#i grew up on traveling fun fairs

[yournowheregirl]

Today I present to you, a silly little headcanon that’s near and dear to my heart: Eddie Munson, local carnival freak.

At the edge of Hawkins, there’s a year-round carnival, lively and loud from spring through fall, and quiet and deserted during the winter time. There are stands where you play games to win prizes, food stalls with delicious sweets, attractions that make your head spin, and in the middle of it all, the freak show.

That’s where little Eddie Munson grows up, in between the strange and bizarre. His parents both work at the carnival, his dad at the shooting range, his mom at the freak show as a so-called ‘real-life mermaid’ (when Eddie was a baby, they even dressed him up in a similar mermaid tail, showcasing him as a merbaby). Eddie’s uncle Wayne also works at the freak show, but doing behind the scenes jobs, rather than acting.

For a kid, growing up at a carnival feels magical. Every day, Eddie run around across the grounds, goes on rides for free, and gets doted on by the the nice ladies at the funnel cake stand, who always saves him a little extra. He also learns all the behind the scenes secrets, like how balloon popping stand is kind of rigged and how the bearded lady glues on extra hair to make her beard look fuller. For him, it’s paradise.

His father wants him to get his hands dirty as soon as he’s old enough, teaching how to clean the rifles and how to make the customer think they’re about to win big, when in actuality, they’re sure to lose. Eddie doesn’t like working with his dad, he always loses his temper whenever Eddie messes something up or complains that his dad didn’t play fair.

And while he doesn’t like working at the shooting range, he loves working at the freak show. He’d spent ages backstage, watching the actors get ready, listening to his mom talk as she did her make-up and got into her costume, helping uncle Wayne count the tickets in the ticket booth.

But what really gets Eddie’s heart racing is when the lights went out and the show’s announcer, Theodore, walks on stage. He’s the one outside in his velvet top hat and cherry red tails who lures people in with promises of a magical and mysterious show, and that showmanship continues inside the tent. With flailing hands and a deep, mesmerizing voice, he compels the audience as he introduces the acts and Eddie watches him with big eyes everyday. When he grows up, he wants to be exactly like Theo.

Theo takes him under his wing, teaches him the secrets of presentation and storytelling but every time Eddie begs him to get on stage, Theo shakes his head and tells him he’s not ready yet. Eddie practices and practices, talking to himself in the ticket booth - Wayne said he’s old enough to run that by himself now - and telling his mother the most elaborate stories. Still, he’s stuck in the ticket booth most of the days, scribbling stories he’d tell one day on a notepad.

One day, Theo is up on his soapbox in front of the tent, when he has the worst coughing fit Eddie has ever seen. He swears he’s too sick to continue so Wayne pushes Eddie forward. He tumbles onto the wooden crate, his limbs trembling as he watches the carnival goers passing by. His voice is shaky at first, but then he remembers Theo’s advice: get their attention and make sure you keep it.

So, Eddie howls like a goddamn wolf, the carnival visitors turn their heads in curiosity and then Eddie presents the freak show like he has done so a thousand times before.

It works.

It works really well, in fact.

Turns out, people go crazy for a scrawny kid with messy curls who promises them a show beyond their wildest imagination. Even people who’d normally never set foot inside, like those preppy kids in their spotless white polos and perfectly coiffed hair, are fascinated by Eddie’s voice and showmanship.

Eddie’s heart is racing once he’s back inside the tent, his mouth going a hundred miles an hour as he tells his mom about what just happened. She just smiles and ruffles his curls and tells him she’s so proud of him. Wayne claps him on the back, tells him a nice work, kiddo and hurries back to start the show.

Eddie follows him, confused because how is the show going to start when Theo is too sick to even speak and why is Theo all dressed up in his top hat and tailcoat sauntering across the stage already? But then, Theo catches his eye from across the tent and winks at him and Eddie knows it was an all act to give his first taste of actual showmanship. And now, he’s hungry for more, so he and Theo make a deal. Eddie’s allowed to be announcer outside, doing whatever it takes to get people inside the tent, and Theo takes care of the presentation inside, saying that Eddie has to work hard to earn his top hat and tails.

It’s a perfectly good solution, except that people outside the carnival start to notice too. The kids who walk past him as he stands on his soapbox, are the same kids that walk past him in the hallways at school and once word gets out that Eddie is the one pulling crazy stunts to get people to see the most bizarre things, they start to make fun of him for it. They whisper rumors behind his back and some girls act all scared as he sits down in class. Some of the boys are shoving him and taunting him to tell them a good story. When he freezes on the spot, unable to speak, they laugh at him and one boy even says that he can see why they hired Eddie because he’s just as big of a freak as the rest of them.

After yet another day of people taunting him for no reason, Eddie cries on the way home. Not because they hurt his feelings, but because he doesn’t understand what his classmates see, he doesn’t see how people could ever think that the people he grew up with, could ever be scary. Because those are the same people who help him with his math homework, who tell jokes and make him laugh until his stomach hurts, who hold his hand when his mom gets sick and his dad gets home drunk out of his mind. Just because they are (or act) a little different, doesn’t mean they’re scary or weird, just means they’re unique.

From that moment on, Eddie wears his newly acquired nickname with pride because his classmates might not see it, but he’s proud to be a freak.

[themultifanshipper]

There aren't a lot of things that are hotter than a man winning a Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship.

Warnings: smut, PinV sex, teasing, car sex?, technically public sex?, manhandling a bit? fluff at the end

That's precisely what your boyfriend had just done, for the second year in a row, and you were horny about it. Cockiness was dripping from his frame, along with the several bottles worth of champagne he'd been sprayed with as he strutted around the paddock like a peacock.

His wet hair made him look like a drowned dog and there was nothing sexier to you than his dark eyes watching you from his perch on the top step of the podium.

The frustrating thing is, although he clearly wanted you, he wouldn't touch you at all.

The first thing he did when he got to his driver’s room was ring his dad.

There's also nothing sexier than a man that has a good relationship with his parents.

Given Fernando's insatiable sexual appetite, you assumed he would fuck you in his room after the race, but that didn't happen.

As soon as the phone call to his dad ended he went straight back out to spray everyone with champagne and be unhinged with his friends about his victory.

That's okay though, he was in the mood to celebrate, and you could certainly wait until you got home to get railed.

It was frustrating, but you managed to keep yourself in check.

But you never went home.

Fernando went out to celebrate straight from the paddock… in his race suit.

Fair enough, he had just won a championship, he deserved to party into the night.

You saw a side to him that night that you'd never seen before.

He got trashed, and I mean trashed.

You learned that night, thathe could apparently play the piano??? Since when you didn't know but there he was, still in his suit at 4 o’clock in the morning at an after-after party, god knows where, playing a goddamn piano and he wasn't even missing a single note.

By the time the two of you got on the jet home you were both drunk enough and tired enough that you passed out immediately.

The entire day was spent traveling, napping and snacking to try and regain some strength for the evening dinner plans that neither of you really remembered making.

As the time of the reservation got closer and you two felt more human again, your horniness came back full force at the sight of your WDC winner boyfriend glowing with pride and joy every time he looked at his trophy (that he'd sneakily taken with him) sitting on top of the cabinet in the corner.

But he refused to let you touch him before dinner, threatening to tie you up and leave you there if you didn't behave.

The idea was almost appealing, but you decided to be good anyway, putting on a very short dress in an attempt to rile him up a bit as revenge for making you wait so long.

He just rolled his eyes at you before following you out of the door to the car.

To be honest, you were dressed like a slut, but it was nothing compared to him.

He had decided to go to dinner in the least appropriate attire he could possibly have picked. A pair of jeans with a Renault shirt. An open Renault shirt. With nothing underneath. And a fucking shark tooth necklace.

What a prick.

It made you wet.

You swore he was doing it on purpose. Regardless, this new Fernando was making your skin prickle with arousal and you couldn't wait for him to win more championships to see how much more of a prick he would become.

You somehow got to dinner without incident, and sat down around the large table set for 12 people.

No one was there yet however, and you two laughed at how everyone was probably too hungover to be on time.

As you talked, and your eyes strayed over your boyfriend’s figure, the need between your legs grew stronger and you decided to have some fun while you were still alone.

It started with a hand innocently stroking his knee, nothing out of the ordinary.

Every time you laughed your hand went higher and higher on his thigh, and the sucker didn't even notice until your pinky rubbed at the crease of his jeans.

His leg jerked at the feeling and he gasped, so you slid your hand another couple of inches and your fingers brushed over the front of his pants.

“Stop it. We are in public!” he whisper-yelled.

You just smirked at him.

“Come on, Papi… that's never stopped you before” you purred as your thumb rubbed up and down his rapidly hardening cock through his jeans.

“Fuck, you don't know what you do to me, Nena…” he glanced around before pulling your chair closer to his and trailing a hand up the inside of your thigh.

But where he would have normally felt the wet fabric of your underwear, his fingers were met with bare skin, and he sucked in a breath before looking down.

You spread your legs for him and he groaned as his pointer finger ran through your folds, collecting some of the wetness there before lifting it to his mouth and sucking on it, dark eyes penetrating your soul as he stared at you.

“So sweet, I wonder what has got you this worked up hmm?”

You whimpered softly and were about beg for him to touch you more when he suddenly straightened up and snapped your legs shut.

Time was up, people had arrived.

Dinner was hell, but you managed to keep yourself entertained by discreetly sliding your hand under the table cloth and rubbing Fernando's softening cock to full hardness before stopping and letting him writhe in his seat while he tried to make it go down again.

Over, and over again. And every time, he flashed you increasingly menacing smiles and you knew you were in for it when you got home.

When you left the restaurant he bid goodbye to everyone and walked towards his car, where you were waiting for him with increasing excitement.

His heated gaze roamed over your curves as he approached, and he growled “get in” before climbing in himself and turning the car on.

Fernando was silent as he drove, readjusting himself periodically in his jeans.

It took you a while to realise he hadn't taken the usual route home, and was now driving through a country road you vaguely recognised from one of your first dates with him.

It lead to a hill from which there was a perfect view over the city. And the sun had just set, painting the sky a dark purple colour as the city lights started turning on.

It was breathtaking, and you were so engrossed in the sight you hadn't realised the car wasn't moving anymore, and Fernando opened your door and lifted you out of your seat.

He set you down on the hood of the car and spread your legs, sliding the pads of his fingers through your folds, and you were just as wet as you were back at the restaurant.

You gasped and grabbed his face to kiss him. He went willingly, licking into your mouth at the same time as he pushed a finger into you.

You groaned and deepened the kiss, trying to grind down on his finger but his other hand held your hips still as he added another.

Every time he hooked them upwards it sent a jolt of pleasure through your body and you shuddered, and his thumb came up to circle your clit lightly.

You moaned into his mouth as your high slowly approached, you'd been so pent up the past couple of days you knew you weren’t going to last long.

Your head tilted backwards as the pleasure crawled up your back, but just as you were about to reach bliss, he retracted his hand and you whined in distress at the sudden loss.

He chuckled, sucked his fingers clean and pulled you up to stand before turning you around and pressing you down against the hood, kicking your feet apart to make your spread your legs.

“Papi…” you whined “I need to come, please, it's been so long.. “

“But you've been a bad girl” He replied, pushing your head onto the metal surface, hips grinding against your ass. “And bad girls don’t get what they want, hermosa. You know that.”

You huffed and tried to protest but he shut you up by shoving two fingers in your mouth and leaning over you to whisper in your ear.

“You have been teasing me all night, now I'm going to take what I want, and you will take whatever I give you, understood?”

You groaned around his fingers as you heard the sound of his belt and zipper being undone.

The slide of his cock against your sopping folds made you shiver and he pushed in slowly, stretching you out deliciously around his thick length as he went in all the way to the hilt.

You let out a breath when his tip kissed your cervix, and you knew then and there you were going to be sore tomorrow.

He held your head down, forcing you to look at the view of the city lights as he started moving his hips at a bruising pace.

Your legs were shaking in no time and your moans got louder, spurring him on in his endeavour to rearrange your insides.

He leaned over you, pressing his chest against your back and he pounded into you for all he was worth as he felt your throbbing cunt clench around him, seconds away from reaching euphoria.

“Go on, hermosa. Come on my cock like a good girl”

When you did, the colours bursting behind your eyelids were better than any view could ever be, and you shook in his hold as you let out a long stuttered moan.

“I'm going to fill you up, make you all mine”

You felt the warmth of him filling you up and you moaned weakly as he wrapped his arms around your body and just held you there lovingly.

After a while the cold night air made you shiver so he pulled out and went to the boot of the car to fetch a hoodie he had stashed there because he knew you'd get cold in your skimpy outfit.

He just knew you too well.

He also quickly grabbed something from the driver’s side door before slipping it in his pocket and handing you the hoodie.

“Aww thank you baby, I love you so much” you huddled closer to him and pressed your lips to his, basking in your post-sex glow.

“I love you too” he squeezed you briefly in his arms and slid away from where he’d been leaning on the hood “in fact, I love you so much that I have a very important question for you”

He held your hand as he got down on one knee in front of you “Baby…”

You gasped, surely he wasn’t going to do this now?

But there he was, pulling the ring out of his pocket as he looked up at you with red cheeks and dopey grin.

"Love of my life, will you spend the rest of tour life with me, as my wife?”

You did your best to sound angry, but failed miserably when a smile couldn't help but overcome your face, as you shrieked at him from above.

“Fernando Alonso! How dare you propose to me when I have your cum running down my leg!”

His eyes briefly flitted to where your inner thighs were indeed slick with him and he had the audacity to look ashamed before he quickly grinned and pushed you back against the car.

He gripped your thighs and spread them roughly, licking his lips hungrily at the sight of you folds gleaming in the faint light of the city skyline.

“Let me clean you up before you give me your answer then"

[spider-jaysart]

For the Supersons week 2023 bonus prompt: In another life

@super-sons-week

(Click for better quality)

This is an au of mines called Species swap where Damian's an alien and Jon's a human instead. Besides my apocalypse one, this one is also one of my most faves! And for fun, I also named it Earth 59

(More under the cut)

Damian and the Batfamily, plus the Al Ghul's, are hero aliens instead of humans (though, the Al Ghul's are more like warriors here like Tamaraneans are for example) and Jon and the Superfamily are the humans in this au who save people on earth with their highly trained combat skills and helpful gadgets.

The Al Ghuls live on a far away planet called "Lazarus planet" and Damian grew up there with them (just like in his origin). All aliens there were trained to fight very skillfully. Damian too while growing up there was trained to fight very skillfully as well, since he's going to be the ruler of that planet one day when he grows up.

But then Talia had no choice but to send Damian to his Father's planet on his 10th birthday, since some vicious aliens from another planet had came to invade their home and wanted to assassinate all of their people during that day, so she had to do it to keep him safe until the war was over. She quickly leaves their planet and uses one of the mini traveling spaceships to drive Damian to Bruce's planet, which is Gotham. After landing there and finding Bruce, she leaves Damian there with him to be taken care of while she's gone.

So for the mean time while Damian has to stay on Bruce's planet, he begins to finally get to know his Father and finally learns about the rest of his unknown Batfamily members for the first time as well. And while all of that's happening, after some time, the Al Ghul's later win the war on their planet and Talia goes back to go get Damian. Though, Damian has already become attached and didn't want to just leave his Father and his other family so soon after getting to finally know them for only just such a short time, so Talia lets him stay a little longer because of that. After that, her and Bruce both later decide on an agreement about sharing equal time with him, letting him usually spend one week on Lazarus planet with the Al Ghul's and the next one on Gotham planet with the Batfamily so that it'll be fair

With the Superfamily, Jon, Clark, Lois, Kara, Kon, and Chris live on earth as humans and fight crime protecting people (just like the Batfamily as humans). They train a lot to stay strong and also own a lot of gadgets. And just like how the Batfamily would, they have things like a Superrang, Supermobile, and etc. They also all wear masks to hide their identities

Damian's never been to earth before, not even his Mother. Though, he's always heard stories from his Father, brothers, and Grandfather about earth and it's humans, since they're the ones who have actually been there before. He was always curious about what it was like over there but he never dared to visit it, especially since he was always told by his family that he wasn't ever allowed to because of certain reasons that could possibly endanger him

One day though, during a mission in space with his brothers when he was 12 years old, which involved a bunch of dangerous aliens who owned powerful electric, laser guns, he fell down to earth after being severely shocked and knocked out by a strong laser blast. He fell down in planet earth's direction, later crashing into a video game store while Jon and his family were nearby, busy dealing with a mission of their own. Jon, after hearing the crash, went to go take a look at where and what the loud sound was caused by and saw Damian just laying there knocked out in the store with the ceiling rocks on top of him, since he had destroyed the stores roof during his crash into the place

After the rest of the Superfamily found out about it, they took Damian with them to the Fortress of solitude to find out who he was (he was still knocked out), since they knew he wasn't from earth after looking at his unique outfit and long unusual sharp, large sword. As soon as Damian woke up, he tried to fight them and escape, feeling endangered since he didn't know them, but they calmed him down and then kept him inside of a clear cube that he couldn't break through at all with his super strength so that he could stop, which just got him upset again but even more than before

They let Damian out once they found out that he wasn't a threat and tried apologizing to him. Jon excitedly then tries to become his friend and tries showing him around Metropolis during that same day until they can get him back home. Damian's clueless about earth things and only knows a little bit about the things that his family has told him about it before, so Damian ends up curiously asking Jon a lot of questions about everything around earth and in Metropolis, while Jon tries to answer them all for him (he thinks that Jon is a very smart person cause he knows all the answers to his every question lol). So they both get to bond a little and know eachother better that same day (they also fight some crime together while walking around the city)

Meanwhile, the Batfamily and the Al Ghul family are both panicking very much and are trying to find Damian as fast as they can since he's still missing. So once the Batfamily and the Al Ghul's got to earth, they got into a mini fight with the Superfamily, thinking that Damian's in danger with them. But then Bruce remembers Clark being the same exact boy he had met as a kid when he himself accidentally crashed onto earth many years ago in the past and got his help to go back home, so it all gets figured out in the end and peace is quickly made between them both and all is finally understood

Both of Damian's family finally found him after that and tried to take him safely back home, but he refused and didn't want to leave since he found everything so interesting on earth, plus he was also just starting to like Jon too. After arguing back and forth, they decided that he could visit sometimes, but only with supervision from whoever is available to go along with him during those times to make sure he's okay. Damian was pleased with that decision.

So after everything and as time went on, Damian and Jon later became the duo team named Supersons and also best friends in the end too (with crushes on eachother)

Some facts:

Damian and the Al Ghul's are the ones who rule Lazarus planet since they're the royal family there

Those from Lazarus planet are called "Lazarens" and those from Gotham planet are "Gothamites", so that makes Damian a mixed alien who is considered a "Lazamite"

Most characters who are aliens in canon are now humans in this au instead

All planets like Tamaran and Krypton don't exist in space in this au and are instead just big cities on earth. Tamaran city is corrupted under Blackfire's control over it and Krypton is a city that was destroyed many years ago, so it is now abandoned and no one ever visits it

Damian is pretty reckless on earth while fighting and using his powers on humans who are criminals, since he's used to being that way when defeating enemies who are very strong like him back in space. So Jon has to sometimes remind him to be more careful about what he's doing and how he has to be more calmer when handling humans and certain other things

Just like how Damian always visits Jon on earth for patrol together or just hangout or have sleepovers at the Kent farm, Jon also visits Damian's planets sometimes too and they get to do many of those things together there as well

Damian wanted to find a way to be around Jon more though after becoming his friend, so after hearing that Jon goes to school in the early day, he immediately wanted to be registered in too (it's also because they don't have many schools in space for alien kids and he was homeschooled for years by Talia, so he wanted to know the experience too). Talia and Bruce didn't want to do it since they were afraid that he could get caught as an alien if he were to make any kind of mistakes around the civilians over there, but after being constantly asked over and over by their son and seeing how much he wanted it, they finally did it for him. The Superfamily decided to help him out by making him a holographic bracelet that makes him look human (which makes him look like how he always does in canon)

Damian doesn't have his canon pets with him in space in the beginning (only Goliath and Batcow who have some type of alien DNA in them) and has no idea what earth pets are like either because of this, but he does meet them on earth later on. After escaping their everyday cages, they all unexpectedly run out of a nearby pet shop while Jon is showing Damian around the city and they happily run towards the Boy Wonder. Damian prepares to defend himself since he isn't very trusting of them at first, thinking they are going to try and challenge him with an attack like other creatures he's fought before, but he was immediately met with the complete opposite after getting pushed down to the ground by them, getting a bunch of doggy and cat kisses to the face instead. This unexpected love from them quickly made him change his whole view on them, causing him to fall in love with their lovable, fluffy cuteness. The pet store owner tried to take them back inside, but Damian threatened him with his large sword so that he can leave them alone. It scared the poor guy away and Damian happily left with his new pets. After seeing that, Jon had to quickly go after Damian to tell him that's not how things are done on earth and that he has to actually go back and adopt them first for real instead of just leaving with them. After all of that, Damian later puts special collars on them (made by the Batfamily) that help them breathe properly in space so that he can take them home with him

When Jon gets married to Damian in the future when they're both adults, he also becomes a king on Lazarus planet too like Damian

In this au, Damian and the Batfamily destroyed Eberos (the creature from Dceased who was made by Darksied to start the apocalypse) before he could even do anything to earth

For abilities and other little things:

Damian has flight, Superstrength, Superspeed, laser vision, laser beams, and flame blasts that he can throw from his hands. And also, while it may be a learned skill for him in canon, it's actually a natural born ability of his to be able to imitate many voices in this au

Whenever he gets really mad, Damian's hair turns into flames until he calms down again

Lazarens have Lazarus blood in them, so whenever they get cuts or are severely injured, their wounds just close back up (after an hour) and they regenrate whatever part of their body they lost (which usually takes almost a month). They can also live up to 2000 years or even longer because of this. There are also multiple Lazarus pits on Lazarus planet

Damian's big sword is way too heavy to actually be held by humans, so only those with super strength like him can hold it. He can also transfer his abilities to the weapon while holding it during battle and make it light up in green fire, which helps him create bigger damage against enemies and make fast clean cuts through anything too

Not one of them, but Damian is allergic to these giant "shrimp" like creatures in space and will grow a big headache and will also be sneezing out whole fire breath sneezes as if he's a dragon if he's too close to them for too long. He can even take out almost a whole battle field with it too, that's how bad it is (inspired by my friend @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 's headcanon where Damian is allergic to shrimp). After finding out about this allergy, Jon created an antidote for him that makes it go away faster whenever they bump into these creatures

Lazarens only fall in love once with someone and aren't able to go through it again with other people

Bruce is a Gothamite who is born with a lot of rare abilities that many other Gothamites don't have, so some of them were passed onto Damian too. They're: Super high intelligence, the super clear ability to observe things much better than a human as if they're like robots, astounding quick memory, and the ability to move any shadows with them when they need to stay hidden

Damian's system allows him to eat whatever he wants, especially weird stuff, without any kind of problems. He's still a vegetarian though and even tries to be one with earth food too (sometimes he doesn't understand what any of the meals actually are though and needs help from others to tell him if they involve meat or not)

[sweetbans29]

Warming Up - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Hesitation

Summary: Part 2 to the Hesitation series...you're welcome. You finally let Caitlin take you out on that date but it just so happens to be in New York...

Warnings: Caitlin being cute with Carson, Caitlin being in love with you - all the norms

Word Count: 3k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: I have heard the demand and I am offering you a MINI series. With that being said, it will be 3 parts with several blurbs attached. Also i'm using current events but in the future.

"I still don't know about this," you say as you board the small charter plane. The slow you wanted seemed to be moving very fast as the first date that Caitlin asked you out on was a trip to New York.

To be fair, you had hesitated a lot when she asked you initially. That is how Caitlin knew if she did all the right things, you and Carson would be joining her on this trip. If you had shut it down hard, she wouldn't have pushed as hard as she had.

"Too late Mommy!" Carson yells as he runs into the plan and takes the first seat he sees. It swallows him up and you can't help but smile.

You have taken Carson on several trips before, a luxury you grew up with and wanted to make sure Carson was also able to experience. But traveling in a private charter was something you would have never expected to be able to do.

"You don't have to know about this, I got it," Caitlin says as she places her hand on your lower back to guide you to the seat behind Carson. You watch as one of the attendants swivels Carson's chair to face you. You smile when you see how Carson's face lit up when he realized he would be sitting backwards.

Caitlin can see how your body eases when you see Carson's excitement. She wants to reach over and hold your hand but decides against it. She has been wanting to touch you since that night on your porch.

The trip to New York wasn't all for fun, Caitlin knew she had some business to take care of but knew that it would be 100x better than if she were doing it alone. When Caitlin found out that she was asked to make an appearance at the Yankee's double header is what sparked her to ask you and Carson to join. It helped when she had learned that Carson was a Yankee's fan and you had a hard time saying no to Carson.

The plane ride is short and the three of you color and play games. When you land in New York, you all head to the hotel. Caitlin made sure that there was a second room for you and Carson, right next to hers of course. Even went to the extent of making sure there was a door connecting the rooms, not that Caitlin was expecting anything to happen.

You and Carson part ways with Caitlin and head into your room. You put all your stuff down and watch as Carson runs to the curtains to see the view. You sit on the bed and Cason runs up to you.

"This is the best trip we have ever been on," Carson says.

"Ya? Better than going to California last summer?" You ask reminding him of the beaches he begged to go back to for weeks after getting back from the trip.

"Ya!" He says with pure excitement.

"Hey Carson," you say as you bring him to sit on the bed with you. "I need you to tell me something okay?"

He settles down and looks at you.

"Are you okay if Caitlin starts coming around more often?" You ask Carson.

"More Clarky?" Carson asks thinking about it for a second.

"Ya, what do you think about that?" You ask.

"I like Clarky!" He says with a smile. "More Clarky."

"I like Clarky too," you say and hug your little boy.

"Does that mean we can go on more adventures with Clarky?" Carson asks.

"It's a possibility," you say and fix his hair.

He nods and runs to the connecting door giving it a small knock. After a few moments, the door opens and Carson is met by Caitlin.

"Hey Little Man!" She says. Carson immediately hugs her legs.

"More Clarky!" He says and Caitlin laughs.

"Are you guys hungry? I was thinking we could go out to do some exploring," Caitlin says and Carson yells 'yes' while Caitlin looks up at you and you give her a smiling nod.

The three of you go out and find a small little local spot to eat. The time is sweet and fun. Caitlin spoils Carson to treats which earns a scold from you but she doesn't care, she thinks it's almost cuter than Carson. The night ends with Carson falling asleep on the ride back. You carry him up to your room and Caitlin asks if you wanted to come to hers to hang out.

"I don't know," you say standing in the doorframe between her room and yours.

"What is the worst that could happen?" Caitlin asks with a little smile.

"Well I can think of a few things," you say.

"What if I promise to stay on my side of the bed," she asks and you ponder the idea.

"Okay, I will come in if you stay on your side of the bed," you say as you follow her in. She does as she says and sits on one side of the bed. You sit on the other side.

"So how would you feel about me taking you out tomorrow after the game?" Caitlin asks.

"What about Carson?" You ask.

"I have a sitter lined up and it is one that I know is trusted," she says.

You sit there and think about it. Caitlin doesn't rush you.

"Okay," you say not caring to elaborate more.

"Okay?" She asks trying to calm her excitement.

"Okay," you say again. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well it's a surprise," she says with a smug smile.

You raise your eyebrow at her.

"You are just going to have to wait and see," she says proud of herself.

You nod respecting her decision to not tell you. You don't push it but have another idea in mind. As the two of you continue to talk, you slowly slide closer to her.

Slowly leaning in, you stop right before your lips connect with hers. She leans in trying to meet you but your hand on her chest holds her in place.

"Nuh-uh," you say. "What do you have planned for our date?" Your eyes are on her lips as you speak causing Caitlin's breath to shallow.

"I told you, it's a surprise," she says with a gulp, her eyes also looking down at your lips.

"Just tell me a little," you says as you place a soft kiss on her jawline, then another one on the top of her neck. She moans at the feeling of your lips on her skin.

Caitlin is lost in the feeling of you and doesn't respond. One of her hands finds your waist while the other settles on your arm.

"Tell me Cait," you whisper into her ear as you gently suck on her earlobe. She lets out a whimper and tries to get any sort of coherent thought out.

"Dinner," she says. Her eyes closed as all her other senses heighten at your touch. You drive her wild.

"Just dinner?" You ask sweetly as you move over her and straddle her. Both of her hands have been dying to feel the skin under your shirt again, she takes no time moving them there. Your bring your hands so her wrists as you guide her hands up and down your torso.

"Gonna spoil you," she gets out. Your lips are putting in work on her neck. Occasionally drifting down to her collar bone and sucking a little harder. "Get you anything you want."

You smile against her skin. Your lips still haven't touched hers yet and if you had it your way, they wouldn't.

You slowly crawl down her, leaving a trail of kisses over her shirt but all down her body until you are at the edge of the bed. You stand and make your way to the connecting door before looking back at her. Her hungry eyes, dilated pupils and breaths uneven.

You had played her. Teased the answer right out of her and she just let you.

"You are going to be the death of me," she says as she moves to get up and follow you but you put your hand up.

"Not my fault you are so easily swayed," you say and Caitlin completely ignores your hand. She makes her way to you, her hands coming to cup your face.

She looks into your eyes and the shine with something more than just lust. Before you can say anything she is crashing her lips into yours earning a moan from you which only wants her to keep you there longer.

After giving in to Caitlin, you finally push her away. Both of you needing the air being sucking into your lungs.

"I need to change up our date now," she says, her hand cupping your face still.

"You don't," you say. "I like what you have planned."

"Nope, you know now so I have to make it even better," she says. She leans down to give you a quick little peck then separates herself from you. She knows if she were to do anything more, you wouldn't be heading back to your room.

"Whatever you say," you say with a smile. "Goodnight Caitlin."

"Goodnight," she says to you before you close the door.

The next day is a busy one but none of you would have it any other way. You are currently at the Yankee's game where Caitlin's team has set up her to be on the field and meet some of the team. She made sure the arrangements included you and Carson.

When you first got there, you were all greeted and handed badges. Carson's hung low which Caitlin helped fix, warming your heart. The three of you headed to the field and Caitlin was greeted with fans. She signed some autographs while Carson was greeted by some of the players who were finishing their warm up. It was really sweet to watch.

Caitlin comes back over to the two of you and hands Carson a baseball. You stand and watch as the two of them play catch. As you do, you can't help but think about the 'what if's'. You think about how this could be a normal for the three of you. Not necessarily going to baseball games but watching Caitlin and Carson playing catch.

"Mommy! Watch this," Carson yells as he sets up to throw the ball to Caitlin. He throws it perfectly to Caitlin and turns to see your reaction with a wide smile on his face.

"That was great baby," you say with a smile.

The three of you head to your seats after spending some time on the field.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Carson says while he adjusts himself in his seat.

"Okay sweetie, let's go check out the concession stand," you say.

"Can I take him?" Caitlin asks.

"Clarky!" Carson yells with excitement.

"Are you sure?" You ask, hesitant letting them go without you.

"I wanna go with Clarky," Carson says already out of his seat and holding Caitlin's hand.

"I got him," she says. She can see your hesitation. "But if you would like to join, you are always welcome."

"No, you two can go. Just bring me back some nachos," you say and look at Carson.

"You do not leave Caitlin's side okay?" You tell Carson and he nods. He begins pulling Cait from their seats and up the stairs. It makes you more comfortable when you see Caitlin's security follow them.

You sit and wait for them to come back, when they do - Carson is holding a hot dog while Caitlin looks to have 5 things in hers. She has two drinks, two hot dogs and your nachos.

"What did you guys clean them out?" You joke at them and Carson says no with a laugh.

The three of you snack and watch the game, Carson having the time of his life. When the game is over, the three of you decide to grab some ice cream and then head back to the hotel. When you get back, you are surprised with who is already in her room.

"Hi mom," Caitlin says as she goes to hug her.

"Hi baby, it's good to see you," she says.

Caitlin turns to you and introduces you to her mom.

"Hi there," you say with a smile and she pulls you in for a hug.

"Oh it is so good to meet you," she says giving you a nice squeeze.

"You as well," Anne says. "I have been looking forward to meeting you for weeks."

You turn to look at Caitlin because you only confirmed a week ago that you and Carson would be joining her on this trip. Cait just smiles and shrugs.

"And you must be Carson," Anne says as she crouches down to shake his hand. He is hiding behind your legs but reaches out his hand to shake hers.

"Carson," you begin but Anne waves to you signaling it is okay. She turns to look at Carson.

"I am Caitlin's mom," Anne says and Carson peaks his head out.

"Clarky's mom?" He says softly. Anne nods and smiles.

"You want to know what Caitlin loved when she was your age?" Anne asks and Carson nods. "Chocolate chip cookies."

Carson's eyes light up," I love chocolate chip cookies!" He is now fully out from behind you and is following Anne to the half kitchen in Caitlin's room.

Caitlin nods over to your room and you follow her over. Once the two of you are alone, you turn to her.

"Weeks?" You ask her. She shrugs like she did the first time you looked at her on the matter.

"I've been planning this for longer than you know," she says.

"You're unbelievable," you say. "And your mother??? It would have been nice to know. I didn't now we were in the meet the parents stage."

"She has been asking to meet you ever since she saw pictures of me bringing Carson on the floor," Caitlin says.

You shake your head.

"It isn't a big deal," she says. But in your mind it is.

"But it is," you say. "Going on trips, meeting parents - this all seems really fast."

Caitlin can see how stressed this has made you. She kneels down in front of where you were now sitting on your bed and brings your hands into hers.

"I'm sorry," she says and you sigh. "I told you that we will take this slow and I know these last few weeks have been fast. But I have no intention of going anywhere. This weekend is suppose to be fun and I believe it still can be. I asked my mom to come out because I know knew you wouldn't want to leave Carson with just anyone so I brought out the best. I wouldn't have brought her out if I wasn't serious about you. Us."

You look into Caitlin's eyes and can see the sincerity. You lean your forehead on hers, eyes closed.

"You are unbelievable," you say for the second time but in a completely different tone causing Caitlin to smile.

"You should get ready, we need to be out of here in 20," Caitlin says as she parts from you.

You get ready and tell Anne everything she needs to know about putting Carson down. She repeats everything back to you perfectly and Carson is too entertained by the chocolate chips to be phased by you leaving. You kiss his head and he waves.

Once Caitlin has you out the door, she can't stop smiling.

"What?" You say with a smile of your own.

"Just excited to have you all to myself," she says.

First Caitlin takes you to a cute little Italian restaurant where the two of you talked over dinner. Dinner is followed by an evening walk through the park. You expect the night to be done but she has one more place she is taking you before back to where you are staying.

You yawn trying to not get too sleepy.

"We are almost there," Caitlin says as the car pulls up to the final stop.

You both exit and you look up. Caitlin stands next to you holding your hand and looks at you.

"Of course," you say.

Caitlin smiles.

"This is nice but I don't think it is open," you say and Caitlin leads you to the door.

Right as you approach the door, it opens and you are greeted by an older man.

"Ms. Clark and company, welcome to the Empire State Building," the man says. Your excitement is now visible on your face as the man leads you over to the elevator.

The three of you head up. Once reaching the 82nd floor, you were ready to make your way out but the doors just open and close and you continue up to the 102nd floor.

You step out and are in awe. Caitlin watches you as you step out and take in the sight before you. You aren't huge on big cities but seeing New York from this vantage point had anyone falling in love with it.

Caitlin lets you look around before coming behind you and wrapping her arms around you.

"I don't know how you are going to top this when we get back to Indy," you say as your hands come to rest on her arms.

"Does that mean there will be a second date," she teases.

"Only if you want," you respond, too in awe of the sight still to care about Caitlin's sass.

"It's the only thing I want," she says softly in your ear. You smile.

"I'm sorry for going at you earlier. You didn't deserve that," you say.

"No no no, don't apologize," she says.

You lean back into Caitlin, loving the feeling of being held by her. You turn to face her.

"i think I like you," you say smiling.

"Ya?" Caitlin says softly, bringing her hand to come up to tuck your hair behind your ear.

You nod and lean in to kiss her.

AN: You series is here. Let me know what you think about this second part! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[coff33andb00ks]

More Than Anything - Part Two

oscar piastri x pop!singer reader x lando norris (with charles leclerc)

summary: In the spotlight's harsh glare, she shattered into a million pieces, then found redemption in an unexpected place warnings: language, smut (mdni!!) notes: i still hate doing smaus but this is fun

liked by charles_leclrec, landonorris, oscarpiastri and others ynyln: Surprise!!! Lover's End dropping in 3...2...1... Special thank you to all of you, my darlings, for your unwavering love and support over the past 6 months. (I'm only gonna post about Monaco and F1 for the rest of the week)

↳ user1: 'You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart' MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR           ↳ user2: MOTHER ATE ↳ user2: silver springs my FAVOURITE           ↳ user3: so much anger in this EP ↳ user4: it's SO GOOD

"So you'll be riding along and having a normal chat with him. Pretend like the cameras aren't there. Feel free to ask questions about anything you'd like." The assistant lowered her voice. "Other than the PR photos at hospitality later and your interview Saturday about your history of loving formula one, this is the only formal thing you have to do all week, I promise."

"Thanks." Y/N nodded as the clip mic was attached to her blouse, grinning when she saw Charles approaching on a bicycle. Muffling a giggle when he nearly crashed into the side of the Ferrari waiting for him to give her the tour of Monaco, she greeted him warmly, thinking of their friendly chatting the night before at the Ferrari dinner.

"Are you ready to see Monaco?" Charles asked once a mic had been clipped to his shirt and an assistant had fixed his hair. He immediately ran his hand through it, ruining her work, and y/n grinned again.

"Absolutely."

He drove through the winding streets, stopping to point out the more famous sites – the hotel, the casino, the harbour – telling her stories from his childhood of watching the races, seeing the grandstands being built.

"Oh, you were always rich… I can't imagine growing up in a place like this," she said as he drove past the harbour which was filling with yachts. "But I guess it was all you knew."

Charles nodded, and she noticed he looked slightly panicked at her calling him rich. "I didn't appreciate how, ah… Privileged I was until I became a man. I'll show you my school?"

"Sorry, I grew up poor so I'm always fascinated when I meet someone who didn't. I'm well aware of how different my life is, but in my head I'll always be that little girl with no money at the book fair," she babbled.

He furrowed his brow. "Book fair?"

"Oh my god they were the best thing! You'd get a flyer with all the books they'd have available and the kids would circle everything they wanted. And there'd be things like posters and bookmarks and cheap little toys? Like a little bookstore set up in the school." She smiled at the memory.

"That is why you donate money to schools, yes? To help kids like you?" he asked softly.

Y/N smiled. "Exactly." She realized she was yapping as he drove through the streets but couldn't stop herself because it was something she cared about so much. And Charles seemed to genuinely care, nodding and smiling a little as she went on an on, to the point she didn't feel the need to apologize for her blathering.

"My school," he said, parking in front of a somewhat nondescript building. "I got into so much trouble here…"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Surely they were just inchidents?"

He giggled and she saw his cheeks darken as he pulled away from the curb. A few moments later, he asked, "You've traveled around the world. Do you have a favourite country to visit?"

She hummed thoughtfully. "You know… I've been around the world twice now. But I feel like I haven't seen any of it. It's always airport to hotel to media stations to venue and back again. I rarely get back home, though. So I'll say that's my favourite place to visit." She shifted in the seat to face him. "What's your favourite colour?"

He giggled again, tugging at his Ferrari polo. "I have to say read, no?"

Y/N grinned. "Ooo, the colour of love…"

The rest of the tour was filled with laughter and reflection, and they stood near the harbour chatting once they'd finished filming, discussing music and she got the feeling he was getting around to asking her out when someone walked by and Charles laughed, turning and calling out—

"Oscar!"

The man turned and y/n felt a giddiness rise in her stomach as she recognized him. His eyes were on Charles as they fist bumped and then his brown eyes swiveled towards her, widened, and…

"H-hi," he said, and she pretended to not notice the way his voice cracked.

Smiling, she held out her hand. "Hi, so great to meet you."

His hand was warm and strong and his cheeks were turning pink. "Ah." He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning darker, his hand still shaking hers. "Great t-to meet you t-too."

She felt the urge to giggle but refrained, continuing to shake his hand as she stared into his eyes. Next to her, Charles cleared his throat.

"We were just talking about her new music," he said.

They hadn't been but that seemed to snap Oscar out of his little stupor. His eyes widened and his lips quirked up into smile. He loosened his hold on her hand and she would have sworn she imagined his shaky exhale.

"Y-yeah, I listened this morning. It's great." Oscar rubbed the back of his neck. "As always."

"You're too sweet," she insisted, marveling when the pink of his cheeks darkened more. "I'm glad you enjoy it."

Charles looked from her to Oscar and back again, and she felt her cheeks grow warm when he smirked.

Oscar stammered – Oscar stammered! she would never get over him seemingly starstruck by her – out that he was a big fan of her music and she sensed him relax while she talked about recording in secret over the past few months. "Lando's a huge fan, too," he said, his cheeks still pink and his eyes still a little wide.

"Is he? I'd love to meet him."

He was already nodding. "Y-yeah, that'd be great. Y-you can drop by the motorhome anytime."

She felt the urge to play with her hair and probably would have if Charles hadn't been watching them so closely. "I'll do that, sure. Later on, after I do some PR stuff with Ferarri?"

Oscar's shoulders sagged and he was still nodding. "Excellent." He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck again. "I'll, um, see you later then."

As soon as he was out of earshot Charles laughed.

"I have never seen him like that around a celebrity."

Y/N watched Oscar disappear in the crowd milling along pit lane. "Really?"

Charles hummed and held out his arm. "You must have that effect on people."

"I really don't know why. I'm just me," she mumbled as she slid her arm through his to walk towards the Ferrari motorhome. "Well, no, I suppose I get it. It's just… Weird to think of someone notable being flustered meeting another notable person, right?"

"So you were flustered just now?" Charles hummed knowingly.

"Stop, he's one of my favourite drivers," she groaned. "I get flustered meeting anyone."

"You weren't flustered meeting me," he sighed with a dramatic wave of his hand.

"I was," she confessed, thinking of how anxious she'd been in those first moments after meeting him and Carlos the night before. Mainly because she hated formal, corporate affairs when everyone had to be on their best behaviour.

liked by charles_leclrec, carlossainz55, oscarpiastri and others ynyln: things I've learned today: my aussie accent is shit 😔, oscar hums a lot 🤭, carlos refers to me as "la pequeña niña americana" 🥰, and when I sit in a f1 car I feel claustrophobic 😬 tagged: landonorris, oscarpiastri, charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, scuderiaferrari

↳ carlossainz55: Sí, mi pequeña niña americana           ↳ ynyln: 🥰🥰🥰           ↳ user1: do you even understand that?           ↳ ynyln: no but it's spanish so I'm swooning ↳ oscarpiastri: I didn't say your Aussie accent was shit?           ↳ ynyln: Lando did 😔           ↳ landonorris: it is?           ↳ ynyln: you hurt my feelings ☹️           ↳ mclaren: Lando you should apologise           ↳ scuderiaferrari: so rude           ↳ ynyln: isn't it 🥺           ↳ landonorris: wtf 😥 ↳ user2: what was Oscar humming though?            ↳ user3: probably something off the wall            ↳ ynyln: it was the oscar mayer jingle            ↳ mclaren: that was you            ↳ ynyln: 🤫🤫🤫 ↳ landonorris: I'm sorry for saying your aussie accent is shit            ↳ ynyln: I forgive you 🤗

Looking up from her phone after posting the recap of her day to instagram, Y/N smiled at Charles, enjoying the quietness of the evening. Leo was dragging his toy around, growling playfully each time Charles tried to take it away. She hadn't expected his invitation to dinner after the end of media day, but here she was in his apartment, the flavor of his thrown together pasta dish lingering on her tongue.

Charles leaned back against the couch, tossing the toy across the room for Leo. "It's none of my business…" He sighed and shifted to look at her. "But are all your new songs about him?"

She nodded. "Wrote them in a fit of rage, really. Except Flowers, I wrote that when I realized how better off I am without him."

He eased the toy from Leo and tossed it again. "I am sorry you had your heart broken."

Y/N chuckled. "Me too."

"Are you looking for someone new?" he asked after a moment. After Leo dropped the toy and flopped dramatically on the rug.

"I don't know." She lifted an eyebrow. "Why, are you interested?"

Charles laughed softly. "In a relationship, no."

She wasn't disappointed, really, but she gave him a pout. "My poor ego…"

Grinning, he moved, kneeling on the floor in front of her. "But I'm willing to…" He hesitated, finally resting his hands on her knees. "Fuck the memory of your stupid ex away."

Her eyes widened at his boldness. Before she could think of the reasons she should say no, she was nodding, moving to the edge of the couch as his hands slipped up. "I'm fine with something casual," she murmured, sliding her hands over his shoulders.

"That I can give you, cherie."

His kiss was gentle, lips and tongue working against hers until she melted. Guided by his hands, she slid off the couch as he stood, the kiss growing in intensity as he pulled her towards the bedroom. "It's been a while," she mumbled between kisses, her fingers hesitating at the hem of his sweater. "So like… Tell me if I mess up."

Charles huffed out a soft laugh, nipping at her bottom lip. "It is like riding a bicycle, hm? You'll be unsteady at first then get into the rhythm."

"Just don't expect me to ride, I'm so not into being on top," she admitted, relieved when he laughed, breaking away to peel off his sweater. His skin was warm under her fingers and she kissed him before pulling back to remove her top, keeping her eyes on his face.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered, one hand cupping the back of her neck as he kissed her again, this time with growing urgency. His other hand was everywhere – at her waist, teasing the waistband of her jeans, ghosting over her ribcage, tracing the curve of her breast, flicking open the button of her jeans.

"Ah!" she gasped sharply as his fingers eased into her panties, his facial hair grazing her neck while his lips moved down. Her gaze landed on the mirror behind him and she stared at the muscles of his back as they rippled under her touch, her eyes slipping shut when his fingers began to stroke her slit at the same time his mouth closed around her nipple.

"Are you watching yourself, cherie?" he whispered against her skin, moaning when her fingers clutched at his hair.

"No… Watching you," she breathed. She opened her eyes, watching her hand trail down his back.

Charles laughed quietly, pulling his mouth from her nipple with a soft pop. "Can I watch you?"

Blushing, she gave a small nod, helping him unfasten his jeans while her heart thrummed excitedly in her chest. His lips met hers again, his hands working her jeans down her legs.

His blanket was luxurious, his sheets soft beneath her knees as he gently situated her so she faced the mirror. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he exhaled slowly, his hands framing her hips and sweeping upwards. "So soft," he breathed, eyes locking with hers in the mirror, breath hot against her skin.

Y/N could only stare at him in the mirror, feeling as though she were watching another couple entirely, the eroticism of watching his hands explore her body making her feel disconnected. Until he whispered in her ear. Gentle commands, fervent admirations that forced her to feel his touch as well as see.

His hand slipped down, cupping between her thighs, and she moaned sharply at the sight of two fingers sliding into her pussy. Reaching back, she groped at his hip, nails dragging across his skin before her hand wrapped around his cock, watching his face as he let out a ragged moan.

He spoke but she barely registered the words, already reduced to pitiful, needy whines, the live porn in front of her only adding to her desire, and when his fingers, slick, dragged to grasp her hip she leaned forward in anticipation. Still stroking his cock, still watching his face ass while she felt him shift behind her. Her thumb smeared precum over the tip of him and she was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath before he groaned into her hair, his hands nudging hers away. She lifted her hand, catching his eye in the mirror as she licked her thumb clean.

Her eyes automatically closed when he began to enter her and she whined as his hand reached up, cupping her chin and lifting her head.

"Look at your face, mon couer," he whispered.

Pure, wanton neediness. She nodded, licking her lips, clutching his forearm with both hands and forcing her eyes to stay open while he entered her slowly.

In a split second of clarity she wondered if her chin always wobbled during penetration.

"Magnifique," Charles panted against her ear, his hand sliding down to lightly rest just below her neck.

"Oh my god," she whined.

His other hand gripped her hip tight, fingers digging into her flesh. "Good?" he whispered.

She nodded, staring at his white knuckles at her hip. "So good," she gasped, shifting on her knees slightly. Suddenly keen to see more. The hand on her hip squeezed and he began a slow roll of his hips, fucking her slowly. Watching her body respond, watching the look on his face, she felt her toes curl, heat twisting deep in her belly.

Within moments the woman in the mirror was flushed. Trembling. Breasts bouncing wildly, lips parted. Charles's hand slipped up, gently cupping her throat and holding her upright and she licked her lips, hips pushing back against him, eyes rolling back each time his cock hit her spot. All she could hear was his harsh breathing and deep moans and the delicious, slick sounds of him fucking her above the sound of her own racing heartbeat.

"I'm—" She cut off with a sharp cry as the hand on her hip slid forward, fingers strumming her clit in small, hard circles. A split second later her eyes closed, back arching and a guttural moan emanating from her as she came, pushing her hips back harshly and grinding against him. Stars scattered behind her eyelids and her moan turned into a series of harsh cries as his fingers worked her immediately into another crest of bliss until she was whimpering.

"Shh shh shh," he soothed, his fingers slowing, hips still rolling against hers as he guided her down. He stayed over her while she shuddered and gasped, fingers sliding off her clit when she squirmed.

She had no idea what he was murmuring in her ear, his mixture of broken English and French lost on her as she struggled to catch her breath. But she nodded, clutching his forearm until the world around her seemed to right itself, opening her eyes to see him staring at her in the mirror.

"Très magnifique," he whispered, both hands sliding over her back as he sat upright. His eyes met hers again and he gave her a smirk that very nearly made her cum again. "Now we can really have fun, yes?"

(reblogging with taglist in like 4 mins)

[lady-ashfade]

Through My Window

Percy Jackson x fem!reader

—£ They’re in their final year of high school

-£ words: 800

—£ warning: angst, self doubt, happy ending who?, fighting.

you’ve always been jealous of her. her perfect skin, her golden hair that shined brighter the sun. and how she got to be with him more then you. for months he left you to travel around the world and take on quest to save the world. and everytime he came back with stories. it hurt that you were never in them.

“i love you more then anyone, mortal or not. no one else will ever have me.” His lips kissed your forehead as he held your head close to him. it was senior year and he came back to school to see you, one year left before college. “hmm, love you too percy.” you caressed his hand on your cheek while you leaned into him. the stars looked so good tonight. you two hung out on the top of the hill over the city.

the year went amazing while he was by your side. studying together was always fun, the two of you teasing each other when someone got the answer wrong, or ending up falling asleep in each others arms. you loved it all. driving to school with each other, hanging out, going on dates all the time, you both working.

this year was bliss.

Percy stood with a cheeky grin on his face while standing before you, candles lighting up the path he made. “I know this is cheesy but I know you like that.” your smile grew wide as you almost started to cry from being overwhelmed. “will you go to prom with him?” it wasn’t even a doubt in your mind. you jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.

you picked out a dress, green to match his eyes. it made you feel like a princess when you saw yourself in the mirror in the store. he’d love it. percy could never stop gushing over you.

weeks went by and nothing was out of place, it was all normal to you. the same arm that wrapped around your waist, the same eyes that admired you, his protective nature.

you started to believe everything he told you.

the night before prom he came to your window while it was pouring. it was funny because every time it rain you thought of him, and boom he was there. opening the window for him, “hey beach boy.” you helped him in.

“hey.” his voice was husky and low. if it wasn’t for the rain running down his face then you would have see the tears.

he looked around the room at anything but you. you hummed in confusion, “you okay?” you knew the answer. he sat on the bed with his shoulders hanging low. his foot tapped on the floor beneath him anxiously. he never liked to see you upset and he knew how this would affect you. leaving right before the night you two had been waiting for for years.

“i’m leaving.” he watched in silence for your answer and it was already making him sick. he would hear the sound of your heartbreak again. “what do you mean?” walking over to him slowly while you tried to wrapped your head over it. It wasn’t fair for them to pull him away before he could have fun like a normal person. but he wasn’t normal.

“i’m leaving you.”

stoping in your steps you stare at the back of his head right before your hand met his shoulder. your heart dropped right before it raced in your chest. “what?” the words tasted horrible in his own mouth but he had to do. he had to leave you. there was nothing more that he wanted then to have you safe and with him. but this time it was different, everyone he loved was being attacked.

he wouldn’t risk you. he sighed while holding back his own tears. “i thought i could do it,” standing up he turned back at you while his own heart broke to see you staring at him like that. hurt and betrayed. “i wish it was different.”

you shook your head and stepped back fully, everything in your mind running. you felt sad and angry, scared and confused. but he wasn’t telling the truth, there was something more he was scared of saying.

“It’s annabeth, you’re leaving me for her aren’t you?” Your accusing glare made him freeze. you think he’d ever actually do that to you? He couldn’t blame you in this moment because he promised to stay but here he is, leaving.

Percy didn’t want to say what he was about to but this would make you hate him, make you glad he was leaving. “Yes..” he whispered. your jaw tensed and nostrils flared in anger. you pointing the the widow, “get out! I never want to see you ever again Percy jackson.”

he let out a defeated sigh and walked to the open window while rain still poured down. He crawled half away out but look back at you for one last time. the one thing he will remember is the tears now trailing down your cheeks and the look of heartbreak.

“I’m sorry” he didn’t get a response before you shut the window behind him while closing your blinds.

[iovetecchou]

truth or dare / mark twain

contains..! smut. slight!groping, fingering, praise, needy!reader, making out, hickies, switching positions, drunk sex, creampies slight!possessive mark

AFAB Reader.

2,681 words.

"I hardly think this is fair, Mark. You're already half naked for fucks sake!"

All that resounded through your apartment was the amber-haired man's laughter. "C'mon don't be such a downer, doll! Look, I'll pick truth next time if it makes ya happy, kay?"

You let out a long, drawn-out sigh. Shaking your head in disbelief... still unsure how you got yourself in this situation. Your good buddy, Mark, came over for a drink. But one drink turned into two, and so on and so forth.

It was safe to say you were both way past tipsy at this point, and that's when Mark suggested his bright idea to play truth or dare. There was a slight catch; if you refused to answer a truth, or commit to a dare... you had to strip.

"Who said I would want you to pick truth? It would be more fun if you picked dare, Mark." You took another sip as the cheerful man laughed once more. He placed his hands behind his head as his chuckles died down. Mark tilted his head as a coy smirk spread across his features.

"Alright, alright! Whatever ya say, doll. Now, truth or dare?" Mark looked at you expectantly, leaning in a little bit closer to your frame. Causing a deep blush to spread across your features. Luckily it was hard to tell if you were flush from the alcohol or the close proximity.

"I guess... truth?" You mumbled. Taking another sip of your drink, preparing for the worst. Mark untangled his hands from behind his head. His hands now found purchase on the tops of your thighs. The sudden action caused you to jolt upward. Your eyes flickered up to his emerald ones; trying to gauge his next move.

"Hmm, truth ya say... well, in that case! Who's the hottest Guild member in, your opinion, doll?" Your eyes narrowed at his question. "That's it? I thought you were going to ask me something way worse. Hands down, Margret is the most attractive member in our organization."

His smirk grew a bit wider at your honesty. Mark's hands began to soothe over your thighs at an unhurried pace. Almost unnoticeable, and yet you picked up on his actions in an instant. "Okay, it's your turn. Truth or dare, Mark?" He leaned in even closer, your nose nearly brushing against his.

"Truth."

"Lame..."

"Yeah, yeah! Just ask ya question, doll." You couldn't help the smile that spread across your face at his own gleeful expression. You took another sip before you spoke up. "Okay, same question. Who do you find attractive in the Guild?"

"Talk about lame..."

"Oh, shut up!"

Mark averted his gaze for a moment. He shrugged his shoulders before he blurted out, "Pass." You quirked an eyebrow up at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?" He took his hands away from your thighs. Bringing them down to pull off his shirt. That already left very little to your and everyone else's imagination.

After Mark freed himself from the flimsy shirt, his hands found their home back atop your thighs. Only this time, resting them a little bit higher. "Kay, it's my turn again. Ya know the drill, doll." You could barely focus on his words. Your mind was too preoccupied with the feeling of his nimble digits tracing patterns into your inner thighs.

"Truth."

"Seriously?"

"Just ask the damn question, Mark!"

He chuckled at your remark. His breath fanned over your face from the close proximity before he leaned in impossibly closer. Your noses touching now, Mark's lips ghosting over yours. "Let's try this again... which Guild member would ya sleep with?"

Your cheeks deepened in color at his bold question. You were not expecting those words to spill from his lips at all. "Mark- what the fuck? Pass." You pulled back slowly, just enough to begin unbuttoning your own shirt. Mark watched you intently as you began to strip before him.

His hands tightened around your thighs. Traveling up even further than before. The feeling of Mark's hands gliding up your thighs caused heat to pool in your core. You shrugged your shirt off your shoulders before meeting Mark's gaze once more. Your bra was the only thing keeping your upper body from being fully exposed.

Mark's eyes lingered on your chest for a moment longer before his intense gaze met yours. His eyes were half-lidded at this point, dark and swirling with desire. "My turn, love. Truth. Go on, I already know whatcha goin' to ask." His demeanor was less buoyant. It was almost as though a flip was switched within him.

You only saw him get like this when things got serious on the job. But never when the two of you were alone together. To say this was a new adjustment was an understatement. "S-Same question... who would you... sleep with, from the Guild?" You could hear your heart pounding in your ears as you expectantly waited for Mark to speak up.

"Ya mean, who would I fuck? Well, that's a no-brainer... I would choose you, of course, love." You could feel yourself dripping between your thighs at this point. Mark's hands traveled higher under your skirt. His lithe fingers began tracing over the waistband of your panties tauntingly.

"Your turn, love."

"Dare."

"Atta girl."

Your lips were mere centimeters from touching, and his charming smirk was driving you wild. You were almost positive picking dare was a risky move. But curiosity got the better of you. "I dare you to kiss me," Mark whispered. His lips darted between your lips and your eyes, awaiting your next move.

Kiss... Mark? This couldn't be happening right now. You had to pinch yourself to make sure this wasn't a dream. You and Mark were friends, just friends. You two hit it off the second you first joined Guild. You noticed that he seemed to be excluded from the organization. The others found him to be bothersome more often than not. And so, you took a liking to him.

And seemingly, Mark took a liking to you as well. Sure, after some time passed your feelings for him became less platonic. But you never imagined he would reciprocate those feelings. Yet here you are, both half-naked on your living room floor. With Mark practically asking you to kiss him. This could just be the alcohol in him talking but-  

Ah, fuck it. 

In an instant, you tangled your arms around his neck. Pulling him in impossibly close as your lips met his. Mark wasted no time kissing you back. Swiping his tongue along your bottom lip. You gasped into the kiss at his bold actions, allowing his tongue to slip past your parted lips.

His hands began to pull at the waistband of your panties. He dragged them down your thighs slowly. Causing you to break away from the kiss. "Mark- wait." He stopped in his tracks. Worry swirled in his gut for a moment, before your words rang through him. Easing away all his doubts.

"I was too embarrassed to answer the question before, but... out of everyone in our organization, I would choose you too." A small smirk found its way to his features before he pressed further. "Choose me for what, doll? Ya have to be a little more specific!" He delivered a charming wink your way.

"Mark, please- I want to fuck you. There? Are you happy n-" Before you could finish your sentence... Mark was on you again. He wasted no time pulling your panties down the rest of the way. He ushered you to lay back against the cool hardwood floor mid-kiss. As his nimble digits found their way to your core.

You gasped into the kiss as his skilled fingers began rubbing quick circles into your puffy clit. You grasped at the ends of his amber hair as he continued to play with your pussy. "I need m-more...please!" You begged. Mark slipped his fingers down lower, experimentally plunging two fingers inside your needy cunt. They slipped in with ease, from how slick you were. "Atta girl, doll. You're so wet... this all f'me?"

You nodded fervently as you pressed your body closer to his. His thumb came up to rub over your bud as his fingers began plunging inside your wet heat. "Hah, Mark- feels so good, you're so good, baby." His cock twitched beneath his slacks at your praise. Only encouraging him to please you further.

Mark curled his fingers deep within you, hitting your sweet spot perfectly. You clenched around his fingers harshly as you pushed down against his deft digits that were buried deep inside you. Your frantic attempt at begging for more.

“Mark please, I need you inside me-!” You whimpered out against his lips. Looking deep into his emerald eyes with such desperation. Mark was completely mesmerized by you at this moment. He would do anything you asked of him. And how could he deny his doll when she asked for more in such a hopeless fashion?

“Fuck, doll. Ya look so precious, begging f'more like this.” Mark pulled away from you swiftly, tugging his pants and boxers down his thighs far enough to let his cock spring free. He was throbbing so much and he wasn’t even inside you yet. He had dreamt of being intimate with you like this for ages now. And hearing you whine and praise him like this… was nearly overwhelming.

Your gaze fixated on his pretty cock as your hands traveled down to your needy pussy. With your pointer and index finger, you spread yourself open for him. Your eyes trailing up the expanse of his figure. Taking in the sight of Mark nearly bare before you as you pleaded out, "Please, I can't wait any longer!"

All of his muscles tensed as he tried his hardest to hold back. Getting far too excited by your words and the sight of your pussy on full display. All for him. "Don't worry your pretty little head, doll. I'll make ya feel real good." He quipped out as he lined himself up at your entrance. He moved your fingers away from your pussy with his free hand, taking it in his own instead. Interlocking your fingers as he slowly buried himself deep inside you.

"Ah- Mark... so b-big..." You babbled out. Squeezing his hand with your own as Mark bottomed out. You could feel him twitching inside you wildly. His eyes were sealed shut as he grunted out, "You're so tight, doll. Squeezin' me just right like ya were made f'me." He delivered a swift shallow thrust, causing you both to whine in unison. This continued for a few moments more before Mark found his rhythm.

Mark buried his face in your neck. Leaving open-mouthed kisses and little lovebites. Ones for you to reminisce on tomorrow, he's sure. You wrapped your legs around his waist tightly as he continued to stir up your insides at a ruthless pace. You were clenching around him like a vise, causing Mark's eyes to roll back in pure ecstasy. "You're so good, doll. So fucking perfect, and all mine."

A sultry whine slipped past your lips from his words. Mark clouded your senses entirely. All you could focus on was him and him alone. But you didn't mind, not one bit. "Mark... I-I wanna be on top. Please let me make you feel good too!" You cried out. His head snapped up, eyes fixating on your own. He twitched intensely inside you at the look of desperation on your face.

Your need to please him lit a fire within him. Before you knew it, Mark was wrapping his arms around your waist. He sat upright, pulling you into his lap. While still fully sheathed inside you. You whined at the feeling of his dick throbbing deep within you from this position. He was dragging against your walls just right like this. "So good, baby. You feel so good."

You cooed out. Bringing your hands down to Mark's chest. Playfully tweaking his nipples as you began grinding yourself down in his lap. Rocking back and forth with his cock nestled perfectly inside you. "Hah... doll, I was just about to say the same thing..." He quipped out. Offering you a charming wink in the process. His hands found their way to your hips, aiding your movements.

Mark pulled you up by your hips. Just to slam you right back down mere moments later. All while you continued to grind yourself in his lap. "Need m-more, doll..." Mark huffed out. Staring down at you with half-lidded eyes as he began to lift his hips. He thrusted up into you in perfect harmony with the way he continued to slam you down against his lap. Reaching even deeper inside your drooling pussy.

You could hardly form words at this point. He was fucking up into you at an unrelenting pace. Skin slapping against skin reverberated around the room. As well as your desperate whines. Mark was mesmerized by your blissed-out form. Your eyes were squeezed shut, mouth hanging ajar as the most obscene moans slipped out. Your breasts bounced from within the confines of your bra with each harsh movement Mark made inside you. And your pussy was squeezing him just right.

"Atta girl... you're takin' me so good. M'gonna fill ya up, kay? Ya gonna let me cum inside, doll?" Mark grunted out. His pace slightly wavered. You could tell he wouldn't last much longer. But you weren't too far behind. You felt the coil within you begin to unravel with the way Mark continued to fuck up into you. "Yes baby, please, I'm so close... k-kiss me!" You pleaded. Bringing your hands back up to wrap around his neck.

Mark wasted no time slamming his lips against yours. His eyes rolled back into his head as his hips began to speed up. That was all it took for you to topple over the edge. You came around Mark's cock, pulsing and gushing all over his lap. The feeling of you cumming all over him, gripping him like a vise, was his last straw. He moaned into the kiss as his first ropes of cum shot deep inside you. His thrusts came to a halt a few moments later. Letting the last of his seed fill you up.

Mark was still twitching wildly inside of you. You could feel the mix of his and your release trickling out of your spent pussy. Slowly, you pulled away from the kiss. Resting your forehead against his as you both shared the same air. "Mark... that was..." You trailed off. Slowly opening your eyes to gaze up into his emerald ones. He let out a deep chuckle, his hands trailing up your sides. Tracing patterns into your hips in the process.

"I know, doll... I know. I've been dreamin' of this moment for a long while now. If I'm being frank. Who woulda thought a little game of truth or dare would lead us... here!" He gestured down to where you were both still connected. Your face flushed immediately at his insinuation, sobering you up completely. You averted your gaze, scoring your bottom lip with your teeth.

As your eyes met his once more you took in a sharp breath. Swallowing your pride in the process. "What if I said... I've been thinking about doing... this, with you, for a long time now too..." You whispered; so faintly, it was barely audible. But Mark heard you, loud and clear. A rosy blush spread along his cheeks, the alcohol fully wearing off for him now too.

"Ah... w-well that's real good to know, doll. What do ya say we... do this more often, yeah?" A coy smile spread across his face as he awaited your response. His warm hands still soothing over your sides. A smile of your own spread across your features. You nodded wordlessly, pulling him in for a deep kiss. A silent confirmation, so to speak. But Mark got the message, nonetheless.

"Sooo... wanna play a few more rounds, doll?"

; dedicated to my lovely wifey @win-writes <3

[belladonnasmenagerie]

SFW: Slashers reactions to you being a small unassumingly strong woman: Pt 2

Part 2 to the previous bullet list I made featuring Vincent, Bo and (NBC) Hannibal. This one will feature (NBC) Will Graham and Thomas 🥰

Requested by @klerns-birdie

I hope you liked the first one here is the last part to what should’ve been a one parter but I’m having too much fun with this idea lol

Enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🎃~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue: All your life you knew you were stronger than others, even as a kid it was very apparent when you played around with other kids or went to school, parents having to be called a couple times for broken property. But over time you were able to control the strength you had but that didn’t help with your social life.

As you grew up names had been thrown like ‘freak’ or ‘monster’ even though you were so sweet to everyone. Eventually you stopped trying to become friends with others due to your strength but as you got out of high school it became easier, having the freedom to travel and see new things had opened you up to so much. Even though you still were insecure about your strength you didn’t hate it you were proud of yourself for how amazingly you managed it.

Then one day you met him and it felt like love at first sight….

Will Graham (NBC)

* Spending time with Will was the highlight of your life, wether it be fishing, playing with the dogs or just being in silence as you two drank coffee in the morning. It was pure bliss.

* You had 100% trust in Will and knew he returned the same trust but deep down you felt guilty, see with trust also came no secrets the two of you told each other everything.

* Except one thing and it wasn’t because you were afraid he wouldn’t believe you you were afraid of how he would see you from then on.

* It was a nice peaceful night sitting on the front porch watching the dogs running around the front yard and playing, the wind was cool and the silence serene.

* You looked over at Will, he looked tired like always but still content and happy in this moment.

* This was the time and you knew it, clearing your throat Will looked over at you.

* “What’s wrong?” He asked concerned

* You shook your head “I’m alright will, I just…need to tell you something.”

* Wills brows furrowed in confusion

* “I haven’t been 100% honest with you.” You licked your lips feeling your gut curl

* Will grabbed your hand “babe you can tell me anything” he reassured

* You explained to him how all your life you were a lot stronger than other girls and how you looked all small and petite would make people not to be around you.

* Will sighed a breathe of relief “that’s all?” He asked with a smile

* “What do you mean that’s all?” You scolded

* “Babe, I love you, your my world and nothing that small could make me not love you.”

* You smiled bringing Will in for a loving kiss

Thomas Hewitt

* Thomas loved how small you were compared to him and how sweet you were to him, he never knew someone out there could treat him the way you do.

* And you loved him too, like your own personal teddy bear and the two of you fell in sync immediately, catching on to his little jesters and the way he would whisper stuff into your ears

* It was cute

* But the only problem you had was Hoyt. Always so mean and cruel to both you and Thomas

* Not a huge fan of your relationship with him, he would always call you cruel names and would mock you for loving in his terms “a freak like Tommy”

* You tried letting his cruel names and taunting roll off your back but when he attacks Thomas, fair game goes out the window

* The first time you saw Hoyt lay a hand on Thomas was one day in the kitchen

* Humming to yourself you waltzed into the small space to get water, that’s when you saw Hoyts hand come down on poor Thomas, who was bent over shaking in fear

* Your niceness flew out the window as you charged at the older man who had already wound up to give another slap

* You grabbed Hoyt’s wrist squeezing tightly, Hoyt glared at you as you shot him a nasty look

* “What the hell do you think you’re fucking doing!?” He yelled going to tug his hand away but you squeezed harder

* A loud yell ripped from Hoyt’s mouth as you squeezed the muscle and bone in hand

* “Don’t you EVER lay another hand on Thomas. Do you hear me!?” You yelled

* Hoyt hunched down in pain desperately trying to yank his arm away

* You squeezed tighter elections another yell from the older man “I said DO YOU HEAR ME!” you screamed

* “YES! JESUS CHIRST LET ME GO!” Hoyt begged

* Opened your hand you released Hoyt’s wrist which he recoiled into his chest as he rubbed the sore area

* Pointing a finger in his face you gave him one threat “You ever do anything to Tommy I will break every bone in your body, got it?”

* Hoyt glared at you but nodded

* Turning to Tommy your sweet demeanor returned placing a hand on his cheek

* “You okay baby?” You asked genuinely concerned

* Tommy nodded moving into your touch

* You smiled “good, now why don’t we go upstairs and take a little break?”

* Going upstairs the both of you cuddled just enjoying each others company

[storm-angel989]

Outside The Office Part Eighteen

Hi All,

Trigger warning for Valentino being himself, and mature content. Please leave a comment if you would like part nineteen to be a continuation of the last line OR skip ahead to the next part of the actual story!

As always, comments, feedback and suggestions are welcome!

Enjoy!

Friday night. For the past three weeks, Friday night would mean another night of soul collecting. Another night of traveling to Earth to convince wayward sinners to have a soft landing. The exhaustion that came with balancing the weight from the power of each new soul, the emotional toll of seeing former humans die, combined with managing the logic and power aspect left me tossing and turning at night. And so, with a kiss on the forehead, Valentino told me I was due for a break. A night of fun, no additional responsibilities required. 

The man knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. With each passing day, our relationship grew into something that left him as comfortable with me as I was with him. Despite the rough introduction, the more time I spent with him at the studio, whispering back and forth items of interest, the more fun our bedroom activities became. And it wasn’t just the kinks and positions that kept me close to his side. The more I got to know the staff, and Angel Dust in particular, the more I enjoyed spending time in the second director's chair. While it didn’t excuse my other responsibilities, or keep me captive twenty four seven, it was another activity to keep my day varied and interesting. 

I studied myself in the mirror and added a brush of blush. The more I frequented the studio, the more questions I had- questions Valentino implored me to ask. Something he had mentioned off hand a while ago still bugged me, and after the scene I had seen today, I wanted to know. 

“Hey Val?” I asked.

“Yes, mi amore?” 

“You said something a while ago that I didn’t quite understand. I was wondering if you could elaborate?” I watched his reaction in my mirror and wasn’t disappointed. One thing I had come to learn was that Valentino loved it when I asked questions and loved giving hands on demonstrations even more. 

“Mmm, what did I say, love? Ask away.” 

“You said…that if someone was acting up, you put something inside them to get them to behave. What does that mean?”

I didn’t think his grin could get any wider. He strode across the room and put both hands on my shoulders. He leaned down and hovered his lips next to my ear. Not for the first time that day, I felt my pulse quicken. 

“Oh my princessa. This is one of those things that bears a more…hands on explanation,” he whispered softly. “Allow me to show you my favorite meaning of the phrase.” 

He took my hand and pulled me out of the chair onto the bed. He laid me down so my upper body rested on the mattress and my legs dangled. Somewhere in that transition, my shorts vanished, leaving my lower half exposed to him. I heard our bedside drawer open and the light scent of strawberries filled the room. 

“Let me know if this hurts, mi amore,” he drawled as he slowly slid two fingers into me. “I can add more lube if need be.”

I arched my back and his thumb ran across my clit. I arched my back and let out a moan as the blissful feeling overtook me. So close, I was already so close…

He pulled out and I let out a groan. 

“Valentino! Come on,” I whined. “No fair!”

“Be patient, princessa,” he scolded lightly. “Relax for me.” I felt the weight of his hand rest on my stomach. “Let me know if this is too much.”

I craned my neck up to try to look but fell back and gasped as I I felt something slide deep inside of me.. Somewhere in my belly, I felt a reverberating pop. 

“V-val what was that?” 

He didn’t answer right away, and instead I could feel his tongue against my body, and felt his mouth on my clit. The thought vanished, my body ached for that release. I arched my back, certain he would let me come now. 

“Maybe I didn’t need to use as much lube,” he commented as he pulled away with seconds to go. 

I groaned and reached to grab his hand. He gave me a smile and leaned over, pressing his lips against mine. 

“You asked for an explanation, my princessa. I’m giving you one. Now sit up slowly, tell me how you feel.” His body moved behind mine and he helped me sit up, my back pressed against his chest. “That’s my good girl. Now, on your feet.” He got off the bed and offered me his hand. 

I accepted it and as I stood I could feel weight, something shifted inside me. I leaned forward into Valentino and laid my head on his chest. 

“Val, I….”

“Does it feel alright?” He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist as he kissed my neck. “I haven’t even shown you the best part.”

I heard a click and felt the weight buzz deep in my belly. If Valentino hadn’t been holding me up, I would have been on my knees. His hand fell to my stomach and he smirked as he gave me another kiss. Another click and the buzzing ceased, leaving behind nothing but the feeling of heaviness and desperation deep inside me. 

“Keep it in you, my love, for as long as you can.” He kissed down my neck and nipped ever so gently, “I want to see how long you can last.” 

“Val, we’re leaving.” I panted. Under my head, I could hear the steady beating of his heart. “Unless we’re not?” 

He laughed as he held me. “Oh, no, princessa. Our plans have not changed.”

“But…”

He heard the nervousness in my voice and his expression softened. He cupped my chin and guided me to his gaze. 

“Princessa, it's made to stay in you- for a while anyway.” From his pocket, he pulled out a small pink remote. “I control when and how much it vibrates, and my love, I can take it out at any moment. Right now, if you really want me to.” He leaned in closer, “but I think you’ll enjoy surrendering control to me. At least, for tonight.” 

“Promise you’ll take it out if I ask? No matter what?” I pleaded. 

“Of course princessa. All you have to do is say our safe word,” he reassured me. He guided my head back to his chest and held me there. “I would never force you to do something you weren't comfortable with.” 

I hesitated. I trusted and believed him, he had never given me a reason not to.

 “Can you…can you at least give me a warning when you turn it on?” I asked finally. 

He chuckled but bent down and kissed me. “Oh princessa. The surprise is half the fun. But for your first night out, of course. If that will make you feel more comfortable.” He pressed his hand against my lower belly where I was almost sure the toy was resting.

 A click. My knees buckled against the feeling of the vibration. He held me steady against him and I felt his lips against the top of my head. 

“Mmm. I love watching you fall to your knees at my command,” he nuzzled me. “I’ll put my hand right here before I turn it on. It's discreet and silent. Is that fair, my princessa?” 

I managed to nod and buried my face in his neck as he clicked the button, the vibration ceasing instantly. He kissed me again and took my hand as he led me out the door. 

In the limo with Vox and Vel, I sat next to Valentino, trying to ignore the feeling of the toy shifting inside of me with each bump in the road. Val moved closer to me and his hand found  my lower belly.

I gasped and curled into him as the buzzing exploded inside of me. My head fell to his lap and he stroked my hair for a moment before I heard the click again. I looked up at him, the euphoria and denial wrecking havoc through me. I reached for him and he pulled me on his lap and tucked my head under his chin, his arms wrapped around me. 

“The fuck you do to her?” Velvette demanded. 

“Trying something new.” He ran his hand down my back and looked at them both, his tone shifting to something much more serious.“Telling you both so if the princessa needs me…” he glanced down at me. “Or if she doesn’t look right, come find me. At any time.” 

“Damn,” Vox grinned. “Really embracing the slutty side of hell, aren’t we?”

“Good for you sweetheart.” Velvette added as she leaned back. 

We arrived at the club and Valentino interlaced his hand with mine, tugging me across the dance floor. Several drinks later, I was leaning on him as he chatted with several demons.

“So like I was saying, don’t take no for an answer. I certainly don’t.” I felt his hand slide under my shirt and rest on my stomach. 

Fuck, Val. 

I bit my lip as the toy exploded inside me, trying my hardest to keep a straight face. He continued his conversation as if I wasn’t about to come right there next to him. After a few moments, the demons walked away and I heard the familiar click as the buzzing ceased.

“Mmm, you’re getting better at hiding it princess.” He leaned into me, “come, dance with me before I have to go meet with these fuckers.” 

He took my hand and led me out to the dance floor. We spun around, music loud and flashing lights, his body pressed into mine.

“You’re my favorite toy,” he whispered amongst the chaos, his arms wrapping around my waist as he pulled me into him. He guided my head to his chest and his hand went to my belly. “Prepare yourself princessa.”

I would have fallen to my knees if Val hadn’t been supporting my full weight. The explosion of buzzing combined with the movement of the dance floor and the last shot of tequila proved to be too much.

“Oh my princessa…wait, are you crying?” 

He grabbed my chin and scanned me with worried eyes.

“Too…too much.” I begged against him. The button clicked. “Please take it out. Not here, not in front of everyone! Please Val..” 

He wrapped his arm around me and lifted me up. For the first time since I had entered the club scene, he led me towards the back. He pushed open a door, labeled with his name. He set me on the desk and turned away.  I looked up and tried to wipe away my tears. 

“Too much, mi amore?” He asked gently, handing me a tissue. “You lasted longer than I expected.” He stroked my hair and held me to his chest.  “I can take it out, princessa. No one will see you here.” 

I bit my lip and he waited for me to give him the go ahead. Slowly l, I nodded. 

“Alright, princessa, lay back.” He instructed, guiding me down on the desk. With one hand he unbuckled my jeans and with the other, he pressed on my belly. 

“I’m going to turn it on the lowest setting, princessa. Take a deep breath.” 

The gentle buzzing sensation began and I bit back a moan. Even as overstimulated as I was, the sensation had me dripping. His hand settled on a spot on my stomach and I felt his fingers slide into me.

“Good girl, now push for me.”

“Push?”

He pressed down on my belly and I felt the vibration drop. “Yes princessa, like you’re trying to push a baby out. Bear down and push for me.” 

I bit my lip and contracted my muscles. I felt his fingers curl inside me. A second later the buzzing stopped and I took a shaky breath.

“Good girl,” he said, standing up and holding the pink toy with his name scrawled in red across the entirety of it. He opened the desk drawer and tossed it and the remote in. I sat up and looked at Valentino, holding back a squirm. My body, even with the relief, still felt unsatisfied. 

Our eyes met and he leaned forward and kissed me, pushing me down on the desk as he did so. His hands settled on my hips and I felt the tip of his cock slide into me. 

“Ah! Valentino” I moaned. “Please, Valentino. Please let me come!” 

His hips moved faster, the metal of his bet buckle crashing against my hip with every thrust. The pain, the denial and all too soon the feeling of release washed over me, rendering me helpless under him. 

“Valentino!” I moaned.

I felt his cock explode deep in my belly and he sank his teeth just below my collarbone. The pain and the pleasure of him spasming deep inside of me put me over the edge once more.  

“That’s a good girl,” he whispered as he slowly pulled out. “That’s the first time you’ve taken all of me.” 

I panted. My legs felt like jello- and my entire lower body felt sore and achy. He kissed my stomach as he did up his belt, his eyes watching my every moment. 

“Need a moment, mi amore? I have things to do in here. You could join me.” 

I felt his hands redress me and he lifted me into his arms, cradling me as he sat down in his office chair. He pushed me up and back by my shoulders as he carefully examined my body.  His fingers lightly traced under my collarbone and I winced. 

“Mm, I left a mark. I’m sorry, mi amore.” He leaned in and gently kissed the bite. He wrapped me in his jacket and looked at me with concern. “I don’t like causing you pain.” 

I laid my head on his chest as he held me to him. 

“Val, you don’t like causing me pain, but…the rule doesn’t apply to everyone.”

“It does not apply to my job, you are correct my love.” He kissed the top of my head. “But no, I very much do not like to hurt you. Ever, my dear.” He shifted me in his arms and reached over to grab a pen. He scribbled something on a sheet of paper.

We sat in silence for a few moments as he wrote. I laid my head on his shoulder.

“Val, can I ask a question?”

“Anything, love.”

“That toy you used on me, is that the only thing you use to keep your employees in line?”

“No, love.” He responded shortly. 

I waited for him to elaborate and he didn’t.

“What else do you use?” I asked.

He paused and set his pen down, reached over and cupped my chin. Our eyes met and I let out a shiver. Work Valentino was scary. 

“That, my princessa is nothing you need to worry about. I will never intentionally cause you pain.” He planted another kiss on my forehead and then tugged the jacket around me until I was almost completely hidden. “Rest, princessa, close your eyes. I have people coming in. You can stay right where you are just keep quiet.” 

I settled into his arms and I heard the door open. Harsh words, a far cry from the softness he showed me, filled the room. After a few moments, Valentino shifted me to the side of the chair stood up. I opened my eyes just ever so slightly and I saw Valentino glance at me with a dark look.  I turned away until I couldn’t feel his eyes on me. Carefully, I shifted myself just in time to see him grab the demon by the neck and slam him into the wall. 

“I have killed bitches for less than the attitude you’re giving me.” He growled lowly. 

 The demon whimpered, and Valentino dropped him. Red chains appeared on the demon's neck and wrist. 

“Don’t you forget. I own you.” Valentino growled. He yanked on the chains until the demon fell to his knees in front of him. “You work for me, and no one else.” 

“Yes, Valentino. I’m sorry, Valentino.” The demon whispered. 

“Oh, are you?” He growled, pulling the demon upright.

I saw the glint of Valentino’s gun and my stomach dropped. No, Val. No! The words, supposed to remain as a thought echoed across the room. 

Silence. For a heartbeat. 

Valentino slowly turned to me, eyes blazing. “What did you just say, princessa?” 

I swallowed as he tossed the demon to the side and strode over to me. He grabbed my arm and yanked me up, marching me over to where the demon lay, crying. 

“Do you think this thing deserves mercy?” He asked lowly. 

“Everyone deserves mercy.” I pleaded. “It’s why we do what we do, Val.”

“Wrong! We collect souls for power!” Valentino snarled. He gripped my arm with a force I hadn’t yet felt from him. 

“Val! That hurts!” I tried to yank away from him, panic coursing through me. 

Valentino ignored my words and tightened his grip. “I was only going to rough him up. Remind him who owned him. But princessa, you made the decision for him. Mercy? That isn’t something I give.” 

I saw the flash of the hilt of his gun and the demon crumpled to the floor, a crimson puddle trickling out from under his head. 

Valentino pushed me back and stepped in front of the demon, his eyes blazing red. “Do not ever get in the way of my work again,” he said sharply. “It will never end the way you want it to.” 

I felt bile rise up in the back of my throat. And then anger. I reached out to grab Valentino the way he had grabbed the demon and his hand caught mine, pushing back. 

“Do you know why I killed this man?” He continued, his voice ever so slightly calmer. 

I didn’t and in the moment, I didn’t care.I tried to muster up the same energy that I had been practicing so hard to control but I couldn’t. Valentino pushed me back. I felt myself slide, my strength wavering.

“This demon, this thing committed atrocities so evil it would break your sweet little heart,” he continued. “So no, I will not have mercy. I will not reward him for the crimes he committed. And I will most certainly not take orders from someone who truly has no idea how hell works.” 

I gasped as he shoved me against the wall. He pinned my arms above my head and leaned in close.  

“You don’t get it. We keep you safe. You have power, yes. But not enough princessa. Not yet. And until that time comes you will not upset the power dynamic we have worked so hard to create. The power dynamic that is the only goddamn reason you are not dead- or worse. Because believe me princessa, down here there are much, much worse things than being dead.” 

He released me and I turned, reaching for the door that would let me out. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked me back, turning me around and grabbing me by the wrist.

“You think you can survive on your own? You can’t. You wouldn’t make it five minutes before someone grabbed you and turned you into something you no longer recognize. Lucifer is the single most powerful being in this realm and even he cannot keep you safe. The second you

take a misstep, the second you walk out that door without a bodyguard- princessa you are worse off than dead.” 

He stepped closer to me and I could smell the scent of smoke wrapping around me. “I will be damned if I let that happen. Lucifer’s punishment would be vacation compared to….” 

His voice drifted off and I tried to twist my wrist out of his grasp. 

“Compared to what, Valentino? Fucking say it.” I shot back. 

“Compared to the guilt that would haunt me for all of eternity.” His eyes met mine in stony silence. 

I didn’t answer and he dropped my wrists before taking a step back. “It’s time to go home,” he snatched his jacket off the chair and took me by the wrist again, this time the opposite. “You will stay next to me.” 

Unable to disobey, I followed him back out to his VIP booth. Both Vox and Velvette were sprawled out, sipping on drinks. One look at Valentino and they both set their drinks down and followed us out. 

“In the car.” Valentino growled, pushing me inside. 

“Woah, hey, Val what gives?” Vox asked. “Did she start a fight again?”

Valentino didn’t respond and in the limo, I inched myself away from him. I took my phone out of my pocket, seeing I had three missed texts from Lucifer. 

You did not.

God damn it, reader.

And finally

You got lucky. 

My stomach sank. In the darkness I could see the formation of a handprint shaped bruise on my wrists. As fast as Valentino was texting, I began with the same urgency. A quick explanation of the events and then 

Lucifer, I didn’t do anything wrong. I tried to save a soul. 

He replied back instantly. 

By heaven's standards you’re right. You didn’t. By hell's standards? You fucked up, big time.

You want to explain how? Come get me, I don’t want to be here anymore. 

No, I will not come and get you because your feelings are hurt. Do not ever, under any circumstances, come between a demon and a soul they own. You might think you know what’s right and wrong and I assure you things work differently down here. Didn’t we already go through this when contracts were explained to you? He fulfills his end of the bargain and tonight he did just that. 

But Uncle Lucy, Valentino actually bruised me. Like left a mark!

Better bruised than dead. 

I closed out of my phone, the gravity of what Lucifer told me sinking in. I understood soul contracts, but I didn’t understand what I did that was so wrong. My phone pinged again, another text from Lucifer.

And reader? I watched the footage. I know exactly how it went down. I stand by what I said.

The limo slowed to a stop. I shoved my phone in my pocket and when I went to get up, Valentino shook his head and pushed past me.

“You come out after me.” 

I let out a gasp of pain as his fingers brushed the bruising on my wrist. Wordlessly, he shifted his grip upwards and pulled me towards the door. Once inside, he looked at me. His expression was one of frustration, anger and…sadness? He looked away as quickly as our eyes met. 

Vox stepped in between us and put his hand on Valentino’s shoulder. “Val. You go up first, we’ll catch the next one.” 

“Hold onto her,” Valentino growled. He pushed me into Vox and stared at him until his hand rested on my forearm. Without another word, Valentino stepped in the elevator and the door closed. I turned to Vox and Velvette. 

“The fuck did I do that was so bad? Why is his behavior okay right now?” 

“Because you stepped in between someone who owns a soul, and the soul itself.” Vox answered tiredly as he released my arm. “And it’s not like you actually knew any better. This whole thing could have been avoided if Valentino had kept you out of the room. He let his business mix with his private life and he very nearly paid the price for it.” 

“I don’t understand,” I responded. 

“Let’s step back a second. Remember, if a soul has an owner, the soul is required to fulfill the terms of its contact. The owner has a requirement to complete the terms as much as the soul does. In this case, knowing what I know, mercilessly keeping that soul in line was part of this specific contract.” Velvette explained. 

“I should add that is a typical part of most, if not all, soul contracts in hell. We are not here to be kind, merciful, forgiving. Souls are here for a reason. We carry out that punishment.” Vox continued. “If Valentino had shown mercy at your plead, Val wouldn’t be upholding that part of the contract and his rule over the souls in hell would begin to crumble. And that isn’t something we can afford to do. It’s the combined power of the three of us that makes this place so safe for you. Valentino won’t risk his power or I think, more importantly to him these days, your life. 

“Valentino won’t risk your life, ever. And I’m sure it doesn’t help that he had to end one of his highest earners,” Velvette finished. She tucked her phone into her pocket. “He’ll get over that part,  but that look on his face. The guilt and anger? He’s upset more at those bruises on you than he is at his work. Only ever seen him look like that the one time he accidentally hurt, well, us. Wrong place, wrong time- not that unlike your situation. His behavior was identical- right down to the self destruction I’m sure he’s indulging in right now.”

“Self destruction?” I asked. 

Velvette shrugged. “It’s Val. Did you not see the pills he washed down with the bottle of vodka in the limo? Or were you too busy bitching and moaning to your uncle about bruises that will be gone by tomorrow?” 

I didn’t answer. The door opened and the three of us parted ways silently. I watched them both go to their rooms, then crept down the hallway to Valentino’s room.

“Val?” I called.

Silence answered. I knocked on the door and slowly pushed it open. The room was empty. 

“Might check his studio, if you’re going to look for him.” Vox’s voice came from the security camera behind me. 

I jumped and turned around to face the corner. 

“Just be careful, he tends to throw things when he’s like this.” Vox added. 

I made my way to the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. I waited until the door opened and listened as carefully as I could as I stepped out. It didn’t take long for me to piece together the yelling and the pounding that he was in his office. I considered my options. I could break the door down. Or I could try a gentler option. Either way, I wasn’t about to leave him by himself. 

“Val?” I asked softly, knocking on the door. “Val, it’s Reader. Let me in.” 

I heard a yell, and the sound of glass breaking. And then, the door unlocked. I took that as a sign to let myself in. 

Valentino sat behind his desk, glass of dark amber in his hand. His signature heart shaped glasses were cast carelessly on the desk and his head was in his hand. 

“What are you doing here, princessa?” He asked without looking up. “It’s late. You should be in bed.”

“So should you,” I replied, stepping over the shattered remains of a glass. “But you’re not, so I came to check on you?”

He chuckled darkly and took a drink from the glass. “And princessa, why would you do such a thing?” 

“Because I love you?” I replied as I walked closer. I leaned against the desk and reached for his hand.

He shook his head, but allowed me to keep my hand on his. “Love doesn’t cause pain like what I did to you,  Reader. The bite mark I left is one thing, the bruises on your wrists are an entire other. We live in two different worlds, and tonight, you got hurt. Because of mine. Because of what I do.” 

“I don’t care.” I stepped closer and took the glass from his hand and set it on the desk. Slowly, I guided his head to me. I felt his weight sink into my body as he exhaled. His vulnerability wasn’t unrecognized by me. I ran my hand down his back in a way I hoped was comforting. “I did the wrong thing tonight. I fucked up. It’s my fault, Valentino. Not yours. I have…I have a lot to learn. And I’m sorry I put you in such a position.” 

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “Princessa….”

My hand paused against his back and I pressed him into me. “No, Val. This one is on me. You told me not to look. You trusted I would follow orders and I didn’t. And I’m sorry. Yeah, it sucks that you left a bruise but…also, the consequence would have been worse. Right?” 

He was quiet for a moment and then pushed himself up, his eyes meeting mine for the first time since this all began. 

“Let me see how badly I hurt you,” he said simply, taking my wrists in his hands. He traced the blue purple splotches and shook his head. “Princessa, your mistake did not earn you this pain.”

“My mistake caused you pain. Vox said you shot your highest earner, not to mention the actual act of shooting is…well…”

“Part of the job, princessa. And the money will be made back.” He stood up and pulled me to him. “I do not want to hurt you. I am afraid of hurting you. I am furious at myself that I did hurt you and  I have never, not once, felt this way about anyone else.” 

I laid my head on his chest. “The pain of seeing you fall because of me would have been a billion times worse.” 

He ran a hand through my hair. In his arms, I could hear his breathing even out and his heartbeat slow down. 

“Come to bed with me, please Val.” I begged as he held me tighter. “Please.” I interlaced my fingers with his and gently tugged him towards the elevator. In the light I could see the redness of his eyes. I thought back to my own high and wondered what was in his system that would cause such a reaction. 

Once back in the bedroom, I guided him to the bed. “Val, let me.”

He smiled but let me undress him. “Princessa, I can manage. Why don’t you run a warm shower for us?”

I did as he requested and he followed me into the bathroom a few moments later. I heard him exhale as he took my hand. His eyes, still rimmed in red and his skin was almost pale. I pulled him into the shower with me and began to massage soap into his back. He leaned forward against the bathroom wall and let out a heavy sigh. 

“Val, you don’t look so good.” I said softly. 

“Princessa, I am fine. Just…coming down from a high.” The tiredness in his voice was evident.  He cupped my chin and leaned in for a kiss. His hands fell to my waist and somehow, I ended up against the wall. I closed my eyes, fighting the fire in my belly to fuck him right then and there. 

“Tomorrow, Val.” I said when I broke away from his kiss. “When you feel better.”

“Princessa, I feel fine.” He said lightly, his hands finding my chest. 

“Until I’m convinced you won’t die under me, it doesn’t.” I replied, taking his hands in mine. “What did you take?” 

He stared at me in confusion and then frowned. “Ah. Shit you know?”

“Vox told me. Drugs combined with the alcohol…Valentino what is so funny?!” 

He laughed harder and pulled me to him. “Princessa, I love you.” 

He paused and I could see what looked like worry cross his face.  I took his hand. “I love you too Val. Which is why I’m putting you to bed.” I turned the water off and carefully walked out of the shower. 

He looked amused as I wrapped him in a towel. I dried myself off quickly and pulled on my pajamas, and then turned to him.

“Arms up, Val.” I stood on my tiptoes. 

He looked down at me and grinned. “Sweetheart, I got it.” He took the pajamas from my hands and used both the counter and me for balance. 

I took his hand and pulled him into the bed. Once we were settled, I laid on his chest and listened to the pounding of his heartbeat, half convinced whatever was in his system would shut it off. 

“Princessa, you are tense. Why?” He asked softly. 

I didn’t answer him and he sat up. I followed his chest with my head and he reached down to cup my chin. 

“Look at me. What is the matter? I’m in bed with you. You’re safe.” He ran a hand through my hair. “Why are you pressed against me like you’re afraid I’ll disappear.”

“I don’t want your heart to stop. Vel said you mixed drugs and…”

“No, mi amore. Overlords cannot die of an overdose. Especially not when that is their domain. In fact, most down here cannot die of such a simple thing. You, princessa, are the exception to that rule.” 

I didn’t reply. He sighed. “Princessa, how can I make you feel better?” 

“Let me listen to your heart.” I moved towards his chest.

He sighed but wrapped me in his arms. “I have a better idea.” He reached over and opened the bedside drawer, coming up with a stethoscope. He handed it to me. “Here, use this and listen for as long as it takes to convince you my heart isn’t in danger of stopping.” 

I complied and put the device in my ears. He leaned back against the pillows, allowing me to press the disc to his chest. Patiently, he waited until I pulled away, satisfied. 

“Feel better, princessa?” He asked, taking the device out of my hands.

I nodded and laid my head back down against him.  “Why do you have that anyway?” 

“Sweetheart, there is a kink for that.” 

[male-body-swap-lover]

Becoming the Old Man Next Door

Carter Austin was annoyed that he had to be home for his parents 30th wedding anniversary. The model was only in town for one night, and even that was too much. He hated Fairview and missed the fast life of New York. The 28-year-old was one of the hottest models on the scene and couldn’t believe he was wasting his weekend in his childhood bedroom.

Hon, we are so excited that you are home. We’ve missed you.

You know how busy I’ve been mom. I’m one of the hottest models. I’m constantly booked.

I know. We told Mr. Jarvis that you were coming home and he was so excited to see you.

Mom, I’m 28. I don’t want to go see our old neighbor.

Oh, just do it Carter. It’ll make him happy. He’s lonely. His wife has been dead for 20 years and he has no children. Just do it.

Fine.

I went next door and rang the doorbell. Mr. Jarvis answered the door. I forgot how fat he was.

Austin my boy. So good to see you. Come in come in. Sit down. I’ll get you a drink.

As I sat in his living room, I looked around at his depressing life. The room seemed straight out of the 1970’s, and it reeked of tobacco. 15 minutes. That’s all I need.

Here’s a coke. So, tell me about New York.

It’s fun. I travel the world. I’m one of the top models out there.

I know. I’ve followed you. You are quite the good-looking young men. I bet ladies throw themselves at you.

I get my fair number of women. And men. I don’t discriminate.

I wish I had your life. My life was always boring. And it’s been worse ever since Marian died. I live a lonely life.

Well not everyone can have my life. This coke tastes weird.

That’s because it’s not coke at all. It’s a special potion. You see Carter, I’m tired of being an old man who never did anything with his life. I want a life in the fast lane. So, I am going to steal yours.

What. That’s not possible

I stand up and try to move, but I can’t. It’s like I am frozen in place.

Carter, look in the mirror. Can’t you see the changes have already begun.

As I stared into the mirror, I could see the wrinkles start appearing on my face. Suddenly I started breathing heavier as I felt myself get older. I ran my hands through my hair and it came out in chunks in my hand. I tried to run, to get out, but couldn’t move. My skin was aging. I could feel my youth leaving my body. Passing 30. All of my hair fell out. Passing 40. Stubble appeared on my face. Then it stopped. I looked in the mirror. Damn. I’m fucking old, but I’m fucking hot.

Haha old man. I’m still fucking hot. Look at me. Your plan failed.

You aren’t very smart are ya Carter. That was just step one.

Step one! I turned to him and saw that somehow his hair had grown back in and he looked middle aged. It’s like my hair and age went to him!

Yes, there are three steps. Let’s start step number two.

With that he clapped his hands and suddenly I felt bloated. My stomach was starting to rumble. I looked in the mirror and my face was bubbling. Suddenly it felt like I was blowing up like a balloon. 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, 200 pounds of fat just suddenly appeared on my body. For some reason as I grew, my clothes grew with me.

I was a whale. No one would ever recognize me. It was absolutely disgusting. I used to make fun of people who looked like this. Now I was one of them. I turned and looked at my captor. He looked good. He was so skinny. It’s like all of his weight transferred to my body! He was hot! I was so jealous. Wait he said this was step two, what was step three going to be?!

Damn, I never even looked this good when I used to be in my 40’s. This is amazing. I bet you are wondering about step three. Well, I suppose it’s time to start the final step. Get ready to say goodbye to any remaining part of your old life.

A wave suddenly washed over me. I could feel the life force draining from my body. My facial hair was turning white. My back pain was killing me. I could feel pain everywhere in my body. Arthritis. But I’m only 28. What is happening. I didn’t even think this was possible.

I’m Marvin Jarvis. Wait what! No I’m not Marvin… I’m um….i’m um. What is going on. It’s like I am losing my memories.

What are you doing to me. Why can’t I remember my name. Why do I think I’m you.

Because, Marvin, that’s part of step three. I become you and you become me. We might not look exactly the same, but the world will change to suit us. Why don’t you look at your license.

I could barely reach my wallet. I pulled out my driver’s license. It still said Carter Austin, and then it changed. Marvin Jarvis. 81 years old. 375 pounds. I looked at the photo and then at my reflection in the mirror. There was the same old man. Me!

You’ll never get away with this.

I already have. Your old memories will continue to slip away until you become Marvin Jarvis. Meanwhile, I’ll get your memories and live out my life again. A world-famous model. Carter Austin. My life is set.

Suddenly my mom entered the house.

Hello Marvin. I just came to get Carter. Dinner is ready.

I wanted to scream out. To tell my mom what happened. All that came out was “Of course Karen. It was lovely seeing Carter again. What a fine man he has become.”

Mom, I am just going to hug Mr. Jarvis goodbye and then I’ll be home.

Okay. See you soon honey. Goodbye Marvin.

The new Carter came and hugged me. Good luck Mr. Jarvis. You’ll need it. Don’t forget to take your heart pills, and back pills, and all the other pills. Don’t drive at night. Also, your social security check barely covers basic living expenses. Haha. Better get one last look at me. This is the last time you’ll see me. I’m never coming back to this hodunk town.

I started crying as the new Carter Austin left. He may not have looked exactly like me, but what does it matter. The world believes he is Carter and I am Marvin.

I sat down because my knees were giving out. I tried to remember everything about my old life, but I could feel it slipping away. I’m trapped. There is nothing I can do. You know what sounds good right now. A good pipe. I wonder if NCIS is on. 6:30pm. Almost time for bed. Well, maybe being an old man isn’t going to be so bad after all.

[solspina]

Sanguinius is my favorite primarch, yet we have so little lore on his actual backstory. Do you have any headcanons about Baal or Baal’s culture 🥺?

Hello anon! I do actually have a few headcanons about baal and quite a few others about how sanguinius grew up in its environment!

i’m incredibly happy to answer your ask, especially considering that it’s about my favorite primarch too. never hesitate to ask again, this was really fun to write!

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

Environment:

I think that the surface of Baal would be a lot like that of Mars.

It’s a very dry, rocky, and hot planet.

I don’t have many headcanons about Baal itself, but Baal Secundis, the second moon of the planet where Sanguinius was raised isn’t much different from the mother planet.

Other than the fact it’s absolutely plagued with radiation and some of the most hideous creatures ever seen.

It’s been mentions in lore a few times that Sanguinius thinks his wings may be a result of the radioactive environment.

Because of this, I think that Baal Secundis is very fallout-like.

Miles and miles of empty and desolate desert, perhaps occasionally some leftover pieces of armor from previous battles, and many, many bones.

Culture:

It’s also canon that Sanguinius was alone in the desert for what you can assume was a pretty decently long time.

He was found either as a very young adult or as an old teenager, probably naked and highly radioactive.

The planet was incredibly war infested as also told by lore, so I can imagine that the tribe Sanguinius was raised in caused him to do a fair share of fighting.

I believe that the war may have possibly been due to a clash of cultures.

Many sources state that the people lived in a Nomadic culture, they were travelers, scavengers even.

For the longest time, the people of Baal had no god to believe in, nothing to tie them together.

But by the end of his time on the planet, everyone worshiped Sanguinius. He had brought them peace and togetherness under his name.

Lore also states that the culture and current customs on Baal are HEAVILY influenced by the angel.

There are holidays after him.

Culture is one of those things that has a million aspects, but my favorite to consider is obviously weddings!

I think that weddings were merely a concept before sanguinius arrived, but once he had and the people learned it was okay to love, couples united together left and right.

He used to attend more official and political weddings on baal, even going as far as to officiate a few of them. Now, this is handled by Dante.

At modern baalian weddings, women tend to string white feathers in their hair as a symbol of protection and honor from Sanguinius.

Much like a traditional American wedding, brides also wear white as a symbol of purity, something the angel had honored. The difference? Husbands wear white too!

Guests are to wear whatever they wish, as long as it honors the primarch, but the bride’s jewelry is traditionally gold.

engagement rings are ALWAYS made of ruby, to symbolize both the blood of sanguinius and a blood covenant between husband and wife.

I think that it’s also a coming of age event for all male Baalians who wish to be accepted by their tribes to make a journey to the sarcophagus of Sanguinius at their coming of age, probably naked to simulate what the angel himself had to go and fight through as a child.

Many young men hope that when they arrive they will hear his voice, or that the luckiest will receive a vision from his spirit within the warp.

Has Sanguinius seen any of them as worthy enough to see his spirit? That’s for you to decide ;)

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello! I wanna request ror characters with sweet and kind reader who secretly holds then power of a powerful demon that could give any god a run fir their money.

Reader was meant to be the host of this demon and their personality and memories were meant to be forgotten as the demon took a hold of their body. But something went wrong and instead the demon became trapped while reader got its powers. Basically reader was tricked by their friend and was scarified to a cults deity but lived

Reader is basically an average person and just wants to live life gently but when the gods started to make a fuss and threatened humanity the gloves was off. Reader ends up takeing zeus odin and all the strong ones whose names I cant remember into a terror dimension and reminds them that there were many who would do anything to protect their love ones and reader is fully willing to become a demon and erase them from exsitance if the foolish gods push them enough.

-It was a secret you kept close, not wanting to lose anyone else to it, mainly because those closest to you betrayed you for the secret you held.

-You were the vessel for a very powerful demon, one whose name was long forgotten, something you had been ‘blessed’ with when you were back on earth after the gods fought this demon, sealing him away.

-They didn’t realize however, where they were sealing him, and you were blessed with the same powers and strength, and for a while, people worshipped you as a hero, as you would use those abilities to help others, which is all that you wanted to do.

-However, their adoration soon turned to fear, realizing that you were so different from them, and with fear came hatred and they drove you out.

-You traveled the world, your life prolonged due to what you housed, helping where you could, never staying in one place for too long.

-You had thought you found a safe place, people who respected your powers and abilities, and you gained friends, people you grew close to.

-Only for them to betray you just like the others, sacrificing you to the demon you held in your body. As that place that you thought was safe was a cult.

-You died and ascended to Valhalla, with the demon still a part of you, causing that cult to fall to ruin as they essentially killed the very being they were trying to worship.

-You were so happy in Valhalla, being able to live in peace, helping others, and nobody cared what you could do.

-Only a fair few knew what you could do, and you mostly kept to yourself, to not draw attention to yourself.

-When Ragnarok was announced, you were in tears, hearing how cruel the gods were, the same ones who put this demon inside of you, how they were willing to just wipe out humanity on a whim.

-This angered you, and the demon you housed, feeling your anger, offered his powers to you, willing to help you again.

-You and your demon had an agreement- you would willingly let him have control a few times a month to run around and have fun, and he wouldn’t hurt others while in control.

-He whispered in your ear, like he was there, “We can fix this- put those gods in their place. We won’t hurt them, just scare them a- just a little~” you knew his tone, he wasn’t planning on just ‘a little’ but you agreed, not willing to risk so many lives.

-When Ragnarok was about to begin, the gods who were going to be fighting had a meeting, going to discuss who was going to go first.

-A wave of power and dread seemed to flow over them and Zeus and Odin, who had been responsible for seal your partner away inside you, instantly stood, feeling that power.

-You entered, looking unassuming, looking just like a normal human and Poseidon stood, “Who dares enter this place?” your smile was soft, gentle, but your eyes were hard, “I have someone who would like to speak with you.”

-In a blink of an eye, they found themselves in a dark place, screams and terrifying visions everywhere as you approached, looking more demonic, a blend of both you and D/N.

-Your voice was no longer just your own, it was a blend of both, it sounded not only unsettling, but angry, “I have the power to destroy all of you now- thanks to your failure of making sure I was truly sealed. You have a choice- to end Ragnarok now or face your own destruction.”

-Being shown such terrifying images and feeling your power around them, nearly suffocating them, proving that what you said was true, was enough to make them quickly bend to your will.

-As soon as Zeus and Odin agreed, in another blink of an eye, they were back in the room, completely fine, and you looking normal, like a harmless little human.

-Eyes quickly went to you as you spoke, “Just because you fail to manage others doesn’t make it right for you to just get rid of them. Make it right.” With your last sentence you made the room tremble, just to make your point.

-You walked out, “Think they got the message?” the demon chuckled in your ear again, “Of course they did. Now let’s sit back and watch.”

-By lunchtime the tournament had been called off, much tot the shock of Brunnhilde and the warriors of humanity, but they seemed pleased to see that the gods were going to be gods now, proper ones- who were now going to manage humanity better.

-Many were none the wiser that you were the cause of this newfound peace. And the gods you had threatened kept eyes on you but were stunned to see what a gentle person you were, nothing unlike the demon they had fought years ago.

-You seemed to be one with the demon in your body- like you were two beings in one body, sharing it, but even if you looked like a harmless human- you were anything but, and they knew that they wouldn’t be able to fight back, even if they all joined forces and fought together- there was no chance of ever challenging you.

-However, keeping you happy seemed to be the simplest route, and they kept you happy by not threatening humanity and managing things better.

[sapphicseasapphire]

is wind ever exposed to some of the propaganda against his kind in legend's time? does it make him self conscious?

also did the mer aquil war happen at all in the 3rd timeline?

Hello! These are excellent questions, thank you!

Under the cut because long.

Wind… is a bit of a complicated case, I think! He grew up in the middle of a war, but was sheltered from any kind of violence or aggression- he lived amongst people (Mer and Aquili alike) who wanted peace, on a little island full of refugees. He doesn’t even realize that he’s CURRENTLY living with propaganda. He’s CURRENTLY hiding, and has been ever since he was a baby.

The Aquili on Outset are called Sea Monsters. They always have been- Wind didn’t even know that his people were called Aquili until he met Legend. But the term was never used out of malice- it was just that no one knew any better. It was a piece of Mer propaganda that stuck, and at least on their little island of peacekeepers, the Aquili never knew anything else.

(I must say that they were never treated poorly by the Mer- or by anyone else, for that matter. Calling themselves Sea Monsters had nothing to do with their value as citizens of Outset and they were not looked down upon at all. “Sea Monster” was an accepted term… but then again, they don’t knew their origins. If they did, they’d probably be upset to be called monsters).

Wind knows not to go too deep into the ocean- not to swim out too far. Even if he doesn’t realize it, he lives in fear of the Mer- of his own people- that still reside beneath the waves. Everyone on Outset maintains a “Hylian” form to blend in when travelers visit their island- no one knows that they aren’t “normal” people. He’s hiding every single day of his life. And he doesn’t even realize it.

I say all of this because I want to make it clear that Wind DOES face the consequences of this war. He’s been dealing with it under the table for his entire life, but that doesn’t make him equipped to handle it when he comes face to face with Legend- who hates him for what he is, for what his people had done to him in an entirely different timeline. Or, in the War of Eras, Ravio- who fears him for the monster he has not become.

Wind has lived his whole life in acceptance of who he is. He’s comfortable in his own skin no matter what form he takes, “Hylian” or Aquili. He switches between the two all the time, he thinks it’s fun. And he likes getting a reaction out of others.

That… changed. When he met Legend. As his adventure with the Cryptid Chain continues and he learns more about the conflict (from Legend’s perspective), he becomes less and less comfortable in his Aquili form. As Legend gives him the cold shoulder and avoids him, Wind starts to get more and more self conscious, until he appears as “Hylian” literally every minute of every day. Legend… has some things to work on, let’s just say.

Since the Cryptid Chain will never go underwater, they are unlikely to come across any Mer outside of Outset. The Zora in Legend’s era might cause some problems for Wind, but other than that, the only prejudice he’d face is from Legend (and Ravio, maybe, but Ravio isn’t nearly as bitter).

Now, I don’t think it’s entirely fair to call Legend a bad person for this. He’s been through a lot, and he’s suffered at the hands of the Aquili scavengers in his own era. But is it right for him to take that out on Wind? Absolutely not. And this tension between them doesn’t last long- it’s really really hard to hate Wind. Also… Legend’s pretty bitter towards literally everyone. So really, it’s more of a Legend issue than a Wind issue.

And LASTLY, yes, the war happens in all of the timelines! It’s just that unless there are Mer and Aquili from the Child Era (there aren’t any in my story), you’re not gonna be hearing about it! The Zora stay OUT of it, and they defend their waters from Mer and Aquili both, wanting the conflict as far from their Domain as possible.

I hope this answered your question? I know I rambled way too long haha.

[ticklishraspberries]

Study Strategy (Simon/Wilhelm)

Summary: Living in a dormitory requires a level of quiet that neither Simon nor Wilhelm can accomplish. (This show gets angsty literally right off the bat and I couldn’t handle it anymore, I had to stop and write some fluff to cope. Thank you to my evil friends, @signinandgetkinky and @nhasablogg for telling me to watch this show, you’ve ruined my life. Hope y’all enjoy the fic!!)

“You are allowed to take a break from studying, you know,” Wilhelm says, smirking.

Simon can’t help the fond chuckle he gives in response. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re good at maths.”

“So are you! You just overthink the questions.”

Wilhelm snatches the notebook away before Simon can protest, pushing him back against the bed and laying across his chest, effectively finding a way to both pin him down and cuddle him close.

Simon would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. “Well, if I fail this next test, it will be your fault.”

“Good thing you won’t fail, then.”

He opens his mouth to argue, but Wilhelm is kissing him before he can form any words, and he can’t help but kiss back. It’s risky, kissing at school like this, but they can’t seem to resist the temptation.

After their lips pull apart, Wilhelm doesn’t stop there. He presses kisses to Simon’s cheek, his jaw, his nose. His face flushes, and he’s certain that the prince can feel the heat radiating off of his skin. Normally, he’d be teased about it, but his mouth is rather occupied.

Simon lets out a content hum, hands wrapping around Wilhelm’s waist and holding him even closer. He loves when his boyfriend gets into these touchy-feely moods, wanting to be so near they’re practically joined at the hip. It makes him feel special, wanted.

When the kisses travel down towards his neck, though, he can’t help but squirm, a breathy laugh slipping out.

“Does this tickle?” Wilhelm asks, mischief glinting in his eyes.

Even his breath tickles. How is that even fair? Simon huffs. “You know it does.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear you say it.”

Simon never expected Wilhelm to be so playful, so affectionate. He assumed that royals grew up so stiff and strict, but it seems as though the prince’s relationship with Erik was just as playful as he and Sara’s own sibling bond. It’s heart-warming, actually, to imagine Wilhelm as a child, shrieking with joy while being carried on his big brother’s back, not worrying about the family’s legacy or public appearance or one day taking the crown. He certainly hadn’t been worried about a world where his older brother was no longer there to bring a smile to his freckled face.

The sad thought isn’t able to linger, as Wilhelm has taken Simon’s half-assed confirmation as an invitation to continue, each peck of his lips more deliberate, more purposefully ticklish, and Simon can’t help but giggle, heels digging into the mattress.

It’s a soft, steady sound until Wilhelm experimentally nips at the shell of his ear, which makes Simon shriek in the high-pitched way he finds so embarrassing, and it makes them both laugh harder with how ridiculous it is.

“Shhh,” Wilhelm murmurs, nose pressed into the crook of his neck. “You’re going to get us caught.”

“Then it’ll be entirely your fault,” Simon replies, scrunching his shoulders, trying and failing to protect himself.

And because that simply won’t do, Wilhelm switches tactics and scratches at his belly, making him thrash wildly, burying his face in the other boy’s hair as some attempt at volume control. It doesn’t do much, and reality sets in and reminds them both that while this is all fun and games, the idea of being caught is a very real, very scary thing.

“You’re the worst,” Simon breathes when Wilhelm finally rolls off of him, curling up by his side instead.

Wilhelm grins. “You love it.”

Simon rolls his eyes and sits up to resume studying, and Wilhelm doesn’t snatch his book away again. He just lays next to him, occasionally helping him with equations, but mostly just watching him.

When he does well on the test, Wilhelm whispers that maybe tickles should be his new studying strategy. It makes him blush like mad, but he doesn’t protest the idea.

[linksthoughtbrambles]

The Seeds of Love, Well Worn

A gift for @newtsnaturethings for Midna's Merry Mixup! I'm sorry this is so late!!! I am officially saying Newt is also a coauthor of this fic because it is based on a very old, very silly conversation we had that was so much fun! This fic was also inspired by "The Calamity of Link's Cargo Shorts" by @zeldaseyebrows! It is excellent and should be read!! A big thank-you to @bellecream for beta-reading! This fic is also available to read here on ao3. Post-TotK Zelink, Canon-Compliant, Rated T, ~9,400 words

At first, Zelda thought nothing of it.  After all, Link was entitled to some eccentricities.  He couldn’t be the legendary hero if he were ordinary, could he?

Certainly, his renewed desire to play hide-and-seek with the koroks struck her as odd.

And yes, his sudden willingness to spend time away from her also seemed odd, especially as he’d clung to her so fervently since her fall from the sky—why insist on leaving her behind now?

Perhaps he wished to give her uninterrupted time to pursue her studies.  She’d shooed him from her well and atrium often enough, though always with a smile.  And yes, she’d been busy with concerns in all corners of Hyrule, leaving her less time to attend to her new garden, and she’d been frustrated with her efforts to populate the lovely pond Link had built into their plateau—had she been short with him?  Had she seemed distant?  Perhaps she’d hurt his feelings.

“I apologize sincerely, Link,” she blurted that night over dinner.

He blinked at her, all blue-eyed owl.  “Huh?”

Apparently not.

His spectacular grin an hour later as he tossed her on their new bed confirmed it.

Definitely not.

--

Her concern grew as Link traveled further and further afield.

“Link- must you find them all?” she asked.  “Surely that’s unnecessary.”

“I need more Korok seeds,” he said.

Her eyes flew wide.  “S- eeds?”

“Yeah!”

“Ah.  And… how many of these have you collected?”

Link shrugged and jammed his hand in his korok pouch.  It emerged overflowing with tiny, golden nuggets.  A few fell to the floor as the distinctive scent invaded Zelda’s nostrils.

“Link-“

He deposited them on the table-

“Link-”

-and reached back in, his fist again brimming with the deceptive little pellets.  Zelda’s nose wrinkled as she waved her open palms in the direction of his belt.

“Link, this is our dining table!”

“So?”

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t you want to count them?”

“Well- not here.”

Link blinked at her.  “Why not?”

She stared at her erstwhile knight, helpless to shut her jaw.

He didn’t know, did he?

She supposed it had never come up.

To be fair, they did look somewhat like seeds.

“How many fistfuls of these would you estimate you have in there?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, fistfuls?  Maybe…” he scratched the back of his head with a squint toward the ceiling.  “Maybe about twenty?”

Zelda blanched.  “And… that’s not enough.”

He snorted.  “Noooooo.”

His obsession struck her all the more strangely.

--

Link would stop at nothing.  In short… he would create a mountain out of a molehill, right there on their dining room table, a tribute fit only for a king.

Or so Link seemed to believe.

She began to wonder if he was unwell.

The Rasitakiwak Shrine activated up the hill just before sunset.  Link bounded into her garden at an unreasonable pace.

“Hahaaa!” he kissed her cheek with an intentionally long, wet smack and a shoulder-squeeze.

Zelda couldn’t help but giggle.  “Link!”  She then wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.  “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too,” he said.  “I got sixteen today.”

Zelda’s smile became quizzical as she wondered if he’d washed his hands.

--

“I’ll be on Hebra peak all day!” Link announced with a sideways smile and two fists proud on his hips.

Zelda tried to appear as though she were not at all worried, and that she was, in fact, happy for him to be so excited about visiting an incredibly dangerous high-altitude frozen wasteland on a whim.  “The peak, specifically?” she asked, voice bright, though the slight curl of her lip may have given her away.

“My korok sense is tingling,” he said.

Zelda’s cheek twitched.  “I wasn’t aware you had one.”

Link pulled a leaf-shaped mask from his pouch and donned it with a ya-ha-ha.  It explained nothing.

She clasped her hands before her with a deep breath.  “Will you allow me to accompany you this time?”

“Nope!”

She sighed.  “Why ever not?”

“You have things to do!  I know you want to-“ he began to count on his fingers- “jam a Zonai charge in that guardian-claw-contraption with Robbie, zip to Lookout Landing and see if Purah’s gotten any Zonai abilities working with the purah pads, weed and water your garden, do your measuring and extracting stuff there, see if any of those frogs you caught are still anywhere near our pond, go to Hateno and check how our critters are doing there, check in with Symin about the school… I mean- you have a lot going on.”

Zelda shook her head.  “You’re not wrong, Link, but perhaps you might stay with me today?  Can the koroks wait until tomorrow?”

He hesitated.  He removed the mask to scratch his nose.  “Well- I mean, will they still be there?  Yeah! They’re shockingly dedicated to their game, which… is weird considering Hestu stopped playing with them seven years ago.”  Link squinted, his eyes defocusing a bit.  Zelda kept her laugh silent—a mere flurry of quivers of her diaphragm.

“Huh,” Link finally said, shaking his head, his eyes forcibly wide.  “That is really weird, isn’t it?  But… I kind of have to hurry.  Even if the koroks are… insane.  Or messing with me.”

That struck Zelda as disturbingly likely.

Link nodded, apparently resolute despite his targets’ nebulous motivations.  “I should go today.”

She couldn’t help her falling face.

“Aw,” he said.  He stuffed the mask back in his pouch, took her in his arms, and curled himself around her, pressing a kiss to her hair.  “You miss me?”

“Yes,” she said, a little sheepish.

He held her tighter.

Then he bear-hugged her.

“Heh- Link!” she smiled, pushing at him playfully.

“It’ll be worth it,” he said.  “Really.  Please trust me?  I promise there’s a good reason.”

“Can you tell me?” she asked.

He loosened his hold and kissed her forehead with the softness of a cloud.  “If I could, I would.”

She studied his eyes a long moment.

He certainly appeared to be his usual self.  His eyes sparkled with mischief, with his ever-present love for her, and with that shadow she’d seen in him ever since she’d fallen into the depths, whisked into another time.

The shadow- it worried her, kept her worrying beyond what would otherwise be reasonable.  He’d never been the same.

She could even feel it in the cadence of his breath—shortened without apparent cause, always a twinge on the end of each, a restlessness in his fingers as he held her.  They just kept moving, even when his hands were still.

Why this would drive him to scour the countryside for korok droppings, she didn’t know.

She ought to enlighten him about that at some point.

--

It ended on an unremarkable day in late spring, as suddenly as it began.

Zelda had no explanation.

Link said nothing of it.

His korok-seed fever simply ceased.

She wondered if someone else had revealed their nature to him.

He spent two entire days never leaving her side.  The most accurate word she could think of to describe his mood was ‘barnacle.’

Zelda-barnacle.  Yes, that was it, she thought as she clipped a sample off one of her more mature sundelions, his chin on her shoulder, his nose in her hair, his eyes on her work, and both his arms wrapped securely about her middle.  Even his legs were flush to hers a good measure of the way down.

That night, the sound of the shrine’s transport platform reached her in her sleep.  She opened her eyes to find Link gone, his place in bed beside her cold.  She heard him enter the house soon afterward.

He returned to bed and wrapped his arms around her as though he’d never gone.

“Where were you?” she asked quietly.

He kissed the crown of her head.  “Kakariko.”

“Why?”

He chuckled.  “Can’t tell you.”

--

He made several more clandestine journeys, each time unsuccessful in the sense Zelda knew he’d gone.  He always returned to bed, and she always asked where he’d been.

“Kakariko.”

“Kakariko.”

“Hateno.”

“Hateno.”

“The korok forest.”

That one made her sit up.  “Oh?!”

He laughed.

She squinted down at him, his bare stomach shaking with mirth.

She squinted hard.  “So many koroks…” she said.

“Hm.  True,” he answered, mock-seriously.

“…Are you collecting seeds again?”

“Nah.”

She eyed him suspiciously.

Then she tackled his abdomen, tickling hard with all ten fingers.

It hadn’t been wise, truly.  He overpowered and tickled her easily, his utter lack of mercy keeping her breathless for the following five minutes.

She learned nothing more from him that night—and he made no more secret journeys after that, as far as she could tell.

--

The summer solstice arrived.

Zelda opened her eyes to the sight of Link’s lovestruck gaze, the dimple deep in his left cheek.  He pushed her hair behind her ear.  “Happy Birthday,” he said softly.

His first gift to her arrived immediately, with no need even to leave their bed.

The second waited, a centerpiece on the dining table: a large box tied with a wide, royal blue bow, every bit as obvious as Link’s excitement for her to open it.  He’d adopted barnacle-stance once again, using his legs to walk hers toward the table.

She laughed, shifting off-balance as the odd gait forcibly waddled her.  He stopped them directly in front of the box, though he didn’t let go.

“I take it you’d like me to open this before breakfast.”

“Yes please,” he said, his laugh higher than normal, burying his eyes in the nape of her neck.  “I’ve been keeping it secret soooooooo long.”

She chuckled, her arms and hands covering his, warm, around her waist.  “My poor knight,” she said, a habit from days long gone.

He hummed a breath into her, nuzzling her nape and ending with as much of his face as he could tuck into her hair as possible.

She patted his arms and tilted forward.  He slid his hands to her waist and leaned around her, watching.

The ribbon fell open easily.  She lifted the top off the box and folded back the protective paper to see- “Pants?”

“Take them out!” Link urged.

She lifted them by the waistband.  Her head cocked in confusion as they unfolded.

“Shorts!” she said, amazed at the array of large pockets all over them.  They were otherwise simple, black, as though to replace her riding pants.  Their shorter length would be welcome in summer, and she absolutely could do with pockets.  The pouch at her hip wasn’t enough, though Link, of course, would allow her to put anything she wished in his.

“Look inside,” Link whispered, bouncing a little on his toes.

Zelda gave him an amused look.  She then held the waistband open and peered downward.  As predicted, she saw black fabric.  She also saw her own feet on the floor through the leg holes.

“No, no no no no,” Link said.  “Look in the pockets.”

“Ah,” she said.  Thinking he’d secreted something within one for her, she slipped one strap from its loop, lifted the flap, and rummaged inside.

“Goodness,” she said.  “This pocket is quite deep.”

Link produced a snigger.

She eyed him suspiciously once more as she slid her arm further and further into the pocket… still contacting nothing.   She withdrew, confused.

“I-“ she lifted the garment above her head.  Then she examined the pocket’s outer seam.  She pressed her hands on either side of it.  It appeared to be utterly ordinary – larger than her hand, certainly, but…

She shook her head and inserted her hand once more.  She watched, fascinated, as more and more of her arm disappeared into it, until the pocket’s edge reached her shoulder.   She wrapped her other arm around it to feel where her arm had gone inside the cloth.

The answer, it turned out, was nowhere.  The fabric pressed flat to her torso.

She gasped, a slow smile spreading across her face as she turned to see one of the biggest grins Link had ever given her.

“It’s like your pouch!” she cried.

“YA HA HA!” Link yelled as she tackled him. “Oof-“

“Oh my goodness- oh- Link- Link think of what I could do with this!”

“I did,” he chuckled.

“Are all the pockets this way?”

He nodded; then he looked up and to the left for a moment, a half-squint on.  “Well- yeah they’re all enchanted, but it’s not quiiiite the same.”

“Oh?”

“I had- requests for these pockets.  Special ones.”

“Such as?”

“Well…” He opened a larger pocket lower down.  “Check this out!”

She did.

And she gasped.

She was peering into a space, perhaps the size of the main room of their new house, with a lush, grassy floor, a medium-sized dogwood tree, and a pond.

With lily pads.

She stared.

She stared more.

She goggled at Link, dully noting his arms supporting her, his eyes positively twinkling.

“is this…. for… frogs?” she asked, her tongue extremely dry.

“Well,” he said waggling his head.  “It doesn’t have to be. But I thought-“

She kissed him.

--

Link examined his work as a myriad of frogs hopped, croaked, and plain-old-chilled out around him, quite proud of himself.   The ruby rod was definitely staying put—and unlike one of the old flame blades (damn, he missed those), it wasn’t going to cook every frog that touched it. “I think I got it!” he yelled.

The sound of cloth-on-cloth preceded Zelda’s face appearing in what seemed to be a slit on a dark wall about even with Link’s head.

“Oh!” Zelda said.  “You’ve embedded it!”

“I figured it’d work best if it was actually in the water,” he said, trying but failing to see any steam visibly rising from the little pond’s surface.

“Indeed!”

Link wondered if there’d be clouds—like rain—or if droplets would just condense on that nebulous, sky-blue ceiling above.  Verrrrrry slowly.

“I’m still concerned about the lack of sunlight,” Zelda said.

Link smiled, pulling his eyes from the unsky to make his way toward her.  He stuck his face right up to the opening.  “It’s magic, Zelda.  Don’t worry too much.  It was like this in the sword-trials.”

“It’s unclear whether those were physically real, Link.”

 “True, but there were loads of plants inside the Zonai shrines.”

“Hmm.  There still are,” she said.  “I suppose that suggests whatever the light source is, it’s sufficient for them.”

“Yup.  So don’t worry.”  He pointed up.  “I bet it’s sky blue up there for a reason.”

She huffed a laugh.  “I suppose I agree with you, for my instinct is not to take that bet.”

Link raised his chin, proud of himself for the third time that day.  “Nice!  So… is it testing time?”

“If you’re ready, Link, then certainly.  I shall be gentle, but I suspect the fact the pond has remained intact means this will be entirely uneventful.”

The sound of shuffling cloth accompanied the strange sight of her hands, the wall, a painting, and then the ceiling moving beyond the opening followed by a wild motion of the wood, glimpses of Zelda’s armpit, her hair, her nose, and a single green eye as she pulled the garment on.  He heard her fasten it.

“Link?” she called.

“Nothing happened down here!”

“Excellent.”  She peered down at him.  “Link?  You are officially in my pocket.”

He snorted.  “I’m in your pants.”

“As is typical for you,” she said with a mischievous glint.

--

Being in Zelda’s pants (literally) turned out to be less interesting than Link thought it would.

She’d warped to Hateno rather than hike or paraglide down to Tarrey Town.

“What if the shorts fall off?”

“Do your pants usually fall off when you paraglide?”

“Of course not, but if they do, you are in them, and you shall hit the water, and if it comes pouring in, what will happen to you?”

Link shrugged.  “I’ll swim out.”

“Perhaps, but what if the entry fails to expand?”

“Why would it?!”

“No- we must be scientific about this.  Nothing risky is to be done without proof of concept.” Her spine straightened suddenly as though shocked.  “Goodness.  What if I fall?  Same potential result—possibly worse, for we do not know how taking on water affects the weight of the pants-“

Link started laughing.  “Zelda, they have a tree and a pond and- DIRT and things.  They don’t weigh anything.”

“Yet what if they do, Link?!  Perhaps a fraction of their weight is transferred.  We don’t know.  We cannot test it without removing the material, and frankly I have no wish to ruin that lovely environment in order to haul a tree out.  No, the only way would be to add material and weigh the shorts afterward.”

“Ze-“

“Of course, I would do that with the similar pocket on the left rather than disturb the pond...”

He’d been about to suggest he just… paraglide down with her and hop in the pocket in town.  They could be discrete about it—ask to use the bathroom at the Hudson Construction office or something—but he liked to hear Zelda talk, and she’d clearly started one of her long thinking-out-loud rolls.  So, he’d listened while making mental note of the locations of niiiice, big, heavy boulders he could shove in the bottom left pocket.

And now, here he was, chilling with the frogs, listening to Zelda’s footsteps and chatter with the townsfolk, making yet more mental notes of any jostling (which was… really easy since there’d been none so far), and trying to think of how else he could kick the frog habitat up a level.  Luckily, he could hear Zelda even with the flap closed, so he had some entertainment other than the sticky frog that had decided his back was comfortable.

His head shot up.

Neither of them had thought to test whether he could leave with the flap shut.  That, to him, seemed a much bigger deal than anything else.  What if she was hurt and he couldn’t get out to help her?  What if something attacked her?  Zelda could defend herself, sure, but he couldn’t be stuck in here, helpless, if someone or something meant her harm.  Bokoblins.  Moblins!  One of the remaining gleeoks he hadn’t yet purged from the depths.   He can’t possibly have found them all, and those things could fly like anything, come out of nowhere.  He’d never seen one leave a chasm but there was absolutely no reason he could see why it couldn’t, and chasms—dear Hylia, they probably hadn’t found them all and what if she was walking somewhere and she didn’t see it and she slipped and she was falling and falling and falling and he couldn’t catch her again-

“Link?” Zelda called.

Link’s pulse rushed fully tactile in the left side of his neck, audible especially in that ear.  Sweat had begun to seep into his clothing.

“Yeah!” he yelled.

“Any motion?”

He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his neck.  He’d stopped paying attention—but he hadn’t noticed anything.  “I don’t think so!”

He could practically hear her mind whir on that one.

“Alright!” she said.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at himself.  He’d done it again.  He really, really, really needed to stop doing that.  Hadn’t that been part of the point of this gift to her?  Yeah, she loved the pockets, but also he’d had to get used to letting her be alone.  He must’ve been driving her crazy.  He’d barely been able to let her garden for five minutes without checking on her.

Better that she missed him than got unbearably sick of him hovering around her all the time.  It’d happened before, all those… very many long years ago.  It could happen again.

He scrubbed his face.

He had to think about something else.

He eyed a particularly quick hot-footed frog.

His nose wrinkled.  He wished he didn’t know what its secretions tasted like.  He wouldn’t enjoy being stuck in here with nothing but those things to eat.  He didn’t expect sticky frogs to be any better, or ordinary tree frogs for that matter.

Not that he planned on eating them.  But if it was him or the frogs-

The frog on his back made a soft ‘ribbit.’

Link craned his neck.  He could see the moist, blue tippy tip of his stowaway’s nose.

…Eh. Okay, the frog was cute.  He could eat other things first.

Grass!  There was grass. And flowers.

Could you eat dogwood trees? 

He’d have to dig himself a latrine.

…

It would be really gross.

Not as bad as Zelda being hurt.  By a lot.

But still… disgusting.

And she’d never let that happen to him unless she was hurt, so it was a moot point.

… Or unless the shorts fell in the lake.

He smacked his forehead.  He should know by now that Zelda was always right.  Because if lake water started pouring in here and he couldn’t get out because the flap was closed?

He was effed with a capital f.

Much better that he was in here than her.  He wouldn’t make it five minutes if their roles were reversed.  He’d be hauling her out of here forcibly.  Once they knew how it worked, sure.

Hestu hadn’t seemed to know much about it, either.  Magic, inventory-expanding dances?  He had those in the bag.  The mechanics of the bag?  Nope.

“No, thank you, Manny.”

Link’s eyes shot to the closed flap.

“It’s a spectacular collection of crickets, to be sure.”

“Turns out Lasli didn’t want them, either.”

Link groaned.

“Eh he.  Yes, I heard you telling Link last time.”

He was still on this?

“She didn’t like the frogs, either.  But you do, right, Princess?”

Link would not tell Manny Lasli loved fireflies.  Because she actually did, and he wouldn’t inflict Manny on anyone for real.

“I know you like them.”

…Link didn’t appreciate that tone in Manny’s voice.  Not that he knew what it was, exactly.

He just didn’t like it.

He didn’t like Zelda’s silence either.

He stood and padded barefoot over the grass to try and peek out the flap.

“W- eh- ll.  I- suppose I- do like frogs-“

“I have a hundred for you, Princess.  Do you want them?”

Link really didn’t like that tone of voice.

“U- ahem.  Do you mean the frogs?”

NOT ONE BIT.

Link shoved at the flap, too high-alert to be happy it didn’t resist him.  He grabbed the edge with both hands and stuck his head out.

He found himself looking at Zelda’s midriff.

“AaaaaAAAAAAHHHH!” Manny screamed, and he wasn’t the only one.

Several things happened in quick succession.

People and cuccos scattered (Link could hear them), something hit the ground hard and rattled, and several doors slammed open against their stops.

“ARE THOSE DAMN SKELETONS BACK?!”

“It’s daytime, dad!”

“Heavens, Princess, what are you wearing?!”

“MY LAUNDRY!”

“Princess!!! There’s an animal in your pocket!!”

Zelda’s arms shot out above Link’s head.  “Oh!  No, it’s—" a number of crickets landed on her midsection.  “Oh, my,” she said, hers the calmest voice in earshot as Link tried to figure out how to turn his head the right way.

“MANNY WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!”

“BLEHHHHGHGHGHHHH BUGS!”  (A door slammed shut).

Someone was shrieking high on the letter ‘E’ as Link, with a great deal of confusion, managed to twist around and see the street.

It didn’t help.

Manny was trying to scoop crickets out of the air and fling them back in the wood-and-mesh cage he’d kept them in, its latch flopping around.  The appearance of Link’s eyeballs knocked him back onto his hindquarters with a strange cry, almost as hard as if Link had punched him physically.  The cage landed lopsided—which was probably what happened a few seconds ago, too—and crickets streamed outward.

Ivee seemed every bit as terrified of Link’s disembodied head as she’d been of the potential pocket-critter and then some.  One of her knees rose and crossed her body as she squealed, dropping her broom.

Her father managed to make a wide-eyed scowl at Link.  “What in Hylia’s green hills?!  Link?!”

Manny panted, gulped, and leaned forward.  “L- Link, man.  It is you.”  He then looked from Link to the pocket below him, and up to Zelda’s face, an idea clearly forming.

“You-“ Link said, waggling a finger at him- “and me- we’re having a talk.  Soon.  Got it?”

For some reason Manny grinned wide.  “Got it,” he said with a wink.

Link was confused, but he’d take it for now.  “Good!” He twisted up to see Zelda.  “Hi,” he said.  A cricket landed on his forehead.

Zelda shook with laughter.  “Hello, Link.  Any jostling?”

“Not a thing!”

“Excellent.  Well.  Shall we continue?” she asked, shooing his cricket away.

“Depends,” Link said.  “Do you actually want those frogs?”

Zelda shook her head.  “It is far too many frogs.  Manny?”

“Y- yes, Princess?”

“You ought to return those hot-footed frogs to the wild where you found them, though keeping a few would be alright.  I have enough in here already.”

“E-enough?” Manny stuttered as Link leaned out to see just how many frogs there were and where the heck he was keeping them.

The sticky frog on Link’s back made its bid for freedom.

It launched through the air with a loud croak and landed on Ivee’s hip.

She shrieked, flapping her shirt wildly in attempt to fling it off.  Link moved reflexively to yank himself out and recover the frog. Instead, Zelda toppled as Link simply appeared, connected to her leg.  They landed in a heap, Zelda on top, with her face in Link’s hair and Link’s legs still dangling in the other-dimensional space.

“I got heavy again, didn’t I?” Link said to the dirt.

Zelda nodded in his hair.

“I’ll get you a new frog,” Link offered.

“No need,” she said, having turned her head to rest it on Link, watching Ivee quiver in fear as the blue terror slowly scaled her torso.  “It’s not going anywhere.”

Link rotated his face to look Manny in the eye.  “Seriously.  You’re still trying this?  What do you do, wait by the village entrance and offer critters to everyone who passes you?”

Manny leaned forward conspiratorially.  “Only the hot babes,” he whispered.

Link groaned and put his face back into the dirt.

It was better.

--

“Here you are, Link,” Zelda said, passing him yet another apple.

Not that he wouldn’t take it, but wow, she wanted him to eat today, didn’t she?

“Thanks, Zel!” He grabbed it and made extremely short work of it.  He tried to shove the core in his own pouch again, wrinkling his nose when it just hit bottom and got his hand sticky.  “Aw.  I keep forgetting.”

Her hand reappeared in the opening as she chuckled.  “It must feel strange to suddenly have an ordinary pouch.”

“You bet.  Don’t know how I managed before.”

“Well, fret not.  You shall have access to your many thousands of odds and ends once you emerge.”

Good thing, too.  He’d’ve had some kind of breakdown if bringing his pouch inside THIS pouch had broken his pouch forever.

He had over a dozen omelets in there, to say nothing of a now exceedingly rare undecayed eightfold blade.

It struck him real suddenly why she was feeding him so much.  He couldn’t just reach in and pull out a snack like he usually could.

He found himself very warm and fuzzy.  He turned his eyes on Zelda, still peering curiously at him.  “Thanks, Zelda.  You’re… really thoughtful.  You know that?”

She blinked at him slowly.  “You’re… welcome, Link.”

--

Link now understood his disembodied appearance in Zelda’s pocket was both an asset and a curse.

Sticking his head out among adults, unexpected?  Chaos.

Sticking his head out in the Hateno schoolyard?  Also chaos.  But the screams were fun-kid-play screams, not screams of abject, world-view-upending terror.

The schoolbell rang.

“Awwww,” Azu said.  “We just got started!”

They had, in fact, just started chucking insects, sticks, and chunks of bark into the pocket and watching, fascinated, as they fell sideways upon entering the magical space.

Zelda gave an indulgent chuckle.  “I’m sure the frogs will be appreciative of your efforts, and It’s not as though we won’t be back.  Go to class!”

The children grumbled a little as they traipsed inside.  So did Link’s stomach.

“You know, they fed the frogs, but did I get anything?  Nope.”

“Hmm.  I imagine that’s because they’d eaten their lunches already.”

“Aww.  I wouldn’t take the kids’ lunch.”

Zelda hummed a laugh, her forehead wrinkling slightly. “Are you hungry already?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Truly?  It’s not as though we didn’t have our own lunch… and quite a few snacks for you.”

Link shrugged.  “Hungry anyway.”  She was still… looking at him, but not in the ‘oh look it’s Link, he’s so attractive and I’d like to be back at home in bed right now’ way or the ‘look at Link, he’s so silly, he makes me laugh, he might do something else funny if I keep watching’ way.

He could usually de-code if he studied her hard enough—but right now he had to look partway up her nostrils to do it.  “You… have your thoughtful-face on,” he said.

“I’m always thinking,” she said with a smile.

A suspicious smile.  “Yeaaaaaah, but sometimes you’re thinking harder.”

She cocked her head, still watching him.

He cocked his, too, with half a grimace on.

Maybe it was the ‘he might do something funny’ face.

It couldn’t hurt to try.

Link spun around, spotting a stick Karin had tossed inside.  He snatched it up, looked Zelda right in the eye, and took a nice, hearty chomp.

Her head reared.

“Mmm,” Link said.  “Sassafras!”

It tasted like skunky-root-beer-meets-a-whole-box-worth-of-matchheads, but the look on Zelda’s face was worth it.

She only laughed a little, though.

He’d have to up his game.

Either that, or he’d just have to be attractive later.

He chuckled to himself.  Why not both?

In the meantime, he had a bunch of items to arrange.  Now that Zelda had this pocket, and now that it had frogs in it, and the kids had not only seen it but put stuff in it, they were absolutely going to want to visit the frogs and see all their stuff in use in the frog habitat.

Link sighed, looking at the feeble collection of dead tree matter near the opening.

As if on cue, Zelda reached in, a long, curled section of papery bark in her hand.  “Would… you like this, Link?”

“Sure—thanks!” he said.  He grabbed it and snatched up the rest, intent on turning the kids’ offerings into a tiny frog village in the corner.

--

“Link,” Zelda said, her voice carefully nonchalant.  “Here’s some oak wood.”

Link arrived at the flap and took it from her.  “Oh great, yeah, thanks!”  He gave her a huge, excited grin and an eyebrow flash.  Then he raised it to his wide-open mouth and stuck it right in.

Zelda swallowed, wide-eyed.

He disappeared to the left again with some small shuffling sounds.

She then heard a crack, and a happy sound from Link.

Zelda began to think frantically.

--

“H- here you are, Link,” Zelda said.

Link turned from his task to see her hand dangling a scrap of leather into the opening.

He bounded over to her, reaching for the offering.  Zelda seemed a bit less happy than he’d have liked, her lips pressed together and held there by her teeth.  He looked her over.  Then he looked the leather over.  Not terrible leather.  Not great.  Nothing special.  Big enough to be a blanket for a frog.  He snorted.

He’d stuck a few different kinds of wood in his mouth since the stick made her laugh at least a little, but when she got serious he did, too, going about his construction efforts.  A bunch more bark, several sticks, chunks of wood, and a sheet of slate later, here she was handing him leather.

What was he supposed to do with it?

She was watching him so closely!

…Maybe she got serious because he got boring?  His mouth pulled in deep on the left.  He studied Zelda’s downturned face.  Maybe he hadn’t gone big enough.  “Look.  Do you want to see me eat this?  Because I can totally eat the whole thing.”  He could, too.  He’d eaten way worse.

Her eyes flicked elsewhere, then back to him with a little shimmy of her head.

It was cute.

He smiled.

“No, Link,” she said.

He blew a puff of air out.  He’d hoped so.  “Just checking.”

She looked so expectant.

What was he missing?

“…Thanks, Zel!  Be back in a minute.”  He jogged past the tree and out of Zelda’s direct line of vision.

What to do with the leather?  Zelda didn’t just do things for no reason.  Maybe he should just ask her.  But she wasn’t saying anything, so she must think he already knew, so it must be something for the habitat and he must be being dense, and-

Oh.

OH.

He was… really thick sometimes.  He smiled to himself.

Of course.  He’d even thought it was about big enough to cover a whole frog!  It could be a little frog blanket.  Or a mat.  Or frog armor for a teeny tiny little frog army.

Link’s entire form lit up.

No, no.  Zelda was studying the frogs, not playing with them.  The kids would play with them.

…It would be so cute.

He sighed.  He would resist.  Little mats?  For the cute little frog houses he’d already made with the sticks and stuff?  Sure.  He could make frog-tents, too.  It was always light in the habitat.  They probably needed someplace dark they could go hide in sometimes.  Yes!

Link got to work, realizing pretty quickly he didn’t have all the tools he needed.  He wandered back to the flap.

“Hey, Zelda?”

“Yes, Link!”

“I need some thread and some long, thin lengths of leather.  And more rectangles of leather.  Maybe…” he thought for a moment.  “Thirty-six pieces.”

She stared at him.  “Thirty-six?”

“Yep.  Just to be safe.”

--

I am extremely concerned that Hylian mental status is negatively affected by enclosure within my cargo shorts’ lower-right pocket, Zelda wrote in her research journal.

As Link expressed his hunger despite his frankly gargantuan intake of food, I recalled that items retrieved from Link’s pouch emerge exactly as they went in.  Food does not spoil.  Vegetation does not wither.  Animals do not perish.  And indeed, nothing has occurred to harm the frogs we’ve placed in the habitat for study.  Yet one would think if time stood still, they would not hop (etc.).  Clearly, whatever magic occurs is complex.

I would be merely curious rather than concerned had Link not proceeded to eat sassafras wood (notably unhealthy).  Indeed, for each piece of wood I passed to him after that, he thanked me profusely.  He then appeared to develop an insatiable craving for soft leather!  Is he unable to appease his hunger if he enters in a hungry state?  And was Link willing to eat these items because he was truly that hungry, or has the space had an effect on his thinking?

I oughtn’t allow him to go back in.  It took a good deal of convincing to get him to come out.  He insisted he ‘wasn’t finished.’  I had to lower a rope in and ask him to climb it to test the effect of our gravity vs. that of the gravity within the pocket as he climbed.  I was quite relieved when he agreed.

--

“Morning, Zel!” Link chimed from the kitchen—Zelda had made her way partially down the steps to the alluring aroma of honeyed flapjacks.

“Good morning, Link,” she said, her smile a little more tired than it should have been considering her large amount of sleep.  She breathed deep.  “That smells delic…ious.”

Zelda stared at the low table along the far wall.  “Link?”

“Yep?”

“What are those?”

Link followed her gaze.  “Oh!  Yeah, the leather was a really good idea.  I’ll bring those ones in with me today.”

She blinked, shaking her head.  “You… what?”

“Into the pocket today,” Link said, flipping one of the pancakes.  A few dark spots revealed wildberries embedded in it.  “I’ll bring them in with me.”

“Link- I… was thinking perhaps you shouldn’t go in there today.”

“Huh?  Why not?”

“Well, for one thing we’ve other concerns.  We are overdue for our visit to Rito Village.  I know Tulin has been anxious to discuss his Zonai stone, and we shouldn’t put that off for any of our modern-day sages.  There ought to be- some manner of succession, or-“

“Zel,” Link said, a quizzical look on his face as he slid the honey and blackberry flatcake onto a plate.  “This… is nothing new, and none of them are…” he shrugged, waving his pan and his spatula- “old, or… sick, or anything.  It can totally wait.”

“It’s not as though the pockets can’t wait.”

“Zel, you literally just started testing them out yesterday.”  He squinted at her.  “You were worried about just keeping frogs in there without understanding how the fake environment would affect them.  Right?”  He waited.

“Well… yes.”

“And they just plain old don’t like our little L-shaped pond thing.  Right?”

“…They do not seem to particularly enjoy it, no.”

“Because they leave.”

“Yes.”

“So you can’t just take the little guys out and put them in our pond.”

“Not if I expect to see them again.”

“And you like frogs.”

“They are fascinating,” she said.  “Not that other creatures aren’t – they certainly are – but, at least in our time, their effects on speed, strength, and stamina were poorly understood, though of course we can make some elixirs from them, and now with these sticky frogs having sprung from the caverns opened in the upheaval, there is so much more to learn.  It’s not even just the frogs, it’s-“

She stopped at the huge, dimpled smile on his face.

“What is it?”

“You,” he said.  He replaced the pan on the wood stove and dolloped some batter in it—then he circled the table and wrapped her up in his arms.  “I love how curious you are,” he said.

“Even after all that time,” he said, far more quietly.

She’d snuggled into him, but his tone had her pulling back, examining his face; his smile had vanished.  She traced his lips with an unthinking fingertip.  “Link…”

He tried and failed to smile under her touch.

She stroked the subtle hollow of his cheek.  It disturbed her a little that he even had a hollow of his cheek, with all the food he took in.  He never used to.  He’d had rounded cheeks, always.

“Sorry,” he said.  “It hits me sometimes… how long you waited.  For me.  Because I-“  he swallowed.  “Because I missed.”

She shook her head and crushed him to her, pressed his face to her shoulder.  “No, Link.  No.  Truly.  It wasn’t like that.  It was as though…. a long dream.”

He nodded against her.  She’d told him before—many times—yet it continued to haunt him, evidenced by moments like this.  Sometimes she thought he didn’t believe her.

Sometimes she suspected hethought about it far more than he let on—wondered if the occasions on which he acted strangely were fueled, somehow, by that fall of hers into blackness and its consequences.

Not for Hyrule.  He’d saved that.

But she’d spent eons and eons so very far not only from him, but from her own consciousness—and self-recrimination kept surfacing within him for it.

Zelda thought of his months-long korok obsession.  Of his need to have hundreds upon hundreds of ‘seeds,’ and that need utterly overriding his usual (over)protectiveness of her, even to the point of him going when she specifically requested he stay.

There had been no pocket to affect his thinking, then.  Perhaps an oddity of the flow of time had nothing to do with his behavior.

She worried at her lip and thought of the scraps of leather lined up on the table partway behind her.  “…Link?” she asked.

“Yeah, Zel?”

His voice sounded thick.

She stroked his hair and took a deep breath.  “What is the leather for?”

His eyelashes fluttered against her skin.  He lifted his head to look at her.  “Frog tents.”

“…Frog tents?”

“And mats and blankets, and I was thinking of making cute little sets of leather frog armor, but I figured that was just me being a little bored and not actually something that would spruce up the habitat, though the kids would sure enjoy it.  Maybe we should get them to make some.”

Zelda breathed a sigh of relief.  “You-“ she shut her mouth.  Should she say something?

“Zelda?”

She smiled, her thoughts turning.  “Link- you… you worried me yesterday.  Considerably.”

He looked nonplussed.  “I did?  How?”

She gave him a look, then patted his shoulders—he released her.  She walked over to her hung shorts.  She reached into one of the storage pockets and removed a birch branch.

She returned to Link and held it out to him expectantly.

He just stared at her.  He flicked his eyes to the branch once.  Then he stared some more.  “Uh.”

“What… would you do with this if I gave it to you?” she asked.

Link scratched the back of his head.  “I mean… usually I’d whack a bokoblin with it- ONLY if it was red, mind you.  But now with the pond, I could give it to the frogs like all the other stuff.”

She blinked at him. “You could… what?”

“Yeah, I can arrange it around the pond- well… it’s really in the corner, I didn’t want to put it right next to the water.   It looks pretty neat already but it’s not even close to finished yet.  It’ll be like a little frog village.  Little log seats and tents, and an itty bitty frog campfire for them to sit at, and little mats for them to sleep on, and…” he trailed off at the look on her face.  “What?”

“You haven’t been eating these?”

He stared at her.

Then he burst out laughing.  “What?!”

She spread her arms wide.  “You have been- taking bites of wood, and bark, and even rocks—though granted this is not the first time I’ve seen you eat rock-“

“Salt’s a rock.”

“That is beside the point, Link, the darling, obtuse love of my life.”  She gripped his shirt with two fists and put some of her weight on them.  It made him lean over with a bit of a droll smile on his face.  “You were displaying- extraordinarily odd behavior once more.  Please, please, explain your actions if not to sate your seemingly inexhaustible hunger while inside the pocket?”

“You thought I was eating wood because I was too hungry?”

“Of course!”

He huffed a laugh.  “Why wouldn’t I just ask you for actual food?”

“I wondered the same thing!”

“You could’ve asked me why.”

She blinked, drawn up short.

His thumbs drew gentle shapes on her biceps.  His eyes wandered all over her features.  One eyelid twitched just slightly more shut.  “Why didn’t you ask?” His voice had softened so much.

Her mouth opened and shut, her fingertips on his face again.  She made a study of his features with them, moving from place to place.

Link’s nostrils flared a second before she noticed the burning smell.

“Sh-!” he leapt almost comically over the table (comically except that he was Link, so the leap itself was graceful and perfectly executed to place him directly in front of the stove).  “Ahhh, this happens so much…” He flipped the offending flapjack with a flick of his wrist.  The underside was, indeed, rather burnt, but she knew he’d finish cooking it anyway.

He didn’t turn around.

His shoulder blades shifted as he jiggled the pan.

Zelda circled the table, arriving at his side, his nearer hand still on the pan’s handle.  “Link?”

His face turned toward her, and while he showed no outward sign of tears, she knew that face on him.  They weren’t far off.

She caressed his bicep, his hairline where his head and neck met.  “What is it?”

He half-laughed, shutting his eyes and leaning into the hand at his neck, just for a moment.  “You tell me.  You… didn’t answer my question.”

Her cheek came to a slow rest at his shoulder, her eyes on his, at a loss to explain.  She didn’t know where to start.

Her silence seemed to hurt him, almost bodily.  He winced.  He moved the pan onto a thick potholder.  He pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut.  He took a few deep breaths before returning his eyes to hers.

“Well, you wanted to know what I was doing, so… I was just trying to make you laugh.  At first, I mean.”  His smile was very, very weak.  “The joke didn’t land, huh?”

Her eyes had widened a little.  “I.. thought-“

“It’s okay,” he said.  A small smirk touched his face.  “I’m funnier when I’m not trying.”

A small laugh puffed out her nose.

“Oh ho!  Yeah, see?  I thought so.”

“I am sorry, Link.  I thought it was hunger because you were simply insatiable all morning.”

He flashed his eyebrows twice.

She giggled. “That is not what I meant.”

He smiled anyway.

“You devoured breakfast, lunch, and every other piece of food I passed to you while you were in there!”

He shook a little in a laugh, though his face remained far less than jovial.  “How is this unusual?”

“Do you realize how much food it was?”

“OH yeah.”

“And you were still hungry?”

“I’m always hungry.  I can literally always eat.”

“You say that, but your stomach must be of limited size.”

Link shrugged.

“I’d begun to wonder if I the space you were in was affecting you.”

“Well, again… I don’t understand why you didn’t just ask me.”

The shadow she’d been seeing in him became all the more obvious.

“Link… you always say you’re alright.”

He shrugged.  “I always am.”

“No, you are not,” she blurted, surprising even herself.  “Link… I see it in you.”  She pressed her hands to his face, cradling him.  “You’ve not been- you’ve never been the same since I came back,” she said, almost whispering.  “I see it there, in your eyes- and more than that.  It’s a change in your entire body, your full self.  Yet you always insist you’re alright.  I do not ask because-“ she just realized it herself- “you would not tell me truthfully.”

She could see him floundering, but her mouth would not stop.  “You have been acting strangely.  For months, you were collecting korok- seeds- with such fervor, willing to leave me for long stretches of time, which had up to that point been quite unusual for you—and you refused to tell me what that was about, too. And then-“ she snapped her fingers- “nothing.  No more.”  She softened at the odd twitching which appeared in his left cheek—she’d no wish to come across as harsh—she simply could not contain it any longer.  “Your night excursions worried me at first, too, and then especially when you mentioned the forest.”

“But,” he cut in, “you know what it was about now, right?”

“Yes, obviously now I know,” she said.

He shook his head, then cocked it strangely at her.  More quizzical than she’d ever seen him be—there was another word for it.  She couldn’t quite place it, perhaps because she’d never seen it on his face.

“So… why are you… still worried?” he asked.

She ducked, seeking his eyes from below.  “How can you not know?”

He splayed his hands wide, face up, shaking his head.  “I- don’t!”

“Link.  You spent months feverishly collecting pellets of korok dung!”

He blinked.  A lot.

Then he looked somewhere straight above Zelda’s head.

“Oh,” she sighed, her face in her hands.  “I- I am sorry, Link, it was obvious you didn’t know, and that in and of itself wasn’t my concern.  Why- why collect them in the first place?  Even if they were seeds in the literal sense?”

Link groaned.  Then he grabbed her biceps and rested his forehead on hers with a flabbergasted smile.  “Wow.  Wow.  Okay, so, yeah, I didn’t know they were turds.  Holy Hylia, I could kill Hestu.”

“Who is Hestu?”

Link shook his head.  “Tell you later.  No, you know what?  I’ll introduce you later.  We can shake the maraca tree together.”

Zelda opened her mouth, but Link shushed her with his fingerpad on her lips.  “I get it.  Why you thought I was nuts.  Because that’s what this is about, right?  You thought I was losing it, so you didn’t want to ask me, because of course if I was really insane I wouldn’t know anyway, so the answer doesn’t matter.  Does that about sum it up?”

Her eyes welled with tears.

“Hey- hey- no, no no no, please.  Don’t cry.” He kissed both her eyelids with a loving smile.  “Yeah, I’d’ve thought you were losing it if you were collecting feces without it being some kind of study.”

She burst into a tearful giggle.  “But not if it were a study.”

“No, pff!  Of course not.  You’ve studied nastier things.  But that’s kind of my point.  Like- I really thought I had given the game totally away when I told you I didn’t have enough seeds.”

“I… don’t understand.”

“Did I never tell you this??  Hestu- who you will meet- is the guy who does the magic to expand the pockets.  And you have to pay him in korok seeds to do it.”

“What?!”

“Yeah!”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“That’s absurd!”

“He’s a trickster.  Now I know!”

“What would he possibly want them for?”

“His maracas.”

“His what?!”

“His maracas!  He sticks them inside and shakes them around and does this ridiculous dance and BOOM—expanded pockets!  He can even make spaces within the spaces which is how I can keep all my swords separate, and my bows, and… and…”

He must have seen the look on her face.

“So…” she said, “if anyone is mad, it is this Hestu.”

Link snorted.  “I sure hope so.  Because if not, then it’s still me who’s lost his hold on reality.”

Zelda smiled at him.  “I would love you anyway.”

He took his time folding her into his arms.  “I know.”

“I… am still surprised you were willing to leave me for such long stretches of time.  I was becoming lonely.  At least, now, I know the entire ordeal was with the aim of creating a truly spectacular pair of shorts.”

He shook with silent laughter against her.  “Yeah.  Though… I was also trying to leave you alone.”

Her arms pressed him extra-tightly for a beat of her pulse.  “Why?”

Two puffs of air exited him quick, fluttering the hair near her temple.  “Because it’s been so hard to.”

The shadow in his eyes had risen to the surface, bared for her.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said, soft, her lips near his, her eyes treating each of his to touch after touch of her sincerity.

Link cupped her face and kissed her, his lips a bare brush, a gift of pure emotion, nothing taken.  “It was.  Shhh- I know.  I know what you’d say, but it was my fault.  I dropped.  And it wasn’t because I couldn’t stand.  It was because-“ a disgusted laugh left him- “it hurt.”

“Link,” she said, aghast.  “The gloom killed your arm while still upon your body!  It took even your shoulder.  You were in agony-“

“But I could have stayed standing.”  The loathing in his unfocused stare found her shrinking, though she knew it directed toward himself.  “It would’ve saved me about half a second.  When you fell.  And I’d have caught you.  As it was, I felt the air from your fingers as I missed.”

She couldn’t stop shaking her head, touching his face, his hair.  “Please.  Please, my love, do not do this to yourself.  Do you not see…?“ She straightened.  “You do.  You do see.  For if you didn’t, you would never be willing to leave me alone for a single instant of the rest of my life, ever.  Yet you already have.  You’ve intentionally forced yourself to do so.  And why?”

His eyes shut under her hands’ ministrations.  “Because I don’t want to drive you nuts.”

She nodded, her forehead against his so he could feel it despite his shuttered eyelids.  “Which means you recognize constant, incessant vigilance is unreasonable.  And if it is unreasonable under normal circumstances, it is certainly unreasonable in the case of an agonizing injury—one single moment in relation to it, and that is all.”  She kissed his cheek.  “It is not. Your.  Fault.”

A tear met the bow of her lip.

“Oh, Link,” she said, kissing it away.

“It feels like it is,” he said on nearly no air, his diaphragm having already crushed the rest from him.

She took him against her shoulder as he shook.  Saltwater jumped in fits and starts between the peach fuzz at the nape of her neck.  She stroked his hair.  “I know,” she said.  “I know it does.  We will work on this together, Link.  Alright?  When you feel this way, please speak to me.”

He nodded against her, the movement slowed by a nuzzle.

“And also… I do not at all mind you being my barnacle.”

A laugh burst from his mouth, cooling the freshly laid tracks of moisture on her.

“Please,” she chuckled.  “Do so as much as you wish.  In fact, do so even more, for I enjoy the unique sensation of my strides riding entirely upon yours.”

“You got it,” he said, his hand running warm over her back, as though he were the one comforting her.

She returned the gesture.

When Link recovered enough for his stomach to rumble, she insisted he sit.  She served him the one flapjack he’d successfully cooked.  She made the rest, and she did quite a good job of it, too (though in fairness, Link had already prepared the batter—by far the trickier part of the task).

They ate on the same side of the table, always touching. While Link had been right—she did want to study the pond-pocket carefully, and sooner rather than later—the day's priorities had changed. She decided to forego her investigation in favor of bed, where Link enthusiastically joined her.

--

Late at night, Link burst to wakefulness, shooting upright with a cry.

“Whhhhfauuha?” Zelda said, bleary.

“They’re all in on it!” Link said in horror.  “Every last one of them.  Every single korok.”  The look he turned on Zelda might’ve been lucid.

Or he might’ve been sitting up in his sleep.

She just laid the flat of her forearm on his chest and pushed him down, snuggling back up to sleep.  He didn’t resist.

--

“Hi, Hestu,” Link said, his smile completely relaxed.

“Link!  It’s good to see you.  Did you bring any more seeds for me?”

Link’s smile widened.  “Actually, today I brought the Princess to see you.”

“The PRINCESS?! Shakala!!!” Hestu waved his maracas in a ponderous mockery of semaphore.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Hestu,” Zelda said.  “Now please, in no uncertain terms, explain precisely why you manipulated Link into delivering thousands upon thousands of korok droppings to you in exchange for your inventory expansion services.”

The maracas went utterly still.

Zelda’s smile remained pleasant.

“Mmmm?” rumbled the Deku Tree’s voice.  “What has my grandson been doing?”

Hestu remained balanced on a single, awkward, stubby leg, maracas-out, his only movement a slight shivering of the leaves in his branches.  Then something hit the ground with a deep thump.

“I- I’ll be right back!” Hestu said, his wood-moustache shivering as he scampered with all the grace of a land-manatee down the path toward Mido Swamp.

Link stepped forward, feet shoulder-width apart, eyes groundward.  He nodded with a sniff.

“What is it?” Zelda asked.

Link tilted his head.  “Well.  You know that saying about shitting bricks?”

Zelda peered curiously past him.  “Oh.  My.”

“Yeah.”

“Well.”  She clasped her hands.  “Perhaps we should collect it.”

Link took an extremely long moment to turn and look at her.

The corner of her mouth twitched.

Link burst into relieved laughter.

“I couldn’t resist,” Zelda said.

[lukin08]

Up In The Air Chapter 9

Kristanna Modern AU

Rated T

WC 3048

Summary: Tired of her nomad lifestyle, traveling nurse Anna Arendelle on a whim picks Pensacola Florida as her new town to try find a sense of home. Meanwhile, Navy Pilot Kristoff Bjorgman has accepted a dream position at the Naval station in the same town. After a chance encounter goes south, the two of them find their lives entwined, with neither of them all that happy about it!

Also Available on AO3

Previous Chapter

“Anna!” Nicole exclaimed for the fifth time as Anna tried to justify another clash she had with Kristoff from the last year.

Kristoff couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face listening to Nicole reprimand Anna.  They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch with Nicole pacing in front of them.  He almost jumped out of his seat when Nicole directed her ire at him.

“I don’t know what you think is so funny.  You’re just as bad as Anna.”

Kristoff’s eyes went wide with the weight of Nicole’s words directed at him.  From the corner of his sight, he could make out the scowl on Anna’s directed at him.  It baffled him how someone as small as Anna could be so intimidating.  It made him slump down against the couch to minimize the space he was taking up.

After a while, Kristoff grew weary of hashing out the last year with Nicole.  All the arguments, his justifications, Anna’s wild versions of what really happened; it all brought back his annoyance again.  Kristoff laid his head against the back of the couch.  He knew all this was childish, but there was something about Anna he couldn’t shake and he was almost ashamed to admit he liked getting a rise out of her.  But now he was done for the night and looking for a way out.

“So,” Nicole finally said, putting her hands on her hips. “Do you think you can both be adults and make up?”

Anna sat back, crossing her arms.  “We’re all good as long as he stays away from me.”

“Don’t need an invitation for that,” Kristoff interjected, making his eye roll obvious.

“You see,” Anna said first looking at Nicole then focusing on Kristoff.  That look was back and he knew she was incapable of letting this go.  “I feel like you do.  It’s like you can’t stay away from me.”

He turned and glared at Anna.  “Yeah, like when you see a car wreck on the highway and can’t look away.”

“Kris!” Nicole reprimanded.

Anna shot forward, her arms out in a plea to Nicole.  “This!  This is what I’m talking about!  He doesn’t leave me alone.  He continues to bug me over and over like the mosquito he must have been in a former life.”

In the background, Sven was trying to stifle a laugh.  Kristoff shot Sven a stare and noticed Camilla was also laughing.

“Anna, I don’t think- “

Anna cut Nicole off “Or maybe a gnat. Whatever is more annoying.”  Anna flung herself back on the couch, her eyebrows scrunched together.

“Alright, that’s enough.”  Kristoff slapped his thighs and stood up.  His eyes scanned the group in the living room. “It’s been fun, but I realized I don’t have to sit here and take any of this.”  He started to move towards the door. 

“Kris, come on.  Don’t leave,” Nicole implored.

Kristoff paused, quickly shaking his head as he looked over at Nicole. “Nah, I think I will.  Enjoy the rest of your evening and your new friend.”  He turned back and took several large strides towards his exit.

“That’s not fair.  Please- “

Kristoff was already out the door slamming it behind him before Nicole could finish her sentence.

“…come back.” Nicole turned back to Anna, a defeated look across her face.  “I’m sorry.  That’s not what I wanted to happen.”

Anna waived her off, pretending Kristoff storming off didn’t bother her.  “I’m used to it.  People have been doing that all my life.”

********************

The light raps on the door made Kristoff flinch.  He jumped up hoping it wasn’t Boss coming to reprimand him for not joining the group for dinner.  He wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone, the madness from Monday still a fresh wound.  Kristoff was hoping that leaving for the show would give him some reprieve, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

Sven was on the other side grinning from ear to ear. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding.”

Kristoff sighed.  “What do you want, Sven?”

“Can I come in?  Thought we could watch a movie.”

Kristoff took a step back and gestured for Sven to come into the room.  “Is Boss pissed?”

“Nah.  He gets it.  We all have our off times.  But you missed a hell of a dinner.  What did you do anyway tonight?  Sulk in here?”

“I went for a run if you must know.”

Sven shrugged and looked around.  “At least you weren’t hanging out at the bar alone.  Which bed are you using?”

Sven jumped on the opposite bed that Kristoff pointed to and started scanning for movies.  Kristoff went and sat in his own bed against the headboard.  Thankfully Sven picked a comedy he didn’t have to think about.

“I wasn’t hiding.”

“Ok.”

“I just didn’t want to be around anyone.”

“If that’s what you say.”

“There’s a difference.”

“Is there?”

Kristoff didn’t respond.  Thankfully Sven let it drop and focused back to the TV.  After the movie, they switched on a game from the West Coast that was still on.  In as bad of a mood Kristoff had been in all week, he was still grateful for moments like this.  To have his best friend come in and do something as simple as watching a movie with him was something Kristoff didn’t take for granted.  They had spent the last ten years seeing each other a few times a year and it was nice not to have to worry about that for at least a few years.  

But Kristoff knew Sven also had an ulterior motive.  They needed to talk about what happened on Monday.  Sven wasn’t going to let Kristoff get away with that, but he was giving Kristoff the space to bring it up.

Finally, Kristoff relented.  He couldn’t take the dead space between them. “How angry is Nicole with me?”

Sven waived his finger, smiling as he looked at the TV.  “Now that is who you need to be worried about.  Not Boss.  Glad to see you finally figured that out.”

Kristoff winced.  “That bad, huh?”

Sven turned towards Kristoff.  “She’s more disappointed than angry.” He stared over at Kristoff for a few moments before breaking out into a grin.  “How was that? I was practicing my dad voice.”

The pillow hit Sven square in the face. He yelped as he fell back.  “Damn, Kris,” Sven said as he rubbed his nose.  “You didn’t have to throw it that hard.”

Then don’t be a smart ass all the time.”

Sven laid there for a few minutes looking over at the game again.  He let out a small chuckle before he spoke.  “Look man, I think this is funny as hell.  I mean what are the chances?”

“Just my luck.”

“You know, I think there’s a part of you that actually enjoys all the bickering with Anna.”

“Yeah, ok.”

“No really.  She keeps you on your toes. A little bit of a challenge.”

“Can we not talk about Anna. I’m more concerned about Nicole and the possibility of never being allowed to step foot at your doorstep again.”

“Nicole’s not mad at you.  She’s frustrated with the situation.  If I had to describe it, she’s more sad than anything.”

That wasn’t the response Kristoff expected. “Sad?”

“Yeah, you know,” Sven’s arms fell to his side. “She really likes Anna and you’re like a brother to her.  She was hoping everyone would get along.  Now it’s all fucked up and if you two are going to butt heads all the time…”  

“I don’t have to go to anything that Nicole wants Anna at. If it makes it easier, don’t worry about me.  I’m fine.”

Sven shifted again and looked Kristoff in the eyes.  “No, that’s not ok.  I’m asking you as my best friend. Don’t make Nicole choose.  Don’t do that to her.” 

Guilt washed over Kristoff.  He knew Sven was right, but all he could do was nod back.

“As entertaining as it is, can you at least try not arguing with her as much?  Maybe keep it to a light banter around Nicole.”

Kristoff wanted to scoff at the request, but he held it in.  “Yeah, bud.  I’ll try.”

Sven smiled and sat back. “Good, because Nicole invited Anna to the Memorial Day remembrance.”

“She what?!”

“Hey, you’ve been warned with plenty of advance notice.” Sven pointed a finger at Kristoff.  

It was enough for Kristoff to only let out a small grumble before turning back to the tv.  They settled back into watching the game a now comfortable silence between them.  After a few minutes Sven spoke again.

“I have to ask you something.  I’ve held back asking you forever, but now you owe me.”

“What?”

“If that night you met Anna hadn’t gone to shit.  Don’t tell Nicole this by the way, but I’m on your side with that.  But if things hadn’t gone sideways, would you have asked to see her again?”

The question hung out between them. Kristoff could feel the weight of it in his chest.  He didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to say it out loud.  But Sven was right.  Kristoff owed him.

“Yes,” he said flatly not taking his eyes off the TV.

********************

The wing was void of any activity as Anna walked down the corridor.  The hospital was inching closer to the pediatric wing opening and it was exciting to see it start to take shape.  But the walk to the new wing was quiet and it felt lonely with all the lack of activity.  Anna did her best to shake off that isolating feeling that always seemed to be stalking right behind her and walked faster to the last set of doors

The committee was meeting to take a tour of the progress. She couldn’t wait to really get to work, making the area an inviting place for the children and their families.  Beyond the state-of-the-art equipment, there were murals, decorations, books and toys all waiting to fill up the space. She walked through the doors and into an open space that would be a staging and area for families waiting for doctor appointments.  The whole room would be lined with bookshelves and interactive toys.  

Anna stopped when she noticed Kristoff sitting on one of the benches, hunched over with his back turned to her.  It was just her luck that he’d be the first one here.  He looked towards Anna briefly as she started walking again only to turn back without any acknowledgement.

She rolled her eyes.  Kristoff was not going to get under her skin today.  At least that was the mantra she had been repeating to herself all day.  It was the first time they had seen each other since the incident, as Anna referred to it, at Nicole’s and there was no way she was going to let him think it rattled her.  She threw her shoulders back and purposely walked over to a chair near him.

He nodded her existence when she sat down.  Anna quickly pulled out her phone after a quick hello.  She did a good job ignoring him for all of thirty seconds when she noticed something in his hands.  He was flipping through note cards and when she looked closer, she could see handwriting on them.  Anna was intrigued.  Studying him closer, Kristoff was not his usual cool collected self.  In fact, he almost looked nervous.

With a sly grin, Anna leaned forward, getting closer to Kristoff.  “What’cha got there Cap?”

“Huh?” Kristoff glanced up at Anna, almost startled before he was able to put on his emotionless mask on his face.  He quickly cleared his throat. “Nothing.”

Anna grinned.  “Come on, share.”

“It’s none of your business.”  He sat back against the bench, looking towards the entrance like he was willing someone to walk through.

Anna didn’t relent. “What is it? Top secret?”

“No.”  He looked back down at the cards he was holding, tapping them on his thigh.  “Why do you care anyway?”

“Just curious what’s making you so nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“Right.”  Anna shook her head.  “Then why do you look like your about to be called into the principal’s office?”

He let out a loud sigh, slumping his shoulders.  “It’s that obvious?”

“Yes, unless you’re going for the about to yack up your breakfast look.”

Kristoff chuckled and it almost made Anna smile knowing she cracked what she thought was the impervious shell he wore.  “I, uh, have a presentation to give this afternoon.”

Anna sat back, crossing her arms.  “And?”

“I had to do it last year too and let’s just say it could have gone better.”

“Who’s it for, the head of Navy or something?”

“Worse.  It’s for a bunch of high schoolers. 

Anna burst out laughing envisioning Kristoff giving some dry speech to a group of teenagers. “Oh, they ate you alive, didn’t they?”

“No, but only because it was the ROTC and a group of the sports teams.  This year I’m in front of a whole auditorium of these kids today. I’m toast.”

“It can’t be that bad.”  Anna held out her hand. “Gimme.”

It took a moment, but Kristoff finally relented and handed his notecards over to Anna.  She flipped through them, before stacking them together and handing them back to him.  “I take it back.  It is that bad.”

“Fuck.  But I have to cover certain topics and- “

Anna held out her hand to stop him.  “You fly jets for a living.”

“So?”

“So?!” Anna’s arms flew up in exasperation.  “You have the coolest job in the world!  Tell them about it.”

“It’s not really that glamorous,” Kristoff said, brushing her off.

“I don’t buy that for a second.  Come on, tell me something.”

Kristoff tilted his head at Anna. “Like what?”

“Like something about what you do.  What’s the best flight you ever had?”

Kristoff thought for a moment then broke into a small grin.  “It had to be dancing with the Northern Lights at 40K feet while flying North of the Artic circle.  I’ve never been so in awe of anything in this world as I was that night.”

Anna nodded in appreciation trying to imagine what Kristoff saw.  “And what’s the scariest thing about flying?  Teenager approved answers only.”

“That’s easy.  Night carrier landings in a storm with the carrier pitching and rolling.”

“Tell them that. Tell them about a time you had to do that.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.  Tell them what scares you, a funny story, why you love flying. Mix them into your presentation.”  Anna stood up, noticing some other people enter the room.  Then she added, “They’ll love it, and you might trick them into thinking you are actually human, not just a robot spitting out facts.”  Anna walked away, not giving Kristoff an opportunity to respond.

*******************

The tour went by too quickly for Anna.  Her head was filled with ideas on how to make the pediatrics wing an inviting space for the children and families.  There was a twinge of disappointment when the tour was over until the administrator giving the tour asked if anyone would like to visit the current pediatric area.  Anna lit up, jumping at the opportunity.

Unfortunately, everyone had to bow out except for Kristoff.   She was surprised he agreed to go over to the floor, convinced he would have ducked out at the first opportunity.  They followed the administrator until she said she needed to stop at her office and asked Anna to show Kristoff the way to the floor.

They walked in silence down the hallway, Kristoff keeping a step behind her.  

“Can I ask you something?” Kristoff asked, breaking the silence.

“Ask away, Cap.”

“Why did you decide to be nice to me earlier?”

A small grin came over Anna’s face.  “I don’t know if I was being nice.  Helpful, yes.  But they aren’t the same thing.”

“Ok fine.  Why were you helping me?”

“Pity.”

She saw Kristoff pull a face at her, but he didn’t say anything.  After a few moments, he responded.  “You got the talk, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“I knew it.  Guess we need to be on our best behavior.”

“Nicole is my friend and Sven too…don’t give me that face.  I’m not going to lose her because of you.  If it takes putting on the air of civility with you, then fine.”

“You stay in your lane, and I’ll stay in mine?”

“Exactly.”

Kristoff pondered that for a second before saying.  “I can live with that.”

The time on the pediatric floor flew by for Anna.  She was in her element stopping to talk to the children.  She made sure to talk to each of them, not leaving until she got a smile or laugh.  She even promised to come back to visit a few of the children on her breaks at work.  It was something she was looking forward to.

As she was getting ready to head out, she realized she hadn’t seen Kristoff.  He had come into a few of the first rooms with her not saying too much until a small child they met in the hall, enamored by his uniform, took his fingers in their hand and led him away.  He’d been gone since, and she figured he must have made his escape some time ago.

Anna did a double take, stopping quickly to back up when she swore she saw something out of the corner of her eye.  When she went to peer into the common play area for the children, there was Kristoff, sitting on the floor with a group of children surrounding him.  A young boy was pointing to his shoulder boards, asking about them and the service ribbons on his shirt.  

She leaned against the doorframe in disbelief.  “Wasn’t expecting that,” Anna said to herself.

Another nurse saw Anna and walked over, a large smile on her face.  She looked back at Kristoff. “He’s got a big group of fans.  Been here over an hour with all the kids.”

Before she could say anything, Kristoff caught her eye.  He gave her a small wave and a sheepish smile and Anna couldn’t help but return a warm smile.  Maybe she didn’t have Kristoff Bjorgman completely figured out.