#overwhelmed isn't quite the word but it definitely bothers me

[crystalisopod]

I know loud sounds being a sensory issue is the most common (?) but it kinda irks me that that's what people always assume for me. and I do actually have issues with sound, but it's not a huge problem, and it's never in the way people assume it to be

[heartsandhischier]

definitely the annoying little brother

luke hughes x female!reader, jack hughes x platonic!reader

summary - 5.2k words. living in an apartment with your best friend is great, but living in an apartment with your best friend and his brother... not so great

author's note - so... got a little carried away with this one, might write a part 2 idk yet but I love cocky Luke

warnings - mentions of alcohol, swearing, smut (first time writing so hopefully it isn't total shit)

When you first moved to New Jersey, you felt completely lost. Don’t take it the wrong way, it was great—a prestigious college, a change of scenery, and the promise of a fresh start. But your journey took an unexpected turn when you bumber into someone, quite literally crashed into someone, drenching him in your freshly bought coffee.

That someone was Jack, who had also just moved to New Jersey after being drafted by the New Jersey Devils. Like you, he was lost, navigating the unfamiliar terrain of a new beginning. Quickly, you became best friends, each other’s anchor in this new and unfamiliar state. You were each other’s confidants and biggest supporters, always there to lift one another up, no matter the challenge—cheering him on from the stands during his rookie year while he helped you with your schoolwork, or at least tried to…

You supported each other through thick and thin.

When you suddenly found yourself without an apartment, Jack didn’t hesitate to offer you his guest room. What started as a temporary arrangement soon turned into something more permanent, as both of you realized that living together just felt right. What was meant to be a short-term solution naturally evolved into a lasting living situation.

When Luke was drafted, you were perched on the edge of your seat in the apartment, eyes glued to the screen in anticipation as the New Jersey Devils prepared to announce their pick. The moment Luke’s name was called, you jumped up from the couch, overwhelmed with joy. You were thrilled, not just for Luke, but because you knew how much this meant to Jack—being able to play alongside his brother, to grow and improve together on the ice. You watched the screen as Jack sprung from the couch, shaking with excitement. He had told you before, that if Luke was drafted by the Devils, he would move into the apartment. Rather than feeling any apprehension, your strong friendship with Jack made you excited to live with the two brothers.

But here you were, pounding angrily on the shared bathrrom door, “LUKE! Are you fucking kidding me? I’m gonna be late!” The reality of living with Luke was far from pleasant or fun as you had imagined.

Luke was definetely the annoying brother of the three.

Unlike Jack, who was always kidn and considerate, Luke seemed to barely tolerate your presence. He often made snide, witty comments, as if he took some kind of pleasure in getting under your skin.

The apartment had turned into a warzone, filled with incessant arguing, shouting, and tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. In jack’s absence, there was no one to play the peacemaker, no one stopping the two of you from getting at each others throats. Luke was leaving the bathroom a mess, his toiletries scattered everywhere, piling dirty dishes in the sink, not even bothering to put them in the dishwasher, and even taking your clothes out of the dryer and dumping them on the floor so he could use the machine. He even went as far as throwing a party the night before your midterm.You couldn’t hep but feel like he was doing all of this on purpose. You knew he was raised well, with proper manners and common decency—Jack was living proof of that. You knew, you knew he was doing it on purpose. Luke was intentionally firing you up, pushing your buttons. And what bothered you the most, was that it was working.

Luke finally unlocked the bathroom door, and as he swung the it open, a cloud of steam escaped into the hallway. His hair damp, a towel casually wrapped around his waist, showing off his toned muscles. “You don’t need to spend that much time in the bathroom, especially when you end up looking like that,” you snapped, arms crossed in frustration.

“Like what? Incredibly handsome?” Luke shot back, a smug smirk spreading across his face.

“No, like shit,” you fired back, not missing a beat.

“Well, you’re not exactly a sight for sore eyes yourself. So you don’t really need the bathroom before school anyways,” he chuckled, clearly satisfied with his comeback. Annoyed, you rolled your eyes and pushed past him, eager to get on with your day.

-

“Come on Y/N,” Jack whined, his voice dragging, practically on his knees, begging. His team was heading out to celebrate their victory from the night before, and with your schedule finally clear after endless stress, Jack insisted that you’d join them, arguing that you deserved a break. However, his team included a certain someone—Luke. The thought of spending hours into the night, subjected to Luke’s endless barbs and comments, now potentially amplified by alcohol, spelled nothing but trouble in your mind.

“I’ll put you on my tab, if you come,” he offered wiggling his eyebrows, trying to sweeten the deal with the promise of a free night out. You couldn’t help but laugh at his desperation, “Come on, we both know you’d do that anyways,” you teased, narrowing your eyes playfully at him.

“Please, I’ll clean the bathroom for the next three weeks,” he proposed.

“Four weeks.”

“Fine, four weeks. And I’ll make you lunch for those weeks too,” he said, extending his hand in a peace offering.

“Deal. But I’ll skip on the lunch since you barely know how to cook brocolli.”

-

“Aren’t we going to wait for Luke?” you asked, slipping into your boots, a hint of curiousity in your voice. Jack chuckled at your questiong, catching your eyes in the mirror as he straigthened his jacket. “What, have you suddenly become best friend with your ‘enemy’?” he teased. “Absolutely not,” you snorted, “Just wanted to know if I needed to prepare for a battle to get us in the back seat.”

The Uber sped through the bustling streets of New York, skyscrapers flashing by in a blur. Luke had headed out erly with Holtz and Mercer, granting you a rare moment of peace on the drive to the club, free from the usual bickering.

The elevator chimed, announding your arrival at the club’s level. As the doors slid open, you were greeted by a breathtaking panoramic view of New York City—the virbant lights and endless stretched out before you, leaving you momentarily speechless. “Pretty sick, right?” Jack playfully nudged you, his smile infectious, clearly proud of the evening’s choice. The club’s interior buzzed with energy, packed with people moving rhythmically beneath the glow of shimmering lights. The music enveloped the space, so loud and deep that the bass seemed to vibrate through the very floor. With a reassuring grip, jack took your hand and guided you through the crowd, weaving towards the table where his teammates were gathered.

They all excitedly greeted the two of you, ushering you both to join them at the table. You loved Jack’s teammates—they were just as kind and welcoming as him, making everyone feel included and part of the fun. They had a way of making you feel like you belonged, as if you were a part of the team.

And then there was Luke.

He didn’t even glance in your direction when you approached the table, too invested in his conversation with Timo to care—yeah sure.

As soon as you sat down, the drinks were served—Jack with his usual beer, and for you, a Tom Collins, your all-time favourite. You couldn’t help but chuckle, Jack had even gone out of his way to make sure you got your favourite drink.

After a few more drinks and plenty of hearty laughs, Jack pulled you out of your seat and onto the dance floor. The music immediately took over as you started moving, and you found yourself actually enjoying the moment. Dancing with Jack, you felt genuinely happy, grateful that you’d agreed to go out. In that moment, you forgot all about his annoying little brother.

Dancing, completely lost in the ruthm and music, you noticed your glass was empty. Sldiding through the crowd, you made your way to the bar, skillfully navigating the sea of people, all moving to the same infectious beat. The bartenders were a blur of activity, moving with swift precision as they tried to keep up with the endless stream of orders shouted by eager club-goers.

While waiting to be served, you suddenly felt a hand wrap around your waist. Startled, you turned around, meeting the drunken gaze of a stranger. “What are you getting beautiful?” he slurred. He was undeniably handsome, but the whole encounted made you feel uncomfortable. You tried to respond, but only managed to stumble out an incoherent answer.

He leaned in closed, his breath hot against your ear, “Why don’t I buy you a drink, and then we can continue the party at my place?” a shiver ran down your spine, and not the good kind. All you could muster was a sheepish smile, your mind racing for a way out. In a sudden, unwelcome move, he leaned in, clearly aiming for a kiss. You froze, unable to move, instinctively shutting your eyes, bracing for impact.

But the kiss never came. Eyes still closed, you heard commotion.

“Back off. She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Opening your eyes, you found Luke standing between you and the stranger, his body tense as he had pushed the man away, shielding you from his advances.

“You okay?” Luke asked, his voice softening as he lightly brushed your arm, his towering presence offering an unexpected sense of security. You looked up at him, slowly giving a small nod, your mind still racing. What the fuck just happened?

Without missing a beat, Luke turned to signal the bartender, “Two Tom Collins’ please.” The bartender nodded in acknowledgement and swiftly got to work on the drinks.

As he handed you one of the glasses, Luke’s hand gently found its way to the small of your back, guiding you with a suprising tenderness toward the dance floor. The music, once again, enveloped you, its rhythm quickly helping you forget the uncomfortable encounter at the bar.

You found yourself dancing close to Luke, closer than you had ever been before. You felt weirdly comfortable in Luke’s presence, and it seemed he noticed, his hand resting gently on your hips, his voice teasing. “For someone who complains so much about me, you seem pretty okay with standing this close to me.”

His comment took you by surprise, a rush of warmth flooding your cheeks. You quickly retorded, trying to mask your fluster, “Trust me, if the club wasn’t this packed, I’d be standing lightyears away from you.”

Luke smirked, leaning in closer, his breath tickling your ear as he whispered, “Or maybe you’ve just realised how much you actually enjoy my company. All those complaints might just be your way of getting my attention.”

You sturggled to maintain your composure, caught off guard by the unexpected closeness. “Dream on Luke. If I wanted your attention I’d just lock myself in the bathroom with you,” you shot back, trying to sound unfazed.

“Yeah, you’d like that wouldn’t you,” he replied with that damn smirk—you wished you could just slap it off his face.

What. Was. Happening?

Confused and a bit flustered, you mustered up an excuse and rushed through the lively crowd toward Jack at the table.

“Enjoying youself?” Jack’s voice pulled you back to reality, his tone playful as he nudged you.

“Fine!” You responed, rolling our eyes at him. “I’m having fun. But you didn’t have to make them get my favourite drink,” you laughed, giving into his bright smile.

Jack joined the laughter, but there was in his response that made it seem like he was laughing at you, not with you. He tilted his head, genuinely puzzled as he looked at you. “I didn’t tell anyone to order your favourite drink.”

“Well, who’s in charge of the tab tonight?”

“Luke.”

-

The next few weeks, you did everything you could to avoid Luke. The whole situation at the club… it left you confused. It was so unexpected, yet for some reason, you didn’t mind the closeness that you felt that night. But you couldn’t face him. You started waking up hours earlier than necessary just to avoid the usual bathroom fight, lingering around for extrahours before class or work. It was ruining your sleep schedule, but you convinced yourself it was for the best.

Your eyes were glued to the bright screen of your phone—3 AM. You let out a frustrated sigh. You couldn’t sleep. The room felt like an oven, the early arrival of summer in New Jersey wrapping your bedroom in an unbearable warmth. The stress of upcoming exams weighed heavily on your mind. And the thought of having to get up in just two hours to avoid Luke didn’t help much either.

Defeated, you pushed yourself out of bed, sliding into your fluffy slippers. Glancing at your reflection in the mirror, you sighed—you looked a mess. Hair tied up in a messy bun, and Jack’s New Jersey Devils t-shirt hung loosely around you.

Whatever.

At this ungodly hour, no one would see you anyway.

Carefully, you pushed the door open, trying to minimise the telltale creak. With light steps, you tiptoed down the hallway, heading for the kitchen. The gentle glow from the counter lights greeted you, casting a soft, inviting glow over the room—Jack must’ve left it on. However, the comfort quickly turned into dismay when you spotted the very person you’d been trying to hard to avoid for weeks on end—Luke. His back was turned, his curly messy, and a pair of pajama pants hung loosely around his waist. His back muscles, his shoulders—everything was on display.

The sight of him triggered an immediate fight-or-flight response—you needed to get out of there before he noticed you. You turned your heel, but your slippers betrayed you with a sharp squeak against the floor.

“Going somewhere?”

You cleared your throat, gathering the courage to face him as you slowly turned around. There he was, casually leaning against the kitchen counter, a bowl of cereal cradled in his hands—his midnight snack. “Just needed some water. Didn’t realise I had company,” you managed to say, trying your best to sound nonchalant.

He let out a soft chuckle, the spoon in his bowl making lazy circles. “Can’t sleep either, huh? The kitchen’s open for all, y’know.” He wasn’t wrong. Despite your efforts to keep your distance, you did in fact live together, and spaces like the kitchen were neutral ground, even at 3 AM.

“Yeah, I… I guess I’ll just grab that water then,” you replied, navigating the awkward silence that filled the room. You reached for a glass and made your way to the sink—coincidentally right next to where Luke was enjoying his cereal. His presence towering over you as you filled your glass with water.

“You know, for two people who claim to hate each other, we do end up in the same place a lot,” Luke observed with a smirk that you could feel rather than see.

You scoffed, trying to maintain a façade of indifference. “We live in the same apartment, Luke, and your brother is my best friend. Don’t get it twisted.”

“Well, you’re wearing my t-shirt, so don’t blame me for getting the ‘wrong idea’,” he countered.

“This is Jack’s.”

He chuckled lightly. “I’ve been looking for it for weeks, thought I lost it. But now I know you just wanted to feel like you were sleeping next tome.”

You scoffed, annoyed. “In your dreams, asshole.”

He stepped closer, closing the distance between you to mere inches. “Y’know, you could’ve just asked. I’d gladly let you sleep in bed with me,” he said, the smirk evident in his voice as he towered over you.

Heart racing, your voice caught in your throat at the sudden proximity. In a moment of panic, you retreated, mumbling an incoherent “I have to go,” as you hastily made your escape.

-

The usual calm and comfortable space of your apartment was transformed tonight into lively space buzzing with energy, laughter, and booze. It was Jack’s birthday, and as his best friend, you were determined to throw him the best celebration possible—a surprise party. You pulled all the strings, inviting friends and teammates, and with the off-season granting a rare break, Trevor, Cole, and Alex were able to join the festivities. As you navigated the cluster of people, a glass nestled gently in your grasp, your gaze inadvertently landed on Luke. By his side stood a girl whose laughter harmonised so seamlessly with his, it almost seemed choreographed.

A strange unease began to coil within you at the sight. There was Luke, entiraly absorbed in conversation with whoever this girl was, and something about it unsettled you deeply.

“Seems like Luke’s really hitting it off, huh?” Trevor’s voice cut through the hum of the party, his tone playful yet pointed as he caught your fixed gaze and gave a teasing nudge.

“Yeah, looks like it,” you responded, striving for indifference even as you couldn’t tear your eyes away. You weren’t sure why, but the sight of Luke and that girl, felt like it lodged itself in your chest.

Jack’s laughter soon joined in, bright and unaware of the subtle tension you were feeling. He slapped your shoulder playfully, “Luke’s always been a charmer. Who’s the lucky lady this time?”

You attempted a nonchalant shrug, trying to shake off the knot forming in your stomach. “No idea.”

-

“This is nice isn’t it?”

The sun was shining, pouring its warmth over Jersey City, a gentle breeze complementing the heat perfectly.

As you wandered through the city with Jack, it felt like old times, just the two of you. His excitement was contagious, sparking a lightness that had been missing for too long.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. And we live together!” he joked, playfully nudging you, but you could sense the underlying truth in his words—he genuinely missed these moments together.

And he was right, it had been a while. The efforts you’d put into avoiding Luke had eventually affected Jack as well, since the two of the basically shared the same schedule. You didn’t want to tell him the truth—that you were avoiding Luke and then possibly having to explain why.

“Yeah, I’ve missed this, it’s just that I’ve been drowning in schoolwork lately.” It was a bad excuse, but it was the best and most realistic you could come up with.

Deciding to take advantage of the beautiful day, you suggested heading to one of your favourite cafes. The idea of soaking up some sun while catching up seemed perfect. Once you found a spot in the outdoor seating area, you offered to go in and order for the two of you. By the time you returned with to coffees, the dynamic at your table had unexpectedly changed. Two additional figures were now seated beside Jack, their curls a dead giveawat—you recognised those curls anywhere. A sigh escaped your lips as Jack, beaming with enthusiasm, gestured towards them. “Hey, Y/N! Look who I found!” the two curlyheads turned to face you, John and Luke greeting you with smiles, with Luke’s carrying his signature, teasing smirk.

Reluctantly, you put on a fake smile and settled into the chair next to Jack, doing your best to remain composed, polite, and NOT awkward. The conversation flowed effortlessly around you, but you remained quiet, occasionally offering a nod or a brief reply. Your eyes shifted between John and Jack, deliberately avoiding Luke, as if by ignoring him, you could somehow make the situation less complicated.

Eventually , John and Luke made their casual exit. You managed a tight smile and a polite wave, holding on to your façade of composure until they were out of sight. The moment they were gone, jack’s attention snapped back to you, his brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity. “Why were you acting so weird?”

Suddenly, the café’s cosy outdoor setting felt more like an interrogation room, and you were in the hot seat.

“Wha-what do you mean?” your voice wavered despite the smile you plastered on. “I was not!” you countered, hoping the denial sounded more convincing to his ears than it did to yours.

Jack’s eyes widened in shock, as if he had just cracked the code. The revelation seemed to knock him off balance, almost sending him tumbling off his chair. “Oh my god,” he whispered, a mix of genuine shock and amusement in his voice as a chuckle escaped.

“You’re sleeping with John, aren’t you?”

A wave of relief washed over you at his misinterpretation. It was better than telling him about Luke, right? After all, jack was still Luke’s older brother, and you couldn’t risk jeopardising your friendship with Jack, even if whatever was going on with Luke meant something.

Caught between the fear of losing your best friend and the chaos of the moment, you found yourself nodding along before the word “yes” tumbled out. And now, you possibly just made your situation even messier.

-

Once again, you found yourself at a bar with Jack and his teammates, the night serving as a farewell toast before everyone dispered for the off-season. The bar buzzed with a contagious mix of laughter and the clinking of glasses, everyone savouring each other’s company before the inevitable goodbyes. Throughout the evening, you’d successfully avoided both Luke and john, skillfully navigating the minefield of awkward encounters. You also… may have indulged in a few too many drinks to steady your nerves.

As you found yourself back at the bar for yet another round of liquid courage, you sensed someone approaching. Turning around, it wasn’t Luke’s familiar curls, but John’s. you managed a somewhat forced smile as he settled beside you. “Hey, Y/N, having fun?” he asked with a smile.

You nervously accepted your drink as it arrived, taking a sip that was perhaps a bit too eager. “Yeah, it’s great hanging out with you guys!”

An awkward silence fell between you, filled only by the sound of your silent sipping. John’s laughter suddenly cut through the tension, breaking the ice with ease as he chuckled at the obvious awkwardsness of the situation. “Y’know, Jack’s been chirping me relentlessly tonight. Mentioning something… interesting… about us.” You groaned, mentally facepalming yourself.

With a playful gesture, he pointed his finger between the both of you, his expression a mix of confusion and amusement. “Did… did we sleep together one night and I just forgot?”

“No no no!” you rushed to clarify, flailing your hands around, desperate to clear up the situation. John, is of course, handsome, and after a few too many drinks on a night out, it could’ve happened under different circumstances. The absurdity of it all hit both of you at once, and you burst out laughing, dissolving any lingering awkwardness between the two of you.

John theaterically placed a hand over his heart. “Phew, good. Wouldn’t want Luke getting all jealous on me.” Your laughter echoed his, agreeing wholeheartedly—until his words fully registered. You never mentioned Luke. “What did you say?”

John merely winked and offered you a pat on the shoulder before making his exit, leaving you at the bar, more puzzled than ever.

As the evening unfolded, the flow of drinks seemed never-ending, each one blurring into the next. Suddenly, you found yourself seated in the passengerseat of a car, the lights of New Jersey streaking past you in a dizzyin display. Barely able to keep your eyes open in your drunken state, you looked over to the driver’s seat—Luke. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be driving,” you slurred.

“I was sober tonight, Y/N. and you… you were way too drunk. We’re going home,” Luke responded, his tone lacking its usual lightness, replaced by a firm, blunt edge. The drive was engulfed in silence, a tensions hanging in the air that even your drunken haze couldn’t miss.

“So, cosying up with John?” Luke remarked, a hint of something indefinable in his tone.

Luke had seen you at the bar. His voice carried a weight, one that echoed the same unease you felt when you saw him with that girl at Jack’s birthday.

Words failed you as you tried to respond, a string of incoherent mumbles and half-formed words spilling out of your mouth. You felt like you were burning up, put on the spot, panicking. “Trying to make me jealous?” You blinked in shock at his question. There was no hint of anger in Luke’s voice; instead, he sounded amused. You could feel his smirk.

As you finally mustered up the courage to face him, there it was—that infuriating, captivating smirk. Part of you wanted to punch it off his face, yet another part for inexplicably drawn to it. “I… I wasn’t…” you stuttered, struggling to articulate your thoughts. Luke let out a soft chuckle, one hand leaving the steering wheel, landing comfortably on your thigh.

“I’ll admit it, I got a bit jealous. But I know John wouldn’t do that to me,” he said, giving you thigh a gentle squeeze. You were totally lost. Luke was jealous? Why? You weren’t trying to make him jealous. Your intentions had been the polar opposite—you were trying to avoid him.

And here you were, alone, in the car, with Luke.

“And I know you wouldn’t do that either. You’re too charmed by me, aren’t you?” The car came to a stop; you were outside the apartment. Luke finally turned to meet your gaze. His question hung in the air, leaving you speechless. You weren’t interested in Luke, at all. You were just confused.

Right?

“Is that the reason why you’ve been avoiding me?” His words struck a nerve—he knew. He knew that you had, in fact, been avoiding him. You found yourself locked in his gaze, unable to pry your eyes away. Luke didn’t look away either; it was as if he was uncovering every secret, exploring every inch of you with his eyes.

In a swift, almost breathless moment, he leaned over, his lips finding yours. The kiss caught you by surprise, yet the thought of pulling away never crossed your mind. Instead, you found yourself surrendering—melting into the warmth of his lips. Your hand instinctively found its way to his curls, fingers weaving through them, pulling him closer,deepening the kiss.

You were moving in perfect sync.

His hand reached out, unlatching your seatbelt, freeing your from its restraint. With an ease of urgency, you climbed over the midconsole, never losing the precious contact between the two of you.

His hands found their way to your hips, finger pressing into the soft fabric of your clothes, pulling you even closer. Arching your back at the contact, your clothed core merely inches away from him, only your clothes separating you. Intoxication swept over you, but it wasn’t the alcohol swirling through your veins that left you dizzy – it was Luke. it was the touch of his hands roaming around your body, the feeling of his lips on yours, it was him. And you needed more. Your hands seemed to take on a life of their own, grasping at his shoulders, tugging at his curls, wrapping around his neck – anything to be closer to Luke.

Lost in the moment, straddling Luke in the drivers seat as you deepened the kiss. His hands on your hips, pulling you closer as you grind against him, feeling him harden beneath you. The friction was maddening, and you could feel yourself growing wetter by the second.

You simply couldn’t help yourself.

With a groan, Luke pulls away, leaving you both gasping for air. But the respite is short-lived as you felt Luke’s fingers grazing your inner thigh, sending shivers up your spine. He hooked his fingers under the edge of your panties, pulling them to the side. You bit down on your lip, trying to stifle the moan that threatened to escape as he slips inside, his fingers finding your clit with ease.

But you can’t, you’d been wanting this, needing this, needing him. Needing Luke.

You let out a soft moan, giving yourself over to the feeling of his fingers exploring your most sensitive area. At first, Luke’s fingers moved in small, teasing circles, bareuly brushing against the sensitive bundle of nerves, just watching you fall apart on top of him.

In the haze of pleasure, you found yourself drawn to Luke’s eyes. They were dark, intense, however, there was a hint of care, and maybe even love, taking in every moment of your reaction to his touch.

You couldn’t look away if you tried. Trapped in his gaze, the car filled with the sounds of your heavy breathing and whimpers – you didn’t want to escape.

Luke’s eyes never left yours, watching with rapt attention as your breath hitched in your throat. Your face flushed, eyes closed tight, feeling the pressure building inside you. Luke’s fingers sped up, pressing harder against your clit.

Suddenly, your vision faded, the orgasm tearing through you like a wildfire, your body shaking with the force of your release.

Collapsing on top of him, your breath coming in short, sharp, gasp as you tried to catch your breath. Luke pushed away the mess of your hair, gently caressing your chin, tilting your face so you could meet his gaze. He was smiling, not the usual shit eating smirk, but smiling with genuine care and affection.

What just happened?

[kzdigiarc]

desire ♱ 001

♰ pairings :: ot8 vampire!ateez x fem!witch!reader

♰ genre :: dark fantasy, smut, strangers to ?? to lovers, fluff, maybe slight angst?, soulmates/fated lovers

♰ gen. content :: polyamory , references to religious themes, witchcraft and magick, mythical beings of all kinds, mentions of other idols, vampires with magical abilities, switches povs

♰ chapter warnings :: fear/anxiety, description of injury

♰ word count :: 8.1k 0_0

♰ note :: this took me entirely too long but hey! first chapter woohoo!! this will be my first time ever writing a series but i'm very excited :] pls give me feedback i'd love to hear your thoughts! and if i missed any warnings lmk!!

♰ main m.list | series m.list | next ♰

i've been walking for quite some time, i realize probably much later than i should. the sun had started setting long ago and now the forest was almost too dark to really see anything. but i need this mushroom. if this ointment isn't finished by tomorrow the merchants will never buy it and then how will i feed myself for the next week or so- 

snap!

i feel my heart thump against my rib cage as my head whips up at the distinct sound of a twig snapping. i focus my gaze on where the sound came from and watch as a squirrel scuttles up the trunk of a large tree. i feel the tension in my body release a little. great, now i'm being paranoid. if i hadn't gotten so absorbed in that book then maybe i wouldn't have to be out here past dark searching for a damn plant. as i grumble to myself internally, i become less and less aware of my steps which is never good for someone who trips over thin air more than is probably considered normal. and in that moment, the universe seems to prove that point by way of me tripping over a large rock and falling flat on my stomach. i groan as pain shoots through my already bruised knees (from tripping prior to this). brushing off dirt and leaves i stand back up and huff. i accept defeat and turn to hopefully find my way back to my cabin. only to realize, i have no idea where i am. have i seriously wandered so far? i do a 360 and cannot recognize any of the trees surrounding me. anxiety starts to settle in my gut as i come to the conclusion i am very lost. you'd think living in the woods would teach me enough lessons about roaming said woods in the dark...but apparently not. even still, standing here will get me nowhere so i turn back the way (i think) i came from and start to make the journey back. i pray to every god there is that i do not manage to get more lost as i try to keep track of the trees that i am passing… with little luck since its only getting darker. 

ssssnap!

i freeze mid step as a branch snaps somewhere behind me. whatever that was sounded much bigger than a squirrel. my heart pounds in my chest as the overwhelming fear twists my gut. reluctantly, my head turns to the sound to see nothing but a vast, dark ocean of trees. the once comforting darkness spikes my paranoia as my eyes struggle to focus on my surroundings. i hear another branch snap and whip my head to my right. still, i see nothing but darkness. this is not good. with no other option, i continue the path i started. anxiety courses through me as i walk and now im acutely more aware of every little sound, down to the puff of my own breath leaving my mouth. as the fear crawls up my spine, i start to walk faster and faster until im damn near jogging. i continuously stumble over the natural debris covering the forest floor but i keep my brisk pace, not bothering to slow down.

as my boots catch on a particularly large tree branch, i fall and look up to see that i seem to have come into a decent sized... clearing. in the middle of the woods? i push myself to my feet and look around to see a near perfect circle of space between the cluster of trees. i step farther out of the tree line and strain my eyes to try and see anything that could help me identify where i am. but i definitely would have remembered this clearing if i'd ever stumbled across it before. i've never seen anything like this in these woods besides the clearing surrounding my own home. as i look around confusedly, i forget that there was a small chance i was being followed by something. instead astonishment replaces the fear as i look around. but not for long. i start to hear the distinct sound of crunching leaves coming from my right. this time my entire body freezes for a fraction of a second and i do not turn to see whatever it is coming for me. instead i turn left and start to run. as i sprint through the tree line, i make it long enough that the clearing behind me starts to morph back into endless trees. but turning back to look proves to be a mistake as i trip once again and fall, unable to catch myself as i collide with the ground. sharp pain shoots through my knee again and i know this time i would not just have a bruise. i wince and cry as i push into the dirt to roll onto my back. 

through my fear, i could only hear my boots making contact with the earth beneath me but now that i am still i can definitely hear the pursuit of something coming towards me. it doesn't sound like running but then again i may not be able to hear over the sound of my own pounding heart and heaving breaths. i attempt to scramble to my feet and push through the pain in my leg but i can only manage a weak limping jog. i feel tears pool in my eyes as i stop to lean my side against a tree. there's just no way i'll make it to my cabin like this. and there's no way i'd beat whatever it is that's following me. as the pain in my knee starts to throb, i sink lower until i'm sitting with my back against the tree. through my wallowing i failed to realize that the sound from before had stopped. as i turn my head to look around, i spot a silhouette off to my left. back from where i originally started running. it looks like.... a person? who in their right mind would be out this far? it seems like the seconds drag on as i stare wordlessly at the unmoving figure. i have no options to weigh so i wait. for impending doom most certainly. but there's nothing i can really do. trying to get up again really isn't practical and would just alert them to my location, if they don't see me already. 

i blink and suddenly the figure looks a lot closer than they were a second ago. no... my mind is playing tricks on me no one moves that fast. my heart rate kicks into high gear as the figure starts to become larger. they're definitely getting closer. my reflexes kick in and i scramble with no success to get onto my feet. i hear my breath stutter and a cry threatens to leave my lips as the figure finally really comes into view and then stops. though it's still very dark, they're close enough now that i can see the person is a man. he's human looking... enough. but that doesn't really quell my fear. he's still not close enough that he could hear me if i spoke in a normal tone but i know he can see me. i watch as his head tilts to the side for a second before he starts to walk, much slower now, towards me. 

"are you injured?" though he's still not very close, his voice carries and i can hear the genuine concern (and confusion) in his tone. he sounds human enough. i nod, not trusting my voice at this current moment. he walks until he's standing an arms length away and then crouches down. 

"i apologize. i didn't mean to frighten you, are you lost?" oh. though i tried to focus on his words i became quickly distracted by his voice. a smooth rich tenor that made my brain a little fuzzy. i still can't see his face clearly but he has to be pretty with a voice like that. i was so caught up in my own thoughts i completely ignored his question. "oh, that may not be an appropriate thing to ask... uh if you're okay with it, i may be able to help you." he quickly backpedals once he gets no response from me. it takes me a few seconds to answer but really what have i got to lose? only my literal life. i can't get anywhere like this and there's... something about him. i would say my intuition has never done me wrong and if i'm trusting it, he doesn't seem likely to hurt me. so i nod once again and try to will the shakiness out of my voice. 

"okay... i um, i can't walk." i say, my voice quiet as i look to my leg that is still in pain. he follows my gaze as if he could really see what i was referring to. nevermind the dark, he definitely can't see past the two skirts i have on and the knee high socks and combat boots. he seems to realize this fact as he clears his throat and turns back to me. 

"i can carry you... if that's alright with you, of course." he answers back. he almost sounds shy... or embarrassed? not being able to see his face clearly is really bugging me but i nod anyway. he moves to make it easier for him to maneuver me before an arm encircles my waist and i'm being lifted from my seated position. i quickly swing my arm to go around his shoulders, ignoring the warmth i feel creeping up my neck, and try to hold most of my weight. once he has me mostly lifted up he scoops his other arm under my legs. i hiss when the movement causes a jolt of pain through my knee. 

i feel him tense and i rush to reassure him. "i'm okay, sorry my knee is just.... i'm fine really." i say and he relaxes, letting out a soft ‘okay’ as he stands back up to full height. as he starts to walk i can't help but try and study his face. this close i can see him a bit more clearly but not by much, the only light being from the bright, full moon. i can see enough to notice his hair and the outline of his features but not much more than that. as i look at him, i feel a question bubble to the surface and can't help but voice it.

"why are you helping me?" i ask hesitantly, hoping it doesn't sound like an accusation. 

"well... had i not frightened you, you would not have gotten injured. i do sincerely apologize, i had not expected you to run." he says matter-of-factly, like that was the entire reason he approached me in the first place. even though i can feel that that’s not the entire reason he started to follow me, i see nothing else to say so we continue on in silence. i watch as the trees break and we end up back in the clearing. which confuses me but i say nothing. once we're a few paces away from the tree line he stops. expecting to see nothing, i turn and look out into the clearing. except now there's a very large mansion sitting in the middle of it. my jaw drops as i stare. there's absolutely no way i would've missed that! but then i feel it. there's a subtle tremor in the air like a shimmering in the energy. magick. it tingles against my senses and if i didn't practice magick i would never have felt it. but it's definitely there. there’s no way… illusion magick is hardly used anymore and you'll find very few who are able to conjure illusions around anymore, most magick users being wary of them. so how he managed an illusion this strong is beyond me. i reach out with my senses, trying to feel the man's aura but i sense nothing out of the ordinary. he feels… normal. so how in the hell- he's..not alone. as the realization dawns on me, the mansion comes to life, lights turning on inside and out. 

"ah, this would probably be a good time to mention that i do not live alone." he says sheepishly as he looks down at my awestruck expression. "most of my housemates should be asleep or off to their own activities so we most likely won't be disturbed." i don't miss the maybes in that statement. 

"oh...okay." i breathe out still not believing my eyes. just as he's about to continue walking, the grand front door slowly swings open. i think i hear him mutter something under his breath but i don't pay attention long enough to try and discern what it was. the man standing at the door is tall in stature and i notice a similarity in the way they carry themselves with the grace of someone of high status. almost royal in a way. he strides down the steps towards where we stand but stops farther away than i assumed he was going to. 

"who's this?" the taller man says as he looks between me and the man currently cradling me. i probably should've gotten his name. he seems to realize this too as he looks down at me with furrowed brows. 

"y/n... i'm y/n." i answer instead, trying to save the awkwardness.

"and i'm yunho, nice to meet you. what...happened, seonghwa?" yunho smiles as he says it but he shares a look with his housemate, who i now know the name of, that i don't understand. 

"i startled her and she fell while running. her knee seems to be injured." seonghwa summarizes but there's another look that passes between the two. like they're not just having this conversation out loud. 

"ah, i see. well in that case, you're in good hands." yunho shifts his gaze to me and his eyes soften, similar to the way it would if you were trying to console a wounded animal. i can't help but smile at the kindness in his tone. seonghwa walks up to yunho and the latter turns to go back up the steps with us in tow. as we walk through the door, i'm immediately overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the interior. and we're only in the foyer! i can't even begin to imagine the rest of the mansion. 

the decor is dark; a blend of black, silver, and shades of red everywhere you turn. in the middle of the foyer sits a small pedestal with a statue of a woman with devilish wings standing atop it. she stares up with long, clawed hands reaching up towards the luxurious chandelier that glitters like diamonds. the floors are dark marbled tile and the ceilings are higher than i thought was ever possible. there's a wide, curved staircase on either side leading up to what i can assume is another beautiful foyer. down the hall in front of us leads to what i can see is the living room on one side and the kitchen and dining area on the other. i can't see the details from here but i see the decor in there is also black and red. the entire place is lit up in a warm glow from the light fixtures lining the walls. 

as i admire the opulence, i forget about the two men waiting with me. that is until i feel eyes on me. when i snap out of my daze i see yunho looking at me, there's a gentle smile curving his lips and w o w. in the dark i couldn't make out his features very well but... he is beautiful. even more so than his home. my eyes rove over his tall, lean figure and i try not to let my jaw hang. his brown hair is highlighted with honey blonde streaks throughout and his skin is perfectly clear. he's dressed head to toe in black with a long overcoat that brushes the back of his shins. the only color in his ensemble is the red on the inside of his coat and red accents on the undone buttons of his loose black shirt. the smile curving his lips slowly morphs into a smirk as i continue to stare. we make eye contact and i shift my gaze immediately, embarrassed at having been caught. 

"we will have to go upstairs, all of my supplies are in the study at the moment." seonghwa says apologetically, though i only realized halfway through his statement that he was speaking to me. i turn to look up at him and am once again struck by beauty beyond my comprehension. no seriously, what did i walk into? and how many more of them are there?! i try (and fail) to stare less but i can't help it. his eyes are sharp, almost piercing but also kind as he looks at me. blonde strands of hair fall into his eyes and i have the strangest urge to push them away. his skin is clear even this close and he smells delightful. has he smelt like this the whole time and why have i just noticed? i snap out of it quickly enough that neither of them suspects my silence and reassure him that it's fine. 

"i'll leave you both to it, i have things to attend to. but if you need anything let me know." yunho smiles and bows his head at me before passing another silent look with seonghwa. he walks away, hands in his pockets as he takes the steps. he turns as he gets to the top, sparing me a last look and there's something i can't put my finger on in his eyes. but then he's disappearing down the hall before i can decipher what his look meant. 

seonghwa

i look down at the girl in my arms out of my periphery again. for the millionth time since we arrived at the mansion. i wonder if she's noticed me stealing glances at her. not likely considering she has yet to mention it. i just don't understand. she shouldn't have been able to get into the clearing let alone our home. she stumbled through the barrier completely unaware of the alarm she raised inside these very walls. we all felt it when she passed through. the dim trill in the air, a slight shift in the energy. i can still feel the way my hair stood on edge and my senses heightened. our magick is powerful, we'd made very sure of it. so how was she here? and why? from what i can tell, she seems very human. she smells very human. 

she was right to have run at first but then she put up no fight coming here. it made no sense. this poor girl... she has no earthly clue what she's willingly walked herself into. or rather allowed me to lead her into. even now as i carry her up the steps, she seems utterly calm. of course i can still feel the way her heartbeat hasn't gone back to normal and i can feel the nervousness around the edges of her energy. but every time she looks up at me, her eyes are clear. no worry creasing her forehead or apprehension in her gaze. just clear curiosity. and i feel no anxiety with her here. not really. except for the swirling confusion, i feel... relaxed. definitely not how i should feel with an intruder in our veiled home. but i can sense it on yunho too. he wasn't afraid, just curious. maybe a little concerned. for her... she really shouldn't be here. 

i look at her once again and can’t help but be endeared at the awestruck expression that hasn’t left her features since we first stepped through the door. her eyes are wide with wonder as she looks around the halls and her lips are slightly parted as she takes everything in. i don’t even realize how long i’m staring, my eyes tracing over her features as we walk. despite how human she looks, she’s… beautiful. in an imperfect way. bright eyes, full lips, round cheeks, moles and freckles scattered across her nose. i watch as her lashes flutter every time she blinks and the way her tongue pokes out to wet her lips before she closes them. she’s enchanting. the thought snaps me out of my trance and i look forward to see us approaching the study. 

as we come to the door of the study i can hear the low murmur of voices on the other side. i pause, not wanting to disturb whoever is on the other side and also not wanting anymore of my housemates to know she's here. not that they can't smell her or sense her... but it would be best that no one else saw her. i don’t get much time to ponder my options because within the next second the study door swings open to reveal two more of my housemates. how lovely.

reader

oh you’ve got to be kidding me… i probably have the facial expression of someone who’s just seen a comet but really you can’t blame me. not only am i astonished by the sight of the immaculate study with a large, dark mahogany desk and more shelves of books than i could ever afford. but there’s also two very beautiful men staring at me inquisitively from the open doorway. 

“ah, i wasn’t aware we had company.” the shorter of the two says, clear apprehension in his tone as he looks me over. our eyes lock and mine roam over his face, his features somehow both soft and sharp. his blonde hair is styled and he’s dressed in a long, black overcoat that brushes the backs of his knees with red trim on the bottom with a vest over the white button up he wears. the buttons on his garments are all silver as is the jewelry that adorns his wrists and neck. my eyes trail over the necklaces he’s layered, all looking like they’d take me years to scrounge up enough money for one. grand, colored jewels and crosses hang off the chains of multiple while some just look like chain links. i glance back up at his face to see him already looking at me, a smirk curling his lips and a brow quirked. i quickly turn my attention to the man standing next to him to see him already looking at me, his gaze heavy and unreadable. where the other man’s features are softer, his are all sharp. piercing eyes, angled nose, plump lips, and a sharp jawline. he’s dressed in similar clothing except the inside of his coat is a deep purple and he has much more accessories. large rings, long necklaces, a plethora of bracelets. the top few bottons of his shirt are popped open and the muscular planes of his chest are on display. he’s much taller than the other two men and his long, muscular-looking legs show for it. his eyes never leave my face and for some reason, the look in his gaze makes me nervous causing me to look away quickly. 

“i apologize, she got injured and i offered my assistance. it is much too dark for anyone to be out there alone. we won’t be very long.” seonghwa says, sounding only slightly apologetic. it seems like he has more to say, an undercurrent to his tone, but he just shares a long look with the shorter male. the two men standing together look to each other, another one of those unspoken looks passing between the two. 

“that’s fine, we were… just about finished in here anyway.” the tallest one states and his voice, much deeper than the other two, pulls my gaze back to him. although he was speaking to seonghwa, his intense gaze stayed trained on me. there’s a question in his gaze but i’m not too sure what it’s about. i’m once again forced to look away but not before i got to drink in his features a little. it really shouldn’t surprise me that these two are just as gorgeous as seonghwa and yunho but still i am awestruck by their features. the two leave the room, both brushing past us quickly and not sparing a last glance as they continue down the long hall. 

seonghwa very quickly walks into the study and pushes the door closed with his foot. did i hear the lock click or am i imagining things? seonghwa sets me down gently on a soft brown sofa, being conscious of my injured knee. once he sees that i’m mostly comfortable, he paces over to the large desk and rifles through the drawers before pulling out a first aid kit. i take the time to really take in the room, straining my eyes to read the spines of the books i could see from where i sit. i can recognize a plethora of books on foliage and herbs, some i know i have on my own shelves.

“those books are san’s. he takes an interest in anything to do with plants and herbs.” seonghwa’s voice from the desk startles me out of my daze as i look to him. he looks to be pretty busy shuffling through the first aid, i didn’t think he was paying me any mind. but there’s a gentle smile on his face that i know i am not the cause of. there’s a fondness in his tone and aura when he spoke of this san, that must be why he’s smiling.

“well, ’san’ and i have something in common then.” i respond, a smile that mirrors his playing on my lips. 

“is that what you were in the forest for?” seonghwa inquires as he rounds the desk with what looks to be an ice pack, black gloves, and bandages in hand. 

i nod. “yes, i was looking for something to finish off this ointment i'm making. i was supposed to have it by tomorrow to take into town but… i don't think that's going to happen.” i say the last statement with a sigh as i look down at my hands fiddling in my lap. 

seonghwa hums as he comes to stand next to me on the sofa and i take note of how tall he is now that he’s not holding me. he kneels down to be directly in front of my knee, pulling the gloves over his nimble fingers. “well, i truly do not think it’d be safe for you to try and find your way back to your home now that night has fallen. even if one of us went with you, the forest is… different at night. but san may be able to help you find that plant in the morning, if that's something you'd appreciate. i don't assume this area of the forest is familiar to you?” as he speaks, he starts to move my skirts up and out of his way but my socks are still an issue. 

i answer him as i lean down to help him remove my boots and socks. “no… no i’m not familiar with this area at all. and i actually have no idea how i found myself over here… i wasn't meant to go too far but then it started to get dark and i lost my way… a few times.” i keep my gaze off him as embarrassment floods my mind. once my clothing is out of the way, we're both able to actually see the injury and i hear seonghwa take a sharp inhale next to me. that doesn't look pretty at all. my knee is inflamed and swollen with a nasty looking bruise right underneath and small cuts all over. i reach out to gingerly press two fingers to it and immediately retract my hand with a hiss. 

“how bad is your pain?” i look to seonghwa to see him studying the injury with furrowed brows. his gloved hands are cold as he shifts my leg back and forth, probably trying to gauge my mobility. but even that slight movement causes pain to shoot through my leg and i wince, reflexively trying to move out his gentle grasp. he murmurs an apology as he looks up at me through his lashes. i’m momentarily distracted by his gaze but quickly shake myself out of it. 

“it's… pretty bad. there's a dull throb even when i don't move it.” i answer his earlier question and try my hardest to keep still as he grabs a wipe from his lap to start cleaning the cuts. seonghwa nods but otherwise stays quiet as he starts the process of fixing the injury. we sit in silence as he cleans, bandages, and wraps my knee. i find it very difficult to keep my eyes off his face as his hands move nimbly on my skin. his beauty is incomparable, strong brows furrowed with concentration, sharp eyes with pretty lips. as if he can feel my stare, his eyes flick up to mine. i look away quickly pretending to stare at the shelf behind his head. i really hope he can’t hear the way my heartbeat sped up with that nanosecond of eye contact because it feels as if the organ might jump out of my chest. a man i just met should not have this effect on me. get a hold of yourself! 

seonghwa continues his work on my knee, seemingly completely unaware of my inner turmoil. between the calming silence and seonghwa’s gentle touches against my leg, i find myself relaxing further and further into my seat. just as my eyes start to feel heavy, a soft knock sounds on the wooden doors. both our heads look to the doors before i hear seonghwa sigh and mumble something along the lines of “excuse me” under his breath. he stands up and brushes the wrinkles out of his pants, making his way to the door. the beautiful, billowy sleeves of his white blouse sway with his arms as they swing at his sides and i watch him walk as if in a trance. i snap myself out of it and instead turn my gaze to inspect my knee. now that it’s cleaned and bandaged it doesn’t look as gruesome. the cool ice pack is relieving the pain and throbbing but the swelling won’t be down for a while. i’ll have to wait for seonghwa to make a decision on whether i’ll require more care or not but it doesn’t feel like anything more than a sprain. i test it out by twisting my leg and of course, feel pain shoot up my leg but surprisingly not as bad as before. my inspection is interrupted when seonghwa opens the door and a voice i recognize speaks up. 

“i apologize for disturbing you but hongjoong needs you. right now.” i hear seonghwa make a disapproving sound and i turn to look at the two. yunho’s already looking at me and seonghwa seems to be hesitant to leave. 

“i’m sure i’ll be fine, you can leave me if you need to attend to other things. can’t do much like this anyway.” i gesture to my leg and try to smile reassuringly. truthfully, the thought of being left alone in this beautiful strange home is making me nervous but i don’t need either of them to know that. both their brows furrow as they listen to me, neither of them really trusting my words. finally, seonghwa nods with a resigned sigh.

“i would not advise putting pressure on it but you should be alright to walk soon. allow the swelling some time to alleviate and do be careful.” he instructs and turns with a bow. yunho comes into the study and closes the door behind him. he takes long strides to the sofa opposite of mine and takes his seat. just like with seonghwa, i become entranced with the way he moves so gracefully despite his long limbs and stature.

“if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you do that?” yunho inquires curiously. his eyes are on my bandaged knee and he flicks them to my face for a second before looking back. 

mildly embarrassed, i laugh before explaining how i’d gotten here. i choose to leave out the part where seonghwa absolutely terrified me and pretend that me falling was all my own doing. i brush my hair back out of my face as i finish my spiel and it dawns on me that i probably look an absolute mess. i suppress the urge to cringe into myself, suddenly self-conscious. 

if yunho notices my sudden shift in attitude, he doesn’t mention it. instead he hums and nods as he looks back to me. “how does it feel? i know seonghwa’s pretty skilled with things like that. are you in any pain?” he asks and something about his voice puts my nerves at ease. i try not to think any longer about how the man sitting in front of me makes me feel and focus on answering his questions.

i shrug and shift my knee back and forth but notice the pain has subsided significantly. huh… that’s strange. “well… it doesn’t really seem to hurt at all anymore. doing this before hurt quite a bit but now i feel… fine.” i say, confusion lacing my words. i bend my knee experimentally and although it feels sore, the pain is barely noticeable. my brows furrow and i put my leg back down. yunho seems to understand my confusion and chuckles. 

“seonghwa’s got a way with wounds. we’ve all experienced it, trust me. you’ll be back to normal quite fast.” he stands and walks over to the desk, putting away the supplies seonghwa left out by accident. as he busies himself with that, i feel my attention shift back to the row of herbal books. one book in particular standing out to me. the spine is dark green with big, gold letters in a beautiful font and on the base, a golden honey cup mushroom. 

“would you like to read it?” i hear yunho’s voice from behind me and i jump, obviously too distracted to have noticed him move from the desk. he chuckles under his breath and the sound gives me butterflies. i shake away the feeling, internally reprimanding myself. “sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you. those are sannie’s books but i’m sure he wouldn’t mind you taking a look. do you want me to get it for you?” i turn around to see him leaning back against the shelves behind the sofa i’m on. this man is sinfully beautiful. 

clearing my throat, i respond. “no no, i think i can get up.” i lean down and pull my socks back on before carefully swinging my legs over to plant my feet on the marbled floors. i hear rustling behind me and see yunho making his way around the sofa. i push my hands into the cushions underneath me as i try to stand. yunho extends an arm to me a little panickedly, not trusting my balance and injured knee. but i wave my hand and get to my feet on my own. once i’m standing, i make sure to shift my weight to the non-injured leg and take a step. my face scrunches as i feel the soreness in my knee but it’s nothing i haven’t handled before. 

i limp my way over to the shelf and immediately my gaze zeros in on the pretty green book. i run my index finger over the lettering that reads “Mushroom Magick” before gently pulling it off the shelf. the cover has the same phrase with many different kinds of mushrooms decorating a circle around the words. the book feels familiar even though i know i don’t own this one and i flip to a random page. the page has a plethora of notes scrawled in rushed handwriting with highlights on phrases the owner of the book deemed important. i smile to myself reading some of the notes i assume the aforementioned ‘sannie’ left. i continue to flip through and read over the random notes they left before i finally come to a page without any annotations. this is where i assume they left off but i continue to skim through the pages until a presence behind me breaks my focus. i snap my head to see yunho standing a few paces behind me with his hands behind his back. he seems startled by the way i turned but recovers quickly with a polite smile.  

“i’m sorry to disturb you… but i promised seonghwa i’d make sure you were resting and i noticed your shifting. you can bring the book with you to the sofa, you probably shouldn’t be standing on your leg for so long.” yunho explains as he gestures to said sofa. in all honesty, i hadn’t even noticed my shifting so his observation is impressive… but that also means he’d been watching me pretty carefully and the thought makes me a little nervous. i have half the mind to decline his offer but a part of me feels like he’s more persistent than that. with a resigned sigh and nod, i limp back over to the sofa, mushroom book in my hand with my index finger in between the page i’m on to make sure i don’t lose it. i take my seat and he follows suit sitting, with much more grace than i had, on the sofa opposite to me. i notice his lack of entertainment and wonder for a second what he’s going to do while we sit here but decide that’s none of my concern before opening the book back up to the page i was on. 

the room is silent save for the sound of our a clock ticking and the pages of the book in my hands turning. i become quickly engrossed in what i’m reading, so much so i pay no mind to the man in the room with me. though i did look up one time when he got up to go to the desk. and maybe i stared at his figure for much longer than was necessary. it’s not like he noticed, by the time he’d turned back around my nose was in my book. a few more minutes and pages later, he gets back up again. this time he goes to examine a different shelf, one i can’t decipher the contents of from where i’m sat. i watch as he paces before he sighs softly to himself. he must feel my eyes because he swivels to turn to me. i snap my head down and try to refocus on the book but i can see from my periphery, him making his way over to the other sofa. i look up again as he sits and send him a small smile which he returns. i can see he wants to say something so i wait for him to speak before turning away. 

“would you… like a tour of the mansion? i can see you’re enjoying your book so i apologize but… i feel i might lose it being stuck in this room.” his smile is shy as he asks. he tries to look relaxed but the bouncing of his leg is hard to miss. i consider his offer as i stare at the ground, not really able to look any of them in the eye for very long. what i’d seen of their home was absolutely atonisihing and it’s hard for me to even imagine what the rest may look like so out of sheer curiosity (and maybe a small desire to want to be around his calming presence) i nod my agreement. 

his smile widens as he stands, holding his hands behind his back. i close the book, making a mental note of the page i was on in case i come back before placing it down on the cushion beside me. i get to my feet and i see yunho’s arm come from behind his back, probably to offer me support, but then he retracts it just as quickly when he sees me walking fine on my own. i start for the door, listening as yunho falls into step behind me. once we reach the door he side steps around me and reaches for the handle, pushing the door open and letting me step out into the hallway before him. the house is quiet as i look down the long hallways, yunho closing the door behind me before coming up on my right side. he smiles down at me as i look to him for directions and standing this close i can finally see just how tall he is. he gestures down the hallway to our right and turns to start walking, me having to play catch up to keep in time with his long strides. 

“hongjoong, seonghwa, and i designed this entire place ourselves. though most of the detail was seonghwa hyungs’ ideas.” he explains as we keep a leisure pace, allowing me to take in the beautiful architecture and artwork on the walls. we pass by many doors, yunho telling me what lies behind each one as we pass. another smaller study that only a few of them use, a few bedrooms one of which is unoccupied, a library that belongs to someone named ‘yeosang’. the heels of our boots clack against the marbled tile floors and his coat rustles as it fans out behind his long legs in the same way my skirts rustle as i walk. but a beautiful painting stops me in my tracks and yunho slows to a stop alongside me. i reach my hand out to brush over the canvas with barely my fingertips, mouth agape in awe. in the painting a beautiful woman with wings much like the ones on the statue in the foyer sits in the middle of a meadow, in one hand a large pomegranate and the other a skull of an animal. her lips are stained red with the juices of the pomegranate but the way she’s depicted licking it off her teeth as the juice drips off her tongue makes it look like blood. she’s completely nude, skin glowing from the light of the pale moon in the dark, starry sky over her head. a crow sits perched near her feet, picking at the seeds she took out the pomegranate and a cat is curled by her side, sleeping peacefully. her long dark hair flows beautifully down to her thighs, nearly brushing over the sleeping kittens ears. 

it’s completely unlike any painting i’ve seen, the artist putting such detail into the setting and atmosphere of the scene depicted. there’s something serene and intimate about the mood, like your’e peeking in on a moment between this woman and her companions. i turn to look at yunho to see him admiring the painting much like i was just doing. there’s a faint smile on his lips as his eyes trace over it before looking over to me.  it’s then that the feeling one of the residents of this home must have painted this themselves presents itself in my thoughts. 

“it took yeosang years to perfect this masterpiece but it’s one of his most prized pieces of work.” yunho confirms my previous suspicions as he brings up this ‘yeosang’ once again. looking back to the painting i can offer no other response but open-mouted awe. yunho chuckles at my expression. “yeosangie would be very flattered by your clear admiration. would you like to see more of his art or the rest of this wing?” he leaves the choice up to me as if it’s an easy decision. i look at him and then down the hall, lips parting to answer but the sound of a door opening pulls both of our attention. yunho turns to face down the hallway ahead of us as a figure steps out the opened door into the hallway with us. from the way he’s positioned, the other person can probably barely see me behind yunho’s giant figure. i try to step to the side to see down the hall but yunho’s arm closest to me moves up very subtly, a silent way of telling me to stay put. 

“yunho? who were you talking to?” a clear, slightly husky voice asks. it sounds like whoever it was has just woken up. 

“ah… no on-” yunho starts to deny my presence for reasons i don’t understand. a pit forms in my gut as anxiety creeps up my spine. why wouldn’t this other man be able to know i was here? i shift my weight to my non-injured leg, biting at my bottom lip nervously. the movement was a mistake because my skirts shift and ripple behind yunho’s legs. the other man’s eye immediately zone in on the movement and i freeze. i see yunho’s shoulders tense as the other man’s gaze slowly trails back up to look his housemate in the eye. then yunho releases a puff of air letting his shoulders drop and he steps to the side ever so slightly. “seonghwa brought her here. she got lost in the forest and hurt herself. i was just showing her around.” yunho explains, sounding defeated. the other man looks me over with his head tilted and cat-like eyes narrowed in suspicion. he’s not as tall as yunho but is broader than him, wide shoulders drawing my attention even from this distance. his jet black hair is ruffled from having just been asleep. he’s clad in a black t-shirt and sweatpants, the most casual dress of any the men i’ve seen thus far. our gazes lock and he seems to be trying to read me as he stares, eyes flitting around my face.

yunho breaks the tense silence by clearing his throat. “y/n, this is san. i think i mentioned him to you earlier in the study. san, this is y/n.” all san does in response is hum, looking away from me back to yunho. 

“does hongjoong know you’re showing her around?” san inquires, brow raised. yunho looks away, scratching the back of neck nervously. ah, that must’ve been why he didn’t want san to see me. but who was this ‘hongjoong’? every time he’s been mentioned, they speak of him in this high regard. “yunho… do you even know how long seonghwa plans on keeping her here? should she really be seeing… everyone?” as he asks the last question, san’s gaze turns to me again. there isn’t as much hardness in his gaze, just apprehension. like he doesn’t trust me. i suppose that would make sense, i am a random stranger in his home. yunho opens his mouth to speak but i cut in before he can get whatever he was going to say out. 

“i don’t plan on being here much longer, i assure you. i appreciate all of seonghwa’s kindness but i have things to attend to back at my own home. he was just offering me shelter for the night since it’s dark and i lost my way. in the morning, i’ll be going back to my cottage.” i answer san’s inquiries with a polite smile. both men turn to me as i speak and san’s eyebrow quirks up again. 

“uh, weren’t you searching for something? san may be able to help you find it!” yunho says, head turning back to the other man who gives him an incredulous look. 

san sighs as he looks back to me, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “what is it you were looking for?” he asks in a bored tone that offends me ever so slightly. what is his issue? 

“you don’t have to help me, i’m perfectly capable of finding it on my own.” i answer with indignation, matching his stance. san’s bored expression breaks as he tries to fight off a smirk.

“if that were the case, would you have gotten yourself lost?” he asks with an irritating self-satified smirk on his lips. my arms drop from my chest as my brows furrow but san pays me no more mind, turning back to his bedroom door. “if you’d like my help, yunho or seonghwa can bring you to me tomorrow morning.” and with that he walks into his room and shuts the door behind himself. yunho and i are left in the silent hallway as irritation stirs in my gut. 

“do you… still want to see the rest?” yunho asks softly as he looks at me. 

i turn to him and smile. “yes, you were saying something about seeing more of the art?”

♰ note :: cliffhanger tehe >:) and we met quite a few members... pls pls leave feedback i want to hear you thoughts!! if you enjoyed consider rbing.

[ghostlytide]

For Business Only | One

I hope you like it ^^

Vincent Renzi x Fem! Reader----1.6K

MASTERLIST -> Next

Synopsis:

After the whirlwind affair Vincent and you shared years ago, he was sure his goodbye was definitive. A fleeting memory filled with both regret and a peculiar ache that he can’t quite place. But life wishes to scorn him once again when his newest case obliges him to seek out your help. Though this case isn’t the only complicated thing in this strictly professional relationship—not with the way his heart seems to jump at your proximity, or the already familiar tune of your voice. For all the things that had changed, would this mean your story could have a different ending now?

General Tags: Second Chance/Exes to Lovers; Slow Burn; |They were Coworkers; Denial of Feelings; Pining & Longing; Idiots in Love; Eventual Friends (?) with Benefits (?); English isn't my first language so watch out for typos;

It was a late spring night when Vincent said his goodbye to you, so it was only fair that your reencounter would occur in another.

Life played both hommage and karma at him, remembering his words: You may forever hate me, but I promise you that you'll never see me ever again. I've bothered you enough.

That night, he had regained the common sense that had slipped out his grasp since you entered the law firm as an intern; eager to learn from whoever would spare you a glance for something more than to request their thousandth cup of coffee.

Of course, he did.

And how could he not to? When you were so bright and cheerful, all the opposite from those seniors who had seen the worst, to experience who knows how many times the balanced and blind justice's weight to tip at the wrong side. To have to face the client's hopeless expression.

Of course, you'd probably be sheltered from such a dark world at your station once you reached juniorship. But that wasn't the point right now.

Just as it wasn't the point to reminisce. He felt as ashamed as it could be possible while climbing the stairs of the skyscraper, which on the inside was decorated with pieces of steel, glass, and contemporary art that combined perfectly against the simple columns and the frescoes painted in the dome of the main hall.

Vincent shouldn't be overwhelmed by the sight, but he'd never been inside the Building of the Société Générale, white marble walls against a dark mosaic creating a cube to showcase the colorful paintings hung on the walls.

The secretary at the front desk showed him the way to the elevator behind the reception, polished black walls against the metal door as Vincent felt a pull in the pit of his stomach—either for the sudden upward movement or for nervousness, he didn't wish to dwell much on it.

Walking much faster than he wanted to, the secretary passed through an empty, quiet hallway in which Vincent could read a myriad of plaques varying from Accounting Department, all the way to Human Resources.

Finally, she stopped at a door labeled as Banking Associate: Cultural Department. Calling your name, she said: "Monsieur Favrè has sent his lawyer impromptu to meet you."

A muffled voice—your muffled voice echoed in the still hallway, stirring old memories inside of him he wasn't aware of keeping in the first place. "Alright. Let him come in."

A simple nod and the woman was gone. It was only the two of you now.

He took his time, a skipping beat. At the same time, you finished writing away at your keyboard. Then the door was closed with a gentle click.

"Monsieur Delaroux, what can I do for y—" A tentative pause, your bright, smart eyes locked into his. "Vincent?"

This hadn't been the deal planned out in his mind; he was almost hoping you'd ask, with a puzzled voice, who he was as if memory could morph at will rather than being one's source of torture.

So many years passed since he heard his name coming out of your soft lips, that if he remembered quite well, would taste like mocca and vanilla. But why was he remembering that now, from all times?

"Hello," he said, an awkward smile shining in the well-lit office. He put one of his hands inside the pocket of his dress pants, suppressing the childish urge to wave.

You blinked. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I know this isn't what we agreed on," he started, using small steps to get closer to the desk, as if you were a deer likely to run off, or a lion ready to pounce. Vincent had no idea which of the two could be worse. "But I need your assistance for a case. You're the most capable person I can think of, so I had to come and ask for your help."

Reclining from your seat, he let the words simmer into you, using the little time he had to look around your office, part of him was curious to see if he could still recognize a glimpse of the old you, and what he could learn from the present.

"How did you find me?" you asked, hands gesturing from him to sit in front of your desk.

"There are not many art lawyers with your name," he said, slightly flustered he had to admit about searching your name among colleagues, prying into your life when his promise was all the contrary. It wasn't the first time he felt like a fool, yet prideful because he was here for work.

And solely for work.

"I have a case linked with a small private art collection." His voice was plain, devoid of any emotion. He wasn't Vincent right now, the man that tried not to break your heart but failed terribly; he was Maître Renzi one of the talented lawyers from the before small law firm that now was rising like smoke after every case taken. "A murder. Probably linked to the growing art stock. I need an expert in the subject to conduct the required procedures."

"Since when do you take cases about private art collectors?" you hummed, eyes almost twinkling with amusement from all those times he had shit on the upper class and their slippery ways around the judicial system.

It was a good sign that you weren't bringing up his words last spoken, the past that at this moment felt too much aflush despite the time trying to bury it.

"This one is an exception." He couldn't help but get defensive, feeling like a stupid teenage boy being teased despite you being quite some years younger than him. "The owner of the law firm assigned me this case directly. We need to win so the firm can have an expansion." Which meant more law specialties, and more hired lawyers. And then it was… "They're even considering putting an Art Law department."

You could join, he almost said foolishly. Why would you like to be coworkers with him again, when that exact professional relationship prompted all the rest?

You seemed to be thinking the same. "It'll pay well," he added before you could say anything that derailed from his sketched conversation. "And it can help with your curriculum." Vincent signaled to the plaque in front of your computer, reading Junior Consultant. "It could be the case that turns you into a Senior."

There it was the ghost of you, biting your bottom lip in a pondering manner while your gaze was glued to the empty seat next to him.

"What makes you think you're going to win?"

"Have some faith in me, will you?" He chuckled, though deep inside he knew what you meant. It was a question that always lingered at the bottom of his mind, the one that stole his sleep some nights.

"Vincent—"

"Trust me. This is a high-profile case, very important for all people involved. I need your help. I know you're the only person that can help me." He couldn't make another empty promise. To never see you again? Vincent just broke it, and the opposite of that, to be partnered with you as colleagues didn't sound appropriate either. "You're the only one I can trust to remain on my side even if everything goes to shit," Vincent muttered after a while, blue eyes searching for yours as he tried to convince you with pity, even. Because you could never say no to him, and because this case was obliged to use all the desperate, creative measures he could think of.

Though Vincent wasn't lying about said statement. And you knew it.

You looked at him in a long, silent gaze that felt strangely, annoyingly charged inside the medium-sized office, silent so thick he heard the moment you chortled, a breathy, contained laugh that blessed him with the tiniest of smiles.

"Send me the generalities of the case so I can give it a glance tomorrow and write the protocol to follow."

"If tomorrow is one of your free days, we can discuss it over lunch," Vincent found himself saying before his brain could tell him to do better. "I'll give you a printed copy of everything so you can revise it easier. I apologize, but due to the nature of this case, I don't find myself comfortable with sharing this information via remote."

You put away the pencil you were playing with, settling it against the wooden desk with a thunk. "Breakfast. Tomorrow at 9 AM meet me at the Fontaine Saint-Sulpice. We can go to a nearby café once there." Looking from your computer to him, you arched an eyebrow. "Something else you need? You should go before the receptionist notices that you aren't Monsieur Favrè's lawyer."

He shrugged. "I showed her my card, she didn't say anything."

"Well, I'm not allowed to take private clients while on my shift."

"I'm not a client, we're colleagues."

You gestured away. "Wording. You know what I mean."

"You're a lawyer, Mademoiselle, wording matters."

"I write contracts and track art exhibits, Vincent," you told him in a familiar tone he recognized from when you two engaged in a well-needed, unwinding banter. "The one asked to give speeches is you, not me."

"Well, then you better prepare for an exception, because you will have to declare at court about your findings." Vincent heard your sigh and took in the sight of your angry pout, one you dedicated at him when it was time to get out of his office and help other junior lawyers while on your time as an intern. He was surprised to find it as charming as it once was. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

He stood up, torn between walking facing you or just striding toward the door. He did the last one, turning to smile at you while his hand tapped to feel the door's handle.

It was his time to call your name. "Thank you. Truly."

You nodded, one of the locks of your hair falling toward your brow, obscuring your view. "I'll see you tomorrow, Vincent."

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 48

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words: 7K

TW: Violence

Masterlist

———————————————————————-

Saturday, February 6th; 8:30 PM - At Miller's.

I don't feel very comfortable being here. Miller's house is packed. After getting out of the pool, Mapi received a message from him, inviting us to his party tonight. Surprisingly, our friends were tempted to go. I didn't expect Lucy to be one of them; she usually prefers to keep me away from parties. The fact that she's coming with me must change things a lot. So here we are, standing in front of the house, frozen, unsure if we're going in or not. I don't know about the others, but for me, that's definitely the case. The music is so loud it's making the walls shake. It's a typical college party, the kind we all know. Just on the porch, we can already see a dozen young people with red cups or cigarettes in hand, maybe even joints.

"I feel like I'm going back five years," Ingrid comments.

"That's probably true," Mapi giggles, earning a glare.

"Is this a fraternity?" Lucy asks.

"Oh no," Mapi laughs. "It's Miller's house, a friend of ours. His parents are often away on weekends, so he takes the opportunity to throw parties. Since it became a regular thing, his parties ended up becoming well-known."

"So, are we going in, or are we just going to stand here staring at them like idiots?"

The girls look at me, astonished. I was the one who wanted to come the least, so it's no surprise. However, I feel really stupid just waiting here. Besides, if we don't go in soon, I might end up turning back because of overthinking. Memories of my last parties are starting to resurface. If Lucy knew this was where I woke up with a rubber band around my arm, she might not have agreed to come. Ingrid and Mapi are the first to move forward. Lucy gives me a smile, which I return. I grab her hand as she extends it to intertwine our fingers. It's comforting to have her by my side tonight. We follow the girls through the crowd. Some people look at us like we're oddities, while others whistle at us. I chuckle as I see Lucy roll her eyes at their futile reactions. Initially, I always saw Lucy as a party girl, given how badass she seemed, but after getting to know her, I realize it's quite the opposite.

"Are they always like this here?" she murmurs.

"Are you overwhelmed?" I tease.

"No. I was just wondering if students are the same everywhere, but it seems like I have my answer."

"I've always said it gets worse every year."

"You're right. That's one more reason not to leave me alone tonight."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

I press against her to accompany my words. She wraps her arm around my waist in return, kissing my temple. I feel safe by her side, just as Lucy seems reassured, given how tightly she's holding me. What bothers me is that she doesn't seem very comfortable in this environment. We walk through the hallway where I greet a few high school acquaintances who recognize me. I glance around to make sure Feli isn't here. I sincerely hope she's given up by now. I don't know how I'd react if we ran into her. I take a deep breath at the thought. We're interrupted when Lucy has to take my hand again to navigate through narrower passages. She leads the way, firmly holding my hand. This gives me a chance to enjoy the view. I haven't had many opportunities to see Lucy in anything other than her uniform, but it's definitely worth it. I love her style. Right now, she's dressed all in black, which must clearly be her color. A sweater, jeans, and little boots that accentuate her already well-toned legs. It's safe to say she's irresistible. I feel almost pathetic in my black skinny jeans and denim shirt. I look back up at her face when I sense her turning around. Her expression makes me realize I've been caught red-handed. I blush with embarrassment, and fortunately for me, we arrive in the kitchen. This is where the guys usually hang out at the beginning of the party. It seems that's the case tonight as well.

"And here come the queens of the party!" Wick comments when he sees us. "Hey, girls... And you're accompanied too."

He looks at us all one by one, lingering first on Ingrid, then especially on Lucy. I frown, forcing Lucy to lean back against me.

"Go elsewhere, Wick. She's already taken," I reply sharply.

Lucy chuckles, wrapping her arm around my waist again. I don't find it funny. Wick is a big flirt when he's single. As far as I know, he doesn't have anyone right now, so he better not try to get close to my girlfriend. No one will get close to her, not tonight, not any other day. She's mine now. Under the laughter of our friends, Wick stammers an apology as he realizes our relationship. I never really showed off with Mapi back in the day, but I won't hesitate to do so with Lucy. We do a brief introduction before Miller speaks up.

"Well, welcome, and make yourselves at home. We're happy to see our girls accompanied," he smiles. "The girls will show you around; they're regulars here."

"We gathered that," Lucy mutters.

"We were thinking of heading out if you'd like to join us," he continues.

"We'll grab a drink first, and then we'll join you," Mapi announces, looking at us to give us a chance to object.

"Yeah, no problem," Miller finally responds. "See you soon, then."

Our ritual remains intact. We each go our separate ways, stopping at the drinks table while the guys head out. I don't worry about Mapi, who prepares my drink as usual.

"What can I get you, girls?" she asks after handing me my drink.

"Definitely not the same as Ona," Lucy grimaces after sniffing my drink. "What did you put in there?"

I smile at her expression. Something tells me Mapi made my drink strong.

"Do you want a taste?" I joke.

"No, thanks. But I think one drink is enough for you."

"Come on, it's not that strong!" Mapi protests.

"It's not up to you to decide," Lucy retorts.

"Oh, don't be such a wimp, Miss Picky. We'll show you what real fun is like here in Barcelona!"

"Hey, don't say that," I interject. "That's not what tonight is about."

"Of course," Mapi replies, rolling her eyes. "Your responsible one is here, and you're going to play the goody-two-shoes."

"Don't push it," I exclaim, playfully hitting her arm. "I've just decided to be reasonable."

"Sure," she mocks. "And the drinks?"

"Two beers will do," Ingrid replies.

"Pff. You guys are no fun," Mapi comments as she opens the two beers.

Having gone out with them before, their choice of beer no longer surprises me. It seems to exasperate Mapi, though. She probably expected something different from tonight.

"Times change, Maps."

I give her a wink, grabbing Lucy's hand to pull her outside with me. I needed some fresh air with all the people starting to suffocate me. We join my friends around the patio table.

"Hey, Ona! I didn't think I'd see you here again."

"Hey, everyone. And you're Alex, if I remember correctly, right?"

The poor guy gets booed by his friends because of my response. It's hard not to remember him. He was Joan's friend's brother.

"Um, yeah, that's right," he sulks. "I hope you still remember me. We met in Manchester."

"Yes, I remember very well. You tried to hit on me and convince me to reply to your messages."

Once again, his friends roast him because of me. It wasn't my intention. I just wanted him to understand that I still wasn't interested. I sit next to Lucy, who had found a spot, and smile when she immediately places her hand on my thigh. I catch Alex out of the corner of my eye, looking at us strangely. He must have figured it out. I don't pay him any more attention, preferring to focus on Mapi and Ingrid, who have finally settled in front of us. Now that we're seated, I take my first sip of my drink. I quickly regret it. I force myself to swallow the liquid that almost ended up being spat out.

"Damn, Maps! What did you put in this?!"

"The usual. Why?" she teases.

"No, this is not the usual! It's super strong!" I complain.

"Wimp," Ingrid mocks.

I hand her my drink, challenging her to take a sip. She laughs, raising her beer.

"Sorry, I've already got my drink. You only have yourself to blame for trusting Mapi to make your drinks," she replies, making my best friend laugh.

I grumble, giving them a grand middle finger. They've really hit it off.

"It's not like I didn't warn you," Lucy adds.

"I have to admit," Mapi chimes in. "I was afraid you'd stop her from drinking it, but I'm glad you didn't. Her face was priceless!"

"You learn through experience," Lucy teases.

She pulls me closer when she sees me pouting. That was really not cool. Lucy takes advantage of my mood to steal a kiss, which instantly cheers me up. She takes my glass and places it on the table.

"How about we go get you a new drink, hmm? I'd rather you have something else. »

I nod while smiling. We apologize to the others before heading back inside. Lucy stands by the table while I prepare myself a new drink. I opt for vodka with orange juice, measuring it much more carefully this time. I glance at Lucy, who seems completely absorbed by what's happening in the living room. People are going wild to the music. She turns back to me, tilting her head with a small smile when she notices me.

"So, this is the kind of party you like to attend?"

"Let's just say it's Mapi's thing, and I've always gone along with her."

"But you've grown to like it. You seem comfortable in this environment."

"Let's just say I've gotten used to it," I reply, shrugging. "I don't care about all these people. If I'm here, it's only for my friends who make it a good time."

And that's the truth. It's the only reason I used to enjoy coming. There were times I didn't come and later regretted it. I always felt like I missed out on the best moments, like I was excluded for not being there to share in the latest craziness.

"And you? Did you go to parties when you were in high school or college?"

She takes a sip of her drink, covering her little smile. A few days ago, she confessed to me that she was a bit of a nerd, but I still have a hard time believing it.

"No. I wasn't very popular, and I have a rather rational mother. I guess she passed those traits on to me."

"You can be rational and still go to parties."

"True, but it wasn't my style."

"Not even in college?" I ask, surprised.

"Well... Jenni did try to take me to a few parties when we were in Manchester. It was at a place like this that I met Kiera," she admits.

"I see..."

"I went with Jenni sometimes, but those weren't the places I preferred to go."

Now that I know all this, I understand better why she didn't like knowing I was here alone. Kiera was a junkie who used drugs at parties after all... She must have been afraid I'd do the same. I push that thought away to avoid dwelling on it here.

"So, what's your thing then?"

"My thing?"

She smiles again and finally looks at me. I nod.

"I prefer going to bars, restaurants, or the movies. Things like that. It might be more boring than parties full of drunk people for you, but it's what I enjoy."

"I don't find it boring at all. After everything I've been through, it'll probably be better for me to move on to that kind of gathering."

"I don't want to stop you from doing what you love."

"You're not stopping me, Luce. If my mom wanted me in this school, it was so I could find myself and grow, and that's exactly what's happening thanks to you."

"That doesn't mean you have to adopt my lifestyle. It's okay to have different styles."

"I know, but you were right about one thing. Parties aren't the best places for a former junkie, so I can make some concessions."

"Hmm..." she smiles behind her beer. "Then let's enjoy it. Do you want to dance?"

"I'm not a big fan of dancing," I giggle.

"Oh, come on. You could make an effort. Come on."

I glance at her hand for a moment, biting my lip. Her offer is very tempting.

"It's just that I don't really know how to dance. I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Ona, no one here knows how to dance if you watch them," she laughs. "Please. I really want us to dance together."

"I'll need several drinks first, in that case."

"Definitely not," she says, grabbing my hand. "I'll show you that we can have fun without drinking."

I groan as she pulls me toward the living room. We quickly find ourselves among strangers dancing together. I feel uncomfortable being here. Lucy tries to reassure me by placing my hand on her waist and smiling at me.

"Relax," she whispers.

She lets go and starts moving her hips in front of me. Damn... She must want to kill me. I'm practically frozen by the provocative scene she's giving me. She syncs with the rhythm of the music. I snap back to reality when she places her hands on my waist to get me to move too.

"You know, you'll look more ridiculous if you let me dance alone. Maybe I should find another partner."

"Definitely not," I growl.

She chuckles and slips her hand around my back to pull me closer. We're so close that I can feel her breath brushing my cheek. The tension is strong. So strong that I grab her neck without warning to claim her lips. It's been a long time since I felt such a powerful desire. Lucy softens our kiss to make it less rough. I then bury my head in her neck to collect myself.

"Let go," she murmurs to me through the music. "I'll take the lead."

I could almost believe she's talking about something other than dancing. She probably is, since it's clear she'll be the one leading our relationship. As she said earlier, she's the one with the rational nature. I don't doubt that she'll find our balance. In a surge of confidence, I wrap my arms around her neck to feel even closer to her. We've never been this close outside of a bed after one of my anxiety attacks. She pulls back slightly to look between our bodies moving in sync, thanks to her hands on my waist and one of her legs between mine.

"You told me you didn't know how to dance. That's not the impression you're giving."

"It's because you're guiding me," I giggle, making her shake her head.

"No. Your body moves very well. You just don't have confidence in yourself."

She's probably right. I enjoyed dancing when I was in high school. That's why Mapi insists so much when we're here. I brush her neck with my nose, focusing only on her presence that gives me the confidence I was missing.

"Ona...?"

Our bubble is burst by the one person I wanted to avoid tonight. Of course, she would be here... I force myself to turn around to make sure it's her.

"Finally, I was starting to lose hope!"

She tries to touch me, but Lucy steps in front of me, pushing me behind her. Feli doesn't seem pleased, furrowing her brow. Recognizing those eyes perfectly, I cling to Lucy. I can't tell if it's to protect myself or to stop her from tearing Feli apart, given the way she's looking at her.

"Who is this?" Feli asks harshly.

"Her girlfriend," Lucy answers before I can.

Feli's eyes narrow even more as she looks at me. Reflexively, I pull Lucy back, and this time it's out of fear that I do it. I recognize the signs of Feli when she gets angry.

"Please," I murmur to Lucy, tugging on her sleeve.

It's all I can manage to say, but Lucy must have understood my distress signal. She takes a step back, which immediately triggers Feli, who literally explodes.

"No! You're not going to run from me again!"

She tries to get close to me, but Lucy acts, shoving her away forcefully.

"Don't come near her. She doesn't want to see you or talk to you. Don't you think you've hurt her enough already? If you loved her as much as you claim, you'd do well to never contact her again."

"What business is it of yours, you little bitch? You don't know anything about what we've been through," she snaps.

"I know enough to convince Ona to take you to court."

Those words were too much for Feli, who decided to lunge at Lucy. I scream, closing my eyes to avoid seeing what happens next. I expected an imminent impact since I was standing right behind Lucy, but nothing happens. I slowly open my eyes, and what I see petrifies me. I expected to find Lucy on the ground, but it's quite the opposite. She's overpowering her... Feli, my ex, who traumatized me for years. This seems to enrage Feli even more as she tries to hit her repeatedly. Lucy dodges her punches one after another with great agility. She waits for her to lose steam before landing a punch on her cheek. Faced with this action, which I didn't expect at all, I cover my mouth to keep from screaming again. The blow was so strong that Feli stumbles backward, completely shaken. From the look of her, she must not be sober right now.

"That's for drugging Ona at a party. And this..."

She hits her on the other side, making her lose her balance again. She doesn't wait for her to regain her senses before grabbing her by the collar. The silence that reigns makes me realize the music has been turned off.

"And that's for daring to touch her. Now, stay away from her. Otherwise, she won't hesitate to press charges for what you did to her and for harassment too. Do I make myself clear?"

Feli is so stunned and intimidated by Lucy that she nods frantically. I knew she was intimidating, but not to the point of making my enraged ex give in.

"Good. Then stay out of her life, or I'll destroy yours by making sure you end up in jail," she threatens her.

"Oh my God, Ona."

I turn toward Mapi's voice as she immediately pulls me into her arms. I'm too shaken to understand anything. She steps back to examine me, keeping her hands on my shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so," I murmur.

"Let’s go," Lucy announced, extending her hand to me.

I took it without hesitation. Given her mood, this wasn’t the time to refuse her anything. I glanced over her shoulder to see Feli watching us with sorrow.

"We're coming with you," Ingrid said.

"There's no need," Lucy replied. "Enjoy the evening. We'll meet back at home later."

"Please take care of Ona," Mapi conceded.

"That's my intention," Lucy reassured her with a small smile.

We wished them a good evening, and then I let Lucy lead me toward the exit. The crowd that had formed had dispersed, and the music had resumed. I forced myself not to look back. It was a relief to finally be outside, where I could breathe again. I still couldn't believe she had hit her—twice, no less.

"Thank you..." I murmured once we were far from the house.

"You shouldn't thank me," she sighed in frustration, rubbing her forehead.

"You defended me."

"I'm not proud of hitting your ex, Ona. Even if she deserved it, it makes me feel like I'm just like her."

I stopped abruptly, making her do the same since our hands were still linked.

"You're nothing like her, Luce. You have nothing in common with her. Feli was violent and angry. You're not that kind of person, as far as I know."

"That's all the more reason to take her to court," she retorted. "I really don't understand you on this!"

I bit my lip, staring at the ground. I couldn’t give her an answer to that question. Feli had been a part of my life. No matter how much she hurt me, I still care about her.

"She's not a bad person deep down," I murmured.

"Oh, so hitting her girlfriend is being a good person!? When will you open your eyes, Ona? This isn't the Feli you met! If you do nothing, she won’t hesitate to hurt others, if she hasn't already! Is that what you want? For her to hurt other people!? Because I can assure you that’s what she'll do now that she knows she’ll never have you again!"

Lucy had never yelled at me like that before. Sure, she had scolded me, but never like this. I still didn’t dare look at her, now that tears were in my eyes. She was right. Of course she was right. When was she ever not right? She sighed again as she approached me, cupping my face in her hands. She must know me well to instinctively wipe my tears away with her thumbs.

"I know it’s painful, honey, but it’s the truth. I just saw Feli for the first time, and I can assure you there's nothing good in her. All she wants is to make you feel guilty for leaving her, so you’ll go back to her. Is that what you want?"

I shook my head and threw myself into her arms. Of course not, that’s not what I want. She pulled that trick on me for months. I literally collapsed in her arms. Everything I had kept bottled up since our encounter finally spilled out. I would have preferred to do this at home, but it was inevitable that the subject would come up on the way. I tried to speak, but nothing coherent came out, making her hold me tighter against her.

"Shhh. Calm down. I'm sorry for being so harsh, but it’s the only way for you to open your eyes."

"I-I don't want to... Y-you know that, right?"

"Of course I know, baby. But if you really want to move on, you have to take action. She won’t leave you alone otherwise."

I resigned myself to nodding. I had to do it. I’d been putting it off for far too long.

"D-don't leave me."

"Never. We’ll face this together, okay?"

I clung to her desperately, nodding again. She was my lifeline. Without her, I would have drowned in an endless ocean. She kissed my temple and rocked me until I pulled myself together.

"I'd love to stay here holding you forever, but I’m sure your bed is much cozier. Besides, my hands hurt."

I pulled away from her and wiped my cheeks with my hand.

"Sorry for thinking only of myself... Let me see your hands," I murmured.

"Don't apologize. And as for my hands, you can see them when we get to your place. Then it'll be your turn to take care of me... The idea of having a personal nurse sounds quite appealing."

I smiled at her attempt to lighten the mood. It wasn’t surprising that she was in pain. Having dealt with Feli myself, she must have used considerable force to destabilize her twice. She was really strong.

"Let’s head home, then... It’s my turn to take care of you. And even if you were joking, it’s non-negotiable."

"Is that an order, Princess?" she teased.

"Absolutely, Commander."

"Then let’s hurry. I can’t wait to be pampered by you."

I kissed her tenderly before we finished our walk without another word, staying close to each other. I appreciated the way she held me against her. I felt like I belonged. It was as if I could already see my whole future. It only took two weeks apart for my world to fall apart. She had become my everything, my reason for living, to the point where it was almost frightening. We arrived at my place, where a royal silence reigned in the hall. Well, that was until Joan came to greet us as we took off our jackets and shoes. It was so early that she was still awake. She was quickly followed by a very surprised Sophia.

"You're already back?" she asked us. "It’s only ten o'clock."

"Yeah... The party wasn’t that great."

I lied to avoid worrying her over something so small. She didn’t seem to question it. Lucy, on the other hand, remained silent, much to my relief. Sophia would have panicked if she knew the truth and would likely have insisted on making a diagnosis before I could even explain anything. I smiled when Lucy hugged my brother at his request. That was something new I hadn’t expected from Joan.

"Still up, huh?" she asked her.

"I was just about to put him to bed," Sophia admitted.

"We'll take over then. Thanks again for watching him tonight."

"No problem, Ona. What time are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Same as usual. Early in the morning."

"Well... I guess I'll see you next time then."

"We'll be back, I promise. Now go home, you’ve earned it."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Sleep well, girls."

"Good night to you, and be careful on the road."

"I will."

We exchanged a hug, and she gave Lucy a friendly nod before leaving. As for us, we headed upstairs, leaving Joan in my girlfriend's care. They went to my room while I searched for a pajama for him, as he had declared that he could still sleep with us. Given the circumstances, I would have preferred that he leave us alone tonight, but I said nothing since we already see each other so little. When I joined them, I found them deep in conversation. The bond between them was working out wonderfully, which delighted me to no end.

"Here, Jo," I said, handing her the pajama. "Can you get dressed by yourself? I need to take care of Lucy."

My brother pouted at my request but accepted without protest. Lucy smiled softly at me and let herself be guided to the bathroom, where she sat on the edge of the tub. I took her hands in mine and noticed that her knuckles were extremely red. I bit my lip, imagining the pain she must have felt.

"It’s not that painful," she reassured me calmly.

"Don't move, I’ll be right back."

Without another word, I went downstairs to fetch an ice pack for her. When I returned, my brother was keeping her company while brushing his teeth. The sight made me smile. It was the first time I didn’t have to fight with him about it. She gave me a smug smile when she saw what I had in my hands.

"Really, Ona? I'm not in that much pain, you know," she teased.

"Don’t argue. I promised to pamper you tonight, so you’re not allowed to protest," I replied in a mock-threatening tone.

She chuckled and nodded, not losing her smile. Before starting anything, I glanced at my brother to see how he was doing. He was wiping his mouth.

"All done," he said proudly.

"Go to bed, we'll be there in a minute."

He nodded, smiling. He then rushed into my room. I closed the door behind him for some privacy. As soon as I did, Lucy pulled me between her legs, making me let out a small cry of surprise. She smiled at me with that goofy grin again.

"So, where do we start, nurse?"

"Stop, it’s not funny," I giggled, playfully pushing her shoulder. "Come on, give me your hands."

Her hands, which had been caressing the back of my knees until then, slid to the sides and moved up to my waist. I grabbed them before they could go any higher and looked at her sternly.

"That’s enough, bad girl," I warned her as best I could. "Be serious for a moment!"

"Bad girl, huh?" she grinned, crossing her feet behind my legs. "Is that how you see me now?"

This action brought us even closer, making me blush. She was distracting me from my examination. I let my thumbs gently caress her knuckles.

"Of course not... Does it hurt? »

"I already told you it doesn’t."

"Put the ice pack on them anyway, please. They’re very red."

"Anything my princess wants."

I realized she was lying about the intensity of her pain when I tried to flatten her hand in mine. I looked up to see her grimacing, even though she was trying to hide it. I bit my lip to keep from commenting. This was definitely not the right time.

"Hold this. I’ll see if I have any cream to help with this," I said, placing the ice pack on her hand.

She held the ice pack without saying anything. The roles had changed drastically in such a short time. If she did this, it was for me, so I could only be grateful. I searched through all my drawers for the tube I had brought back from Manchester. A victorious smile spread across my lips when I finally found it. Even though I’m a doctor’s daughter and studied in this field, I don’t doubt that my care won’t be as good as hers, but I’ll do my best. I’ve always thought that it takes a certain instinct to take care of people. As for me, it’s clear that I don’t have any. 

Returning to her, I noticed that she had alternated the ice pack between her two fists. I took over as I moved back between her legs to apply cream to her first hand. I made sure not to look at her to avoid being unsettled.

"Why does she call you 'Oni'?" she asked suddenly, making me chuckle at the memory of that story.

"I’m not really sure, actually. I think she was confused that we don’t have the same last name so he wanted to give me a nickname to feel close to me. »

"Oh... So she has her father’s name?"

"Yes. His name is Joan Pascual."

"And your mother?"

I sighed at that question. It was a rather sensitive topic, but I played along and answered.

"She kept my father’s name. I never really understood why, knowing that they’ve been divorced for several years."

"Maybe to keep the same name as you?" she guessed, making me shrug.

"I don’t really know."

"And what about him?" she redirected the conversation. "Do you like him?"

I didn’t need more information to know she was talking about Marcus. Her change of topic wasn’t the best, given what I think about him. She seemed to understand because she removed the ice pack to stroke my cheek.

"You don’t have to talk about it."

"I will talk about it," I said, taking her hand again to give it the same gentle caresses as the other. "To be honest, I don’t have anything against him specifically, but I had a hard time accepting the relationship he had with my mother."

"Why?"

"I thought it was too soon. My mother wasn’t even divorced yet, and then, she didn’t tell me about it. I found out when I saw them in bed together... Imagine what that does to a troubled teenager..."

She nodded in understanding. The fingers of her free hand stroked the back of my knee like earlier.

"You weren’t a troubled teenager... You had the right to be hurt, confused, and angry about discovering that. How is your relationship now?" she continued, gently pulling me closer to her.

"Strange. I never really accepted it, but I was lucky to have him as a stepfather. He always tried to ease my relationship with my mother, and he’s always been a good father to Joan."

"How would you feel if he married your mother?"

I froze for a moment at that question. Of course, I had already thought about their marriage. I had already wondered why they weren’t married yet. After all, they’ve been living together for almost ten years now, and they have a daughter together.

"I’m not really sure... Better than a few years ago, for sure... If my father were still here, he would have told me to accept it because he would have been happy for them."

"He must have been a good man."

"He was," I said, wrapping my arms around her neck. "You remind me a lot of him, if you want to know the truth..."

"I doubt that. He seems much wiser than I am. Anyway, I’ll support you in all your decisions, no matter if I think they’re right or not."

"See, that’s exactly why you remind me of him," I giggled. "He used to say the same thing. I wish you could have met him... He would have adored you."

"And I imagine I would have adored him in return."

"Enough about me. What about your adoptive parents? Was it always smooth sailing?" I joked. "You’ve never told me much about them."

"There’s not much to say. My mother seems cold and strict at first glance, but she’s really kind. I wouldn’t be who I am now without her."

"I’m already dreading the first meeting," I muttered. "She’s going to terrify me..."

"Definitely," she laughed. "She loves to scare my partners. She always does that to see if the person will let themselves be intimidated or not."

"That must be unsettling..."

"It is," she smiled. "I’ve never seen anyone stand up to her."

I groaned just thinking about it. I know we’re not there yet, but if we stay together long enough, I’m sure I’ll meet her one day.

"Don’t worry, baby," she said. "She just keeps that tough exterior to make sure the person is right for me. Then she’ll warm up over time."

"Her opinion matters to you, doesn’t it?"

"A lot. No matter how much I cared about someone, she always opened my eyes when it was someone bad."

"Should I be worried...?"

"Of course not," she smiled. "You’re not a bad person; she’ll see that. But if I can give you some advice, don’t let her walk all over you... Otherwise, you’re doomed," she laughed.

"Oh my God," I muttered in despair. "Finding the right balance will be tough. Tell me your dad isn’t like that too."

"Oh no, he’s the opposite. He’s a bit naive, gentle, calm, and very caring."

"You must have your father’s heart and your mother’s character then..."

"I’ve never seen it that way, but you’re probably right."

We exchanged smiles after her response. She slowly leaned in to capture my lips. The kiss was very gentle and restrained. She timidly asked for access to my mouth by teasing my lower lip with her tongue. I granted it willingly. My stomach flipped in response to this unexpected affection. With her newly freed hand, she gently moved it up to my stomach. I immediately realized she had placed it on my bruises, which I could hardly feel anymore. She pulled back to whisper softly.

"It’s my turn to put on some cream."

"I already applied some this morning..."

"The more you apply, the faster it will heal. Isn’t that what you want?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Fine," I resigned, though I pouted.

I would have preferred to get back in bed now, but there was no point in arguing when she was right. She smiled victoriously as she grabbed the tube of cream.

"Lift your shirt."

I took a deep breath and decided to take it off entirely. After all, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen me like this. My action surprised her. She lifted her head to find my eyes.

"Come on, do your job..."

Without a word, she started applying the cream to my bruised stomach. She took great pleasure in doing it thoroughly.

"On your face too?" she murmured when she was done.

"I need to take off my makeup first."

She nodded, letting me move to the sink. I quickly removed my makeup, reminded of the situation I was in. When I turned around, she was looking at me in a way that made me blush. Her smile slowly widened.

"What is it?"

"Nothing... I’m just happy to be with you, that’s all."

"We could have been together sooner if it weren’t for your behavior," I teased.

"I have a feeling you’re going to remind me of that more than once," she laughed.

"That’s the only mistake you made, so... yes, definitely."

"Come here, you little rascal, so we can finish up."

I laughed, knowing full well she was joking. At least the tension had time to dissipate before our night. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been sure I’d sleep well. I returned to her so she could finish the job before putting away the cream. I went to brush my teeth, giving her time to change. As for me, I did it in the walk-in closet where there was enough space. We came out of our rooms at the same time.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" I suggested.

Our evening had fallen through, but that didn’t stop us from continuing it. To my surprise, she shook her head.

"I’d rather we go to bed. We can watch one during the flight."

"Okay," I agreed, looking at my bed.

I sighed when I saw my brother in the middle of my bed. It was going to be more complicated than expected to spend our night in each other’s arms. He must really like Lucy to have placed himself there.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," I muttered. "We can always go to another room. There’s no shortage of them here."

"Don’t be silly," she giggled. "He’d be upset if he didn’t find us here tomorrow morning. Hang on, I’ll move him."

"Be gentle; he can be a light sleeper when he wants to be."

To our relief, she managed to move him without waking him up. She motioned for me to lie in the middle, and she quickly filled the last space in the bed. The light was quickly turned off, and Lucy’s arms tightened around me. A sigh of contentment escaped me as she kissed my forehead. I snuggled up against her, trying to close any gap between us.

"Going back to school is going to be hard," I murmured with a groan, making Lucy laugh.

"It’ll be over soon," she said, holding me a little tighter. "The hardest part is behind us now."

She was right. We were closer to the end than the beginning. I leaned up to reach her lips. Then I settled back into her arms, where I truly felt I belonged. Our evening didn’t go as planned, but it ended much better than it could have.

[lovemybluebully]

Loser Logan

X-men '97-verse

Post Episode 4 (Felt like a good place to stick this before the angst of Episode 5)

M/M Tickle fic

SFW (some swearing, but it's mostly fluff)

I can't help but love Logan and Morph's relationship. It's almost as good as the one Logan has with Nightcrawler. ^_^ This dumb little fic of mine just shows their close relationship, and as per my usual naturally has A LOT of tickling in it. This is a tickle fic after all. I can see Morph being quite the tickle monster, especially since he enjoys making Logan laugh. If tickling isn't up your alley then best to scroll on.

I wrote this showing hints that Morph kinda has a thing for Logan with Logan seeming to get that even though he doesn't reciprocate it, but still loving his friend all the same and letting him indulge a little. Nothing super blatant.

NOTE: I did write Morph as a 'he' in this story. I honestly was just getting confused on how to properly use 'they/them'. Morph has predominantly been depicted as male and goes by ''Kevin" so I figured it was okay. If that bothers you though then maybe you want to skip this one.

Holy crap! I did not mean for it to be this long, but I was just having too much fun writing these two interacting together. I kept trying to end it, but just kept writing more and more each time. XD This is easily the longest fic I've ever written.

Word count: 9,911

Logan winced as the flavor of the extra sweet liquid overwhelmed his sensitive palate once he took a swig from his beer bottle. Making a face of disgust and shaking his head he set it down on the edge of the pool table in the mansion's rec room.

"That's the last time I let ya choose the beer at the market," he muttered, looking over at his friend, Morph, who frowned in offense before transforming into an exact copy of Wolverine.

"ThAt'S tHe LaSt TiMe I lEt Ya ChOoSe ThE-....," he mocked in Logan's voice before returning to his normal form, swaying a little from the alcohol in his system, "Geez, just dump it out then! No one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to drink it."

Logan grunted and rolled his eyes as he reached for his bottle of whiskey to pour himself a shot. Morph could be so overdramatic.

"Look pal, if there's one thing ya oughta know about me it's that I never waste a beer. No matter how bad it may be," he tossed the liquor down his throat.

"That's not entirely true. Remember the other night when I turned into Sabretooth to try to cheer you up? You stabbed the crap out of that six pack I had brought along. You're definitely going to Hell for that one," Morph was quick to point out the incident as Logan recollected and spit out a laugh.

"Oh yeah. An unfortunate casualty in the heat o' the moment. Well with the exception of that time it's not somethin' I do consciously. Not even a crap light beer like this one. An' what's that flavor? Is that....strawberry?" He made another repulsed face as Morph only shrugged this time.

"Ok, you made your point. You pick the next box. But for the record that beer you destroyed the other night, that was your favorite. Thought it would help make you feel better."

"Still did in the end. Even though it sounds like I almost fucked it all up. Hmph, speakin' of that night I never told ya thanks fer all that," a smile quirked at the corner of his mouth as the buzzed Morph threw an arm over his broad shoulders.

"Hey don't mention it. Despite you being a stubborn ass and trying to ignore me there was no way I was going to let you stay in that funk of a mood you were in," his arm tightened around Logan's neck while his free hand gave him a playful head noogie, making Logan growl and shove him away.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. I'm an asshole an' yer a saint." 

"Hey now, you're not just an asshole, you're my asshole........That came out wrong," Morph facepalmed while Logan chuckled quietly, "Oh hey, where's Jubilee at? Surprised she's not down here with us."

"Well she is gettin' older so I doubt she's wantin' to hang around a couple o' guys like us so much anymore. She seems to like that Roberto kid a lot, an' bein' that it's her birthday I imagine she's with him this evening," Logan growled a little as Morph laughed and patted him on the back.

"Easy killer. He seems like a nice kid. Just needs to come to terms with his mutant side, and Jubilee is doing everything to help him out with that. She's blossoming into a smart, beautiful young lady and you should be proud of her."

"Still I'm keepin' an eye on him. An' if he ever does anything to hurt her, I'll make sure he regrets it...slowly," Logan picked up his pool stick and bent over the table to play his next shot, but then chuckled as something came to his mind, "By the way speakin' of regret, real smooth with that jab at Magneto this mornin'."

Morph's face fell as he groaned while the moment from earlier replayed in his head, leaning against the table with beer in hand.

"Ugh, why'd you have to bring that up? That was so embarrassing! I mean, how was I supposed to know?"

"I gotta ask, is it unintentional, or do ya just really like makin' situations as awkward as humanly possible?" Logan was able to get his shot off and sink his ball into the side pocket, but it was immediately followed by a finger poking him in the ribs as he jumped with a half-giggle, "Shit! Quit doin' that!"

The shapeshifter gave a satisfied smirk at his reaction and grabbed a cue stick for his turn at the game.

"You asked for it. But seriously, I felt so bad about what I said. If he already didn't before I'm sure he totally hates my guts now."

"Well I wouldn't sweat it too much. The guy's a prick. Besides I'm pretty sure he ain't in his room cryin' about it right now. He's heard a lot worse than yer tasteless joke so don't flatter yerself," Logan shrugged, rubbing a big hand over his irritated ribs as he begrudgingly finished off his beer.

"I guess so. Still I feel like maybe I should go apologize later. He might appreciate that. What do you think?" Morph was toying with the stick in his hand now as his mind wandered, causing the bigger man to roll his eyes.

"I think ya oughta stop worryin' about it an' take yer damn shot already."

"Sorry, it's the alcohol, I guess. I'm a bit of a lightweight if you haven't noticed," Morph replied, the effects of the alcohol making him a bit unsteady as he squinted and tried to line up his shot, "You know it wouldn't kill you to show a little more compassion once in a while."

"That'll be the day. Besides I think ya do enough o' that fer the both of us, Nancy," Logan grinned and slapped his friend on the upper back right after he had hit the cue ball, sending him face down into the table.

"Excuse me? Did someone say my name?" Morph sounded off with his best Scott Summers voice as he lifted his head to reveal the face of their team's leader, making Logan chuckle dryly.

"Yer a real riot, ya know that?"

"I'm very aware, thank you. And I still scored a point despite you. In fact it looks like I'm winning so far," Morph transformed back to normal and stuck his tongue out at him as Logan surveyed the remaining pool balls left in play.

"Easy to be winnin' when ya cheat. It's a little hard to concentrate when some shit head keeps ticklin' ya," he gave a stern look as Morph just giggled at the thought. 

With Logan's natural hyper senses and Morph's spirited personality and tendency to be physically affectionate it didn't take long for him to discover at some point in their relationship that Logan was unbelievably ticklish from head to toe; something Morph found incredibly hard to resist exploiting at every turn. 

With his adamantium skeleton and healing factor Wolverine was practically impenetrable and his mind was very accustomed to handling the worst pain imaginable so Morph was beyond pleased to find something that could easily crack through his tough outer shell and loosen him up a bit.

It didn't help that Logan always let him get away with it unscathed, but Morph also had the feeling that Logan really didn't mind it too much, despite what he might say.

"It's not my fault the big, bad Wolverine is so adorably sensitive," Morph teased with a pouting face as he gently tugged Logan's sideburn, receiving a half-hearted growl and swat to his hand, "Besides it's the most surefire way to get a smile out of you."

"I don't need ya worryin' about me so much, Morph. It ain't worth yer time," Logan huffed and poured himself another shot of whiskey.

"I think I'm allowed to be the judge of that. You can't shut us all out, you know? No matter how hard you may try. Like it or not, you're stuck with me until the end of time," he smiled broadly as Logan let out a sigh and swallowed the shot.

"I get what yer sayin', but ya have yer own problems that ya need to work out. The things ya went through with Sinister.....shit like that doesn't go away overnight. I know yer always hidin' yer pain behind humor, but sooner or later yer gonna have to deal with it. Take it from me, ya got a long road ahead before ya can even begin to start healin'. So the last thing I want is fer you to be takin' on all my fuckin' issues too," he sulked, leaning against the wall as Morph looked at him thoughtfully.

"You're right about some things, Logan. It is going to take me awhile to get through it all, but I am dealing with it in the best way that I know how. You see, sharing my humor with you all does help heal me. I realize I have a family here; people who actually care about me, and it makes me feel good knowing that I have the ability to make others feel good too. I feel like everyone here brings something to the table, and just having that type of support means the world to me. I can't even imagine what I'd be like if I was out on my own." 

A soft smile came to Morph's face as his mind wandered back. 

"I'll never forget how you did everything in your power to try to get me back on the team, even when you didn't succeed right away. I owe you a lot and believe me I'd never consider you not being worth my time. You have to know you deserve that and more."

"To be honest I don't think I ever deserve anything worthwhile," Logan took it all in and after a few moments of silence he finally nodded, "But ok, I believe ya. Just promise me ya won't take on more than ya can handle. It ain't fair to do that to ya."

"Now it's my turn to tell you not to worry about me so much," Morph grinned and punched him on the shoulder with no effect, "I know I've had my weak moments and even some breakdowns, but I promise you that I'm managing just fine for now. The best medicine I have is being here with you....and the rest of the team. Trust me."

"Yer one o' the few that I do in this whole world, bub. I don't know if that means somethin' to ya, but it does to me."

"It really really does. Truly. I may be drunk, but I promise it's not the beer talking when I say that I love you. Anyways cheer up. This is supposed to be a fun evening, not a pity party," Morph put his arm around Logan's shoulder to give him a firm side hug, feeling his tense muscles relax considerably.

"Sorry. I really am a piece o' work, in case ya haven't noticed. Didn't mean to bring down the mood."

"You're forgiven, but I have to warn you that if you don't smile soon then I may have to do something drastic. I'll have you know that it's always worth my time to hold you down and tickle you until you can't think straight," Morph added, pleased to see it made Logan snort a laugh before he hastily moved away from the other.

"I'm pretty sure that goes against the Geneva Convention, but whatever ya dumbass."

"You know I'm kind of thinking about doing it anyways since you didn't reciprocate my proclamation of love for you," Morph tilted his head and raised a teasing brow as Logan backed further away while shaking his head.

"That ain't necessary. I do love ya, buddy. Yer part o' the family, an' the team's just not the same without ya. Now quit threatenin' me an' just stay away on my next shot here, okay? Hands offa me."

"Alright alright, I won't do anything," Morph made his arms get sucked inside his body, grinning when he saw Logan let out another chuckle, "Oh but first..."

Morph's arm reappeared as he scurried to the nearby radio to turn on the popular music station, the sound of Freak Nasty's "Da Dip" coming out of the speakers.

"Now lets get this party back on track!" Morph declared as he began swaying his hips in place and moving his arms around in flowing patterns, allowing the beat to take over his body.

Logan tried to hold back his amused smirk as he watched.

"Will ya cut that out? Yer ridiculous." 

Morph turned around and made eye contact as he smiled mischievously and started dancing and scooting his way across the room towards his quarry while he sang along to the song.

"I put my hand upon your hip, When I dip, you dip, we dip, You put your hand upon my hip, When you dip, I dip, we dip..."

While belting out the chorus Morph placed his hand on Logan's side as he grabbed at Logan's hand and tried to place it on his own hip with the man struggling to fight him off the whole time.

"Get the hell offa me," Logan laughed at the silliness of his friend as he slapped at his busy hands and pushed back against him, "If ya think yer gonna get me dancin' then yer dead wrong. I haven't had that much to drink. Besides I need to take my turn at the game now."

Morph finally allowed himself to be pushed away as he put on a face of mock pout.

"Aw fine, you old party pooper. I'll let you off this one time, but next time you are gonna be shaking it with yours truly," he snapped his fingers and rocked his hips some more before straightening up and gesturing to the table, "Maybe you can remove that big stick from up your ass long enough to take your shot. Go ahead, I promise I won't touch you."

Logan rolled his eyes and flipped him off as he looked down again at the pool table. 

The only good shot he had was extremely close to the 8 ball so he would have to calculate this just right or he risked knocking it in. He picked up the chalk and rubbed it onto the tip of his cue stick before looking over at Morph, who stood innocently on the other side of the table against the wall, and then bent down to get into playing position.

The prospect of hitting in the 8 ball had him a little nervous, but after a few tense seconds he made his move. The cue ball went hurtling smoothly towards his striped ball before striking it where intended and sending it rolling down the table into the corner pocket.

Logan smirked and was about ready to gloat, but he failed to notice that the cue ball had just knicked the edge of the 8 ball and set it into motion as well. Morph's little gasp and excited pointing of his finger alerted him to it, though all he could do now was just watch and hope for a miracle.

He held his breath as the solid black ball ever so slowly rolled towards the center pocket before teetering on the edge of the lip........and then stopping. Logan released his breath, ready to start bragging again.

"An' that's how it's done," he managed to say just before the 8 ball finished its journey and fell into the pocket with a deafening clacking noise as it landed on the other balls.

It was quiet for a minute before Morph let out a whoop of triumph and punched at the air as he began bouncing around the room.

"I aaaam the chaaampion! I aaaam the chaaampion!" He sang as he obnoxiously danced around his grumpy teammate.

"Bullshit," Logan grumbled and then glared at Morph with accusation, "Ya bumped the table."

"I did not! Don't be a sore loser now. I believe you owe me some money," Morph grinned with a raised brow and held out his hand.

"Alright fine. Even though I'm sure ya knocked that 8 ball in somehow, I'll let ya have this one. What did we say? Ten bucks?"

"Yup, that was the wager," Morph nodded, watching Logan pull out his wallet before opening it with a shake of his head.

"Hmph, I'm a little short on cash right now. I'll have to get ya later."

"Hey no worries, I accept alternate forms of payment," Morph's smile widened while he eyed the bottle of whiskey set out nearby.

"Oh yeah? Think ya've had enough to drink already, pal," Logan smirked as he observed his friend swaying a little on his feet.

"Uh thanks for the advice, dad, but I'll say when I've had enough. I'm starting to lose my buzz here!" Morph made a poor attempt at grabbing the bottle away while Logan just smoothly moved it aside out of his reach.

"Nah, yer done. Yer worse than a teenage girl on prom night. Just as annoyin' too." 

"Ooooh I'm gonna tell Jubilee you said that."

"Well can't blame ya fer that. Ya girls gotta stick together, right?"

"You are just so insufferable, do you know that?" Morph smirked with his hand on his hip, making another grab for the bottle as Logan easily held him back with one hand and grinned.

"Thanks. Comes naturally."

"Aw come on, please? Just let me have one more drink and I'll consider your debt settled."

"I don't think so, bub. Trust me. Fer yer own good." 

Morph had to take pause because Logan's voice had lost its teasing tone and sounded more of genuine worry now. His eyes moved off of the whiskey bottle and looked up to Logan's face to find a look of concern spread over his usually intimidating features.

Despite how Logan normally wanted to portray himself the man certainly could be caught wearing his heart on his sleeves on more than one occasion. Morph felt a little guilt that he was causing his friend to worry about him again, even in such a small way. He certainly didn't want to ruin the mood again.

"Huh. Do you really think I've had too much?"

"Not yet, but I guarantee if ya have anymore you'll regret it. 'Sides it's not a good idea to start drinkin' the hard stuff after ya drank so much beer. Especially when it's like that sweet tastin' shit ya bought," Logan released his hold on him as Morph took a step back and crossed his arms with a joking pout.

"I wish I had your healing factor. Then I wouldn't be such a lightweight."

"It's a gift an' a curse, bub. Really I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Logan cast his eyes down and sighed as he momentarily picked up the whiskey bottle to screw the cap back on securely.

Dammit! He had stirred some gloom back into Logan's current train of thought. All he wanted was to keep the good times going for as long as possible, but he just kept digging the hole deeper every moment he opened his mouth. Time to just give in and admit being wrong.

"Okay okay, you're probably right. No more alcohol for me. I concede," Morph nodded as he bowed out with his hands up in defeat; happy to see Logan brighten up when he did.

"Glad yer comin' to yer senses. Tryin' to save ya from a bad hangover here, idiot."

"Aww my hero!" Morph momentarily sprouted feminine facial features and batted his big eyelashes as Logan sighed and rolled his eyes, "But hang on, you're not getting out of it that easy. You still owe me some kind of payment since I won the game."

"Well I don't have the money so tough shit. An' ya ain't gettin' this alcohol either so what're ya gonna do about it?" Logan smirked as he squared up his beefy shoulders and extended the claws on one fist in an attempt to intimidate his friend into backing down. 

Too bad that whole macho act never worked on Morph, but hearing his smug response definitely gave him some inspiration. He knew exactly just how he could collect some sort of payment and also take Wolverine's ego down a peg.

"Oh I'm not too concerned with either. I'm sure you'll pay me in some way very soon," the shapeshifter dismissed him with a hand before looking past and pointing behind him, "But hey, do you think that maybe Jean would like a drink?"

Logan was surprised because he hadn't detected Jean's scent anywhere near the room, but he still turned his head to look regardless and retracted his claws at the same time. The second he did that Morph plowed right into him like a linebacker and took him to the ground; pool stick clattering to the floor with the both of them.

"MORPH!! What the hell do ya think yer....?!?!"

"Bahaha! I knew you would fall for that! Change of plans, buddy boy! Loser can't pay then loser gets tickled!" Morph crowed with inebriated glee as he scribbled his fingers all over Logan's stomach with lightning speed.

Normally Logan could hold his own for a short while, but the alcohol in his bloodstream and the joking mood he had been in had all of his mental shields disabled, making him feel especially ticklish right now. Not even the thick flannel shirt he was wearing was dulling the sensations and the tickling had him cackling immediately.

"N-No! Daahahahahhahaa-Dohohohon't! Geheheheddoffamehehehehehe, ya stuhuhuhupid ahaahaahasshole!" Logan's left hand reflexively shot out, landing on Morph's face as he used it to try to push the other mutant off of him, but Morph only ducked under his reach and continued his vicious attack.

"Sorry, not happening. You can just keep your alcohol and your lousy ten bucks. Tickling you to death will do just fine," Morph's nimble fingers dug into his wide ribcage, tickling methodically between every rib for maximum effect. With that Logan's raspy laughter deepened as he desperately tried to crawl backwards with one arm while clumsily attempting to fend off his friend with the other.

"Mooooorph stahahahahahop! I wahahahas juhuhust try'na he-help yahahaha!"

"Do I look like I need help? Don't think so! The only one who needs help here is you. Except no one's coming to save you, mwahahahaha!" Morph laughed maniacally while drilling his fast-moving fingers into Logan's sides as the man's arms finally weakened and caved beneath him, collapsing onto his back in a heap of giggles.

Morph observed him fondly as the normally bad-tempered feral spastically twisted and squirmed helplessly while his big arms reflexively wrapped around his upper body in a last-ditch effort to protect himself, even though he knew it wasn't going to help him.

"Aw what's the matter, big guy? Is somebody just a little bit ticklish? Coochie coochie coo!"

"Shuhuhut uhuhuhup! Bwahahahahaah! I swehehehehear I'm gonnahahahahahaha guhuhuhuhuut yaaaa!"

"Yawn. Boring. Heard that one before. You really need to come up with some new material, you know? But if you're serious this time, go ahead and do it. I'll wait," Morph dared with a smirk as he eyed the deadly hands and waited for the claws to emerge. But Logan's hands only flailed around as they tried to guard and block Morph out of gaining access to his sensitive torso; failing quite miserably.

"Yeeeah, I thought as much. I know you'd never hurt me if you could help it. So you just lay there and take it like the big, scary, ticklish man that you are."

Logan cursed that Morph had called his bluff, but what did he expect? The shapeshifting mutant knew him better than pretty much anyone.

"Shihihiiit! C'moohahahahahon! Quit-hahahaha-Quit ticklin' mehehehee!"

"Sure I'll stop.....once you piss yourself," Morph quipped immediately as Logan attempted to growl through his laughter.

"I f-fuhuhuhuckin' hahahahahate yahahaha!"

"Now that's a lie if I ever heard one. Fine, say something nice about me and I'll think about letting you live," Morph proposed while Logan quickly replied without any hesitation.

"Okaahaahaay! Yer goohoohood at b-bein' a dihihihihick!"

"Hmmm, while that may be true that's not exactly a compliment. Try again. Here I'll even give you a moment to breath in good faith," he paused the tickle attack as Logan panted from below him

"....Alright fine....I'll admit, ya are a good lookin' guy. I mean seriously, ya got model potential."

Morph wasn't expecting to hear something like that, and he was immediately put on alert as his face twisted into suspicion of Logan's exact intentions. 

"Oh get out of here, you don't mean that. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm no Sean Connery."

"Sure I do. An' ya know what? If this X-men thing doesn't work out for ya, ya could always take a job workin' as a department store manneQUINAAHAHAHAHaaahahahahhahaha!" Wolverine exploded back into guffaws as Morph jumped on top of him and resumed tickling him even harder.

"Ok, I have to admit that was a good one. But it was also RUDE! You, mister, have just earned yourself a nonstop tickle session!"

"W-Wohohohohorth ihihihihitahahahahahahaahah!"

The banter between them was always constant, but they both understood that it was all in good fun and never took anything to the heart. Not to mention it gave Morph plenty of excuses to really wreck his friend.

"One more chance! Come on, just say one serious thing! You know you appreciate my humor and wit, especially when I'm making fun of the other guys! I'm super good at making you laugh! You've said so yourself!"

Logan was really in over his head with Morph being very familiar with all of his most ticklish spots, but he couldn't stop himself from continuing to tease and provoke the shapeshifting mutant.

"Nohohohot hahahard! Aaahahahahaha! Ye-Yer fahahahaace dohohoes that alohohohone!"

Morph just sighed and shook his head with a pitying smile.

"Keep talking, dummy. It's only gonna make it worse for you. Speaking of worse, lets really get those lungs of your working!" 

From where he sat perched on his legs, Morph used his long reach to bury his furiously fluttering fingers into Logan's very ticklish armpits as the big lug howled in deep, rumbling laughter with his arms futilely clamping down; Morph being able to physically contort and manipulate his fingers to keep them easily working around in the tight crevices.

"Noooohohohohoho! Dahahahammit! Haahahahahahahahahaha! Nohohot thehehehere! Ahahahahalright alrihihihihight! Ju-hahahahhahah-Just st-stohahahahop fer a sehehehehehecond!" 

He was pretty surprised when Morph actually stopped as requested.

"I'm allowing leniency despite my better judgement, so this had better be good. No funny business," Morph crossed his arms with a smirk, looking down from his seat on top of his friend, who took a moment to catch his breath before nodding and taking on a more serious tone.

"Okay....Okay....ya win. Ya know what yer good at, Morph? I ain't lyin' when I say that yer one of the best people I know. Yer good at always showin' up fer the team no matter what the odds. Ya may not be the biggest guy, but ya got the biggest heart. I know I can always count on ya to have my back in a fight. Yer good at makin' things seem brighter when everything else looks grim. Ya have the most positive outlook of anyone I've ever met despite the things ya been put through. An' yeah, yer a pretty funny guy an' ya really do know what to say to make me laugh. On top of all that yer a damn good friend. No one appreciates ya more than me," he finished, seeing the complete look of surprise on Morph's face.

"Logan I....wow, that was.....I wasn't expecting all of that. Did you really mean it?"

"Yeah, of course I did. Ya know me, I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. I'd go to the ends of the Earth fer ya, buddy," Logan's face was completely serious as he smiled up at him in the most genuine way, making Morph's heart melt.

"I know. You've proved that to me before, and I'll be forever grateful. I can't believe a blob of goo like me was lucky enough to land a friend like you," Morph reached out to put a gentle hand on his shoulder as Logan shook his head.

"No, I'm the lucky one, bub. Also worth mentionin' that yer one of the only people that can even come close to puttin' my mind in a more peaceful place, which ya know ain't easy," he joked, breaking the emotional tension as Morph barked a laugh.

"Hah! That I do know. You really are the most stubborn man I've ever met."

"But ya know what yer good at most of all, Morph? Somethin' yer untouchable at?"

Morph urged him on with his eyes, wondering what other compliments Logan could possibly throw at him, but as he watched his friend's soft smile turn into a smug grin he immediately knew something asshole-ish was about to leave his mouth. So much for that touching moment.

"Always makin' the worst jokes at the wrong times that just make the room so goddamn uncomfortable that ya could cut the tension with a-"

"YOU'RE DEAD!!" Morph declared and transformed into Spiral to give himself six arms as he took ultimate pleasure at seeing his friend's eyes widen in terror before all hands dispatched immediately to mercilessly tickle all over his ribs, stomach and under his arms.

The burly mutant instantly began laughing like crazy, unable to effectively defend against all the assaulting appendages at once and knowing he had completely screwed himself now.

"Mohohohohohohooorph nohohoho! Baahaahahhahahahahahaha! W-Wahaahaahaahaaaait! I tahahahake it bahaahaahaahaahaack!"

Morph temporarily transformed his face into Wolverine's to repeat his recent words.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he muttered in Logan's growly voice and then just as quickly resumed Spiral's appearance, "That is what you said, isn't it? So sorry to tell you that your request for a take-back is hereby DENIED!"

Morph went in on him hard now with hands even reaching back to tickle around Logan's knees and squeeze at his thighs as the heavily muscled mutant kicked and bucked and used whatever little energy he had left to try to defend himself. They both knew he was done for though.

"You know, you're not that smart. You could've easily used that whole brotherly love distraction to escape, but yet here you are. I should've known, you're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

Morph then giggled with glee as he spotted a new opportunity. In all his thrashing about, Logan's button-down shirt had become untucked from his pants to expose a peek at his hairy, bare stomach.

"Ooooh now what have we here....?" Four of his hands immediately dove underneath the shirt to madly tickle the now vulnerable bare skin of Logan's upper body, causing him to let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched squeal before resuming his chaotic laughter and undecipherable babbling.

Morph couldn't help but laugh at his explosive reaction, still finding it hard to believe that the gruff and tougher than nails Wolverine was so helplessly ticklish; his bulky arms clamping against his body as he futilely tried to stop the hellish movements of the hands inside his shirt.

"So this is how the great Wolverine dies....his big dumb mouth getting himself tickled to death. Hey, that'll look great on your headstone, don't you think? Hehe, c'mon now. Say uncle, ya big lug," Morph smirked as he gazed down at the state of his friend, "You know you're kinda cute when you look like this."

Logan was wheezing for air between harsh laughs as tears leaked out of his eyes, weakly wriggling on the floor and resigning himself to his fate. He desperately scrunched up his shoulders as teasing fingers reached in to scratch all over his thick neck and under his chin before easily finding the sensitive spots behind his ears.

He couldn't even throw out any more of his smart ass replies and joking insults because of how hard he was laughing from the thirty fingers assaulting so many of his weak spots; currently massacring his rock hard abs and muscular obliques.

Big muscles, healing factor, adamantium bones....all completely useless against the tickles.

Morph was always content to keep him laughing for as long as possible, though he left the ball in Logan's court and gave him plenty of opportunities to get himself out of it. Seldom did he ever seem to take it and would blame it on his strong will and stubbornness.

His whole life the man only knew mistreatment and pain of the highest levels, so Morph never wanted to be the reason for Logan to experience anything like that. He made it his mission to only provide him with good touches including hugs, comforting pats and caresses, roughhousing and wrestling matches, and of course playful tickling.

He admitted tickling could be seen as borderline torture, but if Morph had any inclination that Logan really found displeasure in being tickled then he'd never do it to him again. His claws coming out was usually a good indicator when the feral mutant wasn't happy with something.

But no, Logan would goad him on and continue making asshole comments, and even when directly threatened with the consequence he'd refuse to back down until he struck the right nerve in Morph that would end in his own ticklish demise. Then he'd make a show to resist and curse Morph out and eventually beg for it to stop, but Morph could tell he was never entirely serious about it. 

Still there were many times that Morph in fact would stop if he wasn't quite sure, but then some smart-mouthed words from Logan would pull him right back into it. Not that Morph minded this one bit. 

All in all, he was pretty certain that Logan just enjoyed being involved in some harmless physical contact with someone that he fully trusted; someone he knew would never purposely try to hurt him; someone he felt safe with.  That alone was the biggest, unspoken compliment that Logan could ever give him.

Of course Morph would never force Logan to admit any of that though if that's the way Logan preferred it. For now, he would just continue in his quest to drive the Canadian berserker berserk.

"Give up? Are you ready to be nice to your old pal, Morph?" The shapeshifter smirked, finding that poking and probing into Logan's navel could force squealing giggles out of him as his bigger hands frantically tried to push Morph's devilish digits away.

"Quit fighting it. Just let it happen. Hmm let's get these arms out of the way, shall we?"

Morph now used four of his hands to pry Logan's arms away from his body and pin them to the floor while the remaining two dove in for the kill. The fingers began tickling a particularly sensitive area around Logan's hips where the adonis belt dipped into his pants, renewing the man's energy to struggle as he flopped like a fish and howled in hysterics.

"AAAahaahahahahaha! Nohoho fahahahahaaair! Stop stop-Ahahahahahhaahaa!! Pleheeheeheeheease!! No mohohohohohohore!! I caaaahahahahahaha- I caahaan't tahahahahahake ihihihihit!!"

It had reached Morph's favorite part where Wolverine started begging for mercy. It was quite amusing to Morph that the thought to do so would never even cross the tough mutant's mind when under duress and suffering extreme pain through an enemy, but undergoing a ruthless, although good-natured, tickling could always break him in the end.

Morph knew this meant that he was just about tapped out, but that left no reason why he couldn't tease him just a little more. See if Logan managed to work up a second wind.

"I absolutely will if you can answer me this one question........Who's a silly ticklish Wolvie? Huh? C'moooon, you know the answer," he was reaching underneath to tickle the backside of his ribcage while Logan snorted and giggled uncontrollably, arching his back in desperate attempts at reprieve.

Still being the man that he was Logan couldn't resist taking one last stand against his playful tormentor, even though he knew he was going to instantly regret it.

"Fuhuhuhuhuhuck yoohoohoohoooou!!"

Logan was just so adorably predictable.

Morph let his fingers respond to that as they immediately launched into the deepest part of his armpits, sprouting a few extra fingers to leave no spot untickled and causing Logan to scream with laughter as he had no way to guard one of the most ticklish spots on his whole body with his arms restrained like they were.

"OHAHAHahahaahaha!! No no!! Nohohohot thahahahaat!! Bwaahahahahahahahahaa!! Shihihihihiiit!! I'm sahahahahahorry!! St-Staahahahahahhahahaap!! Pleeeeease stahahahahahap!!"

"Stop? Please? You're sorry? What happened to the tough guy a second ago? Hm? What happened to 'fuck you'?" Morph teased him mercilessly as his fingers continued to knead into the pit hollows and squeeze the ticklish muscles on the sides of his pecs, watching a few tears roll down the red face of the hysterically laughing Wolverine.

"Gaaahhahahahhahahahaha!! Pleeheeheeheeease!! Stahahap ticklin'!! Aahahahahahahahaa!! Yer kihihihihihi-killin' meheheheheheehee!! I give up!! I give uhuhuhuhup! "

With that Morph smiled in satisfaction as his fingers finally pulled away and he released his hold on Logan's arms, transforming from Spiral back into his normal form. He'd love to just tickle him all day if Logan would let him, but when the man had had enough, he'd had enough, and Morph respected that.

Logan just laid there with his eyes closed and his head lolled back as he heavily panted for air, though still with a big grin stuck on his face.

"....Fuck......Am I....dead?"

"Nah sorry, you're not getting away from me that easily. But I'm pleased to inform you that your debt is now paid, loser," Morph grinned and reached down to pat his face gently on the cheek as he climbed off of him and sat to the side to watch him start to get his breath back. 

After a few long moments the bigger man slowly regained his energy and hauled the upper half of his hefty body into a sitting position, tugging his shirt back down from where it had bunched up under his chest.

"Shit, that was a helluva debt. Think after that ordeal I'm paid up fer the next several decades."

"Pffft! Yeah, you wish," Morph snorted as he stood up and reached a hand out to help Logan off the floor, letting Logan's hand rest on his shoulder to help steady his legs, "You alright there, buddy?"

"M'fine. Could definitely use a drink though," he smirked and playfully pushed Morph aside as he went straight for the whiskey, not even bothering with a glass as he drank a few gulps right from the bottle and felt his nerves start to relax a little.

"Go on. Drink up, big guy. Gotta get you ready for round two," Morph undeniably teased as Logan almost choked on the alcohol, letting out a cough as he glared over at the other mutant through a side eye.

"Next time I'm just gonna let ya drink whatever ya want an' let ya deal with the damn hangover," Logan grumbled as he lifted a meaty hand to wipe the drying tears off of his cheeks

"Now you're learning. I don't expect you to protect me from everything, you know? Sometimes I just have to face the consequences of my own actions."

"I can't help it, it's an unavoidable instinct. I just....," Logan sighed, "I'd never want anything bad to happen to ya ever again Morph, if I can prevent it. Even somethin' so small. Sorry, I don't mean to meddle so much."

Morph frowned a little that he said something that was making Logan's mood start to dip again.

"No no, you weren't so stop apologizing. I'm very grateful and appreciative that you would go out of your way to look out for me. You're the only one in my life who's ever done that and it's not something I take for granted."

"Yeah, well fer the record I really meant everything I said earlier. Yer my best friend an' ya mean a lot to me. Ya've helped me out in more ways than you'll ever know," his smile returned as he put the bottle down and looked back up at Morph with warm eyes.

"Thanks Logan. And I hope that me getting you to laugh all the time counts for some of that. I know you've got a lot of heavy things on your mind and it makes me feel good to be able to pull you out of that once in a while. Making you laugh always seems to put you in a better mood anyways," Morph smiled back, not expecting Logan to admit to any of that, but surprised when he did.

"Hmph, guess it does. I mean, when ya tickle me like that it completely overwhelms my mind to where I'm just focused on the current situation an' it's honestly hard to think about anything else. Which I guess what yer sayin' is the whole point?"

"Yup, exactly. It just drives all your bad thoughts away for the time being. Just consider me your personal therapist and do not question my remedies," Morph crossed his arms over his chest with a smug look as Logan just shook his head.

"Wasn't. Just wonderin' what goes on in that head o' yers sometimes. I'll admit it does make me feel pretty euphoric after it's all said an' done. My head feels high as a kite right now."

"That's because laughing is good for you! By the way, has anyone ever told you that you have the best laugh ever?" Morph asked with a giddy smile that Logan didn't seem to notice as he snorted and used a hand to dismiss his words.

"Aw cut that out. No need to drive the knife deeper. Besides not many people get me laughin' the way ya do so they wouldn't know."

"Well that's their loss. It's really a good look for you. I love when you smile," Morph threw his arms around him to give him a bear hug as Logan sighed in resignation and softly patted his arm.

"Still gettin' used to it. An' the torture method.....I'm sorry....yer therapy that ya use to get it outta me. Think ya almost broke my healin' factor with that last round," Logan shook his head with a smirk; the nerves below his skin still tingling from the overstimulation.

"Wellllll you did kind of ask for it. I would've stopped a lot sooner if you weren't being such an ass. I don't know if you know this, but you're quite the arrogant bastard. The biggest I've ever met, for the record."

Logan chuckled heartily at his comment.

"Yeah, I'm very aware of that. Not somethin' I can just turn off unfortunately."

"Oh no, please don't ever change. It's always a good excuse for me to tickle you crazy. I haven't heard you beg like that since that one time you thought you were being funny by putting your feet on my lap when we were on the couch watching the hockey game. Kurt was there too, remember?" Morph smiled big time with the memory playing through his mind as Logan squirmed in place at the thought.

"Believe me, I learned my lesson from that one. I'm surprised I'm still alive after what the two o' ya did to me," he shuddered as he remembered the incident.

Unluckily for Logan, Kurt also loved to partake in his ticklish weakness, and he did not hesitate one second to join in on the attack on his good friend as his three-fingered hands and prehensile tail attacked Logan's upper body, using his teleportation to get at him from all angles. 

Meanwhile Morph had decided it would be fun to transform into Nightcrawler as well, giving him the extra tail appendage to tickle between Logan's sensitive toes with the velvety tip while his fingers went to town on his bare soles.

"You have to admit it was pretty funny when Ororo, Jubilee and Rogue all heard your screaming and burst into the room because they thought you were being murdered," Morph giggled as Logan scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, that's kinda what I would call it," he growled sheepishly as his toes cringed inside his boots, "Just dealin' with one of ya is more than I can handle. But the both o' ya at the same time? Yeah, that's pretty much attempted murder."

"Shut up, you liked it. So feel free to put those big stompers of yours in my lap any time you want," the shapeshifter gave him a wink as Logan just returned it with a blank face and a raised eyebrow.

"Pass."

"Aww c'mooon, not even for a little massaaaage?" Morph teased as he moved behind the shorter man and rubbed his shoulders before being shrugged off.

"Just fuck off, would ya?"

"Okay okay, no need to get testy. I'm really good at it though, just for the record. I've got plenty of references to back me up," he cracked his fingers and wiggled them up in the air with a cheesy smile.

"I'll keep it in mind," Logan couldn't help the smirk that came over his face as then he looked up at the clock mounted on the wall, "Hmph only 11:20pm, still early. Unless yer ready to call it a night."

"Not yet I'm still feeling pretty awake. I'm more of a night owl these days so I'll be glad to keep you company for a while longer. If you don't mind, that is," Morph added, making Logan glance back over at him questionably.

"Why would I?"

"I don't know. I feel like sometimes I annoy you too much and maybe you'd want some space from me," the shapeshifter answered, feeling a bit insecure as he crossed his arms in front of himself.

"Course yer annoyin'. Yer loud an' ya never stop talkin'. Ya drive me nuts with all yer crazy antics," Logan said matter of factly as Morph felt a tightness in his chest and looked down at the floor in shame until Logan continued with a gentler tone, "But that's on me, not you. Sometimes I just get a lil' bent outta shape too easily so don't take it personal. I'm just a grumpy old prick. If anything, I'd feel like yer the one who would want space away from me."

Morph immediately brightened back up, lifting his head as his frown turned into a soft smile.

"Just know yer great, Morph. Yer always goin' outta yer way to make people happy, even someone like me who doesn't deserve it. You'll never not be welcome to share in my prescence."

"Thanks for telling me that Logan. And for the record no, I'd never need space from you. No matter how much of an insufferable prick you can be."

Logan laughed loudly as he clapped a large hand onto Morph's shoulder and shook him a little.

"Appreciate it, bub. So ya wanna play another game or what?" He asked as he started pulling the pool balls out of the pockets and placing them back onto the table.

"Yeah sure, why not. But we're not going to bet anything this time, right? You obviously don't have any money to put up so unless you want me to tickle the shit out of you again, I'd say you're all out of bargaining chips, buddy," Morph crossed his arms with a holier than thou grin, watching Logan down the remainder of the whiskey.

"Tell ya what bub, if I lose again how 'bout I let ya give me that foot massage?"

Morph smirked at him, leaning against the pool table on one hand.

"Oh is that so? And what makes you think that's what I'd want as my prize?"

Logan just shrugged his shoulders as if he was unbothered by that and began setting up the pool balls.

"Alright suit yerself. Just forget it then."

"Now hold on, hold on. It was just a question. Hmmm but okay, it's a deal. No take backs. This is now a legally binding verbal contract," Morph momentarily transformed into a court judge and banged a gavel onto the table.

Logan chuckled as he finished getting all the balls into the triangular rack.

"Yer a crazy guy, Morph. If I win though yer buyin' me a new bottle....No....two more bottles o' booze," he declared and dangled the now empty whiskey jug in the air.

"Deal, but I don't plan on losing. But hey, it should be a win for you too. I bet with your heightened senses a massage feels extra good."

"I guess so, but I've never known it any other way so ya got yer work cut out fer ya. Let me at least get washed up first though, alright? I showered a lil' over an hour ago, but these boots have seen some miles," he looked down at his feet and rocked back on the heels.

"If you insist. But if you need any help in the shower, I'm always available. You know, if you're having any trouble getting those hard-to-reach areas...," Morph winked and nudged him suggestively, making Logan snort a laugh.

"Thanks, but I think I can manage. Oh an' hey, no cheatin' in this game this time around, okay? That means no bumpin' the table-"

"I told you I didn't bump the table!"

"Whatever. An' if ya tickle me even one time ya automatically forfeit the win. Got it?"

"Okay okay fine. Scout's honor," Morph held up his hand while sneaking his other hand over to give a quick dig into Logan's ribs as the man jumped with a yelp and then glared back at him.

"Dammit! What did I just-?!?!"

"Hehehe, that doesn't count. We didn't start the game yet," Morph snickered as Logan sighed and facepalmed before picking up his pool stick that was still on the floor from his earlier tussle with the shapeshifter.

"Ya know Morph, if I didn't love ya so much I'd kill ya."

"Awwww that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. You know option number two is that you could also just forfeit now and allow me to collect on my winnings," Morph teased as he draped arms over Logan's shoulder and squeezed his bicep, making Logan shake his head and squirm out of his embrace.

"Nice try bub, but Wolverine forfeits to no one. Now stand back. Maybe you'll learn somethin'," Logan leaned over the table, getting his stick into position as he got ready to break. 

He smirked knowing he was going to sandbag it and allow Morph to win again. Like he did earlier when he himself had unnoticeably bumped the table so the 8 ball fell in. Let Morph win just like he always did.

Just as Morph always wanted to keep him happy, he also wanted the same for his friend and more. To let him know that he always had someone rooting for him in his corner and actually gave a damn about his well-being. He'd do whatever it takes to keep his spirits high, even if it came at his own expense.

He knew Morph would be true to his word and give him an amazing massage, which was hard to come by these days, and Logan would relish in every bit of it. Even when it inevitably turned into tickling because he knew Morph wouldn't be able to resist himself with the knowledge that Logan's feet were easily his most ticklish spot.

Logan would of course play his part fully, protesting profusely and laughing his ass off all to Morph's delight while doing his best to not accidentally kick his teeth in with a flailing foot. Though he shivered a little knowing that Morph was more than capable of restraining him and then he'd just have to take it. Though in a weird way he found that he wasn't exactly bothered by the thought of that.

Thinking about it took him out of his game and unable to fully focus as he jabbed the cue ball to break, and while the balls all scattered over the table not one of them went into a pocket. He forced a grumpy face for show as he looked over at his grinning friend.

"Looks like it's going to be an early night. You know you can just skip the shower. I don't mind your musk."

Logan couldn't deny that a massage sounded better sooner than later.

"Well if ya really don't mind....," Logan gave the table a firm bump with his hip, making all the pool balls including the 8 ball fall into the pockets as he shrugged his shoulders while Morph looked at him with a knowing smile, "Damn. Guess I lose again."

"Nah, like I said you're still winning. Tell you what, I'll still even buy you another couple bottles of whiskey after this," Morph promised as he walked to the other side of the room and sat on the end of the large couch placed against the wall, "Here should be good. Whenever you're ready."

Logan was a little hesitant walking over as Morph made a big display of stretching and cracking his fingers before patting his lap. He sat down on the couch and then turned his body sideways, lifting his legs to drop his heavy boots onto Morph's thighs as the other mutant teasingly ran a hand over the top of them.

"Hm. Big feet, huh? You know what they say about that," Morph laughed at his implication, making Logan's mouth twitch into a smirk.

"Nah, what do they say Kevin?" He asked in a teasing tone, making Morph pause with a blush tinting at his cheeks as he was caught off guard by Logan's response and the use of his chosen name.

"W-Well you know.....big feet big.....boots. What were you thinking?! Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter, your pervert!"

Logan chuckled at how easily flustered Morph was as he leaned back on the couch armrest.

"Takes one to know one, bub. Now get rubbin'."

"See comments like that are what get you in trouble. I'll make sure you pay for it later," Morph warned with a devious smile and then got to work, beginning the process of carefully pulling off his boots.

Logan just watched it happening in slow motion, wondering exactly how he let himself get talked into this. Actually, he did know how. And he found himself looking forward to the attention.

"Easy now. Be nice," Wolverine growled a little, the realization of knowing what he was getting into really setting in now.

"Aren't I always?" Morph smirked as he dropped each boot on the floor as they came off and then in a couple swift movements had tugged off Logan's socks as well

"So delusional," Logan shook his head as his now bare toes wiggled a little from the exposure, "At least try not to tickle."

"That's not the current plan and I promise I won't be trying to, but if it does happen then I'm sorry, but it's your fault for being so ticklish," he reached down and firmly squeezed both of Logan's wide, meaty soles as the older mutant rolled his head back and groaned from the touch, making Morph grin, "Looks like you might be okay though."

He began further testing as his fingers pressed in hard and slid down Logan's soft arches to begin kneading into his plump heels while Logan struggled to keep the sounds of pleasure from leaving his lips.

"Fuuuuck.....Damn Morph.....Ya weren't lyin'.....That feels.....fantastic...," he squirmed and moaned with his eyes closed; his reactions causing Morph to beam with pride.

"Like that, eh? I told you I was good," he began rubbing circles from his heels back up into the balls of his feet, finding the skin to be surprisingly supple, "Now answer me this, how does a guy like you have such soft feet?"

Logan just threw his hands up in a shrug as his mind became focused on the sensations though he ended up rumbling in disappointment when Morph's hands pulled away for the moment.

"Easy big boy, I promise there's more where that came from. And if you really enjoy this then perhaps later I could interest you in a full body session," Morph offered with a hopeful smirk and a raised brow as Logan was quick to give a nod.

"Might actually take ya up on that. I haven't had a good massage in.....shit, I can't even remember."

"Well that's about to change right now. So without further ado let's get started off on the right foot here," Morph put his hand on the top of Logan's right foot and laughed at his own pun as Logan made a point to roll his eyes harder than usual.

"Geez, tough crowd. Come on, that was funny," he grinned slyly as his fingers now drifted around to give the sole of his foot a quick tickle.

"AHAH!" Logan barked out a laugh and jerked his foot away before delivering a warning glare and reluctantly placing his foot back onto Morph's lap, "Fucker."

"Hey I had to get at least one in. Now I'm going to keep it professional. If I accidentally do tickle you then just tell me and make sure to keep still. Though I'm going to warn you right now, if you kick me at any point then the massage is over and it's game on. So please give me a reason," Morph teased as he rubbed his hands together and prepared to really get serious.

Logan quietly considered the threat, and while he was looking forward to the massage, he also couldn't resist his urge to live life dangerously. And hell, maybe he was also a bit of a masochist sometimes.

While Morph was prepping, Logan pulled his foot back a little and aimed it right at Morph's stomach before thrusting it forward.

Morph got the wind knocked out of him ever so slightly as he coughed and grabbed the offending foot to push it back. He then squinted evilly back at Logan who had a shit-eating grin on his face while he sat there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Whoops. Must've slipped."

Morph sighed, thinking he probably deserved it for sneaking in that tickle, and released his hold on his foot.

"Fine. You get one freebie. But do it again and I promise you you're going to be wishing so hard that you could take it back once you see how bad you're going to get it because I'm not stopping until the sun comes up and by the looks of that clock on the wall it's going to be several hours before that comes even close to-UGGH!" Morph grunted as the foot collided with his stomach again.

"Quit babblin' an' just do it, pussy," Logan smirked, the words no sooner leaving his lips before tendrils shot out of Morph's body and tightly wrapped around his ankles to keep him from ever having any chance at pulling his feet away until Morph decided he was allowed to.

And Logan wouldn't have it any other way.

[silverbladexyz]

Hi love! How are you? How have you been? Sorry for bothering, can I request Chuuya boyfriend headcanons please?

Thank you! Have a nice day/night!! 💞💞

Hiiii I'm alright, just kind of stressed recently because of life :') but I'm surviving! How about you?

The image does not belong to me. It belongs to it's original owner.

TW: Mentions of death, violence, slight suggestiveness. Gender neutral reader

Chuuya boyfriend headcanons

-Let's see... to win Chuuya's love and trust is no easy feat. To start off with, he's a Port Mafia executive, which means that he barely has any time for friendships, let alone love. And to top it all off, he himself has lost too many people in his life, something which made him put up all those walls around himself in fear of losing someone else again

-Be prepared for a lot of denial and internal conflict once he realises his feelings for you. Chuuya is not one that is entirely in tune with his emotions, and to express what he is feeling proves to be an even harder feat for him. He might give shorter and more curt answers back to you, and might even distance himself from you if he's overwhelmed with this foreign feeling called 'love'

-But once you do get into a relationship with him, it is one full of passion and sacrifices. Chuuya's loyalty knows no bounds, and trust me when I say that he will commit everything to you. He holds onto you like you were something that could be blown away from him by a mere breeze, yet he holds you as if you were a fragile treasure, one so hardly acquired and easily lost

-He is quite protective. Desperate to not lose you, he will take extra measures to ensure that you are safe whenever he is not around you. Whether you were another Mafia executive or just a normal civilian, Chuuya will always make sure that another Mafia member was around your area should you run into trouble when he was not there

-It will take Chuuya a while to get used to being in a relationship with you. He's still learning, so he would really appreciate it if you told him what he could improve on or what your opinion on some of his actions in the relationship was. He wants to be the perfect boyfriend for you, and he will try his absolute hardest to learn and make himself someone deserving of your love and attention. Please assure him that he is enough already

-Affection isn't something he is used to as well. Even his friends in the Mafia only did as far as to give him a pat on his shoulder, or even a hug in the rarest of instances. So if you suddenly give him a kiss out of nowhere, or brush your fingers against his lovingly, he will freeze a little bit before slowly reciprocating it. But over time, he does become more comfortable with affection, as long as you don't overdo it

-Now his love language would either be acts of service or quality time. Chuuya isn't the best at words or affection, and he does get you gifts every now and then, but since this relationship is so foreign for him it would take a while for him to use other ways to show his love for you. He would be more than happy to learn how to tell you 'I love you' through actions and thoughts

-Chuuya would definitely be a lot more gentle and vulnerable in a relationship. He trusts you completely, and he isn't one to hide secrets from you as he values honesty. While he may be brash and temperamental, he is also perfectly capable of showing that soft side he locks away in himself, and he shows it to you and you only

-Further on into the relationship, be prepared for Chuuya to tell you everything. His past, his insecurities, his trauma, everything. He doesn't expect you to comfort him or help him, he just wants someone whom he can talk to and not worry about being betrayed or judged. So when you hugged him and assure him of how strong he was and how lucky you were to have him, it's from there on that Chuuya appreciates you the most he has ever appreciated you before

-Chuuya has a few hobbies that he likes to do in his free time, but he is interested in your hobbies as well, and often does them with you as he gets to spend more time with his beloved. His favourite things to do with you include taking you on motorcycle rides, have friendly sparring matches with you, wine-tasting, and even just shopping for exquisite and high-end clothes. He'd involuntarily spoil you since he has a lot of money, but he doesn't mind it if you spoil him too

-Kissing was a whole new experience. He will start off a bit rough and awkward at first, so it is mostly up to you to guide him with small movements of your lips and fleeting touches with your fingertips. Chuuya is surprised at how much he likes to kiss you, and you do note that his kisses do eventually get a bit softer as time goes on

-But if you wanted to make out with him? He's down for it and will mostly take the lead. His hands will grip you firmly but gently on your waist as he dominates the kiss. Spice it up a little by fighting back or by teasingly running your fingers along some more of his sensitive spots on his neck. However, he will get you back for it

-Love him, and he will love you back infinite times more than your love for him. Chuuya Nakahara is but a man; a man who has had everyone leave him; a man who doesn't let his past define who he is. His love for you will forever burn brighter than the flames of passion that consume his very being

So I feel like this was more deeper and serious than all my other posts. Chuuya to me is such a complex and deep character and it gives me a rare sense of thrill to write for him, especially when I get to analyse the other parts of his character that is not explicitly shown or told.

@circinuus @nekokinax @xxsigmakinniexx @xxelfmamaxx @yuugen-benni @ashthemadwriter @lakeside-paradise @catzlivedforbsd @sariel626 @yukitomybeloved @irethepotato @voyagewiththesatan @arisu-chan4646 @chuuyas-beloved

[samkiszkasfacialhair]

Hi, I just read your Sun Still Shines fic, and I want to THANK YOU. I feel SO SO LUCKY that I stumbled upon this fic.

The past few days have been really difficult for me, and the sh’tty situation has been going on for quite a while, often times I’m just walking back home and think I can just d1e now. I am away from my family, I haven’t been able to see them for almost 5 years, I struggled with ED and recently my body image is particularly bothering me, and school work is when sh’t hits the fan… sorry, TMI.

So you know… as the pathetic freak that I am, I tried to find comforting fics to read to dodge reality (even though I’ve got so many deadlines ahead) and upon reading your fic, especially the line “can you just love me”, I immediately tear up. I feel like, I haven’t been abled to be loved for so long and there’s no way for anybody to do that….but your fic somehow manages to ease the pain to some extent, every words feels so tender and soft, and I feel like being engulfed in a safe hug, and not to mention it really radiates Josh energy… like it seems like such a healthy relationship, they love and heal each other…it’s like the nicest ten minutes I’ve ever had for the past few days, thank you.

Sorry this is long and negative and obnoxious, but I just want to tell you that your writing have healing energy and you should be proud of it

I am speechless.

I don't even know where to start.

I got this ask a few weeks ago, opened it, read it, and started crying (which is big for me because I don't cry often). I couldn't even answer it because it was so hard to find the right words and I wanted to think about exactly the right thing to say because this person deserves it.

First, I'm sorry to hear life has been rough for you lately. I agree, when life gets busy, deep feelings of sadness can make everything feel overwhelming and like there's no solution or no end in sight. You're not a pathetic freak though (especially considering EYE am the one writing fantasies about Josh Kiszka lol). Everyone goes through this whether they post about it or speak it out loud or not, myself included. You're not the only one and you're not alone, even though it can definitely seem like it at times.

Second, I hope that as time has gone on since you originally sent this in, that life has eased up a little and been brighter for you. If it hasn't yet, it is bound to soon and I'm here if you need anything or anyone! (I'll answer quicker next time I promise lol).

Third, thank you so much for the compliments on the fic. I think your ask was the best one I've ever gotten and no one will be able to top it. Sometimes I feel like the thought and work I put into my fics is pointless because they aren't well known or "hits" in the fandom. Smut is always going to do well but since a large part of my stuff isn't smut, I feel underappreciated and overlooked constantly. But just reading your ask made me feel so good about myself and my work. Your ask made me think that it is worth it to keep writing despite the number of notes or despite if people talk about the fic or not. It is really amazing to know that something I created can have such a positive impact on someone and help them. I think a lot of us in this fandom feel comfort from Josh whether we know him or not and I'm just glad I could bring that comfort out in form of a fic. It's nice to know that I could bring that comfort to someone and it's really all because of Josh and how he is.

So again, thank you thank you thank you. I would love to hear how things have been going in your life since you originally sent this in if you want to share. Sending you lots of love. MWAH!

-E ♥

[iiratix]

Aaa another tog blog :3 hear me out (an imagine not a request). You know the story of Pinnochio, the doll who turned into a real boy ? Imagine fem great warrior reader somehow escaping her friends because Jahad accused her husband of treason, and he had him killed. So reader decided to create her own "daughter", basically a puppet who has both her features and her husband's features and traits. She raised her daughter and loved her. Imagine that "daughter" meeting any family head though.

Creativity is boundless, is it not?

May I have your attention please? Yes, yes, now that I have certainly caught your attention, behold to what I'm about to show you. A definition of a masterpiece has finally appeared. Now, I won't lie, this certainly... Peek my interest as a writer. As someone who's suffering mentally and physically a writer blog (sadly enough) this is something I cannot pass to immediately think off in my head.

This is quite an interesting concept of a story. After reading through it, I could certainly image the entire plot after suffering the typical usual writer illness. Now, let's us summarize the entire plot all together while added other things.

Imagine if the reader are a closed friend to Arlene, the two stick together as if they're an inseparable twin. To the point if you want to find one of them, just find the other person. They have a close relationship in a familial way, hence, they share each other trouble with one another.

As Jahad ascend toward the throne, the two of them live a happy life with their own significant other, while he remain there, high and mighty, ruling the tower. The interesting part is Jahad accusation isn't entirely false. Considering how much of a tyrant he is, let's think the possibility both of reader and Arlene join force together to stop Jahad possesion against the throne, just like how it mentioned by the canon story.

Which led for her husband, to be on the front line alongside the others. But alas, their enemy itself was their own friend, the great 10 family that did not bother to take their side. On the final fight where they're cornered, reader husband was killed I'm front of her, at the same time it was his attempt to keep her safe. Seeing such a gruesome sight bring furry inside of her, anger boiling like a lava, ready to explode. Yet, his final words for her is to run away, just like Arlene and V.

It shattered her pride to pieces, but he knows what best for her, and commits one last transportation for her sake, a device that was kept in case of emergency. With that, she was wrapped elsewhere, away from any harm. The lost of her dear husband itself is devastating, but there's nothing she can do. She prompted to return where she came from, the outside, where everything begun.

And she for sure, will start another chapter. But not for her, but for someone else. And that's the beginning of her daughter life. At first, thinking through the possibility of creating a puppet, may on similar case with Enryu, and it is said even Urek one of the top Ranker cannot create a life out of shinsu. So, let's make it a bit more complex than Enryu case.

Reader was lonely, which is quite obvious. She left behind everyone that she knew of, even the place she called home. So, she decided to carve a human sort of puppet by the wood. ( Yes, yes we're following the Pinnochio with a mix ) Afterwards, she tried to do an experiment with it, she tried to infuse her shinsu inside of that puppet. It was many kind of fail attempt to another failure. She's losing hope until one day, her shinsu overburst that led for a blinding light appeared, with a gust of wind that spread across the entire ground, bringing down everything that stand on its way.

Long story short, that overwhelming power ended up creating a life that similar to a human. Due to the shinsu, some of their body parts turn into a flesh slowly. But the unique part of her daughter, is the fact alone she did not have a heartbeat, any organs to eat or even a blood. It makes sense since she... She's a puppet, a complex version of Enryu puppet ( no offense, please refrain from red rain me)

Nevertheless, this is where everything start, where a new chapter she seeks will start. A new book, a new ending, much more delightful and happy, with certain traumatizing start and begining. Ahem, either way, the daughter become curious of this said tower after living for so long outside the tower. And on one faithful day, she sneak away to participate this bloody tower, her mother had said. Certainly, the troublemaker side and curiosity came from the husband, to the point it felt as if reader herself had a doting daughter.

Although, she certainly did not escaped her mother pry eyes. Because, how are you going to sneak away from a great warrior that had sneak away from the tower? Complicated kind of question, I'm well aware.

On the fun part, the daughter stumble upon Baam and his gang, following after them all especially the brunette himself. She cannot tell for sure, but there's a certain attachment toward him. No, it's not romantically. No, it's not a friends to lover troupe. Yes, it's a normal platonic relationship that both of their parents have.

Here's the plot twist... Rachel is aware of reader daughter existence, just like how she did to Baam. Shocking? Certainly, because this one, is chasing after her as well. But, we could leave the guarding to Khun and Rak. Or maybe just Khun, especially when Rak has a certain... Eh, well you understand.

Heading toward the Traumerei part, let's add another twist, because Iiratix is a well-known angst lover and plot twist added. What if Traumerei once love reader, but it's an unrequited love as the reader fall for her husband instead? Well, that will leave a lasting wound of heartbreak. Thus, when he sees a familiar figure, much to his dismay, he cannot help but be cruel and mean, pointing out the fact that she has already aware of.

"It does not matter whether I'm a puppet or not, I'm my mother's pride and joy, the one who'll take revenge on behalf of my father's death."

Was all she said with a determined expression and a smile. Well, someone seems to be taken the personality of her mother that was courageous. Her runaway is an exceptional, since it was what her husband want, so there's nothing she can do of it. Either way, it was a nice time to imagine this plot.

[t0shii]

% comforting them when they're upset

.! oikawa, tsukishima, matsukawa (sep) x gn!r

.! angst + fluff/ breakdowns, crying, etc. lightly proofread bc im lazy so sorry for any mistakes.

.! im so sorry if this is absolute word vomit or horse shit 😭 i tried my best though 😌 uhhh sorry for not posting yesterday i got my daith pierced and i was in a lot of pain after that so i didnt feel like writing anywho enjoy this 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 p.s. i was originally gonna write for mad dog but i was struggling so i went with mattsun instead sorry. also idk why matsuns ended up being so short i didnt do him justice i apologize 😩

oikawa

— always gets discouraged when his knee bothers him. today was one of those days. his coach had made him sit out of practice because he had been limping a bit. he came home distraught and you noticed right away.

"what's the matter toru?" you asked opening your arms for a hug, which he accepted, wrapping his arms around your middle quite tightly. "my knee is bothering me again 'n coach made me sit out. it's just not fair." he mumbled into your shoulder. you could feel his tears soak through your shirt. you nodded and responded, "baby, he just doesn't want you to hurt yourself. i know it's not fair but-", "but i wanna play volleyball, i wanna get better and practice." he said, aggravated that you weren't exactly on his side, still he held you tighter.

"toru, baby, look at me." he does as told, and you bring your hands up to wipe his tear stained cheeks,"toru, you can't strain your knee anymore than you already do, you know this. i know you only want to play volleyball, baby i know, but you have to be patient." he nods in agreement and you do the same, then guiding his head back to your shoulder, "i know it's frustrating toru, but you can't force it, y'know? he wouldn't make you sit out if it wasn't for your best interest. you know that, deep down."

the two of you had been cuddling on the couch, his back against your chest when you heard him sniffling again, "toru, what's wrong?" you ask softly, sitting up slightly. "i'm so useless, my own knee can't even work right. the team deserves someone better and so d-do you" he hiccuped, hiding is face in his hands. you felt guilty for not comforting him more earlier. "toru, that's not true at all." you stated, forcing his hands into yours, "take it back right now." he looked at you confused. "toru oikawa i said take it back right this instant." you said a little sterner than before.

"no." he managed to get out through sobs, and you knew the stern method wasn't going to work this time around. "toru, please. you're not useless at all, not to anyone, not to the team, and especially not to me. you're the best teammate, friend and boyfriend anyone could ever ask for and your knee just needs a break sometimes, you just need a break sometimes and thats okay. needing a break doesn't make you useless or weak, toru." you say softly, guiding him to a sitting position, hugging him closely and tracing small, comforting shapes on his back.

"you're so so strong toru, and you're an amazing person, an amazing boyfriend, you're such an amazing volleyball player and i'm so proud of how far you've come since highschool." you say, kissing the crown of his head. "you mean it?" he asks leaning back to look at you, "i always do, toru. i love you more than anything, and i'm so so fucking proud of you, but you have to know, it's okay to need a break sometimes and it doesn't change who you are as a person and it definitely doesn't make you weak or useless. he nods in response, burrying his head into the crook of your neck. you both stay like that, you whispering words of affirmations, him listening fondly until he feels better a little while later.

tsukishima

— he usually didn't let the stress of professional volleyball get to him like this, but he couldn't help it he would be lying if he said he wasn't overwhelmed, from interviews, to extra practice to prepare for the overseas games he had coming up, he was exhausted, to add onto it all he had been neglecting you and he felt horrible for it.

you knew practice was going to be running late since your boyfriend had told you in advance, so you weren't initially worried as to why kei had been coming home late at night. this night in particular was the fourth night in a row kei been home late and you starting to grow concerned. you hadn't seen him hardly at all that week, which was unusual because he always made time for you no matter what. worried, you decided to stay awake and wait for him to get home.

when the time finally comes, your heart dropped at his appearance, he looked absolutely horrible, as if he hadn't slept right in weeks. "why are you up?" he mumbled, taking his shoes off rather sloppily, uncharacteristic of him. you made your way closer to yoir exhausted boyfriend, "kei, i'm worried about you. i know you don't like me meddling with your career, and please don't misunderstand my concern for that. i'm just worried you aren't getting enough rest and i've barely seen you at all this week." you said, crossing your arms over your chest.

you knew something was wrong when you saw the tear swell in his eyes, but he just stood there awkwardly, you walked closer toward him, "kei, what's wrong?" you ask, extending your arms toward him, which he basically fell into, he started sobbing immediately, shocking you initially. "i'm s-sorry for neglecting you this week, i didn't mean to i-i just-", "kei, i'm not worried about that, i'm worried that you aren't taking care of yourself properly." you mumble, patting his back comfortingly. to which he shakes his head no."work has been too much recently, i can't sleep and i barely have time to even think. its just practice, interviews, practice, interviews i-i can't handle it all anymore, y/n." he sobbed into your shoulder, you were speechless at his vulnerability.

"kei,-", "but i can't stop now because that'll make me a failure and i don't want to let you down and the team too, i just want to make everyone proud but i think i'm falling behind." he cried, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. "kei, you could never let me down. actually, i think i've been letting you down recently, i don't tell you this enough but, i'm so so proud of you kei, so proud you don't even understand, i'm sorry for not expressing that enough to you. i understand that you feel as if you're falling behind but overworking and stressing yourself out isn't going to help you improve, kei, and i know you also know that."

"you're working yourself sick, kei and i can't stand here and continue to let that happen so you're taking a day off whether you like it or not. tomorrow will be a me and you day, how does that sound? i'll call your coach in the morning." honestly, you wouldn't have let him say no anyways, and he knew that so he just nodded his head. "look at me kei, you have to tell me when you're feeling overwhelmed. it's not good to keep things in like this, it's just like you tell me." he nods his head, but avoids eye contact, "and i'm not disappointed or upset at you, you know. but i can't read your mind, so please just tell me when things start to feel like they're crashing down on you 'kay? i'll help you just like you help me." you smile, he looks at you and nods, hugs you closer and whispers an "i love you" into your ear, which you return.

matsuwaka

— you knew his work was stressful and emotionally and mentally exhausting, so there were always worries in the back of your mind that he would become too overwhelmed, well today your worries became reality.

"welcome home issei." you called from the kitchen as your boyfriend walked through the door, though he offered you no response, which made you frown. "issei?-" you gasped when you felt a pair of strong arms sneak their way around your waist, "jesus, issei, you scared me!" you giggle placing your hands atop of his own, but you realized he was not laughing with you. "issei, baby?" concern laced in your tone as you maneuvered your way around to face him, "what's wrong baby?" you ask, taking his face in your hands to wipe at escaping tears.

"work was rough today." was all he said as he melted at the feeling of your thumbs running back and forth on his cheeks. "oh issei, i'm sorry." you mumbled, kissing the tip of his nose lightly, "is there anything i can do to help?" he didn't know why but something inside of him snapped when you asked him that, and sobs escaped his lips, he could only hide his face in the space between your neck and shoulder because for some reason he felt... ashamed to be crying in front of you like this. "please just hold me." he cried, so you did just that, shushimg him when his sobs got violent, rubbing your hand up and down his back soothingly.

the both of you stood there for a good 15 minutes before you spoke up after he had calmed down a bit, "is there anything you need to get off your chest? you don't have to tell me now or even at all but i want you to know that whatever is bothering you, you can tell me, anything at all. i know your job is mentally exhausting and honestly i dont even know how you do it but i dont want you thinking you have to carry the burden of it alone, okay? i'm so proud of you, so so so proud of you issei, i just wanted you to know that."

you felt him nod in the crook of your neck, a soft, "thank you." sounding shortly after, "of course." you responded, kissing his shoulder a few time.he wasn't sure when he would feel completely ready to get things off his chest but he felt loved knowing that you would always be there to comfort him, and for that he was forever grateful.

[queen-of-the-queers]

Assorted OTP Questions! Who is always cold? Which member is always trying to bring home stray animals and which member always has to say no? Who worries more? Who is the better cook? Who is the big/little spoon? :)

Thanks so much for the ask <3 I always love interacting with you, you're literally the sweetest!

1) Jughead- I am convinced that he is an absolute wimp when it comes to temperature! I mean, think about it, we see Tabitha in PJs and short sleeve tops all the time, but when do we ever see him without a jacket/robe on, paired with jeans! I swear I've only seen his legs once in the entire show. I can also imagine her ruthlessly teasing him for it and gently encouraging him to take his jacket off- "It won't ruin your bad boy persona to avoid getting heat stroke, Jones."

2) Also Jughead. He definitely has a soft spot for strays and loves dogs in particular. It is a personal headcannon of mine that at one point, he finds a scraggly little creature living behind a dumpster and takes it home- of course Tabitha tries to convince him to take it to a shelter, but after seeing him snuggled up to it when she comes home from work, sees how much it helps calm him, and relents. They name it after a Quentin Tarantino movie, of course.

3) Tabitha. Jughead is a terrible impulse buyer, despite being broke, and she has to explain to him that the money he wants to spend buying random trinkets from the thrift store needs to go towards their rent. He also frequently tries to convince her to skip her shifts for "valuable cuddle time"; she hates to say no. "Jug, it's time for me to go." "You need to let go of me now, ok? I'll be back soon."

4) Tabitha again :) I'm certain that after quite a rocky childhood, and some stressful college/early working years, she struggles with some anxiety. She most definitely worries about Jughead and his mental health, Pop's, her family and the town itself, not to mention the fact that she isn't as accustomed to the chaos as she is. Having Jughead around the diner sometimes definitely helps- whenever she's feeling overwhelmed or anxious she just has to give her a look, and he instantly comes over to give her a supportive hug or some words of encouragement. I can also picture her being a bit of a perfectionist and Jughead having to assure her that her work is good enough, and she is perfect. Maybe he'd eventually even show her his vomit drafts

5) Ooh I think they'd both be amazing cooks separately, but come together as an absolute dream team. Tabitha is definitely more efficient, as comes with all of her work in the diner, but Jughead's food is so beautiful to look at- his burgers look like DaVinci paintings but, y'know, with meat and stuff (I am so sorry for that, I'm too tired for this). Everything they make always tastes delicious, and they are the talk of the town.

6) Finally, I reckon they switch! Both of them have good and bad days, and sometimes they need just that little bit of extra attention. For example, the day Jughead found out about the severity of his hearing loss, he was the little spoon, but the day Pop's caught fire, she was. I even picture them spending hard nights together before they started officially sleeping under the same roof. It always makes them feel better, heads tucked into each others shoulders, breathing in each others familiar scents'.

Anyway, I rambled on for a while there- I hope you enjoy this! It was fun to think about. (Also I could not be bothered to proof read this so if it is completely incoherent, don't judge mua).

xo

[miss-smutty]

The Destructive Secret

Chapter 4

Summary- You've got a secret to hide and it's going to cause complete and utter devastation. It's only so long until your lies are going to catch up to you.

Pairing- Chris Hems x Reader x Liam Hems

Word count- 2,211

Warnings- Smut, swearing, angst, cheating

18+ Only!!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 29th June 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @mostly-marvel-musings @longlostinanotherworld

>The Destructive Secret Masterlist<

"No not married but you do know her. You know her really well actually." Chris says while avoiding your gaze purposefully...

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, silence so acute you could hear a pin drop. Liam waiting for an answer, Chris looking at his feet and you looking visibly anxious. Chris had drank way too much and now he was about to let all of your secrets loose. This isn't the way you want Liam to find out, surely Chris wouldn't be so cruel.

"I suppose you're not gonna tell me who it is?" 

"Not just yet, see how we go." He looked at you, if he so much as even looked slightly smug you would have slapped him right across his face. Instead you could see the hurt in his eyes, tears welling in the corners. You're both faced with an impossible dilemma, Chris wants you all to himself but doesn't want to lose his brother in the process and you want it all over and done with but don't want to hurt Liam. The latter of both is inevitable but you would take all the blame just so Chris didn't have to lose his brother, given the choice you would lose them both just so that didn't happen.

"Well on that note, I need to go to bed. I've gotta be up early in the morning." You avoid Chris' gaze, you're angry with him but you don't want to cause him more pain. 

"Yeah me too. I better get going. Thank you for dinner Y/N, it was lovely."

You risk a short glance at him, you're eyes softening when they meet. The moment broken when Liam speaks, reminding you where you are and who you're with right at this moment in time.

"Are you for real? You're really going to drop a bombshell like that and then leave? Fuck man." Liam runs his hand through his hair, letting air out of his cheeks exasperatedly.

"Sorry bro, I'll save the excitement for another night. I've said too much already." Chris apologises with his eyes as he passes you, his hands twitching by his side's with the need to touch you.

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

The next morning when you wake, your heart sinks knowing all the turmoil you're going to have to go through just to make it to the hotel without being spotted. All the messing about and hiding you have to do, checking in under a false name at different times. Making sure nobody follows you to the hotel and especially no one follows Chris. Getting caught checking into the same hotel would be dreadful, it wouldn't take a genius for the press to put two and two together, they wouldn't even care if it was true or not as long as they sold copies.

"Right babe, I'm ready to go." You pull your suitcase towards the door, stopping to wrap your arms around Liam.

"Have a good time, I'll see you soon." Wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and lifting your feet from the ground in a squeezy hug. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too, bye babe." 

"Bye. Love you. Let me know when you get checked in." He kisses you goodbye before watching you leave.

"Will do, Love you." You say over your shoulder, climbing into your silver, Audi convertible.

This is the part you hate the most, the part that made you question whether it was all worth it. It was, of course or you wouldn't be doing it, you wouldn't put yourself through having to pretend to be somebody else and praying your not caught by anyone. It only takes one person to notice you and Chris in the same hotel and it's over. You imagine having an affair is hard work whatever your circumstances but when your boyfriend and your lover are as famous as they are it becomes impossible. It's terrifying. 

You spent the car journey constantly checking your mirrors and making sure you weren't being followed. A huge sunhat and even bigger sunglasses covering your face as your heart beated faster than you thought was possible. A couple of laps around the hotel, making doubly sure you weren't being followed before you finally pulled into the carpark.

You had to constantly think, you couldn't let your guard drop for even a moment and it was exhausting. You were ready for it to be over and done with now, this just isn't fun anymore. Maybe you could run away together and start a new life somewhere else. Which one would you pick though? Who are you ready to give up? Would there even be an option to choose? Would Liam even be willing to forgive you if he knew you were sleeping with his brother? In love with his brother.

Your heart beating out of your chest, your fight or flight well and truly kicking in now as you walk up to the front desk. If there's any recognition in the receptionists eyes you're ready to turn right around and leave. The girl behind the desk, with long blonde hair has her eyes on the computer In front of her, thankfully not paying you much attention as you stand and wait for her to finish.

"Hi I'd like to book a room for two nights please." You stutter nervously, subconsciously checking over your shoulder while you spoke.

"Of course, is it just for yourself?" 

"Yes please, I'm just here for a work conference. I'd like a double bed if possible though, I haven't been able to sleep in a single since I was young." You giggle nervously, embarrassed that you'd told her information she isn't even slightly interested in.

"No problem, I'll see what I have for you." Her eyes barely left her computer as she spoke, she definitely didn't recognise you. The tension in your muscles relaxed a little as your eyes scanned the lobby.

"What name is it please?" She asked, one of the moments you'd been dreading. You hate lying but luckily you'd already come up with the fake name you were using, one you'd already used many times before in the exact same situation. It never gets any easier.

"Jessica Crawley." The names tumbled from your lips, names that had absolutely no meaning to you. 

"Room 101, floor 5. Is there anything else I can help you with?" 

"No thank you, that's great." The overwhelming feeling of relief at completing step one without any problems, rushes over you. Adrenaline spiking, making your legs feel like jelly.

"You're welcome, enjoy your stay. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions." The girl says, smiling sweetly at you before going back to her work.

The elevator seemed to take forever to make its way down to you, your feet shuffling as you watched the numbers above the door, counting down. The overwhelming need to get to privacy and away from the many prying eyes of the people in the lobby was severe. Most were business men and women, that were so consumed in themselves they weren't paying special attention to anyone around them. There were also young couples, making their way through the lobby, probably on their way for lunch but the people that worried you the most were the random loners sat in the armchairs scattered around the lobby. They'd chosen the perfect place to watch, some pretending to read newspapers while their eyes discreetly scanned over the top.

They were much more inquisitive, much like yourself they paid more attention to the people around them. People watchers you liked to call them, these are the sorts of people that make you nervous. They see everything, noticing any minor details, you'd spent a lifetime perfecting 'people watching' which is how you knew to be wary. You could pretty much judge a person's personality just by watching them for a couple of minutes. If anyone was to spot you it would be one of these people. You felt thankful you weren't Chris, there is absolutely no way he was going to make it to the elevator without being seen at least once.

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

Chris didn't feel quite as nervous as you, this was a every day occurance in his life, avoiding paparazzi was near impossible for him. As long as you weren't seen going in to the hotel then it wouldn't matter about him being seen. Still, he'd worn his baseball cap and sunglasses to at least try and hide his identity. He wasn't nervous about being seen but more about having to face you after his fuck up last night. Now that thought was way more intimidating to him.

Casually strolling into the hotel, he tried to ignore the whispers of the people around him. People questioning if it was really him, young girls barely out of high school giggling at the sight of him. Chris quietly prayed that he would make it up to the room without anyone asking for a photo, not that he usually minded but today all he wanted was to spend every possible minute with you as he could.

The receptionist tried to make a fuss when his identity was confirmed during check in. The pale skin of the same blonde girl who'd checked you in, had turned a rather bright shade of red when she heard Chris' sexy Australian accent. You wouldn't blame her, it still makes you swoon whenever you heard him speak.

"I'm fine honestly, I don't want any special treatment. Actually if I could get away with going completely unnoticed during my stay, I will speak to your boss myself and tell them how accomodating you'd been." 

"Oh wow, really? Thank you so much Mr Hemsworth. I will make sure nobody bothers you and if you need anything at all just give me a call, I'll make sure you won't have to leave your room for anything." Chris smiled, pretending not to notice how she seemed to be flirting with him, badly. Tossing her hair over shoulder as she insinuated not so subtly for him to let her know if he wanted any 'special' treatment. Again, you don't blame the girl, infact you would've commended her confidence.

She handed over the keys to the penthouse, watching bright eyed as he walked to the elevator, pulling out his phone as he stepped straight in. 

"Hi babe, I've booked the penthouse suite, meet me up there?" Smiling a tight lipped smile at the girl behind the desk, who was still watching him intently as the elevator doors closed.

"Ok, it isn't very inconspicuous staying in the penthouse is it?" You shouldn't be surprised, he does it everytime. You remember the first time you ever saw a penthouse and how amazed you were that it was actually bigger than your own home at the time. That was a memory you shared with Liam, all of your first times had been with Liam, the thought made your heart sink.

"I mean they knew who I was as soon as I walked in, I think it would look more suspicious if I didn't stay in a suite." Chris answered, pulling you from your thoughts.

"I suppose that's true, I'll be up soon." You could hear the sadness in your voice, something you had to snap out of before meeting Chris.

"Good because I can't wait to get my hands on you." 

Sinking back onto the spongey mattress of your bed, tiredness washing over you already. The mental exhaustion of constantly having to play games and be on your guard at all times, catching up to you as you're finally alone.

Maybe that's what you need afterall, a chance to be alone to gather your thoughts, to workout your own needs and wants without spreading your attention between the two brothers.

You make a mental list of the pros and cons of both of them knowing deep down if Liam were the one for you, you'd have never have looked twice at Chris. They were so similar in a lot of ways but completely different in others.

Liam was the sweetest man you knew, so gentle and caring, attentive to your every whim and being so young when you first got together he was everything you were looking for.

Now being a woman that has gone through so much trauma in her life that had tainted your soul, darkened it with a lust for more.

Then Chris came along, he was still sweet and caring but less attentive to your needs unless it was in the bedroom. He was cheeky and funny, drop dead gorgeous and oozing manliness effortlessly. He was fire and passion. He was more. 

If you let yourself admit it, you wanted excitement, which is how you ended up here in the first place. You didn't want perfect anymore, you wanted a man who could do wrong and then make up for it in the most fulfilling way he knew how. Just thinking about it made your pulse race, Chris had put you through hell last night and now it was time for payback. You imagined Chris only a couple of floors above you, worried about the way you were going to act when you saw him and lord knows how much you're going to make him sweat.                    

[lythea-creation]

Broken Toys - Johanna Mason x fem reader (Chapter 11)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

word count: 2.380

----------

During training many of the tributes showed off to scare the other away.

Honestly it was intimidating to see the killing techniques I would soon be confronted with. Though I did not plan to give them a chance to use them on me.

Currently Finnick was showing me some useful knots. I got the hang of it quite quickly.

“You're a natural”, he complimented me with a bright smile.

“Thanks. Also for your help. You could use your time more efficiently.”

“You think so? Helping an ally is a good thing, isn't it?”

I reciprocated his smile.

“Talking about allies. Did anything happen between Johanna and you? You didn't say a word to each other since training started”, Finnick noticed.

I sighed. “Well. We don't have to pretend being in love anymore.”

Although it somehow had felt real.

“I dunno”, he responded.

“What?”

“Was it seriously just an act? Johanna never bothers to call me, even though we are friends”, he enlightened me.

“She usually called to tease me or to yell at me.” I chuckled.

“Because she cares”, Finnick declared. “It's just her personality. She's blunt, but not the best when it comes to emotions. Everything ends up in rage, cause she is overwhelmed”, he added.

My eyes wandered to Johanna who was training with her axe.

“I'll go to the next station now”, Finnick announced before leaving.

I tried to ignore the possibility of Johanna liking me. It did not matter now. In a few days we would be fighting on the risk of our lives inside the arena. It would not change anything.

A few days later I was waiting for my interview while watching the tributes of the other districts.

All of them tried to make the Capitol cancel the Quarter Quell fruitlessly. Some cried and talked about the time we and the Capitol had had together. Others talked about their loved ones like Finnick.

Now it was Johanna's turn. I could already imagine how her interview was going to end up.

“There have been a lot of tears here tonight. But I see no tears in Johanna's eyes. Johanna, you are angry. Tell me why”, Caesar noted.

Johanna laughed sarcastically. “Oh ... well, yes. I'm angry. I'm getting totally screwed over here. The deal was if I wan the Hunger Games, I get to live the rest of my life in peace. But now you wanna kill me again. But you know what? Fuck that! And fuck everybody that had anything to do with it!” Johanna completely ranted which I could completely understand.

“Alright, then. One woman's opinion. Who's next?”, Caesar intended to distract from Johanna's furious outburst.

Many tributes later it was my turn.

“So, (f/n). We all know you as a caring person. But right now I'm not sure how to interpret your attitude. What was on your mind when you volunteered for the Quarter Quell?”, Caesar wondered.

“Well, Caesar. It's quite complex to be honest. I connect a lot with the Hunger Games. My little sister, Rue, had just died shortly before the Quarter Quell was announced. I knew that Johanna was the only living female victor of district 7 and could not stand the possibility of watching her death without being able to help her, like it had been with Rue.”

Seemed like I had touched the crowd.

“So it was an act of love?”, Caesar concluded.

I did not know how to react to that as Johanna and I had not definitely settled how to deal with our 'relationship' now.

“I can't stand watching people who are precious to me die anymore. But it's complicated as we will be opponents at one point of the Games”, I explained.

Though I had never wasted a thought on even hurting Johanna. Before it could come to a battle between Johanna and me I would probably be long dead anyway.

“It must be hard to go up against the person you love.”

“It's not only that”, I interrupted Caesar. “As mentors we know each other. None of the tributes is a stranger to us. Some of this year's tributes are also my friends. Would anyone of you even consider killing a friend? A person who helped you through your hardest times and the other way around?”, I addressed the audience.

They started discussing my question.

“This isn't about the Hunger Games or maintaining peace. It has never been the true purpose to begin with. Yet no one dares to talk about it or rather no one dared to. The citizens of the Capitol are fooled the whole time. Everyone is kept in the dark about the truth. How can you support seeing us kill each other for entertainment? If you think that murder is peace, then you must have lost your mind! Did you ever waste a thought on the people that provide you with all your luxury? The people that have to give everything to the Capitol without getting anything back but more work and torture! President Snow! I don't care! You're going to torture and kill me anyway! I won't play after your rules anymore! It won't end if you kill us! It won't change anything! The citizens of the districts finally realized that they have to stand up for themselves! It won't go back to how it used to be, no matter what you do! Citizens of the Capitol! Did you ever consider how your life would be without the people of the districts? You wouldn't have anything left! Your luxury would vanish, but not just that! Imagine working yourself for everything you want to have! If we didn't exist, you would be the people of the districts! It's up to you to decide whether to worship the other districts and treat them better or to become those people yourself!”

I had lost my calm demeanor. Shit! Though it was not like I regretted anything I had said.

What had happened with me? Rue's death had definitely changed me and since I did not have to worry about my family my opinion just broke out freely. Maybe the influence of being the leader of the rebellion in 11.

“Well ...”, Caesar for once struggled with his words. “That was unexpected.”

The audience was also shocked. They were completely silent.

I looked at the tributes noticing that they tried suppressing their smiles and laughter, except Johanna who was grinning proudly and amused.

If I had had the chance of getting any sponsors, I could forget that now. Joining forces with me in any way would appear rebellious thanks to my idealistic speech.

In the end it was Peeta causing the greatest uproar with the announcement of his and Katniss' baby. The Capitol did not manage to turn the lights off before we, all tributes, held our hands and moved them up into the air, showing our unity like Peeta and Katniss had always done.

When the darkness surrounded us we were pulled apart and back to our apartments.

An uneasy feeling spread inside of me.

I had not talked to Johanna since I had 'broken up' with her. What if that had been our last conversation?

My door was locked and knowing the Capitol there was no way out until they opened it again.

Frustrated I intended to get at least some sleep, but my mind was thinking of the most absurd ways of what could await me tomorrow.

So I ended up standing on the platform feeling exhausted and restless.

Three years had passed since my first Games, but one thing had not changed. The area of the arena would decide whether I even stood a chance.

The bright light blocked out my vision as I was moved toward the surface.

I immediately noticed the salty smell, though.

Regardless the direction I looked into I was surrounded by water. There were different sectors divided by straight lines out of stones, two tributes placed in each sector on a stone platform.

In front of us was the cornucopia and behind us a jungle.

Perfect! If I made it to the jungle, the other tributes would have difficulties killing me.

My eyes inspected the tributes near me, but I could not make out any of my possible allies.

My plan would not have changed anyway.

As soon as the countdown was over I jumped into the water behind me heading for the beach in front of the jungle. Now I was grateful that Johanna had taught me swimming in one of district 7's lakes. Otherwise I would have been way to slow, although the clothes were keeping me over the water somehow.

Behind me I was hearing the screams of the beginning bloodbath and the following cannon sounds.

It was hard to force myself not to look back.

Soon later I was on top of a tree.

I wanted to search for my friends, but only the careers were left at the cornucopia.

Disappointed, I decided to search for water instead. Maybe I would find my friends on the way.

I did not. And I did not have success with water either. The salt water at the cornucopia was the only water in sight.

Though there was something that made me feel relieved. Neither Johanna, Finnick nor Katniss appeared at the night sky. They were still alive. Ironically that fact made me sleep better than yesterday.

Pain filled screams woke me up again.

To my horror the voices sounded familiar. I identified them as Katniss, Peeta and Finnick.

As quickly as I could I jumped through the trees toward the voices, but they were far away.

A cannon sound made me panic.

After a while the screams shut down making me insecure.

I continued my way toward them, but more carefully.

My destination was still a good distance away from me.

After more minutes of jumping I noticed many monkeys in front of me. They did not look exactly harmless.

Cautiously I observed them.

Suddenly they rushed toward me, revealing their sharp fangs.

It was a race through the trees. Sometimes a claw managed to scratch me, but this was nothing.

Another cannon sound erupted.

To my surprise at some point the apes did not follow me anymore. They made aggressive sounds, but nothing more.

I gave myself a short moment to rest until I heard Johanna cry out for help.

My body became completely tense as I had never heard such a sound leaving Johanna's lips.

I barely noticed that the monkeys had vanished.

My body rushed toward Johanna's voice before my mind could even comprehend anything.

But no matter how close she sounded, Johanna was not here. That was when I noticed the Jabberjay.

Reluctantly I threw a rock toward it. As the bird moved Johanna's voice moved as well.

Several other voices joined. Finnick, Annie, Katniss, Seeder, Mary, Lilie, Seth, March, Taylor, Livia and even Rue.

I ran through the forest, desperately trying to escape. But at some point I hit an invisible wall.

I sank to my knees, hands over my ears. The sounds were horrifying. “Stop it! Stop!”

Even when the screams subsided I refused to move from my position.

After several minutes I shakily climbed onto a tree. It had never taken me that long.

I rested for a while on top of the tree. The sounds inside my head were all mixed up. I did not trust my senses right now and it did not help that I was already suffering from the dehydration. I needed to find some water and I definitely did not plan to return to the bloodthirsty monkeys.

So I chose to move to the other side.

The smell of blood that encountered me there unsettled me. Hence I jumped even faster.

When I had left the smell behind I noticed that the sun had risen again. Considering where the sun was right now it had to be morning, about seven or eight am.

In district 11 we had learned to read the sun instead of the clock as no clock was ever working at our home.

A whistling sound ripped me out of my thoughts. Not eager to find out what it was I hurried to get away from my current position.

But a strong gust of wind, hurled me away from the tree. The wind seemed to change direction frequently, hitting me against several trees.

I lost my sense of orientation as I was spun around for a felt eternity until I finally landed on the ground.

My whole body was aching.

I forced myself back onto my feet, afraid that another tribute might be nearby. The gamemakers had always loved to lure tributes to other ones.

But just as I intended to get onto another tree I could not manage to lift my feet.

Confused, I looked at my legs and noticed that I was sinking into the ground.

What the hell?! Was this my punishment for the riots in district 11 or my outburst during the interview? Or why was I stumbling from one trap of the arena into another without even meeting another tribute once?

I inspected the ground more thoroughly. Seemed like I was sinking into sand.

I tried pushing the sand away from my feet, only to withdraw my hand with a hiss.

The sand was burning hot!

I had to suppress a scream when the hot sand started filling my shoes as I sank deeper.

Dammit!

I looked around frantically searching for a way to escape while sinking further. I had realized by now that I sank faster the more I moved.

Not too far away I spotted a liana hanging from one of the trees.

I gathered all the strength inside of me to move toward it.

As I sank further into the sand the burning on my body increased.

My hands shakily took a hold of the liana.

Luckily my arms were strong enough to pull me out of the sand and onto a branch of the tree.

Without the high endurance level I had attained in district 11 I would have probably died by that sand.

The irony of Panem.

Next Chapter

[odd-birds-and-booksellers]

Five times Jo asks Alex to dance and the one time she asks someone new.

The first time Jo and Alex ever dance together, they’re just friends. It’s new…their friendship. Alex isn’t exactly sure what to call it, in the space of two weeks she went from the annoying intern he was happy to keep as nothing more than a work colleague to the person he spent most of his time with. In the last week, she’s spent more nights on his couch than at home and they’ve grabbed dinner together every day. It’s funny they seemed to have fallen into this pattern without any real thought, it was the day after Ben and Bailey’s wedding they’d become inseparable, she’d sought him out at the end of shift insisting she needed pizza and beer and that he was paying thanks to the raging hangover she was sure was his fault.

He didn’t hate it...having her around all time that is. Which surprised him, it had been a long time since Alex had genuinely enjoyed being in someone else’s company for such a long period of time. Even now when Jos’ has one too many beers and is singing along loudly (and out of tune) to Taylor Swift (not Alex’s choice of course) he finds himself happy just to sit and watch her.

“Oh this is my favorite Alex, come dance with me,” Jo calls from where she’s spinning around in the kitchen. She’s reaching out for him, her warm hand against his forearm pulling him towards her.

“I don’t dance.” Alex protests, remaining firmly in his seat. Shaking his head as she continues to pull at him. He tries to keep his smile at bay but he’s secretly amused by the way she attempts to give him a puppy dog look.

“Don’t or can’t?”

“Both…whatever answer gets you away from me.” He grumbles, trying to remove her grip on his arm but she’s quick, tangling their fingers together and giving him another tug.

“Come on Alex…everyone can dance. Just one dance…pretty please.”

He groans but drops his beer bottle down on the counter and follows Jo back to her makeshift dance floor.

“One dance…and you’ll leave me alone?” He asks, cocking his head to the side as he sets one hand on her hip, the other still gripped in hers tightly. He doesn’t know the song well but he finds himself slowly swaying to the beat.

“I won’t bother you until at least tomorrow.” Jo reasons, smiling softly, a triumphant glint in her eyes that makes Alex think he should stop letting her get her way.

Alex's breath hitches as Jo lays her head against his chest a moment later, he’s sure she can feel the way his heart pounds in his chest. They stay that way for the rest of the song, just swaying back and forth and Alex is surprised to find himself actually enjoying holding Jo so close.

“See… dancing isn't that bad right?”

He pulls her closer, tighter until her chest was pressed flush against his. “No…no you're right, this is pretty good.”

The second time they danced was a couple of years later. They’ve just finished furnishing the loft, and Jos’ even surprised herself with how it had turned out. It really felt like a home…their home.

“I know you’re gonna say a record player is pointless, but it looks cute and before you laugh they were on like every Pinterest board I saw so we have to have one.” Jo reasons, hoping this wouldn’t turn into another disagreement as the throw pillows had. Apparently, because it looks good isn’t a good reason to spend money on Alex’s book.

Secretly she loves every argument/discussion they have. There's just something about them discussing their home, her first proper home that fills her with such joy.

Setting up the record player was easy. Jo had found it a nice home against the window of what she’d marked out to be the living room. She’d even picked up a few old records from the store, Elvis, The Beatles, even Ella Fitzgerald.

She set the record on the turntable and brought down the needle, then closed the lid. There was the crackle of static as the vinyl began to spin.

She reached for his hand during the first verse. “Dance with me?” Jo suggested her voice barely above a whisper. “I know you hate dancing but indulge me this one time.” She insists as he reluctantly places his hands in hers, allowing her to pull him in, their chests brushing up against each other as his hand finds her hip and he holds her against him warm and steady.

They sway like that for the duration of the song and Jo takes the time to scan their newfound home. It's everything she'd hoped it would be and more. She feels Alex's hand fidgeting over her spine as the song comes to an end as if he's contemplating ending their dance before she feels his fingertips drift lower, coming to rest on the small of her back.

“You’re happy right? I know you kinda hated this place at first but…”

“I’m more than happy…” He whispers, leaning back as he brings one hand up to rest against her cheek, brushing the loose hair from her bun behind her ear gently. Jo relaxes against him, letting her worries go at his reassuring words. “I’m home.”

The third time they dance together, Alex surprised them both by being the one to ask Jo to dance. They’re at their makeshift engagement party that the kids on the peds ward had insisted on having when Alex informed them all they couldn’t attend the wedding. It felt kinda surreal, to see various hospital staff all filter in as a handful of his patients gather in the family room. All these people gathered to celebrate him and Jo. He’s not sure how he’d ever got so lucky.

“For everyone who doesn’t know Dr. Alex and Dr. Jo are getting married this weekend…” Kimmy announces, tapping the microphone on the makeshift stage as everyone turns towards her. “And all of us here just wanted to wish you both a huge congratulations.” Alex feels a surge of emotion, as Jo wraps an arm around his waist resting her head against his shoulder. Her eyes were a little watery, maybe she was feeling just as overwhelmed as he was.

“So I thought I’d sing a little something for you both.” Kimmy grins, and Alex gives her a small nod, rolling his eyes as the familiar tune from Beauty and The Beast begins. Now it makes sense why she’d been practicing it all week.

“Think we should dance?” He asks, turning towards Jo.

“You wanna dance? You never wanna dance with me.”

Alex furrows his eyebrows at her statement, wrapping an arm around her waist, swaying them gently, “I never wanna dance full stop but with you…with you it’s definitely bearable.”

Jo rolls her eyes “Charming.”

Alex just chuckles as he takes a step back, keeping his hand firmly in hers. When their arms are outstretched, he tugs on her hand until she gets the memo and twirls back toward him. Alex catches her by the waist, grinning down at her as she laughs warmly.

Cheers erupt around them but Alex can’t bring himself to tear his gaze from Jo. She’s gonna be his wife and he for one can’t wait.

“I aim to please” He mutters before pulling her in closer, pressing his lips to hers as a few groans from the younger patients sound.

The fourth time they dance is a given. Their first dance as husband and wife, sure it's not the reception they planned but Avery's penthouse with everyone they care about most in the world feels as close to perfect as you can get.

“Come dance with your wife.” Jo cries as she makes her way through the crowd, reaching out for Alex who’s taken a seat at the kitchen island. He’d been enjoying a moment to just watch everyone around him. Days like this full of love and happiness were kinda rare to find.

“Jo, you know I hate dancing.” He whines but he's already on his feet, allowing her to guide him back through the crowd. He’s not gonna deny her today, not like he ever denied her before either.

She just smiles, and god it makes his heartache knowing that’s the smile he’s gonna wake up to every day for the rest of his life. “I know you say you hate dancing but I think you secretly like it.”

He turned his hand over in hers, wrapping his fingers around her palm before pulling her to him by the waist. Jo’s free arm sliding up to his shoulder as they spun slowly.

“Thank you…”

“For what?”

“Dancing with me even though you hate it.”

He holds their joint hands in the air, letting Jo turn herself away from him. She’s only out of his grip for a split second before she twirls back into him. He catches her, tips her backward until her hair is dangling down over his knee.

“I’ll always dance with you,” Alex whispers, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips before helping her stand straight again. He can hear the buzz of the party around them, see the bright light of flash go off somewhere as Jo wraps her hands around his neck, hiding her face against him.

“Should’ve put that in our vows.”

He’s not sure how long they stay like that, arms wrapped around each other swaying to whatever song is playing whether a slow dance suits it or not. They might be in a room full of their closest friends and chosen family but neither one can focus on anyone else.

“It’s funny…” Jo mumbles after a while, lifting her head so she can meet Alex’s gaze.

“What’s that?” Alex asks, his thumb tracing a soft pattern against the small of her back as her left hand sorts out his.

“In those lifetime movies, I used to watch. You wait the whole movie for the couple to kiss in the last five seconds and then you just assume that they end up together…in reality, it’s probably never a happy ever after.”

Alex frowns, he’s not quite sure what Jo was getting at but if she was doubting what happens next she shouldn’t. If they could make it through today and still end up married and all in one piece then they could make it through every day that came next.

“We don’t have to worry about that.” He smiles, the hand still clutching hers lifting a little higher so she can see the light catch against her wedding set as he runs his thumb across them.

“No, we don’t.”

The last time they dance together is a couple of days before Alex leaves. He seems to have thrown himself into work the last few weeks. He’s so busy he’s almost never home. They’re like ships passing in the night and Jo’s not ashamed to admit she misses her husband.

“Come on…” She mutters, turning the radio up slightly so the music can be heard over in the kitchen, holding her hand out to Alex who’s been staring at various charts since he’d arrived home in the early hours of the morning.

“Not now Jo…I’m exhausted okay?” He sighs brushing her hand away as he turns back to the pages before him.

Jo shakes her head refusing to take no for an answer as she carefully takes the documents from his hand. Setting them down on the table. She cups his cheek, turning his face towards her. “One dance. Come on.”

She watches the internal argument he’s having with himself, his eyes refusing to meet hers.

“Alex you promised…you’d always dance with me...for better or worse...till death do us part?”

He tenses at her words closing his eyes, but before Jo can even question it he’s up, slipping his hand into hers, leading them towards the empty space between the kitchen and the unused dining table with a frown.

“I know Mr. Grumpy…you hate dancing, you've told me before.”

“That’s Dr. Grumpy to you.”

Jo drops his hand only to lift her arms around his neck and Alex sets his hands loosely on her waist.

“I love you.” He breathes after a moment. He leans his head over her shoulder and drops a kiss to the side of her head, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.

Jo smiles softly at his words as Alex presses her hand into his chest, over his heartbeat. They're gonna be okay, she's sure of it. They hold onto one another, dancing slowly as the song continues.

“I love you too, Dr. Grumpy.”

They keep swaying even as the song ends and another begins, Jo can’t remember what song had played next, but she knows they’d danced to it anyway.

Jo didn't dance much after Alex left. Didn't do much of anything that reminded her of him. She’d got rid of nearly every trace of him. She’d gone into survival mode and removed every last reminder of him from her life. That is except for the few things she just couldn’t bear to lose.

His shirt…the first one she’d ever borrowed. Back when they were just friends and she was crashing on his couch after one too many beers. The same shirt that’s now hanging loosely off her shoulder as she tries to tidy up after her rambunctious toddler, who’s currently making a mess pulling every record out from its cover and onto the floor.

Their wedding album hurt too much to keep. She couldn’t skim the pages without feeling sick. But she keeps one photo…she can’t not. There’s one photo taken at their wedding reception, Jo wasn't even aware of it being taken at the time. She's mid-spin, her hair fanning out around her, hand clutching Alex's tightly above her head. She looks so happy and carefree in that photo but that's not the reason she kept it, no she kept it because of the way Alex's looking at her in it. Like she was the only one in the room. He looks at her so intently that just the photo sets a fire deep inside her. No matter how painful the ending was, she knew how truly loved she was by him.

“Mommy…princess dress?” Luna asks, pulling the worn photo from its hiding space in an old record sleeve. Of course, she's found it, she’s into every draw and cupboard she can reach these days. Her eyes shine as she shakes the photo in Jo's direction.

“Yeah, mommy had a princess dress,” Jo agrees, lifting Luna up from the floor and settling them both on the couch. She’s too young to know that it's a wedding, too little to ask who the man holding her mother is. She was just excited that her mom looked like one of her favorite Disney characters. Jo stares down at the photo, it's not lost on her that she's sitting in the same spot the dance took place.

“Hey, Lulu?” Jo hums, pressing a kiss to the little girl's hair as she wriggles in her lap. “Shall we have a dance party?”

Jo hasn’t had much time to dance these last few years, hadn’t had much desire too but as she stares down at her daughter she suddenly feels the urge to dance again.

Luna nods, as Jo lifts her up off her lap before turning towards the old record player in the corner. She wipes her hand across the dust that’s settled on it before opening it up, taking a second for the slow melody to filter out. When she turns back Luna is already twirling around, her tutu flowing out around her.

Jo laughs as she lifts her baby girl up onto her hip, spinning them both. She throws her head back laughing as Luna squeals in delight, ordering Jo to keep spinning until they're both dizzy and their giggles drown out the music.

[mallowstep]

hi matt!! sorry for the dredfully overwhemlming amount of asks, but i just wanna ask- any tips 4 beginner ficwriters? i'm working on a songfic oneshot ("are you satisfied?" + cinderpelt) and just wanted some tips 4 a beginner writer

you're not overwhelming me! fear not. i try to say when things bother me so that like. there's no lack of clarity. unless i ask you to stop doing something, it's fine.

on that note: i prefer matthew over matt. mateo and mallow are also good.

(note to said note: this is by no means a big deal so don't fret about it.)

aanyway

some disclaimers: i am not a published writer or anything, this advice is just advice that works for me so take what works for you and ignore the rest, and i'm giving advice wrt writing fic, which does have its own genre quirks that means this isn't necessarily broadly applicable. but some of it is.

kay first piece of advice: if you're not having fun, don't do it. this is a hobby, being good at it is not required. if getting better makes you happy, then by all means, strive for improvement. but if you stop having fun, stop.

everything else under a cut.

second: there's no shortcut. i've been writing since i could hold a pen, and writing with concentrated effort for over a decade. i had a shelf full of notebooks. i try to hit at LEAST a thousand words a day, and i'm usually writing about three thousand.

writing is hard. it's the kind of hard i enjoy, but it's hard. i derive satisfaction out of it, but it is work.

third: wrt that point, getting better at writing requires working on your writing. that might sound obvious, but there are all sorts of writing Exercises which are designed to help you get better at doing things. i've got a HUGE library of them and i'm always happy to share.

fourth: don't compare yourself to others. it's a little cliche, but...really, it's best to avoid. there are certainly ways to do this that are helpful, but i...think it's best for especially beginning writers to avoid doing that. it's hard to see the years of experience that lead up to being a Good Writer, and comparing yourself when you're starting out is just...not helpful.

fifth: being out of character is a lie. this is pretty warriors specific but like. most of these characters don't have very consistent characterization. be in character for yourself, make sure they resemble canon characters, and don't stress about it.

sixth: make a plan. i'll leave what that means and how you do it up to you, but even if your plan is a scribbled sentence, make one.

i also want to add that the plot might not be in the physical actions of characters. this is something i had to figure out for myself, but a story can just be driven by emotions, with very little happening. now, you definitely have to be careful with this, because anything longer than a couple thousand words usually needs a decent amount of Physical Plot, but most of my chapter level outlines focus on emotions.

anyway there's a million ways to do this but everyone i know does something, even the ones who claim to do nothing.

seventh: it's okay if you feel like you need an audience. for me, the Point of writing is to share it with people. "writing for myself" for me REQUIRES i share things and publish them. there's no such thing as a story i write for only my eyes.

and related, but that audience doesn't have to be the whole internet. i've been recently sharing quite a lot of things just among my friends, and it's been Really Good for my writing and for my...i don't want to say mental health, bc that implies not doing that wasn't healthy, but it did just...make me feel good.

obviously not everyone has that opportunity but i just wanted to throw these two ideas together because they work in concert.

eighth: write a lot. what it's important.

ninth: tag your works appropriately. what that means is a whole other topic i'm not really qualified to get into but. seriously. as someone who was raised in ffn, ao3 is a GOD SEND and y'all should appreciate it. overall, tagging culture on ao3 is good, but just...remember to tag. i'm not a huge fan of tumblr style tags on ao3 but i do have a few, such as "another au i give u 0 context for."

tenth: nothing is permanent. write a lot, post fast, don't be afraid to edit. p sure i'm going to b making mosskit they/them in hitds bc vox's got me on it. there's lots of my works with edit notes, but that's because i'm a programmer who was taught to always explain my edits.

you don't have to do that.

anyway the point is if you don't like something, change it! it's your writing.

i do recommend not deleting things, because i feel it's unproductive, but if you really hate having something up, delete it!

have a good time.

<3

[netflixaddictedd]

10 lesbian books you should read

Leah on the offbeat: When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. She’s an anomaly in her friend group: the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. (Make sure to read Simon vs the homosapiens agenda before Reading this)

Her royal highness: Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better. Soon, Millie is accepted into one of the world's most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Here, the country is dreamy and green; the school is covered in ivy, and the students think her American-ness is adorable. The only problem: Mille's roommate Flora is a total princess. She's also an actual princess. Of Scotland. At first, the girls can't stand each other, but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, but Millie knows the chances of happily-ever-afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn't a fairy tale . . . or is it?

The price of salt: Therese, a struggling young sales clerk, and Carol, a homemaker in the midst of a bitter divorce, abandon their oppressive daily routines for the freedom of the open road, where their love can blossom. But their newly discovered bliss is shattered when Carol is forced to choose between her child and her lover.

The miseducation of Cameron Post: When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both. Then Coley Talor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship, one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self even if she's not quite sure who that is.

Late to the party: Seventeen is nothing like Codi Teller imagined. She’s never crashed a party, never stayed out too late. She’s never even been kissed. And it’s not just because she’s gay. It’s because she and her two best friends, Maritza and JaKory, spend more time in her basement watching Netflix than engaging with the outside world. So when Maritza and JaKory suggest crashing a party, Codi is highly skeptical. Those parties aren’t for kids like them. They’re for cool kids. Straight kids. But then Codi stumbles upon one of those cool kids, Ricky, kissing another boy in the dark, and an unexpected friendship is formed. In return for never talking about that kiss, Ricky takes Codi under his wing and draws her into a wild summer filled with late nights, new experiences, and one really cute girl named Lydia. The only problem? Codi never tells Maritza or JaKory about any of it.

Annie on my mind: Liza begins to doubt her feelings for Annie after someone finds out about their relationship, and realizes, after starting college, that her denial of love for Annie was a mistake.

Tell me again how a crush should feel: Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is a relief. As an Iranian American, she’s different enough; if word got out that Leila liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when beautiful new girl Saskia shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would. As she carefully confides in trusted friends about Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila begins to figure out that all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and some are keeping surprising secrets of their own.

It's not like it's a secret: Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend. When Sana and her family move to California, she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana's new friends don't trust Jamie's crowd; Jamie's friends clearly don't want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore. Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy…what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.

Juliet takes a breath: Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland, Oregon, to intern with her favorite feminist writer--what's sure to be a life-changing experience. And when Juliet's coming out crashes and burns, she's not sure her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan--sort of. Her internship with legendary author Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women's bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff, is sure to help her figure out this whole "Puerto Rican lesbian" thing. Except Harlowe's white. And not from the Bronx. And she definitely doesn't have all the answers . . .In a summer bursting with queer brown dance parties, a sexy fling with a motorcycling librarian, and intense explorations of race and identity, Juliet learns what it means to come out--to the world, to her family, to herself.

Style: Kyle Blake likes plans. So far, they’re pretty simple: Finish her senior year of high school, head off to a good college, find a cute boyfriend, graduate, get a good job, get married, the whole heterosexual shebang. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that plan. Not even Stella Lewis. Stella Lewis also has a plan: Finish her senior year as cheer captain, go to college, finally let herself flirt with (and maybe even date) a girl for the first time and go from there. Fate has other plans for Kyle and Stella when they’re paired up in their AP English class and something between them ignites. It’s confusing and overwhelming and neither of them know what to do about it. One thing they do know is that their connection can’t be ignored. The timing just isn’t right. But is there ever a good time for falling in love?