#i want to be closer to them though. we have our own friend groups but still

[wakanai]

.

[kyracooneyx23]

Baby Fever

Leah Williamson x reader

Summary: you'd always heard your friends talk about how much they wanted kids but had never felt the same until now

You'd never thought much about having kids, it just had never been one of your big dreams in life.

When all your friends at kinder would dress up as mum's holding toy babies on free dress days when the theme was dress up as what you want to be in the future days, you would always come dressed in an oversized football jersey with a ball constantly at your feet.

Or whilst people would play mums and dads and you'd instead run off and kick a ball around on your own for the whole lunch.

You didn't not want to be a mum, you just would've preferred to focus on your football career for now, you were still young.

But all this changed whilst you were walking around after the game against Leicester with Katie.

The two of you had your sights set on the area not to far away where most of the other girls were standing.

You spot Leah holding a little boy in her arms whilst talking with Beth and Lotte. When you're closer to the group you speak; 'who's this little one?'

Leah beamed at your sudden appearance next to her, 'go on and tell her your name sweets.' your girlfriend urges the small boy in her arms, and you grin seeing how Leah's interacting with the small kid.

'Henry.' The little boy said in a soft voice, his British accent breaking through, as he shyly buried his head into Leah's neck.

'It's nice to meet you Henry,' You smile slightly lowering yourself so you were at a closer height to the blonde boy

'Are you Leah's friend?'

'She's my girlfriend,' Leah's corrects 'I've told you about her before,'

Henry nodded , then slid down Leah’s body and scampered over to a man calling his name. You watched with a smile as he ran off, his little feet pattering on the ground. Leaning your head on Leah’s shoulder, you said, “He’s absolutely adorable. Is he your nephew?”

Leah’s face softened as she watched Henry. “No, he’s my cousin’s kid,” she explained. “But I do love spending time with him.”

You smiled at Leah, feeling a warmth in your chest. 'You played great today baby.'

Leah only hummed in response, moving her body so her head was leaning up against your chest 'yeah but I missed you.'

'I haven't seen you for 10 minutes, we just played a full 90 minutes of football together babe.' you chuckle.

'That's ten minutes too long.' she whined, squeezing you tight and only letting go when Henry shouted her name and waved something above his head to show the English defender. 'He's the sweetest.'

You silently agree, ever since you'd seen Leah with Henry your head had been clouded with thoughts of your future and what it would look like with children of your own running around your house. 'You're going to be a really good mum one day.'

'to our kids?' she quirked an eyebrow a cheeky smirk breaking out on her face.

'yeah, to our kids.' your smile grew as you saw the huge grin that spread across your girlfriends dace as soon as you confirmed it.

'reckon we should get started soon?' She leaned closer, if that was even possible, to whisper. 'I want enough to make a full football team.'

you laughed and teasingly pushed her away. 'you'll be the one pushing them out if you want that.'

she quickly grabbed you in her arms again, pulling you closer just like how she always wanted it to be. You'd always been very affectionate together and even though you'd tell her to tone down the pda in front of all the 60,000 fans, she just always had to be close to you somehow. 'I can't wait for our future together.'

'Yeah? when are you going to propose to me then?' you grinned cheekily.

'That's a secret! don't you give me those eyes.'

[slasherscream]

Wash Day

pairing:  jordan li x fem black!reader

"You wanna go out to dinner tonight? Know I've been busy this week. Feel like I've barely seen you." Jordan mutters against the shell of your ear. You shiver as he gives the skin a teasing kiss.

Already you're pouting, knowing what your answer has to be even though you wish so desperately that you could give a different response. "Wish I could, Jordan. But my night is already spoken for."

You're spun around by a hand on your hip, playful and fast so that you can't stop yourself from falling into his chest. Your hands grip his jacket for balance, and he reaches up to hold one of them with his own. "You got plans? With who? Cate? Cancel them."

"Brat." You laugh.

How demanding Jordan is would be less cute if they ever asked you to do something they themselves wouldn't. As it stands, with the way they do anything you ask at the drop of a hat, all you can do is roll your eyes and pretend to be exasperated instead of smitten.

"Fine, don't cancel. I'll just come with." Jordan sighs, as if seeing his best friend is a great tragedy (Which it is. Cate being there means you'll smack Jordan's hand away when he tries to sneak it up your skirt at dinner.)

"What if we want a girls' night?" You shoot back, grinning.

Jordan shifts. The hands on your waist are smaller now, but pull you in closer, "You're the one who's feeling bratty. Really have been neglecting you this week, huh baby?" Jordan smirks, in that condescending way she does when she realizes you're trying to get a certain reaction out of her.

"The plans aren't with Cate, and they aren't cancellable." You sigh, deciding not to rise to the bait of her tone, smirk, or the little circles she's rubbing into your skin.

"What are these oh so important plans?" Jordan asks.

"Do you know how many white boys have complimented my hair today, Jordan?" You ask.

"Pardon?" Jordan blinks at what seems to be a completely unrelated topic.

"Six! Six white boys complimented my braids today. I'm about to kill myself, if we're being honest. I must looked fucked up, and you didn't even say anything." You pout.

You've been having a bit of a rough day, to say the least.

"You look beautiful. What are you talking about?" Jordan asks, confused but nonetheless, wanting to make you feel better. "If you didn't look good I'd very politely... have Cate tell you. But you look great! You've been getting compliments all day, you just said it yourself!"

"Wow, you'd throw Cate under the bus, huh coward?"

"Cate isn't interested in making out with you every spare second of the day. I am. You can be mad at her. I've got stuff I wanna do." Jordan's grin is downright salacious. You smack her arm, trying not to smile.

"Ah. You are operating under the same delusions of the white man. I see that now, I'll let go of the anger." You say, sighing and kissing Jordan on the cheek.

"First of all, don't you ever fucking insult me like that again.... Second of all, what particular delusion am I sharing with the white man?" Jordan asks.

"White men only compliment a black woman's hairstyle at two points in time. When it's brand spanking, fresh off the lot new. Or when it's started to look like shit. I've had these braids in for longer than... is your business. So guess which compliment I'm getting right now?"

"I fucking refuse to say your hair looks like shit, and this conversation feels like a trap. You're always beautiful to me." Jordan says.

"Thank you, baby. But we live on a campus where the diversity win photographers lurk around every corner trying to get pictures of 'The Diversity Win Couple' in our most natural state. I need to take out my braids tonight before I talk crazy in the group chat, and Andre sends me a 'this you?' pic that will devastate my argument." You shake your head somberly, already imagining the fate that lies before you.

"You could stop talking crazy in the group chat." Jordan teases.

"You know damn well I'm not capable of that."

The two of you burst into laughter, unable to keep it together. Jordan has always been obsessed with how easy it is for you to make them laugh.

"Is that gonna take up your whole night, though, baby? We don't have to go to dinner early! We'll go wherever you want." Jordan insists, tone bordering on begging.

Whenever they come out of a particularly busy week, they spend the next two weeks glued to you. As if to make up for it. The clinginess is a stark difference from how they acted before you made things official.

"Jordan, look at the braids on my head."

"I'm looking at them."

"Are you seeing them with your eyes?"

"Yes, and my eyes are sending the image to my brain, which I assure you is working. What's your point here, baby?"

"How long do you think it will take me to undo these, detangle my hair, wash it, deep condition it, and then wash it again?"

Jordan squints at you for a long moment, analyzing your hairstyle and the utter displeasure on your face. "I dunno? Maybe... four hours?"

"I should fucking murder you. Just for that, you're helping me with wash day now."

Jordan's face breaks into a grin like sunlight breaking through clouds, "So I do get to spend the day with you, is what you're saying?"

"Yeah, baby, you get to spend the day with me." You click your tongue at them. Pitying them for the ache in their fingers they're about to feel. They complain about curling their God damn hair a couple of times a week. You suspect you'll be ready to kill one another by hour two.

But you also missed them a lot. Or whatever.

"Don't cut too high up, Jordie. " You whine, shifting his grip lower on your braid, to an acceptable cutting length of the hair extension.

"Baby... can I ask you a very serious question right now?" Jordan hums, obediently cutting where you instructed.

"What?" You ask, already starting to unbraid the piece.

"How... long... do you think your hair is?" Jordan, to be fair to him, does ask the question quietly and with the proper amount of hesitation.

"How dare you! Are you calling me bald?" You gasp, stifling a laugh.

"Don't do this to me. You are prolonging the process. We can cut these braids at least four inches higher than what we're doing right now." Jordan says, you can't see his face but you can tell he's also trying not to laugh. Bastard.

"My hair grew!"

"From the top of your head. It did not magically lower itself further into the fucking braid extension." Jordan loses the battle and laughs.

"Jordan Li do not fucking cut off any of my hair or I'll cry and then blow up this school."

"Of course, princess." Jordan kisses the top of your head and gives in to your terrorist demands because you're cute.

"So how am I supposed to do it, baby?" Jordan claps her hands and you smile at how eager she sounds to help.

"You're gonna want to section it off. Do like... eight parts of hair. That'll make literally every step after this easier. Then you're gonna comb the hair from the bottom, 'kay?"

"Got it."

Jordan starts the process of parting your hair, careful and slow. Fingers sectioning off eight chunks of hair that she keeps apart with the silky hair ties you hand her over your shoulder.

"You sure you don't want me to comb it, Jordie?" You ask Jordan.

"I'll be gentle, don't worry. You always say your shoulders hurt at the end of wash day. Which is crazy, because I've seen what you can bench. I've got you, baby." She spritzes extra detangler spray on each of the parts she just made.

You move around slightly, a little sore already from sitting still between her legs for so long, but smiling to yourself nonetheless. A pillow is suddenly shoved into your face and you lean away, confused.

"Sit on this one instead. It'll be better." Jordan says.

You switch out the pillows and tilt your head back to look at her. "Why're you always right? Is that your kink?"

"No, my kink is bossing you around." Jordan smirks and leans down to give you a kiss. Despite the awkward angle you can't help trying to deepen the contact. The feeling of her soft lips sliding against yours, firm but gentle, is always irresistible.

She hums and gives you a playful nip before pulling away. "Don't start something we can't finish."

"Who says we can't?" You shoot back, staring up at her.

"You will be pissed an hour from now if you glance at your phone and we haven't made any progress." Jordan runs her thumb along your bottom lip before pushing your head forward.

"Who says it will take an hour?"

"I do. If we start, I'm not stopping." Jordan's voice dips seductively and a line of tension runs up the length of your spine.

You smack her thigh for teasing you, "Shut up."

"Is this comfortable?" Jordan frowns, staring at the angle your head has to be at to fit in the bowl of the sink.

"No, but this is the best angle this chair can get me to." You say. Usually you just wash in the shower, but since Jordan is helping the sink makes more sense.

Jordan stands, scowling at how uncomfortable you seem. Suddenly he grins, "Baby! Make a chair with your shields. Something that leans."

You were getting a lot better with being able to make complex shapes, with less concentration. You stand up from the chair you'd dragged from the common room. Jordan pulls it out of the way and gives you an encouraging thumbs up.

It takes you a minute, but you conjure a shield that resembles a salon chair and the both of you let out identical cries of delight.

Jordan pushes you to sit down with a kiss on your forehead. "That's my fucking girl. Tell me if the temperature is too hot."

Jordan washes your hair with the perfect amount of pressure and thoroughness. He's nearly rhythmic in his methodical cleaning. You didn't realize your eyes had fluttered closed until you hear him laugh. You open one eye to glare at him playfully, knowing he won't get soap in them.

"What's so funny?"

"You're like a cat. You gonna purr for me, baby?" He smirks.

"If you keep going like that, yeah. Or I'll fall asleep. Please don't make me fall asleep. I'll fall on my ass." You say.

"I'll endeavor to make the rest of the wash as unpleasant as possible."

He does not do that. And at one point you do fall asleep. Jordan catches you before you can actually fall. 'Thank God for Supe reflexes', you both think. You spend the rest of the wash with your eyes wide open and Jordan laughing at you.

"Did we put too much?" Jordan asks, dabbing at another drip of oil and conditioner down your brow.

"No, this is typical. The hair has to be saturated. It's dripping because the oil is you know... getting hot and even more liquid-y." You say, eyeing the episode of Property Brother's you'd both decided on. "Hm. I think that woman should be put to death."

Jordan was keeping vigilant about dabbing at the sides of your face. You'd been in charge of one side, at first. But Jordan seemed to have a sixth sense for when the other side was dripping as well, and kept interrupting you before you could get to any trickles of oil. You'd given up and just started narrating the show for her as she wasn't taking her eyes off the line of your brow.

"Why? What did she do?" Jordan dabs again.

"She wants to put up a fence that blocks the view of the historical house that she did not have to buy if she wanted a fence so bad." You roll your eyes.

"Is the city gonna let her?"

"No."

"Haha. 500k down the drain." Jordan cackles.

"Anti-gentrification win!" You hold out your fist for a fist-bump and Jordan obediently obliges, oil soaked rag still held in her fist.

A comfortable silence falls over you two, besides the noise of the portable hair dryer.

"I really think we put too much, baby." Jordan mutters, dabbing again.

"I have been doing this since I was twelve, Jordan!"

"Play the video again, one speed slower this time." Jordan's eyes are glued to your phone.

You're sitting between his legs again, cushioned by the (superior) pillow of his choosing. You were trying to decide on a simple hair style when Jordan saw a picture of Mini Twists and got excited to see you in them.

("You've already seen me in mini twists, Jordie. What are you talking about?"

"You weren't my girlfriend the last time you wore them though! Now you are, and I get to look at you as much as I want."

So that had decided that.)

"Okay, I think I got it. 'M gonna start with a braid base, without making the parts too big, then start twisting the hair with two strands, and that will make it last longer, right?"

"Right." You smile at how focused Jordan sounds.

They're hot when they're in the zone. You just didn't think they'd get so into helping you with your hair. But you should have known, really. Acts of service paired with their inner perfectionist? You're completely relaxed at this point. You know Jordan won't have you walking out of your room looking crazy, come hell or high water.

"Is this okay?" Jordan shows you a picture of the back of your head, three rows of twists done.

You gasp, snatching the phone, "That's my head?"

"Uh... yes?" Jordan answers slowly.

"The back of my head? The head on my body?"

"Should I start over?"

"Fuck you! These are almost better than mine. Who's hair are you playing around in when I'm not here, Jordan LI?"

"Stop using my fucking government name." Jordan tilts your head back to look at him with a gentle grip on your neck, grinning down at you. "You play too fucking much. You sure they're good, princess? It's okay if I need to redo them."

"I'm gonna give you orgasms that will make you lose brain cells."

"Baby!" Jordan laughs, rolling his eyes. "I'm serious. Do any of them need redoing?"

"The first row is really fucking good for a beginner but the second row is damn near perfect." You say.

"I'll redo the first row then." Jordan kisses your temple before moving you to face forward again.

"I said they were good!" You protest.

"But the second row is better. I want the whole thing to look good. Don't want you feeling self conscious cause I fucked up the style, y'know." Jordan mumbles.

You tilt your head back to look at him, ignoring him sucking his teeth (a habit he picked up from you) at you moving.

"I love you, Jordie. Thank you for helping me today." You coo.

You watch his face go red with a grin. He grins back, leaning down to give you a gentle kiss. When he tries to pull away too soon you whine, holding him close by the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Wanna kiss you. You're sweet." You breathe the words against his lips, insistently continuing the caress.

He sighs, smitten, and let's you lead for a moment. Hand finding it's way back to your neck and tightening just enough to make you gasp. Still, he pulls away too quickly.

"I'm gonna fuck you up." You scowl at him.

"The only thing you're gonna fuck up is your neck, brat. This is a horrible angle for you." Jordan's smile is so soft at the edges it's your turn to blush.

"Speak for yourself."

"No, I'm too busy speaking on behalf of your neck."

"Well, I'm speaking on behalf of my-"

"Pussy?"

"I was going to say raging hormones but that's a lot more to the point, yeah. Or maybe I was going to say something romantic. You ever think of that, Jordie? Huh?"

"Were you going to say something romantic?" Jordan hums.

"No."

"Let me do your hair in peace." Jordan turns you forward again with a laugh.

"Turn this way." Jordan instructs, snapping another picture.

"I don't know whether you're worse than an Instagram hair stylist or a Mom." You ponder, words barely audible because your girlfriend is scary.

"Shut up and smile." Jordan scowls.

As if engraved into your genetic code the words make you do just that. You suffer through another 20 pictures being taken before you say enough is enough.

Jordan happily shows you the pictures, as if you hadn't seen yourself in the mirror just a minute ago. Or ever. The grin on her face so wide it looks like it hurts.

"You like it, baby?" Jordan asks again.

"It looks so good, Jordie. It looks like I paid someone honestly."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." You drape your arms around her shoulders. "How's this angle?"

"For what?" Jordan tilts her head to the side, puzzled.

"For kissing. Since you were so worried about the angle before."

Jordan scoffs, but she's the one to pull you in. She doesn't pull away this time.

A/N: i needed reader to have a goofball vibe because i have a goofball vibe. if you enjoyed this fic consider reblogging, leaving a reply, or an anonymous ask saying you enjoyed it! a writers fuel is engagement. xoxoxo

[drdemonprince]

I am always clutching to my idealized reality firmly with both fists. Whenever my hair looks good in a photograph, I immediately get to stressing about the fact that my hair has already grown some imperceptible amount since when the image was captured. Then I cut it, hoping to restore it to its former perfection — and my head gets completely mangled by my clippers and shears. I deny myself my favorite foods and drinks sometimes, knowing that the meal will too quickly be over. The moment someone begins to love me is when I start picturing them dead.  Many late-realized Autistics develop relational patterns that therapists label codependent, controlling, or Borderline. I wonder how much of our supposedly dysfunctional attachment can be attributed to our desire for constancy, and our attempts to impose stability on a reality that forever shifts. For Autistics, most social interactions are mystifying and seem to play out on their own, largely beyond our control. Possible rejection hides in every corner, much of it unforeseeable to us.  Doesn’t it make sense we’d try to control what we can?  When a partner remarks that he’d like to get a bigger mattress, I want to chop off the sides of the bed to force our bodies closer. I want to hiss at every new person that enters the friend group to scare them off. Though all my queer loved ones are enlightened polyamorists, whenever someone I love starts texting someone new I fantasize about slipping away with their phone in the night, unlocking it, finding the new contact, and blocking the threat into oblivion.  I don’t do any of this, of course. But in my selfish, rotted heart, I want to be like Hannibal Lecter, drugging his patients and hypnotically conditioning Clarice to be in love with him. When I learned that Jeffrey Dahmer drilled holes into his lovers’ heads and filled the cavities with hot water and bleach to keep them from abandoning him, I could kind of understand it. And I hated myself for it.  I don’t actually have the stomach to be violent. My war with reality happens only inside. Besides, I know that if I were actually to try and control another person’s life, it would just send them running away. I learned that the dozens of times that I completed boyfriends’ homework for them, paid their rent, wrote cover letters for friends’ job applications, and inserted myself into fights that weren’t mine. I have tried to pull at others’ strings to keep them all happy and around me, but it only ever sent them running away, sad tangles of threads left round my fingers.  People like me must be why Autistics have a reputation for being cold-hearted, unfeeling, and unable to recognize the interiority of anyone else. I’m an anarchist in principle and a lover of my own freedom, so I would never wish to impose my will onto another person. I am terrified of the urges for control and permanence that lurk inside me. I’m afraid of where they might take me, and so I never give voice to them — In fact, I rarely give voice to any of my desires at all.  I let people do what they will without ever voicing my opinion. That’s the only way to truly avoid becoming the Dahmer in my mind. My method of control is to ask nothing, and give everything, hoping that one day another person will notice and choose to be devoted to me.  But even then, they’d change on me. It’s in the nature of all living things. 

I wrote about the Autistic fear of change, where it comes from, how it affects our relationships, and the many ways that we attempt to cope with change, both for good and for ill. It is free to read or have narrated to you on my Substack.

[alltoowelltom]

new year's day

lando norris x reader

The cool evening air is crisp, the entirety of Monaco laid out beneath you, glittering with golden lights. You’d only slipped out to the balcony a few minutes ago, needing some fresh air from the New Year’s Eve party that hums in the large apartment, but the December air was already pricking goosebumps on your bare arms. 

‘Cold?’ a voice says from behind and you whip around, relaxing at the sight of the man you’ve come to know so well over the last few years. Lando. There’s been a growing tension and you’re sure that you both feel it. “Accidental” brushes of his hand on yours, flirty comments when you’re with the mutual group of friends, sweet text messages at night for no one else to witness. 

‘A little.’ you admit, bringing up one hand to rub at your cold arms. 

‘I brought you a jacket,’ Lando smiles shyly. ‘Do you want it?’

You nod enthusiastically and he chuckles, stepping closer to you and slipping the warm fabric over your arms. That’s when you notice it’s not just any old jacket he’s brought, it’s his, the dark grey one he’d arrived in earlier this evening. 

‘Thank you.’ you hum, not wanting to make things awkward. 

He glances up at you as you both fumble for the zipper and your cold hands bump his. He wins, grasping the zip and bringing it all the way up to your collar slowly. 

‘Your hands are like ice,’ he laughs and you pout. ‘Let me warm them up for you?’

You nod and he gently takes them from you, holding your hands together and rubbing his own on the outsides to try and create some friction. 

‘Any better?’ he asks, not letting go of your hands. Your breath catches in your chest at the sweet contact.

‘Yeah. Y’know, if you wanted to hold my hand you could have just asked me.’ you tease and he blushes. 

‘You caught me.’ he whispers, placing his hands gently on your waist. You swear he’s magnetic, the way you can’t help leaning into his touch, seeking his warmth. 

Lando seems shy for once, gaze flickering over your face intensely. The moment is quiet despite the city’s partying as he quickly leans in, pecking your lips slightly before pulling back. You blink at him, mind desperately trying to keep up with what’s happening. Just as he opens his mouth to apologize you reach your hands up, resting one on his shoulder and letting the other get lost in his dark curls as you press your lips to his properly. 

He’s soft and sweet, bringing one of his large hands up to cup your cheek as he deepens the kiss and it feels as though your body is on fire. 

You mentally kick yourself as you have to pull away for air and you both giggle anxiously, looking at the other as you catch your breath. 

‘Was that okay?’ Lando checks, ever the gentleman.

‘Yeah, that was perfect.’ you almost whisper. 

Lando grins as he reaches up, tucking a wisp of your hair that he’d knocked loose back behind your ear.

‘I guess our friendship won’t ever be the same anymore, will it?’ he says quietly, holding you in his arms. 

You allow your head to rest on his shoulder as he sways you both to the music playing from inside, hearing his heartbeat thump quickly through his cotton shirt. 

‘Yeah,’ you shrug. ‘So can we do that again?’

thank you for reading! reblogs and feedback help sm <3

[melzula]

Smoke and Shadow

part two

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

notes: final part is here! hope you guys enjoy and thank you for being patient as always

summary: the group is one step closer to finding the missing children and Azula, but that doesn’t mean all of their problems will be solved

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

“We decided to do some investigating after Zuko kicked Aang out of the throne room,” Suki explains to you as your trio runs after the Avatar and Fire Lord. “We wanted to see if there were any clues left behind from Kiyi’s kidnapping or Azula’s Kemurikage attack on the palace last night.”

“And even though we couldn’t find anything, I realized there was something fishy about the way she was able to escape so quickly!” Ty Lee adds with a keen smile. “When we used to play hide-and-seek as kids, she’d always manage to win by hiding in this secret passage way tucked into the palace walls. It must be how the Kemurikage were able to escape so quickly.”

“Good thinking, Ty Lee. Although, I still can’t believe she kidnapped her own sister,” you note with a disgruntled shake of your head. “That’s low even for her.”

“This is Azula we’re talking about,” Suki reminds you, and that in itself is enough of an explanation for her behavior.

You finally skid to a stop after reaching the palace rooftops where Aang and Zuko land. The Avatar carelessly drops your boyfriend on the tile, and you wince on his behalf before offering Zuko your hand to help him back up onto his feet.

“Did you have fun?” You ask with a teasing smile only for the Fire Lord to scowl.

“Don’t ever do that again!” He scolds Aang whilst dusting off his robes.

“Okay, okay, but look!” the boy insists before pressing down on a loose brick that opens up a hidden doorway.

“A secret passageway! So you think this is how Azula and the other Kemurikage escape? How did you figure this out?”

“They searched for clues after you kicked them out of the throne room,” you tell him with a pointed look that has him shrinking guiltily under your gaze. “I think you owe Aang an apology.”

“You’re right,” he murmurs sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I should have been more open to your ideas.”

“Apology accepted!” Aang chirps happily. “Now what’s our next move?”

“Well… Kiyi could be on the other side.”

“Tom-Tom, too. I’m coming along,” Mai interjects firmly, seemingly forgetting Kei Lo’s presence until he corrects her statement with a “We’re coming along.”

Zuko instructs Suki and Ty Lee to stay back and guard the palace, so you bid your friends goodbye before beginning your descent into the narrow passageway. The hallway is cold and claustrophobic, but Aang and Zuko lead the way with their fire bending, cautioning you to watch your step behind them.

You’re quiet for the most part, mulling over your thoughts and insecurities now that you’re given a moment’s silence to think. You’re still feeling a bit insecure about walking in on him with Mai and about his animosity towards Kei Lo, but you haven’t had the chance to talk to him yet. The long distance has been hard on your relationship, and sometimes it’s hard to keep consistent communication when both of you have duties to tend to and entire nations to run, but you never thought it would be a problem. Now, you’re not so sure.

You recall what Azula had told you during your time in the Forgetful Valley, how you and Zuko were an “unnatural” pair that would never work. You hate to admit it or even think it, but what if she’s right? What if you’re just kidding yourself? Maybe Mai really has been the right girl for him all along. After all, she is Fire Nation, and she certainly is more qualified to be dating the Fire Lord than you are. You wish Suki were here to talk to, surely she’d know just what to say and could stop you from spiraling like you are now, but without her it seems it’s just you and your thoughts for now.

“Hey, I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier,” a voice says, pulling you out of your thoughts. “I’m Kei Lo, Mai’s boyfriend.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, everything’s just been so chaotic. I’m y/n, Zuko’s girlfriend.”

“That’s right, Mai told me. Say, aren’t you a Chief? Should I be calling you Chief y/n instead?”

“Just y/n is perfectly fine,” you correct him with an awkward laugh. Unbeknownst to you, Zuko is listening in on every word. He doesn’t trust Kei Lo, not one bit, and he doesn’t want him roping you into any trouble. He doesn’t care if he really isn’t in cahoots with the Safe Nation Society, if Kei Lo so much as looks at you in a way Zuko doesn’t like he’ll be tossed into a cell immediately.

“So how’s a Chief of a water tribe end up dating the Fire Lord?” He asks with a laugh.

“It’s a very long story.”

“Please spare me the details,” Mai says with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, it may not be the best time for that story,” you note with an apprehensive smile.

“You’re probably right. Still, it’s a pretty awkward situation we’ve all found ourselves in.”

“You can say that again.”

After some time group is finally able to reach the end of the passageway, and the only thing standing in your way from the other side is a solid wooden door.

“This must be it,” Zuko announces hopefully. “Behind this door could be Kiyi and Tom-Tom.”

“And Azula,” Aang adds apprehensively before helping the Fire Lord push the heavy wood open. The creak of the old hinges is deafening, echoing in the silent hallway, and you watch with bated breath as the light from the other side slowly begins to seep in. Carefully, you follow the two out the door only to be met with a disappointing site.

There are no missing children and there is no Azula. Instead, you’re faced with a gloomy and desolate graveyard.

“What is this place?” You murmur in awe, your eyes scanning across the expanse of withered headstones. You’ve never seen anything like it.

“I’ve been here before,” Zuko notes thoughtfully, “this is the royal family graveyard.”

“I thought that’s what the Dragonstone catacombs were for,” Aang questions with furrowed brows.

“No, the catacombs are only for Fire Lords. This place is for everyone else. It’s called the Garden of Tranquil Souls.”

“Really? Well, I hate to break it to you, Zuko, but…” the Avatar begins uneasily, and you follow his shifting gaze towards the clouds of smoke that begin to surround the graveyard. Taking a step back, you reach to unclip your water pouch as the dark figures begin to close in on your group. “The souls here don’t seem all that tranquil!”

The group of Kemurikage don’t hesitate to attack, and immediately your group is split apart as you all begin to defend yourselves against their assault. Blasts of fire are shot your way left and right, but you’re able to deflect it every time with your water bending. You manage to take down two of the spirits by encasing them up to their necks in ice, but your progress only seems to make a dent in their ambush. Zuko and Aang are still corned back to back, and Azula has managed to single out Mai and Kei Lo. She holds the boy by the collar of his shirt, eyes full of malice and hand ready to strike him with her blue flames despite Mai’s pleas for her to leave her boyfriend alone.

Before she can harm him, you send a blast of water towards her with an effortful grunt that shoots her across the graveyard and into one of the pillars. The impact is forceful enough to put a crack in the tombstone and disorient Azula momentarily to allow Kei Lo and Mai the chance to escape.

“Are you alright?” You ask him after rushing towards the couple. Mai helps him to his feet before looking to you, her eyes full of gratitude and sincerity.

“Thank you,” she says earnestly, and you give her an appreciative nod in return.

Rising from the ground with a grunt of pain, Azula is filled with rage at your assault on her. How dare you think you can beat her at her own game?

“Helping out your competition? That’s pathetic even for you, dearest,” she insults, irises aflame with fury. “Perhaps you and Zuko are more compatible than I thought.”

“What’s pathetic is the fact that you’re still obsessed with becoming Fire Lord,” you spit back, water cloaking your arms to form tentacle-like limbs for attack.

“Oh, I’m much past that now. I have a new mission,” she notes airily with a passive wave of her hand. Her eyes harden suddenly then and electricity begins to spread across her fingertips. “One that simply won’t work with you in the picture.”

Before she can raise her hands to strike you with her lightening blast, Zuko is quick to send a hail of flames her way to distract her. “Leave her out of this! It’s me you want!”

“Oh, Zuzu, always so dramatic,” she mocks before creating a cloud of smoke to cover her as she runs away.

“You have to go after her!” You exclaim urgently. “I’ll stay back and help Aang handle the rest of the Kemurikage.”

After ensuring you’ll be fine without him, Zuko gives you one final nod before chasing after his sister. You, on the other hand, rush back towards Aang to see if he needs any help. However, it seems he’s been able to manage the assailants just fine on his own.

“Princess! Where’d everybody go?” He asks, perplexed at the sudden disappearance of your group.

“Zuko went after Azula. I’m not sure where Mai and Kei Lo are,” you note as you scan the garden for any sign of them. “What do we do now? We still haven’t found the missing children.”

As if on cue, a shrill voice coming from the passageway calls out for help. You exchange an alarmed glance with Aang before immediately sprinting back into the doorway. A breath of relief leaves you at the sight of Mai’s father with the children in tow, but your ease is short lived at the sight of the two Kemurikage that hold them captive.

“Look!” One of the kids exclaims. “It’s the Avatar and Chief y/n!”

“Hi kids, we’ve been looking all over for you!” Aang says with an overjoyed wave.

“Are you guys alright?!” You call out protectively. “Is anyone hurt?”

“We’re great!” Kiyi calls back prompting you to let out a relieved laugh. You’re so happy to see her and see that she’s okay, but your joyous reunion is quickly cut short by the two spirits who begin to approach the two of you with whips of fire.

“Hang on, kids!” You tell them before beginning to take on the Kemurikage. There’s two of them, so you and Aang each take on one. They’re powerful fighters, but the safety of the children is on the line, so you use all of your might to fight them off as best as you can.

You counter their whip with one of your own, slicing through their weapon each time before it can strike you. While one of your hands controls the water whip, the other sends constant shards of ice hurtling toward the cloaked woman. You can tell she’s beginning to tire, your attacks too much for her to keep up with, but you’re too focused to notice the second figure approaching closely behind you. The Kemurikage’s whip is raised to strike you in the back, but their attack is halted by the blade that slices through the air and pins their hand against the wall.

“What-!” You exhale in surprise, turning just in time to see Mai swoop in and finish the job. The last two spirits have been apprehended, and you’ve been spared a wound that surely could have been fatal.

“Someone had to watch your back,” Mai explains with a faint smile. “You had ours.”

“Thank you,” you utter with a breathless grin. It feels nice to not hate each other for once, and you actually seem to work quite well together.

“Y/n! Y/n!” A voice calls, stealing your attention away from the girl and back to the children. Kiyi sprints towards you with a gleeful smile, and you’re quick to scoop her up into your arms and give her the tightest hug. “You came back!”

“I promised, didn’t I?” You say with a playful smile, carefully pushing back the hair from her face. “I’m so relieved to see you’re okay, and I know Zuko will be too.”

“Guess what? I’m a fire bender now!” She boasts proudly. “I burned a hole through the door so we could escape!”

“That’s incredible!” You praise with a laugh. “Wait until your brother hears this.”

Across the way, Mai cradles her little brother in her arms and watches you speak animatedly with Zuko’s sister. Your interest in Kiyi’s story is completely genuine, and she can see just how much the girl values your opinion. It’s so different from the way Azula used to talk about you, speaking poorly of your character and diminishing you to nothing but a weak Princess. Maybe Mai had judged you too harshly. After all, she might not have been able to get her brother back without your help.

“Thank you again for your help,” she tells you after setting Tom-Tom down to allow him to bid his goodbyes to his new friends. “I was wrong about you, and I shouldn’t have let my resentment cloud my judgement the way I did. I guess I really don’t hate you as much as I thought I did.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” you express with a careful smile. Perhaps things will always be awkward between the two of you, but this is at least a good start.

After making sure all of the children are accounted for, your group exits the passageway just as Zuko emerges from one of the mausoleums. Kiyi is quick to sprint towards her brother, and you watch on with a smile at the way his eyes seem to light up while hugging her close.

“Kiyi! I can’t tell you how worried I was about you.”

“I wasn’t worried at all!” She notes with a grateful smile. “You should’ve seen it, Zuzu! Y/n helped the Avatar take those nasty ladies down!”

“She did, did she?” He asks playfully, glancing over to you with a grateful smile. You simply give him a sheepish shrug in return. “I’ll have to be sure to give her my thanks.”

“And Azula?” You ask him, but his solemn gaze is enough of an answer. “She said she had a new mission, did she tell you what it was?”

“She wasn’t interested in becoming Fire Lord, she was interested in turning me into the type of Fire Lord she would be. The type that rules with fear, ruthlessness. Just like my father. Azula says I can’t escape who I am, and it will only be a matter of time before I’m just like her.”

“You don’t believe that, do you? You’re nothing like Azula,” you say earnestly. “You never will be.”

“I know,” Zuko murmurs softly, but you can see the slightest bit of doubt in his eyes and it saddens to you to know he doesn’t fully believe it to be true. “But either way she escaped. I don’t know where she is or when she’ll return.”

“We’ll be there to help you if she does come back, buddy,” Aang consoles with a comforting hand on the Fire Lord’s shoulder. “For now, let’s just focus on returning these kids back to their families.”

“Good point, Aang. Now,” you say, looking to the children who stare up at you with tired eyes that immediately brighten when you ask, “who’s ready to go home?”

~~~

Peace has been restored in the Fire Nation; the children have been returned safely to their parents, and Zuko has earned the forgiveness of his people for his mishandling of the situation. Everything is almost perfect.

You lean against the balcony of your room for the night and stare up contemplatively at the moon. Yue shines beautifully as always, and you find comfort in her light as you battle against the darkness clouding your thoughts. Your doubts about your relationship still rage on, and you haven’t been able to fight them off no matter how hard you try. You haven’t mentioned anything to Zuko, not wanting to distract him from his duty to his people, but the suffering in silence act you’ve been pulling all day hasn’t been helping your state of mind. Suki had urged you to talk to him, stating you had nothing to worry about because she’s seen firsthand how much he misses you when you’re away, but you were too anxious to follow through. What if you won’t like what you hear when you finally speak to Zuko?

You’re too engrossed in your thoughts to hear your door open or the quiet footsteps that head towards you, and it isn’t until he’s right beside you that you finally feel the familiar warmth that constantly emanates from his body. You don’t have to look to know that it’s Zuko.

“Suki said I should come to talk to you,” he says softly, golden eyes looking to you inquisitively. “Is everything alright?”

“I… I’m not sure,” you admit quietly, nervously fidgeting with your fingers and refusing to meet his gaze.

“What is it?”

His hand sneaks its way in between your own to halt your fidgeting and reassure that he’s right there with you and ready to listen to whatever it is you have to say. Sighing, you finally look to him with uncertainty swimming in your eyes.

“Do you have feelings for Mai?”

He’s stunned to stay the least, eyes widening slightly in surprise at your question. It’s certainly the last thing he expected you to ask him.

“Is this what you were trying to talk to me about earlier?” He presses gently, frowning at the way you slowly nod your head. “I see…”

“Just be honest with me, Zuko,” you plead desperately. “We promised we’d never keep secret from each other anymore, so if there’s something to tell then tell me. I can handle it.”

“I can’t stand here and tell you that it didn’t look bad when you walked in on Mai and I,” Zuko admits with a sigh. “But I can tell you that nothing was going on.”

“I heard you say you care about her.”

“It was out of context. I was trying to make things right for the sake of finding the children- she was obviously still upset over what went down between us, and I was trying to keep the peace so that we could work together to find our siblings. I’ve known her since we were kids, and if it weren’t for her I never would have been able to escape Boiling Rock and come back to you. So in a way I guess I do care for her, but it’s nothing compared to how much I care for you.”

“What about your animosity towards Kei Lo? You seemed… jealous of him.”

“I wasn’t jealous, I just didn’t trust him. I still don’t,” Zuko says adamantly. “I wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to release him because I didn’t want him to try and pull anything. I didn’t want Mai getting hurt, and I especially didn’t want him putting you in any danger.”

“So… so you don’t have feelings for her?” You ask meekly, the slightest bit of doubt still present in your voice.

“I’ve never had feelings for her,” Zuko says earnestly before gently taking your hands in his own. “You’re the only girl for me, y/n. I was stupid enough to let you go once, but I’m never making that mistake again.”

You can’t help but smile at his admission, tears beginning to well in your eyes as you throw your arms around him in a tight embrace that he immediately returns. It feels like a weight has finally been lifted off your shoulders, and all the worry and self doubt you had is finally beginning to melt away.

“I never want you to feel doubtful or insecure about our relationship ever again. I’m going to do everything in my power to do better,” he professes earnestly. “I love you more than you know, and you don’t ever have to worry about someone coming between us again.”

“I love you, Zuko.”

He pulls you in for a kiss, and with the moonlight shining down upon you both, everything is almost perfect.

For neither of you notice the pair of golden eyes that stare down at you from the rooftops with disdain and disgust before disappearing into the shadows.

“Pathetic.”

| atla tags: @sirkekselord @niktwazny303

| zuko tags: @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @taeeemin

| fire lilies tags: @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 @brown-eyed-thang @xapham @misnmatchedsox @chewymoustachio @that-bucket-hat-gal @chilifrylizard2 @kyomihann @kaylove12 @kiwihoee @freggietale @moon-spirit-yue @bubblegum-bee-otch

[just-a-ghost00]

Where is your path taking you?

Images are from Pinterest. I do not own them. The decks used for this reading are the following : Crystals oracle to determine the imagery representing each groups energy, Threads of fate oracle shadow edition, below the surface oracle, White Numen tarot.

Group 1 - Meteorite - Connect to your "star stuff"

If you were drawn to the meteorite, you might consider yourself a starchild. You may have a fascination for stars, astronomy and astrology, science fiction and alien theories. You may find it difficult to connect with people and feel like you belong in a group. You may struggle with your sense of identity. The meteorite oracle card states the following :

" When to use it : When you're looking to conduct more spiritual energy, try Nickel-Iron meteorite. When you're looking to chat with a friend in another galaxy, go with Chrondrite meteorite. When you want to feel aligned to that universal energy that pulsates through everything, try Pallasite meteorite." It feels like you're doubting whether you'll ever find people that are on the same wavelength as you. Well, good news for you. You're getting closer to your soul fam. As you're intuition and connection to the universe are getting stronger, you're able to sense people with whom you may match or your magnetism is doing the trick for you, since you're raising your vibrations. This card also tells me that you may be deepening your connection to the spiritual realm. I'm especially picking up on your ancestry.

Now let's take a look at your other cards. You got the card n° 35 from Below the surface oracle : Oarfish - Be the bigger person. Your kindness is your strength. Here your spirit team is reassuring you on your ability to love and be loved. They're asking you to trust yourself and your qualities. You also got the card n° 34 : Titan triggerfish - Your bold side. Make the first move. Oarfish is a very long fish that adapts well in the depths of oceans. It seems that in different cultures, it is a symbol of misticism, intuition and inner work. It invites you to uncover hidden talents and truths that will help you on your journey. The titan triggerfish is known to be quite protective of its territory and rather aggresive, especially during mating season. Though being bold is a great quality, it shouldn't lead to arrogance and agressivity. Looking at these two cards together, it seems like your journey is taking you to a new territory. You might start a new project, discover a new interest or find a new job that gives you the opportunity to meet your people. Other cards that you have include "dare to dream" and "self love" from the Threads of fate deck. The first card is related to air and the second to water. "Dare to dream" is an invitation to "step wildly into your dreams, to visit them often, to ask them what they need from you". The guidebook insists that though we feel like our dreams are out of reach because we don't know how to reach them, we should still pursue them as dreams coming true is a collaboration between you and the universe. "Show up forthem and they'll show up for you too". To me this also means that lucid dreaming could be a way for you to either manifest these connections faster or to help you identify them when you meet them. Pursuing a dream could very well be the door to new friendships and alliances. Have you ever dreamt of starting your own rock band or publishing a book? Now might be the time to give these dreams more substance by taking a first step towards them. On this card, an eagle's claw is depicted holding tightly to a ruby. The claw is surrounded by Buckthorn. The eagle, the buckthorn and the ruby are symbols of resilience and durability. The Eagle's energy allows you to see clearly through people and situations, to spot the connections between events and people. While the buckthorn helps you deal with external influences that might deter you from following your path, the ruby helps you with the internal factors such as self limiting beliefs. The "self love" card provides a similar meaning as it figures a magestic peacock. Your journey is leading you to a higher perception of yourself and more acceptance of your identity.

It also leads you to success, personal and material accomplishment as well as more opportunities to grow, for your last two cards are the ten of pentacles and the two of wands. On the first card can be seen three animals that resemble white dogs and on the other is a snake. These animals could be reprensentative of the energy of the people you're about to meet. You could be traveling a bit more in the future.

Group 2 - Chrysocolla - Be your own mama.

If you chose this crystal, you may feel quite vulnerable lately and emotionally overwhelmed. You may ask for external validation and help in making decisions for yourself, as you don't trust your ability to be objective and thorough in your analysis of situations and people. You might be in a state of confusion and exhaustion because of someone or something going on in your life. You may feel anxious about the future. Your path is taking you to more control over your life and being your own parent. Meaning that you'll learn to nurture and provide for yourself. You'll learn to be your own mental and emotional suppport, as life may take you away from loved ones. Specifically, I'm picking up on the energy of students or young adults that are leaving the parental home for the first time to pursue their career or studies. It could also be that you're leaving a relationship and being single again scares you. You will be healing your heart chakra on this journey to your independence. Maybe some of you were taught at a very young age that they were unable to live on their own for some reason, that they would always need somebody else to succeed in life. These false and self limiting beliefs became your truth and made you depend on people when in reality you only needed yourself. Looking at your cards, I can tell that your path is taking you to reclaiming your power. Your cards from Below the surface deck are the following : n°23 Coconut Octopus - You're on the right path. Keep going through the in-betweens. n°14 Giant oceanic manta ray - Life is a marathon. Don't burn yourself out in one sprint. I get a strong feeling here that you were manipulated and belittled by people around you, made to feel like you were incompetent or even unstable. That you were worthless, untrustworthy, following the wrong path. Your spirit team is begging you to wake up. "You're not crazy, they are" is what I heard. Your gut feelings are accurate. Your vision of yourself and the world is accurate. Your opinion is valid. You have to keep pushing and keep going. Don't doubt yourself, your skills or your intent. Your mind is clear. People want you to belive otherwise because they are scared of your light, your influence and your power. You mirror back to them their BS and it makes them uncomfortable. The reality is that they dispise themselves more than they dislike you. You have done nothing wrong. Your journey is thus taking you back to clarity and to your inner truth. The octopus is a very clever creature. Its brain functions in ways that are so complex even humans fail to grasp its potential. Your energy is so intense and deep people fear it. You are not to be blamed for their inability to grasp your potential. The giant manta ray invites you to slow down and meditate, to take a few steps back in order to see the bigger picture. It is a symbol of healing, adaptability and focus, as the manta ray is a swift navigator that knows where its going and never loses sight of its destination. The manta ray is also called the "devil fish". People have been misinterpreting its nature which could be something that oftens happen to you. The manta ray highlights the importance of choosing your source of help wisely, if you ever feel the need for external support.

Following these cards are "fate" and "The Magi" from the Threads of fate deck. These two cards are related to the element of Ether. There's a quality to you that people can't grasp. They can't put you in a box basically because you were never meant to fit in one. You are meant to expand and grow beyond anything they could even comprehend. Your path will lead you to great manifestation and a better sight. You could be among the people whose influence in life will be meaningful and well known. You could find your calling in spiritual and divination practices such as tarot, pendulum or chiromancy. Fate and Magi card remind me of Doctor Strange and the multiverse. Similarly to this character, your path may lead you to the awakening of the ability to consider all alternatives and roads to achieve one goal, but also to predict which are likely to be more successful. These cards remind you of the importance of boundaries and the power our actions and words hold. Especially the power and meaning of saying no. The fate card figures an egg resting on a pillow while the Magi shows a hand supporting an eye. It feels like you are currently incubating but soon you will hatch and be able to see the world clearly with your third eye.

Your last two cards are The Chariot and The Empress. The energy of these cards feel welcoming but also extremely powerful. Your path is leading you to stepping into your feminine and leading your life with dignity and grace. The Empress here is depicted as being active contrary to traditional tarot. She stands proud and ready to battle with anyone that would try to dethrone her. She is fierce and with the Chariot in her shadow, she is a force to be reckoned with. She knows where she's heading and will not stop until she reaches her destination. The energies of Cancer and Taurus accompany you on your journey. The Venusian energy of Taurus will help you attract love and nurturing experiences. The lunar energy of Cancer will help you see beyond the veil and understand the threads of fate and their intricate design. You will slowly but surely become the Weaver of your life. Like a manta ray, you will swiftly navigate through shallow waters and like a spider weave your way through the lies and deceit people might want to trap you in.

Group 3 - Rhodochrosite - Soften your heart.

If you selected this group, you may be going through a break up or mourning the loss of a loved one. A situation that was important to you might have ended unexpectedly which left you feeling lost and resenting what was happening. Rhodochrosite is to be used when your heart hurts. It reminds you that though you're hurting, you will heal and love again when you are ready. Your path is leading you to forgiveness and acceptance of that which you can no longer change. It will lead you to detachment and renewal in matters of the heart. The card n°18 from the Below the surface deck is associated with the broadclub cuttlefish. It states : rapid changes, let your flexibility serve you. The following card is the n° 12 represening the ambon damselfish. It states : don't be afraid of your voice, your opinion matters. These two cards suggest that this state of mourning won't last too long. You will quickly be presentend with new romantic opportunities or new projects and spirits are reassuring you. You will be able to move on and start anew. When these opportunity rise, don't be afraid to step in the light and let yourself be seen. The cuttlefish and the damselfish are both very unique and bright. They live in deep waters and can adapt pretty well to their environment. Like these two species, you are resilient and can make your way back to the top pretty quickly. Your other cards tell me that any limiting belief regarding love and relationships will be purged, as you have the destruction card followed by the versatility card. It was important that you do through this experience as it was meant to bring to light the toxicity and limits of your reality. Destruction is associated with fire whereas versatility is related to air. The versatility card reminds you that timing is very important and that forcing a situation to be when the timing is not right will only hinder your growth. It asks you how you can shift what is already existing in order to progress or to consider moving on when no solution can be found. Your path will lead you to a spiritual "spring cleaning". You will be going through your life, your possessions and relationships and ask yourself whether you truly need them now. You will be reassessing the value of your environment, your beliefs, your routines. Your approach to dating and entertaining relationships will be complitely different afterwards.

Ultimately, your path leads you to a new offer. An opportunity to be the main role in your life instead of a spectator. The knight of pentacles and The Emperor bring a message of patience and faith. You have to trust that at the right time and in the right place, what is meant for you will find you and you will be able to recognize it. They also invite you to be clear on your intentions. Especially if you consider dating again. Make sure you are clear on what you expect from a relationship, what you appreciate or what triggers you. Be mindful though of the power you exert over your life. Allow yourself to receive but do not shy away from your responsibilities. Your next partner may be a little bit controlling but also guarded. They need to take things slow and can be quite stubborn. But they will also teach you how to ground yourself and be in the present moment, not to burn any steps and feel things through to ensure you are on the right track. The signs of Aries and Taurus could be significant.

[starboye]

pairing: rafe cameron x male reader

summary: rafe taking care of a drunk you at a party and you thank him for his actions in a sexy way

warnings: smut, oral sex, lil angst, degrading, lil fluff, and something else idk though + a whole lot of cringe writing

a/n: this is the first ever story i wrote and posted on tumblr i found so dont judge me

word count: 2.4k

"Do we seriously have go to this party Rafe" you say as he gets out of the Uber along with other friends. "Yes y/n Topper invited me and if I have to deal with this then so do you" Rafe says as he begins to walk towards the house party while tugging you along. As you approach the house Topper comes out of the house and greets all of you.

"Hey guys, welcome to the party" he says as he slightly slurs his words probably due to the alcohol. "Make sure to have some fun" he also says as he motions you all into the house, as you enter the house the sound of music becomes louder and louder with the smell of alcohol overwhelming everyone's senses.

"I hate this already" you says as he begins to walk towards the kitchen for the drinks as rafe follows close behind, while everyone else in the group goes their separate ways. You enter the kitchen and make two shots of vodka for yourself and Rafe.

Let's try not to get hella drunk tonight okay" Rafe says as he takes the shot. "We'll see" you say as you take the shot, visibly wincing at the taste. As you start to feel the effects of the drink Rafe drags you to the living room to dance. He grabs you by the waist and begins to dance with you, but you push him off. "What's wrong y/n" Rafe says as he backs up a little, "Our friends are right there" you say as you look around nervously, not wanting anyone to find out you're dating rafe cameron.

"C'mon baby it's not like anyone is gonna care what we do" Rafe says as he slowly makes his way back to holding you. "And plus I want everyone in this party to know who you belong to" he says as he whispers in your ear and squeezes your ass.

You jolt at the feeling and run to the kitchen to get another drink, you pour yourself two shots and take one but as you're about to take the second one you hear a voice "y'know you probably shouldn't be taking that many shots" the voice says, you turn around and lough and behold it's Topper.

"And who are you to tell me how many shots I can take Topper" you say as you look up at the obviously drunk man. "I mean I wouldn't want some guy taking advantage of a sweet little thing like you" Topper says as he moves closer to you

"Thanks but I think I'll be fine on my own" you say as you make another drink, "Really... you here with anyone special tonight" the man says as he slides your drink away from you. "Nope just some friends" you say as you slide your drink back to you while looking visibly annoyed. "Well do you think your friends would mind if me and you went to our own room" Topper says as he begins to lick his lips and undress you with his eyes. "No I think I'm good" you say as you try and get up due to feeling uneasy. "C'mon don't act like that" the drunken boy says as he grabs your arm and doesn't let go. You try and wiggle out of his grip but it tightens, "Let go of me you fucking weirdo" you say as you try and yank your arm away but you can't break Topper's grip.

Rafe takes notice of this and runs to your aid. "Hey let go of him!" Rafe yells as he punches Topper in the face. "What the fuck dude I was just flirting with him" Topper yells as he holds his bruising face and begins to stand up. "Are you guys banging or something" Topper says with a smile on his face, as he says this rafe is about to punch him but you stop him. "Rafe just let it go" you say slightly drunk but still conscious.

Your friends run over to check on you. "What happened" one of them ask, "Nothing just a little dispute" Rafe says as he holds you up from your drunkenness. "Is y/n okay" another friend ask. "Yeah I'm fine just a little tired" you say as you slut some words, "We should probably go then" the friends say. "No no no you guys stay and have fun I just need to lay down" you say as you lean more on rafes shoulder for support.

Don't worry I can take care of him" rafe says as he looks down at you with caring eyes. "Yeah I think there's a empty room upstairs" your friend suggests. "Okay then you guys go have a good time I got y/n" rafe says as he helps you up the stairs. He searches for an empty room but along the way walks in on some couples 'having fun' until he finally finds an empty room.

He walks in and lays you on the bed as you lie awake but drunk and slightly tired. "Thanks for carrying me up the stairs" you say to the caring and courageous man. "It was no problem Topper was just being a major dick to you" he angrily says as he lays next to you in the bed, you roll over to look at rafe, staring into his light blue eyes and admiring his soft skin and hands. "Just saying what you did was really hot, you were like my knight in shining armor" you say as you scoot closer to rafe.

"Oh really now? It was hot you say" rafe says as he looks you up and down liking his lips, "How hot?" Rafe asks as he grabs you by the hips and drags you on top of him, both of your knees straddling his lap. "This hot" you say as you lean down and kiss rafe passionately, "You wanna show me that is more detail" rafe asks as his hands make their way to your ass, squeezing and gripping it roughly.

As you're kissing rafe you almost fall but rafe catches you, "Don't worry baby I got you" he says as he brings you back to your original position now moving his hands to your hips for stability as you move your hands to his chest, slightly squeezing them along the way. You both then pull back for an air break, "Wanna take this a little further" rafe says while breathing heavily as he tugs at your shirt. "Always" you say as you quickly take off your shirt and pants, now being left in only your underwear, and rafe follows suit, now being left in his boxers.

Rafe admires your body in shock, sliding his hands up and down your chest all the way back down to your ass, "You're so hot baby,I just can't resist you" he says as he leans up to kiss you again. You lean into the kiss as you push rafe into the bed, then moving to his neck as you leave hickeys up and down it, as you do this you hear his breathy moans signaling for more. "You're so beautiful rafe, do you know that" you say as you lift from your attack on his neck

You're more beautiful y/n" he says as he grabs your hips and grinds your ass on his growing boner making you moan out. "You like that don't you babe" he says in a seductive voice as he continues to admire your body. "Yes daddy" you say unknowingly, making rafe stop abruptly which makes you whine out "rafeee why did you stop" you ask. "Did you just call me daddy" rafe ask as he looks up at you with hornyness in his eyes, I comes back to you that you called him daddy, "What, you like being called daddy" you say seductively to him, making him grind your ass on his clothes dick harder.

You want my dick?" rafe asks you as he moves to groping your ass again. "Yes please" you whine as you paw at rafes underwear, wanting it off immediately. Rafe then looks up at you as he removes his underwear, signaling you to remove yours leaving you both now completely in the nude.

You then slowly grab rafes dick and admire it and then you begin pumping it up and down, which slightly draws moans out of rafe. "Faster" rafe brokenly says, making you pick up the pace now jerking rafe off at a fast pace making him break out into moans. Rafe now thrusting into your palm for more friction, desperately wanting to cum. "M'gonna cum" rafe moans out so signaling you too remove your hand just before he bursts. "Y/nnn" rafe whines out "what was that for" he says as he lifts up.

For the main event" you say as you straddle his lap again, now with your ass right against his rock hard dick. "You ready?" you say as you guide his dick to your hole, as he nods you sink onto his dick, drawing a loud moan out the both of you which is luckily covered up by the loud music. "Oh fuckkkk y/n you feel so good" rafe yells out, feeling you up and down as you ride him "you feel even better daddy" you whine to him. Saying this releases some animal inside rafe, making him flip you over onto your back with him on top, "Call me that again" rafe orders, "Daddy you feel so good deep in me" you say confidently making him grip your hips roughly and pound into you at an animalistic pace. You begin moaning out loudly, resulting in rafe taking his boxers and shoving them into your mouth to shut you up.

"Harder" you muffledly say through the boxers, "You want me to pound this hole harder slut" rafe says in a low but commanding tone, "mhmm" you moan. After you say this rafe begins to assault your hole harshly making you moan messily "Oh yeahhh baby let me hear those sweet moans you can make" rafe says as he leaves some hickeys on your neck. "Who's little slut are you y/n" rafe says seductively as he takes the gag put of your mouth, "you daddy, only yours" you moan.

That's right and who will be the only one filling this hole" rafe says as he wraps his hands around your neck. "You daddy, your the only one that can fuck me right" you moan and whine out as you try and stay sane from the constant fucking. "I'm gonna cum baby where do you want it" rafe asks as his thrusts into you become more and more sloppy. "In me, I want it deep in my hole rafe" you cry out, "ask and you shall receive" rafe lowly says as he picks up the pace even more and begins fucking your hole numb. After a short while rafe yells out "Here I comes y/n" as he floods your hole with cum as you both moan loudly and you cum just shortly after.

You both plop back on the bed, rafe then pulls out of your hole, leaving the cum to drip out of your fucked body. You both lay there tired out, still drunk,and covered in sweat, "that was really fun" I say as I drift off to sleep, "yeah that really was" rafe says as he breaths heavily. Rafe looks over to you and sees that you feel asleep "oh shit" rafe whispers to himself as he gets up and puts his clothes before sneaking out the room to the bathroom. Rafe sneaks into the bathroom and grabs a rag and a bowl of water before then running back to the room, there he admires your sleeping body as he wipes the sweat, cum, and other bodily fluids while stealing a few touches here and there. After he finishes wiping you off he puts your clothes back on, making sure to be very thoughtful of your slumbering body before picking you up bridal style and carrying you out of the room.

As rafe makes it downstairs your friends approach him, "Is y/n okay" one friend asks. "Yeah he's fine just a little worn out" rafe says as a grin spreads across his face "We're just gonna uber home" rafe continues as he adjusts grip on you. "Okay I'll call one for you" another friends speaks as they pull their phone out and orders the car. After a few minutes of waiting the Uber pulls up to the house and rafe walks to the car, as he opens the door he slides you in lightly before getting in the car himself. "Hey bro can you make sure to drive slow, i don't wanna wake my boyfriend" rafe asks the driver nicely as the driver agrees to his request. After about half an hour you arrive at rafes house, when the driver pulls up to estate rafe carefully carries you out the car before he turns and enters the house, he walks up the stairs quietly as not to alert the other sleeping occupants of the home.

As he makes it to his room he lays you down on the bed trying not to wake you up but you subsequently wake up not knowing where you are, "Rafe?" you call out "I'm right here babe" rafe reassures you as he caresses your back lightly. "What happened" you say groggily as you rub your eyes to fix your blurry vision, "You fell asleep at the party" rafe says lightly "Ohhh yeahhh the party that was fun, especially our fun" you say as you smirk while reminisce on the passion fueled time "You can say that again" rafe chirps as he chuckles at the comment, "But I think its time we go to bed" rafe says as he lays down with a long sigh, now comfortable in his own bedroom while he pulls you closer to him. "Hey rafe" you lightly speak "yeah y/n" rafe answers back, "thanks for the great time tonight" you say as you turn around and kiss him passionately before turning back over and drifting to sleep while tightly wrapped in his arms, "you're welcome love" rafe says as he falls asleep while nestled in the nook of your neck.

[nyrandrea]

hiii I’d like to request (again if that’s ok, it’s me the one who asked for the injured ) but if so then may I ask for this time so what if everyone’s at camp all asleep when a few people sneak in and kidnap reader but Astarion wakes up hearing something wasn’t right seein what’s going on watches as reader disappears then ofc hunting them down to see them being used in an ritual all tied up and weak dndeueududid ( sorry it’s like 1:18am I’m laid awake thinking about random things 💀 )

Helloooo again! I enjoyed your last request and certainly had fun with this one too so thanks again! (1:18am is the best time for random thoughts :D )

Warnings for canon typical violence, kidnapping, rituals (kinda), blood and swears

Word Count - 2.9k

Enjoy!

xxx

Under the silvery embrace of the crescent moon, nestled within the heart of a tranquil forest, you and your companions had surrendered to the gentle clutches of slumber, a collective of soft snoring weaving its way through the rustling leaves and whispering trees. 

A clearing in the woods served as your base for the night after a long, grueling day of travelling. The grass beneath you was like a plush carpet, and a delicate blanket of dew kissed the blades, glistening like diamonds. The air was crisp, yet tender, cradling you in its nocturnal embrace. 

Your team had all gathered in a sort of semi-circle, heads pillowed upon hands or nestled into makeshift cushions fashioned from backpacks and rolled-up cloaks. You weren’t sure how or when, but throughout your sleep you had unconsciously rolled over and inched yourself closer to where Astarion lay, his delicious scent drawing you in. 

One could observe the group and note the serene expressions etched upon their faces. They appeared as though they were sculpted by dreams, their features softened by the embrace of rest. Your eyes fluttered beneath closed lids as you chased the remnants of recent adventures.  

Unfortunately for you, you were being observed. 

You flinched as the corner of your vision registered a goblin kneeling beside you, the tip of his dagger against your throat before you could even scramble for your own weapon. 

“Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you," he purrs, smiling smugly down at you. “Not if you want your friends to keep their innards intact.” 

Your eyes widen and dart over to where the rest of the group lay, completely oblivious to the goblins that threatened their very lives. You were even surprised to see Astarion still in a deep trance of meditation; he was usually so much more alert at night. 

“What do you want?” you whisper. 

“For you to come with us, true soul,” the goblin answered. “We are in desperate need of your... assistance.” 

‘Great,’ you thought. ‘Just what I need, more Absolute nutjobs.’ 

“Look, I don’t think I can help you.” 

“Oh, but you are the only one who can,” he retorts, slowly pulling the knife away from your throat. “It’s our leader, you see. She is gravely ill and only a true soul like yourself can cure her.” 

Your face scrunches up in disbelief. “If she’s ill, then it’s a healer you need, not me.” 

The goblin frowns. “It’s you she needs, she said so herself.” His blade edges closer to you once again, signaling for you to get up. “Now, if you’ll be so kind as to come with us. Or am I going to have to resort to a bit of… persuasion?” 

He exchanges a glance with one of his men, who seemed all too giddy to slash Astarion’s neck. 

“No…!” You almost shout but restrain yourself so as to not alert the others and incur a massacre. “I-I’ll come with you, just... leave them be.” 

The goblin grinned up at you, and you had to force down the bile that was rising in your throat. 

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” he crooned, gesturing for you to follow.  

You hesitate for a moment, your gaze darting between your weapon and the goblin, his eyes are trained on you, almost as if he was daring you to try. Ultimately, you were outnumbered, and they held the element of surprise over your companions. No matter which way you tried to cut it, there were going to be casualties if you didn’t do what you were told. 

So, you begrudgingly allowed yourself to be led into whatever hellish fate this cult of the Absolute had in store for you. A plan of escape would have to come later, when you were far enough away from your friends. 

Unbeknownst to you, one of them was already on your trail. 

xxx 

Amidst the shroud of night, when the moon hid its luminous face behind a thick blanket of heavy clouds, you and your merry little band of kidnappers ventured into a meadow cloaked in long, swaying grass. The air had an eerie stillness about it, broken only by the distant whispers of nocturnal creatures. 

As you traversed the meadow, moving with cautious steps, your feet sinking into the cool earth with each stride, you silently weighed up your options. The grass was like a sea of shadows, their whispers brushing against your legs like ghostly fingers; it would be so easy just to blend in and disappear. 

You would have considered it, if it were not for the worgs. 

The air was imbued with the scent of dew-drenched grass, but those beasts would still be able to track you down within seconds. Only... there were most certainly four of them the last time you checked. But looking around now, you only noticed two. 

It appeared the goblins had noticed too; their hushed conversations were like faint echoes in the vast expanse, mixing with the symphony of crickets and the occasional haunting call of a night owl. You couldn’t make out a damn word they were saying, but they looked nervous. 

“It would seem that we have a stalker in our midst,” the leader of the group growled, holding up a hand for everyone to come to a halt before he grabbed your wrist, forcing you down to his level. “Sod it, change of plan. You’re with me,” he commanded one of his men before turning to the rest. “You lot deal with the bastard while we take our friend here back to base.” 

“Hey!” You grabbed his wrist and tried to wrench yourself free. “Let go!” 

“With pleasure,” he grinned as he simultaneously released his grip and struck the back of your head with a blunt weapon, rendering you unconscious just as the ambusher seized the opportune moment. With lightning speed and calculated precision, he pounced from the grass, launching himself like a shadowy wraith. Long grass bent and swirled in his wake, mimicking the dance of phantoms. 

In that fleeting moment, you caught the glint of a blade unsheathed, reflecting a cold, silver streak in the night. Chaos ensued, and the long grass became a battleground, hiding the combatants in its tangled embrace.  

The clash of steel rang through the night, intermingling with the desperate cries of your name as you slipped away into darkness. 

The ambusher moved with ruthless determination; his scarlet eyes ablaze with a wild, unholy fervor. In the end, silence fell upon the meadow, broken only by the ragged breaths of the victorious, standing amidst the long grass, a solitary figure bathed in the haunting glow of the moon, his cloak billowing like a specter as he followed the trail of broken grass the other goblins had made as they carried your prone form away. 

 xxx 

The first thing you could feel was a pounding in your head. You try to sit up, to pull your knees up so you can curl up and settle the turning in your stomach. Slowly, your eyes opened as your breath sped up. 

You were lying on the dirty floor in the middle of some sort of temple, hardly able to move due to your wrists and ankles being bound by chains. You struggle to draw in shallow gasps as you blinked through the blurriness of tears that clung to your eyelashes. 

“What?” you whisper to yourself, wiggling to try and find an opening in the chains, trying not to hyperventilate as the bindings dug painfully into your skin the more you tried to move. 

You bite your lip as your mind races with ideas to escape, to get away from this place, to kill these people for having the audacity to kidnap you, to threaten your friends. 

Different scenarios play out repeatedly in your head, but the reality was that you were powerless to do anything. 

“Comfortable, are we?” 

A goblin slinked her way over to you from the shadows, she was unlike the crude and menacing stereotypes that often plagued her kind. She possessed an eerie, captivating beauty and moved with an uncanny grace; as sinuous as a serpent. Her skin, the color of moss, bore intricate tattoos that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy.  

Your skin tingled, hairs on the back of your neck prickling up as the goblin prowled behind your back to watch over your shoulder, her warm breath brushing behind your ear.  

“I do hope so - it is truly an unimaginable honor to have a true soul like yourself amongst us, especially one with such... soft, tender flesh.” 

A soft whimper pressed from your throat as warm hands slithered over your shoulders, kneading gently into tensed muscles. It sent a shudder down your spine, pressing your entire body in on itself.  

“No need to be so coy, dear,” she said. “We’ll be getting to know one another, after all. For what is to come.” 

Your lips pressed tight together as you swallowed down a knot in your throat, but your chin was forced up so that your eyes locked with hers. The symbol of the Absolute flashed on her face like a dazzling light, but no matter how much the tadpole wriggled and pulsed inside your head, nothing was happening. 

You held no authority here. 

“Those little mind tricks won’t work with me,” she sneered, pointing a clawed finger to her temple. “For I too, am a true soul. In fact, I am the one and only true soul!” 

“W-w-what do you mea-?” 

You were silenced with a hard slap. 

“You may not speak in my presence, worm,” the goblin growled. “Speaking of, I’ve got so many of the little buggers up there, I may as well be as powerful as the Absolute themselves!” She barked a laugh and grinned maniacally down at you. “And your parasite will make a fine addition to my collection.” 

‘Gods, this bitch is fucking crazy,’ you thought, but your mind immediately seized up and burned as she pried her way into it, and she was not too happy with your choice of words. 

“You haven’t even seen crazy yet,” she growled as she traced a claw down the side of your face, drawing a thin line of blood. “I think I’ll pry your worm out myself with my bare hands and make you watch as I consume it before we gut you and roast you on the spit with the rest of the pigs.” 

Strong hands took hold of your arms and legs and dragged you onto a slab of stone that had markings etched along the edges. You could just make out they were in Infernal—akin to the ones on Astarion’s back—but like his, you couldn’t decipher their meaning.  

You kicked, flailed and screamed in desperation, but you were soon silenced by the goblin as she wrapped her hands around your throat while the others formed a circle around you and started muttering some sort of ritualistic prayer. 

Your senses were dulling further by the second and a part of you wanted to give in to the pain, to just let yourself black out and fade away, but something within you pulsated with the will to live. To fight to your very last breath. Was this the parasite’s doing? Or was it something else? 

“Just give in to the Absolute, dear, "the goblin said, her tone almost sickeningly gentle. “You’ll be all the better for it.” 

“F...f...” 

“Aw, your last, dying words,” she purrs, leaning in closer to listen. “I will permit it.” 

“...Fuck you,” you spat. 

The goblin’s smug expression warps into one of pure fury, and she bares her teeth at you as she grabs a hold of your face with one hand, using the other to slowly inch her claws towards your left eye. Her hiss garbles into a shrill wheeze as a dagger is plunged into her back and through her chest several times, relentlessly. A stray drop of blood trails down her mouth as she screams silently before she is rolled away from you, her body plopping onto the ground with an unceremonious thump. 

You try to catch your breath, thanking whatever Gods were out there that they decided to spare you today. 

“Don’t thank them, darling, thank me,” a familiar voice teased, though his shaking voice betrayed his light tone. “They would have done bugger all, anyway.” 

A tiny, joyful laugh escapes from your raw throat as your eyes fall onto the welcome sight of Astarion, who seems just as relieved to see you.  

“Are you alright?” he asks, quickly approaching with what appeared to be a pair of bolt cutters. 

You nodded desperately, holding out your wrists. 

Astarion took a moment to get the teeth of the bolt cutters properly in place where they wouldn’t bite through the skin but snapped them together fairly easily. 

You shuddered a soft sob, relief dripping from your eyes as you rubbed at your wrists. Astarion didn’t wait for further instructions, you needed to move. 

He knelt by your feet, slotting one link of the chain between the thick metal teeth, then braced one handle against his thigh. It bruised and dug into the flesh of his leg, but he didn’t stop. 

The metal didn’t relent, but neither would he. 

“Astarion-”  

“Just... hold on, darling!” he says, pausing only briefly to give you a reassuring smile. “I’m no Lae’zel or Karlach; strength isn’t exactly my forte but I’ve... almost got it...!” 

Teeth grit, fueled by fear and desperation, Astarion pulled harder and harder, feeling the bruise work against the bone and listening to his back crackle at the strain. He shifted, readjusting – maybe one half of the link would be enough? It was dented – that was a good sign. 

You rested both hands on Astarion’s shoulders, steadying you both as he groaned under the effort. He jerked the handle to and fro, desperately trying to force the iron link to submit to iron teeth. 

With one final effort, the metal finally crunched, and you were free. 

Astarion’s arms encircled you with a strength that made you feel safe and cherished, while you nestled your head against his chest. 

“You... how did you...?” 

“I knew from the moment they took you,” Astarion said, smoothing down your arms, the motion was slow and helped calm you down a little. “I was, let’s say, aware of their presence in camp. But like you, I wanted to avoid a messy fight and so I tracked you down myself and... thank the gods I did.” 

“Guess they helped out a little, after all,” you weakly joked. 

“Oh shush,” he softly retorted. “It was fairly easy, what with that awful stench those creatures' reek of.” 

“So, it was you... in the meadow.” 

“It was,” he smiled, but it was tinged with bitterness. “I almost had you, if only I’d been quicker, or less sloppy, you wouldn’t have...” 

His eyes, pools of worry and tenderness, never left your face. He reached out with a hand that trembled, his fingers brushing away strands of your disheveled hair. His touch was feather-light, as if he feared causing you any more discomfort. 

With a voice softer than a whisper, he asked, “Did… did they…?” The words carried the weight of a thousand unspoken emotions. 

“It’s okay,” you said, reaching out to caress his cheek. “I’m okay.” 

He nodded, his lips curling into a tender smile as he leaned into your touch. Gently, he began to inspect your injuries. His fingers traced the contours of your throat, seeking out any sign of any permanent damage. With each touch, he was meticulous, ensuring that he didn’t aggravate the forming bruise. 

"Does it hurt much?" he inquires softly, his expression unreadable, almost dazed. 

You wince slightly but shake your head. "It's bearable.” 

He leans in, his breath warm against your skin, as he presses a soft kiss to your forehead. "You're so, so strong, my dear," he whispers, his words a soothing balm to your wounded soul. 

 His soft gaze hardens as he glares down at the goblins' bodies that littered the room. “Death is too good for them. I’m almost tempted to have them revived so I can make them suffer just a little longer.” 

“How did you even manage to kill so many?” you ask, you knew he was a dab hand at killing but even he couldn’t take on a whole horde by himself. 

“They were all so engrossed in their little ritual, they didn’t even see me coming,” Astarion said with a shrug. “That’s what you get for blind faith, I suppose.” 

You wanted to laugh, but your throat hurt too much. 

“Come on, darling,” Astarion gently looped your arm around his shoulder and guided you, going as slow as your aching legs would allow. “Let’s get you home.” 

Your eyes met his in a gaze that transcended words, a silent conversation of empathy and understanding. In that moment, the world ceased to exist beyond the contours of your bodies, and the only reality was the sensation of skin against skin, the intoxicating scent of each other's presence, and the unspoken promise that he would never allow this to happen to you again. 

xxx

Links to my other Astarion works

Everything's Fine

Restless

Request - Astarion kills everyone in his path to get to you

[pilot-boi]

Pilot, I know you primarily bully Jaune. But would you mind having a go at Papa Arc talking to the Vacuo mural?

Orion Arc is not a hero, even though his son always thought he was. He’s just a man who loves his family and tries his best to do right by them.

So it’s more than a little strange standing there, in front of a mural of his own son’s face. His boy immortalized and honored in ways Orion could never dream of.

His son looks like a stranger.

“Mr. Branwen thought it might help to talk to ya.” Orion’s hand brushes over the palm prints of countless children, all paying their respect to his boy. “Don’t see much point, ain’t gonna bring you back.”

His son watches him, all quiet confidence and bravery. A true warrior, a hero. Where is his brash anxious son who begged to join the Huntsman Academies? How much of his son did he lose when Jaune finally left home? Somewhere along the way his boy grew into a man and he wasn’t there to help him.

“Your uh…” He clears his throat. “Your mother misses you.” And it sounds pathetic even as he says it. Even in front of a facsimile of his son he can’t say what he needs to.

“She was beside herself when you didn’t come back from Haven.” So was he, even more so than his wife. Orion paced the house for days, worry driving him to throw himself into work, into anything that would take his mind off the attack and the fate of his boy. “We were so relieved to hear from Saph about you and your friends.”

His friends. A group of seven that from all accounts Jaune grew closer to than even his sisters. Orion glances up at the others in the mural. Four of which fell alongside his boy, and the other three were left grieving.

Ren, Nora, and Oscar, he remembers them being called. He never thought he’d see his grief echoed in faces so young.

“As soon as we saw the broadcast, your mother was packin’ our bags.” Orion chuckles. “You shoulda seen her, she was fixin’ to march up to the General herself and teach him a lesson. If I ever wondered where you got your fire, I got my answer.”

His face falls, crumpling like paper. “And I triedta douse that fire.” How many times did he tell Jaune it was okay if he failed? How many times did he refuse to train him? How many times did he let his fear guide him to crush his son’s dreams?

“When you walked into the livin’ room with your transcripts in hand sayin’ you were gonna be a Huntsman whether I wanted it or not, why…” His eyes are stinging. If there’s anything his son inherited from him, it’s his tendency for emotions to live near the surface. “Why that was the proudest day of my life.”

He’d never been more proud. Never. His boy standing there with those papers clutched in his fist, and a defiant look on his face. “I won’t let you down.” Jaune had said.

You could never let me down. It’s what he should’ve said. Why didn’t he just say it?

Orion scrubs the heel of his hand into his eyes. It does nothing to stop the flow of tears. “Did I ever once tell ya how proud I am of you?” His voice is cracking and hitching, but if he stops talking now Orion knows he’ll never start again.

“You’re so brave and you don’t quit when things get tough. I saw how hurt you were after the Fall of Beacon, but you just got right back on that horse.” His baby boy, the most caring and most stubborn of all his children. Strapping the family sword back onto his hip because “Somebody has to, dad.”

Letters where it’s clear his boy isn’t saying half the trouble, but he’s saying enough that they know what trouble is. Hearing about the attack on Haven, a week and a half of terror. Saphron sending word that Jaune made it to Argus.

And then nothing. Nothing until the broadcast from Miss Rose.

Packing in a whirlwind, sending the girls to stay with Saphron. Renting the first available airship to Vacuo and contending with his wife’s motion sickness. By the time they got there, they were met halfway by a near armada.

But no Jaune.

Orion’s hand rests on Jaune’s painted cheek. A child’s hand against the larger-than-life hero his boy grew into when he wasn’t there.

Did he ever tell his son how much he loves him?

“Come back to us,” Orion begs, no longer trying to stem the flow of tears. Why bother? His son isn’t here to see them.

[aclickbaittitle]

What do Fiction Podcasts have to say about the future?

Whenever you write a story set years from now, how you construct the world around it creates a new way to see the future, a fictional image to a reality we could be headed towards.

Fiction podcasts love to play within the sci-fi genre, and the thousands of audio dramas they have given us new pictures of what our world could look like in the next century (or a few years closer).

In this article I want to analyze the settings in the following shows: Hello from the Hallowoods, Desperado and The Strange Case of Starship Iris.

Hello From the Hallowoods

Hello From the Hallowoods welcomes us to a world ravaged by black rains and capitalism’s greed. After a natural (but man-made) disaster involving acid rain and flooding the world’s successions gave birth to two different types of beings: those who prefer to dream in a company’s “Prime Dream” and those who stay awake to continue living.

Even though the world is post-apocalyptic on paper, it never feels like it. Rather it is enchanted, there are woods where gods, revenants, devils, giants and zombies fall in love with themselves and with each other, places where community is found.

This, I attribute this to the fact that most characters don’t lament a nebulous “end of the world”, since this is the world they have always been living in and they are going to make the best of it: find family, friends, lovers, build homes and destroy bigots.

You leave the world of Hello From the Hallowoods knowing that even a doomed world is worthy of being awake for.

Desperado Podcast

Desperado Podcast also takes us to a world that was looted, but this time mainly by religious colonialism. 

Neo-colionalism has made itself tangible through genocides and direct targeting to believers that worship other than the “Old man in the Sky”.  In its first episode a community in México which revere La Catrina (a goddess in the show inspired by a popular figure in mexican art) is wiped out by the crusaders. 

From there our protagonist Elio is the sole survivor of his people, however all is not lost as he teams up with Talia (the chosen of Baron Samedi) and Shinji (whom I believe is a death kami?).

Elio now literally carries the memories of his community as the vessel for her goddess. Likewise in Desperado, the magic of the characters is the legacy their ancestors gave them, and it is what keeps them alive in the violent world. 

Though if we are ever to worry that our protagonist could fall into its clutches, the structure of the world soothes our preoccupations. You see, it is the characters within the story that are narrating their own experiences to the audience so we know that after all the pain, they ended up safe.

What Desperado tells us about the future is that, even with the ongoing genocides, white-washing of our culture, and neo-colonialism in general we will end up victorious in the end, and that our history will be forever within our memory.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Strange Case of Starship Iris, is the most sci-fi audio drama out of the bunch. It follows the crew of the Rumour, a smuggler's ship, as they try to uncover the dark secrets of the Federation and evade persecution.

As with the other two properties, the future is not an easy world, but our characters are making the most of it.

In a post-war galaxy, the crew of the Rumour is smuggling space-ship parts, medicine, and erotic magazines until they find a help alarm coming from the Starship Iris and rescue biologist Violet Liu. From there they are involved in a mystery which, if the truth comes to life, they could be charged with treason against the Intergalactic Republic. 

Throughout the two seasons of the podcast, Violet Liu and company heal together the scars that the war and its result: the Intergalactic Republic left them. They fight against the government not only through robberies, infiltration, and coordinated efforts with rebel groups but also by eating latkes, drinking, singing shanties, and getting gay jewish married.

To conclude

if queer podcasts are telling us something about the future, it is that it may be equally messed up as the present but that queer, disabled people of color will exist beyond the end of the world and that even in the bleakest of futures we will continue to love and thrive.

[theobsessedcookiefan]

I HAD THIS DRAFTS AAA 😭😭😭😭 (It's happiness).

Okay some clarifications, y/n in this story will be an apprentice witch, she won't be one of the ones who created the heroes, also I will call Shadow Milk Cookie Blueberry Milk Cookie since I think they had that kinda name before, I don't think for example Silent Salt was called that before that corruption right?

:ﾟ･*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

Part 1. The Tower and the Witch.

"What story do you want me to tell you?" Asked the older cookie to a group of little ones gathered around him. "The one about the hero and the witch!" One of the little ones replied. "Yes! I like that one!" Replied another, finally the old man gave up and smiled. "Okay, but no interrupting me this time."

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

The heroes of Earthbread, the closest thing the cookies had to deities besides their creators the witches; we all know the story, five heroes created and blessed by them, gaining powers beyond the comprehension of any common cookie. For example we have the cookie holder of the virtue of knowledge; Blueberry Milk Cookie, he spent day and night in his research, looking for answers to the strangest questions he could think of, which led him to discover the Witches' Banquet.

At first he thought it was just a legend, something parents told their children to obey them; "If you're good maybe the witches will take you with them and invite you to the Banquet." He heard a lot of parents say already, so it wasn't crazy to think that it was indeed a legend, but as the days passed in his research he found several clues that indicated that it did in fact exist! This did nothing but feed the curiosity of our hero, he wanted to know more about his creators and get answers to several questions; Why the cookies existed and why he and his friends were the ones chosen to carry such power were two of them.

Without wasting any more time he waited until the next date in which the legends said that the Banquet took place, when that awaited moment arrived he immediately went to the place where it was supposed to happen, he found something? Yes, a somewhat high tower that seemed abandoned at first sight, the smoke coming out of the chimney was barely noticeable to the eye. With a little effort and using his skills to climb the tower he managed to get to the window of the tower and take a little look inside, wow indeed it was big, bigger than when he was in his bigger form so it was definitely a witch tower and the best of all was that everything was perfectly taken care of, it looked so tidy and so pretty that he felt kinda bad to enter it uninvited, everything was clear until he heard a sound of something moving slightly, when he looked in the direction where that sound came from he saw a.. a witch? Yes, that was it, even though she was lying on a table, her clothes could be seen, it was just as the books described her, an apron and a pointed hat, besides being quite big.

Carefully he approached, using those shelves full of books to hide himself, he even had to dodge fallen things and jump through the spaces between shelves, adventure was definitely not his thing; he would have liked to stay in his own tower to do his writing, although science and knowledge require sacrifice and hard work! Or well, that's what he thought. As he approached the sleeping (or so he hoped) witch, he noticed a potions book on the table, there came instructions on how to make a love potion, huh- that was weird, witches were supposed to be the creators of their entire species, he never thought that on top of that they also created potions; that made them even stranger to his point of view.

As he got closer and closer he finally got as close as he could, being mere centimeters away from that big figure, it seems that the aroma of blueberries that he gave off did not pass unnoticed though, because little by little she began to wake up, with worry he took a few steps back and hid behind an inkwell.

"Mhh.. What time is it?" He heard that witch say in that tone of someone waking up after a long nap, as he stood up he noticed that she was actually taller than what he had seen from the window and that gave him a little shiver; in the stories they always talked about how witches as well as they could be merciful they were still like goddesses to them, they shouldn't be angered. He considered his options for a few minutes; either he stayed hidden and searched among those millions of books for the answers he was looking for or he made himself present and asked directly, because both options had several ups and downs, for example staying hidden and searching in books was the idea he liked the best since he would stay hidden and safe, but the downside was that he would have to look in millions of books too big even if he increased his size and he would also have to be careful not to be seen, on the other hand if he made himself present there were two possible results: either he was accepted and his doubts were solved or he would be crumbled by the witch.... Umm, difficult decisions indeed.

Finally he decided, he would show himself to the witch and hope for the best outcome. With a sigh, he came out of hiding, eyes closed and waiting for the witch's reaction... Nothing happened-, when he opened one eye he realized that the witch was no longer there; she was now in the other part of the tower, looking for something on a shelf, well that gave him time to think what she would say "Good morning! I'm Blueberry Milk Cookie, the cookie who possesses the virtue of knowledge." Umm no, too formal... "Hi, I came into your house through the window I hope I'm not disturbing you." That would make him sound like a weirdo- "Miss witch I demand answers!" No, just no! It was too much pressure to do something so soon. He seemed to take too long to decide as he heard the witch's voice again. "Can I help you?" She sounded as confused as he was at that strange interaction as it was as if a divine being was talking to you so casually like that. "Oh! I mean... I, umm, can you?" Shit, that was not a good first impression. "I mean.. Yes! You can and I'd appreciate it if you would!"

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

:ﾟ･*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

A/N: I personally imagine he looks like this before corruption:

(IF SOMEONE KNOWS THE ARTIST PLS TELL ME)

[phoenixyfriend]

Entry of the Gladiators

Remember my Fake Sith AU? Yeah, so I got around to writing it.

I started writing this around a year ago, planning to finish and post for an event. I never finished. So. Here's what I have so far, and let's hope I can get around to finishing it at some point lmao.

The year is 7939 CRC, and Obi-Wan is one-hundred percent not moonlighting as a Sith Lord with a drawling accent and a linen suit. And Anakin surely isn't pretending to be his unhinged Sith second. And Ahsoka definitely isn't actually a vigilante. And Cody absolutely isn't enjoying the chance to manage an entire set of organized crime rings. And Rex certainly isn't seducing the half-mad head priestess of an evil cult. Totally.

Chapter 1: Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go)

Fun fact: I went to upload the first chapter of this fic, which I started writing a year ago, and I forgot I had a title for the chapter, so I just slapped something together to put into the chapter title slot.

Then I went back to my planning document and it's the same damn chapter title.

I am very predictable.

----------

Anakin wakes up with a pounding headache. This is, against all wishes, a very familiar feeling for him. Unfortunately, it has almost never been a result of something fun, like alcohol. He’s much more likely to wake up drugged and chained by his enemies or recovering from grievous injuries than, say, boozing up.

Hondo incident notwithstanding, of course.

(Besides, Obi-Wan got drunk too. That makes it his fault.)

As he catalogues his remaining fingers and extremities past the pain in his skull, he hears others shuffling nearby. The Force isn’t warning him at all, so they’re probably friendlies.

There’s a quiet groan a few feet away, high-pitched, that is almost definitely Ahsoka.

When he sits up, it’s to more pain and the ugly little realization that Ahsoka must also be in pain.

Obi-Wan’s voice cuts in. “What did you do, Anakin?”

“Nothing!” Anakin protests, his own voice loud enough to set his headache off. He runs through his most recent memories in hopes of uncovering actual wrongdoing. He doesn’t seem to actually have any memories past entering the possibly-Sith-in-origin temple, though. That’s… a bad sign, in part because they are now outdoors and looking at a completely different sky. “You went into the sketchy temple, too. I don’t remember doing anything that could have knocked us all out, especially not knocked us out and transported us to what’s probably a different planet.”

“Sky’s orange,” Ahsoka notes, getting unsteadily to her feet. There’s a moment where it looks like she’s about to fall, but Rex is closer than Anakin, and reacts fast enough to steady her.

Anakin finally gets a full look around. His master, his padawan, his captain, and Commander Cody, who isn’t Anakin’s in any way, except as a friend, but that’s not an exclusive group, because ‘his friend’ could mean a lot of—

He’s getting distracted.

“If we’re lucky…” Obi-Wan says, stretching his back with an awful cracking noise. He eyes the sky with distaste. “If we’re lucky, the cloud cover will dissipate and let us see the constellations when night falls. We can figure out where we are then.”

“Anticipating hostility from locals, sir?” Cody prompts

Obi-Wan shrugs. “Don’t want to hedge our bets on there being locals. We aren’t where we were, and we aren’t in another temple, either. Most planets in the galaxy aren’t actually inhabited by sapient species…”

“But that’s mostly because most of them don’t have breathable air, isn’t it?” Ahsoka asks. Anakin pats her between the montrals, almost like Obi-Wan used to ruffle his hair when he was this small. Well, smaller. Ahsoka at fifteen tolerates this much better than Anakin at the same age.

Ahsoka at fifteen is, however, the same height as Anakin at thirteen, when Obi-Wan was still ruffling his hair.

“You’re right, Ahsoka. Since this planet does have breathable air and some vegetation, the chances of sapient habitation are relatively high,” Obi-Wan agrees. “So, we’ll see how it goes. If we can find civilization that isn’t hostile to us, we might get off by nightfall.”

Anakin has a feeling that’s a bit too optimistic.

(Continue on AO3)

[dreamescapeswriting]

Together ~ MYG

WORD COUNT: 3.7k

PAIRING: Yoongi x fem!Reader

GENRE: fluffy, established relationships, arguments, trust-issues, fighting with one another, betrayal, married in secret, @minyoongiownsme

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - April 2023

⤜MASTERLIST

The man of your dreams was standing across the stage from you as you did your best to pretend as though being this close to one another wasn't sending your heart into overdrive. Over the years of dating Yoongi, you'd become a master at hiding your true feelings for him in public and the same went for him. Both of you were enigmas to the outside world and no one would have known the two of you were dating unless they were close personal friends.

Of course, there had been the odd occasion when rumours were circulating but they were all quickly put the rest leaving your relationship a complete mystery to those around you. Besides close family and friends that were. The rest of Yoongi's members all knew about your relationship since you'd been around them often enough and a few of the idols in the company you worked for knew too but there was one thing only you, Yoongi and the courthouse knew and that was that you were secretly married to one another. It had been almost a month since the two of you decided to get married to one another and you had no regrets - besides not having some family by your side of course but everything else had been perfect.

Since you hadn't told anyone about getting married you hadn't had to worry about making wedding plans. There was no stressing about who was going to sit where and who wasn't going to be able to eat certain foods and all of the different catering to everyone else. It was a stress-free time and something you weren't ever going to regret ever again, Yoongi caught your eye and winked when he knew there were no cameras on him and your whole body flamed. Today the two of you were hosting a live music bank together and watching the final performance take place. After this, you had plans to go home and meet up with Yoongi before he would be staying at his own place for the next week or so. He had filming to do for a behind-the-scenes video, it was him giving a tour of his home and since he couldn't exactly tell everyone he no longer lived there he needed to act the part.

The music died and you took in a deep breath, slowly walking to your spot on the stage beside Yoongi and turning to look up at him as you spoke,

"I remember when I first started training under FYJ and being able to debut was one of the scariest but also most exciting things," You turned toward the camera when it moved closer and smiled as some of the girls came running over to you and Yoongi to do an after performance interview.

"I was so nervous they had to change my outfit about three times if I remember rightly, I was just too anxious and sweating too much." You pouted a little making Yoongi chuckle, he'd heard that story before and every time it made him smile.

"But you ended up great. How do you girls feel after your performance?" Yoongi questioned, handing his mic over to one of the girls in the group and letting them answer some fan questions as well as questions you'd been given on the cards in your hand.

"I'll meet you back at our place, I'll make sure no one is following me," Yoongi stated as you both waited near the back exit of the venue you were at. After your interview with the girl group you'd been let go and sent home, only now the two of you were alone you didn't want to say goodbye to him.

"I'll heat up the blankets and we can get an early night if you want," You looked up at your husband who smirked down at you, wrapping one arm around your waist before pressing your chest against his. 

"I have better plans than an early night," He chuckled as he felt your body heating up against his touch and you whined softly pushing him away before standing up straight and heading for the door.

As soon as the doors open you were met with flashing cameras and tons of people screaming all kinds of questions at you. It wasn't completely unusual for this to happen but the kinds of questions they were asking were.

"When did the two of you decide to get married?!" One reporter screamed while shoving a tape recorder in your line of direction, you stumbled backwards a little knocking into Yoongi who was careful not to let you fall.

"When did you start dating? Is this something to help you out in your career?" Another question shot at you as you looked up at Yoongi for some help. Panic began to bubble inside of your chest as you listened to them firing off questions at you, how had anyone even found out about this? The courthouse had signed an NDA so they were under strict rules not to tell anyone about anything that happened that day.

"Do you have plans to work together in the future?"

"Was this a shotgun wedding? Are you expecting?!" The questions continued to come out as Yoongi helped you toward his car, there was no use both of you trying to leave in separate vehicles when it was quite clear they knew the two of you were together.

"Do you live together?! Are you going to be getting a new house together?!" The questions and shutter sound drowned out the second the door to the car shut and Yoongi turned to look at you. He looked as though he was ready to fight someone for leaking private information while you were busy trying not to cry about everyone finding out about it so suddenly.

"We should go to our managers, it's the only way any of this is going to be resolved," Yoongi said to you but you continued to stare down at the glovebox in complete silence. How were you going to recover from this? You were already under fire from some publication companies, they accused you of only hanging out with certain idols for some attention and some even went as far as to say that the only reason you were making it in the idol world was because of who you were friends with.

"We'll get this sorted, we can either deny it or come out with our heads held high," While Yoongi continued to drive and plan how this was all going to work out you were too busy spiralling into how this was all going to ruin everything you'd built for yourself. There was a very high chance you were going to get fired from FYJ as well as face some tricky business with your contract. Not to mention you were going to have to face a lot of backlash regarding your fans, none of this was going to be easy and all of a sudden it felt as though the world was being swept out from right beneath your feet. 

You couldn't remember the last time you spoke, you didn't remember how you got into the office you were currently sitting in and you certainly didn't remember your manager and the owner of FYJ arriving at the HYBE building you were suddenly being held up in.

"I'm just saying if they'd have come to us before doing something completely idiotic such as this. We could have stopped this from happening," Your manager - Hannah - stated in a matter-a-fact tone, your eyes slowly moved to look at her and you could already tell she was pissed about all of this.

"Idiotic? What's so idiotic about me wanting to marry my girlfriend?" Yoongi placed his hands on the table, ever since both your manager and his own had arrived he'd been battling them alone on this and he stared at you worried. It scared him how quiet you were being and he was beginning to worry you were regretting getting involved with him in the first place.

"You could have come to us. You should have told us this was what you were going to be doing," Seojin said to Yoongi, shaking his head before rubbing the top of his nose and letting out a sigh. All of them were trying to come to terms with what was happening and trying to come up with a plan on how to get on the good side of the media.

"We could tell them it's all a lie," Hannah suggested as she flicked through her phone trying to see what fans thought of the secret marriage. In the time it had taken you and Yoongi to arrive at HYBE there had been photos of your wedding leaked to the press. Someone had taken pictures of the two of you signing your marriage certificate, as well as the ceremony itself. There was no hiding that this was all real, there was no time to try and tell them it was for a music video either.

"We could tell them it was for something they're filming," Seojin stated but you rolled your eyes, taking in a deep breath as you turned your head to look at Yoongi. He was staring at you waiting for you to say anything, to try and help him in this whole thing so you looked down at the table. Slowly you ran your tongue along your bottom lip and shook your head at everything. 

"We should tell them the truth," You stated, slowly looking up at Yoongi but quickly averting your gaze and turning to look at Hannah who was biting her lip.

"We can't say it's a music video, we can't say it's some challenge. It's better to just tell them the truth." You looked to Seojin as Yoongi took your hand in his grasp and squeezed your hand softly, slowly lifting it up to his lips and kissing it. 

"How are you going to handle the backlash? It's not as though your career can really handle it at this point," Hannah stated blankly, she wasn't going to beat around the bush when she knew this could either be the worst thing for you or the best.

"I didn't marry Yoongi to get ahead in my career and as long as we know that, that's all I care about," You shrugged a little and let out a small breath as you tried to think clearly about everything. There was going to be backlash and you needed to be prepared for it all, in the meantime all you wanted to do was hold your husband,

"We'll reschedule the home tour video. Maybe we can get fans interested in seeing your own home," Seojin said before turning to Hannah who was already calling some of the media outlets to try and get a spin on the story.

"Hey, don't go getting quiet on me now," Yoongi said as you both walked through the front door of your shared place you dropped down onto the sofa, running your hands over your face and trying to come to terms with what was happening.

"I didn't want any of this," You whispered and shook your head, you didn't want people to think less of you because you were dating someone and you definitely didn't want someone to accuse you of sleeping your way through the industry which is something you'd seen on the drive home.

"You didn't want to marry me?" Yoongi questioned jumping straight on the defence making you sigh at him, of course, that's not what you were saying.

"I'm saying I didn't want people to accuse me of sleeping with you so I could make it in this life," You scoffed, throwing your phone down onto the table pissed off by what people were saying about you. You never would have imagined something private between husband and wife would lead to this massive fallout. Some fans were okay, they were over the moon about the joining of their two favourite idols coming together but of course, there were a few that were angry about it. Upset with the fact that you were no longer single when a lot of the idol image was for the idols to be there for them to brand on fans wanting to date or to make them seem available. It was what sold in the industry and why a lot of contracts included a dating ban so that they would appeal more to fans around the world. 

"But we know it's not true, you said so. You said us knowing the truth is all you care about," He stated, walking closer to you and reaching his hand out for you only you stepped away and it was as though his heart had just been smashed into billions of pieces.

"Yn," He whispered not trusting himself not to break down if he spoke any louder.

"I just need some space...Being told I'm a slut...Or worse, it hurts Yoongi," You squeaked a little as you felt the tears beginning to roll down your cheeks, quickly swiping them away as Yoongi watched you.

"We don't go through things alone. We fight things together like a husband and wife should," He said slowly, there was no way he was going to leave you alone in this when he could see how badly it was tearing you up inside and he bit his lip.

"Maybe we rushed into it." You rushed out, trying to get him out of the house. You needed to be alone, to cry and wallow in some self-pity for a while you just needed him away from you for a little while.

"You don't mean that," He stuttered a little, looking at you with tears in his eyes. He knew you were upset but he didn't want you to say something you were going to later regret.

"What if I do?" You croaked out, staring at him through bloodshot eyes and shaking your head as you thought about everything. If the two of you had gone through the right channels and been careful with everything none of this would have happened,

"Look, you're not the only one facing a backlash with this. You think people aren't saying cruel things about me?" He didn't raise his voice, not even once he just stared at you and shook his head.

"You're not the only one going through this."

"But I'm the only one with the chance of never recovering. My career is fresh, and fans might never recover from this. You've seen what they've been saying about me. Everyone knows it's always worse for the woman," You mumbled before sighing and looking at Yoongi who just shook his head at you, turning and heading right out of the front door without another word about it. As soon as the door shut you collapsed onto the sofa, crying into your hands as you whimpered. You'd always had a harder time showing your feelings to those around you and it was easier for you to cry when you were alone. 

Days had passed since you'd last been with Yoongi and you'd mostly been laid in your place feeling sorry for yourself. Friends and family had all contacted you to congratulate you on the marriage but you'd mostly sent them straight to voicemail, choosing to ignore them rather than face the problem head-on. Except right now, Jin was standing in your living room and mumbling about you living in filth.

"If Yoongi were here, he'd hate you for this." He mumbled lifting up the dirty clothes from the floor and throwing them into the washing basket that was in the kitchen. When you'd not bothered to call Jin back he decided that enough was enough and he was going to come around and see if there was anything he could do for you.

"Yoongi isn't here so I don't have anything to worry about," You hissed out harshly, you'd been the one to push Yoongi away so you didn't know why you were so surprised about him not being here.

"No. He's not. He's out trying to fix everything while you lay around and do nothing." Jin mumbled at you, sitting you up straight on the sofa and taking away the blankets you'd been using to sleep with before he threw those into the wash.

"It's bad enough you hid it from me. ME! Your best fucking friend!" Jin yelled out dramatically doing his best to make you smile but seeing that it wasn't exactly working he sighed and shook his head at you.

"Turn the news on," He ordered before starting to take care of the rubbish that was inside the living room. You'd practically been living in the living room, only leaving when you needed to get clean clothes or to use the bathroom since you saw no use using the huge bed you shared with Yoongi when he wasn't there to share it with you.

"Why? Are they running another article about me being a bad person?" You weren't stupid, you'd seen the coverage about you only being with Yoongi for the popularity and it had been soul-destroying to you. You thought you'd have been able to handle it but it hurt knowing that's what people truly thought about you all this time.

"Just turn it on," Jin called from the bathroom before you heard him pottering around in the kitchen, you knew there was no use fighting with him since he wasn't going to drop anything until you did as you were told.

"Today we're joined by someone very special and we're spreading a warm welcome to him," You frowned at the newscaster before the camera panned to the seat beside her and Yoongi was standing there. Your mouth ran dry and suddenly your heart was in your throat and you could barely feel it beating. What was he doing on national TV?

"Thank you, I'm both happy and saddened to be here today," He explained, looking into the camera with a weakened smile and you felt your chest deflate at the sight of him doing this alone. You knew that HYBE were more than likely making him make a public statement and if you'd been stronger they would have made you join his side.

"I'm here today despite the disliking from my manager and company." Your heart was back to beating rapidly in your chest as you swallowed dryly shaking your head. There was no way he was going against company policy to do something like this,

"It's come to my attention that my marriage to my wife is under extreme scrutiny without reason. People are acting callously toward my wife and I will no longer stand back and allow it to happen," Tears began to well up in your eyes to the point where everything began to blur and you struggled to see the screen.

"Yn, I made a mistake walking away a couple of days ago and this is how I'm going to fix things. We're supposed to face our struggles together and I plan on doing that, every day for the rest of our lives." He spoke so clearly, you were already standing up and hunting around for your phone desperate to let him know you were going to be here too. 

"I'll see you soon, I love you." He said again before the camera panned back to the newsreader who was already tearing up and thanking him for coming onto the show to speak to everyone.

"Yoongi," You sobbed into his shoulder as he continued to hold onto you, his arms around your waist tightly as you cried into his neck and he sighed happily.

"I've missed you." He told you before kissing your shoulder, bringing you tighter to him as you sniffled a little, 

"I missed you too. I'm so sorry I pushed you away," You pulled away to look at him and you could see the bags under his eyes. It was clear he hadn't been sleeping properly and you hated that you'd been the one to cause all of this.

"Every step of the way, I'm here." You promised as he took your hand in his and squeezed it softly. Both of you were standing in the porchway inside of your house with a whole media circus outside waiting for you to comment on some things. You'd been avoiding it for so long that it was about time you made a full official statement and showed the world that no matter what they said none of it would matter.

"Good, because I'm getting shit from the boys for them not being invited," He told you making you giggle a little, your heart picking up as you thought about the boys rambling at him for not coming to the small wedding you had.

"Hoseok is insisting we have a small party with everyone, I'll see if I can get us out of it-"

"Don't. Let's do it. We can have our friends and family around us as we celebrate our marriage." You whispered, pressing your lips to his cheek and smiling at him as he nodded at you shyly pulling you back into his arms and relaxing a little.

"Let's go out and face this, together." You whispered before wiping your eyes and trying to make yourself seem a little more presentable before stepping out in front of all of the cameras out there.

The media had died down after a while, allowing your relationship with Yoongi to be smooth sailing once again. Though there were the occasional articles trying to claim you were only with him for fame but they were quickly removed or even shut down by your managers. Some were even sued if they were spreading anything harmful toward the two of you. The boys were also very happy that you let them throw you a small party to celebrate your marriage, though they'd made you both wear something as though it was a wedding and made you exchange your vows in front of everyone, all in all, it had been a perfect day and night.

Tagline: @millenniumspec @chiisaiblog @rjsmochii @tinyoonsblog @sw33tnight @taestannie @cherrybubblesandvodka @army24--7 @acciocriativity @mitzwinchester @heyjiminnie @halesandy @jin-from-the-block @aerastus @namjooningelsewhere @ratherbfangirling @psychosupernatural @lyoongx @periandernyx @laylasbunbunny @royallyjjk @critssq @lenfilms @btsiguess-kpop @meowmeowisdaname @imafivestarkpopstan​

[pavedinashes-if]

Jealous snippet for our ex? Them looking at mc laughing with some others. Feeling jealous of mc having someone else's attention so fully. Wanting MC's attention to themselves and wanting to be selfish for once.

POV - Your EX (Felicia / Felix) - Jealousy SNIPPET

[word count: ca. 1.4k words] Felix / Felicia = they / them MC = you Peter, the stranger / friend = he / him

A stone in their stomach, no, a flaming hot piece of sharp lava stone, yes, that is a much better description of the aching pain they feel in the pit of their guts. A sick sensation gripping the edges of their perception - their only focus on you.

Somebody's touch on your arm, by a hand not familiar to them.

If only they checked your socials, then they'd know. But they don't. For the sake of their own sanity, for the sanity of the people around them. Even if it pained them more than they'd admit. Yet, it was the only way to ... to survive? This, this was really though, no more wild thoughts, no more blank images, no head canons of you being neither happy nor sad, this was too real. And they hated it. Not because you seemed fine, well, obviously they hated that you seemed to have a life away from them, being just fine, but it was something else. It was different.

They narrow their eyes, inspecting the unfamiliar face at your side. A guy they'd never seen before. The only one that really annoys them, that makes their blood boil. The others of the group, not their focus right now. Only the guy you laugh at, smile at, with this sincere warmth in your eyes. Those eyes. Your eyes. You should be looking at them this way and only them. This is so wrong. The way your whole body seems to be drawn to the stranger. F feels sick, their hands trembling with anger.

Another heartfelt laugh. Oh please, you are only polite surely. Right?Laughing at his stupid joke, making him flustered, yeah, they saw it, how this idiot brushed his hand through his stupid hair "all shy". Pah. Who wears their hair like this these days anyways?

But then... your hand lands on the stranger's chest and F feels like the ground has been pulled from underneath their feet. Your phantom touch palpable on their own chest, as if punching the air violently from their lunges. They gasp. They feel dizzy, their head spinning. And your hand? It lingers, on the fabric of his stupid ugly sweater. Too long.

F's face turns hot. A disgusting lump in their throat. Please, don't throw up. Breathe. BREATHE. They close their eyes. They need to do something. Now. F straightens their shirt before taking the first step towards you, one of many they have to take before they reach you, at the other side of the bar.

It feels like they had to circle the earth, their legs heavy, the time passing slowly, each step almost pushing them to their edge mentally. When they finally stop in front of you, you're still talking to him, fully focussed on the conversation, not having noticed F yet.

It's now or never.

"H-Hi..." they stutter. Damn, why now. Be chill, be cool.

You're clearly shocked, your eyes wide open, your mouth agape "What are you doing here? No, wait, I don't want to know."

F is surprised to see you this hostile. What did they expect though? And yet, it still hurts. "C'mon, please? Can we... talk?"

"I don't know what there's to talk about." your arms crossed, brows narrowed. The stranger stepping closer to you, creating a safe space between him and you. F glares at them, their gaze ready to kill, and if necessary, their hands too, as they unconsciously flex their fists at the stranger's approach. Just in time you raise your hand, signaling your "friend" to relax, and he does. The stranger and MC exchange a look that makes F's blood pressure rise, a heavy throbbing in their skull. With a smile solely for you and a snarl in F's direction, he steps back and joins the rest of this pitiful group.

A moment of silence follows.

Another try "MC, I..."

"No, I don't want to talk. Listen, I am here with my friends, having a good time. I...I am an not in the head space to... to..."

They interrupt, hissing at you "I don't care about your idiot friends..."

"Excuse me? What is wrong with you?!" you return in anger.

Shit, "I..I'm sorry. I...didnt mean it"

Staring at them, almost fuming at their attitude you retort "No you're not. Don't pretend."

"Ok I'm not. I don't care about these...about them." they look in the direction of your friends, who seem to be whispering among each other, most definitely about them. They gasp. Focus. "I... only ... I..." they stumble over their own words as they meet your gaze again, too much to bear, the intensity in your eyes making them shiver.

"No, don't you dare." you warn, "you can't just come here and be rude to my friends and demand all attentions because you just feel like it, F."

"I..." the words, all gone, their head empty. Their eyes not, they burn. Shit. Goosebumps over their back, the intensity too much to handle. Control yourself. They swallow.

You huff, "No, this is bullshit. You always do .. you always did this."

A moment of silence. None of you speak. No sound to be heard. No faces to be seen except yours. It's only you two.

They take a deep breath, scared of the silence and yet more scared of what you might say next.

"I am sorry." they hush. You must have read it from their lips rather than you actually heard it - your eyes are glued to their mouth. You still look angry ...and hurt. Your eyes, they glister. Shit.

"Why do you..." you manage to say, your voice weak, resenting.

Again they interrupt you "Stop, please, I ... please, can we, can we just talk? For a moment, That's all I want. I will leave after this. I promise. Mc, just a moment. And then I'm gone and you can... enjoy the rest of your night with your... friends" , they beg.

"No, F, I don't think this is the right time for this... for us...", your voice shaking slightly, nobody would notice, but they do. They always would. They know you. They can't breathe.

Another moment of painful silence. This time though F doesn't say anything anymore. Numb. Paralyzed. Beaten.

Nothing.

Just pain.

Resignation.

They're cold.

Then, a head shake.

Hope?

"Listen. One drink. Get us one drink, and I will listen. No more." you throw into the thick air, pulling back the last threads they feared to be cut forever. Right now they would take anything from you. Any word. Any insult. The fear of never hearing your voice again? Haunting. And now this. Don't fuck it up.

"Ok, ok, yes. One drink, I'll be right back." they hurry, their heart racing, no second to waste, no breath to spare. Off to the bar.

At the bar they whistle to get the bar tenders attention, nervously tapping their black card on the counter.

"I need a Flamingo Martini and a beer." You always loved this drink, since the very first time they showed you, it had been your all-time favourite. A small smile creeping to their lip. Is there hope? Their hands shaking.

With a raised brow and a questioning expression the man behind the bar asks F to be more specific "What kind of beer?"

"Whatever, I don't care, make it quick." they toss the card at the bartender impatiently, who barely manages to catch it.

The bartender only rolls their eyes before turning around.

_ Meanwhile _

You have no idea if this was the right thing to do. You feel like shit. Like crazy, your heart is racing. Your emotions? Barely controllable right now. You hate this, the influence F can take on you.

When Peter appears next to you he looks worried. "Everything alright?"

You only nod, not very convincing though, neither to him nor for yourself.

"If you want me to get rid of them, just let me know, ok? We're here for you." Peter tries to reassure you.

And you break. A tear rolling down your cheek. Why? Why of all places does F have to appear here? This is too much.

Peter takes a step closer, slowly raising his hand to your cheek, gently wiping away the tear, a soft smile on his lips, yet eyes full of worry.

You try to return a smile, but fail miserably. You know what's next to come will be hard but you want to get through with it. You need to.

Peter seems to sense this. He nods. "We're just over there when you need something." This time your tiny smile is real. You're grateful for him, for them. To have such good friends. You watch him leave and then turn around to see where F is.

But F is nowhere to be seen.

Your eyes search for them, yet there is no sign of them.

Then your eyes fall to the bar. Two drinks. A beer... and your favourite cocktail. The pink flamingo still moving inside the glass. It's almost hypnotizing, the way it spins in the crystal. Just before it falls out of the glass. To the counter. You swallow, holding your breath. Then it drops to the ground. The pink glass figure bursting the moment it hits the floor.

[nycbaby21]

Nico Hischier Imagine

prompt: meeting Nico at a bar and the next night meeting him again after a Devil's game

word count: 4,091

“I just want to thank you guys for coming on this trip and being a part of my special day,” Marlee says passing out a shot for each of us. She is the first of our little group to get married and we couldn’t be more happy for her. She and Colby met not too long into freshmen year and have been together since. We all cheered to the beautiful bride and threw back the shots. “Okay now let’s dance,” Hannah, the maid of honor, said pulling the four of us out onto the dance floor.

After an hour of dancing and a few drinks, we left that bar and headed to the next one. Marlee wanted to do this bar crawl in New Jersey for her bachelorette party. Colby was from Jersey and she wanted to see all the places he used to love to go with his friends. I don’t know how many guys made a list of bars to go to for their fiance, but Marlee and Colby were different. They really were like two best friends with more benefits. I look at them and hope that I can get that in the future.

As the five of us walk into the next bar, my attention is drawn to the table in the corner of the bar. It was filled with several very attractive guys, like ridiculously attractive guys. We find a table not too far away from them and get settled in. “Okay, time is set for one hour. We have this one and one more and we are done,” Aria says showing the timer on her phone. She is very time-oriented and literally dragged Isla out of the first bar, even though she was talking to some guy. 

After coming back from the bar, we all sat and drank our drinks enjoying the time we had together. This wasn’t only like a send-off for Marlee, it was for a lot of us. Marls was moving to Jersey with Colby this fall after the wedding, Isla got a job offer in Vancouver, Aria just got a huge promotion and was moving to her company’s London office, and Hannah and I were staying in our hometown. She was starting to really take off the online boutique she started during the pandemic for fun. I was an author so I could technically work whenever I chose to, but for the time being I was staying where I was. 

“Okay c’mon guys no sad faces. We are all gonna keep in touch and we will get together when we can,” I say smiling at the group. “Y/n is right. We are gonna drink, dance, laugh, and flirt with tons of guys, well not you Marls,” Hannah laughs winking at her. We all laugh and head out to go dance. I wipe sweat off of my forehead and lean over to Aria,” I gonna go get another drink.” She gives me a thumbs up and I weave my way through the crowd to find a spot at the very crowded bar. Of all of the places Colby recommended, this was the busiest bar we had been to tonight.

I eventually find a small opening next to a tall guy with darker hair. I slid in behind him, his back was to me as he talked to a shorter guy. I couldn’t hear the conversation because of the group of drunk girls on the other side of me. I give my drink order to the bartender and she turns around to make it while taking more orders. “Oh, I love your top. It’s so cute. Where did you get it,” the blonde from the girls next to me says. I smile at her,” Thank you so much. It’s actually my friend’s clothing line. She owns an online boutique,” I lean closer towards her and tell her. She hands me her phone and I search it up for her. She may not remember why she had it pulled up in the morning, but hopefully sober her likes the clothes just as much as drunk her.

I feel someone bump into my side and I turn around to see the guys from earlier. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to bump into you.” I don’t know what caught me off guard more, his face or his accent. “It’s okay really. It was barely a push,” I smile back and go to continue the conversation when my drink slides in front of me. I reach for my wallet when his hand gently rests on my upper arm. “Let me. It’s the least I can do bothering you tonight,” he says telling her to add it to his tab. I look up and finally see his gorgeous brown eyes and small dimples on his face when he smiles. “Thank you, but really you are no bother I promise,” I assure him trying to fight off the little butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

“I’m Jack and this is Nico, the other guy says leaning over his friend to shake my hand. “Y/n. It’s nice to meet you, Nico and Jack,” my brain tries to come up with anything to say to keep them in a conversation with me. “Well Neeks, I am gonna go give the guys their drinks. You take your time,” Jack says to his older friend and gives me a wink as he turns around to head to the table I was staring at when we first walked in. “Sorry about him. I think he has taken one too many hits to the head,” Nico says leaning down so I can hear him better. Blush quickly creeps its way onto my cheeks. I raise my arm and pinch my other one, wondering if this was some dream because this man looked amazing, sounded amazing, and even smelled amazing.

“He has been hit in the head,” I ask trying to regain my composure. I give him a very confused face wondering what the hell he was talking about. He lets out a small laugh, dimples on display again. “Yeah more than a couple of times now. We play hockey together. I could see the confusion on your face when I said that,” he answers standing closer to me as the bar crowds again. “Wanna go find somewhere to sit,” I say standing on my tiptoes to be a closer height to his. He gives me a quick nod, puts his hand on the small of my back, and leads us to an empty table a couple down from his friends. From where are sitting I can see my friends dancing like idiots. I let out a laugh and he follows my eyes to the group

“Your friends look like they are having a good time,” he smiles taking a sip of his drink. “How do you know they were my friends,” I ask raising an eyebrow at him. He laughs and leans forward placing his elbows on the table. “Because you walked in with them and you were out there dancing with them too, he gives me a small smirk. My eyes get bigger and I choke on my drink a little. “I saw you when you walked in with them,” he smiles with a small blush starting to settle on his face. My smile gets a lot bigger and I look around trying to not meet his eyes. I felt like a middle school girl giggling and blushing over her crush.

“So you said you play hockey,” I ask trying to shift the conversation. He laughed knowing what I was doing, but he chose not to mention it. “Yeah my buddies over at the table where I was, we all play together,” he shrugs leaning back into his chair. “So are you any good,” I ask with a small smile while stirring my drink with the tiny yellow umbrella. “I don’t know. I guess I am pretty decent. If I wasn’t they might have kicked me off the team by now,” his words and smile make me feel like I am missing something, but his eyes distract me from asking what it was.

“Well I don’t know anything about hockey, so you already have one up on me,” I joke. “You’ve never played before,” he asks raising one of his thick eyebrows at me. “I have never even watched a game before let alone played. I tried skating once but that didn’t end too well,” I laugh at the memory of young me absolutely wiping out on the ice and refusing to try again. “Wait, so you have never seen a game before,” he looks at me like I have three heads or something.”Nope. My family is more of a basketball family,” I laugh at his face. “I bet you would like hockey. If you tried,” he says leaning back on the table and resting his face against his hand which was propped up on the table by his elbow. “I would watch a game way before I tried to play.” It was like my words lit a fire in him.

“Ya know,” he started,” I have been told I am an excellent teacher. I’m sure I can even help you.” I open my mouth in fake shock,” what does that mean? You could even help me.” He throws his head back laughing this time and it is a sight I miss I could engrave in my mind. “I mean exactly what you think I mean,” he says still laughing at me. I roll my eyes smiling and throw my tiny umbrella at him. I go to open my mouth to ask him more about himself when Isla rushes up to our table. “Y/n! I have been texting you for the past five minutes. We are already three behind schedule and that vein in Aria’s forehead is starting to pop out,” she rambles on and grabs my arm pulling me up.

“Okay just let me say bye and I will meet you at the door,” I say looking back to Nico who is smiling about the whole thing. “Oh no, ma’am. My conversation with my bar beauty was cut short so yours is going to be too,” she says leaning around me to look at Nico. “Sorry. Her full name is Y/n Y/ln. She is from y/town’s name, look her up.” I turn around and mouth a quick sorry as my arm is almost being pulled out of its socket. We finally meet up with the rest of the group and that’s when she lets go of my arm.

“First off ouch! And second off why,” I whine rubbing my arm. “Y/n I gave you an hour. What you did in that time is all on you,” Aria says crossing the street as we head to the next place. “And Isla’s conversation got cut short too,” Marls says slipping my arm through mine as we walk side by side. “I wouldn’t really call that a conversation. Two minutes in he had his tongue down her throat,” Hannah laughed turning around just in time for Isla to slip her the finger. “He could have been the love of my life,” she argues. “And what was his name,” Aria asks holding open the door to the last bar of the night. When Isla can’t give us a name we all burst out laughing. We finish the night out with more laughing and dancing, but I can’t help but still think about Nico. I tried to look him up but I didn’t have much to go on.

The next day after some serious rest and hangover recovery, we all get a text from Colby. “Okay Marls I love Colby I really do, but what the hell,” Isla says falling back onto the bed. “I have no idea. I got the same message you did.” Hey girls! Hope you had fun last night. Dress warm and meet us at this address. Also thank you for loving my girl just as much as I do -Colby. “I don’t like not knowing where I am going and having to get dressed appropriately. So I know you are freaking Aria,” Hannah sighs digging through her suitcase and looking for anything remotely warm. We all turn and see her face stuffed into a pillow.

After stopping at a few stores, we all finally had something warm to wear. I don’t really think Colby realized you don't pack warm layers for a bachelorette trip. We all pile out of the Uber and look up at the huge arena in front of us. “Welcome to Prudential Arena ladies,” Colby says walking up to us and giving Marlee a small kiss on the head. “What are we doing here? And why are so many people wearing red,” Isla asks looking around at the sea of red. “Last stop on the getting to know Colby tour, a New Jersey Devils game,” his smile is huge and it almost makes up for having to go buy new clothes to wear to this. 

Colby leads us into the arena and to our seats. “Baby how much did this cost,” Marlee asks as we take our seats right next to the glass. A small shiver tickles down my spine, Who knew it would be this cold at a hockey game? “My family has season tickets,” he shrugs sitting down and throwing an arm around her. “Y/n. Switch seats with me,” Hannah hits my arm getting my attention. “What? Why,” I ask looking away from the ice and into her green eyes. “I don’t wanna sit next to them being a lovey and shit,” she grumbles cutting her eyes towards the engaged couple. I lean forward and see the two cuddled up and Colby pointing out different players to Marlee. I roll my eyes and switch seats with her. 

“Hey is it just me or are those guys staring at us,” Isla asks the group pointing over to the bench where the Devils players were sitting. When she points they all look away acting like nothing happened. “Dibs on hot hockey guys,” Hannah screams which gets us some pretty funny stares. “Why do you get a hot hockey first,” Isla asks her eyes shifting around the ice trying to find someone with their helmet off. “You and Y/n already had your fun. It’s mine and Aria’s turn now,” Hannah responds leaning over Isla to give Aria a fist bump. “Can you believe this Y/n,” Isla asks with a small pout on her face. “I’m sorry what about the love of your life from last night,” I ask which results in her throwing a Twizzler at me. I laugh pick it up off my chest and take a bite of it.

“Of course, Y/n isn’t going to be any help. She spent all of last night trying to find her bar beauty and if I’m gonna be honest she is probably still looking now,” Aria says signaling Hannah to grab my phone. She swipes it out of my hand before I know what is happening. “Okay really funny. Give it back,” I say leaning over her to grab it. “Are you gonna stop looking for Nick,” she asks almost sitting in Isla’s lap leaning away from me. “It’s Nico and yes if you give it back I will quit,” I say. “Scout’s honor,” Hannah asks raising an eyebrow at me. I nod and she hands it back to me. “ How are you still so hung up on that guy? You talked for forty-five minutes at best in a dark crowded bar. It’s not anything to write home about,” Isla asks shoveling popcorn in her mouth.

“Real attractive Isla. And so what if it was only forty-five minutes? I had more fun in those forty-five minutes with him than I have with any other guys in weeks,” I sigh looking out onto the ice. The girls all laugh and joke about it so much while I try and zone them out. “You know my nana always said things that are meant to always find a way. Or something like that,” Hannah said smiling at me. “Is this the nana who bakes cookies or the nana who makes moonshine,” I laugh leaning my head on her shoulder. “Moonshine. But you know drunk words are sober thoughts.” We both laugh and the lights start to dim as the game starts.

It was the final period of the game and the Devils were up by three. I don’t know which hurt more, my ears from all of the screaming or my arm from Hannah hitting it every time something happened. I try keeping up with the puck but I end up losing it every time I find it again. Two players skate our way and one pushes the other into the glass right in front of us. This starts a small fight and the crowd all around us goes wild. The Devil's player who was against the glass looks at us and then turns to skate away. He quickly turns back around and points at us. I can’t make out what he looks like all I knew was his last name was Hughes. He tapped the glass and skated back to the bench. 

“Those guys are looking over here again,” Hannah says fluffing up her hair. I roll my eyes and pull out my phone looking up the roster for his team. I scroll down until I see the name J. Hughes number 86. Clicking on his name I am taken to a page full of his highlights and basic information. “No fucking way,” I say looking at his picture closer. “What,” Marlee leans over to look at my phone. “That guy I talked to last night was with number 86. He said they played hockey together, but I just assumed he meant for fun,” I say going back and clicking random names trying to see if I could find Nico. “Colby is there a player on the team named Nico,” Marlee asks her fiance who is very focused on the game and not us. 

I reach over and pinch his arm getting a reaction out of him. “Ow. What was that for,” he asks rubbing his arm. “That didn’t hurt. Marlee can kiss it better later. Is there a player named Nico on the Devils,” I ask because my phone wouldn’t load the roster anymore. “Yeah, Nico Hischier. He’s number 13, the captain,” he says finally looking at me. “You’re actually kidding me. That guy from last night is a hot hockey guy, No fair,” Hannah pouts. “Do you know where he is from? Like would he have an accent,” I ask ignoring my friend. I didn’t want to get my hopes up in finding him too soon. “Uhm Switzerland if I’m not mistaken. Now are one of you gonna tell me why you need to know all of this? Because I have a suspicion that it has nothing to do with the game,” Colby turns his body towards us. “We are like ninety-eight percent sure that he is the guy Y/n was talking to last night before we left the bar,” Marlee explained.

“Left isn’t the word I would use. I was drug out of the bar against my will,” I say settling back into my seat and scanning the ice for number 13. “Okay so let me get this straight. You may or may not have talked and flirted with the New Jersey Devil’s captain last night at a bar. And these yahoos made you leave,” his voice got really loud, and it just so happens the crowd got quiet as he said it. I sink down into my seat and my face matches all of the jerseys in the arena. A group of girls behind us laugh. They also were sure Jack was pointing at them.

Before we could answer his question the buzzer goes off and everyone jumps to their feet. Looking up at the scoreboard we see that the Devils won. Everyone was rushing out of their seats and trying to get outside. “Why is everyone leaving so fast,” Aria asks grabbing my hand so she doesn’t get lost in the crowd. “Oh the players shower after the game and sometimes you can see them drive out of the arena,” Colby says trying to herd all of us into one area waiting for everything to calm down. I never could find 13 again. It was a crazy idea anyway, why would a professional NHL player flirt with me in a bar?

Rapid knocking behind us scares all of us. We all quickly turn around and see Jack at the glass saying something. It was still so loud in there it was hard to hear the person right next to you. He shakes his head and holds up one finger skating away. “What the hell was that,” Isla asks. We waited until a security guard started to usher us out. “No, we can’t leave. Jack Hughes wants to talk to our friend,” Aria tries to persuade the man like three times her height. “Yeah, and I’m the queen of England. Move it along,” his deep voice sent chills down my spine. I glanced back to the ice and still saw no sign of him. We all turned to head up the stairs and once again tapping on the glass stopped us. Jack held up a puck in his hand and made the motion of throwing it. I went to the glass and nodded my head. The black piece of rubber landed in my hands. I looked at it and then at him.

He motioned for me to turn it over. When I did I saw a phone number. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion wondering why he was giving me his number. He shook his head and mouthed Nico. Blush quickly spread to my face. It was a combination of knowing that I finally found him and the idea that a professional athlete wanted to talk to me last night. He gave us a finger salute and skated back the way he came from. 

We moved making our way back up the stairs but not before Hannah said,” Excuse us, your majesty.” We all laughed at his face and slowly followed the crowd out into the parking lot. “Well what are you waiting for call him,” Colby says as we wait to exit the building. We all laugh at how invested he is now that it was a player from his favorite team that was involved. I typed in the number and listened to the ringing. “He won’t answer right now. He is probably busy,” I say not hearing the call connect. “Never too busy to talk to a pretty girl,” his thick accent flowed into my ears. I smiled and laughed. “Hi NIco,” I say ignoring all of the looks from my friends. “Hi Y/n,” I can hear a lot of background noise on his end. “Is that her? Did it work,” I hear Jack ask him. Nico shushes him and slowly the call gets quieter.

Isla put her hands on my shoulders guiding me as I talked on the phone. “So you play hockey,” I repeated the phrase gaining a loud laugh from him. "When you told me you liked to play hockey, I just thought you liked to play it for fun," I say into the phone finally making it outside. The cool air was a breath of relief. "I do like to play it for fun," he responds casually. "Obviously if you play in the nh freaking l,” I yell into the phone. “Okay I have to go and do some interviews but can I call you later,” he asks almost sounding nervous. “I would really like that. Now go do your thing, superstar,” I laugh into the phone. I hang up the phone and once I make sure it is off I let out the girliest squeal in history. “So now that you have a hot hockey boy, you can set us up with his teammates right,” Hannah laughs throwing an arm over my shoulder. “We’ll see,” I say pinching her side. I went to sleep so much better than night rather than last night. Last night I fell asleep trying to find Nico on my phone and tonight I fell asleep with Nico on the phone.