#ive watched all of make some noise and um actually already as well

[ppersonna]

make me - myg | m

strawberries on a summer evenin'. baby, you're the end of June. i want your belly and that summer feelin', getting washed away in you - watermelon sugar, harry styles

↳ summary- an ordinary sleepover with your best friend turns into anything but ordinary, thanks to your ridiculously loud neighbors above you.

↳ rating- explicit / 18+ / nc17

↳ word count- 4.4k

↳ pairing- yoongi x reader

↳ genre-  pwp lol, smut, fluff, somehow the dirtiest fluff i have ever written bc there’s some depraved shit in here

↳ warnings- penetrative sex, oral sex (m/f receiving), unprotected sex (dont...pls), dirty talk, rough sex, degrading talk, dom/sub undertones, bratty backtalk

↳ a/n- yooooo dawg this... was fun.  i hope you enjoy!!  ive been in my yoongi feels lately uwu. feel free to comment, message, dm, whatever u want babes.  i love you!

Yoongi thinks if he has to hear your upstairs neighbors fuck for another minute longer he might actually go crazy.

It’s been hours now.  The girl is screaming like a feral cat and the man is doing a terrible impression of a porn star, trying his best to talk dirty but really just calling the howling banshee awful names.  

If only his dick would be as annoyed as his brain.

He knows you’re awake next to him too.  The steady rise and fall of your breathing changed when the bad porn above you began—now it’s faint and too quick to indicate anything but your wakefulness.

“Ohhhhh oppa!” The girl above you screams.

It’s finally what breaks down the silence in your bedroom.  At her wanton sound, you and Yoongi are unable to stop yourselves from bursting into laughter.

Yoongi’s stomach hurts from laughing so hard.  Tears form at the corners of his eyes as you make the bed rumble from the force of your combined laughter.

“God, do they think that sounds hot?” You finally ask after settling down to mere giggles.

Yoongi shrugs and wipes away his tears. “Apparently.  He must like the way she sounds like a dying cat.”

His comment sends you into a spiral of laughter again, and you’re clinging to your chest as it heaves with exertion.

Yoongi is your best friend for a reason.  No one makes you laugh as hard as he does.  No one understands you the way he seems to be able to—it’s almost intuitive the way he can understand your feelings.  

You live for your weekly sleepovers.  You drink wine, watch terrible horror films, gossip about your other friend’s love lives, and fall asleep in your bed together.  It’s never been anything but blissful.

Until recently…

When your heart decided it would beat too fast around him.  When your brain decided to spin and weave stories of romance with your best friend.

Now, you can’t hardly think about anything else around the dirty blonde haired boy.  It’s overwhelming to all of your senses when you see him, feel him near you.  You want to kiss him, to love him, to tear his clothing off.

Which makes lying in your full size bed while the neighbors above you fuck and attempt to act out their wildest fantasies—badly—so much harder than usual.

“God,” Yoongi sighs and tugs the blanket up to his chin. “Does she even like it or do you think she’s faking it?”

You wrinkle your nose in disgust. “Ugh, I know I wouldn’t be into it.”

“You don’t like dirty talk?” He teases with a poke to your stomach.  It makes an eruption of nerves go off in your chest.

“Oh, no I do. But that’s not dirty talk,” you shrug. “He’s just being mean. There’s no sensuality underneath it.”

He hums and lays back down to stare at the ceiling.

“Give me an example,” he asks of you. It makes your cheeks flush red and you’re thankful for the darkness in your room to provide you cover.

“Um, well,” you cough awkwardly. “He’s saying shit like ‘you fuck anything don’t you?’ which, maybe she’s into degradation, but I’m not. Not that extreme.”  Your explanation sounds lame, but you continue anyway. “I prefer to hear things like ‘this slutty little pussy belongs to me’.  Possessive and hot at the same time without being too...uhh...hurtful.”

Yoongi feels his cock rise with piquing interest. There’s a nagging guilt about thinking of his best friend this way, and a tinge of jealousy thinking someone who isn’t him has said that to you.

He feels his throat dry up, and you wring your hands nervously on the blanket. The moaning above you doesn’t stop, and you can hear the telltale sound of flesh slapping on flesh, indicating they’ve commenced into penetration and it makes your body throb with annoyance, and with want.

There’s moments when a louder slap echoes through the room—it’s clear the man is slapping her somewhere—and she whines desperately.  Your core starts building that familiar heat, a slickness gathering you can’t stop. You press your thighs together tight and squirm as subtly as you can. You pray Yoongi doesn’t notice.  

Yoongi, however, does notice.  He breathes a sigh of relief internally knowing he’s not the only being affected by the commotion above. But he doesn’t understand the meaning behind it. For all he knows, you’re just turned on because—well, because it’s sex and it’s loud and who wouldn’t be a little turned on? You’re likely not at all aroused by him, or the thought of him. Right?

Another slap echoes through the room and you can tell by the way the girl gasps that her partner slapped her in the face.

“Damn,” you shiver.  Yoongi turns to peek at you through the darkness.

“You into that?” He asks curiously. “Face slapping?”

It’s hard to swallow for a moment—it feels like you’re trying to down a boulder.

“Uh, yeah,” you whisper. “Yeah, I like pain.”

Yoongi doesn’t reply and it makes you fear you’ve overstepped the line. You’ve gone too far off the ‘best friend’ track and the whole train is about to de-rail.

You’re opening your mouth to apologize for taking it too far when Yoongi finally speaks.

“Fuck it,” he sighs. “You want to fuck louder and establish dominance?”

The world stops turning.  You’re sure that gravity doesn’t exist anymore and the theory of relativity has been proven wrong.

Did Min mother fucking Yoongi, your best friend of over twenty years, just offer to have sex with you to...establish dominance over the neighbors above you attempting to make a cheap porn?

He’s looking at you normally, but there’s a glimmer in his eye that says more.  It says he wants you.  Your stomach twists in on itself.  There’s no way, there is no actual plausible way that the man beside you feels the same way about you as you do.

“You want to have sex with me?”

Yoongi’s cheeks turn pink and he looks away for a minute.

“I also want to date you,” he murmurs.  

If you thought the world ended before, you’re sure this is the fiery explosion that brings a new earth into life with a bang.

The noises from upstairs interrupt the romantic moment with a scream, a guttural howl from the man, and then muffled whispers and sighs.

“What do you say we keep them up all night too?” His mouth turns to a smirk as he awaits your reply.

“Yeah,” you nod as you throw the blankets off you.  “Fuck those guys, lets show them what real kinky sex looks like.”

Yoongi’s eyes turn feral as he works his eyesight down your body.  Your normal sleepwear outfit of a tank top and shorts looks like lingerie to him now and he’s salivating at the way he can see the curve of your breasts, and the press of your hard nipples against the fabric.

You’re throwing yourself onto Yoongi’s body in an instant, pinning him down to the bed and pressing your lips to his.  You waste no time in waiting for him now that you know—now that you’ve heard with your two ears that Min Yoongi not only wants to fuck you, but date you as well.   No use wasting any more time—the time for action is now.

The kiss is hot and Yoongi’s hands falter for a moment in surprise before he’s coming to his senses and tugging at your tank top quickly to pull it off your body.  His hands feel hot on the bare skin of your back, rubbing at your spine and up to your shoulders.  It makes you shiver, and you slide your tongue into his mouth to explore the heat inside.  

His hands navigate forward to cup your breasts, fingers toying with your nipples—pinching and pulling and rolling between the pads of his fingers.  It has you keening into his touch and grinding down on his basketball-shorts-covered cock. 

Yoongi pulls away from you and pulls at a nipple harshly, which makes you gasp out loud.

“It’s real cute how you think you’re in charge right now,” he points out.  “Real fucking cute.  It’s gonna make me almost feel bad for punishing you.”

You’re sure your soul is going to leave your body at hearing your best friend’s sexy baritone voice verbalize your dirtiest fantasies.  If this is how you react now…, may God have mercy on your poor little pussy.

Yoongi thinks he’s possibly never been harder than he is right now.  His best friend, best girl, is sitting atop his boner and he’s twisting your pretty nipples so hard they’ll surely turn purple soon.  You sound so sweet when you whine, and you’re starting to whine louder as he continues the pressure on your tits.

“You thought you could take control, didn’t you?” He asks, slipping further and further into the dominant act.  He loves this, thrives off it.  He didn’t think you’d ever be into it—none of the girls he’s dated before have—and he’s thrilled he doesn’t have to hide this depraved part of himself.

You nod and bite your lip, wincing as he tugs once more on a nipple before letting go.

“Cute,” he sighs.  “But wrong.”

In an instant, he flips you two over and he feels his heart and cock swell at the sight of your sweet eyes widening at the quick change.  

“This feels better, don’t you think?” He asks.  You nod and he shakes his head.  “Answer me, baby doll.  You’re already about to get punished.  You wouldn’t want to make me not let you cum, would you?”

The fear in your eyes increases and you clear your throat to talk.

“No sir, I don’t want that.”  

Yoongi nearly moans.  Hearing you call him sir, being underneath him—it’s his wet dreams come to life.

“Then tell me,” he instructs. “Tell me you need me in charge.”

You’re dying to be a brat, really wanting to pull Yoongi completely out of his shell, show him the full extent of what he can do to you.  Plus, you really wanna give your neighbors a show—a taste of their own medicine, don’t you?

“What if I don’t want to?” You tease.

Yoongi’s grin turns wider and his eyes sparkle with knowing. He’s a through and through brat-tamer, and by the end of the night you’ll be crying for forgiveness.

“Little tease,” he growls as he leans down to latch his mouth on your abused nipple.  

You gasp out loud, and it turns into desperate mewling as his teeth nibble and pull.  You’ll be bruised up for days, surely.  He sucks hard, pulls on it roughly and bites with meaning. You just know your panties are completely soaked.

“Talking back to me, huh? You think that’s going to get you where you want to go tonight, little girl?”

He turns his attention to your other nipple, eyes peering into yours as you struggle to answer with the sizzle of pain in your breast.

“What are you gonna do about it?” You send back with a shake of your hips under him.

The growl he delivers around your nipple and the quick bite makes you yelp.

“I think I should shut that loud mouth of yours up.”

You smile in response and his fingers tug down your shorts.  You lift your hips and allow him to pull the clothing off and you’re left in your slicked up panties.

“Oh yeah?” You retort.  “You gonna shut me up with that fat cock?”

Yoongi visibly shivers. His spine tingles deliciously for minutes after the hair on his neck settles.  He’s dreamed of you like this, under him and begging to be put in your place.  And now, here you are.  And he can’t wait to make it a reality.  He’s even forgotten about the loud neighbors.  It’s now just all about you.

“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Dirty little slut so horny to get her mouth on my cock.”

Yoongi allows a finger to trail down your clothed slit, and he outwardly groans at how wet you are.  You’re unable to hold back your whimpers of need—he’s so close to where you need him most and where you’ve dreamed of having him.

“You talk a big game for someone who’s drenched before I’ve even done anything,” Yoongi says with a smirk.

Your legs tremble as he pulls your panties to the side to expose your drenched folds. He dips a finger in and touches your clit. You moan in unison—he’s captivated by the heat and slick, you’re feeling air escape your lungs with every swirl of his finger.

“Y-Yoongi,” you whine.  He tsks and pulls his finger out.

“That’s not my name right now.” His hands start to slide your panties down and your stomach leaps with excitement.

“Sir, please.”

“Now you want to be my good girl?” He asks with a chuckle. “Where’s my mouthy little brat who wants my cock to shut her up?”

He leans back on his heels and watches you eye him. You’re nearly bursting at the seams. You’re naked while he remains completely clothed and while you’d normally feel exposed and vulnerable, all you feel is white hot heat. You’re burning for Yoongi, for him to do what you’ve dreamt he could do.

“Why don’t you show me what that sweet mouth can do?”  

He maneuvers to stand at the side of the bed, dick straining against the mesh of his shorts. He waits for you to sit up, which you wordlessly obey.  His cock is now eye level with you, and your mouth feels dry. You’ve dreamt about this dick, about what it looks like and how it would feel in your hand, inside you. The fact that you’re here now, about to find out all your secret fantasies is heady.

Your hand rubs at the straining material, over the thickness of his cock. He feels big, and you give it a squeeze which makes him hiss.

“Still being a tease,” he sighs with faux disappointment. “You’re in a precarious position to be such a little cocktease.  Might need to fuck that right out of you.”

It makes you whimper—his direct threats sounding like smooth promises going straight to your core.

“I’d like to see you try.”

Yoongi growls and grabs a bit of your hair, tugging your head back to look at him in the eyes.

“I think you should shut this fucking mouth up.”  His voice is dark, and his eyes glow with lust.

A grin pulls over your face as you gaze sweetly up at him—his hand still gripped tight in your hair.

“Make me.”

Yoongi is silent for a moment as he stares at you in wonder—his beautiful girl, so rebellious and yet so willing to comply.

“I fucking love you, you little fucking slut.”

Yoongi forces his shorts down and grips your chin, holding it hard in his hand.

“Now choke on my fucking cock.”

You open your mouth complacently and he wastes no time in shoving his entire length down your throat mercilessly.  

It’s hot. It feels like fucking heaven.  Your lips wrap around him and suction and he can feel your gag reflex straining against his tip at the back of your throat.  Yoongi thinks his entire spine is tingling with desire for you and the way you take his cock so well has his toes curling.

You didn’t even get to have a good look at Yoongi’s cock before it was shoved into your throat, but now that it’s there you don’t even need to see it to knows he is fucking thick and long. It stretches your mouth and you know your pussy will be taken to its limit when he finally buries himself inside you where he rightfully belongs.

“Can’t talk back now, can you?” He teases as he begins to fuck your throat. “Mmmm shit—, you suck my cock so fucking good.”

His words are nothing but encouragement for you and you fight back the growing discomfort in your throat and allow him to use it as he pleases.  Tears form in your eyes and slip down your face at the exertion and you soon feel his balls slap at your chin.  You’ve only fantasized of being used like this by Yoongi, and now it’s actually fucking happening.  You’ll be damned if you don’t give him the suck of a lifetime.

Yoongi thinks he’s staring into heaven as he fucks your tight mouth and watches as your eyes fill with tears.  They leak out and he knows you’re loving this just as much as he is by the palpable enthusiasm you accept his cock with.

“Look at my little brat,” he coos mockingly. “Not so big and brave now, are you?  Not with daddy’s cock wrecking your hot mouth.”

He picks up the pace and the sounds turn disgustingly lewd.  It’s a wet, slurping sound as Yoongi forces his cock in and out of your drooling mouth.  Saliva drips onto the bed below you as you take him all, never given a chance to breathe or swallow.  Yoongi takes and you selflessly give. You’d allow the man to split you in half—and you’re actively hoping he does just that tonight.

Suddenly, Yoongi is pulling out of your mouth and leaving you panting and keening for more. He grips his cock with a fist.  He strokes himself roughly and looks down at you.

“Gonna cum, baby girl. Fucking beg for it.”

Your hands grip at his thighs and you’re breathing hard to catch up on the oxygen you were denied.  But it doesn’t stop you from doing exactly as he orders.

“Please, daddy. Please cum on my face.  Let me taste your cum, I want to know what you taste like.  Cum on me.  Mark me, daddy.”

Yoongi whines and increases the speed of his pumps. His mouth falls open as he watches you pout so sweetly and wait so eagerly for his seed on your face. He wants to see your entire body covered in his cum and he plans on ensuring that happens sooner rather than later.

“My eager little bitch. Wants her daddy to mark his territory.”

You nod, tongue sticking out and wagging like a dog for his cum.

“Please, daddy.  Make me messy.”

It seems to be the secret password to Yoongi’s climax. Your desperation, your eager position, the way you beg so sweetly.  It sends him right over the edge and he cries out as his cock pulses white stripes over your pretty face.  

He wishes he could take a picture of the way his cum covers your face.  He’d make it his background photo so he could see it every day, show everyone around him the gorgeous little whore he gets to cum on every night.

“Shit, babygirl,” he groans as he attempts to catch his breath.  “Look at you.”

You smile as your tongue retreats into your mouth and you savor the drops that landed on your tongue.  Your eyes close in bliss as you enjoy the flavor, noting it tastes salty and sweet and you can’t wait to reacquaint yourself with the taste over and over again.

“Lay back,” he orders as he pushes his shorts all the way off.  

In his haste to fuck your throat, he only pushed them halfway.  He slips out of them and pulls his shirt off before he joins you on the bed.

“Let me drink this cunt.”

You whimper in agreement as you press your back in to the pillows and spread open your legs.

“Please, daddy.”

He grins as he lowers himself to lie between your legs.  He blows on it, cool air pushing over your folds chilling you.

“Fuck,” he sighs.  “Greedy little cunt wants it all, hm?”

“Yes, daddy.”

“So compliant for me now,” he whispers as he kisses your thighs. “I like it when you behave.”

He kisses in further, and soon he’s using his fingers to spread apart the folds and pressing the flat of his tongue to your clit and laving it over the aching nub.

“Holy shit,” he groans as he comes up and sucks his tongue back into his mouth.  “Sweetest little pussy.”

You can’t reply, the capability to speak has left you now.  He buries his face back into your cunt and gets to work.  His tongue starts flicking against the bundle of nerves and then dips down to fuck into your channel.  He works his tongue around you and your back arches off the bed and your heels dig into the mattress.  You seek purchase in his hair with your hands, digits gripping at the blonde locks between your thighs.  

Yoongi groans and moans into your cunt, and soon he slips two fingers in to fuck you roughly.

He pulls his lips away and licks his tongue over them to collect the slick that lingers.  His fingers maintain a quick pace and he drinks in the sight of you gasping at the stretch.

“Yeah, look at you take my fucking fingers.  Such a wanton little whore for me.”

He slides another finger in to join, then another, and it makes your cries echo loudly around the room.  He suddenly remembers the neighbors above you and smirks.  He pulls his hands from you, making you keen with desire and desperately beg for more.

“Daddy! Please, I need..” you gasp. “Need you!”

He pulls himself up to join your hips together and rolls his them against each other.  His cock rubs against your soaked pussy and he bites his lip at the feel of it getting slicked up.

“I want you to be nice and loud for me, baby girl,” he demands sweetly in your ear as he licks the shell.  He notes your shiver and smirks, before kissing your ear lightly.  “Tell those mother fuckers upstairs who’s going to take you to Hong Kong.”

“Yes, daddy,” you agree.  

It only takes the consent to leave your lips for Yoongi to spear his cock into you.  He’s not slow or gentle, he pushes it into the hilt immediately.

Yoongi meant to start a pace, to begin fucking into you mercilessly, but he’s frozen inside your tight heat.  You feel so good, so fucking tight and warm and wet for him.  It’s better than heaven, and surely better than any pussy he’s been inside before.  Maybe it’s because it’s you, and no one else.

“Fuck!” He gasps. “Holy shit I could cum right now.”

You whine and move your hips desperately.

“Fuck me daddy! Fuck me hard, please!  Use me like your little cock sleeve.”

Yoongi bites his lip and feels his cock pulse.

“Shit, you’ve got a dirty fucking mouth,” he grits. “Let’s see if you’ve got a dirty little pussy too.”

He sets a pace, desperately wills his cock not to cum yet.  He wants to fuck you senseless, until your eyes roll back in your head.  He’s gonna make sure you get off on his cock before he comes close to his end.

Yoongi grips your chin again, like he did at the beginning as he fucks into you roughly.

“Look at you take my fucking cock so deep,” he bites out.  “Your cunt is so fucking desperate for my fat cock, isn’t it? You need me to fuck some discipline into you.”

You’re nearly screaming now at the force of his thrusts.  He’s pushing all the way into you with each push and his balls smack against your ass deliciously.  You’re babbling, words unable to make sense as he fucks all the brain cells out of you.

“Dumb little cock slut,” he whispers as he leans down to suck a nipple into his mouth and bite at it before releasing it  “Little brat turns into a perfect little fuck hole for me, so fucking good for me.”

“Yes, y-y-yes baby! S-so close!”  

Yoongi’s had you near the verge since his oral, and now with his punishing pace and power in his driving hips, you’re hovering over the edge.

His hand drops down to rub at your clit, a circular motion that has you gasping and screaming his name.

“That’s fucking right,” he breathes. “Tell them, baby.  Tell them who’s got the best fucking cock.  Tell them who fills this pussy up so well.”

You’re eager to comply.

“You, daddy!  Fuck!  You feel so fucking thick in me.  I need your cum, please, please.  Cum on me.”

Yoongi feels his balls tighten impossibly--he knows he’s seconds away from an explosive orgasm.

“Cum on my cock, baby girl.  Let me feel you cream my fucking cock.  Wanna see you all over this fat dick.”

His free hand tugs at a nipple and pulls it punishingly, tugging it so far it pulls the skin around it.  Your screams light up the room, echoing and bouncing off the walls and surely traveling up to your neighbors bedroom.

“Yoongi! Fuck! I’m cumming!” You warn, a millisecond before your world crashes around you.  

Your cunt squeezes his cock so tightly that it causes his hips to stutter in their pace.  It grips him tight, angry like a squeezed fist and Yoongi feels the air get sucked out of his lungs as his climax follows directly after yours.  He didn’t even have a chance to pull out--he’s emptying his load into your womb and whining at the feeling of your pulsating walls milking every single drop greedily.

It’s several minutes later that you’re both caught up to normal breathing and resting beside each other on the bed.  The room is silent, save for little pants and breaths, and Yoongi reaches over to lace his fingers into yours and hold your hand tightly.

“You wanna date me?” He asks sweetly, as if his cum isn’t dripping out of your cunt as he speaks.  

It makes you laugh.  It’s so classically Yoongi that you can’t help but to laugh.  

“Yes, daddy, I want to date you.  I want to date you every single day.”

He pulls you into his embrace and kisses at your forehead.

“Maybe we should send your neighbors some flowers for getting us together,” he teases.

As if on cue, the all too familiar sound of skin slapping against skin and screeching moans comes from upstairs and plays through your apartment like an unwanted jukebox.

“God damn it, our plan backfired.” he grumbles. “I think we turned them on.”

You press your sticky, sweaty body against him and kiss at his lips.  Your hand sneaks down to his cock and grips it again, begging it to come back to life.

“Shall we try again, then?”

[shortprince-cos]

More Truths Than Dares

Summary: After "The Double Closet Incident" as Patton so calls it, Patton and Janus have a talk at their friends' sleepover.

Ship: Moceit (Patton x Janus)

Warnings: Smoking, claustrophobia mention, truth or dare. Tell me if I need to add anything else!

Note: This is a direct sequel to "In A Closet"! You can read this without reading that, but it'll probably be confusing!

{Previous}

{Masterlist} (I KNOW I NEED TO FIX IT BUT IM A PROCRASTINATOR FIGHT ME)

~~~~~

"Oh, I didn't know he was invited."

All Patton had done was walk in the door. He hadn't even said hi, or hugged Roman yet, he just walked in the door, and Janus was already on his back for just existing in his presence.

It was going to be a long night.

"Yes? He's my best friend, you know!" Roman defended as he brought Patton to sit on the couch with him and Logan.

"Wow, rude." Logan said.

Roman made a series of offended noises. "You're my boyfriend! So obviously Patton is my best friend!"

As the two quickly dissolved into playful banter, Patton stood to go put his overnight bag in Roman's room, hearing Janus whisper something to Remus and Virgil as he walked by.

Just ignore it, he thought, not really in the mood to argue today. Especially not after what Patton had dubbed ‘The Double Closet Incident’.

It was disastrous. Not only did Patton get locked in a closet with Janus, who has claustrophobia, he discovered that he may have a thing for men. Who knew?

Roman. Roman probably knew, especially after he had adopted Patton into their little friend group. And if being gay was a contest, Roman would be the judge.

But...it was normal to feel that way, right? It wasn't weird to feel embarrassed when someone got up in your personal space, was it? It wasn't abnormal to blush when someone said kind words to you, or odd to imagine yourself in different scenarios with someone you saw on a daily basis and they were-

Wait, what was he doing again?

Patton sighed as he set down his bag by Roman's bed. Those were thoughts for another day. He was supposed to be having fun at his best friend's sleepover, after all!

Patton put on a happy face and went back to the living room to join the others, finding that Roman and Remus were wrestling over something, Logan and Janus were debating, and Virgil was scrolling on his phone. Yep, it was going to be a long night.

---

After breaking up Roman and Remus' tussle, watching a couple of movies, and other various shenanigans, Remus decided to gather everyone up in his room to play truth or dare.

If Patton learned anything from watching the others' turns, it was to always choose truth when Remus picks you.

"Double D, Truth or Dare?" Remus asked excitedly, even though he already knew what Janus would say.

"Dare."

Remus grinned like a shark. "I dare you and Patton to stay in my closet for one hour together."

Both Janus and Patton went pale.

"I...lied. I meant truth." Janus quickly said, hoping that Remus would let up.

"Nope! Too late! Now, you and Patton have to get in there, have hate sex or something, and come out in an hour!"

"Uh- we can't!" Patton exclaimed suddenly, and then all eyes were on him.

"What, are you afraid of the dark or something?" Remus teased.

"Um- no- well, kinda- but no. I- uh- have claustrophobia."

Janus looked shocked, to say the least. Thankfully, everyone was still looking at Patton.

"Yeah, small spaces are absolute torture to be in, and I would prefer it if none of us did stuff that involves small spaces, because then I'll worry about them!" Patton rambled quickly, trying to get all attention on him.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Ugh, fine. But you guys still need to do something together."

Patton blushed a bit, and Janus sighed, looking relieved.

Eventually, Remus gave up, and just dared Janus to eat shaving cream.

The rest of the night went smoother, and Patton ended up telling a lot of weird secrets, but not very important ones.

Eventually, everyone was asleep in either Roman's room, or Remus' room. Everyone except Patton, who couldn't get his brain to turn off.

Patton reluctantly got out of his sleeping bag, and made his way to the front door, maybe some fresh air would clear his mind.

Turns out, he wasn't the only one who had that idea, because as he stepped outside, he found the one and only Janus on the porch, smoking a cigarette.

Before Patton could turn back around, Janus saw him, and nodded his head in acknowledgment. Well, no going back now.

Patton silently sat down in the wooden rocking chair next to where Janus was standing, staring off into space a little before speaking up.

"You-you know that smoking is bad for you, right?"

Janus' lips curled up in a small smile as he chuckled. "I'm aware. Don't worry your pretty head, I only do it when I'm stressed."

Patton decided to ignore the way being called pretty by Janus felt and focused on the other part of that statement. "What are you stressed about?"

Janus blew out a puff of smoke, and suddenly Patton was very distracted by his lips.

"You. You're...different than how I thought you'd be." Janus said solemnly, drawing in another breath.

"Is...is that a bad thing?" Patton asked quietly, looking down to the floor.

Janus glanced at Patton with an indecipherable look on his face. "To be honest? I don't know. On one hand, you're actually a decent person."

"Thank you?"

"And on the other," Janus continued. "I've treated you like s**t for no reason other than spite."

"...It's okay-"

"It's not." Janus interrupted.

They sat in silence for awhile, trying to figure out if the other still wanted them here or not.

"Why did you think I was a bad person?" Patton asked quietly.

Janus huffed. "It's complicated."

"I mean...we got all night."

"...true." Janus sighed. "I think it's because ‘nice’ people don't usually want anything to do with me, and when they do, it's usually for the wrong reasons." He explained. "So when you started talking to me...I don't know, you reminded me of all the wrong people."

Patton's heart broke. He reminded Janus of some probably terrible memories, and had probably been hurting him just by being around him! No wonder Janus frowned whenever Patton walked in a room!

"Janus, I'm so so sorry, I never knew-"

"What are you sorry for?"

"I- That I remind you of some terrible people in your life-"

"Patton," Janus rest a hand on Patton's shoulder, making him blush. "You don't have any control over who you remind me of. Please, don't apologize for that."

"Well- then you can't apologize for being reminded of those people either!" Patton argued.

"I didn't say that, I said I was sorry for treating you terribly!"

"Well, then, I guess you're forgiven!" Patton retorted.

Janus looked at him in shock, as if Patton had just said a bunch of profanities, before quickly looking back to stare off into the distance again. His cheeks were red, but Patton convinced himself that he was probably cold out here.

"You're...too forgiving." Janus mumbled softly, as if he was talking to himself.

"I think that's a good thing." Patton replied.

Janus huffed. "...Thank you." He said, looking at Patton with a small smile on his face. "For everything."

Patton blushed. "Y-Yeah. No problem."

Janus looked at him with a disagreeing look on his face, but let it go.

They settled into comfortable silence as Janus threw his cigarette away and Patton almost fell asleep.

The second time Patton had to force his head up, Janus huffed.

"You should probably get to sleep."

As if on cue, Patton yawned. "So should you." He said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

Janus chuckled. "Fine. I'll go back to bed if you do."

"Okay, fine. You have a deal."

Janus had that stupid, self-satisfied smirk on his face that he usually wore that made Patton feel fuzzy inside.

"Good," He smirked. "See you in the morning."

"Yeah. See ya."

Janus ventured into the house, Patton following a few moments later.

Patton felt like he was getting into dangerous territory with Janus, but instead of feeling concerned, he felt more excited than ever.

~~~~~

Hi guys!!!! Its been awhile! So, this is an au that ive fallen in love with, so i wanna keep writing for it! If you guys have any name ideas, send em my way please!

General Taglist: @resident-crow-goth @macademmia @theantisocialghost @foreverfangirlalways @emo--nightmaree @moxy--sanders101 @quinnthequeer @gattonero17 @trashno0dles @tranquil-space-ninja @chaotic-murder-muffin @lugooble @sander-crossing @princess-rosie @sleepyysoot @hi-its-tutty @lookingforaplacetosleep @sarcasmremovedsoul @corkeecoderyt @drarrymalecsolangelo @private-snippers @girl-who-reads @emy-loves-you @reptilian-with-scallions

Ask to be added or removed!

Reblogs are appreciated!💖

[wizkiddx]

without making this a sap story ive had some not so great news from home and am in one of them moods to not talk abt it. but i need a tom h to hug me , pls could u write something like that?

hey anon - i am sending u all my love, and hope things get a little easier for u as soon as possible. if u ever do wanna chat abt nothing or rant just send me a pm x  I hope this is at least somewhat what u were looking for <33

summary: life is sometimes not good, but your fave boy makes it just a little easier to deal with (with some original help from his brother too)

a bit angsty but i promise mainly fluff (and a popcorn fight?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What drew you out of the sort-of-trance was a two soft but firm knocks at the door - well Tom’s bedroom door. You’d been relaxing with him and Harry, watching the new ‘Line of Duty’ when your mum had called for the daily catch up. Admittedly, she had already tried to call you twice today but somehow you’d managed to miss both of them. On reflection, possible not that shocking because you’d been at a charity golf day with the boys which involved a fair amount of noise, chat and competition. 

Thankfully the boys had both done pretty well, Tom coming slightly ahead but that was the norm between the two. It meant they were both happily basking in their relative victories and not moody and grumpy like they are oh so often when things go wrong. Because to them, against your pleading, begging and sometimes lecturing…. golf was not just a game.  

You and your mum had always been very close, so usually speaking to her was uplifting and made you feel a little bit more complete - what with travelling with Tom for work, her voice was a slice of home. This time though, it was not so much the case. It was just sad news about your home town. Nothing directly to your family or close friends but still, it makes you feel generally down. 

Who knows how long it’d been since you’d hung up on the phone, just staring at the wall opposite. Everything felt just hollow and empty, lacking in meaning somewhat. You weren’t necessarily thinking, more like devoid of emotion, of thoughts, of anything. Just a bit cold. 

“Y/n…Y/n?” His voice sounded hesitant, as though scared he was interrupting your call. When you didn’t respond, the door cracked open and his fluffy head poked in, not that you noticed - your brain was still half absent. Tom on the other hand, was instantly looking you up and down, very much confused as the why you looked so rigid and not present. Noticing the phone was lying quiet on the bed in front of you, he felt safe to enter. He made a beeline for the bed, perching himself down on the edge, in-front of you - so he was blocking your fascinating view of the grey wall opposite. 

“What’s going on in that little head of yours?” His voice was soft and gravely, choosing not to put much energy into his vocal box as he rubbed up and down one of your arms. 

“Hmmm? Sorry, was miles away.”

“Could tell darl.” As he chuckled his eyes crinkled round the outside. “How was your mum?”

“Yeh…um okay, I-I guess.” As much as you wanted to shake yourself out of it, it just wasn’t that easy. Everything was laced with this underlying chilliness. 

“You sure? You dont really sound it?” 

“No, I um…well I’m not sure. I think I’m okay?”

“What happened?” You shook your head in response, making Tom press his lips together with a small nod. “ Don’t wanna talk about it huh?” 

“Not… not right now. Please?” 

With a permitting nod, Tom stood up and squeezed your hand, urging you to follow. Trailing behind him into the living room, he then instructed you to take a seat on the sofa adjacent to Harry, Tom himself disappearing back into the house. It made you pout a little, you wanted him to just look after you a little this evening but that self pity wasn’t allowed to last long - because a piece of popcorn flew into your cheek. You whipped your head around, with mouth open feigning shock, to see Harry smirking at you cradling a bowl full of other possible missiles in hand. 

“And what was that for?” He shrugged his shoulders, turning his head back to the TV.

“You looked sad.”

“…” Your mouth was open, no words coming out though, as you looked at the frizzy haired boy in bemusement. Sometimes you thought you understood how his head worked but at other points, the boy was a bloody mystery. Instead of explaining his thought process (because there almost certainly wasn’t one), he just smiled evily at you - wiggling his brows. And I know you know what that meant.

Sure enough by the time Tom reentered the room, arms full with different objects he’d collected round the house, the floor had been littered with popcorn kernels. You and Harry were squealing at each other as handfuls of the snack were catapulted vaguely at each other as you chased him round the room. It took Tom shouting at the both of you for you to freeze, slowly lowering your hands in ceasefire with a giggle. 

“I leave you alone for two minutes.”

“ It was his fault!” You protested, causing a 5 minute of ‘ he said-she said’ between the two of you, even if Tom wasn’t listening to the bickering. Instead, he quickly whizzed round the room picking up all the obvious popcorn bits and then spread out all the blankets he’d got from round the rented house on the sofa.

 You knew Harry, in his very own and special way, was only doing all this to cheer you up and you couldn’t appreciate it more. Your relationship with him had recently got so much closer, thanks to Tom being busy on set actually filming - while you and Harry just had some quality ‘almost sibling’ times. And now living with him too - naturally he had grown to know your tells almost as well as Tom. 

“Alright children calm down… thought we could watch movie?” Plopping himself down on the cream seat, Tom made grabby hands to you which of course you had to comply with. 

“I’ll um… I’m gonna leave you to- well to the being in love shit. It’ll make me chunder”

“We love you too bro” Tom called to Harry, who was already on his way out - but the tone of gratefulness in his voice was evident, he appreciated Harry noticing that the two of you could do with time together. 

“Don’t make it weird!” Harry’s response had you sniggering, as you pulled the fluffiest blanket over both you and Tom and nestling into his side. 

After a few minutes of Tom pretending to argue with you about film choice, before ultimately agreeing with your choice of ‘La la land’ as he always planned on letting you. The Holland boys were both very talented at subtly being a shoulder if needed, and yes you knew it was all an act - but you weren’t about to call him out. About halfway through he kissed the crown of your head and murmured. “Can tell you’re not watching darling.” He wasn’t wrong to be fair. Yes, you were looking at the screen - but your mind was far away from the plot line. 

“Sorry I um… minds like a runaway train sometimes.” Tom released a breathy chuckle at that before murmuring a ‘come ‘ere’ to you as he all but lifted you up from sitting by his side. You ended up lying almost onto of him, with both of Tom’s strong arms holding you tightly to him. Smiling into his chest, you nestled closer so the soundtrack to the movie played over the top of his constant thudding heartbeat. It took a few moments of you both just staring into the screen, completely contented for Tom to speak, squeezing you slightly tighter whilst the two of you watched Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone twirling on the road.

“I gotchu now lovie” 

And you swore then that all the thoughts racing in your mind were outpaced by those of a different kind. Still intense ideas, ones that buzzed round your brain, but these were happy. Thoughts of ‘how could I be so lucky’ and ‘I love this man with my whole heart’. 

Apparently these thoughts were also a comfort because when Tom looked down at you after what must’ve been at least half an hour, you were spark out. Breathing deep and unchanging, eye locked shut and mouth slightly squashed against his chest so your lips were pressed together. But what made the boy physical pout was the way you relaxed hand was loosely balled round a fistful of his purple hoodie. As if you were clutching at him to keep him as close to you as possible. 

He felt so grateful - not only for you, but also for the fact that he had the ability to make it a little better. You didn’t need him - Tom swore you were one of the most fiercely independent people he’d ever met - yet it was clear you wanted him. You wanted him when you felt down, the same way you wanted to be around him when you were overly hyper and chatting pure rubbish. You didn’t want him because he was the ‘Tom Holland’ you wanted him because he was Tom. 

He couldn’t fix what was going on back at your home (I mean right now, he still didnt even know what was going on). But he did know how to make everything just a little less shit. He knew how to be your person. 

And that would forever be job Tom was most proud of.

once again sending u all lots of love (esp u anon 💕)

would love to know what u guys think if ya made it this far ;)

tagging (link to join) : @hallecarey1 @hollandfanficlove

[havin-a-wee]

Stars Align

pairing: harry styles x y/n

warnings: fluff, ig you could consider it angst but its really just mysterious

word count: 2k

hello! i apologize for kind of disappearing, my fic rec account has kind of blown up and ive been super busy with that.

this is my entry for @sweetlygolden 's Harry On Holiday Challenge! i chose strangers in the same city, and the line prompt “That is the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen.” i honestly already have a part 2 planned out but we'll see how it goes!

“How much longer are you going to stare at that pretending like it’s interesting.”

Her soft voice surprised him, and he whipped his head around to see who had been speaking to him.

For the first time in a while, Harry was able to get away for a little. Of course, he travels a lot for work, but this was the first vacation since he can remember where he was alone, doing whatever he pleases. He chose Italy for this special occasion, because it’s always been one of his favorite places, and he missed the freedom of wandering around the boot shaped country without a care in the world.

The day's adventures had brought him to La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, which is a museum that he's been wanting to see for quite some time. He started the day off by getting a cappuccino and a crespelle from a wonderful little cafe down the street from his hotel.

Right afterwards he walked to the museum, taking in the sights around him on the 20 minute trek to his destination. Before the woman behind him snatched his attention, he was staring at a painting of an abstract house. The house was only painted in blue, and the artist had used the different shades and tones of the color to create the details in the painting.

He had been staring at it for a good amount of time, which he assumed is what prompted the stranger to talk to him.

It’s his 3rd day on the trip, leaving him 4 more until he has to be back in L.A. for work. He has no plans, no schedules, no job to do. It’s just him and the world. At least, that’s what he assumed it would be. The vacation is supposed to be a solo one, however, he’s currently staring at a stranger that decided to speak to him. And for some reason, he is drawn to her. Compelled to spend time with her after just a simple sentence was spoken between the two of them.

When he fully turns around she jumped, a bit startled by his bright red complexion. “That is the worst sunburn I have ever seen!”

It was true, Harry had managed to get himself a nasty burn on the first day in Italy. He usually tans instead of getting a sunburn, but when you’re used to the dreary weather of the UK, it can be hard to forget how strong the sun is in other places.

So he had laid out on the beach and fell asleep, waking up a few hours later with tomato red skin and a burning sensation covering the exposed skin.

“That’s what happens when y’fall asleep on a beach in Rome,” he chuckled, smiling awkwardly at the woman before him.

She’s beautiful, there is absolutely no denying that. She was wearing a simple spaghetti-strap black dress that cut off right at the knee. There were no designs, no embellishments, just a black dress that hugged her figure perfectly. Her lips have a deep red lipstick smeared across them, and he couldn’t help but notice how the color complimented her skin tone. Her simple black pumps completed the outfit, and her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, with a few of the front strands falling out of the hair tie and framing her face.

“I’d assume so.” Her demeanor is serious, even though there's a smile on her face. She’s…..intimidating?

Harry hasn’t been intimidated by anything since he was a teenager. Once you perform in front of thousands of screaming people, who also happen to idolize you, things don’t tend to phase a person anymore.

But for some reason, her presence caused butterflies to fly around in his stomach, a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time. He actually enjoyed the feeling, it reminded him of when everything was normal.

What also reminded him of normality was the fact that she seems to not have the slightest clue of who he is. If she does, she’s sure as hell good at hiding it.

“You’ve been looking at the same painting for 10 minutes, just wanted to make sure you hadn’t fallen asleep.” A small laugh escaped her lips, and the noise agitated the fluttering butterflies residing in his tummy. Her voice is mesmerizing, and she sounds like what Harry imagines an angel to sound like. She has an American accent, and it eased his nerves slightly that she was also a tourist.

He turned back to the painting to look at it, but it was also convenient in that she wouldn’t be able to see his undoubtedly flushed cheeks.

“Yeah m’not sure what it is ‘bout it but there’s somethin’ special with this one.”

“That’s Prismi lunari by Fortunato Depero, he was very talented.” Harry spun around once again to face her, shocked at her knowledge of the random artwork.

“You know that off of the top of your head?” He tilts his head and looks at her, furrowing his brows in confusion. He’s pretty sure there was no label for the painting, and if there was it was way too small for her to see from where she’s standing.

“I know a lot of things.”

The statement was simple, but Harry wondered if her words paired with the smirk on her face are code for something else. “How long have you been here?” Her question snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at her and smiled. He flicks his wrist and directs his attention to it, reading the Gucci watch adorning his wrist.

“Well I got here at 11, so about 5 hours.” It honestly surprised him when he realized it was 4 o’clock, but he knows how wrapped up he gets in artwork so he must have lost track of time.

“Jesus christ! I can barely stand to walk around a museum for an hour!” She blows out a puff of air, mocking being out of breath. They both laugh at her comment, Harry laughing a bit harder than her. “What’s your name?”

“Oh! M’Harry, s’nice to meet you.” He stuck out his ring-clad hand, and her delicate fingers wrapped around his as she shook it.

“Well Harry, wanna get out of here and walk around with someone who knows the city?” She points at herself, and the small smile she gave him earlier transformed into a silly grin.

“Well m’not sure how well an American can know the city, but I’ll bite.” Usually he would never do this. Going off with strangers is never a good idea, especially because of his status. But there’s something about the girl that makes Harry feel safe. They had just met yet he feels like he could trust her with things he hasn’t even told his best friends.

“An American who’s been living here for a year, that is.” His eyebrows raise slightly, intrigued by her new admission. But before he can even open his mouth to speak, she grabs his wrist with her daintily manicured hand and whisks him out of the quiet museum.

The air was humid, quickly drawing beads of sweat from his forehead. He’s also quite baffled at how she was completely unphased. Not a single drop of sweat was dripping on her body, her soft skin untouched like an old porcelain doll, preserved for years in perfect condition.

“I’ll show you around a little, we can go to this wonderful little vintage store I know.” She had turned to face him, her hand moving from his wrist to cup his one hand in both of hers. “Um- at least, if you want to.” For the first time, she was nervous. Although she will never admit it, Harry makes her extremely nervous. Extremely.

When he turned around when they first met, her jump of surprise wasn’t just because of his bright sunburn. In fact, it wasn’t about that at all. It was about how fucking attractive he is. He really looks like one of the statues that was put up in the museum. His sparkling green eyes send a shiver down her spine, and the tattoos peaking through his thin white t-shirt cause a fire to build in her stomach.

Having someone to talk too while he traversed the streets of Rome is a lot more enjoyable than Harry had anticipated. He purposefully told all of his friends that he was going to be MIA while on this trip. But the fact that she is a stranger changes it in some way, in a good way.

The cobblestone streets are surprisingly smooth, and they walk next to each other in a comfortable silence for a long amount of time. The silence would only break when she would point out something in their field of vision. At one point, Harry pauses, standing still in the middle of the street with a thinking look on his face. He realizes that he doesn’t know her name, which seems ridiculous to him because they were walking around a foreign country like the best of friends. She turns to him, matching his confused look when they lock eyes. “I just realized I don’t know y’name.”

Instead of reacting like he would expect one to react when asked that question, her pupils dilated and for some reason she appears to be scared. Why would someone be scared when you ask for their name?

‘Maybe she thinks her name is embarrassing’ Harry thought, still looking at her with a confused look, but now it was laced with a bit of suspicion.

He watches her sigh, and her hand went up to her ponytail and pulled the black elastic out, her soft hair cascading down her shoulders. With another sigh she said, “Y/N. My names Y/N.”

“That’s a really beautiful name.”

“Oh! There’s the store!”

He found it odd that she was so eager to switch the subject, but goes along with it nonetheless.

The vintage store is lovely, and Harry was able to find a beautiful ring and necklace set, matching gold roses on both of them. They looked around the shop for about 15 minutes, Harry being the only one to make a purchase.

The sun had set by the time they went outside, which isn’t surprising considering that it was almost dark when they walked into the little shop. They stood, facing each other outside of this small little shop in Rome. Two strangers, who just happened to cross each other's path. Harry knows this won’t last forever, and he also knows that he wants to see her again. In a leap of faith, he pulls the gold necklace out of the small brown bag and looks up at her.

“Here, I got them so we could match.” It was bold, but Harry feels connected to this girl, and he doesn’t know it, but she feels the exact same. The smile she gave him when he handed her the necklace was bright and genuine, the creases next to her eyes proving its authenticity. He motioned for her to turn around, wrapping the necklace around her neck and clasping it while she held up her hair.

“Thank you Harry. This is the best day I’ve had in a while.”

“Likewise.”

“I hate to do this, but I have to go. Have a wonderful rest of your trip Harry.”

It was then that she placed a small, tender peck on his lips, barely lingering for a second before pulling away.

“Wait! Can I get y’number?” Her smile slanted into a smirk, and she pulled a small card and a pen out of her small black clutch. She placed the card up against the brick wall, leaning it against it and scribbling something down on the paper. When she finished writing, she pressed her lips against the card, handing it to Harry.

He looked down at it, expecting to see a series of numbers, but he was met with a simple note, scribbled on the piece of cardstock next to the red lip print she had left.

May the stars align in our favor once again. - Y/N

He looked up frantically, planning to ask her to write her number down as well, but he was met with nothing.

She had disappeared into the night, leaving as quickly as she appeared earlier that day.

[flor3nces]

live streams | matthew gray gubler x fem!reader

this is sorta long but like not really. i started this at 5 and ended at 7. BYE ASF IVE NEVER TAKEN THAT LONG ON A PIECE. ENJOY READING DARLINGS <333

“matthew! you wanna live stream with me?” i rarely live streamed as i didn’t really know what i was doing but i got the hang of it as i went on. matthew always stayed silent when i did live stream not wanting to give away that we were dating or that we were even hanging out. as far as the fans know we were just friends.

“are you sure? i was just about to go to the living room so i don’t bother you.” matthew wasn’t very ideal with the fans knowing that we were together as some of them can be really rude when they even hear a rumor of matthew possibly dating someone.

“yeah, come on. it’ll just be two friends hanging out and doing a little live stream.”

convincing him was difficult. he kept thinking about how people would figure it out and all that jazz but after a while it worked. i helped set up his area beside me, leaving space in between us so we could move our mouses without bumping our hands.

i notified people on my instagram and twitter that i was going to be doing a live stream with matthew. matthew doing the same. i laughed as he said that he wasn’t going to do so.

“hey guys!” matthew gave a small wave and smiled at his camera. “wait.. what are we playing?”

“oh! i forgot to tell you before we started. we’re playing minecraft!”

i let out a giggle at matthew’s face at the games name. “what is that?”

“a game. i already have it downloaded on your imac.”

“why? i don’t play that game and how did i not notice?”

“because i play it when i use it. you not noticing is so weird because it’s literally right there.” i reach out and point to the bottom of his screen. matthew lets out a small ‘oh’ and pushes me off.

“do you want me to join your realm or do you want to join mine?”

“you can call all the shots. i don’t even know how to play this stupid game.” matthew grumbled as he watched me. i send him a small smile and start a new realm. “don’t i have to like friend you or something?” i shake my head. “nope, i already have you friended.”

matthew nods at my words and looks at his screen. “do i click this?” i nod and he presses the button to join my realm.

i immediately ran over to the trees and started to get some wood. matthew looks at me as if i’ve grown two heads. “uh.. y/n how do i move?” before i can help him he starts pressing random buttons. “no, matthew!”

he ends up clicking a button that allows him to see his skin. “oh! oh, wow! hey, look i’m rumple!” i smile as i remember spending hours working on that skin for him. “i know. i made it for you.”

i lean over and teach him how to move, jump, run, crouch, hit, and mine. the last two things were basically the same thing but it was easier to teach him that way. teaching him how to craft, open his inventory, drop stuff. and scroll on his hot bar was the easiest thing he learned. as i’m doing this matthew says small comments. “matthew, shut up!”

“i didn’t do anything!”

***

“matthew! get out of my house! make your own house!”

this had been an on going battle with him. he wanted to live with me and i insisted that he live alone. “but y/nnnnnn we’d save more space for more builds if you just let me live with you!”

matthew had a way of always getting his way. no matter what is was that he seemed to want, he’d get. i guess it was part of his charm.

“fine-”

i get cut off by matthew cheering and jumping out of his chair to hug me. “but you’re sleeping in your own room not next to me.” his cheering dies down at my words. “what? why not?” he pouts but i refuse to give in. he’s already lving in my house for god sake.

“y/n pleaseeee. i won’t steal your stuff or anything.”

i shake my head and continue building my house making sure to add another room for matthew. he continued to beg as he helped build the house.

“okay! you can sleep next to me! now quit yappin’.”

a huge smile took over his face as his minecraft character made his way over to my room and placed his bed next to me. i couldn’t help but smile at him as he did a little happy dance.

***

“y/n i swear to god if you take that dog.”

“you’ll what? there are other dogs around gube! this is my dog, i found it first!”

“no! the others ran away you go find them. i refuse to run around to find them when one is right in front of my face.”

i smirk as i start to give the dog bones. matthew catches on and tries to give her bones but fails. hearts go above the dogs head after i gave her three bones. “ha!”

matthew hits me and my dog starts to attack him. “what the fuck? y/n help me!” a loud laugh rumbles through my body as i sit her down. “guess you better run and go find those other dogs before she kills you.”

he turns to me and pokes my side. i smack his hand away not taking my eyes of the screen as i was trying to get my dog back home safely. matthew turns back to his screen and starts his “quest” as he called it to find the other dogs that ran off.

***

we’ve been on the live stream for a good three hours and matthew was starting to get the hang of it and so far we haven’t had any slips ups on us dating.

in those three hours we had found diamonds, made a farm for both crops and animals, made a roller coaster, tried to make a small cafe but gave up and just made a fishing shack. we were now going to the nether.

“gube, are you sure about going to the nether? this is literally the first time you’ve ever played this game.”

“yeah but i’m basically a god at this game now.”

“oh please. you’ve died at least a hundred times.”

“nuh uh! you are such a liar! don’t lie to the people.” matthew winks at the camera and i roll my eyes. “you can be such a boy sometimes.”

i grab some food, my bucket filled with water and three extra buckets, and my bow along with some arrows.

“can i light it?”

“be my guest.”

matthew takes out his flint and steel and lights the portal. “woah, it’s so pretty.” he stares at the now purple portal in awe. i jump in and the nether starts to generate. “wait till you see the actual nether.”

he doesn’t say anything when we’re in the nether and i start to think he thinks it’s ugly. “um.. matthew? you good?” he doesn’t respond as he just keeps looking around. it wasn’t until i punched him in the shoulder that he snapped out of his trance.

“what?”

“you alright?”

“yeah, yeah. it’s just so beautiful. almost as beautiful as you.”

i snort at his cheesiness and start to walk around.

things were doing just fine until a ghast found us while we were making our way towards the nether fortress. both matthew and i screamed as the ghast made a noise. it shot at us. luckily, we had made a small platform before entering the nether fortress.

“how do i shoot it back?!”

“hit it back with your sword!”

it knocked down matthew. “oh my god! babe, i’m gonna die!”

i didn’t even notice that matthew had called me babe while we were live as i was trying not to die. “i died lol.”

a laugh came out of my mouth as matthew said lol. “oh! i killed it! my love, you better get your ass back here right now!”

i start to mine down and run over to where i saw a ghast tear fall. “look! i got a ghast tear!” matthew’s character came running up behind me. “you want it?”

“no, you killed it. plus, i don’t want a memory of that stupid thing. it killed me for no reason!”

“it’s a mob.. it doesn’t need to have a reason to attack you.” matthew lets out a whatever under his breath and starts to make his way back to the nether fortress.

***

“okay guys thanks for watching!”

“yeah, she really appreciates it when you guys tune in and watch her die half the time.”

“matthew! i didn’t die as much as you did and we only played for like three fucking hours!”

i read some of the comments that were popping up. some of them were ‘bye’s’ and the rest were just freaking out that we were dating. my eyes widen a bit at the comments until i realized that matthew had called me babe and i had said my love when the ghast was attacking us.

“gube... cats out of the bag.”

he looks at me for a second before looking at comments and scanning through them. “well, looks like i can kiss you on camera now.” my laugh gets swallowed by matthew as he presses his lips to mine.

“okay. bye guys! have a good night!”

“byeee!”

i click off the stream and turn to matthew. “i thought you didn’t want our relationship to get out?” a smirk comes across my face. “yeah, but there was no way on backing out on that one.”

“you’re not mad?”

“what? of course not! why would i be? i finally get to show you off, though i did want to keep you to myself a little longer but it’s cool.”

i smile at his words and kiss him again. “i’m going to make coffee. can we watch charlie and the chocolate factory?”

“hm. whatever you want princess.”

i press a small kiss to his nose before running off to get the pot started. 

[lunatens]

felix felicis (iii)

word count: 3.0k

part iii/iv

genre: fluff, harry potter au

pairing: hufflepuff!felix x ravenclaw!reader

a/n: it’s been uhhhhhhhhhhhhh over a year since i last update this whoOPS i am so sorry to keep you all waiting. thank you to everyone who patiently waited, and to everyone who’s new, i hope you like it!! there will be one more part to this series (that i will try my best to write in less than a year lol) (also for obvious reasons w**jin will no longer be a part of this fic)

the day of the gryffindor vs ravenclaw quidditch match has your stomach in knots, not about the game itself (you really couldn’t care less about the results) but about the boy you’re going to be spending the next couple hours with.

“okay y/n, first things first: that tiny ball is the golden snitch, and-” 

“felix, i’m not stupid,”

“right, yeah, sorry i’m just uhh..excited is all,’ he says shyly. you watch as the two teams whizz around the pitch, trying to keep track of all the different balls and players as felix rambles on about the rules to you. despite chan, changbin and jisung being your closest friends, you’ve never actually come out to watch them play before, always finding an excuse to stay indoors instead of sitting miserable and alone on an uncomfortable bench in typically  less-than-pleasant weather. 

“wow y/n, your friends are actually really, really good quidditch players.” felix comments with a look of mild surprise. “too bad they’re not hufflepuffs!”

“actually, at your last game they were telling me they wish you were in gryffindor, so i guess you’re not too bad yourself,” you comment with a small smile, and you have to stifle a laugh as felix’s face turns bright red. you hate to admit it, but felix is really, really cute--especially bundled up in his yellow hat and scarf, his hair sticking out and gently waving in the breeze whenever someone flies by on broomstick.

you watch the game in silence for a moment, still trying to find the appeal for the sport. the game’s been going for a while now, with neither team having found the snitch yet, although gryffindor’s leading in points. jisung zooms around the far end of the pitch, expertly evading the ravenclaw beaters’ attacks and catching the quaffle with a flourish. it doesn’t take long before he’s put the quaffle through one of the ravenclaw goalposts, and the gryffindor crowd roars in excitement. jisung does a lap of the pitch, posing ridiculously and waving to the crowd to get them even more riled up. you hear felix squeal in excitement beside you, and turn to look at him with curiosity.

“that’s just the best feeling ever, flying through the air and just having fun like that. it’s so freeing,” he says with a contented sigh. you furrow your brows and turn back to look at jisung, who’s now rejoined his team as the game continues.

“really? i mean, it doesn’t seem that great. it looks so cold and windy, and what if you fall? yeah, no thanks i’d rather stick to the ground,” you state. it’s not like you want to offend felix or anything, but you just really don’t get the hype about flying. 

“what?? you don’t like flying y/n?? but it’s so epic!” felix says in disbelief, and you shake your head in response.

“the only time i’ve ever ridden a broomstick is way back in first year, when we had to learn the basics, and i’ve got no interest in trying again.”

“i’ve never met someone so opposed to flying,”

“well, that’s what happens when you fall off and break your wrist and can’t take proper notes for weeks,” you say, wrinkling your nose at the memory. “see unlike you, i’m not gifted with good luck.”

felix looks at you blankly for a moment, thinking to himself, before a wide grin creeps onto his face.

“no.”

“i haven’t even said anything yet!!”

“ok but i know what you’re thinking and i am NOT riding a broomstick, felix!”

“oh come on y/n, live a little!! it’ll be so much fun! what, are you afraid of heights?” felix asks teasingly. you shoot him a glare in response.

“yes!! besides, i don’t even own a broomstick.”

“yeah i kinda figured, so we can just use mine! i’m sure we’ll both fit, it might be a bit squishy though…” felix trails off in his own thoughts, and you choke on your own spit. you turn to look at the pitch, trying to focus on the game rather than thoughts of being pressed up against felix and holding onto him for dear life, breathing in the scent of h-

“eh, i think it’ll work fine. so it’s settled, after the game i’m taking you for a ride.” felix says definitively, interrupting your thoughts (good timing too, your brain was entering dangerous territory). 

“i dunno, felix…. it really doesn’t sound safe, i mean two people on a broomstick? i don’t care how lucky you are, i’m not taking any chances.”

“y/n, i promise nothing bad will happen. we won’t even go that high, and we can take it slow. trust me, it’ll be okay,” felix says, tentatively placing a hand over yours and looking into your eyes. you’re silent for a moment; has felix ever been this sincere in his life? you let out a sigh of defeat.

“i better not regret this.” you mumble, and felix squeals in excitement. your heart flutters a bit when he grabs onto your upper arm enthusiastically

“you won’t, y/n!! it’ll be so much fun, i can’t wait. it’s gonna change your life for the better,” felix says confidently, and although you roll your eyes at him, you can’t help but smile giddily to yourself. 

*** 

the game ends in an overwhelming victory for gryffindor, and you and felix dodge red and gold banners and streamers on your way out of the pitch past ecstatic gryffindors and gloomy ravenclaws. you finally make it out, your stomach filling with dread as you remember what’s happening now.

“i’ll be right back y/n, i’m just gonna go grab my broomstick from the locker room!” felix says excitedly, before rushing off into the depths of the pitch structure. you stand awkwardly by yourself, shoving your hands into your pockets for warmth. your breath escapes your lips in visibles plumes, the air growing colder as the sun begins to sink lower into the sky. one of your professors walks by, reminding you to return to the castle, and you nod, telling them you’re just waiting for a friend. it’s not a complete lie, right? you think to yourself. the adrenaline from not only your upcoming flight, but also breaking the rules again (and for felix, of all people) fills your body with jitters.

as you wait for felix for what seems like forever, your mind starts to wander. watching the game with him today was...surprisingly fun? and my goodness, the way his eyes sparkled or his voice got squeaky when someone made an awesome play was maybe the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. not to mention his freckled cheeks, rosy from the biting cold, or his tiny hands that flailed excitedly when talking about strategies. was chan right after all? do you have feelings for felix? no, that’s absurd. you’re just excited to have made a new friend is all...haha...right?

you don’t get the chance to think more about it before someone pounces on you from behind.

“Y/N!!! YOU CAME!!!!” jisung’s loud voice rings in your ear.

“ew get off me, you’re all sweaty,” you say with a grimace as you shove the excited boy off your shoulders. “but good job guys, you did great! who knew you were actually good at quidditch huh,” you tease, and chan gives you a playful nudge.

“i saw you with a certain hufflepuff boy in the stands,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows, and you slap him on the arm.

“ok he practically forced me to go, it was the only way to stop his stupid begging and whining,” you argue, and your three gryffindor friends nod their heads in clear disbelief. 

“sure y/n, keep telling yourself that.” chan says, giving you a pat on the head which you swat away. 

“sorry that took so long, i-” felix’s out-of-breath voice stops mid sentence when he spies you with the other boys. “oh uh, hi,” he says shyly, clearly not expecting their presence. your friends grin knowingly and changbin and jisung start to whisper to each other. chan puts on a friendly smile and greets felix back, reaching out to shake his hand.

“thanks for coming out even though your house wasn’t playing,” he says, and felix seems to warm up to chan a bit. 

“i’d never turn down a chance to watch a good quidditch match! you guys are amazing,” he babbles, and you giggle at his enthusiasm, glad to see him and chan connecting. 

“you’re not so bad yourself dude. too bad we’ll have to crush you in a few weeks,” chan teases, and all the boys laugh.

“i’m impressed you were able to drag this one out, we’ve been trying to get them to come to our games for years,” changbin groans, gesturing to you. felix shrugs in response.

“i mean it wasn’t too hard, just a small bribe of some chocolate frogs and here we are,” felix says, and you feel three pairs of eyes burning into your soul. you can practically feel the smirks on their faces, and you can already hear the teasing you’ll experience later. 

“well anyways, we’re gonna hit up the great hall for some snacks on our way back, you coming? you’re welcome to join us, felix,” jisung invites.

“um actually...felixistakingmeforarideonhisbroomstick,” you splutter out, and you hear jisung make a strange noise of disbelief at what he just heard.

“sorry, what?” chan asks, and the grin on his face tells you he knows exactly what you just said. you let out an annoyed huff and repeat yourself.

“felix is taking me for a ride on his broomstick, and we better get going before it gets too late.” you say in defeat and embarrassment, reaching to grab a confused felix’s hand so you can get away from your friends before they have the chance to say anything about it. jisung opens his mouth to make what you assume is a raunchy joke about riding broomsticks, but a death glare from you shuts him up.

“okay, have fun! but not too much fun,” chan says with a wink before quickly ushering a protesting jisung and changbin back towards the castle. you’re grateful for the falling darkness, because you can feel how bright your cheeks are burning right now. 

“i’m so sorry about them,” you apologize, and felix laughs it off.

“they seem fun,” he says, then tugs on your hand gently. “follow me, i know the best place to go where we won’t get caught. trust me, i sneak out all the time with hyunjin and minho and we’ve never seen a soul.” you nod nervously as you follow felix’s lead, praying that you won’t regret this.

after a bit of walking and some light conversation, you arrive at a small clearing near the edge of the lake. 

“this is SO against the rules,” you mutter to yourself as you step over some large roots. felix gets to a spot where the sky above is clear (and growing darker by the minute), and there’s lots of room around you. he straddles the broomstick and motions for you to join him. as you make your way behind him, you can’t help but wonder if you're more nervous about flying or about the prolonged close contact with felix. there are so many layers of clothing between us, you tell yourself, it’s fine. you place your arms loosely around felix’s waist, nervous to get any closer.

“we’re gonna start off just hovering, okay? we’ll take it slow, it’ll be alright. you can tell me if you want to stop, but i really think it’ll be fine, trust me,” he says to comfort you, and you nod. felix kicks off the ground, and you gasp as you feel your feet dangling in the air. instinctively, your arms squeeze tightly around felix, and you press yourself as close to him as possible.

“i can feel your heart racing, it’s okay just relax!” felix says with a laugh.

“easy for you to say, you practically live on a broomstick,” you grumble, and you feel felix’s body shake with giggles underneath you.

“i’m gonna take us a bit higher now,” felix says, and you press your face into his back as you feel yourselves rise higher, the air getting colder as you ascend. you feel a gentle breeze tangling your locks, and the broomstick begins to inch forward. you open one eye slightly and let out a small squeak as you see how far the ground is below you. you’re almost above the height of the trees now, and felix is doing slow laps of the clearing. 

“see, it’s not too bad, right?” he asks, and you force yourself to open your eyes again. if you don’t look straight down, you have to admit the view is really nice. trees and rolling hills pepper the landscape, and you can see the quidditch pitch and hogwarts a bit farther in the distance. the last rays of sun are reflecting off of the lake, and the twilight sky is beginning to sparkle with the night’s brightest stars. 

“yeah, i guess it is pretty nice,” you begrudgingly agree. your knuckles are white as you hold on to felix for dear life, but the more time you spend up here the more you realize how stable he’s keeping the broomstick, and how much he does seem to be taking caution to make sure you’re comfortable. you let out a shaky sigh as you try to relax and take in the scenery as you hover above the trees. 

“there’s one more thing we can do, if you’re okay with it,” he says, asking for your trust. you say nothing, simply nodding into his back; you’re afraid if you open your mouth you’ll regret it. as soon as he has your confirmation, the broomstick suddenly bursts forward and you can’t help but let out a piercing shriek.

“FELIX!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!” you manage to yell over the howling wind. your eyes are tearing up from the cold night air, and your throat feels dry, and you’re convinced your heart’s stopped beating. felix just lets out a joyful laugh in response, yelling back to you “SHOWING YOU THE BEST THING ABOUT FLYING!” before plunging the nose of the stick into a dive towards the ground. he pulls up, of course, and does a few more fancy tricks before slowing down to a more leisurely pace above the treetops. 

you sit there in shock for a moment, wide eyed and breathless, trying to take in the wild turn of events.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!! YOU IDIOT WE COULD’VE DIED OR SOMETHING,” you scream in between breaths, still trying to get your heart to stop racing. 

“but we didn’t, right? i told you you could trust me!! was that not fun??” he asks, giddy with adrenaline. you choose not to respond, because he’s right--as much as his sudden moves scared the living daylights out of you, you have to admit it felt pretty freeing. 

“this is my favourite view,” felix says to change the topic, and you lift your head up to look around. you’re coasting above the lake, the last rays of sun painting the landscape golden. more stars are out now, and the glow of the castle feels truly magical and welcoming. you steal a glance at felix, cheeks nose and ears bright red from the cold but an awestruck look on his face nonetheless. you don’t think you’ve ever seen him look so peaceful and content, and the feeling spreads to you as you finally relax your grip a little and rest your cheek on felix’s back. 

“thank you, felix,” you mumble, feeling surprisingly at ease now. 

“sorry, what was that?” he asks and you can hear the grin in his voice.

“i’m not saying it again,” you warn, and he remains silent. part of you wishes you could live in this moment forever, gliding over the mirror-like surface of the water with the warmth of felix to stave away the cold tendrils of night air.

“we should uh, head back. it’s getting pretty late,” he eventually says after a comfortable silence passes. you nod in agreement, and felix takes you back to the quidditch pitch, where he returns his broomstick quickly before coming back to walk with you to the castle. the walk back is mostly silent, with the two of you hiding from professors and prefects a couple times but making it back to the ravenclaw common room unseen. there seems to be some shift in the energy between you now, the silences feeling a bit more awkward than before, but neither of you wants to acknowledge it. 

“well, uh, thanks for trusting me. and sorry if i scared you,” felix says with a small laugh as you reach to door to the common room. 

“it’s okay, i uh...i actually had a really good time. you’re right, you know, it is a really wonderful feeling being up there.” you admit. you have to stop yourself from adding “with you” to the end of that sentence. “so thank you for everything, lix,” you say and you cringe at the nickname that accidentally escaped your lips. felix tries to hold back a smile but fails miserably, blushing at the nickname. 

“goodnight, y/n,” he says after clearing his throat.

“um..goodnight,” you say before going to answer the riddle to enter the common room. as you mutter the answer and begin to enter, you hear felix call after you.

“y/n?”

“yeah?”

there’s a long pause.

“uh, nevermind. goodnight!” he says, and before you know it he’s down the stairs and out of sight. confused, you creep up to your dormitory to get ready for bed. your dreams that night are filled with the wind rushing through your hair, beautiful landscapes whizzing past you, and most importantly of all, felix’s joyful laugh ringing in your ears.

[fluffykitty1999-blog]

Dog of the Military- Chapter 25

Chapter 25- Edward Elric, the BAMF

This chapter proves Edward Elric is a squishy puppy at times, and that it doesn’t matter the size of the dog in the fight, but the amount of fight in the dog.

It was either very, very late at night, or very, very early in the morning. Roy wasn't exactly sure which.

None of his team had shown up at the hospital yet. That both worried and intrigued him. normally he'd at least have called him by now.

But right now his priority was Edward- his reckless major.

Ed had been relocated to a hospital room at some point- and Roy, exhausted as he was, had trudged alongside and waited as the boy was settled into his gurney, still comfortably sleeping.

Roy alternated from leaning back and dozing in his hard-backed chair beside the boy's bed and watching the kid sleep.

Every now and then Ed would snuffle or shift a little in his sleep, and Roy found himself holding his breath, watching the moonlight dance across the boy's peaceful expression and the medicine drip, drip, dripping of medicine into the IV line tucked into the boy's pale hand that rested dazedly on the sheets.

Every now and then Roy would reach over, blinking tiredly and brushing the boy's blond bands from his face, enjoying the fact that Ed was still there and in front of him, real as could be, and almost as unharmed as he could be, given the circumstances.

"Mr. Elric?"

Roy looked up. Framed in the light from the hospital hallway, a young nurse with auburn hair that made her look ethereal when she was framed in the light like that.

"Yeah?" he was too tired to bother with the formalities right now, and too entrenched in his duty as Ed's "father" to consider flirting with him.

"Is Edward still resting comfortably?"

"Huh... um, yeah."

"That's great. I have a few more forms that need to be signed- Edward's doing fine but his platelet count is a little low, the doctors wanted to give him a transfusion before they discharge him in the morning. We just need a few more signatures on the documents. And perhaps a cup of coffee? I know we have some in the staff room."

Roy must've looked more haggard than he thought.

"That... sounds good." he admitted sluggishly, getting to his feet.

He cast one last glance behind him at Ed, making sure the boy was sleeping peacefully, before he was following the nurse into the staff room.

Two cups of surprisingly well brewed coffee later, he'd read through and finished off the last of the paperwork surrounding Ed's care. The nurse who'd escorted him there had drifted off- that wasn't surprising, though, considering there were relatively few staff on the night shift. They were probably needed.

He was ambling back towards Ed's hospital room when a muffled cry caught his attention.

"Sharon! Sharon!"

He couldn't help himself. He paused outside the closed hospital room, palming the door open to the hospital room to see two nurses- the one from earlier, and a brunette he didn;t recognizze, standing before the impossibly small bathroom each hospital room was equipped with.

"Mr. Waters, please calm down- you'll wake the other patients!" the dark haired nurse tried to soothe.

Looking past them, Roy could see Mr. Waters- a rather large man, in his late forties, probably, at least two hundred and fifty pounds- not a fat fellow, just built like a bull- with broad shoulders and well-muscled arms, as well as a thick bandage wrapped around his head.

"Sharon! I can't get up!" the man cried out again, paying the nurses no heed.

"Leah, help me with him." both nurses moved to try and help the man- he seemed to have managed to stand himself up and buckle his pants, only to lose his balance and end up flat on his back, wedged in the impossibly small space between the toilet and the wall. He was stuck so that he had no room to get his hands or legs under him and right himself.

"Where's Sharon!? I can't have other women in the house, you're not my wife!" the man only yelled louder.

The nurses stopped trying to lift the man, winded and frustrated. "He's too heavy for us. We'll have to see if Dr. Linder is in the next ward..."

"Sharon! I don't know these women Sharon, you're my one and only!" the man was still looking agitated and confused at his predicament.

It was then Roy decided to make his presence known. "Need a hand?"

"Mr. Elric." the auburn haired nurse looked relieved, and Roy stepped forward cautiously, crouching down to see where the man was situated.

"Hey there buddy. You seem to have gotten yourself in quite a predicament here."

"I sure have. I don't know who these strange ladies are, but Sharon will have my head if she finds them in our house. I'm a one woman kinda guy, you know..."

"I'm sure you are, Mr. Waters." Roy reassured him, looking to the nurse, who nodded her permission.

Roy stepped closer. "Would you mind if I gave you a hand and helped you get back to bed?"

"I can stand on my own! They dropped a brick on my head, my legs work just fine!" the man protested, reminding Roy of Ed for a moment.

Roy smiled. "I'm sure you can. It's not your legs that are the problem- it's the position that you're stuck in. You can't get your feet under you. If you were to let me pick you up, you'd be able to get your legs under you and stand."

"I bet you're right." Mr. Waters conceded.

"Well that settles it then." Roy stepped forward, one knee on the ground, and settled his arm beneath the man's bent knees and the crook of his back. "On three. One, two, three."

Roy took a breath and heaved- the man wasn't as heavy as he looked, and Roy managed to get the man into the air- the man managed to rest his palms on the wall and Roy tilted, letting the man get his feet under him.

As soon as the man looked relatively steady, Roy slung the man's arm over his shoulder. "This isn't the first time I've done this, you know." he admitted as he walked the man towards his empty bed. "But this is the first time I haven't been to the pub first."

The man barked a laugh, shakily settling himself on the bed. "I'll have to buy you a few sometime." he conceded.

"No trouble at all." Roy waved over his shoulder, ducking out of the room. The dark haired nurse had already begun fussing over the man, tucking in his blankets, and Roy found himself striding next to the auburn-haired nurse back towards Ed's room.

"Thank you for your help. There's just two nurses on the night shift, we have a hard time with the heavy lifting. Mr. Waters is a kind man, jsut gets confused- he's a construction worker, got hit in the head with a falling brick, poor man. You're very helpful."

Roy shrugged, hands, in his pockets as he strode along. "No trouble. It's the least I could do, with you taking such good care of my Ed."

They both stopped walking for a moment.

"You really are something, Mr. Elric."

"Thanks. But the name's not Elric. It's Mustang. Roy Mustang."

"But Edward..." the woman looked up at him, blue eyes full of confusion.

"Is my subordinate. A prodigy, I'm his commanding office. He's... he's like my..."

"Son?" the nurse finished for him.

Roy closed his mouth but nodded solemnly, and the nurse beamed.

"And to think, I thought Ed just got his looks from his mother. I was going to ask you about your wife, but I didn't want to bring up painful memories."

Roy chuckled. "No, actually- the position of 'wife of Roy Mustang' is still, in fact, open. You never told me your name either, Nurse...?"

"Aubrey. Aubrey Chance." the nurse said bashfully.

Roy nearly drowned in her blue eyes for a moment. And her skirt- it was just above her knees, but it was white, so clean and pristine...

He was torn out of his thoughts by a clang in the distance.

They both jumped at the sudden noise, Aubrey looking behind them in alarm.

"Mr. Waters?" she looked back cautiously.

Roy was already striding forward. "No, it came from over here..." closer to Ed's room...

A blood curdling scream split the air, and Roy was running. "Ed!"

There was another metallic clang- metal on metal- Roy fumbled into the doorway, the nurse hot on his heels, only to turn on the light and find Ed flailing on the ground and blood on the floor.

LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK LINEBREAK

He'd been sleeping. And Mustang had been with him, just like he'd promised. He hadn't left. And sometimes, if Ed made a funny face and scrunched up his nose- Roy would reach over and pet his hair. He didn't know why, but it made him feel warm inside when Roy did that. So sometimes he'd make a funny face even when he was mostly awake, just to steal those little touches of affection he was too prideful to ask for while he was fully conscious.

But mostly, he slept. He was warm under his blankets- the medicine made him feel nice and fuzzy, and sleep came easy to him, so he let it.

He woke up to someone hugging him. Only it wasn't a nice hug- whoever was holding him didn't smell like Roy. He'd expected the scent of bourbon and leather and old alchemy books that was Colonel Mustang.

But before he'd even opened his eyes, he knew the smell was wrong- the rough fabric he was held against, the smell of cheap alcohol, cigarettes, and the acetone tang of cheap aftershave. And the hold he was in wasn't right either- the hands were too rough and careless. Whenever he'd been carried before, he'd always been handled carefully. There hands were rough and careless, grabbing him tightly enough to leave bruises.

Still, all his addled mind could manage was a "Mmmm... whazzat?" as his sleepy brain turned back on.

"Molchi, Mal'chik." a harsh voice rasped sharply.

A large hand grabbed his wounded arm rather roughly and squeezed, and he cried out in pain and surprise.

"Ctop! Bud Yeschche!"

He was already struggling, because though he was still too asleep to understand what was going on, he knew it wasn't right.

He was thrown roughly over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes- he started to kick and flail, his automail leg managing to strike the man in a tender spot in the torso, earning a sharp exclamation from his handler.

Get away. Get away. He's trying to take you- fight!

He slammed his automail fist down on the back of the man and was roughly dropped- he nearly lost his footing, still drowsy disoriented, and he was able to see his assailant in the moonlight.

Dark, curly hair and silver eyes danced in the moonlight, and rough, black clothes- a uniform of some type- made Ed's stomach drop. There was a prickling in the back of his mind- the man grabbed for him...

Ed ducked to the side, running on pure instinct. He punched- his automail fist found the man's jaw, and the man staggered back a few steps, hissing a curse, before he looked up, silver eyes burning with rage.

He dove forward, tackling Ed- Ed fell back into the metal IV stand, and it fell over with a clang, the IV tearing from his arm with a sting.

They were wrestling on the ground- the man was much larger than Ed, but Ed grabbed the metal pole on the ground, bludgeoning the massive man on top of him and forcing him back enough so that he could get up.

They were both on their feet, facing off...

The man backhanded Ed with a meaty fist- Ed's head snapped to the side, his makeshift weapon of the IV pole slipping from his grasp and clanging into the metal of the hospital bed rails.

Ed stumbled back, and the man had him in a headlock- static crept into his head, and Ed panicked, flailing and trying to scream but not having the air to.

The man hissing a series of commands in a language Ed couldn't understand. Ed's basest instincts took over- he bit down on the meaty forearm holding him in a headlock, sinking his teeth into the flesh as far as he could. Warm blood flooded his mouth, the man was beating him on the head with his other hand, but Ed didn't release until his teeth hit the rock hard bone.

The man barked something at him, but he hadn't let go, only loosened his grip, and so Ed bit him again, sinking his teeth into the man's arm and feeling the headlock dissolve and the hand stop tearing at his hair. He finally let go, dropping to the floor in a boneless heap.

It was only as he sat on the ground, spitting out blood that wasn't his own, that he managed to grasp the situation fully and find his voice.

"Don't touch me!"

A hand had grabbed his hair again, but he lunged, flailing and kicking and screaming wildly. "Let me go let me go let me go! You bastard! Mustang- help me!"

All at once, the hold on him vanished. The sound of booted feet on the tile faded into nothing, and a moment later the room exploded into activity as a familiar blue clad figure and someone else rushed into his room, throwing on the lights.

"Edward!"

That voice. Ed knew that voice. "Roy!"

Roy had burst into the room - he wasn't sure what he'd find, but it most certainly hadn't been this.

Edward was sitting on the floor- his IV pole was discarded and dripping saline onto the floor from the discarded line. Ed's bed was as a crocked angle from where it'd been knocked aside. The sheets had been discarded in a ball on the floor, and were smeared with crimson. There was blood on the floor, smeared on the bed rails, and it was all around Ed's mouth...

Ed only had eyes for one thing, though. He threw himself at Roy, grabbing onto the man like a drowning cat in a rainstorm and clinging to him.

"Edward? What happened? Are you alright?"

Ed said nothing, just holding him and trembling.

"Ed? Sweetie? Did you have a nightmare? Oh Roy- I think he bit his tongue, his mouth is all blood..." Aubrey said sadly.

The other nurse had come running, and she and Aubrey were both taking in the scene in shock.

"Ed. What happened?"

"He was going to take me." Ed managed, pulling back and looking up at Roy. "He almost got me. I was asleep, but I realized it wasn't you- I had to fight."

The nurses looked at them both with pity.

"He was so angry. He was speaking a language I couldn't understand..."

Roy nodded, simply pulling Ed closer to him and holding him tightly as he took in the chaos of the room and the blood smeared on the tiles.

"Does he always have such vivid nightmares, Mr. Mustang? Maybe I should page the doctor for a stronger sedative..." Aubrey spoke up.

But as she spoke, a chill wind blew into the room from the open window, rustling the curtains and sheets on the floor and startling everyone, and Roy knew with a sinking feeling Ed really had almost been taken.

"No! I can't sleep- he almost got me!" Ed burst out.

Roy looked over at Aubrey and shook his head, nodding toward the window. "Someone was here. He wasn't dreaming."

The dark-haired nurse gasped, and Aubrey rushed over the shut the open window, looking surprised. "But Mr. Mustang, we're on the second floor? How is that possible?"

Roy ignored her. He was peeling Ed off of him now- Ed kept his hands firmly gripping Mustang's shoulders and turned, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the tiles.

"Did he hurt you anywhere?" Roy asked, charcoal eyes searching the boy up and down for injuries.

Ed shook his head.

"But all this blood..." the dark haired nurse looked around in shock.

"It's not mine." Ed said simply.

"Roy. He tore out his IV and he had a night terror, it looks like..." Aubrey spoke up, reaching towards them. Roy could see the blood on Ed's hand from where he'd torn out his IV, but he ignored the nurses again, looking back at Ed wand cupping the boy's chin in his hand, scrutinizing him.

"What happened to your mouth, Ed?"

"It looks like you bit your tongue pretty badly." the dark haired nurse piped up.

"I wasn't asking you." Roy said stiffly, not even glancing at her. He looked to Ed for an answer.

Ed spit again- he hated the metallic taste in his mouth. "He had me in a choke hold- I couldn't get out- so I bit him. And then I bit him again. He finally let me go and I started screaming."

Roy nodded, grabbing the discarded bedsheets from the floor and using them to wipe away the excess blood and saliva from Ed's mouth.

"You said he spoke a different language? Do you remember anything about it?"

"It was short and clippy. He sorta just barked stuff out at me. I've never heard it before, I didn't understand it..."

Roy's mind was already working a mile a minute. Ed wasn't a linguistics major, but he was a smart kid. Someone broke into his room on the second floor and tried to abduct him, speaking a harsh, choppy foreign language. Edward had nearly been taken by a Drachman operative.

"Isn't this a little bit of an extreme reaction to a night terror?" the dark haired nurse asked, looking at Ed tentatively as she steeped forward. "Let's get Edward back to bed..."

Roy bristled, and had to actively bite back the urge to explode at the nurses. They were nice, they'd given him coffee, and they really did mean well. But as far as Edward was concerned, he was in charge.

"Ed's not staying in this room tonight. A Drachman operative tried to abduct him- they may come back. We're going to need a new room..."

"Roy. Is this really necessary?" Aubrey spoke up. "I know this is a bit frightening, but Edward's still a child, he was just shot, it wouldn't be unheard of for him to have a night terror..."

"I'm a Lieutenant Colonel. Edward Elric may be a child, but he is a State Alchemist and he holds the rank of Major in the amestrian military. I'm much more inclined to believe my Major. Either we get a different room or I'm moving him to a more secure location tonight."

Roy rose to his full height- Ed didn't miss the opportunity to cling to the man, burying his face in his uniform. This was the smell of safety- of bourbon, leather, and old alchemy books. Ed inhaled it greedily.

"Okay. Alright, Roy, if you say so, we can do that. Ed needs to be int he hospital for now, we both know that's what's best for him." Aubrey said.

"I want him to stay here, but you have to understand- Ed's not just a child. He's a valuable asset to the military. I take his word seriously, and so should you. Don't write him off because of his age. He's seen worse than most adult soldiers."

Roy absently stroked the messy head of blond hair, looking down at the tired form and sighing.

"I know you're tired, Ed."

Ed mumbled something so muffled into Roy's coat that nobody could understand it. Roy sighed. "You have to come out from my coat if you want me to be able to understand you, Ed."

Ed pulled back to look up at him, childlike fear and exhaustion on his face. "I said that creep is going to come find me again!"

Roy's eyes darkened. "Let him come. I'm with you, Ed- I have my gloves. You need to rest."

Ed nodded, seeming to relax at Roy's statement, leaning more heavily on the man.

The dark haired nurse had already left, presumably to get a new hospital room ready for them, and Aubrey busied herself picking up the bent IV pole and straightening out the room, which had been fairly torn apart.

The only thing that was really left intact was Roy's uncomfortable plastic chair, and he sat, pulling Ed into his lap and letting the boy lean against him while they waited for the new room to be made ready.

Aubrey tried not to watch the two- Edward had an automail fistful of Roy's coat and seemed to be fighting the pull of sleep, and Roy didn't seem to mind the exhausted teenager in his lap at all- rather, he watched Aubrey like a hawk as she moved about the room, cleaning things up.

"I'm sorry if I seemed harsh and unreasonable, Aubrey. but Edward's safety is of the utmost importance."

"I understand, Mr. Mustang." Aubrey said simply, continuing to clean. "We all see him as a child- you're the only one who can see the soldier in him right now."

The remark stung slightly, but Roy took it without complaint. He had to play it safe- had to believe Ed- because his Edward was nearly always right.

"I need one more favor, Aubrey."

"Yes, Mr. Mustang?" Aubrey was looking thoroughly unamused at him.

"This hospital has a laboratory, I'm assuming. I want swabs taken of every blood smear in this room and sent there to be typed."

Aubrey sighed. "I'm trying to be patient here Mr. Mustang, but I really don't understand you."

"I'm a military man, Aubrey." Roy looked down at the child in his lap, brushing some of Ed's golden hair from his face. Aubrey softened slightly at the gesture. Here he was, feared Lieutenant Colonel, giving out unweildly orders while his subordinate slept in his lap.

"I run off of facts and information. Edward was fighting for his life in this room- you don't know Edward. But I do. I want every blood sample run and typed in your medical laboratory- because trust me, most of the blood in this hospital room isn't Edward's."

Obligatory ko-fi link https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12 

[notyetneedcoffee]

No Secrets, Part 1

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, Bucky Barnes x Reader (???)

Warnings: None in this section

“West quadrant all clear,” Natasha’s voice came across the coms.  

“There’s still a few runners on the loose out here.” Stark reported. “Wilson, there’s a pair headed your way.”

“On it.”

“Y/N, Report.” Cap swept the east side of the warehouse. “I’ve got nothing else here.”

“Standby.” You whispered. A technician and an armed soldier were loading equipment into crates. “Two hostiles on the load dock over here.”

“I’ll be there in twenty seconds.” Bucky’s voice chimed in.

You mentally rolled your eyes. Why did he always have to rush in an take over whenever you had a situation? Sliding around pallets of equipment cases, you managed to get almost behind the two. Shooting the equipment could be bad, considering this was an experimental research and testing facility. None of you knew what this stuff actually did yet.  

The armed soldier turned toward the technician. You took the opportunity, shooting him down. The technician drew a strange looking weapon, firing with unexpected speed. A piece of equipment behind you blew apart. You landed on your side shooting back, dropping the tech.  

Just as Bucky turned the corner, the broken device behind you exploded. He watched you collapse and rushed to your side. “Y/N is down!”

“What!” Steve responded at the same time Stark barked “Report!”

“An explosion” He knelt beside you looking for damage but didn’t see anything. You began to stir. “No obvious wounds. She’s coming around.”

“It’s a good thing she’s got a hard head.” Tony’s voice came through the com.  

You were on the ground, Bucky suddenly above you looking worried. As soon as you focused on him, the blue eyes went cold, pissed. “What the hell were you thinking? I told you I was coming?”

“I’m fine.” You argued sitting up, though wondering if you’d just passed out. “I got both of them.”

‘Fine my ass. You went down like a bag of rocks. Scared the shit out of me.’  

“Didn’t know you cared, Barnes.” You scoffed, getting to your feet.

“What?” He grabbed your arm, glaring at you. ‘Damn it. Why do you have to be so difficult? I just want to pack you up and get you out of here. Somewhere safe.’

“I’m not trying to, okay? What is wrong with you?” You glared back.

“Trying to what?” Bucky faced you full on, eyes hard, hand tightening on your arm.

“Not trying to be difficult. Why are...”

Bucky ripped the com unit out of his ear and reached up to take the one out of yours despite your protest. “Y/N, Look at me.” You pushed every bit of annoyance you had into your stare. ‘I think that device did something to you.’

Just before you began to argue the realization that Bucky’s lips had not moved sunk in. “What the hell?”

“That thing. Whatever it gave off.” Bucky’s eye went wide. “You can hear what I’m thinking.”

“Oh, shit.”  

‘Yeah, oh shit.’ You distinctly heard his voice in your head. ‘I’m so fucked.’

“Why?’ Your eyebrow quirked up as Bucky handed you back you com.  

He replaced his own in his ear. “Banner. We have a situation. I’m bringing Y/N back to the jet.”

“What’s going on?” Steve’s voice cut in before Bruce could respond.

“The device that blew did, I don’t know, something to her mind.”

“I’m right here.” You barked. “Stop talking around me.”

“What’s wrong? She sounds like her normal charming self.” Stark chimed in.

“She, ah,” Bucky looked sideways at you. “She’s hearing my thoughts.”

There was a long moment of silence on the coms. Then everyone spoke at once.

“Get her to the jet!”

“What!”

“How the hell?”

“Are you serious?”

“Children!” Tony shouted. “Barnes, get her to the jet. Banner, it might not be a bad idea to sedate her until we can run a full battery of tests at the lab. I’m heading in to get a look at that device.”

“Come on, Doll.” Bucky grabbed you by the arm and practically dragged you through the facility. ‘Let’s knock you out before you hear something you shouldn’t.’

“Really?”  

Bucky gave you a pleading look and you found yourself relenting. Fine. When you reached the jet, Bruce had earbuds in, listening to opera. He led you to one of the recycling seats and performed a quick perfunctory exam and then set up an IV. “I’m going to give you a sedative. We’ll wake you up in the lab. Okay?”

“Yeah,” you sighed. “Whatever.”

‘Sorry.’ Bucky looked at you with mournful eyes.  

“I hate this.” You grumbled, already feeling the effects.

“You know that Nat and Tony, hell any of us, are not comfortable with the idea of someone without control reading our minds.” Bucky actually took your hand in his. ‘It’ll be okay. I’ll stay right here.’

The noise woke you before the light. They were familiar voices. Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and Tony were arguing. Some loud, some not. It was strange. You fought to open your eyes. They felt heavy, sticky. The drugs. That’s right.

“Hey.” You croaked, swallowed, and tried again. “Hey, guys. Take it outside.”

“Y/N.” Steve leaned over you. “How you feeling?”

“Fuzzy.”

‘No shit, they’ve kept you under for six days.’ Bucky was taking your other hand, a scowl on his face. You gave him a look, but he shook his head slightly.  

“What’s going on?” You asked.

“It appears you were hit with a massive surge from the whatever that device was. It flooded you with an energy with a signature similar to what we saw from the Mind Stone. We can’t really test anything beyond computer simulations because the explosion completely burned out the device.” Bruce explained. “What we can say, is the abnormal readings in your brain have been steadily decreasing by 1.7% a day.”

“A day.” You repeated. “What day is it, exactly?"

‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’ Bruce looked at you, head tipped low. “The fifteenth.”

‘Should’ve kept her under.’ Tony looked on nervously. ‘Fuck. Did she hear that? Shit. What now? She looks pissed.’

‘So sorry. Never should have let it go so long.’ Steve watched your face, holding your hand.

‘I’ll beat the hell out of them for this. Not right keeping you under when there’s nothing wrong with you.’ Bucky squeezed your other hand.

“So, I’m what? A security risk. You don’t want me picking up on stray thoughts that I shouldn’t.”  

‘Oh, thank fucking god!’ Tony gave you a sad smile that was completely contradictory to celebratory tune in his mind. “Something like that.”

“We figure since you were only picking up on Barnes while you were at the warehouse, and the nearest person was about two hundred meters away, we could just...” Bruce began explaining.

“Sequester me by myself somewhere until this wears off.” You pulled your hands away from the boys, crossing your arms. “For what? Two, three months? Alone. Great.”  

‘Over my dead body, you don’t get to lock her up ‘cause your uncomfortable, asshole.’ Bucky’s stray thought nearly made you smile.

“I’ve got an amazing place all lined up. Just twenty minutes from the compound and it’s been all tricked out with the best stuff.” Tony spoke a million words a minute. “Movies, streaming, video conferencing, gaming, a full library. Amazing kitchen. AI. The scenery is cool. Stuff can be delivery. Shop all you want, I got you covered. Just consider it a paid vacation.”

‘It’s too long.’ Steve was staring out the window. ‘Don’t want you gone that long.’

“I’ll come weekly and run a check.” Bruce added. ‘This sucks.’

“So, ah, here’s all the info.” Stark handed you a tablet. “Pack up and stay in touch. Um, sorry kid.” He left with Bruce on his heels.  

“Great.” You swung your feet out of bed. “Well, you boys going to run away too?”

‘Don’t wanna, Doll.’ Bucky stepped up, rubbing your shoulder. “I don’t care what these assholes think. We’ll figure something out. I’m going to go fuel up your car, okay?”

You nodded and he left. Bucky had always been a friend, but what he didn’t say made you adore him even more. Ever since joining the team, he and Steve were your first and closest friends. A gentle chant of ‘in and out’ made you realize Steve was working very hard to keep his mind blank by focusing on his breathing.  

“Steve.” You got up, a bit wobbly.

‘Damn it.’ His arm came around your side to support you immediately. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let this go on for so long. Are you okay?” Steve’s eye’s filled with concern. ‘You don’t look okay. God, I screwed up.’

“I’ll be okay.” You leaned into him, wrapping your arms around his waist. “It’s just a lot and I’m still a little, I don’t know, disoriented.”

He squeezed you. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong.” You spoke into his chest.

“I should have fought harder to wake you up sooner. I don’t like this idea of sending you away.” Steve gave you a squeeze. ‘I don’t want you to go anywhere. We can stay just like this.’

Something tightened in your chest. A nervous flutter danced across your belly. Just to test the feeling, you turned into Steve’s embrace fully, tipping your head up and burying your nose in his neck. You murmured. “It sucks but, I’ll be okay.”  

‘Oh god,’ Steve gave you a tighter squeeze. ‘She feels so good. So damn good. Not about you, Rogers. Get it together.’ He held you back from him. “Are you going to be okay getting ready? Do you help?”  

You stared into his eyes for a long moment, wondering why you never realized there was an attraction there before. He was focusing on making sure you would be okay. It was so sweet. Still, random thoughts burst through. ‘It may be months.’ ‘Kiss her.’ ‘So beautiful.’ ‘Don’t be an idiot.’

“I’ll be okay, Steve.” You touched his cheek. “How about I call you as soon as I get there?”

“Please.”

“You can call any time.”

“I will.” He smiled, a bit shy. “I suppose it’s evident I how much I want to.”

You just smiled back. “Let’s talk about when I don’t have an unfair advantage.”

He hugged you close once more. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Yeah,” You sighed. “I’ll miss you, too.”

He left to let you get dressed. As you pulled on the pants for the scrubs, you had to fight back a giggle as you heard. ‘Smooth, Rogers. Sniff her hair like that. Idiot. Gonna miss her smell. I hate this. Should have kissed her. Idiot.’ 

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[hypnoticwinter]

Down the Rabbit Hole part 28

A scratchy little voice is crooning in my ear. Major Fracture Detected. Joint Dislocation Detected. Pneumothorax Detected. Blood Loss Detected. Mild Nerve Damage Detected. T. Jacksonii Spore Residue Detected. Diagnosing…acute deceleration injury. Poisoning. Spore inhalation. Begin treatment?

There’s a little friendly dinging tone. Someone near me shifts, and then I feel a warm hand slip into mine momentarily and squeeze. For a second I’m willing to let myself believe it might be Elena, but then I run my thumb lightly over the knuckles pressing against my fingers and give that up right away. This hand is much too soft to be Elena’s.

I try to crack my eyes open but it’s far too bright for that right now. I’m having a little bit of trouble thinking straight. And a little bit of trouble breathing but for whatever reason it feels as though wherever I am right now is very far away and separated from the rest of my body. I can feel a stab of pain on the right side of my chest whenever I take a breath but at the same time it’s as though I’m observing it from such a far distance that it barely is of significance. Maybe it’s happening to someone other than myself.

Begin treatment? the voice repeats and next to me the person holding my hand sighs and says my name. I recognize their voice but not who they are.

“Are you awake?” they ask, and I try to say something but my tongue is very thick and heavy. I swallow hard; my throat hurts.

“Roan,” they say again, “I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m going to have to start the treatment procedure soon, okay? You really did a number on yourself falling off that cliff, and then the spores you’d been breathing in for about three days weren’t helping any.”

I try a little harder to say something but I know it doesn’t come out right.

“This might feel a little weird,” the voice says. Now I do recognize it; it’s Makado.

Begin treatment? The tiny scratchy voice says again and this time Makado shifts next to me and hits the button. There is a hiss and a whine of moving machinery and then a sharp prick in the skin above my hand. I make a little noise, try to move my hand away, but something hard has grabbed onto it and isn’t letting me go.

Sedative administered, the voice says, and then everything fades very quickly. I have just enough consciousness left, circling the drain as it is, to feel Makado’s hand slip from mine, and then I am moving, or rather I am being drawn into something, and then something comes down over my head and cradles my neck. It’s very dark and I feel as though I ought to be afraid, but before I can open my mouth to voice my fears, to scream perhaps, I flutter out entirely.

 * * *

 I can hear talking. I’m laying in a bed curled over onto my side and in the other room I can hear talking.

My head is remarkably clear. I breathe in deeply and let it gust out slowly through my nose. There is a mild ache in my ribs, nothing more.

“Yes,” Makado says, “I’ve got her. No, she didn’t give me any trouble. She’s pretty beat-up, a kitten could have knocked her out and carried her up to the surface.”

A pause. I open my eyes with an anticipatory wince but the light is cool and grey and clinical, filtering down through a sheet or curtain drawn around the bed; there is a wide-paneled fluorescent set into the ceiling but it’s switched off.

“No,” Makado says, after a pause, then repeats. “No, that won’t be necessary. Just be ready to receive us, that’s all.”

There’s an IV in my hand and the jaw of a heartrate monitor clamped around my finger. I think about it for a moment and then reach down and take it off. The machine the IV feeds into gives an interrogative chirp.

“Yes, I have the handcu - hang on, she’s awake.”

I hear the screech of a chair sliding back along a hard floor and then a door opens and someone comes in.

“Hey,” Makado says softly, and I almost feel like crying. “You okay in here? You awake?”

“Makado,” I breathe, and she pushes back the curtains and sweeps her eyes over me, then blows her breath out.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m – I’m good,” I say, taking a moment to think about it. I sit up a little more fully and yawn. My jaw cracks like a gunshot. “How long was I out for? And what are you –“

Makado laughs. She motions at my legs and I scoot over a little, let her sit down at the foot of the bed. “So, um. You were out for about a day and a half. That’s how long it’s been since you fell off the cliff.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. I brought you down here,” she gestures, “put you into the autodoctor unit that they had, let it do its thing. It isn’t ideal but it uses a ton of ballast, so I figure you probably feel pretty decent, at least. When we get out of here we’ll get you to an actual doctor for a checkup.”

“Autodoctor?”

“It’s an old Anodyne thing,” she says. “DUSA has the last functioning one, they get a little use out of it. Runs off an old AD biocomputer. It was supposed to be for a military contract, put a bunch of them overseas, hard to reach places. Can do surgeries and treatments and diagnose like that,” she says, snapping her fingers. “Not a lot of flexibility, though. But plans fell through of course and the few that were left are museum pieces now. The one they’ve got here is the last working one.”

I chew on that for a moment. “DUSA?” I ask finally.

“Oh, right. This place,” she says, gesturing. “Dura Urgens Staging Area. DUSA. Some people call it Medusa. As like, a pun.”

“That doesn’t really help me understand what it is.”

Makado nods. She reaches up and runs a hand through her hair; I’m busy watching her eyes. Something about this place is important, I think; something here means something to her.

“Below us,” she says finally, “about eighty or a hundred meters down, is the largest known nerve bulbule in the Pit. There might be others someplace else, someplace deeper, someplace we haven’t explored yet, but this is the biggest one we know of. The Pit doesn’t have a brain the way you or I do. Whatever common ancestor it shared with humans, if it ever had one, was so far back that it was before the development of the central nervous system. The Pit uses a distributed nervous system instead; it has nerve bulbs all over the place and they handle reflexive and autonomous reactions for the general area that they’re in. Then, you move deeper by another five hundred meters and you find another bulb. It’s like a web, or a road network, and all of these bulbs are the cities.”

“But this one below us is the biggest.”

“Yes. That doesn’t mean it’s the main one, just that it’s…bigger. Handles more things. And DUSA – well, there’s a reason that they put it right over the big one.”

I blink at her. “Wait, is this where the - ?”

“The Contingency Plan?” she says, clearly saying the words with big important Capital Letters. “Yeah. That’s here. This is the facility for it.”

Something about the way she grins at me makes me shudder. I think back to the story Peter had told me – god, poor Peter – and his horrible descriptions of the way that the contingency had fucked their brains. I look at the woman before me, at the mottled flesh beneath her eyepatch and the hearing aids poking their heads out of her ears, at the acid burns and digestion marks lining her arms like vitiligo, and I can’t reconcile her tiny excited smile with the picture I had of her when Peter was telling me about her.

I blow out a big sigh and flop back in the hospital bed. There’s a warning twinge in my ribs and I wince; Makado picks up on it instantly. “You alright? Do you need anything?”

“No, I just – how was that thing able to fix me so fast?”

She shrugs. “Lots of ballast. The tank was still nearly full when we got here, it used a few gallons on you it looked like.”

Again I shudder. I’m trying not to think back to the horrible, terrifying crawl through the tight, sucking, fleshy tube to the ballast bulb, about the abject terror I had felt when Crookshank had crawled in there with me.

Crookshank…he’d be dead now, almost certainly. I realize that I don’t remember seeing him die, I don’t remember what happened to him. My memory of the attack down in the barrows is just streaks of gunfire sliding by my faceplate, the rhythmic, chest-squeezing thundering of the slug rifles, and the shrieks of the copepods. I wonder for a moment whether I’m going to have PTSD, whether I’ll ever be able to eat lobster again. I shake my head.

“Mak, this is fucked.”

“What is?”

“This whole – this whole thing. This is –“

“Relax,” she says, putting a hand on mine. I can feel the cool, clammy skin on the inside of her palm where the acid had burned her. It feels like something that’s been microwaved about twice as long as it needed to be and then let to cool down and I have to stop my lip from curling. “It’s not active. Not yet, anyway. Once we get that crystal back we can go about getting it carved down and –“

“I don’t think that crystal’s going to be an option any more.”

I tell her, briefly, about what happened after Erica and Marcus had ambushed us, how they had shot the Sergeant, how they had shot Elena and gotten us separated. “Do you know where she is?” I ask, realizing with a faint feeling of guilt that I hadn’t asked already.

Makado stares at me. “Who?”

I blink. “Elena. I don’t know where she is, did she – did she make it out?” The thought of Elena laying there hurting somewhere in some throbbing corridor of this place is almost too much for me to bear. Or worse, laying there dead –

I break the thought off like a plank of rotten wood. She is not dead. She can’t be.

I almost missed the calculating look that had flashed across Makado’s eye, and I realize I’ve grabbed onto her arm rather tightly. I let go but even so I can’t stop myself from biting my lip out of sheer worry. “She’s fine,” Makado says finally.

“She is?”

“Yeah. She came stumbling into Control a few days ago, they got her up to the surface, far as I know she’s still in the infirmary. That’s how I knew to come down and get you, she told us what was going on.”

“Oh thank god,” I blurt. I hug my knees to my chest and squeeze my eyes shut. She’s okay, I tell myself. I can feel the tears coming but at least this time they’re out of relief. After a moment I hear Makado sigh again and then she shifts closer to me and puts her arm around me.

“You must really like her,” Makado ventures after a moment. I laugh but it comes out as more of a sniff.

“Yeah,” I say after a moment. “Yeah, I think I – I do, yeah.”

For a short while it feels as though Makado doesn’t know what to say. Then finally she shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she tells me.

“For what?”

“For dragging you into this,” she says. “I never thought that all of this would happen, it was going to be just routine,” she says, massaging her temples. “The copepods, they never would have done anything if it wasn’t for the damn Leechman, they never would have attacked, nobody would have had to die…”

“It isn’t something you could have predicted,” I say gently. Makado continues on as though I hadn’t spoken.

“And then Erica, goddam Erica, Christ…”

“She was doing what she thought was the right thing,” I say. “I don’t think she meant for things to go the way they did.”

“That doesn’t really make it any better,” she groans. I think about Peter again and wish fervently that he were here. I lean back and navigate my arm around so that now I’m the one holding Makado.

“I’m sorry about Peter,” I tell her.

Makado is utterly silent. She’s looking away from me, over into the other room. I can see the muscles at the base of her jaw working as she grinds her teeth. For a moment, just a moment, I get a feeling of foreboding. She seems horribly angular and purposeful and mean all of a sudden, sitting there at the foot of the bed like an axe about to fall on me. I start to say something else but she looks over at me and nods. Her eyes are very hard.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too. It sounded like a rotten way to die.” I look over at Makado, look at her carefully. She glances over at me after a moment. “What?”

“Nothing,” I say finally. I swing off of the bed, get up and stretch. “I feel good,” I observe.

“Yeah,” Makado says, rising to her feet as well. “With that much ballast in your system you’ll probably be riding pretty high for a couple of days at least. Now, be careful though, because –“

“What are we going to do about the FBI?” I ask her. I undo the hospital gown and let it fall, gaze down at myself. There’s a ragged weal of a scar along my ribs on the right side but it already looks long-healed. I put my weight down on my other foot and nearly stumble. Makado gets up and rushes to me but I caught myself on the railing around the cot.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, my leg, it –“

“I was going to tell you,” she says. “The autodoc wasn’t able to set it properly. You’d fallen on a calcium deposit and your tibia and fibula broke. It cleaned out the fragments of bone but there wasn’t enough left to just set it and let it heal, so it put in a synthetic replacement, used ballast to meld your skin and muscle around it, but that leg is going to be weak for a long time.”

I sit back on the bed, reach down and feel the leg. It doesn’t feel much different but whatever caused the weakness is still lurking inside there, maybe a muscle not connected properly, maybe something else. I can feel a dull, bone-deep throb of pain, steady and regular and hard-edged, just waiting to boil up to the surface the second I put a foot wrong. I shake my head.

“I’m going to need like, a boot or something. If we have to climb out of here –“

“We’ll figure it out, it’s okay. I just wanted to tell you before you, you know, figured that you were totally fine.”

“What about this?” I ask, turning to her, pointing to the scar across my ribcage. “I know that wasn’t there.”

“Just repair work on a rib, I think. I read the summary it spat out after it was done but I’m pretty sure it didn’t reinflate your lung by going through your rib cage.”

“Jesus Christ,” I murmur, craning my neck and squinting down at it.

“Are you breathing alright?”

With only a little trepidation I take a deep breath and hold it, then let it blow out long and slow. There’s a little pain when I hold it, in the right lung only, and then as I’m nearing the tail end of the breath it rattles somewhere deep down, but I shake my head. “A little rough but it’s okay.”

“You need to know that you’re still a little, you know, doped up. Ballast would have kept most of the pain down and kept your head pretty clear but that’s going to come back with a vengeance if you overdo it.”

I nod. “Alright, I get it. Take it easy for probably the next year or so.”

“There’s an extra jumpsuit over on that chair.”

And so I get dressed, and eat a nutrient bar and Makado shows me around DUSA. I have to hang on to her every now and then when my leg threatens to buckle beneath me but she bears it without complaint and lets me hobble around with my arm around her shoulder like we’re old friends.

DUSA looks just like all of the other ranger stations I’ve been in so far, if maybe a little cleaner. She shows me the door to the room that has the big scary capital-letter Contingency Plan inside of it, but even though I ask she won’t let me in to see it.

Outside the inch-thick windows the Pit’s flesh is squeezed tight against the walls. A few small stents hold it back here and there to let a metal gantry and corridor file through and out into a vent but otherwise it’s like this place was just cut open and the small lozenge shape of DUSA was slipped in and then the Pit grew back around it. Unlike some of the other ranger stations this one is tall rather than wide, maybe four or five floors of various facilities. There’s a dormitory, a kitchen and eating area, the small infirmary with the autodoctor, now revealed as a squat, many-legged machine a little like an MRI machine and a metal octopus had a baby, and on the fourth floor room after room of workstations with dark screens and dusty keyboards. Servers lie dark and dormant, tucked against the walls and tied down with cloth straps.

We end up sitting on the roof of the place, after Makado opens the hatch and lets a ladder telescope down from the recessed sheath it was hiding in. She helps me up it methodically and then we’re there, the fleshy wall of the ceiling barely a dozen feet above our heads. It gives me a sense of disorientation somehow, like I’ve just crawled upside down from the bottom of DUSA and am now standing with my feet glued to the ceiling, staring down at the floor. I blink hard and it passes.

Makado leans out over the railing and groans. “Everything’s fucked,” she growls. “This whole place ought to be full of people, getting things ready for when that crystal gets here. Instead it’s just me and – and you.” She’d gotten more and more pessimistic the further into our little tour we’d gone. I reach over and put my arm around her. She stiffens when I touch her and then seems to relax. I feel rather comradely, I feel like laughing. I guess I had convinced myself that I was going to die and now that I’ve received an unexpected reprieve I can’t hardly believe it.

“It’ll be okay,” I tell her. “What’s going on with the FBI?”

“Admin’s stalling them, but they’ll come back with a writ or a warrant or something and when they get their hands on our files there’ll be some shit. Right now they’re fighting with the DoI guys over jurisdiction, I think.”

“DoI?”

“Department of the Interior,” she says, waving her hand. “Normally that’d be who would handle this type of thing, they’re in charge of National Parks, but the FBI want in because this isn’t a park any more, I think technically it’s a preserve or something and that’s different…somehow. Not sure on that one.”

I nod. I start to say something else but Makado heaves a huge sigh, glances sidelong at me. “There might be some trouble but I think we’ll be able to get you out of it,” she tells me, and I laugh.

“I’m more worried about you. Klaus said they were gunning for you, that you were going to go down hard.”

She rolls her eyes. “We’ll have to see,” she says. “Especially if he’s dead, it might be a little more difficult for that to happen.”

I get a little wrench in my stomach as she says it but I swallow hard and let it pass. I did what I had to and if I hadn’t I would be dead.

I wonder for how long after this I’m going to be seeing that grin and that knife in my dreams.

“So he was a mole, then?” I ask. “That’s basically what he was saying.”

“I don’t think so,” she says. “He’s been here for a long time, Klaus has. I don’t think he ever was, you know, an undercover FBI agent or anything, I think he was just their guy on the inside. An informant. I read his personnel file, he’s an ex-con. It makes sense that there was someone giving them information but…” she trails off. “It’s hard to say,” she finishes. “It’s too bad, though. Too bad we didn’t get that crystal. We could have done a lot of good with it. If they just hadn’t shattered the first one…”

We sit there on the roof of DUSA for a long while, until Makado finally groans and gets to her feet. I glance up at her and then take the offered hand, let her pull me up. “What happens now?” I ask.

“Now?” she laughs. “Now we get out of here.”

 * * *

 Getting out is easier than getting in. Makado gets me into a ranger suit and we march off into the wet, tumescent depths of the Pit. Except, as Makado explains to me, we aren’t nearly as deep as I think. DUSA is far higher depth-wise than the dense fungal hell I thought I was going to die in. When I asked her how I had gotten here, then, she explained, as though it were simple, that she had just taken an IAV.

Peter had mentioned them briefly, the acronym standing for something like ‘Internal Anatomy Vehicle’ or similar. I’d even seen some, parked down below in the meager garage at the control center, what feels like ages ago, lurking like snub-nosed, aerodynamic lozenges, there in the dark. But here is one of them, its big chunky wheels soaked in gore, its prow stained red from apparent hours pushing panicked through venterial folds, rushing to DUSA with me in the passenger seat, strapped in as tightly as Makado had dared.

“It was tight,” she tells me. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it. I went as fast as I possibly could but it was still a near thing.”

“It was those fucking lizards down there,” I mutter. “I touched one, they’re covered in some kind of – poisonous goop, I don’t know what –“

“Yeah. The autodoc scrubbed your system and breathing clean air for long enough got the spores out as well, but you’re just riding on the ballast right now,” she reminds me, pressing a combination on a keypad near the low-slung waist of the vehicle and then stepping back to let the hatch open. It smells like oil and disinfectant but I clamber in eagerly. The interior is space-age, or at least it would have been in the 90s or so. The interior lights are all in red for some reason; when I ask Makado about it she explains it’s to help maintain low-light vision while still letting you see. When she grins at me her teeth reflect back cherry-stained and I have to shake my head to keep from thinking of it as blood. She looks carnivorous, hungry, frightening.

The ride is bumpy but uneventful. Once Makado flattens something that looks like an overgrown louse the size of a small pig. It shrieks as the wheels crunch over it. I glance over at her and she shrugs. “We’re in a hurry,” she explains.

After that we lapse into a comfortable silence that grows slowly more frosty the closer we get to the Control Center. I can see it approaching on the three-dimensional map readout on the dashboard, a blinking line of waypoints leading us back to the garage. Makado’s answers become shorter and shorter and eventually I just stop trying to make conversation at all. She’s just tired, I tell myself.

After we park Makado helps me out of the IAV and guides me up a set of stairs and into the Center. My leg twinges a little whenever I really put weight on it but if I limp it isn’t nearly as bad. The stairs are rough though, and I have to cling on to her and take them one step at a time just to get up them.

Over the last hour of driving or so I developed a little bit of a headache but when I mentioned it to Makado she nodded and explained it was probably just the ballast starting to wear off. It’d keep me going for a while longer but I’d need to rest and let my body heal. I had grinned. “Fine with me,” I told her, and she offered me a faint smile and then turned her attention back to the wet, bloody folds ahead of us, nudging the nose of the IAV through one muscular ribbed sphincter at a time.

The stairs take us to sort of a tool room or machine shop, and then we pass out into a hallway and then up some stairs that I recognize. Beyond the next inch-thick submarine-style door is the control room, still as messy as a few days ago, with two or three of the geeks present before still in residence. They look up when Makado enters but make no comment other than a perfunctory greeting or two; clearly we’re expected. Then I step into the room and catch nothing but eyeballs.

One of the nerds frowns. “Wait,” he asks Makado, staring at me, “is that…?”

I start to answer but Makado nods, shuffling me along with her hand in the small of my back. “Yes, it is,” she assures him, but the look he gives me after she does so is more than a little confusing. I glance at Makado but before I can say anything there is a burst of pain in my leg that forces a groan from my lips and makes me stumble. Makado catches me before I fall and then I’m good again. My leg feels like it’s made of glass, or rather that it’s two glass blocks stacked on top of each other, and if I’m not extremely careful about how and where I put my weight they slide apart and the most excruciating -

“You okay?” she asks, and I nod.

“Yeah,” I grunt. “Once I’m out of here I will be.”

“They already called the elevator down,” she tells me. “I radioed ahead for us. Twenty minutes and you’re through.”

“And I can see Elena?” I ask. I feel a little like a baby saying it but it just tumbled out when I opened my mouth to say something a little less pathetic like ‘thank goodness’ or similar. Makado stiffens next to me fractionally, and I frown. “Are you –“

“Yes, you can see Elena.”

We hobble out of the control room and down the corridor to the gondolas. I don’t even know how to feel; I don’t even know what time it is, whether or not it’ll be light out. Something about the way Makado took too long to answer has me worried, though, and I glance over at the woman as we make our halting way towards the waiting gondola car.

Her jaw is clenched tight and though I can’t see her one good eye from the side I’m on, I can see her brow is downcast and furrowed. I lick my lips and try to quell the sudden stab of fear that’s gone through me. “Mak, is Elena…is she okay?”

Makado opens the door to the gondola and helps me inside. “She’s fine,” she tells me. “Just try to rest. Sit down on the floor if you need to.”

As soon as she says it, as if on cue, a wave of exhaustion passes through me and it’s all I can do to keep myself standing. Makado shuts the door and fiddles with the controls for a moment and then with a sickening lurch we’re moving upwards, and with the motion it’s as though all the tension exits my body. Even the twinging in my calf doesn’t seem quite as bad now that we’re moving. I look at Makado and she offers me a tight smile. “See?” she says. “We’ll get you out of here soon.”

“And Elena’s alright?”

Makado doesn’t meet my eyes. “She’s fine,” she tells me again, but the way she says it just makes me worry more.

“Do you promise?” I ask her. She looks up from her wrist computer.

“Hmm?”

“Do you promise,” I say slowly, “that Elena’s alright?”

Makado stares at me and I see something dark and unnameable shifting behind her one remaining eye. After what feels like entirely too long she nods. “Say it,” I prompt her. “Please.” I know it’s irrational and stupid but the way she’s acting is like she’s hiding something from me, it’s like she’s –

“Roan, calm down,” she says. Her voice is smooth and serene. “Elena’s fine.”

“Promise me she is,” I whisper.

Makado takes what feels like a moment longer to respond than she should. “Okay,” she says finally. “I promise.”

“Okay,” I say. I try to will myself back to the relaxed, relieved state I’d been in as soon as the gondola had started moving, but I can’t find it. Makado’s put enough worry into me that I feel like a spiky ball of it, hard-edged and serrated. I eventually do take her advice and sit on the floor and rest a while.

I try to make conversation with her but the answers she gives me are flat and eventually we both let it peter out. I assume she’s nervous about the FBI and the investigation I’m sure she’ll go through. I already told her on the way up that I didn’t mind hanging around and giving a statement or whatever else they need exactly, but it barely seemed to make an impact on her. Maybe it’s Peter, and if it is, I don’t know what to say to her that could possibly make it better.

But I go ahead and stick my foot in my mouth anyway. “Mak,” I say, breaking the – well, not silence exactly, for the grinding and swaying of the gondola is far from quiet, but my words still seem overly loud inside the car, “are you okay?”

She blows a breath out and looks at me. She starts to say something, then stops. “I’m sorry,” she ends up telling me, and I frown.

“What for?” I ask. “I know it didn’t – it didn’t go how it was supposed to but none of it was your fault, you couldn’t have predicted –“

“No,” she says. Her voice has a catch to it as though she might start crying. “It isn’t that. It’s – look, can I show you something?”

“Sure.” I’ve got no clue where she’s going with this. Outside the window I can see the first hint of real sunlight that I’ve glimpsed in probably about four or five days, pouring down into the Pit like an orange cascade. It’s far-off and dim but it’s real. Looks to be somewhere around the middle of the day or so. Makado reaches down for me and with her help I manage to clamber to my feet. I’m still a little unsteady on the right leg but I think it’s getting better. I think I just needed to rest it for a while. “What is it?”

“I’ll show you,” she says. “Turn around real quick.”

“What are you –“

“Just do it,” she nods. Her eyes flick over to the window then back to me. “You’ll miss it.”

So of course I turn, not thinking anything of it. I hear her shift and then come and stand just behind me. There’s a clink of metal, a small subtle sound. I don’t see anything out the window.

I start to glance back at her and then she grabs my wrist and tugs it backwards and snaps half of a pair of handcuffs around it. “What!” I blurt, jerking away from her before she can grab my other hand. Her face is tight and calculating.

“Give me your fucking hand,” she snarls.

“Makado, what the fuck –“

She punches me. I see it coming but I don’t react in time. Her fist slams into my gut and the breath whooshes out of me in one go, folds me over like a pressed shirt. I reach for her and try to slap her back but she grabs my hand and then she’s got me by the wrist – her grip is like iron. I bring my leg up and knee her in the hip and she grunts, but then she draws her leg back and kicks me in my newly repaired calf and the explosion of pain is so intense that I scream. I draw my leg back and falter and then fall to the floor, landing heavily on my elbow, and then Makado grabs me and heaves me over onto my stomach, jarring my leg again and forcing another scream from between my teeth as she cuffs the other wrist.

“What the fuck!” I yell, as soon as I’ve caught my breath.

“I’m sorry,” she says, breathing heavily, smoothing off the front of her suit. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“You fucking bitch!” I shriek. “You fucking bitch, get me out of these fucking cuffs!”

“It wasn’t anything personal,” she says, sounding more like she’s trying to convince herself than she is trying to convince me.

“You bitch!” I say again. I apparently become rather uninventive when I get stabbed in the back. Makado growls, a low wordless snarl, and then rolls me over onto my back. The cuffs cut into my wrists, sandwiched between myself and the floor, and I cry out.

“Shut the fuck up,” she tells me. Her voice is icy calm and that scares me more than anything else she could have said. “I have to give someone to the FBI. I have to let someone take the fall.”

I open my mouth to say something and she puts her booted foot over my throat and presses down gently. I can feel the blunt cleats on the bottom dig into my neck. I try to wriggle away but she just puts a little more of her weight onto it and then I can’t breathe and so I stop, staring at her desperately, hoping she has the sense not to choke me.

“There is too much at stake right now,” she says, “for me to go down for something as fucking stupid as human trafficking. Especially when my contribution was just looking the other way. So you’re going to go down for me. That’s all. There’s still a chance I can get that crystal back but I won’t be able to if I’m rotting in a federal prison somewhere.”

She takes her foot off my throat and I heave the air in while I still can. “Tell me,” I wheeze. Makado looks down at me. “Tell me you weren’t lying about Elena. Tell me she’s okay.”

Makado is silent for a long while. “I lied,” she says finally, in a small voice. “I knew you wouldn’t come with me if you thought she was still in the Pit. I don’t know where she is or if she’s alive. The tracker in her suit is dead and nobody’s heard from her in three days.”

The gondola grinds to a halt and the doors hiss open, and sunlight and fresh air pour in. I hardly notice. Makado steps over me and walks out while I lay there, my hands cuffed behind my back, bawling my eyes out, and then three men with badges and pistols come in and pick me up and carry me off somewhere. I don’t notice where, I don’t see it. All I can see, my eyes squeezed shut in a vain attempt to keep the tears from leaking out, is Elena, poor Elena, trapped somewhere at the bottom of the Pit and calling out my name, not knowing I’ll never come.

Continue with Part 29

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[jungshookz]

ok but like what if jungkook and y/n are at a hockey match and a kiss cam lands on them but they're both strangers

➺ pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

➺ genre: biRTHDAY-themed fluff that is so utterly sweet you will undoubtedly get like ten cavities after reading this; tae demolished a whole serving of cheesy fries and he’s not feeling so good mr stark; namjoon & y/n bond over the fact that they just don’t get hockey   

➺ wordcount: 4.6k

➺ note: happy birthday to the man that not only owns my heart but also my whOLE ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my goD i love him!!!!!!!!!!!! u ruin my life but also make it ten times better!!!!!!!!

(gif isn’t mine!)

                                      ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“remind me again why jimin couldn’t come with you instead?” you scowl when someone bumps into you from behind and you instinctively reach down to pull your purse to your front

…what??

you haven’t cashed in your latest paycheque and you don’t want anyone steaLing your hard-earned money

you stumble into tae’s back when someone knocks into you again

you would think that people would have the common decency to be a little more polite but no

this is so not your scene

plus you saw an army of ants feasting on the carcass of a cockroach in the washroom and you immediately hightailed it ouT of there

your bladder is just going to have to wait til you return to safety of your own toilet

tae told you he’d be happy to chug down a gallon of soda and give you the cup to pee in and you nearly considered it because that would probably be cleaner than the washrooms here

“because- yeah, two forks, please - because he had some dumb work thing that he couldn’t skip out on and i wasn’t going to waste my front row tickets!” tae scoffs as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world

well

that’s fair, you suppose

“you really couldn’t invite anybody else? i was your next choice?” you cling to the back of tae’s jersey because everyone keeps shoving into you and you feel like you’re going to be carriEd away by a hoard of sweaty hockey fans if you don’t hold on to something

you don’t mean to sound ungrateful because it is really nice of taehyung to have invited you to this apparently suPer big-deal of a hockey game (you’re pretty sure the fans here would rip each other apart to get their hands on a front row ticket) but like ?///???

you aren’t exactly a super enthusiastic sports person

sure, you’ll watch a couple matches if it’s on the tv while you’re cleaning up your apartment or if you just need some noise in the apartment but it’s not something that you actively seek out to watch

if anything you’re 100% more likely to watch spongebob squarepants over a sports game

you just don’t see the appeal of watching grown men (anD women! ur a feminist! girls are great!) gliding around on ice clickity-clacking a tiny puck here and there with wooden sticks while very aggressively shOving into each other at the same time  

also the names of the hockey teams are always so dumb

you could probably come up with a better hockey team name because all you have to do is pick an adjective and then pick an animal

the screaming giraffes

the wailing whales

the condescending toads

you would pay good money to watch a match between the screaming giraffes and the wailing whales

you’re not sure if the condescending toads would make a good name now that you think about it  

“aw, c’mon! it’s not like you had any other plans, anyways.” tae raises a brow at you and you immediately scoff

he has a good point.,.,., but stiLL

“i totally had plans!”

“ordering a party sized serving of chicken alfredo and garlic bread and watching netflix doesn’t count as plans.”

…okay anoTHer good point

the seats that you guys got are actually pretty good

you’re located right in the middle so you get an equal view of the goal on the right and the goal on the left

it’s not like you’re going to be paying attention to the game but still

very nice!

“can you believe we only had to pay $5 for all of this?” tae laughs lightly in disbelief as he rubs his hands together and looks down at the foot-long hot dog sitting on his lap

“…it should be concerning that we got all of this for $5.” you mutter under your breath and stare down at the plastic-looking cheese smothered over the fries

you told tae not to go overboard with the food but of course he didn’t listen to you which is why you guys are sharing a foot-long chilli cheese dog anD an extra large order of chilli cheese fries and a slurpee served in a literal bucket

usually you’d be down to inhale all of this but uh

you don’t want to sound snooty or anything but you saw one of the employees accidentally drop an entire bag of cheese into the pot before quickly fishing it out with their bare hands and you’re pretty sure that’s a health code violation

you mentioned it to tae and he said it wasn’t a big deal and- well, he’s already starting to scarf down the hot dog

side note

these fries are actually really good

you stab a few more of them with your fork before shovIng the biteful into your mouth and gently dabbing some cheese sauce off your chin with your napkin

just because you’re starving doesn’t mean all your manners are going to fly out the damn window

you didn’t eat breakfast this morning so this is a great first meal

“vou know what fhe beft part iv of sitting in the front?” tae asks through a faT mouthful of hot dog and you immediately wince in respond

men are disgusting

“what?” you reach over to wipe tae’s mouth with a napkin because both his hands are occupied by the almost offensively large hotdog

he swallows his bite before licking some chilli from the corner of his mouth

again

men are disgusting

“sometimes the hockey players get sLammed right up against the protective shield right in front of us.” tae gestures to the clear plastic panels separating the crowd from the rink “and if you’re really lucky, you get to see someone lose a tooth or something!”

you immediately make a face

“wha- how is that-“

“jungkook, over here! i found our seats!” you glance over for a second when someone quite literally scReams out loud for their friend

and then you’re turning to face tae again

“as i was saying,” you pause for a brief second when tae reaches over to take the fries from you, “how the hell is that the best part about sitting in the fr-“

you jump in surprise when what feels like a whole handful of popcorn suddenly scatters down on your head and onto your lap

oh coMe ON

you just washed your hair this morning!!!!!

the crumbs are going to look like you have veRy bad dandruff

also this is heavily buTTERED popcorn which means that the grease stains on your jeans are probably going to be there for the rest of your life

and these jeans were expeNSIVE

>:-(

this hockey game is not a very fun experience so far

“oh shit, sorry!”

“it’s all good, it’s all good…” you mutter as you flick a kernel of popcorn off your shoulder

yep

there’s a speck of grease on your sweater

greAt

“just be careful with that drink of yours because i-“ you look up to-

o-oh

OH

oh god

oh god the popcorn guy is cute

and not just cute

he’s like.,,. he’s suPER CUTE

round brown eyes

obscenely perfectly tousled black hair

he definitely looks to be around your age which is a big fat bonus

although that colour-block hoodie of his is making him look a lot younger you still think it’s safe to say he’s probably around your age

“sorry, miss… the plastic lids here are flimsy as hell and mine keeps popping off so you can’t blame me if i get you wet!” the guy flashes you a boyish smile and you feel your mouth go dry

oh dear lord

have mercy

“hey- you want extra chilli on your half of the hot dog?” you’re rudely poPped out of your little bubble when taehyung suddenly elbows your side

“wh- what? what?” you tear your eyes away from the handsome stranger who’s making himself comfortable in the seat right next to you before clearing your throat and looking over at tae

“extra chilli!” tae chirps and raises your half of the hot dog up a little

he already finished his half which isn’t a huge surprise

to be honest he was going to just go ahead and finish the hot dog but he figured it’d be nice to at least offer you a bite

“-i even asked for an extra little container of chopped up onions because i know you like-“

“no!” you blurt out and whack the container of onions out of tae’s hand causing it to smAck against the plastic divider before clattering to the ground

the two of you blink down at it

tae purses his lips before subtly kicking as much of it as possible under his seat

“i, um, i’m actually not that hungry. you can finish the hot dog.” you clear your throat again before unscrewing the lid of your bottle of water and taking a tentative, ladylike sip

“…what are you talking about? you were going to town on those cheesy fries like five seconds ago- oW-“

“jungkook, over here! i found our seats!” jungkook perks up when he sees namjoon waving him over

aH

there he is!

he was starting to get worried that namjoon wandered off somewhere or somehow locked himself in the supply closet or something

namjoon put him in charge of snack duty and he went aLL out

popcorn? check!

roasted peanuts? double check!

blue-flavoured slurpee? triple check!

he actually ended up getting two drinks because namjoon likes to bite the straw and jungkook doesn’t want to share a drink with a straw-biter

“here, i’ll take the peanuts and my drink-“ namjoon plucks the paper bag and the plastic cup cradled in jungkook’s arms before he steps aside to let him squeeze into the aisle

namjoon actually won these hockey game tickets from a raffle at work and jungkook almost exploded with joy when he invited him to come and watch it with him

it was actually pretty perfect timing because the game just so happened to land on jungkook’s birthday

namjoon gave jungkook the best birthday present and he didn’t even have to spend a dime

:’)

“s’cuse me, sorry-“ jungkook weasels his way in between the aisles and carefully steps over people’s legs as he makes his way to his seat exciTEdly

he’s never been to a live sports game before!!!

and he’s definitely never been in the froNt row of anything before!!!!

two birds with one fAt stone!

also he-

“oh shit, sorry!” he gasps when he accidentally tips his carton of popcorn a little bit causing it to land all over the stranger seated next to his spot

shiT

there goes half his popcorn

he’s not going to go back up to the concessionary stand to get more popcorn because the game is about to start and the line is probably still half a mile long

“it’s all good, it’s all good…” jungkook winces to himself and feels his cheeks heat up a little as he watches you brush the popcorn to the ground

yikes

he’s about to sit down when suddenly you speak up again “just be careful with that drink of yours because i-“

jungkook feels his heart skip a beat when you look up at him

oh wowie you’re pretty  

…he just spilt his greasy popcorn all over a very pretty girl

double yikes

it’s fine

just play it cool

he can play it cool

“sorry…” jungkook raises his cup a little “the plastic lids here are flimsy as hell and mine keeps popping off so you can’t blame me if i get you wet!”

he immediately pales as soon as that tumbles out of his mouth

wha-

what the HELL was that?!?!?!

out of all the things he could’ve said

his three and a half brain cells came up with thAT

you can’t blame me if i get you wet???????

you probably think he’s some kind of weird peRVERT now

luckily your boyfriend starts talking to y-

huh

you have a boyfriend

of course you have a boyfriend

jungkook lets out a little huff before plopping down on the plastic seat

whatever >:-(

namjoon leans over and glances into the popcorn bag before frowning

damnit

he just wanted some popcorn

:-(

“holy shiT, did you see that backhand????” tae practically screeches as he reaches over and slaps your arm aggressively “y/n, did you see it????”

“i saw- i sAW it, i saw it!” you scowl and smack his hands away from you

“oh my god, that was legEndary-“

you can barely hear tae’s enthusiastic blabbering because all you can hear is the sound of skates shrEdding up the ice and the sound of the puck being whacked back and forth and also cheers and whOops from all of these diehard fans

you honestly have no idea what the hell is going on right now

all you know is that the two teams are tied right now and everYone’s getting frustrated

you’re not sure which team you should be rooting for so you’re just basing it off of which uniform you like better

in other words, you’re cheering on the pUrpLe team!

also no one’s been smacked up against the plastic divider yet which is a huge relief because you’re not sure if you want to see anyone lose any teeth today

“will you cut it out?? your future girlfriend probably isn’t going to appreciate it if you’re practically beating her up-“

jungkook perks up immediately when he hears that come out of your mouth

aH

so that guy isn’t your boyfriend!

nice!!!!!

that means he still has a chance even though he dumped like a pound of popcorn on you and almost drenched you in his blue-flavoured slurpee

also he didn’t mean to eavesdrop

it’s just hard noT to eavesdrop when you’re sitting right next to him

he’s been paying attention to the game because duH but also he keeps thinking about how cute u look when you have a mouthful of french fries

also

now he knows that your name is y/n which is actually pretty fitting

you look like a y/n

it’s cute!

on an unrelated note

u smell rly nice but he can’t quite put his finger on what that particular scent is

jungkook’s nose twitches

hm

“what do you mean the game isn’t over yet??” you groan and plop yourself back down in the seat “there was an intermission like half an hour ago!!!”

“there are two intermissions, you whiney baby!”  tae scowls

you need to chill

you’re acting like watching a hockey game is equivalent to getting your teeth pulled out

you’re being a bABy

if he can sit through hours and houRS of your reality tv shows you can sit through one hockey game

“so…” namjoon pauses for a second “the game… isn’t over?”

“nope! there’s one more round.” jungkook chirps and shovels a handful of popcorn into his mouth

“oh.” namjoon slumps back in his seat a little

he thought the game was over

to be honest he was ready to leave before the first intermission but jungkook looked like he was having the time of his life so he decided to wait it out  

“so what are we supposed to do now?” namjoon furrows his brows “do they just expect us to wait and do nothing?”

“well, no, they’re doing that thing where-“ jungkook immediately chokes when he suddenly sees his face on the jumbotron

and unsurprisingly

your face is also on the jumbotron

“y/n-“

“hold on, i’m about to beat my high score-“ your tongue pokes out in concentration as you focus on your very intense session of tetris

“y/n-“ tae hisses and punches your arm

“ow!” you whine and rub your sore arm

tae’s been hitting you for the duration of the whole game and you’re pretty sure your arm is about to fall off

he needs to cut it out

he knoWs you bruise like a pEACH

“-what did i tell you about hitting me???” you put your phone down and turn to glare at tae

“you’re on the- look!!!!” tae points to the front and-  

you immediately pale when you realise that yes, that is most definitely your face on the jumbotron right now, and yes, you and jungkook, the very handsome stranger that you definitely already have a crush on, are currently trapped inside of a big pinK heart with the words ‘KISS CAM’ floating on top of the heart

oh god

you can’t kiss him

you still taste like cheesy fries

and your lips are chapped

and your tongue is stained blue from the slurpee

you can’T KISS HIM

and also he’s a literal stranger but most importantly you are not in the right state to be kisSEd right NOW

“oh, no-“ you shake your head quickly before making a slicing gesture over your neck “we’re not- we’re not together!”

jungkook glances at you for a brief second and he can sEe the panic in your eyes

okay

he was down to kiss you but obviously you don’t feel the same way which is totally understandable but stiLL

oh well

he might as well join in on the protesting

“right, yeah- we don’t know each other!” jungkook shakes his hand at the camera and you flash a sheepish smile at the camera before shrugging

the crowd immediately erupts into boos and you immediately scoff before turning to face the people behind you

“excuse-” you gawk when someone has the audacity to thrOW a handful of popcorn down at you guys “-excuse you!”

you turn back to face the camera and shake your head before holding your arms up and crossing one over the other

“sorry! we’re not going to kiss!!!!!!!!”

you shoot a glare in tae’s direction when he joins in on the booing

sometimes you don’t know why you’re friends with him because he’s literally suCH a moRON

“seriously, we’re not- oh, okay-“ you let out a breath of relief when the camera moves away from the two of you

you immediately slump back in your seat

phEW

that was a close call

if ur going to kiss jungkook it’s going to be because he wantS to kiss you and noT because he’s being forCed to kiss you

“sorry about that…” he turns to look at you and you immediately perk up

“no, you have nothing to apologise for! don’t sweat it.” you laugh lightly and shake your head before digging through your purse for a stick of gum

your breath still tastes like cheesy fries and it’s not very pleasant

“i, uh, i’m jungkook, by the way.” jungkook sticks his hand out for you to shake

oh

he’s… introducing himself to you

…does that mean… he might be… interested in you…?

hM

much to think about

you take his hand gently before offering him a shy smile “i’m y/n.”

“and i’m taehyung!” tae leans over and shoots jungkook a boxy smile “i would shake your hand but my fingers are still sticky with cheese.”

your eyes flutter shut and you pinch the bridge of your nose

kim taehyung is the absolute bane of ur existence

“it’s nice to meet you guys. uh, this is-“ jungkook glances over his shoulder “this is namjoon!”

“hey, hi.” namjoon smiles politely and nods to the both of you in acknowledgement “are you guys big hockey fans?”

“i’m not, but tae is-“ you laugh lightly and namjoon’s eyes liGht up

“i’m not that big of a fan either! i honestly don’t really get it!“

“right??” you gasp in excitement because now you have someone you can actually talk to about this stuff “what’s the big deal with a group of grown men gliding around and-“

“i know!! also i always lose track of where the puck is-“

taehyung and jungkook lean back slightly to give each other the same looks of ‘do you hear what i’m hearing right now?’

“i don’t see what the point is of having two intermissions-“ you nearly jump ten feet into the air when the crowd suddenly buRsts into cheers and for a second you think it’s because the game is resuming

but nO

because take a WILD guess as to whose faces are up on the jumbotron aGAIN

“wha- are you people serious?!” you gawk as you stare at yourself at the screen

…is that really what you look like?

you look weirder when you’re up on the big screen for some reason

you don’t get a chance to dwell on the fact that people can probably see your pores from how HD the camera is because the next thing you know, the crowd is beginning to chant

“kiss! kiss! kiss! kiss!”

jungkook lets out a nervous laugh and shakes his head before reaching up to pluck at the silver hoop hanging from his ear (it’s a nervous hAbit and he is very vERY nervous right now) “sorry, we’re not going to!”

“kiSS! kiSS! kiSS! kiSS!”

“you heard the guy!” you gesture over to jungkook “we’re not doing it, you pERverts!”

it seems like the audience couldn’t give leSS of a shit because every time you and jungkook say that you two aren’T going to kiss they become more riled up

even taehyung and namjoon have joined in on the chanting

namjoon can’t help but snort when jungkook turns to look at him with briGht red cheeks

if ya can’t beat em join em!!!

“we’re going to be here all day! just move on!”

“KISS!”

“we’re not going to kiss!!!!!!!”

“KISS!”

“we don’t even know each other!”

“KISS!”

“my lips are suPer chapped!”

“KISS!”

“take a hint!”

“oh for the love of god-“ jungkook’s eyes nearly pop out of his head when you’re suddenly grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie and pulling him towards you and-

his heart stops in his chest when you press your lips against his and he immediately freezes

o god

you’re kissing him

you’re kiSsing HIM

you pull away far too soon for jungkook’s liking (it was obviously only meant to be a peck) and jungkook blinks owlishly

wha-

is that it?????

that’s all????

you are riPPING him off

“there, we kissed! are you freAKS happ-“ before you get a chance to get all smug with the camera jungkook’s yanking you back and smearing his lips over yours

the crowd now eRUPTS into cheers and screams and namjoon is literally screeching his head off next to jungkook

taehyung isn’t doing any better

he threw his half-eaten hot dog up into the aIR

and for a brief second jungkook thinks you’re going to freak out and pull away but he’s more than pleasantly surprised when you begin to kiss him back

also he figured out what u smell like and why he likes it so much

it’s because you smell like his favourite fabric softener

and if that’s not a sign that you’re basically perFect for him then he doesn’t know what is!!!!

jungkook reaches up to cup your cheek gently while your fingers curl around the nape of his neck

needless to say

you are vERy much making out with a stranger right now (your mom would probably flip if she found out) but you most definitely don’t give a hECK because jungkook’s lips are so soft and he tastes like buttery popcorn

the tiniest of whimpers slips past your lips when jungkook teases you with small brushes of his tongue against yours

he tilts his head slightly to deepen the kiss and all of a sudden you feel lightheaded and your entire body feels like jello

he’s such a good kisser that you nearly forget the fact that the two of you are making out in front of like 20,000 people right now

a smirk twitches at the corner of jungkook’s mouth when he pulls away and you immediately respond with a whine

it started off with you getting him all flustered but obviously the tables have turned because you are just putty in his hands and he knows it

“jungkook…” you sigh breathlessly as he nudges his nose against yours

oH boy

your soul definitely left your body

you’re still floating on cloud nine

meanwhile the crowd is still compLETELY losing it because they were just expecting a little pek and not THIS

“yeah?” jungkook takes his bottom lip in between his teeth as he resists the urge to lean in and kiss you again

“i think this means you have to take me out on a date now.”

“…i think you might be right.”

best

birthday

ever

:-)

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

drabble masterlist // main masterlist

[searchingforenadi]

bleeding on the floor is a safety hazard

can i interest you in a secondPOV!OC, KHR fic in these trying times?

i woke up in the middle of the night and vomited this out - i have never been so terrified of my own lack of brain cells. 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

a brief summary: Your customers won’t stop bleeding in your shop. You realize this might be a problem. (second person!OC, TYL).

i. 

You try your best not to stare at the knife in the man’s side.

“Um,” you say, passing over the packaged box of cake. “Here you go.”

He smiles brightly and hands you several bills. There is a sword strapped to his back and you are terrified to even allow the thought that he might be foreign. “Thanks! Keep the change.”

You nod minutely. Then, the actual number of those bills catches up to you like a freight train off the rails. “Wait - ”

But it’s too late - the man, the cake, and his accompanying knife are gone. You look down to find that he’s left behind a puddle of blood.

You breathe in deeply, count to ten, count backwards from ten, and march back to the kitchens to grab some towels and soap. 

The cake had been paid twice over - you’ll take a little bit of blood for that any day. 

ii. 

It’s hard to imagine that something as exciting as a bleeding man would eventually fade into your memories, but that’s exactly what happens. 

A week goes by and you’re hauling over a new delivery of flour. It’s tough work but you’ve done this for years - eventually, the shop’s ready for another day.

You reach the front entrance. And stop.

The same man from last week, Knife Man, waves through the glass door. He has a new companion - not a knife - who scowls under a crown of silver hair.

You consider taking the day off. 

But no, your bills won’t pay themselves, and if they pay as well as last time, you might even be able to buy a new electric mixer.

Decision made, you flip over the sign and open the door.

“Hi again,” Knife Man says, a smile still on his face. “Sorry about last time.”

“That’s okay,” you say politely, because returning customers are golden. Your regulars are your saving grace. “Nice to see you again.”

“Same to you,” he says, tugging his friend over to the counter. His fingers trail eagerly over the sweets on display as he turns to the man. “Come on, pick one!”

You move behind the register and wait patiently. 

“I don’t like sweets!” Knife Man’s friend snaps. “I can’t believe I’m stuck with you today.”

Ever the business owner, you pipe in, “We also have drinks, if that’s more to your taste.”

That gets the man’s attention. 

“I’ll just have a coffee then,” he grumbles, fishing out his wallet. 

Knife Man joins his friend and grins. “Then I’ll have a slice of tiramisu.” 

“This early in the morning?” Knife Man’s friend hisses. 

Pointedly avoiding any conversational traps, you say, “Coffee and tiramisu. Together?”

The friend huffs. “Sure, fine. Here, keep the change. For the idiot’s blood.”

You blink at the money shoved into your face. If you had been any other person, you might protest at the clear extortion - it’s just blood. 

But you had been raised pragmatically and so, with a smile, you accept the bills. 

“Please wait a moment,” you tell them, and get started on the coffee. 

In a few minutes, you pack the cake neatly into a little box and hand it over with a cup of espresso.

“Thanks,” Knife Man’s friend grumbles, taking a sip of his drink before glancing back down at the cup. “Huh.”

You don’t challenge any strange noises made over your products, you remind yourself, and smile pleasantly instead. 

They leave quickly after, with Knife Man waving once again, and you release a sigh.

“Electric mixer, electric mixer,” you hum, sweeping the floor with a broom. “So very soon, electric mixer - ”

iii. 

A few days later, the front door opens and, lo and behold, it’s Knife Man’s friend, silver hair tied behind his head. 

You smile in greeting and ponder the possibility that you just might be cursed. 

“Two coffees,” he says, with nary a greeting. 

You’ve met worse, so you take the money handed to you and make quick work of the order.

It’s clear he’s not interested in making any small talk and, if you’re honest, you’re not really eager to start any yourself.

Soon enough, you hand over two steaming cups over the counter. 

“Thanks,” the man says, proving that he’s not yet a lost cause. Under his breath, he mutters, “That damn machine better be fixed by now.”

Technological difficulties - you can sympathize. You wave off the man and get started on your next order.

iv.

You don’t encounter any issues involving blood until a month later, after several more visits from your strangest regulars. 

“The usual,” Knife Man says brightly, seemingly oblivious to the cut above his eye and the blood trickling down his face. 

Knife Man’s friend casually tucks his clearly burned fingers into his sleeves. “The same for me.”

There is a moment of silence. 

How, you wonder, is he going to carry his coffee with burned fingers? You know how that feels. Intimately, in fact - you’re a baker. 

But that’s none of your business and so, very politely, you accept the money - stained with suspicious black dots - before getting started on the order. 

You hand over the food and coffee and say, “Here you are.”

“Thank you,” Knife Man says, gingerly accepting both the cake and coffee. He stops for a moment before studying you curiously. He smiles broadly. “I’m Yamamoto, by the way. And this is Gokudera!”

Japanese names, you note, even as the newly named Gokudera barks at the man.

“ - the hell are you thinking, you idiot?”

Yamamoto shrugs, somehow unhindered by the food, coffee, sword and blood on his face. “I think we’ve been here often enough.”

You very clearly ignore the incredibly suspicious conversation continuing on before you. 

“Good to know,” you say instead, because as nice as it is, having bleeding customers is not the best reputation for any business. “I’ll see you next time, Yamamoto, Gokudera.”

“Same here,” Yamamoto says - his Italian is impeccable, you notice.

Gokudera grunts, eyes boring into you suspiciously. 

“You say our names very naturally,” he says slowly, eyes narrowing.

You can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a threat.

“I’m half?” you offer, not sure why it should matter. “I’m not fluent though.”

Yamamoto looks incredibly pleased. “Wow! That makes a lot of sense.”

You… still can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a threat.

“Thanks,” you say, because what else can you say? Your mom’s genes are strong in your veins, so it’s not really surprising. 

They leave not long after, Yamamoto calling out goodbye and Gokudera squinting right at you. 

You lean over the counter and check the floor, just in case. It’s nearly safe, until you notice several specks of blood all over the counter itself.

“... damn.”

v.

One morning, Yamamato enters the shop with a new companion. 

“Hey!” he greets, the early hour not bothering him in the slightest.

It’s suspicious because at this point, you are very aware that Yamamoto does not drink any sort of caffeine. 

Very suspicious, you think, staring almost enviously at his non-existent dark circles. 

His friend, however, seems appropriately more miserable. 

“One cappuccino, please,” the man says, chestnut hair all over the place. His hazel eyes droop slightly. 

You smile in sympathy. “Got it.”

“Oh, also,” Yamamoto pipes in, leaning onto the counter. “We’ll be staying here for a while - that okay?”

You blink at the change.

“Sure,” you say, gesturing to the few seating arrangements you have. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

You cut up a larger slice of tiramisu and set it on a plate. As the milk boils, you wonder what’s so different now - Yamamoto always orders to-go. 

Pouring the foam over a cup of espresso, you decide it’s none of your business. You didn’t build up your customer base by being nosy.

“Here,” you say, sliding over the cake first. Yamamoto grins in thanks. “And the cappuccino…?”

You watch as Yamamoto’s friend stares blankly into the distance.

“Um,” You say. You look back at Yamamoto. “Is he okay?”

Yamamoto lets out a long laugh. 

“He’s fine,” he says, waving a hand. “We just had a long night. Hey, Tsuna. Tsuna!”

The aforementioned Tsuna startles, dark eyes blinking rapidly. “Wha - ?”

You wait patiently as he looks blearily up at you. Raising the drink in your hands, you try again. “Your cappuccino?”

Face flushing slightly, Tsuna moves to grab the drink. “Right! Sorry about that.”

“That’s okay,” you start to say, about to let the cup go, but something slips along Tsuna’s grip. 

You catch the cup right as it's about to tilt.

“Careful there,” you say wryly, deciding to skip the dangerous part and setting down the cup on the table. Patiently, you tell him, “It’s hot.”

For some reason, Tsuna’s face darkens even further. “O-Okay, sorry.”

“Not a problem,” you say, shrugging because a missed accident is as good as no accident. “Enjoy your stay.”

They stay for another half hour before departing, and you wave back when Yamamoto says goodbye. Appearing more awake than before, Tsuna gives a half-hearted wave as well. 

All in a day’s work, you think, cleaning down their table and moving on to help another customer.

vi.

Two weeks later, Yamamoto’s friend, Tsuna, walks in with the look of someone ready to jump the bridge at any moment’s notice.

Yikes, you think, and put on your best customer smile. “Can I help you?”

The frazzled look in his eyes does not go away.

“I need a drink?” he asks, which is not the strangest way someone has ordered from your shop, but it’s still pretty up there. Rubbing his eyes, he tries again. “Sorry - usually Hayato’s the one to grab them. He never told me the name.”

“Hayato?” you ask, already filing through the people Tsuna might know (it’s a short list, you only have two regulars that dress in suits like those). 

Tsuna groans into his hands. “Right. His last name is Gokudera?”

“Ah,” you say, already getting started on the coffee. You try to offer some help. “It’s usually just coffee. Nothing special.”

And just like that, Tsuna’s face transforms from someone wanting to die into someone wanting to die. 

It’s not polite to laugh at your customers, you remind yourself, turning back to the coffee. You swallow the bark of laughter in your throat.

By the time you face him again, your face is at its most polite. 

“Just one, right?” you ask, ever the professional. Remembering last time, you very carefully pass over the drink.

Tsuna nods silently and slides over some cash.

“Thanks,” he says, before practically flying out the shop. 

The moment the door closes shut, you crouch down and let out a loud ha! 

Then, you stand up, features settled back to normal, and pocket the cash into the register.

-o-o-o-o-o-

the terrifying part is that there is more to this and it’s not stopping. i imagine MC can be any gender you see them as for now, with a nice amount of respect for local authorities and common sense, and perhaps a dash of great customer service. 

this began as an attempt to write some sort of romantic Tsuna/OC fic - which is as big of a joke as I am, because it’s clear MC is too pragmatic for anything like that. at this point, anything is up for grabs.

[katsukibby]

flick

bakugou katsuki x reader (extraordinary you au)

summary: bakugou and midoriya are the main love interests for a romance manga and ochako is the main girl. (spoiler: she chooses deku) what happens when y/n, an extra, becomes self-aware that she’s nothing but a side character to help develop their relationships?”

!unedited!

*flick*

wait a minute. wasn’t i just talking to jirou? why am i in the cafeteria now?

“ah! y/n! youre here! ive been looking for you!”

“huh? jirou? what are you…weren’t we just in the classroom?” She looked at me as if I was crazy.

“what do you mean? its finally time for lunch! did you hit your head at training or something?”

“training? what? but- we were still in class just now.”

*flick* 

i jerked back up as if i had just woken up. but i hadn’t. we haven’t even eaten yet. so.…why was the school day finished?

“y/n!! there you are! you seem to be harder to find than usual today!”

“jirou…did you hear that? and what about lunch?”

“lunch? its time to head back to the dorms. now that you mention it, i wonder what we’re having for dinner tonight!”

*flick*

“alright. l/n. get ready to spar with bakugou. i’m too tired to watch this so i’m gonna go ahead and nap. everyone else can judge today.”

“wait- aizawa-sensai!”

“tch. damn extra. hurry uP AND FIGHT.”

extra? me? wait a minute-

*flick*

“ochako-chan! are you alright?”

i didn’t mean to say that. why are we in the infirmary?

“huh? l/n-san? what am i doing here?”

“midoriya-kun carried you here after one of bakugou-kun’s explosions missed me and hit you instead!”

what? when did that happen?

*flick*

“it’s time to take your midterm. put your books away and take out a pencil and eraser.”

this shouldn’t be right. midterms shouldn’t start until three weeks! this must be some sort of prank. did i get hit by a quirk or something?

“woah! l/n! i haven’t seen your text book this beat up since middle school!”

“huh? jirou? but i just got this!”

“huh? are you trying to make me feel better by acting like you forgot what today is?”

i looked down at my book. she was right. it had tabs and- that’s my handwriting! but, i don’t remember writing any of this. how will i pass?

*flick*

what is that sound?

“alright. pencils down and pass up your papers.”

“wait a sec-”

kaminari took my paper before i could even look at it. did i even fill it out? why am i forgetting everything?

*flick*

“woah! l/n-chan got everything right!”

“it makes sense, she studied hard everyday until the midterm!”

what? what is going on? why can’t i remember anything that happened in between? and what is that noise?

i turned to jirou.

“hey, have i been acting weird lately?”

“huh? no, not really. but just the fact that you’re asking that question makes me wonder if something is wrong. what’re you thinking about?”

“it’s nothing really, i just can’t seem to remember certain things. for example, i don’t even remember taking the midterm!”

“eh? that’s probably because you sped through it since you knew all the answers. i wouldn’t worry too much.”

she grinned at me and turned away. 

what am i going to do now? 

*flick*

ah. it’s lunch again. i’m not hungry so i guess i’ll just go to the library instead.

the library was eerily empty for lunch time. that was the least of my concerns though. i had to figure out what was going on. i checked all the aisles to see if there was something that could tell me what was wrong. in the corner of my eye i saw a book that seemed to be wiggling out of place. i reached up and grabbed it. i opened the book to discover it was a manga. a romance manga? why do these characters seem so familiar? is that- ochako-chan? midoriya-kun? and bakugou-kun? why are they in this? i had so many questions. but most importantly-

what was i doing in this?

*flick* 

i gasped. why was it my turn to lay down in the infirmary? and where did that book go? i tried to get up but i couldn’t move. no matter how hard i tried. i couldn’t even speak. what was going on now? i heard muffled voices. 

“if you get close to bakugou-kun again i’ll kill you!”

“i can’t believe how shameless you are to use his money to even go to this school!”

“your quirk is so weak, there is no way you’ll be a hero!”

“i bet you just seduced him in order to get into class A!”

“why don’t you do us all a favor and leave bakugou-kun alone for once?”

i wasn’t sure who was talking but before i knew it i was standing up on my own. 

“hey! leave ochako-chan alone!”

“heehee whatever you say!” the group of girls giggled and proceeded to shove ochako to the ground before locking us in. i looked at her to find her on the verge of tears.

“hey, ochako-chan it’s ok! i should be able to open the door for us!” 

i was not at all confident that i could open this door.

however, i surprised us and opened it with ease.

“oh. uh. i didn’t know i could do that. um. well, i guess i’ll see you later? i kinda have to get to the library now!” i sprinted out and closed the door before she could say anything and closed the door behind me. i turned the corner to see midoriya-kun running while shouting ochako-chan’s name. “she’s in the infirmary!” i told him. he looked startled but proceeded to run towards the room anyways.

once i made it back to the library i began to search for the book again. i found it in the same spot and all the questions i had seemed to be answered. i- was in a manga? and i’m not even the main character? what is this? bakugou-kun and midoriya-kun are love rivals? i let out a deep sigh and shook my head. i can’t believe i’m just some extra that shows up for their convenience.  

*flick*

i’ve gotten used to this by now. it’s as if there are two worlds within this one: the stage and the shadow. the stage is where all of the main story line occurs, but the shadow is where all of the time in between happens. there, other characters have no clue what is happening and forget everything that occurred when the next scene starts. so far, it seems like no one else has realized what kind of world we live in.

as i walked lost in thought, i bumped into bakugou.

“oof- sorry bakugou-kun! ah- it’s not like you’ll remember this anyways. you know- you’re actually kind of cute. too bad, you’re a main character and i’m just an extra, like you always say. i also feel kind of bad for you, you have second lead syndrome. oh well! it’s not like you get what i’m saying!”

“what the fu-”

i did this to him often. while reading the manga, i have to admit, i became quite a fan of his. all of the cringy flirting and cliche lines aside, he was quite the attractive character. he almost made me wish i was ochako.

*flick*

aww how nice! the author has gifted me with some free banana milk! but- why?

“hi l/n-chan!”

“ochako-chan! you’re here early!”

her stomach growled. 

ah. that’s why. why couldn’t i have it just this once? don’t i deserve it for working so hard as a side character? 

“you haven’t eaten yet? here take this!” i reluctantly gave it to her with a grimace and turned to see bakugou-kun approaching us. 

“you. come with me.”

i’m so jealous of ochako. she gets to be crushed on by bakugou, while im stuck here trying to help her decide between which boy helps her more. i can’t believe she’s going to pick midoriya and not bakugou.

*flick*

i sighed as i was finally released from the stage. i stretched and looked at my classmates. i thought this would be the perfect opportunity for them to start flirting or something, but to my surprise bakugou was looking at me. i looked around and pointed at myself. 

“me? not- not ochako-chan?” i stuttered in disbelief. she was already running away and towards midoriya who waved for her to come over.

“the fuck? no. i’m talking to you, you damn extra.”

“um...ok? what’s up?” i asked awkwardly. 

why was he talking to me? this wasn’t supposed to happen. he should be teasing ochako by taking her (my) milk by now. 

“i thought about what you said last time and it just doesn’t make sense.”

“huh? last time? what did i say?”

“man, you really are crazy. you know, you kept talking about how i’m a main character or something and that i wouldn’t remember what you said.”

my eyes widened. he wasn’t supposed to remember that. now what’s happening? my life is so strange these days. i seem like a broken record.

“um. you must be remembering wrong. i- i never said anything like that!” i laughed nervously. he could obviously tell i was lying. 

“fine. don’t help me. i’ll just figure it out by myself. i can’t believe i tried asking for  fucking help.” he whispered to himself. 

“we live in a manga!” i blurted out suddenly. “you and midoriya-kun are the main characters and you both have a crush on ochako-chan!”

there was no way he would believe that.

“you- uh you must be thinking you’re going crazy right? you hear strange noises and you can’t remember certain events even though you were sure you were doing something before hand?”

“how...the fuck did you know?” he looked at me with shock. i sighed and grabbed his wrist.

“just follow me,” i took him to the library and shoved the manga in his hands. “read this. it’ll tell you everything you need to know. bye now!” i nudged him in the direction of the exit. 

“wait, what the fuck is this?” he seemed so different from his typical bad, angry boy personality. he seemed even more attractive with this confused look on his face. 

he read everything and reached the empty pages. “what is this?” 

“oh, well the author hasn’t written those parts yet. that’s why everything looks like this.” for the first time, he was aware that some of the furniture in the room was floating. “it’s like this because we are in the shadow, not the stage.”

“the what?” 

“basically the stage is where all of the main parts of the manga occur and the shadow is where we are now. everything we do here won’t be remembered by the other characters.” i explained nonchalantly. “so, how does it feel? to know you aren’t going to end up with ochako-chan?”

“honestly, i could care less. every time i was in the ‘shadow’ i seemed to feel as if i lost my purpose. at least i still have my quirk.”

“man, you really are different from the manga. you’re so calm right now.”

“hey! what the fuck does that mean?!”

“jeez, never mind then. come on, let’s go to class.”

“wait!” i looked back at him. 

“what?”

“don’t you want to...i don’t know, change the story? isn’t worth a try? we’re both just supporting characters. what harm can we cause?”

“you don’t think i’ve tried? i did everything i could think of to try and change the story.”

“but what if we-”

*flick*

“bakugou-kun! i’ve been looking for you!” ochako approached him.

“you idiot. jeez don’t run around with your laces untied.” bakugou bent down to tie her shoes.

jeez. could the author get any more cheesy? this makes me want to throw up.

“i told you i would get you new shoes!” midoriya cut in. “i can’t stand watching you get bullied over something as small as this!”

“i’ll take care of her deku.” bakugou glared at him.

oh my god just speed up this scene already. what am i even here for?

“i’ll just go shopping with l/n-chan! she seems to have the best style in the class! besides, i saved up enough to buy a new pair!”

“you can count on me ochako-chan!”

*flick*

“i thought that scene would never end!” i spoke aloud. i glanced at bakugou to catch him staring at me. “what?” he just glared and walked away.

weird.

bakugou and i have been spending a lot of time together. we make fun of our classmates and call them out in their faces. it’s pretty fun being able to yell at mineta all we want for being such a perv. not to mention, bakugou practically beats him up every time he’s near us. bonding with bakugou has become my favorite past time and i’m beginning to wonder what i would do if he didn’t become self-aware. however, the only bad thing about this was that i was beginning to like him. not just as a character, but as a person. i was way past the fangirl stage since i actually get to talk to him now. the worst part is that he actually likes ochako. both on the stage and in the shadow. i’ve come to this conclusion since he won’t shut up about trying to change the story line. i’m not sure what to do since there’s no one else for me to talk to about all of this.

“you need to help me. i’m so tired of being an extra.”

“what do you mean? you literally get so many lines and! you’re one of the main love interests!”

“but i don’t want to do this anymore, knowing that i won’t even get the girl! we have to change this story!”

“too bad! how do you think i felt? watching you for so long, knowing that i wasn’t fated to end up with you!” i gasped. “wait- i- forget i said that!”

“what?”

“nothing! it’s nothing! i just-” i could feel my eyes swell with tears.

is this how ochako feels when the author makes her cry every two scenes?

“even a fool could tell how i feel about you.”

i looked up into his crimson eyes. 

did he just-

“what? what do you mean?” 

“you idiot. i like you too. why do you think i’ve been bugging you to try and change the story?”

“ i thought it was because you wanted to end up with ochako-chan instead,” i took a deep breath. “why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

“i thought you could tell! you always catch me staring at you after scenes so i thought you knew!” he was smiling. he’s never smiled like this at me before. it was...nice. comforting. warm.

“let’s change this story.”

*flick*

(a/n: this is my first fanfic! i know i could use improvement, but i just wanted to write it because i felt like it :) also, if it was a little confusing, the flicks are supposed to be the sound of the pages turning. hope you enjoyed the story <3)

[cloneslugs]

Wolf + Yayoi + Akiyama :)

this is seriously ill im sorry

Wolf

First Impression: well he seems neat <3

Impression Now: he's very soft and kind.. <3 and very cool very nice man i love you wolf

Favorite Moment: the whole rice thing b/t the divine child and him and kuro, this isnt a moment but i enjoy how he speaks to people he makes me (: 

Idea for a Story: I'd like to see him first meeting Kuro ^__^ that would be cute.. or how he grew up w Owl bc it seems so … … … well anyway he has a lot of cool background that would be fun to explore 

Unpopular Opinion: i think people draw him smiling too much in some interactions i dont want him to even remotely have a sense of humor or even emote well tbqh, not that i think hes unhappy or anything but like well … + also people are freaks w him but that's another story.. i dont think he would date grandpas

Favorite Relationship: kuro <3 it's cute how he actually engages in conversation w Kuro i like how he talks w him and how Kuro talks w him it's nice.. i think his relationship w Owl is interesting but not . good. Emma + Isshin + Sculptor & every other friend he meets i enjoy esp Kotaro ^^

Headcanon: *gives him transgenderism + autism + homosexuality*, selectively mute (:, he also just has a general issue w socializing & when he doesnt know what to say he defaults to repeating people or just ignoring people, he likes being called Wolf by like Kuro and whoever but Isshin deciding to call him Sekiro makes him feel a little something (:, he can "cook" + knows lots of misc skills like sewing and stuff, doesnt like loud noises, doesn't like being in water -_-, i think he has trouble differentiating b/t what he likes v what he dislikes bc hes used to just putting up w things and never really got to acquire preferences ever hes accustomed solely to survival, he's done kuro's hair for him before <3 but he does it very quick and messy but he tries 

Yayoi

First Impression: ig this is her k1 substory idk i just kind of like . wow this lady seems cool ig goodbye 

Impression Now: … hi <3 she holds a very very special place in my heart now i miss her everyday please babygirl come back to me i need you back ive written out how you can come back please 

Favorite Moment: her k1 substory always makes me sad um.. everything in k2 when shes taking charge.. i love watching her interact w kiryu they have a really interesting relationship.. i like when she got on ryuji for his bullshit and i really really like her introduction in k2 i love watching her handle shitty lieutenants <3 i love you.. oh also whenever she looks sad + worries over daigo thank you for being a mom ma'am <3

Idea for a Story: um i have a lot of stuff already written for her bc im a sicko .. um ig most interesting to me is how her relationship w dojima developed & also what she was up to when dojima died and daigo went to prison right after bc i think about that period (+k1 substory) a lot.. </3 seeing what she was doing in 3 when daigo was shot would be nice iwant her to be homophobic to mine i think <3 ik a rggo event covered it but id like to see more of her when she stepped up to he acting chairman & how that went ig more in depth.. or just her general role w the dojima family back when it was relevant and uh yeah <3 

Unpopular Opinion: um i personally would never call her a milf that feels so :x idek to me gross almost not even bc im a homo or anything i just never would it feels too disrespectful aieeeeeee 🙈 also i wish people didn't care for her just as daigos mom or her being more compotent than daigo or whatever idk people are weird about them in a stupid way and i </3 ik shes just a side character but whatever.. also i hate everyone who writes her like "yes i married dojima for power and i crave violence" fuck you im the only right person ever 

Favorite Relationship: um daigo.. i have lots of thoughts they are so nice together ilove them very much <3 kiryu and kashiwagi are very cute w her too they respect her very much its sweet <3 i think nishiki and kiryu helping out w daigo as dojima members when daigo is little has very sweet potential b/t lady dojima and them not saying they outright would be seeking for a maternal figure but um.. also well kashiwagi uhh well i want her to move past her [k2] baggage and um.. um.. 🙈 boyfriend 

Headcanon: she's so bisexual shes very very bisexual and she knows it and no part of it even concerns her shes just bi + also her first major crush was on a girl that went nowhere and it embarrasses her to death <3, her dad is who introduced her to wielding a sword it was a very unorthodox introduction and came about by kind of bittersweet means but she very much enjoys it (he didnt teach her anything more than the very very shoddy basics he really just helped introduce), she comes from a very non-traditional [japanese] family, really bad vanity issues i wont publicly elaborate on, um something about dealing w loneliness, she was like daigo and was top of her class in school, she comes off as prett7 different outside of professional settings + acts a lot colder and meaner than she actually is around work people bc that's the only way she thinks she'll be taken seriously, she was a very excited first time mommy <3 she still loves daigo more than anything, she used to sporadically grow her hair out and chop it all off and grow her hair out and chop it all off growing up mostly as a teen -_-, she doesnt socialize well but shes good at parroting and imitating proper social etiquette,  she has an "older sister", she loved kiryu and then she hated him more than anything and now she likes him again, perfectionist but a lot of things come naturally to her, not very expressive but her eyes give away a lot, she used to really like kazama very fondly until she didnt, shes not much of a hand-to-hand combat fighter but she can handle self defense, cooking does not come naturally to her ):, shes kept every gift + prize daigo has gotten for her, shes not much for gifts (from people not daigo) but she likes flowers 

Akiyama

First Impression: he's funny (: 

Impression Now: he's still just funny <3 but also bisexual i love him he's very endearing and easy to like 

Favorite Moment: hanging out w haruka in rgg5 or any time he is having fun w hana <3 his one substory in rgg5 where you get more of his background is nice or when he first gets together with shinada + tanimura is funny.. anything that's not rgg6 um

Idea for a Story: i want him to hang out w haruka more <3 or just some of his day to day life.. what he splurges on when he does ummm.. background on when he and hana first met + his ex fiance, hin hanging out w the rest of the group .. anything fun i think ^_^

Unpopular Opinion: he has annoying/questionable moments but so does everyone in the series um.. akiyama/hana is superior when he crushes on her hard vs her to him idk if that's even unpopular ummm idk idek any freak stuff w him nobody talks about akiyama much 

Favorite Relationship: hana (: trans bisexuality <3 him + kiryu & haruka are sweet together, him and tanimura are fun.. i think hes a nice central point for both 4+5 protags i just enjoy him <3 hes good w people 

Headcanon: hes the least athletic i think that's canon though, tried to keep a fish tank in the office but hana ended up taking over + then getting rid of it but by then he wanted an office cat or bird or something "more interesting" so that hed feel like taking care if it but by that point she put her foot down on animals, tries out lots of misc hobbies that he eventually drops (golf, tennis(very embarrassing), gardening, etc (mostly sports bc he feels like a lazy piece of shit sometimes + gets splurges of Yeah Fitness!!!)), all kinds of math teams and etc growing up he actually really likes math, has a lot of gifts he chickened out on giving hana just kind of buried in the office, bad at video games, can't cook, he buys lots of cheap things bc he doesnt really see the point of splurging on fancy unnecessary stuff, magazine hoarder bc he just picks up whatever for a mindless read when at the store and forgets if he's gotten it before 

[motorcitizens]

ive never seen anywhere to watch motorcity with subs? so i went looking and found transcripts of most of the early mc episodes (available in a reply so tumblr doesnt kill the post) but theyre missing a few towards the end. i decided on my fourth rewatch that id transcribe episode 9! whether youre a hard of hearing fan or just want the reference, here you go! let me know if the initials are annoying, ill edit them out.

-I got you with the slash!

-Nuh-uh!

-You first.

-Why me?

-Cuz you're dead anyway.

-There's nothing down here!

-Philip? S- stop fooling around, man. I- I can hear you down there.

-Aah!

[theme]

-The last time I bought anything from you, it took me a week to fumigate the kitchen!

-Okay, the reshcaps were a mistake, you're right about that. But today, I have something extra special...

D- ...then she says, 'that's why I can't eat the sandwich!'

[all laugh]

C- Wait, wait, I got one. Where does a snowman keep his money? In a snow bank! Eh? Get it? Come on, it's funny!

Th- We're searching for the Vanquisher, king of the realm?

T- Oh. I think they're talking about me.

M- Yeah, I have no idea who you're-

Th- There he is!

Burners- Chuck?!

T- [laughter]

R- Hey! You dare insult Lord Vanquisher? I should take your tongue and feed it to the birds.

T- Uh, you can't do that. I need my tongue.

C- Release him, Darkslayer.

R- ... Fortune smiles upon you today.

M- So, Chuck, you wanna introduce us to your... friends?

C- Guys, allow me to present: Thurman the Magnificent, and Ruby the Darkslayer!

Th: We are knights of the kingdom of Raymanthia.

C- It's called LARPing! [...] Live action role-playing? [...] Okay, I have a life outside of the Burners, you know!

D- Sure doesn't look like it.

T- Oh! I get it! Ahahaha!

Th- My Lord, a situation has arisen. The oracle awaits.

O- As you requested, Sam and Phillip were dispatched on a scouting mission early this morning. But we have not heard from them for many hours.

M- What do you mean you haven't heard from them?

O- I fear, Lord Vanquisher, they have gotten lost on the outskirts of the realm.

T- Texas is confused. Okay, now is this part of your little game or is this real?

D- We're standing behind some dude's van who calls himself the oracle. What do you think?

O- I demand silence!

J- I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Texas on this one.

O- Chuck! Make em stop.

C- Wait. Is this part of the game?

Th- No. Sam and Philip are really missing.

M- So, this is for real?

O- We need your help.

C- I vow to find our wayward kinsmen.

C- Guys, this is LARPing!

T- Woah. That's it?

C- Each weekend, teams battle for control of the realm. The rules are simple: First, once you step onto the field of battle, you must remain in character. Second, if you must be vanquished: do so with honor. It's neat, ain't it?!

J- The game's already started?

R- If by 'game' you mean a ferocious battle to the death for the crown of Raymanthia, then yes.

O- But we can't win unless we find our friends.

[at the same time]

C- I say we split up.

M- Let's split up.

M- No disrespect! Chuck- uh, I mean, Lord Chuck. What do you think we should do?

C- Ahem! If we split up, we'll cover more ground!

O/Th/R- As you say, Lord Vanquisher.

C- Okay guys. We'll check the warehouse near the old Renaissance center, you guys check the battlefield.

Th- I dunno where that is. Can somebody else drive?

M- So, King Chuck. How'd you win your crown?

O- It happened many weekends ago... Chuck stood as freedom's last hope against Mad Dog the Conqueror. If he were to fall, darkness would reign for yet another long weekend. Mad Dog summoned his dragon to finish off the Vanquisher once and for all, but fate had different plans. It was totally awesome!

C- Naw, it wasn't... that awesome.

D- Little dudes!

J- Sam! Phillip?

D- Where are you?

Guy- Huzzah!

R- Leave this to me!

Guy- The bards shall sing of this day... the day the Darkslayer fell!

R- Someone shall fall on this day... but it shall not be me.

[fighting noises]

Guy- Aha! Tsk, tsk. You've lost your sword!

T- hyah!

R- What are you doing! I had him right where I wanted him!

Guy- You're not playing by the rules.

T- These are Texas rules! [karate noises] Now. We need you to answer some questions.

D- We're looking for two missing kids, Sam and Phillip. Have you seen them?

Guy- I'd rather die a thousand deaths than help the likes of you.

J- Ahem! Forgive us, my liege, but we are but humble squires in search of our kinsmen. Can you help us?

Guy- I've never been one to refuse a lady, certainly not one as ravishing as you. Saw your kinsmen five hours ago, approaching the Dungeon of Anguish.

D- Neat trick.

Th- We're never gonna find them in time. Then the stupid Bardonians are gonna win, think they're all cool with their fancy mustaches.

C- Hey. Buck up there, camper! People said we'd never win the Battle Royale last Fall, but we did. Our friends are out there, and we'll find em! We just gotta keep-

M- Uh, sorry. Dutch just called. Your friends were seen someplace called the Dungeon Anguish?

Th- It's actually the Dungeon of Anguish.

C- It's, uh. Well, it's actually just in the basement right here.

C- Wah, ah! Get it off me, get it off me!

Th- This isn't part of the game!

M- Yeah, well, neither is this!

R- That was. Incredible!

D- What were those things?

M- Don't know. But I'm betting they have something to do with our missing friends. We have to move. [LARPers kneel] Uh, come on. Get up, guys, we don't have time for this.

O- From this day forth, you shall be known as "Mike, the Smiling Dragon."

Th- You just got a great name. Jealous!

C- For saving my life on the field of battle, I owe you a debt of life.

M- That's... really not necessary.

O- Actually, it's totally necessary. The king of the realm cannot rule while carrying a debt of life.

C- As such, I give the crown to the Smiling Dragon!

M- No. No, Please, look, I can't, I just- I was-

C- Mikey, you gotta!

J- Hey guys, check this out! I've never seen that symbol before.

D- That's really old.

M- Way before my time. Maybe Jacob can help.

Th- What if those... things have Sam and Phillip?

R- Never fear. We have the Smiling Dragon. As long as he's our king, we can't lose. Did you see his moves? They were just so- so-!

M- You okay, buddy? Look, if it's about what happened back there, I'm sorry man. I was just trying to help.

C- It's not that. It's just-

M- Just what?

C- Look, I tripped, okay?

M- Um... If that's some kind of LARPer slang, I have no idea what it means.

C- The story you heard. About how I earned my crown? That's not how it really... went down. It was my first real battle. I'd never held a real lance before. I was still getting my balance when Lord Mad Dog summoned his dragon... I ran forward but... I tripped. The lance fell and hit him by accident! I won my crown with a lie. Hey... it's better that you're king now. I was never fit for the post. I've been king for 48 consecutive weekends, and-

M- 48? Woah, you do play this game a lot.

C- Yeah, but... it took less than an hour of LARPing with you for the others to see me for what I truly am... a follower.

M- Hey, a follower couldn't have led his team to 48 consecutive victories. You can't fake that!

C- Mikey... Look, I appreciate your support but we both know I'm no leader. Not when I'm a Burner and not even when I'm here, playing make believe.

M- Here. Take the pin back.

C- You can't just give it to me! The only way I can get it back is to earn it by saving your life. And let's be honest. That ain't gonna happen.

Th- Never seen that tunnel before. You aren't planning on taking us down there, are you?

R- Well I'm going in!

Th- Do you know how much trouble I'll get in if my mom finds out I went down some crazy dark tunnel looking for killer robots?!

O- He's not joking. His mom is terrifying.

M- They're right. This isn't a game anymore. Texas will stay up here and keep you safe while we go get your friends.

T- What! Wait, why me?

M- Because you're the bravest warrior we've got.

T- Yeah, that's true, but come on! Don't leave me with the nerds!

D- What is this place?

O- Booyah! Mutant wolverine. I win!

Th- I could show you how to use that.

T- Save it. Not interested.

O- Why not? You're really good.

T- You really think so?

Th- Here, watch.

T- Hyah! Huh?

T- Mike, Julie! Incoming! We got trouble!

Th- Come on, I just got this!

O- Your mom is gonna be so mad.

J- This isn't working!

M- I'm open to suggestions!

R- A wizard!

Ja- Applesauce!

J- Jacob?

R- Aww!

Bot- The creator has returned!

M- Uh, Jacob? Care to fill us in?

Ja- It started back when Kane and I were partners- before there even was a Deluxe! I was designing our first ever Utility Bot. Its purpose was to make life in Detroit easier and safer. I equipped it with a new AI that would allow the bot to anticipate human commands, but I was the only one the bot seemed to listen to. But if it were ever to escape the lab, there's no telling the danger it could pose. I begged Kane to shut the program down! I always thought he did.

Bot: It began soon after you left us. Kane retrained us! We were instructed to capture enemies of the public and bring them back to Kane's new creation, an Interrogator. But the humans could not control it. Kane sealed the lab. Our new master told us every human was out to destroy us. As such, every human became our enemy. Disloyalty was severely punished. So we waited, until this door finally opened.

M- Our friends went missing this morning. Have you seen them?

Bot- Of course. We took them per our master's instructions.

J- We need to get them back!

[roar]

Bot- Our master has awoken. If he discovers you here with us, he will destroy us.

M- Get the LARPers out of here!

C- I'm not leaving you guys!

R- Our place is here, with our King!

M- This isn't a game! Get your friends to safety.

C- Let's move!

D- Come on!

J- Look out!

[rubble collapses the door]

T- Mike!

D- Julie!

Both- Jacob!

D- We'll never move this stuff by ourselves!

T- Says who?

Th- What do we do?

C- I know a way to get through there! But I will require your van.

Ja- There used to be another exit!

J- Hey, look at this!

M- The kids have to be in one of those rooms. If we can find a way past that thing we can rescue them and get the heck out of here! Think you can buy us some time?

J- Do you even have to ask? Hey, ugly! Over here!

M- Sam! Phillip! Climb up here!

S- You're the new king of the realm?

M- You bet your butt I am. Lord Smiling Dragon, at your service. Now get up that rope, squire!

T- Okay, I admit. It's pretty cool.

C- But is it possible?

D- Sure. But there's no way the three of us can build it fast enough.

C- What if they helped?

D- I know you don't mean the little lunatics that just tried to kill us!

Bot- We cannot get involved. If our master were to find out-

C- He's not your master! You are in Raymanthia. And in Raymanthia, every man- or... freaky little Utiliton- is free! Free to stand up for yourselves. Free to fight back! And free to live! Our friends are down there, and I swear to you on the steel of my blade that even if I have to slay the beast itself, we! will! bring them back!

[utilitons cheering]

T- hwah! Nah, see, this ain't nerdy. This is a level 25 battle ax, okay? Twenty five. Think about it.

Ja- Maybe there wasn't another exit?

M- Stay here!

M- Way to go, Chuck!

S&P- The Vanquisher!

T- Make way for Texas!

C- The beast is absorbing the blasts!

[mike gets got]

C- Mike!

C- Drive! and when I say stop, stop fast! ...STOP!

M- Ha, oh yeah!

M- For saving my life on the field of battle, I owe you my life. My steel is yours to command, since a king cannot carry... I forget how the rest of it goes, here! All hail King Chuck, the Vanquisher!

R- This was the coolest game ever!

M- ... the game. Your win streak. You guys have to go defend your crown!

Th- We'll never be able to muster an attack in time.

T- What if we help.

M- We're yours to command, Lord Vanquisher.

C- For the glory of the realm!

[all yell]

[theanarik]

Day 13: Kiss

Hello! I bring you fluff!!! Happy SasuHina Month! I tried to get this one done before midnight but I kind of got distracted watching videos. Sorry! Hope you liked it! This is a sequel to Coffee, The best and Lingering, and also a prequel! Can you guess to which one?

Day 13: Indirect kiss

Kiss:

You can also read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712180

And here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13615143/1/Kiss

I

Hinata has always been a I-prefer-staying-at-home person. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy going out, she does! But you will never see her organizing any outside outing. Leave that to Ino and Sakura, she likes inviting her friends to eat lunch at her place better. However, it’s not like she’s going to say no to her friends when they invite her to go shopping or going out to a bar.

This time, though, they’re out at a mall, at the cinema, and she’s already sat with most of their friends, but they’re waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to arrive, Sakura waiting for them outside with their tickets. When they arrive, Naruto has one of the biggest popcorn buckets they sell, and Sasuke is coming empty handed.

“Where’s your popcorn, Sasuke?” Ino asks.

“Sasuke says that he doesn’t like popcorn, but he always steals from the person sitting next to him.”

“That’s not true.”

“Uh huh.”

There are only three chairs available, and Hinata will not stand up to accommodate either of them.

“You should have arrived earlier,” Neji tells them from behind her. “She won’t stand up until the movie ends, not even if she needs to go to the bathroom.”

Sakura gives her a strange look, kind of like a glare, but not quite. Hinata shrugs and continues eating her popcorn. Naruto sits to her right, and to his right sits Sakura. Sasuke sits to Hinata’s left, and she tries to concentrate on her own popcorn.

She loses herself in the movie, eating her popcorn and drinking her coke. She comes to a halt when she realizes that her paper cup has disappeared. Hinata frowns at the empty space and turns to look at Naruto. He’s chatting with Sakura, making her giggle, then she turns to look at Sasuke. And she sees her paper cup. Sasuke is drinking from the straw in her paper cup.

“Sasuke…” she mumbles, and he turns to look at her, mouth still on the straw. “That’s my coke.”

“Oh…” he gives it back to her and she narrows her eyes at him.

Hinata wonders as she sips just how many times Sasuke drank from her cup without her realizing it.

II

The last time Hinata let someone borrow one of her pens, the person never returned it. Of course, that was to be expected, wasn’t it? Nobody actually asks for their pen to be returned. Right? Hinata misses the time when her father would buy school supplies for her. Admittedly it was a long time ago, but really, going out of her way to buy school supplies was never the highlight of her day.

“Can I borrow your pen for a moment?” Sasuke asks her. She turns around to see if he’s actually talking to her and realizes that yeah, Sasuke, who ignored her completely when she arrived at the library, is talking to her. “I really need to write this down and mine ran out of ink.”

“Uh…” The pen falls out of Hinata’s mouth. She knows that if she does lend it to him, the pen will probably not come back. On the other hand, she has three other pens in her bag, she could easily replace it. “Sure.”

She hands him the pen, and then turns around to take another one from her bag. She focuses on her task at hand: finishing her Japanese Literature III homework before going to class. At 3:30 p.m. her phone vibrates, and she startles. She throws everything on her bag again and stands up, turning around to move the chair when she catches Sasuke’s hair and remembers that he still has her pen.

“Sasuke,” she starts. “Can I, um… can I have my pen back?” she says as she walks up to his table. She raises her eyebrows at the sight of him.

Sasuke’s hand is on his hair, he looks promptly stressed out and there are a lot of crossed out things on his notebook. Oh, and Hinata’s pen? Yeah, that’s on Sasuke’s mouth at the moment.

“You know what?” Hinata tells him before he can say anything. “You look like you need it more than me.”

“Thanks,” he murmurs, and he sounds sincere about it. Hinata smiles and turns around.

She has classes at the other side of the campus.

III

After moving in with Sasuke, Hinata discovered that the man wasn’t really a morning person. Sasuke woke up just after his fifth alarm rang, and he went straight into the kitchen, without brushing his teeth or anything, to drink coffee. Hinata figured it out quite quickly, thankfully, and by the fourth day she knows that Sasuke won’t really answer until he has at least two thirds of his second coffee down.

He’s mostly clean. Mostly. He washes the dishes when she cooks, and constantly tells her that living with Naruto was a nightmare (his stories go from underwear on the sofa to three days of unwashed dishes). Sasuke never outrightly tells her that she’s the best roommate ever, but she’s learned how to read in between the lines.

As she cooks lunch, Sasuke leans on the kitchen counter, watching her stir a pepper sauce he’s going to love – her words, not his –. Hinata turns the flame to the lowest and grabs a little spoon, dipping it on the sauce and trying it. She makes a humming noise and dips it again, turning around to face Sasuke.

“Can you try it?” she asks him, offering the spoon. Sasuke stares at her. “I don’t know if I should add more Brandy or not.”

Sasuke raises his eyebrows and tries the sauce, feeling the salty as well as the pepper-y taste. He frowns at her and clicks his tongue a few times as he considers.

“Yeah, more Brandy. And maybe something to ease down the salt?”

“Too salty?”

“Yup.”

“Okay,” she turns around to grab more heavy cream and he leaves the kitchen.

IV

Sasuke is aware that a drunk Hinata means that she’s going to get stutter-y and too affectionate. As they enter the apartment together, Hinata has already expressed that he’s the best person ever and that she’d really like to get coffee with him somewhere. Sasuke understands that as going out and drinking the coffee somewhere different than their apartment.

He leaves her sitting on the couch as he retrieves a glass of water from the kitchen. When he comes back, though, she’s fully laying down her body on the couch and she’s almost asleep. Sighing, Sasuke sits Hinata down again, helps her drink her water and then tries to make her stand up. She straight up refuses.

“No!”

“Hinata, we’ll just go to your room, you’ll sleep better on your own bed.”

“No! I’ll stay here.”

“You’ll wake up with a creek.”

“I d-don’t care.”

Sasuke sighs again. Looks up the ceiling and asks himself which decisions in his life brought him here. Hinata is trying to lay down again and Sasuke helps her lift her legs. He goes to her room and brings her a pillow and her comforter, he nods when she thanks him. Sasuke goes back to the kitchen and wonders where his glass is.

“Ugh, I probably left it in my room,” he mumbles to himself, and turns to grab Hinata’s glass.

He fills it up with water again and drinks it without thinking too much about it. He rinses the glass and leaves it on the cupboard, turning off the kitchen light as he gets out. When he checks on Hinata again, she has her eyes opened and she’s staring at him. Sasuke lowers himself down and brushes off some of her hair, Hinata closes her eyes and nuzzles into his palm.

“I like you a lot, Sasuke Uchiha.”

+ I

When Hinata wakes up, she has the worst headache she’s ever felt in her entire life, there’s just too much light and too much noise.

“Ugh, what is that?” she asks out loud, and thanks all the gods that her voice is so soft. She’s never been thankful of that before, might as well start now.

“That’s the washing machine,” Sasuke answers from the kitchen counter. She narrows her eyes at him and throws herself down on the couch again.

She stays under the covers for a minute or two, then promptly stands up when her bladder tells her that she needs to go to the bathroom now. She ignores the look Sasuke is giving her and escapes to the bathroom with awaited relief. After peeing, Hinata washes her face and brushes her teeth, moving back to the living room.

“Here,” Sasuke says, and he handles her two pills and a glass of water. “It’ll make you feel better.”

Hinata thanks him and swallows it all. Walking to the kitchen and opening the fridge, she mentally takes note of what they’re lacking of and decides to go grocery shopping after breakfast. When she takes out the last five eggs, Sasuke says:

“So, do you still want to go to get that coffee?”

Hinata frowns. What is he talking about? Is he talking to her or is he talking over the phone and she didn’t realize? She turns to look at him and narrows her eyes at the expecting look on his face. She searches on his features something that tells her what he means when it suddenly hits her.

“We s-should go out, uh, for coffee sometime.” And “I like you a lot, Sasuke Uchiha.”

Hinata goes pale. Then her face goes through various shades of red until it settles on something bright that makes her pale eyes pop up.

“So?” Sasuke asks, still waiting for an answer and do you know what Hinata should do? Escape.

She leaves the eggs on the counter, breakfast forgotten and how is he so talkative this morning? How much coffee has he had before she woke up? Jesus, she needs to go.

“Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere.” Sasuke says, grabbing her arm and stopping her from hiding in her bedroom. In retrospective, Hinata should have known that that could happen. He was in her way after all. “You just need to tell me if you want to do that or not.”

“If you still want that tomorrow, when you’re sober, sure.”

His words echo in her head and she wonders if he meant it.

“Did you mean it?”

“What.”

“That if I, uh, said yes, we’d, we’d go?”

Sasuke doesn’t answer her at first, lets her arm go and stares at her for a moment. Hinata feels her cheeks go hot, and she looks down. Sasuke tilts her head up, making her look at his eyes and she gulps before she hears his answer.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

Hinata’s eyes grow big, and there’s a smile on her face and she looks positively happy.

“Then, yeah. Let’s go out for a coffee.”

Sasuke smiles at her and cups her face on his hands. She looks so beautiful and she’s looking at him, he never really though that would happen. He leans a little bit and Hinata meets him in the middle, eyes halfway closed. The kiss is soft, short and sweet. It’s innocent and it’s the promise of more kisses to come. He leans up a little bit and kisses her forehead, touching it then with his own.

Then, someone clears their throat and they both look to the side, startled. There, in the living room entryway is Naruto holding greasy paper bags and smiling at them. Sasuke wants to murder him.

“Who’s ready for some hangover-cure burgers?”

You can also read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712180

And here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13615143/1/Kiss

[sarahegerton96]

My Saviour-Taron Egerton

This is something Ive been working of for close to 3 weeks, final work count is 11′500 words approx, hope yous enjoy it :)

Y/N:

“Goddammit all to hell! Y/N!”

My boss’s voice rang out through the office, and out of the corner of my eye I saw several people wince at the tone. I kept my face blank even though I wanted to do the same thing, dreading going into his office. I took a silent, deep breath as I pushed away from my desk and walked into Mr. Walker’s office.

“Yes, Mr. Walker?” I kept my voice neutral, knowing it was the safest route. My eyes widened as I took in the scene on his desk, knowing this was bad. Oh, so very bad.

Spilled coffee covered the posters spread out on his desk, posters that he needed for a presentation he’d been working on for months for a huge client.

Of course, when I say he’d been working on them, I meant the team he bullied around. He’d been bragging about this client since the moment they were assigned to him, telling anyone who cared to listen- and many who didn’t- that this one was sure to land him a promotion and an office upstairs. So naturally, he had other people do the work for him.

Chester Walker was what I liked to call a brilliant idiot. He couldn’t do any actual work with any intelligence, but he somehow figured out a way to keep climbing up the ladder. Either he knew exactly how to blame the right people when things went wrong, or his daddy placed money in the grubby hands of the higher ups. Probably a little bit of both.

“I need you to get down to the third level and have them print another copy of this presentation. Run, yell, do what you fucking have to in order to get this to me on time.” He was already trying to clean the mess up off his desk, not looking at me once.

“B-but, sir, it’s going to take at least 20 minutes for those to print again. The meeting is in less than five!”

He looked up from his desk, his thin hair falling over his sweaty face as he glared at me. “Well then you should’ve been down there fifteen minutes ago! Just get your ass down there and bring them up to the meeting when they’re done.”

I snapped my mouth shut, fuming silently as I rushed away to do his bidding. There was no point in arguing that there was no fucking way I could’ve had them reprinted for him on time when he literally just ruined them. He’d only yell some more, wasting both our time. And there was no way I could just tell him to go to hell- I needed this job, as much as I hated it.

I burst into the printing room, and my eyes locked onto one of my best friends. Samantha saw me, and the look on her face must have clued her in to how desperate I was.

“What do you need, girl?”

“Chester just spilled coffee all over his presentation for the meeting that starts in,” I glanced at the clock on the wall, “thirty seconds.”

“Shit,” she muttered. Placing her hands around her mouth, she yelled out to the three other workers down there. “Everyone, drop what you’re doing. Start reprinting Chester’s stupid posters. My girl needs ‘em!”

I relaxed just a bit as she turned back to me with a grim smile, the other workers clacking away on their keyboards to find the project she was talking about. Everyone in the building knew who Chester was. He made sure of that.

“With everyone printing different pages, we can cut the time in half. Sorry I can’t do more than that, sugar.”

“It’s alright Sammy. That’s better than nothing."She sighed and turned to her own computer, pulling up the project in the database history and calling out which pages she wanted everyone printing. I paced back and forth along the carpet, watching the clock tick by second by grueling second.

Eleven minutes later, I was pounding up the stairs towards the ninth floor where the meeting was. I knew it was a risk going into the meeting sweaty and out of breath, but I was desperate to get there as fast as possible. Thank god I wasn’t completely out of shape, or they would’ve found me dead in the stairwell after three of the seven flights I had to climb.

I shoved open the last door, gasping and panting but glad no one in the meeting could see me from here. I leaned against the door, closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down before walking at a clipped pace to the meeting room. I knocked on the door sharply and waited for Chester to invite me in- as I knew he preferred.

I kept my breathing as steady as possible while I walked to the front of the room where Chester held court. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, burning into my skirt and blouse that I hoped to god didn’t show how sweaty I was.

"Took you long enough, Y/N. I apologize again gentleman. I’m sure you all know how hard it is to find good help.”

Tittering laughter filled the room at Chester’s words as I stiffly shoved the posters at him.“Careful girl, you already ruined the first set.” Chester’s snide words made my back stiffen and I opened my mouth to contradict him. He raised an eyebrow at me, shooting a glance towards the rest of the table and my mouth snapped right back shut. If I mouthed off to him in front of these people, I was for sure going to lose my job.

“Sorry,” I grit out. I knew had to get out of there before I exploded. I spun on my heels as Chester began his presentation, his nasally voice grating on my every nerve as I mentally eviscerated him.

TARON :

I watched in fascinated rapture as the woman stomped out of the room, steam nearly blowing out her ears. She kept her head high, her hazel eyes flashing fire. Her strawberry blonde ponytail swung quickly, the tips of her hair brushing the small of her back. She was a tiny thing, probably 5'2" without the wicked heels she was wearing if I had to take a guess, and slender with just enough curves to fill my hands.

And fuck, did I want those curves in my hands.

“Mr. Egerton ?”

I jerked my head back to the other side of the table where the piece of shit my company had been dealing with over the last few months was standing.

I merely stared at him, not saying a word. It didn’t take long for him to drop his eyes, and satisfaction filled me. He coughed awkwardly, then continued with his presentation. I tuned him out as my mind drifted back to the woman.

Y/N. I scrunched my nose, thinking that the name didn’t really fit her. It sounded too… delicate. And even though she was a small thing, she had steel in those bones of hers. No, she wasn’t anything like a flimsy piece of lace.

A man a couple seats down to my right was speaking now, and I finally tuned into the conversation.

“As you can see by the charts up on the board, we project that sales would go up by at least 15% with in the next year after implementing said changes.”

“Only 15%?” My voice rang out in the room, and everyone turned to me. “By my math, if all the changes that I expect to be put in to place go well, there should be a 27% increase and that’s just within the first eight months.”

Chester’s face went bright red and he glared at the other man. “Did you input all of the data I gave you David?”

“Y-yes sir, I know I did.” He started flipping though the pages of a folder in front of him, his face pale as he frantically searched for the info.

“Obviously you didn’t.” Chester’s sneer was nasty, and my blood boiled even hotter at the way he was acting. I ran a goddamn tight ship, but I always treated my employees with respect. This was only fire on the flames of the annoyance I’d had with him since the beginning, plus the way I’d nearly jumped out of my chair and strangled him with the way he’d talked to Y/N.

“Enough,” I said harshly as I stood. “I’ve heard plenty. David, come with me.” I turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance, knowing that everyone on my team would automatically follow; as would David. My reputation as a ruthless business man was slightly exaggerated but it wasn’t inaccurate, and I used that infamy to my advantage when I had to.“David.” In the next second the man was hurrying to walk beside me, his mouth opening, probably to make another apology. I interrupted him before he could even begin. “Where is Y/N?”

“Who?” I glanced to him to see him confused, and I realized I referred to her by my own nickname for her.“Y/N.”

“Oh. Um, this way.” He motioned to the left toward the elevators. “She’s three floors below, where Mr. Walker’s office is.”

“What’s her role here?”

“She’s his… assistant.” He pushed the elevator call button.

I turned to my associates. “Gary, Emily, Reid. Go ahead on to the office, I’ll be there shortly.” They all looked at me with a little bit of curiosity, knowing this wasn’t my usual m.o.

“You got it boss,” Gary finally responded. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring his chuckle as I turned back to David, all of us stepping into the elevator.

“Now why did you hesitate when you said she was his assistant?"David swallowed hard, but kept eye contact. A kernel of respect for him grew, knowing that not everyone was able to do that when I was in a mood.

"Well, that’s what she is. He calls her his 'glorified secretary’ though.” The distaste was obvious in his voice and stamped all over his face. My respect for him grew a few more notches.

“Hmm. Can I see the file?” He handed it over to me without hesitation, and I shuffled through the papers. I found and email to David from Chester, notes about the data for today’s projections. I immediately noticed several important factors were missing, and I quickly figured out that those numbers would have affected the data and given us exactly what was presented to me today.

It was obvious that Chester had failed to pass on all the information I’d needed for David to correctly prepare the presentation. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that Chester had barely done any of the work for this, only wanting to take the credit when all was said and done. I made a noise of disgust in my throat, closing the file and handing it back to David.“Sir?” David was looking at me warily, and I was sure all my rage and frustration was showing on my face. The elevator stopped, pinging to let us know we were on the floor we needed.“Take me to Y/N.”

Y/N:

I slammed another desk drawer shut, taking my anger out on the poor thing. Everyone had been avoiding me for the last half hour. Wisely. I was in no mood to deal with anyone else’s bullshit today. In fact, I was just getting ready to leave early. I didn’t care if Chester got mad at me for it, there was no way I was staying here to help him after he lied and threw me under the bus in front of everyone earlier.

I took my note to Chester to his office, grumbling out loud to myself the whole way. It was a bad habit of mine, but one I hadn’t been able to get rid of.“He’s so freakin’ stupid. I don’t know why he even wants this job, when he doesn’t know anything. I mean, that’s just got to be so stressful. Well I guess if you’re smart it would be, but he’s dumb enough to think that everything is perfectly fine when everyone just wants to wring his fat neck.”

I was just saying the last part as I stomped out of his office, freezing when I noticed David standing awkwardly at my desk with a stranger. David gave me a tight smile, but I barely saw it as I took in the other man.

Standing almost a foot above my own height, he was lean but I could see even through the tailored cut of his expensive suit that he was fit, and probably still packed with muscle. He had a confident and intense aura about him, and my mouth went dry at the look in his eyes as he perused my body from my heeled feet to the tie in my hair holding my ponytail.

His eyes were so dark they looked black, and he already had a five o'clock shadow covering his jaw and cheeks, the black stubble that matched his hair calling to me. My fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and feel the prickles against my skin.

“Y/N, I presume?”

Holy shit. A full body shiver went through me at that voice, deep and gruff with the hint of a British accent. I swallowed hard and nodded, taking a few more hesitant steps towards the mystery man.

“Y/N, this is Mr. Taron Egerton .”

A lightbulb went off in my head at David’s introduction of the stranger, and I stiffened. This was the head of the company for the presentation Chester had been in charge of, and if he was here at my desk, and only after half an hour, that meant the meeting hadn’t gone well. And since Chester had blamed the lack of visual aids on me, I assumed Mr. Egerton was here to berate me for it. I had no choice but to save my ass.

“Mr. Egerton ,” I started as I stepped toward him and held out my hand in greeting. “I would like to apologize for the Y/N in today’s presentation. I hope that my mistake didn’t deter you from working with us.”

He let me finish my apology before taking my hand, and when our palms touched sparks shot through me. I was grateful I hadn’t been speaking at the time, because the effect he had on me would’ve been obvious when I tripped over my words.“No apologies necessary, love”

My eyebrows shot up in confusion at his words, “My name is Y/N."“I know I don’t like it that much”

I felt my face flush, embarrassment and a little disappointment filling me at the blunt words. Turning to my desk and sitting, I replied, “Then feel free to leave.”

I shook my mouse to wake up my screens, focusing on them even though I could feel him staring at me. It was probably irrational of me to be sad he didn’t like my name, since I didn’t either, but I couldn’t help it.

“David, wait for me down the hall.” Mr. Egerton ’s voice brooked no argument, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as David immediately did as he was told. I snorted a tiny bit under my breath at his obedience; I wouldn’t be so easy to order around.

Mr. Egerton walked around to my side of the desk, spinning the chair so that I was facing him. He bent down to get closer, his words low but commanding.

“You’re going to have lunch with me. I can already tell you want to fight me, but I wouldn’t suggest it. I have no problem putting you over my shoulder and spanking that ass if you do."His words made me bristle and warm all at once, the mental image of his threat enticing me and pissing me off at once. I could feel the tip of my nose turning red like it did when I was holding back my anger.

Pushing against the floor, I rolled the chair back and out of his hands so I could stand, grabbing my purse angrily.

"I’m going to go with you so that you don’t cause a scene, but don’t think for one second that I want this,” I grit out so only he could hear. This office was open and full of gossips, although fairly harmless ones.

He let out a low laugh, and the hairs on my neck raised in appreciation of the sound. Traitor body, I thought to myself as I stormed past Mr. Egerton towards the elevator doors. I punched the button and waited, listening to him and David talk behind me.

“Although your charts were wrong, they were not incorrect David. You weren’t given the information you needed, so your data was off by no fault of your own. Give me your email address and I will send you the correct information. I expect to see the updated charts in two days.”

“Yes, sir.” David sounded a tad confused, reflecting my own thoughts. Why would the owner of a giant corporation want to deal with someone lower on the totem pole? Usually men of Mr. Egerton ’s status thought they were better than all that, preferring to deal with the higher ups.The elevator doors opened and he followed me in, leaving me trapped with him in a big metal box. His scent enveloped me, and I took a slow deep breath to really appreciate it. It was something smoky with a hint of freshly cut wood, and I only wanted to get closer, imprint it in my mind forever.

Shaking my head to get myself together, I turned to the man who’d somehow managed to discombobulate me without even trying. “What am I doing here, Mr. Egerton ?”

“Please, call me Taron .” I made a non-committal noise, and his mouth twitched, a ghost of a smile appearing for a moment. He moved closer to me, backing me into a corner and placing his hands on either side of me, caging me in.

My mid was telling me to push him away, but my body had different ideas. My pulse quickened, beating hard in my veins as his dark eyes captured my own light ones.

“I can see you want to fight me Y/N, and I like that. But I have an offer you can’t refuse."I paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You’re really going to use that on me right now?”

He chuckled and stepped away from me, breaking the tension. “I know, it’s cliché, but I couldn’t help myself.”

With that one sentence, I learned something about Taron . He was intense, but a bit of a goof underneath that. I wasn’t sure why that made me instantly more comfortable with him, but it did. I finally relaxed, but crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at him, still expecting an answer to my previous question. His eyes flicked down to my cleavage, now more pronounced by my crossed arms. A sliver of satisfaction filled me at the heat that flared up in his eyes before he snuffed it out and got to business.

“I want you to come work for me.” His tone brooked no argument, but that wasn’t the kind of person I was. I didn’t follow commands like a dog, and I wasn’t going to start with him no matter how delicious he looked and smelled.“No.”

TARON :

I stared down at Y/N, hiding my shock at her answer. I was trying to avoid looking at her tits again, because I wanted her to know I was serious about this. I didn’t want her here with that shit head Chester. I wanted her in my space, around me. All the fucking time. It was a little disconcerting how suddenly this need for her had consumed me, but fuck if I was going to try to fight it.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t take orders from anyone.”

“Oh really? You mean like Chester?” I knew it was a dick move, but I wanted to get my point across. “You would rather stay here and take the blame for all his mistakes? Let him walk all over you?”

“And what’s the alternative here? You want me to come work for you, where I’ll probably end up spread out on your desk or under it, sucking your cock while you try to have a conference call? I’m not an idiot, and I don’t want my life to end up like some trashy romance book!”

My dick throbbed painfully at the images she painted for me, and though I was guilty of wanting just that, I wasn’t the kind of man to expect that.I crowded her against the wall again, ignoring the ping of the elevator saying we’d reached our floor. I spoke in a low voice, so she was the only one that could hear me if other people were around.

“Although I’d love to have those pretty lips surrounding my cock, that’s not what I meant. I see your drive, your passion, and it would thrive in my office instead of being stifled here in this one.” I stepped back and turned to leave the elevator, ignoring the looks of the couple of people standing outside watching. “Let me know if you change your mind, Y/N.”

That woman was so goddamn stubborn. It’d been nearly a month since my visit to the office, and she had avoided speaking or seeing me at all costs. My takeover of the company was almost complete, although only two other people knew that it was happening. I hadn’t said anything to Y/N, but after I bought that company out I was going to promote her.

I didn’t want her to think I was doing it because I wanted her under me. And I didn’t want her to think I was using that to get her to like me. Not after all the gifts I’d tried sending her that she’d sent back in the same day. Every time I’d gotten the gift back, I’d grinned and chuckled, storing it away for later. She was going to accept the gifts someday, whether she knew it or not.

I had noticed though that in the last basket I’d sent, she’d taken out a caramel chocolate bar. I’d smirked, loving that she’d given a tiny piece of herself away even if she didn’t know it. I was desperate to know her, to get inside her head and figure out what made her tick.

Of course she was beautiful; that was obvious. But with every spurned gift I only yearned more to know her. And today, I was going to make sure I got exactly what I wanted.

Today was the meeting for all the staff, to tell them about the takeover and introduce to them their new owner and overall boss- me. I knew exactly what changes I was going to be making, and I knew some people weren’t going to be happy about it but I didn’t give a fuck.

“We’re here, Sir.” My driver’s words brought me out of my head, and I nodded crisply. I didn’t wait for him to open my door, reaching for the handle and letting myself out. I headed into the building, glancing at my watch to make sure I would walk in at the precise time. I got in the elevator, doing my best not to think about the fact that last time I was here I had Y/N in here with me.

I stepped off onto the 5th floor, making my way to the meeting room. I heard the voice of the previous owner of the company, Pete, just finishing letting them know he’d sold his company. Stepping through the door, I caught his eye and he motioned towards me.

“I’d like to introduce you to the new owner, Taron Egerton .” Polite clapping followed his words, but I barely heard it. I’d caught Y/N’s eye, and the heat in the air between us was high, her gaze shooting daggers at me. Something I would deal with later, especially seeing as how I was about to flip her world upside down.

“Thank you Pete. I hope your retirement is as enjoyable as you’ve been planning.” He chuckled at my words and shook my hand, waving to the people gathered in the office.

“Good luck with this one!” He chortled and waddled his 72-year old body out of the building. The room went quiet, and I stood looking at everyone until I heard the chime of the elevator in the distance signal his final departure.

“Okay everyone. As you’re aware, I just bought this company. I am a demanding boss, but I am fair. I may ask a lot, but nothing I’m not willing to give in return. If you’re a hardworking employee, then you have nothing to worry about.”

I saw a few surprised glances, and I let the ensuing whispers die down before I began to talk again. I caught Y/N’s eye while everyone was semi-distracted, giving her a small smile and a quick wink that only made her glare harder. I swallowed the chuckle with a cough, catching the room’s attention once again.

“Chester?” The heavyset man stood, a smug smile on his face that I was about to wipe off.“Yes, Taron ?”

I held back the snort at his presumption of using my first name. “You’re fired."Gasps rang out through the room, and Chester’s face went white. I glanced at the crowd, noticing a fair amount of them looked pleased with the new development, even though they tried to hide it. Chester began to splutter, and I cut him off.

"You don’t do any of your own work. You blame other people for your faults. You’ve been stealing from the office and those under you, and I don’t tolerate dishonesty or thieves. Get your shit and go.”

His face turned red, but he wisely held back whatever words he wanted to say. He turned and stomped out of the room, all of us watching as he went. He stepped out of the room, and I turned back to the others with a pleasant smile.“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on.”

Y/N:

Holy shit.

I wanted to clap, laugh, and cheer for this new development. My anger with Taron had temporarily abated, my happiness at his firing of Chester overshadowing everything else.“Y/N.” Taron ’s voice was sure, his gaze pinned on me as I froze in my seat. Oh shit, was I next?I stood on shaky feet, clasping my hands together to hide my nerves as I stared him down defiantly despite the pounding of my heart.

“You will be replacing Chester. If there’s anyone not on the team that you need or would like to move around, come to me and I will take care of it. I would also like to speak to you about your new responsibilities after this meeting is over.” He nodded, signalling that I could sit back down.I fell back into my chair, still processing what the hell had just happened. I tuned out the rest of the meeting while my brain tried to decide what Taron ’s motivation for this was. There were people here who had been there longer, in the actual field of work, that would have been better able to take over than a secretary.

Was this all his way of finally getting me to work for him? Anger rose anew at the thought, his manipulation and secrecy pissing me off. He couldn’t have bothered to tell me he was taking over? I ignored the voice in my head that said I’d been ignoring him so even if he had tried tot ell me I probably wouldn’t have listened.

I sat there fuming for the next 20 minutes, every possible reason for all of this getting worse and worse in my brain. Taron finally dismissed everyone and then motioned for me to follow him. I did so silently, waiting until we were alone to have the conversation that was bubbling inside. He didn’t initiate conversation, the ride in the elevator up to his office a couple floors above silent and vibrating with tension.

He let me in his office first, shutting the door behind me. As soon as I heard the click that signalled we were now private, I let loose.

“What’s the point of this? Are you doing all of this just to get back at me for ignoring you? Are you going to blackmail me with my new job, take it away if I don’t fuck you?”

His face had been impassive at first, but at my last words his eyes darkened and his expression turned thunderous. My words died at that look, my nipples perking against my will as he grabbed me and pressed me against the door, his face coming close to mine.

“I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely Y/N. I promoted you because I know you have the ability to get the job done, and fairly. I know it’s where you want to be. I know that everyone you talk to loves you, and that you will make a fuck of a lot better boss than Chester ever was."His words floored me. "How… how do you know that? About me, I mean?”

His eyes roamed over my face, the intensity bringing a blush to my cheeks. “David is a well of information once he gets started.”

I mentally cursed David, and then myself for giving him tidbits about me when I knew he was a worse gossip than old ladies in a small town.

“One last thing Y/N, and then we’ll get to business.” He leaned even closer, his face tilting so that he could talk directly into my ear. “When I fuck you, it will be because you’re begging for my cock in that tight, sweet little pussy of yours and not because of any goddamn job.”

He pushed away from me and turned, leaving me breathless and wet at his words, my ear still burning from the touch of his hot breath. I watched his saunter over to the chair of his new office before he sat, regarding me with a raised eyebrow.

“Well? Are you ready to get to work?”

I sprayed my new office with the can of air freshener I’d bought last night for the 50th time, trying to get rid of Chester’s scent that had seemed to permeate every corner. I finished the round of freshener, then fell into the brand new chair that had showed up this morning before I got in.

I hadn’t questioned it, only relieved that I wouldn’t have to sit in the same chair as Chester. The idea of that gave me the creeps. I was still getting used to the idea of being in charge of a whole team, but I couldn’t deny the excitement this new challenge brought me. It was where I’d wanted to be all along, and I was so incredibly grateful for all the support the people on my team were already showing me with this being my first official day on the job.

I’d stayed late to make sure that I had everything in order, and pretty much everyone else in the building had already left. I packed up my bag and headed out the door, taking the elevator down to the parking garage. I was mentally running through everything I had to finish tonight before delving even deeper tomorrow, which was probably why I didn’t hear the man shuffling up behind me while I tried to unlock my car door.

A hand grabbed my hair and slammed my forehead into the driver’s side window, pain blasting through my head and making me cry out. The hand tightened in my hair and I dropped everything in my hands to reach up and try to stop it from causing me more pain. I yelped loudly as tears gathered in my eyes while my head was yanked back, the rest of my body pressed against my car by the body of the man behind me,

“You little bitch. You fucked him so he would fire me, didn’t you? And then I bet you took his cock down your throat so you could have my job. Did you spill the beans about my skimming from the company too?”

The nasty voice took a minute to register through the pain, but when it did, I was even more horrified than before.

“Chester?”

His hand yanked on my hair again, and I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping my eyes at that point.

“Fucking whore. Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything!”

“Shut up! You’ve ruined everything!” Chester’s voice was high and reedy, panic obvious. I had no idea what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into, but it sounded like he was scared shitless. It was hard to feel bad for him at the moment though. I just had to figure out how to get out of this situation.

“Chester, just tell me what you need, I can help.”

“I can help,” He sneered in my ear, his breath wafting over my face and making me gag. “How much do you think your boyfriend will pay to get his slut back?”

I was so confused. “What boyfriend?”

He jerked my head around to face him, and I was horrified to see his face covered in bruises, his left eye completely swollen shut and the right bloodshot and full of anger. I glanced down and saw that the hand that wasn’t tangled in my hair was covered in a makeshift splint, his fingers purple and twisted unnaturally.

“Taron Egerton , the man you fucked to get my job.”

“I haven’t fucked him!” It was true, but by the maniacal laugh he let out, he wasn’t going to believe it.

“Yeah right. I’ve always known you’d do whatever it took to get that job. And it looks like you succeeded.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he let go of my hair to slap me across the face before I could say anything more. I fell to the ground and curled up in a ball instantly to protect myself from what I was sure to be the beginning of a terrible beating.

I heard a loud thud and crunch and flinched before I realized the sound wasn’t coming from me. I heard some more grunts and odd sounds, and I lifted my head warily to see what was going on. My eyes widened in shock when I saw Chester on his back on the ground with a giant man towering over him, punching his face furiously. At this point, I couldn’t recognize Chester’s face through all the purple and red, blood flowing like crazy.

In the second after I took all that in, my saviour’s voice rang out through the empty parking garage.

“Don’t ever fucking touch her again!” With one more brutal punch, the man turned and faced me, chest heaving and fire in his eyes.

“Taron ,” I whispered out, stunned. He stared at me, his eyes raking over the wound on my forehead and cheek, my skin throbbing when his eyes landed on them. His jaw clenched and he took out his phone, pressing a button and putting it to his ear as he turned to kick Chester in the side a few times.

“E” He paused. “Yeah, the parking garage. Thanks.”

He hung up and turned back to me, holding out a hand.

I stared at it, taking in the blood and swollen knuckles before looking up to his face again. He looked at his own hand, realizing why I hesitated. He swore and then pulled out a cloth from his pants pocket, not even wincing as he cleaned off as much blood as possible. He shoved the cloth in his pocket and then held his hand out again.

“Come on Y/N, let me help you.”

His voice was soft, almost like he was asking me to trust him. And I did, despite the level of violence I’d just seen from him. It was highly possible that Chester was dead, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. If Taron hadn’t shown up, I could be the one laying there on the ground, covered in my own blood.I took his hand, careful of his wounds, and let him help me up. I bent down to grab my dropped purse and keys. I looked back up to Taron , a calm I wasn’t really feeling in my voice as I spoke.“Thank you. See you tomorrow then?” I turned back to my car, my hand shaking so violently I couldn’t get the key into the hole.

“Fuck Y/N,” he growled and swept me up in his arms. I started to protest, but he hushed me with one word. “Stop.”

I automatically settled in his arms, meeting his gaze with questions in my own.“I’m taking you home with me. I need to make sure you’re okay, and you’re in no condition to drive. Please, just let me do this for you. You can go back to hating me tomorrow.”

I shut my mouth, just nodding as I realized I really didn’t want to be alone. I found a weird comfort in his arms that I hadn’t felt in years, if ever. I let him put me in his car just a couple rows over that I hadn’t noticed before and buckle me in, wondering what was going to happen now.

TARON :

We drove in silence to my place, my anger still a burning hot thing inside me while she probably didn’t even realize she was shivering next to me. Thank fuck I’d worked late tonight and drove myself, or else who knows what would have happened to Y/N. The thought of that bastard Chester hurting her made me clench my hands on the wheel. the temptation to turn around and kill that fucker almost too much.

One look over at Y/N though, and I knew I was where I needed to be. I’d already called E, the mystery man on my staff who handled the ugly things like this, and Chester would be given to the very men who’d gotten to him before I did.

Yeah, I knew all about Chester’s gambling problem. He’d been stealing from the company for years to pay his debts, and he’d made a big bet the night before I’d fired him that he had no way to cover now. I would never have imagined that he’d take it out on Y/N though, or I would have made sure he never got near her.

I was feeling the guilt for not protecting her, but it was something I would have to deal with.I pulled into my driveway minutes later, punching in the code to my front gate before driving through and letting it shut behind me. I pulled up to the front door, knowing that someone would move my car where it needed to be eventually. I had Y/N to take care of right now, so the car could wait.

Going around to the passenger side door, I opened it and saw she hadn’t even unbuckled herself. I did it for her and pulled her into my arms again, loving how perfect it felt to have her there. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and snuggled into my chest, and I nearly stumbled at the warmth that shot through me.

I clutched her tighter to me and made it into my house and up the stairs to the master suite in record time. I walked straight into the bathroom and set her down on the toilet seat. I turned the shower on, testing the temperature before I pulled back.

“Y/N?” She didn’t move, still shivering. “Y/N, I need you to look at me.”

Her head slowly moved up, her eyes glassy but meeting mine.

“Hold it together for another few minutes so you can get warmed up. If I leave, will you be okay?”

“Yes,” she whispered and lowered her head again. I stared at her for a few seconds, warring with myself. I didn’t want to push her too hard, but I didn’t want her going into shock either.

“Alright. I’ll just be right outside the door so if you need me, just shout.”

“Okay.” Another small whisper, but she was responding.

I hesitated, but walked out the door and shut it softly behind me. I listened with my ear to the door, and I let out a sigh of relief when I heard movement and the sound of clothes hitting the tile. The sound of the water changed a minute later, and I knew she’d made it in.

I began to pace the carpet, fuming about the events of the night. My right hand throbbed with the memory of punching that asshole in the face, and I didn’t regret the bruises already forming.A sudden weird sound had me pausing, and I strained to listen. When I heard a second choked-back sob echo in the bathroom, I was opening the door and striding in there without even thinking about it. I pushed the shower door open and saw Y/N huddled up on the floor, arms around her knees as she sobbed as quietly as possible.

I knelt down, not caring about the water ruining my expensive suit, and took her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder, her body shaking with her tears as she let it all out.

“Shh, baby, I’ve got you. You’re safe.” I repeated those words over and over, holding her tight to me and petting her hair. I was practically vibrating with the need to go and kill Chester, but knowing that Y/N needed me here more kept my ass plastered to the bottom of the tub.

The water had started to cool by the time Y/N lifted her head from my shoulder, her hazel eyes now a muddy colour but no less beautiful for the torment in them. She sniffled and reached up to rub her eyes, clearing them a bit as she finally focused on me. She looked down at herself and I saw a blush rise on her cheeks when she realized she was naked, in my arms, while I was fully dressed and now soaking wet.

Despite the unholy temptation to glance down and take in her body for myself, I kept my eyes focused on hers. I needed her to trust me right now more than I needed to see her bare skin, and I wanted her to know that.

“Come on Y/N, let’s get you out of her and into something warm.” I kept my voice soft and reassuring, and I waited for her nod of assent before clasping her against my chest as I stood.She let out an adorable little squeak when I lifted her, and automatically wrapped her legs and arms tight around me. I held back a groan at the feeling of having her pressing against me. I needed to focus on getting her what she needed, not what my body wanted. Desperately.

I leaned over to shut the water off and stepped out, not caring about the water dripping from us as I headed back into my room. I reached behind my door and pulled my robe off the hook, awkwardly placing it around Y/N’s shoulders while I held her.

“You’re going to have to let go of me,” I said in a gently teasing voice.

She hesitated, then loosened her grip on my body. She slid down, and I bit my tongue as she rubbed against my dick that was unmistakably hard. Just because I knew I wasn’t going to be doing anything with her tonight, it didn’t mean my dick knew that. We both ignored him however, and I wrapped her up in my robe while I pretended not to notice her body.I brought her over to a chair and had her sit down. “Stay there, I’ll be right back.”

I hurried into my closet and stripped off the ruined clothing, leaving it on the floor to deal with later. I quickly changed into some sweats and t-shirt and made my way back out to Y/N.

Stepping out of my closet, my eyes locked with Y/N’s in the mirror I’d sat her in front of. Her face was still slightly red from her crying, but her eyes seemed to hold more cognizance than before which I was immensely grateful for.

I held her gaze as I moved toward her, letting the silence between us hang there, the tension in the air there but set to the side. I stepped up behind her and lifted my hands, cautiously placing them on her shoulders. When she didn’t flinch or back away from me, I knew she was going to be okay.

“I want to take care of you tonight. Will you let me do that?”

Her eyes widened slightly, and she nodded haltingly.

“I want you to be sure. I swear I won’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable, but I also want to make you feel good.”

A small, strangled sound escaped her and I suddenly realized how my words sounded. My cock jumped beneath my sweats, and I mentally berated it. I moved my hands from her shoulders to her neck, pausing when I felt her quick heartbeat. Pushing away the sudden desire to clasp a hand around her neck and make her tilt back for my kiss, I moved my hands higher into her hair, beginning to massage her scalp.

Her eyes closed and a blissful moan fell out from between her parted lips. I bit my tongue again, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last time tonight. Ignoring the blood rushing from my brain, I continued to massage her head, waiting until she’d practically melted into the chair to take my hands away.

Her eyes popped open when my hands left her, and I smiled at her. “I’m going to get you something to sleep in.”

She nodded and settled back into the chair. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked back to my closet, finding a pair of shorts with a tie and one of my t-shirts for her. After handing them to her and telling her she could go change in the bathroom, I set about making sure that my bed had clean sheets for her. I was just placing the comforter on top when she came out of the bathroom, prompting me to look up at her.

My mouth went dry as I took in the sight of her wearing my old high school mascot shirt- and nothing else. She was holding the shorts in her hand, and gave me a little shrug.

“They weren’t really staying on.” She set them on a nearby chair, and then wrung her hands together as she waited for me to respond.

My dumb ass was still stuck on taking her in. Her long, strawberry hair spilling around her slim shoulders in waves. Her eyes large and cautious. Her braless tits peaking underneath the thin cotton, calling to me. She finally cleared her throat, and I stood up straight from the bed."Right. Uh, well, you can have the bed. I’m going to go out to the couch.”

I started hurrying out of the room, but her grasp on my arm halted me as I walked past her.“Please,” she said in a broken voice that had me turning to face her. “Don’t leave me alone."I shut my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "If that’s what you need, then-”

My words were halted by her hand tightening on my arm and pulling me towards the bed. I’ll take that as a yes.

She climbed into my bed like she’d done it a hundred times before and buried herself underneath the blankets. She looked so cosy, so content, that my heart beat hard in my chest imagining what it’d be like to have her in my bed past tonight. In my life.

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I slid in next to her and kept as much distance between us as possible. Not because I didn’t want to curl up behind her and encase her in my arms, but because I knew she’d gone through something traumatic tonight and I wasn’t willing to make her feel like I was pressuring her into anything. even though she’d been the one to ask me to stay, it didn’t mean anything more than that she didn’t want to be alone.

I heard her shift in bed , and I could feel her staring at me. Risking a glance, I saw her on her side facing me, a soft look in her eyes.

“Thank you, T. For saving me tonight, and for everything after. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”

I swallowed hard as red began to take over my vision. “I’m glad I was there too, Y/N. But no need to thank me.”

With that, I looked away from her, waiting until she turned onto her other side. I listened to her breathing, noticing when it deepened and slowed indicating she’d fallen asleep. Only then did I turn on my side to face her, studying the hidden lines of her body, the unique scent of her that enveloped me as I lay there, thanking whatever gods existed that I was there at the right time tonight. It was those prayers I fell asleep to hours later, my eyes never once leaving the woman in my bed.

Y/N:

I jerked awake, my heart pounding while I stared at the ceiling as the dregs of the dream I was having faded away in the early morning light coming through the window.Wait, that wasn’t right. I had blackout curtains, so what-

I whipped my head to the side as memories flooded my brain, and my heart softened and sped up all at once to see Taron sleeping next to me, noticing our legs tangled together and his hand laying on the bed between us, lightly gripping the ends of my hair.

The dream I’d been having came back to memory and I felt my cheeks heat up at the realization that I’d been having a sex dream about Taron . It was no wonder, when I’d been suffering for weeks to battle my desire for him, and then being surrounded by his scent and presence all night after he’d literally saved my life? Yeah, there was no fighting that now.

My clit pulsed when a vision of T slowly fucking into me from above while my legs were held up by his broad shoulders, and a light moan left me. I was wearing nothing but T’s shirt, and even that was tantalizing. My nipples had been hard since I woke up, and I could feel how wet my pussy was from the dream.

I shifted unconsciously, and I bit my lip as a wicked idea ran though my mind. He seemed to be sleeping deeply enough, maybe if I touched myself just a little to ease the ache, he wouldn’t know?

I kept my head turned towards him so I could watch for any signs he was waking up, and my right hand slid down beneath the blankets to touch my wet pussy. I couldn’t help the small gasp as my fingertips brushed my clit, sending lightning through me.

I paused, waiting for T to wake up, but he didn’t move a muscle. Happy to see that, I continued to slowly rub my clit with two fingers. I studied the lines of his face, the chiselled jaw of his that called for me to kiss it, to feel the stubble growing there rough against my soft lips. Just looking at him and remembering the way his hands had felt on me last night, massaging my head already had me dripping wet. I shuddered as my fingers began to speed up and my eyes closed in pleasure.

“Y/N,” I imagined him saying into my ear. My free hand moved under the shirt I was wearing, pushing it up my stomach so I could squeeze my breast like I imagined he would.I could practically hear him moan in my head, and my fingers moved faster on my clit as my hips lightly thrust into the air.

“Y/N,” Taron said again in my head. I shivered at the sound, how real it was. Something tugged my hair, and the sharp tingles it sent across my scalp hand me moaning. Man, if I’d known accidentally laying on my own hair would have that affect, I’d have tried that a lot sooner!“Y/N, stop.”

My eyes popped open and I froze, little pieces putting themselves together. Exactly how real his voice had sounded. The pulling on my hair. It had actually been him the whole time, awake.I stared up at the ceiling, to embarrassed to look over at him. Fuck, could this get any worse? I still had one hand buried in my pussy and the other gripping my tit, but I couldn’t seem to move.“Look at me Y/N.” He waited patiently for me to gather up the courage. When I did, it was to see him with eyes dilated and full of desire. His body was tight with tension, and one quick glance down had me noticing the giant tent in his sweats.

“I… I don’t know what came over me, I’m sorry.” The words fell from me, breaths shaky and stuttered.

“I don’t really think you are. I think you’re sorry I caught you rubbing your pussy in my bed, but I doubt you’re sorry you did it. Are you?”

His eyes blazed at me with need and a challenge. Would I pretend like I didn’t know what he meant, and let this be the end of it? Or…

“No. I’m not sorry.” My heart sped up even more, and I knew he could see the pulse beating in my neck. “I’m only sorry I’m the one doing it, and not you.”

It took a split second for my words to register, but when they did, his reaction was more than I could have hoped for.

A low growl reverberated in the air around me, and in just a couple seconds he was kneeling between my spread legs, everything bared to his sight as he pushed my arms above my head and into the soft bed.

“It’s been fucking torture,” he groaned while he leaned down and nibbled on my neck. “To see you walking around in those fucking pencils skirts and those damn high heels. To need and want you so badly, and not being able to touch you. But now that you’re in my bed willingly, offering up this pretty as fuck pussy to me? Now, I’m going to get my fill.”

He paused to pull back and study my face, looking for any sign I wasn’t on board.“I need you,” I whispered. It was all he needed to hear. Dropping his forehead onto mine, he stayed there for a second, giving me one last chance to back away. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled my body up to meet his, rubbing myself against him through his pants.That seemed to be the last straw. His mouth was on mine before I could take another breath, and I moaned loudly when his tongue came out to tangle with mine. He groaned in response, and sooner than I would have wanted he pulled away.

“Now tell me my sweet little Y/N,” he murmured as he sat back on his heels, inspecting me. “What was it that had you stroking that pussy this morning?”

I bit my lip, embarrassment flooding me again. I really didn’t want to tell him I’d dreamt about him, but I wasn’t sure he would believe a lie if I tried to tell one. His hands moved to grip my thighs, squeezing them before bringing his hands closer together, his thumbs stopping when they met the crease between my leg and pussy lips. He stroked the sensitive skin there, telling me wordlessly that he would continue if I answered him.

I swallowed. “I was dreaming about you, and, ohh…” I broke off when his fingers moved closer, stroking my wet lips. Such a light touch, and so powerful.

“Don’t stop baby, tell me about the dream.”

I fisted the sheets next to my hips and pressed up towards him as I continued in a strained and panting voice. “I dreamed that after you climbed into bed with me last night you didn’t stop yourself from pulling me closer. That you, um, rubbed your cock on my ass while you played with me.”

“Mmm, sounds like a good dream,” he said in raspy tones.

“Yeah… this is better.”

“I haven’t even really touched your pussy yet,” he teased.“Please,” I begged, looking down my body at him. “Please touch my pussy.”

“Since you asked so nicely…”

I watched hungrily, heart beating wildly in my chest, as he leaned forward and took one long lick through my folds. I moaned, my head falling back onto the pillow while I trembled beneath his hands and tongue.

I was no inexperienced woman, but I had never felt anything like this. I had never been so close to coming from just a few swipes of a man’s tongue. His tongue rasped through my folds over and over, dragging me closer and closer to orgasm until my hands were buried in his hair and my hips were grinding up into his face.

“Please, oh please please let me come.” Words fell out of my mouth and echoed around us in his room. His hands grasped my thighs tightly a second before he took my throbbing clit in his mouth and sucked, flicking his tongue across the surface and making me burst into a million pieces.

“Taron! Fuck!” My whole body was shaking, jerking under him as he held me down, humming against me in obvious pleasure at my reaction.

I was just barely starting to come down when T pushed himself up and over me, his eyes fully dilated and my juices still glistening on his face.

“You have no fucking idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that. And Y/N, it was even better than I dreamed.”

I flushed under his praise, a shy smile tilting my lips up. “I think I know what you mean.”

I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me, kissing him and tasting myself on his lips. He groaned into my mouth, tilting our heads so that he could kiss me deeper, harder, ratcheting my desire for him right back up.

I pulled away first to look at him. Even though he’d gone down on me and kissed me like he was just seconds away from fucking me within an inch of my life, he still held his hips away from mine. Hell, he was still wearing clothes! The orgasm he’d given me with my mouth had only temporarily satisfied me; I wanted to feel him pumping in and out of me, our skin slick with perspiration as we barrelled towards the edge together.

I moved my hands down his body and grabbed his firm ass, pulling him down tight against me so I could rub against him. The moment our hips met and I shifted underneath him, and strangled sound wrestled itself from T’s throat and his hips thrust hard into mine. A loud cry left me, part surprise and part pleasure at the absolute wildness of the movement.

“Wait, Y/N, I can’t.” He started to pull away, and I wrapped myself like a koala to stop him. I waited until he opened his eyes and looked at me before speaking.“Why not?”

TARON:

Goddammit. Every second she spent wrapped around me was weakening my resolve. She stared up at me with her molten eyes, pleading for me not to go.

“I don’t want to take advantage of you. After last night…” I trailed off, the familiar anger with Chester burning in my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing through my nose to calm down.A soft hand pressed against my cheek, and the calm I’d been looking for settled over me like a blanket. I opened my eyes to look at Y/N, and saw her eyes full of some emotion I was afraid to name.

“While I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” she began, “I’m not looking for you to be gentle right now. I’m not going to break. Nothing happened to me; you were there to save me. And I need you, T. Remind me what it feels like to be alive.”

I hesitated for just a second, and she saw that. A wicked gleam replaced the soft emotions that were there before, and when she spoke again her words came out on a throaty purr that was impossible for me to resist.

“Come on Taron. Don’t you want to know what it feels like inside my tight, wet pussy? I bet you can slide in all the way on your first try, even though you’re so fucking big.” She moved one hand down and slipped underneath my pyjama pants, finding me bare and hard, throbbing and leaking with need for her.

I couldn’t help the thrust my hips gave into her soft hand, her grip just the right strength to have me leaking more precum than before.

She purred, and continued to talk while she used her heels to push my pants down, baring my cock in her hand to the both of us. The sight was so fucking erotic that I nearly lost it, but it was her next words that made me snap.

“Mmm, imagine all this cum leaking from my pussy baby. Don’t you want to see that? I’m on birth control, so you can come in me if you want.”

“Jesus Christ,” I grit out as she rubbed her thumb across the head of my cock and gathered my cum to taste it. My mind blanked, only one thought going through my mind. “You want me to fuck you Y/N? Fine.”

I yanked her shirt the rest of the way off and flipped her over onto her stomach, tying her arms behind her back before she could say a word of protest. I ran my fingers down from her shoulders the fabric of the shirt, then over the skin of her ass to her thighs, taking the touch away from her right before I smacked the right side of her ass. She let out a yelp and jumped a little, but calmed when I rubbed my hand over the pink mark.

“That’s what you get for pushing me, you naughty girl. You couldn’t leave well enough alone, and now you’re about to get more than what you bargained for.”

I paused for a second, then leaned down and murmured carefully in her ear, “If this isn’t okay, just let me know.”

She let out a shaky laugh. “Please, don’t stop. I love it.”

I grinned and sat back up. I spanked her other cheek a little harder than the first time, and the sound she let out had my cum leaking onto her skin where I straddled her thighs. I leaned back just a little and used my hands to spread her lips apart as much as I could with my legs keeping her tight together, and my mouth watered at the sight of how wet she was, the insides of her thighs shimmering with her arousal. I slid a finger down and ran it across her, then pressed forward into her tight hole just enough to tease her.

“You weren’t kidding, you’re fucking soaked baby. This cunt is going to feel so good wrapped around my cock.”

“Please!” She wriggled under my hands, trying to entice me to push more than just a finger inside her.

“All in good time, Y/N. Let me play a little with this naughty pussy of yours first.”

A whimper left her and her hands clenched in restraint. God, just seeing her back tense and her skin ripple with goose bumps as I lightly thrust my one finger in and out of her had me growling. I was going to tease her a little longer, but I had overestimated my self restraint.

I wrapped one hand around her bound forearms and pressed down, telling her silently to be still. Slipping my now soaked finger from her pussy, I brought it up through the crease of her ass, swirling the tip across her puckered asshole. My eyes widened when all she did was melt under me, a loud moan filling the moment of quiet. My finger paused there, pressing just a tiny bit as I tested her reaction.

“Um, oh my god, just… shit.” Y/N’s words were jumbled, and if her brain was as scrambled as mine was at this little revelation then I could understand.

“Y/N… do you like having your asshole played with? And don’t lie to me,” I said in a mocking voice as I pressed my finger against her again and relished the way her hips automatically pressed back towards me.

“Yes,” she mumbled into the blankets. I could barely understand her, but since I already knew what the answer was, it wasn’t difficult to decipher.

A low, excited laugh left me. “Oh baby, we’re going to have so much fun together.” I pulled my finger away and loved the way she let out a disappointed sound. Pressing slightly harder against he back, I cam up to my knees and took my cock in hand, pressing the already wet and dripping tip against the spot my finger had just left.

She jerked against me in surprise, and I let another laugh escape me as I pulled away.“Don’t worry, I’m not going there yet. Although I have to say, the way you pressed back against me like you wanted my cock in your ass first, is very tempting.” I moved my tip down to her cunt and notched it against her, pausing for a second while I steadied myself.

“Taron, stop teasing me and just fuck me please!”

How could I deny her when she begged so pretty? With one thrust, I went balls deep just like she’d mention earlier, her pussy immediately pulsing around me as she screamed my name out. It took everything I had in me not to come with her, the fact that with just one thrust of my cock in her had her breaking apart nearly too fucking good to resist going with her.

I managed though, and after a few deep breaths I had enough control to start pulling out of her. Little moaned and whimpers left her as my cock rubbed against her sensitive walls, her body still shaking from the orgasm she was having.

“Shit Y/N, I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”

“Doesn’t matter. S-s-sooo good,” she moaned out as I started to really fuck her, her ass bouncing into my hips and adding one more layer to the moment.

I was panting, my skin burning hot as a film of sweat gathered on my skin, sheer willpower and need for her to come again before I did driving my hips hard and fast against her.

I used my free hand to spank her ass rapid-fire, feeling how she clenched tighter around me with every smack. I continued to fuck her as I took my thumb and ran it back and forth across where we were joined, making both of us moan. Once my thumb was completely coated in both our juices, I brought it back up to her ass and played with her forbidden spot.

“Oh Jesus fuck,” she gasped loudly and threw her head back, her spine arching in pure pleasure as I pressed my thumb inside her. I felt her begin to ripple around my cock again, and my eyes widened while I slammed my hips harder into her, going so fucking deep I swear my cock touched her cervix.

“Shit, are you going to come again from my thumb in your ass?”

“Yes,” she cried out. “Fuck me so deep with your cock in my pussy and your thumb in my ass. I’m gonna come!”

I pulled up on her bound arms so her chest was lifted off the bed as I drove my thumb all the way in, my cock pistoning in and out of her gushing cunt.

Less than a second later, she was coming all over me, and I couldn’t resist the call that time. I yelled out along with her, coming so hard inside her that I couldn’t even breathe. My cum glazed her walls and spilled out around us as I continued to thrust in and out of her, dragging our orgasms out as much as possible.

I wanted the feeling to go on forever, but eventually we started to come down. We both collapsed onto the bed, and I began to untie her arms, rubbing them to make sure the circulation was going through and she wasn’t injured in any way.

Once I determined she was good, I turned her over and cuddled her into my side. She happily curled into me, humming with happiness with a big smile and eyes closed. We were still panting from exertion, but I’d never felt so replete and satisfied. I hadn’t expected Y/N, but I was sure as hell glad for her.

I knew I was going to keep her around; it was just a matter of convincing her to stick with me. Looking down at Y/N in the soft sunlight of the early morning, watching her as she began to fall asleep in my arms, I knew this was only the beginning for us.

@primaba11erina​