#i tried a new style today and it came out better than i thought so ill take it

[ren-from-mars]

Me when a single day alters the course of my life forever

[thestoryofella]

telephone

summary: after a breakup with Sirius, allowing him to make a move to pursue his music dreams, you find yourself in an exciting game of telephone with his best mates, desperate to find out details of his new life. Unbeknownst to you, there are others involved in this game of telephone. 

warnings: slight angst (happy ending), fluff, miscommunication, two idiots, sfw mentions of sex, swearing

sirius black x reader ✿ 6016 words

Three weeks. That's how long Sirius and you had been broken up. And yet, every day still felt torturous. Your girlfriends had suggested that you try dating again, but you didn't think it was fair to the poor bloke on the other end for you to be so desperately hung up on your ex-boyfriend.

You still remember the day you two had broken up. Sirius had been pursuing music for a few years after graduation as a lead singer and had failed to succeed. It wasn't until a month ago that he'd come bursting through the doors of your shared apartment, saying, "I finally got a gig! Isn't that great?" At that moment, he'd hugged you so hard, peppering your faces with kisses, leaving you both blushing, giggly messes. That was the happiest you'd ever seen him after typically grueling auditions and gigs with low attendance.

It was great, honestly. You were so happy Sirius finally had the opportunity to pursue his dreams. However, what wasn't great was that the gig was in Scotland, with a well-known, but anonymous to you, rock band in Glasgow as their lead singer. You didn't want to ruin his initial excitement, so you'd kept your worries and fears about the location to yourself. When Sirius realized a seven-hour drive to Glasgow from your apartment and a full-time job in London was an issue, you two finally sat down to talk a week after he received the offer. 

He sat with you on your sofa, with cups of tea for you both. Your eyes were red and puffy, as you'd anticipated a breakup as soon as you two had agreed to discuss the upcoming move. After a two-hour-long discussion where Sirius had desperately tried to arrange to come on the weekends and subsequently realized the band schedule was unpredictable–not to mention he didn't have enough money to visit every weekend anyway–and you had realized you couldn't hold back the man you love from his dreams, you two tearfully agreed to call it quits for the sake of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Today was also the day that Sirius was leaving for Glasgow. Despite being broken up and not talking regularly, he had asked you to come to say goodbye to him at the train station. So, here you were, head buried in the crook of his neck, both his arms wrapped tightly around your waist, inhaling his scent of cigarettes, amber, and cedarwood as you said goodbye to the man you loved. You figured the level of this embrace wasn't appropriate for people who were "just friends" now, but who knows when you'd hug each other again. You hoped this wouldn't be the last time you'd inhale his scent or feel his embrace; you desperately wanted him to stay. You hoped he didn't see the tears on your cheeks as you waved goodbye from the train platform. 

♡ ♡ ♡ 

It had now been a month since Sirius left for Glasgow. You'd been doing okay, better than you initially thought possible. Your heart was still recovering from the heartbreak of a breakup, but you'd been going to work regularly and hanging out with your girlfriends to make up for the loneliness that came with being recently single. You were still sad deep down, but having good friends and a hectic, time-consuming job was a great distraction from heartbreak.

Tonight, you and your friends planned to go to a local bar that you used to frequent with Sirius for drinks and darts. You got ready quickly, picked out an outfit suitable for a bar, and styled your hair hurriedly. Just before you were about to leave, you felt a ding in your back pocket and read a text from your friends telling you that they had to cancel.

Sighing, you shoved your phone back into your pocket. "Just my luck," you muttered. You were excited to see your friends and have a few drinks, but it doesn't seem that will happen. Unless… you were already ready anyway, why not go to the bar to have fun alone? You quickly decided that was a great idea and left in a hurry to walk to the bar. You made haste and walked to the bar quickly, excited to have fun and admittedly get a little tipsy after a long week.

Although the bar was only six blocks away–relatively short for London standards–walking in heels left you with blisters when you reached the door. When you entered the bar, you sat on one of the stools near the bartender and ordered an old-fashioned, planning to get buzzed quickly.

After downing approximately four old-fashioned drinks–though you'd truthfully lost count–you were solidly tipsy and ready to socialize with the nearest human. You had probably looked a bit odd hunched over at the bar hammering drinks alone, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures, and you'd consider a recent breakup and friend cancellation desperate times. At this point, you could feel the effects of alcohol buzzing through your system. You were warm, admittedly just slightly sloppy, delighted, and ready to socialize with some people.

Spinning around on your bar stool to face the crowd, you peered among people's faces, looking for fun, friendly girls and playing a game that made it easy to join. Scanning left to right, you stopped once you saw two familiar faces: James and Remus. Usually, one would think you'd hightail it out of the bar after seeing your recent ex's two best friends–perhaps it was liquid courage or sheer stupidity–but you decided to waltz over to their high-top table and plop down next to them as they played a game of cards.

Startled by your non-stealthy, loud, and frankly drunk movements, Remus and James looked up simultaneously to meet your loopy, dazed grin and an embarrassing spot of red lipstick on your teeth you were unaware of. "Hi Remus, hi James," you spoke excitedly, any ounce of social anxiety smothered with whiskey.

"Hi, Y/N, having a fun night?" James spoke first, quickly noticing your inebriated state. He sported a friendly smile but looked a bit shocked by your entrance. You knew Remus and James well. The possibility of them not being your friends after the breakup had been difficult and saddening. Remus and James frequently accompanied you to Sirius' smaller gigs in London, and all four of you often got drinks after the show ended. By the time you and Sirius had broken up, you had considered Remus and James good friends and assumed they felt the same way about you. 

"I'm having so much fun," you near-shouted excitedly, a broad smile overtaking your features. Remus and James laughed in response, eyes crinkling as they observed your enthusiastic state.

Pausing for a second, figuring out how to phrase his next question, Remus asked, "How are you doing? Especially after everything that happened, if you don't mind me being intrusive." He wore a smile, but as his eyes scanned your face and figure, you could tell he was trying to analyze how you'd been coping with the breakup outside the bar.

You sucked in a breath, the feeling of air expanding your lungs dulled from the liquor but grounding you nonetheless. Not expecting the sincere question, you pondered on it for a moment. You had been doing okay with the band-aid of your job and your friends keeping you busy. However, you weren't sure if you were doing okay because you felt okay about the breakup or hadn't given yourself enough time to process it.

After digging deep down to address the wound in your heart, you decided it was the latter. "I've been doing okay. I've kept myself busy with work and friends, but I miss him a lot," you answered truthfully. Before Sirius got the gig in Glasgow, your relationship was almost perfect. Aside from the typical small arguments here and there, you two were infatuated with each other. Your breakup was necessary, but it wasn't wanted from either side.

Remus nodded, understanding what you meant and probably even the context of it all due to his proximity to Sirius. James interrupted the heartfelt moment with his typically cheerful attitude. "Well, if you're looking for more distractions, you could join us for a round of cards!" Although enthusiastic, his offer came out unsure, wondering if you wanted distraction or comfort.

You laughed in response, touched by his effort to comfort you even though you and Sirius were no longer together. "I think that sounds nice," you answered with a soft smile.

And so, over a few hours, you, Remus, and James drank multiple beers, played numerous card games, and divulged in far too many details regarding your feelings about your and Sirius' recent breakup. You told them you didn't know when you'd be ready to start dating again, that you missed the social connection and physical intimacy from a romantic relationship, and that you didn't know how much longer you could ignore the feelings of a brutal breakup with work and friends. They listened empathetically despite the inappropriate nature of you divulging these details with your ex's closest friends.

The excellent news is that alcohol hadn't just loosened up your filter but also James' and Remus' filters. Sirius was notoriously private, so his social media was no help finding details about his new life in Glasgow. Most of his posts were for marketing purposes. However, Remus and James were evidently mouthy drunks, and throughout the evening, you'd find out that although Sirius had tried going on dates, he stopped because the heartbreak was still too raw. Serves him right. When James shared that with you, Remus kicked him a bit too obviously, James flinching from his foot hidden under the tabletop, but the damage was done, and the information was stored in your mind.

"How is the gig going?" you asked. Although you had been craving details of Sirius' dating life, you also wanted to know how he was doing after years of hard work and sought-out gigs.

"I think he's doing okay. He took over for a lead singer who had a baby and listed his leave as indefinite, though he said it's weird being the new one in a band who has been together and known each other for years." Remus answered, James, nodding along. You hadn't thought about the social awkwardness associated with joining a band so late after its formation, but it seemed Sirius was adjusting well.

Staring at the somewhat blurry clock on the wall, you realize it is almost 3 a.m. and far past your bedtime. Gathering your coat to brave the cold weather, you leaped up from the bar stool and stretched your sore limbs. "Well, I have to get going, but thanks for keeping me company tonight," you offered your thanks with a small smile.

Remus and James looked at the clock in response, gathering their jackets and cards after seeing the time. "No problem, we're glad to hear that you're doing well," James smiled at you, his eyes crinkling up. He was always so friendly.

Walking out of the bar alone in the frigid night air reminded you of your loneliness again. Perhaps the cold air was sobering, or maybe it reminded you how nice it was to hold Sirius' warm hand on frigid nights like this and how his constant teasing always made warm, boisterous laughs escape your mouth.

♡ ♡ ♡

When you woke up in your apartment the following day, you still had on your clothes from the night before, recalling how you stumbled into the door and promptly passed out on the bed. Remembering the events from before with James and Remus–although delighted by the information you received–you expected them to never talk to you again, and even worse, you expected Sirius to hear about your nosiness and subsequently block you too.

So that's why you were surprised to see a text in a brand new group chat with Remus and James that read, "Cards and beer again next weekend?"

And so it began. 

♡ ♡ ♡

The next time you met up with Remus and James, you had a lot of life updates. For one, after reminiscing about Sirius and you walking home from the bar, you decided to go on a date to get him off your mind. It went terribly wrong. You went out for dinner with one of your coworkers, Charles. You two had sat awkwardly together while you devoured a steak, barely making any conversation outside of eating noises and sipping drinks in an attempt to get rid of anxiety. When he walked you home, he very unsubtly tried to get you to invite him upstairs, and by the end of his efforts, you were convinced the only reason he went out with you was to end the night in your bedroom. Now, things are awkward at work, and you've decided you can never speak to him again.

Trying to date again only made you want to get back together with Sirius more; you wished that was possible. You missed the comfort of being in a relationship with someone who knew you like the back of their hand. It never felt like an effort to converse with Sirius, even when it took you too long to come up with a comeback to his constant banter. It also never felt nerve-wracking or scary to initiate hand-holding, embraces, or kisses, only sometimes when he looked exceptionally handsome.

You were also incredibly frustrated. You'd resorted to looking at one of Sirius' few fan pages as a more minor artist and had discovered he'd been on a date. You had no idea how it went, but it dampened your mood nonetheless. Hypocritical? Yes. True? Also yes.

When you found yourself sitting across from Remus and James with the same beer as last time, lazily playing cards and more focused on conversation, you told them just that. Most people probably would feel stupid indulging in such personal endeavors to their ex-boyfriend's friends–you probably should feel more stupid doing so–but your friends are so busy, and you can't keep your tragic dating life to yourself anymore.

"And get this, after practically ignoring me the entire date and asking me to split the bill, he asked if he could come upstairs with me when we reached my apartment building! Isn't that ridiculous?" You rant to James and Remus about your date with Charles, feeling new waves of anger and frustration as you remembered the events. Although less wasted than last time, drinking multiple rounds of beer made you more loose-lipped than usual.

Remus' face crinkled in poorly concealed disgust. "Men like him have no shame. You would think he'd try to set things right as your coworker, but the fact he hasn't talked to you says a lot about him." James nodded in silent agreement.

Grumbling and propping your head into your arms on the table, you mumbled, "Ugh, I know. I wish dating wasn't so hard." Frustration sank deep into your veins. Being in a relationship with Sirius felt like one in a million. He was handsome, kind, thoughtful, respected boundaries, and made you so comfortable. Now, the first time you were thrown back into the ring, you happened to go on a date with someone who was Sirius's antithesis.

James patted your back in what was supposed to be a comforting rub. Then suddenly, he chortled. "You know, Sirius also has had trouble dating. He tried going out again with this girl he met at a bar. She went to the restroom and never returned after he told her he was a musician." Remus elbowed James in the ribs, likely for telling you something Sirius would not want you to know. You internally cheered; now you knew the answer to your looming question.

You shoot up almost immediately at the information, a bright light of warm, comfortable, purely selfish happiness burrowing itself in your chest. "Really!?" You ask excitedly, which both Remus and James laugh at.

"Hey, try not to look too excited! He's still one of my best mates," James laughs at your response, clearly bemused by your immediate shift in mood. A small smile graces Remus' lips, and a shiny, mischievous glint overtakes his eyes.

You try to tone it down a bit. "I know, I'm sorry. I know I'm being selfish. I just can't help but wish Sirius was still hanging up on me, too," you admit, letting a bit of sadness come to the surface of your emotions.

"You're still hung up on him?" Remus asked, putting a hand on your shoulder. You knew it was embarrassing to admit, but years of feelings don't go away after a couple of months. Of course, you were still hung up on Sirius. He had been your best friend, too, which James and Remus may have forgotten.

"Isn't that obvious? Of course, I'm still hung up on him. He was my best friend," you admitted quietly, eyes glazing over. You knew this was definitely something you shouldn't be sharing with James and Remus. But the smooth flush of alcohol in your system and feelings of nostalgia quickly overwhelmed your senses.

Remus and James noticed your heightened emotions, side-eyeing each other very clearly. You did not appreciate that. "If you tell him that, I will hurt you two," you threatened, narrowing your eyes.

Remus and James simply laughed but nodded at your empty threat, resuming your game of cards. "Scout's honor," James swore, swearing himself to secrecy.

By the night's end, you'd heard much about Sirius' gig, dating life, and adjustment to Glasgow. It sounded like it was going well, which you were conflicted about. On the one hand, you want the best for him. On the other hand, you're a selfish monster who wants nothing more than for him to come running back home to you. Not that you'd be the first person he would see anyway.

Over the next month, you had to travel to Paris for a work trip, severely restricting your scheduled beer and card games with Remus and James. This was highly displeasing; you wanted nothing more than to hound them for updates. The travel may be for the good, but it would help you move on quickly. And also help me seem less like a deranged stalker, you thought to yourself. Nonetheless, when you were back in a month, you, Remus, and James had beer, cards, and gossip planned again. 

♡ ♡ ♡

Paris was more fun than you could've ever imagined. Although you still had to work there, and this was the most extended work trip you'd ever been on, your boss was accommodating and perhaps lazy, allowing you to take most of the day to lounge around and explore the city.

And that's how you met Jean. Jean was a handsome Parisian man who did a fantastic job taking your mind off Sirius. You had met him at a nightclub about two weeks into your trip, at approximately 3 a.m.—who knew Parisians partied so late and so hard? When he slipped his number into your back pocket, it almost felt like fate. You weren't entirely convinced he was your soulmate, but you were getting close. 

You two weren't exclusive, but you found solace in spending the night intertwined, allowing you to escape the hotel and find romance after a long, painful, dry spell. Although a secret, tumultuous romance sounded quite appealing and much like a romance novel—which made you feel like a cool protagonist—you knew you had to talk to someone about your new fling.

The issue was that your girlfriends would be too nosy. They would want to know everything about Jean, including his social media, which could be disastrous. You need to talk to someone who would know, but they wouldn't grill you for information, so you decided on Remus and James.

You were hoping their oath to secrecy wasn't a lie because when you sent a text to your group chat that read, "Guess who can say she's been with a Parisian man?" it felt perilous. You were hoping you could unpack the details of your fling when you saw them again, not wanting to send a long text explaining everything.

However, when James replied, "I see you're going worldwide," with a winky face, your doubts eased a bit. It felt good having your secret fling off your chest, even if you knew telling James and Remus was an idiotic, terrible, but oh-so-relieving idea.

That night, you spent the night at Jean's again. You never really had much conversation with him. Your French was shoddy at best, and when he kissed the skin under your ear lobe after sharing a bottle of wine, it felt almost as good as a meaningful conversation. It was nearly enough to push away the memories of Sirius and you talking until your conversation ended with bellies and lungs tight from laughter, your faces wet from happy tears.

♡ ♡ ♡

It had been another week since you'd been in Paris. Things had slowed down significantly with Jean, especially after you'd realized that he could not cure your heartache. You both knew your arrangement, or whatever it was, was only short-term. He was handsome and into you, but he also lived in Paris and, hence, was not a viable option for you. He kissed you on the cheek when you parted, but it felt surface-level. Which it was, considering you had seen each other for only a week. 

Thinking of Sirius also still wanted to make you violent, to make you bang your head against the wall. When you'd shared that with James and Remus, they said he missed you and that things were tough in Glasgow, but you couldn't tell if they were saying it just to be excellent. Given the new low levels they'd observed you at, they had reason to. 

Today, you were walking to a coffee shop for remote work. If you'd consider staring at an empty Excel spreadsheet, work. When you said your boss was relaxed, you meant it. He'd posted a photo of himself at the Eiffel Tower eight times over the three weeks you'd been in Paris. 

You ordered yourself a cappuccino and sat down at a booth to lock in and watch TV shows on your computer while you pretended to be doing work. That was until you saw a familiar head of jaw-length black hair walk into the coffee shop: Sirius. 

No fucking way. You had to fight the urge to gasp out loud, bolt out of the shop, and abandon your electronics to escape the feelings of gut-wrenching heartbreak that reappeared upon seeing his face. He honestly looked a lot worse than when you'd seen him last. His face needed a good shave, he had heavy eye-bags, and he looked like he'd lost a concerning amount of weight since moving to Glasgow. You frowned at the thought of him suffering there. 

Apparently, he could feel your eyes on him because his gaze fell on you when he turned his head to scan the coffee shop. Internally screaming, you had to fight the urge to sink underneath the table and pretend you didn't exist. You should've run when you had the opportunity. 

His mouth opened in recognition and shock, a small smile curving upon his lips. Fighting the urge to pretend you didn't know him and run, you offered him a small smile and wave, gesturing at him to join you. This was such a bad idea that you internally face-palmed yourself at your unbelievable stupidity. You have been pining over your ex-boyfriend for months, and what do you do? Invite him to join you at a coffee shop and talk. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He approached your table, pulling out the chair on the opposite end of the booth to sit down in. "Hi Sirius," you spoke first, quiet, maybe timid, but friendly nonetheless. Your heart felt like it could explode out of your chest, and levels of heartbreak, sadness, and longing flooded to the surface, seeing him so close to you. Not to mention, he looked unwell, and you wanted nothing more than to embrace him like you would've done in the past. 

"Hi, Y/N," Sirius said, too. You both looked at each other for a second, a cloud of awkwardness and heartbreak in the air. He inhaled deeply, "How are you?" he offered up, breaking the silence. 

"I'm doing okay," you answered truthfully. "I've been busy with work and seeing my friends a lot," and there's the lie. You stared at a spreadsheet all day, and the only friends you'd seen frequently were Remus and James, who were Sirius's more friends than yours. 

"I'm happy to hear that," Sirius responded with a small smile. He paused for a second, thinking about his following words. "I heard from James that you've been dating again; I'm glad you're doing well," He spoke again, a forlorn look glazing over his brown eyes. His lips wore a neutral smile, but his eyes told a different story. Upon hearing these words, your heart dropped into your lower stomach. I'm going to kill him, you thought. James was so in for it. The worst part was you weren't even dating Jean anymore. You weren't ever dating him; he was just a fling and a distraction. 

You needed to figure out how to correct this vital error. Clearly, Sirius had gotten the wrong impression about your dating life from James, that bastard. Despite your frustration, after thinking about it, you didn't know there was a use in correcting the error. After all, despite how pathetic and in love you were with Sirius, he was still in Glasgow. "Thanks, Sirius, I appreciate it," you opted to respond to his comment after thinking about your situation. "How are you?" you asked. Despite his interesting appearance, you had hoped he wasn't terrible. 

"I'm okay. I'm moving back to London soon, though," he smiled. Oh no. You swore you felt your heart drop on the floor. When you convinced yourself that this relationship was forever out of your grasp, he dropped this bomb on you.

"Oh! Really?" You ask with an empty, fake smile, though you were admittedly surprised by this confession. "I suppose it will be nice to be closer to James and Remus again!" You added. You hoped he thought it would be nice to be closer to you again, too, but he officially thought you were dating someone else, and it felt too late into the conversation to reverse back on the error. It would be both confusing and humiliating to admit you had gone on with the lie. 

He nodded. "The lead singer was on leave because he had a baby; even though he listed it as indefinite, he decided to start working again," Sirius answered honestly, explaining the situation to you. You swear you could feel your heart snap into a million little pieces. You and Sirius had broken up believing this job arrangement was permanent, but now it felt like all your heartbreak was for nothing. 

"I see. What are you gonna do in London?" you asked, trying to convince yourself he might get tied down to another band. That way, the heartbreak would feel a lot less awful. 

"I'm going solo," Sirius told you. His typical confident demeanor was shredded; he was excited, but his words left enough room for you to tell he was looking for your approval. 

"Congratulations, Sirius. I'm really happy for you," you said. You were happy for him; this had always been his dream, but it was easier to break into the music scene in a group. However, this was probably the worst situation for mending your heart. If Sirius was solo, he wasn't tied to a band or their touring schedule. If he didn't think you were dating Jean, it would be entirely possible for you guys to rekindle your relationship. You felt like going to the Eiffel Tower solely to climb it and throw yourself off. 

You took a deep breath, desperately needing to escape the situation and think. "I have to get going," you blurted awkwardly and rashly. "I have to go back to the office; my lunch break is over," you added in a quieter, more normal-sounding voice. You hoped Sirius would ignore that it was 10 a.m. and nowhere near lunchtime. It was a pathetic, poorly thought-out lie in an attempt to escape. 

"Oh, well, it was nice talking to you. See you around!" Sirius responded, clearly taken aback by your sudden departure. If you didn't feel like you were going to vomit up your breakfast, you would've felt bad, as he clearly thought you were desperate to ditch him. You were, not because you hated him, but because you still loved him. 

You nodded, quickly packed up your belongings, waved goodbye, and bolted out of the coffee shop, nearly tripping over your shoes on the way out. It was so embarrassing. You opened your group chat with Remus and James, sending a single text, "Traitors!" 

James' reply was a single emoji with their tongue sticking out.

♡ ♡ ♡

You had been back in London for a week, and after multiple texts from now-apologetic James and Remus, who had been apologetic from the start, you agreed to meet them again at the bar to talk. You were honestly still a bit upset. Knowing that there was now a possibility of getting back together with Sirius, which you had subsequently squashed, had reopened deep sadness. 

You entered the bar, immediately spotting James and Remus at your usual table. You sat down with a small smile; they were still your friends, and you waited for an explanation. 

Immediately as you sat down in the booth, James blurted out, "I'm sorry!" You nodded but raised your eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. "Please forgive me. I promise I thought you were dating Jean, and Sirius asked about you. I couldn't leave him hanging; he's my best friend." James blurted out the information rapidly, clearly apologetic and anxious.

However, there was only one piece of information that you immediately narrowed down on. "Wait, Sirius was asking about me?" you asked, shocked and slightly shaken. Here, you thought you were the pathetic ex-girlfriend hounding details out of James and Remus, but maybe, just maybe, Sirius was the pathetic ex-boyfriend, too. 

Remus responded with a snort, "Please, Sirius has been asking us about you nearly every day for the past three months!" James nods hurriedly, clearly trying to appease your worries. 

"And you didn't tell me?" you ask, a twinge frustrated—scratch that, a lot frustrated. You'd been ranting to them for months about how heartbroken and sad you were, only to discover that Sirius was equally upset.

"Well, we didn't know if he'd be returning either. We thought we were being good friends hearing you guys out. We didn't want either of you to know about the other in case Sirius stayed in Glasgow," Remus explained, his words coming out quickly. 

You nodded in response. Although you were frustrated, Remus's and James's explanations made sense. Honestly, you felt terrible dumping all that responsibility on them. 

"Well, we have to go. Bye!" James said, grabbing Remus' arm and running out of the bar. You gaped in response, shocked by how quickly they tried to run off. Their mannerisms made no sense until you saw a familiar face for the first time since Paris: Sirius. 

He looked shocked to see you approaching the table you sat at. "Hey, Y/N, what are you doing here?" That seemed like something you should ask him. 

"I just met up with James and Remus," you replied sheepishly. You didn't know if he knew about your continued meetings. And you hoped he didn't know that you had been milking them for information about his life in Glasgow. 

"Oh, they told me to meet them here," Sirius said. "I wonder if they decided to switch locations. I can go to meet them," he continued, using his thumbs to point towards the door and indicate his departure. 

You think you both knew that James and Remus had planned this. However, you also knew that Sirius was likely being nice and didn't want to make you uncomfortable since he was under the impression that you were dating Jean. 

When Sirius started to retreat, you saw his broad, tall figure walk out the bar's doors, a bell dinging as he left, and you knew you couldn't sit back. You couldn't let the man you love get away from you again. Knowing you could've done something to stop it, you couldn't deal with another heartbreak. 

You hopped up from the bar stool, running after Sirius's figure until you reached him two blocks away, in front of a brick alleyway. "Sirius, wait!" you nearly pant, clearly out of shape, reaching out to clutch his wrist. He turned around to face you, looking dejected. "I'm not seeing Jean," you blurted out–still out of breath–a rare moment of vulnerability. You wanted to smack your hand over your mouth. "He was just someone, something, to get my mind off you for a while." You felt like you needed a muzzle right now. 

His expression shifted from sadness to surprise but then again to emotions you couldn't put your finger on. “Y/N…” He began, but you quickly cut him off. 

"Please, I know I messed up," you admitted quietly. You were embarrassed. "I should've been honest with you. I should've told you I missed you and had been honest with you, but I didn't know if you would ever return. So I resorted to playing a game of telephone with James and Remus. I should've just asked you how you were doing." 

He looked bashful for a second, an emotion you didn't usually see on Sirius. "Well, you weren't the only one playing the game telephone. I kind of, maybe, told James and Remus to continue meeting with you so I knew what was happening in your life." He pauses for a second, trying to figure out how to continue. "And for the record, you didn't mess up seeing Jean; we were broken up, and you had every right to move on. I just selfishly wished you had been waiting for me."

You laugh at his confession. You should've known James, and Remus wouldn't have continued to update you without telling Sirius information, too. After all, he was their friend first. "I should've known they would sell me out to you and that they wouldn't be the most reliable relayers of my life." You sucked in a quick breath, "I wish I had waited for you, too; I just didn't know if you were ever coming home." If you weren't embarrassing yourself enough, you suddenly said, "I never stopped loving you."

A vast silence washed over the two of you for a moment, your sudden confession hanging over your heads like a ripe fruit from a tree, desperate to be desired. Then, Sirius reached out to cup your cheeks, both rosy from the cold air and the heat of your confession. His eyes searched yours before he spoke. "I never stopped loving you either," he admitted. 

A surge of relief flooded your system, along with bone-deep golden joy. You didn't let another moment pass before you wrapped him in a tight embrace, your head falling under his chin. He allowed a burst of happy, surprised laughter to escape his lips before wrapping his arms tightly around your waist. When you held each other, all the misunderstandings and doubts between you two melted away, replaced by love and closeness. You never wanted to let go of him again. 

After a moment, he pulled away, "You could've just told me you missed me, dollface." Although you felt touched, he had so quickly re-adopted your old nickname, you punched his arm nonetheless. 

"Shut up," you murmured, leaning upwards to envelop his lips in a gentle, soft kiss. When he smiled against your lips, you hoped you two could stay like that forever. 

[torialefay]

comments and thoughts on the channie content from today's jpn fanmeet?

He’s been so into his “cutie boy” era and I’m honestly here for it. And ofc I love his curly hair the most, but I am really liking the straightened hairstyle he’s had over the last little bit. It actually has been feeding my delusions bc remember him talking about how he’d love to wear his hair out more, but he just doesn’t know how to style it? Well I could figure out the curly routine, but his straightened style??? Easy. Like lemme do it for you baby 🥺 Plus the video of him almost kissing Binnie’s hand ughhhhh

Because imagine having a lazy morning with Channie & you end up doing his hair 🥺🫶🏼

The two of you had stayed up late playing games, drinking, telling stories, and talking into the darkest hours of the night.

When you’d woken up in the morning, the sun was peaking through the back of the blackout curtains in Chan’s bedroom. Your movements woke him up as well.

“Morning baby,” he’d whispered sweetly in his crackly morning voice before reaching his arms around you to pull you in closer to him. You’d let your head rest in his chest as he nuzzled his chin onto your forehead with a smile.

“Good morning,” you’d tried to say back, the words getting lost in the barrier of his bare skin. Your brain was still foggy, but your heart was content beating next to his.

“What do you wanna do today?” he’d mumbled, squeezing you a bit harder before resting with you in an even tighter embrace.

“This,” you smiled, planting a soft kiss to the skin in the middle of his chest.

“Mmm good,” he whispered, moving one hand to hold taut to the area between your lower back and your ass. “Back to bed, angel,” he managed to get out while grinning to himself.

A few hours later, once you’d both began to stir, Chan checked his phone, scrolling through the notifications, one after one. He’d absentmindedly opened TikTok to start watching videos with you. It’s something you’d done time and time again. Chan’s algorithm was different than yours to say the least. Random gaming videos, sports reels, music stuff, etc. The one thing you had in common on the platform was recommended STAY edits. And every time Chan skipped a sexy edit of himself, you pouted until he went back and let you watch it. Of course you had to tease him a bit afterwards, rubbing your hand up and down his torso. “Look at my fine mannn,” you’d teased, pulling back with a big smile on your face.

“Hush,” Chan rolled his eyes, lazily grinning before pulling you back to him so you couldn’t say another word.

Later, he’d received a text from Felix saying that a few of the boys wanted to check out a new gallery that had opened up about an hour away. He’d asked if you and Chan would like to go.

“I’m more than content with just laying here with you, baby,” Chan said, leaving the decision up to you.

“I am too… But it could be fun if you wanna go,” you looked at him with big eyes, excited that you’d been included in the plans.

“We’d better get ready then,” he’d said before stretching his arms out above his head. “I think they’re wanting to leave in a little over an hour.”

45 minutes later, and you were finishing your makep as you saw Chris walk out of the bathroom toward his closet, wearing only his shorts. You watched the outline of his back from your makeup mirror as he sorted through shirts before pulling one over his head and down his torso. He grabbed a beanie from the shelf and chucked it on as well. The way his muscles flexed as they were reaching up was a sight you’d never get over. After giving himself a one-over in his long mirror, he walked behind you and plopped onto the bed, waiting for you to be ready.

One final brush stroke of mascara and you were done. You turned in your chair to face your boyfriend. “Your hair is so cute baby. Why don’t you wear it out today?”

Chan blushed a bit before looking down. He always got like this when the hair conversation came up.

“You know I don’t know how to style my hair,” his voice went up as he spoke, still feeling shy. “It’s got a mind of it’s own right now… And every other day as well.”

“Well lucky for youuu-“ you dragged out as you stood and walked to stand in front of your boyfriend. “I can do it for you! Please please pleaseeee,” you plead, grabbing his hands to squeeze them.

He giggled, giving into you waving his hands up and down. “Okay, okay, you can give it a go. I trust you to do me right, yeah?” he joked.

Your whole face perked up at his agreeance, giving a couple of quick claps before running into the bathroom. You sorted through your things before returning to the bed where he was sat.

“Okay SO, there’s good news and bad news. Bad news is that I only have stuff to straighten hair. Good news is we can go buy some curly hair products once we get done with the boys!” you said excitedly, reveling in your new-found service. “We’re gonna curly girl method you! I’ve always wanted to try it!”

“You’re gonna do what to me?” Chan asked, half laughing but half squinting his eyes in confusion.

“You’ll see.” You walked to the bed to grab a pillow and set it in the floor just between the bed and your makeup table.

“Alright baby,” you said as you plugged your straightener into the outlet, “you sit on the pillow and I’ll get you all squared away.”

Chan did as he was told and shimmied down to sit cross-legged on the pillow. As you situated yourself into the bed behind him, you instructed him to lean back into you, wrapping your legs around him in the process. “Gotta hold you still for good measure,” you grinned.

After peeling Chan’s beanie off, you gave his scalp a quick rub, earning a light moan in response. You took your time combing through his hair, adding some heat protection and a silkening gloss before running the styling tool through it. You made sure you were on the lowest heat setting and were as gentle as you could be. You didn’t want to throw his natural pattern too far off.

Once you’d finished, you made sure to add some holding spray to make sure it would last him the day. “Alright, final check,” you said, swooping your feet out and turning them so you could land in front of him. You let yourself fall down to your knees so that you were straddling his lap. “Okay now look at me,” you instructed. Without really giving him time to cooperate, you placed your hands at his jaw to tilt his head up to eye level with you.

“Perfect,” you smiled, admiring how handsome he looked with his hair on display. “Now tell me-“ you strained as you reached backward to grab a mirror off of your table. “If there’s anything you want me to change,” you said, holding the mirror out to Chan.

He took it carefully before bringing it to his head. He swerved it around, making sure to check every angle. “Wow,” he smiled before lowering the mirror, “you did a good job, babe. It looks really good. Thank you,” he said sweetly before reaching out to grab your hand. He held it so softly, so tenderly before holding it up in front of his lips. He pressed a small kiss onto the back of your hand as he watched you, thanking you again silently with his eyes.

The gesture put a wide grin on your face. You squeezed onto his hand again before leaning into a hug. “You don’t need to thank me, I’d do it any day. But next time…” you said, pulling back, “we’re leaving your curls, okay?” You lightly scratched the back of his neck.

A little smile spread across him. “If you think you can manage it.”

“Oh, you’re gonna love it by the time I’m done with you,” you teased.

Chan wrapped one arm around your waist, letting the other hand trail down to rest on your ass. He held tightly as he pulled you closer on his lap. “I like the sound of that.”

[digitaldiarystuff]

The Fight

thank you so much for this request i loved it and hope you did as well!!! please keep on sending somethings

————

pairing: Trent Alexander Arnold x Y/N

summary: you and Trent have an argument and he says some things that break your heart but he realizes what he did wrong and tries to apologize

genre: angst to fluff

————

“Hey baby I got groceries” you yelled into the hall entering your house with Trent. Today was a match day and Trent being injured, he couldn’t play.

“Hey” he simply said from the living room.

You quickly pecked his lips and laid everything you bought on the kitchen island. You were planning to have a cosy date night in with him especially since his mood has been down for a while. He was a very passionate man about his job and little hiccups affected his life.

“Would you like some steak or-

You were interrupted by the doorbell ringing and Trent opened it to reveal Dominik. You were shocked to say the least, but thought maybe he was here to drop off or pick something up.

“Hey mate” Trent hugged Dominik and seeing his smile made you feel better for a while.

“Hey Dom” you exited the kitchen to greet him with a hug.

“Hi, Y/N. Thank you for inviting me.” he kindly said, you liked Dominik you really did but you gave Trent a look expecting an explanation but he didn’t look your way and continued his conversation with his friend.

This was supposed to be a date night with just the two of you, you didn’t have to worry about work for the first time in a while and you thought this would be good for the pair of you but clearly, Trent had other plans.

You didn’t say anything more and went back to the kitchen to start preparing a meal with a sigh. You loved Trent getting out of his shell in the last year, he was more social than he’s ever been but you were a little hurt that’s it.

You decided to put your needs second and let him enjoy being with his friend, which happened quite often recently but you didn’t care. You knew he needed this.

“Can I help with anything?” Dominik asked from behind and you turned to him with a hopefully convincing smile.

“No, I got it. You’re the guest, please make yourself at home.” you said and he thanked you just grabbed two waters and left.

Even Dom came and asked if you need any help, but Trent didn’t, you thought. He was becoming more and more distant recently and you worried about him shutting you off. If he wanted to watch the game with his friends you’d happily agree and maybe invite some more people but this morning you told him you were thinking about having a date for you two at home and he just said mhm. He could’ve just said no.

You cooked the two steaks you’ve purchased and boiled vegetables to accompany them, it’s a good thing you weren’t feeling hungry anymore. At that moment, you felt more like a house maid than a girlfriend but you didn’t want to cause a scene in front of someone, you decided to wait until Dominik left to have a conversation with your boyfriend.

“Dinner’s ready.” you shouted into the living room and the boys made their way to the bar sitting down on stools.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Trent asked and you just gave him a look that said, drop it.

“No, I had a big lunch.” this was a lie, a lie Trent should be able to see but he didn’t. They thanked you for the food and you went upstairs to your room to cool off.

You were thinking about the right way to approach the situation because you didn’t want to have a big blown argument with Trent. You were just feeling a little under appreciated lately. He could understand that, right?

You didn’t even realized you drifted off, you were only awakened by some shuffling in your room. You panicked a little but quickly realized it was Trent opening and closing some drawers on your dresser.

“What are you doing?” you asked and he turned around. He was wearing pants and a new t-shirt and his hair was styled.

“Are you going somewhere?” you asked again.

“Yeah, we’re going to celebrate the win with the boys.” he nonchalantly said and you felt the weight of the unspoken words from before again.

“And you didn’t ask me to come because…” you trailed off hoping he’d finish your sentence.

“Because we’re not attached at the hip Y/N. It’s just a couple of drinks, why are you being like this?” he asked and you narrowed your eyes.

“I’m being like what, Trent? I just wanted a night with you where we could enjoy some food and drinks while watching TV. Like a couple. Is that so much to ask?”

“Oh my days! You’re blowing this out of proportion, Dominik called and asked to come, what was I supposed to say?”

“You could’ve said I’m having dinner with my girlfriend but clearly, you couldn’t. And you’re here telling me you’re going out to a club before even talking to me at all? Am I your girlfriend or your housemate Trent? I was hoping to sort this out with you without having an argument, I wanted peace.”

“Yeah, clearly” he snorted and you felt your ears heating up with how little he cared about you pouring your heart to him.

“You know what, fine, go. It’s not like you being here is going to solve anything. Maybe I’ll be gone when you come back so you can have your peace.” you said with tears in your eyes, Trent was hurting you so much with not caring about your issues and not wanting to talk and sort everything out. He was never like this, he changed.

“Look I don’t need you bringing me down now Y/N, we can talk about it tomorrow.”

Before you could say anything, he walked out the door slamming it in the process and you felt your whole body freeze. You suddenly felt numb, Trent didn’t even care you threatened to leave, he didn’t even bat an eye. He didn’t say I love you like he used to and you started sobbing uncontrollably. You laid on the bed with tears on your face and thought about your good times, maybe it was true, everything comes to an end.

All you felt was a little disappointment but this last conversation left you broken. He wasn’t in love with you anymore.

You didn’t know how long you stayed like that but it had to have been a couple hours because you heard the front door open and close which meant he came back. You couldn’t face him now, he’d only hurt you more so with your back to the door you pretended to be asleep. Trent slowly made his way to your bathroom and he came out after a while, he shuffled around the closet and changed making his way to the bed. You were trying so hard to not break down again but once he plopped down on the bed your body started shaking again. He noticed and sighed loudly putting one arm on your waist pulling you to his chest.

You wanted to fight him, get out of his touch but he was the only thing that could calm you down at the moment and you hated him and yourself for it. You leaned in his touch not trusting your logic. You needed his comfort.

“I know you’re awake.” he whispered in your ear but you couldn’t say anything, just laid there with a trembling body.

“I love you” he tried again and you broke down immediately.

He hurriedly turned you over and looked at your tear stained red puffy face with concern in his eyes. This was the most emotion you’ve seen him have in a while.

“Y/N, baby, shh. It’s okay. I’m sorry I’m so sorry.” he said while wiping your tears and pulling you closer to his chest. You kept crying and then you shoved his chest.

“Not good enough. You don’t get to be a good boyfriend now, you left me like this and came back hours later. Do you know how shitty that felt?” you asked him and he looked away ashamed of his behavior.

“You’re right and I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you I swear. I love you Y/N and I’m sorry for shutting you out it’s just I’m feeling a little lost lately.” he confessed and you couldn’t help but put your hand on his cheek to make him face you.

“Trent I get that, I really do but you don’t have to shut me out. I’m here to help you, I love you and want you to be happy but all you’re doing is hurt me.” He leaned in your touch and kissed the palm of your hand slowly making eye contact with you.

“I know, I know” he said.

“I promise I’ll do better. I never want to see you like this ever again, especially because of me. I love you” he said pleading and your heart melted.

One thing about Trent, he never lied. Even in the most uncomfortable moments where lying could get him out, he didn’t and you knew he was really sorry.

“I don’t want to say it’s okay because it’s not. You can’t treat me like that ever again because I’m your girlfriend Trent. But I know you feel bad and you understand where I come from.”

“I do I really do.” he cut you off and pressed another kiss on your hand.

“I promise this will never happen again, of course we’re attached at the hip. I’m never leaving you, you’re it for me and I can’t lose you Y/N I love you.”

You didn’t say anything just snuggled closer to him and he accepted you with open arms. Even though he was a little thick headed sometimes, you knew he loved you and would do anything for you and that’s why you’re still with him. You loved him with all your heart and there’s nothing that can change that.

[primaviva]

PAIRING: gwen stacy x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS: how you met, confessions, and relationship headcanons for your favorite ghost-spider. gwen stacy.

WARNINGS: me rambling about gwen, kissing, some suggestive but no smut ofc, height difference, some angst but mostly fluff, gwen is so fine and pretty and 5’7 that’s not even a warning she’s just sooo?? also not spell checked

— FIRST MEETING YOU

this all started out as a hallway crush.

she saw you in the halls and thought your style was cute but she never got a good luck at your face

you were a new student and was getting the rundown of the building and where your classes were

so when she walks into class the next day and sees you sitting next to her? with a better view of your face?

she folded.

CAN YOU BLAME HER? you’re so beautiful she literally forgets how to put words into proper sentences

gwen can be socially awkward in situations she’s not prepared for but she’s never acted shy talking to others and always acts like such a tough and cool girl… just not around you

she was acting mad dumb i can’t even lie to you

her words always came out and in the wrong order like yo you would have to get a descrambler to translate her whole sentence because she would just get caught so off guard looking into your gorgeous eyes and your cute smile and your- she could go on.

“gwen? earth to gwen? hello-“ peter kept calling to try and get the blondes attention. his annoyance soon turned into a smirk as he realized just what has her full attention. you.

“you know if you actually talked to her you, guys would probably become friends and you wouldn’t have to admire the back of her head every day” he teased which brought gwen right back to reality.

she didn’t really know you yet, but she wanted to. she just got so shy around you it was uncommon. gwen blushed at the sound of peter's teasing words. she knew that he was right - if she just talked to you, she might actually have a chance to get to know you. but every time she tried to muster up the courage to approach you, her nerves got the best of her. she couldn't help but feel self-conscious around someone she admired so much.

as peter continued to make jokes at her, gwen ouldn't help but feel a mix of embarrassment and frustration. she didn't want to be known as the girl who couldn't talk to her crush, but she also didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of you. taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she made a silent vow to try and talk to you the next chance she got. Maybe with a little bit of practice, she could get over her shyness and make a real connection with the person who had captured her attention.

little did gwen know that you thought she was cute herself and wanted to get to know her

even luckier for her that YOU wanted to make the first move

today's class was more boring than ever, but when did you ever have high expectations and the word fun in the same sentence about a math class. you kept noticing gwen looking at you every other moment and decided it was time to “break the ice.”

“hey, i like your eyebrow piercing! it’s really cool…and cute,” you said, smiling warmly at her.

the only thought in gwens mind? SHE SAID SHE LOVES MY PIERCING AND IM COOL ND CUTE WHAT THE FU-

gwen was taken aback by the compliment and also your sudden interest in her, her heart raced as she felt the familiar fuzzy feeling in her chest grow when you looked at her. “o-oh? this? thank you. i got it a while ago,” she replied, feeling her shyness begin to melt away.

“it really fits-” you tried to finish but the teacher yelled at both of you for speaking during her lesson. you both quieted down but glanced at each other and let a snicker out.

“do you even know what’s happening right now?” you asked in a hushed tone.

“no clue, and im pretty sure it’s been a decade or two since she’s last picked up a protractor,” she joked, making you giggle so hard you had to cover your mouth.

gwen thought update? I MADE HER LAUGH I MADE HER LAUGH

best believe she was so proud of herself that day

and she still feels a warmth spread to her cheeks when you slapped her shoulder telling her to stop making the witty comments before you piss yourself or you two get in trouble

— BECOMING FRIENDS AND THE CONFESSION

gwen and you eventually got closer

so close that you guys begun to hangout outside of school with the plus one of peter to ease gwen into it

but those group hangouts turned into solos…and those trips to the mall turned into you hanging out in her room in her bed…

and the tension was thick.

the way you two brushed shoulders, how your hands would touch when you reached for the same thing, looking at each other for longer than needed

you could imagine how painful this was for peter to watch. IMAGINE HOW BAD IT WAS FOR GEORGE TO WATCH

even her dad caught on to the way gwen would look at you when she invited you over to her house for dinner with peter that one time and she was staring at you so hard while you talked to him that he thought his daughter was gonna have hearts come flying out of her eye sockets

in order for gwen to like somebody and want be in a relationship with them, she needs to have a emotional connection with them too

she wants somebody who puts up with her, who understands her, who accepts her, and a shoulder to lean on to.

especially with her living her double life as the heroine of new york?

it definitely caused problems as the two do you got closer and reached the best friend mark

she began flaking on hangouts, not answering calls or texts, acting mad sketchy with her lying which you so easily noticed

but you didn’t force her. you didn’t make her explain when you saw her face drop at your questions.

you understood it was personal and instead just gave her a hug around the neck whispering in her ear that you’ll always be a shoulder to lean on and be there for her

she wrapped her arms around your waist tightly and reciprocated the hug as she buried her head in the crook of your neck as an attempt to try and stop the strong urge to cry…that’s when she knew you were the one.

one of the common things you both bonded over was music and that’s when she found it fit to tell you bout the band she’s in

when she told you about how she was in the mary janes and was their drummer you couldn’t lie and say it didn’t make her 10x cooler in your eyes and attractive

gwen decided it was time to tell you about how she truly felt about you. she has played the drums for years, so when her band got the opportunity to play at a venue, she was thrilled to tell you about it.

she invited you, peter, and her dad to the show. before she even went backstage to prepare she saw a glimpse of you in the front row all dolled up for her and her heart skipped a beat at what she was planning.

the show was spectacular. song after song after song the music was catchy and addicting and you couldn’t help but stare at gwen so in her element. if only you knew the struggle for her to not glimpse up at you and see you dancing and smiling to the songs. when it ended and everybody got the chance to go up to her they all praised her. you went up and hugged her, telling her how amazing she was but before she could reply to you she was called backstage by her band for cleanup. the last thing she saw was you waving at her with a smile.

she wasn’t going to back out if this tho. she was going to to confess to you. you ended up going backstage after seeing the rest of her band leave but noticing she didn’t leave with them.

“i really did mean it when i said you were amazing, gwen. i had no idea you were that talented,” you complimented, making her jump a little at the sudden sound of your voice. she turned around with a flustered look as you just giggled at the reaction you got from her. ‘there goes that feeling again’ she thought as the familiar pounding in her chest started and heat began to rise to her cheeks.

“you doubted me before?” she teased, getting herself back into reality. “nah, not at all.”

you were gonna be the death of her.

“look, i don’t know how to say this but i didn’t just invite you here to watch my show. it’s not like i didn’t want you to come it’s just- ugh..” she signed, glancing up from her fidgeting hands to meet your eyes, you were watching her intently, listening to what she has to say.

“i know we’ve been friends for a while and i don’t want to ruin what we have and i just need to tell you that…that i have a crush on you and i really like you,” she confessed, her voice lacking it’s usual confidence and barley above a whisper.

in her nervousness she ended up blabbing on saying how she understands if you don’t feel the same way and sorry she did this to you and it’s completely ok if you don’t want to talk to her again- meanwhile she can’t hear you saying you like her back.

that’s until you grab her by the hands and forcefully grab her attention. her eyes stare into yours confused at the smile beaming on your face.

“gwen, i like you too.”

gwen was frozen in shock she didn’t even believe her reality even tho it was happening right in front of her

she was literally baffled when she looked down at you and saw how close the two of you were

— DATING GWEN

she didn’t ask you to be her girlfriend right away

she took you on a date to a pizza place because she wanted it to be casual and then after you guys walked around going to corner stores

y’all walked into a radio store that had a bunch of vinyls, cds, literally everything and you saw gwens eyes light up at the sight

she would tell you about certain bands, how they compose their music, etc and even if you knew the band you would still let her tell you because you loved how happy she looked talking about her interests

she def recommended you new songs for your playlist and said she would play them on the drums for you sometime

anything you saw in the stores that you liked gwen would buy for you in an instant

the night would come to an end and she would walk you to your house or even go on the commute home with you if you took the bus

if only gwen checked the weather because none of you came with an umbrella for the torrential raining that was waiting for you both

gwen ended up giving you her jacket because you were cold and she didn’t want you getting sick

as she walked you home after your fate, the rain began pouring down. “here, take my jacket,” gwen said, slipping out of it and putting it around you.

"are you sure?" you asked, knowing damn well you wanted it.

"yeah, i don't want you to get sick and catch pneumonia," gwen joked as you both laughed.

you both continued walking down your block until you reached your place. before you could say your goodbyes, gwen stopped walking and held you by the hand which made you stop as well.

"hey, before you go inside, there's something i really want to ask you," she said, taking a deep breath.

you looked at her curiously, "hm, what is it?"

gwen took a moment before finally blurting out, "can i be your girlfriend- or er..will you be my girlfriend?"

your eyes widened in surprise before a smile spread across your face. "for real? gwen, yes i would love to," you replied.

a big, dumb smile made its way onto gwen's face at your answer. you wanted to make her smile even bigger.

you walked up to her and cupped her cheek, lowering her down to your height so your eyes met. you leaned in, giving gwen a gentle kiss on the cheek as your cold lips met her warm skin.

she was on cloud 9, so much so she didn’t even care that you took her jacket.

you kept that jacket of course

and she LOVES seeing it on you.

— RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS

gwen is so loyal and loving to you

she’s not the best at affection at first but she gets better at it

her love languages are AND IN THIS ORDER : acts of service, physical affection, words of affirmation

like i said, she isn’t the best at first with affection and don’t even get me started on her fear of initiating kisses…

to compensate for that she shows that she loves you through giving you her jacket when she’s cold, bending down to tie your shoes so you don’t have to, buying you things you want (this includes if you take certain meds like for my pcos people: birth control, iron, etc if she can she will pick it up for you so you can relax at home), and sm more

if you mention a place you wanna go? you both are there INSTANTLY

it’s just part of how good she listens to you

with physical affection it starts off slow with hugs

she may be tense at first even if you guys hugged as friends it’s just so different now for her

but she’ll slowly go from hugging you back, to your waist, and get comfortable enough to put her hands on your hips

she’ll rub circles on your thighs, back, arm and won’t even notice

she’s a big spoon.

she doesn’t mind being the little spoon, especially after a long day when she just wants to throw herself onto you

gwen was tired patrolling the city as spiderwoman. she had been on her feet all day, and all she wanted to do was see you, collapse on your bed, and rest. since you weren’t aware of her secret identity yet, she did a quick stop at her place to change close before she went to see you.

she knocked and you opened the door in an instant as she had texted you beforehand she was coming by and you were waiting impatiently to see your girlfriend. you took gwen up by the hand to your room and laid on the bed asking her about her day as she set her bag down with no reply.

without a second thought, gwen padded over to the bed and climbed on top of you, laying her head on your chest. you giggled and wrapped your legs around gwen’s waist, pulling her closer.

“tired girl had a rough day?” you teased, looking down at her head buried in your chest. "mhmm, you have no idea. i just need to rest for a little bit,” she replied, snuggling closer into you as if you guys weren’t skin to skin already.

you guys sat there for a couple moments enjoying each others company and the warmth you both provided to each other. that was until gwen’s weight became too much for you.

you tapped her back a couple times, "okay, okay, you're crushing me. get off!"

gwen, feeling mischievous, refused to budge. she flexed her muscles and held her ground, playfully messing with you and refusing to move.

"what, you can't handle a little weight? come on, show me what you've got," she challenged, her voice raspy and low from being tired.

“you’re such a menace gwen! if you don’t get your 5’7 goliath self off of me-” you groaned out, pretending to struggle. but it was clear that gwen's muscles were too strong for you. “fine, fine! you win. you’re too strong for me… and heavy,” you admitted in defeat.

"that's right. you better remember that,” she joked, shifting her body to make it less heavy on you. “i will, damn. just come here.”

gwen relented and got off you. an hour after tho.

she also likes words of affirmation because sometimes she has self doubt of if she even deserves to have you or if she treats you right

the last thing she wants is for you to feel neglected or unloved because of her secret duty as spiderwoman

she’s not a fan of super cheesy pet names and plus you both are teens going into young adult so she def ain’t pulling no “honey where’s my super suit” frozone shit on you

she doesn’t like using baby, she thinks it’s cringe

her favorite n most common pet names for you beside calling you your name is babe, my girl, beautiful, gorgeous and anything that doesn’t sound like a middle aged couple

random but she fidgets with your hands like she plays with them when she’s cuddling with you and in deep thought or when she’s just bored

gwen also isn’t too big on pda

in public she’ll hold your hand and give you quick kisses but never will she ever start eating your face at lockers before class im sorry to say this to you

gwen is super protective tho she’ll hold you waist and guide you through a crowd

like she will walk you to class and give you a quick kiss but major pda is just cringe and uncomfortable for her

trust she’s all over you in private, public just isn’t for her

but this girl is the EMBODIMENT of wlw hand placement

you like how calloused and rough her hands feel because it reflects her personality being a drummer and all but also her love for music, the reason for why her hands are so tough

y’all could be cuddling or just sitting next to each other watching tv and all of a sudden her arm is around your shoulder and her hand is laying on your chest inches away from your boobs

or another time she let you sit on her lap and while you’re there she’s rubbing her hands up and down from your waist to your thigh to your knee and back up again where she’ll caress the curves of your waist and all around

HAND PLACEMENT!!!

and trust she will have a firm grip on your hip to hold you down closer

she doesn’t mean it in a sexual way tho she wouldn’t mind it getting suggestive and turning it into a makeout if you love her touch that much

it’s just that she’s a touchy person and loves to have a hand on you just to feel you there

speaking of kisses…gwen loves them

she’s just too shy to initiate.

you just make her nervous like she’s very secure in your guys relationship and is comfortable but you’re just so pretty and she loves you sm she doesn’t want you to hate it-

as you two got closer you saw glimpses of into her life you never would have seen before. but you also saw glimpses of gwen’s other life, which she didn’t want you to see. not just yet.

you and gwen had a date at the park, you just wanted to do something peaceful with her since she seemed bothered with something lately, and whatever it was she avoided telling you in the slightest.

it didn’t help that when she finally showed up she had a black and blue at the side of her lip with bruised knuckles.

you went up and hugged her tightly, her hands running up and down your back as you pulled away and sat her next to you on the bench. “gwen, what the hell? are you ok? where were you?” you questioned.

gwen just scratched the back of her neck anxiously ready to spew out another excuse to you. “my dad needed me to pick up some groceries last minute. but me being stupid trying to rush, i tripped and fell down some stairs haha,” she lied through her teeth. “what’s crazy is that you think im stupid enough to believe that,” you answered, eyes squinted as you stared into her.

as the moments passed in silence, gwen's heart raced with anxiety. she knew that she had messed up by lying to her girlfriend, but she couldn't bring herself to reveal the truth about her secret life just yet. finally, she spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper.

“i’m sorry," gwen said, her eyes still fixed on the ground. "i shouldn't have lied to you, but k just… i’m not ready to share everything with you yet. It's complicated."

you took her hand and squeezed it gently. "i understand that, gwen. i don't expect you to share everything with me right away. but just please, don't lie to me. i just want to be here for you and support you, no matter what. i can wait for you as long as you need me to until you're ready.”

gwen felt a wave of gratitude wash over her. she’s never felt so seen and understood by anyone before. she was so grateful to have you as her girlfriend.

"thank you," she said, her eyes meeting yours for the first time since she arrived at the park.

gwen squeezed your hand back, looking down at your lips and the beautiful smile displayed on them, then back to your eyes.

without a word you both started to lean in. when you both were inches apart and you felt her breath on your lips, she locked eyes with you as you felt the anticipation before closing her own and kissing you passionately. it was soft and sweet, but there was an electricity between them that made gwen's heart race. when you both pulled away, you looked at each other with wide eyes and big smiles.

"wow," gwen said, still feeling a bit breathless. you chuckled softly, "yeah, wow…you have such a way with words.” gwen laughed, feeling a sense of lightness and joy that she had never felt before.

"i can't believe we just did that," she said. "me neither," you replied. "but I'm really glad we did." gwen felt a sense of warmth spread through her chest.

"me too.”

you both sat in silence for a moment, still holding hands. gwen's mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts and emotions, she didn't know how to articulate them all. but what she did know is that she would come clean to you about her double life, just when she’s ready. like you said.

her kisses are gentle and sweet

at the beginning of the relationship they were quick or just pecks on the lip but now? she loves to just hold you in place while deepening a kiss and she doesn’t mind if it gets sloppy she just wants to feel your love every way she can

she’ll kiss all over your body

kisses to your legs, kisses littered on your thighs, kisses down your neck, kisses to your temple, a soft kiss to the forehead, you name it she will press her lips against it and kiss it

she likes to make out…like a lot

it’s not in a way where she wants to do it every time she sees you, she just likes how slow you two can go and revel in each others company and how she can feel her lips on yours and her tongue kissing the inside of your mouth

bonus points if she gets you in her lap or straddling her waist so she can hug you, feel you, push your back forward with her hand to press you closer to her

she can get flustered about it, especially that one time she was so into it that when she pulled away a thin string of saliva kept the two of you connected

but that’s a fic for another time

she’ll lick your bottom lip for entrance and when she feels like messing with you she’ll bite it

and she does love kissing your neck down to your chest and plenty multiple kisses on your chest

i don’t think she would do hickies tho unless by accident but when she does it’s not anywhere visible because she does NOT want her father seeing allat

ANYWAYS she eventually tells you about her secret identity and she really stresses out about it

like she’s crying on the verge of violent sobs and you tell her that you love her for the first time even if it’s as mind baffling as it is

the “i love you” bit doesn’t make it any better considering she’s now an even more emotional wreck

gwen took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to tell her girlfriend the truth about her secret life as the ghost-spider.

she knew it was a risk, but she couldn't keep lying to the person she loved.

"i have to tell you something," gwen said, her voice shaking slightly. "i'm spiderwoman. i fight crime and protect the city. i know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. and it’s who i am."

your eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled. "i had a feeling there was more to your life than you were letting on," you said. "gwen if you think this is gonna make me run away from you im almost offended. i didn’t even know you were taking this up all on your own and im definitely not letting it stay that way. im here for you, always. gwen i… i love you,"

gwen felt a weight lifted off her shoulders as she saw the acceptance and love in her girlfriend's eyes. "thank you," she said, feeling tears of relief and joy welling up in her eyes.

it was like gwens ghost astral projected into heaven and came back down. she was in disbelief and immediately pulled you into her arms, telling you how much she loved and appreciated you too. the tears threatened to fall. and they did.

you’re relationship after that was just as strong

when she got hurt as spiderwoman, she would visit you through the window for you to patch her up

just in general now that you knew, she would pull up to your place anytime if she wanted to see you

she would shoot you a quick text about it tho…it just may be while she’s already outside

and the text may read “babe open your window pls”

she’ll even come during the middle of the night if she can’t sleep but for this she will actually text you to see if you’re up. she’s not gon break into your home and sneak into your bed she is not miguel on some daddy daycare meets freaky friday type foolery

she loves sleeping with you because you provide her so much comfort and clear her mind

there is nothing that could bring her to sleep faster than her holding you in her strong grasp, hands around your waist, and her head in the crook of your neck while you string your fingers through her hair

she’s just so whipped for you like she may not act like it in front of you but to others it’s very clear that you have her wrapped around your pretty finger

she literally spontaneously combusts when she sees you in her clothes

because of you being the height that you are and gwen basically being a giant compared to you, her clothes tend to be big on you

which she loves

you just look better than her in her own clothes

and DONT think she doesn’t take your clothes too, because she does

sweaters, shirts, pants, SHOES…she’s a thief and she knows it

bonus points if the clothes she take still smell like you and your signature perfume, it makes her blush

sometimes when you two plan a date she stops because she likes to see the thought process behind your outfits and help you with your look if you ask

truly she’s there to admire you

one time she came and your guardian answered saying you were upstairs so she opened the door and you weren’t even fully dressed it was a skirt and your bra on while you were in the mirror deciding between a pink shirt and another

gwen freaked out and slammed the door muttering like eighteen apologizes but you told her it was ok for her to come in but when she did she couldn’t look you in the eye for too long and stared at her feet so she didn’t die of embarrassment

she chose the pink top.

but she loves when you wear her clothes out like not even as pajamas so you can sleep soundly to the smell of gwen

especially if you two are on a date and you wear one of her jackets it just feels like you’re truly hers

and it lets others know too

“hey ladies, mind if i join?” the guy asked, sliding onto the barstool next to you both.

gwen leaned closer to you as you turned to her with an awkward smile, a clear sign of discomfort that she didn’t like one bit.

"actually, we do mind. we were just enjoying some alone time," your girlfriend snapped at the guy.

the airhead didn't seem to catch on, and instead turned his attention to you. "so, what's your name?" he asked, leaning in a little too close for comfort.

gwen felt a twinge of annoyance, but tried to remain polite. "i’m (y/n), and this is my girlfriend," you said, nodding towards her. “yeah im gwen, her girlfriend,” she said in a low, rough tone, her eyes dark with frustration. gwen ightened her grip on her girlfriend's waist, silently daring the guy to make another move.

silence fell at the info drop of you two being together.

then he finally got the hint.

"oh? ohhhhh… didn't realize you two were a couple” he replied blankly, still not leaving.

"yeah well, now you know," gwen said firmly, placing a protective arm around your shoulders. "but we're going to go back to our date now, so if you'll excuse us…”

when gwen is jealous she immediately gives to person glares of death like literally staring daggers into them

her jealousy doesn’t even stem from another person just talking to you like don’t get her wrong, she loves your attention! but she’s not gonna side eye anybody just because they shook your hand in told you good job or if a classmate needed help with something

no, her jealousy comes from when she KNOWS people want you

she can’t blame them you’re literally gorgeous in every way and you guys aren’t a “in your face” type couple but you never deny being together

so when somebody starts trying to flirt with you or make any advances she usually goes quiet because she trusts you know how to take care of yourself and handle a weirdo or two

if she’s there she’ll put a hand on the small of your back or around your waist

she gets involved only when you start showing signs of discomfort at the person talking to you

she won’t stand for it.

she’ll tell them off and if worse comes to worse she WILL fight a mf for you and accept the consequences later

it just all comes from a place of wanting to protect you

you mean so much to her and after everything she’s lost she doesn’t want you to be one of those

that’s why she tries to keep you out of her spiderwoman lifestyle as much as possible because if she found out you got hurt or she put you in danger because you were dating her, gwen could never forgive herself even if you could

overall, gwen is the most loving girlfriend, wants to give you the world, and will try to. you just understand her so well and are so patient, who can blame her for looking at you like you hung the moon and stars? because to her, you did.

A/N: hey so this is my first time posting on tumblr because i noticed the drought under gwen x reader and decided imma feel this shit up so im writing a oneshot next and my requests are open <33 ty for reading i hoped it quenched y’all thirst

© 2023 primaviva

[1d1195]

French Fries

Warnings: slight age gap, Harry with a child, fluff, this is a mess

Harry kept glancing at her as he drove. “M’sorry about our date,” he whispered.

“I don’t know what you’re apologizing for,” she shrugged and reached over to squeeze his arm while he held the steering wheel. “I had a lovely time.”

“Riley Styles,” Harry chuckled. “Knock it off,” he said but it felt kind of silly saying it because it was cute. Riley ran around butt naked. The little one giggled and ran into another room. “Your friend is going t’be here soon!” He called. “She won’t play with y’if you’re not clothed,” he sang as he waited with Riley’s outfit in hand. He was fresh out of the bath. Harry did everything he could to keep dry while the three-year-old bathed. Not for lack of trying. Riley made bathing a full body experience for Harry—and the whole bathroom, too.

The giggling stopped and he came back out. His towel in his hand dragging behind him. He was still naked, and Harry smirked at him. “She’d probably still play with you,” he winked.

He came running for Harry who scooped him up readily. He was no longer damp, thankfully. Harry pressed kisses all over his cute little dimpled face. He fluffed his curly hair and settled him back to the ground. Once Harry got him into his clothes as quickly as he could, he was now thinking more and more about the anxiety within him. It had to be the perfect night.

To distract himself, he made suggestions of things Riley could do with his babysitter while he was gone. Harry tried everything he could to not think about the impending evening. He was downright nervous, and he didn’t want to think too much for fear of throwing up.

It had been a long time since Harry had gone on a date. Nearly three years and nine months. He was plagued by nerves and worries.

But the girl.

Oh, she was more than worth all the anxiety.

While Riley ran off to find his blocks to start the tower he wanted to make, Harry answered his phone immediately as it rang, not even looking to see who it was.

“Hi Harry,” the other end of the phone said. With his mind going a million miles an hour, he didn’t notice her tone of voice.

“Hi, hi,” Harry said cheerily. “Are you here?” He asked, glancing out the window to see if he missed the car in his driveway.

“Um...”

His heart stopped and he realized the poor girl sounded ill. No, no, no. He may have been nervous, but he was excited to go. He needed to go on this date. Not having a babysitter was not how the evening was envisioned in his head. “You’re not coming?” He asked, completely deflated from his cheerful tone.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. My boyfriend got me sick; I can’t be around Riley. I was hoping I wouldn’t catch it, but I am so nauseous and sick it’s painful,” she admitted. You’re not the only one who’s nauseous. Harry thought. “I’m so, so sorry it’s last minute. I’m so sorry.”

Harry sighed and shook his head. It was terrible news of course, but it wasn’t her fault. “S’okay. Not your fault...feel better, love,” he said sweetly. Harry hung up and then quickly dialed the number he had been readily texting and calling for the past several weeks. He was displeased to hear the phone ring from the other side of his front door. “Shit,” he hissed.

“Dadda bad word!” Riley giggled from his spot in the living room. He toddled for the door as there was a knock on it.

“Hey!” Harry rolled his eyes and set after Riley. He took hold of his little hand pulling the door out of the way easily. With the night ruined, he was no longer anxious. Just disappointed that he wouldn’t get to be with the pretty girl today. “Hey, kitten,” Harry sighed deeply.

Her smile was so gorgeous. As always. Everything about her was gorgeous. Her hair looked like an angel had curled it into a halo around her beautiful face. “Pretty!” Riley shouted and pointed at her. Harry watched her cheeks turn pink at his son’s assessment.

“Oh goodness,” she giggled. “Well, hello, Riley,” she said reaching her hand out to shake it. “It’s nice to meet you. Dadda has told me so much about you,” she said sweetly. “You’re very cute,” she told him. He turned from her shyly after holding her hand and tucked his face against Harry’s leg. Harry smirked and ruffled his hair again.

“Riley, s’rude to point,” he scolded lightly and then looked back at the sweet girl. Her cheeks still flushed pink stretched into a smile so breathtakingly beautiful, Harry nearly forgot why she was here. “He’s right, though. You’re beautiful,” he whispered softly. She bit her lip and nodded.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I know I’m early...but we can wait for the sitter—”

Harry felt miserable. He had been waiting for this date for nearly two weeks. She looked so pretty all dressed up and ready to spend time with Harry. It had been a long time since he felt excited about seeing someone and putting himself and his happiness ahead of his son. Of course, he would do anything and everything for Riley. Not even a gorgeous girl that looked angelic could make him mad at Riley being around so he couldn’t go on his date. But she was so utterly adorable it made him melt. He wanted to kiss her right there. “M’babysitter cancelled,” he frowned. “I—I can’t...”

She nodded understandingly, as if she anticipated this happening. “It’s okay. I’m sorry to hear that. Suppose if I wasn’t so eager to be here, your call would have reached me on time,” she smirked.

Harry felt himself blush. He could feel the warmth run to his cheeks—he could imagine her bouncing by the door telling herself it wasn’t too early to make her way to his place. He adored the idea because he would have been the same way. She was insistent on meeting Harry at his place since he was the one with the baby. She was extremely considerate, and it made him ache all over. Harry let a surprised chuckle escape. “Oh, well...”

“Do you want to bring Riley?” She asked without letting Harry finish his thoughts. “We...we would have to take your car though. I’m not outfitted with a car seat.”

Harry’s heart stopped. “What?” He asked.

“Riley,” she repeated and looked at the cute boy sucking his thumb while he looked on between his dad and his date. “Do you want to bring this cutie pie, or do you think I’ll like him more?” She winked at the little boy. He giggled at her when she made a funny face at him crossing her eyes at him.

“Uh...we can’t...take Riley to the restaurant I made reservations for,” he explained.

“Oh sure, well we don’t have to go there,” she said. She crouched down to the little boy’s height. “What’s your favorite place to eat?” She asked and reached out and grabbed his free hand.

He pulled his thumb from his mouth and looked at her. “French fries!” He said cheerfully with a big grin.

“I like them, too. I think we can find a place with French fries,” she nodded firmly. “What do you think?” She asked standing back up to look at Harry. “Do you know any places with French fries?”

Harry looked at her curiously. “Kitten, you...you can’t be serious,” he murmured.

“As a heart attack,” she smirked. “Do...do you want to reschedule?”

“No!” He said quickly. She bit her lip hiding a breathtaking smile from Harry at his eagerness. He cleared his throat and straightened his back nervously. “No, thank you,” he exuded much more restraint even though he had already showed his true eagerness.

She nodded. “Okay...then you better find us some French fries.”

*

They settled on a family-friendly restaurant. It wasn’t too fancy but wasn’t a fast-food place either. The hostess gave Riley some crayons and a coloring sheet to play with while they settled in. “D’you want mac and cheese, Ri?” Harry asked the little boy.

He nodded vigorously focused on his coloring. “And French fries,” she reminded him. “Can’t forget the French fries,” she nodded at him knowingly.

He grinned at her cutely and nodded. Harry was in awe and felt so at a loss. It was so different than any of his other first date nerves. Her with Riley sent him into a fantasy he didn’t know he could have. It didn’t feel awkward, but they didn’t chat about normal first date things. She worked in the accounting department of Harry’s firm. He only ran into her because she was running late—a car accident on her way in. She arrived at the same time as Harry—not late, just late for her. When she threw her hand in to stop the elevator, Harry gasped. Everyone else on the elevator seemed unaffected. Someone from behind Harry said hello.

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “I’m just a little late.”

He glanced at his watch. “S’not even nine yet, love,” he chuckled.

“It’s late for me,” she bristled.

He smirked. “I see.”

The elevator strode silently up toward the top floors where they worked. “M’Harry,” he whispered softly. The murmur of other people getting on and off the elevator made the ride much slower than her usual ride when no one arrived before 8:30.

“I know,” she smirked wryly.

“You know,” he repeated.

“I work in accounting. I hear all, about you.”

“From who?” Harry questioned with a slight frown on his lips. He didn’t know he was talked about behind his back.

“Mostly Gretchen,” she said.

Harry rolled his eyes. “That woman will be the death of me,” he muttered.

“I think she worries about you,” she said.

“I know she worries about me.”

She giggled and Harry swore his chest would pop at the sound. It was the cutest noise he had ever heard. He was instantly in love. He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to quell the emotion. Certainly, didn’t want to pronounce his love for her trapped in an elevator ride. Plus, she was young—probably at least five years younger than Harry; fresh out of college, she had to be. And Harry had a kid, and she was...probably not ready for kids. “You have a three-year-old, I’m told?” She asked the statement as a question.

Stupid Gretchen. “I do,” he said gently. He thought the conversation would end there. She would be taken aback and all thoughts of dating this beautiful, adorable girl would be just a thought, never a reality. “Just...dropped him off at daycare downstairs actually,” he said.

“That’s nice he’s in the same building,” she said softly. “That would ease any of my parental worries.”

“S’definitely convenient and helpful.”

“It’s part of the reason I accepted this job,” she explained. “When I have kids, I want to make sure there’s a good place to take them while I work,” she shook her head and flushed. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I just unloaded that on you. I haven’t had my coffee yet; I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m so sorry, please just ignore me.”

“Uh...” he chuckled. “S’alright, love,” he said softly. “I...I know what y’mean.”

She sighed and still looked mildly embarrassed, but Harry was grateful for her words spilling out of her so honestly. “I’ve heard a lot of lovely things about you, Harry. I’m glad to finally meet you.”

He bit the inside of his lip and smiled so utterly happily she thought she would explode at his perfect face. “S’nice to meet you too,” he said as the elevator hit her floor. Some others shuffled off and she looked at him with a smile. “I’ll...see you around.”

“Maybe Gretchen could give me y’number?” He asked.

She glanced at the floor smiling so beautifully his heart melted more. “I’ll let her know.”

From the moment he got her number, it was a multitude of text messages and phone calls on the weekend. Harry started taking Riley to daycare a little earlier and ran into her several times on the elevator where he could admire her pretty work outfits and lovely banter first thing in the morning.

Harry talked about Riley—a lot—and she didn’t seem scared off. “I...I really love kids,” she admitted quietly over the phone. Harry’s heart fluttered. “When I had no idea how the world worked, I wanted to be married and have a baby by the time I was 23.”

“And now?”

“Well, I’m 24, so I think it’ll just happen when it happens.”

“Dadda,” Riley giggled, interrupting his daydream.

“What?” He asked.

“You have to order,” she said softly with a grin that softened Harry’s already gooey heart.

Harry blinked, turning his attention to the waiter. “Oh, m’sorry...uh...just water for now, thank you,” the waiter smirked and nodded.

“I’d be distracted, too,” he mumbled as he walked away. Harry shook his head and sighed.

Riley hogged most of her attention for the better part of dinner. “I don’t want to sit here!” He pouted as they chatted about everything. “I wanna sit with you!” He said pointing at the poor girl.

“She’s eating right now, Riley,” Harry said firmly. “Don’t bother—”

“When we’re done eating, you can sit with me, is that okay? Just a few minutes,” she said. “I want to sit with you too,” she winked.

Harry’s heart warmed so readily; he could feel his words die in his throat. They didn’t even make it to his tongue. Riley sighed but nodded. He busied himself with the crayons he was given and the back of the paper placemat. “Ri, how ‘bout some bites,” Harry encouraged.

He pouted. “No.”

Harry really didn’t feel like displaying all the negatives of being a parent in one dinner. “More for me,” she giggled cutely and pretended to take a bite of his food.

His little mouth popped open, and he looked at Harry in surprise. “S’mine!” He said in complete surprise.

“I don’t know, Riley, it’s awfully good. Maybe I should give you mine,” she said and started to shift her arguably delicious looking pasta dish that Riley wouldn’t eat if his life depended on it. He frowned.

“No, thank you,” he said politely and grabbed his spoon and ate his mac n’ cheese.

Harry was floored. He wondered if his jaw was even attached to his face anymore. He prayed it was because all he could think about was kissing her until she was breathless. Harry would need his jaw for that. She twirled her pasta around her fork and winked at Riley. “How are the French fries?” She asked. Harry liked how she talked to him like he was a real person. Introducing herself, saying she wanted to sit with him, how she seemed to know just how to handle the little one.

Harry must have been staring at her too long because she tilted her head at him. “You okay?”

He nodded wordlessly. His chest felt tight with anxiety not in a bad way. Just the thought of knowing this beautiful angel and how easily she fit in their life tilted his whole world view. How was he supposed to just go home back to Riley and not beg her to stay the night?

Harry adored Riley. He wouldn’t trade anything or anyone in the world for the sweet boy.

But he wished with everything in him that his babysitter wasn’t sick.

*

Perhaps it was Harry’s fault for prolonging the evening. To be fair, Riley was much more patient than he ever expected the little one to last. But when it got nearer and nearer to bed time, Riley was getting cranky. But Harry didn’t want the night to end.

“C’mon, bud,” Harry said reaching to grab him from the sweet girl’s lap.

“No!” He said and clung to her body. His ear pressed to her chest and she smiled. “No leave!”

“Riley,” Harry said firmly.

“No!” He shouted louder than Harry expected. He scowled at the little one. He knew better than to yell loudly in a restaurant. Harry was big on manners and he knew that yelling like that was not allowed.

“I know, I like it here too, but I’m getting really sleepy,” she said to him softly. “I just need to get my coat on,” she rubbed her hand over his back. “I’ll take you right back,” she promised. “I don’t want to get cold when we go outside,” she explained. Everything was so easily explained. There was no argument. He frowned rubbing his eye as he willingly went to Harry. She slipped her coat on quickly and helped Harry get the cute boy into his little jacket. “There we go,” she smiled and brought the boy back into her arms. He snuggled close to her. His thumb finding its place in his mouth, and he closed his eyes as she rubbed her thumb along the back of his neck. “It was so nice to hang out with you, cutie pie,” she whispered.

Harry wanted to cry.

*

The drive back to Harry’s place was silent because they didn’t want to wake the sleepy boy. She hummed along to the soft music playing through the car. Harry kept glancing at her as he drove. “M’sorry about our date,” he whispered.

“I don’t know what you’re apologizing for,” she shrugged and reached over to squeeze his arm while he held the steering wheel. “I had a lovely time.”

He smirked and shook his head. “I’ll make it up t’you.”

“Try convincing Riley of letting you go alone,” she reminded him.

Harry chuckled under his breath. He smiled as he looked straight ahead. Reaching over, he grabbed one of her hands and he brought it back to his mouth to place a kiss on the back of her hand. “Hmm,” he hummed. “I’ll manage,” as he spoke, his lips brushed over her soft skin. A small exhale escaped her lips. She sucked her lip into her mouth and squeezed his hand.

“I hope so.”

“Don’t worry, kitten. I promise.”

[willalove75]

Alcina's New Maid Pt. 16 Lady Dimitrescu x Reader

Summary: Karl Heisenberg comes to visit and things get interesting.

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI

Tags: Light angst, mostly fluff

Notes: Part 16! I'm so sorry this chapter is so late! I struggled writing this more that I have with any other chapter before and idk why. But I hope you all enjoy it regardless💕

Click here for the rest of the series

The next day Cassandra woke you up just as the sun was rising to start training once again. You tried to look at Alcina so she could convince her daughter to let you sleep in a little more but she just laid there with a sleepy smile on her face. Both you and Alcina knew that once Cassandra had her mind set on something there was no talking her out of it.

The two of you worked on the same things you did yesterday. She helped refine your stance and the way your body moved and shifted as you dodged her attacks.

Breakfast came and went and it was back to training. You knew that she meant well and was only trying to help you, but Cassandra was wearing you out. Training went through lunch, the two of you only taking a short break to eat when Zina brought food out to the courtyard.

Not long after that Bela and Daniela showed up and they both sparred with you for awhile. The three girls had three very distinct fighting styles. Cassandra always took the offence, advancing often and quickly. Bela was more calculated. Even though you were training for self-defense she still kept herself at a distance and made you come to her. Daniela was the definition of chaos. She played both offence and defense, advancing and pulling away so you came towards her and retreated often. Her moves were erratic and unhinged and not for a second were you able to predict what she was going to do next. You could tell she was less formally trained than the other two, but from your sparring session alone you knew she was just as lethal.

By the time the dinner bell rang you were starving and exhausted. The four of you shuffled into the dining room where Alcina was already seated.

"How was training girls?" She asked.

"She did really well, improved a lot more than I thought she would." Cassandra says.

"She's better than I thought she was going to be honestly. She almost knocked me off of my feet a couple of times." Bela says as she takes her seat.

"It was SO much fun!" Daniela exclaims.

"Draga?" Alcina asks, looking at you.

"It was good, tiring, but good."

Alcina can see the exhaustion in your face and gives you a small smile.

Dinner was delicious, as per usual. Although they could have put a leather boot on your plate and you would have devoured it without a second thought. The conversation was light, the girls and Alcina talking about how their days went. You stayed quiet for most of the meal just listening; there wasn't anything you had to add to the conversation. That coupled with exhaustion you were happy to not have to participate in doing anything other than eating.

"So after dinner I was thinking I can show you how to get out of a grapple." Cassandra says.

"After dinner?" You say, your eyes darting toward Alcina with a pleading look in them. There's no way you're gonna be able to do more tonight.

"Cassandra I think that's enough for today."

"But-"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, bug, but I need y/n in good shape for the meeting and I can't have her falling asleep. She needs rest. You can continue the day after tomorrow once your uncle leaves."

Cassandra hangs her head in defeat.

"Fine."

Alcina chuckles at her daughter and looks back over to you with a wink. You give her a small smile as if to say "thank you."

It took everything in you to not crawl up the stairs and flop into bed once dinner was finished. Alcina suggested everyone relax in the library after dinner and as tired as you were you didn't want to miss it. As tempting as your bed was, you managed to avoid passing out on it after you showered and headed to the library.

The girls picked their books and Alcina plucked one off of the shelf after perusing her options for a few minutes. You lazily flipped through a magazine you found laying around while you lounged on the couch.

"No book tonight, draga?" Alcina asks.

"Nah," you toss the magazine onto the coffee table. "I'm too tired to focus on reading."

Alcina sits in her large arm chair and places her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose. Gods she looks hot. You're too tired to try and hide your stare and Alcina smirks.

"Come. Sit with me, draga mea." She says, beckoning you with a slight nod of her head.

As you walk up to her, Alcina wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you up into her lap. You drape your legs across her thighs and rest your back against her arm.

"Comfortable?" She asks, looking down at you.

"Mhm." You say, cuddling into her.

Due to the way you're sitting and the height difference your face is pretty much against her boob. Normally this would drive you crazy, sending pulses to your core; but tonight they're your soft pillows.

Alcina lets out a soft purr as she runs her fingers through your damp hair and the soothing noise lulls you into a deep sleep.

When you wake up you're in Alcina's bed. Your eyes adjust to the darkness of the room and you realize it's still nighttime. There's a single light in the room coming from a lit candle on Alcina's vanity where's she seated. The warm light flickers across her, illuminating her porcelain skin and raven hair, highlighting the details on her face. Even though you're too far away to see, you're sure her smile lines and crows feet are bathed beautifully in the light as it dances across her skin. What isn't in the light is cast in a dark shadow. It's mysterious and beautiful, just like her.

Your heartbeat must have given you away because Alcina sets down the papers in her hand and turns to look at you.

"You're awake." She seems surprised.

"That I am. What time is it?"

"It's late, it's the middle of the night."

Alcina stands up and makes her way over to the bed.

"Why are you awake?"

"I work most nights at this hour."

"You do?" You're a little shocked, in all the times you've shared a bed with her not once did you ever feel her leave in the middle of the night.

"Mhm." She hums and sits on the edge of the bed. "The mutation allows me the privilege of needing less sleep than a human. After a few hours of rest I continue working."

"Every night?"

"Every night, save for a few rare occasions where I treat myself to the calm of the night and relax."

"So do you just wait until I fall asleep to leave?" You say, sounding more hurt than you expected.

"No, draga mea." She brushes your hair away from your face. "Most nights I fall asleep with you in my arms and get up later. Others I will lay there and listen to your heartbeat and your breathing for a few hours before I get up and work."

"If I didn't know you so well I'd say that's the creepiest thing I've ever heard." You laugh.

Alcina chuckles and slides under the covers next to you, pulling you into her.

"Well I am certainly glad that you know me then, draga."

With a kiss to your forehead you wrap your arms around her waist and rest your head on her chest. Alcina traces lazy circles across your skin where you shirt rode up on your back and you listen to her heartbeat with a sigh.

"Tired, draga?" She asks.

"No. Just relaxed, happy." Alcina hums in response.

"Good." She says.

As the scent of her perfume envelopes you, you become more aware of your senses. The silky fabric of her nightgown beneath your fingers, her toned muscles that lay underneath her soft skin, the feeling of her chilled fingers dancing across your back. You can hear her heartbeat, strong and steady, accompanied by each breath she takes. The rhythm of your heart steadily increases as you feel her body adjust underneath yours.

Alcina slides down from laying against the headboard and you rest you head in the crook of her neck when she settles. The scent of her perfume is stronger there and it makes you feel like you're floating.

The skin on her neck is soft and tender as you nuzzle against it. The hum she releases in response is nearly a purr and you smile against her skin. As your focus shifts back to her fingers, still tracing circles across your back, you hold Alcina a little tighter.

"My sweet, perfect girl. My beautiful little pet." Alcina whispers into your hair before placing a kiss on your head.

Too entranced to realize it, you place a light, open-mouthed kiss on Alcina's neck. You only realize it when you feel her chest rumble underneath you with a purr and feel the vibration of her voice.

"Draga." She says with a soft yet stern voice.

"Sorry." You say as you remove your lips from her neck.

"No need for apologies." She lifts your chin with a finger and your eyes meet hers. Leaning down, she places a kiss on your lips. When she pulls away she doesn't pull away fully, leaving her lips to brush against yours. "If you continued I don't think I would be able to control myself, is all."

The way her warm breath caressed your face, how her lips grazed yours as she spoke made your brain fuzzy.

"Don't." You whisper.

"Don't?"

"Control yourself. Don't."

Alcina smirks and captures your lips in a passionate kiss. Your heart begins to beat harder and you bring your hand to her face to deepen it. She places her hand over yours and pulls back from the kiss. Turning her head, she places a kiss in the middle of your palm and holds it against her cheek.

You can see it in her eyes: the want, the need, but you also see hesitation and worry.

"What's wrong?" You ask.

"It's not that I don't want to, draga. It's taking all of my self restraint to not pin you down and ravish you right this second." She sighs. "I fear that we might be moving too quickly. We only started rebuilding what we had a few weeks ago. And then you were hurt and-" Shaking her head, she takes a deep breath. "this is too important to rush iubirea mea. I hope you understand."

And you did. You understood perfectly and as disappointed as you were, you knew she was right. It was evident that your bodies were ready but your hearts and minds were still playing catch up.

"I do, Alcina. I do." You say, nuzzling back into her neck.

"Fetița mea dulce. Cât de mult te iubesc." She whispers as she runs her fingers through your hair. (My sweet girl. How I love you so.)

The two of you lay in a comfortable silence. The steady beat of her heart accompanied by the sensation of the lazy circles she's tracing along your skin relaxes you. Alcina lets out a soft sigh and you look up. Following her line of sight you notice she's staring at her vanity with the papers she was looking over scattered across it.

"Do you have to keep working?"

"Unfortunately."

"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course my love." She says, nuzzling into your hair and placing a kiss on your head.

Alcina holds you in her arms until you drift back off into a deep sleep once more. When she's certain you won't wake up she gently lays you down onto the bed and kisses your forehead. She takes a moment to study your face as you sleep. She loves how peaceful you look, how you look like an angel. Her angel. After a minute she makes sure you're tucked in and continues working for a few more hours before joining you in bed once more.

Alcina was only in bed with you for about an hour before you woke up next to her. When you wake up you roll over and meet a stunning pair of golden eyes staring back at you.

"Hi." You say, your voice raspy with sleep.

"Good morning, draga."

"How long have you been awake for?"

"Quite some time."

"When did you come back to bed?"

"Approximately an hour ago."

"I'm surprised you didn't start getting ready for the day already."

"The thought did cross my mind, but laying in bed with you for another hour was much more appealing. Even if I didn't sleep."

A smile crosses your face and you curl into her, burying your face into her hair.

"Waking up next to you is one of my favorite things." You sigh.

"Mine as well, draga mea."

She places a kiss on your shoulder and wraps her arms around you, soaking in the moment before the two of you have to get up and get ready for the day.

After breakfast Alcina heads into her study to do some work before Heisenberg arrives and you hang out in one of the sitting rooms near the dining room and start to read a book Daniela recommended.

Just as the book was beginning to devour your attention the doors to the room swing open and slam against the wall. The commotion startles you and you snap your head towards the direction of the sound.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A rogue maiden?" You sit there speechless as you take in the man before you.

The man is tall, but not nearly as tall as Alcina. He's wearing a grease-stained shirt and pants, a long tan trench coat, circular glasses, and a hat. There's a gigantic hammer that looks like it was put together with scrap metal and gears found in a junkyard slung over his shoulder and he begins to wave it around haphazardly. You can tell that the man is unshaven and by the way he's stomping his muddy shoes across the freshly polished floors, he has little manners. There's a ruggedness to him, very much the opposite of the prim and proper aura that radiates off of Alcina.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He says with a smirk as he walks closer. "Such a pretty little thing-" he reaches up to touch your face and you can see the grime underneath his fingernails and the dirt on his fingers.

"Heisenberg! Get your filthy man hands away from her!" Alcina shouts just before his fingers graze your skin.

He spins around and you have to duck to steer clear of the hammer.

"What?! I didn't even do anything!"

"And for the love of gods watch where you swing that thing!" She snaps.

"Nice to see you too, Godzilla. Oh I've been great, thanks for asking. Yeah the lycans have been doing well on their search for those hunters that keep entering your castle's territory. You're so very welcome for protecting your precious land!" He says sarcastically. "And I was only going to tell this pretty little girl here that she should get her ass back to work before you stick her in a barrel for your next fresh batch of-."

"That is enough." She hisses.

You give Alcina a look and her eyes shift to you and back towards Heisenberg, which doesn't go unnoticed by him. He looks at you and back at Alcina and starts laughing as he turns back towards you.

"Oh I get it now, you're more than just her little maid, aren't ya sweet cheeks? You got yourself a pretty one here Alci, I wonder how long this one is going to last."

Alcina's eyes burn into the back of his head as the anger in them grows. Her fists are clenched tightly at her sides, there's no doubt she's doing everything she can from letting her claws out and taking his head off where he stands.

He sees how Alcina is reacting to his words and you notice him inhale deeply through his nose. He looks between the two of you for a moment before his eyes fall on you once more and you see that they're full of mischief.

"Whenever you get bored of this one, hold off on turning her into your next blend and be a good sister and send her my way-"

He reaches out to touch you again and his words are swiftly cut off when Alcina grabs him by his collar and throws him clear across the room. His back slams into the wall leaving a small crater behind.

Alcina stands in front of you in a protective stance, her claws are out and her chest is heaving with anger.

"I warned you, Heisenberg, do not touch her." She growls.

"What the fuck!" He yells as he picks himself up off of the ground. "What's your fucking problem?!"

He looks up and sees how Alcina is standing in front of you, how she's protecting you. He sees the look in her eyes and it clicks. Once it does he lets out a chuckle that turns into a hysterical laugh.

"I fucking knew it. I could smell you all over her from a mile away Alci." Alcina growls at him. "Oh calm down, the fact that your temper is bigger than you are is astonishing, truly. Don't worry, I won't touch your precious little human."

In an instant his hammer is flying towards him and he catches it in his hand. Your eyes grow wide, you definitely weren't expecting that. Heisenberg walks over to one of the chairs and plops down into it, resting his hammer against the chair and Alcina relaxes enough to retract her claws.

"So does Miranda know about your little," he pauses to think of the right word. "friend, here?" Alcina tenses up as she narrows her eyes at him. "I'll take that as a resounding 'yes.' I'm surprised that bird bitch hasn't taken her as one of her test subjects, especially if she knows of your interest in her. What's your name, kid?"

You look up at Alcina and she nods her head at you and you tell him your name.

"Hah, and you already got her trained? I wonder how many trips to the dungeon that took."

"She has never set foot in there and she never will." Alcina growls before she takes a seat next to you on the couch.

"So, kid, what debts did you have that got you shipped to this hellhole?" He asks you.

Alcina cuts in before you can speak.

"She has no debts and she can leave whenever she chooses."

"HAH!" Heisenberg laughs out loud. "I'll believe that when I see it. Really kid, what's your deal? In all my years I've never heard of someone hanging around here willingly. What's the catch?"

Alcina growls and you slide your hands around one of her fists clenched in her lap. You can just barely hear her breath hitch in her chest before she looks down at you. The anger in her eyes softens and you give her a small smile.

Looking back at Heisenberg, he has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

"Holy shit, I never thought I'd see the day. Someone finally tamed the beast and lived to tell the tale." Alcina rolls her eyes at him. "Now I really gotta know where the hell you came from."

"I grew up here in the village." You say. "She basically rescued me. My aunt and uncle kept me as their maid and had me raise their five children. Then I met her and she brought me here." Looking up at Alcina you see her looking down at you. A smile pulls at the corner of her lips and you can see the adoration in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure." He says and earns another eye roll from Alcina. "You were gonna stick her straight into a barrel after you had your fun with her, weren't you?" Alcina snaps her heard towards him and growls again.

That's the third time he's mentioned that and you have no idea what he's talking about. The confusion on your face must be obvious because he starts laughing again and looks at Alcina.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Alcina tenses up again and gives him a death stare. "Kid, do you know what goes on in the dungeon down there?"

"Heisenberg." She hisses.

"A little." You look between the two of them. Alcina is glaring at him, if looks could kill he'd be dead where he sat. Heisenberg still has a shit-eating grin on his face as he stares back at Alcina.

"Were you ever told why maids suddenly disappear?" His eyes don't leave Alcina who growls at him as a warning.

"I know Miranda experiments on them-"

"Did she ever tell you where the blood wine comes from?"

"I-"

"You are walking into very dangerous territory, brother."

"Did my dear sister ever inform you that she sacrifices her maids and turns them into the wine-"

"ENOUGH." Alcina roars. "That is enough Heisenberg."

"What?! She deserves to know if you were planning on making her next seasons newest-"

"I SAID ENOUGH." She yells, standing up to her full height.

Your mind starts to spiral as they argue. Why didn't she ever tell you that's what she does with her maids? That there was more to their disappearances than just Mother Miranda experimenting on them? Was that her original plan with you? To buy you and turn you into wine? Did she actually care for you in the beginning or was it just to butter you up before she killed you? Everything that happened in the first few weeks of your arrival is suddenly brought into questioning.

Panic starts to wash over you and the walls begin to feel like they're closing in. You try to breathe but your lungs feel constricted. You need to get out of this room, now.

Jumping to your feet you run past Alcina and Heisenberg and out of the room. The girls are just coming down the stairs when they see you run out the front door.

"Damn you, Karl!" Alcina yells before chasing after you.

Once you get outside you bend over and rest your hands on your knees and try to breathe. Your breaths are short and fast and you can't seem to slow it down.

Alcina's footsteps rapidly approach you and you stand up only to realize your hands are trembling and tears are rolling down your cheeks. Before you know it, she's kneeling next to you and rests her hand against your back.

"Shh, draga, breathe with me, okay? Deep breath in."

You try but you can't seem to get the air to fill your lungs.

"I can't." You say.

"Yes you can. Do it with me, easy, breathe in," you manage to take a bit of a deeper breath in. "and out. Good, just like that."

Alcina walks you through a few more breathing exercises and your panic begins to fade. You grab onto her dress and bury your face into her as your tears keep falling. She wraps her arms around you and holds you tight.

"I'm so sorry, draga."

"Why didn't you tell me?" You cry into her.

"I wanted to, I was going to, I promise I was."

"Why didn't you tell me the other day?"

"I was too afraid of overwhelming you. I had told you so much and it was already so much for you to process, I didn't want to add to that. I'm sorry, I should have been the one to tell you, not him."

"Was that your plan, after you brought me here? To just kill me and use my blood for your wine?" You pull back and look into her eyes and see guilt. "That's what you were going to do, wasn't it?" Alcina closes her eyes and a tear runs down her cheek. "Tell me the truth, please Alcina."

Golden eyes meet yours and fill with tears.

"I considered it. I would be lying if I said I didn't. But I promise that was not why I brought you here."

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"Draga, I've already told you-"

"Tell me again, please. I need the whole truth."

Alcina sighs and wipes the tears from your cheeks.

"I brought you here because you deserved better. Because they didn't appreciate you there. Because you are so much more than just a caretaker and a housekeeper. You are so beautiful and thought so low of yourself and I couldn't accept that. At least if you were with me, you would be appreciated the correct way. And I know I've failed at that more than once and I still haven't been able to forgive myself. But you deserved so much better and you were even more wonderful than I ever could have imagined, draga. I never expected to fall in love with you, I just hoped that you would live out your days here and be happy. I never thought you would find your happiness in me. And the only reason I ever considered doing that to you was in case I was wrong about you and you ended up being just another rude, ungrateful girl. But after those first few days, especially when my daughters were bothering you in the library, I knew that wasn't who you were. You were so kind to them, you treated them so well even though they made your job more difficult. I knew I was right about you, but I didn't realize just how incredible you were, draga. I am so sorry."

Alcina wraps her arms around you and holds you close to her. You wrap your arms around her neck and bury your face into her.

"How much more is there that I don't know?"

"Not much, but there are some things."

"Can you tell me?"

"I will my love, I promise. Can we get through this meeting with Miranda first? After that I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Okay. Deal."

You pull away a little and look into her eyes. After you wipe the tear stains from her cheeks she rests her hand on your face and brings you into a deep kiss.

"Te iubesc, draga mea."

"I love you too, Alcina."

You and Alcina sit there for a minute as you soak in being with each other. The anxiety completely fades into the comfort she's brought you and you can feel like you can breathe normally again.

When the two of you part she stands up and dusts off her dress.

"Did you not want him to know about us?" You ask her.

"I was hoping you would never have to meet him because he is the most insufferable creature I've ever come to know. But he loathes Miranda and that alone makes him trustworthy. But since he was able to figure it out, I'm not concerned."

A loud crash comes from inside the castle and Alcina growls as she brings her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"I don't even want to know what they are getting up to in here." She grumbles. "Come, draga. We should get back inside."

As soon as the door closes behind the two of you, you see something shiny fly through the air in your direction. Alcina quickly steps in front of you and she lets out a loud hiss and the room goes silent. When you walk out from behind Alcina, you see a large steak knife lodged deep into her leg. You freeze in horror for a moment before watching Alcina yank it out and turn her head towards you.

"I'm fine draga, there's no need to worry."

Blood pours from her leg for a few seconds before it stops and in that moment you remember her regeneration abilities and let out a breath.

"What did I tell you, especially you, girls, about throwing sharp objects in my castle?!" She yells. "If this were to hit one of my staff, or her," she says, gesturing to you. "you would wish the Black God itself would come and punish you because the wrath I would unleash-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it." Karl says, interrupting her. "Big scary claws, our parts would have to grow us back, we've heard it all before bigfoot, don't get your panties in a twist."

"That almost hit her!"

"I wasn't aiming for her!"

"Then what were you-" She turns around and sees a picture of her taped to the door with knife marks in it.

With a growl Alcina chucks the knife at Karl and it stops right before the tip pierces his chest. He looks down at it in shock for a second before it clatters to the ground.

"Sorry mother." The girls say in unison.

"Can we please get to business now that you've effectively ruined one of my good dresses?" She says.

"Yeah, sure." He says with a shrug.

The six of you head into a larger sitting room and Alcina goes to change. She comes back in a long black dress and pulls you into her lap after she sits on the couch next to you.

"No more trouble in paradise?" Karl says with a smirk.

You roll your eyes at him and Alcina looks down at you with pride before kissing you on the cheek.

"Before we begin, draga, I would like to formally introduce you to Karl Heisenberg, my idiot younger brother and another one of the four lords of the village."

He tips his hat at you and leans back in his chair, crossing one leg so his ankle is resting on top of his knee. He lights up a cigar and blows the smoke up into the air.

"Bela, my book please." Alcina says.

Bela walks over and hands her mother a leather-bound book and a pen. Alcina places them in your lap and kisses you on the head.

"Draga, will you please take notes? It'll be good practice for the meeting, although I fear she won't actually have you take notes-"

"Why the hell is she going to be taking notes at the meeting?" He asks.

"Mother Miranda insisted on it."

"Oh fuck, she knows about her, knows about her?"

"Yes."

"Alcina-"

"I know."

"Fuckin' bird bitch. Do you know what she wants with her?"

"No." She says with a sigh before pulling your head into her chest and kissing the top of it.

"How the hell did Miranda find out?"

Alcina tells him what happened when Mother Miranda arrived and what transpired when you met. When she's finished, Karl smokes his cigar with a pensive look on his face.

"Well, that sucks."

"I will say the same thing to you that I said to Donna. If Mother Miranda does anything, I will stop at nothing to protect her." Her grip around you tightens and you rest your head on her chest to try and calm her.

"And what did Donna say?"

"That her allegiance is with me."

"And Sal?"

"He doesn't know about her. And I don't trust him. He will do anything to be in Mother Miranda's good graces, even if it means going against us."

"No fuckin' shit. At least we don't have to worry about him all that much. He's pretty useless as it is."

Alcina shrugs and runs her fingers through your hair.

"So how do we go about killing the bitch?" He asks with a grin.

"We don't. Karl you know she's too powerful. There is nothing we can do, not yet."

"Well if she wants her we could-"

"I will not be using her as a decoy or pawn in whatever moronic plan you have in that grease-filled head of yours."

"But-"

"No." She says with a growl.

"Fine, fuckin' bitch." He mumbles. "Lets get this over with."

You begin to take notes as Alcina and Karl talk about the hunters his lycans have encountered. He says that they found thirteen of them and his group of seven lycans were able to kill about ten of them. Three of the hunters managed to get away and four of his lycans were killed in the fight. The lycans that were left were beat up enough to not be able to follow where the three went so they retreated back to the factory.

"Then yesterday, they came across another six hunters. All wearing the same symbol as the last group." He pulls out a pendant from his pocket and hands it to Alcina who examines it. "Luckily I sent nine lycans out so none of the hunters managed to get away and all of my lycans came back this time."

"Any prisoners?" She asks.

"Nope."

"Ugh." She groans, rolling her eyes. "How many times do we have to have this conversation-"

"Chill out sasquatch, they tried. One guy was left and my lycans tried to drag him back as prisoner but the guy put a bullet in his head before they were able to get any useful information out of him."

"Well, that's new."

"Yeah, they were pretty surprised."

"So in a week there have been nearly twenty hunters? And three escaped?"

"Yup."

"I don't like this."

"And they were armed to hell too. Massive guns, tons of ammo, they aren't fuckin' around."

"Military grade?"

"You know it."

"I really don't like this. Have you expanded coverage near Donna and Salvatore?"

"Yup, found a few rogue hunters that didn't seem affiliated with these guys and only two that were by each property. But they weren't as close as they are to you."

"How close were they able to get?"

"About four miles out."

"The closest anyone has come in decades has been two miles."

"And I'll do my best to keep it that way. But from the looks of it, they're scouting. No hints of an invasion yet but I think they're planning."

"Do we know where their base is?"

"Haven't located it. Next time my guys find a group of them they're gonna stalk them back to the base."

"Good."

"So what do you wanna do, sis?"

"I need more patrols throughout the entire territory. If they're calculated they may try and strike from multiple angles. Also more guarding Donna and Salvatore's homes as well."

"I can't stretch them too thin, you know how much ground there is to cover for the castles territory alone?"

"I am aware-"

"Oh mom, can we go with Uncle Karl and patrol?!" Cassandra asks.

"Oh yeah! We haven't hunted hunters in so long!" Daniela says.

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"No. It is too dangerous. You three are not going anywhere near this until we know what we're up against. My word is final."

"I could use the extra-"

Alcina growls at him and he shuts his mouth.

"Once this meeting is over with, and if things here return to normal, I will go out one night and cover some ground and see what I can find."

"Sounds good to me."

"Our priority should be finding their base and taking at least one prisoner alive to question them."

"Glad we can agree on something."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' starving! When's lunch?"

Alcina rolls her eyes and looks down at you as you finish up your notes.

"May I?" She asks.

You hand her the notebook and she flips through the notes you've taken. When she gets to the last page she nods with approval.

"How are they?"

"Very impressive, draga. I think you're more than prepared for the meeting, in terms of note taking at least."

"I don't think she'll be takin' many notes there, sis." Karl says.

It throws you off a little when you realize his tone isn't antagonizing like it's been since he walked in. You can feel Alcina deflate a little under you at his words and she holds you tight.

"Hey," you say, looking up at her. Her golden irises meet yours and you stare into them while you cup her face. "everything is going to be fine. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out, okay?"

Alcina nods and rests her forehead against yours as she closes her eyes. Her hand cups your cheek and she brushes her thumb against your skin.

Karl watches as Alcina melts into you. Sure, he's met his sisters other paramours, not that any of them had lasted very long - but right away he could tell this was different. Never in his long life has he seen Alcina act like this with someone. She's always been possessive of her partners but when she ran out after you, well that was new. Now this, watching as you, a tiny human, comforts her, he can barely believe it and it's happening right in front of him.

The lunch bell rings and you and Alcina are pulled from your moment. She sits up straight and adjusts herself, you notice a slight blush forming under her makeup. That and the way Karl is staring at the two of you, this must be new territory for the both of them.

You hop off of her lap and follow the girls into the dining room while Alcina and Karl follow behind.

Everyone takes their seat and Karl goes to put his feet up on the table. Alcina growls at him and he stops halfway through the motion.

"It's truly amazing that you've lived as long as you have without learning any manners." She murmurs.

"Sorry not all of us grew up as stuck-up nobility with etiquette classes and maids to wipe our asses for us. Fuckin' bitch."

"Must you use that language in my house?"

"Can't you mind your own fuckin' business?!"

"Child."

"Bitch."

The girls begin giggling and Alcina glances over at them and only gives them a little bit of a look. Karl diverts his attention to you and he has a mischievous smile on his face.

"So, kid, what in the hell made you attracted to bigfoot over there anyway? You got a size kink or something?"

"KARL." Alcina yells as the girls bust into laughter.

"Come on, I gotta know. I mean, it's gotta be her size, right? There's no way anyone can be attracted to her personality, unless 'massive fucking bitch' is the kind of trait you look for in women." You look between Alcina - who's fuming - and Karl who has that shit-eating grin back on his face.

"Don't dignify him with an answer, draga."

"Oh thank the Black God, I thought you were dyin' Alci. Actin' all sweet back there. But there's the controlling bitch I hate. Glad to see you're back to normal. Do you always let her control you like that?" He asks you.

You know he's just trying to get a rise out of Alcina so you just shrug your shoulders at him and continue eating.

"You really got this one whipped. I should make you a fuckin' collar that says 'Property of the Big Bitch.'"

"But what will your little lycans wear then?" You say.

Alcina looks at you surprised, but pleased. Karl's mouth hangs open for a moment before he laughs out loud.

"She speaks! I thought she was a fuckin' mute."

"I'm not but I wish you were." You quip.

The girls break out into hysterics again and Alcina hides her chuckle behind her wine glass. Karl laughs again and nods his head in approval before devouring everything on his plate.

The rest of lunch went well. Aside from Alcina getting so mad at Karl she threw a chair across the room and threatened him with her claws a few times. You and Karl got into a rhythm of throwing digs at each other and he and the girls told stories of all of the trouble they've gotten into over the years.

When lunch was over you and the girls said your goodbyes to Karl and you helped clear the table. The girls flew away to go play with the new weapons he gave them and Cassandra managed to convince him to make you a dagger.

Alcina escorted Karl to the front door, not trusting him to wander off to find the girls and throw more sharp objects around the castle.

"So, she really did tame the beast, huh?" He says with only a hit of antagonization.

Alcina rolls her eyes at him and he laughs.

"She seems like a good kid."

"She's wonderful."

"Nervous about the meeting with Miranda?"

Alcina sighs.

"Nervous doesn't begin to cover it."

"Donna said she has your back, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then I got the kids back."

Alcina stops and stares down at him. They've hated each others guts since the moment Karl was given the cadou and really only got along for Miranda's sake and because both of them hate her more than they hate each other. But over the last couple of decades their mutual hatred for Miranda caused them to have more of a older/younger sibling relationship and the hate between the two of them faded. Not all the way, but more than either of them ever would have thought possible.

"Thank you." Alcina says.

"This doesn't mean we're fucking buddies or anything. But I know if anything happens to that kid, you're gonna be a fucking mess. And we need you to keep your shit together because we need you to take down Miranda." He looks up at her and she nods at him. "Plus, I like her and I know Miranda wants her for something and whatever it is, it ain't gonna be good."

"Thank you, Karl."

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me for this."

"Invoice me." She says as she walks away.

Alcina finds you in the sitting room again, now decorated with the crater in the wall from Karl's body, as you continue your book.

"There you are." She says with a smile.

"Here I am!"

Alcina plucks the book from your hand and puts it down on the table next to you. Before you can protest she lifts you into her arms and pulls you in for a tight hug. You wrap your arms around her neck and she sits down on the couch.

"You okay?" You ask.

"Yes, I just needed you close."

You nuzzle into her neck and she hums in response.

"So he was interesting." You say.

"He certainly is something. He didn't lay a finger on you, did he?"

"No, each time he went to touch my face you stopped him. I think he was doing it just to piss you off, honestly."

"I don't doubt that for a moment. He's such a child."

"Does he control metal or something?"

"Yes, he controls the magnetic fields therefore able to control all metals."

"That explains a lot."

"You mean why knives were being throws across my foyer? Yes. It certainly does."

"That scared me. I forgot you have that healing power for a minute and watching you pull that knife out of your leg almost made my heart stop."

"It's nothing to fret over, draga. It'll take much more than your average kitchen knife to do any real damage to me."

"Good." You say as you nuzzle into her again.

"I'm sorry for not being completely honest with you. I know we agreed to rebuild our relationship on trust and honestly, but I was so worried that all of that new information would be too much for you to handle all at once. I know I'm on thin ice, I hope I didn't lose your trust again."

"I do wish you told me, but I understand why you didn't. And I think you're right, I think it would have been too much for me to process all at once. I wish I learned it from you and not him, but that's not your fault. I still trust you Alcina. You aren't on as thin of ice as you think you are."

"I deserve to be."

"You've done so much to regain my trust." You say as you sit up and look her in the eyes. "You've been listening to me, taking things slow, being honest. You've apologized more times than I can count. You don't deserve to be on thin ice. I forgive you, Alcina."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness."

She looks away from you and you bring your hands to her face and guide her back to look into your eyes.

"Hey, stop that. Yes you do."

"I don't understand how you can forgive me after I've committed such atrocities."

"Because I love you. And because I understand why you did what you did. I think you definitely went about it the wrong way, but I get it. Even after everything you did, after learning about the other sides of you, I still love you. And if none of that deterred me from loving you, I don't think anything will. You have to forgive yourself, Alcina."

"I don't know if I can." She says, looking down.

You bring your hand under her chin and bring her gaze back up to yours.

"Yes you can. You just have to allow yourself to do it. At least try, for me?"

"I'll try for you, iubirea mea."

Her lips meet yours and she pulls you in for a soft kiss. She kisses you a few more times and with each kiss her smile grows wider until she's peppering your face with chaste kisses. You start laughing as she turns to pin you down onto the couch and continues to leave lipstick marks all over your face and neck. By the time she releases you from her grasp you're covered in her crimson lipstick and the both of you are sporting wide smiles.

"Oh dear, it looks like I may have made a bit of a mess out of your face." She says with a laugh.

"I can only imagine, there's isn't an inch of my skin that isn't covered in your lipstick is there?"

She takes your chin between her thumb and forefinger and examines your face before placing another big kiss on your jaw.

"Now there isn't." She laughs. "Come draga, lets get you cleaned up."

[gatheringbones]

[“The way I told my mom was less than ideal. I was home on a school break and talking to Jessie for about an hour on the telephone. My mom kept knocking on my bedroom door, telling me to get off the phone. I was totally frustrated and came storming into the living room. She said something snide like, “I don’t know who this Jessie is and why you have to be on the phone with her for so long.” “She’s my girlfriend! And I’m bisexual!” I shouted angrily. I don’t actually remember what she said after that.

Telling my gay father was a lot less dramatic. He just said some thing like, “That’s great—whatever makes you happy.” Interestingly, he wasn’t jumping for joy over me joining the team or anything.

Jessie and I didn’t last very long; we really were better off as friends. I don’t think people, including me, realized how serious I was—this wasn’t an experiment or whimsy—until I met Jen.

Jen was the Big Dyke On Campus. She was a senior, super intelligent, opinionated, really out. Everyone knew who she was because she was a big-time activist, very outspoken about things like sex, SM, and porn. She also went to class dressed in men’s shirts and ties. This was no friendly, sporty lesbian that everyone found charming. She was a butch dyke, brazen in her gender and style, and I was drawn to her. She was frantically finishing her honors thesis when we first met, and so our early encounters were at the library. I remember kissing her for the first time on the library steps and feeling such intense desire that I thought I would explode and shatter into tiny bits of flesh at her feet. She was a brilliant flirt, so self-assured, so deliberate and generous with her words, so powerful at casting a spell on me. Consumed by her, I wanted to surrender, to give her everything. She was the smartest, fiercest lesbian I knew. And then she was my girlfriend.

Jen used to read On Our Backs and Susie Bright’s Lesbian Sex World to me at bedtime every night. (She was even in charge of bringing Susie Bright to speak on campus that spring.) We were so connected, so engaged in the relationship. Every single day, there was something new to learn, share, discover. I did so many things for the first time with Jen. Jen was the first girl I ever lived with. I experienced the tremors of my first earthquake in bed with Jen and her yellow lab. I had my first taste of what now is my favorite all-time food at the hands of Jen: sushi. Jen was the first woman to fuck me with a dildo. Jen was the first woman to tie me up. The first woman to spank me. To fuck my ass. She topped me for the first time, I bottomed to her for the first time, and we switched. We watched fag porn together. She was the first girl I ever fucked with a strap-on. She was the first girl I ever stripped for. Jen was the first girl I ever bought a tie for. Jen brought me to buy my first pair of Doc Martens. She was so articulate about her desires and her politics, so sex positive, that I felt like I could tell her anything. She was my lover, my mentor, my dyke teacher, and so much of who I am today came from her.

Before her, I felt closeted not only about my desire for women, but my desire to explore the myriad possibilities of sex. Coming out finally gave me the freedom to do so. I was never tortured or miserable with all the boys I’d been with; in fact, physically, they were pretty satisfying. I couldn’t always connect with them on an intellectual or emotional level, so I always felt like something was missing. While I was sexually precocious with men, I never tried new things, experimented, voiced fantasies—being a dyke totally coincided with my overall sexual liberation, and the two awakenings became intrinsically linked.”]

tristan taormino, from this girl is different, from a woman like that: lesbian and bisexual writers tell their coming out stories, 2000

[katnisspeetaprim]

Bully Part.1

Bang Chan/Reader, Platonic!Felix/Reader

Summary: You loved your life and career, but the new stylist at JYP brings up some memories you would rather forget.

Warnings: angst, bullying, panic attacks, crying, arguments, flinching during argument.

Word Count: 2481 M.list

Your life was pretty much perfect at this moment in time, at least according to yourself. You had your own house and car, even landed your dream job which you had spent years studying and apprenticing for.

The day you became one of the head stylists at JYP, was one of the best days of your life, having worked you way up from lowly intern. You mainly worked with the Twice girls these days, but you originally started out with Stray Kids, which is how you met Chan.

The two of you immediately hit it off, quickly realising that there was something more than friendship going on. The two of you dated secretly for quite a while, but as soon as the dating ban was removed from their contracts, you both went straight to JYP, thinking it would be better to be truthful in the long run.

The older man looked at the two of you like a disappointed father looking down at his children, who had been caught doing something naughty. JYP was understandably upset that the two of you were dating but he wasn’t about to stop you, especially since you’ve already proved you can work without distraction.

Romance between idols and the staff wasn’t banned after all, just strongly discouraged.

It was after going public with the relationship did you think it would be better to move to one of the other groups style teams, this way you could both avoid unsavoury rumours  floating around, but also prove that you could still maintain a professional relationship whilst at work. This is how you came to be a head stylist for Twice.

Your departure from the Stray Kids team had left your position open, and tis is what lead to your current predicament......

It had been a few weeks since your move, so you and Chan would usually be waiting a little while for the other to finish for the day, since your rode home together. Today though, you had been waiting for nearly an hour for him in the parking lot. Annoyed by his lateness, you shot off a text to him. Within moments, you got a reply.

You groaned in annoyance. You had no problem with him going out, but a heads up would have been nice. In all honesty, you’d been so busy recently, you’d forgotten that they’d already hired your replacement. At least you were the one to drive that morning so you weren’t stranded.

Just as you were about to start the car, a knock on your window startled you. You looked over to see the smiling faces of Momo and Jeongyeon. You rolled down your window with a smile.

‘Y/N! We thought it was your car. You left over and hour ago, why are you still here?’

‘Oh, I was waiting for Chan, but I forgot that he had plans tonight.’ You explained sheepishly, feeling only a little embarrassed that you’d waited over an hour for a guy. Momo and Jeongyeon shared a look.

‘Well we were planning on getting food together. If you’re free, why don’t you join us?’

‘Why not?’ You found yourself smiling as you exited the car. This wouldn’t be the first time you’d hung out with the girls outside of work, so at least you knew you would still have a good night, with or without Chan.

It was late when you got home. Knowing you had to be up early the next morning, you wanted to get in bed asap.

When you opened the door, you were surprised to find all the lights off and the home eerily quiet. You were confused as you toed off your shoes. Chan wasn’t usually one to sleep early but just in case, you tip toed to the bedroom to check on him, only to find it empty.

You tried to stay calm, but worry began to wash through you. It wasn’t like Chan to stay out this late and not even send so much as a text. You pulled out your phone and hit the call button, your anxiety only sky rocketing when he didn’t answer. Finally, on the fourth call did he answer you.

‘Chan!’

‘Babe! We’re gonna be late! Don’t wait up!’ ‘click’ You stared at your phone in disbelief. There was loud music and shouting in the background so he was obviously out at some kind of club. Sigh. At least you knew he was safe...

When you awoke the next morning, you rolled over, only to collide with a fully clothed Chan. He was laid out on his back, on top of the sheets and still in his clothes from the night before.

Now Chan doesn’t drink so you knew he wasn’t hungover, but if he got in and just flopped down in bed, then it must have been late or early. Your alarm hadn’t gone off yet, so you quickly reached for it and turned off your 6am alarm, not wanting to wake him just yet.

‘You worried me last night.’ You whispered to yourself and gently stroked his hair, causing him to stir slightly. Not wanting to wake him, you pulled away and got up.

Just as you were getting on your shoes to leave, Chan wondered into the main room, rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes.

‘Hey, if you wanted a lift you should get dressed, we’ll be late otherwise.’ You were a little annoyed at his tardiness, but decided it could wait till later.

‘I don’t ned to be in till later. I might go sleep a while longer.’ He was almost falling asleep at the kitchen counter. Cute. You smiled and strolled over to him.

‘Did you have a good time last night?’ You stroked across his broad shoulders as he hunched over the table. ‘With the new stylist?’ He perked up at the mention of the new staff member.

‘Oh she’s great! If you’re free today at some point, you should come by and I’ll introduce you! I think you’ll get on great!’ You laughed at his enthusiasm, glad that JYP had hired friendly staff.

‘I’m glad! And I’ll definitely make time to come by, but now I really have to go.’ You leaned down and kissed him goodbye.  ‘I’ll see you later, love you!’

You’d had a particularly busy day, what with the new Twice comeback happening soon, you didn’t get to visit the Stray Kids studio till late in the day.

When you entered the room, the first person to notice you was Han.

‘Noona!’ He yelled, causing the other boys heads to shoot up.

‘Hi guys!’ They all ran up to you, hugging you in greeting. You didn’t get to see the guys that much these days, only getting updates from Chan, so this was a real treat to see them all again.

‘Alright boys, calm down.’ You giggled.

‘Y/N, I didn’t think you were going to show up.’ Chan pushed through the rowdy boys and hugged you.

‘I said I’d be here, didn’t I?’

‘Come on, I’ll introduce you.’

‘Oh are you here to meet Jia-noona?’ Hyunjin asked with a smile. A chorus of compliments for the woman came from all the boys as Chan lead you across the room.

‘Jia! Meet my girlfriend Y/N!’ When the woman stood and spun round, your breath hitched in your throat and you suddenly felt like you couldn’t breathe. Stood in front of you was Park Jia, the girl who had made your whole school life miserable. She had been the typical mean girl, while you were more of a hermit, preferring to keep yourself to yourself.  Naturally she saw you as easy target and basically tortured you daily.

‘Y/N, nice to meet you! Chan’s told me so much about you already!’  She reached out her perfectly manicured hand for you to shake. You couldn’t stop yourself from flinching when she reached out for you, casing Chan to look over to you, shocked by your actions. Your mouth was so dry you couldn’t speak. She didn’t recognise you. After the hell she put you through, how could she not recognise you!?

Now you definitely changed a lot since your school years, but did your life really mean so little to this woman that she’d forgotten you?

‘Y/N? You ok?’ Chan suddenly called out, gently stroking your back and bringing you back to reality. ‘You spaced out there.’

‘Um yeah uh-umm yeah sorry. I-I have to go.’ You stuttered, not knowing what to do but knowing that you couldn’t stay in that room any longer. You basically pushed your way out of the room, running down the hallway, all while trying to not have a panic attack.

Back in the room, everyone stood with confused faces.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ Jia asked Chan with a frown, his eyebrows furrowed.

‘No. No. Y/N can just be a little weird sometimes.’ Chan’s answer caused the other SKZ members to cast questioning looks to each other. They may not see you as much as they used to, but during your time with them you had all gotten pretty close. None of them had every seen you react to a situation quite like you had just done.

‘Are you sure she’s ok? She seemed upset..’ Felix asked, concerned for you.

‘I hope I didn’t do anything to upset her.’ Jia’s sickeningly sweet voice floated across the room.

‘Nah she’s just emotional, her period is probably coming. I’ll deal with it later.’ Felix frowned deeply at his leader. Why was Chan dismissing you like that when something had clearly upset you.

Whilst everyone was distracted by Jia, Felix silently slipped out of the room and went to find you.

He found you, sitting alone in a small office, quietly sobbing to yourself.

‘Y/N!’ He rushed over to you and put his arm around your shoulders. In an attempt to hide your tears, you wiped at your face to no avail.

‘Felix. Is everything ok?’ He looked at you quizzically.

‘I should be asking you that! You ran out of the room!’ You looked down in defeat, knowing you couldn’t keep this from your friend.

‘I couldn’t stay in there one second longer because of her.’ You said with shaky breath.

‘Yeah I gathered that.’ Felix let out a humourless chuckle. ‘But why though?’ He pressed you for an answer. You looked up to him with sad eyes, before taking a deep breath.

‘She bullied me in school.’ Felix’ face morphed into shock, but he let you continue speaking.

‘But it wasn’t normal bullying. She and her minions would do awful things to me, make me do things... And I thought I was free when I left for college.’ You started sobbing again as you explained, unable to hold back the tears any longer. Felix swallowed a lump in his throat, but he had to ask.

‘What do you mean, not normal bullying? What did they make you do?’ You looked down and shook your head vigorously. You weren’t ready to talk and Felix wasn’t going to force you.

‘I don’t know what to do. Coming to work everyday knowing she’s here, and Chan seems to love her...’ Felix winced at your words. You weren’t wrong about that, the guy seemed smitten with her. He wasn’t even going to tell you how Chan spoke about you once you left the room.

‘He needs to know Y/N. We can tell him together and he’ll speak to the company. JYP will back you I know it.’ You licked your dry lips and nodded.

‘I’ll tell him at home. I just need to think about what to say.’ You sniffled.

‘You sure you don’t need me there with you?’ You nodded with a sniff. Felix nodded and pulled you into a tight hug.

‘I’m here if you need me.’ You were grateful to have such a caring friend like Felix.

‘You should get back.’ You nudged him away lightly. He sighed, not really wanting to leave you alone, but knowing you were right.

‘Ok, but remember what I said.’

Just as your day was ending, you spotted Chan walking towards you from down the hall. Your smile faltered a little when you noticed the expression on his face. He didn’t look happy.

‘Hey. You ready to go?’ You asked nervously as he all but bumped your shoulder as he passed.

‘I got a lift in so you need to drive.’ Is all he said to you, no ounce of warmth in his voice after the long day. You stared after him, mouth agape and not believing how he just brushed you off like that. When you caught up to him, he was already standing by your car and he was practically dripping with irritation.

‘Hurry up.’ He spat. Without a word, you unlocked the car and got in, followed by the slam of the door as he did the same.

‘What are you waiting for? He groaned when you just sat there.

‘Why are you treating me like this?’ You mumbled, eyes cast down.

‘Why do you think?’ Chan scoffed. You didn’t answer, but looked at him with sad eyes.

‘You fucking embarrassed me today Y/N! Acting like that with Jia? Unbelievable.’ He exploded on you, hitting the dashboard hard with his hand. You stared at him, shocked at his outburst.

‘Do you have nothing to say for yourself?’ You flinched away at his harsh words and honestly you were a little scared after he hit the dash. You knew Chan would never lay a finger on you in that way, but right now, this didn’t seem like the man you fell in love with...

‘I didn’t act like that for no reason...’ You trailed off, not really in the mood to talk anymore.

‘You know what? I’m gonna stay at the dorms tonight. I can’t be around you right now.’ And with that he was gone, once again slamming your poor car door.

‘Wait...’ You tried meekly, but it was too late. You broke down for the second time that day.

You remembered Felix’ words from earlier and not feeling good about being alone, you text him.

You breathed a sigh of relief when he agreed to meet you, but the relief was short lived when your phone pinged once again. It was Chan and your heart absolutely shattered when you saw his messages.

You locked your phone and threw in in the backseat. You knew you should have just ignored his messages and give him a chance to calm down, but you felt your blood boil when he defended her again.

The phone was vibrating continuously behind you. Probably Chan trying to call you to chastise you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look.

Even after all these years, why was she still ruining your life...?

[fbfh]

curiosity is a wonderful thing - ch 8

wc: 3.1k

genre: slowburn, friends to lovers, fluff

pairing: audrey x ben, mal x ben????, eventual ben x daughter of alice!reader

warnings: audrey being a lil bitch again, mind control/hypnosis magic, implanted thoughts, minor emotional manipulation from mal

summary: disappointed again by Audrey's motivations, Ben prepares for a huge tourney match. But something - or someone - becomes very distracting all of a sudden.

song recs: the king - sarah kinsley, mind control - topsecret, do it for her - steven universe soundtrack

a/n: so we took in a stray cat (orange ofc) and he literally did this to me the other day???? peak orange cat behavior tbh. not my pic if that wasn't obvious

TAGS @yesv01 @magcon7280 @hopefullhearts @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sunshineangel-reads @dustyinkpages @inejsknifes @tulipmagnoliaisme @ev3ningrain

“So, where’s bunny?” Audrey asks Ben as they head to the tourney field. She says his nickname for you with a note of venom. Even though it rarely happens, whenever someone else refers to you as bunny it always hits Ben’s ear wrong. 

“She’s probably just running late,” Ben says, “nothing out of the ordinary.” 

He says it sweetly. You three were supposed to meet up before the match today, but Ben figures you probably took a wrong turn, or got tied up in a project. Ben covers for you like that a lot. He doesn't mind at all, and since he can't go with you to Wonderland, he feels like this is the next best thing. Or the least he can do, he supposes.

“Well great, that's…” Audrey starts, trailing off as she gets distracted by a group of girls. More specifically, by how amazing their hair is. She tries to pay attention to what Ben is going on about this time, but their hair… it’s too distracting. It looks photoshopped. It looks like the hair they use in salon ads and shampoo commercials. She glares at them, her gaze venomous until she realizes her eyebrows are all scrunched up. She snaps out of it, smoothing out her face. First not just one person with better hair than her, but multiple girls with hair so much better than hers that she’s going to get wrinkles over it? What’s next, mixing patterns? Unblended eyeshadow? Orthopedic shoes?

“Do you think they actually paid for those?” She spits conspiratorially.

“D- uh, they- they might have…” Ben sputters at the sudden change of topic, following her gaze and trying to figure out what exactly has got Audrey in such a bad mood suddenly. 

“She did it to Jane’s hair too,” Audrey continues in that tone she only gets when spreading gossip. “And Fairy Godmother’s not happy about it.”

Oh. She’s talking about their hair. 

The realization dawns on Ben, and he takes a closer look at the group of girls. The girl on the left’s new color and style remind him a lot of yours. It looks good. Ben glances back at Audrey, realizing she’s this upset over someone else’s hair.

“I mean… what’s the harm?” Ben starts gently. From what you’ve told him about Mal and Evie, Mal is probably just trying to make friends with the makeup and fashion tips she’s picked up from Evie - and as far as Ben’s concerned, that’s something that should be encouraged. Before he can finish his thought, Audrey interjects, as she so often does when the conversation isn’t about her.

“It’s gateway magic!” She exclaims incredulously, as if this should be obvious to him. 

Gateway magic? That’s… not a thing… Ben thinks, wondering for a fraction of a second if Audrey might be joking. The only reason that magic is retired in the first place is because of the technology boom that came from Auradon’s alliance with Atlantis. All the new technology can do pretty much anything magic can do in people’s day to day lives. 

Aside from that, it’s also much easier to regulate and add in safety precautions. Most people have become more interested in exploring and expanding new technologies than focusing on magic and its traditions. Ben has a feeling that in the coming years, magic will eventually begin to be re-incorporated into society, but for now, it’s somewhat obsolete. Technology is easier to learn, gets more consistent results, and you don’t need to dig through ancient texts for information - one quick Doogle search and you’re good to go. 

“I mean, sure, it starts with the hair.” Audrey continues, and Ben can sense a tangent coming. “Next thing you know it’s the lips, then the legs, then the clothes, and then everybody looks so good, and…”

As he listens, Ben starts to see her point. If using magic to alter the way you look becomes common, it could have dire consequences. Adolescence is a fragile time, and if cosmetic alterations start running rampant at Auradon Prep, who knows how detrimental that could be to the student body’s self image and self esteem? The last thing Ben wants is to contribute to misogynistic, unrealistic beauty standards, give young girls even more unattainable ideologies to compare themselves to. 

He’s sure Mal is well intentioned with all this makeover stuff, and he doesn’t want to punish her for efforts to make friends - solve one problem by causing another. If he can just talk to her, have a heart to heart and explain why he’s concerned, he’s sure she’ll understand. That way they can collaborate, come up with a solution for how Mal can make friends without doing anything that could inadvertently create a negative aftermath. 

“...Then where will I be?” 

Audrey’s voice breaks Ben’s momentary, spiraling train of thought. He looks at her as she pouts, fussing with her own hair. She pulls out a compact mirror and begins inspecting her face. The realization that Audrey is only worried about herself yet again sends a flash of disappointment through him. Maybe if things were different he could talk to her about it, maybe he could get her to understand. But he still has a tourney game to get ready for, a meeting with his parents after that, and a new potential crisis to put out. 

“Listen, Audrey-”

Either she doesn’t hear him, or she doesn’t want to, and cuts him off again - something Ben starts to realize he’s growing very used to. She snaps her compact shut and looks at him vaguely, digging around her bag for her plumping lip gloss. She makes a mental note to get more, the extreme plumping kind if she wants to get ahead of all this magic beauty bullshit on the horizon.

“I will see you after my dress fitting for coronation, ‘kay?”

“O-Okay…” Ben replies, but Audrey is already bounding away.

“Bye bennyboo.” She calls out behind her, leaving Ben alone in the hall. He feels himself cringe a little at her repeated use of the nicknam, but reprimands himself. It’s well intentioned - well enough at least - so he shouldn’t be judgemental. 

Behind him in the empty hall, Mal stands, staring at the back of Ben’s head intently. She steadies herself with a breath. She’s been practicing on the birds outside her window - she even practiced on Carlos a few times - she’s been pouring over her mom’s spellbook nonstop since yesterday, she’s ready. She has to be. She takes a breath and walks forward, clearing her throat. 

“Hey bennyboo!” She says, sarcastic and saccharine. 

Ben turns around, startled by the sound of Mal’s voice, and bites back a sigh. He really wishes people would just call him Ben. Before he can greet her, Mal takes a few steps closer, locking eyes with him, and holds up a baggie of cookies that look very… homemade. 

“Do you want one?”

He looks at the cookies briefly, then smiles at Mal. It seems a little strange that she would take up something like baking when she refuses to even take an art class, but Ben is too distracted by the fact that she’s finally putting a good foot forward. She’s doing something kind, making a gesture, she’s trying.

“Oh,” he chuckles, smiling and trying to find a polite way to decline. He never eats right before a tourney match, especially dessert. 

“I uh,” he starts, fumbling for words that always come so easily. “I’ve got a big game - I don’t eat before a big game, but thank you so much!” He adds quickly, her eyes locked onto his. Have they always been that green? 

“T-thank you. Next time, next time definitely.” He concludes. He should go. He needs to go warm up or he’s going to be late. Why is he still standing there?

“No, yeah.” Mal says, pulling his thoughts back to her. If her eyes had always been so intense, such a vibrant, glowing green, Ben is sure he would have noticed before. “I completely understand.”

Mal smiles sadly. 

“Be wary of treats offered by villains…” She laughs sadly, eyes still locked on his, drawing him in. “I’m sure every kid in Auradon knows that.” 

Panic and guilt flash through him. 

“No, no, no-” He fumbles, trying to explain, but finding the words feels like trying to run through quicksand. He can feel his brain slowing down, struggling to think, growing more and more quiet. 

“No, that’s not it,” he sputters, desperately trying to correct her impression of him, that he doesn’t trust her, doesn’t like her. “I- I really do-” 

He gestures weakly toward the tourney field, eyes still locked on Mal’s, stuck in her entrancing gaze. Everything around him seems to glow with a tinge of that green, that intoxicating emerald color of her eyes. He tries to say something, but there are no words in his head to draw on. It’s like someone cut the power supply to his mind, leaving him reeling in the dark, stuck in place as Mal stares him down, inching closer to him. He can’t think, can’t blink, can’t move. All he can do is watch the shades of green emanating from Mal’s eyes, casting everything around him in emerald and lime and harlequin. He wishes he could say something, then slipping into the back of his mind like a snake, words begin to form. 

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself.  

“No, I get it.” Mal says out loud, sounding just like the strange orders permeating Ben’s mind. “You’re cautious, that’s smart.” 

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself.

“Oh well,” Mal sighs, “more for me I guess…”

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

She holds up her sugary concoction between them. 

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

Ben steps forward.

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

He reaches out his hand, compelled by her, then hesitates.

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

“Eat the cookie, Ben.” Mal says, her melodic voice sounding just the same out loud as it does echoing around his head. 

Everything you say and do makes everyone believe you’re wildly in love with me. Even yourself. 

“Eat it!” She snaps. Ben reaches out automatically, taking a bite. The glow in Mal’s eyes softens, a glint of that green still reflected in Ben’s, and he blinks, trying to come out of this strange stupor. 

“See?” He replies hazily. “I totally trust you. Totally.” 

Mal smirks. She glances over at her friends, who Ben didn’t even notice. Mal looks back at Ben. 

“...How are they?” She asks tentatively. Her heart pounds uncontrollably in her chest. This is the moment of truth. She can feel Evie and Jay and Carlos all holding their breath, right along with her. 

“They’re good, they’re great.” Ben answers quickly. “They’re amazing! They’re, uh…”

A warm, fizzy feeling fills his mouth, trickling down his throat as he swallows. 

“I mean, they’re warm, and chewy, and-” he sputters mindlessly. That addictive, bubbling, fizzy feeling spreads from his throat to his chest, making him feel all hazy and disoriented. “And, you know, they…”

He trails off for a moment. That warm, itchy fizzing feeling begins bubbling in his stomach, spreading throughout the rest of his body. 

“Is that walnuts?” He blurts out, continuing to ramble mindlessly about the cookies. “I love walnuts.”

She knows that, comes Mal’s voice in his mind again, she must know that. That’s why she put them in there. God, she’s so beautiful, and considerate too. Always thinking about other people before herself…

“And, um, you know, the chocolate… the- the chocolate…” he sputters. “The chocolate chips are… uh…”

The earth seems to move around him, absolving him of all his duties, all his responsibilities and obligations besides pleasing her. 

“Sorry. They’re, uh… they’re warm, and soft, and sweet…” He rambles, describing the angel before him more than the cookies. His breathing gets shallow as he subconsciously steps closer, needing her like he needs air. He’s fixating on her again, aching for another hit of that intoxicating look she had trapped him in.

“Mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?” He murmurs, voice more low and intimate as he gazes down at her. He’s looking at her differently than he had been - that much is obvious. He reaches up to take another bite of the cookie and she gasps, grabbing it from him.

“I think that’s enough for now…” She says. Ben chuckles, his gaze unwavering. She’s so considerate, always looking out for him in little ways that no one else does. His pupils dilate as he stares at her, overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity, comfort. A strange, aged brew of feelings rises up through him. It makes him think of something, remind him of someone, but he can’t put his finger on it… He’s so wrapped up in the sensation that he doesn’t even notice Jay standing behind him until he speaks, placing his hands firmly - and somewhat roughly - on Ben’s shoulders.

“How you feeling, bro?” Jay asks. There’s a knowing element, a note of some inside information shared between Jay and his friends within his words, but it goes right over Ben’s head. Everything in his mind is screaming Mal Mal Mal! You want to be around Mal as much as possible! She’s your whole world, and you’re totally obsessed with her! 

“I feel… I- I feel…” Ben murmurs, eyes still locked on Mal’s as he tries to find the words, struggling to put his finger on it. A dreamy smile crosses his face.

“I feel like singing your name-”

Mal’s eyes widen in fear and she moves forward, clamping her hand over Ben’s mouth before he can even think about actually doing it. He wasn’t going to, but he smiles into her palm as he realizes she thought he was serious. 

“Okay, well,” Mal says softly with a nervous chuckle. They’re attracting too much attention like this already, and she knows they have to move on if they want a chance at pulling this off. “Don’t do that.”

Ben takes in a deep breath, and the scent of worn, grungy leather and spray paint fumes invades his senses. There’s something else too… nail polish? It’s intoxicating coming from her skin, dizzying, and he wants more. He takes her hand in his, holding it tenderly and inspecting it closely for a moment, his eyes fixated on her bitten nails. They glint in the afternoon light, reflecting off the sparkly, cracked mixture of purple and green polish. Just like her eyes. He looks up at her so softly, and it makes her feel sick. 

“When did you do this?” He asks, glancing back at her nail polish, his thumbs tenderly grazing over her fingers and knuckles. 

“Um-” Mal starts. She’s uncomfortable. She’s not used to having this much attention unless she’s getting screamed at or is knee deep in a gang fight. She’s… unsure of what to do with Ben looking at her like that. He continues before she can try to figure out a response.

“It looks really good, it… it suits you…” He says wistfully, staring at her hand and wanting so badly to kiss it. He looks back up at Mal, and the intensity in his eyes, in his body language makes her waver for a moment. She looks over Ben’s shoulder at Jay, silently begging to bail her out. Jay bites back a laugh at the sight of big bad Mal squirming when someone shows interest in her, but he nods anyway. 

“We gotta go, we have a big tourney match to get ready for.” Jay says, playfully shaking Ben’s shoulders in hopes of snapping him out of his stupor. It doesn’t work, but he hears what Jay is saying anyway. “Right Carlos?”

Carlos blinks, walking closer to help drag Ben away. 

“Uh, right. See you later, Mal.” He says, shooting Mal a thumbs up, silently congratulating her on pulling off such a complicated, difficult spell. Ben feels his heart plummet as Jay pulls him away, Mal’s hand slipping out of his. He twists around in Jay’s grip, struggling to not let her out of his sight yet. You can’t leave her yet, you can’t! 

“You’ll- you’ll be at the tourney match, right Mal?” He asks, a distinct note of desperation reaching for her as he speaks. 

“Yup.” She answers with a performative smile, skin crawling at all the attention he’s throwing at her. “I’ll be the one in purple.”

She mutters the last part under her breath, muscle memory kicking in as she deflects her unexpected discomfort with verbal jabs. She doesn’t think anyone will hear her remark, much less acknowledge it if they do, but she flinches a little as Ben laughs loudly. “I’ll see you there.” He says, beaming at her. Mal can’t remember the last time she made someone laugh out of anything other than fear. 

“I’ll see you right after.” 

He repeats it desperately, like a prayer. Like he’s trying to convince himself that the pain of being apart from her will be over soon. A cold sweat breaks out on the back of Mal’s neck. She grabs Evie’s arm, desperate for some sense of comfort, and walks away as quick as she can without breaking out into a full blown sprint. 

Jay and Carlos attempt to drag Ben away, a little surprised at how hard he’s fighting to look back at Mal every few seconds. Eventually, after a lot of squirming at talking out loud about how great she is, how pretty her eyes are, isn’t she just the best, they manage to get Ben to the tourney field to get ready for the match. Ben stumbles through his usual routine when getting ready for a match, his head swimming the entire time. He’s completely preoccupied with thoughts of Mal. Soon it’s time to head out onto the field, and it couldn’t come sooner. 

Mal is out there, waiting for him, and he is not going to let her down. He calls out morale boosting chants with the rest of the team, psyching himself up to lead his team to victory, because Mal is going to be up in the stands watching him. He’s going to break records, play the best game of tourney in history for her. Everything he does is for her.

[klaprisun]

One Sunny Day

(Stardew Valley)(Haley x Female Farmer)

Chapter 34

For some reason on my walk to the saloon, I saw nobody. There was nobody walking around, nobody doing yard work, nobody running errands. I know it is pretty late out, but people are usually still out and about. It’s giving me a really weird vibe.

Today is also the first day of fall! I had a lot of crops to clear out for the new season, but thankfully my project is still intact. I don’t know what I’m waiting for at this point… it’s really not a huge thing.

I kick a pebble from my path as I venture closer to the saloon. Still no sign of anyone. But as I get closer and closer to the building, I start to hear really…really… loud country music coming from inside. My curiosity is immediately in full gear, so I rush the rest of the way.

Bursting through the door of the Stardrop Saloon, I couldn’t even hear the bell over the sound of the jukebox at full blast. All the tables have been pushed aside creating what seems to be a dance floor. To my surprise, the dance floor was completely full with everyone dancing in rhythm to one another. Bodies were flying and twirling all around so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. What I really noticed was everyone changing partners every couple of minutes.

“A fucking hoe down?” I mumble in exasperation. I already had a tough time keeping up at the Flower Dance and that required no skill. This is another level for me.

People started noticing I was looming by the door and tried waving me over. First Gus, then Marnie, then Lewis, then what felt like the rest of the town. I had to wave off so many people in embarrassment.

I thought I was safe until Leah came swirling like a tornado my way. I couldn’t even object before she yanked my arm and tossed me into the mix of bodies on the dance floor. My arms connected with someone’s immediately and they swung me around to the beat of the music. When there was a pause in the dance, I could finally see who I landed with.

“Hey Danny,” Alex greeted me as we did a weird side step dance move while he held my hand up. I tried my very hardest to concentrate on his foot work so I could keep up.

“What’s all this about?” I question loudly over the sound of the hand claps echoing through the room.

“Not too sure to be honest. People kind of showed up and then Gus turned the jukebox up and it summoned the rest of the town in a weird, creepy way. It felt like being lured by a siren call,” Alex joked.

“How are you doing?” he twirls me around with his hand holding mine above my head. It’s really weird to be dancing with a dude, especially since we are both bulky, stone, statues.

“If you mean about Taylor and all that, I’m doing well. It’s going well. We might even officially put a label on our situation eventually,” we slide to the left a little awkwardly and my boot gets caught in a splitter on the floor board. I have to pry it away.

“That’s really good news. I’m glad to hear,” I give him a sincere smile and he gives me one in return.

“So you and Haley..? How is that going?” I see his eyebrows raise from the corner of my eye since the dance is everyone facing forwards in a line dance style now.

“It’s going better than great.” I feel my face heat up as I recap the previous night. Just as Haley suspected, I can tell Alex somehow figured out what happened because his face lit up as his jaw dropped. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, I was yanked away into someone else's arms.

“Look at you go! You are a natural!” Marnie sings as I spin her around. Somehow I fell right into the flow of the dance now. I’m not really thinking about it too much.

“It took some concentration at first, but I am slowly getting the hang of it,” I shrug.

“How are your chickens doing? Are you ready for some cows in a barn yet?” Marnie laughs. Once again, the clapping nearly drowns out our conversation.

“They’re growing so fast. I miss them as little chicks already. I’m nearly ready for some cows though. I can’t wait.”

“What are their names again? I have such a bad memory these days.”

I trip a little in the middle of the side step I was doing as I think of the names. On their own, they sound like normal chicken names… but together there is a bit of a pattern.

“Well… there is Coconut…Pinkie…Fruit Cup… and… Sunflower.”

“Oh those are such lovely names! I just know you take great care of those little rascals,” Marnie exclaims. “Time for another partner swap!”

Marnie must do this a lot, because a second after, I was pulled into the crowd by someone else for another round of the dance.

“Look at those hips move, girl!” Leah hollers as she holds my hips and starts rocking them back and forth a bit more than I was already doing.

“They ain’t even moving that much. You’re doing that,” I chuckle. I’m really working up a sweat at this point. This dancing is no joke.

“I bet Haley’s hips have been moving this much,” Leah pokes my side causing me to recoil, then lets go of my hips to line dance to the next part of the song.

“Maybe more,” a smirk forms on my lips and I give Leah a telling look. That causes her to clue in immediately. Just like Alex, she was also cut off by me getting pulled away before she could say anything.

“How have your injuries been? Have you been taking care of them? How is your head?” Harvey bombards me with questions right off the bat.

“No complaints yet…” I jokingly answered.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“So you are doing good?” He asks again. We hesitate a moment in the dance as we kind of get confused about who twirls who around which ultimately ends with me twirling Harvey.

“I have been taking care of myself. Don’t worry, doctor,” I flash him a charming smile. Harvey’s face distorts into an unreadable expression, and his cheeks go slightly pink. It throws me off and makes me get flustered. I trip over my own foot for a second but quickly regain balance. I guess I just have that effect on people..?

“C’mere,” Elliot pulls me away from Harvey so I can now be his dance partner. I didn’t even realize it was time to switch already. Each dance sequence feels like it's getting quicker and quicker. But I think I’m just getting used to it.

“That was so weird. I think I just made Harvey blush?” I say with uncertainty.

“I don’t think you know how attractive you are. Don’t cut yourself short,” Elliot says firmly.

“Well I don’t know about THAT,” I roll my eyes as I click my heels and toes against the ground to the beat.

“You literally made Haley rethink her sexuality,” Elliot points out. We shimmy past one another with our knuckles placed on our hips. I tip my hat down at him as we pass by each other.

“See. Right there. You’re attractive whether you agree or not. I’m not into you, but I see how you got Haley’s panties in a twist-” Elliot's sentence gets cut short as Leah spins by us and whispers into his ear. He listens intently, but his eyes widen and both of them look my way directly after. Leah gets swung back away from us by her dance partner, Caroline. Elliot is left gawking like an idiot as everyone changes dance partners again.

My next dance partner turned out to be Pierre. He was a bit off beat and that caused me to be thrown off a bit.

“I don’t know why I keep trying to do these dances. I’m getting too old for this,” he sighs.

“What are you talking about? You’re still plenty young!” I nudge his shoulder, trying to get his spirits up.

“Caroline has so much energy and a free spirit. I wish I could keep up with her and her hobbies.”

“I’m sure you guys have some kind of things you do together?”

“Yeah I guess we do. I just feel like she doesn’t like me as much anymore.”

“Why don’t you get her a bouquet to let her know how much you still love her? I’m sure she’d love that.”

“Good idea, Danny. Haley is a lucky girl.” And with that he gives me a wink and the dance is already over for this partner rotation.

I try to make eye contact with someone in the crowd so I know where I’m getting dragged to next. All I can see is an ocean of dancing people, no one person is looking back at me. Suddenly I feel my arm get tugged into the next dance.

“You looked like a lost puppy,” Maru giggles as we start clapping.

“I feel like one. I just keep getting whipped around from person to person. I can’t keep up,” I huff as I wipe a drip of sweat from my forehead.

“It's nearly over. Just a few more partner swaps!”

“I bet it will feel like forever. I’m going to sleep good tonight though that’s for sure.”

“Well it’s already time to switch! Good luck out there!” Maru lets go of my hand and I’m washed back into the crowd.

Instead of being spun, swung, or twirled away by someone, I find myself line dancing beside good old, energetic Sam. He looks over at me when he notices I picked my pace up to match his. I see his eyes narrow and he starts getting more aggressive with his dancing. The beat starts picking up in the song, and the two of us start “dance battling” each other. We are the only two paying attention to our intense dancing. We even join hands at some point and act like we are actually dance partners, but really we were competing.

We keep that up for the entire round, not speaking to each other once. I did look away a few times to gaze around at everyone else having fun. I also notice Leah and Elliot whispering to people from our group here and there. They are such gossips.

Sam and I’s competition really took the last wind out of me. I’m starting to get absolutely pooped. Sam dances his way into the wave of bodies out of my sight, and I’m left dizzy, brain spinning in circles. I feel my body slowly start walking me off course, causing me to bump into someone.

“Oh my Yoba. Willy!?” I say as I crash into Willy’s open arms. He must’ve been expecting me to lose my senses and stumble around. I rarely get to talk to Willy. He likes to spend time out at the pier and in his store. I haven’t really been focused on fishing or anything lately so it’s been a while.

“Ahoy lass! How ye been?” His grumbly sounding voice and gruff appearance always makes people afraid of him. But he is one of the sweetest people I’ve met.

“Living the dream. How ‘bout you?” Willy twirls me around, more gracefully than anyone else had tonight.

“Still tryin’ to keep the fishing business running. Some may say I'm trying to keep it afloat!” he starts chuckling at his own pun. I joined in on the laughter as it was a good pun.

“You been having any luck in these local waters? You were a great angler there at the beginning,” Willy asks.

“I’ve been a bit... preoccupied,” I say sheepishly. “I promise I’ll try to get out there again soon.” I recognize the vibe in the air that means it is time to change partners. Willy and I tip our hats to one another and spin away.

This time, I’m dragged into a dance with Penny. Although, It was more like we bumped into each other and just went with it.

“Penny! Hi!” We grasp hands and hold them out to the side. My other hand is lightly holding her waist while hers is just kind of resting on my shoulder. We bounce to the music, sticking our feet out every which way, trying to keep in sync with everyone else.

“Hi Danny!” You are a great dancer!” she admired my footwork for a minute but then dance required us to spin next.

“Meh, this part is easy work. I get so lost when the line dance part comes up. I think I’ve tripped like three times during that bit.”

“It took me years to learn how to line dance. We haven’t even gotten to the fastest song yet. That’ll throw you off for sure. I still get lost during it,” she laughs.

“How is the teaching going? Are the rascals behaving for you?”

“Jas and Vincent are truly great kids. I love teaching them. Sometimes they are a handful but I can take it.”

“You are such a kind person for doing that for them. Everyone is so thankful for all that you do.”

“Awww thank you. It’s something I’m really interested in doing for the rest of my life. It would be nice working with pristine, good condition textbooks. The ones we have here are very rickety, old things. They basically fall apart in your hands.”

Before I could respond, I felt someone slide their hands up my arms, over my biceps, to my shoulders. Penny gives me a smirk as she can see who has walked up behind me. She gives me a slight nod and dances away.

The hands on my shoulders start twisting me around so that we are face to face.

“I know those hands anywhere,” I whisper to Haley. She had finally arrived at the saloon, making me have to suffer all this dancing by myself until now.

“I’m sure you do,” she seductively whispers back, wrapping her arms around my neck. I tuck mine in around her waist, holding her close. Suddenly the synchronized dancing doesn’t have my attention anymore.

Before we could even settle into a nice, slow dance pace, she flashes me a bright grin and picks up into the line dance choreography. I let out a sigh, but excitedly went to join her as her partner.

“Isn’t this fun!” she shouts over the loud music. We are holding hands, bobbing in and out as well as doing some fancy footwork.

“You’re just lucky I decided to join in with you. I’ve been dancing this for a really long time. I was starting to feel exhausted there before you came in.”

“You saved just enough energy for me?” She says as I twirl her around.

“Of course I did. I have to have at least one dance with the pretty misses,” her face reddens and she suddenly becomes shy. “What’s the matter, did I embarrass you?” I pinch her already red cheek, making her face go a shade darker.

“I’m just happy you saved a dance for me. I was hoping you did.”

“Of course! Who do you think I am?”

“Which, does anyone know about…” she waves a finger between her and I as we start line dancing again.

“Only like a few. I didn’t tell EVERYONE.”

We continue line dancing side by side, only really paying attention to what the other is doing. I sometimes take her hips from behind and dance behind her, but only once and a while. I can tell the end of the dance is coming up, so I take Haley and dip her to the ground. Just as I pull her back up, the song abruptly stops. The two of us are frozen, gazing into each other's eyes.

Everything is immediately snapped back into reality when we hear Shane shout from across the room.

“I WAS RIGHT!” He starts waving a stack of money our way, with our entire group standing behind him, staring at us. Some still had money in their hand, waiting to pass to Shane. 

[bamdelune]

in crimson, there is clarity﹒░ scara x reader

summary ➜ a continuation to the two-part mini series i made, contemplation in crimson. estranged lovers attempt to tighten up some loose ends.

genres/tags/warnings ➜ angst, hurt/comfort and hurt/no comfort themes, cyno tries to help, arguing, both of them suck at feelings, totally different writing style from the last two !!

— and i hope to never see you again.

Your nonchalance was something to be feared. Prolonged periods of silence, a million thoughts behind a tug of your lips upwards, albeit it felt too tight and you were certain anyone who knew better would've saw right through you.

You actively avoided anything that had to do anything with him. Puspa Café became a restricted area within your heart, the gazebo near the Akademiya where fruitful conversations and trivial thoughts passed you by became a deserted arch under the moon, and you had kept all his belongings in a secure box hidden at Kaveh and Alhaitham's house. They understood you, pitied you even.

Akademiya scholars and higher-ups blew their whispered assumptions into the air that you walked in, straying away from you the moment they feel your silent aura filled the room. For someone who was reserved enough as commander, the higher degree of quiet unnerved everyone and anyone. No one ever saw an inch of you anywhere else but your office and home, with only the occasional grocery runs to help satisfy their curiosity.

— get out. my dreams aren't your home.

Despite your diligence to avoid any sort of memory with that man, he somehow worked his way back into your dreams so easily, as if your thoughts was where he belonged. As much as any rational thought tried to push him out, some part of you would always let him in. After all, how could one night of immense hurt compete with the countless days of the warmth you shared.

But nevermind that, everything between the two of you was cold as the gaze you pierced into him, the one filled with the sounds of the broken shards of your heart. The pieces of your love that you tried so hard to pick up right after.

But at night, you can't help but wonder. Wonder if things went differently, the empty and unwrinkled space beside you on the mattress would still be occupied today. Nights were cold, midnights were lonelier, daybreak seemed to be the heaviest.

— when you think of me, i hope you are filled with distate and pure hatred.

"You look like dogshit." Cyno remarks, having opened the big doors to your office. You shoot him a tired glare, eyes raising from the stack of never-ending paperwork that seemed to love landing on the lowest of your days.

You let go of the pen in your hand, freely letting it fall to the wood of your clearly occupied desk. "I'll have you know you're still at work. I don't think you should be talking to a title like that, General Mahamatra," your lips thin into a straight line at his off-hand comment.

Cyno chuckles, though it was quick. "When were you one to care about what I said?"

If there was one thing more pestering than the hefty papers on your workspace, it was Cyno. You cherish him to no end, as a general and as a friend, but he would do good with some kicks to his head at certain times.

"State your business, Cyno. As you can clearly see, I don't have time for this," you gesture to the unorganized mess on your desk, a sarcastic look nursing on your face.

Cyno heaves a sigh, as if he was far too reluctant to delegate this news to you.

"He wants to see y—"

You're quick to interrupt him, with the usual response you started giving a month ago.

"No."

He gives you a knowing look, crossing his arms. At that moment, you knew you won't get anything past him at this point.

"Don't give me that look, General. I have my reasons." Your eyes train back to the words on the paper below your nose, but they don't seem to register into your brain.

He seemed to never waver when it came to asking for your audience during the last thirty days. The first few days absolutely wrecked you behind closed doors, the moment Cyno would leave you alone, with fat salty tears streaming down the corners of your face in pure frustration and hurt. Resolve was what you needed to build and that week, it began to crack with the lines of longing for his voice, his touch, his gaze, and his own presence. You were tempted, using the route that would brush past the location of his confinement the moment you clocked off but resolve began to build up, to your happiness.

The longing didn't come at work. No, it came at home during the wee hours, when the hands of the clock greeted the late numbers on top.

"You say you have your reasons. I'll give you that, yes. But your reason should've ended the moment you filed his arrest report. It's past about you as a commander now, (name), but you as his l—"

"Don't," You give him a hard look, "I'm not his anymore nor is he mine. He's just another one of our criminals, nothing more nor less."

Cyno pokes the inner wall of his cheek, before taking off his headpiece. Your eyes stay on him, with slight curiosity.

"This is a symbolic gesture, (name). I'm taking this off to let you know I'm talking to you as a friend, not as your superior," he says before continuing. "Talk to him. It would do you some good. If you still love him, fine by us but know your limits. If you don't, then that counts as a step to closure. You're a mess, you can barely work in that state. The new recruits might as well piss themselves in training by the dirty glare you give them."

Damn Cyno for being headstrong, never helped with shit.

"Go away." You retort, althought your response came out less impactful than you intended.

"You know I'm right." Cyno puts his headpiece back on before leaving through your office doors, stopping just below the doorframe.

"Room 0101, have Kuia accompany you up until the reception." Just like that, Cyno left.

When you hear the door shut, you bury your face in the palms of your hands as you groan. Today could have gone like any other. Coming into work with at a punctual time, going through mounds of paperworks; project proposals, research permits, and alike, and finally clocking out no later than eight-thirty p.m., but Cyno pressed otherwise. Dread begins to wrap itself tightly around your body, like a monster whispering the worst for your brain to register with a sinister smile.

The day only got longer from there.

— stop looking at me like that, as if i hung the stars up in the sky.

Cyno's subordinate from the Matra patiently waited for you by the time the dawn of night hit the Akademiya, standing on-guard by the elevator going down to the hall of confinement where prisoners were held.

"Kuia," you greet with a polite smile etched on your face, "good evening." She greets you back in the same manner, giving you a small salute on her chest before letting you enter the elevator first.

"I assume Cyno reminded you of a few things about this visit?"

Kuia presses the button going down and stands within a few inches to your right, the captain responds with a nod.

"The General Mahamatra specifically told me that you shall be left alone until the timer went out." You cock your head to the side. That's all? Thank the archons above that he didn't remember to tell Kuia that—

"He also instructed me to standby by the entrance only and avoid accompanying you during your alotted time frame."

Cyno is a headstrong individual, and you thank him greatly for that trait. However, when it comes to petty interests like these that concerned you, he seemed to be more determined to become more stubborn that he usually was.

"Damn guy can't even forget a thing. That's Cyno for you, Captain," you sigh with a soft chuckle at the back of your voice before the elevator opens with a ding.

Kuia stays back as ordered by Cyno prior by the entrance as she grants you clearance to enter a hall. Who knew the Akademiya treated even prisoners like celebrities with the amount of marble material displayed in the flooring. In response, you click a small tch in amusement before striding forward to his cell.

The moment you started getting closer, your heart began to leap out of your chest. Why was this far too nerve-wracking for your liking? You've done this before.

You've known him before.

So why would you have any reason to be nervous, to be afraid of something unsaid and undone? Why do you fear the look of his face when he finally sees you again?

You stride to his room, Block 0101 and lightly knock on the long glass window that had a telephone on its right. Your eyes catch a glimpse of indigo streaked hair as his legs kicked off the bed and stood up to face you.

Your breath catches in your throat, your fists clench and unclench from the fidgeting you were doing. His head is down before he takes the telephone on his end.

His face is finally shown. Despite the slightly prominent bags under his tired eyes, he still looked as charming as ever however, admitting that only proves to be ammunition should anyone hear it.

"Commander," your spine chills at his use of your title, his tone was received with uncertainty on your part. Your mind raced with different questions: Does he hate you? Did the both of you have something, even? Did he still mean anything to you at all?

"Kunukuzushi."

Your tongue tosses his name in your mouth, the pronunciation coming to you almost like muscle memory. He once told you that you pronounced his name slightly better than others, he loved hearing his name ghost your lips.

"How are you?" He asks with a slight smile, you're uncertain whether or not it was an authentic one or not.

How are you?

You've been asked that questions so many times in the span of a month and a half. You always had an answer, automatic to reply.

You've always said you were well.

But now that it was Kunikuzushi's turn to ask that question, you suddenly ponder on it.

How have you been?

Each night you spent alone, skin cold without the familiar warmth of touch. Each morning you woke up to silence instead of the soft greetings of good morning. Each day you dragged yourself to work, riddled with guilt and hurt and everything in between. All because of the man who stands in front of you.

"I'm doing good." Truthfully, what was he going to do if you said otherwise? Comfort you? All the right and the opportunities flew out the window the moment you planned his arrest.

You two contradict each other in the worst way possible, like a paradox that oppose each other in most ways but still find a way to create a crooked harmony of a relationship.

"That's great," was all he replied with.

"Look, let's skip the formalities." You start, crossing your arms and looking at him dead straight in the eyes. "Why do you call me here non-stop? It's a hindrance to work. You're becoming a distraction."

You internally wince at how sharp-edged your words were, you were lying. You would never ever even think of uttering those words to him, knowing Kunikuzushi better. He was better than that.

Kunikuzushi was your favorite distraction.

"You wound me, Commander."

He breaks into a small smile, but his voice is lined with a minor crack caused by the slight shock from your reply.

"I missed you," his tone became serious, punctuating it with a huff of an exhale. It made your heart stop, did he really? Was it... possible?

You don't say anything for a while, eyes anywhere but on his. You would crack under his gaze should you look at him, your resolve would always waver in his presence. He made you feel safe in vulnerability, but did he use that against you at any point behind your back?

"Was any of it real?" Cut to the chase, the quicker you leave, the better.

"What was?"

You roll your lips into your mouth, wondering the best way to word this.

"How much of it was real? Us."

It was his turn to be quiet, you couldn't see it but he fiddled with his fingers in pondering.

"All of it."

"Bullshit," you scoff with a laugh.

"I mean it, you won't believe me but that's the least of my worries."

You search his expression carefully, you couldn't find hints of a joke, that he was playing a sick prank on you. Would it really be fine to believe him?

"Why don't you hate me?"

Kunikuzushi laughs, a genuine one like the answer to your question was humorously obvious.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

Yoy started to get a little frustrated, why can't he just simply tell it like it is? Why couldn't he look you right in the eye and be as blunt like he usually w—

"Because I love you, (name). If it wasn't obvious enough, I'll say it again. I love you, I love you, I love you."

All counts of irritation seep out onto the floor as he spoke, your body tenses less and you find it easier to breathe.

After all that, Kunikuzushi finds it in himself to tie his heart to yours for you to take, for you to own, for yours to love.

You'd sacrifice him to save the world, but he'd burn everything else if it meant he could keep you. He was yours, always and forevermore. Kunikuzushi does not plan on changing that fact, set in stone for eternity.

"Run away with me." He blurts out, almost a whisper with how gentle his tone was, like it was almost pleading for you.

Your automatic answer would've been no like the virtuous leader you are, but irrationality and longing take the forefront of your decision-making. Must he always be this convincing? This choice and everything you door say right after jeopardizes everything you stand for and everyone you lead. Should you say yes, you are estranged from the Akademiya and from the Matra.

But as you look back into the indigo pools of his eyes, all thoughts seem to quiet down. This could work, this could give you the life that was ripped away from you by your own actions in the past.

Your hand seemed to come alive on its own and reaches for the set of keys that unlock the cells of the hall of confinement, fiddling through each one with the familiar pattern of Kunikuzushi's cell before twisting it in place into the keyhole.

You shouldn't be doing this. Hell, you should have never come down here in the first place.

The lock clicks free and Kunikuzushi feels the air of the door swinging into his face, brushing his weaves of hair softly before he truly comes face-to-face with you. Your heart thumps violently in your chest, the course of actions you've just done—treason, to be exact, twisted your system into adrenaline rush.

"Don't make me regret this." You shoot him a look.

"You won't regret anything, lover."

© bamdelune 2023 — do not copy/plagiarize my works. reposting/translating without permission is not allowed.

[pokenimagines]

SFW | Clavell | Fic

Reader teaches Clavell how to be 'hip' and 'cool' w the kids. Someone please help this poor man out.

I was so overjoyed and giggling for several minutes after seeing Clavell, I mean.. "Clive" walk onto screen.

MAJOR SCARVIO SPOILERS BELOW

Okay but seriously, the man needs help.

Rules | Discord Server (16+)

SFW Clavell: Cheugy Old Man

It was painful to watch your friend Clive try to be hip. It was so painfully obvious to you the moment you made eye contact with Clive that he was the director. He could hide behind that atrocious wig and sunglasses, but you couldn't change your facial structure. So when he tried being hip and cool, it was painful. You even tried pointing this out to Clive a few times, but he wasn't hearing it.

So you did what you had to do: You approached the Director during school hours to have a discussion with him. It actually came easier to you than you thought, when he asked you what a slang word meant, and you explained it meant "Out of Date" or a "Try Hard".

"Ah, I see...thank you for informing me." Clavell said, lacing his fingers together.

"Ya, it's not really a super common slang term honestly..." You said awkwardly before clearing your throat, "If you want, I can teach you a thing or two about other slang you might hear, as well as what's cool in the moment."

"Really? You'd do that?" You could see the spark in Clavell's eyes as you nodded.

"Ya uh let's go over appearances first." You decided, wanting desperately for his Clive outfit to look better. "The in style for hair is like cleaned up over the ears and off the next...maybe some bangs but some style it going to the side...and long side burns are out." You said and Clavell was about to open his mouth while you continued, "And aviator sunglasses or sport sunglasses look pretty cool as well...also wearing the longer pants rather than the shorts are more stylish. The school shorts are too big, y'know?"

Clavell was taken back as he nodded is head, "I see...so these are seen as cool?" he asked and you nodded.

"Yuppers!" You wouldn't lie, a lot of it was for your own comfort. If you had to keep seeing the Director in those shorts, you might actually be sick, "Also gloves are in for trainers, especially the fingerless ones." You said, giving him some advice on how to hide his age a bit more. His hands were definitely old and withered and were an easy tell that he wasn't young.

"I see, this is enlightening information." He said "I'll have to buy a new wig and clothes..." He murmured the last part, but you barely caught it.

"Ya, that's the lesson for today. I can teach you sayins and stuff on another day." You said as you looked at the clock.

"Thank you, it would be much appreciated. Now I'm sure you need to head to your next class. To be safe going." Clavell said and you nodded. You could only hope he took this advice to heart so he wouldn't look as dreadful the next time you went to take on a Team Star base.

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[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 5: I MEET SOME FISHY RELATIVES

Beckendorf...the dark feelings still resided in him as his eyes fluttered open...yet Percy woke up feeling more relaxed than he had since...well since he first woke up without his memories.It didn't take much imagination to figure out why.

He could still feel Annabeth pressed against his back. She was sitting upright, he could hear pages of a book flipping. He smiled with a strange sense of deja vu, a hazy memory he tried to grasp like smoke. This was not the first time he'd awoken like this, but it felt new and invigorating as he yawned and stretched for another day.

She smiled and reached out for him the moment he was awake, but stopped herself, her fingers going slowly back around the book without a change in expression as she stretched too to get up.

Alex came into the room today wearing green slacks and a button up pink shirt that was far to loose on him like he was heading for a casual day at the office, there was even an untied, yellow and blue seashell patterned tie around his neck. All that was missing was a briefcase. His hair though, was all feathered up in a massive pompador style right out of the 60's.

"If you're trying to impress my dad, that outfit might do it," Percy grinned.

"The style spoke to me for many reasons," she nodded appreciatively to Percy before announcing, "oh, and it's he/ him pronouns today."

Percy sighed in exhaustion, just because he knew he was going to get that wrong at least once and he always felt bad getting the stank eye from Alex even while they made fun of each other for it.

Annabeth couldn't help but study him with the sharp, fascinated eyes of someone seeing something for the first time. Like everyone else, she'd never met a genderfluid person before, and like everything new she ever encountered, she wanted to know more.

Jason came shuffling in last. His face tight, eyes averted to the ground but shoulders straight as he went back to sit beside Nico.

Thalia let him without a word. She knew that kind of anger, she wouldn't let it stay bottled up forever, but Percy and Annabeth were being the life of the party, laughing over what she'd managed to read so far last night and how it all seemed so much simpler back then. She was teasing him about how his guinea pig face must have blushed upon seeing her in that dress while Thalia picked up the book.

Hopefully at lunch she could snag her brother for a private word, perhaps on the roof where he was least likely to cause property damage and try to explain herself again-

"Hey Annabeth," Will leaned forward anxiously in his seat before Thalia could get her thoughts together and start. "Did Rachel ever come to Camp or try to contact you guys?"

Thalia blinked, then her heart did a somersault of guilt as she realized what he was asking.

"No," Annabeth watched him carefully for that tone. "I reached out of course, to see if she had any visions of where Percy was, but-"

"She was in here," Thalia said with numb lips, looking at Magnus's suddenly stark white face. "She, I would have thought Oceanus would send her back and she would have gotten a hold of you-" she stopped with horror as Magnus jumped up.

"But, Hearth-" He'd been an idiot, he'd been an absolute fool to let him get sent anywhere! He might as well superglue a target to his face because Blitz was going to kill him if he didn't die of shame first-

"Whoah, whoah, whoah," Annabeth stood up and came towards him, but he backed away with a guarded look towards her, only to bump into the couch and fall flat back.

She took a step back and spoke to the room at large, only biting at her lip for a moment before speaking with confidence. "Oceanus might seem incompetent, but he knows better than to mess with, um, her." Only to some of them did they understand she meant an Oracle, a blessed of Apollo. The others just thought she sounded very naive; except Percy, of course. He believed her without question even if he wasn't sure why as he rubbed his temple. " I'm positive he didn't do anything to harm her or, um, Hearth. IM's have still been down, or glitchy at best, so she probably couldn't get in touch that way. If he meant to pull me in here and couldn't manage it, I'm sure he just sent them, somewhere they, shouldn't be," she finished with her own confused frown. She couldn't even hope it was inside the continental US, considering how out of touch he seemed.

Magnus heard her through a low buzz, anger at himself at war with panic. Hearth wasn't exactly helpless, but he'd been assuming this whole time he was in some elfish fantasy world with Blitz having the time of his life without being responsible for him. They had to get out of here and, and...his head was swimming. He didn't even know how to start looking for him, let alone what he was going to tell Blitz. Maybe he had some magic dwarf powers and had already found him-

"Nothing's changed then," Alex's voice cut through the fog of his panic like a sword about to behead him. "We need to get out of here, we've only been given one clear way to do that," he sounded so contemptuous and stubborn all at once as he gestured at the books.

The very large pile of books they still had left.

Magnus swallowed a painfully dry throat, trying to hold onto the idea that Alex had been practicing his ASL, he was getting pretty good and Hearth was going to be so pleased when they finally met up again, but gods did that feel as unattainable a life right now as just getting a new pair of socks used to.

"Well let's get to it then," Percy reached out and took Annabeth's hand, giving it a squeeze, before releasing her. A silent promise she could go wherever she wanted in this room and he'd be right here. Rachel was as resilient as her, he scolded his racing heart. She probably couldn't get a hold of anyone from her private island because the satellite her dad owned was having a bad day, it was just his luck, not anything happening to her.

Annabeth backed up slowly, eyes on her cousin, but sat back down beside him.

"Can't get any worse," Jason agreed, his voice rough like he'd been screaming into a pillow half the night.

Nico and Will exchanged miserable looks, feeling as usual the spectators in everybody else's life.

Nobody tried to stop Thalia as she huddled up tight in her seat with a miserable feeling. Some leader she was. If Zeus could see her he'd probably laugh himself stupid off his throne.

"I Meet Some Fishy Relatives," she told the room with a faint smile, Percy had always managed to bring that out in her whether she liked it or not.

"Talking fish?" Magnus asked with interest that even to his own ears felt lackluster. The one time he'd like to be able to shut his brain off and curl up in his sleeping bag, but he didn't want to leave either. This place had always felt like a dream, an escape from his miserable life the moment that door had opened. Hearth was okay, he'd keep telling himself over and over. He was wicked smart and resourceful and probably knew all kinds of elf things he'd never told Magnus about he could yell at him for later.

"All fish are talking fish when Percy meets them," Will chuckled.

"I'm worried it means fishy like suspicious. He blacked out in the ocean, what if Poseidon's enemies captured him," Jason frowned.

"Maybe for once we meet nicer relatives of Percy's, the only one who hasn't wanted to kill him is Tyson," Nico sighed.

Percy looked desperately to Annabeth, and for once, she gave him a commiserating look as she asked, "why are they trying to guess when they could just shut it and find out faster?"

"Thank you!" Percy shouted with such gusto a floom of bubbles left his fingers, "I've been telling them that from the get go!"

"Let them have their game, the actual chapters are usually death and destruction. At least these are fun," Will shrugged.

Thalia wholeheartedly agreed, and added, "maybe he meets the original Pegasus, that'd be a fun play on words."

Percy groaned while Annabeth at least gave Thalia an indulgent smile until the mild laughter subsided and Thalia properly started.

Demigod dreams suck.

"Pretty sure I had a dream last night about a platypus juggling," Alex gave him a sad nod.

"Why you gotta brag man?" Percy sighed.

Alex didn't even point out he was just sharing his awesome dream, it had been a bit of a brag too it wasn't about Loki again.

The thing is, they're never just dreams. They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt.

"Why do you even need the Oracle?" Magnus looked sickened at being hounded by this world even in your sleep. Percy had just watched his friend die, couldn't it ever cut him some slack? "Sounds to me like you guys get enough hellish visions without the green smoke."

"The Oracle's actually more vague than our dreams half the time," Percy agreed with the gripe.

Annabeth gave them both an exasperated look, one Percy associated with having asked her this once before and he'd tuned out the answer, which he only vaguely realized he was doing now as he saw her mouth moving but wasn't taking in a word until she shot Will a dirty look as he snickered and interrupted, "my dad would have smited them already for asking that anywhere else. Can we move on?"

Annabeth obviously didn't agree, but Thalia was more than happy to do so.

I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California.

Percy's hand slipped back into Annabeth's. Slowly, cautiously, but she only smiled without a trace of rejection. He smiled right back, taking any excuse he could to have her close as memories of that place swirled to easily to mind, her grimy face begging Luke for help, Kronos's golden eyes watching pitilessly as Beckendorf closed his eyes and reached for his watch. This place meant nothing but death.

The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud—Atlas, holding up the sky.

Thalia gave herself a calming breath. It wasn't Annabeth and Artemis back under there, he was still trapped and he would stay that way.

Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames.

"Where's the midget Titan?" Percy sighed. "Why are they all stocking up on Wheaties and three times the size of me?"

"You needed a growth spurt," Annabeth smirked.

"Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.

Jason's blood ran cold, and it was something more than the idea of the Titan. It felt like a memory, like his presence was a sheer force of icy wind trying to bow him over he'd fought against-

"Jason?" Nico's hand was warm as he gave him a friendly nudge, the shock of it so far from where his mind had been trying to loop him into it easily knocked him out.

"Yeah, yeah," he murmured quietly, quickly, hoping Thalia hadn't noticed. What else about his past was she hoarding to herself? He didn't want to deal with any of it right now.

She'd noticed, and was pretending she hadn't just as easily.

"It doesn't matter," the other said.

Percy's anger flared so harsh, all of their vision burned white for a moment as the ocean turned painfully hot in seconds. Beckendorf's sacrifice didn't matter?! Taking out a whole battalion had made them brush him off like a bit of grass!

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice was startled more than afraid, but he hadn't realized he'd yanked his hand out from hers as they balled up into fists. Like he'd vanished right from her side without warning.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," he gasped, taking her hand back gently and curling his fingers tight around her weathered hands, cupping her in both of his as everyone around him blinked and a few even waved their hands in front of their eyes to chase away the spots.

This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos. His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler.

If Percy hadn't been using every last bit of his usually useless concentration to keep him here in this room, his anger would have been absolute enough to borrow some of that power and explode something. His body remembered this guy like his mind couldn't, it wanted to help him, churn the ocean to his will and finish what had once been started...but there were no Titans in here, and he would keep a lid on himself and not hurt them!

"The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."

The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.

"I will go east to marshal our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."

The white specks still dancing in Jason's eyes weren't doing well to chase away the image of stars in the water, the darkness just out of touch in the room. In a better mood he would have liked to speak with Percy how interesting it was he experienced his own anger and how it felt tight, almost painful without a release he wasn't giving and what to do with this feeling, but he wanted to understand this more than his stupid ideas right now.

The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while you have all the fun."

Nico was impressed at the look that passed over Jason's face, almost a sneer of intimidation just begging to laugh. The sort of confidence that certainly would have made him consider before drawing his own sword.

Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior.

Alex scoffed so hard it sounded like it hurt. "He was out of there for how long and got absolutely thrashed by everyone he met."

Thalia gave him an unimpressed look for that cocky attitude. Even Artemis had to trick him back into taking his burden, Zoe and Percy had been a mere annoyance in the meantime.

Annabeth didn't remember much of her time beneath the sky, mostly just black fuzzy pain she'd have given anything to be away from, but she'd heard Atlas's voice speaking to Luke and knew it was the cause of her pain. She did her best to suppress a shiver and shove that memory back away to wherever it was. How had Percy been taking all of this so calmly? Just one whisper of a memory of her past and she felt like crawling out of her skin.

Take my burden so I may fight!"

Nico chuckled for himself. He felt like that was the real punishment, not even the sky itself. That Atlas had to rely on someone else to take it, that he couldn't force his burden away. It was something he was sure his dad had thought up.

"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."

"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."

"Tuxedo?" One of Alex's brows shot up with interest. "Who's showing up to the party in all their glory?"

"I volunteer Alex fight them if he's that invested," Percy sighed. "Fashion runway faceoff maybe."

"Don't tempt me," he smirked. "I can resist everything but temptation," rolling the last word on his tongue and savoring it. Magnus swallowed and looked quickly away from those lips.

The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!"

The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared.

"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."

If he didn't like them so much, Jason would be happy to rip them off. The feeling sat clenched and painful until his mind was forced to move on, he could feel a sharp breeze tugging at his clothes he wasn't consciously aware of. Somewhere in his memories, he knew that as much as Crius resented his placement in the cosmos, he had known how to use those powers.

The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes—my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades.

Nico smiled in surprise Percy had once considered him a friend. Surely that placement had stayed in the months since, despite everything that had happened...until he'd been forgotten about like everybody else.

"You were just casually spying on Titans?" Will sighed, in a very exhausted kind of way that already meant he knew his worry would fall on deaf ears.

He was right, he might as well have been talking to Hearth. "Uhhu," Nico nodded. "I pulled Percy into that dream. Something I was experimenting with, pretty cool it worked, huh?"

Annabeth sighed, Percy looked startled, but Will grinned faintly, like he was impressed. There weren't Titans around anymore to worry about Nico continuing to do this, but Will still hoped he might be able to provide backup one day anyways.

Nico was imagining the same thing, and fought hard to suppress a laugh at Will trying to blend into the shadows with that blond hair. It wasn't working very well.

He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"

"That plan?" Percy groaned, knowing full well the answer was buried somewhere in his head and the current source of his headache.

The room was collectively silent in answer, though Jason and Alex looked a little put out too like they would have backed Percy up on getting an answer to that sooner rather than later. Thalia decided to keep reading before that broke out into more.

His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor, and my dreams went black.

"Percy?" a deep voice said.

My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil.

"Well, nothing else has got his brain firing on all pistons, someone was bound to try this eventually," Thalia chuckled.

I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.

"Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully.

"No, brother."

It was the first time everybody wasn't excited to hear about Tyson. The quiet, heavy weight of the room still circled around that name, not even a moment to hope it had been true before Thalia had taken it away.

My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops—a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?"

My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!"

"Debatable," Annabeth smirked.

Percy had never looked so thrilled to be insulted by someone. It was sort of cute, and kind of sad as Annabeth had yet taken her eyes off him, the lines under her eyes hardly less than yesterday.

I wasn't so sure. My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Tyson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds.

Jason stirred with interest first, looking quizzically at Percy, then around the room. "Isn't Tyson still in Neptune's Kingdom? Did someone bring you there?"

"Makes sense," Percy nodded wearily. He had last blacked out in the ocean, that ship would have sent a massive echo throughout the deep waters attracting everything, plenty of creatures who would know where to take him. Even for once, getting an answer right as he woke up, couldn't overpower his still settling knowledge that Beckendorf couldn't have survived the same.

I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.

"Next time, Poseidon should kidnap us outright," Alex huffed. "His digs sound way nicer than what we got."

Annabeth nodded in agreement, but Percy saw the sadness creep over her face as she looked around. He could only imagine what was going on in that big, beautiful brain of hers, and what she might suggest to their current prison-lords on how to spruce up the place.

Now, being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to. But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room.

"Where—"

"Daddy's palace," Tyson said.

Jason was starting to look a little put out why they weren't all hearing each others voices through the vibrations in the water, and why they'd been foisted to some old Titan instead of the central hubbub of an Olympian's palace.

Nico sighed in exasperation as Alex was still muttering about that too, and he vividly remembered how unhappy Oceanus was about them even being here. There was just no pleasing anybody when it came to kidnapping.

Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years.

"Why haven't we been hearing about those dreams?" Magnus sighed. "All we've been hearing is death, and potential death, and threatening's of death."

Percy thought about it for a moment before offering, "I think there was one where Bessie and I sat around blowing bubbles. She was green for some reason."

"I accept that," Magnus chuckled in surprise, "I honestly was starting to doubt you could have normal dreams."

But my head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds had healed—just being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time—but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats.

"Wearing short shorts," Alex just had to add to the trauma. "Doing speckys off one another and smelling wretched!"

"He's just like that. All the time." Percy told Annabeth's calculating face upon him.

"Ah," she nodded as if she'd come to much the same conclusion.

"Nobody's going to ask what a specky is?" Alex asked in disappointment.

"Nobody was foolish enough to think you weren't going to explain," Jason promised.

"They jump off one another!" He shouted.

"In the, cleats?" Magnus asked in concern.

"Well they don't take their shoes off during the game Magnus," he sniffed.

"Right," he sighed while Thalia uneasily looked down at the book and decided to keep reading before Alex wanted to start demonstrating.

"How long—"

"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water."

"The Princess Andromeda?"

"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.

It was a mark of how bad things were Tyson had put no enthusiasm into one of his favorite activities. Likely because the big guy knew from personal experience how ships going ka-boom could be dangerous, since he'd been in the middle of one.

"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find . . ."

Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother."

I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be gone.

The pain in Thalia's voice as she read that stunned them. She hadn't even known Beckendorf, yet it sounded so personal to her...as her eyes flickered to Jason.

Annabeth felt like she was still caught in the middle of that hurricane if she thought about that to long. That someone she considered a sister had a past, a secret sibling she'd never shared a word about. Something had happened to him, this she easily devised. These exact feelings Percy expressed was probably as close as Thalia had ever come to dealing with the loss of him being out of her life.

Jason watched her, studying her with those same vibrant blue eyes. The anger was still there, but it was cooling now to calculating, a type of focus Annabeth knew all to well. Checking your opponent for their weakness, he was analyzing her to see how much she meant that. Annabeth knew her well enough to know she meant every painful word for him.

Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side . . . and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.

I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the Princess Andromeda, and I had abandoned him.

I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico di Angelowarning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan—a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.

"How is it," Alex redirected easily onto Percy her frustration with the universe, "that even when you finally know something before the last second, we still don't get to hear it!"

Percy wanted to tell them. He sighed and opened his mouth and would have, but the moment he tried his tongue felt swollen, the pain in his head amplified like a comet heading towards his butt. There were things, memories, experiences connected with Nico's plan that were hard to tie together into one cohesive explanation for Alex.

"I feel just as out of the loop," Annabeth quickly intervened, that look of pained frustration on his face she'd do anything to help ease away. "I know the outcome and I wasn't given any forewarning of this. Percy made a plan without me!"

Magnus chuckled for her, the stiff silence in the room mellowing away, but it lingered as Percy let out a shaky sigh instead of joining in.

A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon.

"What was that?" I asked.

Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."

"Monsters?" Magnus emphasized the plural in concern. "A blast like that from a god didn't incinerate anything in the ocean he wanted?" His voice squeaked at the end, Annabeth felt rather bad the news seemed to hit him so hard.

She felt even worse she didn't have a better answer for him than anyone else.

The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath—well, if you can catch your breath underwater.

"I'm still concerned where the bathroom leads," Nico frowned, "physics has fallen pretty far down the ladder."

The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.

Thalia sounded delightfully greedy. She could pin Percy down and never get these kinds of details about such an amazing place only a handful of demigods would ever visit. The idea did give her a sense of vertigo though, imagining herself so far off the ground traversing over this...even while being underwater which seriously made her stomach churn in confusion and fear.

The main courtyard was filled with warriors—mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before. Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in The Little Mermaid.

"But they should have," Alex's eyes gleamed with interest as he ran a hand through his green hair. "Let's see how many kids still want to reenact Part of Your World with sharkteeth!"

"You, and maybe Percy," Jason snorted.

"I bet there's plenty of kids out there into the ocean who would still get a kick out of these guys," Percy defended the random sea-loving children of the world.

The others just started snickering Percy hadn't denied he'd jumped on a rock and tried to do that dramatic scene with waves and all at least once.

Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications—towers, walls, and antisiege weapons—but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well—Greek fire, which can burn even underwater.

"Wait, so how do you put it out?" Magnus asked in concern, vividly remembering kids casually using this on each other during those chariot races.

"A god has to personally put it out," Annabeth shrugged.

"Mr. D puts it out in the jars sometimes when we annoy him," Percy huffed.

Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging—flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold. Even my heat-sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on.

Magnus still had moments where he just sat there and realized none of these guys were human. Even after all the crazy shit he constantly heard of Percy doing, he looked like just a regular guy. They talked and laughed and it just wasn't a thing until Percy himself pointed it out in moments like this.

At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared—a squid larger than any skyscraper. It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust—at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors. Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water.

"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from.

Percy beamed with pride at his father's power. He imagined some huge Hollywood monster coming up to the surface and terrorizing a beach, only for that streak of light to flash across the surface. Then a fade to black, and "Tentacles," and the credits to roll or something. Last time he'd seen such godly power, Thalia had been shaken and wondering if it was her own father who tried to kill her. Hera manipulating their quest for what she wanted. His dad proved that kind of might was used for good too.

Poor squid though.

"He did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers. He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help.

"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?"

Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question, "I have been . . . fixing weapons," he mumbled.

"He's keeping Tyson safe," Annabeth said as Percy frowned, but it was strange for her to try and explain that. Her parents had never bothered trying with her, so it didn't sound like much to her ears Poseidon had apparently tried with his younger batch.

"Come. Let's go find Daddy."

I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents,

"None of which are in this room," Will snorted.

but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life, and never for more than a few minutes. The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight.

I was wrong.

The roof of the temple was a big open deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved.

Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture.

Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young—though it's hard to tell with non-humans. They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin—just a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently.

"Any, guesses?" Alex asked hesitantly, like he wasn't sure himself for once if he was supposed to poke fun at, any of that.

"Um, I vote the double-tailed merman," Nico offered. "He's trying to be a part of his warriors."

"I was going to vote the chick, or the dolphin," Alex shrugged, "I see no reason he'd confine himself to one shape."

"If he's just being weird and deciding to be those mosaic tiles, I reserve the right to freak out," Magnus grumbled.

Jason and Thalia exchanged a look, before Jason quickly looked away, but they knew they'd been thinking the same thing. The green eyes and smile wrinkles, the human traits he passed onto Percy nobody could really miss. Nico was half right in that he was showing the shape of his kingdom, how rundown it was from the constant stress of this war their father would never dare let show.

"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans."

"Has anybody got Atlantis on the phone for backup?" Will asked hesitantly.

"Pretty sure that place is Atlantis," Annabeth reminded. It was a common fight in her cabin to out due each other with who could prove the strangest myth mortals blamed on Greek mythology. So far Clause was winning with some secret organization he was close to uncovering, though he'd only shown enough proof to convince them they even existed last she heard, he was still working on specifics.

The dolphin spoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: Yes, lord! It sped away.

I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man.

It didn't seem possible, but . . . "Dad?" I asked.

The others winced, Alex muttering it was more about losing his guess than pity for a god, but nobody believed him.

The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face . . . he looked like he'd aged forty years.

"Hello, Percy."

"What—what happened to you?"

Tyson nudged me. He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off,

"We already knew Tyson had more sense than Percy ever will, no need for him to show off," Thalia snorted.

Annabeth found herself smiling at all of the strangers though that not one of them looked mildly concerned at Percy blabbing the first thing that came to his mind to a god. At least they'd been getting to know the real him.

but Poseidon didn't look offended.

"It's all right, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. The war has been hard on me."

"But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look . . . any way you want."

"I reflect the state of my realm," he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you—I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins.

"There's a god of Dolphin's!" Magnus's spluttering wavered between a laugh and disbelief. "Is, is there a god of all animals? Is there a god of snails?!"

Percy chewed on that for a minute before deciding, "I have no idea, but it wouldn't surprise me."

"No, there's not," Annabeth properly answered with a shake of her head at Percy. "Delphin carried Amphitrite to Poseidon, and he made him a constellation in thanks."

"Oh yeah," Percy nodded, vaguely remembering the story now that she'd said it, while Magnus grinned in thanks at his cousin. She smiled readily back. As strange as it was to have him around, it at least wasn't unpleasant.

This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear—"

The lady in green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle."

She swam away.

"Brrr," Will mock shivered while Thalia gave Percy a look like, 'be grateful.' Will felt so lucky his dad hadn't actually managed an immortal wife for this reason alone. Nico's time around Persephone only reinforced that.

I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her. I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom . . . well, Amphitrite probably didn't like that much.

"I think I'd prefer that than being turned into a dandelion," Jason shivered at the sudden, heavy knowledge that sank in. Hera was his stepmom! Crap!

She hadn't ever seemed to do anything to Thalia, that she'd mentioned anyways, but he had a very confident sense of doom there was a story there all the same.

Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well . . . and this is my son Triton. Er, my other son."

"Your son and heir," the green dude corrected.

"Percy, I don't think this court likes you very much," Alex told him in dismay. "They clearly haven't heard of your amazing travels as Lord of the Bathroom."

"Supreme Lord of the Bathroom without question," Percy said grandly, clearly tired of trying to convince Alex otherwise to stop bringing that up. Magnus shook his head as Percy fell into the 'join them' category. "Which is obviously all your fault Alex," Percy smirked, "you haven't been spreading word fast enough of all my deeds."

"I don't know what you're talking about, you're trending on the vine," he chuckled.

"The gossiping trees don't count," Percy huffed while Annabeth looked between the two, half amused, half concerned. Thalia nodded behind Percy's back to assure her this was just how the two of them got on.

His double fish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?"

He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did.

"Tell me what to do," I said.

Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion—like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something.

Nico laughed, a terrifying, quiet kind of noise that sent a shiver up their spines. This minor god had no clue what all Percy had done, how Percy had been gifted everything Poseidon and Sally had to offer and was the best of them all for it.

Percy smiled in surprise at Nico's creepy laugh clearly being used in his defense. That was a nice change of pace.

He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. I will not fail."

He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect?

"Clearly he needs to be kidnapped and taught a lesson next," Alex sneered.

Will winced and resisted the urge to cover his ears at the idea of kidnapping gods, even minor gods, to teach them a lesson. That sounded like a recipe for disaster with lots of dead bodies more than any nice life morality lessons happening.

Then he shot off into the water.

Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon—a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.

"I'm sorry about that," he told me.

A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.

Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. Ka-boom!

The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.

Magnus felt something shake loose in him and swim off like a goldfish too. He hoped it was his last shred of sanity so he'd stop being so surprised by this. Most likely it was his bladder just abandoning him.

"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened.

Percy nodded. He'd been abashed by his poor showing at this 'family reunion.' It didn't surprise him in the slightest he'd have to earn his dad's side of the family respect just like he did any god, if he ever even wanted it.

"The battle against Oceanus is going poorly."

He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.

"Well that's, interesting," Jason sounded almost complimentary.

"I'm just grateful he didn't post the crawfish as centries at the door," Percy scoffed. It was extremely frustrating this Titan's abilities seemed to trump his own and he couldn't escape. His dad showing his age, fighting against this constantly for years, it made all the more sense.

"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?"

Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is . . . well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."

"Which clearly didn't work out very well for him," Thalia sneered.

"Yeah, and his punishment is somehow us," Jason said dully. It was the first time he'd acknowledged her, purposefully spoken to her. His premonition about Hera lingered, Mr. D's punishment an easy point to make.

Thalia winced and looked away this time, all but confirming Jason's suspicion.

"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"

"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.

Annabeth hadn't seen that serpent around his palace, and honestly did wonder what had happened to it. Where had Tethy's been during this battle? Who had approached whom for this deal to be struck for them to be here?

Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed.

Magnus didn't realize their powers could be taxed. Wasn't that the point of being a god, unlimited power? He knew they could fade, he knew they could have flaws, but now hearing this, his brain kept nitpicking over the specifics of what made them a god then? What key element was it that separated them from us, other than their uncanny ability to disintegrate whatever they wanted.

And still he finds new forces to throw at me—sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."

I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms—a hundred flailing, fighting arms.

"Briares!" I said.

I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind—a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from Kronos's prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.

"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only one."

I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat.

Alex smiled fondly for all of the freakish things down there that were defending their home without question. When Percy was the outcast of that place, he had a feeling he'd love to fit in. He longed to make a sculpture of Braries, he wished that the Loch Ness monster or some ancient world turtle would appear to cap off this day of extravagant new beings he was hearing about.

"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?"

I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.

They could see that. The water began bubbling around Percy's head like an angry vat, he let out a breath and steam made a hissing noise that made Will shiver. He'd let go of Annabeth's hand as if on instinct to switch into battle mode.

"I know," Annabeth promised, reaching for him without fear. Her hand hovered just out of reach above his, feeling the heat but not pressing in. To her, Luke had been the first casualty of Kronos's war, convincing him to abandon her, them all.

Percy's anger didn't quite shimmer away, more clicked down to a low simmering boil. He could hear everything she hadn't said in those two words, and for now, his conflicting feelings outweighed his anger on the outcome of it all when she brought up Luke, again.

Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that.

Percy didn't want to hear those words, especially coming out of Thalia's mouth. They both knew a heroic sacrifice could easily be in vain.

Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."

"But we didn't kill him, did we?"

Percy didn't need to see his friends wincing and avoiding his eyes. He already knew.

As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.

Anger bubbled in Percy's chest, he found himself glancing at Annabeth for an answer just like always. She knew what it would take to defeat him and wasn't telling him, just like Thalia. Was it for the better? Probably, but that didn't make it feel okay right now when Beckendorf deserved answers at his final resting! He studied his hands, stress radiating from his gut at what he'd done, what he might be capable of to achieve that kind of power.

"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."

"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell.

Jason swallowed his impulsive answer. The dog eat dog nature of war; that had been those kid's choice. It bothered him greatly that was his first thought, because it matched nothing about what he'd woken up feeling. Being here, having to hear Percy's story wasn't really his 'choice.' Sure he could sit out, nobody was making him be in here but his own curiosity. He had a suspicion those kids had been given even less say. If they'd run away from camp or home, with no satyr to guide them on their way back, but instead were raised in an environment where you learned to fight or this was your fate.

Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods ...

Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not . . . they chose their path."

"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Nobody expects you to feel okay about this Percy, let alone better," Will promised, his voice one level off from being choked up. "And if your dad does, well, that says more about him than you."

Percy sighed, biting down hard on Riptide's pen cap, enough he would have ruined any other ballpoint pen. His dad rarely showed this kind of callousness like the other gods. It didn't feel dismissive, which was worse. Poseidon clearly understood Percy didn't agree, but wanted him to.

I glared at the mosaic—little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture.

Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not.

Annabeth couldn't help a giggle in surprise. Percy looked so aggrieved, and it was one of the things she liked best about Tyson, how he could always get through to Percy even when she couldn't.

"Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."

Everybody in the room laughed in delight, each one able to think of a specific and different memory of why they'd like to help hit Kronos with the biggest stick they could find. Alex was personally imagining whacking him with Yggdrasil a few times.

"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."

It was the most comforting thing his dad could offer, even if it didn't do him much good. He wished his mom were there, or here. She'd know the right thing to say about Beckendorf, about all of those kids who had to die so Kronos could just keep scheming another day.

"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed.

A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."

"Because that's Chiron's specialty, delivering the worst news," Magnus groaned.

"Sometimes he delegates to Percy," Nico muttered his agreement.

"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!"

"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.

"Doesn't sound like Tysons's getting to help as much as he wanted either," Annabeth shook her head.

"Teaming up might get the job done," but Percy knew a lost cause when it started. As far as he knew, they were his dad's youngest kids, they had the least leverage of anyone in that court no matter how many tantrums they threw.

My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy . . . Percy can fight with a sword. He is good."

"I know that," Poseidon said gently.

"Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer."

Will still winced at Percy all this time later. How he imagined his voice rising with anger, telling a god that they couldn't do this without a mortal's help, that they were weak. Percy would have been fused with Poseidon's throne as a footrest if he were any other god.

A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he'd just been stabbed.

Alex imagined it must feel something like that every time a tanker full of oil exploded, or a storm blew to much trash to tangle up his echo system. The god was clearly overtaxed. It made him feel very human, as his son's sea-green eyes flickered with pain for him.

"Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it is time."

"For what?"

"You must hear the prophecy. The entire prophecy."

I didn't need to ask him which prophecy.

"You sure you don't Perce?" Jason said with a tired grin. "You've somehow managed to strangle an answer out of every one you've been there for, so unless there's some secret great prophecy you've been sitting on," he trailed off with a laugh, but he sounded exhausted, and he started rubbing at his temple like the joke was funnier to himself than he expected anyone else to get.

I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world—but no pressure.

"Which is weird because you work best under pressure," Magnus rolled his eyes. "Clearly you're at maximum power down here."

"Ha, ha, ha," Percy said dryly, though he smiled along as Annabeth chuckled for real.

"What if this is the decision?" I said. "Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you . . ."

"You've already tried to convince yourself once in twenty-four hours what the decision was," Annabeth told him in exasperation. "It wasn't even your birthday yet!"

"You know I hate sitting around waiting for things," he groaned, "I once made the sewers back up standing around for a bus one winter I was so bored."

"You once threatened to eat your homework before you'd do it," she rolled her eyes. "Clearly you can successfully avoid whatever you want."

"I've never been able to avoid you because I've known you for years," he huffed, "clearly the timing is more important than a stupid grade."

"Oh, it's my fault?" Her brows went up, but her tone was quickly growing amused.

"You're the one who wouldn't shut up about me being the big Propechy kid when I first showed up," he needlessly reminded. "I wasn't even conscious and you were putting pressure on me about this!"

"How long can they go on like this?" Nico loudly stage whispered, almost going unheard under Annabeth's response.

"A while," Will and Thalia both sighed. She had the book though, so she finally reached across and began thwacking it between them like a teacher at a school dance preaching to leave room for Jesus.

They leaned back, both looking a little bashful they'd clearly forgotten anybody else in the room.

I couldn't say die. Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd seen it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.

For a horrifying moment Percy wondered if that's what had happened to his dad. If he was down here because some enemy had meant to trap Poseidon in some unescapable prison but snatched him instead. Percy didn't know how he'd get him out, but he'd try, at least as hard as he would for anybody else in his family.

"Percy, you must go," Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice."

He didn't have to win, he just had to give everything he had left, Percy frowned. It didn't seem like much of a choice to him.

Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!"

Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years. "Tyson, you have work to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory."

Tyson pouted some more.

"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"

"Only in Percy's line of work does he have to emphasize the dead part," Thalia said with a forced smile. "The rest of us, kill usually means dead, but nooo, Percy needs that clarification or he'll just pop up at his funeral again."

Percy chuckled because he knew that's what Thalia wanted, but it was a somber noise. She knew as well as he did, coming back from the brink of death didn't always feel like a victory.

I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords.

"You should let him fight," I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?"

Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."

"You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him."

Thalia's wrist jiggled her bracelet around, the clinks of her chain going unnoticed as often as she readjusted herself. She wanted to fidget with it now, but couldn't with the book in hand. She had come the closest to parenting in this room, and while the others were all muttering in agreement with Percy, she got it. She looked at Annabeth, stiff lip and frustration on her face at another parent not trusting their child. Then she dared another look at Jason, who she hadn't been able to protect any better.

It hurt to wish for Luke, even for a second, to commiserate this feeling with, so her mind flipped easily to Grover. He'd fostered more kids than anyone taking them to camp. He'd found that perfect balance to strike between trusting them and protecting them.

Her hesitation had been brief enough nobody noticed the pause except the small clicking of her bracelet.

Poseidon's eyes flared. I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace.

"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle."

"After you and Tyson are safely out of the way, huh?" Magnus asked with a sad smile. It had been a long time since he'd gotten even a hint of what a protective parent was willing to do, though he still remembered every day. "Coincidence? I think not!"

Percy wasn't very impressed by his joke any more than his dad. He'd already done the impossible four times over, all he was asking was his dad to trust him like Paul and his mom did.

I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.

A horrible thought struck Percy. What if he hadn't? What if that was why his dad hadn't made contact this whole time? Oceanus had said Poseidon had stepped in, but that easily could have been a lie to gain his trust.

While listening to all of this, Annabeth's mind had still been whirling and connecting and cutting at least a hundred plans and ideas now for what could be going on as well, and she had her suspicions while looking at Jason why her own prayers, why everybody's prayers at camp weren't going well. She reached gently today, expecting Percy to jump as her fingers graced his wrist, but he merely breathed a sigh of relief and looked around at her with worried eyes. She squeezed, just there, and he smiled and nodded as Thalia kept going.

"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"

I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp HalfBlood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord. My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday. He'd told me I would know when to "spend it," but so far I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.

Which at least got the others to all crack up again. Percy grinned unabashedly and looked exaggeratedly down at his necklace that housed no such thing and said, "hey, maybe I finally got someone to trade me for a hotdog with everything on it?"

"I want to know which snack you found so tempting you tried in the first place?" Alex grinned.

"Bag of Cheez-Its, I had a craving," Percy shrugged.

"I had you as more of a goldfish kind of guy," Alex admitted.

"I'm loyal to no snackage," Percy scoffed.

"Well at least I know he'll never call my cousin a snack," Magnus muttered, causing Alex to laugh raucously and Thalia to read loudly before anybody asked what he'd said.

"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration."

"A party that will make all previous parties seem lame." Will chuckled, but more because Percy didn't understand the joke. At camp, whenever someone managed to live long enough to turn eighteen, they all petitioned on the best way to get Apollo to throw a massive blow-out party. It never worked.

He smiled, and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes.

Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which should've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.

"That retired old fart could cause all of that?" Percy said in disbelief.

"Guess we just got a hint of how he's hiding us from the gods," Annabeth agreed in a quieter murmur, more of awe. "If he and Poseidon combined their powers..." she trailed off with a smile.

Percy didn't think it was all that cracked up a skill. He'd never voluntarily hidden from a fight, his dad knew that about him, so this forced protection once again wasn't any more well received.

"I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go—and good luck, my son."

I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something, but knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.

"I bet Jason would try to hug a god in their true form!" Percy smirked.

"You're the one impulsive enough to try, nutjob!" Jason yelped, but there was a faint hint of embracement surrounding him like the thought had crossed his mind to see if he could get his hands on some.

"I bet you'd just stand there and try to ask the blobby gold thing killing you a million questions while wanting to hug it and-" Percy kept going with a grin until a strong gust of wind nearly knocked him out of his beanbag.

Annabeth caught him, while Jason threw his hands up, "hey, I didn't, or I, I swear I-"

"Pssht," Thalia said without looking up from the books, then added a theatrical, "shhh, reading."

Annabeth gave Thalia a serious look, a lecture on her lips about how they were supposed to be keeping their powers to a minimum to appease the Titan!, but Thalia was ignoring her and Jason's conflicted look all at once quite well.

"Good-bye, Father," I managed.

Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to aid me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've caused any normal human to pop like a balloon.

When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies.

"Full circle much," Nico said as he got to his feet, his black boots and jacket making his features seem to be floating in the faint darkness of the room unless Annabeth focused on him directly.

Then she shivered in agreement. If it wasn't Zeus and Poseidon trying to rip the world apart it was this. Why was Percy always at the center of these things?

[itzpris15634]

Today’s Plans… (ft. Vinnie x Sunil)

“So first off, we’ll head to our favorite cafe to get our drinks! We can have our breakfast with the pastries from there, too! And even better, we can go to the amusement park or so. I really gotta try winning one of those big plushies. There are some nice restuarants we could go to for lunch. And after that… tickets to West Side Story!”

Vinnie skipped along the sidewalk, talking excitedly about all the ideas he had for the day. Sunil tried to keep up.

“West Side Story? Is that another one of your musicals?”

“Hell yeah! And I’m so excited for this one! I mean, the story, yeah- pretty sure its a Romeo and Juliet style thing? Dunno. What I really care about will be the choreography! I’m gonna really enjoy that one, because its styles are inspired by…”

As Vinnie ranted, Sunil chuckled. It was so nice seeing Vinnie so happy and excited.

Sunil had never been interested in drama or theatre before, if he was being honest. But who said he couldn’t get started now? Especially if Vinnie enjoyed it so much, he’d be willing to give it a try. Maybe he’d find a new favorite thing.

At the back of his mind, however, Sunil felt like he was forgetting something very, very important…

“Alrighty, cafe’s just around the corner, I think. Ready to enjoy coffee?” Vinnie turned to Sunil, giving him his biggest smile.

…Whatever that thing he forgot was, he’d worry about it later.

“More than ready.”

-

“Aw man, the line is really long today…” Vinnie groaned seeing the long line of people. It even extended out the doors of the little establishment.

“Do you not want to line up at another cafe? I am sure they can make just as good coffee in other places.”

“Hmm, nah. Bliss’s Beans just hit different. Besides, neither of us are in any rush, are we?”

That was a good question.

“I suppose. We… can take our time and converse while waiting for our turn at the counter.” Sunil shrugged.

“Yeah, sounds good!”

All of a sudden, Sunil felt a vibration in his pocket.

“Wait, someone is calling me…” he fished the vibrating object out- his phone.

“Hm? Who?”

“It’s one of my bandmates.”

A press of the button, and Sunil was on call.

“Scarletta! Hello. How is it going? … Uh, I am in line at a cafe with my boyfriend… Yes, it’s Vinnie. We finally did get together! Proud of me?”

Vinnie felt a bit of pride swell within him. The idea that Sunil was comfortable enough to share their relationship with people even outside of their usual friengroup? It made Vinnie smile.

The smile faltered at the next part of the conversation, however.

A panicked look came onto Sunil’s face, “B-band practice?! You didn’t tell me there would be-… Oh. I just… I’m so sorry! I was occupied so many things and I… So what? Should I still be the- actually, what am I saying? I’m the guitarist, of course I am needed… Look, Scarletta, I’ll see what I can do, okay? Tell the others to wait a little longer, okay? Bye!”

Sunil hung up. He turned back to Vinnie, whose arms were crossed, and foot was tapping on the floor.

“…I thought you told me you didn’t have any plans for today.”

“I was not aware! I got so busy, I forgot that I had that rehearsal with everyone scheduled and- uh…“

“Hey, Sunil. I get it, really. I forget stuff all the time, really. But… let me give you my input. We were looking forward to this all week. And I spent so much money for these tickets, too!”

“Vinnie, I- hold on, please. Is there a compromise we can come to somehow?”

“Uh… check with your band buddies about how long your rehearsals will take? Maybe we can still make it to the show later, if its short enough.”

“I will try that now.”

Sunil brought out his phone again and started typing away at it.

Vinnie studied Sunil’s expressions. Nervousness, anticipation, surprise at getting the text notification.

“Uhh… If we start now, they’re saying that it’ll last about 3 hours.”

“And what time is it now, again?”

“8 AM…”

Taking a ticket out of his pocket, Vinnie checked the little print on it, “The show’s at 1.”

“Not as bad as I thought! Though, I suppose that cancels all our other plans for today…”

“Hey, not everything is cancelled. Don’t get me wrong, I am a little disappointed we can’t go to the amusement park. Lunch, we’ll figure it out later. But- We can still enjoy some things from the cafe! Even if not while in the cafe itself, we’ll have to take the stuff to go.”

“‘We’ll!?”

“I’m hoping your bandmates don’t mind a bit of an audience, because I’m coming with you! I’ve always wanted to watch one of your rehearsals.”

===

Day 17: coffee-to-go

I… I did it. I managed to crank it out.

I WILL NOT BREAK MY STREAK!!!!!!

[zeldahime]

Highway to Pail Day 17

[Day 1] [Prev] [Next] @do-it-with-style-events

February 17: Acute Angel

Warlock Dowling actually liked maths a lot, as a matter of fact. Everything about his life was weird or unpredictable, but maths had a soothing sameness about it. No matter how many ways you sliced it, whatever method you used, 104 times 986 would always come to 102,544. It would never end up being 17, or a sudden flight to a different continent, or an argument about whether or not Alexander the Great was burning in Hell. It would just be one hundred and two thousand, five hundred and forty-four.

The Earth was round, the sky was blue, and maths was his favorite subject.

He just didn't understand why everyone in his life seemed so upset about it.

His father thought it was some "sissy nerd shit, Harriet" and his mother was worried it meant he might not go into politics and she wouldn't be mother of a president; he'd heard them arguing about it when he was meant to be asleep. His tutors didn't like it either, even though they were supposed to be teaching him: Mr Cortese simply didn't understand maths at all and seemed desperate to escape any conversation where it came up, and Mr Harrison kept giving him harder problem sets and teaching him new things about it, but seemed worried whenever Warlock mastered a new theory, like he thought something bad would happen if Warlock thought too hard about it. Or, given Mr Harrison's gleeful obsession with evil warlords and pits of lava, like he was afraid something good would happen. And, of course, if any of the other kids found out, he'd never hear the end of it; he'd be teased until the end of time (or until they found something else to focus on, which is the same thing when you're ten-nearly-eleven). It was bad enough being named Warlock without inviting teasing for anything else.

Mr Harrison had taught him geometry, and how the Babylonians had divided circles up into 360 degrees like the number of days there were in a year, and how to calculate angles. He said earlier that day that once Warlock got the hang of circles and degrees, he'd get to do trigonometry next. He'd spent the rest of the day thinking of nothing but triangles.

Mr Cortese was trying to explain the lessons of the Founding Fathers to him—probably pretty badly, since he was English and kept backtracking over himself, though Warlock wasn't really listening—as Warlock drew pages and pages of angles in his workbook, trying to fit eight together into a circle made of 45° angles, or 12 30° ones. As he was absorbed in his angles, Mr Cortese's words washing over and past him, he remembered how Mr Harrison sometimes called him "angel" when they thought nobody was listening, and honestly Mr Cortese kind of looked like one, or as much as a grown-up could anyway without wearing a white dress and fake wings, and angel and angle kind of sounded the same....

Before he knew it, a lot of Warlocks angles had wings attached, including some of the ones he'd made into circles; it looked pretty wicked, actually. Maybe if he drew flames around them too, or maybe gave them swords?

Before he could decide, Mr Cortese had slid the notebook away from him.

"Fascinating perspective on the foundations of republicanism in the modern era," Mr Cortese said dryly, and Warlock's cheeks burned. "Your attention please, Mr Dowling? Where did you drift, and we can start again."

Warlock mumbled an "I dunno," and Mr Cortese sighed. "Well, we can hardly start the entire lesson over today," he said, and Warlock slouched down in his chair. "Well, perhaps it would be better to switch places, don't you think? Why don't you try teaching me about your maths? Mr Harrison has tried but between the two of us," Mr Cortese's voice dropped to a whisper as he took a seat, "he's simply not a very good maths teacher, at least not for me. I don't understand a word he says about mathematics."

Warlock perked up, though he quickly buried it. "I won't be a better teacher than Mr Harrison," he protested, but under the encouragement of Mr Cortese's smile, he tried anyway.

Mr Cortese didn't get it after he tried to teach it either. He just wasn't very good at maths, Warlock thought. Which was fair enough: Warlock wasn't very good at history or literature, and that wasn't Mr Cortese's fault.