#i think i need a nap after i answer these asks. Oopsies

[corvidmasters]

the only parts of the story that matter after lb4 are the ones that include arjuna anyway so its fine <3 i keep track anyway

anyway i would like to know what her thoughts are on karna- obvs since shes so close to arjuna (and it seems like karna is contracted to another master in their chaldea) shes probably got an opinion on him and theyve probably interacted at some point and im curious what kind of relationship, if any, they have.

same w ashwatthama if youre up to it.

"what does macha think of karna" is truly the million dollar question isn't it. what DOES macha think of her partner's rival. (and also answered here: what does macha of her partner's now-awkward childhood friendship). this is going to be a liiittle long for some brief context and also because it's two answers smashed into one so i'm breaking out the readmore.

context

Like was said in the ask I'm answering here, Karna (and Ashwatthama as well) are contracted to different Masters in Macha's Chaldea. Karna is contracted to Tanya (the girl in the second image), and Ashwatthama is contracted to Aimi (the one saying blow up). As such, she doesn't have the same chance for a deep relationship that a Master and Servant would.

karna

She has an amiable relationship with him that's occasionally a little troubled by her distaste for his talent at seeing through facades (specifically when it's hers, it's useful when he's doing it to other people though!). For the most part, she finds his straightforward nature easy to tease, and she's actually quite fascinated by watching him and Arjuna compete in things and will even actively encourage it. Macha also appreciates his diehard loyalty; Tanya was her first friend that wasn't family or imaginary, so if she's going to rely on someone to protect Tanya when Macha herself can't, her ideal choice is Karna because of this.

Of course, Karna is very happy that both his Master and Arjuna have someone who's always in their corner. He knows very well that most of the time when Macha approaches him she's going to ask him to help her with some bullshit, but so long as it's not going to endanger Tanya he'll help out, why refuse?

He won't lie though he didn't like her LB4 stunt. Was not a fan of the betrayal. He can see why she did it but it put Tanya in danger so that caused a small Sims relationship minus sign to appear over his head.

ashwatthama

Back during the Indian Lostbelt, while Ashwatthama was pissed at her for betraying her team and trying a nonsensical gambit by becoming a worshiper, Macha was literally too anxious and CPTSD-fueled to think of him as anything other than one of Ashiya Douman's chess pieces. She was actually so relieved when he helped Chaldea out her relief nearly wrapped around into a panic attack.

After that, he's summoned proper by Aimi. Macha finds the two a good fit and, like with Tanya and Karna, considers Ashwatthama one of the most trustworthy Servants to have by Aimi's side. By this point she's both read the Mahabharata and heard plenty of stories from Arjuna, so she's well aware of Ashwatthama's sins and his complicated relationship with Arjuna. Of course as is evident from her relationship with Karna, those things don't have much bearing on her opinion of him; if anything, she thinks he's an exemplary man that's she's almost a little envious of for being able to feel so intensely. In some respects, he reminds her of how her younger bother Badb is, which cultivates a sisterly fondness in her that she keeps to herself.

In turn, Ashwatthama, uh...still thinks Macha is batshit fucking crazy, but now he's getting that she lost her shit that one time because he has eyes and can see that Arjuna is pretty important to her. And he can't lie, when she's Normal she can be actually pretty fun to be around. I firmly believe that if he knew about Macha and Badb's past he would go back in time again to kill their parents. Don't worry though with Aimi there are still people he's gotta go back and kill.

[kirencer]

Pomegranate Honey | Chapter Six

sugary surgery

Word count: 2.1k

Relationship: Sugar daddy! Spencer Reid x GN!AFAB! Reader

Warnings: Mentioned/Off Screen surgery, referenced past drug abuse [LMK if you feel I have ever missed anything. It’s been quite a while since i first read/wrote these chapters] THIS SERIES IS ENTIRELY NSFW, 18+ ONLY PLEASE

A/N: this took longer to get out than i wanted,, oopsies. i was busy, sorry. home life and i think i might go back to college, so, lotta stuff lol.

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[series masterlist]

[previous chapter] [next chapter]

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Y/N’s fingers tugged at the hospital’s bedsheets. Spencer looked up from his book. “Are you okay?”

They sighed and stared at their arm. Y/N’s gaze was daggering at the IV in their arm, giving them the fluids they needed before surgery. The two had been in the hospital for six hours at that point and were both tired of waiting.

“I don’t like needles or hospitals and I’m hungry!” Y/N pouted and Spencer smiled.

“I know. You can’t eat before surgery, though. Only two more hours.” Spencer set his reading material beside him. “After this is over, the hospital will be sure to give you something in the morning. You might even get jello!”

That made Y/N smile, “I do like jello.”

“Well then you have to get this surgery!” Spencer exclaimed, “Also, it means you won’t die from septic shock when your appendix ruptures.”

Y/N sucked in a breath of air, “Those are some scary words doc. I think you might need to distract me from how scary they are.”

Spencer rolled his eyes as an idea formed in his head. His gaze latched onto the heart rate monitor that Y/N was attached to.

He gauged Y/N’s expression as he moved closer. “What are you doing?” Y/N asked him with slight apprehension.

“An experiment.” He moved closer, ignoring Y/N puckered lips and placing a kiss against the column of their throat. His eyes watch their heart rate pick up a few beats.

Spencer pulled away with a chuckle as Y/N whined. Their heart rate didn’t change, instead, it picked up a bit more. “Does a single kiss really do that to you?”

Y/N gasped, “Spencer!” They narrowed their eyes at him, “No it does not, you just caught me off guard.”

He moved his head from side to side, stretching his lips slightly, “That’s doubtful.”

Spencer moved his hands to cup Y/N’s face, gently, as if Y/N was as breakable as porcelain. In a way, they were. Spencer had never felt more destructive than when making sure that he didn’t hurt them. Feather lightly, his lips met Y/N’s before he pulled back and slammed them together. The no longer steady beeping of Y/N’s heart rate monitor audibly increased and Spencer snickered as he pulled back.

“I hate you!” Y/N groaned as their head fell back against the pillow. The nurse came in right about then, telling Y/N that the surgeons were ready and they would be getting moved to the OR soon.

Y/N’s eyes shot up to Spencer’s. He could see the fear and hesitation in them and squeezed Y/N’s hand. “It’s okay. I’ve been in plenty of surgeries and I made it out alive.”

When Y/N smiled, it didn’t reach their eyes, “You don’t have to be here. I’m still sorry that I pulled you from the rest of your day’s lectures and mace you miss your lunch break.”

Spencer shook his head at that, “Nonsense. I’m here for you. I promise.”

Y/N’s expression soured a little bit, “Don’t say that. Please. Don’t make a promise you won’t keep.”

He was taken aback, but hid the sadness he felt by placing a kiss on their forehead. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

Y/N nodded and their heart-rate settled. “Think they can put my appendix in a jar for me?”

He rolled his eyes at that. “I haven’t read anything to suggest that yes, they can, so I’ll say that they can’t.”

“Damn. That’s what I thought.”

ណ

“Dr. Reid?” The nurse asked, waking Spencer up from the small nap he had taken. It’d been about an hour and fifteen minutes since Y/N had been moved for their surgery.

Spencer blinked a few times before answering, “Yes- That’s me, sorry.”

The nurse smiled sweetly, her shoulders hung from the weight of a long shift, but she put in effort to be kind, “It’s quite alright. Your friend was just taken to room 324, they should wake up from the anesthesia soon!”

Spencer nodded and added a quick bye before walking from the waiting room to said room. His lips perked up as he saw Y/N in the hospital bed. They did not have a breathing tube in, so they must have been awake enough to breathe without help from a machine. That was good. It meant that they should wake up in fifteen or so minutes.

He sat in the chair beside their bed, not bothering to try and sleep again. Instead he pulled out Y/N’s iPad - no, they had not said he could use it, but he was bored and wanted to see what ‘digital drawing’ was like. Soon, Y/N was awake and Spencer had not noticed. His tongue was between his teeth as he traced the apple pencil across the screen.

His art wasn’t anywhere near the level that Y/N’s was, but he enjoyed his stylistic choices. It always felt very halloween-ish and childish, in only the good ways of course!

Spencer only realized that Y/N had woken up when they giggled and amorously questioned, “What are you concentrating so hard on?” They gasped, a joking tone falling into their voice, “Don’t tell me you found my nude photo stash, perv!”

Spencer rolled his eyes, “No, I did not find your stash. Does that really exist? I’m drawing a cat on a pumpkin.”

Y/N’s eyes widened and their lips created a small o. “Let me see! Cats and gourds are my two favorite things.”

Spencer handed the electronic over to Y/N. His mind thought of the small brown kitten. “I haven't seen Cocoa in a bit, where did she get off to?”

Y/N didn’t yet look at the art. Their fingers tapped on the back of the iPad. “Me and Jackie have joint custody.”

Spencer's brows furrowed. Was Jackie one of their exes? And who had joint custody over an animal? “Who is Jackie?”

“Oh, yeah. Jackie is my best friend. She moved out a week after we adopted Co, so we decided that she gets her one week of the month.”

He hummed in response, more focused on Y/N’s reaction to what he had drawn than anything else. Their expression was sadly unreadable as if it was a mix of so many emotions that they blended into one another.

“This is really good, Spencer.” Their voice gave no hint to the emotions they felt either. It frustrated Spencer. He was usually good at reading people, so why did Y/N confuse him so much? Was it just the way they were or was he just easy to mystify.

Obviously it couldn’t be the second option, he was a genius after all.

Maybe he was just too afraid of accidentally making the mistake of placing a false emotion. Truthfully, he just didn’t want to know. What if he placed the false idea that they could ever be more than what Y/N was comfortable with and then got hurt in the process?

No, he needed to stop profiling them. It would only give him the chance to change how he acted, even momentarily, and that wasn't okay. It was manipulative and toxic and he would always be anything but.

“You really think so?”

Y/N nodded, “It's very pretty. The way you draw is shaky, but it's interesting. More than I can say about most of the art I see.”

“Do you see art often?”

They nodded again, “Mhm! I’m working on my bachelors in art and character design. It isn’t what I want to do in life, though. The classes often have open critiques.”

Spencer hummed. “What do you want to do then?” He looked at his hands, “Why not do art if you’re good at it and are getting a degree for it.”

“I’m more focused on finishing my masters than pursuing a career in art.”

His eyebrows shot to his hairline. Working on a masters and a bachelor at the same time? That was not a simple feat, even for a genius. “A masters in what?”

“Education. I want to be a high school teacher and it’s kinda required to have at least a masters plus a bachelors in what I’m specializing in.”

Y/N had never disclosed this much about themself, sure there were some vague mentions here and there, but not much to even go on. Spencer was eager to continue the conversation. “What are you specializing in? Why a highschool teacher? Why a teacher?”

They laughed. “English, I can’t wait to teach them all how gay Emily Dickinson was. The poetry unit will be my favorite, I’m definitely showing some of Sappho’s fragments! Highschool isn’t good for a lot of people, hell, it wasn’t good for me. I felt like it’d be the place to stop the most damage. Also, being a teacher always seemed fun. Stressful, sure, but fun.”

Spencer sucked in a deep breath of air. His heart longed for Y/N to have been there when he was in highschool, a teacher like them would have helped. Y/N seemed like the type of person to see what was happening, even if only slightly. Spencer warmed at the thought of how many kids would be helped by Y/N; he knew it would be a large number. “That's a great reason. Please, make sure to make them read some foreign literature. Cut Shakespeare, unless it's Much Ado About Nothing.”

Y/N smiled and gave Spencer back the iPad, wincing slightly. “Duly noted.”

“Are you okay? I can get the nurse, they should give you some morphine.”

Y/N’s smile faltered.

“I don’t need any drugs.”

The wheels in Spencer's head turned faster than he could stop them. He’d said almost the same thing so many times. It was the type of thing someone who had gotten over an addiction to something might say. He didn’t say anything about it though. He would be defensive if Y/N ever asked him, so he would wait for them to mention it - if they ever did.

“Okay. You should probably sleep. You just had surgery.”

Y/N shrugged. “I’m not really tired. Could you read to me?”

Spencer smiled at them, already digging out something to read. Surprisingly, he only had a single book on hand. He opened it up to the first page while Y/N moved around in the hospital bed, obviously trying to stop their wincing as they did so.

“Spencer?”

He looked up, “Yes?”

“Lay with me? I made space.”

“I can’t. What if I opened your stitches?”

“Ugh, please. We can’t have sex for a while, so the best you could do is cuddle with me. I’m so cold and alone!”

Spencer rolled his eyes, sliding off his shoes and carefully sliding next to Y/N. The bed wasn’t huge, but it was big enough that he could be beside them, though it was a bit uncomfortable. Y/N didn't mind, not with the way they gravitated towards him.

“You’re so dramatic!” Spencer mused as he opened the book again, giving Y/N a few seconds to settle before reading.

“Oh, you love it,” Y/N sleepily whispered. Spencer smiled at them while starting the first sentence.

Yeah, he thought somberly to himself, I’m starting to.

Spencer was only fifteen pages in when Y/N’s head fell against his shoulder. Spencer set the book down beside them, he could risk taking a nap. He started his first day back from sabbatical next week and could do to stock up sleep. He knew that once he got back there would be a case - there always was.

His hands gently stroked over Y/N’s hair; it weirdly calmed him down. Another item to the list of what Y/N did to and for him. He felt that Y/N was going to change him in a good way and that scared the fuck out of him. A voice that sounded distinctly like Penelope’s quoted a line from one of her favorite movies, it was from Olaf about enchanted forests. The Penelope-like voice says that Y/N is his enchanted forest.

He waved it away, focusing on the evenness of Y/N’s breathing. Nothing seemed more important to him than the fact that Y/N is alive; that scared him too.

“I think I’m falling in love with your laugh, your dramatics and everything that makes up you,” he whispered into their hair before placing a sweet and soft kiss on their forehead. “Sorry.” Spencer took in a soft breath, then did his best to fall asleep.

He dreamt that Y/N was hurt and he couldn’t stop their pain. Dream Spencer decided that he shouldn’t fall in love with Y/N; if only it could stop the real Spencer.

—————

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[purpleyellow]

Recovery pt 2

Seventeen 14th member

Hayun’s masterlist

“She’s home, and it’s time for the 97+maknae liners to watch Hayun”

a/n: Some of these are shorter, so I apologize. Also, I couldn’t find gifs of mingyu and dino that fit the “aesthetic” so sorry again. Feel free to let me know your thoughts as well as send me some requests💙. Ask box is also open to random chats.

The8

(italics are Chinese)

“Myungho!” Hayun called out from her spot on the couch and waited for a few seconds before screaming again “Minghao! The8! Whatever name you respond to”

“I’m here woman, calm down” The boy rolled his eyes as she extended her arms to give him her notebook. Minghao took it without a second glance and sat on the floor next to her to read the sentences she had written since he had last left her. “Nice job”

“Do you have any pointers to give me?” She smiled paddling her feet on the couch and he gave her back the notebook.

“Your calligraphy still sucks” He snickered making her chuckle “But I told you that the last three times you called me” 

“Yeah, you did,” Hayun twisted her pen, looking from her laptop to the pages before noticing the boy hadn’t left like the previous times “What?”

“Why the sudden interest in Chinese?” He blatantly said, making her close her notebook and shrug her shoulders.

“I needed something to distract me and turns out it’s very easy to get a language certificate through the internet,” The girl said without a break, smiling triumphantly at the end which made him giggle at her proud face. “I might need you to help me revise some stuff though”

“I don’t have much time before I need to go back to pledis so write down your questions and I’ll help you when I get back” He patted her arm and got up from the floor. 

“Yeah, go ahead and leave me like everyone else” Hayun threw her head back dramatically making him look at her sassily.

“You do know we’re making you richer right?”   

“Yes. And you know that I like to communicate with people” She raised a finger and poked his chest “And I can’t do that if someone is not around to teach me their mother tongue”

“Isn’t three languages enough for you?”

“I want to be one of those smug polyglots. Once you’re done with me I’ll call Yuto to help me with Japanese. There’s this idol who can speak German I think, I’ll talk to him too” She joked with a wink and Minghao shook his head laughing.

Mingyu

Mingyu pushed the door with his elbow and set the tray of food on Hayun’s nightstand. Pushing her arm until she woke up from, what he assumed, her nap.

“What?” She groaned holding his hand and turning away from him.

“I made you food” Mingyu chanted sitting on the bad and moving the platter to his lap

“Is it pizza?” She asked, burying her face in the pillow.

“No?”

“Then I don’t want it”

“Noona, you have to in order to get better soon” The boy rolled his eyes poking her side and she groaned again.

“Is it ramen?”

“No” He answered, expecting her to at least sit up to see what it was. In reality, Hayun stayed still in her spot, pretending to fall asleep again and have him go away. Huffing, Minngyu poked her again “I tried a new recipe, you need to help me see if it’s tasty or not”

Raising her head like he expected, she checked what he had brought and whined while sitting properly.

“You made soup” The girl pouted making him laugh. “I want something greasy”

“You can’t have anything greasy for now” Mingyu shook his head and brought the spoon out of the bowl, leaning forward to feed her a little “Say ahh”

Shutting her mouth, Hayun shook her head making him groan and retreat the spoon annoyed. Smiling mischievously, she opened her mouth again and as the boy took the bowl out of his lap she instantly closed it.

“Can you be a little cooperative?” Mingyu complained laughing and she shrugged, allowing him to properly feed her a spoonful. “How is it?”

Making a disgusted face, Hayun quickly changed it to a pondering one and then smiled satisfied.

“Not bad, Chef Gyu”

“Not bad” He repeated her in English making her laugh and nod.

“Next time, maybe add a little more spice”

DK

“A package arrived for you” Seokmin sang while walking inside Hayun’s room and she shot up from her bed “Wait, calm down. We don’t need your stitches to rip open”

“I’m taking them off tomorrow” She rolled her eyes taking the package from him. As he was walking away she waved him inside, shaking the big box with a smile “Stay, you’re going to like what I ordered”

“Ohh, what is it?” He sat along with her on her bed and helped her rip open the cardboard. 

“I ordered a hammock” Hayun smiled satisfied as she made her way to the fabric “I’m going to hang it in my room and chill in it”

“Cool,” Dokyeom got up, holding an end of the object and spreading it out so they could get a perfect view “How are you going to hang it?”

“Uh?” The girl blinked, her smile turning to a frown as she looked at him.

“The hammock. You’re going to need a place to hang it”

“Oh. True” She sighed and let go of her end, throwing her body back on the bed and repressing a very mild discomfort. “I didn’t think about that”

“I guess we’re going to need a drill or something professional like that” The boy kept muttering, walking around her room while looking at the walls and dragging the hammock along the floor.

“There must be a tutorial somewhere on the internet. I’ll look for it later” She sighed carefully pulling herself upwards. “Or you know… my very strong groupmates can hold it up while I lay in it”

“Ah, I think you got the wrong person” DK shook his head grinning and she leaned her head forward doing the same movement.

“No, I don’t. C’mon, Seokmin-ah. Do a favor for your sick Noona” She smirked, making him tumble laughing.

“Wow, just a minute ago there was nothing wrong with you” He managed to say in between laughs and she grinned, leaning on her side and shrugging calmly.

Seungkwan

“Are you going to hold my hand?” Hayun asked Sengkwan as soon as they made it to the hospital, the boy rolling his eyes with a big exhale before taking her hand in his and making her laugh “I meant when they take out the stitches dummy”

“Of course I knew that” He scoffed, throwing her hand away. In revenge, Hayun looped her arm around his waist and forcefully made him hug her shoulder as they walked together. Whining, Seungkwan said under his breath “Noona, not here”

“There’s no one in the hallway, stop pouting” Hayun giggled gently slapping his butt, which caused him to widen his eyes and look around to see if she was telling the truth.

“Aren’t you a little bit worried?”

“Not really. I’ve had stitches before” She shrugged as they walked inside a room and sat on a waiting list. “But in all seriousness, I do want you to hold my hand while they do it”

“Why?” He whined again resting his head on her shoulder. “You said you weren’t scared”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want some support” 

“Okay then” He sighed and they stayed in silence for a few seconds before Seungkwan turned to her serious “You’re probably not going to like hearing this”

“Oh my, what did you do?”

“Nothing. I just feel bad” The boy took her hand again and looked down ashamed “I kind of feel better about not doing the entire performance after you had to step out”

“What?” Hayun frowned and he shook his head, realizing how that sounded.

“I’m not glad that you had to take a break. The members know I complain about wanting you with us all the time” He smiled gently making her chuckle “It just made me realize how lucky I am that I didn’t have to sit out everything”

“Strangely enough I don’t feel attacked at all” Hayun laughed patting his head and gesturing for him to rest on her shoulder again “I’m glad you didn’t have to either Boo. Please keep taking better care of yourself” 

Vernon

“Is that my sister?” Vernon frowned, leaning down over the back of the couch to check out Hayun’s phone.

“Oopsies, gotta go,” Sofia said over facetime and instantly hung up the call, making the boy frown at his own reflection on the black screen.

“You were facetiming my sister?” He looked at Hayun confused and walked around to sit next to her.

“Yeah actually. I do talk fairly often with your mom too.” She quirked up an eyebrow and crossed her arms “You better step up your technology game because I’m stealing your family”

“What?” He chuckled, leaning back and taking her phone to check the latest calls, laughing harder when he realized she was telling the truth.

“I mean it, boy. Your mom said she’s getting me a Christmas stocking this year”

“Well, you’re going to be a great addition to the family” Vernon snickered not knowing if she was being honest or not.

“I’m aware” 

“Are you going to do something right now?” He asked side-eyeing her and she shook her head “Good. I’m going to need you to help me out with something I composed”

“You know. Technically I’m still on my work hiatus” She smirked poking his side and Vernon snorted. “But, we are at home after all so I don’t think that’s a problem”

“I know, that’s why I asked” He laughed and opened an app on his phone.

Dino

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Hayun said as soon as she heard Dino entering the room backstage.

“You came!” The boy beamed running to hug her and she replied with a giggle rubbing his back.

“I wanted to surprise you guys after the last stage” She smiled and shrugged looking to see if anyone else was around “Please don’t tell the others”

“Okay. Oh my, I saw you this morning but I can’t believe you are here” The boy chuckled making her pat his cheek.

“Why did you come back?” Hayun asked frowning “You’re supposed to be on stage in two minutes”

“I left my phone inside my pocket again” Chan giggled embarrassed and took the device, setting it on the table. “Aren’t you going to be lonely while we’re gone”

“Nah. I’ll look around to see if there’s anyone bored too”

“You were supposed to say ‘watching you is enough for me’” Dino made an annoyed face and both of them started laughing.

“I’ll look around after watching the performance, don’t worry” She rolled her eyes and held his hand “Talking about it. If you guys come back and I’m not here text me. I either lost track of time or one of the managers sent me home”

“The managers don’t know you’re here?” He said amused “How did you even come? You’re driving already?”

“I took a cab. But now that you said, I can drive again. I don’t know why I didn’t do that”

“Okay, Noona” Dino laughed stealing a look at the clock “I have to go, please don’t wander around too much”

“Good luck with the performance!” Hayun smiled sending him a flying kiss before he bolted off the room.

[bohemian-napsodyy]

Operation: Cabin Fever (Ahkmenrah x Reader)

Summary: After Ahk starts feeling a little down from almost never leaving the museum, you’re inspired to come up with your most risky plan yet.

Word Count: 5.7k (this could be NATM 4 in itself jfc it’s so long, I’m so sorry)

Warnings: no real warnings, but Larry’s pizza falls on the floor

A/N: So i just realized after going through my masterlist that even though I have a handful of Ahk hcs, i’ve never done a full-ass fic for him before??? THIS IS THE FIRST ONE?!? So that makes me even more excited to post this?!?!?! :D

I also got so invested in this to the point of making a playlist to listen to while you read!! if that’s your sort of thing of course :)

Stay Alive -- Jose Gonzalez

Bones -- Michael Kiwanuka

Blue Spotted Tail -- Fleet Foxes

‘Tis Autumn -- Nat King Cole

Everybody Loves Somebody -- Dean Martin 

If you don’t feel like listening to the whole thing, at least listen to the first two, I think they capture the vibe really nicely (and i may or may not have teared up a bit while listening to them as i wrote this oopsies)

Enjoy, my loves! <3

You knew something was wrong when you showed up at the museum and Ahkmenrah was nowhere in sight.

That wasn’t like him at all. He almost always was waiting in the main entrance, the smile on his face like sunshine as he ran to greet you with a tender kiss.

You looked around, glancing from side to side, almost expecting Ahk to be hiding somewhere in preparation to scare you.

But then you frowned. You knew Ahk was mischievous at times, but he had never, and would never, do anything that would make you worry like this.

“Hey, Larry?” You called out, frowning as you quickened your pace through the main hall. “Larry!”

The night guard stepped out of the break room at the sound of your voice, Dexter perched on his shoulder.

“Hey, Y/N!” Larry called out, beckoning you over with a friendly wave. You heard Dexter chitter some sort of monkey ‘hello’ to you. “You’re just in time, I ordered pizza again!”

“Thanks,” You replied quickly as you approached. “I’m not really hungry right now, but maybe later.”

Larry frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn down pizza so fast, what’s wrong?”

“Have you seen Ahk?” You asked, your voice filled with worry. “He’s normally here to meet me by the time I show up, and I was even late getting here today, but he’s nowhere in sight.”

“Now that you mention it Y/N, you’re right, that is a little weird.” Larry mumbled, half to himself and half to you. “Normally Ahk comes running from his exhibit whenever there’s pizza... he’d never turn it down.”

“Do you know where he’d be? You didn’t see him leave, did you?”

Larry frowned, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t do that, I don’t think. Check his exhibit first, and let me know if you don’t find him.”

“Okay,” you answered, already making your way down the hall. “Thanks, Larry!” 

“Bring him over for pizza when you find him!” Larry called out behind you. You could just barely hear Dexter as he chittered along in agreement. 

You raced down the hall until you reached Ahk’s exhibit. Nothing seemed out of order as you walked in — the Anubis guards bowed to you ever so slightly as you passed them. Even though they knew you better than anyone else in the museum, and they’d never hurt you, Ahk’s guards still terrified you sometimes.

“Is Ahk here?” you asked one of them, craning your neck as far back as you could, attempting to make eye contact.

The guard nodded, gesturing silently to the back corner of Ahk’s exhibit. Sighing with relief, you quickly bowed to show your thanks and raced over to Ahk’s sarcophagus.

Your beloved pharaoh was slumped down on the floor, arms crossed over his middle as he gazed tiredly at the floor. When he heard the echoes of your footsteps approaching, you caught him quickly look up, startled like a wild animal. When he realized it was you, Ahk resumed his previous slump of a position.

“Hey,” You greeted him, setting your bag down on the stone floor as you plunked yourself down beside him. “Everything okay? What’s going on?”

Ahk glanced at you, an appreciative smile gracing his features as he caressed your cheek gently.

“I’m just fine, Y/N.” He sighed, gazing into your eyes deeply before looking back down at the floor. “Really, I am.”

You raised your eyebrows doubtfully. “Larry ordered pizza…”

No response.

“…And I noticed on my way here that the janitor put fresh bags of Cheetos in the vending machines earlier today. Want to go raid them all like last week?”

“I’m not hungry,” Your boyfriend dismissed your idea with a limp wave of his hand. You shuffled closer, looping an arm around Ahk’s shoulders and pulling him in close to you.

“That doesn’t sound anything like you.” You commented with a sad smile. “You’d already be running to the vending machine before I’d even say the word ‘Cheetos’.”

Ahk simply sighed, and he slowly leaned over until his head was resting gently on your shoulder.

“You can tell me anything, Ahk,” You whispered softly. “Really. What’s going on?”

“Sometimes…” Ahk began tiredly. He reached over and took your hand gently in his. “…I feel as though I may have been better off without the tablet.”

You frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Look at the life I live, Y/N.” Ahk sighed, gesturing halfheartedly at his exhibit. “I can only see you at night. We only spend time here. You tell me stories all the time of all the wonderful things that happen in New York during the day, and I cannot experience any of them.”

You could almost feel your heart breaking as you listened to your boyfriend’s words. You wanted nothing more than to take him on a roadtrip, camping, even just a day trip to Long Island. But the tablet wouldn’t let you two do those things together.

“I have not left the museum in a very long time,” Ahk continued sadly. “It has begun to feel like a prison more than a second chance at life. Sometimes… sometimes I feel I would rather die once more and never wake again.”

You sighed, placing a kiss to the top of Ahk’s head gently. His words kept replaying over and over in your mind, making your heart feel like a heavy piece of metal in your chest.

“Don’t say that,” you scolded him gently, looping both of your arms around him in a hug. “Ahkmenrah, please don’t say that.”

“And why not?” The look he gave you was heartbreaking. His eyes were glassy with tears that threatened to fall at any moment. “You rarely sleep anymore, Y/N. You visit me when you should be asleep. And I have not seen Ra’s sunlight in centuries. The tablet’s magic has become more of a burden to both of us than a blessing.”

“But Ahk, being with you has been the best adventure of my life. Sure I have to take break room naps every now and then, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.” You answered, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “You might hate the tablet right now, but I’m telling you — it’s given me the greatest gift of my life.”

“And what is that?” Ahk asked doubtfully. You couldn’t hold in your giggles.  

“You, you goose!” You slapped his arm playfully. “What did you think I was going to say, the Easter Island Head?”

Your question earned a smile from your boyfriend. You ruffled his hair gently.

“Wait here,” You said, reluctantly untangling yourself from Ahk’s embrace as you pushed yourself up off the ground. “I’m going to pull some strings and see what we can do.”

“About what?” Ahk asked, mirroring your movements as he stood up as well. He started towards you anxiously.

“It’s a surprise!” You smirked. “But it’ll make you feel a bit better, I promise. Just… sit down! Don’t follow me. You can’t know about this… yet.”

Ahk sighed with a nod. “Alright.”

“I’ll be back!” You called out, dashing out of his exhibit so fast, you almost crashed into one of the cavemen hobbling by. 

“Larry!” You called out breathlessly. “Larry! I need your help!”

At the urgency in your voice, Larry and Teddy emerged from the break room and ran over, their faces full of concern. They each held a pizza slice in hand.

“What’s wrong?” Larry demanded worriedly. “Where’s Ahk?”

“He’s fine,” You dismissed with a wave of your hand. “He’s over in his exhibit, like you said. Ahk’s got… cabin fever.”

Larry widened his eyes in disbelief. “Cabin fever?”

“He’s just having a bit of a hard time dealing with always being stuck here in the museum.” You explained quickly. “Listen, I have an idea, I need your help.”

“Yeah, anything, what is it?” Larry asked. He seemed to have forgotten about the half eaten pizza slice in his hand.

“Ahk was telling me he’s never really seen the day in a long time, and we obviously know why…”  You began. Teddy took a bite of his pizza as he listened intently.

“…So I need you to confirm something for me. The tablet only activates at sunrise and sunset, right?”

“That’s right,” Teddy nodded. “Y/N, certainly you knew that already-”

“That’s my point!” You exclaimed excitedly. “I can take Ahk out to catch the start of dawn, and be back here in time for sunrise!”

Teddy and Larry were silent. They shared stunned glances as they gaped at each other.

“Absolutely not.” Larry declared, cursing a moment later as a large portion of his pizza toppings fell to the floor. “Dammit, that was the last slice of Hawaiian— look, Y/N, I know you and Ahk are a… thing… and I know how much he means to you, but I can’t let you take him out that early… I mean late… I mean… you know what I mean.”

“What about sunset?” Teddy offered with a hopeful smile. “Immediately after we all come back to life!”

You shook your head. “Ahk has seen the sunset before.” You replied, an edge of disappointment in your voice. “And by the time we get him changed into normal clothes and get outside, it’s already dark.”

Larry shrugged sadly. “Look kiddo, I think it’s really nice that you want to go to this length to help Ahk, but you have to realize how dangerous this is.”

Teddy nodded along with Larry in agreement. “Lawrence has a point, my friend. Ahkmenrah is the only living being in this exhibit. We don’t know what would happen if we lose him. We could lose the tablet, too.”

You sighed in defeat, gazing sadly at the pieces of ham and pineapple from Larry’s pizza that were lying on the floor.

“Besides,” Teddy added, touching your shoulder gently. “If things went wrong, you would suffer a great loss, Y/N. If something happened that wasn’t according to plan… you’d never see Ahkmenrah ever again. The tablet won’t be able to reverse that.”

“But I’d have it under control,” you protested weakly. “I’d set alarms on my phone, I’d have all of Ahk’s stuff ready to go for when we get back, I’d leave plenty of time.”

“Sorry, kid.” Larry shook his head, taking one final bite of his pizza. “I won’t allow it.”

“But-”

“No is no, Y/N. It’s just too risky. Teddy?”

“Yes, Lawrence?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Keep an eye on this one for me. Make sure she doesn’t leave the museum.”

“Larry!” You protested, your eyes wide at his request. “I’m not a child!”

“I know,” Larry replied, shrugging as he made his way back to the break room. “But I’m just taking precautions! Better hurry if you want pizza — it’s almost gone.”

You groaned, burying your head in your hands. You had to come up with a plan B, and fast.

To your surprise, Plan B came to you less than 24 hours later, in the form of Larry’s son Nicky. As soon as he walked in the doors of the museum that night, dressed in a similar hoodie and sweatpants like the ones you gave Ahk to wear outside on occasional evenings, you had your idea.

“Nicky!” You hissed, grabbing his arm and dragging him around a corner before anyone else could see. He yelped in surprise.

“Hey, what the hell-” You cut him off, shushing him harshly.

“I need your help,” You whispered. Nicky frowned.

“Oh no, last time I helped you I ended up babysitting Dexter for three hours while you and Ahkmenrah were up to god-knows-what in the storage closet the entire time, I’m not doing that again.”

“You won’t be babysitting Dexter.” You replied, rolling your eyes. “This’ll be easy, you’ll just have to sit there and… do whatever it is you do.”

Nicky narrowed his eyes. “Alright, where’s the catch?” He demanded.

“I’m trying to sneak Ahk out to catch the moments just before sunrise.” You explained quietly. Nicky let out a loud whoop, and you almost had to cover his mouth with your hand to keep him from giving you two away. The last thing you wanted was Teddy coming over to ask what you were up to.

“Watching a sunrise?” He asked, a mocking tone edging its way into his voice. “Is this another stupid ‘aesthetic date’ right off of Pinterest or something?”

“Oh shut up,” you grumbled with a sigh. “Look, Larry won’t let me leave the museum, he thinks it’s a bad idea-”

“I’m with Dad on this one,” Nicky interrupted with a smirk. “That’s so lame.”

“Nicky!”

“Okay, okay… sorry.”

“He’s getting Teddy to follow me around almost everywhere.” You added quickly, glancing behind you nervously to make sure the wax president wasn’t lurking somewhere nearby. “I need a decoy.”

“Oh,” Nicky smiled as he pieced together your plan. “You want me to be Ahkmenrah?”

“Exactly!” You exclaimed, beaming. You were thrilled that he understood.

“No thanks.”

“What!? Why?”

Nicky rolled his eyes. “There’s no way you’re getting me to wear that outfit of his.”

“Oh, come on!” You protested. “All you have to do is sit in Ahk’s exhibit with your back to the entrance, you don’t even need to say anything-”

“When was the last time his clothes were washed? He’s like… hundreds of years old!” Nicky argued with you in a hushed whisper. “I don’t even think he wears underwear, does he?”

You were about to answer, when Nicky held up his hand to stop you.

“Don’t… don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

“I’ll proofread your Ancient Egypt essay for you if you help me.” You countered with a sigh. Nicky raised his eyebrows.

“Help me with my research, and I’ll agree… on one condition.”

“Fine. What is it?”

“I’m not wearing Ahkmenrah’s clothes.”

You paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to work through Nicky’s one rule.

“Could you do me a favour then, and run back to your place to grab another pair of sweatpants and a hoodie?”

“I think I know what you’re getting at. Sure, but it’ll cost you.”

“How much?”

Nicky smirked. “You write my introduction, as well as help me with my research.”

You groaned. This boy was insufferable sometimes.

“Fine.” You mumbled. Nicky beamed.

“Great! I’ll be back in a bit.”

Nicky dashed off just in time. As soon as he ran out the door, yelling to his dad that he forgot his laptop back at his apartment, Teddy rounded the corner.

“Good evening, my friend.” He smiled at you, patting you kindly on the back. “Any plans on this wonderful night?”

You shrugged, trying your best to act normal. You were never a good liar, and you hoped Teddy wasn’t very good at picking up on lies.

“Not sure.” You said casually, throwing in a shrug for good measure. “There’s a new show that just came out on Netflix that Ahk and I might watch together.”

Teddy nodded in approval. “Is our friend feeling any better?”

“Not really,” You admitted. That wasn’t a lie, Ahk was still pretty down in the dumps. “I’m sure after a few days, he’ll be fine.”

“I think so too,” Teddy agreed with a firm nod. “Perhaps I’ll suggest another dance party to Lawrence. Ahkmenrah seems to enjoy those. I could use a good party myself, in fact.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Teddy. He had a heart of gold. 

“I’d enjoy that too,” You replied, your heart beginning to race as you caught Nicky sneak back in, a backpack on his shoulders. He pointed down the hall towards Ahkmenrah’s exhibit before dashing off that same way. You had to hurry.

“Thanks, Ted. I, uh, I think I’m going to head off and visit Ahk now. See if we can make it through an entire season before sunrise, y’know?”

“Very well. Enjoy your evening, Y/N.” Teddy tipped his hat to you with a smile before continuing down the hall.

As soon as he was out of sight, you sprinted over to Ahk’s exhibit, almost tripping over your own feet as you did so. Nicky approached you quickly, Ahk right on his heels with an extremely puzzled expression on his features. To your surprise, Sacagawea stepped towards you as well.

“If you’re using decoys,” Nicky began with a smirk. “You’re going to need someone to cover for you as well.”

“Oh shit, I totally forgot.” You mumbled underneath your breath. “You’re a lifesaver, Nicky, thank you so much.”

“Does this mean you’ll write more of my essay for me?” He asked hopefully. “Absolutely not.”

Nicky gave you a harsh glare, before unzipping his backpack rushingly. He pulled out two black hoodies, and matching pairs of black sweatpants.

“Get Ahk to put these on now,” Nicky explained, shoving the clothes at you, then Ahk, who frowned even more at the black clothes in his arms. “Make sure Teddy and my Dad see he changed his clothes, and if they ask, just say he wanted to be more comfortable, I don’t know.”

“Y/N, love, what’s going on?” Ahk asked you slowly, his eyes darting from you, to the clothes, then to Nicky as he tried to piece everything together.

“It’s a surprise,” you answered simply with a smile, nudging your boyfriend playfully. He looked less than satisfied with your answer as he eyed you dubiously. 

“Is it alright if I admit I’m a little afraid of your… surprise?”

You grinned at Ahk. “I’m just as terrified too, but that’s what makes it more fun. Now put those on.”

Ahk glanced nervously at you and Nicky, who nodded in agreement. Before you knew it, Ahk had already begun to untie his shendyt, right in front of all of you.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” You, Nicky, and Sacagawea all yelled at the same time. Ahk froze, looking like a deer in the headlights as he stared at you with wide eyes, completely startled.

“Ahk, not here.” You said gently, unable to suppress the giggle that began to surface.

“But you said to put them on now-”

“Normally when we say ‘get changed’,” Nicky added, his face a mask of utter terror. “It means go somewhere private, put on your clothes, and then come back.”

Ahk nodded slowly as he quickly stepped out to the bathroom just a little ways down the hall from his exhibit.

“Now,” Nicky declared, turning to you. “I already talked to Sack when you were still over with Teddy, and we’ve got a plan for you.”

“You’re going to wear your clothes until just before you leave.” Sacagawea explained gently. “Then at the last moment, you’ll put on the clothes Nicky gave you. I’ll wear yours, and Nicky and I will take your place.”

You nodded, impressed by their plan. For someone who only got wind of your idea less than an hour ago, Nicky sure knew what he was doing.

“Y/N, you’re certain you’ve got this under control?”

You were interrupted out of your thoughts by Sacagawea’s voice. She placed her hand over yours worriedly.

“It’s quite close to sunrise… you’re sure you can make it back in time?”

You took a deep breath, quickly dismissing Teddy’s words from yesterday as they entered into your mind once more.

“I can do this,” You told Sacagawea firmly. “I’m prepared — I packed music, blankets and tea to keep us warm, and I also researched exactly when sunrise is going to happen.”

“You’ll be back before then, I hope?”

You nodded. “My first alarm is set for twenty minutes before sunrise. I’ve got three more alarms set every five minutes afterwards, just in case. That’s more than enough time to run back. We’ll just be across the street.”

Sacagawea smiled, wrapping you in a firm hug, which you struggled to return because of the clothes in your arms.

“I believe you,” She said gently. “I just want you two to be safe.”

You nodded in reply, returning her smile. “We will. I promise.”

“Y/N, what exactly are we doing that involves me looking like this?”

Ahk’s voice made you turn around, and you couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed on your face.

He stood at the entrance to his exhibit awkwardly, shifting his weight from either foot as he gazed at you nervously. The hood of Nicky’s pullover was over Ahk’s head, and along with the fact that he was in all black, he looked a bit like one of the shady characters you tried your best to steer clear of on your nighttime walks to the museum.

He looked absolutely adorable.

“What do we do now?” Ahk asked you with a frown as he approached, setting his carefully-folded Egyptian robes gently into his sarcophagus. You simply smiled as you looped your arms around his neck, pulling Ahk in for a swift yet gentle kiss.

“We kill some time. Want to start season two of Gilligan’s Island?”

Nicky and Sacagawea met you two in the break room at precisely five o’clock in the morning, the pair looking almost comical as they showed up wearing nearly the exact same thing as you and Ahk.

To say you were exhausted was a major understatement. You had spent the first two hours watching Gilligan’s Island with Ahk. The two of you had re-positioned the couch so that from the entrance, you’d only be able to see the back of your heads.

You caught Teddy poke his head into the breakroom briefly once or twice, but luckily he never hung around longer than a couple of seconds. So far, everything was going perfectly according to plan.

That being said, you wanted nothing more than to take a nap, especially with Ahk settled behind you on the couch. His arms were wrapped snugly around your middle, and he felt so warm. All you wanted was to close your eyes… just for a moment.

But you couldn’t. Ahk still didn’t know about your plan, and you were afraid that you’d nap for too long and miss your chance. So instead, you kept yourself awake by playing Monopoly for the remaining two hours.

Nicky smirked at you as he took in your current position on the floor. You were lying on your stomach, staring blankly at the game board with your face smushed against your hand as you waited for Ahk to make the next move.

“Ahk, it’s not chess,” you grumbled, rolling your eyes at your boyfriend, who was staring intently at the game board as if he were trying to move the pieces with his mind. “Just roll the dice and move it already.”

“Quiet, Y/N.” Ahk shushed you as he closed his eyes, shaking the dice gently in his hands. “I intend to win this round, but I need Thoth to hear my prayers and come to my aid. He cannot hear me if you keep talking like that.”

“Someone’s competitive.”

“I hate to interrupt your game, lovebirds,” Nicky began with a laugh as he took a seat beside Ahk. Sacagawea stepped over and carefully sat down next to you. “But I believe it’s time to begin Operation Cabin Fever.”

Your eyes widened in excitement as you bolted upright, feeling a sudden surge of adrenaline run through your veins. You accidentally nudged the game board as you stood up to grab you backpack, earning a loud cry of disbelief from Ahk.

“Y/N, how dare you interrupt my prayers to the gods, I-”

“You better go,” Nicky chimed in, nodding to the door with a laugh. “Someone’s getting grumpy.”

You giggled, grabbing Ahk by the hand and racing out of the break room with him stumbling after you.

“Y/N, may I ask you something?” Ahk asked you just as you ducked behind a wall, checking quickly to make sure Larry or Teddy weren’t anywhere in sight.

“Yeah, of course.” You answered, squeezing Ahk’s hand reassuringly. He frowned at you as he tugged his hood off.

“Please, I beg of you, on behalf of all the gods that watch over us, what in Amun’s name are we doing?”

“Well…” you began, trailing off as you sprinted down the hall once more towards the receiving bay. Checking either hallway once more quickly and finding that the coast was clear, you quietly opened the door and ushered Ahk through.

“Remember how you said you hadn’t seen sunlight in centuries?” You asked, closing the door behind you as quietly as you could. Ahk’s eyes widened as his reaction closely mirrored Larry and Teddy’s from yesterday.

“Oh no,” Ahk whispered quietly, already tugging you back to the receiving door. “No, Y/N, I love you very much but I don’t believe this is a good idea.”

You sighed, closing the distance between you and Ahk as you placed you hands gently on either side of his face.

“Ahkmenrah,” You said quietly. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.” He answered softly, bringing one of his hands up to caress yours. “I trust you with my life, Y/N.”

“Then please,” you whispered with a small smile. “Please trust me on this one, Ahk. You know I’d never hurt you.”

Ahk nodded, leaning his forehead against yours as his arms circled around your waist.

“I know.”

You kissed him quickly. Just as he began to pull you closer and recapture your lips once more, you broke off with a laugh.

“What is it?”

“You’re shaking, Ahk.” 

He smiled anxiously, bringing his hands up in front of him -- they were trembling.

“Y/N, I’m afraid you’ve succeeded in terrifying a king.” Ahk mumbled matter-of-factly. You shook your head with a smile as you took his hand in yours.

“Come on, scaredy cat,” You laughed, carefully stepping down the stairs before starting your run to Central Park across the street. “We don’t have much time.”

You raced across the street, Ahk in tow, just as the indigo sky began to morph into shades of lavender and turquoise. Quickly shrugging off your backpack, you pulled out the blanket you had crammed in there, and spread it out on the ground.

“Do you need any help?” Ahk asked gently, placing his hand on your back as you dug around your bag.

“Take these,” you said with a smile, passing him two thermoses you had filled with tea. “And sit down, get comfy.”

Ahk gave you an appreciative smile and kissed your cheek before settling on the blanket, tugging your hand encouragingly to join him.

“Hang on,” You mumbled, digging around in your backpack. “I need one more thing, I know it’s in here.”

As you settled down beside your boyfriend, you pulled out a pair of earbuds, which you connected to your phone. You passed Ahk one, and he stared at it with a frown.

“What’s this?” He asked, inspecting it as if it were some sort of scientific specimen.

“You put that in your left ear,” You explained with a smile, as you put the other earbud in your right ear. “Like this, see?”

Ahk frowned, nodding, before doing the same.

As Nat King Cole began to play softly, you intertwined your fingers between Ahk’s and rested your head on his shoulder. He, in turn, leaned his head gently against yours.

“Look up,” you whispered. “Dawn is coming.”

The two of you sat together, holding matching thermoses of tea, as you watched the last of the night begin to fade away.

“Is this what you get to see… for an entire day?” Ahk asked you breathlessly. You looked over and saw his gaze entirely fixed on the pinks, blues, and purples that now filled the sky. His eyes were glassy, and as you gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, a tear slowly trailed its way down his cheek.

“You’re seeing the most beautiful part of the day,” You answered quietly, pausing to kiss your boyfriend’s cheek. “Everything else is… a little plain.”

“It’s been so long since I saw Ra prepare to rise.” He whispered, reluctantly taking his gaze off the sky to look at you. You almost started crying as well when you saw the emotion in his eyes. You had never seen someone look so entirely moved by something as simple as this.

“Nicky and Sacagawea…” Ahk continued, a little frown blooming on his face as he took a tiny sip of tea. “You got them to do all that… for me?”

You nodded, smiling at the thought of all the hectic planning you’d had to do over the last 24 hours.

“My initial idea didn’t require this much, uh, Mission Impossible-style planning,” you answered sheepishly. “But as soon as I mentioned taking you outside, and so close to sunrise too, Larry immediately put his foot down. He made Teddy my official ‘babysitter’.”

Ahk’s eyes widened, and he let out a little laugh. “Is that why Teddy kept walking by my exhibit earlier?”

You giggled. “Yes Ahk, that’s exactly why. Larry didn’t want him to let us out of his sight, in case I tried to sneak you out.”

Ahk nudged your shoulder playfully with his own. “And yet you snuck us out anyway.”

“You bet your ass I did. I wasn’t going to just sit there while you were feeling down. I had to do something to help.”

Ahk leaned forward, caressing your face tenderly as he pulled you in for a kiss. He smiled into it, before pushing you back onto the blanket. His lips moved softly against yours as he deepened the kiss, pausing only to lean his forehead against yours minutes later.

“No one has ever done anything so considerate for me, Y/N,” he whispered, placing a kiss tenderly on each of your cheeks. “Thank you. You are truly one of a kind.”

You felt your eyes prickle with happy tears at Ahk’s words. You reached up and booped his nose gently with the tip of your finger.

“I love you, Ahk.” You said simply, unable to shake the smile that bloomed on your face. He captured your lips with his own once more briefly.

“I love you more, Y/N.”

A loud ringing noise suddenly cut off the Dean Martin song that was playing from your earbuds, and you realized with a sinking feeling of utter disappointment that it was time to pack up and head back to the museum. Sunrise would be arriving soon.

“What was that?” Ahk winced, yanking his earbud out of his ear as he sat up in alarm.

“Sorry,” you apologized, pushing yourself up onto your feet and starting to shove everything back into your bag. “That’s the signal for us to go.”

The two of you packed up wordlessly, Ahk helping you speed things up by tying the blanket around his shoulders like a cape after he saw you struggling to cram it back into your backpack. Dean Martin still played through your earbuds as you raced back across the street to the museum.

“How much time is left?” Ahk called to you from over his shoulder as he yanked the receiving door back open, letting you pass through first.

“We’ve got just under ten minutes to get you back into your usual clothes!” “We’d better hurry then!”

Before you knew what was happening, Ahk had raced back over to you and picked you up, one arm supporting your back and the other under your knees. You yelped, instinctively wrapping your arms around his neck as he sprinted down the hall. The two of you laughed excitedly, high on adrenaline to the point where Ahk almost tripped, nearly sending both of you flying down the hall.

“You two are having fun, I see.”

Ahk skidded to a halt, and you realized with horror that the two of you had run into none other than Teddy. He sat on his horse, staring amusedly down at you as you still remained in Ahkmenrah’s arms.

“Well, you see, we were j-just…” Ahk stammered, glancing at you for help. He was just as bad of a liar as you were. But to your surprise, Teddy smiled.

“If you hurry straight to your exhibit,” Teddy whispered. “I’ll pretend I never saw you. I’ll also pretend that Nicky and Sacagawea never took your place.”

“You knew?” You asked, your eyes widening in surprise. Teddy let out a hearty laugh.

“Your trick may have worked for the cavemen, but not for me.” Teddy announced proudly. “And besides, I’d recognize Sacagawea anywhere.”

You sighed, your gaze falling to the floor in disappointment.

“The important part is,” Teddy continued, a warm smile on his face as he gazed admirably at the two of you. “You made it back in time, just like you said. Now, I’m not encouraging you to do it again, but if you hurry along now… I won’t say anything to Larry.”

Your eyes widened as you grinned at Teddy. Before you knew it, Ahk was already running once more. 

“Thank you Ted!” You yelled back as Ahk sped down the hall. “You’re the best!”

“Safe returns, my friends!”

You giggled with glee as the two of you made it back to Ahk’s exhibit, where he finally set you down. Dropping your backpack on the ground, you raced over to Ahk’s sarcophagus and dug out his usual clothes in order to help him change back.

Before you knew it, Ahk was whipping off his hoodie and sweatpants right in front of you, desperate to get his clothes back on in the handful of minutes you had left before sunrise.

“You know,” you began, biting your lip as your currently-shirtless boyfriend reached for his armbands. “It’s too bad we don’t have more time right now, otherwise we could’ve taken this to the storage closet again.”

In return, Ahk glared at you as he tugged his shendyt back on. “How dare you say something like that right as we have to say goodbye!”

You laughed, stepping in to kiss him goodbye quickly, before setting his crown gently on the top of his head.

“I’ll be here tomorrow, my king.” You whispered teasingly, before placing a small kiss on the shell of his ear. “As soon as sunset arrives.”

He smirked, pulling you in for one last passionate kiss before settling into his sarcophagus.

“Deal.”

[hikarain]

Fuck! BOOM! Auch.

Series: Overwatch

Pairing: Boombox (Junkrat x  Lúcio)

Chapters: 10/10

Words: 19.270

Subject: Soon after you are born, on the palm of your right hand a text will appear, a tattoo if you want to call it that way. That will be the first sentence your soulmate will tell you upon meeting you.

Check it also on AO3 + 2 bonus oneshots

It’s here! Finally finished the Soulmate AU! Ten chapters of... probably too much Junkrat’s point of view... you are warned for the stream of thoughts, now enjoy.

CHAPTER 1

 Soon after you are born, on the palm of your right hand a text will appear, a tattoo if you want to call it that way. That will be the first sentence your soulmate will tell you upon meeting you. We grow up with our ears open, our hand close to our chest and our disposition towards meeting new people great.  What do I have written on mine? Fuck! BOOM! Auch. At least it’s not “hello”. That’s what everyone tells me. That’s what I tell myself each day. I was about to turn twenty and still no sign of my soulmate: usually you would have met them already, but no luck for me. My family told me they could be from another country and suggested me to travel the world. Travel the world to find my soulmate? That’s a really cheesy plan. That’s exactly what I did though; packed my stuff, braced myself and took off, a plane at dawn. Where to start was my question, the world was wide, the countries over hundreds, there was no way I could visit every single place on earth… If we really were soulmates though, we would have found each other.

 That was about six years ago. Now I am just chilling under the warm sun of a random city in Australia. A glass of iced tea in my hand, sipping quietly as I stare at the waves from behind my sunglasses. I grew used to this life, the wanderer’s. By travelling I actually found out that many people where just like me, walking around the globe to meet finally their destined love. I reached the point where I really didn’t care anymore. It would be cool to meet them, but travelling like this is enough. I never overstay my welcome in the same place, I never come back twice, in six years I’ve kept track of all the towns and suburbs my feet have walked in. But it was a cool life nonetheless, each day was different, each problem I overcame helped me grow up. Sometimes I missed home, but I was doing just fine.  I get up from my seat and head for the town, my backpack on my shoulders. I try to start a conversation with all those I can, well… not everyone: at least this sentence, this stupid “Fuck! BOOM! Auch.” gives me a tip on the situation I’ll meet them in. Not a good one, but better than none. So I look for people next to explosive materials, construction sites or anywhere where explosions can take place on a daily basis. Still my eyes stop on each face I met, my mind wandering free as I imagined what it would be like if it was them, that beautiful girl with the brown curly locks, or that thin man with the brightest smile… None of them answered though. Hell I thought I had it once! A woman fell form the stairs at the station and I helped her up and she said “Fuck!”… I was hoping… but it was just the beginning of “I can’t be late for work again.” I finish sipping on my tea and throw the glass in the rubbish bin as I walk past it, a blind shot to make it look cool. It makes a weirdly loud noise for being made out of plastic, it’s the sound of… metal… against concrete. That is definitely not the glass I was drinking from, I still have it in my hand.    “I curse the moment I thought this would look cool…” My phone, that’s my phone. It fell to his death, face-first on the rough concrete. I wipe a single tear as I pick up the… the scraps. Maybe I am too absent-minded lately… ever since I stopped caring I just, well, I stopped caring. However, this is the only phone I have and I have no money to repair it, let alone buy a new one. I put my sunglasses on top of my head to check better on the damage. There are a lot of cracks on the screen, the buttons don’t work, the cover doesn’t come off because of some shards stuck in it. Dead. I put it in my backpack, I have to find a way to tell my family I broke my phone. Maybe I won’t tell them about how I literally threw it on the ground.  My stares move from the faces to the many cellphones I see around me. They are so shiny in their brand-new covers, so technologically advanced. Wait. That one is a wreck. The owner looks just as shaggy. Something about him whets me though. The first thing I notice about him, apart from his phone, is his prosthetic arm and leg, they are a bright orange. Next is his right arm, he has a tattoo, a badass-looking one, one a member of a biker gang would have. He is wearing a black tank top, camo shorts and orange sneakers. I then move to his face and I get lost in the ridiculous amount of freckles on his cheeks and nose. I’ve always liked birthmarks, they make you special and unique, that’s what I usually tell the kids in my neighborhood when they complain about their marks being exposed. His face is drawn in sharp lines, a long nose and pointy chin. His hair is licked back but still messy, bleached blond. His posture… a bit hunched if you were to ask me, but at least as I walk past him I don’t feel like a dwarf in comparison. I bet on my music he is over one-ninety. Still, he is clearly not the best-looking man around. 

 He has no right hand… is he destined to be… alone?

  My old pal, my unforgotten friend… I miss you every day. That’s why I always look at your pictures, to never forget what we once were. I thought it would last forever…  I scroll through the folder in my phone picture gallery. The folder’s named “It will never be alright again”. It’s a compilation of photos of my right hand before I blew it up in in that explosion years ago. Sometimes I wonder why those I tell about this just walk away with a disgusted sneer on their faces. It’s fucking hilarious I tell you! Anyway, I keep this folder safe, not only on my phone but also on my computer and cloud… it would be a shame to lose the pics of my right hand, that’s pretty important, or so they say. Just to remember that, someday, somebody will tell me “Are you okay there man?”. I am honestly worried about the implications of that question.  Oopsie, I bump into somebody. It’s a pretty damn short bloke, holy, he is so short what in the… I halt immediately, but before I can speak something buzzes loudly. My phone just starts to burn hot and I react a second too late.   “Fuck!” A glorious booming sound, always loved explosions ever since I was just an ankle biter. Still, this one is way too close to my face, it hurts. “Auch…” As the smoke clears slowly, the tiny man in front of me reappears, a concerned look on his face. Hold on a second, he is hot?!   “Are you okay there man?” His voice is pleasing to my ears that never happens?? It’s usually old grumpy folk around here or loud annoying children or shrill girly laughs. His dark eyes are plastered on me, I feel pressured if I have to admit it.   “Yeah, it’s just an ol’ phone…” I shrug off the excruciating pain the burn wasgiving me and smile, to try and impress that handsome stranger. “About time it gave up on me.” The phone is still burning; pretty flames are coming out of it, thank God my arm is prosthetic. The man lets out a relieved sigh, but suddenly his eyes widen.   “Ehy, do you… know what’s written on your right hand?”   “Ya.”   “Could you show me?” I look at him and then at my phone.   “I would but it’s currently burnin’. Along with everything else.” It’s becoming unbearable, my skin is drying up, the hot sun not helping at all. I need help, I need… I faint.

 My head is spinning so fast, the white room is just messing me up so I close my eyes immediately. Voices are blabbering in the background and I can’t give less than a shit I need silence. I sit up, only noticing in that moment a blanket is covering me.   “Shut your mouth, ya cunt!”  Oh the misery and regret I feel after those words. I shouted right in the face of that man I met on the street, the one with the big eyes, sexy body and beautiful, oh, so beautiful voice… that’s a feels bad. He doesn’t look pissed or anything though, actually he is looking… relieved? He is smiling.   “Welcome back, you’ve been sleeping for quite the long while, man.” I had been sleeping? I do felt dizzy and weird as if I napped for three days straight… Not the time to think about that though.   “’M sorry for shouting, I was just…” He pushes away the topic quickly, no big deal he says. Then he enters some kind of serious mode; his expression so stiff and cold he is almost a different man. He hands me my phone.   “About what I asked you before you fainted…” As I try to get the phone to show him the answer, a blondie enters the room, high-heels, greenish robe, she flames the man for not telling her I woke up, probably... a nurse? Am I in a hospital? Hold up, where is my right arm?! My leg is missing too!  Back to the nurse, she kicks the hottie out for a while along with my phone. I am stuck here… quite literally I can’t walk out, nor avoid conversation.   “Ohi, blondie, what happened to me?” Never mind. “Oh right, I fainted, now I remember.”   “Mr. Fawkes, we tried to contact your home but we got no answers. Your conditions are currently stable, but it would be advised to have someone to carry you home, are there any other members of your family we can get in touch with?”  What a dry accent she has. I sigh annoyed by the quick demand of that nurse. Who does she think I was? A man with a family? I frown at her and cross my arm over my chest.   “They all died, you insensitive fuck.” She halts, apologizing quickly. They are all so quick in changing their attitude once they know that, isn’t that simply hilarious? She begins explaining me what exactly went wrong with my body and all that boring stuff I really don’t care about, my attention was easily diverted by the dark-skinned figure behind the glass window looking out on the corridor. What a tiny hot bloke he is… his pants were tight just right, nice ass. Sure he is quite the persistent one, what does he even want from me? Oh, the nurse has stopped talking, she is staring at me now, what did she even say?    “Right, about someone to pick me up, my pal Mako, just call him.” I have no need to give her the big guy’s number, she knows who he is, I am sure of it. “He should be home.”    “Mako Rutledge?” See, told ya she’d know. “Did you pay any attention to what I just told you?”   “Honestly speaking, no, I ignored you.” She stares down at me, her hand travels to her face to pinch on the bridge of her nose. Against all my predictions though, she doesn’t yell at me, she just shrugs everything off with a gesture of her right hand; “I need healing”, what did she do wrong to deserve that as first sentence? She leaves the room before I can comment on it. She speaks a bit with the man outside before letting him in. He rushes to the bed, my phone still in his small hands, he gives it back to me finally.   “Y’know, my right leg and arm blew up in an explosion in a lab and I was left like this.”  I hear a cracking noise followed by an held-back laughter. He got my pun, what a man. Respect plus one.  It is hard to use the phone with my left hand alone, but I have to. Look for the folder, open it, look for the picture… there it is, and finally show him the picture. His face just blanches, eyes glued to the screen.   “You…” He looks at his own hand before showing it to me. “Look.” What in the heavens is this first sentence?! “Fuck! BOOM! Auch.”!? This poor mate, what did he do wrong? What kind of messed up life is he living?! Hold up…

Chapter 2

 The man suddenly stops his little usual twitching, every inch of his body is frozen, I too share that state. However I am happy, so happy I can scream. We are in an hospital though, it’s not really the place to do it.   “It’s you…”   “My…” I’ve found him, my soulmate. And it wasn’t as bad of a first meeting as I pictured it was going to be, he is not dead. The doctor told me his name when I asked her, but I don’t want to ruin the moment, he is going to be the one to introduce himself to me, he will, as my soulmate; and I will, as his. He doesn’t wake up from the shocked state though. I have to wait a couple minutes until he finally speaks up.   “My soulmate is the hottest man I’ve ever met.” That flatters me, I feel… a bit embarrassed but I can work with it, I enjoy the feeling. Also good thing he likes me, right? I crack a small laugh and offer him my hand, which he clumsily shakes with his left one. Mistake on my part, sorry about that man. I quickly swap it and now it’s more comfortable for the both of us.  I can’t believe I’ve finally found him. He is here, in front of me, holding my hand; I’ve travelled so many countries and lost so much hope, I am so used to the belief of never finding my soulmate... I am honestly so happy right now, I’ll never let go of him, I want to say with this person.   “Nice to meet you, the name’s Lúcio Correira dos Santos, I’m your soulmate.”   “Jaminson Fawkes, the pleasure is mine.” He tries to avert my gaze, but soon gives up and just smiles widely back. His teeth are shiny. “Your soulmate.” My chest feels warm, my cheeks are starting to hurt and my hand doesn’t want to let go. We stare at each other but it’s not awkward at all. What are you supposed to do now though? We have all the time we want to do stuff but… oh right, maybe I can help him get out of hospital first; Doctor Ziegler said he needed to be escorted home by someone and, well, I am someone.   “Jamison, want me to take you home?”   “Actually I told that sheila to call my friend over.” He tilts his head before muttering something. “You can come with if you want though…”   “Gladly!”  Right! A picture! I want to take a picture with him! … It would be better if he was all in one piece though, where are his prostheses? Over there, by the wardrobe. I get up and grab them, helping him putting them on as much as I can. He shyly thanks me, how adorable. Man, his eyes are pretty though, and those freckles… Maybe he is handsome after all.   “Oh right.” I sigh loudly as I remember how impossible it is for me to take a picture. Jamison looks at me confused. “I wanted to take a picture to commemorate but guess what.”   “No pictures in hospitals?”   “I was actually going for: I literally threw my phone on the concrete.” He laughs at me, can’t blame him for doing that. His laughter was so crazily chirpy and contagious, each muscle of his face moved to express his enjoyment. His teeth are shining again.   “Can’t be helped then, gotta use this old boy.” He sits up straight, patting the now free space next to him on the bed. “C’mere, selfie time!” I do just that, but… I look at my right hand and at his… I want them to be shown, the sentences. I reach for my backpack, I left it nearby the door when I first came into the room a couple hours ago, I fumble in the smaller and bigger pockets until I finally find one of the markers I have with me. Just after that I sit next to Jamison.   “Can I write on your hand your sentence? For the picture.” I ask as nicely as I can, his expression remains as joyful as before while he nods. I take his hand and carefully write; now we match. We pose for the pic, my arm around his neck, he lets me do that, our right hands in focus, our faces smiling without a worry. It’s such a nice picture, I want it as home screen for my phone… if I had one right now, that is.   “You look amazing, Lúcio.” That small compliment gets to me and I can't help but smile widely.   “Thanks, man!”

We wait for about an hour or so, we talk to each other, what our hobbies are, favourite dishes, if we sleep with or without socks, trivial things; getting to know him is all I want right now. The doors spring open, a tall shadow casts itself on the white floor, when I look up I meet an unimpressed expression hidden behind light-coloured sunglasses, white hair and short beard, a fat bulky dude. He is… so tall… I feel like a freaking midget! Maybe if I stay sit the difference will be less prominent… or maybe even worse…   “Mako, me man! You came to save me from this prison!” Prison? He doesn't enjoy my company… “But unfortunately for you, I am in no rush thanks to this handsome cobber over here.” Oh, never mind. Feels good. The other man, Mako eyes me weirdly, I honestly feel awkward, those are some expressive eyes: he is clearly suspicious. What do I do?!   “And who is this?”   “He's my soulmate.” Suspicion becomes surprise in null seconds, his finger travelling from Jamison to me, unable to find any connection. He stops on my right hand and I show it to him. When he reads the sentence his expression blanks.   “Yeah, it's clearly Jamie.” He sighs loudly, he strokes his head. “Nice too meet you, I'm Mako.” I chuckle quietly.   “Pleasure's mine, name's Lúcio.” After a couple seconds, Mako steps closer to the bed and grabs the covers, leaving Jamison to meet the cold air conditioning of the hospital. He shrikes in return, his body getting stiff in an instant.   “Jamie, get up.”

The car trip was long but lively. I was sitting front, next to Mako who was driving; the three of us chatted the time away, sometimes singing, sometimes quietly silent. It was such a light company, I liked it a lot. Mako left us in front of a huge gate, he said he had work to do in the evening so he couldn't stick with us. Too bad, he is a nice fellow.

When I turn around, I see Jamison searching his pockets to find a bunch of keys, which he uses to open the gate. What's behind it leaves me speechless.   “Is this where you live, Jamison?” This… is a pretty huge house. It looks so elegant in his white walls and warm bricks. The garden itself was radiant in its colours under the hot afternoon sun. Jamison chuckles proud.   “Yup, this is all for me.” He halts, a somewhat gloomy expression making its way on his pointy features. “Me alone…” He lives alone in this huge house? It must be great! Why was he so sad about it? Just thinking about all the stuff you can do in here, makes me excited! Also…   “Why the long face?” I smiled up at him patting his back like old friends would do. “You have me from now on, right? I mean, I am not going to straight out live with you, but, you know…” I am here for him, anytime. His eyes glued to me, the light in them begins to shine faintly once he hears my words. I like the smile he's making, it's such an honest one. Jamison showed me the interior of the house, where the bathrooms are and all that; it really is a rich house. Judging by his appearance alone you would give him a shack, and you'd be generous, but damn you would be wrong. Three bathrooms... Three! We are now sitting on the sofa in the living room, he owns a giant tv… his phone is a wreck but his tv takes over the wall, I don't even wanna know. The soft sofa I am sitting on looks brand new, or barely used; or it would if it wasn't for where Jamison is sitting, clearly that is his usual spot. He looks at me intently, I like his stares.   “So, what you wanna talk about?” I put the question on the table, we have to get to know each other, right?

  No, I don't want to talk. I want to f… hold on Jamison, you only just met, soulmates or not it's not a nice thing to… son of a bastard he's so sexy in that tank top! Keep your cool damnit!   “Sure, cobber.” I put a hand to my chin, thinking about a topic to discuss, while looking anywhere but at his bloody hot body, it’s hard though, really hard. “You got a job?” His mouth pouts while he crosses his arms. I look at him again, I can’t help it.   “Nah, I've been wandering for the past six years.”   “Six?!” That was one hell of a long time?? “Where are you even from?”   “Brazil, straight outta Rio.”   “Brazil…” MY SOULMATE IS A SEXY BRAZILIAN. “And you are travelling because…?” He stretches his arms, his tank top revealing his… I need a moment. I actually need more than a moment, but I'll be fine if he doesn’t notice. I drop my eyes to the ground, unable to physically keep staring.   “I was looking for you. I really believed in this soulmate thing when I first started.” He puts a hand on my shoulder and smirks with a confident attitude. “In the end, here we are!” He believes in it… he travelled just because he believed he would find me someday, just to find me…? He threw away six years of his life to look for someone that could have not existed at all?! That's unthinkable, mate! And what did he get after all those years? Me?! What a disappointment…   “You are a madman, Lúcio.” He chuckles ever so softly. I want to…   “What about you?” A job, yes, I have one.   “I'm a… technically speaking I am a chemist. Practically speaking I work at home and not in a lab...” So we are both jobless. Off to a great start. Maybe I should find an actual one for good.   “A chemist? That's unexpected.” His eyes sparkle with interest as he scots closer to me. Too close, send help. Unexpected? Why? Do I not look like a chemist? Probably not now that I think it through… I studied the shit out of those subjects though, graduated with flying colours nonetheless. For some reason that expansive degree is not granting me a spot in a lab though, that sucks. Or maybe there is a reason and it’s probably related to how I blew up the first one I got in… I am hungry.   “Well, I need to bite on something,” wish I could bite him… Jamison what the hell keep your shit together! He’s so dreamy… “you wanna eat something?”   “Actually I-…”Perfectly on time his stomach growls, halting him in his answer. He blushes slightly, his dark cheeks getting a hint darker. That must have been a yes. “I'd like to, yeah.” 

Chapter 3

 Unfortunately he didn't spend the night with me… or luckily I should say, I was already aroused enough by having him at lunchtime, dunno what I could have done by night. He was turning me crazy. Crazy I tell you! Was that the effect a soulmate has on you? Was he feeling the same towards me? Probably not… he's the one who's unbelievably sexy, not me.

It's morning, it's fucking hot as usual. I get up lazily from my bed, wearing my prostheses ever so unwillingly. What am I going to do anyway? Everyday I just wander around the city looking for something to do, something to eat, something to do again and then something to eat again, maybe visit Mako in-between meals, but that's about it… each day I have less and less will to go out honestly. As I think that, my hand is already on the knob of the front door. It's ten already… As I open it, a figure appears, so short I didn't see him through the glass on top of the door. It's him.   “Good morning, Jamison!” He smiles so sweetly my body feels weak immediately, I hold on to the knob, thanking it for supporting me in that difficult moment. What is he doing here?!   “Wha-” I can't ask the question, I am stunned by his grin. He's wearing denim shorts and a plain shirt… but he looks gorgeous. I smile as I can. “G'day, Lúcio.”   “Sorry for the intrusion, really…” He scratches the back of his neck, I can feel he's honestly embarrassed for what he did. “I wanted to hang with you though, so I came by. You going out?”   “I am, but we can stay at home if you want.” Let’s stay home. Let’s stay home. Let’s stay home.   “It's cool! Show me around a bit, will you?” Bummer.   “Sure.” I beam a smile back at him, finally regaining control over by over-excited body. He really is something else, mate. You have to meet him to understand.

We head to town. He holds my hand…

Walking hand-in-hand sure feels nice, I’ve always wished I could do it and now I can! Jamison lets me do it. He was nervous about it at first, but he soon got used to it and now it's just natural to look for his hand again when I let go. Now that I think about this situation, isn't this some kind of date? Our first date it is then! I squeeze his hand while pointing towards the sea.   “Let's hit the beach, Jamison.”

I really like the sea, it has such a colourful and lively atmosphere to it, the light shines bright on its surface, families enjoy their time together on the shore. Too bad I have no swimsuit with me… should have considered the possibility when I dressed up this morning at the hotel. Jamison looks at the waves with absent eyes, his expression deprived of his usual spark. What's up?   “Something the matter?” I make him sit on one of the free beach chairs. I tilt my head in confusion as he raises his to look me in the eyes. He gives me a smile… this is fake. Plain fake.   “Nah, just not a big fan of the beach I guess…” There is more to it than just a “not a big fan”, but… I let it slide, he'll tell me if it's important. What matters now is that we enjoy our time together! No long faces! If he doesn't like the seaside, we'll go somewhere else!   “We can leave then, do you know any nice restaurant to grab a bite maybe?” He grabs my hand again, his face finally lighting up with a wide grin. He says there's this nice place nearby where he's a regular; he always gets some kind of discount and the food itself is delicious; that sounds amazing!

A lively atmosphere, paintings, papers and other decorative objects hanging from all walls, bottles on and behind the counter, a smiling waitress with long brown locks greets Jamison in a friendly way, she has marks on her cheeks, probably tattoos of some sort? Pink triangles. She points at me, I wave my hand. Jamison tells me to sit at the counter next to him, I do that.   “Who's the hottie, Jamie?”   “Well, I met him on the streets yesterday and it turned out he's my soulmate. Jelly yet?” She gasps at his answer and I laugh at her shocked expression.   “Of course I'm jealous, you lucky bastard!” Jamison laughs at her too and she smacks him on the head, they are close. Guess I'll introduce myself.   “I’m Lúcio Correira dos Santos.”  She winks at me before grabbing a couple menus from under the counter and handing them to us. They sure had a wide variety of sandwiches and salads, a typical light restaurant on the beach.   “Hana Song, nice to meet you!” Her smile was adorably cute. “Can’t believe Jamie found his soulmate before me…” She looks at her hand sighing loudly. I sneak a peek of the writing: there it was, the infamous, the hated, the most terrible text you could read: “Hello”. I have witnessed it. She also works in a place where everyone would greet her that way… Her life must be a nightmare. She doesn’t look too distressed about it though, even while talking about it, she really takes it casually.    “Care to take our orders or you’re going to stare at that hand of yours until you get fired?” She smacks him again, they both laugh happily. It is not the private lunch I thought I would have with Jamison, but it really is fun to hang with that girl. She has that vibe, that chirpy personality that entertains you with her sole presence. 

 We talked about many things during lunch, Hana was curious about me, my past and my reasons for travelling, gasping an ever so touched aww at how romantic my intentions actually were. When I asked her, she told me that living with little to no idea of who will love you was not that much of a burden, she got used to strangers saying hello, she got used to answering in the weirdest way possible to each one of them, each different, each random. Potato salad, crispy camel, raccoon on a shelf… these are just some. She is looking for them though, her soulmate, and she’s doing it with style: she’s actually an internet sensation apparently, not that I would know since I had little to no time to care and think about famous people in the past years. Jamison explains how she’s a streamer that goes by the name of D.va, she’s been doing that for a couple years now. She meets new people every day, from all-over the world, she interacts with her viewers, she appreciates every single one of them. What a girl she is.

After all the taking though… I am left a bit unsatisfied. I got no new information about Jamison.

 For the rest of the afternoon we walked side by side around the city streets, I showed Lúcio all I could and all I consider worth seeing. We also visited Mako's workplace, to not break my daily routine. Now what? He's so close to me… it's getting late, we should both head home. Where does he live anyway? In an hotel I guess… so he's also paying for an hotel to stay here with me for the time being? Man… He yawns adorably, he does look tired. Oh right! What about his phone?   “Mate, what about your phone? Don't you need a new one?” He looks at me almost surprised about the topic, he soon realises it and facepalms loudly.   “I completely forgot, damn… I need to contact my family asap.” It's not too late in the evening, many shops are still open and I know where to find him some good stuff. Maybe I should buy it for him… yeah I should, he must be flat broke at this point. I squeeze his hand and smile at him to reassure him, then we head to the shopping district.   “I'll give you back the money, don't worry.” He's struggling to open his old phone to get his card out, the fragments of glass cutting the tip of his finger; he shouldn't ruin his hands like that... “If I don't die of blood loss that is.” I take the old phone from his hands, remove the cover easily and take out the sim card, handing it to him. A prosthetic arm is useful now and then. He thanks me with a pat on the back. Finally the light of the new screen hits his face. I wonder, is he the type to live with his phone in-hand or not? Does he give nicknames to his contacts or does he use full names? What is his ringtone? Does he give unique ones to each friend? There are so many thing I don't know about him... he told me a couple times he needs to contact his family: who are they? How many? Do they approve what he did? His journey? Will his parents accept shaggy me as their hot son's soulmate? Does he have parents? I want to know so bad…   “Right, before anything else…” he winks at me, giving me his new phone. “Punch in your number, will you?” When I stare back at him he rubs the back of his head, as if he just lost the confidence he started the question with. I laugh it off, of course I was going to give him my number. Done, I give it back, he quickly updates it. My name now has a little mouse emoji next to it… that's cute. He gives me a quick ring to give me his number and then he finally calls his family. He speaks a different language… Portuguese I guess, he's from Brazil after all… his expressions fly, from the happy sneer to the angry embarrassment, I don't get a word he says, apart from my name a couple times. After the third mention, he turns to me, gifting me the most sunshine-like smile I've ever seen. I melt a little… a lot, I'm done. My face burns and I have to look away, he chuckles, running his free arm around my neck to keep me close. He keeps talking for a while before finally ending the call.   “Everything's fine?” He's still so close to me… I want to… “They must have been worried.” He yawns as he puts away his phone in his pocket with the most care in the world.   “Yup, they just kind of congratulated me for finding you.” His tone was forced, I bet they did say something else, not so supportive. “Told me to not let go of you, pretty much.” That would be very supportive of them… do I trust him or my instinct? I mean, he's unsure of the words to use, maybe just because of the language switch? When did he learn such good English anyway? He does have an accent. He leans on my shoulder and yawns again, that shit gets cuter and cuter every time. But, man, being so tired at dinner time, maybe he hasn't slept much in the past days.   “Let's go home to eat, you look pretty damn tired over there.” He nods, his eyes wandering in a general direction before suddenly coming back to life.   “I'm sorry, I just... didn't sleep well the past nights.” What was the reason? Maybe the hotel had terrible beds? “At the B&B there are a lot of tourists right now, it's noisy and the bed isn't the most comfortable if I have to admit it.” Well he can stay at my home if he wants. No wait that already gives me ideas and no, no, Jamison, no. But he would look so goo-… NO.

 We got home walking slowly, we talked so much during that little trip, it almost made all I had already learnt about him worthless; he lives for his music, that's why he always brings with him a backpack in which he carries a small portable console to compose and edit, he creates music based on what happens around him. As he said that, his eyes glowed in happiness and satisfaction. He suddenly became even more handsome to my eyes, just by talking about something he loves so much. I wonder why he didn't tell me sooner, I really was missing huge part of him.

 I am not the best cook, barely decent, but I can manage a dinner for two. Nothing fancy… I need to do the shopping tomorrow, the fridge is almost empty and really, I only have these old boxes of pasta to offer him, hopefully he's not celiac. When I come back from the kitchen to lay the table he insists on helping me, when I'm carrying the food in the dining room, he hands me the plates, when we are eating he gifts me smiles and compliments… He is so bright. I always thought this house followed a grey colour scheme, why does the wall look warmer now? What's up with those hues I've never seen before? Him…? What is he even doing with me? I know I'm sulking, I know it's right in front of my eyes, but I don't believe it.   “Why are you my soulmate?” He stops his chewing to look at me; his honest stare doesn't answer me.   “I… don't know?”   “There must be a reason though, right?”

He's too good for me. There must be something wrong with this. Maybe when my hand blew up…   “Maybe it shouldn't work anymore if you no longer have your right hand. No one ever questioned this possibility?” I stare at Hana, right in her eyes, looking for an answer. She just sighs, stroking my hair with a faint smile.   “Just be happy for once, will you?” That is not what I want to hear. That is not the answer I expected to get when earlier I left my house in the middle of the night. Lúcio fell asleep on my couch and I had no balls to wake him up, so I just left him there and headed to Hana's… my guts told me to speak with Mako instead of her, but I really don't want to bother his wife at this time of the night, she's too kind by nature. On the bright side, Hana has welcomed me inside and offered me a place to spend the night; I really can't think of sleeping under the same roof as Lúcio.  Weird… now that I think about it, I feel much more at ease with Hana now, I don't feel the usual knot in my chest, her hand in my hair is relaxing, it doesn't tense me anymore…   “You are so over-dramatic, Jamie.” She giggles at my angry expression. “You got lucky as hell and you complain too? What’s your problem?”

Luck… it can’t be it. Destiny is not just luck, maybe just a fifty per cent… fifty-five. I sigh loud, rolling on the bed and covering myself with the warm blanket. 

Chapter 4

  “Good morning, sunshine.” Lúcio has been drooling, his arm has been on his face for a while and has left a mark, his leg is hanging from the side… today I learnt that he sleeps in weird positions. He opens slightly his eyes, it must be hard to face the bright light of the living room first thing in the morning. He yawns and gets up, stretching and making really loud creaking sounds with his still sleepy bones. He's wearing an adorably pissed expression.   “You weren't here tonight. Why?” He knows? Light sleeper I guess… I tried my best to be sneaky but failed apparently. I wish I could just tell him the truth but “I am too horny to sleep in the same building as you” isn't the right answer to give to someone you want to impress…   “I was too horny to sleep in the same building as ya.” WHAT.   “Pardon?” I…   “I feel better now though.” WHAT time two. 

Burning red in embarrassment is the least you deserve after this Jamison! What the actual fuck have you just said?! Yeah, you better cover your face and hide in the bathroom… this is safe, safe place. I am sorry Hana: I already fucked up bad. I hear loud knocking on the door, he calls my name. No, I don't have the guts to face him now.   “Jamison, where can I find new cereals? I poured myself some milk, but this box is empty.” Cereals?   “In the higher cupboard next to the fridge.”   “Thanks! Oh right, where to throw the empty box?” Wait… that's really not what I am expecting. I get up from the bathroom floor and open the door slightly, my face barely showing. He's holding a box of cereals in one hand, the other is on his waist… his expression is not… angry at all?   “Just leave it on the table, I'll take care of it.” Lúcio nods and smiles his way out of my field of view. There are many things I don't understand, but right now he is at the top of the list. He is such a weirdo to my silly eyes right now, what kind of reaction is that?! And what wait, who in their right mind pours milk before cereals!? I get out of the bathroom quickly, but… too late, the sinner is already eating. I just grab a cup, put in cereals and pour milk, I haven’t had breakfast yet, so might as well join him.

  “So you went to Hana’s because…?”   “Because I was horny.” He chokes on his food, nothing to blame there, I had no reason to lie though: I had already fucked up. He laughs, his body accompanying his smile with movements. He’s so expressive, even in this still sleepy expression of his…   “And here I thought I heard you wrong, man!” Oh. “At least you’re honest, I guess.” He laughs again, I join him because well fuck me, I could have just lied and he would have believed it but no, I went with the sexually frustrated character.   “Yeah, right…” I nib on my spoonful of cereals, unable to find another topic to discuss. “I tried to let you sleep, guess it didn’t work out.”   “Not really, a prosthesis on the parquet is pretty damn loud…” He drinks the milk left in his bowl. “I mean, I did forget my pills at the B&B, but you weren’t exactly silent either.”  “Pills?”  “Insomnia, man. Travelling hit pretty hard on my sleep schedule. I can only manage to sleep like… a couple hours without them.”  What a weird feeling though, usually as soon as I finish my breakfast I take my stuff and leave the house, I want to leave, I need to; but now… I want to stay… this grey house is suddenly so colourful I don’t want to leave it just yet. I am blinded by its brightness, by the beautiful amount of sunrays knocking on the widows, by the lack of shadows in the living room. I want him here.   “That sucks, mate, sorry I woke you up.” He shrugs it off, his spoon hitting loudly the bottom of his bowl. He smiles at me, running a hand over his tired beautiful eyes. They are so big and radiant in that smile, his expression squashes a bit.   “No big deal, I managed to sleep a couple hours.”

 We decided to stay at home until lunch, after that we will go out somewhere hunting for a job like usual. We discussed about many topics that morning while absently watching some tv. 

 I probably suggested both the greatest and worst thing possible in-between topics: “Mate, wanna stay here at my house intead of paying that B&B?” I was scared he would reject the offer, that he would eye me weirdly and find an excuse to leave asap… but he didn’t. He said yes! He’s going to live with me, for a while at least. I did it Hana, I did it. I am so excited about this.

   I am still slightly annoyed by him going to sleep somewhere else: I was the one in his house, why did he have to be the one to leave? Why did he leave in the first place? The reason he gave me sounds a bit… ridiculous, I don’t really believe it. However he still asked me to stay with him in his house, that makes me a lot happier than I thought I would be. 

 I stuck by Jamison’s side the whole day, we walked around the town, knocking on many doors, labs Jamie told me. He’s submitting curricula and asking for part times to make his studies fruit, but no one picks him up… I don’t understand. As we walked around he explained me some of the stuff he knows: it’s freaking incredible how brilliant he is. I studied arts and music and I am barely self-taught in the technological department… I can just dream to have his scientific knowledge! I’m amazed, fascinated, but those people; they looked at him like he was the last of the idiots. He was smiling all the way through the day though, never failing to make me laugh with comments on the terrible fashion sense of the scientists, or their horrible haircuts and the continuous “once I get famous we’ll see who doesn’t want who in their lab”. I really wish he could find a job easily, he deserves it. Why don’t they accept him? He doesn’t tell me what they say. We got back home after hours under the hot sun, we both took a shower and we had dinner together. It doesn’t feel that weird to live together… at least for now. He’s been really nice and I’ve been polite so it should be fine.  It’s time to go to bed now, I wonder if he’ll try and sneak out again: he said no but… who knows, I want to be sure. 

Jamison is so weird. I have such an hard time figuring out his actions and his words. He's bluntly honest yet secretive, he's carefree but anxious at the same time, he wants to know more about me, but doesn't tell me anything in return… Over the past years, I started to not care about my future, but ever since I met him that feeling left me, I used to wander with no destination in mind, I even throw my phone on the ground because I was that absent minded, but now I feel so different; and that was just three days ago! I didn't think a single meeting could change you this much… I can't lie to myself, I know I've already fallen for him and his bubbly attitude. I want to stay with Jamison, by his side… wish I could feel the same back though.  I stare at his beautiful freckles, at his bushy eyebrows and at his ever so relaxed sleeping face, I bury myself in his chest. He'd probably kill me if he wakes up, but I checked on him if he was on his bed and… and it simply escalated. I need to feel him close like this: the thing he said about liking me, how I turn him on and how he tries his best to restrain himself… if those things are true, that is not what I want. Holding hands feels nice, but I want more; hug me, put your hands on my body if you like it so much, let me feel you, Jamison. I squeeze him tight, he grunts, his right arm pulling me closer, probably just moving in his sleep… I run a hand through his hair, it's soft. I really want him to wake up right now; I wonder what would happen… If I just pull on his hair a little, will his eyes open? Will he react to the pain? Or is he a really heavy sleeper? How do you keep sleeping after someone sneaked in your bed anyways? I mean, I know sometimes I wake up when someone knocks on the neighbor’s door, but there should be limits to how dead you can be. I am literally stroking his face now, feeling the minuscule dots on his nose with my thumb. Okay, maybe what I'm doing is leaning a bit on the creepy side. He's sound asleep… sound!   “Jamison.” He twitches lightly, pulling me closer to him like I was some kind of stuffed animal. I love his warmth.   “Aren't you happy you found me?” I like you so much… “I just wish you would hold me like this…”  It's getting really late now though, I should probably sleep… here maybe? I want to but… better not push my luck, he might overreact in the morning. At least he stayed at home tonight and hasn't left for Hana's again. I sneak out of his warm grip and the bed, I feel a cold shiver on my skin, but I ignore it. I walk to the kitchen and get something to drink my pills with.

Chapter 5

 Jamison left me at the restaurant on the beach for a while, he said he was going to do the shopping and another couple commissions in town, but when I asked to go with him, Hana stopped me, begging me to keep her company at work since it looked like there were not going to be many costumers that day.  So here I am sitting at the counter chatting away time with this adorable girl. I should ask her about the other night.   “What did Jamison tell you when he came by your house the other night?” I am just curious, really. Maybe him being horny was just an excuse.   “I'll be honest with you, Lú… when I opened the door he was flushing red, slightly sweaty and really distressed. So much I though he was sick.” Oh… “Turns out he was just having a boner, no big deal.” So he told the truth, wow. That makes me laugh and sneer at the same time, really if he wanted to he could have just jumped on me, I wouldn't have complained.   “He's so…”   “Jamie is just putting too much pressure on himself, as usual. He doesn't want to put on a scene and disappoint you.” She giggles, I understand her though, from a third person perspective it must have been hilarious. “He's like this.”   “He still hasn't hugged me once, do you believe it?!”   “Oh my God, really?!” I change the subject; I don't want to learn from her anything important about Jamison. I know I can do it by myself, I want to. He might be stingy with the information, but I'll grasp all I can without anyone's help… or at least I'll try. No! I'll do it.   “Yeah like, I know we are not official or anything but a hug would feel nice.” I pout. “He bought me a phone but it's not the same! Touch me, damn it!” Talking about it makes me pull out my phone by instinct, the screen lights up, revealing the picture I am using as lock screen.   “That picture is adorable!”

  “This!” I shove the phone in her face. “This is the closest I’ve been to him yet!” If we don’t count the sneaky cuddles I stole yesterday night… let’s not tell her about that.

 After what felt like forever, I am back home. Really, all I’ve been doing today was talking to Hana and drinking tap water and occasionally eating something. It was a lazy day, one of those I hate, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything, too many thoughts, too much stress. I just want to enjoy my destined lover, why is he so fucking stubborn?! At dinner Jamison told me about what he did during the day, nothing much on his part either, he went to a nearby town to look for a job and the journey was the longest part. He does look exhausted. This day has been so dry… he hasn’t even touched me the slightest! At least we could have accidentally bumped into each other or something along those lines but no! We were in two different towns and now he’s so tired I don’t even dare to try anything on him, he might collapse on the spot.

 He looks finally peaceful now, laying on his stomach, limbs spread out and a droll on his pillow. I so want to… but I should not try that again… last time it worked perfectly, but it must have been luck, blind, deaf and dead luck, there is no way he won't wake up again. I step out, close the door behind my back, go in the kitchen, take the pills and back in my room. This boring day will not repeat itself, I’m sure of it! I sit on the bed, waiting for them to take over my awake body. I haven't really looked around this room yet. How have I not noticed these before? Maybe I was too sleepy, I only came in here to rest, really. Pictures on the walls, unlike in any other room. I take a closer look at them, I've never seen most of the people in these. I can easily spot Jamie though, an adorable-looking child, small-framed, the very same waterfall of freckles and a missing tooth; he's smiling widely at a lady who's holding him. His mother maybe? She has blond short locks, a white robe over a nice shirt. She has a beautiful smile with dimples, her features resemble Jamie's pointy ones. In this other picture I recognize a young Mako, Jamie is on his shoulders, the picture is blurry, the finger of the taker seems to appear in the corner. It's clumsy, but it gives a familiar vide. In this other picture Jamie is on the beach, he looks scared to touch the water, the same blonde lady in trying to lead him by holding his hands. He's such a cute child, my heart is fluttering. Now that I notice, he has both arms and legs… so he must have lost his right ones at a certain point… I wonder how. Fireworks in this other picture; Jamie looks at them in wonder, it's the same, the very same spark I saw in his eyes many times, that light I came to like so much. I have a urge to go in the other room and hug him to death, kiss him, love him… it’s not like I can do that though. So many more pictures are still here to be examined, but my eyes feel heavy, the sleeping pills are taking effect.

 The morning sun knocks on the glass window, my face is sour, I believe I slept with my arm on it again. I get up slowly, stretching what I can and scratching my itchy nape. What was I looking at last night? Right the pictures. I still want to see Jamie though, the pictures can wait.   “Good morning, Jamie!” I am welcomed by his presence outside my door, I give him the brightest smile, he's right here! I want to embrace him so bad. He has a mug in his hand, a tired expression on his face, he's hunching a bit.   “G'day, Lúcio…” His face lightens in a red hue. “Slept well?” I nod my head yes as I come out of the room. I'm still in my pajama shorts but it's fine: I want him to see me in these. He follows me with his eyes as I go towards the bathroom, he's looking down low, his mouth slightly open in a gasp. Smirking proud I close the door behind me.

 That… that… that son of a… how dares he walk around in those with such a fine ass?! Take a breath, think about what Hana told you! If you feel like this again just think of something to turn you off right away; that ugly mayor of ours in underwear! Yeah this should work… no, no, no! Not Lúcio! The drongo with the cowlick! Hooly dooly, he'd be so sexy with his hair down, smirking up at me with those full lips of his as he… STOP IT.  I yell for him to hear me behind the door.    “Ya start breakfast, I'll be there in a minute!”   “Alright.” I walk back to my room shutting the door behind me, my mug still in my hand, even if the handle is probably as broken as my mental state and barely still attached due to all the force I used on it. I need some time alone and I need it now.

 It's all his fault. He's looking at me, that bastard smirk of his plastered on his fucking lips… I swear he's doing it on purpose. If I didn't know that no one, especially not someone so good-looking, would do that, I would think he's trying to turn me on. I thought the situation down under was under control when I left my room, but I am still a blushing mess and looking at him just reminds me of a couple minutes ago. Why the fuck is he drinking milk out of everything I have in this kitchen?! Oh… he hasn't noticed he has mustaches, that makes me giggle a bit. Can't I lick them off? No. I point them out and he gives me a goofy smile as answer, licking away some and cleaning with his napkin what's left. I want to pin him to the table and f- NO, Jamison, no. This is a torture, a torture I tell you! I can't believe what he's doing to me! Why does he look so proud right now?! He makes it looks like what he's doing is on purpose when it's clearly not. I really should have left for Hana's again. I need more consultation, her tips are failing me one after another, though. All I can see are pictures my too wild imagination creates for me… I've never felt so frustrated in my entire life. I am covering my face with both hands, it's flaming hot, I have to gasp for air every few seconds. What would I give to pull him close to me, to touch him and feel him on my body... what would I give…he probably wouldn't accept no matter what I offer him, he's too good. The only reason he's sticking with me is for this soulmate bullshit! I said it! Bullshit! He travelled so much and he found what?! A sad jobless Australian chemist with two missing limbs! Who the fuck would even try to be my soulmate?! Bullshit… shitty bullshit, destiny is bloody wrong. It was wrong before when he did that to her and it is wrong now that he does this to him.   As I think that, a hand touches forcefully my shoulder, it's a small hand, soft skin strokes mine. I look at the owner, at Lúcio, he looks concerned. He has got up from his seat to come next to me. Why though? I am only trying to control my bon-… is this a tear? Am I crying?    “Hey, Jamie, something's up?” No, nothing's up, I have no idea why I'm crying! I can't answer though, my mouth keeps breathing loud sobs. I try to quickly shut down his worries by shaking my head and drying my tears in my shirt, but his expression only seems to grow sadder. It hurts… where is his smile? I can't see it on his lips, I have no light to follow in his eyes… it hurts! I don't want to see him like this! Open your mouth and tell him you're alright, come on! Just say it!   “I…” am fine. “… I…” Why can't I speak?! For the love of God why can't I reassure this precious sunshine in front of me?! Don't look so sad, your smile looks better on you… my eyes feel wet again. Lúcio runs his arms around me, around my neck. He is so… close. He pulls me to lean on his shoulder, his head rubbing mine gently. What is he doing?! This is not what he should be doing. I stop him by removing his arms, as soon as he understands he aplogises. What?! NO! I should be apologising for the terrible sight and treatment I'm giving him. Lúcio is a fantastic fellow, he hasn't let me down once since I met him, always with me wearing a smile, he accepted the soulmate shit so easily, but I don't want him to be stuck with me. I would love to death if he did, I would love it if he would stubbornly hug me again, if he'd say sweet nothings to my ear, if he'd tell me he'll stay with me…  I get up from my seat without looking at him, he's probably worried again and I can't stand it. Get me out of here.   “Imma go do the shopping, later.”

Chapter 6

 He's stubborn, but so am I. I will not blindly accept this destiny bullshit, for his sake.  I slam the shop door open and rush inside, sobbing loudly as I shake Mako's arm to attract his attention. He is doing a morning check by the looks of it, his expression tells me he's already done with my shit.   “What is it?”   “Destiny is a coward bitch and it's trying to ruin Lúcio's life!” He looks at me unimpressed until he sighs and tells me to sit behind the counter to wait until he finishes the inventory. What should I do? He was so close to me, I felt overwhelmed; why would he do that? What kind of twisted mind would suggest you to hug me out of nowhere?! To apologise afterwards?! Wait, am I still in my pajamas? Yes, I am…   “So, tell me all about that bitch.” Mako sits in front of me, his eyes plastered on me. Has he noticed I’m still in my pajamas? I hope not. “What happened?” I need to sum it up, it would be too hard to explain everything now, my mind is still a mess, I can feel it. What is the major problem? Focus on it, pinpoint it and highlight it. There it is, now try to express in in a way someone outside your head could understand…   “He gave me a boner!” He’s not reacting, maybe he hasn’t understood. “Twice!” Mako’s expression is just as stoic as ever, his bushy eyebrows barely moving as he answers.   “That is your point…” I nod my head yes, I’m focused on his reaction. “Did you think you were straight or something?” Ohi what the fuck of an answer is that?   “Mate, what the hell are you talking about?! I need advice here!”   “I know, I’m just joking.” His deep laughter mocks me, he’s having the time of his life, enjoying my suffering. “From what I can see...” No, hold up! I forgot to ask him something beforehand.   “Wait, wait! First, answer a question, will ya?” He leans back on his chair as I lay on the counter, my face plastered on the cool surface as I try to think about too many things at once. The big guy grabs a sport magazine and nods.   “Spit it.”   “You and your wife aren't soulmates, right?”   “You are right.”   “And you're happy, right?”   “Those are two questions.” He chuckles at my grunting. “Happiest I could ever be.” That's right! You don't need a soulmate, not everyone finds it! Oh, phone's buzzing. It's Lúcio, a text.

-          You know any radio station or record company around here? I'd like to bring samples. :)

Samples? He did say he wanted to look for a job, music industry I guess. I still haven't heard anything from him, I'm curious. Also, he sent me a text… that’s the first one.   “Who's that?”   “Lúcio.” I type in my answer. I am not really well-versed on the topic, but I think I can help a bit. There aren't that many companies around, it's mainly family businesses, but if you go to bigger cities you have more chances.

-          Ahh damn! Guess I'll have to wait then… D:

Yeah, he really has no way to get around by himself, there's only one train and it stops by… what? Three times a day I think? Sucks to live in such a small town. Second text from him, those emojis are adorable.

-          You done with the shopping yet?

Shopping? Did he really believe that shitty excuse?! … now I feel bad about myself. I should just go and do it. I got no money on me, damn! I’ll just tell him I’m not done yet and think something out later. I put my phone back in my pocket and I meet with a friendly old grin.   “What?” He shrugs as he looks away and flips the page of the magazine by licking his finger. He still needs to give me advice! I need help here! I hope the staring does the trick without me asking for it.     “Let me guess, Jamison: you think you’re not good enough, right? That Lúcio is stubborn, so he keeps trying to stick to you, but you… you don’t want him to blindly fall for the soulmate thing, do you?” I stare at the floor, I’ve been found out. It’s not that hard for him to read me, really, but it still pisses me off a bit. Still no advice, you fat cunt!   “He’s too nice…”   “That means he’ll be the one dealing with your shit from now on and not me.” Mako gets up from his chair grabbing me by the head with his huge hand. He lifts me from my seat. “Now go back home and apologise because you ran away again, you brat.”

 He sends me out of his shop with a friendly but violent pat on the back. He’s being so pushy and all for what? Go home and apologise?! I am going to do that anyway, this is not helping! Oh well, maybe he’s in a hurry to open the shebang, probably he is. The door is already closed behind me before I can say anything, so I’m left alone on the street. I turn away, sighing loudly. I check the time: it’s almost ten. I should go home, maybe this trip did good and I won’t feel suffocated in my own house anymore.

 When I make my way into the living room, I find the source of all the good and bad sitting on the sofa, he’s wearing headphones, his portable console on his legs and a bunch of papers laying around. He’s humming softly, he hasn’t noticed me yet. Is he working on those samples he messaged me about? I wonder how they sound… I hold my breath to hear his voice, his tone is so relaxing, a sweet bell lulling. The music is blasting in his headphones, I can hear it from afar. How do I get his attention though? He’s so busy writing down notes, messing the equipment, jamming to music… he looks so calm and happy, it’s refreshing, more than usual. I don’t want to stop him. But I have to at some point, I can’t just keep staring like a creep, can I? Also, I must apologise. I take a few steps towards him. His phone is right next to him, he should hear it ring! I proceed to dial his number; I still don’t have a profile picture for him. His screen lights up, he does have a icon for me. When the hell did he take that? I’m happily drinking some boba, talking to someone out of the picture… did he snap it while I wasn’t looking? He notices the ringing, he starts in his seat and quickly removes his headphones to answer. His movements are clumsy and hurried, but he takes a deep breath before answering, his voice as calm and melodious as ever. His overreacting is lovely and it makes me smile like a fucking schoolgirl out of impulse. Is it normal for him? Maybe he doesn’t like talking on the phone… or can I delude myself and think it’s just with me?   “Hello?”   “Yeah, hello, it’s me.” He immediately notices where my voice actually comes from and turns quickly, finding me right behind him. “I’m home.” He ends the call with a chuckle, he puts away his phone.   “You didn’t need to call me, you know?” That was the only way I found, really. Thankfully, he’s not mad for the interruption. “Are you feeling any better, Jamie?” I nod my head in response. Man, he really sounds troubled. What kind of despicable being am I for making this ray or sunlight worry so much? Soulmate my ass, I’m just a problem, one big problem. I sit down on the other end of the sofa, but he quickly scoots closer, leaning in to look me in the eyes as mine scan the floor.   “Sorry, I was just… a bit moody I guess.“   “I see you forgot the shopping…”   “I didn’t go shopping…” Quit it with the shopping and accept my excuses, you handsome dumb idiot! Man… he does look good with his hair down… FOCUS. “I will go this afternoon.” The shopping is not the focus, you idiot! What am I even saying… He nods an answer before hesitantly touching my shoulder with a smile. His smile is back, thank God. We should eat out for lunch, it’s not like there’s any food here anyways. Probably a good choice to just hang around at Hana’s. After a couple hours, in which he kept on working on his music and I just laid on the sofa doing nothing like the useless man I am, we sat at the bar on the beach and ordered our food. Hana is taking lunch break so she sits with us.

Chapter 7

 Alright, I’m at the supermarket. I think I’ll have to come here more often, food sure runs short with two people around the house. Chips, milk, cereals, chicken, some pasta, tomato sauce, a couple beers and tea… this should be it right? Maybe I should ask him. I send him a text asking I there’s anything he wants, he answers a couple minutes later.

-          Not really, I think! Mmm what did u get 4 now?

I look down at the shopping cart and quickly snap a picture of it, it’s quicker.

-          We could use some veggies and fruit maybe?

That green stuff? He likes it… respect, mate, respect. I only like that stuff in my burgers. I'm fine with fruit though, just forgot. Alright, I’ll get him something. .

-          Thanks, man! Laterz <3

A heart… now I need help and distraction, I don't think I can handle that. Ehy, these snacks are on sale, I should buy some. Why is my phone buzzing again?! I need to forget something here! Hana is calling me… guess I'll answer.   "Hello, bunny."   "Don't give me that." She sounds pissed, what did I do?! "Stop looking at the snacks and listen."   "How did yo-…"   "Take Lúcio out tonight, please." WHAT?? Hana you crazy bitch where did you take that idea out from, put it back, it's bad.   "Ehm, no, that's a terrible idea." I put those tempting snacks in the cart, there's chocolate in them, they look so yummy. "Also, I did the shopping so that we could eat at home."   "Please, I promise you won't regret it!" Her voice is pleading and oh so adorable. I scratch my nape, unsure. "Stop thinking about this like an old fart and enjoy yourself, will you?"   "Shouldn't you be working right now?"   "Promise you will!" I sigh loudly enough for her to hear me clearly, her proud giggle arrives before I can answer.   "Fine, I will." I can so easily picture her face and expression right now, smiling like the beautiful idiot she is. Her teeth slightly peeking. She ends the call with a chirpy bye and I'm left alone with the shopping again. Who the hell put those snacks in my cart? They look too sweet.

  “Just ask him out then!” Hana makes it sound SO easy. I'd like to see her in this situation… ask him out where? Lunch? Dinner?   “What if he says no?”   “Just invite him to a restaurant for dinner.” She shrugs while typing something with her phone, she truly believes this is easy for me. “You live in the same house, I doubt you'd eat in two different rooms anyway.” I am confident. I grew to love myself, the way I look, the way I act. Then why? Why can't I bring myself to just go for it as usual? I'm not even sure he likes me anymore. Man, this is hard…   “Well, you are right…” We do live together, so we'll have dinner together; why can't it be at a nice restaurant? “I should ask it as a change.” My phone rings, the very same ringtone I longed to hear the whole day. I quickly grab it, the surface of the table against my fingers seems colder all of a sudden. Hana gives me a nod and a thumb up. I need to smile up and do it.   “Hello?”   “Yo, Lúcio, it's me.” Of course it's you, I saw your face popping on the screen. “Where you at?”   “I'm...” I notice Hana waving to get my attention, a finger on her lips while pointing at herself. “… just walking around a bit.” She gives me a nod, guess she has a reason for that? Now I should go for the offer. I get interrupted mid thoughts.   “I called to ask if you…” If I what? If I what?! He hesitates so much, I can’t pressure him though. “I mean, it might sound a bit overboard, I usually don’t do this, but, like, are you up for dinner out tonight maybe?” I am about to answer the question quickly with a sure, but then the whole picture hits me. My eyes widen, Hana looks on the edge, her expression stuck in impatience. I try to stay calm. He's asking me out! Jamie is asking me out tonight! Don't leave him hanging!   “I…” He doesn’t let me speak, words are already coming from the other end of the call. His tone is troubled, a feeling of resignation marking his sentence.   “I am terribly sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken at all, see ya at home.”   “Wait! Of course, I want to have dinner with you! What time?” Good thing I manage to keep the call going, he doesn’t seem to answer at first, but then I hear his voice, as confident as ever.   “Let’s meet up at seven by the gate, we’ll go from there!” We decide quickly on the details and end the call. I stare at my phone, my body slightly twitching in excitement and a grin plastered on my silly face. Hana laughs cheerfully. She heard everything, she knows what to celebrate. He asked me out! We are going to have dinner together!

Chapter 8

 Are those flowers? Is that a suit? Is that a flustered Jamie I see behind all the green? I walk up to him, a huge smirk on my face. He looks the other way, an adorable pink blush on his cheeks and nose. He hands me the flowers with a whispered “here” and I melt. I love these, they are so pretty! I look up to him, he doesn't look back though, too busy scratching his nape. He looks so damn good in a suit honestly. It's the first time I see him like this and… I take my time to enjoy the view. He notices the stares, regaining a bit of boldness.   “Like what you see?” He laughs it out, as if he means it as some kind of joke. Of course I like what I see, I am pretty excited right now. Better inform him.   “I think you look hot like this, Jamie.” The soft pink turns red the instant his eyes meet mine. I catch him in his stuttering, grab him by the neck kiss his cheek by tiptoeing. He smells fresh, his unshaved beard tickles a bit. He did this for me… just for me?   “Thanks, mate.” Mimicking my actions, he plasters a smooch on my cheek, leaving me in a blushing mess; that I didn't expect. “Likewise.” He's smiling like an idiot, probably laughing at my shocked expression. It's just that he has been so distant lately and now he takes me to dinner, gives me flowers and a kiss?! It's a bit too much to handle in one go. And he's wearing a suit! I should calm down though, I am not a teenage girl. I collect myself with a chuckle and tell Jamie that I'd like to put the flowers in a pot at home before we get going.

We walk side by side, hand-in-hand toward the restaurant. I missed walking like this. Jamie points at a welcoming-looking restaurant a little ahead of us. The atmosphere is light even at this late hour, the white and blue walls shine up for the lightning. It looks like a fish restaurant by the looks of it: pictures of the sea hanging, nets and seashells used as decorations. We claim our reservation, a little table close to a huge window at the sea. We sit down and it's quiet for a while, I have no idea what to talk about, really. He scratches his back and strikes a smile at me.   “So, Lúcio, you not looking at the menu?” Oh, right. I grab the pamphlet and give it a quick scan: it is a fish restaurant. Anything sounds great right now, I'm starving quite the bit. We order our food and drinks, the waiter comes back shortly with the dishes; in all this time, we still haven't found a topic to discuss. It's weird, I usually feel super comfortable around Jamie, he's so bright and unique I just want to spend all my time with him, but now… he's gloomy. Oh, never mind, he's smiling again.   “Sorry about that sulk, I was having a moment.” He reaches for my hand on the table, holds it. “How do you like this town?”   “It's a nice place, not gonna lie. It is relaxing to stay in the same spot for more than a couple days. I can actually compose something worth the effort.” He nods his head, his hand squeezing mine, I do the same with a smile. His hand is bigger than mine…   “You're not getting bored?” Bored? With him? With music? Never. I shake my head.   “I don't think I can get bored with you here.” I know it's cheesy and the confused embarrassment on his face is just the right reaction to this, but it's true. “You're one of the most interesting person I've meet.”   “Is that so?”   “Yeah, like, I didn't see you as the type to take me out to dinner, but here we are.” And I'm so happy about this. “You're weird in a good way.” He chuckles at that last part.   “Well then, didn't think weird was a compliment.”

This is nice, this light chatting is nice. This feeling of wanting to get to know each other, the very same urge I felt on the first day. Where would you like to travel to now? What would you do there? Would you go alone? Would you take me with you? That's cheesy, but I’d do it. I saw you composing, what was the song like? … is it okay to start singing in a restaurant? He likes my voice… Have you ever had problems while travelling? There has been a couple times where they just shipped my luggage on the wrong plane and they were never seen of again, I had to rebuy everything, a real pain. 

We are done eating. Jamie wants to pay, but we quarrel because why would he have to? I have money, not a lot, but I can afford a dinner for two! I stay at his house for free, what else does he want to offer me?! We are standing in front of the waiter, both pouting and slightly annoyed.   “I will not let you pay for me.”   “Imma do it and you are gonna accept it.” He tries to put his cash in the waiter's hands, I stop him. “Mate.” We are putting up a scene, but I don't want to give up.   “Please, I can pay.”   “I asked you out, so be my guest for fuck's sake.” He wraps his arm around my neck, pulling me close to plaster a quick kiss on my forehead. Ohi, don't take advantage of this distraction to-… he pays and drags me out. I run my arm around his waist to walk more comfortably. I don't look at him, I'm kind of pissed to be honest. I'm not spoiled, you know? Jamie notices, he laughs at my expression, pointing it out.   “You wouldn't believe how cute your face is right now.” Cute… is this a payback for calling him weird? I give up the frown to give him an entertained smile. “And now you're handsome again.” I nod proud, reaching for his face and pulling him down to peck his cheek. Wish I could afford more.   “Handsome is better than cute, thanks.”

Close like this, this is what I want. Staring in his eyes as he holds me. Sparkling in amber, lights in the dark night sky. It would be perfect if… fuck it, I'm doing it! Hold up. These are not his lips.   “Look at the time, we better head home!” He dodged it, I'm… I'm shocked? Yeah, I am! Jamie what the hell?! You crouched a bit to look at your watch and I kissed you nose! Dude! Not cool!   “Actually I was-”   “Come on, let's go.” He takes my hand and starts to drag me around. His movements are hurried, his expression… empty? “We must both be dead tired.” Oh, hell no! I will kiss you tonight, and you are going to like it!   “Let's not, we are having fun.” I try to smile my way around, squeezing his hand and closing the gap between us. “We are both heading the same way, so we can just take a detour, right?”

 Too close, too close! He's doing it again! He's leaning on me, holding my arm in a tight grip. First he tries to kiss me and now this?! I don't think I can handle it. What kind of detour anyway? Can't we just call it a night? … why did I even avoid that kiss? He's tugging on my sleeve, sweet eyes looking back at me. This is so confusing! I want him to kiss me, but…! I can't do this to him, it's for his own sake. I won't let him make the same mistake. 

We walk slowly, he asks me for a walk on the shore, so we do that, my feet barely standing the sand infiltrated in my shoes. Lúcio looks so handsome tonight… more than usual if I dare to say so. He stares up at the sky, his eyes lost in the darkness as they look for stars. It shouldn't be this hard, but I am hindering myself. Jamison, you are but a sad dipstick. I need to explain the situation, why I'm acting like and insensitive cunt. He's beaming a smile at me, his eyes half-closed. I could just grab him and kiss him, really… what stops me? I reach for his face, caressing him as I tilt it up. It's so quiet around us, the moment is lulled by the sound of… waves? Hell no! What the fuck am I doing?! I let go of him.   “You had something of your face.”   “Is that so…?” I sense so much disappointment in his voice, I can't believe he hasn't slapped me yet. Say something to cheer him up.   “Yeah, it was a beautiful smile and I wanted to see it better.” He smirks with a loud chuckle. Alright, he's happy again. Compliments really do the trick with him, don't they? Time to go home, I don't want to stay on this damn shore one minute more. We are both being so stubborn right now. I mean, I know I am and I can feel it in his actions, but it's not like i gave him any reason to not try. I need to speak with him… now? No, terrible timing and place. I don't want to speak about that stuff here. I need to get home, there maybe we'll get to talk. I need to get away from here. I hurry my steps, my breath runs heavy, a deep burden in my chest starts to press me, I can't do anything. We need to talk, he has to understand.  

 Take a breather, Jamison, don’t stress it out, why are you so anxious? You are at home, safe and sound. Flowers? When did these stupid flowers get here?! Oh, right… these are Lúcio’s. They are really peaceful to look at though, relaxing, I feel better. I just need to sit down and relax, yeah, that will do. I try to make my way to the kitchen, I suddenly feel something cold against my face. My head is soar, my body feels heavy and frozen. Have I fainted? No, I am still conscious, just fell probably, no big deal. Hands help me get up, a worried stare gest avoided. I can’t look at him, I’d break down. I sit on a chair, laying on the table with my arms as stand. I need to talk it out, I can’t keep quiet for longer. I see concern in his eyes, it makes me weak inside.   “Sorry about all of this shit, mate.” I whisper under my breath, he still catches it though. “I’m messed up bad, really bad.” He steps closer to me, a heartfelt grin on his melancholic face.   “I noticed that much, it’s no big deal.” No big deal… it is a big deal if he fell for goofy, cheerful me instead. It is a big deal if it’s not what he expected. It is a big deal if he is disappointed. Disappointed… no, I don’t want him to be: I’m doing my best, always! This time doesn’t count… This is not what he deserves. I look at his right hand, unable to change the topic my head is discussing.   “I don’t understand how this soulmate thing works… there is no reason for you to stick with me.”   “I’m here with you because I came to like you, Jamie.” He said it. He likes me. Not this me though, I’m sure. He likes happy me, lovely, caring me. I don’t even like me like this, I hate it. Hate it! What the fuck am I even thinking now?! The person I like just said he likes me back and what do I do?! Turn myself down. How is this logical?! I don’t want him to be tricked by that bitch. I don’t want him to be forced on me. He’s free if he wants, he doesn’t have to stick to his soulmate, we can just be friends, right? That way he could find someone better and I wouldn’t have this sort of problem. Fate, leave us alone for once. Leave me alone.   “My mother,” What am I ranting about? “she believed blindly in her soulmate.” Lúcio stands quiet next to me. Is he going to listen? I don’t even know where I’m going with this, do I? My mother… she was beautiful, her hair was sunlight. I remember her smile on the beach as us three went for a swim, her nail posh around her glass drink, her hat under the hot rays, her skin reddish for the burn. She was my brightest light, until one day for some reason all I knew about her became useless. Her favourite spot on the shore, her weekly schedule, her recipes for cooking her perfume brand. Everything useless. She died. Dad… eh, I never really met him, I was too young and he was always away for job so I was mostly at home either with mom or with her friends if she was working too.   “She found her soulmate and stuck to him instantly. She followed him anywhere he went, they were so happy. They got married in the end, he was my father. She even quit her job to work with him, what a crazy one.” I miss her so much… I almost forgot how it feels to remember such old stuff. Is Lúcio still listening? He is… “One day… she followed her destiny a bit too faithfully.” Should I continue? Not that I wanted to start in the first place, but my mouth just decided on its fucking own. What now, genius? Are you going to tell the end or not?   “What happened?” Now he asked it. Now you have to answer, fantastic. What a beautiful situation to be in.   “My father was a captain, they went together for their delayed honeymoon; they couldn’t enjoy it at the right time because I was to be born, so they waited until I was a bit older.” I know he understands where this is going, his eyes are practically screaming his feelings, I don’t like him so sad, but it’s my fault for ranting, I should be quick about this; he’ll smile again soon. “Soulmates until the end. Ship sank, both dead. The end.”   “Is this the reason why you are so skeptic about being soulmates?” Oh… so that what I was going for! Yeah, that’s right, thank God he’s smart and has picked it up, I couldn’t.   “Destiny is a bitch that ruins lives: the one that she points as your perfect lover can lead you to your ruin.” My chest is heavy. Am I saying this to him or to myself? I can’t bring myself to doubt him, so these words must be meant for him. His eyes widen, his expression quite angry now; that’s not a smile. Shit, I should stop… immediately.   “Are you saying you do not trust me?”   “Just saying you shouldn’t trust me.”   “And why is that?”   “Mate, you are giving yourself to me from the very first day, I don’t want that! She did that and guess what? She died!” He’s not angry anymore, but my eyes can’t seem to focus on his expression, my vision is blurry. “You are too good to give up everything for me so stop it!” He grabs me, I feel something around me. Him? His arms?! He’s hugging me… it feels warm.   “I could just take my stuff and leave.” You should. “But what if I want to stay with you?”   “No one would stay with me, you are just accepting the burden of this fucking tattoo.” He looks me in the eyes, I still find it difficult to see, my eyelids are heavy and sight is getting darker.   “Burden or not, I made my choice and I want you to respect it. Listen up, okay?” His hands reach for my shoulders, giving me a strong shake. “You are an amazing person, I already told you: you are weird. But a weird I came to love. If you need someone to hold you and tell you how fucking awesome you are, I’m here. I’ll gladly smack some good sense into this stupidly and uselessly chaotic mind of yours, anytime. I’ll be here for you, because I want to be here.”   “You’re here just because of this!” I grab his wrist, showing him his own right hand. “You’re biased.”   “So you think I have no chance of genuinely liking you?! You think I’ll never find anything to love about you by myself?”   “That’s about right.” My chest hurts, a strong ache is tearing me apart. It’s not his fault though, I am to blame. What I’m saying is… heartless. Why can’t I believe him? “The only reason you kept talking to me was your hand.” I am tired of this, all I’m doing is… is right. Don’t fall for it! He deserves better than me, there must be some kind of mistake behind this, that’s why he’s here. If I keep talking he’ll understand and he will finally leave! I’ll go back to my normal life, happy to have helped out a lost fellow. I open my mouth to speak, but he stops me in a loud voice.   “Destiny. You and I were meant to meet. So what if I’m biased?” He shows me his hand, something burning in his eyes. “Do you understand, that this means that I would fall in love with you no matter what? Do you understand that there is no way you can talk your way out of my heart now?” Stubborn. So fucking stubborn! I grind my teeth in irritation.   “There might be no happy ever after, even if we are destined! So why don’t you try and look for it with someone better?!” I push him away from me, don’t come any closer. “Just leave this dump of a man that’s me and be happy, will you?!”

There it is. I deserve this.

Chapter 9

 My face hurts, burns, my hand reaches for my cheek as my eyes send a shocked stare at Lúcio. He slapped me, he slapped me good. Hell, it hurts. So he has the guts to smack sense into me… uh…   “Shut up.”  Anger, that’s what I feel. I’ve done it, I feel bad. “Now you listen to what I have to say, Jamie.” I just nod my head, looking him in the eyes as they slowly soften in a smile; wasn’t he angry a minute ago? Why does he look so sweet now? He’s bright again.   “Do you like me?”   “Yes.” He sighs relieved. There is no doubt that I like him, I can’t lie about that.   “This text here, what my hand says, means that I was meant to meet you one day. It’s just an helping hand to find you, nothing big.” His arms reach for me again, around my chest. “You collapsed on the ground, I took you to the hospital, we talked and started a friendship. All of this I would have done with or without knowing you were my soulmate. I would have done it for anyone.” Is that so…?  Yeah, that is actually quite a normal thing to do, it doesn’t sound forced. Does he really have no other choice though? Is he stuck with me forever? There must be a way out of this. A pair of hands reaches for my face, I am forced to look him in the eyes, they shine so lovely.   “What if I like the choice I have? What if I want to stay with you forever? What if I don’t need to find a way out?” What the how does he know what I am thinking?! That’s somewhat creepy but... that’s what I want to hear. What I need to hear.   “Mate, imma ask you a question and you gotta be honest, okay?” He nods his head with a smile, he’s so precious. “Why would you stick with me now? Now that I’m pushing you away, this is obviously not what you expected.”   “It is not, you’re right.” His arms move around my chest again, his skin feels soft against mine, his breath is steady and quiet. “But that’s also something I like: you’re not granted. I have to work my ass off for you, and you can bet I will.” I can’t help but laugh at his words, he really is something. He’s the one who shouldn’t be giving himself for granted…   “Really, how is that any good?”   “Because it’s a part of you. And with each part of you I meet, I fall more and more in love.” He slowly tightens his grip on my shirt, he keeps me close. “I will not leave you anytime soon, Jamie.”   “You're a madman.” I have no other answer right now, but I feel heavy, I can’t express anything with my voice, I’m too tense, too stupid and too stubborn to just give in. I know I could just end this right here and now. I want to be with him but… He smiles up at me, his eyes shining their brightest gleam. How is he still here with me? Why?   “Wish I could be an happy one at least.” Happy? I don’t want him to be sad. What would make him happy? I know what to do but… do I have the balls to do it? I sigh loud: man up, Jamison. He tilts his head worried by my silence, but his expression suddenly grows tender as I wrap my arms around him, touching his soft hair and holding him close to my chest. He embraces me, tighter, he’s warm… I want to… he does it. He kisses me. It blows my mind. His lips so soft on my dry ones, they’re just like I expected them to be. I can’t help myself, I kiss him back. I have to lean in for him to reach my neck, to let his arms run around it; he’s so short, or am I too tall? No, it’s perfect like this. I have to take a breath, he just keeps smooching my face, it tickles. I give in, he wins: I’m his.   “Thank you, Jamie.” Excuse me?   “No. Thank you.” Our foreheads touch, he looks me in the eyes and smiles faintly, I put an arm around his waist, with the other one I try to untie his hair, just to make it easier for me to run my fingers through it. “Thank you for still being here… thank you for being my soulmate.” This is what I wanted to tell him. He has to understand how crazily lucky I am for having him with me. How fucked up he is for accepting me. He has done it, no turn backs now, he won and he’ll get the prize. I’ll do my best to not disappoint him too much though, I don’t want to.   “Anytime, man, anytime.” I kiss him, unable to keep looking at his handsome face without doing anything. When he responds I feel a different drive leading his actions, he's more forceful, more passionate: I love it. I love him so much.

 It’s so good. So fucking good. His soft lips open for me, I take control, I feel warm inside. He's gasping for air, his chest close to mine, I feel his heavy breathing. I pull him up, he laces his legs around my waist, his hands holding gently my face, stroking it. His skin is soft, I like his scent. We are finally eye-to-eye, he is so handsome… I look for his neck to kiss it, bite it; he moans under his breath, a glorious sound that should be louder. I want to hear him squeal. I sit him on the counter, keeping him busy with kisses while I try to make room behind him, I don't want any stupid object in the way as I force him down, pin him. I've wanted to do this for a while: kiss the shit out of him until he begs me to stop for air. He doesn't though, he pulls me closer, with each gasp his hips twitch under mine, he quietly whispers my name. Do it. Say it again. More. Yes! Louder! His body is a sweaty mess just like mine, closer, I want him even closer. His back is arching a bit, his legs now hold me in position over him, I take his arms, forcing them away from my neck and on the counter, my fingers find the gaps between his. The look on his face is beautiful and it's mine alone to see, it gets to me fast. Why can't I pull him closer? This is not enough. His shirt is in the way, get it off quickly, let him throw away mine and pin him back down. Better. He's responding, he kisses me, his legs tightening their grip around me. It's getting unbearable down there, he moans again, louder this time. I want to do so many things to him, to see him react, hear him at that time as he screams my name. I stop for a short while, I want to tell him something but I hesitate. His eyes are begging me to continue, I put my forehead on his. He speaks instead.   “You are so handsome, Jamie.” His voice is husky, a whisper under my skin. He's panting, I needed him like this.   “You have no idea how hot you look right now.” He chokes a chuckle when I move back to his neck. His finger run through my hair, a gentle gesture that only turns me harder. Harder… he's pushing our hips together, no wonder it's getting tighter down there. Fuck he has such a nice scent. His hands stroking me, I can't stop kissing his neck, no matter how much I try to go back to his lips or to move lower. He's giving me more space to kiss and suck… suck… yes. Should I? I mean, we are practically doing it, so it's only natural to go for it. Finally I manage to give up on his fucking neck, I distance myself a bit to take a breather, my eyes scanning his body… he's fit, his dark skin pleases my eyes. I help him sit back up, he looks confused and slightly disappointed. I put his arms around my neck to keep him close for the time being. He tilts his head, telling me with an airy smooch to go back to his lips. I give him a quick peck before moving on with my slightly different project. I grab his belt, the sweet stare he is giving me turns into something else, needy, lustful. Perfect.    “At least let me get you out of these, mate, be patient.”    “Oh, shut up and move it.” I laugh at his frustrated answer, hiding my embarrassed face in his chest. I am still trying to undo his belt, what the fuck is this belt?! He moves closer, he kisses my cheek, my ear, he bites on it. His whispering is so sexy, just like everything about him currently. He's mine. Mine alone. His hands move to my pants, he's faster, I'm in my underpants, he's already doing working. Fuck it's good, so good. He's kissing me again, his lips moving slowly on mine it's so addictive. But those full lips… oh, I so want them somewhere else. I am trying to concentrate here but hell he's giving me an hard time, so hard, really hard and somewhat wet. Piece of shit, I am…   “Lúcio, I was going for-…” I have to stop, a moan escapes my lips, he chuckles entertained close to my ear… bastard. “… I was going for something.”   “Me too, and unlike you I know how to undo a belt.” Cocky son of a… fuck! His hand is on my skin now. “Hurry up, don't make me do it myself.” I pull away his sneaky hand: that’s getting too close to let me clearly think about what I have to do. With a relived sigh I finally hear a click, his belt comes undone, his pants hit the floor.   “There you go, see? I can do it.” I try to tease him, but I obtain husky moans that really get to me as I make my way down his body. “You just needed to be patient.” I am the one to speak; I was about to come in his hand a few moments ago… his legs find my waist, his lips mine, his hand my head to dive in deeper with his tongue. I don't want anything else right now.

 What happens next I'll always remember; his voice changing constantly between pleasure and fun, his mouth going from moaning to smiling in an instant, his eyes shut but always ready to meet mine when I look for them… he gives me so much life. I love him so much.

Chapter 10

 Opening my eyes to find I've been sleeping next to Jamie is one of the best feelings in the world. I've already stolen a glimpse of his most relaxed expression, but now I have no fear of waking him up, I can snuggle him and touch him non-stop; and not only because he's a dead rock while asleep. I stroke his chest with my hand as I rest my head on his shoulder. What happened last night was so right, everything we said, did… I smile proud of my actions as I squeeze the body of the one I am so happy to finally call my boyfriend. Wake up, wake up! I want to kiss you good morning! Come on, Jamie… He moves in his sleep, a yawn escaping his lips. Lips, lips, lips, must kiss them awake. I pull myself up and position on top of him, stroking his face as I whisper in his ear.    “Jamie,” He grumbles angrily, turning to face the pillow and pushing me off my seat. “come on, man…” I climb back up, my hands now massaging his board shoulders and his back. I notice he has scratch marks that weren’t here yesterday… oopsie, these are definitely my fault. I finally hear an answer, a loud beautiful moan of pleasure, his hand grasping on the bed sheet. I lean closer to speak right to his ear.    “Good morning, Jamie.” He lifts his hand to tell me to give him a moment. I chuckle, kissing the nape of his neck.   “Lemme tell you one thing, your hands are a gift to humanity, mate.” As I move to the lower part of his back, he gasps for air. “This is fucking great…” I recognise his tone from last night, I know I am truly doing a great job. How I enjoy each small squeal I cause. I step off, I let him turn face-up before lying on top of him yet again. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Jamie wraps his arm around me.   “Pretend I'm stroking your cheek, ‘kay?” He winks at me with a grin and I only smile at his self-humor. I give him a tender kiss then another deeper one, his mouth parts following my lead. 

 Twenty minutes? Thirty? More? I don't know how much time we spent cuddling this morning, but it was the right amount, a beautiful start to an hopefully beautiful day. I am waiting for Jamie to come out of the bathroom so we can hit the town, meanwhile I mess around with my phone, checking for any message or missed calls. It's mainly texts from my family and friends back home asking how it's going with Jamie, they are so curious damn. My mind remembers the phone call of some days ago: my mother asked all sort of information about him: is he handsome? Is he tall? He's Australian so he must be blond, right? She loves natural light hair, you don't see it often around in Rio, unless they're tourists. My father questioned about his financial state, his family, what football team he cheered for, serious stuff. And then there were my brothers and my closest friends: so they are a guy, uh? We knew you were fucking gay. They mocked me for minutes, asking all personal questions I couldn't have answered in front of Jamie, no matter if he didn't speak Portuguese. That was just straight out embarrassing, but that's what friends are for. The last question they asked got to me, making it impossible for me to not smile. Are you happy right now? Yes I am. Don't let him go then, and send us a picture asap.  I still haven't sent the picture… but I have a different plan, I should talk to Jamie about it though.

As we sit down at the counter, I take the chance to bring up the topic.   “Jamie, what would you say if…”   “Well, well, little Jamie finally became an adult!” Hana pinches Jamison on the cheek like a granny would. She mocks him, a smug grin on her face. He must have told her what happened last night while I was lost in my thoughts; it doesn't bother me the slightest, she's been a great wingman, it's only natural to inform her. Jamie is blushing a deep tint of red, but he choughs it out to answer with the very same tone.   “Sounds about right, how is that hello going for you?”

Driving each other up the wall like that, I think I've never actually seen them having a friendly conversation without arguing, it's funny. Hana pats aggressively Jamie on the head, messing with his hair, then she turns to me. She gives me a thumb up with a wink, I wink back. She really did help, too bad I don't know how to give her an appropriate payback. Jamie runs an arm around my neck, holding me close to him while we are sitting; feels good, man. He whispers to my ear… I nod an answer with a smirk to his proposal. Let's see what happens.   “Lúcio, you are the hottest bloke I've ever met.” He snuggles against my head, I purr closer to him smiling happily.   “You're pretty handsome yourself, Jamie.” A touched awww escapes Hana's lips as her eyes fill in sweetness. She was about to go back to work with a grin, but our interaction halts her.   “But you look even better when you’re panting beneath me.” His voice is husky, warm and close to my ear, he bites on it; this can easily turn me on, right here, right now. But that’s not what we are going for!   “You haven’t seen how good you look when you beg me.”   “Oh my God, I can’t believe you are actually saying that here!” Hana’s expression’s a mixture between disgust and excitement, one word: amazing. “Keep it in your pants, you two!” Both Jamie and I blow up laughing at her, a small tear escaping my eyes as I lay on the counter for support.   “Hana, you should see your face!”   “I don’t want to hear anything from you two anymore, omg!” She waves her arms in the air as she leaves. “I’m going back to Korea tomorrow, goodbye!”

About that topic! I have to talk to Jamie. We order something to drink, a cold tea and a coffee after apologising to poor Hana, we have to pay full price this time, we deserve it. We are finally alone at the counter.   “Jamie,” He lifts his gaze to me, his hand reaching from mine and squeezing it. “what would you say if I asked you to go back to Rio with me?” His eyes widen quickly, it must be a pretty surprising question to pull out of the blue.   “I’d say yes, obviously.” Obviously… it’s not obvious at all, that’s sweet of him though. I don’t think he’s that excited about leaving his country, especially to meet my family, but his smile is still precious.   “I’d like you to meet my family, I know it’s not that exciting but…” He stops me with a shush.   “Ehy now, I want to meet your family, mate. It’s only fair for me since you already know mine.” His family… when? It would be really rude of me to just ask though, inconsiderate, I can’t do it.  “Well, my family by choice, that is.” Oh, I see how it is!   “Are Mako and Hana in there too?” He grins happily, I got it right. When you are alone like him… your friends do become your family.   “They are cool blokes, gotta love them all.” He takes it so casually, I admire his strength; I don’t know what I would do if my family just disappeared, they mean the world to me. He too means the world now though, I’m here for him too… I want to be part of his family by choice. Maybe it’s a bit early to ask for it, I should keep this for myself for the time being, might sound pushy, I should change topic, or at least return on the first one.   “So you’re up for the trip?” He stops for a minute, his lips sealed in silence, I know I shouldn’t rush him, but I really want an answer. He takes a sip of his tea. And raises an eyebrow, his eyes looking far beyond my shoulders, it’s almost distracting. In a blink they turn back to me, I welcome him back with a smile.   “Just tell me when, mate.” He leans in, an arm around my neck as he gives me a deep sweet kiss. I close my eyes with a smile.

  “Well,” I hold on to his hand, a laugh escaping my mouth. “guess you are stuck with me now.” He chuckles and grins mockingly as he walks out the bar and closes the door behind him.   “Who said I was the one stuck?”   “You could never be a burden, shut your mouth.” I kiss his lips as his arm reaches for my neck. I can’t help it, now that I can I just want to smooch him to death. What even makes this amazing bloke my soulmate? What makes me his? Destiny is weird, let me tell you: he gets two of the most stubborn people around and smacks them together until it works out. Probably it's having fun that little bitch. It doesn't matter though, I will try my best from today on, if we both truly want this, there's no reason to not do it. I doesn't have to end that way, that was not our destiny.   “Oh shit, mate, we are both jobless.” Lúcio expression blanks, his smile stuck. He soon laughs it off though, the brightest expression I've seen on him in a while; it melts me. He starts to blithely walk away, where are you going that’s too far…   “First step is a positive mental attitude.”   “I think we have enough of that, captain optimism.”   “That's the spirit!” I embrace him from behind tightly, my arms around his waist as my face sinks in his hair. What a nice scent. I pull out my phone, opening the camera.   “Smile, Sunshine.” What I see on the screen makes me warm inside, I don't think I'll get used to that genuine grin of his anytime soon: it's too great. He quickly frees himself from my grip, runs an arm around my neck and kisses me. The camera snaps my new home screen.

Congrats you lived through all of this! Remember that there are a couple oneshots follow ups on my AO3!