#mentioned: leo knut

[xxxregulusblackxxx]

So I'm obsessing over Hazbin Hotel like all of the internet right now, but I've been a fan since the pilot and am caught up on Helluva Boss. I have a few things to rant about here.

1. ALEX BRIGHAM AND HIS OBSESSION WITH DEMONS. He's Beetlejuice in the broadway musical, he's Fizzorolie or however you spell his name in Helluva boss, he's Sir Pentious and ADAM THEE GOD DAMNED ADAM THE FIRST MAN In Hazbin hotel.

2. Husks voice actor is Keith David aka DR. FACILIER IN THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG!

3. Jack Kelly from Newsies on Broadway, filmed and put on Disney plus, Varian from Tangled the Series is Played by Jeremy Jordan, now if you're a theater kid you know who he is, you'd also be interested in knowing that he's LUCIFER that's right Lucifer Morningstar THE DEVIL HIMSELF

4. HUSKERDUST. I love this ship. Yes they are romantic and Vizzy has confirmed they are a slowburn relationship so if Anyone who interacts with me says they're platonic or found family I will be sending you to hell yourself

5. Alastor, first off he's canonical Aro Ace, just so ya know. Secondly he's such a good manipulator that he's manipulating fans into thinking he's not trying to fuck over the hotel and that he's not a villain. Which he is but he's still lovable. ALSO Alastor is Creole, he may have been white passing when alive but he's Creole and from Louisiana (I love Louisiana born men, my obsession with Leo Knut is proof of that) So just keep that in mind when drawing him. The transatlantic voice is something he would have learned, it's called All American speech and was used in Radio and TV, that's his voice under the radio affect.

6. The V's. Love them and hate them. I absolutely loth Val but at the same time Vox's screen brightens when he's trying to get Valentino's attention and that's really cute

7. Lute's Voice Actress played Elphaba in Wicked and her part in You didn't know is the absolute best part ever.

And Remember they're all in hell for a reason Sir Pentious is the only one who's truly good out of the Sinners

[lumosinlove]

Christmas Eve Will Find Me

(cw in tags if you wish)

Five: Sirius

Athens, Greece

Sirius wasn’t reckless. He thought before he did—probably too much sometimes. He kept himself in line. Maybe it was a product of a strict upbringing. A smack on the cheek or hand at one wrong move. He used to think it was what made him so good for the agency. Salazar liked strict. They liked obedient. James, therefore, hadn’t quite made sense to Sirius as a candidate, at least not in the beginning. Not until he showed Sirius that it wasn’t just about following orders. It was about heart, too. Camaraderie. Remus had shown him that, too. Still, Sirius couldn’t always shake that rule-following kid.

But if Remus was on the rooftops getting shot at by Jack Archer, who had just been holding a gun to Logan and Finn’s heads, all bets were off.

Jack was smart though. He took Sirius right through the now bustling Christmas market. Small children strapped the the chests of fathers. Women in groups laughing and catching up over coffee. Carolers by a central fountain. Sirius caught glimpses of alarmed eyes as he ran, always keeping the back of Jack’s head just in sight. He tried not to add to the mess on the street, narrowly avoiding the cart Jack had carelessly rolled into his path. He sprinted past the pissed vendor. He knew he should hide his gun. Lights blurred beside him and the sun came out from behind a cloud, then went again. His feet pounded the pavement. The streets narrowed. Jack stumbled on the stones in front of a cafe, sending cups shattering to the cobblestones and making a shop owner run out and shout at him. For a second, Sirius thought he was going to catch up. He swiped forward at the fabric of Jack’s shirt, but Jack rolled and then was up on his feet again. Sirius lunged. He didn’t care who was watching. He didn’t care if they saw his gun. His arms wrapped around Jack’s waist and they both hit the cobblestones hard, rolling into another table. Sirius felt something hot splash against his neck, something sharp dig into the skin of his wrist.

Jack was up again in a moment, using a hard kick to Sirius’ ribs to knock the wind out of him. Sirius gasped, coughing as he scrambled up from the ground and away from the alarmed onlookers. He yanked the shard of ceramic out of his arm. Jack slipped around a bend in the street—but this was one Sirius recognized. He’d chased Remus—or the ghost of Remus—right into this corner.

When he held his gun up on Jack, Jack’s hands were around the bars of the very gate Sirius had run into their first day here.

“Dead end, Archer,” Sirius said. “Now tell me why you’re here.”

Jack at least knew when he’d been caught. His shoulders moved quickly, breathing hard as he rested his forehead against the gate.

“Did you know?” Sirius could hardly say the words. “Did you know they were alive?”

“Sirius—”

“Get the fuck down,” Sirius said, striding closer until they were both hidden in the alleyway. He risked a glance behind him. “On your knees.”

Jack went, knocking the damp hair out of his face with a jerk of his head. Sirius could see both of their breath fogging between them. “We didn’t know. Not until Leo found Remus.”

“And you want them dead.”

Jack’s mouth formed a thin line.

Sirius didn’t have time for this. His mind kept skipping back, trying to figure out who had been shooting from the roof. RemusRemusRemus.

“Why?” Sirius asked. “Why do you want them dead? They’re our own, what changed? And I swear to God, answer me, or I’ll bring you to James.”

James was sweet. James was funny. James was relaxed and kind and easy-going.

James could also get information out of anyone. He was their top interrogator, had been since the academy. How do you do it? Sirius had once asked. Sirius had never liked seeing terrified faces up close. James had gotten a sad, faraway look on his face. I pretend they have Lily. And Harry. And then I don’t feel so guilty. I just want them to talk. I make them talk.

Jack seemed to have heard the rumors because he paled. “Listen. This is Salazar. You’re here to find them and bring them in. That’s all I’m here for, too.”

Sirius thought briefly of telling Jack about Logan’s memory, but Remus’ careful hazel eyes filled his mind. Unsure. Untrusting.

“Why pull the gun?”

Jack’s eyebrow arched. “Tremblay was holding a gun on his own husband. Who, by the way…” Jack made a scornful sound. “Should not be here.”

It was Sirius’ turn to stay silent. It was a sensible response, but that didn’t mean Sirius believed him.

“What,” Jack laughed a little. “You think we wouldn’t know?”

“I couldn’t stop him.”

“Liar.”

“That makes two of us, then,” Sirius said. “Why are you here?”

“Is he turned?” Jack asked in a hushed voice, eyes dark. “Is Lupin?”

“Turned where? By who?”

Jack shook his head slowly. “Liar.”

“I’m not.” Sirius swallowed over a dry throat. At least, not entirely. Pascal. Pascal, whoever he was.

“You don’t want to get on our bad side, Black,” Jack said. His hand twitched, maybe towards a knife, and Sirius stretched his gun forward. Jack’s smile was tight. “I think Tremblay’s enough proof of that.”

Sirius stared at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

Jack opened his mouth to answer, but stopped as though his words had frozen in his mouth. He snapped his lips shut, then a strained cough escaped. A twitch went through his body, almost like a pulse of electricity, and he sat back against his heels. Sirius hesitated, watching Jack blink fast at the cobblestones before raising his eyes to Sirius.

“Who the hell are you?” Jack asked, eyes darting between the two guns. He scrambled backwards, the gate rattling when it hit his back. “What the hell?”

Sirius froze. He clicked the safety off on his own gun. “Don’t bullshit me, Archer.”

Jack blinked at him, eyes unfocused. “I…”

Another twitch, a strange pulse through his body. Jack gasped. A thin trickle of blood ran from his nose. He swayed where he was, and his hands went to his head. “Ah—” Sirius watched his face screw up in pain. Jack stared up at him. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Jack—” Sirius began to say, but then Jack fell against the pavement, as suddenly as if someone had pushed him, with a harsh thud.

Sirius felt something cold squeeze around his throat. Dread, maybe. Adrenaline. Slowly, he lowered the guns, tucking one into his belt and swinging the other behind him, doing a quick scan of what little of the street he could see. He raised it up towards the roofs, then crouched in front of Jack.

His eyes were open, lips parted, blood quickly drying on his skin. He was dead.

“Jesus,” Sirius whispered. “Jesus, fuck—” His hand went for his radio, and then he paused. It was Salazar’s radio.

If anyone had told Sirius just a week ago that that would make him pause, he would have laughed.

Sirius checked Jack’s pulse—nothing—and then cursed as he heaved his body up against the wall as best he could. There was no point in trying to move him, not with the city waking up. Someone would have to find him like this. Sirius turned Jack’s collar up, closed his eyes, and took the wires off of him. He took his knives—all the ones he could feel anyway—and the second, small gun he found tucked into his boot.

He walked in the opposite direction of the cafes, towards the still mostly sleeping residential streets. There had been no blood, not that much anyway, but Sirius checked his hands and front before calling out to a man sweeping the steps in front of his house with a cigarette between his teeth.

The man didn’t put up much of a fight, just handed Sirius his cellphone before waving him off and going back to the chore.

The line picked up immediately.

“Lion den,” Sirius said into the tone. It was their secure line. If Salazar knew about it, they’d be dead, but Finn’s tracker wasn’t the first illegal backup Leo had set up. James hadn’t seen the point, hadn’t seen what they’d ever have to hide any comms, but Leo had insisted. Now, Sirius was glad. After Archer and Remus and Logan, he didn’t know who to trust. A headache was building at the back of his skull.

“We’re not at the house,” Leo said instead of hello. “After Archer, I didn’t think we should go back there.”

“He’s dead,” Sirius said.

He heard Leo’s sharp inhale. “Sirius—”

“It wasn’t me,” Sirius said. “We were running, I got him. And then he didn’t recognize me all of a sudden. A minute later, he was dead.”

Sirius’ heart was going so hard he had to press a hand there. The sweeping man didn’t even look up. The gray light hurt his eyes.

“Where are you?” Sirius asked. “Leo. Are you all together?”

“He’s dead?” Leo asked. “But—how? And what do you mean he didn’t recognize you?”

“I don’t know, I thought he was fucking with me, because maybe he knew Logan—but how would he know Logan couldn’t remember? I…” Sirius pressed at his eyes. It was as though someone was shining a spotlight right in his eyes. It ached. “I don’t know, Le. Where are you? Where are you?”

“Sirius,” Leo said. “I can’t find—I can’t find you.”

“What?”

“I can’t find you—Jesus, here, I’m dropping this number our coordinates—but Sirius, your tracker’s offline.”

Sirius felt the phone vibrate with the incoming text. He looked, memorizing quickly. It would disappear entirely in a minute, erasing itself.

“He didn’t recognize you?” Leo asked. “He didn’t…”

“Leo,” Sirius said, and then dropped to a knee. God, his very bones ached. His skull.

“Oh God,” Leo said faintly, and then, a little farther away from the phone, he shouted. “James!”

Sirius ducked away from the gray light. The cold wind. His head was killing him. “Fuck.”

“Eh!” The man stopped sweeping, looking at him. He said something fast in Greek, but Sirius was hopeless to translate just then.

“Sirius,” Leo said, voice closer now. “You’re tracker. Cut it out right now.”

“What?” Sirius asked.

“Cut out your tracker right now,” Leo shouted. “You said Jack forgot and then he was dead, there’s nothing that would cause that except—” Leo cut off with a short cry.

“Leo?” Sirius said.

He heard Finn’s voice in the background. Leo! Oh my God—

Then Leo’s. Cut it out, Finn. Right there, remember, feel it? Finn, stop fucking staring, do it, do it, it’s going to kill me and James—

“Finish?” the man asked him, alarmed. He was holding out his hand for his phone, but didn’t look like he wanted to get much closer to Sirius. “Hey, finish? Finish?”

“Help,” Sirius said. “Please—” He pulled the Greek out but he didn’t know how. Autopilot, maybe. “Sir, please may I use your bathroom? It’s life or death.”

The man began to shake his head, but Sirius didn’t have time—he shouldn’t have even asked. The man shouted as Sirius hauled himself up and stumbled past him. He shouldered through the small, wooden door and found himself in a living room—tidy and smelling of cinnamon and coffee. It connected right with the kitchen, not unlike their safe house. The dim lamp by the sofa stung his eyes, glaring as if it were a sun. Sirius blinked hard, looking for something sharp, anything.

“Hey!” The man tried to grab his shoulder, but Sirius shook him off easily. There was a knife, small, laying beside a sliced lemon. Sirius grabbed it and all but fell against the sink. A small vase on the window sill above slipped and shattered into the basin.

The man’s protests was no more than a ringing in Sirius’ ear as he groped at the back of his own neck. What the hell are you doing? Are you insane? Are you sick? Hey, my wife and children will be back soon, come on, brother, don’t scare them. Put the knife down, put the knife down—

There. Sirius felt the bump. Was he imagining that it was hot to the touch? It didn’t matter.

He didn’t even feel the pain of the blade. His adrenaline was so high that it felt like nothing at all. Butter. A slip. Only the red on his hands let him know that he had succeeded. That, and the small, pill-like chip clutched between his fingers.

The pain evaporated and Sirius drew in a ragged breath.

No sooner had he dropped the tracker into the sink than did it let out a high-pitched sound and crack itself in half.

His hearing returned. He blinked his vision back to normal. He worked the pressure out of his jaw. The tracker released a thin trail of smoke.

Sirius, he tested. Sirius Black. He knew himself. He knew the coordinates.

When he turned, breathing hard and sweating, he grabbed an old, dirty looking cloth and pressed it to his neck. It didn’t look like anyone would miss it. The man was simply staring at him, eyes darting between his face and the device in the sink.

“Thank you.” Sirius breathed the words out. Greek, or at least half way there. “I am sorry. I am sorry.”

Without another word, Sirius raced out the door.

+++

The coordinates were an abandoned building right on the coast. Sirius could smell the salt. The cold air was made colder by damp. He had stopped the bleeding of his neck and turned up his collar to keep the rag in place. Everything felt wet and slippery now. Recent rain on the rocks beneath his feet as he walked up an old pathway.

There was nothing inside, it was merely a somewhat reasonable roof of their heads. Shelter, nothing more. Just broken down boards and stone walls now.

To anyone else, it looked empty.

Sirius whistled two notes.

Two notes returned from his left where the sea and horizon bled into each other, framed by a still standing window. It could have been a painting. A TV.

James appeared in front of it, wild hair haloed by the light.

“Fuck,” James said, and then they were hugging. Sirius face ended up near a slightly pink bandage on James’ neck, and he sighed his relief all over again.

“Fuck me, we had a bomb in our head the whole time, Si.” James reached up and brushed the bandage with light fingers. “Just an average day on the job.” His eyes went to Sirius’ neck. “What did you do it with?”

“Fucking kitchen knife, man. You?”

James’ laugh was shaky. “One of my daggers on Leo and I. Finn did it. Think he’s a little freaked, but he did it.”

“Oh Jesus, I should have…” Sirius shook his head. He had his own and he had Jack’s. “Didn’t have to traumatize this…God, never mind. I fucking broke into someone’s house.”

James laughed again, but he looked pale. “It’ll be fine. I was so scared I didn’t even feel it.”

“Same.”

James raised his eyebrows. “Jack?”

“I left him,” Sirius said. “Took everything off him. People will think…I don’t know. But there’s nothing to lead back to Salazar or us.”

James nodded, taking that in. “Salazar’ll be looking for us now that they can’t find us.”

Sirius nodded. “I know… I know they will. We have to move.” They began walking towards the sea window. “How did you end up here? Where are the others?”

“Finn and Leo are with Logan.”

Logan. God, Sirius hadn’t forgotten, of course he hadn’t forgotten, but what a strange thing to hear. After all these months, just a simple Finn and Leo are with Logan.

No sooner had James said it than did the Leo appear. He had an identical bandage to James and held one out to Sirius, along with an alcohol packet.

“Clean that,” Leo said.

Sirius tossed the bloody rag away. “Did yours smoke, too?”

“Yeah,” Leo said. “The second I started to get a headache—Finn said that’s what happened to Logan, too. Said he fell down in pain. But…” Leo frowned in the way he did when he was thinking something over, when something was so entirely perplexing to him that he was sure to pull an all nighter. Sirius had seen him many times after those. Blond hair a mess, coffee mugs lined up besides the water and the electrolyte packets.

“Where…” Sirius began to say. He’d only gotten a glimpse of Logan and it was beginning to feel more like a dream. His slack face. There had been blood? Hadn’t there?

Leo moved aside, revealing a half-collapsed hallway. No, it was more like an nave. Sirius looked up and realized that the remnant of a vaulted ceiling remained, stone and precarious. This had been a church.

Wind whistled through, a high note off the sea, when Sirius saw them. Finn and Logan were at the other end, a corner mostly intact and protected from the cold. Finn was awake, staring down at Logan’s face like he couldn’t stand to look away, not even for a moment. Logan was—asleep?

“Knocked out.” Leo filled in his thoughts. “Finn said he remembered him in the alley, but he’s been out ever since.”

“And his tracker?”

“It’s gone,” Leo said. “I checked.”

“But if Salazar wanted him dead…”

Leo nodded, already there. “Then whoever took it out probably saved his life."

“But he can’t remember us,” Sirius said.

Leo rubbed a hand through his hair, then pressed his fingers to his mouth, thinking. There was blood beneath his nails still, a crust of red even smeared along his jaw. Sirius had the sudden urge to wipe it away for him.

“You said Jack forgot who you were a second before he was killed,” Leo said. “I’m guessing—and this is only a guess—that this is some sort of…kill code put into place in Salazar’s tracker hardware. A memory wipe in case we get captured, and then a kill switch if there’s no hope or if we might crack and tell all.”

“Jesus,” James whispered.

“I’m guessing whoever took out Logan’s didn’t do it in time to prevent the memory wipe. And that’s calling it real close, I don’t know…”

Remus. Sirius could hardly breathe. If he hadn’t seen that footage for himself, he’d be on his knees all over again, desperate and afraid.

“Can you reverse it?” James asked. He was chewing on a thumbnail, looking down the hall. “God, please say you can Leo.”

Leo let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know.” He looked down the stone archways towards Finn. As the three of them watched, Finn reached out a hand and brushed Logan’s hair back from his eyes gently. “I don’t know.”

[givemetherapyimawritingtravesty]

More @oknutzyweek2023

Tuesday, R2 – The Spice of Life

Leo had spent the better half of the afternoon gardening in their back yard, picking the vegetables of his labors and sampling a few as he went along. The knees of his pants were covered in dirt and he had no doubt Finn would immediately coral him into the shower before throwing in a load of laundry.

With one final glance around the freshly weeded plot, the blond stood and grabbed the handle of the woven basket he had and make his way back into the house.

Logan was next to him in an instant, “So, what do we have here?” He said, taking the basket to place on the counter and dig through it to see what they had.

“Lots of tomatoes and peppers. I’m thinking of making a tomato soup for dinner, what do you think?”

“Sounds lovely. Need me to help with anything?”

“Like I would ever say no to that. Do you want to wash these up while I go wash up? Maybe start chopping up whatever you and Finny want me to put in the soup?”

“On it, Peanut,” Logan said, leaning up for a kiss from his sun-warm and sweaty boyfriend. “Finn’s already waiting for you, fluffy towels at the ready.”

Leo chuckles at that as he heads off, “Of course he is.”

Logan, being left alone in the kitchen, starts on the first task Leo gave him; wash the vegetables. Easy Enough, he thinks. Once they’re cleaned and dried, he starts picking out what he thinks would go well in the soup and begins chopping them up and tossing things into a pan, which he turns on low on instinct, not giving it a second thought.

He gets lost in the monotony of the blade slicing through the food and tunes everything else out, even the rising sizzling sound in the pan. It isn’t until Finn comes up behind him and wraps his arms around his waist that he’s pulled from his thoughts.

“Lo, baby, what are you doing?” Leo laughs, making his way into the kitchen and over to the other two.

“Oh! Merde! Désolé,” he says, reaching over to turn off the burner. “Soup was the game plan, I don’t know what I was thinking, I didn’t need to cook those like that.”

“And on this week’s episode of Cooking Mishaps with Logan Tremblay-O’Hara-Knut, we have the frying of the veggies incident,” Finn chuckles, placing a kiss to the side of Logan’s neck, who was still in his arms.

“That’s okay, babe, we can just do a stir fry instead. I’ll get the rice from the  cupboard,” Leo smiled, moving to do so before returning to shorter man’s side and placing a kiss to his head. “Next time, maybe we’ll learn to keep you supervised,” he teased.

“Or tied up,” Finn said pulling Logan away from the counter and into his arms in a hug.

“Kitchen bondage? Don’t threaten me with a good time, Mr. O’Hara-Knut- Tremblay.”

“I’d say I wouldn’t dream of it but… I kinda do,” Finn said, looking at him dreamily.

[fruitcoops]

Kindling & Embers

O'Knutzy Week Day 5 (HA!!): Camping (B4) and Borrowed (D4)! Characters belong to @lumosinlove, and one last massive thank-you to @oknutzyweek2023 for the most fabulous of fests <3

For more of this AU, check out First Burn and Spark ;)

TW for mentioned alcohol

Deft hands plucked two bottles from the picnic table; they hung loose for a moment’s hesitation, then vanished in the shadows as a figure turned away from the bonfire and began heading Leo’s way with startling purpose.

Sweet mother of fuck, Leo thought, dragging his eyes along lambswool lapels and porcelain wrists. He even looks delicious in denim.

Footsteps came to a soft halt in the blanket of pine needles. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Leo winced at his own breathlessness. His small t-shirt—perhaps too small, but he could take a bit of ribbing from Remus if it meant he got to pick up tonight—suddenly felt too warm. “Uh, hi.”

“Leo, right?”

“Knut.” He caught himself, and shook his head. “I mean—yes, I’m Leo. Leo Knut. Station Twelve.”

“Right.” A smile cracked over rose-petal lips like a firework. The bottles clinked lightly as they were transferred to one hand, the other held out in offer. “Finn O’Hara. Seventeen.”

“I know who you are,” Leo said through a smile, though he shook Finn’s hand. It was cool and long-fingered; the touch lingered at his wrist for a split second. His stomach plummeted. His heart soared.

Finn’s eyebrow arched in curious mischief. “Oh, do you?”

“We’ve met.”

Finn’s smile dropped. “Fuck, have we?”

“Yeah,” Leo laughed. Christ, who was he, a middle schooler with a crush? “The Christmas party?”

He was gifted reprieve from earnest, sparkling eyes when Finn glanced to the side, one canine tooth poking out as he bit his lip. His thumbpad traced a dewy bottlecap. Leo kind of wanted to stick it in his mouth. “The Christmas—” Finn’s gaze snapped to him. “Oh my god.”

“It’s fine—”

“Oh my god,” Finn repeated, raking a hand through his hair. “Yes, no, I remember you. God. Fuck. Sorry. About this and—yeah. Christmas.”

“I told you, it’s fine!”

Merry Christmas!

…hi?

Hi! Can I sit on your lap?

Leo had been so distracted by the teasing press of tongue to a pointy tooth that he had utterly forgotten about his dumb, ‘I-lost-a-bet’ costume.

Huh?

Santa, right? I’m Finn. Can I sit on your lap?

Finn’s blush looked just as magical in firelight as it had under twinkling false snowflakes. This time, though, it was more mortified than bold. “I…am so sorry,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Hey, no apologies.” Leo pushed him gently on the shoulder and immediately regretted it. Under the soft denim, Finn was fucking firm. Sneaky little firefighter. He half-wondered what else was hidden under adorable layers. “You were not the only person to ask me that.”

“That, I can believe,” Finn huffed. The tips of his ears went red. “Oh—sorry, that was out loud.”

Another laugh bubbled out of Leo. He should just start kicking his feet and twirling his hair at this rate. He took a shaky breath and nodded to the beers. “Got something for me?”

“What?” Finn glanced down, then gave a bit of a start. “Yeah, I—yeah. You didn’t have anything, so I figured you might…you know. Want something.”

A door, opening just a crack. Leo dove for it. “I do,” he said carefully, ducking his head with a small smile. Finn’s pretty eyes flickered over his face. He cracked the caps off the bottles in two quick motions and held one out—Leo let his pinky brush the curve of Finn’s fingers when he took it. “Thanks, Finn.”

Finn’s throat bobbed. “You can call me Harzy, if you want to.”

“That what your friends call you?”

“Mhmm.”

Leo hummed. Condensation cooled his burning palms. His pulse hammered with concerning speed. “I like your jacket. Very REI-chic. Ready to go camping in the Adirondacks.”

“My brother gave it to me.” Finn held his arm out. “I used to borrow it, like, every day in high school. The elbows and the cuffs are kind of fucked, see?”

Leo reached out—past the threadbare cuffs, past the patched sleeves, until he could take the woolly lapel in his hand. It was unbearably soft under his thumb, creamier than Finn’s freckled skin. He was close enough to risk a touch like this. An inch up and he’d know what that razor-sharp collarbone felt like. “Nah,” he said instead, forcing back the tremor in his voice. “Suits you.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he felt Finn sway toward him. “Hey,” Finn began. “Do you wanna take a walk?”

A smile fought its way onto Leo’s face. “Sure.”

“Sick.” Finn stuffed his hand in his pocket, grinning into the rim of his beer. “I really love these get-togethers, but the smoke gets to be a little much, y’know?”

“It is kind of ironic. Guess that’s the point.” Something clicked in Leo’s memory as they headed for the perimeter. “Y’all do wildfires, right?”

Finn, halfway through a swig, shook his head and swallowed. “Yeah, but just the regular for me. Seventeen’s a combo unit, since we’re way the fuck out there.”

“I was chatting with one of your guys at New Year’s.” Among other things. That night had been interesting, and Logan, even moreso. His glossy lashes still haunted Leo’s best dreams. “Guess there aren’t a lot of houses to burn in the yeehaw sector.”

“Right,” Finn snorted. “We’ve got a tight squad, though. You should visit sometime. We could use another set of hands.”

“I don’t pull people out of buildings, Harzy. I just stick ‘em back together.”

“And I bet you do a mighty fine job of it.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Maybe.” Finn’s face seemed to dance in the distant light of the fire. Sir, please put your freckles away.

Leo brought his beer to his lips to cover his smile. His trachea and esophagus were wound around each other, screaming without end. “Hm.”

“Come on,” Finn teased, nudging their shoulders together. “I gotta get a couple in to make up for Christmas.”

“I told you, I’m really not bothered, or offended, or anything.”

“Makes one of us.” Finn paused, then tilted his face toward the sky. It was dark enough to pick out a few stars if Leo squinted, but…he didn’t really want to look away from Finn. “Seriously, that was dumb and rude of me.” Finn’s voice was quieter than before, more serious. “I shouldn’t have flirted with you, and especially not like that.”

Leo’s trachea-esophagus pretzel constricted and sent words popping from his mouth like a bottle rocket. “You can flirt with me if you want.”

…fuck.

Finn’s brows had disappeared under his thick, floppy hair. Leo could see his wide eyes even in the near-total darkness of the woods. “Do you want me to?”

Jesus, please strike me with a convenient case of lockjaw.

Leo tested his jaw. No such luck.

“I—” He wondered if Finn knew Logan. A tight squad, and all that. He wondered if Logan had told anyone about New Year’s. About rough red brick leaving stains on the back of Leo’s coat for days. About so many almosts and panting pleases and hands desperate for something before the clock ran out. About pressing hot and close in the frigid bite of December-January until they heard the party start up again inside. Logan had fit against Leo’s body like a puzzle piece finding home, and took something with him when he left.

The wildfires were bad this year, burning out of control. Finn was here, under the silent stars. Finn was here, and Logan was not. Flushed pink against his borrowed jean jacket and watching Leo with concern and—and a little bit of hope.

“Yes, please,” Leo said quietly.

This smile was newer. Softer. Finn’s chin dipped; his blush was strawberry-pink and warm when Leo reached out to run his knuckles over it. He felt and heard Finn’s breath stutter.

“Finn…”

Finn was nodding before he could even ask, sliding an electric hand along Leo’s hip.

“Harzy,” Leo sighed into the first press of lips to his own. Finn made a questioning noise; Leo bit his smile into Finn’s lower lip. “Can I sit in your lap?”

[splendidlyinlove]

Hearts and Homes

Pairing: O'Knutzy

Rating: General Audiences

Summary: Leo is home for Christmas with his boys and his mother has given them the very important job of helping her make Christmas cookies. Something feels different, though.

CW for holiday and food mentions

Thank you to the wonderful @lumosinlove for creating these characters!

Leo's childhood home was warm around this time of year. Warm in the way the incandescent bulbs threw a soft glow across rooms (The LEDS just aren't the same Le), warm from the coastal breeze fluttering through windows, but mostly warm because of preheating ovens. 

His mother had gone all out again this year. Every year since Leo could hold a wooden spoon, Eloise Knut had him mixing cookie dough. The only difference this year was the amount of bakers. 

Finn and Leo bobbed amongst a sea of cookie trays covering kitchen counters. Finn was in the ugliest Christmas sweater one could find, and Logan kept making little disgusted faces every time the blinking Santa Claus on said sweater broke into another verse of Jingle Bells. Though, Lohan did have flour on his face that Finn had yet to mention, so, payback. 

His mother hummed along to the radio as she tossed even more ingredients into the Kitchen Aid. It all felt familiar to Leo; it was home after all, but he couldn't shake a small desire in the back of his mind for snowfall behind the New York City skyline and Canadian cabins up to their eaves in snow. It was an adjustment, to say the least, not a bad one, just one he hadn't been expecting. 

"What's going on in that head of yours, Pumpkin?"

Leo snapped his head up from where he had been staring intently at a sheet of dough rolled out on the counter. 

"It's warm." 

"It is not! It's fifty degrees out; got out my thick socks for today." 

Leo gave his mother a cheeky look. 

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that," Finn said. He was on oven duty and strictly oven duty. Logan was allowed to touch the dough under supervision. He was currently attempting to cut little gingerbread men that looked like the three of them. It was cute. It made something settle right behind Leo's sternum. 

"Oh, like you have anything to talk about." Logan poked Finn in the chest with a whisk. 

"I'll have you know, NYC winters–!" 

"So, it's warm." Leo turned back to Eloise as Finn and Logan devolved into increasingly nonsensical bickering. 

"Yeah. It's warm." 

Eloise gave him a look like she already had it all figured out. She probably did. 

"Oh, he's gone all northern on me already. Wistfully dreaming of a white Christmas in the New Orleans sun. The best I have is confetti pumpkin; hope it's enough." 

Leo laughed, and his mother smiled. He was seven years old again, stealing chocolate chips off the counter, laughing when he got caught, his mother laughing too.

They settled into a bout of comfortable silence after that. Something was still niggling at the back of Leo's mind, though. 

"It's just…" 

Eloise looked up, now rolling out her famous peppermint mocha cookie dough. 

"Yes?" 

"This is home." 

"Yes." 

"This has always been my home." 

"...Yes." 

"It's not like it doesn't feel like home this time. It's just that…" 

Eloise looked at him and smiled that knowing smile. 

"What?" 

Eloise shrugged. "Didn't say anything." 

"You're up to something." 

"I am! I'm making cookies!" 

"Mama."

Eloise chuckled. "You're in love, sweetheart." 

"...Okay? But-" 

"Oh, sugar, it's simple. Home isn't really a place. It's just love." She picked up a silver cookie cutter and started pressing out shapes. "So, in that way, New Orleans is home because it's where Dad and I's love for you lives." 

The radio across the kitchen slowly faded to the next song. 

I'll be home for Christmas…

"A home, by the way, that you will continue to visit periodically til the end of time. I'll create new holidays to celebrate if I have to-"

"Of course, I'll always come back, Mama." 

Eloise patted his cheek with a floury hand. "Anyways, but New Orleans isn't the only place where love for you lives anymore, is it?" She tilted her head towards where Logan was taking pictures of Finn attempting to balance spoons on his nose. 

"And the people that hold that love for you, bless their heart, love the cold and snow. And so, home now isn't just the New Orleans sun. It's a little colder." 

Leo could almost feel things finally slot into place in his mind. They had always been there, the strings that tugged his heart North, South, and East. He had always thought one direction would win out, but he was wrong. They enabled his heart to stretch farther across state lines and biomes, rivers and lakes, cities and farms. Home had just gotten bigger, stretching out its limbs, settling into the comfort of having more room to breathe. 

Leo held back a few wayward tears that threatened to well up.

"I miss thirty-degree weather," he said with shock and awe. 

Eloise shook her head. "Lord, help us." 

Leo laughed at the same time a telltale Ding! sounded from the oven. 

"The cookies!" Finn yelped before putting on comically large oven mitts and racing towards the oven. He took out a tray of sugar cookies and started to place them on the wire racks. Logan wandered over to where Leo was working and rested his head on Leo's shoulder. 

"What are we talking about?" 

"The cold." 

"Oh! We should absolutely ask Noelle if she'd be up to trade weeks for the family cabin next month. Maybe we could go ice fishing." 

Leo looked at his mother.

"Don't look at me, you picked him." 

Leo trembled with barely contained laughter.

"Quoi? It will be fun, Soleil, I promise." 

Finn walked over, making little Ah! Ooh! noises as he gently tossed a cookie back and forth between both hands. 

"Here, Le, taste. We need to know if it's Knapproved." 

Leo leaned forward and took a bite out of the same sugar cookie his mother had been baking since he could talk, but it tasted a little different this time. 

It still tasted like boat rides and summer heat, but it also tasted like peppermint tea and long drives. It tasted like sleepy mornings and playoff wins and bookshops. It tasted like something impossible. It tasted like the simplest thing on Earth. 

Even though Leo's love stretched across country borders, it somehow managed to all fit in that small kitchen then, tucked into the corners and squeaky cabinets. 

"It's good."

[ripeteeth]

HI! This is my first ask I've ever done on this app so please, do let me know if I've made any mistakes or if I've violated any of the etiquette rules.

That aside, I discovered your writing account/s in the comment section of a post asking for beautifully written fanfiction on Reddit and was instantly enchanted by the lushness of your writing and the imagery found in so many of your works, not to mention the unique concepts and plotlines they contained. And you wrote for a lot of my favourite ships too.

The number of screenshots I have of various passages I found particularly moving or breathtaking in its detailed description of love, or the world surrounding these characters is ... it's a lot yea. It seems I've gone on a bit of an unrelated ramble to what I would like to ask, so apologies. Ehem

I was wondering, what are some of your favourite authors? Or favourite writers that you tend to go to for a re-read or just a damn good fanfic? It's just that you write so beautifully and breathe such life into these characters that I'm curious as to the fics/books you've taken inspiration from or enjoy!

Hi! Omg, thank you for such a lovely ask. I've been really feeling rough about my writing lately and this was such a bright spot in my day <3. I'm so happy that you've been enjoying my stuff!

And I will ALWAYS talk about books and writers I love, and I'm gonna list far too many here because I have so many favorites and also do not know how to shut up. These are all books I've absolutely loved and have had some influence or impact on the way I write, or I hope that they do.

Fiction Frankenstein (1818 edition) - Mary Shelley Written On The Body - Jeanette Winterson On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong Cassandra - Christa Wolf Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel Autobiography of Red - Anne Carson Grendel - John Gardner Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk Wise Blood - Flannery O'Connor Simple Passion - Annie Ernaux An American Childhood - Annie Dillard Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy Lote - Shola von Reinhold Crash - JG Ballard Hunger - Knut Hamsun Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Süskind Bastard Out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis Outside the Gates - Molly Gloss Shadow & Claw - Gene Wolfe The Pearl Diver - Jeff Talarigo The Makioka Sisters - Junichiro Tanizaki A Map to the Door of No Return - Dionne Brand Piranesi - Susanna Clarke Near to the Wild Heart - Clarice Lispector Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys The Master & Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov We Have Always Lived In The Castle - Shirley Jackson How To Be Both - Ali Smith Non-Fiction Erotism - Georges Bataille A Lover's Discourse - Roland Barthes Blood, Bones, and Butter - Gabrielle Hamilton Just Kids - Patti Smith Consent - Vanessa Springora Stigmata - Hélène Cixous Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets - Svetlana Alexievich

Poetry All The Flowers Kneeling - Paul Tran Night Sky With Exit Wound - Ocean Vuong The Descent of Alette - Alice Notley Our Andromeda - Brenda Shaughnessy Desire - Frank Bidart

[lovemeleo]

ok.... hear me out.... evgeni having to get his wisdom teeth taken out and being scared for the procedure and jackson comofrting him (also evgeni on anesthetics afterwards because I feel like that would be really funny)

(also I love your writing so much you're just amazing thx bye)

omg anon! I got so excited when I saw this prompt, I shared it with the whole SW discord server. Such a fantastic idea, and I hope I do it justice! I’m so glad you enjoy my writing, you’re so sweet! Hope you enjoy this fic xx

credit to @lumosinlove for the SW world and of course Nado & Zhenya 

if you’d like to check out my other nuny fics, here are the links:

- Cuddles with Love

- Remus finds out

- A New Dream Come True

- I’ve Got You

- The Same Brainwaves

- All You Need

cw: anesthesia, talking about medicine and dental work

***

“Zhenya, you’ve gotta get out of the car.” Nado said, his head resting on the steering wheel. The only answer he received was a lot of grumbled Russian that he didn’t understand. 

They had been sitting outside the oral surgeon’s office for 20 minutes. Luckily Jackson had planned in advance, getting them there an hour early. He knew Zhenya was nervous, it had been obvious since he made the appointment a month ago. Jackson could see the slight tremble in his boyfriend’s hands as he gripped at the sleeves of his hoodie.

Jackson reached over, resting a hand over Zhenya’s, “Baby, it’s going to be okay.” He murmured softly, rubbing his thumb over the frayed sleeve edge that covered Zhenya’s knuckles.

“Don’t want to go to sleep,” Zhenya whispered, turning his hand over to intertwine their fingers together. He had been putting it off for awhile now but the pain was getting too bad, struggling to sleep some nights.

Squeezing his hand, Jackson leaned over and resting his head on the taller man’s shoulder, “I know, babe. But it’ll be quick, they’ll sedate you and then when you wake up, it’ll all be over with and we can go home.”

Zhenya took a deep breath as he looked out the window, “Ok, let’s go. Before I lose confidence.” He said, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt and jumping out of the car. Jackson scrambled to follow him, grabbing his keys and phone before running to catch up to Zhenya who had already made it to the door.

After getting checked in, they sat down in the waiting room. The only sounds were Zhenya’s foot tapping nervously on the floor and the quiet music that played over the speaker. Jackson was thankful for that. If there were any type of dentist machine noises, Zhenya would’ve probably booked it right back out to the car.

Less than fifteen minutes later, a doctor came out the door, “Evgeni?” Zhenya’s hand tensed on the arm of the chair before he nodded.

“It’ll be okay, Zhenya. I’ll be waiting.” Jackson murmured, squeezing his hand before letting him go. He watched as Zhenya followed the doctor back, glancing back before the door closed behind them. 

And then he waited.

Around half an hour later, a nurse came out, “Hi, are you here for Evgeni?” She asked, glancing down at her clipboard.

Jackson was up and walking over to her before she finished, “Yeah, that’s me. Is everything okay? Is he okay?”

“Of course. Everything went very smoothly. He should be ready to go within the next couple minutes. We should get back there, he was already asking for you.” She explained, leading him back to one of the rooms.

Before she opened the door, Jackson could already hear Zhenya talking. He couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face.

The nurse opened the door, “Evgeni, I found your Nado for you, hun.” She said, leading Jackson into the room. 

Zhenya turned from where he had been rambling to the doctor in a wheelchair, his chubby cheeked face lighting up, “Котенок! You’re here.” He said. Or at least that’s what Jackson thought he said. He had ice packs strapped to either side of his face, gauze filling his mouth. And fuck, Jackson still thought he was cute as hell. 

“Of course I’m here, Zhenya. Told you I’d be waiting for you.” Jackson said with a smile.

Zhenya smiled, his head flopping slightly to look at the doctor, “видеть? я говорил тебе. I told you. He’s so good.” 

Chuckling softly, the doctor nodded, “Yes, I believe you, Evgeni.” He replied before looking at Nado. “I’ve prescribed him ibuprofen and Vicodin, which you can get from the pharmacy before you go. He can have one of each right away together, but after that it’s one pill of Motrin every six hours and one pill of Vicodin every 4 hours. It’s okay if you don’t remember all this, it’ll be on the bottles and the paperwork. Give us a call if he has any problems, okay?”

“Sounds good. Thanks so much for taking care of him.” Jackson said, shaking the doctor’s hand before he began pushing Zhenya down the hall.

Zhenya stared up at him the whole time, which was fairly comical as he couldn’t close his mouth, but he was still smiling, “Котенок. Hi.” Zhenya mumbled around the gauze.

Running a gentle hand through his hair, Jackson smiled as he made his way to the pharmacy, “Hi babe. You doing okay?” 

“So good. Took nap, now I see you. So good.” Zhenya said with a shrug, his head lolling to the side. Once they got to the pharmacy, Jackson parked Zhenya next to one of the chairs. A hand grabbed his wrist before he could walk away though.

Jackson turned to see Zhenya’s pouting face staring back at him, “I need to go get your medicine, Zhenya.”

To Jackson’s horror, tears started welling up in his boyfriend’s eyes, “You go? You leave me?” Zhenya said, his grip falling from Jackson’s arm.

Squatting down in front of Zhenya, Jackson took his boyfriend’s hand in his, “Hey, don’t cry, babe. I’m right here. Not going anywhere. I’ll bring you with, okay? Please don’t cry.” He blurted out, pressing a kiss to Zhenya’s knuckles.

Zhenya sniffled, his free hand coming to rub at his eyes, “Promise?” 

“Of course, I promise. I got you, Zhenya.” Jackson said quietly. He pushed the wheelchair up with him to the Pharmacy pick-up desk, parking Zhenya right behind him so he could get the medicine.

Just as he was about to hand the pharmacist his card, a large hand grabbed at his butt, making him let out what could only be called a squeak. Quickly whipping his head around, he gave Zhenya a dirty look, “Really?!” 

Zhenya looked completely nonplussed as he leaned back into his wheelchair with the approximate of what Jackson would call a smirk if his face wasn’t so swollen, “What? You put it in my face, how can I not?”

Letting out a sigh, Jackson handed the card to the pharmacist who was now trying to hide their smile. They handed over the bag and finally they were off towards the door, “Do you think you can walk to the car? Or do you want to use the chair?”

“Can I walk? Of course I can walk.” Zhenya said with a huff, carefully pushing himself off the chair. His legs wobbled a bit but after a second, he got his balance, giving Jackson a wide grin. “See? I’m strong. I did so good.”

Chuckling softly, Jackson put the chair back before wrapping an arm around Zhenya’s waist to lead him out, just in case, “Yeah, Zhenya. You did great.”

Zhenya seemed to take Jackson’s arm around his waist as a come-on because the other man felt a hand slowly creeping its way down to the back pocket of his jeans.

“Zhenya, not while we’re trying to walk.” Jackson said with a laugh, squeezing the taller man’s side.

Humming to himself, Zhenya rested his head on top of Jackson’s, “Nutty taught me word for this. Cake. You have nice cake.” He punctuated his statement with another squeeze.

At this point, Jackson was just trying to get them into the car, “Thanks, babe. That’s very nice of you to say.” He said, opening the passenger side door before helping Zhenya in, getting him buckled in. He quickly got in on the drivers side and they were finally heading home. 

Zhenya’s hand made its way over to Jackson’s leg as he drove, his fingers drawing shapes into the material of his pants, “I love you, you know, Котенок?”

A soft smile spread on Jackson’s face as he glanced over at his boyfriend, reaching down to squeeze his hand, “Yeah, Zhenya, I know. I love you too.”

The giant soppy grin was back on Zhenya’s face as he leaned onto the headrest, “I’m cuddle you when we get home. All day.” 

Well. How could Jackson argue with that?

[heyitssmiller]

Rendezvous with Destiny: Part One

Hi there!! This is going to be a bit of a long author’s note, so bear with me!

This is the O’Knutzy WW2 AU I’ve been working on since April. Y’all. April. It’s been a whirlwind the past year, but I’m finally finished with this first part, and I’m so freaking excited to share it with you!

That being said, this is a war au. If that makes you uncomfortable, please don’t read! The war is more used for the setting and background, but there are still darker themes and references in here. Also, it’s not in this first part (or the second) but this story will be explicit. That’s right. Yours truly has written ~spice~. You’ve been warned!

Also I am a huge fucking nerd so there’s lots of historically accurate things and fun facts and tidbits in here, which I LOVE to nerd out about, so send me asks if you want to learn more! The story title itself is actually a nod to something historical. ;)

Without further ado, here it is! Characters of course belong to @lumosinlove and I had two lovely betas, @donttouchmycarrots and @bkfstclubmember! Thank y’all so much <3

Read on ao3

If you like this story, go ahead and check out my masterlist!

Finn knew he had a penchant for bad luck. Scraped knees and getting lost in the city as a kid, ice cream cones falling onto hot concrete, being the next person in line for a ride at Coney Island only for it to be suddenly and inexplicably closed. Putting clothes out on the dry line right before a surprise summer shower, alarm clocks mysteriously breaking in the middle of the night and missing shifts at the library as a result, getting drafted at twenty-three years old into a war he wanted no part of. 

But this was getting a bit excessive. 

Twenty-seven jumps. He’d completed twenty-seven perfect jumps during the course of the war, and here he was. The most important mission he’d ever go on, the most important mission of the war, if their generals were to be believed, and he was starting it off stuck in a tree. 

Leo didn’t have that issue, the smug bastard. He drifted down with a grace that was rare for a soldier, landing lightly on bent knees with his weight distributed farther back so that he kept his balance. His parachute fluttered down behind him, the fabric whispering as it made contact with the grass still wet with morning dew. Finn found himself giving up on wrestling with his harness and just staring instead. Blond curls peeked out from under a forest green helmet, wide blue eyes looked back up at him with a sparkle, tan cheeks a little pink from adrenaline and the wind. 

An angel just descended into hell. 

Or so Finn thought – until the little shit opened his mouth. 

“Need some help there?” 

Finn glared at him, a gesture that was mitigated by the fact that he was currently stuck in a tree. “Y’know, one of these days it’s gonna be you stuck somewhere. And I’ll just stand there and tease you, see how you like it.” 

Leo laughed, a light, airy thing, and shook his head in exasperation. “Just use your bang box already and let’s get out of here.” He said, referring to the harness release. Finn looked at him, then down to the ground, then back to his fellow paratrooper dubiously. 

“That’s a long way to fall.” 

“O’Hara, you jump out of a plane on a regular basis.” 

“With a parachute-” 

A twig snapped behind Leo and the reaction was instantaneous. Leo slung his standard-issue rifle from his shoulder and spun around while Finn thrashed in his harness, trying to figure out a good way down without breaking a leg. A man was approaching cautiously, slowing even more when he saw Leo’s gun pointed at him. He looked like a French civilian, maybe a farmer – tanned with messy chestnut hair and worn, practical clothes. 

And a pistol stashed in his waistband, only revealed when he got close enough for Finn to see. 

Finn started struggling again. “Nutty-” 

He was still just a kid – another unfortunate result of the draft. Finn had taken one look at him that very first day of basic training, baby-faced but putting on a brave act while clearly being scared, and felt drawn to him in a way he’d never experienced before. Part of Finn wanted to stay by his side, to keep him safe. The other part wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction, because the only thing he’d cause was trouble. The luck of his Irish ancestors clearly hadn’t been passed down to him. 

And then time went on, and Finn found himself unable to stay away. Being by his side was instinctual. Finn convinced Knut (call-sign “Nut” because how were a bunch of Army guys supposed to pass up a golden opportunity like that?) to join the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, because their training took longer and Finn selfishly wanted to keep them out of the war for as long as he could. It might be considered cowardly, but Finn couldn’t care less. Then they went to war and damn, keeping that punk alive was almost a full-time job. It was like he attracted trouble left and right. There was too little self-preservation for Finn’s liking and more diving (literally) headfirst into danger and Finn was going to have a heart attack watching him one of these days but hey – they were still alive. Finn intended to keep it that way, which meant getting down from this fucking tree- 

The Frenchman raised his hands in a sign of peace and started speaking in low, melodic French that Finn didn’t understand a single word of. His little Army-issued French translation book was in his pocket, which he couldn’t reach. 

Because he was – you guessed it – still stuck in a tree. 

Wouldn’t do him much good, anyways. He was awful at French. 

Leo laughed at whatever he was saying, then responded. This made the Frenchman’s face crinkle in confusion, his head tilting as he continued to look at Leo. Finn couldn’t take it anymore. 

“What’s he saying?” 

Green eyes the same color of Leo’s helmet flicked over to him amusedly. “America’s finest, huh?” he asked in accented English. 

Finn didn’t even know this guy and already he was being teased. He was handsome though, even if Finn shouldn’t admit it, and that was a problem. When he was teased by someone he wasn’t attracted to, he could be witty and shoot back responses easily. Handsome men like that made him flustered. 

“It’s hard to steer these things,” he said lamely, looking to Leo for help. Leo just arched an eyebrow and grinned wickedly, like he knew exactly what was going on. 

Finn both loved and hated him for it. 

“I’ll get you down, don’t worry,” the Frenchman said, already at the base of the tree and grabbing onto a low-hanging branch. He pulled himself up smoothly, muscles rippling with the movement, and began to climb up to Finn. Finn had no clue what he was planning, or how him being up in the tree alongside Finn would be helpful, but at least the view was nice. The friendly stranger got as close as he could, balancing on a sturdy tree branch, and reached for him. He grabbed one of the cords of Finn’s parachute and pulled him closer to the trunk of the tree. Finn glanced up worriedly as he swung, hoping he didn’t suddenly drop from all the movement as the tree limb supporting most of the chute creaked ominously, making Finn flail nervously and grab the closest thing for support – a strong, tanned bicep.

See normally, Finn would be mortified… and he probably would be, when he got down to the ground. Now, however, he was just grateful for something to hold on to.

The brunet laughed, bubbling and contagious, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Don’t pull me out there with you, Rouge.”

Finn knew enough French to understand that word. He wondered if he was being made fun of for his hair, or the redness he could feel creeping along the back of his neck, ears, and face. Maybe both.

Most likely both.

“You going to get out of that harness now?”

Finn blinked, then looked down. He’d been pulled close enough that the branch below them could probably hold his weight now – much safer than the spindly branches he’d been dangling over before. Still. He didn’t like the thought of leaving the safety of his harness and trusting a stranger and a tree branch to keep him from falling and – knowing his luck – breaking his neck.

He looked to his new friend, still hesitant. “You’ll catch me, right?”

He received a warm smile in response. “I’ll catch you.”

Finn completely forgot about one fear of falling and quickly started worrying about another.

And then he hit his bang box.

Finn hit the branch hard, lurching forward as he tried to keep his balance. A calloused hand grabbed onto him, steadying him after a few tortuously long seconds. Finn looked up from his feet and into forest green eyes, inches from his own; he felt his heart thud against his ribcage.

The hand moved from his arm to his hand, offering a handshake. “I’m Logan.”

The name suited him, somehow, even if was unusual. “Finn.” He responded, letting his own hand linger.

“You guys coming down any time soon?” Leo called up to them, making Finn jerk his hand back in surprise. Leo seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the show, if his bright grin was anything to go off of. This didn’t surprise Finn in the slightest, but it did make him start thinking of ways to get back at him.

He looked down at the dizzying maze of tree branches, then towards Logan. “You go first. I’ll follow.”

One dark eyebrow arched playfully. “Have you never climbed a tree before?”

“I’m from New York City,” Finn huffed indignantly, watching as Logan started his descent and then mirroring him move for move. “My only climbing experiences are from fire escapes.”

“Ah, yes,” Logan said as he climbed to a lower branch. “the large apple, oui?”

Finn smiled at that, softly. It was so endearing. “The Big Apple.”

The Frenchman scowled up at him. “Quoi?”

“It’s “the Big Apple”, not “the large apple”.”

Logan’s face scrunched in confusion.

“English is the worst,” he stated simply, then grabbed the lowest-hanging branch and landed neatly on the ground, knees bending to absorb the impact. Finn followed, albeit a little less gracefully. He’d been a little distracted, to give himself credit. He had also escaped one crisis and entered another, because jesus how was he supposed to focus on anything besides the two in front of him? He was supposed to be securing a bridge for their troops on the beach, not… letting his focus bounce from one gorgeous guy to the next.

His concentration was in grave danger.

Leo was looking over a map with a frown on his face, tilting it at an angle, then turning a little bit in a circle to orient himself. Finn glanced over at Logan when he muttered something under his breath in French (Finn had no clue what it was, but it sounded fond, almost) before watching Leo’s forehead crease as he thought.

“Where, um, where are we, exactly?”

Logan smiled, walked over to stand beside the blond, and pointed to a spot on the map, and oh. The height difference between the two. Tall and Tiny. Finn knew he was an emotional guy, sometimes too emotional, but damn if that wasn’t the cutest thing he’d seen all day.

“You’re here.” Logan supplied as Leo scrutinized the map again. He pointed to a spot farther south as Finn came to look over Logan’s shoulder. “We’re supposed to rendezvous with our regiment here. So we need to go…” he glanced in the direction of the early-rising sun to get his bearings, then pointed south. “that way.”

“You will find a German encampment in your way.” Finn loved the way the word encampment rolled off his tongue, all accented and flowy. Much prettier than the American way of saying it. The brunet created a trail with his pointer finger on the map. “You need to go around unless you want to be shot down.”

Leo looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you know where a lot of German posts are?”

Logan shrugged noncommittally. “Most of them.”

Leo gave Finn a meaningful look. Even knowing where most of them were located was better than their knowledge. Although they had reconnaissance planes they couldn’t see everything, so a lot of times they were still going in relatively blind.

“Any chance you want to help us get where we’re going?”

Logan laughed at first, then sobered when he realized they weren’t kidding. “You – I can’t just leave.”

“Why not?” Leo queried in that trademarked direct way of his – ingrained from years in the military. Expressive green eyes stared back at him in disbelief, and Finn found himself wanting to learn every last emotion those green eyes could portray. Did they squint when he was happy? Flash when he was angry? Soften in the late hours of the night when sleep loomed?

“Because I have a job to do,” Logan said firmly, “Believe it or not, not everything comes screeching to a halt when a war is on.”

“But think of how useful all this information would be to our troops,” Leo was excited now, gaze sharp and calculated. “If you know where a lot of German hideouts are…”

Something didn’t sit right with Finn. “How do you know all that, anyways?” he asked. Logan tensed, then looked between the two of them cautiously.

“I live here,” was all he said before quickly moving on. “Look, I can get you to this town here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “And I can mark as many of the other encampments as I can remember, but that’s as far as I can take you. I need to be back here by tomorrow afternoon.”

And so they headed off without much more preamble after Logan packed up a small bag of supplies, knowing better than to pry and ask sensitive questions. Loose lips sink ships, and all that.

Logan was great. He was smart, with a sharp wit and a smile to match. He did squint when he laughed, Finn found out when Leo brought up chocolate and started a very heated debate over which type was the best. And then Leo made the mistake of bringing up Hersheys and both of them launched themselves into the pros and cons of the American chocolate.

Finn never thought he’d be so entertained listening to a conversation about chocolate for, and he wasn’t exaggerating here, at least twenty minutes.

The three of them seemed to just… fit together, jagged pieces of the same puzzle. It was crazy and strange and wonderful, and Finn just wanted it to make sense; how, in only a handful of hours, it felt like they’d been walking together for years.

And there was something about the way Logan looked at him…

Finn swallowed with an audible click.

This morning he’d been stuck in a tree and now he was here, walking through the French countryside making eyes at a gorgeous Frenchman.

Nothing made sense anymore.

.

They ended up in a small town cloaked in darkness, all the lights out to avoid being seen by enemy bombers. The doors and windows of the buildings that lined the streets were closed tightly, and not a soul was in sight. None of them even batted an eye, just split up and started looking around for a place to sleep for the night.

Logan found himself hesitating as Leo went one way and Finn the other, but he ended up following after Finn as a rash, terrible idea formed in his head. He couldn’t find it in himself to ignore it, though – not when he was currently staring at strong shoulders, red hair dark under the cover of night, and the memory of shared looks and barely-restrained longing in those big brown eyes.

It wasn’t much of an internal debate.

He caught up to Finn, reached out to grab the coarse material of his uniform, and started tugging the soldier after him. He didn’t put up much of a fight, just tripped over his own feet a little to keep up with Logan.

“Where are we going?” Finn whisper-shouted, excitement in his voice. It shouldn’t have been as charming as it was. Logan just walked faster, his mind on one thing and one thing only. As soon as they reached a secluded alleyway, Logan tugged on Finn’s hand and turned sharply so that they were hidden by tall brick walls and shadows.

Finn’s eyes positively gleamed in the moonlight. “Either you’re planning on murdering me in this alley, or you’ve got something else in mind.”

And then he winked, this insufferable bastard, and Logan couldn’t help himself anymore.

Logan backed him up against the wall, pinned there between his rough hands and the even rougher brick, and kissed him. Fierce and scorching, he kissed the redhead like he’d been wanting to for hours now. Finn made a muffled sound in the back of his throat and gave just as good as he got, pulling Logan’s bottom lip between his teeth and tugging on it hard enough to make Logan shiver.

They broke apart only because they both needed air. Green eyes met brown in a charged, loaded connection as their chests rose and fell not quite in tandem, just offset enough to create a rhythm. Hypnotized by what they found there they both leaned in again, drawn in by a force Logan didn’t know how to put into words. Destiny, maybe. Like everything he’d done up to this point led him here, held in strong, freckled arms and being kissed senseless.

Logan wasn’t one to develop feelings quickly. Most of the time he was dragged, kicking and screaming, beyond the point of reluctance. Because feelings were a liability. They threw everything out of order, rearranged even the most pedantic of Logan’s thoughts, and left him scrambling to make sense of everything. Feelings were usually avoided because they made him vulnerable. There wasn’t much Logan hated more than being vulnerable.

So why was this goofy, ridiculous, fiery American an exception?

He kissed without holding anything back. Every emotion, no matter how fleeting, was expressed in one facet of the kiss or another. He was enthusiastic and passionate and so incredibly loving about it all, hands splayed across the width of Logan’s back and pulling him impossibly closer as he gasped against Logan’s mouth, angling his head for more, more, more.

Logan had never been kissed like that before. His knees were weak. He reached up to steady himself against Finn’s chest, the hard steel of dog tags digging into his palm. Logan masochistically gripped them tighter, willing the rolled outer edges and indents of Finn’s name and information to be permanently imprinted onto his skin. He knew he’d never forget this, not in a thousand years, but there was something to be said about having physical evidence. It felt less like a dream that way.

Spurred on by that thought Logan broke away to kiss down Finn’s neck, moving his uniform out of the way to suck and bite at the skin there, intent on leaving a mark of his own for Finn to remember him by. It would be hidden from everyone else, but Finn would know. Logan would know.

Don’t forget me was a mantra in his head, coursing through his veins with each beat of his heart, put into actions with each kiss to freckled skin. Finn just let his head fall back to rest against the wall with a breathy sigh, his hand coming up to fist in brown waves.

“Definitely keep doing that, holy fuck-”

Logan buried his laugh in Finn’s neck, then shushed him. “Someone’s going to find us if you keep that up.”

Finn just hummed noncommittally, capturing Logan’s jaw in his hand and angling him up for another kiss. Logan found himself unable to pull away. He’d never put much thought into reincarnation – living one life after the next in an endless tide of life and death, love and loss, happiness and grief; but Logan was having a hard time finding any other sort of explanation for the inescapable, gravitational pull he felt towards Finn – like he was someone Logan had always known. Like some deep, buried part of him had sprung back to life now that he’d found him.

Star-crossed lovers, the two of them – like Romeo and Juliet, just as doomed from the start.

It didn’t make sense. It shouldn’t make sense. And yet Logan felt it in his bones, this connection. He couldn’t really fathom being apart now, even though he knew they’d have to go their separate ways soon. Maybe they’d find their way back to each other again, when this war was over. He’d fight like hell to have a chance at this; maybe Finn would, too.

Finn leaned back reluctantly, bright eyes meeting Logan’s, before he made a soft sound and kissed him again. He was a little lightheaded when the redhead pulled away a second time to rest his forehead against Logan’s. It was almost whiplash-inducing, how quickly they’d gone from frantic and intoxicating kisses to this – this strange closeness, almost reverent in nature and calm, still, hushed. How did this feel more intimate than the kisses from before? Why did it feel more intimate?

“We should head back.” Finn said slowly, glancing in the direction of their rendezvous point. “Leo will be wondering where we are, and we still need a place to stay for the night.”

He barely had the chance to nod in agreement before Finn pulled him in for one last deep, lingering, ardent kiss to remember him by, staying close for as long as he could before he straightened his collar and lead the way out of the alley. Logan, still reeling, pressed a hand briefly over his thundering heart and took a deep, fortifying breath before following.

If he looked closely enough, just under the edge of Finn’s collar, Logan could see the darkening mark he’d left there. He pressed his fingers to his lips, willing the feel of Finn’s soft skin against them to embed itself into his memory.

Don’t forget me, because I sure as hell won’t be forgetting you.

.

Leo was awake, and Logan was awake because Leo was awake. He was restless in the dark stillness of the church they were camping out in for the night, angling his body this way and that as he tried to fall asleep. Moonlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, their muted and dull colors splashing faintly across blond hair and soft skin, casting the shadows of his eyelashes onto the gentle slopes of cheekbones.

He seemed troubled tonight.

Logan rolled onto his side to face his companion, watching as blue eyes snapped over to track his movement. “Do you always move around this much when you’re trying to sleep?” Logan whispered into the dark, not unkindly, watching the soldier freeze and look over at him a little guiltily.

“I guess,” was the soft response he got, “it’s hard to fall asleep now.”

Ah.

Logan could understand that. The quiet that used to lull him right to sleep was now too quiet, the kind of silence that usually precedes a storm approaching. Their lives were constant motion now – running, hiding, fighting. Silence was never a good thing, not anymore.

“What usually helps?”

Leo stared at him for a second, trying to work out whether Logan was being serious or not. The two of them were in this strange gray area, this limbo of not-really-friends-yet-but-we-could-be-friends-and-we-share-a-mutual-friend-so-we-really-should-get-along-in-theory that was a bit hard to navigate. Leo seemed sweet, as far as Logan knew. Sure, his French was weird and accented and he thought Hershey’s chocolate was the superior chocolate (honestly, what a nightmare) but he seemed nice. Finn clearly adored him, and Logan had a feeling that the redhead was a good judge of character. Besides, Logan knew what it was like to feel unsafe wherever you went, unable to rest out of fear. And he was awake, anyways, and probably wouldn’t be able to sleep until Leo stopped squirming around. It was a mutually beneficial situation.

Leo seemed to reach the same conclusion before he spoke again, quiet and a little guarded. “Distractions. Maybe talking about something?”

Logan looked over at Finn doubtfully, watching his chest rise and fall as he slept. Leo seemed to read his mind, fondness in his voice. “Don’t worry, he’s a heavy sleeper. He always tries to help me fall asleep, but he’s down for the count almost as soon as he lies down.”

Logan smiled at the admission, picturing it clearly in his head. “He’s sweet.”

“Yeah,” So much fondness seeped through in that one simple syllable. “He is.” Leo sighed and tried to get more comfortable before continuing, “Do you actually live in that house in the countryside?”

Logan shot him a look that was most likely hidden in the shadows. “Why else would I be there?”

Fabric rustled against the hardwood floor, as if Leo had shrugged. “Maybe you’re a squatter. Or a spy. Or you’re a hermit. Or you’re our tragic hero, running away from a boring life in the big city, looking for a fresh start.”

Logan laughed, one that was soft and sleepy and (admittedly) a little enamored. “How many books do you read?”

“Too many, I assume.”

Logan could hear the smile in his own voice, but found that he didn’t much care to hide it. “One of those is actually correct, but I’m not telling you which one.”

Silence.

Then, “Oh my god, are you secretly a hermit?”

“That’s the one you go with? Do I seem like a hermit to you?”

“I don’t know! It seemed more plausible than squatter.”

Logan’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Leo smiled and closed his eyes, pillowing his head on one arm as he curled up on his side.

Logan stared.

He really hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d called the two of them America’s finest. Finn had caught his attention first – granted, it was mostly because he was stuck in a tree, but also because he was beautiful. Leo was beautiful, too, albeit in a different way. It was hard to not notice now, even with memories of Finn dancing around in his head. This just confused Logan more.

“So what did you do before this? Before the war.”

Logan blinked at Leo’s words, then rallied his thoughts, trying to stay focused. “Historian. You?”

Leo shrugged again, sleepier this time, more sluggish. “Nothing, I guess. Went straight from school to this, so.”

Logan’s heart ached. He should’ve been learning what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, not this. Logan chose to fight. He fought to protect his family, to take back his country. Leo fought because he wasn’t given a choice.

“You’ll figure it out.” Logan said, quiet as Leo’s shoulders relaxed a little more. The “if you survive this” was left unsaid, but it hung over their heads like the crucifix mounted on the wall.

“Sorry to keep you awake.”

Logan could barely make out the words now, slurred as they were, but he smiled.

“I don’t mind,” he breathed, and he meant it. He liked conversations like this – blanketed by the cover of night with only god and themselves as witnesses.

The reassurance seemed to finally do the trick and Leo’s breathing evened out in sleep, slow and steady.

Logan allowed him just a second to admire before he too closed his eyes. Sleep took him suddenly, like it did more and more these days; he was awake one second and deep into his dreams the next.

.

Morning came slowly and sleepily over the small French town, rousing Leo from a restless sleep on the floor of an abandoned church. Hazy sunlight filtered through the stained-glass and glittered on the floor in faded hues of reds and blues, bringing a sense of peace Leo hadn’t felt since he’d received his orders back home while sitting on the front porch with his mama. It was a pretty sight, a luxury that was hard to come by these days.

Logan and Finn were still asleep. They’d gravitated towards each other during the night, hands reaching for each other even in sleep.

Another pretty sight, but it was one that left Leo feeling confused instead of peaceful.

They’d be going their separate ways soon, Logan back the way he came and Finn and Leo moving on to Paris to deliver the map to their superiors. Leo wasn’t sure how to feel about it, because on one hand he’d have Finn all to himself again, but on the other hand… Logan. He wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to him yet, and he knew Finn wasn’t, either.

Leo looked between the two of them after they’d woken up and packed their things, unable to decipher the unspoken conversation they seemed to be having. He knew there was something there from pretty early on; their disheveled appearances when they’d returned from trying to find a place to sleep last night had all but confirmed it. Leo had taken one look at the mark haphazardly hidden by Finn’s messy shirt collar and Logan’s red, kiss-swollen lips and he wanted. He wanted so much that it scared him a little.

This war had changed everyone in their own ways – maybe this was how Leo had changed. He was greedy now – selfish – wanting nothing more than to take and take and take. Even if it clearly, painfully, obviously wasn’t his.

Wars made villains out of even the best of people. Leo sure as hell wasn’t going to let that be him.

So he averted his gaze from the two in front of him, buried hungry feelings deep down away from prying eyes, and hoped they’d never resurface again.

Finn stared after Logan as he hopped into the back of a transport truck, eyes sad as the engine roared to life and began to move. He stared after it as it got smaller in the distance, then stared some more even after it was out of sight. He took a small, almost imperceptible step in the same direction before he remembered himself and stopped short.

A deep, grounding breath.

Then a false smile in Leo’s direction.

“So. Where to now, Nutty?”

[wonder-womans-ex]

Tastes Like You

Finn's tongue is purple.

It has been for a while now, actually, and Logan can't stop thinking about it. It's extremely purple.

Purple like amethyst. Purple like Noelle's hands that once time she dyed her hair. Purple like a can of grape soda.

Leo's tongue is blue, and Logan can't stop thinking about that, either.

Bright, vibrant robin's-egg blue, just like the sky on a clear day. Like Leo's eyes. Like a goalie's crease.

Logan's tongue is red, and he wouldn't have it any other way. It's red like lipstick, or his nose after a day in the snow. It's red like Gryffindor, like the sugar maple leaves that litter the streets of his hometown every fall.

They're on a tiny beach on the west coast, gazing over the channel at the trees on the island. They'd had had an exhibition game down in Vancouver, and, afterwards, Logan had driven them up to the Sunshine Coast, to a tiny town that his family had visited once on vacation.

Finn had bought them all freezies from a gas station, and they'd walked across the sun-warmed street to a playground where the summer grass prickled their bare feet and the swings creaked when Leo jumped onto one.

The sun is beginning to set, but there's enough daylight that they don't have to worry about heading back to the hostel yet. Logan's sat on a piece of driftwood, a smile on his face as he watches his boys run back and forth along the shore, kicking up sand behind them.

The ocean water has long faded from the warmth of summer into the slightly bitter chill of late September, and Finn shrieks when his feet skim the edge of the surf. Leo throws his head back and laughs.

The sand is warm and Logan curls his toes into it. He stand up, jogging down towards the water, and his footsteps make no noise. He almost stumbles once or twice, but then he comes to stand behind Finn, who's crouched down, poking at something floating in the shallows with a stick. "Whatcha got there?"

"A jellyfish," says Finn, and Leo nods in agreement. It's a tiny thing, milky and almost transparent—nothing out of the ordinary, but Finn seems utterly entranced by it.

Logan grins. "City boy," he jokes. "Sees a fucking jellyfish and acts like it's some sort of magical being."

"These things kill people, Lo!"

"I—it's a moon jelly, Finn. These things are barely even poisonous. See?" he says as he bends down beside Finn, scooping the creature into his palm and stroking the slimy membrane. "Harmless. It just tickles."

Logan thinks there might be stars in Finn's eyes. "Can I hold it?"

"Of course. Here, hold out your hand, and..."

The jelly, along with the slight pool of water that it rests in, slips from Logan's sun-browned hand into Finn's freckled one. It practically blends in with the ginger boy's pale skin, but Logan doesn't have time to let his eyes find it, because, immediately, he's being pulled towards Leo.

They're nose-to-nose. "Hello."

"Hello."

Leo's mouth tastes like raspberries, and Logan is glad he managed to talk his younger boyfriend out of picking the white freezie. Cream soda his ass. It tastes like fucking bleach.

Cherry and raspberry blend together as the kiss goes on, and Logan reaches up to wrap his arms around Leo's neck. They're in public, sure, but the beach is abandoned except for them, and Logan is past the point where he gives a shit. They're in love, after all. Give him a break.

Finn makes a noise of protest. "I want kisses, too."

"Put down the jellyfish first," says Leo, breaking away from Logan ever so slightly.

When Finn bends down once more to gently toss the jelly back into the ocean, Logan watches. Then Finn stands up, squinting his eyes closed and pursing his lips outwards in a pout.

The other two boys laugh, and Leo steps forwards. He plants a single kiss on Finn's lips, then moves aside to let Logan do the same.

"That was lame," says Finn when he opens his eyes again. "Do better."

Logan does better. He licks into Finn's mouth, relishing in the faux grape flavour, and Finn makes a small noise.

Leo pecks Logan's cheek to signify that he wants a turn, and Logan gladly takes a backseat as he watches his lovers kiss. The sun is setting on the beach, and the waves crash in the distance, and they're three colours that go together perfectly, and he wouldn't change this for the world.

amazing characters are by @lumosinlove <3

[awanderingdeal]

Hi! I was wondering if you can write coops and the cubs hanging out together and bonding?

Hiya, thanks for the prompt! I puffy heart love thinking about coops and the cubs hanging out.

Fun fact: several of these lines are misquoted from times I have done escape rooms with people.

Rating: T

Cw: couple of sexual innuendos, jokes about violence and some food mentions

Let me know if you think I need to change the rating or add any content warnings.

These characters are from the Sweater Weather universe and belong to @lumosinlove

"Oh look, you can pedal this thing."

Logan bit back his berating reply, having been told twice already that he was taking this too seriously.

Attends!" he yelled, eyes widening at the screen that had lit up. "I think -" The backlight faded before he could comprehend what had been there. He jogged the short distance to the door they had just managed to get open, craning his head around the frame. Finn had crammed himself into a small rowing boat that was sank into the wooden floor, his knees tucked up against his chest. "Harzy, pedal again?"

"Yes! Pedalling the boat makes the screen light up. It looks like an, putain -" Logan growled, "- Sirius, comment dis-tu énigme en anglais?"

"Don't ask me, I don't speak English," Sirius said, his eyes knitted into a focused frown as he attempted to move a key through a Perspex covered maze using a magnet. The problem was the key was hidden under a layer of sand which made tracking its movement difficult.

"Enigma works; a puzzle or riddle is probably closer to what you mean though," Leo answered, squeezing Logan's hip discretely as he passed by.

"A puzzle, a riddle, whatever, somebody just needs to pedal the boat so we can solve it."

"Loops!" The chorus rang through the room unanimously.

"Why do I have to -"

"Mon loup, now is not the time for modesty." Sirius cursed as he lost the key again.

Remus rolled his eyes, but the smug smile set on his lips told a different story. Once he had began pedalling, they moved through the puzzle pretty quickly, managing to open the treasure chest and get a key.

"Sirius, are you still doing that maze?" Remus laughed as he re-entered their half of the room. "Maybe somebody else -"

The sound that left Sirius' mouth could only be described as a growl.

"Alright, be stubborn, Black," Remus kissed the back of his neck.

"I found something!" Logan turned to see Finn his head buried in one of the distressed cargo crates scattered around the room. "It's a message in a bottle," he stood, hands clutching the item. He shoved it in Leo's direction. "Here, get this open. I'm going to see if there's more things to find."

The tinny sound of metal hitting the floor, grabbed Logan's attention, looking just in time to see Sirius' discreet fist pump before he bent to pick up the key.

"You did it then?" Logan teased, "took you long enough, Cap"

"Shut up," Sirius huffed, smiling softly. "Don't think I won't have you skate laps until you puke."

"Loops, your fiancé is bullying me. Make him stop."

"I'm not getting involved," Remus chuckled, not lifting his eyes from the puzzle he and Leo were trying to solve.

"Finn, where did you get a pen and paper from?" Leo's question stopped the inevitable squabble about to break out, the four of them turning their attention to Finn. He was crouched over a typewriter, his eyes flicking between the metal buttons, a yellowing shred of paper and a newer lined piece.

"I brought it with me," Finn shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose, cocking his head a little. Shit, he was hot.

The four of them looked between themselves. "Is that allowed?" Logan broke the silence.

"Nobody's shouted at me yet?" Finn shrugged again, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the camera.

They looked at each other again. "He's got a point," Remus muttered, going back to the bottle.

"What the fuck was that?" Logan jumped, spinning around. The door of the previous room was shut. "Oh no, no, no, no." He rushed over, pushing against the thick wood. His hands searched, looking for some way to open it.

"I think it's locked, Lo." Thank you Leo for that incredibly helpful input.

"Why is nobody else panicking?" Logan rubbed at his temples. "What if we needed something in there?"

"Tremblay," Sirius' hands found his shoulders. "Get it together. Even if there was something in there then there's nothing nothing we can do about it now. We've just got to keep our heads and push forward."

"Aww, look at Cap go," Finn cooed. "Loops, does he give you pep talks in bed too?"

Remus' eyes tracked to the camera, casually moving another mechanism of the puzzle. "I wonder if they've ever had a murder in this room"

"Can we murder people later, please?" Leo's next words were muttered so Logan couldn't hear them, but Remus gave a loud snort. "We've only got 15 minutes left on the clock," he continued.

The next 13 minutes went by with multiple successes: the bottle was opened revealing a note with a series of numbers they had no idea what to do with; Logan and Sirius managed to find a third key on a small hook hidden behind some giant palm leaves, and Finn's tapped his deciphered code into the typewriter unlocking a battered looking wardrobe that contained a treasure chest. There in, lay the problem.

The games master had told them at the beginning they needed to find the chest because it contained a 'flare' which would be there only hope of getting off the island they had washed up on. Except, the chest had four padlocks, one of which was numerical and the other three opened with keys.

"I guess we just try them?" Leo mused.

"We don't have enough time, surely there's a logic to it"

"Stop wasting time chatting and starting trying codes."

Finn's fingers worked quickly at the combination lock, groaning each time he didn't hear the click he was after.

"The keys the wrong way round, Logan," Leo said.

Logan hissed. "Sssh! I can't concentrate with you all shouting at me."

"I wasn't shouting. I was trying -"

A speaker crackled, an ominous voice filling the room. "Would you like a clue?"

"No!" It was the only thing they had all agreed on in what seemed like a long time.

Seconds later, there was a joyous click and the padlocks popped open.

"Congratulations, you managed to escape the island with 4 seconds left." The same brunette man who had briefed them earlier was back. He might have mentioned earlier that his name was Kyle. What Logan knew for sure was his smile was too wide and it was setting him on edge. "Would you like a photo?"

"Yes," Finn nodded eagerly. "The other boys will never believe us other wise."

The games master nodded, scrawling their time messily on a chalkboard proclaiming they had successfully escaped. A light flooded the room and maybe-Kyle swung a camera up from his hip.

Several photographs later, he asked for an email address to send them to, any pretense that he was even vaguely happy to be there lost now.

"Aww, it's cute," Leo said, thrusting his phone in Logan's direction. "Look at Finn," he laughed, pointing at their boyfriend, smile wide, and his fingers thrown up in a v.

"Merde, we're so lucky. Do we have to go to dinner with Cap and Loops?" Logan whispered.

"Oi! We can hear you. And no ditching, you owe me a pizza," Remus shot him a playful glare.

"Sid's?"

"Sid's," an agreeable chorus returned.

[the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff]

Look where we are now

Hehehe I haven’t posted in ages… oops.

I’ve been going through the worst writers block of my life but today inspiration struck. And in the immortal words of Jade west “I write what I feel” so here it is.

Enjoy 🙃

CW: there is implied homophobia, an emotional meltdown and a passing mention of food

Leo stared at the beige tiles of his shower, letting the feeling of the warm water hitting his back distract him from the ache in his chest. He didn’t even know why he felt the way he did. Something had set the time bomb ticking inside his heart off and now he couldn’t stop the thoughts racing through his head.

He felt another tear trickle down his face, not bothering to wipe it off as it joined the water from the shower. A sob he didn’t manage to hold down escaped his lips and with it a fresh round of tears fell from his eyes.

He was so tired.

He was tired of feeling like a guest in his own home.

He hated it, but he was also scared to lose them. Scared that if his parents knew, they would hate him and he wouldn’t have a family anymore. He’d known for a year at that point. A long year of trying to come to term with it and the fact that he could lose everything if he wasn’t careful.

He wished he could be like the other fifteen year old's he knew whose biggest worried were winning their next game.

“I’m sorry”, he whispered. There was no one to hear. No one to listen to him break down into pieces.

“I’m sorry that I’m not ok. Cause I really want to be.” He stifled a sob with his hand, taking a moment to try and get his breathing back under control. “I’m just so tired. Tired of feeling like I don’t belong. Tired of living as someone’s idea of who I am. Tired of feeling like I’m constantly walking on the edge of a cliff waiting for a breeze to blow me off.”

He closed his eyes tightly, pressing his knuckles to his eyelids to try and stop the tears that didn’t seem to end. “Because I don’t know if anyone will be there to catch me when I hit the ground.”

“I know I need help, I just don’t know how to ask for it. And I don’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone so I’ll just”, his voice gave out mid sentence, the whine forcing its way out of his lungs making his chest hurt. “I’ll just smile. And when mom asks if I’m ok I’ll just say yes.”

A smile made its way onto his face.

It wasn’t a happy smile by any means. It was nothing other than simple acceptance. He knew that he could never be himself. Not if he wanted a career in hockey. Not if he wanted to keep his family. And he, well he wasn’t ok with it.

But what other choice did he have?

~*~*~*~*~*

Leo looked down when he felt Finn move in his sleep. He ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s auburn curls, a small smile tugging at his lips. He would never understand how Finn could fall asleep in the middle of an action movie without a care for the loud explosions and dramatic music.

He looked at Logan, who was sitting on the floor with his head on Leo’s knee and a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He looked completely entranced by the movie playing out on screen. If Leo had stopped paying attention during the car chase and didn’t really understand what was going on.

Thirty minutes later the credits started rolling. Logan stretched his arms over his head before getting up from his position on the ground. He looked between Leo and Finn, who was lying almost fully on top of the blonde by now, with a soft yet amused smile.

“How are we doing this without waking him up?”

“I have no idea”, Leo answered, laughter coloring his voice. “Can you carry him?

Logan rolled his eyes fondly. “Obviously, but that would wake him up.”

“Finn sleeps like the dead, love. It’ll be fine.”

After much maneuvering and Finn almost waking up they managed to get him back to their room. Logan placed him gently on the bed and laid down beside him, sighing happily when he felt Leo’s arms wrap around his waist.

Leo buried his face in Logan’s neck, placing feather light kisses against the warm skin. He breathed him in, a sense of home settling in his chest.

He remembered a time when the only thing he could feel was a constant dull ache. That feeling didn’t bother him as much anymore. It wasn’t the only thing he had anymore.

Now he knew his parents accepted him and he had found two amazing boys that he loved so much it didn’t feel real.

The fear was still there, but it didn’t feel as important.

He thought back to when he was younger. How he had believed that he had to choose between his love for hockey or being happy.

He had never been so glad to be wrong.

[spookypotato]

Flames vs. Bruins

This is specifically for our wonderful discord captain, @jacklighting. Happy belated birthday again and thank you for being you and admin to the server that brought me so much joy!

So I thought about what I should write about and then I remembered that our second interaction was you yelling at me to go to bed. And then it led to this.

Charcters by @lumosinlove!!

CW: beverage mention

“Mama, I don’t want to go to bed.”, Leo complained as Eloise let him down, where she had carried him up on her hip.

“Leo, sweetheart, you’re four. That means your bedtime is at 8. We let you stay up longer anyway.”, she smiled down at him. He was sitting on top of his covers, not even close to snuggling under the blankets like he usually would.

She looked up into his face again, looking at the biggest pout, her son had ever made.

“But today’s the game. Ya’ll be up, why can’t I?”

Her smile grew soft. “Maybe you can watch a bit on Saturday, yeah? That game starts a bit earlier.”

She saw the toddlers resistance fading, though the pout was still on his face. “Sleep. Otherwise you’ll be exhausted tomorrow.”

He moved under the blankets and Eloise tucked him in. She leaned down and gently kissed his forehead. “Sleep well. Je t’aime.”

“Love ya, too, mama.”, he said, closing his eyes, as Eloise turned off his light and went down the stairs to her husband.

Leo could hear them talking from where he was currently sat on his bed. He couldn’t sleep. Not with the game going on downstairs. His parents hadn’t invited people, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t bought a whole supermarket full of food and drinks. Leo could hear them holding back their shouts as soon as the game started, too invested already, but they both knew their 4-year-old was upstairs, supposed to be asleep.

But how can someone be sleeping, while hearing the commentators voice echo through their house, and the sound of the goal horn a few minutes in. He couldn’t help himself from wondering who had scored, what the goal had looked like. He couldn’t quite understand, who was even playing, so he waddled over to the door, the sound a bit clearer, but he still couldn’t figure out the words.

So, he decided to go down the stairs, holding on to the banister, trying to make as little noise as possible. Even though both Wyatt and Eloise were entranced by the game, they had the weird ability to always know, when he was up to something. He was finally down the stairs and turned the corner to see the screen. He couldn’t look away. The players were gliding across the ice so elegantly, yet their plays were fast and rough.

He was frozen in place, not able to move or to tear his gaze away from the TV, when his mum spoke, “Sweetheart? Do we have anymore cold drinks?”

“Oh, yeah. Picked some up, when making groceries for tonight. I’ll go get them.”, and with that Wyatt stood up, turning around and slowly walking into the kitchen, looking back more often than not, which had him, almost crashing into his son. Leo hadn’t even noticed his dad walking towards him, he hadn’t noticed the worried expression turn into a hard and then into a loving one. His eyes were still fixed on the screen.

“What are ya up to, boo?”

“Hey, Le, you alright, buddy?”

“Leo?”

At that even Eloise had turned around to see their toddler, who only now had shaken out of his state to look up at his dad.

“What are you doing down here, boo?”, Wyatt’s soft voice asked again.

Leo knew, he should have been in his bed, asleep for an hour. “Pouvait pas dormir. Sorry.”

Eloise went over to them as well. “Le, you don’t have to apologise. You’re not tired?”

“No.”, came back in Leo’s small voice, he dropped his gaze to the floor. “Puis-je- Can I watch with you?”, he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Wyatt started smiling. “Yeah, you can join us.”

Neither of them could resist Leo, when he asked like that. “Yeah, sweetheart. C’mere.”, she gently padded her thigh. “But only for a bit. You can’t stay up all night, have to make dodo sometime.”

Leo couldn’t hold back his smile though. He quickly went over, made himself at home in his mama’s lap and answered “Je vais le fair, mama.” and had already turned his head back to the game.

“It’s Flames against Bruins.”, his dad explained. Leo was awestruck. He leaned back and Eloise hand combed through his blonde curls. Leo didn’t see his parent’s exchange smiles as they both looked at him. He could only see the players and how beautifully they moved towards the goal and the goalie who- Leo gasped.

“That was so cool! How is he so fast?”

Eloise met her husband’s glance and nodded. “Do you want to play hockey someday, too? We have a rink pretty close.”

That tore their child’s eyes away from the screen. He imagined himself there, on the ice. Imagined himself in all that padding, gliding across the ice, keeping the goal clear, like that man on the screen had.

“Yeah!”, he answered, “I wanna play! I wanna try! Can we go, papa? Can we go now?”

His parents both snickered, “We can go tomorrow how about that?”

“Promise?”, Leo asked, his eyes shining bright with excitement.

“Promise.”

[lumosinlove]

Relic Keel

(warnings in tags)

PREVIOUSLY ON RELIC KEEL

Marlene got into college and hasn’t told Dorcas because she’s scared of how she will react.

Lily and James had sex and obviously like each other, but Lily is scared to have attachments on Hogwarts when they’re going to college soon.

Leo and Logan question each other about their pasts without much progress. Logan finds out that Leo hopes to own The Lion restaurant one day, and that his father’s death has something to do with “The Voldemort.”

Saint and Sirius talk about leaving the island and how they met when they were eleven years old. They have sex and avoid more difficult topics.

James and Lily meet at the Gryffindor Club as promised. Lily tells James that she doesn’t want anything tying her to the island, that she hates the fake boundaries that Hogwarts has and that James isn’t crossing them as much as he thinks he is. James understands, even though it hurts.

Saint and Sirius are cleaning the Potter’s pool when James arrives with Remus and Luke. Remus and Sirius have a tense moment in the kitchen, Luke and Saint argue, and Sirius finds out that it’s Remus who sails the Wolfsbane every morning—Remus thus finding out that Sirius notices.

Logan returns to the Carrows to hand over his money and stock up on Crucio. We find out that he works for them in the hopes that they will help him get Finn out of Saint Clair, only the Carrows are angry with him for using their Crucio—they say that Logan owes them now.

Logan heads over to Saint Clair to watch Finn from afar, and swears again that he will rescue him.

part iv

Remus closed his eyes, soaking in the morning sun and the salty air. The wind pushed his hair back as he tightened the rigging, catching the wind. Sometimes his sails felt like his bare hands. Like he finally had something to hold onto, even if it blistered his palms. The sea made him feel alone, in the best way. Usually, it felt like people were always around. He couldn’t go anywhere without running into at least two people from school, or his parents’ friends. Yes, he’s excited for college, no, he’s not sure exactly yet, yes, he’s still sailing, yes, he’s still obsessed, yes, he remembers learning at Gryffindor Club, sure, I’ll tell my mom you say hi.

Solidarity was less exhausting.

The wind buffered and he sighed as he slowed down. he looked back towards Shack Beach. Saint had said they saw him every morning—that Sirius saw him every morning. He wondered if Sirius was watching now.

He couldn’t see anything from this far away. Part of him wondered if he could make this island disappear completely, just for a moment. But it was dangerous to stray that far. Even The Cradle, the small U of islands just off of Hogwarts’ southern coast, was pushing it. Remus huffed out a laugh as he managed the ropes to come about, back towards shore. If that wasn’t a metaphor, he didn’t know what was.

Things on Hogwarts had become complicated in what felt like overnight, even though Remus knew that wasn’t true. They were older now. They didn’t just care about summer vacation. There was college to think about, and then jobs. Hogwarts wasn’t the dream it once was. Remus wanted to see mountains, and huge cities, or snow—and not just for a week on vacation. He wanted to belong somewhere because he wanted to be there, and not just because he had grown up there. He was tired of knowing everything there was to know.

He tied up his Wolfsbane on autopilot, stroking his hand over the side before tugging his shirt over his head and jumping straight into the water. It was cooler from the night, but it was what Remus needed. He held his breath as he found the sandy bottom, his eyes closed. For a moment, he didn’t have to be anywhere. He got to enjoy the ocean and its predictable changes.

When he came up for air, he remembered why he loved this island. That still didn’t mean he didn’t want to leave.

“Are you headed to the museum, sweetheart?” his mother said when Remus came down to the kitchen, freshly showered. He preferred to let the salt linger all day, but he figured he should be fresh for his first day of work.

“Yeah,” Remus held up his keys. “Just looking for some coffee first.”

His mom held up a mug for him, laughing. “Ask and you shall receive.”

Remus smiled. “Thanks, mom.”

“How was it this morning?”

Remus poured some milk into his cup. “It was good. Sun’s going to be strong today. Went near The Cradle—not too far, don’t worry.”

“You know me too well,” Hope laughed, whisking some eggs into a lather. “Well, it’s pizza night. We’re ordering in so, if you want to have some friends over and take it to the den, that’s fine with me. But don’t complain if Jules crashes the party.”

Remus nodded. “Actually, I think we’re going out. If that’s all right?”

Hope nodded. “All right, sure. Be safe, though. Who, uh…”

“James and Luke,” Remus sighed. “Mom—”

“I wasn’t going to say anything—”

“It’s not Luke’s fault,” Remus continued anyway. “His dad, I mean. He didn’t know.”

“I know that,” Hope sighed. “But…Even I can see that boy’s hurting and I barely see him at all.”

“Then shouldn’t he be with his friends?” Remus said.

Hope raised her eyebrows at him, and Remus raised his own right back.

“All right, all right,” Hope said. “You’re gonna be late, I’ll see you later, baby.”

Remus knew he should take the car his parents had given him. He knew he should get used to driving, knew his dad wondered why it just sat in the garage. But here, on the island, Remus liked his bicycle. He liked the warm breeze. It reminded him of being out on the water.

Which, in turn, now reminded him of Sirius Black.

When Remus remembered Sirius, he mostly remembered bruised cheeks and nasty looking cuts. He remembered the hushed way people used to whisper about him, and how, even when he was loud, grinning and well-liked, he was still from Salazar. Sometimes he had eaten lunch surrounded by people, and sometimes he had eaten it alone with his brother.

Remus didn’t understand this island. Was Sirius really so different because he was born a few miles South rather than North? It made no sense—only it did, but only because it was all Remus had ever known.

The Hogwarts History Museum was a pride of the island. Remus knew it well from school trips, and from his own interest. He’d spent many Saturdays there as a kid, gazing at all of the small models of ships and dreaming about what it would be like to sail them, wishing they weren’t trapped behind glass—feeling a little like he was trapped behind glass. A ship in a bottle.

“Hi there, Remus,” Layla smiled at him, green eyes kind and skin a rich, dark brown against the pale pink scarf in her hair.

“Hi, Layla,” Remus smiled. “Having a good summer so far?”

“Sure,” Layla shrugged. “Lots of time here. I saw you win the sailing race last Sunday, congrats.”

Remus smiled. “Thanks. It was real fun. Sorry I beat your brother, though.”

“Oh, Lyle doesn’t mind,” Layla waved a hand. Her nails were painted pink, too. “Don’t worry about it.”

Remus had been friends with Layla since they were little, competing for best in class usually. She was wicked smart and mellow. Remus could always use some mellow, good conversation—especially with James being James and Luke being…well, whatever Luke was now. Layla liked history, and her family owned the museum, which meant Layla told tales that were, albeit tall, fun to listen to.

Remus leaned against the desk, looking around. “This place never changes, huh?”

Layla laughed, clicking a pen. “History doesn’t tend to change that much, R, and so neither do we. Unlike the world out there.”

“I don’t know about that. Nothing ever feels too different out there,” Remus laughed, too. “But I guess you’re right. I’m glad you’re here, though. Or else I’d be sitting behind this desk by myself.”

“I’m glad you’re here, too,” Layla nodded. “What made you take the job?”

Remus snorted as he rounded the corner, picking up his name badge where Beatrice, Layla’s mother and the museum curator, said it would be. “Don’t pretend we didn’t see each other here when we were little all the time. Not to mention at Gryffindor Club. You, obviously.”

Layla raised an eyebrow. “Me and your mom.”

Remus winced and Layla laughed.

“C’mon, we both know you’d be out on your boat all day if it was up to you.”

Remus laughed. “Fine. But seriously. You’re a perk.”

Layla nodded, rolling her eyes with a smile. “Just a couple of history buffs, I guess.”

Remus shrugged. “There are worse things to be.”

The day was pretty slow. A few tourists here and there, taking photo behind the cardboard cutouts that made you look like you were dressed as a sailor, or a pirate.

“Are there really pirates here?” one little girl had asked Layla.

Remus had smiled when Layla crouched down and whispered to her, “careful, there’s one there,” and pointed at Remus.

When lunch rolled around, Remus expected Layla to pull out a bagged sandwich like him, but instead she scoffed and picked up her bag.

“Come on. We have to get out for a bit.”

Remus shrugged. “All right, where to?”

“The Lion, of course,” Layla replied. “It’s the best food on the island.”

“The Lion,” Remus repeated slowly. “You mean—in The Hollow?”

Layla gave him a look. “Oh, you’re not one of those are you?”

“One of what?” Remus said. “No. I’m not, I just… c’mon, you hear things.”

“Hear things? You’ve never been?”

“Once,” Remus swallowed, thinking of the fight. “It didn’t really go well.”

Layla just shook her head.

“History is just one great field of stories, Remus. You’ll never get to the truth unless you listen to them all.”

And so Remus found himself riding alongside Layla on their bikes and right through Gryffindor. The Hollow didn’t have a sign or anything, but you knew when you were in it. Remus almost wished he had been able to see some sort of line to cross, but everything was just suddenly different. Low houses with open doors, people gathered together and laughing. Kids running with surfboards over their heads, towards Shack Beach. It had seemed even more vibrant in the dark the night of the party, even through the tinted windows of Luke’s car. String lights hung over cookouts, and music blasting from speakers. It had smelled amazing, and Remus would have to say Layla was probably right about the food. 

The Lion was just as bright as everything else. It was bustling with lunch-goers, and the doors were flung wide, letting the heat right in. Remus looked around at the people. Some tourists, obviously. Some not. Hollows. Some of them smiled when they caught Remus’ eye, and some narrowed their eyes.

“Hi, Leo, babe,” Layla said as she slid onto a stool at the counter.

There was a blond boy behind it wearing a tank top and a snapback. He smiled as he set some shrimp down in a frier. “Hey, Layla, babe, ça va?”

“Just working. At least I’ve got Remus for company now.”

Remus smiled awkwardly when Leo fixed his blue eyes on him. He really didn’t know what he was waiting for. Something terrible to happen?

Leo only held out a hand. “Leo, nice to meet you.”

“Remus,” Remus said, and took it. He tried not to look at the rainbow bracelet on Leo’s wrist for too long, but he could tell Leo had felt the way his hand tightened. “Yeah—you, too.”

Leo touched it briefly, like an old habit, as he pulled away, giving another smile to Remus.

It didn’t necessarily mean Leo wasn’t straight, but on such a small island, Remus tended to notice these things. He and Luke had figured each other out pretty fast around sixteen. They’d kissed. Once. And then winced, laughed, and shoved each other in the pool. Sometimes Remus wished he and Luke had worked. He didn’t see any other boys coming his way. Leo was smiling at him like he knew what Remus was thinking.

“What can I get you two?” Leo asked.

A boyfriend? Remus thought wistfully.

“Two of your specials, please,” Layla said. “Re, you’re going to lose your mind it’s so good.”

“What’s your special?” Remus asked.

Leo shrugged, but he was grinning. “Like a chef ever gives up his secrets—”

Leo had stopped mid-sentence, eyes going over their shoulders towards the door. Remus turned to look, and a moment later, a brown haired boy was slinging a backpack down carefully between his feet and taking the seat beside Remus.

“Well, look who’s back,” Leo said to him.

The boy glanced at Remus and Layla, then gave a small shrug. “Yeah.”

Leo snorted. “Yeah,” he parroted. “You’re just hungry.”

The boy shrugged again.

Leo sighed, and gave Remus a look that said, can you believe this? before turning back to the stove. “This is Logan guys. Apparently he doesn’t talk today. Three specials. Coming up.”

~

Logan didn’t recognize the boy sitting at the counter. He didn’t recognize the girl either. Then again, he didn’t recognize many people. He didn’t know anyone. Except Dorcas—if that even counted. And Leo. If that counted, either.

The Felix was heavy in his pack, wedged protectively between his feet, and he wished the strangers would leave so that Leo would talk to him. He hadn’t said two words that weren’t him making sure that Logan liked his food, and asking him where he’d been.

Logan was a little annoyed with him for asking that question. It wasn’t like Leo didn’t know what Logan did. Then again, Leo didn’t know why Logan did what he did.

“You guys get the new madness exhibit up yet, Layla?” Leo was asking the girl with the scarf in her hair. “The one you were telling me about.”

The sandy-haired boy looked up from his food. “The madness exhibit?”

The girl—Layla—cocked her head. “Remus, you…you don’t know?”

“Know what?” the boy—Remus—replied.

Layla sat up a little, looking suddenly awkward. “Your mom donated almost everything we have. I mean…it is your family that’s famous for…”

Remus raised his eyebrows. “Losing their fucking minds?”

Layla winced. “Well, yeah, okay, poor choice of words on my part. But madness isn’t always a bad thing, you know. People say people are crazy all the time. Sometimes they’re just extraordinary.”

Remus looked back down at his food. “My family’s not extraordinary, believe me.”

“Usually extraordinary-ness belongs to one person, I’d say,” Leo said. “My mom’s pretty extraordinary. Doesn’t mean I am.”

“You want to stay on this island, don’t you?” Logan found himself saying. Then, he felt his neck heat and he turned down to his food.

“What’s so extraordinary about that?” Layla replied at the same time as Remus said, “You do?”

Leo just laughed, rolling his eyes at Logan. “I’m with Layla on this one, guys, sorry.”

“What about you, Logan?” Layla asked. “I want the museum after I go to college. At least I think I do. Leo wants The Lion, Remus wants to sail the world…” Remus blushed at that, and Layla’s eyes were very green. “What do you want to do?”

Logan found it strange that they were treating him like that. So normally. Logan knew his necklace was on display. It was easier than explaining why people hadn’t seen him around and pretending to be a tourist. That lead to questions. Being abandoned didn’t. And he was. He was abandoned. People didn’t ask. Most probably thought he had just aged out. People didn’t ask. It was better that way. Logan didn’t have any answers. All he had was the memory of that last night with Finn. Finn had returned to their room, eyes wild and voice urgent.

Come on, Lo, wake up. Wake up, Logan, we have to go. Now.

Logan had felt helplessly awake in the first weeks of being out. He was still sorting through what that meant.

Logan swallowed. “I don’t know. I’m—looking for someone first.”

Remus sighed and mumbled. “Aren’t we all.”

“You are?” Leo asked softly.

Logan nodded. “Or, not looking. I’m just…I’m waiting for someone.”

He knew where Finn was, but Logan knew that he could wait forever and he wouldn’t come. Logan had to take what he wanted. It was a lesson he was learning fast.

“Oh,” Remus replied. “Um…cool. I hope you find them.”

Logan just nodded.

“Well, we should head out,” Layla said, rising. “Gotta get back to work.”

“Sure thing, just pay up front,” Leo smiled. “See you later, Layla.” He nodded at Remus. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Remus smiled back. “The food was great.”

Logan watched Leo watch them leave, then snort. “That guy looked more spooked than a horse with a snake.”

“Isn’t that what Gods are supposed to look like?” Logan replied.

Leo shrugged. “Usually you can’t see their eyes behind their aviators.”

Logan laughed a little. “Right.” he looked back down at his food, realizing he had begun picking his fries apart, rather than eating them.

“I’m looking for someone too, you know,” Leo broke the silence.

Logan did. Only, he hadn’t thought about it like that. Leo’s dad and Finn. Leo’s dad was probably dead. Finn wasn’t.

“I hope you find him,” Logan replied. “Your dad.”

The Lion was in full swing now, the lunchtime rush loud and boisterous. Leo had a tank top on, and Logan thought he looked a little tired. Sleeplessness showed easily on his skin.

“Do you have to run?” Leo asked instead of responding. “And hide? Like, from the police?”

Logan sat up, instinctively looking behind him. “I assumed I would have to. But…it hasn’t been that difficult.” He laughed a humorless laugh. “I guess I keep overestimating how much people actually care about me. Maybe I should have learned something by now.”

“Maybe you’re just looking at the wrong people,” Leo said quickly, and looked up with a smile, a small one, then down again. “I know a few others who got out. They don’t seem to have trouble, so, you know, if you needed a job or something, you could work in my mom’s workshop. With me. Or here. I’m sure Celeste and Pascal would be all right with it.”

Logan felt taken off guard. “Oh. I…” he thought of the powder packets in his bag. Of the Carrows. How much do you think you owe us by now?

Others? he wanted to ask. What others? 

“Just think about it,” Leo said, and turned towards one of the stove tops to check on some boiling water.

“Yeah. Okay.”

They sat in silence for a long moment.

“It’s a boat,” Leo began suddenly, answering Logan’s yet unasked question. The Voldemort. What his father had been looking for. It was almost like Leo was thanking him for telling the truth about his situation. An eye for an eye. A truth for a truth. Logan sort of liked that consistency. “Was a boat. In the eighteenth century.”

“Oh,” Logan said.

“Biggest story on Hogwarts,” Leo said. “Ten thousand pieces of gold, all fallen to the depths of the ocean just off of Hogwarts’ shores…and never seen again.”

“But if it’s just off the shore…”

Leo smiled a little, shaking his head. “But you have to know where off the shore. Otherwise, you have a whole circumference of miles and miles of open water to work with.”

“And your dad figured it out?”

Leo shrugged, expression closing off a little. “He thought he did.” He cleared his throat as he put an order on the counter for a waiter to take away, and ripped another piece of paper down from the line up to look at. “The Cradle. You know it?”

Logan shook his head.

“It’s a sort of…horse shoe shaped cluster of islands, just off of our southern tip.”

“Salazar,” Logan said quietly.

Leo nodded. “Salazar.”

“Your dad was a treasure hunter,” Logan said slowly. “He was looking for a treasure.”

“Yeah,” Leo said, flipping a crab cake in sizzling oil. “He was.”

“And did he find it? Do you want to find it?”

“I don’t know,” Leo whispered, busy hands stilling. “He never came home.”

Logan nodded.

“He wanted to find it,” Leo said softly. “Really badly. And I… I feel like I should.”

“And was he close?”

Leo glanced up from his knife. “Yes.”

“Leonardo,” a voice came suddenly, entering the restaurant. “What does your mother feed you, you gorgeous specimen?”

Logan froze. He knew that voice.

Leo rolled his eyes, and looked at the newcomers. “Fuck off, Saint. Hey, Sirius.”

“Hi,” a second voice came, and it was closer, almost beside Logan at the bar.

Leo’s eyes caught on Logan’s again, probably meaning to introduce him, but he stopped instead.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked.

But Logan just shook his head, and then the newcomers—Saint and Sirius—were leaning against the bar. Logan felt the breath beside him catch just as his own had, and he turned to look.

Logan thought the boy standing beside him looked different. Older. More muscular. Squarer jaw. But the same. Same eyes. Same shock of blond hair. Same warm, brown skin.

“Logan?” Saint breathed, his eyes disbelieving.

Logan went to open his mouth, when Saint’s arms were around him suddenly.

“It’s Saint,” he said softly, just for Logan’s ears. He squeezed him tighter. “God, you’re here.”

“Saint?” Logan whispered into his shoulder. No one had touched him like this in what felt like forever.

“Yeah,” Saint said. He pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “Okay?”

Logan shrugged. “I…yeah, okay.”

“Knutty,” Saint’s serious expression morphed into a grin. He leaned against the counter, keeping his palm on Logan. “Handsome as ever.”

Logan blinked at Saint, then at Leo. “Knutty?”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to a word he says.”

“Oh, Logan already knows not to do that,” Saint laughed. He tapped his cross necklace. “We’re practically brothers.”

“Oh,” Leo blinked. “Right.”

The other boy—Sirius—looked just as taken aback.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Saint called in a sing-song voice, looking at Sirius. “Order for us, won’t you? And get us a table? Logan,” Saint nodded towards the door. “Come hither.”

Logan was so thankful to see Saint, he nearly tripped while getting up. A familiar face. A familiar anything. Saint had gotten out almost seven years ago. He’d been there one day, in his bed, in classes, in the courtyard, and gone the next.

“Sweetheart?” Logan asked, glancing back inside at the dark-haired boy, Sirius.

Saint just put his hands on Logan’s arms, eyes more intent than Logan had ever seen them, then on Logan’s cheeks. “Holy shit, how did you get out?”

Logan felt his heart slow, then speed up. He swallowed dryly. “Finn. How did you?”

Saint ignored the question.

“Finn,” Saint repeated, nodding. “Of course. When?”

“About a month ago. And he—he’s still in there,” Logan said. “He’s…And I’m—”

“I hear you,” Saint said. He jerked his head over to the table. “Not now. Let’s get back.”

“Saint?” Logan asked again.

Saint rolled his eyes. “Leave it alone. For now.”

~

Saint hadn’t been ready. He hadn’t seen Logan in nine years, but he’d know his face anywhere. All eyelashes and sad, green eyes. A smile he wore with Finn only. He looked spooked now, and tired. They’d sat at the bar, watching one of Leo’s shifts go and another one come, then moved to a table. Watching it get dark outside now, Saint wondered where Logan had been living for a month.

He eyed the backpack that Logan held so protectively close, and thought of the way Dorcas did the same thing.

Saint had a bad feeling.

“So, how’d you two meet?” Sirius said, gesturing between Logan and Leo with a fry when Leo brought over more water.

“Party,” Leo shrugged after a moment of hesitation. “Shack Beach.” He jerked his head at Saint. “You two were there, judging by Sirius’ shiner. Could hear that fight at my house, probably.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “I didn’t start it.”

“True,” Saint said, wondering how he had missed Logan that night. “Some God—albeit a beautiful one—thought we were selling Crucio.”

Saint flicked his eyes over to Logan. Sure enough, he blushed.

Saint cocked his head. “The horror. Dangerous stuff.”

Leo looked at Saint quietly, and glanced at Logan, then back to him. Saint nodded. Got it, it said.

“Well, would you look who it is,” said a deep voice from behind them, and then there were two strong arms around Saint and Sirius. Pascal placed a loud kiss on each of their heads.

“Eck,” Sirius laughed. “You smell like grease, old man.”

Pascal Dumais laughed. “Grease that feeds you, maybe. And who’s this?”

“Dumo, meet Logan,” Saint said. “Logan, meet Pascal. He owns the Lion with his wife, Celeste.”

“The most beautiful woman in the world,” Pascal said, accent heavy. “Logan, it’s nice to meet you.”

Saint watched Pascal eye Logan’s necklace.

“We were together at Saint Clair,” he supplied.

“Maybe not so loud,” Logan said harshly. “Saint.”

“Oh?” Pascal said, and squinted at Logan. “Who are you with now, mon cher?”

Saint watched Logan open his mouth, frozen, and was about to speak up when—

“Me,” Leo cut in. He looked down at the carrots he was chopping as he said it. “Me and my mom.”

Oh, Saint thought.

“Oh, Leonardo,” Saint sighed. “Un ange.”

“Not my name,” Leo said.

“I know.”

“Yeah,” Logan replied to Pascal’s still questioning gaze. “Yeah.”

“I see,” Pascal nodded. “Well, I’m happy you and your mother will have a helping hand now. I miss your father dearly, mon fils.” He smiled sadly at Leo.

Leo just nodded. “Yeah.”

“Him and his treasure, eh?” Pascal said. “A wonderful man. I miss going out on that boat of his.”

Leo’s smile was small, but fond. “Those were some of his favorite mornings.”

“Treasure?” Sirius asked.

“Black!” a new voice shouted. “Thank fuck.”

Saint looked up when Sirius did. James and Remus were barreling towards them from the dark outside.

“Good lord,” Saint said. “Rain, from Olympus. Water my crops, why don’t you.”

“James?” Sirius said. “What are you—”

James and Remus walked right up to their table—Remus looking slightly more reluctant. “We have a question.”

“How did you know we were here?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. “I mean, just…it’s a little out of your way, non?”

“Remus came here earlier, and when I told him—well, you’ll see—he said maybe you’d be here.”

Saint watched Sirius’ eyes narrow at Remus, confused. “Okay…”

“Well, it’s good to see you again, tweedle-hot,” Saint said to Remus. “Up close this time. We actually though you were going to sail right out of sight this morning.”

Sirius stepped on his toe beneath the table.

“Excuse me?” Remus choked out. “What the fuck did you—”

James blinked at Saint, then shook his head, as if to right his thoughts. “All right, setting every strange thing that comes out of your mouth aside for a moment —where is Dorcas?”

“Meadowes?” Logan chimed in.

James’ eyes turned on him. “You know her?”

Saint raised his hand. “I have the same question.”

“Well,” Logan hesitated. “Sure.”

“And she sells Felix,” James said, as if trying to confirm the information.

Logan narrowed his eyes. “Says you.”

James sighed. “I’m not here to turn her in, Jesus, I just have a question.”

“Do…” Sirius was looking at Logan. “Do you sell…”

“What kind of question?” Saint cut in.

Remus spoke up. “A does-she-deal-to-Luke type of question.”

Saint laughed. “Deveaux?”

“You know who Luke is, Saint,” Remus sighed.

“Well, yeah I do, Lupin, he tried to buy off me,” Saint shook his head with a tisking sound. “Turns out he’s a prejudice piece of eye candy. Who knew.”

“Come on,” James sighed, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. “Please, Sirius, come on.”

Sirius shrugged. “We don’t know who Dorcas deals to. We’re not involved.”

“If you did would you tell us?”

Sirius smiled, just a little. “Probably not. But I really don’t know.”

James sighed, sagging away from the table. He looked at Remus. “Fuck.”

“What were you hoping to accomplish here?” Sirius asked slowly.

“We—” Remus said, then sighed, too. “We were going to see if she would agree to stop. If it was her, if she would stop giving it to him.”

“We’d pay her,” James added. “Obviously.”

Saint scoffed, and Logan laughed a little, too, from beside him.

“Obviously,” Saint mimicked.

“We just meant—” Remus began.

“We know what you meant,” Sirius said.

Saint popped a fry into his mouth. “If we’ll clean your pools for a few bucks, we’ll grant you three wishes, too.”

“Jesus, Saint,” James groaned.

“Mary. Joseph—”

James ran his hands through his hair. “We’re sorry, we misspoke. We’re just trying to help our friend. His dad got taken to jail, his mom pops pills all day and night.  That’s already draining what little money the bank didn’t seize and if he wants to do anything with his life he needs a straight head. Just—fuck, we’re just asking.”

Saint prided himself on gathering information, but most of that were things he didn’t know. Luke’s dad had got taken away. But the pills? The financial distress? All of that paired with that guarded snarl the boy always seemed to wear…it almost made Saint feel sorry for Luke Deveaux. He almost said so.

Instead, he said, while twirling the cross around his neck. “Wow, he must feel like an orphan or something.”

“All right,” Remus sighed. “James, let’s just go.”

“What does he look like?” Logan said suddenly before they could turn to leave.

James looked a him warily. “Um. Sort of blond-ish. More brown-haired, I guess. Big guy, built and tall and all that. Oh, he’s got this green spot in one eye.”

Logan nodded. James raised an eyebrow. Saint waited.

“How much will you pay me to stop selling to him?” Logan finally said. He rose as he did, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “That’s a lot out of my pocket.”

“Logan,” Saint said, but Logan didn’t look at him.

James blinked. “I—oh. Oh, uh—God, what do you want? Two hundred?”

"One grand,” Logan said.

James laughed. “Dude. Who the fuck are you? No, I don’t have that much just—on me.”

“Logan,” Saint warned again, and this time Logan did look at him. Saint shook his head softly.

“Fine,” Logan said through his teeth, and held out his hand. “Two.”

James took his wallet out and handed over the cash.

“Thanks,” Remus said from a little behind James’ shoulder. “Really.”

Logan just nodded, shoved the bills into his pocket, and headed for the door.

“Pardon,” Saint sent a grin to them all, and followed him.

Once they were outside, Saint gave him a wack on the back of the head.

“Fuck,” Logan swore. “S—”

“You get out of that shit-hole and you go around selling Crucio? To Gods?”

“I—”

“I mean, seriously, what the fuck was that? Do you know how not careful that was?”

“I don’t even know who that boy is,” Logan bit back.

Saint blinked. “What?”

Logan looked out towards the ocean where they could hear the waves crashing against the shore. “He offered to pay, and so I told him what he wanted to hear. When his friend shows up hallucinating next, that’s their problem.”

Saint scoffed. “Fine, okay, clever boy. But you do sell Crucio.”

“Felix,” Logan countered. “And yes.”

“Crucio. And no.”

Logan shrugged. “I need the money.”

“For what?”

Logan looked at him and, this time, his eyes were hard. Desperate. “For Finn.”

Saint froze. He opened his mouth, and then closed it. “Excuse me?”

“If I can get enough cash, I can get Finn,” Logan said.

Saint stared at him, and then Saint laughed. Then, he laughed louder.

“You’re shitting me,” Saint said. “You think that?”

“What do you…”

“You think you can buy Finn out?” Saint repeated incredulously. “You think you can walk back in there and buy Finn out.”

Logan took a breath. “He—”

“Logan, Jesus Christ,” Saint snapped. “You walk anywhere near that place and you are never getting back out.” Saint pressed a hand to Logan’s shoulder and shook him. “Do you hear me?”

“I need to do something,” Logan shouted back. “I need to do something, I can’t just leave him in there, he’s everything to me.”

Saint shook his head. “He got you out. Don’t waste that.”

Logan nodded, eyes bright with tears now. “And you know he got punished for it. You know he did—”

“Stop,” Saint spat, glancing around, as if anyone could hear. “Don’t.”

“You could help me,” Logan said, wiping his nose. “Bash, you got out once—”

“No,” Saint said, and turned away. “No. And don’t call me that. Don’t you ever call me that.”

“Please,” Logan begged. “Please—Saint.”

Saint whirled on him again. “I am never going near there, and neither are you. Finn’s still in there, fine. But he’ll need to get himself free like us if he wants it bad enough.”

“I owe money,” Logan began, then his breathing hitched. “I owe them, I took some of it to see—to see Finn and…Bash—Saint—”

“Them?” Saint took a step forward. “Them?”

Logan pressed a hand over his eyes, but Saint walked forward and pulled it away.

“Logan,” he said lowly. “Tell me you didn’t.”

Logan closed his eyes, mouth twisting against his tears.

“Tell me, right now, that you didn’t let the Carrows tell you they’d help you. And that you didn’t believe them.”

Logan shook his head, not in negation, but in defeat. “I need him. I need him, I’m so…I’m alone.”

Saint pulled Logan against his chest and let him cry. The sobs heaved out of him for a long while, until the collar of Saint’s shirt was wet. Until Logan was breathing softly again, exhausted, and until his voice sounded shot when he spoke.

“You’re really staying with Leo?” Saint asked, more gently this time.

Logan nodded.

“I have a place, too. Here, in The Hollow. If you want.”

“With the others?” Logan rasped.

“What others?”

“How many others are out?” Logan said softly.

Saint shook his head, fingers in Logan’s hair. “Just me, that I know of.”

“You still wear it,” Logan said, pulling back to look at him. “The cross.”

Saint let his hands drop with a last touch to Logan’s hot cheek. “So do you.”

They were both silent.

“I’m sorry about Finn,” Saint said rigidly. “I know how much he meant to you.”

Logan’s brows pulled together. “He’s not dead.”

Saint nodded. “Right.”

“Saint…” Logan began, and Saint heard the almost B instead. “Would you—just thinking about it—“

“No,” Saint said, and then turned and went back inside.

Sirius, back at the table, looked at his face, and then at his wet shirt.

“Okay?” he asked softly when Saint sat down.

“Just dandy,” Saint replied, and looked towards the door. Logan was gone.

[whataboutmyfries]

Russian Roulette

Hello hello!!!! I finished this chapter at 1.30 am and was too tired to put it up then, but AHHHH I’m so excited for you to read this one ;) lots of pining, a little magic and the boys generally being idiots.

All credits to @lumosinlove​ Thank youuuuuuuu <3

tws in the tags!

~

Chapter 3

Logan sighed, his hair still damp from his shower. He’d always showered after a job. It helped him feel cleaner somehow. He kicked his feet up onto the table, texting Finn about his whereabouts and what he wanted for dinner. He paused, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. 

He received Finn’s reply a few minutes later; Meet me outside, there’s something I want to show you. 

Logan perked up at that, shopping his gun into the back of his jeans, tugging the oversized hoodie down over his ass to cover it up. Hr grabbed his coat, snagging Finn one of those cola lollipops he liked so much. 

He met Finn by the car, a sleek black Lamborghini. The redhead leaned against the matte black door, his red curls slipping over his forehead as he texted somebody on his phone. 

“Wanna tell me where we’re going yet?” Logan asked, quirking an eyebrow as he sauntered over to his….friend. Finn’s head snapped up, his expression melting into an easy smile when he saw Logan walking over. 

“Not yet. Get in.” Finn said, ducking into the driver’s seat. Logan walked over to the other side, his lips quirking up in a ghost of a smile when he saw the milkshake Finn had got him. The man in question looked over, huffing a small laugh when he saw Logan looking. 

“It’s chocolate. With extra whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top.” 

Logan’s heart stuttered. Finn had noticed. Not just noticed, but memorised his order. He shoved away the wave of overwhelming feeling that threatened to swallow him whole and picked up the cup. His eyes fell shut at the first sip of cold against his throat. 

He’d always gravitated towards the sickly sweet. Tooth-rottingly sugary cakes and coffees and pancakes. Maybe it was to fight the bitter darkness that roiled inside him, maybe it was because he liked the juxtaposition of a vicious criminal digging into a tub of ice cream, or maybe it was simply because he’d liked the sugar. 

He was glad to be the one sitting in the passenger seat. He had a perfect view of Finn, a hand resting casually on the wheel, the other resting on the windowsill, scarred fingers tangled in the mess of curls. Maybe Logan liked sweet because of the way the sunlight hit Finn’s eye’s the brown looking like molten chocolate and warm coffee, the way the rays danced through his hair making it look like spun sugar, those lips gleaming like— Logan snapped out of his thoughts, choking a little on his milkshake, He turned away resolutely, turning to fiddle with the radio instead. He leaned forward, reaching out for the volume button when he felt something jab into his thigh. 

Logan frowned, leaning back to pull the lollipop from his pocket, nudging Finn’s shoulder with it until he laughed and plucked it out of Logan’s fingers. 

“Thank you, Tremz, I love these. Unwrap it for me?” Finn chuckled, the infernal candy hanging between his fingers like those cigarettes he occasionally smoked. 

Logan rolled his eyes, grabbing it and ripping the plastic off. “A Big boy mob boss, but he still can’t unwrap his own lollipops. What would your associates say?” He teased, putting the candy into Finn’s waiting mouth. The slight brush of his fingers against his friend’s lips made his heart clench, and he pulled away quickly, his cheeks heating up. 

Finn laughed, flicking his tongue around the sweet, pulling the car into an underground parking lot. Logan raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Finn. His eyes crinkled as he pulled the keys out of the ignition, straightening his sweater as he stepped out of the car. 

“Wait and watch.” 

~

As it turned out, Finn had taken Logan to a park, the easy winds of spring spreading the smell of churros through the air. Logan smiled as Finn walked them both to the churro truck, grinning at June as he ordered their usual— churros drowning in Nutella. 

Logan zoned out of Finn and June’s animated conversation, choosing to ignore their not-so-subtle flirtation in favour of looking around the park. It was a gorgeous day; people walked their dogs or lounged on benches, and Logan idly mused about what life would be like if it were so bloody normal. 

He sighed, blocking out June’s tinkling laugh as he ran a hand through his hair. Sometimes he wondered what his life would’ve been like had he not been thrust into this one. It was his father’s fault, really, taking loan after loan after loan from the snakes to keep his family alive. Logan almost scoffed aloud; family? More like drinking habit. Marius had tried, he really had, but it hadn’t been enough. What little savings they’s had after Marius had lost his job had quickly sputtered out, leaving them with little to no choices. And damn him if Logan were to ever allow his sisters to sell their bodies on the streets. 

And when money from the loans had run out, well, the snakes had come to collect a debt. 

Logan rubbed unconsciously at the scar tissue on his thigh, cringing a little at the memory of Crouch junior’s knife tearing through his leg, skin and muscle ripping under the vicious blade. Logan carried the scar proudly. He had fought like hell to keep his sisters and his mother safe, and damn if he wasn’t proud of the badge he wore as a testament to the fact. 

“Thanks, Junebug! We’ll see you around!” Finn called, nudging Logan with a shoulder. “Shall we?” 

Logan swallowed the hurt that rose in his throat, smiling at Finn as he grabbed a churro. 

“Tell me where we’re going yet?” Logan asked, licking a spot of Nutella off his pinky. 

Finn smiled. “Almost there.”

Logan’t interest piqued when Finn led him to a crowd gathered seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Logan raised an eyebrow at Finn.

The redhead winked. “Consider it an early Christmas present”

“Harz, it’s May” 

Finn waved him off, shoving a dripping churro into his mouth “Go see” he said, the words a little muffled through the food. 

Logan skirted through the crowd, finding his was to the front. 

Oh.

Oh.

Logan’s heart all but dropped out of his chest. He’d never been so glad for his penchant for subtle disguises. His baseball cap pulled low, the aviators hiding most of the top half of his face. He was almost positive he wouldn’t be recognised. 

But then Leo looked up.

And the whole world stopped. 

Leo didn’t stop his movements for even a second, his fingers flipping the cards swiftly, his lips never stopping the sweet sweet illusion he was spinning for the poor bastard about to lose his money. 

But he looked Logan dead in the eye and conned the man out of a full 150 dollars, grinning like the devil as he did it. The man walked away down 150 bucks and a watch. 

“How about that gentleman there? Would you like to try, sir? Maybe lady luck will favour you this fine evening” Leo grinned, nodding in the capocrimine’s direction.

Logan smiled, letting a little of the lion show as he eased his way out of the crowd to join Leo in the middle. 

“How much would you bet, sir? 50? 100? 150?”

Logan slapped 200 dollars on the table. 

“Well well well,” Leo raised a brow. “Let’s play.” 

~

Logan tried very very hard to keep his gaze on the cards, but how could he when Leo’s nimble fingers darted around them looking ever so tantalising. Logan was utterly mesmerised, and by the time Leo asked him to find the Lady, he hadn’t the slightest clue as to where she was.

Logan picked the card closest to his hand. He’d never had a chance in hell, anyway. 

Needless to say, by the end of it, Leo had an extra two hundred dollars to his name. As Logan got up to walk away, he heard Leo call out from behind him.

“Sir! You forgot something!”

He turned to find Leo holding his wallet up with two fingers, a mischievous glint in his eye and a shit-eating grin on his face. 

Oh he was good.

Logan smiled, stalking back to him. “Ah, stupid of me. Thank you.”

Leo just winked at him as he walked off, their fingers brushing for the fraction of a section when Logan took his wallet back.

He spotted Finn amongst the people immediately, grinning like a damn fool as he walked over to him. Logan opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. 

“I know.” Finn said. “I know” 

The quiet joy in Finn’s eyes damn near killed Logan, and it was an effort of self-control to not kiss him right there. No. He was impossible. Logan could never have him. They were mob bosses. It would be hell to pay if the world ever found the one thing he’d save above all others. 

Logan ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the brown curls. He frowned at the scratch of paper under his sleeve and pulled the fabric up to find a card underneath. His breath caught, and he turned it over to find the queen of hearts sitting there.

Oh, this was going to be fun .

Logan’s grin widened at the message scrawled across the lady with thick black ink. In Leo’s slanting script it read;

Better luck next time.

[fruitcoops]

The dorlene love is amazing!! If you are every inclined to write more dorlene smut (or just more dorlene content in general) I would love it!

Dorlene wedding planning on Lion Pride, ft. their content cash cows loving friends <3 Full disclosure: this social media fic was entirely inspired by the Rock the Boat scene in Derry Girls, a show Finn O'Hara would adore. Character credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for brief mention of alcohol at weddings

Dorcas’ hair was pinned back with tiny pearl barrettes that matched the buttons on her white suit when the video began. “This is Dorcas Meadowes, and welcome to Lion Pride!” She spread her hands with a smile. “As you can see, wedding season has begun, and I for one simply cannot wait. Not only because several members of the Lions are celebrating their own upcoming nuptials, but more importantly, because I am getting married to our favorite camera darling, Marlene McKinnon.

“Lions, I want you to know one thing when you inevitably watch this: I am shamelessly mining you for wedding playlist ideas because my wife-to-be and I have been too busy filming your nonsense to put the required time or effort into it. You’re welcome.” She winked at the camera. “On to the show! Boys, what are your favorite wedding songs?”

#7: James Potter

James’ brow furrowed slightly. “Do you want my wedding playlist? ‘Cause I’ll send you my wedding playlist. Get Maz in here and we’ll do a walkthrough of each song, I can call Lily—"

#17: Finn O’Hara

“Uh, obviously it’s Rock the Boat,” Finn scoffed. A few beats of silence passed; his eyes widened. “Oh my god, do none of you know the magic of Rock the Boat?”

“Is it like…the Cupid Shuffle?” Dorcas asked.

“Is it—we’re going to pretend you didn’t just ask that. No, no, come here. Ringer!” Finn shouted over his shoulder. “Gimme the speaker for, like, ten minutes! C’mere, D, there’s a dance and everything.”

“I’m in a suit,” Dorcas laughed.

“It’s Rock the Boat,” Finn countered. “You can’t get married without Rock the Boat.”

#5: Olli Halla

Olli thought for a long moment. “Is this a good time to mention that I’ve only been to one wedding?”

#6: Remus Lupin

“Wedding songs? The Electric Slide, hands-down.” Remus gave them a look of mock-offense as he finished taping his stick. “It’s an unbeatable classic. It was the first thing I put on the wedding list.”

#55: Sergei Ivanov

“Oh, god,” Sergei muttered, scratching at his beard. “It’s been too long since I got married. Hey, Dumo, what did you play at your wedding?”

#43: Thomas Walker

“The Cupid fucking Shuffle, Big D,” Talker laughed, meeting Dorcas’ high-five with great enthusiasm. “Yes. That’s what I’m talking about. You can’t have a party without the Cupid Shuffle.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Dorcas agreed.

#86: Evgeni Kuznetsov

Kuny lit up in his stall, then reached over to smack Nado on the leg. “Cha-Cha Slide! Oh my god, favorite. Hey, hey, everybody clap your hands!”

#1: Leo Knut

Leo clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “I’m gonna go with…drunk uncles dancing to Wobble at 4:30 on a Wednesday.”

Dorcas bit back a laugh. “Are the drunk uncles necessary?”

“Oh, without a doubt. If you don’t have your own, storebought is fine. They’re five daquiris in and the life of the fuckin’ party.”

**Editor’s Note: All songs included in this video are central to the Meadowes-McKinnon wedding playlist. Additionally, Dorcas Meadowes looks fine as hell in her suit. Thank you, and goodnight.

[ninak803]

Elitist Nightmares

Another chapter is ready! Enjoy it. & read tags for CW.

@whataboutmyfries I don't know what to say... You're such an incredible good, nice, amazing bean!

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

@sunflowerfox87 here is a new Chapter!

Chapter 6

Remus

Remus walked up and down in his living room. He felt Leo’s eyes on him, following every step he took

The last few days, they had spent refining their plan and by now it was a pretty decent one. Sure, there still were variables, like Sirius himself, but they couldn't do much about it. They also didn't know when they would kick it off or how everything would work out in the end, but their plan couldn't get any better.

Remus sighed and sat down next to Leo.

“I went over it again and again. It's good as it is.” he said.

Leo nodded.

“You're nervous.” he stated.

Remus bit his lip; nervous was an understatement. He was supposed to trust a Black. Someone who was part of the family, who… No. His mind wouldn't go back to his own family. Not now, he still had work to do. He needed to stay calm.

“Yeah. I am. This is just not what I thought this mission would look like, not at all. I like to have control over things and now I have to trust Sirius Black to work with me.” Remus shook his head “I don't like it. I don't like him, I guess.”

“You don't like his family. And if he really is lying, you can still kill him.”

Remus laughed a little.

“You're right.”

They sat in silence for a while, Remus still thinking about everything he and Leo had talked about the last couple of hours. Remus rotated his shoulders a little to get rid of the tension in his muscles. It didn't work.

“You're going to work with O'Hara and Tremblay afterwards.” Remus said.

The younger one turned his head to look at him, something showing in his eyes. Curiosity, joy maybe, but definitely a bit of nervousness.

“They can teach you more. Both of them are pretty good at what they are doing. Usually. And I don't know what Dumbledore wants me to do next, I guess I'll have some time off, which would be good, considering that I have a houseguest by then.”

Leo nodded, a small smile on his lips.

“Yeah, sure. I don't mind. They both seemed… nice.”

Remus looked at him, then grinned a bit.

“Sure. You'll be doing fine with them.”

He took a sip from his coffee and scrunched his nose. It was cold by now and there was nothing worse than cold coffee, he sighed.

“Okay… You have the rest of the day off, Leo. I'm going to meet Sirius tonight and tell him about the details. I don't need you for that.”

“You sure? I could wait in the car, like the last time.”

Remus shook his head.

“No. I appreciate it, but no. You get some sleep tonight.”

---

It was the middle of the night as Remus sneaked through the Blacks mansion. He tried to not make any sound and listened very carefully if there was someone still awake who could notice him. He opened Sirius' bedroom door just a crack and slipped in. It was dark and Remus could hear Sirius soft, regular breaths. He was asleep. Well, not for very long anymore. Remus moved closer to his bed and looked at him; he was lying on his back, his mouth slightly ajar, his hair a mess around his head. He looked… calm. Remus hadn't seen him so relaxed before, he always seemed so stressed and restrained, but right now he seemed peaceful. Remus almost had a bad conscience that he would wake him up any moment. Just almost.

He touched Sirius' shoulder gently. When he didn't react, Remus shook him a bit. That did the trick. Sirius opened his eyes and almost jumped out of his bed when he noticed Remus. His hand moved up to his heart.

“Fuck you. You scared me. That's your way to get in touch with me? Scaring me to death?” Sirius said, his voice still heavy from sleeping.

Sirius sat upright, moved a hand through his hair.

“So what's up, Amber Eyes?”

That confused Remus a bit.

“Amber Eyes?” he asked.

Sirius just shrugged.

“Tell me why you're here.”

Remus sat down next to Sirius on his bed and nodded.

“Okay, so we came up with a plan, how we will handle this situation, but you have to cooperate, otherwise your death is inevitable.”

“Im fine with my death…” Sirius whispered, almost inaudible.

That and the sadness in his voice made Remus heart hurt. He swallowed.

“Well, we're going to fake your death, everyone is going to think you're dead. That'll work for my purposes. And until everything is solved, and we got rid of your parents, you're going to stay at my place. You can't stay at a hotel, people would recognize you.”

Remus looked at Sirius, who remained silent.

“I'll need your blood to prepare the crime scene. It has to be a lot of blood, so it'll be plausible. You'll feel dizzy for a while, but you'll survive. After that I'll bring you to my place and then we have to wait.”

Sirius still didn't say a word, he just looked at Remus with a look he didn't quite understand.

“I have to tell James and my brother.” Sirius then said.

Remus shook his head.

“No. You can't tell anyone. I'm sorry, but I don’t think your brother would lie to your parents about it, I think he couldn't do it.”

“I still have to tell James, though. He is about to lose his job, he has a wife and a child, he needs to know. Also, he is my best friend, he will blame himself for it, he'll think it was his fault. That'll destroy him. I can't let that happen. You want me to work with you? Then let me tell my best friend.” he sounded determined.

Remus sighed.

“You think you can trust him? He's loyal to you, not your parents? He won't sell us out?”

“No.” Sirius laughed a little “He will be happy to know I’m out of my parents' reach, to be honest. I do trust him.”

“Okay, I'll be back on Wednesday. Try to act unsuspicious until then. Oh, and you can't take anything with you… No clothes, no phone, nothing. Otherwise it would look like you had run away.”

Sirius nodded a little.

“Okay…”

Remus got up and looked at him.

“I'll see you on Wednesday then. Don't do anything stupid, Im still watching you, remember that.”

Then he silently made his way out of the house.

---

Sirius

He couldn't fall asleep that night again, too many thoughts occupying his mind.

“You look tired.” James said.

They were on their way to a meeting early in the morning.

“Can we talk later?” Sirius asked him.

James looked at him worriedly.

“ sure. Whenever you want to talk, I'm here. You know that.”

Sirius sighed and nodded. He had three days. Three days he had to act normal, though everything was far from normal.. So he acted normal, he attended the meetings of the day; he said his opinion on topics where no one actually cared what he thought. He ignored the angry looks from his parents. Perfectly normal.

Back home he went to his bedroom with James, who sat down on his bed. Sirius preferred to stay in the moment. He looked at James, who was waiting patiently until he found the courage to say what was on his mind all day. Sirius was sure he had already noticed the nervousness, James knew him better than anyone else.

Sirius sighed.

“Okay, you won't like what I'm telling you now, but promise me you'll listen first.”

James raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

“Okay? I promise, go on then.”

Sirius looked at his hands, fiddling them. He swallowed before he started speaking again.

“So a couple of days ago, this guy broke into my bedroom. He actually came to kill me. He had a knife and everything…” his hand moved up to his throat as he remembered.

Shock showed on James’s face as the realization sank in. He opened his mouth to say something but Sirius lifted his hand before he could start.

“Nothing happened, obviously. I'm good, don't worry. I don't know what made him change his mind, though. He came back yesterday with a plan and you won't like that either: We're going to fake my death and I'm going to hide somewhere, I don't know where yet. And I'm telling you this, so you don't blame yourself for it. this is going to be hell for you. My parents will investigate against you, obviously. You'll get fired, you have to find a new job, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, James…” he swallowed again.

James got up the moment he had finished talking.

“No. That's not going to happen. I won't let that happen. This shouldn't have happened in the first place!” he moved a hand through his hair in frustration.

“James, that's nothing to discuss. It is going to happen, even if you're not okay with it. I just wanted to let you know beforehand.”

James shook his head vigorously.

“It's my chance to get away from my parents, to get out of this hell of a life.” Sirius tried to argue, “Please, don't be angry.”

He looked at his best friend pleading, and James sighed.

“Promise me nothing is going to happen to you. And you have to contact me as soon as possible, I need to know you're okay and not actually dead. Fuck. I don't like this, I don't like this at all.”

Sirius smiled a little.

“I know you don’t. And I promise, I'll behave so no one has to shut my mouth and I'll be in touch.”

He pulled James in for a hug and he wished he never had to let go. He wasn't so sure if Remus would let him call James or write to him, but he was going to try it, anyway.

After a moment, he let go of his best friend reluctantly.

“When?” James asked.

“Soon.” was all Sirius told him.

---

Sirius was sitting on his bed dabbing on his freshly cut lip with a cloth, when the bedroom door opened and his brother stormed in.

“Why can't you just shut up for once in your life? It's like you want her to do this to you! Why do you have to provoke them all the time!” he shouted.

“I just told her what I was thinking.”

“Well then, don’t!”

Sirius shook his head, getting angry with his little brother. Who did he think he was?

“And then what? Just do as they tell me? No. I will not kiss their asses, I'm not you. I don't care what they say about me or what they do to me! And you shouldn’t either.”

Sirius got up and looked down at his brother, both of them angry now.

“I do care what's happening with you! But you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I shouldn't. You obviously don't care what consequences your behaviour might have for others! For me. You just care about yourself, you selfish asshole.” and with that Regulus left.

Sirius heard him go to his own bedroom, the door closing loudly.

He rolled his eyes. His brother was such a drama queen sometimes, so Sirius went after him, knocking on his door.

“Reggie, come on. Let me explain everything, without fighting.” he tried.

“No. I don't want to talk to you now. Maybe tomorrow, now fuck off.”

Sirius shook his head, swallowing. They won't be able to talk tomorrow. It was Wednesday already.

p.s. there will be more of Finn, Logan & Leo the following chapters, I promise!!