#i hope you enjoyed the muses i picked out!! i DID go a lil wild with the length lol in my defense i deleted my first reply by accident :'(

[ickybby]

@bitingdcwn ASKED: 3b for your choice of muses (or i can try to pick if you want!) AGE GAP PROMPTS

this is NOT what eliss had in mind when her parents convinced her to take up the "very casual gig" as a farmhand at the hammond farm. her own parents came from generations of agriculturalists. as a result, eliss became well-versed in handling farm equipment and animal husbandry alike from a young age. both look intimidatingly large compared to the young woman's slight form, even as an adult. it's not a wonder people were typically stunned at the effortlessness with which she wields the reigns of a horse to herd livestock. or how at ease she looks scaling giant tractors in sunny little dresses and painted overalls to tend to acres and acres of crops. the experience makes the job easier, but not at all why she takes it in the first place. the first couple of visits happen over spring break. they pass TOO QUICKLY and leave her eager to leave the bustling warmth of l.a for the sedentary heat of her hometown for the first time since escaping leaving for school. it's a wonder how anything gets done around his farm without the sexual tension thwarting his work. everything culminates a few months after spring when eliss finds herself home for the summer. though she may be back in town, she spends more nights in everett's spare room than she does in her own bedroom at her parents. her town her church her family could typically sense scandal before it even fully formed, but eliss was known for being so chaste. practically angelic. most people didn't think it was strange that she spent so much time working. of course, she needed the money. what incoming sophomore didn't? if anything, her work ethic was considered praiseworthy. she thanked god he saw directly through that pious little act of hers. to be fair, it wasn't entirely an act. eliss was a hard worker in all aspects, not just in her endeavor to entice him. it DID take her a huge leap of courage and a momentary lapse in faith to allow everett to catch her pleasuring herself using the corner of his kitchen table. the nightgown she made herself is hiked up to her hips to reveal a pair of simple white panties already turning translucent as she soaked through them. it takes everything in her to keep grinding her clit against the smooth, cool tabletop after he rips his gaze from her cunt so they can FINALLY make eye contact. thankfully, her act of boldness pays off because it's not long after that he decides to bend her over the kitchen table, her underwear left around her thighs. a single finds the tight ring of muscle above her glistening pussy, gently teasing it with the prospect of more pressure using the pad of his fingertip. full lips part involuntarily with breathy moans, hips squirming under his gentle stimulation.

[pretendingboyfriends]

A/N: ok WOW first off, i’m so sorry i literally haven’t posted since december. these past few months have been so wild what with new classes and my mental health declining. i can’t promise the last few parts of this lil series will come at a timely manner just because my mental state can be very unpredictable, but i will try my best to get them out as fast as i can, especially when summer is right around the corner. i wanna thank @thestyleswritings and @friendlyneighborhood-mendes​ for being my lovely beta readers. as i’ve said before, my writing is nothing without betas so thank u for taking the time to review my piece and give me honest feedback. anyways, i made this part extra long for you guys and i really really hope you love it. <3

Warnings: explicit language, panic attack, anxiety, deidre being a megacunt (as always), smut 

Word count: 9.3k+

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It’s been a few days since your first date with Harry, the two weeks you’ve planned to spend at the beach feeling far too short as each day passes like a whirlwind. And over these days, you’ve found that getting comfortable with him is an easier feat than you’d initially imagined. Moments with him are hardly fleeting. You find yourself spending most of your time with him, whether it be going for a swim on the beach or sneaking off somewhere in the house to make out. If this were anyone else, you’d feel suffocated spending so much time with them, but with Harry it’s so much different. You can’t keep yourself away from him, even if you try, and you’re beginning to think that the feeling is quite mutual for Harry as well.

The air is humid and warm, a quaint breeze sifting through the leaves of the palm trees that surround the pool’s fence, finding its way to where the three of you lounge. The kiss of the sun blesses your exposed skin as you and Deidre lie side by side on the poolside chairs. You've lost count of how many hours the three of you have spent in the afternoon sun, but, as hot as it is, you're thoroughly enjoying every moment spent actually being with Deidre for once. Even if you aren't actually doing anything but lying in the sun, just the fact that she's spending time with you for longer than an hour makes you happy. 

Your eyes scan each line of the book in your hands, allowing your brain to paint a picture of each image as best as it can. Deidre snores quietly beside you, arms draped over her face to shield her eyes from the blinding light and Harry splashes around quietly in the pool, occasionally pulling himself under for a few moments before coming back to the surface for air again. 

As you turn the page of your book, the sudden splashing of water fills your ears before several cold droplets hit your warm skin. It immediately draws your attention away from your book and up to where Harry stands in front of your chair. 

"Hi," You muse, pulling your legs up to curl beneath you. 

"Hi back," He smiles as he pushes his fingers through his long, dripping wet hair. 

You pluck your sunglasses from your nose and gingerly place them on the top of your head so that you can get a better look at him. "Need something?" 

"Could you grab me a Coke from the cooler, please?" He asks, yanking his towel from the edge of his own chair and wrapping it around his shoulders. 

"Yeah, sure." You nod, sliding a bookmark into the spine of your book and placing it beside you on the chair before reaching into the cooler next to you for an unopened can. The chilled perspiration dripping down the aluminum can causes a chill to travel up your spine as soon as your fingertips make contact with it. You reach forward to place it into Harry's hand, your fingers brushing against his for a brief moment.

He mutters a quick 'thanks' before cracking it open and lifting it to his lips. As he does this, you're given an opportunity to allow your gaze to fall down the rest of his body. His tanned skin glistens delicately in the sunlight, each droplet of water illuminated like tiny specks of glitter all along his chest and arms. The dark ink that litters his skin has somehow become a shade darker as well, each detail becoming more apparent to your eye the longer you study the expanse of his chest and shoulders.

"Enjoying the view?" Harry hums, very obviously amused by your mindless ogling. 

You clear your throat, feigning innocence as you internally burst into flames of embarrassment. "I don't know what you're talking about." (Luckily, Deidre is still snoring peacefully beside you, completely oblivious to the flirtatious comments being thrown back and forth between you and Harry.)

He chuckles, sipping his drink one last time before placing it on the ground by his chair. "Are you sure you don't want to come join me for a bit?" He motions back to the pool as he drops the towel back on the chair. 

"I think I'm alright staying here," You hum, tilting your head to the side as you gaze up at him. "I'm quite enjoying my book." You sigh, picking your book back up and waving it in the air to show him. 

He sighs in disappointment, shaking his head. "That's a shame. The water feels fantastic." 

You watch him turn back towards the pool, admiring the way the muscles in his back flex with his every move. He crouches down at the edge of the water, placing one hand on the cement as he slings himself into the pool, water splashing all around him. He swivels around in the water so that he's facing you again, his eyes trained on yours with a mischievous look on his face. You squint in suspicion, tilting your head to the side. "What are you doing?"

"Nothin'." He shrugs, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. He continues to wade out a little further and you roll your eyes at him, turning your attention away from him and back to your book. 

There are a few moments of silence in the air as you're pulled back into the imagery of the book, paying no mind to whatever mischief Harry is up to in the pool. But then, before you have even a second to process what's happening, cold water splashes up onto your legs, your heart nearly leaping out of your chest as the book slips out of your grasp. 

"Harry!" You screech, sitting up on your chair to scold him. He's standing in the water at the edge of the pool with an evil smile spread across his face, his hands scooping up the water and splashing it up in your direction. The mixture of your screeching and the cold water reaching her side of the pavement, causes Deidre to wake from her slumber, scrambling up into a sitting position. 

"Harry, what the fuck!?" She screams from beside you, grabbing her sandal from the ground and hurling it in his direction. He cackles dramatically as he dodges the shoe by swiftly slipping beneath the surface of the water. The shoe falls into the water behind him with a loud 'PLUNK' and then resurfaces, floating aimlessly.

He rises back to the surface within a few seconds, chuckling as he pushes the sopping wet hair out of his face. "Sorry, did I get ya?"

Deidre scoffs, angrily wiping the water droplets from her legs with her towel. "I was having such a good nap and you ruined it." 

"Oh, come on," He rolls his eyes, dragging out the 'n' with a teasing lilt. "I was just playin' around. It's gettin' kinda boring being in here all alone."

She lies back against the chair exactly like she had been before, draping her arm over her eyes once again. "Suck it up." 

Harry wades back to the side of the pool, folding his arms against the warm cement and leaning his chin against them with a pout on his lips. "Pretty please?" 

Before either you or Deidre even has a moment to respond, Deidre's phone begins to sing loudly with the sound of her ringtone. She pats her hand around the chair for her phone for a few moments, not bothering to lift her arm from her eyes to look for it. She finally grasps it, sliding her thumb across the bottom of the screen and lifting it to her ear. 

"Hello?... oh, hey, what's up?" She speaks to the person on the other end, finally lifting her arm from her eyes so that she can sit up on the chair. "Yeah, I'd love to! I can be there in, like-" she pauses to glance at the time on her phone. "10 minutes?" Another pause. "Okay, sounds good, see you there!" She lifts the phone from her ear, tapping the screen once to end the call before quickly standing up from the chair. 

"Who was that?" You ask, tilting your head at her in curiosity, though you sense that you already know the answer. 

"That was Jeff and the rest of the gang. They invited me to mini golf with them," Deidre replies, folding her towel over her arm and picking her sandal up from the ground. "You can come along, if you want."

Immediately, you feel your mood begin to plummet as you watch her get ready to leave, barely even giving you a second glance as she retrieves her sandal from the water. You know she's not doing it on purpose, but it's hard not to feel hurt by her inability to spend even so much as a day with you. 

"That's okay," You respond, trying to mask the shakiness of your voice with a cheerful lilt. "Have fun, though." 

"Okay, well, I'll see you guys later!" She smiles, waving back to both of you as she turns on her heel and bounds up the porch stairs.

After the sound of the back door swinging shut fills your ears, you glance over in Harry's direction to find that he's watching you intently. His playful expression from just a few moments ago is exchanged with a concerned frown. You sigh, picking your book back up in hopes of finding a distraction from the sinking feeling deep in your stomach, but Harry has other plans. 

A fleeting, silent moment passes before Harry decides to speak.

"Hey," 

The sound of his voice pulls your attention away from the book in your hands, forcing you to move it from in front of your face so that you can look at him. "Hi," you make eye contact with him, finding that he's still in the same position from before, arms folded on the pavement as his chin rests against them. 

"You alright?" He questions, tilting his head to the side as he watches you. 

You shake your head a little, glancing down at the book in your lap. "It's fine. I don't really know what I was expecting, she's been doing this for the past week and a half. I shouldn't even be surprised at this point."

He's silent for a moment, gazing at you thoughtfully as he thinks of what he's going to say in response. "You really should join me in here. It'll help you get your mind off things." 

You hesitate, rubbing the back of your neck with the palm of your hand as you mull over his proposition. It'd be nice to have a distraction from the nagging feeling of betrayal deep within your chest, and you know Harry will do anything in his power to make sure you feel better. After a silent debate with yourself on whether or not you really want to join him, you push yourself up from the chair, muttering a quiet affirmation before slowly padding over to the edge of the pool.

You crouch down, moving to sit on the warm pavement as your legs hang over the edge and dip into the cool, clear water. Harry pushes himself off from the wall, spinning himself around 360 degrees. 

"Come onnnn," He sings, wading closer to you. "Come swim with me."

You scrunch your nose, kicking your legs in the water and staring down at the way the water splashes up into the air. "Gimme a minute to get used to the water, jeez." You scoff, kicking a bit of water in his direction. 

He rolls his eyes, wading closer to you so that you can feel his warm breath against your knees and the current his kicking feet create beneath you. "That's an excuse if I've ever heard one,"  his fingers curl around your right ankle, giving you another mischievous smile identical to the one he gave you earlier. 

"What are you doing?" You squint your eyes at him, cautiously tugging your leg against his grip. 

"M'helpin' you get in," he hums nonchalantly. "Seems like you need a bit of coaxing."

A small smile breaks across your face and you roll your eyes, placing your hands on the pavement behind you and leaning back against them. "I'm quite comfortable right here, actually." 

"Alright, then you leave me no other choice..." Before you can even process what he's saying, he's grabbing your other ankle and yanking you into the water in one quick movement. The water splashes around you, engulfing you beneath the surface and immediately soaking into your bathing suit.

You resurface, sputtering and choking on the water as you rub the chlorine from your burning eyes. "I hate you so much right now," You huff, dropping your hands and squinting up at him. He's wearing an mischievous smile, fully content with his successful attempt of getting you into the pool.

"It's really not that bad," he rolls his eyes, wading further away from you. "You'll get used to it." 

You glare at him, shoving your hands forward beneath the water to splash him directly in the face, but he merely laughs and swiftly wipes the droplets from his eyes like it's nothing. You watch as he slinks towards the very edge of the pool several feet away from you, turning back to face you before grabbing a small, foam ball floating on the surface. He tosses it in your direction, watching it land directly in front of you, splashing the water gently. 

"C'mon, toss it back to me,"

You take the ball into your hand, squinting up at him. "Is this your idea of fun?"

He shrugs. "Got any other ideas?"

At that, you roll your eyes and reluctantly hurl the ball back into his direction. He catches it swiftly with both hands, tossing it up into the air a few times as he contemplates his next move. 

“Oh, my god,” you groan, rolling your head back onto your shoulders in dramatic exaggeration. “I’m not doing this.” You turn to wade towards the side of the pool.

“No, wait!” He calls, immediately running (more like bobbing) through the water towards you as fast as he can. 

You ignore his call and start to climb the side of the pool, but he catches you before you can fully climb out, curling an arm around your waist and tugging you back against him. 

“Please,” he mutters, pressing a tender kiss to the side of your neck. “I know you’re upset, but I just wanna help you get your mind off things.” 

You sigh, reluctantly dropping your hands from the edge of the pavement. You’re silent for a moment as he rests his chin against your shoulder, small puffs of air hitting your damp skin.

“I really thought she was going to try to spend time with me today,” you whisper, turning in his arms to face him. “She didn’t tell me she wouldn’t do it again, though, so I guess I’m the only one to blame.”

He frowns at that, shaking his head. “Don’t blame y’self for any of this. You had expectations for this trip and she completely obliterated them.” 

Jutting your bottom lip into a pout, you avoid making eye contact with him. You know he’s right. She promised you she’d spend the trip with you, just you, but she’s almost done everything in her power to do the opposite. 

Harry leans forward, pecking your pouted lips gently. He starts to pull away, but you want more so you lock your arms around his neck and he takes that as an invitation to continue, pecking your lips in quick intervals. Even though you’d only just begun to show affection towards each other in this short period of time, it feels like you’ve been together for years. Everything is just so easy with him. It helps that you grew up with each other, but your interactions were so scarce over the years that you didn’t even feel like you really knew him until this trip. 

As you’re opening your mouth ever so slightly for him to stroke his tongue over your bottom lip, the feeling of his fingers creeping along your waist has you chuckling nervously. “What’re you doing?” 

“Nothin’...” He hums, hooded eyes gazing into yours as he traces his fingertips up against your sides. He leans in for another kiss with a lazy smirk on his lips and you hesitantly grant him one, wary of his wandering hands. 

Suddenly, his hands aren’t so gentle anymore and the seemingly harmless pressure of his fingers has turned into almost painful tickling. You throw your head back against your shoulders with a cackle, pressing your palms into his chest in an attempt to push him away but he doesn’t budge. The vicious assault of his fingers draws giggle after giggle from your lips with the occasionally squeal of frustration as you squirm in his unyielding hold. 

“I. Hate. You.” You grunt between each word, smacking your hands against his biceps, chest, and shoulders playfully. 

Finally, you’re able to tear away from him, nearly diving into the water to get away from him, but he’s faster than you and within moments he has a large, tattooed arm curled around your waist once again. You scream out in frustration, kicking your legs in the water and causing it to splash out in front of you nearly six feet into the air. 

“You can’t escape that easy,” he chuckles into your ear, continuing his assault on your poor midsection as you whimper and struggle limply. 

Suddenly,  a loud rumble of thunder pulls your attention from Harry’s abuse and up to the sky. You've been so distracted by Harry’s stabbing fingers that you hadn't seen the dark cumulonimbus' gathering directly above you in the sky, uttering low groans of warning to anyone near. It begins as small, harmless droplets, but quickly blossoms into a violent downpour, pounding into the surface of the water. 

“Fuck!” You screech as you scramble to get out of the pool. Harry is taking his time, though, laughing at the way you’re panicking. “Do you want to get struck by lightning?!” You yell to him, yanking your towel and book from the chair you were lying in before. 

He laughs at you, climbing out of the pool and standing by the edge briefly so that he can wipe the moisture from his eyes. The sight of him standing there in nothing but a tight, wet pair of swimming trunks, nearly causes your mouth to water. If it weren’t for the raging thunderstorm pelting you and everything around it, you’d take a few moments just to soak in the view, but you have no time for that. 

You bound up the stairs leading to the back porch, holding your book and towel close to your chest to keep them from getting any wetter than they already are. Harry soon follows with his own belongings, giggling playfully like a little boy as the screen door slams behind him. 

“Shit- that came out of nowhere!” He chokes, pushing his hand through the sopping curls sprouting from his head and framing his beautiful face. 

You shake your head at him with a small chuckle as you toss your towel to the side and yank the sliding door open so that you can step inside. Harry tosses his own towel over a porch chair before he follows you inside, sliding the door closed behind him. The contrast of the roaring sound of the storm outside compared to the silence inside the house is almost deafening. Both of you are wet and shivering on the carpeted floor, looking shamelessly like a pair of greasy rats. 

Both of you shower (separately) and change into more comfortable, dry attire, soon finding yourselves in the kitchen scavenging for something to eat. 

“Y’know what I’m really craving right now?” Harry asks, standing in front of the open refrigerator. 

“What?” You reply, popping a grape into your mouth as you lean back against the counter.

“Chocolate chip cookies.”

You pause for a moment, contemplating the prospect of freshly baked cookies melting in your mouth. “Now that you mention it, I'm really craving some as well."

"I think it's something in the water." He hums sarcastically, scrunching his nose to emphasize the sarcasm.

“Perhaps,” you hum in response, a smile itching to spread across your lips.

"Alright then, let's do it!" Harry says, pushing himself away from the counter. "Let's make chocolate chip cookies."

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah! Come on, we've got nowhere else to be. This will give us something to pass the time!" 

Soon, you find yourself hip to hip with Harry at the kitchen counter, a large spread of every required ingredient to make chocolate chip cookies laid out in front of you. You'd found a few old aprons in the back of the pantry and of course you'd both thrown them on to make the experience as authentic as possible. 

Harry's apron of choice is a bright yellow number with tacky, purple frills lining the edges and the words "Grandma's Kitchen" stitched across the breast in that same purple color-all you can do is giggle at the sight of him. Yours, however, is nearly the opposite of his; a plain white piece with a pattern of small, black flowers.

Harry frowns at you when you begin to laugh at the sight of him in the apron. "What?? You don't like it?" He huffs, placing his hands on his hips.

"No, no-" you snort, attempting to hold in the cackle itching to escape your throat. "It's great, I love it. Really suits you."

He smiles to himself, turning to the counter. "Thank you, I think it's quite tasteful as well." 

You notice that he's pulled his hair up into a bun, so you're able to admire his face in the close proximity. He really is handsome, you think. His eyes are shockingly vibrant - piercing yet kind all at the same time. When he smiles, the very edges of his eyes crinkle as if they're smiling with him and it's getting harder for you to keep yourself from getting lost in them. You'd always found him attractive like that, but within the past week and a half you've gained a different, more meaningful attraction to him. He isn't just your childhood crush anymore - he's Harry. Harry, the boy who remembers how you take your coffee; Harry, the boy who takes you out to coffee and bookstores and proceeds to buy you nearly half the store without you even knowing; Harry, the boy that would rather spend his entire vacation with you when he could easily spend it partying with a new girl every night. 

You shake your head at him with a small chuckle, turning back to the counter before looking down at the recipe shown on your phone screen. "So..." you begin, scanning over the first few steps on your screen. "First, we need to combine all the dry ingredients into one bowl and then combine all the wet ingredients in another bowl."

"Alright," Harry hums through a nod, selecting all the dry ingredients from the layout in front of you and collecting them into his corner. "I'll mix the dry ingredients."

You acknowledge him with a quiet murmur before you continue to scan the list of instructions. As you do so, your vision begins to blur slightly. You ignore it at first, hoping it goes away, but when it doesn't, you're forced to blink a few times in an attempt to clear it. Your attempts are in vain, however, because your vision does not improve. Nevertheless, you choose to ignore it in hopes that it will go away on its own. 

As you begin to crack eggs; scoop perfectly measured cups of sugar; and combine softened butter all together into a bowl, a slight wave of light-headedness overwhelms you. It's unexpected, so you place the bowl on the counter, sliding it away from you slightly so that you can grip the edge of the counter to stabilize yourself. 

Harry seems to notice the shift in your behavior, nudging your arm gently with his elbow to grab your attention. "Is everything alright? Y'look a bit flustered," 

Before you're able to respond, your heart rate suddenly and noticeably begins to increase as well, causing your breathing to become more labored and frantic. You shake your head, gripping the edge of the counter until your knuckles are white, head hung on your shoulders as you attempt to catch your breath. "I think I'm- I think I'm having a panic attack," 

You sense him moving closer to you, a warm palm pressed against your back in a soothing manner. "Can I- What can I do to help?" 

"I just- I need to sit down," You mutter between breaths, turning slightly to slide down the cabinets and onto the floor with your hand still firmly placed against your chest. A slight numbness begins to form around your nose and your hands begin to shake uncontrollably as you crumple onto the kitchen floor. 

Harry follows quickly, moving to sit directly in front of you and gently taking both your hands into his own. "Can you try to breathe a bit slower for me?" He mutters, rubbing his thumbs against your knuckles soothingly. "Maybe in through your nose and out through your mouth?" 

You nod to him, taking deep breaths in through your nose and then breathing out through your mouth just like he'd instructed. The feeling of his thumbs rubbing against your skin so gently helps to ground you in the moment, although the feeling of panic and anxiety still rages through your veins. Just his presence alone gives you a level of comfort, but it isn't enough to obliterate the numbness in your face and the hot tears gliding effortlessly down your cheeks. 

You don't know how much time passes, but eventually your breathing has gone back to normal and you're left exhausted and still shaking. 

"Are you feeling better?" He hums, gently pressing his lips to your knuckles as he gazes up at you with the same concerned expression he'd been sporting as soon as your episode began. 

"Yeah- Yes," You stutter in response, leaning your head back against the wooden cabinets. "Fuck, I don't even know where that came from, I'm sorry." 

"No, please, don't apologize. Just wanna make sure you're alright,"

You give him a weak smile. "I'm pretty exhausted, but I'll be okay after lying down for a bit or taking a nap." 

"Yeah? Need me to help you up or do you want to sit here for a while longer?" He asks, tilting his head to the side as he smiles back at you.

"Do you think you could get me some water, please?" 

"Of course," He nods, immediately standing up in front of you to grab a fresh glass from one of the upper cabinets and fill it with water before kneeling back down to place it into your trembling hands. "There you are, babe."

You smile up at him. "Thank you." 

He smiles back as if to say "you're welcome" as he gently rubs his knuckles against your arm to give you some form of comfort.

It takes nearly 10 minutes for you to gather your bearings on reality again, but having Harry there helps so much more than if you were experiencing this alone. He watches you intently the entire time, hyper aware of every breath you take like he's afraid you'll fall apart in front of his eyes, and all you want to do is reach up and smooth out the deep creases between his eyebrows. 

"Could you help me up now?" You croak, squeezing his hand gently. 

"Yeah- yes, of course." He scrambles to securely wrap an arm around your waist, his other hand still clutching one of yours as he lifts you from the kitchen floor. Once you're fully stabilized on both of your feet, you look at Harry, hands resting on his shoulders as he cups his hands around both your elbows, searching your face frantically for any sign of distress. "You alright?"

You nod, giving him a weak smile and sliding your arms up around his neck to pull him in for a hug. His arms immediately fall to wrap around your waist, pressing your body into his in a warm, comforting embrace. 

"Sorry I couldn't finish making the cookies with you," You mutter into his ear, pressing your face into his neck. 

"S'alright, I can manage on my own." He replies, rubbing his hand up and down the length of your back. He can feel the erratic thudding of your heart against his chest, your slow, shaky breaths fanning directly over his ear simultaneously. His heart aches. 

After you take yourself back to your bedroom to rest, Harry finishes the cookies by himself. Due to his previous baking experience, the task is a breeze, but during the time he spends mixing and preparing the cookies, all he can think about is how angry he is with Deidre. He'd seen her, time and time again, take advantage of your kindness without a single thought as to how it might make you feel. She's selfish, and you're far too good for her. Deidre doesn't deserve to call you her best friend.

Just as he begins to pull the steaming, golden cookies from the oven, the sound of the front door swinging open from behind him catches his ear. Deidre stumbles in from the pouring rain, fumbling around as she removes her sandals and tosses her tote bag to the floor next to them. 

He pokes his head into the living room to look at her. She's almost completely soaked-- her long, dark hair is sopping wet, clumping together in thick strands, and her thin cover-dress is soaked completely through, sticking to her figure like a glove. He hadn't even noticed it's been raining this entire time. 

"Hey! Mini golfing got cut short 'cause of the rain." She smiles, pushing her hair out of her face as she looks at him. 

He responds with a low grunt, stepping back into the kitchen without a single word. Her peppiness annoys him. 

"Did you bake something?" She continues, sauntering into the kitchen. "Smells fantastic!"

"Chocolate chip cookies," he replies bluntly as he wipes the counter down with a damp towel.

"Can I have one?" 

"Sure, do whatever you want." He snaps, tossing the towel into the sink in frustration. 

She frowns at him, her shoulders dropping a little at the sight of the slight scowl on his face and the sudden outburst he'd just had. "What's your deal?" 

He turns to her. "What's MY deal? My fucking 'deal' is that you were meant to come here to spend time with your best friend and the longest you've spent in the same vicinity with her is when you're sleeping! She came here expecting to find a distraction from the shitty time she's been having at school and you've made it worse for her!" 

Deidre stands in shock, the hand that had been reaching for a cookie now fallen limp at her side. 

"She's in bed resting right now because she had a panic attack on the kitchen floor not even an hour ago-"

"That's not my fucking fault!" She interrupts him, throwing her arms out expressively. 

"Maybe not, but you're not doing anything to help her! You knew she was having a hard time at school and invited her here as a distraction, yet you left her to spend two weeks all by herself! If I hadn't have come along, she'd have been left on her own or forced to join you on your little escapades without a single choice." He huffs, yanking the strings of his apron to untie them from each other before pulling it over his head and hurling it to the ground. 

“You know, I asked her every time I went out if she wanted to come with me,” Deidre grumbles, shaking her head, “but she turned me down every single time.”

“Yeah, y’know why she turned you down?” Harry immediately retorts with a growl. “Because she didn’t want to spend time with a couple of random blokes that you know far better than she does!”

She snaps her mouth shut, a deep scowl etched across her brow as she stands in front of him. 

"You have no regard for anyone else besides yourself and I am not going to let you ruin this trip for her. So, PLEASE, keep doing exactly what you're doing because I'm positive she's had more time with me than the two of you ever had together!" With that, Harry storms out of the room and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him and leaving Deidre standing speechless in the kitchen.

Unbeknownst to Harry and Deidre, the quarrel wakes you from your slumber in the other room, causing you to become a bit curious and move closer to the door so that you can listen to the lava spewing from both sides. The fight isn’t long, but you hear nearly every word. The way Harry so passionately defends you in the situation, which had initially caused you to feel so unbelievably helpless, gives you a sense of comfort. You know he cares about you, but there’s something so endearing about actually hearing him defend you with so much fervor. 

The slamming of Harry’s bedroom door echoes down the hallway, indicating the end of their conversation. You step away from your own door, the backs of your knees hitting the edge of the mattress as you sit. You can hear Deidre walking down the hallway, so to make it seem like you weren’t eavesdropping on their entire conversation, you return to where you were on the bed previously and pretend like you’re asleep.

“Harry?” Your knuckles rap against the wood of his bedroom door gently, careful not to wake Deidre in the other room by knocking too loudly. There’s a brief pause and a shuffling of bed sheets from behind the door before it cracks open, revealing Harry in his sleepy, disheveled state. 

“Hi,” He croaks, licking his lips and crossing his arms over his hoodie-clad chest. “Is everything alright?”

You sigh, scratching the back of your head nervously. “Yeah, um- sorry, everything’s fine, I’m just- I’m having some trouble sleeping and- this is stupid, but… could I stay in here with you?” It takes a moment for him to process your words, but once he does he’s nodding and stepping aside to beckon you into his room. “I’m really sorry, I know you were probably sleeping-”

“S’alright, babe, don’t worry about it,” he shakes his head. “Why don’t you go and get comfortable on the bed while I grab us some tea?”

You nod, giving him a small, tired smile as he steps out of the room, leaving the door cracked slightly. You make your way over to his bed, the duvet pulled back along with the sheets, indicating where he’d been lying on the bed moments ago. Your knees land on the soft fabric as you crawl further into the queen sized bed, finding your place on the other side where the duvet is untouched. A warm mixture of chamomile, jasmine, and a hint of cedar wood engulfs you when you lay your head on his pillow. The smell is intoxicating, one whiff could send you into a peaceful, drunken slumber. But, instead of actually falling asleep, you lie there for a few moments, listening to the gentle sounds of the ceiling fan spinning above your head as it lulls you into a quiet reverie. 

Soon, Harry is entering the room again, breaking you from your thoughts as you look to find him stepping through the door with two white, porcelain mugs filled to the brim with steaming tea. 

“I hope you’re alright with green tea ‘cause that’s all we have,” He murmurs, moving very slowly towards the bed.

“Green tea is perfect, thank you.” You smile, making sure not to burn yourself or spill any of the precious beverage as he crawls onto the bed beside you and places one of the mugs into your welcoming hands. Once the tea is secured, you adjust yourself so that you're sitting against the headboard, body tilted slightly in Harry's direction.

“So,” He starts, blowing on his own tea in an attempt to cool it down faster. “Is there a specific reason why you aren’t able to sleep?”

You take a deep breath, crossing your legs comfortably. “I'm, um, having a bit of anxiety and sleeping with Deidre just isn't helping since she's always making some sort of noise."

“Anxiety?” He frowns, moving his lips away from his tea so that he can be fully attentive to what you're saying. “Are you alright? Do you need me to help with anything?"

“I guess I'm still a bit on edge from earlier, so there isn't much you can do besides just keep me distracted,” you reply, forcing a small smile. "And the tea helps a lot as well."

"I can definitely do that." He smiles, leaning in to peck your lips gingerly. Of course, you welcome the kisses happily, pulling him in for a few more after he pulls away from the first one. He chuckles into your lips, deepening the kiss by tilting his head every so slightly to the side. Your free hand rests against his chest, so you can feel the gentle vibration of his chortle through the fabric of his hoodie and it makes you smile.

“Oh, also-” you continue after you've parted from his lips. “I never properly thanked you for the books you bought for me. I really do not deserve all that, but thank you, really. They will definitely be of good use.”

He smiles and shakes his head, “S’no problem. You seemed so enthralled by each of them and I thought it’d be a shame for you not to go home with at least a few.” 

You smile to yourself, glancing down at your tea. "You really didn't need to do that, but, again, thank you." You reach up to gently cup the side of his face, leaning a little bit closer so that you can capture his lips between yours once again. This time, the kisses aren't as innocent. Your fingers find their way to the nape of his neck, drawing him closer to you as his tongue slowly slides against your bottom lip. If it weren't for the steaming mugs of tea in both yours and Harry's hands, it would be so much easier for either of you to take more control of the situation and move into something more than just kissing. You can sense that he wants to do something, and admittedly you do too, but you pull away before anything can happen.

"That isn't the only reason why I came here tonight, though," you speak again as your lips part from his.

He frowns slightly, tilting his head to the side as if to ask: "what's the other reason?"

"I overheard your conversation with Deidre earlier." 

His eyes widen. "Oh, fuck- listen, I'm sorry I got kind of carried away. It just made me so angry to see her continuously treat you like that and I- I didn't mean to, like, speak for you-"

"No, Harry, it's okay," You interrupt him before he can continue rambling. "I appreciated it. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it myself, so thank you."

“I really didn't want to make it seem like you can't stand up for yourself, but I know it's just been affecting you so much lately and she needed to be put in her place, even if it made her angry."

"Thank you, really. Usually, Deidre would've been the person to stand up for me for something like that, but lately we just haven't felt as close. Even before this trip. Kinda started to think she just invited me here out of pity... And I honestly wouldn't blame her if she did. " You shrug, staring down into the tea to avoid direct eye contact. 

Harry shakes his head. “Don’t think like that-- I’m sure she really did want you to come, but just got distracted by other things. She tends to do that sometimes.”

You shrug wordlessly, keeping your eyes trained to the gently swirling liquid in your cup. 

When you look back up at him, you realize how cozy and warm he looks just sitting there in his hoodie and sweatpants, mug of steaming tea sitting at his pink lips. Your tank-top and shorts aren’t doing much to help with the chilled draft wafting throughout the house, so seeing him like that makes you want to crawl into his arms in search of warmth. 

He notices the way you’re shivering and moves to set his mug on the bedside table. “Are you cold?”

You smile sheepishly. “Yeah, a little. The anxiety gives me cold flashes.” He quickly tugs his hoodie over his head as soon as the words leave your lips, carefully taking the mug of tea from your hands and placing it on the bedside table before holding the hoodie open for you to slide your arms in easily. Your heart nearly melts at the sentiment, sliding your arms into the sleeves and pulling the piece of clothing over your head. It’s warm, soft and smells just like him, and it immediately gives you a sense of comfort. “Thanks.” You smile.

“S’no problem,” he replies, reaching over for your mug to offer it back to you. You carefully take it from his hands, thanking him before taking another tentative sip. The liquid is still a bit hot, but it has cooled down just enough for you to sip at your own leisure. 

“You’re way too sweet to me, Harry,” you sigh, tugging the sleeves of his hoodie over your fingers.

“Y’know, I don’t think I am,” he shakes his head, moving closer to you on the creaky mattress. “Think I should be sweeter, show you how much you deserve it.”

You scoff quietly, looking away from him to hide your flustered expression. “Oh, shut up.” 

He falls silent, the only sound that can be heard being the shuffling of the sheets and creaking of the mattress as he moves closer to you again. And then you feel it: his lips pressed to your shoulder through the thick material of his hoodie. It’s soft but it’s there and as soon as you turn your head to look at him, he pulls away, staring directly into your eyes with an almost unreadable expression.

“You deserve so much more than what you think you deserve. I wish I could show you that.”

You maintain eye contact with him, breath caught in your throat. You’re rendered speechless at the depth of his words, forced to take slow, deep breaths to calm the pounding of your heart as he inches closer. You open your mouth to respond, but you’re unable to speak a single word other than the faint murmur of his name. 

His hand finds both of yours as they clutch the warm mug of tea, (tighter than you’d initially intended due to the tension clouding your brain) carefully prying it from your fingers before placing it on the bedside table. You angle your body towards him, taking his face in your hands before moving forward to plant your lips against his. He immediately returns the kiss in a slightly more fervent manner, pushing you to fall back against the pillows as he cages you in with his arms. 

Despite the unexpected escalation of what began as an innocent conversation, Harry begins kissing you slowly, his tongue laving over your bottom lip and into your mouth. You allow his body to move between your legs as he kisses you, your hands holding desperately onto the nape of his neck and curve of his jaw.

“Wanna show you,” He mutters between hot, wet kisses. “Can I do that?” His face hovers over yours for a moment, waiting for you to say something. 

“Yeah- yes, please.” You breathe, reaching up to place your hand on the back of his neck and pull his lips back into yours. 

Immediately, Harry’s fingers curl into the waistband of your shorts, helping you tug them down your bare legs and toss them to the side before he lets his hands glide down your legs from your thighs to your calves, reveling in the softness of your skin. He pulls his lips away from yours, staring down into your eyes as his hand falls between your legs, fingers slowly finding your clit over your warm, damp panties. 

You hadn’t planned any of this so, of course, so your panties are nothing special, but when Harry lets his head fall down to look at where his fingers meet your sex, a shaky sigh leaves his pink lips. It sounds as if he’s in pain just from the sight of you and he hasn’t even taken your panties off yet. 

His lips fall to your neck, pressing hot, wet kisses along each side before trailing down the front of your hoodie clad chest. Once he reaches your lower region, his arms hook beneath your legs, slinging them over his shoulders as he moves to lie on his stomach between them. His hot breath washes over your clothed cunt, causing your legs to quiver around his shoulders at the sensitivity and you suck in a breath to hold back a gasp. 

He starts slowly as he peels the soft cotton of your panties from your skin, dragging them ever so slowly down your legs before nudging them aside on the bed. You’re finding it increasingly difficult not to squirm beneath his scorching gaze, but with his arms locked tight around your thighs, your movements are clearly limited. 

Harry begins to press gentle, open-mouthed kisses to the supple skin of your inner thighs, nipping lightly between each kiss. Much to your dismay, he pulls away, his knees still planted on the mattress between your legs as he scoops his luscious hair into his hands and pulls it back into a quick, messy bun. You lie there watching him, chest heaving with your labored breaths and he smirks. 

“Haven’t even started and you’re already out of breath,” he drops back down to hover over your body and you're left to cover your face with your hands in embarrassment, feeling the heat radiating from your skin to your palms. His long fingers circle your wrists, gently tugging your hands away from your face so that he can plant another firm kiss to your lips. "You sure you wanna keep going?"

He stares down at you with a cautious and gentle look in his eyes as he waits for you to respond. His need for consent is comforting and you can tell he really cares. "I'm positive. Please, keep going."

Content with your response, Harry smiles, pecking your lips one last time before crawling back down your body and slinging your legs back over his shoulders just like they were just moments ago. Since he'd removed your panties, there's no barrier between his lips and your glistening sex, his warm breath washing over your sensitive skin and causing your thighs to quiver ever so slightly. 

"Ready?" He asks quietly, virescent eyes meeting yours through thick, brown lashes. 

His purposeful prolonging has caused you to grow a little impatient, so you huff a frustrated "please," to him in hopes of speeding up the process. He chuckles a little, but finally brings his mouth to your hot skin, tongue peaking out from between his lips to slowly drag against your clit. A shaky breath escapes your lips at the initial contact, and then he presses forward, wrapping his pink, swollen lips around your sensitive button, sucking gently and it causes a much louder moan to tumble from your mouth. Your hand falls to his head, fingers pushing into the hair that was once pulled tight against his head by the messy bun. He lifts his head slightly at the sound of your moan, bringing a finger to his glistening lips as he gazes up at you, mischievous glint behind his eyes. 

"Sorry, sorry." You whisper breathlessly and he shakes his head, shoulders shaking with his slight laughter. 

His mouth finally returns to your lips, eyes trained to yours to ensure that you don't make any more loud noises before he delves back in, fully devoting himself to your pleasure. Your lip slips between your teeth in a feeble attempt to contain the breathless whimpers and moans itching to spill from your mouth and your hand continues to press into his hair. The pleasure you feel from just his lips and tongue is undeniably amazing. It's obvious the man doesn't shy away when it comes to foreplay and that only eggs on your aroused state. 

Languid strokes of Harry's tongue gradually turn into quick, firm flicks that cause your thighs to quiver with pleasure as you clamp your own hand over your mouth to muffle your involuntary noises. He hums against you purposefully so that the vibrations double the work of his tongue and lips into a delicious harmony of blissful ecstasy and your back arches from the sweat-damp sheets beneath you. Your skin is clammy and hot from the heat being emitted from your body, yet the uncomfortable, tacky feeling of it is the last thing on your mind. His mouth is a drug and you're an addict, beseeching for the next dose. 

Muffled moans and the sound of his swollen lips colliding with your dripping folds fills the small bedroom and it only makes Harry move faster, desperate to have your release glistening against his chin and upper lip as he gazes down at your heaving body. He wants you to fall apart; he craves to watch you find that burning release within the pit of your stomach and melt into the sheets from the pleasure of it. If only you knew how many times he dreamt of having you in this exact position, nearly sobbing from the work of his skilled mouth. 

"Thought about this so many times-" he pulls away, allowing his thumb to take the place of his lips and rub gentle circles against your throbbing clit. "Taste better than I could've ever imagined. Just wish I could really hear you." 

His drawled words and the lack of warmth directly against your cunt draws you to look down at him breathlessly, unable to muster a response to his confession. He chuckles at that, not expecting a response before he returns to the task at hand. By now, you're teetering over the edge, aimlessly grasping for a pillow to press over your face in an attempt to silence the growing sounds that emit from the back of your throat. Finally, you find yourself toppling over the notorious edge, the pillow that's pressed firmly against your face throughout the entirety of your orgasm doing its job in muffling your noises.

Harry watches you pulse and shiver helplessly for just a few moments before his hands are pulling the pillow from your face and tossing it above your head so that he can kiss you again. His lips and tongue taste of you as he explores the depths of your mouth and your heart continues to pound against your chest with your labored breaths. 

He pulls away from your face after a moment, smiling as he tilts his head to the side. "How was that?"

"That was-" a puff of air leaves your lips, "that was good."

"Just good?" He frowns, pecking his lips down the column of your neck. 

“I- fuck, Harry I don’t even know what to say, it was amazing.” You laugh breathlessly, tucking your fingers into his hair. 

“Amazing, hm?” He smirks. “Would you say it was five out of five stars?” 

A broken laugh leaves your lips again. “Yeah, I’d say it was five out of five.” Heat thunders across your face as you breathe another flustered giggle and he chuckles along with you, leaning forward to nuzzle his face into the crook of your neck. He presses a few soft, wet kisses to your skin and exhales, his warm breath causing goosebumps to bloom there. His ego has inflated quite a bit from your confession, but that doesn't hinder his desires to make you as comfortable and satisfied as possible.

“Do you need some water, or maybe a snack?” 

You push yourself up onto your arms, frowning at him. “What about you?” It’s almost unbelievable to you that after he worked so tirelessly to make you come, his first thought is to ask you if you need anything more, as if he hasn’t already done enough for you.

He rolls over onto his back beside you, staring up at you. “What about me?”

You briefly glance down his body, noticing the visible tent in his sweatpants. “Can I do something for you?”

“If you want to,” he shrugs, trying in vain not to show his agony. He’s obviously uncomfortable. “But I don’t want to make you feel like you have to do anything.”

You nearly roll your eyes at his unwavering chivalry, wordlessly lifting yourself up and slinging your leg over his hips to straddle him. “I want to.”

At that, Harry lifts himself up off of the bed and wraps an arm around your waist to press you into him, that small bit of friction alone causing a low whimper to slip past your lips. His mouth finds yours, fervently pulling kisses from your lips as he guides your hips against his own. You’ve imagined this scenario so many times, yet the feeling of your own fingers frantically coaxing you to release is nothing compared to the feeling of Harry’s warm body beneath you. 

Even through the fabric of his sweatpants, you can feel how thick he is and it only makes you want to move faster. His lips have attached themselves to the spot between your jaw and neck, skillfully biting and sucking at the skin as your hips gyrate against his. You can already feel the burning sensation growing between your legs due to how sensitive you are from your previous orgasm, and Harry seems to be reaching his own climax as well. He’s clawing at your hips and ass, desperate to have you as close to him as possible as low grunts fall from his lips.

It doesn’t take long for you to find your release, choking out Harry’s name as your fingers tug and yank at his now lopsided bun. He doesn’t seem to mind, though, continuously swiveling your hips against his as he chases his own impending orgasm.

“Shit!” He groans a little too loudly as he comes, but you’re quick to shush him, slapping your palm over his mouth while your hips work him through his climax. Your thighs are burning and beads of sweat break out along every inch of your skin, but the satisfaction of knowing you’re working him down to his very last drop is enough to keep you going until neither you, nor him can take it anymore. 

Once you finally fall limp against his body, he musters enough strength to roll you onto your back, pressing a few chaste kisses along your jawline. 

“Was it five out of five?” You breathe, keeping your eyes shut as you lean your head back against the pillow. 

“Hm?” He hums, pressing another kiss to your lips.

“Would you rate my skills five out of five?”

“Oh, definitely.” He chuckles breathlessly. 

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[nootgi]

Love? - Kaeya

A/N:// I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FIC WHILST I WORK ON MY OTHER REQS, I MAY HAVE CRIED A LIL WRITING THIS! I apologise for this story too T^T

Word count: 3k

“What’s love?” Kaeya paused at the question, his paperwork left forgotten on the table.

“Isn’t that a big question~!” He teases Annette, ruffling her hair. She puffs out her reddened cheeks and tries to move away from his hand, pressing Kaeya for an answer.

“Have you ever heard the phrase curiosity killed the cat? Though I suppose a baby like you wouldn’t know at such a young age.” He laughs, picking up the glass of grape juice to sip from. No alcohol around the children is what you strictly ordered when Kaeya decided to take Annette to work. For something like take your daughter to work day.

“I’m 6! I’m not a baby and mother says it’s good to be curious.” He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face at her words. That sounds very like you. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree he muses as he looks into Annie’s eyes, they hold the same wild innocence yours do. She has her mother’s eyes.

“Very well then, let me tell you a story.”

It was early April and the Windblume festival was coming to a close. The celebrations, despite coming to an ending, still kept the streets lively. Most of the people of Mondstadt were recovering from a hangover from last night’s heavy drinking but still had smiles on their faces. Kaeya was going for a stroll, to distract himself from the thoughts building in the back of his mind. He looked down at the plaza from where he stood, watching the clean up. It always felt bittersweet, taking down the flower garlands that hung from the buildings or rolling up the green carpets that lined the steps. He didn’t know how but he came to love Mondstadt so much... Well actually he did know. They accepted him for who he is, with all of his flaws and lies, Mondstadt and its people held a part of him he didn’t know he had. His family. And in that moment as windwheel aester petals blew from above, Mondstadt gave him something he’ll always be thankful for. 

“Here’s a flower for our cavalry captain!” You cheered, holding a cecilia flower in front of Kaeya’s face, snapping him out of his thoughts. You snuck up on him, attacking him at his weakest moment with a smile. Even though Windblume was coming to a close, you kept the festive cheer. You were handing out a variety of flowers to everyone in Mondstadt to spread the joy and love to everyone. 

“Such beauty handing me a flower, what did I do to deserve this.” He smirks at your momentary panic, ducking down slightly to be face to face. He takes the flower and smells it, hiding his smile in it’s petals. You scold him for saying such cheesy things to someone he just met. It was funny how even though it was your first meeting, your personalities fit perfectly as one. 

“Don’t you ever feel embarrassed by saying those things?” You adjust the flower that was tucked behind your ear.

“The only embarrassment I feel is that I have nothing in return for this lovely gift.” His hand comes up to fix the flower, tucking it perfectly behind your ear. The white petals glowing against your skin. That one encounter set the tradition of Kaeya and you giving presents back and forth every year during Windblume. Even as the years went on, the present stayed as a simple cecilia flower as an ode to that first meeting. 

“He didn’t believe in love at first sight. You could say it was only something that existed in fairy tales for plot convenience. It takes a lot more than first sight to fall in love but he swore that moment could’ve been it.” He looks back at the child who now climbed into his lap, she placed the red blanket over the two of them to make sure they were both comfortable. Her eyes were fixed on Kaeya, watching with eager eyes to hear more. He holds her close so she doesn’t fall off his lap as he continues his story. 

“Love can be the best feeling in the whole world but it can also be the worst.”

Kaeya stood in front of the crowd of kids with an odd look on his face. It wasn’t one you were used to seeing on his face, it was the look of utter confusion. You walked over to find out what was going on but decided to listen to the conversation first. 

“Sister Barbara said you’d be entertaining us! But this is boring!!” One of the kids said, the others around him nodding and some going far as to cheer. Kaeya didn’t know what to do. He was bad with kids, he couldn’t be mean otherwise Jean would have to deal with the complaints and he most definitely couldn’t use his usual lines. As he tried to think of something to do the kids started to chant ‘let’s play!’ and that’s when you finally decided to enter. 

“Hey there Captain! Need some help?” It was like an angel coming down from the heavens, he swore there was even a halo around your head. The kids, already knowing you, cheered at your entrance. Kaeya watched as you calmed the kids down, getting them to eat lunch and successfully buying time for the two of you to plan something to entertain them. 

“How’d you manage to get into this then Kaeya?” You approach him after giving the last child some apple juice. 

“Jean would normally do this but since it’s been a while since she spent time with her sister I decided to volunteer.” That stunned you for a moment, you heard stories from Amber about how Kaeya always seemed to avoid work and formed an unfair opinion of him in your head. You felt guilty because of those thoughts, you saw how he struggled with those kids but still put himself out there for the sake of Jean and Barbara. “But let’s not tell Jean that.” 

“Would it be so bad for Jean to know the truth?” You ask plainly, ignoring the way Kaeya said the last part of his sentence. 

“Well-” You didn’t even let him finish

“I think the problem you have Kaeya is that you’re too closed off, children are so open and trusting that the only way to get along with them is to do the same.” 

“That can’t be done overnight let alone in an hour (Y/N).” It was the first time Kaeya said your name and it sent shivers down your spine. The very thought of opening up felt dangerous to Kaeya, the last time he opened up the last of his family left him in the dust.

“You’re right in that area but we can take baby steps!” You weren’t deterred by the tall walls he built around himself. You used the word ‘we’. We can take baby steps. That’s all that lingered in Kaeya’s mind, it was like an informal promise from you to him that you’ll be beside him for that journey. 

“Then where do we start, captain cheerful?” You roll your eyes at the nickname but gesture towards the children. 

“We start with them.” That day was one of the best days Kaeya had since his childhood. He never thought hide and seek could be so thrilling or that duck duck goose could be so intense! The kids were more than happy to embrace Kaeya and his awkward aura, teaching him of super secret tactics that no-one would ever know. He found himself learning more about the children and about himself. At times when he feels his guard going back up, he glances over at you and sees you playing with some of the quieter children, bringing them out of their shells. Your smile blended in with the childish joy of the kids around the two of you. Sometimes your eyes caught each other's and you both just shyly laughed it off as kids pulled the two of you away in different directions. It was hard to catch a moment to talk to each other until you took the kids to watch the sunset by Cider lake. Most of the kids were settled on the grass, sitting crossed leg and talking about all the fun they had that day. One of the boys shyly tugged Kaeya’s leg, asking to be carried since his mother always did it for him. He looked towards you for help but you just gave two thumbs up, encouraging him. He carefully picked up the boy, letting him rest on his hip and one arm securing his waist. The boy rested his head on Kaeya's shoulder, using the fur on his shoulder as a pillow to slowly doze off. Kaeya stood still. He didn’t expect the day to go like this let alone carry a sleeping child too. You patted Kaeya’s shoulder to reassure him and the rest of the sunset was spent with whispered words exchanged between the two of you. After such a successful day, the two of you decided to take the kids once every week off of Jean’s hands. 

“Love didn’t make him become a better person magically but instead motivated him to strive for that. She inspired him to try and be a better version of himself. It wasn’t like she was perfect either, they both worked on themselves whilst inspiring each other. That’s the good side of love Annie, but there is a bad side too…” Annette saw Kaeya’s eyes darken a little and she moved her small hands to rest on top of his larger ones to comfort him. 

All Kaeya saw was red. It started off as a light hearted exchange between some treasure hunters that the two of you came across during an adventure. They used the typical story of their cart breaking down and needing help so they could lure adventurers into a trap before robbing them blind. Kaeya already knowing this tried to shut them down before anyone else could fall victim to them. He was going to only use his words since he didn’t want you getting hurt in the crossfire. He knew you could defend yourself but it was too risky with the amount of numbers they had on them, no doubt there were more of them hidden. However his words only seemed to provoke the treasure hunters more, they struck to attack him but the crossbow went astray and hit you in the shoulder instead. It could’ve been a simple flesh wound or a small cut but even the tiniest amount of blood from you sent him off. The area started dropping in temperature, the floor stable floor below the men started to turn into ice and there was a still moment as a singular snowflake drifted down onto the floor. Once it hit the ground, there was a flash and  its delicate crystals were stained with blood. Kaeya stood over the last one with his sword raised to crash down on him till you came from nowhere to hold back his arm.

“Kaeya! Stop this!!” You begged him, looking at his side profile and trying to avoid looking at the bodies that surrounded the two of you. He couldn’t hear you, all he could hear was your scream when you got hit and had tunnel vision. 

“Please stop, you’re scaring me.” You sobbed softly, finally catching his eye. The darkness that clouded his eyes faltered as he put down his sword and embraced you. The man that was on the floor scrambled up to his feet, apologising profusely before running off with a terrified shriek. Kaeya could care less about what he did, he could only think about you now. He felt your shoulders shake from the fear or maybe from the sobs that escaped your body. His heart felt as though it dropped to his stomach, he hurt you. He scared you. When his hand came up to pat your head, you flinched away. It still sticks with him to this day, your tear stained face and eyes filled with fear because of what he was. He hated himself after that day, he felt as though he was back to square one. 

“It can lead you to dangerous things. You could disregard everything and everyone around you and ironically hurt the one you were trying to protect. But you can control all these negatives by simply talking about it with whoever you love. Never run away from it.” 

“Did the lady leave him after that?” Annette asked with tears in her eyes, not wanting to see such a tragic ending for the love story. 

“No she didn’t. When he ran away, she chased after him. She was really stubborn and cornered the poor man!” 

After the incident, Kaeya was put on a suspension from his job. The people of Mondstadt didn’t know any better, thinking it was him taking a small break from his work. Kaeya doesn’t know why Jean kept it a secret but decided to roll with it. He took his suspension as a time to withdraw from you, it was scary how quickly he became so attached to you. It was dangerous for the two of you so he decided himself to end whatever went on between the two of you. When you woke up the next day, you found out about Kaeya’s suspension and tried looking for him to talk things out. It was an impossible task since Kaeya seemed to become air whenever he saw you approaching or when you ask people about his location they all gave different answers. It annoys you to no end. He saves your life and then decides to remove himself from your life. Like hell you’d allow that. So you hatch a plan with Rosaria. 

It was a Thursday night and normally Kaeya would be holed up at work but with his suspension he decided to go to the angel’s share. Rosaria said she would be there in the back corner on the second floor, she told him that she would drink with him since it was boring to drink alone. He arrives earlier than Rosaria and decides to start drinking before she gets there, ordering a bottle of dandelion wine and slowly sipping on it. Minutes turn into hours and before he realises it’s closing time and he isn’t nearly as drunk as he would like to be. Rosaria was a no show and the tavern was completely empty. That’s when Kaeya realised he was caught in a trap, he had nowhere to run as you slowly approached him. You had a really angry look on your face. It was one look, he hates to admit, that scared him. You say nothing as you seat yourself across from Kaeya.

“F-fancy seeing you here (Y/N).” He offers with a meek smile.

“It really is an odd coincidence huh? It feels like it’s been a while since we talked.” You smile, but it isn’t reaching your eyes. That night you both talked about your feelings and cried with each other. Kaeya tells you things he never imagined telling you, about his self-hatred and how he feels as though he doesn’t belong. How the guilt eats him up everyday. You in return comfort him through it all, you might not have much to say back to him but that’s okay because just having someone listen to him was more than enough. Especially if it was you.

He was walking away from your doorstep after dropping you off home when he was stopped by you.

“No matter what happens Kaeya, don’t make my decisions for me! I’m a grownup and I told you all those years ago, WE will take these baby steps together.” You say seriously, holding his gaze with your fiery eyes. As he looked up at you, he felt his heartbeat pick up and a terrible realisation came down on him. Oh.

“I promise.” He was in love. 

“When you love someone Annette, it isn’t all black and white. You have to work to keep your relationship going, when something bad happens you talk about it, celebrate the small wins alongside the big ones. At moments you can feel lost in love, know you aren’t alone in this world. And once you find that special person, never let them go.” He pats the girl’s head as she brings her hand up to rub at her sleepy eyes. 

“Would there ever be a moment you would let go of love?” She asked innocently. As Kaeya opened his mouth to respond, the sound of the door opening interrupted the two of them.

The two look towards who came in and suddenly all the sleepiness in Annette’s body seems to leave her.

“Mommy!” She shouted excitedly, jumping into your open arms. You lift her up and spin her around as she giggles happily. Kaeya watched the exchange with fond eyes, standing up to walk towards them.

“So what did you do today?” You ask, it seems like an innocent question but Kaeya knows it's you checking to see if the two of you got up to any devious acts. 

“I learnt about love!” Annette says proudly, she holds her hands against her hips and proudly puffs her chest out. Kaeya laughs softly, as you turn to him with a curious gaze. 

“Oh really? Who taught you?” Diluc walks in behind you, laughing softly at Annette. Annette notices his arrival, reaching out for him to take her off of you. She laughs when Diluc tickles her sides as he adjusts his grip on her.

“Uncle Kaeya!” Her red hair bounces as she turns to point to Kaeya who was standing a few steps away from the family. 

She had her mother’s eyes and her father’s hair.

‘There can be a moment Annie. Sometimes there can be a moment when you realise another person can make them happier than you ever could but I hope from the bottom of my heart that, you, my dearest niece will never experience that.’

[draconica]

Oooo, for the writing prompt, a little 7+4+1? Or just one, I might be a little greedy 😖🤣

7: Engagement sex 4: Petnames 1: Spicing things up in the bedroom

I made it work, anon   ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I also headcanon Ellis can be a powerbottom so enjoy that

When Ellis returned home from the shop one warm evening, he was humming softly to himself. There was a sly smile to his features as he gently jostled the plastic bag he had brought home. There was no groceries or anything that mundane inside. No, there was something very special inside of this particular carrier.

“Niiick?” he crooned in the hope that his boyfriend was home, and in the mood. Now, he was home, but as Ellis turned the corner into the living room he was met with a sight he wasn't quite expecting to see.

Nick was stood in a black suit - a proper, swanky, three-piece number – and holding a red rose. A soft song was playing on their stereo system, and the lights were turned down low. He had definitely been stood here for some time, waiting for Ellis to return home, and Ellis dropped his smile briefly. The gambler was smooth as silk at the best of times, but this was unexpected.

“Welcome home, sweet peach,” Nick led with, making Ellis blush – that damn pet name of his. “You good?”

Ellis scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, I'm jus' fine,” he smiled, setting down his bag for now, and gesturing to Nick as he took a step towards him. “What's this for?”

In a second, Nick's smile slipped a little, arching his brow. “...You forgot, didn't you?” He rolled his eyes, but that smile soon came right back as he stepped forward also, closing the gap between them and offering him the rose. “July 12th? The day we got out of quarantine?” Nick chuckled, leaning in closer and making it more personal. “The day we moved in together, made the new place official?”

A million thoughts swarmed Ellis's head at that point, taking the rose and knowing he was absolutely overcome with blushes. “O-oh… damn, I guess I did forget,” he giggled, tilting his head a little as his boyfriend leered closer. Even now, Nick was still the most damn attractive man he'd ever met, let alone dated. “M'sorry, darlin', just had a lot on my mind, I guess?” he shrugged.

Nick seemed to understand, nodding once before pulling Ellis in for a kiss. “It's all good, sport. You can make it up to me later. But for now...” he turned and clicked a remote in love control, turning down the music a touch, before his hand returned to where it belonged – holding his lover's.

“Ellis,” he began, looking down at his thumb caressing the back of El's hand. “It's been a hell of a ride to get here, huh? Fighting for our lives every day in the apocalypse, a year of quarantine, and now three years of living together. Before the Green Flu, I was at my lowest point. I… well, wouldn't be alive if I hadn't met you. The zombies were a distraction, but you were a reason to live. You mean the Goddamn world to me, Fireball, and I want to spend every day by your side. So… I have one question for you.” Ellis watched on, mouth dropping, as his boyfriend got down on one knee and produced a velvet box containing a thick silver ring. In the center, there was set a dark blue gemstone. “Ellis, mi tesoro, will you marry me?”

Needless to say, Ellis had not been expecting this today, and that was obvious given the absolute astonishment on his face at that moment. It almost made Nick want to laugh, but he was slightly too nervous for that.

Thankfully, Ellis broke into his lop-sided, brilliant Southern smile. “You sly sumbitch,” he chuckled. “Hell yeah, I'll marry ya!”

The gambler got to his feet, immediately bringing his lover closer into his arms with an unbreakable smile. The ring was a perfect fit onto Ellis's fourth finger, something else that Nick had been worried about, but seeing how snugly it sat made the older man's heart swell. “I love you, Overalls.”

“Love you, too, darlin',” Ellis responded as he brought Nick's face in for a kiss... and then another... and then his arms were around Nick's neck. Any distance between them was suddenly gone.

It wasn't unusual for their kisses to get out of hand, certainly in their earlier days where it seemed like sex was on the table every day (not literally, except for a few times Ellis can remember where they'd gotten adventurous…). That's when Ellis remembered what was in the bag he had brought home. Well, now he had no choice but to surprise his lover with its contents.

By now, Nick's kisses had moved to the mechanic's neck, and Ellis couldn't suppress a shiver as he found his favorite spot just below his ear. Many a hickey had been placed there before, and it was near-enough a certainty that he'd be getting a new one tonight.

“Nick,” he whispered, shifting his hand through the hustler's hair and smiling when he caught sight of the shiny new engagement ring on his finger. “Take me to the bedroom.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nick chuckled before tightening his grip around Ellis's waist and hoisting him up, causing the younger man to gasp against his lips. “You don't have to tell me twice.”

Of course, Nick couldn't possibly carry Ellis up a whole staircase and into said bedroom. He wasn't a young man anymore, after all. Not that Ellis minded – it actually gave him a chance to grab the bag he'd brought home. Nick gave him an odd look as he did so, but his young fiancé had simply smiled, told him not to worry about it with a pat to the cheek.

Once they both stepped into the bedroom together, Ellis set the bag down once more and brought Nick into more kisses, having missed them in the thirty seconds they had stopped.

“How long were ya plannin' that for?” asked Ellis curiously as he slipped the black tie from Nick's neck, smiling at him.

Nick shrugged a little. “Few months,” he admitted. “Knew I wanted to marry you someday, seemed like the anniversary of getting out of that Goddamn pandemic was a good time.”

Ellis was now working on those pesky shirt buttons, granting him access to that chest hair he loved so much on Nick. “Romantic as usual,” he mused. “Gotta be honest… I was plannin' a lil' somethin' for us tonight, too. Nothin' big like askin' ya to marry me, so kinda puts my gesture in the shade.”

“Don't be modest, sweet peach,” Nick chuckled, allowing Ellis to remove his suit jacket and leave it on the floor – something he usually gets very picky about.

“Well...” Ellis slipped Nick's belt from his pants, and was pleased at the choice his lover had made – a black leather strap. Yes, this'll do nicely. “I know you like bein' in control 'n all, but I wanna show ya how we ride in the South.”

That piqued the gambler's interest, not in the least because Ellis was looping the belt around his hand, pulling it taught for Nick to see, and something about the sight was enough to set his erection at full mast.

“Ace...” he paused, needing to wet his lips when he found his mouth suddenly dry. “Do I get a say in this?”

“You certainly get to pick the safe word,” mused the mechanic, shifting his weight slightly on his hips as he played with the leather strap some more.

Nick must've been mad, or at least deeply in love, as he decided to shift control over to his little fiancé for the night. “All right,” he conceded, stepping out of his pants which, with lack of support, had pooled onto the floor. “Where do you want me, sugar?”

The mechanic's grin spread further up his cheeks. He led Nick over to their king-sized bed and sat him down. “Now, you go ahead and make yourself comfortable, mister gamblin' man, and I'll go slip outta these here greasy clothes.” With a little canter to his steps, he grabbed the bag once more and headed to their en-suite bathroom, shooting a look over his shoulder. “Recommend losing those there briefs, too. Won't be needin' them at the rodeo.” And with that, he disappeared into the next room, door shutting slowly behind him.

Nick had always been good at following instructions, and Ellis's were about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. So, as he stripped himself down completely and got comfortable, he took the time while Ellis was gone to think about some of the more memorable trysts in their relationship.

There was the very first time which had been during the apocalypse. It had been rough and hurried, considering they had just escaped death by the skin of their teeth, and it was more a carnal desire of the most basic of human instincts. Ellis had almost alerted a horde with how loud he'd been.

There was another time, during quarantine, where love had for the first time been entered into the equation. Namely, the first time they had said 'I love you' to each other. Nick had topped then, too. And he wasn't a picky partner by any means – after all, Ellis was young and full of testosterone, and sometimes he needed to fuck just as much as anyone else. Nick had come to enjoy bottoming, absolutely, but he was more or less the one in charge on most nights. Ellis never complained; quite the opposite, in fact. Nick was still lost in thought when suddenly the bathroom door opened at last, revealing Ellis in his attire for the evening: Nothing but a cowboy hat (and one engagement ring).

“Howdy,” he drawled as he leant against the door frame, still playing with Nick's belt in his hands. “Heard there was a no-good city slicker that I needed to take good care of. Assumin' that's you, handsome?”

Nick couldn't' help but smirk up at him, raising an eyebrow. Ellis was unbelievably adorable, especially whenever he was making effort to please him. That included… this. “Goddamn it, Ace,” he shook his head. “Didn't think this was how my night was gonna go.”

Ellis shot him an amused look, then slipped right back into character. “I'm the best darn rodeo rider this side'a Georgia,” he boasted, sauntering closer to the bed. “Ain't no wild stallion I can't tame. So, reck'n you'll be my best ride yet.” The mechanic reached into the bedside drawer to fetch the lube, and took a moment to stand beside the bed, looking over his naked lover. “Safe word?” he asked.

Nick nodded up at him. “Witch.”

Ellis frowned. “Damn, Nick, really? All the words in the entire American language and you had to pick one that reminds me of the time you almost got yourself killed?”

“You almost got me killed,” retorted the hustler, squinting at him. “You're the one who spooked the bitch.” But he shook his head, letting a smile return to his red face. “Fine. Safe word is 'wedding'.”

With a roll of his eyes, Ellis blushed a little as he set the lube down on the table for now. “Good 'nough for me.” Slipping back into character once more, the Southerner crawled his way onto the bed and straddled his lover, halfway up his chest, at one point his erection bobbing near Nick's face. The gambler just watched on with hungry eyes. “Now then… one thing I know about tamin' the wilder beasts is that they need to be trained, sometimes with force.” Ellis looped the leather belt around Nick's neck gently, watching the older's green eyes for any signs of discomfort or fear. There was nothing but trust, and a lot of hunger.

Ellis cinched the belt, not tightly, but enough for Nick to feel the presence of his around his throat. With a twist of his hand, Ellis curled the leather around his wrist and tested the length. There was plenty to work with, and he grinned. “Damn, look at'chu, city boy.” Ellis backed up his hips, grinding himself backwards onto Nick's cock, and watching in triumph as Nick's eyelids fluttered slightly. “I think I'm gonna really enjoy ridin' you.”

The helpless gambler chuckled as he rested his hands on Ellis's thighs, watching those hips move back and forth and craning his neck back a little. A moan almost made it's way out of his mouth, but not quite. Ellis had to try harder. “You're getting more into the kinky sex, Overalls,” he smiled, throwing in a wink. “I'll take credit for that.”

With a tilt of his head, Ellis's hand pulled back, tightening the belt a little like pulling on the leash of a disobedient dog. Nick gasped beneath him, moaning in the afterthought, which made the cowboy grin. “You speak outta turn like that again and you'll be in the doghouse,” he threatened. Reaching over to the nightstand, he took the open tube of lubricant and squirted the thick liquid onto two fingers. The look in his baby blue eyes was so very kinky, and Nick could feel his cock give a twitch in appreciation as he pictured what Ellis was about to do with those fingers.

Picking up the belt once more with his clean hand, those fingers then went behind Ellis, slipped between his cheeks and found his pucker. The younger man was a dab hand at prepping himself, and knew his own body inside and out. While he worked his magic, he moaned aloud and reintroduced his bucking hips back into the mix. The sight was amazingly erotic, and Nick couldn't resist reaching over to play with Ellis's neglected dick. Ellis, for the most part, seemed to allow it, even bucking up again into the gambler's grasp.

“You're thinkin' about it now, aren't ya, city boy?” Ellis chuckled with an open-mouthed grin. “Thinkin' about me ridin' ya real good, getting' ya all hot 'n bothered...” He leant in slightly, pulling once more on Nick's restraint until the man was a little closer. “Thinkin' about how fuckin' good I'm gonna feel around your cock once I'm wet n' ready?”

That accent was so thick, deep with lust, and it was driving Nick crazy. The gambler gave a groan, just as the belt loosened again and allowed him is breath back. His head fell back to the pillow, already seeing a black fuzz around his vision. “God… sweet peach…”

“Yes, my darlin'?” Ellis crooned, by now with three fingers knuckle deep inside of himself.

“Ple…” Nick panted as he closed his eyes. “Please.”

That was all Ellis needed to hear. With another lop-sided smile, the mechanic shifted until he was kneeling and scooted back a little on Nick's body. He kept a keen eye on his fiancé's face, even as he reached behind, took Nick's cock in hand, and slipped himself down onto it like he'd done it a hundred times before.

The card shark grunted and turned his head a little, and Ellis could hear a shift behind him as Nick moved his legs. His feet was planting themselves onto the mattress and knees bending up, in order to provide him with the leverage he needed. Ellis leant back, slipping down further onto Nick's cock while at the same time resting against Nick's thighs like a back rest. He was grateful for that.

“How about that?” Ellis nearly sang as he shifted on Nicolas's lap. “You're bein' a good boy after all.”

Nick said nothing, just looked up at his Southern lover with a smile on his face, throwing in a wink for good measure. Ellis chuckled and wrapped the belt once more around his wrist for another harsh tug, at the same time, lifting his hips and slamming back down in a harsh bounce. The leather crackled in his grip, and Nick drew another breath. His face was getting redder. “El,” he managed, grinding out the noise, and Ellis was careful to make sure he had enough air to speak, should his next breath utter the safe word.

“Giddy up,” purred the cowboy, reaching up to hold his hat before beginning his ride. Putting all his power to his thighs, up and down Ellis's hips went as he bounced away. The sweetest moans left his throat – couldn't rightly help it, as Nick had always been the best lay of his life.

Nick's hands found their way to Ellis's hips, gripping him there and guiding him on and off his dick. In no time at all, Ellis was fully into the sex, letting go of his hat to reach back and steady himself on Nick's knee as he continued to ride him hard.

“Fuck yeah,” Nick murmured to himself as he gazed up at the scene Ellis was blessing him with. He groaned soon afterwards, craning his neck, and smiled up at his lover. “The belt… please… fuck...”

Ellis grinned and slowed his thrusts down a little in order to tug the belt once more, harsher and tighter than previously. Nick's knuckles went white around Ellis's hips.

“Look at ya… enjoyin' yourself so much,” Ellis praised and drove his hips down once more, grinding back on Nick's length. “C'mon, city boy, you know you wanna come inside'a me...”

Nick could hear the blood rushing around his head, fell the pleasure begin to whirlpool around his cock, and did the only thing he knew he could do. He moved a hand to Ellis's dancing erection and gave him a tight sleeve to fuck into, watching with watering eyes. The Southerner groaned and dropped the leather strap in favor of bracing both hands on Nick's legs, rocking himself like crazy. The gambler drew a gasp of air, Ellis threw his head back, and then it all went white.

“NICK!” Ellis broke character at the last minute to shout his fiancé's name in orgasm. He spilled semen all up Nick's chest and some managed to hit his chin. The sight was erotic enough to send the older man tumbling off the precipice himself, filling Ellis up until he was overflowing. Ellis moaned and lifted himself off for the last time, feeling warm liquid seep down the insides of his thighs.

With a sigh, Ellis leant forward and braced his hands on Nick's shoulders to prevent himself from falling atop him. The cowboy hat fell from his head and onto the floor beside the blunt end of the belt. The mechanic looked up at last, seeing Nick with his eyes closed and drawing in large breaths. He blushed as he reached up to carefully removed the leather from his neck, letting it clatter to the carpet.

“Darlin'?” Ellis whispered as he lifted himself off of Nick, in the process grabbing some tissues in order to clear them both up. “Nick.”

Nick opened his eyes at last, letting them fall onto his cute young lover as he grinned. “Even after all these years...” He reached out to cup El's cheek, rubbing his thumb there. “...you still surprise me, Overalls.”

Once the necessary clean-up had been finished, Ellis crawled back onto the bed and cuddled right up to his gambler, running his hand through his fine chest hair. “Glad you enjoyed the show, Nick.” He looked down, admired the ring still snugly on his finger. “Yeah, not quite how you pictured your night goin', huh?”

“No, sir,” agreed Nick and moved his hand up to lace their fingers together. “But if this is how the rest of my life is gonna go, I think I'm okay with that.”

With a short laugh, Ellis reached up to kiss him, rubbing his thumb along Nick's jaw. “Love you, city boy.”

[franklyshipping]

Day 6 ~ Christmas 2019 Ego Fanfics

Whew, Day 6 here we are! Now, i think it's time to see what happens to cheeky seers who cheat at board games, LET'S DO THIS!

TAGGING: @thehostofleetrature

Who doesn’t love playing board games and getting competitive as hell with their nearest and dearest? I know I frickin love it. Forget tables and chairs, you know it only works when you’re half-lying down on the carpet or a rug in your living room. You’ve got your drink somewhere precarious, the board game board on top of the biggest encyclopaedia you’ve got so it’s on a flat surface. You’ve got cramp in like three places, you can never get comfy in whatever position you’re in, and yet you’ll end up playing whatever game you’re playing for hours and hours. That’s how it goes, and that’s why we love it, the egos included.

Right now, the game afoot was Cluedo, a great game of detection and deduction and intelligence….so it should come as no surprise that the players were the Host and Abe the Detective. It was Abe’s turn to roll the die, move his character to a room, and make a deduction…however the detective was distracted.

‘Oh for go-give me my vape back darnit!’

The Host was hiding his mirth behind his hand as Abe, for the fourth time, engaged in a tug of war with Gooper….over his vape. Gooper grunted and let out strained gurgles, resolutely holding onto the device as Abe sighed.

‘No! For the last time you can’t use it to play mini billiards with mini Bing!’

Abe tugged it from Gooper’s grip with a light frown…which turned into a greater frown when Gooper started to whimper and tremble. Shit.

‘N-Nononono heyyy hey don’t get upset, shit fuck, uhh….’

The last thing the detective wanted was to deprive Gooper of his own games, if anyone deserved to have all the fun in the world then it was Gooper, so Abe was frantically trying to think of something else he could give him as a cue before Gooper got too upset. The Host cocked his head at the detective with a fond smile, he really admired him for his kindness and sweetness underneath all his wild innuendo-filled drama.

‘Uhh, fuck ah-AHA!’

Abe went from scratching his head to breaking out into a large grin, which made the dejected Gooper jump and gurgle curiously. Abe fished about in the inside pocket of his nearby coat, and brought out one of his older pipes, offering it to Gooper (after making sure it was clean and clear of any contents).

‘Would this work buddy?’

Gooper shuffled over to the pipe Abe offered curiously, then squealed in delight because it was perfect! The thicker end would weigh it down on the mini billiards table which meant there would be a lower probability of him making any miss-hits! Gooper gurgled happily and nuzzled Abe’s fingertips, which made the detective chuckle and give the glob a fond tickle.

‘Yeah, yeah I love ya too, now scram go on!’

Gooper squealed happily once more before rolling off with the pipe, which spurred Abe to sigh fondly; however his attention quickly came back to his board-game partner when the Host let out a less-muffled laugh. Abe raised his eyebrows at him as he picked up the die and shook them about in his hand.

‘Amusing you am I Host?’

The Host grinned and mused.

‘I am simply admiring your more tender side, detective.’

Abe pursed his lips as he rolled the die and moved his player, but he couldn’t deny that he very much enjoyed hanging out with the Host; he carried so much sass and wit that it made for the most excellent conversations of banter between the two men. Abe went about his turn and crossed off two more things off of his ample list…but then when the Host made his turn, he made quite the declaration.

‘I am ready to make my guess.’

Abe’s eyebrows flew up, and he exclaimed with great incredulity.

‘….but it’s only your third damn roll?!’

The Host smiled softly.

‘Nevertheless, I am ready.’

Abe let out a disbelieving laugh, but nevertheless nodded for the Host to continue. The Host cleared his throat softly.

‘It is my belief, that the murder was committed by Antisepticeye, in the greenhouse, with the loaf of banana bread.’

Yes, the egos did have their own version of Cluedo, don’t ask. Abe initially snorted at the combination, before sighing and opening the envelope….and his eyes widened.

‘You….y-you’re correct…but…but how?’

The Host subtly smirked.

‘Now that would be telling. I believe that makes it three games to me and none to you.’

Abe let out a huff, giving the man a light glare as the Host leisurely shuffled to the side so he could take a sip of his drink. Abe was confounded, there was NO logical way in which he could have known the answer, there was only two of them playing PLUS it had only been his third roll, this was his fastest win yet! Abe had to know, he HAD to know how he was doing it. The detective spied the Host’s note paper with all the options written on it…and snatched it up on a whim.

‘…..you little SHIT!’

The Host jumped, then paled when he perceived Abe holding his game paper. Nothing had even been crossed off, which gave Abe the realisation that the Host had only been pretending to play, and that he’d been using his damned third eye to cheat to see the solutions! Abe lightly growled from the back of his throat as the Host gulped, developing a nervous smile.

‘A-Ahh…uh…I-I can explain…’

Abe scoffed and raised an eyebrow, very much inviting the Host to elaborate upon his reasoning for cheating….but then the Host decided to just try and bolt the hell out of there! Abe was NOT having that!’

‘OH NO YA DON’T!’

The Host let out a yelp when he felt hands latch onto his shins and yank him back towards the detective, making the game board, pieces and pieces of paper fly about as Abe pinned Host to the ground on his back, straddling him as he glared down at him.

‘You CHEATED!’

‘Y-Yes I cheated, b-but only f-for that third round, I simply wanted to see what your reaction would be t-to uh…t-to a quick loss….’

Abe growled down at him, but it without malice, Abe was frankly impressed that Host had kept his composure as he’d carried out the cheating. However….Abe felt that something wasn’t right, like there was something he was missing.

‘Is that quite so?’

He mused, which spurred the Host to nod…oh he hoped Abe would believe him; the truth was, he’d cheated all the way through because the Host was damn competitive and had maaaybe seen that in all the futures where he DIDN’T cheat….Abe would have beaten him every time. The Host knew he wouldn’t have been able to live it down. The Host gulped lightly when he sensed Abe suddenly develop a grin.

‘Hey Host, ya wanna know something?’

The Host tensed nervously.

‘…wh-what?’

Abe’s grin morphed into a smirk as he leant down to whisper.

‘Wilford’s mind isn’t the only one I can see into.’

Abe felt the Host gasp beneath him, and the detective let out a warm chuckle. Of course, Abe really made a habit of not going into people’s heads without their consent, especially since he had much better control over his ability, but in times like these when cheaters roam the couches, you have to forgo courtesy. The Host was silent with shock as Abe whispered a little more.

‘Now ah, with your mental sight and all, I think you know what’s comin’ now, don’tcha?’

The Host’s cheeks flushed pink as he glimpsed his oncoming future….and it was filled with lots, and lots of laughter. Abe chuckled when he saw the Host’s blush, and teasingly stroked down the man’s cheek and jaw.

‘Ahaaww, so blushy already!’

The Host developed a wobbly smile, which soon released a few high-pitched giggles when Abe’s finger ventured under his chin.

‘Shuhut ihihit!’

Abe raised an eyebrow, before using a single finger to scratch under the Host’s chin as he cooed teasingly.

‘Ohoho is someone ticklish under their chinny chin chin?’

The Host spluttered and tossed his head from side to side, but that teasy, tickling finger just didn’t want to relent. The Host’s blush darkened as he tried to push Abe away, smiling an embarrassed smile because honestly it was just so easy to fluster the sweet guy.

‘N-Nohohoho s-s-stahahap!’

Abe chuckled, keeping up the scratching with ease since the Host’s weak pushes did nothing to hinder the strapping detective. Abe was very much enjoying himself, especially because it was the Host that he was tickling. Abe loved people’s ticklishness in general, but especially when it was someone who was more closeted and reclused, because it made their mirth all the more rewarding when you coaxed it out of them.

‘Oh but I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson quite yet….’

Abe mused, which made the Host splutter and giggle harder as his reply came out in babbles.

‘Ihihi hahave Ihi hahahave Ihi swehear!’

The Host felt like there were flames on his cheeks from how flustered Abe was making him. The dashing detective was pretty blush inducing and flustery in daily life, but the Host hadn’t fathomed how evil he could be as a tickler. He shoved at Abe’s chest desperately as tickly tingles started spreading all the way down his neck and up to his ears, because it was going to take a lot more than some giggly babbles to get the detective to have mercy.

‘I dunno….I’ve just got this lil nigglin’ feelin’ that you’re not as remorseful as you’re makin’ out…’

The Host let out a light, nervous whine as Abe dragged his hand down his chest at an achingly slow pace, before letting his fingers drum teasingly over the Host’s tummy. The Host trembled, letting out streams of titters as he gripped Abe by his shirt desperately.

‘P-Plehehease! I-I d-dohohon’t deheserve thihihis!’

That made Abe gasp and scoff, before throwing teasing out the window and vibrating his fingers into the Host’s belly mercilessly.

‘Don’t deserve this?! You CHEATED! And you’re saying you don’t deserve to be punished for what you’ve done?!’

The Host let out a howl before descending into high pitched laughter, arching his back as he flailed and thrashed desperately underneath the ruthless detective. Needless to say, he was a) regretting his choice of words, and b) he was generally regretting his actions over the past few hours.

‘NAHAHA THAHAT’S NAHAT WHAHAT I MEHEANT!’

He cried, but he knew internally that he’d unlocked Abe’s wrath, and it was going to take a lot before he got any relief from the tickles. The detective narrowed his eyes down at the Host, letting out a playful growl as he scratched and scribbled over the Host’s wonderfully thin t-shirt.

‘Well it sure SOUNDS like it’s what you meant! Seems like you need a bit of an attitude adjustment mister….’

Abe sneered as the Host cackled and let out peals of mirth, the detective couldn’t deny that he was enjoying letting out his more sadistic side onto the Host; even though he was a patron of goodness and justice, he did like the odd hint of malevolence every now and then. The Host meanwhile tried to push at Abe’s hand, because his stomach was a damn ticklish place and Abe was frighteningly good at what he was doing.

‘NOHOHOHAHA PLEHEHEASE! DOHON’T TIHICKLE MY TUHUHUMMY!’

Abe snickered, and pinned the Host’s flapping hands against his chest with his free hand as he kept up the wild belly tickling.

‘Awww, but your tummy seems like such a good tickle torture spot!’

Abe crooned down at the mirthful man, chuckling fondly with gleaming eyes as he watched the Host’s cheeks visibly darken at the teasing whilst he wailed.

‘BUHUT IHIHIT IHIS TOHOHORTURE!’

Host had his head thrown back as he tried to tug at his hands, but failed thanks to Abe’s determined strength. The detective smirked down at the Host, and leant down next to his ear, letting his scratchy beard brush against his neck as he whispered in his low, gravelly tone.

‘Good….because that is precisely what you deserve.’

The Host trembled as chills shot down his spine, before he let out a particularly dramatic squeal….because the damn detective had decided to step it up even further, by targeting his bare tummy.

‘PLEHEHEASE AHAHABE!!’

Abe thought it was so precious how the Host’s laughter shot up so many octaves so quickly, and happily pushed up the man’s t-shirt so he could spider over and squeeze the Host’s pale, soft stomach more easily. Abe cast his gaze over the tummy before him, and couldn’t help but be struck by how perfect it was; Abe also felt that it was his duty, despite his role as tickle torturer, to at the very least give compliments when they were due.

‘Y’know I’ve come across many a beautiful, ticklish tumtum in my time, but this is just off the scale-…hey wait a sec…what have we got here?’

Abe furrowed his eyebrows with a sudden curiosity when he spotted something that strongly contrasted against the paleness of Host’s belly, and it made him halt the tickling for a moment as a result too. The Host was confused for a second, but soon gasped when he felt Abe’s thumb softly graze the area under his navel, where his incredibly dark happy trail of hair lay.

‘….i-it….i-ihit’s j-just my happy trail….’

The Host stuttered, which made Abe smile fondly as he observed the black trail of hair going from the Host’s navel all the way down to his waist. The hair was so soft too, and once again Abe found that it was simply too beautiful not to comment on.

‘Just your happy trail? It looks like a pretty cute happy trail to me! And I don’t say that about every happy trail, I can tell you that!’

The Host developed a wobbly, bashful smile at Abe’s sweet exclamation. Obviously the Host received many sweet and loving compliments on his physical features from his lovers, but to hear such words from a friend warmed his heart just as fully. The Host was about to mumble a happy thank you to the detective…but then Abe’s thumb stroked the area just a little too hard….and the Host squealed. Loudly.

‘Ohhhh….a little sensitive here too huh?’

Abe crooned with a growing smirk, chuckling as the Host really started to tremble and grin, his words coming out more frantically than the detective had ever heard from him before.

‘N-Noho w-wait Abe listen y-you have to listen I-I-I am v-very sensitive there please do-EEK!’

As you can imagine, Abe absolutely did not listen to the Host and used the blunt nail of his pointer finger to trace and swirl up and down the trail teasingly. Abe personally adored tickle spots like this, when less was more in terms of the tickling and the lightest sensation was enough to cause maximum mirth.

‘Well I never, this is a tickle spot and a half! Coochie coochie cooo!’

The Host was in absolute ticklish, flustered agony from the detective’s evil tickling technique. This gentle, simple tickle alone was enough to send the normally reserved Host, into sweet, squealing hysterics.

‘AHAHAHA YOHOHOU’RE EHEHEVIL!!’

Abe smirked and chuckled at that, feeling rather happy at his tickle-victim’s statement since it gave him a) the opportunity to be dramatic, and b) the opportunity to be even more malevolent with his teasing.

‘Why not at all sir! I’m merely a citizen exercising his civic duty, doling out justice where it’s due! Unless…you think we should get someone else’s judgement in this case? I hear Silver Shepherd insists upon justice in all things, and we’ve all heard tales of Yandere’s judgement and brutality….’

Now we have reached the point where the Host became more blush than human. The very thought of Abe telling Silver and Yandere what he’d done was too scary to fathom, because the Host knew that they wouldn’t hesitate in helping with the detective’s endeavour. They knew all his spots, all the teases that made him incoherent; he was shuddering at the mere thought for what would be in store if they found out.

‘NOHOHOHO NONONOHO D-D-DOHON’T TEHELL SIHIHILVY OHOR YAHANNY!!!’

Abe let out a soft, amused laugh at the Host’s very wild desperation, throwing his head back a tad amidst his own mirth because honestly the Host was almost too cute to handle. Abe hummed as he scratched little light circles into the Host’s happy trail, musing in reply.

‘Oho? Well, I could maaaybe be persuaded to keep this little incident between ourselves, but only if you swear on engaging only in good, honest gamesmanship from here on out!’

The Host nodded frantically and immediately.

‘IHIHI PROHOHOMIHISE!!!’

Abe snickered with smug satisfaction, before having mercy and releasing the Host’s wrists from his grip, and he grinned fondly as the Host weakly pushed him off of him. Abe slid off the Host and watched as the man curled up into a foetal position, noticeably rubbing his happy trail as he panted and giggled residually.

‘Oho….gohod….fuhuck mehe….’

The Host was, in fact, shook. He had to take a few moments to rub away the seemingly endless amount of ghost tickles that had accumulated at all of his nerve endings. Abe meanwhile, couldn’t help but play off of the Host’s words cheekily.

‘That’s a bit of a greedy request don’t you think? Especially since you’re already part of a polyamo-‘

‘Bihite me!’

The Host spluttered and exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck out of embarrassment as he pursed his lips at the detective, but Abe never stopped grinning because he could still see that smile on the Host’s face. He offered the Host his hand, and the Host accepted and let himself be pulled into a sitting position by the detective, who then waggled his eyebrows at the seer.

‘Care for a new game? Saaay….trivial pursuit?’

The Host’s previously flustered smile morphed into a, somewhat smug, little grin.

‘That feels appropriate, particularly since your pursuit for victory in this particular game will be entirely trivial.’

Abe snickered, already feeling excitement building in his belly as the trash talking.

‘Oh we’ll see.’

They both grinned, before the games resumed. I am pleased to report that the games that the Host and Abe went on to play involved not even a hint of cheating, only trash talk, competitiveness, happiness, and a lot of cramp.

WOOOO HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS NEXT SEGMENT LEMME KNOW IF YA DID WOOOO LUV YOUS XX

[kbstories]

Here’s the second part of the gift exchange, this time for wonderful @zieglider. They wished for birthday fluff with Jack!

Bound To Be Made

Tags: Charthur, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Birthday Fluff, Arthur and Charles Being Good Uncles, Soft AF

Inspired by this beautiful fanart by @themightynyunyi 💮

>>Read on AO3!

☕ Commission me on ko-fi!

Jack starts, “Uncle Arthur...”, and whatever will follow those two words, Arthur knows he won't be able to resist that hesitant-yet-hopeful tone of his. He glances down from the map he's studying to wide, almost-pleading brown eyes.

John's eyes, and God knows Arthur couldn't ever say no to those, either.

“What is it, Jack, hm? You doin' okay?”

The boy's reply of “Yeah, I'm okay” is a little too quick, a little too quiet to be genuine. The twist to Arthur's heart is familiar by now; these days, he barely has time to even dwell on the fact they're dragging a child along on this hellish ride, much less on a possible solution for it.

And yeah, Shady Belle is a step up from camping out in the wild. With the sunken bones of its previous occupiers and the hissing of alligators just a few yards away, it doesn't exactly make for a child-friendly environment by any definition of the word.

Pushing aside his musings for later, Arthur takes his hat and kneels, lips pulling into an automatic smile as Jack visibly perks up. A moment later and the kid laughs, reaching for the brim of Arthur's hat that threatens to slide down and over his face.

The worn and hole-ridden leather looks all the more rough against his short, unscarred fingers. Arthur tugs the hat into place.

“'fraid you'll have to grow into it some more, heh.”

Jack doesn't seem to mind one bit. “Can I keep it, Uncle Arthur, can I?” His excitement dims immediately after voicing his request – gaze dropping, he shuffles his feet. “Maybe until Dad comes back?”

Arthur fights to keep his expression open and friendly. Oh, Jack. “Wouldn't dream of takin' it away. Ya know what? I was 'bout to do some rounds, check the perimeter and such. Wanna tag along, partner?”

If Jack's eyes were wide before, they are positively huge now. He nods eagerly, “Okay”, and adds “partner” after a beat, trying out the word in Arthur's drawl.

Arthur chuckles and flicks the hat, drawing a protective “Hey!” from Jack.

*

It is perhaps no coincidence that they come by Abigail first. Her worried look turns to relief when she catches sight of them, and then to dutiful delight when Jack shows off his new hat proudly.

“Well, ain't you a proper cowboy now”, she says with some fondness, nodding at Arthur and mouthing a thank you. Arthur mimics a tip of his hat, the gesture feeling significantly less smooth without it.

“What are you boys up to, then?”

Arthur catches the subtle warning in her glance and shrugs, “Just takin' a lil stroll around camp with my new assistant here”, and returns Jack's grin with a wink. Abigail looks between them and sighs despite the smile on her lips, plain as day.

“Just be back before dark, 'kay?”

Jack beams. “Okay, Momma! See ya!”

Arthur huffs, “Aaand he's gone”, watching the boy run off towards the horses. “Don't ya worry, Abigail. I'll take good care'a him.”

The happy facade crumbles a little. Abigail's smile is tired, then, even if she reaches out to pat Arthur's arm. “Oh I know, Arthur, you always do. 's just–” A glance behind, beyond the flaps of a too-empty tent. “Well, John ain't back from that job yet, and Jack's been takin' it kinda hard. Don't know what Dutch is thinkin', workin' the boy's father today of all days...”

And again, it takes considerable effort to keep a grimace off his face. Shit. Arthur knew when he wrote down the date in his journal earlier that he was forgetting something – last year around this time, with John gone and Abigail struggling, he'd taken Jack on a ride out with Boudicea, both to give his mother a break and get the boy's mind off things.

Of course back then it'd been easier to wander about and enjoy nature. Now, they couldn't even take a gander out of camp without the law scenting the air like the bloodhounds they are.

But today shouldn't be about that: Jack deserves a day off from all this stress they've been putting him under lately, and maybe this time, the wait for his father will be worth it. Arthur's willing to believe in some miracles.

Taking Abigail's hand, he squeezes just long enough to stop her from worrying a hole right through her bottom lip. Abigail blinks at him, exhales, her shoulders losing some of their tension.

There's a whole 'nother conversation swirling in her eyes; Arthur nods, later, 'kay?, and she rolls her eyes and shoos him away, calling “Have fun now!” after him.

Jack is long gone by the time Arthur's made his way over to the horses – only Kieran is there, tending to one of their draft horses with the usual care and dedication, and he merely glimpses at Arthur's searching look before pointing further into camp. Arthur mutters a “Thanks, Duffy” that makes the other give him a grateful smile and yeah, maybe it's finally time Arthur stopped calling him O'Driscroll once and for all.

A sweet melody leads him to Javier, whose fingers don't pause in their dance over trembling guitar strings even when his lips pull into a knowing smile and he nods towards Pearson's wagon. There, he finds Hosea, buried up to his nose in the pages of The Shrew in the Fog but Arthur has barely breathed a word before he jabs his thumb over his shoulder with a good-natured, “keep up, Arthur, will ya?”

It's with some relief that he finally, finally makes out the familiar curve of his hat on an equally familiar mop of tousled brown hair; it swiftly turns to surprise at the sight of Charles right next to Jack, muscular arms crossed and eyebrows drawn together as he searches the horizon for–

“Ah, there you are”, Charles says in lieu of a greeting, voice vaguely amused at how out of breath Arthur is. “Your hat grew legs and ran off without you. Figured you wouldn't be far behind.”

“I could kiss ya right now”, Arthur replies with a hand on Charles's shoulder, wiping the sweat off his brow with the other. “Hey, Jack. Got started without me, huh?”

Happy as a clam, Jack waves from where he's sitting on the trunk of a tree, “Hey, Uncle Arthur!”, legs bouncing against the withered wood. There's a bunch of flowers on his lap, a colorful array of wildflowers by the looks of it.

“You've been busy. Can I see?”

The makeshift bouquet is held out to him – Arthur sits on his haunches to take a closer look, making out daisies and dandelions and popcorn flowers and even roses. He lets out an impressed whistle, “Quite a collection you got there”, and Jack beams under the praise.

“I wanted only the pretty ones. Uncle Charles helped me pick!”

“That so?”, Arthur asks quietly, catching Charles's startled blink... because of the nickname? The thought makes him smile, his chest warming with emotion. Kids aren't exactly Charles's strong suit – due to inexperience, not lack of talent, Arthur is sure – but it's clear he tries, for Jack.

“Did you tell Uncle Charles it's your special day today?”

That seems to jolt Charles out of it – he blinks at Arthur, then at Jack, hesitantly joining Arthur's side in their spontaneous little circle. “Happy birthday, Jack”, he says simply, tone a little less severe than usual, lips quirked in a small smile.

Despite the quick reply of “Thanks, Uncle Charles”, Jack's grin dims a little. Charles throws Arthur one of his looks that seems unaffected but is downright alarmed by his standards, and there's no time to explain the whole sordid tale with glances and gestures alone.

Arthur clears his throat to dispel the awkward silence looming above them. “So”, he prompts, giving the flowers back to Jack. “What do ya wanna make with 'em? Another necklace, or maybe one of them, uh... crown-like things?”

Here's the thing about Jack: somewhere along the way, he learned not to say the things he means, and to weigh his options carefully before expressing what he wants. Arthur can practically see the little gears in his head turning and there's one fleeting glance at Charles before the kid shrugs and mumbles, “I guess.”

Well, that won't do. “C'mon kid, ya know Charles an' I ain't the judgin' kind. And we can help. Owe ya a present anyways, ain't that right Charles?”

“Uh-huh”, Charles agrees without missing a beat and yeah, this is why Arthur loves the guy.

Considering the offer for a moment, Jack blinks up shyly through his lashes – a look that would give Cain a run for his money in the puppy eyes department any day. Finally he straightens his back and says with newly-found resolve: “Uncle Charles.”

Charles goes stiff as a board beside Arthur. “...Yes?”

“Can I put them in your hair?”

He's pointing at Charles; Arthur follows his line of sight to the long braid draped over his right shoulder and winces a little. The man is very particular with who gets to touch his hair (the list of those allowed beginning and ending with Arthur) but again, there's no hesitation before he hums his agreement and reaches up to undo the gracefully interlaced, sleek strands.

It takes a few minutes to get settled during which Jack critically checks and sorts every flower into different piles, asking for Arthur's advice here and there, and Charles combs through his loosened hair with his hands. Their eyes meet and Arthur can't help a teasing smile, going soft, old man, and gets a fond eye-roll in return.

Gone is the shy little boy once they get to it: There's a sort of determined concentration to Jack's gaze as he watches Arthur demonstrate how a simple braid works, Charles's hair gliding soft and easy between his fingers, and the random flower he puts in one of the folds by way of example is instantly picked out again.

Arthur raises his hands in surrender, “Okay, young man, I'll stop messin' with your plan”, and is promptly ignored by Jack, who places a single pink-colored rose in a sea of black with all the care in the world.

Charles is back to his ever-patient self as he sits cross-legged and relaxed, and after a while, Arthur decides to take a page out of his book and just... let the kid do his thing. Soon enough he finds himself leaning shoulder to shoulder against Charles, journal on his knees and pencil in constant motion: Jack's focused stare under Arthur's hat, dark strands balanced on the tip of childlike fingers, the delicate curl of a rose's petals–

“What do you think, Uncle Arthur?”

Looking up, Arthur chuckles at the overly skeptical expression on Jack's so very young face. He pats Charles's knee, just a little longer, before scooting over to Jack's side of things and... Oh.

“Well I'll be–” Arthur blinks, keeping his mouth from gaping with some effort. “Jack, this is really somethin'.”

There's an unexpected level of taste to the placement of the flowers, a gentle mixture of white and pink that contrasts quite nicely with the black of Charles's hair and the rough texture of his blue shirt. The man in question turns his head to glance curiously over his shoulder.

“How's it look?”

Beautiful, Arthur wants to say but he bites it back in time. “Wait, I'll show ya... You okay with me sketchin' this, Jack?”

“Sure!” Jack's voice is full of pride. Then, more confident than before, “Can I watch?”

Oh, he can feel Charles's attention snap to that question instantly, even if he doesn't move a muscle. Usually, it makes Arthur too self-conscious to have someone look over his shoulder while he draws but, well, it's Jack's birthday and there's no way in hell he'll ruin that happy look on his face.

“Okay then. Let's see...”

*

The sun is crawling towards the horizon when Arthur remembers his promise to Abigail and, with Jack sitting on his shoulders like a king on his royal steed, all three of them stroll back to camp just in time to hear the thundering of hooves in the distance.

“Sounds like Old Boy”, Charles says with something akin to satisfaction in his voice, and Arthur nods, smiling up at Jack.

“Look who's here, huh? C'mon, say hi to your dad.”

The moment he sets him down, Jack starts running towards his parents' tent – however, after a few steps he turns around and, before Arthur can ask what's wrong, Jack is hugging him tightly around the waist, “Thanks, Uncle Arthur”, and again, “Thanks, Uncle Charles”, as he does the same with Charles too.

Then, very reluctantly, he takes Arthur's hat and holds it out to him, comically large in his hands.

Even knowing the boy as long as he does, Arthur feels his heart turn to goo until it threatens to drip between his ribs. “Keep it for now, kid”, he mumbles, ruffling Jack's hair. “Just give it back tomorrow, hm?”

Jack nods happily and dashes away.

Arthur watches him go for a while before glancing at Charles, who looks miles away in his head. Carefully, he pushes a stray flick of hair behind Charles's ear, his fingers brushing the flowers still tangled in his braid.

“Want me to get these out for ya?”

Leaning into his palm, Charles's eyes are back in the present and locking with Arthur's.

“Mh, nah. I kinda like 'em.”

>>Read on AO3!

[ariespageofbreath]

Monster Summer Mash: Wild Summer Weather

Alternatively: the day of alliteration. Anyways, this was a wonderful little prompt to write and I had a bunch of fun. So, enjoy! (Plz lemme know if anything looks weird. >.>;;) __________

The first sign something is off is your dog, normally very calm and sweet, barking and growling at your porch.

You don’t think much of it at first. You live next to a forest trail for hikers, so small animals like snakes or squirrels often crawl under to bother you. Occasionally you deal with cats or racoons, but for the most part those leave you alone. Sweet little Pluto, however, doesn’t much like other animals under her porch. Being on it is fine-being under it? Not so much. So you figure she’s just freaking out over nothing.

The second sign something is wrong is the weird noise coming from under the porch. It sounds almost like singing, which you know it can’t be. Your porch is taller than most, sure, but not tall enough to fit a person. 

It isn’t until the third day of storming and Pluto’s freaking out that you decide to investigate. It’s a fight to keep Pluto in the house-she may be small, but she is fierce-but you finally manage, leaning back on your door heavily. You take a moment to simply breathe the smell of petrichor and listen to the rain and thunder. Storms are your favorite part of summer, especially the ones that cause the trees to creak and rattle like this.

It’s as you’re enjoying the reckless wind that you hear the now-familiar singing, a soft and jaunty tune. You huff softly, ducking your head into your hood so you can stay relatively dry. Your boots thunk heavily across the porch, silencing whatever is beneath. You pause for a moment, staring at the ground, but the noise doesn’t start again. 

You move off the steps anyways, thinking whatever it is might still be below. After all, you never heard anything escaping, and you’re curious. Thunder rolls right as you kneel down, careful not to get your pants any wetter than they were being out in this rain. You jump slightly, and it’s as lightning hits that you catch sight of a little shape beneath your porch. Whatever it is, it seems to shuffle further back, though you don’t hear any distressed noises. Oof. So you’ve got a little animal taking shelter from the storm. Not the first time it’s happened, certainly.

You have to raise your voice few notches to be heard over the noise of the storm, but you try to keep it as warm and soothing as possible as you coo, “Hey there, lil’ buddy, c’mon out~ I’m not gonna hurt you, sweetheart~” You refrain from reaching out, just in case it lashes out at you or something, but your voice is cajoling and just edging on baby-talk, like you’d use with Pluto.

Whatever it is shuffles quietly, still not making a peep, and another roll of thunder sounds. You brush the rain out of your eyes, squinting into the darkness to try to catch sight of the creature. “I don’t think y’wanna stay out here any longer, do ya’? You can come in until storm stops, where it’s nice and warm, and I got some yummy food you’re gonna want~” You didn’t care if it didn’t understand the words-your tone of voice would hopefully lure it out.

Amazingly, it seems like it worked. The creature shuffles again, and you can faintly see it moving towards you. It’s making some awfully weird noises as it moves, however, sort of a… squishing kind of sound. You wonder if maybe it’s hurt…?

What ekes out from under your porch is not an animal, and there are in fact two of them: small, gelatinous beings that resemble molded jello. They wiggle slightly at you, almost hesitant, and make that strange squishing noise again as you stare at them. 

It takes a moment for you to realize what you’re actually looking at, and then you make a strange choking, gasping noise of realization. These are Moldsmalls! You remember seeing a few of them near pools and in Monster Ed classes, though you were under the impression they lived in warmer, more humid regions than this…

Still, you did promise them they could come in, and you know from the classes and your own-admittedly limited-experience, they’re very much sentient, despite looking like something you’d eat for desert. So, you recover enough to give them an apologetic smile. “Wow, I’m sorry guys, if I’d known you were under here this whole time I’d have let you come in sooner. I thought maybe you were just some rats or something Pluto wanted off her turf. We should get you inside.”

They wriggle a little, and you get the strangest impression they’re trying to be reassuring. You offer them a wry grin, but a glance at your stairs makes it falter. “Uh… There’s a set of stairs standing between you and warmth… you guys gonna be able to climb up those, or would you like some help?”

You watch as they seemingly consult one another, shifting slightly closer. You muse over how surreal it is to watch gelatin monsters talk until they shift back a bit, wriggling at you. With no idea of what they’re saying, you give a slightly manic smile and hope for the best. Hesitantly, you inch over towards your stairs, and you’re relieved when they wriggle after you effortlessly. Looks like they’ll be able to do just fine on their own.

(You still watch carefully as they maneuver up the stairs, fingers twitching with the urge to help.)

Pluto is absolutely flipping out when you open the door, but you manage to swoop her up before she can attack your poor dripping visitors. With how much she’s struggling, it’s a challenge to hold onto her, but you’ve had tons of practice. Even though she scratches you a few times, you manage to wrangle her into your bedroom, closing the door on her so she can’t escape. You heave a sigh, observing your abused arms dejectedly. The scratches are mostly superficial, though a few are bleeding, and they all sting badly.

You decide to save patching yourself up for when you’ve gotten your guests settled. You grab a pair of towels from the bathroom, making your way back to the door, where they’re dripping water just inside the entryway. You smile at them reassuringly, saying, “You don’t have to just sit out there, it’s much warmer in the living room. I’ll put this down on the couch so you two can sit there, okay?” They wiggle in acknowledgment-you think-and follow you into the living room. You do as you said you would, pausing to watch them try to inch their way onto the couch. After a moment, you hesitantly offer your help, hoping you don’t offend them.

Much to your relief, they don’t seem angry, and so you stoop down to pick up the first one. It’s… you’re not gonna lie, it’s really weird holding them. They’re almost completely solid, although they do sag and melt a little between your fingers, just like jello. It’s not… uncomfortable, per say, just… not what you’re used to. You really hope you’re not making a face as you set them down.

You repeat your actions with the second one, pulling away as quickly as you can without offending them or seeming weird. When they’re settled, you give them a little grin. “Alrighty, glad you’re all settled. So, um, I promised food, but uh… what would you guys like? I think I might have some monster food, if you’d prefer that?”

They make a soft noise, and they bob in what you think might be a nod. You notice they’re very in sync, making the same motions at almost the same time. Interesting. You head into your kitchen to see what you might have, and discover some Sea Tea, a few Spider Donuts (so expensive, but so worth it), and some kind of stew a monster friend of yours made for you a couple of days ago. You settle on that, pulling it out to reheat it, then encounter a small problem.

How are they gonna eat it? You didn’t see any mouths on them… or hands… Should you give them bowls? Or maybe a funnel? Or???

Whatever. You’ll figure it out. Maybe they’ll just magically absorb it. Honestly, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise you. 

In the meantime, you meander back into the living room. They look much cosier and much drier now. You quietly inquire about the tv, and after receiving a few affirming noises, you turn it out, surfing until you stumble across a favorite Mettaton flick. This earns you wriggling so intense they’re almost vibrating, so you decide to let it play and go back to retrieve the heated soup.

You don’t watch them eat, curious as you are. With Mettaton playing, and Pluto’s muffled whining, and the quite slurps or hums from your guests, you feel oddly content. 

You sip your soup and glance outside, where the rain has finally started to let up a little. What a perfect ending to a wild summer storm.

[bluboothalassophile]

Thanks for indulging me, do you think we can go back a bit in time in the happy JayRae family spin-off, where they bring Lilith over to the mansion to meet everyone for the first time. Or if that was in the hospital, whichever you think fits better.

Hello,

I hope you enjoy the story!

Grandpas…

Bruce was like the rest of his family and waiting.

What were they waiting for, that was easy: Jason, Raven, andtheir child to return to this dimension.

Yesterday Raven had gone into labor and enacted all theplans that Jason, Dr. Tompkins, Dr. Fate, and Zatanna had agreed upon andremoved herself to a different plane of existence which Jason had gone to aswell. Now, the reasons for this were mostly tied to Raven’s massive powers,which Dr. Fate and Zatanna felt would bend the cosmos with the strains andstresses of labor, Jason and Raven had agreed and removed themselves from thisplane of existence.

Bruce supposed this was better than when Kori had had Mar'i;Kori had blasted the hospital in half with her powers.

Raven was not as emotionally volatile as Kori had been, butstill, Bruce worried because labor was a crippling pain which was only rivaledby kidney stones. And Bruce had seen kidney stones send a mighty Kryptonianinto writhing agony.

Now, was Bruce thrilled with his eldest two son’s picks inwomen… not particularly. Dick and Kori had happened and been good until Koridied saving Mar'i when Mar'i was only a few months old, from her sister, Komand’r.And then there was Jason and Raven, and Raven was said to be one of the mostdangerous creatures in the multiverse. Not a thrilling prospect for Bruce, asboth his sons were human, and were fragile in comparison to their women.

At least Tim appeared to be going for human women, as Tim wascurrently dating Tam Fox. Damian though, Damian appeared to be developing acrush on Jonathan Samuel Kent, and Jon seemed to be completely in love with Damianalso. Duke was more private about his love life. Cass just didn’t care. Harperhad given up dating. And Barbara was dating Lucas Fox at this moment.

Bruce’s eyes flicked to the clock again, and his head fellback.

“Grandpa, I want baby,” Mar'i announced with a tug on hishand which had him picking his granddaughter up. Bruce had gotten over Mar'i’spowers relatively quickly when he realized that she was his granddaughter, andshe was his eldest’s world, and she was a Bat and she needed proper trainingand a real family since her father had been flailing helplessly after Kori’sdeath for a long time. Dick had just recently started to get his shit fullytogether and get his act together for Mar'i.

“They’ll be here soon,” Bruce promised Mar'i.

“Now,” Mar'i insisted. She looked at him without her imageinducer on, and he saw a lot of Dick in her, as well as her mother. Thoselarge, cat green eyes, that orange tint on her darker skin, her mouth, pertchin, and wide cheek bones, that was all Kori. Everything else though, with theshape of her eyes, the arch of her brow, her button nose, the slope of herbrow, even her ears, and wild black hair, that was all Dick.

“That’s not how this works Mar'i,” Bruce explainedpatiently.

“Why not?” the five year old pestered, he felt her floating,but he kept a firm hold on her; Mar'i still hadn’t learned how to land.

“It takes,” he started to say ‘time’ when there was a portalopening, and he whipped around to see Jason stagger in with a baby in arm, anda very bloody Raven limp as they collapsed. Bruc released his floatinggranddaughter as he caught his second son from falling then, Raven too, and Mar'iscreamed at the blood.

“Let’s get you to medbay,” Bruce said.

“Take Rae, I’m fine,” Jay panted and Bruce scooped up hisdaughter-in-law then as they made their way to the Cave, he was already callingTompkins and Alfred as he placed Raven on the med table. There were fourmassive stab wounds in her center as he cut back her clothing. The youngdemoness didn’t wake or move or even react.

Leslie and Alfred were quick to appear as everyone had beenwaiting in the Manor for Jason’s return.

“Master Jason, give the child here, I will check her over,”Alfred spoke soothingly to Jason who was pale and trembling.

“Rae?” Jason started for his wife and Bruce’s head snappedup to his son who was staring at Raven with wide, unblinking eyes.

“Jason,” Bruce snapped, “Go with Alfred.”

“Come along, Master Jason,” Alfred pulled Jason out of sightand Bruce resumed his work on the young demoness laying there.

~~~*~*~*~~~

It was later that evening when Raven finally roused, Alfredhaving administered a sedative for Jason when Jason had tried to break throughall them when Raven’s monitor had read her flatlining. Now Bruce looked at theyoung demoness as she blearily opened her eyes, her thick lashes fluttering.

“Jay?” she whispered.

“Easy,” Bruce placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her frommoving. “He’s right there,” Bruce directed Raven’s attention to where Jason was,their child in the emergency NICU that Bruce had built when Mar'i had beenborn.

“Lil?” Raven muttered.

“The child is safe, she’s under monitoring,” Bruce said.Raven nodded weakly and her lashes fluttered shut.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason woke up with a roar, and that alerted the Bats that Jasonwas pissed, furious, and had noticed his daughter was missing. Bruce had takenthe child earlier in the night when she had started fussing. Obviously hungry,and Bruce had actually made the bottle, but fallen asleep in the kitchen, wherehe was now with Mar'i who was making funny faces at the baby, Dick, and Tim (whowere in a state of half asleep), Barbara who was working, Luke who was tinkering,Alfred who was cooking with Cass, Stephanie who was drawing on Tim’s face (arather juvenal move on the twenty-four year old’s part), Duke who had jazzplaying, insisting the baby preferred it, and Damian who had been sharpeninghis sword.

“Where is she!?” Jason came in furious, and his green eyeslanded on his family in the kitchen, Bruce stood, Mar'i anchoring her gigglingself to his shoulder as she floated at his head. Yes, Bruce was getting used toa floating five year old being normal in his house, along with Dick’s friendshipwith Roy, and Roy’s daughter Lian always being over.

“She’s here, she was hungry,” Bruce said levelly as hissecond son snatched his daughter back and seemed to be checking her overfrantically.

“Tiny baby,” Cass smiled as she perched herself on thecounter to reach around Jason and stroke her face.

“What happened?” Bruce asked as soon as Jason relaxed.

“Trigon came for Lilith,” Jason answered as he pulled hisdaughter close.

“Lilith?” Dick tested out and looked down at the baby.

“Lilith Catherine Todd-Wayne,” Jason filled in. The shadowswarped a bit and Raven walked in with a limp and grimace. Damian got her achair.

“So, what did we miss?” Raven asked as she tenderly satagain.

“Baby!” Mar'i shouted with glee as Jason flopped into achair beside his wife.

“I don’t think I missed the baby Mar'i,” Raven mused as shepulled her niece into her lap.

“How about my father stealing the baby?” Jason supplied as helooked Lilith over again.

Bruce shrugged; ever since Mar'i, he’d admit he kind ofliked getting to hold his grandbabies.

“She’s adorable!” Dick agreed scooping Mar'i up.

[a-little-bit-colorful]

This is for @devils-deeds-23 coraline au!! I had a blast writing this! 

- 

"So... can I go see john today?" 

"Not today, no." 

Luke stopped untangling his head phones, a task he chose to keep his mind off of the pretty blue eyed boy he befriended few days ago. "Aw come on! Why not?" He threw his hands and the tangled mess down on the table, shuffling some of the papers that seemed almost torn apart from being in a cabinet for so long.  

"It's raining, there's mud. And I don't want you to slip and hurt yourself." Luke's father, Evan, said with a look of disinterest. He was a strong man and could easily take you down in a heartbeat. But he was also a softie. He took an injury a few months ago because of his profession, he was a hockey player. Key word: was, past tense. Evan had their family move all the way to North Carolina. Both of Luke's fathers were pretty well off, so he didn't really have to worry about your normal 'my family is poor' stuff. Luke really did enjoy his life... except for the fact he can't keep a good friend for more then a month. He misses their old house, the neighbors were nice, it wasn't a 'bad' part of town. His fathers didn't enjoy it as much as their son did. THEY of corse wanted to be secluded and anonymous. 

 The 14 year old sighed, giving up on untangling the wires, putting the jack into his iPod. "I'll be careful! Come on... please?" Luke begged his father. With a sigh, Luke accepted defeat. Deciding that convincing Evan was a lost cause, he came up with another idea. Of course Evan was so engrossed into doing his taxes that he didn't even notice his son slip away, a small doll in his arms. 

Walking through the hall ways, Luke found his second fathers study after awhile of roaming around aimlessly. Dathi is an author, though his husband would call him the 'dork of all dorks'. The tall Irish man sat at his desk typing away on an old computer, bags under his eyes. He seemed hard at work, but Luke could care less as he knocked on the office door. His attempt to get his fathers attention was proving fruitless when he was given a half assed reply to everything Luke said. 

 "So... can I go to the orchard?" Luke finally mused. 

"What'd the big man say?" 

"He told me to ask you!" The fourteen year old replied with a hopeful smile. "Okay, that's a lie and we both know it. Evan would never let the fate of our son rest in my arms!" He chuckled. Dathi then proceeded to go back to his work. 

Luke, still bored as ever tapped his finger to a beat on the cardboard box beside him. That beat grew to a drum solo, Luke was jamming out in no time. No one, and I mean no one, can stop that little devil when he has music on the mind. Slaps and knocks on the boxes to tiny taps and silent beat boxing under his breath. Luke almost forgot where he was, bobbing his head to the artificial beat.

It was all cut short though when Dathi groaned. "Can't you just go n unpack your stuff? I gotta finish this chapter today, or boss'll have my head! I swear I'll help ye set up your computer later. Just go n explore the house!" Dathi rambled with a tired expression. Huffing in defeat once again, Luke goes to explore the hundred year old house as his father suggested. 

Of course it didn't help that his head phones would catch on every single door knob. Or that everything in the house was so dull you couldn't even tell if the old thing had color in the first place. It was all so... old. He tried to turn his music up to drown out the sight of how boring everything was. But it only made it worse. Luke's mind drifting from the old house back in Canada, then to Jon. 

He ran the memory of meeting him through his mind. Remembering every detail. He walked out of the house to explore the property while his parents got everything situated. Luke shoved his headphones on, blasting techno through his skull. It sounded almost like a shrill screech, he was surprised he even heard it through the music. It was a cat, it was sitting on the gate that lined the pink palace. The poor thing looked almost homeless, thin body, matted fur. Even a torn ear, from what he could tell, this cat meant business.

The cat seemed to smile when Luke went up to greet him. Luke was shocked to see how friendly this cat was. The cats eyes followed his hand as he proceeded to scratch the cat behind his ear; doing his best to not mess with the small white woolen hat that hung upon the cats head. 'Weird, but cool.' Luke thought to himself. The mysterious black cat jumped down from his perch, walking into the orchard. He looked back to see if Luke was following. Luke caught on quickly and ran up to the cat, walking alongside him. Dead apples littered the floor, leaves on the verge of falling off the trees. The orchard felt as it should be a horror movie setting.

 Luke hesitantly stopped walking all of a sudden when the cat slowed to a halt. He looked up at Luke with a look of expectancy. Luke not catching onto the cats plan looked around them. To their right was a tree stump, a pretty large stump at that. Almost platform like. On top of the stump was a person. Luke's eyes followed the lean legs up to see a hockey mask. The kid looked to be around Luke's age, he wore a ragged blue hoodie. Skinny jeans hugging the boys legs perfectly. In his hands were a baseball bat, a skateboard in the other. The stance the masked boy was in looked almost majestic. Stoic even. But, little Luke was so startled by the hooded figure, he tackled him to the ground. 

The two wrestled for a bit before Luke was finally able to snatch off the hockey mask. Underneath it was blue eyes and a smile so bright Luke thought he might have gone blind. Getting out of his trance, Luke pushed the boy away. Sticking his hand out for a hand shake, "That was a bit unnecessary, I'm Luke." He seemed almost excited to meet this blue eyed creature, but you couldn't tell, with his cool kid facade n all. 

"I'm Jon! Short for Jonathan, but call me what ever you like!" Luke resisted the urge to say 'guess I'll call you mine' and gave up on the handshake. 

"I see you've already met Marcel?" 

"Who?" 

"The cat! He has a name! And feelings," Jon stated, "he's wild but, still a really cool cat. He'll come to my window at night and bring me dead things! Like this one time-" Luke didn't bother to listen in to Jonathan's story, only focusing on how excited he seemed. Or how his voice sounded so... delirious? Yeah, let's go with that. 

The two kids talked for a bit, even going so far as to wrestle for a second time. After a bit they both mutually agreed they'd become friends. You could hear a bell ring and a mans voice following suit. 

 It's been five days since that whole ordeal happened. But each would meet by the same tree stump everyday. They'd talk and play like they've know each other for years rather then days. At least until that darn bell rings and a voice calls him home. Luke learned later that the voice belonged to Jons grandpa. He always seemed to call him home at the most inconvenient of times. Luke really liked Jon, platonically of course, why would he like Jon romantically? That'd be ridiculous! 

Luke was brought back to earth by a drop of water landing on his nose. Shaking off almost all thoughts about Jonathan, he gripped the doll in his hand tighter. Luke turned up his music a bit more before moving on to the next room of the apartment. 

 The living room was nicely decorated so far. A few paintings here and there, snow globes and four trophies lined the top of the fire place. Three of them to Evan, and the other to Dathi. Luke placed the mini doll on the table. 

It was weird, the doll was an almost complete copy of himself, besides the devil horns and tail. A complete copy. The thing looked professionally made, the stitchings were neat and even. The fabric was well kept, very clean. Luke wouldn't dare say it out loud, but he appreciated the craftsmen ship. He found it on his door step one day. Jonathan left the thing wrapped in newspaper for him. It had a note attached to the package. Luke read the note, smiling at the nickname Jon gave him a few days prior. 

 Hey Toonz! found this lil guy at my house. He reminds me of you! - Jon 

Confused at first, he started to pick at the stitching. It didn't work of course, but he still tried for some reason. The doll seemed to grow on him the more he carried it around the house. Luke even took it to dinner, got the doll its own chair. Sometimes Luke would stay up and just talk with the doll. Who knew how much of a bad thing that was. 

Back in the present, Luke picked up one of the pictures above the fire place, it was a picture of Evan. Right before his injury. He smiled, this photo was the only proof he has that his father did indeed smile. His father was in his team uniform, hockey stick in hand, smile on his face. He put the picture back on the mantle. He tried looking around the room for something else interesting, coming up with nothing. He went to go grab the doll he left on the table, Luke's hand came up empty. 

 Confused as ever, he searched around the table, to see if it fell off when he didn't notice. That's when he saw it. In the corner of his eye. It was the doll. The head facing him, half of its body stuck behind a shelf. Luke moved the shelf to the side. Gathering up the doll he saw an indent in the wall. He realized it was a door. Studying the supposed key hole, he thought about getting up to find the key that opens this tiny hidden door. 

He was to lazy to actually go all the way to the kitchen to find a simple key. So he called for his dad instead. "Hey dad! Think you could get the key to this door?" 

"What door?"

Luke didn't know how to explain his predicament, so he went with a simple answer, "Just come over here!" 

Evan walked through the living room archway, his eyes wandering from his son to the impression of a hatch on the wall. "You're not going to give up till I do this for you... Fine. Just don't bother me after this." 

Luke's father sighed in exasperation. After a minute or two Evan came back with a black old time-y key in hand. Luke watched in awe as his father cut the wallpaper and stuck the key in the keyhole. Turning the mysterious key.

It opened with a click. 

 - 

 And that was part one my friends!!! This was really fun to write so, if you want to see more of this let me know!! Have a good day!

[harley-quinnn]

Princess of Gotham

Joker x Reader x Harley

Prompt: Can u pls write something where Harley and the joker fight over the reader thanks

{A/N} I wasn’t sure if you meant in a romantic way or not, so I went with romantic. If you thought of another way don’t hesitate to let me know! I’ll write another one for you! xo Harley

Warnings: Some slight smut.

Masterlist | Requests

“C’mon puddin’, lemme get a turn with her! Ya always get ta have all tha fun!” Harley whines from the office. 

J was sitting down at his desk planning the week out for the two of you- a private island vacation for a change, courtesy of the man he killed just days ago. He knew you were dying to get out and relax, and for once decided to be thoughtful before you decided to skip out on him all together. You awkwardly sit on the couch in the large living room, gazing out at the beautiful penthouse view. Lights flickered on and off throughout the buildings and for a moment, you wondered what might be going on in another apartment. 

“Harley, doll, what did I tell ya about tryin’ to dishevel daddy’s plans…” The tone in his voice was stern, annoyed with Harley. You could tell this would not bode well for her if she carried on.

“It’s just not fair Mistah J, I wanna take her out. Dancin’ or somethin’! She’s tired’a killin’ people for laughs, ya can tell! Just look at her!”

And so she carried on as usual, cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

The corners of your mouth automatically pull into a questioning frown. Did I really look that upset? It wasn’t that you were upset with murders and heists, really. You just felt stressed between them on occasion. They both have a thing for you, and you’re still adjusting to the lunacy that comes with that. Had someone asked you a few months ago if you’d have been in a love triangle like this, you’d have laughed and denied it wholeheartedly. But after a run in with them on a dark street, you found yourself to be the King and Queen of Gotham’s princess. 

“That is exactly what I’m trying to do,” he growls, and you can just about hear his eyes rolling from the other room. 

Suddenly, you hear a glass break, causing you to jolt out of the haze you had mentally put yourself into. You’re already picturing J’s amber liquid flowing across the opulent hardwood flooring in the office. You keep your eyes on the window, pretending to be utterly distracted as you hear heavy footsteps coming closer to you and a deep roar following behind it as you’re suddenly swept up into the blondes hands and being tugged out of the penthouse. 

“Harley.. Maybe we should just stay in, all three of us! You know, it’ll be easier, more laid bac-”

“Forget about it sugar! We’re goin’ out! I don’t care what Mistah J has ta’-”

A loud yelp leaves your lips as you feel a hand clutch your shoulder, yanking you backwards and into his tight grip around you. As rough as he is, you can’t help but revel in his possessiveness. Harley’s face turns red as he begins to pull you through the door now, getting into the elevator, pressing the ‘close door’ button and waving at her with a sarcastic, manic grin. You can hear her screaming as she presses the button to bring the elevator back up incessantly. The two of you keep sliding downwards as sound of her frustration fades. 

“Whadda’ya wanna do, honey?” J starts, taking your shoulders into his hands before sliding them seductively behind your back and holding you close. “Anything- we can do anything ya want. Just say the word, it’s done. Tell daddy, and it’s done, done, done.”

His tone was sultry, but pushy. You know he’s trying to get an answer out of you before Harley catches up, but the way he speaks to you paired with the look in his glacier blue eyes sets off grenades in your heart. 

“I do wanna go dancing, but maybe somewhere other than the club for a change.. You know…” You bite your lip, hoping what you were going to say next wouldn’t offend your clown prince. “Somewhere classy.”

His expression tenses as he peers into your soul now. You just did exactly what you weren’t trying to, it seems. Quickly his face changes as the doors open and the blue and red harlequin rips you from his hands. 

“See ya, puddin’!” She exclaims before skipping off with you in tow once again.

“I can’t take this whiplash!” You complain, following her as she, in a rough but still endearing way, pulls you out of the doors and into the bustling street. People begin eyeing the two of you, practically cowering as she drags you down the sidewalk. You smile at the passersby, attempting to assure them this wasn’t entirely against your will as she turns a corner into an alley that always leads you back to the club that J owns. You sigh, wishing silently for just a second that you could go back to the penthouse, slump into the couch and binge on {F/S}, your secret guilty pleasure that you only partake in when you’re completely alone.

J isn’t following as the two of you run between the doors of the club. It’s the middle of the day, so of course there’s no loud music, no drunk people touching each other and you, making J want to blow everyone’s brains out, and making Harley cringe. There’s just you, Harley and an open bar. 

“See, we could have a ball, just tha’ two of us, sugar! We don’t need some island with Mistah J.” Harley muses, walking behind the bar and picking up bottles of liquor and syrups. Her eyes fall upon a glass jar full of cocktail umbrellas, and she reaches for a blue parasol and then a pink one before even starting the drinks.

You shrug and sit down, at least your mother won’t think you’ve gone missing for months on end. She just adored Harley, who often came over for dinner dressed casually with her hair pulled back when your mother invited you over and J was nowhere to be found. ‘Just for a taste of normal’ she would say.

“I could go for a cocktail I guess.” 

“That’s the spirit!” The blonde perks up as she pours concoctions into two glasses and slides one your way, moving around to your side of the bar and sitting next to you. 

Her small smile was heart melting as she absentmindedly tried her drink. “Not bad, maybe I shoulda been a bartender!” 

You try your own, pleasantly surprised at the cherry and blue raspberry cocktail. You lick your lip and grin, “Maybe you should be!”

Harley giggles, leaning your way slightly and wrapping an arm around your waist. 

“I gotta admit,” she starts, “I’m gettin’ a lil more jealous than usual with you an’ puddin’.. No, I don’t like it. But I can’t help it!” She begins arguing with the voices that occupy her mind just momentarily before looking back to you. “Sorry.” 

Her crimson grin widens as she leans in, dragging a finger across your cheek as she pushes a strand of {H/C} back. You lick your lips again just for a second as she leans in further, pressing her plump lips against yours with ease. Harley’s kiss wasn’t like J’s. It wasn’t nearly as possessive or needy. But it was loving, caring. You could tell her insanity wasn’t fully in fruition the way it was with J. And though she certainly was insane, she still had some wits about her.

You nip into her lower lip, hearing a small sigh and feeling it’s warmth escaping from Harley’s mouth. Your thoughts drift to what she just said, and you entertained the idea of Harley for a moment as her hand pulls you closer and her lips meet your neck now. 

Harley. Just Harley. Without J in the picture. The theory was beautiful, but your heart begins to race in a sudden panic at the thought of losing either of them. The same theory with just J and not Harley was beautiful, and the anxiety begins to settle in as she works at your shoulder now. You couldn’t live without either of them. This was the one thing you knew for certain.

Boom. 

“I should kill you!” J’s voice roared from the doors that just swung open, shutting loudly behind him as he steps in and walks towards the two of you.

You try to compose yourself again and Harley licks her lips with a smirk, like a kitten interrupted from her milk. 

“Ya been tryin’ for years sweetie, that ain’t gonna change now!” She snorts, twisting around on her barstool and taking another drink. 

“Please,” you plead as he steps closer to Harley and pulls her out of her seat. He looked like a rabid tiger, and she had just stolen the last of his food. “You don’t have to fight over my time like this, we can do something together, just the three of us.. I promise!” Your voice squeaks at the end, and you’ve found your place as the mouse in this wild food chain. 

He throws Harley back down into the seat and looks towards you. His eyes pierce through you as they do when he’s thinking of something ferocious. 

“And what do ya wanna do, sweetheart? With just the three of us?”

You swallow hard, breathing a bit staggered as you try to think of a master plan on a dime that would please everyone as he continues.

“Ya know we don’t share often, doll face, if ever. It’s just been her and I… you’ve thrown a little wrench into our system now..” 

He twists your seat so you’re facing Harley now and leans down, placing his chiseled jawline on your shoulder as his hand slides down between your breasts and to your core over your skirt. He leaves his hand there, and you can feel it’s warmth radiating as his other hand tangles itself up in your hair. 

The fire in Harley’s cerulean eyes flickers as she shifts in her seat, and you can tell he’s teasing her just as much as he’s teasing you, and pissing her off even more than that.

His hand slides past your skirt and onto your bare {S/T} thigh, and you can tell his eyes are on no one and nothing but his queen. You’ve become a pawn in their game now, a dirty toy, and you know there’s nothing you can do about it. You’d be lying though, if you said that you didn’t enjoy every single, aching second of it.

Harley’s legs shift open just slightly as she swivels in the stool, biting into her own lower lip. This causes him to slide his hand up your skirt now, not caring about exposing you as the fabric bunches over his wrist. You can feel something engorged on your back, and it doesn’t take even a few seconds to realize it isn’t his gun. 

The air is heavier it seems, as his fingers reach your wet core, causing it to grow even wetter at his touch. He pulls your {F/C} panties aside as he watches her coming undone before him. You can hear a moan leave her throat as she slides off of the stool and onto her knees. Her stretches his finger, grazing your folds slightly as he gestures for her to come closer. You bite your lip now as she sits up, bringing her face closer to your sweet spot. 

“Go on, Harls,” he rasps, his own breath heavy on your neck. 

You whine slightly, wanting nothing more in this moment than to have somebody to something to you. She moves even closer, and your eyes dart to her blonde pigtails, then to her ruby lips that you’re about to share color with on a set of your own. You embrace the warmth of her breath now caressing your flesh, and you can almost feel what she’s about to do already. She parts her lips a little further as her tongue slides past them, gently flicking against the glistening wetness that now coats your folds. 

J’s hand grips onto the back of your head heartily, and you realize he’s waiting to see her taste you even more just as bad as you want her to. 

Moaning and already desperate for the attention they were about to pay you, your hips push just slightly toward her face, closing your eyes. You hear a short giggle, and much to your dismay, Harley suddenly pops up, now standing in front of you instead. You open your eyes as she places her hands on your shoulders as she squeezes them gently. J growls as he once again faces a defeat. 

From the corner of your eye you can see her lean in to peck J on the lips. You sigh, a frown tugging at your {F/C} lips as you reach for the drink she made you. His hand slides from your inner thigh to the small of her back as you close your legs again. You take another sip and try to come back down to earth. 

"Fine.." she coos at him, "We can go on your lil' vacation." 

Harley was rarely the peacekeeper, but you can tell that the idea of endless cocktails and threesomes on a sunny getaway to a private beach had an effect on her as her eyes drifted towards the ceiling in an absentminded yet still thoughtful cloud. 

"We can always dance on the beach," you say, pretending to be upset about your idea being thrown out all together. 

You have to admit, you hardly ever traveled, and the idea of a vacation got you excited just as well. I guess mom will just have to wait... 

They both look to you now, grinning their sinister grins as you stand up, smoothing down your skirt and rolling your eyes with a smile in return.

[theprxdigalson-blog]

day seven | ooc week

Why did you choose/create your current character? (If you have more than one, answer this for all) basically — so DARCY was one of the reasons i was first intrigued by OL because who doesn’t love an absolute dickhead. but I very nearly applied for Wylan instead but in the end I chose moldridge over peakes because he’s the kind of contemptuous and haughty asshole I genuinely love writing best. especially because he thinks he’s absolutely fucking fantastic at everything but is really the most mediocre ass in this school. NIC was a natural second because he’s the kind of character that I usually thrill to play. chaotic, messy, loves passionately but tends to be a little too intense. I was torn with him being a muggleborn or not but as a contrast to preppy boy moldridge and to try and accurate represent what a muggleborn english kid would be like in hogwarts I went with that. he’s the kind of guy that follows ladbible on facebook and probably watches way too much dave. KITTY was the balancing act between my two boys. both darcy and nic are talkers ( two different kinds but talkers nonetheless ) so if I was committing to a third character I wanted them to be timid, quiet, shy and a little bit skittish. she’s also the more academic of the three and is probably the kind of kid who’d easily undermine darcy but doesn’t have the guts to speak up. she’s my little golden child really but she hasn’t got alot of self-belief and while the other two for character development are focused on getting quieter kitty has always been about her finding her own voice. a little spark of confidence. 

What drew you to OL? a little bit of moldridge but mostly the plot and from what i could gather before application the community of OL and that has really been what’s kept me ( plus the plot drops ). OL is basically a home now.

What’s one plot you’d love to have for your character? (This can be both unfeasible and unrealistic - go wild!) for DARCY I’d love the totally unfeasible plot of him being capable of having friends, he does get a little broody to play and sometimes his loneliness is crippling so it’d be nice to let his inner less assholeish side shine. for NIC I’d actually love for him to go on to be a dragon rearer or trainer and this might seem like a super obvious plot route for future!nic but honestly as I see it, he’s more likely to work at the garage his dad works at. I’d really really love for Nic to take some ownership over being magic !! and finally for KITTY I’m totally torn, half of me would love to just let her be happy and live a peaceful life making a few friends - the other half of me wants to totally RUIN her and pull out all the stops for angst.

What’s your favourite friendship that your character has? hands down for DARCY has to be darcy/tori — they’ve just got absolutely fantastic chemistry? but close seconds would’ve been darcy/sam and darcy/jay. for NIC it’d have to be the puff squad as a group because they’re all freaking fantastic and for KITTY I have quite a few, penny/kitty is incredibly cute and warms my heart. i adore wylan/kitty for obvious reasons but also elliot/kitty is important and probably one of my favourites because there’s history there that doesn’t make it necessarily easy or within kitty’s comfort zone.

Name one relationship (bad or good) that you like for your character: assuming this means relationships that already exist ? - for DARCY it has got to be lennox/darcy because those two clash like titans and it’s glorious. for NIC tbh I love nymeria/nic for their banter and tension, but also theo/nic has always been incredibly interesting due to the silent conflict that arises from nic’s internalised homophobia. and for KITTY as brief as it was - solo/kitty because there’s nothing more enjoyable than scaring her a lil.                 if this means relationships that i would like for them? I think I’d just like more ANGST no matter what form that takes. because I’m a sucker for it.

Pick one character that your character conflicts with. Why do you like this dynamic? lennox/darcy hands down because those threads are just ace

Angst, we all love it. Which aspect of your character’s do you enjoy writing the most? I think darcy’s loneliness isn’t necessarily [enjoyable] but it makes him very human, for nic it’s this whole complex scenario that his parents aren’t educated by muggle standards so he’s been struggling to talk to them about magic properly and of course his mum has only just reappeared. there’s definitely alot of anger there surrounding his mum abandoning him and his dad. for kitty she’s really not had any angst bar the ‘teenage’ kind so ... she NEEDS some

Which plot of your character’s has been your favourite so far? I’m such a sucker for bludgers to the face so probably that plot. it was entirely incidental as well it just started happening in threads and then hcs got away and suddenly they were basically married.

What’s next for your character? i think for all of my characters they can either now go up or down. darcy has surprised me by going up but that has also made him a great deal more vulnerable so.

Would you get along with your character in real life? I would NOT get along with moldrige preppy rich boys are awful, especially english ones, but I’d definitely get along with nic and kitty for sure.

Is it easy for you to get into character? If you have more than one character, which of them is easiest to get into the headspace of? nic is hands down the easiest to get into character - he’s got such a distinctive tone of voice and thought process that’s incredibly erratic. so it makes him the easiest to write? one moment you might be discussing charms with him the next thing he’s talking about christmas and how santa is definitely not real but the bloke who plays him at victoria shopping centre at xmas buys weed from his mate — just, you get my point.

Do you think Lowell is a bad guy or just #misunderstood? personally i think he could be either - and it would be fun either way. i’m a sucker for ‘bad guys’ who think they’re doing good or are unintentionally fucking things up...but for lowell we’ll have to see.

If you could make one prediction for what’s going to happen in the RP, what would it be? wolves and lots of them

If you could say one thing to your character, what would it be? darcy - stop trying to be something you aren’t, relax, live a little and take that stick out of your ass. nic - slow the fuck down man. kitty - don’t be afraid to speak up, you are loved and you are safe.

!!! SEND AWAY

OOC Questions:

{send off anon} Send ✜ and I’ll fill out for your character:

my first impression of your muse:

my favorite thing about your muse:

would I ever consider shipping our muses:

a plot I’d like to see between our muses:

an AU I think would be interesting for our muses:

IC Questions:

{send off anon} Send me a ◉ and my muse will say one thing they like and one thing they dislike about yours.

{send off anon} Send a ✿ and my character will answer these:

A thought about them that they’d never share:

First impression of them:

Favorite thing about them:

Least favorite thing about them:

Hopes for their future relationship:

[omicrontheicequeen]

Fill out & Repost ♥ This meme definitely favors Canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore and Lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multimuses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

Tagged by: @panickedforcefield​ and @wild-at-spark​

MY MUSE IS.   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless

* is your character popular in the fandom? YES/NO  Icy is a predacon? After TFP there seemed to be a re-surge of Predacons!

* is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  WELL… / NO / IDK. Depends on how you see it? Big predacon lady with lots of sharp edges?

* is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. BIG PREDACON LADY......she can bench most mechs but also Optimus I’m sure could ride on her back in beast mode..........maybe. Icy might just play dead of he did.

* are they underrated?  YES / NO. Most OCs are, but that’s all good! She can be the big momma to her friends or that ‘oh shite we need help’ back up XD

* were they relevant to the main story?  YES / NO. I made and re-made Icy that she can be in the background of things, or be the Big Scary Monster the heros stumble into, even when she’s just sneezing.

* were they relevant to the main character?  YES/ NO Not really? depends on the rp

* are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO. PFFFT Depend on who has been keeping an optic on the wanted posters/alerts!

* how’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. LOL At worst Icy is a pirate, at best a neutral, Her morals are a tad skewed 

HOW STRICTLY DO YOU FOLLOW CANON? Omie has a habit of mushing TF worlds/cannons. Icy follows the rough cannons of TFP and RiD2012 and a sprinkling of beast wars. Between space bridge and transwarp tech she can be punted into different detentions. 

SELL YOUR MUSE!(aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutual.)

Heyo need some heavey lifting? You might be able to bribe this pirate to help, need someone kidnapped? She can do it!  [Warnings: There is no promises there will be kidnappings of person or even the right person, or that that person won’t be delivered to a confused Autobot/Decepticon. ] And is able to- eventually- break out of near any prison!

Once you’re deemed as Crew or Colony, Friend/family, there’s not much the big dragon will not do to for you! She’ll hunt a car for a present for you, won’t mind being your couch or just be a gaint shade predacon.

She also has ice powers! Over heating? Get some new ice packs. She could even start a fire when its cold.

Also.....hatchlings. There’s always some stage of hatchling running around her ship so you have a high chance of being love molested! Even by the other adult predacons!

NOW THE OPPOSITE!(list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?)

Icy is at that older crocodile stage where she’s inclined to just sit to the side, not really wanting to get involved with the Autobot/Decepticon spats. and...well, she will steal stuff without too much regard. If it will benefit her, and more so her crew/colony no shame. Medical supplies she has a bad habit of stealing all that stuff.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RP YOUR MUSE?

The RiD Predacons XD Just the big scary baddies are really just spazzy pirates. That is just FUN to write, but also the new renovation of Icy having some spazz moments but.. she’s just this massive big thing that’s scary...but really wants brushies on her back sometimes. 

WHAT KEEPS YOUR INSPIRATION

Chubby Crocodile pictures =3! And also getting to chance to play with friends

SOME MORE PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN.

do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO.

* do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO.

* do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO.   look up ‘store clips’ but its a wide range of drabbles. I am trying to write her back story

* do you think a lot about your muse during the day? YES / NO.

* are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. 

* are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO.

* are you a sensitive person? YES / NO.  <__<;;;;;;

DO YOU ACCEPT CRITICISM WELL ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL?

Yes if its constructive criticism, I don’t mind talking about things and I know I have dyslexia so.... yeah.

DO YOU LIKE QUESTIONS, WHICH HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR CHARACTER?  

Y.E.S!

Not just for Icy but my other blogs. I do like to just sit and geek and world build. That is FUN!! 

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES TO A HEADCANON OF YOURS, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?  

One is always welcome to disagree with a head cannon, just please don’t try and start shite over it. Its that persons’ own views and what they enjoy enough to share.

IF SOMEONE REALLY HATES YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DO YOU TAKE IT?

I’m not forcing you to hang around, Icy can  care less and eat most mechs  so -shrugs- they can bugger off

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EASY GOING AS A MUN?  

I Hope so, I try to be easy to get along with, I know I worry about other muns and want to hug them and throw presets at them to cheer them up.

I’m sorry I know the misspellings can be weird, and I poof off an on. But I try!