#okay so i finished the owl house like yesterday and god do i think every single character in it is cute? hell yes

[thedistrictsleepsalonetonight]

Space girl

The beginning of most love stories: the moon falls in love with the sun.

(The problem, however, is that most love stories aren’t set in the Boiling Isles. To confirm that the metaphor works adequately, there must exist at least one moon and one sun in your admittedly bonkers world. Is there a sun? A moon?)

Amity shivers where she’s sitting at her window, stares up at the bright bluish orb hanging over the sky and decides it does, in fact, qualify as a celestial body, whatever the hell that means. Luz has been teaching them about the intricacies of the human world, every bit of knowledge that they would require if in case they ever got transported there accidentally, and that includes something called a smartphone, a bus and the shortest way to the nearest vending machine, preferably a vending machine that stocks Mars Bars. Amity suspects the last is just another one of Luz’s whims, but has no way of confirming.

(And what is the point of confirming anything anyways? It is enough to sit in front of Luz, or beside her or anywhere with a direct line of sight to her, so Amity can listen to her blabber on about chocolate chips and scrambled eggs and something called a Tumblr; enough to get lost in the insistent, sunshine shaped cadence of her voice and forget about the perils of the week.

Plus, is the sun ever wrong?)

A month ago, Amity would have been alarmed at how easily she writes down her utter devotion towards a very human someone who gets beaten up on the regular by some ancient eldritch horror. Now the words just walk out of her quill and plant themselves firmly on the page like they couldn’t belong anywhere else, except maybe her paramour’s heart. That’s the problem with the moon falling in love with the sun. it’s annoying yet ineffable and inevitable. It’s also the easiest thing she’s ever done.

*****

Emira figures it out first. Which probably means that Edric knows as well, since Amity is pretty sure the twins share a single mind and keep passing it to each other like they’re in an eternal Grudgby match. However, he’s not the one who appears in her room in the middle of the night to scare her half to death. That’s all Emira.

“What,” Amity starts, one hand on her chest, other reaching instinctively for her training wand at the sight of a green cloud of smoke that’s materialized in her room out of nowhere, “in the world are you doing here?”

Her sister leans against the doorway, like she’s been there all along, takes in her room. Amity knows it’s clean, knows that there is not a speck of dust hiding beneath the floorboards or an errant cape strewn on her bed, and yet can’t help following Emira’s gaze anxiously as it travels across her neatly arranged trophy on the shelf, her table and the loose floorboard she now hides her diary under, before she comes to rest on hers.

“You never told us what happened at the library the other day,” she says, finally.

Amity blinks. “I did tell you what happened. Otabin turned into a monster and tried to sew me, literally, into a book. Had to be fought off.”  

She doesn’t continue with the subsequent thoughts in her head. Luz was there. Brave, idiotic Luz with a tendency of barging into adventures without a second thought. Luz, who I would’ve jumped into fire for. Luz, who made (makes) me laugh.

“You mean you and Luz?” Emira asks, innocently.

She bites the inside of her cheek, tries hard not to betray the smile that’s trying to creep up her face at the sound of Luz’s name. Nods.

“Luz is pretty cool, is she not?” Emira continues, and okay, there’s no reason to say someone’s name this much in one conversation. She ambles around her room, touching things at random, while Amity regulates her breathing. This was pathetic. The sound of someone’s name wasn’t supposed to make her feel like her heart was going to burst out of her, wasn’t supposed to climb up her throat and turn into absolute warmth all over her face.  

“Uh huh,” she manages. “I guess. Yeah. Eh. Yeah.” Too much too much too much too much.

Emira is suddenly in her face then. She places her hand on Amity’s shoulders, stares right into her eyes.

“Aw, Mittens,” she chuckles. “You’re adorable when you have a crush.”

And then she disappears.

Amity does manage to chuck the object nearest to her (which happens to be her training wand) at Emira’s retreating figure. Then she sits on the floor and curls up into an embarrassed ball. You know, as one does.

*****

The whole jumping into danger for Luz thing would be a lot more avoidable if Luz didn’t have an equally huge jumping into danger for Amity thing as well.

Which is such a godforsaken Luz thing to do. The idiot immersed herself in a cauldron full of sludge for Willow, who she had met minutes ago, of course she would take on her burden for Grom night. Of course she would somehow break the cage Amity had conjured up for her to come save Eda and Edric and Emira and of course she would help her make things right with Willow. If the girl had one coherent thought when she woke up every morning, it was probably this – Ooh, someone’s in trouble? Let me fix it!

(She does inevitably manage to turn a tiny cut into a gushing wound in absolutely no time at all, but would Luz even be Luz without shenanigans?)

Amity loves it. It gives her a heart attack, but she loves how Luz is always ready to help out a random stranger. She’s never met anyone with a heart bigger than Luz’s and a personality sunnier than hers.

(Also hasn’t met anyone who’s cuter, or prettier, or better-looking in a strange black-pink-frilly-yet-well-tailored attire, but let’s not go there)

Either way, it’s completely understandable that she immediately reaches for her wand when Luz climbs up onto her balcony after Grom night, ready to fight whatever it was that was evidently bothering her.

“No!” Luz holds up her hands, shoots her a quick smile. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Oh,” she says, feeling herself relax. “So, um — why are you — here?”

“I could go! If you — wanted to, sleep or—”

“—no! Absolutely not!” Curse her for picking the absolute worst way to phrase a question. Why hadn’t she said Hey Luz, it’s so nice to see you, what brings you here? Or Hey Luz, please walk into my room and never leave.

(You know. Either works)

“I’m glad you’re here,” Amity says, then fumbles for something, anything, to add on to that revealing statement. “I mean, I couldn’t sleep anyways.”

Luz nods, and then giggles when Amity joins her onto the balcony and in the moonlight.

“What?” she asks, a little self-conscious. Also very charmed. Making Luz laugh was like some form of intoxicating elixir; Amity was hooked onto the feeling. Luz laughing made the world brighter.

(God, she was so gone for this idiot.)

“Your pajamas have tiny owls all over them,” Luz points out.

“Okay, that’s it!” she says, half-turning to go back into her room, when Luz’s hand grabs her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Luz is still laughing. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You look cute.”

Thank you, Luz. That’s very nice of you, Luz. You look nice in your strange clothes and oversized jacket as well, Luz. Those were all potential responses she could deliver.

Instead, she makes a choked-off noise that sounds suspiciously like hngg and closes her eyes.  

(She’s so gone for this idiot)

*****

“Does your moon look like the one here?” Amity asks, one night of many, when they’re sitting on her balcony staring up at the gigantic thing. There’s some quiet song about stars and lovers that’s playing on that infernal device Luz is always toting around, and Luz is next to her, her arm brushing against Amity’s, radiating warmth out from the point of contact.

Amity wouldn’t mind if she died happy right at this moment.

“It’s a little different, I think,” Luz tilts her head, regarding it thoughtfully. Then she picks up her phone, taps at it and holds it out in front of Amity. “Here, that’s the moon back home.”

It isn’t bluish like this one. Nor is it smooth, unblemished. It’s got marks all over it, remnants, Amity presumes of outside forces long gone by. Enraptured, she leans in for a closer look.

“It’s orange!”

“It was just that day,” Luz informs her. “It isn’t orange all the time.”

“It changes colors?” That was surprising. Also fascinating.

“Not — not all the time. It’s complicated, I guess.”

Amity likes the wide smile Luz holds when she talks about this. Luz is so expressive, she couldn’t hide her feelings to save her life. Most of the time in school, when being faced down by exasperated teachers Amity thinks of it as a curse. Now, however, at midnight, while it’s just the two of them, and she is privy to this unbridled display of everything that makes up Luz, she’s enamored.

“Why do you like the moon so much?” she asks, curious.

“Why do you like the sun so much?” Luz shoots back, playfully.

Oh. That one’s easy. “Because it turns everything golden. Because it’s airy and light. Because it makes me feel warm inside.” Because your eyes turn a particular shade in the sunlight and it’s hard to look at you directly, you shine so bright. Because every time the sun comes up, it is a precursor to me seeing you in school.  

Because it reminds me of you.

Luz looks at her, her eyes uncharacteristically wide and serious. “I like the moon because it makes me feel seen. Because it’s almost as lonely as I am. Because I can trust it enough to know that it’s mostly always there, even if it’s behind the clouds at the moment.”

They’re staring at each other, eyes wide, and Amity can’t breathe. She thinks of a lonely Luz staring up at the night sky back in the human world, talking to the moon, and it twinges, sorrowfully, like a ukulele out of tune, at a place deep underneath her chest. Some strange mixture of I’m sorry you had no one to talk to and I wish I’d been there, I wish I’d known you back then — I’d have listened to all your stories.  

“Plus,” Luz smiles, “it’s pretty.”

Amity blinks, and the spell is broken. Luz jerks, as if coming out of a dream, and stands up straight. Stammers, fumbles, makes a truly terrible joke about broomsticks and King and the annoying owl slash security guard slash housekeeper and runs off, leaving her completely confused.

*****

It’s when Gus finds out that Amity discovers that everyone and their parent has known about her Grometheus sized crush on Luz the entire time.  

“But why didn’t you tell me?” He’s still sulking about it in a corner, while Amity is faced down by Willow, Edric, Emira, Eda and King at the same time.

“Nobody told anyone, strange little child,” Eda waves a hand impatiently at him. “We just have eyes.”

Edric casts a momentary silencing spell on him, but Amity is pretty sure he’s mouthing the words “But I have eyes too”. Not that she’s too worried about Gus. He’ll be fine.... eventually. It’s more the fact that she now has to figure out which parts of her behavior have apparently clued in the whole world to the fact that her heart is waddling around in an idiot’s chest, most times.

“How about the fact that you can’t stop smiling when I bring her up?” She does not—

“Or that you did some pretty advanced magic trying to save her when that Slither-Beast had us?” How did he-

“You nearly combusted when she picked you up after our Grudgby match?” It wasn’t that bad.

She buries her head in her hands. Then looks up at King.

“Do you want to add anything?”

“No,” he replies. “I had no idea until today. I just didn’t want to be lumped in with Gus over there.”

She stands up, picks up her bag. “Okay, I am clearly at a disadvantage here—”

“Mittens, come back,” Edric grabs the back of her shirt, lets her flail for a minute before she gives up.

“I just — I just wanted to get her something nice for her birthday tomorrow, okay? And instead I’m being ambushed by the entirety of Boiling Isles.”

“But we are trying to help you, kid,” Eda tells her, now lounging on the couch with King on her lap. “God knows I love that child, but she has not an ounce of common sense in her. There is no way she’s ever going to figure out you’re in love with her if you don’t—”

“—whoa, whoa, whoa, love? That’s — please — completely crazy — idea. I’m not — in — love. That’s—”

She’s not. She’s not. So what if she keeps interrogating Gus on human things so she can impress Luz with her admittedly flawed knowledge on all things non-Boiling Isles? So what if she hasn’t slept more than five hours for the past one month because Luz comes over at night and they end up talking until past midnight? What does it even matter that Luz is the only person who she feels any form of innate comfort around? Or that every time she lends Luz her jacket when it gets chilly, the sight of an awkwardly clad Luz in that oversized thing makes her heart feel full to the point of bursting?  

That’s not love.  

(Some strange whisper echoes through her head, leaving echoes of But it could be behind)

Luz is the sun, okay? Bright and beautiful and adored by everyone. There’s no reason she could, or that she even should pay attention to Amity. Her affection is easily given, evenly split between all her friends and the citizens of the world; there’s no way Amity could ever hope to exert enough gravity to make Luz notice her, no way she could dare to hope for a greater portion in Luz’s long list of priorities.

(After all, does the sun even know that moon exists?)

*****

“Come on, Amity!”

She presses her lips flat, tries not to burst into laughter at the sight of an impatient Luz, vibrating by her side, hands opening and closing in the air.  

“I know you have a gift for me! And you’ve been hiding it from everyone! Nobody at the party knew!”

“Aren’t you tired from the party?” she asks, knowing the abrupt change in topic is just going to annoy Luz more. It had been a hectic affair, after all. Monster complications in the morning aside, the Owl House had seen an impressive number of guests who wanted to wish Luz a very happy birthday. An impressive number of guests along with an impressive number of gifts.

All except one.

“Nope. Not tired at all,” Luz tells her, promptly. “Completely alert and ready to receive the gift that I know you’ve gotten me but aren’t giving me yet, because you like messing with me.”

Amity twists her face into the visual equivalent of Who, me but conjures up a wrapped box either way. It falls into Luz’s outstretched hands, and then she has to tell her to shush unless they want Amity’s parents grounding her, forever.

(Not that it pleases her, much. She hates telling Luz to quiet down, because it tends to break her out of whatever spiel she is embarking upon, and Amity adores it when Luz rambles. Her eyes shine, and her hands move around animatedly, and her voice, her voice is so, so sweet she doesn’t mind it telling her about things she cannot comprehend)

She puts a hand on Luz’s right arm just as she’s about to unwrap it. “Luz,” she starts, already embarrassed, but determined to power through, “this, is probably not the best gift, and probably not even accurate as well, so you have to tell me if you don’t like it, okay? I’ve got other backup gifts I’d planned on giving you, so no worries, okay? Just—”

“Amity,” Luz cuts in, her excited smile morphing into something a little quieter, gentler, “I already love it.”

“You haven’t even seen it yet.”

Luz shrugs, like it doesn’t matter, still looking at her. Only resumes unwrapping it when Amity nods. Opens the box, and thankfully isn’t looking at her when Amity starts talking.

“I tried — to make it as close to the real thing as possible,” she says, watching Luz look at the off-white orb in wonder. “King helped. He went on something called the, the internet? And turns out your moon has a lot of craters! But it’s pretty regardless, so I tried — to. Yeah.”

She’s not exactly surprised when Luz leans over and hugs her. They’re sitting side by side so the angle’s a little off, but it’s not like she cares. Luz, beautiful, happy, Luz is here and she’s solid in her arms, and she can feel her smile against her neck and Amity is going to die—

“Thank you.” Luz disentangles herself from the embrace, but still pretty close. “I — Amity. Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

But I want to. I want to give you things, and I want to give you things that you like and that will maybe remind you of me. She places a hand on the orb between them, sees it light up.

“It also does this,” she informs Luz, unnecessarily. Then places a hand again, watches it turn orange. “Changes colors. Like yours does.”

She finally looks at Luz again, after a moment of complete silence, only to see her staring back. The look in her eyes is so — so intense (Amity can think of no other way to describe it), that it makes her want to turn away and cover her face. Like it’s going to burn her up if she keeps looking into her eyes.  

And then Luz quickly darts forward to press a kiss to her cheek, and Amity combusts.

(Only inside. You’d think it was possible, wouldn’t you? It was the Boiling Isles, after all. But no. Nobody had spontaneously combusted since Elaric the Great and as far as anybody could tell, it didn’t have anything to do with romance)

The kiss lands half on her half and half on her skin because she’s pretty sure Luz hasn’t exactly thought it through either. There’s a single, blissful moment of peace, and then then her heart goes into overdrive, beating away like it’s trying to catch a train.

Speaking of things trying to catch a train, however....

“I have to go!” Luz scrambles away, gets up. Her face looks red as well, and Amity, a little stumped, watches it happen, as though in slow motion. Even through her haste, she picks up the replica of the moon carefully and wraps it up in her jacket. “I’ll — see you tomorrow! At school! Where we both.... go. So. Yeah. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight?” Amity replies, softly.

Right before she’s about to climb down, Luz stops. Turns around, and very quickly says something that Amity for the life of her cannot figure out.

(Also, because she’s still in the tummy-woozy, mind-blank state of just having a kiss pressed to her cheek by the most perfect girl in the world)

“Can you say that again?”

“I, uh,” Luz slows down, deliberately, her voice coming out quieter. “Did you totally hate that?”

Oh.

Oh, gosh, the idiot.

Amity shakes her head, grins at her, hoping that says what she isn’t brave enough to say yet. “No, Luz. I didn’t hate that.”

*****

She keeps the picture of Luz’s tremulous, answering smile wrapped in the fist she presses to her heart a long time after she’s gone.

*****

And that’s how the story ends. With the sun smiling at the moon.  

[dr4cking]

I could request a smut with draco post war, where he and his wife (reader) have tried to have sex but their young children always interrupt them in some way, so they give it to cissy to take care of so they can have privacy. Thank you and only if you feel comfortable writing this request😊😊

Interruption.

masterlist taglist

draco malfoy x reader | smut | anon requested.

a/n : hi! thank you for requesting! this one is a really cute idea 😂💞

draco twisted the doorknob entering the house with his sleeping 5 year old son on his hips, the familiar scent tickling his nose as he step into their house, a smile crept up to his face as he sees the mother of his kid busying herself in the kitchen.

“hi dray, he’s asleep?” y/n whispers, walking to her husband, examining their son and she smiles as she sees her son sleeping peacefully resting his head on his father’s shoulder.

“he is, love. i think he got exhausted after playing all day in the park, lemme put this little guy on his bed first okay?” draco said as he kisses her forehead before heading into his son’s bedroom.

draco put scorpius carefully on his bed, pulling the cover up to his small body, he chuckles internally as he watched that scorpius is a spitting image of him. he left a kiss on his forehead as he closed the door quietly then head downstairs going back to his wife.

“hey, how’s your day? i miss you so much, love” draco put his hand around y/n’s waist startling her, he buried his face onto the crook of her neck inhaling his favorite scent making her giggles.

“i miss you too, dray. its been lovely, how about you hmm? did you have fun with our little guy?” y/n said not turning back as she still chopping the carrots.

“we did but he kinda took out all of my energy, you know what that means, right?” draco smirked as he pressed her back closer to his chest, his hands started to groping around her body.

“d-draco scorpius is s-sleeping” y/n said between her moans as her husband pressed her ass against his crotch and rubbing it behind her, she gripped the knife harder.

“then we’ll have to be quiet” he turns her around pushing her back against the table carefully, quickly catching her lips on his, kissing his wife hungrily moaning instantly into the kiss. she broke the kiss to catch some breath.

“f-fuck y/n” draco let out a whispered moan into her ear as he starts grinding his boner on her core, y/n throw her head back in pleasure feeling butterflies errupted in her stomach as he starts to trailing kisses down on her neck and still grinding on her.

“god its been so long since the last time, baby. i cant believe we managed to last that long” y/n chuckles at his words but turns into a hitched moan as draco pulled down the straps of her dress and latching his lips onto her nipple sucking on it, she interlocked her hand with his hair.

“no bra, yeah? as if you know you were gonna get fucked” y/n bites down her bottom lip, her eyes never leaving her husband who started to go down kissing her stomach, she gets more excited as he lifts up the bottom of her dress and kissing her inner thighs.

“d-draco please-” y/n hooked one of her leg onto his shoulder as he pushes her panties aside, he was about to gives all her craving but-

“mommy, daddy!” both of them froze as they heard a small footsteps approaching them, they quickly redressing themselves and act normal as their son run to y/n, hugging her leg.

“whats wrong baby?” y/n asked worriedly as she gets down on his level, patting his head.

“i’m having a nightmare mommy” she places soft kisses to all over his face to calm him down then she looks at draco who still held the frustation on his face, she wanted to laugh but she remember that her baby needs her right now.

“c’mon daddy lets put scorpius back in his room” y/n teasingly said running her fingers on his cheek, draco clenched his jaw gritting his teeth as he realizes what his wife playing at.

“you’re gonna regret that, babygirl” draco whispers into her ear as she walking the three of them to scorpius’s bedroom, he walked behind her and squeezing her ass, he smirks when he heard her gasped.

after an hour of reading scorpius a book, telling him a story, he finally gets back into his sleep but y/n and draco are too tired to continuing what they were about to do in the kitchen.

y/n look up to her husband who already staring at her, her mouth agape as she watches draco mouthed “i’m still horny” to her. holding out her laughter she shook her head.

“not now draco, we almost get caught by our son” y/n said quietly cant help but chuckles lowly when she sees draco whining and rubbing his face in frustration.

>>>>>

the next day comes, draco was sitting on his chair working through something, a quill on his hand and a parchment in front of him. then he heard rustling behind him, he turns around to find his beloved wife, only in a towel.

y/n gives him a wink and motioning him to come over making draco gulped, he made his way to her as fast as possible then pulling her closer by her waist, his lips immediately founding hers, his hand goes to unwrap the towel and it falls down onto the floor.

draco let out a grunts as he sees y/n’s exposed body he was getting hard by the seconds, he grabbed her by her thighs and placed her on his desk. his hands roaming around her body.

y/n moans softly when she feels draco sucking on her nipple, his hand playing with the other and his free hand rubbing her clit collecting the wetness, he brought his fingers into his mouth sucking it hungrily making y/n whimpers at his action. draco was about to pulls down his sweatpants until he heard a soft knocks on the door, he groaned in frustration.

“mommy, daddy? i’m so bored, can we go get an ice cream?” scorpius yelled behind the door making draco frustrated more.

y/n melted at her son’s voice, quickly getting a piece of clothes and putting it on, draco look at her in disbelief.

“are you serious, y/n?” draco loves his son so much but he always had a bad timing.

“draco he wants to get an ice cream, i cant say no to him, later okay? now c’mon” y/n chuckles at his pouted face, she kisses the tip of his nose and leading him with her to approaching their child.

after hours taking a walk and getting an ice cream per their son’s wishes, they go back to the house.

draco took a seat on the couch in their living room reading daily prophet while his wife and his kid starts to playing together in front of him, enjoying their day off but suddenly an owl barging into the house making the three of them turning their heads at it. draco raised his eyebrows in confusion as he takes the letter from the owl.

y/n rose up from the floor wanting to see who was sending them a letter, scorpius still unbothered playing with his toys.

“oh its from mother” draco said as he opened the enveloped.

Dear Draco & Y/n,

How are you? I havent heard anything about the three of you, I sent this letter to tell you both that Lucius & I missed our grandchild so much, I was hoping that he could stay for a little bit in the Manor, we wanted to spend some time with him. I wish you all healthiness as always.

Narcissa.

“perfect.” draco smirked as he finishes reading his mothers’ letter looking up to his wife with a sly grin making her blush.

“scorp?” he called out his son smiling at him as scorpius turning his head to listen to his father.

“do you want to stay with your grandmother and grandfather? they said they missed you and will be happy if you’re staying with them for awhile.”

“really? of course yes dad!! i missed them so much, mommy please pack my stuff” scorpius shouted happily, jumping around with his toy in his hand making his parents laugh at their boy’s cuteness.

in the evening, draco, y/n and scorpius apparated to the Malfoy Manor. lucius and narcissa already waiting at the front door welcoming the little family happily. scorpius runs to his grandmother and she picked him up kissing his cheeks.

“draco, y/n aren’t you staying too?” lucius asked as he watched the couple didnt go inside with them.

“uh father actually we were kinda busy- the work is stuffing up our faces.. but thank you for willing to take care of scorpius” draco nervously said as lucius looked at them in confusion but after connecting the dots together, he nods giving his son a smirk.

“sure sure, have fun you two” y/n widen her eyes but quickly laughed it off, the pair blushing madly because of draco’s father words but draco hurriedly takes her hand in his and apparating back to their house saving them from embarrassment.

as they appeared back in their house draco opened the door and shoving his wife inside kicking the door behind them as he pushed y/n against it.

“woah woah slow down draco” y/n laughs at her husband aggressiveness but interrupted by his lips capturing hers, she returns the kiss with the same passion, moans slipped off of her as draco undressing both of them.

“fuck- i cant take it anymore baby wanna take you right here right now” draco places wet kisses on her neck, marking every inch of her skin. he slowly get down after he finished assaulting her neck, continuing what he was doing yesterday, but now without any interruptions.

“draco.. oh- fuck” y/n couldnt control her moans anymore as draco drowned his head between her thighs eating her out making his wife squirming and scratching on the door.

draco let out a hum at the taste of her, he was hungry he eats her out like a starved men, its not only for her but for his pleasure too. y/n’s moan ringing in his ear filling the house making he gets more hungrier, he inserts his fingers into her thrusting and curling them inside of her making her body shake, his tongue skillfully playing with her clit.

“oh my god draco.. i-im so close!” y/n warned him, she was closer than she thought, after she said that she felt her orgasm snapped through her body, a loud moan of her husband’s name escaped her lips, it feels too good.

“fuck i missed this, babygirl. taste so fucking delicious.” draco hummed as he lapping up her juices closing his eyes at the taste, he was longing for it.

draco stand up after he finished, looking at y/n who was still catching her breath, he chuckles deeply before reconnecting their lips, shoving his tongue down her throat letting her taste herself, he squeezes her ass giving it a few slaps before placing one of her legs on his waist and he starts to lining his cock on her glistening cunt. whimpers and begging came out from her mouth.

“h-holyfuck y/n feels so good” draco groans as he bottomed fully inside her letting her adjust for a second before picking up his pace, he starts to rocked in and out of her, her walls clenching and squeezing hard around him making it impossible for him to last longer.

y/n’s body bouncing up and down uncontrollably against the door, all she cares now was getting her high again and feeling her husband’s cum filling her up. she rolled her hips fucking him back, loud moan left her lips as the head of his brushing her spot, draco took a notice and pounding harder into thek spot making her seeing the stars.

“fuck fuck fuck y/n im gonna fucking come if you keep doing that.” draco wrapped both of her legs on his waist the new angle making his cock going deeper inside her, he screams her name as y/n starts to pulsing around him signaling she was close, he sneaked one of his hand and rubbed a small circle on her clit making her body jolted out at the double pleasure.

“yes- yes.. oh my god im cumming daddy!” y/n doesnt care about her words anymore as she lets her second orgasms washed over her- wait no she’s.. she just squirted all over draco.

“holy shit! that was so fucking hot.. gonna give you all of my cum until you carry my second child.. f-fuck y/n take all of me!” draco screams her name out loud as he stilled, shooting all of his semen into his wife filling her womb non stop until some of it dripped out of her but he quickly pushing it back inside not letting it go to waste.

draco is still inside her, both of their bodies shaking from their intense orgasms. y/n look up to him, sweats running on his forehead, his blonde hair messy, mouth hung open to steadying his breath, he looks like a god.

they continue their activities for a whole days, now without interruptions. rounds after rounds, on the couch, on the desk, against the walls, in their room, in the bathroom, basically everywhere in their house, it was like they were making up for the lost times.

and a month after, lucius and narcissa were given a news, that draco and y/n are expecting their second child.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

tagging : @dracoscum

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[exoxobsession]

Storm || One-Shot

Pairing: Kyungsoo x You

Genre: Fluff, HogwartsAU! (forgive me!)

Warnings: None! (The only warning is that it’s bad)

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I’m not very good at writing fluff so i kept it to a bare minimum. Sorry for the terrible fic. I just wanted a Kyungsoo one and was in Harry Potter mood so...here goes nothing.

You took a deep breath as you walked through the grand doors of the castle along with many others. Being a muggle-born, you didn’t know what the Wizarding World was like. Professor McGonagall led the group up to where a hat sat on a chair. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool, to be sorted,” Professor McGonagall says.

Everything was a blur until they called your name. You walked up nervously, hands sweating as you rubbed them together. “Hm, a muggle-born I see. You’re intelligent, you have a lot of wisdom, yes. But you’re very brave too. RAVENCLAW!” the hat decides.

You make your way to the table filled with blue and bronze.

That was how your Hogwarts adventure started. You were a Ravenclaw, who was supposed to be intelligent and have a lot of wisdom. ‘That stupid sorting hat got it wrong’ you thought. You weren’t as intelligent as the other Ravenclaws. You were average. But what you were good at and enjoyed was Quidditch. You were the seeker for Ravenclaw. Some even say that you were their good luck charm. No, you didn’t win every match, but the average increased.

Today you were late to practice because of Professor Snape. Running through hallways as you bumped into people, you turned back and shouted a sorry as you sprint across. Before you could turn back, you bumped into someone making you fall on the person. You were about to curse at the person before you saw him Do Kyungsoo. Your crush for three years. Panic settled in you as you scrambled yourself away from the boy. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I was in a rush and, sorry!” you babbled as you bowed to him furiously.

He laughed it off; you swear you’ve never seen this boy laugh in the four years of you attending Hogwarts. He was serious and looked like he would kill someone every time you saw him. “It’s fine, but you seem to be in a hurry. You should go,” he said as you just stared at his beautiful face. His features were perfect, his beautiful owl eyes, his heart-shaped lips, his soft hair, and his- a cough brought you back to reality as you Kyungsoo’s flushed cheeks. You must’ve been staring for too long. “Right, I should go, and um, sorry again,” you said awkwardly and hurried away from him.

You finally reached the Quidditch pitch, panting. You never ran that fast in your entire life, not even when a bulldog chased you for a whole seven minutes. “Are you okay, Y/N?” Jongin came up to you and asked. “All fine.” was your response. Then the Gryffindor team left.

The Golden Snitch was thrown into the air, your eyes not leaving it for a second at all. Then it moved away from you, going behind you. You tried your hardest to look out for it, but if you couldn’t see it and it was harder when grey clouds started forming. You flew higher, thinking it would be easier to spot it. Finally, you saw a tiny shimmer of gold; you took off, going at a higher pace. Finally,  catching that snitch.

As soon as you caught the snitch, the rain started pouring. You all hurried back to the castle, though everyone was wet.  Back in the dorms, some opting to play wizard chess, some homework, and others just talking, you wanted to get some sleep.

You were down as soon as you hit the bed.

In the morning you weren’t awoken by the sounds of birds singing, no, but the rumble of the thunder outside. But the thunder was outside. Not inside, so the classes must go on. Yay. Still sleepy as ever, you went to the washroom to freshen up.

You checked your timetable, seeing that Potions was the first class today. You tagged along with your friends instead of going like a loner. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Kyungsoo and his friends pass by. Chanyeol and Jongdae? You weren’t sure of the names, but you knew they loved annoying him.

You remember the first time you met him. It was the day you were first attending Hogwarts. You got on the train and was awe the ancient feeling; you didn’t see his suitcase there, and being the klutz you are, you tripped. Being the kind human being he is, he offered you his Licorice Wand and some Chocolate Frogs, though you kept refusing; saying he had to make it up to you.

Every interaction you had with him was mostly you tripping, either physically or with words. Professor Snape’s voice rang through the class, startling you. “Today, you’ll be making Amortentia, and I expect none of you to mess up cauldrons, understood?”

You knew you would get partnered. But not with Kyungsoo. What would happen if you messed up? Or maybe you were staring at his face too long? Amid you worrying, he came over and guided you to one cauldron at the back. “You make it while I read out the ingredients,” you said without stuttering or getting distracted by his face. He just smiled. You started reading the ingredients to you both were done in no time.

“Done already, Mr. Do?” Professor Snape asked as he moved to us. “Now, tell me what it smells like,” he said to both of us. Kyungsoo went first, bending so he could smell it properly, “It smells like the woody scent of a broomstick handle, licorice wands, and the smell after rain, sir.” he said, as he straightened up.

“You, Ms. Y/N.,” he said, his gaze hardening more than it was. “I smell chocolate frogs, the smell of old books and…” you could smell his cologne. You weren’t sure if it was because he was beside you or if it was from the cauldron. “Great job, you can leave now.” he walked away.

You quickly got out in case he decides to changes his mind. “That was like something that happens only in a lifetime,” he chuckled. “Yeah.” you smiled, but the booming sound of the thunder caught you off guard, making you visibly flinch. Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough already?

Awkwardness soon settled in. Just the sound of your footsteps echoing through the hallways. You tried to think of something to talk to about when he spoke, “You were in a hurry yesterday. Did you get wherever you were going?” he asked as he cutely tilted his head. This boy was going to be the end of you. “Yeah, I was late to Quidditch practice because of Snape, no it was because of that stupid Baekhyun.” his face hardened at the end of your sentence. “You know Baekhyun? But he’s a Gryffindor, and he’s 5th year, right?” he questioned.

“Yeah, he is and isn’t your friend, Chanyeol, was it? He’s in Gryffindor too and, he’s 4th year.” you retorted. “Touché.” he gave up to which you smiled. “But we aren’t even friends, even though we’re from the same house,” he grumbled under his breath. It was inaudible to you, to you who was way up in the clouds.

There was only one more class, but you were beyond drained, exhausted, to even hear Baekhyun and his nonsense. “Are you even listening?” he frowned. “I love you and all, Baek but, I’m tired.” you groaned. “When are you not?” he rolled his eyes. “I heard you and Kyungsoo were partners in Potions.” he grinned stupidly while raising his eyebrows up and down. “Oh, shut up, you cockroach, plus he has a girlfriend.”

“What did you call me? A cockroach? This beautiful face and body looks like a cockroach to you?” he said in disbelief as he started chasing you around. You ran to your next class, but before you could even make it in, he grabbed you by the waist and started tickling you. “Take it back!” he shouted, still not stopping. “Fine! Fine…” you exclaimed, still trying to catch your breath. He let go of you at last.

“But your still a cockroach!” you said, sticking your tongue out and entering the classroom because you knew he wouldn’t come in here. “Yah!” was all you heard after you came in. That idiot can put a smile on your face no matter what. You felt someone staring at you, so you turned back, seeing the only Do Kyungsoo looking at you with a stony stare that sent chills up your spine.

Throughout the class, you felt his eyes on you. But when you looked back, he would look at the front or talking to the pretty Hufflepuff girl. When he was doing the latter, jealously built up in the pit of your stomach. It was his girlfriend.

Class ended quickly, but all you could hear through the class was his deep laugh. But you weren’t the reason. You’ve never seen him laugh that much. Or smile. You make your way to the Great Hall. Finishing your meal quickly, you walk back to go to bed.

Soon everyone started filling in, changing, and sleeping. You were about to head to dreamland when you heard the thunder roaring. You flinched, again and again, every time there was a noise. After a good few minutes, you sat up to see if anyone of your friends were awake, but no luck there. You heard the fireplace cackle, and you went to see if anyone was in the common room.

As you reached the bottom step, you stubbed your toe, which made you yelp, and the person on the couch turn. It was Kyungsoo. “You okay?” he asked, worry flashing in his eyes. Nodding, you ambled to the couch. Opting for the other side rather than anywhere closer.

“Can’t sleep?” he questioned, turning to look at you as the shades of red of the fire fell on his face. “The storm and the noises are keeping me up,” you answered. Then silence, just the fire burning, and the lightning clapping. “You could smell Baekhyun in the potion, right?” he decided to break the ice once again. You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Baekhyun was your best friend and nothing more.

“What’s so funny?” he frowned. “It’s… it’s so funny you think I like Baekhyun. He’s nothing more than my best friend, Kyungsoo.” you said, his name rolling off your tongue beautifully. “Then who did you smell?” this question caught you off guard.

“W-What?” you stuttered. “I don’t know if I’m being too straightforward here, but…” you waited for him to continue, raising your eyebrows as to tell him to go on. “It was you, Y/N. I’ve liked you ever since that day where-”

“You like me too?” you asked in a low voice. “Wait, what? ” he asked,  confused. “I’ve liked you since 1st year,” you said, feeling your face go hot. “What about your girlfriend then?” you asked quickly remembering. “I broke up with her, but we decided to stay friends.” he chuckled lightly. “For me?” you looked down at your hands.

He put his hand under your chin lifting your head, and softly landed his plump lips on yours.

You thanked the storm out there because without it he wouldn’t be yours.

[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Seventeen: Amity’s Mom Has Got it Going On

Willow had dragged Luz aside right before they left. Amity was talking lowly to Gus by the workshop, and Luz was going to join them until Willow had started talking so quickly Luz wasn’t sure what to think.

“Don’t talk to Aphrodite unless spoken to, don’t look her too long in the eyes, try to keep your composure, whatever you do don’t give her any reason to have a problem with you.” Willow was gripping her shoulders so hard it was starting to hurt, and Luz’s eyes were wide in panic at the intense stare she was getting from her.

“Wait, what? Why do I have to remember all that?”

“She’s a goddess, Luz,” Willow said impatiently, which was so unlike her Luz just shut her mouth closed. Willow sighed, releasing her grip.

“Sorry, but this isn’t Antheia. You have to be very careful. Major Goddesses don’t just seek out demigods. Whatever she wants from you two can’t be good.”  

Luz’s brow furrowed. “But she’s Amity’s mom! I mean she can’t be all that bad-”

“Luz, please,” Willow begged. “I’m only telling you this because you have a tendency to underestimate just how serious the gods are. Just follow Amity’s lead for this one. She’ll know how to handle her mom better than anybody else.”

Luz slowly nodded, before promising to Willow that Amity would be the one to take charge. She still didn’t really understand why meeting Aphrodite could be so serious, but then she looked over and saw Amity biting her lip nervously and it slowly dawned on her. She had always underestimated the children of Aphrodite and been proven wrong by the Blight siblings more than once. This was her real deal mother. Maybe Willow had a point.

Luz walked over to Amity and tapped her shoulder, which made her jump and spins around. Her face flushed when she saw Luz looking at her.

“Are you ready to go?” Luz said, and Amity nodded. ‘

“Yeah, yeah let’s go. Probably shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

“We’ll wait right here if you need us,” Willow said, and Gus nodded fervently tapping his wristwatch with a smile.

“If you need help just run right back and we’ll cover you.”

“We’ll be fine guys,” Luz said confidently, but for the first time on this whole quest, her words seemed to just make everyone more nervous. Gus hummed, Willow bit her lip nervously, and Amity’s face was so pale she looked like she was going to be sick.

“Let’s just get this over with,” she mumbled, adjusting the sword on her belt before heading for the exit. Luz followed her, frowning. She was still new to this whole half-blood thing, but she’d been wondering what her dad was like her whole life. She found it odd that Amity didn’t seem excited, and instead seemed to be dreading it.

Maybe it had something to do with her parents… her human ones anyway.

The streets of Denver were still lively with the heat of the late afternoon summer. Luz and Amity were walking in the direction Willow and Gus had instructed them: apparently, Aphrodite was waiting in the indie café across the main street.

As they walked, Luz stole a glance at Amity. The girl had a weary look of exhaustion that Luz was just becoming accustomed to her having. Luz couldn’t help but mimic the expression. Despite them being the same age, Luz realized how much older Amity seemed in comparison to her. Like she was already weighed down with the responsibilities of an adult and it was taking a physical toll on her body. Not that Amity wasn’t pretty… she definitely was. She had sharp symmetrical features that Luz had always wished she’d had and well defined half-blood muscles that could cut glass. She had just looked so much prettier earlier in the workshop when she wasn’t as burdened by everything going on around them. When Luz had handed her the book, her cheeks were flushed and she had given Luz that little smile that was still ingrained in her brain. Her gold eyes had flashed with affection and Luz couldn’t help but smile back.

Luz froze immediately, unable to stop the physical shake of her head. What in Zeus’ name did she think she was doing? She had to focus.

Next to her, Amity shot her a look. “Luz, are you alright?”

“Fine! Just peachy!” Luz said, definitely too quick to seem casual. Amity quirked a brow but said nothing. They fell back into their silence, but now Luz’s mind couldn’t help but keep whirling.

The moment they’d had in the workshop felt like ages ago already. Luz had thought she was helping break down some of Amity’s walls, but every time they were alone she was always so distant like she couldn’t get out of her own head. Now Luz was doing the exact same thing, she could tell by the warm rush she felt in her cheeks.

Luz couldn’t bear the awkward silence anymore.

“So, have you ever met your mom before?” She asked, wringing her hands together. She always did that when she was nervous. Luz’s face got redder and redder. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden?

She hadn’t even realized how insensitive the question probably was until it was out of her mouth, and she closed it in embarrassment. She remembered Willow and Gus telling her most goldy parents didn’t just talk to their kids for no reason.

Amity, thankfully, seemed too weirded out by Luz’s weird behavior to take it personally. “Once. Ed and Em and I went to Olympus for the grand reveal when our parents finished a big project. I don’t remember what it was… I was only seven. Something to do with the Mist I think. Anyway, Aphrodite managed to pull the three of us aside. I didn’t know who she was at the time. She introduced herself, and then she gave the three of us each a gift.”

Luz’s interest had peaked. She turned to Amity in excitement. “Really? What was it?”

“Emira got a rose quartz pendant, and Edric got lapis lazuli.” Amity tapped her camp necklace, specifically the amethyst pendant around the middle. “She gave me this. In ancient times, amethyst was said to transform negativity into positive energy. It supposedly helps with controlling anger, fear, and anxiety. Aphrodite called it the stone of condensed passion.”

Luz couldn’t help but chuckle. “The stone of condensed passion? That sounds a lot like you.”

Amity’s face blushed a deep red. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Luz blinked, her own face heating up. She tried to backpedal. “I just mean like… you know you have a lot of layers to you. Like Shrek!”

Amity’s face quickly turned dangerous. “Shrek? Are you making fun of me?”

“Not Shrek, Shrek!” Luz said quickly, now mortified. “Like you don’t look like an ogre or anything, you’re so pretty-”

Luz needed to stop talking. Like right now, before she embarrassed herself more than she already had been. Zeus, this was terrible. It was starting to feel a lot like the Maya situation all over again-

Now Luz had startled herself so badly, she skidded to such a quick halt the couple walking behind them had to lunge out of the way. Thankfully Amity had already skidded to a stop as well, her own face starting to resemble a fire truck. But Luz’s mind was whirling so quickly, she couldn’t process that. All she could think about was how much this was reminding her of Maya and she needed to stop.

She was breathing so quickly now she might hyperventilate. She hadn’t thought about that mess in almost five months, but now she couldn’t even look at Amity without feeling like her brain would melt right through her body.

She pressed her back against the brick wall of the shop next to them, trying to calm herself down. After a few moments, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes, and Amity was staring back at her, her face hesitant, but also reassuring.

“Luz, are you sure you’re okay?”

Luz took a deep breath and put on her best smile. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, she was feeling a lot better now that she had taken a couple of breaths. But Amity didn’t need to know about all that yet. Especially if… this was something similar.

“I’m sorry, please just forget about… that whole Shrek thing,” Luz pleaded, her face twisting apologetically. “I don’t think before I speak sometimes.”

“You don’t think before you speak all the time,” Amity scoffed, but her tone wasn’t mean, it was light and meant to cheer her up. It worked because Luz laughed.

Amity’s face twisted apologetically. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to push you if you need a minute, but my mom won’t be happy if we keep her waiting any longer.”

Luz shook her head. “I’m alright. You’re right. We need to go. Is that the café there?”

Luz pointed across the street at a café she had seen walking through the city yesterday but hadn’t had time to process. It was a cute little green and white café with an outdoor patio, surrounded by pretty décor and a chalkboard menu outside.

Amity scanned the patio, and Luz saw her inhale sharply. Her gaze was locked on a woman sitting alone, with two empty chairs across from her.

“Yeah, this is it. She’s sitting right there.”

Luz turned her head to look more closely, but before she could, Amity reached over and grabbed her hand. It was such a tight grip, it made Luz wince.

“Luz, just be careful, ok? Her children can see through her glimmer, but I don’t know how her appearance will affect you.”

Luz furrowed her brow, but she could tell by the urgency in her expression that Amity didn’t have time to answer her questions. So instead, she just smiled.

“Yeah, ok. I’ll be careful and stay focused.”

Amity smiled, but Luz was almost certain it was forced. “Well, I don’t know if you’re ready but we are literally out of time. Let’s go.”

Amity dropped Luz’s hand, and Luz wiped it on the side of her pants, doing her best to ignore the tingle she’d felt when Amity held it. Taking a deep breath, she headed across the street with Amity to meet Aphrodite.  

As they crossed the street, Luz was so focused on trying to, well, stay focused, she was watching her feet as she crossed the street, which likely could have killed her if Amity wasn’t walking pace by pace with her. As they passed towards the café, Luz heard the most beautiful voice she had ever heard.

“Ah, finally. Hello again, daughter it is so good to see you. And this must be Luz Noceda. You’re big news up on Olympus right now. Please, sit down.”

Amity tensed at her words, but walked forward and pulled out one of the chairs, and sat. Luz went to do the same, but as she did she looked up to see the face of the love goddess for the first time.

Her beauty alone was so radiant Luz’s knees almost buckled out, and she forgot everything all at once. She was perfect: literally, anything you could ever find attractive about a person, she had. Luz was mesmerized upon first glance. Luz wanted to look everywhere at once, but every time she tried, it was like her appearance changed.

“Oh my,” the goddess said with a smile as Luz’s mouth involuntarily dropped open in awe. “Isn’t she sweet?”

“Luz!” Amity said from next to her. She was definitely frustrated with Luz, but it sounded so far away to her, and she had already zeroed back in on Aphrodite.

First, she looked like the first-grade teacher she’d had a crush on, with dark hair and perfect brows. Then, she looked like a real-life version of Azura, which was so strange but so captivating Luz couldn’t look away. Then… then she saw an older version of Maya. That one hurt, and Luz knew Aphrodite could see it too. The love goddess chuckled, flashing white teeth, and the appearance of it shocked Luz so bad she tunneled straight back into the present. When Aphrodite smiled, she looked just like Amity. Luz wasn’t doing her best not to focus on it, but she swore her hair was changing back into the mint green color it had been when she looked like Azura.

Her cheeks pinked when she realized what had just happened. Amity was shaking Luz, and she swallowed in embarrassment. So much for staying focused.

“Uh, sorry. I’m sorry, Lady Aphrodite. My apologies for my behavior.” She looked down and away at the napkin on the table, anything to not have the love goddess change form again.

Aphrodite laughed, and Luz felt her heartbeat accelerate. Aphrodite’s laugh could have been Amity’s. In fact, it was scarily similar to when Amity had laughed in the tent back in Kansas.

Luz pinched herself. Focus. She looked back up at the goddess, and thank Zeus she had changed form. She was still drop-dead gorgeous (which even then was an understatement) but it now looked like ethereal beauty, not anything too specific.

“No, no, don’t apologize. I’m flattered, Luz.” Aphrodite said, winking at her. “And you’re affected by my charms. This is good news for you, daughter.”

Luz’s brow furrowed in confusion, and next to her, Amity choked.

“I’m sorry, my lady,” Luz frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Aphrodite looked at Luz slowly, up and down like she was a barbie doll in a toy aisle. It made her viscerally uncomfortable, but she tried not to show it. Willow had told her to be careful. After a moment, Aphrodite smiled brightly.

“You will, daughter of Hermes,” she just said. Luz knew it would be stupid to ask any more questions, though now her brain was hurting so badly she just wanted to go. She stole a glance over at Amity, and her eyes widened. The girl looked like a mix of furious and embarrassed, her cheeks puffed out a bright red, and her hands shaking. Aphrodite caught the look, and tisked, nodding her head.

“I suppose that is irrelevant right now, though, in my opinion, these things are never irrelevant.” She said, folding her hands over the table. “Regardless, I didn’t call you here to meddle. The gods have taken a deep interest in your quest. Though some would never admit it, Hestia is a greater glue to Olympus than we originally thought. With every day that passes, our powers get weaker. It is in our best interest to assist you mortals wherever we can.”

“Pardon me, my lady, but if Hestia is so important, then why wouldn’t a god or goddess go looking for her?” Luz asked, and Aphrodite tilted her head humorously.

“We cannot find her. Mount Pelion has always been a safe haven for demigods, dear Luz. If a demigod does not wish to be found, there are few places safer than that mountain to go. Belos is despicable, but he is not daft.”

“We’re already heading up Mount Pelion soon,” Amity said slowly, “Surely, mother, you would not call me here if you didn’t mean to assist us. What did we do to deserve such an honor from the love goddess herself?” Luz looked at her in surprise, despite her smooth words, her tone was out of place, and frosty. Luz was enamored by the way Amity was watching Aphrodite. It was almost cautious like she didn’t trust her. Luz knew she should let Amity speak from now on. This was her mother, and Luz would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified of Aphrodite’s effects on her.

Aphrodite hummed, and Luz realized she was eyeing Amity with interest like she wasn’t sure to make out of her daughter either. “I know I must seem foreign to you. Most of my children, and other goldy children, feel this way. But I promise I am looking out for you the best I can with the cards Olympus has been drawn. I have much faith in your quest, Luz already knows this.”

The realization dawned on her. “Antheia told me you had favored me.”

The twinkle in Aphrodite’s eye couldn’t be missed. It was like they were literally shinning. “I have always admired heroes with a strong heart, fueled by love. You, Luz Noceda, have more love in your heart than… my my, maybe Paris of Troy? Regardless, it is about time we had a hero whose greatest strength was their heart. These stories are often the most passionate.”

“Or the most tragic,” Amity deadpanned, and Aphrodite shrugged.

“Maybe because it has yet to be done right. That is why I want to help.” Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders, which should not have looked so elegant. “If you don’t want to accept my help, that is fine. There is no saying if you do well without my help or not. I don’t mind tragedies either.”

Amity stilled, and Luz turned to meet her gaze. It was clear by her expression that Amity was very uncomfortable with this, but Luz could also tell that they didn’t have much of a choice. From what Luz gathered, Amity’s mom didn’t seem like the type of girl to just accept an easy no.

“What kind of help are you offering to us?” Amity said slowly, and Aphrodite hummed, leaning closer. Luz had to stop breathing just to not get too intoxicated by the scent of her perfume. It reminded her of the smell of saltwater at camp when she would sit by the water with Willow and Gus, as well as the camp’s pine trees… and something else. Mint?

“I know the first map up the mountain failed you, and that is because Belo’s used his magical abilities to twist it to his advantage. You cannot rely on any old object to guide you up the mountain. But you can rely on a godly item.”

Amity’s lips were pursed, but she didn’t shut Aphrodite down. Probably because she couldn’t but Luz was leaning in with interest.

“The Centaurs at Mount Pelion still trust the gods. If you showed up with a blessed object, they would not be able to refuse to help you, lest they wish to infuriate us. If you showed up with a second object, they would have no choice but to treat you as godly kin. You might have the help of an ally on your quest to destroy Belos and the portal to the Underworld.”

“Where are we going to find godly objects in Colorado?” Amity asked, and Aphrodite grinned so brightly Luz almost passed out.

“Well, you already have one. And I just happen to know the location of a second. The University of Denver has a lot of old Greek weapons in its Classics department. There, you’ll find Peleus’ shield. Take it, and use it on your quest.”

“You want us to break into a university and steal an artifact?” Luz exclaimed, and though it definitely wasn’t polite, Aphrodite thankfully let it slide.

“I just happened to have already created the perfect cover story. The local high school is holding their prom in one of the Universities Facilities not that far from the Classic’s department. Attend the prom, and then sneak out and steal the shield.”

“So you want us to attend a prom, break into the university, and steal one of their artifacts?” Amity repeated back with a scowl, and Aphrodite beamed.

“Exactly.”

Luz felt her stomach begin to swell in excitement. She’d never gone to a school dance before, not after… well. It didn’t matter. She was going to attend one tonight, even if it was fake. And she would get to do it with friends!

“This is so exciting, Amity!” Luz squealed, squeezing her friend's forearm eagerly. “We’ll have to hurry back to pick out what we’re going to wear from the magic wardrobe.” Luz’s smile began to dwindle. “Do you think Athena’s wardrobe can do that?”

Aphrodite snapped her perfectly manicured fingers together once. “Don’t worry about that. I just had four outfits sent to the wardrobe for you four to wear tonight. You’ll find them labeled. They should all be according to your style…” She turned to Luz with a smile that was all too knowing to be human. “And as much as I liked your vision of a prom outfit, you’ll want to blend in tonight. I adore the tutu, but it’s quite flashy for a heist. I think what I picked should still suit you very nicely.”

Luz blushed. How did Aphrodite know she’s always wanted to wear a tutu to a school dance?

“Mother, we haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Amity said quickly, “we still need to discuss with Willow and Gus to decide if this is the right course of action.”

Aphrodite sighed. “You worry too much, dear. As a goddess I can assure you, this is the best move you have going forward. Unless you’d like to gamble with being hunted for sport by centaurs.”

Luz flinched and turned to look at Amity pleadingly. Amity still didn’t look sure, but after looking at Luz’s desperate eyes for a couple of moments, she eventually conceded.

“Alright, fine. But I hope whatever you picked out for me isn’t too intense. It’s not like when you claimed me, right?”

“Please,” the love goddess scoffed. “Your blessing was some of my best work. But no, like I told Luz, I made everything… more subtle.”

Amity didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t get much of a chance to say anything else about it.

“Alright, then. You two better get going, you only have five hours to get ready which is barely enough time in my opinion.” Aphrodite got up, waving her hand and leaving a healthy amount of cash on the table. “Take the change for your trouble, dears. It’s always nice catching up with my children. I look forward to seeing how your quest plays out.”

Amity grumbled something under her breath and picked up the cash on the table, stuffing half of it into her pocket. Aphrodite chuckled at her daughter one more time, before casting Luz a wink, speaking so quietly Luz was certain only she could hear it.

“And Luz, save Amity a dance at the Prom tonight, will you? That girl needs to lighten up a little bit.”

[hqprotectionsquad]

Hi i really like your writing it makes me feel warm and good 💕. And since I like your writing so much I'd like to request a fluffy scenario with bokuto. The reader is a manager and is neighbors with bokuto. She's pinning over bokuto but is some how able to look calm (no blush, no stuttering, ect). One day he's running late and couldn't spike his hair up. Throughput the day she's blushing and stuttering a lot. And my dense boy doesn't understand. When they walk home he questions her about it💫-

💫-the reader isn’t looking at him at him so he tilts her chin up to meet eyes. Once he does the reader panics and blurts out her feelings. Sorry this was kinda long but I would really enjoy this if you made it.

Title: Flat HairShip: Bokuto x ReaderWord Count: 1585Summary: Never did you think you’d be graced with the presence of a flat-haired Bokuto. This much makes you reconsider everything.A/N: thank you so much for this request anonie!!! this was such an awesome request to write so i’m glad you’ve sent it in!

You’ve found that lunchtime is the most convenient time to gossip with your friends. It goes in a circle: first you gossip about the basketball team, then the baseball team, and lastly the volleyball team. You all clump tightly, almost afraid that someone might pick up on the words you let loose.

“Did you see Akaashi at their latest tournament? So hot. I’d risk it all for him,” Kaori tells the group and everyone erupts into laughter. “I’m not kidding! If I could snatch him, I would, but for now, I’m just gonna keep wearing short skirts in hopes that he’ll look underneath.”

Nobody is surprised by her statement; Akaashi is Kaori’s latest flavor but they are shocked that he’s the boy she’s talked about the most. Not that he really pays attention to anything other than volleyball, but it’s her thought that counts.

You’ve become immersed in your food. It would be nice if you had someone, but it’s not your greatest priority. “What about you, (Y/N)? When are you finally going to confess to Bokuto?”

That juice box you’ve been slurping from suddenly doesn’t taste as great, but you force it down. You’d rather it in your stomach rather than blazing purple on you and your friends. “That’s not happening,” you chuckle with a shake of your head. “If anything happened, how would I be able to live next to him and be the manager of their team? So I’m not taking any chances.”

“Yeah, but you like him so much! Though you never really see it on your face. You’re so good at faking it because you never blush at all! Whenever I see some boy from the baseball team, my face is a rose garden,” Akari chips into Kaori’s argument while she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. The things these girls would do for any boy are endless.

“That’s the exact reason: I like him so much and for so long that it stopped being a surprise. It’s kind of sad, but I’ve suppressed my feelings for so long and I think I’d rather be close friends with him than anything—”

“Hey girls! Do you think I could steal (Y/N) for a second?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, as hot as he is. Bokuto slings an arm around your shoulders with a grin that can blind anyone. The girls nod their heads furiously, because you can’t really say no to the ace of Fukurodani.

“She’s all yours, Bokuto!” Akari exclaims with a thumbs-up.

“Thanks! She’ll be back real quick, safe and sound.”

You’ve been whisked away enough times to not think much of it. When you’re with Bokuto, even the simplest things can be romanticized, but that’s just his nature. He’s just lovely like that.

“So what’s up?” You ask once he’s stopped ten meters away from the rest of your friends. It’s been ages since you’ve trained yourself in maintaining eye contact, and if you have to say so yourself, you’re pretty much a pro now.

“Nothing much, I just have a game plan for later tonight.”

“Later tonight?” Your eyes scan across your mental calendar in confusion. “What did we plan for tonight?”

“You were going to help me with my project after practice, remember?” Bokuto’s eyebrow raises. “You never forget things, (Y/N). Are you feeling well?” He places the back of his palm to your forehead, but you swat his hand away.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” you assure him with a pat on his shoulder. “So what was your plan?”

“After practice, just come over to my house and keep me awake. And help me with the project of course. But mostly keep me awake.” Bokuto grins.

“Alright,” you mutter begrudgingly. “You owe me though.”

“Of course! Anything you want, just say the word and it’s yours.”

“You’ve said that every single time you owe me, and yet you still haven’t repaid me,” you bait with a small smile.

“That’s wrong! I repay you all the time!” Bokuto’s bottom lip juts out in a frown.

“Sure.” You point an eyebrow at him but laughter spills out of your mouth. “You do, I’m just joking. I’ll see you later, okay?” For once, you take the advice of your boy-crazy friends. You pivot on your toes and leave him in your dust.

“We see you, (Y/N)!” The girls squeal once Bokuto finally picks his jaw off of the ground and goes away.

“What can I say? I learned from the best.”

After practice, Bokuto treats you to coffee from the vending machines—so much for being paid back—and whenever you attempt to start a conversation, you bite on your tongue. There’s no need for you to become needy or clingy, so there’s just silence brewing between your two bodies.

The coffee’s effects were ephemeral on your systems because by the end of the night, you are just about to knock out on Bokuto’s bed. “Will you be able to finish?” You ask between yawns.

“Yeah, I should be able to. Thanks for your help, (Y/N). You mean the world to me.” Bokuto’s lips are no match to the soft bubbles of laughter flowing out.

He must be delirious from exhaustion. “I’m going to head out before I sleep on your bed. I’m leaving a thank-you note for your mom.”

“She loves those. I wish you have some to me too.” The owl doesn’t appear to be nocturnal from this image before you because it looks like he’s on the last threads of existence.

“C'mon, let’s get you into bed.” You pull on his arm and he swings back like a rag doll.

“Help me, help me,” he mutters. “(Y/N), you’re so pretty.”

You can hardly contain the bubbles in your stomach, but his words are just a mirage simply voiced out loud. “Bokuto, I won’t be able to go home if you don’t cooperate.”

His arms are loopy but he makes it underneath the covers. “Thank you, (Y/N),” he babbles as you go out on a limb and stroke his hair before you go downstairs, place your shoes on your feet, and leave into the night. The sky welcomes you into its blanket of stars when you stare at the constellations forming above your head. Something tells you, from this large expanse, that there will be more to come.

And you weren’t wrong.

“Fuck!” Bokuto’s voice is loud enough to be heard throughout the entire block. You suppose that it is an appropriate reaction, seeing as you are already at his doorstep twenty minutes before you’re supposed to be in your homeroom. Bokuto’s usually the one to be at your doorstep, but waiting ten minutes is even pushing it for someone like him, so you went over to his house.

Bokuto’s uniform and tie are disheveled and once he chokes down his piece of bread, he spits out an apology. “(Y/N)! I’m so sorry, I couldn’t wake up today because I was busy finishing the project until 2 in the morning and then I couldn’t do my hair—”

Holy mother of goodness gracious. You’ve stopped listening because the moment your eyes laid on the silver and black strands of his hair, you could barely blink and breathe.

“Are you okay? You’re getting incredibly red. I’ll get you some water if you want.”

You bury your chin into your chest. This should be absolutely illegal. For as long as you’ve been neighbors, there was not a single day where his hair wasn’t pin-straight up and defying gravity. Now, Bokuto looks like a completely different person with his hair flat against his forehead. For all the days you’ve been training yourself to be Bokuto-immune, this is the day where you crack down the middle.

“Look at me, (Y/N). You don’t look well,” he says while tilting up your chin with a knuckle and this is where you break. His eyes are so earnest and kind. How can you pretend anymore when he shows all he has?

“Bokuto, I like you a lot. I just had to say it.”

You don’t even see his reaction because you’re speed walking off of his stoop and making your way to school.

“(Y/N)! Wait up!”

Soon enough, his figure graces your presence and his strides adjust to yours—not that it’s much to adjust to your smaller figure. The sun is in your eyes but you don’t need it to know that while he’s walking, Bokuto’s also trying to look to you for some kind of signal, some kind of sign.

You stop in your tracks and let down your arms in exasperation. “God, Bokuto, we’re already late and I already said what I needed to say and I know you don’t think of me that way, so can we just get to school?” Pain pricks your eyes and your heart and your stomach, all your weak spots, just trying to stand next to him. What happened to the girl yesterday, who controlled her feelings so well? What happened to you?

“No! (Y/N), you didn’t even let me speak!” Bokuto exclaims. “Hey, you know this isn’t fair! I think you’re awesome and I like you too!” Now it’s him who can’t look you in the face. This ace, who is used to riling up a crowd after a great play, can’t look you in the eyes. Bokuto takes you by the hand and starts running. “C’mon, let’s just go to school and figure this all out later.”

[orange-peppermint]

reading old journal entries: a letter to my future self

It’s Monday and starting to get late, and this is the first major distraction away from all the figures I’m making for lab meeting Wednesday. I don’t know. I guess I want to remember this. My past self doesn’t seem that different, but certainly more than a year (+ 3 months) younger. And surprisingly optimistic. Here we are: 

3/28/20

It’s a Saturday afternoon (~5pm), and there’s really not much you want to do right now. You’re in your room, sitting on the bed, back to wall. The sky is gloomy and rain, but it doesn’t bother you too much today. Black shirt. Cornell sweats. Sloth socks. Hopefully these details are useful in the future. Listening to Owl City from 2009. The light is on. These are strange times. You’re writing this because you watched a video with 150+ ideas of things to do during quarantine, and you didn’t particularly like most of them. You want to do something productive or something that will improve some sort of skill in some way. You’ve played guitar for hours each day this past week. You can see some real and marked improvement. You won’t let yourself play guitar right now because you have a thesis to write. You’re still not writing your thesis. Time is really starting to tick these days.

These are strange times. You’ve finally accepted the quarantine life and are really starting to enjoy it. You’re kinda glad you’re here, rather than at home. It’s 10x more productive. Most people have left at this point. You see the same 3 people each day (Nat, Alice, April). You bought an absurd number of vegetables the last trip to Wegman’s, but the apartment keeps ordering takeout. It was Five Guys yesterday (or the day before?) and Chipotle today. Mandy was here today, for the last time. She’s leaving tomorrow. Your handwriting has changed so much over the months. Owl City seems so old. You can count 15 plants from where you’re sitting. Some died over break. You’re starting to give them away (2 to Lyana the other day) because you’re moving soon (to Boston!). It’s a strange, strange limbo. 

This is your senior year. It ended so abruptly. It’s so strange that it’s hard to be sad about it most of the time. There’s a lot of things you wanted to do this semester (a huge range… from as broad as getting to know certain people and underclassmen better, to as specific as going to a Cornell hockey game, which may never happen now), but that’s ok. No one could’ve predicted this in a million years, except perhaps Bill Gates. Haha. Things are crazy now.

You are so lucky. You didn’t get kicked out of your housing. You are safe, and warm, and healthy, and surrounded by more people than most. Reminder to look outward, now and always. The world is extremely scary for some right now, for those who are sick or who have loved ones who are sick, or are financially unstable, or who will be affected by government things, or don’t have faith and are just scared of sickness and of death. Count your blessings and complain less. Love people more. Pray. Pray, pray, pray more. You’ve been pretty content in God these last few weeks and months -- it’s not always going to be this way. Look to God. Hopefully in years to come, your wisdom and contentment will grow. You still feel pretty unwise, but you think you’ve definitely grown in it in the last few years. Perhaps FOTW made you think of that today. You love them and being able to talk about the book and life each week -- even if you do a terrible job of reading the chapters. On a brighter note, you just finished Leviticus recently!

The people in your life that are most important these days : this apartment, Joanna, Lyana, Marisa. They keep you sane and allow you to be insane as well. Sometimes you get too annoyed/frustrated, (usually when they’re making noise or playing games. or both). Be patient. Love them better and see how they love you daily. I don’t know how these relationships will change in the coming months and when we all finally leave. You really wish you got to know people more and spent more time with them. That’s a huge regret from these years. But on the other hand, you’re becoming more outspoken and in a strange way, desire people more. People are really precious, and necessary, and always flawed. You are especially flawed. 

You took (re-took) Meyers-Briggs and Enneagram recently for the 365 chat. You are still an INFP and 4. A strong 4 -- and to thus be more cognizant of individualism, ability to be self-absorbed, and addictive tendencies. Haha. You’ve been drinking quite little these days, actually. You eat as many sweets as ever, but what can ya do about that one.

Universal P/F is being debated these days. You were taking some of your favorite and most chill classes this semester (Wines, Poetry, Quant Genetics, Hist of Mental Health) and it’s really sad those got cut short. They’ll resume soon over Zoom, but I guess that’s not necessarily the same. But in light of all that’s going on, it’s very okay. It’s still a loss, but at the end of the day, you are well and safe and it’s okay.

You have a job! You’ll be an ACB at the Broad Institute in Boston. You’re so excited and still kind of in shock as to how you landed your dream job. Hopefully, you’ll look back and still feel the same way in a few years. I think you learned a lot from the process of this whole job search. God’s timing is impeccable and so good. So much contentment.

You still like the same boy, although much less than once before. Every time you read those old journal entries, you cringe a lot. Perhaps you’ll be reading this now, and cringing again. Joanna occasionally pushes about it recently. You wonder if she knows (you think she does but can’t really be sure. You hope her and -- get together). You’ll see him one last time before he leaves next week to hand off some plants. After that, most probably, this chapter and these feelings will end and close, with a finality. These years have taught a lot about being more realistic and not getting trapped in impulse and feelings (although you’re still pretty impulsive and emotional these days). Reality and practicality definitely have their places. This is one of them.

There is more, but your hand is really starting to hurt. You hear April’s voice and someone vacuuming. Owl City is still playing, and honestly, all their songs kinda some the same. Your handwriting is really taking a downtown at this point. Your Christmas sloths sway slightly above your bed and window. Your room is decently clean. There is both a slowness and fragility in this time. It’s strange. A final note to look to God more, always. It’ll be good to write another one of these, after you finish reading this one sometime in the future. Which, at this point, could honestly hold anything. There are no more surprises.

Be well. You’ve been saying this to everyone who’s leaving these days. Be well. 

[robbyrobinson]

CTHULHU MYTHOS X OWL HOUSE CROSSOVER: GODS AWAKEN (Pt. VII)

Fire rained down from the sky onto a small village engulfing all in its path. Smoke filled the sky, obscuring the sun and smothering the light. Houses of wood were incinerated by fireballs. Screams of terror surged through the broken remnants of the village.  

"Hush, now, please,” a woman said. She had her child wrapped tightly in her arms whilst simultaneously trying to silence the howls coming from him. She ran over the burning ashes of what used to be her village for what seemed like hours. Screams of bloody murder and misery came from afar, but she could not cease her escape now lest her child be in danger.  

“Please, help!”  

She stopped and scanned the area. Sensing that it came from an eastern region, the mother turned around and sprinted. A house was leveled and torn into pieces with fire dancing in every direction. She could see two small figures standing by what used to be a part of one of the beams of the house. When she ran closer to them, she could make out that they were a brother and sister.  They crouched down in front of the debris. The daughter, the youngest, looked up at the mother with a worried expression.

“Our mother is stuck under there.”  

A medium-sized woman was wedged between the ground and the ceiling. Flames tickled around her; each lick of one of the flames wrought a moan of pain from her. She saw the mother and gave a weak smile.  

“My legs are broken,” she explained, “please take my children and run away from this place.”  

“No, Mom, we’re going to save you!” the brother spoke up. He grasped some piece of the ceiling and chunked it over his shoulder. The flames were beginning to spread. His mother pushed herself up for a few seconds giving the impression that she was doing her best to slide herself out.  

“There’s no time!” she rubbed one of her son’s tears away before speaking again. “You have to leave.”  

The two siblings looked at their mother and then towards the woman that they called over. While the young mother weighed her options, the ground shook. They all glared at the sky their hopes dashed. A winged beast with the semblance of a gigantic bat and as black as night hovered above them. Its three-lobed, singular eye throbbed. The young mother, breaking from the awe she felt, quickly collected her son and resumed her running. The two kids glanced over horrified.

“Wait, don’t leave us!”  

She did not turn back not until the sounds of the family’s screaming became a memory. In her heart, she knew that she had some accountability to the fate that befell on the family, but she panicked when that thing arrived. She had to keep her child safe no matter the cost. Her legs grew tired by the second and yet, her child was still crying without halt. The tendons in the mother’s ankles were tiring themselves out. There came the sound of a rushing wind. The mother’s legs killed her, but she attempted to run again.  

The bat monster was on the horizon again narrowing her down. The beast’s eye glared again, shooting fire towards the mother. With little thought, she tossed her child aside and was engulfed in the fire. The baby’s crying became louder likely realizing what happened to his mother. He looked up and saw a smoky vapor flowing towards him.

“Well, what have we here?” the voice said.  

A small, green orb began to crystallize in front of the young child.  

“GAH!”  

King jolted himself awake sweat rolling down his head in thick beads. Luz looked up from her mat, concerned. “King? What is it?”  

King’s panting slacked down in his attempt to compose himself. “Uh, yeah, Luz; I’m okay.”  

“Are you sure?” Luz asked, probing further, “sounded like you were having a nightmare.”  

King shook his head. “Luz, Luz, I am fine; don’t think about it!”  

Before Luz could say anything else, the living tube-bird known only as Hooty barged in.  

“Hoot! Hoot! Want to know my worst nightmare?”  

“No, no one wants that!” King said annoyed.  

"As the people of the Isles knows, three traitors were taken before our lord, Emperor Belos, the other day and were found guilty of the highest treason for trying to sow the seeds of rebellion against our way of life. The three were petrified towards the midday.”  

The residents of the Owl House quietly listened to the announcement over the news. Eda and King casually started eating their breakfast, but Luz could not eat. She felt her fists tense up.

“What is it, kid?” Eda asked, taking note of it.

“How can anyone allow Belos to do something like this?” she slammed her fists on the table.

“Rule of the land, kid,” King responded.  

Luz slumped in her chair. “I guess so...but Belos should be stopped.”  

“That isn’t our concern now,” Eda clarified, “don’t even think of trying to face him again on your own.”  

Luz nodded once more and she began to eat her breakfast as quietly as she could muster.

“Besides, we have bigger problems,” Eda said.  

Ever since she betrayed Emperor Belos and became a fugitive, Lilith, in a sense, broke down. The moment she entered the house, she collapsed on the couch and remained there for a solid two weeks. In that course of time, Lilith had accumulated a lot of powder dust from the chips and other junk food she was eating. She passively was browsing through Penstagram with little interest. Her clothes had begun to wreak in the meantime. Dark bags were under her eyes.  

“She’s...not taking her becoming a fugitive too well isn’t she?” Luz asked/

“Well, it’s better than the alternative,” Eda said.

“What is the alternative?”  

“The Emperor could send someone to kill her in her sleep,” Eda snickered.  

Luz and King gave the Owl Lady a serious look. Eda quickly stopped laughing. “What? That’s true.”  

Luz walked into the room and stood by the couch. “Are you alright, Lilith?”  

“Luz, have you ever dedicated your entire life to a cause because of some shady man’s promise only to then realize that in all those years said person wasn’t going to honor their part of the deal and you’re likely now on the run from the government lest they take your head?”  

Luz tapped her chin. “I...I don’t think so.”  

Lilith sighs. “The point is I no longer have any significant purpose because I have been lied to for years; I hurt my young sister for a meaningless position because I thought I could cure her, but now...here I am just wallowing in my despair.”  

Luz squinted her eyes in thought. “Well, we have to get you back on your feet somehow.”  

Lilith laid down on the couch. “Yeah, yeah; while you brainstorm, I’ll just lay here for a moment.”  

“You were on the couch for two weeks!” Eda informed her, “I just had it cleaned!”  

Lilith tosses a puff chip at her. “Just leave me alone; the couch is the only one who understands me.”  

Eda scowled momentarily and walked out of the room. Luz watched Lilith for a couple seconds before deciding to head out as well. King was finishing up with his food when he saw them return. “Did it work out?”  

“Not exactly,” Luz said in a bitter tone.  

“Well, we can’t have her just sit there all day,” King noted.

“We could always pry her off,” Luz said.

“Already tried that: her butt’s glued to the seat.” Eda crossed her arms. “I think she transcended becoming one with it.”  

Luz snapped her fingers. “Maybe we can take a trip to the commerce to buy her something.”  

Eda raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that will work?”  

Luz shrugged. “Well, it could give her some motivation.”  

Eda rubbed her temples and sighed deeply. “Alright; guess we’ll fly there.”  

Eda came upon her staff but noticed that her palisman was missing. “That’s odd.”  

“What is it, Eda?” Luz asked.

“Where’s Owlbert?”  

Owlbert was outside the Owl House staring at the ground. It remained in that stance for a while until it felt that the time was right. Owlbert crouched down to place its ear against the grass and listened. With one swift scoop of its beak, it held a fat, slimy worm. It grabbed the worm with its tongue and pulled it into its mouth.  

As Owlbert was enjoying the worm, a shrill sound rung out. Owlbert tilted its head in curiosity and flew. After a short distance, Owlbert could see what was making the sound: it was one of the children of the Bat Queen hunched on its side.  

The gang was looking for the missing palisman throughout the house but there was no sign of the little owl. They looked near and around the couch; in their bedrooms; the restroom...zilch.  

“Did you go anywhere yesterday, Eda?” Luz asked.

“Wouldn’t it make sense that I would know whether or not I did?” Eda said in response.

Hooty, per usual, popped in again unannounced. “Oh, I know where he is! Hoot, hoot!”  

Eda, Luz, and King gave Hooty a shared look of annoyance.  

“What do you mean that you already knew?” Eda asked in a thinly-veiled attempt to keep from snapping.  

“He’s outside,” Hooty clarified.

“And why did you choose to tell us now?”  

Hooty pouted. “You guys hardly ever pay attention to me, so I thought it would be fun for you guys to search around inside me.”  

Eda punched the wall.

“OW!! Okay, okay, you don’t have to be a jerk!” Hooty remarked “hoot!”  

The gang approached Owlbert and surrounded him. They too saw the same site. From the looks of it, the child of the Bat Queen’s wing was injured. Luz crouched down and extended her hand. The bat child hissed at her which did make her retract her hand, but she sensed it was because of the pain it was in.  

“But if this one is here, where are the other two?” Eda said.  

Luz’s eyes widened. “Something must have happened!”  

She got up and started to run off, but Eda caught her at the last minute. “Slow yourself, kid.”  

“But the Bat Queen might be in danger!”  

Eda nodded. “I don’t want you to go off on your own.”  

Luz’s gaze sunk. Eda frowned before continuing. “Which is why King and I will go with you.”  

Luz perked back up. “Well, what are we waiting for?!”

Eda walked back into the house carrying the injured bat child. Lilith hadn’t moved from her spot on the couch even when they were tearing the house apart to find Owlbert. Eda rolled her eyes and placed the injured infant on her back. “Luz and I are going out for a bit; you and Hooty take care of this child.”  

Lilith looked up at her younger sister. “I can’t take care of a child like how you do, Eda.”  

“Well, it’s either you, or the child dies” Eda sternly said.  

“Hoot, hoot! Ooo, a baby!” Hooty said in his annoying tone of voice. “I can teach it everything I know!”  

After leaving the infant bat child in the care of her older sister and the house demon, the group of misfits embark to the forest. The clock was ticking.

[spacegirlinorbit]

Fooling You? Series

Fooling You? Chapter 5: Leave it up to boys to ruin plans

Warnings: swearing

Taglist: @treestarrrrrrrr

Fooling You Masterlist 

(All rights to HP universe belong to JK Rowling)

Song:

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Chapter 5: Leave it up to boys to ruin plans

I woke up early this morning after having such a vivid dream I can barely remember now. I looked at my clock on my nightstand saying it was only 7 am. Lily said we are going to leave at 9 so I still had about an hour or so until I needed to get ready. So I quietly tried not to disturb the others as I went to the bathroom and got ready and change into some leggings I had grabbed from the chest and then grabbed a hoodie as well. I slipped them on along with some shoes and left the room. I made sure to grab my wand on the way out and had it sit in my hoodie pocket.

I made my way down the stairs and there was only a couple people in the commons and the head boy and girl of the school posting something on the board wall. 

“Goodmorning! y/n isn't?” The head girl, Michelle, I believe is what her name is asks.

“Yes, Goodmorning.”

“Ah, how are you adjusting?”

“Fine. Say is breakfast ready yet?”

“Oh yes. You know how to get to the Great hall?” She asks and I nod with a smile and bid her goodbye. 

I make my way out of the common rooms and towards the ever changing staircases. Once I missed my stop a couple times I finally hop off and make my way to the Great Hall feeling more hungry than before. I see that there is food spread about the tables like crackers and cheese, fruits, and various breads. 

The plates and cups are all aligned for every student who may come in. Since school doesn't start for another few days, it's pretty scarce in here. I do however notice that a student wearing a red unlined robe sits at the far right table so I make my way over there and take a seat randomly and away from anyone else. I help myself to some grapes, banana, and a buttered croissant. I reach for a cup and it automatically fills orange juice. 

God, I’m going to miss coffee. Maybe I could buy some in Hogsmeade.

I enjoy my breakfast thinking quietly to myself until someone sits across from me. She is an older woman, a professor I assume. She smiles sweetly at me and I try to return the smile back without looking confused. 

“Good Morning. I wanted to personally introduce myself, I am Professor Mcgonagall of Transfiguration and head professor of the gryffindor house. Also the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts.” She explains herself. 

“Wow, quite the title you have. They should just call you queen.” I joke to lighten the mood. Is this normal? Since when did teachers make time for students?

“Oh you flatter me dear. I just wanted to let you know that if you need anything especially personal if you feel uncomfortable going to Dumbledore about it, I am here for you. I unfortunately couldn’t meet with you yesterday, but I at least wanted to make my acquaintance known.”

“Of course. Thank you Professor Mcgonagall.”

“Right, well I’ll excuse myself now. Welcome to Hogwarts.” She smiles and I can truly smile back as she leaves. 

I see more students enter the Great Hall and I finish my OJ and banana and leave the Great Hall to avoid further interaction from anyone who might want to question who the new girl is. I slip out of the Great hall and take my time walking back to the tower taking the long way instead of those confusing staircases. After leaving the Great Hall I reach the viaduct and take a moment looking at the view and breathing in the morning air. I see a couple of owls pass by in the sky most likely delivering letters. I exit the viaduct and back into the school building but now I am faced with two ways to go.

Left or Right? Shit I should've taken the map and there’s someone coming so I can’t use apparition that will look suspicious. I could summon the map. 

“Are you lost?” I hear someone say pulling me from my thoughts. I look up and I see him. Sharp jawline, star like eyes, and cherry lips against his pale skin. Damn he looks fresh out of a portrait. 

I stumble on my words until I finally breathe out, “Yes.” 

He looks me over curiously and then takes a cautious step forward. I remain still, entranced by how handsome he is. “Where do you need to go?”

“Gryffindor tower.” I could've sworn in that moment I heard him mumble ‘shame’. Shame indeed. Shit what am I thinking?! I don’t even know his name. 

“You are going to take a left through there and cross the stone bridge and then head straight and the tower is at the end.” He explains as he extends his arm and the flex of his bicep tighten the loose black button up he has on. I try to breathe as he looks back at me. 

“Thank you um…” 

“Regulus. Regulus Black.” He says with an air about him that makes him stand tall. 

“Thank you Regulus.” 

“Of course, but it’s only fair if in return I get to learn your name.” He says with a smirk.

“Y/n. Y/n Y/l/n.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, y/n.”

“You as well.” and we part ways. I pinch my cheeks to defuse the blush, but I think I only made it worse. I finally get back to the gryffindor tower and head to the room. I walk in the room and it is a mess and the girls are yelling amongst themselves. 

“What’s going on?” I question shutting the door. 

“Oh thank merlin, where were you?” 

“I went out for some breakfast and then I got lost.” I explain by leaving out some details.

“Oh, see, I knew we should have gone out and looked for her.” Marlene says. 

“And we were just about to if you didn’t just show up just now.” Lily explains.

“It’s okay really. I need to get familiar anyways since I'll be here for a while, right.” I state back to them. 

“Right then, well it’s almost 9 so let's get dressed and head to Hogsmeade.” Lily says. I make my way over to the closet and pull out a black turtleneck shirt and some sneakers along with a jean skirt and cropped jean jacket. I get dressed and put my hair in a ponytail and added some chapstick to my lips knowing they were going to get chapped in this weather boarderlining winter. I pulled my mother's necklace from my nightstand drawer and clipped it on. Then grabbed my cross body bag. The others dressed similarly for the weather. A mix of fall and winter. 

Enter Hogsmeade

Once we entered the village, the shops filled with some people passing through making their way from shop to shop. Hogsmeade was a homely village, with pointed top cottages and shops of variety. I can smell something sweet and spicy in the air, it must be the drink everyone has in hand coming out of a place called Madam Puddifoots’ Tea Shop. I hear laughter coming from another end of the street where we walk at another shop called Zonko's Joke Shop. 

“Say Lily won’t you take her to the quill and cauldron shop, maybe Dervish and Banges. Me and Dorcas will head to Gladrags and then meet you guys at Honeydukes.” Marlene says as she shares her idea. 

“Why Honeydukes?” Lily questions. 

“Because she must try butterbeer and I’m starving.” Marlene groans. 

“Here since you’re getting the outfits.” I say pulling out some galleons in a small coin sack. They all look at me incredulously. 

“Well, you didn’t tell us you were loaded.” Marlene exclaims at the bag of gold. 

“I’m not, really.” I say shaking my head. I used mainly american dollars in the U.S. and sometimes wizarding money, but it was easier to transfer american money so that my relation to Grindelwald wasn’t known. 

“Darling, it’s okay. I’m paying for everyone’s clothes today. My treat for bursting in yesterday.”

“You mean all summer.” Lily mumbles. 

“You can say that again.” Dorcas remarks.

“Har Har, Lily fire and I’m hurt D. Spicy this morning aren’t we?” Marlene says sarcastically. 

“Just go!” Lily says and pushes Marlene away. Meanwhile Lily takes me to the quill shop where I can get more ink and paper. I also grab some envelopes hoping Lily doesn’t see it as I purchase them quickly. Then we stop at Ceridwen's Cauldron, where I buy a small silver cauldron and then we make our way to the herbology shop where I gather fluxweed, dittany (that I could easily use as an aphrodisiac), ginger, and valerian. However I couldn’t find moly, a special flower that can allow my body to counteract any enchantments used on me. 

I go up to the counter and purchase my items and ask the lady who is packaging my items,”Do you by chance sell Moly?”

She looked up at me slowly and then looked me over curiously. “What do you want with Moly?”

I challenge her stare, “I’ll need it to reverse the effects of the valerian if something goes wrong.” 

“Hmm, that you will. Best not put yourself in a deep sleep, deary. However the moly will cost extra.” She states. 

“I think I’ll have enough.” I say putting the coin sack of galleons on the counter. She smiles at this and goes to the back to get the package of Moly. 

“3 galleons.” She says with an obvious devious smile. I place the coins on the counter and take my bag of herbs and leave the shop as Lily follows behind saying goodbye to the lady. 

“Everything okay back there?” Lily asks. 

“Yeah. I got everything I need. Should we head to Honeydukes was it?”

“Yes, let’s go.” Lily connects our arms together as we walk the streets to get to a place called Honeydukes. Lily and I are laughing and talking about the shops and the people in the village and what we think they are up to. She stops abruptly and lets go of my arm. I look towards her confusingly. 

“Lily?” I ask trying to see what she’s looking at. 

She turns around abruptly and smiles at me, “I saw a friend in there that I haven’t seen for a while. Do you mind if I go say hi?” 

“No not all. I saw the post office two shops back, I think it’s high time I write a letter to my friends in America.”

“Great. I’ll come find you then, I shouldn’t be long.” She says and rushes into what seems like a pub called, Three Broomsticks Inn.

Marauders 3rd POV

Lily rushes into the pub and quickly and furiously makes her way over to the four boys who all have their heads down knowing what’s coming towards them. 

“WHAT THE HELL are you guys doing here?” She seathed. 

“Lily darling, what a lovely surprise!” James grimaced trying to ease the fire in her. 

“Shut it James!” Lily snaps. “Black what the hell, we told you we could handle ourselves.”

“Aww Lily don’t be like that. We are just here in case.” He whined. 

“Look and listen carefully to the words coming out of my mouth. We are fine. They won’t dare come here. Diagon Alley, for sure, but here never. It’s too crowded with students and teachers from Hogwarts that we would be able to sniff them out. Go! NOW. We are fine and everything is well.”

“Sirius I think we should go.” Remus pipes in and Peter nods in agreement. 

“Right, where is this new bestie of yours?” Sirius pried.

“She’s at the post office. Said something about writing a letter to her friends in America.”

“Oh you can’t be this dull.” Sirius says. Lily gasps in shock and her anger intensifies.

“Padfoot.” James states. 

“Here we go.” Remus says and takes a sip of his tea. 

“What did you just say about me?” Lily presses her hands down on the table leaning towards Sirius. 

“What if she is writing a letter to well you know or maybe someone in connection.” He explains quickly slightly fearing her wrath. 

“You think I didn’t think about that? Dumbledore has someone in there to infiltrate her letters.”

“He does?” James questions. 

“Yes, maybe if you boys paid attention in the meetings you would know that we have put in place a way to intercept any communication she has. Even the letters.” 

“Well damn.” Sirius mutters. 

“Go back to the school boys. The party isn’t going to plan itself.” 

“Will do, mlady.” James says with a big smile on his face and adoration in his eyes. 

“Fuck off, Potter.” She says and walks away from the boys, hiding the small smile on her lips. 

Y/n POV

I go into the post office and head to the counter. A man sits there stamping off envelopes and a woman on the other end is helping someone else out. I also see some elves attending to the mail and owls in their cages. I walk over to the small island made for people to write off their letters. I pull out a paper and ink with my wand but disguise it with a spell to make it look like a quill. 

I write out my letter to look like it was ordinary and directed to my friends back in America. Then I look around to make sure no one sees and blow across the paper with blue fire and I quickly whisper what I want to really say as the paper fills with my words and disappears. I sign it and envelope it to an address that is in America, but will be rerouted to Austria once it goes to transport and the real address will reveal itself. Grindelwald taught me this secret way of communication when I left for america. Taught how to use the blue fire to conceal the truth of things you want hidden. It's undetectable but takes skill and focus. I have been doing it so long it comes easy to me now, yet if anyone knew I would be suspected for dark magic. I put the letter in the post box outside so I won’t have to explain the faraway address. 

“Did you get to write your letter?” Lily says as she approaches me. 

“Yes. I only hope it gets to them safely.” I smile and we take off to honeydukes. 

By the time we get to Honeydukes, it's noon and Marlene gushes to us all the clothes and accessories she bought and how great we are going to look tonight at the party. We all ordered lunch and I got to try butterbeer for the first time. It's like butterscotch candy mostly, its sweet deliciousness coats my tongue and I order another once I'm done. I wonder what kind of treats the party will hold tonight. Maybe I’ll finally meet “the boys” and see the one I ran into this morning.

[simplyslytherin]

The Mirror

Claire liked being a legilimens. It was an amazing way to find the perfect present for your friends and have them marvel at your gift giving skills. However, it also came with some downsides the last time she went into Barnaby's head she went a bit too deep searching and stumbled across some rather unpleasant memories. She ended up cuddling Barnaby every day for two weeks, much to his delight before she told him what she did. He wasn't mad at her, he said, "those are from forever ago. I have you and my other friends now. It's okay just keep snuggling with me and we will be even." She did as he asked guilt buiding in her gut. Poor sweet Barnaby was very much in love with her and she knew she would never love him back, she could never love him back. She refused to marry a pureblood, she had decided "tainting her bloodline" would be the best way to spite her father. Besides she and Barnaby were related three generations back, that was to close for comfort in Claire's mind.

Barnaby had confirmed his feelings during Professor Snape's love potion class. He had asked her to move away as he could only smell her perfume. Claire had run out of perfume the day before the lesson and it would be a week to get more by owl post.

Thelove potion had smelled like, cinnamon rolls, Ben and Talbott. Ben had been the most overpowering smell of them all. It was like she had his robes wrapped around her and happened to have a small hanky that smelled like Talbott. Ben was to important to be killed by her father and she reasoned that Talbott's halfbood status would protect him.

After she came home for the summer after her father sent the howler, he would sit her down every day and list everything he would do to the unnamed "mudblood" boy. Surprisingly he hardly seemed to repeat the threats other than he would make her watch. Claire couldn't stand for even the more tame threats to happen to Ben. She reasoned the best way to keep Ben safe was to try and get rid of her feelings for him. Only Ben seemed to have other ideas, whenever she was almost over him he would do something terribly endearing.

Like when someone started passing around rumors she was sleeping around, he invented a rumor jinx. The rumor jinx was somehow linked to the rumor about her and whenever someone repeated it their face would breakout in painful boils that even Madam Pomfrey couldn't quite get rid of. The only cure seemed to be to apologize to her or tell the whole school they made it up.

"Ben you shouldn't of done that for me," she told him afterwards.

"Its not that bad. I just have to write down the process and what the spell is used for. Flitwick isn't even mad. He's impressed I think. He says once I turn this into the ministry I'm sure to get a job there. I think I might go for the Department of Experimental Charms. Its only a month of detention anyway, we've had worse," he said to her.

"But Ben, isn't everyone mad at you for losing so many house points? Your gonna get cursed in your sleep!"

Ben laughed, "I'm not gonna get cursed! I put protections up before I sleep every night. I should probably switch to nonverbal now."

"Ben!"

"Claire if I get cursed feel free to say 'I told you so.' But it was worth all the trouble. Plus now I get to eat with you." That damn smile made Claire's resolve crumble.

"I'm not gonna help you remove the hex," she grumbled.

"Oh, you will, because your my best friend and you can't stand to see me in pain and since I lost 100 points Slytherin is in the lead now; so you owe me."

"I'll deal with it, I won't help this time."

"Sure Claire," he said sarcastically.

It was later that year she told Ben her news at breakfast. "I've decided to be Talbott's girlfriend. He asked me yesterday."

Ben promptly choked on his orange juice.

"Ben! Are you alright?"

He was frantically pounding on his chest as Claire looked at him horrified, after he finished he slumped forward a bit muttering that it went down the wrong pipe and hurt. Claire ran her hand soothingly down his back, "Ben, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you choke."

He waved her off, "new Ben" wasn't afraid of much anymore but Claire had spent more time with him and managed to get some of "old Ben" to stick around, he wasn't perfect but, she still liked his company.

"If he hurts you, I'm gonna hex him into next week! You come crying to me once, that's all it takes."

"Ben!"

"I'll have Barnaby help." After Ben's threats were delivered to Talbott, he was perfectly pleasant to Talbott. Barnaby on the other hand kept promising to tear Talbott apart with his bare hands until Claire got sick of it and stopped talking to him. She even sat with Ben at the Gryffindor table (Talbott never ate in the grand hall) until Barnaby apologized and promised to stop making threats.

Things went slowly back to normal, only Claire could swear sometimes she saw the boys glaring at Talbott when they thought she wasn't looking.

However things came to a head in charms. "I know the NEWTS aren't till next year and I should of waited on this particular lesson. But, rarely will we have an opportunity like this!" Professor Filtwick, told them excitedly, as he pulled off a large tarp covering a mirror with his wand, "behold the mirror of erised! This mirror shows what you want most in the world, we will be enchanting our own mirrors to do something similar,"

"Professor," a gryffindor girl Claire didn't recognize started talking, " will we be able to look into the mirror?" The whole class murmured in agreement.

Flitwick sighed, "I suppose it will do no harm, but it will only be for two minutes each. We need to continue the lesson and this is going to be remarkably personal so you don't need to share with the class. "

The gryffindor girl squealed in delight when it was her turn in front of the mirror, "Miss Reyes, your turn," Filtwick called.

She nodded fingering Talbott's scarf carefully. The mirror showed her worst nightmare, in a sense. This mirror confirmed she was going to have to break Talbott's heart. She had hoped it would show her and Talbott but it didn't.

Instead she was holding Ben's hand he was laughing and that stupid snort was still cute. However, the thing that suprised her the most was the small army of children that seemed to be playing around their feet. Now she looked closer She and Ben looked to be in their late twenties. Mirror Ben stopped holding her hand to throw a small toddler up in the air, the little boy laughed snorting just like Ben.

Oh god, she kept thinking, how am I gonna tell Talbott? She could see him getting mad at leading him on and never wantting to be friends anymore. He was yelling horrible thing at her how he wished they had never met and now her friends were taking sides on the breakup. All her friends seemed to be on Talbott's side.

Ben was there before even Filtwick could react. He pulled her away and into his chest, it had gotten so much more broad over the summer she noticed. Now seeing the whole class was looking at her and probably wondering why she was crying. She needed a quick explanation, "mum, dad, Jacob, not deatheaters," she said through sobs in Ben's neck. Some of the girls looked sorry for her, it seemed the lie was working. She enjoyed her current position in Ben's arms to much to simply want to let go when Ben started pulling away.

He sighed then whispered "its my turn I'll be back," begrudgingly she let go. Before he left he took off his robes and wrapped them around her shoulders. It was acceptable, they were warm and they smelled like Ben. She tried halfheartedly to give the robes back after the lesson, he shook his head and loudly told her, "you know Claire I've been working on a new rumor jinx if anyone from this class was to say something they shouldn't, I would hate to see what would happen to them."

She gave Ben a soft "thanks" before they parted ways. She had to use a hover charm on Ben's robes as they were much to large and she didn't want to take them off.

Ascending the stairs to the owlery she called out, "Bagshot, come here I have a job for you." Bagshot fluttered down looking at her before giving out a screech. "Stop judging me! I'm taking care of it!" She tied the letter to the screech owl's leg before telling her to find Talbott. The owl looked back as if trying to assesses how much trouble Claire was in before deciding it wasn't worth it.

Bagshot had evidently found Talbott as he had met her in the courtyard.

"I'm sorry," she started.

To her surprise he was smiling, "You finally admitted it to yourself then,"

"What?"

"Claire, tell me who's robes are you wearing?"

"I don't see how that relates,"

"Well they are gryffindor robes. So I bet all the gold in Gringotts they belong to Ben."

"Talbott, I-"

"It's fine Claire, you were never mine, despite how much I wanted you to be. I've seen the way you look at him and how he looks at you,"

Claire was crying now, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-I never wanted-"

Talbott gave her a quick hug, "I always knew this would happen, did he finally tell you?"

"The mirror of erised, in charms, I-" she choked out before Talbott cut her off.

"Claire," he said kissing her forehead, "promise me you'll tell him,"

"But what a what about us? And we-are we still friends?" She choked out.

"Yeah, we are. I knew before we even started dating you weren't mine. You've always been Ben's,"

"But-"

"Its fine, I actually wanted to break up too."

"Why?"

"I do love you Claire very much. But we just aren't ment to be. I know you tried for me. It just didn't work out."

They parted ways and Claire was wondering what Talbott ment by 'did he tell you'.

[keiwritesstuff]

With You

Kuroo Tetsuro x f!reader

Summary : Kuroo and her are classmates, but never really talked to each other since he’s a social butterfly while she prefers to do things alone. One day, their teacher assigns both of them to be assignment partners, and they discovered new things about each other.

Genre : slice of life, soft

Notes : Long. Written in 3rd person ‘s POV. Absolutety self-indulgent. Slowburn-ish. Happy ending. Bokuto is adorable.

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“For this topic.. Kuroo Testuro and L/N F/N,” the teacher announced before nonchalantly proceeded to name the other pairs. She subconsciously straightened her back, totally not expecting to be paired up with a boy, what more a really famous one. She’s not that interested in sports, but she knew enough that he’s somehow very popular, considering how he’s the captain of Nekoma vc and is very often surrounded by people (mostly girls, but what’s the difference?).

She prefers working alone, and knows that she’s very good at it. But this project… this presentation, will contribute to her getting good grades should she does it well, and she would really like to maintain the ones she had achieved, if not get better ones.

She has to.

After the teacher had finished assigning the topics to all pairs, the teacher had them sit together to start their discussion. From what Y/N knew, Kuroo is good in Science. She had never seen him fail the subject, if that is any indication.

It won’t be too bad, she told herself.

 “I’ll be in your care, Kuroo-kun.” she spoke.

“Same goes with me.” he smiled before taking out his textbook to start the discussion. “I don’t think this topic is too difficult to present on, but I do think that we need to look for more examples to make our explanation easier to understand.” he added. She was rather impressed, considering he hadn’t even turned to the page related to said topic.

Both of them immediately set up a schedule for upcoming discussions since he is busy with volleyball practice.

 That weekend, he goes to her house to work on the contents of the presentation. He was greeted by a young boy, who welcomed him into the house. The boy brought him to the kitchen, where he saw Y/N cooking, with a pair of twin boys clinging onto her legs.

“I didn’t know you’re a single mother.” he started, couldn’t help himself from doing his habit of teasing people.

“Shut up.” she laughed (which amused him, since he didn’t take her as someone who accepts jokes easily).

“These are my brothers. My parents are out working. Usually mom is at home taking care of these kids, but whenever I can do it, she’ll be at the shop, helping my dad.” she spoke, still busy stirring the food in the pot. “I think you can put your stuff on the couch. I’ll be there in a second.” she continued, somewhat apologetically, since she couldn’t immediately start their discussion. Kuroo sensed it, and quickly replied, “Alright. Tell me if you need a hand, though my assistance does come with a hazard warning.”

He saw her smile again before walking to the living room. He didn’t notice the warmth blooming from somewhere inside his chest.

   After making sure her brothers have finished their meal, she rushed to Kuroo with iced peach tea in her hand. “Sorry. I’ll try .” she starts to jot down and rearrange the notes that she had collected through her own research for Kuroo’s opinion. Kuroo looked at her and noticed the conforting smell of homemade oyakodon. He couldn’t help but smile. Though they rarely talked in class, she had always given him this impression that she prefers to be left alone. Who would’ve thought that at home, there are three little gremlins glued to her hips all the time?

 After school, both of them stayed in class along with other pairs who seem to be struggling as well. Both Kuroo and Y/N are more exhausted than usual, and Kuroo definitely took back what he said about the topic being easy. Linking the examples with the main points has been proven to be more difficult than they deemed it to be, especially in efforts to make it as simple and as easy to understand as possible. Y/N wanted to ace this assignment, and Kuroo noticed how she was struggling to digest the notes, reading the same page over and over again but to no avail.

“You reeaally want to ace this presentation, don’t you?” he asked.

She rested her head on the table, a few strands of her hair tickling her nose.

“Of course. I need to make sure I maintain impressive grades in my result transcript. Gotta get those scholarships.” Y/N replied, exhaustion could be heard from her voice, probably from taking care of her younger brothers. Funny, Kuroo thinks, that he couldn’t notice this side of her before. Had she been this… at ease before?

“Scholarship?”

Y/N nods. “Yeah. I’m aiming for Tohoku University.” she replied. “It’s not easy to get a scholarship there, but their Natural Science department is top notch and I’d love to study there. Not to mention, if I survived uni, that Tohoku logo would look good on my CV, don’t you think?”

Her head is still on the table, but her eyes are looking somewhere else now, her facial expression clearly shows that she can already visualize that life, that dream.

Kuroo was rather impressed. Tohoku isn’t so easy to get into, it is not a place for everyone, and if anyone wants to earn a scholarship there, they have to work extremely hard (and maybe offer a sacrifice to the gods for good measure).

“That’s pretty amazing,” he commented. “But what about your brothers? Will they be okay? Aren’t you worried? They seem to be really attached to you.”

“I am, but at the same time I want to work hard and secure a good job so that they don’t have to worry much about money, just in case one day they want to apply to any college institution.”

If Kuroo was impressed before, now he has an utmost respect for Y/N.

“Well, it’s just a dream for now, but, just like how your team works hard to win matches, I’m going to work hard to make my dream come true.” Y/N said, patting her cheeks hard, back straightened, tucking those stray hair behind her ears, and re-reading that page, again.

                                                         ++++

On Friday, surprisingly, Kuroo was suddenly absent without telling Y/N. They were supposed to have another discussion after school, since Kuroo won’t be available that weekend due to volleyball practice (there is an upcoming match with a strong team whose captain is a dorky owl, he said. Not that she understood, but he seemed ecstatic, so she just agreed on the change of plan in the schedule.).

She texted him during recess, but received no reply. He didn’t even read them. Did something happen? It’s not like him to ignore her texts like this. At least, he had never done so before.

Would his teammates know what happened to him?

She stumbled upon a familiar second-year student on her way to the gym hall after school. He had a game console in his hands. If she is not mistaken, she had seen him before, walking with Kuroo.

“Uh, excuse me, sorry.. You’re Kuroo’s friend, aren’t you?” she said.

He looked at her. “And what if I am?”

She gave him a meek smile. Sheesh. What’s with that attitude?

  “Do you know where he is? We’re supposed to have a pair discussion today for our assignment, but he’s absent and didn’t reply to my texts. I mean,I get it if he’s occupied with practice, but it would be nice to receive a heads up.”

She has a life too, you know.

The second-year stood straight. “Oh. I see. I thought you are one of those girls who are constantly bugging him.”

Oh.

Oh.

 “He told us he wasn’t feeling well yesterday. His blocks were easily broken through too. He didn’t reply to my texts, either, let alone answer my calls. So, it could only mean one thing.”

She raised her eyebrow.

“He is definitely sick. Most likely fever. I’m planning to check on him after practice today.”

                                         ++++

Kuroo stirred in his sleep. The doorbell is ringing relentlessly.

Oh gosh, do I HAVE to open the door?

Dragging his feet, he could feel his joints ache with every movement. He rarely gets sick. He takes pride on that. But when he actually does, he could not deny how bad it can get. Fever is the worse. His head feels heavy, cloudy. His throat is in pain. His body is in pain. He doesn’t have the strength to move, and usually it’s either Kenma or his grandmother who would help to nurse him back to health(Kenma is not really good at it, but he tries).

He opened the door. “Hey Kenm---eh..?”

It was not Kenma.

“I told Kenma I’d check on you. He won’t be coming over today.” Y/N said.

Y/N?

“Are you sick?” she took a step forward, putting her hand on Kuroo’s forehead, startling him in the process.

“Yep, you definitely are.”

Huh?

“Ojamashimasu*,” she invited herself in, and Kuroo is still standing in the doorway. Weak, but shocked nevertheless.

Wait a minute. Hold up for a second. What is all this? What is she doing here? What is going on? Did she just come into the house? Eh..? Has she always been this forward?

And then he remembered the discussion that they were supposed to have that day. Oh no.

Crap.

“Uh, hey, Y/N.. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you earlier--”

“Rest, Kuroo It’s fine. Just take out all your have on the assignment, and I’ll see what I can add to the contents. You, rest. I’ll be here for a while though. I’ll leave whatever part I can finish on the table so you can take a look at them later. Is it okay with you?”

Goodness grief, the determination in this girl. How important can that scholarship be?!

“S..sure..? I… I’ll make you some tea..” he winced in pain, taking a step towards the kitchen, but stoppped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned, only to face a stern-looking Y/N. “Kuroo, rest. I know this is your house and I’m a guest, but in your defense, I came here on my own accord, and you’re sick. You should rest. I will drag you to your bed, by your feet if you insist on entertaining me.”

What is she? A mother? Oh wait, she kinda is.

He chuckled. “Okay, okay..”

He wanted to say more. Thanks for coming. Make yourself at home. I’ll buy you ice-cream when I get well. Thanks for helping me with the notes. Thanks for understanding and not getting mad.

But his body is aching all over, and all he could do is to just listen to her, and walked into his room. After handing everything he had on the assignment to her, he fell onto his bed , sleep immediately overtaking him.

  He gained consciousness every now and then, only to shift his position and fall back into slumber. His fever is really bad this time around, and the fact that he has his assignment partner doing all the work in his living room is making him feel even worse. Not to mention, his family members are not around.

“..roo.”

He dreams of warm, chicken soup. He has no appetite to eat, but it would be nice to have some, to help him get better.

“Kuroo-kun.”

He felt something cool on his head. A hand. He wasn’t sure if his mind is playing tricks, but he could smell chicken soup.

“Kuroo-kun, hey, wake up.”

Another hand shook him gently, and he pried his eyes open, only to see Y/N sitting on his bed next to him, a bowl on her lap.

“Y/N..?” his voice came out hoarse.

“Here. I made you some porridge and ginger tea. Can you sit up?”

Truthfully, the ache on his joints says no. But the captain in him insisted, and as he was struggling to sit up, he noticed that she had her hands steady on his shoulders, ready to guide him if he suddenly falls to his side. His head is spinning, and it takes some time for his vision to clear.

Wait. She said she made porridge?

He stared at the bowl on her lap. She handed him the cup of tea. “Did you just---” he pointed to the bowl.

“I know, I know.. I used your kitchen and some ingredients in the fridge.. I’m sorry. I waited for a while to see if any of your family members would come home. Maybe they would bring home some food. But no one did, so I went ahead and cooked.. sorry.. I’ll pay you back for the ingredients I used. It’s just.. you looked like you hadn’t eaten anything today.”

 No, that’s not the point, silly.

He stared at her in disbelief.

And something, like a gentle wave, is washing over him from all sides.

 Kuroo looked at this girl.

This unbelievable girl.

 Did he do something to deserve this kindness?

Stop.

Why is she so nice? So unquestionably thoughtful?

 Stop it.

If he didn’t feel it before, Kuroo can definitely feel it now, that warmth inside his chest, blooming bigger and bigger. Like an onslaught, refusing to spare him.

As if it’s going to explode anytime soon. Has it always been there?

 “Yeah.. my dad usually comes home from work at night, and my grandparents are visiting our relatives in Chiba for a week. So.. yeah.” he took the bowl in silence, inhaled the smell of chicken, rice and spices, and at the first taste of the warm porridge on his tongue, Kuroo immediately slumped, his emotions are suddenly so overwhelming that he could feel heat prickling on his eyes. He hadn’t felt this fragile in such a long time.

Bullets fly, from his left and right, front and back. There is nowhere to hide.

She noticed the change. “Kuroo-kun..? Hey, you alright? Is it too hot? Are you in pain?” Y/N panicked, quickly taking the bowl away and trying to get him to drink the tea.

What is this?

He couldn’t understand.

Kuroo shook his head lightly. For some reason, words just failed him. What is this feeling? Why does it seem like he had missed this feeling for so long? This gentleness, this--this

-yearning?

The next thing Y/N realized, she was in his arms. She couldn’t see his face, her own is buried his chest, but he was shaking, and she could hear a faint, shaky whisper of “thank you” from him, and it was enough for her to understand.

How he didn’t mention his mother. How there seem to be a lack of a female’s touch in certain corners of the house. How she noticed that there were mostly men’s shoes in the doorway.

She gently pat him on his back, as she would often do when her little brothers get sick.

                                                +++

“You seem off today.” said Kenma, fishing his water bottle out of his bag, panting. Today’s practice is harsh as usual, but exciting nevertheless, since they are very much looking forward to see their good friends from Fukurodani.

“Do I?” Kuroo asked. “The Science assignment, I guess. I’m just hoping that I’ll do well. I mean, Y/N wants to maintain her grades. She’s aiming for a scholarship, you know.”

There was a short silence before Kenma chuckled and spoke, “Why does it sound like you’re bragging? You make it sound like she’s your girlfriend or something.”

Kuroo tensed. It was a nonchalant comment, but it definitely got to him.

G....girlfriend?

  He had never thought about dating anyone. He had always been occupied with volleyball practice. Y/N however, might be different. She’s probably dating someone, considering how wonderful she is. Kuroo stared at her, her eyes  are currently focused on the sheets of paper and cue cards.

Does she have a boyfriend? Who is he? Does he get upset whenever she spends her time with him?

And somehow, that thought alone irked him.

 “So..maybe it’s better if we connect this part with this example right here. I think it’ll  make it easier for us to get our point across.” she said, pointing to said contents on the notes.

“Yeah, okay. Sure.”

That attitude did not go unnoticed.

“Kuroo-kun.” she called. “Are you alright?”

“Hm? Yeah.” Kuroo doodled circles on a piece of paper, refusing any eye contact.

“You don’t look alright. You’re clearly upset.”

“How’d you know?” Kuroo asked.

“You scrunch your nose when you’re upset.”

“No, I don’t!” he exclaimed, covering his nose.

Y/N laughed. “Okay, you don’t, but still, I know you’re not okay. Is something bothering you?”

 Kuroo was silent before answering her. “It’s.. nothing. I’m just not thinking clearly, I guess.” Kuroo scratched his head. How does she know?

“You want to talk about it?”she asked again, this time staring at him straight in the eyes. To make sure he knows that she will listen if he decided to share something.

That stare. Those eyes. Oh, how different it feels whenever he’s with her. With her, he is not the captain of Nekoma vc. With her, he doesn’t have to focus on leading anything or anyone. With her, he doesn’t have to hide his feelings (she can see through him anyway). With her, he is just Kuroo Tetsurou from Class 5.

There it is again. That warmth. Blooming. Bigger and bigger.

She still waits for his response.

There is no escape.

“Y/N, I..”

She listens.

“I..I think I….li--”

 The classroom door slid open, revealing a tall boy with light grey hair, panting for air.  “Captaaaaaiin! I’m here to get you!”

Kuroo almost fell off his chair in shock. Talk about the worst timing ever. “Lev..! You idiot!” he muttered under his breath.

 “Where were you?! You’re late! Practice started 15 minutes ago! Why didn’t you text back?! They had me searching for you all over the school!”

“What? Oh! Crap! I forgot!” Kuroo stood up in panic. Crap crap crap. Now he even forgets his captain duties. The practice match with Fukurodani is on the weekend and here he is, not being able to function well in neither his assignment nor practice!

 “You have practice today? You didn’t tell me?” Y/N looked at him

“Yeah. I forgot. Sorry, both the presentation and the upcoming practice match with Fukurodani is getting to me, I guess.”

He lied, hoping she would not see through that lie.

Fortunately, she didn’t. With a soft sigh, she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tetsurou. We’ll do well.”

Tetsurou.

As if he was struck by lightning, it took a while before Kuroo could move. Tetsurou. Tetsurou. It sounds different when she says it. It sounds good when she says it.

Y/N stood up and tidied up the table, packing her stuff. “You go ahead. I’ll clean up. Uh… Lev-kun? Sorry you had to come all over here to look for your captain. If I had known, I would’ve sent him to the gym hall.” Y/N gave the tall boy a smile, and Kuroo noticed how the younger boy’s ears turned into a darker shade of red.

“It… It’s okay!” the boy replied enthusiastically.

Kuroo doesn’t like it.

“Let’s go,” he simply said, and dragged the boy with him.

                                            +++

“Let’s do this.” Y/N whispered, their presentation is being projected onto the white screen. Kuroo nodded. They had done everything they could for the contents of the presentation, they even did a mock presentation the day before to make sure they deliver the contents smoothly.

“For some reason this feels like a volleyball match.” he commented, gripping his cue cards in both excitement and nervousness.

She smiled at him, though she too, shares the same feelings. “Well then, if that is so, I’ll be in your care today, captain.” she smiled.

Captain.

His heart beats faster, harder, not because of the presentation alone, and Kuroo knows it.

Bigger. Blooming bigger. Hotter.

  “Phew, that was nerve-wrecking!” she exclaimed, obviously relieved that everything is over. If the applause they received from their classmates and teacher is any indication of how well they did in their presentation, they could say that they did pretty well.

“Now that this is over, I can focus on the practice match with Fukurodani this weekend.” Kuroo puts away his notes, sighing in relief.

“I wish you luck with that. Sadly there is nothing I can help you with.” she said apologetically.

“Nah, you’ve done enough. I still hadn’t bought you your well-deserved ice cream, for taking care of me the other day.”

She laughed at him. “Well, don’t you forget that.”

Kuroo took some moment before speaking, unsure of how he should choose his next words.

“Uh, anyhow, Y/N.. Do you want to come to see our match this weekend..?”

Kuroo himself didn’t expect that he would say that. It just came out, and he immediately added, “I mean, if you have time! If you don’t have anything to do on that day! You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it would be great if you’d come, you know!-- For.. for--”

He stopped himself when he noticed her staring at him with an expression that he could not read.

“-for moral s..support..”

The last part came out shaky.

Her eyes brightened. “I’d love to. Not sure how much support I can give, though. I don’t know much about volleyball.” Y/N replied, pink tinting her cheeks.

Kuroo beamed. “N..No worries! Just cheer for us!”

                                                 ++++

The day came, and when Y/N arrived at the hall, she immediately noticed the white jackets close to her, warming up and talking to each other. Nekoma’s team is across the hall, but she doesn’t think that it would be appropriate to come up to them. After all, the only person she’s familiar with is Kuroo, and she had only talked to Kenma and Lev once.

Lost, she looked around to find a place to sit and wait for the match to start. As she turned around, a tall presence stood behind her.

“Hey hey hey? You seem lost!”

No lie, she felt like a midget next to him. He isn’t just tall. He’s pretty big, as well. Looking at his grey spiky hair and big eyes, Y/N couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated.

“Uh, no… I’m just waiting for the match to start.. I…I’ll be going, then..”

Her attempt to escape failed when the boy spoke, “Wait! Will you be cheering for us? You should! We’re pretty awesome, you know! We will win this--”

“Hyaaaaaah!”

Kuroo ran from afar and tackled the boy down.

 “Idiot rooster head! What was that for?!” the boy pushed Kuroo off him. It seems like that tackle didn’t affect him even a little bit.

“What were you doing to Y/N, Bokuto?” Kuroo asked, calm, but irritated. He pinched Bokuto’s cheeks really hard.

“Oi, oi! I did nothing! Oww! AKAAAAASHIIII!”

Y/N can only watch. Another dark haired boy came and tapped on Kuroo’s head. “He asked her to cheer for us.

“Haaaaah??!!” Kuroo pinched harder.

“Akaaaaashiiii!!”

After a few smacks on his arm, Kuroo finally released the boy he called Bokuto, and stood next to Y/N. “She! Will! Be! Cheering! For! Me!”

Bokuto stared at him in disdain and pouted.“Huh? Why should she? You’re not even that good.”

“Haaaah?!!”

 As another one of their bickering started, Kenma tapped on Y/N’s shoulder. “I think you should go up there. It’s pretty dangerous down here during the game.”

                                                     +++

It was like a new world for her. The crisp sound of the ball being hit, the cheers every time any one of the teams scored, and the intensity of the game itself truly amazed her. She got lost sometimes, not understanding why points were given, but it didn’t stop her from watching the whole match.

Bokuto and Kuroo, she noticed, despite being good friends, can also get on each other’s nerves very easily.

And Kenma radiates a different energy when he’s in the court. He was right, too. Y/N could’ve easily get hit by a stray ball if she stayed close around the court.

Kuroo, on the other hand, looks so different. He’s not the same person as he usually is in class. From what Y/N could observe, the team really listens to him, respects him even and there is this intensity to his demeanor. Where did the laid-back guy go to?

 It was clear to her why all those people (again, mostly girls, but what’s the difference?) surround him all the time.

 He looked up, looking at her after he successfully blocked a particularly hard spike from Fukurodani (Bokuto’s, to be exact). He flashed her a wide, teethy smile and gave her two thumbs up. For some reason, her ears feel hot, and she smiled back at him. Lev noticed her looking at them from above and frantically waved at her. She waved back, laughing. Kuroo frowned at him.

Lev noticed his captain’s stare and pouted. “I blocked that spike too!”

  The game was exciting to watch. If she had known all along that this is how it feels like to watch a match, she would’ve come to every volleyball match as much as she could. Kuroo had once mentioned the names of other strong teams, one of them being Karasuno High School, complimenting Karasuno’s ‘shrimpy’ especially. She couldn’t help thinking that if Kuroo himself (who loves his team the most) respectfully acknowledges that team, then it definitely means that they must truly be a force to reckon with. A match between Nekoma and Karasuno would be as intense as this one, if not more.

As the match proceeds, the heat in the court gradually got to Y/N, and she doesn’t notice that she is no longer holding back her voice. She cheers for Nekoma, claps her hands when Fukurodani scored points (smug was evident on Bokuto’s face, only to spur Kuroo on), and without realizing it, as Bokuto was about to spike hard, she was screaming someone’s name.

Everyone in the hall cheered in amazement. Nekoma managed to block that spike, the ball bounced back too quickly for Fukurodani’s libero to save.

Y/N’s breath hitched when the whistle was blown, ending the match with Nekoma’s victory.

 Her eyes automatically darted to Kuroo, who fantastically blocked that last attack, and she saw the pure joy on his face, smiling at his teammates and rival team, before finally, at her.

And she swore she felt time stopped.

   She stood outside the gym hall. She wasn’t sure how long she should stay inside, or if she should see Kuroo to congratulate him and the team.

“Hey hey hey! It’s you again!” Bokuto appeared behind her, with the team. Why is he everywhere?

Y/N bowed. “Your team was amazing. Please do come again for practice matches, Bokuto-san.” Y/N said, already familiar with the grey-haired captain. The boy beamed with joy. “We were, right?! Ah, if only you didn’t cheer for that rooster head and cheered for us instead, we could’ve won!” Bokuto said, though Y/N wasn’t sure if he was just joking or truly regretful.

 “Wait, did you hear me?” she suddenly grew alert. He couldn’t have, right? Was it that loud?

 “Hm?The whole hall did? You called Tetsurou’s name like, really really loudly.”

 And in an instant, her face turned beet red.

Suddenly, she remembered. She actually did call Kuroo’s name. Screamed, to be exact.

 “Tetsurou, you can do it!!”

 Oh. Oh no.

 What was she thinking?!

It wasn’t like her at all! What is this?!

 “Ah, her face is red.” Bokuto commented in confusion. “But like I said, next time, you should definitely cheer for us! We are much better than---OWWWW!”

Bokuto was tackled down again, Kuroo appearing out of nowhere, pinching his cheeks for the nth time that day.

 “Akaaaaaaashiiiiiii!!!!”

                                                ++++++++

Kuroo waves his hand as Fukurodani’s bus leaves the premise. Y/N stood next to him, doing the same thing. After the bus disappears from sight, Kuroo turns to her. He was wearing this smile that Y/N couldn’t read. “Thank you so much for coming, Y/N.” he spoke. The setting sun hits him differently. He looks gorgeous, Y/N thought.

Y/N doesn’t know why, they are talking normally as they always do, but her heart seems to beat faster than usual.

“Well, I hope I managed to give you the moral support you asked for.” she replied.

 Kuroo smirked. “You definitely did. I didn’t even know you can scream that loud.” he chuckled.

She turned red again, this time caught by Kuroo. He laughed. “You should watch us play again next time. It’s good to hear people cheering for you. Especially when they’re suuuper loud.”

 She huffed at his teasing. “You normally have a lot of friends to do that, anyway.”

 “Yeah, but I want to hear yours.”

 Y/N was rendered speechless. She looked at Kuroo, looking for any hint of playfulness, maybe he’s joking around again, maybe she should tease him back,-

but there was none. He was looking at her, eyes intense, awaiting for something from her.

“Kuroo..-”

“I--” he cut her off, “I don’t know how to say this, Y/N.. I’m not used to it.. but..I just…I know that.. I want to be with you.”

Y/N’s breath hitched quietly, not expecting Kuroo to confess his feelings so directly like that.

“You don’t have to answer immediately. I just.. I don’t think I can hide it any longer. Especially after you screamed my name in front of everyone like that. I thought I was going to explode out of sheer happiness.”

Kuroo took a shallow breath before continuing, “Whatever your answer is, I just want you to know that I enjoy you around me a lot. Even if you can’t return these feelings, I still hope we can still be friends. It’s nice to have a--”

This time, Y/N cuts him off, pulling him down into a tight hug. Kuroo’s eyes widened in shock.

“This is my answer, Tetsurou.” she spoke, voice trembling, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Trying to get over his shock, Kuroo gently wraps his arms around her waist, trying to hold himself back. He wanted to hold her tighter, to wash away any traces of disbelief in his heart, -she likes me too?- but he wasn’t sure how she would take that.

“Y/N…” he whispers her name, and she tightened her embrace. If there’s anything that he understands about her, he knows that she is definitely more actions than words. He understands what that means.

I like you. A lot.

This time, Kuroo doesn’t hesitate. He hugged her tight, unwilling to let go even a second. His heart is bursting with love and joy, and he instantly becomes sure that this is the person that he wants to be with.

For the rest of his life.

  Eventually, they pulled apart, because Lev and the rest of the team emerged from behind them.

“I want a hug too!”

Y/N laughed while Kuroo stared at the first-year in disbelief. “How dense can you be? Can’t you read the atmosphere here??”

“BUT I BLOCKED THOSE SPIKES TOO! I DESERVE A HUG!”

“Then go hug Yaku!” Kuroo pointed at said boy.

“Aw, hell no!”

Yaku ran when Lev sprinted towards him.

 ________________________________________________________

[A/N] How did this get so long? Thanks for reading! I’ll work hard to improve!

[hpwipfest-blog]

Masterpost HP WIP Fest, part 1

Hello dear fest participants and exited readers. I hereby give you the first masterpost of the HP WIP Fest, announcing all WIP’s that have entered so far. As it is a long list, I have put it under a cut, with the WIP’s that are already on ao3 first in case you want to start reading already. 

If you signed up for the fest but do not see your WIP in this list, this is probably because I do not yet have a title for your work. In that case, please email me the title so I can include you in the next masterpost.

I hope all the participants find lots of inspiration to finish in the upcoming weeks, and to our early readers, enjoy these wonderful WIP’s!

#1

Skin Deep by @loganaa-fic

Pairing: Drarry

When Harry accepts a job at Dean's tattoo parlor, he never expected that Draco Malfoy would show up, looking for a tattoo. But then again, since when did Malfoy do what was expected?

#2

The Boy Who Killed God by @sirius-black-killed-god

Pairing: Wolfstar

Sirius Black has a secret. Well, no, that's not true. Sirius Black has many secrets. His wand is dying, his parents more or less want to kill him, and there's the small matter of the cursed TOUJOURS PUR tattoo right above his heart, that he's had since he turned eight years old. Sirius Black is no stranger to secrets.

Then, Remus Lupin walks into his life.

Thus, begins a whole new history - one of darkness, of magic, of bravery, of family - as four boys set out to unwind the endings so many others have written for them.

This is the story of the Marauders at Hogwarts and afterwards, and all the love that lies between.

This is Year One.

#3

Apparently by justanotherloser

Pairing: Drarry

Father says apparently I feel too much.

Mother says apparently my mask needs to hide more of my emotions.

The Dark Lord says apparently I'm too weak.

Blaise says apparently I hate too often, and Pansy says I apparently need to let go.

I never get to make choices with them. Not with my family, not with my life, not with my house.

Apparently I can only choose who I hate, and I can't even get that right.

Apparently I love Harry Potter.

#4

Are You Here To Finish Me Off, Sweetheart? by @geekmom13

Pairing: Antonin Dolohov/Hermione Granger

Antonin gets held by the order for the secret he keeps and Hermione is put in charge of him. They end up relying on each other more than anyone had expected.

#5

Children of war by @the-purple-black

Pairing: Bellatrix Lestrange/Rodolphus Lestrange

A promise made by Bellatrix to the Dark Lord seemed unimportant at the time, though years later it seems her loyalty must be put to the test.

#6

Fixed Point by @frumpologist

Pairing: Dramione

Draco and Hermione are Time Unspeakables who travel through time to stop anachronists from using illegal time travel to change the course of history.

Their adventures lead them through the whole of history and the unwritten expanse of the future. Hermione learns about the History of Magic and Draco learns about science, Muggles, and falling in love.

However, there are fixed points in time, events so important that they cannot be altered. Hermione Granger’s tragic life as an Unspeakable is one of those points, and nothing Draco can do will change the path they’re forced to follow.

#7

Not In Love (Letters) by @drarryangels

Pairing: Drarry

It's eighth year at Hogwarts, and Harry is unsurprisingly beyond miserable. Ron isn't coming back for his last year of school, Hermione is suddenly best friends with Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy won't stop ignoring him. Even all the House unity is going too splendidly to be exciting. Truthfully, Harry wishes he had never come back at all. That is, until he starts receiving letters from an anonymous sender.

#8

Sequel to Palo Alto by @nachodiablo

Pairing: Wolfstar

Modern AU set in Northern California. It's been four years since Sirius and Remus got their shit together. James and Lily aren't doing too shabby, either. Things are going great. Sure, James still hasn't gotten any of his business ideas off the ground quite yet. And yeah, Lily's still not ready to move in with James, even though she spends every night at his place. And okay, Remus might be starting to freak a little about whether his PhD is going to land him in some no-name wasteland town for a job. And fine, Sirius has stalled out a bit since he left work to pursue his dreams of... well, to find a dream to pursue. Regardless. Things are great. Very chill. That is, until a family tragedy brings an adorable bundle of responsibility into their lives.

#9

The End Is Just The Beginning by @the-fifth-marauder

Pairing: Drarry

When Draco decided to join the Auror forces, he knew life would be made hell for him by just about everyone in the Ministry. Yet never did Draco think he would be condemned to a fate like this.

Or

The one where Draco gets the second chance he never knew he wanted. Before he realized that 'Happy Endings' just aren't for his destiny. Or were they?

#10

New Beginnings by @kaarina-riddle

Pairing: Dramione

Hermione comes home to find her husband in a compromising position on the kitchen table and wants to get away from everything, the perfect job opportunity as a professor of Charms at Hogwarts is offered and she takes it. Only to find that there's a surprise Draco Malfoy old school nemesis is the new DADA professor what will happen?

#11

A Girl Worth Fighting For by @saintdionysus

Pairing: Hermione Draco, Hermione/Theo

Due to the events of War, The Ministry of Magic has ordered students to repeat their final year, despite being legal wizarding age and completion of OWLs. Hermione Granger and Blaise Zabini form a friendship as head boy and head girl and find a way to use their authority to challenge the Ministry. Along the way, she finds herself caught between two unexpected love interests, while Blaise plays referee between his two friends.

#12

The Promise by @tofadeawayagain

Pairing: Drastoria, Dramione

When Astoria Malfoy learns she is dying, she asks Hermione Granger to take care of her husband Draco. It's not until the following New Year's Eve that he starts to let her. A tale about the seasons of grief, friendship and love, and moving on after a devastating loss.

#13

All the Stupid Things in Between: A Gryffindor and Slytherin Love Story by ForeverEvan

Pairing: Fred Weasley/OFC

Evangeline "Evan" Carter, the illegitimate daughter of Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, is moved from Ilvermorny to Hogwarts at the beginning of the 4th Year. She is facing the task of hiding her true identity while falling for a boy from the wrong family. Evan must rely on her brother and her teacher to navigate the dangerous world of being the daughter of a Death Eater and a killer.

#14

Prowler by @goldie-writes-things

Pairing: Harry/Hermione

Harry and Hermione thought winning the war was the hard part. They had no idea how difficult surviving it would be. Newly engaged Lord Potter and Lady Black must navigate the murky waters of parenthood while rebuilding their lives. But when their world starts crashing down around them they are faced with a startling question: What wouldn’t you do for your child?

#15

Stressed Teen to Yes Queen by @drarryandharry

Pairing: Drarry

The fab five sort out post war Harry. That’s it. That’s the summary.

#16

Shockwave by maraudersaffair

Pairing: Drarry

When Harry fled Britain he had no idea murder and Draco fucking Malfoy would follow. Now in Las Vegas, he’s faced with a vampire mystery and a Malfoy who refuses to tell him the truth.

Veelas and vampires! Yay!

#17

Destiny Intertwined by @vinoamore

Pairing: Hermione/Dolohov

In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the DFFandCabalChristmasFest collection.

Prompt: A marriage law is passed just before the Christmas holidays. Hermione is matched with a former Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov...and Hermione is furious. "Why is this happening?!" she demanded. "He tried to kill me!"

#18

The Seven Year Witch by @thelastlynx

Pairing: Dramione

A boy and a girl have been meeting, coincidentally, for seven summers. While they pretty much hate each other most of the year, for those little moments in July or August they manage to see one another in a different light. But will that be quite enough to bring them together?

#19

Distant Stars by @of-stars-and-moon

Pairing: Wolfstar, Jily

(The story of Sirius Black, a Slytherin student as he finds friendship and love from someone he never expected)

'The memory was still so new and clear, feeling like it was yesterday but an eternity away at the same time.

In first year, Sirius would have never ever imagined that on his last day at Hogwarts, he would be lying on a roof, holding hands with Remus and listening to James and Peter.'

#20

A Home For Christmas by @motherbookerao3

Pairing: Drarry

High on a barely legal pain potion, Harry accidentally ends up adopting a child with Draco Malfoy.

#21

The Noble and Most Ancient Guide to Vice and Virtues by grimyoufuck

Pairing: Wolfstar

Toujours Pur; the words had been branded into Sirius' subconscious from a young age. It was a motto he'd never been able to live up to, even when he had tried. But now? Now, he was going to escape his mother's scathing words and his father's ambivalent silence to travel the continent with his best friend, and nothing was going to stop him. His mother was determined to keep the bloodline pure, and uphold the name of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Sirius was determined to do the opposite.

When Sirius Black journeys to France to begin the first leg of his European tour with best friend James Potter, he'd expected a holiday of booze and boys. What he hadn't expected, much less wanted, was an educational trip, including nights out at the opera. But when a particular cast member catches Sirius' eye, he wonders if some good old fashioned fun could be obtained after all.

#22

Serendipity by @mrsren96

Pairing: Harry/Hermione

Like any girl, Hermione has dreamed of her future nuptials, at least once or twice. So far it's not going so well. There's a marriage law, and well, Harry Potter to deal with.

#23

Avignon by bittercape

Pairing: Gen

Voldemort is dead, and Wizarding Britain is controlled by the totalitarian Umbridge Ministry. The resistance, mainly centered around our heroes from the books (with some additions and some changes), is working against overpowering odds to overthrow the government. Think a reversed French revolution meets Cold War-era Berlin. With magic.

#24

A Bond Beyond The Vast Wave by @mangopassionfruity

Pairing: Sirius/Lucius, James/Lily, Lily/Severus

Sirius was a many things, rebellious, lazy, a prankster, troublemaker, lady's man, irresponsible, carefree. Or that is what he likes to appear as. And why break that image he's crafted for himself? Even if it'd make his life easier, especially with his hidden relationship with a certain Malfoy heir.

But things backfire and it leads to making decisions that change his way of life.

#25

Though My Mind Could Think (I Still Was a Mad Man) by Cassiara

Pairing: Drarry

After the war is over Harry thinks it's finally his turn to rest after years of pretending he's fine, and just waiting for the day he isn't needed anymore. He tries to kill himself, but of all people, Malfoy saves him. Harry realises that if he has the courage to die, he should also have the courage to live.

Ultimately this is a story about recovery, but it's also about all the things you sometimes have to go through to get there.

This is a rewrite of my fic "Favourite Scar".

#26

Explosions in the heart by @hp-rbiim

Pairing: Drarry

It's back to Hogwarts and Malfoy is annoying as ever.

Unpublished WIP’s

#27

Time is gone (thought i'd have something more to say) by Thestias

Pairing: Fremione

After the battle of hogwarts, the dead number in the hundreds; the loss of the brightest witch of their age hits hard, and for one wizard, his desperation to fix what had been broken sends him travelling back in time in a frantic attempt to save her. angst, fluff and angst, time travel, alternate universe - canon divergence, slow burn

#28

Encounters by @pottercrew

Pairing: Drarry

Harry is finding it difficult to keep his relationship with Draco apart from his relationships with Malfoy. What if he no longer wants to? Kink negotiation, anal sex, blow jobs, hard sex, bondage, voyeurism, sex club.

#29

The Side Of The Angels by @hiddenhibernian

“Focus,” Hermione told herself, forcing her breathing to slow down. “What's the worst that can happen?”

 Bad question. Her heart was hammering so hard it drowned out the buzz from the bar on the other side of the door to the cleaning cupboard she unceremoniously had been bundled into. The bar was the Hag's Head, and it was usually a friendly place for the Order of the Phoenix. They were still fighting, five years after the fall of Harry Potter, but Aberforth had turned against them... It didn't bear thinking about. 

Then the door opened.

#30

Not Gryffindor…? by Dracomalfoyy_youlittleshit

Harry gets sorted into Slytherin, finding an unlikely friendship in Draco Malfoy. Basically a retell of Harry Potter but with Harry in Slytherin.

#31

A Lotus In The Mud by @kaokumasparkle

Pairing: Drarry

Harry always had problems with common sense, everyone knows this. And now that he's sick with Hanahaki over a certain slytherin blonde, it looks like he may never get the chance to learn. Possible tags: mutual pining, angst with a happy ending, parseltongue Harry, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Hogwarts 8th year, Hermione just wants ONE year where Harry doesn't almost die, jealous Draco, protective Harry, Forbidden Forest adventures, minor mentions of blood

#32

It’s A Kind Of Magic by ive_beenfound

Pairing: Drarry

It's 8th year and the war has been hard on everyone. And having a future to think about and look forward to is terrifying Warnings/Tags: 10 year time jump, difficult conversations about lgbtq and war, harry being oblivious, draco being a shite, potentially triggering conversations about family.

#33

Flirting With Chaos by @alexandrao

Pairing: Dramionarry (Draco x Hermione x Harry) 

The Ministry of Magic passes a marriage law, forcing all those above the age of 17 to be married. Hermione, furious with the law, is paired not to one wizard, but two! Determined to change the law, she flirts with the line that could send her relationship into complete and total chaos.

#34

Friendship, Football, and Fireworks by @LegendaryWrighter

Pairing: Deamus

One lazy Sunday morning, Seamus finds Dean going through some old sketchbooks and joins him in reminiscing on several memories. 

#35

The Winder Of My Life by @nuclearnik

Pairing: Dramione

Hermione's special bond with her Snippets of Hermione's life as she grows up raised by a single mother. When Hermione is an adult, their bond grows to include Draco, who accepts him as long as he loves and cares for her daughter. As her mother's health declines, Hermione has hard truths to face and a supportive husband who is smitten by her mother. 

[cryoculus]

Taste Test

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader Setting: Tokyo, aged up characters, Soulmate AU Possible Triggers: Mentions of Death Word Count: 4,100 Cross-posted from AO3

In your years of pursuing a degree in Biology, you eventually learned along the way that the human being's most crucial sense is their sense of smell. It's heavily linked with a single human's memories since the olfactory bulb and the limbic system are heavily correlated. That alone might make a regular joe assume that smell really is the most powerful sense that a human being can obtain. You believed in that notion for as long as you could remember, too, but that was until last night.

Having slept considerably earlier than you normally would, being woken up at one in the morning didn't aid to your precarious temper at the time. More often than not, the reason for you being so rudely roused at this ungodly hour would be the Golden Ret you kept around your cramped apartment. He's always had a tendency to bark when he hears a car passing by outside, regardless of what time of day it is. However, in this case, your dog was sleeping soundly on the rug you kept at the foot of your bed and the only nuisance to your slumber being that terrible flavor that exploded in your mouth, seemingly out of nowhere.

In hindsight, it wasn't atrocious to the point where you doubled over. You tried flushing out the taste by swallowing your own saliva, but when you've swallowed faster than the time it took for your mouth to produce the sticky liquid, the taste still lingered. With a groan, you padded blindly through the darkness of your room, trying to reach the en-suite.

When you flipped the switch on, the fluorescent light made you flinch for a sliver of a moment. You blinked away the spots in your eyes and stuck your tongue out to check if you happened to forget to swallow the spaghetti you had for dinner. The idea sounded more ridiculous when you realize that there is absolutely nothing in your mouth. When you tried evaluating that twinge of flavor once more, it seemed to have petered out at the slightest -the strong astringent zest being diffused into a weaker taste.

Still, you didn't appreciate that vexing relish, no matter how minimal, so you grabbed a bottle of mouthwash from your display of imported toiletries and poured a hefty amount into your mouth without a spare thought.

You gurgled for the next five minutes, eradicating anything that might've caused this inconvenience, and it seemed to work better than you initially expected. Baring your teeth in front of the mirror, you inspected every crevice for any residue, but your teeth remained the sparkling white they have been before you went to bed. A frown settled on your face, still aghast with that strange endeavor.

However, just before you decided to catch some more Z's, the disgusting taste tormented you once more and you were about to reach out to your good ole' friend, Listerine, out of reflex, but the zing of bitterness was gradually replaced by a familiar taste... Was this apple juice? No, it had a little more spice, but you could definitely taste apples.

"What in the nine hells is going on," you whispered pathetically as you slid your body down to the bathroom floor.

You waited -waited for the flavors to come toppling all over you once more. But seconds, then minutes, then hours passed before slumber came back to claim you in its waiting arms.

"Your soulmate's pret-ty considerate," your co-worker, Oikawa comments dreamily as he opens up the breastplate of the most recent victim of yet another Tokyo car crash. "The first time I tasted something, it was probably just as terrible as yours, but Iwa-chan didn't even bother to rinse it off. I've forgiven him, though~"

You roll your eyes. "I can't believe we're talking about this while we're doing an autopsy."

He shrugs without letting his eyes wander from the body in front of him. "You brought it up. Can you hand me that rib cutter? Thanks."

Your gaze shifts to the girl Oikawa is currently cutting up. You've long gotten over the bothersome sensation that comes along with being around a dead human body (you've been doing post-mortem for years). But this doesn't stop your mind from drifting into the could-have-beens for this poor soul. According to the report passed down to you, her brother was the one driving the vehicle. The brother survived, but this one didn't, unfortunately. What a shame. This kid could have made it as a celebrity with her looks.

You try to recall her name -because you're not very good with names, even if it was written in the report- but it's as if your brain halts all activity for a split second. In the next proceeding moment, you swear that a familiar, steak-flavored snake slithers around your tongue, causing your salivary glands to produce even more. A groan makes its way past your lips and Oikawa's eyes dart to you for a second before continuing to saw away at the withering bones of a dead girl. You force yourself to stay put. Of all the times that your soulmate could have chosen to have that Salisbury steak from that fancy restaurant at Ikebukuro, why did they have to do it now?

"You alright there?" You can hear the budding concern in Oikawa's voice. The ghost of savory gravy haunts your tastebuds, which causes you to squirm even further in your seat. Oikawa is about to put the saw down, but that's until his phone vibrates in the pocket of his trousers. Arching his brow, he removes one of his gloves to check it out. "Huh. Bokuto posted something."

You try your best to pull yourself together to be able to form coherent sentences. "B-Bokuto, as in that comedian-Bokuto?"

"Yeah. Look." He proceeds to show you what's displayed on the screen of his phone. You squint a little to read the caption for his Instagram post.

bokutoe Out for lunch with the boys!

♡ bokutoe, kei_tsukishima, hinatatas, and 67 others like this.

In the picture is the aforementioned Bokuto Koutarou, looking like an owl on steroids as usual, the actor Akaashi Keiji, Bokuto's best friend, with the ever placid look on his face, and lastly is that breakout artist, Kuroo Tetsurou, who isn't even looking at the camera and is just poking at the steak on his plate...

Wait, what?

Before you give another thought to it, Oikawa speaks up. "Weird how Akaashi and Bokuto are in Ikebukuro, don't you think?" he asks as he spares yet another wistful stare at the girl on the autopsy bench. "They must be there to cheer Kuroo up."

"Huh? Why would they have to do that?"

He casts you a look that suggests that he just labeled you as a really dumb person. "Did you seriously forget? This girl-" He gestures vaguely to the body. "-is Kuroo Teruha, Kuroo Tetsurou's little sister."

You try not to let the fact that your soulmate is a hot singer get to your head. The man isn't even aware of your existence. Okay, maybe he somehow is, because when you had oatmeal for breakfast this morning, the faint bitterness of medicine teases your tongue. Out of sheer curiosity, you looked up one of those autobiography blogs about Kuroo (made by his thirteen year-old fangirls, you presume) and that's when you find out that he's allergic to oatmeal. God damn oatmeal.

When you think about it, isn't it a little too much of a stretch for him to take anti-allergy meds because he tasted something he's allergic to? The actual food itself isn't even inside his mouth in the first place, so why the hell...?

But still. If you were going to have a soulmate, you'd never expect it to be someone famous in a million years. Just your luck, your soulmate is a grieving musician, and you only found out that he was your soulmate the night his sister died. The universe really does have interesting ways of bringing people together. However, you're pretty sure you won't be dropping by his house anytime soon, telling him, "Hey, whaddup! It's ya soulmate!" while giving him the jazz hands. You'll try to give him some space and avoid eating oatmeal for the time being.

Work today progresses rather quickly, since you and Oikawa are simply finalizing some details with Teruha's autopsy report. But since it was his turn to be the lead pathologist, he does most of the work and you're only there to offer up better wording for his sentences.

"There," he declares as he places his pen on the table. "Finished."

A small smile plays at your lips. "Well, you wanna get some lunch?"

He shakes his head. "Iwa-chan's the lawyer for their case, remember? He's invited to the funeral today, so we're heading out...right now, actually. Wanna come with?"

You consider it for a moment, but then you remember that Kuroo might be there. Your breath hitches in your throat at the realization. Nope. You're not quite ready for the confrontation stage just yet.

"Ah, I forgot I had plans this afternoon," you reason out rather pathetically and you can see that Oikawa isn't buying your shit at all. But, being the good friend that he is, he only shrugs before placing the reports back in the manila folder. He hands them to you.

"Could you drop this off by Chief Azumane's office? I still have to get ready."

You scowl. "Why are you trying to be fashionable at the funeral of the girl you cut up yesterday?"

He winks. "Why not?"

Chief Azumane's office isn't too far from the forensics department -thank God- so when you swing by to hand him the files, you take your time to engage him in small talk.

Though he has the stature of a bear, the Chief is easily one of the most peaceful people you've met. In critical scenarios, he prefers not to exert violence of any sort as long as criminals in the picture can still be reasoned out with. In TV shows, the policeman who refused to get his hands dirtied would've been a failure but that definitely isn't the case with Chief Azumane.

"So just pop the lasagna in the oven for thirty or-so minutes -depending on how much you're going to cook- then you're good to go," he instructs with a cheery grin.  

"All noted, Chief." You tap at the temple of your head.

He laughs the most lighthearted laugh you've heard all day and proceeds to tell you about that one time Sawamura fell asleep while baking lasagna and almost burned their house down. You're all about hearing Superintendent Sawamura, one of the most uptight officers in the station, almost burn his own house down because he was cooking up some pasta. But then another spectre hauls your attention away from the man in front of you. You feel as if there's some powder on your lips, so you try to lick it away but the sensation wouldn't disappear. A lemony zest balanced with just the right amount of sugar teases your mouth, and wait... You can't put your finger on what this is, but you know you've tasted it before...

"Whoops," the sound of the Chief bumping into his desk as he abruptly stands from his seat breaks you out of your reverie. "I just got a call. There's some thief that needs disciplining in Akiba. As much as I want to continue this conversation, we'll have to save it for later." You don't miss the slightly disappointed ring to his words, as he strides out of his office. But you're so busy trying to recall what food has the taste in your mouth, you don't even notice Chief Azumane leave the room.

Oikawa calls you as you commute back to your apartment.

"You should have come along with uuuus," your friend drawls. "It was a funeral, but their lemon squares are to die for!"

You snap your fingers in conclusion, waking up the elderly man sleeping beside you on the bus. He gives you the stink eye before settling back into his comfortable position. Lemon squares; that's what they're called!

Without thinking, you agree, "I know right?"

"Huh? How do you know?"

You bite your lip. Shit. "U-Um, I heard that they got those lemon squares from the bakery near the park, hahaha. They taste really good!"

Silence. "They were made by Kuroo's mother."

Forgoing all reason, you hang up on him.

It's been a month since you've known about the bond you shared with Kuroo, and since there hasn't been a rockstar knocking at your door for the past month, you draw a conclusion that he's yet to know who keeps on eating ice cream for breakfast. When Oikawa found out, he went into a fit, stating all the health hazards that came along with ingesting that much of a sweet so early in the morning. You really wish to tell him your reasons for your strange breakfast choice, but reluctance overshadows your honesty. Besides, it's not like you're jeopardizing your health on purpose, right? You only do it to excite a reaction from Kuroo because every time you have that delectable treat for breakfast, he counters it with bacon and eggs.

Furthermore, you've pretty much painted a clear picture of his eating habits over the past month. Kuroo likes eating mints. He likes it far too much for your own comfort. Well, it kind of saves you from the burden of buying your own, but you really want to drink a glass of orange juice without feeling like you just brushed your teeth, every now and then. You know that he wakes up far earlier than you do because more often than not, you don't taste your morning breath. Instead, he's already eating his goddamn mints.

As mentioned before, he probably eats breakfast around the time you do. (You like to think that he's waiting to taste the ice cream on his lips before he eats his bacon and eggs, but that seems to much of a pipe dream at the moment.) He drinks a lot of energy drinks, too. From the build of his body, you wouldn't be surprised if he was actually a part-time bodybuilder or even an athlete. Other than that, he's really fond of meat, exotic burgers especially. At least once a day, you can taste a savory beef patty on your tongue, accompanied by some vegetables that you'd normally take out in your burgers, and condiments that you would rather not taste again. You let him know that you don't like it when he eats burgers by rinsing the taste off with some mouthwash, but he doesn't seem to be as lenient as he was during the first night.

Speaking of which, you're now sure that he was drinking that night. Alcohol wasn't something you enjoyed, so you steered clear of it as much as possible. So you were immensely delighted when Kuroo decided not to drink any more intoxicating substances now that he's aware that his soulmate wouldn't appreciate it.

However, you get another bitter round of intoxication that doesn't belong to you the following night.

You've only ever been drunk once, and it was because of a beer that had the lowest alcohol content you've heard of. But you do remember the haze of intoxication bringing about both the happiest moments of your life and the most miserable of your memories. Assuming that Kuroo is experiencing the same thing, he can't really be brimming with glee, since his sister just died a month ago (and you're more than sure that he still blames himself for it). So, when he tries to drink away the sorrow and guilt that still plague his chest, you don't interrupt him via using the mouthwash solution. You let him drink all the alcohol his heart can take, until your own throat burns and your vision starts to swim. You're left wondering how this bond goes way deeper than the phantom flavors that haunt the two of you.  

"You're hiding something from me," Oikawa accuses you.

Not really capable of casting him a sideways glance, since you're focused on trying to cut a Y-shaped incision onto the torso of your newest post-mortem guest, you tell him, "If I was hiding something, what would you think it'll be?"

Silence encompasses the autopsy room, and you shudder for some reason.

"You found out who your soulmate is, didn't you?" he guesses, and surprisingly there's no hint of hostility to his tone. He kind of sounds like a mother that figured out an innocent secret her child has been hiding.

With a bated breath, you finally spare him a look. "It's complicated."

"You met him yet?"

"No...But I know who he is."

Oikawa nods in understanding. "Does he know who you are?"

You place your instruments on the tray beside you and contemplate about your reply for a moment. If Superintendent Sawamura is here, witnessing you purposely delaying an autopsy, he would have whopped your ass. You whisper a silent apology to the dead man on the table before training your eyes on Oikawa's. "I don't think he's ready yet."

His brow arches questioningly. "How ready can one ever be when it comes to their soulmate, honestly?"

You sigh. "You've got a point, but... I don't want to rush him."

Your friend processes your words for a moment, and when the flash of realization sparks in his brown eyes, you immediately pull your focus back to sawing off this man's ribs and getting his internal organs out. Oikawa surprises you once more when he doesn't flail about like a fish out of water, demanding you for answers. He waits patiently, very patiently. Not another word is uttered within the four corners of the room until you've analyzed what you can about the body -he died of head trauma- and stitched it back up.

As you are washing your hands in a nearby sink, you feel a comforting hand on your shoulder.

"Iwa-chan told me he also likes lasagna," Oikawa offers you a sly smile. "Why don't you try...eating some?"

You heave a deep breath before turning off the faucet and drying your hands on your stained lab gown. You turn to him and return his grin. "That just might be a good idea."

Despite Chief Azumane sharing a rushed How-To-Make-Lasagna tutorial a few months ago, you couldn't find it in yourself to cook your own and eat it, knowing that another person at the end of the bond could very well taste your potentially horrible cooking. So, instead of splurging money to gather ingredients for the dish, you utilize the services of an Italian restaurant nearby, instead. You initially intended to drag Oikawa with you, but he apparently had movie night with Iwaizumi. You were very cool with that, but having to eat all this lasagna all by yourself seems like a heavy task, even for a bulk eater, such as yourself.

After saying your thanks for the food, you're about to stick your fork in the dish but that's until you taste the pasta before you can even start eating it. It's the perfect blend of cheese, beef, and tomato sauce and your mouth starts to water even if the food is right in front of you. What the hell? Is Kuroo here?

Your eyes dart around to the rest of the restaurant, whose current occupants considered mostly of families and teenagers on dates. You nearly miss the rockstar if it weren't for his unruly hair and very noticeable outfit. He's wearing a red flannel over a white shirt, paired with loose jeans. He looks like a ranch owner, yet he still manages to look just as dashing as you already know he is.

The two of you are locking eyes from the opposite ends of the room, and your heart is beating off the charts. To make matters worse (or better?), he begins to stand up, carrying an entire platter of lasagna in his arms, and proceeds to walk towards you.

Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT.

You try to act natural. Well, as natural as one can be while their hot soulmate is walking towards them. When Kuroo finally gets to your table, he showcases a lopsided smile.

"Is this seat taken?" he asks you in a voice that sounds like velvet in your ears.

In the midst of your mild shock, you remember to speak. "Uh, no. D-Do you wanna eat with me?"

His lips stretch into a grin before he slides himself into the seat next to yours. Your face feels warm all of a sudden, and you suddenly remember the high school crush you used to have on Matsukawa. It kind of felt like this, but your heart didn't beat as wildly back then than it is now. Kuroo doesn't chow down, contrary to your expectations of him. Instead, he pulls out a container from his pocket and offers you a mint.

"My name's Tetsurou," he introduces sheepishly. "Thanks for tolerating me."

You stare at the mint in your hand. He always chooses the brand that you're not very fond of but, nonetheless you consume it with a smile, a wave of warmth suddenly pulsing right through you. The spearmint spices up your mouth, and you only discern how much of a terrible idea that was when your eyes drift back to your lasagna.

"You, dolt!" A groan escapes your lips, and the flustered feelings from earlier disappear in a blink of an eye. "How am I supposed to eat now that you made me taste those goddamn mints again?"

He gives you an incredulous look. "You don't like it when I eat mints? Oh, shit. Sorry. Why didn't you let me know?"

For the time that's passed, it's been a mutual agreement for the both of you to resort to mouthwash when one person at the end of the bond consumes something that the other is not very fond of. But with the case of his stupid mints, there's quite a problem to that feat.

"How was I supposed to wash out the taste of mints with menthol mouthwash, genius?" you rebutt with a snarky tone.

"Couldn't you have eaten spoiled food to give me the hint?"

"You're not serious, right?"

He shrugs. "Beggars can't be choosers."

"Oh, so I'm a beggar now?"

"What? No! I'm -ah fuck. Lemme start over," he raises his hands in defense before taking a deep breath. "First off, I wanted to apologize for not looking for you right away. That night -w-when Teruha was hospitalized- I went out drinking and at my first glass, I could already feel something scraping at my tastebuds. That's when I realized. But since I was so...devastated, I couldn't spare the time to find out who you were... If you don't mind me asking, how long have you known?"

You remain silent for a good while, and you can almost see the raw discomfort on his face. With a sigh, you tell him about everything.

He's the one who keeps his silence this time, carefully assessing every word you just told him. He didn't strike you as someone calm and calculating but your assumptions prove otherwise. You expect him to get up and bail out on you. You've known for this long, but didn't even have the guts to face him even if he was just within your reach. If you hadn't come here today, maybe you would have chosen not to meet Kuroo at all.

To your surprise (cough, relief, cough), his mouth curls into a small smile. "Man, I owe you a lot, don't I?"

You shake your head insistingly. "You don't owe me anything, Kuroo. I've been in forensics for as long as I can remember. I've dealt with lots of grieving family members. From all the years that passed, I learned that the best thing one can give them is space."

He freezes. "You're a forensic scientist?"

"Pathologist, actually." You cock your head. "You didn't know?"

He lowers his head and chuckles. "Iwaizumi only told me that I'd meet my soulmate here..."

"Iwaizumi?" you echo with incredulity. If Iwaizumi told him to go here, and Oikawa planted the idea in your head...

Your fist collides with the table and the silverware clinks at the force. A budding flame of childlike rage courses through your veins. Kuroo looks at you with sheer concern and amusement at the same time.

"We were set up!"

[animorphintime]

Jake/Cassie fanfic therapy

I just finished a re-read of the series and have HUGE FEELS about Jake and Cassie, so I had to write about it. 

This is set right after book #41, the one where Jake wakes up in a potential future universe. I know we as a fandom are meh about this book, but I think it’s one of the most interesting explorations of Jake’s character and how his relationships with his team (specifically Cassie) intersect with their larger mission. So that’s where we are...

"Hello?"

Time stopped.

Everything got extremely quiet. Except for the pounding of my heart.

I knew now. I'd made a choice. I knew what I was made of. My limitations and priorities.

"It's Jake," I said.

No response.

"It's Jake," I said again, voice quaking like I'd never talked to her before.

As if this were the first call I'd ever made. The only call that mattered.

"Cassie, I just wanted to ask what I should have asked you yesterday. Are you okay?"

There was a pause, then I heard a small sigh on the other end.

“I’ll talk to you later, Jake. Okay?”

Click

I stared at the phone in my hand.

--

Cassie didn’t show up to school. I knew it was reckless, but during my lunch period, I snuck to the roof and morphed to peregrine falcon. Cassie’s house wasn’t far, but when I got there, I found curtains drawn over all the windows.

Not for the first time, it bothered me that Cassie understood people so well. Understood me.

I flew back to school.

The rest of my afternoon was spent ignoring everything going on in class and worrying about Cassie instead. What was I thinking, pushing her away like that?

You take her for granted, I thought to myself. You know that she cares about you so much that you can brush her off, send her home crying, and she’ll be there the next day anyway. Because she knows that too much is at stake, now.

It was an uncomfortable thought. It was true that Cassie usually did the work of making sure the rest of us were okay, and that none of the other Animorphs were good at it like she was. Had I been too distracted to see how much Cassie was struggling?

In my dream--or whatever the heck it was--I had watched Cassie fall, knowing I had to save the world instead of her. I knew Cassie would’ve saved me instead. I knew it, knew it as well as I knew anything else.

I still knew what my priorities were. What I would choose. But right then, sitting in class, I didn’t have to choose between Cassie and the world. I could just choose Cassie.

After school, I didn’t go to Cassie’s house again. Instead, I called Rachel.

“Hi, Jake,” she answered.

“Is Cassie--”

“She’s fine,” Rachel interrupted. “Ok, not fine fine, but not going to...well, not going to do what she did before, I don’t think.”

I knew Rachel was thinking of Aftran and our days-long search for Cassie after she quit the Animorphs. I felt a pang of guilt that I had been thinking the same. As if Cassie bailed every time it got hard.

Rachel sounded annoyed, now. Maybe because she thought Cassie bailed every time it got hard. “She told me she just needs some time.” “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Yeah. Bye, Jake.”

--

I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about the future Cassie from the night before, the one who was so far away and foreign from the girl I loved that I could barely reconcile it.

The one I never, ever, wanted to see again.

The one who was my fault.

My stomach clenched remembering her eagerness for violence and revenge. It clenched more remembering my last-second leap toward Marco as she lost her grip on the ledge.

Tap, tap, tap

I bolted upright in bed, heart pounding. Why was Tobias here? Had something happened to Cassie?

I hurried to the window, locking my bedroom door on the way just in case.

I slid the window open. An owl flew in. Not Tobias.

Cassie.

Cassie morphs the quickest of all of us. Recently, I had seen her complete a morph in under 20 seconds. But as she demorphed from owl in the middle of my bedroom floor (which was covered with more dirty clothes than usual, I noted with dismay), she was so slow that I knew it was deliberate.

I sat back down on the bed while she demorphed, suddenly aware of the boxers and t-shirt I was wearing. It occurred to me that Cassie had never actually been in my room before. I stood back up, feeling suddenly awkward. I crossed my arms across my chest.

When Cassie finished demorphing, she looked just as sad as she had walking away from the battle the day before. Morphing erased signs of crying, but it was obvious from looking at her than she had been.

She stared hard at the floor, then looked up and met my eyes. “Jake, I--”

Seeing her kind, sad, perfect eyes again--so different from the hard eyes of a stranger in the Cassie I had seen last night--made my heart ache. I took two strides and pulled her against me, clutching her harder than I ever had.

Cassie made a small, muffled noise of surprise.

Then I felt her arms tighten around my waist. Her hands bunched the fabric of my shirt against the small of my back. I felt wetness on my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Cassie,” I whispered. “I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry I left you when you needed me. Can you forgive me?”

Cassie pulled away to look up at me again, her face surprised. “Forgive you?” she whispered back. “Jake, you had the rest of the team to take care of. I shouldn't have put that on you. Not then.” She looked sad again, like she still wanted to talk about it, but was ashamed for wanting it.

I thought that Cassie had flown to my house because she still wanted to talk through the battle from yesterday. Suddenly I realized that I was wrong. She had flown here to tell me she felt bad for making me feel bad, for making me worry about her.

It was so absurd I almost laughed.

I took her hands in mine. “Cassie,” I said, my voice low. I debated whether or not to tell her about what had happened to me the night before. 

I decided against it. “It’s not just about the team, okay? It’s not just--it’s not just about everything else. I--” I swallowed hard. It was getting harder, as the war went on, to say these things. Shouldn’t it have been getting easier?

“I love you,” I said. I love you so much, I thought. “I love you and I love how much you feel things. We need you. I need you. You are never a burden to me. Okay?”

I expected Cassie to cry again, but instead she looked at me, hard. She guessed something had happened. 

I waited for her to ask me about what I wasn’t telling her.

She didn’t. Her expression softened. “Okay, Jake,” she whispered back.

“Do you want to talk about yesterday?” I asked. I didn’t want to relive the battle, didn’t want to think about what had happened and what I had done. But I wanted to save as much of Cassie as I could. My Cassie.

Cassie looked away again. “I don’t know. I don’t know if it would help, now. It’s just harder and harder to know where the line is anymore.” In a war, Jake, anything is justified, said future Cassie in the back of my mind.

I wanted to tell her I believed she knew where the line was.

I wanted to tell her I trusted her judgment.

I wanted to tell her I would always listen to her.

“Yeah,” I said instead.

We stood there in silence.

“I guess I’ll go,” Cassie finally offered, and began morphing back to owl.

“No,” I said quickly, not quite realizing the word was out of my mouth until I had said it. “Cassie, wait.”

She reversed her morph and looked at me expectantly. “What, Jake?”

I wasn’t ready to let her go. I wanted to keep looking at her soft, kind, beautiful face for as long as I could.

“Will you--” I could feel my face flushing, and I was glad my room was only dimly lit by the moonlight. “--stay?”

Cassie looked concerned, and her mouth opened, and I waited for her to tell me it wasn’t safe. That Tom’s room was down the hall. That he might ask how she got there. That if Tom suspected me, I was dooming her to life with a Yeerk in her head.

All the things I was telling myself.

She closed her mouth. When she opened it again, it was with a grin and a teasing whisper. “I bet you say that to all the girls who fly through your window in the middle of the night.”

I could feel myself smiling the way only Cassie makes me smile. “Actually, yeah.”

Cassie leaned forward and muffled her laugh into my shoulder. My heart skipped.

“Okay,” I heard her say softly into my shirt. “I’ll stay.”

My heart skipped again.

I took her hand and pulled her onto the bed with me. Away from the window, the room was dark, and I could barely make out her face.

“Hey Jake?” Cassie said softly, laying on her side to face me.

“Hmm?” I wanted to hold her, to kiss her, maybe--

“How bad are your nightmares?” Oh. We all had talked about our nightmares, once. To compare them or something, I guess. We all had recurring dreams about our first trip to the Yeerk pool, and about morphing ants. Marco often dreamed about being bitten in half. Rachel dreamed about Tobias being shot by hunters. I knew Cassie had nightmares about being the T-rex. 

But that wasn’t what Cassie was asking. She was asking what she should do if I woke up screaming.

“I’ll be fine with you here,” I replied, trying to make my hushed tones sound confident and failing. I couldn’t stop seeing the image of future Cassie's hand on the ledge.

I heard Cassie huff. “Liar.”

After a moment, she moved closer and curled into my chest. I put my arms around her.

“I love you too, you know,” she whispered.

She loves you, and you would sacrifice her to save everything, said the voice in my head.

I closed my eyes and cried silently in the dark.

After a while, I felt Cassie’s hand on my chest, resting over my heart. She let out a long sigh. I listened to her breathing become slow and even.

I knew that, if I had to, I would sacrifice her to save the world. Wherever I had been, whatever that nightmare future scenario was, it made me confront that.

But I hoped--God, I hoped--that I would never have to.

And right now, I didn’t have to.

--

When I woke up, Cassie was gone. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t remember a single dream.

--

When I got to school. Cassie and Rachel were talking by my locker. Cassie was dressed in overalls and boots. She looked perfect.

I met her eyes from across the hall. A sheepish grin crossed her face. When Rachel turned and saw that Cassie was looking at me, she made a point of dramatically rolling her eyes.

I gave Cassie--my Cassie--a small, slow smile.

I wouldn’t choose. I wouldn’t lose her.

I would make sure.

[mojoflower]

Underappreciated Sterek Fics Rec List

These are fics that all have less than 200 bookmarks, and I feel that they need more.

♥ The Demon Barber of Maple Avenue by heyshalina, marshmallowfluff  M.  14k.  When Stiles woke up on a Friday with his hair far too long for his own comfort, he decided he needed a haircut. He was not expecting the whole situation to end with Derek finally succumbing to their mutual sexual tension.Or the ghouls. He especially wasn't expecting to be eaten by ghouls.Basically, Stiles doesn't know anything super useful that's not supernatural-related. He has excellent butt-dialing skills, though, so that's a plus.

So funny.  "Yeah, I know," he said decisively, trying to look like he'd been perfectly aware that sitting down at the barber shop was a thing you could do. He took a step sideways towards the nearest chair. Natalie looked back down at her computer. He took another step. Then another. Then he turned and walked confidently towards the chair. He had just started lowering himself into it when Natalie called to him. "Stiles, we're ready for you now!" He jumped up from his half-crouched over position and his bangs fell back into his eyes. He flicked his hair out of his face with a jerk of his head, and felt sort of like Justin Bieber, before the guy cut off his hair because people said he looked like a lesbian. In a moment of fear, Stiles glanced across the room at his reflection in one of the mirrors. Did he look like a lesbian? He didn't want to look like a lesbian. Not that lesbians were bad or anything. But lesbians were only attracted to women, technically. He didn't want that kind of label applied to him.

Control by Badwolf36 M.  12k.   After (and their lives are always defined by “after.” “After” Derek’s family burned. “After” Scott got bit. “After” Gerard and the Kanima and the Alpha Pack and the Darach) the Nogitsune is pulled from him, Stiles becomes obsessed with control.

Sweeter, more heart-wrenching and innocent than you'd think.  So good.

The Time Stiles Totally Knew What He Was Doing by otatop G.  1k.  Stiles aggressively woos himself. // Derek is there too.

This is so. FUNNY.

♥ Eagle Lake by saltandbyrne E.  29k.   It was supposed to be an easy summer job. But everything at this camp is a little odd, and that Hale boy from the hardware store? Definitely too good to be true. Everyone seems to have secrets, and sometimes the truth is stranger than anything Stiles can imagine.

Lovingly earns every hot, throbbing inch of its E rating, seamlessly and hilariously interspersed with bits like this:

Or maybe he's actually going to eat Stiles, because seriously, since when do handsome strangers just show up at boys' camps in the middle of nowhere with any plans other than serial killing? Stiles is going to get serial-killed, and all he can do is look up at his future cannibal axe-murderer and gape.

A fear-boner is definitely a real thing, because Stiles is sporting one so big that the awkward police can probably see it from space. In a lifetime of inexplicable boners, Stiles is pretty sure that his “I'm about to get cut into little pieces by a gorgeous psycho” woody is the least 'plicable.

Good Touch by ksalterego M.  6k.  Derek notices that Stiles doesn't have a pack, so Stiles doesn't get pack hugs. Stiles clearly wants pack hugs. Also, Stiles smells far too much like Scott, far too often. // Derek decides to do something about it all.

So, I have a THING for fics featuring a touch-starved Stiles.  Really sweet... Stiles needs hugs so badly.

Keep The Earth Below My Feet by plume_bob M.  12k.  There's history to be found in the box of his mom's old memories, but history is problematic when Stiles thinks Derek might be the only one who knows the story. And, as usual, relying on Derek is an exercise in emotional juggling that Stiles is just not equipped to handle.

So fucking gorgeous, I can't even.  The author's turn of phrase is beautiful:

“Are you fishing for me to tell you you're funny?” Derek asks slyly, like Stiles is a book he can open at any page and immediately follow.

and

“I'm not made of wet paper towels, Derek,” Stiles tells him, harder than he'd imagined it'd come out with him feeling like—well, wet paper towels. Sorta. Wet paper towels laying on an exposed electrical wire. “You're not gonna break me.”

Omg, Derek is doing his tattoo, and they're practically having sex AS HE INKS HIM, and it's really unbearably hot.

The Owl by 8611 M.  8k.  The owl keeps his forest, and everything inside of it, safe. Even a pack of wolves.

Oh my god, such a gorgeous and vivid fairy tale.  Stiles is perfect as Owl, just watching.  The end is a little sad, in the way that fairy tales can be, but don't let that stop you, because the beauty... is lovely.

Into the Woods by KrisEleven  T.  10k.  “Well, yeah, I’m following someone," Stiles explained. Eyebrows raised as Derek's judging increased. “Not in a creepy way! It’s my best friend and his girlfriend.” One side of his stupid mouth rose in a wry smile. “Not like – they’re lost!” // Now Derek didn’t look amused at all. He looked back at the paper, no doubt noting that they had planned to have returned almost 48 hours ago. “You have to report that.” // “Oh, yeah, I didn’t think of that,” Stiles snarked. “Of course I reported it. I called the ranger station yesterday.” // “And they told you to stay out of the forest while they conducted a search.” It wasn’t a question. // “Well, okay, maybe that was said, but –” // “You’re an idiot,” he told Stiles, rolling his eyes.

Or, When Scott and Kira get lost on a romantic hike in The Siskiyou Wilderness, Stiles enlists the help of Mountain Man Derek Hale to find them and ends up on a completely unexpected romantic hike of his own.

He pulled items at random as he recognized them and thought of situations in which they could possibly be necessary. He put back the second can of bear mace after some deliberation. If that many bears attacked him, he would be dealing with some deeper issues.  Lol.

How to please your house spirit by Lesatha  M.  14k.  Derek startled awake in the middle of the night. For a split second he didn’t know why, then as he felt a strange weight on his chest, he raised his head and looked down. And stayed speechless. // There was a tiny creature, barely the size of Derek’s whole hand, sitting on him. It had a human shape, from what Derek could see. // It looked furious.

ohmygod this is infinitely adorable, Stiles is a (murderous, multitasking, shapeshifting) little shit (so is Peter) and Derek is utterly wrapped around his (occasionally) tiny finger.

♥ In Which Stiles Finds He Much Prefers When Interesting Things Happen to Somebody Else by Zoom Zoom (PaperLillyWebs)   T.  21k.  “Finish what you start,” the skull rasps at him, making him jump. When he looks up, the skull is just as still as before.Loosely based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wayne Jones.

What a fun story!  Stiles the apprentice is every bit of adorable, his Master Hale is a shadowy, mean kind of figure, and something's going on where none of the ends match up.  The story borrows the Howl's Moving Castle world, but that's all, none of the plot or characters.  I love it.

Attach me to your world by artisan447  E.  27k.  Turns out Stiles is magic. He's as surprised about that as anyone.

Sweet, sexy and intense:  everything you want a surprise bonding fledgling magic fic to be.

♥ Fasten You to Me by nubianamy  E.  21k.   The day gravity stopped working, Stiles was jogging through the park.

This story is so awesome, and surreal and frightening and sweet.  Stiles is jogging in the park when suddenly reality departs... and all the people go falling into the sky.  He straps himself to a root, manages to catch Derek, and then they spend the next three days together as the world disappears into a dense fog.  They get to talk a lot, of course, and more than talk (and wow, Stiles has had a crush on him since he was a little kid!).  But every once in a while, Stiles goes cold, and there are no words in his mouth, only a song, and everything recedes, and that's when Derek gets really scared and starts singing Beatles songs in his dreadful off-tune voice, trying to combat Stiles' song, trying to bring him back.

I fucking love this story.

A Hundred Echoes by hunters_retreat  E.  28k.   In the wake of life altering events, the Beacon Hills pack is trying to settle into some semblance of normal.  After the nogitsune, all Stiles wants is to be able to breathe easy and know that his friends are safe.  When Stiles begins to dream of his friends though, they turn out to be something extraordinary.  Stiles is a spirit walker.  The dreams leave him empathic and unable to control himself, but salvation comes in the unlikely form of Derek Hale.  Stiles just needs to know two things.  What is stirring in the woods of Beacon Hills to cause the entire pack to dream of horrific things? And can Derek help him learn to center himself and control his empathy before it’s too late?

In which Stiles is an empath and a dreamwalker, unbeknownst to himself.  He can be hurt in dreams, but his empathy is so out of control that no one can touch him but Derek.

"I'm not leaving without you, Derek," Stiles told him.  He held his hand out for Derek to take but it wasn't like Scott's dreams, or Isaac's.  This was Derek and even in his dreams there was a circle of mountain ash between him and the people he could ask for help.

"Stiles, please go," Derek's voice lost its command as he pleaded with Stiles.  "I'll survive.  I'll heal as soon as I wake up. You won't."

♥ Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn by khasael  T.  15k.   An unhelpful witch gives Stiles a gift he doesn't want. It's hard to say whether Derek is pleased by this or not... although not for the usual reasons.

Oh, joy.  Derek-the-hedgehog is utterly cute, and Stiles basically monologues for most of the chapters, and it's precious.

Massage Therapy by reillyblack  M.  11k.   Stiles wins the big lottery prize at the police departments annual fundraiser -- five at-home massages with the best masseuse in town. Which, ok, awesome, except... one problem: "the best masseuse in town" turns out to be the ridiculously hot, grumpy, man of his dreams and Stiles can NOT figure out how to hit on him during their sessions together without making him feel like a prostitute.

Very quick, and awkward and sweet.  I'd love for it to be twice as long and twice as explicit, but I'll take what I can get ;-)

[thesocialfables]

“So you met his imaginary ass brother today, huh?” Syn questioned Amina as she wrapped thick glossy lips around the White Owl the group had stuffed with Gelato Cookies.

“Oh, he definitely wasn’t imaginary.” Amina responded, smiling brightly and working to pair the White Owl with a Backwood of Hindu Kush.

“I told you, you was gone like him.” Legacy bragged, working to stuff his ripped Dutch with OG Kush. “He corny as hell, just like yo ass.” He said before ignoring yet another phone call to his phone.

“Why don’t you just turn it off?” Syn asked before showing off her perfectly pearled blunt. “Pay up motherfuckers!”

“Whatever, you get the ripped shit next time.” Legacy said tossing the tragic blunt aside and picking up his phone. “And I can’t. Fuck around my Momma be on the beach screaming my name.”

“So what was his weird-ass name?” Syn asked lighting the blunt. “You still gotta roll that by the way, honey. Otherwise, you ain’t hitting this.”

“Hitting what?” Legacy flirted as Syn rolled her eyes at his charm.

“This,” She said passing the blunt to Amina, before lifting her leg open to tap on her pussy. “Or this.”

Legacy kissed his teeth as Amina answered her question. “Reynard. He almost shit himself talking to me, though.”

The group all laughed as Syn lounged back in the bean bag chair, and lit the second blunt for their rotation. “Reynard? That’s weirder than weird.”

“I like it, it’s distinguished. Better than Rain.” Legacy and Syn both agreed that Rain was better than Reynard and the two of them would be perfectly corny together. “Whatever. He’s super cute too, Syn. Like- I can’t wait to be on some Ghost shit with him at the bookstore.”

“Y’all gone be killing, motherfuckers?” Syn joked as she choked on the smoke from the blunt. While Amina explained she meant the movie, Legacy just shook his head.

Legacy was the baby nobody saw coming. Before he was born, his parents had officially called it quits and had separated. Before a small backslide led to six more years of them trying to make their relationship work. All of his life, his father had lived elsewhere. Whenever the man did spend some time with his boys, it was usually over at their grandmother’s house, since at any given moment Desmond could be involved in some shit that they didn’t need to see. So he grew up on all of the things kids his age considered old.

“How you be knowing all of this shit?” Syn said attempting to pass the blunt. However, Legacy was still trying to work with the ripped cigar. “Just give it here.”

“Naw, I got it.” As Legacy’s lips wrapped around the blunt, Syn watched closely growing wet watching his lips and tongue work the cigar.

“Do Reynard got them lips though?” Syn joked and Amina agreed.

“Oh yes. His might even be a little bigger, though. And sexier, definitely sexier.” Legacy stuck his middle finger up at the girl before sitting back on the couch inside Amina’s pool house. “So, I’m I getting a neighbor or what?”

“I don’t know. He gotta talk to Moms first. She might let him if Heir says so.” Legacy ignored the two girls’ predictable comments about his older brother, and silenced his phone once more, while he continued talking, “She been babying Rain ever since she had post-partum.”

“How do you know all of this? Ain’t you the baby, Little Man.” Syn teased as Legacy swap blunts with the girl.

“Man, when you got that many kids, adults don’t give a fuck what they say in front of you.” He said, and Amina agreed. Coming for a big family herself she could relate to learning the secrets behind the family secrets before she even knew who they were talking about.

“Why you two just don’t hook up, y’all got so much in common?” Syn questioned and both of her friends looked at her. “Oh, because of me.”

Amina rolled her eyes, while Legacy gave Syn the reassurance she needed to know she was the only girl he was fucking – on this side of the city. “He got a girlfriend though. I ain’t tryna get involved in no drama this summer. I wanna go off to college, guilt-free. Make all my mistakes there, and then bring my ass home.”

While Legacy was of course going to Smithdale University Uptown, Amina was going to Dépänd School of Art in Mamey Grove and Syn would be going all the way to Harmon College in Mason. He didn’t know he had a choice between the two girls when they first invited him over, Amina being more reserved about her intentions with the boy compared to Syn. However, when Legacy heard she was going miles away for school – he chose to spend his time down at the beach in Syn before going off to college.

“Oh, you finally texting her back?” Syn asked as the group swap blunts and she noticed Legacy texting. “Or is that your Mommy.” She teased.

“Naw, this Karin.” Legacy said with a smile. “She on her lunch break.”

“That’s yo favorite, ain’t it?” Amina asked, noticing the genuine smile on Legacy's face with every push to his screen.

Legacy responded by nodding his head with the same goofy smile Amina now couldn’t get out her head, “I been fucking with Karin since I knew what to do with it.”

“What?” Syn asked sitting up to look Legacy in his eyes. Amina looked over to the girl to see if she detected jealously in her tone, while Legacy didn’t look up until he was done texting Karin back. “What the fuck you doing, sending that bitch a novel?”

“Woah!” Both Legacy and Amina called out with laughter, as Syn tried to walk back her slip up.

“You not, catching feelings are you? This not that. We talked about this.” Amina checked her own phone to avoid being caught between the temporary lover’s quarrel. Especially after Legacy finished up his statement by saying, “And don’t ever call her out her name again.”

“Relax, I’m sorry for offending you and little Miss Karin. I was just caught off guard. I thought all your bitches were new bitches.”

“Syn, he just said.” Amina sweetly injected, as Syn went to explain she didn’t call Karin a bitch specifically. Legacy just shook his head. He really liked fucking Syn, she treated sex like a bucket list of things she wanted to do before going off to college. It would be a shame to have to cut her off so early in the summer because she couldn’t keep her emotions in check.

“It’s cool. I probably should’ve been more open.” Legacy teased, recanting the ‘rules’ Syn had for him before they began sleeping together. “Only new bitch is you. I’ve been fucking both of them for damn near forever.”

“See, I didn’t know that. That changes things.”

“How?”

“You don’t think they got feelings for you? One more missed phone call and Ta-ta-da-licious gone come find yo ass. And I don’t want that type of drama. Right, Amina.”

“Leave me out of this.” She said before sitting back on the mismatched wicker love seat and focusing on her cell phone and her own entanglements.

“Me too.” Legacy said attempting to pass the blunt to Syn, who just stared at him. He wanted to just call it a night and go back to his father’s house and talk to Karin for the remainder of her break, but Syn’s chinky doe-eyes caught him in a trance. “Karin got a real boyfriend, so you ain’t gotta worry about her.”

“And the other one.”

“She ain’t even got a car.”

“Neither did you a few weeks ago.” Amina added. As Syn tried to use her comment to justify her jealous, Legacy stared at Amina.

“See, you was supposed to be on my side. Now, I’m not giving you Reynard number.”

“You weren’t giving it to me anyway!” Amina shouted sitting up, as Legacy leaned in to switch blunts with her instead of Syn, he showed her a text from Rain saying it was okay if he gave the girl his number. “Oh my god! Syn, be nice.”

“Damn, bitch, you that thirsty for some dick?” She shot before standing. “Gimme my blunt, I’m going home before Little Man gets the spot blown up.” Amina rolled her eyes before passing the girl her White Owl back. “If y’all can just pick names now, why the fuck would you keep Little Man, little man.”

“Man shut the fuck up and take yo hurt ass home. Don’t nobody smoke no fucking White Owl anyway.” Amina tried not to laugh as she sat back and worked on her message to Rain.

“I bet you would like it if I went home. Test the product before you send it off to your brother. That’s what you do, right?”

“It was hard not to tell him I already met Heaven’s fine ass.”

“And don’t tell him how old you is either.”

“Why not?”

“Reynard do not break no rules.”

“Well, shit how old is he?”

“It don’t even matter. You say 17, he gone say too old for you.”

“Really?” Syn spoke up, breaking Amina and Legacy’s laughter.

“I’m not finna chase you, Syn. My dick good, it’s okay. Now stop trippin’ and sit down.” Amina rolled her eyes before heading into her bedroom inside the pool house, while Legacy motioned for Syn to sit next to him on the couch. “Or you can go home, flick your bean, and just wish you was still here with me.”

“You stink.” Juliette’s voice called, causing Legacy’s eyes to open. Taking in the view of his new-old bedroom, he dodged the sun from his splitting headache. He had no idea how he ended up back at his mother’s house. “Why you in my house, anyway?”

“Dang, Momma.” He said sitting up slowly and quickly checking to make sure there wasn’t a girl somewhere inside the room with him. “I was only supposed to be gone for a few weeks. You and your little boyfriend kicking me out now?”

“Don’t worry about me and mines. What you looking for? A girl. I already put her out.” Legacy just stared at his mother. He may have been fucked up, but he was 100% sure his mother was not this clam after finding another girl in his room this month.

“No Momma, I’m not. I actually kinda missed you.” Legacy spoke, it was the truth. He wanted to come and see the woman yesterday when he asked about coming to get some more of his clothes. But she claimed she wouldn’t be home and sent Rain instead.

“Boy, save that shit for your little girlfriend. You ain’t missed shit but a bath. Get up and get that fucking car out of my driveway. And now, not later. Matter fact, get yo ass back in it and go back to your Daddy’s house.” Legacy chuckled to himself as he listened to his mother continue to talk about him as she headed up the stairs of his house.

Grabbing his keys, he followed his mother’s orders and headed outside to move his car. Stepping out into the sun, Legacy felt like a vampire as he shielded his eyes and rubbed his head to soothe his splitting headache. That was until he heard,

“Oh shit! The champ is here!” from the porch of his brothers’ house next door. Legacy had no idea what Dasun was screaming about. Looking back at his mother’s house, he figured she’d be okay for a few minutes as he walked over to the porch.

“What you talking about?” Legacy questioned, cuing Shadow and Dasun’s laughter.

“Yo ass really was fucked up last night, huh?” Heaven questioned, as Legacy looked at three of his older brothers – utterly confused.

“Okay, what happened for real? Cause he shouldn’t know shit.”

“Oh is that’s a house arrest joke?” Heaven defended himself, before continuing, “So why the fuck you call me first?”

“Call you for what?” Legacy questioned over Shadow and Dasun’s laughter.

“You gotta come get me, Heaven. I don’t wanna die.” Shadow teased, recanting Legacy’s after-hours distress call he put out to all his brothers.

“Just don’t tell Heir. He ain’t gone let Reynard come live with me.” Dasun finished up before laughing uncontrollably.

“And when the fuck did you start calling him Reynard?” Heaven asked in-between his own laughs.

“When he fucked up apparently.” Shadow answered before he and Dasun went back to laughing over each other.

“Man,” Legacy said checking for his mother while his brothers teased him. Before stepping closer to Heaven, who had found the perfect spot on the porch to stay out of their mother’s view.

“Naw, move Big Man! This spot only works for one nigga.” Heaven said pushing him away.

“Would you fucking clowns just tell me what happened?” Legacy asked stepping back to look at his brothers all laughing at him, with tears forming in their eyes.

“Oh shit, you alive?” Rain asked stepping outside. Even his girlfriend, Kendie, seemed to know how Legacy had gone from fucking Syn on Amina’s couch to waking up in his old bedroom smelling like 1942 and sourdough bread.

“Will you tell me what happened?” He asked, but Rain’s eyes diverted to Kendie, trailing behind him.

“I just know how much you love me, bro.” Legacy accepted Rain’s joke, simply because it obviously had something to do with girls and he couldn’t explain it all in front of Kendie.

“Whatever, nobody told Heir, though right?”

“How you think you got here? I couldn’t come to get you.” Heaven said and Legacy began to throw a fit while his brothers all laughed at him. Pulling his phone out of pocket to see if there was something in it that could point him in the direction he needed to piece together his missing hours.

“Stop teasing him.” Karin’s voice filled the porch as she whispered through the house’s screen door to avoid being detected by Juliette.

“Hold on, I know you didn’t sleep in there.”

“Relax slugger. She slept in my room.” Heaven said igniting the porch’s laughter as Legacy slipped inside to talk to Karin since his brothers were going to be no help in helping him understand what happened last night.

“I did not. Well, I did sleep here. But not in Heaven’s room. Kendie and Rain – Reynard – slept on the couch.”

“That’s what he said his name was.” Legacy said, knowing he could trust Karin with anything.

“So you did introduce him to that girl. I thought you fucked her, already?” Karin inquired. She had been trying to figure out what Legacy had been up to down at his father’s since a Facetime call was interrupted by his late-night smoke buddies.

“She’s not my type.”

“Oh, so she single.”

“What happened!” He called for Karin to tell him, as he sat down on the couch to figure it all out himself, texting Amina first and then looking over his messages to Karin.

“Okay, easy killer. Tanika threw TaKisha a party last night. I guess she ended up getting into Smithdale after all.”

“What?” Legacy said. Now, much more concerned with that news than whatever happened.

“Yeah, guess y’all gone be seeing each other more than you thought.” Legacy shook his head while keeping his eyes on Karin’s petite frame as she disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. “Anyway. You must’ve shown up to her party around one or two. You called me after I got off at 4:30 and said your brothers wouldn’t come to get you and you were too fucked up to drive. I had my sister drive me over there, picked you up, got in your car and I brought you back here. I was gonna gone home myself, but that bitch took my car out west.”

“How the fuck you getting your car back?”

“Well,” She started and Legacy shook his head. “Don’t. I literally picked you up from another bitch’s house.”

“Fair enough.” Legacy said still going through his phone to figure out what else he had done.

“Apparently you and him fought, like y’all always do.”

“Well, you need to keep your boyfriend on a leash.” Karin just stared at Legacy. He was the one who started the fight.

“You just need to leave big boy drugs to the big boys.” She said before heading back into the kitchen.

“Why y’all keep talking in riddles?” He called to the girl, looking at all the Snaps he had taken from the party. Thankfully, not one had Karin, TaKisha, or Syn in them. Even fucked up, he was still player of the year.

“You took some Pure last night. And nobody called Heir.” Legacy relaxed a little, as Karin passed him a cup of coffee, an aspirin, and a quickly made breakfast sandwich of scrambled eggs, cheese, and a sausage patty. Legacy took the aspirin and coffee but refused the sandwich, “You gone want something on your stomach when you start going through withdrawals.”

“Withdrawals?”

“What you think Prue is? It’s Molly and Coke, you gone have withdrawals. Unless your little thotiana hooked you up with another pill.”

“At least, Heir don’t know.” Legacy said sipping his coffee

“Well, he was there.” In a dramatic response, Legacy spit the coffee out and Karin screamed. From the porch, he could hear his brothers laughing – assuming Karin had got to the part when Heir locked the boy in a room by himself to wait for Karin to come to get him.

“Why was he there?” Legacy asked as Karin closed the door to drown out his brothers’ laughter.

“It was a party, and he sells drugs. Look, Deangelo on his way to get me from my Aunts.”

“I can take you home.”

“Can you take me to get my car?” Legacy paused for a moment. He had nothing to do and wouldn’t mind driving the girl to West Catlin to get her car from her trifling sister, but that felt like a boyfriend’s job. “Exactly.”

“I’ll do it.” He said, mostly because he didn’t want Karin to leave just this second and wanted to spend time with her since he was sober.

“Thanks, Little Man, but- Deangelo already don’t believe that I’m not with you. And after y’all childish ass fight, he could use the win.” Legacy rolled his eyes thinking about Karin’s boyfriend. What he said last night to Syn was true. He had lost his virginity to Karin, but he had also been beefing with her boyfriend Deangelo since then. “When did you and TaKisha start fucking around again anyway? Cause I still ain’t even seen a carpet fiber from your momma house.”

“You always at work.” Legacy mumbled and Karin smiled, before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

“I don’t have to work tonight or tomorrow. Soon as I come back, and ditch Deangelo. I’ll take you to my nephew's garage.”

“He got some fucking heat in there yet?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She said grabbing her purse and heading towards the back of the house to escape without Juliette spotting her. “Also,” She said doubling back to whisper in Legacy’s ear. “TaKisha has been fucking with Quentin, lately. But then again you probably knew that. That’s why you fucking her, witcho side piece ass. Bye!”

“Bye.” Legacy flatly said watching Karin leave the house. “Wait, what?” He called back to her. However, Karin was long gone. Looking over his shoulder to make sure the door was close and Heaven couldn’t overhear him, Legacy called TaKisha to speak directly to the source.

“What?” TaKisha answered the phone after two rings, however, her tone made it clear she was not happy to hear from the boy.

“What you mad at me or something?” He said playing it cool and moving back towards the kitchen.

“You ruined my party by fighting your ex-bitches boyfriend. Then your brother had to lock you up like a fucking animal because you wouldn’t clam down. On top of that, you called me Karin, Syn, and Amina. Whoever the fuck they are. Then you told me it didn’t matter what my name was anyway. Because you were just gone forget us all when you go off to college. The same college I’m going to by the way.”

“Congratulations?”

“What do you want, Legacy?”

“I wanna make it up to you.” He said leaning on the kitchen’s island, and looking towards the front door to make sure it was still closed.

“Oh really? How the fuck you gone do that Legacy? I don’t want your little dick after you done showed it to everybody.”

“I really hope you mean figuratively.”

“No, literally nigga. I told you not to take that shit. But you were too focused on Deangelo to even hear me.”

“I’m sorry, Kisha. Please let me make it up to you.”

“How, nigga? You fucking embarrassed me. You lucky my boyfriend wasn’t there. I didn’t even ask you to come.”

“You called me like 100 times.”

“For Heir’s number, motherfucka. If you weren’t so busy ignoring me, you would’ve known that.” Legacy just shook his head, thinking to himself So why would I just show up to your party? Especially, after I had just got me some ass. “I told you to stay your high ass down at the beach. You were already done when you finally called me back. But nope. Nobody can ever tell Little Man, shit.”

“That fucking moonshine.” Legacy mumbled to himself, reminded that after he and Syn finished fucking, Amina came out of her bedroom with a bottle of the strong liquor for them to drink. “So, how you get Heir number?”

“Legacy, I’mma talk to you later.” Before she could hang up, Legacy begged her to stay on the phone. Admitting that he was just trying to understand what happened last night. “We both know how I got Heir number. You know I’m dating Quentin now, that’s the only reason why you so interested me. That, and the fact, Karin dumbass stuck here working at that warehouse and ain’t got no time for your bullshit no more. Go fuck your brother and leave me alone.”

“Aye!” Legacy called out. She was right. The only reason why he started having sex with TaKisha, to begin with, was that her older sister was Tanika, Heaven’s girlfriend. And as quiet as it was kept, Heaven had tried to talk to TaKisha first, but she was too young for him. So he settled with Tanika. And now with TaKisha dating one of his oldest friends, it was like Legacy was doubling down on pissing Heaven off. “I told you I wanna make it up to you. But if you just gone be mean, I guess I’ll just talk to you later.”

“You still ain’t told me how you gone make it up to me, nigga.”

“Wanna go to the beach?”

Even Legacy believed staying with Desmond would be a cakewalk, but he was still trying to prove himself to Juliette with rules almost as ridiculous as hers. So Legacy didn’t even bother with trying to sneak TaKisha into his father’s house with all the alarms he had set up to alert him of Legacy’s comings and goings.

“Can we not go in the house?” TaKisha asked as they sat in the driveway. “You could’ve took me back home if that was the case.”

Legacy just sighed heavily, as he wanted for Amina to text him back. Although she and Syn had been friends longer than him and her, she was cool as hell, offering her pool house up to Legacy to use whenever he wanted. Since he couldn’t have girls over past a certain hour at Desmond’s. He was just waiting for her to give him the go-ahead. Afraid that Syn would forget what they discussed and show up to ruin everything.

On the other hand, with all the complaining TaKisha had done all day long, he was wondering was all of this really worth getting under Heaven’s skin. Legacy respected all of his older brothers, even Shadow. Heir took to the streets to provide for them after Desmond was locked up, while Dasun was the family’s protector ready to beat whoever he had to up for the boys, and Shadow as like Mr. Mom – since he was cooking and cleaning up behind his babies anyway. While living with Heaven, was hell. Stuck in the middle flying under Juliette’s radar, Heaven got away with murder. Starting little fires to distract their mother from the bullshit he was up to behind her back. While Rain had grown up to just accept this was the way things were, Legacy never forgave Heaven for the beating he got after Juliette rushed home early one day to find Legacy and Karin alone in their apartment. Meanwhile, Heaven was stealing her house key to make his own copy, so he could come and go in the dead of the night while she was sleeping.

“Come on,” Legacy spoke to TaKisha after Amina finally texted him back. She assured him that Syn wouldn’t be a problem as the two were going Uptown to a nightclub and the pool house was all his. “And don’t ask me a bunch of questions. Last time I kicked it with you, we was stuck in a living room with your dying uncle.”

“He is not dying. It’s just an oxygen tank.” To get through the rest of the night, Legacy just envisioned the look on Heaven’s face when he found out that he was fucking his best friend’s girl. “Damn, your Daddy rich as hell. We going in here?” TaKisha commented along their walk through the backyard and down to the beach.

“Didn’t I say don’t ask questions?” Legacy said, peeking through the window of their pool house to see if it was still unlocked. At this point, he’d fuck her right on the sand just to shut her up.

“I ain’t know you were serious.” were TaKisha’s final words as she quietly followed Legacy down the beach towards Amina’s pool house. “Can I talk at least?” She questioned once they were inside. However, Legacy was done with hearing her voice as he grabbed her waist tightly and pushed his lips against hers. Parting her lips with his tongue, Legacy multitasked kissing her with lifting the girl’s body to sit her on the counter of the kitchenette and reaching up her skirt to pull down her panties. “Fuck,” TaKisha moaned out as Legacy’s kisses moved down below. “Legacy,” She moaned out. At first, he thought it was from the work his tongue was putting in. That was until she called it three more times in a row before pulling his head from between her legs.

As Legacy went to question what she could possibly want now, He noticed Amina and Syn standing in the doorway of her bedroom. As Syn began laughing loudly, Amina spoke up. “I thought you meant, in like an hour or something. We haven’t left yet.”

“You said go head.” Legacy spoke getting off his knees, as TaKisha slid off the counter to stand behind him.

“Yeah, ‘go head’, in like an hour or something. You didn’t even say you were back, already.” While Syn just continued to laugh, Amina figured she’d be the adult in the situation and introduce them. “I’m Amina, and this my girlfriend-”

“Symera.” Syn spoke, stepping closer to shake TaKisha’s hand, but Amina pulled her back.

“Don’t mind us, we were just getting ready to leave. Just lock the door behind you.”

“Oh, but baby,” Syn said playing along with Amina’s lie. “Wouldn’t you rather stay here and finally get to know, TaKisha right? Little Man talks about you practically all the time. We can stay for just a little while right babe?”

“Naw, y’all should get going. Maybe another time.” Legacy spoke up eyeing Syn.

“Legacy cut it out. You said you were trying to make up ruining my party. So far all we did was eat salty ass pretzel and stare at the ocean. We could’ve done that on the boardwalk.” TaKisha spoke up, excited to get to know anybody close to the boy that was not one of his lying ass brothers.

“We have a reservation though, honey. Maybe next time you’re here.” Amina said pulling Syn towards the door.

“We can cancel them, babe. Please, just for a little while.” Syn asked pulling out a blunt and sitting down on the couch she and Legacy had just fucked on less than 24 hours ago. “You smoke?” She said as she patted the seat next to her for TaKisha to take. “You could just go home, Little Man. I’m sure she’d have more fun with us anyway.”

“Get your girl, Amina.” Legacy said as Amina just shook her head. She was officially out, as she just went into her bedroom. She attempted to save Legacy once more, by slamming the door behind her. Hoping that would convince TaKisha that they should go.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s all bark and no bite. We wanna meet our puppies?” Syn said with a conniving smile.

“I love puppies!”

“How you explain this, crazy?” Legacy asked cornering Syn in the kitchen after TaKisha went outside to talk to Quentin. One blunt had turned into two. And those two blunts turned into shots and a conversation Legacy thought would never end.

“How come, you never went down on me?”

“I don’t just put my mouth on everybody.”

“Good thing I do then, huh?” Syn asked leaning into Legacy’s face and blowing him a kiss. “Relax it's not like its Karin. You shouldn’t care anyway, right?”

“You know fucking you wasn’t as crazy as you are, I’d stop fucking with you.”

“Please, you not gone stop fucking with me because you don’t even know what you want.”

“I know I what I want.” Legacy said. His voice was firm as an indication that he was not impressed by Syn’s actions, yet his eyes raked over the girl’s body quickly sucking the air out of the room as Syn reluctantly smirked at Legacy’s intense gaze.

“Oh really?” She purred adjusting her body to face Legacy inside the kitchen. “So how come Ta-ta-da-licious has now seen your new house, spent the day with you at the pier, and met your bestie back there. Meanwhile, your favorite is where exactly? Do you even know?”

“Shit, did I say something to you when I was drunk?” Legacy asked, peeking out the window to see TaKisha on the phone. He couldn’t hear the girl, but from her body movements, he believed she was arguing with her boyfriend.

“You mostly talked about Reynard. You’re pretty lonely in that house, huh?” Legacy looked at her. And Syn grew silent for a moment. She was used to drinking moonshine with Amina, but it was clear now that Legacy was not. “I’m sorry, you really don’t remember, huh? I promise I didn’t do this not because I’m jealous. We told you not to go to that party. You don’t want that girl, Little Man. You just mad at Heaven because he spending all his time with Rain now.”

“What the fuck? That’s even true.” Legacy said walking away from Syn and heading towards the door to go outside with TaKisha.

“I’m sorry, you said it not me.” Legacy quickly turned around to tell Syn she was wrong, but he didn’t need to say the words. Obviously, his drunken heart had spoken words his sober mind wasn’t ready to hear aloud. “Okay. Look, me and Amina about to leave. Don’t be mad at me. I thought I was kinda helping by cockblocking. But if we all,” She spoke with emphasis, hoping Amina would come back her up so she didn’t seem like she was just making this all up to be a hater. “Just gone act like you didn’t just pour your heart out about your brothers, then fine, keep doing you. Long as it includes doing me. Until you and your boo thang go off to Smithdale.”

As Legacy went to still tell Syn how wrong she was, Amina finally came out of her bedroom to add to the conversation. “She’s right, Little Man. You got pretty emotional about Reynard, and being alone. Then you said were going to her party to fuck her and her sister since Heaven couldn’t leave the porch to stop you.”

“Finally, thank you, babe. Your dick is good and everything, but I would much rather be your friend. You love Karin and your brother, I get that. That’s why I know you do not wanna do this.”

Legacy paused for a moment, looking at both Syn and Amina. He absolutely was lonely down here on the beach without his brothers, and that time he spent with them today was probably the most fun he had all summer. “What the fuck I’mma do when I go to Smithdale?”

“It’s not that long of a drive.” Amina answered rationally, while Syn spat out,

“Ta-ta-da-licious will be there to keep you safe.”

As Syn laughed and apologized once again, Legacy rolled his eyes before opening the door and stepping outside to check on TaKisha. Just in time to hear her telling Quentin everything from where she was to who she was with. With tears forming in her eyes, and Quentin’s voice booming through the receiver, Legacy smirked a little. His dirty work was over, all he had to do now was return to sender.

That was until his phone began buzzing with texts from Heaven;

Q don’t fight Big Man, hope Desmond down there teaching how to shoot

This gotta be the dumbest shit you’ve ever done. All because of a whopping you got at 14?

You better call Heir, cause they only Heaven that can help you now is God’s

[autumn-in-phandom]

Dan and Phil play Dream Daddy

MEET DILDDY LESTOWELL

I loved this video! I was dying of laughter in the first fifteen minutes and just had to make timestamps. Very very long under the cut.

0:00 Phil is wearing his rainbow zebra shirt! Being his best self.

0:03 Wow was that second “daddies” necessary Phil? (Yes, it was.)

0:42 “Cause you know Dan and Phil they like to have the raw naked-”- Dan

0:45 “Immersion”- Phil

0:46 “They just like to go in-”- Dan

0:47 “Are you saying we’re going to have to be blurring some things-”- Phil

0:48 “Bare. What?”- Dan (what?)

0:58 “Give me that Daddiest graphics.”- Phil

1:00 “Oh it’s like Yuri on Ice.”- Dan

1:10 Phil will be a long haired vampire in ten years. Yes, something to look forward to.

1:25 “Phil, don’t do your chin like that, you’re fine.”- Dan (damn fine)

2:07 “Is that your best dad voice?”- Dan

2:14 “Do you wanna be Dad?”- Phil (sass)

2:15 “Phil, everyone wants you to be Dad.”- Dan (the honest truth)

2:34 “Moving house? Oh my god!”- Dan (omg!)

2:45 “Coordinating the headband with the nails.”- Dan (noticing the important stuff)

2:46 “Definitely.”- Phil

2:53 Phil’s yawn, wtf was that? Sounds like a dog.

2:55 “Are you American now?”- Dan

2:56 “I don’t knowww.”- Phil (poor frustrated Phil)

3:03 “Build that Dad!”- in sync

3:30 “Dilddy! No?”- Phil (Dan’s face)

3:36 “Yeah sure. Let’s not think about that anymore Phil.”- Dan

4:04 “Thor. We just made Thor by accident.”- Phil (always with the Thor)

4:07 “Ah the bun hair.”- Dan

4:08 “Man bun.”- Phil

4:09 “That’s very like modern dad aesthetic.”- Dan

4:12 “That’s quite Dil-y”- Phil

4:13 “That’s the most Dil-esque, I think.”- Dan

4:19 “Heart eyes.”- Phil

4:20 “SENPAI!!!”- Dan

4:30 “Can you just have heart eyes the entire game?”- Dan (are you asking for permission Dan?)

4:31 “The whole time.”- Phil

4:32 “Is that just going to ruin the game?”- Phil (no.)

4:33 “Would that be slightly distracting?”- Dan (well, yes.)

4:58 “Noman Rose.”- Phil (has a bit of a Roman nose)

5:10 They love the lips, sassy mouths

5:39 “He banged it on some kind of exercise equipment.”- Phil

5:40 “Wrestling another dad for territory.”- Dan (sure)

5:45 “Yes!”- Phil is excited by facial hair options (and I’m excited for him)

5:50 “More people should have black hair and blonde beards.”- justifying your ginger eyebrows Phil?

5:51 Dan has to think a second before agreeing

5:55 Hunger Games aesthetic, okay.

6:00 “I asked you yesterday if you’d grow a full beard. If you wanted to. Like what’s your answer to that question?”- Phil (I’m going to cry.)

6:04 “What in like twenty years?”- Dan

6:05 “Yeah.”- Phil

6:05 “Yeah, sure. I’ll give it a crack.”- Dan

6:06 “Do you think you’ll ever have a full beard?”- Phil

6:09 “Ever?”- D

6:10 “Ever.”- P

6:10 “Yeah, maybe in like ten years when I finish going through puberty.”- Dan

6:13 “I kinda wanna try.”- Phil wants to try a beard, people! And it might be a different color than his fringe. I see.

6:15 “This is the best part!”- Phil on clothing

6:19 “Can’t you just like have nothing?”- Phil (for underroos apparently)

6:22 “Captain America! Yes!”- Phil (nice six pointed star)

6:25 “Egg nips. I mean totally, I can see that.”- Dan

6:31 Phil saying “Daddy Dil” kills me

6:35 “Cats! With a suit jacket.”- Phil (we have a winner)

6:43 I agree with Dan about that pattern, it reminds me of party centers, roller rinks and tour busses. Phil with the Saved by the Bell reference.

7:00 “Goals. As the kids would say.”- Dan

7:26 “Be that dad. The dad you always dreamed to be.”- Dan

7:28 “Now do we get to date some dads?”- Phil Lester asking the important questions.

7:58 Phil’s second child syndrome

8:13 “No mum’s must exist in this universe!”- Dan (okay Dan, interesting justification)

8:35 “I was just given a bin bag and some sticky stars to say I was a ‘wizard’. Yeah.”- Phil (dang that’s cheap, Lesters)

8:43 “Princess Dragon!”- in sync

8:45 Dan would watch a scaley fairytale movie

9:05 “I wish I had a horse phase.”- Dan (I’m glad I did)

9:09 “Or a Horse Prince phase.”- Phil (he’s not over it)

9:11 “Oh we all had that.”- Dan

9:20 “Why aren’t we going to McFridayz?”- Phil

9:50 Adoption +1

10:00 Kangaroo existential crisis

10:19 “Hit me.”- Dan

10:25 “He knows what to do.”- Dan (getting really into it)

10:30 “Yeah. Then what?”- squeaky over dramatic Dan

10:35 “And then he ran away with a kangaroo.”- Phil (there are two types of people in this world)

10:44 “Just look him up on Facebook! Or did he die?”- Phil

11:02 “The old house!”- fake crying Dan

11:05 Hawaiian backstories, driving distraction

11:15 Hydration: “I can get behind this.”- Dan

11:22 Phil, waving your hands in the air where Dan sneezes is not going to keep the germs away. Maybe if you both actually covered.

11:33 Everyone does bicep curls in this Daddy themed universe

12:12 Dil Howlter house without the owl slide is no Dil Howlter house at all.

12:44 “Dogs!”- Phil

12:48 “CLICK!”- Dan

12:55 Dog to person ratio should be the highest thing on the agenda for any neighborhood

13:11 “Side quest!”- Dan

13:11 “Dog quest!”- Phil

13:12 “Dog time! I’m here for some cute drawn dogs.”- Dan

13:16 Woofing song to the tune of the Katamari theme!

13:27 “What is this idyllic pastel utopia that they’re living in right now? Honestly.”- Dan

13:30 “Where’s the diseased pigeons?”- Phil (London summarized by Phil)

13:47 “DOGS! (toddlers) NOT INTERESTED! (dogs) INTERESTED!”- Dan

13:52 Panting puppies D&P

14:05 “A corgi! Of all the dogs!”- Phil (this is the only reason Phil agreed to play this game)

14:14 “Delet this doggo.”- Dan

14:20 Second “Bork!”

14:26 “Oh god this is the cutest dog. Can we just do dog adoption simulator instead?”- Phil (I’m sure you could)

14:30 “Pet the dog!”- Phil

14:58 “Woah! Irish father of my children!”- Dan

15:13 Gruff and slightly offensive leprechaun

15:18 Puppy role play ;)

15:25 Phil saw the aubergines come out.

15:35 Phil apologizes for “Dilddy”

16:05 Dan loves the freckle representation.

16:22 “Oh my god it’s a Dad Child Proud Of Brag Off”- Dan (very Undertale)

17:33 “Bam. Amazing.”- Dan, “Slapped.”- Phil

19:55 “I’m torn though, cause he has a corgi.”- Phil

19:57 “He has a corgi, but-”- Dan

19:58 “Can we not just date him to hang out with the corgi?”- Phil

20:01 “Can we date him, adopt the corgi and then break up with him?”- Dan

20:04 “Yes!”- Phil (a good plan)

20:33 “I mean let’s just get our own corgi. Let’s adopt a corgi.”- Dan (a better plan)

21:07 Dan would read horse fan-fiction.

21:36 Chocolate coffee beans btw

22:11 “*Sigh* Why would people sit next to you, they always do that though don’t they?”- Dan

22:26 "Am I being helpful or am I cluttering up everyone’s life?“- Dan

22:44 "Oh my god!”- Dan

22:45 “Another Dad.”- Phil

22:46 “With the ta- the glasses, the hair, the piercing.”- Dan (tattoos)

22:49 “Good layering. On the outfit.”- Phil

22:51 “Definitely.”- Dan

23:00 Dan doesn’t like the “too cool” vibe.

23:13 Husky voice ;)

23:38 Dan would not be able to hold a conversation with this guy in real life. Probably because he sounds too much like himself.

23:48 Iced Tegan and Sara (yay!)

23:02 Phil got the pun!

24:49 Couches (Starbucks sofa)

24:50 “Okay Amanda, wow. Life isn’t all about listening to cool music. It’s about enjoying the music that you like.”- Dan

25:00 Good lumbar support is important. It’s comfier than their couch. *giggles*

25:48 “Okay I’m about this.”- Dan (feeding kink)

25:50 “He’s got food!”- Phil

25:53 “Yes. Tick that box.”- Phil

27:08 Phil likes Mat’s awkwardness

27:10 Dan is on the fence: “I don’t know how to feel. Runs a coffee shop, bit of a hipster, is socially awkward, gives you banana bread. I think it’s looking mostly good.”

27:27 “Ohhhh.”- in sync (using 'baby’ in flirting)

28:00 “Wow. Are we adults? Cause we just moved recently.”- Yes Dan, you are adults.

28:08 “Do I smell bad?”- Phil

28:09 “Noo.”- Dan with a quick sniff, barely leaning in, he clearly already knew the answer.

28:16 They agree that the dark and mysterious stranger is the most intriguing part of the story. Stupid look at camera.

28:30 Acknowledging that they still have boxes

28:42 Pink duck, succulents and XBox 360 “Nice”- Phil

28:56 “Get the hell out of my life!”- Dan

29:00 “He’s too perfect already.”- Phil

29:08 “Robot. Robot. Robot.”- Phil

29:36 “Guffaw.”- Dan

30:13 Yeah, just move again guys!

30:28 Phil feels bad for kangaroo jokes earlier.

31:11 Phil likes the do over, time flipping, reset thing.

31:33 Louise story mention.

32:18 “What is that wink?”- Dan

32:30 “All of these daddies are mixed bags.”- Dan desk slamming returns

32:40 “He’s a bloody angel. He’s an angel.”- Dan

32:42 “He’s got a dark secret.”- Phil

32:44 “But also angels are terrible. Stop feeling bad by comparing yourself to an angel.”- Dan

32:48 “Dark secret.”- Phil

33:07 “Plot twizzle.”- Dan

33:45 “They are definitely possessed. I told you, dark secret.”- Phil

34:05 “Christie, Christian and Chris. Wow.”- Dan

34:08 “Evil.”- Phil

34:09 “Definitely.”- Dan

34:28 Exorcist

34:34 “Time for the nappy ding dong.”- Dan

35:01 “Bro”- Dan  "Bro"- Phil

35:20 That look

35:22 “Old college roommate.”- Phil

35:23 “Just sayin.”- Dan

35:35 “River. Oh my god.”- Dan (good name)

35:42 Nice baby gurgling Dan

35:51 “Survived that hazing together.”- Dan

36:00 Phil enjoying the matching eyebrows

36:06 “Maybe they got that scar together, doing something, as roommates.”- Dan

36:30 “Copacabana.”- Dan

36:50 “Clearly we didn’t have the American college experience. We did the Smirnoff Slam.”- Dan

37:05 Jogging with baby imitation

37:12 “Wow. Dilddy is just every person probably on the internet and YouTube, in the community watching this.”- Dan

37:25 “Wow. So relatable.”- Dan (shush Dan, #relatable is your schtick)

37:30 “How is he so ripped if he never jogs though?”- Phil (umm you selected that body type and said he works out.)

37:37 “Bro brunch.”- Phil, “A bro brunch?!”- Dan

“Why do we never have bro brunches?”- Dan, “I don’t know”-Phil

“What the hell is a bro brunch?”- Dan, “I don’t know.”- Phil

37:52 “Jog on, Craig.”- Phil, “Jog on, Craig? Jesus.”- Dan

38:18 “I mean, there’s like, stuff in that, isn’t there.”- Yes Dan, they’re tomatoes.

41:01 “The blonde guy.”- Phil

41:10 Phil likes coffee shop guy. Gee I wonder why. Dan is unsure, too cool.

41:30 Dan likes the blonde: confidence, wants to make you happy, “that’s who Dilddy needs in his life, at this important time.” (Dear god Dan can you not?)

Phil still thinks he’s a robot with satanic children. Yep.

41:51 Gee Phil you don’t seem into it. (probably just tired, maybe headache)

42:08 “Thumb it”, tickle, etc.

42:45 “Get a dog.”- Dan