#i will squat and pee all over your city

[zmediaoutlet]

murder in the city

for @wincestwednesdays - blood

They've started dimming the bunker lights at night. More like a real place, that way, a motel or a house to squat in. The concrete floors are cold on Sam's bare feet. Still doesn't totally know his way around, but that's all right. There are plenty of long nights ahead to figure out the layout. Or maybe not that many. He's been trying not to think about it, but. Lot of long nights.

The infirmary, the gun range, the library. The kitchen, and the coffeepot, and the newspaper left on the island with a couple of obits circled in thick sharpie, and it's probably meant to be a distraction for him but it's probably a real job, too. Sam leans over to check it out but his eyes blur and he sinks to his elbows, and then puts his forehead down to his clenched fists. His mouth tastes like pennies. All the time now, practically. In his throat the urge to cough rises and he breathes very carefully through his nose because he just—doesn't want to. He doesn't want to have to.

A box of black Lipton appeared on the shelves, when he kept coughing and hasn't stopped. He heats water in the old-school steel kettle, leaning against the stovetop, his fingers shoved in to the soft part of his throat next to his windpipe. Like if he strangles himself maybe that horrible tickling urge won't creep in. He keeps his eyes closed and feels his pulse thump against his fingertips, slow and steady. Imagines a day sometime soon when that'll change. Either staggering and erratic or all-too-fast—like years ago, in those worse days, when there was no unexplained tea as a clumsy attempt at care, when the iron-taste riming his teeth was all his own fault.

If all this goes the way he expects, it'll be yet another broken promise. His ears ring. It takes a second to swim past that to realize that, no, it's the kettle, whistling. God, he's tired.

"You gonna make your tea or do I gotta do it for you, Miss Marple?"

He jerks, turns. "I—sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up."

"Unless you made me have to pee I think you're innocent, this time," Dean says, but not really smiling. He's wearing the robe he claimed, hands deep in the pockets. Squinting at Sam across the kitchen like there's something to see.

Sam turns and busies himself with the kettle. Splashing over the tea bag, pouring too fast so that it judders out of the spout, spattering the back of his hand. He hisses, and for the hissing he's punished with not being able to keep the cough down, and it stings, god—stings so bad, not that deep down-in-the-lungs coughing that feels like it's actually doing something, like the one time he got the flu and thought he'd turn inside out, but just—scratching, shredding, making his eyes water and his mouth fill with—

"Jeez, you're a safety hazard," Dean says, and he's right there, at Sam's side, taking the kettle away, a clatter of the steel somewhere, and then his hand heavy between Sam's shoulderblades. Warm, patient, while Sam hacks and shudders and tries to remember how to take breaths that feel clean. "Yeah, okay. Get it out."

There's no getting it out. Sam inhales very cautiously through his nose and doesn't say it, because that would be cruel, and it's too late or maybe early to get into that kind of fight. Especially when Dean's warm against him, and soft in that robe. His arm slides down around Sam's back, and Sam doesn't need help walking but he lets Dean take him over to the sink, and he leans down with his elbows on the porcelain rim and washes his mouth clean, spitting. With the lights low he hopes Dean can't see the color.

He sits with his back to the table and watches Dean move around the kitchen. His space, like the library's Sam's. Dean wipes up the spilled water and puts the kettle back in its place and glances at Sam, and then goes to the pantry shelf where he's got a bottle of bourbon stashed and pours a healthy glug into Sam's mug. "Seriously?" Sam says, and Dean shrugs and then pours another mug full of bourbon for himself, and brings both of them over to the table. He holds Sam's out to him handle-first and says, "It's medicine," and Sam smiles at him, too tired to do otherwise. Dean clunks his mug against Sam's, very carefully, and Sam winds the trailing string of the teabag over his knuckles and takes a sip, cautious. Hot, both temperature and alcohol, but sweet too. Might not really help but it feels good, and that's something, at least.

Dean waits for him to swallow, and then drinks his own mug down in a single shot. Grimaces into it, when it's empty. He looks as tired as Sam feels. Maybe more. Sam sits forward and sets his hand on Dean's hip, sorry in this—thin, entirely inadequate way. Knowing he'd make the same choice all the same. Dean licks his lips and sets his mug on the table by Sam's shoulder and then steps between Sam's knees, and Sam puts his forehead to Dean's sternum and holds Dean around the waist. Warm dark. His mouth tastes like bourbon now, at least.

Fingers through Sam's hair, carding it off the back of his neck. "You slept through the night once, this week?"

He takes a deep, careful breath. Raw over his raw throat. He's not supposed to lie, anymore. He promised. Dean's always asking Sam to make promises he'll be forced to break. "Once, I think," he says.

Dean sighs but doesn't call him out. Maybe he doesn't want to fight, either. Ever since they moved in here it's been—good. Better. Dean happy to have a home and Sam just—well, it doesn't matter. He leaves his forehead against Dean's chest and feels his breath rise and fall, his fingers tucked just barely inside the elastic of his boxers, holding on. Dean has a place, here, the safest place either of them has ever seen, and all this knowledge at his fingertips, and if Sam manages not to screw up these trials then it'll be—worth it. The world safer and Dean… he'll be okay, Sam thinks. In this bunker their family gave them. It's worth it, for that.

"Can't believe I got up for this sappy crap," Dean says, very quiet.

"Thought you said you had to pee," Sam says, muffled, and Dean says, "I can multitask," and then tugs on Sam's hair at the back so he's forced to tip his head and look up, and before he can say anything Dean dips down and kisses him, soft with a closed mouth, just—pressing close. When their lips part with barely a sound he holds there, his forehead against Sam's and their noses brushing and his breath coming slow against Sam's mouth. Steady rhythm, like a heartbeat. Sam's anchored his whole life to it more than once. He touches Dean's throat and then drags his fingertips down, hooking the collar of his t-shirt, feeling that empty space where he used to wear—but that doesn't matter, now. Dean's here. Nothing matters more than that.

"You're wearing my shirt," Sam says, fingers caught in the v-neck.

"Finders keepers," Dean says, and then lifts up, and tucks Sam's hair behind both of his ears, and looks at him, eyes low and tender in the dim. "Man," he says, soft, and Sam doesn't know why, but then Dean touches his chin with one thumb and says, in a more normal voice, "Finish your tea, princess, and then come back to bed, huh? Cold down there without the human space heater."

"Not exactly selling it with your icicle feet," Sam says, and Dean shrugs, smiling at him kinda one-sided, but then he leaves the kitchen, and Sam's left there, listening to him scuff along the hall until he can't. He sits with his mug in both hands, looking at nothing across the empty kitchen. Since the first red spot he's been composing a note, mentally. Trying to figure how he could say everything that's worth saying. He never ends up writing anything down. Nothing he can think of comes close.

He drinks his tea. Leaves the mug by the sink knowing it'll make Dean bitch at him in the morning. His mouth still tastes like metal. But then—when he goes to Dean's room, he gets into bed and puts his arm around Dean's waist and puts his nose to the soft buzz of hair at the top of Dean's spine, and Dean sighs and pushes back against him, and he's warm against Sam's whole body except for his toes that tuck in behind Sam's ankle, freezing, like he's done since Sam's earliest memories. His skin like ice and then warming slowly against Sam's. What more could Sam ask for.

[3terna15unshin3]

Then Because She Goes

Will you stay or wait?

★ Chapter 15 of 15, 8147 words

★ Matty Healy x Original Female Character

★ warnings: !!! mature content, minors please do not interact !!!, smut, oral (male receiving), unprotected sex, alcohol consumption

<< 14

12 August, 2022

With his hands rummaging through the plastic bag that had been sitting near his feet for the whole road trip, Matty searched for an empty bottle. He had downed one of Coke about an hour in, so he knew it should be in there—he just couldn’t seem to find it amongst the rest of the rubbish.

“You’re not weeing in my fucking car, Matty!” exclaimed Este, attempting to keep her eyes on the road but ultimately being drawn away into the man-child sitting next to her and all of his antics.

Matty continued sifting through the bag, ignoring her protests. “Please, it’s not like I’m gonna piss on your floor. And I’ve done it plenty of times before, so my aim is pretty good—Oh! Here it is,”

The Coke bottle from earlier found itself in his hands, preparing to be unscrewed. Matty had been complaining about his full bladder for the past half hour and the next place for Este to stop wasn’t for another 15 minutes. As soon as the make-shift toilet came into her view, she grabbed it and threw it over her shoulder and into the back seat. It bounced around and landed on the floor, out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind, Este hoped.

“Love! What was that for?!”

“Grow up and hold it in for a couple more minutes.” Este threatened, reaching to turn down the radio’s volume before studying their surroundings in her mirrors and making a risky lane-change. Matty smiled at her habit of needing to quiet down her surroundings in order to focus.

He scratched the back of his neck. “Dunno if I can,”

Her eyes rolled at him. “You’re going to have to.” She said sternly.

“Well, then drive faster!”

Trying to listen to his girlfriend’s orders, Matty laced his fingers together and politely sat his hands on his lap. Focus, Matty, he thought to himself. His leg bounced up and down feverishly, to distract from the pain in his abdomen.

They sat in silence for the last stretch of the road, with Este’s eyes set on the GPS that guided her, and Matty squirming in the passenger’s seat. He kept complaining; and she tuned him out playfully. At one point, he even began undoing the zipper to his trousers, pretending to use Este’s car as a toilet instead of waiting for them to arrive at the petrol station. Matty wouldn’t actually do it, and just wanted to make her laugh. It did—though she didn’t like to admit it.

When they did arrive, he barely let Este put the gear into park before he burst out of the door and ran into the Shell while she refilled the tank.

“All good now.” Matty said when he came back, smiling widely. “No bottle of piss for you today,” They high-fived in silly celebration.

“I think I didn’t want you to wee in here because I’m just jealous. Not even because I think it’s gross.” admitted Este, laughing as she spoke. “I like, anatomically, could not even pee in a bottle if I tried. We’d have to pull over and find a bush for me to squat in.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s one of the many perks of having a dick,”

“Many?” She gave him the side-eye.

His brows wiggled suggestively. “You know…”

“Shut up.”

A few more moments of navigating led Este and Matty to where they were staying for the next two nights. It was a quaint Airbnb—away from the hustle and bustle of the city, which they didn’t mind, since they’d driven up and could easily use Este’s car to get around. They pulled into its driveway and admired the summer Manchester flora that heaped around the brick walls, surprised at how charming the fairly cheap listing had paid off in person.

Matty brought in their bags while Este creeped around lightly, peeking around every corner and touching things with a gentle hand. She explored as if what she was discovering could break just by looking at it too hard. Her feet trod quietly through the kitchen, into the lounge where the sofa looked particularly comfortable, and then up to the bedroom; where he caught her.

“Is there a reason why you’re walking around like a small Victorian child who has heard a noise in the middle of the night?” He asked, mocking her playfully as he sat on the bed next to his bag.

Este laughed at his tireless description of the timidness that washed over her the minute they entered the house. “I don’t know. It’s not my house—I’m not going to just barge in and throw myself about. I want to be a good guest. You know how I am,”

“I mean, you don’t have to ‘throw yourself about’, but you also don’t have to lift the toilet seat as if there’s some sort of punishment if you let it make a noise,” said Matty.

“You saw that?” Embarrassment was laced through her voice.

“Mm-hmm,” he confirmed, chuckling, “It was very cute though.”

She cringed and sat next to him. Matty’s hand found her thigh that brushed against his as their weight made the mattress cave in a bit. “It’s weird to pay to stay in someone else’s place in a city that feels like home, you know?” Este explained, leaning her head on his shoulder.

The past three years she had spent living in London didn’t waiver her Manchester pride. Este loved being a Londoner—the city was fruitful and ever-changing. It was the hub of her passions and the home of her favourite person. But, it didn’t fret her homesickness from being present; encouraging her and Matty to travel back to their hometown quite frequently. Mostly to visit Este’s parents, or Cate and Georgia.

This time around, they drove up to the North of England to celebrate with the latter couple at their housewarming party. Este was meant to come into the city earlier to help pack up the flat and move everything to their new place, but she was swamped with a head-cold so bad that her weekly column submission was almost submitted late. And it was never late.

It took almost two and a half years to work her way up to writing full pieces for The Guardian. Este spent a long time doing odd jobs and minor assistant editing before eventually getting promoted to co-writing some fluffy pieces with a team full of other writers. But then, at the beginning of the year, she was encouraged to join their literature review group. So now—every Wednesday—Este was a published and working literary journalist. Constantly reading books, and taking whoever flipped open The Guardian through the journey that each novel took her on. It was the second reason she couldn’t bear to leave London permanently; since being close to its headquarters and to where business flourished made work the easiest. The first was Matty, of course.

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually.” he started. “How it’s silly to come here so often and have to arrange a place to stay each time. Maybe we should just get a place here already,”

His suggestion intrigued her. Este liked the idea of having a home in both cities. “Like a little flat, or something?”

“Yeah, if we can find a good one. Just for us.”

“I’m in.”

-

The shower was cramped and its water pressure was next to non-existent, but alas; both Matty and Este had washed up in preparation for the party that evening. His curls hung damp and defined, while her hair stayed spun into a towel. They got ready—taking their sweet time and dawdling around—content to be doing any mundane task while having one another to do it with.

Both of them learned to appreciate the domestic side of being together after Este moved into Matty’s cold and rigid home, ultimately warming it up with the tenderness of her belongings and maximalist aesthetic. They met in the middle, somehow, and his home—now theirs—couldn’t be more reflective of their personalities. Living together was a challenge almost as identically as being apart was. But it was worth it.

Matty showered before her, so he sat on the bed and slid his party clothing over his towel-dried skin as Este emerged from the toilet. She let her raven hair free and tumble in wet gatherings near her face; still not dressed, and looking as if she wasn’t ever planning to do so.

A pair of cream boy short style knickers hugged her hips and a matching bralette supported her upper half. Este sauntered past him and sat at the wooden vanity where she had emptied all of her beauty products onto when unpacking. Matty’s eyes tracked her movements.

He didn’t say anything, at first. Just continued to button his shirt and fold up its sleeves while she started to put on some makeup. She opened and closed every product, Matty still watching, while delicately bouncing her fingertips to her cheeks and combing mascara through her long lashes. Este could feel his eyes burning into her skin—knowing that he was studying her summer tan that stood bolder next to her pale undergarments, and appreciating the rosiness she added to her face.

“What are you wearing? For tonight?” Matty asked after sensing that she was wrapping up at the vanity.

Este looked at him through his reflection in the mirror, smiling. “I brought a dress, it’s hung up in the closet since I didn’t want it to crease. The blue one.”

She tried to explain which one she was talking about, but since she was in need of putting it on anyway, she just got up to go fetch it. Matty took her spot in the now vacant chair, to lean forward and use the vanity’s lights to figure out his hair. He considered taking a dollop of gel and combing it back for the convenience, but he knew that Este liked when it came to the front and framed his forehead. And Matty liked doing things the way she liked them. So, he left it alone.

“See?” Stepping back into view, Este held the blue garment up in front of her barely clothed body for him to judge. He nodded and looked it up and down. There was a moment of silence as she waited for Matty to voice his approval. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice.”

She dramatically dropped her free hand down to her side. “Nice? That’s all?” The other threw the hanger and dress flat onto the bed.

His hand waved her over, silently asking for her to step closer to him—and once she was in reach, Matty hooked his finger into the waistband of her underwear to pull and close the gap between them, wrapping his arm around the skin of her waist. He met her gaze, needing to tilt his head upwards since he was still sat on the vanity chair and was eye-level with her abdomen.

“I was just sort of hoping you’d look like this all night,”

As she felt the warmth of his hand graze back and forth across her spine, Este reached down to stick her own into his still damp curls. “Well, get your mind out of the gutter then.” He leaned back into her touch. “Plus, I know you couldn’t stand anyone else seeing me in this besides you.” The suggestive smirk could be heard in her voice.

Matty laughed and raised his eyebrows in agreement. “That’s a good point.”

She was about to take a seat on his lap; but her ringtone interrupted the thought. Both of their heads turned to where the sound came from, quickly realising that Este was getting a call. He laid a quick peck on her hip bone before she stepped away to answer it.

The call was switched to speakerphone after she read who was on the other end. “Lolo, hi.” greeted Este. “We haven’t even been away from her for half a day and you’re calling already? Should I be worried?”

“No, no. Nothing to worry about. We’re having fun together so far!” José explained. “I just wanted to make sure the car journey went alright.”

“Yeah, everything is good. Made it over in one piece. We’re going to leave for Cate’s in maybe an hour or so.” Este put her phone down to remove the dress from its hanger and slip it onto her body, while walking back to Matty and turning around to let him zip her up. It sat on her effortlessly and served as the perfect casual summery outfit; while still fitting for the late night out they had ahead of them.

“Tell her and G I say congrats on the house.” A bark was heard in the background. “From me and Keiko,” he finished with a chuckle.

José called from Matty and Este’s London house, staying over while they were away and looking after the puppy. Keiko (their four month old German Shepherd whose name came from the quirky Convenience Store Woman character that held precious memories for them both) erupted in more excitable barks through the phone after hearing her name.

“I will. She’s doing okay, yeah?” asked Este.

“Of course. But I’m sure she misses you guys. Right, Keiko? Where’d mummy and daddy go?” he started, egging the clueless pup on, and making the two on the phone to cringe at his choice of nicknames. “I’m also a bit worried that I’ve been giving her too many treats.”

Este’s eyes widened. “How many have you given her?!”

She put on a pair of black boots, while Matty held up his two shoe options. Her finger pointed to the black Converse out of instinct—always loving the classic shoe on her boyfriend as opposed to something dressier. He agreed and began undoing their laces.

“She’s just being a good puppy and I want her to know that,” her granddad responded defensively. “Your Lola would have been way worse than me. She’d give in and let Keiko walk her down the street instead of the other way round. So you should be thankful it’s just me,”

The conversation made Matty laugh; both of nervousness, for the well-being of his dog at home, and also of pure adoration for José. What a legend.

“Can I have the phone, love?” he asked, before Este handed it to him and watched him bring it close to his mouth. “Hey. It’s Matty. I like spoiling her too, Lolo. Don’t worry. I get it.” Matty said in a hushed voice.

Her jaw dropped open and the two men rejoiced, both basking in their soft spots for Keiko. “Don’t enable him.” scolded Este. She tried to be angry, but she loved them too bad to care all that much.

-

They took an Uber to the party after considering that they’d probably have too many drinks to be able to sober up and drive back. And as the city zoomed past them, they watched it through the backseat windows—both fantasising about their hypothetical second house in their second home. What it would look like, where in Manchester it would sit. Each of them pointed at different buildings periodically, pitching their favourites to the other. “Those ones seem too modern from the outside,” or ”This area’s rubbish,” or “Are you serious? Would you live there?” were a few short phrases exchanged between them.

The happy couple in their new house greeted Matty and Este with excited hugs. In the corner, on a sofa and catching up with the other parents, sat Este’s mother and father. Cate insisted on inviting them to give her own parents some company; the pair growing close after her and Este’s long friendship. It was a bit embarrassing for Este to learn that her parents had beaten her there, but she was also happy to see them and be able to give them a squeeze.

“There you guys are! We’ve been waiting for you!” said Este’s dad, giving Matty a firm handshake and then wrapping his arms around his daughter. A series of small hi’s and hello’s were thrown around the room as the lively music filled the air.

Percy planted a firm kiss into Matty’s cheek and followed suit with Este’s. “How’s Keiko doing back at home?“ she wondered.

“I think she’s pretty good so far,” responded Matty, “José’s spoiling her rotten—but we were expecting that. Just miss her already, don’t we E?” He rubbed her hip with the hand that was draped around her.

Este nodded with a pout on her face, thinking about their puppy and how badly protective they were of her. “100%. Should’ve brought her here and let her christen the new house by weeing all over your floor!” she joked.

“You wouldn’t dare,” sneered Cate as Georgia shoved a G&T and glass of red wine into their hands almost immediately, eager to get the night started.

-

“This is my favourite room in the whole house, E. Look. You’ll love it. I think of you every time I step inside,” the redhead declared as she led the two around for a tour. “It’s not totally finished, but you’ll get it.”

A twist of the doorknob showed them the home office. Cate and Georgia had put together every book they owned and shelved them charismatically. They surrounded the window, framed the desks, and sat in piles on the floor. Greenery of all sorts sat on top of them, and even hung from the ceiling. The rug was warm and welcoming. It was almost as if they captured all of Este’s favourite things and stuck them within the same walls. She could only imagine how lively it must look in the sunlight.

“God, guys! This is lovely,” Matty gushed. “You shouldn’t have shown it to us, though. I think Este will just be mad that I haven’t let her decorate our whole house like this.”

The look on her face confirmed his comment, as Este sheepishly stared. “Can I move in?” Everyone laughed.

Making their way back to where all of the guests remained—mingling and chatty—Georgia poured them another. Matty bopped his head excitedly at the tasteful music and the loud conversation continued. Smiles were bright. The drinks were drank. But as the hour grew late, only the guests who were up for a fun night stuck around; while the few who stopped by to see the house and congratulate the couple began to fizzle out.

So, Este’s parents started to bid their goodbyes. They were planning on making a trip down to London to meet Keiko soon enough, so parting wasn’t as difficult as usual. Some last embraces were squeezed in as they prepared to take off, but before they could, the song erupting from the speakers caught Matty’s attention and encouraged him to hold Percy’s arm back for a moment.

“I don’t know what it is that you’ve done to me,”

SWV’s velvety vocals sung their classic song, Weak, and since Matty had always bonded with Este’s mother over their love for 90’s R&B, he couldn’t let her slip out before dancing with him first. She smiled giddily and took his hand as he guided her to an open space in the kitchen. Their socks on the spick and span tile allowed them to move freely, swaying and tapping their feet to the beat. He twirled Percy around, raising her hand that lightly gripped his up above her head.

They took turns serenading the lyrics to each other, Matty’s eyebrows furrowed with passion, fingers still laced together. Laughter was shared between them whenever the other did a particularly funny dance move or embarrassingly messed up the words. The smiles never left their faces, while Alfonso and Este watched from the door, smiling likewise.

“Can’t explain why your love, it makes me weak.” sounded the final line of the tune, Matty diverting his attention back at his girl as he sang it quietly. He sent a quick wink Este’s way afterwards, making her roll her eyes initially, but inevitably forcing a wide grin out of her while her stomach fluttered. Percy watched silently as her and Matty’s brief kitchen dance party came to an end, heart warm with adoration, physically feeling the love he had for her daughter—and vice versa. With her hand now folded in Alfonso’s, the couple wrapped up with a new round of goodbyes, and Cate showed them out.

-

When a handful more of drinks were eventually downed, it was shocking to suddenly hear the conversation turn professional. Cate found herself sitting next to Matty, her current higher up (the new album called for some extra brains for art direction and graphic design—so onto the team she came), discussing the importance of typography.

“I really like the idea of keeping the really simple and sophisticated serif text, even with tour merch. It’s chic.” she rambled.

He nodded, agreeing. “It’ll fit with the aesthetic, for sure. I did want to incorporate a couple of more grungier designs though. Maybe something hand-drawn or messy. More abstract, maybe.”

“Sure, sure. That makes sense to me. Patty may have some good material for those types of designs. A good balance between both should work out well, since—”

“You know you guys aren’t on the clock, right?” Este butted in, taking a sip of her gin and tonic.

Cate snapped out of it and her cheeks grew rosy. “Sorry,” she apologised, “But honestly, the North American tour starts in less than 3 months, and what’s already done for the singles and for festival season won’t even fill half of a headline merch table… So we’ve gotta crack on with it asap.”

“Then talk about it when you’re sitting in an office and can click around on your iPad, not when you’re pissed off champagne and hosting a house party!” exclaimed Georgia. The small circle of guests erupted in chuckled at her fair point. “I bet you two couldn’t quit the work-talk for more than 45 minutes,”

Matty raised his hands in the air defensively. “Hey, my work is my life. You know that, Georgia.” he said with a grossly confident and purposefully pretentious tone.

She rolled her eyes in response. “God, you’re the worst.” But, her hard and sarcastic facade broke when the two erupted into smiles and shoved one another in the shoulder gleefully. “Speaking of work though, why didn’t you bring any of the guys along? Don’t think I’ve seen them since we came down for Este’s birthday. Shame,”

“They’re all very busy boys,” answered Este. “And were gutted that they couldn’t make it tonight.”

Matty nodded, wrapping his arm behind Este’s shoulders and letting his hand find the back of her neck. His fingers weaved through the hair that covered it to gently caress the soft skin right below her scalp.

“They usually jump at the chance to come up to the city whenever they’re given a reason, so I guess they just don’t like you lot enough…” he joked.

“You better watch yourself, Healy. G might cut you off if you keep at it.” warned Cate humourously.

The warm conversation continued, though the couple of the night left frequently to mingle with the other guests. Any time it was just Matty and Este—when they knew nobody’s eyes were on them—he snuck small kisses onto the skin behind her ear. She sat her palm dangerously high up on his thigh, making her giggle after seeing how quickly his muscles tensed in reaction. The alcohol helped escalate the heat between them; but also allowed them to cool off almost immediately whenever Cate and Georgia ducked back into their attention.

Despite their consistent touchiness that persisted even through the Uber journey back to the Airbnb, they passed out cold as soon as they squeezed into the double bed that wasn’t theirs. The fact that they never seemed to party as crazy as they expected themselves to became increasingly frequent. Este liked to make fun of his age, always teasing that he had been handling his alcohol worse and worse (and going to bed earlier and earlier) as he progressed into his thirties; though she only trailed a couple years behind. So, Matty rolled his eyes when they snuggled tightly into the white sheets—both on the extremely tired comedown of being tipsy—and Este interrupted the silence filling the room.

“Is grandfather too sleepy or can I give you a kiss goodnight?

“Not after calling me grandfather, you can’t.”

-

13 August, 2022

Este awoke early the next morning, and Matty followed not long afterwards. He was still snoring when she first looked over at him, eyes peacefully shut and mouth slightly agape.

When she scooted upwards—now sitting with her back against the headboard—to scroll away on her phone, he felt her movements and internally whined at their lessening contact. To gain the comfort he craved at the start of each day, he rolled over to her and nestled his cheek next to her arm. Este quietly chuckled at his neediness and pulled her arm away; but only to use her hand to pet the stubble growing on his jaw, moving slowly up and down then back up into his messy hair.

Stopping for a second to quickly push her own hair to one side, not liking the sensation of it crowding her neck, she heard a low hum from Matty. He was clearly enjoying her touch.

“Morning, love.” said Este.

He groaned with exhaustion as a response, throwing his arm around her lap.

“You sleep okay?”

His eyes still hadn’t opened. “Surprisingly very well.” Matty squeezed out of his dry throat, words coming through with a low rasp.

She set her phone back onto the bedside table to give him her full attention. “Me too. I think it’s the tiny bed—forced us to cram closer together, and you keep me warm. Maybe we should downsize at home,” Este suggested, half-joking.

An eye finally peeled open, and then the other, and he saw her for the first time that morning. Este’s untamed hair was his favourite, immediately studying its waves and smiling to himself.

“It was cosy,” agreed Matty, sitting up to match her position, “Don’t you like having more room, though, You know, for other things?”

There was a twinkle in his eye, and a tone in his voice that she could recognise anywhere. So, she egged him on.

“Like… What kinds of things?”

Matty suddenly felt very awake. “Just the things I dreamt about last night,” he teased.

One step ahead of him, Este swiftly swung her leg over his lap to straddle him.

“Then tell me about them.”

He had the feeling she didn’t want him to actually tell her anything, as the very moment her words slipped out, Este’s mouth was on his. Slow, and gentle. Her hands cupped either side of Matty’s jaw, while his grazed under the hem of her shirt and felt up her back. She moaned into his mouth at his tender touch—rolling her hips back and forth lazily.

Matty peeled off the oversized tee that covered her, leaving only the thin cloth of his briefs and the lace of her knickers between their bodies. Opening his eyes, he looked down to see her grinding into him while he pulled his lips away from hers. Mouth wide and jaw slack, whining. He throbbed at the sight of it.

The feeling of his eyes on her turned Este on. How they were glued to her in a daze, with pure voyeuristic pleasure, as if it was the first time they were laid on her. She wanted to please Matty. Put on a show. So that he wouldn’t dare look away.

To do just that, Este continued using his crotch to get herself off, the bulge in his pants making perfect contact with her still clothed clit. She steadied herself—hand on the headboard—and whispered his name with desire while Matty’s hands inched forward to work at her chest. Her hardened nipples rolled between his fingers, making her shiver.

Reconnecting their lips, he slipped his tongue against hers while her hand trailed down the centre of his chest. It moved painfully slowly. But soon enough, Este took her hand into his underwear, gripping him boldly. The friction between them left him hard, and leaking. Matty gasped and shuddered when she pumped him a couple of times.

“Baby—“ he said against her mouth, his words hesitating to let a groan lowly, “The sheets. Will we have time to run the laundry before we have to leave?”

“They’ll wash ‘em.” Este threw out the short response, her head hazy and preoccupied with determination.

“What happened to wanting to be a ‘good guest’?” he taunted.

She climbed down his torso to slip his only piece of clothing down his legs, and he helped by kicking them off.

“Oh I’m a good guest alright,” she defended, kissing his upper thigh and still stroking his cock, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you nice and clean,”

Matty twitched at her words, not getting the time to think before her lips sunk down on him. He held himself up by his elbows, the muscles in his stomach making it hard to stay steady.

She took him in liberally, her nose almost coming in contact with his pelvis as he hit the back of her throat. “Fuck,” he moaned, watching Este’s eyes lock with his as she looked up through her eyelashes.

Swallowing around him and beginning to bob her head up and down, she squeezed her legs together. It grew increasingly wet in her panties, as she tasted Matty’s precum and witnessed his face twist in euphoria. A moan escaped and vibrated over him when she attempted at relieving some pressure by rolling her hips down onto the bed.

Este found a lazy rhythm, teasing him cruelly, making his hips rise with eagerness. Every time he buckled upward and his length grazed her throat, she moaned, driving Matty even crazier.

His chest heaved up and down when she pulled back, swirling her tongue around his tip, and using her hand to stroke his shaft. Este could see his eyes squeeze shut, brows furrowed in pain as she took him deeper once again.

“Stop,” Matty begged, “I don’t want to come alone,”

She didn’t protest. He dragged Este back up to straddle above his cock and kiss her hungrily, her face messy with spit, lips swollen from sucking him. His hand then found her clit, rubbing with perfect speed and pressure, drawing pornographic sounds out of her mouth.

“Matty,” she praised.

“Are you this wet just from taking me in your mouth?” Matty whispered against the skin on her neck. He licked and nipped at it, surely leaving a mark. The taste of what was left of last night’s perfume transferred onto his tongue.

“Always, for you,” Her voice was breathy and desperate. She couldn’t stand another minute of being empty, clenching greedily around nothing. “Just fuck me already.”

Este’s command had him obeying immediately, guiding his tip to her entrance and allowing her to slowly sink down onto him. His mouth fell open, feeling the tightness of her cunt envelope him in pleasure.

She sat there for a second, eyes shut in concentration. Matty filled her up graciously and hit every spot just the way she needed. Raising back up, then lowering down, Este began riding his length with her knees buried in the sheets. She rested her palms onto his inked torso to stabilise herself and persist at her skilled movements.

Matty watched her chest bounce repeatedly and bit his lip at the view he had from beneath her. The pink started shining through on Este’s cheeks, face hot and flushed from the pressure building in her lower stomach. Her skin glistened and was sticky to the touch. So was his. She brought up a hand to comb the hair out of her face, leaving it there and tugging at her own locks near her scalp.

“You look so fucking good—feel so fucking good,” Matty intensely complimented, through a groan, seeing her smile briefly and open her eyes to gaze down at him.

She felt her climax building as she continued using him to fuck herself. Este brought her right hand up to her clit, indulging in as much pleasure as possible to bring her there. Her pace was sufficient, especially for Matty—who sat, fucked out and a moaning mess below her—but Este wanted more. So, she began speeding up, still fingering furiously at her bundle of nerves, pushing hard and panting.

Wanting to make her feel good and give her knees a rest, Matty wrapped his arms around her to make her hips stationary. And without warning, he fucked upwards. Repeatedly, and relentlessly.

“Shit,” Este cried, “Keep going.”

He listened, twitching inside of her as he chased his orgasm too. The sound of his hips snapping up into hers boomed loudly through the room; now full of hot breath and the smell of sex.

Este gasped as he hit a spot deep within her that sent rushes of unwavering pleasure through every inch of her body, over and over. The combination of that and her fingers on her clit sent her over the edge, chanting a string of Matty’s name sensually into his ear, along with every word of profanity her mind brushed by.

She shuddered on top of him, beginning to go limp with exhaustion, but Matty didn’t stop. There was no chance for her to come down from her orgasm when his thrusts only grew harder and deeper.

His lip remained pinned between his teeth, pain written all over his face. With Este’s face now buried in his neck, overwhelmed by the sheer bliss of her climax and how Matty’s cock incessantly pounded into her sensitive post-orgasm core, he shut his eyes to bask in the sensation.

Every stroke brought him closer, and it grew harder and harder to keep up at his pace. Matty felt her tighten around him, making his thrusts grow distraught.

“I’m gonna come, E,” he muttered, voice shaky.

But right before he could (she knew his body so well that he didn’t even have to warn her for her to know), Este pulled off of him, springing downwards to take his whole length past her lips.

The sudden warmth of her slick mouth and vibration of the hum she expelled had Matty coming up her throat. She rose to let it spill onto her tongue, letting him watch the cum string out of his tip; but quickly closed her lips around him again, sinking back down and bottoming out.

Este kept him there for a couple of seconds as his moans slowed to a stop and he caught his breath. Then, she tightly pulled her lips off of his cock—cleaning up his seed, and swallowing it as promised.

“See? No mess.” Este said, a sheepish yet exhausted look on her face.

Matty forced her back up to lay on his chest, bringing her in for one last sloppy kiss. She tasted like him.

-

They then forced themselves out of bed, for the first time yet that day, to wash up and gather their things for the eleven o’clock checkout time. The shower ran only once, to bathe them both and save time, followed by Matty stuffing his dirty clothes back into his duffle bag. He then flipped on the kettle and sunk some pieces of bread into the toaster while Este pottered around, trying to leave the house exactly how they found it.

Matty carefully spread a thin layer of butter and then another of Marmite on each slice, setting aside two for Este and nibbling on the remaining two himself. They’d initially been rushing, thinking that what they had left to sort would take a while, but their single night in the Airbnb remained a fairly simple and effortless stay. There was still over an hour before they had to be out. So, Matty pulled open the book he was reading, actively trying to do so instead of spiralling on Instagram or chatting shit on Twitter (as of lately).

He waited for Este, assuming she’d hear the kettle go off and join him at the small kitchen table, but her footsteps creaked on the floor between the bedroom and through to the toilet instead of coming nearer.

“Darling, you should eat,” called Matty, listening for her response. He knew that by this time of the morning she’d be hungry.

Este’s ears perked, grabbing one last used flannel and throwing it into the dirty laundry hamper. Her empty stomach drew her round the few corners to reach the kitchen from the bedroom, seeing Matty sat with one leg folded over the other. He sipped on his tea, flipping a page to his novel, then felt her come into view.

She smiled at the small plate and cup of tea he arranged for her. “Look at you, making me toast.”

Matty chuckled, watching her take a bite. He then uncrossed his legs, welcoming Este to reach one of hers from her own chair and drape it across his. Crunches of toast could be heard, along with the swipes of his fingers across the pages of Mayflies.

“How’re you finding it?”

“It’s a beaut, so far. Feels sort of silly reading about stupid young lads causing trouble round Manchester. Bit too familiar. It’s like reading a caricature of my own life,” he responded with a laugh.

“Gorgeous writing though, don’t you think?” posed Este, leaving her bitten crusts on her plate with no plan of eating them.

Matty picked one up and tossed it into his mouth. “Oh, 100%. I mean, this one—where is it?” He began turning back to try and find a certain quote. “Here it is; ‘For a second I floated into privacy: the faraway mood of exhilaration that comes with excess, and I loved the excess, and loved the seeming permissiveness of that night. Who would I call, I wondered, if I stepped into the phone box? And the answer—so free of regret—was no one. I had no one to call and was quite glad about it.’ ” He braced his heart with his hand while reciting the text aloud.

She stood up and picked up their now empty plates, quickly rinsing them in the sink and setting them to dry.

“Absolutely lush,” Este reacted. “There’s a line that I haven’t stopped thinking of since I read it, where it says ‘They say you know nothing at eighteen. But there are things you know at eighteen that you will never know again.’ A quote like that can feel random with a moment that isn't necessarily retrospective—and this one isn’t—but something about its placement was so effective. Blew me away,”

He agreed, and went on. “I loved reliving the naivety of feeling like you have everything and everyone you need right where you are. Pure, proud friendships. How young and freeing is that? God, almost makes me emotional.”

A grin sat on her face. “I’m so tired of you being so profound about literature. Like, this is literally my job.” she complained. “Want to write for the column this week instead of me submitting my write up?”

“Pfft,” Matty shook his head. “You’re forgetting that I didn’t even pass my English GCSE.”

Wrapping up their small breakfast and doing a couple of rounds to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything, they eventually packed their stuff back into Este’s car boot and took off. Matty drove this time, agreeing before the trip that she’d do the journey in and he’d bring them back. But, before cruising onto the A5103 home to London, they headed into the city, to the northern quarter. There was one more stop to make.

Familiar pubs and shops filled them with nostalgia as they drove past and found a spot to park. They stopped a ways away from their destination, wanting to soak up the surprisingly tropical (for England, at least) weather and walk the rest of the way. Left, right, left, right, stepped their feet on the pavement in unison.

The silence they moved in encouraged Este to think about how rare the leisurely and quiet moments between the two of them would get as the year went on. She was grateful that she at least had the time off work to come along for their comeback shows in Japan for Summer Sonic. But, after that, Matty’s busyness would snowball, and by autumn, he’d be gone for months at a time to tour the new album.

“It’s sad that we won’t be able to do this for a while. When everything starts.”

Matty looked over at her, letting go of her hand to pull her into his side, wrapping her shoulder now enveloped by his arm.

“We’ve still got another week until Japan,” he pointed out.

“That’s no time at all, in my head. Plus, you’ll be swamped with more rehearsals all the way up until the day we leave.” she pouted.

“I know, I know,” said Matty, squeezing her briefly. “It’s going to be weird, too. Since we haven’t been on the road for quite a while. Been coddled by getting to have you around all the time.”

He wasn’t making her feel any better. “I’m going to miss you.” Este told him, even though he already knew.

“Don’t start missing me yet. I’m right here.” he said with a laugh as Este snuck her arm around his waist. Left, right, left, right. “Think of it like this—what did you say that one time, ages ago? We’ll be under the same sky, or whatever. Something cheesy like that.”

She bumped his hip at the sound of Matty teasing her, making him stumble slightly out of rhythm. But their feet found unison again.

“That was what, three years ago now? More? Your memory is scary.” Este commented.

“Hey—to be fair—those first days we spent together were like the best days of my life at the time. I thought about you saying that line to me for, like, months after it happened.” he added.

“Sap.”

A Starbucks rounded the corner and an elderly couple walked out. Este studied them as they approached; the man holding out a hot cup for the woman after propping the door open for her. She took it, linked her arm within his, and then took a sip.

Este expected to see her smile or thank the man, but instead a grimace appeared on her face.

“Taste’s shite, Harold.” The old woman complained.

Matty and Este held in their laughs and pretended that they didn’t hear it. Probably was the earl grey, Este thought, replaying the time she first introduced Matty to her grandmother, and how she talked of its flavour in distaste, much like the woman in front of them.

Their feet then carried them across the road. One of the signs on the corner of the intersection read Gore, the other Piccadilly. And they stepped into Greenhouse Books.

The orange carpet screamed with familiarity. Luckily, it was the time of day where Sam was still in—though preparing to head out upon the closer’s arrival—so he greeted them both with a warm hello (a tight hug for Este and firm handshake for Matty).

It was nearing three years since she bittersweetly resigned from the job she held dear to her heart, but also over eight since she’d first been hired. So, her and her ex-boss remained in touch, always up for a chat whenever Este was in town and eager to keep up with where her writing had taken her thus far. The shop was empty; so there they stood, hands still laced together, catching up with Sam. Though reminiscing and thinking of how long she spent revolving her life around Greenhouse made her feel a bit old.

Then, Matty and Este ventured into the shelves, separately, carrying out the purpose of stopping by; to buy a couple of books.

Matty sifted through each book carefully, picking one up with a loud green cover. Its art was charming and the poetic words across it jumped out at him, so he began to look further into it. But, after reading the blurb on the back cover, it seemed familiar.

He remembered that Este had reviewed it, back in June. Matty read every piece she wrote. She’d called it ‘cocky’, and claimed that the author wasn’t interested in his own characters. So, he shoved the lime coloured novel back into the gap left by him picking it up in the first place. One of the perks of loving someone whose opinions on literature were not only trusted by him, but also by a good chunk of the country who read the paper every morning, was that it helped him know which books to shove back in the gap and which books to give a chance.

This time of year was when the shelves were the fullest. Knowing that, Este felt eager to see some different titles instead of the ones she’d gotten to know so well. But truthfully, she realised that it had been a while since she actually knew the shop at all.

Its charm and ambitious spirit never changed—but plenty of books she remembered staring at years ago had inevitably sold, now no longer there. That’s how stores tend to operate, Este thought to herself embarrassingly. A couple of bays had swapped places. And her system for keeping the stationery supplies behind the counter organised had clearly gone out the window (which she noticed every time she came to visit and peered at its mess).

As much as being there made her miss the simplicity and comfort that Greenhouse served her for so long, it also only made Este prouder to be right where she was. How something so peaceful and passion-driven could grow to such a large scale. How it led her to the love of her life.

It felt liberating to have to search to find the poetry section. She couldn’t even recall where it had been back when she was still employed there.

Coincidentally, it was stationed right beside the small shelf of literary criticism that Matty had his eyes on. Her hand trailed horizontally along his lower back when she passed by to get to the desired genre, and she planted a kiss between his shoulder blades. They silently stood—side by side—with necks tilted to the right to read what each spine entailed. They browsed for a while, eventually witnessing Sam take off and leave the shop under one of his employee’s supervision.

She was a polite, bookish girl in her mid-twenties who had Matty and Este plenty of times over the years. So, when they finally had their picks in hand and walked up to the till, she sneakily (and as per her boss’s instruction) gave them a hefty discount. Este knew she would, and didn’t have the heart to protest, so she just purposefully paid in cash and rushed out of the door while shouting a grateful goodbye—not allowing her to give back any change. Chimes were heard as it opened and then shut again, one novel in each of their hands.

Then, with no exchange of conversation, they handed their book to the other. Matty’s for Este, and Este’s for Matty. It was an unspoken rule between the two of them—buying books with the other’s interest instead of their own—the endless stacks of novels upon novels living with them in their London home showing as evidence.

And as they walked away, Matty’s free hand found Este’s, the way it always did, and their once divergent stories continued to blend into one.

The End

[the-firebird69]

We fully intend to take over these stash and cash areas too and pull his out and put us in we're so sick of you dumb **** you want us to take over the planet so you'll win that's nonsense we're gonna make sure that you lose you've often the ships OKLOL that's not yours either. Should've done the research or investigated it or looked at it or even believed it's there a little.

- We're going to launch a series of tax while all this dumb shit's going on we're going to attack all over the world and specific people and locations are going to get devastated aside from crappy cities and its own purpose it is on purpose. And we need it done and we have to do it.

- We're also extremely tired of you idiots here and your act it means nothing you're mopping around as **** telling them off and we've had it with you you're gonna pay for your stupid skits and routine there's such **** **** and you know it. And I'll tell you what you ain't gonna win squat your plan was to get rid of everyone else we're gonna get rid of you.

- This guy Trump has ruined the Morlock plans many many times this one he could not afford to lose and or make mess up and he did.

- BJA is at all 10 and he's positioning all 10 trimmies five of them are 30 to 40 percent down and they will be down at the target in moments and the Tremie is about 8 miles high and it opens and it pours slowly and it goes right through concrete and they are going to test it momentarily I hear they tested one and it goes through fast I don't know if they're going to do it right now and they're gonna open it up it has to go through about a mile no it's like 5 miles and usually the acid just goes straight through it's super acid the trendy itself is resistant but it only lasts for a few hours when they pull it up it's got holes in it usually they have to bring a new one. See they are beginning to pour on one no they have to so that's speeding the other ones up they're gonna be there in a few minutes probably 10 minutes and it's quite a sight.

- We have some other things to do here today a lot of work in this town of jerks. They're all running off into different directions and a lot of them not to come home I don't know why we do that they're out there it's dangerous they should go out there and not come back. And really they're harmful people so I'm sending assignments out. They're trying to get to new Vegas practically all of them and stake their claim and it's by force and threats all over the world and we are going to after them. These facilities are going to be massive and they're going to be up in just a few weeks and I'm here too giant buildings and we'll probably have to tear it down and we're not peeing the **** and it's not really designed the way we wanted that's what they do and we are going to severely reprimand them with an **** behavior and right now new Vegas is about four miles by three miles but the buildings inside are smaller than these except for two and they're starting the third one today they're twice as big it's takes up four city blocks it's very large and each building is about 500 million square feet and we anticipate they might blow those up too and a lot of history will be gone we know it's gonna happen we just don't have the time to pull stuff out but we're gonna try the pill for each other all the time florida's went stuff foreigners want stuff from here on purpose.

More shortly

Thor Freya

Olympus and yes queen the band meant us. we hit them they are out gone. dead. and or entombed. never to return we promise. are filthy rotten animals but dangerous as all heck true too

[lipstickboyboy]

Somewhere outside of Albuquerque, I was all fed up with the stories about your ex-girlfriend's Guess billboard in New York City, and to make matters worse, I had to pee like a racehorse, or like a girl who'd had too much to drink way too far away from home. You stopped at a friend's body shop to talk about a buddy who was stuck some place in Mexico. You were talking pulling strings and taking pulls off a brown bottle, and no one told me where the restroom was, so I walked back to where the hotrods were displayed like dogs ready for a fight, baring their grills like teeth. I was hungry, the air smelled like hot gasoline and that sweet carnation smell of oil and coolant. A girl pit bull came and circled me as I circled the cars; she sniffed my ankles like I was her kin or on some kind of rescue mission. You were still talking, not a glance in the direction of me and the bitch working our ways around the souped-up Corvettes and the power tools. The pit was glossy, well cared for, a queen of the car shop, and when she widened her hind legs and squatted to pee all over one of the car's dropped canvases, I took it as a challenge. The strong yellow stream seemed to be saying, Girl, no one's going to tell me when to take a leak, when to bow down, when not to bite. So, right then, in the dim lights of the strange garage, I lifted my skirt and pissed like the hard bitch I was.

- Ada Limón, Service

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Just a Favour

Masterlist

Warnings: no significant warnings for this chapter. If you read these warnings and choose to look below the cut, that’s you’re fault not mine and if you can’t figure out how to block content you don’t wanna see, I will block you.

To those who want this content, thanks for reading and for your suggestions. I am open to adding on more to this little drabble series.

This Chapter: back to the beginning of you and Peter's arrangement.

Your phone rings, interrupting your hopeful vigil over your balance. The number isn’t high enough to void the notice in your hand. First you fell behind on the electric, then the water, and then you were short for rent. It didn't matter that you were only fifty dollars short, they kept the payment and demanded a fee you don’t have.

You swipe away Peter’s name but he calls again. You repeat the action several times but realise, he’s probably worried. If you assure him everything’s fine, lie to him, he’ll leave you alone to wallow in self-pity.

Your phone shakes again. You answer with a gulp and a gurgled hello. Your tears dry on your cheeks as you wiggle your nose.

“Hey, I’ve been calling,” he says, “what’s going on? We’re supposed to get drinks tonight? Harry and Ned are already heading to the bar.”

“I– I’m sorry, it totally slipped my mind,” you reply, “besides, I can’t. I have some stuff to catch up on.”

“Oh, come on, it’s one night,” he pleads, “it won’t hurt.”

“Sorry, Pete, I can’t,” you insist. You’re too ashamed to face him and the others, knowing they have it all figured out and you can hardly do your own laundry. “Have fun for me.”

He’s quiet. Then he sighs into the speaker.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asks.

“What? No,” you almost laugh at the idea.

“Well, it feels like it,” you hear his pout through the phone.

“I just… work’s been hectic and I have a lot going on but I promise, I’m not avoiding you,” you say, “go, have fun.”

“Ugh, doubt that,” he mumbles, “guess I’ll see you around.”

He hangs up before you can respond to his disappointment. It’s unlike him to be less than understanding. Yet, ever since he and MJ split, he was a little more attached. It was like he needed to keep himself busy to avoid thinking of her.

You drop your phone and rub your forehead. You gotta make a call to your mother. Again. You don’t have many favours left, if any.

👄

It’s after midnight as you mope over the big fat N-O you got from your mother. She wouldn’t send you any more money to live in the city on a pipe dream. If you wanted to go home and live in her attic, you were more than welcome but there was no more charity left beside the dollar sign.

You want desperately to avoid retreating back to the small town you worked so hard to escape but it was your only option left. Even if you moved out, you couldn’t find a place with better rent, even just a single room was more than you could manage. You weren’t exactly bold enough to squat either so it was the street or the dusty old attic.

You won’t sleep either. Your negative balance makes sure of that so you turn on a Youtube playlist and sink into your ratty couch. Better start an ebay account and start selling what little you have to fund the trip home.

Your buzzer jars you and you jump. It’s probably just another person too drunk to find their keys. You get up as it’s held down and the sound grows incessant. You go to the speaker and hit the white button.

“Hey, who is it?” you ask gruffly.

“Peter,” the voice crackles, “I just called you.”

“Oh, it’s plugged in, sorry,” you reply, “what are you doing here?”

“You gonna let me up? Please? There’s a dude peeing in the corner down here.”

“Fine, just make sure to close the door before he gets in,” you shake your head and hit the other button.

You peer through the peephole until you see Peter and slide back the chain to let him in. His cheeks are flushed and you can tell he’s a little tipsy. He has a bottle in a paper bag, his jacket hanging crooked from his shoulders.

“What’s up?” you ask, “a bit out of your way.”

“Something’s wrong,” he says as he passes you and goes into your kitchen, “I could tell. I have this sense, I know when something’s off. You were lying.”

He pulls down two mugs and pours a generous helping of vodka into each. You frown as you watch him search your fridge for a mixer and settles on some tropical punch you forgot about. He hands you a mug and slides his own further down the counter as he comes closer. He shrugs out of his jacket and folds it over the splintered wooden island.

“So,” he takes his cup and drinks, “what aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing,” you lie and sip, “I’m sorry I couldn’t come out but you didn’t have to–”

“Tell me,” he insists, “we’re friends.”

“Peter,” you warn, “it’s too late for this.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it,” he rolls his eyes, “so what are we watching?”

“You came to what? Get drunk and watch ridiculous commentary videos with me?”

“Sounds fun, better than watching Ned bomb with the ladies,” he chuckles as he sits on the couch and stretches his arm across the back, another deep gulp, “come on. You’re still awake, something’s keeping you up. So, let’s chill out.”

“And how did you know I’d be awake?”

“You shared that meme ten minutes ago,” he snorts, “it was a good one.”

“Right,” you and sit down on the edge of the couch.

You nurse your drink, the overly sweet juice bitter from the overload of alcohol. You focus on the screen. He’ll drink enough to pass out and then you can let him sleep off so you can stress in peace.

You hear the clink of his cup and the flutter of paper. He bends to pick up the errant red notice and you cringe as you try to snatch it away. He holds it beyond your reach and stands to read it.

“This?” he says as he waves it, “is this what’s going on?”

“Peter,” you huff, “please, it’s not your problem.”

He wrinkles his brow and shakes his head. He stares at you then looks back at the overdue amount.

“You should stay with me,” he says suddenly, “I got the space.”

“I couldn’t do that– Peter, I don’t even have money to pay you for a room,” you argue as you stand and put aside your drink. “Please,” you reach for the bill, again he keeps it away.

“You wouldn’t…” he begins and stops himself. He considers you and lifts his chin, “I wouldn’t want money.”

“I can’t stay there for free. I’d feel terrible–”

“There are other… arrangements we can… well, I…” he stutters, “this place is lonely, isn’t it?”

“What are you saying, Pete?” you swallow.

“We get along,” folds the paper and claps it in his palm, “I…”

“You’re drunk,” you say.

“Yeah, and? I feel like this when I’m sober,” he counters, “you haven’t said no.”

“Peter, I’m not sure what you’re offering.”

“Let me be clear then,” he grabs the paper and tears it in half.

He steps closer and you wince as he touches your chin, slowly framing your jaw. He kisses you softly, shyly. He draws back to look at you. Your stomach stirs nervously as you take a breath. It’s not that you don’t like him, you just never really thought of him that way. Then your mind flits to your mother’s offer; his is definitely better.

“Are you sure?” you whisper.

“It’s all I want,” he says, “I only want you close.”

[midday0nightmares]

25 - reckless choices.

Previous chapter through the night.

m.list.

warnings: this series contains themes of yandere\mafia, blood, violence, mental health, drugs, non-con.

author note: this is pure fiction and it is not intended to romanticize any of the situations mentioned bellow.

The drive back was quiet, you were all tired after the hellish night.

The silence felt like it has authority, like it was a rule, you feared breaking it. Jaemin took the wheel, and jeno slouched in the seat next to jaemin, his hood was pulled over his head until it was covering half of his face, he leaned his head to the window. Other than jaemin’s tired sighs, not a single word was spoken. Soon you too have given up to the exhaustion and dozed off.

You regret giving jaemin his sunglasses back when the bright sun rays snuck under your eyelids waking you, when you open your eyes everything was too bright outside, the sun has risen higher in the sky, the green scenery would have looked beautiful in any other day, but not today, today you feel separated, like you are in a parallel world, and everything in your world feels ugly. 

Jeno was still sleeping, you stretch you arms and yawn. you watch the road from your window, your thoughts wondered until a bright idea flashed inside your head, making your fingertips tingle with excitement. you don’t give it much thought as you were sure of its brilliance, you clear your throat and sit up, “jaemin, I need tp pee” you announce cutting his train of thoughts.

 “now? There’s no rest stops near us. Can’t you hold it?” 

You shake your head, “no I need to go, it’s fine you can stop on the side of the road”. 

he turns his head taking a quick glance at you before he slows down and stops, your plan is going great so far.

you open the door, trying to stall, hoping a car would pass by, but you hear jeno groans as he starts to wake up, oh shit.. You panic and without a second thought you step out of the car and sprint, running as fast as you can. that’s when you realized how much your brilliant idea was in actuality an idiotic one, but it’s too late now. 

Angry footsteps are chasing you, he’s closing the distance between you fast, you scream as a one last attempt before you were tackled to the ground and quickly getting picked up off of it by your hair.

 jeno’s furious breathing hitting the side of your face “where do you think you are going?” He grunts. one hand pulling your hair ripping it out its roots, and the other is warping itself around your throat cutting off your oxygen.

He drags you back to the car as your feet struggle to touch the ground, you don’t want to fight him but you were chocking in his tight hold, your hands try to peal off his fingers from around your neck but to no avail. 

“You just never learn” he slams you to the side of the car, your consciousness is tipping off.

 “maybe I should break your legs for you this time?” In between the lock of air and the hard hit you were unable to speak. he slaps you across the face couple of times before he throws you back into the backseat and slams the door shut. You break down crying, your tears sliding down your numb cheeks. 

Once jeno got in the car, he turns to you, his arms reaching to grab you, you finch away and gather yourself away. “don’t fucking test me!”, His anger getting out of control, veins bulging out of the side of his neck, his face is turning red with rage. Jaemin finally steps in to calm him down, and he successfully does so, jeno retract his arms, curses flaying out of his mouth.  

You hug your legs, wiping the tears off of your face with your sleeves. You regret it, you truly do, you know now it was the wrong decision, you blame it on the lack of sleep and everything else. Jaemin’s eyes kept switching between you and the road, he was mad, or maybe making sure you were ok? but probably mostly mad. 

You don’t want to ask, but you really need to pee this time, you held it for too long by now, you kept fidgeting in your seat until you felt like your bladder was ready to explode. “I need to pee” you timidly speak as you embrace yourself for their reaction, the way jeno turned to look at you almost made you pee yourself, he laughed in disbelief at your squirming body. 

jaemin slows the car once again, jeno opens the glove compartment and takes wet baby wipes and a bottle of water before he gets off and walks to your door, he opens it and swing his arm singling you to get out, you hop off and limb around looking for a spot with some privacy with jeno closely following you.

“here’s good” he says, your thighs do their best to hold it in waiting for him to turn around but he doesn’t, instead he pushes his hands down his pockets and stand still, waiting for you to do your business. he can’t be serious..

But the nature call is too strong, so you pull down your pants and squat relieving yourself in front of him, your bladder empties itself but humiliations fills you, he doesn’t look away not even for one scene, he’s probably enjoying it the sick bastard.. 

he hands you the wet wipes to clean yourself. when you pulled your pants back on, he opens the bottle and pours the water on your hands to wash them.

The city wasn’t far away at this point, it took less than an hour to reach the apartment building. 

The car pulls in its spot in the parking lot, you all get out limbs starching and bones cracking.  jeno walks to the elevator first, you wait for jaemin and walk next to him but he completely ignores you, “I’m sorry” you say as you try to garb his arm, but he doesn’t let you touch him. “you made your choices sera” the disappointment in his voice bites a chunk of your heart.

The evaluator doors open,

“Oh, good morning! You must be my neighbors” 

[whumperooni]

Pit Stop

Pairing: Touya Todoroki x Sister!Reader

Word count: 2.8k

Tags/Warnings: incest, watersports, forced piss swallowing, exhibitionism, blowjobs, cum swallowing, humiliation, crying/crybaby!reader, noncon/dubcon, nonconsensual video taking, mean mean mean big brother Touya

A/N: it’s gross. i’m not sorry.

“Touya-nii...Touya-nii, can we please stop somewhere? I need to- I need to go.”

You regret the words as soon as they come out of your mouth. You’ve been avoiding asking your big brother to pull in somewhere so you can use the bathroom for the past hour and a half- you know it would annoy him and you know he would mock you for not being able to hold it in until you two get to the concert venue.

You hate when he mocks you. You hate annoying him.

But you really need to go.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Didn’t I tell you to go before we left?”

The words come out irritated- sharp and mean. Touya’s always sharp and mean with you, though. You’d think you’d have developed a thicker skin by now, but that’s far from true- even just that whip of annoyance your eyes are threatening to water.

You’ve always been such a crybaby- something that Touya never fails to mock you over.

“I- I did,” you protest, trying hard not to whine and bother him more. “But I...”

You don’t have an excuse to curb his irritation. Touya huffs from the driver’s seat and he doesn’t even bother to look your way whenever you squirm in desperation. Nothing is helping at this point and you’re close to whimpering- tears popping in your eyes as your bladder throbs with need.

“We’re almost there,” Touya grumbles. “You can wait.”

No, you really can’t.

Shame stains your cheeks red and your lips wobble with upset.

You’re such a stupid little baby- you should be able to hold it. Why are you so pathetic?

You sniffle, thighs squeezing together, and there’s another huff from Touya- sharp eyes cutting over to you and his tongue clicking whenever he sees your face scrunched up in both desperation and humiliation. There’s no sympathy in expression; he doesn’t care that you’re close to peeing all over yourself and you know that he thinks that you deserve it for not being able to hold it in like a big girl.

(Maybe you do deserve it, but you really don’t want it to happen.)

You sniffle again and your voices trembles as you beg your older brother, “Pl- please, Touya-nii. I’m sorry. I really- I really need to go! Please!”

Touya rolls his eyes and you hang your head in shame.

You’re such an annoyance to your older brother- why can’t you be a good girl?

“Fine,” Touya huffs. “But only because I don’t want you to piss all over my fuckin’ seat.”

You wince at the thought and open your mouth to thank Touya, but get thrown off track whenever he pulls off the side of the road and turns the car off. Confusion makes your brow knit together, but dawning horror at understanding makes your eyes widen in shock.

“T-Touya-nii, I can’t- not here. Someone will see!”

Turquoise eyes level you with a cool stare and you whimper whenever Touya scoffs.

“And whose fault is that?” he snaps. “You’re the stupid little baby that can’t hold it.”

“But- but-”

“It’s either here or the venue,” Touya tells you with nothing but ice and scorn in the words. “Take your pick.”

He leans over to you, lips flickering with a leer, and you flinch whenever he adds on, “But just know that if you can’t make it and piss in the car, then I’m gonna leave your dumb ass at the venue and you’ll have to find your own way home.”

It’s so cruel, so mean. But you know that he’s telling the truth- Touya’s threats are always serious and you’ve been dealt enough of his punishments to know he has no qualms with leaving his little sister all alone and covered in pee in a city that’s three hours from home.

Tears blur your vision and you bite your lip to stifle a sob, fumble to undo the seat-belt with shaking fingers.

The road isn’t busy, at least- Touya had diverted to a back road to avoid traffic a while back and he’s pulled over by a rice field. There’s not a house in sight and no cars passing by right now so that’s...that makes it easier.

You gulp and leave the car- legs shaking and bladder screaming with each little movement. There’s the sound of a car door closing and you turn your head to find Touya getting out too- arms stretching over his head as he makes his way over to your side of the car and a cigarette finding its way into his mouth.

“C’mon,” he grumbles, lighting up. “Hurry it up.”

Embarrassment flushes all over you when you realize that he’s going to watch, but you know better than to protest- Touya would only punish you and you really don’t want more on top of this.

You bite your lip as you reach under your skirt to pull your panties and fishnets down- eyes averted from your big brother and the way he watches you through lowered lashes.

It’s only when your tights and panties are tugged down to your mid-thighs that you realize that you’ll have to take off your shoes and pull them off fully if you want to avoid peeing on your fishnets and underwear.

A frustrated whine almost leaves you, but you’re able to hold it back- teeth digger deeper into your bottom lip as you bend down to undo the laces of your shoes.

A noise of impatience has you looking up at Touya- fear rippling through you when you catch the irritation on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing? Just go already.”

You swallow, nervous under his stare, and wrap a shoelace tight around your finger as you stutter out an explanation of, “I- I don’t want to- I don’t want to pee on my tights.”

Your voice dips with your embarrassment and Touya rolls his eyes at your nervousness, your shame. The annoyance on his face grows so you quickly tack on a hasty, “And I don’t want it to get on your car seat!” in hope that it’ll pacify him at least a little bit.

Touya scoffs, but he seems to soften just the tiniest bit. He takes a draw of his cigarette and then tosses it to the side, grinds it under his heavy booty while running his eyes over you.

“Turn around,” he orders. “Bend over the front end and spread your legs. Reach down and pull your panties and tights forward and piss like that.”

Getting instructed by your big brother on how to pee has your cheeks flushing in embarrassment, but your body moves on instinct to follow before you can even think to question him.

You’ve learned to follow Touya’s commands without hesitation- your big brother has taught you to be obedient for him.

Still, though, it’s humiliating to bend over the front end of the car and flip your skirt up and out of the way. Still, though, it makes you want to whine when a car passes by and the passenger gives you a shocked look. Still, though, it’s nerve-wracking to spread your legs and pull your tights and panties out of the way when you know that someone else could pass by and see.

You can feel Touya’s eyes on you as you squirm to get more comfortable and you squeeze your own shut as shame floods through you and your bladder tenses painfully.

A whimper escapes from you as piss starts to dribble out of you and onto the grass. You burrow your face into the crook of your free arm and sniffle as your strained bladder starts to release more and more pee.

It would be such a relief if it weren’t for the indignity of it all.

You sniffle more and you gasp whenever a hand falls on your ass- body seizing up in surprise and halting the stream as you look back at your older brother with teary eyes. Touya just tilts his head at your shame- lips twitching with a cruel smile- and you sob when you notice the phone in his hand, how it’s pointed right at you.

“Tell me, little sister, why are you pissin’ on the side of the road like some kind of dipshit?”

Tears drip down your cheeks as pee starts to trickle out of you again and you cry pathetically whenever Touya smacks your ass in warning.

“Because- because I’m a- I’m a st- stupid baby that- that couldn’t wait,” you hiccup out, shoulders shaking.

Touya snickers and you whimper, bury your face back into your arm in shame whenever he moves behind you and squats down, points his camera at your pissing pussy.

“Look at that cunt- you’re getting it all dirty. You can’t even wipe it when you’re done. You’re going to be so fuckin’ nasty at the concert covered in your dried piss.”

Mortification burns through you at his words and that realization. You cry harder and beg for Touya to get napkins from the car. He only snorts in response and you whine pitifully whenever you feel some pee hit against your thighs.

“Pl- please, Touya-nii,” you beg through your tears. “I don’t wanna be dirty! Please!”

“Well maybe you should have fuckin’ thought of that before making me pull over,” Touya says, cruel and full of scorn. “It’s not my fault you’re an idiot.”

The mocking makes even more tears flow and you hiccup through them like an upset child- shoulders shaking and mascara starting to smear.

“I- I’m sorry, Touya-nii. I’m sorry! Please- please-”

A sudden grip to your thigh cuts off your pleading and you whimper as your stream stutters and stops, gasp whenever Touya pulls you and turns you around, shoves you back against the car. A spurt of piss trickles down your thighs and you look up at Touya through tears and confusion.

“You’re lucky I’m such a good older brother,” he sneers. “You better fuckin’ thank me after this.”

You open your mouth to say something- you don’t know what- but you choke on the words whenever Touya kneels on the grass and forces your legs to spread wide, whenever he shoves your skirt up into your trembling hands and hooks a thigh over his shoulder. You eyes widen when his tongue laves up and over the piss streaks on your thighs. It’s dirty, filthy and you squirm as Touya cleans you with his tongue, whimper whenever he bites the soft flesh of your thigh in warning. He ignores your mortified, stuttered “T- Touya-nii, please, no- it’s- it’s gross- I’m dirty- please-” and a cry rips from you whenever he latches his mouth onto your sopping pussy and runs his tongue over it, reaches a hand up to press on your bladder.

Your bladder flattens under the pressure and you sob as you pee into your big brother’s mouth.

Touya doesn’t let you pull away- he grips you hard and keeps your hips still, keeps his mouth tight against your pissing pussy. You can’t look at him- can’t look at anything through the tears blurring your vision- and you whine pathetically as you empty out your bladder, cry as you grip Touya’s hair in search of something to ground you.

When you’re done, Touya stands and keeps you caged against the car- one hand yanking your head back by the hair and the other squeezing your jaw until your mouth pops open. He forces his lips against yours and you panic, wide eyed, whenever something warm trickles into your mouth from his, choke as Touya forces your pee from his mouth into yours. He pulls back when he’s done and immediately smacks a big hand over your mouth to keep you from spitting it out, grins darkly at your wide eyes and all the mortification painted across your tear streaked face.

“Swallow it.”

You have no choice but to obey. You choke down your piss and shake in disgust from the taste, the humiliation that’s flooded through you so thoroughly. Touya only grins at you- cruel and horrible and so, so mean.

You whimper whenever you feel him hard against your leg, but you open your mouth obediently when he pulls his hand away, show him that you swallowed it all down. He lets out a satisfied noise, but there’s something expectant still on his face and you drop your head in shame as you sniffle out a, “Th- Thank you, Touya-nii.”

“Yeah?” Touya jeers. “You think that’s good enough for what I just did? I’m gonna need more than that, little sister.”

Hot tears trickle down your cheeks and you sniffle again as you nod, swipe at your eyes.

You know what he wants from you.

“I-I’m sorry, Touya-nii,” you mumble out meekly. “Please let me- let me thank you prop- properly.”

Touya grunts and backs away so you can kneel on the ground. You pretend like your knees aren’t getting wet with your piss as you reach up with shaking fingers to undo his belt and jeans, pretend like you can’t hear the honk that sounds as someone zooms past and down the road.

You pull your big brother’s dick out from his pants and then you swallow him down- lips smoothing to his pelvis and back up to head as you force yourself to look up at him with still teary eyes.

He’s got his phone out again- recording you while you suck him off- and you whine in embarrassment over it, pray that he’s not going to send it off to Tomura.

You’re still not over the humiliation of the last time he did that.

Mortification prickles at you over the memory and you try to concentrate instead on pleasing your big brother, getting him off. You bob your head faster, reach a hand to play with his balls, and feel a little bit of relief whenever he grunts and his hips buck forward ever so slightly. When he slides his boot forward, you move to straddle it and you grind against it without hesitation- whimpering at the sensation and choking when Touya grips the back of your head and fucks into your mouth roughly.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Touya snarls. “Fuckin’ take it. Stupid little slut- fuckin’ whore. Only thing you’re good for is suckin’ me off, isn’t it?”

He yanks your head back and you splutter, whine as spit drips from your lips. A smack of his cock to your cheek has you sniffling and you nod despite the way it pulls your hair, press your lips against his dick as you mumble that what he wants to hear.

“I’m just- I’m just a dumb- a dumb little baby. A stupid slut,” you mumble. “I’m only good for- I’m only good for sucking onii-chan’s dick.”

A growl leaves Touya and you flush as your cunny flutters from the noise, open your mouth wide to take Touya’s dick again. He fucks into your mouth roughly, piercings scraping the roof of your mouth and along your throat, and you whimper whenever he holds you tight against his pelvis, grinds deep into you.

He comes with a one-two-three pistoning of his hips and you choke as his cum floods your throat, swallow it down as quickly as you can. You pant whenever he cants his hips back and forces your head to look up at him, open your mouth wide to show him that you swallowed his cum down- just like you did with the piss.

Touya smirks and he smacks your cheek roughly, lets you go and pushes you back so you fall on your ass.

“Did you learn your lesson?” Touya asks- voice mocking as he stuffs himself back into his pants.

You flush and you nod- cheeks stiff with dried tears, makeup a mess, hair ruined, cunny wet from humping Touya’s boot, and mouth tasting of your big brother’s cum, your own piss.

“Y-yes, Touya-nii,” you mumble meekly. “I’m sorry.”

A snort leaves him and your lips tremble with a pout whenever he grumbles out a, “yeah, you are.” You don’t say anything, though, and just stand up on trembling legs, pull your fishnets and panties up and try to fix your outfit.

“C’mon,” Touya huffs, walking around the car without a look back at you. “If we’re late for this, I’m gonna beat your ass when we get home.”

Panic buzzes in you at the threat and you hurry into the car, buckle yourself in as quickly as you can. Touya’s phone buzzes in the console and your eyes can’t help but to dart over to it, your cheeks flush in shame when you see a text from Tomura.

what a disgusting slut

Your lips wobble and you sniffle as Touya pulls back onto the road and starts continuing toward the concert.

At least you don’t have to pee anymore.

[idjitlili]

Thor,Son of Odin

Thorin x Modern!reader

Summary:Imagine being apart of the company ;and calling Thorin,Thor the god of Thunder.

a/n i hate wattpad it deleted 6 hours of work on this ,bloody bullshit and i fell over in that time todays going amazing, I passed my gsces though.

Word count:3277

Okay ,okay ,let's do this one last time. You Y/n L/n ,some how ended up in Tolkiens universe,the hobbit.Bro you was beyond freaked out to wake up snuggling up with some dude,practially laying on top of him,his arms around you holding you. His hair dark ,long ,silky almost,his face wore but structured,his body muscular,yet some what stumpy. Your face so close to his ,as ou come to reality ,you do not know who in bloody hell this man was.

You had brought your hand up his his cheek ,poking it once ,nothing,again,slight groan but nothing really,again his time mulitple harsh pokes ,finally his ocean coloured eyes shot open. They looked into your e/c ones you screamed then he screamed. Pushing yourself of his out of his grip.

"who are you?" he had shouted ,in shock really.

"no! Who in bloody earth are you? and why were we snuggling? Kidnapper! HELP"  you had stood up ,your face turning in every direction to see where in gods earth you were,just all you could see was forest and a bunch of men,who surrounded you and the strange blue eyed man,looking at you strangely. You looked around again and you saw a man that was dressed as a wizard , he looked like cogsworth,damn he really does.

"oh I get it. I will rather die than take part in your orgies!" you had shouted again ,laughing in horror after ,you were very much terrified in this moment.

"I'm sorry ,what orgies? what gives you that idea?" the smallest one hadspoken up pushing passed the others ,you had pulled your attention to him ,noticing his cute dirty blond hair,travelling down to his huge hair feet,letting out a gasp. "w-why are you feet so large?" you had whispered in shock. "I am hobbit ,of the shir-" " a what?" damn if this couldn't get any weird.

"Enough! WHo are you?why wre you trying to seduce our king?" A balding muscular tattooed man had interrupted ,your questioning."Your king? I havent heard of a king,not at least in europe for over a hundred years! Also last thing I remember was laying in my bed ,not in the arms of a 'king'"  you groaned out this sitution had began to give you to give you a headache.

"this is Thorin ,son Thrain ,son of Thror,the rightful dwarven king of erebor."

"Now enough of the bullshit ,Thor SOn of Odin ,God of thunder, I want to go home! THere are no such thing as dwarven king ,nor dwarves,nor whatever a hobbit  is ,and there's certainly no such place as erebor on this earth! This isn't bloody princess diaries."

The group of men had just stared at you in conflusion,as you had fainted ,therefore Gandalf had concluded that you will be apart of the company. As he had realised some how ,some way you had ended up in an another universe,well all he knew as some sorta force had brought you their world for a reason. He had forced Thorin to accept that you were to be apart of the company ,even if he felt absolute hatred towards you.

When you had came to the first thing you saw was Thorin,so you had made a run at him punching him square in the nose,only to get this sidekick,that tattoo'ed punk to grab a hold of you. "Oi what the fuckk ,get off me!"  yeah they basically tied you to a try ,and then from that Gandalf had explained everything ,and in a couple of hours you had agreed to join ,you still did not trust them however.

You had put upon an pony ,sat behind Bilbo ,the hobbit. "hey just so you know I am still not joining in on your orgies, I do not want to lose my innocence to anyone apart from a nice MHM-" you had pretended to cup an ass in your hands."set of cake shape ass,god dAMN."Bilbo had turned to look at you with a face of pure disgust ,,whereas others of the company such as the kings nephews had laughed. "and what is this orgy you speak of lassie?" the oldest dwarvf had spoken up you had found out his name was Balin older brother of Thorin's side piece.

"oh- its basically when a group of people do the stuff eachother all together" now bursts of laughter had filled your ears. "I assure you miss y/n l/n,the is none of that." Gandalf had spoken sternly ,he did not want to witness that no thank you.

"Oh good then, oh mister hobbit you have such beautiful locks." you had brought you had to touch a single curcle upon his head,whilst the hobbit had blushed brightly at your compliment. "oh well thank you ,as do you have lovely h/c locks." you had smiled widely ruffling his hair,Thorin heard this and did not like it,jerk.

Anways skip to a week later Thorin is brooding with his coak off,those pants really defined his ass,you were sat on a log next to Bilbo,you had nudged him gently grabbing his attention. His eyes filled with red from the warmth of the fires flames as he looked up at you,Thorin's nephews had seen your staring at your uncle and were watching and listening intensely.

"Thor has a nice nutt ,mhmm ,just like Jensen Ackles ass." Bilbo had choked on his own tongue ,as you just glaced back the dwarven kings ass one last time before turning back to Bilbo.

"aye, Y/n ,psttt" Kili had whispered shouted gaining you and Bilbo's attention ,he had gestured for you to go to him with his fingers,you had grabbed Bilbo by his hand before standing up,dragging him with you to sit beside the brothers. "wasssuppppp" damn this isn't the 2000s ,its bloody some age,you don't remember Gandalf got a bit boring if you were totally honest. Fili and Kili smirk to themselves, before Kili speaks up,Fili isn't as talkative as Kili is."you fancy our uncle." you had instantly scoffed , Bilbo had just pretend to be studying the stars ,and avoiding your bullshit lies.

"I see how it is,you trying to get your uncle laid, well yes he has the perfect ass, but I hardly know any of you,except Bilbo I accidentally saw him naked, he has a the cutest little bu-""Y/n!" you had cackled loudly catching some of the dwarves that were still awake attention, the nephews grinned even larger than before at you. "so you admit to looking at our uncles bottom,and you've seen Bilbo nude! Well!" he had basically shouted.

Bofur had turned around raised an eyebrow at you ,whilst Thorin pretended to be brooding still. "what?! Lass,you've seen the little fellow naked????" you had sighed loudly in distress,bloody god darn dwarves. "I say it again it was an accident!I was go for a pee, and then I daw that Bilbo had just gotten of a lake and was wearing a toel,so I decided to scare him, I didn't know he was going to scream ,and drop his towel." Bilbo held his head in in his hands in complete embarrassment.

"what did you except to happen lass? "

"I thought that scream was you."

"wow thanks for coming to save me then. plus i thought Bilbo might of just -you know what I dont know"

Thorin had felt a load off of his shoulders fall away ,knowing you didn't get it on with a dude that was half of your height, he didn't like the fact you were on this quest ,but he couldn't help thinking you had some nice hair. He also felt like grinning ,but of course a scowl was always imprinting on his face,he hadn't had a woman check him out in what it seemed as forever.

That was months of ago now, in which currently you had all been captured by elves ,well the prince of the Greenwood realm,Legolas.The company had been separated from you and Thorin and Bilbo was no where to be seen ,but you knew he was sneaky ass..butt. This elven king Thranduil , had did some voodoo to his face ,spat in Thorin's face with his stinky ass breathe...who needs to talk to someone that close up,might aswell had kissed him. After he was done with the dwarven king he started eyeing you up so you did back ,his ass mainly.

"and who are you ,andwhy does a woman travel with pigs?" his voice like silver ,yet cold as ice, but he would not stare bloody still,while you rated his ass. "Y/n L/n-god damnit stand still," the King had stopped , you had turned your body to get a look at his...flat ass,before leaning back to check out Thorin's. "what ARE you doing?" bro they didn't even tie your hands ,so you had made your way behind Thorin cupping his ass,making him gasp in shock ,as you squeezed gently,before heading back to Thranduil who shook his head no,you didn't want to be executed anyways.

"that king has a better ass than you, I suggust some squats, as your personality nor looks are in favour f-""ENOUGH. Tell me who are you?" he had interrupted you rudely , Thorin now less red ,smirking,he was glad he didn't end up in boner city.  "uh mister lanky stick ,I am y/n ,like I already told you,now can I and my mister patrick swayze be brought to our cells, I don't want to have sex with a skeleton..I mean a elven king."

"TAKE THEM TO THE CELLS,stay here an rot for all I care,100 years is a mere blink for an elf." you smirked at the king,as you and Thorin were grabbed by guards ,being pulled away. "I feel bad for your son,he inherited your flat ass, the poor kid don't get any attention from his daddy." If you were still infront of Thranduil he would've slapped you.  However instead you gpt see his son look to the ground ,away from his fathers gaze ,before walking out of the throne room shortly after you and Thorin.

Soon as you are shoved in separate cells,the questions start from the caged dwarves. "what happened up there?!" Kili questioned loudly,"I may have cupped a kings ass."

"You touched Thranduil's behind?"

"no I almost did,but damn You should have seen his face when I told him Thorin's was better than his and that I fet sorry for his son gainning a flat ass from his father."

Silence was in the air ,for a few seconds before the company had figured out what you had meant wwhen you said about touching a king's behind.

"you touched Uncle's butt infront of Thranduil?"

"oh hey ,Bilbo." thus Bilbo lead you all to the barrels ,in which you sat in on by yourself ,it was the ride of your life, and no kili doesn't get shot,because Dwalin held you you up while pulled down on the lever, therefore no one was injured. All that happened really was you were completely soaking ,and you stayed that way until you arrived at Bard's house,thank jesus you didn't have to go through the toliet.

Bard's daughters had handed you a blanket which you had wrapped around your shoulders ,in hope to warm up. However you could not help but see Thorin ,who refused a blanket politely. His beautiful long locks dripping ,his clothes sticking to his skin,darn he must be freezing ,dwarves and their stubborn asses. He really must be cold ,due to the scribe of this tale, experiences with wet long hair ,it takes ages to dry and keeps you freezing.

So you had decided without really thinking ,to walk towards Thorin who just stood waiting ,whilst everyone else was settling down,removing the blanket from your shoulders ,placing it upon his. Now you just stood next to him ,unsure what to do know ,blushing slightly feeling his eyes on you,gasp when he gets closer ,drapping the blanket back onto you ,but keeping it on his ,pulling you close by wrapping his arm around you ,as to keep you warm too.You had wrapped your arm around his waisr ,you could already feel him warming up against you ,you could smell him aswell ,and feel his hair against your neck.

However you did not look up to see the company's stares at their king,if anything they were worried about his behaviour,yet they wondered if it was true,was you his his one? But Thorin saw it ,yet no one dared to speak upon it , as he was their king ,yet his nephews ,oh they wanted to tease their uncle until the end of the one ring. They had smirked at their uncle,kili raising his eyebrows at Thorin ,who sent a deathly glare to his nephews.

He had broken the silence shortly after that,"where are the weapons?" and of course after that he was like they are shit ,okay lets go rob a bank ,thus the next time you were so close to Thorin was after your second boat ride in the last 36 hours.

Kili,Fili,OIn and Bofur were all left behind ,to catch up when Kili had recovered. THerefore the rest of you were all now to hike to Erebor ,god it was so tiring you felt as if your feet were on fire. You had groan in displeasure before muttering "I swear dwarves must have some hella leg muscle ,yet  I don't, I cant walk." Bilbo had scoffed next to you 'your legs are 10 times as long ,you got it easy'

"I hear humans ,cannot walk after 10 minutes with a dwarf,do you want to take a short break?" Thorin had a smirk inlaced with his voice ,as DWalin laughed loudly as if he was drax laughing at peter ,he was cocky when he wasn't trying to set an example for his nephews."no I want to be  carried Thor." you had spoken with annoyance ,not watching where you was going ,tripping falling harshly on the sharp rocks ,most deinitely cutting your knees open,you had let another groan. "god damn it korg." you had muttered yet again. Thorin had made it over to you ,pulling you to your feet , before turning away ,and kneeling infront of you.

"come on get on,we don't have time to delay" and with that Thorin oakenshield agve you a piggyback ride. "Thor son of Odin ,a God carrying me? No one would believe this."Thorin didn't understand who the fuck that was obviously,you had explained to him what a god was ,the same as the what they call malah ,or near the same.

Anyways he carried you all the way to Erebor ,with ease as well,he was indeed strong,and that was a long journey ,you even offered to walk but nope he would not take it. And after all the dragon stuff ,it was clear to you that he was suffering from dragon sickness ,he made everyone search for the arkenstone except you and Bilbo. You'll never guess what he requested you to do... Well he was on his throne and he was like "y/n ,come here" okay in which you did. "sit on my lap" nope and you walked away ,damn we he so forward now,you missed the shy Thorin.

It got worse and worse and soon enough Thranduil's army had arrived ,aswell as laketown ready to fight to claim what was theirs. Thorin was being a little bitch ,when practially he was a billionare,stopped sitting on bilbo , he isnt Dildo Gaggins ,not a huge stick up your butt.  Frankly you had enough.

"Thor ,if you dont snap out of it , I am going to show all these elves my breasts,you wouldn't allow a young woman to do such a think would you?" okay so blackmail is the only thing you could think of ,Thorin basically ignored you. "OI YOU FLAT ASS KING!" you  had gained the kings attention ,as Thranduil looked up at you ,as did Thorin as you began to lift your shirt up,revealing your belly button then high and high. UNtil two arms gripped your middle lifting you out of view. "No,I will not allow an elven king see my ones breasts,nor an one else" he had growled ,you had lifted your hands up in surrender ,well you tried.

He just told you he was your one and you was like ''okay bro,you do you. " ,well you didn't believe it ,you just thought it was the dragon sickness,you were the only female around ..  

Then of course he tried to throw Bilbo over, which that didn;t happen he escaped ,little rat,he is cute boy though, he did what was right. In which it got worse everyone fighting and such ,Thorin had went back to this throne ,so you had followed him with a better plan than before. As you got close to Thorin ,who watched your every move.

"I've been waiting for so long Now I've finally found someone to stand by me We saw the writing on the wall And we felt this magical fantasy Now with passion in our eyes There's no way we could disguise it secretly So we take each others hand 'Cause we seem to understand the urgency

Just remember You're the one thing I can't get enough of So I'll tell you something This could be love

Because I've had the time of my life No, I never felt this way before Yes I swear it's the truth And I owe it all to you."

you had spoke for Thorin to hear as you close with each step,yeah you just quoted song lyrics ,most famously know from dirty dancing ,but yeaah. THorin had stood up to meet you ,and once you had you had cupped his cheeks ,pressing a quick kiss to his lips,before cheekly pinching his butt making him gasp.

"Thorin it isn't right, we must help them ,please." as you said his actual name he knew he had to ,his bestfriend he had abandon trying to kill, maybe a little more than friend,could be dead.  He had sent you a smile before grabbbing your hand throwing his crown off. "wait you need a shirt like you gave bilbo ,I have feeling you will need it..thor son of odin."

And lucky you did say that and say hold on dude this sounds fishy ,why azog look like a shark off that will smith fish movie,fish tale? Oh its trap kili ,fili come here. THus you saved the Durins lives.

"hey if you are thor that makes your younger brother Loki ,wait he's dead sorry, uh your sister dis ,Loki and Fili and Kili Hela because her dad is LOki-not saying your sister is a man -well she looks like it-oh um sorry ,very handsome though."

[let-it-raines]

Prompt: this was supposed to be a low key first date, but now I’ve gone and injured myself (hiking?) so will you please take me to the hospital?

on ao3 | here |

word count: ~ 4800

-/-

When Emma agreed to go on a date with David’s friend from the office, she figured it would be to a mediocre restaurant where the lighting was a little too dim and the price a little too expensive for the food that was a little too small. That’s how the past few of her dates have gone, besides the one guy who took her to McDonalds. She didn’t know what to think of that. At first, she thought it was a little weird, but she didn’t really mind since sometimes she does want to clog her arteries with their fries. Then, though, she found out that he was testing to see if she was “uptight” and she ended that. Anyone who tests a woman on a date, no matter their reasons, is an asshole.

She is tired of dealing with assholes.

A part of her thinks Killian Jones may be one.

She’s met him a few times, but it’s never been anything significant. It’s been a “hello” at a barbecue, a “how are you” as they pass at a bar, a nod from across the street when they happen to be in downtown Boston at the same time. That’s not exactly a small place, but they frequent the same bars because she goes where David goes and David goes where the rest of the financial advisors in his office go. So, they do end up around each other, and she’s observed him from afar. He nearly always has a smile on his face as he charms a woman, usually a tall brunette that looks a hell of a lot like Ruby, and she’s gathered that he’s funny enough to make them all laugh. That, or they all fake it because he’s attractive and makes good money and they want to get into his pants. If she saw him at a bar and had never heard of him before, she’d probably want the same.

But she’s not at a bar or at that classic mediocre restaurant. She’s waiting in her car in the parking lot of World’s End, a park outside the city where you can do anything from horseback riding to skiing to kayaking to hiking. She’s in a pair of black running shorts, a tank top that’s knotted at the small of her back, and her worn-out running shoes that she doesn’t actually use to run. She’s already rubbed herself down with sunscreen, has her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she’s got her largest water bottle filled with ice water. She’s totally going to have to pee halfway through this hike, and that’s going to make a great impression.

Emma doesn’t really care about impressing Killian Jones, though. She only agreed to this date because David (mostly Mary Margaret who has bugged her about it at every training session and every dinner they’ve shared) has been trying to set them up for months now. It was getting to the point where Emma was pretty sure she was going to walk into her gym or her apartment and the man was going to be sitting there. To keep that creepy as hell thing from happening, she’s here now, getting ready to sweat her ass off on her day off from training and helping other people train. She always works Saturdays, and she can’t believe she’s using a free day for this.

An SUV pulls up next to her, so she flips her mirror down to make sure her makeup or hair isn’t out of place. It’s not, and when she flips her mirror up, she sees Killian Jones just outside her car window, smirk already stretched across his lips.

“Hello there, Swan,” he greets as she steps outside. “You look lovely.”

She glances him up and down, taking in the fitted gym shorts, gray t-shirt and similarly worn sneakers. He’s got a Sox cap on, but if she had to guess, he probably spent a long time fixing up his hair before this. “Same to you.”

Silence falls between them, and Emma shuffles her feet. She’s not exactly great at small talk, always feeling like it’s stupid to have to talk about the weather when there’s nothing else to talk about, but Killian quickly nods his head toward the trail entrance. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Emma bites her tongue at her stupid-ass answer, and iron fills her mouth.

She’s starting to wish she was at a mediocre restaurant instead. At least then she’d get food.

“So, David told me you’re a personal trainer, so I know you already spend a lot of time exercising. I figured you wouldn’t mind this, though. It’ll only be around five miles. I didn’t plan on it being so bloody hot, though.”

“Well, if all else fails, we can jump into the water to cool off.”

“You make a good point, love.”

Killian guides the small talk – thank God – as they work their way up the trail. He tells her that he got into being a financial advisor because he screwed up in university by getting a degree in finance despite hating it. He’s good with numbers, though, even better with people, and most of his job is about convincing people to trust him. It was the only job he was qualified to have after graduation that wouldn’t require more overpriced schooling, and since he wanted to stay in the country, he had to take whatever was given to him. Six years later, he doesn’t love his job, but he doesn’t hate it.

“So, you came to America to go to a big, fancy, stuck-up Ivy League school, picked a major that you hate, and now you con people into letting you handle their money?”

“It’s not a con.”

Emma pinches her brows together. “Sure.”

“Well, half of your job is convincing people they need help reaching their fitness goals when they could do it on their own.”

“I’m going to go ahead and guess you have never had a personal trainer if that’s all you think we do.”

His forehead wrinkles when his brows lift, and he holds his hands out. “Do I look like I need one?”

Cocky asshole.

Emma hums, pretends to study him, before gently reaching over and patting his stomach. It’s firm, but she doesn’t have to admit that. “I would say there’s definitely some room for improvement there.”

His head tilts back with laughter, his blue eyes closing, and he shakes his head and starts jogging ahead of her. “Hope you can keep up, Swan,” he jokes, his speed getting faster and faster, and Emma quickly runs after him. She’s not a runner. She hates it more than she hates black coffee – which is a hell of a lot – so she only does it if Ruby forces her to do it or if she has to do it with a client. She’s more of a Pilates, cycling, boxing, anything-other-than-running kind of girl. Killian is obviously a runner from the way he moves with ease, his stride nearly perfect, and she knows he’s going slow on purpose to allow her time to catch up.

“You’re an asshole,” she yells out, laughing despite herself, as she gets a little closer to him. The bastard starts full-out sprinting, and she’s left catching her breath as she runs after him. Yep, running is definitely still a bitch, and the other people on the trail are staring at the two of them as Emma chases after Killian. She nearly calls him a “fucking bastard” out loud before she remembers there are children around. That would have been extra shitty on her part, especially since she already called him an asshole.

“Catch me if you can,” he teases, glancing back to look at her, bright smile on his face, and yep, he is a full-out runner. He can speak without gasping for breath, and she’s struggling.

She still hasn’t caught up.

Emma sucks in a deep breath, clutches her water bottle in her hand, and sprints as fast as she can, adrenaline pumping through her veins and her heart pounding. She’s almost there, Killian just out of her range, and it happens before she can stop it.

A rock catches underneath her shoe, twisting her ankle into an unnatural position, and she starts falling to the side before she can stop herself. Emma tries to catch herself, sticking her arm out to keep her face from hitting the ground, and while she does manage that, she knows her arm is going to be a killer tomorrow.

Not as much as her ankle.

“Shit,” she hisses out, rocking backward and reaching for her ankle, but it stings and aches and any possible bad word out there, it does. “Shit, shit, shiiiiit.”

Tears fill her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. It has to be a sprain and only a sprain, but she’s not stupid or stubborn enough to try to get up on her own. Emma gently lays her foot down, not moving her ankle if she can help it, and shakes out her right arm as she looks up to see Killian slowly coming to a stop in front of her, squatting down until they’re almost eye level.

“Are you okay?” he gasps, scanning her face as if that’s what she hurt.

“Oh, I’m just dandy,” Emma mocks. She’d really like to punch him in the face, right across those pretty teeth. This is his fault. He shouldn’t have started running. He’s not even sweeting. She hates him. “This is the best I’ve ever been.”

“I’m so sorry, love.”

“Not your fault,” she says, even though two seconds ago she was blaming him. She still kind of is, but her ankle is throbbing so much that she can’t think straight. “I’m just…I’m not a runner, and I wasn’t looking where I was going. That rock jumped out at me.”

“Accidents happen to all of us.” He scratches behind his ear and then points to a slash on his cheek. “Fell flat on my face during a run. Ten stitches.”

“What that sounds like to me is that neither of us should be running.”

Killian chuckles, lines appearing around his eyes. “Possibly. Do you think you can stand?”

“I’m thinking I can get up but – ” She attempts to flex her ankle, but she might as well be setting herself on fire “ – I don’t know if I can put weight on it.”

Killian nods, reaching down to gently run his fingers over her already swelling ankle. She hisses, and he backs away before standing and leaning down to help her up. Begrudgingly, she takes his hand, and she does manage to get up. When she attempts putting weight down on it, she knows that’s not going to work. She’s going to have to go to the freaking hospital to make sure the damn thing isn’t broken.

“So, good news,” he says, wrapping his arm around her waist while she holds onto his shoulder, “you can stand…a bit. Bad news, we’re a solid two miles away from the cars because we ran a little further than I realized.”

“Can you leave me here and then drive your car through these tiny trails?”

“I’m thinking I’ll get fined for destroying the park.”

“It may be worth it.”

Killian chuckles and starts slowly moving. Emma basically has to hop with him, but she does it, the two of them gingerly moving forward. “I can see if we can get someone who works at the park to bring us a golf cart. Would you like that?”

“No,” she lies, and maybe she’s a little more stubborn than she thought.

“You sure? I know you’re fit, but I don’t think anyone should hop on one leg for two miles when we can get help. I’m guessing you won’t let me carry you on my back.”

Emma curses under her breath and encourages him to keep moving forward. She distracts herself by asking Killian if he’s been to a Sox game yet this season. He’s gone to several with some of his friends, David included, and that starts an entire conversation about David and his weird habits. Talking about a man who is like a brother definitely takes any possible romance out of the date, but then again, so does a trip to the hospital.

It’s a good thing she didn’t have any expectations for this.

Emma makes it a mile before it hurts too much to keep going, and they stop at a bench as Killian googles a number to call to ask if they can get a golf cart up here. They can, but it’ll be at least thirty minutes, so they stay sitting down, Emma’s leg elevated in Killian’s lap as they sit in silence while people walk by enjoying their hikes.

She used to be one of them.

“So, this will probably be the last time you take a woman hiking on a first date?” she jokes, adjusting her ponytail so she has something to do with her hands.

“What? Do you not want to do this again?”

Emma’s hands still. “You want to do this again? With me?”

“Possibly.” He shrugs, but quickly stills so as not to twist her leg. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, this has been an absolutely minging date.”

“Thanks?”

“No, no,” Killian laughs, holding his hand up. “You’ve been wonderful, love. I’ve honestly enjoyed myself, but when you get a woman injured because you’re a bloody competitive arsehole, it doesn’t usually go down well. Dave is never going to let me live it down.”

“Oh, is that why it’s bad? Because David is going to take the piss out of you for it?”

“Definitely. It has nothing to do with you.”

Emma scoffs and leans back, the sun shining down on her face. It was boiling at the beginning of the date, but now she’s sweated so much the heat almost feels comfortable. She’s got to look great right now. She doesn’t even want to check to see if her mascara has run. “Good to know. Besides, you probably only agreed to go out with me to shut David up, right? You spend eight hours, five days a week with him. That’s a lot of time for him to talk.”

Brows pinch together as his eyes narrow. “What makes you think David had to convince me to do this?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you already have a roster of women lining up to date you? From what I’ve heard, there’s a line to your apartment door.”

Killian scoffs and tilts his head back, the sunshine hitting across his stubble and lightening it before it returns to a deep brown. His jaw clenches with a visible pulse, and Emma knows she’s fucked up.

She knows, she knows, she knows.

And she doesn’t know how to fix it. She knows she went into this with a shitty attitude about the date and about Killian, and even though she can be a prickly ass sometimes, she never wants to make someone else feel bad.

She was stupid to assume Killian had the same feelings about this date as she did.

Emma is not used to people actually wanting to be with her.

“I’m no stranger to women as I’m sure you aren’t to men, love, but that doesn’t mean I only asked you here to check off a mark on a list. I was the one who brought it up with David to see if you were interested, not the other way around.”

“Killian, I – ”

“It’s fine.” He waves her away, and she knows it’s not.

The seconds tick by but it feels like hours, and by the time the golf cart arrives to take them to their cars, Emma is convinced she can walk again out of the sheer determination to get away from this awkwardness. Killian talks to the man driving the cart, Graham she thinks, as he drives them off the trail. It’s the only conversation they have until they’re in the parking lot where Emma realizes she’s going to have to ride in his car with him to the hospital. She knew that, logically, but looking at her Bug and then Killian’s SUV, all she can think about is how much she wants to be alone right now.

This is the worst date she’s ever been on, and Neal used to count stealing food from convenience stores as dates.

(Okay, so maybe every date with Neal counts as the worst date she’s ever been on since he royally fucked up her life with them.)

Killian helps her into the backseat of his car so she can keep elevating her leg, and then he closes the door and gets in the front. He turns his radio on, some eighties classics playing through the speaker, and Emma pulls her phone out of her sports bra to text Ruby.

Emma Swan: Fell on my hike, on the way to the hospital to have my ankle checked out. I also insulted Killian, and I’m pretty sure he wanted to leave me on the hiking trail.

Ruby Lucas: What the hell?

Emma Swan: I’ll tell you about it when I get home.

Ruby Lucas: Do I need to meet you at the hospital? I’m going out with Mulan tonight, but since she has to be at work early, I’ll be home around midnight.

Emma Swan: I think the only thing that could make this worse is if he knows I’ve texted my roommate to come and save me.

Ruby Lucas: Well, if things getter better, just know it is possible to have sex with a messed-up ankle.

Emma snickers, and she catches Killian glancing in the review mirror. She bites her tongue and looks down, wondering when the hell this day is going to be over.

-/-

The wait in the emergency room is over an hour…if no one else comes in. That was the caveat the nurse told her, and she gets it. She’s not an emergency. She’s not having a heart attack. She’s just got a sprained (hopefully) ankle.

Looking back, they should have gone to an urgent care.

And she does mean “they” because Killian is still sitting next to her.

“So, what, are you a gentleman or something? Waiting for me like this.”

“I’m always a gentleman, love.”

Emma doesn’t believe that for a second, but she’s not going to argue with him. She’s already done a great job mucking things up, and she imagines David is going to have a field day with her.

She imagines Killian thinks she’s the worst.

“I’m sorry for being so awful,” Emma blurts out, and Killian’s shoulder brushes against hers as he turns to face her. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were some kind of man whore or whatever insulting term I implied. I just…I mean…I am obviously a great date, a great person, a great everything. I’m charming the pants off you.”

Killian scoffs and leans back, his arms going over his head before falling to his lap. She catches a glance at angry red scars on his left hand and forearm that she never noticed before. She wonders why he didn’t share the story behind those when he was talking about the scar on his face. It can’t have been from the same accident. No running accident is that bad. “This is not the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

“How is that possible?”

“Three years ago, I’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. I was gutted, and I basically had to be dragged out. I was set up with this girl, we went to dinner at Yvonne’s, and there, sitting one table over, was my ex and her husband, who I had just found out about. I didn’t want to tell my new date this, so I tried to pay attention to her. I obviously did a shit job of it because she got so frustrated with me, she poured her soup on my lap and left.”

“Was the soup still hot?”

“No,” he laughs, winking at her. “It was cold, so I’m all still functional down there if that’s what you were worried about.”

“Shut up.” Emma sinks down a little lower in her seat, trying not to laugh or blush, but she knows she fails at both. “So, even after I’ve injured myself and insulted you, I still don’t get the number one spot?”

“I’m afraid you don’t, but you can feel free to give it another go.”

Emma pushes herself back up and twists to look at him, narrowing her eyes to try to figure him out. “Like, right now or on another date? Is that still up for grabs? Because no offense, but if you’re still willing to go on another date with me, I think you might have also fallen and hit your head.”

Killian shrugs. “Or I’m just as much as a wanker as you are and am willing to give you another chance.”

He cannot be serious. That seems ridiculous and ill-advised, but she sees no lie in his eyes. Has she found the craziest man in all of Boston?

There are a lot of them, and she didn’t expect it to be him. A wolf in sheep’s clothing or something else like that.

She also didn’t expect herself to want to give this another shot. Maybe it’s for her ego, but Emma’s going to try not to think about that now.

“I’m pretty sure you’re messing with me because I don’t know how we’re ever going to get past this, but if we were to go on another date, I get to pick the venue.”

“Please tell me it’s not going to be Yvonne’s.”

“Damn, you’ve ruined my plan.” He huffs and Emma nudges him with her elbow. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to walk properly again, but what do you say? You want to go to a Sox game? If we end up hating each other, we can be distracted by the game. Or we can flat out move to empty seats to avoid each other.”

“I like this plan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I think we should get seats at the top and have you walk there.”

Emma groans and elbows him again, a little harder than necessary. “Okay, so I’m buying the tickets then.”

“That was my plan all along.”

“Emma Swan,” the nurse at reception calls out, “we can take you back now.”

-/-

It’s just a sprain. A bad one but a sprain.

She’s supposed to ice it, elevate it, and rest for a few weeks. She curses at that because it means she’s going to have to be sitting during her job, which she hates, and she’s also going to have to do rehab on it. Plus, she was about to hit a record with her cycling classes, and that’s going to be delayed.

But it’s not broken, and she’s been given crutches to help her out for the first few days. She walks out on them – no one ever tells you how much they hurt your armpits – to see Killian standing, waiting for her, soft smile on his lips.

“How are you feeling?”

“Amazing,” she lies.

“David and Mary Margaret have gone and gotten your car,” Killian explains, not missing a beat, and steps to walk next to her, “and have returned it to your apartment. Mary Margaret wanted to rush here, but they’re going to that show tonight.”

“I’m sure David had to restrain her.”

“Oh, he did. I couldn’t see it, but I could imagine it from the way they talked.”

“I don’t even need to hear their argument to imagine it. Thanks for getting that taken care of.”

“No problem.”

Slowly but surely, they get to Killian’s car. She insisted he didn’t need to pull it around – he probably did – but by the time they get there, she’s having a hard time not sweating. The heat is still miserable. The air-conditioning in his car is amazing, though, and Emma nods off as he drives her to her apartment.

“I was worried the entire way here you wouldn’t have an elevator in the building.”

“I’ve got one. Don’t worry. Ruby and I moved about six months ago because we were tired of living in an old building that had a slight egg smell that never went away, so if this had happened six months ago, I’d be out of luck.”

“Small blessings, I guess.” He presses the button to turn off his engine. “Do you need help getting inside or…”

Emma rolls her eyes. “I don’t, but do you want to come in and get delivery? I feel like it’s the least I can do for you.”

“As long as it’s not soup, I’d love that.”

-/-

Emma manages not to insult Killian for the rest of the night. There are times when she thinks she takes it too far, her natural sarcasm coming out, but Killian gives as good as he gets. He never misses a beat, is constantly challenging her, and he puts away half a large pizza with as much ease as she does.

She can never tell her clients this is how she eats.

Really, sitting on her couch, her ankle wrapped in ice and set, she has a better time than she has on any of the dates she’s gone on in the past year. Killian’s never seen The Umbrella Academy, so she puts it on and they watch it, a bowl of popcorn with all the fixings between them.

She really can’t tell her clients this is how she eats.

At some point, the sun now set and the outside world darkened, her eyes get heavy and she drifts off, hushed conversation and laughter in the background. She recognizes those voices, and opens her eyes to see Ruby and Killian talking, but then she’s nodding off to sleep again, the world’s edges blurring. She still feels soft lips and harsh stubble brush against her forehead before everything bleeds into darkness.

-/-

“I cannot believe you screwed that one up.”

“What?” Emma asks, blinking her eyes open. Her neck is killing her, but that’s only momentary distraction from the way her ankle is throbbing.

“I can’t believe you screwed your date up,” Ruby says, and now Emma recognizes that it’s Ruby talking to her. “I mean, he was hot, Emma. So, so hot. Like, I would sleep with him even if he was the biggest asshole in the world.”

“Can you get me some more ice?” Emma groans, groggy.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ruby gets up and walks into the kitchen, and Emma tries sitting up and opening up her eyes a little more. She doesn’t know what time it is, so she fumbles around for her phone, the bright screen opening up to tell her it’s seven in the morning. She’s also got a slew of texts from David and Mary Margaret, her boss at the gym, Elsa, and one Killian Jones.

The first text is a link. It’s two tickets to a Red Sox game two weeks from now, and the seats aren’t in the upper deck.

Killian Jones: Can I count on seeing you there? You know, to redeem yourself.

Emma Swan: I thought I said I’d buy the tickets.

The bubbles pop up immediately despite Killian having sent his message at two in the morning.

Killian Jones: Didn’t want to chance that you’d run away.

Emma Swan: Is that supposed to be funny?

Killian Jones: Absolutely.

Emma laughs and the corners of her lips tug up. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t anywhere near the worst date she’d ever been on even if it did leave her sore in all the wrong places.

Emma Swan: I’ll be there.

“What are you smiling about?” Ruby asks as she comes in with a newly filled ice pack.

“I didn’t screw the date up as badly as I thought, I guess.” Emma shrugs and lifts her ankle as Ruby wraps it up. “I think it goes down as one of the most interesting first dates in existence, though.”

“And you didn’t even sleep with him, so that’s saying something.”

Emma tosses a pillow at Ruby and sinks into the couch, her heartbeat going a little faster than normal.

Killian Jones: If you get hit by a fly ball, I think that may be it for us. I can’t have you be injured on two dates in a row.

-/-

She doesn’t get hit by a fly ball.

She doesn’t get injured at all.

And in all of the other dates they go on, no one sprains an ankle or gets it by a fly ball or breaks an arm. They’ve got a pretty good track record of good dates, but as Killian likes to say, you never forget your first.

[olivay-official]

Scenes from Red: The Untold Story of a Reluctant Hero

Jay is just your average college student with a secret superhero identity. The deep underground crime world knows her as Red, a sarcastic pain in the ass hero who is annoyingly good at stopping their nefarious activities despite being terrible at her job. Though not what one might typically imagine as a hero Oliver, aka Napster, gladly took up the role of her techs sidekick cleaning up the messes left in her wake. Despite how closely they work together Oliver is clueless to Red’s true identity, while Jay struggles to act normal around him in civilian form. Balancing a social life with friends with the looming threat of Suped up villains created by a mad scientist with the face of a lizard isn’t easy and Jay and Oliver definitely make it look much harder than it is.

“Would you put away your phone? This is supposed to be a tech free weekend!” Andre made a grab for Jackie’s phone. She pulled away holding it close to her chest.

“And I promise I will put it away when we get there!” She shot back.

“Why are you so big on camping Andre?” I called from the backseat.

“Dude, some of my best memories were camping with my brothers and pops. And I think that we can all do with getting out of the city for a few days.” Andre looked at all three of us pointedly.

“Really all I remember from camping was having to pee in a hole, and getting eaten alive by bugs,” I answered bitterly. I wondered absentmindedly if my blood would make a super mosquito now.

“I remember trying to go camping with my mom once, then a bear ate our food so we ended up leaving and getting breakfast at a diner,” Jackie giggled.

“I’ve never been before,” Oliver said quietly.

“Lucky you,” I muttered.

“What?!” Andre practically screeched. “Oh no you girls aren’t going to ruin this for Oliver. Oliver my boy you are about to get the full camping experience!” Andre said exuberantly. I rolled my eyes as I dug a soda out of the cooler in the backseat.

“Hey what are you doing, those are for the camping trip!” Andre said indignantly.

“Well then it’s a good thing I packed extra!” I grinned as I popped the tab of the can with an overdramatic display of defiance.

“Seriously Jay! I had everything planned! You guys have no faith in me!” Andre waved his hand in frustration.

“Are you kidding me? Do you know how much this girl eats? She could eat all four portions of food you packed for us and then some,” Jackie snorted. Oliver smiled looking around at the three of us as he relaxed into his seat. I watched him for a second, curious. He looked at ease, happy even as he looked between Andre and Jackie but behind his eyes there was an odd mix of worry and anticipation. He checked his phone several times within a few minutes as if he was waiting for something. I smiled finally realizing what he was waiting for. He was worried that Red would need him even though I had told him Red would be gone til Tuesday. His phone would lose service as soon as we started winding up some of the backroads and his connection to Red would be cut off or so he thought anyways. I wished I could tell him it would be fine but I had already told him once as Red. There was nothing more I could do here.

The rest of the car ride went by much like that. We played music belting out the classics from our high school days, we talked about old camping memories, and Jackie and I shared stories from our childhood the humor of which was completely lost on Andre and Oliver. Andre complained about Jackie and Oliver being on their phones. Oliver complained about my laying across all the backseats including the one he occupied. Jackie complained when Andre shut off her music trading it for a much more classic form of music- the CD. Many of which were burned and included songs in no particular order that only Andre recognized. We had three phone calls from Enzo on the way up who was worried he would get lost and at least two pitstops for me to pee. During the drive I had consumed three cans of soda, a bag of chips and a burrito I had picked up at a food truck. Andre complained about my eating habits and I threw wrappers at him. All in all it was a good time.

When we got to the campsite Enzo was already there, tent set up.

“Sorry we are late, someone made us stop for a burrito on the way here.” Andre glared at me.

“Damn you’re probably not hungry then,” Enzo said holding up a bag of takeout from my favorite burrito place. I swear I fell in love with him right there.

“I am always hungry,” I beamed at him.

“No you are helping us unpack first,” Andre demanded. I rolled my eyes at Andre and gave an apologetic smile to Enzo.

I followed Andre back to the car so that we could unpack all our crap. I opted for the large cooler in the back seat. It was a heavy item but with my abilities it would hardly be a problem. I had only managed to pull the container about three quarters of the way out the car when someone came up behind me, their hand brushing mine as they took the container from my grasp. The rest of the cooler came sliding out the car. His hand reached over me to grab the other handle just in time.

“Careful.” Oliver smiled at me. “This probably weighs more than you,” He chuckled. I put my hands on my hips.

“I had it,” I said confidently. Oliver smirked.

“I’m sure you did but why don’t I just carry it instead yeah? You can grab the firewood.” He smiled at me that infuriatingly adorable smile. I stared at him for a moment fixing him with a stern look before I walked over to the back of the trunk. He raised his eyebrows in anticipation. I fixed him with a glare before I dared reaching into the trunk to pull out the bags of firewood. Balancing one in each arm I started to walk back to the campsite with Oliver in tow struggling with the weight of the cooler.

“Want to trade?” I teased.

“As much as I’d love to see you carry this, I think I got it,” He said with a sardonic hint to his tone. I shrugged and kept walking at a much faster pace than he could manage with the clunky weight of the cooler. I enjoyed watching him struggle to keep up. We crossed paths with Enzo and Andre who were heading back to get the remainder of the food and supplies.

Oliver set the cooler down at the edge of the campsite with a grunt. A thin sheen of perspiration dotted his forehead. I admired the site as he rolled up the sleeves of his fitted black thermal shirt over his lean arms. He ran a hand through his dark hair letting it fall back down in shaggy disarray ends pointing in all different directions. I busied myself with arranging the uneven bags of firewood so they wouldn’t fall all the while letting myself peak up at Oliver. He really did look good in black. His deep eyes met mine, I managed a half smile before letting my eyes drop back down to the firewood, finalizing their arrangement.

I was by no means a camper. I liked having running water and actual toilets. Mostly the toilets because who the fuck enjoys squatting in a bush to go to the bathrrom completely exposed and vulnerable to attack by bear or an unhinged deer.

Growing up camping had never been a part of my childhood experiences needless to say I should be out of my element here. Thanks to my powers, however, I was a galdamn pro. A few helpful survivalist videos, and several episodes of naked and afraid later and I could probably survive out here on my own for months. I set up mine and Jackie’s tent in record time while the boys were tangled in heaps of collapsable sticks trying to find which end to start with. While they struggled Jackie and I busied ourselves with making our camping space comfortable. Just because we were camping did not mean Jackie was going to give up all the luxuries of a home. She had made me drag her mattress topper here and just about a dozen blankets and pillows on top of the sleeping bags.

“Damn that’s romantic, you aren’t trying to seduce me are you?” I asked, giving her a quick wink.

“You wish!” Jackie laughed.

“When you’re done hitting on my girlfriend would you mind helping us out here Jay?” Andre asked from under the tent’s tarp.

“I thought you were such a big camper Andre.” I rolled my eyes. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your trip by getting in the way.”

“You’re the absolute worst.”

When we finally got all set up and situated Andre began packing bags for a hike. He was determined to give us the campiest of camping experiences apparently. Andre took the lead, compass in hand, with the rest of us in tow. Enzo fell in step behind me. The trail was only big enough to walk along single file. Andre’s hiking style was hard to keep up with. Some moments without warning he would turn on a dime shifting directions and surging forward.

The final destination of the hike was a small waterfall. I had to hand it to Andre. It was a pretty picturesque spot. We sat down to have lunch but I had other plans. I was hot and sweaty from the hike and that water looked damn good. I quickly started stripping down.

“Jay! Seriously!” Andre shouted at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t worry I’ll keep my panties on,” I winked at him which he did not find amusing. I dove into the water and almost immediately regretted it. The water was fucking freezing. When I broke the surface Andre was looking smugly at me.

“Cold isn’t it? You’re an idiot,” Andre said.

“Worth it!” I said through chattering teeth. I’d be damned if I’d admit I was wrong to Andre. I swam around in the water despite the cold finding myself a nice sun baked spot of water that wasn’t too terrible.

“Jackie, that’s literally snow run off,” Andre warned. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know the splash of water was Jackie joining me. We both laughed. Oliver and Enzo looked at each other finally both shrugging. They stripped down and attempted lifting Andre into the air - he was forced to strip or get his clothes wet. Finally we were all in the water and for the first time in a long time shit felt totally normal. No super villains lurked in the woods to demand my attention. There was no Red or Napster. It was just me and my friends and it was so nice to play normal even if only for a few days.

I was shivering by the time we got out of the water to dry off. Enzo stayed close to me doing his best to warm me up, offering me his jacket that he’d been smart enough to bring on the hike. While I laid out on the warm rocks trying to get my body temp back up Enzo went back to our bags to get us food. Oliver flopped out of the water and onto the rock next to me.

“I think I like camping,” He said shaking water out of his hair. I laughed.

“Please don’t tell Andre that, he’ll want us to go every week,” I said.

“Is there a reason you love torturing him?” He asked.

“I mean other than the fact that it’s so darn fun? Andre and I lived together for like a week Freshman year, there was a mixup with the dorms. Since then we have been great friends but our friendship is based on the fact that we love torturing eachother,” I said.

“You and Andre lived in a dorm together?” Oliver raised his eyebrows and laughed.

“Oh yeah I probably know more about his deep dark secrets than you do,” I said.

“And you introduced him to Jackie?” He asked.

“Yup! Really he has me to thank for his happy relationship,” I beamed. Oliver smiled at me turning back towards the waterfall. I tried to ignore the way the water glistened off his body. I turned back to the water.

“He picked a really good spot,” Oliver said.

“Yeah as much as I hate to admit it, he did a good job. Probably wanted to impress Jackie,” I said.

“Well I’d say he picked one hell of a romantic set up,” Oliver mused. I glanced over at Oliver ready to fire off a smart remark but the words died on my tongue. Oliver was already staring at me, his eyes running over the curve of my body. The sun was starting to get lower creating an orange glow that framed him like a greek god. His eyes caught mine and he cleared his throat quickly looking away. A light blush colored his cheeks. My face felt warm as I looked away.

Great, that was sufficiently awkward.

I only hoped the orange light of the sunset might hide the blush creeping across my own face.

The sound of a branch snapping caused me to straighten, muscles tensing. My eyes narrowed as I stared out into the forest searching.

“What was that?” I whispered to myself.

“Probably a deer or something,” Oliver attempted to sound nonchalant about it but I could see his body stiffen at the sound and refuse to relax.

There was a rustling in the bushes. I stood in a fighting stance. What I was planning to do if it was a bear or something I don’t know, maybe punch it in the nose. More rustling. Then everything happened in a blur. A woman emerged from the underbrush looking half crazed. Under her skin her veins flowed orange and red like molten fire. Her irises were the same glowing color, the sclera pitch black. The smell of burning hair filled the air. She looked scared out of her mind and in agonizing pain but that didn’t stop her from lunging at me like the last shrimp at a buffet.

“Help me! It burns!” She cried. The woman grabbed hold of my arms. Her touch seared my skin burning my arms. I hissed in pain rearing back and punching the woman square in the jaw. She stumbled back.

I shook out my hand cursing under my breath. Her skin burned to touch. The woman surged forward again tackling me to the ground. I cried out in both fury and pain as we hit the ground. I kicked the woman off of me and up over my head. I scrambled to my feet. The woman’s hand caught my bare ankle causing me to scream. Oliver was there, shouldering the woman into the shallowest part of the lake. Steam hissed as she his the surface. She let out a horrible screech struggling to get out of the shallow depths. I whipped around and clocked her square in the face, hard enough to knock her out, silencing her screams. She landed on the shore skin still sizzling.

“Ah Fuck!” I shouted as I shook out my hand and bounced around on one foot. Of the injuries my ankle was definitely fairing the worst. Heat and pain pulsed through the seared flesh with each heartbeat.

Everyone finally came running over to us their eyes bulging out of their head when they landed on the unconscious woman that lay at my feet. Enzo was next to me in a second wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me to him.

“What the hell just happened?!” Andre asked.

“Hell if we know. She jumped out at us from the woods,” Oliver said kneeling down next to her. Suddenly the woman’s eyes snapped open. She locked onto Oliver.

“Burning!! He promised it wouldn’t hurt! Now it burns! Please-” She grabbed Oliver’s hand. I could see the pain in his face but he didn’t pull away from her touch. “Please make it stop,” The woman begged her voice strained and hoarse. With those final words her eyes closed and her grip on Oliver’s hand relaxed. He removed his hand from hers. He held his good hand up to her mouth and shook his head.

“I think she’s gone,” He whispered. Carefully he moved her head to the side and tilted his head inspecting a single mark on her neck. Looking over his shoulder I immediately knew what it was. My hand came up to touch the invisible injection site. The one that gave me my powers…

“We better call someone. I’ll go see if I can find some service,” Andre said. Jackie clung to him not wanting him to be alone and not wanting to lose the comfort of having him near. Enzo guided me away from the body to sit on the rocks once again. He made me show him my ankle which had cooked meat hanging off of it, turns out I did not smell like barbecue. Oliver came over to us with the first aid kit cradled in his good hand. While Oliver went about treating his hand, Enzo cared for my injuries. Other than my ankle my knuckles had burn blisters splayed across them from where I hit her. My arms however were mostly unharmed.

When the authorities finally showed up it went without saying that the camping trip was officially over.

[thepotentialof2007]

Service by Ada Limón

Somewhere outside of Albuquerque, I was all

fed up with the stories about your ex-girlfriend’s

Guess billboard in New York City, and to make

matters worse, I had to pee like a racehorse, or

like a girl who’d had way too much to drink

too far away from home. You stopped at a friend’s

body shop to talk about a buddy who was stuck

some place in Mexico. You were talking, pulling

strings and taking pulls off a brown bottle, and no

one told me where the bathroom was, so I walked

back to where the hotrods were displayed like dogs

ready for a fight, baring their grills like teeth.

I was hungry, the air smelled like hot gasoline

and that sweet carnation smell of oil and coolant.

A girl pit bull came and circled me as I circled

the cars; she sniffed my ankles like I was her kin

or on some kind of rescue mission. You were still

talking, not a glance in the direction of me

and the bitch working our ways around

the souped-up Corvettes and power tools.

The pit was glossy, well cared for, a queen

of the car shop, and when she widened

her hind legs and squatted to pee all over

one of the car’s dropped canvases, I took it

as a challenge. The strong yellow stream seemed

to be saying, Girl, no one’s going to tell me 

when to take a leak, when to bow down, 

when not to bite. So, right then, in the dim lights

of the strange garage, I lifted my skirt and pissed

like the hard bitch I was.

[vincentferard]

Can I Pet Your Dog (an Erasermic One-Shot)

So this one was on here, and it was one of my top posts too, but a couple of days ago I came on here and it was deleted. So here it is then, again, enjoy 😂

(AN:// This takes place in an AU. For the most part, everything is all the same except there are no quirks and Yamada (Mic) doesn't work as a teacher.\\)

The sun shone down hotly on the city of  Musutafu, the light bouncing off the tall buildings’ windows and shining into the eyes of a certain person.

In the middle of the sidewalk stood a taller male with long dark hair that was tied into a messy bun. Dark eyes and pale skin accommodated his dark hair along with a small scar running under his right eye. His clothes were completely black, save for his brown saddle bag, consisting of baggy black sweatpants and a baggy black T-shirt (not the best outfit for such a hot day). In his hand, the male held a pink leash that led to an equally pink collar that was fastened around the neck of a cream color pit puppy.

His name was Shōta Aizawa, age: 31, profession: teacher. The dog wasn't his but he had agreed to watch it for the day for his friend (personally, he was much more of a cat person). He also wasn't much of a morning person so being up at 9:00 in the morning, walking his neighbor's dog, fully dressed and ready when it was summer and not a school day was not something he enjoyed.

Swearing to himself under his breath, he stopped shielding his eyes and dug around his bag for a pair of his sunglasses. His eyes were overly sensitive so he always had at least two pairs of sunglasses on him at all times. Bella, the adorable pit puppy, barked softly at something before beginning to pee on the nearby fire hydrant.

“Hey, can I pet your dog?” An overly energetic voice sounded next to Aizawa causing him to jump slightly before looking up.

The man next to the tired teacher was an almost complete opposite of him.

The man was far taller with long blonde hair braided and going down as far as his middle-back. Bright green eyes were set softly in his face along with a sharp nose and wide grin. Orange rimmed glasses framed his eyes, a slight glint from the sun bouncing off of them. His clothes were made up of leather pants, a wrinkled white T-shirt with a heavy leather jacket hanging over it, and a pair of skullCandy headphones hung around his neck.

Aizawa studied the male tiredly before making a small noise like a grunt in the back of his throat. “Do I know you?”

The blonde shook his head, his grin growing. “Nah, I just saw your adorable pit and to see if I could pet…” he studied the collar before raising a single eyebrow. “Her?”

Aizawa let out another grunt but nodded. “Yeah, go ahead and pet her...she's not my dog though.”

“Taking care of her for a friend, huh?” He was already squatting next to the puppie, petting her head.

“Neighbor.”

“Wow you neighbor must really trust you, huh?” The man smiled energetically.

“I've known him since childhood so I sure hope so…”

The man chuckled, rubbing Bella's now upturned belly. “The name's Yamada Hizashi.”

“What?”

“You asked if you knew me,” The blonde clarified. “So I thought I'd tell you my name so you can officially say you know me.”

Aizawa rolled his eyes thinking, ‘That is almost the dumbest thing I've heard in awhile.’ After a few minutes of silence he sighed. “My name's Shōta Aizawa.”

Hizashi stood up and grinned at the dark haired male, adjusting the straps of the back-bag he wore. “So, do you have any plans for her?”

“It's 9:00 in the morning.”

“Why don't you take her to the nearby pet cafe?” When he saw the skeptic look on Aizawa's face he let out a chuckle. “Don't worry! I take Lieutenant Dan there all the time!”

Aizawa's frown grew and he winced slightly at the high pitch of his voice. “Lieutenant Dan…? Like from Forrest Gump?” 

From inside Hizashi's back-bag, the small head of an army green turtle popped out, it's dark orbs blinking curiously.

“This is Lieutenant Dan!” The blonde turned around and reached into his back-bag, pulling out the small turtle.

The turtle was about the size of a teenager's shoe and only had two front legs. His two back legs were nothing more than stubs. A long, deep crack ran across his multicolored shell and a device with two wheels attached to the shell.

“I was heading to my job one day and I saw him in the street. He had already been hit by a car and was about to be run over again. I jumped in the street and saved him.” He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Though I ended up with a broken leg and crutches.”

Aizawa scoffed and rolled his eyes. He had only this man for maybe five minutes but her was already learning how big of a fool he was.

“So, where's this cafe at?”

“Oh, follow me!” he grinned, finger gunning the dark haired male.

Aizawa rolled his eyes again and gently pulled at Bella's leash. “Let's go Bella.”

Bella let out a happy 'yip!’ and stood up, quickly trotting up to the side of Aizawa.

They walked around for almost an hour and Aizawa was almost positive that the loud blonde had forgotten the way. “Do you actually know where we're going or-”

“Here we are!” He exclaimed loudly.

Aizawa flinched again at his high pitch voice and sighed, looking up at the side street cafè. It was a smaller building, the outside painted in colorful pink and yellow stripes. A hand painted sign hung out from the side of the wall reading ‘Musutafu's Pet Cafe. Above the building hung a bright, slightly dirty, white awning.

Hizashi opened the door wide and stepped back with a wink. “After you.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow but stepped into the store with Bella, Hizashi following after with Lieutenant Dan wrapped up in his arm.

The lady behind the counter smiled brightly when she saw Hizashi and stepped away from her counter to greet him. “Yamada! It's been a while, how's Lieutenant Dan doing?”

Hizashi grinned happily and untucked the turtle from his arm. “He's doing great! No more physical therapy either!” He paused and turned towards Aizawa. “And I brought a friend who's dog-sitting for his neighbor!”

Aizawa raised his eyebrow again. Friend?

The lady smiled and turned towards Aizawa. “Awe where is your precious pooch?”

Rolling his eyes, he nodded towards Bella.Bella yipped happily at the lady and wagged her tail quickly, licking the lady's pants.

Her smile dropped almost instantly. “Is she a pit?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, as far as my neighbor told me, she's a purebred.”

She looked up and stepped back, a frown etching across her face. “I'm sorry. We can't accept pits here.”

Aizawa's brows furrowed but he wasn't surprised. Hizashi, on the other hand, was completely confused.

“You can't accept pits?”

“I know it's probably a bit frustrating, but the owner doesn't want us to take in pits due to their violent nature.” She explained calmly.

“Violent nature…?” A frown etched across his face, something that seemed wrong on his usually cheery face. “Pits aren't naturally violent... usually it's the owner's fault and even then-”

“Hizashi, it's okay.” Aizawa spoke up.

He had figured something like this would've happened. Many pet places were starting to 'ban’ pits as the rumors of their 'violent nature’ spread.

“Bella and I can go somewhere else, it's fine.”

Hizashi looked at him for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I know a really cool park we can go to!”

“Geez, you're acting like you think I never go out of my house.” He mumbled awkwardly.

“You look like you never leave your house!” He laughed as he held open the door again, earning a glare from Aizawa.

“Bye!” He called over his shoulder as they left.

They headed down the sidewalk in silence for a while before Hizashi spoke up. “I'm sorry about that, it really sucks.”

Aizawa shook his head. “I don't care really, I just feel bad for Bella. She seemed so excited.”

Hizashi nodded in agreement. “Yeah! It really sucks! Why don't we go to the park? There's a small coffee shop there and I could let Lieutenant Dan walk around without worrying!”

He rolled his eyes but a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He sure was annoying but his energy was almost infectious. At least, that's how Aizawa felt.

They walked the rest of the way to the park in silence once again. Even Bella, who was almost always yipping excitedly, was completely silent.

Soon they got to the park, the sun now at its peak in the sky. Hizashi grinned happily, taking Lieutenant Dan out of his bag again and holding him in his arms.

“Why don't we go get some coffee? Then we can let them play around.”

Aizawa nodded in agreement and followed Hizashi to a small coffee shop in the middle of the park. The shop was made out of red brick and a tile roof, a colorful rainbow awning covering the entrance. Once again, Hizashi held open the door for Aizawa, winking softly. And once again, he raised a single eyebrow in return, confusion filling his brain. This time, however, he mumbled out a small and slightly irritated 'thank you'.

The inside of the coffee shop was just as homey as the outside, big windows let in lots of sunlight and plush couches and chairs along with rustic looking tables occupied the corners of the shop. In the middle sat a glass counter filled with muffins and cookies, an old looking cash register sat on top in the middle. Behind the counter was yet another counter, this one filled with a coffee maker and uncountable amounts of creamer and 'spices’.

“I already know what I'm getting!” Hizashi quipped excitedly. “Do you have an idea of what you want?”

“Just plain black coffee.” He responded tiredly.

Hizashi made a sarcastic gagging sound before chuckling and stepping up to order. Soon enough a boy around the age of 15 with emerald green eyes stepped out from a hidden back room, his fluffy dark green hair swishing softly atop his head. As soon as he saw who stood in the shop he grinned happily. 

“Hi Mr. Hizashi! Your usual right? And what about you Mr…” He trailed off as he noticed the other person was Aizawa. “Mr. Aizawa?”

Aizawa raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. “Midoriya. Awkward seeing you out of school. Is this your summer job?”

Midoriya nodded. “Y-yeah. I got this job to help out my mom with bills...and then whatever's left over I keep for pocket money.” He smiled awkwardly.

Aizawa nodded. He knew how the situation was for his student at home and he felt slightly guilty that he couldn't help out more.

“Wait, you two know each other?!?” He exclaimed loudly.

“He's my student.”

“You're a teacher?!?” He exclaimed again.

“U-um, what would you like?” Midoriya smiled, trying to lessen the awkwardness.

“I'll have plain black coffee.”

Hizashi made another fake gagging sound earning an elbow from Aizawa.

“Okay, I'll go make those and I'll be right back.”

There was silence other than the whir of the coffee machine until Hizashi spoke up, poking Aizawa in the cheek. “So, how often do you actually get out of your house?”

Aizawa smacked his hand away with a growl and glared over at the blonde. “That's not your business.”

“Not a lot, huh?” He laughed loudly.

“That's none of your business.” The dark haired man growled again.

“U-um, here you two go!” Midoriya chipped awkwardly.

Hizashi grinned and pulled out his wallet. “Sweet! How much is it? $11.53?”

Midoriya nodded and the blonde started to get the money out of his wallet but Aizawa stopped him, holding out the money from his own wallet to Midoriya.

“Here. There's a little bit extra, keep that as a tip.”

Midoriya's whole face lit up. “Oh, um thank you!”

Aizawa nodded and picked up his coffee, heading out the door with Bella before Hizashi could get the door for him again.

Chuckling, Hizashi picked up his coffee. “Thanks kiddo!”

“O-of course! No problem!” He stuttered out.

With another chuckle he headed for the door, following Aizawa out. Aizawa waited outside the door for Hizashi before walking over to a nearby bench and sitting down. Hizashi grinned to himself and sat down next to the other male, putting Lieutenant Dan on the ground.

“You waited for me, huh? You must really like me.” He teased sarcastically.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “It's just polite.”

They sat there in slightly uncomfortable silence, Bella munching on a daisy and Lieutenant Dan slowly wandering around. Turning towards Aizawa, Hizashi went to say something but stopped.

The sunlight filtered through the trees peacefully, slightly illuminating the dark haired man. A soft, genuine, smile covered his face as he watched Bella and his dark eyes reflected the light around him.

‘He's so pretty I think I’m gonna faint.’ Hizashi thought to himself.

Aizawa looked over at him, his brows furrowed. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing, you're just really pretty.” 

The answer was out before he could stop himself and he quickly covered his mouth.

Aizawa's brows furrowed deeper. “Are you-”

“Shōta!” A cheery loud voice called out.

With a sarcastic groan, the dark hair male turned around.

“Toshi, how did physical therapy go today?”

A thin yet muscular male, around the same age as Aizawa, jogged up to the bench, half smiling half grimacing. He had short blonde hair with two long strips of bangs and bright teal eyes. His clothing consisted of a slightly baggy white t-shirt and dark  blue jeans. “Better than last week's!” He laughed. Bending down, he pet Bella on the head happily. “How's Bella behaving today?  I was planning on picking her up after my jog. My physical therapist says it's necessary…”

Shōta smiled softly. “She's been behaving as good as always.”

The blonde stood up, a grin etching itself across his face. “That's good! She knows to be on her best behavior!”

Nodding, Shōta sighed. “Sometimes I forget how energetic you are.”

Toshinori chuckled and turned towards Hizashi who sat on the bench, slightly confused.

“And who are you?” 

“Oh, I just met-”

“He's my friend.” Aizawa interrupted. “Yagi Toshinori, Yamada Hizashi.”

“It's nice to meet you! Any friend of Shōta's is a friend of mine!” Toshinori reached out and shook Hizashi's hand.

“It's nice to meet you too! Curiosity killed the cat but am I allowed to ask why you have physical therapy?”

Next to him, Shōta inwardly facepalmed. He had just met him and of the course the first question he asked was about his physical therapy.

Awkward silence ensued for a few minutes before the blonde nodded. “I was driving home one night and I got into a really bad car accident due to a drunk driver. Part of the dashboard broke off and cut open my stomach.” He put his hand over his side. “Right here. They managed to fix me up decently but I still need to go through physical therapy of course.”

“Oh, geez! And all because of one irresponsible person too!”

Toshinori nodded. “Something like that is called the butterfly effect.” His face grew happier. “But that's alright though! I have a pretty good life other than that. Especially my friends.” 

He went to ruffle Aizawa's hair sarcastically but got his hand smacked away before he got close.

“Don't old man.”

Aizawa leveled him with a tired and sarcastic glare.

The blonde smiled in return. “Be nice.” He took Bella's leash from the bench. “I need to continue my jog, do you mind if I take her with me?”

“She's your dog.” Shōta chuckled tiredly.

He nodded and whistled quietly, getting Bella's attention. “Then I'll be seeing you around! Take care!”

Without another word he turned around and jogged off with Bella behind him.

“Interesting guy.”

Aizawa let out a hum in response.

“So, um, what were you going to ask before?” Hizashi questioned slowly.

Shōto looked at him for a minute before nodding. “Oh yeah, I was going to ask ‘are you flirting with me?’” 

“Oh. You finally noticed?” The blonde chuckled.

The dark haired male's brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you flirt with me?” He frowned at the blonde.

“Because you seem like an interesting person and,” he paused as if he was choosing his words carefully. “And because I have that feeling in my stomach.”

“All I do is drink coffee, teach, and sleep.” Aizawa warned.

“It sounds pretty relaxed compared to my life.” He chuckled. “I could use that.” He looked at the dark haired male and hesitantly took his hand. “What do you say?”

“On what…?” He questioned.

“Did I not…” the blonde's brows furrowed. “I meant to ask if you'd be willing to date me.”

“I barely even know you.”

“I can fix that…” he mumbled jokingly, leaning closer.

On instinct, Shōta stuck out his arms in defense, pushing the blonde off the bench.

Loud laughter erupted from where the blonde laid on the ground. “I'm sorry, that's my bad for teasing.”

Aizawa got up and walked over to where the blonde laid. “Are, um, are you okay?”

Hizashi nodded his head. “Perfectly fine. No broken bones, bruises, or anything.”

Aizawa sighed in relief and sat down next to him. “Good.”

There was a peaceful silence for a while before Hizashi spoke up. “So-”

“Yes.”

Hizashi looked at the dark haired male questioningly.

“Yes, I'll try going out with you.”

Slowly, a big grin spread across the blonde's face.

“Yeeeeaaaah!”

[claybefree]

Excerpt- Mule Skinner Blues

The man guided Kit up the trail until it merged within a hair's breadth of treeline next to the tracks, running like that until it met the railyard. The two lines coming in from the outskirts split and branched into a multitude of tracks like veins of a leaf stem spreading across acres of junctions and ballast rock.. The trail there was halted abruptly by a wall of chain link, complete with a man sized hole in it. Not far was what must have been a dead line as along it’s back were parked huge lengths of what Kit guessed to be track laying equipment, low slung, enveloped with clumps of Queen Anne’s lace and left to rot away. Hulking wrecks with a rainbow of multicolored patina, years of different owners individual paint schemes peeling away over one another. Red and yellow gave way to yellow and orange which gave way to blue, with the deep burgundy of Lord Rust presiding over all. 

“Okay, Hobo 101 meets under that barge there,” the thin man said. 

“What, underneath?”

“Yeah, don’t worry it ain’t goin anywhere.” he said with a grin. “It’s a Sunday so there ain’t that much personnel but if you see a white truck a comin’ you better coon it, quick.”

In response to Kit’s confused look he said “Here, allow me to demonstrate.”

Hustling through the hole in the fence, he started off across the sparse grass hunched almost to squatting, hands just above the ground as if he were about to drop to all fours. A sneaky kind of lope, Kit decided, that looked almost exactly like a racoon. 

The weeds were almost four foot tall and clustered thickly so that once underneath, they were well concealed.  Kit crawled up next to the thin man and lay across the rails, the smell of creosote impregnated timbers all around. They peered out through a multitude of top heavy stalks each bearing a small continent of impossibly intricate white flowers waving gently in the breeze. 

“Okay, so if you run across a worker that wants to talk, it’s probably safe. Most of these guys work a twelve hour shift, so bullshitting with a hobo is a fun way to burn time. Plus you might find out something useful. You’ll know a bull if you run across one, they usually cuss and yell. There’s this one red-faced old drunk who works here, means as hell. If you see him my recommendation is you haul ass.”

As they were talking, the rumbling in the earth beneath them grew to where it filled the air around them and a locomotive rolled out from between the lines of freight heading towards them. Kit resisted the urge to wave at the engineer. The thin man paused, waiting for the building fury of diesel fumes and machine grumble to pass them. A rogue’s gallery of battle scarred boxcars followed behind as the train picked up speed heading into the wild heart of forest just outside the yard.

“So the mainline he’s on is headed East, besides he’s local. You need a mountain train. The line on the other side goes North. That’s the one you want. At some point he’ll make a left, hopefully, at which point you’ll be on the mighty Highline. Ride that til you can’t anymore. It stops at the Pacific ocean. Think you can manage that?”

“I think I can.” Kit chuckled. 

Rows of oil cars rumbled past, black as pitch with streaks of pitch spilling down the sides from the lid. Then a number of boxcars, pale sun-faded yellow with black doors slid open. Red company emblem a flying “W” tucked in amid a riot of graffiti, brash hieroglyphs that might have been slurs in purple and green.   

“Now if you wind up on a boxcar, make sure you jam the door open, so you don’t accidentally wind up locked inside. Also, I wouldn’t recommend riding topside of a trash bin or a coal car, you’ll freeze to death.”

“Freeze? Ain’t it August?” Kit said, “What month is it anyway?”

“Don’t matter where you’re going, friend.” He smiled. “You do got a jacket in that rig, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay- so the ideal is that type car right there, a grainer,” he gestured at the silver and grey walled construct rolling past, it’s box battered and slightly concave from too many years being in service. Black iron trucks and wheels spinning diligently away underneath.  “You’ll want the ass end of things, shetler wise, under that triangular edge. Not the side where the mechanics are located, mind you, the brakes and such, there’s no real estate there. Oh and make sure it’s got a porch. Otherwise you’ll have to ride suicide which is not nearly as fun as it sounds.”  

“Growing up on a farm so I learned early on how to behave myself around heavy equipment.”

“That’s pretty comforting, actually. Oh yeah, see those three bolts on the wheels? If they’re going to fast to count, then the train is moving too fast to catch. When you go for it, make sure you get both hands on the thing before you haul your shit aboard. If it pulls out of your hand it’s going too fast and you’ll need to ditch it into the rocks. Ballast rash ain’t no fun but I think you understand the importance of not winding up under the trucks.”

“Imagine that’d put a hitch in your giddy-up.” Kit said.

Noticing the grim turn of his mouth, the thin man said, “I know this is a lot to take in but be careful, don’t die and you’ll be a gentleman of the yards in no time.” and slapped his shoulder.

“No chance in talking you into coming with me is there?”

“And take the chance of watching you get chewed into hamburger? Sorry but no.” he laughed. “Besides, I got to stay here and mind Screwdriver. At least until he realizes his lady love ain’t coming back anytime soon, and then probably a week or so after that. Maybe I’ll talk him into going home to the farm. Hopefully you won’t have to wait long. Just do me a favor and don’t start drinking until you’ve successfully boarded your ride, okay?”

“Will do.” 

“See you on down the line, Kit-By-the-Way.” and with a smile he doffed his floppy hat, scrambled out from under the car and was gone into the treeline. 

 In the end, it took no time at all. Hidden away from the heat of the day, he dozed until awoken by the familiar rumbling that sounded like the end of all things. The engine passed in a blaze of orange and yellow, gleaming bright as a sun in the afternoon light. He picked a grain car and made for it straight away, making sure not to linger in the sight line along the locomotive’s edge, the only hitch being almost getting decapitated by the skeleton frame of an empty lumber rack. The beast was going slow enough to catch with ease, and as luck would have it, the porch was enclosed in a steel case with a large circle cut into it that he could squeeze into. Once inside, the diamond plate steel of the floor was clean and spacious, a fresh coat of battleship grey. There were even half a half dozen comic books left by another traveller. Spider-man versus the Rhino. Black Panther. He crawled inside his enclave of welded steel and made himself hidden and comfortable.

Just as the thin man said it would, the train slowly thundered out the yard and made a hard left, heading North, at which point it stopped entirely. Fearing he would be discovered, Kit remained sequestered and read his comic books. After an hour of this he ate a can of ravioli, raw, slurping cold meat sauce from his fingers.  During the second hour he ventured outside to pee into the rock between the cars and then quickly hid himself away again, even though he was completely enveloped entirely by forest and had seen not a soul since they’d left the yard. He developed a welcome case of the stares and let his gaze drift across the lines of the coupling he was told not to cross, even mimicking the shape of it with his two hands, cupped one inside the other. He watched the way the ladder on the car across from his rose, battered and worn, to the top edge, and convinced himself he didn’t need to climb it.  Still the train sat motionless with not even an occasional tremor to indicate shunting yet for this or that. Finally, with nothing else to do, he broke into the handle of Jack he had hidden away in the depths of his bag, having endured the nagging weight of it for what seemed like an eternity.

“Well, the old guy didn’t say nothing about drinking after I got on the train, which I did manage to do. Seems like time to celebrate to me.”  He would have to portion it out if he could, as he had no idea how far it was to California. Tipping it back, the burn in his throat and consequently his stomach was like a lover’s embrace. Everything immediately softened, the colors of the woods brightened, the filth covering everything fell away and the world didn’t seem so big and scary. 

Eventually he heard a series of bangs from far away as the engine began to pull the train along it’s chain length to move out, a clamor that echoed well into the woods and back towards town. His turn came and he was thrown back into the hole, the slack jerked taught, and the great assembly of steel and iron and rust began to roll. Naturally he took another shot to celebrate his departure. 

It occurred to him that unlike the tractors he’d grown up riding, this was more a moving city as it was a piece of equipment. It was not a smooth ride, which surprised him, and there was always a sound of metal creaking somewhere. As they gained speed, and the woods parted and they spilled out onto another limitless ocean of wheat fields, he realized that everything left in his mind would shortly be pushed out by it. The train would consume his entire existence, there was no arguing with it, the train was terrible and absolute. 

Presently the woods surrendered to wheat fields spreading away from both sides of the train. Off to his left the sun fell below the racing clouds, setting the whole thing alight into a golden blaze that threatened to consume him. A conflagration of yellow and orange set to consume the prairies. The train, picking up even more speed, rocked him like a child.

“Sadie-girl, I sure wish you could see this,” he said quietly. 

The engineer poured on more speed such as to send them flying through towns and countryside. It sounded like a mile up the track from him but Kit could hear him laying on the horn as they roared through each crossing. Towns that seemed only to be out there to harvest wheat, maybe they were able to muster a downtown, sometimes just a convergence of a road and rail, with few houses thrown in just to indicate a population. Occasionally there was a water tower or a fallen down depot giving a name to the place to be noted and then immediately forgotten. Monolith grain elevators stood vigil, rising windowless out of the landscape, clapboarded in faded black or white or grey, an architecture completely foreign to him. As dark fell and the train picked up more speed, he became drunk and yelled at it all, incoherent, raging against his own insignificance.     

Morning found him under his leather jacket, body inside the hole and head on his boots as a pillow on the perforated steel walkway outside, woken by a light rain or cloud vapor accumulating on his face. In a literal fog, his waking gaze followed the rail, polished to a mirror finish and passing smoothly beneath him like a pair of silvery ribbons. The pace of the locomotive seemed to not have abated in the least, and he figured he must have caught the famed hotshot he was looking for. He sat up. The softness of the fog obscured the morning, but as near as he could tell the sun was off behind them. They must have turned West somewhere in the night, and his friend was right, he was freezing. 

No coffee to be had, he rummaged around the pile he’d made to sleep under until he found the bottle of Jack, on it’s lower third, and took a three finger belt. The mist cleared enough to reveal a martian landscape. They were in the mountains sure enough. Maybe it was the hangover, maybe just being unfamiliar, but everything looked jagged and angular and desolate. Tall aspens, he gathered, maybe doug fir. Pines of every kind. The only familiar thing was the rail flying beneath him, it’s gauge holy and absolute, punctuated with a million crossties.  

“Sadie, I don’t particularly care for all this ponderosa bullshit, no ma’am,” and pulled again on the bottle in his lap. “Too many pines, rocks and dust. Not enough green. I feel like I might dry up and blow away as it is.”  He stood up and stretched, swaying slightly due as much to the train as the fact he was not at all sober. He threw his jacket over his shoulders and clutched the bottle by the throat for good measure. Didn’t want it getting away from him. 

At this point the engine up the line let loose with a blast from its horn, sending ghosts of echoes to fill the canyons. 

“Ah yes, good morning to you too, Captain!” Kit shouted back. “You heavy handed sonofabitch!”

Suddenly the earth fell away into a chasm that must have been a thousand feet deep, the floor of it buried in the fog and unseen. He grabbed onto the ladder mounted to the outside corner of the grain car. “Holy shit. I guess that’s what all the noise was about.” 

The trestle was immense, a miraculous web of cross bracing filling the valley in what amounted to a straight line through the air yet neither side had a rail or walkway. It occurred to him to just let go and fall away into the clouds. The rocks or river or whatever below waiting would hold him close until the vultures and wolves and whatever else came to claim him, and he could belong to the forest from then on. Listening to the pines whispering, the occasional train whistle, coyotes crying, perhaps he could become a whisper in that valley himself. 

Instead the locomotive pulled him across the abyss to the other side before he had formed a proper mind to leap. He sat down hard, thumbed off the top and pulled on the Jack once again. There was a bag of beef jerky stashed somewhere he’d considered for breakfast, but decided against it. 

“Hey Sadie, wake up and come look at this,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Purple mountains majesty and all that.” For a moment it seemed the same shade as the lavender she had left on the dash of the Toronado. Delicate purple flowers windswept from the open window and perched on a skin of turquoise leather.  Maybe they should have stayed in the farmhouse, he thought. 

He lamented the he never showed her the network of rabbit tunnels crisscrossing the yard, long mounds of soft earth stretching this way and that between the house and the barn. He decided he would hang on just in case he ever saw her again so he could describe this to her. The soft earth with rabbits hidden beneath, the ground yielding underfoot oddly comforting. He drank a little more and thought these things and in this way passed into California. 

[pandoraimperatrix]

Four Names for Love

Gotham | BatCat | BabyFic | Multi-chapter | Read on AO3

Summary: When Bruce parted ways with Gotham he was leaving behind more than he thought. Meanwhile Selina is trying to find a way to herself after being abandoned again and on top of that she finds out she was left with a lot more than a heartbreak.

Agape part II

 Selina left Haven and her trashed room behind. That life she was leading there was a dream, but now she was back to reality and she reminded herself that she was good at reality, well, not good, but she had survived on her own until this point, and she would not give up now.

She bitterly remembered those nights when they whispered plans for the future under the covers, the life they would have together. He talked the most, she listened, rolled her eyes at his silly romantic boy ways. But how nice was to believe that there will be a future, that there was more than live one day each. So much bullshit. How could she let herself believe in all that crap?

‘I guess I am young and stupid.’

She breathed in, held for a little, let it out. She haven’t eaten yet. But that she was used to. That was good. Hunger. She knew hunger. She knew how to deal with it. It was simple; it was real, not like the stupid dreams, the unreachable yearnings that didn’t belong to someone like her.

She just have to rob herself a dinner.

But Gotham was a very different city from before. If it was a rotting carcass before, rich enough to feed street rats like her all sort of vermin, now only the naked bones remained. And it wasn’t like the rich people would come back anytime soon. What was left was the miserable and the poor.

She couldn’t rob people that have nothing. Could she?

How could she know that morals were also a kind of STD? Tabitha never told her, but she wouldn’t know that either.

Fucking rich asshole.

 Her old squat was a stinky hole, there was cat pee and cat poo e v e r y w h e r e, but no cats, not anymore.

But she guessed she deserved that after abandoning her babies. At least there was running water again. Stomach howling, Selina cleaned. Stomach calling her dirty dirty names, Selina lay in her ruined cot, she had stripped the sheets and flipped over the mattress but it still stank like hell.

She needed clean beddings. Where the fuck would she get that?

The next day she was so hungry her stomach gave up hurting.      She tried to stop thinking about what the other kids like her would say when they were trying to find something eatable in the dumpsters behind junk food restaurants, that if you didn’t eat the walls of your stomach would stick together and fold and you would die.

Kids were like that, they liked to scare each other even when reality was scary enough.

By noon she had found a broken vending machine that somehow still have a single gummy bears package, and she was really impressed when she noticed that it wasn’t expired. Maybe that would feed everyone post-apocalypse: children snacks with free nutritional value. That was a happy thought, see, she was thriving.

She knew that now the government was sending help there was probably a soup kitchen of sorts back in Haven, but she would rather boil her own leather jacket and eat it than stand the pity looks everyone would send her there.

 Selina tried to contact the people from her old background network and to her surprise, she discovered that not much have changed there.

‘I mean, No Man’s Land? Pfff. We were already living in warlike conditions way before that. Not all of us found ourselves billionaire boyfriends and cop pals.’

She deserved that, but she still punched him for good measures. In that life no disrespect should be treated lightly.

There she found out that there was one place that haven’t been completely cleaned out yet, the Drake Mansion. Well, must of it was scraped clean, but there was one vault that no one was able to get in. Selina smiled when she heard that. Finally.

 Of course the dammed mansion had to next to the demolished Wayne one. She ignored the feeling of her heart sinking when she saw the pile of rubbles, turned her face away. That place, that life, it didn’t matter anymore. She climbed the Drake Mansion tall iron fence with practiced ease, yes, that was what she was good at. That was her, not Selina Kyle the hero, Selina Kyle the thief. The Selina Kyle that cared for what was really important: herself.

The door was ajar and imposed no difficulty for her to get inside. The whole place was trashed and it was clear that someone was there before because it held nothing of value, nothing that could be traded for food or melted into ammo. That, Selina thought, was reality.  That was what people really amounted to in the end. Surviving.

She walked through the bare corridors, in some of them even the wallpaper was ripped off, to make fire, she thought, smart.

‘If I were a rich prick where would I hide a secret vault?’ she whispered to herself. Basement? Attic? A secret passed in the library? Behind a grandfather clock?  

Well, there was no grandfather clock, and all the books were gone from the shelves so she couldn’t just pick one and the secret passage would open like in a Scooby Doo episode. She wished she had pressed for more information. Geez, her head was pounding, her body had really get used to that eating everyday thing. There was nothing in the basement, just trash and what looked like it was one abandoned squat. How could someone have chosen to be in that creepyass place? And it was freezing!

She was getting really annoyed and was ready to climb to the attic when she noticed something moving with the corner of her eye. Selina rested her hand on her bullwhip slowly and walked towards it. It moved again. With luck was just a rat. It moved once more and let out a squeal, a very human one. Not a rat then.

She rolled her eyes, nothing that made that sound could possibly be dangerous.

‘Come on out!’

Nothing.

‘If you don’t then I will have to go there and I don’t think you will like it.’

The shadow rustled a bit, and them it tried to make a run to the stairs.

Selina cracked her whip blocking their way.

It was a girl. Around her same age. She was wearing a long dirty wool skirt a pile of coats that with the addition of the enormous backpack she had on made her look very small despite her actual size, she was taller than Selina, her hair was brown and oily. She had her back to Selina.

‘Turn around! Who are you?’

She turned surprised.

‘Selina?’

Selina frowned.

‘Do I know you?’

‘It’s me, Paul! Paul Milligan. Well, it’s Nikki now.’

Selina blinked confused and then the girl walked closer, Selina’s hand held the bullwhip harder, but she didn’t strike again. The thin light bean coming from upstairs washed the stranger’s face.

‘Oh my god! It’s you!’ She couldn’t help the smile. ‘What the fuck you’re doing here? Didn’t they find you a good family last time? And Nikki? What is that? A stripper name?’

Her old friend laughed lightly.

‘It’s for Nichole, my parents chose it. The new ones.’

‘What happened?’

‘They died. The building they worked was one of those that blew up.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Yeah, me too. But hey, you’re looking good.’

‘Can’t say the same.’

Nikki laughed again, thing time more whole-heartily.

‘I missed you, Cat.’

‘Sheesh. So…’ She pointed to the cot on the corner of the room. ‘You’re squatting here?’

‘No, nooo. I’m here to do the same as you, I guess. The vault?’

Selina sighed, great. She was happy to see Nikki and all but that was the last thing she needed right now, competition.

‘Look, Nikki…’

‘No, listen, Selina. I know you work alone, but hear me out, I don’t think this is a work for just one person.’

‘And why is that?’

Nikki looked up.

‘I’ve been studying this place for a while… I you need to go up there to open the vault down here. It has this very complicated computer system, but I think I can hack it.’

‘But there is no power here, how is this computer system even on?’

‘I think they have a generator.’

‘Shit.’

Selina was good at a lot of things, but she had no idea of how to deal with that nerd stuff.

‘Hey, we can collab. For the old times?’

Selina met Nikki on Gotham’s Children Center where Selina was thrown time after time when she was rejected by some foster family or simple picked up from the streets when she fled. Nikki, then Paul, was this sad little nerd that Selina took a like into because she helped her to learn to read in exchange for protection from the other kids that beat her up regularly and called her slurs. When Selina was ten, Nikki, then eight, left the GCC to live with this nice suburban family and Selina heard that she was adopted later. She was happy for her friend at the time, but also jealous, she wasn’t the only one. She after hearing some boys saying really disgusting things about her friend she decided to discount her frustration by beating the shit out of them and fleeing GCC again before getting a punishment. They didn’t try to bring her back after that.

Nikki was still waiting an answer with those big brown eyes of her.

Selina rolled her eyes and sighed.

‘Okay, fine. What do I have to do?’

 Turns out that was a lot of money in that vault. A lot.

‘What are going to do with your share?’ Asked Nikki, she still looked dumpy but now her cheeks were a healthy red and she had a gleam of happiness in her eyes.

‘I’m leaving Gotham.’

‘What?’

‘Why? Is it so hard to believe that I want nothing to do with this shitty place?’

‘No, it’s just… I head about you…and Bruce Wayne.’

Selina winced at the sharp pain hearing his name brought.

‘That is over. He is gone.’

‘He died?!’

Despite herself Selina almost laughed. She missed Nikki, she had a childlike way to say things, and she was always jumping to extreme conclusions, it was endearing.

‘No, you moron. He left.’

‘Oh… I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. I don’t care. I don’t care about him.’

Nikki said nothing.

‘What about you? What are you going to do with yours?’ Asked Selina.

‘Where will you go?’

‘Why?’

‘Do you think you could use some company?’

 So this was the first part. I’m really glad for the views, kudos, bookmark and comment. You guys are great!

Next chapter might be a bit raunchy XDD Lots of flashbacks of Selina and Bruce in Heaven.

[bbycal]

You’re so much more- CH

Word count: 1,920

Warnings: cursing, smut, the good shit

You weren’t entirely sure on where you were at with Calum. You guys have gone out, well once for coffee after a long night of partying, but have slept together on multiple occasions. We’re you just an easy lay for him or did he develop feelings like you had? These thoughts stayed on your mind as you drove over to Ashton’s house for the party the boys were throwing after a long and successful tour. You got a text late last night from Calum, expecting it to be about coming over for a quick lay after months apart but it was an invitation to the party, saying he missed seeing you and hoped you could make it. You spent most of the afternoon getting ready, making sure to wear something a little more revealing to quickly get his attention and hopefully keep it. You made sure to pull up to the house late, almost an hour late, checking your makeup one last time in the mirror and making your way to the door. As you walked in, you noticed it wasn’t to crowded and you knew most of the people there. You talked to a few, excusing yourself to find Calum. You started in the kitchen so you could grab a drink until you could find the boy you were looking for, almost bumping into Ashton who was walking in at the same time.

“Hey! You made it!” He grabbed your hand, pulling you towards the counter with all the alcohol and grabbing two cups.

“How have you been Ash? I’ve missed you guys!” You took a cup from his hand and started drinking.

“Good, so happy to be home for a little bit. I missed everyone and need a break from an airplane.” He laughed, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and leading you out of the kitchen. You guys walked through the living room, saying hello to Mike and Luke and sitting on the sofa. You’d been there for almost an hour and still hadn’t seen Calum, it wasn’t super crowded but Ash’s house was pretty big so you wondered where he could be. You stood up, making your way to the balcony and spotting the tall brunette talking to some people. Your eyes met his as you walked out, him stopping mid sentence and checking you out. He stalked over towards you, not saying a word as he wrapped his arm around your waist and pulling you into his chest.

“Hey Cal, I wondered where you were.” He pulled away but kept his hand on your waist.

“You we’re looking for me huh? How long have you been here?”

“About an hour, got caught talking to Ashton about tour. I missed you though.” You whispered the last part, not wanting everyone to hear. You guys didn’t keep it a secret that you were sleeping together, almost everyone knew, but you still didn’t know where you stood with Calum.

“I missed you love.” He slipped his hand down just above you butt, placing a kiss on the side of your head before pulling back and moving you guys back towards the group he was talking too. You stood with Calum for about 30 minutes, listening to the conversation and drinking whatever you had in your cup, feeling his hand slowly start to massage the small in your back. You drank what was left of your cup, pulling slightly away from Cal but wasn’t able to move to far before he tightened his grip, looking down at you confused.

“Outta drink, I’ll be back.”

“I’ll come with, I need to pee.” You guys excused yourselves and headed towards the kitchen while Calum went to the bathroom. You finished making yourself a drink, raising the cup go your lips as you felt a hand wrap around your waist, Calum placing a kiss on your cheek.

“Wanna get our of here, I’ve been wanting to take that dress off of you ever since you walked onto that balcony.” He whispered into your ear, before kissing at your neck.

“hhhmmmm, Cal. The party’s not over yet and people are staring.” You turned to face him while taking another drink.

“Let them, they already know I make you scream my name.” He smirked, grabbing the cup out of your hand and throwing it away before leading you towards the front door without saying goodbye.

It only took 10 minutes to get to his house and he was handsy the whole ride there. As soon as you arrived, you walked into his kitchen, sitting yourself at the table while he grabbed some water.

“So how bad did you miss me?” He walked over, squatting down in front of you while meeting your eyes. He placed his hands on your thighs causing your breathing to jolt as he slowly slid them up.

“Fuck Cal, so fucking much.” It came out as a moan, desperate for him to start something.

“Stand up for me love.” As soon as you were on your feet, he leaned down and connected you lips for a short kiss before he unzipped your dress and let it hit the floor.

“Sit down again.” You did as he said, pulling the chair out farther from the table and sitting back in it. He got back down in front of you, spreading your legs and started placing kisses on your inner thighs. He pulled away, grabbing the hem of your underwear and pulling them off of your body before spreading your thighs again. Your fingers threaded through his hair, slightly pulling him down to where you needed him the most. Calum ran his fingers down your pussy, teasing you a little and then pushing one inside of you, picking up a pace. You threw your head back as soft moans slipped your lips, his fingers sending you into pure ecstasy. He starts to pump his fingers faster, brushing his lips over your clit as you let out a load moan.

“Oh fuck, right there.” You moaned as he swiped his tongue over your wetness.

“So good for me love.” He slowed his pace before inserting another finger and pumping faster than before.

“So good Calum, so fucking good.” Your eyes roll back as you reach your climax, throbbing under his touch as he runs his tongue down you again. He stands up, grabbing your hand and leading you towards his bedroom. He shuts the door behind you, grabbing you by the waist and kissing you while slowly walking you backwards towards the bed.

“Sit for me love.” He says as he backs away, pulling his clothes off of his body. He walks over to you in just his boxers, standing in front of you so you can palm his hard on through the material. You gain a few small moans from him, stopping just long enough to pull his boxers off and grabbing his cock with your hands. You pumped a few times, licking the tip and teasing him slightly.

“Don’t tease love, fuck.” He got out through breathes. You took him into your mouth, letting the tip hit the back of your throat and holding it there for a couple to seconds. You looked up at him, pulling him out of your mouth and shoving him back in, bobbing your head and stroking the rest of him that you couldn’t fit into your mouth. Moans escaped his lips causing you to pick the pace as you felt his cock twitch in your mouth. After a few more minutes, you felt him release into the back of your throat, swallowing it and pulling Calum down on top of you. He lifts his head slightly, moving a hand to cup your breast. You threw your head back as he pinches your nipple between his thumb and index finger.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” He says, meeting your eyes as he connects your lips. He moves his hand and pinches at the other nipple causing a you to moan into his mouth, using the opportunity to pull away, moving his lips down to your breast. His cock is out, pressing into your thigh causing the wetness to pool again. He moves to your other breast, lightly sucking and licking at your nipple. Your body is growing impatient, needing to feel him inside of you.

“Fuck me Cal, I need you to fuck me.” He doesn’t say anything, just hums against your breast as he runs his fingers over your clit and slowly starts rubbing circles over the swollen bud. You feel another orgasm creeping over your body, turning you into a moaning mess under him.

“CALUM FUCK.” You grab at his wrist, trying to get him to quicken his pace and listening to him lightly chuckle.

“Scream my name love, fuck you’re beautiful.” You feel yourself come undone with his words, him pulling his fingers from your clit to pump at his cock a couple of times. He lines himself up, slowly pushing himself fully in and then stopping so you can adjust to him. He starts to thrust into you faster, setting a pace as you reach down to run at your clit.

“fuck fuck fuck, oh fuck.” You grabbed onto the sheets with your free hands, arching your back up so he could get deeper inside of you. You could feel your third orgasm spilling over you, trying to steady your hand to make it last longer. You felt Calum bend down to place a hand on your back, flipping you over so you were now on top.

“I love watching you ride my cock love, oh fuck.” You kept the same speed, placing your hands on his chest to keep yourself upright. He moves his hands to your hips, digging his nails into your skin, throwing his head back. You leaned down, sucking slightly at his neck causing moans to fall of his lips. You loved hearing him moan your name, causing your orgasm to spill over you, slowing down your pace and riding it out. You laid down next to him, trying to catch your breath as you leaned into his side.

“That was so good Cal, I missed you so much.” You said, placing a kiss on his jaw.

“You have no idea how much I missed you. Sexting just wasn’t enough for me. Next time I go on tour, I’m taking you with me so u can make you cum in every city.” He pulled you closer, tightly wrapping his arm around your naked body.

“Taking me with huh? Wouldn’t it be weird for a random girl to be traveling with you guys?” His brows furrowed as he met your eyes.

“Random girl? You’re not just any girl love, you’re so much more than that. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else.” You smiled, kissing at his jaw again.

“What kind of way is that?”

“I don’t know, you’re getting to me I guess. I only want to wake up next to you in the morning. So what do you say? You wanna do this... with me?” You could tell he wasn’t used to these kind of conversations, causing you to laugh into his chest.

“Yes Calum, I would love to wake up next to you every morning.” You grabbed his face, pulling him in for a kiss. You moved your body so you were sitting up on his chest, pulling away while still holding his face,

“Another round in the shower?” You winked getting up and grabbing his hand, leading your boyfriend to the bathroom.

Tag list: @soulmatecashton @ghostsofhood @irwinofficial @dankpunks @glitterycalum @fuckngcal @calum5os @calumspeachy @crownedbyluke @jannimoeller3 @qualitylu @sublimehood @calumhiod @kinglyhood @mistletoekj 

[justsomelarryfics]

I have decided to start doing monthly fic recs! This will include all of the fics that I read, finished, and enjoyed this month. I will first do fics that came out this month, and then I will do ones that are older that I read this month.

Sorted by length

New this month

Happy Valentine’s Day, You Cockroach by @allwaswell16 -  Harry Styles, new director of the Milltown Zoo, has a great idea for a Valentine's Day themed fundraiser. For a donation, they'll name cockroaches after people's exes and then feed them to the meerkats on a live stream. He just didn't foresee how many cockroaches would end up with his name... (one shot, 2k)

What Am I Gonna Say When I See You by @runaway-train-works - “I wouldn’t have asked you to come if he didn’t want you there.” Louis hands her the gift bag when he reaches the pavement beside her and they turn to walk down the street to the house he has been in too many times to count. “I know you wouldn’t, but I haven’t seen him in forever. And you said it was just close family and friends going.” “You are close family and friends. A lot closer than I am. The main reason I’m going is because mum made me since she’s sick in bed with the flu.” Louis kind of wishes he was sick in bed with the flu. He shouldn’t be this apprehensive. It’s Harry. It’s only Harry. And yeah, they might not have seen each other in almost six years, but they're still friends. Aren’t they? Or The one where Louis' unsure if too much time has passed since he last saw his childhood best friend to try and make things right. (one shot, 7k)

I wish that I could let you love me for @popularryculture -  Could he handle leaving for six months? He asked himself in his head, and soon enough another question followed: could he handle staying, knowing who he would be staying for? (one shot, 12k, inspired by Little Mix’s song Oops)

If That’s Not Love Then What Is -  There are a few things in life that Louis Tomlinson cannot stand - Conversation Hearts candy and Harry Styles. But when Harry gets broken up with the day before Valentine's, and Louis is the only one he can turn to, he starts to reevaluate things. (one shot, 17k)

your rainbow will come smiling through by @hazkabaan for @popularryculture - when harry isn't working at his stepfather's cafe, he's trying to make swim captain and trying to finish all his coursework on time. when he's not doing any of those things, he's talking to the boy he met on the oxford hopefuls subreddit. when they decide to meet, he's elated. he finally gets the chance to meet the boy he's been crushing on! when the day comes to meet his prince, he learns that his online crush is none other than louis tomlinson, captain of the football team and friend of his terrible stepbrothers. now harry has to decide whether telling louis the truth is the right choice or if it's better to just let sleeping dogs lie. a cinderella story au (one shot, 17k)

Brave Love by @angelichl -  Harry breaks up with his boyfriend a day before Valentine's Day and Louis tries to cheer him up. (one shot, 17k)

Tell Me Your Secrets by @dimpled-halo for @popularryculture - “You!” They both yell in unison. Niall looks between the two of them. “You know each other?”Harry scoffs and looks away from Louis Tomlinson to meet Niall’s gaze. “Remember that guy in college I told you about? The one that was at that frat party and drunk as fuck and then I gave him a ride to his dorm but on our way there he decided to pee in an empty cup in my car?” Niall’s eyes widen and he stares at Louis laughing. “You mean the one who spilled his piss all over you?” “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. Harry here was being a little priss the entire time and he ran over a speed bump without slowing down and it caused me to make a mess. You also didn’t have to leave me stranded in the middle of the night for something you caused.” Louis snaps back. Harry rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” A For a Good Time Call au where Harry and Louis get off on the wrong foot when they first meet. When dire circumstances forces them to become roommates, Harry finds out some things about Louis that he doesn't expect will help him discover some things about himself. (chaptered, complete, 17k)

Soup of the Day by @jacaranda-bloom - It had been the single minded goal for them since college and seemed simple enough. 1. Study hard. 2. Open their dream restaurant. 3. Take the culinary world by storm.What could possibly go wrong? Or the Restaurant AU where Louis and Niall are chefs, Chicago is windy, and cracking the big time is harder than they ever imagined. But when a mysterious man starts grading Louis' soups by leaving little piles of rocks, could it be just the thing they need to get them on the road to success? (chaptered, complete, 19k)

If You’re The Storm, Then I’m The Chaser by @loveislarryislove for @popularryculture - An AU based on Ed Sheeran's song "New Man" Louis is back in town for the first time since he and Harry broke up six months ago. He's not sure what would hurt more, if Harry has moved on or if he's still as torn up as Louis is. He never even considered that Harry would be acting like a completely different person. And maybe he really is as happy as he keeps insisting, but Louis really doesn't think so.~*~*~*~“Who are you and what have you done to Harry Styles?” It sounds corny as fuck, and Harry bursts into laughter, but Louis means it. He barely recognizes Harry, every word out of his mouth sounding like it belongs to someone else. This isn’t him. This isn’t him at all. “I’m the same person,” Harry says with a shrug. “I just get what I want now. And tonight, that means you.” "This just isn't you,” Louis says, shaking his head. “This isn’t the Harry I lo – the Harry I knew at all.” Harry stares at him for a long moment. “Maybe you didn’t know me as well as you thought,” he says at last. (one shot, 21k, read warnings)

The Pain Is For Pleasure by @chloehl10 for @hlbdsmficfest - “Louis, please. I promise you, you are so attractive to me. I love you, and I think you are the sexiest man I’ve ever been with-”“But Harry, that’s the fucking problem! You haven’t been with me, have you?! You don’t want me in that way, it’s pretty clear…” He cut him off, feeling that he was about to say something he would later regret. “If there’s a problem, I wish that you felt you could have told me, rather than, well, this.”“Louis, I-”“Just leave it, Haz. I get it, okay?”“No! You don’t, you have no fucking idea, Louis!”Louis and Harry have been together for a few months. Everything is great, but there’s one question burning in the back of Louis' mind - why won’t Harry have sex with him? (chaptered, complete, 67k)

Older fics

an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface for @1dshortficfest - “You look different when you’re not covered in come,” he blurts out, immediately regretting each and every life choice that has led to this exact moment. Elevator Guy is going to hate him. Louis has ridden the elevator with his neighbor all week. The first time they speak, there’s a misunderstanding. (one shot, 2k, 2019)

Take Your Time by @laynefaire for @litelarryquotechallenge - When Harry finds himself in the middle of a messy break-up with no place to live, Louis offers a spare room in his flat. Unbeknownst to Harry, Louis has been infatuated for years. Over the objections of their friends, who know the truth, Harry accepts. Can Louis survive Harry moving into his home…and closer to his heart? Will Harry see what's right in front of him? (one shot, 11k, 2018)

don’t be afraid, it’s only love -  A proposal!AU where Louis is at risk of being deported back to England and Harry just really wants a promotion. (one shot, 14k, 2013)

Never Too Late by @dimpled-halo - Harry’s confused for a moment before it hits him: the little boy is signing. Harry squats down to get to the boy’s level again and mirrors the same action. “Dad?” He inquires. Harry learned basic sign language after having met a fan who was deaf. He made it his mission to learn signing so that he’d be able to communicate with other fellow hearing impaired fans.The little boy smiles brightly, his tears now long gone. He goes on to extend both hands, palms up as if he’s asking where? Followed by the previous sign which means Dad. Harry smiles to himself at the amazing little guy standing in front of him.He stands up taking the boy’s hand, “Let’s go find your dad,” he tells him making the motion with his hand.Just having come out of the closet and recovering from vocal surgery, famous recording artist Harry Styles needs to get away from LA to work on new music needing to prove to his label that his career isn't over. Little does he know that his life is about to change forever when he runs into an old friend at the city he's decided to escape to. (one shot, 18k)

what, like it’s hard? by @thewriternotthemuse for @popularryculture - Louis sighs contentedly. “I’m just so marvelously happy, ya’ know?” “Good for you.” “It really is. It’s--it’s quite grand, actually. I’m going to my dream school with my dream man, to whom I am engaged. I have great friends. Life couldn’t be better.” “Very happy for you.” “Thanks.” Louis beams before her expression falls. “And then you had to come here and ruin everything.” “Yeah, I know,” Harry snaps. “I’m the bane of your existence for some reason.” “You certainly are,” Louis says, considering Harry. ~~~ In which Harry goes to law school to win back her man, but gets a lot more than she bargained for. (one shot, 21k, 2019)

Making Waves by @haztobegood for @popularryculture - After Louis Tomlinson, an arrogant millionaire, is thrown overboard and loses his memory, a mistreated employee convinces him that they are married. Thrust into an unfamiliar life he cannot remember, Louis must learn to live with his new husband and daughters and adjust to a less extravagant life. Or, the one where Louis can’t remember, Harry needs money, and Niall has a plan. An Overboard AU. (one shot, 30k, 2019)

Keep on Dreaming, This is Hollywood - Louis Tomlinson, a pop star manager, makes his way to LA with a pop star (and his new music demands) and a very busy schedule. Harry Styles came to Los Angeles with a dream and ended up sharing a flat and an occupation with a male prostitute from Ireland. What happens when Louis meets Harry, and makes him an offer he can't refuse? AKA A Pretty Woman AU where Louis is the high-powered businessman and Harry is the hooker. No, there is no necklace scene, but there is definitely piano sex. (one shot, 31k, 2013)

Is This Seat Taken? by @lainy122 - A borrowed suit from Zayn, a cigarette and the right attitude, and Louis went from security breach to misplaced celebrity instantly. He could practically see the wheels in the security guy’s head switch from ‘could be dangerous’ to ‘could get me fired’. L.A was so predictable.Louis makes a bet with Zayn that he can sneak into a music awards event without getting caught, and when he ends up posing as a seat-filling member of staff he runs into superstar Harry Styles and sparks fly. Que the music. (one shot, 35k, locked, 2015)