#i hear it's the opposite listening to them spoken but alas i have a lot fewer opportunities for that

[astriiformes]

As someone who knows a fair bit of Norwegian, seeing written Danish and Swedish is so funny because like. Danish feels just a little bit uncanny, like just slightly to the left, to the point that I have gotten the two confused before. But Swedish just feels like you are messing with me on purpose.

[bbugyu]

a knight's honor + choi seungcheol

he hadn't expected rescuing you to be so simple, and you had been waiting for him in more ways than one.

part one | part two

wc.5868 | smut, flangst, royal au, princess!reader and knight!cheol, its like tangled meets shrek, i recognize that thats awful but i cant help it, this is (again) some soft dirty shit, title kinks, begging, overstim, kinda edging?, unprotected sex (its like ye olden times ok pregnancy was magic and stds were curses), pls have safe sex irl, cream pie, unrealistic representation of how virgins have sex but thats why its erotica, vague mention of sexual harrassment of minors (wanted to include this just in case), cursing (this should be a given at this point)

this was originally meant to be a goofy drabble based off of this post from @hansols-yoda-boxers and then i predictably got extremely carried away and wrote something way too angsty, only carried a couple of comedic elements, and then doused it all in porn with too much plot. thanks for the inspo, mercy!

*

seungcheol swiftly rode through the oversized halls of the castle, leading the dragon further from the living quarters. further from the tower. further from you. he knew you had waited for someone like him to arrive, and he felt awful for making you wait even longer, but dragons were far too long living to be slain. they were meant to be outsmarted.

his trusty steed galloped, only slowing to turn sharp corners, causing the dragon to crash into the walls as it tried to follow. the halls got narrower, and seungcheol said a word of encouragement to his horse as it neared a closed wooden door.

the door burst open with an explosion of splinter and hooves into a nearly empty dining hall, and the dragon crashed into the doorway and clawed desperately at the floor as it tried to fit its too large body through the narrow opening. as it realized its folly, it tried to back out, but the force at which it was chasing seungcheol had wedged its body further into the doorway than expected. he grinned victoriously, patting his steed's neck and urging it towards the other hall entrance as the dragon roared in his wake.

and again, he rode, as fast as his horse would take him back to you, his almost too long hair blown back by the speed. a smile creeped onto his face. had it really been that easy? they could be back to the royal castle by sundown. he was never one to brag, but he wondered how so many could have failed before him if all he had to do to succeed was lead the dragon away until it trapped itself.

he was a well revered knight at home. he was smart, strong, and he knew how to speak diplomatically. he had climbed ranks young, younger than any before him. the king had taken a liking to him years earlier, so much so that he had delayed seungcheol's mission to save his daughter in fear that he would fail. not because he didn't believe in him, no, seungcheol had always been their best bet by far, and he had argued to be sent sooner, but the king had always denied his requests. because no one in eight years had ever succeeded. because he saw seungcheol as the son he had never been given. because he refused to lose yet another child to the foul beast. 

he flew off his horse at the base of the stairwell, giving her a reassuring pat and eyeing the stone walls that were stroked with bright colors and patterns. his fingers followed the painted seam of a leaf before he hopped up the first few steps, hand landing on the hilt of his sword, unsure if he would truly be able to save you without a fight. the stairs wound upwards, and seungcheol lost track of how many steps he had taken less than halfway. even still, the discomfort of the hike dissipated as he approached a large wooden door, and he took the last few steps quickly in anticipation.

he almost tested the handle, then thought better. he leaned against the door with a hand instead, listening. "princess?"

he heard wood shift against stone. "who goes there?"

your voice even sounded beautiful though the thick wood of the door, with a lilt that he almost recognized. "my princess, i am sir seungcheol, a knight of your father's table, and i've come to rescue you from this abandoned castle."

there was a pause, then he hurriedly backed away from the door as he heard approaching footsteps. the door swung open inwards, and he was doused in the sunlight that streamed from the room you lived in.

you were beautiful, he thought. even more beautiful than the legends said. perhaps they had tried their best, but seungcheol knew they hadn't seen you like he could now. he remembered when he was lucky enough to have met you briefly at a spring festival, back when such things happened in the kingdom. before you were taken and the happiness had left. he remembered the way you smiled and danced with him as only a child, but being viewed through his wide, curious eyes, wondering why the kingdom's only princess had held his hand and swung him around her in the plaza. his heart felt light as he saw the same features upon your face, matured and even more lovely than ever. he wondered if you remembered him, too, despite knowing that you had danced with likely a hundred others, though only some of them as young as he had been. he was so caught up in thinking about how he may be the first in the kingdom to see you since your taking, he hardly noticed the look you were giving him, one hand on the door and the other on your hip.

"you didn't kill her, did you?"

seungcheol blinked. "k-kill her?"

"penelope. the dragon," you specified, despite feeling as though you truly shouldn't have to. "you didn't kill her?"

his hand left the hilt of his sword, and he kneeled, bowing his head as he remembered who you were to him. "no, my princess. slaying dragons is not something i would do willingly."

you stared at him, his dark hair grazing over his eyes as he looked back at you in awe, and your gaze softened at his words of respect to the powerful race. no one had ever made it this far, not the entire time you had lived in this castle. when he had arrived, you were with penelope in the garden, and she spotted the horse riding dutifully towards the castle. you questioned her noises, then watched her gaze, quickly mounted her back and allowed her to take you back to your tower as the horse neared. you had heard penelope when she roared in the distance - the same roar she gave when you had to help her untangle from a chained chandelier last week - and you had wondered how he trapped her. how he outsmarted her. although, you thought. it was before midday, and penelope had always been slightly slower in the mornings.

nevertheless, there was a handsome man kneeling before you, with a proven heart of gold and a penchant for calling you his princess, and you had been feeling particularly lonely as the recent weeks dragged on.

you reached down for his hand, which he extended to meet yours. he kissed the back of your hand briefly before rising to his feet again, his eyes never leaving your face. "princess, if i may speak freely-"

"you may," you said, looking up to him expectantly.

"you are the most beautiful being i have ever laid my eyes upon. are you sure you're not a goddess?"

you felt your chest set aflame at the compliment. "sir seungcheol, if i didn't know you were a knight, i would say you were courting me."

you smiled when his eyes got big, realizing his mistake. "milady, i apologize, i did not mean to-"

"hush, my brave knight." his jaw clenched when you purred the words to him, pulling him by the hand into your living quarters.

he looked about the round room, taking in as much of it as he could. the ornate canopy bed opposite the door, against the only flat wall in the tower. where the walls jointed on one side, there was a steep staircase leading up to a lofted area, and on the other, a door. the windows were large and let in lots of light, one of which was pushed open to allow a breeze to waft through the room. large bookshelves curved along one side, with a ladder expertly positioned under the section you were currently reading through. the tall walls were covered in paintings, some old and sunwashed, while others were as vibrant as the blue sky, and many that fell somewhere between. a hobby you had picked up with time, he supposed, before he remembered the similar paintings he had seen at the base of the stairwell. had you been brave enough to venture down there, as well, when you had run out of space here? he noticed a table to his right, at which there was an askew wooden chair. that must have been where you were sat when he arrived, and he moved towards it, finding a notebook and a quill. he looked away from your neat handwriting, not wishing to invade your privacy, before hearing you shut the door. 

"i've never had visitors."

he stared at you as you closed the small gap between the two of you. "i-"

"you didn't mean to visit, i know," you said, fingers running up the chainmail on his forearm. "you meant to rescue. but alas, sir seungcheol, i may have once been prisoner here, but the fearsome penelope has grown fond of me. i have been free to go for years."

he watched your face, his fingers itching to reach for you. "my princess, what keeps you here, then? so far from the kingdom that loves you?"

you exhaled lightly, realizing you hadn't spoken to anyone but a dragon about anything for far too long, much less these feelings. perhaps sir seungcheol wasn't the worst person to confide in, if he had made it past your tenacious penelope. "i was still so young when i was taken, but even then, my parents only ever spoke of me as a pawn for the kingdom." your voice was quieter than you intended, and you noticed seungcheol's shoulders tense, not wanting to react poorly to his king's action, but unable to not empathize with you. "i was a disappointment from birth for not being a son. all they wanted me for was to marry someone from a powerful family. that was my role to them, and the sooner the better. when i was taken, i was almost thankful." you thought a moment, and seungcheol watched you like he was on the edge of his seat. "fate bought me some time."

"my princess, i'm sorry," he paused, hesitating. "i didn't realize the hardship-"

"how old were you?" you asked, interrupting him before he could claim you had a hard life. you didn't. you knew that. you were luckier than most. "were you a knight before i left?"

he looked down at you, your eyes large as you questioned him. "n-no, i pledged because of your taking."

you smiled vaguely. "you joined to save me?"

seungcheol's eyes hid from yours suddenly. "yes, i suppose that is why," he said, adjusting his belt and the equipment that hung from it. your eyes flicked downwards as he cleared his throat. "it happened a week before my sixteenth birthday. i volunteered as soon as i could."

you watched his adam's apple bob as he swallowed, still avoiding your gaze and instead staring at the paintings adorning the walls. sixteen was the youngest anyone was allowed to enlist, but none that joined that young ever got knighted. you thought of the dedication he must have had at such a young age, but you remembered that you had befriended a dragon at the same age. "you're not much older than i, then."

his lip folded under his teeth, eyes on a deep purple painting of the dragon - penelope, you had called her. "i know."

just then, the floor shook with a low grumbling roar. your eyes went to the window. "sounds like penelope escaped your trap."

seungcheol's hand went to his sword immediately, and you pushed his hand away from the hilt.

"please, sir seungcheol," you gave him a teasing look. "she only bites if i want her to."

he looked at you, hearing the gust of strong flapping wings approaching. "do you want her to?"

you smiled. "not at all."

you went to the window as the dragon approached, the tower being cast in darkness as her wings obscured the windows and shaking as she gingerly gripped it, her head poking in through the opening. he wondered how often she did that. if the tower was at risk of collapsing from her visits.

"are you okay?" you asked, placing a hand on her snout. "he didn't hurt you, did he?"

seungcheol swallowed hard as he watched you, doing his best to not show fear. he had spent six years training to, against his better judgement, slay the so-called "ruthless" dragon that had killed many knights before him, yet here you were, baby talking to it. and it was chirping in response. he allowed the two of you to exchange words and grunts for longer than he felt comfortable, but he truly wasn't in much of a state to stop you.

"well, go on, then," you said finally. "go take a nap, you had a hard morning, we shouldn't get any more visitors for a few weeks."

the dragon let out a gentle roar, and sunlight flooded back into the room as it left, flapping away. he approached you as you watched her, and he wondered if you intended to stay here forever.

"she only kills people with wicked hearts," you said quietly.

seungcheol stood beside you by the window, watching your profile. "she can sense them?"

you nodded, and he thought of all the brave men that had come before him only to never return. he had idolized them, once, when he was too young to understand, but he knew she was right. they only dreamt of the riches saving her would bring them. men the age of your father bragging that they would bring you back for you to be made their queen, giving them the kingdom. you would be indebted to them, they had said. he wondered how the men that had sworn to protect the kingdom and its inhabitants could speak such vulgar words about the one and only princess, especially when you had been only a child when you were taken. seungcheol was the youngest knight among them, the youngest to be accepted of any trainees, even to this day. bottom of the pecking order. he knew if he said something, he would never get the chance to save you for the right reasons. to try. to succeed. so he had kept his mouth shut for far too long. now, he thought, they had gotten what they had deserved.

"i've been waiting," you sighed, turning to look up at him, his gaze shooting away from yours on instinct. "for a man with a good heart. a man smart enough to be worthy of my hand."

seungcheol stared at the open window as you walked behind him, trying to understand your words in a way that did not mean him. "p-princess, i don't think i under-"

you tugged at the ties of his armor, remembering well the way your home army built it. he jumped, grasping at the metal chest plate before it clattered against the ground. "sir seungcheol, why don't you stay a while?"

he leaned the chestplate against the wall and spun to face you, brows furrowed. he had sworn to protect and serve you blindly, giving up any family he may have dreamed of having in the past. he had rejected courtship in favor of being fully prepared to die in an attempt to save you from your prison. and when he found you, my god, he couldn't have been more blown away. you were more stunning than he could have ever imagined, a radiance to you that was indescribable. he wanted to take you home, to the kingdom he called home. to your parents, the king and queen, and to reunite the royal family for the first time in nearly a decade. he wanted to see the way he had imagined your face would light up at the reunion. but you…

your hands landed on his chest, now only covered by a cotton tunic, your fingers splayed across the toned muscle beneath the fabric. "i've… never had visitors…"

your repeated phrase read like a plea, and his hands instinctively went up to hold you in comfort. your eyes met his again, and he begged to any god that would listen for a way to say no. but the way your gaze held his, your small hands against his pounding chest, the way your teeth briefly pulled back your lower lip…

he prayed for forgiveness for breaking oath before he raised a hand to your jaw, leaning down into you.

your fingers gripped at his tunic in anticipation as your lips met, and you sighed happily at the contact. his lips were soft and plush against yours, and you considered how lucky you were that the knight smart enough to reach you was also incredibly beautiful. his eyelashes brushed against your cheek before he pulled away, and he held your face near his.

"my princess, why me?" he searched your eyes. "i've already sworn my life to serve you. you could have any prince in th-"

"oh, hush," you smiled briefly. "my dear, sweet, noble seungcheol. you being the one to reach me has been service enough."

though seungcheol would never desire to oppose you, he disagreed. he had so much more to do for you. he pulled your waist into him, kissing you deeper. you moaned into his mouth, and he thought you sounded more angellic than any choir he had ever heard. his fingers dug into the fabric of your dress, and he wondered briefly how much you wanted from him. how horribly would he desecrate the oath of knightship for your sake? everything in him yearned for you, a feeling he had never fathomed before. how could he possibly say no, when your body was against his, begging for him to say yes?

you pulled at the strings holding his armguards, letting the chainmail and leather clatter to the floor on either side of you, and seungcheol watched you, swollen lips parted slightly, as you unthreaded the corset of your dress.

"seungcheol?"

his dark eyes met yours, an involuntary reaction to you calling him casually shooting straight to his groin. his hands were on your waist when his tongue shot out to wet his suddenly dry lips. "how can i serve you better, princess?"

you smiled slowly, pulling your hair away from your nape as you spun in his grip. "help me out?"

seungcheol's voice may have wavered slightly when he said "of course," but his motions were anything but hesitant. you briefly wondered if he had done this for any women before you, taking down their dress ties and coaxing the material off their shoulders like he did yours. or, perhaps, you thought excitedly. perhaps he just had a sister at home, or he had aided his mother in the past, and this would be something new for him, as well.

the tunic and corset fell from your form, leaving you in a thin slip and your undergarments, and you turned again, stepping out of the fabric around your ankles to push into seungcheol's chest, pushing him towards the bed in which you spent every night alone for far too long, your lips desperately seeking his. his fingers gripped around your waist, and he felt the warmth of your beautiful skin on his fingertips through the cotton material that kept him from seeing all of you, and it ignited something in him.

seungcheol slipped an arm below your hips to lift you slightly, swinging you over and walking you to your neatly made bed. his clothes, he thought. he had ridden through mud that morning. he sank to his knees as he placed you at the foot of the bed, not wanting to bring the taint of the outside world into the sheets you dreamt upon. you held him, down on one knee between your split legs, as his lips trailed down your neck, and his hands ran down the curve of your hip in a hurry. your hands never left his neck, his nape, his shoulders. you felt him tense at your vocal reaction to his touch. you adored the way he touched you. like you were a sculpture. a beautiful form in clay, and he had to swipe the pads of his fingers over every inch to make sure it was right. you were nothing less than perfection to him, and he had to make sure his sculpture represented the curve of your waist well, and the way it met your breasts, then down your spine and over your hip, feeling around your ass before running down your thighs. you sighed and moaned, making his fingers tense on whatever flesh he was grasping at those moments, and you wondered if all of it would feel this good.

"seungcheol," you said suddenly, hands cradling his skull as he paused his hushed praises of your collarbones to look up at you. "i'm not asking this of you as your princess."

a small smile tugged at his cheeks, dimpling them, understanding what you wished to clarify. "princess," he addressed, but with a dark tonal change that had you tingling for contact. "i'm not doing this as your knight."

you only managed to smile at him briefly before he dug his hands under your slip, pulling the cotton over your head. he tossed it somewhere behind you, but it didn't matter, because you didn't even have time to be annoyed that he was severely more dressed than you before his mouth dipped to your core.

you gasped, hard, the feeling of his tongue on your clit through your panties, and you grasped at his hair desperately. seungcheol only grunted when you stuttered out his name, and he only looked up at you, still tasting at you through the fabric. "christ, seungcheol, i'm sensitive."

he nodded, lulling you into a false sense of reprieve as he pulled away, but it almost felt like pity when all he said was "you taste too good," and all he did was pull your panties down your thighs. you didn't see where those got discarded, either, because you were too distracted by the stars that danced across your canopy, you back arcing over your bed at the feeling of seungcheol's tongue pressing into you, his lips latching around your sensitive hood and making you squeal out repetitions of his name, gripping at anything you could. his hands held your thighs up, out of his way, but in a position comfortable for you, letting you settle your legs where it felt best. he could feel your walls tensing around his languid muscle, and your grip on his hair, right at the crown of his skull, made him throb in need. you cried out loud, and if you were capable of coherent thought as you came hard, and directly on his tongue, you would have been asking why it never felt this good when you had gotten yourself off. maybe seungcheol was the answers to your prayers after all.

his eyes met yours again when you finally managed to open them, and he licked a wide stripe up your pussy. you could almost focus on his pupils, dilated in lust, and he tugged at the ties around his riding boots. he pulled you to sit up as he stood, pressing your lips together again. you moaned, tasting yourself on him, your arms instinctively draping themselves around his shoulders as he hurriedly undid his belt buckle. you adjusted your posture, and you were tugging at where his tunic was tucked into the belt he was stripping away from his body, pulling it over his head as soon as he dropped his equipment on the ground. you were on your knees at the foot of your bed, your hands skating up his gorgeous torso, still not over how insanely lucky you felt to have been found by possibly the most perfect man in existence.

then, when he shoved his pants down his hips and his undergarments went with it, you were absolutely positive he was the most perfect man in existence.

his member was hot and heavy, and you had to swallow to stop yourself from drooling onto yourself as you sat back. you reached for it, and seungcheol hissed at the contact as your fingers wrapped around the shaft. his lips chased yours, hips inadvertently thrusting into your hand while he kicked off his boots. when he stopped, so did you, and his eyes opened to look your face up and down.

"princess, this would likely be punishable by death if i were any other knight."

you knew he was right, but you now knew that the two of you held all the cards. the tiniest detail he had implied - only punishable if he were any other knight. your father liked him. and he had saved his beautiful daughter and heiress to the throne. anything could happen from here, and you two would end up on top. you smiled, only enough for him to barely catch it as he caught his breath, then kissed him briefly. "let's make it worth while, then, shall we?"

seungcheol's stomach clenched at your words, his grip on your hips tight. he gave you a need filled kiss before flipping you onto your stomach, lifting your hips until your knees settled at an angle on either side of his legs. he held himself at your entrance, gathering your leaking juices on the head of his already red hot cock as you moaned helplessly into your blankets, your full chest pushing into the mattress. your hand skated down to him, brushing over his fingers on your hip before he grabbed it and pushed your hand against your back. you whined, trying your hardest to push back onto him despite him holding you off.

"you'll hurt yourself, princess," seungcheol warned, eyebrows crinkling as he tried to stave off his want to snap full into your velvety cushioned walls, only dipping himself into you a centimeter at a time. you could only whine again, then gasped once when his full head popped into you.

"please, seungcheol, please please," you begged, tears threatening your eyes as they stinged with want. your fingernails dug into his hand. "i need you. all of it. please."

he groaned at your pleas, his hips jerking ever so slightly as you moaned in response. he let go of your hand to grip your hips with both hands, and you scrambled, using your newly recovered limb to push yourself back into his hips. you screamed into your blanket as seungcheol let out a choked moan, suddenly fully sheathed in your warmth. you were breathing heavily, mind swimming at the feeling of him stretching you out wide, and all the incredible places he was hitting. it hurt, slightly, but god it hurt good. he paused, praying to god he didn't cum just from the feeling of you around him - he needed this, and he needed a lot of it. he would never forgive himself for cutting it off early.

you were gasping as you pushed your palms into the bed, moving your body forward and pushing back again, really savoring the way his thick cock fit snugly in you, the way it fucked into a sweet spot you had never reached before. your babbling became less coherent as seungcheol recovered his ability to move, pulling you back into his thrusting hips with a pleasantly tight grip around your waist. he leaned forward over you, pinching at your nipples before letting one hand roam down your stomach to your core. you yelped, your elbows buckling as his finger brushed against your clit. you collapsed into the mattress, though he was holding your hips up to where his met them repeatedly, and you moaned, desperately trying to lift yourself off of your own face. his other hand pulled your hair away from your neck, gripping it in a loose ponytail as he kissed your shoulder blade.

"you're the most perfect thing i've ever seen," seungcheol said breathlessly. "the most perfect thing i've ever felt."

you pressed your neck into the blanket, desperately twisting and trying to see him as you were steadily climbing towards a second release. you wanted to say something equally as poetic and sensual, but when his dark eyes found yours, and you moaned in the same moment, you had already said the most sensual thing you could have. and then, you swore you saw a dark smirk on his lips before they hungrily mouthed at yours.

you squirmed beneath him gasping and curling your toes as he pounded into you, the sound of his hips against your ass echoing off the far wall vaguely. your release came fast and hard, the same way he fucked you through it, and seungcheol used every ounce of discipline he had to keep himself away from ending this as you pleaded for him to cum with you, voice cracking as he snapped into you.

you were somewhere between babbling and crying, your vision blurred from a combination of the way his cock felt like heaven and the moisture that had accumulated in your eyes from the orgasm, and your hand grasped at his as it clumsily rubbed against your nearly spent clit. you laced your fingers with his, pulling it up to your breast, and he rolled a nipple between a finger and a thumb until you were pushing yourself back onto him again, desperate for more of what only he could give you.

you could only gasp when he pulled from you completely, your pussy aching as it stopped accommodating for seungcheol's considerable girth. your hands gripped at his shoulders as he rolled you over again, and you easily aided him in repositioning you on the bed, giving him ample space to toss you around as much as he wanted.

you attached your lips to his neck, starting to crave him deep in you again, if only he would just let go. you wanted to feel him chase after his high with no concern for you. you needed to feel his cum stain your walls. your open mouthed kisses down his pulse as you begged for him to just lose himself in you, and god did that sound delightful, but he didn't want to be done yet.

his still slick cock bumped into your clit, making you squeal against his shoulder, biting down briefly. his arm nearly buckled, and you registered the reaction just in time to bite down on his pulse as he pushed into you again.

with his knees on either side of your hips, he was curled over you, pulling your thighs down to sink you onto his cock. you wiped at his hair, slick with sweat now, and you imagined how lovely he would look in your mosaic wash tub in the room behind your bed, lit by the moonlight streaming through the window as you sat on his lap, taking in as much of him as you were now. you hoped he would be okay with staying long enough to fulfill some of your wandering youthful fantasies. his lips landed on yours again as you gripped at his hair, noises falling out of you as he split you in half.

he sat up, making his member curve into you addictively, and your back arched slightly in reaction. he ran his hands up your torso, curving around your breasts, playing with your nipples, rolling his hips gently into yours as you let out some of the most explicit and seductive moans seungcheol could have ever hoped to hear. you rolled your hips over his and he grunted, brow twitching inwards as he stared down at you. you looked back up at him, then rolled them again, making him drop his head. you pulled a deep moan from him with another roll, and as you continued your motions, his cock bulging into all your pressure points, you were whining for release as he was letting out short gasps, brows knit together. he suddenly laced his fingers with yours, then pulled your hips onto his abruptly with his palm on your thigh, and you shook with pleasure as you felt hot rope after hot rope make a complete mess of your cunt, your walls pulling him deeper, cum seeping out around the dick that took up too much space in you.

"fuck," he groaned, wiping back his damp hair as your nails scraped down his chest. "i didn't want to cum."

your mouth was hanging open and your eyes were only half lidded, and seungcheol thought he had never seen a more appealing expression in his life. "i needed you to."

his soul returned to his body as your words sent a rush of arousal into his body again, and he briefly wondered if he would ever stop wanting to be in you. he pulled one of your hands from his chest to place too gentle kisses across your knuckles, and he pumped into you slowly, white streaks leaking out as his cock steadily refilled the space. he pulled out, using a hand on his cock to collect some of the leaking cum and pushing it back into you. you practically wailed, fingers digging into his thighs as your messy cunt pulsed around him.

"s-s-" you whined, the name unable to be vocalised as he pumped deeper into you. "sss- s-!"

"yes, princess," he panted, a hand wrapping gently around your throat. despite there being no pressure, the warmth of his hand on you made you groan. his voice was low and harsh, like gravel. "am i serving you well?"

"s-sir," you gasped, finding the title easier to force out than his name in that moment. "i'm-m gon- god, s-seungcheol, i'm gonna-"

the hand on your throat slipped between your neck and the plush pillow, lifting your face up to be directly under his, and you watched him glower at you with a gap between your lips. "then cum, baby."

and with his chocolate eyes on yours, you quaked below him, clawing at his back and squeezing him tight. soon his lips were a comforting presence on yours, and your toes curled aimlessly with the backdrop of your ceiling as your face burned red, embarrassed by his ability to egg you on so successfully.

"you are incredible," seungcheol said finally, kissing at your squeezed shut eyelids. "how lucky am i that you saw something in me."

your eyes opened slowly, heat still radiating off your cheeks from your orgasm. "sir seungcheol, i think we may have been destined to cross paths."

he thought of the brief time you had danced with him at festival. the reason he dreamt of being a knight. the way your father took favor of him. the way his entire adolescence had been spent training to rescue you. perhaps, he thought. perhaps you were right.

and whether you were or not, when his lips met yours again and his hand caressed your cheek, you were once again nothing but putty in his hands. his fingers felt like they were designed to specifically hold your body, and he was that much closer to believing you were his destiny.

[hunflowers]

an angsty blurb, if you will. this was a tough one to write but i’m sad so imma make y’all sad with me :) also, it was not at all supposed to be this long but i suppose i got carried away lolz. and happy thanksgiving for all of you that celebrate *nose boops*

she wanted to cry. that’s all she wanted to do lately, was lay in bed, staring at the ceiling or the wall or the window while she just cried.

nothing was how it used to be. she used to be a very happy person, but life got in the way. it sucked, because she usually laughed in life’s face and made her own path. but not anymore. now, she wanted to apologize for never listening and for thinking she knew what she was doing.

as a college student, life is already pretty tough. that was a given because, obviously, it was the college life. life was gonna throw curveballs left and right and you’d have to be able to catch them.

and she usually did.

but, with graduation approaching, she felt this unbearable weight on her shoulders she couldn’t seem to shake. maybe it was because she was seeing less and less of her boyfriend, or because her mother stopped talking to her, or because her father was never actually in the picture, or because the people she thought were here friends turned out to be backstabbing assholes, or because she was failing two classes that she needed to complete her psychology studies to avoid going another semester.

of course, those could be the problems, or maybe she was just getting her period early.

the only thing she really cared about right now was cuddling up to her boyfriend, and hoping he would take away her worries. but, how could she do that when he was never around?

it was the weekend and he promised to come to hers as a nice little vacation, just them two and no one else all weekend.

he lied.

it was half past nine on a saturday night and he hadn’t even so much as called her all day. clearly he forgot and y/n was just about fed up.

she had no one right now, and she figured she at least had him to keep her company while the world was crashing down on her. but she didn’t have anyone and this was where y/n decided to draw the line.

it wasn’t like he had anywhere important to be this night. in all fairness he had a few friends like her, and was just as busy with the pending graduation in their future. he had no reason to not be with her right now, but alas he felt otherwise. and y/n didn’t need this stress anymore. it wasn’t uncommon for him to forget coming over or texting or calling her nowadays. school was always his excuse, but she just thinks it’s because he’s tired of her and he doesn’t know how to break the news to her.

two years of a relationship was simply thrown down the drain because he couldn’t be bothered anymore. maybe he was actually with a new girl right this second, but y/n didn’t have the energy to try and investigate. she didn’t have the energy to even care at this point. so, she had it set in her mind to not care and to just end things with him before he could with her. because at least she’d feel a little bit stronger in the end.

so, when another hour went by without a text or a call, and she had finished all of the chinese food she ordered for two and half of the movies she set out to watch for the night, she figured it was time to ring him up.

it took a while for him to answer, and just when she was going to hang up, y/n heard the familiar voice that used to give her butterflies. “hello?”

“harry?” she could hardly hear him with the loud music blaring in the background. y/n had to scoff because of course the reason he dipped on her was to party it up wherever.

“uh– hold on one second!” and then a few moments later the loud music ceased in the background, and it was just the two of them, like she had hoped.

“hey, what’s up?” he questioned like he was completely surprised to hear from her.

“i assume you forgot about this weekend then,” y/n murmured as she tried to hold back the tears that began to edge her waterline.

there was a moment of silence as harry pondered over what his girlfriend could mean. “this week– oh, shit. baby, listen–”

“a party? really?”

“the guys were hounding me to go! i’m so sorry i forgot, i’ll be over first thing in the morning,” he tried to reconcile, but there was no point. this was beyond a fix.

“you didn’t have to go,” y/n hissed, slowly getting more and more pissed off at the sound of his voice.

“it was a tough week this week, i figured i could let loose, if that’s okay with you.” normally y/n was pretty easy going with things, not necessarily letting people walk over her, but she never thought too deeply into things, especially like this. she knows he’s allowed to have a life outside of her, but it annoys her that she’s hardly even been in his life lately. so no, it really wasn’t okay with her.

“and i figured you could let loose with me. that was the whole point of promising to spend time together, so we could be together and deal with our shitty weeks together.”

“y’know, i apologized, i don’t know what else you really want from me,” he spat.

i just want you here with me, she thought.

“i don’t really know what i want from you either.”

“i’m not talking about this anymore. i’m sorry, i’ll make it up to you tomorrow but i can’t talk about it right now.”

“then i can’t be with you anymore.”

then there was a deafening silence that y/n hated so much. but she had to, because life sucked lately and he was very much part of that. if she could gain back her happiness, this was a start.

being with harry felt more like a job than a relationship, and proved to be more stressful than her actual job and school combined.

what kind of relationship feels like that? a shitty one.

she doesn’t know how long there was no words spoken between one another. it was probably around thirty seconds but it felt more like a lifetime. and if he didn’t say something quick, she was going to hang up.

and as much y/n prayed harry would just concede and make this process a lot less difficult, she also prayed deep down that he would fight for her. because if he fought, then that would mean he still cared for her, maybe a tenth as much as she cared for him.

when he finally spoke up, the tears in her eyes finally broke past the dam. “y/n. . . what’re you saying right now?”

“i think you heard me,” she responded as coldly as she could without giving away that she was a sobbing mess.

“baby–”

“harry, you forgot we had plans this weekend. you’re always forgetting and i just– i’m so tired,” she whispered the end, covering her mouth as a pretty loud cry escaped past her lips.

“you could at least have the fucking decency to do this in person,” he snarled back at her.

“how could i?! you’re never around anymore!” she shouted over the phone.

and then he hung up the phone on her.

and instead of feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, y/n felt as though gravity had grown stronger, wanting to swallow her down through the ground and put her out of her misery.

she sobbed into her hands, gasping for breath every so often because she was so busy crying she forgot to intake air. she sat on her couch for an hour, letting out all of her pent up sadness from the past few months, wishing she could go back to how things used to be, when she was living her best life.

then a pounding on her front door sounded throughout her small apartment, shocking her from her fetal position instantly. she knew it was harry, but she hardly had the energy to move from her spot in her despair.

she ignored him but he just continued to knock and knock and knock until she would answer. she didn’t want to face him, especially looking like this because she knew seeing his face would just make things worse.

“y/n open this goddamn door before i break it down!” he screamed through the wood. realizing her neighbors were bound to venture out in the hall soon to wonder what was happening or to shut him up, y/n practically ran to her door to get him to stop his shouting.

quickly wiping at her eyes, as if that would help her at all, she opened the door and saw his pretty face and she nearly broke down again right there. but she had to stay strong because this was her idea. she was brave enough to spew those words to him, she had to stay brave to go through with it.

harry had a hard look on his face, as expected, but the second he saw his girl, puffy eyed, red nose, red cheeks, and shaky hands, his heart broke. he should remain mad because who was she to break up with him like that, but he knew she was right.

he was hardly around anymore, and it wasn’t on purpose, it was just the way his schedule worked. but he figured she was okay with it and that she would understand so he never took the time to explain himself. but if he wanted to keep her, he would have to do just that.

he couldn’t imagine his life without her, because she was everything he ever wanted out of a girlfriend. yeah, they were young and he shouldn’t be thinking of her as his wife just yet, but she was the perfect girlfriend, and he hated that he took advantage of that.

not even bothering to shut the door after him, y/n turned and walked back over to her couch, figuring he would just close it anyway after he stepped inside.

“we need to talk,” he started, making his way over to her and sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

“you think?” she scoffed, pulling her pillow closer to her chest.

he had the urge to roll his eyes at her harshness, but refrained himself from doing so. “look. . . i know, trust me i know i’ve been a horrible boyfriend lately. i never meant for things to turn out this way and i do take responsibility for it because i know you put in a lot of effort lately and i don’t know how to explain it but–”

“well you better figure that out then.”

he bit his lip, getting angrier at her coldness. “but the best way i can explain it is that i knew you would always be there no matter what. i took your patience and your kindness for granted, and i’m sorry.”

y/n looked at him with a blank stare, waiting for a better apology than that. she still couldn’t just cave then and there because not only was it a weak attempt at her forgiveness, but because it seemed so insincere. “is that all you have to say to me?”

“no. i love you so much, more than i can even fathom. you mean so much to me, and i’ll do whatever it takes for you to stay by my side, honestly. i’ll give you your space if you need it, i’ll tell you i love you as many times as you need it, the same for i’m sorry. please, baby, i love you,” he reached forward and took her hands in his, and her cool ones were a major contrast to his warm ones.

she let out a quiet cry as she leaned her head down on his shoulder, taking in the soft scent of his cologne.

she was going to cave. she knew she’d never be able to go through with breaking up with him the second he’d spew out some bullshit apology. but she just loved him so much and he was the only person in her life who seemed to give a shit about her lately.

so she caved. “space from you is the last thing i want,” she murmured as she crawled into his lap, really embracing him as she continued to cry in his chest. he gently caressed her back, giving her all the time she needed to let it all out.

“all i needed was you and i would be okay. you’re all i wanted and you weren’t here. i’ve had the worst few months and you weren’t here to help me through it,” she ranted while she sobbed, gripping at his shirt tightly.

he murmured ‘i’m sorry’ over and over into her hair, his own eyes swelling with tears as she continued to just cry.

“i’m here now, you can talk to me now. i’m all yours for however long you want me, love.”

then she hugged him closer and looked up into his eyes before planting the softest, yet most meaningful kiss upon his lips.

maybe things would be okay again.

[deerheadlights]

Chapter 6 feat. 2 symposiums

 The whole voyage to the Piraeus had been a marvel for Glaukos. He’d sat alongside professional rowers, sampled some of the vintages in the cargo hold, and had listened to the captain talk about naval stories he could have only dreamed about a few days ago. Every word out of his mouth had been some sort of question. As they were unloading onto the dock, saying good-bye to the sailors he felt fast friends with, he had some more for Tydeus.

 “Why did you bring the horse?” Piling the leggy creature onto the boat had been a feat in itself, though it didn’t try to launch itself into the sea like Glaukos had feared. “I learned a long time ago from an old Persian, people take you a lot more seriously when you’re on top of a big horse.” Xanthe seemed happy to be on dry land, judging from her swishing tail. Or maybe she just had to poop again.

“Also I didn’t want to walk from the Piraeus to Athens again. She should be able to hold both of us for that short ride.” he casually vaulted onto the saddle. “Get on.” Glaukos looked at the horse. In his hamlet, only the richest man in town had a horse, and that one looked more like a large dog compared to this Persian beast. So although Glaukos had groomed a horse a few times, he’d never actually ridden one, much less jumped onto one’s back. “Yeah sure, let me just…” He tried to get his leg over its back, but he could only get up to the calf and had no leverage. “Never ridden a horse before?” Tydeus sighed, “I really should have seen that coming.” He turned around and pulled him on.

 “Just hold onto my belt, and don’t just sit flat or you’ll be in a world of hurt.” What other way is there to sit? Xanthe started moving right after Tydeus gave her reins a snap. She didn’t even walk, just moved straight to a high-kneed trot. Doesn’t hurt at all, it’s smoother than a boat ride! Tydeus whistled. “Well would you look at that, here I was thinking Persians just trained their horses to lift their knees like that for show! Instead they’ve got them giving rides smoother than butter.” “How do you know so much about Persians?” asked Glaukos. Secretly, he had been worrying that Tydeus had been some sort of mercenary for the Great King. “I was in the interior of Ionia with my friend, Alkyone’s father. His father had some shipping interests there, and well, you can’t really get along there unless you know Persian. And there may have been some political interests there, too.”

“So you weren’t exiled for being a mercenary?”

“Perish the thought. I’m exiled because every Theban is an exile now.” Glaukos gasped. He had heard about the destruction of the city of Thebes. Even in his sleepy village there had been arguments, that Thebes was one of the most ancient cities of the Hellenes, but it had aided the Persians during the previous wars and couldn’t be trusted. No wonder they had had “political interests.”

“So you’re--”

“Now that we’re nearing the city I’d rather not talk about such sensitive topics. Your job is to pack away my things and keep your ears open for, the mood of the city, threats… anything that seems important.” He took out a discrete pouch, Glaukos held back a gasp when he opened it. There were dozens more plaques and some gold Darics. He felt a bit resentful, compared to all this, what Tydeus had given his father was a pittance.

“This should be enough if you feel the need to grease anyone’s palm” Tydeus counted out three of the gold coins, stamped with a golden profile and narrow wedges of the Persian alphabet. “I’ll be going through the front of the house, you’ll have to go out back with the horse.”

---

It feels so good to be back in a civilized place, Alkyone reflected as a cosmetic slave put the finishing touches on her hair. After a bone deep warm bath and massage, she felt alive again. They had taken Marduniya to a separate part of the house, obviously he couldn’t be allowed in the women’s quarters. She found herself hoping the Persian was being treated well, almost dying twice in a fortnight was something to be pitied.

She hadn’t met with her host yet, but she was invited to the beginning of his dinner. Usually men and women dining together would be a breach of etiquette, but it was the feast of [idk]. A translucent scarlet cochineal veil was pinned in place over her bun, so that the color mingled with her bright yellow crocus dyed chiton. Sandals with gilding on the edges provided the finishing touch.

She allowed herself to be led through the narrow hallway to the lush courtyard. The klines had been arranged around an eel pond with white egrets stalking amongst them. She could see Nothon sharing a kline with the man who she presumed was Lethos, a woman seated by herself and another man opposite them. Hadn’t Tydeus called him a thug in Tyrian purple? The man was squat, with the kind of lumpy swollen ears you would find on a boxer. And he had on a white robe with wide purple stripes. He leaned forward as he saw her approaching, “Nothon, please introduce us to this sweet dove you’ve had the good fortune to travel with!”

“Lethos, Alketas, Phanessa, this is dear Alkyone, who has so patiently and good-naturedly persevered with the terrible hand dealt to her by exile.” His speech has really shaped up in front of “the boss.” The woman, Phanessa, smiled, “I’m so happy to be the one to tell you that you can make your home here, my dear.”

“You have already been so kind to me, Despoina, I cannot thank you enough,” Alkyone inclined her head.

“The pleasure is ours, Alkyone, daughter of Podaleirus. The families of great patriots should not be allowed to be cast out by the tyrannical regime.” said Lethos, lifting his arm in a magnanimous gesture.

“Now please, if you would share a kline with my wife and drink with us.” Usually ladies of good stature would leave just before the first drinks were served, but Alkyone had heard that those kinds of things were looser the further you got from the mainland. She climbed onto the kline, and Phanessa gave her a motherly squeeze on the shoulder. A large, tattooed Thracian appeared to hand her a full cup. She was surprised, men like that were usually sent to work in mines, or at their most domestic worked as stable grooms, not household staff due to their dangerous nature. This one seemed demure enough though, his eyes were downcast but he didn’t spill a drop. “To the continued health of Alkyone Podaleirid and democracy,” Lethos raised his cup.

“Also, might I add, to the continued good health of Tydeus son of Medon” Alkyone raised hers in turn. “Of course!” Alkyone took a deep sip. Oh my, some eastern vintage, and unwatered at that! Perhaps this wasn’t civilized country after all. The other man, Alketas, still hadn’t spoken, but she didn’t want to appear too forward by addressing him, but Lethos spoke to him next. “It seems King Alexander has, if inadvertently, struck a blow for democracy by freeing Sardis, now that he has defeated the Great King at Issus, who knows what will happen.”

“I doubt very much it was inadvertent, he has said from the first that he wishes to free the Greek cities of Asia from barbaric despotism.” Alketas had a smooth voice, but what he was saying struck Alkyone as unpleasant.

“Ironic that he should make such a claim after putting the Greek cities of Greece under fear of destruction unless they submit to him,” Alkyone sniffed. Usually she wouldn’t have been so forward, but she felt safe in the present company… it also could have been the wine. It was truly excellent, she took another sip. Alketas looked at her with cold blue eyes, “Alas, but did not Thebes fight against Ionian independence in the Persian Wars? If the King of the Macedonians wants to right the wrongs of that time, perhaps his strategy was part of that.”

“Oh, well how should Macedon be punished under his grand plan, did they not send a contingent to fight with the Great King as their loyal vassals?” Alkyone shot back and took another draught to punctuate her point. It was definitely the wine.

“What gives Macedonians the right to be saviours of the Hellenes? They were just some hill tribe, basically Illyrians until that King Philip was educated in Thebes. And even so he still had 7 wives like a barbarian.” Alketas’s nostrils flared, but his voice stayed cold and smooth, “The Macedonians are as Hellene as you or I. Hercules fathered their line of kings.”

“Didn’t he father the Scythian tribes as well? I don’t hear anyone calling them our fellow Hellenes. He even left those sons a belt and a bow, maybe he thought them more legitimate.”

“I see you are still distraught over the regrettable loss of Thebes.” He looked down his nose at her.

“Yes dear, your nerves must be so frayed, Nothon told us about that awful shipwreck you were in. It was just nearing time to retire anyhow.” Phanessa’s hand gripped like a claw, but as she tried to get up, she felt her head spin. Wine was wine, but this sort of effect seemed excessive. Phanessa was right next to her but she could barely hear her when she said “Nothon, take her to bed.” The last thing she felt were Nothon’s arms around her as she slipped off to sleep.

[ruwithmeguys]

A little One-Shot

Ok... I hate hiatus's but they’re also perfect for inspiring and fic writing.

Now this is just an indulgent piece of fluff I had too much fun writing but, alas, I only wrote it in 20 mins (I was inspired) because I don’t have a lot of time to spare so if it feels crude or just plain wrong, then I do apologise.

This is for @callistawolf who wanted some new pieces and I thought I’d get the ball rolling, for @hopedreamlovepray who made me fall in love with one-shots and a thank you to @n4r4nch4 who literally cheers me on, even when I feel like I’m undeserving.

I love this fandom!

So I don’t think this will happen in the show but... (If you guys like it, I’ll put it on AO3 later)

.....

Happy.

It’s what she’d hoped for him, them. Eventually. But in all honesty; she’d had trouble believing it could happen... till a couple of weeks ago that is.

Now they were here, on Lian Yu.

Everything that shouldn’t have happened, happened, and everything they didn’t expect to did as well: the good and the bad.

Black Siren was gone. She truly was the exact opposite of the Laurel they’d known. She’d disappeared, injured as she was, during Oliver’s fight with Slade and none of them had the heart – nor the energy – to search for her.

But they would.

Later.

Adrian was gone. Dead... but Oliver hadn’t killed him. Thankfully he’d walked an unexpected path.

Oliver. Eyes closing, listening to the sound of the waves at her feet, Felicity remembered...

“Come on Oliver; it’s simple. Look.” Hand fisted in Felicity’s hair, he yanked backwards until her throat was exposed - her body pressed to his front - and held one of his daggers beneath her throat. “I’ll make it easy for you.” His eyes unblinkingly on Oliver’s, Adrian stressed each and every word. “If you don’t kill me - if you don’t shoot an Arrow into my neck - I will kill the woman you’ve been pretending not to love.”

It took an age for a response to come.

Without a weapon, he’d stood there – Oliver – as he’d entered the clearing, the place Adrian had hunted Felicity to until she couldn’t keep running anymore, and hadn’t said a word.

He’d just looked at her, seeing her determination, her exhaustion. Her fear.

Her love.

Her resolve. “Don’t.” She forced through her clenched teeth. “Not for me.”

Not anymore.

He couldn’t now. Not after everything. Not even for her.

And he knew that, she could see it. This couldn’t be like the Count. This wouldn’t be him instinctively obeying the mindset of the man who’d used killing as a defence mechanism for survival - a mechanism to protect - for over five years.

This... what had to happen, would be the turning point of his life.

And she was fine with that. “It’s ok.” She whispered; her voice scratchy from lack of water as she watched him watch her. “I’ll be fine.”

“No.” Adrian promised - a smile in his voice - the knife pressing into her neck. “She won’t.”

He was right. He’d kill her. Just to spite Oliver. If Oliver refused to kill him, Adrian would kill her as punishment. And the Oliver Queen she’d started to see again for the first time in 14 months, the Oliver Queen she’d made love to on his birthday - a present full of sex had been due for a while and was, let’s face it, part and parcel for the course between them - where he’d shown her in an explicit and detailed physical exploration with his hands - oh those fingers, she’d missed those fingers - his mouth - the perfect mix of firm and supple softness: pillow mountains - his tongue - this isn’t helping - and his words-

His words.

I’m so sorry I destroyed us.

You made me happy. I haven’t felt that since I took it away.

I didn’t know how to accept that I was worth being loved, that I could be loved by... by you. By Felicity Smoak.

I love you. I never stopped. It never went away, never altered...

I missed you.

Oh, I love it when you do that.

You feel good. Familiar. Yet... different too.

But... still good? (she’d had to ask, to be sure that still wanted her like she wanted him)

No. (And he’d smiled - of course he had - his nose brushing down hers, his fingers trailing warmth and desire over the uncovered skin of her cheeks, her throat, her shoulders and further down...) Better.

Thank you for my birthday...

That Oliver Queen who’d shone through so brightly, he’d disappear. For good this time. Dig wouldn’t be able to pull him out of it; there would be no one to show him his light.

Then he’d kill Adrian.

And after, he’d kill himself. Next to her. Just to be sure she’d be the first thing he’d see when he opened his eyes once more.

If she died here.

Yet still... it was the right choice to make. A choice where there wasn’t really a choice to make.

Oliver knew it, his eyes told her they did, the soft stance of his body told her they did...

Oliver.

If it had to end, if this was how it was supposed to go; she didn’t regret a thing. She’d loved... and had been loved in a way a lot of people can only imagine. She’d found herself inside him, her everything, her forever and her always...

So she smiled at him; it a was watery thing but large enough to see, to show the sheer happiness he’d brought to her, the love she’d felt grow somehow deeper in the two days since they’d slept together. It told him everything he needed to hear without saying anything at all.

And everything that he was, reflected all of that back at her.

How eyes could be so bright and expressive, she didn’t know but his always could and right now they were etching his name into her soul, just like he was taking hers into his own.

“Alright.” He muttered and he didn’t stop looking at her. “Kill her.”

She felt Adrian jolt behind her but didn’t stop looking at her guy, didn’t stop smiling at him. God, I love you. “What?”

“Kill her.” Oliver softly repeated.

“And you’ll just live with that? I don’t think so Oliver.”

“I know you don’t.” Oliver’s hand shifted, a knife of his own sliding into his fingers from his sleeve. “It doesn’t matter because the moment you do, the moment you kill her... I’ll kill myself.” He let out a sigh, his smile falling but his expression was still deeply serene. Like he was seeing in her everything he wanted and was so content with the reality of it, that he wouldn’t be sorry if it ended here either. “And it’ll all be over.”

Still smiling, a tear rolled down her cheek and Oliver watched it fall like he wanted to halt its progress with a finger.

It wasn’t like they wanted to die. There was so much they both wanted from each other, with each other – things they’d spoken of in the quiet after she’d brought him home to rest inside her. But if it had to end here, if it had to be this way... then let it be like this.

Together.

After all, they always been really.

“That... that’s not how this works.”

And like she’d prayed for, Felicity heard the struggle in Adrian’s voice, the need to understand something his brain was incapable of processing.

For the first time Oliver looked away from her to him. “That’s the way it is. “And there was this light in his eyes that made something in her sing as he lifted the blade up to his own throat, preparing to draw a line across it. “I won’t kill you. You don’t deserve for me to kill you. And I don’t need to.”

THIS was Oliver Queen. This was the good she saw, had been seeing since Felicity Smoak? Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.

“You don’t think it’s sick, Adrian? That you need me like this?” Throughout it all, Oliver kept his voice low and steady. “You need me so badly that you want me to kill you? I’m so important to you...”

His dagger cut into her skin. “Shut up!”

“Why?” Oliver stared at him. “Does it hurt?”

“You don’t- you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Is it the truth?” Oliver whispered. “Confess. You can’t live without me and you can’t kill without me here.” He raised a hand to the world about them in general. “But I won’t kill you. So,” Oliver looked back to her, love and hope an Arrow in his gaze, “what happens next after I’m gone? What will you do?”

Genius.

Before anyone could have done anything though, Rene - having followed Oliver but had been unable to keep up with his sprint - had shot Adrian point blank from the side. He’d died in seconds.

“I made him a promise.” Was all he’d said.

After a moment’s silence, Oliver had moved prompting her to do the same, to obey the need inside her. It just so happened his was the same need as hers.

They’d collided in the middle, his arms tight around her lifting her high off the ground, hoarse words breathed into her skin - I’m here baby - she’d wrapped herself around him, holding him close, breathing him in too and promising to never ever let go.

Spiritually speaking.

Because then they had to deal with the fallout. With Slade, who had a personal grudge against the two of them, the day just wouldn’t end, with Black Siren who’d fled the scene, Boomerang who’d been a giant pain in everyone’s ass... and Evelyn who’d then been killed in action.

A. Very. Long. Day.

She released a breath, letting the wind make a mess of her hair and rustle the trees –the lapping of the oceans waves – lull her very tired body into a peaceful state of rest.

The she felt him behind her...

“I can feel you there,” she murmured, “I couldn’t before.” And she chose – I don’t care if I’m naive – to believe it was because of their connection and not their five year war instilling a new awareness inside her that made this so.

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She smiled, and if her voice was throaty - a purr really - well that was his fault. “Oliver, any disturbance by you is a welcome one.”

“Really.”

Not a question.

“Yep.”

“I don’t think the others would appreciate my idea of a disturbance with you.”

Her smile couldn’t get any wider.

His sex voice. Seriously, every time after sex... this voice. How do I live with myself, I just don’t know.

Turning to face him, she chirped. “Hi.”

“Hey.” He moved closer so that the sea was to his left and the jungle, his right. “You ok?”

She really was. He’d helped her there, earlier.

Probably looking profoundly love struck and foolish, she bobbed her head at him; wordless at the way the sun hit his face and lit up his hair. He really is blonde. “You?”

“It’s strange but... I think I am.” It came out in one long exhale. “For the first time in a really long time I don’t feel so... weighed down.”

Thank you God. “That’s a good thing Oliver.”

“It is.” And it was a thing with him, how his eyes on her own - like they could live forever staring into each other’s eyes and it still wouldn’t be enough for him - always left her without the air to make a sound. “You helped me get here.”

Uh, no.  She shook her head. “Oliver, I-”

“You did. I don’t how you do it,” he shook his head; still gazing at her, “but you do it anyway. I thought I wasn’t strong enough and you proved me wrong. I thought I didn’t deserve...” and he paused because whatever he was feeling looked overwhelming and he needed the moment to centre himself. “I thought I didn’t deserve you, that I could never earn you. So I stopped trying. Stopped trying to not be that person who would never be enough all those months ago, before Rene and Rory and Dinah joined the team.” He smiled and she felt it everywhere. “You gave me hope. You got me to believe,” he took a step closer and like a teenager her heart literally skipped a beat, “in my humanity again. I can never thank you for it.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” she really didn’t want that, didn’t want him feeling like he owed her that, “you never do. What you did here, what you’ve been trying to do for months... it’s proof of who you are. A good person; the best person I know.” My person.

But the look on his face – the smile in his voice – made her pause.

“I don’t want to thank you.” He whispered, making her blink, whiplash. “I want to spend the rest of my life showing you that you were right.”

Oh wow... “The rest of your life, huh?” And if her voice wobbled with restrained joy, if hers glittered just a tad, she really didn’t care.

He took a pause that felt like years before saying, “Can we start again?”

Er... “What?”

“I want to start over with you. From start to finish. I’m yours. Always have been.” Everything in her was turning into goo. “I want to marry you Felicity. I want to make a baby with you.”

He meant that. She could see it, the promise.

A baby...

A little over a year ago, she’d been too scared to consider the possibility. Though it made her happy, the idea of having Oliver’s child, it had also terrified her. Being in a chair hadn’t been the problem; it was the prospect of failing at being a good mother to any child they had that was.

But now?

How do you contain endless joy in a moment on a beach somewhere in the North China seas?

You don’t.

“I want to live with you.” He continued, watching the changes in her expression with awe and happiness and growing passion. “To fight monsters in the dark with you. The way it should have been. As my partner.”

He was right: the months between then and now, the distance, the chill between them... nothing had felt right, as if something had been perpetually off balance with the world.

But they’d needed it to get here. Sometimes, in order to rise you have to fall first.

Her smile - broken - revealed teeth, her hair stuck to her neck, her eyes described in detail what her lips couldn’t but could only whisper, “No more ‘should haves’.”

No more maybes.

His quiet laugh was choked. “No more.” Like he wanted to touch her, he took another half a step closer (if he moved in further he’d be practically on top of her and she didn’t mind one bit) “A new beginning... with you.”

“That sounds,” she took a breath because this, this was the moment; where forever starts and wouldn’t really end, “perfect.”

Their perfect. Dark times were inevitable, trials... but happiness was due too.

The boyish grin – the laugh still present on his lips – made her want to kiss him. And she would. Soon. But he had something else to say, she could tell.

And she was right. “Felicity Smoak.” He announced, in that soft, deeply masculine way of his that shot straight to her centre, married life is going to be awesome. “Hi.” She frowned when he lifted a hand, barely any room between them for him to do more than let it grace her stomach. “I’m Oliver Queen.”

She stared up at him... then pressed her lips together in understanding, feeling so much the rightness of what he was saying.

Lifting her hand to slide into his waiting fingers, her other tucked her hair behind her ears and affected nerves, shyness. “I know who you are.” Or at least tried to, but the deeper tone that left her was anything but and she knew he felt it in his bones when he licked his lips, when his abdomen jerked against her hand. “You’re Mr Queen.”

His hand tugged her closer, so that her chest touched his. “Mr Queen was my father. And I don’t think,” how his voice could lower any further she wasn’t sure, but it could and it did and ooh... “you’d look at him the way you’re looking at me.”

Oh boy. “How am I looking at you?”

“Like you love me.” Leaning in, the depth in his eyes had her falling into his hold. “Like you want me. Like you’re mine.” He quieted, his eyes looking at her mouth. “Like I’m yours.”

“That’s quite the description.” Accurate too. “So what’s your policy on kissing a stranger you just met on an island no one knows exists?” She teased.

“Oh, it’s my first policy.” Was his shameless, super fast response and a bark of laughter shot out of her, making her eyes close. “But only with you.”

How could she not kiss him with the utter love and feeling he gave her with every word he spoke?

“Come here.” Still laughing, her free hand slid up his throat, to the back of his neck to pull him close-

But he was already right there, smiling against her lips.

(And people, this is where I be cheesy and play ‘I need my girl’ by the Nationals because the song was made for Olicity – please listen to it here)

The feel of his scruff against her skin still made her tingle - she still felt the warmth of him down her sides, her stomach muscles contracting at the sure way his mouth opened hers - and still made her shiver in delight as her smile became a physical expression of everything she felt for him. Seeking, pressing, pushing, chasing his mouth with her own - re-leaning how he tastes, letting her tongue entwine with his - her hands were around his neck in seconds, cradling his head with them just the way he liked. Like she needed him closer and she was letting him know. The way his hands slid over her spine to press her as close – and as tight to him – as humanly possible. And when his fingers slipped into her locks to cup her head as he angled his own and- oh... I’ve missed this.

The kind of kiss that made her forget the world existed.

Her hands moved to drag across his scalp, one of them shifting down under his shirt and pressing into the musculature there, feeling every movement he made and the sound that left him wasn’t a groan or a growl. It was a sigh, one that came from deep in his chest...

She nipped as his upper lip, looking into his hooded eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you.” A firm kiss was followed by another. “I love you Felicity.”

She smiled again, her nose brushing over his, their breaths mingling-

“Oh my God, you weren’t kidding.”

It was also the kind of kiss to make her completely forget they had an audience. Her eyes didn’t open and she figured his didn’t either but she felt Oliver’s lips press together as he exhaled through his nose.

“I warned you.” John. He sounded unbelievably satisfied with himself. “But nope, you wanted to see for yourself. And here it is. The ugly truth.”

She felt Oliver’s chest vibrate and his lips twitch against hers. “He’s just like Tommy.” He muttered, too quietly to be heard by the others.

René just couldn’t accept it. “They’re like... romance novel bad.”

“I think its right.” She heard Dinah say, and she was officially Felicity’s new favourite person. “They should have done this months ago.”

“They should have had sex months ago.” René corrected and she felt the muscles in Oliver’s arm jump. “That amount of chemistry in the Foundry wasn’t healthy.”

She couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that sprang free from her, her head arching back as Oliver held her aloft. Okay, they’re all my favourites.

Oliver’s puff of air made her look back to him. “The children are being unruly.”

“Say what?”

Rene.

“Children?”

Dinah.

“...I’m oddly good with this.”

Rory.

“Are you two beautiful idiots done for the moment?” And Diggle once more; still sounding utterly superior. She’d let him have it. “It’s just, there’s a boat with our name on it, a wife the two of you are reminding me painfully of and a kid I really want to eat shakes with.”

Oliver’s eyes were so content...

She arched a brow. “Done?”

He shook his head. “We’re just getting started.”

...

Here’s to the rebirth of Olicity (and the horrid 4 week count down)

[shoelace-and-friends]

Hmm... Glanni being grumpy and Ithro being sweet and cuddling his moody bf to make him feel better? :3c (prompt)

“Do you need anything else, gentlemen?” 

“Ah, no, we’re good. Thank you very much, Miss. Have a good rest of your day.” 

Once their dinner bill had been paid, Ithrottaalfurrin got up, holding his hand out for his boyfriend to take before they headed back outside. 

He was pleased when Glanni silently took his offered hand, and they were out the door. 

As they got in the car, the elf smiled softly while he buckled his seat belt, reflecting on their evening. He would say that tonight’s dinner date had been a success. Although Glanni hardly ever turned down the hero’s proposals for a night out together, getting Glanni in just the right mood for it to be enjoyable for the both of them was a bit more tricky. 

His lover was…a character, alright. Anything between prickly or completely apathetic, depending on the weather and the position of the stars. But today had been good. He didn’t just sit there tonight and pretend to listen to him, seeming to just go along with everything for the sake of it like he sometimes did. And he had to say, Glanni did a good job behaving today. They went through dinner without any “incidents”, and were able to hold a nice conversation throughout, without any temper flares or inappropriate behavior. 

Glanni really had been getting better, in these past couple months. 

He turned to look at the other man, putting the keys into the ignition. “Do you want to watch a movie when we get home?” 

Glanni shrugged. “Sure.” 

“Alright.” The elf nodded. “What are you feeling tonight? Comedy? Or would you rather watch something more-” just then, he froze, catching eye with something that Glanni was holding in his hands- “…Glanni,” he sighed. “What is that?” 

“This?” He blinked up at him, holding up a little green coffee mug. “It’s a mug,” he answered simply, as if there were all there was to it; that it was JUST a mug, just HIS mug. But Ithro knew the wiser. 

He sighed again, making a short, quiet noise of disapproval. “That came from the restaurant, didn’t it?” 

“Yeah. So?” 

“Glanni. That’s NOT yours to take.” 

“Oh come on, it’s JUST a mug.” The ex-convict rolled his eyes a little, as if it were the ELF who was acting unreasonable. “They’ll hardly notice it’s gone, let alone miss it.” 

At that, Ithro shook his head somewhat tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “…Having little monetary value doesn’t make taking things any less unacceptable,” he explained to him. He felt a bit like a broken record, as he told him what he had told him a couple times before. “Now I have to go in there and give it back to them.” 

Glanni’s nonchalant attitude quickly faded away as the elf snatched the mug from his hands. His brows furrowed and he glared daggers at him, letting out a string of explicit curses. “DON’T-” 

“I see that they’re full; empty your pockets.” 

The man in mascara huffed as he emptied his pockets of all its contents, throwing each object he had swiped at the other’s feet- two spoons, a butter knife, a small decorative wooden figure, …and someone’s cell phone. 

Ithro would’ve lectured his boyfriend on his deft hands, if this were the first time something like this had happened. But no, he had thought too soon that tonight had went without a hitch and was all too used to such incidents creeping up on him when he thought that all had been going well. Once again, he scooped up the stolen items, giving the other one last tired, albeit disappointed look. “Stay here.” 

He got out of the car and hurried for the restaurant, and even from outside, he could still hear his boyfriend screaming inside of the car.  

********************************

Several embarrassed apologies for his boyfriend’s behavior later, Ithro climbed back into the car, to find Glanni still sitting in the passenger’s seat with his shoulders haunched and his arms crossed, not bothering to look at him when he turned the engine back on. Actually, Glanni turned his head AWAY from him, choosing to stare out the window instead. But Ithro could still see Glanni’s face in its reflection, contorted into a sour expression. 

He sighed. “Glanni…what was I supposed to do? I HAD to give everything back. We didn’t even need all of that stuff-” 

“Just SHUT UP!” Glanni snapped, shoving the elf in the arm. “S H U T  U P!” 

He shoved him again, and although he never actually hurt him whenever that happened, Ithro still knew that it would be best not to press further until they got home; Glanni was more likely than not pretty bent on not wanting to listen to a word he said right now. 

“Fine. I’m just saying…I just needed to do what was right-” He said, beginning to back out of their parking space. 

“Oh my GOD, I told you to SHUT UP!” Glanni threw his hands in the air, and then unbuckled his seatbelt, getting out of the car as Ithro was STILL backing out, and he began to walk off. 

“GLANNI!” He rolled open a window, calling out his name, but he kept walking further and further away. “Where are you going?!” 

“Home. FUCK YOU,” he shouted from across the parking lot, before stepping through some bushes and out of sight. 

But Ithro did not have to wait even a minute until Glanni’s return, storming right back into the car. 

“Home is too far away,” he grumbled, putting his seatbelt back on. “Take me home.” 

Ithro had to stifle a snort as he drove out of the parking lot. 

Glanni roared, LITERALLY ROARED at him, and they drove the rest of the way home in dead silence. 

********************** 

Not a word was spoken between them the rest of the ride home, with Glanni remaining in the passenger’s seat seething and with his arms crossed all while sitting in a dramatic and childishly angry position, and Ithro behind the wheel, trying not to grip it too hard. This wasn’t their first quiet ride home, but it didn’t make it any less awkward and uncomfortable. 

As soon as they got home and out of the car, Glanni made an immediate bee-line to their bedroom, slamming the door behind him. 

Well, he made it pretty clear that the elf was NOT to come in- at least not yet, anyway. That was fine; he’ll give him some time to cool down. Hopefully, he’ll listen to what Ithro had to say once he did, and he’ll try explaining to him again why he needed to return everything he stole from the restaurant, and Glanni may or may not listen to him and actively try to control himself a bit more next time- …or he could just say “yeah yeah,” and brush him off- he was a bit of a wild card when it came to things like that.  …But still, Ithro felt like he had to approach him a bit more carefully this time. His reaction to being caught this time around was even more severe than usual tonight, for whatever reason. 

After half an hour of patient waiting, he finally approached their bedroom door. “Glanni?” He knocked a couple times, opening it ajar, JUST enough to peer inside. 

“Go away.” The taller man had taken refuge underneath the covers, his long legs appearing to be curled up underneath in a fetal position. The blanket covered him completely, save the very top of his head, with just his hair sticking out. 

Despite the fact that he still acted like he didn’t want to be talked to, the hero still took the fact that he was back to using an inside voice as some sort of progress and quietly invited himself inside- after all, this was HIS bedroom too. “Glanni…can I just sit here?” He replied with nothing but a grunt, and since Ithro couldn’t accurately pinpoint what that meant, he decided to take it as a yes, and sat down at the edge of the opposite side of the bed. 

Glanni groaned even louder. “Sit somewhere else. I’M using the bed.” 

“But this bed is big enough for two people to be on,” he replied. He looked down at the man curled up underneath the blankets and he sighed. “Glanni dear, PLEASE…” he pleaded, tugging at the blankets and trying to pull them away from his face so he could talk to him, but was only met with a hand slapping him away. 

“Fuck off!” He growled at him for a second time that day, glaring at him with red eyes that took the elf aback before pulling the blankets all the way up over his head once more. 

…Why were his eyes red? It almost looked as if…as if Glanni had been CRYING. …But that didn’t compute to him. Crying was something that Glanni never really did often, something he’s hardly witnessed in all this time that he’s known him. Actually, ITHRO could be considered the bigger crier of the two, even. But alas, it must be so, …considering that he noticed that his eye makeup had smeared. …Was Glanni really THAT mad at him? To the point of tears? 

He sat criss-cross atop the mattress, fingers running over his mustache in contemplation. …Dating Glanni had proven to be quite a ride. It wasn’t entirely a bad one- after all, he’s stuck around in the long-run for a REASON. But, it did have its bumpy roads. There was a lot that has been thrown at him throughout this relationship, but this time…he wasn’t really sure what came next. 

“…Glanni,” he finally began, taking a deep breath. “I understand that you’re upset, but we couldn’t just-” 

“Just SHUT UP!” 

Glanni popped his head out from under the covers, causing the elf to jolt in surprise.  

“I KNOW what you’re going to FUCKING SAY, and DON’T even START,” he snapped, his eyes condensating, but he fought to keep it at the corners of his eyes.   “I’m TIRED of your SHIT, Álfur! STOP trying to be my fucking keeper all the time!” 

He took back to hiding, and realization slapped Ithro straight across the face. He saw a whole new look in his eyes- not one of anger…but of GUILT. As he saw him ball himself up tighter underneath the sheets, Ithro bit his lip, feeling one part of his heart melt, and another part break. For once, the elf was not the wiser, making assumptions about him and acting on his behalf without even giving the other a chance to think for himself, …for having underestimated his lover when he thought he was overestimating. There were SO MANY things that he expected from a wild card like Glanni, …but feeling bad about what he had done for once was something that Ithro had never considered. 

“Oh, Glanni…” the elf laid down next to lump hiding under the covers. “…Do you really think that I only see you as someone to keep watch of? Glanni dear, you’re not my responsibility; you’re my BOYFRIEND- ….please come out and look at me?” 

“No,” the lump mumbled, scooting further away from him, only for the elf to wrap his arms around it, not caring a bit when it began to squirm.  

“Please Glanni dear, ithrottir nammi of my eye?” He settled himself right on top of him, giving the blankets a gentle tug. “I’m sorry if I frustrated you by rubbing this in your face at all…I promise that I’ll stop acting like your keeper, alright?” Glanni peeked up at him through the covers, and Ithro offered up the warmest smile he could manage. “…But you need to promise me that you’ll put a little more care into thinking about what you’re doing, okay? Put just as much care in yourself as there is care that I have for you. Okay?” He asked him. Glanni grunted, not pulling the covers off of himself, but not pulling them back up either. 

“Is that a deal?” He asked again, leaning over to plant a nice smooch on his boyfriends forehead. 

Glanni grunted again, neither nodding nor shaking his head in response. 

“Oh come on. You’re still not going to talk to me?” The elf pouted, tugging the blanket down so that he could see the rest of his face. 

The moment the elf whipped out the puppy-dog eyes, Glanni didn’t even blink twice. “Suck a cock.” 

“I’ll do it, if it’ll make you feel better,” Ithro offered, tugging the blanket halfway off of the taller man’s body. “Glanni, I just want to lay down and talk with you…” he said, splaying himself across the other’s body, arms and legs down wrapped around him. 

Glanni whined and grumbled underneath him. “Stop…” 

“No,” the elf replied shortly, sticking out his lower lip again. “It’s MY turn to say no now.” he told him, nuzzling his head against his chest. “No.” 

“Ugh, now you’re just being annoying-”

“You know, …I actually thought our date tonight went quite nicely,” he ignored him, planting a row of sweet kisses across his jaw. “I love it when we just TALK. …I think I even caught you smiling for me once or twice. And you got all dressed up too and did your makeup and you looked AMAZING-” “Álfur-”  He scrunched up his face.

“The best part though,” he went on as he continued assaulting him with kisses, “was that I got you to eat a cherry tomato-” he grinned. “That was HOT- Watching you eat well is my kink-” 

“ÁLFUR-” 

“Kiss me.” 

Glanni just shook his head at him, but Ithro wouldn’t stop. After what was about 50 wet, tickley mustache kisses too many, Glanni finally rolled his eyes and caved, turning his head slightly to give the elf a little kiss on the cheek. 

“Mmm, thank you Glanni, that was very nice.” He settled his head back on his slim chest, pulling the blankets over the both of them so that they were nice and snug. 

Glanni snorted. “Congrats, you cuted yourself into what you wanted AGAIN- you happy?” He asked the elf, petting the sweet spot behind his ears. 

“Mmm~” He purred. He was indeed, glad that they could just put this behind them for now and not let it completely spoil their date night. 

He was glad that he stuck out through today, in the long-run. 

[your-iron-lung]

Mixed Up 16 | Take It Easy (Love Nothing)

Chapter Word Count: 3711

Pairings: Zoro/Sanji

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Chapter Warning: Strong Language

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Next Chapter: 17

"So, how was the show? Did you enjoy it?"

Seated opposite of one another at a small window-side table, Nami smiled encouragingly at Sanji. He returned the smile and hoped it didn't look as forced as he felt it was.

At Nami's insistence, they'd gone to a small, locally owned café that Sanji was relatively familiar with. Originally, he'd wanted to take her somewhere a bit more upscale and popular; a place where he could vouch for the quality of the food they served, but she had refused and expressed an unwillingness to support any sort of non-local chain establishment.

And while Sanji knew the owner of the Mermaid Café, he didn't know much about the menu or what they served. Nami had seemed delighted, though, when he'd brought her there after picking her up from the downtown area's community parking lot.

"It was interesting, to say the least," he said, passing their waitress a charming smile as she dropped off their drinks. He drew his coffee closer towards him as Nami went to take a sip of her tea. He traced a finger around the saucer dish of his cup absentmindedly before reaching for a sugar packet nestled in a ceramic container in the middle of the table.

As he opened it and began to pour it into his coffee, Nami set her cup down and offered him another smile.

"Oh yeah?"

There was something wrong about this, Sanji thought. Something had happened to him the other day that he hadn't been able to figure out, but had affected him so greatly that he could no longer find the energy to flirt as effectively as he knew Nami deserved. He still found her to be irresistible and absolutely darling in every aspect, but something was blocking his will to express his adoration to her.

He felt awkward, stiff, and found, ultimately, that he didn't really want to be there with her. In the back of his mind, there was another person he found he wanted to be spending his time with.

"How was it putting up with Zoro that whole time? I bet that was rough, huh?"

Sanji's heart palpitated at the mention of his name and he had to advert his eyes as soon as she'd spoken it.

"It wasn't that bad, actually," Sanji replied, swallowing the feeling down with a quick drink of coffee. "The worst part was not being able to smoke throughout the whole thing."

Nami nodded solemnly and held her cup between her hands, sipping at her drink whilst pretending that the awkwardness between them wasn't there. She didn't want to try and force the conversation if he didn't want to participate in it, but she would've been lying if she'd said she was having a nice time.

"Zoro told me you met Robin," she said, trying to give the conversation some kindling to work off of. "How'd that go?"

As she spoke, she saw again the same reaction breach Sanji's face that he'd expressed before at the mention of Zoro's name. It was a sour look accompanied with a deep frown that left him looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Sighing, he nodded almost reluctantly.

"He warned me about her," he said melodramatically, slouching over the table. "I had every intention of avoiding her, but, alas, her beauty sought me out."

As he spoke, he reached a hand into his coat pocket that was draped across the back of his chair, intending on taking out his cigarettes, and paused.

"Do you mind if I do?" he asked, glancing at Nami before he withdrew his pack.

"Nope! Go ahead," she said pleasantly, amused by the start of his story.

He smiled thankfully and pulled out his pack, taking out a single cigarette and pulling the ashtray closer towards himself.

With his cigarette lit, Sanji drew in a deep, smoky breath and instantly felt a bit better. A new energy entered him that he had been lacking previously, and he wasted no time in directing it towards his date.

"In fact," he began, easily settling into the charming personality he'd spent a great many years nurturing. "I dare think she had a bit of a thing for me."

"Is that so?" Nami said, giving him a catty grin. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, it was she who sought me out to begin with! What woman alive is immune to my charm?" At this, he winked at Nami and blew her a kiss, to which she responded with a roll of her eye.

"And, well, beyond that, if she didn't fancy me, then why would she have gone through the trouble of bailing us out?"

Nami shrugged, entertaining Sanji's long-winded thoughts on the matter. She knew everything about what had happened that night already, having pestered Zoro about it as soon as he let her know he was home. To be honest, she was just relieved Sanji seemed to have dug his way out of whatever slump he'd gotten himself into.

"She must have fallen in love with me at first sight," Sanj continued, smiling serenely to himself. "I can find no other explanation for her actions."

"Obviously," Nami said, taking a drink of her tea. They fell into a relaxed silence as they waited on their food, listening absentmindedly to the conversations happening around them.

It was just about to become a nice lunch outing for Nami when she felt her phone buzz against her leg. She debated on whether or not she should check it now or later, but as she looked at Sanji, still lost in his fantasy, she decided she would.

Leaning to the side a bit for leverage, she managed to weasel her phone from out of her pocket to see that she had received an email from Zoro. Here she hesitated, unsure if she wanted to see whatever it was he had to say about her date. Curiosity getting the better of her, though, she opened it.

Sender: wildslutangel22

Subject: guess what I got

Message: hows the date with the asshole. look what I got

Frowning, she noticed that there was a picture attached. She hadn't even known Zoro knew how to attach an image to an email, seeing as how he was so technologically inept. Across the table, drinking his coffee languidly, Sanji watched her expression as she opened the attachment and saw her face turn from shock to utter outrage in a matter of seconds.

"Oh my fucking God! I can't believe he did that!" she exclaimed angrily, fury boiling in her eyes as she slammed the phone down onto the table.

"What? Who?" Sanji said, startled and a little bit frightened by her sudden mood swing. Nearby patrons of the Mermaid Café had turned to look at what had disrupted their peaceful meals, making him nervous. "What happened, my sweet?"

"Zoro! That fucking prick!" Fuming, she shoved her cellphone across the table to Sanji, who gingerly picked it up to inspect the picture displayed on the screen.

The picture was a little blurry and there was part of a finger in the image, but Zoro was the clear focus. He was sticking his gross tongue out and holding out what looked to be a movie or concert ticket. He didn't understand what the big deal was, unless he was holding something Nami had wanted and was unable to obtain herself.

"Um," he began, unsure of what the appropriate response to this situation should be. "Yikes."

"He bought his own ticket to the Tralalaw show so he wouldn't have to pay me back," Nami pouted, sighing as she took her phone back when Sanji offered it to her. "To be fair, I was going to make him pay me double back for it, but still! Now I have an extra ticket, and he knows I hate dealing with scalpers."

Sanji didn't know what a Tralalaw was, nor did he know whose side he should be on regarding the issue, but the look on Nami's disheartened face told him he should at least try to make amends.

"I'll buy it off you, if you'd let me," he offered, despite not knowing anything about what it entailed. "It hurts me deeply to see how unfairly he treats you."

He reached out to touch the back of her hand in support and was taken aback by the sudden mirthful look of glee that shot across Nami's face.

"Oh my God. Oh my God, yes, that's perfect! Of course you can, Sanji! In fact, I insist."

With that, she took her hand away from under his and turned to grab her purse. He watched her root through it excitedly before she produced an envelope. The manic look in her eye frightened him to some degree.

"This is for you," she said, opening the unsealed envelope and taking out a ticket. As he took it from her and read the front, he ascertained that it must have been Zoro's ticket for whatever the hell the Tralalaws were.

Sanji took in a deep a breath to prepare to give a speech of thanks when Nami cut him short.

"Save your thanks, just- do me this one favor real quick; take a selfie with me?"

Baffled, he found he could only nod, inciting an evil grin from her as she got up from her chair, grabbing her phone and coming to stand by Sanji.

"This is going to be so good," Nami rambled excitedly, opening the camera on her phone and wrapping her arm around Sanji's shoulders, forcing them to become very close together. "Hold that ticket up, and, ready?"

Too fixated on being pressed so close to Nami's body, Sanji didn't even get a chance to see how the picture had turned out before Nami had returned to her seat. When he realized her chest was no longer pressed against the side of his face, he returned to his senses and peered at the ticket still in his hand while she began giggling menacingly, rapidly typing out an email response to Zoro.

Subject: RE: guess what I got

Message Body: Wow! I'm impressed; what'd you even use to take that picture with? That's crazy. But hey, no skin off my back, I've already got someone lined up for your ticket.

Attaching the picture she'd just taken with Sanji to the message, she hit send and could almost hear Zoro's outrage from where he sat, miles away at the work computer, smug feelings of having one-upped her transforming into abrupt horror.

"Fuck!" He shouted at the screen, face paling as he stared at the picture Nami had just sent him. "She can't do that!"

Customers of Super-Star! Guitars had long since grown accustomed to Zoro's crude outbursts, but the newer ones feigned offense when they heard his unfiltered tongue. He ignored them as he studied the picture, twisting his lips in annoyance at the idiotic expression on Sanji's ridiculous face.

"That witch!"

"Who can't do what, Zoro?"

Recognizing Tony's voice, he tore his eyes away from the screen and reluctantly stood up, gazing down over the counter to find Tony standing there, waiting for him.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Zoro grumbled angrily, rubbing at his forehead that had begun to ache. Coming around the desk, he looked up and around alertly. "Where's your grandma?"

"Trying to find parking," Tony said pleasantly, hefting up his guitar case.

"Alright, quick, let's go to the back before she does."

Together, subtly trying to hurry, they made their way into the lesson room they used. Tony fell into their routine easily, unpacking his guitar and plugging it into the nearby floor amp. Zoro still looked pissed, despite his assurances to Tony that he wasn't, and took a while to find his groove.

How was it that Sanji kept finding ways to interfere with his life? If Zoro had known that giving a ride to him a week ago would have resulted in all this meddling, he wouldn't have done it. He could handle taking him to the art show (at Nami's absolute insistence); didn't even mind getting high with him, but, guitar lessons? The Tralalaw show? Sanji was getting far too involved in the aspects of Zoro's life that actually meant something to him.

There was nothing for it now, however, and Zoro knew he'd have to come to terms with that. If Sanji kept finding ways to get mixed up in his life then he'd either have to learn to adjust or cut the idiot out completely, no matter how attached Nami got to him. Caught up in his thoughts, Zoro almost ignored Tony when he spoke.

"Um, Zoro, about the Solstice show…"

"What, not having second thoughts again, are you?" Zoro mumbled, coming out of his thoughts. The downtrodden expression on Tony's face betrayed that he was. "Aw, c'mon Tony, how many times do I have to go over this with you? I've told you plenty of times that you are good enough to perform-"

"No, it's not like that this time! I just- just wanted to know if you'd sing the song while we play it!"

Zoro blanched at his request.

"No, absolutely not."

"But-!"

"No, Tony," Zoro said with a sigh, explaining his logic as patiently as he could. "It'd take way too much away from your playing. The recital is supposed to show off your talents, not mine."

"Yeah, I know, but, I was just thinking, the song's not really recognizable on its own, you know? With just the guitars? If you sang it, people might recognize it better!"

Tony looked so expectant and hopeful that Zoro felt a little bad turning him down.

"I can't, Tony-"

"What if I did a solo!" Tony suddenly blurt out, holding his guitar tightly in hand. "If- if I do a solo, will you sing for me then?!"

Zoro frowned; he'd been on Tony's case about improvising guitar solos for a while now. The kid was so shy though that he never would, despite having the skills to perform them. As much as he didn't want to agree to it, he found that this was a deal that he could get behind, if only because it would improve Tony's capabilities.

"I don't know, Tony," Zoro said slowly, mulling it over in his head. "It'd have to be 15 seconds long, at least."

"I can do that!" Tony said, though he appeared scared and unsure of himself.

"And you'll use chords?"

"Yeah!"

Zoro sighed again slowly before agreeing to Tony's request. He didn't want to do it; didn't really sing much anymore, though he figured his voice would be a good match for the song Tony had picked to play, even if it didn't really fit in with his usual genre.

"Alright, well, let's get to working on some structure then," he began, plucking out the tune to the song on the guitar in his hand, trying to remember the lyrics to The Prettiest Waitress in Memphis.

However, Tony, who had been looking positively jubilant a few moments ago, now appeared downcast again, prompting a comically bad chord from Zoro, who groaned and set his acoustic aside.

"Oh my God, Tony, what is it now?"

Fidgeting in his seat, Tony's face turned slightly red in embarrassment.

"W-well, it's just, I was thinking that…"

"That…?" Zoro prompted impatiently.

"That… that if you agreed to sing, then maybe you'd get Nami to play the drums for us, too! We'd have a full band!"

Zoro could hardly believe his ears. He stared long and hard at his pupil, taken aback by the demands he was being hit with.

"Are you serious? Tony, that is absolutely-"

"Absolutely a great idea!"

Standing in the doorway to their lessons room was Brook, looking jovial and positively enthused about the proposition at hand.

"What?" Tony and Zoro said in unison, both turning to stare at the tall anemic-looking man.

"How long have you been standing there?" Zoro asked suspiciously, squinting hard at him.

"Long enough to know that young Tony could gain some valuable insight on what it's like to play in a full band from this! Especially if he chooses to pursue a professional career in music! We would have to have you all play last, of course, so as not to outshine and deter our other performers, but it could work!"

Zoro had been about to retort and defend his stance on the matter, but when Brook explained his reasoning, he found that Tony's idea wasn't actually half bad. The kid didn't have much friends; all the ramblings from his grandmother told Zoro that much, so joining a band with his social presence would be hard for him to do under normal circumstances. This really could be a valuable learning experience for him.

"Alright, fine," he said finally, relenting. Tony actually jumped up from his chair to cheer, nearly throwing his guitar to the floor in the process. "But! The solo has to be 30 seconds."

Some of Tony's enthusiasm waned, but there was a strong look of determination on his face as he rose to the challenge.

"I can do it!" he exclaimed. "I think."

"Yes, that's the spirit," Brook said with a laugh. "Well, I'll leave you two to it then! Good luck, dear Tony, and practice hard!"

"Yes sir, I will!"

Brook gave a mock salute before he departed, walking with a light spring in his step and leaving Zoro alone to deal with the aftermath of his visit.

"How the hell does he always know when to come and fuck with with my shit?" Zoro wondered aloud, making Tony laugh before getting serious. "Alright though, for real, we've got a lot of practicing to do with only a week left to do it."

"Right!"

Zoro picked up his guitar and quickly went through a set of scales. He stared at Tony, who immediately hurried to do the same.

"So let's do it," Zoro announced as they launched into different scales.

As they resumed their practice in earnest, Nami and Sanji concluded their date. They'd both had light meals that left the bill small enough for Sanji to cover completely so that Nami only had to pay the tip, and as they stood on the sidewalk outside the café, he couldn't help but think that maybe his Saturday curse had somehow been lifted. The date had been nice.

He helped Nami into her coat before putting on his own, and together they walked towards where Nami had parked.

"You know, I'm actually glad you made this a lunch date instead of a dinner one," Nami said, making conversation as she took Sanji's arm. "I actually have a party to go to tonight that I'd totally forgotten about."

"A party, you say?" Sanji replied, hoping she was about to invite him to accompany her.

"Yeah, it's a fetish party, though; I don't think you'd be interested," she said, laughing at the look of disbelief that had appeared on Sanji's face. "Don't judge me! I'm only going because a friend of mine is performing, that's all!"

"I would cut off both my hands before I dare judge you, my darling," Sanji said in all seriousness. "I think it's wonderful of you to support your friends."

"Thanks."

A million images and imagined scenarios were manifesting themselves in Sanji's head about what Nami would be doing at a fetish party as they continued the rest of the short walk in silence. He missed the forlorn look on Nami's face as they stopped by her small, white pickup-truck and she separated herself from him, reaching into her purse for her keys to unlock the doors.

"I'm afraid this is goodbye, my sweet Nami."

Looking as pitiable and sad as he possibly could, he closed the door for her after she'd started the engine and taken the driver's seat. She looked sad as well, he thought, as she suddenly turned to him, biting her lip. He cocked his head as she rolled the window down and leaned out a little bit.

"Can I ask you something?" she questioned, speaking urgently.

"Of course," he replied, though he was a little wary about what she had to ask, her tone intimidating him.

A moment passed between them with neither of them saying anything before Nami finally spoke, abruptly asking, "Do you like Zoro?"

The warmth he'd felt during his lunch date was suddenly consumed and replaced by a chilled sort of dread he didn't want to focus on.

"What?" he asked, trying to force a slight chuckle but feeling his body lock up. "I mean, I guess I see him as a friend?"

"No, not like that. Do you like him?" she repeated, staring him dead in the eye.

The distant sounds of the downtown area disappeared as he both felt and heard his heartrate increasing, hating the way it felt. The idling engine of Nami's truck rumbled steadily on, even as Sanji's thoughts raced away from him.

"Where is this coming from?" he asked, ignoring the way his voice shook a little.

Nami broke eye contact and looked away guiltily.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but the fetish party thing I'm going to tonight is actually another date."

"What?" he asked, beyond confused. Of all the ways he'd pictured his date with Nami ending, this was not even remotely close to what he had imagined.

"I don't want to date you, Sanji. I'm sorry if I've led you on; I don't mean to be a bitch about it, but whatever you're feeling for him is getting to be a little obvious."

"What?"

"Just tell it to me straight, okay?" she said, turning back to him with a soft smile. "Do you like him?"

"I- I don't know." Stuttering slightly, he answered honestly, becoming distraught by the conversation and the line of questioning she was grilling him with. "I've only known him a week; is that even enough? What does any of this have to do with… anything?"

"Because, I can help you."

"Help me?" His eyebrows drew tightly together as he stared at her, unsure of what anything they had been saying meant.

"If you want it."

"With what?"

"With Zoro."