel something was amiss. A small voice at the back of his head whispering something incoherent.

"I missed you too."

He replied and pulled her into another embrace. Sighing out his worry he focused solely on caressing her, hoping that would ease the stress and worries of that day. And it seemed to work. For the rest of the night they both rested in each other's arms, leading a small talk about random things, it eased both of them and even made them forget about worries and fears. In the morning, when Kakashi was getting dressed and Y/n, watching him with sleep heavy eyelids, he came to crouch before her and kiss her on the forehead. Telling her something about how he'll leave Pakkun with her that day. Smiling when he saw you blink at him, trying to grasp at his words. In the end she only nodded and attempted to wipe away the sleep from her eyes as he left.

And as promised, Pakkun remained at her side. He would occasionally chip in to say something, and even the nin asked if she were alright, saying how something felt off now. Y/N only nodded, everything was fine.

Y/N missed going on missions but ever since she started feeling so ill, she was given several days off, not that she had any choice but to accept as even Kakashi was fussing that she couldn't fight in such a condition.

In the middle of the day the nausea returned. Y/N have just eaten freshly prepared lunch and it all came back up soon after. Toppled over the toilet seat she took in a mouthful of air when she finally felt her gut settle down. Pakkun sat at the door to the bathroom, worried look plastered on his canine face.

"Hey, you should really go and visit a medic. This has been going on for a while, it can't be any good."

She heard him say through buzzing ears, a static feeling coursing through her as an after effects of having thrown up. Pushing herself away she stood on shaky legs, feeling a tad bit better but awfully tired. Only a nod came in response to his words before she padded into the living room to sit down only to end up passing away on the couch. Head feeling heavier and heavier until she felt the plush material of the couch press against the side of her face. Hands curled around a pillow she placed over her stomach, some semblance of comfort and warmth coming from it.

Meanwhile Pakkun slowly waltzed into the bedroom, hoping to find a blanket he could drag back to Y/N. Taking the corner of the folded blanket in his maw he moved back, paws pushing into the slippery surface of the polished wood. Groaning he forcefully pulled, the blanket now flying out from under the rest of the folded sheets, making Pakkun fly back and hit the work desk. If it weren't for the clank of something falling from the top drawer, the ninken would've ignored it. But the item that fell at his paws even made him stop in his tracks. His ears pinned back in surprise. It fit like a puzzle piece, the girl's weird illness finally made sense. He figured Kakashi didn't know, otherwise he would've said something along the lines of that his partner was pregnant.

Nonetheless, Pakkun figured out why that was the case too, he knew Y/N well enough, but seeing how things were going he decided to tell Kakashi on his own. To spare her some of the stress of it all. Before he took his leave he did manage to drape the soft blanket over the woman's figure, having had to jump on the couch and do quite some pulling to get it over her all while staying silent.

Pakkun found Kakashi just when he was heading home, in one of the paths between two houses that he called a shortcut. Abruptly halting the ninken panted, his gaze narrowing at Kakashi's figure.

"Hey boss. I have something to tell you."

Pakkun started, perched up on one of the roof ledges where he stared down at Kakashi who didn't quite expect him to see him there. Exposed eye widened at the sight of him, the worst coming to his mind.

"What are you- is Y/N alright?"

The silver head blurted out before he could think of anything else, hands falling out of his pockets. Kakashi already felt a small tightness in his chest, anxiety creeping up on him.

"Y/N is just fine, but why I'm here does concern her."

Pakkun responded as he made his way down from the roof, hopping from ledge to window and window and to the ground. Now standing in front of Kakashi he huffed and looked up at him.

"You really should look into bigger homes, you're gonna get a small addition soon."

At that Kakashi looked at him, guffawed. Silence followed soon after Pakkun spoke, Kakashi at loss of words as he still tried to make out the riddle the sentence represented. "What..are you saying?"

Kakashi looked at Pakkun quizzically, even as the puzzle pieces slowly fell in his head as well, he was still slow to fully process the information.

"Y/n is with a child, Kakashi."

---------

When you woke the next time the sun had already been setting, only the small arch of the sun was visible on the horizon. The sky painted in warm and vibrant colors of orange and red. Your head swam with the unconscious, still not grasping the sensation of being awake yet. Eyes blinking lazily at the bedroom window. Wait…

Finally breathing in you felt the blanket tucked around you. Yet Kakashi was not there with you. A small sense of panic grasped you as you sat up, looking around. Sleep hazed mind sent you into a frantic state and almost instantly you found yourself searching for the pregnancy stick where you hid it. It wasn't there. It was not there. Pushing books and papers aside you still couldn't find it. It was not there.

"Y/n."

Kakashi's voice rang out and you turned around. He wasn't wearing his uniform, nor his mask. A simple gray shirt clung to his figure along with some black sweatpants. He held the door open with his hand, a small hint of worry was present on his face. His lips pressed together in a thin line before he approached you and pulled you into himself. You now knew that he knew. A shaky breath escaped you as you still waited for him to speak up first but that never came. He just held you there, caressing up and down your back.

"Kakashi… "

You started but your voice soon trailed off.

"I know. Pakkun told me today." He stated simply, nose brushing against your hair and inhaling your scent.

"Oh… I was planning on telling you myself.. I just didn't...I didn't know how to tell you last night.. I'm sorry."

You felt him nod against you, humming in response. And to your surprise, you felt him smile.

"It's alright. I'm not angry… It is a bit surprising but I could never be angry at you, not for this.. Please do not feel afraid anymore, it's alright."

Kakashi reassured, pulling away just enough to move his hands to cup the sides of your face. Looking into your eyes he saw the anxiety you held melt away, his own anxiety disappearing as well. He felt nothing but pure love for you. He wouldn't like anyone else to start a family with but you.

His thumb brushed over your cheekbone and then he leaned in and pressed his lips to your temple, holding you like that for a moment before he pulled away. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips, a smile you soon mirrored when you saw it. Leaning down slowly he pulled you into a kiss, you meeting him half way and smiling into the kiss.

[ppersonna]

thunder - ksj | m

your voice was the soundtrack of my summer. do you know you're unlike any other? you'll always be my thunder. - thunder, boys like girls

↳ summary- you allow your best friend Jin to take you backpacking once per year.  apparently, this year’s outing would be the wettest yet.

↳ rating- explicit/18+/nsfw

↳ pairing- kim seokjin x reader

↳ word count- 6k

↳ genre- fluff, tiny angst, smut, comedy

↳ warnings- penetrative sex, unprotected sex, fingering, dirty talk, light dom!jin, light sub!reader, fucking in tents haha ha ha ha, cum play, cum eating, possessive dirty talk

↳ a/n- wow hello! its been so long since i uploaded a fic i almost forgot how to do it! i would like to give you a fic that i’ve had in my storage since march, and one i’m excited to finally finish. i’d be nowhere without @taetaewonderland​ @xjoonchildx​ @ladyartemesia​ for hyping me up to post it in the first place.  thank u to @shadowsremedy​ for being my fav beta ily ily ily. enjoy my babes! pls feel free to message me!

 “Kim Seokjin, if you got us lost, I’m going to murder you,” you seethed as your pulled your booted foot out of a slick puddle of mud. 

“I didn’t get us lost, dear. The map is wrong,” he replied coolly as he twisted the crumpled map from portrait to landscape, and back again. “I’m an excellent navigator, but when the tools I have are faulty…”. 

You grumbled, stopping your walk to sit on a fallen log. You sighed audibly at your best friend, still maneuvering in the small clearing in the forest, trying to match the map to where you were. You chanced a look at the sky as you sought to catch your breath and sate your anger. Dark, heavy clouds were forming, the kind that didn’t just indicate a sprinkle but a torrential downpour. 

“Shit, Jin. It’s going to storm soon,” you warned.  

He stopped his map seeking and glanced at the sky, frown buried deep in his face. 

Instantly, as if it never changed, he returned to his bright and cheery demeanor. 

“Well! Looks like we should work faster to make it back to camp, huh?” 

Seokjin would be excited for an unexpected kink in your plans. The boy was obsessed with “roughing it”. You agreed to one weekend with minimal hiking. Camping, in your opinion, was meant to be spent drunk around a fire eating s’mores and telling scary stories, not walking for miles through nothing but trees, mud, and probably bears.

Camping had never been your favorite hobby, and you allowed Seokjin to take you off trail backpacking once per year. The man looked forward to it, planned it several months in advance, and counted down the days until he stuffed you in his Jeep down a deserted forest highway to the campsite. 

Only, Jin never took the “minimal hiking” thing too seriously. 

“It’s an easy hike,” he had promised you that morning as you set up camp. “More of a stroll than anything.” 

You kicked at the dirt beneath you now, upset you had listened to the dark-haired man’s empty promises. 

“How about we just go back the way we came from?” You suggested as you stood up and brushed the dirt off your backside from the log. 

“Nonsense,” he sniffed. “I’ve got it right here. We can take this trail,” he gestured at a clearing through the trees, “for about a mile, turn left at the open valley, and we’ll be back at camp two miles after that!”  He proclaimed his findings as if it were so easy, so obvious. 

“Great, three miles of hiking. After we’ve already done four, at least.”

“Yes, my ever-positive sunshine, you should be happy I found us a shortcut.” He patted your head and smiled at you as he adjusted your backpack strap that was sliding off your shoulders. He lingered, eyes on you and your lips for just a fraction too long, before he turned and began leading you through the forest. 

Your heart was racing, unrelated to the elevation or the hike. 

You gave in so easily to Jin not because he was your best friend since childhood, but also because he was the man you were hopelessly in love with. 

You’d been smitten with the older boy since your senior year of high school, when he jokingly asked you to prom and you realized you wanted Seokjin courting you to be a regular occurrence. 

You stayed by his side through it all, all girlfriends and breakups. It hurt to watch him with another, but maintaining his friendship was more important than anything else and you weren’t about to lose him to a crush that you could easily just avoid. 

Seokjin was attached to your hip, a fact your friends never let you live down. They were relentless in encouraging you two to be alone, and for you to admit your feelings to him. They told you they were sure he would reciprocate it.  

Unbeknownst to them, you had admitted it. 

You and Jin once got messy drunk on the floor of your apartment, where you slithered up into his lap and whispered your secret devotion to your best friend. Seokjin merely laughed and kissed your nose. You were so embarrassed and rejected you never brought it up again. Best to leave it be, rather than bring a 15 year friendship to a screeching halt. 

So—you valiantly stood by him as his best friend and confidante. You were there when he excitedly told you about his new girlfriend, or when he called you crying over their breakup. Your heart twinged at both; you wanted to be the reason for his excitement and the balm to his wounded heart. 

You allowed Seokjin to take you on all his wild adventures. Like now—traipsing through the forest with no direction in sight, because you would have done nearly anything for the boy.

A crack of thunder shook you from your thoughts and you jumped at the sudden sound. 

“Ah, so cute,” he smiled at you, “still afraid of thunder?”

You blushed and pouted. “It just surprised me, is all.”

He smirked as if to say he didn’t believe you and nodded. “We should get a move on, don’t want to get caught in the rain.” 

You shivered at the thought. It was already cool in the forest; the trees providing enough coverage it locked out any sun, if there had been any. You quickly moved in step behind your best friend. It only took a few minutes of silence before the telltale pitter patter of droplets on leaves began. A fat raindrop landed on your forehead. 

“Fuck,” you groaned. “It’s starting.”  

“I know,” Jin suddenly looked worried, his confident demeanor cracking. He looked back at you and tightened the straps on his backpack. 

“Let’s run?”

You were powerless to deny any request from him. Plus, you didn’t really feel like getting drenched. 

You adjusted your own backpack and took off, running through the quickly dampening forest beside Seokjin. 

The rain came in a downpour. It hit you hard, blurring your vision. Seokjin slipped his hand into yours, not wanting to lose you in the storm. You pushed your legs in time with his, jumping around fell logs and rocks and skipping large puddles. 

You were drenched as Seokjin pulled you into a makeshift canopy of rocks, a momentary pause from the storm to catch your breath. Your hair was soaking wet, as if freshly showered. Seokjin’s hair stuck to his face, and you smiled as he looked at you with concern. It only took a moment until you were both bursting with laughter, finding humor at the moment. 

It was something you loved about Seokjin. He always knew how to make you laugh in times it seemed impossible. 

“This sucks,” you spoke through your joyful laughter.  He nodded in agreement. 

“I think we’re almost back. We need to turn soon, and then we’ve got about two more miles. You ready?”

You agreed and pushed back the slick hair in your eyes, before doing the same for him. His eyes sparkled. You didn’t know what it meant. 

In an instant, you were running again. The backpack bounced against your back and rain pounded your body. The things you did for Kim Seokjin. You were whipped, and you knew it. 

The trail seemed like it went on forever. You both became so tired of running that you slowed and trudged slowly through mud as rain pelted you, accepting your fate of soaking to the bone. You were sure you had never been this drenched in your life.  Your clothes were stuck to your body and dripping down into your shoes and socks. Your teeth chattered in the breeze—it felt as if the wind whipped right through you.  The sky rumbled again, as if warning you to hurry lest it dump more rain on you.

Seokjin was always the caring companion. He rubbed your shoulders and arms to warm them up and promised a roaring fire. You hated how much it made your heart burst.

You were very much looking forward to your one-man tent, stocked with a sleeping bag and blankets. You could strip down and dry off and slip into the warmth of your own personal nest. 

Seokjin waxed poetic about his own spacious tent—a lofty family sized one, and how he made sure he brought his sleeping bag along with 8 thick blankets, and how he couldn’t wait to snuggle down into his own.  Seokjin was the picture of preparedness. He even kept a locking box full of snacks in his tent because the boy was a foodie and couldn’t survive without the treats. It came in handy. 

“What would you do if we were stuck out here forever?” You posed to your best friend, curious about his response and desperate to pass the time as you hiked. 

“Well,” he thought aloud. “I’d miss the guys. But I’d be happy to be stuck out here with you.”  

Your cheeks flushed. 

“You wouldn’t miss, ah—what’s her name? Miya?” 

Seokjin shrugged. “She’s fun. She’s not you, though.”

You couldn’t help but grumble internally. She was good enough to date, and you weren’t. She was different in some respect. 

“Are things not going well with her?” You asked, secretly hoping they weren’t.

“It’s fine. She’s nice and all,” he sighed.  “Just, there’s no spark there, you know?”  

You knew all too well. Any man you tried to date paled compared to your best friend, and the fireworks behind your every heartbeat when you were near him.

“What about you?” He was peering into your eyes and into what felt like your soul. “You and Jungkook sure seem cozy.” His tone sounded annoyed, sarcastic even.

You couldn’t help but bark a laugh. 

“Oh god, no,” you shook your soggy head.  “Not my type. We’re good friends and that’s it. Plus, I’m sure he’s into Jimin.”

Seokjin shrugged again. “You sit on his lap and cuddle up to him all the time…”

“Are you jealous?” You smirked, nudging the man.  Please, god, please be jealous.

“N-No!” He was sharp. “I’m not.”

Ouch.

You remained silent, eyes downcast at your muddy boots as you walked alongside the man.

“Sorry,” he mumbled after a beat of silence. 

“Don’t worry about it, Seokjin. I got it—loud and clear.”

Seokjin looked hurt, a wave of dissatisfaction crossing his features. He wanted to say something, mouth opening to continue his apology. You ignored it wholly. He knew your feelings. There was no way he couldn’t remember that night. You pushed ahead of the man, walking in front of him to avoid his pained gaze and likely hurried apology.  

The light of day was leaving. Everything around you was steadily getting darker, and the rain showed no sign of giving up. You silently begged to be back to the safety of your camp soon, lest you become walking mountain lion bait.

“There’s camp!” Seokjin finally pointed and ran through the rain ahead of you.

“Oh thank fuck,” you sighed, feeling as if it lifted a weight from your shoulders. You couldn’t wait to strip out of your soaking clothes and slither into your blankets.

“Oh shit,” Seokjin whispered, stopping where he stood.  You followed his gaze, concerned about what stopped the boy so quickly.   

Your tent was ripped open, the insides of it exposed to the wind and rain. Everything you owned was soaking wet. You had set it up in a clearing with not too many trees above it, and it appeared the lack of protection against the wind and rain tore the poor fabric to shreds.

A worn-out and distraught sob left your lips.

“No!”  

You ran to the tent and nearly cried. Fortunately, beyond just being soaking wet and useless for the night, everything was intact. There was only no warmth to be had. No warm clothes to change into. Nothing.  

“What the fuck am I going to do?!” 

Seokjin placed a hand on your shoulder.  

“You can share with me?” He sounded hopeful. “We can hang your clothes to dry and when the storm passes, we can build a fire and let your tent air out.  But you should probably sleep in my tent tonight.” 

You bit your lip. You had slept with Seokjin in more beds than you could count, always being forced to share a bed as the designated ‘best friends who don’t care’.  And it was never easy for you. You always woke up with the delicious scent of his cologne and shampoo, and your body curled around his. His hardness would always be pressed up against you, and it took all you had not to wrap your mouth around it to wake him up.

“Yeah, thanks Seokjin,” you breathed. “I’m fucking freezing. And I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep.”

Seokjin slipped his backpack off and pulled yours off your frame. He hung them from a sturdy branch, protected by layers of trees overhead, to let them dry.  

“I have some towels in my tent, go on in. You can get dry and hand me your wet clothes to hang. Then you can get in the blankets and I’ll make us something to eat.”

You blushed. Seokjin hadn’t seen you fully naked, ever; at least not since you were toddlers.

Slipping into his blankets while stark nude would be a dream. It was something you fantasized about more than you’d care to admit. But, in the current conditions, being naked and clammy in the blankets next to your best friend who didn’t return any feelings for you sounded more like an awkward moment waiting to happen.

If Seokjin noticed anything, he didn’t show it. He acted as if making you strip in his tent was a normal thing, nothing out of the ordinary. 

“I’ll wait out here,” he nodded dutifully. 

You slipped out of your muddy boots and socks, and into his tent. It was nice and spacious, and the blankets looked incredibly enticing. It was kind of Seokjin to let you stay with him, even kinder that he would remain soaking wet to make you something to eat. Your body felt so worn out and drained, and you were sure he did too. 

You peeled the wet clothing off of you, every bit, before sticking your head out the door and handing him the clothes.  

“Don’t worry about food, okay? You should get dry too.”  

He wrinkled his forehead. 

“You sure?” 

You bit your lip and nodded. 

“I’m sure. Plus, we have your snacks.”

“Ah, good thinking,” he shot his finger guns at you. “I’ll be there in a minute, then. Hand me a towel and I’ll get undressed out here.”

You shyly handed him a towel, now very aware that you and Seokjin would be in the same tent—naked. The thought thrilled you as much as it scared you. 

It didn’t take long to burrow yourself into his freshly made bed roll, sliding into the neat layers. Seokjin was nearly military in his routine and order.  Everything was always tucked, pressed, and laid down perfectly. 

Your body wracked with shivers and chills—the blankets and sleeping bag were cold from the ambient air outside. You folded yourself together in a fetal position to maintain some warmth. It felt good to lie down on the soft bed mat, but the blankets were doing nothing to provide warmth. 

The sound of the zipper opening the front door flap of the tent made you shake harder. You could feel the wind blow through the opening now. The sound of the storm was loud, and you were grateful for the heavy tarp covering Seokjin’s tent. It provided some respite from the wind and kept all water off the tent. At least Seokjin had been smart in his setup. You ignored the man’s suggestions to set up better, and you were fully regretting it now.

Seokjin had the towel wrapped around his waist and stepped about the tent easily. He dabbed at his upper body with a smaller towel from his suitcase and rubbed his hair dry. The normally perfectly coiffed head was now static-y and sticking up wildly. It would have made you laugh if you weren’t so cold. 

Seokjin moved around you and slid into the blankets, leaving a large space between you, before he threw the towel around his waist onto the floor. He was naked now; you noted internally. You both were. A shiver ran down your spine, unrelated to the relentless chill.

It was silent. All you could hear was the beating of the rain on the tarp and your teeth chattering as you shivered. 

Seokjin stole a look at you, finally, and noticed your position, holding yourself to build warmth. 

“Shit, are you okay?” He asked. 

“I’m j-j-just col-l-ld,” you whispered. “And t-t-tired.”

Seokjin didn’t reply, but you heard the scratching sound of a moving sleeping bag and rustling of blankets and suddenly felt a very warm, very naked body pressed against you. It was blissful, and you moaned out loud at the feel of him spooning you. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. You didn’t know what for, and couldn’t bring yourself to reply. 

You burrowed yourself down into his warmth and felt his arms wrap around you, securing you against him. He radiated heat. He felt like heaven. Your eyes closed—he had you feeling like you had stepped into a delicious sauna.

Seokjin’s muscular arms hadn’t moved an inch since they wrapped around you, but now his hands slowly rubbed at your torso, warming you everywhere his hand dragged. It felt electrifying and your body relaxed easily under his delicate fingertips. 

It started out innocent, rubbing along your stomach and side to warm you further. But his hand began straying north, reaching the crest of your breasts. Your breath hitched as he rubbed over the cold swells. Your nipples were hard from the chill and pebbled even further with the touch of his hands. It made a gasp stick in your throat.

His lips touched your neck, lightly. They were warm too. It seemed his entire body was twenty degrees warmer than your own, and every touch felt like a raging flame. His hands continued rubbing along your breasts as he laved and sucked.

 at the column of your throat.  

As instantly as it began, Seokjin stopped. His hands hovered above your breasts. 

He pressed kisses to your neck and face. “We should sleep, babe,” he sighed.  

You wanted to protest, to push him further, to take care of what he started, but you couldn’t find the energy. Seokjin’s warmth matched with the comfort of his bedroll, and the soothing rise and fall of his breath was lulling you into sleep. Even though it was still early evening, the hike and the run back to safety took it all out of you.  

Seokjin’s arms felt like safety. He secured them around you, slipping just underneath your breasts where his thumb could trace alongside the bottom as you easily succumbed to sleep.

It was still dark when you woke.  

The rain was still coming down, light this time. It sounded relaxing, soothing. Seokjin was still spooning you, sleeping soundly behind you. You twisted in his grasp to gaze at him. 

His hair was dry now, sticking out randomly about his pillow. You were sure if he saw it he’d panic, normally so precise with his looks. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, none of his chaotic energy and dramatic charisma. 

You loved every facet of Seokjin. You loved the flamboyance, the sensitivity, the deep compassion for his friends.  

You turned around, as gently and quietly as you could, and pressed a hand to his cheek—rubbing at the warm and soft flesh. He sighed softly in his sleep, moving against his pillow. An eye cracked open, and he stared at you. 

“Why are you awake?” He whispered, his voice gentle. “It’s still dark.” 

He was confused, and the look that graced his features was adorable. You wanted to photograph it and frame it, make it the lock screen of your phone. 

You shook your head. 

“Don’t know.”

Seokjin’s hand rubbed at your shoulder, then up to your face. He tucked your hair behind your ear and smiled at you. 

“You look so cute in the moonlight.”

You closed your eyes, letting his compliment wash over you. You couldn’t find the words to reply. You let him continue caressing your cheek, feeling as if you were living a fantasy where Seokjin touched you like a lover. 

You were so close to him, chest pressing against his own. Something about the quiet storm, the dark tent, had you disregarding any embarrassment you should have felt pressing your naked tits to the man's chest, but the spell of the forest had you pressing closer. Your lips were inches apart, and you could feel his breath on your lips. 

The feel of Seokjin’s lips pressing against yours was light, but felt as if all the fireworks in the world exploded behind your eyes and within your belly. It started sweet, gentle. You kissed him like you always wanted to, full of unrequited love and unwavering desire. Your arms slithered around his neck, pulling him even closer against you.  

The kiss turned deeper, mouths opening to allow the passage of tongues. He sought into your mouth, caressing yours with his own, pouring what felt like his very spirit into you. His hand left your back and slid up your sides to press against your breast. 

“Seokjin,” you murmured, feeling your brain swirl headily. “Feels good.”

He didn’t reply, only kept kissing at your neck and pinching gently at your hardened nipples. It made you cry out, gaping at the slight pain.

“If you want me to stop, tell me.” 

His words were gentle. His hands stilled, stopping all ministrations against you.

Your breath was hard and shaky, matching the erratic beat of your heart in your ribcage. Your unrequited crush of years was now roaming your body, touching you as a lover rather than a friend.

“Please, don’t stop.”

He was on you again, now bloodthirsty for any part of your skin to touch. He tugged at your nipples, suckled up your neck to kiss and lick at the shell of your ears.  You pressed against him, gasping at the feel of his now stiff cock. He circled his hips, relishing in the feel of you against him. You wondered how he would feel inside you. He was thick and long—it would be a stretch, and a most delicious and welcome one.

He pressed you back against the pillow, hovering over your body as he kissed down your neck and sucked at the pressure points there. A pleasured sigh passed through your open lips, reveling in the feel of him on your skin. It was something you dreamed about often. It felt unreal to finally have it. 

You were on display for him, and his eyes raked over you as if you were a Dalí in the Louvre. His hands slid up to cup your breasts, and you tilted your head back to moan. You didn’t care at all about how you looked, how this might be awkward in the next few hours. You cared only about feeling Seokjin within you, getting him off, succumbing to your own pleasure wrought by his hands and his cock.

“Fuck, babe,” he sighed. “Wanted this for a while.”

“Me too,” you gasped as he slid a finger down to your core, circling faintly over your slick folds.

“Have you?”

“Seokjin, I’ve been in love with you since high school.”

Seokjin closed his eyes and smiled, breathing through his nose in contentment.

“You weren’t just saying that when you were drunk then.”

You shook your head, and Seokjin opened his eyes to peer at you.

“No, Seokjin,” you whispered needily, his finger still so torturously close to your clit. “I meant it.”

He leaned down with a smile and planted gentle kisses on your cheeks, adoring and gentle.  

“I’ve been in love with you too. I thought you were just drunk. I never acted on it because I didn’t want to get my heart broken.”

He pulled up and allowed his free hand to cup your cheek.

“I’m going to fuck you now, okay?” He asked. “Like, really fucking hard. You good with that?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. A deep, hearty chuckle passed between both of you, enamored with each other and the situation of being naked and intertwined together, the warmth of your matched confessions surrounding you.  

“Fuck me, please,” you begged.

And Seokjin would be loath to deny you.

His teasing finger finally slid into your core, fucking into you with ease from your slick walls.  You gasped at the welcome intrusion, eyes fluttering closed as he began a slight pace and watched the way you fell apart.

“So pretty,” he whispered. “So fucking pretty.”

He slipped another finger in, scissoring them open as he worked at you.  Your legs trembled, and it made the older man smirk.  

“Look at you,” he praised. “So easily turned into a *gushing* puddle for me.”

You nodded pathetically, back arching as he added yet another finger and pressed at the spot inside you that had your mind spinning and thoughts erasing.

“Oh—God, Jin!”

As much as Jin wanted to see you get off around his fingers, he was desperate for more. You were finally all his—something he’s wanted since he could remember. All he’s wanted was for you to be his.

He pulled his fingers from inside you and smiled as they came out slicked up with your own essence.  He ensured you made eye contact with him, then popped them into his mouth one-by-one, to suck them clean.

It made your mouth nearly fall to the floor as you watched him suck his fingers clean of you. Your body trembled with a need you hadn’t felt before. It was stronger than anything you’d felt before. It was unadulterated desire for Seokjin.

“Mm,” he sighed happily as he pulled the final digit from his mouth. “Delicious, as I thought.”

“Oh, my god,” you gaped. “Jin…,”

The man merely shook his head and smiled, crowding you down and hovering over your lips.

“You’re mine now, you got that?” 

His eyes tracked yours, watching your every movement. It took you a moment to swallow your nerves, to regain any ounce of confidence.

“I’ve always been yours, Seokjin.”

He held you down, watching you with a gleam of wonder in his eye, before surging forward and planting his lips onto yours. His tongue dove in instantly, seeking solace in the warmth of your mouth. Allowing him passage was easy, almost natural. Jin’s tongue swirled around your own as your arms slithered around his neck to bring him closer. Kissing Jin felt like everything you’d imagine it would be, and yet like nothing you could have even dreamed.

Jin didn’t just kiss you—he consumed you. He lapped his tongue into your mouth like he couldn’t get close enough to you. His chest pressed against your body and he groaned into your mouth at the feeling of your perky breasts pushing into his own broad chest.

“Baby,” he whispered as he pulled away. 

It sounded like a dream—the pet name fell from Jin’s lips so easily, as if it were always meant to be spoken to you.

“You’ve always been the one I wanted,” he breathed as he pressed his lips down your neck. “Always the girl I wanted and could never have.”

“Jin,” you gasped as your fingers carded through his hair. “Jin, you’ve always had me.”

He lifted his head and peered deep into your eyes again, so deep it felt like he was glimpsing into your soul.

“I only want you. No one else.”

It knocked you breathless, and it took a moment for you to refill your lungs before nodding.  

“I’m all yours.”

There was acknowledgement in both your admissions. An understanding that there was no more separation of you, and of Jin. That after tonight, it would be a partnership, and the beginnings of something more, something you’ve only dreamt of with the older man.

“Mine,” he whispered, before pressing his lips back to yours.

The kiss was sweet, nearly cloyingly sweet, as his hands cupped your face. He kissed you with every intention, every desperate plea he’s held in his heart for you.

Jin’s length pressed against you—his hips rutting minutely as he kissed you.

“Jin,” you gasped as you pulled away from his lip locked embrace. “Please, I need you.”

Jin’s charming smile spread across his lips, blooming your heart along with it.

“As you wish,” he whispered as he pressed in for another soft kiss..

Instantly, Jin flipped around and switched positions, guiding you to sit atop his hips while he settled down into the mess of blankets and pillows.

“What?” He asked as he noticed your confusion at the sudden mood change, a smirk rising on his puffy lips. “You think I’m gonna let you lay back and make me do all the work?”

There he was, your Seokjin. Never able to keep a comment to himself, regardless of the situation—always working to make you laugh. It made your heart sing.

His hands slid to grip at your hips while you lifted yourself up to hover over his hardened length, lining up the tip to just graze the wetness there.

“You see what you do to me?” You asked with a coy smile. “You see how badly I want you?”

Jin bit his lip, mesmerized by the way your cunt slicked up the head of his cock, desperate to spear into you but holding back.

“Fuck—,” he breathed. “P-Prove it.”

A smirk crossed your features before you took the plunge and allowed his length to slip inside you as you sank to his hips.  The intrusion was welcome, and you gaped at the sensation of him plunging deep.

“Oh, my God!” Jin gasped as you had taken him to the hilt.  His eyes bulged for a moment before they closed in bliss.  “You feel so fucking good.”

You didn’t need to speak. The feeling of Jin’s thick length inside of you was more than enough agreement.  He felt so thick, so long, prodding at the spot inside you that had you weak and stretching you wide to make you gasp at the sizzle of pain.  After a moment of adjusting to his size, you let your hands fall to his chest as you began to slowly rise and fall and set a pace on his cock.

“Oh, fuck, baby,” he whined—eyes wide open and watching you bounce on him. “Shit, this is where you belong.”

You eagerly pinched at your nipples as your pace quickened, nodding at Jin’s encouraging words. Your mouth felt dry, and you felt unable to even vocalize your pleasure beyond your loud sighs and moans.

“Jin,” you breathed.

He nodded, assisting your pace by gripping your hips.  He tugged you down, face to face, to rest on his chest while your hips kept their quick speed of enveloping his cock in your tight heat.  He let a hand cup the side of your face, the other moving to grip your ass.

“You’re all fucking mine,” he grunted as he thrusted his cock up into you, matching the rhythm of your rise and fall. “Gonna make you feel so fucking good every day, baby.”

You nodded quickly, heartbeat rising as you quickened each pound.  Jin’s lips pressed to yours again, this time messier, hotter.  He licked into your mouth, desperate for any more of you he could consume.

“Fuck, you drive me fucking crazy,” he said, cock still thrusting deep inside you. “Let me fuck you from behind?”

You didn’t bother replying, simply removing yourself from his body and assuming the position on your hands and knees.  Jin scrambled to line up behind you, hand pumping his slick cock as he marveled at the sight of you presented for him.

“Take me, please,” you whispered, turning your head to peer at him with a desperate smile. “Fuck me until I can’t see straight.”

Jin hissed an expletive, before lining himself up in your sodden folds and plunging in without a second thought.  Your eyes widened at the new angle, gasping as you felt it hit different areas inside of you that had you squeaking with each hard thrust of his cock.

Jin’s hands gripped your ass, your hips, anywhere he could leave his brutal fingerprints.

“God, you take my cock like a fucking queen,” he gasped as the sound of skin slapping echoed around the tent. “Look at your pussy, so fucking wet for me.”

He marveled at the way his cock plunged deep inside you, then came out covered in your creamy slick.

“You gonna cum for me, baby? You gonna let me claim this pussy with my cum?”

The pleasure was overwhelming—it felt like every nerve ending was lit on fire, and you were a burning fuse about to detonate into a thousand brilliant explosions.  Each thrust of Jin’s thickness had you crying for more, moans echoing off the trees outside.  You were suddenly thankful you were in the middle of nowhere, allowing you to be loud and needy.

Jin reveled in your desperate sighs and the way your body pushed back against his to match his pace.  He knew his end was coming, knew it was going to be short-lived from the start. He’s wanted your body for as long as he could remember, and wanted you in his life as his lover, his girlfriend, more than just what he had been relegated to for so long.  

“Mm, baby, you look so good on your knees for me, fuck,” he gasped as his speed increased. “I can’t wait to make you cum on my cock every fucking day, love. This is my pussy now.”

Jin’s possession of your body made you see stars, vision blurring as your cunt tightened its grip around his cock.  Jin gasped at the grip and his hips stuttered.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he groaned. “I feel you, baby, fuck. Cum for me, angel. Let me feel this tiny little cunt milk me.”

The coil inside you was tightening, pulling tight and making you gasp and scream at the oncoming rush.  Jin’s pounding was relentless, making your entire body shake with the anticipation.  

Your hand dipped to circle at your clit, the ultimate piece to your end. 

The coil snapped, and your cunt pulsated wildly around his cock, vice-grip tight.  It felt as if you had been catapulted off into space, vision blurring and all sound indiscernible from the blood rushing in your ears.

Jin’s climax quickly overtook him at the feeling of your delicious heat gripping at his cock.  With just a few strokes inside you, his cock pulsed hot stripes of cum within you and painted your channel.  Something primal in Seokjin loved that he was within you now, a piece of him deposited inside. 

He allowed a few moments to pass to catch his breath, before slowly easing his spent cock from your dripping walls.  He groaned as he watched a bit of his seed drip out, and he was careful to collect it on his fingers.

“Come here,” he whispered as he pressed his chest to your back and lifted you upright, sitting on your knees.  He presented his fingers to your lips, dripping with your combined slick, and wrapped his free arm around your stomach.

Obediently, you opened your mouth and allowed the man to swirl his cum-coated digits in your mouth. It made your stomach erupt in butterflies, the taste of you and the man you’ve only dreamt about for years now on your tongue.

A crack of thunder shook you from your silent reverie, and Jin removed his fingers from his mouth before wrapping both arms around you and tugging you down to lie face to face on the mused sleeping bags.

“Now, aren’t you glad we did this?” He asked with a chuckle and a kiss to your nose.

You wrinkled your brow and smiled coyly.

“I would have enjoyed it more if you hadn’t gotten us lost.”

Jin pouted and huffed.

“I didn’t get us lost,” he sniffed with indignation. “The map was wrong.”

[lover-of-skellies]

Oh! A combo of 8 and 9!

Hunted down and "til death do we part", huh?

I tried, but I eh, I have mixed feelings on this one ^^" it's meant to kinda be like a continuation of sorts for this fic that I wrote a while ago. "Til death do we part" is more of an implied thing, and I hope that's alright!

"Come on out, Honey... It's ok, I promise. If you come out now, then your punishment for running won't be as bad."

You pressed a hand over your mouth, trying to remain as quiet as possible while you hid behind a large tree. Being as careful as you could, you peeked around it's trunk, watching the lanky skeleton as he continued to search for you. Clad in nothing more than a pair of shorts, a tank top, and his oversized orange hoodie, you curled in on yourself, trying your best to preserve your body heat. It'd been a cold night, and it wasn't long after you'd fled from the cabin that it began to rain. You had no idea where you were and everything looked the same, but you were determined to escape and make it back home. You had to tell everyone that you were ok... While you had no idea how long you'd been gone, you had a feeling that your friends and family were missing you dearly.

A twig snapped, bringing you back to the present moment. You peeked around the tree at him again, taking note of where he was. Papyrus was much too close for comfort, and you glanced around, squinting your eyes as you tried to see in the gradually decreasing light. Carefully crouching down, you felt around the ground for a moment before your hands closed around a rock. If you threw it far enough away, maybe he'd go toward the noise and give you enough time to make a run for it. You knew he was incredibly smart and that the chances of it working were slim, but you needed to try anyway.

Peeking at him again, you waited for him to turn his back to you before throwing the rock as hard as you could. Papyrus' body jerked in surprise as the rock landed in some thick brush, before he relaxed again and cooed, "Awe, sweetheart... Won't you please come out? I know you're scared, but things will be ok, just you wait and see." As he began to stalk toward the brush where the rock had landed, you sprang into action, practically throwing yourself away from the tree and bolting in a random direction. Papyrus wasn't the least bit surprised as you ran from him again, and he sighed, slipping his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked the device and typed out a quick message before pressing send and pocketing it again.

Soon enough, you'd have bigger problems than him to worry about.

As you darted through the trees, you saw a road in the distance, and you nearly let out a relieved sob. Your feet ached and throbbed, and you were fairly sure you'd stepped on something and cut one of them, but you pressed on. When you finally approached the road, you nearly collapsed, your lungs burning as you desperately sucked in breath after breath. Your legs shook, and you were freezing, despite all the running you'd done. The rain had almost soaked all the way through the hoodie you'd stolen from Papyrus, and it was rapidly losing its ability to retain heat. You looked around, hoping beyond hope that you'd see a nearby town, or maybe even someone who was out for a drive.

While there weren't any buildings or cars in sight, you noticed a familiar jogging suit, and your eyes watered up as you took in the person who was wearing it. Feeling like you'd been saved, you finally let out a sob and ran toward the person, calling out to them and hoping they'd notice you. Registering your voice, they paused, turning to look at you. Breaking down into a fit of loud, messy sobbing, you threw your arms around them, "I'm so happy to see you, oh my god! What are you doing out here? Where are we? We need to leave, we need to leave now, please...!" Your unexpected savior instinctively wrapped his arms around you, letting out a deep breath in shock, "Y/N? IS THAT REALLY YOU?... WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'VE BEEN SO WORRIED... IS PAPYRUS WITH YOU? I HAVEN'T SEEN OR HEARD FROM HIM IN A WHILE EITHER, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE HE COULD BE!"

At hearing the elder skeleton brother's name, you whined and stole a quick glance around, making sure that he hadn't followed you. Upon finding that he was nowhere in sight, you shook your head, clinging to Sans, "No, I don't know where he is. You have to get me out of here though, please! It might be hard to believe, but your brother kidnapped me, and he's been keeping me in this cabin against my will. I need to get away from here before he finds me!" Sans' brow bones furrowed, "PAPY KIDNAPPED YOU? WHY ON EARTH WOULD HE DO SUCH A THING?!" You cried, your knuckles white as you continued clinging to him, "I dunno! He thinks we're gonna be a family or something. It doesn't matter though, please just help me get away from here!"

Sans nodded, gently patting your back, "OK, OK, I WILL. CAN YOU WALK ALRIGHT? I WOULD BE HAPPY TO CARRY YOU IF NEED BE." You shrugged, drawing in a deep, shaky breath, "I think I cut one of my feet on something when I was running, and I can't feel my legs." The skeleton made a sound in acknowledgment, carefully hoisting you up into his arms, "THAT'S OK, HUMAN... THERE WE GO. NICE AND EASY... WILL YOU BE COMFORTABLE LIKE THIS?" You nodded, wrapping your arms around him and making a weak sound in confirmation, "I'll be fine, just please get me out of here, Sans." He nodded again, "WILL DO. I'M GOING TO USE A SHORTCUT, SO YOU MAY WANT TO CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR A BIT."

You obliged, your bottom lip quivering as your eyes fluttered shut. You felt the world around you shifting, and for a very brief moment, it was as if you existed in zero gravity. Once Sans had reached his location of choice and you felt things settle around you, you carefully cracked open an eye to peek at the new surroundings. As he began to walk, you opened your eyes, your brows becoming furrowed, "Sans?... Where are we?" The skeleton stole a quick glance at you and smiled warmly, "WE'RE HOME, Y/N! DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE IT?" You looked around for a moment, and as everything began to look familiar, your eyes watered up again and you began to panic, "This isn't my home! PLEASE, I'm begging you, Sans, please help me get out of here! I need to get as far away as possible!"

A floorboard creaked and your attention snapped to an open doorway, where a tall, lanky figure waited for you. As his gaze bore into you, he smiled sweetly, "Angel, c'mon... This is your home now, and you just don't realize yet that this is the safest place for you. Sans even agrees with me on that one, too." You looked up at Sans with wide eyes, "Sans, you KNEW about this?!" The skeleton in question hummed, "THAT WOULD BE CORRECT, MY DARLING HUMAN." The nickname caught you off guard, and you stared at him in horror as he stopped walking and shifted his full attention to you. As his eye lights locked onto your terrified face, you continued to stare, your blood running cold as they shifted into large hearts and he purred, "NOTHING HAS TO CHANGE, YOU KNOW... IT CAN BE JUST THE THREE OF US, THE WAY IT USED TO BE. WE'RE ONLY DOING THIS TO KEEP YOU SAFE, LOVE. YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT?" You began to thrash in his hold, tears dripping down your face as you screamed. Papyrus moved closer to you and Sans, chuckling to himself, "See what I mean, bro? They make the cutest noises." Sans grinned, almost appearing genuinely lovestruck, "THAT THEY DO, PAPS... I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR WHAT OTHER SOUNDS THEY MAKE." Sans' grip on you tightened until you could no longer move, and Papyrus reached out, delicately touching your face, "Well since you're here now, we can go find out." You frantically shook your head and began to protest, and Sans laughed softly, choosing to ignore you, "FOR ONCE, I CAN FINALLY SAY THAT THAT'S A GREAT IDEA."

Papyrus made a sound in agreement, his own eye lights shifting into hearts as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your forehead. His teeth lingered for a moment and you shivered as he mumbled against your skin, "I'm glad... The sooner we start, the better~"

[sly-merlin]

Killing Me - 3 | n.y

pairing : law student!reader + yuta

genre :    angst , mafia au/ arranged marriage au , smut

warnings : curse words, mention of murder, guns, knives. smut and drinking.

new entries : yugyeom, jungkook , wonwoo

words : 4.2k 

summary : “life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can . it is the only secret for living a regretless life.”

                                              or

                  curiosity got the cat hitched!

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 taglist ::t :: (not tagging the old ones because they have read it already bt if u want , lemme know! )  @yiyi4657​​ @sorrywonwoo​​ @sillywinnergladiator​​  @suhweo​​ @exfolitae​ @minejungwoo​

{ 11:15 }

Look before you leap. Had you remembered the saying, you’d not be sitting in front of a mafia boss, regretting your former imprudent actions. Taeyong was sitting on a high back executive chair, aura screaming authority, his high and mighty self, making you feel inferior. His eyes bore into yours as if he could read your soul with his intense gaze.

Your stare equally harmonized with his fierce one.

A loud fake cough from someone interrupted you from ogling at the boss. He indeed looked like a feast, anyone would falter! Getting your much needed attention at this point, taeyong dismissed others from his office with a flick of his hand. The only ones to stay behind in the vicinity of the four walls were you, taeyong and a blue haired man. Out of all, he looked most annoyed with your presence.

“Jaehyun, sit down, it’s going to take a while.” taeyong directed him and the man occupied the empty seat beside you. You could already feel him eyeing you down.

“Miss y/n. I’m not going to beat around the bush. So, listen sensibly.”

Your blood ran cold at his cold and blank declaration. The fierceness of his eyes was seeping through his words making you cower in your position. Your firm resolve to fight for your life was already breaking down and this was just a start.

“I know this is too sudden and It’s normal being apprehensive of this situation but you are not on a very strong front here. Marry yuta or - you know the consequences. And I don’t want you to choose on impulse. This is going to be your last opportunity, so be wise! Nobody wants to die y/n and you certainly don’t! I have a proposal for you. It’s for your own good but if you still decides against me, I promise I’ll grant your last wish without any hesitance and believe me, I always keep my word” he finished, placing his gun on the table to prove his point. You nodded briefly after taking in everything. He continued-

“You will marry yuta, say by the end of this week. But as you sign the registration papers, I’ll provide you the ownership of 3 exclusive properties in gangnam with only one small, harmless condition. You’ll hold title not as miss y/l/n but as Mrs Nakamoto. Moreover, you won’t have to do any job. Your living expenses, all will be managed from our side. Yuta alone is capable of providing you a black card. You can live hassle free. A house, security, what else could anyone want! You won’t have to change a thing in your life. Think of it as an up-gradation.”

You felt like being kicked in the teeth. This man was trying to bargain your whole future with his riches.

“Sounds promising?” He enquired. You pondered over what he said to find any single error to turn the tables but that was out of question until you knew his demands fully. And it wasn’t very promising. when did choosing between life and death became so difficult!

“You can’t assure me my freedom! connecting me with neos is more like booking a room for me to rotten in jail. The security you are talking about is for you I guess. And yuta is more like a noose for me. I’ll be dead one way or another” you uttered, releasing the air you were holding while speaking.

You heard jaehyun snort beside you.

“Your safety will be my top priority and yes, you will be associating with neos, but that is something you don’t need to be worry about. For the outer world, you will be the wife of yuta”.

“What difference would it make?” his explanations going beyond your head.

“Let me explain like this. Have you ever seen a neo member’s face prior to this or heard anyone getting caught?”

“I guess no.”you answered without hesitation.

“Neos doesn’t have faces .…but these faces do have names for commoners like you.”

“You mean double-life?”

“Have you ever heard of moon industries?”

“Who doesn’t have? Moon industries are the 3rd biggest sponsors and investers for almost everything in Korea.”

“Yeah, yuta works there. Anything clicks for you?

You refuse with motion of your head.

“You’ll not be marrying yuta from neos but nakamoto yuta who works in moon industries. Like that, you won’t be getting in any trouble . A legitimate life. You can do anything you want except open your pretty mouth”. 

you didn’t like being called that!

“I don’t understand, you said nobody knows you people then what am I even doing here. How that officer did even recognise yuta. I shouldn’t even be here, if your identities are so hidden.”

“See jaehyun, I told you she’s more than just book smart. Listen y/n, mafia doesn’t work like the way you might be thinking. We can’t spill everything to you even if you decide to die the very next moment.

It was hard to believe that he planned all of this while you were held captive, within 9 hours. Taeyong was extremely meticulous and expeditious as well. But there was one more question left and you knew he couldn’t answer it. Nothing came without flaws afterall!

“Why are you being so ‘generous’ to me? My bio data of few pages can’t make you trust me so definitely. You are practically giving me an offer to rant you all to police. I’m sure you don’t grease the palms of all officers and if I-

“Me and you both know that you won’t do it unless you are fed up with your life and that would leave to start de novo!” his words indicated conclusiveness, his raised brows challenging you to refuse him. For now his surety signalled safety, but you still had one defence left or as everyone called it – a plea. It was better to beg than to be between Scylla and Charybdis.

“Is there no other way. I promise you with my life I won’t ever say anything. You can put spies over me or do whatever you want to keep a check on me.” your desperation to fight for your life was evident in your appeal.

“Yes! There is one more solution!” jaehyun chimed, facing you from his seat. He was grinning eye to eye. “We can sell you to an underground escort ring where you’ll happily live until you die and there’d be no neo or yuta or police or career. I’m sure you are shrewd enough to survive there”. nobody mentioned this before!

“If you can’t shut your mouth, then leave jaehyun.” taeyong scolded and he went back to his original position. Jaehyun seemed to be enjoying your state. He hit you with harsh reality you were still unaware of. Maybe,you were really on their mercy now,

“He is joking right?”

“No, he is telling the truth but I want you to make a choice. That hell-hole is not for someone like you. You can do better. Take this as a shortcut to a nice life.”

“How can I believe that you won’t be putting me in the some escort ring as he said to shut my mouth?”

“If I wanted, you won’t be sitting here anymore.”he deadpanned

You were silent. Your mind went blank. No words came to grace your lips. You were trapped and though there were plenty of options, there was none for you. Either you live and marry yuta or die. There was no other way to live.

“And what if my life doesn’t turn out all good?” you asked timidly.

“Then I’ll let you leave. And without any condition”

Finally some hope. You could leave. You would definitely leave.

“Is yuta okay with it?”

“His position is not better than yours.”

“I’m not going to leave university then.”

“Suit yourself! Just don’t convert yourself into a nuisance for us.”

You nodded with head hanging low. You had been beating the air till now, which resulted in nothing but defeat. Taeyong got what he wanted in the end.

“Call jaemin and haechan. Before she goes home, we need to give her a gift. And you made a good choice, you won’t regret it, take my word for it.”

[1 p.m]

Twelve hours has passed. As you were walking towards your dorm, you pinched yourself several times but your reality was now a nightmare from which you’d never wake up. Defeated, you entered your dorm only to lie down in the bed, to regret your life decisions. Graciously, chelin was out till midnight with her boyfriend, so you had all the time in the world. The last 12 hours kept playing in your head like a broken record. You were happy in the club drinking yesterday. if maybe you’d not left them behind, you’d still be incharge of your life game. then that police officer, living off of some mafia group, doyoung , johnny,jaehyun , taeyong and him, the source of your plight. You were suddenly feeling like a kite which till now was flying freely in the air but its thread was now in the grasp of someone who wanted to tie you down by the same, if you think of it, the scales were never balanced! You were always at the losing end. Beggars are never the choosers after all. Sleep unknowingly took over your tired limb while you were wallowing in self-pity.

A ping.

The notification of a text woke you up from your peaceful sleep. You were out for about 4 hours but it felt good as your head was no more pounding. The text was from Jungkook about a party his friend group was organising to celebrate the upcoming finals. they were just partying yesterday with you and now this.

Another ping.

Same text from yugyeom. You sighed in frustration.

Both of your best friends lived in the same place and were always joined by the hip and you were sure they were together at the moment as well but where there’s a question to annoy you, they won’t let the opportunity pass.

You deliberated about telling them everything but you refrained as taeyong’s threat was not a gun without bullet. He warned you before coming and you were supposed to keep your mouth shut. It was better to keep them away from trouble. You were extremely alone.

Another ping.

They were asking about your whereabouts. You never informed them you reached home yesterday. Their worry was visible through their multiple scolding motherly texts. You would have laughed at their antics but your own humorous state rendered you incompetent to feel any joy.

It was not difficult to make them believe that you overslept as everyone knew your shitty professors treated you more like a slave and less like their researcher. But refusing to meet them and declining free alcohol was making them sceptical. You had no option other than going but you’d be anywhere than at a party right now. But maybe some commotion of drunk university students and blasting music could take your thoughts away for some time.

However, first there was another task to be taken care of! You searched ‘Moon Industries’ on naver. There were numerous articles praising their new successful new ventures. You opened their official website, the list of board of directors and associates was not too long. The photo of head director looked too familiar. Maybe it was that short man. And then him. There was no photo but his name was written just few places below moon tail.  Taeyong was not bluffing. Nakamoto was an important name and maybe everyone there was, however, it was beyond your intellect as how they managed to do it. There was no way out now. One thing that wasn’t adding up was the properties .your brainwaves couldn’t find a conclusion to those. There was no reason for him to do that when you weren’t left with any choice ultimately. Maybe you’ll find out tomorrow.

You got out of clothes that adorned your body since yesterday. Their smell was enough to make you gag. How could someone fell asleep in these! The cold water of the shower eased your mind fairly. Your eyes were drooping again but sleeping would do you no good. You could run away from your problem like everybody else. Just this once. After showering, you took a brief look at your wardrobe. It was just a college party, with same people so dressing up to impress them was out of tone for you. Not that you were dolling up anyways. You could just wear your pyjama and still outshine any flashy titties out there. At least that’s what kookie and gyeom had been feeding you till now. You took out a black full sleeve v- neck blouse with white shorts. It hugged your upper body tightly leaving just enough space for some air. You looked good and felt good too. Being in no mood to do makeup, you opted for a nude lip to complete your look. You wore the bracelet that you were not supposed to part with but out of habit, you had removed it earlier to shower. Now it adorned your wrist again. It was a band. A gift by taeyong. The bracelet was a tracking device, not that jaemin wasn’t hacking your phone already but they needed to be double sure, just in case. Not like you were going to rant them out. you felt like Taeyong’s threatening voice would never leave your ears.

Yugyeom’s call replaced the voice. They were already waiting for you. You decided to drown yourself in alcohol for one day and enjoy with your friends. The party was at nearby club situated at 10 min distance. Your dorm was nearer to the gates so it was always easy to go out. Slipping into your shoes, you made your way out.

“You will regret this, taeyong” though yuta didn’t show in front of you in basement, he was furious at taeyong for making his life decisions. “First her and now this! the mistake I made was not that big. Slip ups happen with everyone here, including you. So why it’s only me, who’s getting –

“Not a slip up but a blunder yuta” taeyong fumed at him. “Last time, mark almost died because of you. It was my mistake I let it slide. You aren’t getting any more chances. My decision is final” his voice went deeper as he spoke.

“I regret it tae, you know it” his voice filled with guilt. “But don’t feed me the lies. This is not the only reason you’re doing this for. There is something you aren’t telling us”

“There might be. But you already know what you need to! So celebrate your month long vacation. Go to work with taeil hyung. She’s coming tomorrow again and we’ll discuss other matters with her. Be present here. Don’t disappear like you did in the morning.”

Yuta huffed and decided to leave instead of wasting his time on his leader.

“And leave your gun here”

“WHAT NOW?”

“Don’t shout and leave your gun. Corporates don’t carry guns in this country.” taeyong replied calmly, almost in a mocking tone. Yuta removed the gun from holster and handed it to taeyong before turning towards the door.

“Other one as well” taeyong demanded with a smirk.

“Huh, now you’ll ask for my dagger as well!” yuta sneered at him while removing the other pistol from back of the pants.

“I’m not that cruel, yu. Keep your sweetheart with you. It’ll remind you of the absence of your other toys.”. “And don’t forget. Tomorrow at 4. sharp.”

Instead of responding, yuta showed him a middle finger before actually going out.

Mark was standing at the end of the hallway, waiting for yuta already.

“What happened hyung?” he asked curiously.

“Nothing. You are going to be the best man in my wedding” yuta replied nonchalantly. But mark knew there was more to it. Yuta won’t settle down just because he was told to!

“To her?”

“Yeah, who else. Taeyong is getting short on his brain. We might need to replace him soon” he joked but mark could see right past him.

“Hyung. What are you thinking?” he asked cautiously in a scared tone.

“Ruin her life. I’ll make her regret being alive.”

And yuta walked away, leaving worried mark behind him. He didn’t go after him. He knew better not to.

The party was at full blast when you reached. It was always a nice change watching studious snu students washing away their worries. Your soulmates were nowhere to be found but you spotted chelin sitting with her friends on the stairs. It seemed like everyone who knew was there. Your classmates, juniors. Club was filled with students of all ages. Being multi-storey with a parking lot and near the uni., these factors were enough for making it a perfect party spot. After talking to a few fellow classmates, you went upstairs, brushing past chain’s group, who seemed to be too drunk to notice you. There were Jungkook and yugyeom with few others sports physiotherapy students. Being master’s students, you all just went to parties for alcohol and hook-ups and nothing else. And that’s what you were planning to do from the start.

“y/l/n” as yugyeom noticed you, he and Jungkook ran to give you a bear hug.

“I don’t want to smell your armpits, losers. Get away” you huffed while struggling in their tight grip.

“sowwyyyy, we forgot you are under average” jungkook teased you, gyeom giving him a hifi in return.

“You both are so damn irritating.”

“We adore you too, darling” Jungkook knew how much you hated being called that. But alcohol in his system was making him daring. After giving a fist hit to his gut, which did nothing to his sculptured abs, you made your way to the drinks. One, two, three, and within 5 minutes you had enough alcohol in your system to provide much needed numbness to your brain.

“Whoa shortie, what’s with you today? At least wait for us to join you.” kook chimed in with another nickname you hated with your guts.

“You both are already drunk, meaning kook your boyfriend is here and gyeom, your girlfriend. You both are going to forget me in few minutes anyway.”

As if on cue, yugyeom’s girl yeong came into view, giving you a proper hug.

“I’m so sorry y/n, but we have to go. Our department has to work for the fundraiser tomorrow and I’m a designated driver here.” she explained sheepishly. Not like you were dying to talk to them today. The loner, the better.

“Plz take them away. I’ll send you a thank you card tomorrow for your act of kindness.” you said sarcastically, resulting in both of them making faces at you.

“Bye y/n we’ll mwisss uuu” Jungkook lunged at you with a back breaking hug. Then came gyeom and in a minute they were both out of your sight.

Those being out of your way meant no one was there to stop you. Once your body was flooding in alcohol, You made your way to the dance floor. You loved music and dancing came mechanically with that. You were swaying your body, mingling with the music when you felt a pair of hands controlling your movements. You accepted his well-known touch. You both moved side to side for a few minutes before he impatiently lead you towards the back of the club. He was always an eager one, not that you ever denied him. Noticing few people already in each others faces, he moved to the other side, heading towards the car parking. Sprinting towards his car, he hurriedly opened the back car door to lead you in.

“Not here, wonwoo.” he viewed you with his raised brow. “Back!”

“Who am I to refuse you, baby” he said, directing you towards the trunk. He opened it with one swift motion. His legs were swinging outside as he sat on the edge. Pulling you towards him, he kissed you hungrily like hadn’t feasted on you a few days ago. Wonwoo loved your touch, and same was the case with you. That was it, nothing more to description.

“Looks like someone missed me” you whispered in between the kisses.

“You are at a perfect height for me here. God, why didn’t I think of this earlier” and kept attacking your lips until they were plump enough to satisfy him. His tongue asked for entrance, which your lips provided without any hesitation. Your hands were mingled in his hair tugging at the hair roots, earning few groans from him. Somewhere while kissing, you ended up on his right thigh which you were roughly grinding by now.

“As much as I would love you to cum on my thigh, I want to take you raw. So please be patient” he requested while stopping your movements with one hand. His other hand was caressing your back and waist, making you bite him on his lips.

“Shit, you can’t wait huh” he jested at you. he dropped you on your feet, one hand resting against your wet core from behind, other angling your neck to place wet kisses on your collarbones. You whimpered and squirmed against his touch. He had that effect on you. You weren’t sure what drew you both back towards each other after each week but the pull was compelling to you.

After gratified with his artwork he stood up to replace your positions. You were now sitting on edge while he towered over you. Hastily your hand went to remove his belt but seeing you struggling, he took up the task for himself. You removed your own shorts in meantime and placed them where his pants were now. Fortunately for others, the party inside was still lively to engage them and there was no fear of getting caught, not that wonwoo cared. He could take you anytime, anywhere.

He had to lower himself to hold you but he was so used to it by now. Without a warning, he slided you towards his standing body to kiss you ravenously. Your hands did their work on his boxers and started pumping his already hard length. No words were spoken as your silky underwear was removed from your hips. He backed you against the surface to the point you were lying down, his hand on back of your head to support you. His length slipped into you making you whimper loudly. He was big, from everywhere. Skin slapping was the only sound that could be heard in the quite parking lot at this hour of night. His hand on your hip was holding you tight, your legs wrapped around his waist while he fucked and kissed you in his brute mode. If it was not for his arms, you’d have collapsed then and there.

“Fuck y/n. how can you be so tight” he hissed against your lips.

“Shut u-up.” your voice got stuck in your throat. The only thing in your control were your hands on wonwoo’s nape, holding him towards you. The muscles in your abdomen, which could be felt by him, went stiff, your back arching at familiar sensation. His own kisses went sloppier indicating he was also closer. You both released at the same time, warm liquid spilling out of your conjoined bodies. He placed a sweet kiss on your forehead before removing himself from you.

Before you could touch your panties stuck between your legs, he stopped you.

“Wait lemme find something to clean you up” he quickly got dressed, while you sat there with your intertwined legs. He came back from front with a handkerchief. He cleaned you before helping you with your shorts. You were glad for wearing loose shorts as they were easy to transfer with your shoes. With his arm on upper side of trunk, his hunched figure stared you down suspiciously.

“What’s up with you today?”

Not him as well.

“Nothing, I overslept and I’m still tired. So I’ll be going now.” you declared implying that you won’t tell him.

“Okay, as you say. Are you free next Friday though” he asked taking his chances. Again.

“Don’t start again woo? At least you can leave me in peace. I’m going .bye bye. See you after finals. maybe.” you slipped away from under his arm towards the gate of parking lot, only looking behind to wave him goodbye. His followed suit.

You were gone but he’d never stopped trying.

You mentally thanked your friends for giving you an invite as many things were clear in your head now. It was definitely the alcohol and wonwoo but you were much calmer now.

A ping.

Jaemin: don’t forget about tomorrow, noona. Taeyong hyung told me to remind you.

You scoffed at his text. Noona. Some overhyped kid he was!

But his message made you understand that all this was permanent. Sober you or drunken,Your life was changing forever. The tomorrow you were waiting till now was altered.

You went home with same dejection. Taeyong’s last words echoing in your head.

“Life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can. It is the only secret for living a regretless life.”

feedback is appreciated. it serves as motivation for writers! so please leave some honest feedback to help me improve! thanks for reading!!

[charlieliqueur]

AHWM Yancy X Reader

Just One Date?

---

Yancy had made it clear time and time again.

"I'm waitin' for parole. I ain't takin' no shortcuts."

You were right there, in stealth clothes from the heist a few months ago, the key in your pocket, a hopeful look in your eyes, as always. Everytime you came back, everytime you broke in to visit him in person, he refused to sneak out for even a single night.

But this time would be different.

It was your 21st birthday. Yeah, so young to be out pulling heists and getting sent to prison and all, but you didn't care. The thing was, you could finally 'officially' buy a drink, and even if alcohol wasn't your biggest thing, you were gonna use this important birthday situation to guilt trip Yancy into sneaking out for just one night.

You wanted to see him in something other than his prison clothes (and maybe one day, nothing at all). You wanted to see him out and about, normal, happy, getting a taste of what the free world was like now. Maybe you just wanted to make sure he was serious about parole, by reminding him of what waited outside. He seemed determined, every third Sunday when you visited legally, he had a cleaner and cleaner report sheet. He hadn't gotten into a lick of trouble since you 'left'.

It was 11:40 p.m.

About an hour past 'lights out' at Happy Trails. You unlocked the gate, entered, locked it again, and headed for the right cell block. Then you unlocked an outer door, went down a few dark back hallways, through another doorway or two, another hall or three, waited for some guards to pass, silently crept past the other prisoners asleep in their cells, unlocked Yancy's cell, and finally shut the door behind you.

You snuck up, gently easing onto your knees at his bedside, he was fast asleep. You gently shook him, cooing his name. "Yancy... Yancy...?" You whispered, brushing his soft hair out of his face. It was a mess of curls when he didn't have it greased back.

"Hmmmmm?" He groaned, rolling over onto his side, his eyes opening slightly. He was so used to your late night visits he didn't even flinch. "Oh, its youse... happy birthday too..." he said softly, closing his eyes again. You smiled, your heart swelled at the fact that he remembered.

"Yeah, my 21st," you whispered.

"Mmm, 21st, ain't youse so young... gotten youself a couple'a shots yet?" He asked chuckling, tired. He'd probably only been asleep about half an hour.

You sighed, smiling. This man was half asleep in bed making sleepy conversation. "Um, not yet, I was hoping you'd tag along..." you whispered.

Please say yes, please say yes, please say-

"Come on y/n, youse know if I gets caught, it'll be solitary for weeks. And you may end up back in 'ere..." he said, rolling onto his back.

"What if we don't get caught? Hmm? Just one date?"

The last statement surprised him. You knew because he opened his eyes, and propped himself on his elbow, turning towards you. "Date? I ain't been on a date before..." he said surprised. "D-Did I say date? I-I mean, it doesn't- I just thought-" your face had flushed red.

He chuckled slightly, nodded a little, and sat up. "Alright, alright, we can head out for a few drinks. But then we come right back, okay?" He said, and you nodded, standing up happily. He pulled on a shirt and shoes. Not that it mattered, you had clothes in a dufflebag for him. He'd change once the two of you were outside.

He looked in a mirror a moment, before reaching for a small plastic tub. You stopped him and said "I like your hair loose... besides, you won't have to shower again before you get back."

"Youse smart, y'know?" He teased, before you both left.

He knew his ways out, you knew yours. Both were pretty fast, so you picked an option and went with it. Once outside, you passed him the dufflebag and told him to go change, which he hesitantly did so. Then, you were keeping watch outside the storage shed he changed in. Your eyes followed cars as they drove by on the far off road. Safety distance, since this was a prison.

You also kept your eyes out for the guards. When you knew it was safe for a few moments, you quickly changed in a different building. You were done much earlier than Yancy, most likely because he was used to tshirts and prison sweats.

Suddenly you heard a sound. You looked to see Yancy messing with his hair. Your eyes widened, and lips parted slightly in shock. Even if you had bought the clothes and knew exactly what they looked like, you didn't know what they looked like on him. Now Yancy was always handsome to you, but damn. Prison clothes weren't doing him justice.

You hadn't been sure what to get, so you went with a gray dress shirt and some black jeans. He still wore the white prison shirt under, leaving the dress shirt unbuttoned and he'd rolled the sleeves up. The boots you'd stolen from Mark fit Yancy rather well. He looked normal, like what a free man would. He deserved to be free, even if he didn't realize it.

Your eyes watched him as he looked at himself, saying "Not used to wearin' clothes like these. Youse sure about dis?" Then he looked up at you, stopping in his tracks. He only saw you in your stealth outfit, or whatever strange disguises you managed whenever you came on Visitation Day. But not in casual clothes, not going anywhere as yourself. He smiled slightly, and said "Y-Youse look nice." You smiled, looking down, a little embarassed.

"Thanks..." you gushed, before he walked up, and patted his hands on the sides of his legs, unsure of what to do. He hadn't been out in years. Many, many years. You looked at him, and then gestured for him to follow. "I already know a bar, someplace quiet, shouldn't be too busy."

"Alright, let's go then."

The bar was not quiet.

The bar was busy.

Dozens of people, eating, drinking, singing along to a classic jukebox which blared out of older speakers. Yancy looked around as people threw darts and each other around the place. You saw two people get up and start to leave, so you quickly grabbed Yancy's arm and guided him over to the seats. You both sat down, and he looked around curiously, fidgeting with the shirt collar.

"Youse sure about this? I didn't think this would be youses kind'a scene..." he said, and you shrugged. "It's not my favorite, but it's"-memories of the others getting drunk and rowdy filled your head-"...familiar."

"So what's it you want?" Asked the bartender, now standing infront of you two across the bar. "Um, not sure, didn't really plan it out..." you said nervously, looking down a little. The bartender seemed a little impatient, but Yancy casually said "Two doubles, scotch."

The bartender nodded and went off to his work. He returned, set down the glasses, and poured them. "Been a while since I've had one of these..." Yancy said, picking up the glass and watching it a moment. You grabbed yours. The shot glass was thick, and the scotch was a dark golden color. You weren't sure what to expect. Yancy held his out to you, and you smiled and tapped your glass on his, then against the bar, the downed it in one fell swoop.

He stared a moment, as you exhaled sharply. From what you tasted, it was an earthy sort of caramel flavor, with something a little more bitey. He chuckled, taking his a little slower, with less gusto than you had taken yours. He set his glass down on the bar, and out of nowhere a female voice said "Hey there... where are you from?"

Both Yancy and yourself looked to see a woman sitting down in the bar seat next to Yancy. She had a look in her eye, commonplace at bars. You had to admit, she was good looking. That worried you. Technically, Yancy and yourself weren't a thing... He wouldn't be interested, would he?

"Ohio," Yancy answered innocently. He wasn't naive, and knew exactly what she was up to... right?

"Really now?" She said with a smirk, and then introduced herself. "Yancy," he said. You began to worry. The Ohio answer was one thing, he didn't need to be getting swept up into conversation. You, however, were not up for confrontation at the moment. You waved down the bartender and ordered another shot while Yancy wasn't watching. Maybe enough alcohol would calm you down. You didn't want to get drunk, but you didn't wanna get possessive either.

It was a few more shots later, and a bit of conversation between Yancy and the woman later, that you felt this dread in your gut. A pit of worry and jealousy that wasn't quite familiar. You looked over, listening to them talk. Every time she replied to him, in that annoying 'trying to be flirty and sexy' tone, the pit worsened.

"Street boy? Hmm..."

Your body trembled a moment.

"Singing?

Your leg began to bounce anxiously.

"Dance? Now that's something. Didn't think you needed to be a muscle man for musical numbers," she said winking at him, caressing his bicep. That was the line she shouldn't have crossed. You stood suddenly, ready to fuck her up, but you were kinda drunk, and had stumbled into someone. A very large, very intimidating, very temperamental someone. He turned, glared, and grabbed you by the shoulder. "Watch it kid," he growled.

Suddenly he stumbled back, a red spot forming on his face, and beside you Yancy. The prison man stepped infront of you defensively, and glared harshly at the man, fists still clenched. His mood shifted so suddenly, and you worriedly asked "Yance?"

"Hush, doll," he said softly, as the other man stood back up. He tilted his neck to each side, and a series of cracks erupted from the joints. Then he said lowly "Bad move punk."

"Word of advice, walk away," said Yancy, not a whisper of fear. The man glared, and the bar patrons seemed to watch, either choosing a side or stepping away. You glanced back at the stool, and sighed. You started this, might as well make it interesting.

"Ready Yancy?" You asked. "Always," he replied, putting his fists up again. You immediately seized the stool, with a sudden clarity of sobriety, and threw it, knocking the man down.

So it began.

There was the clamber and chaos of a good ol' classic bar fight. Chairs being thrown, pool cues snapped, bottles shattered. People yelled, screamed, and fought. You had your back to Yancy, and his back was to you, as you both kept attackers off one another.

As a majority were either unconscious or had bolted, you both panted and stood a moment, before looking at one another. "Shows what I get for leavin' with youse for a night..." he teased, chuckling. You rolled your eyes and wearily rubbed blood off his broken lip with your thumb. He licked them, before glancing at your own.

He almost seemed to lean in a moment, before suddenly you could hear the police sirens. "Ah fuck," Yancy said in despair, looking towards the front door and windows, where red and blue lights seemed to be approaching. You immediately grabbed his arm, and you both rushed to a back door. You climbed over boxes and crates and anything, eager to escape.

Once you both made it out, you hurried back to Happy Trails. There was still a lot of commotion, so you waited until the heat died down a little before changing. Yancy made his way over the wall, but before you could, he stopped you and said "It's best youse lay low a while. Don't need you stuck waitin' for parole too. But, I'll see youse around, and, uh, thanks. Tonight was, well, interesting to say da least." He smiled, his eyes squinting up adorably as he chuckled. You nodded, and glanced down a moment, but a smile found your face anyways.

"Alright... but Visitation Day, you're stuck with me," you assured. He laughed and nodded. "Wouldn't want it any other way. Night y/n," he said, before pulling away from the gate. But you quickly reached forward, grabbing his shirt. Your face began to flush red, but you had a bit of courage in you. He looked confused, and you pulled him close again, and once he was close enough, you pull his face to yours before he can resist.

Your lips found his, and even if the kiss wasn't that comfortable, given the bars separating you two, it wasn't bad. Not bad at all. It was soft and warm and sudden. When you both pulled away, Yancy's cheeks had been tickled pink. He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling slightly. "W-Why'd youse do that now?" He gushed, unable to meet your eye a moment, his cheeks getting redder.

"Cause I think I'm in love with you," you said shyly, head still foggy from the alcohol, but you were sure of your answer.

"Oh, good, glad we're on the same page," he chuckled, before giving you a reassuring smile and backing away. This time, it was a little easier to let him go. You both glanced back once more at each other before going your separate ways.

Epilogue

You stood outside Happy Trails, nervously waiting. It was almost 6:30 in the evening. As the sun set on this late year day, you saw him. The classic black suit provided by the correction facility for recent releases looked pretty good on him. Walking beside him was Mr. MurderSlaughter, and he walked him all the way to the gate, and you could hear him talking.

"I'll be the first to say, we just might miss you around here Yancy. I'm also not afraid to say I was surprised to see I'd be letting you go today, or any day to be honest. I'm proud of you," said the man, and Yancy smiled.

"Well, I had something worth fightin' for on the outside waitin' for me," he said simply, looking to see you waiting, obviously excited. The gate was opened. Yancy stepped out.

For the first time as a free man in a very long time.

He set down the single suitcase he had, and tugged his suit jacket in place. You rushed up, which caught him by surprise, and you hugged him closely. After greetings and heartfelt words, you pulled away and smiled up at him. "Where to, doll?" He asks, his hands still at your waist. Your eyes speckled with tears of joy as you replied, "Home."

[batgurl1989]

The Other Lane

Summary: You are visiting your sister in Metropolis, and you find yourself in need of the Man of Steel

Word Count: 2194

Warnings: None. Just Fluff

A/N: I could never see Superman with anyone but Lois, but I was tempted to write a Superman fanfic. If you want to be added to my taglist, let me know :)

Taglist: @rmtndew​ @henrynerdfan​ @cynic-spirit​ @princesssterek​

Panic surged to life inside you when you opened your eyes to take in the view. The view would have been beautiful, with all of Metropolis stretched out underneath you. It would have been, that is, if you weren’t dangling over the edge of a building with not much stopping you from falling. As you spun, hanging from a single cable attached to a crane arm, you got another glimpse of your captor. The maniacal Lex Luthor stood at the controls for the crane, laughing as his eyes searched the sky.

So, this is what your parents had always been worried about. They had always seemed so nervous when you suggested visiting your sister in the big city. They always made it seem like she wouldn’t have time to see you because she would be busy with work. That was the Lanes for you, dedicated to their work to the point of missing out on family time. Of course, you had seen the news and learned it was because of the high crime rate in Metropolis. Even innocent bystanders were likely to be injured by falling debris as Superman defended the city from yet another villain.

You knew this was possibly the end of the line for you. You snorted at your unintended pun, doing another rotation on the cable. You refused to scream, which at first annoyed Lex, but he soon gave up on trying to get you to. Thankfully. If he had kept up his antics of pretending to let you fall, you would have unleashed the scream that had coiled in your chest when he first strapped you to the crane arm.

You refused to give him the satisfaction.

Facing out to the city again, you caught sight of a tiny dot on the horizon. Hope leapt in your chest, but you stamped it down. It was night. Anything could be causing a blip on the horizon. It could be as simple as a plane coming in for a landing at the airport. If it was daytime, you could have convinced yourself it was a bird. It could be just a light on the top of a skyscraper, blinking.

But it was shooting closer at an alarming speed.

“Let’s see if he can get here in time.” Lex’s voice rang out as he caught sight of what you were looking at. “I hope Lois mourns you, and it throws him off his game. I have big plans.”

Bang!

And suddenly you were weightless. The scream that had been waiting to be released ripped from your throat as you went into an unstable free fall, your feet flipping over your head several times. You struggled to stabilize yourself, but since your arms were still tied to your side, you had no control. The wind rushing around you was deafening, adding to your disorientation. The ground was rushing toward you faster than you anticipated, though you didn’t know what else you had expected when you started your fall. As you caught glimpses of it making its way closer and closer, you laughed as you realized ‘they’ were right, and the falling wasn’t so bad, as odd as the sensation was. It was the last foot that was going to suck.

Abruptly you stopped and were making an ascent. So abruptly, in fact, that the lunch you had had hours ago threatened to come back up. You were extremely glad you managed to keep a hold on your stomach’s contents when you realized why you were not dead on the sidewalk, another statistic to horrify your parents with. You were cradled in Superman’s protective arms against his chest, the logo emblazoned on the front of his outfit catching your eye immediately.

He flew you a safe distance away from the building you had just been dropped from, setting you down in a park. He kept you steady while you got your land legs back, concern written all over his face. He made quick work of the rope that still wound around your torso, freeing your arms. Before you could think to thank him, he was gone again in a whoosh that messed up your hair worse than it had already been.

Stunned, you stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where he had been. It took a minute for you to come back to yourself, trying to sort through everything that had just happened in the matter of minutes. Lois was going to freak.

Lois!

Frantically, you patted your pockets, surprised and grateful that the rope that had been holding you had stopped your phone from falling out of your pocket as you fell. You ignored the missed calls from your parents; they didn’t need to know what had just happened to you. Thumbing your sister’s name, you waited anxiously until she answered.

“Leslie?” Lois could finally breathe now that she knew her little sister was safe. Then the anger set in. “Where have you been? Clark and I have been looking all over for you! When you say you are just going to run up the street for a Starbucks, that’s what I expect you to do!”

“Lois… Lois…” You tried a few times to interject, but decided it was best to just let her run out of steam. You knew she wasn’t actually mad at you, and that this was coming from a place of love and concern. You waited a moment after she stopped ranting to see if she was finally done, before you spoke up. “Lex Luthor wanted to test Superman’s reflexes and decided to use me as bait. He was trying to see at what height Superman wouldn’t make it.”

“WHAT!” Lois’ shrill voice echoed around your skull, and you realized you probably could have delivered the news a little more gently. You winced as you heard her panicked breathing on the other end of the phone. “Where are you?”

You looked around. You weren’t from Metropolis, and you had been too busy when Superman had dropped you off here to ask him where you were. There were trees and a nice bike path, if you listened hard enough you could hear a fountain splashing somewhere to your right. But that was it. It seemed like every other park you had visited in the city on your trip.

“A park.” That was the best you could come up with, spinning around in a circle, trying to find anything that might give Lois a clue. “I don’t know which one.”

“Leslie?” You spun, on high alert, toward the person saying your name. You supposed you would be jumpy for a while after what just happened to you. You took a deep breath when you saw your sister’s boyfriend on the path, concern written all over his face.

“Is that Clark?” Lois asked, straining to hear what was happening on your end of the line. “Put him on.”

“It’s for you.” You hold out your cellphone to Clark as he steps closer to you. He takes it from you, glancing at the screen before putting it to his ear. You shrug, still looking around the park. It seemed odd that Clark would happen to be in the same random park as you.

You eyed him suspiciously while he talked to your sister in a quiet voice, obviously trying to keep the conversation private. He looked vaguely familiar, but you couldn’t decide if that’s because Lois had sent you a million pictures of him since they started dating, so you were used to his face, or if it was something else. You had always thought he was good looking in a dorky kind of way, and always wondered what he would look like without his glasses on, but this was the first time you had met him, so you didn’t want to be too forward and freak him out. He was good for your sister, and you didn’t want to have a bad relationship with him if he was going to stick around. And if the looks those two shared were anything to go by, he definitely would be sticking around.

“Lois is ordering dinner. You up for Chinese?” Clark drew your attention from your inner monologue and back to what was happening around you. Your face broke out in a huge smile at the mention of Chinese food. You loved spring rolls. Clark chuckled, speaking into the phone again. “I think that’s a yes.”

“So how did you find me?” You asked when Clark handed you your phone back. He adjusted his messenger bag that was slung over one shoulder. If you didn’t know any better, you would say he was slightly uncomfortable.

“The apartment is just on the other side of the park.” He pointed through the trees where you caught a glimpse of an apartment building lit up in the night. “I was taking a shortcut through the park on my way back from looking for you.”

“Oh.” You looked around again. Now that you knew where you were, you realized the park was familiar as you had spent a couple hours earlier that day sitting on the bench to the side of the path, enjoying a coffee. “I guess it looks different in the day.”

Clark chuckled again as you both turned to head back to the apartment building. You fought the urge to tease him about his shy smile. You didn’t know him well enough for that yet. You wiggled your arms, still trying to get the feeling of the rope out of your mind as you followed the winding path through the darkened park.

“This shortcut isn’t really safe, is it?” You asked, eyeing the bushes lining the path. You couldn’t help it. Your safety felt violated after how easily Lex had taken you from that Starbucks. Clark shrugged as you continued down the path. “Clark, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Clark nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose. He didn’t look too uncomfortable with your request, so you decided it would be okay to ask.

“Am I too trusting?” You bit your lip, not sure you wanted to know the answer now that the question was floating in the air between you. When he didn’t respond right away, you panicked and began ranting. “It’s just Lois has always been the braver one and has always been willing to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of things. I like to believe people are who they say they are. And I worry that that is why Lex was able to get a hold of me so easily. If that’s the case, I need to know, so it doesn’t happen again.”

“I find your trust endearing.” Clark admitted, cutting off any further rant from you. He adjusted his messenger bag again. “It’s nice that not everyone out there is pessimistic and cynical. The world needs people like you, who believe in the good of others.”

You stayed silent as you kept walking, trying to digest his words. They made you feel a little better about yourself, and what had happened. But you didn’t want to always rely on Superman to save you. You wanted to know how to stay safe, so that the predicament you were just in didn’t happen again.

“Lex Luthor would have just figured out a different way to get you.” Clark’s voice was low as though he didn’t want to startle you. “I know that isn’t the most comforting thought, but there wasn’t anything you did that made him pick you as his victim. You mean something to Lois, which means you mean something to Superman.”

“Does that bug you?” You asked. The question had been floating around in your mind for months now. One of the news clips you saw while at home, had shown Superman saving Lois. There was no denying the look on his face when he looked at her. Nor could anyone deny she felt the same about him. But here was Clark, and Lois was very much smitten with him. It was weird.

“It used to. But I’ve come to terms with it.” Clark shrugged.

“You are a better man than most, Clark Kent.” You laughed, offering him a genuine smile. You could see the park exit up ahead, relief flooding you at the sight. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Lois is over the moon about you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Clark laughed, taking his glasses off to wipe a smudge off the lens. He caught your eye, making sure you understood what you were seeing.

Your mouth fell open as you realized what Clark just admitted with the seemingly innocent move. You snapped it closed just as quickly, looking around to make sure you were alone. Clark replaced his glasses back on his nose, attempting to wink at you.

“Don’t worry.” You promised. There was no way you were going to tell anyone and ruin what he and Lois had. You loved your sister too much to do that to her. And Clark deserved his anonymity in a city that would never give him peace otherwise.

[tttinytrash]

So @shamedump, you made a mistake saying using your boys was ok. Forever ago on their blog (which if you haven’t checked them out yet you should) there was mention of Mage bitties, their Nightmare that’s more of a overly blunt but well-meaning boy than canon Nightmare, growing into biggies and a few of em running a place you could go to have them drain negativity off. They get fed, you’re less stressed, win-win! This has kinda been an idea I pop back to when I’m feeling particularly stressed and I decided that since they said using their ideas was ok with credit, I’d go for it and actually write something. So Mage, and all the subsequent ideas of how their powers work, what their body is like, (I even borrowed the mousepad analogy) and whatnot is all Dumpling. I simply extrapolated a story out of it. Any misrepresentations of the character I’ll pretend comes from the fact that they’re bitties/biggies and therefore personality can differ a little from the source material. At least, that’s what I’ll say to make myself feel better lol. 

Your cousin had dragged you to this place, and you had immediate reservations upon arrival. The place was run by biggies, which wasn’t the issue. You really just couldn’t help that they looked intimidating. 

Every biggie in the shop had black goop covering their whole form, and four extra appendages sprouting out of their back. They were somewhat taller than you, and definitely broader. Despite all this, you knew they couldn’t help their appearances and made no move to actually be scary, so you pushed the anxiety down (to join the plethora of other anxiety in the pile) as your cousin approached the desk. The biggie at the desk was pleasant enough as she checked you in for your appointment, then came back to sit in the waiting area with you.

“Just gotta wait for a chair to open, cous. This will be the best decision you’ve made all week, I swear!” She assured you as she took her seat beside yours.

You agreed absently, watching the other humans, monsters, and biggies wander through the store. The Mage biggies, as their type was called, each stood behind comfy looking chairs with their client seated before them facing a big mirror on the wall. It reminded you a lot of a hair salon, actually. One tendril from their back wrapped around each wrist, while their hands gave a shoulder massage. Actually, the one on the end of the row was braiding his client’s hair. That observation struck you as pretty cute, and managed to sap away some apprehension. 

“little less scary now?”

You all but leapt from your seat you jolted so hard.

Your cousin tried and failed to muffle a snicker at your expense as the biggie continued “whoops. sorry, wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.”

“N-no, It’s fine. Just kinda got caught people watching.” you assure, trying your best to laugh off the mortification.

“it’s fine, we get it. i’m jethro. i’ll be taking care of you today.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m y/n.”

“Ooh, such a good name!” your cousin interjected.

“heh, thanks. my adopter was into some cop show. guess my attitude back in the day reminded him of somebody. anyhow, my chair is right this way, y/n.”

Your cousin excused herself and left you to your appointment, which had been the deal. You were too nervous to wait alone at a new place, but knew you should be ok from here. Jethro guided you to one of the indeed very comfy chairs and took his position behind. His tendrils grabbed a stool from against the wall and set it behind the chair so he could sit as well. Despite being behind you, he was able to look at you easily by turning his one eyed gaze to the mirror set on the wall in front of you.

“this is your first time, right?” Jethro asked, so far keeping his hands to himself.

You confirmed that it was.

“right. so i assume there’s questions?”

“Yeah, my cousin said you guys drain negativity. How literal is that?”

“exceedingly. we can sense emotions, especially negative ones. we can also feed off of em. again, literally. we remove them through physical contact and they’re converted into magic in our bodies.”

“You guys eat our bad emotions?”

“yep.”

You realized something. “...You sense them too.”

“Yep.”

“Does that include nervousness?”

“yep.”

“So you knew I was literally scared when I walked in.”

“yep.”

“I am so sorry.” Ugh, now he probably felt how mortified you were. Now he thought you were a racist! You were far from one of those monster hating bigots! Shit, maybe you should just leave-

You flinched when two cold pressures settled on your wrists, and your mortification ebbed.

“you’re fine, told you we get it.” Jethro cut your shameful spiral short, and you realized he’d wrapped his tendrils around your arms.

The appendages were cool to the touch, and the grip was light enough you could easily break free if you had any desire to. Thing is, you didn’t. You felt the stress that had been building up simply start to vanish. It left you feeling hollow, but calm and gratitude quickly filled the void. You could definitely tell those feelings were literally being taken away from you.

“now, since i’ve absorbed those negative feelings i know roughly why you came in and i’m also here to talk you through all of it rather than just making it go away if you want. but usually people just go quiet on their first time, up to you. given your reaction here, i’m assuming you want to enjoy the clear head space awhile instead?”

You nodded, feeling ever so slightly loopy. Was that an affect of the draining?

Jethro made an amused acknowledging sound. He reached forward, using his hands to apply pressure to the tense muscles around your shoulders and neck. You melted into the pleasant touch, briefly feeling shame for so visibly reacting before that too was wicked away.

“heh, i sense a return customer.”

You smiled, oh hell yes you were.

-----

You became a regular immediately.

All the guys in the shop were great, but Jethro definitely ended up your preferred siphon, and he was who you made appointments with.

You were in a session with him now, and it was nice to have him act as a sounding board as to how to deal with you day to day stressors. You’d picked up a few calming techniques you used on a daily basis by now, and your sessions had reduced in frequency by this point. It was almost a friendly catch up session between you two whenever you made a booking, but you still absolutely appreciated his services. 

As you two casually chatted near the end of your appointment, another biggie walked out from the back room. You’d seen a few clients go back there, only to emerge hours later. That was the “Special Treatment” room, and you were curious what that entailed but had never mustered the courage to ask. This curiosity meant you were very keen on observing the biggie that had just exited and therefore delighted when he took a seat in the vacant client chair next to yours. 

Jethro greeted him as he settled, and you noticed the newcomer had his hand laid on his belly as if to steady it. 

“special treatment?” Jethro asked.

“yeah. they totally fell asleep, but i’m not gonna bother them just yet.” the other responded.

“heh, they must have needed it then. nightmares, i guess?”

“yeah. pretty bad. all the more reason to let em rest.”

The conversation drifted from there, and you eventually got looped in and belatedly introduced to the other biggie, who you learned was named Obsidian. Throughout the conversation, you didn’t miss that Obsidian had his hands folded over his middle, and kept swiping his thumb across the surface whenever the special treatment client had been referred to.

You left the store contented but all the more curious. Maybe you’d finally ask when you came back next time.

-----

God this sucked.

When it rains it pours, apparently. It started with your manager breathing down your neck at the same time a bunch of impending deadlines were looming for school. With a cherry on top of family drama, you felt like a frayed nerve.

Your next siphoning session was two weeks away, but damn did you need the support now. You’d tried your calming strategies, which while they kept a panic attack at bay weren’t enough. You’d tried handling this on your own but it just wasn’t cutting it after a few days of the stress piling up on itself in your head.

You walked into the shop, hoping beyond hope that they took walk in clients.

Obsidian was apparently slotted for receptionist duty today, and he seemed to take notice of you before you were able to even say anything. His head jerked up as if he’d heard a loud noise and once his gaze settled on you, recognition dawned quickly. “y/n? what happened?” The concern made it clear that your black cloud of anxiety was exceedingly obvious to the empath before you.

“Everything, it feels like. There wouldn’t happen to be any openings today, would there?”

“i think we can swing something. gimme a sec.” 

The biggie disappeared in a shortcut, chair rattling down from its tilted position loudly. 

You flinched at the sound at looked around the shop for reactions. There weren’t many people, two biggies had clients and were politely ignoring the commotion you felt you’d made. You recognized one of the clients distantly, but your attention was quickly diverted to two figures emerging from the staff lounge. Obsidian lead Jethro, much to your delight, towards you. Jethro’s expression softened visibly at the same time you felt the happy thrill of recognition.

The expression settled into concern again by the time he’d approached. “you’re more negative now than when we first met, kiddo.” He said instead of a greeting. Blunt, as usual.

“I believe it. Sorry to drop in without a booking-”

“you’re fine, stoppit. you apologize too much. you’re probably due for a special treatment if you’re game for it.”

You perked up despite the dark knot in your soul at the mention of the mysterious back room. Your curiosity was piqued again, and you were up to try anything to get your head back in order by this point. So decided, you nodded.

You were lead into the back room, and you eagerly took in your new environment. There were a couple huge, very plush looking beanbags in the center of the room. A water cooler was off to the side, and a little table next to it had a hot water dispenser and tea bags. There wasn’t a ton of other things here, besides a few odd indoor plants and a distinct lack of mirrors compared to the salon-esque layout outside.

You belatedly realize that Jethro was trying to get your attention, and rush to respond. “S-sorry, what?”

“was askin’ if you wanted a rundown. this is your first time back here, you outta know what you’re agreeing to for both our sakes.”

“Ok, what happens next then?”

“well, you’ll recall that we consume negative emotions, and that we run off magic just like other monsters?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“this is an extension of that. some monster types have the ability to take others into their bodies harmlessly. if i do that, i’ll be able to sap even more negativity and also tease apart what triggered the emotions. that way we can work through it more specifically than in previous sessions, plus the negativity drains quicker.”

You blinked at him. That was one of the longer spiels you’d heard from him ever, but you were lost as hell. “That sounds great, but what did you mean about the taking into...?”

“yeah, it’s pretty similar to what you’re probably thinking. i’d essentially have to eat you.” he shrugged casually, like that was obvious.

You flinched away, feeling your heart rate spike.

“we don’t have to, if you want to try a normal session.” he offered, hands in pockets and expression neutral.

You go quiet in thought and he lets you. Everything from your previous session clicked into place, and you realized that when you’d met Obsidian he’d had someone inside while you three talked. You also realized the dim recognition you’d felt in the front room was that the client in the chair today was the same that’d disappeared into the back room with Obsidian. 

The train of thought came to a halt as you realized worrying was stupid, this was Jethro for frick’s sake! You trusted him easily, so extending that trust to allow what he clearly thought was the best move for you took little effort.

“If you think it’ll help, I’m up for it.” You say, determined.

He had a soft, almost relieved smile as he nodded in reply. 

He didn’t waste any time, and wrapped you snugly in all four of his tendrils. You were surprised by how little effort it appeared to take to lift your whole form off the floor. He flopped into one of the beanbags unceremoniously. 

So that’s what those are for. you thought as you watched him settle comfortably in the soft cushion.

You couldn’t help but tense when you were brought over his upturned face, and tilted so you were almost nose to nose (...nose to nasal bone. Whatever.) with him leaving your body hanging parallel to the floor in his grip. 

You’re not afraid, but you’re certainly nervous. Until you’re just not. You’ve done this enough to know he’s siphoning the nerves away, but this time you apparently don’t have much in the way of other emotions and are left with a hollow feeling. That utter lack of emotions leaves you to do nothing beyond going limp to make the next steps easier and watch as his mouth approaches to engulf your head. You duck your head down and find it pillowed on a tongue, cool to the touch and jet black. The light is almost immediately cut off as you’re pushed deeper in by the four tendrils around your torso. 

A wet gulp squishes into your ears and you feel a pressure over the crown of your head as your skull presses into the throat. You briefly wonder how a skeleton has such human like fleshy bits but chalk it up to the ooze over his whole bony form. A tendril slid off your body as its assistance was no longer needed, leaving a cool sensation and a slight tingle akin to mint in its wake.

Another wet sound and you’re in deeper. The sounds quickly pick up and settle into a comfortable rhythm, drawing you in with apparent ease. You eventually slide into a roomier space and flip into a somewhat seated position. You hear a sigh above you, and finally curiosity, relief, and a few other emotions take up residence in your head again. 

“you good?” You hear him ask, voice close but also somewhat muffled. 

You respond in the affirmative.

“good. get comfy, do whatever you need to. once you’re settled i can stop focusing on the anxiety of this arrangement and instead deal with what brought you here.”

You scootched into a comfortable curled position and forced yourself to cycle a breath. You used your favored calming technique and found that your nervousness first came back before ebbing completely. He’d stopped siphoning it away, but you felt fine now. You decided that you could take this opportunity to feel out your new surroundings for a moment, since Jethro pretty much gave permission. You decided to start pretty literally, pushing outwards on a wall with light pressure. Your fingers sunk in, the texture was like pressing on a gel mousepad. Cool to the touch, but you weren’t about to start shivering in here. 

The whole area was dim, but the grooves in the wall dully glowed with turquoise light enough to see your surroundings and to see where your hand was in relation to the rest of you. You weren’t blind in the pitch dark, much to your relief. (Not that you had considered that issue before agreeing to be taken in.) 

You ran your hand along the wall to further investigate and found friction minimal while not feeling wet. You didn’t quite realize you were rubbing at the wall before you until you heard a light chuckle and felt an opposing pressure from outside. You understood immediately that that was his hand pressing in at you from outside and used both hands together to push at the appendage and interact. After a moment he changed to rubbing at you like you had him, asking “did you want to address what brought you in or keep on playing in there?”

“Ha, sorry. Yeah, we should start. What do I have to do?”

He let out a long suffering sigh. “y/n, you still apologize too much.” He sounded exasperated, but was also teasing you.

“S-” You were about to apologize, but caught yourself. Well shit, you didn’t know what else to say if not sorry.

Jethro laughed a little at you, before moving on to his next point. “all you have to do is relax. first i have to figure out what went on with you, then we can talk.”

You felt the difference starkly between a normal session and this one. You could feel the stress sap out of you, and what you had to imagine having your life flash before your eyes was like but instead directly related to your recent stressors. It felt like it lasted awhile while simultaneously feeling like no time had passed.

The following discussion was long, but sorely needed. By the end you felt relief, gratitude, and a renewed determination. At some point the chamber you were in had seemingly formed itself a small puddle of what was apparently liquid magic. Jethro had already explained that it was essentially the excess magical energy his body had converted your stress into, and you thought it was much less noxious in this form. It was warm to the touch and flowed like water the best you could tell in the dim light. It had a faint turquoise glow that still managed to not cast too much light just like the rest of his magic. It filled a few inches at the bottom, so while you had your legs crossed it lapped as the tops of your knees and around your hips. You scooped some of the liquid up and absently let it fall through your fingers onto your knee.

The only problem with this was that such warmth in addition to the emotional exhaustion you were already feeling combined to make you about to fall asleep. Maybe you should ask about getting out?

“you nodding off on me in there? your heart’s slowing down.” he asked, interrupting your thoughts.

“I think so. Guess I should get out.” You found that you were loathe to move, though. You stretched your legs out, pressing your feet into the opposing wall.

“i can let you out, sure.” he said easily. A pause, then he adds “unless you’d rather sleep.”

You blink. “In here? Don’t you want me out?”

You felt the wall behind you tug upwards, seeming like he shrugged. “i don’t have any other appointments today.”

“...If you don’t mind?”

“since when do i suggest anything i’m not willing to do?”

You chuckle “Fair enough. Well, thank you.” You pat the wall and reposition to a reclined, curled position.

He gives you a pat back, “don’t mention it.”

The last thought you had before sleep overtook you was that for how crap you felt before, you felt pretty good now.

[skeeter-110]

A Twist in the Tale (That’s Old as Time)

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. As punishment for his actions, the young prince is transformed into a monstrous beast by a mysterious enchantress. Only condition is if he can learn to love someone and earn their love in return, the curse will be lifted. The prince - now turned Beast - felt doomed for eternity; until he met a little boy with a heart of gold.

AKA: a Beauty and the Beast Irondad AU

|| Chapter One ||

Chapter Two: The Castle in the Woods

"We should be there by now." May mumbles as she looks around the woods and down at her map, not really recognizing anything around her.

"Maybe we missed a turn. I guess I should have taken... Wait a minute." May says, stopping Phillippe in front of what appeared to be a sign and a cross-roads. Unfortunately, the words on the sign were all worn out and May couldn't decipher what a single one said. Phillippe just let out a huff before pulling them towards one of the roads.

"No. Let's go this way." May says, pulling Phillippe to the other road, which was quickly becoming covered in fog. Phillippe continued to try to go down the road on the left, making May angrily pull him back towards the other road.

"Come on, Phillippe, it's a shortcut. We'll be there in no time." May says effectively pulling Phillippe down the road.

The further they went down the road, the more the fog grew until they could no longer see the dirt in front of them. They kept trudging forward, only stopping when the howls of wolves were heard.

"This can't be right. Where have you taken us, Phillippe?" May asks, gasp when the howls got louder. "We better turn around." May says, yanking on Phillippe's reins and getting him to turn them around. As soon as they turned around, though, Phillippe started to get spooked by all of the howls.

"Whoa. Whoa, boy. Whoa, now, whoa, Phillippe." May tries to calm, hoping to stop Phillippe from backing up in fear. Of course, she couldn't stop him before they hit a tree, making a bunch of bats fly out and swarm around them.

That was the breaking point and what caused Phillippe to begin running, hoping to get far far away from all of the frightening things. May was just taken for the ride, barely managing to calm and stop Phillippe from dropping them off of the side of the cliff.

"Back up, back up. that's good, that's a good boy. Back up." May says, finally getting them turned around and away from the cliff. "Steady. Steady, now, steady." May attempts to gain control, only to lose the little sliver she had of it when the wolves began to howl again.

"No, Phillippe!" May cries when Phillipe throws her off his back and begins to take off.

May sat there on the ground for a bit, watching as Phillippe disappeared into the fog. May had no idea what to do now. She was left in dark unknown woods, with her lantern broke and no longer lit, and with wolves slowly surrounding her.

May quickly booked it, running and brushing off all the branches hitting her face as she tried to escape the pack of wolves that were now chasing her.

Because it was dark and she couldn't see, May ended up tripping over a tree root, causing her to tumble down a hill. Thankfully, when she fell down the hill, she landed in front of a gigantic fence.

Looking over her shoulder, May saw the wolves glaring down at her from the top of the hill, making May get over her pain and run to the gate.

"Help! Is-Is someone there? Help!" May shouts, wiggling the gate and managing to push it open. As soon as the gate was opened, May ran inside, slamming it shut just in time to shut it in the wolves' faces.

May quickly scrambled to her feet, sighing and huffing as she attempted to calm down. she only managed to walk a few feet before stopping and gasping at the gigantic castle that stood before her.

Almost as soon as she came across the castle, it started to downpour, making May run to the castle doors and begin banging on them; accidentally pushing the door open as she did so.

May peered around the door, noticing that there was no one around and therefore safe for her to begin walking in.

"Hello?" May calls out before hesitantly walking further into the castle. "Hello!"

"Poor Gal must have lost her way in the woods." A voice says, making May look around as she continued.

"Keep quiet. Maybe she'll go away." Another voice whispers.

"Is someone there?" May asks, looking around and still seeing no one around.

"Not a word, Rhodey. Not one word." The second voice says.

"I don't mean to intrude, but I've lost my horse, and I need a place to stay for the night." May explains, not wanting to make the people these voices belong to upset.

"Oh, Happy, have a heart." The first voice says, only to get shushed. There was only a split second of silence before the second voice was crying out in pain.

"Of course, Mademoiselle, you are welcome here." The first voice says over the second one's pain, confusing May even more.

"Who said that?" May calls out, reaching over to one of the tables and picking up the candlestick she saw there to try and see better in the dark castle.

"Over here." The voice says, making May turn.

"Where." She cries out, twirling all around in a desperate attempt to just find someone.

"Over here." The voice says at the same time that the candlestick hit May in the head. "Hello." The candlestick greets once May brings it close to her face, making her gasp and drop the candlestick. Once she realized that the candlestick was groaning and trying to sit up, she leaned over it and examined it more.

"Incredible!" May marvels, watching as the clock hopped down from the table and made its way over to the candlestick.

"Well, now you've done it, Rhodey. Splendid. Just peachy." The clock scolds, only to scream when May picked it up off the ground.

"How is this accomplished?" May questions, ignoring the clock's pleas to put it down as she began to tip and turn the clock in order to examine it.

"Ma'am, close that at once." The clock demands as May opens up the front panel and messes with the pendulum. "Do you mind?" The clock scolds as the panel slammed closed on her finger.

"I-I beg your pardon. It's-It's just that I've never seen a clock that-that-" May tries to explain, quickly being cut off by sneeze after sneeze.

"Oh, you are soaked to the bone, Mademoiselle. Come. Warm yourself by the fire." the candlestick offers, leading May to where she needed to go.

"Thank you." May expresses her gratitude.

"No, no, no! You know what the master will do if he finds her here." The clock worries, grabbing onto the back of May's coat in an attempt to stop her from going further into the room "I demand. You. Stop. Right. There!" The clock says as it tumbles down the stairs leading to the room.

"Oh, no, no. Not the master's chair." The clock moans when it sees that the candlestick was settling May in the prince's chair that was in front of the fire. Before the clock could fully stop them though, it was brushed past by a barking footstool.

"I'm not seeing this. I'm not seeing this." The clock moans, figuring that if it didn't see anything then the master couldn't get angry with it.

"Well, hello there, boy." May greets the footstool, petting it like it was an actual dog. At the same time that the footstool wormed its way underneath May's feet, a coatrack wrapped a blanket around May's shoulders, making sure she was cozy and warm. "What service." She marvels once again.

"Alright. This has gone far enough. I'm in charge here-" The clock tries to put a stop to everything once again, only to get cut off once again by a service cart running it over.

"How would you like a nice spot of tea, ma'am? It'll warm you up in no time." The teapot that was sitting at the top of the service cart offers. May gladly accepted, ignoring the clock in the background who was trying to dispute it.

May was just giggling with the little teacup when the doors to the room slammed open, causing the fire to go completely out, and all of the household objects quiver in fear.

May wrapped the blanket tighter around her, shaking in fear also when she saw the big, beast-like shadow looming over her.

There's a stranger here." May hears a gruff voice growl, not helping her fear even a bit.

"Master, allow me to explains. The lady was lost in the woods. She was cold and wet, so-" The candlestick tried to explain, only making the situation worse and making the beast roar to stop the candlestick from talking.

"Master, I'd like to take this moment to say I was against this from the start. It was all his fault. I tried to stop them. Would they listen to me? No, no-" The clock says, trying to put the full blame on the candlestick, the beast also not having his explanation and roaring once again to stop it from continuing.

May was looking around, trying to see what beast could make a roar as terrifying as that, gasping when she turned her head and the beast was staring right back at her.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The Beast questions, walking forward as May continued to walk back away from him.

"I-I-I was lost in the woods and-and-" May stammers.

"You are not welcomed here!" The Beast shouts.

"I-I'm-I'm sorry." May stammers out an apology, still not being able to take her eyes off of the Beast as he continues to push her back.

"What are you staring at?" The Beast asks, making May shake her head.

"N-Nothing." May replies, the Beast clearly not believing her.

"So, you've come to stare at the Beast, have you?" The Beast growls, May taking this as her chance to run and book it out of the castle, only for the Beast to cut her off and run right back in front of her.

"Please, I meant no harm! I just needed a place to stay." May pleads, and for the second time that night, she couldn't help but think about how Peter was going to become an orphan once again.

"I'll give you a place to stay!" The Beast threatens, picking up May by her shoulders.

"No, no, please! No! No!"

*   *   *

Peter was laying in the field behind their cottage after completing all his chores when he heard the whinnying of Phillippe. Peter instantly sat up, confused as to why his Aunt was back so soon, only to see that his Aunt wasn't even on the back of Philippe.

"Philippe! What are you doing here? Where's- Where's Aunt May?" Peter asks, grabbing Philippe's reins and calming the horse down. "Where is she, Philippe? What happened?" Peter questions, knowing something was beyond wrong.

"We have to find her. You have to take me to her." Peter says as he rushes to get the carriage off of Philippe's back, dread filing the small boy when he saw that his invention was still sitting in the carriage.

Peter didn't allow himself to dwell on it for too long, choosing to quickly hop up on Philippe's back and snap his reins, making the horse book it back down the road he came from.

The small pit of dread that was in Peter's chest only grew more and more as he got deeper into the woods that May was left in.  The fog was still thick around them and Peter couldn't ignore the faint howls he heard as they continued.

Philippe soon stopped in front of the large gate, Peter staring at everything around them in fear.

"What is this place?" Peter questions, trying to hide the quiver in his voice. Apparently, Philippe also didn't like where they were because he started whinnying and jerking around.

"Philippe, please, steady." Peter tries to calm, hopping off of Philippe's back and steadying him that way. When Peter looked over his shoulder, he saw his Aunt's hat sitting on the other side of the gate, making him gasp.

"Aunt May." Peter whispers as he goes inside the gate and picks up his Aunt's hat. Peter glanced up at the big castle that stood before him, taking a deep breath in before steeling himself and walking up to the castle doors.

"Hello? Is anyone here? Hello?" Peter calls out as he begins to enter the castle, walking further down the hall when he didn't see or get an answer from anyone.

"Aunt May? Aunt May, are you here?" Peter calls out, walking up some of the stairs that he saw to begin searching for his Aunt.

He began walking all throughout the hall on the second level, passing the room that the clock and candlestick were in.

As soon as the candlestick and clock saw him walk past, they hopped off of the table they were on and ran to peer around the doorway.

"It's a boy!" The candlestick points out.

"I know it's a boy." The clock says in annoyance.

"Don't you see? He's the one. The one we have been waiting for. He has come to break the spell." The candlestick excitedly says.

"Wait, the enchantress says Master must learn to love another." The clock points out making the candlestick be the annoyed one now.

"She never said it had to be romantic love. Look at him, he's a young boy looking for his Aunt, he looks like he needs another to love him." The candlestick says, quickly chasing after Peter, who was already turning the corner down another hall.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" The clock tries to stop, chasing right after the candlestick.

"Aunt May?" Peter was still calling out once the household items caught up to them, both of them opening the door behind the small boy, the creaking door getting his attention. Peter slowly made his way to the door, peering through it to see how it opened.

"Hello? Is someone here?" Peter asks, seeing the light from the candlestick go up the stairs. "Wait! I'm looking for my Aunt. I-" Peter tries to stop the person, running up the stairs, only to see no one.

"That's funny. I'm sure there was someone." Peter mumbles, looking over all of the prison cells. "Is anyone here?"

"Peter?" A faint and familiar voice calls out."

"Aunt May!" Peter cries, quickly grabbing a torch and running towards the cell that May was in. May was reaching her arm through the tiny bars at the bottom of the cell door, Peter getting the hint and grabbing her hand.

"H-How did you find me?"

"Oh, your hands are like ice." Peter says, holding May's hand up to his cheek to try and warm it up while May lets out a few chest-rattling coughs. "We have to get you out of there." Peter determinedly says.

"Peter, I want you to leave this place." May tells the boy in fear, making him angry. Who would do this to a sick old woman?

"Who's done this to you?" Peter voices said question.

"No time to explain. You must go. Now!" May continues to push.

"I won't leave you." Peter stubbornly says, his stubbornness coming to bite him back in the butt when a large hand grabbed him and pulled him around. Because Peter was yanked around the torch he was holding fall to the ground, causing the whole room to be engulfed in darkness.

"What are you doing here?" A large voice booms.

"Run, Peter!" May begs, but all Peter could do was walk backward into the wall while simultaneously trying to figure out who was speaking.

"Who's there? Who are you?" Peter asks in fear.

"The master of this castle." The voice replies.

"Please, I've come for my Aunt. Please let her out. Can't you see she's sick?" Peter tries to beg, tears quickly forming in his eyes.

"Then she shouldn't have trespassed here!"

"But she could die. Please, I'll do anything." Peter continues to beg, trying his hardest to not cry at the idea of losing his Aunt; his last living relative.

"There's nothing you can do. She's my prisoner." The voice says, causing a sob to escape out of Peter's throat.

"There must be some way I can... Wait!" Peter calls out when he realized the silhouette of the person was beginning to leave. "Take me instead." Peter offers.

"You? You would take her place?" The voice asks, sounding like they were genuinely considering it.

"Peter, no! You don't know what you're doing!" May cries, trying to stop her nephew from making one of the worst decisions of his life.

"If I did, would you let her go?" Peter asks, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to make a deal, only to have his Aunt get stuck here anyway.

"Yes. But you must promise to stay here forever." The voice says, stepping a bit closer to Peter, but stopping as soon as he got too close to the small stream light that was shining down through the skylight.

"Come into the light." Peter challenges, his eyes slowly growing wide when he saw a gigantic Beast emerge. Peter just gasped in fear before turning towards his Aunt, wishing he could bury his face in her neck like he used to do whenever he got scared.

"No, Peter! I won't let you do this!" May sternly says, Peter taking a deep breath in before taking one last long look at his Aunt knowing he'll never see her again. Seeing how sick she truly was, was enough for Peter to get up and walk into the light with the Beast.

"You have my word." Peter says, closing his eyes so he wouldn't be afraid of the creature standing in front of him.

"Done." The Beast growls, brushing past Peter to unlock the cell door. Peter just covered his face and fell to the floor, trying not to sob out loud right then and there.

"No, Peter, listen to me." May says, running over and grabbing Peter's hands when she was let out, lifting him up to face her. "I'm old. I've lived my life." May begins, trying to convince Peter to trade places with her. Although, she didn't get too far into her argument before the Beast grabbed her by the back of the coat and began dragging her out of the room.

"Wait!" Peter cries out, not quite ready yet to never see his caregiver ever again.

"Peter!"

"Wait!" Peter cries, watching as the Beast continued to drag his Aunt away. All Peter could do was run to the window in the tower, watching as the Beast threw his Aunt into a carriage, that quickly left the castle grounds.

That was the moment Peter allowed himself to cry, fat ugly tears streaming down his face as he fell to the floor once again and sobbed.

All he knew was his Aunt. His parents died from the plague when he was a baby, so he couldn't even remember them, and his Uncle had died in the war. His Aunt was the one that was there by his side through thick and thin.

Even when they could barely afford food for the winter, or new clothes for the summer, his Aunt always made sure he was well looked after.

And now he'll never see her again. He'll never get to thank her for everything she sacrificed for him.

Peter slowly looked up when a shadow loomed over him, his tears turning angry for a second when he saw the Beast.

"You didn't even let me say goodbye." Peter spits out before putting his face back into his hands. "I'll never see her again. I didn't get to say goodbye." Peter cries, the Beast looking a bit guilty before turning away.

"I'll show you to your room." The Beast says, making Peter sniffle and look up in surprise.

"My room? But I thought-" Peter begins to say, already testing the Beast short-temper.

"You wanna- You wanna stay in the tower?" The Beast questions, barely keeping his anger suppressed.

"No." Peter answers in a tiny voice, almost feeling scolded in a way.

"Then follow me." The Beast commands, Peter scrambling to his feet and quickly following behind the Beast.

Peter couldn't stop the tears as they walked down one of the long hallways. He also couldn't stop his curiosity from getting the better of him, making him look all around as they continued down the hallway. It wasn't until he started seeing all of the terrifying statues that he stopped looking around and ran to catch up with the Beast.

Once Peter caught up, the Beast looking behind him, giving the small boy a sad look when he saw that he was crying once again.

"Say something to him." The candlestick practically scolds the Beast.

"I... hope you like it here." The Beast awkwardly tells Peter, looking at the candlestick to see if that was good; apparently, it was good, but not good enough because the Beast was being shooed to say more. "The castle is your home now, so you can go anywhere you like, except the west wing."

"What's in the west-" Peter begins to ask, his curiosity once again getting the better of him.

"It's forbidden!" The Beast yells, making Peter step further back in fear until they began walking towards his room again. Soon after, they were walking in front of a pair of double doors, the Beast opening the doors up for Peter.

"Now, if you need anything, my servants will attend you." The Beast says as Peter slowly walks into the room.

"Dinner. Invite him to dinner." The candlestick advises.

"You will join me for dinner. That's not a request!" The Beast aggressively invites, slamming the door behind him.

All Peter could do was stare at the closed door in fear in shock before running over to the bed and throwing himself onto it.

And, what felt like for the hundredth time since he got there, Peter began to sob.

Tag List: @lost-lunar-wolf​ @joyful-soul-collector​ @spideyspeaches​ @hatakehikari​ @thatcrackheadsadbitchtm​

[maluminspace]

Genre: WW2/drama/angst/fluff/

Pairings: Calum Hood/Michael Clifford

Prompt: “Kissing you is all I’ve thought about since the moment we met.”

Word Count: 9k

Trigger warnings: Strong language, physical abuse, physical violence, reference to war, reference to death, references to domestic abuse, period typical racism, period typical homophobia, internalised homophobia

A/N: I have wanted to write a ww2 fic for a very long time so when the generator threw out 40s for malum I jumped on it for this event. This is just a portion of the espically long final fic I have planned. The overall piece will be posted on my AO3 account when it’s complete. I hope you all enjoy this segment enough to check it out when it’s entirely complete.

September 1940

As the train pulled into the little station, Calum let out a sigh of relief. It’d been a long journey and the train had felt too hot and stuffy. He picked up his suitcase and joined the other passengers gathering at the doors.

Once he was able to step onto the platform, Calum took a moment to compose himself. He’d spent the entire train journey trying not to think of London and his family. He already missed them all. Now that he’d arrived in Yorkshire, it was hard not to immediately identify all the differences between this sleepy rural life and the hustle and bustle of the capital city. 

Before he could fully process his new surroundings, Calum noticed his Uncle Donald standing near the doorway of the waiting room. He looked so much like Calum’s dad that it almost brought tears to the 15-year-old’s eyes. 

“Hello, Calum lad!” His uncle smiled as he weaved through the people filling the platform. “Give me that suitcase, let’s get you home and settled in.”

Calum gave a half-hearted smile. He was a little surprised by the friendly welcome. He’d only ever met his dad’s side of the family once before when he was very little. It was highly possible that they would be disapproving of Calum’s ‘exotic’ appearance but it seemed that those worries were unnecessary at least. 

Donald took the heavy case from Calum as though it weighed nothing. A moment of sympathy flashed in his eyes as he seemingly recognized his nephew’s uncertainty. “Don’t worry, lad.” He smiled gently. “You’re welcome here for as long as this war goes on.”

His words comforted Calum a bit but he still felt severely out of place. He could only hope that he’d feel more at ease as time passed. “Thank you, sir.” He managed, trying not to show just how scared he was by this sudden change. 

Donald let out a booming laugh as he clapped Calum on the shoulder. “There’ll be none of that here, boy.” He chuckled. “You can just call me Don or Uncle Don. I know we haven’t spent any real time together until now but we’re still family.”

Donald’s infectiously merry mood made Calum relax ever so slightly; he felt somewhat less nervous as he was driven through the countryside to the farm where he’d be living for the foreseeable future.

The rolling hills, quiet roads, and quaint little houses and shops were about as different to the London landscape as he could ever imagine. Despite the stark contrasts to everything Calum was familiar with, this little corner of Yorkshire seemed to have an undeniable charm of its own. 

The car ride was filled with pleasant conversation, further relaxing Calum’s nerves as he got to know his uncle a bit better. He listened to various stories about his aunt and three cousins as they drove. By the time they finally pulled up at the farm, Calum was quite excited to meet the rest of his family and acquaint himself with his new home. 

The farm and it’s surrounding green hills and fields looked like something from a postcard. Having seen nothing but London’s grey skyline and smoggy streets, the openness of his new home felt just as exciting as it did daunting.

“Calum!” His Aunt May grinned as she appeared in the doorway, her greying hair tied back in a neat bun so that it didn’t fall into her lightly lined face. “I hope your uncle didn’t bore you too much on the drive over here! He doesn’t know when to shut up, y’know.” She gave a tiny laugh, shooting Don a fond glance as she tottered down the path. 

“I wasn’t bored at all.” Calum smiled, “I liked hearing his stories. It took my mind off everything a bit.”

May gave Calum a sympathetic smile as she wrapped him in a warm hug. “It must be quite a big change, moving all the way out here. I know you’ll settle in just fine, though. Your cousins are excited to show you around once you’re all unpacked.”

Don pecked a kiss to his wife’s cheek before grabbing Calum’s suitcase and heading towards the house. 

“Come on, love,” May muttered hastily ushering Calum towards the house as well. “Let's get you settled in.”

***

After meeting his cousins; Elaine, Wendy and Matthew, Calum had joined the family for a delicious lunch before his uncle had insisted that he come out and meet some of the other people that work for them.

Elaine had accompanied them for the tour of the grounds and her father had made a passing joke about someone named Ashton, who Calum could only assume Elaine had taken a fancy to.

It was late in the afternoon when Calum finally met the elusive Ashton. He’d been out plowing a field for most of the day, according to one of the older farmhands, whose name Calum had already forgotten.

Calum’s suspicions about his eldest cousin’s attractions to this boy were confirmed by her suddenly shy demeanor as Ashton trudged towards them. It wasn’t surprising that a sixteen-year-old girl would be attracted to someone like this. He was tall with broad shoulders and a very handsome face. He turned out to be very friendly as well. Offering to show Calum around the local village now that he’d finished his work for the day.

Don approved of the suggestion, seemingly happy for Calum to become friends with one of his favourite workers. 

Whilst Ashton got cleaned up, Calum spent a little time with the farm dogs. He’d never been able to have a pet of his own back in London, so it was nice to know he’d get the experience here. Elaine stayed with him, opting to be some silent company as he tried to soak in his new surroundings.

Once Ashton was ready he led the way into the village using a shortcut across the field. “I’d like to introduce you to a couple of my best friends, if you’re up for it.” The older boy said cheerfully. “I think you’ll like them a lot. They’re a bit stupid sometimes, but you’ll get used to them!”

In the back of his mind, Calum thought that Ashton hadn’t known him for nearly long enough to know what or who he’d like, but the farmhand had a cheerful and sweet nature that it made it difficult not to trust his judgment. “Even stupid friends would be better than what I had back home.” He replied with a humourless laugh. “No one seemed to want to know me, let alone be my friend so…”

An annoyed expression crossed Ashton’s handsome face for a moment. “Well, people like that aren’t worth knowing, anyway!” He huffed. “I hope you’ll have better luck here.”

It didn’t take long to reach the village. Just like the farm, the village was picturesque. Calum was sort of bemused by how quiet and lazy it all seemed. Everywhere you turned in London, there were signs that a war was happening; posters on the walls, soldiers, wreckages left behind by bombs… Here, the only indications that World War 2 was in progress were the headlines of the newspapers on display in the shops and the ration coupons in people’s hands. 

“I bet this is all strange to you, huh?” Ashton asked as he took in the bemused expression on Calum’s face. “I’m sure it’ll feel a bit more like home later, when the spitfires take off from the airbase.”

Such a comment could easily be perceived as insensitive, but yet again Ashton’s natural charm made it impossible to think he could ever actually mean to sound that way.

As they made their way along the quiet streets, Calum noticed the odd person staring at him. It wasn’t an unfamiliar experience but it wasn’t what he needed right now. He slumped his shoulders, trying to make himself small enough that Ashton could hide him from unfriendly eyes.

Unfortunately, the older boy didn’t seem to notice that anything was happening, he was too busy droning on about the nearby airbase and the fighter planes that it was currently home to.

“Hi, Ash!” A cheerful voice echoed through the fog filling Calum’s mind. “Are you free to spend some time with me and Mike tonight or are you busy with Jane again?”

The voice belonged to a lanky blonde boy with pretty blue eyes. He wiggled his eyebrows cheekily at Ashton before turning his attention to Calum. “Oh hello! You must be Farmer Hood’s nephew. I’m Luke Hemmings, Ashton's best and most handsome friend.” 

Calum shook the newcomer’s hand, taking heart in his friendly tone and the lack of suspicion in his eyes. He introduced himself nervously, feeling the need to impress Ashton’s friends if he wants to have any chance of calling them his own friends one day.

“Come on, Michael will be finishing his shift in the shop in a minute, I suppose you should meet him really,” Luke smirked, wrapping a pale skinny arm around Calum’s shoulders. “We tried to get rid of him but he just keeps clinging on to us, doesn’t he, Ash?”

Ashton rolled his eyes. “Don’t be mean, Luke!” He reprimanded. “Michael’s a hell of a lot less annoying than you most of the time.”

Calum couldn’t help but laugh at their friendly banter. He’d never had this sort of friendship with anyone and he could only hope that these boys would finally give him that chance.

The little group of boys made their way past the village green on to the main street. Luke and Ashton continued to offer friendly and fun conversation which successfully distracted Calum from any lingering glances from passersby.

“Ah, he’s already finished for the day!” Luke grinned as they neared the little grocery store. 

Calum followed Luke’s gaze to a boy standing next to the entrance to the shop. He was a little bit taller than Calum with dark blonde hair and pale skin. When he glanced up from the ground to greet his friends, Calum felt his breath catch in his throat. This had to be the most beautiful person he’d ever seen in his life. 

Michael smiled, waving at his friends as he pushed away from the wall and made his way over to them. “Afternoon, idiots.” He giggled, nudging Luke in the shoulder and earning himself a hair ruffle from Ashton. When his gaze met Calum's, his cheeks turned a pale pink and his eyes seemed to sparkle with some emotion that Calum couldn’t quite place. He seemed suddenly shy which judging by the confused expressions on Luke and Ashton’s faces, was pretty out of character for their friend.

“I’m Michael.” The blonde smiled bashfully, awkwardly offering him a hand to shake.

Calum shook it, trying to hide his own nerves. This was absolutely the last thing he needed right now. He was already going to find it hard to fit in here, his skin colour made sure of that. What he absolutely didn’t want, was these forbidden feelings toward another boy. He’d had them once or twice before, a little spark of attraction for a boy or man he’d pass in the street, but never like this, never to the extent where he was suddenly so aware of how hard his heart was beating that he was sure it could burst right out of his chest.

He had to find a way to control this, he wanted to be normal and fit in. Calum just wanted to make friends, he absolutely didn’t want to end up like the milkman’s son back in London. He shivered at the memory of how his whole street had gossiped about how young Tommy had been caught kissing another boy. He’d been disowned by his family after that and Calum hadn’t heard anything of him since. There’s no way he wanted to end up like that; he had to get his act together.

***

The news that Jane had broken up with Ashton and started seeing a fighter pilot from the nearby airbase, had spread quickly through the village. It made an already difficult situation even more horrid for Ashton. He couldn’t leave his house without people whispering behind their hands to each other or offering him sympathetic glances that he didn’t want.

Calum had been the one to suggest getting out of the village, riding their bikes out into the countryside and taking a little picnic. He’d asked his aunt and uncle for some spare food from the farm and a little day trip was quickly arranged.

On the chosen day, Michael, Luke and Ashton headed up to the farm to collect Calum en-route to the spot they always used to go as kids. 

When they arrived, Mrs Hood met them at the door, informing them that Calum had to help her husband mend a fence that morning, so he was running a little bit late.

She offered them some bread and cheese for their little trip and helped Ashton and Luke pack it into their bags. 

They sat at the table for a little while before Mrs. Hood suggested that one of the boys go and see if Calum’s almost ready. 

Michael volunteered, trying not to sound too eager. He’d gotten a lot of practice at that lately, although the slightly perplexed look on Calum’s aunt’s face told him that he probably needed a little more. 

He was already halfway up the stairs before he realized that he had no idea which bedroom was Calum’s. In fact, he’d never been to this floor of the farmhouse before. Most of his visits here were to meet Ashton, therefore he’d had very few reasons to enter the house at all. 

There were several doors leading off the landing, all but one of them were closed. The open door led to the bathroom; Michael could tell by the garish green wall tiles visible through the gap.

It was entirely possible that one of the Hood girls or Matthew were in their own rooms so Michael didn’t want to be a pest and knock on all of the doors. Instead, he called out Calum’s name, not too loudly but clear enough that someone in any of the rooms would hear him. 

It only took a second for the closest door to open, revealing a smiling and half-naked Calum. “Michael!” He greeted, opening his bedroom door a little wider. “Sorry I’m running a bit late, I had to help Uncle Don fix a fence out in one of the fields. Come in for a minute, I just need to grab a clean shirt.”

It took Michael a moment or two to work up the courage to follow Calum into his bedroom. It felt sort of naughty and forbidden to be alone with someone he had these feelings for. He’d never dream of acting on them of course, but it still felt like he shouldn’t be there, especially when Calum was topless, unwittingly showing Michael his muscly chest and arms. 

As strange as it felt to be alone with Calum in his room, Michael supposed that standing out on the landing would be fairly suspicious and so he finally forced his legs to move and follow Calum into the bedroom.

Even though the slightly younger boy had only inhabited this room for a few weeks, he’d already made it very much his own. Sure, the walls were still a neutral cream colour but Calum had filled them with postcards, pictures and photographs. Most of them were black and white, of course, but they still added a distinct character to the room.

To try and distract himself from looking at Calum’s body, Michael drifted over to examine a little cluster of postcards pinned up near the younger boy’s bed. They each depicted a different London landmark and Michael found himself staring at them dreamily.

“They remind me of home.” Calum said, breaking the silence as he joined Michael in looking at the postcards. “I know it’s probably quite childish to get homesick but I sort of miss London, even now when it’s so dangerous.”

“I don’t think it’s childish.” Michael reassured his friend. “I think it’s perfectly natural to miss home and your family. Especially when your home is somewhere as exciting as London!” He kept his gaze on the postcards, still not daring to look at Calum.

“When the war’s over and I move back there, you should come to visit!” Calum offered excitedly. “I’ll show you all the sights and take you to the best places to eat!”

Michael smiled as he finally forced himself to meet Calum’s gaze. “Would you take me see Buckingham Palace?” He asked, unsurprised at how shy he sounded all of a sudden. “I bet it’s so beautiful!”

Calum nodded. “Of course, what kind of tour guide would I be if I didn’t take you there?” 

Shrugging, Michael moved his gaze to a little framed photograph on Calum’s dresser. “Is that your family?” He asked, berating himself for asking such a stupid question.

Calum followed his gaze. “Yeah, it was taken a few years back. I’m the podgy kid right there.” He giggled pointing at the little boy in the picture. “That’s my older sister, Mali. She joined the WAAF last year, even though women don’t have to sign up, she wanted to do her bit.” His voice sounded a bit sad and Michael wondered what it must be like to have a sibling that you’re so close to. He’d thought about it before when Luke talked about his brothers, but Ben and Jack had always teased their younger sibling, and Michael had never quite understood their bond with Luke. Calum’s and Mali’s relationship seemed very different from the Hemmings siblings. In the few stories Calum had mentioned his sister in, he’d said her name so fondly, like he was describing his best friend.

***

As the little group of friends rode out of the village, Michael was pleased to see some of the tension slip from his eldest friend’s face. He could only hope that he’d see a smile there by the end of the day.

The further they got from the village the more relaxed Ashton became, although the weight of his troubles was clear by the dark circles under his eyes and his slightly more prominent cheekbones from where he’d lost weight from his face.

They rode their bikes for over an hour until they reached a pretty little spot near to a brook. Michael, Luke, and Ashton had come to this spot many times growing up, racing sticks under the nearby rickety bridge, and paddling in the clear water. 

It was clear by the look of wonder on Calum’s face, though, that the city boy had never really had anywhere like this to play. 

Michael couldn’t quite bring himself to look away from his new friend as they parked up their bikes next to the bridge and started to unpack the food. He had grown to like Calum very quickly. Their friendship had seemed to blossom more and more with every day they spent together.

Calum was extremely interesting; his stories about London and general city life captivated Michael for hours on end, but he knew deep down that it wasn’t just his curiosity about places he’d never visited before that made Calum appealing to him. The way that the slightly younger boy’s face would creep into his mind when he was alone in bed was enough to let Michael know that he was attracted to Calum in ways that he shouldn’t be. 

Even though he knew he’d have to find a way to get past his feelings, Michael found it incredibly difficult, especially on days like today when Calum looked so beautiful.

As Ashton and Luke laid out the picnic, Michael kicked off his shoes and gestured for Calum to do the same. “Come on, the water’s always so nice and cool!” He giggled as he stepped into the shallow brook. 

Calum smiled wistfully as he took off his own shoes and followed his friend into the water. He gasped slightly at the change in temperature and Michael giggled to hide the spark of interest that ignited in the pit of his stomach. 

“So you all come out here a lot then?” Calum asked, aiming his question primarily at Michael seeing as he was the closest. “I would have practically lived out here when I was a kid if I’d grown up here.”

Michael nodded. “We used to come out here at least once a week during the summer. Our parents used to bring us here when we were little so we’ve always known the way. It’s a popular picnic spot.”

Calum listened intently to various stories that Michael recounted of visiting this spot as a kid and he had to try not to melt every time Calum laughed or even grinned at something he said. 

Once Ashton and Luke had the picnic all set up, they shouted for the two boys to join them. 

As they all settled down together, Michael tried to concentrate on what Luke was saying about the letters his parents had received from his brothers. Having been friends with Luke for almost as long as he can remember, Michael was obviously invested in the older Hemmings’ brothers safety. Ben and Jack meant a whole lot to Luke and by extension, Michael, too. He couldn’t quite get Calum out of his brain, though. He pretended to be extremely interested in a shiny stone he’d scooped up from the brook, turning it over and over in his hands whilst he focused on the bare skin of Calum’s crossed legs, poking out from beneath his shorts. He was only a couple of months younger than Michael, which meant he wasn’t far off turning 16. Puberty was obviously being much kinder to Calum than it was to Michaael. The slightly older boy had gotten nothing but acne and a messy smattering of blonde hair over his legs, chest and under his arms, whereas Calum had experienced none of that. He was starting to get broader and stronger. Sure, the farm work he’d been doing would have helped with that but his face was getting less soft and his features were becoming more defined. It was easy for Michael to see flashes of the man Calum was destined to become and he couldn’t shake the image from his mind, no matter how hard he tried. 

“... And Jack’s still seeing that girl so mum is convinced they’ll get engaged soon.” Luke mumbled around a mouthful of bread and cheese. 

Ashton dropped his gaze miserably and Calum swatted the youngest friend across his arm for being so mindless.

It took a moment for Luke to realise what he’d done to earn such a punishment. When it hit, though, he looked truly shaken by his own stupidity. “Oh, I’m sorry, Ash… I-”

“It’s okay.” Ashton shrugged, although his deflated posture and miserable expression said otherwise. “I’m pleased for Jack, I really am.”

The other three boys exchanged a desperate look, hoping that someone could save the situation. Before any of them could come up with anything, Ashton let out a tiny laugh. “You boys are stupid as hell, all three of you.” Despite his harsh words, there was a fondness in his tone that was absolutely undeniable. He confirmed his love for friends by adding “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

November 1940

Michael’s 16th birthday had been pretty uneventful so far. 

His dad had been his usual, miserable, hungover self at breakfast, barely acknowledging his son, let alone wishing him a happy birthday. His mum had knitted him a new jumper, green to bring out the colour in his eyes. 

Mr Robertson had been particularly nice to him, offering him a longer lunch break, which he’d spent with Calum since he’d timed his delivery perfectly. That had been the highlight of his day so far, huddled in the back room of the shop eating a slice of cake that Calum’s aunt had baked. They’d made fun of Ashton still being oblivious to Elaine’s affections for him and confirmed their plan for a little celebration at Ashton’s house in the evening.

The afternoon had passed pretty quickly after that and before he knew it, Michael was heading home. He needed to pack an overnight bag since he was staying over at Ashton’s later. His mum worked as a barmaid at the village pub so the boys would have the house to themselves and they wanted to enjoy that rare freedom as fully as possible. Therefore they’d all planned to stay there for the night. 

Michael packed some of his warmest clothes and headed out, only sparing a moment to kiss his mother goodbye and scratch Sammy behind the ear before disappearing out into the chilly evening.

Ashton and Calum had convinced Farmer Hood to let them leave work a little early for the occasion, promising to make up the hour by working over for the rest of the week. Michael was incredibly grateful to them and Luke, feeling an almost overwhelming fondness for them as he jogged towards their meeting place.

Sure enough, all three boys were huddled together at the far end of the village green, waiting for him. They smiled as he approached, each of them ruffling his hair or punching his shoulder playfully as soon as he reached them. 

“Are you ready for your little birthday party?” Ashton asked cheerfully as he led the way to his house. 

Michael nodded enthusiastically drawing a chuckle from each of his friends.

“We clubbed together to get you a little something.” Luke announced, earning himself a nudge from Calum.

“It was meant to be a surprise, Luke!” He huffed irritably. “He was meant to think we hadn’t brought him anything!” In the dying light, Michael managed to hide his fond gaze from Calum beneath the wooly hat Mr Robertson had gifted to him earlier. His feelings for the slightly younger boy seemed to grow more by the day and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could conceal them successfully.

When they reached Ashton’s house, Michael kicked off his shoes and followed his friends into the little kitchen. “Mum had been cooking before she left for work so it’s quite warm in here.” Ashton said, taking a seat at the table that had already been filled with some special treats. 

“I hope you like apple pie.” Calum laughed. “My aunt insisted on making one of you.”

“Well whatever he doesn’t eat, I’ll make sure it doesn’t get wasted!” Luke giggled loudly as he slipped into the seat next to Ashton.

***

After they’d eaten, Luke, Calum and Ashton presented Michael with a little bundle of gifts which included a small bar of chocolate, socks and a shiny new bell for his bike. He couldn’t find the right words to thank them, knowing that none of them had much money and the fact that they’d spent any of it on him made his heart feel so full.

They spent a little while talking in Ashton’s kitchen until Luke suggested playing some parlour games. The youngest friend had always been terrible at charades and ‘who am I?’, so unsurprisingly the brief games descended into fits of giggles in a matter of a few minutes.

After a few failed attempts at completing a game, Calum finally declared it hopeless and curled up next to the fire instead. His lips were still curved in a pretty smile as he patted the spot next to him. Michael knew that his friend could be indicating to any of the other boys to sit next to him but the birthday boy chose to believe that the gesture was for him. 

Luke and Ashton probably didn’t even notice the way Calum’s eyes sparkled in the firelight, or the way that a muscle twitches in his jaw when he’s nervous or tense. They were all things that Michael shouldn’t be noticing either but little ‘Calum’ things like that occupied his brain more than he cared to mention.

“Okay, so I’m just gonna say it…” Luke announced as he dropped to the ground next to Michael.

The blonde’s stomach lurched as he realised he was staring at Calum. Luke had obviously noticed and now his birthday was destined to be the worst day of his life because the three most important people in the world to him were going to hate him...

“I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed, but you two are hopeless so I’m going to be the one to get it out in the open.” Luke continued, pointing an accusing finger at Michael and then Calum.

Michael’s brain wouldn’t work fast enough. He needed to shut Luke down, if he put into words, what Michael knew in his heart, it’d all be over. His brain wouldn’t work though, his mouth felt dry and no words would force themselves from his throat. 

“Elaine has been all over Ashton since forever, and it’s been long enough since Jane now.” The youngest friend shrugged, turning his attention to Ashton who seemed to have been silently bracing himself for this conversation. 

Michael felt his body relax as he let out a steady breath. He’d never felt so relieved to have the subject of Ashton’s love life brought up before. 

The eldest friend sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose and furrowing his eyebrows as though he was trying to block out Luke’s words. “She’s not interested in me, Luke.” He said. “Elaine could have pretty much whoever she wants, why would she even look twice at me?”

“Because she’s been in love with you since she was a little kid.” Calum chuckled. “I’ve only been here for a few months and even I’ve picked up on that.” 

Michael was momentarily distracted by the beautiful sound of Calum’s laugh but he managed to bring his focus back to the conversation to add a simple comment. “Calum’s right, Elaine has always had eyes for you, Ash. You’re the only one that’s never noticed.”

The brunette boy slumped back, propping himself up in his panic elbows. “You’re just saying that because you think I need a girlfriend…” Ashton huffed, although his eyes had started to glaze over a little like he was daydreaming. 

Smirking knowingly, Luke nudged his friend’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t lie to you, Ashy boy.” He insisted. “You’re just wasting time by convincing yourself that she doesn’t want you. You could be using that time to woo her.” 

Michael could tell that Ashton was thinking about it carefully. He obviously thought Elaine was pretty and they’d always had a lot in common, it seemed crazy that they weren’t already an item. 

“I don’t know…” Ashton sighed, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “After Jane, I just-”

“Forget her!” Calum scoffed, reaching over to nuge Ashton’s leg. “She was never right for you and you shouldn’t let her ruin your chances with Elaine. You have a chance to be happy with someone who really likes you, Ash.” He explained, his expression and tone serious enough to pull everyone’s full attention.

 Ashton dropped his gaze, curling in on himself a bit. He seemed to get lost in his own thoughts for a long moment, during which everyone else stayed silent, giving him the time he needed to process his feelings.

Michael watched his eldest friend for a moment, but he could feel Calum’s gaze burning a hole into the side of his face. His heart seemed to beat out a hard rhythm in his chest as he summoned the courage to meet Calum’s eyes. The slightly younger boy’s expression had softened a little bit, but there was something burning deep in his eyes that Michael couldn’t ignore. It would have been impossible to explain to anyone else, but Michael just knew that the ‘something’ was a hidden meaning in the speech he’d just given to Ashton. In that moment, Michael realised that his friend’s words were not only meant to give their older friend the courage to finally ask out Elaine, but also to let Michael know that he also had the chance to be with someone who really liked him.

***

A couple of hours later, Ashton and Luke claimed the eldest friend’s bed for themselves, falling asleep almost immediately after snuggling into the warm blankets. 

Even though their evening had been filled with a lot more fun after they’d convinced Ashton to go for it with Elaine, Michael’s mind had been constantly working over Calum’s ‘hidden message’ to him. He was convinced that’s what it'd been and his head was spinning from it. 

His mind was racing too much to sleep and so he’d started a whispered rambling conversation with Calum about how he wanted to learn to make things for his loved ones for Christmas. “... I'm not really good at anything, though.” He sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to buy everyone something.”

Calum let out a quiet giggle as he snuggled further into his blankets. “I’ll settle for a promise that you’ll carry on being my friend.”

The room was pretty dark but Calum was lying close enough that Michael could make out the younger boy’s sad eyes, despite the faint smile that was still curving the corners of his lips. “Why would I ever stop being your friend?” He asked in a hushed voice, shuffling a bit closer to Calum.

Calum shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve just never really had friends like you, Luke and Ashton before.” He replied. “You're the first people who’ve ever really given me the time of day, besides my family.”

A frown creased Michael’s face as he automatically reached out to his friend under the blankets, curling his fingers gently around Calum’s lower arm. “Why on earth wouldn’t people give you their time?” He asked, genuinely confused as to how anyone couldn’t be instantly in love with Calum when they met him. “You’re one of the funniest, kindest, most caring people I’ve ever met. I feel like you’ve been my friend for as long as Ash and Luke have.”

A little of the worry that had been etched into Calum’s handsome features disappeared at Michael’s words and his smile looked a little more natural now. “Really?” He asked, his voice barely a while as he covered Michael’s hand with his own. “Most people just see the colour of my skin and automatically assume I’m nothing like them before running in the opposite direction.”

Two opposing but equally powerful feelings erupted inside Michael at once. Nervous but excited butterflies burst into life in his tummy at the feeling of Calum’s fingers curling around his hand, yet a searing anger burned in his chest at the thought of anyone disrespecting Calum because of the colour of his skin. “Well that’s their loss.” Michael whispered, shuffling closer to Calum so that he could pull him into a hug. “I wouldn’t change one bit of you.”

Calum let out a relieved chuckle as he nestled into the hug. Michael tried to enjoy the close physical connection without worrying too much about how he should not be feeling those butterflies in his tummy.

“You’re a good friend, Mike.” Calum whispered. His breath ghosted over Michael’s cheek as he spoke but the slightly older boy managed to control the shiver it caused. “It’s been a difficult few weeks with the bombings in London, it’s like I’m constantly worried I’ll get letter saying that my mum’s been injured or worse…”

Michael stroked Calum’s back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. He couldn’t imagine how scared his friend must be at the moment. The blitz was rumbling on, wreaking havoc in most of Britain’s major cities but London was by far bearing the worst of it. “I really hope the air strikes stop soon.” Michael uttered, not really knowing what else he could say. “You know I’m always here if you need to talk or anything.”

Tightening his hold around Michael, Calum places a kiss on the pale boy’s cheek before pulling back a little. “I know, and I appreciate it a lot.” He replied. “I’m always here for you too, Mike.”

The younger boy closed his eyes and Michael could just make out a faint smile on his lips as he whispered goodnight. Michael couldn’t help but notice that Calum didn’t remove his arm that was draped over him, it made the blonde boy melt a little, he loved being this close to Calum. He knew that he shouldn’t live it, he shouldn’t feel this excitement bubbling inside of him and his skin shouldn’t tingle whenever his newest friend made physical contact with him. Michael was sure he was getting quite good at hiding all of that but right here and now, I’m the darkness of Ashton’s bedroom, he allowed those feelings to flow freely through him. 

January 1941

The papers were saying it was the worst snowfall since 1888. Life in the village had all but ground to halt because of it. 

Calum shouldn’t have been surprised, of course. He’d been looking forward to a little birthday get together with his friends since Christmas had been sort of a write-off. Michael had been forced to stay home to play happy families with his alcoholic father whilst Luke had been carted off to visit his grandparents for the festive season. Luckily, Ashton had still been around, in fact he’d spent a fair bit of his spare time at the farm since Luke had called him out about his feelings for Elaine. Calum wasn’t complaining, he liked spending time with Ashton, even when he wasn’t the main reason for the older boy’s presence. 

Despite his increased interest in Elaine, Ashton still hadn’t actually asked her out yet and it was starting to get tedious. As much Calum enjoyed his friend staying behind after work and visiting on Sundays, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand the blatant flirting and almost confessions. If something didn’t give soon, Calum was going to have to take matters into his own hands.

Not today, though. January 25th was Calum’s day. His first birthday since moving to Yorkshire and he was determined to enjoy every second of it, even if the weather had decided to betray him.

He’d enjoyed a nice day so far, his aunt and uncle had treated him just as they did their own children on their birthdays. They’d given him a nice breakfast and some little gifts before assuring him that Don and Elaine could manage feeding all the animals on their own for one day. 

Having been given the day off, Calum spent his time preparing for the little gathering he’d planned with his friends. Wendy helped him clean the parlour whilst Mrs Hood made what party food she could from the farm’s leftovers. 

All in all, Calum couldn’t really be happier given the circumstances of his 16th birthday. He’d already received letters and gifts from both of his parents and his sister so he was in generally high spirits. 

As the time that his friends should have arrived came and went, Calum’s good mood faltered. He knew the bad weather meant that it might take them longer to get to the farm but he never once thought that it would deter them altogether.

Around an hour after his friends were due to arrive, Wendy and Elaine came into the parlour with sympathetic looks on their faces as they invited him to join them in the main sitting room. “We can play board games!” The youngest girl chimed, gripping Calum’s hand and gesturing towards the door. 

Calum tried to smile but his heart felt heavy. He’d been looking forward to tonight all week. As much as he loved the company of his family, there was nothing he enjoyed more than spending time with his friends. “That sounds nice.” He replied, forcing himself to stand up. “We should probably eat all of this food your mum made too…”

Wendy nodded excitedly grabbing a plate of the little cakes she’d helped to make earlier in the day. A tiny giggle escaped Calum as he picked up a couple more of the plates. Elaine gave his arm a sympathetic squeeze before she followed his lead and gathered up the rest of the food laying on the coffee table. 

The little group hadn’t quite made it out of the room before the doorbell rang. Calum almost dropped the plates he was holding in his newly ignited excitement.

Elaine laughed as she placed the food she’d been holding back on the table before heading off to answer the door. Calum did the same, following his cousin like an excited puppy. 

When he reached the hallway, his heart felt suddenly ten times happier as his eyes landed in a very windswept and cold looking Michael.

“You made it!” Calum exclaimed. “I was worried you’d all forgotten or something.”

Michael gave his friend an apologetic smile as he shuffled out of his coat and pulled off his gloves, scarf and hat before hanging them up on the hooks near the front door. “We’d never forget your birthday!” He assured Calum. “I’m sorry it’s only me that was able to make it here, though.” His green eyes looked suddenly very sad and Calum had an overwhelming urge to do whatever it might take to make them shine happily again. “Ashton’s grandparents arrived for impromptu visit and Luke’s come down with a really bad cold so…”

“That’s okay!” Calum cut in. Even though he was disappointed by Ashton’s and Luke’s absence, having Michael there on his birthday meant the most to him. He’d developed a deep bond with the blonde boy in the few short months since he’d moved to the farm. They shared a lot of the same interests and since their little heart-to-heart on Michael’s birthday, their friendship had only blossomed further. “We have food in the parlour and aunt May lit the fire in there for us too!”

Michael’s smile became softer and more genuine as he followed Calum to the parlour. “Ash and Luke are really sorry they couldn’t make it, they’ve sent presents and told me to wish you a happy birthday from them.”

“Ah they didn’t have to do any of that!” Calum insisted, closing the parlour door before gesturing for Michael to take a seat. 

The blonde dropped into one of the cushioned chairs before holding out a little paper bag that Calum hadn’t even noticed his friend had been carrying. 

“I’ll look at them later.” Calum said, setting the bag down near the coffee table, “let’s eat first! I’m starving!”

Michael giggled, his emerald eyes sparkling prettily as he nodded. “Me too! It took me so much longer to walk here through all of that snow!”

Calum patted his friend’s arm affectionately before handing him a sandwich. “Here eat this!”

Accepting the sandwich gratefully, Michael took a bite. “Your aunt makes the best sandwiches.” He mumbled as soon as he swallowed.

Calum couldn’t really disagree with that. Then again, he didn’t often disagree with anything Michael said or did.

***

After a couple of hours of fun conversation with Michael, Calum’s disappointment at only having one friend turn up to his birthday party had long since fizzled away. 

Michael was like a ball of sunshine. He just radiated love and happiness, two things that Calum was quickly becoming addicted to. He found himself staring at the blonde boy dreamily as Michael rattled on about gossip he’d heard in the shop. “...And apparently Mr Greenwell won’t even talk to her now, so that must make things very difficult seeing as they live right next door to each other!”

The way that Michael’s eyes gleamed excitedly at the idle gossip, made Calum’s heart melt. If Michael was a girl, he’s sure he’d have kissed her by now. The fleeting notion brought butterflies to Calum’s tummy as his gaze drifted to Michael’s lips. If he was entirely honest with himself, he wanted to kiss Michael right now. He didn’t care if they were both boys. Why should such a silly detail like that stop Calum from following his heart.

“I’m sorry.” Michael giggled, blushing a little as he realised he’d been talking for over ten minutes, barely pausing for a breath. “You probably don’t care about stupid village gossip…”

“Of course I do!” Calum lied. He’d never been good at lying but if a tiny fib would save Michael any embarrassment, Calum would definitely do it. “Living out here in the farm, I don’t get to hear much about what’s going on in the village. I rely on you to keep me up to date!”

Michael smiled at the compliment before shuffling a little closer to Calum. The two of them were sitting cross legged by the fire, forgoing the comfort of the armchairs in order to be as warm as possible. At least that’s the reason Calum would admit to himself. Secretly, he thought that the tiny contact of Michael’s knee brushing against his own was well worth the pins and needles in his feet and lower legs.

“Well now that your village news bulletin is over, can I give you your birthday present from me?” Michael asked, his tone suddenly adopting a shyness that only Calum alone seemed to be privy to.

The slightly younger boy nodded trying not to let the forbidden thoughts about what he’d really like his present from Michael to be. 

The blonde reached past Calum to grab the paper bag that was still sitting next to the armchair where he’d left it earlier. As Michael rummaged around to find the present that was for him, Calum automatically placed a hand on his friend’s back and immediately regretted it when he had to try and ignore the tiny tremor that ran through Michael before he looked back, meeting Calum’s gaze with slightly startled eyes.

Not being able to bring himself to apologise, Calum simply removed his hand and asked “did you find it?” 

Michael hummed his confirmation but the blush in his cheeks told Calum that he was still thinking about that fleeting touch. If he was being entirely honest with himself, Calum couldn’t shake off the fuzzy feeling it had given him either.

“So…” Michael said, finally sitting back next to Calum, a little closer than he was before, but still not quite as close as the younger boy would have liked. “I wish I could have made something for you but I’m terrible at everything so I got you these instead.” He pulled out a tiny paper bag, that bashful, slightly scared look back on his pretty face. 

Calum knew as soon as he took the bag from Michael what was inside it and the thought almost brought a tear to his eye. “Cola cubes?” He asked in a shocked whisper. 

Nodding sort of proudly, Michael gestured for his friend to open the bag. “I know they’re your favourites.” He clarified, fiddling sort of nervously with a strand of his hair. 

Calum opened the bag and licked his lips as the familiar but increasingly rare, sugary smell hit him. Despite his almost overwhelming urge to take one of the sweets, he immediately closed the bag and held it out to Michael. “I can’t accept these…” He said quietly, “you must have used your sweets rations for the week on them.” 

Michael’s face took on a hurt expression as he shrugged. “Yeah but they were worth it…” he admitted in a reserved tone. “I’d rather have spent the rations on cola cubes for you than anything for myself.” 

The sincerity in Michael’s voice turned Calum’s insides into jelly. He really wasn't sure how much longer he could resist doing something he knew he should never do. “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met you know.” He said, a tiny giggle punctuating his sentence. 

The light blush in Michael’s cheeks deepened and he rapidly buried his face in Calum’s shoulder like a shy child. “I just like doing nice things for my friends.” He mumbled, although Calum was too busy fighting the urge to kiss the top of the blonde’s head to take too much notice of what he was saying. “Especially you.” Michael added, chancing a glance at Calum through his lashes. 

Calum was fighting his urges with every ounce of strength he had as he forced a smile and gently backed away so that he could stand up. “At least let me share them with you.” He insisted, offering Michael a hand to help him to his feet. “Let’s eat them in my room because I actually have a gift for you as well.”

Michael looked shocked but followed Calum out into the hallway and up the stairs. They remained silent but their smiles never faltered until Calum’s bedroom door was closed and his little room was filled with soft lamplight. Only then did a tension settle over the two of them, it felt suddenly romantic as Michael perched on the edge of Calum’s bed, glancing up at him expectantly but with a slight fear lurking the depths of his emerald eyes. Perhaps Calum was the only other person in the world who could understand that mixture of emotions in that moment because he couldn’t think of any other way to describe his own feelings. 

There was definitely a nervous anticipation surrounding them as Calum tried to decide whether his gift to Michael was a little too on the romantic side. He couldn’t really back out of it now though, not when Michael was eagerly awaiting a gift. 

Trying to shake off his nerves, Calum crosses the room to where he’d hidden the gift behind his lamp. “I wanted to give you this on your birthday, but I never really got a chance and then we didn’t see each other much over Christmas so…”

“It’s okay Calum.” Michael smiled softly. “I know I’ll love it, whatever it is!” He looked so soft in the dim light that Calum almost forgot what he was doing. “Besides, it’s always nice to get gifts when it’s not even a special occasion!”

Calum couldn’t really argue with that and so he picked up the little postcard that he had stashed behind his lamp a couple of months ago and took a deep breath. “I know that this caught your eye the first time you saw my postcards and so I wanted you to have it.” 

All of the fear and nerves vanished from Michael’s face as he took the post card and stared down delightedly at the picture of Buckingham Palace. “Calum!” He gasped, as the younger boy sat down beside him.. “You don't have to give me this…”

“I want to.” Calum replied with a slight giggle. “You seemed to really like it and I wrote you a little message on the back.” He gently slid the postcard from Michael’s grip, trying not to pay attention to the way his fingers tingled when they brushed against Michael’s. He turned the card over to display his neat handwriting. 

It’s a date. C x

Michael read the incredibly short message out loud before tilting his head to meet Calum’s gaze. “Cal… this is…”

Calum couldn’t quite read Michael’s tone. He could be choked up because he thought it was a thoughtful gift but he could just as easily be trying to Calum that this was perhaps a step beyond friendship that he didn’t want to take. “It’s too sappy isn’t it?” He asked, trying not to sound too hurt or disappointed. “I shouldn’t have wrote that message, especially not with a kiss on the end it’s too…”

“It’s perfect.” Michael interjected, his tone quiet but incredibly certain as he leaned a touch closer to Calum. “I'm really excited for our London date after the war is over.” He smiled, although it faded from his face as his gaze dropped to land on Calum’s lips. “And the kiss is a cute touch…”

Michael’s face seemed to drift impossibly closer to Calum’s and their lips were almost touching before either of them registered what was happening. When reality hit, Michael paused, seemingly frozen in fear, or perhaps giving Calum the time to back up if he wanted to. 

After a short moment, the feeling of Michael’s breath ghosting over his lips spurred Calum into action. It was clear that Michael wanted the same thing he did but he was too scared to go through with it. Calum would have to make the move. He placed his trembling hand on Michael’s cheek and stroked over his pale skin with the pad of his thumb. “Michael.” He whispered. “Kissing you is I’ve thought about since the moment we met.”

The blonde nodded before melting into Calum’s touch as his eyes drifted closed and Calum finally closed the gap between his own lips and Michael’s. 

The kiss was absolutely everything Calum had ever imagined it to be. Michael felt soft and pliant against him and their lips moved in perfect synchronisation. There was no way of telling how long it lasted but Calum was panting for air by the time they broke apart. 

Michael’s cheeks were so flushed as he pulled away, his eyes sparkling with some emotion that Calum couldn’t quite identify. It was definitely a positive one though. “I’ve wanted that since you first moved here, too.” Michael admitted. “I know it’s wrong but…”

Calum shook his head. His heart was still racing from one of the best moments of his whole life and he didn’t want to ruin it by talking about the very reason he hadn’t made it happen sooner. “I don’t care about that.” He said quietly. “I don’t know how anything that can feel this amazing could be wrong.” 

Michael giggled and shuffled closer to curl into Calum’s side. “You’re right.” He agreed, resting his head on Calum’s shoulder. “Do you fancy doing it again?”

Calum chuckled before placing a kiss into Michael’s hair. “Definitely, but i need to catch my breath first.” He replied, stroking Micheal's arm gently over the sleeve of his thick jumper. “Besides, I love holding you like this.”

In way of a silent agreement, Michael nestled further into Calum’s hold. “Good because I could happily stay like this forever.”

Malum masterlist

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[creative-poptart]

*hands u a poptart* ut/uf/sf sans + us paps: corona-situation: s/o who is a surgeon n can‘t (obv) do homeoffice and one day the whole hospital is in shutdown while the s/o is still inside- soo they don’t see eachother for a month or so :( (everyone gets better tho:)

In regards to the situation, basically, stay out of large groups, wash your hands, and don’t forget that panic doesn’t assist!

UT Sans/Vanilla: This whole kind of situation stresses him out, even though he’s trying to make sure that you both are safe. Vanilla won’t be able to contract the virus, but he wants you to be healthy too. He’ll make sure that he’s definitely as clean as possible if there’s a visit, because, let’s be honest, there’s no way he won’t swing by the hospital. He may not be able to actually go and see you in person, but he can definitely get you and the other workers some treats. Even if he ends up not being allowed in, he’ll manage to shortcut in some stuff so that you can feel a little more at home, and you can get something to help you relax. When you do finally get back home, Vanilla’s disinfected stuff for you and has a whole bunch of food ready and waiting for you. He may not cook often, but you coming home is definitely something that he needs to have something special.

“welcome home, babe, glad to see that you made it out in one piece. you’ve got your favorite over on the table, so go shower up, and then we can cuddle.”

UF Sans/Red: While the whole thing is going down, Red is more along the lines of “if you have good hygiene, why be worried?” There’s nothing much he personally can do about the whole virus, but the moment you tell him that you have to stay at the hospital, it changes. He’s a lot more nervous about this entire scenario and doesn’t want you to get sick. The longer you stay there, the higher the possibility is that you could catch it, and that worries him quite a bit. He’ll be sure to send over notes and something for you to enjoy while you’re working and trying to get you cheered up. Sure, he may not know if you’re actually getting everything done, but Red will do whatever little thing he can to make you smile. Once you come home, he greets you with some more treats and plenty of movies for you to binge with him on the couch.

“so there ain’t too much we can do t’ fix th’ other issue, but lots ‘f movies came out too. some of ‘em are pretty good, wanna watch some?”

SF Sans/Black: One of the things this skeleton prides himself on is cleanliness, so there’s less of a chance that you would catch anything from him. There’s no way you can contract the virus from Black, regardless of if he was “clean” or not. The whole pandemic thing doesn’t work too well for him when he wants to go outside, so he can imagine that you’re feeling just as bad, if not worse, when you get stuck in the hospital. He’ll be sure to send over hot, fresh meals every time he can, then send some extra so your coworkers can also get something homemade. He ends up being the chef for the whole team, which also provides a much-needed morale boost. Black isn’t too concerned about you catching the virus since he knows you’re trying your best. Regardless, he will welcome you with open arms, and he’s going to make sure you’re taken care of.

“I’M VERY GLAD THAT YOU’RE BACK DEAR, I MISSED YOU QUITE A BIT. WHAT SAY YOU TO A NICE NIGHT IN FOR ONCE?”

US Papyrus/Stretch: Of all the skeletons here, this one is the most anxious about what’s going on. There is a worldwide pandemic going on, but Stretch is very powerless to do anything about it. He’s definitely trying to make sure that you and he both stay safe, but when the news comes that you have to stay at the hospital, he’s extra worried. He isn’t too good at cooking or anything similar, so his best bet is to leave you notes and trying to support you from afar. There’s a small number of post-its that will start appearing on your desk, each one written by hand for you. It’s a little bit of sunshine in the darkness that is your situation. Stretch makes sure that the house is comfortable and as clean as he can manage to get it, with snacks galore. He won’t push you too hard to make you talk about it, but if you need to chat, he’s open to hearing anything you say. 

“everything was pretty stressful there, so you don’t need to think about it now. how about some snuggles, hot cocoa, and your favorite movie?”

Thanks for the ask, Anon!

[hydrus]

Version 452

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tar.gz

I had an ok week. I ended up doing a lot of boring behind the scenes prep, but there is also some nice new quality of life. If you sync with the PTR, update will take a few minutes this week.

all misc this week

After a very long delay, I finally have shortcuts for seeking video back/forwards in the media viewer. New users will get ctrl+left/right to seek back 2.5 seconds or forwards 5 seconds. Existing users need to add their own--please check it under the 'media viewers - all' shortcut set. You can set whatever seek distance you like, and even set multiple with different distance jumps. Sorry for how long it took to get this in--I had to update my shortcut system first!

I did some behind the scenes tag work this week. The database can now handle larger 'tag as number' searches. Update will take a few minutes to load these bigger numbers into the fast search cache.

If you have a subscription that is not meant to completely sync (e.g. it pulls a sample from a gallery with unusual sort order, or you have the 'normal file limit' intentionally small), there is a new checkbox that suppresses the 'hey, there was a gap, click here to fill it in' popup windows.

full list

misc:

my 'simple' shortcut commands can now store additional variables. to start things off, I have finally added 'seek video' shortcut commands that have back/forwards and second+millisecond values. these should work on the native video viewer and mpv, audio and video. existing users will have to add their own (do it to the 'media viewers - all' set), but new users will get ctrl+left/right for 2.5s back and 5s forwards as the new defaults. let me know if you have any trouble!

the maximum number tracked by 'tag as number' system predicate is expanded from -99999999->99999999 to -2^63 -> 2^63 - 1. tag caches will be regenerated on update to store these, it will take a few minutes. the input ui for the system predicate is temporarily limited to -/+2^31, but I'll expand it

subscriptions now have a checkbox for 'do not worry about subscription gaps'. if you have a subscription that gets files randomly, or gets an intentionally small sample, this will disable the 'hey, there was a gap, click here to fill it in' popup messages

you can now set negative values for the duplicate score weights in options->duplicates

also added a weight for the 'nice ratio' duplicate comparison

vastly improved the cancel speed for searches in the realm of 'get the files that have any xxx tag', be that all tags or a namespace wildcard, and also some important search setup for various 'all known files' search pages. if you have ever tried to search the PTR raw and run into a three minute uncancellable initial setup lag, it should be gone now!

when you right-click on files in a specific local file domain (e.g. trash or my files), the 'view this file's dupes' number check is now run on 'all local files' as well, and if the numbers differ, a second menu is shown for all local files. this should make it easier to chase dupes of trashed files that are still untrashed while also allowing a trash-only search

fixed a critical bug in repository mapping processing that was not adding mappings to certain caches for files imported before the repo was added, and/or the new repository 'per content type' processing reset. this mostly manifested as these files not showing up in search results despite the tag being there. there is more work to do here, so it is top priority next week, and likely some maintenance to regen the bad caches

.

boring rewrites for multiple local file services:

many users have asked for the ability, when multiple local file domains are available, to search multiple file domains at once. I spent time this week doing background work to support this, and a related concept of searching 'deleted' files, which is a current gap in the program and not always covered by 'all known files'. nothing significant changes, but almost all the file search code now works on n file domains rather than 1, but for now n=1 lmao

made a new 'database search context' object to handle a virtualised but still simple and fast file 'location view' at the database level

the primary file search call is converted to use this object. references to a single file service are replaced with the view or its components

all duplicate file search code is moved to the new location search context

searching by 'system:import time' now works over multiple domains, although it is a little muddled. in future, import time predicate will have an optional specific file service and do 'import time' vs 'deleted time'

'system:local' and 'system:not local' is adapted so it can still work fast with multiple file domains, sped up worst case 'local' time, and a new optimisation lets it run fast for 'deleted from local files' too

sorting search files by import time is now only supported if the search domain is just one domain

next week

While I was working on database stuff this week, I discovered a problem with repository processing that meant files imported before a repository was added (or mappings reset, with the new 'reset by content type' function) would not get fully processed and may not show up in tag searches. I fixed half of that bug this morning, but there is more to do, so that's top priority.

Otherwise, it should be a 'medium size' job week. I really want to get note parsing in the downloader done, but that may take longer, so I'll just see what I can chip away at.

[tardis-ghost-blog]

Soul’s Shadow Ch2 (Doctor Who)

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He was already a few steps ahead before I got my body to react and follow him, the gun still in my hands. The metal had gotten warm from my own body temperature, but the weight and feeling was still so uncanny. I wondered if it was even loaded, and if so, why he would give it to me just like that. Right here and an now I would be able to simply shoot him in the back - and I was rather certain he wouldn't be able to avoid it this far away.

With a sigh I stuffed the weapon into my small shoulder bag. This was all just a weird dream anyway, right? Speaking of which... I pinched my nose shut with my fingers, trying to breathe through it anyway. When this didn't succeed I counted my fingers... twice. And finally pulled out a crumbled receipt from my pocket to read its content.

Alright... all reality checks indicated that I, indeed, was awake. No lucid dream for me, then. I frowned and sighed. Both, because it would have been cool, and because it meant I was awake and this was really happening.

"Where are we going, Mr. Saxon?" I asked eventually, when he walked down an alley I had rarely used before.

"Don't call me that. It's not my name."

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled and managed to get next to him. He wasn't that big, actually, compared to me he was, of course, but still not so much. And he looked rather cool in those clothes, sparkling the unfitting wish in me to sit down and draw him. I coughed slightly to get my head clear. "What is your name, then?"

The stranger turned around, halted in his steps and observed me for a few seconds.

"I am the Master," he announced with a proud smile.

"Of what?"

"Huh?"

"Master of what?" I wanted to know.

He raised a brow and shrugged, grinning boyishly. "Of everything."

I couldn't help it. My stupid brain just never stands still. "Well, not of Great Britain anymore,"

Instead of murdering me, the Master only let out a short laugh. It sounded honestly amused, though, making me smile a little myself. At least he seemed to have some humour.

"Oh, one day the universe itself will be mine, just you watch me," he said sweetly, like a boy telling his mom he wants to become a pilot.

Somehow the Master felt so childish and boyish, it was hard to believe he was the same man whom almost all of Britain had wanted as Prime Minister.

My thoughts briefly wandered back to that time, trying to puzzle together what exactly he had even told people. Something flashed behind my eyes, too quickly gone to really grasp. Images, impressions. Screams and smoke and round objects flying through the sky. I blinked perplex and shook my head.

"What's with you?" the Master bowed down a little, curiously observing my puzzled features.

"N... nothing. Just slept bad, 's all."

He shrugged and straightened again, wanting to continue the walk, however turning around once more. "And what do they call you?"

"Call...? Oh... I'm Lucy."

His face dropped instantly, morphing into an expression of annoyance and almost hate. "You have any other names?"

"Nooo..." I responded carefully. "What's wrong with it?"

The Master grunted and rolled his eyes. "My former wife's name. And that beasty thing tried to shoot me. Missed, of course. Never held a gun in her life before, but still..."

"Oh. Sorry."

"I'll just call you Lu, how about that?" He smiled again. "Alternatively we can settle on stupid earth ape."

"That's a bit long, innit?" I chuckled. "Lu's fine. But still, where're we going?"

"A shortcut into town."

"Oh.... I see. Say..." Again I felt my heart pounding wildly in my chest. Was I really about to do this? "The person I choose... do they have to live nearby?"

The Master tilted his head. "I have no TARDIS, right now. So, wherever they are, you have to get us there."

What the hell was a TARDIS?

I nodded. "Can you... mhm... get money? I mean, lots of it. Without anyone noticing it, of course. I... don't have much."

His eyes glinted happily. "No problem."

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

The landscape rushed past the window, trees and fields, villages and cities, all a blur of colour. It had gotten evening, the sky took on soft dark shades, and orange and white lamps faded into light. Sometimes the train halted, and the later it got, the less people entered or exited. Sometimes the stations were completely empty and through the window seeped the smell of foreignness.

"As a child I always imagined to go on a ride like this," I mumbled dreamily, "and simply get off the train at one of those empty, black stations. Not knowing where I am, or where to go."

The Master sat opposite to me, arms folded over his chest, eyes closed and his head resting against the window. He wasn't asleep, that I could tell. He didn't feel asleep, more relaxed, in a weird way.

"You like long train rides, too, huh?"

He smiled, his eyes creeping open. "It's so nicely quiet."

"Quiet..." I repeated absently, my gaze wandering back to the darkness-covered world outside. "Trains are so loud, though. I like how they sound. As if the wheels on the tracks are singing a song."

His gaze rested on me, I felt it intensely and looked at him, eventually. Although we had the lights dimmed in our compartment I could still see his eyes. And like before they fascinated me. Usually I can't look people in the eyes for long. It always feels so overwhelming, distracting, downright unpleasant. Because of that they often think I'm not listening... But I understand a lot more when I don't have to look. With the Master it was different, as if his gaze wasn't constantly searching for a way to call me out, to tell me how inhuman I behave and rub it into my face. He just didn't care.

"That's a hellishly long ride to get rid of a person," he remarked after we parted from another station.

My gaze kept glued to the window, but I still nodded. The sound of the train lulled me into a light slumber, brought me back to some hours ago, when the Master had entered a bank only to walk over to the banker and had told him to hand him a hundred thousand Euros. Astonished I had watched the scene, had glared at the Master with an opened mouth when he pushed the bag into my hands.

I had to transfer most of it to my bank account, not wanting to carry it all around with me, and the rest of the way my thoughts turned summersaults. I could finally pay back all of my student debts! I could afford a brand new gaming PC, a bike or... a bed.

Thinking about my almost empty apartment I concluded it would be wise to start with the basics. I hadn't been able to afford furniture, so far, my belongings only consisting of a mattress on the floor, a shaky table and chair for my laptop and three cupboards that could - with lots of good will - be called a kitchen. Heck! I didn't even own a fridge!

Now, all of a sudden, none of it was a problem anymore. I was free, I had enough to live for at least a few years, in case my bad luck with finding jobs would continue.

And all that for the price of a human life.

"Who is it?" the Master asked, as if he had read my thoughts.

The question tore me out of the thoughts, bringing me back to the present moment, and also to a past long gone, to the time of my childhood - if you can call it that - to years of fear and being caged in. None of it was his busyness.

"You didn't want to know."

"Now I do," he countered calmly.

"Because it's quiet?"

An almost pained smile appeared on his face. I had hit a point, although I had no clue what it was about. Only another puzzle piece for my pattern oriented mind, another snipped about the strange man in front of me, that once had been known by every person in the country, but was now unrecognized, as it seemed.

"What happened when you became Prime Minister?" I couldn't help but ask, ignoring his own question. "I remember the spheres killing the president, but then..." Again, images whizzed through my head, probably created by my brain to fill the gaps. A brain can do that... create false memories, because remembering something at all is better than having a hole in your head.

"I took over the earth," the Master told with a grin. "First I decimated the human race, then had some fun with you all." He snickered. "Wiped out Japan, built a police state, let my Toclafane decimate a few more of you, here and there. You know... just for fun. Humans reproduce so fast, it almost doesn't matter."

I only blinked at him, confused.

"No, you didn't."

"Well, you wouldn't remember. It all was based on a paradox, so it never happened."

Again I blinked. There was something in my mind, pieces that got put together, a pattern, evolving from the net of information and thoughts in my head. Then it clicked.

"You're alien, too, aren't you?"

It made sense. Looking back at the attacks on earth, so far, his strange behaviour, the weird terms he always used, the way he felt so different... I glanced back into his eyes, knowing it to be true, no matter if he would deny it now or not. No human could have such eyes.

"What if?"

"Hm..." I made, noncommittally, shrugged and drew my legs up on the seat to wrap my arms around them. "A paradox..." I thought out loud, leaning my head against the window. If he was alien then it was possible he had the technology to make something like that possible. "You really did all those things, then?"

A childish smile let his eyes crinkle with joy. "Scared now?" he teased and gave me a mock-pout. "It's not the worst thing I've ever done, if that consoles you."

It didn't. But that he wasn't a good person had been obvious right from the start. I probably should have been scared, should have risked jumping from the train only the get away from this man. Strangely enough my heart was calm, my mind only tired because it was so late already.

No, I wasn't scared... yet. Had he been human I would have assumed he was a psychopath, but somehow that didn't quite fit him. There was more to the Master, a calmness behind the chaos in his eyes, a softness, buried beneath the ocean of blood and cries he seemed to have left behind. An image flashed through my head, of him kneeling in the rain, crying out an unspeakable pain, without anyone every listening.

I blinked it away. It happens sometimes, my brain just creating scenes and images from what I pick up from other people. No idea if I'm really that empathic... Or if it's more like with blind people... I can't read body language and facial expressions so well, but instead I somehow can sense people's moods and feelings, without even looking at them. I think everyone can do that, but most people don't have to.

"How is it?" I mumbled. "To take a life."

The Master smiled and leaned forward, hands folded in his lap. "Exciting. You finally understand how much power you have, what you're capable of, and that no one can stand in your way any longer." He chuckled a little. "You'll see for yourself."

I swallowed and glanced away. Rain started to trickle down the window and I closed it, listening to the added sound of drops against glass. So soothing, distracting me from what was ahead.

"You're an odd one," the Master remarked quietly. "About to commit murder, but you don't even look bothered about it. And there you humans are so annoyingly moral."

"I don't understand moral," I softly admitted and shrugged. "There usually is no logic behind it. It's just things you don't do, because you... don't do it. But no one ever tells you, why."

The Master laughed quietly to himself and leaned back again, signalling the conversation to be over. I didn't mind, feeling tired anyway. Good thing those seats were long. I slipped out of my shoes, lifted my legs up, while taking my glasses off and placing them on top of the trash bin.

"Wake me, when we're there," I mumbled and curled myself up on the seat.

[bambinovak]

Late Morning Rush — Sam Winchester

summary; in which one stanford student finds herself late for one of her classes and takes the shortcut through the library. instead, she meets sam, and the raging blush on her cheeks and the shy smiles that are exchanged make her later than ever - but she doesn’t mind, not at all. [201017]

warnings; swearing

word count;1.6k

masterlist

YOUR NORMAL, CONSECUTIVE morning routine never changed. Your annoying alarm tone screeching in your ears and provoking an over-dramatic groan to tumble from your lips as you considered staying in bed all day and not going to class. Today, that routine had been broken. There was an eerie absence of an alarm, not that you (piled under your blankets and snoring ever so softly) noticed.

You had woken up naturally, your eyes fluttering open and an inevitable yawn escaping. You found yourself burying your head further into the solace of your soft, feathery pillow to shade your irises from the sun's warm rays that seeped in through the window. You had almost fell back asleep, feeling so warm and comfortable, until a thought striked.

It was incredibly sunny for eight o'clock in the morning. In the middle of November.

The sudden realisation made your heart jump and spelled any sleep from your body. Your eyes snapped open and you shot up, flailing slightly as you shoved the blankets from you.

Your hands snatched up your phone from its place on your bedside table and roughly pressed the power button; the screen lit up and you eyed the illuminated numbers. 9:56 am. You had exactly four minutes to make it your psychology class. Your professor already thought bad of you for forgetting to hand in one essay a few weeks ago and being late, again, would just pile onto his list of reasons why he couldn't tolerate you. Plus, there was no way that anyone could do anything in under four minutes.

"Fuck," The curse fell from your lips in mumbles and then, the late morning rush began.

Haphazardly brushing the knots out of your hair, another inevitable string of curse words followed but eventually, you managed to throw your silky hair up into a ponytail. You shoved your glasses onto your face, knowing that you wouldn't have time to sit and poke at your eyes with your contacts before trying your best to brush your teeth and rummage through your closet for something to wear coherently, but simultaneously.

Four minutes had come and gone and it was already 9:20 am by the time you had successfully chapped your lips with your peach flavoured chapstick, grabbed all your books and slammed your door closed with a shallow huff, the puff of air whisking the loose, unkempt strands of hair that delicately framed your features around.

Your jean clad legs carried you rapidly down the corridors full of fatigued and enervated students, taking their time and trudging down the halls exasperatingly slow. Taking a quick break from dodging all the sluggish bodies, you eyed the busy stairway with narrowed orbs, mapping the grounds of the vast complex out in your mind - highlighting the quickest route to your class, instead.

When you were struck with the idea, you almost cursed at yourself again for not thinking of it sooner before taking off into a jog to the doors of the ample library that sat in the heart of Stanford's grounds. You flung the heavy, glass doors open and winced when your librarian shot you an irritated glare and grumbled under her breath at the sudden noise breaking through the comfortable quietness.

However, you continued on your trek when she finally looked away, peering down at her computer with a huff. Glancing swiftly at the big clock hanging on the far right wall, you didn't realise that you were heading straight into a firm chest until it was too late and a quiet yelp escaped past your lips and your books tumbled from your arms. They scattered across the floor with a thud, surely earning another scowl from the librarian but you were far too flustered to care at that point.

"Oh god! I'm sorry!" You immediately found yourself bending down, attempting to collect all your books quickly as you let out an embarrassed chuckle. You kept your head down, making sure the bits of loose hair covered the heat rising to your cheeks.  

"Hey, it's okay - my fault," Came the deep reply and your breath hitched in your throat at the unfamiliar but captivating sound. The faint hue of pink that tainted the apples of your cheeks deepened considerably as you gingerly glanced up at the tall boy through your lashes.

Then, came the stutters that fell from your lips as your fingers subconsciously came up to gently push your crooked glasses back up the bridge of your nose and set them straight. "No, really - I... I was late and wasn't looking where I was going. I-I'm so sorry. I'm literally a walking disaster, jeez."

The sound of his deep laugh filled your ears at your shy ramblings before he held out his arm towards you; your wide eyes tentatively followed his movement to where one of your books held delicately in his large hand and a sweet smile edged at the corners of his lips.

Another wave of heat blossomed across your features at his simple, kind action, setting your skin aglow once again. "Uh - thank you," Shyly chuckling, you took the book from him - trying desperately to ignore and not acknowledge the fact that your fingers lightly brushed against his during collection.

Seeming to have forgotten that you had somewhere to be, you sent him a gentle and kind smile before snatching up the brave attribute that lingered in the air and deciding to take a leap of faith. "So, I... Um- I haven't seen you around here before," You commented, being completely honest. You were pretty sure that if you had seen the particularly tall boy, his piercing hazel eyes and his dark locks before, you'd sure as hell would've remembered it.

His captivating smile widened as he peered down at you, his hazel irises holding yours endearingly, "Yeah, I moved here recently." You nodded along with him, not sure what you should say next until he spoke up again, his tone teasing, "Could use some help getting to know the campus, though."

And although you were pretty sure that he was directing his comment towards you, you couldn't help but feel uneasy and out of place to be making suggestions. However, you decided to brave through your query nevertheless, "W-well, I could - uh... I could show you around, maybe, sometime?" With raging red colouring your cheeks once again, your shy gaze travelled back to the floor - embarrassed by the clumsiness of your stutters.

You found yourself readjusting the mass of books in your arms and continuously tucking strands and wisps of your soft hair behind your ear every so often as a distraction from the bumbling mess that you'd put yourself in. His quiet laugh rang through your ears and your eyes snapped up to meet his - terrified that he was laughing at you. But, when his hazel caught your (y/e/c), you knew that wasn't the case and the hot blush painting your features slowly began to fade.

"I'd like that," His teeth delicately encased his bottom lip as he tried to reign in the grin that was threatening to take over his features as he listened to you adorably ramble away. "I'm Sam."

You let out a calm and almost relieved breath of air that you didn't realise you were keeping imprisoned as he introduced himself. "Sam," You spoke gently, his name rolling off your tongue as you tested it out. It suited him, you unspokenly decided. He, also, unspokenly decided that he liked the way his name tumbled from your lips, adequate with hope, potential, promise.

"(Y/N)," You muttered with a sweet smile plastered on your lips, the bashful and reserved feelings from prior completely erased. The way he peered down at you and the smile tugging at his lips, you felt at ease with him already. You could tell he was nothing but nice. A breath of fresh air. And he was undeniably cute.

"Well, (Y/N), can I walk you to whatever is left of the class you were basically sprinting to earlier?" The grin written on his lips widened, a deep chuckle in his throat as he eyed your reaction.

"Oh, shit," Came the reply once you looked towards the large, ticking clock. Your eyes widened. But truth was, despite your words of realisation, you couldn't find it in yourself to really care that you had missed yet another class. Letting a breathy laugh escape, you gave Sam an innocent smile, accompanied by an innocuous shrug of your shoulders. "Well, I only have ten minutes of that class left, anyway. I could skip the rest? For you," Impressed by your sudden surging confidence and boldness, you found yourself chuckling under your minty breath at your words right after. Sam, himself, was also slightly stunned by your change of persona - the confidence and courage suddenly rolling off you in waves had him attracted to you even more so now.

"You'd skip just for me?" He repeated, the mock of an astonished tug at his lips presented itself, "I'm honoured."

A bubble of laughter escaped, accompanied by an amused roll of your eyes and a teasing smirk, "Well, you've already kept me here long enough. You're a bad influence."

"Hm," He hummed lightly, jokingly agreeing with your statement. "Lead the way," Sam beamed blissfully, gesturing for you to take the lead. His eyes followed you as you turned around, glancing over your shoulder at him with a glint in your eyes. He was compelled to trail after you through the busy library, his stomach doing flips with excitement.

What a morning, you both found yourselves thinking, feeling optimistic in the most delightful way.

[therewasatale]

Puns and lanterns

On Ao3. 

You looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. It was half past eight in the evening, meant you still had half an hour to get to the meeting place. You planned with Sans that you two would meet at the foot of Mount Ebott and from there you two will visit one of the lookouts around it.

Quickly packed everything in your bag, slipping your lighter into the pocket of your blue jacket before starting your way out. When you passed in front of the wardrobe, you stopped to stroke the head of the little black cat resting on your jackets.

"Don't wait for me Spot! I'm coming back late tonight, maybe just tomorrow round dawn!"

You could hear a lazy meow from the cat as a response, just before the door closed behind you.

Surprisingly, the traffic was quiet busy in the city for this part of the day. You had bypassed small groups of people here and there, children's laughter mixed into the air. Although the number of monsters was small so far, the two races lived in peace in the city.

You hurried past a family and with a smile nodded your head towards them.

"Good evening Grillby."

The flame monster gestured and although it was hard to read anything from his face, for a moment you felt like he was giving you a friendly smile. His daughter, who unlike her father, had a greenish flame, waved at you. You returned the gesture before disappearing into the crowd.

You quickened your pace but made sure that your bag and especially its contents are safe on your way. Luckily, the whole event was put on until the end of the summer, so despite the fact that sundown was more than a couple of hours ago the air was still pleasantly warm. The police was there making sure the people weren’t pushing each other and everyone have someplace.

Halfway down the main road, you heard the very familiar sound of a skeleton.

"AND SO ME AND MY BROTHER ARE GOING TO FLY UP THEN! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"I really like it Papyrus!"

"YOURS IS LOVELY TOO, FRISK. LOOK (Y/N) HAS ALSO ARRIVED!"

You waved at the three monster and the children.

"Good evening, everyone."

*heya, (y/n).

You tried to ignore the warmth that flushed across your face and hoped no one would notice your embarrassment.

"GOOD EVENING (Y/N). READY FOR THE FLYING OF THE LAMPS?"

"I think they are called sky lanterns, Papyrus. Good evening, (Y/N)." Toriel nodded her head at you and gently patted Frisk's shoulder. They waved at you standing next their mother. The goat monster held a beautifully crafted pulp lantern in her free hand, which was decorated in all sorts of colors, probably by Frisk.

Looking at the lantern in Papyrus' hand, you were almost certain that it depicted him and Sans.

"Evening everyone. I'm glad to find you here, Miss Toriel." You knelt down and unzipped your bag.

"Come on, Toriel is more than enough." She smiled warmly.

You nodded and pulled out a bowl. "Last time, when Frisk was at my place, they really liked my pear cake. So I threw together some." You handed the plastic food container to the child. "I hope you will find it just as tasty this time too."

Frisk's eyes glinted with hunger, but before snatching the cake away they stopped and looked up at Toriel. She nodded softly, giggling.

"Really kind of you, thank you very much."

"Don’t mention it, I did some for you too Papyrus, Sans, I hope you accept."

"HOW KIND OF YOU, (Y/N). IN RETURN THAT I SHALL MAKE YOU ONE OF MY SPECTACULAR SPHAGETTIS TOMORROW."

*Paps makes the best spaghetti in the world.

"(Y/N), you will have bone appetite for sure." Said Toriel.

Sans chuckled a little. You nodded with a faint smile, but under it, something unpleasant stirred in your soul.

"PLEASE, MISS TORIEL." Papyrus snorted painfully.

You handed Sans the food container and then took out your own lantern from the bag. Yours had eight hearts painted in a circle, seven of us possessed the color of the qualities from which humans were able to gain strength, but one was snow-white like the soul of monsters. In addition, beneath the green heart there was a slightly childishly drawing of a cat with a white spot on its belly. You’ve never been famous for your drawing talent, but you liked it and maybe that was enough.

"I think it's time to go. It will start soon." Toriel patted Frisk's head and they started on their way, Papyrus followed them with big steppes.

At last Sans glanced up at you.

*shall we go too?

You nodded and slid one of your hand into your pocket, searching for your lighter.

It has been almost 500 years since the war ended with the monsters. They reappeared out from nowhere more than a year ago. Fortunately, the primary shock was handled well by the leaders of the city and country. No one wanted more war, and with both sides having that common goal, negotiations soon began.

The first couple of weeks felt like both humans and monsters were walking on eggshells. There were small bumps on the road, like where to place the monsters and the speed of their integration into society. The latter went surprisingly easily, thanks to the technical sophistication of the monsters, and Frisk, who was very helpful for both parties.

They moved into the town next to the mountain a few months ago, and in the meantime you got to know the two skeletons. At first, Papyrus who tried to adopt and bring home a stray cat he found.

You didn’t even know why exactly, but you greeted him and you two started talking. You were soon captivated by the naive and over-the-top kindness of the skeleton, and when you met his brother, the world turned upside down for you. After about two weeks later, not only the two brothers, but Frisk too was your guest, even though before that you had a guest maybe every six months or so. And of course your life became richer with Spot, your cat too.

Soon after the visits, you found yourself thinking about Sans all day, and weeks later you realized that your awakening feelings might not be unrequited. Ever since the monsters entered your life, your world became filled with colour. Maybe that’s how you got the idea for the eight hearts when you were thinking about your sky lantern.

Walking down the path, you glanced down at San's hand and gently reached out to touch his bone-hand. The monster smiled up at you and took your hand.

You felt yourself lucky, and for the first time in your life, really happy. But of course perfection only exist in fairy tales. You looked at Toriel and the unpleasant feeling from before tried to take hold of you, but you didn’t let it. A lovely night, that’s all what you wanted and frustrating thoughts were not needed for that.

"Well, we arrived." Toriel stopped at the edge of the lookout. The mountain was secured after the incident when Frisk disappeared, and after the monsters appeared, several lookouts and resting places were built on it. The huge crate created at the emergence of the monster was covered up with magic.

"IT'S STARTING!" Papyrus excitedly pointed between two trees, above the ground in the air a few slowly rocking lanterns were already ascending lazily toward the stars.

"Come on, I have a lighter," with a soft smile you helped to light the little candle in their lantern and then your own. The flame burned with a green light and the warm air lifted the lantern from your hands.

Around the mountain, hundreds of glowing dots, like yours, headed for the starry sky. In parts of the city, the streetlights were turned off to make the stars and lanterns more visible.

"How beautiful." Toriel took Frisk in his arms and they gazed up at the sky.

"LIKE SMALL COLOURFULL STARS!"

*i have to admit, this kind of anniversary celebration was a really good idea.

You took a deep breath with your hands still in your pockets. As you watched the sky the forest surrounding the mountain slowly filled with the sense of magic, the feeling gently spread through your body. For the first time since long ago, a peaceful feeling enveloped Mount Ebott.

The night of the lanterns was the idea of the city administration. To celebrate a day when humans and monsters finally decided to live side by side in peace again. News outlets and papers made the announcement that there won't be another war with the monsters. It's been exactly a year.

Frisk's softly sniffed, yet the noise was somehow happy instead of sad.

"Oh, my child." Her mother hugged them closer. "Everything alright?"

The child nodded and hugged her back.

"DON'T CRY HUMAN! EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE NOW! IT'S THANK YOU THAT EVERYONE CAN LIVE IN PEACE!"

You handed Frisk a handkerchief, they nodded as a thank and sent a smile to you.

*we sure wouldn't be here without you, kiddo.

You gently patted Sans hand and turned your eyes towards the sky too.

"Look, Frisk," you pointed out the lanterns furthest up the sky. They flared up and then the flames stretched across the sky. Thanks to the many different coloured flames, the spectacle was as of the northern lights have unfolded in the sky. The stars smiled down at you like tiny, shining eyes.

You couldn’t decide if Frisk or Papyrus was more impressed with what you saw. Still, you too wanted to keep the memory of this evening forever in your soul.

Maybe a half hour later most of the families headed home, you saw several sleeping kids hanging around their parents’ necks as they walked down on the side of the mountain. The evening had achieved exactly what they wanted, everyone felt like that the things are going well. Monsters and humans alike.

"It's time we go."

"MY GREATNESS IS SPENT FOR TODAY! BUT JUST FOR TODAY, TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY AND MORE AWESOMENESS WAIT FOR US."

*let's go, Paps.

You glanced at them with a smile. "It was nice to see you all. I'll stay a little longer here, but I wish you all a good night."

"Good night, don't catch a cold." Toriel nodded, holding the sleeping Frisk in her arms and began to walk home.

*sure, come bro, I know a shortcut.

"THIS WILL KEEP YOU WARN, (Y/N). YOU CAN RETURN IT TOMORROW WHEN WE MEET. NYEHEHEHE!" Papyrus suddenly wrapped his scarf around your neck and hurried after Sans.

*you're so cool bro.

With a warm smile, you pulled the scarf in front of your face and giggled a little as you smelled a faint scent of spaghetti.

You felt very, very lucky to have friends like that. You didn’t even notice as you slowly started to stroke the red fabric as you watched the remaining lanterns climbing up to the sky. This evening, even if you only managed to meet them for a short time, was wonderful.

A year ago, you would have watched some series until dawn, and then fallen asleep in front of the screen. To be completely honest, it still happens time to time, but you always have some company for it, either Spot, or Sans. In occasions, even Papyrus and Frisk will join in on the binge watching. This was the reason why you recently bought a bed that was so big it took up most of the space in your bedroom. At least in exchange it can hold three people comfortably when it came to that. It happened so surprisingly, you hardly even realized how much your life had changed.

You sat down on the stone bench built on the edge of the lookout and took out the smallest container from your bag. Just to be sure, since you didn’t know how long you’d be away, you also packed yourself a slice of pie. The pleasant aroma of pear immediately hit your nose as you popped open the top, but at the same time, a twitch of unnerving feeling began to step out from the door you shut it behind. It all made no sense, and yet. You tapped a small rhythm on the plastic, but before you could put it away someone spoke up before you.

*may I join?

You turned towards the direction of the voice and nodded towards the place beside you with a smile.

Sans sat down with his usual grin on his face.

*that scarf looks good on you. not as good as on Papyrus, but you are the second coolest figure who ever wore it.

You placed a kiss on his cheek and chuckled as his eyes flashed up bluish for a few seconds.

*hey.

"Thank you" you offered him the slice of pie "Here, I'll share what little I have with you."

*oh, thank you. As Toriel said, bone appetite.

Snorting you shook your head. You could see as his smile becoming wider.

"Appetite." Even the very last lampions disappeared up in the sky. You didn't even notice that you sighed softly.

*hm? everything is all right?

You nodded, but you couldn’t even convince yourself with that weak response.

*(Y/N)?

His voice was much more serious now, that was enough to make you talk even though you couldn't look at him.

"I just..." you folded your arms in frustration "ah, I'm sorry, Its…I think I'm jealous."

*jealous?

Sans handed you a bite of cake. You looked at the cookie in confusion.

"Sans…" You chuckled gently and placed a kiss on his cheek before you looked into his eyes.

"Well, you know, I'm not as good at puns like you and Toriel, and you two are so comfortable together." You rubbed your neck. "And sometimes I remember what you told me about how you met. How well you two were getting along, even after you have been freed from down there… And, I don't know...I know, I just know." You looked down at him in silence.

In response, the skeleton just set the food aside and leaned gently against you.

In the sky, the last late coming streak of light disappeared and only the stars remained.

*welp, Tori may know a few good jokes, but in the past we couldn't really have anything else to pass the time with

You gently caressed the bones of his hand.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. It's just, ah... stupid, I'm sorry."

Sans hummed slowly, thinking for a while.

*you're really are different, and you may not love my great humor, but you accepted the cat my brother wanted to save, but had no place with us.

"Well, I just wanted to help... and it was about staying with me temporarily, but Spot and I soon get used to each other really quickly."

*you also ate a plate of Papyrus's spaghetti.

"The combination of egg ketchup and bacon was a new flavor in spaghetti, but it turned out quite tasty for me"

*you got along with the kid right away too.

"Frisk is a very kind and intelligent kid who loves fantasy tales, so we had a lot to talk about."

*and it didn't bother you that I slept all night on the couch while Papyrus occupied your bed.

"Okay," you shook your head with a small sigh. "At that night I was just really embarrassed and you two were very cute and I didn’t want to be rude and also you looked very tired. Moving into the city is really exhausting after all. "

*and in addition to these, you even tolerate my horrible jokes, it's a miracle that I didn't end up with you sooner.

You tried to ignore your burning and blushing face, holding a small bite of the pie in front of Sans mouth. He chuckled and accepted and left you a few moments to calm your fiercely beating heart.

"Well...well, um..."

*hm? splendid pie.

"I'm glad, and well," you cleared your throat, "well you can say, we are pear-fect for each other." You looked aside "because the pie... so you mean...pear...I'm so bad at this, I'm sorry."

*damn i love ya so much.

Sans suddenly hugged you tightly and hid his face in your clothes.

You needed a few moments to gather yourself. You gently hugged him back and kissed the top of his skull. You were sure that that your heart was beating so fast that he could feel it clearly.

"I love you too."

For you, the glittering light of the stars was nothing compared to the blue shine of by Sans' heart.

[flyinghetfield]

Chapter 12 Violin Girl If you haven’t read the first part of violin girl. Here is the start [x] Enjoy x

--------------------- “I have to be dreaming right now” Lars’s smile grows and he lifts up an eyebrow as he walks over to the railing. He is looking fantastic, his hair is just at around his neckline with little curls flicking out the back, he is dressed in tight fitting jeans with a over sized pea coat on. It had been 6 months since you have seen or heard from the drummer, he had called and written a few times after the San Francisco shows but as the two of you know, life gets busy and the two of you had slowly started to drift apart. “Well it must be on hell of a good dream.” You start laughing and immediately throw your arms around the danish, squeezing him in a big hug as he returns it back. God he smells good! “How.. I don’t even..” You pull back and pat him on the chest. He is really here! I’m not just hugging a random danish man right now! “I could ask the same thing of you! Since when did my Violin girl start coming to places like Amsterdam?” He waves his arm around, almost hitting someone as they walk past. “I’m actually on tour at the moment, Kamen had recommended me to another symphony group as one of their violinist had come down sick and one thing led to another and...” You open your arms up wide and smile “..here I am” “Here you are indeed” Lars pulls you in for another hug and you relax into the danish. God I have missed him.. I’ve missed all of them. Just as you the two of you start to pull back, someone next to you clears their throat and you tense, instantly knowing who it was. “Sorry to interrupt”  Kris stands about a metre away from the both of you and to your shock you hear Lars start to laugh. “I thought you were going back to the hotel” Lars lazily wraps his arm around your waist and for good measure too cause you almost feel like passing out. “I was but then I got distracted by something else” Kris’s eyes land on you and you lean into Lars, folding your arms over your chest, your eyes narrowing on him. “Understandable, it’s easy to get lost in a city like this.” Lars glances over at you and smiles. “Kris I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine, Y/N this is Kris, He is one of our managers on tour that helps us get good deals and press time, to help the band grow.”  You have got to be kidding me. “Nice to meet you.. Kris.” Flashing a polite smile, he half smiles back. The two of them start chatting casually as Kris’s eye’s keep flicking back over to you. I wonder how Lars would react.. “Oh I already have met Kris! He had his tongue down my throat about 5 minutes ago” Shivering, you quickly glance down the road to where Ruby had gone, hoping she’d arrive to save you from this befuddling situation.  “You know..” Lars squeezes your hip getting your attention. “..I’m staying at a hotel not too far away from here, you should come and we can have a bottle of champagne.” You raise your eyebrows. “I don’t know Lars..”  “I’m not taking no for an answer” Stubborn Danish. “I’m actually waiting for a friend.” “The more the merrier” Rolling your eyes you start to shake your head when you hear Ruby call out your name. Finally! The Red head finally appears weaving through a tight crowd and you feel the air around Lars change, as well as Kris who has become taunt like a statue. “Well well.. I leave you for 5 minutes and you end up the arms of another.” Smiling you walk over to her, not noticing the look of sadness from Lars as you leave his side. You notice Ruby flash harsh look at Kris as he quickly he looks out over the canal. “Did you find a ride?” She sighs and shaking her wild red hair, grabbing the now almost squished cigarette packet from your hand and pulling one out. “Taxi rink is packed. I hate to say it but we might be walking this one, my protégé” Great that’s about an hour walk tops from where we are. “Why don’t you stay with me for the night?” Ruby’s eyebrows shoot up as the both of you look over at Lars, who is now casually leaning against the railing with a smile on his face. Blowing out a puff of smoke, she looks at you and gives you a questioning look. You smile slightly, letting you know that he was ok. “Lars would you even be able to fit two girls in your room?” A wicked grin appears on his face and you throw your hand up “Don’t even answer that.” Laughing he shakes his head. “I’m staying on the top floor, the suite is huge, you can crash on the couch or..” He wiggles his eyebrows “..I don’t bite in my bed, I swear.” “..Shame I like a man that uses his teeth.” Ruby smirks as Lars is taken aback, his face slightly turning red. Fire meet Gasoline. He quickly recovers though, walking over to where the two of you stand, he extends his hand out towards you and you give him a questioning look before slowly wrapping your hand in his. “Let’s go” You yelp as suddenly your now moving, trying not to trip on your own feet as he weaves you through a crowd of people. You can hear Ruby yelling out behind you to slow down, which only encourages him to move faster. “She’s fiesty.” The two of you duck around a crowd of men and start heading down the way that Ruby had came from but then sharply turning, crossing across the canal to another bustling side of nightlife tourists. “That’s Ruby for you, she doesn’t have a filter on her.. bit like this danish guy I know.” You can hear him laughing as Lars pulls you behind a row of market stalls, quickening his pace as you attempt to apologize to the stall men, who are now yelling at the two of you as you zip behind them. “I know a shortcut!” He yells and you almost slam right into Lars’s back as he makes a sudden right and the two of you are now heading down a alleyway, the noise of the crowd slowly starting to become dissipate and the combination of your breathing and slapping of footsteps on concrete fill the air for a good 5 minutes. God why did I wear these shoes?!  After another left, right then left, the two of you appear out on a empty road. Lars smiles as he slows down to a walk now, still not letting go of your hand. “Jesus who lit a fire under your ass?” You try to calm your breathing as he looks over at you. “Exciting isn’t it? Running in an unknown city, not knowing where you are going to end up.” “That’s how you usually get murdered.” Laughing he squeezes your hand. “I’d never let that happen to you, my violin girl.” And you believed him. After finally dropping your heart rate, you start to take in the architecture and beauty of the Amsterdam buildings surrounding you, almost wanting to pinch yourself at being in such a beautiful city. With such a cute danish in my hand as well. You let out a giggle at the thought, which makes Lars giving you a questioning look. Shaking your head, you squeeze his hand and he smiles. The two of you walk for another 10 minutes, Lars telling you about some of the cool places around the city that he wanted to take you to and you feel warmth start to spread through you at the thought of being able to hang out with him. You notice him start to slow down as you get to the end of the street. “It should just be around this corner...” Walking around the corner, you gasp at the beauty of the building you were now looking at, everything looked like it came out of a periodic piece and suddenly you didn’t know if you should curtsy to the guards standing in front the giant iron gate, which open to giant square courtyard with a stunning water fountain. “This looks like it came of out the 1800′s” The two of you walk through the front gate, around the water fountain and you try your hardest not to give yourself whiplash as you take in everything around you. Walking through the front doors, Lars lets go of your hand for a second as he walks over to the front desk to retrieve a key. The inside is just as beautiful as outdoors, pure white walls with beautiful art fill the Entry way, you can see red carpet head off to right which had a sign saying bar. Looking down you notice the intricate design on the marble floors. Holy shit, I can see myself in the floor. You look up as you feel Lars’s fingers tangle themselves back into yours, a smirk on his face as he pulls you over to the elevator and hits the call button. “Are you sure we are allowed to stay here? I feel like I’m going to be thrown out on the street at any second.” The elevator doors open and he pulls you inside. “Darling, I’m staying here which means you will be fine” Laughing you watch as he hits the button for the top floor and then leans against the back wall with you standing beside him. “Remind me when we get in to call room service, We need alcohol and I’ll make sure to get you some extra bedding and towels.” “So sweet” You kiss him on the temple, and you can see a tint of redness coming from his face as you start to pull away. Its in that moment that the doors slide open and you hear a gasp. “Y/N?!?” Kirk is standing at the elevator doors with his coat slung over his arm. Grinning you rush forward and the two of you almost fall the ground as you wrap him in a bear hug. Hearing the laughter behind you, Kirk pulls back touching your face, just making sure you were here, before pulling you back in for another hug. “How???” His voice is so full of surprise in your ear. “Seems our girl here is touring the world now” Kirk pulls back and grins widely at the two of you. “I was just about to head out and look for Lars since he was taking his sweet ass time but seems he was out picking up chicks” He winks at you making you laugh. Kirk is wearing a button up shirt and and pair of jeans, his long wavy hair looking slightly damp, like he had just jumped out of the shower. The three of you start to head down the hallway, as Kirk and you talk, explaining why you were in Amsterdam and how you and Lars had ran into each other. “Amazing” He shakes his head as the three of you stop in front of one of the Doors. “Out of anywhere in the world to bump into each other....” You hear the door click open and the three of you walk into the suite. Holy... shit. The room is huge, the view would make anybody drool as you could see over the houses of Amsterdam. You watch as Lars throws his coat on the couch and walks over to the kitchen, grabbing the phone off the wall and calling room service. “Are you going to be staying here tonight?” Kirk sits down on the couch and you plonk down next to him, nodding. “Excellent..” He suddenly yells. “LARS MAKE SURE TO GET EXTRA BEDDING” “I ALREADY HAVE” The danish yells back from the kitchen and you can’t help but laugh. The two of you start to catch up over everything that had happened over the past 6 months, how they were in town for a press conference for an upcoming tour in Amsterdam. It’s not too much longer when Lars walks back in the room and joins in the conversation. Once the room service finally arrives the three of you have a drink, laughing about an incident back in San Francisco where Eric had ended up locking himself in the toilet at a night club for 3 hours and how security had to break down the door, pushing him into the toilet in the mean time. “Speaking of toilets..” You stand up. “Where is the ladies room?” Kirk points behind him. “Go through that door and it should be the third door on the left.” Nodding you walk through the door, through the beautiful hallway. You notice two bedrooms as you walk past, clothes strewn around and the beds all disheveled.  Hmm wonder who’s room is whos? Reaching the third door, you start to twist the door handle when it flings open. “Fucking hell what did I say about interrupting me when I’m in the bathroom...” It’s like someone had smacked you right in the gut, as you take a step back. His piercing blue eyes are glued on to yours and you see his lips separate slightly as he shallowly takes in a few breaths. His blonde hair is spiked up in all different directions, and you try your hardest not to look at his chest as he crosses his toned around across his pecks, his sweatpants hanging dangerously low on his hips, which deliciously show off his happy trail. You can sense him watching, as you glance back up to meet his eyes. Swallowing to wet your not dry throat, you let out a small smile. “Hi James.” ------------------- <Prev