#man; tumblr had been radio silent for me

[coopswhxre]

Word's Mean Nothin'

Boyd Crowder x (Fem)Reader

Word Count: 3,224

Warnings: Smut, unprotected sex, p in v, unprotected sex, creampie

Synopsis: Boyd confesses his feelings for you and things get a little heated.

This is my first time writing anything for tumblr, so please be nice XD

It had been three weeks since your sister Ava allowed Boyd Crowder to stay in the attic of the home you both shared. He had kept to himself, spending his days reading the Bible and listening to the radio. Frankly, you preferred it that way; seeing his smug face was the last thing you wanted after all the trouble he'd brought upon Ava.

On a quiet Sunday afternoon, you decided to enjoy your coffee on the porch, relishing the crisp air, only to be startled by Boyd sitting on the bench by the door, his expression one of deep thought.

With a sigh, you considered him for a moment before turning to go back inside.

"Y/N," his voice was low as he called out your name, his gaze fixed on the woods beyond your property. "Would you sit with me?"

You paused, your foot hovering over the threshold. "Why should I?"

"Please…" His eyes met yours—wide, hazel, and piercing. To your surprise, they seemed to shimmer with what looked like genuine remorse.

"You've got two minutes, Crowder," you conceded, walking over to take the rocking chair opposite him.

You raised an eyebrow, arms crossed defensively as you leaned back. "Well, I ain't got all night, Boyd."

"I've been thinkin' 'bout these past few weeks, what my daddy did to your sister… to you." He gestured towards your shoulder, where a bullet from his father, Bo, had grazed you, sending a chill of remembered pain through you. "I know I can't undo what happened or clear away the bad blood between us, but I need you to know, I'm sorry."

Your gaze hardened, not quite ready to accept his apology, yet you couldn't help but notice the earnestness in his tone—something you hadn't expected from Boyd Crowder. The silence lingered for a moment, punctuated only by the distant calls of evening birds and the soft creak of the rocking chair beneath you.

"Why now, Boyd?" you finally asked, your voice a mix of curiosity and skepticism. "What's changed?"

Boyd sighed, looking down at his hands before meeting your eyes again. "I've had a lot of time to think, up there in that attic. 'Bout my life, the choices I've made, the folks I've hurt." He paused, his voice faltering slightly. "I've realized if I keep goin' down this path, I'll end up all alone. I don't want that. Not anymore."

You watched him, trying to decipher if this was another one of his manipulations. Boyd was known for his silver tongue, and trust was not something easily given, especially to a man like him. Yet, there was something different this time, a vulnerability you hadn't seen before.

"And what 'bout Ava?" you pressed, the concern for your sister surfacing. "What assurances do I have that you won’t put her—or me—in danger again?"

Boyd nodded, understanding the weight of your question. "I can't give you guarantees, Y/N. All I can offer is my word to do better. I wanna protect Ava, not cause her more pain. I hope, in time, you'll see that."

You remained silent, mulling over his words. The evening chill began to seep through your clothes, reminding you of the fading light.

"Time'll tell, Boyd," you finally said, standing up from the rocking chair. "Words mean nothin' without action. You better prove yourself, or you're out."

As you lay in bed that night, the conversation with Boyd replayed endlessly in your mind. His voice, earnest and somber, seemed genuinely filled with regret—a side of him you hadn't seen before. But deep down, you suspected Ava was his true motivation. Boyd had always harbored a soft spot for her, even during her marriage to his brother.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the radio playing upstairs, its volume carrying through the quiet house. With a muttered curse, you threw off the covers and made your way to the attic to tell Boyd to turn it down.

Reaching the attic door, you knocked sharply before entering. The sight that greeted you made you gasp—Boyd, just out of the shower, clad only in a towel around his waist, his skin damp and his hair slicked back. For a moment, you faltered, taken aback by the stark contrast between his usual rugged demeanor and the vulnerability he now displayed.

"Boyd, the music—it’s too loud," you said, striving to keep your voice steady despite the distraction.

"Oh, sorry bout that," Boyd replied, his tone apologetic as he reached for the radio, turning it down immediately. "Didn’t realize it was carrying through the house."

You nodded, your eyes inadvertently scanning the sparse, dimly lit attic. It was clear he lived simply here, with just a few personal items. The vulnerability of his living situation, combined with the unexpected intimacy of the moment, softened your stance just slightly.

"Thanks," you added, pausing at the doorway. "And Boyd—about earlier… I’m thinking about what you said."

Boyd’s eyes met yours, hopeful yet cautious. "I appreciate that, Y/N. Really, I do."

You were already halfway out the door when Boyd's voice halted your steps. "Wait, Y/N," he called, his tone hesitant yet earnest. You paused, your hand on the door frame, and turned back to face him.

"I just… If you've got a minute, I'd like to say a bit more," he said, stepping closer but keeping a respectful distance. The soft light from the single bulb overhead cast shadows that played across his features.

You sighed, your initial irritation fading into a cautious curiosity. "Alright, Boyd. What is it?" you asked, leaning against the door frame.

He took a deep breath, searching for his words - eyes searching the dimly lit attic before settling back on you. The air was thick with tension, his usual confident demeanor replaced by something more tentative. "I know this ain't the time or place, and maybe it's not my place to say, but…" His voice trailed off as he took a cautious step closer, his expression earnest.

You raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms defensively. "Boyd, if you've got something to say, just say it."

He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on you. "It's just… these past weeks, being here, seeing how you handle everything… it’s made me realize a lot more than just my mistakes." He paused, swallowing hard. "I’ve come to… care for you, Y/N. More than I should, given everything."

The confession hung between you, startling in its sincerity. Boyd looked vulnerable, almost afraid of how you might respond. "I know I don't deserve a chance, not with my history… but if you'd ever think it possible—"

"Boyd, I—" You started, your mind racing with conflicting emotions.

He stepped forward, closing the gap slightly, his presence overwhelming. "I know it's a lot to ask. I don't even know what I’m asking for. Just… don’t shut me out. Please."

The intensity in his eyes, the raw honesty in his voice, it broke through your defenses in a way you hadn't anticipated. You were about to speak, to chastise him or perhaps to dismiss his words, when impulsively, Boyd leaned in, his hesitation melting away in the moment.

His lips met yours, and for a brief second, the world seemed to stop. The kiss was tentative at first, questioning, as if he was still seeking permission. But as you stood frozen, surprised by your own stillness, something shifted. Maybe it was the isolation of the attic, the soft hum of the now-quiet radio, or the genuine remorse he had shown earlier; whatever it was, you found yourself not pulling away.

The kiss deepened slightly, Boyd's lips firm yet cautious. His hand, tentative at first, found its way to the small of your back, pulling you slightly closer. The warmth of his body contrasted sharply with the cool air of the attic, and you could feel the dampness of his hair, the remnants of his shower, as his fingers gently brushed against your cheek.

The softness of the moment, the gentle pressure of his lips against yours, was disarming. It wasn't rushed or fraught with the intensity of passion often depicted in stories; rather, it was a slow burn, a flicker of something new.

As Boyd finally pulled away, the slight catch in his breath was audible in the quiet of the attic. His eyes searched yours, looking for any sign of regret or rejection. What he found instead was confusion.

Boyd's gaze was unwavering, his brow furrowed slightly as if he was trying to read your thoughts.

"I… I'm sorry if that was too much," he whispered. "I just needed you to know, to really know, how I feel."

The weight of his confession, the unexpected intimacy of the kiss, left you silent for a moment. You were still processing, still trying to align this new Boyd with the one you had known, always calculating, always a step ahead.

His eyes held yours, searching for a sign of how you might react next. The tension was palpable, a mix of anticipation and fear. You took a moment, your own confusion swirling with the unexpected emotions stirred by the kiss.

After what felt like an eternity, you made your decision. Stepping forward, closing the gap Boyd had just created, you reached up to touch his face gently, the touch sent a shiver down your spine. Boyd looked at you, his eyes wide.

Without saying a word, you leaned in and pressed your lips to his again. This time, there was a certainty in your movement, a decision made. Boyd responded almost immediately, his hands moving to your waist as you wrapped your arms around his neck. The kiss deepened, and you invited him further, parting your lips.

Boyd's response was immediate and intense. His tongue met yours, exploring softly, cautiously at first, then with growing confidence as you responded in kind. His fingers pressed into your waist, pulling you flush against his warm chest. The heat from his body enveloped you.

The world outside seemed to fade away as the kiss grew more passionate. You could feel Boyd's heart racing just as fast as yours, his breath mingling with yours, creating a rhythm that felt both exhilarating and terrifying. The soft hum of the radio now seemed like a distant memory, replaced by the sound of your joint breathing and the occasional creak of the attic floor beneath you.

As the kiss finally broke, you both stood there, forehead against forehead, trying to catch your breath. Boyd's hands remained on your waist, not willing to let go just yet, and you made no move to step back.

Boyd finally spoke, his voice husky and low. "Y/N, I—"

"Shh," you whispered, placing a finger on his lips. "Don't. We don’t need words right now."

As the tension in the room shifted from apprehensive to charged, you took Boyd's hand. The air in the attic felt thick, almost tangible with the turn of emotions. Leading him to his bed, you were acutely aware of every sound—the slight creak of the floorboards, the distant call of the night, and the rustle of the towel as it shifted against Boyd's form.

You sat down on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping slightly under your weight. The soft light from the single bulb cast shadows that danced on the walls, adding to the intimacy of the moment. You could see the outline of Boyd's form under the towel, the tension in his body, and the undeniable evidence of his desire.

Boyd stood before you, his breathing deep and uneven.

You reached up, your fingers gently touching the edge of the towel at his waist. Your eyes met, and there was a silent question in yours, a pause as you gave him a moment to decide.

Boyd's hand covered yours, his grip firm yet gentle. He nodded slightly, a wordless agreement, a surrender to the moment and to whatever it might bring. You pulled gently, and the towel fell away, leaving Boyd exposed.

You let out a soft gasp, your eyes widening in both surprise and desire as you took in the sight of him. His swollen tip, coated in glistening precum, called out to you and you couldn't resist. Your mouth watered with anticipation as you enveloped his length with your lips, savoring the velvety texture against your tongue. He groaned and grasped tightly onto your hair as he pushed himself deeper into your mouth, never taking his piercing gaze off of yours.

You moaned as his hand guided your movements, taking him in deeper and savoring the feeling of being completely filled by him. The sound of your moans vibrating around him was like a symphony to his ears until he suddenly let go, creating a soft popping noise as your lips released his member.

"Damn, Y/N," he gasped. "If you keep that up, I won't be able to return the favor." He laughed hoarsely, that toothy grin of his shining in the dim light before his expression turned dark. "Lie back, baby." The intense heat between your legs threatened to consume you at his words, and you couldn't help but melt at the way the word ‘baby’ rolled off his tongue.

You followed his instructions, shifting towards the head of the bed and easing yourself onto the soft pillows. He moved over you, taking in the sight of your body spread out beneath him, his arousal pressing against your thigh through the thin fabric of your pajama shorts.

His lips trailed down your neck, his warm breath sending shivers across your skin as he pressed himself against your thigh. You let out a gasp as he tugged at the neckline of your singlet, exposing one of your erect nipples. His tongue darted out to flick at the sensitive peak before taking it into his mouth, gently sucking and nibbling.

"Boyd…" you moaned, overwhelmed. "please, more."

Sitting up on his knees between your open legs, Boyd’s fingers gripped the waistline of your shorts, slowly pulling them down. Your heart raced as you felt the cool air against your bare skin. He tossed you shorts aside, eyes filled with desire, as he took in the sight of your glistening cunt.

You clenched your hands in the sheets, your breath hitched as you eagerly awaited his next move. The anticipation was almost unbearable.

Boyd leaned in closer, his face just above your quivering core. You felt his breath against your most sensitive spot, making you squirm. His finger traced your outer lips, teasing the entrance of your heat.

And then, finally, he slipped a finger inside, pushing gently against your tight walls. The sensation sent a jolt of pleasure through your entire body that left you gasping for breath.

"Fuck, Y/N," His voice a mix of lust and awe. "You're so tight."

His fingers delved deeper into your core, twisting and curling to ignite a firestorm of sensations that sent shockwaves through your entire body. Your hips eagerly moved in rhythm with his movements, yearning for the release that felt so tantalizingly close.

As he worked his fingers, his lips met yours in a fiery kiss. His tongue matched the rhythm of his skilled digits inside of you.

Just when you thought you couldn't handle any more pleasure, he withdrew his fingers, leaving you longing for more.

He spat into his hand and slicked it over his pulsing member, preparing himself for you.

Your heart raced as he slowly positioned himself at your entrance, pausing to meet your eyes.

You wrapped your legs around him, pulling him closer, your body begging for the connection that was moments away. And then, with a single, powerful thrust, he entered you, filling you completely.

A gasp escaped your lips, and a wave of pleasure washed over you as you held onto him tightly. Your inner muscles contracted around his length, drawing him in deeper.

Boyd let out a loud grunt, his teeth gritted and eyes squeezed shut as he adjusted to the tightness of your walls. His hands fisted the sheet on either side of your head as he paused for a moment, collecting himself.

Slowly, he began to move, setting a rhythm that sent jolts of pleasure coursing through both of you. You met his thrusts eagerly, your hips moving in tandem with his.

Your breaths became heavier, your bodies glistening with perspiration as the room filled with the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh and the occasional curse from Boyd.

Your hands gripped his back, nails digging deeply into his skin as you pulled him closer. The friction was exquisite, and you could feel the aching need building within you.

Boyd's eyes were locked onto yours, his face a mask of raw emotion. He leaned down, his lips capturing yours in a fervent kiss as he thrust deeper. You moaned into his mouth, your body responding to his every move.

Your climax was building, the pressure growing with each thrust. You could feel it, the tightening coil of pleasure, threatening to unravel. You dug your nails into his back, arching your hips to meet his. The sensation was too much, and you cried out as you peaked, your orgasm washing over you in waves.

Boyd watched you in awe as he continued to thrust into you. The sight of you in the throes of orgasm was more than he could take, and he quickly joined you, his body shuddering as he released deep within you, ropes of hot cum painting your walls white.

Your legs shook with the aftershocks of your orgasm as you melted into the bed. Boyd's weight rested on top of you, his face buried in your neck as he caught his breath.

You ran your hands through his hair, feeling the soft strands between your fingers. "That was…" you began, the words barely escaping your lips.

“Somethin’.” Boyd finished your sentence, his words muffled against your skin when a knock at the door made you both jump.

Boyd quickly rolled off you, grabbing the towel from the floor and wrapping it around his waist. You straightened yourself on the bed, pulling the sheets around you, heart still pounding.

Dear god, you'd forgotten all about your sister downstairs!

Boyd cracked open the door just enough to peek through, and Ava's voice floated in, laced with a hint of amusement. "Y'all planning on making that racket all night? Some of us have a busy day tomorrow," she teased, her tone light but carrying a knowing edge.

A sheepish grin spread across Boyd’s features. "Sorry, Ava," he called back through the slightly ajar door, his voice a mix of embarrassment and mirth. "We'll keep it down."

"Better," Ava replied, her voice now softened with laughter. "Just remember, thin walls in this old house."

[charon-cries]

we're lucky Lestat de Lioncourt doesn't have tumblr, the drama he'd get into on here would be wild

#is this anything #he'd probably get cancelled instantly #also side note for future reference #i'm making this post before season 3 #so if anything in this is incompatible with amc canon #that's because i'm working off of seasons 1 + 2 and the books #okay ty have a nice day

32 notes

🎧 audiofilled Follow

ANOTHER of my mutuals went missing after buying a backstage pass to a vampire lestat concert. she didn't post pictures, nothing, and she's been radio silent since her last post (which was about how she was about to go backstage...) and i really think we should be taking this more seriously. so.

reasons why i think "lestat de lioncourt" may be running a cult or something:

Keep reading

🐺 the-vampire-lestat

Absolutely ridiculous. I am very open about what I am, you do not need to resort to senseless conspiracy theories to figure out where your little friend went.

🎧 audiofilled Follow

are you incapable of dropping the vampire bit for ONE moment? people are going MISSING and you're still doing your corny roleplay bit?

#discourse #TVL disappearances #callout

362 notes

📚 daniel-molloy

It's day number seventy-three of surviving this God forsaken website solely to keep tabs on Lestat's social media presence, and I'm still trying to decipher the lingo you people use here. What the Hell does, "I'm bald," even mean?

#the vampire lestat

137 notes

🪽 arun-rising

Did anyone else notice Lestat only posts during the night, in whichever timezone he's in while on tour? True commitment to the bit. Or the bite, I suppose.

🩸 carmillized

weren't you posting about how much you despise his music just yesterday???

🪽 arun-rising

I don't know what you're talking about. I never did that.

🩸 carmillized

You are correct. I believe you without question. I do not even know why I said that in the first place. I do not recall you posting about Lestat de Lioncourt before this.

#sorry OP i was out of line #now that i'm thinking about it though #this post is making me wonder if lestat could be a real vampire #i hadn't seriously considered it until this very moment #something came over me... #wonder why

40 notes

🐺 the-vampire-lestat

New song.

Listen, if you dare.

📷 disintegrated-wonder

Lestat, I thought we were over this...?

#louis talks

893 notes

🧷 baby-jenks

Wouldn't it be wild if we all just spontaneously combusted? Haha. Glad that will never happen

#fang gang #vampblr #random thought #it's unlikely

4 notes

👴🏻 marius-official Follow

How does this website work...?

🦇 fang-fan

delete your blog

#rank vibes on this man

1,425 notes

🐾 interview-wolf-the-werewolf Follow

Sponsored with Blaze 🔥

Check out my new book. It's a biography, about me, written by an award-winning journalist, chronicling my life as a werewolf. It's 100% factual and real, a real breath of fresh air in a world filled with fiction attempting to pass itself off as reality.

#iwtw #my posts #my book #me #werewolf #wolf #awoo #please i need to feed my litter of twelve #this book is all i have

5,762 notes

🩸 carmillized

hey all! i know that my mutual, audiofilled, is a little bit divisive in the music fandom rn, but i'm getting a little worried. i haven't heard from him since he made that post speculating about where TVL fans have been disappearing to. please send me an ask or a dm if you've heard from him!

#talk tag #getting a little worried #he's probably okay though

47 notes

🐺 the-vampire-lestat

Just had a lovely dinner. It's nice when your food is in tune with you, yes? Makes the blood sit well in the veins.

🦇 fang-fan

ur so funny

#edit: sorry for posting while audiofilled is missing #i didn't hear about it until just now

1,409 notes

🩸 carmillized

okay i just can't get over how he talks about himself. i don't know if it's just him being "in character" or if this is just how the guy acts irl, but he's so self-aggrandizing that i've been questioning it

no nuance/bald/other, you have to decide on the spot right now what you believe

📚 daniel-molloy

He's lying.

👩‍💻 talamascized-witch

I don't believe him for a second.

#archive #poll #lestat de lioncourt

[writings-ofthe-heart]

Blue Lips

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

❀ ; König had never really known you, but after a tricky mission and being left alone with you for a whole night, he might want to know more ...

or

❀ ; After being terrified of your colonel, you gain the confidence (and privacy) to talk to him once more, things go unplanned when you're attacked by a rogue soldier.

────── 〔✿〕──────

♡ Warnings? : None! Just some fluff, idk, xd

♡ Word Count : A little over 1.6K words

♡ POV In : First person, I got lazy rewriting all the pronouns to "you," soz :(

♡ Author's Note - Umm sorry I haven't done anything atsv i swear its rotting in my brain rn but i just did this one shot in under a couple days during my travelling :3 i hope you enjoy !!

(p.s my next writing thing WILL be ganke related x3)

(p.p.s.s? I hope the formatting is ok I'm new to tumblr xD)

"Sorry, we'll try to reach-- morning--" The radio stammered out, I shook it frustrated as we walked. The mission had gone successfully but we were left behind. Unfortunately, I was left behind with the Colonel. He was silent, the sound of his steps barely noticeable. My hand was shaking, upon realizing, I shoved it into my pocket. The Lt had told us to reach the safe house and stay put. It was 4 KM away from where we were so we have been walking most part of the evening and the sun had just set. A blanket of quiet settled over the forest, the only "loud" sounds being my footsteps.

The Colonel and I were never close, it could've been because of my general fear of authority and the such or just how eerily quiet he was, never awkward just silent. The only time I had really spoke to him was during missions and those fleeting moments never told me much about him, all other information about him I heard from rumours, that he was a cold blooded soldier and a weapon for KorTac. He had bouts of going far away for weeks and months at a time, on so called "private enlistings." I never got curious, too frightened by him to try and find out more about him. But that's changing now, as he walks behind me I can't help but wonder about him.

My voice breaks the silence. "Where are you from, König? You have quite the accent,"

He seemed a little startled when I spoke, and he flatly replied, "Austria, German is the national language there."

I clicked my tongue, teeth chattering. "Cool." The next few minutes were silent and I veered off into the trees, hearing a creek bubbling. I called out to König quietly, "I'm going to fill my canteen. There's a creek over here." He hummed his acknowledgement. I got to the body of water and crouched down. Unscrewing the canteen, I put it down in the water. It was freezing, I tried to ignore the stinging in my knuckles and the tips of my fingers. From behind, I heard a knife unsheath. I tried to turn swiftly, grabbing my pistol from the holster but the attacker was too fast, pinning me down on the hard rocks.

They held the knife to my throat, breathing heavily. As my eyes adjusted from the stars in my vision, I realized it was a man. He had a beard, a mustache accompanying it. The man didn't need to speak for me to understand his intentions, a savage glint in his eyes. He seemed to be injured, desperate for anything. I look down at his tactical vest, but my movement provokes him and he shoves me under the water. I kick and thrash but he's taller, bigger than me. My pistol is taken and my knife is in my pant leg. The coldness grips me tightly.

König had been surprised I had even talked to him, after all, he knew I was scared of him, everyone was. It gave him a rush, but sometimes he wished they weren't terrified of König. He was sitting at the base of a tall, frosted tree, sipping at his own canteen. The Austrian man took note of the time, realizing I've been gone for longer then he felt comfortable with. Even if he had no feelings tied to me, he was a colonel and had to take care of his soldiers. König dusted his jeans off and calmly made his way to the creek. Upon seeing me being forcefully submerged in the creek by a strange man, he went livid.

Everything was a blur already as the man had started to choke me, shaking me and throwing me on the rock bed again and again. A vignette settled around my vision and I weakly yelled out in pain. Blood swirled in the water I was shoved in, my attacker showing no sign of stopping. König ran in long strides, ripping the man off me. With his bulk and strength, he had him easily in a chokehold.

The man fought him, as he had grabbed his knife I wrestled off him from the dirt. I could only sit up and take gulps of cold air, they were like daggers in my lungs but I couldn't help it. I was shaking violently, standing up and wobbling over to help König. He had already taken out his pistol and after shoving the man to the ground, he aimed point blank. His eyes were narrowed, and if he had no mask on, you'd be able to see the haunting smile as the bullet wrecked the mans head. Blowing his brains out was nothing to König.

I had barely been able to register the gun shot as more than the ringing in my ears after. The snowfall was heavier then ever, cold wind freezing my clothes and along with it my body. After the kill had been delivered, König rushed over to me. He crouched down the slightest bit, his accent thick in his words, "Liebe, are you okay?" I wrapped my arms around myself, teeth chattering. I could barely mumble a reply without stammering half the sentence but I tried. "N.. No." My scowl at him took all my remaining energy and I nearly collapsed on him.

"Oh, sheiße!" He hissed, holding me in place. The only sound being my grunts of pain, the cold feeling like I was shattering into pieces.

"We've got to get you to the safe house. It's so close to here! Can you walk schatz?" He panics, holding my frozen hands. "Ah, you're like ice." König comments. I take a couple steps with him, another breeze blows by and my knees give out. I cry out painfully, grabbing Königs arm. He hushes me sympathetically, pulling me close.

"Ok, meine liebe, i need you to listen to me, ja? I'm going to carry you, but you can't, please, you cannot," He firmly talks to me taking a breath, making sure my lidded eyes stay open. "You cannot fall asleep, stay awake, ok? We'll get to the safe house in no time."

König knew he had a timer, it started to tick down as soon as I got out of water, breathing heavily. It was now or never, or else I'd slip into the afterlife. He couldn't let that happen. Now he was running as quick as he could, his long legs lunging forward. If their lieutenants information was correct, the safe house should be around the corner from these birch trees, and like the heavens opened for him, there was a run down, abandoned looking house covered in sheets of white.

König slammed the door open and kicked it closed as he rushed in, his heart pounding and the blood roaring in his ears. I was shivering in Königs arms, fighting every nerve in my body begging me to let go, but I knew I couldn't, I couldn't leave him alone, alone here. Those were my only coherent thoughts as König set me down in front of the fire, rummaging desperately through each drawer in the living room. My puffs of air coming out as thick clouds in the room, I could hear Königs quickened breathing as he searched around. When I heard him sigh out a noise of victory, it was a telltale sign he found matches.

I looked at him through my heavy eyes, König flicked it and it caught on fire. He tidyed the logs in the fireplace and threw the match in, blowing it softly so it'd grow faster. My teeth chattered vigorously but I couldn't feel my lips, or my legs. König carefully peeled my tactical vest off, looking at me gently. "Schatz, I need to take your clothes.. off..." His eyes seemed to be pleading with me and all I could do was nod slightly. König worked fast while still being so gentle with my freezing body, and in a matter of minutes, I was bare, stripped to my undergarments. He swallowed, trying to stop his eyes wandering.

König took his vest off, basically stripping himself as well. Now, I couldn't help but stare. He was built like an ox, along with being huge, his muscles were just daunting. I screwed my eyes shut to keep out the indecent thoughts.

"You're tired, no? It's ok, meine liebe. Let me get some blankets and we will sleep." He reassured me and I could only nod, whimpering quietly trying not to tremble with everything in me. My arms were wrapped around my body tightly. After a few minutes, he came back with a pillow and blankets. König sat down next to me, gently sliding a blanket below me and then the rest on top.

His hands were warm.. so warm. I could feel my mind shutting down and König noticed, of course he did. My sleepy eyes, the red tint of my cheeks and nose. He could hear me mumbling, but was too dazed in my appearance, "Sorry, what'd you say?"

"Can you come closer? You're really, really warm." I whisper. König looked at me, silent like always. After a long pause, he nodded.

Shifting closer to me, he (awkwardly) put his arms around me. I leaned on him, contently sighing. He couldn't believe what was happening, König was never typically a 'ladies man' and now that it was happening, he froze up. König looked down at me, feeling a warmth touch his chest. I had fallen asleep on him. He couldn't do anything but sit there, cocooning me in his arms with his gun by his side in case of an emergency.

He didn't sleep at all, if only to keep me safe.

[justagalwhowrites]

Lavender - Ch. 9

You've found a new normal in your life in the QZ. Then it all changes. A continuation of Lavender Ch. 1-8, found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller X Female Reader

Length: 4K

Warnings: Nothing major this time but the whole fic is VERY 18+ so minors? DNI :) Mention of past miscarriage. No use of Y/N

Sunday, October 5, 2008 - Five Years Later 

You’d purposely filled up your Sunday. It wasn’t a day you wanted to think about. Having even a few minutes alone sounded awful. Your birthday had always been hell since the outbreak and you needed anything to keep your mind busy. You wished it was just Monday already. Mondays were long days. Sundays, you had to work at it. 

You got an early start, waking up at 6 a.m. and putting on a Joni Mitchell CD you’d found a few weeks back. You’d traded a few ration cards for it, but it was worth it. You French braided your hair, putting ribbons on the ends. They matched the flowers you’d stitched to cover up the patches you’d made on your shirt. You always felt a bit better when you had ribbons and flowers around. You really needed that, on your birthday. 

Breakfast just sounded miserable, so you gathered up the cookies you’d made the night before - splitting them into two groups, the larger pile for the clinic and the smaller for Abe. You headed for the radio first. 

The line was always short on Sunday morning if you went first thing. There were only four people ahead of you when you got there. You normally let your mind wander while you waited, or brought a book, but you’d been so busy trying to distract yourself that morning, you’d left your book sitting next to your bed. Instead, you eavesdropped. 

The person who was in with Abe when you got there had been communicating regularly with their sister in Kansas City. The sister had news about a man she’d been seeing. It sounded good. You smiled a little. It was nice when the radio brought good news. There was so little to be had anymore. 

Abe stepped into the hall where you were waiting to grab the next person and noticed you in line. 

“Sweets!” He smiled, jerking his head at you. “You’re up.” 

“Come on, man!” The man two people ahead of you snapped. “I’ve been waiting!” 

“Start bringing me cookies every week, you can jump the line, too,” Abe snapped. “Sweets doesn’t have to wait.” 

“It’s fine, really…” you began, but Abe cut you off. 

“You don’t wait,” he said. “C’mon.” 

You smiled apologetically at the people in line ahead of you and followed Abe into the radio room, closing the door behind you. You gave him his cookies, wrapped in paper and twine. He opened them, wriggling his fingers at the small pile. 

“I don’t know how you make oatmeal cookies so damn good,” he said, grabbing one and taking a bite, closing his eyes in pleasure. “But damn, do you ever.” 

“Brown the butter,” you smiled. 

“I don’t even know what the fuck that means,” he said. “That’s why you don’t have to wait. What do you need, Sweets? The usual?” 

You nodded. He licked the crumbs off his fingers. 

“I can tell you right now, there’s no news,” he said. “Everyone knows who to look out for…” 

“I know,” you smiled. “But can you double check for me? Need the list?” 

“Sweets, it’s been five years,” he smiled sadly at you. “I don’t need the list.” 

He started, as always, at the Dallas QZ. 

“Howdy Dallas, hope you’re having a good Sunday,” he said. “Got my usual. Looking to see if you’ve had any new arrivals by the name Joel Miller, Sarah Miller or Thomas Miller. Those three would likely all be together. Also looking for a Cassandra Wilson and a Joshua Trumble.” He was silent for a moment. You heard a crackle of sound from his headphones. “What about folks matching those descriptions?” 

He rattled off ages, general appearances. There was a short crackle. He just shook his head at you and moved on to Atlanta. 

It didn’t take him long to get through all the QZs. There was nothing. You weren’t surprised, but you were always a little let down all the same. You held out the ration cards you traded him but he just looked at them. You frowned for a second. 

“Did the price change?” You asked. “I can get more, I have some saved…” 

“It doesn’t…” he sighed, looking at you. “I don’t know that I can keep taking your money, Sweets.” 

“I promise you can,” you smiled. “I hold it out, you put it in your hand, done deal.” 

“You’ve been here twice a week, every week, for five years,” his eyes were sad. “Everyone in the country knows who you’re looking for. If they were out there, we’d have found them. I’m sorry, I think it’s time that…” 

“You’re sweet to worry,” you cut him off. “But I know them. They just… haven’t made it to a QZ yet, that’s all. Joel and Tommy and Sarah especially. They’re probably… I don’t know, living off the land somewhere. They’ll probably end up at a QZ eventually for some reason, right? I’ll find them when they do.” 

You held the cards out, more insistently this time. He sighed and took them. 

“Thanks, Abe,” you smiled. “Muffins Wednesday?” 

“You spoil me, Sweets.” 

The clinic was just opening for the day when you got there, Andrew camped out behind the front desk. You frowned. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked. “You don’t work Sundays.” 

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, not looking at you. “Figured I’d work this Sunday.” You sighed. He met your eyes. “You doing OK?” “Don’t know what you mean,” you smiled tightly, handing him the paper-wrapped package of cookies. “Can you make sure these get around to everyone? I don’t want to bring them home with me…” 

“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Because anyone ever turns down your baking.” 

You smiled a little, drumming your hands on the desk for a moment before heading into the back to set your bag down and grab your supplies for the day. 

When you’d gotten to the QZ almost five years ago to the day, you’d been a mess. Andrew had been the only reason you’d made it alive. The miscarriage had taken a turn. You’d needed him to find abortive medications at a pharmacy to finish it which, thankfully, had been left on the shelves in the midst of other looting. You survived the sepsis because you’d grabbed the antibiotics a few days earlier and you recognized the signs. 

Intake had been rough. You were covered in blood. You hadn’t been able to bring yourself to change. They searched your body over and over. Andrew had been screaming from the next bed but you couldn’t remember what he’d been yelling. You weren’t sure if you ever known. It took a day or two before you were able to really communicate anything with the powers that be in what became the QZ. 

The second they heard you had a degree in biology, had been finishing up a pre-med degree and had started studying for medical school, they sent a military doctor in to talk to you. 

“Still interested in becoming a doctor?” He asked, arms crossed. It was a harder question to answer than it should have been. Were you interested in anything anymore? 

“Yes,” you said eventually. “But I don’t exactly think the MCATs are still happening.” 

“We desperately need doctors,” he said. “I’ll train you. It’ll be hard, med school on steroids, because we need people now. At the moment, we have me and not much else.” 

“How?” You frowned. “This is Boston. There’s Harvard, there’s…” 

“Almost no one made it out of there,” he shook his head. “We need you. I can train you.” 

You thought for a second. 

“OK.” 

Dr. Elias had loaded you down with texts almost immediately, giving you assigned reading and having you shadow him at every opportunity. You were stitching wounds closed in a matter of days. Removing an appendix in a year.

More doctors had arrived at the QZ over time but, by then, you were one of them. You’d never have the degree - not that a piece of paper meant a damn thing in the apocalypse - but you were a doctor. It was the first time you’d felt really satisfied since summer, 2003. The day Dr. Elias told you that you didn’t need to shadow him anymore, you had full privileges, Andrew took you for a drink at the speakeasy. You thought of when you graduated college, Joel toasting you with a bottle of real champagne - one from France - he’d gone out of his way to find. 

Sunday in the clinic kept you busy enough. You had a steady stream of patients, with everything from UTIs to stitches for a kid who jumped off some steps and cut their head open to a guy with syphilis whose symptoms had gotten so bad he finally decided to see someone. The day, mercifully, flew by, not leaving you much time to think. It was pushing 10 p.m. when you realized how tired you were. 

“Hey Teach,” Andrew called to you. “Got a few more for you.” 

“Seriously?” You leaned across the counter, your head down on the desk. “I’m getting too old for this. It’s too late in the day for this.” 

“You are not too old for this,” he teased. 

“I’m 30 now, Andrew,” you lifted your head and propped your chin on your fist. “I’m basically dead.” 

“They say that 30’s the new 20,” he shrugged, leaning back in his chair. 

“Nah, it’s the opposite in QZ years,” you said. “30 is the new 74. I’m an old woman, basically geriatric.” 

“If you don’t take these, you’re going to the bar with me,” he said. You glared at him. He shrugged. “These are your choices, Teach. Not going to let you just go home and be sad and old. You can be sad and old here or sad and old at the bar, pick your poison.” 

You sighed and held out your hand. 

“Gimme the charts.” 

He handed you two folders and you frowned. 

“You didn’t say it was intake,” you said, looking at the tag color. “I’m not… Come on, don’t make me euthanize anyone today.” 

“You really think I’d do that to you?” He asked. “They cleared that part already, they just need to be examined. Make sure they’re not too feral, sounds like they’ve never been to a QZ before so they might be rabid.” 

You rolled your eyes. 

“And I guess actually take care of people who haven’t had medical attention in five years,” he said. “That part, too.” 

“Your generation is the reason the world ended,” you said. “I’m convinced.” 

“I’m seven years younger than you, we’re the same shitty generation!” He leaned on the counter. “C’mon. Go treat the patients, then we can go get hammered. I think we need to get hammered. If you don’t want to go to the bar, I’ve got whiskey.” 

“Shitty whiskey.” 

“Does it matter?” 

You smiled a little. 

“It does not.” You sighed, cracking your neck before jogging in place for a second. “Alright, just two more and then this miserable day is officially over. Let’s get this across the finish line.” “Go, sports team!” He gave you a fist pump. You rolled your eyes and opened the top file. 

You almost fainted. 

“Where are they?” You asked. Your hands were shaking. You pulled your eyes from the file and looked at Andrew. “Where are they? What exam room, where are they? Andrew…” 

“They’re in 14, far end,” he said, his eyebrows knitting together. “What’s…” 

You dropped the file and started running. 

“Joel!” 

You were screaming, you couldn’t help it. Your legs couldn’t move fast enough. 

“Joel!” 

The door to the exam room on the far end opened and there he was. 

He was both exactly the same and so different. Still tall and broad and handsome, his hair still shaggy and curly, skin still golden tan. But he looked worn, like he’d been kicked a few too many times. He looked broken. It took him a second to register that he was looking at you. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head, a moment of confusion, then disbelief, then he was running for you. 

You threw yourself against him and he caught you, his arms wrapping around you so tightly you thought he might break you in two and you didn’t care. You took what felt like your first full breath in five years. He didn’t smell like sawdust anymore but it was him. You were sobbing. 

“Joel,” you breathed. Your voice was wet, your fingers in his hair as you clung to him. 

“You’re alive,” he choked out. He sounded breathless. He held you so close. “You’re alive, I thought you were dead, I thought I lost you years ago…” 

He dropped to his knees and took you with him, pulling back from you just enough to look at you. His hands went from your body to your face, holding you gently, thumbs brushing your cheekbones. You held his arms, smiling so broadly it felt like your face might crack. 

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” his eyes searched your face, your hair, looking over every inch of you. “You’re alive…” 

“I’ve been searching for you,” you were shaking, your fingers running over his arms. “I’ve been calling every QZ twice a week every week looking for you, I knew I’d find you eventually, I knew I’d find you…” 

He pulled you back against him and you held onto him. His hand went to the back of your head, holding you close. Tommy emerged from the room, his eyes wide as he looked at you. “Kid,” he breathed, walking slowly to you and Joel, dropping to his knees next to you. He was blurry through your tears but you smiled and nodded as best you could while being held against his brother. “My God, I never thought I’d see you again…” 

“How long have you been here?” Joel pulled back from you again, his eyes searching your own. 

“Five years,” you said, laughing a little. “Almost to the day. We were on our way to Martha’s Vineyard and ran into… Actually, I’m not sure if they were actually FEDRA yet but whatever they were, we got rerouted to Boston. I’ve been here since.” 

You looked between Tommy and Joel and then frowned. 

“Where’s Sarah?” You asked, looking around. “They only gave me two intake files, did someone else take hers? Where’s Sarah?” 

Joel didn’t say anything but you’d never seen him in more pain. He looked like someone had cut open his chest and ripped his heart clean out. You knew. Immediately you knew. Your heart broke.

“Oh Joel,” you reached for his face but he jerked back from you. It was like he wasn’t even looking at you anymore. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

***

Tommy knew better than to say Sarah’s name. Joel hadn’t heard it in years. Sometimes, if he went long enough and had enough distractions, he was able to pretend that she was just somewhere else. That he and Tommy were at work and Sarah was safely at home with you. Just like before. Tommy didn’t bring up Sarah. 

So when you said her name, it wiped him out. In part because, for a moment, the fact that she was gone had left his mind. It was different than when he was distracted or it was the first moment when he woke up every day, before he remembered. The joy, the relief at finding you - alive and whole and well - had overwhelmed him so much that everything else just lived in a separate reality. A different plane of existence that contained everything bad that he’d ever done or had ever happened to him that he’d left behind for a moment. Hearing her name…. 

“Teach?” The man from the front desk knelt beside you, his hands going around your shoulders. “We need to find someone else to do this?” 

“Yeah,” you nodded, eyes not leaving Joel. You looked devastated. Like someone had gutted you. “Yeah, I can’t… Ethically, I can’t do this, I’m sorry…” 

The man tried to pull you away from Joel but he held onto you. You gave the man a glance and a single shake of your head and he backed off. 

“I’ll go find Lee,” he said, frowning and searching your face for a moment before he left. 

“Where have you been?” You asked Tommy more than Joel, glancing his way before looking back to Joel. “How have you survived this long outside a QZ?” 

Joel glanced at Tommy who looked back to him. A silent agreement to not tell you the truth of it. 

“Scavenging,” Tommy said after a moment. “Finding what we could where we could. Ended up trading with some smugglers in QZs. Heard Boston wasn’t too bad, relatively speaking. Decided to make our way up here.” 

Your eyes kept running over Joel’s face. You found the scar at his temple, your eyes lingering there. You cautiously reached your hand forward and traced it, lightly, before you held his cheek. His eyes met yours. 

“You’re here,” you breathed. Your eyes were still so sad. His hand covered yours. “That’s all that matters, you’re here.” 

“Mr. Miller? Both Mr. Millers,” A man came out of the back with the guy from the front desk. Joel glanced at him. “We’re going to get you two processed, you’ll have to come with me…” 

Joel tightened his grip on you. He couldn’t let you go, not now. Tommy tugged on his arm but Joel shrugged him off. 

“Mr. Miller,” the man said again. “We need you to come with us…” 

“C’mon,” the man from the desk put his hand on your arm, pulling you gently back from Joel. 

“Mr. Miller. You can see her again in just a few minutes…” 

“No,” Joel said sharply. 

“Joel,” your hand was still on his face. “It’s OK, I’m not going far and neither are you but there are checks we have to do when new people come to the QZ…” 

“Joel,” Tommy’s hands were on him now, too. “It won’t be long. Come on.” 

Joel pulled you against him one more time, holding you to him for a moment before pulling back from you. He let you go then, let the man lead him to a back room. He looked over his shoulder at you as the man from the front desk pulled you to your feet. 

“So that’s the dad…” he said quietly. 

“Yeah,” your voice cracked. He pulled you into his chest and wrapped his arms around you. Joel scowled at him before looking straight ahead, following Tommy and the other man. 

The other man introduced himself as Dr. Lee and started going over Joel with a fine toothed comb. Joel paid it very little mind. He could not care less, he just wanted to get back to you. Being this far from you made him uneasy. Like if you were out of his sight you’d vanish. He watched the door. He could just see the top of your head pressed to the chest of the man from the desk. He was holding you close. He kissed your hair. Joel ground his teeth. 

He still couldn’t believe it was you. You were here, you were alive - fucking alive. He’d mourned you, alongside… He’d felt it. Felt that he’d never see you again, that you were gone. 

It didn’t help that, at first glance, you were the same. Exactly the same. You still braided your hair to keep it out of your way, still put ribbons on the ends - he couldn’t remember the last time he saw a fucking ribbon - still put flowers on the broken things. You looked a bit older but he was sure that, if the world had been like it was before, you’d still have been getting carded every time you ordered a beer. You were still fucking beautiful, so goddamn beautiful. You could have stepped straight out of his memories, been a hallucination. At night, when he couldn’t stop them and he was overwhelmed by thoughts of Sarah and you, you looked almost the same as you did now. The only difference was your eyes. There was a haunted knowing in them now. Like you’d learned the secret of the world - that it was cold and cruel - and been left to reckon with it alone. 

“Can she come back in now?” Tommy’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah, I can get her…” he went and opened the door. Addressed you as doctor. You all but ran inside, the other man close behind you. Joel glared at him. 

You, however, went straight for Joel, standing beside his exam table and reaching for him cautiously, like you weren’t sure he’d want you to touch him. Your eyes were red. He slipped your hand into his and your fingers laced with his own. He tugged you closer and your other hand went around his arm so that it was pressed against your torso. 

Dr. Lee addressed you. 

“You know the drill,” he began, but you shook your head. 

“Come on,” you said. “There has to be an exception we can use here, I don’t…” 

“Absolutely not,” he shook his head. 

“What?” Tommy asked. “What’s happening?” 

“You’ll need to stay in holding overnight,” the guy from the front desk said. He was watching you, not looking at Joel and Tommy at all. 

“That’s stupid,” you said. “They can stay with me, if anything got missed…” 

“You know we can’t do that,” Lee said. “It’s too dangerous, if there was a false negative read on the infection scanner you’d be dead.” 

“Please.” 

“It’s one night,” Lee said. “Elias would have my ass if he ever found out I let new intakes go home with you and I like being alive, thank you very much.” 

“It’s one night,” the front desk guy crossed his arms, looking at you. Joel wanted to snap him in half. 

“I’ll set you as their orientation liaison,” Lee said gently. “I’ll let the school know you won’t be in tomorrow. You can get them at 6 a.m.” 

“No,” Joel growled. 

“This isn’t the wild west, Mr. Miller,” Lee said. “There are ways things are done here. Best to start adjusting now. We’re going to take you back into holding…” 

“Can I get just two minutes?” You cut him off. “Please?” 

Lee looked between you and Joel. 

“Andrew stays too,” he said, leaving the room. The man from the front desk crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Joel. You didn’t seem to notice, instead just throwing your arms around Joel’s neck. Joel pulled you against him. 

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” you breathed in his ear. “I promise, I’ll be right back, I love you so much, Joel.” 

It was like his heart cracked. No one had said that to him in so long. His chest got tight. 

“I’ll be here, Baby,” he said softly. “Not going anywhere.” 

Dr. Lee came back and led Joel and Tommy out of the room, Andrew’s hand firmly on your shoulder as you watched them go. Joel felt sick, you being far away from him again. He focused on getting through to the morning. That’s all. He’d been away from you for more than five years, he could do one night. He was sure of it. Just one night. 

He couldn’t. 

[gttoomh]

No More Distractions

I've had this idea stuck in my head for the past week. A mortal girl who grew up with Loki as her patron god. He would speak to her through her mind and astral project to visit her. Then he goes radio silent after the events of THOR and a year later she's recruited by Shield to help take him down upon his return. The story starts at the gala Loki attends to get the dude's eye in Avengers.

I just wrote this to get it out of my head, so here you go Tumblr. You can have it too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was beautiful. Different than I’d imagined, but beautiful nonetheless. I’d heard his voice in my mind a million times… listened to his teasing tone… felt his mind dance through my thoughts. Standing in front of him now felt like a dream. 

I sigh softly, the buzz of the comm in my ear followed by Steve’s voice.

“All you need to do is distract him. Don’t give anything away. Make it seem like this is just a coincidence.”

I can’t help but roll my eyes. As if that was the easiest thing in the world. As if he would ever fall for such a half-baked plan. I’d known this man since I was twelve. My patron god Loki. He was my confidant… my friend… my…

I shake the thought from my mind, slowly weaving my way through the crowd of dancers. I don’t know why he’s here. Shield has put me on a need-to-know basis. Twelve hours ago I was a nobody. Working my way through my boring life one day at a time. Now I’m here… with the weight of the world on my shoulders as a group of heroes thinks I can bring a god to his knees. Fools.

I take in a deep breath as I step in front of him, catching his eye almost immediately. A look of disgust crosses his face… as if I was nothing more than a spider to be crushed under his boot. I can’t help but quirk a smile.

“Step away mortal. Before I make you pray to your worthless god.”

A small laugh leaves my lips and I shake my head.

“I’d only be praying to you. You Look different than I thought you would.”

He scans me, eyes trailing from my feet back to my face, curiosity striking him. I offer a half smile in return.

“You sound the same though.”

He scoffs, the firm expression returning quickly. 

“I have no use for you. Leave before my mercy fades.”

I hum softly, clicking my tongue and shaking my head in mock disappointment.

“Have you really forgotten me already? It’s only been a year since we last spoke. I was worried, you know. I thought you’d left me for good.”

His brow furrows and it’s a moment later I feel him probing into my mind. I let him and his face softens.

“Pet…”

I roll my eyes at the name… something he’s insisted on calling me since I was a child. At first, it was meant to annoy me. Though, Over the years affection has wormed its way into his tune, though he’d never admit it.

“Sometimes I think you’ve actually forgotten my name.”

His token smirk returns to his face and he shrugs.

“Why would I need to know you by any other name? You’re my pet after all.”

I try my best to suppress the smile fighting its way to the surface but fail miserably. He seems proud of himself, though I don’t know if it’s because he made me laugh or because he’s teasing me.

“How did you find me, pet?”

I hesitate, Steve’s voice ringing in my ear as he gives me some half-ass story to spout. I ignore him, letting out a deep sigh instead.

“Shield. They want me to distract you from… whatever it is you’re doing here.”

I wince as the rest of the Avengers begin shouting into the comms, screaming at me to stand down or shut up completely.

“They’re not particularly happy I told you that.”

Loki’s eyes narrow and reaches his hand up to my left ear, hovering next to it while using his magic to pull the comm from its place and crushing it in his hand.

“Idiots. They should know better than to try and turn what’s mine against me.”

I choose to ignore the comment, though my cheeks turn a soft pink.

“I guess they didn’t take into account I would be more loyal to you.”

He brushes his hands off, what's left of the comm falling to the floor.

“I suppose not. Regardless, you should leave, pet. It isn’t safe for you here. You should have denied them completely at such an idiotic request.”

I breathe out, nodding my head and looking down at my hands.

“I know… but when they told me you were here, I couldn’t help myself. It’s been a year. You said goodbye and then radio silence. I just… needed to know you were alive.”

Loki scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“You believe your god to be so weak? Ridiculous.”

My eyes return to his, a smile falling across my face and I let out the smallest laugh.

“I suppose you’re right. I’m just being dramatic I guess.”

He nods in agreement, staring me down. Despite the hard expression on his face, I can see the softness in his eyes. My head turns slowly, eyes finding the band across the room and I frown. There's something familiar about the song they’re playing.

“This sounds like…”

I glance up at him, knowing he understands what I mean. An old song. It’s not the exact same… but it’s close. An Asgadian tune he taught me just a few years back. Amusement spreads across his face as he realizes.

“Do you remember the steps?”

It’s my turn to scoff and roll my eyes. As if I could forget. The god spent months drilling the dance into my head, making sure I had every movement down perfectly. I hold up my right hand, palm facing him. It’s an invitation and I can’t help but hope he accepts. He hesitates for only a moment before raising his own to mimic mine, our palms close enough to feel the heat from one another, but never touching. The soft music continues to play as we circle each other, switching hands and spinning around as the steps request. My eyes never leave him, our bodies never touching even as the last few notes of the song play. I step towards him, both my palms inches away from his own. Our noses almost brush, my eyes finding his as the room slowly goes silent. He stares at me for a moment, both of us perfectly content to remain just as we are.

“Songs over, pet. No more distractions.”

I purse my lips closing my eyes as I try to will him not to move with my mind.

“Five more minutes?”

I hear a soft chuckle slip from him, followed by lips pressing gently against my forehead. In the next moment, the atmosphere changes. I hear a bustling street and feel a cold chill on my skin. When I open my eyes, I’m standing outside, The gala in front of me. And Loki is nowhere to be found.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Might make another part to this, but I dunno. Let me know if it's worth it too, lol.

[fraybay]

Little Secret

A/N: Reposting this since tumblr finally got it together and my posts now show up on tags. I hope y’all enjoy!

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Rockstar!OFC

———-

Hate the fact that you gotta wait, but you gon’ wait  ‘Cause you confident that we soulmates I told my therapist about you She always takes your side Ain’t nobody I love more, I just need more time

Marley sighed as her phone rang and buzzed across the counter in front of her. She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she reached out to silence it.

“You don’t think making that his ringtone is a little overkill?” Kia, her hairstylist shook her head and locked eyes with her in the mirror, “Also, it’s been three weeks. You know he’s just going to keep calling and texting, right?"

She snorted, “Let him seethe. It’s what he deserves for embarrassing me.”

The other woman gently squeezed her shoulders before she returned to working on her hair, “Mar, the public doesn’t even know about you two. As far as they know, you two are just friends who met while featuring on Nas’ song a few years ago.”

“You know,” the singer held up her hand and started counting, “All of Purple Hull knows. All of Private Garden knows. Our close industry friends know. I couldn’t care less about the public, but he’s not going to embarrass me in front of our friends!”

Kia started to respond, but Marley kept ranting, “And what’s worse is he did it on some snake shit. How do you play me every song but that one before the album drops?” She crossed her arms, “Because he knew his ass was going to be in trouble. So, he can go be with the rest of his fucking roster. I’m a generational talent. He ain’t bout to play me like I’m in the G-League when I’m clearly a Luka.”

Riley, who had been silently observing their exchange from her seat on the couch, finally spoke up to ask, “You’re going to curse him out tonight, aren’t you?”

“If he keeps his distance, no,” she huffed.

Riley pushed herself off the couch, “Let me go change out of these heels into flats, just in case.”

                                *******************************

This is Marley. Sorry to miss your call. I’ve got the machine; you’ve got the message. You know what to do.

With a frustrated groan, Jack hit the end call button on his steering wheel without leaving a message.

He ran a hand through his hair as he spoke to his best friend, “She hasn’t answered me in three weeks, Urb.”

Urban didn’t even glance his way as he responded, “Gee, I wonder why?”

“She’s literally a rockstar,” he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “She’s acting like she’s never embellished a song.”

“If you thought the song was fine, you wouldn’t have hidden it from her when you played her the album. Which, by the way, we all told you was a terrible plan.” Urban took a hit of his blunt before he continued, “You gotta admit, ‘but you gon wait’ does make her sound like a lost puppy following you around just waiting for you to decided she’s good enough to commit to.”

“No one even knows it’s about her,” he argued.

“No one outside of our circles knows it’s about her,” Urban corrected, “but y'all both travel with big ass entourages, bro. We’re easily in the double digits of people who know about you two and your complicated ass relationship.”

“I said good things about her in that song and on Poison,” he defended.

Urban laughed, “Shit, don’t take any drinks from her tonight. She might actually poison your ass, but like the bad kind.”

Jack reached over to lightly smack his friend on the shoulder, “You stay thinking you’re funny and this ain’t it.”

Urban shrugged and took another drag, “As long as I’m laughing, I could give a fuck if you do.”

Jack flipped him off before he turned the radio up to end the conversation.

                               *******************************

As soon as they entered the venue, the rest of Marley’s band and her team headed straight to the bar or dance floor.

Marley decided to make her way over to the man of the hour to get her well wishes out of the way since she knew as the night wore on, more people would be showing up. She climbed up the spiral staircase to the VIP section and gave her name to the bouncer standing guard. After he let her in, she made a beeline for Nas.

As soon as he saw her, he pulled her in for a hug while exclaiming, “Marley!”

“Nas!” She pulled back slightly, arms still wrapped around his waist, and looked up at him, “How’s my favorite rapper?”

He flashed her a big grin as he answered, “Oh, he’s sulking around here somewhere since you ducking calls and texts.”

The singer dropped her arms and nudged him with her shoulder, “Imma be nice to you since it’s your birthday, but know that you need to get your jokes in now because that carriage changes into a pumpkin at midnight and I’m gonna drag your ass.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” He reached out and pinched her cheek, “You love me too much to be mad at me for more than 2 seconds.”

“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you have to say it!”

He slung an arm around her shoulder as he asked, “Just do me a favor, okay?”

She shot him a skeptical look as she inquired, “What?”

“There are private rooms in the hallway right off the bathrooms. If you’re gonna give him hell, do it in one of those?” he pleaded.

Marley pretended to be offended, “Are you saying I’m gonna cause a scene?”

Nas laughed, “Girl, I’ve seen you in a mosh pit. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

                               *******************************

Marley leaned against the bar, sipping on her whiskey sour. She felt someone slide into the seat next to her and she knew, before she even looked over, exactly who it would be.

“So how long do you plan on pretending I don’t exist, pretty girl?” Jack tried to keep his face and posture neutral since he knew cameras were around to cover the party, “Because I’m only in LA for the next 5 days and you’re wasting time we could be spending together.”

Marley scoffed, “I’m giving you the time you so publicly requested.”

He rolled his eyes, “I do believe the song said I needed more time, not space.”

“Well, as you know from experience, I’ve always been a generous lover so I’m kind enough to give you both.” She turned toward him to look him up and down, “You’re welcome.”

Marley downed her drink, set the glass back on the bar, and slid off the bar stool to walk away, but Jack lightly grabbed her arm and gently guided her back into the space between his open legs.

Even though he was sitting, and Marley was standing, their height difference still required him to lean down a bit to whisper in her ear, “I know Nas gave you the same directions as me so we can either head to one of those back rooms or you can cause a scene, Marley girl.” Jack released her arm, “Your choice.”

Marley took a step away from him and turned around to glare at him before she motioned towards the bathrooms, “I’ll follow. You don’t get the privilege of watching this ass walk in front of you.”

Jack couldn’t help but chuckle at her statement as he stood and began making his way through the crowd with Marley holding onto the back of his shirt to make sure that they didn’t get separated.

Once they found an unoccupied room, he opened the door to allow her to enter first, but she just stared at him until he entered first. Once Marley entered the room, she shut the door and locked it before she leaned against it.

Jack started to reach out to pull her toward him, but she held up a hand to stop him. He dropped his arms and reached up to scratch the back of his neck.

“You’re seriously bothered by this?” he demanded.

Marley snorted, “What gave you that impression, Jack? My lack of response to you or the fact I didn’t share your album on my socials.”

He crossed his arms as he questioned, “And what about all the other stuff that you know is about you?” He waited for her to answer and when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to he asked, “So, you don’t care that Poison is about you and that I got Wayne on it since he’s your all-time fave rapper? Don’t care I gave a nod to you in Like A Blade of Grass since you always say I remind you of the class clown from your high school ap classes?”

He placed a hand on each side of her head against the door, invading her personal space but not touching her, “Is that the only thing my Marley girl is mad about?” Marley’s eyes fluttered close as he leaned down to huskily murmur in her ear, “Are you also mad that I told the world about the mirrors you had me install in my house so you could watch how well you take me? Are you mad I hinted that you let me tape us?”

Jack caressed her face and she leaned into his touch. He trailed a finger along her jaw until he reached her ear, and he flicked the hoop that adorned it, “Are you mad that I told the world about how I fuck the earrings off of you?” He chuckled at the way Marley’s breath hitched as he moved his body flush against hers and nuzzled her neck, “If all these people listening to the album only knew how many of these damn hoops you’ve made replace.”

“Fuck you,” Marley ground out through gritted teeth, hating the way her body always reacted to Jack’s onslaughts.

She yelped as Jack lightly bit her neck before he admonished, “Fuck me? Seems like instead of worrying about earrings, I need to fuck the brat out of you.”

His rebuke felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured on her and snapped Marley out of her reverie. She pushed him away from her, “I’m not being a brat, Jackman, and you’re not about to fuck your way to forgiveness.” She sighed, “It’s not even really about the song. I mean, I really hate it, but the fact that you intentionally lied to me is fucked up and you know it.”

Jack held up both hands in defense at the use of his full name, “I didn’t lie.”

“A lie by omission, Jackman, is still a lie,” she asserted. “You and I have always been honest with each other about what this is and how we feel. You knew I wouldn’t like it and chose to wait until it was too late for me to give you hell and have you change it.”

“Fine,” he acquiesced, “I shouldn’t have done it. My bad. Can we go back out there now and have a good time?”

“The fact that you think that’s a real apology is wild. But that’s okay. That’s exactly the sort of attitude I’d expect from someone who looks up to Drake.” Marley unlocked the door and swung it open before she turned back to him, “Just remember, you aren’t the only one who writes songs in this equation.”

Before he could respond, Marley stormed off without a single glance back.

[i-am-still-bb]

Day 8 - midnight talks OR love letters

DarkHawk, G Fire Watcher AU - Tumblr / Ao3

--

“Are you awake?” Ross rested the radio on his chest while he waited for a reply that he did not expect to come.

It was after midnight and the sun had set several hours before. Ross had forced himself to stay awake until the forest started to turn blue with shadows. The protective wooden panels were stored in the shed beneath the tower, he’d swept up the evidence of small animal habitats from the corners, and hiked out to find the resupply location and his body was making its complaints known. He was tired in a way that he hadn’t been for a long time. He could recall the numbing exhaustion after spending a day underground, but there must have been other times.

He’d stayed awake until the sun started to set, just barely, by snacking and putting his things away rather than just leaving them in a heap around his pack but once he lay down on the twin sized cot mattress he could not sleep.

He changed positions.

He tried reading a few different books on his e-reader.

The world outside his windows was dark and provided little entertainment.

When Ross was about to give up and put the radio back in its cradle the line crackled to life. “Yeah?” Hawkins’ voice was thick with sleep and Ross thought he could hear the rustle of bedding. “Something wrong?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong,” Ross admitted.

“Don’t tell me that you’re getting lonesome already,” Hawkins’ teased. “You’ve only been there”—now there was a definitely sound of movement—“It’s only been 31 hours. Must be a record—”

“So other than watching for fires what are we supposed to be doing?” Ross interrupted.

A sigh, “During daylight hours? Noting fire conditions, interacting with any visitors in your sector, and all the other stuff they told you at the training session. At night? Sleeping is going to be your main job.” Hawkins’ tone turned sharp at the end.

Ross scowled and thought about not replying, of just putting the radio back into its cradle to charge. He silently vowed to himself that he would only contact the other lookouts for fires or other necessary things.

“But I’m assuming that you can’t sleep,” Hawkins said more gently.

“Correct,” Ross replied shortly.

“It happens to a lot of us. I couldn’t sleep for the first two weeks of my first summer. I chalk it up to our lizard brain.”

“Our lizard brain?” Ross asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. The old part of your brain? The part that makes sure that you survive? The part that gives you goosebumps with something is watching you? The lizard brain. The part of you is used to being surrounded by people, but noise, by safety. And out here… I dunno… It just needs time to get used to the more immediate presence of danger and a lack of quick escape.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“The lizard brain thinks it is.”

“Can you stop saying lizard brain?”

“What do you want me to call it?”

“I don’t know. Something else.”

“Jurassic brain? Reptilian brain? Survival instinct? Little man on your shoulder?” Hawkins rattled off those and a few others.

Ross groaned. “Fine. Keep lizard brain.”

“I wasn’t planning on getting rid of it. But now I’m going to be thinking of alternatives.”

“Please don’t.”

“Too late.”

“So how do other people get the lizard brain to chill out and let them sleep?” Ross asked with an eye roll accompanying “lizard brain.”

“Reading a book—”

“Already tried that.”

“Music?”

“Didn’t bring any.”

“I could sing for you,” Hawkins offered. Ross could hear the mischievous grin through the radio.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please don’t sing.”

“I’ve been told that I have a lovely voice.”

“Did your mother tell you that?”

“As a matter of fact, she did.”

“I hate to break it to you…”

And Hawkins’ laughed. “I’ll tell her you said that. She won’t send any cookies your way in the supply drop. I know you haven’t had them, but those cookies are what make you live out the summer.”

“Uh huh,” Ross replied skeptically.

After a minute of silence.

“So, Poldark, what made you want to be a fire watcher?”

“It’s,” Ross sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Fair enough. What about your childhood, did you do a lot of hiking? Scouts? I don’t imagine that a city-slicker would apply and actually get this gig.”

“Yeah. I did a lot of hill-walking back home. I wasn’t born here—”

“Your accent gave it away, Poldark.”

“Well, yours gives you away.”

“I know.”

“My family did lots of outings…”

Ross kept talking and Hawkins kept asking more questions even though he was sometimes yawning in the middle of them and his words were getting slower. And then, without even noticing, Ross fell asleep with the radio resting on his chest.

[crushzone]

4 am thoughts

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 1

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren't a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner's 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: none

Song → 18 by Anarbor

A/N: if you couldn’t already tell, I have planned this as a series/full story. I was torn between writing it on here or on Wattpad or something, but ultimately decided on Tumblr . . . but let me know if you would prefer it on another platform as well! Also, this series will eventually include smut/NSFW content but that will be tagged appropriately when the time comes. As always, I hope you enjoy. 

Next →Part 2

Slamming the front door behind yourself on your way out that morning, you quickly stuffed your earbuds into your ears and cranked your music as loud as you could to drown out the sounds of your parents yelling after you and, consequently, at one another after you had dropped the bomb about your new job on them seconds before you had left, giving them as little time as possible to shame you for it.

After graduating high school and turning 18, you had decided it was time to take your life into your hands, which wasn’t too easy while you were still living under your parents’ roof, but you had to start somewhere and that somewhere was getting a job at the local corner store, Sakanoshita Market. 

You knew that your parents wanted you to go to university and ‘make something of yourself’, but you also knew that you could never truly be happy under their dictatorship-like ruling, so you decided to get a job, no matter how shitty, save your money, move out as soon as possible, and go from there. 

It was definitely going to be a process, and not an easy one, but all you had to do was take it one step at a time.

Rounding the corner and seeing the market in the distance, you felt your nerves begin to bubble inside of you a little. Sure, you had gotten some part-time jobs here and there during summer vacation before, but you had never gotten a full-time job before and had never needed the money from a job like you did now. Before, the cash you made was for extra spending money during the summer and school year, but now the money you would be making would be funding your future. It seemed like a lot of pressure to put on a job that entailed stocking shelves, checking out customers, and cleaning. 

The lady who had hired you had basically explained that since she was getting older and her son, who had been maintaining the place previously, had gotten a new job, the store needed someone to learn the ropes and take care of the place on a daily basis; and since you were young, a fast learner, and didn’t have anything else in your life besides work, you were a perfect fit. 

As the shop doors slid open smoothly to welcome you into the store you had been inside countless times in the past, you suddenly felt completely out of place in the familiar market. Now that you were an employee instead of a customer, the atmosphere had completely shifted. Instead of heading right for the fridges to grab a drink like you usually did, your eyes shifted immediately to the front counter where a figure with its feet up hid behind an open newspaper.

Just like every other time you had visited while the store owner’s son was working, he did everything humanly possible to avoid interaction. Usually, you would have appreciated not being bothered while trying to scan the shelves, but since this time was different, the lack of acknowledgement was slightly unnerving. 

“Ahem,” you cleared your throat, hoping it was enough to catch his attention. It was not. Instead, he flipped the page of the newspaper and you watched as a hand emerged from behind the paper barrier to flick the ashes from his cigarette into an ashtray sitting beside the register. 

Eyebrows furrowed, you really wished that the shop owner herself had been there to greet you for your first day instead of her seemingly useless son. “Hello.” You stepped up to the counter, the feeling of not belonging sinking deeper into your bones. 

Slowly, the newspaper separating you from the man behind the counter lowered and the shop owner’s son glared back at you, eyes half-lidded as if he were seconds away from falling asleep and the cigarette from before hanging from his bottom lip. This was far from the first time you had interacted with him, but you would be surprised if he remembered you as a customer even a little. Whenever he checked customers out, you could tell he was running on autopilot. 

The man’s eyes drifted down to your hands, which were resting on top of the counter now. Noticing you didn’t have anything to purchase, he cocked a brow. “Need help finding somethin’?” 

“Ugh, no,” you answered. “I’m the new employee. I’m supposed to start today.”

His eyes scanned you once more, this time more thoroughly, and you swallowed hard. Feeling as if you were being observed under a microscope, you slid your hands off of the counter and stuffed them into your pockets self-consciously. 

As he inspected you inch by inch, you took the time to take a closer look at him as well. With dyed blonde hair, two earrings in his left ear, an apparent nicotine addiction, and a noticeably flippant attitude toward his job, he was the definition of the type of man your parents would kill you for bringing home. Somehow, this only made him more intriguing. You wondered if he really was as disinterested in everything as he seemed or if it was just this job he thoroughly hated and became someone a lot more interesting when he wasn’t behind a counter.

“How old are you?” he asked out of the blue, catching you off guard a little. While he waited for you to answer, he set the newspaper to the side, dragged his feet from the counter top, and patted out some of the wrinkles from the white apron he had tied around his bright orange sweatshirt. 

“I’m 18,” you responded, not sure why it mattered but also not seeing any harm in answering honestly. 

Seconds later, the door to the back of the shop and storage room opened and the familiar face of the woman who had hired you stepped into view. “Oh, Y/N!” she greeted happily; much more enthusiastically and welcoming than her son. “Sorry about that, I was just getting some last minute things together.” She eyed her son out of the corner of her eye and noted the fresh embers in the ashtray. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“No, I just got here,” you told her. 

“Good.” She smiled sweetly before turning to her son. “Well, you can head out now, Keishin. Thank you for watching the counter.”

“Yeah,” the man, Keishin, grunted as he untied the apron from around his waist, slipped it over his head, and hung it up on a hook behind the counter. “See ya.”

With that, Keishin left, leaving you and his mother alone. Wasting no time, Mrs. Sakanoshita, whom the store was named after, got right to work on teaching you the basics and gifting you with a white apron of your own to wear while on the job. Since it was the middle of the day and the customer flow was relatively slow, she introduced you to how the register and scanner at the counter worked before moving on to unpacking boxes.

Just like you had promised on your resume and during the interview, you were a quick learner and Mrs. Sakanoshita was more than pleased to see you picking up the job quickly and efficiently. 

By the time the after work/school rush of patrons picking up items on their way home had begun, you were feeling confident in your abilities and, with your boss by your side to answer any questions you may have, you checked out customer after customer, building up muscle memory for scanning items, collecting cash, opening the register, handing out receipts, and sending customers on their merry way. 

All in all, the job was quickly growing on you. You liked the fact that, for the most part, you were the only employee on duty, so when there weren’t any customers in the store, you could work silently on unpacking boxes without having to worry about making small talk or being friendly with any coworkers. In fact, as far as you knew, the only people who worked at the store at all were you, Mrs. Sakanoshita, and her son, Keishin. 

It seemed as though you had really landed a sweet gig. 

After showing you how to lock up, Mrs. Sakanoshita headed home for the night, leaving you to finish stocking the shelves and cleaning the shop before you would head home as well.

Now that you were truly the only person left, you walked over to the old radio you had spotted on the counter during training that day and fiddled with the dials, trying to get some music playing to accompany you during your evening chores. After some careful handiwork and enduring some horrendous static and high-pitched screeching while searching for a station, you settled on what sounded like some old instrumental music and got to work on stocking the remaining shelves.

Throughout your shift, you quickly learned that the store got quite warm during the day and you had needed to tie your hair up to keep the back of your neck from dripping with sweat. The night wasn’t much better either, especially since the lack of customers so late meant that the doors rarely opened, keeping the cold night air outside and the warm store air inside. 

After finishing the last box of supplies, you exhaled and wiped your brow. You were exhausted, that was for sure, but you still had to sweep. 

Deciding to take a quick break, you turned toward the floor-to-ceiling fridges at the back of the shop and pulled open the door, sighing happily when the cool air hit your skin. Exhaling slowly, you snickered when you saw your breath fog up in front of you face. 

“You’re letting all the cold air out.”

You shrieked when you heard a voice in your right ear and slammed the fridge door shut, jumping back in the process. Thanks to the music from the radio and the loud hum of the generator that kept the fridges cold, you hadn’t heard the front doors slide open or the footsteps of Keishin approaching you.

“Jesus!” You clamped your hand over your chest. “You scared the shit out of me!”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Sorry?”

“What are you doing here?”

Keishin glared at you. “You work here one day and suddenly act like you own the place?”

Realizing how rude your question had come across, you composed yourself and rephrased. “What I meant was, your mom didn’t say you were coming back.”

Pointing upward, Keishin sighed, disinterested. “I live in the apartment above the shop.”

“Oh.” Things started making much more sense and you suddenly felt pretty embarrassed for how you had reacted. 

“Yeah . . . oh.” He rolled his eyes, but it didn’t come across necessarily rude but more like he was exhausted and you were adding to said exhaustion. “Why were you standing with the door open anyway?”

As he spoke, he stepped toward you. At first, your feet felt cemented to the floor and you didn’t move. But when he persisted closer, you eventually stumbled back and Keishin opened the fridge door you had been standing in front of to grab a beer from inside. With drink in hand, he eyed you once again, waiting for an answer.

“It’s really hot,” you said, gesturing to his orange sweater. “I don’t know how you wear that thing in here.”

Looking down at his apparel, he just shrugged. “You’ll get used to it.” He turned and started for the counter, presumably to pay for the drink he had just taken. “In the future, stand outside if you’re warm.”

“Okay.” You nodded, mindlessly tailing him. You had to grab the broom from behind the counter anyway, but that was the furthest thing from the front of your mind at that moment. If anything, you were still trying to calm down a little from being startled and now being alone with your boss’s son. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” He popped the tab on the beer, settled into the stool behind the counter, and downed at least half of the drink in a few large gulps. 

You watched him, probably a little too closely, and as you did you found yourself reexamining the features you had taken note of earlier that day: the dyed blonde hair held out of his face with a thin black headband, the natural brown hair that peeked out from the roots, the two small silver hoop earrings in his left ear, the scent of cigarette smoke that clung to him like how the smell of rain clung to the air after a heavy storm. 

Noticing your gaze, which would have been nearly impossible to miss, Keishin quirked a brow at you and held out the can of beer toward you. “You want a sip?”

Startled from your thoughts, you shook your head. “I’m only 18.” You reminded him.

“Oh, right.” He withdrew the can and took another sip, this one much smaller than the first few. “Then why are you looking at me like that?”

Eyes wide, you thought quick to come up with an excuse. “The broom.” You pointed to the item behind him. “Can you pass me the broom?”

After handing you the broom, Keishin pulled a slip of paper and a pen out from his pocket and started writing and scribbling things down, sipping the remainder of his beer occasionally and ignoring you completely. 

Trying to avoid staring at Keishin anymore than you already had, you started sweeping at the far end of the store and left the area around and behind the counter for last. Eventually, though, you had worked your way back over to the the silent man and was forced to clean the floor behind where he was sitting, trying hard not to disturb him.

Out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of what he was so focused on; it looked like a crude drawing of a volleyball court. “What’s that?” you asked, the words leaving your mouth before you realized you were being rude again and snooping.

Keishin, however, didn’t seem angry or annoyed in the slightest. “Volleyball positions,” he huffed. It was clear he was growing frustrated.

“You play volleyball?”

He shook his head and looked over his shoulder at you. “I used to. Now I coach the boy’s team at Karasuno.”

“I went to Karasuno,” you said mindlessly, just trying to make conversation at that point. 

He hummed in response and turned his attention back to the sheet before him. “Did you play volleyball?”

“No. Soccer.”

“Do you still play?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Do you still play volleyball?”

“With a neighbourhood association sometimes . . . but not really.”

“Why?”

The corners of his mouth curling up into a smirk, Keishin looked back to you once more. “I asked you first.”

“It’s not a good answer.” You leaned against the broom handle and sighed. “Don’t have the time.”

“You’re young and just graduated high school. You’ve got nothing but time.”

“Not with this job.”

Keishin scoffed, folded the paper, and shoved it back into his pocket with the pen. “Speaking of which, why would you take such a boring job at a store like this?”

You just shrugged. “I need the money.”

“Don’t you live with your parents?”

“That’s the problem,” you said, noticing the confusion on his face. “I told you it wasn’t a good answer.”

“Do they know you work here?”

“Do they know? Yes,” you answered truthfully. “Do they like it? Absolutely not.”

Keishin grinned at that before finishing his beer and tossing the empty can into the recycling bin beside the front door. “So you’re one of those teens, huh?”

You frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Trust me, kid, pissing off your parents just for the sake of it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“You think I’m doing all this just because I can?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Why then?”

“That story’s too long and convoluted for me to recite right now . . . especially to some old dude I just met today.”

Keishin chuckled under his breath, hands stuffed into his pockets as he headed for the door at the back of the shop so he could head upstairs to his apartment. “’Old dude’,” he repeated, clearly amused. “Don’t forget to lock up before you go home.”

As he turned his back to you, your curiosity got the better of you. “How old are you?”

Stopping in his tracks, Keishin pulled out a carton of cigarettes from his pants’ pocket along with a lighter. After placing the smoke between his lips, he lit it and inhaled deeply. “Too old for you, sweetheart,” he spoke while exhaling, smoke spilling from his lips as he smirked at you. 

With that, he disappeared into the back. You wanted to shout after him that you had told him how old you were without hesitation when he had asked, but you stayed silent instead. 

As much as his presence unnerved you and his superiority complex aggravated you, you still found yourself inexplicably drawn to him. Maybe it was because he seemed completely disinterested in you, or maybe it was because he was everything you were always told to stay away from. 

The one thing you did know, however, was that if everyone around you was going to keep trying to convince you they knew how you should live your life better than you did, you were going to prove to them just how they wrong they were one way or another. 

[arospecsyourblockdudes]

So! Tumblr user @quaranmine I have decided to take you up on your Spotify wrapped challenge but I can’t draw. So it’s a fic! I’m cheating at the challenge but it’s fine. Anyway, my top song was The Haunted Phonograph so, here we go!

—————————————————————————

I curse the day I bought that phonograph for/You, my dear/For there are times I swear that it’s alive

“Hey man, are you ok?” Doc asked softly from the door to Ren’s Odditorium.

The man himself startled, looking up from the piece of moon rock he’d been starting at. “Oh, yeah dude! I’m alright. It’s just kinda cool a whole bit of the moon exploded our chicken coop, y’know?”

Doc hesitated. There was something about the light in Ren’s eyes that he didn’t like. “Are you sure? You’ve been in here a while.”

Ren just laughed it off and nodded. “You’re like my mom, Doc, geez. It’s fine. Promise.”

What else could he do? Doc just nodded and left to work on his own projects. He could only hope that he was being paranoid.

I chase at night the whispering from the music/Room so clear/But I’m mocked with silent scorn when I arrive

There are weird noises that come from the rock.

Doc had been half convinced it was some type of bomb at first, but now that it hadn’t exploded, that idea was gone.

For a few days, he tried to translate it to Morse code, but the sequence went by so quickly and smoothly that he gave up. Whatever the creepy moon rock wanted to say, he didn’t have to do it. He had real things to do.

Ren, however, fell in love with translating it. Or something. He claims there’s a faint whispering coming from it, and he’ll be able to decipher it. Just more time, he needs, and Doc is worried.

Ren has stopped responding as quickly when Doc checks on him. And he’s in the Odditorium more and more frequently. He doesn’t know what to do.

I try to play Caruso but the needle skips the/Grove/While calypso and Ravel keep coming back

“Hey, dude, could you keep the noise down? I can’t really hear.”

Doc obliged, turned the radio volume down. “I didn’t think I had it going that loud. Sorry if it was.”

Ren waved it off, shook his head. “No, no, you were fine. It’s just, I can’t hear what the moon rock is saying when there’s distractions, you know?”

Doc sighed. “Look, I don’t think your fixation on that thing is good for you. Why don’t you just help me go shopping for redstone stuff? Just for today.”

Ren shrugged and agreed, but Doc couldn’t help but notice how tense he was while they were away. The quick glanced he would toss in the direction of home. The way he practically ran to his Odditorium when they got home at sundown.

He tried, at least. He did something.

And there beside that damn machine, you lie/And never move/I’m cuckolded by metal and shellac

It was a couple weeks after this moon craze started that Doc noticed Ren wouldn’t come back for bed. At first he thought the man might just be going to bed late and waking up early, but there’s only so much you can deny it when he never sees the man inside the tiny RV they share.

So he stays up one night, just to see what he does.

And with a distant horror, he sees Ren building something by the Octo-bridge, dodging phantoms. Doc can’t tell what it is, sitting at the campfire, but it’s worrying that Ren has spent his nights doing this. As he watches, Ren seems to grow less and less afraid of the phantoms, just letting them swoop at him.

Doc feels slightly sick.

In the morning, he goes to check on what Ren had made. It was some iron pole, coming up from the ocean floor. It wasn’t taller than the bridge yet, so maybe that’s why Doc didn’t notice it before. Every so often there was a bit of gold or quartz, and it was a bit pretty but….why it was being built, was the question. What’s the purpose? Why is it worth Ren staying up all night, every night, and nearly getting swarmed to death by phantoms?

It has something to do with the moon, though.

It comes to me in dreams and it declares “I’m/Joan of Arc—/You can burn me but I’ve power from above!”

The spire grows. Despite Doc’s efforts to wrangle Ren into a bed and away from the moon, it grows. It branches off at seemingly random points, twisting up to the sky.

Doc’s started to dream of it himself. He stands on the Octo-Bridge staring at the thing, and staring at the moon. In the dream, the moon always says…something, and in the dream he can understand it and he knows to be afraid. But when he wakes up, he can’t remember.

He’s not going to look into it. One of them going moon-crazy is enough.

At one point, Doc gets desperate enough I try and get rid of the moon rock. He isn’t sure how, but he’s trying to leave the Odditorium with it when he’s stopped by Ren at the door. And Ren gets angrier than Doc has seen him get, ever. He tries to push past him, but when Ren tries to bite his arm, he just gives up and puts it back.

But I fear it’s not a dream and you’ll be/Swallowed in its darkness

When Ren builds at night, his eyes go white, Doc notices. And he moves like he’s sleepwalking.

Doc has taken to staying up just to keep an eye on him, make sure he isn’t hurting himself. He has to kill the occasional phantom, which Ren shouts at him for. Sometimes he has to just pick the man up and take him down to their treasure room, away from where the moon could touch him, to get a night of clarity from him. He uses it to get Ren to just sleep for once. He’s upset about it in the morning when he leaves, but it’s worth it.

Doc would keep Ren down there all the time if he could, but it doesn’t always work. And he doesn’t want to imprison the poor man.

One of these days, Doc fears, he won’t be able to get Ren back. He’ll wait too long or the moon’s influence will be stronger and Ren will just be gone.

He’s doing what he can. But with Ren now showing interest in this Mooner thing Mumbo has going on and the growing branches of the spire, he doesn’t know if it’s enough. Mentally, he makes a list of people who might know more than him. Might. He’s guessing.

It’s all he can do at this point.

It will one day speak your words for you, my love

[castiel-left-his-mark-on-me]

Hi, Ary, very inactive ex-mutual(i think???) here. Good to see you thriving! ♥ It's been a while since I've dipped my head into cockles stuff. Could I perchance maybe ask uuuuum tf is going on??? lol I see Mish apparently confirmed he used to stay over at Jensen's in Van, and heard newbs were apparently freaking out about it and getting a bit messy, which I get that, business as usual. But I'm also seeing shit about spin-offs? And Jared getting in a twitter fight with Jensen, causing/resulting in stans to going feral and sending hate?? I know you're not as big a fan of Jar, but that's part of why I figured I'd ask you, you usually have a really level head about this kinda stuff. If you don't wanna answer publically, or at all, that's totally chill!

Hey, Rhi! We're still mutuals! Of course we're still mutuals! When I saw the notification of your ask, I was like "Hey! I haven't seen you in a while!" and my husband was like "???" and I said "Tumblr" and he said "Oh."

It was a wild time haha.

In any case, welcome back to the dumpster fire! We are obviously still a mess. So to catch you up, I guess I will start by summarizing both before and after the finale (not sure where you left off so this might be redundant for you) ... basically, it became obvious as the end of the show neared that Jensen was not on board with the plan for the finale; although Jared never stopped singing its praises.

We got confirmation of this during a zoom interview where Jensen said that he actually went into the writers room as well as called Kripke to basically voice how he didn't agree with the direction the final season was going, but he was shot down on all fronts. In another interview, he was asked "What would you tell your younger self going into this career?" And Jensen responded with: "I would tell myself to just keep your head down and do the work" meaning, "Don't try to change things because you can't." I also think that this whole situation is what he wrote "Let Me Be" about for his first Radio Company album, but that is just my own speculation. All of his reluctance, even though he always followed it up with "But I eventually saw the value in the script" or "I came around in the end" (which never sounded sincere, and I don't think he was really trying to sound sincere) made us all very nervous about what was to come for 15x20; and of course, when the last two episodes aired, we saw just how badly they fucked it up.

After the awful finale, the entire fandom became aware of the CW's heavy handed role in the thing, basically squeezing all the life out of SPN to shape it into a ramp from which Walker could launch itself. They not only erased all the love and joy and representation that Cas's love confession gave us, they also tore apart the things that made sense about the bond between Sam and Dean, making it really just about Sam-- and therefore Jared, which of course, Jared seemed to be fine with ... even though no one else was. Misha barely said anything during the finale, and a few of the other actors talked about the show ending in various posts, but Jared tweeted up a storm ... and Jensen? Jensen just sat in sexy-silent resentment of the whole thing. He didn't tweet, he didn't post, he didn't say a word once he no longer had to, and I think that's because he was already going full-steam-ahead on his plans for redemption.

Which brings us to Chaos Machine-- Jensen and Danneel's new production company that is being run by a queer creative director and has a mantra of inclusivity and representation woven throughout it's fabric; and apparently, the first story that Jensen wanted to tell through this new platform is the origin story of Sam and Dean's parents; so last week (?) he announced the upcoming production of "The Winchesters" -- the untold love story of John and Mary. Obviously, John is not the most likable character from the show, so the idea was met with a lot of resentment when it was first announced, but Jensen has gone on to say that he is excited to take on the task of telling the "true" story behind these characters-- the one that makes sense with the pre-established canon and doesn't reject it. So, given that, the idea is being mulled over with a bit more optimism from the fandom.

Who isn't being optimistic though?

Jared Padalecki.

When Jensen made this announcement on Twitter, many of his friends and coworkers congratulated him, but not Jared. Jared responded with a passive aggressive: "I'm happy for you, man, but I wish I didn't hear about it through Twitter." This of course, sent all the die-hard Jared fans into a tizzy and they immediately began asking him if he was serious (hoping it was just a joke-- we all hoped it was because there would be fallout no matter what one's opinion on Jared is). Instead of leaving it there though or just deleting that tweet, Jared went on to tweet some more, saying that he was being serious that he didn't know about the plans for the prequel, and that he was "gutted" that Sam apparenlty wouldn't be included (mind you, this a prequel to SPN... meaning BEFORE Sam and Dean were even born, so how could Sam be included? But Dean is apparently narrating this story so maybe Jared thought Sam should be helping to narrate it? I don't know). But Jared being Jared couldn't just leave that there, he then went on to tweet at Robbie Thompson who was announced as a writer for "The Winchesters" so then Jared went off on him too, calling him "Brutus" and a "coward" acting like Robbie betrayed him (speculation is-- Robbie refused to write for Walker, so Jared is pissed that he essentially chose Jensen over him). He did fairly quickly, remove that tweet attacking Robbie, but of course the damage was done at that point. And it truly only took his first tweet calling out Jensen for some people to be like "Jared-- that sucks if you didn't know but why are you saying any of this publicly?"

As you might know, Jared has had issues in the past with posting hurtful things on social media, and has even used it as a tool for attack before-- calling out customer service agents and public workers that he felt have wronged him, which is bad enough ... but for him to then do the same thing to his best friend of well over a decade? Many people who had once liked him or at least gave him the benefit of the doubt (I used to ...) stopped after this latest twitter tantrum.

However, some people have suspected for some time that J2 had a falling out either shortly before the finale or just after. Their public/social media interactions have seemed awkward, stilted or even non-existent in moments that they normally wouldn't be. In the past year, when Walker premiered, Jensen didn't say much about his friend's new venture other than a "Congrats. buddy" here and there. Later, we learned that Jensen refused to work on the show ... Jared said he make him do it, drag Jensen to the set "kicking and screaming" which made many fans quirk up an eyebrow because, why would Jensen put up a fight unless the two weren't as close as they used to be? And then Jensen moved his family to Colorado (either permanently or for an extended period at least) which is notable considering how he moved to Texas seemingly to be closer to Jared, even buying a house that was near his. All this was just speculation though; but it wasn't until Jared's tweet complaining about not knowing about the prequel that the theories behind them falling out, became less theory and more fact.

The day after his twitter tantrum, Jared tweeted again-- not retracting his statements or apologizing, but instead saying that he and Jensen "talked" and were "all good". Jensen then tweeted too, parroting this statement to some degree, which only made the whole thing even more sour in the mouths of the fans. The fact that Jared didn't apologize for his outburst and throwing his friend under the bus, and also the fact that Jensen-- Mr. Sexy Silence, Mr. Never Tweets, Mr. Tech-Ignorant-and-Proud, actually had to POST SOMETHING saying that he and Jared made up, it just screamed OPTICS. It was obviously the work of agents and PR firms and lots of people going "Look, if you two keep beefing, that will mean the death of both of your projects. Even more people will stop watching Walker, and this SPN prequel will never get picked up due to the scandal." So, the two "made nice" publicly to quell the chaos, but in my opinion, it's all too little too late. Jared started a storm that he can't contain now with a little tweet, and it seems like he knows that too because before he talked about him and Jensen making up, he asked that people "not send threats". He could have just as easily said that he shouldn't have made this a public issue and that he's sorry, but instead, he continued to play the victim and stoke the flames by alerting us all to the damage he's done.

Now, like I said before-- I used to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think he's an awful human or that he deserves to be attacked or anything, but he is an adult man with very poor judgment and an obvious selfish-streak a mile wide. He should know better, and he should have more respect for his so-called "friends" and "brothers" than to make them targets to public ridicule. I have a hard time believing that Jensen still sees Jared the way he used to, and I wouldn't blame him a bit for wanting to pull away-- especially when he's moving on to so many new and exciting things. Jared certainly deserves happiness just as much as anyone else, but he went on twitter and basically asked for a scandal, and he got one.

The question is now-- was there a motive behind it? Was just looking for a reason to bring his and Jensen's falling out to light-- while making himself looking like the victim in the process? Or did he genuinely not know about the prequel and just decided to go about "not knowing" in the most toxic and hurtful way he could manage?

In any case, that is the drama ... that is the J2 insanity in a rather lengthy nutshell ... that is the tea ... and I hope it all makes sense.

But the good news out of all of this is, Cockles is thriving-- they are happy and in love and Jensen calls Misha "Babe" and Misha misses waking up to see Jensen in the morning, and they are just as cute and wonderful as can be.

So, I will end that there. I am so glad to see you back, and I hope I answered all your questions in a way that made sense ... I tried anyway!

💖💖💖

[bigasswritingmagnet]

Seek a Little Strange and Unusual

Fandom: Psychonauts Pairing: None Characters: Caligosto Loboto, Chloe Barge Summary: One day at the grocery store, Loboto overhears two parents discussing their...problem child. It's a very familiar sounding conversation. He may not understand why, but he won't let history repeat itself. Chloe isn't particularly fond of her human caretakers. The dentist who smuggled her out of the store is strange...but so is she. And he, at least, understands the importance of space helmets on alien planets.

[don’t make tumblr funnyposts about headcanons guys because you WILL become attached to them]

Cucumbers, lighter fluid, toothpaste, apple sauce, quick rise yeast, mineral oil...

Almost everything! All that was left was condiments. Except...had he written ketchup, or catsup? Did it matter? Of course it mattered, they were totally different things! Weren't they? Well, they had different names.

Lobot stared between the bottle of catsup and the scribbled list, trying to read his own handwriting.

"No, no! Put it down--Chloe put that down right now." 

Ooooh, drama! He loved drama. Loboto poked his head around the corner of the aisle in time to see a small child standing on their tiptoes, arms outstretched to the cereal boxes on the upper shelf. A brightly colored box of sugar pretending to be a nutritious breakfast was wrapped in a purple glow and descending, slowly. 

A woman materialized next to the girl. Her face was tight with anger and she snatched the box out of the air. Shoving it back on the shelf she hissed "What did I tell you? How many times do I have to say it, Chloe! Don't do that! Especially not in public! And I told you take that stupid helmet off when we're in the store!"

The child's response was unintelligible, muffled by the space helmet they were indeed wearing. He wondered what the big deal was. It wasn't the 1940's; nobody cared if you wore a hat in public anymore. Just look at him! He was wearing his showercap and no one had said a word! They just left the aisle as soon as they saw him.

“Take it off, now!” 

A man appeared and grabbed the woman's arm.

"Keep your voice down, people are going to come see what the fuss is."

The woman rounded on him, her expression one of frantic desperation. 

"I can't do this anymore."

I just don’t care anymore.

"I can't deal with this, the helmet and the moving things around--!"

He’s a monster!

"I know, I know--"

Soon we’ll be free of this devil child.

"I don’t know how much longer I can put up with this! If I have to deal with one more dismantled radio, one more time trying to get her to take it off for company, one more bent spoon--"

Every! Spoon! Bent!

"I've been asking around, and Johnson knows someone who can do a procedure that’ll fix her--"

They all agree on the diagnosis and what must be done.

He felt strange. Cold and hot and angry and...sad. The child didn't seem to notice the conversation. She was trying to float the cereal box back down again. She probably didn't understand what it all meant. She was young. Very young.

Younger than he had been.

He hadn't understood either, until it was too late.

The humans were arguing again. They were always arguing these days. Arguing about such petty problems, when they could be focusing on the whole galaxy around them. She ignored them. It wasn't like they listened to her anyway. How many times had she explained to the woman why she needed to wear the helmet whenever she left the hermetic seal of her room? It never mattered. 

The box of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs landed gently in her hands. Excellent. She would slide it into the cart under the frozen peas. By the time they got to the cash register, the woman would be bound by social convention to make the purchase, or risk making a scene in front of the cashier.

Chloe still hadn't figured out what making a scene meant. The term was definitely in regards to public behavior, but was applied to anything from yelling in public to silent refusal to remove her helmet. Human rules were so strange and arbitrary.

The boxes in front of her rustled. Chloe tilted her head to one side. Odd. Sometimes things around her moved on their own, but usually she got that strange tingle in the back of her head when they did. She wasn't feeling it now.

The boxes of cereal parted, excess tumbling off the ends of the shelves. Two small lights gleamed in the newly made gap. One red, one green.

A metal claw shot out, grabbed Chloe by the shirt, and hauled her through.

She had half been expecting to be pulled into another dimension, but instead she was just in the next aisle. There was no time to feel disappointed before she was dumped unceremoniously in a grocery cart. Someone loomed over her, but Chloe only got the impression of blue skin and flowers before the stranger scooped up half a shelf's worth of bags of macaroni and dumped them on top of her.

It didn't hurt. She could breathe fine with her helmet protecting her face--see, she wanted to say, I told you I needed it--but she couldn't move very much. The cart rattled and bumped, one wheel squeaking obnoxiously. They paused briefly, and Chloe considered shouting for help, but didn't. She wanted to see where this was going.

So she stayed quiet and still, holding the box of cereal to her chest as a cheerful voice cried "No need to do your beeping scans! I know what I bought! Keep the change!"

Then they were off again. The sounds around her changed as they left the store and rattle bumped their way through the parking lot. She heard a trunk open up, and decided now was a good time to figure out what was going on. She had no interest in riding with the groceries.

Chloe made the purple glow around her hands and pushed until the groceries around her lifted enough for her to move. She popped out from beneath the macaroni like a beach ball being released underwater.

The stranger was. Strange. Very tall. The lights Chloe had seen were his eyes--or rather, small tubes where his eyes should be. They twitched and turned independently of each other. He was smiling at her, and his smile seemed to stretch much, much further than most human smiles.

He was wearing a labcoat and a shower cap.

"Hello!" he said. "I'm going to kidnap you and raise you as my own so your parents can't stick an icepick in your brain to take away your psychic powers!" He tapped his chin, brow furrowing. One of his arms was made of metal, and ended in three claws. "Although I already did that first part, so...I have kidnapped you and am going to raise you as my own so that your parents can't stick an icepick in your brain to take away your psychic powers!"

Chloe considered this with some alarm. She didn't know what an icepick was, but she was sure she didn't want anything stuck in her brain. Psychic powers? Ah. That would explain the purple glow. Her caretakers had been very frustrated by it. But could she believe that they would stick things in her brain just so they could be less frustrated?

Yes. She could believe.

Her chest hurt. The macaroni was heavier than she first thought.

"Will you let me wear my helmet?" she asked.

"Of course!" He patted his showercap. "Headwear is a very important personal choice!

Chloe thought some more.

"This is acceptable," she said, and lifted her arms. The stranger stared at her. Neither of them moved for several seconds.

"What are you doing."

"You need to lift me up."

The stranger stuck his hands under her armpits and did so, holding his arms fully extended out in front of him. She dangled in the air, up, up, so high up, higher than she'd ever managed on a swing, and without the heavy weight of rope and swing seat to remind her she was pinned to this mudball planet. She felt weightless, floating, a dizzyingly wonderful feeling.

They stayed like that for several moments.

"Is this what parenting is?" the stranger asked. "It's a lot easier than they made it sound."

Chloe was so high up, her vision extended over the sea of cars, and she spotted her caretakers--former caretakers--rushing out of the grocery store, looking around wildly.

"Put me down," she said. She would have liked to stay up there for longer. For hours. Maybe she could get him to do it again later. The man used to do it all the time, before the arguing started. The stranger set her feet on the pavement, and began to toss the cart's contents into the trunk without any care for fragility. He did not seem particularly rushed or concerned, for all that he said he was kidnapping her. And wasn't kidnapping illegal?

The car was nothing like the sleek blue sedan her parents drove. The man washed it obsessively, and acted as if you had removed an organ if you so much as borrowed a single sparkplug, even if the project was important.

Not only did this car look as if it hadn't been washed, ever, it also looked like it might dissolve if you tried. It was mostly rust held together by duct tape. The car was decorated in strange patterns picked out by objects hot glued to the sides: rubber ducks, dice, plastic flowers, and many, many teeth. From the looks of it, mostly Odocoileus virginianus and Procyon lotor, although she had to wonder about some of the molars.  

"Chloe!" someone shouted. "Chloe, where are you!"

Chloe opened the door of the car and climbed inside. There was a moldy grey blanket on the car seat. She unfolded it and draped it over herself. It smelled like seaweed and toothpaste. She tried to look as much like a non-child lump as she could.

The trunk closed. Through the thin blanket she saw the shadow of the stranger--her new caretaker--lean over her. He wound all three seatbelts across her, pinning her to the seat.

"Safety first!" he said.

The car's engine whined and groaned and the calls got closer. They wouldn't be able to see her under the blanket. She was hidden. It was safe.

All the same, she felt a rush of relief when the engine finally growled to life. The car shot backwards and then came to an abrupt halt with a crash and the tinkle of glass. The seatbelts held her so fast Chloe didn't even move.

"Whoopsie!" the man said. The car lurched forwards and came to another abrupt halt with another crash. "Sorry!" Forward. Smash. "Oopsie daisy!" Back. Crash. "Almost got it!"

This time when the car sped forward, it did not stop, although Chloe did hear a scream and a bump as they turned a sharp corner.

"There we go!"

Chloe waited a few more minutes before working her arms free and pulling the blanket down from over her helmet. The car was zipping down the road, swerving violently between the other cars. In the space of three minutes they shot through two red lights. Her new caretaker was humming an offkey ditty to himself, as if he was taking a casual stroll through the park.

"Who are you?" Chloe asked.

"I am Dr Calligosto Loboto! The greatest dentist in the world!" He threw out an arm dramatically and his claws punctured the roof of the car. She could see many similar holes clustered in the same area.

"My name is Chloe. I hail from the planet Cygnus A."

"Ooooh, you're an alien! That explains the helmet! You better keep that thing on, I don't want you suffocating in our atmosphere!"

Chloe couldn't name the feeling in her chest, except that it was a good one.

"That's what I kept telling them! Just because I can breathe your air doesn't mean it doesn't have a detrimental effect on my lungs!"

"Of course!" the doctor said, genuinely annoyed. "That's Alien 101! Boy, your parents are weird."

"They aren't my parents," Chloe said, firmly. "They're my human caretakers. They were looking after me while I'm on the planet. Someday my real parents will return for me, and take me back to the home planet."

"Makes sense to me! I wonder if that makes this less of a felony."

[mothamcity]

Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp Tag!!!

I think I've been tagged a few times but I genuinely can't tell, so here you go anyway lol.

original tag list by @lowonmelatonin

Favourite counsellor and least favourite counsellor. Why?:

Favourite counsellor: yeah, nobody is gonna be surprised by this, but it's Dylan lol. I relate to him a lot in some ways and I also just really like writing him. I think he's a great, complex character, and I also get gender envy from him lol.

Least favourite counsellor: this is really tricky bc i do love all of them, but I'm gonna go with Nick. Now, I love Nick, but I think I love fanon Nick more than canon Nick. We just didn't see much of him and I mean, what we did see from him was him catapulting Abi into the lockers at the speed of light and then turning into a hairless dog man. So, not my typical favourite, you know?

Favourite chapter and least favourite chapter. Why?:

Favourite chapter: chapter five, baby! I love love love the scene with dylan and ryan walking to the radio hut, and my favourite bit of unused dialogue is where dylan talks about quantum physics. I also love chapter nine, because the entirety of the fucking scrapyard scene lives in my head rent free.

Least favourite chapter: gotta go chapter seven on this one tbh. I love chapter seven still but it's just so much exposition and so little actual directed gameplay. Theres not that much you can do to impact the way the game plays out later, except in like 2 specific scenes.

Favourite ship (you can pick a maximum of 3)?:

Dylan/Ryan and Laura/Max.

Biggest counsellor crush:

Oh definitely Max. I think my fascination with Dylan comes mostly from me projecting onto him and like wanting to be like him, but i would want to be with Max. He's such a sweet guy and he's funny and seems pretty emotionally available. Also, I think my brain would melt out of my ears if I had a s/o who called me 'hun'.

How would you survive The Quarry?:

I just wouldn't. Lol I could sit here and try to convince you all that I'm super clever and fast on my feet, but I also have been known to be fucked over by the Universe. Genuinely, bad stuff happens to me constantly but it's at such perfect timing from an outsider perspective. I'd be a comedic timing kill. Like, everything would seem fine and I'd be like "oh boy, looks like we're safe! What a relief!" And then immediately get my ass killed by a werewolf. My fight or flight response always lands on freeze. The only thing I have going for me is that when I get spooked, I freeze up and go completely silent.

Favourite The Quarry fanfic writer and fanartist:

Fanfic writers: theres SO many. @five-rat-lore @drylan @caesurah-tblr @mythicalheartbeat @appleflax @lowonmelatonin @iamsuperbi and def many more but I'm blanking.

Fanart: oh definitely @iamsuperbi @divomria and @denkicide

Shoutout some friends you have made being involved in the fandom!

So, I've only just crawled back to Tumblr recently because of my love for the quarry, so i haven't had an opportunity to really interact with people outside of the comment sections of fics on ao3. I will list off some people who I feel fond of when I see their name on my tumblr feed or on ao3, though! @five-rat-lore @appleflax @iamsuperbi @lowonmelatonin @dylan-lenivy-appreciation-day . Pretty much anyone I mentioned already lol (My apologies for the double tag).

[wannabegwenstacy]

Eden's Favorite Fic's (BTS Fic Recs)

Updated Version: Here!

Note: In the past I haven't indulged in tumblr fics often but I recently (past 3 months) have been reading quite regularly & am planning on branching out a bit. To keep track of the ones that I have enjoyed & the ones that I have even came back to I'm making this list. Again, I haven't been digging into the tumblr fics world for long so for right now its a very short list. I'm hoping with time I can get more fics of different types on here (btsxbts, some gender neutral xreader ones, & more ones that I genuinely like)

About me to understand what's going to be on here:

Age: 21 (99' liner)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Pronouns: She/Her

Ult Bias: Yoongi

Trio: Rap Line

I am OT7. I do enjoy smut but don't think it is necessary to FF. Overall I just want a well-crafted plot that makes sense. I read for entertainment & to escape. But I still need some form of realism (just me personally) to follow the trail of events. PSA: I'm trying to find a broader scope of writers I like but for right now I don't have many. There are gonna be some repetitive writers for now.

______________________________________________________________

Kim Namjoon:

- Librarian Namjoon Universe by @jungshookz

Beauty & the Bookworm (I love this concept SO MUCH)

Pairing: Cute, Good Boy, Nerdy, University Librarian Namjoon x Bratty, Semi-Popular, Procrastinator, University Student Reader

Word count: 20.8k

Summary: You're a procrastinator big time and you may or may not be failing. To get some extra credit you begrudgingly take the library assistant opening where you work under strict dorky Namjoon. Passive aggressiveness, cuteness, fluff, & some smuttiness arises.

Jealous-Boyfriend-Librarian Namjoon (Drabble)

Pairing: Jealous Boyfriend Librarian Namjoon x Oblivious Cute Girlfriend Uni Student Reader

Word count: 3.4k

Summary: You take an Art History Course and end up needing a tutor. Joon offers to tutor you but he doesn't know shit about Art History so you end up getting tutored by an ArtHoe Taehyung that may or may not like you but you are oblivious to this and Joon gets super jealous.

Kim Seokjin:

- Hockey Player Jin by @ve1vetyoongi

HEART OF GOLD (BLADES OF ICE)

Pairing: Sweet Hot New Hockey Player in Town Jin x Ex-Figure Skater (who has a history with jin) Reader

Word count: 20k

Summary: After a fall during figure skating practice dashes your dreams of competing at nationals, you vow to hang up your skates for good. That is until you cross paths with Kim Seokjin, captain of the ice hockey team, who is determined to get you back out on the rink and melt the ice in your heart. (Jimin is a bully in this and their other k-pop idols as characters. Very Very Fluffy and Hallmark Christmas Movie-ish so be aware of that. Overall, it's just cute :) )

Min Yoongi:

Note: these are all but one by the same writer @jungshookz & are written from the pov of a female reader. I'm gonna try to find some gender-neutral fics but for now, if you are female-identifying I really enjoyed these! :)

- Mechanic Yoongi Universe by @jungshookz

Baby, You Can Drive My Car (My favorite AU Fics I've read so far on Tumblr!!)

Pairing: Tatted, Mic Drop Era, Mechanic Min Yoongi x Spoiled Rich, Inexperienced, University Student Reader

Word count: 24.6k

Summary: Welcome to Min Mechanics - What can I do for you today, doll?

Maybe She Can Drive His Car

Pairing: Oblivious, Hot, Boyfriend, Mechanic Min Yoongi x Adorable, Spoiled, University Student, Jealous Girlfriend Reader

Word count: 11.6k

Summary: Yoongi's ex is back in town for a visit and you would be lying if you said you weren't slightly envious of a) how knowledgeable she is about stupid cars and b) how well she gets along with literally everyone.

- Uni Yoongi x Nerdy Reader (mini series) by @jungshookz

Note: these are all drabbles I'm gonna link my favorites in the series. I'll probably add more later.

Cocky Uni Student Yoongi x Nerdy Reader:

^^This is the start of the mini-series, recommend you read it first!^^

The One with the Scrunchie:

Contains: smut, a super cute scrunchie turning into a kink of sorts, slightly insecure Yoongi, experienced Yoongi, slightly inexperienced reader, shy about their own body reader.

Yoongi always had an Overactive Imagination:

Contains: talking about sex, implied smut, reader trying to be productive while also being horny, Yoongi being super distracted and horny.

"I'm gonna need you to shut up now please"

- CEO Yoongi Universe by @jungshookz

Suit&Tie (First Fic in the series)

Pairing: CEO Min Yoongi x Secretary Reader

Wordcount: 21k+

Summary: Young Intimidating Hot CEO Yoongi, Clumsy Secretary Y/N who loves Sugar, Best Friend Jimin. Funny Awkward Meeting that sets up the whole plot, was like reading a Kdrama in book form.

The One Where Augst D makes a Comeback (Favorite Fic in the series)

SPOILERS READ PRIOR DRABBLES TO CATCH UP!! (I recommend The First Date, The One Where Yoongi is Just a Little Jealous, The Proposal, The Wedding, Baby Makes Three, Baby Min's Timeline, The Birth of Baby Min, Daddy's Little Girl, Who the Hell is Augst D.

Pairing: CEO Min Yoongi x Secretary Reader

Word count: 6.5k

Summary: Yoongi finds out you faked an orgasm and he's going to gi-give it to you more ways than one.

- Demon Yoongi by @jungshookz

Hellish (I got some feelings for incubus Yoongi not gonna lie)

Pairing: Bratty, Super Sexy, Sex Demon, Mint Min Yoongi x University Student, Non-Supernatural Believer Reader

Word count: 22.1k

Summary: Jungkook is your clueless, energetic best friend. Wonho is a character in this fic, You are dragged into summoning a demon one night by your overly excited to be summoning a demon? best friend Jungkook. Spooky but Kind of Sexy Shit Happens! (This is probably my second favorite Yoongi Fic I've read!)

- Basketball Captain Yoongi by @jungshookz

Basketball Captain Yoongi

Pairing: Cocky, Popular, Charming Captain of the Basketball Team Min Yoongi x Water girl University Student Reader (who has been crushing on Yoongi hard for some time)

Word count: 18.4k

Summary: Jungkook is your athletic bro of a best friend that signs you up to be his replacement as the water boy (girl in this case) after he makes the team. You have had a pathetic schoolgirl crush on Yoongi for a while and is basically the only reason you agreed to be the water girl aside from spending time with Jungkook. It's fluffy & smutty!

- Android Yoongi @jungshookz

Technologically in love (..I cried! but I also smiled a lot so you know this is well written)

Pairing: Personal Assistant Prototype but SUPER Lifelike Android Min Yoongi x Messy, Junkfood, & Cartoons Loving Reader (basically your early 20s living alone kind of vibe)

Word count: 24k+

Summary: You live in a Detroit Becoming Human type universe but prior to a lot of the advancements. Androids are already a thing but not to the level the M1N Y00NG1 is yet. You are best friends with all the boys and they happen to be engineers which is how you ended up with Yoongi in the first place. Namjoon created Yoongi as a personal assistant prototype android & you are told to live with him. Things get fluffy, SUPER ANGSTY, and super smutty!

- Listen Closely by @avveh

Listen Closely ( sexiest Yoongi fic I have read so far, I kept wanting to go back and read again)

Pairing: Tsundere Office Worker Min Yoongi x Hardworking Office Worker Reader

Word count: 12.2k

Summary: Unintentionally, you stumble upon something that makes you view your coworker Min Yoongi in a whole new light. (SMUT 18+: Masturbation, voyeurism, exhibitionism, breathplay, spanking, degrading names.)

Jung Hoseok:

- Secret Boyfriend Hoseok by @kpopfanfictrash

Keeping a Secret (this took me places...Idk about you but I have trouble finding really good Hoseok fics and this one was perfect. One of my favorite fics on this website)

Pairing: New Relationship Dom Hoseok x New Relationship Tease Reader

Word count: 3.7k

Summary: You and Hoseok have been hooking up for a few weeks now. No one in your friend group knows. What happens then, when he shows up at movie night looking better than anticipated? SMUT!

- Studio Sex Hoseok by @joonbird

Studio:

Pairing: Boyfriend BTS Hoseok x Girlfriend Reader

Word Count: 5k

Summary: Hoseok is stressed about his upcoming mixtape, so you decide to swing by his studio and help him relax. (Hobi being the beautiful glorious sexy man he is and putting those ungodly hips to use!)

Park Jimin:

- Jimin and His Pregnancy Kink by @boymeetsweevil

ME, YOU, AND THIS THING WE HAVE BETWEEN US (NSFW)

Pairing: Sweet Caring Domestic but Horny Jimin x Pregnant Hormonal Reader

Word count:~3.7k

Warnings (aka what to prepare for): everything is graphic and gross lmao, blowjobs (face f*cking), boob job (not the one w/ silicon inserts), cunnilingus, dom!jimin if u squint, cumplay if u squint again, dirty talk/degrading language, penetrative sex (doggy style), unprotected sex, PREGNANCY KINK that’s a big one

Summary: You’re pregnant and Jimin is…happy about it (If I remember correctly this one is 25% cute domestic Jimin trying to calm his hormonal pregnant partner and 75% pure filth aka Jimin having a pregnancy kink and trying to hide it but not well at all. This is however my ultimate fav Jimin smut I have ever read!)

- Crush/Neighbor Jimin by @sketchguk

Lover to Lean On: (I absolutely adore this fic. Overall it's just really well written and I felt like I was watching a show in my head rather than reading a short Tumblr fic. Highly recommend it!)

Pairing: Cute Customer & Neighbor Jimin x Florist Reader

Word Count: 19.9k

Summary: For months, you can hear your no-face neighbor and his ‘girlfriend’ singing and dancing and laughing and falling in love. Above all, you can hear their bed banging against your shared wall, and they won’t ever let you sleep. You’d much rather stay up at night worrying about your own problems, like the weight of an unrequited crush, so of course, you’re bitterly single. But one day, the apartment is radio silent. And one day slowly turns into one week and then into an immeasurable amount of time since you’ve heard his laugh. So on Valentine’s Day, when you’re missing it the most, you beg your neighbor to open up to you with cookies in one hand and two broken hearts in the other.

Kim Taehyung:

-Roommate Taehyung Universe by @jungshookz

Stuck with You

Pairing: Frat Bro bit of an asshole Roommate Kim Taehyung x Clean Organized bit of a Pushover Reader

Word count: 37k

Summary: Kim Taehyung becoming your new roommate is definitely up there on the list of the worst things to ever happen to you. Librarian Namjoon is your Best friend and ex-roommate. Frat bro Jeon Jungkook makes an appearance. There is so smut and implied smut.

The One with the One Year Anniversary (Drabble)

Pairing: The cutest domestic boyfriend Kim Taehyung x girlfriend reader

Word count: 4.6k

Summary: NO SPOILERS! so I'm going to give you a quote: "well, um, look! I made breakfast for you. f-for us!" Also, SFW

Jeon Jungkook:

- Gamer Jungkook by @softyoongiionly

PRESS START (this is the cutest fucking smut type fic I have ever read! it is so pure and is the exact type of relationship I want! IT MADE ME SIMP SO HARD!) gender-neutral I believe!

Pairing: Night owl Gamer Domestic Boyfriend Jeon Jungkook x Witty Domestic Cutesy Relationship Reader

Word count: 5.5k

Summary: A night in with your boyfriend Jungkook includes all kinds of things: anime, witty banter, snacks from 7-Eleven and, you know, sex. (GREAT READ!! I AM A SIMP FOR THIS FIC!!)

[her-world-on-fire]

"I promise I won’t let you fall.” {Jason Todd x Reader}

MASTERLIST

REQUEST HERE

Word Count: 3, 304

Hi! I just read "it was all yellow" and just got me hooked to ur tumblr! I'm not sure if the requests are open but if their are could u pls do an angst with fluff ending ab Jason × Reader ft. Drivers license? Thanks for the attention ♡♡

Prompts: 20. “i promise i won’t let you fall.” 101. “leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” 118. “you’re the only person i want to wake up to every morning.”

“JASON DON’T,” I stepped forward and he moved to pick up his bag. The tears that had welled in my eyes now began to fall. He had his back toward me. But the crack in his voice told me everything I needed to know. “I’m fine!” He stopped and turned back to me. “You had 3 broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a concussion.”

“It wasn’t you fault.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“The heat signatures showed that most of the guards are on the 4th floor.” Dick’s voice sounded in my ear. “You need to get in through the south entrance on my signal. The shipment arrives in 30 minutes.” I looked at Jason, he was beginning to get impatient. He hated sitting around, and he was not one to follow direct orders. He paced back and forth on the rooftop. “We can just take them all on.”

“Let’s just wait for the signal. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“They’re just low level fucking criminals.”

Another few minutes passed. “Fuck it.” Jason leaped from the roof and onto the next building. “Jason!” He ignored Dick’s voice and broke one of the windows. I followed after him. The sound of gunshots immediately alerted everyone inside the building. Glass from the windows crunched under my boots, and the air was heavy with gunpowder. The sound of a loud crack echoed in the warehouse. I followed the trail of bodies. There were six men on the floor, each clinging to life. I could tell by the way their limps were sprawled, they were in a world of pain. I ran down the hallway and the gunshots resumed.

I reached for the first hired gun I saw and went after him. His gun was pointed directly at Jason. I reached up and knocked it out of his hands. He was caught of guard, I slammed my hand against his throat. He choked and I brought his leg down out from under him. He fell with a loud thump and I slammed my fist into his face enuring he would be asleep.

Now a few of the men turned towards me. I took my staff and two men charged towards me. I rushed forward and hit one on the side of his head, he tumbled and I kicked him in his shin. He cried out in pain and fell to the floor. The other lunged for me and I moved out of the way before he could grab me. I looked over at Jason for a second, he was getting overwhelmed. Quickly I took the mans arm and slammed it against my knee earning a loud pop. I lunged to Jason. One of the men had managed to get his arms around him. Another was beating him. I took my staff and slammed it on his arm. In that moment Jason slammed his head back against the man who had been holding him. Then he kicked him as he fell. The man turned towards me angrily as the blood trickled down his arm. He pulled out his gun, I moved under him and slammed his hand into the wall. The gun fell and I kicked it away. His other hand reached form my hair. I kicked him in the crotch and he groaned.

I slammed my fists against his face. I looked around the room, Jason was gone. I ran out of the room and up the stairs. We were on the 4th floor now. “There’s a truck coming in.”  I reached Jason and helped him clear the room. “There was C-4 in that truck get out now!”

It all happened in a split second. There was a faint beeping noise. I quickly turned to my left. C-4 was placed on the north wall. Jason was standing right by it. He was too distracted to notice. “Look out!” I ran to him as fast as I could and grabbed his collar. I tossed him outside of the room and took the C-4 and threw it to my right.

The walls began to crumble I tried moving out of the way. I had moved out of the room but the floor was falling underneath me. Jason reached out for me but he was half a second too slow. The last thing I remember was the feeling of falling. Jason’s blood curdling scream filled the room.

I was lucky it wasn’t a lot worse. I didn’t blame him. It had been 3 months and he still couldn’t look at me.“I should’ve waited. I should’ve been paying attention. It should have been me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true! You could’ve died and that would have been on me.” His voice broke. His guilt was eating him alive. If he had just listened, then this would’ve never happened. Dick didn’t let him hear the end of it.

“Let’s just talk about this. Don’t go.” I moved towards him and he stepped back. “I can’t.” The room fell silent. We both looked at each other. My throat was hoarse, I had been trying to get him to stay as soon as he started packing. He didn’t have anything left to say. “I’m sorry.” I rushed forward and embraced him. As gently as he could he put his arms around me. It had been 3 months since he touched me. He was worried he would break me. But I knew this was he way of saying goodbye. “Please.” He pulled back and wiped the tears from my face. His own eyes were bloodshot. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead.

He pulled away and took his bag and his helmet. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door. He paused before walking out and closing it behind him.

--------------------------------

Jason practically fell of the grid. No one knew where he went. He was smart, he covered his track electronically. He had slowly been withdrawing his inheritance. Transferring what he could into burner accounts. It was meticulously planned. Another month went by and I went back to train.

It was hard being around the team. For a long time they treated me as if I were glass. I was going to break at a moments notice. I could see the pity in their eyes. I turned to training as an outlet. I focused all of my time and energy into. I didn’t want to be left alone with my thoughts. The memories of Jason and the accident flooded my head. I kept as busy as possible.

Dick had informed he knew where he was. He had found that the crime on the south side had dropped by 5 percent. In his first week down there he acted like himself. He never crossed the line but the scenes were far from innocent. He was acting on his emotions and releasing his anger. But after just a week, he was controlled. The scenes were getting harder to identify. He started to blend in.

Jason’s anger was something like I had never seen before. It was destructive and explosive. He was getting better, but after the accident something changed. He was regressing. Whatever had been holding him together had snapped.

As much as I wanted to, I wasn’t going to go after him. He needed space. As I got inside my car I turned on the radio. I didn’t want to go back to the apartment. It was hard being in that space. I was so used to sharing the space with him. I drove, not looking for anything specific.

And I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

I sighed, being back at the manor had brought back a lot of feelings. Memories of training. Sneaking around the manor. From the moment we met we were inseparable. At first I was annoyed by his cockiness. But once I took him down during training, he turned it down. Overall he was impressed. That later turned into infatuation. We did everything together.

As I drove through the city all I could think of is all the places we went together. None of them would ever feel the same without him.

And all my friends are tired Of hearing how much I miss you, but I kinda feel sorry for them 'Cause they'll never know you the way that I do, yeah Today I drove through the suburbs And pictured I was driving home to you

I wanted more than anything for it all to be a dream. I wanted to wake up and have everything back to the way it was before. I wouldn’t have let him go inside the building. I would give anything to go back and change it all. I would really be there for Jason.

But I've never felt this way for no one, oh And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay, now that I'm gone I guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

And I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

I found myself driving to our usual place. We stumbled inside after patrol, and talked for hours. I looked inside and pictured us sitting there. We were laughing so loud we were drawing attention to ourselves. If anyone ever had a problem with it Jason would laugh even louder. 

If Jason hadn’t left large tips then I’m sure we would have been kicked out. But in his eyes they deserved it. They were hard workers and they were good people. He tried to give back as much as he could because he couldn’t growing up on the streets. He used to go into the back and try and save food from the garbage.He thought about the nice owners who would let him take a few things. Some even offered him some work. He remembered all those faces, and he gave back. That’s the kind of person he was.

Red lights, stop signs I still see your face in the white cars, front yards Can't drive past the places we used to go to 'Cause I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Sidewalks we crossed I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing Over all the noise God, I'm so blue, know we're through But I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)

It pained me that it was over but he needed this. He was so angry once he came back. Angry at the joker from taking him from Bruce. Angry at Bruce for letting him get away with it. Angry at the world for letting it happen. For as long as he could remember he needed to fight to survive. It was a long road to even get to where he was now. But he knew that he still had a long way to go. And he couldn’t let anyone else get hurt while he figured it out. He had to start piecing himself back together for his sake, and for everyone around him.

I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay, now that I'm gone 'Cause you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

We had problems. We were far from perfect, but I don’t want anything else. I spent the rest of the car ride in silence. I decided to get back to the apartment. I couldn’t hide forever. I needed to start living again. It’s what he wanted.

--------------------------------

I turned the key and the door clicked in response. I heard shuffling on the other side. Immediately I reached for my staff. I opened the door, the lights were still off. I moved quietly, as I tried to search for the source. Quietly I closed the door, and moved through the apartment. I noticed a card on the coffee table. I heard a creek. I turned down the hall. I waited for a moment and I heard the footsteps approaching me. Right when they were about to round the corner, I pushed them against the wall. Holding them in place with my staff.

I looked up and dropped the staff. “Jason?” He looked shocked, more so than I was. “I had to see you.” I bit my lip. I was feeling overwhelmed. He was the last person I expected. I worked hard to put myself back together and now I was going to have to do it all over again.

“Are you coming back?”

I was getting mixed signals. The card on the table gave me the impression he was leaving again. It was like he intended to just drop it off and leave. But he stayed until I got back. He was tense. His arms were crossed over his chest, overall he looked very closed off. He wasn't giving me an answer.

I broke the silence.

"I can't do that again. You can't leave and come back, and except me to be okay.” I swallowed, trying to keep my tears from spilling. “I begged you to stay and you just left. I haven't heard from you and now you're back and I don't know how much more I can hang on." Once again the tears welled up in my eyes. I was reliving the moment he decided to leave all over again. Deep down I know why he left. He needed to learn to forgive himself. He needed time to work on himself. But it was hard knowing that he could leave at a moments notice. Even though it hurt him he still did it.

"I'm sorry. I had to go, I couldn't look at you without blaming myself. It was selfish of me to leave but I understand that now." He moved forward and took a deep breath. "I promise I won't let you fall."

And he meant it.

His own eyes were cloudy with tears. " I tried to convince myself that you were better off without me. But I can't do this without you. That month I spent alone made me realize how empty I was without you. You're the only person I want to wake up to every morning."

"But if you decide that you don't want me-" I didn't let him finish before I pressed my lips against his. He responded immediately. We pulled away and he ran his thumb across my cheek. I wrapped my arms around him. I could feel him loosen up. He had been so tense, it felt as if he could finally breathe again.

"Come on, I have something to show you." He pulled away and stretched out his hand. I took it and he opened the door and led me out. We walked to his bike and he handed me my helmet. He got on his bike and started the engine. I got on and wrapped my arms around him "Ready?"

I nodded and he took off. The sun was just beginning to set. Although Gotham wasn't the safest city, it was mesmerizing. I leaned my head against Jason and watched the streets. The streets that had seemed somber were now vibrant. Jason stopped at the red light and turned back to me. I gave him a smile.

We went on for another 5 minutes. "Okay close your eyes."

I closed my eyes and we stopped soon after. Jason turned off the bike and helped me off. He gently took of my helmet and took my arm. He guided me, and I heard a door open. We had entered some building.  "Can I open my eyes now?" I asked, growing more curious at time went on. He laughed at my impatience.

"Yes."

I opened my eyes and looked around. It was the Gotham botanical gardens. "This is beautiful." We walked down the pathway and I took in my surroundings. The bright yellow flowers, the beautiful stream leading to the fountain. As I looked around something stuck out to me. There was a lack of people. There must've been one person who opened the door for Jason and I. But I didn't see anyone. "Where is everyone?" I turned to Jason and he smiled. "I may have rented the space for the night."

"Jason this must be a fortune." It was government property, he had to get approval from the mayor himself. "How?"

"Believe it or not but the mayor actually owed me a favor."

We reached the center of the garden. There was a table that had been set up. Jason pulled my chair out for me. Suddenly a workers had appeared. They set the table and the lights were dimmed. As quickly as they appeared they were gone. The table was filled with our favorites. The drinks were from a cafe just near the apartment. The food was from our usual spot after patrols. There were small delicacies from the pastry shop we frequented to satisfy our sweet tooth. "This is really something, Jason. Thank you."

"I'm keeping my promise. Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." I won't ever do it again."

We talked as we finished dinner.  It felt like just another day before the accident. After we finished, Jason left a large tip on the table. "I have one more thing to show you."

"Jason you really don't have to do anything else. You've done more than enough." Still, he lead me up the stairs. He opened the door first and let me go up. I walked to the edge of the roof. I looked over the railing. The view was absolutely breath taking. It wasn't like any other rooftop in Gotham. It was quiet up here. The sounds of the city didn't touch this roof.

The wind had picked up, and since the sun had set it was colder than inside. Noticing this Jason put his jacket over my shoulders. He stood behind me and I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I didn't know views like this existed in Gotham."

We just stood admiring the city. Neither of us spoke as we looked at the beautiful sight. We both knew that everything was going to be alright. We were going to come back from everything. This is what it was supposed to feel like.

"Are you ready to go back?" He asked and I nodded. "Just one more thing." I leaned forward and kissed him. This one was soft. He smiled into the kiss. "We've got some catching up to do." He mumbled against my lips. "The night's not over yet."

----------------------------------------------

MASTERLIST

REQUEST HERE

[cilldaracailin]

Somebody to Love

Hello my Tumblr Lovely’s

My apologies for the lateness of this post. I have been quite busy but also it is the last chapter of this story so it always makes me sad to be posting the last part, especially when I don’t have the next story started.  Thank you so much for all the reads, follows, comments, love and support with Robyn and Taron. As soon as I get the next story wrote, I will get it up but no promises on when it it will be or how long it will take. It will arrive when it is ready too :)

Anyway, onwards with the story :)

Suze xx

16

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”

They packed up her case and within fifteen minutes, Robyn had collected all of her belongings and while her mam carried her flowers, her dad pulled her case and Taron held her hand and cwtch under his arm and they walked out of room four twelve and down the corridor. Her steps were slow but steady and Taron moved from holding her hand, to linking his arm with hers, keeping her close to him as they walked.

“Mam you have that present for me?” Robyn asked as she came to the nurse’s station and taking the wrapped present from her mother, she unlinked her arm from Taron and passed the gift into the nurses, thanking them for looking after her so well.

Linking her arm back with Taron, they walked out of the hospital and she saw him take glances left and right over her head, knowing well he was on his guard. He was still on tender hooks over the fans in Belfast but the car park was empty, no one around. She reached over to hold his hand with her free one and felt his thumb stroke hers a few times. The car wasn’t too far away and her parents had reached it first, Taron and Robyn following at their own pace. Her dad had already put her case into the boot and Lizzie sat in the front with her flowers. Taron opened the back door for her and she got into the car and once Taron had closed the door, he ran around to get in the other side and when everyone was belted in, John got them on the road and back to Kilcreen.

Taron was sitting behind John, while Robyn was on the opposite side. He turned to look at her and at the same moment she was looking at him and his face filled with a smile, a gorgeously dimpled one and if it was possible it grew when Robyn nodded her head to him and he immediately picked up on her gesture. Unbuckling his seat belt, he moved to the centre seat and strapped himself in again and once Robyn heard the click, she moved to sit right beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Taron lifted his right arm and slipped it around her own shoulders, being very careful as he didn’t rest his arm on her left shoulder as he knew it was still quite sore after her fall, so dropped his arm down her back a little and fitted his hand snug around her waist instead. Robyn adjusted her body into his and reached for his right hand, just holding his fingers, making sure she didn’t grip his hand too tight as she could still see bruises on his skin. It was comfort for both of them and Taron leaned his cheek into her hair, a happy breathe leaving his body.

The radio was playing quietly, John and Lizzie’s favourite country station and thinking she would have heard a lot of excited chatter in the back of the car, already having seen for herself how Taron and Robyn interacted with each other but it was silent. Pulling the rear-view mirror towards her, she moved it so she could see the reflection of the two in the back of and the car and could feel the emotion swell up in her heart as she saw the most beautiful soft interaction between her daughter and the man who had become such an important person in her life. Fixing the mirror, she reached over to give her husband’s hand a squeeze, feeling one come back in return.

Just over forty minutes later, they pulled into Robyn’s drive, the car stopping on the stones. Robyn was so sad to leave the gorgeous comfort of Taron’s warm body but she was home and hoped in about twenty minutes, she could be back in the exact same position. Even though the car had stopped, she had yet to feel Taron move and she gave his hand a very light squeeze but didn’t feel one back. She let go of his hand, letting it drop carefully on his lap and placed her left hand onto his chest, feeling it rise and fall deeply as he breathed in and out. Feeling this particular breathing pattern so many times before, Robyn knew he was asleep. She was surprised she hadn’t picked up on it earlier, normally very clued into when Taron slept but she was just enjoying being close to him, she never realised, but then she was also very tired and still not quite herself. Hating to wake him, she knew she had no choice but too and as her parents got out of the car and the doors were slammed, the noise made him jump and he lifted his head from hers with a startle.

He was unbelievably comfortable and clearly very relaxed, the most relaxed he had been in a long time, just slipping into an easy sleep in the car but the clatter of the door banging woke him up. “Fuck.” He muttered lifting his arm from around her back and rubbing his eyes. “Every time.” He groaned, his head hitting the back of the seat.

Robyn gently gave his leg pat. “Come on rocketman. You have cwtch to cuddle with and sleep more.”

“You are the one who is meant to be sleeping Robyn.” He said guiltily. “I mean you have just come out of hospital.”

“And you have just worked a ridiculous amount of hours for on a very tough set and have been emotionally all over the place. Let’s go inside. I want to make sure you haven’t re-arranged my furniture.”

He gave her a weak smile, feeling terrible for falling asleep but it was the lull of car and Robyn’s thumb stroking his hand that helped him relax and he slept against her warmth. Robyn was well out of the car before he even made a move and once he had opened his seatbelt, he climbed out, closing the door after him. John and Lizzie had already made their way into Robyn’s house and he followed Robyn as she stepped into her living room carrying cwtch and he was glad he hadn’t left the place in a mess, just throwing everything he owned into his case before he left that morning. The only thing he hadn’t done was make the bed but Robyn was very used to him leaving the covers all crumbled up and he was sure her parents wouldn’t be going near the bedroom.

“Do you need anything?” Lizzie asked as she stood at the breakfast bar once the two walked into the living room. She had dragged her husband behind her when they got out of the car, John standing and waiting with the suitcase and Taron’s bag but Lizzie grabbed his hand and they made their way into Robyn’s home. They took a seat at the breakfast bar and waited until Robyn walked in, Taron behind her. “We can make a run to the shop for you if you need anything.?”

“Mam I am ok.” Robyn stood opposite her, putting cwtch on the counter, with her bag, leaving them beside the flowers Taron had gotten her, the Welshman coming to stand beside her.

“I have already put some orange juice in your fridge. I know you need to take your tablets with the juice.”

“Thank you mam.” Robyn walked around and gave her a long hug. “I am ok mam. I really am.” She could feel how tight her mam was hugging her and it was tighter than how Taron normally did and she returned the emotional hug. “I am fine and I am going to be ok too. Honest. I am going to take my tablet and sleep and sleep a lot tomorrow too. Things are going to change, I promise.”

Seeing his wife and daughter in a hug, John stepped over and joined the embrace, the family just being together. Again, knowing this was a moment he didn’t need to be a part of, Taron grabbed cwtch with one hand and placed the dinosaur on his case. He pulled up the handles of both his and Robyn’s case and once he had swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked into her bedroom. He put cwtch on the bed, on top of the ruffled sheets and dropping the cases and his bag into the wardrobe, he waited a minute or two and then walked out into the kitchen again, happy to see the hug had finished. Lizzie gave him a smile and beckoned him to her, pulling him in for a hug of his own. He smiled at the words Lizzie whispered in his ear and made sure to reply back to her. Hug over, he shook John’s hand and then took three steps back to stand beside Robyn.

“If either of you need anything, just give us a call.” Lizzie said. “We are only two minutes away.”

“We will.” Robyn answered.

“And we can come over tomorrow to double check on you and…”

“Lizzie, let’s go.” John placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Robyn needs to rest and Taron is here with her and to be fair to him, he hasn’t left her side since Belfast. I think we can be pretty confident she is good hands.”

Lizzie looked to Taron who was rolling on the balls of his feet, his hands tucked under his arms and her worry softened. “Yes, yes of course. Of course she is.” She looked to Robyn. “Of course you are. Have a good sleep you too. Maybe call me tomorrow?”

“I will mam, at some stage.”

Lizzie got one more hug in before John gave her a little push. He gave Robyn a hug and kiss on her head before he left, closing the door behind them.

Robyn followed them slowly and locked the door, punching in the alarm code, making her way back towards Taron. “And actually properly free now.” She said with a light tone.

“They are just worried about you chicken. You are their only daughter.”

“Yeah I know.” She smiled.

“I get it Robyn. It was just me and my mam for years before Guy and my sisters came along. Parents get very protective of their children.”

“So protective.” She replied coming to lean against the couch beside him.

“And you can’t really complain about them being protective of you because then I can complain about how protective you are of me and you will definitely not let me do that.”

“Definitely not but that is a very valid point.” She gave his side a gently nudge. “You are ok right?”

“Yeah, I am ok.” He nodded. “Really ok.” He returned her nudge. “Can I sleep over for a few nights?” He asked with a chuckle.

Robyn laughed at his words. “Sure. I can pull out my sofa bed.”

Taron turned to her. “You have a sofa bed? Where?” Robyn gave her couch a pat. “Your couch? Turns into a bed? What?”

His face was gorgeous and she laughed more at him. “Still so many things you don’t know rocketman.”

“Seriously?” He asked. “I gave this place a proper going over and I never knew that couch turned into a bed. How come you never told me?”

“Well you claimed the right side of my bed the first time you came here.” She shrugged. “And I didn’t the heart to kick you out the next night. You were exhausted and in a lot of pain and my bed is much more comfortable than the couch.”

“How does it work?” He turned to look at the couch. “It’s L shape.”

“That side.” Robyn pointed to the side against the wall. “It opens up and out and makes a bed. You are more than welcome to sleep there tonight if you want but I get cwtch.”

Taron laughed at her words. “That is a deal breaker and no thank you. I like our sleeping arrangements.” He immediately regretted his words but it was the first time he had heard Robyn properly laugh in days and her face was beautiful as she giggled at him. “I am not even going to try and take that back but only because I know you have yet to protest.”

“Taron Egerton!” Robyn chuckled more at him. “I did! Like ages ago when I came to Aber to visit for the first time and you wouldn’t have any of it!”

“Really?” Taron folded his arms over his chest. “Funny that. I don’t remember a thing.” He leaned in quickly and kissed her cheek. “So a bed huh?”

“Yeah, a bed.” She repeated with a chuckle. “I will show you another time.” Robyn found herself yawning, giving her head a little shake. “I feel like I do need to apologise for my parents Taron.”

“No need at all. You know I am a hugger.”

“Yes I do but there were so many.”

“So many hugs.” Taron agreed through a little yawn. “I love them.” He smiled as he turned to her. “Think you have one left for me?”

Robyn scrunched her nose up and pretended to think about it, chuckling as Taron faked disappointment and walked away from her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her, locking her arms around his back, so glad to feel him laughing. “I miss that sound.” She said into his shoulder.

“Sound?” He asked.

“Your laugh. I haven’t heard a lot of it. It is so lovely to hear it again.”

Her words made him chuckle some more and he lifted her off her feet briefly. “Come on you. You have been talking about your bed for the last two days. I am surprised you haven’t jumped on it yet.” Letting her go he skimmed her cheek with a kiss. “Go and get ready for a long comfy sleep. I am going to grab you a glass of orange juice and flick off some lights. I will be right there. Cwtch is waiting for you.”

With a nod, Robyn strolled into her bedroom not surprised to see the bed in a mess, the duvet and sheets all crumbled up, the pillow on the left side turned around. Even though he had had a good night’s sleep, it looked like he had rolled around constantly as he slept. She decided not to the make the bed, seeing no point in it and headed into her wardrobe instead. Walking around their cases, she grabbed a pair of pyjama shorts and the blue t-shirt Taron had given her back in April and she changed in the bathroom, so glad to have full access to all of her belongings, rather than working from a suitcase. That was only fun when she was on holidays and the hospital was not a holiday. She was pulling her hair from her plaits, frowning at how crimped her hair was, when there was a knock at the door.

“Ok to come in?” Taron asked as he leant on the door frame. He had shed himself of his shirt, shoes and socks and as he stood, he looked exhausted in his jeans and t-shirt.

“Of course.”

He strolled in with his wash bag in his hand and dropped it on the sink. “I left your drink on your locker for you.”

“Thank you Taron.”

“And I brought your bag in for you too.” He said as he opened the leather bag and pulled out his toothbrush.

“Thank you.” Robyn said again as she handed him the toothpaste. “My tablets are in my bag so I will need that.”

“No worries.” Taron squished some toothpaste onto his brush and sharing the mirror with Robyn, they brushed their teeth. Taron looked at their reflection and grinned. “Mot is foing on fiv fur fair?”

“Excuse you?” Robyn said to him. “Mot is foing on fiv my what?”

Taron bent his head and spit his toothpaste into the sink. He held the toothbrush in the corner of his mouth and stood behind her and lifted her hair with his two hands. “What is going on with your hair?” He asked again. “It’s giving proper eighties Madonna vibes at the moment.”

Robyn lightly slapped his hands away. “My hair has been in two tight plaits since yesterday morning and this is what happens when they are taken out. A crimped mess.”

“I kinda like it.”

“If I had the energy to wash it and blow dry it straight I would. I hate it when it like this.”

Taron took his toothbrush from his mouth. “Have I finally found a girly girl in you Robyn Quinn?” He asked with a sparkle in his eye. “Complaining about your hair?”

Robyn found herself smiling. “You know I like girly girl things.” She replied. “I just don’t make a big deal about them. Not high maintenance remember?”

“Hmm I know chicken.” He put his toothbrush back in his mouth, brushing the left side of his teeth now. “I know.” He repeated. “And I like the hair.”

Robyn left the bathroom to Taron when they had finished their teeth, giving him privacy to change, making her way back into the bedroom. Taron had left her bag on the bed, even taking the time to pull the sheets and duvet straight, fixing the pillows and putting cwtch right in the middle of them. The glass of orange juice was on her locker and she sat on the bed, routing through her bag to get the white box of tablets. She popped one out and swallowed it down with the full glass of juice, hoping she would sleep through the sickly feeling it had been leaving her with. Routing through her bag, she pulled out her phone and left it on the locker and then searched for the little bag with all of her ear rings. Taking it out, the loss of bracelet made her sad again. She was so devastated at losing it because it really did mean so much to her but she had to get used to not having it anymore and already missed the lovely sparkle on her wrist and the smile it always brought to her face as she thought of the meaning behind the stones that Taron had picked.

With a sigh, she then opened the little bag and started to put her ear rings back in one by one. She was in the middle of screwing the little ball back onto the top of the bar of her navel piercing when Taron opened the bathroom door and walked towards the bed. She briefly looked to him, seeing him dressed comfortably in some shorts and a tank top, her eyes then going back to what she was doing.

“Did that hurt?”

Her eyes looked to him as he titled his head her way. “The piercing?” She asked.

“Yeah. Right through your belly button. Ouch.”

Robyn grinned as she made sure the ball was tightly screwed on. “It’s a tiny pinch and then done.”

“Well you won’t catch me getting that done. The ear was enough for Rocketman.”

“Never say never Taron.” Robyn replied.

He laughed at her words shaking his head. “So you decided to put them back in?” He asked standing on the opposite side of the bed.

“Yes.” She replied firmly. “I am not going back to the hospital.” She pulled her t-shirt back down and lifted the last silver bar from the bed. “I will not get this one back in by myself. I will have to go back to the piercing place to get them to do it.”

“Want me to try?” Taron asked.

“It’s such an awkward place Taron. I can wait.”

Taron jumped up onto the bed and walked across it, then sitting on the duvet, holding his hand out for the earring. “At least let me try and it will save you a trip.”

Robyn handed him the small blue jewelled bar and then sat on the bed, turned sideways towards him, holding her hair back. “You get that in and I owe you big.”

It was finicky and more than awkward then he thought, the hole for the rook piercing a very difficult one to get to and Taron tried a number of times and failed. “Fuck it. I nearly had it.” He dropped his hands down. “I know now why you don’t take these out.”

Robyn looked to him and suddenly had an idea. “Stay.” She stood up and walked into the bathroom and routed out her tweezers. She carried it back and handed it to him. “Use the tweezers to hold the bar.”

“Well let’s give it another go.” Determination was key as well as stubbornness and after fifteen minutes, Robyn heard his cry of success as had managed to get the bar into her rook piecing and somehow the ball screwed on the first go. “I think I could do with a career change.” He said as he handed her the tweezers.

“You actually did it.”

“You didn’t think I could?”

“It such a bitch of a place to get to.” Robyn explained. “But thank you.”

“And now you owe me.” He said with a wicked grin.

“Yes I do.”

Taron gently tapped her nose. “Let me sleep on it and come back to you with what I want.” He stood up onto the bed and walked across it again.

Robyn stood up herself and placed the tweezers on her make-up table. “I will bake you anything you want.” She said turning around.

“Hmm nope.” Taron replied as he pulled back the duvet on the right side of the bed. “You do that for me anyway.”

“I will give you a long and deep back massage.”

“Erm I have vouchers for that.” He answered her getting into the bed and settling himself deep into the pillows under his head.

“I will let you have cwtch tonight.”

Taron hesitated and then grinned. “Tempting…” He said as he reached for the dinosaur and gave it a cuddle. “But no and before you give another suggestion, I will figure something out. Now sleep time.”

Robyn frowned at him and marched around to him, pulling cwtch from his arms. “Mine.” She said to him. “Not yours.”

Taron laughed at her childish antics. “Really? And I just put that earring back in for you.”

Robyn stopped walking around the bed and turned to him. “Thank you.” She replied a little sharply.

Taron chuckled again. “Who are you and what have you done with my cool collected and non-moody Robyn?”

“She has been couped up in a hospital for the last two days and maybe stayed there.” She answered as she sat on the edge of the bed on her side, her back to him. Robyn hated having to owe Taron something and while she was so thankful for him getting her ear ring back in, she thought baking and a back massage would be enough for him but seemingly he had other ideas.

“Well does this new Robyn like cuddles because my old Robyn definitely loved a good cuddle and the old Robyn deserved the cuddliest of cuddles from her favourite Welshman.”

Robyn looked to him over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Favourite Welshman?”

“Yeah me.” He grinned.

“You sure your old Robyn didn’t know any other people from Wales?”

Taron gave her look. “Robyn just get your arse over here to me now please.”

“Maybe I want to stay here.”

“Robyn…” Taron turned a little and looked at her with a look. “Sleeping, come on chicken.”

“Maybe I will turn my couch into a bed and…”

“I am claiming my you owe me now.” Taron said as he sat up. “I want you to come over here to me and let me give you a long cuddle please. You are not sleeping by yourself on your couch. Now get over here before I drag you over.”

His words made her turn around to him and grin his way and she quickly crawled over the bed to him, carrying cwtch. “I think we can do that.” She turned onto her right side and placed cwtch on his chest while she positioned herself against his shoulder, nuzzling into his gorgeously warm bare skin. Her personal electric blanket was so soothing to her as always and it was lovely to be back in a cuddle with Taron. Even though her head was nowhere near his chest, she could hear his heart beat in the silence of the bedroom and hearing the steady thump of it again, settled her quickly. Her right hand was tucked under her chin and she picked up the dinosaur from where she had left him and carefully cuddled the plush into her with her left arm. Her shoulder was still very sore but she was comfortable curled up against Taron. She just loved how she could be close to him but also still have so much space for them to sleep together, the size of her bed always coming in handy when they were in her home.

As Taron felt her snuggle into him, he lay down on his back, reaching behind him to pull one of the pillows from under his head, throwing it on the ground. It took Robyn seconds to find her place on his shoulder and it made him smile wide at how easy it was for her to do so now. Her eyes were already closed and the way she held the dinosaur to her was adorable. Kicking the duvet with his legs, he grabbed it with his right hand and pulled it up over both of them, making sure Robyn was fully covered as he knew how much she liked to be cosy when she slept. He looked down to her and seeing her so relaxed, he really felt himself start to relax too. It had been a long long couple of days and he was so ready for a proper rest. He stretched so he could place a soft kiss on Robyn’s head and as he looked down to her, everything suddenly clicked into place. “You are unbelievably sneaky.” He said with a laugh. “Damn your Irish womanly powers. You just got me to use your owing me for your own benefit.”

Robyn shifted her head so she could look at him, glad to see his face was grinning. “Well that took you long enough to work out.”

“You weren’t even mad at me.” He let his head flop back into the pillow. “You were using that reverse psychology on me that you use on the kids. Well played chicken, well played.”

“Why thank you.” She giggled. “You are definitely wrecked. I didn’t think it would have worked but you fell straight for it.”

“I really thought you were upset.”

“Never.” Robyn made sure to put her weight on her right hand and not her left as she leaned up so she could reach his forehead and kiss his skin lightly, then kissing his cheek too. “I can still owe you.”

“Nah…” He yawned. “This is good. A cuddle. A good night’s sleep. You home. It’s perfect.”

“Yes it is.” Robyn snuggled back into him again “You mind cwtch being here?” She asked him.

“Hmm no.” Taron’s left arm was caught under Robyn’s body but he was able to move his right and lifting his arm, lay his hand over her wrist, giving her skin a gentle rub. “All good.”

“Alexa, set an alarm for seven thirty am.” Robyn called out into her bed room, the electronic device confirming her request.

“What on earth did you do that for?” Taron asked her. “Sleeping all day tomorrow.”

“I need to take my tablets on the same schedule as the hospital so I need to wake up and take one but I will come right back to sleep.”

“But so early…” Taron moaned.

“I can go the couch and…

Taron moved his hand as best he could to cover her mouth to stop her from speaking. “Ok alarm is good. No moving. Cosy. Sleep.”

Hearing his sentences get shorter, Robyn could tell Taron was just ready to conk out. “Light?” She asked him and soon the room became pitch black. She burrowed her cheek a little deeper into his shoulder, and just suddenly feeling the need too, placed a tiny kiss on his skin. “Thank you Taron, for everything.”

“Always.” He answered her, feeling very tired and sleepy but also very content having Robyn by his side. This was what he had been looking forward to on Friday evening and while it may have been a couple of days late, it was exactly what he thought it would be and he moved his right hand to find her own right hand which was resting under her chin and slipped his hand into hers, holding her hand loosely, Robyn returning the light grip as they fell into a quick and undisturbed sleep.

He felt his body give a shiver and Taron pulled his knees tighter into his chest, trying to keep the cold from seeping into him. He felt something soft in his arms and gave it a light squeeze to him. Expecting to feel something warm in his arms, he opened one eye and frowned a little to see it was cwtch he was cuddling and when he lifted his head, opened his other eye, he saw he was alone in the bed. Immediately filled with apprehension, getting a fright of being alone, Taron shot up out of the bed, cursing as his legs got caught in the sheet and he kicked hard to free himself. Once on his feet, he yanked open the bedroom door and ran out into the living room, feeling his heart racing, coming to a skidding halt when he saw Robyn sitting on the couch in her corner wrapped up in a blanket, watching television.

“Robyn…” He didn’t expect the shake in his voice but it was there and he ran his two hands through his hair. “Fucking hell you need to stop doing this to me.” He placed his hands on his chest, still feeling his heart hammering hard. “Can’t you just stay in bed with me?” He asked.

Robyn turned her head to look at him, a little guilt filling her when she saw the honest worry on his face which was a little pale. She had woken with the alarm at seven and Taron was still sleeping. He had rolled over onto his right side while she had turned onto her left side during the night. Calling out for the alarm to stop, she got up to take her tablet, and as she walked to the kitchen to get a glass of juice, she could feel the ache in her shoulder from sleeping on it. She filled a glass with the juice from the fridge and brought it back into the bedroom, not even bothering to tip toe around Taron as he was conked out. She wondered how on earth he ever woke up on time for work and how many alarms he set before he did wake up. He was completely out for the count and after Robyn had routed out her early morning tablet and downed the juice, spent way too much time watching him sleep. His job was so hectic, it was always nice to just see him properly relaxed, his face just stress free, long eyelashes touching his cheeks, his lips a little parted as he gently breathed in and out.

She lay down on her right side, pulling cwtch into her, moving close to Taron’s back and closed her eyes, and slept soundly again, waking up naturally herself just before one. She could feel the difference of taking a tablet without food and her stomach definitely felt quite sickly when she woke. She knew she was due her second one of the day soon, so dragged herself from the bed, and made a very simple ham sandwich and brought it to the coffee table and sat on her couch in the corner. She almost forced herself to eat the food because she knew it would be the best for her stomach and taking her next tablet and once done, she got herself settled on the couch with a blanket and some television, snuggling down, still her in her pyjamas. The arrival of Taron and his troubled face, made her think she should have stayed in the bedroom but the couch was cosy and she was happy to be sitting and watching some random day time TV.

“Oh Taron, I am really sorry. I know you need the rest so I didn’t wake you at half seven and then I woke myself before one. I came out here to get some food to eat before I took another tablet and just sat down in the corner of the couch.”

His face softened as she spoke and he took some steps closer to the back of the couch. “You ok?”

“Yeah. Just a bit ick.” She answered him. “I needed some food and I just ended up here.”

“Tablets?” He asked leaning his hands on the back of the couch.

“Tablets.” She confirmed.

Taron carefully jumped over the couch and sat beside her. “Need anything?”

“Nah I am ok now. My stomach has settled a lot.” She turned to him, smiling at his lovely bed hair and sleepy face. “You had a great sleep. Please tell me you feel less tired?”

With a nod, Taron covered his mouth as he yawned, his shoulders rising and falling. “Yeah it was good. I always sleep well when I am here. Did you sleep?”

“Yeah I did.” She saw his doubtful look. “Right through to the alarm which you slept through and then I hopped back in and slept till one.” His face turned a little sheepish when she said the alarm hadn’t woken him. “It was much better than the hospital and was so nice to be in my own bed.”

“Yes it was.” Taron agreed, Robyn laughing giving him a gentle push. “Hey, it’s no secret that I like how comfortable your bed is.” He said to her giving his eyes a rub, his body rising and falling with another yawn. “Next time, please come back to me though yeah? Even if I am sleeping. I do get a bit of a shock when I wake and you are meant to be there and then you are not, especially after you have just been in the hospital. My mind always thinks bad things when I wake and you are gone.”

Robyn lifted the blanket and moved closer to him, throwing the soft blue material over his legs, her head going to his shoulder, her left arm slipping around his right. “Sorry. Can my need for medical supplies be a good enough reason for leaving you this time?”

“Yeah I guess so.” He said a little slowly. “But come back to me ok?”

“Ok.”

They sat in silence together, watching the television but soon the noises from Taron’s stomach which he tried to ignore at first, made Robyn chuckle especially when his tummy complained to him again.

“So you think we should do something about that?” She asked him, moving her hand and giving his stomach a very light rub. “Hungry?”

“Hmm yeah and I suppose so.”

Robyn lifted herself from his body and pulled the blanket from his legs, seeing his face cringe as the heat was taken away from him. “What you in the mood for?” She asked him as she went to stand up but Taron quickly got to his feet and placed his hand on her right shoulder.

“I have no idea but seeing as how I am very good at snooping around your home, I think I can find something.” He looked at his watch. “I am going to prep dinner for us and make a snack for me and then we can eat a proper meal later before you have to take your next tablet so it won’t make you feeling so ill.”

“Taron you really don’t…”

“I am going back to London tomorrow so let me do this for you so you can get another full day’s rest before you throw yourself back into things.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Though you know you can’t do that right?”

Robyn rolled her eyes at him and frowned his way, staring at him. “If you get on this Robyn lecture train I am getting off very quickly because while I can take it from my family and friends, I just can’t take it from you.”

Taron sat down beside her and threw his arm around her, giving her a sideways hug. “Comes from a place of huge concern Robyn.” He said to her. “We all want you to be well and ok.” He gave her another little hug. “Let me sort dinner for us.”

“Yeah ok.” She watched him stand up and followed him as he headed into the kitchen, going to the fridge to have a look inside. “I think I will go and shower while you do that.” His head popped out from behind the door of the fridge. “I will be fine.” She stood up and walked around the couch to stand at the breakfast bar. “You hear a crash, come running ok?”

“Oh I will be there.” He said firmly.

Robyn left him alone and in the bathroom got her shower running and twenty minutes later was sitting in front of her mirror drying her hair. She already felt more like herself and slipping into a cosy pair of trousers and long-sleeved top, headed back out into the living room, to see Taron on the couch in the corner, his two hands wrapped around a cup. She slipped in beside him and tucked her legs under her.

“Better?” He asked.

“Yeah much. Your stomach happy?”

“Hmm.” He replied drinking from his cup. “I snacked. Prepped something for dinner.”

Robyn waited for him to tell her what he had planned but he took another drink, his eyes on the television. They sat in a comfortable silence until Taron decided he was going to take a shower too and he was back within ten minutes sitting in the corner of the couch again, Robyn by his side. They had just found a comfortable position when Robyn’s doorbell rang. She turned her head over the couch to look to the door and then back to Taron.

“Oh God, I am sorry.” She apologised to him, seeing his immediate confusion. “It’s Claire.”

“That’s ok Robyn. I have met Claire before.”

“And Shane and Daragh.”

His face turned to a little half smile, his own head turning to the door when there was a knock and the doorbell rang again. “Go and answer it Robyn.”

She lifted her body from the couch and as she walked away to the door, caught Taron’s eye but he used his hands to gesture for her to keep going. “You sure?”

“I don’t think we can fake you not being here.” He said with a chuckle. “Go on. Open it.”

Robyn had barely gotten the door open when three pair of arms were thrown around her and she was pulled into a hug from her friends. They were talking to her quickly and all at once and she had no idea what any of them were saying.

“Ok ok!” She called out lifting her head from the hug. “I can’t hear you all when you are talking at the same time!”

“Oh my god Robyn!” Shane said as he let her go. “You gave us all such a fright. I told you something bad was going to happen and look it did and now look at you.” He took a step back. “Well actually you look ok. Your hair looks great.” He added. “But that is not the point! Robyn you should have listened to me when I told you something was going to happen and it did and you ended up in hospital and on a drip and on tablets now and you gave everyone such a scare.”

Robyn waited until Shane was finished speaking before she wrapped him up in a hug. “I am ok and yes you did tell me something was going to happen but I am fine. I promise.”

Daragh stood behind his husband. “He had been fretting about you. We all have.”

Robyn let go of Shane and took a step back. “I promise I am ok. You all know what happened and how I have started my tablets and so far they are working. Slowly but surely I will be back to myself.” She turned to Claire who was standing beside her and could see the upset on her face. “I am fine.” She repeated now giving her best girlfriend a tight hug. “I was very very lucky and the doctors in both hospitals were really happy with my blood work. I just have to give it a week on these tablets and then see how we go.”

“And slow down.” Claire said firmly.

“Yes slow down.”

“And no more overtime.”

“No more.” Robyn repeated.

“And thank your lucky stars Taron was there with you.” Claire said.

“Oh my God yes!” Shane exclaimed. “He is really like your knight in shining armour Robyn. I mean I know you did all the stuff for him in America but since then he had been such a breath of fresh air for you and if he wasn’t there in Belfast with you, who knows what could have happened. Next time, if there is a next time…” Shane thought for a second. “Well actually no I don’t want there to be a next time but next time Taron is with you, you owe him big and seriously Robyn. I mean come on, you two are so close to sucking face at this stage… Anyway, next time I see him I might even suck his face. He really was such a darling with you. What?” Shane asked as he saw Robyn smile at him. “You know it is true Robyn. You are this close to snogging that man stupid.” He held his index finger and thumb close together. “And I don’t know how you haven’t yet. Why are you smiling at me like that?” He asked again.

“Hey Shane.” Taron casually strolled up to stand beside Robyn. Claire and Daragh had realised Taron had been sitting on Robyn’s couch just as Shane started to chat Robyn’s ear off and the Welshman came to stand beside the group, the two giving him a nod as he stood with them.

“Tar… Taron!” Shane cried out. He looked to Robyn with a groan. “He has been here the whole time right?”

“Hmm yeah.” Robyn grinned.

“Robynnnn!”

“You had already started and I didn’t have the heart to stop you.” She looked to Taron who was smiling. “So what was that you were saying about wanting to suck his face the next time you see him?”

“I said nothing of the sort.” Shane replied, his cheeks tinted a deep shade of red. “So what do we have to do to get a cup of tea around here?” He asked, walking past her and going into her kitchen.

They others followed Shane into the kitchen, Robyn just shaking her head at Taron. “I don’t even apologise for them anymore.”

“No need chicken. I love them.”

Robyn took a seat at the breakfast bar with Claire and smiled as Taron walked over to help Shane make some tea for everyone, Daragh coming to sit with them too.

“So any update for me?” Claire asked.

“Nope. Not since I was speaking to you yesterday. Just take the tablets and then I am back to the hospital on Monday for a check-up and if that goes well they might look at reducing the number of tablets I take a day.”

Claire glared at her friend. “We going to skirt around the topic again?” She said a little quietly. “How long has Taron been here?”

“You know well how long.”

“And where did he sleep last night?”

“Where is always sleeps. In my bed, beside me and you know I love you but I do not have the energy for this talk Claire. You are right. I am so lucky Taron was there because I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t of been and you know how I feel about him but let’s not ok?”

“Robyn tea?” Shane called from across the kitchen.

“No thanks.” She answered him and looked back to her friends. “It’s just going to be a bit of a long road for me and it is one day at a time but all looks good so far.”

“And that is all we can ask for Robyn.” Daragh look over to see Shane and Taron speaking to each other. “Is Taron safe over there?”

Robyn chuckled. “Yeah he is fine. Shane knows he has to behave.”

The three chatted with each other and when the tea was made, they moved to the couch to be more comfortable, Taron getting Robyn a glass of orange juice for something to drink. Their conversation was easy and light hearted, Robyn so glad her friends finally lost that star struck look they had when they met Taron first and once they had thoroughly cross-examined Robyn about her hospital visit, even though she had already spoken to everyone while she was in the hospital, they moved on to talk about other things, asking Taron about his work again.

“So you fly back to London tomorrow?” Claire asked as she reached for a biscuit from the plate on the coffee table.

“Yeah. I am filming tomorrow evening so I have to get back for that.” He explained. “We are nearly done. Just a few weeks left and then we are finished, all going well.”

“Early flight?”

“Not too bad. It’s just after eleven.”

“Your life is busy.” Daragh commented.

Taron nodded. “Yeah it can be but I am very used to it.”

“And do you have anything else in the pipe line?” Shane asked.

Taron shook his head. “At the moment no. A few scripts have come my way but nothing yet.”

“So no romantic comedies?” Shane asked with a hopeful grin.

Taron chuckled. “If a script comes my way that I like and it happens to be a romcom then sure but nothing had peaked my interest yet.”

“I will keep everything crossed for that romcom then.” Shane said firmly.

“Thanks Shane.” Taron smiled.

“I bet you were glad to get some time to relax here before you get back into it.” Claire said with a smile to Taron, trying to distract Shane.

“I do enjoy the peace and quiet of Kilcreen.” He agreed. “And Robyn’s bed.” He winked, glad to see Claire laugh him and glancing at Robyn, her head shaking.

Robyn’s friends stayed for another hour before they left Robyn and Taron with hugs and promise to come back later on in the week to keep her company for the evening. They took up the corner of the couch together again but Taron got right back up, leaving Robyn a bit perplexed until he explained he was going to sort out their dinner.

“Shane didn’t question you too much did he?” She asked as she changed position on the couch so she could watch him pull open a drawer to get a saucepan out.

“Nah he was fine.” Taron pulled the wok from the drawer too. “He’s very sweet.”

“He is a good friend.”

“You have some great friends Robyn. They are so important.”

“Yup. Definitely.”

The conversation died down as Taron busied himself in the kitchen, making whatever he had planned for their dinner and Robyn sat back and watched every movement he made. She adored how at ease he was, knowing where everything was and seeing him dance a little around as he tossed the vegetables he had prepared earlier in the wok, she could only smile at him.

“What?” He asked when he noticed Robyn was staring his way.

“What?” Robyn repeated but she realised she had been caught out and tried to act like she hadn’t been watching him intently since he stepped into the kitchen.

“You are staring at me.”

“Was I?”

“Hmm-hmm.” He said as he emptied the pot of rice into the vegetables.

“You were dancing.” She said with a shrug.

“And?” He countered turning to look at her, giving the wok a stir as he did. He grinned as Robyn bit her lip. “You should be used to that by now. It happens quite a lot.” He chuckled.

“Yeah like your singing.” Robyn smirked.

Taron turned towards her with the wooden spoon in his hand. “And you cant even complain about that because you nearly always sing with me or are singing some show tune yourself.” He knew he had found a reply Robyn couldn’t answer back and he turned back to the stove. “Dinner is five minutes out.”

“I can set the plates out on the breakfast bar.”

“Nope. You stay where you are. This is a table service dinner.”

Robyn laughed at his words. “You sure?”

“Yes.” He replied. He added the chicken to the wok along with some of the spices and sauces Robyn had on her shelf, giving everything a stir and then a taste, happy with what he had put together. He had already placed two plates in the oven to warm them up and once had dished up the two dinners, poured out two glasses of water for them and carried the plates first into Robyn putting them on the coffee table, going back for the glasses and cutlery.

“And dinner is served.” He grinned handing her a knife and fork, sitting down on the couch, carefully pulling the table towards him. “You need anything else?”

“Oh no, this looks amazing. Thanks Taron.”

The food he had made was delicious and she knew he loved to cook for others and he had definitely given them a gorgeous meal which was tasty. She ate everything on the plate and once done, went to get her third and last tablet for the day, downing the glass of juice with it. While she had gone to get her iron tablet, Taron had already started to wash up and she scolded him when he wouldn’t let her help, sulking a little on the couch but she snuck a glance to him at the same time he looked to her and they just chuckled at each other.

Taron had everything cleaned up in five minutes and had moved her from the corner of the couch again so he could sit in it, Robyn sitting beside him.

“You feel ok?” He asked her.

“So far so good. I know the food helps.”

“Tired?”

“That easy to tell?”

“I know your day hasn’t been overly busy but I can tell.”

“Bubbly Robyn is on holiday.”

“No she is here.” He said gently. “Just been through a lot.”

“As have you.” She looked to him. “Do you have re-shoot any underwater scenes?” She asked.

“At some point, yes. Matthew has them scheduled for one day during our shoot. We are literally back for twenty-four hours to get the last few shots done.” He could feel the tension fill Robyn’s body as they sat together. “I know I said it before our shoot this weekend, but the water work is so very safe and to be fair, it was my belt that got caught and that had nothing to do with the filming.”

“How about this time we don’t tell me when exactly it is ok?” She said to him.

“Wait really?”

“Yeah. Tell me about them when they are all done and finished.”

“You sure?” Taron asked. Before Robyn had been adamant that she knew when his under water work was being filmed but she had a sudden change of heart over it all.

“Positive. I think it is better I don’t know anything about it.” She finally looked to him.

“Whatever you want Robyn. I will call you when I am on the way back to my trailer.”

“That is the perfect idea.”

“You are going to call me every day and ask me about it aren’t you?”

Robyn shook her head. “Nope. I knew I never liked the idea of water work and I was right.”

“What happened was a fluke.” He said to her. “And I am ok Robyn. Naturally nervous about going into the water again but I trust the team.”

“Can your next project have no water work?”

Taron laughed at her words. “I will do my best to organise that.”

“I would appreciate that and nothing in America either.”

“Any more demands?” He asked laughing harder.

“Yeah no doctors scrubs either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Couldn’t pull it off?”

“Oh no not that. Just not something I need to see any time soon.”

“Got it. No water work, nothing in America and no scrubs. Anything else?”

“Not at the moment but my brain really isn’t working properly right now so leave it with me.”

“You just let me know.”

The TV in background filled the air with some noise but neither were watching it, Taron enjoying how Robyn was gently rubbing her thumbs over the back of his left hand. His right still hurt a little but her light movements on his skin were really lovely and soothing.

“I never even thought about how you are going to get to the airport tomorrow.” She said after a few minutes of silence.

“Lyndsey has it all organised for me.” He assured her. “I am being picked up here at nine tomorrow morning and dropped to the airport and gosh don’t do that sad face.”

“I can’t help it.” Robyn answered him. “While it wasn’t as we planned, definitely not as we planned, I feel like we had no time together again and now you are doing the sad face.”

“It’s always like this but we know we will see each other again.”

“No more Belfast though.”

He could hear the unhappiness in her voice. “I know. It is not just a simple drive any more but you know you are always welcome to come and see me but not just yet.” He quickly continued when he saw her ready to reply. “You need to get better first and by better I mean back to yourself and healthy and given the all clear to travel. I know it could be some time before that happens and I am willing to wait as long as it takes. With the way my schedule is set now, it probably works out for the best. When we are finished, I can come and see you for a few days and that will take the pressure off you to coming to see me.”

“That’s going to be a long time.” She said to him but not looking his way.

“Yeah I know chicken but we have gone longer without seeing each other.”

“We have.”

“Why is it harder now?”

Robyn looked at him and shrugged. “Just is.”

“A lot happened this weekend.”

“Yeah.”

“But good things too.” He said with a more positive tone.

“Absolutely.” She agreed. “It has been good even with all the other bits.” Her words ended with a yawn.

“So early to bed then?” He asked with a smile.

“I feel like there are going to be a lot of bed days.”

“And why not. You need them.” He stood up and helped hers to her feet. “Come on. Won’t do either of us any harm.”

Robyn changed while Taron packed up his case, and while she waited for him flicked through Netflix for something to watch.

“You willing to share cwtch tonight?” He asked as he closed the closet, walking to the bed, falling onto it, Robyn chuckling at him as he lay on his stomach, his hands over his head.

“Yeah I guess so.” She replied though the dinosaur was over on the far left of the bed. “He’s all the way over there though.” Robyn had already laid down on the bed and was curled up on her right side.

Taron heard her muffled voice and rolled onto his side and knew without asking that her medication was kicking in. “Seeing as how cwtch is so far way, do you think a Welshman would work instead? I mean I don’t have blue fur but I haven’t shaved in a few days.”

She didn’t answer him but nodded with a little smile. Taron opened his arms to her and she shuffled over and her head went right onto his chest, her body settling against his in an easy cuddle.

“Alexa set an alarm for seven thirty.” Taron called out and then wrapped his two arms around Robyn. He could tell she was tired and grabbing the TV controller she had left on the bed behind her, he turned the TV off, the room going dark, thanks to her black out curtains. “Sleep Robyn. Another decent night’s sleep will do you the world of good.”

She nodded into him, feeling his left hand playing lightly with her hair. Full of a number of emotions, even though it hurt her a little, she let her left arm slide across his stomach and rest on his waist. “I know I said it already, but thank you for everything this weekend Taron.”

“You know I am always here for you, no matter what. Just because it will be a while before we might physically see each other, doesn’t mean our calls and texts will stop.”

“Definitely not.”

He hugged her a little to her. “Thank you too. My lucky Irish chicken.” He whispered. “Now sleep.”

It wasn’t hard to do and Robyn was snug and so comfortable against him. It was so much nicer to be in his arms when she felt ill from her tablets rather than alone in a hospital bed although the food he had made her earlier had taken that horrible real sickly feeling from her medication but she could still feel her body getting used to the iron she was taking. She felt Taron pull the duvet up over her, in the same way he had done last night and she knew she was so blessed. She really couldn’t put into words how thankful she was for him and his heart, kindness and friendship. She loved him so much and snuggling a bit more into him, feeling him hold her a little closer. She was already dreading saying goodbye to him tomorrow, hating that it could be weeks before she saw him again, so tried to enjoy the feeling of his heat and softness, drifting off into sleep, Taron following soon after, both still tired after their few days, both so comfortable with each other that their breathing fell in sync with each other as they slept.