#oh man ive been listening to it so much that i lost the spark

[tendebill]

MY AUTISTIC ASS CANNOT COPE WITH THIS. WHY DOES MY ORDINARY LIFE BY THE LIVING TOMBSTONE ON SPOTIFY SOUND WEIRD ALL OF A SUDDEN AND WHEN WILL I RECIEVE FINANCIAL COMPENSATION FOR THE PSYCHIC DAMAGE I GOT FROM THIS CHANGE

[awindylife-writes]

Voyage of the Damned Part 2

Relationships: the Doctor x reader, Astrid x reader (platonic), Astrid x Doctor (platonic)

Summary: Voyage of the Damned rewrite. The Doctor and you find yourselves on the Titanic, space edition. You meet Astrid and get ready for a wonderful day, but then a meteor shower hits the ship and it starts falling towards Earth.

Author's notes: There was a number of things l didn't like about this Christmas special so again, l rewrote it.

Warnings: a ship crashes, multiple mentions of dearth bc a lot of people die

"Oi, Steward! I'm telling you, the shields are down!" a new man yelled.

"LISTEN TO HIM! LISTEN TO HIM!" the Doctor desparately screamed in the Steward's face. The two crewmen let him go and you didn't know it, but it was too late.

A moment later the ship started rocking like it was being torn apart, because it was. You lost your footing and fell back as everything turned sideways.

"Y/N!!!!" you heard the Doctor's terrified scream through the noise of the ship's destruction and the cries of other passengers. You couldn't even get a good look at where he was before something in the walls exploded and you threw yourself away.

You found Astrid near you and thank god for that. "I've got you!" you yelled over the noise and gripped her tight as you tried to shield her from the hell around you.

Then there were arms around you too, holding you up and protecting you. You knew those arms.

The Doctor had found you and the three of you clung to each other in that madness. You could feel each shudder of the ship like a wave of an earthquake. You tried to keep yourself steady and upright but you were the snow in a snowglobe someone was shaking. Balance was a mith and everything was being ripped apart. Various pieces of equipment were falling on all sides, there was fire burning all around you; you could feel its heat on your skin and you breathed its smoke. You felt sick from being thrown around but you were too terrified to hurl.

You couldn't close your eyes even though you wanted to. Everything in you was screaming to watch out for danger, but there was so much of it around you you didn't know where to look. You stared at disaster over Astrid's shoulder and the Doctor's arm. Shadow and light mixed into a disorienting mess and the shades the fire threw joined the dance. You coudn't distinguish what was near and what was far but you still looked.

The only thing you could do was clutch Astrid and the Doctor with all the strength you possessed and wish they wouldn't be harmed.

Finally you were thrown to the side in one last bang and then it stopped. You were lying on the floor and partly on the Doctor. He was on his back, still holding you and Astrid.

After a breath he let go, then stood up and swiftly looked around. You sat up, thankful you were still in one piece. You let go of Astrid enough to check her over and relief washed over you when you found out she was unharmed. You were about to yell if everyone was okay but the Doctor sushed you. After a moment of absolute silence he quetly declared, "It's stopping."

He then looked down at you in worry and offered you a hand. "You alright?"

As you quietly nodded, he looked over at your friend. "Astrid?"

She nodded too and took the hand he'd offered her. He pulled both of you to your feet.

"Bad name for a ship," he told you, scowling. "Either that, or this suit is really unlucky."

"We'll get you a new one and then we'll test that theory," you smiled weakly at him.

He looked at you, grateful, and then you heard Astrid suck in a breath.

The three of you looked down at the unlucky officer who was on the ground close to you. The Doctor kneeled to check him over. You saw him shake his head at the Steward and your stomack turned to stone.

~

The Steward was dead now too. You looked out the door with the Doctor, at the wreckage and the distant Earth. Still beautiful, you thought to yourself. You were a bit dazed, nothing felt real and everything was too real at the same time.

You knew you never wanted to feel so powerless again, but you also knew that drive was in you still. You would help where you could.

You gathered yourself and asked, "What happened?"

"How come the shields were down?" Astrid demanded a second later. You jumped, you hadn't noticed her there. She smiled gently at you, blue eyes kind, and caressed your shoulder. You managed a small, grateful smile in return.

"I don't think it was an accident," the Doctor growled. You figured that.

"How many dead?" Astrid and you asked in one voice, both looking at the Steward's body out in space. She was indignant though, while you were simply sad.

"We're alive," the Doctor answered her and then looked at you. "Focus on that," he told you gently. He knew what people being hurt did to you.

"I'll get you out of here," his voice was soft but firm. Then he turned to Astrid and you followed his eyes. She was trembling, still looking out at the result of the hell you all had endured. You took her hand into yours and squeezed it.

"I will get you both out of here," the Doctor assured her. "Astrid, l promise. Look at me." He held her shoulders and when she found his eyes, he assured her again, "I promise."

You were glad, because when the Doctor promised something, it happened. You needed her to live. Even if she'd want nothing to do with you after this, you needed her to live. Even if she had been anyone else, you would have done your damnest to ensure she survived, but Astrid was extraordinary. To think about the universe without her?

No. No.

After she nodded shakily, he concluded, "Good," and turned around. He went on about reception but you tuned him out. Instead, you looked Astrid in the eye and then pulled her closer. She gratefully accepted the hug.

"You heard what the Doctor said and l'll say it too. I promise we'll get you out of here." You squeezed her shoulder in emphasis.

She breathed deeply and slowly let go. Then she smiled and her bright eyes crincled. "Thank you," she told you gratefully. You nodded and swung your still joined hands.

"You know, l met you about two hours ago, but now l think l've known you for years," she said in wonder.

"Yeah?" you asked her and she nodded, still smiling. "I feel that way too," you told her, giddy in this moment. You both grinned at each other.

"Oh," the Doctor's sad voice cut through.

You whirled around. "What is it what's wrong?"

"That's the TARDIS over there," he told you and you desparately searched for the blue box with your eyes. He was right, it was spinning in zero gravity, so close but still out of your reach.

"What is that?" Astrid asked in confusion.

"It's our ship," you told her, throat tight. "It's our home."

"And it's programmed to lock onto the nearest centre of gravity, and that would be the Earth."

~

You took care of the other passengers with Astrid as the Doctor talked to the bridge. You overheard enough to know the picture.

"Are we going to die?" Foon asked and everything started going downhill.

The Doctor sushed the frightened passengers. "First things first," he began in a determined voice. "One, we're gonna climb through this ship. B, no, two, we're gonna reach the bridge. Three, or c, we're gonna save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low four, or d, or that little iv in brackets they use in footnotes, follow me."

Good, that was good, you thought to yourself. Always good to establish a goal.

"Hang on a minute." The fricking billionare decided to show he's an ass. "Who put you in charge?" he demanded. "And who the hell are you anyway."

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord." Sparks flew behind him and he was suddenly bigger than everyone in the hall.

"I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Casterbourus." You were grinning like mad. You could almost hear magestic music playing.

"I'm nine hundred and three years old, and l'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. And she's gonna help," he interjected, looking at you. "Have you got a problem with that?" he asked the billionare.

"No," the man admitted, baffled.

The Doctor turned to you. "In that case..."

"Allons-y," you said for him with a smile and started walking. You turned back, grinning at the group as the Doctor fell into step with you. You found Astrid with your eyes and nodded your head for her to join you.

~

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" the billionare whined as he helped you clear the staircase of debris.

"Oh, Brixton, did you get that message?" you asked him sweetly.

He frowned in confusion. "No, what message?"

"Shut up," you told him, not covering up your annoyance.

Then you heard from above, "Bannacafalata, made it!"

You climbed up behind Astrid. You weren't about to leave her alone on this bloody ship.

~

Foon's screams echoed in the chasm. Death, death, all around you death, whywhywhywhy WHY?!?!

~

"Alright, when it's ready, that blue light comes on there," the Doctor pointed at the spot on the battery Bannacafalata had given you. Another person you hadn't been able to save.

Astrid frowned. "You're talking as if you two aren't coming with us."

"There's something down on deck thirty-one," you told her, "and we're gonna find out what it is."

"But what if you meet a Host?" She was worried about you and the thought melted your heart.

"Well, then we'll just..." The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at you, smiling, "have some fun."

"Sounds like you two do this kinda thing all the time," Astrid added nonchalantly.

"Not by choice," you assured her, voice soft.

"Yeah, all we do is travel," the Doctor pitched in.

"Imagine it," you told her, suddenly wishing with all your heart you were out there, with her in the stars. "No stakes, no bills, no boss. Just the open sky." The wonder you felt when you thought about all you've seen seeped into your voice. There was all that space out there, so much room to wonder, so many skies to see.

"I'm sort of, uh, unemployed? Um, now," she answered as you looked at her expectantly. "I was thinking that blue box is, kinda small," she raised her eyebrows, "but l could... squeeze in? Like a stowaway!" Her eyes were so full of hope and your heart was bursting.

"It's not always safe," the Doctor's voice cut through the feeling. And you remembered. You remembered Foon and Morvin and Bannacafalata. How could you have forgotten???

"So you two need someone to take care of you," she protested. "I've got no one back on Stoe, no family. Just... me." She looked at you, blue eyes pleading. "So what do you think? Can l come with you?"

The Doctor smiled and looked at you. You were already grinning and nodding at Astrid, so incredibly happy. It was decided. "Yeah, we'd like that," the Doctor answered while you nodded on enthusiastically.

Her lips stretched into a wide grin and you pulled her close. You hugged her tightly, with a bright future ahead of you.

And then all three of you fell to the ground as the room shook.

~

"All charged up!" the Doctor yelled as the blue light came on. You all hurried back to the two waiting men. "Mister Copper, look after her; Astrid, look after him." He pointed at them. "Brixton, um..." he trailed off at a loss for words. "Look after yourself," he finally finished.

"We'll see you again," you reassured Astrid. "I promise." You steadily held her gaze so she knew you meant it.

And then you were off, running to the door on the other side of the hall.

"Hold on!" she called after you. "There's an old tradition on Stoe!"

"We've really got to go," the Doctor told her and you swatted his arm.

"Just wait a minute!" she yelled as she ran up to you.

She stopped in front of you, cradled your face and deftly kissed your cheek. "You'll get the other when you come back," she told you, smiling, then turned to the Doctor and did the same.

"See you later!" she called after you when you turned to leave.

"Not if l see you first!" you told her over your shoulder, a huge grin splitting your face.

"What she said," the Doctor joined in.

After seeing Astrid smile in turn, you were gone.

[slashssunglasses]

“Its My Turn Now” ~ Slash

SLASH X FEM~READER

KW: daddy kink, bondage, roughness 

Slash- Velvet Revolver Era Slash 

——— UNEDITED —— — 

it was yet another Velvet Revolver tour and this one was very exciting for slash since he could finally take you with him. Oh your days were full of laughter, adventure and pure raw animal sex. he couldn't get enough of you, all this time he'd had to go on the road without you, no physical contact for months at a time… it made this tour one to remember. 

it was the night of the show and you stood in the front row of the rowdy crowd watching slash run around and holler into the microphone. Even though he was lost in the music he still made sure to watch you from the stage, making sure you were ok. Slash always insisted that you stand backstage watching the show from your safe little area but you did like it. You enjoyed being in the crowd jumping and raging along to the music while you watched him sweat and just completely lose himself in his music, 

This time though, there had been a guy who was rubbing up on you all night. At first it looked like it was just due to the overcrowding of people in the pit, but once he started trying to talk to you and flirt you knew those horny rubs were nothing but accidental. 

“Dude I'm not interested” you pushed away from him, “c’mon sweetheart, you cant come around here dressed like that and not expect to get my attention” he'd less over trying to get closer to your neck. 

“Hey back off!” you squealed, soon your attention was taken away from your fiancé’s performance and redirected to keeping this guy off of you. he continued his lewd comments before reaching his hand up and groping your chest. 

you pushed him hard and just then the guitar stopped and the music got all fucked up. 

“Hey! Hey! what the fuck?!” you heard Slash yell into the microphone before throwing himself into the crowd on top of the guy. security was quick to grab him and push him back on stage as the fans started to riot and try and grab at him. “Hey get him the fuck out of here!” he yelled into the microphone once he got back on stage, “hes making on my girl! fucking pig! im gonna get your fucking ass get the fuck out of my show!” he yelled angrily as security grabbed the guy hauling him out. 

“you okay baby?” he asked in the microphone before kneeling down and grabbing your arm helping you up onto the stage and walking you off. 

“you okay?” he nervously grabbed your face scanning your expression. “yes yes im fine” you sighed giggling quietly, “I'm gonna kick his ass” he angrily chewed his lip, “baby just relax” you sighed grabbing his face. you could hear the crowd getting impatient and rowdy, “Slash you gotta get back out there” you smiled looking out onto the stage.

“i promise you i’ll make it up to you” he smirked, “make it up to me? you didn’t do anything” you giggled, “just be quiet and let me show you how much i love you tonight” he rolled his eyes, “mm fine fine, i also have a surprise for you but only if you get out there” you giggled popping a kiss on his lips, “mm more” he whined pulling you back in

“slash! C’mon man let’s go!” Duff yelled at him as slash pulled you deeper into his lips. He groaned, kissing your lips one more time before walking back on stage. The crowd roared in cheers as the show started up again. “Sorry guys lets fucking tear it up!” he chuckled into the mic earning cheers and hollers from the crowd. “Hang on hang on! Let me say something really quick before we start up again..” Slash said into the mic, fixing the height so it fit him better, “if you see that fucker that was on my girl..save him for me, okay?” 

you shook your head smiling from offstage. he kept looking over with a little smirk as he watched you sway around to the music. his eyes dancing across your body as you did little sensual things you knew would only catch his eye. you blew him little kisses and he had a cocky smirk while he riled up the crowd even more. once the show was over you knew you were in for a fun and romantically rough night. you wanted to take control tonight but you didn’t know how long it’s last. you had the outfit, the toys, and the restraints but slash had a reputation for ripping through the flimsy cheap sex store ties and cuffs but you were still gonna have your fun. 

you smirked to yourself as he ran off stage adrenaline still pumping as his sweaty body engulfed you tightly “ew ew ew” you giggled against his wet body. “mmm i want to get you back to the room bunny” hed giggle biting your ear, “mmmm no no no, you’re gonna shower while i get ready for you...” you giggled swaying back and forth with him,

 “mm you won’t join me?” he pouted, “no no no, i have very fun and special things planned for us tonight...daddy” you whispered, he tensed up under you, “you have to be patient and calm though...or you get nothing and i mean it” you added kissing his sweaty jaw, you knew it was killing him the whole ride home. little did he know you had binds, toys, lingerie waiting for you guys back in the room to play with.

Once back at the hotel, you had to pry slash from your body and into the bathroom, threatening him if he doesn't get into the shower. 

After some heated kisses and playful shoves, he finally got into the bathroom and started his shower. With him distracted with getting clean, you set your plan into motion. You quickly pulled off your clothes, throwing the now dirty clothes in a hamper at the door. 

You examined your body in the mirror, hands running over each inch of skin as you wondered what he would think, but right now you were under a time crunch. You quickly got out the toys and binds, laying them out neatly on the bed as you listened to him move around the bathroom. He shouldn't be long now. You scrambled around the room, lighting candles for some nice finishing touches, and laid on the bed in a sexy pose. Steam rolled out in clouds as the bathroom door swung open. Light poured over your body as slashs silhouette came into view. “Mmm~ what's all this bunny?”

"its fun for us" you smirked turning to get on your knees and crawl towards him. his hands traced every different shaped and colored vibrator on laid out on the bed, cock ring, handcuffs, and a few other fun toys. 

"you see tonights gonna be a little different" you began in a sultry voice, "I know Its always you in charge but…tonight I want some fun" you smiled sitting up and rubbing your hands all over his bare chest, "so take these off" you pulled on the waistband of his sweatpants, "and let me come play with you daddy"

Slash bit his lip, smirking down at you as you played with the hem of his pants. “Oh~ so bunny wants to be in charge tonight hm? Well..we’ll see about that..” You pouted, glaring up at him as he pulled you onto his chest, “hey! No! No touching!” You grabbed his wrists, 

his hands quickly grabbing handfuls of your ass before you yanked them away. You shoved him toward the bed, tying his wrists together as you sat on his chest. “Look so sexy like this bunny..thinking you can dominate daddy..” He purred, his eyes flaming with lust as you glared at him. “I'm not the one with their wrists tied..” Slash only darkly chuckled at your jab, “ohh~ I won't be for long bunny..just you wait and see..”

"Daddy" you whined smacking his chest, "ive been such a good girl…let me have this treat?" you crossed your arms, "oh bunny" he pouted bucking his hips up to push your pussy farther up his chest, "fine" he rolled his eyes, your eyes lit up as you jumped off of him going towards the toys you wanted to use. 

"decisions decisions" you giggled, he looked at you with a proud and cocky smirk. "I know" you smiled and crawled back onto the bed. you rubbed your hands over top his sweatpants traveling up his legs, you saw the bus;ge growing and gently grazed it. you lowered your head and licked a hot stripe up his clothed bulge. he grunted harshly pulling on the restraints, you made sure to layer them so it'd be harder for him to break through. 

you grabbed the vibrator and switched it on sliding it over his bulge and then around your nipples pulling the bra down flashing your tits. he was drooling and you decided it was time to give him a little snack, you giggled scooting up to his lips, "you want some?" you purred pulling your panties to the side, "you want to taste my cunt daddy? ohh~ its so wet" you moaned lowering yourself over his nose, his mouth opened welcoming you but you didn't sit just yet, "come taste what that other guy couldn't have" you smirked lowering yourself completely onto his lips watching his eyes roll back as your slick hit his tongue

He leaned his head up, tongue slipping in between your lips like a hungry dog. You melted into him, slow relaxing down onto his mouth, hips lightly swiveling to match his lips. You groped your tits, moaning at the pleasure sparking in your brain. Slash grumbled and groaned, the sounds vibrating against your clit deliciously. 

“Oh!- oh daddy~” You purred, back arching and head tipping back. Slash pulled at the restraints, skin peeling around the ties as he ached to feel your skin under his palms. You ground down against his mouth, tongue filling your hole as you whined. “Ah ah ah! Daddy!” His hips bucked up at the sound of your pleads, frustration filling his system as he pulled at the restraints. “Daddy's going to eat you dry bunny..be a good girl and let him out of these ties..” He glared up at you, tongue licking at his lips, “come on bunny...don't you want to make daddy proud?”

"mm, not yet" you panted scooting down back onto his chest, you leaned down kissing your slick off his lips, "you'll get your turn" you smiled kicking your feet up and sliding the thing off your body flashing him your bare pussy as you layed back on his torso. "mm such a yummy cock" you moaned rubbing his hard through his pants, "your evil" he growled and you rolled your eyes leaning over for the vibrator, you switched it on setting it down on his abs,

 "fuck" you grunted as you set your clit down onto of the vibrator. your lips began rubbing against his torso as you began humping. "oh daddy! ah! oh yes daddy you feel so good on my weeping cunt" you moaned maintaining eye contact with him, "oh I cant wait to see that cock ring on this big daddy cock, I want you to use everything on me daddy" you whined picking up the pace, "oh daddy im gonna cum! im gonna cum!!" you yelled gripping you

You squealed, head falling back as your orgasm washed over you. You shooke and arched, wet buzzing filling both of your and slash ears. His hips bucked up, harsh growls leaving his lips, “bunny..let daddy out..now. I'm not fucking kidding..” You lazily smiled, squinting at him as you got down on your stomach, face to face with his abs, “i don't know what you mean daddy..” You’d whimper, smiling up at him as you licked up your cum off his abs. “Ohh bunny you’re in deep fucking shit.” You cheek rested against his hip bone, “am I?” You’d tease, kissing his skin as your hand palmed his bulge.

"oh my… its so big" you gasped kissing his hard bulge through his pants. "mm I told you ti take these off daddy" you purred biting his bulging v-line, veins protruding down the toned muscle almost guiding you to his cock. 

you leaned over grabbing the cock ring and holding git in your mouth. pulling down the pants you gasped excitedly giggling at his swollen hard cock, "mmm" you licked your lips drooling over his cock. you let drool drip and leak down his cock slipping down with precum

you moaned, pumping his cock lewdly as he sighed.

 He stared down at you with hooded eyes, “bunny..” You grinned at him, taking his cock in you mouth, the cock ring slipping down his shaft as you did so. “Oh!- fuck-!” He pulled at the ties, teeth grit and bared as he choked. “Bunny-“ Once the ring was in place, you sucked his cock lewdly, the tip popping out of your mouth as you let go. You pumped him, licking your lips as you stared at him, “there you go daddy...a pretty ring on your cock..” His head rocked back, face turning red out of frustration as the need to cum filled him, but he knew, that he wasn’t allowed to.

 “Okay bunny...you’ve had your fun..now take the fucking ring off me right now..before I get mean.” You bit your lip, humming to yourself, “mm..I don’t know..I think it’s a nice touch daddy..”

you licked a long stripe up his swollen red cock. “you’re such a good daddy, behaving for me and holding back all that thick juicy cum mmm” you moaned rubbing your clit while you gently stroked his cock. “bunny-ah fuck” he choked throwing his head back, “yes daddy?” you cooed squeezing his balls, “fuck!” he growled pulling in the restraints harder, “oh these are good ones, you haven’t broken them yet” you giggled leaning over and grabbing another vibrator.

 you vibed along his shaft and circled his tip licking your lips as he tried to choke back his moans. “moan for me daddy, oh when you moan it’s so sexy” you whined sucking on one of his balls, “b-bun-oh fuck! oh my god bunny fuck right there!” he moaned loudly as you slowly slipped him inside your pussy. “ohhh!!” you whined, “oh fuck daddy! oh my gosh break free baby come fill me with your cum make me your pretty mommy” you whined loudly as you rode his cock, lewd and throaty moans escaping his lips as he tried to watch you move sensually on his cock but fuck it was too good he couldn’t hold it back anymore he was crazy, screaming practically at your dirty words

You lost yourself on his cock, little hands gripping his chest as you bounced yourself.

 “Daddy..daddy more please..” You whined, needing more of him by the minute. “More huh? You want more?” he growled, foaming at the mouth as you nodded. “Please daddy..” His choked gasps slowly died down, a dark smile curving on his face as he glared at you.

 “Please? Please? Oh, my bunny is begging now huh? I thought you were the one in charge bunny?” He mocked, head tilting slightly as he questioned you. You stumbled and stammered, “i know but-” “but what bunny? You need your big daddy to take care of you?” You trembled, tears welling up in your eyes as you grew tired of bouncing on him, “yes..i need you daddy..” His eyes darkened completely, “good girl.” He laughed, easily snapping out of the restraints and flipped you over.

you gasped as he hooked your legs around his hips. “you were staying tied for me?” you have him puppy eyes, “anything for you bunny” he smiled softening his piercing gaze slightly, “you did so good bun, so sexy” he growled against your lips while he teased his ringed cock around your hole, “hehe, thank you daddy” you giggled stretching underneath him, rubbing his bicep gently scratching down the divots in his biceps,“now show me who i belong to daddy” you pouted puckering your lips for him, “make me a pretty mommy” you batted your lashes after he placed a rough kiss on you. “you’re gonna squirt on this cock bunny, you’re gonna make a mess for me”

He gripped your hips tight, cock pounding into your g spot as you screamed, “daddy! Oh-oh!” You grabbed at him, pulling at his skin as he grinned at you, “is it too much bunny? This is what you wanted..” He teased, loving the way you looked all sweaty and used. “No more excuses bunny..no more holding back..daddy’s going to take hi sweet bunny until she passes out.”

you screamed losing your voice midway, exhaustion hitting you from how badly you wanted him deeper you couldn’t even fathom it. he held a vibrator against your clit as he yelled profanities from you tightening around his cock. “who’s daddy’s cum dump hm?” he groaned trying to keep himself at a steady pace in you, “m-me -ahhhh!! fuck me!!! i’m you l-little cum dump? in your cockslut daddy use me!!” you arched screaming as your eyes rolled back drool falling down your lips, “s-so good” you whimpered holding his face begging for some mercy

“use you, hm? That's what you want? You want daddy to take it all out on you, bunny?” You nodded franticly, words barely even forming in your brain at this point. “Mmm~ okay bunny.. let's see how long you last..” His thrusts stopped suddenly, light whines leaving you at the loss. “Shhh..don't worry... Daddy is far from done with you..” He snickered, his grip on your hips tightening. Suddenly, he slammed into you hard, tip hitting your g spot head-on. 

You screamed bloody murder, clawing at his back. “Oh, that's the spot huh?” He growled, making sure each and every thrust it that special spit inside you.

“oh! oh! da-da-daddy!! AHHHH!!!” you screamed bloody murder, “i can’t take it! i cant take it!” you sobbed ultimate euphoria over taking you. his hand flew to your mouth shutting you up while he drilled into you. tears pooled around his hand as you sobbed and screamed into his hand. “bunny they’re gonna think i’m-fuck! they’re-ohh~~ they’re gonna think i’m hurting you!” his thrusts became sloppy as the cock ring felt tighter around his base

“daddy- daddy! Ohh-! Daddy!!” You squealed, licking his hand as he held it over your mouth. “Bunny-! Fucking god!-“ His cock swelled around the ring, his head filling with pleasure as he felt himself slowly lose it. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck- Fuck!- FUCK!-“ He growled, panting as the ring gave and cum spilled inside you, triggering your orgasm. You squealed and screamed, thrashing around as pleasure filled your head. You cried and screamed against his hand, grabbing at him as you came down.

you were hyperventilating and sobbing against his hand as his head dipped down into your neck. his chest rising and falling rapidly as he kissed your damp skin. you couldn’t help the wave of emotions your several intense orgasms brought you, you broke down in a fit of sobs still not being able to breathe, after shocks from your orgasms shot through you as you looked down at all the squirt that coated the bed and both your bodies. your body still twitching as he stayed plugged in you, he let out soft moans trying to catch his breath. this time was insane, you guys had good sex before no doubt it was never bad, always mind blowing but this time there was so much more emotion on both ends you both needed to recover. 

You sobbed, so sore and worn out that it was all you could really do. Slashs face came into few as he lightly picked you up. 

He held you against his chest, rocking you back and forth as you slowly came down, “shhh shhh bunny...deep breaths..” You followed his lead in breathing, your mind becoming more clear. Well, as clear as it could be in that moment since you were still very exhausted. “Come on..let’s go get cleaned up..” He kissed your forehead sweetly, smiling against your skin as he carried you to the bathroom. You clung your him, not wanting to be set down or moved anymore than you already have.

 Your muscles were sore and your overall being was worn out. As he lowered you both in the bath, he started to hum a soft tune. You didn’t recognize it, must have been something new he had been working on. He ran his hands threw your hair, the other leaning over and grabbing a washcloth. He soaked it in water, bring it to your face as he continued to hum softly. That’s when the hums started to turn into words. He sand softly in your ears as he washed all the sweat and tears from your face. Slash was never one to sing in the first place, but him singing to you never failed to make you smile. “There’s that pretty smile..”

“i-i-i love you slashy” you hummed gripping his chest giving him weak kisses. “i love you bunny” he bummed rubbing your back, “thank you for letting me have you fun” you giggled looking up at him, “you deserved it baby, you were so sexy” he chuckled lowly, “mm thank you” you leaned up kissing him deeply enjoying the feeling of his body against yours with the warm water surrounding you two.

CO-WRITTEN WITH @s-lasxh

[dilly-oh]

Trashy Romance Novel

    “Naruto, you frigging idiot,” Iruka began hotly, barging into the hospital room, “of all the stupid, brainless things you could have done, this is by far the-”

    He stopped. 

    The person lying in the small bed was definitely not Naruto. It was a grown-ass man with messy gray hair and a faded scar over one eye, the sterile white sheets pulled up over his nose, apparently sound asleep. Iruka stared at him for a long moment, dumbfounded, before it clicked. 

    Oh shit, he thought. This is the wrong room. I'm in the wrong room. I need to hurry up and leave before- 

    The stranger's eyes cracked open and he squinted up at Iruka in confusion.

    “...Who're you?” he croaked out. Iruka managed a rather articulate gurgle of dismay, frozen in sheer mortification. He considered the distance between him and the IV drip, wondering if he could dose the man back to unconsciousness before he could scream or buzz for a nurse. “Are those for me?” the man asked, sitting up in bed to regard the bouquet of flowers in Iruka's arms. He opened his mouth to disagree, but then the sheet slipped off the man's face, and Iruka suddenly thought giving him the flowers might not be such a bad idea. He definitely deserved a thank you after gifting him with...that. He didn't even protest as the alarmingly handsome stranger reached out and took the bundle of flowers, opening the card on top. 

    “You're a dumbass. Love, Iruka.” he read aloud, then looked up at Iruka, batting his eyes. “Aww, babe, you shouldn't have.”

    “Whoa whoa WHOA!” Iruka finally blurted out, his face burning half from embarrassment at the situation, half from the thinly-veiled flirting. “I'm sorry, sir, there's been a mistake. I'm in the wrong room and-”

    “You mean you aren't my doting husband I tragically forgot about due to amnesia and now you have to win back my love by passionately recreating the story of our romantic union?”

    “Excuse me, WHAT-”

    “Sorry, I've been reading trashy romance novels. They're the only books this hospital has. Can't blame me for trying.” The man shrugged, then reluctantly handed back the bouquet. “Who's the lucky person they're actually for? Must be someone real special if you're calling them a dumbass to their face.”

    “My kid brother,” Iruka explained with a sigh. “He's here with a head injury.”

    “Ouch.” The man winced in sympathy. “Poor kid.”

    “Not really. He head-butted a brick wall.” 

    “...May I ask why?”

    “Because his stupid boyfriend walked into it and he had to, and I quote, 'defend his honor'.” Iruka paused, looking the man up and down. Despite being a bit on the pale side, he looked perfectly fine, pun very much intended. It was almost unfair how well he pulled off the hospital gown (although Iruka would much rather be the one pulling it off, wink wink, nudge nudge). “So...what're you in for?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Was...was it the crappy romance novels? Did they rot your brain?”

    “I have an extremely rare, aggressive form of cancer with only two weeks left to live and the only cure is a kiss from my one true love...” The man swooned back onto the pillow and looked expectantly up at Iruka, who rolled his eyes. 

    “Yeah they definitely did-”

    “Alright you got me. Broke my leg.” He pulled the sheet off his lower half, revealing his legs, one of which was wrapped in a cast, propped up on some pillows. Several encouraging words from friends were scrawled on the white surface in marker, one of them a jarring green highlighter. It almost hurt Iruka's eyes to look at it. 

    “...How did you break it?” he asked, unable to contain his curiosity. 

    “I heroically threw myself in front of a speeding car in order to save the life of my beloved-” 

    “Okay how did you really break it?”

    “Tripped chasing after my pug at the park,” the man admitted with a weary sigh, his shoulders slumping in defeat. 

    “...Is the dog okay?” Iruka asked after a long pause.

    The stranger burst out laughing. It was a nice laugh, warm and contagious enough to elicit a chuckle out of Iruka, who was growing more and more intrigued. He couldn't deny the spark of attraction he felt for the other man, spontaneous as it was, and it seemed to be reciprocated. He didn't even know his name, but something about the man made Iruka want to know more about him. Maybe this was like some trashy romance novel, where the two would-be lovers met under unusual circumstances and fell instantly in-

    “Hey, Kakashi,” a man with short brown hair said, suddenly walking into the room, “I brought the next three volumes of your shitty porn series from the hospital library and a couple pairs of clean underwear, so you can stop fucking texting me the specific style and brand you want from home, you're so damn picky-” He stopped dead as he caught sight of Iruka, pausing for a beat, then glanced at the man in the bed, his eyes darting nervously between the two. “Umm...am I...interrupting something?”

    A cold pit of ice yawned open in Iruka's stomach. 

    Oh my GOD. Here he was, borderline flirting with some stranger in a random hospital room, when obviously the man already had a boyfriend and Iruka was just making a complete ass of himself. The flirting had probably been misinterpretation on his part anyway, and if not, the guy was a total dick. Either way, enough was enough. His face aflame with rage and shame, Iruka spun towards the door. 

    “I need to go.”

    “Hey, wait!” Kakashi or whatever his name was called after him. 

    Iruka was already out the door, ignoring the man's cries. Screw him, and screw Naruto, too. He was the cause of this whole mess. Iruka would just text him later. He was probably making out with Sasuke anyway and wouldn't even notice his brother hadn't popped in to visit. Iruka needed out of this hospital NOW. He turned towards the stairs, immediately got lost, and spent the next five minutes growing increasingly flustered as he stormed through the winding hallways, desperately searching for the exit. Why the fuck was the hospital so damn BIG-

    “Hey! Iruka! Hold up!”

    Iruka spun around to see Kakashi speeding towards him in a wheelchair, his boyfriend dutifully pushing him down the hallway at a dead run, IV dangling after him on its cord like a faithful dog. The wheelchair stopped with an audible squeal in front of him.

    “What- where did- did you steal that?!” Iruka hissed in outrage. 

    “Of course not, don't be silly,” Kakashi protested, sounding offended. “The guy it belongs to was asleep in his bed. I'm just borrowing it. I'll return it later. Anyway, Iruka-”

    “Were you flirting with me in there?” Iruka demanded, cutting him off. “Be honest.”

    “Abso-fucking-lutely,” Kakashi said without an ounce of remorse. “So can I have your number or what?” Iruka bristled. 

    “You're a piece of shit! I can't believe you, hitting on me like this right in front of your boyfriend! You have some nerve-”

    “Wait...boyfriend?” Kakashi cocked his head in confusion. “You mean Yams?”

    “The fuck do YAMS have to do with anything-”

    “Hi, that's me,” the short-haired man said, raising a hand. “Yamato, actually. 'Yams' to my friends. Which is what we are. Just...friends.” Iruka scowled at him suspiciously. 

    “Friends? Don't fuck with me. You brought him underwear-”

    “Really close friends,” Yamato reiterated. “Also, roommates. It's awful. I can't get away from him.” Iruka studied him for a moment, but couldn't spot any hint of deception. The man's almond-shaped eyes were surprisingly honest.

    “So you two...aren't dating?” he asked hesitantly. Yamato gave him a horrified look.

    “Dear God, NO. Kakashi is the WORST. He's lazy as hell, procrastinates til the last minute, is perpetually late to everything-”

    “You are a shit wingman-” Kakashi began. 

    “He needs to know what he's getting into,” Yamato snapped at him, then turned back to Iruka. “Seriously, though. You should run while you still can. There's hope for you.”

    “Don't listen to him,” Kakashi cut in. “I'm a fucking catch. Which is exactly why you should let your flaxen hair down, rip your shirt open to reveal your heaving bosom, and throw yourself into my arms-”

    “Will you cut that out?!” Iruka burst out impatiently. “Life is not a trashy romance novel.”

    “You sure about that?” Kakashi said, quirking an eyebrow. “Because I met you in a hospital through total coincidence. After really hitting it off, we had a misunderstanding brought on by miscommunication. Then I chased after you in a fucking wheelchair to declare my undying attraction to you. If that isn't a plot to a trashy romance novel, I don't know what the fuck is. At least it's not raining right now.”

    “I dunno, it might be drizzling,” Yamato said, glancing at a window.

    Iruka paused, considering.

    “I guess it...would make a pretty good book,” he admitted quietly. “The only thing is...I'm not sure what happens next.”

    “That part's for us to write,” Kakashi said, his tone eager. “Only we can complete the story.”

    “Aaaaand I'm going to puke,” Yamato stated. 

    “Sorry, we crossed the line from 'trashy' into 'sappy'.” Kakashi shook his head. “Anyway. Iruka. Please, I'm begging you. Let me sweep you off your feet. Just...give me a chance.”

    “I'll do you one better,” Iruka said after a pause. “I'll give you my number.” Stealing a marker from the nearby nurse's station, he bent and wrote his cell number on Kakashi's cast, then straightened and held out the bouquet. “Here, you can have these. The message works for you too, I guess.”

    Kakashi accepted the flowers with a laugh, taking an appreciative sniff. 

    “And now, I shall ride dramatically off into the sunset,” he said with complete seriousness. “Come, my valiant steed. Awaaaay!”

    “I will push you down the stairs,” Yamato grumbled as he spun the wheelchair around and started back down the hallway. Iruka watched them go with a fond smile on his face, giddy with anticipation. 

    He was eager to read the next few chapters in his life.

    Including the steamy bits. 

(Written for @kakairu-fest KakaIru Month 2021, Day Twelve Prompt: Hospitals)

[callmeelle22]

Blue Dream IV

Pairing: Iris West x Barry Alen

Rating: E

Chapter Word Count:

Summary: A series of sporadic dates between Iris and Barry turn into something more, a story in its own making.

Chapter I: Primetime

Chapter II: It's Cool

Chapter III: Anything

Chapter IV: Comfortable; It feels like butterflies fluttering or sparks flying or whatever other cliche Iris could think of. It’s like slow-dancing all alone after dinner in a half-cleaned kitchen, easy and intimate. It feels like warm honey on her tongue, slow and sweet and overwhelming. It’s pillowtalk, baby; lay your head on my pillow, say, "oh-ooh"; way you're touchin' my body, say, "ooh-ooh"; i ain't lovin' nobody but you; you, you, you make me, the kind that starts as whispers in the dark and becomes deep, lazy sex with only the moon there to light the way. (Read below or on AO3 linked on the chapter title.)

Chapter V: The Way

Chapter VI: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

Chapter VII: I'm in Love with You

Chapter VIII: Blue Dream

Comfortable

Set the tone, when it's just me

And you alone, never lonely

In the room, breathin' slowly

Oh, you know me, yeah

At a quarter to one on the next Sunday afternoon, Iris finds herself sitting in her living room, waiting for Barry. Her week has been a relatively good one. She thinks they might be over the hurdle of a new semester—learning the personalities of each other—and Dr. Jamison had been on top of her own game, which meant Iris had been able to as well. She’d spent her Friday night watching Bridgerton, well, as much as the hazy cloud of blue diesel had allowed her to, and on Saturday, she’d spent several hours at Jitters typing up a new story for What a Life You’ve Lived. This story had featured an older woman who, years before Loving v. Virginia had made her marriage legal, had lived in relative obscurity with her white husband, dating and laughing and loving in secret.

Yeah, she’d shaken her head at that too.

She doesn’t know where they’re going today, so she’s dressed in a casual emerald green wrap dress, with a deep v-neck and long sleeves, that hems just at her knees. She opts for flat sandals just in case. His number is still unused, though she’s taken the steps to lock it into her phone. She can’t tell why she doesn’t call him, can’t make out why she’s, apparently, too afraid to just reach out to the man. She doesn’t know what they’re doing, outside of this date, or what his goal is. Linda would definitely describe her as being too chickenshit to find out. She obviously doesn’t disagree.

She’s decided that it’s casual, because aren’t most situations these days casual? And it makes more sense than the thought that lives in her head; the alternative doesn’t fit as neatly in her mind. The alternative is, is a little chaotic because that would add layers to the way he grins at her, and to the way he oscillates between awkward and bold when he talks to her, and to the way that she can never completely get the feel and taste of him out of her mouth. The sensation makes her think of runny ice cream, sweet and sticky and dripping, so much so that before she knows it, her hands and her face and her heart are all covered in it.

The doorbell rings.

Iris jumps up to answer the door and he’s standing there, in black jeans and a gray t-shirt, and she’s always struck by how good he looks in such casual outfits. His hands are stuffed down into his pockets and a grin is etched onto his face. He leans into the door when it opens, shoulder on the frame.

“Hi, beautiful.”

The compliment is unexpected and she turns away to grab her bag, to hide the blush that warms her cheeks, even if he wouldn’t be able to see it on her skin.

“You ready?” he asks.

She nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They are about fifteen minutes away from Lake Lanier when Iris realizes that’s where they’re going. The ride is pleasant. They don’t talk much outside of a few sentences regarding how their weeks were. Instead, they listen to some rock music Iris has never heard before and Iris alternates between staring at the road and staring at the intricate flowers tattooed on his arm. She recognizes some of them, roses and chrysanthemums and sunflowers, but there are far more that she doesn’t, especially when she remembers that the bouquet goes all the way up and over his shoulder. She decides she’ll ask him about it later.

The trail for the lake comes into view and Barry turns his Jeep onto a barely paved road, his pale fingers caressing the wheel as he expertly maneuvers the vehicle. He drives past where Iris and Linda and their classmates spent countless summer afternoons, past the trail that leads to where her dad had taken her and Wally camping when, at 12, Wally had realized that he was the only of his friends who’d never been.

They come to a stop, moments after Iris wonders if this might be where bodies get hidden, next to a towering oak tree. They’d lost the trail about a mile back and Barry’s four-wheel-drive was a match for whatever grass and rock and mud they rolled over.

Iris steps out of the Jeep and looks around, momentarily in awe. Out this far, the lake looks serene in a way she’s never seen before. It’s quiet, but it isn’t. Even in a midsize city like Central City, there is always something happening; there is always lights and noise and music. Here, the sound of nature takes the stage: the clicking buzz of cicadas and the chirping songs of birds and the gentle wave of the lake. The look of it is surreal, the pale blue of the water and the vibrant dark green of the trees, those slowly giving way to the oranges and reds of fall.

“Wow,” Iris murmurs.

“It’s great, right?” Barry says.

She turns and finds him with his trunk open. She walks around back to see him gathering picnic supplies, a woven picnic basket, a thick red gingham picnic blanket, and a cooler. There’s also another blanket to stem the feel of the wind so close to the lake. She grabs the picnic basket as he handles everything else and she follows him as they set up a few feet away from the bank, on a soft patch of grass to cushion them.

“I wasn’t expecting a picnic,” Iris tells Barry as she settles on the blanket, taking off her shoes and setting them on the edge.

“No?” He grins over at her before resuming his task. He’s unpacking the basket, pulling out saran-wrapped sandwiches, containers of fruit and vegetables with dip, and ziplock bags full of popcorn. A look in the cooler shows her some waters, several beers, and an equal number of mini wine bottles.

“Where’d you think I was taking you?” he wonders.

“I don’t know,” she says. “Like a movie or something.”

He grins, this time slower; and it shouldn’t, but it makes Iris think of the last time she’d seen him, slow and heated on her living room couch.

“That can be our next date,” he says.

“Who says you’re getting another date?”

He looks up at her and it’s the same one he’d given her when he asked her why she didn’t call, the expression a touch calculating. His head is tilted and his eyes are darting all over her face. She wants to turn her head, turn away from his gaze, but she can’t. Because she thinks that she’s hoping he does find what he’s looking for her, that he can help her to find it too.

“You didn’t say that we were going on another date” he says, finally. “But I have fun when we're together, Iris, and I, I think that you do too."

He goes back to pulling items out of the basket, this time a container full of cookies, and Iris starts grappling with whether or not she can take what he says at face value. It’s a flaw, she knows, the doubt that seems to come far too automatically. She wishes that she could blame it on something tangible—on parents who hadn’t been there or boyfriends who’d lied or friends who didn’t have her best interests at heart. That isn’t the case, though. Her mom had been there as much as she could and she had never had enough boyfriends for it to really make a dent. Linda has never even thought about doing her wrong, and her family might be the very best part of her.

But everything in her body catches at the thought of this man being someone she likes, someone she adds to the rotation of people in her life, people who’ve only become occasional brunches and too quick phone calls. What would it feel like for this man—and his smile and his touch and the way that she feels like she knows him when she doesn’t—to become a part of that rotation, until the discomfort of the entire situation makes him taper off altogether?

“Iris?”

She blinks out of her daze at the sound of Barry’s voice, looking down to see him holding out two bottles in front of her, one a lager from a local brewery, the other a chilled bottle of Chardonnay.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yes,” she answers him quickly. “Just thinking.”

“About me?” he asks, his grin wide, cheeks faintly pink, and the look of him is so adorable that Iris shakes her head as she grabs the wine from him, failing to curb the smile that lifts the corner of her mouth, failing to keep the thoughts, the whenever i get around you, i lose it; lose it, from seeping in.

“Let’s play twenty questions.”

Iris is halfway into her mini-wine bottle when Barry voices the suggestion. For the time being, they’ve been merely sitting, drinking, basking in the day. The weather is gorgeous and Iris likes that the only thing to distract her is the constant tweeting of the birds, or the soft splashes of the fish in the lake, or the steady sound of Barry’s breathing.

“Okay,” Iris agrees, “but twenty is a lot.”

“Ten, then?” he hurries to say. “Five each?”

He shifts on the blanket so that he’s lying down on his side facing her, head propped in his hand. Her own back is propped against the tree, her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle.

“You first.”

“Alright.” He pauses, looks up towards the sky as if he’s thinking, and then asks, “What’s your favorite book?”

She is surprised by the question, though she isn’t sure what she thought he might ask.

“I’ve got a lot of favorites,” she says, because it’s true. Books, stories, became an escape early on, from a home that had been too fragile, that had felt like it’d come crumbling down with only a mere gust of wind. “But one that still sits with me is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I read it for the first time in high school.”

He smiles at her. “Tell me about it.”

“It’s about a woman named Janie, who was raised by her grandmother who’d been enslaved. Janie’s a romantic; she wants freedom and love. But her grandmother wants her to have security. She’s got a series of suitors: an old man who treats her like the help, essentially; a man who becomes mayor of this all-black town, who only props her up as this thing, this ornament that must look and act like he wants her to; and Tea Cake, a younger man who’s passionate and selfish and possessive. And in all of it, Janie is discovering herself, exploring what she does and doesn’t want. She steps up and she fights back and she learns to dismiss what others have to say about here.”

Barry hums. “She reminds me of you,” he says, “this Janie woman.”

He catches her gaze, holds it. Iris catches the way his eyes track the features of her face. She can never find it in her to shrink away, almost like she’s beholden to the force of him.

“Why?”

“She seems passionate; fanciful. Alluring.”

She’s never wanted to blush as much as she does around him and her face feels warm, tight. She swallows from her wine bottle, still looking at him.

“You are,” she starts, and then shakes her head.

“I am…?” he urges, mouth grinning, eyes wide with mirth. He reaches out and grabs at her ankle, fingers grazing her skin. Her skin tingles beneath his fingers, a slow rush of heat flooding through her. Apparently, Barry has discovered a new erogenous zone.

“Something else,” she answers, finally.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s what you meant.”

She looks out at the lake for a brief moment. “It’s not, but I haven’t figured out what I do mean yet.”

He’s silent for a beat. “Okay. Your turn,” he says and Iris is grateful for the reprieve.

“What’s a country you’ve never been to that you’d like to visit?”

A wistful smile curves his pretty mouth. “That’s easy. Ireland.”

“Yeah?” she asks softly.

“It’s where my mom's family is from,” he continues, touching at her ankle even as he looks away from her. She wonders if he realizes he’s even doing it, tracing along her ankle and then up the length of her calf and back down again.

“My mom was born here in Central City,” he explains, “but her parents were born and raised in Ireland, moving here when they were a couple of months pregnant with her.” She knows she doesn’t mistake the melancholy in his voice. “We’d been planning for a trip after I graduated high school. Since dad was gone, it wasn’t as easy to save up for a long summer trip like that, but we were working on it, before she was killed. I’m still working on it.”

He gives her another smile, this one tinged with hope, and the urge to comfort him is strong. But she knows that there is no real comfort for missing a mother, so instead, she moves from her spot against the tree. The movement confuses Barry, who has to move his hand away from her ankle, but his frown clears when she lies beside him, her head on his shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Italy,” she tells him. “My best friend Linda’s parents live in a large immigrant community. People from all over live there. It was like heaven for me when I really started getting into writing; so many stories. Obviously, not everyone wanted to tell their business to a 15-year-old, but Mrs. Bianco had no qualms about it.

“Mrs. Bianco has three sons, relatively the same age as me and Linda, one right after the other, but no daughters. So for much of high school, we were her surrogates. My dad worked a lot and so did Linda’s parents, getting their restaurant off the ground. So we’d go over to Mrs. Bianco’s after school to do homework and she’d feed us all these baked goods, cannolis and these things called bombolinis, which are like doughnuts but better. And she’d tell us all these stories about growing up in the Italian countryside and going to college and meeting her husband before they came here, the excitement of it all. She made it sound so beautiful.”

Barry reaches over and touches her, long fingers touching lightly at her arm before they wrap around her wrist. He rubs at the skin on the inside of her wrist. The move feels like a deliberate way for Barry to maintain contact, but also like more. Like the last time he’d come to her apartment, and she’d felt the touch to her ankles at the very core of her, she feels so now. It’s subtle, but it’s there, in the slight clench of her belly, in the low throb of her pussy. It’s been a long time since she’s been with anyone like this — cause I feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you—easily aroused and just as easily comforted. Her last relationship had been with a man named Eddie, a graduate student she had met early in her senior year of undergrad. He had been sweet, but they had both been so busy all the time that they had felt like work too. With Barry, there’s the newness that comes with a relationship, the giddiness at talking to him, being near him. But this seems like something else, something greater, something that tells of why she can’t stop thinking about this man.

“Why did you invite me over,” Barry asks, “that Friday night?”

She exhales shakily, a little unnerved by him. “Well, you asked me to dance?”

“You invited me over because I asked you to dance?” His tone is incredulous and she laughs.

“No, I mean. It’s the club. People just dance, right? And here you come, rocking those hips unlike any white boy I’ve seen, and then you walk up and ask me if you could dance with me. I thought it was polite.”

Barry rolls over so that he’s long against her side. He moves his hand from her wrist to press on her belly, rubbing his thumb lightly. He plants his mouth right next to her ear. “If you think I’m polite, I’m doing something wrong.”

She catches his eyes. “I don’t know,” she says, smirking at him. “Maybe you are. Maybe you need to work on that.”

She lets the taunt hang, for just a moment, and then she rolls over to kiss him. She licks at his mouth, turning the kiss more passionate in seconds. Their positions change, Barry rolling her onto her back.

“I think I can make you beg,” Barry whispers against her mouth. “I was always told that was impolite.”

Iris doesn’t get a chance to say much else because suddenly, Barry is between her legs, his head dipping down under her dress.

“Barry what?”

As is his annoying habit, he doesn’t respond to her right away. He pushes her dress higher, exposing her belly and the bright yellow lace of her panties. She inhales sharply at the feel of his breath on her belly before he plants a kiss there.

“Ask for it.”

She catches onto his game immediately and her eyes flash. “No.”

His answer is a grin and then, without much preamble, he dips his tongue into her belly button. The action makes her hips raise automatically, and he brings her back down by gripping her hips. He continues down, tongue laving at her skin, fingers running up her torso and down again until they hook in the top of her panties and he starts to pull them down.

Iris can’t describe what it is she’s feeling at the moment. He’s only just touched her, only just planted a few sloppy kisses on her stomach. But her skin is tight with anticipation, her breathing deeper as she waits to see what he’ll do. She wonders, rather absently, if they’re currently being watched by any of the animals she hears living out here by the lake; but then Barry widens her legs and opens her up with the tips of his index and middle finger and she stops thinking altogether.

He holds her open for a long moment, just looking, just breathing against her, and she tries to hold still until she can’t, wiggling her hips a little, hoping it makes a finger slip inside of her.

“Barry…”

“You’re ready to ask for it?”

He drags his gaze away from her sex in order to meet her eyes. They’re the glassy that lets her know that he isn’t as unaffected as he’s pretending to be. That momentarily strengthens her resolve, knowing that maybe he really does feel like this too, that she’s not the only one losing her head in this sexual haze that seems to be moving way too fast and way past normal.

She shakes her head at him.

“No?” he questions. “Not even if I do this?”

Fingers still holding her, he licks her, a long swipe of his tongue. She inhales again at the feel of his wet tongue, lets it go in a noisy exhale when he does it again. And then again and then again, and Iris starts to rock against him, trying to get more of his tongue or his fingers or something. She quivers above him, her thighs opening and closing, and she feels like a butterfly, fluttering and alight, hovering over a precipice.

“Shit, ” she moans.

And then, he stops. He fucking stops.

“Barry…”

“Or this?” he continues, and pushes his fingers in. It’s harder than she likes, more like a stab, and she jerks her hips.

“Softer,” she tells him, and he obliges, moving slower, caressing instead of fucking into her. “ Yes, like that.”

Barry hums around her. The vibration makes her hips rock up, and he circles her clit with the tip of his tongue, sucking on it. He looks up at her again. This is the face she wants to remember for the rest of her days: his dazed eyes, his flushed cheeks, his wet mouth.

“Ask me for what you want, Iris,” Barry licks his lips. “Beg me, baby, please.”

Her heart is pounding and she wonders how a game of question and answer got her here. But they are here, she’s here, quivering with the need to come, with the fact that Barry looking up at her like this, begging her like this, makes her feel more desirable than she’s ever known she could.

“Can you eat me, Barry? Please? ”

Iris has never seen a dirtier smile. “With pleasure.”

He really starts to eat her, then. He kisses at her lips, tongues her down in a sloppy, wet tongue kiss that makes her cream drip out of her, drip down her thighs. She rocks against him, closing her knees around his head when the touch of his tongue to her clit gets to be too much, opening herself wider when wants his tongue back in her, licking and tasting and fucking her. Needing something to do with her hands, she grabs at his hair, pulling at the strands, scratching at scalp, at the back of his neck. That is how she comes, she doesn’t know how much later. But it’s like that: with Barry holding on to her hips, face buried in her slick; with her knees opening and closing, with her hips bucking, with her begging him, “please, Barry, fuck, yes, please, Barry. ”

It takes her a while to come down and when she does, she says the first thing that she can think of. “God, you’re so goddamn annoying.”

Barry bursts out laughing into her stomach, arms wrapped around her.

“What is something that you want out of a relationship?”

They’re sitting up and eating now, Iris several feet away from him so she’s not tempted to wrap her thighs around his face again. She’s chosen the turkey sandwich on wheat bread and a handful of grapes. The sandwich is really good and Barry must think so of his own handiwork because he’s already done with one and unwrapping another. Although, Iris thinks, he likely did work up an appetite.

She can’t say what makes her throw out the question. The skepticism of starting something with him is still there, but laughing after sex like that, coming from sex like that, well. Iris can name that she might be a little whipped by this smooth-talking, world-class fucking white boy.

He chews a bite of his sandwich and swallows before he turns to her with an answer.

“I’m a simple guy, I think. I work a lot; crimes wait for no one so I would want someone who understands that. But in my time off, I like to do things like this, and festivals and running too, so someone who likes that too.” He wipes at his mouth with a crumpled napkin. “But out of a relationship in general, I guess I want companionship, laughing. Communication and patience. Fidelity.” He shoots her a grin. “Good sex.”

Iris rolls her eyes, but she returns the smile. “Did you have that in your last relationship?”

“Ah,” he interrupts, “it’s my turn for a question, Iris.”

She throws her own balled up napkin at him. “Fine. Shoot.”

“What do you look for in a relationship?”

She shoots him a glare.

“What?” he laughs. “It was a good question and I want to know.”

“Okay. Um,” she takes a swig from her newly opened wine. “Whew. I don’t know that I’ve thought about this in a while.” She bites at her bottom lip and lets out a long breath. “A lot of the same things you said, I think. I do love laughing, even if I can get lost in my own head angst sometimes and I’d like someone who realizes that. I’m pretty busy, between school and work and What a Life You’ve Lived, but I make time for the people I want to make time for and I would wish my partner would do the same. Fidelity is also important to me too; communication. I love music and dancing and movies so someone who’d want to do those things with me.”

Barry wriggles his eyebrows. “Good sex?”

“A plus, for sure,” she agrees.

That gets her to thinking about another question she has, one she’s more hesitant to voice. She could get an answer she likes, one that keeps the mood they’ve got going here. And the vibe right now is so good. She can’t remember a date like this, one so simple. Eddie had been courting careers in law and so much of their time together had been spent out at fancy dinners while he’d tried to smooze whoever he needed to that week. It’d been fun sometimes, to see what stories she could get out of the politicians and law officers, but that’s not a date, at least it wasn't to her. During undergrad, dates meant studying together in the corner of a library until one or both of them got the urge to make out behind a shelf of books. And high school shouldn’t even really count. But here, today, this feels like a date. It feels like butterflies fluttering or sparks flying or whatever other cliche Iris could think of. It’s like slow-dancing all alone after dinner in a half-cleaned kitchen, easy and intimate. It feels like warm honey on her tongue, slow and sweet and overwhelming. It’s pillow talk, baby; lay your head on my pillow, say, "oh-ooh"; way you're touchin' my body, say, "ooh-ooh"; i ain't lovin' nobody but you; you, you, you make me, the kind that starts as whispers in the dark and becomes deep, lazy sex with only the moon there to light the way.

But she steels herself and risks asking anyway. “Barry, do you, uh, have a lot of sex, then? A lot of one-night stands?”

Barry’s eyes are wide when he looks at her. He’d been cleaning up their trash, putting napkins and wrappers and empty bottles in a small grocery bag and the question makes him look up sharply. It makes her want to retreat, but she’s already put it out there and she’s extremely curious if she happens to just be one in a line of girls that this surprisingly suave man has beguiled with easy laughs and mind-blowing sex.

“I'm asking because you are, you’re good,” she mumbles, (but, understatement), “and of course, you don’t have to answer me but I just… I'm wondering if…”

She trails off when he stops what he’s doing and crawls over to her. He hovers, making her lean back a little in order to see all of his face. It’s a pretty face, the dark eyebrows over those eyes, the lips that she knows get even pinker when they’re dripping with her juices, the faint moles along his cheeks and jaw that doesn’t detract.

“There are no other girls, Iris,” he tells her, and he seems so sincere as he looks straight into her eyes, as he places a hand on the side of her so she’s clouded in the clean, citrusy smell of him. “I know that we’re just hanging out and obviously, you do what you want, but no, I… I’m a one woman kinda guy. Going home with you was an anomaly, one I certainly don’t regret. But it’s not a thing I do. I haven’t been with anyone else since my last relationship months ago.”

She stares at him, hoping that she can believe him. “Alright.”

“Okay?”

She nods again, this time with a little smile. “Yeah, okay.”

Neither of them asks their final two questions. Barry says that it’ll give them something to talk about when he sees her again. Iris just thinks that today’s been a whirlwind of a day and it’d be nice not to be on the spot anymore. The ride back to town is just as easy as the ride down. Easy listening plays from the radio—'cause I feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you; i feel so comfortable with you; you make me comfortable with you; you make me—and Iris settles into her seat for the half-hour drive, full and sated and comfortable. She must doze off because before she knows it, Barry is pulling into the parking space next to her Kia and he’s opening the door for her.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” he says, smiling down at her as he grabs her hand to pull her out of the seat.

“I’m sorry for falling asleep on you.” She stumbles a little as she follows him up the stairs and he grips her hand tighter.

“Don’t worry about it,” he tells her. “I take pride in the fact that I’ve put you to sleep every night we’ve been together.”

She doesn’t even pause as she yanks her hand away and slides past him to her door. “You’re such a dick.”

Barry chuckles, sidling up behind her as she sticks her key into the lock. He gives her a soft kiss on the skin between her neck and shoulder.

“I thought you said I was polite,” he breathes, before nipping at her skin. She closes her eyes at the feel of his mouth on her, the light nips of his teeth, the slick glide of his tongue behind it. He pulls up all the way behind her and wraps both of his arms around her waist.

“You are,” she moans when one of his hands glides down and settles hard over her crotch. “Even when you’re telling me to beg, you say please.”

He licks a longer stripe across her skin, pulls a larger patch into his mouth, cups her pussy in the palm of his hand.

“Barry…”

“But you called me a dick, Iris. Am I polite or a dick?”

She arches into him. “You’re a polite dick.”

He stills against her and it takes a moment for Iris to realize that he’s laughing again. He’s got such a nice laugh, deep and bright. “Damn, Iris.” He turns her around, still with a wide grin on his face. He leans down and kisses her, pecks her lips once, and then twice, and then a longer one that curls her fingers around his neck. He doesn’t immediately let go when he pulls back.

“I want to ask one of my last questions.”

She licks her lips, chasing the taste of him. “Okay.”

“Am I in the running?” He asks the question clearly, though in a voice just above a whisper. “Am I someone that you could want to be..”

She doesn’t need him to finish the sentence to say what she’s feeling, even if she’s terrified of what it might eventually mean for her. “I really think that you might be.”

“It’s a might I’ll take.” He nods at her door. “Good night, beautiful.”

She turns to go into the apartment. “Good night, Barry.”

The door is almost closed when he calls back. “Hey, Iris?”

“Yeah?”

“Call me this time.”

You make me

Baby

You make me

You make me

[words-for-holland]

Happier (9) | T.H

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: Y/N & Tom seem to be in the process of rebuilding their relationship. Natalie is up to no good. How much more can Y/N & Tom take?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Masterlist

A/N: Ive been reading all your responses lately and I appreciate them so much! Im so glad you’re all still on this crazy dramatic ride! Thank you so much for reading and supporting!

Spontaneity

There are certain moments in your life where things go according to plan, and others when they dont...but those are the best kinds. The moments that happen because it feels right and everything just falls into place. After all, everything happens for a reason.

It had been three weeks since Tom and Y/N had their heart to heart, promising to find Unknown together along with Harrison and Harry. While there were no threats taking place, one could never be too careful. The more they waited, the more vulnerable they became, letting down their guard ever so slightly.

Everyone kept a close eye on Natalie, but she convinced them enough to think she was on their side and the PR had nothing to do with Unknown. Show the boys one made up threat message from Unknown and you gained most of their trust. Tom had asked Natalie to stop the PR for the sake of mending his broken relationship with Y/N. She told him that her and her publicist agreed to put it on hold...but kept no promise of stopping it forever.

Natalie’s mother was getting furious, not happy with how her daughter handled the situation. “I told you to keep Y/N away, you insolent girl. You are ruining everything and your chance with Tom.”, she spat through the phone.

Natalie listened to her mother’s rant, rolling her eyes. “Relax mother.” She says sourily. “This is just the beginning. Y/N wont know what hit her and after this...She’s going to wish she never came back to London.” She hangs up the phone smirking as she goes through fan accounts that continued to spark the PR flame.

Meanwhile as the three weeks passed Tom & Y/N had slowly rebuilt their relationship. Occasional glances and banters left their tongue, subtle compliments were thrown out, and it almost seemed as if things would be back just the way they were. Even more so, one day in the kitchen. Y/N was making dinner the for the group as she took the time to cut the asparagus and broccoli. Tom passed by her, as he saw her lose herself in the soft music playing in the background, singing to herself all while still being focused on the food.

He leaned against the doorway and continued to observe her, admiring how cute she looked with her hair up and how sweet her voice sounded with the music. It almost made him think why she didn’t pursue a career in music instead of business. “Wow.” Tom muttered under his breath.

His voice must have been too loud, since Y/N looked up startled, but all the more happy to see the man she once loved..and still does deep down. “Oh..I didn’t see you there.” She giggles. “Don’t worry I’ll stop singing in the kitchen. I know how you guys are when I get into it.”

Tom quickly shook his head as he came closer to her, smiling back. “No. You don’t have to. I think your voice sounds lovely. I mean the kitchen’s got great acoustics.” He laughs nervously. Tom can’t remember the last time he felt so nervous with her, but in the good type of nervous. The type of feeling, one gets when they’re in front of their crush and all the butterlies in their stomach start fluttering. “You just sound and look so beautiful.” He admits, sheepishly.

“Thomas Stanley Holland are you trying to flirt with me?” She asks amused at his attempt pointing the knife at him from a safe distance.

“Am not.” He dramatically answers. “I can’t compliment a friend, who happens to be really beautiful.” Y/N shies away hiding her face, by looking down at the cutting board. “I mean it. I really do think you’re beautiful, even if you dont think like that.”

“Well..I’m definitely no model or Natalie, since the people say you both are London’s to die for couple.” She says bitterly.

Tom rolls his eyes as he takes her hand. “Hey..I told you we stopped it for now and Natalie agreed. You know, I get that we all have our suspicions of her after everything, but she said and proved she was a victim herself. Plus Unknown’s been quiet for the past three weeks.” Y/N scoffs at his defense for Natalie as she heads to the stove with Tom following right behind her. He taps on her should as she reluctantly turns to look at him. “I am only ever going to have feelings for you.” Tom confesses. In this moment their faces are inches apart, eyes are slowing moving down to their lips and back up to their eyes, breaths slowing, and just when it seemed like everything would fall into place, both quickly turn away clearing their throats

Y/N calms her heartbeat as she stirs the pasta while Tom helps stir the sauce. The room was quiet only the sound of bubbling from the pots filling the room. It only took five seconds before they both turned back to each other quickly connecting their lips. The fever and the passion increasing rapidly with every touch and pull. The warmth coming from their breaths and the tingling feeling everytime their lips touched. It was like coming back from an addicition you had quit for so long but craved every single time. They couldn’t stop no matter how wrong this was right now, but it felt so right so spontaneous, so in the moment.

Tom quickly signaled her to jump and did as she told, wrapping her legs around his toned torso, cupping her hands under his jaw. He pushed her back against the kitchen wall, as he slow let on of his hands linger under her shirt. It may have been months apart, but both knew exactly what the other needed and how to handle it. Almost as if it were instinctive. They were in complete bliss, forgetting the world around them. Until, the pasta water started overflowing on the stove.

Y/N opened her eyes and quickly pushed Tom away. “Shit. The food.” She yells out, jumping from Tom’s embrace. Both of them tried to calm their heart rate and Tom stood their watching Y/N, smiling at what had just happened. For once he had his girl back, and everything felt normal. Y/N looks at him, giggling. “What?” She asks.

“Nothing.” He replies, grinning like a little boy. “I’ve waited to do that for so long.”

Y/N blushes at his statement, as she sets up the table with the food. “Come on. It’s time to eat.”

Life seemed surreal after her encounter with Tom. Y/N told herself that it was a one time thing until they found Unknown. She didnt want to put anyone at risk especially both her’s and Tom’s heart. But everytime she told herself, the more she got lost in Tom. Every stolen moment, stolen kisses, stolen touch...he always had a way of making her forget. So while she vowed to herself that it would stop, her heart simply couldn’t. Tom was right, there was no PR, no text messages, no insane fan account rumor. Natalie hadn’t even bothered either of them, always focused on her own thing, and truthfully seemed a lot nicer when she came forth about being a victim of Unknown. The questions came to Y/N’s mind. Why should she have to live in fear? Why not just live in the moment?

It was a slow night. Harrison had spent the weekend at his mother’s while Harry did the same. Tom and Y/N were the only ones that roamed aroundthe house. While Natalie spent her time contemplating everything. Her initial plan to crush Y/N when she least expected was approaching ever so quickly after all the time it took to set up. Within that time, she had gotten to know Y/N and Tom even more so a part from the hatred and the jealousy. For a second...just a second, she considered not to follow through. But her mother’s words and the thought of losing her chances with Tom overtook her the moment she saw the two fall in love all over again. Her suspicions only became worse when she recirved a text from her mother.

Unknown

Just remember, your acting career and your dreams depend on Tom. If you want Tom to choose you, you better get rid of the girl stealing your chances.

Filled with worry, Natalie quickly grabbed her things and made her way out the door.

Meanwhile, Tom and Y/N continued to spend time in each others arms everywhere they went in the house. They settled on the couch, Tom’s stong hands wrapping around her torso as Y/N curled herself into Tom. “I wish we could stay like this forever.” She whispers to him.

Tom hums at the idea, smiling wide. “Me too.” He brings her soft lips to his, letting them linger for a couple seconds more. “Do you really enjoy staying in the guest room?” Tom asks.

Y/N looks up at him, with curious eyes. “I mean yeah it’s okay. Why?”

Tom takes a deep breath before asking, “Well...I was uh wondering, if you didn’t like it as much there, you could..maybe stay with me...again.” He suggested muttering the last word. Tom smiled nervously, as he observes Y/N’s emotions. She was calm like the sea before a storm.

Y/N smiles at his offer, but shakes her head. “Mmm..it’s okay. Im fine where I am, but thank you for the generous offer.” She responds, placing a small kiss on his cheek.

“Yeah...I guess I should have seen that coming.” Tom admits, his face showing signs of disappointment.

Y/N pouts her lips, and lifts her small hand to move a piece of his hair. “Hey..believe me. I want to but nows the not the time..at least not yet. One day, I promise.” She whispers leaving a chaste kiss on his lips. “C’mon we got another day tomorrow. I’m gonna head into my room for a bit.”

“I’ll come up later just wanna make a call to Harrison.” Tom replies. Y/N looks at him and smiles as she nods and heads back up to her room.

As the night came to an end, Y/N took the time to unwind with a book in hand when her phone went off. Her face dropped when she saw the messages.

Pictures of Natalie out and about wearing Tom’s clothes and jewlery, smiling into the sun and enjoying her day out with friends. Gossips left and right from fans and media, talking about how adorable it was that Natalie was the type of girlfriend to steal her boyfriends clothes because it looks cuter on her. Y/N knew deep down it wasn’t true but the words and pictures taunted her. Slowly and surely, she started to get mad, furious that Natalie would start the flame again out of nowhere when she promised Tom they would stopped. Another message popped up for Y/N, and it was from someone she so willingly prayed it wouldnt be who she thought.

Unknown

Doesn’t she look cute in his clothes. Probably better than you ever could. BTW..where is lover boy? 😉

Y/N throws her phone against the wall, pissed more than ever. She should have known this was going to happen. Y/N contemplated the message, she wondered what the text meant. After all Unknown seeemed to know more about everyone here better than they knew themselves. Y/N slowly went downstairs only to hear whispering coming from the kitchen. She couldn’t make out the exact words but she could identify the voice. It was Tom and Natalie? She took a peak at the kitchen where the two stood facing each other. Y/N couldn’t make out Tom’s face but she could see Natalie’s very clearly. “Kiss me.” Natalie whispers, as she quickly places her lips on Tom’s cradling his neck, but Tom didn’t stop. The moment his eyes opened up to see Y/N’s he pushed Natalie off with all his might.

Y/N standing there in shock and sadness. Her eyes tearing up, her breaths shortening. She shakes her head, as she replays the disturbing image in her mind. “Y/N... it’s not what it looks like.” Tom quickly defends, trying to reach for Y/N as she steps back. Natalie observing the two, a slight smirk forming across her face. “I swear it was for the PR and movie.” He yells out, trying to chase her.

Y/N whips back as she faces Tom, the angriest she has ever been with him. “Who are you putting a show for in this house? Me? Because I sure as hell didn’t fucking like it one bit. I should have known better.” She spits out, heading up the stairs with Tom following.

“Y/N..please. It didn’t mean anything. I swear. I was put in a compromising position. Please listen to me.” Tom pleads. The door to her room is shut locked, but he stays there waiting and knocking at the door. “Y/N. Don’t do this. Dont walk away. Please just let me explain. You know what we have is special and the moment at the kitchen and everything this past month...”

“Was ruined and a complete and utter mistake. Leave me alone and I swear Tom you even try to get near me I will make sure you never see the light of day. I should have fucking stayed back.” Y/N yells out, sobbing against the door. It was a nightmare, and this time she couldn’t get out. She sat there now realizing, her heart had broken completely for the second time.

Taglist:

@hollanddolanfangirl @ifilosemyselfagain @hevjadams @averyfosterthoughts​ @fangirl-with-a-mission @drishtisikarwar @eridanuswave​ @ifntelyinspirit @trumpettay @astridcommings @parkershoco @racewife2004 @sleepybesson @greatpizzascissorstaco @andievgs @joyleenl @holland-bowen @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh @viwihere @marvelobsessedteenager @panicattheeverywherekid @oswinO5 @jillanaholland

[geeks-universe]

Veritas Vos Liberabit IV

The truth will set you free.

Previous Part

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Tag List: @the-british-koala @ilearnedthatfromethepizzaman @shadowalley @ao-spadez

A/N: Hehe, there’s gonna be a super awesome character arc just you wait

“You still haven’t explained,” John reminded you, pulling you from the staring match you were having with your phone.

You flicked your gaze towards him, stopping yourself from reading anymore texts. Lucifer was relentless, jumping from asking you to come home, to threatening sending Amenadiel after you.

“Hmm?” You hummed gracelessly, before realizing he was most definitely referring to your mojo. “Oh, just a little trick I learned from my dad.”

He didn’t really look like he was buying it, so you sent him an amused smirk. Deciding that presentation was better than explanation, you slowed him to a stop. Ever curious, Sherlock watched tentatively as you made eye contact with John.

“What is it you truly desire?” You inquired, that brief flicker of connection to your divinity sparking something inside. Your fingers tingled, air alight with a power you’d never had the opportunity to tap into.

“Uh,” John blinked a couple of times, “I…”

Sherlock was staring at his friend, brows furrowed as he saw the man at war within his own mind.

“I want to feel happy again.”

The smirk on your lips faded to a thoughtful smile. Humans were interesting creatures to you, but not in the same way they were to your father. He reveled in their sins, and believed in their corruption. You, however, were inspired by their flaws. Emotions were at the very core of their being, and it was a beautiful melody you would never tire of.

Sherlock looked to be torn between wonder and annoyance. John, however, shook his head, furrowing his brows in your direction.

“I couldn’t stop myself,” he explained slowly, trying to piece together exactly why that was in his mind. “No matter how hard I tried.”

You tilted your head to the side, just observing him. Confusion was evident, though he didn’t look upset by what he’d said, or embarrassed.

“Some sort of psychological trick,” Sherlock muttered to himself, pulling your attention to him.

John seemed ready to chalk it up to magic, while Sherlock was skeptical at best.

“Enough of that,” you exclaimed, “I was promised a tour! It’s already so different from Los Angeles.”

And just like that, John was back to the charming, kind host. Sherlock was inquisitive, but quiet. He kept a close watch on you, and offered brief explanations to some of your questions, but otherwise remained vigilant.

Every step you took was cataloged, along with each expression that crossed your face. Despite it, you didn’t let his quirky nature detract from the time you were having.

“Is it your dad,” John finally asked after one too many alerts from your phone. (Seriously, did Lucifer really not have anything better to do?) “That you’re ignoring, I mean.”

“Of course it is,” Sherlock interjected, looking for all the world like it was the most obvious assumption.

Instead of getting upset at his interruption, you found your lips turning up in a smile. He was rather fascinating, if not a little intrusive.

“I left without saying goodbye,” you admitted a little forlornly, nervously fiddling with your phone. There were moments when you felt that you absolutely made the best decision, but doubt wouldn’t leave you alone.

“Why?”

John didn’t sound judgemental, nor did he sound pushy. To you, he just sounded worried almost, like someone who knew the importance of close bonds and didn’t want you severing one without good purpose. 

“I love him,” you were quick to defend your own actions. Of the two, John was the only one who seemed comforting. “But I need to be away from him. He was so worried about keeping me safe that he’d suffocated me.”

There was a hint of sympathy on John’s features. Even if he didn’t understand the full extent of your story, he did know a thing or two about family troubles. Perhaps having a confidant in him would help to soothe the growing loneliness in your family’s absence.

Silence reigned supreme over the three of you as you continued your walk. John was casting an occasional concerned glance to you. You were lost in the buildings and architecture that spread from the ground to the sky. And Sherlock, well, he was too busy connecting dots you’d thrown around with each word. Still, he couldn’t quite picture it all. There was something more to you than what he was able to uncover, though what it was he couldn’t be sure.

It wasn’t until a few minutes more that your feet stopped on their own accord. Your eyes, wide and full of sadness, scaled the stone steeple that stood proudly at a height far above the other buildings. There wasn’t much foot traffic moving in and out of the building, but a soft ringing called to you nonetheless.

You cleared your throat, dragging your teary gaze from the stained glass to your walking partners.

“I need a couple of minutes, do you mind if…”

John caught on immediately, quick to pull his friend out of the line of questioning he looked about ready to go into.

“I’ll grab us a bite to eat,” he assured you, practically dragging Sherlock away as you ascended the stairs into the church.

The air was buzzing with an energy you couldn’t recognize. The room was dark, and nearly empty. Something propelled you forward, bringing you to a stop at one of the pews in the back. You’d only ever been to a church once before. For obvious reasons, your father wasn’t the biggest fan.

Lucifer wasn’t the biggest fan.

But, then again, he wasn’t your real father.

You sucked a breath in, staring forward at the cross that stood proudly at the very center of the stage. Unlike the rest of your siblings, you had never actually met your father. As much as you tried to act like it didn’t bother you, deep down it did. Why had he handed you off to Lucifer? Why were you forced to spend your days in Hell when the rest of your family was acquainted with the Silver City.

You dropped your head into your hands, breaking your wandering gaze.

“Dad,” you breathed, your voice shaky.

“Why did you do this?” You asked into the silence, your voice nearly imperceptible to the people around you. “Why am I here? Why did you send me to Hell?”

There was no answer.

Not that you expected one.

Lucifer didn’t have any faith left in your father. He talked about abandonment, about the atrocities your father let happen. He spoke of an unfathomable cruelty and undeniable destiny.

You didn’t believe that.

No matter how bad things got, you couldn’t believe it.

There had to be some explanation, some rationalization of it all.

Whatever it was though, you would be the last to know. If your father didn’t even want you, he wouldn’t want to give you an explanation that he hadn’t even given his other children.

Tears were beginning to blur your vision, your phone burning in your back pocket. You should answer Lucifer. Your actual father may not be around, but you did have a dad, and at the very least he deserved an explanation.

“I just want to know who I am,” you quietly confessed to the empty room.

You took a moment to wipe away your tears and calm your breathing. Just as you moved to stand up, a person beside you cleared their throat politely.

He looked vaguely familiar, with his auburn hair and pressed suit. It wasn’t until you spotted the umbrella he twirled in his hand habitually that you realized who it was. John had told you all about Mycroft Holmes, and how you should expect him to pay you a visit just for breathing the same air as his younger brother.

“Oh, hello, didn’t see you there,” you admitted, smiling warmly at him.

The little you knew about the man in front of you caused a soft affection to bubble inside. You loved your family, and you could understand that desire to protect them. Even if he went about it in an odd way, you couldn’t blame the man for his vigilant nature.

“Miss Morningstar,” he greeted, the thin curve of his lips little more than an intimidation tactic, though he looked considerably charmed by your behavior, as did practically all humans. “I have a proposition for you, though I do apologize for disturbing you at a place of worship.”

You swallowed, briefly flicking your gaze to the cross.

“I’d say it hardly deserves worship,” you replied, inclining your head towards him. “Are you a man of faith?”

He raised a brow at your apparent disinterest in religion, despite your choice to retreat inside an old church. There was a certain amount of amusement in his brow, likely due to the question.

“Not particularly, no,” he answered cordially, but without much interest. “I consider myself a man of science.”

“Science,” you echoed, a fragment of a smile. “You believe science and faith can’t coexist?”

For one reason or another, he actually considered your argument. You knew it was likely a ploy to further his own business, but you found yourself innately curious about the man beside you. Most of what you knew of Sherlock came from John, and if there was a reason why he seemed to be immune to the divinity you exuded, you’d like to learn a little more.

“Faith is an explanation for what science can’t yet determine.”

His words were precise, and sure, as if there was nothing you could do to shake that determination. You paused thoughtfully, turning so that you might fully face him now. There was a glisten of veneration in his eyes, an unconscious acknowledgment to the river of divinity that flowed through your veins.

“Your proposition?”

You interruption was met with a continued cessation, followed by a diverted gaze.

“Information,” he claimed, leaning back to create an air of detachment. “Your recent neighbor, Sherlock.”

You waved off the rest of his proposal, not bothering to listen.

“No.”

His eyes narrowed a fraction, dangerous calculations swirling inside his mind as he scoured every detail on your person.

“So quick to align yourself without hearing how much I’ll offer you.”

You stood up, tilting your head curiously.

“If you want information on your brother, you could always just ask him, Mycroft.”

There was a momentary spark of confusion, or perhaps annoyance, in his stare, but you paid it no mind as you left without a further goodbye.

The sun was a blinding contrast to the dark building you were in before, but you found yourself comforted by its overwhelming presence. Your eyes shut on their own accord as you felt the heat seep into your soul. Before Lucifer returned to Earth, you had been in Hell with him. You hated it there. A part of you had always longed for the sun and the warmth it rained down upon mankind. In your youth, Lucifer took to calling you ‘sunshine’ and it had stuck with you through the years.

You knew, standing under the bright rays of the star, that you could never return to Hell again. Something in your veins longed for the sun, and the divine power that coursed through your system seemed to swell with its embrace.

Your thoughts were shattered as a body collided with yours, sending you stumbling a couple of steps by the sudden, unexpected intrusion. There was a moment, less than a fraction of a second, where your connection to the supernatural world was shifted.

“I am so sorry, I-”

Surprise stopped your words as you met the eyes of the man who ran into you. His gaze was unnatural, a color darker than night. They looked like the depths of Hell frozen over. A smile painted his face, one of cruelty and unspoken horror. His hands were icy where they held you in place, one on your shoulder and the other on your arm. You stood frozen to the spot, whispered tendrils beckoning you to the precipice of madness.

You nearly followed, to a destiny unknown and a journey fraught with danger. The presence was familiar, and much too comfortable. An evil lurked beneath his cool exterior, chilling the very air you breathed. 

Still, you were entranced by the muted lunacy. 

As you began to take the first step towards instability, you paused, a heat flaring up along your spine, to the base of where your wings stayed hidden. A claw gripped your throat, forcing fire down into your chest to wash away the sins of your thoughts.

As quick as the encounter began, it ended. You gasped for air, finding relief against John a minute later when he worriedly took a hold of your arm.

“Are you okay?” John asked, concern tinting his voice as he rubbed your back in the event you might have trouble catching your breath once more.

Sherlock was quick to look you up and down, tracing any details he might need.

“What happened?”

The black eyes flashed in your mind. This wasn’t an issue you could take to the two of them. Whatever happened was something more in your realm than theirs.

“Nothing,” you assured them, “Someone in a rush.”

Your smile was every bit as convincing as you could make it, hiding the image of blackened eyes and a searing pain along your collar.

Sherlock wished he could believe the lie you tried to sell, but curiosity got the best of him, and he would discover the truth without your help, as it seems.

[urmomification]

WOOO POG DREAM SMP AU

theres 1.8k words and 9,393 characters of a schlatt au below the cut LMAO

[i was rambling to my friend and this is what came out of it! send me an abt it if u have questions i would love to talk abt it more pls]

(slight body horror/gore tw!!)

slams fists on table rattling any dishes on the table au where schlatt doesnt die of a heartattack and tubbo locks him up to rot basically and his horns grow into his eyes effectively blinding him and chained his hands together and basically a leash on him to keep him from moving around in his cell so he cant do anything to break the horns off before they get too long and one day when technos breaking into lmanberg he gets chased into the prison and loses them in the halls before coming across schlatts cell and schlatts calling out like 'whos there i can hear ur foot steps whos there please someone whos there' etc yk and technos speechless they thought they executed him to keep him from causing any more problems in the country but this is this is just much worse than anything he even thought theyd do and hes standing in front of schlatts cell just looking at him as if hes imagining it he knew lmanberg was bad but holy fuck they just let this man rot in a cell to the point of his own horns blinding him and giving him no aid or way to ease the pain so he makes himself known and schlatt 'ive never been so happy to see, well, hear an anarchist in my life, its good to see- hear you technoblade' and chuckles and blood runs down his face like tears would, few drops landing on his clothes before techno starts trying to get into the cell to take him out of there he cant leave him here sure he was an anarchist terrorist w a murder record but he had standards and now that schlatt wasnt in power he had nothing against him really considering he isnt a citizen of lmanberg so he manages to pick the locks enough to get him out of there, schlatts arm slung over technos shoulder they stumble out of the prison building and as they slowly make their way to the nether portal to get back to technos base, they run into tubbo and quackity, schlatts old right hand men and they try to stop techno bc hes well an anarchist terrorist w a murder record but the glare techno gives them levels them and theyre left staring at each other for a moment when schlatt 'whyre we stopped whos there tech' and techno mumbles 'tubbo and quackity schlatt' and schlatt just furrows his brows as far as he can without sending excruciating pain into his eye sockets before he purses his lips and asks 'are they going to try and stop us?' techno looks back at the other two 'no they wont, isnt that right boys?' tubbo and quackity slink away allowing techno and schlatt to the portal and them going thru, schlatt still silent as he tries not to trip over technos cape or off the ledge of the bridge passing over the lava lakes, they make it to the portal and begin the walk across the arctic tundra to technos house, philza isnt there right now so its just the two of them and techno leads him up the ladder to his room (its not really a room i think its just a bed, a bell and an enchantment table) and sits him down on his bed mumbling something abt being right back and he is with some medical supplies and a change of clothes to clean everything up, they dont talk techno works in silence and when schlatt winces he mumbles a small apology before continuing eventually techno got schlatt as cleaned up as you can get someone w horns in their eyes and a sweater to keep him warm and finally starts asking questions 'how long had u been in there' 'lost count' 'did they bring you food' 'a chests worth at the beginning of the month' techno sighs 'i thought they executed you' 'tubbo chickened out despite me being 'an active threat to our peace in lmanberg' and locked me up a few days after u set the withers loose and dropped off a chest of food once a month and most of them refused to talk to me others couldnt even make eye contact with me, other than the few instances where they said things like 'heres ur food' or 'u deserve this' or 'i cant believe tubbo let u live' i talked to no one other than myself for however long i was in there' techno stands and walks around for a moment before flipping some pages and schlatt can hear him gasp quietly in mild surprise 'what is it tech' looking in the direction he heard techno from and techno says, turning to face schlatt on his bed 'schlatt that was almost 3 months ago' a single beat of silence rings for what feels like forever 'oh. i, i didnt think itd been that long. though it would explain my current predicament' loosely gesturing towards his face 'oh right abt that i have a few questions if ur ready to answer some' schlatt hums and techno grabs a pen and paper and sits next to him in case he needs to take any notes for future reference 'how fast do ur horns normally grow' 'idk just a steady amount my whole life pretty much' 'will they ever stop growing' 'they generally stop growing around 30 and continue to grow more in width than length' 'did anyone who brought u food notice' 'they grow quickly and by the time the person w the third chest came around they were getting close to my eyes but they didnt listen to me, no one did' he sighs looking down at would be his hands 'the odds of both of my horns growing into my eyes and blinding me like this are so low but of course it would happen to me' a chuckle void of any amusement 'because losing my country and my people and my power wasnt enough already' techno stands up 'you had that coming' schlatt actually laughs this time, short and curt 'ok fair, u were the one that took me down afterall' and from then on schlatt lives w techno and phil and eventually tommy and then without tommy (tommy was Not happy when he found out that schlatt was living with techno but he needed somewhere to stay too and techno happens to live in an arctic tundra where only a handful of people know how to get to so he didnt complain too much) and eventually techno saws off schlatts horns at the bend adn removes them from his eyes bc if they kept growing into his head theyd hit his brain and kill him on top of blinding  him and techno gags and almost throws up despite not being sensitive to gore  and gives schlatt a bandanna to cover the holes in his head for everyones sake and once they heal somewhat he can find something else out and thats how they live, schlatt helps with what he can like farming w phil but mostly spends his time learning braille or something so he can read and techno gets him books in braille so he isnt bored or alone like he was in the prison and he feeds him and takes care of him and schlatt is funny and entertaining despite being blinded by something from his own body and the torture it was like to rot in a cell alone for almost a 1/4 of a year and nights when techno gets home late and hes shaken and the voices are bad schlatt will sit behind him and play with his hair and talk abt his own day and rub technos back and in return when schlatt relapses and gets violent and angry techno will wash his hair and read him stories until he calms down and hopefully asleep and no one told him the news that wilbur died so when ghostbur shows up and starts talking to him he treats him the same as he would wilbur bc he cant see that hes a ghost all thats different is his speech pattern and overall personality and one day he says 'ur different wilbur what happened to that, i dunno spark u used to have' and wilbur simply 'im not sure if im being honest a lot abt me has changed since i died, or so im told i dont remember much from when i was alive' and schlatt just 0_0 and then hes scrambling down the ladder and stumbling around the house looking for techno, finding him in the basement working on something and when he gets there hes out of breath and his hands are shaking bc holy shit wilburs not only dead but a ghost and he was just talking to me and he doesnt remember what i did and and and and techno is shocked to see schlatt in the basement and asks whats up and schlatt just 'wilbur died wilbur fucking died tech why didnt anyone tell him and now hes a ghost hes a fucking ghost who lives in ur house and doesnt remember anything he doesnt remember that he blew up lmanberg does he he remembers my name but not anything that i did what hes a fucking ghost techno hes a ghost holy fuck' and technos just standing there like ??? no one no one told him 'yea philza had to kill him after he blew up lmanberg i thought u knew thats why i didnt say anything' oh. 'phil, phil had to kill him?' 'yea its a touchy subject, dont bring it up' and simply goes back to what he was working on so schlatt sits on the ground by the ladder and listens to him work his brain going a mile a minute trying to comprehend whats going on 'would i have become a ghost if theyd chosen to execute me?' 'its hard to say im unsure if theres specific circumstances that contribuite to someone becoming a ghost but theres really no telling' and goes back to working yet again and from then on they fall into an easy schedule of techno going out and doing whatever an anarchist terrorist w a murder record does on ur average wednesday and schlatt stays home reading and organizing whatever he can based on size and feeling and sleeping in windowsills and schlatt greeting techno comes home beaten up and full of new resources and a side of bruises and cuts so he tends to them, getting better at maneuvering and functioning without needing to see then techno making dinner and then curling up by the fire for the night enjoying each others company as they talk abt their days :]

[slut-for-fandoms]

Paint me yours (kth x reader) PART 1

Pairings: Artist!Taehyung x reader

Genre: smut, fluff, angst (in the following chapters) 

Summary:  You are an art college student who struggles with finances. Until one day, on an exhibition of the arising artist Kim Taehyung, when the same boy offers you a job as his model. Would it be just a simple job or would it complicate your life in ways you have never thought it would?

Warnings: none in this one (perhaps my bad writing and lots of mistakes?) 

A/N: So here is the first chapter. I really don’t know what to think about it as i haven’t written anything in more than a year (so sorry guys but now I am back, yey) I really do hope you like it and please let me know what you think and whether you would like to be tagged in the series ♥ Enjoy 

Euphoria. Excitement. Happiness. Exaltation. A complete symphony of colors and emotions. Blue, purple, violet, azure - blended in such a way that glues you to the masterpiece. At places it seems unfinished, raw, as though the creator has been in a hurry. But at the same time it is so detailed that you wonder how long it took him to create it. It represents a woman, or to be more precise, a young girl. Long hair composed with ochre, amber, honey and a hint of gold, covers half of her pale face. Her lips are the perfect combination of red, cheery, wine and auburn. An orderly chaos of colors.

While everything seems just as raw painting, the most capturing features are the eyes. They are so detailed and express the condition of the girl. The sparks that make her look tangible grabs you on a roller coaster of thoughts and feelings and somehow makes you even experience the same state.  I move to the next painting.

Sadness. Affliction. Pain. Torment. The contrast between the used shades is much deeper. Pale yet dark. The more I look at it, the more it captivates me. All of the creations I saw were beyond amazing, complete masterpieces but this one… This one is different. One look and I got this strange feeling in my guts when we anticipate something bad, something that might hurt us.

The background is composed of dark shades, while the girl is sculpted of the pale range of colors. Again, the most detailed parts are the eyes. You get the feeling as if a soul was trapped inside the drawn girl that shows how much she suffers. The more you contemplate, the more you assume that the darkness around her represents the cruel world, while the bright yet shaded colors shows how fragile and broken she is. Is it from the world? What destroyed her? Who made her look like a shattered vase which parts are no longer going to form its beautiful shape?

Holding my glass of champagne I took some steps back and sat on the settee opposite the painting. Thanks god it wasn’t that low as they use to be in other galleries. I crossed my legs which caused the hem of my black dress to roll up slightly. As an art student, I tend to visit many exhibitions in order to get inspiration, gain knowledge of the new and unorthodox styles and improve mine. I can’t say I am complaining as we are given free access to any kind of such events. This is beyond amazing as now I am contemplating the art of one of the rising artists – Kim Taehyung. Honestly, I have never seen him but the critics consider him the new Van Gogh and now I understand why.

When I came I was so uneven about it, all the people here were rich and classy and I, a broken student with a cheap dress borrowed from her friend, had no place here. Everything was out of my league and I felt like garbage disfiguring this place.

“You seem really immersed into the picture.”, someone chucked, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw man in golden suit and two glasses of champagne in his hands. His smile was so bright, genuine, that it made me blush slightly, “May I?”, he titled his head towards the settee as if asking if it was free.

“Ye- yeah, of course”, I stuttered and put a lock of fallen hair behind my ear.

His smile grew bigger and he took the free seat next to me.

“Here.”, he gave me one of the glasses. I looked up at him confused, “I saw that you have already finished yours so…”, I looked at my glass which was empty. I might have stayed there for a way longer time that I have thought. I left the glass on the floor next to the settee.

“Thank you.”, I gave him a smile, although inside I was feeling embarrassed, “Very fond of you.”, I said after taking the offered glass.

“Well, I just wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I have left such a beautiful lady sitting here by her side. The champagne was just an excuse to approach you.”, I bit my lip and tried to hide myself due to the blush that crept on my face.

“You are even more appealing when blushing.”, okay, I have never believed I could become so red but here I am.

“Please, stop.”, I stuttered through the smile that just grew bigger on my face.

“Why?”, he tilted his head and asked me with that sweet smirk still placed on his face, his eyes never leaving my figure, “you don’t like honest people?”, as a response I chuckled and tried to gain my dignity and look at him. Why was I such a blushing mess around this… stranger…a handsome stranger?

“It is just that you are the first one to approach me this evening.”, a slight feeling of sadness made my stomach turn as I recall the events, pardon, the lack of them from this night. I started playing with my hands as something as pity overwhelmed me.

“Well-”, his deep baritone voice made me look at him. This time he was facing the painting in front of us which gave me the opportunity to survey him. Soft pink lips, sweet roundy nose, medium long light eyelashes. Skin in the color of bronze and a golden suit that make him look like a god. Aristocratic hands with long fingers, adorned with rings. The way he is holding the glass gives you the thoughts that a prince is sitting oppose you, “It is their lose.”, he states after locking his eyes with mine. And then I’m completely lost. They are just like the sad girls’ in the paintings – full of emotions. I see the same spark that leads directly to his soul. It captivates you. There is love, care, tenderness that make my heart skips a beat. But also you can spot something wild and intriguing. An abyss of feelings kept locked deep inside.

He took a sip of his champagne which caught my attention and made me break the eye contact. How could such a simple action as drinking makes me wanna grab the brushes and paint this gorgeous creature on the canvas?

“I can’t say I am complaining of that.”, I followed his movements and took a taste of my drink, “They seem like they are here only for talking. All of them are just chit-chatting and just at times spare a glance at the paintings. It – It just looks like a gathering of the rich and bitchy class.”, suddenly he burst into laughing. Oh that sound… It was like a soft melody for my years I could listen to all day. It was so infectious and addicting.

“What?”, I asked confused but with a smile plastered on my face.

“I couldn’t have said it more correctly. I’ve met everybody in the gallery and yet you are the only one contemplating the works.”

“Isn’t that what we are supposed to do on an exhibition? But apart from that, these paintings, these masterpieces…”, I took a breath like looking at the sad girl opposite me, “they are captivating. There is life in them, there is soul. Undoubtedly the artist is one of the best I’ve ever come across. Many have the ability to draw, few have the talent to create a masterpiece, something that makes you stop and think. And these here, they indeed convey more than a hundred words.”

“And where do you think that comes from?”, he asks me in that deep voice of his. I turn my attention back on him to see the man already looking at me with a stern expression showing nothing.

“The ability to make a painting live?”, he nodded his head in agreement, “Pain.”

“Pain?”

“Pain. It is always the pain. Why do you think the greatest artists are those who have suffered the most?  Sadness, sorrow, ache, agony… they are different than the other feelings. When something good happens to you, you are happy for a short moment. Usually those moments tends to be forgotten way easier than the moments that our soul was in pain. It is just that the affliction we bottle inside us ruins us in the end. The knots in our stomach, the suffocating feeling in our chest… they are tormenting us and we all need a way to express them somehow, to try to get them out of us. And the answer is always the art. It doesn’t matter whether it would be with a brush or a pen in our hands, if we are going to compose a poem, song or just draw something.  We just want the pain away. For its tight fist around our hearts to weaken, for its dark thoughts to leave us at peace at night, for the tears to stop rolling down and choke us.”, I paused in order to take a sip of my champagne, feeling his eyes following my movements, “That is one of the reasons why I like this one so much.”, I continued pointing at the work before us, “It look as if not only the model had been sad, but also the artist.”, when I turned around he had a sad smile on his face. For a moment I saw the abyss – full of sorrow and regret, pain and affliction.

“You can’t be more right.”, and once again, as he looked up, the door to his soul closed with that stern expression, “That is why I don’t know whether I like this work or not.”

“It recalls a bad event?”

“It recalls the day I painted her.”

My eyes were so wide that surely they were going to pop out of my head. I opened my mouth, then close it, then opened it again. I was so shocked that I could say nothing.

“I still remember how heartbroken she was.”

“You- you are the artist?”, my voice raised an octave higher and I cursed myself.

“Surprised?”, he asked smiling at my shocked expression.

“You just caught me off guard.”

And then the rest of the night kind of slips my mind. I don’t really know how long we’d been talking through various topics. Whatever felt like hours had only been half an hour once I saw the watch on my hand.

“Unfortunately, as a host, I need to make a speech. It was nice to meet you -”

“(Y/N)!”, answering I took his hand as he helped me get up from the settee.

“(Y/N).”, he said tasting my name and I could not miss the way his tongue rolled and the deep voice that sent shivers down my spine, “A beautiful name for a way more gorgeous girl.”

“Why are you trying to make my blush so hard?”, I asked trying to hide my face.

“I don’t know. I just like it.”, he shrugged with a smile, “Can I ask you something, (Y/N)?”, is it just me or he just lowered his voice on purpose while saying my name.

“O-Of course.”, out of nervousness I started playing with my own hands which only made his smirk grow bigger.

“Would you like to be my model, darling?”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

The latest draft chapter for Caramel Skin Under A Purple Rain

The infirmary wasn’t a fun place at the best of times. Keith’s instincts left his husband cranky and brooding, sitting in the corner of the room Lance was now occupying for the next few nights. Krolia was sitting in the visitors chair beside his bed, because unlike Keith, she could keep her temper. Poking had turned to prodding, prodding had turned to scans, scans had turned to an IV and a monitor strapped across his stomach. That led to Veronica interrupting their “family” moment, his sister now sitting on the end of his bed as she talked to their mother, angry that Kosmo had stolen the prime position. Kosmo listened to no one. He was his own wolf. He was his own wolf that was laying up along his side with his head on Lance’s shoulder. Veronica had tried scolding him, telling Lance to scold him, “ordering” Keith to evict him off the bed because it couldn’t possibly be good for him or the twins... She’d even tried sitting on the edge of the bed and forcing him off, nothing had worked. Lance was secretly glad it hadn’t. He’d missed his dopey wolf, and from the look of it, Kosmo had missed him too. “Lance, Mami wants to talk to you” Rising from her chair Krolia held her hand out for Veronica’s comms. Lance wasn’t able to move due to Kosmo, not that he wanted to move “Krolia, the call is for Lance” “I don’t see you moving to pass him your comms” It was as if two vipers were poised to attack each other. The look in their eyes sent a shiver down his spine. Veronica and Krolia were both strong willed women, that scared him in near equal parts. Narrowing her eyes at Kosmo, he cuddled his baby boy closer, knowing he was about to the object of her anger “How can I with that wolf there?” “Gracious. Here I thought both sides of the bed were accessible. Kosmo, you seemed to have grown larger than you appear” “I’m his brother” “Kosmo’s? I thought you were Lance’s older sister” As the invisible sparks flew, Lance kind of wished he was sulking in the corner with Keith. Veronica was scary enough without being provoked. Krolia had thoroughly burned his sister, cruelly if he was asked. Though, it was only cruel because he couldn’t laugh. His mother-in-law sounded as if she’d been part of the family for decades. “Veronica! Pass the comms to Krolia! I can’t see anything!” “You wanted to talk to Lance” “And I still do. Now pass the comm to Krolia. I know she’s grown up enough not be upset over a wolf” Ooooh. His mother was in fine form too. Veronica very nearly snapped her comms as she set her jaw and handed the device to Krolia with a cool glare. Ignoring her, Krolia smiled brightly as she settled back down. From where he was propped up, he could see his mother’s anxious face “Krolia! Dear, how is he?” “We’ve settled him in the infirmary for now. Minor hiccup with morning sickness. We’re going to run a series of allergy tests as he’s having trouble keeping things down. Simply precautionary. The twins are being monitored, but things are much as they were when we spoke. Only, he’s awake now” “Thank goodness. I’ve been wondering if I should come. But what can one dottering old lady do” “Now, now, Miriam. You look amazing. Five children and that figure...” His mother giggled. Honest to God, giggled. What the quiznak was going on here? “Krolia, we both know a few things are below the belt by now” “I refuse to believe it. I’ll pass you over to Lance now” “Thank you. I’m sorry about Veronica. Lord only knows where she gets her stubbornness from” From his Mami. Veronica’s stubbornness was one hundred per cent from their Mami “It’s perfectly fine, Miriam. Young pups have their moment” Veronica had no idea she’d just been called a baby. Lance sucking in his lips at the insult. Krolia knew he was struggling, so she threw in a wink. Laughter bubbled up as he took Veronica’s comms from Krolia. Personally, he didn’t think he needed all this fuss over morning sickness, but there was no stopping Krolia. Tilting the comms to his face, his mother set her face in “mum mode” “What did you do this time?” “Hi, Mami. I’m ok. Twins are great. Keith says hi” “Lance. You’re pregnant, you shouldn’t be picking fights” Nope. She was pissed. Her expression didn’t change the slightest “Mami, I wasn’t picking a fight. I was defending myself” “I’ve read. I’ve had Marco calling daily for updates. Your team wanted to storm Daibazaal and take you away from there. I bet you haven’t called poor Daehra, have you? Do they know who’s responsible yet?” “No, Mami. It’s complicated. I’ve been sleeping off the pod, and now Krolia is channeling you. The cast’s off my leg, knee all healed up” “And what if you didn’t have access to the pod? What if you were stuck healing the normal way? Did our Keith have his foot looked at? Don’t tell me you’ve both been neglecting your health” Lance rolled his eyes, swapping to Spanish simply because Keith didn’t know Spanish “Mami, he’s fine. Daehra fixed it right up. I’m ok too. Krolia suggested that I might have developed an allergy. I didn’t know that was a thing. I’m good. I’ve been out to talk to my therapist. I’m safe with Keith and Kosmo. I know you’re going to tell me to go back home, but I’m fine. Had a scan about half an hour ago, both twins still intact” “You need to be careful. Your health has been so fragile. I really do wish you’d consider coming back home. I worry for you, and for Keith” “I can’t Mami. The coalition is sending us on a publicity tour... I may have upset them” “Did they do this? Did they hurt you and my grand-babies? Do I need to talk to them? How many people have you upset?” Lance let out a sigh “Mami, if I started listing everyone who wanted me dead... it’s better you don’t think about that. I have some new twin scans to send you, or Krolia can of you message her. And tell Marco to call me if he wants to talk to me. I didn’t have a chance to call Daehra. The second Keith saw I was awake, it’s been one thing after another. They’ve put me on an anti-nausea thing...” Against his wishes. Keith didn’t even try to back him up. He was too busy being mad and glaring at all the medical staff “... Besides, they want me to stay here because of the pods” “Why must you get into so much trouble?” “I wasn’t getting into trouble when I was at the outpost” “Don’t give me that, Lance. The only thing that’s changed is that you cannot get away with things” “Hey! I’ve been on my best behaviour” “Says the man who hid from his mother that he could fall pregnant” “Of course I hide things from you. I don’t want you to worry any more than you have to” “Do not take that tone with me, Mijo. I am well aware I would probably faint on the spot if I knew half of what you did” “I was attacked going to the bathroom” “Why were you going to the bathroom alone?” “Because after 23ish years of existence, I know how to pee alone” “Why wasn’t Keith with you?” “Because he doesn’t need to hold my hand” “Obviously he does” “He was supposed to be getting his humanitarian award. He was on stage with Krolia. Mami, I want you to be careful. If this is related to Kre’el, they could go after you” “Do you believe it’s related?” Lance paused. No. He honestly didn’t... not that he knew exactly who was “I can’t say and that worries me” “We’ll be safe, Mijo. You stay safe. My heart couldn’t take it if I lost you” “Mami, I’m being safe... I am. This is all Krolia overreacting” “Krolia doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman who’d overreact. If you need me to come, I will” “No. No, Mami. It was a fight that got out of hand. And you know how I feel about the coalition” His mother sighed deeply. He may or may not have yelled at her more than once that he wanted nothing to do with them, and that they could shove their job offers where God’s light didn’t shine... “Mijo, if you’re not comfortable with this, then step back. You don’t have to turn yourself into a public spectacle” “I do, Mami. People need something to believe in. Allura gave her life for peace, and they’ve brought stability, even if I don’t agree with their methods. If they’re lost, then someone else is going to step up. I’m not doing this for them. I’m doing it for Keith and his dream of the Galra no longer being feared and hated. I’m doing this for our children. I’m so sick of it all, Mami. I didn’t go looking for this fight. I’m tired of my name being used to spread all these lies. I’m the useless and disgraced Paladin, and I’m sorry you’ve been caught up in it... we had a good run. 5 phoebs before it all went downhill” “Oh, Mijo. Is Keith there? Can I talk to him?” “If you’re going to dob me into him, I’d rather not. He’s been having a mental breakdown since everything happened. Everyone’s fussing way too much, and he’s not ok” “Someone has to fuss. Now put him on for me” Lance sighed to himself “Make the pregnant person do all the hard work...” “I am and I will. You brought this upon yourself” “Thanks, Mami. Nice to know you love me” “I do. We do. We all do” Lance raised an eyebrow “I would bet you GAC that Rachel isn’t rushing to tell me she loves me” His mother’s expression changed at his sister name. Rachel must now know he was pregnant and not pleased at all over the news “Rachel will when she’s calmed down. Now pass me over to Keith” “Keith, Mami wants to talk to you” Holding out the comms, Keith eyed it as if it was something toxic, mouthing at him “why me?”. At least, that’s what Lance thought he was mouthing. Waving the comms, his husband remained seated until Lance glared at him. Dragging himself up, Keith snatched the comms from him, stalking through the infirmary room then out the door “He does realise that’s my comms, doesn’t he?” Lance shrugged. Mami was a woman on a mission “It’s Mami. Do you want to tell her that she can’t talk to her favourite son?” “You’re the “prodigal son”. As long as you’re safe and well, it doesn’t matter how much you worry everyone around you” “And you’re acting like a bitch. I don’t know why we keep having this fight, V. I’m your brother. You know I didn’t pick this fight. You’re so much like Marco that it’s laughable. You both lash out when you’re worried, only making both of us feel shit. Yeah, I lied to you. I kept things from you. But that’s because I’m sick of being treated as anything other than normal. I get that I’m a freak, but you’re my big sister. I always knew you had my back. I’ve ruined and disappointed our family enough. I don’t even know why any of this happened. I don’t want to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to live at my outpost and be left alone. Somewhere you screwed up little brother wouldn’t cause you any more embarrassment” Veronica pushes her glasses back up her nose “It’s not that! We were so close and you hid it from me. I thought you trusted me. I want you to come to me... I don’t want any of this for you either. But I don’t understand... I could have been there with you. I would have been there with you” “For which bit? There’s a lot that’s happened. I don’t want to always be calling when things have gone wrong. I can handle things when I’m alone, V. It’s when other people are involved that it becomes complicated” The machine behind him let out a series of beeps, both he and Veronica looking to Krolia for an explanation “Your blood pressure just rose. I think it’s best you both admit that you’ve each stuffed up, but that you each love each other and call it a day. Both of you should know better, you’re acting like a pair of pups” Lance ducked his head, Veronica was wearing an expression as if she’d been sucking on a lemon “Sorry, Mumma K. V, you should go. I’m ok. I’m hooked up to these machines, and all I’m gonna be doing is eating and drinking to see what I can keep down” He hadn’t kept down the ginger tea. The scent had made him more nauseous, the taste was like drinking battery acid, or how he imagined it would taste. Following up with food, the spread of bread, soup and fruit... He’d managed a little of the bread, the soup tasted wrong and the consistency of the fruit was hard and chewy. His gums started bleeding thanks to the fruit, Keith started panicking over the blood. Lance ended up choking on some space version of a pineapple chunk as Keith tried to fuss and baby him while he coughed painfully from the feeling of the fruit, Krolia saved him from his panicking husband and now they were here. There was some kind of condition that wasn’t simple morning sickness, Krolia was worried he had it, but Daehra hadn’t diagnosed him so he doubted that he did. Krolia trusted Daibazaal’s medics, Lance didn’t. Nonetheless, he was sure it was on the test list... A completely useless test list. He’d been in a pod. There wasn’t a whole lot that could possibly be wrong with him. A little nausea wasn’t going to kill him, all this was providing to be was a major stressor for Keith, which in turn was raising his own stress levels, because he feared for his husband “Krolia, can you tell Keith we need to talk. He might be hiding outside” “I expect he’s still talking to Miriam, but I will notify him. You get some rest. I’ll be back later and you better believe I’ll know if you haven’t” “I’m behaving. V, you can head off too. I’m fine. This is one huge overreaction” Veronica shot him a glare “Your health is nothing to be joked about. You need to be careful. And don’t think I’m not still upset over your seizures, let alone your pregnancy. You have far too many secrets and I’m going to get to the bottom of it all” “If keeping my secrets means having you hate me for the rest of my life, then I know what I’m choosing. I love you, V, but it’s better this way” “And you’re my brother. You’ve got to stop ending up here” “I know. Now go. Go make the most of your time with Acxa. We’re all about to get a whole lot busier” Veronica climbed off the end of the bed, she seemed as if she was going to hug him, but was disused by Kosmo’s hulking mass. Within a few ticks, both she and Krolia were gone and Lance finally had 5 ticks to himself to think. * Standing in the corridor beside Lance’s room, Keith had his back against the smooth grey stone as he stared down at Veronica’s comms. Miriam was worried about him. Mami was so worried about both of them that she’d asked Keith to bring Lance home to Cuba if he wasn’t coping, or if Keith felt he was no longer able to care for Lance. Anger bled into frustration, that bled into self annoyance. He was trying his best... but he was exhausted. His instincts were being stupid, and that apology he owed Lance seemed to be stuck in his throat. Lance suspected Krystaal of being behind everything that happened, leaving him quiznakking pissed that his husband could be so petty and jealous... the same feelings that Shiro and Lance’s new found closeness had spurred within him. He might be mad, but it was himself that he was mad at... and maybe a bit with Mami. Lance should have been safe to go to the bathroom alone. He should have been there to make sure he was. Not stuck on some stage he didn’t want to be on. They’d been spending so much time together, but... he didn’t know what he kept doing wrong. Lance was very clearly mad at him when they were back in their room... and Keith wasn’t sure why. His husband had finally woken after sleeping off the pod’s affects. He hadn’t said anything “wrong” that he could think of. The feelings in his heart were a kin to standing by the door to the principals office, only this time he had no idea what he’d done wrong. He hadn’t gotten into a fight. He hadn’t stolen anything, or acted out. He couldn’t help it that he didn’t understand... He was trying his best. Ignoring the slight grating noise that accompanied the door to Lance’s room sliding open, Keith could tell from the scents alone that it was Veronica and Krolia. Holding out Veronica’s comms, the device was taken from his hand. His sister-in-law not saying anything as she took it and left. Placing her hand on his hair, Krolia ruffled it lightly “You know he’s ok. He’s only here because of the allergy test, and the risk of that drug, impacting the twins. He said he wants to talk to you” About what? He didn’t want to talk if it only led to another fight... His instincts were exhausting. Keith wasn’t sure they wouldn’t flare. He’d screwed up royally by taking Lance from the infirmary in the first place... He wouldn’t be back in the infirmary only vargas after waking if he hadn’t been so hot headed “Maybe I should let him sleep?” “Get in there and talk to your husband already” Dragging his feet, Keith fought against his instincts as he headed back into the infirmary room. Lance was still cuddled into Kosmo, Kosmo’s tail thumping as he scratched under his chin “Mum said you wanted to talk?” Lance nodded, stopping his scratches as he did. Huffing as it was the end of the world, Kosmo slumped down like he knew that scratches had to come to end so his two humans could talk “Yeah. You going to hide in the corner again? It looks like a nice corner” Keith glanced to the corner he’d been “hiding” in, it was a pretty nice corner... “Babe, come on. I’m joking. Here, Kosmo’s claimed this side but I’ve got space up here and I thought we could talk” His instincts said “Yes!”, his feet however said “no”. The best he could manage was an awkward shuffling of his feet. Lance biting his lip before he shook his head, forcing a fake smile to his lips. Fuck... if that wasn’t a kick in the heart. He hated that smile with all the power of the burning sun... or suns... every single sun they’d ever passed “It’s ok. I thought we should talk, but if you want to go then that’s okay. I’m going to be here a few days, so whenever’s fine” “I fucked up. I couldn’t handle you being in here. I took you back to our room and now we’re back here, because I fucked up. I didn’t listen to you. I laughed in your face when you got that letter and I didn’t listen. You were seriously shaken, and I thought it was one of your nightmares. You were scared and I shot you down. Every time I shot you down. You said this was a possibility, and I should have listened. No wonder you went and talked to Shiro. It’s my fault that you ended up in here. Mami’s probably right. I told her I’d protect you, and instead you’re back here again because I thought I was doing the right thing taking you back to our room. I didn’t want you in here with other people. What if you’d lost the twins. That would have been my fault. You could have been killed, and I was up on that stage. Fuck, Lance, I don’t know what to do. Your health’s all over the place. Someone wants to hurt you. You’re pregnant and I keep losing my temper. I’ve got no idea what to do. We’ve got to go on this tour. You’re pregnant. We’ve got twins on the way. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You have no idea how much blood there was. I don’t even understand how you’re still pregnant. I don’t understand any of this pregnancy things. How do you suddenly have allergies? Have you always had allergies? Do the twins have allergies?” The more Keith spoke, the faster the words came out. He was deaf to most of it, speaking out of fear. Word vomiting out of fear. Word after word turning into a jumble as messy and tangled as his emotions. He had no idea what was up, or what was down. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears as he stumbled as if drunk, taking one step back and one to the side, he threw up, then promptly fainted on the spot. Scaring the absolute quiznak out of Lance as he did. * When Keith came too, he was seated in Lance’s lap. His face against his husband’s neck as Lance’s fingertips massaged his scalp. Wrinkling his face, his mouth tasted revolting. He didn’t remember how he’d ended up on the hard floor, but Lance was hushing him softly. Kissing his temple, Lance sighed softly against him “Hello, sleepy. Nice to have you back in the land of the conscious” “What happened?” “You pulled a “me”. Had a spectacular panic attack, then fainted. Krolia wasn’t too far away, Kosmo rounded her up. And we’ve been sitting here on the bed like this for the last varga or so” Keith groaned. He didn’t remember panicking... He didn’t really remember much after Lance smiled so horribly... they were on the bed? Then why was it so quiznakking hard? “Why does my mouth feel gross?” “You threw up. How do you feel? Are you tired? I didn’t want to move you until you woke up. Krolia left you to me, not that I mind” For his pregnant husband to have been sitting there for the last varga... it made him feel shitty... “You should have just sat me in the corner” “Nah. I wasn’t sure this would work, but it’s what you do for me, so I thought it’d help keep you grounded when you woke” Lance’s fingertips felt amazing against his head. Keith couldn’t deny his head didn’t feel weird... kind of empty, as if he was mentally drained and definitely disorientated “Thanks...” Nuzzling into his husband’s neck, Keith sighed softly. Kissing his temple again, Lance nuzzled him back “Pidge will be back soon, do you want to stay in my lap or lay beside me?” “Pidge?” “She came by while you were sleeping. Screamed and everything” “She screamed?” “She thought you were... straddling my lap for another reason” “Pidge thought you were...” “Yep” “Ugh. In the infirmary?” “Yep. Pretty much. She calmed down when she realised you weren’t actually moving and still had pants on. I told her you fell asleep. You’re probably exhausted from not just your attack, but looking after me too” “I’m fine” Lance laughed softly, though it wasn’t in humour “Babe, you’re not fine. I said we need to talk, and you panicked. It can wait though. It’s a crappy feeling when you’re coming out of an attack and you’re being made to think” “‘m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you” “It wasn’t your job to. Your job was to be on stage, not to worry about me. If anyone should be worrying, it’s me about you. Panic attacks are awful. I think it’d do you some good to talk to To’ral” “I’m fine. I didn’t mean to scare you” “You’re scared. I know you’re scared. You’re trapped in your head thinking things over and over. I do it too. Take a few deep breaths, and stay here. You saw the scans. The pod fixed the damage right up. Your pups are still safe and healthy, being monitored until the drug is out my system. You need to let yourself rest” “I’m still sorry” He was. He truly was sorry he’d ignored the signs out of a desperate need to believe that Kre’el was firmly behind them. He was truly sorry that Lance had been attacked. He was sorry that he’d taken his husband from the infirmary too soon, endangering Lance’s life, and that of their twins “It’s ok. It’s ok and I’m here. I’ve got you, Keith. I’ve got you” Keith remained curled into his husband until Pidge returned... with Hunk. Hunk seemed flustered, hanging in the background as Keith moved carefully from Lance’s lap to lay at his side. His arm wrapped around his husband with his head resting on his shoulder so he could see Pidge. Armed with her holopad, the previous green Paladin went to work tapping on the screen while Hunk moved to take the seat in the corner, his movies clumsy with nerves. The space felt awkward to him. Their friends felt like intruders. Lance’s stomach was wired up, evident from the wires snaked out from under his semi-risen gown. The blankets in his lap and his sweats giving him at least some level of modesty. “Keith, I can feel you glaring” Hugging him tighter, Lance snorted at Pidge’s comment. Keith felt stupid as quiznak as he hid behind his pregnant husband, but it wasn’t his fault he hardly felt like socialising “It’s kind of his thing, remember. Dark. Broody. Emo... You know, he hasn’t changed that much in the last decade. Did Krolia fill you in on my theory?” “For a dumbarse, you’re pretty smart. She sent me the data from the thermal cameras, and you were right. There was a second person at the scene. They cloaked themselves against the scanners, but they still left residual heat signatures on the door edge where they touched it. We weren’t looking for it, because of how your attacker moved, and the fact he was drugged before the attack. When he showed up shot in the head, that should have raised more red-flags, but I was busy worrying about your idiot arse. How did you end up back here?” “Allergies” Pidge wrinkled her nose “Thanks to a certain someone, I’ve been reading up on pregnancy. I didn’t even know you could develop allergies while pregnant. Have they told you what yet?” “What I’m allergic to? No. It’s a theory Krolia is forcing me to pursue in this stylish room. I have to say, I’m sick of hospitals” “I’m sick of you being in them. How are my minions? Still baking?” “Yep. Pod healed them right up. The minion carrier is also alright” “Excellent. I can’t have an army of minions without said minions. I still can’t believe you’re pregnant” “Surprise?” Pidge laughed as she continued to tap on her screen. Keith felt his instincts rile at Pidge’s teasing, nuzzling harder into Lance as he tried to squash them back down “I still have questions, but seeing you got your arse handed to you, I’ll play nice for now” “Nawww. Were you worried?” “Pffft. No. But if you do it again, you won’t have some secret gang after you” “Understood, Pigeon. What other news have you got for me? I’m so out of the loop that the loops falling asleep on me” Wrinkling her nose, Pidge shook her head “I don’t need to know whom does what bit to whom” “Coming from the woman who thought Keith and I were having sex here. Trust me...” Pidge covered her ears, Lance shutting up immediately “I said I’m sorry! You two already made babies so we know you can’t keep it in your pants” “You don’t have to take your pants off...” “I think I liked it better when you were in the pod!” Growling at Pidge, Lance jabbed him in the ribs. Keith didn’t appreciate the gesture. He knew Lance was no where near as comfortable with Pidge being there as he was acting. He knew that Hunk’s presence wasn’t welcomed either, and that his husband was simply playing the bigger man by not raising a fuss or making a scene. Technically he had no reason to be mad at the pair, especially when he hoped Lance would reconnect with them, but that didn’t mean they needed to do it while Lance was confined to the infirmary wing of the palace “Ignore him, Pidge. It’s a Galra thing. Are you coming on tour with us?” “Nope. New students are coming into the garrison for the start of the second semester. I’m not having one of them risk my experiments” “Gotta defend that lab of yours” “Yep. They forced me to take on a second assistant. They were useless. I mean, worse than you with the “techno-babble”. If it’s in my lab, that means you don’t touch it. Even if I let you touch it, it’s not alright. Let alone when they get it into their heads they have to clean my lab. Can’t a girl leave parts around without someone deciding that maybe “the floor should be cleared of all trip hazards”. Iverson suggested teaching, but how do you train monkeys who’s only enjoyment in life is ruining mine?” “Sucks to be you. You could branch out on your own” “Try telling my mother that. Hunk and Shay are going. Though from the sound of it, it’s mostly going to be Keith’s team, you guys, Krolia, Shiro and Curtis that actually visit wherever the coalitions decided. Sucks to be you” “Touché, gremlin. Think of all that tech we’re gonna see without you” “It hurts, but if it means not seeing you two being gross than I’ll survive” “You’re just jealous” Rolling her eyes, Pidge climbed out the of the visitors chair “No offence Keith, but Lance you’re the only person in the universe who’d marry him. You can keep him. And because I’m a great friend, I sent you the thermal recordings and related data. If you ever pull something like that again, I’m going to kick your arse myself” “Awwww, I knew you cared about me. Thanks for this, Pidge. It’d be nice to know who’s after me this time and why. At least space pirates have the decency to attack me for a reason” “Don’t think I won’t turn into one if you get hurt again” “That genuinely scares me” “I’ll come back and visit you again when Keith isn’t giving me death stares” “Ignore him. That’s what I do” Pidge laughed, behind him there was a scraping as Hunk climbed to his feet. Walking over to Pidge, he was nervously wringing his hands, his eyes flicking towards them before he opened his mouth and closed it, then following Pidge when she gave a wave and headed out. When the door closed behind them, Lance let out a sigh. The rigidity in his limbs loosening as he half rolled towards him. Tilting his head up, Keith stole a soft kiss from his husband, Lance closing his eyes as he tried to wrap his arms around him. Shifting to accomodate Lance’s stomach, they wound up nuzzling into each other’s cheeks, Lance’s voice a whisper “You ok, babe?” “I should be asking you that” “I’m getting there. I’m more worried about you right now” “I’m ok. Sorry about my instincts...” “I could smell your anger. I know you want to protect me, but we’re going to need to work this anger out” “I know... I’m sorry for making you so uncomfortable” “By knocking me up, or with your “cranky pants” scent?” “Either. Either. Both... I don’t know what I’m doing anymore” Choking softly on the emotions welling, Keith closed his eyes. This panic attack business really quiznakking sucked. He didn’t prefer Lance to be the one having the attack, but I felt out of his depths to handle his own. Kissing his cheek, Lance’s right hand found his left, interlacing their fingers together lightly “I don’t know what I’m doing either... I’m sorry for falling pregnant...” “Don’t... don’t apologise and don’t blame yourself. At the moment, these twins... they’re our future. I don’t want to keep fucking up” “We both fuck up semi-regularly. It’s kind of our thing. Technically we didn’t even know we were married” “But when I fuck up... you end up hurt. I’m so sick of you being hurt. I’m so sick of it. I’m sick of you crying. I’m sick of making you cry” “Shhh... You’re going to push yourself into another attack” Keith didn’t care if he did. He didn’t remember what he’d said to Lance, only that Lance was handling things too well which had to mean something else was on his mind so he was attempting to distract himself “Why can’t I get it right with you?” “That’s enough, babe” Lance’s voice was gentle yet firm, Keith wasn’t about to have him have the last word. He was too emotionally drained, speaking freely much like Lance did when he was tired “It’s... it’s all so complicated. When everyone’s around, they’re always there. I like it better when they aren’t” “It’s still hard to be around them... Hunk didn’t say a word. He’s probably revolted still... they’re supposed to be our friends. We have to try...” “I’m too tired to try” Keith was too tired to do much of anything. All he wanted was a world of their own. Where he could live up to his personal promise to protect his husband, no matter when or from whom... even the times he’d protected Lance from himself didn’t way on him the way this attack had “You don’t get to give up. It’s been a quiznakkingly awful return, but we’re ok. We’ll do this stupid tour. Then I want to go home. This exhaustion. I feel it all the time. The constant judging. The constant wondering if you’re doing the right thing. If you’ve said something stupid. Done the wrong thing. Wondering how messed up your head is. If they can see how scared and messed up you are about being around them” “Then why are you still here?” Lance’s sigh bordered on a groan “Because our marriage was falling apart. I was falling apart. I wanted to make it work with you, because for some unknown fucking reason I still love you. But if you ever, ever, treat me like you did, accusing me of cheating, making me feel like a whore, making me feel like a dirty disgusting vile thing for being too upset to tell you I needed to go see my therapist, I’m going to leave. I am going to leave and I won’t be coming back. I don’t blame you for taking me back to your room. The fact I’m here again isn’t your fault. I’m here because allergies are apparently a thing, like I told Pidge. I’m here because I’m a fucked up junkie and someone knows. They shot me up and it could still hurt our twins. That’s why I’m here. Now just shut up already and give me cuddles because you’re exhausted and I’m done with everyone that’s not you or Kosmo... or Krolia. Mumma K can stay. Shiro’s alright, so is Curtis. Everyone else, I’m done. The way people carry on, it’s like they’ve never met a pregnant person before. I’m so fucking done” Lance’s words were hardly comforting or soothing, something that didn’t match the intimacy of their position. His husband’s anger seemed to catch in his nose, and the way his voice didn’t waver was enough to tell Keith that Lance meant every word of it. It also told him it was better to “shut up” now, and let his husband’s anger fade rather than pushing or stepping on some unknown mine that would send them into another fight. The fact that Lance was threatening to leave tugged heavily on his heart. Maybe if he’d remained silent, his husband wouldn’t have snapped like this... although, he also supposed that Lance had reached the end of his emotional rope long before the incident and was finally putting his needs first instead of going along with everyone else’s plans and desires... but then again, Lance had asked about the planned coalition tour... so maybe that was what had set him off this time? Caused him to snap, because Pidge had laughed at the issue? His mind was no better than food goop in his head. Everything felt all blended together... too blended together for him to hope to part. Kissing his husband and telling him how much he loved him would simply be an insult if he was to do it now... but he didn’t know how to do any of this, or how things would proceed. Scrunching his eyes against the unwanted tears emotional exhaustion had caused, he clung to Lance for dear life, because, right now, what else could he do?

[willowdrabbles]

Little bird no more Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Flapping

Word count: 4763

Rating: M (as per usual)

Letting out a loud yelp that sounded like a pup getting its tail stepped on, Kagome jumped from her sitting place and, with a wrench in her gut, felt her feet slip on the muddy bank.

"Shit!" She screeched, her arms flailing as her body tilted forward. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered her hand slapping something, hard, but she was too focused on trying to turn herself as she skidded downward.

Closing her eyes and cringing at the impending impact into the water, Kagome felt an arm slip around her waist and a shoulder brace her head as she splashed into the water, drenching her legs and her bum in the cool drink.

Slowly opening her eyes she looked up to her savior, blinking owlishly at the golden irises that met her blue ones.

"Th-thank you Sesshomaru." She said softly as he stood, bringing her with him. All the while sporting an unamused stare. He did not remove his arm from around her waist once she stood, as if holding her there in case she took a second tumble.

"Aw man… Sango just gave me these." Kagome frowned at her slightly muddy legs and assumed her butt looked the same. She saw the mud on Sesshomaru's pants as well, being lightly brushed off with the current of the river, and looked at him again. "I am so sorry Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru made a small grunting noise. "It is a wonder you have not lost limbs yet priestess."

"Kagome." She said automatically, using the lapping water to wipe away some of the mud. It soaked her further but she figured she was here, might as well wash off while she could even if she froze to death. She paused in her splashing to glance at him, eyes flickering between his empty sleeve and his face. "Wait was that a joke?"

Sesshomaru did not respond, stepping closer now that she seemed finished with washing the immediate mud from her clothes. His arm further curled around her waist, fingers gently gripping into her hip and holding her close.

Kagome, unsure of what was happening, felt her tongue stutter as she tried to question him.

Before she could fully form a sentence though, they both launched from the river and landed solidly on the bank, much further up than she had been sitting before. Kagome shivered with the breeze on her cold wet legs, and silently stared in wonder as Sesshomaru's pelt once more curved over her shoulders and wrapped around her like a tortilla.

"I feel like a fluffy burrito." She muttered, clamping a hand over her mouth when she realized she had spoken out loud. Peeking at Sesshomaru, she was shocked to see an expression of mild confusion on his face.

"A.. Burrito?" Though he had some other ideas in mind as to what he could say she looked like, his subconscious beast purring in absolute satisfaction at the sight of her in his pelt, there was no way he could say she looked like a burrito not knowing what it was. She was however comfortable looking in his opinion.

"Ah… it's a food from another continent, usually meat and beans and rice rolled in a…" how the hell does one describe a tortilla? "Like a thin flat pastry kinda thing?" Kagome shrugged, feeling the white pelt tickle her chin as she did so. "I might be able to learn how to make it. Or bring some with me someday." She suggested, noticing his face had not changed while she offered her minimal explanation.

"Hn. Come." Sesshomaru uttered as he turned with a flourish of silk, Kagome quietly following behind him. The sky was darkening quickly with the cloud cover, blood red sky peeking over hills on the horizon where the clouds ended, giving Kagome's human eyes plenty of light to still see as she walked behind the stoic lord. Though perhaps, she began to suspect, not so stoic all the time.

"So have you ever traveled beyond uh… This continent?" Kagome queried, burying her hands into the fur as they walked and silently let herself be enthralled by the texture.

"The vanishing Island of half demon children. I have had no reason to go further."

Kagome pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah, if you have no interest in going then why go? I get that." She nodded, noticing he had slowed to allow her to walk beside him.

"No requirement yet. My father made treaties with the demons across the sea many years ago, long before I was born. They have not breached the treaties, as such I have no need to venture there. Yet."

"So some day?" Kagome tilted her head, earning a small nod from Sesshomaru.

"Yes. Some day my quest for supreme conquest will take me there." He stated simply, making her smile in amusement. Something that did not escape his notice. "That amuses you?"

"A little." She admitted. "I've never known the appeal for supreme conquest."

"You do not have the strive nor the capability for such with your short lifespan." Sesshomaru countered.

"Ive seen humans attempt it. Some succeed quite a bit in their time. What I don't get is what seems so great about it."

"What is greater than supreme conquest?" Sesshomaru shot at her, narrowing his eyes.

"Someone to share it with for one." Sesshomaru glared, and she rolled her eyes. "One day you'll get it. Besides, if you conquer everything then what?"

His face relaxed mildly as he considered her question. "Then you rule." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing.

Kagome shook her head "No I mean… The part of completing a life goal is to move on to the next. What is the point if you've conquered everything, then there's nothing left to see.

There was several minutes of quiet contemplation on his end before he quietly responded. "We shall see."

Kagome hummed, appreciating their talks more and more. Sango was great to share her secrets and worries with, Miroku was a wonderful conversationalist when his hand did not wander, and Shippo to her was still only a child. Inuyasha… the corners of her lips slightly curved down.

Inuyasha… All they seemed to talk about lately was Kikyo Naraku and jewel shards. That is if they spent a few minutes not fighting. Even before it was mostly her chatting and him grunting in response. But there was no inkling to what he was thinking, if anything at all.

Sesshomaru however, seemed to give her just enough to have an idea of his response. She had to conclude, not a stoic lord after all.

"Your mind wanders to my little brother." Sesshomaru's voice jolted her from thought, and she whipped her head to stare at him. Unphased, Sesshomaru blinked at her and quipped out an answer to the question in her eyes. "You retain a peculiar expression when he comes to your mind."

Kagome huffed in irritation "You can't know that."

"Anyone with the observation of a rock would know that." Sesshomaru quipped back.

She sped up Her steps to come to a stop in front of him, pointing a finger at his chest as she did so l-listen here buster! I-" her words died as she saw the tiny little quirks at the corners of his lips. They were small, but noticeable all the same. "You… you're joking again!"

"You are sufficiently easy to distract, Miko." Sesshomaru's tiny amused smile did not leave his face as he spoke, his eyes slowly starting to reveal his amusement shining in them. As Kagome puffed up to retort, his amusement fell and his feet halted. "We have arrived at your village."

Kagome blinked and turned around, confirming indeed that they had arrived back just on the outskirts of the village. The sky was now dark, and lanterns and torches had been lit. Kaede's hut was glowing from within, and all around her she could smell the mouthwatering scent of the villagers preparing their evening meals.

"Oh.. So we have…. Everyone's prepping dinner-" Kagome turned around and noticed he was walking off again. "Hey!" She scampered after him, pulling his pelt around her shoulders as she did, though the thing seemed intent on clinging to her. Sesshomaru watched her fuss with and sighed.

"Keep mokomoko for the evening. You shall not catch ill this night." Sesshomaru started to turn away again.

Kagome stammered in his offer, though she found it difficult to disagree that his 'mokomoko' or whatever would keep her incredibly warm through the night and her wet clothes. She wanted to disagree but found herself lacking, thinking of what would happen if she did catch a cold. The spark died in her and she withheld her own sigh. "Right. Can't afford to catch a cold and hold up the shard hunt any more." Kagome muttered. Looking down and away.

Because her gaze was cast to the side, she did not see him stop once more. "The hunt for the jewel is of no concern to me."

'Right, he only concerns about Naraku. Same thing really.' Kagome blinked and took a deep breath, putting aside her hurt and turning away from the Daiyoukai and heading towards Kaede's hut once more. She glanced over her shoulder once more to see Sesshomaru standing there watching her with an unreadable expression. "Thank you Sesshomaru." She said softly before continuing on her way.

Just as she felt the aura of the dog demon dissipate, she heard the wonderful familiar cries of the children she had come to adore. Shippo and Rin barred across the grass to stop in front of her, grinning widely and welcoming her back, for Shippo welcoming her back again.

"Hey Rin, how have you been?" Kagome smiled at her as the trio made their way back.

"I have been well thank you Kagome! My lord showed me his Shiro where he has hoards of scrolls of history! Then we came back and he began training Shippo and I even get to watch! Why are you wearing mokomoko lady Kagome?" Rin tilted her head as they walked, making Kagome giggle.

"I fell in the river. Sesshomaru was kind enough to make sure I was warm." She said diplomatically. Shippo frowned and said nothing, escaping Kagome's notice.

"That is unfortunate! But that was very thoughtful of lord Sesshomaru." Rin paused for a breath then jumped as though a thought had just occurred to her. "Lady Kagome! Did you get the flowers I left for you? They were to thank you for saving me!"

Kagome felt as if she paled considerably. "You… were the one that left me flowers?" She asked quietly.

Rin's smile faltered at her expression and she nodded. "I am sorry… did you not like them?"

Kagome frantically shook her head and reached out to brush her fingers through rins hair without disturbing her ponytail. "No no I loved them! I just didn't know they were from you!"

Rin perked up again, easily appeased. "Oh that's alright! I am just happy you liked them!"

They had just arrived at Kaede's hut, pushing the screen aside, the trio were quietly greeted by their comrades who all sat around the hearth, focused on eating what looked like a hearty stew dinner. Kagome's mouth watered and she spotted her bag, right next to Sango. Thinking back, she vaguely remembered it slipping from her shoulder when she sat Inuyasha, and was glad someone had grabbed it.

It was abnormally quiet, until her eyes landed on Inuyasha in the far corner. He had a look of pure shock and bubbling anger on his face. She was about to ask him what his deal was when he burst, making everyone except Shippo jerk in surprise.

"The fuck are you wearing that bastards pelt for?!" Inuyasha practically snarled, looking like he was ready to leap from his sitting position.

Everyone looked up to Kagome, blinking as they all realized that Kagome was indeed wearing the big fluffy thing that normally adorned Sesshomaru. All eyes focused on her made Kagome stammer with nervousness. "I uh… I fell in the river." She wrung her hands together before sitting down.

"Are you alright Kagome? Did Sesshomaru help you and that's why you are wearing that?" Sango, as graceful as ever, steered the topic to a safer direction as she poured Kagome a bowl of stew before offering it to her.

Kagome grabbed the bowl gratefully and nodded. "He did, and gave me this to keep warm."

"Bullshit! That thing is probably gonna possess you or some shit!" Inuyasha stood and stomped over to kagome, when she saw his hand reach out she snapped at him.

"Sit!" She humphed at him when he planted into the floorboards, "Don't be rude Inuyasha! He got wet too trying to keep me from falling and was nice enough to offer me this…"

"Mokomoko!" Rin added helpfully, promptly stuffing her face with more stew immediately.

"Mokomoko, thank you Rin. He's probably going to travel with us since he offered to help train me and Shippo and you're just gonna have to get used to him being around!"

"Really now?" Miroku asked, genuinely surprised as he chewed his food and looked at kagome curiously. Everyone else except Shippo shared such looks with her and she felt heat rush to her face. 'I guess I haven't told them that…'

"You've gotta be-!"

"Sit boy." Kagome sighed, not feeling like dealing with his interruptions. "Right.. well when Sesshomaru brought me back to the well two weeks ago, he offered to train me and Shippo. In exchange I also help out with Rin."

Rin looked shocked, but not at all displeased with this information, a glow of joy lighting her up from the inside.

"That actually sounds more than reasonable. The enemies of Naraku won't be as far spread, so when the time comes to face him again we will easily stand as one and have a better chance with that." Miroku nodded, going back to his bowl with vigor since had had his say.

"I don't mind, he's been good with Shippo so far, no reason to deny his generous offer. We could all use some time to sharpen our skill and improve our tactics as a whole. I can also help you, Kagome, with some close combat moves." Sango offered her two cents as well, smiling when Kagome nodded eagerly.

"Then it's settled!" Kagome cheered, about to take a bite of her food when Inuyasha interrupted once more.

"Don't I get a say in this?!" He wailed from the floor, shooting everyone an angry glare.

"What could you possibly say besides 'you don't like it' Inuyasha?" Miroku barked at him, allowing Kagome the moment she needed to finally start digging in. Inuyasha quieted for the moment, staring at the floorboards in contemplation. "As it is, we must stand as one and let petty grudges sit aside while we focus on the main task at hand, for all we know, Naraku has all the remaining jewel shards and we are sorely at a disadvantage. Ignoring the help of your brother- a Daiyoukai at that- is foolhardy at best and I won't listen to your nonsense a moment longer!" Miroku snapped, narrowing his dark violet eyes at the half breed.

After a moment of stiff silence, satisfied that it seemed Inuyasha would not be countering again, Miroku went back to eating with Kagome, who had only decided to close her eyes and pointedly not say anything.

'Serves him right. He can't be right all the time, our opinions matter too.' Kagome thought haughtily, peeking one eye open as she hear Inuyasha stand and slowly exit the hut, his bangs covering his expression well.

"I for one am happy to join you all!" Rin said to break the silence, easing them all back into quiet conversation.

"I am too Rin. By the way Sango, I didn't get the chance earlier, but thank you so much for the clothes and armor, I'm so excited to use them!" Kagome beamed at the lightly blushing Sango.

"I'm glad, though it can be a pain to take on and off, it could be the difference of life or death for you. And after.." Sango's face paled a bit as she glanced at Kagome's shoulder, a haunted shadow flickering across her eyes. "Well… you know. I would prefer you to not get that hurt again."

Kagome nodded, keeping a small reassuring smile on her face as she continued eating, everyone else turning to other quiet conversations on the journey ahead.

Long after everyone had settled in for the night, Kagome stirred and tossed in her sleeping bag, not disturbing Shippo as he snored beside her. A small moan escaped her lips as dreams whirled and swarmed in her head.

With a loud gasp she jerked up, the sleeping bag falling away and Shippō rolling away with a light snore. Once again Kagome found herself examining her surroundings with fear while the rest of her body remained locked and frozen. Her eyes straining to see in the dark over the dim light of the coals. Everyone seemed to be sleeping well and unharmed.

Swallowing thickly, her body released at the realization that there was no danger, the echoes of her dream fading from the edges of her mind while she rubbed her throat. Reaching into her pack and grabbing a bottle of water, she took a large gulp and shifted fully out of her sleeping bag.

'I need air.' She slipped on her shoes and the thick yukata Sango had given her and glanced around, Sesshomaru's pelt was oddly nowhere to be seen. Though given it seemed to have a will of its own, Kagome worried if she was to be responsible for it. It wouldn't do her any good if Sesshomaru was angry with her for losing his pelt like thing.

Deciding to ponder it later, she dipped out the door and into the cool air.

Like she feared, winter was fast approaching. Clouds dotted the sky and the nip in the air tickled her cheeks and turned them red. Besides a few torches lighting paths in the heart of the village, it was quiet and dark. At least for her.

Normally the sounds of the modern era were 'quiet'. Having grown up there, the background noise of the future were once nothing more than sounds on the breeze. Here, her ears strained for those formerly familiar sounds, and so were incredibly sensitive to the distinct silence the past offered.

She hasn't even realized how far she had wandered when a voice made her jump out of her skin.

"Go back to bed Kagome, I want us moving tomorrow."

A hand grasping her yukata, eyes wide and searching the dark branches above her, she could barely see Inuyasha with the minimal light of the moon.

"Inuyasha! You scared the life out of me! What's your problem?" She snapped back at him, irritated now with adrenaline rushing through her.

"Feh, I ain't got no problem. You're the one tottering around like a lost pup in the middle of the night." She could see a shift of his shadow, and could easily imagine the movement being him tightening his arms across his chest.

"Forget you." Kagome muttered, knowing well he could hear her anyways, and turned to follow one of the dirt trails down to the water where she had been earlier in the day.

Now keenly aware of his aura, she was able to tell that he followed her, leaping from the tree and trailing after her silently, keeping a distance from her as she walked carefully across the hard packed earth.

Not wanting a repeat of earlier, she stopped short of the banking hill, balling her fists before glancing at the red clad half demon.

"What?"

Inuyasha jerked to a stop in his slow tailing, narrowing his eyes at her before looking to the side. Now able to at least see him a bit better, she could see the hesitation and uncertainty in his face. Her own softened and her fists loosened, she asked again with a long sigh "what is it Inuyasha?" She didn't try to hide the exasperation in her voice.

Inuyasha looked back at her, as if he had already been proper admonished without her doing so.

"I'm sorry for the things I said… before…" he said softly, golden eyes flickering between the ground and her face.

Kagome blinked but her exasperated tone did not evaporate. "Which ones? About Naraku's escape being my fault? Or did you have something else on your mind that you shouldn't have said?" Kagome out right glared at him, her fists clenching once more.

Inuyasha's ears lowered. "I'm worried about ya, alright? You know Sesshomaru can't be trusted."

"Just like Kikyo can't be trusted."

"Damnit Kagome it's not the same thing and you know it! I'm just trying to apologize here-"

"No it's not the same thing! Sesshomaru has the same goals as us and hasn't been after your sword for a long time now and you know that! He's been nothing but decent these past few months, and he's saved me. Whatever Rin is to him, it's changed him."

Inuyasha let a low growl hum in his chest as he glared back at her "Kikyo has-"

"Kikyo has tried to kill us both." Kagome snapped. "And though Sesshomaru has as well in the past, at least he's shown he has changed. Over these years it's only been me saving Kikyo, me risking my life and my health for Kikyo. You risking your life and limb for Kikyo. Us stopping the hunt for the shards for you to see Kikyo. Us being at a disadvantage when Kikyo steals my shards, she has done nothing but make things worse for us then act self righteous because she's dead."

Kagome felt hot tears slipping down her cheeks, and for once her voice did not falter, so she continued. "Kikyo has nothing but evil in her, I know that for a fact now. You can't keep defending her when she does nothing but hurt you Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha looked like he was prepping his next argument until her last bit, his brows furrowing at her words.

"What do you mean she's got nothin but evil? She's got your soul Kagome!"

"She has a piece of me that I won't be getting back. She has a sliver of the evil of the jewel and her old shriveled hateful soul in her, but she doesn't have my soul." Kagome growled out at him, watching as his face shifted to shock and confusion. The gears were obviously turning, but not all the pieces were there.

"You know something I don't." He finally said softly, looking at her accusingly.

Kagome grunted and shook her head. "Yeah, for once I do." She said the second half sarcastically. Sitting down, she gestured for him to sit next to her, and focused her eyes on the black liquid that made up the river.

"You've been in such a foul mood I haven't told you…"

When Inuyasha sat down, Kagome went into detail about her meeting with Midoriko and Sesshomaru. Only stopping once to hit him in the shoulder when he made a comment of her hallucinating, Kagome peered at him as he contemplated everything she said.

"So you've got some sorta power that's gonna bring Naraku to an end… And you're not Kikyo's reincarnation?" He summed up with a purse of his lips, not looking directly at her.

"Pretty much. And honestly, I think Sesshomaru is the key." She admitted quietly.

"Feh! I'm stronger than he is!" Inuyasha growled out.

"Be realistic Inuyasha." The quiet serious tone of her voice took him by surprise. "Even you haven't been able to kill him yet. And he's a Daiyoukai with enormous power. AND with Tenseiga and Tokijin, he's probably our best bet against Magatsuhi. I'm not saying you're weak, far from it. But weakness can also come from being unwilling to accept help." She met his eyes once more, and the deep contemplation in her blue eyes made him lower his ears again. "How many times have we all banded together and won? Compared to fighting alone? You know I'm right."

"Yeah but I don't have to like it." He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"You don't have to like it but don't fight everyone every step of the way." Kagome snapped, making him flinch before she toned down her voice. "I could have taken Kikyo's suggestion, I could have shot that arrow. But I chose not to risk our allies lives in a desperate move to finish it, that may not have even worked. All I ask is you not put everyone in danger with your pride."

Inuyasha swallowed loudly, staring at her for several heartbeats before looking away, his flat golden eyes staring up at the moon when it peeled through a cloud. The small moment of illumination seemed to stir something in him, and he nodded.

"Alright. I see your point. I still won't like it, but I guess we don't have much of a choice." Kagome smiled softly at him and leaned her shoulder into his.

"Thanks Kagome." He whispered, allowing them a few more minutes of quiet comfort in each others presence before insisting she head back to bed for the night.

Walking her back to Kaede's hut in silence, Kagome was startled when Inuyasha stopped, and gently grabbed her hand to stop her as well, his eyes downcast.

"Inuyasha?" she stepped back towards him, chills running up her arms as he grabbed her other hand, his eyes still focused on her fingers.

"Thanks Kagome." He said softly again, less of a stubborn tone in his voice, squeezing her fingers before letting her go, and in a flash of red he disappeared, bounding into the darkness faster than her human eyes could follow. With a soft blush on her cheeks, Kagome turned and went back inside the quiet hut filled with her sleeping friends.

Early the next morning, kagome was jostled awake by Shippo, his bright green eyes still slightly dark with sleep and his cheeks pink, but his hair groomed and his clothes straightened.

"Come on Kagome, Sesshomaru said you should train with us this morning."

With that, Kagome was hurrying to change into her slayers under garments under her sleeping bag. Throwing on the brown yukata on top and quickly brushing her hair into a high ponytail, she was following Shippo out into the damp still morning, bow and quiver in hand, sword on hip.

Dawn was just barely approaching, the sky getting lighter by the second, and only the occasional chirp of a bird broke the silence.

She was just about to ask Shippo where they were headed, a good several yards into the forest line, when she spotted Sesshomaru.

Regal and still, his golden eyes shone like small little suns as he stared at them while they approached.

"You know your task, on your way kit." He said simply, his eyes fixated on kagome.

"Right!" Shippo modded, determination in his eyes before he scampered past sesshomaru, quick and light on his little feet.

"And me?" Kagome asked quietly, feeling any excessive noise would disrupt the beautiful morning.

"And you, shall do the same. Hunt for your pack. A deer or boar would do well to feed them." Sesshomaru said unblinkingly.

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath, blinking at him several times. She had never hunted animals before. The concept wasn't unknown to her, Souta loved watching those survival documentaries all the time. Mostly for the 'necessary' bug eating, but still. The concept was one grasped. However she had never needed to hunt. Her supplies from the future allowed the luxury for them to not have to. When in need Sango or Inuyasha would hunt, but that was so little often, given that Miroku often 'bartered' with villages to get them what supplies she ran out of.

"I've never.."

"I am aware." He interrupted her, "That is why this is your first task. You requested I teach you, as such you will follow my instruction."

Her instinct was to argue but she bit the inside of her cheek, thinking solely on her misery just a few days ago. After last night, she had almost forgotten.

"Right then!" She firmly nodded, gripping her bow tighter and turning on her heel to face away from where they had come.

Let it begin.

[chockfullofsecrets]

Class 1-A vs. Tickle Might: Part 1

<< Prologue (in case you’re wondering what’s going on) :: Part 2 >>

(A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who offered their kind feedback, especially @gigglingknight ! 2.7k words and 4 kids - Mineta’s not getting back up again - down, 16 to go! Hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think - favorite scene, constructive criticism - your feedback will keep me awake at night to write part 2!)

The forty combined eyes of class 1-A were locked on All Might as he leapt gracefully from the wall of the training grounds, passing overhead and descending in a lazy arc into the mock city before them.

“He moves like a missile,” Momo said thoughtfully. “You would think such a big person would be less aerodynamic.”

Other students were less calm. “He’s gonna kill us all!” Mineta yelled. “I won’t get to enjoy my summer break at all!”

Hagakure clung to Ojiro’s arm. “Guys, I bet Aizawa-sensei sent him to beat us up before training camp. He probably thinks we won’t cause as much trouble if we’re all in full-body casts!”

Ojiro laughed, but he too was looking at the cluster of buildings in obvious dismay. “All Might’s the number one hero, he wouldn’t just indiscriminately fight us. I think.”

Even Aoyama’s sparkle was a little dimmed, his eyes wide in alarm behind his visor. “Mon dieu, didn’t you see what he did to Bakugou and Midoriya? His smile was as twinkling as ever, but… it was scary!”

“And he’s at full strength this time,” Satou added, his big lips pursed.

Those of them who were afraid edged closer to one other, clutching at armor and fabric and hands as if hoping they would fuse together into a single pro capable of taking on the Number One Hero. A select few, though, prepared to rally.

“It’ll be all right, guys!” Deku was smiling. Of course he was. “There’s a lot of us, and we have more experience using team attacks now! I’m sure we can impress All Might and Aizawa-sensei!”

Iida frowned. “Won’t it be easier for him to find us if we all stay in a group?”

“Maybe, but I feel safer with you guys!” Sero said.

“Yeah!”

“Let’s come up with a plan!”

A familiar snarl filled the air. “You extras can plan all you want!” Bakugou announced. “I’m going to face him head on! The only thing that would make me surrender is having to listen to you idiots for another minute!” He spun on his heel and stalked off, quickly disappearing behind the piles of concrete.

Kirishima grinned. “Guess I know what I’m doing, then.”

Mineta howled. “Just let him die! He’s really annoying! And if you get caught in the crossfire between him and All Might there’s no way you’ll survive.”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but I can’t just let him go in alone! And besides, what could be a manlier last sight on Earth than those two going at it?”

“I’ll come too,” Mina said, bouncing up and down on her toes. “I want to watch! And maybe I can get some surprise attacks in with my acid!”

The two of them headed off together after Bakugou, cheerily waving a goodbye to the rest of the group. Kaminari waved back at them like it was the last he would ever see of his two friends. Jirou scoffed and turned to look at the two planners left in their group. “Let’s call them the distraction, then… Momo, Midoriya, do you guys have any ideas?”

Bakugou’s arms throbbed inside his gauntlets.

The wounds from his finals match had been healed by Recovery Girl  - the old hag had been surprised that he’d been hurt so bad, even though Deku was in the next bed over with a shitty bruised spine, as if he wasn’t just as dedicated to winning even if it means shattering every bone in his damn arm – but the memory of just how much it hurt was still in there.

He almost wished Kirishima was here to guard his back. Shitty Hair could take a punch, at least. Maybe even one of All Might’s. But he didn’t need him to win. All he needed was the chance to get in one good blow of his own this time –

A sound behind him. He whirled around, one sweat-filled hand slinging behind him with even more force. As soon as he could see his target, he would –

Something closed around his wrist. A sudden jerking sensation as his arm was pulled upwards, and the explosion seared harmlessly into the air.

All Might was holding him suspended by one hand. Like a freaking ragdoll. “Ah, young hero! I might have expected you to come face me head-on.”

Instead of replying, he tried to blast the man with his other hand. It joined the other above his head just as quickly, held in that same massive grip. “What are you doing? DON’T RESTRAIN ME, YOU SHITTY – let me fight, old man!”

All Might propped his free hand on his hip. “A brave face, huh? You must really want a rematch. I think your sleeveless uniform’s really going to put you at a disadvantage in this round…”

He cocked his hand, fingers spread stiffly for a grab or chop, and Bakugou wasn’t afraid, he wasn’t, but that didn’t keep his body from flinching, a fruitless attempt to protect himself from the painful blow.

His captor paused. “Young Bakugou, are you – are you frightened of me?”

“No.”

He lowered his arm enough for Bakugou to get his feet on the ground – still up on his toes, but at least he wasn’t hanging there like a sack of meat. “My boy, I must say that I’m very sorry about the end of our last battle. I wouldn’t have stopped you so forcefully if I didn’t think you were about to seriously injure yourself.”

“I’m not fucking afraid, okay? Just hit me already so I can hit back.”

All Might looked unconvinced. “Ah, that’s… good, young hero! Such an indomitable spirit!” His smile grew impossibly wider. “Besides, you won’t come to any harm today!”

“Oh yeah? Then what the fuck are we here to do, talk each other into submission? And what do you mean, I’m at a disadvantage because my uniform doesn’t have sleeves?”

“Ah, yes.” All Might cocked his hand again. His fingers were wiggling this time, and somehow this spiked Bakugou’s apprehension in an entirely different way. “Allow me to demonstrate.”

He’d never put much thought into a costume redesign, but as All Might’s evil hands came in contact with his bare armpits he decided that he needed more armor. Immediately. “W-whahaHAT! THE HEHEHELL?!” His palms were sparking uselessly into the sky, face bent into a helpless grin, and shit he was glad that none of the others in his class were here right now.

It was a relief, almost, not to be thrust into another bloody fight with his hero, but that didn’t stop him from kicking and screaming bloody murder, still on his tiptoes as he strained for some leverage to protect himself. All Might was chuckling. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you smile, young Bakugou! A very good imitation of my trademark, but perhaps we can do better!”

“NOHO – nowecan’t – AHAHA!” His entire torso was helpless under the attack, and his face hurt from smiling so hard. It wasn’t long before he couldn’t take it anymore. “OKAY nonONO not thaHAT just fucking STOP I GIVE I GIVE!”

All Might let him down gently, giving one last triumphant laugh as he patted Bakugou on the back. “An admirable effort, my boy.”

“I didn’t even do anything,” he mumbled into the ground. Was he still grinning? He was, like an idiot. He was an idiot. This was terrible.

Footsteps skidded into the street. “Bakubro, we heard you screaming – laughing? – oh shit, he’s here-”

Bakugou forced his head up. Kirishima and Mina. They’d probably followed him in.

He snorted. “You’re next, morons. Better run if you’re ticklish.”

They’d worked three-quarters of the way through a plan involving Sero’s tape (just. So much tape), Tsuyu’s mucus secretion, and a titanium bondage set from Momo when an explosion roared through the air.

“Kacchan,” Deku gasped. His theory was confirmed when the explosion died down only to be replaced with cursing at only a slightly reduced volume. And then there was the screaming.

“Such darkness,” Tokoyami intoned. “It will swallow us all.”

The screams continued, Bakugou sounding truly desperate. “OKAY nonONO not thaHAT just fucking STOP I GIVE I GIVE!”

Mineta fainted.

The racket tapered off at last, All Might’s laugh echoing tinnily in their ears as they all shivered. “Do you think he’s still alive?” Uraraka whispered. “Man, this is scary.”

Deku’s mind raced. The other students were thinking frantically too, but he had two pieces of information that no one else knew.

The first: In all the videos he’d seen of All Might, he’d never heard of him making a villain beg for mercy. All Might preferred to harm the villains he captured as little as possible, making it easier to the police to detain them without having to provide medical treatment and having the added effect of minimizing property damage.

The second: He’d grown up with Kacchan, who had never been in the habit of screaming in anything other than rage. The only thing that had ever made him howl like that had happened when they were little, and it was – it was –

Oh.

“Midoriya’s about to faint,” Todoroki said.

“Deku?” Uraraka shook him. “What’s going on?”

He swallowed. “We need to split up and hide. Now.”

The class looked at each other in alarm. If even he couldn’t maintain his determination…

They were all going to die.

“We’re not going to die!” Mina gushed. “This is so fun! This is fantastic!”

She and Kirishima were sprinting away from All Might as fast as they could, taking corners at random in hopes that they would lose him. “Yeah, if we can make it back to the others, they’ll definitely be less scared!”

“Are you certain of that, young hero?”

They both skidded to a stop, but Kirishima still crashed into All Might’s massive chest and rebounded onto the ground. Mina shot past them both with a shriek. “All Might!”

The man crouched over him. “I was surprised not to find you with your friends, young Kirishima.”

“We were trying to find Bakugou,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. “Mina and I are really bad with directions though, so we got lost until we heard him screaming.”

“It seems you arrived at the perfect time to become my next victim,” the hero intoned, and wow that smile was the most ominous thing he’d ever seen now.

“I – haha –“ Kirishima spluttered, before remembering that he had a quirk. “Ha!” he exclaimed, activating his quirk and feeling immensely relieved as his skin hardened to a rock-like texture. “There’s no way you can tickle me now!”

“It will be more difficult,” All Might mused. Suddenly, he yanked one of Kirishima’s boots off. “I wonder, do your palms and soles harden as well?”

Kirishima, who’d had his quirk for all of twelve years, suddenly couldn’t remember. He glanced frantically at one of his hands and mentally cheered. “Ah, they do.”

All Might frowned, as much as he could frown. “If all your skin hardens, it’s pretty surprising that you can move at all…” Taking Kirishima’s foot gently in his hand, he rotated it right and left. “If this works, then…”

Kirishima felt something brush against his ankle, and without thinking, snickered at the ticklish sensation.

All Might’s grin came back in full force. Hesitantly, Kirishima offered him a weak smile. “Uh… maybe I just have a really cool quirk… and tickling definitely won’t work on me?”

Turned out, his ankles were traitors. A few scratches from All Might and he was already giggling frantically, his other foot drumming against the ground as he tried to roll over and crawl away. Even worse, as he lost focus his quirk began to waver, and despite his effort of squeezing his eyes shut and trying to will the laughter away he could feel his protective shell softening around him.

“Not so tough now, young hero,” All Might teased, and Kirishima groaned internally at the joke as his torture became a thousand times worse. The soles of his feet, the soft skin behind his knees – even squeezing his calf produced a new wave of laughter from him.

He couldn’t take it. No wonder Bakugou had been collapsed on the ground. “Mihihina…. MINA, HELP!”

A pair of pink arms wound themselves around All Might’s neck – Mina, jumping on his back. “Hi! All Might-sensei, can I go next?”

The tickling eased up a little as All Might turned his head to smile at her. “You know, my girl, this is technically a test.”

She pouted. “I know, but… tickling! I already failed my practical anyway, so I’m sure I’ll have to take the remedial classes. I might as well relax and have some fun while I can instead of running! Right, Kirishima?”

Panting, he considered this situation. This was definitely more fun than a fight, and it was really nice after the nightmare of preparing for finals. “Heh… yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I can hardly refuse such a polite request,” All Might proclaimed grandly, “but first, I need to hear a surrender from young Kirishima here!” He reached a hand up to scratch at Kirishima’s ribcage, the boy squeaking as he tried to bat it away.

“I could help,” Mina offered slyly.

“No, yOU CAHAN’T!” Two pairs of hands hovered over him, Mina reaching over All Might’s shoulder with her evilest grin. “Wait, wait, I give!”

All Might roared with laughter, offering Kirishima a hearty embrace as he wobbled to his feet. “A smart decision! She’s very determined!”

He glared half-heartedly at Mina, shaking his head with a rueful grin. “I’m going to get you for this.” He turned to All Might. “Do we get to watch the others?”

“You do have to leave the training ground. However, your Aizawa-sensei’s in the evaluation room. If he permits you to enter, then you can watch with him!”

“Cool! I’ll see you there, Ashido.” He looked around. “Which way is the exit again?”

As he left, Mina prepared to jump off All Might and take off – she felt like running at least a little bit, after seeing how wrecked Kirishima looked. But before she could so much as loosen her grip, All Might spoke in a decidedly villainous voice. “Well, young Ashido, this means it’s your turn now.”

He grabbed her uniform and yanked, and the next thing she knew she had tumbled over his shoulder and straight into his arms with a surprised shout. He dropped to the ground, cross legged, and released her unceremoniously into his lap. “Wow, you move… really fast, sensei!”

All Might chuckled. Evilly. “You said you wanted to relax, young hero? Perhaps you’d like a massage?” His fingers dug into the muscle at the back of her shoulders, and she found herself squealing with laughter as they hunched up instinctively. “Hm… you don’t look very relaxed. Maybe a different technique?” Said technique was a light massaging of her ribcage that had her curled into a shaking ball, giggling her head off. “This seems a bit harsh… are you really having fun, young Ashido?”

“Yehehes!” she giggled, burying her head in his shoulder. “Lohots of fun!”

His breath stirred her hair as he huffed with laughter. “All right, then.” He continued happily, paying special attention to her neck when he discovered that tickling her there produced actual cackles. She lasted for nearly three minutes before slapping at his hands and gasping breathlessly for mercy.

All Might waited until she caught her breath to move, standing them up together. She jumped onto him once more, offering him a hug from the front this time. He returned it slowly, a little surprised but pleased nonetheless. “You’ve had your fun, young Ashido! I hope you’ll apply as much dedication to attaining mastery of your studies!”

“I will”, she promised, climbing to his shoulder and somersaulting off to the ground. “Thanks a lot, All Might-sensei! It’s really nice of you and Aizawa-sensei to do this for us!”

He had to point her in the direction of the exit as well. She left with a cheerful smile, and he smiled in return as he cracked his knuckles.

Time to find his next target.

[lilulo-12fanfiction]

Nothing Breaks Like A Heart: Chapter 2 part 1

So I had to split this into 2 chapters because it’s really long. I’m not big on regurgitating content but it was a good way to set the story up further. Going forward there will be more original content with some cannon thrown in. P.S. IDGAF about Cannon if it doesn’t work well for my story.

I’d love it if you reblogged, gave feedback, etc.

Let me know if you want to be tagged

Series Masterlist

Tag List

@shreddedparchment @fanfictionjunkie1112

Nora smiled to herself as she approached Bruce Banner, Natasha and Steve. She was ecstatic to meet Bruce Banner. She hadn’t seen Natasha in a while and well Steve was another story altogether.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce questioned Steve looking incredibly apprehensive.

“Only word I care about.” Such a Steve Rogers thing to say. She watches as Banner seemed to relax, if only slightly.

“Well he won’t be doing it alone.” Nora beamed at the 3 of them. “Besides myself I’m quite positive that my Uncle will show his face after getting through Coulson’s information bomb he gave us last night. No way is he missing out on this.”

“Nora Stark.” The red headed assassin smiled back at Nora.

“Good to see you Rusty. It’s been too long.”

“Well Tony isn’t my biggest fan. So I’ve steered clear.” Natasha shrugged.

“Well stop it. No one cares what he thinks.” Natasha shook her head at Nora. The attitude was 110% Tony Stark.

“Hello Nora.” Steve finally spoke after observing her.

“Hello Captain. Good to see you again.” She watched as the heat rose to his face and turned to Bruce Banner before she reacted and stuck her hand out.

“Well apparently my friends here forgot their manners. Dr. Banner, I’m Nora Stark. I’m a huge fan of your work. I’m really looking forward to working with you.” Bruce tentatively shook her hand.

“You’re not scared to be around me?” Bruce looked at her small stature and assumed she’d be terrified. She shrugged.

“Why would I be?” She smiled. Her kind eyes put him at ease. She linked her arms through Bruce’s. “C’mon Dr. Banner. Let’s go do what we nerds do so the super heroes can get to work” Nora gave Steve a wink only he could see and led them towards the Helicarrier.

“Okay Bruce, apparently Loki is in Germany. I highly doubt the Tesseract is with him.” Nora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I agree.” Bruce didn’t look up from the computer screen.

“I’m going to head out to Fury. I need to see this. Let me know when you need me.” Bruce nodded again and Nora headed out of the lab and down to the main section of the Helicarrier.

As she made her way out to the main deck, she could hear AC/DC over the comms and then her Uncle’s voice. “Agent Romanoff, you miss me?”

“I see I made it just in time for the show.” She crossed over to where Fury was standing and he Gave her a smirk.

“Make a move Reindeer Games” Nora watched as Natasha landed the Quinjet to capture Loki.

“He doesn’t have the tesseract with him. And we haven’t located it yet. But the staff he carries, the one that turned one of your best parents into a puppet. I’m thinking that might help us.”

“I agree, Nora. Go let Dr. Banner know what’s going on and both of you join us back here once they’re back on this ship.” Nora nodded at the order and headed to retrieve Dr. Banner. She turned her comm on so she could listen in to their ride with Loki and was privy to the fight between the three men.

A little while after Loki was on the ship, Nora made her way back down to the main deck to discuss Loki. Dr. Banner would be joining them shortly. As she approached she heard her Uncle refer to someone as “Point Break”. She rolled her eyes and made herself known.

“Oh good. You’re all done playing swords. Did you find out who’s the biggest or did you just waste our time?”

“See that’s what makes you my favorite Stark. You’re infinitely more funny than Tony.” Natasha and Nora smiled at each other.

“What? No! Absolutely not! You’re not helping on this mission!” Tony wasn’t exactly surprised to see Nora but he wasn’t going to allow her to jump into the line of danger.

“You say that like you still have a say in the choices I make” Nora scoffed at her Uncle. “You need me. If you didn’t Pepper wouldn’t have asked me to come and Fury wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

“Nora I know you’re brilliant but we can do this without you.” Tony shot back. Steve watched on with interest.

“No you can’t. You need my memory and my professional abilities.” Nora was just as stubborn as her Uncle. This wasn’t going to end quickly.

“Your memory? What does that mean.” Nora looked over to the heavy accented voice that was sitting at the table.

“You must be Thor" He nodded. I have a photographic memory. I remember every detail of everything.”

“That sounds very useful and overwhelming.” His understanding and empathy took Nora by surprise. It was overwhelming and incredibly useful. There were some things she wished she could forget, yet instead they plagued her dreams. “And what are these professional abilities?” Thor was intrigued by this tiny human.

“I have some pretty stellar computer skills.” Before Thor could question Nora further Tony was interrupting.

“Uh hello??? I have some pretty decent computer skills myself.” Nora rolled her eyes at the exact same time Tony did and the resemblance between her and Tony couldn’t be ignored. It made Thor smile.

“Obviously you know your way around a computer. But you know full well that you can’t hack like I can.”

“She’s right Tony.” Fury finally spoke. “She hacked the Pentagon on a dare in High School.”

“You what?!” Steve was shocked and Nora stood there with a proud smile on her face. He wouldn’t have thought she would do something like that.

“Sorry Captain. Sometimes you just have to bend the rules. Especially when your sexist classmate thinks he’s superior because he has a teeny tiny appendage between his legs” Thor audibly laughed.

“Yeah that was pretty impressive. I’m still pretty proud you did that.” Tony finally conceded. “Fine. I’m not going to argue with you anymore but if you’re going to be on this mission you need something a little more protective than whatever this is that you’re wearing.” He pointed up and down her body. She was clad in a leather pencil skirt, a denim button down shirt and sky high leopard print heels. Her normally long curly hair was straightened and in a high ponytail with braids on the top of her head.

“Well I asked you to make me a suit.” Nora shot back. Thor watched on enjoying the verbal ping pong match. He liked the fire in Nora Stark.

“So you can put yourself in more danger? Yeah, not likely.” Nick Fury stood up to put an end to the bickering.

“Nora- I had some special Kevlar made for you. There’s a locker with your name on it. You can change when you're ready.”

“Thanks Uncle Nick.” Nora gave Tony a dirty look and went and sat down next to Thor. She was drawn to him for some reason. She couldn't explain it. "So tell me about Asgard and this brother of yours" Steve watched as Thor and Nora seemed to be in a bubble. He had her undivided attention. She laughed at the things he said that weren’t meant to be funny but were because of Thor’s lack of Earth knowledge. She would place her hand on his arm as they spoke. Neither of them seemed to pay much attention to the people around them. He had to force himself to pay attention to what Fury was saying. He was surprised at how jealous he felt. He barely knew her. And he didn’t ever expect to find anyone that stirred feelings in him. Not the way Peggy did. It wasn’t the same, Peggy was Peggy. But Nora somehow set off a spark inside him. The first real connection he made before coming out of the ice.

Nora sighed and sat down on the bench in the locker room. She wanted her own “Iron Man” suit. Tony refused. Nora had contemplated just hacking into his system for the plans, but she couldn’t break her Uncle’s trust like that. She didn’t want him doing this alone. Maybe now that Steve was out of the ice he wouldn’t have to. She was always afraid that when he left in that Iron Man suit he wouldn’t come back. She knew Pepper had the same fears. Nora and Tony both had lost so much. They had been betrayed by people they had loved too. He wasn’t her father. No one could ever take Grant Starks place in her heart, but the relationship she and Tony had was something beyond parent and child. They were connected by loss and pain. They were connected by their similarities. They had the same snark, the same attitude and the Stark swagger. The swagger that sometimes acted as a protective bubble. Tony was Nora’s protector. Even when he was missing he was still protecting her. He had always had a plan in place with Rhodey and Pepper to keep her safe and loved if something happened and he couldn’t. All Nora wanted to do was protect him as well.

She stood and opened up the locker with her name and smiled at what Nick had left her. It was an all black Kevlar suit that looked like leather. It had straps across her hips and boots that went over her knees. There were a number of holsters to hold weapons or technological items. She wasn’t sure where Nick had found it, but it was perfect. It held her body like a glove. She was curvy but strong. She has never been skinny. Her body wasn’t built to be that small. She had accepted her flaws a long time ago and learned how to use them to her advantage.

She headed out of the locker room with plans to head back to the lab. Her eyes caught the door that she knew Loki was behind and she just couldn’t help herself. Her credentials allowed her to enter the room. There he stood. The God of Mischief in a round glass cage.

“Hello Loki.” He snapped his head up and studied her.

“The Dróttning av Gimsteinn” Loki’s voice was almost breathless. He hadn’t been expecting to see her and the words had poured from his mouth before he could stop them.

“What did you just say?” Nora stopped in her tracks and stared him down. Loki’s eyes bore into Nora’s and he didn’t respond. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough I suppose” Loki acted as uninterested in her as he possibly could. I’m reality he was buzzing on the inside. He thought it would be more difficult to get eyes on her. Nora narrowed her eyes at him. She took a step towards him and stopped.

“I’m not going to let you goad me into a reaction. When you get bored of this and want to tell me where the tesseract is, let me know. If I find it before you tell me, I can’t help you.” Before Loki could respond, she was gone. Loki smiled to himself. She was feisty. She liked to spar. This was going to be more fun than he originally thought.

Nora was wracking her brain trying to figure out what Loki called her as she was heading back. She didn’t even know what language it was. She was about to pull her phone out and try to search for what she thought he had said when she stumbled upon Steve trying to pry a set of doors open. Captain America breaking and entering? This was surprising. She crossed her arms in front of her body and leaned against the wall.

“Need some help Captain?” She smiled with a suggestive voice as Steve jumped. He turned and faced Nora sheepishly with red cheeks. He had on hand on the back of his neck and looked impossibly adorable.

“I was…I uh…” He was embarrassed for getting caught but what really had him stuttering was Nora. No one should look that good in Kevlar. He silently chastised himself for behaving like a 13 year old. Nora shook her head and without a word pushed herself off of the wall and approached the door Steve was trying to bust open. She pressed her palm to the lock pad. It read her palm print and prompted for the 2nd security key. “Stark, Nora Margaret”. Steve froze. Was Peggy apart of her life? It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was related to Howard Stark and her middle name was Peggy. Howard and Peggy has founded Sheild together. He wondered if Peggy had any sort of relationship with Nora’s father. He wanted to ask her about it, but it wasn’t the right time. Nora motioned him inside.

“After you.” Nora followed him into the room and the door shut behind him. “Mind telling me what we’re doing in here? What are you looking for?”

“I’m honestly not sure. Your Uncle is trying to get all of Sheild’s files as we speak. He seems to think Fury is hiding something.”

“Oh what a jack ass. He’s trying to hack in on his own instead of asking me. He’s trying to prove he doesn’t need me. I could have had those files in 5 minutes, 10 tops. Plus I have access to a lot of shit around here. Sheild is my family birth right. My father would have taken Howard’s place.”

“Wait- so you agree with Tony? You think he’s hiding something?”

“Don’t be so naive Captain. Of course he’s hiding something. He’s a super spy. His secrets have secrets!” Steve laughed. “What’s funny?”

“Your Uncle literally said the same thing. Word for word.” Nora’s eyes shone with pride. “Are you going to help me look?”

She threw her arms up in a shrug. “Kind of hard to help when I have zero clue what to look for. And how do you know I’m not in on it?”

“Call it a gut instinct.” Nora liked to banter and Steve was feeling brave. He was still feeling a little green after seeing her with Thor. Now was his chance to see if she was as just flirty or interested in him. He was a God. A good looking one at that. And while he felt like an idiot worrying about it when they had more important things to focus on, he had to know. “So you’re done flirting with Thor? You two seemed to hit it off right away.” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I wasn’t flirting! Why? Are you jealous?” Nora sauntered over to where Steve was leaning over a crate. She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over so she could whisper in his ear. “Believe me Captain, if I’m flirting, you’ll know it.”

Nora’s breath was hot on his neck and it sent a chill down his spine. He was about to respond but his attention was pulled to the container in front of him. Steve opened a container. “I think I found what we’re looking for.” Steve watched as Nora pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Dammit.” The disappointment was radiating from her voice. “Sometimes, it’s really hard to separate the spy, the head of Shield, from the man that helped me become who I am today. The person my father revered. I just can’t.”

“I’m sorry Nora.” Steve put his hand on her shoulder.

“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do this Steve.”

“No, but I know that feeling. And I’m sorry that you’re feeling it now.” Nora gave Steve a small smile.

“Thank you. God this is all so messed up. Let’s go to the lab. I’d like to talk to Nick and I need to ask Thor some questions about his brother.” Steve picked up the container and the two of them headed back to her Uncle and Dr. Banner.

Nora could heat heated voices as she and Steve approached the lab. So heated that they didn’t even notice the two of them enter in the middle of Bruce’s sentence.

“…When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” Nora could tell he was trying to control his temper. Tony picked up where Bruce left off. The two of them were a team already.

“And you’ll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss. What is Phase Two?” Tony wanted answers. Nora knew that look in his eye.

Nora jumped as Steve slammed the case down on the counter. “ Phase Two is SHIELD used the Cube to make weapons.” Steve answered for Fury and then directed himself towards Tony. “Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me.”

Nora gave Tony a dirty look. “I literally could have gotten it within 10 minutes tops. Stop trying to prove that you don’t need me.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re-“ Before Fury could finish Tony flipped the screen to reveal a plan for a missile. Nora pit her face in her hands. This was only going to get worse.

“I’m sorry, Nick. What were you lying?” Nora clenched her jaw. She didn’t know what to say to calm the waters because she was just as angry as the rest of them. She pulled herself from her thoughts as Natasha and Thor came into the lab.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Bruce laughed in Natasha’s face.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” Nora ignored their verbal ping pong as she went over to the monitor to check on the Tesseract. She paused and eyed Loki’s staff curiously. When she focused back on the group Fury was explaining why Sheild wanted to create these weapons.

“Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly- hilariously, out-gunned.” Nora was going to tell Nick he was right but that he should have been upfront but Thor interjected before she had the chance.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.”

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you? And, you’re not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled.” Fury shot back quickly. Nora couldn’t focus on what they were saying anymore. Her attention was drawn back to Loki’s staff like it was pulling her in. Bits and pieces of the argument would break through. She couldn’t focus on who was saying what as her head started to pound and the sceptor started to glow..

“Nuclear deterrent! ’Cause that always calms everything right down.”

“ I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-“

“How is this now about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?”

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.”

“I swear to God, Stark, one more crack...”

Nora felt more dizzy and tried to focus on Steve’s voice, though she wished she hadn’t. “Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” Why was Steve attacking her Uncle? He didn’t know what he was talking about. Nora felt too woozy to feel any anger at that point.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.” He was wrong. He didn’t know what Tony Stark was about. He put on a front but he was a hero. He took the world on his shoulders. Nora remembered Tony destroying all of the weapons sold to our enemies. She wanted to scream at Rogers but her head hurt too badly to speak. Tony’s voice cut through the pain.

“A hero, like you? You’re a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”

“Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.”

“Steve, Tony- Stop” Nora begged. Her voice wasn’t loud enough for them to hear her. She was sure it was Loki’s scepter causing them to act like this. It was what messed with Barton’s head. Loki had wanted it to be here, to cause this dissension. Finally Bruce’s yelling caused everything to stop.

“IN CASE YOU NEEDED TO KILL ME. BUT YOU CAN’T, I KNOW, I TRIED!” He stopped and saw that everyone is staring at him and he continued. “I got low. I didn’t see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?”

“Oh Bruce...” Nora could feel his pain and anger, how broken he felt. He was holding the scepter while Fury and Natasha hand their hands on their guns. Nora was white as a sheet.

“Please Bruce. That thing is making you all act like this. Please put it down. No one is going to cage you, I promise..”

“Nora?” Tony’s voice was full of worry. She looked sick. She had barely said a word during the argument. She normally would tell Tony if he was being an ass or defend him if he was right. Steve took a deep breath, sighed and looked at Bruce.

“Doctor Banner, put down the scepter.” Banner looked down, surprised to see the spear in his hand. Suddenly the monitor made a noise, signaling the Tesseract has been located. Bruce put the scepter back on the table and walked over to the screen on the other side of the room. Nora walked over to the table and lightly touched the scepter, knowing it was the source of her pain. She just didn’t know why. She yanked her hand back and turned towards her Uncle.

Suddenly Tony turned to leave but Steve put his arm out to stop him. “You’re not going alone Stark!” Tony smacked Steve’s hand away.

“You gonna stop me?” Nora groaned. Taking steps towards the two men.

“Put on the suit, let’s find out!

“ I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Will the two of you stop acting like children?!” Nora was pleading with them. Then she heard Banner yelling and then an explosion. Nora flew into Steve, he grabbed her by the waist as he and Tony fell near the entry way. Steve turned her so she would fall on him instead of the floor protecting her head and neck. The next thing she knew Steve was pulling her along with Tony.

[queencatherynerhys]

Taken - Part 9 TRR AU

A/N: The hiatus is over!! Shout-out to @captainkingliam, @mfackenthal for coaxing me out of my writer’s block and giving me so much ideas for this chapter and for the unceasing desire to help me with my stories. I was really afraid that I was getting lost in the hole that I dug with this series and that all the twists have gotten so complicated with I was able to brainstorm with them about where to take this series. I would watch these videos to get the gist of the ending of this chapter. I kind of ran out of steam with the fights.

Movie Inspiration: Pacific Rim – A Worthy Opponent Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7i4pNsqnls

The Karate Kid – Six Vs. One Scene (specifically 1:54-1:56)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-wr7dD1n5w

Summary: Is Catheryne going to be all right? Or will she succumb to her situation? How will Liam and the gang deal with all the events that have transpired?

Tag List: @captainkingliam @decisso @devineinterventions2 @madaraism @theroyalweisme @drakewalkerwhipped @laniquelove @drakesfiance @hhiggs @hellospunkiebrewster @alicars @mrswalkerreynolds @mfackenthal @hopefulmoonobject @blackcatkita @cocomaxley @boneandfur @lizeboredom @crayziimaginations @umccall71 @zarina-x-zig @trianiasti @ranishajay @heatherfilliez @flyawayblue56 @simplyaiden-blog

Previous Parts:

Masterlist (too many parts to do them individually)

 Nothing but a flat line shows on the monitor. Commotion is around the room with Dr. Flint and three nurses rushing about attending to Catheryne’s shuddering figure. Abstruse words spew out of Dr. Flint’s mouth and Liam is too deep in his worry to try to understand. “Attach an oxygen bag. We need to start CPR. Stat!” A flustered nurse hurries to attach an oral airway device down her throat and an oxygen bag valve mask on the other end.

As she does this, Dr. Flint pulls up the sleeve of her white lab coat and prepare to conduct the resuscitation. Liam observes, frozen in dread and bleakness. Drake stands beside him, silently offering support but also with the same rigid body language.

The doctor gives Ryne a set of 30 compressions to the chest. “Come on, Your Grace, come back,” she pants through gritted teeth as she strains with the physical activity and pressure of her job. The high-pitched noise still audible. Liam losing hope by the second. Please, my love, please continue to fight. Fight for me. For us. I know I am asking a lot of you, but I will die if you leave me.

Another set of compressions are met with the same results. Dr. Flint and the nurse across from her glance at each other, silently communicating the inevitable outcome. She performs two more sets of compressions, pouring her last strength to revive her. By now, four minutes have passed. The nurse she mentally communicated with earlier raises his wrist, readying his watch to pronounce her time of death.

“TBD 8:07pm,” she declares gravely as she turns to meet the king’s gaze. “I am truly sorry, Your Majesty. I’m afraid we can’t do anything more for her.” Liam loses all control of his faculties and anger flows through him. “NO! No, you must bring her back. Keep doing CPR!” He grabs one of the nurses by his scrubs and yells at him and begging him to bring her back to him. Drake rushes to him, always being the reasoned one when Liam becomes clouded by his emotions.

He struggles in his best friend’s arms, but desperation wins. He runs beside Catheryne’s lifeless body on the bed. “NO! Don’t you dare take her off that machine! She’s not gone! I’m not letting her be taken from me again. I am not letting her leave me!” He hollers at the nurses who are starting to unhook her from the apparatuses. They look at Dr. Flint and she hesitantly nods, giving the tiny ember of hope he clings on to a chance to spark life. Maybe a miracle will show itself.

Liam cradles Catheryne’s still face. If it were a regular day, she looks just as if she’s sleeping but it isn’t one of those days. Here, it’s up to him to bring her back. He weeps, not caring for the audience he has. He can’t, he doesn’t have the strength to summon his kingly side. In this moment, he just wants to be Liam, a Liam that can mourn and be vulnerable with no judgment. As he holds her, he remembers the recurring nightmares he suffered during their time apart. He recalls the terrible visions of seeing her die in front of him by the hands of his enemies, the blood that surrounds him, the sudden cold temperature of Ryne’s body under his touch, and his desperate screams of distress as he begs her to come back.

His nightmares finally catch him. He never thought the day would come that he would have to truly live it, but here he is. There isn’t blood, but everything else is there. His own cries sound foreign to him, “Catheryne, listen to me. I am begging you. I will do whatever I need to do. Just come back to me, please! If there is a God out there, please, bring her back. Bring her back!” He rocks her unresponsive body as he trembles from his frantic sobs of pain and utter loss.

A lifetime passes in the span of two minutes. Nurses and the doctor clear out after she informs Liam that it’s crucial that they disconnect her from her tubes. Her IV and adrenaline tube are taken off as well as other multiple conduits are removed. He refuses to let her go out of his hold as they work around him to attend to her.

His peripheral vision catches the sight of Maxwell and Hana’s tear-stricken faces by where Drake stands at the window. He must’ve called him during all the disorder. He knows he should give a turn to say their goodbye, but he is not ready. He doesn’t know if he can really let go of her, physically and emotionally.

Not once in his life has he been this broken. My enemies are dead, but it doesn’t matter. We only won a battle. Even through the grave, they managed to win the war. The last piece of himself he had kept intact for the moment he and Catheryne are finally reunited again after her coma shatters and he physically feel the effects of it. His body slumps forward and wraps his arm around her and rests against her motionless form.

He whispers ever so quietly, “You guys, if you could, I would love a few minutes with her alone. I just want to say a proper, private goodbye.” He hears them shuffle out of the room and the door click. He pulls away slowly and stands up beside her bed to finally truly get a look of her. She is truly beautiful, even in her current…condition. He takes one of her perfect hand and wraps it in his own, bringing it to his lips.

“I remember the first time I saw your face in that bar, Catheryne. I remember the light you emitted. Oh, the joy you had in you. You were such a free spirit. I had only spent an hour with you, but I knew in that moment of time that you were an astonishing woman. Oh, my lovely Ryne, how I beg to change back those events. I would change it, so you don’t come to Cordonia. We don’t fall in love, but at least you’d be alive. Safe and alive. Happy. I am so in love with you, my beautiful perfect Ryne. The only thing I wanted to do was spend the rest of my life giving you the world, but it looks like I just took you from it. I am so sorry, Catheryne. I am so sorry that even now I am begging you to come back and keep fighting even if I know that’s the harder and more painful choice.” He falls to his knees and touches his cheek with the back of her hand, still holding it.

“I’ve been bred to be a selfless leader, but right now I want to be selfish. I am a selfish man, begging you to come back, but if you can hear me now or if anything or anyone at all in the whole universe can hear me, I am pleading with you…please…please…” he whispers as fresh tears roll out of his eyes to her hand. He squeezes it as he clings to hope for life itself.

What follows comes to him as complete shock when he feels her hand imperceptibly squeeze his back. If he wasn’t concentrating, he is sure he would have missed the feather-light touch, but he is confident of the definite gesture. He slowly looks up and smiles the widest of smiles when he sees her big, brown eyes again. Open and alive. Miracles do happen.

“Oh, my god, Catheryne!” he wraps her in his arms tightly, not worrying if he attacks her again. His happiness overweighs the subconscious threats of his presence around her. She just died and with the current situation he’d be a fool if he lets anything get in the way of showing his joy and relief of having her back.

He wraps her in his arms and cries tears of joy as he hears and feels her grumble underneath him. “Ugh…L-Liam…I…I can’t…breathe…” she struggles to voice out as he clings to her. The deities heard his pleas and granted his desire. He pulls away to see her face, life and color filling it again.

“Oh, my love, I thought I’d lost you,” he says by her ear. His shattered world feels almost complete again as he feels her chest rise and fall underneath his touch. He never wants to let her go but he knows he should or else he endangers hurting her. Slowly, he tugs himself away from her and reluctantly looks into her eyes, hoping he sees his Catheryne in them.

When he does, he loses all control and cries. Right now, it’s just Liam and Catheryne and no one else. In this small hospital room, it’s just them. He buries his face in her hands and kisses it. “Oh, Ryne, I love you.” He sobs, letting all the pain and burden he’s been carrying all this time as king and as just Liam.

Quietness pass between them for several minutes until finally Catheryne speaks up, “I hate to break the moment, Liam, but you’re breaking my stitches.” Liam looks down and see a bloody bandage on her arm, instantly he feels a pang of guilt for squeezing her so hard. “Oh, I am so sorry, my love.”

Liam rushes out of the tiny room to fetch Dr. Flint and inform his friends of the news. “She’s awake. She’s alive!” He breathes hard as if that action exasperated him. Drake, Maxwell and Hana all glance at him as if he is hallucinating. They didn’t believe him. He briskly walks back to her room with his friends and Dr. Flint in tow.

When they see her awake, they all start to rush around her bedside, but the doctor stops them, “Everyone let’s give the duchess some breathing room. She just came back from the dead. Let the professionals do their work before you do anything.” She walks beside Ryne and greets her, “Hello, Your Grace. It’s good to see you up. I must say I already knew you were a fighter, but to come back like this is truly a testament to you. Now if you can look and follow my finger while I check your vitals.” She flashes a light at Catheryne’s pupils, and she responds by squinting.

Dr. Flint reattaches her to the IV tube and heart monitor. “Looks like you reopened one of your stitches. I’ll bandage that up for you straightaway.” She grabs some materials in the cabinet and her friends stand beside her.

“You scared me to death, little blossom. You’re not allowed to do that again, okay. You’re not allowed to die again until a very, very long time from now,” Maxwell complains.

“I am so relieved to see you awake, Catheryne. How are you feeling?” Hana inquires with concern in her voice.

“That was one hell of a feat to come back from the dead, Knightely. You make my gunshot wound look obsolete,” Drake gruffly says.

She looks at her friends and faintly smiles. She is tired, and she doesn’t reply to any of their comments. She just offers a warm smile and apologetic eyes. She feels different from all of them. Now that her past has been brought to the light she cannot escape it. She sees it behind the eyes of all four of them – the fear they have of her. Will anything ever be the same again?

Dr. Flint ordered that she stay in the hospital for one more week after being woken up before releasing her. All of her wounds have almost healed. Scars left in their wake. Her back is full of diagonal, jagged scars from the whips and flogging. A big knife scar sits right above her chest where her heart is. She hates mirrors now. She hates looking at the imperfections that cover her. She doesn’t recognize herself anymore.

Her hair is disheveled; she didn’t have the energy to fix it. Hana would come into her room everyday after she showers and fixes her hair in a French braid while Maxwell and her talk about their day and sometimes noble gossip that she tunes out.

Drake comes in after them and tries to get her to talk about anything, but most of the time they just sit by the window in quiet. The only thing missing is their mutual friend, whiskey. The hospital wouldn’t let him carry liquor. He leaves right after they watch the sun set together. He always tells her that he’ll be back the next day. Sometimes, he’ll try to talk about Liam, but she tunes that out too.

During the week, he’s only been by once to visit her. She doesn’t know if she was grateful. She didn’t really know how to pick up their relationship after this. She was informed of her episode and what she did to Liam. The guilt that she feels eats her alive slowly inside and she doesn’t know how to cope with that.

When he came by to see her, it wasn’t for personal reasons. He was there as King Liam not her fiancé. He came to see one of his subjects is feeling ok and to inform her that her duchy is finally ready, but since she’s still recovering she is ordered to stay at the palace. It was a brief, cold, devoid of emotion meeting.

After he delivered his message, he left without a goodbye or any sign of affection. Again, she doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or not. Would he ever be able to look at her the same again? Would they ever be the same? Could he see her as the Catheryne he fell in love with? Or will she always be Catheryne the spy? Catheryne the heartless, cold killer? The woman that has the drive to kill him.

When her discharge day came around, Dr. Flint comes to her room to do one last vital check before releasing her. The stitches on her arm were removed before she left. “Now, Your Grace, I am prescribing you one hour of exercise every day. When we put you into an induced coma, it weakened your body and internal system. So, good exercise and good diet for three months. Then, you come back for a check-up. I’ve already talked to all your friends, and they will help you through this process. Just remember, be patient with yourself.”

She hands her a folder of papers and bid her farewell. The travel to the palace was quiet. She feels alienated and a bit nauseous from the fresh air, having been in a sterile, secluded hospital for three months. When they arrive at the gates, reporters and photographers swarm the gates. Thankfully, the guards were instructed to bring the limo to the back, so she doesn’t have to deal with them.

Events pass in a blur. She is ushered to her room with an excessive amount of guards surrounding her. Don’t they know she can protect herself? She figures this is Liam’s doing. His overprotectiveness always shining through, but she finds it annoying. She doesn’t need all this protection and if she chooses to she can disarm all 5 guards very fast.

Her stay at the palace becomes monotonous and boring. Everything feels routine. She gets woken by Maxwell who drags her to breakfast with Bertrand, Hana, Drake, Savannah and Bartie. After, Hana walks with her to the lake she showed her when they returned to Cordonia. Sometimes, when she’s not available Drake or Maxwell will walk with her around the palace grounds, always staying in the back away from the demanding eyes of the press.

In the afternoon, they dine together and sometimes they gather in her room and turn on a movie flick. But tonight, she just didn’t have the energy to accommodate them. She hasn’t been alone since she’s been released, and she is craving that time, so she politely asked them to leave her alone for the afternoon.

She wanders the long corridors of the palace in her sweats and a hoodie over her tank. She lets her feet carry her through the hallways. She zones out her surroundings and she come to an unfamiliar wing. She hears noises in one of the rooms, and her curiosity gets the best of her.

She cracks the door open and immediately recognizes a dojo. She quietly opens the door and slip inside stealthily. Everyone is preoccupied with the sparring men in the mat.

Her eyes roam the impressive room. Training equipment and various stimulator stands are scattered along the fighting mat. An impressive collection of martial art weapons line the left wall. She moves closer to it to get a look. She observes a particular gold-trimmed black bo staff propped on a stand along with regular staffs, several nunchakus, ka-bar knives, daggers, sais swords, katanas. But what catches her eyes is a pack of stainless steel willow leaf throwing knives.

They look just like the set that her father had given for her 7th birthday. She thought how peculiar it was to give a seven year old a set of knives, but her father said that throwing knives helped him clear his mind sometimes. She was able to master knife throwing by the time she was 8 and used it as a calming mechanism just like her father taught her.

Her fingers touch the smooth, cold, steel blade and she picks one of them up. She twirls it in her hands, precise and elegant. Familiarity seeps in through her and she notices a target hung on the wall across her. She holds the blade by the tip and let it fly off her grip, landing straight in the middle of the target. She’s never missed.

The sound of the blade burying itself in the wall pulls the men away from the spar, but she doesn’t notice that they are watching her. She grabs the set and one by one flings it to the target. All 6 fitting on the small dot is the bulls-eye. She smiles to herself. Her first genuine smile through this whole ordeal.

She is pulled away by the sound of applause beside her. She finally notices the crowd that has gathered around her. Liam’s face appears from the group, and he strides up to her. It’s the first time she’s seen him since his visit. He looks a little rugged like he hasn’t gotten any good sleep. He appears to have lost a little bit of weight, but not enough for a random person to notice.

“That was impressive,” he steps in front of her. He’s wiping his brow with a towel and Ryne remembers being so head over heels for him that this simple action would have her wanting him. She observes him and he’s attire. Like her, he’s wearing sweatpants and a white T-shirt stained by sweat.

“Thank you,” she replies with a shy whisper. She watches as the crowd disperses and do their own spars. She watches as they practice a certain style of fighting; she recognizes it as krav maga. “So?” she awkwardly says, not really knowing how to spark conversating. How did they get to this place when not long ago they could talk about anything? They were so comfortable around each other as if they’ve known the other their whole lives, but now they’re so close but so far away.

“Were you sparring?” she asks him. “Yes, I realized after these…events that I have to be more prepared and well-versed in fighting, so Bastien and Mara have been teaching me these last month. My philosophy used to be utilize whatever technique keeps you alive, but it seems that hasn’t worked quite well for me as of late.”

The guilt in her heart grips tighter because she knows he’s talking about the time she almost killed him. She frowns and looks away. She couldn’t bear to meet his eyes for she was afraid of what she might find there. A wistful gloss comes over her eyes as she watches the guards spar each other. She misses the adrenaline and the intense exhilaration from a fight or just spar. She recalls the plenty of memories she has of her parents. Though they weren’t the role model parents she wanted, the experiences she’s had with them are irreplaceable. She hated being bred for a certain lifestyle, but her parents gave her all the attention and love that she needed. Maybe through normal eyes it was odd to teach your child such things, but her parents knew they had enemies and they gave her the tools she needed to stand and fight for herself. When she was growing up, she hated it, but as adultness settled in she sees in hind sight the importance of this side of her.

She would have never survived in the tunnel if it weren’t for her parents. She is slowly coming into acceptance that she will never escape this side of her. This is who she is whether she wanted it or not.

Liam breaks her reminiscing and says, “Care to join me?” He inclines his head pointing to the center of the room to the fighting mat. He must’ve seen the look in her eyes, but her mind starts to think over the offer. Is it safe? She hasn’t had an episode since the last time, but she doesn’t know how severe it can get. She doesn’t know if she can take it if she hurts him again.

“I don’t think that’s a very smart idea, Liam. I’m unstable,” she reasons with him. “Come, Catheryne. It will be alright. Guards are here to watch us if anything happens. Besides, Dr. Flint said you need to have your exercise every day and I doubt you’ve done any kind of physical exertion for the day.” He flashes a tiny smirk and holds out his hand for her to take. She knows there’s no way he would take no for an answer, and as long as he’s the one offering who is she to refuse him.

They walk down to the middle of the room and they split directions. Liam goes to the right while her to the left of the mat. She strips of her hoodie and suddenly she feels very exposed with only her tank top and sweats. She removes her shoes and step onto the mat. She looks across to Liam who matches her, but in the span of few seconds he’s managed to lose his T-shirt.

Clever tactics targeting my emotional weakness for him, but I don’t think he realizes I have years of training in my side. She grins and takes a few steps to the middle of the mat. The foam sinks slightly under her feet, but she doesn’t mind it. She’s been trained to fight in every terrain. Liam meets her in the center and she informs him, “I don’t think you realize just how many years I have against you, Liam. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Ryne. I’m tough and you can never hurt me. But just in advance, I’m sorry, I forgive you and I love you,” Liam assures her. She is caught off guard with the last three words he hasn’t uttered to her in three months. Another tactical advantage because the next thing that happens sends her on the floor. He knew she would be distracted by it, so he used to his advantage and slammed her down to the ground.

It was sudden, but not hard. He’s careful with her just like always. After, he stands back up giving her the chance to recover. “Liam, one. Catheryne, zero,” he boasts. By this time, most of all the guards have their eyes trained on them.

Alright, I guess I need to kick it up a notch and actually mean it. “Nice touch with the distraction there. You should’ve saved it cause you only get once chance to knock me off my feet,” she speaks as she shrugs her shoulders, loosening her muscles.

She stands still in place watching Liam’s figure with laser focus. She’s not the duchess right now. In this moment, it was just her and Liam in a casual sparring session. She observes Liam as he starts to advance to her. He throws punches, powerful and full of control. She steps back with each punch thrown at her, not for defensive tactics, but she’s observing how his body moves finding any opening in his defense.

Finally, she sees it. When he throws a right jab, he angles his body too forward exposing a bit of his side. When he throws that punch, she spins from in front of him to beside him where he’s exposed side is and strikes it, knocking the breath out of him.

“Oof,” Liam holds his side as he bends down putting his hand on his knee. “I didn’t see that coming. I’ll give you credit for that,” he admits his small defeat, but the war isn’t over.

They admit their stances back across each other, gearing up another round. This time there are no smiles only intense stares. They were both competitive in their own right. Liam will be damned if he didn’t put up a show especially in front of his guards. He always could get a little prideful and egotistical.

Catheryne is an embodiment of calm before the storm. She stands with her hands clasped behind her back waiting, testing out the waters. Liam attacks first again, but this time she meets him head on throwing a blocking strike to the punch he throws. Her reflexes are muscle memory to her. Before he throws the left jab, she’s already preparing to block it.

She headbutts Liam with force. She immediately thinks, I hope that doesn’t leave a mark. Liam takes one step back, disoriented for only a moment. He shakes his head and throws his hands up on a guard. I need to think smarter if I’m going to beat her. He eyes the weapon wall and the staff catches his attention.

Liam and Ryne circle each other like two predators hungry for action and thrill. When he makes it to the wall, he grabs the black staff and arms himself with it. He swings like how he was taught with strength and control. He drives Ryne out of his reach, but she doesn’t look the least bit intimidated. In fact, he catches a little glint of amusement in her eye, but it disappears with the blink of an eye.

He holds the staff confidently with both hands as they continue their circling. Liam doesn’t give Ryne the chance to reach the wall and moves forward slashing towards her aiming directly at her chest, but she performs an impressive bend backwards. She does a series of back flips putting distance between them.

She steadies herself by widening her stance. Her body language changes from loose to rigid in a matter of milliseconds. She’s done playing around. Her training kicks in and propels her forward. Liam gears for a swing at her feet but she does a no hands cartwheel to her right, avoiding it and subsequently putting her close enough to grab a staff her own.

She spins it in her hands striking a hard stance with her hands outstretched and the staff tucked in behind her back. They perform a dance in front of each other. They attack with aggression and precision. Catheryne steps away from the defensive and attacks first. Using the staff to lift her, she aims a flying kick aimed at Liam’s face. He blocks with his staff, but her momentum is greater and knocks him backward.

He regains control and strikes her with a series of slashes and swings. She responds defensively, ducking every attack and using the weapon as a shield. Ryne notices that Liam likes to burst his attacks and that he gets very tired quickly when he exerts all the energy in his reserve.

“You know you really should save your energy,” she gives him a tip as she tucks in for a roll knocking him to the ground while catching his leg in her hold using the staff to lock his leg, but she practices control and reels her adrenaline back in before breaking his knee.

“Ah!” Liam exclaims. “That’s two-to-one. I think you need to step up your game, Liam. Or just abandon the staff since you don’t really know how to use it,” she haves fun taunting him. For some odd reason, sparring brought their old relationship back. They didn’t mind being rough with their moves. They both know they’re competitive and they don’t mind it.

He obeys and throws away the staff. “Alright, I’ll give you a fighting chance,” she says with a smile as she lets go of her weapon. Another round starts. Punches and kicks, both blocking and attacking hoping to get an advantage against the other.

Catheryne slaps Liam’s forearms away leaving his torso completely open and she uses her chest and body as a weapon again knocking Liam backwards. By now, he’s learned her techniques. He feigns a punch but ends up sweeping her leg under her.

Catheryne is caught off-guard but not enough to disorient her. She uses her downward momentum to propel her kip up back to a standing position. When Liam throws a roundhouse kick, she catches it and flips him over her head even with the weight difference. She aims a punch for his face but stops an inch away. “You lose,” she smiles in her glory and the guards who have been watching breaks in an applause.

“I concede. You win fair and square,” Ryne holds her hand out and helps him up. They face each other, hands still intertwined. Sweat covers Liam’s face, but Catheryne looks as if she wasn’t even exhausted. They smile, and Liam says, “It’s nice to see you smile, my love. I haven’t seen you this happy and playful since the Homecoming Ball.”

Liam watches as his carefree Catheryne retreat into her guard. He watches as her eyes shift from happy to cold in an instant. He notices her posture, guarded and fierce. Her eyes are dilated and hazy. “Catheryne?” What’s wrong?”

Her grip of his hand tightens, and her nails dig his skin. “Ryne, my love? What’s wrong?” He asks again moving to touch her cheek, but she slaps it away.

“You’re an enemy. You are an enemy and you must be stopped. I must kill you,” she growls.

Liam is confused on what is happening. One minute she was happy, and he was talking to her, but now she’s in her episode. Ryne pushes him on the chest and her punch connects to his face this time. The metallic taste of his blood fills his mouth and he begs for her to come out of her episode while ordering his guards to stay away while he tries to coax her out of this hallucination.

“Catheryne. Listen to me. Listen to my voice. It’s Liam. I am Liam. I am not going to hurt you. I am not the enemy. I promise. The enemies are gone. They will never hurt you again. Not as long as I am living and breathing. No one will hurt you again.” He backs away from her reeling composure.

He remembers the advice Dr. Mallon gives him of trying to remind her of who she is while she’s in her state, “Please, remember who you are. Your name is Catheryne Knightely. You are loved. You are safe. Your favorite color is blue. Your favorite place is the beach. You grew up in North Carolina and moved to New York. You live in Cordonia now. You are a duchess. You own a duchy named Valtoria,” he continues to list facts about her, praying and hoping it works.

She throws a punch again but he’s ready this time. He restrains her against him, “Please, my Ryne. Please remember me. I love you. I love you so much. Remember our trip to the secret cove when we first met. Remember our trip to the Statue of Liberty.”

Having her close, he can see the turmoil in her eyes. He sees it, he sees Catheryne, his Catheryne behind the rage, fighting for control. With that he’s assured that his tactic is working, and he continues to list their adventure together.

He knows that she is still there and that she will never stop fighting. After a long five minutes of restraining her and her struggles, she finally takes control and she falls unconscious from the strain and fatigue. Liam carries her back to her room and sits beside her sleeping form. He recalls the events leading to her episode. He was talking to her about how their relationship felt normal again and how she looked happy.

He can’t figure it out and decides to call Dr. Mallon and ask him for advice. He relays the whole conversation and mentioning how he hasn’t seen Catheryne’s old self since the homecoming ball.

“Liam, did you use the word homecoming specifically?” Dr. Mallon asks through the phone. “Yes, doctor, please. Just tell me what you think it is.”

“Well, when we were in the tunnels. After I’ve administered the chemical into her system and the clips, Amir would recite words to her and I overheard some and one of them was the word ‘homecoming’. I believe, if I am correct, it is a trigger word for her. A word that can spiral her back to an episode almost instantaneously. While she was in the hospital, we were able to remove traces of the hallucinogen from her system, but anything in her memory. We can’t do anything but try to avoid those. I would be very careful about the choices of word you mention around her. I believe they used traumatic moments of her life and the words have a connection to those. I’m so sorry that I can help you more that this, Liam. But good luck.”

“Thank you, Dr. Mallon,” Liam replies before hanging up the room. Again, the guilt in his heart overwhelms him. It’s because of him that she has to continue fighting and go through so much pain. He lays down beside her. Right now, he just wants to feel peace. He just wants to mourn his old Catheryne.

He whispers by her ear and make a promise, “I promise, Catheryne, I promise that I will fight beside you through all of this.”

[shadow-tea]

Vs Roland

It all went downhill whenever Roland saw Evan and the ghostly apparition of his father. His chest felt like it was being stepped on by an elephant and his vision swam and the room spun. He felt...jealous, almost. No, that wasn’t right. Lost. Yes, he felt lost. He felt...out of place. No one noticed him becoming confused and somewhat afraid.

They made it back to Evermore. Mausinger signed the treaty and they headed home. Though, Mausinger stood and just watched Roland. He knew something was up.

The Chief Consul locked himself into a room, leaving the brief celebration to finally finishing the treaty. No one noticed him crying black tears. His breathing was panicked.

Roland sat on his bed, rocking himself back and forth. He had wrapped himself with his blanket. His brown-silver eyes had turned pitch black. He coughed, sputtering black liquid from his mouth. He clinched his eyes shut and sniffled. Where was he again? He didn’t know where he was. “My love.” A sweet sounded voice echoed. He opened his eyes and looked around. “My yudakana Hana?” He asked. She could help him calm down. “Follow my voice…” she kept on whispering to him. He threw off his blanket and trudged to the window. His smile grew big and he threw open the window. He climbed through it, stepping back onto grass. He opened his wings and flew off, away from Evermore castle.

~~

Later that night.

Evan approached Roland’s room along with Batu. He held the food tray and Evan held the drink. Evan knocked on the door. “Roland!” He exclaimed. “We brought food! You missed some good stuff at the party!” Leander became extremely drunk and started to argue with anyone in the room. Batu had a drinking contest with Bracken. Tani and Evan kind of just sat and watched.

No one answered the door. Batu knocked next, but harder. “Oi!” He exclaimed. “Roland, ye mangy cur! Open up!” Evan puffed his cheeks. “He’s probably asleep.” He said. Though, Batu wasn’t listening anymore. He had grabbed the handle and twisted it. Both of them expected the door to be locked, but, Batu pushed it open. “Roland?” He grunted out. The window was wide open. Evan placed the drink down on the desk. He went to the window. “Did he go flying?” Evan questioned a loud. While Evan looked out of the window, Batu went and inspected the bed. He hummed and his face darkened. “Lookie here boy.” He beckoned. Evan turned his head and walked over to Roland’s bed. His ears flicked back. Batu saw the black splotches one would cough up if they were possessed by the darkness. “He’s...he’s been..” Evan’s face became determined and looked up at Batu. “Send your scouts out. Find Roland.” He commanded. “We will continue our search throughout the day.” Evan and Tani were kids, after all. They needed correct sleep. Batu nodded. He went and picked the tray and drink both. They would keep it cool. They just needed to focus on finding Roland now.

~~

Early Morning

The dragon consul had found a cave to hide in. Very fitting for his species. It was spacious. He stood st the center, rocking himself back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Roland smiled brightly, black liquid dripping down his face. He stepped up to his wife and hugged her tightly. “Oh I’ve missed you so much.” He whimpered. “What have you been doing without me?” His ears perked to listen. He nodded. “I’m sorry for leaving the seat all to you.” He whispered and he grasped nothing. “Hopefully no one tried to...claim you over me.” He snarled. He bared his sharp teeth to nothing. But, he smiled warmly and tilted his head as if it was being cupped by a hand. He hummed softly. He let out a gasp and opened his arms, as if someone ran into his legs, hugging tightly. “I’m sorry I left you.” He whispered. “You must’ve been so worried about me. Did your mother protect you?” He grinned brightly. He sat down. “Let’s have a picnic today.” He laughed heartily.

~~

Evermore Castle

Evan scowled. “Nothing?” He asked. Khunbish shook his head and bowed. “We will continue to look for ‘im milord. Just ‘ive us time.” He spoke. The small cat king nodded. “You are dismissed, Khunbish.” He said. The other part of his court were out today. Either taking care of something or for leisure. Evan let them do what they wanted. The Sky pirate left the premise and that prompted Evan to get up. He should do some favors. Maybe they’ll be something about Roland..

He strolled out of the castle. He stepped down the stairs and turned straight into the market area. He smiled and greeted a few people as he strolled through. He would know when someone needed a favor. It was just something he could tell. Looking to his right, he saw a person needing help. He went up to ask. Upon getting the quest, he said goodbye to the civilian and went on his way.

~~

It became lunch time. Evan was going to stop by some food before heading back to the castle. He glanced at the street vendors he passed. Nothing good he would like so far. Once he got past that vendor, he stopped by one that only served drinks. He got a strawberry milk bottle. Strawberry flavored was his favorite. He thanked the vendor and left that one. His cat ears swiveled around, listening into a few conversation. Maybe someone here was a trader. Maybe, they saw Roland flying overhead somewhere to hide.

It took him a little bit to actually find a vendor he wanted. Even now, Evan was a picky eater. All of the other foods he would’ve wanted any other day, but today, he didn’t want to go to his usual places. He stepped into the little place and looked st the menu overhead. The shop members didn’t notice him yet, since there were a few others already there and probably have ordered food. He found his order and went up to the cashier. His ears pointed up and swiveled around a few times, listening in a few conversations.

“....flying in the air hurriedly somewhere. Came from the direction of Evermore.”

“Really? What’d the flying person look like?”

“Um, I dunno. It was going very fast.”

A flying person? Evan looked over and walked over to them. “Excuse me.” He asked. The two talking looked over. One was from Hydropolis, another from DingDong Dell. “Oh, good evening, King Evan.” One said. “Good Evening to the two of you!” He chimed and his face became stern. “Tell me where that flying person is.” He said. “It is of grave importance.” They looked at each other before explaining to their small king. One of the traders, who was from Goldpaw, who moved their from Hydropolis, was walking to Evermore for trading opportunities, when they saw someone flying away from the castle. She assumed it headed into the Goldpaw area.

Evan would check the caves.

~~

The Next Day

The Young King rallied his allies and they teleported to Goldpaw. They searched the caves surrounding the area. It took a couple hours to actually find the cave.

Hesitantly, Evan and crew entered the cave. No one spoke as they entered further into the cave. IT was like any other cave they’ve seen. Crystals showing on the wall, stalagtites and stalagmites in various places, and rising natural platforms. They approached the center as the path branched out.

“Roland!”

The dragon consul sat in the middle, rocking himself back and forth, muttering. Evan wanted to run to him, to comfort him, but his friends stopped him from running towards him. “Look at ‘im.” Batu remarked, bright green eyes sparking. “He’s fallen so far into the control. Blast it all.” Leander breathed out. He did not see a possible outcome of this battle. He could be the worst battle yet. They stepped forward, alerting Roland by their prescence as he rose slowly. He wobbled beofre turning around to face them. Face dripping with the black liquid, he coughed. It dripped down his head as well. Further examination, his horns were stained black. “You..You can’t take my family..away.” He sputtered. His friends did not raise their weapons just yet. “They’re..They won’t..die by your hands.”

Just what was he seeing now?

Roland let loose a roar and bent back, sucking in air. “EVERYONE MOVE!” Batu exclaimed. Tani and Batu rose their hands up as they commanded the air. A torrent of air formed in front of the family and they pushed it into the flames off the fire breathing Roland. Bracken sped past everyone else to try to get behind him, stopping her feet from moving, she rose up her axe and tried to strike for the head. Roland’s ears twitched as he heard the whistle of metal, he turned and caught the blade in his hand and threw it. “I’ll kill all of YOU!” He screamed. He drew his sword and sped towards Leander. The Seer flinched and dove out of the way, before his eyes lit up. Roland was caught in his psychic grasp and was launched away. Leander stood up and closed his eyes as he called upon a powerful spell. His floating staff glowed bright.

Tani swung her spear over her head as she summoned large amounts of electricity. She pointed her staff towards Roland, letting the electricity course through her and hit the man head on. The area around them flashed brightly. As soon as the light diminished, Roland stood, unscathed. The clothes that was made for him was resistant to a lot of things, or maybe he was resistant to every element.

Evan watched as his friends battled. They seemed to no match for Roland. He bit his lip and he held his sword tightly. He closed his eyes as he summoned a magic ring as he summoned water. He focused as several orbs formed. Opening his eyes again, he opened his mouth.

“Roland! Please look at me!”

Roland visibly flinched and looked over. His face softened. “Come here, my son.” He whispered. He reached out to Evan. His eyes widened. Again, Roland thought he was his son. Evan clinched his eyes shut as he launched the balls of water at him. Roland let himself get hit, causing himself to growl deeply. Steam rolled off of him. “...Spy!” He exclaimed and opened his wings, flying straight at Evan. The King rolled out of the way, flinging water left and right. Roland slashed his sword wildly, sparks erupting from the ground. Evan clinched his eyes shut as he fell back. With a roar, he swung his sword from his hand, up toward his chest.

A gasp of pain. He felt something drip onto his face.

Evan cracked open his eyes and about screamed. Roland stood over him, stomach stabbed with Mornstar. The Dragon Consul’s eyes cleared enough to see the silver brown, but they were still hazy. “R-Roland?” He asked. Evan hoped to everything good that he didn’t strike his bestfriend’s core. He let go of his sword and watched in horror as his friend stumbled back. He coughed up blood. Everyone stopped. Roland shakily looked down at the sword. “I failed them.” He whispered. “I failed them.” He began to repeat those words. He held his face and let loose a very feral roar. Bracken’s face paled as she spotted Roland’s pupils shrunk and became slits. She hurried to Evan and scooped him up to run to the other side of the cave.

With quick succession, Roland pulled out Mornstar and threw it to the side with such force, it caused a little crater in the side of the wall, but it did not break it. He hunched over, glowing brightly.

He was transforming.

Everyone covered their eyes. There was so much energy being pushed out that it caused dust to push towards them. Evan screamed loudly.

Everything stopped. A roar and a flap of wings echoed through out the cave. And then…the sudden shaking of the cave alerted them to look up.

Roland had hit himself against the cave ceiling. He roared loudly, becoming even more enraged, but he fell to the ground as soon as debri fell ontop of him.

No one said anything, but they ran toward the cave entrance. “M-Mornstar!” Evan exclaimed. “I can move the debri later, Evan.” Bracken said. “We have to move.” They ran out the center room of the cave. Dust billowed towards them after the debir stopped. Bracken placed Evan on the ground. “Start smashing the rocks.” He commanded. “Leander, trying pushing the rocks out of the way.” They needed to get to Roland. Batu formed a electrical hammer, while Tani stood back.

~~

Evan ran in first, eyes panicked and worried for Roland. He saw him in the center of the room again, legs and an arm were crushed. He would regenerate it later, but they would have to put him in a cast later. “I..I can’t.” He wheezed, tears streaming down his bloody face. “I..I failed all of them.” He seemed to aware. He rose his free hand to his neck, claws glinting in the dim light. Evan exclaimed for him to stop. Roland did stop. “Leave...Leave me be.” He cried. “Leave me be.” The others came into the cave, began to help him out. One of them handed Mornstart back to Evan, but he set it down to help Roland out of the debri.

~~

It took a little bit for them to leave the cave. Roland begged picked up Mornstar and gave it to Evan, which he put down on the ground to help bring Roland out. The Consul didn’t say anything, but hang his head low. He was still crying. “Evan, you can teleport still?” Leander asked. He was extra tired from using his psychic abilities. The small king nodded quietly. He looked toward Roland. He couldn’t walk at all. Evan rose the sword up and focused on home. “Why..Why are you bring...bringing me..back?” He asked. “Because.” Evan said and breathed in sharply as the air around them changed quickly with a sharp whistle.

“We’re family.”

~~

A few days pass with a decent recovery for Roland. He looked solemn and sad. He still had leg casts. He didn’t eat too much. He became a little thinner, which worried Evan and the others.

Evan entered the infirmary room with a cup of coffee and a book. “Good evening, Roland.” He greeted. Roland looked at him from staring out the window. He did not smile. It was saddening. “Evening.” He grunted. He wished he could move. To go back to work. “I brought you some coffee.” Evan said. “And another book.” Roland gave a sad smile. “Thank you, Evan.” He said. They became quiet as Evan put the things on the bedside table. Evan backed up and looked at Roland. They stared at each other for a little bit before Evan turned away. “Just tell me if you need anything.” He said quietly. Roland said nothing as he watched Evan leave the room.

He sighed deeply and shakily brought out his phone. He opened it to photos. He stared at a photo for a very, very long time.

[warmau]

Hey I love your blog so much!!! Can you do a SHINee demon au where they like the human reader?? Thanks so much I'd be so happy if you've were able to do this but if not no worries ❤️❤️❤️❤️

it’s been like one million years since ive written for shinee, but i miss them so please take this playful demon!taemin ,,,,,,,,,

a follower of the demon verrine, who tempts people to act on their impatience and think without consequence 

has the ability to posses people, but taemin has never liked inhabiting the bodies of others - he tells minho it makes him feel weird and minho is like,,,,,,,,taemin it’s kind of our job,,,,,,,

when he’s in the underworld, he wears the black cassock uniform of the demonic council along with a crown of black roses

his eyes are a deep set coal like the other demons highlighted by small thorn like markings under his lower eyelid 

because he needs to perform possessions or deals, taemin usually opts to disguise himself as human and try and seek out people who are in tough situations - in order to coerce them into acting on impulse instead of facts

he finds you, a college student who is stuck between betraying a friend of yours in order to take the last spot in a startup company that wants you to work for them

and he can see it, the anxiety strangled around your aura like a thick rope

it’s a relatively small job, betrayal without murder or crime doesn’t gain him much with the higher ups - but this should be easy, he doesn’t have to posses anyone and he can smell that you’re bound to break with a few words

so,,,,,,,that’s when a dashing, thin man slips into the seat opposite you in lecture hall and you notice his eyes on yours

for a moment, you think they’re so brown that they appear black - but you look down to avoid staring

“you look,,,,,,,troubled - im a good listener if you need one.”

his voice is cheerful, almost inviting and you’re tempted to say something but doubt gnaws at the back of your mind

his long fingers reach out to brush against your hand and that gnawing is gone

“i,,,,,,,,,i have a friend who kind of lied on their application to this job we both want and if i tell them, ill get the position. but if i do that, my friend will know i told them-”

“and you’re worried you’ll lose them?”

you sigh, not realizing that your easiness to speak with this stranger all comes from taemins control

“yes, i don’t want to backstab a friend.”

the man shifts, and you notice the way his pretty features look in the light of the lecture hall

you’ve never seen him before, you’re sure of that - but then again maybe he’s in a different major

you open your mouth, as to ask his name

but he catches your gaze and for some reason the question dies into your memory

“but they did something wrong, you should email the job right now and tell them the fault of your friend. do you think your friend would hesitate in your position?”

you furrow your eyebrow “wouldn’t they-”

“people only look out for themselves little angel, believe me.”

the petname makes something spark within your chest and your red face betrays the feeling 

the man smiles, this time his long fingers brush the skin of your cheek

“believe me, i know what it’s like. send the email, make sure you get the job. maybe your friend will even understand,,,,,,,”

his voice trails off as he feels the shift in your aura - you open your laptop, fingers typing slow and sure

and taemin sits back, feeding on this new energy of yours

and when the email is sent, you look to see him still there

“see, now that you did it don’t you feel better?”

you don’t - you’re sure you don’t but the man gets up and joins you on your left side, an arm wrapped around your shoulder

you nod “i feel better.”

he grins, helping you up and letting you put your things away and follow him out of the hall

“see, what did i say angel - you just have to believe me.”

for a moment you feel the warmth of his body near yours, but it’s not warmth - it almost feels blazing hot

you two are halfway across the campus when your phone dings, an email from the company 

you have the position, and they’ve contacted your friend 

taemin sees it, sees your face tighten a bit in realization and his grin grows larger

it’s a small deed, but it’s enough to sustain him till he finds a bigger victim, a brandished spouse - a mistreated executive

you look up at him, and he breaks the spell, watches you come to a realization and the ringing of your phone with your friends name flash across the screen

“oh no, oh god what do i say - why did i do that?”

you worry, looking up at him

and usually this is where taemin leaves, but he just can’t take it - that look in your eyes is so so perfect

“tell them you only did the right thing. tell them, they would do the same.”

taemin watches you pick up, your quivering voice turns hard and serious like stone as taemin keeps you locked within his circle

“you did the wrong thing, not me. if you don’t want to be friends anymore than you can get lost.”

the conversation ends and taemin traces a finger down your cheek

“there, you did a good job.”

you feel sudden exhaustion, like some part of you has been drained and taemin lets you hit his chest when your eyes close - his arms hold you in place and he lets the two of you disappear off campus

he watches you sleep it off, placing you in your bed and then snapping out of existence in a cloud of black

“they were a small job, but at least they were cute.” he explains to a unimpressed minho when he returns to hell